AndyBlog

I still do the radio show...

I just thought I'd mention to all and Sundry that I still do my radio show on a Wednesday. The radio station is doign OK, with three DJs on the staff now, and a third on her way.

Sure, we're a bit short of listeners, but few radio stations aren't, I reckon.

So, if you have any time spare on a Wednesday evening form 10pm-12am, why not tune in?

You'd be very welcome. There's a chat room, too, where we all have a chin-wag about stuff - and things.

Click HERE to go to the radio station web site and tune in.

A Christmas Announcement

Fiona and I have had a chat, and we think we've found a way to get round all the difficult problems that this coming Christmas represents.

In short, we've decided to take a Christmas off. This means that we would appreciate it if no-one sends cards or presents this year. In return, we'll do the same for you.

With the marriage split-up, already people have approached me and asked whom to address cards to etc. So this seems a sensible course of action.

We both wish you all a very Happy Christmas, but let's give the paperwork a miss in 2005.

Come Christmas 2006, the land will look very different, and you'll know what to do then.

Thanks for reading, and please see this as a positive thing.

A rod for my own back

Everything had to be tidied up when we decided to sell this place, and something amazing happened to me.

I enjoyed it.

Maybe not the tidying itself, but certainly the results. The thing that amazes me the most is that it really doesn't take long to make a big difference.

My next mistake was to tell Liz and Fiona all of this. I told them both that I liked being organised and that tidying was not too bad after all.

So now, with Fiona away and all the many things that she actually does being left undone, it falls to me to prove that I am the modern and re-invented man that I claim to be. It's hard work, too.

So, this morning, already I have emptied and filled the dishwasher, having set it away last night. I've put some washing on to cook, I've washed up the non-dishwasher items, cleaned the surfaces, scrubbed the chopping boards and wiped the table.

There is only one thing that I could do which would make the situation worse, and cause me to be judged by everyone.

Blog about it.

Tower Of Power

If you click HERE, you'll be transported to a web page with the best panorama I have ever seen on it. As shown, it is the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Prepare to be amazed, they've done a seriously good job. I had tremendous fun clicking my mouse and touring all around the Eiffel.

Postings for Ian

Dear Ian - all of the last few postings were for you, to satisfy your lust for my mind-pap.

I hope I did good.

Snow Yes!

Click on the picture to see the video

The snow came today. Not a great deal of it, but after so much talk in the media about it, I was glad that the skies managed to yield a few flakes for us. Thank goodness I was on hand to video the momentous event.

Chinese Tear-Up

So, Fiona is away for a fortnight, here is my chance to have fun. Ooooh!, thinks I, I'll order a Chinese Take-Away. Nice plan. I know I'm going to love it, they are so delicious.

I ordered Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup, Prawn Crackers and Cantonese Chicken with Chips.

It was horrible. Really horrible. Eleven pounds, and it was truly disgusting. I hated it.

The soup was thin and too hot. Even after cooling, somehow it was too hot. I put soy sauce into it, and then it was too salty and bitter.

The Prawn Crackers were old - and tasted slightly rancid. I only risked two before giving up.

The Cantonese Chicken was overly sweet, and the vegetables were to soft and slushy. Chinese vegetables should be crisp and add variety to the texture of the meal. These failed utterly. The meat was done in a thick batter, not a tight Chinese tempura. It was more like Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls, but with the balls in the sauce. The result was more slush, with some cheap and tasteless bits of chicken inside.

It was a rubbish meal, and I am glad that I will be moving out of Stanley to somewhere with a decent network of take-aways, both Chinese and otherwise.

So why the calendar?

Well, they sent it to me, along with the order. It's a nice tradition - but in this case, it's a trashy thing.

Kinda makes sense, alongside the trashy food.

Did I mention that the chips were like rubber, and very cold?

So I decided to tear it up.

After all, it was my only way of fighting back, they already had my money and probably would not give it back, no matter how bitterly I complained.

So I decided to tear up this calendar - this calendar with its awful Coy Carp pictures. Even then there are two months to a page. That smacks of cost cutting.

Then, somehow, the tearing up of the menu started to mean something more.

It was like I was tearing up a part of me. Maybe the chasing of food as a means of feeling better.

Not just that, but a rejection of the helter-skelter way I react to living on my own. The truth is that I don't do too well as a solo occupant of Griffin House, or anywhere else for that matter.

I do just fine if there is someone else in the house, even if I rarely see them. But if I am completely alone, suddenly the place seems even massiver than it really is.

Other symptoms:

1) I can't go to bed. I can sleep, but I struggle to go up to bed. I haven't worked this out.
2) I don't cook for myself. Normally I love cooking.
3) I feel a great desire to go out and be away from the house.

I'd like to leave all of this behind, and it looks like I'm going to get a chance to. Whilst I look forward to being with Liz and my move to Newbiggin, I find myself completely stranded.

I feel like I am washed up here in Griffin house, with precious little finalised about anything else. We have sold the house, but what then?

It's an exciting time. Did I say exciting?  I meant interesting.  Did I say interesting?  I meant scary.

I guess I want to tear up all that negativity, all that uncertainty and get on with starting afresh.

Maybe it took a naff Chinese meal to finally teach me that.

Kristina Olsen - In Concert

Fiona and myself went, with Jac and Tris to see Kristina Olsen in concert at the Davey Lamp folk club in Washington. It was great. She is from LA, but is so English in her wicked sense of humour and relentless fun-poking at sex.

I found her instantly likeable and sincere as a musician. She expresses humour with real fun, but without compromising her integrity. This is no “just for laffs” performance. Not at all. She is suddenly serious and soul-searching and just as suddenly poking fun at orgasms.

I love it. I love her. Everyone does. How could they not?

Here, in a brief aside, Fiona demonstrates to Jac the size of my penis - to Jac's obvious amusement.

Thanks Fiona - although I had hoped to keep it a closely guarded secret forever.

Then I noticed the red light behind and wondered if this was really a folk club, or was this a cleverly put together front for some sort of brothel?

I don't remember much about the rest of the night. I do remember a large pile of peanuts and a strained sound coming from the stage - but that might have just been one of the resident singers.

It was all pretty confused.

Good night though. I'd like go there again and again.

Pre-School Education

Please do click on this picture and read it. It is a poster I found whilst attending church on Sunday. We meet in a welfare centre in Ashington, and this is one of the prominently displayed posters on the main reception desk.

Interesting to note that they offer schooling in kicking, punching and first aid. All natural bedfellows. I suppose it represents a modern, realistic skills base for the average Ashington pre-school kid.

I wonder if anyone at the centre vets these adverts before they go on display? It might be worth making a “teach your toddlers to kill” poster and see if it makes it to the main display.

Is it just me that finds this sort of thing eerily scary?

Beer Galore!