Month: February 2004

Running dual monitor from my shiny new laptop. The screen behind the laptop is a 20″ CRT.

Ain’t she purrty….

I’m in a very good mood today. Woke up, opened the curtains, and quickly shut them again at the subtle request of my darling wife (AARRGHHH SHUT THE FUCKING CURTAINS!!). Once she got up I opened them again and marveled at the morning sky. Not a cloud in sight, a brushing of frost across every surface, and the sun creeping up over the horizon, fiery orange blending to pale blue. Gorgeous.

I love mornings like these. Crisp and cold, fresh and dry. Lovely. My wife likes them too, once she gets rid of the babbling idiot who, in the short journey to the station, points out every little joy of a crisp winter’s morning.

My mood was further enhanced by the acquisition of my new laptop at work. Sitting on my desk waiting for me, all shiny and widescreen-y.

Which is just as well as I’d had to endure the fawning, pawing couple opposite me on the train who seemed oblivious to the fact that they were on a train full of hacked-off thirty somethings on their way to another day at the grindstone. Nauseous is not even close when it comes to describing them. Well him more than her to be fair. She seemed at least aware that the three people sitting opposite were all holding their papers a little higher than is normal. HE was a sap. Fawning over her, kissing her neck, cuddling into her, talking in a silly voice, the whole shebang.

Now I’ve done that, I still do that but in the privacy of my own home (and with the understanding that ‘experience’ brings, namely that it is leading somewhere, or at least I hope it does.. and I’m not undervaluing snuggling, I realise full well the bonus points you can score with a little ‘no pressure for sex’ snuggling. See us men aren’t ALL daft… where was I?).

Oh yes. When did I get old? I’m 30. I’ve know Louise for half my life, so I guess that’s part of it. We’ve done the whole ‘holding hands, snogging at every opportunity’ bit. We got over it when we were 17 (not the greatest way to impress when you are sitting in the pub with your mates….). We both enjoy sitting in, watching a movie, a bottle of wine, or visiting friends, sitting in, chatting. Or dinner, wine, chatting.

When did I turn into my Dad? Just curious really as I can’t pinpoint it, it’s such a creeping process, slowly your mannerisms alter, your opinions are moulded and you realise that you clear your throat the same way he does, have the same tastes, and generally realise that a lot of the things he does, you have inherited.

I could do a lot worse (although I could do without the waking at 4 am every morning, something where I’m hoping inheriting my Mum’s sleeping habits will come in to play).

My name is Gordon, and I’m a 40-something, 30-something. I quite like that.

HaloScan reaches 100,000 registered members and now offers trackbacks!

I’d been beta-testing it this week and whilst I don’t expect it to be used as readily as the comments feature I’ll leave it on for the meantime.

Congrats to Jeevan at Haloscan. What started as a hobby, and is still maintained while he attends classes, is fast becoming the essential Blogger add-on. Wonder if Google will give him a job?

Did The Darkness deserve their awards? When will we hear the promised collaboration between Jamie Cullum and The Neptunes? Are Dido, Daniel BeDING!field and Busted the best we can offer… really??

And, more to the point, how hot was Scarlett Johansson. I’m developing a serious crush, and she could soon join Lisa Snowdon, Helena Christensen, Angelina Jolie, and Beyonce in my all time top 5, Kylie had better watch out.

In saying that, Ms.Johansson didn’t come across too well in the little ‘after-show’ bit with the ubiquitous Kate Thornton (currently languishing in 7th spot) but Jamie Cullum did:
“Are you drunk?”
“err.. yeah.. are we live? Ohh Jesus Christ….”

I especially liked the way he re-appeared with a bottle of champagne and glasses for everyone. That boy will go far.

This post was brought to you by the noise PHWOAARRR and Google.

Hundreds queue for NHS dentists.

Visited the dental hygientist this morning. We ‘went private’ a couple of years ago, mainly because I’d rather pay £15 a month and receive the excellent service we were used to than switch to another NHS dentist and have my teeth hacked to bits by a moron (not that I’m speaking from experience, well OK, I am…).

I have to say that my dentist and her staff are excellent. Lesley (my dentist) is very astute and recognised immediately that sitting in a dentist’s chair wasn’t my favourite place in the world, although I think the fact that I was whiter than white, shaking slightly and talking to myself (“she’s not a bad lady, she’s not a bad lady…”) may have helped. That and the fact that I have a tendency to want to ask a million questions about what she’s is doing, in a somewhat childlike manner it has to be said:

Lesley, the lovely dentist: “OK, open wide”
Me: “Why?”
Lesley, the lovely dentist: “So I can look into your mouth”
Me: “Why?”
Lesley, the lovely dentist: “Because I need to see if you have any holes in your teeth, or any decay or gum disease”
Me: “Why?”
Lesley, the lovely dentist: “Because that’s what you are paying me to do”
Me: “Oh.”

You can always use money to reason with a child me, and you should hear the conversations we have when she gets that pointy little metal stick and starts jabbing at my gums.

Anyway, I didn’t have the dentist this morning. I had my bi-monthly “one every two months” visit to the hygienist. Now there are two hygienists, both are very good at their job, but both have a very different manner. One is ‘matronly’. You walk in, and from there forth you are under her control and you’d better damn well do what she says. Considering she is wielding a lot of equipment and devices that could cause a lot of pain, I have a tendency to mutter “Yes Ma’am”, lie back and think of Scotland.

The other hygienist is much more relaxed. She’s a bouncy blonde (no doubt she owns, or is possibly nicknamed, Tigger). She’s fun, and loves to chat. Constantly. Whilst she’s prodding and hacking at tartar, examining my gum line, flossing my teeth into submissions, all the time she’s talking.

Now I had a dentist that did this, he would yak away about golf, football, politics or the state of the pop music industry in Malaysia (he had me there, didn’t know there was such a thing) but he never expected more than the odd grunt of recognition if anything at all. Unlike Tigger the hygienist.

This morning, as a perfect example of her ‘art’, Tigger the hygienist started to talk about the “queues of people in Scarborough, isn’t that awful”. Whilst talking she had the little mirror in my mouth, and the pointy metal thing with which was gouging at my back teeth. She paused at the end of the sentence. I made a noise that I thought sounded like an affirmative one and, seeing as it was all I could do not to gag, I thought it was pretty good.

She obviously didn’t: “Sorry?”

Eh? Was she seriously asking me to reply? She had two metal implements near the back of my throat, with her hand jacking my mouth open further than I thought possible, what was she expecting?

“Uhhh huuhhh I ink ho oo.” I blurbed.

“Yes, I know, but I wouldn’t have either but I guess it depends who you know.”

WTF?

Seemingly satisified by my response, she continued with her work. I decided not to press the matter further.

I’m not a big watcher of TV, the usual stuff leaves me cold, hence my request last week for some suggested watching. Needless to say that I only tried one new show last week (Jake 2.0 which was.. well not very stimulating). Being off work and having the TV completely to myself has it’s bonuses though, the documentary channels get hit quite hard, and I’ve been catching up on 24, and kicked off a few downloads of Angels in America (something I’d meant to watch but, once again, didn’t).

However tonight, on BBC at 7.30pm, I’ll try and remember to watch “Bee in your Bonnet”. Maybe. I dunno, the ideal behind it is good, but I get the feeling this will become yet another ‘reality-ish’ show, where ‘real’ people get a helping hand from an ‘expert and we see the before and after shot before heading down to B&Q to buy the paint and … crap, see what I mean, I’m confused already.

From the write up on the BBC News Magazine site, it starts off in a territory I’m familiar with (and one I’ll discuss here) before heading off into “Changing in the Jungle with a Celebrity” hell.

The interesting bit, for me, would be an exploration of the DKDC Party (Don’t Know, Don’t Care) which I have one foot in, and if I’m honest I’m completely part of. I just happen to be staring out the window to see what’s going on..

The political climate in the UK is full of apathy, and I doubt many people would be able to defend the view that a lot of politicians have no earthly idea what ‘everyday’ life is… although I’m sure some Scottish MPs would claim that they do (Rosie Kane is living proof that Scots will vote for ‘the wee lassie ta gie her a shot’). I could give you a first hand example of an incredibly smart guy I went to school with, was fairly friendly with and has recently become a Scottish MP or the Green party but I don’t want to name drop. I digress.

I vote. I’ve spoiled more papers than I care to remember, and have actually voted only a handful of times. Like most people around the country, I am only really concerned with the issues that concern me, that affect my neighbourhood, my commute to work, my bank balance. We are a very selfish society on the whole, and I see no signs of that changing any time soon, surely that should be a key issue for the politicians? Build a country again, not just a place that people inhabit. Some civic pride would help on so many fronts, but I guess that’s too hard, so lets just up the car tax, penalise those law abiding citizens who pay their bills and contribute to society…. aahhh spot the flaw in the argument.

Maybe WE need to build the society WE want.

Sheesh, it’s no wonder social networking is so popular. Utopia anyone?

(This post was brought to you by Douwe Egberts, and the letters C, A, F, E, I, and N)