On a hike through the countryside yesterday I came across a group of horses in the field I was crossing. I've always got time for animals, and whilst I know absolutely nothing about horses in particular, I always stop for some quality time if I can. The horse gave me a sniff - they all do that - and for a moment let me stroke it. Then it reared its head and bared its teeth at me. The funny thing was, I knew exactly what that horse was saying.
"Ok, you've said hello, now get lost".
I to
In the good old days when men were railwaymen and cars came without pillows in the steering wheel, I used to hear english spoken. It's true. These days official forms come in fifteen different languages and young people don't understand each others slang any more. People wonder why I don't go on foreign holidays. Are they serious? Not only do the Department of Work and Pensions not pay me to enjoy myself abroad, they invite every other country's inhabitants to live next door. Sign on the dole an
Bored... Very bored... Okay, lets turn on the television. You never know, there might actually be something worth watching. I think most of us have noticed the irony of having hundreds more channels and hundreds less to watch.
As it happened, I stumbled on a program about sexually predatory women. Now, before you think I'm about to embark on a fantasy, this was a program that looked at the the changing morality in modern times with female affluence and internet anonymity, not to mention outr
'Twas a cold and eerie night. I looked out the back window in the early hours and a dark open sky seemed to be relatively shy of revealing stars. Down in the valley, the urban spawl was in the clutches of a thick mist, glowing a dull orange from the street lights. It looked very gothic and mysterious, and without the usual soundtrack of traffic light grand-prix's, arguments with windows and lamp posts, or the salute to football team affiliation in song, the mood was perfect.
So I went to be
DING!
If I'm not mistaken, that was the doorbell. There I was, snoozing happily under my nice warm duvet, and someone has to go and spoil it by ringing the doorbell. It might be important, you never know, though a part of was wondering whether someone had broken my car again. I've reached the point where I don't care too much.
Okay, let's find out what's going on. It dawned on me that doing so meant getting out of bed. This had better be good. Switch the hallway light on so the visitor k
The convulsions rippling through the moslem world recently seem a litle strange to me. Maybe I'm used to fundamentalist uprisings in the wake of Iran's revolution and the anti-western stance of their factions ever since, but I do note the popular unrest in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, and now Lybia, where dissent is spreading among common folk. I must admit, it's a little baffling to me why there's a sudden change. Democratic movements in islamic countries? We're not used to hearing that.
For
I got the good news last night. The International Monetary Fund have suggested that Britain might be in recession for as much as twenty years, struggling to pay off debts while the rest of the west recover nicely thank you. Twenty years? You mean I'm going to bleat on about the economy and my lack of good fortune for two more decades? Should I cancel the Ferrari then?
Now That I Come To Think Of It
Until a few years ago, life was simple. I had money in my pocket and a slightly fast car on t
There are people who think I do nothing but sit at home playing on my computer. Don't let them upset you Computer, they don't understand.. Ahem... Well, anyway from to time I drag myself away The great outdoors has an appeal for many of us and I'm no different, so occaisionally the urge to see over the next hill takes hold. I decided to get up early and hopefully catch some evocative sunrises or whatever. To my disappointment the weather was dull and cloudy as I left home at six in the morning.
It was one of those job interviews you just know is going to be a disaster before you start. The office where it took place is literally down the road from I live, an upstairs premises with only a single door on the street to mark its presence and a source of confusion as you wander back and forth expected something more impressive.
Having found the door (I always have trouble with doors - Douglas Adams fans please note) I noticed the gloomy staircase with a carpet left unwashed since the mi
Of late the news in Britain has focused on the market town of Wootton Basset, just a few miles down the road from I live, which has the burden of being the nearest habitation to Lyneham Airbase. That's where our fallen soldiers are returning to home shores from foreign entanglements like Afghanistan. So with the recent jingoism to whip up public support for the campaign the town is regularly featured as lining up to watch funeral corteges crawling past. The place has become synonymous with obser
In my foolish innocence I quaffed one of those high energy drinks last night. No sleep for me then. I did manage to get a couple of hours rest in a semi-comatosed state when the drinks effects began to wear off. There goes the alarm clock. I seriously, seriously did not want to get out of bed. It was only the start of Miserable Monday...
Getting To Work
For me the journey to work is a matter of several hundred yards, so no problem there. This morning though I was accosted by a confused old
Todays blog entry is devoted to the subject of bigness. Is it a good thing? Upsetting a guy bigger than you is always a risky venture, one of the first and most important lessons we learn as children. I remember a photograph of a protestor at a fuel refinery many years ago getting the shock of his life when the irate lorry driver he was obstructing turned out to be considerably bigger than he was.
The issue of bigness is inherent to human beings. 4x4 drivers rely on it. The sheer size of the
About six months ago my boss, AD, threw me over the side and sailed away into stormy waters. Well, he just rang me. Again. Apparently he's under the illusion that I work for one of the companies he deals with.
No, AD, I'm unemployed.
"Oh... Ah.... So.... How are you?"
Unemployed.
I think the old guy is slowly losing it. Apart from the fact he's still employed beyond retirement and driving around in expensive luxury saloons. It does make you wonder how the old ship is doing....
Today I decided to wander down to the sports center. Not by my usual route along the main road, by the back trail, an old abandoned railway line. This railway runs through a cutting near the old town station site (now an industrial estate) which is composed of Jurassic rocks - I've mentioned it before. So, in the spirit of optimism, I climbed the muddy bank to have a look at the rock face.
The imprint of a barnacle shell. Large too, about three times the size of those I picked off the beach
Despite the threat of heavy rain it looks like this years RIAT airshow at nearby Fairford will go ahead. It's a huge and popular event. Ticket admittance only this year just in case they need to reimburse everyone. I don't much like fariford as a flying display. The prospect of seeing lots of aircraft you can see every day of the week doesn't appeal, especially since you have to pay a heavy ticket entry and face aggravation on the roads getting in and out. But to anyone whio is going there, I ho
The problem with blogs is that there's a tendency to reveal too much. There's been a warning recently about people giving away information on social networking sites that a fraudster or a burglar could use.
I own a large vicious dog by the way, just in case that's of any use to you. If not, you can always smile at the cameras.
But more to the point, something else has gone beyond a joke in my life and whilst there's a self impiosed limit on family news to be made public, I think it's tim
I've done it! I've made to the end of the week! Doesn't sound like a particularly brilliant achievement, but with my bedroom temperatures reduced almost to Ice Age conditions, I was starting to worry about becoming extinct. After all, the neanderthals, who were better adpated to the cold than we are, failed miserably to survive their frigid bedrooms at all.
Talking about them, there a new theory why they died off. I've always put it down to old age and poor sex education, but apparently my t
The other night I was finished with my bad mood and instead became sort of reflective, thinking about things I'd done in the past, things I should have done in the past, and basically having a sort of middle aged moment. Not suprisingly I thought of my time as the drummer in Red Jasper.
It's funny how unique we were as a band in those days. First there was me. Never had a drummer been so reliable and still scary when I drove the van. Then there was Carlos Santana wannabe Robin Harrison. Nev
Aww not again... The guy downstairs has fired up his expensive state-of-the-art hi-fi and the carpet is vibrating. At least he's not pushing the volume as high as he had. Trouble is, whilst I can't hear the music as such, the bass frequencies travel up through the floor and its literally going right through me. I don't feel like another confrontation, so I need something to take my mind off it.
Its not as if I can read a book.in these circumstances. Walking out the door and socialising is on
Dogs are known as Mans Best Friend. I certainly do know what they mean. The companionship of a canine pet is astonishing. Such is the pack instinct of a dog that they assume the role of family member more often or not. But is a dog 'Womans Best Friend'?
Yesterday I waited at a main road before popping down to the music store to collect my guitar. Across the road from me a woman waited with her pet, a white and brown dog of some strange breed. It was a curious animal. It stood there with stum
Beep... Beep... Beep...
The old womans mobility buggy goes into reverse gear for the seventh time as she fails utterly to negotiate the wide open space of the library lounge. Now she's stuck between shelving units with ten feet to spare.
That kind of sets the tone for the day. Oh hang on again, she's reversing again....
Okay, she's moved a few feet. That'll keep her happy for a a few minutes until she works out where she is. But as I was saying, today is proving to very annoying. One
I can remember how it felt during the 1970's Munich Olympics. Is was as if the entire world had stopped and taken time out to show every single event. To some extent thats the case, because with limited tv channels and dire programming what else could compete with it?
These days there's hundreds of tv channels with all sorts of specialised programming that wouldn't even consider showing olympic footage. Is that a good thing? I'm actually starting to wonder. The media hype about events like t
On a normal working day, our local high street is busy. Two lanes of cars jostling for position between parked vehicles and the intermittent movement of buses. Pedestrians bringing the whole thing to a temporary halt on crossings, shoppers carrying heaps of plastic bags, queuing at ATM's, or simply standing around at bus stops for the next smoke belching leviathan to appear.
On a Sunday, the same street is empty. A few moslems walking to their local mosque but otherwise you wouldn't know the
There's an old chap I sometimes see by the cenotaph on Regents Circus. He stands there, breadcrumbs in hand, and allows pidgeons to clamber all over him, and I do mean, all over. He is swamped by the birds clamouring for his limited supply of titbits. Not my idea of fun, but each to their own.
I was passing his favourite spot the other day and noticed a crowd of hungry pidgeons milling around a pile of breadcrumbs on the ground. Hang on... Have they eaten Pidgeon Man? Oh no!
One of Lifes
The last few days have seen dramatic moments in the history of Swindons Mechanics Institute. For those who don't know, the Great Western Railway built a community centre for the benefit of its staff back in 1859 and it's been left to decay for decades, since no-one has any idea of what to do with the place or where to find the money to do it.
The owner, a property developer, has done little to maintain the listed building (that means it has historical significance and should be preserved) an
