Genius. Who buys music anymore anyway? Well I did today, and from a high street big name, but it was in the sale. But this site displays the current debate, clever kids get their music of t'internet, but how long will it be so easy? Merry Christmas and all that, but we'll either end up in a police state-style music world, or maybe it will one day be cool to pay for downlaoding from big names shops online?? But for now, look at this and laugh What a Crappy Present - CD Gift Advice, Parents and Kids

Mr. Picassohead Pablo would probably turn in his grave, but this is genius, make your own picasso, i mean its brilliant. People with too much time on their hands (and luckily a good idea or two!)

Wired News: Feel Free to Jack Into My IPod: "It is so common in Cambridge, someone has printed a T-shirt that says, 'Feel free to jack into my plug,'" Little old Cambridgeshire, UK! ipod's! People sharing music! Next stop world peace and harmony, although maybe a bridge too far. It's definitely a great thing though. So much music on one tiny machine, what micro-technology was invented for, and other more life-enhancing projects as well of course!

Me blogging again, after all this time, twice in one day, like the buses, would you adam and eve it?! But this ipod thing is taking off, they look cool, but more importantly they're mac based they they work cool as well. I mean I'm typing on a pc at the moment, but give me the choice, and I want a half eaten apple symbol on my computer everytime!

Protein� Feed - It's Official, Love *is* a Drug: "'Attraction and lust really is like a drug. It leaves you wanting more,'" thats what it says, some scietific geeky guy, what would he know! But seriously, maybe it is? i mean it must be different foir everyone, but its a pretty powerful thing in some people's lives, makes you give up, everything and anything, do something extraordinary. anyway, how y'all been? i've not blogged for a while, been an arse of a month at work, problems sent to try us, etc.

But hey, how can we appreciate good times, if we don't go through dome bad one's?

So ideally, it wouldn't just be global warming that messes the climate up, it would be good old mother nature. Don't mess with her, she got a whole bag full of tricks up her sleeve. 20 years from now, Torquay could be more like Toronto...we'll see how it goes BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Warming could bring colder UK winters

This article tells us why we can't get rubbish pop songs out of my head, but it doesn't make it alright or ok! BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | 'Brain itch' keeps songs in the head

Behind all the glitz and money of Saudi Arabia are all the average people, trying to get by. We in the west, get a misty eyed view of the middle east, whereas the majority of the population are as normal and balanced as we are. All the images of extremist, religious nutters is a world away from most Saudi's as BBC journo Roger Hardy found out one day. Read his report here: BBC NEWS | World | From Our Own Correspondent | Anger on Saudi Arabia's streets

Get a life, another one, the virtual reality world There.com has gone live. Of course its rife with advertising - you can actually buy things in theis other world, for real - and full of marketing opportunities, but its worth looking at. You can get a free 14 day trial if you sign up before 31st Dec. 03. Check out the article here: Protein� Feed - Virtual Brand Building

Been a while since i last posted, and then two in a day! Would you adam and eve it? Should do it more often, it's good to get things of your chest etc.

Although t'internet at work is going g about as well as trying to read War and Peace through a frosted glass door, so I'll keep this short! Life is ok, I have a shiny new bike courtesy of my wonderful girlfriend, so hopefully we'll be getting some frsh air at the weekends now, especially as she has a shiny new job.

But i am slightly jealous as it took her two weeks less after she graduated to get hers, than it did for me to get mine here, at the shiny Peterborough Evening Telegraph, the one with the new red steps, which I have no idea why they have been painted, as the paper's main colour is blue?

FOOD
Good news, as the Co-op have made a stand on the GM food issue, the public don't seem to keen on it, and they have decided - as the biggest farm owner in the country - not to use or sell it. Read the full story

We have a new email spam filter at work that cuts out emails with words like 'sexy' and 'offers'. So i got one today from my friend Paul with 'sexy' in it, utter fools. Maybe words like 'prescription viagra', 'burundi', 'w@nk3r', 'muffcam'...lets work together people, and use the common sense provided with our brains!

Well good afternoon world. So much has happened since my last blog, but I'm just too lazy to get around to getting down in digital print! But as I'm working on bank holiday (for the extra money of course) but not being able to actually do much constructive work due to IT problems (and of course there's no one in IT support to sort anything out!!) so I'm at a bit of a loose end.

CRICKET: Our rag tag of England cricketers threw away opportunities again, had South aFrica on the ropes and thanks to dogged, yet dull displays from Gary Kirsten they managed to turn the game around and ended up easily beating us! So can we stop picking all these old codger, worthy but not really Test class bowlers and stop making excuses for not picking Graham Thorpe, and get over the personal issues, then maybe we can start building a good squad and team spirit again. The makings of a good side is still there, but a complete lack of a single decent match-winning spinner in the whole country and injuries to some high class potential seamers doesn't help. We could still win the last Test and come out of the series with a good draw, but it'll mean more persistence required from the bowlers and a little more fortune and concentration from the batsmen, and of course Thorpe replacing Hussain. Let's not let Stewie end his career with a drab poor performance, he deserves better!

IRAQ: Well done George, you foolish, blood-thirsty, blind-to-the-truth, deceptive and downright evil man, when will the reign of this mad tyrant President end! He's ruining the environment and keeping his big business buddies who paid for him to get into office happy, whilst trying to rule the rest of the world by force until it becomes blatantly obvious that they never had a clue what to do with Iraq once Saddam was ousted and come running to the UN for help, and even then try to dictate terms. the attacks of 9/11 were one of the most horrid acts of violence the world has ever seen, but America's actions since have been simplistic and blinkered to the wider picture, they have no right to expect foreign cultures to just succumb to a western, captialst lifestyle just because Bush decided Saddam had to rightly go. Who the hell does he think he is, I just hope future generations will not look back on the work of the Bush jnr administration with sorrowful, guilty eyes.

GENERAL: Life is pretty good. I mean I've been a bit down lately, but really, I've got a job, a flat, food, friends, a girlfriend, something to fill my days. Cricket for a decent team on a weekend. But still it gets me down to think about my debts and all the stuff that needs attention, chilling out is definitely required. That is life's biggest test, whether to plow on through problems, well perceived problems, or to give up and feel sorry for yourself. I chose the latter for a while, but friends and Becx managed to pull me out pretty quick, it never lasts for too long.

And i got a good friends stag weekend in a week or so, then a trip to the Reading Festival to see Blur and the White stripes, and then my first wedding experience. Of course I can't afford any of this, and a holiday seems increasingly unlikely for the foreseeable future, but putting it in perspective, I could have nothing, no job, friends, loved ones, home, nothing to eat! Simple things must be considered when facing an alleged problem, and perspective is always a useful tool when trying to cheer yourself up!

CRICKET: So Nasser Hussain has quit. Maybe he's had enough, fair enough, but surely in the middle of back-to-back Tests isn't the ideal time?! Maybe Michael Vaughan is ready, and keen, and in pretty good nick with the bat, but Nasser has still done a pretty decent job of turning England into a competitive and more gutsy team than some of his predecessors.

But when South Africa blasted nearly 400 for 1 on the first day at Edgebaston, the press were as eager as ever to turn on a team that had just won a triangular one-day series. It annoys me that they feel its the right thing to say after a single bad day. Even when going into the final day, with only 20 required and still three wickets in hand to save th follow-on, the tone of news readers was one of nervous negativity. I know the media have a job to make stories sound more exciting, but please, could you add maybe a hint of national pride rather than assumptions that we will fail.

But it's far easier and safer to be negative and pick faults than it is to stick your neck out and back someone. Nasser has left the national team in a more solid state, able to show more grit, and we did avoid the follow-on and never looked like losing the match. Thanks Nasser, but no thanks to the press.

ENVIRONMENT: "Disappearance of Amazon rainforest brings pledge of emergency action " from the guardian article, Saturday 28th June 2003:

"Rainforests cover less than 2% of the Earth's surface, yet they are home to some 40 to 50% of all life forms - as many as 30 million species of plants, animals and insects. Up to 30% of the world's animal and plant species are found nowhere but in the Amazon, an area of 1.54 million sq miles (4.1 million sq km) - larger than western Europe. Scientists issue a warning that its rate of destruction poses serious threats, not just in respect of lost species but by reducing production of oxygen and unpredictable consequences for global weather patterns."

read the article in full

Well, here i am at work. Taking time out to mention that I despise my home internet connection with a passion. something must be done, as having approximately a minute everytime i dial up, leaves me a little short of time to actually do anything. My junk emails are building up, and my frustrations are boiliing nicely at gas mark 3, in a light casserole dish, with accompanying boiled potatoes.

Anyway life otherwise is good, Becx got her degree, we had fun at her graduation ball. And I'm not doing too bad with my local cricket team which is nice. Getting to bowl at former Test cricketer's (Rob Bailey) and then have them say 'well bowled' after the game is always a promising reward.

Musically, I'm impressed with the Thrills, have heard all the singles, very Neil Young/folky/70's stylee, but perfect summery stuff. The Badmeaningood collection by the Scratch Perverts is also a high quality selection of hip hop and soul/blues classics and inspirations, not quite as abrasive as some of the scratching and mixing, and scratching and mixing and scra...

am also impressed with www.proteinos.com. Very intruiging and well designed portal

Well blogger has changed since i last popped in. But for the better I'm sure. Been a busy time, what with my girlfriend's graduation ball in Manchester, we arrived by limo no less, after negotiating the tricky task of pouring a magnum of champagne in to glasses during the journey, it really isn't that easy. Aaah the high life.

But the night was good, entertainment was ok, dj, not brilliant, food, not too bad, and Becx looked fantastic in her dress, made for the occassion, and impressive hair, as styled by mr tony and mr guy. Unfortuantely the high drinks prices meant we weren;'t too blitzed by the end. But we did see the sun coming up next morning, so it wasn't a bad effort.

I've had contact from an old friend in Melbourne, Oz. Good bloke, who found my work email via my personal site, whilst looking for cricket scores, the power of the net. And another old friend from back home in Torquay has put 2 web site projects my way, and they're both willing to pay, which in my current financial state, is very good news...more soon people, hope you are well.

By the way, George Bush is a liar, its official, and Tony Blair is a fool for trusting and following him...harsh but fair i think

Well its been a while, have been off visiting family and friends, and my girlfriend Becx for her 3rd year production, performing arts piece, which I got a little too involved in for my liking! She did well, some very impressive movements to 'Edge Hill' by Groove Armada, supplied by me! Always glad to help and all that, but when I got dragged out to be a part of the opening scene of the piece, that was a little bonus! Had a long weekend at home, which was perfect, spending time with family and old friends, the weather was kind, even though my old cricket team got beat. But we made up for it in the pubs of Torquay, much to my body's regret the next day!

The next weekend it was Becx's 21st, and she did pretty well. We visited Sankey's Soap in Manchester, James Lavelle and Unklesounds were djing, not sure if we heard them as it went on until 6am and we left at 1.30, frankly there were some hardcore clubbers in the downstairs section, that dance floor must have been a swimming pool by morning. Still well worth the trip.

Work is going ok, despite the lack of money, plenty of valuable experience, when I can get my lazy arse out of bed!

INSOMNIA: It�s gone midnight, and I can�t get no sleep. Insomnia. (It�s not that bad, I just thought it was a cheap way to get a song reference in). Got some relaxing tunes playing via my RealOne Player, and lots of ideas about things I�d like to do to enhance my web skills. But when I get down to it, it never seems to go as I expect, all these tutorial magazines I have, with all these step by step tutorials, but something doesn�t work, a file from the accompanying disk, or there�s just one action that it doesn�t explain in excruciating detail, and now I�ve messed up an important part of the process. It doesn�t always work out this way, but am in a frustrated mood. My BT connection is still woefully pathetically crap. In a nutshell. But after discussing it with the helpline man and my own examinations of my computer, it seems it�s the modem or the phone wiring in my flat, so I�ll need to sort that little issue out sooner rather than later. �16 a month for an internet connection that doesn�t stay connected for more than 5 minutes ain�t a lot of use. So that�s where I�m at right now.

MONEY: Minimal pay rise at work, not gonna cover all my increased outgoings, so that�s not good news for a heavily in debt graduate, I�d be lying if I said it doesn�t get me down. But I am most definitely not the only one. Having lots of money is not a big issue in my life, not having to worry about paying bills is. I just ask for enough to enjoy and make the most of my days, have some new and interesting experiences once in a while, that�s not too greedy is it?

The US sugar industry is kicking up a fuss because the World Health Organisation says in a report that only 10% of American's diets should be sugar, attacking the report the sugar industry says: "Taxpayers' dollars should not be used to support misguided, non-science-based reports which do not add to the health and well-being of Americans, much less the rest of the world," considering the problem of increasing numbers of over-weight Americans, and the growing tidal wave of taste-less convenience foods taking over our daily routines, this leaves a rather sour taste in my mouth. The sugar industry are blackmailing the US geovernment saying they want funding dropped for the WHO. Read the full story here
World Health Organisation

back2work :: jesus, did i enjoy my maccy d's allstar big breakfast (wretch) erm not really, i regret it as soon as i sit down and take the first morsel they have to offer. Anyway, had 1 hello how are you from the nice Irish journo, Rachel, who's friends with my boss Emma, and the rest of em can fark off. Ignorant toerags. I've given up trying to look for meet and greet opportunities, they have their safe, dark world where no light gets in, and I have my own corner, lit by real sunlight. Never mind, life does go on.

Wonder what stunning stories they have to offer the web audience today? A few rehashes, a few tenuous local stories from national stories, all good stuff...do I want to keep my job, well yes? Then stop slaggin off your employer, oh, yeh, good point, sorry. Later people. See today's paper online : Peterborough Evening Telegraph

Well the end of the week was far better than the beginning. I don't recommend having a tooth pulled. It's bloody horrible. And I thought I looked after my teeth?! Anyway, birthday was good on friday. My wonderful girlfriend made me a cake, and I got a damn impressive assortment of cool pressies from family and friends. Had a pleasant day in Stamford. Although we had a pizza in Ask, and frankly it wasn't the best, but we survived.

So this is Easter Sunday, just saw the Pope on BBC1 doing an address to all his fans at the Vatican, that guy speaks a whole load of languages, but he doesn't look at his peak I have to say, the guy is officially on his last legs. Not much else on the goggle box, (where does that saying come from? And who really cares?) Listening to Jacues Le Cont' and Slam's Fabric cd's, and bloody good it is too, cheers Dan for the bday copies.

humorously btopenworld have sent me a letter telling me about their great email filtering system, and 'hoping you're enjoying your time with us' well not as such no. But a friend of Becx's family works for bt and I might be able to pick his brains as to what's up with my horribly lame connection. OOO sun's out, better get outside and make the most of it, back to work tomorrow, althoug it is time and a half and I can go pretty much when I want. so it can't be too bad.

PILFER ::I have to say, I've had more fun in the last few days than possibly anyone ever in the history of the known universe. I discovered last week that my door lock doesn't work properly, and one big shove and it pops open, so I'm locking the deadlock aswell now! Then Saturday during a rather gruelling 7 and a half hours cricket practice day, some kindly passing thieving toerag decided my wallet looked ripe and did a runner with it. they only got �3 and a debit card which hopefully I blocked before they did anything too exciting with.

TOERAG ::Of course in my mind I can't fully remember what I did with the damn wallet, after i had it at lunch. Started to doubt my self, and think maybe i just dropped it somewhere foolishly or left it lying around with a flashing sign above saying, come and get me? But I'm fairly sure I didn't. Ironic that my first day of cricket at Peterborough Town's Brettin Gate ground had an unhappy ending. After 10 years playing in the Devon League for Barton and Abbotskerswell and not losing a penny to thieves, it frankly is almost funny. And on another bright note, the wallet was a bit past it speak, and I was planning to get another one, so it's just hurried that chore on a bit.

MORE GOOD NEWS ::Then today, at the ET, a web page I thought had been finished had some mysteriously missing elements, which I had to carefully re-insert. And then my old chum Mike phones to say his work is ridiculously busy, and they have offered him triple-pay and little choice in working over Easter, Which kind of buggers up his planned visit to another friends, where we were all gonna catch up. all in all, I've not really enjoyed much of today, and tomorrow it's the dentists for half an hour of numbness and filling and random dental torture, I really can't wait to spend the evening dribbliing uncontrollably, practice for old age, which as I turn 29 on Friday is fast approaching. At least I get to spend it with my lovely girlfriend Becx :-)

MUSIC :: On a brighter note, everyone must get the White Stripes album, Elepehant, it really does rock. I can also recommend the Junior Senior album too, it's a real party album, lively, bouncy, indie/dance with some fruity lyrics thrown in for good measure!

Sony have patented the term 'Shock and Awe' for use in a forthcoming computer game. Congratulations, may you sleep well tonight and try not to think about all the Iraqis that died during the real-life events of Shock and Awe, this avenue of marketiing frankly sickens me, but unfortunately people are gonna buy it. Read the Guardian Online report

So its goodnight from Saddam then, unless he's sitting in a cave somewhere in the middle-east playing snap with Osama Bin Laden! Nice that they pulled that staue down right in front of the journalists hotel, make sure they get good shots for the telly. Yes I am cynical, but as long as the Iraqi people get to have a say in the running of their country now and it doesn't just turn into New Texas, with a big oil line pumping black gold straight to the US of A then at least some good has come out of Crazy George's go-it-alone who-needs-the-UN-anyway plan.

Channel 4 reported last night about all the Texan based companies that have won tenders to work in Iraq when it's free from Saddam's rule. Not suspicious at all. I'm glad the whole thing seems to have been over quickly, with minimum loss of life, althought the amount of friendly fire and media kills was unbelievable. How do these American's get trained, on Playstation 2?!

Have just had training on the new admin (content management system) at work. Seems better than the previous version (which it should be) and hopefully will work better...? But it adheres more to the .NET system set up by Microsoft, which is fine, except if you work on a mac, which we at our paper do. It seems strange that any microsoft solutions wouldn't work so well on a mac, well actually it's no surprise, why would they want anyonhe to use a mac, when pc's are much better and Bill is trying to rule the IT world with Microsoft. He kinda got away with it afte that big court case in America, but no one's fooled, they make everything as pc/microsoft friendly as they can, and force their products and services on the rest of us, via their network and operating systems. Competition is a dirty word, so frankly I like using my mac, its a lot more pleasnat to look at for a start, and just has a nicer atmosphere about the environment, I'm not sure if I'm explaining it right, but if you've used both, you might understand more.

Just a quick one before work. The Government are proposing to make big shops close on Xmas Day, quite bloody right too. The commercial world we live in breeds the idea that we need every shop open all the time, convenience. Frankly I reckon we can all survive without shopping on Xmas Day. The only people who need to open are greedy bosses who are only concerned with profits and not too bothered about generosity and the needs of their staff. Unfortunately, in the retail industry, that sort of attitude is rife, its all about competing and getting on over on the other shops, to make that extra pound, well frankly it makes me sick after 12 years in retail, I would rather be a dirty hobo on the streets than devote my life to one faceless corporate retail whore company, and that's what you have to do, devote your time and all your energy for frankly not much in return, because it isn't exactly fulfilling, because every member of staff is expected to do so many tasks simultaneaously that actually feeling like your meeting people is a thing of the past...enough, later people

Another template, well the last one that changes colour, very cool, but very mental after a while. Bed soon for me, didn't England do well, especially that Mickey Rooney, 17, makes me feel a bit inadequate at 28, knockin on 29.

Well here we are, Wednesday already, and after a few days of excruciating dental pain, i am now feeling better thanks. Whilst at work, I've just completed my webguide for april hope you have time to take a look, there's a few interesting titbits from around the web, and some comment and links on the war, from some different points of view.

Much looking forward (is that English?) to my girlfriend coming home from Uni on Friday, it gets a bit lonely in the flat (blub) but you got to appreciate time on your own, and make the most of things in life. As a couple of people I know from back home have died recently, frnkly before their time, but everyone's gotta go sometime, and you never know when, so everyday shoould be seen as an opportunity rather than a series of chores. I'll leave you with that. Anyway back to the Peterborian grindstone now...

A beautiful sunny sunday afternoon. Been to cricket training and didn't do too bad, gonna have a pizza, write my blog and then get outside and enjoy that sunshine, before my week of deskbound, indoor activity begins! I suppose I could always be a gardener, or a bin man, they get plenty of fresh air. My friend Tom's a postie, but it's the winters that can't be a lot of fun.

Watched Magnolia last night, fantastic but slightly mental film. 3 hours, but the acting and storyline was impressive. And at the end it makes you think a little, I also felt a wee bit confused, but in general a film that makes you think about life at the end is alright by me. And I don't mean thoughts like "Why have I just spent a couple of hours of my life watching this shite?" Shawshank Redemption, there's another one. You must all see it.

From what I see of the war, things are going to plan, but more like Saddam's than Crazy Cowboy George's. So it's going to be Vietnam II then, all this 24 hour news coverage shoould start to loosen its grip soon, especially as even the BBC are admitting mistakes. But their biggest, is the world service reading out all their info on this Salam Pax guy who has been writing this blog from Baghdad, and frankly he's not Saddam's biggest fan, so the blimming Beeb have done the guy no favours and put his life at risk, and for what end? They certainly aren't going to win any journalistic awards for it. As for less than serious coverage, The Onion have come up trumps again, cutting through the world of news like a hot knife through butter. Not for the faint-hearted.

Right, if btop will let me go online, I'll upload this, finish me spicy pizza, and sunshine here I come, later people

Martin Williamson, writing on wisden.com brings up the valid point about the world cup fixture set-up, it was all a bit of a nightmare in the end, but the political decisions went some way to causing that (no offence to Kenya, who did show enough class and ability to improve their chances of joining the ranks of the Test playing countries within three years.) It's a toss up between pleasing the tv companies who give them great wads of cash, and not turning the whole competition into a circus. Let's see how the ICC handle the next one..

JUNK MAIL: "Hi Baby, Please Don't Be Upset With Me Anymor... " so says 'Cindy hgtjxwfg jsoab' whoever she/it might be. What I don't understand about all this junk mail is, that more and more of it is just gobbledigook, random letters and numbers, with the odd word thrown in to tease the reader obviously. But who do these spammers really think is actually gonna click on something that makes no sense i any language. Maybe it's like and addiction, sending out spam, setting up databases of names, where do they make their money, they must get such a tiny percentage of replies to all this junk. But then it obviously doesn't cost them much. I guess it's just annoying having to empty the junk mail so often, becuase it fills up so quick. And as for all the "here is the password you ordered for your hardcore porn site, that you've actually never been to, but we're just gonna keep sending you this from different random email addresses in the forlorn hope you might one day click on it and actually go to the dubious site..." My favourite from today's junk mail is "I'm Super Tired" It's crazy and makes me laugh.

CRICKET WORLD CUP FINAL: A bit of a one sided final, well very obviously, India were no match whatsoever for the most resourceful, confident, ruthless and composed side to grace a cricket field in modern times. Australia are super-good (see above). Even without Warne and Gillespie, they have looked unbeatable, they even let a few teams have a head start, like England and New Zealand, just to give themselves a challenge. Now that's class. As for me, I had my first indoor net of the winter, with Peterborough Town CC, and it went alright, managed to bowl straight, and more surpirsingly, only got bowled once whilst batting, now that is something to be proud of.

PS: My connection, still woeful and frustrating, thanks btop...

Nearly home time at work, been a more eventful afternoon than I had envisaged, what with the boss being off galavanting and buying curtains (that's what she told me). But one last job, and I'm home free for 2 whole days, except I'm in tomorrow for an hour of war story updating, double-time though, so the carnage of Iraq will seem slightly more pallatable. How sad am I.

The weather is pretty marvelous outside my window, Peterborough Cathedral is bathed in late afternoon, early evening sunshine, and frankly, I reckon it's gonna be bastard hot and sticky in the office during high summer. Mustn't complain i suppose. Been so busy, I haven't even got around to eating my orange, and being left with pithy citrus smelling fingers for a couple of days. Nice.

You have to say, that the BBC are surely the finest broadcasting organisation in the world, more respected anywhere. I am so jealous of my fellow Warrington graduate Jon Kelly, who is lucky enough to be a tv researcher. But when you think all that they provide, digitally and terrestrially. Surely no other broadcaster creates as much origianl content, that is of a reasonable standard as them.

Yes, they are more concerned about the profit and popularity of the main channels, than they were or maybe they should be under their public service agreement, but in the current media environment, no one can survive without giving in a little to the narrow-minded lowest common-denominator product that saturates our lives.

Beeb, I think your alright. I also think my connection may have gone again, and that my RealOne player may have crashed, oh the joys of IT. At least I can't feel my sore throat, thankyou Tesco's own brand HOT salsa.

It's the most disturbing, yet engrossing live tv I've ever seen. You can hear the air-raid sirens in the background.

You can actually watch a webcam from the centre of Baghdad on bbc news site. This whole thing is mental. Look into George's eyes, like a big black void.

WAR: So it's 48 hours for maddas Hussein to get out of dodge, or Crazy Cowboy George is comin for ya, yee-ha! But 'don't burn the oil' asks George, otherwise, it's pretty much a waste of time, he'll just go back to playing with his rather non-responsive dogs on the White House lawn.

NET: On a lighter note, my BT Openworld connection is offically taking the mick out of me. I don't remember the last time I was on the internet for any length of time without losing my connection several times. It is a joke, I'm gonna phone BT and give it to em straight. It might not be their connection, it might be the local phone line, I would just like to get my moneys-worth out of my �16 a month 'anytime (well 150 hours tops)' deal.

PILFER: Walked home from the dentists yesterday, my first check-up for a while, and boy do I feel dumb for not going while still a fully fledged 'easy-life student'. Got some shopping from the Tesco's in the city centre, then passed through Virgin, actually the tractor beams sucked me in, you understand don't you?! Anyway, this shifty looking guy blatantly stole a dvd, I heard something snap, like, say the plastic case, and then he obviously had something under his arm as he swiftly made his way out the door. Constantly looking around. Now after 12 years in a supermarket, I've seen a few shop-lifters, and there is a stereotype, and boy did he fit the bill, but he obviously timed it well, as there were no burly security staff around. Anyway, brekkers for me, then shower and work...catch you later

Well, I really enjoyed the Red Hot Chili's gig in Manchester last night. Will write a proper review tomorrow. But have been reading about Zimbabwe's cricketing troubles on the BBC Cricket World Cup site.

Frankly it is disgusting the whole political set-up that that maniac Mugabe has control of, he is running that country into the ground, because he is to stubborn to admit he is wrong, and stand aside and let the the people of Zimbabwe have a chance of a fair economic and political system. Just a sad old dictator who is afraid to relinquish the stranglehold of power that he has built up with an iron fist, crushing any who doubt his word. It turn my stomach to think of the poepl suffering i that country.

To think Tony Blair has painted himself into a worrying corner over Iraq, yet in general the standard of life in Britain is far better than the life Zimbabweans must be living. Maybe the US and Crazy George W. aren't so bothered about Zimbabwe's plight because they aren't a possible terrorist threat, and they don't have any commodity of use to the Americans, but frankly the way the country is run seems quite similar. I truly hope both countries are set free in a way that costs the least human life.

On a happy note, I'm on holiday for few days, visitng my girlfriend at Uni in grey old Warrington.

MUSIC :: On a musical note (tee hee hee) Hot Hot Heat's 'Bandages' is currently playing in my head, very catchy. Although there does seem to be a lot of similar punky/indie/rock bands sprouting up, is this the beginning of overkill again by the record companies? Find a great new sound, well a variation on a couple of old ones, and then flog it to death? Well done, aren't you all the centre of the creative universe, and/or in it for the cash!

Hey readeres, today's interesting junkmail porn subject is..."Stay free at the sex hotel " How could I refuse? Quite easily, but some people must reply to this stuff to make it worthwhile sending out all this crap.

I must say I do enjoy having to constantly redial my internet connection after every couple of pages I visit, it really does enhance my use of the brilliant world wide web connection that BT Openworld have generously provided me with...

But on a brighter note, I'll be seeing the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Wednesday night at the MEN Arena in Manchester with my girl Becx. Really looking forward to seeing a truly cool rock and roll band. Am as we speak (ok I'm typing and your reading) I'm listening to 'Blood Sugar Sex Magik', on my way through all their last four albums. You got to get in the mood?

Weather wsa nice today, so I took advantage and took a leisurely afternoon stroll down by the river bank. Only thing missing was some company, but hey ho, make the most of what life gives you and all that. You can't get down just becuase everything isn't going your way, else, you'll never enjoy any little moments in your day that are worth smiling about. There's my two-penneth for the day. Gonna watch Gladiator now, and I'm talking Maximus and not testosterone fulled beefcakes playing chase the puny mortal up that climbing wall and throw him off.

Gord bless Peterborough Central library's reasonably priced dvd lending service, which is much closer than blockbusters, ha-ha (in a Nelson Muntz style).

Hello, sorry I've not been keeping up with Dan's blog. Today's spam email title I found most ridiculous is..."You'll Want To Parade It To Everyone " Wonder what that can mean?! Anyway, the weather is not very appealing outside, but I can't spend my whole Saturday indoors? Well I could, and after the postman decided to deliver a parcel at 7.05 this morning, I'm a little out of it still. Bless him for being so early, maybe he's just very, very keen.

WAR?: George Bush? He should start up the 'United Nation' just for America, as that's the only country who he's interested in. Fair enough you say, well, the 'United Nations' thinks of he world more as a community, and maybe this point is lost on George, international law doens't look kindly on nations starting wars with other nations unless its a) slef defense, or b) voted for by the UN('s) in order to prevent an attack. So Geoge and Colon Powell might just want to hold their horses a while.

MAD: Now don't get me wrong Saddam is also a mad, bad man who shouldn't be running a paper shop, let alone a country, but he's not going anywhere, and I can't see him getting away with much while there's 100's of 1,000's of troops baying at his borders. But let's see what the outcome is, and who its really for the benefit of? Millions of American car users, who need that oil so they can drive 5 minutes to the shop? Who can say...

Blogs are taking over the world, wish I had something to say? Never comes to me when I have the opportunity...what about you Dan the man?

This is cool, while I'm at work I can quickly post some thoughts. Well, lets hope the rain holds off, so that England have a chance in the cricket, that's my main hope for the day. And that the weather brightens up outside my window, dull grey is not a colour that makes me feel enthusiastic about work...

This thing really works, right, well then I will be speaking my tiny little mind a little more often now...goodnight folks, tomorrow is another day of opportunity

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