Gah! It’s October already!

Mood enhanced this morning by a chirpy email from someone I’ve not heard from in a while (hello Liv!), something that swiftly dispensed with the merlot-induced fuzziness that I was suffering.

I like nothing more than making people happy. And never more so than when the person concerned is particularly lovely.
There is a competition on this page. It’s not hard to find, though it isn’t obvious (mainly because I can’t afford to give out too many prizes!). And it isn’t easy either. ‘Ave a go, if ya fink yur ‘ard enuff.

college tonight followed by beer with Paul F, discussing ideas. Dave, Teresa, Phil and Tim all sighted - which is unsurprising.

It’s chucking it down. A very wet pile of fur that used to be the cat has just walked into the office, leaving a trail of wet muddy footprints across the floor.
AFF - I almost feel I can talk about this again, having scored an almost respectable 12 points in week 6 to take my score to 22, lifting me, Southampton style, from last place to very-nearly-last place in the league. Still need to do some transfers though.
UPDATE: So, imagine yourself as a cold wet cat. You need to get warm and dry. Where do you go? Ah yes - you go and sit on the lap of that nice warm person working at his desk. It doesn’t matter that, by doing so, you will make said warm dry person damp and wet. Oh no. grrr.

It may be wet outside. It may be grey. It may be windy and thoroughly unpleasant.
But in this office, it is a warm summer evening, sitting in a smart bar in some classy Mediterranean city, looking out over the harbour and people watching, courtesy of Monkey Radio who are playing some very cool tunes this morning.

I have suffered the Blue Screen of Death six times in the last 48 hours on my work PC, which I find more than a little unsettling. (cue: lots of remarks in the comments about how, if I had Linux, none of this would happen. smartarses.)

Forthcoming event: Michelle’s last night behind the bar in W2 on Friday. Regulars be warned!

aw…bless!

The promised marketing page is now online. I’ll be adding to it over the next few days.

Remember how, last week, we were having problems with one of our business partners.
New week. New customer. Same partner. Same problem. GRRRRRRR!

Given that you know I am in a bad mood from the post below, I’m now going to go off on one. Be warned.
There is something unpleasant about UKbloggers at the moment. As with the schoolyard politics of any large group of people that are only tenuously linked (we have blogs - what else do we have in common?), there is a tendency for subgroups and cliques to form. This is not unusual, and in many ways should be expected. Nor is it necessarily a bad thing.
One or two members of the group (meaning, in particular, users of the UKbloggers mailing list) have been keen proponents of the warm and fluffy idea of “community”. Now, whilst I feel that this is a noble ideal, it strikes me as thoroughly impractical, given that people naturally form alliances with others who are either geographically, intellectually, professionally or emotionally local to them. Combine this with the universal desires to belong to a group and be identified with it, the desire to have power, and a need for strong identity, then it is only inevitable that some sort of struggle for dominance or assertion will arise, leading to an inevitable conflict within groups and between them.
Besides, with little in common aside from blogging, what is there to bind a such a large and heterogeneous community together? Geography? - no. Background? - definitely no. Social class or status? - no. Age? Politics? Religion? Beliefs? Sexuality? Aspirations? - absolutely not. We can’t even agree on where and when is a good place/time to meet for a beer!
It strikes me that this is what is happening in UKblogging at the moment. Some groups have formed. Each group thinks it is better than the others. Some people do not belong to any of the groups and feel excluded. They then berate and deride the groups for being “cliquey” or “A-list”. Some groups set themselves up as “rebellious” or “better than thou” - somehow more cool than other groups. Some of these groups are quite large, others may only consist of two or three people.
This conflict has become spiteful and divisive (if there is anything that can be divided). UKbloggers are now almost expected to take sides. The young/naive are rejected and ostracized. If you don’t belong to a group, then you don’t belong here.
And what is the result of all this? Animosity, anger, exclusion, discouragement, dismay. I know of some people who feel that they do not want to go to “blogmeets” (for want of a better term) because they don’t want to handle the politics. Others are so dismayed with the whole atmosphere that they have considered giving up blogging, giving up trying to be part of this group of people.
The solution? I’m not sure I know. Disbanding the UKbloggers list is probably not the answer, although I’m sure it has been/will be considered. Setting up smaller groups to serve just the individual “tribes” is a process that is already beginning, but I’m not sure that it helps with the exclusion problem. The only real answer is a spot of behaviour and attitude modification, but the cynic/realist in me knows that that is simply not going to happen.
I used the phrase “schoolyard politics” at the beginning of this rant. That’s exactly it - schoolyard. Some members of the UKbloggers cabal are behaving like spoilt schoolchildren. My respect for them diminishes daily.

TFF: a disappointing 26 points, taking my score to 170.

I win today’s award for upsetting the most people with a single blog post.
However, I stand by it. No specific allegations were made against anyone - deliberately. What I said is, admittedly, based to a large degree on hearsay, rumour, allegation and general “feeling” and perception. And it isn’t just about things that have happened recently - more about things that have taken place over weeks and months.
I just wanted people to read it, think about their own actions, think about what they have said on the ukbloggers list, elsewhere online and offline in that rarified place known as the “real world”.

Nothing improves a day like having a good haircut and a bottle of merlot with good friends. Kudos to Jo and Nigel.
I note that I’ve drifted through 30,000 on the visitor counter thing (whether or not it is accurate), a target that has been reached only with the aid of mentioning Osama bin Laden and by being controversial.
Now about to munch an over-priced pizza, then head out to “Open Stage” night at the Four Chestnuts in the company of Paul F and Liv. And, bizarrely, I’m looking forward to it, even though “open stage” nights are *never* my scene.

In pub listening to local bands. Not bad! Great to see Liv again. More later.

Apparently, me and Rachel (from Friends) have much in common. (cheers to jen-x for that).

[The post that was here has been removed and the comments retracted following discussion with Meg. Remind me not to read things when I’m tired and ratty, as I am prone to misinterpretation. And, for those that were wondering, Meg and I remain friends. Whatever, as far as I am concerned, the subject is closed. Today is a new day. And as Dan and others have pointed out, there are bigger things to worry about.]

Meanwhile, back in normal life….
I had a lovely evening this evening, drinking beer with Phil, Paul F and the Nags posse before heading to the Four Chestnuts with Paul F to meet Liv and some of her friends to listen to live music by local musicians. Paul sang, and a good, relaxed, casual, issue-free night was had by all.

Not very talkative today. This may be due to being tired, or perhaps is the result of my new haircut. I could “do a Vaughan” and post pictures of kittens or something. Maybe what I need is a Grayblog “testcard”.

Actually, I *have* got some news now, and it’s just the sort that I can’t write here - which I’m sure is very frustrating for you [evil cackle] - if you care, of course.

Beer tonight with Arron, Paul F and Aris, with sightings of Tim, Paul S and Gary.

Lamb recorded live set currently on Radio One. But I need to sleep! gah!

Feeling sleepy today, and, once again, not very talkative.
But things are good, so rest assured.
Added a few updates to my marketing resources page for those that are interested.
And the sun is out, which is nice.

Protests over copy-protected CDs. I’ve never copied a CD, but I do like listening to them on my PC at work occasionally. And, it seems that my 11-year-old CD player that sits in my bedroom might struggle with protected CDs. Why should I still pay full price for something that is not fit for purpose? Is this an infringement of trading standards laws?

Nobody has had a go at the secret competition yet. OK, so it is a bit of a two-parter, the first part being that you have to find it. But it is on this page (assuming you are still reading this whilst this post is on the front page and not fallen off into the archive. In fact, you should even be able to find it in the archive if you look closely).
So go on - have a go. I know at least one regular reader of this site who should know the answer. And there is a *prize* after all!

I’ve had a strange sort of 24 hours, and I’m in a strange sort of mood.
I spent this morning tidying the flat, and feel much better for doing so. Then I went shopping, bought a treat for myself and a treat for someone else.
I spent the afternoon enjoying myself. A jacket potato and good conversation can make all the difference to a day.
The first part of this evening was spent enjoying the treat I bought for myself.
The latter part of this evening was spent having beer with a whole bunch of people that included Kearn, DA, DAGS, Phil and many more.
I’m tired now. And I’m thinking. Which is usually a bad combination. And there is a thunderstorm outside.

I forgot to do a beer report for Friday - guh! Well, here it is (and I know you like to be kept informed): beer with Paul F, Kearn, Arron, Mich, Tanya and Claudine. Others were sighted.

Apparently there is some confusion about the competition. It is nothing to do with the line in the title of this site (”I don’t know you people, why are you here?”) which is from Orbital’s “Middle of Nowhere” album. Keep looking…

I really can not recommend John Simpson’s “autobiographical writings” highly enough (which was the treat I bought for myself yesterday).
In them, he comments on the increasing homogeneity of the world, and his feeling of being a citizen of the “global village”. I was pondering this as I travelled to work this morning (a tortuous and extended journey, thanks to engineering works - but nothing compared to travelling through the Hindu Kush in a Russian jeep.). In a way, we bloggers are members of the global village too, but only in a half-way-there kind of way. By that, I mean that on a daily basis I communicate through my site and also by email and instant message with people in all corners of the globe. I share my experiences with them, and sometimes I am lucky enough that they share theirs with me. But I am only half way there because I am still immersed in my Cicestrian life, not part of life in other places, not experiencing those sights, sounds, smells, sensations - not really feeling what the other cultures on the planet are really like. I can only imagine, creating an impression based on the little I learn though other people, be they those that correspond directly, or those that I read and hear and see in the media.
So the explosion in media and communication that has occured in the last one hundred years, and particularly in the last 25 years (email celebrated 30 years of existence just the other day) is a good thing in that it allows ordinary people (if there is anything other than ordinary people) like me to experience and get a sample of life in other places and cultures. But on the flip side, as expressed by John Simpson (and I implore you to read his books to see what I mean), that explosion of cultural dissemination, communication and movement has resulted in an increasing homogeneity, the erosion of local unique cultures. Entire political and cultural ways of thinking and acting, whole belief structures have disappeared or become diminshed and diluted. The number of communist states is a tiny fraction of what it was 15 years ago. The number of dictatorships and autocratic monarchies seems to get fewer every day - multi-party democracy, with all its faults, is seen as the more successful model, and either nations move towards that model of their own accord, or have it foisted upon them by the western powers. The increased veneration of cash and wealth and power seems unending. And yes, dare I say it, “globalisation” has a part in this too.
Clearly, all of these changes have benefits and disbenefits. It is probably true to say that, on balance, the benefits outweigh the disbenefits. I’d like to think that this is the case, at least, and I hope that if it wasn’t, the global populace would try to stop the process in some way.
I’ve lamented on this site previously about the almost total disappearance of some regional dialects (I referred to the Sussex dialect in particular). I can see this process being repeated and enhanced globally in the next century or so, and not just impacting on the way we speak, but on the things we do, our beliefs and customs, the way we think and act. Travel, television and film have been the main factors so far. The internet, especially when sound becomes more integral in websites, will further hasten the process.

Make the most of the variety that you see before you now. Parts of it may not be around for much longer.

A dark night, in every sense of the word.
I’ve just enjoyed a lovely dinner in a warm and safe home. I have a glass of good wine by my side. But I can’t help but think about all those who are not enjoying and will not enjoy those luxuries tonight.
A variety of news sources can be found on my marketing resource page.

What the hell does this mean?

So, should I take a course of action, or a course of inaction? Answers on a postcard please.

In a scary development, Meg threatens to hunt your down and spank you. Thankfully, I don’t have any down. I’m a bit hairy in places, but that is probably too much information for you. However, I think that eider ducks should be warned of this development, and take appropriate precautions.

I’m not sure that this is something I should be proud of. (via just about everybody.)

Guesses for the competiton received so far:

• The Clash
• Fairground Attraction
• Mark Eitzel

All good guesses. All wrong.
Oh, and it must be artist *and* title to get the prize.

Tonight at college, I was elected as Student Representative for our class. I’m not sure quite what this means or entails - it probably sounds far more important than it actually is.
Oh, and “elected” is probably a misnomer. It was more a case of:
Eric (tutor): “You all need to nominate a student representative.”
Students (as one): “Graham. He should do it.”
Eric: “Fine.”
Graybo: “muh?”
Actually, I’ve already been told by my fellow students what I should do if I get the opportunity - go to a meeting, get bolshy (which I’m good at) and demand a good student bar. Give me the chance, and I’ll gladly oblige.

Interesting search referral for today: “things you don’t do in a pub or bar“.
Well, I guess there are plenty of those things listed here.

Worrying search referral for today: “attacks UK london october 13th“.
You heard it here first.

AFF and TFF: no score this week, due to there being no Premiership matches as a result of the England v Greece match.
However, I have applied for five (count them!) transfers for my AFF team, as follows:

OUT: Paul Jones (Southampton)
REPLACED BY: E van der Sar (Fulham)
OUT: Jamie Clapham (Ipswich)
REPLACED BY: Dominic Matteo (Leeds)
OUT: Matt Elliott (Leicester)
REPLACED BY: Rio Ferdinand (Leeds)
OUT: Wes Brown (Manchester United)
REPLACED BY: Olaf Mellberg (Aston Villa)
OUT: Gustavo Poyet (Tottenham)
REPLACED BY: Robert Pires (Arsenal)

Hopefully, this will move me up the league from my current last-but-one place. “Hopefully”.

More guesses for the competition:

• Faithless
• Dub Pistols
• Red House Painters

All wrong. Keep trying. Don’t forget - artist *and* title.
If nobody gets it by the end of the week, I’ll post a clue here.

“Virtual” products may soon float in stores. I’m struggling to see the point of this. Why can’t we just actually see the real thing? OK, so maybe people remember it, but surely that is just because of its novelty value - that tends to wear off very quickly, in my experience.

Someone I know needs to read the “ten pearls of wisdom” over at the Graybiography. It might be you, so go read it anyway.

Nico suggests Chris Rea or Dire Straits as possible solutions for the competition.
I mean, credit me with *some* good taste, puh-leeze!

Wednesday morning in Chichester: the sun streams down from a perfect blue sky. A gull perches on the cathedral spire and calls out to the whole city. An argument leaks from an open window - a man is shouting through sobs. I take a shortcut across the dew-laden cathedral green, then stumble down South Street, passing someone I should really have said ‘hello’ to. But I don’t realise until it is too late - she seems to have a ‘morning head’ on and doesn’t see me. At the station, an impossibly thin woman queues for her newspaper before me. The train is late.

The BBC is currently running a reduced front page on its online news service due to very high demand. It covers all the stories concerning the “war on terrorism” ….and the cricket score. Yet another reason why it is great to be British.

Some stories are just too good to miss. Girls - would you wear the WonderBum?

This may become compulsory reading for British bloggers, for whom life revolves around each other.

Urf.
Well, when life throws a confidence-sapping body blow your way, I recommend consoling yourself with chocolate, a new CD, good food and follow all of that by heading out for a beer or two with some good mates. Which is exactly what I am doing now.

China to send probe to the Moon. Cool.

Our family tends to make a conscious effort to avoid contact with one another. Not the case for Angie.

My Life As A Plumbee by Rodney Breen.

To quote a Garfield comic strip from around 1983, I hab a code.
This cold started out as an irritating, but not especially debilitating, sore throat - the sort of thing that you know will go away in a couple of days. And yet, this morning, I woke up to find myself to be unbelievably snot-ridden, experiencing great difficulty in breathing, and talking in a most amusing manner. Well, amusing for everyone other than me, of course.

What a strange night last night was.
I ambled down to the Nags at around 9.30, as usual, only to be berated by Paul F for being late. I’d arranged to meet him there “at the usual time”. Well, I’ve been ambling into the pub around 9.30 for the last five or six months, in an attempt to save money by reducing the time I spend in there, so it wasn’t really unusual. Oh well. He seemed pacified when I bought him a pint.
The usual crowd were in the Nags, and I had a chat with Paul F, Ted, Phil, Tim and Clare, and did cast admiring glances at Emma, the attractive new barperson. Paul decided to head home, so I chose to amble along to W2 to see if Arron or anyone else was out.
W2 has been “losing it” in recent weeks, but I must say that I sense that it is beginning to improve now that recently-imported Dutch barperson Hilje (pronounced Hill-yer) is settling into her stride.
Nobody (apart from Steve - sans Helen) that I really knew was in W2, so I fetched myself a stool and the newspaper from the rack, and decided to kick back, catch up on global events, enjoy a quiet pint and get in a spot of people watching. I had a brief chat with Dan (who is working his last shift on Saturday) and Steve, and was settling into a quiet period of reverie, when I spotted a couple of blokes that I know (names withheld until next of kin informed) chatting with a couple of girls, one blonde and one raven haired. I waved greetings in the general direction of the blokes, and smiled at the girls. I looked back a few minutes later to see how they were getting on (usual bluster, it seemed to me).
Then next thing I knew, the blonde, who turned out to be called Sue, was stood next to me, apologising profusely - I’m not really sure what for. Sue, who at first claimed to be from Birmingham, but is in fact from Tamworth, is a nurse and not unattractive by any means. Well, to cut a long story short, we all ended up going back to the house of one of the blokes, drinking his beer. Sue was pissed as a fart, so much so that she actually gave me a snog - although she didn’t seem particular about who she snogged, to be honest. Then we all moved from there to the home of the other girl, Fleur. By this point I had just about had enough, and could see which way the evening was headed, and that, most likely, it wasn’t going to involve me, so I headed home and got in just before 1am.
The question is - why do I always get into situations like this?

Brighton and Hove Albion FC supporters and fans will have been totally dismayed that the team’s manager has left. But that’ll be nothing compared to the dismay that will abound if the rumour that ex-Leicester boss Peter Taylor is on his way to the Withdean. gah!
(No, I’m not interested in football. No, really, I’m not.)

She’s describing me!! (via his2p)

Beer tonight with Arron, Hilje (”I like you because you are safe” - um…thanks, I think), Chas, Kearn, DA, Jeff (”I was, like, born in Hull”), Tim, Cat and Cat’s mate Sylvia. Good friends.

Moon soil samples reveal history of lunar formation. Cool stuff.

It had to happen, I guess.

Finally, the mainstream media have caught up with a story that has been running around the web for days. Osama Bert Laden.

More competition wrong answers:

• Aswad
• Monaco
• The Pogues

A clue will be posted here tomorrow morning.

I’m up for it.

If you think the weather where you are is bad, be glad you’re not on Mars.

In the time-honoured tradition, beer with: two Pauls (F and C), two Julies, two Fionas (ok, admittedly I only saw one Fiona briefly), Simon (have a fantastic wedding!!), Jeremy, Dave, Gary, Tim, Jackie, Clive, Hilje, Arron, Helen and countless other people. A good night, although free of scandal.

Not one, but four competition clues:

• a band, not a solo artist
• British
• male vocalist
• from an album released in 1994

Keep the guesses coming. Band *and* title needed to win the prize.

Having just enjoyed lunch with my sister-not-in-law, Jane, I faced a choice, Michael Buerk stylee:

• do the washing up
• defrost the freezer
• clean the flat
• head to the park with a good book to read, peoplewatch, and enjoy probably the last sunny and warm Saturday afternoon of the year

OK, not the toughest choice I’ve ever faced.

Following on from my comments earlier this week, W2, *has* seriously lost it. Tonight, Oasis was being played on the stereo at full volume (bad), the draught beer was off (like, all of it, not just one variety - very bad) and the place was full of blokes who can only be described as “wankers” (very very bad).
So, beer in the Nags with Dave, Tim, Terry, the delightful, if dimunitive, Cath (hi!), Paul F, Cat and numerous other volunteers.

Someone I converse with on AIM, who I think should keep her current site and stuff the people who know her that read her site. I do. It doesn’t bother me.

A long and fairly unexciting day that saw me get up late, go to work and then on to Maidstone to give a lecture, then drive back through driving rain to a large heap of washing up (serves me right for being lazy). And some college homework. Guh.
Lacking. Motivation.
Must. Force. Self. To. Act.

Busy this morning, so no updates so far.
And nobody has had a go at the competition since the clues were posted.

Vaughan begins year two with a new look and new job. Nice.

Why don’t I ever get invited to parties like this? Hmmm. Perhaps it is best that you don’t answer that.
I like Victoria Lambert’s writing - read her thoughts on WonderBum underwear.

My class at college tonight has been cancelled (after we had all arrived - grr!), giving me an opportunity to do the homework which is due tomorrow, and which I did not do last night as a result of being bone-idle.

Latest guess for the competition:

• Blur: Parklife

Nope.

I occasionally have nights like this, except without the duvet sharing. A certainly without the work colleague - I work for my parents for goodness sake!

We are not alone.

AFF: only 3 points, in spite of my much-trumpeted transfers, taking me to a pathetic 25 points and leaving me firmly rooted in second-to-last place in the league. At this rate, I’ll be in the Conference next season.

I’m not entirely sure why this is newsworthy. Businesses have been targeting their products and services at so-called special interest groups or segments since the dawn of commerce.

nearly forgot: happy birthday to Paul F. Beer later in the Nags.