Blindfold

The air was tense and mounting fears charged... they should have gone to Specsavers

Brown rubbed his hands with Glee as he plugged Milliband in...

Dubbya

George's headphones slip as he shows off his large medallion.

Experts find proof of Limbo dancing originating in Ancient Greece.

Great Costumes..

Two eager participants; Kevin & Roy were at the front of the queue for this year's Dungeons & Dragons Expo.

Colin from Sydney

Colin, one of my Aussie listeners sent me this cracking pic from Sydney. Cheers Col, there's a podcast in the mix shortly old mate.

I must get me one of these!

brilliant!

A day in London's financial sector

Just a couple of pictures from my Camera Phone. I was in the heart of the financial sector today.

Lloyds is such a monstrosity it's beautiful.

The Gherkin is just beautiful, an incredible piece of architecture (isn't it Jason?). I had a fabulous lunch at it's base today.

A day at the ludlow food festival in pictures.

I loved watching the traditionally made cider in the castle grounds.

In the background you can see the generator feeding the apple mulcher. The mulch is then placed on cheesecloth and drained. The juice is collected and left to ferment.


The mulch is put into cheese cloth bags and pressed by the hand wound press


The whole process is shown here, the loading, mulching and pressing.


Inside the castle grounds.


The entrance to Ludlow Castle for the food festival. The castle was built in the 11th century - amazing how it's still functional a thousand years later.

BBC following the contents of a cargo box

It sounds terribly dull doesn't it? I find it fascinating.

The BBC have bolted a GPS transmitter to a cargo box that they're tracking. You can see it at this link here

The container will be tracked and filmed over the course of the next year to look at globalization and international trade. I find it strangely compelling to look every day at what the container is holding and where it is.

At the time of this post I can see that the container is in Abbotsinch Retail Park off Renfrew Rd in Paisley, Scotland with a consignment of whisky, having started the journey from Southampton, Southern England a few days ago.

I've bookmarked the page and will be interested to see events unfold over the next year.

Paul.


update: this link here

Legends in their own lunchtimes.

I must be really odd. I think I can see through things and call out the Emperor wearing no clothes to the masses. Either that, or I'm just odd.

I like the internet, though the technology of it bores me. I cannot think of anything more boring than learning machine code, HTML, CSS or whatever it's called. I'm happy to drag and drop. It took me ages to work out how to do this, and even then I'm not that great at it.

So, operating systems - they operate, to me they're just functional. I don't think they're sexy and I don't really care how they work. I'm not interested in Leopard, Cheetah, Vista or whatever, I just want it to work sleekly.

I like the gadgets, not the guts. I can appreciate a very pretty girl, but I'm not terribly interested in looking at her kidneys, or wondering how good her spleen is. Get my drift?

Then there's the "I'm a geek" label. I'm not, and I don't get it. Why do you want to be the school swot in a pair of national health glasses?

I just like using the internet and the gadgets. I'm not bothered about the size, shape or workings of the processor. Quite honestly I couldn't give a monkey's.

But the thing that I really don't understand? Apart from the worship of Steve Jobs and everything Apple, which I liken to cultish, weird behaviour, I don't understand why there are 'names' on the internet and why people go gaga over them. The slavish following of people that occupy a miniscule sliver of interest on the net seem to have gained something of a pop status. Eh? Why?

I've never listened to 'TWIT', Leo Laporte, followed Richard or Robert Scoble or whatever his name is, I'm not interested in Dave Winer, 'The Gilmore Gang', John Dvorak or anyone who has fame attached to their name, in fact, I generally go out of my way not to listen to or indeed to read them. The stuff I have listened to or have read has been tripe mostly. I was quite interested in Adam Curry because of podcasting ..... but the fame thing irritates and befuddles me. I find that sycophantic following just makes my bum go funny and annoys me.

Legends in their own lunchtimes... just remember that a lunchtime is an hour long, if you're lucky. That should be the life span of the odd druid worship to them if you really must, and no more.

call for help please

Just a couple of quick calls for help please:

1. Could folks please send a quick mp3 - " hi this is ...... and you're listening to podcastpaul dot com"

2. Do people want me to turn off the auto playing mp3 player when they land on the site?

Ta!

Portly Princess of Pop Postulates - plonker.

English newspapers have always intrigued and really rather disappointed me. I can read a headline in the tabloids, shake my head and wonder if those reading it really are taken in by the print. The spreadsheets don't get off lightly either. Do people think that the people writing the columns are wise sagely beings who speak for the nation? Wake up and smell the tea bags people.

Today I took Harry to the cinema and stopped off at McDonalds for a quick breakfast. The Daily mail was around and a piece of 'commentary' caught my eye. The story was about Lily Allen, she had been co presenting an award with the loathsome Elton John. I felt bile rise in my stomach as I read on.

Allen had bitten back at the princess when he made a quip about her drinking. Allen angrily replied that she still had her life to live and had 40 years ahead of her. Good comment I thought.

The hissy fitting wig wearing knob end, real name Reginald Dwight then made a retort that was so very clever: " I could still snort you under the table"

Oh how I laughed, how I held my sides at the thought of fat Reg using cocaine. What a great advert for all and sundry. Never mind the massively spiralling drug driven crime on our streets, or the kids driven to the street by the vile grip of class A drugs - everyone stand up and salute the near pensionable age balding bloater - because he can snort Lily Allen under the table. Stop the press, ignore the plight of those in Haiti, because piggy Reg does drugs - hilarious. Or not. The man is a class A turd.

I find Reg Dwight's (I'm not using his silly stage name) attitude and lifestyle sickening to the pit of my stomach.

Sir Reginald Dwight - anagram 'danger whilst rigid' - is no doubt a musical genius, but he's also a detestable moron who is idiotic enough to make such a stupid quip. This from the 'man' who spends hundreds of thousands of pounds on flowers each year - the very thought of that waste of money sickens me. Don't misquote me or think I'm alluding to his homosexual lifestyle - I'm not, it's him, just him. I cannot abide him.

...and the commentary from the paper? They were having a go at Lily Allen for saying she felt depressed. Not a word about fat Reg. Incredible.

Whenever I heard Fat Reg's music before, I cringed. Now I'm going to make an effort to run and switch it off if I can.

I'd love to see Reg stripped of his knighthood. I'd like him to be Jade Goodied. Make him lose his money and while his life away in Tower Hamlets.

Candle in the wind? More like a fat princess covered in charlie... I cannot bear the man. I hope the nation follows suit.

Language plus two

I'm doing everything I can not to think about enrolling at Uni for yet another course.

I want to do a couple of things though; I want to play lead guitar and I want to speak Spanish. Ok, I want to do three things - I have a mad desire to sit the Radio Amateurs course and buy an HF radio so I can use morse and SSB to speak around the world.

I'm odd. I must be. I made a transmitter in a bean tin at the age of ten, and had a bedroom that resembled a mad professor's lab at the age of 12. I had a 60 lb, thirteen valve lancaster bomber WWII transceiver that didn't work. I took the thing apart, cleaned it up and made it work. I sat and worked out the theory of long wire radio antennas and mad the thing explode into life. I learnt morse at the age of 12 and can still belt the alphabet out in less than two minutes. Mental.

Guitar is something I muck around with. I envy lead guitarists who are good and I'd love to play, but I really do envy those with a second language.

I've no desire at all to learn French. I was taught by a bloke that smelt like the back of Victoria Wine (the shop, not a person) and constantly hung over. Apparently the teacher had learnt French while digging holes as a labourer there. I'm surprised I don't know how to ask for a shovel or to apologise for inadvertently showing my bum crack.

The only phrase that I learnt at school - and I'm not kidding here, is to ask for a large mint ice cream. Don't ask me to spell it, but I can, I'm sure, speak like a native Parisian if ever a grande glace a la menthe took your fancy. I studied the language for two years at school, and that's the only phrase I know. Pitiful.

I do think that we Brits are desperately lazy when coming to languages. My friend Juan, a Chilean, came over here fleeing from Pinochet in the 70's. Juan has four young kids 3- 9 and speaks to them only in Spanish. His wife; Simone is so Brummy, she makes me sound like Prince Charles.

The kids all speak Spanish, and Isabella is, I'm sure, fluent in Spanish. That's incredible to me. I need to learn. I would love to be able to converse in a different language. How incredible would that be?

So, maybe I should play Spanish guitar over the radio waves and kill three birds with one stone eh?

new iPod / iPhone application

I have come across a free new application for my iPod called '' 'shapes'. Essentially you have a soft keyboard on screen, but rather than tap the letters out one by one, you drag your finger across the keys and the programme predicts your word. It's very good but heavy on the US dictionary which is irritating if you're from the UK.

I am putting my money where my mouth is in writing the entire post by the programme, Ironically though the programme is free!

If you have the iPhone or iPod touch, try it, I think it is excellent.

Sarah Palin Comments

Here we go again, the next round of American politics. Stand by and wait for months and months of political analysis of why McCain has brought in Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Floating around the web I came across some sites and blogs including one that read "As A woman I'm offended". Perlease.

The site link is here

my comments on the site reads as follows:

I think it's great!

Here in Central England, we're bombarded with American politics on our news bulletins.

Quite frankly I'm sick to death of hearing about the American Primaries, so it's nice to see some eye candy, and she seems to be a nice ordinary mum to boot, about time someone ordinary got in rather than some wrinkled crone spouting platitudes and gathering stories for a multi-million pound autobiography after the next scandal.

We had Thatcher here, and we have the Queen, God bless her (stands to attention and sings the national anthem). I wouldn't get on the phone to Liz and tell her that we're patronising her, because of her gender.I'd be impaled by the steel implements of a dozen Beefeaters and have more than half of the population demanding to string me up.

I've licked the back of stamps for 40 years with the Queens head on, and it's not done me any bad at all. We're not afraid here of putting women in power, why are you?

I have to say that I do find your political system rather odd though. Here in the UK, we announce we're having an election, we put up with some dreary nonsense for around two to three weeks, we vote, and get it over and done with. There's little or no razmataz, we vote and move on. No kids tumbling, no brass bands. Politics here is a little like taking refuse to the council tip, though less enjoyable. If people whooped and hollered at a council by-election, they would be committed, or be clubbed to death, or, even worse, be stared at in a very menacing way and ignored by everyone at Asda.

We've had politics for a thousand years, it's become functional and a necessary evil - a little like using the loo.

England's voting system is very much like my buying a pair of shoes. I get the job done because I'm bored of shopping. I go to a shoe shop, ask for a pair of size 11 shoes, I try them on, buy them and go home. Job done. I've had to endure shopping for 9 minutes, nasty business that it is.

American politics reminds me a bit of my wife shopping for shoes. She goes to the shoe shop, picks up a pair of shoes, looks at baby clothes (my kids are teenagers), wanders over to look at Boots, wanders around a perfume shop, goes back to look at the first pair of shoes, tries to find them cheaper at 6 other shoe shops, wanders around a chemists, looks at wigs (honestly, I'm not kidding), goes to a toy store, back to the chemists, goes home, goes back to the shoe shop, comes home with the shoes, a dozen photo frames from Poundland, Christmas cards (in August) and dozens of other bags then takes them back the next week. Get my gist?

Wheel her on I say!

Credit crunches change for the better

It's very easy to feel down about the rising prices, lower net income, mounting petrol prices and goodness knows what else.

I noticed just a few days ago that most of the traffic on my morning commute stays in the slow lane at a steady 55mph, the boy racers seem less too.

As I sat in the left hand lane trying to get the best fuel economy I could along with most of Britain's other traffic, I realised that there was a noticeable decrease in the 4 x 4's and bigger cars. Most of the cars are suddenly smaller. Peugeot 206's, Fiats and Ka's were in abundance. People are starting to think smarter and adapt as money becomes ever tighter, and petrol / diesel prices even more insane. Not only are people now driving cars that have a better MPG, they're driving at the most fuel efficient too. Having a bigger / posher car just isn't an issue any more, it's about being as sensible as you can with the rocketing cost of motoring in Britain today.

I'm chopping my 1.8i MGF for a little Corsa sxi 1.3i Turbo diesel next week. It's mad not too. I couldn't give a monkey's anymore about looking cool - I want the 70mpg and save, I reckon £100 p/month on fuel, and, get this, pay £35 tax this year, and nothing next year! That's a bit different to the £180 p/a I'm paying now. The group insurance is 3, no doubt another big saving on the premium too. The Kia Sedona 2.9tdi I have will suffer the same fate when I can find a decent enough fuel efficient car to replace it - but it needs to pull a caravan. A Toyota Corolla / Mondeo? Any suggestions?

I'd love to think I could get so efficient I could get a turbine for the house and some solar panels. I'm not at all green, it really goes over my head, I just like the idea of gadgets and saving money. I can bet that others are thinking the same way too. In fact, I know that most of the circle of friends and acquaintances I have are thinking the same way.

Society had definitely taken luxuries for granted while the poorest have sadly become poorer. I actually like the thought of everyone having to be more careful as it seems to provoke a bit more thought. Stretching the thought a bit further, the most contented people I met were in Swaziland. Here we think that having only one TV or an outdated DVD player is something to moan about. In Swaziland, some of the kids don't own a pair of shoes. Lots of the mud houses don't have glass in the windows, yet the folks are the most warm, genuine people you could meet. Britain was a much happier society immediately post war with rationing and without too much of the trappings of today.

I'm ever the optimist and would love to think that we are perhaps a little less selfish and just a bit more thoughtful than the halcyon days of a few years back. Perhaps the credit crunch has some small positive side to it?

Back from holiday.

It's been a bizarre three weeks.

I was away in Spain for a week, back for three days, then a three day course, then a week here in the worst ever weather possible down in Somerset. It rained, rained, rained, shone sun for an hour and then rained torrentially again before thundering down in a cyclone and then more foul weather.

Is it any wonder why Brits go abroad?

podcastpaul - podcast177

Download MP3 direct from this link

Podcast No 177

Music from:

Dave Stewart - yes, that Dave Stewart!
The Cool Waters Band
- both courtesy of Podshow (www.music.podshow.com)

and...

The Orange Lights. The track courtesy from The Orange Lights / Blackbird.

I love indie music - and talk about the fact that I wish John Peel was still alive!

;-)

How to handle a nuisance caller.

Download the MP3 here

This is a special edition of the show. Please note that the language in this show is explicit. Not me - please read on.

As some of you will know, I was away on holiday last week. Sue and I had been receiving nuisance phone calls. Someone had called, it seems either indiscriminately, or alternatively a wrong number.

Anyway, when the caller was told, quite politely that he'd got the wrong number, he rang again and again and again. I spoke to him and told him in no uncertain terms that if he called again I would take some action.

While away, my lads; Mike 19 and Chris 16, stayed at home. Chris was here on his own or with his mates most of the time.... and this idiot phoned again, and again, and again. He phoned at all times of the day and night, calling at 3 in the morning, again and again,

The caller; Chris, from Plymouth (the idiot had forgotten on one occasion to hide his phone number) called Chris threatening him. His language is vile, and he gets very racial, so be warned. Nuisance callers are bullies, and like most bullies try to exert a fear over people. Take away the fear and you're left with a sad idiot.

You have to know Christian to appreciate the audio. Fair play to him. he turned the tables on the nuisance caller and phoned him back, again and again and again, and didn't stop until the nuisance caller relented and apologised. Christian didn't want the caller to think he was in any way intimidated, so spoke back to him, treating him like a total knob. Just listen... and you'll get the drift.

The police are involved, and it's highly likely that the caller will just get a smack across the knuckles... so the best way to deal with this is to show you how Christian handled him. Admirably.

Well done Christian.

..and if you're looking for a plasterer in Plymouth - make sure his name's not Chris and he sounds like this...

Podcastpaul clothing... blimey.

I've actually gone and set up a quick cafe press shop with the original podcastpaul design. I want a ringer / golf and tee short for myself, but if anyone else is interested, please check it out: http://www.cafepress.com/podcastpaul

I'll look around to see if theres anywhere offering better value / same / better quality.

I want to design a 'Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Wherever and Wherever You Are ' or even a 'Babylooooooooon' logo... I'll have to fit in some free time to do it...

podcast176 from Salou, North Spain.

Download the MP3 here

Yay! Back from Spain...

I recorded the show directly in Spain, some great music from Paul Rose, Black Lab and 3 blind mice.

I had a lovely holiday but I'm glad to be home!

Result!

I passed with a commendation in my post grad course!

Four years of horrendous night time study / university over and done with..... There is a God!

Vermin. Pure filth.

I hate the surrounding area where I live. In fact I'm beginning to hate Birmingham.

Tonight Jack (14) came home, scared witless. A group of a dozen thugs aged 16 - 18 told him and his 13 year old mates to get out of 'their' park or they'd be 'banged'. They then began throwing stones and bricks at Jack and his friends, young kids - including some girls. Jack was terrified.

Just a few months ago some other thugs had set about Jack - one had hit him around the head with a baseball bat after another had punched him in his head (from behind). Jack is a lovely quiet kid who wouldn't say boo to a goose. He's at that vtal stage where he's learning the lessons of life and making the transition from a boy to a man. He doesn't need this.

A year or so ago, Chris and his friends were set on by some druggy tossers in their 20's, punched to the floor and kicked. One of the lads, Jake; 15, a small thin lad was kicked unconscious, these 'men' continued kicking him in to his face and teeth then stealing the phone he had for his birthday.

On Jack's return, I just wasn't having it and decided to sort this out. I just saw red and knew instinctively that I had to do something. This is not the first time vile filth have bullied my son and I wasn't simply going to cower away while tossers like the one pictured above bully their way through life thinking they're untouchable.

Fortunately, on the way to the park I bumped into the copper in the picture - a former marine. He was on a bike. I told him I was going to sort the lads out and wisely he told me to cool off in case I clouted one of them. I'm glad he did to be honest because tempers flared and the crowd of lads turned really nasty.

After a few minutes I could see that there were around 10 lads crowding around the policeman. I went to his aid and I'm glad I did. The imbecile in the picture reeked of cannabis and a fight nearly broke out while the copper attempted to search him and the idiot refused to let him. If you're thinking at this stage why do I have a picture, it's because I took it on my phone, advising the thugs that I was keeping a record. It was a bizarre situation, and luckily on of the lads was trying to stop his mates kicking off while the thick idiot you see pictured turn really nasty. If you're liberally minded enough to think I might need this knob-ends permission for his picture on my blog - sue me. I want everyone to see him, and I would be delighted if you would link to this post, pass it on - email it or do whatever you would like with it. I'd love the picture to go viral so this idiot could be shunned. Sue me, I'll sue you back you bullying vile filth, and I'll act for the copper you assaulted if he would like me to, pro bono (that's free of charge in Latin in case the kid pictured can actually read).

As he began to resist arrest, assault the officer and commit public order offences, the attitude of this young lad staggered me. He was rude, insolent, violent, aggressive and had a foul mouth. Every trade mark of a bully. He was soon put down though and made himself look an absolute and utter knob.

His mates started to join in, until I gave them a running commentary about the offences they were committing while all the time thinking I was going to have to defend myself and this officer. Luckily they listened or things could have turned sour. I seriously thought I was going to have to physically defend this officer and in the process take a kicking, but in all honesty I didn't care. I'm sick of bullies and I will always take a stand against them. But honestly, what is the world coming to, the downright arrogance of these kids, particularly while under arrest was just breathtakingly arrogant.

Despite calling for back up, no one came. The worst thing? Grown men were standing 10 feet away with their kids pretending nothing was happening. They simply closed their eyes to the disgraceful violent thuggery that was being played out. I found that utterly depressing and when I asked them why they weren't helping, they simply turned their faces. Cowards. Society in general just seems to cower in the corner while thugs think they have carte blanche to do whatever they please.

I absolutely cannot stand by with bullying. I hate bullies - no I absolutely despise bullying from the pit of my soul. How anyone can adopt the attitude that you can't intervene because it's dangerous has to be the biggest cowardly cop out. To stand by and ignore what went on is slightly less shameful than an 18 year old and his mates threatening a 13 year old girl and her mates. These animals don't deserve anything less than chokey for an extended period without privileges.

You read stories of folks who've been injured or even killed when standing up to criminals. What should you do then? Crawl under a rock? I'd rather suffer injury than not stand up for my kids. As you read this, I seriously hope you would do the same. To think society in general might act like the cowardly dads at that park in pretending nothing was happening mortifies me.

What should I have done? Patted Jack on his head and told him to stay away? Of course I have told him to stay away, but I wanted him to know he has a dad who cares enough about him to stick up for him. I would do the same again, and again, and again.

The officer, who was a really decent bloke, and did everything in his power to diffuse the situation, receiving a barage of vile language and insults, told me after everything had died down that he was apparently emigrating to Oz in 6 weeks, and desperate to get away from here. Can you blame him?

podcast175

Download the show direct from this link

Another corking show ram-packed with ace music!

David Spak - Shotgun
The States - The Architect
Oka Onubale - Who are you
Marilyn Scott - Do you know the way to San Jose
Rebecca Haviland - I found you
Hollow Horse - I think I made you up inside my head

All music from PMN - the podsafe music network save Hollow Horse which was sourced direct from HH - cheers Ken. I still sing along!

feel free to drop me a mail podcastpaul@gmail.com

podcast no 174 The Orange Lights and Lighten Up

Get the Mp3 of the show direct from here

podcast no 174 - NOT 175 as I announce - idiot!

Another great show for you

Music from The Orange Lights - an awesome band - website here

and Lighten up, produced by Marcus Masih

I also talk about Phreadz and feature Kosso and Fiz

please feel free to mail me at paul@podcastpaul.com

This is excellent!

This is bril!


click this link

Happy fourth July to all my American mates

I have some exceptionally dear American mates, and today it's lovely to see a nation be proud of its heritage.

I wish I could see the same national pride in my fellow countrymen.

How can you not let 4th July pass by without listening to this exceptional version by one of my heroes:

RSS simplicity on the mac and gmail.

I'm a few months into using my macbook now and thought I'd pen a line as to how I was getting on with it.

It's not rocket science, and, as the strapline goes: 'it just works'.

It does work, and works really well. The email functionality is something I really like. I love the ability to keep your RSS feeds and mail in one place. I'm sure you can do the same on Windows, but this just seems perfect for me because it really is so simple.

When I see a site I like, I immediately subscribe to it by copying the RSS feed and pasting it into the 'file' 'add RSS feeds' tabs. It's dead easy and I love it.

The only bugbear for me is next having to sign into gmail and manually reading the 'unread' mail (currently around 160) over thelast few days / week. Does anyone know if there's a function on gmail to simply say that you can mark all mail as unread?

The mac is great but falls down for me on word procesing. The 'pages' tool is pretty thin and I find that the formatting goes to pot when you export to Word. I'm disappointed in that function.

The ability to manipulate film through imovie is exceptional and I love GarageBand too. Browsing is near identical as I use firefox - I've not made my mind up about Safari.

Apart from that - I've been neglecting the blog recently, which of course is unforgivable! I still use Twitter a lot and love updating that. If you don't use it, try it out. If you do use it, feel free to follow me at www.twitter.com/paulnicholls

I'm working from home today and have set myself a ridiculous mound of work to do. Thank goodness it's Friday. I'm so looking forward to the weekend - and to watching Dr Who with a very excited Harry on my lap!

Watch out for a podcast. I've some exceptional music to play.

YAY!

Sue is unbelievable. I have no idea how she gets the bargains she does.

She's just booked a full board holiday in Salou, Spain with a full spa for four of us for £1,500. Blimey.

I think Sue should open a company, she has a real nose for a bargain, she's precisely the same with online shopping, restaurants and loads of other stuff too.

I'll actually see some sun in three weeks?! How ace is that?!

The macbook is coming with me! Now, let's just hope they have wifi and we're sorted.

I'm so tired and desperate for a holiday...