w.atching the w.orld unw.ind

Today's lyric:

"And I'll be (your grace your dignity)
And I'll be (your night your destiny)
And I'll be (your comfort and your ease)
I will be your storm at seas...
And I'll be (your sharp intake of breath)
And I'll be (your work I'll take no rest)
And when the world falls to decline
I'll be yours and you'll be mine."

Eurythmics: "It's alright (Baby's coming back)"
From the album: "Be yourself tonight"

Another Tuesday and another 'practice/training' walk tonight for the Moonwalk.

We've decided that we'll go for the fast walks after work and leave the longer distance stuff to our individual weekends, as we all live quite far apart and meeting up would be an effort in itself?

Only four months away now...

Today's lyric:

"My mother told me good, my mother told me strong.
She said "Be true to yourself and you can't go wrong.
But there's just one thing, that you must understand.
You can fool with your brother - but don't mess with a missionary man."

Eurythmics: "Missionary Man"
From the album: "Revenge"

Four jobs that I've had

Rear chassis panel builder (electronic adding machines, the size of dishwashers)
Department store warehouse gofer
Bottler in a brewery
Building society clerk

Four movies I can watch over and over
The Wall
One flew over and over the cuckoo's nest
Easy rider (man, I've always wanted one of those choppers)
Debbie Does - no, no, no - Life of Brian

Four places I have lived
Portsmouth
Maidstone
Manchester
Langsett

Four TV shows I like to watch
Top Gear
Millionaire
Universally challenged
Anything wildlifey

Four foods that I like
Meat
Meat with a side dish of meat
More meat
Even more meat (see a pattern developing here?)

Four websites I visit daily
bsag
Clair
Witchy
NiC

Four things I want to do before I die
Win enough money to:
Pay off the mortgages of my friends and family
Equip a boat to take disabled kids out sea-fishing
Cage dive with Great Whites
See our kids safely set up for life

Four places I would rather be right now
Hawai'i (Big Island)
Great Barrier Reef
Mauritius (me Ma was born there)
Crawley (nah, just joking - Hong Kong)

Four people I'm tagging
Him (but I'll end up having to do it meself)
Her
Him
and finally Him

Today's lyric:

"In her strawberry eyes, the way she sees you signifies
That she's susceptible to your velvet lies.
But if you must lay her down
May a butterscotch glow be her dressing gown
And please do not lead her on when you leave town
Even though there's nothing I can say
To cheat you and nature any way."

Terence Trent D'Arby: "Let her down easy"

Yesterday, the train driver and his conductor carried out a public conversation over the Tannoy about someone who'd collapsed on the train, with some kind of fit, initially, much to the amusement of the passengers,until they realised how serious the situation actually was.

Today, after apologising for the delay in arrival at London Bridge, he publicly expressed his gratitude to the medically-trained commuters who'd given emergency assistance while en route.

Top man.

And don't you just love those lyrics up there?

Have a great weekend, y'all.

Today's lyric:

"Sometimes justice you will find, is just dumb, not colour-blind
And your poor shattered mind can't take it all in
All those phantoms and those shades, should jump up on Judgement Day
And say to the Almighty "I'm still stinking of sin"
But the jury was dismissed, took his neck and they give it a twist
So you see you won't be missed in those complicated shadows."

Elvis Costello: "Complicated shadows"
From the album: "All this useless beauty"

NOD and I were just winding down in our last game of badminton yesterday evening, when a couple of guys challenged us to a doubles game.

A couple of minutes into the match, I attempted to smash-return a lob, missed, brought the racquet down and tapped it over the net with a ground shot.

Whereupon, one of the blokes caught the shuttle in his hand.

"Wtf are you doing?" yelled his partner "he returned the shot! Mind you, I've never seen anyone take two hits and succeed in getting it back..."

We were losing when the next players wanted to take over our court, so we had to concede the game, but it would have been interesting to have played to the death?

But on top of our practice Moonwalk on Tuesday night, me poor old pins are knackered this morning!

Today's lyric:

"And now I'm trying to tell you about my life
And my tongue is twisted and more dead than alive
And my feelings - they've always been betrayed
And I was born a little damaged man
And look what they made."

The Verve: "Velvet morning"
From the album: "Urban hymns"

Gawd, it's blummin' freezin' out there 'tsmornin'!

Even colder than last night? when we covered 3.82 miles in 62 minutes, so we're well on target according to the Moonwalk training schedule.

And as The Ginger Whinger hasn't stopped 'calling' since we brought her back from stud 10 days ago, it looks like the seeing-to didn't take? If that's the case, we'll have to re-schedule a second session (and several people will be disappointed).

Oh - and congrats to Ms Spurling

Today's lyric:

"Farewell all my family
Don't you know I mean you so well
Please appreciate I must make a break
Just to see what I can do
The stage is set, so understand
I can't hide in the wings no more.
I've got to go now - it's no use me staying home."

Rod Stewart: "Farewell"
From the album: "Smiler"

Number One Son seems determined to come back home from Cornwall - after the summer - and get a place in Uni. Despite having failed his A-levels, through sheer lack of drive to pass.

He certainly has the wit and intelligence to do better than he did first time around, but it'll be interesting to see how, after nearly two years of travelling* he can settle to the regime of study and schedule?

Mrs.D. and I may find ourselves involved in the process? Now, I fancy to learn Greek (beyond the usual 'Efharisto' and 'Kalimera' tourist phrases).

Anyone able to recommend the best way to do it? Is 'listening to tapes/cd's etc' still the favoured route? I have time to do it while commuting in/out, but it'd be a tad self-conscious repeating it back to a non-comprehending carriage-full of other travellers. Or is there no substitute for listening to someone actually speak it and learning by rote?

When I studied German (to A-level) there was a British lad who'd lived in Germany for a few years and could literally speak like a native - he dominated the oral lessons because, of course, the tutor could brush up on his own verbal skills - but the kid couldn't write it down to save his life. I could never understand how that was possible?

Wonder if I can 'persuade' him down the languages route...

* Bumming about semi-aimlessly

Today's lyric:

"It's nature's way of telling you in the breeze.
It's nature's way of telling you, dying trees.
It's nature's way of receiving you.
It's nature's way of retrieving you
It's nature's way of telling you, something's wrong."

Spirit: "Nature's way"
From the album: "The 12 dreams of Dr. Sardonicus"

I love that track title from the Dickies, but don't remember ever hearing it? Must look it up..

Number One Daughter emerged from her pit yesterday am/pm, with scuffmarks down the entire length of her face. Seems she got back from the pub on Saturday night, sat down on the front doorstep to retrieve her keys? and keeled over, scraping her fizzog on the flowerpot!

Photos were taken, at Number One Son's request (he won't see her before the scars have healed). Shame it's her birthday today... even more photos

* smirks *

St Paul's wearing a dress?



Whereas these ladies aren't?

Today's lyric:

Must be me that's rushing by,
Time just lingers on the wind.
Bristlin' through my open fears,
I wonder what it's going to bring.

Run and hide, run and hide
I catch the sail at evening's tide."

Paul Weller: "Above the clouds"
From the album: "Paul Weller"

Neatly-pressed strides, hanging soggy with wind-driven rain. That was a complete waste of time and effort, then..

And tomorrow - believe it or not - we've volunteered to come in to bail out a sister division, so no Saturday lie-in at the end of a very work-heavy week.

Not complaining - just stating.

But after the overtime, we're going for a daylight(?) practice walk for the Moonwalk, so if the rain/gloom lifts for just a little while (Please?) I may get some shots of London 'on the hoof' as it were.

'Til then, enjoy your weekends.

Today's lyric:

"What shall we use to fill the empty spaces
Where we used to talk?
How shall I fill the final places?
How should I complete the wall?"

Pink Floyd: "Empty spaces"
From the album: "The Wall"

Sounds of silence:

Invisible Stranger
Clear Blue Skies
Mouthful of cobwebs
Uborka
Wherever you are

But Luke's back! Go check.

Now. Without consulting dictionaries/search engines, would you be able to tell me the meaning of the following words (all scattered throughout my current read - over there on the right..)

Condign
Caparisoned
Otiose
Asseverated
Animadverts
Lancinating
Odalisque
Crapulence
Semiotics

And although I don't (knowingly) suffer from SDS, as a Leo I love the sun, and am dead bored with the unremitting, unrelenting greyness of days?

So stick a definition and/or a joke in the comments box, to cheer us all up?

Today's lyric:

"I'll make sure that love is all around you
Loving you is purity,
Blankets of security, surround you."

Ian Dury & The Blockheads: "You're my baby"
From the album: "Mr Love Pants"

She came to me, in the night - at that point in quasi-sleep when you're only just aware of the physical...

Silently padding across the moonlit carpet, she pushed her way under the duvet, seeking the warmth of my body, which she nuzzled as she wriggled her way further down the bed.

Then, shamelessly pawing at my body, with scant regard for my skin, she worked her way back up my chest, until I could feel her hot, Whiskers breath.

Bloody cats!

Today's lyric:

"How long can you hold your breath
While you hold mine again, and wait
Just to watch you perform the great escape."

Moby (feat. Azure Ray): "The great escape"
From the album: "18"

In all the 'excitement' of cat-breeding activity over the weekend (I promise to restrict future references to the minimum) I forgot to mention about the car..

When we left the house on Saturday morning to collect TGW from the breeders (sorry) I noticed that the Cooper looked remarkably clean. "Did you get the car washed, Mrs.D?" I enquired. "I didn't ask for it to be washed" she replied, "but there is a team of cleaners who patrol the carpark at work, and if you leave your wipers down as a sign, they'll wash it while you're away/working. But I didn't do that?"

We could only guess that they'd washed the wrong car in error? But - Yay!!

(They could hardly put the dirt back on when they realised their mistake, could they?)

But the mystery was solved yesterday by a colleague, during her lunch-break.

He has a near-identical Mini and they both tend to park in the same bays each day (as if they'll mate [sorry]) while they're both working. And he'd asked the team to wash his car on alternate Fridays. Except that he wasn't working last Friday.

Result.

Today's lyric:

"We arranged again to meet
And as I walked off down the street
I swear that I felt ten feet tall
Was I dizzy from the wine?
Or maybe I mis-read the signs?
But now you won't return my calls?."

The Bluetones: "Slack jaw"From the album: "Science and Nature"

Now, admit it, that title did just attract your attention a tad more than normally, didn't it?

Hopefully, TGW has now been fertilised (See Saturday's post, just below, so no link necessary) and the first sign of pregnancy is a slight change in the size and colour of the eight nipples that a cat has.

Should know in about two weeks.

Otherwise, it's 200+ quid down the old Swanee and a return trip to Major Tom a.k.a. Rocky for another good seeing-to?

The Ginger Whinger has just returned from stud.

210 quid for a week of pleasure. The hussy pussy.

With him.

Today's lyric:

"I'm not talking about your pigtails
But I'm talking 'bout your sex appeal
Hit the road and I'm gone
What's my number?
I wonder how your engines feel?"

Simon & Garfunkel: "Baby driver"
From the album: "Bridge over troubled water"

Bruv's band return to their debut venue on Feb 17th.

The pub is big and smoky, but (as you can see) has a wide range of live gigs to suit everyone and the punters are generally very supportive of the acts.

If you want an "Access All Areas" badge, let me know - I do have some influence...

Enjoy your weekends, y'all

Today's lyric:

"And I know what you're thinking
You still think I'm crap
But you'd better listen, man
Because the kids know where it's at.
In the city there's a thousand things I want to say to you."

The Jam: "In the city"
From the album: "In the city"

There was no evidence of the thick frost I scraped off the windscreen (for Mrs.D.) nor the thick fog the train rumbled through at Gatwick (what a superb place to site an airport - low-lying and so ever prone to fog up) when we pulled into the capital today?

Off to sunny S6 later today for another meeting, so blogvisiting will be a 'dash and splash' affair... might get more inspiration for a post from the illustrious Great Eastern train 'service' ?

Today's lyric:

"Have you seen the old man, outside the seaman's mission?
Memory fading with the medal ribbons that he wears.
In our winter city, the rain cries a little pity
For one more forgotten hero, and a world that doesn't care."

Ralph McTell: "Streets of London"

It's nice to be able to have the windows open at home, without The Ginger Whinger trying to make her escape (whether or not she's howling for a mate) - but it is damn quiet without her. Even Neurotic Lil is missing her, uncharacteristically nuzzling us, in recompense for the absence of alternately being mugged by and being washed by the cream demon.

So last night saw our maiden trial walk, as practice for May's moonwalk (see yesterday's post.)

We trekked across Tower Bridge, against an eye-closing, wind-driven drizzle which seemed to have sprung up from nowhere. Hanging a right down onto the Embankment, we made our way past RedKen House, up and over London Bridge (which I saw lit up for the first time, as normally I'm crossing it) and down to the Tate. Then across the Millennium Bridge to St. Paul's, back past Cannon Street and over London Bridge itself again.

We reckon we'd walked about three miles in 45 minutes, which is a reasonable first shot at the half marathon distance we'll end up walking. And I saw the Golden Hinde for the first time. And there was still some undeliquescent snow down in the Tower's grounds?

May take the camera next time...

Today's lyric:

"Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air
And deep beneath the rolling waves, in labyrinths of coral caves
The echo of a distant tide comes willowing across the sand
And everything is green and submarine."

Pink Floyd: "Echoes"
From the album: "Meddle"

Tonight sees the office's first training walk in preparation for the Moonwalk.

Using the convoy principle of travelling at the pace of the slowest, we plan to walk for an hour, all wearing pedometers acquired free at London Bridge as part of a promotion, to see what sort of distance we'll cover on average in that time.

We're only going to do the half marathon on the night itself, but need to get into serious training as it's now only four months away...

Today's lyric:

"Turn that jungle music down
Just until we're out of town
This is no one night stand
It's a real occasion
Close your eyes and you'll be there
It's everything they say
The end of a perfect day
Distant lights from across the bay."

Steely Dan: "Babylon Sisters"
From the album: "Gaucho"

In the world of cat (and dog) breeders, a 'prefix' is like a blogname - it accords you a recognised anonymity, so that you can 'trade' on a name which other breeders and buyers remember, without necessarily giving away your own name, until a sale is agreed. Then, when you register kittens or puppies with the relevant authority, your prefix forms part of the exotic names which breeders have to supply, in order to guarantee novelty.

And so it is that Argento Burmese may be resurrected, as Lola (a.k.a. The Ginger Whinger) is away having her cherry expensively lost.

If she takes, she'll be due to drop around mid-March, and our plan is to sell at cost, so that people who would otherwise not be able to afford a pedigree cat may be able to buy one?

There's already a waiting list - Bruv wants two, to replace his brace which shuffled off several years ago, and Buddy wants one to make up an unholy trinity, so she'd better produce a decent-sized litter first time...

Today's lyric:

"You whisper secrets in my ear
Slowly dancing cheek to cheek
It's such a sweet thing when you open up, baby
They say I'll only do you wrong
We come together 'cause I understand
Just who you really are, baby."

Queens Of The Stone Age: "Little Sister"
From the album: "Lullabies to paralyze"

Short post today, as the morning train was late.

In a vaguely pathetic way of trying to lose a little weight/become healthier, Mrs.D. and I are not going to imbibe alcohol on school nights (at least during January.)

It will also be interesting to see how much we actually spend on (red) wine during the month(s) to come? Waking up has been a little easier, though, so perhaps it's already working...

And playing badminton again (albeit against an inferior opponent - eh, NOD?) will help, as will the training for June's Moonwalk.

Steroids are out, though, as I don't do drugs, for any purpose. Well, don't want to become muscle-bound, do I?

Have a great week-end, y'all.

Today's lyric:

"You're beautiful, I love to watch your face in the morning light
You're really cool, I like the way we fight right through the night
And the way we used to kiss was way out of sight
But I can never hope to set you free
Cos you're my bittersweet bundle of misery."

Graham Coxon: "Bittersweet bundle of misery"
From the album: "Happiness in magazines"

Why #1
Unless it's persisting down, between showering and putting on my work-shirt, I stand outside for a couple of minutes each morning, letting the colder-than-inside air waft over me. It's a poor parody of a plunge pool after a sauna.

Fortunately, we aren't overlooked, or the neighbours would be wondering why the mad, middle-aged man next door is stood, naked to the waist, in the dark on a mid-January morning...

Why #2
Do (predominantly) men drive to the railway station, just to let their wife/partner switch to the driving seat when they get out? You're driving bland, European saloons and hatchbacks, guys, not Ferraris, so don't need to relish every waking second of ownership...?

Why #3
Do (predominantly) women walk with one arm swinging wildly at ninety degrees to their body, taking up to three times the necessary width and risking you getting a smack in the nads when you try to overtake...?

Why #4
Do people offer idle threats? Number One Daughter said to me last night "Me and this new Xmas badminton racquet are going to whup your sorry a55."

After seven games, she'd not scored more than 4/15...

if that doesn't provoke a comment, Matey, nothing ever will?

Hah!

Today's lyric:

"If you should go skating,
On the thin ice of modern life
Dragging behind you the silent reproach
Of a million tear-stained eyes.
Don't be surprised when a crack in the ice
Appears under your feet.
You slip out of your depth and out of your mind,
With your fear flowing out behind you
As you claw the thin ice.."

Pink Floyd: "The Thin Ice"
From the album: "The Wall"

I've just totted up and realised that, including the current book, I managed to read 40 novels in their entirety during 2005. That must be more than I read when I did Eng. Lit. at 'A' level. Which I just scraped a pass in. As I did in French and German.

Be interesting to see what the score is at the end of 2006?

I've become re-fascinated by Floyd's "The Wall".

A friend has taken a liking to the album track "Comfortably numb" after first hearing The Scissor Sisters' version, then being corrected by listening to the original. I dug out a video'd copy of the film, (recorded at the time of Renault's Papa/Nicolle adverts!), which I'd edited to remove the ads from (and ended up with a very hissy copy.)

Wandering the Virgin MegaStore at Tottenham Court Road when we went to see "We will rock you" on New Year's Eve, what should I espy alone on the racks but a dvd of the film which, of course, I just had to have. Along with a pair of Sennheiser headphones for the minidisk Walkman.

And Number One Daughter and Number One Son bought me the CD for Xmas, so I'll be overdosing shortly.

Shame there wasn't a book of the film...?

Today's lyric:

"Into the mists of time and space
Where we have no say over date and place
Don't get embarrassed if it happens a lot,
That you don't know how you started or where you're gonna stop?
And if at times it seems insane - all the tears in searching
Turning all your joy to pain - in pursuit of learning
Buy a dream and hideaway - can't escape the sorrow
Your mojo will have no effect - as we head into tomorrow."

Paul Weller: Into Tomorrow""
From the album: "Paul Weller"

Start of a new term. Light drizzle falling on the capital. Grey-faced commuters trudging over London Bridge. Party on.

Medical update

Mrs.D. has Tinselitis - a piece of coloured metallic foil from last night's party poppers went down her embonpoint and during the night, leached pink/mauve stain on her, er, chest.

And it won't come off!

Played Cranium 'til the small hours this morning with Mr and Mrs Buddy.

My mimed rendition of Billy Joel's "Uptown girl" caused pants to be peed in.

But it was Mrs.D's graphic depiction of "waterbed" which had us all rofling..

That's a vision which will last long into this New Year.

Hope yours was a great one, too