You are allowed to enjoy this…

Well I was pleasantly surprised by the new series of Doctor Who. It was rather good fun and made me laugh and smile on a couple of occasions. I am actually looking forward to the next episode. The Missus pointed out however that the new Doctor had nicked my sober look (battered leather jacket, dark T-Shirt and jeans). The bastard. It took me years to cultivate that “style”…the swine.

It’s springtime and spring has certain responsibilities…like spring cleaning. And so we ventured out into the garden to blow the cobwebs from the lawnmower and attack the vegetation in a series of stop-start, grassy pulp stuck in the blades, anthill slicing, huffing-puffing, dog-shit avoiding moves. And thus the grass was cut. I leave The Missus the tough jobs, like weeding because 1) it is boring 2) I am genuinely no good at it 3) I am a lazy sod. But I cleared the shed of boxes and arranged stuff to be taken to the dump, so I get bonus points for that, right?

Meanwhile, I got a copy of the first episode of “The Office – An American Workplace”. Man, the authorities are going to bust my ass when they find out…and when they break in they’ll find all the legitimate DVDs that I’ve bought. But anyway, back to the sitcom: I liked it. Despite being a direct lift from the UK version, I really liked what the Americans have done with it. Not bad considering some of their other efforts of converting UK comedy have tanked. I look forward to seeing more.

Meanwhile, less than 24 hours to the new series of Doctor Who. Don’t worry, I was one of the kids that DIDN’T hide behind the sofa. The only time when Dr Who unsettled me was during the series “The Deadly Assassin” and the Tom Baker-regeneration of the good Doctor gets his foot stuck in a railway points and a train is going to squish him like a bug. It was a standard Dr Who cliff-hanger, but it really got to me, probably because the danger seem real, rather than some rubbery man-in-an-alien-suit-lunging-towards-you kind of cliff-hanger. Oh well, I am sure it will all be a lot of fun tomorrow.

I was a fan of the BBC’s “The Office” and so I am quite looking forward to seeing the US interpretation of that sitcom. The premiere airs in America tomorrow and I am sure that I can download the episodes by various nefarious means.

In the meantime, pay a visit to “The Office” website and look at the many different video clips. I know it is too early to say, but I think they have nailed it with this guy. He is David Brent turned up to 11. 🙂

Finished another track for “Fragments” – it’s called “The Loud Track” and it sounds like this:

And here are some “before & after” pictures of Alex the Wonderdog.
Before

After

And the “Loaf of the Day” is a standard white loaf baked in the bread maker by yours truly:

It was another beautiful day yesterday and so we decided to spend the afternoon sitting outside our local pub. We were having something to eat with our pint, when a young fellow stood just a couple of feet away and began to have the loudest mobile phone conversation with his pal. This conversation lasted about half an hour and during it we found out that he’d taken the last week off ill from work, spent this time buying a new bike for £1000 to replace the last one that got stolen. He was surprised that his insurance paid out so handsomely and he was very proud of his £1000 bike, so much so that he kept staring at the bike and mentioning to his friend just how nice and expensive it was.

Now I find mobile phones an irritant at the best of times, but when you are trying to enjoy an afternoon in the sun, eating and drinking and generally chilling, you don’t seem some oik to come along and share his coversation with you. And this guy was REALLY loud. He just wanted to show off and inform everyone of his own self-importance.

Anyway, the Missus came back with the next round and then turn to the fellow and asked him if he could take his phone conversation elsewhere. He promptly told her to “fuck off!” (nice fellow) and a little spat insued. I intervened and told him that I had no interest in hearing about his life and that he should conduct his conversation a little quieter. Much eye contact happened and I stared the guy down. He continued his phone conversation but at a much more reasonable level and we moved tables to get away from him. He spent over an hour on his phone talking about nothing in particular. I guess this is symptomatic of our “always-available” culture.

Man, I hate mobile phones! 🙂

The weather was absolutely amazing today. Blue skies, sunshine and warmth. The plants are budding, the insects are buzzing and I had to shed my winter coat when I took Alex the Wonderdog for a walk. Luckily, he went to the dog groomers last Friday and now looks like a shawn sheep. 🙂

One of the treats I was allowed as a youngster was to stay up late and watch the comedian Dave Allen whenever I stayed with my grandparents. They didn’t mind his bad language and I love the way he pointed out life’s hypocrises and made fun of EVERYONE. I think some of that attitude must have rubbed off. So I was sad to hear that Mr Allen had passed away.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4340115.stm
I hope the BBC and ITV do him justice and put on a tribute show of some kind. Wherever you are Dave, may your god go with you. 😉