Listen Up

This song is peaches and cream and kicks off my weekend. The weekend where I work both Saturday and Sunday. Which is breasticles.

And here are the lyrics...

Listen up
What's the time said today
I'm gonna speak my mind
Take me up to the top of the world
I wanna see my crime

Day by day
There's a man in a suit
Who's gonna make you pay
For the thoughts that you think and the words
They won't let you say

One fine day
I'm gonna leave you all behind
It wouldn't be so bad
If I had more time

But I've been sailing down this river alone
And I'm still trying to find my way back home
But I don't believe in magic
Life is automatic
But I don't mind being on my own
Said that I don't mind being on my own

Listen up
What's the time said today
I'm gonna speak my mind
Take me up to the top of the world
I wanna see my crime

Day by day
There's a man in a suit
Who's gonna make you pay
For the thoughts that you think and the words
They won't let you say

One fine day
We're gonna leave it all behind
It wouldn't be so bad
If we had more time

I've been sailing down this river alone
But I'm still trying to find my way back home
And I don't believe in magic
Life is automatic
But I don't mind being on my own
Said that I don't mind being on my own
No, I don't mind being on my own
I said I don't mind being on my own

A Chance To Remember

Today I went to Whitehall, along with several thousand others, to pay tribute to those servicemen that have given their lives in wars past and present. Wreaths of Poppy's are placed at the foot of the Cenotaph by the Royal Family and other prominent figures to honour "The Glorious Dead".

I went with CF, passing through metal detectors and searches, guarded by Armed Police, and watched over by black clad figures on the roof tops with guns. A sign of our times and an irony, considering the event, that wasn't lost on me. We joined the masses of people that had taken just a few hours out of their day to remember. To remember those that had made the ultimate sacrifice. War is never good, or glorious in my eyes, but men and women of all ages, colours and creeds gave up more than most of us will ever do to protect the ones they loved. And to save all of those that they would never meet or know. They fought and died for our freedom and deserve our respect and remembrance.

Wednesday will be the 11th of November, don't forget to pay your respects at 11am.

Never forget to Remember.

Oooh,,,

Yeah, new presents for me.

I've been trying to find some white Adidas Country trainers, navy stripes & gum sole in a UK size 12 for ages without any success whatsoever. If anyone out there knows where I can get some feel free to drop me a line. Ta.

Here Comes The Weekend

About fucking time. Seriously out of sorts this week, heads not where it should be and I'm suffering from major Grump. Must be getting close to that end of year bollocks. Hair cut tomorrow, along with new clobber (work stuff unfortunately), but it's a Start!

If we tell you that you've got two days to live
Then don't complain, 'cos that's one more than you'd get in Zaire -
So don't hang around and be foolish
Do something constructive with your weekend -
From Monday morning I work for Friday nights
Collect my wages, then try to paint on the smell of soap -
'Cause tonight I get ready early
Score what I need and go pick a girl up
It seems like ages since we had some fun -
Here comes the weekend - I get to see the girls
Long live the weekend, the weekend is here
(the weekend starts here)
Everything feels right now
I know why I'm alive now
Everything else is a lie now
Now I know why I'm here
Here comes the weekend - I'm gonna do my head
Long live the weekend, the weekend is dead

Autobiographical?

Way out on top of my recently listened to tracks list is Led Zeppelin's Over The Hills And Far Away. This song is on their Houses Of The Holy album and is quite brilliant. Mind you, so is the album. In fact, if you haven't got it then go buy it. Immediately. I'll even put a link HERE so you can click it right now and use the wonder that is One-Click Purchasing....ooooh yum. I've posted up a video from Youtube below that has a bit of a dodgy recording of the studio version. I'll confess that I wasn't overly impressed by the live versions that I saw. I think maybe a case of too much sex and drugs and not enough rock 'n' roll.

Hey, lady, you got the love I need,
Maybe more than enough.
Oh, Darlin', Darlin', Darlin', walk a while with me,
Oh, you got so much, so much, so much.

Many have I loved, and many times been bitten,
many times I've gazed along the open road.

Many times I've lied and many times I've listened,
many times I've wondered how much there is to know.

Many dreams come true and some have silver linings
I live for my dream and a pocketful of gold.

Mellow is the man who knows what he's been missin',
many many men can't see the open road.

Many is a word that only leaves you guessin',
Guessin' 'bout a thing you really ought to know.

You really ought to know.
I really ought to know.

D.I.Y. In Pictures Part III

Yeah I know, I've been slacking in the writing department for...well...most of this year really. However, over the last couple of months it's mainly because I've been so damn busy. One of my own personal projects has included our living room. In a nutshell, it was a shit hole. There was debris on the ceiling from a party several years ago (no, not that, but that silly string stuff, luminous freakin' yellow too). The carpet was old and black (yes, the previous owner did have a thing for decking out the whole place with black carpet. Idiot). The wallpaper was twisted and bubbled, we had no real storage, and the 3 sofa's took up way too much room. So when I had some spare time (jobless) I decided it was time for a change...

Jokes about a cup of tea being on the floor prior to any evidence of work having been done will be ignored...it was my Thinking Time.

Yet another bay window suffering from moisture. Sigh.

The walls were heavily sanded to try and get shot of some of the texture on the wallpaper. Ideally I'd like to have had the whole place replastered, but it would've cost way more than I could spend at the moment. Instead, bubbles and twists were cut out, prepped and filled then sanded.

The light switch that was hanging off was definitely on my list of things to fix...

Then the mess arrived. By the bucket load. Brilliant. Love a bit of mess sometimes.

I started off with making some storage. Really showed up how different the alcoves were in width. I think our house was built by guess work. Nothing is level or square anywhere. I ripped out the carpet, built a bay window seat, sanded, filled, painted, swept, hoovered, sang a bit, drank a box and a half of tea, got to know people that also live on my street, ordered carpet, argued with Carpet Right (Right? My Arse), got curtains and throws, and had the odd smug grin. And here are the photos of the end-ish result.

A new TV (reconditioned jobby off of the Great God Amazon) is on its way. And at some point some pictures will go up (I'd like a Weller picture up there...don't think the others are all that keen unfortunately). A rug of some description will probably go down and the bay window seat, that has storage space inside via a handy lid, will have a cushion made for it. I dare say that I'll put something inside the now vacant fireplace, if only to please my brother. He pestered me to put a bowl of stones or something in it. I'm thinking a Goblin. That'd be pretty cool to have in the fireplace. Or a Smurf band. Ones that could play whatever you wanted. I'd have them play the new Song of the Week, Give It Up by Datarock which features on their newest album, Red. I highly recommend it.

Fistful Of Wool*

Taking a full load of socks and boxers to the washing machine is quite possibly one of the most complicated tasks known to man. Pun? Quite probably.

Separating colours from whites? No problem at all. Picking up all the socks and boxers in one go? Not a chance in hell. It's like trying to hold sand. The more I pick up from the floor, the more I drop. After several minutes of pick-up-sockerobics, everything is finely balanced and going well right up until that movement thing. Even turning on the spot is a challenge. I can see the pile shifting as I rotate slowly, resisting the urge to use my chin as a third hand (c'mon, old socks on my face? Yeah, right). The sense of inevitability oozes through me like treacle through a sieve. I'm going to lose another item...

...yep, there it goes...

Now I'm facing the right way, I'm left with an agonising decision to make. Do I attempt to pick up the fallen laundry and risk another dose of socksercise? Or go for the sock-foot-flick manoeuvre all the way down the stairs, through the hall and into the kitchen? This obviously carries more risk than the first option, but the sense of achievement following success is infinitely higher.

Opting for the pick up, I manage to hold on to everything. Although I do have to succumb to chinsock otherwise I'd have been there all afternoon. Even the walk to the kitchen isn't a...erm...walk in the park *ahem*. It's got to be done backwards. The walk that is. Otherwise you run the risk of missing a dropped sock after the machine is on. And I really hate having to wash just one sock so that I've got the pair.

I suppose this could all be changed by simply taking the wash basket, full of clothes, to the machine. Which would've saved me time. And made this a really short post. And quite staggeringly boring.

Mind you, I have just written about carrying socks.

Yeah, time to get out.

*Rage Against The Machine...get it?? That's bleedin' clever that is!