Sunday, April 30, 2006

Reunited...


Hi all....Oh what a bloody terrific day I had yesterday...The people you see to my left are Phil Mimi and Sebastian, we lost touch about 15 years ago due to various and long winded circumstances but yesterday I was reunited with them when they came to visit...Sebastian is in fact my Godson and yes, i do feel very guilty about not being part of his life but have now vowed to never lose touch again! I was emotionally quite moved because I noticed that Sebastian had so much love and respect for Phil and Mimi and I realised that it was a love and respect that I never really showed my parents..so I say it publicly again now..Mum and Dad I love you to bits and am sorry for all the disruption I have caused in you past lives...phew!
Phil and Mimi are the nicest of people though and you couldn't really ask for nicer friends...I'm sure they won't mind me talking about them on here..we go back to when I was dj'ing in the 80's, Mimi was a most extravagant and bohemian goth and Phil was a Numanoid who lived for music..and the great thing is, nothing has changed!...well Mimi isn't SO gothy but she is still as beautiful and the last we saw of phil he was on his hands and knees looking through my Cd's and Dvd's shouting out 'how much do you want for this'!...Sebastian has got to the point where he is looking round Universities to progress his humanities studies so I'm glad he's got an Education head on him!...I spent most of our time together yesterday in awe of their happiness and the love that emoted from them as a family unit...can't wait to go and visit them at the seaside!...I am so glad we have found each other...to be continued...

fresh kitten!


just a quick posting...more later...but i just found these photos on flickr and thought they were incredibly moving! The photos were taken by 'theblue' and you can find more of the set at www.flickr.com/photos/theblue the photos are sort of a before and after!



Friday, April 28, 2006

The Man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still...


Well...bugger me with a broom handle and call me delilah....we seem to have a bird of prey hovering round the roof of Piddy towers...something called a kitty hawk, sparrow hawk...something like that so the twitchers tell me...I seem to be the only one who hasn't seen it and its perching on my railings somewhere....at the earliest opportunity my camera lens will be up its arse and a photo will be taken as quick as you can say hello jemima...

I see the pope is up to his Gay PR tricks again...can't he find someone else to hate...just because he has a personal homophobic problem, why should the millions of catholics on the earth be subjected to the same...I wish he would look towards the future and not dwell in the distant past...what a wanker (and still a cunt..as in previous posts)

Now you know you can rely on me musically...well theres a couple of albums worth a mention this week...first one is from Peter Grant called 'New Vintage'..an amazing 19 year old guy who has a crooners voice to die for, the great thing is that he manages to produce an album which is very cool indeed and very sparse on the cheese...well any album that opens with Scott Walkers Joanna (actually written by Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent) can't be bad...really, really go and find it and listen to it...so fucking jealous of his voice, if only i had been allowed to go to stage school ! :)
The second album is by Susie and Sam (its actually ex Bangle Susannah Hoff and indie darling Matthew Sweet) called 'Under the Covers Vol 1'...this is one of those albums that you can play over and over and not get bored of...it is simply a collection of their favourite 60's and 70's songs as In Velvet Undergrounds 'Sunday Morning' and Beach Boys 'Warmth of the Sun'...its a great listen and the two voices meld together really well into 45ish minutes of nostalgic acid pop...another one to explore.

I am off to the pub tonight and thought I would just give them a shout out...if you want to see the whole of the Piddys Place writing team in drinking action you need to visit 'The Wellington' in Wellington Street Bedford...a great selection of real ales and no annoying music, but it still manages to get vocally raucous somehow!
Peace all
Minister Neil (ordained Minister for the Temple of Earth)

Thursday, April 27, 2006

beep beep n beep beep yeah!

Well hello and welcome back if you have read this before and come in and snuggle up if your new its time to talk browsers today. What the fuck is a browser I hear you all shout. Well you’re using one at present if you’re reading this on your computer. Windows comes with one and it’s called “Internet Explorer” or “IE” for short and I guess that most of the planet uses it as most of the planet access the web by one of Bills toys. Now that is another story for another day but just to let you know there are other ways to use a computer and never ever touch a Windows product.

So back to browsers, as most of you will know when you surf the World Wide Web opening pages and downloading the latest video from some tuneless hopeful you are targeted by all sorts of web based nastiness floating around in cyber space. Some just want to record your movements the so called spy ware and some want nothing more than to turn your computer into an ornament with no useful purpose, they do this with viruses of which there are many and legion. Now if you’re sensible your Anti spy ware will save you from all the one that manages to get through your firewall. I take it you do have both of them? If you don’t then you probably deserve all you get. You have been warned and told enough times.

The other problem is that as we all know “IE” can sometimes crash with terrible results for the rest of your computer. This is because Internet Explorer is Windows and as an integral part of Windows whatever happens to it happens to the rest of the operating system. What you really need is a way to surf the web with more control, more safety, and using a program that does not attract the same level of attention as the regular Windows offering.

Well help is at hand with a wonderful product called Firefox. It is a great open source replacement for the usual windows surfing tool and in my experience is quicker as well. It also blocks popups protects you from viruses, spyware. You can also import all your settings and favourites from “IE”. It has been around for many years and is well developed and has won awards all over the shop. Just point your Internet explorer at http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/
It might be the last time you ever use it.

And they also do a pretty good replacement for “Outlook or Outlook express” depending on what you use. If you use either of the Microsoft offerings Thunderbird will feel like a breath of fresh air take a look at it at http://www.mozilla.com/thunderbird/
See you all next week.
Matthew

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Loosey Goosie was the whore of the Avian world...

Hello again

Well its been another frantic week, tonight could be a different matter, thanks to Kolo Toure we managed a very slim 1 – 0 lead over Villareal at Highbury and tonight we have to win.

I had the fortune to be invited again to Arsenal this time to view some beautiful villas in Spain. I persuaded my brother to come with me and we were given a tour of the Stadium and yet again a visit to the Arsenal Changing Rooms. Again the legend that is Kenny Samson took us around the last match to be played at Highbury will take place on Sunday 7 May (what a marvelous date to finish the season on J) against Wigan and over 200 ex Arsenal Players have been invited with there spouses to celebrate the end on an era (93 Years) and the start of the new era at Ashburton Grove or the Emirates Stadium as it has been named.

I saw Neil on Saturday Night managed to get there to see the end of Dr Who but did get to see the whole of Strictly Dance Fever which I have to say is hilarious entertainment having said that I cant quite work out job public and the voting, how some couples have managed to stay in while others have gone is beyond me but I admire them all for putting themselves out there every week and being open for abuse from the judges and audience.

I am sure if Neil reads this before he posts it he may leave a few comments. (Oh yes indeedy...I nearly pissed myself laughing when the old Irish dog called Avalon or something like that tongued her toyboy dance partner before they went on stage and then proceeded to do very unlady like things for a couple of minutes....also I have to mention old JP and his partner Hefty girl...I nearly pissed myself again watching him trying to lift her off the floor during the routine...it was like watching Piglet trying to lift Pooh as gracefully as he could...after staggering around for a while I think he gave up and the last lift he did was only about 1/2 an inch of the ground...Ha Ha Ha HA....great entertainment for a Saturday) X

I had my brother and family around on Sunday for Dinner which was nice I slaved in the kitchen creating a traditional Sunday Lunch ok I lie Shepherds Pie with a Sweet Potato topping followed by Death by Chocolate Sundaes which my nephew and niece could not get enough of, I had promised Neil I would save him some Pie but my brother enjoyed it so much he had seconds!

Sorry it’s short and sweet this week but hopefully normal transmission will prevail next week ……….. unless of course I have a better offer lol xx

Ciao Lisa

PS...Oh my God I have just heard on gaydar radio that Robbie Williams is appearing on stage with Take That at the Manchester concerts....please someone buy me a ticket lol !

Monday, April 24, 2006

Baaa Baaaaa ullaaaaaahhh eek poing poing poing

Hi....GGGGGGggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr (thats a big growl at blogger as this is the 3rd time I have written this today!)

I was moved this morning because somebody sent me this beautiful message...

"Thank You for the treasure of beautiful music. Thank You for the sounds that thrill my body, lift my spirit and rejoice my heart. Thank You for the instruments, the notes, the melodies, the words—for such expressions of heart and soul. It's such a wonderful way to communicate, such a unique way to convey a message and to understand what someone else is saying or feeling.

You've made music such a wonderful avenue, and You've given us so much music—heavenly melodies, heavenly lyrics and divine inspiration.

Songs that come from Your heavenly reservoir of music give us such a charge, such a rush in the spirit. They're electrifying, beautiful. They move us and make us want to dance and sing and love and hug and kiss and give You to others. We're so thankful for Your heavenly music, for Your heavenly vision, and for this tremendous gift and treasure You've given us."

I wanted to burst into an abba song but a little tear formed instead and I just sat here and wondered what it would feel like to get that sort of praise everyday...perhaps we all just take for granted what is in our lives...perhaps we ought to just look our partners in the eyes and say 'I love you' more often than we do...I know how i felt, what about you?

£100 for George Michael ...bollocks to him!

I had a nice day today..went to see a friend this afternoon which was lovely, I took her a poster that I had designed as I had heard she had been a bit down in the dumps...I've posted it here for all of you to see..I'm sure she won't mind...

It was created at flickrtoys website and contains my sentiment and message...now I know what I'm going to do when i return to work, they will be plastered everywhere so i will be able to get through the day!

I haven't seen Lisa as much as I would like to have done as she is always working at the moment, but i think she knows i think about her a lot...i hope she thinks about me!

Just a quick word to all the new readers..yes, this site is run buy a queer, faggot, gayboy (whatever terminology you wish to use...nothing offends me anymore!) but it's fun...it's also very honest and we all write from the heart..so if you are enjoying your reading you may want to join in..we could always do with a spare writer or two!...anyway I hope you stay a long time and settle in to the land we call Piddy's Place...love you all
Neil x

PS. Forgot to mention that the blessed Cabbage Soup diet has had a complete makeover..go here http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com and join me next week for seven days of farting fun!

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Musicians?...Bah!


hi all...sorry for the non appearance of Steves shed tales..I think we may have had a technical hitch over the weekend but will try and find out for you...in the meantime you have me for a few minutes today...

I just had to write in the blog how disgusting and disheartening it is about the price of concert tickets rising and rising for no valid reason. Take George Michael for example, not toured for 15 years so I thought, yes, that would be nice to see...off to the website we troddle...£100 per ticket...same went for Madonna but hers were £160 per ticket....it is just plain ridiculous but people pay these prices and most of the George Michael dates are already sold out just 4 hours after going on sale. Why should we pay this much?...what will we get for the money, approx 90 minutes of live singing...now excuse me but you can go and see a spectacular 3 hour production with a cast of 30 for around £50 in the west end....so come on celebrities, fess up....how much money do YOU make out of it?

Feeling a little disheartened today as the district nurse said it could take at least another month before my wounds heal and they would reccomend to the doctor that I look at mid June for a back to work date...I have to go and see the doc in about 10 days time so will know more then...
great, just in time for Summer and hot weather!...i didn't quite work that out right did i !...

whoops...got kicked off the Prince fan site today...the quick story is that i read in the paper that Cecilia (one of Princes dancers) was arrested at Rio airport with 20kg of Cocaine shoved in her bag...so i troddled over to the chat forum and poliutely posted this and asked if anybody had heard anymore and whether Prince was with her at the time.....the replies on the site I got were from some obviously cocooned yank fans who believe butter wouldn't melt in their idols mouths...I got accused of gossip mongering (even though it was in the paper and must have been checked out because you know what Prince is like with lawsuits) and spreading negative maliciousness and THEN i had an email from the moderator telling me that they had removed my text and I was not welcome to participate in the forum...what a bunch of fucking dribbling scrote holes!...I still admire and respect Prince and his music but refuse to have anything to do with the Cult of Prince that seems to rule the forum site...I wonder if he is aware?

all for now...have a nice rest of the weekend
Neil x

Friday, April 21, 2006

Ullaahdubullaahhh....


No one would have believed that in the 21st century (in the voice of Richard Burton).....that Jeff Wayne could come up with such an awesome spectacle as The War of The Worlds staged musical...One of the best uses of sound, graphics, pyrotechnics and stage magic that I have ever witnessed (and as most of you know I have been around in 'theatre world' for a quite a long time)...I won't bore you with a review or pics as it is all on the net already...go here!

http://eveofthewar.com/articles/1157025/The_War_of_the_Worlds_-__The_Live_Show_Report_and_Review!_

That about sums the whole thing up really...I would say though that if you ever get the chance to see this again (and I probably doubt that it will happen) its a must see!

Have been working out the intracacies of HDR photography with help from Matt and online tutorials...its really intriguing and quite addictive, hopefully when i get my tripod i will have a few more examples on flickr to show you...

So the Queen is 80...hoobloodyray...so the BBC wastes an hour of television watching her come out of her Castle to shake a few commoners hands and then dissapear into a birthday party where her jaded view of normality is allowed to recommence. I really have no time for the Royal Family apart from the Princess Royal, who actually does do some work, and I get sick to death of Americans and other non natives bleating on about how lucky we are to have them...I tell you what then..YOU FUCKING HAVE THEM!...I am fed up of subsidising a bunch of whingeing parasitic cunts (sorry for the language mum! :) )

Anyway on a lighter note we may have an opening of Steves Shed ceremony this weekend but I will let you hear about the shed in Steves blog tomorrow...hopefully! :)
Neil x

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Ullaaaaaaahhhhhhh....please read tomorrows blog!

Hell do you ever get the feeling that you should have left well alone. Opening up a can of worm that the consequences of which go on to affect other things. Now to some if I tell you that I am once again on about my computer, will think why the hell you are making such a fuss about an inanimate object. Other on the other hand will know only to well the sinking feeling as you can’t get at your prized pictures or games, because something that used to work perfectly yesterday or even ten minutes ago has for some reason stopped.

Technology moves on and with every month that passes it gets more able to work with the poor people who use it. But it does not get any simpler. When did anyone replace there mobile phone with a new one that has fewer options than the last one. No in an ever increasing race to get at your hard earned money companies add more and more features to everything. My current mobile has the ability to receive Email and even a TV signal through the mobile network. Why when the hell am I going to need that, if I go away I stay either with friends who have TV’s or a hotel that has one, or I am at work and daytime TV is crap not to mention the fact that I am supposed to be working. Then of course if you qualify in all the pervious departments the screen is so small that no one over the age of thirty has eyesight good enough to watch it.

And then you have the other problem, the average teenager does not have the disposable income to buy the latest techno thing which by definition is going to be more expensive than the model it replaces. Think about the old man in the expensive sports car with no one in the passenger seat. Not that new models or high tech things actually cost more to produce than the older model. You see manufactures use the natural greed in all of us to earn more money. New model equals exclusivity equals higher price.

Forget for a moment that a DVD has a better picture quality than the old video and think about it this way. Why is a DVD more in the shops than a Video? If you look at a video there are loads of parts that cost money to make, tape, gears, bearings, cogs, and then it all has to fit together and all those parts need to be made with a tolerance so the tape will run smoothly over the tape heads and work. A DVD on the other hand is one single piece of foil between two layers of clear plastic. They can be made by the million at a fraction of a penny each. The humble video cost much much more to make. And that is the real reason that the film industry pushed got us to change to DVD’s.

Time Sony Warner Pixar Plc could not give a stuff about your viewing pleasure, your going to buy it regardless of the format. Push the change to DVD because they can make more profit. That is also why they are so anti the illegal copy of films and music. The artist is always sited as the real looser but they only get a small fraction of the monies earnt. Copying cuts your profit. If record and film companies were really interested in the artist they would welcome the fact that the work is being seen by more fans. Rant over for another week.
Matthew

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Lisa's goodly smatterings!....

Hello my fellow blogmates

Well its been a hectic week so far having moved into my new place the carpets are now down and my brother and sister in law have been round to help with a few things that needed doing. Namely putting up pictures I am not trusted with a hammer or drill I cant think why I have only managed drill though electrical cables once and now if I mention putting up shelves or pictures my brother or dad offer!

Anyway I did not tell you one funny story that happened on the move Neil felt I should share it with you all seeing as he found it so highly amusing.

I packed up all my stuff to move and thought that it would save time if I left my bedroom drawers full of my clothes, did not think it would be much heavier to lift and saved on packing them back when I arrived at the other end. Anyway my sister in law and I moved them into the Lounge ready for my brother as he was loading everything into the van and imagine my horror when he said that he thought the easiest thing to do was to empty the drawers and then proceeded to open the first drawer to find things your brother does not need to see! My sister in law burst out laughing when my brother stared at my Ann Summers purchases and I ran and hid in the bathroom.

Had a lovely weekend Friday night was Pub night and Neil ventured out to the Wellie, looking slightly nervous I have to say but a few beers later he was fine.

And as Neil has already mentioned we spent a lovely day at Salcey Forest although I did not venture up to the top the wobbling was a bit too much for me. Neil was very good he did even though there were small children around and he managed not to swear too much.

Champions League Football this Wednesday Arsenal v Villarreal so no nails left on Thursday and I am off to Arsenal on Thursday for a Stadium tour with my brother Steve.

So tales a plenty next week

Ciao Lisa xx

Monday, April 17, 2006

I saw a chimp and a monkey that had done the Suzy Q...

well hello there...I have that Sean Connery feeling about me today, you know when he was in the jungle in 'Medicine Man'...well that was me today...apart from it was a forest called Salcey forest and we were only about 30metres above the ground, but fuck me thats high enough when you can look through your feet at the forest floor!...

Let me explain...there is a forest near Northampton UK that has built a wooden treetop walkway in the middle of the greenery and it really is magnificent..it's a gradual incline up through the trees and when you get to the top it really is something else...apart from the way that the thing is constructed (it wobbles!) and if you are not very good with heights its not really conducive to having a good time!...honestly worth a trip and the forest floor walks are beautiful too...you can see some pics on my flickr site...

You will all be pleased to find out that I heard from 3steel this morning so visions of shed crushing can be put right out of your heads...his lad has had chicken pox so the family have been having sleepless nights and therefore rather tired...we hope to hear from him soon..

I am currently watching disc 10 of my 79 disc X Files box set and I am finding it fairly addictive and finding that i am watching more and more episodes at one sitting...who knows, perhaps I will bump into 'Cancer Man' or have a friend that will be experimented on by Aliens...but i just have a word for the ET's out there...choose me, choose me...I want to be abducted, but not experimented on...just a nice showing round of the spaceship and a bit of proof would be nice...Nanu Nanu...Shazbat (I wonder if anyone remembers that?)

Oh...really sorry, apologies to Lisa as I didn't tell you that it was thanks to her that we went to the forest..bless her..and she bought me a lovely 'operation survival' dinner which she promised if i lived! :) she is such a fine biatch..and i love her for all the gold in her fillings! x

Thats it for such an exciting day...can't really do anymore religious jokes now Easter is over so take care and I'll be back sooner than you think!
Neil x

Sunday, April 16, 2006

A quick Easter posting...


1. Happy Easter
2. Where's my fucking egg! :)
3. I should have a thrilling blog for you tomorrow evening (depending on lisa!)
4. The new series of Doctor Who was just magnificent...best episode yet
5. The Gnarls Barkley album is a bundle of soulful fun..get it
6. 'Irreversible' Is one of the most outstanding, if not horrendous, films I have ever witnessed...
7. I am now officially addicted to MySpace :)
8. I hope 3Steel's shed has not collapsed on him as I have not heard a whisper!
9. I have now officially become institutionalised in mentality and need to get outside more
10. The pub on Friday was great, I got a bit physically uncomfortable by the end of the evening but it was worth it!...beeeeeeerrrr!

till tomorrow
Neil x

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Friday, April 14, 2006

...and once again it's Paris, Paris on a Sunday, and the month is May...


Hello special friends and welcome to the Good Friday edition of piddys place...I hope that the easter eggs are now wrapped and the bunny leaves his droppings for you with love!...

Snow Patrol do it again...what a magnificent fucking album it is...'Eyes Open' is a mature and excellently produced product...a work of musical magic that permeates youth, angst and love all in the space of 11 masterly composed songs. I really cannot rave about this band enough and I urge all of you with an indie 'bent' to go and search out this album as soon as you can..

Shayne Ward's album is also very good for a piece of eye candy..nuff said!

Its a lovely day today here and I am hoping that spring/summer is finally here...the temp is up, the wind has died down, the windows are open and the roof has tempted me to wander out onto the terrace...love it, love it, love it....

It's the first pub night since my illness so I am going out tonight, I hope everything goes okay but i should be fine, really looking forward to talking to more than one person at a time...i love the hubub of crossed conversations, misheard fragments of other peoples lives...all washed down with some excellent real ale.....ooh head now bouncing up and down to 'chasing cars' by Snow Patrol (its one of those anthemic songs, you know what I mean!)

Having a great time on MySpace with groovy music friends...join me on there!

all for now
Neil x

Thursday, April 13, 2006

All we need to live today, a gift for man to throw away...



Way back in the olden days when man wanted to keep warm he threw another log on the fire in the entrance of his cave. When the sun came up it was light and when it went down it was dark and you stayed in to stop the sabre toothed tigers getting you. If you went out you went on foot mainly because that’s all you had. You cooked on the same fire as gave you heat and if you needed more clothes you went out and clubbed something about the right size over the head and draped it around your neck. Then as time went on and man got more sophisticated we got more, more ways to stay dry, more ways to see at night, more way to travel over longer and longer distances, and more things to do things for us.

You might at this stage be rightly thinking what the hell am I going on about and you would be correct so let me explain. I am at present sitting in the third bedroom of my house, well it used to be the third bedroom until the computer arrived then it turned overnight into high tech central. There are at present twenty two different electrical appliances that are all plugged into the mains!! So I looked at some of the other rooms and the story is not much better. The main bedroom has eleven electrically dependent things (most belonging too the wife, beauty tools and torture aids I can’t tell the difference. I always think that hair straighteners look like they belong in the tooth extraction scene in the Marathon man) Even the bathroom does not escape the need for electricity, with two clocks a radio a Braun shaver and a couple of electric toothbrushes. Even the garden is electric now and that’s not including the lighting so I can keep the modern day sabre tooth tigers away, well the sensors come on to stop next doors cat pissing in the flower bed.

I remember back in 73 when the power cuts happened, it was great fun running around the house with a candle playing games. I am now not so sure that I could handle it now. Even the gas hob can’t run without electricity, the ignition is electric; yes I know if I needed to I could use a match but that is not the point. Our life is so much more entwined with things that do stuff and use the national grid to feed them. If the power goes off at night now there is not silence and darkness as I remember in 73, no we have flashing lights and sirens as every house alarm in the street detects the drop in current and thinks they are being burgled. I am not saying we should go on some lefty eco friendly tree hugging thing hell I love my toys and the mains that powers them. From Stereo’s to steam irons I love them all but it does make you think how much more we all are dependent on the National grid than even 10 years ago.

If we want to go on adding to our toys at the rate we are at present, and let’s face it all the signs are that we will, we will have to come up with other alternatives to coal and gas and oil for making it. Perhaps Tony Blair is just forcing us to look at the future when he reopened the nuclear debate.
Bye for another week.
Matt x

(Hence my proactive stance on wind energy and the beauty of wind farms...thanks matt that was really interesting...oh and by the way the picture of bree from desperate housewives is only there because it was matts favourite image from last year!...hmmm, perhaps he had a thing for penelope keith as well!...by the way an easy title competition for you today!...blogmaster)

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

I had a fools confidence, that the world had no boundaries...

Silently,
Flying with a whisper of movement,
the dove became one with the sky,
higher,
higher,
reaching previously unattainable distance.

Thinking,
Concentrating on the end result,
The dove became one with itself,
empowering,
empowering,
believing everything it was visualising.

Achieving,
experiencing the end result,
The dove became thankful to the universe,
celebration,
celebration,
freeing other Doves from their limited mindsets.

Endless,
flying into the eternal ether,
The dove became an icon to the lost,
onward,
onward,
teaching the masses to once more dream again.

...Hello all...just a little poetry moment there...hope you liked it, I seem to be in an inspirational mood today after seeing and talking to a couple of friends. Its a shame Bugyell couldn't make it to piddy towers today, I was really looking forward to the visit but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be...perhaps next time...

Feeling a lot better today...still doing stupid things though...I decided to move a chair, sounds easy enough but I felt some inner pain so I had to stop...just getting really frustrated now as I want to be doing simple things like that but my physical form is telling me no!...fuck it!

Over the weekend I am hoping LIsa will be taking me out so I can get some new photos onto the flickr website, I'm getting a bit sick of seeing Hunstanton now (although it was a very special day for me)..so lets hope for a bit of forestry or something mighty interesting...hope the weather holds out!...3Steel is having a shed delivered tomorrow morning all the way from Burnley...I am sure there will be a funny story arising from the situation so I am sure we will hear in 3Steels blog if things go awry!...all for now
Neil x

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

If there were no dreams and there were no dreamers, then how could i dream you up?...


Hi all

Well after a chaotic weekend I have finally moved, thanks to my brothers and family and a few very kind friends we managed to move all my junk from one place to another.

In one week I have had a roller coaster of events, the excitement of moving and getting packed up ready, Arsenal beating Juventus in the 2nd leg on Wednesday.

Thursday morning woke up early as I was taking my cats to my Sister’s driving off to find out I had no brakes! Phoned a few friends to find out a reputable garage in Bedford that would not rip me off. Finally found one recommended by a few friends and carefully drove very slowly and cautiously there.

Car now left with instructions to ring me before carrying out any work, a few hours later the guy rang to ask me if I was sitting down I said I was (I know it makes a change usually tearing about! He then went on to explain that my brake cables were non existent and that I was lucky to be alive as they could have gone at anytime. He was surprised that it had passed it MOT in November as they were obviously in a bad state then.

I asked him when I could have the car back as I was moving over the weekend he said that he would do his best but that it may not be until Monday or Tuesday. Anyone that has a car will know how lost you can be without it having to rely on friends or the local bus service. (A big thank you to Steve for taking me home to collect an overnight case on Thursday and for Neil for the use of his spare room, have to say it took me ages to get to sleep due to the weird noises at night (not Neil I hasten to add) took me a while to fathom out it was the whirring of the lift going up and down.

Anyway the nice man at the garage managed to fix my car late on Friday night he felt sorry for my plight, that and the £150 it cost to get the brakes cables fixed.

Anyway like I said the move went well and Neil has been round and given his seal of approval, and once the carpets are laid, and normality has been restored you all are welcome to visit.

Short but sweet Lisa

Oh just wanted to thank BT for the £98.90 connection fee they are charging me to be able to have them at my new address been with them over 5 years, but because they have never been to the new address they have to charge a connection fee you would think the loyal service of an existing customer they would waiver that fee. (BT are just butt munchers!...blogmaster)

(well done lisa, no spelling mistakes or typo's today! 10/10....just to let you all know that Glen from Poland has had to cance his visit so I will try and post a blog tommorow so you have something to devour!...Neil x)

Monday, April 10, 2006

Much communication in a motion, without conversation or a notion...

Hi all....I write to you all today with a happy heart and contented soul...well just for the time being anyway!...not a lot happening here as you can imagine but am looking forward to Bugyells visit on Wednesday...

Went to see Lisa's new flat yesterday and what a marvellous place it is..2nd storey 2 bed flat next to Bedford station on a nice sort of neo georgian estate. It's quite a cool place with nice sizeable rooms, a large hallway and door furniture that is aesthetically pleasing. I really hope she will be happy here and look forward to staggering home with her on future pub trips! lol...

Was chatted up online today but didn't feel the urge to arrange a meeting or anything, but its nice to know that at 42 I still might have 'it'...thats one thing I can do now is plan, plan, plan and plan again...as Lisa won't marry me (!) I will have to find someone to look after me in my approaching old age...someday my prince will come!...suggestions on a postcards or pictures of any gay relations gratefully accepted!

Went to the works office today to see Gina and Nicola...it was great to get out of the flat and it was lovely to have such a welcome from the people that were around...One cup of coffee and some fun conversation later I was back on form and felt like a member of the human race again...hopefully i will see Matt this week and catch up with Alan and Claire too....gosh its all getting a bit frantic in Neil world...still have to be careful though as I have a dressed wound that I need to be careful about...should be about another 3 to 4 weeks healing left on that and I can once again parade on the beach with a bikini...albeit and a lovely downward scar!

As we speak Lisa is having her carpets fitted...I could make a joke about lisa and shagpile but i have decided that in the interests of taste i will not and will leave you to make your own jokes up...

Ciao babies...
Neil x

Saturday, April 08, 2006

the competition has a day off blog title...

AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!@#@#@#//??, I have just spent the last 2HRS trying to pay for a garden shed bought on EBAY and Quite frankly i have lost the will to live, Basically i found a nice 6x4 shed for the princely sum of £129.00, i'm having some of that i thought to myself, so i commit to buy and click on the pay now button which takes me to the paypal login page, after logging in i am confronted with a message "this transaction is over your spending limit" Obviously as i have no funds in my paypal account, no problem though as i want to pay by debit card, but could i pay by debit card, NO is the short answer to that little question, i just keep getting requests to enter my bank details and set up a direct debit mandate to which i keep shouting no i want to pay by card!!! eventually, after calming down a bit i try to pay again but to no avail, so out of desperation i email the seller and ask if i can pay any other way, but have not had a reply yet! so i am in a bit of a limbo situation at the moment, i am hoping not to get any bad feedback on my ebay account as i have never had this problem with paypal before.

Edward is now a fully paid up member of Bedford Blues juniors rugby team, He went training with them last sunday morning and really enjoyed himself especially as one of his friends from school is also a team mate, As i watched him passing the ball and running fast and tackling and all that, i suddenly found myself descending into the realms of pushy parenthood, i could hear this voice from within saying "come on Edward support the man with the ball" and "don't tackle your own team mates" then, "go on Edward get him" Claire also says i was like a fan watching a proper game and not just a kids training session, she also said to her friend "I am not with the nutter in the blue hat", at the end of the session i went into the club house and got Edward his teams shirt and surprised him with it in the car on the way home, it was straight out of the wrapper and he wore it all day and did want to sleep in it as well!!

writers block!!! all for now steve.

Friday, April 07, 2006

You're wasting all your time here, riding around in the sun...

Hi gang

Just wanted to start off by talking about MySpace.com...its a great place to discover music, signed and unsigned bands galore....click on the music tab once you are in...

http://www.myspace.com/piddysplace

Get famous friends...enjoy fun bulletins and experience life with a lot better outlook...visit myspace today and join me and 3steel on our journey to world domination!

Lisa told me about a great site called http://www.holymoly.co.uk ...any site that has a section called Cunts corner has to be mentioned in my book...laugh?...i nearly shat myself with hysterics...so so funny and wicked...worth an hour of anybodys time...

Well the doc has signed me off for another 4 weeks (to start with..he said! ) so I am now seriously considering asking lisa to teach me how to knit so we can go into the scarf business together! Lisa is so excited about her new flat and it sounds absolutely scrummy...can't wait to see it once all the fraughtness of the removal has happened!

Bugyell from Poland is coming for a visit next wednesday so I shall try and get him to say a few words on the blog while he is here...

I don't often get roped into things on the internet but i just couldn't resist the site that I have put an address to here... http://thesecret.tv/home.html ...It's not a religious thing but it is something so fantastic that everybody should watch it!...i won't spoil it for anyone but if you want to spend a worthwhile £2.90 to watch the 90 minute film then you will not waste your time. Watch the trailer and see what you think.

Oh boy I miss the pub badly...next week I will venture out to see what is happening in pub land...I can just feel it dribbling down my throat now! (no, sorry ...that was just lisa licking my larynx!)

Thats just a few bits and pieces for you...can't really write much else for you today as I really have no life of my own at the moment! (AAAHHHH...sounded the audience!)
Neil x

Thursday, April 06, 2006

I see a picture, by the lamp's flicker. Isn't it strange how dreams fade and shimmer?


Last week I shared a few thoughts on Internet shopping and the way it does work, and some of the way in which it does not. This week purely by coincidence I had reason to contact a company about a problem and I thought it might be nice to share the experience with you.

About three weeks ago I noticed that my internet connection was crawling along like a dial up connection of six or seven years ago. So after performing all the little tweaks and stuff I know to no avail I was left with no alternative than to call the NTL Technical support line. As I dialled the number my heart started to sink and I got ready for a long slog. My advise to anyone who is needing to call NTL customer support is invest in a phone that has a hands free facility, and is also cordless and digital, all will be revealed in a moment. Much to my surprise I got through to a person in around ten minutes. Not a bad start I thought, the gentleman on the other end of the line was obviously in a call centre on another continent and in fairness he was quite knowledgeable and very polite and eager to please. The only trouble was that I had great difficulty in understanding anything he talked about. I had to keep stopping him and asking him to repeat things. This not only slowed the whole process down to nearly the speed of my internet connection but made me feel really bad. The poor guy was trying to give me some “command prompts” to type in but for the life of me he might as well have been talking Chinese. Finally after forty min’s on the phone we got to the point where he could not do any more and was going to have to pass me on to a technical expert. I thought he was the expert after all he answers the technical help line, apparently not his job is to filter out the numpties who do not know the difference between a modem and a mouse trap. Frankly it would have been twenty minutes talking to him but he had to say everything twice, my fault I suppose for being too thick to understand him!!!!!!!!!

His boss or technical expert or whatever you want to call her was not much better, I ended up talking to her on the phone for so long while I waited for her to update her end, that we ended up talking about New Deli (the location of the call centre) and how she got the tech support job with them. Finally the tech support in India had to admit defeat and refer me to an engineer “in Britain” I enquired with trepidation, “in Bedford came the reply” things were moving on. Four days latter between 8am and 1pm as promised the engineer turned up with a box of tools and a love for my coffee. I began to suspect that he was not going to be the great panacea I was hoping for when I asked him what the difference was between the old modem and the new “250” model I was about to be given. “Its blue” came the engineer’s earnest reply, it certainly is and a very nice shade but that was not quite what I meant.

Suffice to say that after two hours mostly outside with his head in a green box the problem still remains. The Engineer obviously felt bad at not fixing the problem for me, but I think he also had a great sense of pride in being able to tell me that I was now being escalated to” the network”. This god like image that was described in hushed tones as “the network” turned out to be a very nice man with a van who had all sorts of tricks up his sleeve and on Monday evening he tried all of them. As I write this it’s Tuesday evening and my connection is still slow very slow but I have attained the dizzy heights of my problem being looked at by the big boys back at central wherever or who ever that is. At each stage I have been dealt with by some very kind and well trained people who make you feel very important and almost make you forget you have a reason to talk to them.

And now down to the moral of the story. It does not matter how bad the message if you deliver it well you can get away with almost anything or alternatively unless you have the patience of a saint give NTL a miss. I will let you know if I ever get it sorted and how high in NTL it is possible to go.
Matt x

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Nobody gonna take my head, I got speed inside my brain...

Hi all


Well what a roller coaster of a week it’s been I had my hair cut on Wednesday to which I am eternally grateful to my brother. When we arranged the day I had forgotten that Arsenal were playing Juventas in the Champions League and I am so glad they won 2 – 0 in the first leg otherwise my hair could have been a disaster. (Second leg tomorrow off to watch it with a bunch on Lads in the Pub so hope to have nails left at the end lol)

My brother and I are off to Arsenal later in the Month for a tour of the Stadium and Cocktails with Kenny Samson, And for anyone who doesn’t know Arsenal are moving at the end of the season to a bigger and better stadium just down the road at Ashburton Grove. And the hallowed turf at Highbury will be no more, and so come August there will be lots of bidding for prized possessions from Highbury. I have already secured a few items a couple of seats from the Stadium in a lovely bright red a little piece of Arsenal coming to Bedford and they will be winging there way to me come August when the season is over.

I had a lovely jaunt up to Allington on Sunday to visit my Dad who has just moved there, he and my stepmum the drive up there was a mixture of sun and heavy rain. I have to admit that as I get older driving holds less appeal to me, to many idiots on the road who obviously don’t know how to drive – but don’t get me started on that it could fill a whole blog. Never experienced road rage before but find I can slip into that mode fairly easily now .

Oh yes and my last little bit of news is that I am moving to Bedford very soon (like this weekend aaaaaaaaaggggggghhhhhh.) after years of living in a village I have opted for the town life.

So if you should see a fraught deranged person at the weekend driving like a person possessed it will only be me trying to move !
See you all next time hopefully moved in and preparing for a small house party in the not too distant future

Lisa xx

Monday, April 03, 2006

The white city, she is so beautiful, upon the black-soot icicled roofs...

In the corner of the room sat the Chucky doll, untouched and unwanted since the controversy of his last performance...the props room stank of puppet greasepaint and rotting satin of the flowers that once were a pretty addition to the gardens of Oz and the like...

She sat there, smiling...the pretty little ceramic mouse figure...there were originally seven of her family but they all met an untimely death in 'Dogville' when Nicole Kidman's character fucked her neighbour and the wife enacted her revenge on the only things that her character loved. It was a funny day today she felt, she was still bitter that her pretend ceramic family had met their death at the hands of a mad danish film director but she was sure that soon she would be picked again to light up a cinema screen in world neighbourhoods. She had heard that Disney were actually doing a new live action flick that included a small girl, surely she could be a thing of beauty in the girls bedroom. The day passed slowly with the odd person popping in and out to query about stock holdings etc...

Linda was the archivist, it was her job to remember every detail about the thousand of items that the propmaster had in stock...it was her job to find the ship in a bottle with a broken mast in aisle 42 row 6b if somebody requested it, and she usually knew exactly where it was.

The animatronic mice from 'Babe' were playing up once again, they weren't really blind and got up to the most disgusting shannanigans once the room was empty...two of them were lovers and didn't have any qualms about where they 'performed', the third one liked to watch, so in their group they were quite happy and took no heed to the feelings of the other props that had no choice except to be a part of the nightly carnal events.

This is how life went on...and on...and on...and it was getting worse as Directors became more obsessed with using CGI shots and blue screen shots instead of using real props, things that were made with love and expense...oh yes, that word expense...Directors would now rather pay 100000 dollars for a decent computer image than spend 50000 on a real touchable attainable item...and so was the way of the world.

For the rest of the day the pretty little ceramic mouse passed her time, like she had done for the last 700 odd days previously, by reading aloud from the book next to her on the shelf...the book itself was a prop from the library scene in 'My Fair Lady' and was entitled 'How to be a lady'...unfortunately the only page that it had been open at all this time were the contents and the pretty little ceramic mouse knew the words upside down and back to front...in fact she had no need of the physical book at all, but for the sake of it she studied it again in great and specific detail...

well...that was just another idea I had conjured up in my mind...i may persue that little tale, but then again I may not...you know what I am like by now! I hope everyone is okay...I'm here sneezing quite happily...Lisa has exciting news but I shall let her tell you in her blog tomorrow...suffice to say, she didn't need to use a turkey baster!....Competitions are still open for the last couple of blog titles and todays is no exception..all i would like is the Song title and the artist...capice?
Ciao
Neil x

Saturday, April 01, 2006

...Because I want to see people and I want to see life...

WELCOME TO MOST HAUNTED........... Written!!!!!.
Today we are at Market Street garage Ulverston Cumbria, above which i lived with my Nan and aunty Mabel, as you will know from previous blog entries, anyway the house itself was a three bedroomed place the living area was massive 30ftby 12ft all the bedrooms,bathroom and kitchen were accessed from the lounge, all the lights in the living area were controlled by only one switch which was outside my nans room and the furthest away from my room and as i liked to sit up late and watch T.V. it was always a pain to turn the lights off especially when i forgot to turn on my bedroom light, and had to feel my way in the dark to my room, I always got that "there is someone or something behind me feeling" you know, shivers down the back of your neck, wierd!.
My Nan had a dog called Kim it was a border terrier, Kim would always sit with me when i watched tele at night, one night we were watching America's top ten with Casey Kasem, when Kim went running off to the door at the top of the stairs all the hairs on her back were up and she was growling at something behind the door, I went to check if anyone was there but there was not and two minutes later Kim was back to normal. If you thought that was weird this next bit will blow your mind!!!.
I was in my bed asleep, and you know when you wake up turn over and stretchout yawning!, well i was doing that, and as i turned over i opened my eyes and came face to face with an old woman sat on my bedside table, she was wearing a black dress, hook and eye boots, a white apron and her grey hair was done up in a tight bun, strange thing was, where her eyeballs should have been were just black empty sockets, you can imagine what i shouted as i jumped out of bed to put the light on, Of course everyone says i was dreaming and there is no such thing as ghosts, but i was not dreaming!!!!, i was scared, it also took me a week to to pluck up the courage to sleep in my room again but after a few days of sleeping on a small sofa i was glad to have more room to stretchout.
Have you had a paranormal experience? if so let us know in the comments section!!

I can recommend a good album for you to listen to its by a group called Ezio who hail from Cambridge the album is called Higher and if you like groups like Counting Crows then this is for you, hope you get to listen.
Before i go went to see S.L.F. again at the junction in Cambridge with Matt, Marie and Lisa and had fab night especially listening to the support act "blood or whiskey" they are an irish punk band who sounded a bit like riverdance on acid they were quite funny, sadly i found out today that one of the singers has died from a heart attack at the age of 33 certainly makes you think about your own mortality!. All for now Steve.

PS...Title game in progress....yesterdays song was 'Do me Baby' by Prince and there was no winner for that one!...Neil