Facebook is good for something ...

The picture above depresses me for two reasons ...

1. 1: I am thin and toned (If you look closely you can even see muscle definition on my oh-so-flat stomach ...)
2. 2: I miss Lorrie and Donald, the people I'm with in the photo.

(I also miss my 'Grumpy' baseball cap that I'm wearing, but that's not really important in the grand scheme of things).

So ... Lorrie and Donald. I first met them at the end of Summer 1994, when they arrived at Camp Kuratli to take positions on the winter staff, we hit it off straight away and became good friends. The following Summer Donald was the program director of the Summer program and was instrumental in getting me my 'Special Ed' position at camp - and when he got sick Lorrie and I split his job down the middle - Lorrie handling the religious and staff aspect, whilst I did the general running around and trying to take the pressure of Lorrie (I also planned the campfire program, which meant LOTS of guitarand the chances for me to live my rock star dreams ...).

Anyway, we used to all hang out and at the end of the Summer made two road trips to Lorrie's home town of Coos Bay. Donald kindly drove me over the border to California just so I could say I'd been there (We got funny looks from the border guards, but they were happy with the 'we're just humouring the English guy' explanation), and also did a detour to the one place in Oregon that I REALLY wanted to visit - I passed up the chance of visiting the museum at Wanker's Corner ...

The road trips took in some amazing scenery, plus a visit to the beach and a walk in the woods. We also hit a casino where Lorrie and I sat in the restaurant as I didn't have any ID on me to prove I was over 21!

Don was in the running to be my best man when Mia and I were married, but the logistics of getting them to the UK proved too much, but they did make it over to stay with Mia and I around 1999/2000 ... (Lorrie and I are still arguing over when it was) which meant I got to to do the whole London tourist thing over the Christmas period, including freezing on the top deck of a open-topped London tour bus. Charlotte was around 2, took to Tabitha straight away and wouldn't leave her alone the entire time they were all with us.

Lorrie has started blogging, and has proven to be a regular blogger, which means I have something to read on the train to work ... I 'talk' to her quite a bit on Facebook, and one day she'll scan the photos of the London trip ...

A walk in the woods ...

After a morning traipsing round Ipswich looking at bridesmaids dresses, I decided that the girls and I needed to take Jackson the dog for a run over the fields. Our original plan to let Jack have a run in the fields by the church was scuppered by the farmer grazing his sheep there, so we decided that we'd go for a walk in the woods instead.

Charlotte and Bethany went running off through the trees in search of what Bethany called 'The fairy house', that we discovered when walking in the woods a few months back with my Dad, however we did get distracted when we spotted horses in the distance so obviously had to go and look at them .


We eventually came to the fairy house, which to you and I would be a run-down shack in the woods, but to a 5 year old and her willing to suspend belief for the time being 10 year old sister, is certainly a house where a fairy King and Queen lived. The girls kicked leaves, and pushed things aside in search of the throne room (I did notice a broken toilet over to one side, but kept quiet ...) whilst Jackson did his best to avoid the leaves I was kicking in his direction.

We did come across a patch of bamboo that was for some reason growing in the middle of the woods - couldn't see any pandas, neither could I think why there was a patch of bamboo growing there. Perhaps there's a trade in illegal bamboo?

Something I nicked from Christi ...

Friday, January 2nd is a somewhat wasted day in the office ... Japan has a public holiday for New Year (I work for a Japanese company) so there's not a lot coming from there, and people are still on the 'finding it really hard to get motivated' effect from the Christmas/New Year break. Me, I firmly fall into the 'firhtgm' camp, so have spent the morning reading old blogs from those in my 'Buddies Who Blog' list ... And in Christi's blog I found one which I plan on ripping off ... So :

What were you doing 10 years ago?

January 1999, I was a married man of 20 months and a father of 8 months ... Mia, Charlotte, George the retreiver and I were living in our 2nd house in Tilbury, Essex - a 3 bed end of terrace house. Tilbury was (And I'm guessing still is ..) a bit of a dive, but we bought the house there because it was cheap! £46,500! Our plan was to live there for 4 years maxium and then go somewhere a bit more upmarket, and the plan worked!

The picture is a bit of a cheat, as it was taken on April 4th, 1998, the day after Charlotte was born so slightly over 10 years ago. Charlotte looks like she's down 15 rounds in the boxing ring, a traumatic birth and caesarian giving her that look. My long hair and the not-visible-in-photo ear-rings soon went as little baby hands would grab them.

The yellow polo shirt (Fila if I remember correctly!) came from Costco if anyone cares ...


5 snacks I enjoy:

1. Dark chocolate, but I try and steer clear of it ...

2. Cola Cubes (Which again I try and steer clear of ..)

3. Bombay Mix. To my US based friends it'sthe name used in the UK for a traditional Indian snack known as chiwda or chevda (चिवडा) in India, or chanachur in east India and Bengal. The English name originates from the city of Bombay, now called Mumbai (And incidentally where my Dad was born!) It consists of a variable mixture of spicy dried ingredients, which may include fried lentils, peanuts, chickpea flour noodles, corn, vegetable oil, chickpeas, flaked rice, and fried onion. This is all flavoured with salt and a blend of spices that may include coriander and mustard seed. (Wikipedia is your friend)

4. Marks and Spencers milk chocolate tea cakes (and again I try and steer clear of them).

5. Dorittos and salsa dip.

5 jobs I've had:

1. Saturday job at Gants Hill library. Absolutely hated it, especially as I used to go and see Spurs play a lot then and my library shifts always clashed with when Spurs were at home. I had to get a special permit from the council to allow me to work (As I was under 16), and could only work 4 hours every two weeks. Working in the library took away some of the magic I used to experience when I used to go there as a child, but I'm rediscovering that through my 2 daughters.

2. One Stop corner shop. Round the corner from my house, and for the late 80's and early 90's was a unique corner shop in that it wasn't owned by Asians! I loved working there, earning the princely sum of £15 per day. Trips to the cash and carry were the highlight, and I'd have competitons with Chris (The owner of the shop) over who could carry the most trays of soft drinks or beers in at one go. I worked there until I got a proper job, then handed the person over to my mate Lloyd.

3. MIS, The Salvation Army. My first proper job, working for the IT department at the Salvation Army. My Dad pulled a few strings and got me in (Or so I believe!) and I spent the next 4 years there. Hated it with a passion at first, but then as I got to understand what the buggeration I was supposed to be doing things got better. I used to work stupid hours mind ...

4. NLD Sound and Light. I moonlighted for NLD whilst working at MIS, doing the lights for fashion shows and nightclubs. When I came back from America, I'd often work for NLD to ensure I had some money ... 10 years later I'm using the skills acquired with NLD, and putting them to use at the girl's school for their school productions! The Head's husband was impressed with the lighting show I did with 3 colours and 3 buttons.

5. Camp Kuratli at Trestle Glen. The summers of 1993/94/95 were spent in Boring, Oregon (The noun, not the adjective). In 1993 I was one of 8 boys counsellors, and frankly the worst ... I had no idea what I was doing, nor did I know how to control and look after a cabin of boys aged 10 and under. At the end of the Summer I moved onto the maintenance crew and got to know Hayden, the camp caretaker (Who was from England). I made a lot of good friends there (And am still in contact with the majority) which meant when I was called in the April of '94 by Hayden to see if I wanted to go back I jumped at the chance.

In '94 I was there for 6 months, 3 before the Summer started, and then 3 for the Summer Camps. The first 3 months were great (Even if I did crash the camp truck in the picture into not one, but two basketball posts!), but the Summer was dire ... Completely different set of staff from the previous Summer, and a whole new mentality - fortunately for me I was maintenance director so could keep out of the way all Summer and avoid the program staff who had taken an instant dislike to me.

I didn't plan on going back in '95, but decided on the spur of the moment to go and as I was unsure of who would be out at camp arranged for two friends from the UK to come with me. That summer I was 'Special Ed', and had a fantastic time .. Still miss the place.

5 habits that I have:

1. I bite my nails. Every now and then I try and grow them, but then get fascinated by the white parts that grow and am forever cleaning them. I then normally get stuck on a train for ages, so end up biting them.

2. Talking to myself. If I'm alone, be it in the car or in the office out of hours, I'm forever talking to myself. First sign on madness apparently, but I find it helps me concentrate.

3. Sarcasm. I'm incapable of not using it ... And if I'm not being sarcastic, I'm joking around. I think it's my defence mechanism, as it takes a lot for me to be comfortable with people. Admittedly it does get to me when I'm expected to crack a joke or make a comment, and I'm just not in the mood.

4. ... I use ... way too much when writing.

5. Drumming on the desk. I am the Keith Moon of finger drummers, and can find a rythmn in anything. The fire alarm test at 4pm on Friday at work can lead to a major finger drumming workout.

5 places that I have lived:

1. Ilford, Essex, UK. Grew up in Gants Hill and spent the first 20 years of my life there. Valentines Park was my stomping ground, I could happily disappear over there on my bike for the day. I loved the lakes, the 'maze', and the budgie enclosure that my Mum would take me to after playschool.

2. Boring, Oregon, USA. Camp Kuratli was in the middle of nowhere, but it did have good bus routes! Clackamas shopping mall was the single break day place to go .. Or if you were adventerous (And in my case, in need of guitar strings) then you'd head for Portland (And in my case, Apple Music!). I love Portland, and would love to go back. The hours spent in Powells ("The largest book store in the world!", or so it said) reading the imported UK magazines. Walking along the river front, or just exploring the city. I will go back.

3. Church Langley, Harlow, UK. Mia and I bought our first house there, a small 2 bedroom place with garage on the other side of the street. Church Langley was a new development and was surrounded by fields leading down to a water tower andf the M11 motorway - sadly the fields now have houses on them We acquired George the retriever whilst there, and it was when walking him on a field-soon-to-be-turned-to-houses that Mia came and met us clutching a positive pregnancy test. The neighbours were arseholes though, which is why we moved.

4. Hoxton, London, UK. The parents of one of my bestest UK friends (Hi Dawnie!) were the officers in charge of Hoxton Salvation Army. The centre had two flats and as we were in between house having moved from Church Langley and waiting for Tilbury to be ready, we moved into a flat. This was Charlotte's first home, though we moved when she was about 3 weeks old. Weirdly, I worked 15 minutes walk away yet was still almost always late!

5. Manningtree, Essex, UK. Where we are now, and I love it! River 2 minutes one way, fields 2 minutes the other, London an hour by train, and Ipswich Town Football Club 20 minutes door to door!

Thanks Christi for the idea, and I bet you're all glad (I say all, but I know only Andy ever reads my blog!) that today is a really slow day at work.

Oh, and 10 years on from January 1999, this is how I am now ... The baby is a bit bigger, and has gained a sister. I'm fatter and have less hair, and sadly George is gone but we have Jackson the Lhasa Apso.

2009 - Let's RAWK!

I introduced the girls to the delights of 'Guitar Hero' on Friday (£35 in HMV for the game and guitar, bargain!). Charlotte surprised me by knowing a lot of the rock tracks on there, apparently they've been on the soundtracks of various films, whereas I only really knew 'Sunshine Of Your Love' ..

Bethany can't get the hang of the game, but then she's 5 and has enough trouble reaching the end of the fretboard, let alone pressing the coloured buttons at the right time and remembering to strum ..


Me, I rock and have just been signed up to open at the local bar (one the game I hasten to add).

New Year was celebrated by going to bed at 11pm, and not waking up until 10am! Obviously too cold for fireworks this year, as for the first time in years I wasn't woken up by any.

Plugged my new Midi keyboard into the PC yesterday and had great fun playing with the orchestra samples. I left Charlotte playing with it whilst Bethany (And her lightsabre ..) and I took the dog for a walk. When we came back I found Charlotte picking out 'Sunshine Of Your Love' on the keyboard - that's my girl.

2008 ...

Glad to see the back of this year .. Nothing more to add to that really.

Bethany and I took Jackson for his nightly walk last night, wrapped up in coats, hats, scarves, and gloves (B and I that is, Jack has fur ...). B likes to take a torch with her as we walk through an unlit field full of shadowy trees, however when we were walking Jackson on Saturday, we lost the torch .. Not a problem for Bethany though, as she soon found an alternative after visiting the pantomime with my Mum and Dad ...

So ... what to look forward to in 2009? Um ... My brother-in-law is getting married in Cyprus at the end of May, so there's a load of Mia's family (and us) heading over for that, other than that not a lot.

At the beginning of the year I wrote about how I wanted to do 3 things this year:
1. Start to live a bit more of an healthy life
2. Pick up my guitar again and write something
3. Write that childrens book I promised my 9 year old I would write, and have now promised my 4 year old

I've achieved exactly none of those things ...

The healthy thing, well I don't drink that much and don't have coffee after 9am when at work, and I now drink water instead of soft drinks - but I had Bells Palsy with in turn has screwed the nerves in my neck and right shoulder ... With the beach holiday coming up, I'd still like to shift some weight but need to get myself motivated.

The guitar ... I did buy an i-axe (A guitar with built in USB connectivity) plus the very desktop studio that was used to record the haunting Steps classic '5,6,7,8', but never actually got around to plugging one into the other ... Now I have all this recording and sampling software perhaps I'll make a go of it ...

The book ... Sorry girls, can't see it happening for awhile. Perhaps I'll write you a song instead?!

Back to reading the 500 page worth of manuals for the various bits of software I've gathered ...

Have a wonderful and prosperous New Year, and on a personal level I hope to God it's better than 2008 ...

Jigsaw - The update!

I refuse to let a 500 piece Simpsons jigsaw defeat me .. So last night I split the damn thing down the middle which meant I could get it to shape up properly. An hour later, and with the 'assistance' of Charlotte and Bethany, it was done - with Charlotte putting the last piece in (I think it was part of Skinner if anyone is interested ...).

Charlotte then produced her 300 piece 'Hannah Montana' jigsaw, but I then decided that as Charlotte and Bethany had had a long day, been to a pantomime (Which Charlotte ended up on the stage at), and were both still suffering from colds, that it was time for bed for my two little girls.

I went upto Tottenham Court Road yesterday lunchtime and bought myself one of these ... Before anyone remarks that the keyboard has shrunk, it's supposed to be like that ...

It's a midi controller for the amount of recording software I 'acquired' over Christmas - no idea how it or the software works but I'm willing to have a stab ...

One of the bits of software is loads of orchestral samples, and is quite frankly amazing. I spent a fair bit of Boxing Day playing with it, and going through the numerous instrumental samples. I did knock together a tune of sorts, but didn't record it (Nothing to do with not knowing how ...) as I follow the same adage as Lennon and McCartney did when they wrote stuff - if you can't remember it the next day then it's no good. (Which in my case if pretty much all the time ...)

Work is very quiet at the moment (Apart from the really annoying woman in the office who insists on having her phone on speaker-phone when waiting for a call to pickup .. I can hear it, and I'm wearing headphones listening to I-Tunes) so today and tomorrow will be mostly spent reading the manuals for FL Studio 8 and Miroslav Philharmonik.

Another buddy who blogs ...

Wish I could find a better picture, but hey ...

Added to the 'Buddies who blog' is Jenna.

I've known Jen since 1993 when I was a shy Englishman arriving at a Summer camp in Oregon to work as a counsellor. Jen was the assistant program director, so effectively my boss.

We hit it off over the summer and became good friends (Jen being the original "Bum girl" for 'Bryan and the BeachBums' - the summer camp band). I worked with Jen again in 1995 at camp, this time she was cook and I was 'Special Ed' (A job title that meant I did every job that summer apart from female counsellor and female lifeguard!). The picture is taken from 1995.

Jen and I kept in touch after I left camp for the final time, and Mia and I were delighted to have Jen and her husband Will over to stay - hopefully one day I'll find the photos again.

We had fun, doing the sites of London (Will at the top of St Pauls Cathedral is something I won't forget in a hurry .. Never seen someone SO scared of heights!), Jen and I drinking Starbucks whilst Will went to the bank, Will and I drinking Starbucks whilst Jen went round the Globe theatre, and then there was the day trip to Clacton ...

Crazy golf on the sea front, a visit to Clacton pier ... Charlotte loved Jenna and Will and 7 years later still talks about them.

And even though she is 6000 miles away, Jen is one of my bestest buddies - and I miss her.

So this is Christmas ... And what did I do?

So ... Christmas ...

I was given a 500 piece 'Simpsons' jigsaw as a Christmas present, so whilst Mia and the in-laws hit the Boxing Day sales I had a go at doing it.

Charlotte and Bethany did attempt to join in with my jigsaw-putting-together, but soon got bored of looking for edges and moved off to play with something else. Now the problem was I was doing my jigsaw on the dining table, and the table would be required for tea later that day so after painstakingly getting the edging all done, I had to put the jigsaw back in the box.

Last night I had another go ... 2 sodding hours spent on it, only to discover that the jigsaw hasn't been cut correctly which means that even though I have the outside done spot on, and lots of the inside - there's an issue when branching out from the middle and joining to the sides. Not impressed.

So I've decided I'm going to cut the jigsaw done the middle and instead of having a 500 piece jigsaw, I'll have 2 x 250 piece jigsaws. It's what Homer would want. (Actually he'd want a doughnut, but whatever ...)

Jackson also got a Christmas present, though I did have to disappoint Bethany by not walking him with this Christmas gear on ...

Two more buddies who blog ...

Me, Jeff Kurtz, Chad Barr

Two more 'Buddies who blog' to add ... First of all are 'Anne and Chad'Barr'. Anne and Chad I knew from Camp Kuratli when I worked out there in the mid-90's. I got in touch with Anne again via Facebook, and it's great to see what they're both (And their new son) are up to since I knew them. I still think of them as teenagers in love ...

And then there's Jeff Kurtz ... (Even though I think it's his wife who actually writes the blog). Jeff is another ex-Camp Kuratli person and worked with me in the summer of '95. Jeff and I decided that we were going to form a band called 'The Absolute', me on guitar and Jeff I'm not sure ... We got as far as the name and that was it. Anyway, Jeff was a good friend to hang out with, and a very funny guy to be around - I miss my Camp K buddies, and thanks to Facebook I've got back in touch with some of them.

Anyway .. The picture above was taken by the timer on my camera, and is of me, Jeff and Chad round the back of the Tabernacle where we had been digging a trench in the summer of 1995 (I would have been aged 22 and a 28" waist!). For some reason we decided that we would daub S, A, and T on our chests ... I can remember that my S stood for 'Strange', Jeff assures me his A was for 'Awesome' (I'll take his word on that) and Chad's T? No idea ...

And I may look skinny in the picture, but I was toned ... Sigh ...

Frankie from 'The Darkness' says ...

In the wacky world of my office, November no longer exists .. The month formerly known as November is now known as 'Movember'. Why? For charidee, why else?

Some of the fellers (And dare I say some of the girls have stopped waxing?) are growing what's known as a "mo". The idea is that for the month of Movember you don't shave your top lip, and grow a Mo a 70's porn star would be proud to display when coming round "to fix your plumbing ...".

My problem is for me it takes all month to get stubble. One of the guys in the office has the same issue so actually started two weeks early in an attempt for a level playing field. I didn't ... So my mo is weak .. It has been compared to that of Frankie, the bass player from The Darkness, but I do feel it was out of pity.

Anyway, I've grown something for charidee, my youngest daughter hates it because "It hurts ...", I have an itchy chin, and more worringly my Mo has taken a distinctive ginger hue, but it is all for charity so please feel free to donate in this time of the credit crunch to the link below:

https://www.movember.com/uk/donate/donate-details.php?action=sponsorlink®o=1478371&country=uk

All money raised will go towards the fight against Prostrate Cancer.

Thanks.

Right then ...

So, it's November 27th (Happy Thanksgiving if you're reading this in America, and no we don't celebrate it mainly due to us losing ... You only won as you had the home advantage anyway.) and I lost did a proper blog and not an apology in July, so what's been occuring?

Well ...


Charlotte has had her hair cut. May not seem that massive, but to her it's life-changing as it was cut in a salon and everything. Having to lean backwards over a sink to have her hair washed, have an inane conversation about where she's going on holiday this year, talk about whatever reality TV rubbish is currently on the TV, discuss something the hairdresser had read in that weeks 'Heat' magazine which she accepts as gospel truth .. All part of that journey to womanhood. Next year she's getting her ears pierced, my little girl is growing up.

Charlotte's Grandad Ray bought her a mobile phone when we were last down in Devon, another rite of growing up. Needless to say the credit lasted her just over a day and she's had to spend the last month with no credit, but she has a shiny pink phone that I'm forever telling her to put away (Who leaves a phone the floor at the top of the stairs?! Charlotte ...)

Other than that ... Not a lot else has happened ...

Sorry.

Sorry Andy ....

Dear Andy,

I know I whined incessentaly when you didn't add me to your 'Blog roll', and I'm really sorry that once you did I did bugger all on the bloggage front ... But now I'm back and I hope I can add to my blogs a bit more regular like, as opposed to every 4 months or so. Now I would say it's quality not quantity, but obviously we both know that isn't ever the case, but I do have loads of blog ideas - just need to find the time to write them.

If it helps, I've got a good one lined up for Feb 25th ...

Hope you can forgive me, again ...

Lots of love,

Ed

Anyway ... Andy is a good mate who through the wonders of Facebook I've got back in touch with. He's forgiven me for my little indiscretion in the mid-90's, and through him I've learnt far more than I ever need to know about wood pellet boilers, and have discussed bands of the 90's and what would happen if the International Staff Songsters and the Chemical Brothers were to meet ... (carnage .. sheer carnage ...)

And that is the blog ... Happy now?!

Hmm ... Nice shirt ...

This is Richard Wright, the new goalkeeper for Ipswich Town. Now I could tell you about how Richard played for Ipswich a few years back, and how it's taken a very long time to get him back. I could tell you about the penalty save in the play-off final. I could tell you about how he has managed to injure himself by falling out of his loft, and tripping over a 'Keep off the grass' sign. I could, but I'm not.

Instead .. What is going on with that shirt!!? I've done some research, and apparently the brightness of the shirt is psychological. An attacking forward will see the shirt in his periphial vision, and his brain automatically aim towards the brightness. If that's the case then how comes more stewards aren't hit by flying footballs during matches?!

Charlotte and I are off to Portman Road this morning to watch the 1st team train. She gets to sit with the rest of the Juinior Blues (Without me) and then meets the sweaty players after they've finished training - as we're going to watch ITFC play tomorrow with 19 of her and Bethany's friends, she'll be asking a few players to come over and say hello (We're sat by the dugouts!) and to totally improve her street cred!

Well that's buggered that up then ...

Just changed the template settings on my blog, so now everything is all over the shop ... Oh well.

I didn't even know we had a kitchen ...

Having been woken up at 4am by Bethany, who is now sleeping in my bed meaning I won't be sleeping anymore tonight, what better time to update my blog!

Sunday, July 13th ... Mia decided my bonus would be better spent on a new kitchen than on the holiday I planned for us to go on in October. So whilst I took Mia and her Mum to Ikea to buy door handles, Mia's Dad and brother ripped out the old kitchen. Then over the course of the week and numerous take-aways, it went from picture left, to picture right ...!

We've got to go back and swap some handles at Ikea, as Mia bought too many of one size and not enough of another, but apart from that it doesn't look too bad. Almost as good as a week away somewhere hot in October, but not quite ...

Other than that ... The Bells Palsy has cleared up quite nicely after nearly 2 weeks off work. I no longer smile like a pirate, but I have lost the ability to raise one eyebrow independently .. Wish I took a photo of when I could do it.

Right ... Shower, and then goto work ...

The Bells ... The Bells ....

Woke up last Thursday morning with a weird taste in my mouth, but thought nothing of it as I've been suffering from hay fever so figured it was that ... Friday morning I realised my right eye wasn't performing too well as I was unable to close it independently, so off I toddled to the toilets at work to examine my face in the mirror. Tried raising my eyebrows, left went up, right made a token effort .. Tried smiling, full works on the left, right stayed solid, and I looked like a pirate in full "Argh, me 'earties" mode.

Mentioned it to a couple of friends and updated my Facebook status, within seconds Facebook Friend Andy sent me a message suggesting I was suffering from Bells Palsy and a helpful link to the Bupa webpage on the afflication.

So ...:

• Lack of mobility in one side of the face? CHECK
• Lack of taste - CHECK
• Hearing distorted on one side - CHECK
• Eye not closing on it's own - CHECK
• Loss of feeling in lips - CHECK

Monday was the earliest I could get to the doctors, and Andy was right - Bells Palsy it is. The Doctor kindly gave me the week off work, due to my right being unable to close and computers being bad for non-closing eyes .. (Yes I know I'm using one now - but I only use it for 20 minutes a day as opposed to 8 hours plus at work).

So this week, I have been mostly winking at people then having to explain that I'm not coming onto them but infact I'm unable to blink, have to request a straw when ordering a drink otherwise it goes everywhere, cut my food into small pieces so I can eat without a bib, and wearing sunglasses pretty much constantly to help my poorly eye. Only another 3 weeks or so to go ...

Want to see what I look like with Bells ...? You may want to ensure small children aren't in the vicinity of the computer screen before scrolling down:


I warned you .... This is a demonstration of 'The Pirate Look'.

On the plus side, I can now raise my left eyebrow by itself, always wanted to do that. (But I did discover today I can no longer whistle!)

Happy Fathers Day Dad ... I'm going to try and kill you ...

Yes I know I haven't blogged in ages, but what you going to do ...?!

Fathers Day today, so apart from the 4-pack of Magners, the Bethany picked 'Best Dad' socks, and the box of licquorice allsorts, what did I get? (Not the Nintendo DS I've been throwing hints about ...). I got to spend an hour having the living bejaysus scared out of me on the below:
Charlotte loves climbing, and we discovered this morning that the dry-ski slope at Ipswich has a climbing wall and ropes section, so I booked us in for the last slot of the day. When we got arrived there was an excitable group of school children who were winding up the guys running the wall, thankfully they left which meant that Charlotte and I had the entire wall and ropes to ourselves.

After the walk-around and the kitting out of helmets and harnesses, we were let loose. The wall I negotiated pretty well, but I was absolutely bricking it when I had to venture out on a very thin wire and walk across holding a rope at waistheight, but 3 foot in front of me ... The leaping across the 1.5 metre gap wasn't too enthralling either, and neither was the big jump of the side to rapel down the side when we were done ... But after going round once, I found myself enjoying it.

Charlotte had fun though, with the instructors sending her round the wrong-way or getting her to do the course with her eyes shut. The photo shows what happened when she tried ...

And yes, the bloke running the top of the course looked very scary in his shorts and sensible boots.

The trials of a football supporter ...

When I was growing I had two loves, Star Wars and football. I fancied myself as a goalkeeper (Ray Clemence was my hero), but in all honesty wasn't any good. During my early teenage years you'd find me on the terraces at Spurs (Mainly), with occasional visits to West Ham and Leyton Orient, but then I discovered music and had no time for anything else ...

When we moved to Manningtree in 2001, I fell in love with football once more. It does help having an international class football stadium 20 minutes from your house, as well as a cousin-in-law who was determined that you would go and watch Ipswich Town with him. Thanks to Adrian (The cousin-in-law) myself and the girls have season tickets for ITFC, and I get highly agitated on a match day and I'm not at a match. (I missed a home match due to being in Tenerife, and spent the Saturday afternoon slowly drinking a very expensive pint of cider so I could watch Sky Sports News!).

Now I'm a die-hard Ipswich Town supporter. I goto every home match (Holidays permitting), try to get to some away matches, and more often than not are at the majority of reserve matches. I have an hatred of referees Andy D'Urso and Kevin Friend, as well as that city of Green and Yellow up the A140 (That is totally lost on my American friends, but it's not important). I enjoy evening matches, but hate the after-match effect where I'm lying in bed replaying the game in my head. I'm against the playing of music whenever we score, but still join in madly when it happens. I want to run out on the Portman Road pitch ...

Charlotte has joined me in the joy that is Ipswich Town, and has managed to get on 1st name terms with the majority of the 1st team squad! She makes cards gifts, and certificates for the players, as well as writing them letters (Having a friend who teaches Spanish is useful for writing to Pablo and Sito, our 2 Spanish players) and seems to understand what is going on 50% of the time on the pitch. The players are very nice to her also, as her collection of match-worn shirts (Currently 7!), signed shirts, balls, goalkeeper gloves, posters, and Christmas cards show. Charlotte acquired her latest match shirt last Wednesday after our match against Cardiff City. Alan Lee, who Charlotte was making hairbands for last season, gave her his black away shirt (He needed the home one for the next home match).

And she's run out on the pitch ...

George 1996 - 2008

Sad end to our holiday in Tenerife last week. We discovered after arriving home that George, our 11 year old golden retreiver died whilst we were away. He suffered from a twisted stomach 3 years ago (Where the stomach twists round and stops anything getting in or out), and only through an emergency operation at 1am in the morning did he survive. He had it again on Wednesday, but although the kennels rushed him to the vets who in turn operated on George immediately, he didn't make it.

Charlotte is devasted as she and George grew up together, but we've decided that we had 3 extra years out of George that we shouldn't have so can't be too sad he's gone. Bethany hasn't quite got the concept of death, though it didn't help that she's just learnt the Easter story at school as she's convinced George will rise again after 3 days ...

Jackson, our Lhasa Apso, is totally lost without George as he's never been separated from him before. He's taken to lying in George's spots around the house, and has no interest in anything ... I took him for a walk last night down the path that runs behind the train station car park. There was a lot of work down there last year, with pipes being laid, paths being dug up and put back down, and bits fenced off, and I have a permanment memorial to George because of it. One evening we got to where a stream runs under the path, and found it cordoned off with yellow warning tape as a new concrete had been laid ... Unfortunately George didn’t understand the concept of yellow warning tape, so plowed through the tape and into the wet concrete. George being George didn’t back out, no he turned full circle, utilising all 4 paws, before stepping out again (And taking out the tape he missed before ...) So now whenever I walk down there, I see George's work in all it's glory..

Oh, and Jackson wrote I T F C in the wet concrete at the same time... That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Mia and I got George before we got married, and I named him George after the character in 'Of Mice and Men' and would often quote the cartoon version I'd seen and tell Mia that "I'd love him, and pet him, and I will call him George".

He was fantastic with the girls, guarding their beds when they were babies, and letting them climb on him, pull his whiskers etc as they grew up. We're all going to miss him.

SNOW!!

After a week of the weathermen saying we would get snow,we got snow. The snow started falling around 9am, and come 10:30 the whole place was covered, and by 3pm much to the disgust of the girls it had all gone again.

I gave Jackson (Our Lhasa Apso) a haircut this morning in preparation for our walk this afternoon, as the last time it snowed he ended up carrying his body weight in snow and ice on the hair on his legs. I've assured Jack that the choppy look is definately in for dogs this season, and that the bits where I've scalped him will grow back soon. I also apologised profusely when I accidently almost chopped off one of his balls ... Bethany was quite keen on me cutting her hair as well, but I don't think Mia would be too happy with my attempts.

Bethany has this thing about sheep, so was delighted on our walk that we had to walk through a field full of them, the sheep weren't too enamoured with idea though.

The snow was rapidly melting, and the fields were turning into mud, so B and I were a tad dirty whereas the dogs were filthy. After we left the sheep field I let the dogs off their leads (Checking that the gates were shut to the field with the sheep in!) so they could have a run. George (Our retriever) loves the snow, and tends to shovel as much as he can up his nose which he then follows with a mass sneezing fit, whereas Jack just runs and runs. By this time, B and I covered in mud (Not helped by Jackson running upto me and jumping up onto my legs), so we decided to head home as I fancied a cup of RedBush tea and Bethany remembered she had Easter eggs that needed eating!

Bethany and I started to trek home, through the churchyard of Lawford Church (where for some reason there was a chicken running loose!) and then down then back path to the train station.

The path was now 100% mud, and having 2 dogs doing their best to act as the lead dogs of a huskysleigh team made it very difficult to walk. As we go on holiday on Friday I was very aware of the numerous rabbit holes on the path being hidden by the mud and slush, and the real possibility of breaking my ankle!

Still, we got back in one piece, if very muddy, and I had to call Mia on the final part of the walk so she could be ready with the garage keys (So I could wipe the dogs down) and to take Bethany,

We had fun, but decided that next time we wouldn't do the muddy route ...

I am turning into my Dad ...

Apologies for the lack of bloggage, I've been writing reports and procedures for the past 3 weeks at work so when I get home the last thing I want to do is write more ...

I hit 35 at the end of February, and I've suddenly started to do 'old' things ... I switched my home and buildings insurance, switched outr gas provider, and when I walk up the stairs I get a pain in my left knee cap ...

The knee cap all stems from a children's birthday party about 5 years ago: Charlotte was invited to her cousin Danni’s 5th birthday party, where her parents had a bar-b-Q in their massive back garden. Adrian (Danni’s Dad) and I organised a game of football with all the kids, and were going in hard on each other with the challenges. The party was winding down and I was running with the football no-one near me, when I hit a slight dip in the ground. I fell to the right, my knee-cap went to the left ... I was lying on the ground swearing profusely, feeling my knee-cap on the left-side of my knee, and all I could hear was Adrian’s mum telling him off! (He was 36 at the time!) Then my knee-cap sprung back into place, and that smarted a bit!

I was okay the rest of the day, but the following morning my knee had swollen to twice it’s normal size so if to A&E I went. Minor ligament damage, will recover over time, try to keep off it for the next 48 hours ... Unfortunately we had to drive to Devon that evening, and hit a 4 hour traffic jam .. 4 hours of clutch control with a rather poorly left leg .. Even now I don’t have the full flexibility in my left leg as I do in my right. So at the moment, when climbing stairs I get shooting pains round my knee-cap, and occasionally it feels like there's a 'bubble' under the knee-cap. Might have to take advantage of the company health care and have it looked at when I get back from holiday.

The other thing I do, which makes me think I'm turning into my Dad, is keep track of the fuel consumption on our car. We have a diesel VW Touran, which has this computer thing that tells you in how many miles you're going to run out of diesel .. I've started to get a perverse feeling of satisfaction when I manage to get the number of miles to go up and not down, due to how I'm driving. I've discovered I get more miles if I stick to 60mph (And to my American friends, the speed limit over here is 70mph). Blew all that out of the water yesterday when trying to drive to work in an oncoming galeforce wind, so I turned the computer off as it was depressing me!

Bethany has a social whirl of parties today, she has her 1st party at 11:30 (With a magician) then straight after that it's off to a magic themed fancy dress party. We decided that B will go as the rabbit that's pulled out of the magicians hat, though she's decided it's the Easter Bunny so wants a basket of Eggs to go with it! We had a dress rehersal yesterday, and B was most digusted that she wasn't allowed to stay in costume (And character as she was hopping everywhere) for the rest of the day - We told her she can wear it to my parents on Easter Monday, when Mum and Dad do their annual Easter Egg hunt for the girls.

Me? An influence? With my reputation?

I was bored at work, so decided to google my name .. I discovered there's an Ed Partridge OBE, and also a couple who are rather good at sports, but this link surprised me:

http://www.mikedolbear.com/forum/post.asp?method=ReplyQuote&REPLY_ID=606638&TOPIC_ID=50394&FORUM_ID=1

Scroll down a bit until you get to the post by Jim_Royle. No idea who it is, but whoever you are, it was a pleasure!

The weird Japanese guy ...

I like to get out and about during my lunch-hours at work, as sitting in front of a PC all day is frankly soul-destroying. My office is 2 minutes walk from the Thames, so I've got myself a couple of walks I do depending on my mood. I can either:

• Walk over London Bridge, then down to Tower Bridge and back over and back to the office.
• Cross London Bridge and go for a wander round Southwark Cathedral.
• Walk upto the Millenium Bridge and go and have a walk round the Tate Modern.

I went to the Tate recently to look at Richter's paintings up on the 5th floor, but had to pass Doris Salcedo's "Shibboleth"

Basically, it’s a crack in the floor that runs the entire length of the Turbine Room (Which is MASSIVE). I’ve looked at it before so wasn’t really interested in looking again (It’s a crack ....), but the weird Japanese guy taking photos of the crack did catch my eye ...

He had two bags with him, full of toys which he was carefully positioning either side of the crack. The WJG started with a tiny Batman and Robin which he carefully positioned on the right of the crack, and a green dinosaur which he had on the left ... He then moved onto adding a fire engine, with it’s ladder extended length-ways across the bridge and a group of tiny creatures queuing up to go across .. Couldn’t they see the dinosaur on the other side waiting to get them? The fools ... Anyway, the WJG drew quite a crowd whilst he was taking his photos, some nodding in an apprecative way, others wondering where he got the Batman and Robin from, and of course, no-one had to supress a laugh when he dropped Robin into the crack ... Oh no.

I did take another photo from the 5th floor of him, which on reflection looks like he's fallen from a great height, and cracked the floor on impact .. The feller to his right obviously saw him hurtling downwards, and ducked ...

I have spent a wasted afternoon googling Doris Salcedo's crack, but nothing Superhero related has been found ...

I did have to break the Oakleys out this week, as the Sun was so bright when walking down the Thames. Also decided that Tower Bridge is one of my favourite London landmarks - one day I'll do the tour of it again (Last did it with my Dad when I was about 10 ...). The Tower of London is another favourite, only wish it wasn't do damn expensive to get in! I'm lucky with the amount of London landmarks within walking distance of where I work, and seem to find something new to explore each week. Beats sitting at a desk ...

I want to make beautiful music ...

Well, I want to make music ... I've been scouring eBay and Gumtree and have spotted a couple of digital studios I like the look of. I've got a palmtop studio that I've used before, but I'm restricted to how much I can fit on the internal memory card and to the drum patterns loaded onto the palmtop.

I did record a few things about 5 years ago, which I wanted to use in a possible Salvation Army band (Electralyte do it far better than I ever could have). I even got so far a writing 2 songs in a trilogy about 'Army life but got stuck on the theme for the 3rd song! Song 1 was entitled 'Sunday Christian' and was about whether you went to the SA for the 'right' reasons, or just so you could play in the band (And ripped off "Round Are Way" by Oasis quite a bit!) , and the other was about the open air and had a very big nod towards Sgt Pepper! There was a 100% original song, which I may do some more work on once I get setup .. So just need to get the studio, find the drum machine which is out in the garage, get the bass guitar from the in-laws, and then strap on the guitar, turn it up, and rawk like it's 1994 ... (As seen in the photo!)

Charlotte had a choir rehersal today at the local church for a concert I'm going to have to endure next Saturday ... She doesn't want to sing in it, and I don't want to go, but we're both going to grit our teeth and go through with it! Whilst she was in rehersal, I took Bethany to the farm park over the road from the church ... £6 to get! £6!! Wouldn't mind but there's bugger all there, and the majority of the animals you can see from the road anyway! So B and I went in clutching her bag of bread to feed the ducks with (£6!!), but soon gave up when a goose got a bit too close for B's liking (Taking her finger as well as the bread) so we went and looked at the animals .. B wanted to go home, but I wanted value for money. So B was in charge of my camera phone, and took some photos of me with various animals, and begrudgingly posed with some for me including one with an overly friendly goat.

SIX QUID!!!

Watched some films on the train this week, the pick of the week being 'The Darjeeling' although it's more well known for being the film Owen Wilson tried to commit suicide after ... This week I have 'Run Fatboy Run', and 'Flood' ...

Back to scouring eBay ...

It's not my birthday yet, but ...

Charlotte and I went to watch Ipswich Town take on Blackpool today, and as todays match is the closest one to my birthday, 9 year old Charlotte arranged a surprise for me.

Off her own back, she mailed ITFC and asked for my name to go on the scoreboard during the birthday dedications! She was supposed to keep it secret, but couldn't contain her excitement so told me 3 weeks ago ... So at half-past 2, we were sat below the scoreboard, to ensure we got a good view of my name in lights .. Charlotte was annoyed that her full message of "Happy Birthday Dad, lots of love Charlie x" wasn't displayed, but we decided there probably was a limit to how many words/characters you could have on the screen.

Oh, and we won 2-1 as well. Which was nice.

It's only a jacket ... But it's MY jacket ...

I'm not happy ... My beloved leather jacket is looking a bit, well, mouldy ... I bought it in 1993 during my first stint at Camp Kuratli, for $99 from Wilsons in Clackamas Mall. It went back to America twice with me, and was my jacket of choice for my time working for NLD Sound and Lighting. It's nicely battered, that only 15 years of wear can do to a leather jacket, and I've had people offer to buy it from me because of it's look. And in the little pocket on the front, still resides my silver 1991 quarter ... But now hanging up in a damp garage for the best part of the year has got to it, and it's in need of some tender loving care. Unfortunately Mia can't stand it, so it's down to me to rescue it - yes I've probably not worn it in a year, and chances are I won't wear it for awhile yet, but it's my favourite item of clothing and has many good memories associated with it. It's not going without a fight! (Incidentally, the photo was from 1995, and 'Grease Night' at Camp Kuratli)

We were talking last week about Epping Forest Country Club, which if you know your dodgy nightclubs, was the 'Faces' of it's day. I used to spend my Friday evenings in the club called 'The Jungle' manning the lighting desk, whilst 100's of drugged people danced to a monotanous beat made by people in their bedrooms .. But depending on the DJ, I quite enjoyed it .. Some DJ's would treat you with disdain, so that would be when you leave the desk on automatic and wander round the club and chat with the bouncers or Terry the cook (Before he got busted for drug dealing!),but there were DJ's who would want you to help them put on a show. These fellers knew that the lights looked better if there was someone controlling them manually, and if you were nice to the lighting jockey then you both would have fun, and it was those times when I quite enjoyed being the only sober person in the building .. I was CS-gassed in the club (Thanks to some over-zealous bouncers letting off a canister through the air conditioning to try and clear the place), saw someone die from a drugs overdose, watched numerous fights, saw Sid Owen get barred pretty much every week, and learnt an interesting array of swear words ... 15 years later, I wonder how I made it out alive!

4 year old Bethany and I took the dogs for a 2 mile walk on Sunday .. She wanted to try out her new 'Charlie and Lola' wellies, so off we went. I really enjoyed the walk, as the weather was nice (Had to wear my sunglasses), and B was in a talkative mood.

At one point we were in a field with a few sheep .. Now B has a thing about sheep, so after much pleading I said she could go over and have a look at couple of sheep standing in the corner of the field, whilst I stayed with the dogs. B made her way over, and had a conversation with these 3 bemused looking sheep, then came back and told me she wanted a pet sheep! I asked where she planned on keeping it, and was told (as if I was plainly stupid) that she'd keep it in a cage in her bedroom ... After explaining that sheep prefer living outside to cages in little girls bedrooms, and promising that we'd come back and visit, I managed to get her out of the field. Thought I got away with it, until I realised on the way back that she was looking for rabbit holes, as rabbits like to live in cages in little girls rooms ...

Still as we were making the final push for home, B came running back from one of her excursions for rabbit holes, grabbed my hand and said "We're on an adventure aren't we? I like having adventures with you Dad!" And I like having adventures with you B also ...

I really should be out running ...

I need to shift some weight, as the picture to the right so plainly shows ... Taken Summer '07 in Devon, and I'm fat. Numerous Devonian's preparing to push me back in the water and/or harpoon me just out of shot.

I should be out pounding the streets, burning those excess calories, shifting that weight I'm carrying around my gut, bit frankly I'm too tired ... I'm eating better, cut out most of the junk food (Did have a Mars bar on Saturday though), no take-aways for a month, no alcohol (I have a cupboard full, taunting me) and cutting out caffeine from my diet has meant that come 8pm I'm dead on my feet. (I get up at 5am) By the time I get home from work, eat something, put the girls to bed, walk the dogs etc, I'm too tired to actually get my trainers and run round the block ... Tomorrow. I'll start tomorrow.

So the past week? Not a lot has happened really. Took Charlotte to Manningtree library last weekend, and spent a good 15 minutes in the attached museum talking to the curator (With the most amazing buck teeth. Think Ken Dodd and triple the effect) about a blown up aerial photo of Manningtree taken in 1974. It's changed a bit ... I watch programmes like 'Life on Mars', or see photos in the library, and think how I'd love to go back and have a look. Even in the 5 years we've lived here there have been some big changes, but thankfully due to the town's status of being the smallest town in the UK (Though I swear it's lost the title, but we don't like to mention it incase people start building things) nothing major has happened. Although ... Tesco are threatening to build a superstore in town! The locals are up in arms, citing traffic problems etc .. Although one person I spoke to didn't quite understand what he was up in arms about, as he told me that Tesco would bring traffic problems and generally lower the tone of the town, however if it was Waitrose, then he's all for it!

My dogs don't understand the concept of weekends, and as they're used to me being up at 5am for 5 days of the week, expect me to be up at 5am at the weekends also. I stagger downstairs, swear at the dogs, let them out for their cocking of legs, and then go back to bed and try and find the comfy spot I had just left. Occasionally though, I think what the hell, and take them out for a walk in the early hours of the morning. If I'm lucky then the mist is still hanging over the fields and river, the picture taken to the left was on a lucky morning.

Having said that, I do get my own back on the dogs now and wait for them to fall asleep, then go and cry in their ears ... See how they like it!

Watched a few films on the train this week, and have to admit I've rather enjoyed 'Sweeny Todd' which I, er, acquired somewhere. Been finding myself singing some of the songs to myself at work ... And it's another one of those films where I'd love to go and look around at the setting ... London in the early 1800's certainly looks a bit different to 2008.