You are allowed to enjoy this…

The Washington Post is reporting that Father Dougal Maguire of Craggy Island is the outside runner to be the next Pope:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26353-2005Apr4.html
It could be just what the Vatican needs! 😉

Yesterday, we travelled to see the new baby. I was a bit apprehensive, but my fears were for nothing. My new strategy is to actively seek out those events that I would naturally avoid. I am trying not to have fear. It’s a tough one.
But anyway, we saw the new baby and it was a big baby weighing in at 9lb. A big bonnie baby. 🙂 The Missus held her for a while and played the doting auntie. I declined. I am too macho and tough to be seen holding babies! (No – I was just scared – whoops, fell at the first hurdle there, Darren).
But the afternoon went very well and gifts were exchanged and stories were told of breaking waters, dilations and umbilical cords. It was good to commune with the family. Being someone from a very small family (and been denied contact with my errant father’s side of the family), I am always awkward in this situations. I never know what to do or say and I usually say something that comes out wrong. But luckily, I kept my cool and was cool and everything went well. It was a life-affirming experience.
Today, sunshine and work. In the interest in the new stategy, I am thinking of cutting the grass again. 🙂
With regards to the Grand National, my horse finished sixth. Nil Desperandum. Seemed apt and had the form. Luckily, I did a lucky 15 accumulator and two of my other horses romped in (one of them was 100-1 and came third, giving me a decent return) so I didn’t lose too much money. The horses backed by The Missus went out at 10-1 and came back at half-past six (old horse joke). She did badly this year, which is strange because normally her idiot savant gambling abilities enables her to pick the Grand National winner. Oh well, better luck next year, eh?
In the post: Sketches of Satie by John & Steve Hackett CD

Noticed that Tortoise were playing the RFH as part of an African music season (go figure) and nabbed some decent tickets last night.
Today, heading out with the Missus to go to Mothercare. Don’t fear, gentle reader, the Missus does not have a bun in the oven. We are going to buy a gift for her brother’s new baby daughter. That’s right, The Missus has become an auntie and I am an uncle. I don’t think this is going to have much impact on my life as we don’t get along with that side of the family (mainly because they don’t like me for being a poor freelance writer – not that I’m bad at my job, that I don’t earn enough moolah and do an “honest” days work for them). 🙁
This afternoon, gambling on the Grand National. The horses are ready, the potential winners have been picked and my virtual betting slip is filled. Me and The Missus will be hollering for our respective nags. She’s won it before, but I am feeling lucky today.

Brrr…it seems that the icy grip of Winter has returned. It’s cold and miserable, and so am I. 😀
Steve Hackett is playing down the road at the Broadway Theatre in Barking next Saturday so we both decided to see the concert again. It’s a night out and the tickets were a lot cheaper. I just hope it doesn’t get cancelled.
In the post today:
Anna Gabriel – Growing Up On Tour DVD

Got my polling cards yesterday. Oh yeah, I’m going to exercise my constitutional rights on 5 May. Who will I vote for? That’s between me and the ballot paper, I am afraid, but it is safe to say that I won’t be voting for my local BNP candidate.

Caught the third episode of “The Office – An American Workplace”. I am still enjoying it on the same level as the UK version. The characters are well realised and it was very similar to the UK episode where Gareth was put in charge of finding someone who made a pornographic image. In the US episode, the porn was replaced by a health plan.

As more TV shows swap across the pond, the UK is currently broadcasting its version of the successful US-show, “The Apprentice”. Gone is Donald Trump, replaced by Alan Sugar. I am enjoying this show too, but it lacks the scope and complete dumbassness (OK – that’s not a word) of its US counterpart. If you watched the US version of “The Apprentice” you would see how the US “Office” has got it right because they use the same kind of speak.

Anyway, “The Apprentice” UK is still good fun. But I have a problem…Alan Sugar looks too much like Nookie the Bear for me.

Nookie the Bear

Alan Sugar

It was one of those days yesterday. First off, the problem of the Missus’s PC not being able to connect to the wireless network reared its head again. Despite buying a load of new gear, I am beginning to think that this is an issue with Windows ME and that maybe I should upgrade her to XP.
Then some little herbert decided to hack one of my other websites. It wasn’t too serious but it meant that my evening was taken up with putting it all back together again.
Another problem I have been having is with my bank, Abbey (or Abbey National as my card and chequebook still calls them). I ran out of cheques and urgently need a new chequebook. I ordered a new chequebook from the ATM machine a fortnight ago but nothing has arrived, so I called their help line to find out what was going on. Unfortunately, Abbey has outsourced to an Indian call-centre and so this makes communication a little difficult. I am pretty good with accents, having been raised in the East End of London and going to school with children from many different ethnic groups, but the woman I was dealing with spoke so fast and had such a strong accent I had to ask her to repeat everything. Then she couldn’t understand what I was saying…
So it took me about 10 minutes to get through the security clearing, before she told me that there was a block on my account meaning that I can’t have another chequebook. This completely stuffs me and makes my bank account with the Abbey useless. So I ask why? She can’t tell me. She says I must go to my local bank to find out. I don’t want to do this, I just want a new cheque book and carry on with my business unaffected. I wouldn’t mind if the Abbey had sent me a letter or phoned to call about this block, but instead I have been left in the dark and to worry that my chequebook has been stolen in the post. So now I will be withdrawing my money and going elsewhere, partly because the Abbey never warned me about this, partly because of the Indian call centre. I am going to take my cash to the Nationwide Building Society, which has vowed never to outsource their telephone operations.
Then Alex the Wonderdog decided to throw up on the stairs at midnight and I did a bit of a Jack Douglas and spilt the bowl of disinfectant/puke water all over myself.
Moan, moan, moan…will this man ever stop? 🙂

Well I really enjoyed last night’s Doctor Who episodes. It was good escapist fun. My only issue is that this stuff moves a mile a minute and it could have easily had been a two-parter with a little more character development. But hey, that’s the nature of TV now. Over on BBC4, I watched some TV from the old school. They did a live performance of “The Quatermass Experiment”, an old sci-fi show from the 1950s. The whole thing was live and it was really good, but I noticed how plot development was a lot slower. It made me realise that the way we tell stories on TV is very different now. The slow-winding tension of Quatermass has been reduced to a white knuckle ride courtesy of Doctor Who. Shame that.
Meanwhile, I also saw the second episode of “The Office – An American Workplace”. The episode was called “Diversity Day” and you saw Michael Scott (the lead character) being rapped for performing an edgy Chris Rock sketch in the office. I liked it, but I doubt anyone else will. The Michael Scott character is a cross between David Brent, Basil Fawlty and Larry David from Curb Your Enthusiasm. It is delightfully un-PC, but I doubt it will keep the viewership. It’s only enjoyable to those of us who like edgy, “watch-through-your-fingers-with-embarrasment” kind of TV.
Anyway here’s a clip. This is Michael Scott being reprimanded for making racist comments in the office.

Meanwhile, the Pope is dead. Thinking of the Pope always reminds me of Newsround in 1978 when we got through three popes in one year. John Craven explained the significance of the different coloured smoke coming from the Vatican and I remember seeing a picture of the white smoke on the cover of the tabloid. Being only seven years old, I must have impressed my folk when I told them what it all meant. I hope the new Pope is more progressive. While the old Pope was a humanitarian, he didn’t quite graps the contraception issue, which is a shame when it comes to sexual diseases and stuff. He could have done more. Well, I expect Bono will be made the next Pope…well he should be just so he can’t make anymore terrible records. 🙂
The really good news is I am off to see Steve Hackett play in London tonight. It is an acoustic gig and while I am a big fan of Hackett, I am woefully ignorant of his acoustic work. Don’t get me wrong, I own all the albums and I play them, but I don’t study the songs. I know of them, but I don’t know their song titles because these are instrumental pieces. I have a mental block with instrumental songs and tend not to remember their titles. It’s the same with the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, I know their songs off by heart but would have real trouble naming them. Anyway, not knowing all the song titles for Hackett is going to give me trouble when it comes to writing a review. Maybe, I can wing it. Who knows? 🙂