Shorter posts, links, or thoughts. No schedule, not heavily considered.
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My Ever Shrinking World
Say yes more than no (it can lead to amazing things). Whilst not quite a mantra, this is definitely something I’ve been trying to be better at in an effort to be more spontaneous and social. Sometimes it can be a battle to get out of the door at all, but I find if I…
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Fire walk with me
“Say yes more often than no” Life is short, far far too short for some and so when something pops up and you have the chance to do something you’ve never done before, AND it’s for a good cause, well, it’s even harder to say no. And so I find myself signed up to become…
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Six by Nico: Wonka
This past Easter found me watching a movie I’ve loved since I was a child. It is a strange story of a strange man by the name of Willy Wonka. I have to wonder if Nico was watching too… As ever I’d been perusing the menu ahead of our visit and wondered how some of…
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G to the D for the PR
Do I really have to? I mean what’s the worst that could happen to a little ole blogger… what? a fine? HOW MUCH!!? Well, shit. ok. So what do I store. Well, in the database that holds all the comments ever left here (and there have been at least a few) will have your name…
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Master of Suspense
Vertigo is acknowledged by many to be not only Alfred Hitchcock’s best work but one of the greatest movies of all time. It is, and has been since I first viewed it, in my top 5 (usually in first or second place). The sense of creepy weirdness, the growing tension as Scotty pursues a vision…
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Vinyl is dead, long live vinyl
How do you pronounce it? Vahyn-l? Vīnĭl? The living room in my childhood home had a big wide bay window. Standing on either side of the windows were two tall white bookcases my Dad built. They had a deeper base section to house the record player and my parents combined record collection; my Mum was…
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Time for me
The house I grew up wasn’t far from a large roundabout, you could see it from where I sat at my desk in front of the bedroom window. I used to sit there in the evenings and watch the cars driving up and down the hill, round and round that roundabout. Of course I wasn’t…
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Finding the glimmers
As a child of the 70s our future was bright, so bright we had to wear shades. It was full of rockets and space exploration as the buzz of the moon landing continued to pervade my childhood years, spurned on by Star Wars and the promise of galaxies far far away… It’s easy to question…
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No such thing as over sharing
I’ve only ever taken one shower with my clothes on. I was alone at the time and can still remember the sensations as my t-shirt started clinging to me, my jeans growing heavy and cold on my legs. I was drunk, had just thrown up then crawled into the bath and turned the shower tap…
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Podcast: Distraction Pieces
Hosted by Scroobius Pip, this weekly podcast is always, ALWAYS, interesting. Not only because the host is a smart guy but because he manages to put his guests at ease no matter how dark or deep the topic. He’s as adept at bringing out moments of humour and humanity as he is treading the fine…
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Six by Nico: Vietnamese Street Food
It doesn’t seem that long since we last ventured to Six by Nico, largely because it isn’t. Due to the vagaries of multiple calendars, we ended up booking to go on day 2 of the newest menu which was taking us to Vietnam. I’m a huge fan of eastern flavours, and have to admit I…
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Barcelona
No, not the Ed Sheeran song, if anything my recent trip to this wonderful city evoked the original (and best, and I’ll fight anyone that says different) song performed by two soaring talents… Barcelona It was the first time that we met Barcelona How can I forget The moment that you stepped into the room…
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Pianoforte
I’m sure I had full length trousers I could’ve worn – I know for certain I had a pair of dungarees at some point during the height of my Oor Wullie phase – but for some reason in my memories of cycling to my childhood piano lessons I’m always wearing shorts. Wheeling my big black…
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Six by Nico: New York, New York
It’s been far too long since my last visit to Six by Nico but – boy oh boy Riff – it’s sure been worth the wait! The last menu – a best of complilation – was a nice way to kick start 2018 but as soon as I saw the first listing for the new…
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Stop blaming Facebook
“The next two decades it’s gonna be privacy. I’m talking about the Internet. I’m talking about cell phones. I’m talking about health records and who’s gay and who’s not. And moreover, in a country born on the will to be free, what could be more fundamental than this?” ~ Sam Seaborn, The West Wing. In…
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Switching Off
My bedroom is never completely dark. Sure, the black out curtains help, but the gentle glow of street lights still sneaks into the room, the orange glow casting gentle shadows. Once my eyes adjust I can make out the detail of the print hanging opposite my bed, the sleeve of a shirt hanging off the…
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Glitter mops and fashion
This is largely the tale of how a love of Korean sauces helped me realise that it’s ok not to conform to fashion. I was looking through some slow cooker recipes the other day trying to decide what to make for dinner. I ended up picking a recipe for Balsamic Chicken and added the ingredients…
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Sunday Mornings
Late last year I met a friend in the pub for a celebratory ‘end of week’ catchup. We got our bitching about colleagues and various crappy work issues dealt with whilst the post work crowds rolled in, but as they started to head home to loved ones, or headed off for a night out on…
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Gig: Elbow and John Grant
We got the train to Manchester in the morning. It rained the entire time we were there, soaking us to the bone as we explored the city centre. We ate in a chain restaurant, Italian I think, before heading to the gig. That was a few years ago and though it wasn’t the first time…
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Lighting in the dark
“It’s 106 miles to Chicago, we have a full tank of gas, half a packet of cigarettes, it’s dark and we’re wearing sunglasses… HIT IT!” Last weekend saw me driving through to Edinburgh as the last remnants of daylight faded to black, I had already taken my sunglasses off, and I don’t smoke, but the…