Do you have trouble parking? Do you wish someone or something else could do it for you? Well, look no further because I have the answer to your prayers.
Clear Blue Skies presents to you, the amazing Self-Parking Car.
Tuesday, September 02, 2003
Monday, September 01, 2003
Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon
Yesterday was a very poor TV day so, since L and I couldn't be bothered to go out anywhere, we decided to spend the day watching films. Though we started with the one of the best films ever made, things unfortunately went downhill from there.
First up was the Shawshank Redemption. I'd not seen it before and was quite literally blown away. A thoroughly excellent film from beginning to end and one I wish I'd made the effort to watch earlier. Excellent perfomances from all the cast and a storyline that keeps you interested until the end. It now rates as one of my favourites of all time.
Next came This Year's Love, another I hadn't seen before. A comedy of relationships going sour in Camden with a great cast. It has a few inspired moments and overall is a good, fun film with depressing undertones.
Lastly, and most definitely least, we stopped watching videos and turned onto Channel Five for The Avengers. I decided soon after the beginning to read my book while this was on and still saw enough to know that it has to be one of the worst films ever made. What made people like Sean Connery and Eddie Izzard even consider acting in it I'll never know. Poor even by Five's standards. :-)
Bonus viewing: Rosemary and Thyme, ITV's latest feel-good detective series. I feared this would be the usual sort of Sunday night fare from ITV, syrupy sweet and rose-tinted but I was pleasantly surprised. Pam Ferris and Felicity Kendal were both good and the show, though it could never be called gritty, did at least have some substance. Unless Channel Four decide to put the West Wing back on Sunday nights, I may well watch it again.
First up was the Shawshank Redemption. I'd not seen it before and was quite literally blown away. A thoroughly excellent film from beginning to end and one I wish I'd made the effort to watch earlier. Excellent perfomances from all the cast and a storyline that keeps you interested until the end. It now rates as one of my favourites of all time.
Next came This Year's Love, another I hadn't seen before. A comedy of relationships going sour in Camden with a great cast. It has a few inspired moments and overall is a good, fun film with depressing undertones.
Lastly, and most definitely least, we stopped watching videos and turned onto Channel Five for The Avengers. I decided soon after the beginning to read my book while this was on and still saw enough to know that it has to be one of the worst films ever made. What made people like Sean Connery and Eddie Izzard even consider acting in it I'll never know. Poor even by Five's standards. :-)
Bonus viewing: Rosemary and Thyme, ITV's latest feel-good detective series. I feared this would be the usual sort of Sunday night fare from ITV, syrupy sweet and rose-tinted but I was pleasantly surprised. Pam Ferris and Felicity Kendal were both good and the show, though it could never be called gritty, did at least have some substance. Unless Channel Four decide to put the West Wing back on Sunday nights, I may well watch it again.
Normal Service (2)
Announcement heard at Bank station on the way home this evening: (in posh, recorded message type voice)
"The Northern Line is running normally this evening."
What does it say about the state of the tube if they have to announce that there aren't any problems on it, hmm?
"The Northern Line is running normally this evening."
What does it say about the state of the tube if they have to announce that there aren't any problems on it, hmm?
Normal Service (1)
The bloody internet access at work was up the spout almost all day and was there any hint of an explanation? You've got to be joking. Don't they realise people have serious blogging to do? Oh, and work, of course.
On Optimism
I think the inspiration behind the name of this blog would be a good place to start this series of "On ..." articles. I went through many names in my head and, as I mentioned in a comment sometime last week, I almost settled on 'Obscured by Clouds'. However, I decided that wasn't really me because it has a slightly negative, pessimistic vibe to it and I'm a optimistic sort of guy. That lead, quite naturally, to Clear Blue Skies, which I knew immediately fitted perfectly and which grows on me more and more each day.
I haven't always been an optimist. When I was younger, and bullied at school (more on that another day), I had a fairly bleak outlook on life. I was unhappy, even on the edge of depression once or twice, and unable to see it getting any better. The very model of pessimism. That gradually changed as I grew up. Life had already started to go my way but I got a big boost when I went to University. There I was able to start all over, make new friends who accepted me for who I was rather than who I had been years before and I found out that I actually liked myself.
My outlook changed dramatically during the four years I was in Manchester and Mainz. First of all it was 'que sera sera', an acceptance of what was heading my way without any thought to whether it was good or bad. That slowly became the belief that whatever else happened, there would always be good times, a thought to keep my spirits up when times were bad. Falling in love twice while I was there, falling into job after job (each one better than the last) since I left, moving into London and getting engaged and married has since moulded me into the optimist I now am. Life is going to keep on getting better. I just know it.
I know all the reasons for having a pessimistic view of life, "I'll never be disappointed" etc., but I don't think much of them any more. How can you ever truly enjoy the happy moments if you believe worse is round the corner? How can you pick yourself up when you're low if you don't think sunny days are ahead? No, pessimism isn't for me any longer, it's optimism all the way, now.
I haven't always been an optimist. When I was younger, and bullied at school (more on that another day), I had a fairly bleak outlook on life. I was unhappy, even on the edge of depression once or twice, and unable to see it getting any better. The very model of pessimism. That gradually changed as I grew up. Life had already started to go my way but I got a big boost when I went to University. There I was able to start all over, make new friends who accepted me for who I was rather than who I had been years before and I found out that I actually liked myself.
My outlook changed dramatically during the four years I was in Manchester and Mainz. First of all it was 'que sera sera', an acceptance of what was heading my way without any thought to whether it was good or bad. That slowly became the belief that whatever else happened, there would always be good times, a thought to keep my spirits up when times were bad. Falling in love twice while I was there, falling into job after job (each one better than the last) since I left, moving into London and getting engaged and married has since moulded me into the optimist I now am. Life is going to keep on getting better. I just know it.
I know all the reasons for having a pessimistic view of life, "I'll never be disappointed" etc., but I don't think much of them any more. How can you ever truly enjoy the happy moments if you believe worse is round the corner? How can you pick yourself up when you're low if you don't think sunny days are ahead? No, pessimism isn't for me any longer, it's optimism all the way, now.
Saturday, August 30, 2003
On Writing
One of my reasons for creating this blog is to make me a better writer. There's a book inside of me wanting to get out but at the moment I don't feel I could do it justice. Numbers have always been my strength and words my major weakness, probably because my logical, mathematical mind has problems dealing with the imprecise nature of language. Very often I struggle to find the right words for what I want to say; even though it sounds perfect in my head, out loud or written down it just isn't right.
If I'm going to pen that book then it's clear to me that I need to improve my writing and the best way I know to do that is simply to write more. If I write regularly enough and at some length then I should find it becomes easier to transfer my thoughts from my head to the page (or screen).
With that in mind, over the next week or two I'm going to write a series of longer articles that try to set out my feelings on various subjects including religion and the supernatural. If you would like me to write about anything in particular then leave a comment. It can be serious or light-hearted, thought-provoking or trivial, I don't mind. The more challenging the better.
If I'm going to pen that book then it's clear to me that I need to improve my writing and the best way I know to do that is simply to write more. If I write regularly enough and at some length then I should find it becomes easier to transfer my thoughts from my head to the page (or screen).
With that in mind, over the next week or two I'm going to write a series of longer articles that try to set out my feelings on various subjects including religion and the supernatural. If you would like me to write about anything in particular then leave a comment. It can be serious or light-hearted, thought-provoking or trivial, I don't mind. The more challenging the better.
Lines
I must learn not to drink so much.
I must learn not to drink so much.
I must learn not to drink so much.
I must learn not to drink so much.
I must learn not to dri....
I must learn not to drink so much.
I must learn not to drink so much.
I must learn not to drink so much.
I must learn not to dri....
Friday, August 29, 2003
Spinning
I've always found it amusing that the phrase spin doctor comes from German, where the verb spinnen means 'to lie'...
:-)
:-)
King of Spin
I can't say I'm surprised that Campbell has resigned, there has been speculation of it for weeks now. Has he jumped ship before the Hutton inquiry could force him out or is it just what he says, that he's leaving to devote more time to his family? I don't know. I'm far from convinced that he had nothing to do with the dossier but I don't believe there will ever be anything incriminating against him. Not that it matters. The king of spin is gone. Will his successor be any better?
One quote that did tickle me was this:
"...He said there were "huge upsides" to his job, including "the knowledge that you are witnessing history in the making"..."
Some might say he was more a witness to the making up of history.
One quote that did tickle me was this:
"...He said there were "huge upsides" to his job, including "the knowledge that you are witnessing history in the making"..."
Some might say he was more a witness to the making up of history.
Beer
In a comment further down Dragon asked me which my favourite ale is. Now that's a tricky question. Favourites come and go, depending on factors like what time of year it is, where I'm buying them from and, bluntly, whether I decide to like a different ale or not.
Currently, I'm rather partial to Young's Double Chocloate Stout, a gorgeous dark beer with a strong dark chocolate taste, and T.E.A. from the Hog's Back brewery.
There are, of course, a few beers, like Theakston's Old Peculier, that remain among my favourites regardless of how my tastes change. The pub underneath my office is owned by Shepherd Neame and serves another of my all-time favourites, the wonderful Bishop's Finger, though sadly only from a bottle.
I must stress that I do not go in for any analysis of aroma, palate etc. I've always found that analysing something, be it a book, a film or a beer, detracts from the enjoyment of it. And I'm not a bald, bearded man with leather patches on the elbow, either. Well, I am bald but the other two definitely don't apply.
Before I started this site I thought of doing a regular feature on ales, what with them being one of my loves and all, so I'm going to do a Beer of the Month thing.
September's ale is one I tried recently for the first time and was pleasantly surprised by. I don't go out of my way to buy organic produce or anything and quite why I picked this up I don't know. But I did and I really liked it so I'm making Duchy Original's Organic Ale the first Clear Blue Sky Ale of the Month.
I've got a raging thirst now. :-)
Currently, I'm rather partial to Young's Double Chocloate Stout, a gorgeous dark beer with a strong dark chocolate taste, and T.E.A. from the Hog's Back brewery.
There are, of course, a few beers, like Theakston's Old Peculier, that remain among my favourites regardless of how my tastes change. The pub underneath my office is owned by Shepherd Neame and serves another of my all-time favourites, the wonderful Bishop's Finger, though sadly only from a bottle.
I must stress that I do not go in for any analysis of aroma, palate etc. I've always found that analysing something, be it a book, a film or a beer, detracts from the enjoyment of it. And I'm not a bald, bearded man with leather patches on the elbow, either. Well, I am bald but the other two definitely don't apply.
Before I started this site I thought of doing a regular feature on ales, what with them being one of my loves and all, so I'm going to do a Beer of the Month thing.
September's ale is one I tried recently for the first time and was pleasantly surprised by. I don't go out of my way to buy organic produce or anything and quite why I picked this up I don't know. But I did and I really liked it so I'm making Duchy Original's Organic Ale the first Clear Blue Sky Ale of the Month.
I've got a raging thirst now. :-)
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