Hello my friends, Recently, one of you asked me to ask my wife to write a blog about me so there would be some perspective. Not only did she do this and do it well, but she also bought tears to my eyes in doing so. Yes, I am a man who occasionally cries. I believe it is as good for you as laughing, though in much smaller doses. Anway, without further ado, I give you Toni... It's pretty interesting to be asked to "guest write" for my husband's blog. Apart from anything else, it'll f...

The new season of Big Brother has been going here now for a few weeks. In the past, my wife and I have taken some guilty pleasure in watching this show. For the most part, I understand that it is a complete farce and at best, road-crash television. But I won’t lie and say I don’t enjoy it either. There is something to be said about this sort of vicariousness and I think I’ve always been a bit of a voyeur, though not strictly in the sexual sense. Usually the first weeks of the show are ...

CATTLE & CANE I recall a schoolboy coming home through fields of cane to a house of tin and timber and in the sky a rain of falling cinders from time to time the waste memory-wastes I recall a boy in bigger pants like everyone just waiting for a chance his father's watch he left it in the showers from time to time the waste memory-wastes I recall a bigger brighter world a world of books and silent times in thought and then the railroad the railroad takes him home throu...

My wife is a hard woman to please. She is tough, smart as a whip, good looking and feisty. She is really aware of her own mind and because of this awareness, doesn’t really suffer fools. She will provide encouragement if she thinks it is deserved but will not hold back on calling anyone if deserved either. She is staggeringly adept at seeing and using a situation to get the best results for all. She quite literally is the most intelligent person I know. I pale compared to her. For ...

I was watching a great Japanese animated movie called Steamboy the other day and one of the main characters comes out with the following line, “Ignorance and self-interest breed enemies in our own minds.” I clapped and cheered this when I heard this. I think it sums up prettt much how a lot of people are thinking these days, unfortunately. Enemies, for the want of a better word, used to be invaders gathering at castle gates, Mongol hoards gathering on the southern border or those who s...

I was walking up the back stairs to my flat when I saw him. He walked over to the communal lines with a basket of wet clothing. I watched as he looked around the back yard then looked back at the clothes line. He bent down to his basket, picked up a piece of wet laundry and went about hanging it. But I could see his eyes. He was staring at my underwear. It was one of the problems sharing a communal clothes line; everything was on display for all to see. He bent down again to his basket...

This is has been somewhat inspired by Dr. Guy’s blog “Whatever Happened to Diagnostics”. In it, Doc writes about his dismay at the attitude his workplace has to fixing problems. They would rather wipe the slate clean and start again, which can take more time and cause further problems while not addressing the original problem to begin with. It sounds like a lazy, slip-shod way of operating, but it is happening everywhere. This got me thinking. Usually when this happens, I try to move...

Last Saturday evening, we played our third gig, again at the Cat & Fiddle. This time round we were second band on for the night but we still had a good crowd to watch us. Although we had a few 'technical glitches', I thought we actually put on a better show all round. Rehearsing is obviously paying off but I also think we're getting comfortable with working the stage together. All in all, this was was a very enjoyable gig. The big news is that we've decided to add a live bass player an...

“Hi hon, what are you watching?” “Nothing…” “But you are watching something. What is it?” “I don’t know. Nothing…” “Okay, then what are you not watching?” “What. How can I be not watching something?” “I walk into the room, the television is on and you are sitting on the lounge opposite the television, looking across at it so naturally I assume you are watching something. When I ask, you say you’re not watching anything. So if the television is on and you’re looking at...

In the past, I’ve been accused of being over-enthusiastic, hyperactive and various other things that indicate to me that those people don’t understand my energy and passion. Recently a close friend also said something similar. Instead of ignoring the comment, as I have done, I asked him why he thought it was a problem. He couldn’t really give me an answer other than to say he thought I could ‘pull my head in a bit’ about some of my passions. At first I was a little bit disappointed and an...

On Sunday the 19th of February, we played our first proper gig at a venue called the Cat & Fiddle. It was an afternoon gig and we were the headlining act. I was a bit concerned we wouldn’t have an audience but as it transpired, my concerns were for nothing. About 60 to 80 people gathered in the small bar to watch us perform. We played a really energetic show and the audience loved it. But the biggest bonus came after we finished the set, when the bar staff congratulated us over and o...

I’m back… Well, I’m back at work now. I’ve spent the last couple of days catching up on all the jobs that had accumulated while I was going and ploughing through the massive amount of emails in my Inbox. The major percentage of these were spam. I am amazed at the amount of impotent men there must be out there because it seemed like every second ad was for ‘power erection’ pills. And the names of some of these people think are legitimate. My personal favourites were ‘Amore C. Furrow’ a...

It is my time now. I’m prepping all the little jobs at work. I’m talking to my boss about finishing things off and tidying up. I’m filing and dusting and clearing away paperwork that has long been abandoned while I wait for more information. And the reason for all this activity: 3 weeks holiday. You read it right the first time. 3 whole weeks of nothing to do but… I wish I could I had nothing to do but sit around and be contemplative. But the truth is we’ll be hitting the...

The list of the top 100 films published in Empire's 201st issue. I'm probably the last person to take any notice of these sorts of lists, but I was surprised and amused to see that my wife and I own 33 of these movies and our wish list includes another 34 of them. The asterisked movies are the ones we own. I won't bother you with our wish list movies because by the time we get around to getting them, the list will probably have changed anyway. Some of the surprises for me were to see so...