Photos: Charlie's Birthday Curry

Charlie, 5 friends and family enjoy a birthday curry at the Bengal Spice Restaurant in Catterick.

Charlie's 9th birthday - April 2011.

Charlie, 5 friends and family enjoy a birthday curry at the Bengal Spice Restaurant in Catterick.

Photo set here

Happy Birthday Charlie!

It's Charlie's 9th Birthday today (9 - really... 9!!!)

He has some friends coming round to watch a DVD this afternoon and then off for a curry at a local restaurant.

He's making great progress with his new Lego Star Wars Clone Turbo Tank (only 135 pages in the instruction manual!)

More photos later...

Farndale Daffodils

A trip to see the Farndale Daffodils 12/04/11.

Grandad Bill and Joan visiting for the week so a family trip out in the bus with Granny Pam & Grumps too.

Farndale Daffodils - North York Moors National Park

<a href="http://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk%2Ffarndale-daffodils%2F&h=fa327" rel="nofollow">www.northyorkmoors.org.uk%2Ffarndale-daffodils%2F&h=f...</a>

A trip to see the Farndale Daffodils 12/04/11.

Grandad Bill and Joan visiting for the week so a family trip out in the bus with Granny Pam & Grumps too.

Link to photo set here.

Farndale Daffodils - North York Moors National Park

http://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/farndale-daffodils

Desert Island Discs: Martin Sheen

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Martin Sheen on DID this morning - what a guy!

BBC - Desert Island Discs - Castaway : Martin Sheen.

Also the BBC recently made the entire DID archive available (righteous!) as podcasts.

Find every castaway from 1942 to the present. Listen to more than 500 programmes

Explore the archive

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/find-a-castaway

Amazing "Hand and Body Art"

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This artist has made some amazing art for an AT&T campaign.

Originals here.

Thanks Dave Anderson for the tip.

1976 Posters for The Man Who Fell To Earth Implausibly Glamorous!

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="336" caption="TMWFTE Poster"][/caption]

This poster from the 1976 Nic Roeg film The Man Who Fell To Earth - starring Bowie as an "extraterrestrial who crash lands on Earth seeking a way to ship water to his planet" - looks incredibly glamorous today .

What must it have been like back in mid 70s London?

Answer: Like an alien had arrived!

Click through to see more great images - BowieNet News

Lovely Spike Milligan anecdote.

✒More on Spike Milligan. Jim McLean emails: "I was in Spike's office in the mid- 60s with Dominic Behan. Someone in the office asked him what was the population of London. Spike opened the window, looked out and started counting, 'one, two, three …'"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2011/mar/19/simon-hoggarts-week-japan

World Book Day

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Quentin Blake illustration (you can buy a print - click through)"][/caption]

I'm going in to Charlie's school this afternoon to read a to some kids to help celebrate World Book Day.

I'm going to read from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - hopefully have time to get to the finding of the Golden Ticket.

Apparently the official name for this day is: "World Book and Copyright Day" - doesn't have quite the same cosy  feeling put like that, does it?

Lovely retro USB MIX TAPE

Nice idea... (via The Reg: Geeky gifts for Valentine's Day)



See: Suck UK

Charlie's Broken Arm...: New Pots for Old

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="160" caption="Charlie's new cast"][/caption]

Charlie had his “above the elbow” cast removed today - however the doctor says he must have a new one (below elbow) for two more weeks... (then no contact sports for 4 more weeks).

He chose a very nice blue colour this time and he's being very brave :-)

First fondleslab found in 1970s kids TV sci-fi gem • reghardware

"...it's turtles all the way down!"

Today's Dilbert referenced the quote: "it's turtles all the way down!" which I couldn't remember the origin of.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="560" caption="Dilbert Feb 7th 2011"][/caption]

Wikipedia says:

The most widely known version appears in Stephen Hawking's 1988 book A Brief History of Time, which starts:

A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: "What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise." The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, "What is the tortoise standing on?" "You're very clever, young man, very clever", said the old lady. "But it's turtles all the way down!"^[1]

The origins of the turtle story are uncertain.

The quote makes me smile, the story enhances it.

Police do normal police stuff... feel the need to call it "Operation Tornado"

Why is this considered a "special operation"?

BBC News - Known criminals targeted in Cleveland Police operation

Police on Teesside are planning to carry out more than 40 operations over the coming week as part of efforts to target known criminals.

Officers from Cleveland Police will focus on domestic violence, anti-social behaviour, drug dealing and shop crime during Operation Tornado.

via BBC News - Known criminals targeted in Cleveland Police operation.

I thought that was why we had police. What are they doing when not on a "special operation"?

Lovely nostalgic article on 70s sports games...

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="322" caption="Subbuteo"][/caption]

Really enjoyed this

The day video almost killed the Subbuteo star

The arrival of video games in the 1970s saw the slow demise of table football, cricket and rugby and with it the end of an era when sportsmen looked like your uncle Len

Brings back some memories of some fine Subbuteo matches.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Rinus Isreal"][/caption]

Also like the mention of Panini stickers... I found (here) this one that the article mentions - those new fangled Match Attax cards just can't compete.

Charlie's Broken Arm.

Charlie has broken his arm (Ulna) in an accident at a "soft play" centre (we know.. soft play... irony etc.) when one of his friends landed on him during another friend's birthday party.

He's been very brave.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="67" caption="Charlie's Green Cast"][/caption]

We spent a few hours on Thursday evening at A&E (Darlington Memorial Hospital) where they examined, X-ray'd and put a temporary cast on him. He has a "green stick fracture" of his forearm. This morning we went back to the hospital and Charlie now has an "above the elbow" cast in a fetching green colour which he'll wear it for 3 weeks.

All the staff at the hospital were friendly and efficient and we were well looked after.

Meanwhile... who's my goalkeeper for Sunday's match?!

Photo Set here

Life after fame: Lloyd Cole on what your hotel room tells you about your pop career - Features, Music - The Independent

via independent.co.uk

Enjoyed this article written by Lloyd Cole, spans his career - measured by the quality of the hotel room he is booked into. From big-label excess to small time solo act.

Band Name Quiz (from 2002)

This is a (silly) cryptic quiz we (EJC music club dudes) put together one evening... it greatly amused us at the time... wonder if it still does!

1. able
   ? can


2. mega-voice
   ? ultravox


3. swedish palindrome
   ? abba


4. turkey relish
   ? cranberries


5. st trinians
   ? girlschool


6. polite snog
   ? kiss


7. not hate
   ? love


8. grunge heaven
   ? nirvana


9. portacabbage
   ? prefab sprout


10. bees arse
    ? sting


11. fuzz/filth/stench/pigs/coppers/feds/rozzers
    ? the police


12. confectionary
    ? the sweet


13. not no
    ? yes


14. samantha, darren & tabatha, under a spell
    ? b*witched


15. skeletal 007 boss
    ? boney m


16. easy as 1-2-3...
    ? abc


17. entrance and exit
    ? the doors


18. definite article, definitely
    ? the the


19. same as it ever was
    ? status quo


20. west of asia
    ? europe


21. John Logi Baird's big idea
    ? television


22. wailing ghost in native america
    ? siouxsie & the banshees


23. barbarella barbarella
    ? duran duran


24. honeycomb buzz
    ? voice of the beehive


25. kebab before autumn
    ? donna summer


26. electric gender bender
    ? ac/dc


27. big apple mannequins
    ? new york dolls


28. bland & blonde, neither IQ or ECU
    ? dollar


29. tiny boat races
    ? small faces


30. aa bottom
    ? zz top


31. bowie's young dudes
    ? mott the hoople


32. lame brains
    ? simple minds


33. vietnamese capital sucks (NOT!)
    ? hanoi rocks


34. dark carrions
    ? black crowes


35. mother & son immaculately linked
    ? jesus & mary chain


36. chemical nocturnal sprinters
    ? dexys midnight runners


37. chillier cocktail
    ? kula shaker


38. conversing crania
    ? talking heads


39. citrus crush
    ? orange juice


40. thankfully deceased
    ? grateful dead


41. depressed pearlmakers sect
    ? blue oyster cult


42. handmade in deutchland
    ? kraftwerk


43. saline duct secretion goes bang
    ? teardrop explodes


44. overpopulated dwelling
    ? crowded house


45. U 4 E Ah
    ? xtc


46. east of europe
    ? asia


47. pretentious french face
    ? visage


48. incomplete elements
    ? earth wind and fire


49. petrified flowers
    ? stone roses


50. 3 footed feathered friends
    ? the yardbirds


51. pleasure fraction
    ? joy division


52. from the ame
    ? de le soul


53. oyster gridlock
    ? pearl jam


54. I own this messy massacre of love?
    ? my bloody valentine


55. airborne beatle in a flap
    ? wings


56. profound indigo
    ? deep purple


57. johan-sebastian-dude ike&tina turbo !!!!!!!
    ? bachman turner overdrive


58. knock knock
    ? the who


59. curly, larry & mo
    ? the stooges


60. lemon sorcery symphonia
    ? yellow magic orchestra


61. satans little helpers
    ? the damned


62. next noise for England's capital
    ? future sound of london


63. metal maggie
    ? iron maiden


64. heavy metal airship
    ? led zeppelin


65. scarlet monarch
    ? king crimson


66. perverted nun
    ? twisted sister


67. division of naked apes
    ? human league


68. rugs on drugs
    ? inspiral carpets


69. heavyweight oxymoron male
    ? fatboy slim


70. ma, pa & kids, keeping the ships from the rocks
    ? lighthouse family


71. pitter patter of...
    ? little feat


72. comfortable prison
    ? soft cell


73. gothic remedy
    ? the cure


74. sanfrancisco rolls-royces
    ? bay city rollers


75. soupey scottish valley
    ? glen campbell


76. le sid vicious
    ? daft punk


77. satsuma soporific state
    ? tangerine dream


78. glad start to the working week
    ? happy mondays


79. ocular dream state
    ? rem


80. symphonic movement after dusk
    ? orchestral manouvres in the dark


81. land of the rising sun
    ? japan


82. not from these shores
    ? foreigner


83. 3 of these to heaven
    ? steps


84. always rises to the top
    ? cream


85. buttoned up jumpers
    ? the cardigans


86. nixon/carter/clinton/reagan/bush
    ? presidents of the USA


87. annually, with jelly, icecream & cake
    ? birthday party


88. first yell
    ? primal scream

This is a (silly) quiz we (EJC music club dudes) put together one evening... it greatly amused us at the time... wonder if it still does!

Amazing (planned) Chinese bus reminds me of...

This amazing public transport plan from China (found via slashdot)

China to build ginormous buses that cars can drive under

http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/02/china-to-build-ginormous-buses-that-cars-can-drive-under-video/

Reminds me of the Catbus from My Neighbor Totoro.