WHAT A MONTH......

22nd June 2010

The world cup 2010, is well and truly on it’s way and I have to say I’ve not been too impressed, with only Germany really show any drive to win their first game, but the second round of games should prove a whole lot better, esp. with Uruguay winning 3 to zip against the host nation and also South Korea having scored against Argentina, we should hopefully now get a proper football fest…. One thing that has annoyed be about the World Cup is the Vuvulezla… and not for the reasons you may think… this instrument is part of the fabric that makes up the continent or is at least inspired by the culture yet people from the man in the street to the football pundits and the it was even discussed by the FIFA the football governing body about banning it… in my opinion that’s just cheeky, cos I’m sure if someone was dissing these people about something that is part of their makeup they wouldn’t be happy about it, though I can understand being a tad upset hearing a Vuvu at 4am in the morning

To be honest I’m not disappointed with England as I never expected them to do well anyway, I’m more disappointed with Germany, esp after their first game…. I expected England to get out the group in 2nd place and then lose to Germany in the round 16, but it seems England may not even get out the group, oh well…. I didn’t watch the game on Friday as I was DJing at the Roller Disco in the Tower Ballroom, Brum… less stress and much more fun

I’ll be watching them tomorrow afternoon at home probably, and I won’t be surprised if they don’t get the needed result then it’s just gonna kick off in the town centre or in any pub one might be in, so best chill out at home and watch the drama unfold on the news, especially with the unrest that JT seems to have created by his press conference the other day, you do have to ask if the press conference was sanctioned, but then again are certain lines of the media playing lip service so they can get an exclusive interview, you have to wonder

Anyway, people enjoy the game support the lads but should we lose, let’s all take it on the chin and just say, we weren’t good enough and also remember, Don’t Leave Home With Baggage You Can’t Carry

9th June 2010

All very surreal, was in communication with Maggie Philbin recently, first thing one morning she sent all her twitter followers a picture of her in the 1960′ Batmobile, apparently it was up for auction… then towards the end of the day she sent a tweet asking for feedback about what makes a good Science programme, I replied with, A good Sci programme is one that’s about the Sci and not about the presenters, bit like Tomorrow’s World used to be like….. in hindsight that comment may have come across as a put down, as Maggie was the first woman of gadge when she was on there… with Ms Han…. sorry Maggie, didn’t mean to offend ya….

Dang, maybe I’ve had my three… first the PS3 died on me on the released day of God Of war 3, and was out of action for 20 days…Then the Landlord sends round some guys to do a boiler service, they make some excuse that due to a closed circuit they had to release pressure by disconnecting a valve on a radiator, then for some 2 weeks no hot water cos boiler had a problem and kept cutting out, probably cos the circuit is now no longer closed due to missing valve…Then the night my HD TV went all funny, I got a ghosting picture and it’s def the TV not the aerial as the PS3 picture is all fuzzy too and that doesn’t rely on the picture to come through the aerial…..but that all seems ok, but I fear it could be the beginning of the end of the TV… please give me some good fortune……. England to win the World Cup…. come on lads…..

Well Saturday morning in Starbucks people watching was pretty cool, with many a glorious people spotted, and had a talk to Marg and Maycee on the phone, all good and nice. It was much better than last week Thursday when I got my arse handed to me at bowling as I got battered 8 – zip, even though I was bowling alone and I scored my average I shouldn’t have got beat that badly….. Friday was annoying as I took an early departure from work to wait for the Keston boiler guy to turn up and fix my boiler and the tosspot didn’t even show and when I called my housing agency Optima Housing they fobbed me off with the we’ll call you back then hung up before taking my number.. I’ve not a boiled a kettle so often, but Friday evening go better when I DJ’d at Roller Rev, which was a good night, even though my set wasn’t the best set I’ve ever done, but I got 2 weeks to get that sorted for the 18th June event….. and even though England are playing that day I will be Roller Rev, as I do love it there…

I was hoping to record Time With TC this weekend, def need to get one out there before the World Cup starts, I’m hoping to talk about two dating sites that I think are robbing people and giving them false hope, so look out for episode 7….

I rang my housing agency on Monday about the whole hot water situation… I didn't rant too much but did hint that maybe I could use my rent and get it fixed myself. to which I got an apologetic email and a promise of an appointment that very night… Got home at 6pm and the engineer was sitting in his car in front my entrance… he came in and I can now say I have hot constant running water, so it's all good in the hood.

Rain rain go away please…… man it’s been wet over the last couple of days…. This week West Midland Buses put their fares up and I do have to question the percentage of increase, for example the evening saver used to be £2.20 it’s now £3… that is a price hike…. Now a week or so ago I signed up for a new bus pass, even though I was unaware of the price increase, but I made the error of starting the bus pass on 16th June, so one week from now… as a bit of a protest to the price increase I said I’d walk to work unless it was raining… it’s rained everyday this week so I’ve had to pay the higher bus fare….. so as I say… Rain rain go away please…. though rain, remember, Don't Leave Home With Baggage You Can't Carry.

19th May 2010

Well been a while since I blogged, it’s this whole podcast need to try and get a good balance going between blogging and podding, but have found the time to blog here in Starbucks and what a glorious morning it looks like being.

I’m due to go to a wine fair today but due to not pulling my finger out the train fare is proving quite high so I may just spend the day chilling in Brum and making a homemade soup and reviewing Modnation for the podcast, though I may try and catch Iron Man 2 movie at some point today too.

Tomorrow is the next Roller Revolution and I’m looking forward to it, though after the last one it’s gonna be a hard one to follow, as with the crowd last time out and all the party groups in we were cooking on gas, the place was jumping and as we know a DJ is only as good as his/her last set and the crowd helps that, so here’s hoping eh.. I shall report back on Sunday in the podcast.

So what’s planned for the next week ahead, well the podcast recording on Sunday where I’ll be talking about the new coalition government the hopefully I’ll have some feedback from my listener on their fears for what is ahead or their hopes. I’ll also be discussing the subject of diet pills, which I thought I’d discuss after hearing a story on Watchdog about two leading chemists selling the diet pill Alli to people who shouldn’t have access to the pill.

One person was underage, as you need to be 18+ to use the pill, and she’d put on the website she was 16 and they still sold her the pill, and then the other was below the BMI of 28, as in she was way underweight and it was clear she was and they sold her the pill, but I have to add the sales were over the internet, as when they went into the shop, face to face they couldn’t get the pill, so the question is more that the either the chemist website needs to be more stringent, but in my view the pill just shouldn’t be available over the Internet, or at least first time of sale should be face to face, where then the purchaser is given a unique ID number where they can then go on the site and buy the product via the internet, as it’s likely that people using this diet pill may not feel comfy walking into a shop and buying it face to face, so listen out for the podcast or send me your views on the whole diet pill thing.

I’m thinking about creating a forum revolving round my podcast but not sure I got a big enough following yet to launch one, but watch this space, I hope to review Modnation on the podcast too along with Army of Two 40th Day, but if you got any shout outs on the podcast then drop me a line either via the guestbook here or via the usual email address.

It’s bank holiday next weekend, and on the Saturday I’m off to The Big Smoke that is London, and I’m hooking up with Jeffo and his missus Zee, we are going to The Langham Hotel and the Palm Court Restaurant to partake of Afternoon Tea, which will be cool, as it’s been a while since I’ve had a fully fledged Afternoon Tea, and I’m well looking forward to it.

Hopefully I’ll also that day hook up with my mate Bobby T and his family for brunch in Northampton en route to The Big Smoke and maybe some other old pals but we shall see.

But hey I’m gonna dash now as got people to watch whilst I chill here in Starbucks, but until the pod on Sunday peeps... or tomorrow night at Roller Rev... remember... “Don’t Leave Home With Baggage You Can’t Carry”.... ciao baby...

28th APRIL 2010

Been a while since I last blogged and you know what I’m in trauma, because of a bunch or 22 no make that 23 Muppets....... Barnet Football Club, what the hell have you done... we were top at one stage and now we’re on the verge of falling out of the football league, it almost reminds me of when Tony Cottee managed us.... but at least we got shot of him before the ship sank.

So what else has been happening, well we got the general election round the corner and who am I gonna vote for, I’m thinking Lib Dems as Nick Clegg is doing a good job of selling himself, though that said I think he plans on stitching first time buyers up, so as a first time buyer I’m not sure, though deep down I kinda wish for a hung parliament, because even though another general election would have to happen, as least we’ll have six months where maybe direction of politics can be more defined, but I got a feeling that maybe the conservatives will win this one.

Then we had two weeks near enough of limited flights outta and into the UK and other parts of Europe due to a volcanic dust cloud and it’s been mayhem, and also an excuse for some people to print money, esp. with the term “act of god” being banded about so money doesn’t have to change hands, which annoys me, but I guess the way things are the public is being held over a barrel and it’s just not fair.

Hey hasn’t the weather in the UK been cracking, glorious sunshine and almost T-Shirt weather, here’s hoping it continues through till the end of the up and coming bank holiday weekend, but you know sod’s law we’ll be getting rain at about 2000hrs on Friday.

I’ve managed at last to do my fourth podcast which is now out there and available if you click here... in this episode I talk about whether medication for kids is needed or can it be resolved with their diet. Also I brooch the subject of whether men can multitask and we get to meet my pal Moby and we also meet angry Sal, who has a major issue with the male drivers and the music is provided by Harmonic Rage and their website is located if you click here.

Highlight of my week is that I’ve acquired the complete series of Battlestar Galatica as in the new version and I’m looking forward to plugging into it, in fact I may do a bank holiday weekender of BSG as I’ve never seen the show at all, so watch out as I may do a review of the show, as I’ve always had an issue with Boomer being female as well as Starbuck, but I’m gonna reserve judgement.

Ah yes also the new Dr Who has started and I have to say I’m liking Matt but not keen on the new assistant and I was asked why I didn’t like her and giving it some thought I think it’s because her character just isn’t scared enough, I mean it’s not every day you get to be in Dr Who situations, but again I’ll reserve judgement but I may talk about it in the next podcast, so feel free to holla me if you got an opinion on BSG and the new Doctor and in the meantime “Don’t Leave Home With Baggage You Can’t Carry”

11th April 2010

Well it's been nearly a month since I sat down and actually wrote something as I've been focussed on getting the podcast off the ground, but with 3 episodes behind me now, I thought I'd touch based with those who prefer to read about what's been going on.... and what has been going on... well......

....The podcasts have been recieved reasonably well I think, it would appear I have a few listeners who have subscribed to the pod via iTunes which is good and makes it worthwhile recording the pod, I'm trying to secure a couple of interviews for the podcast, one with Helen Trim who is a bit of an expert on Voice Over Internet Protocol and other internet based communications, I'd love to get Maggie Philbin on the pod as she's funny and still the number one woman of gadge and then I'd like to get Ms Whitehouse on the pod to talk about Diabetes and there are plans to get a finger on the news worthy stuff that's been happening stateside with ex pat Ms Menelaws.

If you've been following my updates on Facebook and or Twitter some of you may have picked up that in the last month I had a bit of sugar level scare, where my sugar levels had hit 7 and the Doc was telling me that because of my weight and culture is was likely that I was diabetic, and he said that 6.9 was the cutoff, but he had me take a second blood test and that came in at 5.6 so I'm not diabetic, but the fact I did get a 7 reading after a fasting blood test, comes as a warning shot across the bow. Since the blood tests I've struck up conversation with a full type one diabetic, type one being the one where you need to inject insulin, she's on 4 injections a day and she tells me the best she can get sugar level wise it 8.9..... If I'm honest diabetes scares me as it's not just about cutting out obvious sugar products, and I def think it would be beneficial to get Ms Whitehouse on the pod to talk about her life before and after diabetes.  Diabates is similar to Stroke in that it affects so many people in this country and world wide, but proportionatley gets very little support in terms of charitable funding and aid.

Also this month my PS3, or Tiffany as I had name her, died on me, and it's now been in repair for almost 3 weeks, I've missed out on playing stuff like God of War 3, Final Fantasy 13, Battlefield Bad Company and Army of Two 40th Day and not forgetting many TV shows as I use my PS3 as a Personal Video Recorder linked to Freeview, but one thing that has come apparent is that I think I'm addicted to gaming, for the first few days I was like a lost puppy without my PS3, to the extent that I went out and acquired a PS2, but suffice to say I've managed to wean myself off gaming, but once Tiffany comes home, my guess is she'll get a trashing.

Well I'm gonna sign off now as I need to iron a week's worth of clothes and do house chores as I'll be down south in Leatherhead for most of the week so time back here in the barn will be very limited and precious and ironing and hoovering will be the last thing i want to do when I come home from my days travelling, but one thing I'll make sure is that I "Don't Leave Home With Baggage I Can't Carry"

14th March 2010

It’s been a while what with the podcast seems like I’ve lost the will to write stuff so I thought I’d pull my finger out and I hope all is well in my readers world?

It’s a bright and early Sunday morning here in the UK and you know what happened last night, whilst I was watching Gridlock’d a film with Tupac and Tim Roth starring… I fell asleep on the sofa, which I’ve been doing a lot of, but that could be because of a recent prognosis that I may have diabetes, just awaiting another blood test.

It’s kinda odd, as I look forward to those nights when I fall asleep on the sofa…. Why? I hear you ask, well it’s always a interesting to see what subliminal message you’ll wake up to, as usually the TV has been left on when you fall asleep on the sofa and this morning was no exception...

This morning I woke up to a Form Mattress and an Ab workout machine, and I guess all in all these early morning 90 minute hard pitch sales work, because here I am telling you guys about these products, but before you go Binging these products and ordering them up, ask yourself that question you asked a second ago… Why?

Let’s take the Form Mattress, (I’ll maybe talk Ab machines in the next podcast) why have you got an advert that goes on for about two hours telling me what the merits of the mattress are in your opinion, and then when you show people sleeping on the mattress and they are all sleeping… or should that be, placed in the perfect sleep position with the no bedspread over them and clothed in normal dress… for advertising purposes no doubt.

Two hours of the same 5 or 6 six couples saying how wonderful the mattress is and then throwing in a pair of slippers, a couple of pillows and with cases, which you say retail at £75 and that a person can buy a mattress and after a certain period, 30 days I believe, if they aren’t satisfied they can have their money but can keep the free gift…. What gets me the most with these ads is that they do the hard sell for 20 – 25 mins with these rotating couples before they say what the price is, then repeat the hard sell pitch and do this for what seems like 90 minutes, almost like a time share sales pitch… £230+ for the foam mattress, which yes is a cracking price for a single mattress, but you have to wonder how good the mattress really is when there are other mattresses out there costing up to £350 and also the brand of mattress only appears to available in few places, like eBay, direct from the manufacture and direct from the company running the 2 hour ad, though maybe Bing only pulled those.

I say to this company, if your mattress is that good then the cool off period should be like 6 months plus not a few weeks, as in 30 days is someone really gonna have tested out the mattress that extensively, if you got real faith in your mattress then 6 months should be the money back offer period, of course in 6 months a lot can happen in bed, but offering 6 months will show the public you have proper faith in your mattresses

Thing is with all the above, like in a bad cheesy movie, all this was going on whilst I was asleep, and like that bad cheesy movie star….. I then woke up…. Remember people, “Don’t Leave Home with Baggage You Can’t Carry”

Hey good people the latest podcast is out there now, available if you click here.

3rd March 2010

It's been a great week actually, Heavy Rain a game exclusive to the PS3 has been launched, Sweet Digits beat The Sultans 8 - 0 at 10 Pin Bowling and over the weekend I hooked up with the home boys and though we met every year, this was the first time that all of us have made it in 8 years, so that was pretty cool.

Heavy Rain is a game created by a company called Quantic Dreams, and basically it's an interactive game, where you play the game from 4 different peoples point of view, but you are all trying to solve a series of murders. But what makes the game special is that it's not just guns and action, it has a real emotional tie to the game and how you play each character develops the game and how they fit into the game, like one scene you in a situation as an FBI agent, and someone pulls a gun on you… do you shoot and ask questions later or do you try and talk the man down… depending what you decide, depends which way the game goes, in my view a great game that any Adult can play, male or female, so look out for it in all good and some bad gaming stores.

Beating The Sultans was brill, the main reason for that is because one of them gave me a bowling lesson at the being of last season saying I needed it… so it was like whole Vader vs Obi Wan… student becomes the master thing…. that said last game we played against them last season we beat then 8 - 0 too, but yet this still keeps giving me a dig about my bowling… I recall part way through the game last week, we had a few bad bowls, and I over heard him say to his bowling partner… "They're doing us a favour seems like we got this in the bag….." … err sorry son… I beg to differ my friend…. I knocked in scores of 137, 167, 138… which are okay, though I'd rather knock in 3 games of 148, so here's hoping this week.

Seeing the guys at the weekend was pretty cool, despite the nightmare home afterwards, as we had a jumper on our line.. so we were delayed and I got back to Brum at about 0130 instead of 0010, but at least I made it home safe…. Yeah Saturday started with me going to my childhood stomping ground and even had a Full English at the Café I used to go to as a teenager and in my early 20's from there I went to see my pops in London…. then in the evening from about 5ish I met the home boys and we had a drink or two at The Loop Bar in Mayfair… we also made it an impromptu Stag Do as my man Monts has got engaged, but with happy hour from 5pm - 8pm the Loop Bar is great place to start your night out, but it has three or four floors with different music so if you did go there, you'd probably stay there till the early hours as many of the lads did in the end.

Sunday I just chilled catching up on recorded TV from Friday and Saturday, and I must do an up date on Wot Are You Watching page, as there have been a few good shows on the box recently.

The early part of this week I had a trauma, my PS3 had a disaster and the internal clock reset itself, I was forlorn…like a lost puppy…. no only joking my life doesn't really revolve around my PS3…… honest….. and people… "Don't Leave Home With Baggage You Can't Carry"

19th February 2010

I have start with a couple of big shout outs, firstly to The International Fox who pointed me in the direction of a possible lead for some DJ work, and I've been in discussions and I may well have a slot at a venue in Birmingham, so thanks Foxy, and the next shout out goes to my man Monts, who is part of the dynamic duo we all know as The Geek Syndicate, he has got engaged and is due to get married in early April, so congrats my man hope all the arrangements go smoothly, and I wish you and your good lady a wicked life together, all the best mate.

Since I last blogged what has happened, well I've been looking further into doing a podcast and that's been going well, I hope to put the first one out there in the next fortnight or so, so watch this space for the link.

I've also held an interview with a vampyre and that should be published in the next newsletter due out towards the end of March, and I hope to include an interview I did with an Author in the summer of last year.

Other things that have happened in my world, well I had to ask the question is Insurance worth after hearing of couple of incidents that happened where people had paid out for insurance in good faith only for the insurance company to decline to make the payment, one even said they'd pay back the last premium paid the cancel the policy, bunch of thieving bar stewards, I do discuss it further in the up and coming podcast, but man that's just blatantly robbery, and because it's been done behind a corporate banner, they are allowed to get away with it.

I discuss it further in my brand new podcast, which you can listen to by clicking here...

Been a little usy putting the pod together but I shall be back blogging, and podding on a regular basis, but in the meantime, "Don'T Leave Home With Baggage You can't Carry

9th February 2010

The less said about my last game of bowling the better, with the poor scores of 128, 128, 114 on my part, I let the side as we fell to a 6 - 2 beating, and we only got the 2 points cos Digits put in a storming game. She's bought herself a new ball and it appears to be doing her game the world of good.

This weekend was Superbowl weekend so for me it was all about getting plenty of sleep so I could stay fully awake for the game as often the first quarter can be quite dull and you end up drifting off what with the game starting so late our time, but Saturday morning that plan was scuppered when I awoke at 6am, so I got up did some stuff on the PC then headed into town for full English at the café near New Street Station, which claimed it opened at 8am.. I was there for 0810 and it was closed and with no sign off life inside, so I ended up having a McD's McMuffin Breakfast.

From there I head to Starbucks on Colmore Row for their opening time of 0830… but they didn't open till 0836, which after the breakfast fiasco it just annoyed me so once inside and supping on my coffee, I plugged into their Wi-Fi Hotspot, logged on to their website and proceeded to email them and complain about the fact they opened late with no explanation, yeah I know it's only 6 minutes but it's the principle, you're going to Starbucks for a stress free chill and you get caught out sitting outside in the cold while there Barista staff take their sweet time to open up… though I did notice they appear to have a good selection of breakfast options…. maybe next time.

After getting home via the indoor market I spent most of Saturday catching up with TV in terms of Ironside, Monk and Mission Impossible, along with playing Fifa10, which a very good game, and I plan to post a review out there, I also had a couple of power naps.

Sunday I missed out on the gym and had a lie in as part of the Superbowl regime and then on waking up I decided to prep the chicken for the game. In previous years I've always treated myself to a box of KFC or Iceland's SFC.. but this year I decided to cook my own chicken, so I broke out the seasoning rack and put together some of the family special and coated the chicken and stuck it in the fridge till cooking time… so the chicken had 15 hours to chill and soak up the atmosphere so to speak.

The rest of Sunday, I did as little as possible, so again TV and Gaming, though I did put together some script work for the podcast and I really need to start putting together the newsletter, as I near enough completed my interview with a true life Vampyre.

The Superbowl kicked off at about 11:30pm our time and I have to say what a game, with the Colts going 10 up pretty quickly and the Saints scoring 3pts then deciding to go for it on 4th and inches and coming up short, though they did stop the Colts and go on to score a field goal. Then boom in the 2nd half the Saints really started playing. starting with an Onside kick, which usually reserved for desperate measures when a team needs to get the ball back as there is limited time to get a gaming winning score. This move set the Saints right up to call a couple more gutsy plays and finally taking over and holding out on the Colts, thus winning the Vince Lom Trophy, cracking game.

Monday I had my traditional day off after the Superbowl and chilled with TV catch up, in terms of The Bible : History, Seven Ages of Brit and the last in the Empire of the Seas series with Dan Snow, but also on Monday, I had a furniture fitter come round to measure up the apartment as I'm hoping to get bespoke fitted wardrobes and storage fitted, though I know it's not gonna be cheap, but as I'm looking at living here long term, I thinking , get a quality product and pay the right price for it…. and on that note just want to remind you folks, "Don't Leave Home With Baggage You Can't Carry.

3rd February 2010

Well bowing last week was brill, first time I'd bowled in five weeks and I knocked in 170, 171 and 164 which helped the team to a 6 - 2 win… so we've played 4 games won two and lost two all scores have been 6 - 2, so not a bad start, on an even keel I guess

Since I last blogged I made it to the Doc's who said what I'd been thinking in terms of my lower back pains, I need to lose weight and I should carry on going to the gym, but she has put me down for some blood tests to check on my Cholesterol, Sugar Levels and Kidney condition, so hopefully that will all come out clean and healthy, but what did amuse me was her trying to prescribe to me pain killers and she seemed a little put out when I asked if normal painkillers from Tesco would do the job, to which she reluctantly said yes…

I seen a few interesting shows this week, but the stand out show for me was Industrial Revelation which talked about how Birmingham was the hub of industry in the UK, and as a Londoner living in Brum it was very interesting, the next show in the series is about Sheffield and the steel industry, def worth a watch, it on a Sunday evening on the Quest Channel.

I've been toying with the idea of hosting a podcast show, I'm teaching myself how to use Audacity as I'll use that as my editing tool… is there anyone out there who might be interested in being my co-host otherwise I'll got it alone. In terms of the podcast content, I'd be looking at just discussing stuff on TV, things in the News and basically any stupidiness that may have been spotted in the Week that was…. though we won't call it the week that was, because our pals at Geek Syndicate have that as a section in their podcast.

This weekend coming is the Superbowl, being held between The Colts and The Saints, it's on BBC1 from about 10pm, so get plugged in people and give it a watch, though I've got the Monday off work. I'm rooting for The Saints but I think that Mr Manning will be too good for them, but I def think it should be good a game.

Until we next communicated people, be safe out there and remember, Don't Leave Home With Baggage You Can't Carry…

28th January 2010

It's been a while since I blogged and not too much has happened in my world… though that said I got a fair few aches and pains, but hopefully that's down to my body reacting to me going to the gym and not anything more sinister, but shall give it a few more days and if it persists I'll go see the doc and if it is something sinister here's hoping I make it out the other side.

Bowling last week The Mag and Digits flew the Sweet Digits flag high and pulled off a 6 - 2 win which is all good, with Digits producing a personal best game out the hat… but it could go all Pete Tong tonight as I return to the fray for my first bowling match in about 5 weeks…. I hope I hit at least 120 each game, but we shall see.

I've registered with a site called www.goalhappy.com where you can set yourself certain goals and then give your pals access to your profile and they can see how you're doing with your goals and then can either praise you or encourage you, I shall give it a few weeks then I'll post my profile out there, you can also get this on you Smartphone so you update your profile on the fly.

The fitness plan is going ok so far, been to the gym a few times, and each time I'm increasing the cardio vascular work by a couple of minutes, so having started on 2mins on the bike, I went last night and I'm now up to 18 minutes… once I hit 20 on the bike, I'll add 2mins on the cross trainer then each time I got I'll add 2 minutes to the cross trainer till I hit 20, then I'll add the treadmill or the rower, though I hate the rower with a passion…

Plans for the weekend, will be pretty much catch up on TV viewing and hit the gym a couple of times, well at least on Sunday anyway and I dare say I'll spend some time with Tiff, and I hope to see the film PUSH on DVD, so if I do I'll put a review out there. I also need to do some work on the newsletter.

So here's wishing you all a fantastic last weekend in January, but whatever you do, "Don't Leave Home With Baggage You Can't Carry".

21st January 2010

Another broken up week with being down south for two more days, but I won't be doing that for a while, but it's all good.

It was good to touch base with Mr G, the other day for a few cheeky ones at the pub in Euston station, we'd worked out that the last time I saw him, was when he helped me move to Brum which was back in July 2009, it'd been a long ole time, but we had a good chinwag, hopefully we'll be hooking up a bit more often this year.

Today is bowling night, and it will be Digits and The Mag holding the fort, and I got a feeling they are going to win this week….. whilst I'll be sitting waiting for my Tesco delivery, but that said, last months delivery the driver rang early as he was ahead of schedule, so you never know that might happen this month. But def like the whole supermarket shopping online as I find one is more focussed on what one buys…. though the 5 cartons of Ben Jerry Ice Cream I bought last month cos they were half price are still sitting the bottom drawer of the freezer untouched isn't quite what you called focussed…. well I guess I was focussed on saving a buck or two as opposed to what I was actually buying.

With the trip down south my weekend will be filled with TV catch up, still not plugged into Heroes Season 4, but not sure I'm gonna like it but of course I'll let you all know via the Wat You Been Watching link once I've plugged in, but the other thing I'll be doing is starting the website newsletter which I hope to publish in the first week of March.

But whilst I'll be doing all that, here's you one and all having a great weekend and wishing Monts a smooth house move, but remember people, "Don't Leave Home With Baggage You Can't Carry"

15th January 2010

Firstly I'd like to send out my condolences to The Mag and his family, as his Granddad passed away this week, Mag, you and family are in my thoughts and prayers sir, and you know if you need anything, just holla me.

This week has been a little bit broken up as I was down in Le'Head at HQ for a couple of days, which was nice, despite the weather. It was good to be near London for a few days. It actually wasn't too bad the weather, though Wednesday's snow flurry threw everyone, but I heard it snowed all day on Wednesday in Birmingham.

On Wednesday evening I hooked up with Monts and Ju for a few cheeky ones at Euston station which was really good as I hadn't seen Monts since Pat Sharp and Betty Boo christen their first born, in like June time last year, so was good to catch up with him, seems I may need to look at getting measured up for a new suit, as he gone and got himself all loved up which is brilliant as I'd never had thought a woman could tame him, nice one Monts.

Having been down South for two days I didn't bowl last night but I do know with The Mag spending time with his family Digits had to bowl a blind and alas it was against arguably the best team in the league, The Twins… and final score was 6 - 2 to The Twins, which is a sterling effort cos to even get a point against The Twins when you got a full team is hard, so well done Digits,.

I was at home doing house stuff and catching u p on the TV shows, and I have to say there was some cracking viewing and I've updated the Wot Are You Watching link and I hope this year to keep it up to date weekly, so have a gander as there are few new shows out there.

The big melt has commenced, so this weekend will be one of staying in and staying dry, but if I do go out… and you should do the same… "Never Leave Home With Baggage You Can't Carry.

8th January 2010

Some women have been heard to say, "Women are always right…" how true that is, well that's debatable but for one of my pals he is gonna have to live with the fact his wife is always right.. well at least until she locks herself out of the house again.

Here's the story, Tuesday the snow fell and it was pretty bad up here in Brum, in the mid afternoon my pal spoke to his wife on the phone and she specifically told him not to come home by bus but to get the train. So when we left the office that evening, he told me he was getting the train….

Well the next morning after he eventually got in, we had a chat and he told me that he didn't get home till 9pm, to which I said, it's a good job you got the train, but that look came across his face which said…. what train…. he then proceeded to tell me that as he walked down Broad Street he saw his usual bus running and running on time so he decided to forego the walk to the station and he ran and caught the bus…. the bus sailed trough to Quinton he told me, and then it hit gridlock.. and proceeded to crawl all the way home…

I was in tears, especially when he told me that as soon as he walked into his home at 9pm, all his wife said to him was… "I told you not to catch the bus, above suspicion is about to start I don't want to hear it" …. so for the until that lock out happens, I'm sure he'll be hearing the quote, "You know I'm right, ever since you got the bus and not the train"…

Plans for the weekend for me is, gym visits both Saturday and Sunday, CSI NY new season starts on Saturday, so will be watching that along with FBI Case Files on the Quest Channel and I also need to sort stuff for the day trip to Le'Head, so a reasonably hectic weekend, but I won't be going outside apart from the gym unless I have too.

The new bowling season started last night, with Digits flying the flag solo and she played really well knocking in a couple of 200+ games, but alas it wasn't enough to make up for bowling alone and we lost 6 - 2, which is really good, so any given Thursday around 7.30 if you're in Strichley why not pop in and see Sweet Digits throw down, but if you come, make sure, You Don Leave Home With Baggage You Can't Carry.

5th January 2010

Went to see to Sherlock Holmes last night and have to say I very entertained and Robbie Downey impressed me with his British accent, but a review is posted on the website, click here to read it.

Went for supper at La Tasca afterwards, alone as always and have to say I do like the place, it is right up there as one of my fave places to eat, but I got to teach myself how to make a Paella, as I'm sure it can't be that hard.

This morning I went into Tesco the get some fruit for breakfast and to pick up a box of bran flakes and a pack of sultanas, but could I find the sultanas…. I'm sure my local Tesco used to have a Home Baking section where you'd find such stuff as dried and packaged fruit, but that section has moved from where it was and despite walking round the store I still never found what I was looking for, and the incident confirmed to me why I do my supermarket shopping online….

Yeah I know that supermarkets and other shops move products around so that they can get customers to look beyond their usual products but it is quite annoying and as a bloke we don't really do shopping, as in walking from shop to shop or aisle to aisle, we just want to get in then and get out……. sound familiar ladies I know…. hee hee

It snowed in Brum this morning for about 15 minutes and just look at how much we got, view from 15th Floor of my office block, more to come. I remember the last time it snowed in Birmingham the year I started working here, I lived in Northampton…. I ended up having a night on the tiles in Birmingham….. the Office Carpet Tiles…. no trains I had to break back into the office and sleep on the floor in the filing room as that was the warmest room

Hey people with all this snow be careful out there, esp if you are driving and make sure you pack plenty of water and blankets and so forth just in case you get stuck, but do make sure you, "Don't Leave Home With Baggage You Can't Carry"

2nd January 2010

Well the start of a new year in Camstar’s World and what does the year hold I ask myself

January I got two, two day visits to Leatherhead planned, so won’t be going out much though I do plan on seeing Sherlock Holmes and possibly Avatar at the flicks with maybe a meal out to La Tasca at some point in January. February sees a gathering of my old pals from London at The Loop Bar, and I get the feeling it won’t be a cheap night, as I’ve already spent £25 on the night and it’s still 8 weeks away.

March, I’ve pencilled in a trip to Swindon or maybe Brighton, it all depends what kinda vibe I get from each of those places, and April is Easter so I may well do a jaunt to Cyprus but my man Wendell wants to do a bit of a lads jaunt away to sunnier climes within 2 hours reach so feel free to suggest places, though I’m thinking Jersey or Guernsey. So may stay in sunny Brum and save the pennies for later in the year.

May sees the two bank holidays, so there is possibly going to be a night out at Flares in Birmingham, but there will def be a trip to London and a certain drinking event I go to each year, June brings a pal of mine’s wedding and on the same weekend the start of the World Cup, but do I go to the wedding in Ireland or watch England take on the US plus all the other games that weekend… dilemma

July is the knockout stages of the World Cup, my Bro’s birthday and maybe the jaunt away with Wendell, or could that jaunt be in August when we have a Bank Holiday so another Flares visit could be on the cards.

September sees Drinks in the City revisit Blackpool and The Soul Suite, or is that the Sugar Suite and no it’s not a gentleman’s club, but it is a good club. October should I still be a alive, I’ll be another year older but not decided where to go for the birthday drinks maybe that new place on Broad Street called Pushkar’s, if it’s still in business and as before no it’s not a gentlemen’s club.

November the year is coming to an end and plans for Christmas will have started in earnest, with December bringing copious amounts of drinks and food along with the new Invitational Voucher Book and the end of another year.

Though there are things that over the next year that will continue as normal, as long as I can, I’ll be saying, “Never Leave Home With Baggage your Can’t Carry” and there be a ton of people who will spend the year “Talking a Good Game.”

22nd December 2009

Can't believe that, though deep down I can actually believe it. I live in a block of apartments and you need a proximity pass to get through the front door, and we do have video phone entry. Well I put some Christmas Décor outside my front door, so in the hall way, but the way the floor is arranged you should only be down my end of the hall if you're visiting me or my neighbour opposite me. I put the décor up last week Wednesday…. well I walked out my front door today and someone tosser has half inched the décor… I really hope that's not the sign of things to come, but regardless of if it is I'm going to look into getting myself an alarm, thieving bar stewards.

Apart from that downer, unless someone breaks into my flat, I'm all good actually, off to The Big Smoke tomorrow to hook up with some old work colleagues, which should be a great laugh but very messy, though as most of us are in our 40's and not seen each other for a year, it's likely to be an afternoon tea affair, in that small talk and light drinks.

My shopping gets delivered tonight hopefully, so I will be all set for the festive season, with my Mince Pies, Pheasant, Yule Log, Smoked Salmon and the obligatory Twiglets and Matchmakers, so here's hoping it's a fun time and it doesn't go too quickly, but as we all know, we buy enough food to feed our families for a fortnight but it gets consumed in three days, but I plan not to over indulge as I'll only have to lose it all in the New Year.

I may not be online before Christmas Day as some tosser may have nicked my PC by then, so I'm gonna wish one and all a cracking Christmas Day, Eat, Drink and be Merry but whatever you do, take care and Never Leave Home With Baggage You Can't Carry, and hopefully we'll touch base on Boxing Day or at least before New Years Eve, Happy Yuletide people.