Hello. since I'm not yet quite drunk and the Internet is alive and well, I shall once more wish a happy new year from myself and my friend (for the evening) mr smirnoff.

Well, it's New Year's eve, so I'll wish anyone reading this a good one (early in case the Internet breaks later, although I can only remember that happening once before). I've returned to what was for many years my customary night in with a nice bottle of vodka after plans to repeat last year were abandoned. It's a horrible night anyway; the wind's howling (well, a bit) and it's chucking down. My point though; a few days ago I mentioned losing some music. I've now managed to locate the ones that matter and they're now here for the world to enjoy. Well, maybe not quite that many people. The first is an odd version of Eels' Motherfucker, called Monstertrucker and produced to allow it to be played in a US supermarket chain. The second is my most favourite song of all times, Lisa Germano's Bruises. The lyrics are simply brilliant. In my opinion. Anyway, happy New Year!

Rhiannon just told me that she has four people in her igloo, including her. it must be a child/Internet thing. Apparently she has another life as a penguin.

It was Sunderland tonight with my youngest child; quite a good night really. I bumped into Trevor (Fitzgeralds) and a couple of other people (Baroque) and it was kind of nice to catch up. A little too much alcohol was consumed though. This inevitably resulted in my latest acquisition ... a bar stool. Ok, so it's a bit broken, but it looks very nice. Doesn't it?

I may have mentioned once or twice in the past that I have a cool local. Unfortunately, said local providing free beer may not be so cool sometimes. I shall clarify ... my fingers are sliding off the keyboard of my little laptop so that's not so good. I shall stop now before I fall off the sofa. Goodnight ..... zzzzzz

I'm a little frustrated tonight. I seem to have mislaid my (legal) copy of Lisa Germano's Bruises. I've not played it in ages, but that's no reflection of its sheer brilliance. I think I've had a minor rant about this song previously, so I'll not bore any passer by with more detail. Suffice to say this song has the best lyrics ever. Really, it does. Anyway, back to the point. I can't find it anywhere. I can't find the CD, which I've not seen in years so god knows where it is, and I seem to have deleted my folder of cool MP3s at some unknown point in time. To make matters worse, I can't find it on the Internet. I'm a little upset. And I won't even mention my lost copy of Eels' Monstertrucker.

I'm now watching bad web tv. It's not great, but there's an odd webcam from Harrison County jail, Mississippi. The inmate uniforms are really cool, akin to an inverted cat in the hat. Have a look, you'll see what I mean.

Right, enough of this, I've a song to find.

It feels a little strange, sitting here as I've done so many times, in an almost dark room with just a couple of candles burning, listening to music playing on the computer. Winamp's showing what are now rather dated visualisations on the TV. At the moment it's the Decemberists, who are both very good but a little depressing at the same time. It's strange because I've not done this in years and thinking about a different time has made me realise just how much has changed in a relatively short period. Most of it for the better, but it's a little unsettling to think about. Time to play something a little more upbeat I think.

Well, that's another one almost over. It didn't quite live up to last year, although that'd be pretty difficult, but it wasn't so bad. Maybe I'm just getting older. Technically speaking, that's a fact so it's probably best to leave Christmas to the kids ...

Ah ... all is well this Christmas. Just saw the Sugababes' old Christmas video on TMF. What more could anyone want?

It's been a hassled few weeks, in particular the last one. Work's been horribly busy, Paula's non-smoking has been a strain, and on top of that I've not had a single night free for what seems like an age. Christmas has crept up on me and I don't remotely feel ready for it. Saying that, while the religious sentiment (if such a thing still exists) is totally lost on me, I must admit that I've been looking forward to the break.

Tonight was quiz night down the Three tuns. The xmas quiz in fact. And we won it. Yes we did. Really. No cheating (or sympathy marking) or anything. We really did win. Amazing, eh?

Xmas shopping is hell. I do acknowledge that we left it a little late this year, but it's still a horrible experience. Truly, it is hell. However, unpronounceable Lithuanian and Czech (incidentally, have you seen this?) the gorgeous fluid that is beer almost totally compensated for the horror that is xmas shopping. At least for the time being.

A couple of months ago, passing through Kirkby Stephen, I saw a couple of huge birds sitting on a chimney pot. When they took off I swore they were parrots. Now I've seen them a couple of times and talked to other people I know that I wasn't seeing things. They really were parrots and they're all over the internet ... as well as Kirkby Stephen. This has to be the coolest thing ever.

After seeing Lisa Germano in London, it was off to Liverpool for the flight to Lithuania for what seems to have become our regular xmas night out. Although we almost missed the flight, caught check-in with minutes to spare and had to wait ages for take-off due to a security incident, we arrived safely at the tiniest airport ever. It's a lovely place though, with everything you'd expect from an old Eastern European country. There was all the xmas card stuff ...


And plenty old crumbly stuff too ...

It's been another busy few days. The highpoint had to be Wednesday, though. After waiting several years, I finally managed to see Lisa Germano live. Well, I did see her once, but that was in 2000 when she was touring with Eels ... that was when I got hooked. Anyway, she was just amazing; and isn't she lovely?


Simply seeing her was amazing, but meeting her was the best possible end to a great night. This one's going to be printed out and put up in pride of place on the wall.

'Our' internet hasn't been very well lately. It's a router thing we think. Or the cable modem. Or perhaps both. Either way, we're having a nightmare getting a connection (I'm using the bloke next door's at the moment). Anyway, broadband aside, I've had some luck lately. It's minor, but I'm not accustomed to these things so I think it's pretty cool. My first bit of good luck involved the purchase of a new router (ok, so it didn't work). Although the router was priced at £45, I was charged for a £15 software package; a real bargain. And, tonight, I was charged for one pint of beer when buying two. It may still have been an extortionately priced pint of beer but at least it was half the potentially more extortionate correct price.

Said beer was purchased to ensure that this gentleman sounded quite bearable.


Actually ... and I may one day regret saying this ... he was pretty good (for an old bloke that is).