Well oiled...

Click here for a link to an RTE news report on the recent rise in oil prices.

The key sentence in the report is this:- "The weakening dollar boosts oil prices because it makes crude relatively cheaper for buyers using other currencies, analysts say".

The dollar has weakened significantly against the euro in recent months, and since oil is priced in dollars, you would then imagine that oil would be cheaper to purchase for those states which use the euro.

Nuh-uh.

Bear in mind that oil is a finite commodity and that the oil producers are purely motivated by the desire to make as much money as possible while the supply of oil lasts, then it is in their interest to address the issue of increased demand for oil (caused in part by the weakness of the dollar, which eats into the producers' profit margins) by increasing the price of oil.

So the sequence of events is not, as the man on the street might imagine:-

- weaker dollar vs. euro -> cheaper oil

but...

- weaker dollar vs. euro -> potentially reduced profits for producers -> more expensive oil.

On the face of it, and somewhat illogically, we in the eurozone would be potentially better off if the dollar was stronger against the euro, as this would mean that oil would be too expensive, therefore demand would fall, and consequently (in theory at least) the producers would have to reduce the price to stimulate demand. However, I doubt if that's the way the real world operates.

And even if there was a guaranteed unlimited supply of oil going on into infinity, I think the oil producers would find some way to ensure that the price of oil would always go up rather than down. You wouldn't want to give it away now, would you?

Oil is such a vitally important commodity to the global economy that the normal rules of the "punter" economy do not apply. Take avocado pears, for example. Hardly the most essential commodity in the world. And yet one might develop a taste for them and decide to buy them on a regular basis. However, if for some reason the price of avocado pears sky-rocketed, the normal punter might say "Naaah, too expensive..." and decide not to buy them so long as the price stayed high. It's the classic strategy for dealing with unacceptable prices. Am I happy with the price? No. Do I really need them? No. Will I continue to buy them? Not bloody likely.

The same simple scenario does not to apply to oil. Unless someone can come up with a truly viable alternative means of fuelling transport and the generation of energy (not to mention providing raw materials for plastics, fertiliser and the Devil knows what) then we will be compelled to buy oil at whatever price it is offered to us. We have no choice for now. The oil producers are in control. As my late mother might have delicately put it "The fuckers have us by the hasp of the arse".

Of course, one way of removing the oil producers from the equation completely is for us to use up all the world's supply of oil as quickly as possible. That way, the producers would soon run out of a commodity to control and could no longer hold us to ransom.

And I'm doing my bit to advance that strategy right now - I own a Lexus...

Regards,


djp

A busy couple of days ahead of me...

Off to Dublin tomorrow afternoon for meetings on Thursday and Friday. Back home Friday evening/night.

Off to Dublin Airport very early next Monday morning (as in 1 a.m.) to catch a flight to Warsaw in Poland for meetings on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Back home Friday evening/night.

Sounds like a bit of a drag, perhaps. Still, it's good to be busy, innit?

Regards,


djp

My Top 10 iPod Tracks - 01/06/2008

1. (-) - I'm Afraid - The Cardboard Lung
2. (-) - Ben Kenobi's Theme - Patrick Gleeson
3. (-) - Wrong Turnings - Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
4. (-) - Do What You Wanna Do - Acid House Kings
5. (-) - Le Soleil Est Pres De Moi - Air
6. (-) - Hormone Love - Blowoff
7. (-) - Atlantic City - Bruce Springsteen
8. (-) - Galvanize - The Chemical Brothers
9. (-) - The Certainty Of Chance - The Divine Comedy
10. (-) - Grounds For Divorce - Elbow

Regards,


djp

Plain ketchup

It's been a while since my last posting, but some interesting stuff has happened:-

1. Let's see - first, and perhaps most important - my elder daughter has graduated from second-level education (or "high school", if you prefer). She is about to face into her final exams (or "Leaving Cert", if you prefer) and is studying like mad. Last week, there was a "graduation" Mass said in her school. It was very pleasant and somewhat emotional - one does realise the passage of time when one's eldest offspring is finishing school and heading (hopefully) for university. Towards the end of the ceremony, the girls in her year sang Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" a la Jeff Buckley and it brought a tear to my eye - not just for the occasion that was in it, but for the stupendous loss to the world caused by the untimely death of Jeff Buckley. Hmmm... Of course, back in my time, there was no such thing as "graduation". You just "left school". How things have changed...
   
2. I finally got my Rickenbacker bass after almost two years waiting and a snafu with my order. When I opened the case, I was instantly transported back to 1974 when I bought Sparks' "Kimono My House", which featured Martin Gordon playing a Ric 4001 bass. I have lusted after a Ric bass for 34 years and finally got to fulfill my dreams when I opened the new Ric's guitar case and plugged it into my POD. That sound that at the age of 11 convinced me that I should learn to play the bass. 1974 - I mean Jesus!
3. Took Mrs. P to see Bruce Springsteen in Dublin last night. I am not a fan of The Boss, but "the boss" is, so when the tickets came up for sale, I had no hesitation in getting a brace of tickets. Whatever I might think about Springsteen, he puts on a great show with no fancy stagecraft involved. A most enjoyable night all told, but my feet and knees were aching when we got back to the hotel. Gettin' ould, boy...
4. So this morning, we skipped breakfast and went straight to the Dundrum Town Centre, where both Mrs. P and I went for cooked breakfast. Being the gentleman that I am, I paid for both of our breakfasts. The bill came to €13.50. Amazing! I asked the guy at the checkout had he possibly undercharged me. "No", he said, "I charged for everything. Great value, isn't it?" Who was I to disagree? And the fee for 2 hours' parking was only €2. Almost made me feel like moving back to the Big Shmoke. And then I bought 3 hoodies and a polo shirt in Penneys for €32. I know I'm supposed to be concerned about our poor brethren in the Far East who work in intolerable conditions in sweatshops to make such sinfully-cheap clothing. But €32? I mean come on...:-)

Regards,


djp

Ah, nostalgia...

So, I went up to Dublin to collect my iPod yesterday.

Of course, I completely forgot (big eejit that I am) that yesterday was the start of the May Bank Holiday weekend.

Everything was fine (more or less) until I got through that notorious traffic blackspot, Mountrath. On the Dublin side of town, there was a traffic tailback going some 3 or 4 km. I resolved that I was not going to be part of that...

Got to Dublin around 4.10 p.m., did the business (oo, er...) and started to head back to Nenagh around 4.45. It took me 75 minutes to get from the Jervis Street car park to the Red Cow "interchange" (it used to be a "roundabout", now it's an "interchange"...) - a distance, I'm guessing here, of about 6 or 7 km. I don't know if that's the usual length of time it takes to make that journey on a Friday evening, but it brought back memories of the almost-interminable journeys I used to make from Dublin to Kerry back in the 80s - before all the "road improvements" of recent years.

Once I got past Newland's Cross, it was plain sailing. But the thought of a tailback in Mountrath prompted me to consider an alternative route home. I toyed with the idea of turning off the M7 for Abbeyleix and heading toward Cork, turning off the N8 to go to Thurles and then home. But coming towards Mountrath, I realised that I really couldn't be arsed, so I continued on my normal route. The good news was that there wasn't so much of a tailback; more like a go-slow. I drove slowly, but relatively easily, through the town, only losing (according to "Hillary", my GPS guide) about 8 minutes. Got home a little before 8 o'clock. Not bad, really...

My thoughts went back to the earlier tailback going into Mountrath. Obviously, everybody thought they were being clever by leaving Dublin early to avoid the crowd. The fools! Haven't they learnt yet? You can never avoid the crowd...

...makes me glad I moved out of Dublin all those years ago.

Regards,


djp

My Top 10 iPod tracks - 01/05/2008

1. (-) - Love It When You Call - The Feeling
2. (-) - I Am Produced - Guided By Voices
3. (-) - We're Through - The Hollies
4. (-) - Snake Charmer (Live) - Jah Wobble & the Invaders of the Heart
5. (-) - Grace - Jeff Buckley
6. (-) - Mega Bottle Ride - Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros
7. (-) - Isaachar Dub - King Tubby
8. (-) - Wichita Lineman - Sammy Davis Jr.
9. (-) - Pain & Spectacles - Stereolab
10. (-) - No Way Of Knowing - A. Tent

OK, this is where I have a confession to make. This is actually the Top 10 for 21 April, since my iPod has been up in Dublin for the last week or so getting its plugs and points checked. On the assumption that the hard drive might be wiped in the process of maintenance, I backed up all the songs and took my Top 10 from the point of backup.

While the iPod has been in the A&E, I've been using my younger daughter's old iPod Shuffle to keep me musically mobile. For what it's worth (norra lo'...), here's the Top 10 tracks I've been listening to over the past week:-

1. - Get On With Your Short Life - Brian Kennedy
2. - Lady Double Dealer (Live) - Deep Purple
3. - EMI - Sex Pistols
4. - Luno - Bloc Party
5. - Paper - Brometer
6. - Burn (Live) - Deep Purple
7. - Wrong Turnings - Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
8. - Face Like Summer - Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
9. - Beginning Is the End - The Hungry I
10. - Friend, You've Got To Fall - Husker Du

I'm getting the iPod back tomorrow, so normal service will resume shortly.

Regards,


djp

A matter of principle (I suppose)

Over the past few weeks, I've noticed that a number of items I've posted on forums and blogs other than this one have been deleted by the moderators/bloggers.

I have absolutely no problem with this. It's the prerogative of the bloggers or moderators to assess whether any posted items are worthy of publication and are not just the witterings of people (such as I) who occasionally have too many shandies down the Dog and Dinosaur and come home in the wee small hours to type total "ráiméis". The world doesn't need it, quite frankly...

I have this principle that I try to live by:- if it can't happen, it won't happen. This principle can be applied successfully to almost any element of modern, everyday life, not least the posting of idiotic tosh on blogs and such.

So in an effort to make less of a nuisance of myself, I now intend not to look at any blog or forum between today and 1 September next. Just as a trial period. If I can't look at a blog, then I won't post a comment. Seems like a simple proposition...

Regards,


djp

God, Ted, I'm an awful eejit...

I had a dentist's appointment today for 2 p.m., and I forgot it...

I was working "á l'ordinateur" all day today and was quite happily uploading some shite online when the thought crossed my mind that I was supposed to be going to the dentist today...

...checked my watch...

...3.30!

Bollocks...and I wouldn't mind, but I'd thought about the appointment sometime before noon, as in "Mustn't forget to brush, floss and gargle before my dental appointment. At 2.00 p.m."

Losing it bigtime...:-^)

Regards,


djp

Tech trouble

Looks like there could be some significant financial issues ahead...:-)

My 6-year old Dell laptop is due for retirement in the Autumn, but I'm not sure it's going to make it that far. It's a Dell Inspiron, but it's performance these days is dull and uninspiring. It's been very slow to start-up these last two days, at least 15 mins and a couple of "hard-reboots", but unless I really have to, I don't want to splash out on a new laptop in a hurry. I want to do a lot of research and get the best I can afford - when I can afford it...:-)

And then there's my iPod. I reckon the battery's on the fritz, so a trip to Mr. iPod Repair Guy in Dublin looks likely. As it happens, I'm going there next Monday to see Elbow live, so I might just take the iPod along with me to see what happens.

Of course, you'll well remember the little spot of bother I almost got myself into in relation to iPods on Ebay last year. I still wouldn't mind a larger iPod (even an old 60Gb model would do, I'm not terribly fussy). Maybe Mr. iPod Repair Guy might have a re-conditioned model for sale at the right price. Might be worth a try.

We'll see. Whatever happens with either the laptop or the iPod (or both), my credit card might be taking a bit of a hit...:-^)

Regards,


djp

Creative inertia

A few weeks ago, we had problems with leaks from our bathroom into our kitchen.

After much beard tweaking, cursing and swearing (OK, in reality, effin' and blindin'), we discovered that the source of the leaks was a disconnected downpipe in the bathroom w.h.b.

I called Mr. Builder Guy and he sorted out the problem. But it was still necessary to rectify the consequences of the leaks:- water stains on the kitchen ceiling (multiple coats of paint has remedied this) and a jamming kitchen door. Water had been leaking through a small little hole in the edge between the kitchen ceiling and the supporting wall where the door lives. As a result, water had dripped down through the door jamb and on to the door itself, causing it to swell and stick in the doorway.

It had been my intention to sand the area of the door that had swollen. In order to identify that area, I hit upon the delightful wheeze of rubbing pencil graphite on to the door jamb above the door. The graphite would mark the door where it was sticking. Tried it out and, sure enough, it worked - I could see exactly where the door was sticking.

The next step would be to get some sandpaper and, well, sand. However, for whatever reason, I didn't get around to that task. As days passed, the door seemed to be less inclined to stick. Today, I discovered that the door wasn't sticking at all. Obviously, it has dried out in recent days and the swelling has reduced.

So that was a job saved, then...

Sometimes the best thing to do is to do nothing at all. As I say, creative inertia.

Regards,


djp

Wonders will never cease No. 1

I was in Limerick today to pick up some materials from a builders' providers.

Having paid for the materials, I was given a docket and then sent around to the warehouse to make the pickup. Parked the old VW van round the back and went inside to meet the guy with the forklift truck.

I was amazed to hear some familiar music over the speakers in the warehouse:- "Flamenco Sketches" from Miles Davis' "Kind Of Blue" album.

I mean, Miles Davis. In a builders' providers' warehouse.

I blame the Celtic Tiger. Warehouse people won't put up with any old shite being played these days. Only the best.

Far from Miles Davis we were reared. An entire ocean and part of a continent away, in fact.

Regards,


djp

My Top 10 iPod tunes - 01/04/2008

1. (-) - Going Through The Motions - Aimee Mann
2. (-) - Once Upon A Time - Air
3. (-) - Drumnagarry Strathspey/Pirrie Wirrie/Big John's Reel - Altan
4. (-) - Mozart - Rondo Alla Turca - Andrei Gavrilov
5. (-) - If You Were There, Beware - Arctic Monkeys
6. (-) - Turtle - Artery
7. (-) - Penny Lane - The Beatles
8. (-) - No One Will Know - Bella
9. (-) - Stars - The Buzzcocks
10. (-) - T T T - The Buzzcocks

My iPod had one of its occasional total crap-outs (craps-out?) the other day and I had to re-format the damn thing. I also, for the first time, created my own "library" in iTunes. Up to know, the entire family had used the same library, but because of my...er...specialist taste in music, whenever I added anything to my iPod, I always deleted it afterwards from the library. Obviously, the material was either on a hard drive as a download or was on CD, so it was possible (though very painful) to track down all the material I'd had to delete. The whole process ran over three days..:-(

I also took the opportunity to drop some old material I'd been listening to for ages and introduce some new stuff. Plus I allowed myself to sample some of the stuff that my kids had on the main library - I know - taking my life in my hands and that.

Bottom line is - this month's chart bears absolutely no relation to that of last month. Sorry about that, chaps.

It strikes me that this type of thing was never an issue with vinyl - ah, me...

Regards,


djp

Prague Spring, 2008

Last week, I spent a few days in Prague on business. I got the opportunity to bring the family over as well, so I took it.

If you haven't been to Prague before, get ye there as quickly as possible. It's got wonderful architecture in the centre of the city - mindblowing, in fact. Mind you, where we were staying, everything was a bit Stalinist and run-down, working-class. But I got no sense of threat there.

The residents of Prague seem to be courteous, if not exactly friendly, but courteous is fine by me.

Herewith, some pics...

Regards,


djp

Read. Enjoy.

http://byneddiejingo.blogspot.com/2008/03/four-diamond-girl.html


Regards,


djp

Won me a competition...

... on David Cairns' wonderful movie blog, SHADOWPLAY.

Just me waxing a tad lyrical, as I am wont to do. Might even do something with it in the sweet by-and-by.

SHADOWPLAY is well worth checking out on an ongoing basis if you enjoy the world of cinema. Highly recommended!

Regards,


djp

Lotto-explaining-to-do

Last Saturday, the Irish National Lottery jackpot was heading for €10 million. That would buy a lot of Snickers ice cream, don't you think?

I don't play the Lotto terribly often. Usually only when there's a fairly decent jackpot roll-over. I seem to have no gambling gene at all - I'm just not interested. Quite the opposite, in fact - I almost have a pathological fear of being overcome with the gambling fever. So I limit my flutters to an occasional trip to the gee-gees and an (almost) annual bet on the Gunners every August. Not much more than that really.

And when I do the Lotto, more often than not I forget to check the results, so what's the point really? As I said, no gambling gene.

But you can't really ignore a €10 million jackpot, can you?

So on Saturday, I trekked over to Tesco and did my (for want of a better description, given the foregoing) "usual" play - four lines of Quick Pick and Lotto Plus. €8 stake. I walked away from the counter with the Lotto numbers and playslip in my left hand. Just as I was taking a sneaky peak at the front pages on the newspaper stand, I remembered that I needed to buy a ream of printing paper for my PC. I went to the appropriate aisle, found the paper and ventured towards the self-service checkout. Did the needful and emerged at the other side. At that stage I decided to check that I had my Lotto papers intact. To my horror, I discovered that while I had the playslip, I'd lost the actual Lotto numbers. I went back inside the store and re-traced my steps. No sign of the numbers. Obviously, some eagle-eyed passer-by had seen me drop the numbers and decided to help themselves to a free stake in the Lotto draw.

Cursing my stupidity, I went back to the counter and did another €8 play. €16 down - what a plonker...

As I went back to the car, I considered how terrible it would be if someone won the Lotto with my lost numbers, so I offered a silent prayer to the Guy in the Penthouse that no-one from Nenagh would win the jackpot, and guess what...

...there is a Guy in the Penthouse. The jackpot wasn't won at all, in Nenagh or anywhere else, and it rolls over to the next draw on Wednesday. Who knows how much that's going to be worth.

Of course, when I told my tale to Mrs. P, she concurred with my conclusion that I am, indeed, a plonker.

But the story doesn't end there - I decided to check my second set of numbers online and discovered that I'd "matched three" on the Lotto Plus 2 draw. And my prize? A free €1 scratch card. Big whoop - I'll probably forget to claim it or lose the numbers or summat.

As I said, no gambling gene...:-^)

Regards,


djp

Critter Cadaver No. 3 - Dead Mouse

Found at the side of the house yesterday. Panther's handiwork, I'd imagine...

Regards,


djp

My Top 10 iPod tracks - 01/03/2008

1. (1) - Burst Me Stitches (PC Mix) - Daniel Prendiville
2. (2) - Hello? Is This Thing On? - !!!
3. (-) - Sedition's Wish - 31 Knots
4. (-) - Life On Earth - The Divine Comedy
5. (8) - Moanin' The Blues - Hank Williams
6. (3) - Sam's Town - The Killers
7. (4) - Moon (John Peel Session) - Microdisney
8. (-) - Clean Up For Christmas - Aimee Mann
9. (-) - Californie - Air
10. (-) - Everything That's You - Airliner

Regards,


djp

The wanderer returns...

Panther is back! About 15 minutes ago I heard his signature "thump" on the dining-room windowsill as he jumped down from the neighbours' wall. Once I'd opened the window he was straight into the utility room and ate solidly for about five minutes.

God knows where he's been (probably stuck in a shed or garage for a few days - he's lost a bit of weight) but that's not important now because he's back!

And a good thing too, because I was getting lonely looking at the photo...(sniff)

Regards,


djp

Aber, wo ist Panther?

I came back from a business trip in the UK on Saturday. The family (both human and feline) was intact and well.

Saturday, Younger Daughter put out both cats as per normal. Sunday morning, no sign of Panther, our magnificent black (neutered) male. No sign all day Sunday. No sign all day Monday. Or Tuesday. Or this morning.

He has been known to stray a bit in the past, and he does seem to have a rather wide territory. So maybe nothing is amiss. But maybe there is...:-( Hopefully he will turn up soon and all will be forgotten.

Anyway, here's the most recent photo I have of him.

Regards,


djp

My Top 10 iPod tracks - 02/02/2008

1. (-) - Burst Me Stitches (PC Mix) - Daniel Prendiville (honestly, no fix involved, much...)
2. (1) - Hello? Is This Thing On? - !!!
3. (-) - Sam's Town - The Killers
4. (-) - Moon (John Peel Session) - Microdisney
5. (7) - Mixed Bizness - Beck
6. (10) - Child In Time (Live) - Deep Purple
7. (2) - Not Behind The Fighter Jet - Guided By Voices
8. (3) - Moanin' The Blues - Hank Williams
9. (-) - Where White Boys Dance - The Killers
10. (-) - Who Brought The Tootskie? - MJB

Regards,


djp

Critter Cadaver No.2 - Dead Robin

Today's offering is a dead robin found across the road from Kelly's old shop on Gortlandroe.

Anyone familiar with my musical meanderings will recall that I have a particular affinity for robins. If you're not on first-name terms with my back catalogue, you can click on this here link here...

Regards,


djp

Critter Cadaver No. 1 update

As you can see, ol' Ratty Rat is more or less in the same position as when I encountered him first a week ago.

He's looking a little the worse for wear now. Obviously, some live critters have been nosing around the cadaver, like a bunch of four-legged amateur forensic pathologists. And yet no human has done the decent thing and chucked the poor bugger over the fence to moulder away in peace.

Me? Volunteer? How little you know me...:-)

Regards,


djp

Y'wha?

Tesco, for its sins, is regularly involved in product recalls.

Most of the recalls I've seen have been in relation to electrical products. Some items of clothing perhaps.

But the most recent recall caught my eye - it was for a line of navy blue mugs. And the problem that was identified was that the mugs were inclined to crack when filled with boiling water.

I think that bears repeating - the mugs were inclined to crack when filled with boiling water.

I've been using mugs for most of my 45 years now, and practically every mug I've ever used has been subjected to the trauma of being filled with boiling water. None, to the best of my recollection, has ever cracked when filled with boiling water. None.

What is the world coming to when you can't trust a mug not to show signs of ceramic fatigue when they are subjected to what one can safely describe as standard wear and tear? For mugs.

Society is crumbling around our ears, mes braves...:-)

Regards,


djp

Critter Cadaver No. 1 - Dead Rat

Encountered this chappie on my walk on the Nenagh Peripherique yesterday. He's some monster, isn't he? I've never been that up close and...er...personal with a rat that size before. On a walk this morning on the same route he was still there - no-one had made the effort to move it off the path.

I come across quite a number of critter cadavers on my reasonably-regular walks, so much so that I'm inclined to put together an occasional series of blog postings on the subject. Stay tuned, cadaver fans.

Oh, and apologies for the poor quality of the photograph. This was taken on my cheap-and-cheerful Motorola phone. Steps have been taken to improve matters in that regard, so watch this space.

Regards,


djp

Top Of The World

Sad to hear that Edmund Hillary died, at the age of 88. He had a surprisingly long life, considering that he peaked so early...

Regards,


djp

Break the mould

Got an e-mail from Bob Mould today. Just thought I'd say...

Regards,


djp

Cello-fain

Anyone who's been reading this blog with any degree of regularity will realise that, despite my natural sense of financial rectitude, I am occasionally prone to the odd outbreak of bizarre fiscal immoderacy (is that a word?). In other words, every now and then I spend a shitload of money on something that I cannot justify to those near and dear to me.

You might well remember, for example, my experience with Ebay and the iPods going back a few months.

It's not that I'm naturally extravagant. It's just that, from time to time, I get this urge to spend some money on something that I don't really need, but that, on the spur of the moment, I feel will enhance my life immeasurably. This doesn't happen too often, but when it does, it tends to upset the delicate balance of my life for a few days, after which things progress exactly as they had theretofore, except I've now got yet another item to clutter up my already cluttered-up existence.

Mc.Carneys is a shop in Nenagh which specialises in rather fine pieces of furniture and (occasionally) musical instruments. They have a reputation for sourcing good secondhand pianos, for instance. We've bought some nice pieces of furniture there over the years. And yes, that's where we bought our piano back in the dim-and-distant. I must admit, however, that I haven't gone into the shop for a few years.

Another feature of the shop is the fine window displays, which never fail to delight and to tempt one with beautiful items of furniture, crockery and the devil knows what.

Last week, I was passing the shop when my eye was caught by, of all things, a cello. A cello. For something like €250. I've no idea whether it was a full-size cello or a student model, or whether it was in good nick or riddled with woodworm. It didn't really mater - its very presence in Mc. Carneys' window was enough to send me off on a riff.

Being a bass player, there is a natural attraction for me to the cello. It's not as big, unwieldy and expensive as a double bass, but being a bowed, unfretted instrument it would present a serious challenge to my severely-limited musical abilities, but one which the eternal optimist in me would not be able to resist. Some day, if you buy me enough Bacardi and Coke, I'll tell you the sad and sorry tale of the time I bought a fretless Fender Jazz Bass (OK, it wasn't a bowed instrument but it was definitely fretless).

Knowing my pre-existing proclivity for buying musical instruments that I can't actually play (like a 12-string acoustic guitar, a lap steel guitar and a mandolin), I knew that if I didn't walk past that window very quickly, I'd have some explaining to do to the long-suffering Mrs. P. ("you bought a WHAT?"). Even my impending 45th. birthday would not justify buying a damn cello. And then I'd have to get it re-strung for a lefty. Is that possible? So many reasons not to buy.

That was last week...

...today, I was "working" at home when, for no reason I can fathom, I got the notion to head down to see if the cello was still in Mc. Carneys' window. And if it was there, shur maybe I'd have a good look at it. What harm could it do, for God's sake? And even if I did decide to buy, €250 would hardly breach the family's finances that much, would it?

So downtown I went. And having stopped off to drop a pair of trousers at the dry cleaners (I wasn't wearing them when I dropped them, so no sniggering at the back), I wandered over to Mc. Carneys. No sign of it in the window. Then I entered the shop and had a quick recce. No sign of it anywhere. A wave of relief washed over me - I wouldn't have to get the cello re-strung at God knows what cost. I wouldn't have to sneak it into the house away from the prying eyes of my bemused neighbours and then have to explain to Mrs. P and the young'uns why the hell a middle-aged man had gone and bought a cello (other than the fact that I am middle-aged and it is a cello - I mean come on...). And I would have had to be upfront about the purchase since I've now officially run out of hiding places to stash musical instruments that no-one knows I've bought. So, counting my blessings, I left Mc. Carneys - without a cello but with my bank balance intact.

And yet... I couldn't shake the thought of how cool it would have been to segue from "Anyone who's been reading this blog...cluttered-up existence" to "And so I bought a cello."

Regards,


djp

Some New Year's resolutions

1. To eat sushi for the first time
2. To get to see Arsenal play at least once this year
3. To visit a country I've never been to before (this one is looking good...)
4. To start cycling again as soon as the weather improves (this one is not looking good...)
5. To generally get the oul' bod a bit more together
6. To move house
7. To either change my car or keep it for longer
8. To have a better year at work than I had last year (which wasn't bad, but had its "moments")
9. To see friends more
10. To stop wrecking me own head

That'll do for starters...

Regards,

djp

My Top 10 iPod tunes - 01/01/2008

1. (1) - Hello? Is This Thing On? - !!!
2. (-) - Not Behind The Fighter Jet - Guided By Voices
3. (4) - Moanin' The Blues - Hank Williams
4. (-) - Le Printemps - Natacha Atlas
5. (-) - The Tourist - Radiohead
6. (2) - Teddy Picker - Arctic Monkeys
7. (3) - Mixed Bizness - Beck
8. (-) - Manchester (demo) - Brendan James
9. (-) - (White Man) In Hammersmith Palais - The Clash
10. (-) - Child In Time (live) - Deep Purple

Regards (and Happy New Year...)

djp

Dead Pop Heroes No. 6

The one and only Ian Dury, if only for writing this...

Regards,


djp

Dead Pop Heroes No. 5

This just in on Joe Dolan. Scarily, Joe's Wikipedia entry was updated within hours of the ann0uncement.

Regards,


djp

Dead Pop Heroes No. 4

The incomparable Bernard Edwards...

Regards,


djp

Dead Pop Heroes No. 3

Let's hear it for John Entwistle. Who?

Regards,


djp

Dead Reggae Heroes

Augustus Pablo and King Tubby.

Regards,


djp

Dead Pop Heroes No. 2

And then there's Jeff Buckley.

Regards,


djp

Dead Pop Heroes No. 1

Aujourd'hui, voici Billy Mackenzie.

Regards,


djp

(B)eMusic

Being the cheapskate bastard that I am, I usually check out eMusic on a daily basis for their free daily download. I will generally download anything other than R&B/urban/hip-hop. A guy has to have some standards after all...

However, today I noticed that the free download track had already been made available for free some weeks ago. You'd think with all the music on the internet nowadays that it would be impossible for eMusic to repeat themselves. This is obviously not the case.

Yours (B)eMused,


djp

Shave and a haircut (without the shave)

I'd left my hair grow for over six months - just before going on holidays in June of this year - and today I finally decided to cut it myself. It had gone all lank and greasy, and while I'm not averse to washing my hair, it was getting to the stage where I'd have to wash it every day, which would be a nuisance. So I'm back to a nice tidy crew-cut, a bit longer than I used to have it.

I'd never grown my hair very long before, and this was longer than I'd ever had it. So I can count this as one of my "100 things to do before I die". Not that I've been keeping a strict count, don't you know...

Regards,


djp

Odd-shaped balls

I had a dream last night that I was picked for the Irish Rugby team (don't ask how that came to pass - I have no idea and neither do the IRFU).

Anyway, I found myself in the Irish dressing room on match day. The atmosphere wasn't great. There were all these rules that I was breaking out of total ignorance - "Don't talk too loud, Eddie hates it before a match"/"You can't sit there, that's Bod's spot"/Hey, mind Rog's bag!" That type of thing.

Naturally, with that type of vibe, coupled with the fact that I have never played rugby in my life (and against the All-Blacks, probably, no less...), I was feeling rather jittery and was not at all enjoying myself.

Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, I had a very strong need to find a tradesman to tarmac the drive. I had no idea who to contact. I asked around the dressing room. Most of the guys were deep in pre-match concentration and either totally ignored me or told me (quite rightly, I felt) to fuck off.

Only Paul O'Connell gave me the time of day. He said that Peter Stringer had loads of contacts in the building trade and he gives me Strings' mobile number (where Strings was, I have no idea - he was definitely picked for the match but was nowhere to be found).

I dialled the number and introduced myself. "Hi, Peter, you don't know me but I'm on the team for the match today..."

"Oh right", said Strings, sounding a bit distracted.

"Paul O'Connell tells me you might know a guy who's good at tarmac..."

"What?!" came the incredulous response. I have no doubt he was wondering who the hell was this clown at the other end of the line. But I had no choice but to repeat myself and press onwards - if I was going to be sharing the park with Strings, then I was going to have to act like a man.

"Ah", Strings said eventually, "right. I know a guy. He's not cheap, but he's good and I reckon he's available." He gave me the guy's name. It took a number of attempts as the line was very bad. I got it down eventually but I wouldn't vouch for the accuracy of the spelling.

"Have you a number for him", I asked. He had to think about this for a while. The line went quiet, so I asked him again. "Hould tough, pal, I'm thinking - right".

So he gave me a number. I had to ask him to repeat it a few times, as I couldn't hear all the numbers and I wasn't sure about the format.

"Look, I have to go", String said at last. "I've got to get to the match". "Right", sez I, "I'll see you later".

I gazed down at the piece of paper on which I had written the number. There was an obvious look of puzzlement and bewilderment on my face, as Paul O'Connell came over to me and asked was everything OK.

"This number - I'm not sure that it's a valid phone number", I said. "Here, let me have a look", said Paul. We both perused the paper for a moment, and then the penny dropped for us both simultaneously.

"It's not a phone number at all..." I said. "...it's a VAT number!" said Paul.

We looked at each other and shook our heads.

"Tcheh! That's Strings for you", Paul laughed.

Regards,


djp

A bit of an achievement

Last Friday, for the first time ever I reckon, I composed and recorded a song in a morning. The drums were supplied by my friend, Ian C Stewart, and I recorded bass, two guitar parts and vocals myself. I made up the vocals pretty much on the spot over a couple of takes. I haven't worked anything remotely like that fast in about 11 years, when I did a few songs on 4-track.

Keep an ear out for "Burst Me Stitches" in the coming months...:-)

Regards,


djp

My Top 10 iPod tracks - 01/12/2007

1. (-) - Hello? Is This Thing On? - !!!
2. (3) - Teddy Picker - Arctic Monkeys
3. (-) - Mixed Bizness - Beck
4. (-) - Moanin' The Blues - Hank Williams
5. (-) - Where White Boys Dance - The Killers
6. (-) - Sulk - Radiohead
7. (1) - Getting Involved - Scott Brookman
8. (2) - Suicide (live) - Thin Lizzy
9. (-) - Schubert - Excerpt from Adagio - Quintet in C - Barrington Pheloung
10. (-) - One Love - Bob Marley & The Wailers

Regards,

djp

Third thing

Apropos my previous blog, it looks like the third thing has happened to one of the two people involved in the other two things.

In fact, it might actually be a variation of one of those things. If so, then it some ways things have improved, but in other ways they could have gotten a whole lot worse.

I'll help where I can, of course, but this sounds like a job for a pro...

Regards,


djp

In Threes

Within the last few days, and in the course of the same week, two people, both friends - one particularly close, have given me practically identical, bad, news.

Given the old saying that bad news comes "in threes", and being of a mildly superstitious nature, I'm now beginning to wonder who is going to be the next person and what misfortune will they suffer.

Or will it be me? Everything's going fine chez moi (touch MDF) but who can tell from which angle the bad news bearer will strike.

Back to the duvet, methinks...

Regards,


djp

My Top 10 iPod tracks - 01/11/2007

1. (-) - Getting Involved - Scott Brookman
2. (4) - Suicide (live) - Thin Lizzy
3. (5) - Teddy Picker - Arctic Monkeys
4. (1) - Manchester (demo) - Brendan James
5. (2) - Child In Time (live) - Deep Purple
6. (-) - _:;_:;_:; - Dissonant Elephant
7. (-) - You Make Me Feel So Young - Frank Sinatra
8. (-) - Ice Cold Ice - Husker Du
9. (3) - Jackson - Johnny Cash
10. (-) - Babylon System - Linval Thompson

Regards,

djp

I probably shouldn't admit this, but...

This afternoon, for the first time in, oh, well over 10 years, I decided to go for a little jog.

Little being the operative word. There's a sports field across the road from us and tonight a "municipal" Hallowe'en fireworks show is being organised in the field. Most of the field has been cordoned off to facilitate this, leaving a small, vaguely-rectangular section left for free access. I'd be embarrassed to tell you just how small that area is, but I managed four "circuits" of the area, topped-and-tailed with warm-up/warm-down walking circuits. The whole thing took me about 20 mins. I know...

...but you see, I want to be able to try it again tomorrow and the next day. There's no point in my trying to take on a huge (for me) physical challenge if I'm bolloxed for a week after doing it. And given my physiology, there's a very good chance that I could drop dead if I take too much on (that's my excuse anyway).

Wish me luck as I try to get into a routine on this...

Regards,


djp

Feeling much better today, thanks for asking...

Back to nearly normal today. Sinutab is a wonderful thing altogether...:-)

Spent yesterday under a sleeping bag in the front room, watching way too much soccer on Setanta Sports. Man U v Boro was a free-flowing 4-1 victory for the home team (though I'm not a big fan of Man U), while Portsmouth v West Ham went on for what seems like 3 hours - (0-0).

Like most people, I have a stockpile of DVDs and recorded TV that I put aside for sick days, but your man the sinus is a bugger for screwing up the powers of concentration. I would have had difficulty in keeping up with the plot of yer average Tom & Jerry cartoon, whereas soccer is something I look at rather than watch. I just let it wash all over me, to be truthful.

Improvement continues. Got to get out of the house today for some fresh air.

Regards,


djp

Not well...

Feeling like shite today. Sinus is at me. Painful this morning but easing off slowly. Feeling a bit groggy though. Nice way to start a weekend, eh?

Bummer,


djp

Road Rage

I've been a latent sufferer from road rage for years. Y'see I like driving a lot - it's part of what defines me, I feel - behind the wheel of a big, powerful car, devouring the road as the miles whizz by. Never driving terribly fast, of course - I tend to stick to the speed limits except when overtaking, which, though not strictly legal, is fair enough I reckon.

Passengers in my car are, from time to time, treated to expressions of anguish and rage as I travel around, especially in Nenagh. The standard of driving in Ireland is appalling it has to be said, but particularly so in Nenagh, where certain peculiarities of the physical layout of the town make driving especially unpleasant.

Take the "virtual" roundabouts, for instance. There are two of them in Nenagh at key junctions. Neither of the junctions are really wide enough to facilitate the roundabouts, but there they are nonetheless. It has to be said that they are a marked improvement on what was there before - traffic lights. Before it was bypassed some years ago, Nenagh used to be on the N7, the main road from Dublin to Limerick. On Bank Holiday weekends, the traffic through the town was incredibly heavy, making it next to impossible to drive from one part of the town to the other (and Nenagh ain't a big town). Then some bright spark realised that part of the problem was the sequencing of the traffic lights - it just couldn't cope with the increased traffic flow. Mr. Bright Spark came up with the wonderful idea of switching off the traffic lights at weekends and, hey presto, the traffic flowed - slowly but smoothly. Once everyone realised that the lights were off, they approached the junctions with caution and common sense. Everyone got through the junctions and I've never heard of any serious accidents occurring as a result of Mr. Bright Spark's brainwave.

So the next logical step was to remove the traffic lights, which was done a couple of years ago. Initially, the roundabouts were denoted by low, circular plastic domes, like big hubcaps in the centres of the roundabouts, but these disappeared within a few weeks. Now there's a large circle painted in each centre.

The warm and fuzzy afterglow of Mr. Bright Spark's moment of inspiration quickly faded when some clueless dimwit decided that what was "really" needed to enhance the roundabouts were pedestrian crossings. Take the "virtual" roundabout at the T-junction on Pearse Street and Kickham Street. Taking the centre of the roundabout as, well, the centre of the roundabout, each "branch" radiating from the centre has a pedestrian crossing, situated possible no more than 10m from the centre in each direction. That's very tight, as I'm sure you will agree, and makes for slow progress. It is not uncommon for one to have to stop at, say, Crossing A to let a pedestrian cross Kickham Street and then, after turning left into Pearse Street to have to stop at Crossing B to let that same pedestrian cross Pearse Street. This would be bad enough if the pedestrian in question was doing the decent thing and thinking, "ooh, I'm holding up that good-looking young man in that lovely Lexus - I'd better hurry along and let him go on his way." But no. Pedestrians, when approaching the crossings in Nenagh, seem to slip into a parallel universe where they drift (rather than stroll) across the road, all the while wondering "did I turn off the immersion?" or "should I have eaten that tin of dog-food?" in a state closely resembling somnambulism.

When I was growing up, there was a slew of road safety short films on the telly. One that I remember particularly well was the film which clearly stated that before using a pedestrian crossing, the pedestrian was supposed to put one foot on the road to signal her/his intent to cross. I seem to be the only person in Ireland who remembers that short film, and quite clearly, nobody has told anybody in the last forty years that you can't just waltz onto a zebra crossing as if you're the Sultan of Brunei. Because that's what they do - they don't even look up to see if any car is approaching - it's a case of "oh, there's the bank, must get some cash from the Drinklink machine". About two years ago, as I was approaching the above-mentioned Crossing B, this rather large, hair-straightened, fake-tanned, bottle blonde with an arse the size of Lichtenstein, chatting with her mate, decided that now was the time to cross the street to buy a packet of fags. So she stepped out in front of me just like that. I had to jam-on the brakes in order to avoid a collision. All I got for my trouble was "the look" (insolence mixed with aggression, as if to say "go on, I dare ya. Hit me. A nice compo claim would pay for two weeks in Ibiza"). Good job I didn't hit her - her enormous posterior would've made shite of the front of the Lexus and she'd've hardly felt a thing...

So, between the pedestrian crossings and the articulated trucks trying to negotiate the implausible junction between Pearse Street and McDonagh Street and the loolahs with the Burberry caps doing 180s in the middle of the road with their stupid, souped-up Civics, you'll understand that I'm not a big fan of the "virtual" roundabouts...

...but that's not what I'm here about today.

At the end of the school run, having passed the library, the entrance to Ormond Keep and the pedestrian crossing (and speed bump) at the boy's primary school, one then comes upon an "offset" crossroads (not sure if I'm explaining this properly, but the turns to the left (Melrose) and right (the New Line) are not directly aligned to each other). Anyhow, at the crossroads I normally turn right to head down towards Tesco and then out the Borrisokane Road to go onto the Peripherique...

...normally, that is, except for this morning. The traffic had stopped for some unknown reason and there were two cars ahead of me. There are some extensive roadworks being carried out at the moment about 200m straight through the crossroads on the Dromin Road. I thought that there might be a traffic jam up ahead which had extended back towards me. A certain amount of jigging-about in my seat and peering intently into the distance indicated that there was no traffic jam. What I did see was some lady in a Laguna coming off the New Line very tentatively onto the crossroads itself. I just got the impression that the lady was not at all sure that she should be doing what she was doing...

...and the only reason she was doing what she was doing was that the clown (politeness prevents me from calling the person a Total Fecking Gobshite) two cars ahead of me, who was supposedly driving straight through the crossroads and who had the right-of-way, decided that today was the day to be polite to other road users. So he/she/it just stopped in the middle of the road and let Laguna Lady through the junction. Now, I wouldn't have minded if the road ahead of the TFG had been jammed with traffic and the said person was trying not to block Laguna Lady's progress. But no - there was no blockage. The TFG just stopped the car in the middle of the road and effectively said, "after you, m'dear..."

And to make matters worse, the TFG then turned his/her/its attention to the lady in the Peugeot coming from the Melrose side of the crossroads and decided to wave her along too.

At this, I lost the rag completely. I pulled the car out on the wrong side of the road, and just as Madame Peugeot turned through the crossroads, I jammed-on the brakes, blared the horn (not at Madame Peugeot (other than to warn her of my presence on the wrong side of the road) but at the TFG) and then proceeded to turn onto the New Line, using all 240 of the Lexus' bhp to spin the rear wheels spectacularly and noisily. I high-tailed it home before the shock of the incident hit me.

I'm not proud of what happened. Nobody got hurt, but they could've so easily. My apologies to Madame Peugeot.

But the point I want to make ("at last", sez you) is this. There are formal rules governing the use of the roads and highways. But there is also an unspoken code whereby other motorists have a legitimate expectation that you, as a motorist, will assert your own rights on the road. And not act like the clowns in Ireland who, when on "proper" roundabouts (thereby having the right of way to proceed through the roundabout), decide to stop on the roundabout to let someone else (who doesn't have the right of way) onto the roundabout. Just imagine the scenario. The clown is free to enter the roundabout, as there is no traffic either on the roundabout already or approaching from the right. Clown enters the roundabout. You are behind Clown, and as there still is no traffic approaching from the right and as Clown is in motion, you feel safe to follow. But then Clown decides "oh, there's Mrs. Smith. She wants to get onto the roundabout", so Clown stops and you plough into Clown's tail - with no leg to stand on as the following car is generally deemed to be at fault for travelling too close to the car in front. Even though if Clown had kept going, you would have been a perfectly safe distance behind.

I mean, Jesus Christ, how thick can people be?

Rant over...

Regards,


djp

My Top 10 iPod tracks - 01/10/2007

1. (9) - Manchester (demo) - Brendan James
2. (-) - Child In Time (live) - Deep Purple
3. (-) - Jackson - Johnny Cash
4. (-) - Suicide (live) - Thin Lizzy
5. (6) - Teddy Pickers - Arctic Monkeys
6. (-) - Supercharge Dub - Augustus Pablo
7. (-) - Let's Go Away For A While - The Beach Boys
8. (-) - Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want - Clayhill
9. (1) - Scream Like A Baby - David Bowie
10. (-) - American Rock - Denim

Regards,

djp

Mousecapades

OK, this is going to be a long one, so if you've got something you need to do, do it right now and get back to me later, OK?

Long-standing (or even sitting) readers of this blog will recall that some months ago, one of our cats, Li'l Momma, went missing. She came back after a week, but a couple of weeks later she disappeared again and hasn't been seen since. Presumably, she's MIA(oww).

For the record...



Anyway, we still have two other cats:-



Panther...





... and Poppy
Panther is an elegant cat - slightly aloof but generally quite amenable. Poppy, on the other hand, is a bit of a loony. She's fat and ungainly and she snores. She loves attention but she's a tad narky.

Both cats are inclined to hunt, and I have had to dispose of the remains of dead chicks and mice (generally the tail-ends thereof) on many an occasion.

Which makes this tale rather odd and very remarkable...

A few weeks ago, I looked out our kitchen window and saw a shape on the concrete path under the rotary clothesline. This is normally the pickup place for the half-carcasses, so I assumed that what I was looking at now was the end result of a night's hunting. Some minutes later I was out in the back garden and as I passed near the clothesline, I looked across to the concrete path...and noticed that the shape was moving, almost imperceptibly.

At this stage, I reckoned that the beast was seriously injured and that I might have to put it out of its misery in some way. While I was pondering how I was going to do this, Poppy wandered over to the path and stood directly over the beast.

On closer investigation, I saw that the beast seemed to be a field mouse and that it was still alive. I reckoned that it must be in some state of shock (I'd seen this previously with a pet rabbit which had escaped from its hutch and which had been cornered by a cat - it just froze from fright).

Well, there wasn't much I could do for the field mouse, and I had other things to do anyway, so I left it to the tender mercies of Poppy and went about my business.

About an hour later, I came back to garden and saw that the field mouse was still there, with no sign of Poppy. It was still moving very slowly and slightly. I went to the garden shed to get something and on my return, I noticed that the field mouse had actually turned around 180 degrees.

Next thing I knew, Poppy came back on the scene and approached the field mouse in a threatening manner. The field mouse decided at this stage to make a dart for freedom. Poppy followed slowly. I feared that Poppy might make a lunge for the field mouse, so I clapped my hands loudly. If I did, the field mouse leapt into the air, and if s/he did that, Poppy did likewise, chasing the field mouse towards the garden shed and eventually grabbing the beast in her mouth. I chased Poppy around the back of the shed. Poppy, not used to being chased, panicked and let the field mouse drop from her mouth - the field mouse, cleverly, ran under the shed, where Poppy, in all her obesity, couldn't follow.

So far so good, but it gets better...

... a few hours later, I was again out in the back garden and there was Poppy, standing guard over her little friend again. This time, I decide to intervene. I got a fire shovel and tried to scoop up the field mouse. My plan was to get the mouse onto the shovel and then try to "dump" it into the ditch at the back of the house. But I had never tried to get a live field mouse onto a fire shovel before - the field mouse was definitely having none of it, so after a few minutes I abandoned my efforts. The field mouse ran in under the oil tank for the central heating and disappeared.

End of story?

No, because a few weeks later, I looked out the kitchen window again, and there was Poppy, playing with her field mouse friend again. Bizarrely, it almost seems as if Poppy had adopted the beast as her pet (or her plaything). Certainly, no harm was coming to the field mouse...

...and from that day to this, there has been no trace of a half-dismembered field mouse in the back garden.

Strange or what?

Regards,

djp

Athens

I was in Athens last week for a few days on business. In many ways, it's like Lisbon. Some nice old buildings (and I don't mean the Parthenon...) but a city badly in need of a few billion euro being spent on it.

Like in Lisbon, the natives of Athens are not particularly friendly (the impatient saleslady in the icon shop being a case in point), but they are marginally more polite than their colleagues in Portugal.

Weather was very pleasant - 31c last Saturday, and neither particularly humid nor hot on the skin. Good weather for walking around in.

Athens wouldn't be in my top 10 cities in the world, but I'd certainly consider a short winter break there if I got a good deal.

Regards,


djp

So...

...I've finally worked out how to put a title on my postings. Of course, all you guys are breaking your holes laughing at me because you knew how to do it all along and I didn't. But I'm only a t'ick Paddy - how am I supposed to know this stuff???

Regards,


djp

My Top 10 iPod tracks - 01/09/2007

1. (-) - Scream Like A Baby - David Bowie
2. (-) - Enemies - The Radiators
3. (-) - Enough Time - The Stranglers
4. (-) - Selling Yourself Short - What Made Milwaukee Famous
5. (-) - Keep On Trying Version - The Aggrovators
6. (-) - Teddy Pickers - Arctic Monkeys
7. (-) - Danger In Your Eyes - Aswad
8. (-) - Weissensee - Autechre
9. (-) - Manchester (demo) - Brendan James
10. (-) - I'm In Great Shape/I Wanna Be Around/Workshop - Brian Wilson

Regards,

djp

No Stone Unthrown

Our office borders on to a local council estate. Along the boundary wall on the council estate side there is a green area which is something like 40-50 yds long. On our office side there are car parking spaces. The office building is maybe 10-20 yds away from the boundary wall.

There have been recent incidents of people throwing (or otherwise propelling) golf balls at the office windows directly parallel to the green area. Nobody knows who is breaking the windows, but it would not be unreasonable to at least suspect that some of the vandals might, perhaps, be residents of the council estate (all those qualifications...).

Yesterday, at work, one of the lads in the office mentioned that there were kids throwing stones at the cars parked in the spaces along the boundary wall. I decided to do a bit of discreet investigation, so I went to the gents' convenience which overlooks the boundary wall.

Looking out the window, there was little to be seen initially. There was some bits and pieces of assorted junk in the green area and what looked like a young tree which had been knocked over or cut down. Within a minute or so, this young boy, possibly 9 or 10 years old, light hair and wearing a purplish hoody, strolled onto the green area, followed quickly thereafter by another young boy with a light blue T-shirt and dark hair. He was probably around the same age as Hoody. The last of the trio to appear was a little girl with long blonde hair, tied back in a pony-tail. She was 5 or 6 years old max.

Suspecting that something was about to happen, I opened the convenience window a crack more to get a better view. Within a minute, Hoody had hauled himself up the boundary wall and was (for want of a better expression) draped over it. Next thing, he starts throwing small pebbles at the windscreen of a Citroen Xsara Picasso that was directly in front of him. After another minute, he progressed to pouring gravel onto the bonnet of the car from some form of container like a cocoa tin.

At this point, I decided to ring our building managers to advise them of the situation.

Bad and all as Hoody had been up to this stage, he really stepped over the line when he started dropping rocks onto the bonnet of the Citroen. Whatever damage the pebbles and gravel might have done, there was no doubt that the rocks were doing serious harm.

I got out my camera phone and tried to take some photos of the carry-on, but I was not at all confident that they would come out OK. So I decided to shout out the window at Hoody, who by this stage had slid down from the wall and was ambling around the green area.

"Hoi", I shouted, "I've got your picture on my camera!".

Hoody merely pulled his hood over his head, covered his face with his hand á la Martin Cahill and flipped me the bird.

While all this was going on, little Blondey was running around the green area having a great time. When I shouted at her that I was going to take her picture, she shouted back to me "I don't give TWO SHITS!"

All three kids then proceeded to hide behind the felled tree.

When I was kid (and up to divilment as was my wont from time to time), I'd practically crap meself if some adult caught me in the act and shouted at me. But now...

Well, you know, at this stage, there really wasn't much point doing anymore about this. The appropriate authorities had been informed, so I want back to my desk and discussed the issue with my colleagues.

Apparently the cops turned up to hunt the kids away, but they came back within minutes.

I don't know what the fallout of this will be. I don't know if the kids were local to the estate, and I'm not saying that they are, but it would not be unreasonable to at least suspect...

Regards,


djp

Warning!!!

...and speaking of iPods...

Do NOT download/install Version 7.3.2.6 of iTunes. It totally screwed up my iPod, requiring me to "restore" the device and re-load my tunes, which was a real pain in the bum as I had more tunes archived than I have capacity to play on the iPod, so I had to go through the archive and select tracks individually. I almost got RSI as a result.

And of course, playlists and count info were lost as a result. Bum-mer.

Essentially, iTunes would not eject the iPod properly, so any changes would not be saved. After much to-ing and fro-ing (incl. several deletions/reloads of iTunes), I finally got the software to work using Version 7.2. Everything is tickety-boo on a going forward basis.

Seems there's a lot of grief on the Apple forums in relation to V.7.3.2.6 and Apple appear to be less than helpful in their responses ("OK, is the iPod connected? OK, are you wearing odd socks?").

It's always useful to keep things in perspective and my tribulations with iTunes are as nothing when compared to the plight of those poor souls in Darfur, but I really hate it when shit I've paid for doesn't work.

Speaking of which, my Canon printer is on the blink. Always happens when I change cartridges...

Regards,


djp

A close shave

I suppose I can count this as a lucky escape...

I have been an enthusiastic user of most aspects of the internet since 1996, and although I've had a few "moments" online (principally, the occasional "flame war" between various people who, like me, really had too much time on their hands and should have been living in the real world for a change), I've never really had a serious problem to date.

Until this week, that is...

...it all started with my damn iPod. It's only (listen to him - "only") a 30 Gb model and I have maxed it out on a number of occasions, so a half-notion was half-forming in my head that maybe I should trade up to a larger model. And everything would've been fine if that half-notion had remained in its incomplete state and locked away in the old noodle...

...unfortunately, last Sunday, after a nice trip to the local pizzeria where a rather lovely pepperoni pizza was washed down by a rather fine South African Merlot, to be followed by more than one digestif in the local boozer, I arrived home after midnight, feeling nicely anaesthetised. And instead of doing the right thing (i.e. going straight to bed and having a nice little kip for meself) what did I do but log onto Ebay.

Now, I'm a great lad for setting retroactive rules and breaking them proactively. And the greatest (and most broken) of all these rules is "Never Go Online Drunk". How do you think all those "flame wars" mentioned above started? Normally I'm a quiet, reserved individual with little to say for myself and with a deep respect for the opinions of my fellow human beings. But after a few beers, I can get a little...er...assertive. Always, in retrospect, I chide myself most severely for the stupidity of my actions which are utterly predictable and totally avoidable. But how quickly we forget.

Anyway, I think you can see how this tale is developing:-

1. - perceived need for a new iPod
2. - rather a lot of liquid ballast on board
3. - Ebay

In the space of about ten minutes, I was "inspired" to put bids on 8 separate 80Gb iPods. Now, in fairness to me, the maximum bid I put on each of the iPods was significantly less than what I expected the yokes to go for in auction. But that's not the point - worst case scenario, if each of those bids had, for whatever reason, been successful, I would have been the befuddled owner of 8 iPods at a cost to the exchequer of about €1,800.

OK, I would probably would have been able to move my surplus on through Ebay, but how long would it take to do that? And would I make my money back?

So, you can understand how I felt on Monday morning when I'd realised what I'd done ("blind panic" would be a pretty good description) . I logged onto Ebay to see how things were going, and realised with horror that I was the top bidder for all 8 iPods. Now, all of the auctions had different finishing times, so in one sense the potential financial calamity I faced was somewhat diluted. Having said that, the agony was also prolonged, in that it would take a number of days for all the auctions to work through the system.

You must understand that it's not as if I've never been on Ebay before. I know how these auctions work - long periods of relative inactivity, and then a flurry of bidding and counter-bidding as the auction comes to a close. So logic told me that there really was no problem - I'd be outbid in all auctions and I'd live to tell this as an amusing tale to the lads in the tea-break next week. But logic is a poor friend to have when you're looking at the auctions regularly and seeing little sign of being outbid.

Of course, the story ends well. I was outbid on all 8 auctions, so I have come through the experience with my finances intact, my slack ways identified and a strict vow of sobriety online proposed (again).

I could still do with a bigger iPod though...:-)

Regards,

djp

My Top 10 iPod tracks - 01/08/2007

1. (3) - My Favourite Game - The Cardigans
2. (-) - Europop - The Divine Comedy
3. (-) - Sunbursts In - Eyeless In Gaza
4. (5) - Easy Love - Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
5. (-) - This Earth That You Walk Upon - Simple Minds
6. (-) - Masquerade - The Skids
7. (7) - One My Love - Sly & Robbie
8. (-) - Cold Sweat - Albert King
9. (2) - Message Oblique Speech - The Associates
10. (-) - One Way Ticket - The Darkness

Regards,

djp

I wash me face, I wash me hands, I wash me...

Got back yesterday from my trip to London. All tired and shopped-out, but it was worth it. And Arsenal won the Emirates Cup too, so everyone was happy (apart from the fans of Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan and Valencia that is...)

Taking things nice and easy today. Back to work tomorrow.

Exciting life I lead, eh?

Regards,


djp

Ticketmaster puzzle

Last Sunday, we were supposed to be going to the All-Ireland Hurling Quarter Finals in Croke Park, where Tipperary were to play Wexford and Kilkenny to play Galway. Unfortunately, due to the death of the Kilkenny keeper's wife in a car-crash, the games were postponed to this coming Saturday...

...which was somewhat unfortunate for me in that I had already booked to go to London to watch Arsenal play in the Emirates Cup. Double-booked as it were.

I'd booked the e-tickets for Croker off Ticketmaster, one each for Mrs et moi and one for Younger Daughter. The GAA said that refunds were available from point of sale but the Ticketmaster website was a little bit ambiguous in relation to refunds. I eventually found a part of their site which related to cancellations and reschedulings. Essentially, it said to return the tickets to the Customer Service office in Dubln by secure post.

Mrs and YD decided that they would go to the games anyway, so I was only looking for a refund for my own ticket. Yesterday, I wrote to Ticketmaster, enclosing my e-ticket and requesting my refund. I sent it off to Dublin by registered post - cost me €5, which I thought was a bit stiff, but still...

In my letter to Ticketmaster I said I would also be sending them the text of my letter by e-mail. Given the tight timescale involved, I didn't want to give Ticketmaster the opportunity to welsh on the deal by saying that they hadn't received my letter in time. Safety first, doncha know.

I sent off the e-mail before I headed to the Post Office with my letter. Imagine my surprise when I got back from the Post Office to find an e-mail in my inbox, telling me that my refund had been processed already.

Quick response time, I acknowledge, but I wonder would the e-mail have been sufficient to get my refund? Did I really have to spend €5 to send my letter and e-ticket to Dublin?

Puzzling, but in the context of the tragic accident in Kilkenny, hardly of the highest importance in the overall scheme of things...

Regards,


djp

Ingmar Bergman

The combination of the appalling weather we've been having over here for over a month (36 days since there was a totally dry one, apparently) and the fact that TV is usually crap over the summer meant that last night, I actually found myself watching an Ingmar Bergman movie, "Journey into Autumn" (I think).

I'd never watched a Bergman movie before and I only stuck with this one for about 30 mins. Can't say if Bergman's characters are typical Swedes - I only know one Swedish chap personally and he's a real family man.

Let's just say that the movie was beautifully photographed (it was) and the B/W print was gorgeous (it was, lovely and warm in an "analogue" sort of way). I've never been in Stockholm apart for a few hours spent in transit at the airport, but the location shots looked very attractive - very European in a way that Dublin isn't. Of course, the film came out in 1955, so the locations are probably all demolished at this stage. Might travel to Stockholm some time, but it would help if they had the euro...

Regards,


djp

Panic

This morning, I was having a nice cup of coffee in my favourite café (Café Q), when some bizarre music came on over the PA.

The normal soundtrack in the café is yer usual lite jazz - pleasant and appropriate for the ambience. But this morning, as I was sipping my coffee, I heard an Andrews Sisters-style arrangement of a song, the lyrics of which seemed to be strangely familiar. A few more seconds elapsed before I realised it was a cover of the Smiths' "Panic". I had never heard the cover version before and I was, frankly, gobsmacked. The cover worked well in an ironic sort of way. Kinda curious about what Morrissey's reaction to it would be, though...

If anyone can identify the artist, please help a brother out!

Regards,


djp

Gasping for Oxegen

My elder daughter (just turned 17) is currently at the Oxegen Festival at Punchestown Racecourse.

We got a phonecall from her this morning, and according to her, the mud is only ferocious up there. Two more days of that will soften her cough for her...:-).

Going to festivals is such a rite of passage, isn't it? I did my turn at the helm back in the 80s, and I was glad when the time came to pass on the baton to those with more energy (and less imagination) than me. I can only describe my trip to the Electric Picnic two years ago as an (enjoyable) aberration.

Down with (parentheses)...

Regards,


djp

End of the holliers

I've been on vacation since the end of May and I'll be going back to work next Monday (July 9), but only for two days. It's an interesting existence I have all the same...:-).

I got a lot of things done during my holiday (few of which were planned, truth to tell) and quite a number of things which I intended having a go at are still on my "To Do" list (including creating a "To Do" list in the first place). Still, that's all part of life's rich tapestry, as we used to say in Castleisland.

I'm feeling well rested after my long break and, as I understand that things have been functioning OK in my absence, I can face the prospect of returning to the office without much trepidation. Now, that's something you won't get me to admit very often!

Regards,


djp

My Top 10 iPod tracks - 01/07/2007

1. (-) - I Am The Greatest - A House
2. (-) - Message Oblique Speech - The Associates
3. (-) - My Favourite Game - The Cardigans
4. (-) - Better In Hoboken - Franz Ferdinand
5. (-) - Easy Love - Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
6. (-) - The King Of Rock'n'Roll - Prefab Sprout
7. (-) - One My Love - Sly & Robbie
8. (-) - Blind Faith - A House
9. (-) - Victor - A House
10. (3) - Take It Easy On Me - A House

Regards,

djp

Ladies & gentlemen, please be upstanding for the great R. Stevie Moore...



Regards,


djp

While idly flicking around the channels this p.m., I came across a live "Sight & Sound" concert of A Flock of Seagulls on BBC4. I presume this dated from 1981-82.

Jesus, they were bloody awful. Absolutely no redeeming features whatsoever.

The past is definitely a different country. And then some...

Regards,


djp

We were on a short holiday in France last week, and while there, I hired out a Toyota Prius. What a wonderful car! Roomy enough inside, and quite zippy on the pickup. But the best news of all was the fuel economy - over a 750 mile gallivant, I averaged a little over 54 mpg. Now that included tootling around town and motorway driving at 130 km/h. Just to compare, the best economy I can get out of my wife's Toyota Yaris is 51.5 mpg.

The only caveat I have about the Prius is the boot size. It could have done with a sunken boot floor (a few cm would have made such a difference). But apart from that, I would have no hesitation in recommending the Prius.

Regards,


djp

My Top 10 iPod tracks - 01/06/2007

1. (-) - Broken - Belly
2. (-) - Blow Down Babylon - King Tubby
3. (-) - Take It Easy On Me - A House
4. (-) - Augustus Pablo At The End Of Dub - Augustus Pablo
5. (-) - 5 Years - Bjork
6. (-) - Cocoon - Bjork
7. (-) - So Here We Are - Bloc Party
8. (-) - Everybody's Happy Nowadays - Buzzcocks
9. (-) - Gogo Don't Go - The Chalets
10. (-) - Barn Yard Boogie - Delmore Brothers

Regards,

djp