Monthly Archives: August 2002

Old Friends

Tonight I am going out with a very good friend of mine (who happens to be a member of Haddock, but I don’t hold that against him). I haven’t seen him for ages, and it’s strange, because I miss him. Some people make you think, challenge you, and entertain robust discussion, and Kev is one of those people. I sense an interesting night, but I’ll bet I won’t get home until the early hours. Perhaps we should go drinking for fewer hours, more often. Ah, the night awaits.

On this day…

2004: Camp
2002: Not About Me

Not About Me

I don’t talk about my blog. It’s a private thing I do, but I am not sure why (I would suggest points 2 and 3 here as a starting point to try and answer that question).

Yesterday I went for a very nice meal at Orso when the conversation turned to weblogs. I was somewhat shocked that my dining companions could not grasp the “why” of the blog concept. Why read them? Why write them? But I still didn’t speak about Listen To Musak. It’s very odd, but I do not feel compelled to actually talk about this. Then I realised I do not talk about myself to anybody very much. I discuss events that involved me. I talk about other people and tell people about my work. I express options with the best of them. But I don’t really discuss myself too often – at least by this I mean, I guess, emotions and my private life. It’s odd because I think people who know me would say I do talk a great deal, but I know I hold things back. Why is that? So why to I carry on writing this? I have said before that it started out as a challenge to myself. Can I blog for a whole month with no interruptions? I did that. And still I find myself here!

On this day…

2004: Camp
2002: Old Friends

Fast Food Fact Frenzy (1)

I don’t want to play food facts today …

  • The typical American now consumes approximately three hamburgers and four orders of french fries every week.
  • McDonald’s operates more playgrounds than any other private entity in the United States

Should we be worried? [Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser] And that’s only from the introduction!

On this day…

2004: Remember August

A Haddock is A Wet Fish

Haddock was a club I never got into. I have watched from the sidelines for years. I am not bitter. I am, however, fascinated by this particular blog of blogs (Plasticbag)

On this day…

2005: Gay Music Stars Still Stir Headline Writers
2004: Technology Gets The Better Of Me
2004: Another Chart
2004: Celebrity Justice?

The **** Of All Snacks

I do like the sensitive side of this country! Today’s Media Guardian website reports that “Pot Noodle’s controversial adverts using the line The slag of all snacks have been banned from appearing on TV after more than 300 viewers complained”.

300 people actually bothered to complain about a television advertisement. I would really love to know why they felt this was inappropriate. I thought they were some of the funniest commercials that I have seen in a long time, and the word was used in a humorous, self-deprecating way. How can calling a plastic pot of fast food be that offensive? Such a shame they were pulled. However, I don’t really see the point, as most people have seen them anyway.

Anyway, here is a gratuitous link to the most offensive words in the English language! Wonder if any of the complainers have a website where they outline their complaints. I’d love to know. [Ref: Media Guardian]

On this day…

2005: Run London – Here I Come
2004: Madonna
2003: Helsinki Re-Visited

BBQ Frenzy

I went to a barbecue today, which is no amazing thing (although spelling barbecue is, for some reason, one of those words that I should not even attempt to spell). Our hosts had a gas barbecue (something I have always been very sceptical of – it’s not real barbecue cooking, is it?). Well, I’ll eat my words (as well as much of the food). It was marvellous, although I doubt I will convert. There is something strangely masculine about fighting with coals rather than turning the gas on.

I suspect my life is turning into a bad episode of an Australian soap opera, for I am constantly saying we should have a barbecue. I am becoming obsessed. Yesterday it was kebabs on the barbie. Today, burgers. Or is it just a sign of summer? G’day.

On this day…

2005: Missed Birthday
2003: Monday Is Back To Work

In Short, Things Are Grim

Sometimes, I find the web addictive. I should be doing something else. I want to talk about this, but I’ll let Metafilter do the job. Saves me typing on a Saturday (for those who don’t want to click: The World Summit on Sustainable Development, aka “Earth Summit II,” will start soon in Johannesburg, ten years after the Rio Earth Summit. Have things improved at all in the last ten years? [Metafilter].

On this day…

2005: Boston Legal
2004: Flash Floods
2004: Should I Mention The Olympics?
2003: Great Yarmouth
2003: Stag

Yesterday was Ben Affleck’s Birthday

Thank God for the internet, for without its vast reach I would not have known that yesterday was Ben Affleck’s birthday. You see how enlightened this connected world makes one?

So in honour, I thought I would do a Google on our Ben. Now, for the first time in a long time, everybody’s favourite Oracle has let me down by putting this(almost one-year-old news story) near the top of its sophisticated ranking.

Still, we can’t all be perfect.

On this day…

2005: Hits Out Of Hell
2004: Email At Work