Oooh Scary

Just carved a Jack o' Lantern for the kids. Had a few trick-or-treaters already. Happy Halloween people :)

Cripple Cock

"Have your crutches handy, this be a toe curler"

That's the slogan on the label of Cripple Cock farmyard scrumpy cider. Everywhere I go people just seem to be giving me bottles of scrumpy cider and this was the latest donation.

Cripple Cock is a traditional farm scrumpy cider from North Somerset. At 7.5% it's your usual strong cider, slightly sparkling and quite a deep colour. It has the usual real English cider apple taste though it was a little on the sweet side for me; I do prefer a dry cider and usually an unsweetened one like Mr Whitehead's "Heart of Hampshire".

However, this is a good cider and one that's guaranteed to go down well if you like the slightly sweeter aftertaste. Right, now which supermarket sold the "priemier cru" ?

Goodbye John Peel

As a tribute to John Peel, I'd like to dedicate this post to the late, great DJ.

John Peel was on a working holiday in Peru with his wife when he passed away on Monday 25 October from a heart attack. He was only 65 though you'd never have known it, his passion and taste for music rivaled and surpassed that of any teenager.

John Peel was a real champion of alternative music and although he did a lot for the likes of Rod Stewart and David Bowie, I shall always remember him for promoting Joy Division and New Order. His playlist was extensive and he always played stuff like The Undertones, The Buzzcocks, The Ramones, The Damned, The Smiths, and more recently The White Stripes and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, not to mention his love of a diverse range of hip-hop, metal, dub, reggae and world music.

The John Peel Show was the best place for music on Radio 1 although it was limited to an evening session whilst all the cheap commercial pop crap was churned out during the daytime.

One of the funniest things I recall about him was when he played an early LP by "Aphex Twin" - He got the vinyl out, stuck it on the turntable and, in his usual dry and ironically witty way said something like "This next track is by the Aphex Twin, and it's called, well actually it isn't called anything. But there is a picture on the sleeve next to the track and I can only describe it as what looks like an electron microscope view of a piece of burnt toast". Funny Guy.

I'm genuinely saddened by his demise and can only say that he will be greatly missed. My thoughts go out to his wife and his 4 kids, who all have middle names related to Liverpool FC; Dalglish, Anfield etc... Like I said, Funny Guy.

X-ray Mobile Phone

Every schoolboy's dream comes true with the new x-ray mobile phone...

Remember those ads? See through clothes, see through hands, guys with googley eyes? X-ray goggles in 1977 Marvel comics? Well now it's actually happened and it's not April 1st.

Right now, in Japan, where else, there is actually a £100 add-on ’x-ray' camera, the latest mobile phone accessory. Primarily intended for night shots, owners of the infra-red mobile phone camera have found other uses. Because infra-red picks up on heat, bodies are warmer than clothes and the mobile phone accessory effectively shows bodies without clothes!

Made by Fukui-based Japanese company Yamada Denshi, the camera can be bought online and is compatible with top mobile phones such as the Vodafone V602-SH (only available in Japan) Yamada Denshi deny their gadget was designed for clandestine photography. This sounds all too familiar to the Sony video camera that was pulled from public sale just a few years ago...

Although the mobile phone accessory itself is not actually illegal, its potential uses are. That’s what concerns Vodafone, who deny responsibility and have condemned such blatant abuse of mobile phone camera technology. They are also keen to point out that Yamada are not an approved 3rd party technology provider.

In Japan, the gadget has been exploited by obsessive voyeurs and already there have been numerous arrests and court cases including prominent university professors and a network of pervs.

It's these illegal activities that have earned the mobile phone camera the dubious reputation of the "perv filter" with it been particularly effective with dark bikinis.

In Korea, the Government has demanded that from next year all new phones are to make shutter sounds or clicks to indicate picture-taking. It has been recommended that the sounds are to be 65 decibels, where conversation is around the 50-60 mark. Can you just imagine that?

Was Bush Wired?

The cover of Private Eye 1117 made me chuckle... "That TV Debate - Was Bush Wired?" Well, punk, was he? If you can't read it too well, just hover over the image for an enlargement...

There's plenty of speculation going round that George Bush was being fed information by an off-stage aide, just check out the story at BBC - "Bush's bulge stirs media rumours"

Get your Facts Straight...

One of the most important things I find, both in my very nature and in the roles I have performed in my life is accuracy. As an engineer, components must be accurately produced or the equipment fails or misfunctions, as a quality controller, again, equipment must pass a certain standard or a life could be at risk, in design and development, code must be accurate or all manner of mishaps can happen...

...and it's the same in politics.

Plenty has happened in UK politics due to misrepresentation, misunderstanding and misinterpretation of facts which leads to inaccuracy in judgements, decisions and eventually consequences. There's a wealth of information to discuss on this subject, but here I want to focus on America...

In the US, the run-up to the Presidential election is absolutely fascinating. As a UK citizen it's interesting to try formulate judgements from watching Presidential debates, whistle-stop tours of swing states, demonstrations, technology failures, punch-ups and, most of all, political mud-slinging.

I'm not voting, I can't, but how would I decide?

Charm, charisma, propaganda, TV, radio, ads, polls...? With many millions of dollars being spent on the campaign it could be a case of the biggest budget wins. Didn't Thomas Jefferson once say that he feared one day economic and political power would become intertwined. I wish I could find that statement, it was quite poignant. And please forgive me the hypocricy of my own inaccuracies, let me know if you find that quote, or if it was a quote from some other figure.

The current place to get the lowdown on it all, for me, is factcheck.org - which, funnily enough, was the site that Dick Cheney tried to mention in his debate with John Edwards and ended up quoting as factcheck.com, and some bright spark set factcheck.com to redirect to George Soros site.

"An Avalanche of MisInformation"

Get enlightened, get educated, get your facts straight... FactCheck.org.

Good Luck, my American friends, I hope you make the right choice for you, your children, your brothers and sisters, your country and the good of the world. Thankyou for listening, I step down from my soapbox now.

Your turn...

I spy for the FBI

...and I spy, for the MI5...

...and I spy, for the KGB...

The Untouchables. What a cracking pseudo-ska band they were. That track (I Spy for the) FBI had that big brass sound, quite commercial but good music nonetheless. I first and last heard of them when an Aunt bought a copy of the LP for her bro. It was in a record shop in Lancaster, Ear Ere Records, and for whatever reason they only had the limited sleeve vinyl LP with the 3D glasses. It was years before I realised they did a 'boring' cover too.

3D glasses were a big thing at the time and music and vinyl was exciting - I wanted every record in true limited format because it was exciting stuff, not like the millions of items they churn out today...

I drift, now, back to "The Untouchables"...

"WildChild" was such a great album, it was more than just the ska we were used to over here, it was funky too and so tightly produced, it had that BIG sound to it that only pop could seem to afford. I'd not heard of the Untouchables until my musically-rich Aunt & Unc pointed them out, and as testament to their quality I played the tape I had for years after.

I bet if I listened to it again now I'd do the nostalgia trip, listen to the lot for old times sake, and then bin some of the tracks. They apparently did an LP back in 2000, minus the funky stuff, so it might be worth checking out...

I spy for the FBI
(I spy for the FBI)
I spy for the FBI
(I spy for the FBI)
I got an x-ray camera hidden in your house
To see what I can't see
And that man you were kissin' last night
Definitely was not me, oh baby
I spy for the FBI
(I spy for the FBI)
I spy for the FBI
(I spy for the FBI)
Just because he was wearin' shades
You thought he didn't leave a clue
I got his name, I know his game
He's double-0 you know who, oh baby
I spy for the FBI
(I spy for the FBI)
I spy for the FBI
(I spy)
I've got the facts in the file
Baby I don't have to guess
I took that agent's fingerprints
Off of your new red dress, oh baby
I spy for the FBI
(I spy for the FBI)
I spy for the FBI
(I spy for the FBI)
I know when you're out
I know when you're in
I know where you're goin'
'Cause I know where you've been
I spy for the FBI
(I spy for the FBI)
Baby, I spy for the FBI
(I spy for the FBI)
Baby, I spy for the FBI
(I spy for the FBI)
...and I spy, for the MI5...
...and I spy, for the KGB...
...and I spy, fir the CIA...

Liar, Liar, Fuel My Fire

Haven't yet bought the latest album by The Prodigy - "Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned" yet, not so sure about what I may be letting myself in for... great title though, and very true. So I thought I'd spin the last one for old times sake "The Fat of the Land" - big-hitting LP over here and in the states, raising the profile so much further than "Charlie Says"...

I'm Glad I did dust this one off again, it's still pretty damn raucous, a damn fine blend of finest beats and quality anger, with some great floaty bits inbetween. The track that really makes me chuckle is the last one, "Fuel My Fire"... what a way to end a great a great album... A cover of the L7 track, and also featuring vocals from Saffron, ex lead singer of Republika, don't ya know. Always nice to know that such venom can utter forth from one so pretty... no, not Keith Flint, you daft bugger...

I've got word of thanks
Thanks that I'd like to say
For the rage that I feel
The rage that I feel today

Gotta stack, gotta stack, Stack of chips on my shoulder
In everything I do
'cause I made, 'cause I made, 'cause I made the mistake
of trusting you.
I've got a world of thanks
Thanks that I'd like to say
For the rage that I feel
The rage that I feel today

Gotta stack, Gotta stack
Stack of chips on my shoulder
In everything I do
cause I made, I made, I made
the mistake, of trusting you!

[CHORUS]
Yeah, people like you just fuel my fire
Yeah, people like you just fuel my fire
Yeah, people like you just fuel my fire
People like you just do!
Ya' liar......Ya' liar......Ya' Liar......Ya' liar!

Yeah, my layers are thick
And I got a bad attitude
Yeah, that knife in my back
Has fingerprints that belong to you

Got a grudge, Got a grudge
Got a grudge that I'm holding for as long as I live
`Cause you lied, You lied, You lied to my face
And that's something that I can't forgive

[CHORUS]

Yeah, people like you just fuel my fire
Yeah, people like you just fuel my fire
People like you just fuel my fire
While people like you just do!
Ya' Liar......Ya' Liar......Ya' Liar......Ya' Liar!

Rage On :)

That's not to demean any of the other great tracks on this album, especially "Smack My Bitch Up" and "Firestarter" for their outrageous videos - and they really did cause an outrage. Keith Flint didn't half scare the sh*t out of people on "Firestarter" LOL

Halo 2 on XBOX

It's been 3 long years since I bought my preorder XBOX and Halo, and now all this time later here comes Halo 2.

Halo was the must-have, killer game on Xbox, plenty of other good games titles too, but it was really Halo that made me buy Xbox. And now Halo2 will be out here very soon, official launch date November 11.

The boys over at developers Bungie have finally completed Halo2 for Xbox in all 8 language versions and it's officially gone for manufacture. I hope they didn't miss anything...

Halo 2 picks up somewhere well after the original story and adds a few twists and turns, with the Covenant now looking for Earth. And whatever happened to the flood... The lucky people who've managed to have sneaky previews have said nothing but good things about Halo 2, so if you forgot it was coming, shame on you. You'd best redeem yourself and pre-order Halo 2.

First up there's the Halo 2 - Limited Edition (in metal box), with Special Content Disc + Game (2 Discs). This includes The Making of Halo 2, Video Featurettes, Concept Art, Early Level Design, Trailers from Halo 1&2 and all manner of interesting extras...

If that's all too much then you can always forget the extra stuff, steam straight into the game and just buy Halo 2 on its own. That's the one I'll probably go for... no frills, just straight down to action. If it was a nubile young lady I'd be happy with all the extras but this is warfare, no time for foreplay...

There's also going to be a Halo 2 Official Strategy Guide, but let's not say too much about that. And don't worry, it's OK, I won't tell anyone you clicked on the link, OK ;)

If you're into Xbox hacking be sure to check out these items on Xbox mod chip and Xbox media center.

All I gotta do now is work out if I need to take the day off work again to play Halo2 or save it for later that evening, when it gets dark...

Angelina Jolie in leather...

...and a leather uniform at that, was the highlight for me of a great movie... "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow".

If you haven't seen it, give it a shot and don't take it too seriously - it's good fun, a bit kitsch and awesome to look at.

Set in the 1930s "Sky Captain" stars Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Giovanni Ribisi and was shot completely against a green screen, so pretty much every scene is computer generated. And what an imagination the writer/director has got, especially to envision Angelina Jolie in leather... good choice that man. Not sure about the eye patch, and could have done with seeing a bit more of her, but hey, we saw Angelina Jolie in leather :)

Anyway, it's a spectacular film with stacks of soft focus, dramtic lighting effects, washed-out tones and the like to give it a really authentic feel. It tips its hat to all sorts of period movies and you can see hints of Wizard of Oz, King Kong, Metropolis, Flash Gordon and Indiana Jones in there.

Not to mention the other great things... giant robots, airships, p40 Tomahawks, RKO-style radio masts, ray guns, authentic radios & analogue dials and, did I mention... Angelina Jolie in leather.

The only Bush I'd trust...

Saw this girl's banner in London last year at the peace demo and just had to take a photograph; couldn't tell if it was real hair or wool... but she got a right big cheer anyway.

Yeah, I know, I know: it's 22 months late (last February 2003) but thought I'd best share it considering that there's a lot of interest in Bush stuff going on right now.

Really don't know why that is, who is this Bush anyway? Anyone?

Simple Simon

This crept back into my mind yesterday for some unknown reason. I used to work with this girl who told me this some years ago and I'll never forget the look on her face when she told it; 3 lines cheesey, one straight, it still cracks me up...

Simple Simon met a Pie Man on the way to the fair,
Said Simple Simon, to the Pie Man,
"What have you got there?"
"PIES, you stupid c*nt"

Hate Something, Change Something

Hate Something, Change Something, Make Something Better...

I can't get that tune out of my head.

The reason I bring this up again (see the Positive Hate post) is that I got a postcard this morning. I thought it would be from Mum, she was in Prague last week. But no it was from my Dad - he's somewhere else. It's a Honda Diesel postcard and, more than that, it's got stickers on it. So I can imagine kids up and down the country putting these stickers of penguins and rabbits on everything. Do I get the feeling that this is something BIG? I wonder just how much coverage this campaign is getting and who is talking about it right now. TV ads, websites, blogs, postcards... whatever next?

This is yet another great marketing campaign from Honda - the timing couldn't be better. When there are worldwide issues with oil prices and pollution etc. Honda come up with a marketing drive for a clean diesel engine. There was an ad on TV yesterday for a new Saab 150HP diesel - nowhere near as catchy as Honda's ad but when you put a 150HP diesel in a good car that gets my attention.

It will be interesting to see the success of this whole show - I have no doubt in my mind that this will be a benefit not just for the guys (& grrrls) at Honda and their marketing people, but for everyone.

Bunnies & Penguins of the world unite...

Beer is Food

24 hours ago I was considering eating but decided that beer is a good substitute for food.

For starters I had a bottle of "Newcastle Brown".
Main Course: "Fursty Ferret" and Camerons "Long Leg"
Dessert: "Bombardier"

I have to admit I was pretty stuffed after this, so I treated myself to a Jennings "Traditional Cumberland Ale" and "Rolling Hitch" India Pale Ale and commenced blogging whilst listening to Joy Division.

Have to admit that going back over my ramblings this morning, I found my (ab)use of the English language was so awful that I went back and edited a fair old chunk of last night's post.

I have learnt my lesson - tonight I am mostly drinking "Cellier des Dauphins" or red wine.

Joy Division

Questions like "what's your favourite colour?" and "what's your favourite film?" really get me. I can be a moody person and I'm happy with that. Why should society dictate that feeling good one day and bad the next means people are subject to "mood swings" and labelled as nutters? LOL. Today it was sunny and then it "chucked it down" with rain. That's how I can feel too. Changing with the weather and the seasons is totally natural. It's the ones who don't, won't, can't change that you have to be wary of...

So one day blue is cool, the next it might be black :)

Anyway... If there was going to be a "favourite band" I really think that Joy Division would be the ones. Of all the people whose passing we lament; Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Marc Boland, Bob Marley, Freddie Mercury, Kurt Cobain - they are all big stars and they're dead. I miss all of these artists because they were bone fide geniuses (genii?), great musicians and reallly interesting people too. Unfortunately I managed to miss ALL of them in concert.

But what about Ian Curtis?

Ian Curtis was the frontman of Joy Division, a band originally formed as "Warsaw" soon after a Sex Pistols gig and later named Joy Division, after Karol Cetinsky's novel "The House of Dolls" about women kept in concentration camps for the pleasure of on-leave Nazi officers in World War II.

Joy Division grew out of the punk scene and got labelled post-punk - but they were a genuine and massively influential band. Look at who has covered their work - Bush, The Cure, Nine Inch Nails, Primal Scream, Simple Minds...

...not to mention New Order who are Joy Division minus Ian Curtis.

I still have a major soft spot for Joy Division. I got into them as a young tape-swapping teenager and probably still have have some bootlegs somewhere - Efenaar, Eindhoven anyone?

I remember stuffing my headphones on and turning Joy Division up full blast rather than having to listen to Slim Whitman, Charlie Pride and "Those you have Loved" on those 4 hour car journies to see the relatives. But rather than stay with us, Ian Curtis took his own life on 18 May 1980.

So if you're still wandering who the hell Ian Curtis is and what all the fuss is about then why is anyone thinking of casting Jude Law in the upcoming Joy Division film?

"Dead Souls" - Joy Division

Someone take these dreams away,
That point me to another day,
A duel of personalities,
That stretch all true reality.
And keep calling me.
They keep calling me.
Keep on calling me.
They keep calling me.

When figures from the past stand tall,
And mocking voices ring the hall,
Imperialistic house of prayer,
Conquistadores who took their share.
And keep calling me.
They keep calling me.
Keep on calling me.
They keep calling me.

x2 Calling me, calling me.
They keep calling me.
Keep on calling me.

x2 They keep calling me.

The Best collection of Joy Division work is on the "Heart & Soul" boxed set - 4x CDs and a book of history and discography too.

Positive Hate

I saw a great new Honda ad on TV this weekend, and thought I'd better share it. (there's more in the hate something change something post) Following on from their excellent "cog" video, you know the one for the Accord with something like 606 takes and no CGi, is the ad for Honda's new and, I was surprised when I heard this, FIRST diesel engine.

Apparently, Honda's chief engine designer, Kenichi Nagahiro, the man behind that clever VTEC engine, hated diesel engines so much that he originally declined to design a diesel engine for the company. Unless, of course, he had carte blanche to start with, and being such a clever guy they let him go for it.

The TV ad really got me, it's not only charming, playful and colurful but quite amusing too. Starting with the lines "Here's a little song for anyone who's ever hated, in the key of 'Grrr'" the ad goes on to show stinky old diesel engines floating round a landscape reminiscent of the Beatles' "Yellow Submarine" film. The old lumps sputter, rattle and belch smoke their way through the world, annoying the cute little denizens on the way, only to be systematically 'bumped-off'.

Enough of me talking about it, go see for yourself at www.honda.co.uk and hit the "Watch the Film" link :)

Hats off to Wieden & Kennedy who produced the ad and to Honda for being so bold, imaginative and encouraging fresh & creative thinking :D

Watch out for the fluffy ones, they're not what they appear...

Scrumpy Hangover

There's cider and then there's cider. The normal mass-market stuff can be a bit sweet and, as someone recently commented about beer, there's stuff that's manufactured and stuff that's brewed. Cider is really pressed and matured so 'brewing' may be a bit of a misnoma, but you know what I mean.

Last night after a can of Strongbow, one of the big brand 5.3% vol ciders, I realised there was some real cider in the fridge. Hence the seeds of my destruction and great scrumpy hangover.

First up a bottle of Henry Weston's oak conditioned special vintage cider at a rather heady 8.2%. This bottle actually came from a local supermarket so all credit to them for bringing in the good stuff. It was a bit sweet but tasty stuff and at 8.2% I didn't really notice it go down - the sign of a good draught.

That was the last and only bottle of Westons so I had another rummage around in the fridge (it's big in there!) and, how could I miss it, there was a big 2.5 litre jug of Jack Ratt scrumpy cider, named after Jack Rattenbury, notorious Lyme Bay Smuggler. This bottle I got direct from the Lyme Bay Winery near Axminster in Devon. Cheers Dad ;)

Now this brew is only 6% but boy is it cloudy - it's the real thing and you get the real distinctive taste of the apples, no sediment either so it's been filtered. Needless to say, after purging my system of filthy Pop music with a good dose of Kerrang TV I found myself asleep on the sofa (no change there) but at 6 in the morning - blimey, that was almost a full night's sleep for me. So I crawled off to my proper bed...

Now just a few hours later I have scrumpy hangover, quite different from ale, wine, spirits, everything-mixed-together or crap lager hangovers, but a nice warm fuzzy feeling nonetheless.

I love scrumpy cider.

POP SUCKS

Sorry Kids, but Pop Music really Sucks.

Wanna know why? Well, I just sat through 30 minutes of "Top of the Pops" tonight in my occasional "know your enemy" routine. My philosophy is that if you know what they're up to and you can wind yourself up about it, the experience fires your imagination and keeps you sharp. Well, it does for me anyway.

Pop. Sucks. Pop Sucks. What really sucks, especially about TOTP, is the miming. Why oh why, if these 'pop idols' are such bigshots can't they really sing live? What really cracks me up are the samples - someone sang "I see you baby, shakin' that ass, shakin' that ass, shakin' that ass" just once, and the sample gets digitally repeated at the press of a button, so why oh why is some pop bint miming a sample? And then there's miming a drum machine. Or the guy pretending to play his guitar... come on kids, this is crap.

It's all naive and woolly propaganda. It's been said that TV is the idiot tube. That was a phrase I remember from the lyrics of a song penned by John Connelly of "Nuclear Assault" what a great band. Kids are supposedly growing up too quick these days, well hey, if that's the case why are they being kept in the dark about politics?

Pop Sucks.

Shallow, pointless, naive ear candy.

5 October 2004 - And look what Elton said about Madonna...