Friday, March 31, 2006

Here we are looking for a reason for u to lay me down...


hi all...

first of all congrats to lisa who was the first correct reply to the title of the blog competition...she wins a years worth of tonguing sessions with yours truly and a special jar of 'There's something about Lisa' hair gel !!!

How is everyone then..fine?...good....I am still imprisoned in my tower and feel a little claustrophobic at times..I've had lots of visitors so that keeps me from gnawing at my ankles!...I had to go to hospital yesterday for a check over by the consultant..he removed a big stitch, changed dressings and promptly told me that I nearly died twice on the operating table during my marathon session. He told me he had left it to tell me until I was a lot better. It was still a bit of a shock though!...he said that in all his years as a consultant he had never nearly pooped himself 3 times during an operation before...I didn't like to ask what the third time was about!

I have been watching so many films recently that they have all started to meld into one...it really is a bit unfair to the film makers as I am only really watching them for the sake of it...but I have really enjoyed a couple..namely 'Capote' which had a magnificent heart stopping performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of the God like actors of modern cinema...and also 'Night Watch', the first part of a Russian trilogy about the battle between good and evil...it's an absolutely amazing film and was said to be the highest grossing russian film ever in its native country...please watch it, but watch it with subtitles...do not get romanced by the abomination of the 'dubbing' efforts...

Not really up to much this weekend, going to try and pop out for a couple of hours to see friends but am a bit concerned as it will be the furthest I have walked in 4 weeks so I shall have to see how i get on....I seem to have developed a cold and have been sneezing most of the day...amazing isn't it that you stay away from people while recuperating and you still find germs entering your system from somewhere!

anyway thats enough from me this evening..a nice and pretty blog from Stone cold steve tommorow...same rules apply for the title of the blog competition...name of artist and song...ciao

Neil x

Thursday, March 30, 2006

I can lose myself in Chinese art and American girls...

Well it’s nice to be back and what a packed time we have all had in the intervening few weeks we have been off the web. Well actually not, it’s been remarkably quiet of late. Whether this is due to the natural “where is spring I am fed up with winter” or some other less obvious influence who knows. Anyway apart from the emotional rollercoaster of Neil in hospital all has continued much as before so for today’s little ditty I thought I might talk about the internet. It’s a big subject I know but someone has to and in any case I only want to talk about one small aspect and that is shopping on the web.

Ah shopping we all love getting new stuff, and what could be better than sitting at home and having the entire contence of the world’s shops at your fingertips. You can order a Pizza in New York even if you live in London, find old and discontinued bits for your thirty year old Vauxhall, or get music and films before the release date so you can sit at home in your own personal cinema eating popcorn and drinking cola delivered to your door of course. And it’s this last bit that I have a problem with. It’s all very well being in a position to buy the latest and greatest things from all over the world but what happens then? Ill tell you what happens, people happen that’s what. Let’s say I want to buy a new machine that goes ping. I sit in front of my computer and search the web. I can’t go into my local town because I am used in this consumer led age to expect a choice larger that the number of donations Tony received in exchange for knight hoods. And that also assumes that I can find a shop in my local town that sells things I actually want as apposed to the biggest selection of bits I have no use for. If I am looking for plastic crap under £1 the world is my oyster, or I want to look at all the banks and building society’s that I do not have an account with fantastic choice. And the one I do have an account with I do everything on line anyway. Unless of course I need a drink then I have a world class selection of pubs on my door step well on my high street anyway.

So back to the point I find the machine that goes ping in lots of virtual shops and I can even choose pre owned if I wish to save some money. I love that phrase pre owned it is as Ben Elton once said “Verbal garnish” created by add men who are selling an image. What they really mean is second hand tat, i.e. someone has thrown it out because A it’s broken, or B never really worked in the first place. I place an order with the company I like, perhaps it’s the price or I have used them before or it might just be that I liked the look of there web site but I tick boxes and move the mouse to fill my virtual shopping basket.

All at this point is going well I think I have a bargain and I feel great who needs shops, who needs to trudge to the town in the pouring rain only to find your favourite shop has closed and reopened as a self tanning parlour. Well sometimes me actually I like to shop, sure online is convenient but there is nothing to match touching your intended purchase before the event, feeling the quality etc. And then there is the delivery, its all very well making the best shopping system fool proof but most courier companies employ the fools that the rest of us cross the street to avoid. I have to date had problems with a good percentage of purchases on line, and I know friends who have the same kind of story. Remember your computer purchase Dr Sensual, or Neil how long did your pool take to turn up. All from reputable companies but the middle man the delivery man lets the whole game down. I have no doubt that the internet will grow as a place to shop but sometime it is better to walk into town and pay a little bit more to take it home there and then.
Matt

PS. Extra points for the song that the blog title comes from...blogmaster

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

just lubberly!...

Well you would think with three weeks off this writing malarkey would be a doodle well you are absolutely.. wrong

Three weeks ago I could have filled this blog with lots of useless information and glorious snippets about things that had happened and what was happening in my small insignificant life but a lot happens in three weeks and so here we are now sat in front of the computer screen with fingers poised on the keyboard and the only thing drifting around my small grey cells is what the hell can I write about!!!!!

I have to say that it is great that Neil is now home from Hospital and I the care he received in Bedford Hospital was brilliant (he may disagree but I know he has a few stories to tell should he ever wish to regale you with them)

I can only speak for myself when I say that it was a complete shock when Neil told me he had Cancer, and when he went into for his Operation I cant imagine what he was going through, I have to thank Neil’s Mum Shirley who was great being able to phone someone and tell them how he was doing was an enormous help.

I was petrified when I went down to see him a few hours after his op in ICU I had no idea what to expect, but none were realised, Neil was awake and rather chatty for a change although he has no recollection of any conversations that day.

Anyway I just wanted to say I am so pleased that Neil is home and I hope that he takes the advice and doesn’t rush back to work too soon

While Neil was entertaining the Nurses in Hospital we had the delights of the Commonwealth Games and of course who can miss the Apprentice – if I was Alan Sugar I would have fired the of them by now I appreciate they only had a day to come up with a ad but I have to agree both were cringe worthy telly and both resemble d 70`s porn (not that I have seen any but I take the word of a few people I know who have) Cant wait for this weeks episode Brummy Jo selling cars.


Anyway short but sweet don’t want to give you too much you may want more !

Take care

Lisa xx

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Neil Piddock is alive and well and living in Bedford....

Hello all....well what can I say, I have been through the worst three weeks that I could have ever imagined....first of all I have to say thanks for Steve for caretaking the blog site and keeping you all informed...I also must thank Lisa and Matt and Marie for all the help and support that they have given me in and out of hospital.

I won't bore you with all the details, but its enough to say that I honestly thought that I would not be here today to carry on writing this blog, I had many complications which only appeared once the operation was in progress and as Lisa put it I looked liked I was wired to the Matrix when she saw me in the critical care unit...I have been through three weeks of leaking from holes all over me, pissing into bottles constantly, trying the best for a bowel movement which finally happened after the tenth day post op...but i'm here and I am so glad!...I still feel a bit like I have gone from one prison to a nicer prison as I can't really do a lot at the moment without being very tired, it's taken me a couple of days to sit down and write at the PC as my concentration span is a bit out of whack as well. The district nurses are great and appear daily mid morning to see to my wound which is healing quite nicely.

Anyway I can't believe the great albums that have appeared since I have been away. I have been catching up with Prince and his momentous '3121', Dave Gilmores tone poem, Morrisseys new one, Ray Davies's magnificent new album, Jane Birkins 'Fictions' and Gary Numans 'Jagged' what a stunner of an electronic album...so many good albums appear when you least expect it....well I have a bit of time on my hands at the moment so I will be doing a lot of listening...some great films too, watched 'The Ringer' last night, very funny and in very good taste considering it is about the special olympics. The American down syndrome society had last call on the script so as it wasn't offensive and Johnny Knoxville (Jackass MTV) is a real suprise as a good comedy actor...worth a watch!, it's full of heart!

That will do for today and I hope to recieve some blogs from our resident in-house writers so as we can return to normality and I can put this whole episode behind me...love ya
Neil x

Thursday, March 02, 2006

...skreee was the noise of the wild killer squirrels!....

It’s interesting how things turn out after a long time. The longer I spend on this planet the more I think it’s a small world. For instance I was trawling through the photos on FLICK’R (www.flickr.com) the other day when I came across an old friend. We originally met 18 years ago in what feels like another life, and lost touch about 10 years ago. Well after I had picked myself up off the keyboard I sent him a message half of me thinking that it must be a different person, and a reply came back very quickly indeed see computers really can be a force for good in the world. It’s a funny old place the world and long may it continue to be so.

Writing is a strange thing and one that I did not take very seriously until quite recently. Apart from the odd card and letter I do not think I had written more than the odd line since I was at school. And let’s face it when you are at school being set a task to write an essay on something that has no interest to you is not the way to encourage the inner Thomas Hardy. Anyway the reason I am saying this is that until very recently I had not appreciated writers block. I thought you could sit down and write pages about anything you fancied, the words just falling out on to the page. And in many ways they do, for instance the time it takes me to write a page has dramatically reduced since I first started. But you know during this last week I had loads of ideas about my little once weekly ramble. I was going to write about……….. and that’s the problem I sat down in front of the keyboard and my mind went blank, total void all I remember is that I had lots of ideas but I can’t even remember the subjects I was going to work on let alone any detail.

But as it happens that’s Ok because this is the last blog for a few weeks and my mind will have more than enough time to regroup and recharge. The reason we are off the air is as I am sure you know unless you have just joined us, or come from mars, or read the Sun in which case your excused because as we all know Sun readers are at the very shallowest end of the gene pool. (Its OK they will not get that last comment as most readers of the Sun think that the “gene pool” is the place that Levis take there denim to wash it until it fades)The blog master is off for a little holiday with Mr BUPA. My friend Neil is off to having surgery and I am sure you would all like to join me in wishing him a very speedy recovery. And I will be back as soon as Neil feels like switching on a computer and asking for contributions to this little piece of the web.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

We'll meet again..etc etc etc...


friends, romans and countrymen lend me your ears...

First of all I have an 'I told you so' moment to report...i wonder who it was about 6 months ago told you to look out for a girl singer called Corinne Bailey-Rae and told you that she was going to be a big hit...yes it was me and i was right, top 10 single and first album flying off the shelves as we speak...isn't it a great feeling to be right! lol

I have just endured a humiliating de-hairing so as to ready myself for the operation on Saturday...how do you ladies stand the smell of burning hair and chemicals...pheweee!

This will be my last entry for a while as I will be a bit debilhitated, Steve is going to try and post a couple of blogs just to let you all know how i am getting on...and if I can find someway to access the internet myself I will (if i feel that i can type coherent sentences lol).

Haven' t really got a lot to say at the moment as I can only concentrate on the few days that I have ahead of me...we will have a blog from Matt tomorrow as usual and I will hopefully speak to you all very soon
Peace and Out
Neil x