Bollocks.

Cheese and Jam sandwiches are very nice!

Is it just me, or is the Open University going down in the world? Back in the 70s when my Dad was doing his course, the programmes were famous for the lecturers wearing inadvisable ties and having scare cut hair cuts, horrific glasses and beards. But the subject matter was pretty damned chewy. I recall trying to figure out the one about topography, but then maths was never my strong suit. All I remember is the deal about adding a handle to a teapot making it topologically distinct from a torus, or something. I forget.

But anyway, from the sublime to the ridiculous: where it used to be “Foundation Stage Relativistic Doppler Effect Calculations” or whatever, today I found myself catching the end of the splendiforous “Ever Wondererd About Cheese?”…

Forest must win at QPR tomorrow. Even then they could still go down. What would Old Big ‘Ead think?

My phone still has the Brian Clough Memorial Ringtone…

Along with so many celeb kid STUPID names, is James Allen’s little boy really called Enzo?

Looking at where we might go next year, and just for the sake of a starting point, I found myself looking at this place in St. Anton. WTF is an Austrian twin bed? Are Austrians all 3 feet tall? Do they sleep on spikes? Do they suddenly hinge the two unsuspecting foreigners together in the middle of the night?

Well, you learn something new every day. They’re two mattresses on one bed-frame.

I really must get to listing the myriad things I’ve photographed and boxed up on eBay. Part of the justification for buying the ol’ D70 was that I’d sell the film body etc. to part finance it. Have I done that yet? Have I knackers.

Once I’ve done that, I need to get my arse in gear actually taking photos, particularly things like participating in PhotoFriday again. Good fun, and it gets you thinking. Or it should: some people seem to think it’s OK to slap pictures of their kids/cats up there no matter what the challenge is.

By the way, am I peeved that the D70s has been announced? Not really. The improvements like the larger monitor LCD, electrical remote release terminal etc. all make sense, but it’s basically the same (great!) camera. Another thing on the list of things-I-really-ought-to-do is to learn colour management - both for work and the photography, actually.

Who should I vote for?

Your expected outcome:

Liberal Democrat

Your actual outcome:

Labour -1
Conservative -44
	Liberal Democrat 66
UK Independence Party -3
	Green 40

You should vote: Liberal Democrat

The LibDems take a strong stand against tax cuts and a strong one in favour of public services: they would make long-term residential care for the elderly free across the UK, and scrap university tuition fees. They are in favour of a ban on smoking in public places, but would relax laws on cannabis. They propose to change vehicle taxation to be based on usage rather than ownership.

Take the test at Who Should You Vote For

So what’s a Matalanifesto, then, is that like a catalogue or what? :->

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

A few pints after footy and a Tandoori Mixed Grill to the good, some fine company and all is peachy. Shame my team lost. Knackers.

Eh? Surely not. A computer technology company with excellent tech support? That would be Linksys. I managed to bugger up my WRT54G router by a failed firmware upgrade and they couldn’t have been more helpful. Two calls walking me through the first and second Vulcan nerve-pinch resets and I was back on my merry way. The phones were answered instantly, and both operators knew what they were talking about and pitched their advice at exactly the right level: they could tell this wasn’t just an “is it plugged in” kind of support call. Having been on hold with other companies before this really was a refreshing change. I don’t even know what their hold music is - I never heard it. Your mileage may vary, of course; maybe I called at their slackest time. Whatever. I’m happy. I’m happy. And I’ll punch the man that says I’m not.