Climbing on rock

After about 3 years of climbing on and off at the indoor wall, I finally made it out onto rock.  One of my work colleagues regularly climbs outside, and so it was that four of us headed over to Neilston quarry after work.  For two of us it was the first time outdoors, so it was a bit scary initially, but loads of fun.

We all got to climb two routes, before it started getting a bit dark and we had to give up.  On the way back to Glasgow, we stopped off at the Waterside Inn for a wee half-pint and a natter.

It was a really good evening, and I'll definitely need to start picking up gear for outdoors now.

Ben Ledi

On Monday a group of us from work climbed Ben Ledi outside Callandar, for charity.  It was a great day despite the weather, and we raised just over £400.

That was my first proper hillwalk, and I think I might just have caught the bug.  Need to do more now.  Where to start?  The Cobbler?  Goatfell?  Wait, that involves a ferry to Arran.  Oh I'll think of something.

Karate course

Well, the day course at Whiteinch was yesterday, and it was really good fun.  The main practice was on drawing in the energy of your attacker.  We started off doing a practice with boken.  This was to get the feel of what we were eventually going to be aiming for.
Then, the without the boken, we paired up, with one person attacking.  The defender kept the hands as if holding the boken, and the movement was the same as in the boken practice.  You couold then draw in your attacker and get them off balance, and leave them open for your attack.  In practice, the effort required to get your attacker overbalancing, was a very light touch.  If a full punch had been used the effect would have been amazing.

All in all another very tiring but very good course.

Stuff

Not been up to a great deal this week, but the weekend should be pretty full.
Tomorrow, I've got a karate day course to attend.  I missed the last one, but the one before that I got graded and got my green belt.  I don't think there's going to be a grading (for me at least) this time round, but it would be pretty cool if there was.  If someone walks away from these day events with a new belt, it's a good feeling all round.

I'm multi-tasking on the book front, juggling The Soft Machine by William Burroughs with How to Practise: The Way to a Meaningful Life by the Dalai Lama.

On Monday along with some collegues from work, I'm off to climb Ben Ledi.  Really looking forward to that.

So, that's it.  Nothing else to report.

Reading of late

If you know me, you'll know love SF/F and horror.  I also like anything else that's a bit different.  A few years ago I went though a Burroughs phase, during which I read Cities of the Red Night, Place of Dead Roads, Western Lands, Junkie, Naked Lunch and Interzone.  I don't know what appealed about his books.  Probably the fact that the first I read was Cities, and when I had finished I had to go back and re-read as I'd no idea what had just happened.
Anyway, I'm back catching up with Bill, and I'm currently reading The Soft Machine, and I've The Ticket that Exploded waiting to be read.
In a weird combination, I've also just started reading How to Practice: The Way to a Meaningful Life by the Dalai Lama.

Edinburgh festivities

Yesterday we took a train through to Edinburgh to soak up the atmosphere of the Fringe.  The Royal Mile was awash with show promoters, punters, and stalls.  It's going to be mental at the weekend!!!

We didn't bother taking in any shows, but we did visit our favorite Thai restaurant, which was amazing as usual.

Aside from the atmosphere and the food, some ales were partaken of.  So a pretty laid back wander round the town, and a couple of pubs drunk in.  All good stuff.

To Infinity.....and beyond

Well, that's BT been out to upgrade my broadband to Infinity.  ta ta daaaa!  It seems slicker now.  No sign of lag at all.
I'd taken the afternoon off as they were coming out between 1.00 and 6.00pm, but while I was at work this morning (on site, not in the office), I got a call from the engineer.  He was at my house at 10.30!  He knew it was an afternoon appointment, but he had finished another job early, so came along on the off-chance.
When I did get home, he turned up dead on 1.00pm, so 10/10 for service.  The installation went smoothly, and it's all good.

On a totally separate issue, could someone, anyone in Glasgow City Council, please please please get their finger out and do something about the state of the roads. Major arteries through the city and riddled with potholes.  I was in Syria earlier this year, and their roads are in excellent condition.
It's that bad, that a pothole I reported a couple of weeks ago - about 10" in diameter and 6" deep - that was filled only last weekend, has started collapsing again.  The policy seems to be fill it in, not to repair the underlying problem, hence the fact it's now sinking again after less than a week.
Please get your act together, it's a false economy, and it's my tax money your wasting.

Tired tired tired

Birthday done and dusted a couple of days ago and I'm still tired dammit.  I don't feel like I've got ANY energy at the moment, which makes concentrating on anything a pain.

On a lighter note, earlier this week I went to see Inception, and damn, that an excellent movie.  Came out, and just wanted to head back in and see it again.  If you haven't seen it, think what The Sting would have been like if it had been written by Philip K Dick. Immense move.  Utterly brilliant.

Life begins at....

The saying goes "Life begins at forty".  I used to think that was a pile of crap, but I'm 44 this year, and on Friday I was out for a pint with a mate from uni, and this sort of came up during the course of the night.  We were talking about the fact we still liked the same things we did when we were in our 20's, but the key factor is this - you don't get hung up on all the BS you do when you're younger.  You just like what you like doing, and if anyone else has a problem with it tough.
There's no pressure to be cool, and ironically by not trying to be cool, people actually ARE cooler.  If you want to try something then you do, and you don't care if you look like an arse in the attempt.  In our younger days, it was all style over substance.  We knew then that was a crap attitude, but there was a pressure to fit in with whatever peer group you were part of.  Now it's not an issue.
I'm doing things now I'd never have thought of trying when I was younger.  Karate, rock climbing, scuba diving, and you know what, life is better than ever.

Weekend stuff

Well, the windfarm was pretty cool.  Got a lot of info at the visitor center.  It's the largest windfarm in Europe, and is going to be expanded again.

There's an iron age hill fort and a couple of trig pillars on the site, so I've got a good reason to go back and have a good mooch round.

Sunday morning was climbing time.  Six or possibly seven routes were bagged, including one that I'd fallen off last week.  I tried a different approach, and it worked a treat.  Afterwards I was knackered, but in a really good way.  It's a brilliant workout.

it's the weekend, yay!!!

That's it, work's over for another week.  Tomorrow we're off to pick up Tracy, and head out to Whitelees Windfarm for a wander round the visitor centre and the forest.  Hope it stays dry, but if today's anything to go by it should be fine.

Work is getting interesting.  There's a project I'm involved in, and it involves fieldwork to collect samples.  At the moment it's from to Glasgow sites, but soon, there'll be a couple of sites in Melrose that we'll be collecting from as well.  I say it's getting interesting, as there's been problems getting the samplers to work, and it's not the same problem each time.  Today at one site we got fantastic samples, but none at the other.  There appears to be a problem with the sampling unit, so we might have to get someone from the compay that installed them to come out and take a look.

In other non-work work related news, I'm organising a hillwalk up Ben Ledi, to raise money for SAMH, at the end of August.  Some of the girls in the office have gone *squeeeee* as they've found somewhere to buy pink walking boots.  Yes, that's right, PINK walking boots.  

On the music front, I'm currently loving the soundtrack to Into the Wild.  Awesome songs from an amazing movie.

Well that was the weekend that was

And it started out with a meal on Friday with K to celebrate out 12th wedding anniversary.  Really nice meal it was too.  We went to Oshi in Langs, sorry, the Park Inn.  (Park Inn took over Langs a couple of years ago.  People still call it Langs though).

On Saturday we went out to Decathalon at over at the Fort.  It was a good trip for me as I forgot to take my bank or credit cards out with me and couldn't buy anything, so that was good.

Sunday I headed over to the climbing wall, where 5 routes were claimed, and another 2 claimed me.  So that's 2 I've got to get tonight when I head over again.  Later, we went to the gig organised by Rock Radio and Apollo Memories, to commemorate the 25 years since the Apollo in Glasgow closed down.  Brilliant gig.  4 really good tribute acts - Backwater (Status Quo), Volts (AC/DC), Cash Back (Johnny Cash) and Limehouse Lizzy (Thin Lizzy).  I'm NOT a big Lizzy fan, but Limehouse Lizzy were superb, and I'd consider going to see them again.  The rest of the bands were spot on as well.

Finally holiday Monday.  A wee trip to Silverburn for some shopping, then vegging out and catching up with some tv shows we'd recorded.

Good weekend (apart from the rain).

What's wrong with people?

Raoul Moat was an ex nightclub bouncer, who went nuts, killed his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend, attacked her, and shot and blinded a policeman.
After "declaring war" on the police and then adding in the public for good measure, he went on the run for seven days, before shooting himself in the head during a stand-off with police.
In the aftermath, tourists are turning up at the site of the stand-off to leave flowers and get their photos taken, and Facebook has a fan page called "R.I.P> Raoul Moat - you legend" with 300k + members, who on the whole are saying HE'S the victim and it's his ex's fault he attacked her and killed her new b/f !  Britain is getting worse, the nutters are getting away with (literally) murder, and being made out to be heroes for "taking on the police".  What's worse, the pc/civil liberties crowd are worried about the perps rights, and not the victims.

I'm not a christian, but I'm begining to think I should read Revelations, and get a head's up, 'cos it looks like the counrty (if no the world) is on a one way ticket to self destruction.

Couple of days holiday

Just back from a couple of days off work.  One day and then off again for the weekend.  Result.
While I was off, I went bouldering at the climbing wall, then me and K went to the art galleries to see the Glasgow Boys exhibition.  It was good, but I've got issues with the way they've laid out the exhibits since they've renovated the galleries.  It's harder (to me anyway) to find what you want to see.  There's more interactive exhibits for kids, which is good, but of the ones I saw, there were a few that were out of action.

Yesterday, I went for a bit of a wander round the West End, where I picked up a book of Holbine's sketches of Heanry VIII's court, for K, in the Oxfam on Byres Road.  I also found a Charles Laughton movie about Henry VIII for £3 in FOPP, so I picked that up for her as well.
Then I met K outside the Ashoka in Ashton Lane, and grabbed lunch.

Walking back into town, I went to see When You're Strange, a documentary about The Doors, at the GFT (highly recommend it), before meeting Simon for a pint after work, then heading home.

Nice semi-slobbish couple of days off.  Now one day of grind before vegging at the weekend.

Why is this funny?

I've got a t-shirt on today with the symbol for Aum (Om), and one of the IT peeps (who's Indian) asked if I knew what it meant.  When I said I did and explained, she was quite impressed, and asked if I was Buddhist.
I was relating this to a girl I work beside, and she burst out laughing at the thought that I might be Buddhist.  I was a little miffed because (a) what's so funny about the fact I might be Buddhist, and (b) I do tend towards Buddhism in my personal beliefs.  Buddhism comes very close to matching my world view and spiritual beliefs.

Still don't know why it should be funny.  I should probably have asked her.

Forthcoming attractions

I picked up a brochure for the GFT the other day, and there's some good and some downright weird movies coming soon.  There's a documentary about The Doors, that I'd like to check out, and a complete weird-0-rama called Trash Humpers, that could be worth a watch.

They've also got a horror/cult movie discussion group on a Wednesday evening, that I might start going to.

I've got a couple of days holiday on Wednesday and Thursday.  K doesn't work on Wednesday, so if the weather is nice, I'd like the two of us to jump in the car and head off for the afternoon.  If it's dry on Thursday, I might head up the cycle path to Loch Lomond, and if not, I'll checkout a couple of movies.

Currently listening is

1. Muse (if the Glastonbury gig isn't released as a dvd, it's nothing short of criminal.  Totally awesome)
2. Radiohead - In Rainbows.  Just the right mix of chilled out-ness and fuzzed up-ness that I'm in the mood for right now.
3. Dan Reed - Coming Up For Air.  I've been living with this album since I got it on pre-order, and it's stunning. I can really connect with some of the songs.

Non musical goodness (may contain books) - this morning when I got off the train, I was handed a voucher for a half-price top 50 paperback in W H Smiths.  So I headed over the concourse for a nosey, not actually expecting to see anything.  Well, I was wrong.  Pick up To Kill a Mockingbird for £3.50.  Result.

When I was out at lunchtime, I went to pick up some catnip for Rosie (she goes apeshit for it, where Betty ignores it).  She shop also had catnip bubbles, so that could be interesting.  We'll see if she takes to it.

Now though, I'm just back from lunch, and clock watching till 4.45pm  I wanna go home.

New books

Picked up some new books recently.  In a charity shop in Troon I snagged a copy of Whit by Ian Banks (sans M), in Largs - again in a charity shop - I got a copy of Sahara by Michael Palin, and this morning, thanks to a promotion by SFX magazine and Waterstones, I got a free copy of House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds.

The last one is a result and a half, as I really like his books, and am currently reading Absolution Gap, the last book in his Revelation Space trilogy.

If you haven't read any of his books, the Revelation Space books are fantastic.  It's an epic space opera like no other I've read.  When you've got a physicist writing sf though, it should be pretty damn good.

Thinking of changing my user pic

To the pic below.  Dunno though.  Any thoughts? 

Packed weekend

Saturday we picked up Robster, and headed off to Largs.  On the way we stopped off at Newark Castle, before going bagging the trip pillar at Craigs Top, overlooking the Clyde and Greenock.

Moving on to Largs, we hit the charity shops, as I raked through the second hand books and cd's.  I came away with a copy of Michael Palin's Sahara, and a cd of hippy-folky stuff by Melenie.  A pint in a beer garden was followed up with a really nice curry, in an Indian's overlooking the promenade.
After eating, I bumped into one of my old physics lecturers on the seafront.

Leaving Largs, we headed to Portencross, to see the castle.  It was closed when we got there, but the place itself is really nice.  Sort of tiny little hamlet I'd love to live in (if only it had a pub!).

Sunday morning was reserved for climbing, and in the afternoon, we watched England get knocked out of the World Cup by Germany (snigger), then vegged out watching Zulu.

All in, a packed weekend.  Roll on the next one.

Labouring the point

Just off the phone to my mum.  It ended with me stressing again.  She asks you something and you answer.  She says "are you sure?" you give her the same answer and she asks AGAIN!!!!.  When I start to get ratty about it she comes back with the "you don't have to speak like that" line.

I tried explaining that I shouldn't have to keep repeating myself, and her need to ask the same thing half a dozen times is grating.  She's then got the nerve to come over as if you've insulted her.

FFS!!!  Parents!

Dammit

This feels like a Friday.  That means that (A) since I finish at 4.00pm on  Friday, the last hour today will drag in.  That's the law when you get the days confused, and (B) tomorrow, the REAL Friday, will seriously drag in.
At least I get to nip out to do some work on a water sampler tomorrow, so I won't be stuck in front of the pc all day.

Chuffed

Upped the ante at the local climbing wall last night on both the slabs, where I moved on to 6A's, and the bouldering wall where after completing the V0's and V1's at the weekend, I did a couple of V2's.

It might not be that impressive to hardcore climbers, but it's an improvement on where I was at, and Im pretty chuffed with myself.

On the downside, I'm knackered :o)

Latest celeb death....

Frank Sidebottom.  He of the paper mache head is dead.
Didn't see that one coming.

Into the Wild

Last night I watched the movie Into the Wild.  I'd come across it by accident, but once I'd read about it, I had to see it.  It's the true story of a guy who graduates, and his parents have his life mapped out  for him.  There's also family issues in the background and in his past, which make him unhappy, the only person understanding him is his sister.

Instead of going on to university, he clears his bank account, gives all his money to charity, and goes on the road as a hobo, with his ultimate aim of getting to Alaska.  He's searching for some kind if idealised existence, and thinks he's going to find it in the wilds of Alaska.

It's a very touching movie.  If you don't find his story moving, then you're probably already dead.  There's also a book, and the soundtrack contains songs by Eddie Vedder.  Well worth checking out.

Paddling and other weekend pursuits

Yesterday since it was scorchio again, we took advantage of the weather and headed to Troon again. I like Troon. It reminds me a wee bit of what Girvan was like when I was a kid, and we went there for holidays, although it seems a bit smaller, but that could just be my memory playing tricks.

Ice cream was eaten, pub lunch was eaten, and paddling, YES PADDLING on the beach done.

This morning was a bit more energetic, as I went bouldering at the climbing wall, for an hour, before heading out and picking up a couple of dvd's (The Bank Job and Into The Wild)

Coming up for Air

A few months ago, Dan Reed toured the UK for the first time since the Network tours in the 90's.  It was a sort-of-acousticy affair.  The new songs being more spiritual and the old Network songs taking on a new (for me) life, especially "I'm so Sorry".  Anyway, the new album is Coming up for Air, and I've never connected with the lyrics in an album the way I have with this one.  It's incredible.

Dan played again recently, and there was a fantastic sing-a-long of the song "Closer".  This is a deeply moving song, and the whole crowd singing along just added to it.  It was as if everyone connected in a very special, magical, moment.

Coming up for Air is a very special album.

Time

All we have is time.  We have a finite amount, and when it runs out, that's it.  Game over.  So, with that in mind I've been trying lately to waste less of it.  I've been going road trips at the weekend with K, and seeing places I've (a) never seen, or (b) not been to for way too long, and it's been good so far.  We're going to keep it up.

This has got me thinking about the time that was (possibly) wasted in my 20's, when I could and should have been out going places, seeing things and doing.  Instead I was sitting (admittedly with friends and girlfriends) in bars listening to rock/blues bands.  But the thing is, that's the sort of thing that made me who I am.  If I hadn't done that, would I be as appreciative now, when I'm out seeing my own country.  Would I enjoy travelling to other countries as much?  If I'd married my ex, I'd have been to Spain every year for beach holidays.  I'd never have met K and gone to Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Sri Lanka etc.  I'd have looked and photos in National Geographic, and yearned, but would I have got off my arse and actually GONE ?  Probably not.

Maybe the time wasn't wasted after all.  Anyway, it was fun at the time.

Tired legs and that's before excercising

Don't know what's going on today.  My legs feel tired, day after the marathon tired.  I haven't cycled to work for a couple of days (perhaps I should have) so no excuses.  Tonight, it's off to the climbing center for a bit of hanging/falling off walls.

Starting to feel like I need to take a couple of days off just for the hell of it, and maybe get out on the bike, or get on a bus and trudge up a hill for a bit.

Knowing my luck, I'll take the time off and it'll pour down!

More castles visited

The weekend was pretty good.  Weather wise, Saturday was excellent, so we headed to Troon, via Irvine.  At Irvine, we had a wander round the huge shopping center, before wandering down a wee street and unexpectedly coming across Seagate Castle.  There was a plaque on the wall telling how the castle was the site of the signing of a declaration in the 13th Century, and how it was visited by Mary Queen of Scots it the 16th Century.

  Further along the coast, we spend some time in Troon, where we had a game of crazy golf, and stopped off for lunch in the Postage Stamp pub.  Excellent food.

  On the way home, we stopped off at Dundonald Castle.  It's a pay to get in castle, and closes at 5.00pm, so we arrived too late to get in and visit the castle, but we did get to walk round the outside and get some decent photos.
Next time we'll make sure we get there early enough to actually get into the castle.

Not supporting England in the World cup is NOT racist

Over on Facebook, some people are getting hot under the collar about Scots not supporting England during the World Cup.  One poster has gone as far as calling it "thinly veiled racism".  WTF!!  I am not English, and I don't live in England.  I live in SCOTLAND.  It's a different culture, we're from different backgrounds.  We're of Celtic/Viking descent, while the English are Anglo-Saxon with a bit of whoever else invaded thrown in.  The Irish are also Celts, but for some reason, it's the Scots who are accused of being racist for not supporting England.

Why would be?

If I was a Rangers supporter, I wouldn't support Celtic in a tournament because they had got through and Rangers hadn't.

This sprang up because of a FB group boycotting Mars bars in England coloured wrappers, designed to show support for England.  Sorry, I don't support England, so I won't buy one.  It's not rocket science.
Would I buy one with a Saltire on it.  I wouldn't go out my way to, but I will not buy something to show support for a team I don't support.  And if some people think that's racist, then that's their problem.

Visit to the vet

Had to take one of the cats (Rosie) to the vet last night.  She was there a couple of months ago with impacted anal glands (messy).  This time I noticed there was a faint smell of wee from her and she's licking her backside a fair bit.

The vet didn't get a urine sample, but basically assumed that she had a urine infection and gave her an antibiotic shot, that will last two weeks.  If things haven't improved by then, we'll have to take her back.

She's a happy enough cat, she just isn't too keen on me at the moment for taking her to the vet.

Mini clear out

I've managed to accumulate a wee pile of cd's in work, so today I had a wee rake through them and took some to the 2nd hand record shop.  Didn't trade, as there's nothing I'm interested in getting at the moment, so took cash instead.  Payed me what I'd have asked for, so no need to haggle.

I want to de-clutter badly.

Be like water

Karate on Friday night was good.  For various reasons there was just three of us (including sensei), so we got some in depth practice.
We were concentrating on someone grabbing your wrists, and the fact that if you turned your hips, you could off-balance them.  If you used your arms, nothing happened, but if you relaxed your arms, and kept a strong stomach, when they grabbed, it only took a sllight movement to send them on their way.

Reminded me of Bruce Lee's quotes about being like water and flowing, and that trees that are rigid break when a force is applied, whereas saplings that bend in the breeze wont.

Quite a zen-like class.

Ripples

When I woke up this morning, or more realistically, when the alarm wrenched me from the deep sleep I was in, I was shattered.  How is it possible to feel like you'd had a skinfull the night before, when in reality you haven't had any alcohol for about 4 days?  Anyway, I digress.  It was so bad that even though it was Friday, it felt like a Monday.

When I got into town, I headed in to see if a coffee would make me feel better/wake me up.  I occasionally grab a coffee when I cycle to work, so a few of the staff know I like a mocha and a muffin. Today, I was served by the manageress, who shouted my coffee order and put a muffin on the tray for me.  As I handed her my money, she said "Coffee on the house for you today".  Instant smile on my part.

By the time I got into work my spirits had raised.  A random act of kindness when I was feeling run down, and I perked right up.  This will have an ongoing effect.  I truly believe that things like this ripple outwards, and one person giving me a free coffee, will result in someone neither of us have met, having a better day.

advert weirdness

I'm not sure why I went in for the monetise programme with this blog, lets face it, it's not like anyone actually reads it, anyway, today was the weirdest ad yet.  After posting about ending up unexpectedly in the pub, I get an ad for colonic irrigation.  Yes folks, by some bizarre train of thought which I can't fathom, ad-sense seems t link going to the pub with colonic irrigation.

Go figure.

Unexpected afternoon in pub

Yesterday I went out for a lunchtime wander round GOMA (Glasgow's Gallery of Modern Art).  It's usually quite good, but the main hall was taken up with a video installation which was, to be honest, a bit wanky.
After perusing the pretentiousness of it all (and don't get me wrong, I like a bit of pretention), I headed back up to work to find that there had been a wee bit of a fire.  So, once it was over, they let us collect personal belongings and told us to go home.

If work =closed due to fire
Then home=pub

:-D

Dan Reed

Last night Dan Reed was back at King Tuts for the second time this year.  Once again, it was a brilliant show.  The band are really tight, and Dan really looks like he's enjoying himself, no pretentious rock star posturing or ego on show here.

The new material is brilliant.  It's not the funked up sound he had in the early 90s, it's got a laid back acoustic-y feel to  it, and it's already proved to be the perfect soundtrack for lazing in the garden on a sunny day.

Here's a wee pic from last night's gig.

All change (sort of)

After posting about the sweltering temperatures that were threatening to turn the average weegie into some sort of weird human-lobster hybrid, the weather goes and changes on me today.  It was all fine and dandy when I left the house and cycled into work this morning, but by late morning, it was considerably cooler, and when I was out for a wander at lunchtime, it tried, and failed, to rain.  This probably means it will try, and succeed, when I'm cycling home.

The lunchtime karate class was cancelled today as the sensei is ill, she's hoping to be ok for Friday, but if it's off, it'll give me a lazy evening, which at the moment, I wouldn't be averse to :-D.

In other news, I picked up Lawrence of Arabia for a fiver.  I've not seen it since I was a kid, and at over 200 mins, I'll have to set aside an afternoon to watch it.  Hope it's as good as I remember.

Hot hot hot

Glasgow is currently trying it's best to resemble a tropical paradise.  Well, the sun is out, at least, and for the past few days it's been hot hot hot.  In typical weegie* style, the natives are moaning about the heat, and forgetting that last week they were moaning about the rain.

Taking advantage of the weather, I got up earlier than usual so I could cycle slowly to work.  When the weather is good and you're up early enough that the traffic is minimal, Glasgow is actually a nice city to cylce round.  Tomorrow I'm on the train as I'm going out straight from work, but on Wendesday, I need to remember to pick up my camera and do another leasiurely pedal into work, looking for photo oppertunities.

(*Weegie - a native of the City of Glasgow)

Linn Park mooch

Went for a wander round the Linn Park again yesterday.  This time we went up to the spot where Mary Queen of Scots was supposed to have stood and watched the Battle of Langside take place.  (Battlefield in Glasgow is built on the actual site of the Battle of Langside trivia fans).

There's a monument on top of the hill to mark the spot, unfortunately you can't see down to Battlefield as there's trees in the way.  Hey, at least it's not flats.

The above is the engraving on the monument to the Battle, that stands on the spot Mary stood while watching the battle rage below her.

 

Above is the monument, showing the engraving commemorating the battle, and below is another view of the monument.

                                               

Home again home again jiggedy jig

That's us back from our holiday to Beirut, with a two day trip to Damascus thrown in. 

An excellent time was had, although Simon and Wendy had to head home a week early, as Wendy had a shoulder injury that was causing a lot of pain.

Lebanon is a beautiful country, with Beirut a very cosmopolitan city.  Syria is also stunning, with possibly the friendliest people I have ever come across.  Highly recommended, and can't wait to go back, only this time, we'll spend more time in Damascus.

Weekend mooch

So, the weekend invloved walking in the hills, drinks with friends, and lazing about doing absolutely nothing except catching up with Dr Who.

On Saturday we went for a wander up Gleniffer Braes outside Paisley.  There was a trig pillar found...

....and there was standing stones.  Sort of.....

Later on, Robbie & Linda came over for a drink and a natter, but I was flagging by about midnight and had to bounce them.  Sorry guys :-)

Sunday mainly involved lazing about, catching up with Dr Who (loving it), and also a couple of episodes of Warehouse 13, which I like.  Sort of X-Files meets Reaper sort of thing.

Now it's back to work and planning for next weekend.

Eastercon. The halfway point

So, it's Sunday morning and we're half-way through the convention.  Panels have been attended, ale has been quaffed, and there's even been a spot of ceilidh dancing for which proper attire was worn (see pic).

Last night included a mass viewing of Dr Who, with what looked like the entire convention watching.  Brilliant 1st episode. 

So far it's been a good one.  Off for breakie now.

Eastercon ho!

The countdown to this years Eastercon is well under way.  Thursday morning, I'm heading down to Heathrow, dumping the bags at the hotel, then heading into London to play at being a tourist, before meeting up with Steve and his other half for a drink.

The convention starts on Friday and runs till Monday.  I'm running a programme item (Do you worship Cthulhu?) on the Saturday, and I'm flying back on the Tuesday.  Get back around lunchtime, head home, get showered, and head back out to see Airbourne at the Academy.  It's going to be a hectic weekend :-)

It's all about money dammit.

Tonight I have to take one of the cats to the vet.  She's a bit tender round the base of her tail and round her backside, and last night was complaining if she was touched there.  Fortunately we're insured, so it should be a £50 max if anything needs done.

Tomorrow I've had to take the day off so that the boiler can be serviced.  British Gas don't appear to do servicings at weekends, so I've taken the day off.  With my luck that probably means the guy will turn up at 8.00am !  The earlier the better anyway, as it means I can head into town to pay some bills, and catch a movie before going to the karate club.

Music likes and loathes

I'm totally into the re-invented spiritual singer/songwriter that is Dan Reed.  I was a huge fan of the Dan Reed Network, and saw them a couple of times way back when, but when I saw Dan at the Garage a few weeks ago, it was awesome.
You know that moment in movies when someone sings or says something and the main character connects, and has a moment of total lucidity?  Well, that happened.   It was a moment of pure clarity, and I'm loving the new music as much if not more than the old DRN stuff.  In fact, the re-workings of the DRN stuff is superb.  The songs have a new life.

On the other hand, I totally don't get and cant' stand The Lost Prophets.  So working on the principle that if you can't say anything nice, I'll shut up right about now.

Life re-boot

There's things I want to change in my life.  Hoarding material things (OMG the cd's!!!) is getting to be a burden from a phsycic point of view.  I hanker after a life less cluttered, but letting go is hard. I'm obsessive about music/cd's/movies/comics.

I need to let go bit by bit.  There's a lot of books I could get rid of, but they "look good" on the shelf.  I know I'll probably rarely (if ever) re-read them.  I need to get down to the ones I do re-read (JRRT, Moorcock, Eddings, Barker).

My ideal would be to be like Cane in Kung Fu.  I could have one small-ish bag with all my needs in it.  Probably never happen, but it's something to aim for.

Back on the bike

Last year I mostly cycled to work.  It's cheaper than the bus/train, it's excercise, and it's faster than the bus.  I can take a route through a local park, and along the side of the River Clyde, that avoids LOTS of traffic lights, and as a result is faster than the bus.
When I get into work I can grab a shower in the gym, then there's still time to get a coffee before I have to start work, so it's win - win.

At the weekend, we had some friends round on Saturday for dinner, which was pretty good.  Sunday was a long lazy morning followed by a trip to the movies in the afternoon to see Shutter Island, which I liked, but K was a bit dissapointed in.  She liked it, but had thought from the trailers that it was a horror movie.

So, that was the weekend.  Short and sweet, and now it's back to work and as long as there's no horrible weather backlash, that's the bike now until December again.

Time to gafiate

(Google it)

I'm starting to prioritise things in my mind, and the monthly SF meet-up and conventions are currently not scoring too highly.  I need to get out of fandom for a bit for 2 reasons.

1. My sanity.  I tend to start something and immerse myself to the point that one day I wake up, and it's taken over everything else, and I start to resent it.  Fandom is getting that way.  I need to walk away for a bit.

2. I've realised what I knew all along.  It's not SF that I love.  It's fantasy, horror and comics.  That's not to say that I don't like SF, just that it's not my preffered genre, and I think I've been kidding myself by trudging through massive space operas when I could have been reading some Moorcock, Eddings, Barker or even Burroughs or Vonnegut.

This probably sounds a bit crap and over-analytical.  After all it's only books, but, I do tend to obsess slightly, and end up spending a fortune on stuff that ultimately I'm a bit meh about.

So that's it.  SF groups, only if I'm in the mood, not every month as I currently do.  Conventions?  If it's in Glasgow, maybe.  Elsewhere, highly unlikely.

Now THAT was a weird dream

Totally bizzare dream last night.  I dreamt one of the lecturers cam into my office with a 2 hole paper punch in his hand and asked me if I had the driver disk for it.

Now, yes, it's a bit weird, BUT, what's weirder is that the academic in particular is very IT literate.  If it had been certain other academics, it would still have been weird, but not quite as weird.

9

Finally got round to seeing 9 last night.  I'd got a loan of it from a neighbour, but I think this is one that might get picked up, as it really is worthy of repeat viewing.
Superb animation, a great story, just really really good.  You could totally empathise with these little rag dolls struggling to survive in a a world destroyed by man.

Can't recommend this highly enough.

Fulci-fest

Last night's Lucio Fulci double bill at the GFT was outstanding.  Sold-out audience was there to see the spaghetti-gore classics The Beyond, and The City of the Living Dead.
There was a Q&A session after each movie, with the stars of the films, Catriona MacCall and Giovani Lombardo Radici.  David Hess, star of the original Last Houuse on the Left, was also in attendance (Last House had been screened on Friday), and he and Giovani had also stared together in The House by the Park.

There was some givaaways, including a dvd signed by Dario Argento, which was won by a girl who managed to list all of Argento's movies in order of  release, with only one error.  No one else even got all the movies! 

Zombie-fest

Lucio Fulci double bill at the GFT tonight.  Seen both movies before, but never on a big screen.  Should be fun.

Kilt query

I'm off to Eastercon in Heathrow over the Easter weekend.  As they're having a ceidlih, I'm thinking of taking my kilt.  When you're travelling with a rucksack, the easiest way to carry a kilt is to wear it for the flight.  Question is, will the kilt pin be a "terrorist" item, will it be classed an offensive weapon just like nail scissors, and have to go in the hold in the rucksack, or will it simply be part of an item of clothing and I'll be able to keep it on the kilt for the flight?

See what you've done Osama!!!  Wearing a kilt used to be simple.  You've partly criminalised my national dress.

Next on the reading list

I tend to multitask when it comes to reading books.  One by the bed, one for the commute (if I'm not cycling), and one in work to read at lunch.

The books being consumed at the moment are only two (I've just finished the bedside book and need to start a new one), and they are :-

Commuting book - The Tao Te Ching
Work book - The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K Dick.

There's also a selection of Byrons poems in a pocket of the courier bag, that can get dug out if the mood takes me.

Tonight I'm off to karate in about an hour, and then home to veg.  Tomorrow night there's a Lucio Fulci double bill at the GFT (Glasgow arthouse/independant cinema), so I'm off there with a couple of friends while K goes to a classical concert I got free tickets for.

Trout and about

Last night I took myself along to the Ressurgence of Trout, the Glasgow city centre SF fan meet-up.  This is on the 2nd Thursday of every month, and is currently at home in the Edward Wylie on Bothwell St.

It was a fun night.  Food was eaten, ale was quaffed, and talk was talked.  Some of it even related to SF !
 There was an announcement of the launch of  Satellite 3 (the successor to Satellites 1 & 2), in the Central hotel in 2012.  If you like conventions and want to come to Glasgow, watch this space for more details.

Aching muscles adn cheesey grins

Was down at the local climbing wall last night, and apart from one OMG! moment when a hold spun as I had all my weight on it (I managed to stay on the wall btw), it was a great night.  Lots of tiring fun.
Managed some more level 6 routes, but weirdly came a cropper on a couple of 5+'s.  I suppose it depends on who has set the route, and the difficulty is reletive I suppose.  Anyway, loads of fun.

Shhh it was a secret gig

On Wednesday night, myself adn three others boldly headed out to deepest darkest Kirkintilloch to see GUN playing a secret warm up gig prior to supporting Lynyrd Skynyrd at the SECC, and the start of their Popkiller 2010 tour.

The gig was in a pub slightly bigger than a postage stamp, and there was about 90 people there by my guess. It was packed solid.  The band put on a brilliant show, and played as if it WAS the SECC they were playing to.  After the gig, the guys came into the crowd and happily mingled, chatted and posed for photos.  It was the first time I'd met them, and they're all really frinedly and happy to chat.

Great gig by a fantastic band.  They're heading out on tour now, so try and catch them if you can.  You won't regret it.

Dan Reed 20 years on

On Monday I went to a small club in Glasgow to see Dan Reed.  This was the first time in about 20 years, as the last time I'd seen him was the last time he played in Glasgow with the Dan Reed Network. 
It was a great show.  Although there was a full - and extremely talented - band with him, there was still an acoutsticy feel to the proceedings.  This was a good thing.  The older DRN songs sound great stripped back like this, especially I'm So Sorry, which while a great song in the original form, is now an extremely poigniant song about a tragic suicide.

This was a really good, gig in an intimate setting.  If you get the chance to check him out, then I really recommend you do.  An extrememly talented guy with a superb backing band.

Ok, so I've included AdSense

But WTF?!  I mean seriously, an ad for Indian Sex!!!  I say again, WTF!?

Do something new every year Part 2

In an addendum to the previous post, it looks like I might have stumbled across this years' new thing quite by accident, at work.  I had to do a wee (extremely wee) bit of html for someone, and quite enjoyed it even though it was extremely basic.  There's an Intro to HTML course running in the work at the end of the month, so I've signed up for it.  As long as they get enough people to sign up - 6 - it's a go-er. 

Here we go again, time to feed the grey matter and stave off senility.

Do something new every year

I like the idea that you should try something new every year.  Karen got back from yoga yesterday and told me about kendo classes in the local sports centre.  Now, this looks great, BUT, they practise Tuesday, Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings.  Tuesday and Sunday are out, as that's climbing wall days.  At the moment, Thursday IS ok, but the karate club I'm in is a Wednesday lunchtime and Friday night, and run by a researcher, who only has 8 months left.  If she leaves, then she wouldn't be able to run the Wednesday, and if she has to move for work then the Friday night could be over, meaning......that I'd have to go to the Whiteinch club we're affiliated with, and it's on.....a Thursday.

So, I'll leave it this year, see how things pan out with the karate club, and possibly give it a go next year.

There's a part of me that is screaming out to me to de-clutter.  I find this incredibly hard to do so, as I am a hoarder.  I used to have a bag full of old tour shirts from the 80's when I started going to gigs.  Now, these t-shirts were pretty much all medium.  My build means I now wear XL.  I could wear L, but I find them a little tight under the arms.  Anyway I struggled with myself for months before getting rid of them, but the charity shops benifited at least.

The problem now is that I've a pile of football shirts from countries I've visited (Tunisia, Egypt, Senegal), and I don't even like football.  Every country seems to be a bit footie daft, and it's a cheap (usually) souvenir of a trip, but - and here's the rub - I don't think I've ever worn any of them, so they are jsut lying un a drawer takin gup space.

My head says "Charity shop" but I've having a real problem letting go.  There's more than the footie shirts, but that's the best example.

Pretty much accepting the new level of suck that is work.  On a cheerier note, I'm of to the theatre tonight to see Fiddler on the Roof.  Before that we're going for some Japanese, and before THAT, I've been instructed to sit in the pub until K arrives.  Doesn't get much better than that :-)

I'm toying with the idea of having a teetotal March.  I want to raise my fitness level and lose a little gut, so it can't hurt, although, it might not make any significant difference as I don't really drink much anyway.  I can but see.

Had an enoyable weekend doing nothing.  I jsut basically vegged out and caught up on the last of Season 1 of True Blood, which was pretty cool.

While it's good to get away from work and do something else, it's also good to occasionally do absolutely nothing but veg out.

Just heard a song on the radio that I've not heard in ages.  The lyrics just resonate so much with me. Marillions' Script for a Jester's Tear will always give me goosebumps and make me maudlin.

Today was the complete opposite of yesterday.  Just before lunch I get an email from my line managed sent to myself and a collegue asking for a plan for a new layout and new furniture for my room.  The furniture in here is about a year old, so I asked him why new furniture was being bought and he said for the new people coming into the room !  Now, I'm only the person occupying the room, a little warning that the occupancy was going to go past the three it's currently laid out for would be nice. 

Oh, and BTW, where exactly are you going to put them, as the last remaining wall is a glass partition.  How exactly are you going to put the trunking for the power and network cables along a glass partition?

I've said I want moved out.

I was on the recieving end of a random act of kindness today, when one of the lecturers in work, who was in front of me in the queue for coffee, waited till I'd ordered, told the girl to make it large, and paid for it.

Things like that restores my faith in humanity.

SIXTY-ONE NAILS

There's a quote on the cover of Sixty-One Nails by Mike Shevedon, calling it the "Neverwhere for the new generation."  This is true, but the book is oh so much more than a mere Neverwhere clone.

The story follows the exploits of Naill.  Divorced and living a crummy life of work, home, sleep, work, his life is thrown into turmoil when he "dies" on the platform while waiting for a tube, and is rescucitated by an old woman who turns out to be one of the Fayre.  She explains to Naill that he is in fact a half-breed, part fayre, part human, and that there are seven fayre courts.  Six of which bred with humans to continue the bloodline, and the seventh - the Untainted - which refused to, and withdrew, promising to return and restore the land to the way it was before humans.

When he "died" one of the Untainted tried to enter his body, and she managed to prevent it.  Unfortunately they were now aware of his existance and the fact he's a mongrel.

With the Untainted trying to kill him, and also cross back into this world, Naill and his saviour discover that the only thing keeping the barrier up that prevents the Untainted from carrying out their wish is an ancient ritual, that is carried out once a year.

The battle is on for Naill to stay alive and with the help of his saviour - Blackbird - to ensure the ritual takes place and the barrier held intact.

Sixty-On Nails is an absolute page turner.  It's one of those books you really don't want to end.

The comparison to Neverwhere is only accurate in that it IS and urban fantasy, and it IS taking place in a world hidden beneath/behind our own, that we might just glimpse, but never see.

Highly recommended.
 

Books books books.

In the space of one day my "To read" pile increased by 4 books, three of which I've to post reviews of.  I can't remember if I'm posting them here or on my LJ page, so I'll do both.

Watch out for a review of Sixty-One Nails by Mike Shevdon, coming soon.

Work is a bit sucky today.  Not that what I'm doing sucks, it's more the people.  There's too many people who seem to have an agenda, and they're all game playing.  Some without the knowledge to back up what they're saying/doing.

It's all shite, and not a little pointless.  Score points off each other is retarded.

I may turn to drink.

I *think* I need to de-clutter.  There's a lot of psychic baggage, and ironically I seem to be comfort shopping to cheer myself up, which jsut adds to the problem.

I made a start by giving my old trusty denim jacket to the homeless guy at EK shopping centre, who helped K carry the plasma telly to the car.  He was really chuffed.

There's more that could head to the charity shop if I just got round to it.  I need to get round to it.

It's finally 2010, and for some reason I've a feeling that a corner has been turned.  I wasn't aware of any corners NEEDING turned, but today for some reason, I can't help feeling that something is going to change, and for the better.

Maybe I'll drink less and excercise more, maybe I'll get the hang of the BBC self study Japanese course I bought.  Maybe work will imprrove, or maybe, just maybe, I'll win the lottery.

Whatever it is, it'll be interesting.

Wow, you don't post for a couple of weeks and the next thing you know it's Christmas, well, almost. 

The radiator in the living room ain't working, and in this weather, that's not a good thing.  Called Scottish Gas, and even though I'm not a customer, there's an engineer coming out tomorrow to fix it.  They've even said he'll definately be out between 8.00 am and 1.00pm.  OK it IS a 5 hour window, but it sure beats sitting in ALL day waiting.

Not cycling this week, as it's a hectic one.  Tuesday and Wednesday I'm in Edinburgh on a course - Introduction to GIS.  On Thursday it's the Glasgow SF fan meet-up, and Friday is karate.  Today is the only day I could have cycled, but I opted to get the train and buy a weekly ticket as it will save me around £5 on travel this week.

Went to see W.A.S.P. last night on their 25th anniversary tour, and it was really good.  They're playing wee clubs, so there's no over the top pyro like they had in the 80's and 90's, but they still have it, and it was a great gig.

Tonight I need to veg :-)

Spent last week in Tunisia, which was really nice, except I didn't get any diving done as I was slightly bunged up.  Apart from that it was a great week.
Now I'm back to a cold, wet, and windy Glasgow, and it's not fun.  It really is grim.  It's pitch dark when I leave for work, and it's the same coming home.  Miserable.

I've not been using hte bike this week, as I reckon with the winds we're getting, it's more dangerous than it's worth cycling on the roads.  I'll still be doing karate and going to the climbing wall, although the yoga class has stopped now, as the teacher is very pregnant.

I still have a couple of days to take off between now and Christmas, so I'll see about getting them sorted out, and booking myself in for a floatation session as a wee treat.

Since freezing my fingers off on Monday, I haven't used the bike to get to work.  This has nothing to do with the cold, and everything to do with a rather hectic social life necessitating not having a bike with me after work.

Last night I was at the Tramway for a couple of artist films, one about a woman in love with the Berlin wall, and the other, a documentary about an artist collaborating (and falling n love with) a death row inmate in the three months leading up to his execution.  Excellent stuff, if a bit off the (Berlin) wall.

Tonight is the Glasgow SF group meet, and tomorrow it's back to the Tramway for Taiko drummers, which should be damn good.

I'm off to Tunisia on Sunday for a week, and the holiday reading is Japanese for Dummies.  It seems/seemed like a good idea at the time.  Why Japanese ?  Why not.

Well, winter is definately here.  On the ride into work this morning, I had to stop a couple of times to defrost my fingers.  Couldn't feel them, and had to rely on the sound of the gears changing to confirm that I had indeed changed gear.
Once in work I took longer in the shower than usual, just enjoying the warmth.

Despite the cold, the ride in was actually nice, especially the bit through Bellahouston Park.  There was freezing fog, and the fog over the grass and trees was quite spooky, and would have made a really nice photo.  I really should make a point of taking a camera out with me when I'm on the bike.

So, I should either get new gloves (I'm wearing 2 pairs atm, fingerless over full fingered) or at least, liners to wear under the gloves I've got.

Tunisia for a week on Sunday, so at least I'l be warm there !

If you've read any of my drivel before, you'll be aware that I cycle to/from work.  Well last night I almost didn't, as some idiot had decided that chaining their bike to mince was a good idea.  Let me tell you it was not.

It wasn't a problem really, just an inconveniance, as I had to go to security, and get a man with boltcutters, to cut their lock off, so I could get my bike and get home.

I lose 15 minutes out of my day, and they have to pay for a new lock.  Seems like a fair swap to me.

So, in conclusion, take 30 seconds out your day to ensure that when you've chained your bike up, you haven't wrapped the cable round someone elses bike.  It'll save you some cash in the long run.

Life lately has been good if tiring.  On Saturday, there was a karate day course at Whitinch, so I took myself along, and after a fun but hard day, came away with my green belt, which was awesome, as I hadn't been expecting a grading.

On Sunday I headed to the climbing wall for some bouldering.  This provided the arm aching yang to the leg aching yin of the karate from the previous day.  Now my arms AND legs were achey, so my body was once again in balance :-D

This weekend will be a lot more relaxing as I head to the floatation tank on Saturday, then later that evening, we're having a couple of friends over for some Hallowe'en horror movies and a meal.

I need to chill a bit more and let my body recover :-)

There's a bit of a stushie going on about tonights appearance ot the BNP's Nick Griffin on the BBC's Question Time tonight.  Now, much as I'm NOT a supporter of the BNP, they ARE a legally elected party, and as such are entitled to airtime in the same way other parties are.

The anti-fascist lobby are trying to deny legally elected MP's their freedom of speech.  What irks me is that in doing so, they are in themselves being fascist.  Don't they see the irony, or is it a case of conveniently ignoring hte fact becuse it suits them. 

You can't cry "Freedom of speech" and they deny it to others.  I'm sorry that that smacks of fascism.  It 's the price you have to pay for living in a democracy, so ANL and AFA and all the others, you'll just have to suck it up.  What would you call the police if they tried to stop you protesting?  Exactly.  Grow up.

The weekend was pretty good.  A mixture of socialising and slobbing.

On Friday night after karate, I headed to a farewell party in a bar, for a couple of friends who are moving to Manchester.  It was good seeing them before they go, but I headed home after a couple of drinks, as it wasn't the sort of pub I usually go into.  Very much a "straight from the office" type crowd, and although the bar was nice, I can't be arsed with loud dance music that I have to shout over.  Not ideal for chatting to folk before they head down south.

When I got home I discovered that K had invested in a nice new shiny HD TV.  By the time I was home however, I was clutching a kebab, so the chances of attempting to set it up were nil. 

Saturday morning, and it was a case of up first thing to set up the new telly, and what a dawdle it was.  It's awesome.  Nearly gave myself a hernia getting the old crt telly up the stair though.  I'm for taking it to the recycling centre, as it's taking up far too much space.
That evening we met up with Steve and Dawn who were up from London, and headed to Nanakusa for dinner, followed by drinks in the Bon Accord.  All in all a nice day.

Sunday was slobbing day.  While K went skating, I vegged in front of the tv, and copied the first 3 episodes of FlashForward and the first 2 of True Blood, off the pvr onto dvd.  Later when K got back, we watched Coraline, which was pretty damn good.

The cycling is back on track next week.  Yesterday, I picked up a rather awesome 5 led Cat Eye front light, and a track pump.  The pump is pretty amazing, a couple of strokes and the tyre is solid, way better than banging away with a mini pump.  There's a built in pressure guage as well, so no messing about swapping between pump and guage.  Well worth the £20 it cost.

This week I have mostly NOT been cycling. This is because my fron light is playing up, and cuts out when I go over a bump. Bizzarely it doesn't cut back in when I hit another bump, so it's time to bite the bullet and get an led light for the front.

I've been back to the climbing wall twice this week. First time in about a year, and OMG it hurts. My arms were burning, I've blisters on my fingers, and my intercorstal muscles are screaming at me. But you know what ? I loved every pain filled minute, now, where do I buy callouses, or do I have to make my own?

Feeling really anti-social today. I'm supposed to be heading out tonight to the Glasgow SF meet-up, but I really don't think I'm wanting company at the moment. If I do go for a drink tonight, it'll be one on the way home, where I can sit with a paper and NOT feel oblidged to interact with anyone.

Hope this passes soon, could be a problem when it comes to having a social life !

This morning it was a bit on the nippy side when I left the house to cycle to work. For the first time, there was frost on the cars. It was nice though. Still managed to use shorts, but I don't think the day's far off when the running leggings will be worn under the shorts. I reckon this is the way to go, as if they get wet, they dry really quickly, so for a commute to/from work, they'll be ideal.

I was going to stick my cheapo camera in the rucksack today in case I saw any photo opertunities, but the batteries were dead and I'd no AAA's in the house. that's the only problem with this camera, it takes two AAA's, so the battery life is pretty poor. Fortunately we have a decent one, and I'll use the camera in my phone instead for any random commute pics. It's actually better than the cheapo camera anyway.

I cycle to work most days, and have a memebrship for the work gym. I haven't used it since I renewed it, but I do use the showers in the morning, after cycling in. What it costs a month is about half what it would cost me as a non-member, jsut to use the showers for a month, so it IS cost effective.

Today I went to the gym for the first time in over a year. All the excercise I do is lower body (running, cycling, karate), so I went in purely for an upper body workout, and boy are my arms feeling it, but in a good way. I have to admit, I enjoyed it, so I'll have to figure out how to get along more often. It might mean dropping off a bag of gym gear at the weekend, and then swapping it for clean gear the next. That's basically what I do with my karate stuff, so it shouldn't pose a problem.

So today, with the mudguard fitted, I was all prepared to have a dry arse, since the splatted from the wheel wouldn't ge to me. I did indeed have a dry arse, but if this was down to the mudguard remains to be seen, as it's a nice dry day today.

Went to the Glasgow SF meet up last night, although I wasn't really in the mood. I left after a couple od hours though, as I still wasn't really in the mood. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy it, just didn't feel like being there.

I'm in a catch 22 at the moment. I tend to like routine, so a regular monthly meet-up is ideal. The problem is that as soon as I start to feel like I'm in a rut, I resent the routine and want nothing to do with it. I should be going along because I WANT to go along, not because I feel I have to, sort of thing.

I know, I've got issues.

I noticed that my last update was about being run down and taking vitamins, so here's the update. I DO feel better, which is good, but the (I assume) iron in the tablets is making my turds look like they have an incredibly high cocoa content.

Anyway, they seem to be doing the trick, so if darker turds are the only downside, I'll live with that.

In other news I finally bought a mudguard for the bike. When it rains, I look and feel like I've had a childish accident, so a mudguard it is.

Hmmm.

Feeling really run down. Not so much physically, but mentaly. I'm struggling to get enthusiastic about anything. reading (which I love) is a struggle. I've picked up some multivitamins in case I'm lacking in something, which is probably a given considering my diet, so even if it doesn't give me a bit more ooomph, it won't do any harm.

There's a new beggar outside the bus station now. The previous one, who I always thought looked like a shifty hamster, hasn't been around for a few weeks, so i'm guessing dead or jail, probably the latter. Anyway new jaikey has teh tactic of telling you he hopes you have a "nice day" and doesn't actively ask for "spare change"(tm). I'm assuming he's hoping to guilt trip people into giving him money. Well, I for one won't fall for it. If a jaikey want's money from me, he can damn well ask for the money, which will then be given (or not) as I see fit. Is (s)he a junkie ? No sale. Is he just a tramp ? kerching. I REFUSE to give money to junkies.

Drug taking is a CHOICE. he CHOSE to smoke/pop/snort/inject. If he can't handle it and/or fund the habit, then that's his problem NOT MINE. I have no sympathy for junkies at all.

Got thoroughly soaked cycling into work today, and weirdly I kinda enjoyed it. One hot shower later and I was good to go. The rain stayed off for a lunchtime wander, but it's back on again, so a soaking on the way home is on the cards.

Picked up Iron Maidens Flight 666 at the weekend, and it's brilliant. The movie is excellent, and the concert is really really good.

If you like Maiden, then I really recommend you pick this up.

Got volume 4 of Garth Ennis's The Boys yesterday, sat down to read a bit, and well, I finished it in a one-er. It's as irreverant as the other volumes, and has some truly WTF! moments. I know Garth is aiming to "out-Preacher Preacher", and I think he's succeeding, BUT I still haven't made up my mind what series is better. I liked the storyline better in Preacher, but I'm really enjoying The Boys, despite not being a fan of Supes. maybe the treeatment they get dished out to them in The Boys is exactly why I DO like it.

Anyway, I'll reserve judgement until the series is finished. (approx 60 issues according to Garth)

Just went for a lunchtime wander down to Forbidden Planet, and bumped into a couple of friends from the local SF scene.
The last time I was in FP was (seriously) years ago, and it was a comic shop. Now the comics are relegated to one wall, another is for manga titles, and the rest toys. The few books there are, have been relegated to the wee nook at the back of the shop. It's a real shame, as it used to be a superb comic shop, although AKA was my primary source and the shop my account was in, FP had the superior back issue selection.

It's a shame that comics seem to be dying a death in Glasgow. There was a real book in the late 80's early 90's, and titles like Crisis, and DC's Vertigo range, were breaking new ground. Now it seems to be multiple titles with the same character - at least 5 Batman titles on display, and the same goes for a lot of the classic characters.

Where is the new Sandman or Cerebus ? There's nothing really unique at the moment that catches my eye. If there is something I should be reading, leave a comment and give me a heads up.

Tum tee tum.

I'm having a bit of a retro thing at the moment. When I were a lad, I loved Spike Milligan, Monty Python, stuff like that. Still do, but haven't indulged in any of Milligans bufoonery for a long time...
...until now.
I'm re-reading Milligan's War, and it's hilarious. A damn good read, that's just what I need at the moment after indulging in some rather heavy (but excellent) space opera type stuff of late.
I'm also having a musical flashback as I type this, listening to The best of Ultravox, and it's awesome. Current track is Hymn, but fav at the moment is Passing Strangers.

Brilliant stuff.

There was an email today from the karate instructor asking who was planning on going this week and on what days. So, Friday is cancelled due to lack of people planning to attend, and next week is cancelled anyway, but I don't know why. The week after that I'm off on holiday for a week, so that's 3 weeks no karate apart from tomorrow !

I can't help thinking that we need fresh blood in the club to boost the numbers, there's only 6 of us plus the instructor. In a way it's good, because you can't hide in the crowd, mistakes get noticed and they get corrected, but, because it's such a small club, it only takes a couple of people to be unable to attend, and the attendees can't cover the cost of the hall, so it's cancelled.

I also have a problem with the fact that one particular person thinks 6.00pm on a Friday is "too late, why can't it be earlier?". 6.00pm is pretty early for an evening class if you ask me.

It's irritating me more than it should, as I've had an njury which has stopped me running but I've still been able to go to karate, except, it's being cancelled because people would rather go to the pub after work than go to karate. FFS! They could do the class and be in the pub for 7.30pm Are they THAT desperate for a drink?!

Well everyone and their granny with access to a computer is blogging like fuck about this, so I may as well throw in my 2p worth.
I wasn't and never will be a fan. I didn't like his music, so my music buying will not suffer as a result of his death.
Then there's the accusations. There's only one person alive now who knows the truth behind them, and he's the accuser, so the chances of his turning round and saying he lied, well not really gonna happen is it. If MJ had had his day in court the truth (whichever way it was) would have had a chance at coming out. He could have put it all behind him, but the pay-off, that just added fuel to an already blazing fire. We'll never no the truth, and the rumours and speculation will always be there.
Regardless of all the above, he was a human being. Someone's son, someone's brother and a father (albeit of dubious parentling skills - I mean hanging a baby out a window, get real), and these people have every right to be upset that he's dead.
The fans have a right to be upset.
As for the media..... They loved the gorey details when the shit hit the fan, and now they're hailing him as a misunderstood genius. Bloody hypocrites. but then again papers say whatever it takes to sell copy.

Since getting back from Egypt (which was excellent), I picked up my new bike that I got through the cycle to work scheme (it's a Giant escape M1, and very nice it is too). That's just over a week I've had it, and so far only one day where I didn't use it to get to work. Well over the 50% they want you to use it.
Problem is, I seem to have more energy, and I'm waking up anywhere between 5.30 and 6.30am. So I leave the house before 7.00, get to work about 7.30, get changed and hit Pret for a coffee and a muffin (or croissant, I like to mix things up). this is good, because it actually means I get a breakfast which previously I never did.

Cough seems to have cleared up, or at least is hiding in the background somewhere. The temperature is back to normal, and I'm back at work. So all's good.

Tonight I've got karate, assuming enough people turn up for the class to run (it was cancelled on Wednesday), and then Michael is coming over.

Tomorrow we've a couple of friends coming over to veg out with movies, and we've to tidy the house for Liz coming over nextweek to cat-sit while we're in Egypt.

So today I'm off work ill. Last night I was running a temperature, seriously burning up. Today I've a hacking cough, and I've called in sick. This is a bummer, as I'll miss Trout tonight (that's the monthly Glasgow SF group meet), and I was hopping to sell some memberships for
Satellite 2. Instead I've just posted on the group LJ pointing people to the website,where they can download membershipforms andeither mail them in or pass them to another member ofthe committee.

At the moment I'm lying in bed, coughing up a lung, while watching Lost inTranslation.

There's ice cream in the freezer. I might have to get up and get some.