Thursday, June 23, 2005

General - Another hot day

I’ve been training a girl on BrailleNote in a primary school in Cheam. Today I came in and she had Jaid some dog treats and me a box of celibrations. It’s been such a hard week working and today was just a joy at first. It’s so rewarding when someone who’s so keen on learning and inspired by the technology actually likes the training. and I’ve been fighting with Braille displays the rest of the afternoon so going to have 5 mins now

Peace

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

General - Another fine weekend

Phil’s trip to Epsom went very well. It started off with two pints of tremendous Black Pearl stout from the Riser. This particular black coffee and chocolaty beer is very mouth coating and powerful in flavour and is brewed by the Dwan brewery in Tipperary. This has always been good, this time however it was exceptional. Unfortunately for us it was to b our last pint of BP as the cooler in the pub packed up over the upcoming weekend. We then made our way to the Sava Balty house and partook of the banquet special which was probably the best curry I’ve had this month.

After sampling some interesting malts that evening including the 35 year old blend I mentioned in an earlier post we retired for the night.

Deciding that the Black Pearl was amazing we were inspired to try out other stouts, so the following day found us in London’s famous Covent Garden in the PorterHouse. Though the beer was very good I didn’t think it matched the previous Black Pearl in the Riser. They had an interesting range of drinks, and most of them are brewed by the PorterHouse brewery. 3 ales, 3 lagers and 3 stouts. The yuppie clientele mainly stuck to the lagers and one was even demanding cider. Needless to say they didn’t have any. Phil and I tried all the stouts including the Plain porter, oyster stout and Wrasslers. Check out this review and be envious!! Oh and the Beer Menu. But the prices a little high, but this is the centre of tourist land but when the beer is this good, I didn’t really care.

After unsuccessfully trying to locate Royal Mile Whisky’s and as the weather was extremely hot we went home and then to the Riser for a night of talking with friends.

Other highlights of the weekend included a beer garden pub crawl around Epsom in the sun taking in a fantastic pint of Guinness in Symonds Well and a trip in to Kingston to the Boaters in order to watch some live Jazz in the form of an improvised band using Mornington Lockett as leader. He’s apparently played the Boaters more times than any other guest since the gig began in 1990. Over the years he has been a member of Ronnie Scott's band, the Jim Mullen Quartet, and more recently "Celebrating The Jazz Couriers". The line up was completed by two more of Boaters' favourite visitors - Laurence Cottle on bass and drummer Ian Thomas - along with pianist Simon Carter. Andrew Phil and I especially enjoyed the atmosphere and the location by the river.


I’m going to make some burgers. Andrew brought some very tasty home made ones over and they rocked.

I had a productive day in the office including a presentation by some dood from the inland revenue. I had no idea tax could be so interesting. It was an early start at Epsom station for 10 to 6 though and I didn’t get home until half 8 tonight, so I’m tired; and have a busy week culminating in Donna and Seann coming down to Epsom for the first time. Clare’s also coming along, so it will be good.

I’m out for a bit

L8R

Thursday, June 16, 2005

General - Irish trip

Day 1

After the interesting auditory train journey I arrived in to Holyhead station on time and found the way to the embarkation lounge. I specifically asked for the vehicle passengers lounge, but this undemanding request was too much for the obviously mentally challenge staff hired by Irish ferries for there land operations. Alan had traffic problems, but eventually we met up and boarded our Swift Irish Ferry over to Dublin port. After seating ourselves and purchasing one of the most ghastly cups of tea it’s ever been my displeasure to drink, we settled back and braced for the choppy voyage over the Irish sea. Interestingly around two thirds of the way across a cacophony of text alerts from people’s mobiles sounded as roaming agreements kicked in. I was roving on o2 on the Orange handset and Vodaphone on the T-Mobile. We didn’t visit the shop, but a call would happen towards the end of the trip.

On disembarkation at Ireland we were waved through the checkpoint with out any passport verification and drove to Walton’s hotel. I note that the commercial radio in Dublin –[RTE 2 FM] is considerably better than in the UK with a wide variety of music, not just chart, and also the DJs playing album tracks. This just doesn’t happen with our formulaic play listed mono culture over in good old England.
The hotel appeared on entry a bit of a glum effort with the car park very small and a good corner of that filled with pallets of glass bottles. Our sense of trepidation was heightened when the trip to the restaurant needed a guide, 3 flights of steps and when we finally reached it, it was empty as the Mary Celeste. Taking these factors in to account we went in to the centre of Dublin, only two minutes walk as our place was on North Frederick street. We stopped and had a look at the spike or monument on O’Connell street, it is huge this thing. We then moved off and in to that quintessential Irish establishment the Hard rock Café Dublin. Same old for a Hard rock really with music playing from grunge to U2 to the Dammed Yankees. Our hickory cheese and bacon burgers slid down well and then we paid up and found a great little bar called Messrs Maguire situated at 1 and 2 Burgh Quay. What a place, it had a Micro Brewery and though we didn’t stay long enough to sample the home brews, it’s something I intend to do on any trip back. Of particular interest was the traditional Dublin porter. It was a case of when in Ireland, and especially Dublin try the Guinness. So I did.

Now, to the taste of Guinness. When you are travelling around England the stuff varies greatly. From the piss poor stuff in Edwards Ipswich to the more than acceptable pints in the Railway Preston. The Guinness in Ireland does taste slightly different, but this is mainly a mouth feel thing. They take more time over the preparation, so you get more head; and that’s never a bad thing now. The pint is thicker giving a creamy and viscous liquid. Under the creaminess though I got a slight carbonation on the tong. It was very nice, but the Railway Preston does a credible job. Apparently the Guinness factory in London is shutting down this year, so all the product for pubs and bars within the UK will come from Dublin. Some pubs in the UK do get supplies of Guinness from Ireland though, so this could explain the good pints from the bad. A second alteration of the flavour in Guinness in the UK could be the pasteurisation process it goes through before it is shipped. Just try none pasteurised milk and cheeses and then try the bland pasteurised counterparts and tell me that you can’t find a difference. And the third factor the travelling. Still, I say hats off to the Railway and other pubs of the same ilk around the north of England who keep a pint very close to that found on the Dublin doorstep of this classic drink.

We left just before the Jackson verdict was announced and after only one pint as Alan was knackered and had a brisk walk back to the hotel. It occurred to me on the way back that I’d hardly managed to listen to any Irish accents. Russian, Chinese, American and Australian, but hardly any Irish. When you narrowed it down, maybe one or two from Northern Ireland, but not much Traditional Dublin which is totally different. So, just like London in that regard then.

Day 2

We had a very successful day with two university visits and a stop over at the apartment of an interesting and very friendly fan of the BrailleNote and Window-Eyes. She has a most fascinating job and while I can’t go in to detail for confidentiality reasons we both really enjoyed the hour we spent in the company of this incredible girl. When the work day was over it was a long drive back to the digs and changed for a few pints.

Meeting up with a client who’s become a friend of mine we; that is Alan myself Derry and Martha Lawlor walked to the Royal Dublin Hotel and talked for an hour or two over a few pints of the black stuff which was in no way shape or form as good as that enjoyed the previous evening. He is one of the only people I have ever met with a guide dog the same size as Jaid. Like me he tends to travel around the country with a laptop and Brailliant, and he also uses Trekker. He is very knowledgeable regarding wine, and as crazy as I am with the whisky, so we spent a good while talking about the merits of the nectar of the grape, and that of the distilled grain. He invited Clare and I to meet up with him when next we go over, and really I’d like to go again this year, so that should be good. Clare loves Ireland, so it shouldn’t be to hard to convince her of the merits of the idea. When talking about different beers he mentioned a good pub in Dublin called the Porter house. This is another to go on the exploration list.

After saying our goodbyes Alan and I walked the half a mile or so to Temple Bar and the Alamo Mexican restaurant. I had a dish of very meaty chilli and after we had eaten enough to burst we strolled leisurely back to the hotel. Having a very important appointment on Wednesday we both hit the sack early.
Day 3


Before the appointment we ate a hearty Irish breakfast at the hotel and then drove to the National Council of the blind Ireland. For the day. We were given a warm welcome and our presentations went down well. Everyone made us very welcome, and we actually went to the Porterhouse for dinner. Joy of Joy. They have just opened a Porterhouse in London. Very very happy. I’m going to pay it a visit this weekend with Phil when he comes down.

The trip home went well, and I landed in the Preston stanly Arms at around 10 PM last night and sank a few pints of Everards’ Tiger with Dave, then back for one of the best chicken burgers, all breast, I have ever eaten.

Incidentally, one of the stupid highlights for Jaid. She managed to do a dump on 3 islands in one day. England, angle see and Ireland. Impressive! I wish we'd had chance to take in the Jameson distillery, will have to do that next time.

I must say that I really am falling in love with Dublin. My normal preference is for quiet places, so I hope to explore this wonderful country in more depth sometime. Thanks to everyone for helping to make such an enjoyable stay.

Monday, June 13, 2005

General - it takes all sorts

I’m sitting across from an elderly couple and they’ve taken it upon themselves to travel on every mile of British railway track. Bit of conversation.,

Lady: “Ya mother once went to Llandudno an she never got off the train”
Man: “aya, she did dint she”
Woman: “eye, and we’re doing the same, sight seeing by train and never getting off if we dunt av to.”
Man “aya, we ad a nice tea in colwin bay once dint we”.

They do live in Milton Keynes though, so I guess when you live near concrete cows you may as well go on the open rail it’s either that or the ale I’d say.. Priceless!!

General - On the move

It was an early start today for our Ireland trip, at this moment Jaid and I find ourselves trundling just past Prestatyn in North Wales. I feel a little trepidation over this expedition as it’s imperative that my presentations ETC go down well for the company. Humanware have employed me for nearly six months at the time of writing, and this visit feels a little like an examination in some ways, especially coming just before the end of the probation period. I’m a little worried though as I couldn’t find my passport, but know it is not essential because a person is not required to carry one in order to go to the republic as a travel agreement exists between the two countries., so I think the documentation I have brought along should be sufficient from the information gleaned from various official web sources.

Worries aside, it will be exciting to go to another country. Shamefully it’s not been happening for me on the travel front over the last few years what with one thing and another. Yep I’ve covered England, Scotland and Wales but nothing away from the so called United Kingdom.

Yesterday’s roast with Andrew went down very well, and we Steve and I marvelled at his culinary talents. Thanks should you read this.

Moving on to web matters, I am now re-graded to two meg, and the difference in speed is positively noticeable.

Saturday, June 11, 2005

The Pineal Gland

The Pineal Gland

Just a bit more on the same subject.

Entrainment of Free-Running Circadian Rhythms by Melatonin in Blind People

Free-Running Circadian Rhythms/Melatonin/Blind

Maybe a cure for my occasional insomnia?


Most totally blind people have circadian rhythms that are "free-running"
(i.e., that are not synchronized to environmental time cues and that oscillate on
a cycle slightly longer than 24 hours). This condition causes recurrent insomnia and daytime sleepiness when the rhythms drift out of phase with the normal 24-hour cycle. We investigated whether a daily
dose of melatonin could entrain their circadian rhythms to a normal 24-hour cycle.

General - from the middle to the east

My visit to the hallowed halls of Warwick University went very well, and enlivened by our success Dave my colleague and I partook of a byte to eat at the Harvester in Coventry. The food wasn’t bad and it was a bloody hot day. We were going to dine alfresco, but our plans were thwarted by the copious noise of the roadwork’s not 100 yards from our bench, so after a while we retreated inside. It’s the second harvester I’ve been in, and while plastic like many theme joints and chains, they have a very good salad bar.

The Trekker user I spoke of in a previous post called me on the train while I was on the way to the west coast. His name is Barry and he kindly offered to give me a lift to the small town of Ringwood in which I was to stay for the next two nights. I gratefully accepted his invitation, and his wife Jane picked us up in a large Mercedes-Benz station wagon, but not before I had a ~Grolsch and a cup of tea at Bournemouth station. I had decided not to have the beer, but the weather was so warm that a cold one was just what the doctor ordered. Barry has a massive German Shepherd guide dog called beano, honestly this thing is a donkey. No wonder they have to have such a large motor.

We finally arrived at the White Heart and after chucking my bags by the bar I ordered a pint for both of us. Jane at this point had gone home for a while, so my first taste of the beer from the Ringwood brewery was with Barry and his wolf. I must say it was very good. I particularly liked the best bitter which was easy to drink. The beer at the White Heart appears to be kept pretty well, so if I stay in the area I’ll drop in again. The place actually has an interesting story attached to it which I found on the web. It’s worth a read if you’re interested in a bit of English history. For some reason they have many White Heart pubs in the area, this puzzled me at first, but after realising that we were clowse to the New Forest, it all fell in to place.

Time was slopping bye, so I decided that a trip to the brewery owned pub The Inn on the Furlong would be a good idea. After-all, a pub so near the brewery and run by the same people should keep the beer exceptionally well. This turned out to be the case and we both managed another two pints of various Ringwood beers before heading back to my digs. I must also mention the excellent baguettes we snaffled with our pints before we moved on. For behind the bar sandwich fodder they went down a treat.

Jane joined us and after more conversation and beer it was time for me to hit the sack and Barry and Jane to go. I managed an early breakfast and turned on the laptop in the dining room to find some details for my client of the day. Joy of joy, a WIFI network in the pub that Iwas not aware of. The crap part was that it didn’t appear to be working properly and the stone aged chain management had no clew how it worked, or how to fix it, but they did know that it was a money making opportunity alright, but support, not happening.

Jaid had a good time with my clients dog Bell and the training went smoothly. Apparently her nephew is the Ipswich Town second goal keeper, Lewis Price, he’s only 21, so a player to be watched.. When I got back to my hostelry I had a pint then an hours kip then headed down to find Barry and Jane. The Indian restaurant we were going to dine at wouldn’t let us in because of the dogs, so we ate an edible but uninspired meal at the White Heart. I wish these chain pubs showed a little more variation. WE HAD A few more pints then I hit the sack, BUT NOT BEFORE I CALLED Clare who said it would be a good idea that I come over for the weekend. I thinking this was a good scheme agreed at once!!

After a good day on Friday I headed over to Ipswich and to Clare’s place. Got through London in record time even taking in to account the rush hour with the help of a bubbly and by her own addition dizzy blonde called Louise who worked in the IBM marketing department.

Clare welcomed me with a hug and lots of long hair and I hoped that a bit of ravishing was in order, but that’s all on that. She’d also got some beer in, so lets just say life was good. It was CoOp bitter, which is actually very high quality and brewed by Robert Cains of Liverpool, a cracking brew house. We had a chippy tea and are off out today for a pub lunch at a place Clare’s found in Ipswich. I’ve just gone through nearly 600 e-mails and Clare’s scanning work stuff.

so a long update, but the majority was written on the journey between Liverpool street and Ipswich.

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

General - More on the next few weeks

My sleeping pattern is shagged. I don’t know why, but this happens to many blind people and I think it has something to do with the brains awareness of daylight and light perception. Yesterday was rewarding work wise, and I rather than being nervous really enjoyed myself. It’s always a challenge when you do something for the first time, but I have an eager client so am looking forward to my next trip over to Cheam. while we're on the subject of Cheam I can’t go through that place without thinking of Tony Hancock!!

I’m pretty stoked about the next few weeks actually. Things are a brewing at work, and the old bags will be packed and the ferry boarded over to Ireland for the first time in a few days. Phil’s coming over on the 16th or so for a while, and the week after I have the bro Seann, Donna and my Clare over for a weekend of fun and drunken tomfoolery.

I won’t see Clare for another couple weeks so that is a blow, but she’s got work to do on her OU stuff, so I can handle that. Andrew gave an invite to a roast over at his gaff on Sunday and hopefully Steve will be coming along, we’ll try and clear the air a little.

When researching hotels to stay at for the next couple nights in Ringwood I noticed that there was a brewery in the same village. The pub which I finally booked stocks some of that same brewery’s reel ales, so tonight I will be tucking in to a few pints of a beer brewed not a mile away from that place I’m staying. Should be cool.

Better shove off and pack now. I probably won’t blog until Friday, but you never know!!

Malt Tasting - Highland Park 24yo 1980/2004 (55.1%, Duncan Taylor, Cask #9266) –

Highland Park is a strange one for me. It doesn’t get me as interested as many, but I do enjoy a glass every once in a while. I think it’s just not extreme enough generally though it does have a bit of everything. Described as the greatest all rounder, nothing really stands out. Incidentally, Dave and I made a dent in this bottle on Clare’s birthday evening as 1980 is her berth year. I’ve never had cask strength HP before, so down the hatch we go.

Nose: flowers and smoke. I can’t say that I pick up much else from this. With water it opens up and everything just intensifies. I find it hard to pick out individual scents with this one. Also at cask strength we get a large amount of alcohol prickle. When left in the glass the smoke gets stronger.

Pallet: at cs honey and smoke, not as smooth as I expected. A proper kick up the jacksy! Very tasty indeed. Slightly thick. When water is added the sweetness becomes more intense with an herby flavour coming to the front. This really gets better when left in the glass and you take your time with it.

Finnish: not as long as expected from such an old whisky, but warming and lingering nicely for a while. You can tell it’s good stuff. That piny herby flavour comes back.

Comments: I’m very impressed with Duncan Taylor as a company. They bring out some cracking drams, and this HP is one of the best. At £60 it represents good value for money when you consider that the official 25 year old is twice as much. Shame this has run out at my usual stockist. Dave and myself have gone through 3 or 4 bottles of the standard 12 year old version, but this has made me want to go online and purchase more old Highland Parks in the future from Duncan Taylor.

Score: 90%

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Drinks machine 'cuts time at bar'

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Drinks machine 'cuts time at bar'

Sounds a good idea to me. They could do with getting one for the Riser.

General - Re-grades and other plans

So I’m entering the dizzy heights of 2 MEG speeds in a few days after submitting a broadband re-grade request to my ISP. I could have waited a few months and got it free, but I figured that £14.99 was a reasonable price to pay in order to expedite the process, after all I’ would have still been paying the same monthly fee for a slower speed until BT got around to doing the upgrade manually.

Paul called me yesterday and taking advantage of my day off we went for a quick lunch in the Riser. I chose a Chicken cheese and salsa baguette gently washed down with a pint of Riegele “Privat” at 5.2 ABV and brewed in Augsburg. Though not a big continental beer fan, I did rather enjoy it, it was very flavourful but maybe a little cold.

I have a half days training in Cheam today, then other work at home this afternoon. It’s actually the official release date of the new Dream Theatre CD Octavarium, so I’ll celebrate tonight with a small malt tasting. I think the Highland Park 1980, Glenfarclas 105 and Laphroaig Quarter Cask are the candidates for evaluation. I can’t go too mad though as work have decreed that I traverse to the midlands and Warwick tomorrow.

After that I’m in Dorset for two days doing more training. I hope to convene with some of our Trekker users while in that neck of the woods, so it will hopefully be a good learning experience.

Sunday, June 05, 2005

Whisky - prices

I’ve just noticed that Ardbeg 10 year old whisky has shot up by around 4 quid a bottle. I wonder if this is a stocking problem? I know that they are running out of some of the whiskeys that make up the 10 year old blend because of the distillery shutdowns in the past, so while tesco have it on offer at 20 quid another bottle will be purchased to bolster the 10 year gathering within the sanctum of my dusty whisky collection. It’s a cracking whisky and one of my faves.

It’s also interesting to note that the price of the standard Springbank 10 year has risen slightly, and in some places so has Bruichladdich 10.

General - 1 year on

It’s 1 year to the day I decided to move to the South. Thanks really to Dan and Jody hammering on about how good it can be in London. Managing to find a place by the 16th, then moving in a few weeks later was a trying experience, and I’m still recovering from that move financially, but the payoffs have been so much more in other ways.
Tonight it’s a few beers and a curry with Steve B.

L8r

General - Hung over

I had a severe dose of hangoveritus today, but a strong black coffee with a generous measure of Thornton’s First appears to have sorted it out. Will have to remember that as a good hangover cure, and it’s actually quite tasty. The cream is already in so no need to buy extra, the toffee takes the place of sugar and the whisky gives one a kick up the back-side and says get up you fool!!

General - Looking back at the derby

The Derby was an amazing experience. The crowd was actually estimated at over 200000 people and the place was electric.

I arrived in the Rising Sun just after 1 and had another pint of Dave Roberts’s finest progress bitter. A good crowd of us met up before the 1.5 mile or so walk to the downs. Steve, Helen, Dave, Don, Roger and two of Steve’s friends all trooped through alternate sun and showers. Unfortunately Paul’s clan were a little late so we had to push off in order to secure a reasonable space which we did. We didn’t go to the grandstand for that would have necessitated an 11 quid entry fee, but found a place near the bogs and the cheapest beer tent. I say cheep, but 3 quid for a pint of John Smiths piss flow bitter isn’t too bad at these events, especially when you consider that it was cold and kept quite well as far as these things go. We also had a big screen near us.

To put the crown on the whole afternoon, Paul’s clan turned up with a bottle of very nice champagne which they shared. The scene was perfect, that is until the sodding Scissor Sisters took the bloody stage. Come on, as tight as the band were, they just get on my tits. The crowd didn’t appear to give a fuck about them, and they played the horrendous rendition of Comfortably num which upset me greatly. Don and Steve shared my horror at the sacralidge of Pink Floyd and we all wished the organisers had hired two smaller but good bands rather than lay out the undoubtedly exorbitant fee for these dragged up buffoons.

As soon as those Ostrich feathered fudge packers had left the stage it was time for the main event. The race was over within a minute or so and Motivator was the winner by a mile. The crowd noise was immense, and I can’t think of many more places I’d have rather been than on the downs in the sun. I’m lucky to live in Epsom for sure. That smell of grass, beer and dodgy char Cole cooked foods and onions will stay with me for a few weeks yet.

Managing to avoid the crowds somewhat on the way out thanks to Dave’s ingenuity and a friendly member of the constabulary we walked home down the hills and eventually bumped in to a pissed and huggy Naomi of the albium, she appeared to have had a good day by all accounts.

On returning to my place, Steve and I listened to some of the new Dream Theater album, and I think he was reasonably impressed with it. I did somewhat let the side down by falling asleep, but managed to collar Paul, Tina, Camble, Mareah, Dave, Helen, Don and a merry Steve as they passed my place after 11. They let me crash the party (Thanks guys) and went to Paul and Tina’s place for good company and Drams of Bruichladdich 10 year old.

What a fantastic day!!

Saturday, June 04, 2005

General - Nosh up in Epsom

Well, we like our grub in Epsom apparently especially on Derby day
From the guardian: ‘On the occasion said to be Britain's biggest day out a total of 10,000 bottles of champagne will be drunk along with 18,000 cans of beer and 9,000 bottles of Pimms with food sales also expected to reach record levels. More than 2,000lb of salmon will be eaten along with 1,000 lobsters, 5,000lb of potatoes,
1,500lb of saddles of lamb and 2,500lb of strawberries topped with 5,000 litres of
cream.’

General - I'm off to the Derby!!

I’ve just been fortunate enough to run in to Paul and Steve, and they’re up for a stint at the derby. I wasn’t going to go, but the town appears to be buzzing, so why not. Looks like people have been on the piss all day, so if you can’t beat them you may as well join them. I downed a swift pint of progress at the rising sun: ‘A more robust, malty beer with a balanced hop flavour, a true best bitter. The same hops as Surrey but a higher percentage of these and 10% Crystal malt.’ It was definitely on good form today. I guess my question of what to do has been solved for me. I’ll blog later about my first derby in Epsom.

General - Back Home

After spending yesterday late afternoon with Philip and Lai Shan I thought it was time to head back to Epsom. Lai and I met up in the Wetherspoons and after a quick serf and turf I got a taxi to the station and then a wait for the late 19:23 to London. I didn’t get back to my place until just before 23:55.

Talked on skype for a bit and opened the new Laphroaig quarter cask whisky. More to come on that in the future.

Think it’s time I got a move on and had a think about what I’m going to do with the rest of the day.

Friday, June 03, 2005

General - Preston Prowlin

The last few days have been a mixed bag. I am having a good time with Dave and Jolene, but I think burnout is setting in. I’m taking Monday off work, so hope that will help. I haven’t had all that much to drink so I will discount that. In fact I’ve not felt a good deal like drinking overly too much at all.

The Preston pubs are in good form as is the food. We went to the Ocean Bar and Grill last night and the steak was simply sensational, worth a trek if you happened to be in the area.

Phil Dave and I slipped out for a curry on Wednesday evening which was particularly good. Looks like the standards in the King are back up to scratch.

It looks like a stint in Galloway’s Preston today, then going over to Lai Shans for a bit and then out with Dave and Jo when they get back from seeing the European cup in Liverpool. I was going home today, but think one more evening will be enjoyable and I get to skip the nasty Friday evening rush in London. All this could alter of course, but the best plans sometimes end up changing any road.

Music - Octavarium

Octovarium should not hit my mat until the 8th or so, but I have managed to snag a pre-release copy from the web. Just as a matter of interest, because of the album spilling out online, dream theatre have shut there official message boards, but suffice to say that the album is easy to get hold of if you really want it.

I’ll do a proper review when I have lived with it for a few weeks, but I feel very happy with the result. As good as Train of thought?

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

Cheating wife? Try GPS panties | The Register

Cheating wife? Try GPS panties | The Register

I love GPS, but this is taking things a bit too far!!