Low-key party last night at Jane G’s for her birthday, with her family, assorted self-sufficiency bods and various Zeneca (or whatever they are called now) types. Oh, and some goats.
Very restful.

A bird has just flown over the nursery, making a noise like a swanee whistle. It is black, about the size of a thrush, with a red beak. Any ideas? Never seen anything like it before, and I suspect it is an escapee from a nearby pet shop.

More evidence that Cal is far too clever.

Giant potato salad! Enormous kebab! - more random phrases for Lord Percy to add to the comments.
Incidentally, do readers-at-large think Lord Percy (a.k.a. Greg, a.k.a. Lordy Lordy) is Tourettic? Lady Bren suggested this in the pub a couple of weeks ago.
Perhaps using the good old Touretteaphone or Buffy Swearing Keyboard would help him get it out of his system (not safe for work, obviously).

I’ve just had a bill for running it, so I’m conscious that not many of you are listening to radio grayblog. Go there now!

I’ve got a whole bunch of ill-defined “stuff” that I’d like to get off my chest at the moment. But I’m not sure I can write it here, as so many people that I know, and that are important to me in various ways, read this site on a daily or frequent basis. Maybe there is something to be said for blogging anonymously in the C Side style, although I’m not sure I’d be very good at maintaining my anonymity. If I did have an anonymous blog, I’m not sure that I’d find it very satisfying. The whole point of sharing life online, for me anyway, is that it is cathartic and a sharing process - a bit like standing up at a Blogaholics Anonymous meeting and saying “hi, I’m Graybo, and I’m a sad bastard” or whatever.
So, anyway, I’m in Mood-swing Central at the moment, flailing between grinning like an idiot and being ecstatically happy, and then moping around and crying into my pillow.
But I guess that is life really.

Chinese government blocks access by Chinese web users to Google. Disturbing.

Am I the only person that prefers winamp 2.78/2.80 to the new winamp 3.0? It seems much larger and clunkier and generally less good that the older version.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. TFF transfers:
OUT: Cudicini, Winterburn, Hayles.
IN: Dudek, Short, Maccarone.

At last, the official notification of my CIM exam results has arrived. And top marks to the CIM for the little touch of addressing the letter to Graham Spencer DipM ACIM - that feels good!

Beer tonight with Dave, DA, Kearn, Aris, Andrea, Kev, Nick, Dave, Paul F, Arron, Kristian, Leah, Holly (only 17!!!!!), Joel, Kate and other people. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

TFF: 21 points, taking me to 60 points in total.
AFF: 1 point. hmm.

Memo to self: drinking huge quantities and getting home at 2am is neither smart nor clever.
Managing to do all that and only spending £2.50 is, on the other hand, very clever indeed.

hmmmm. via b3ta.com, which is a site you should visit at least three times per day.

Hmm. The closing date for the Guardian Best British Weblog Competition is fast approaching. Someone has used my internal search function to find the word "guardian&quot. Are these facts linked?

Is Chichester big enough for two blogs?
I was here first.

In fact, talking of being here first, this site will be two years old on the 16th of this month. Celebrate by buying stuff.

Interesting discussion. I’m not likely to start charging for access here (who would pay?) - just unseemly begging for me.

So, being very tired and all, you’d think I’d take the chance of a quiet night and head to bed early.

But no, not me. Quiet night, yes, but sitting up reading and listening to music until 1am does not equate to an early night. Consequently, the effort required to drag myself from under EvilDuvet II this morning was almost beyond my means. At least it was until a workman outside yelled “can’t you read the f***ing sign, you f***ing idiot?” at the top of his lungs at some poor unsuspecting motorist.

I also sneezed so hard this morning that my lungs felt like they were going to be blasted out. As a result, my chest and throat is now very sore.

More and more people (five out of the last 100 referrers) have found their way here by searching Google for "grayblog". Is this site that hard to find? Maybe I should purchase grayblog.com and redirect visitors to that URL to here.
How did you get here today? Bookmark? Updated GBlogs list? Random surfing? Leave a comment and let me know.

I could really use a massage. Any volunteers?

All morning I’ve been having problems with my internet connection here at work. So I had a listen to the line, and could detect an intermittent crackling noise in the silence - that’s enough to cause most modems to drop the connection.
So I called BT, and they said that their test couldn’t detect a fault, but that they would send an engineer out. However, if the fault was with our equipment, there would be a call-out charge.
Of course, with the engineer due here by 3.30 today, the fault seems to have cleared itself up and the line is working fine. guh.
It rained this morning and has been very windy. Since a large chunk of the line to here is overhead, that can often be a problem. Now the wind has eased a little and the rain has dried up - and I wouldn’t mind betting that that is related to the now restored connection.

Best news of the day is that Dad is going to come over and fit my new taps for my kitchen sink. I think I might do a quick survey tonight and see if I can find a few extra chores for him and his toolbag - the new shower rail springs readily to mind.

Strange goings-on….

• a small boy keeps walking up and down past my windows, looking straight in at me as I sit here typing this. This is very disturbing. He is barely tall enough to see over the window sill. Graybo Theatre - do you think I could charge?
• a window has blown off of number 181 across the road and is resting on the edge of the roof, ready to fall to the ground. The window is often left open, and I’ve frequently noticed it swinging about wildly in the breeze and not on a latch. With today’s stronger wind, I guess it was all too much for the hinges. The glass is broken, and it really does look like it could fall on someone’s head at any moment.
  Damn. I was going to go to the takeaway, but I see the lodger is now dangling out of the window in a very scary manner in an attempt to retrieve it. This I *have* to watch!
  Darn - he’s got it in a most unexciting way. I was looking forward to some exciting smashing of glass or bone then.

Beer tonight with Frances, her husband Simon and Karen B, with assorted others. Very pleasant indeed.

HarHarHar to the guys with the white van parked on the corner of Orchard Avenue on the double yellow lines who thought they would be clever and come and move their van at 9am. The traffic warden was more clever and gave them a ticket a 8.50.

More sex please, we’re Swedish.

After blocking Google last week, the Chinese authorities have now prevented their citizens from using AltaVista. It seems that they are attempting to render the internet useless for anything other than viewing Chinese government-approved online material.
Is your site blocked in China? Check here. This site is available to Chinese readers at the moment, but if I keep critising the Chinese authorities I guess it will be blocked soon too.
I doubt I have any Chinese readers anyway - but leave a comment and prove me wrong if you’re in China now.

Rate these things in order of foolhardiness:

1. sending text messages whilst drunk
2. dangling from a second floor window to retrieve a broken window
3. shooting fish from a rubber dingy on a lake at 1am whilst drunk
4. wiping bleach-covered hands on a clean red towel
5. publishing details of your life on a website
6. launching a unilateral attack on a middle east nation
7. dating a woman who called her child Ryan
8. wearing trousers so low that your butt crack shows
9. supporting Brighton and Hove Albion football club

A full day’s DIY activity with Dad, leading to the installation of new kitchen taps, a new shower curtain rail, a new bookshelf in the living room and a new light fitting in the kitchen. Top result. That’s another bottle of something that I owe him.

Approved.

Happiness is…

• cheeky comments from vodkabird
• beer with Arron, Guy, Kearn, Greg and assorted folk
• coming home to very cool kitchen lighting and a very juicy melon (no double entendre intended)
• lots of other stuff too, but I can’t really relate to that at the moment because I am not experiencing it. ho hum.
• oh, yeh, and laughing at five very short bald men in the pub. heartless, amn’t I?
• random memory recalled of looking at wild flowers in a village halfway up the side of Mount Teide on Tenerife, many years ago

Sunday morning. A man lies asleep on a bench outside the post office, wearing only a shirt and jeans. Soon the nights will be too cold for that sort of thing - my guess is that he had too many drinks the night before to coordinate his limbs sufficiently to get himself home. An elderly couple on the next bench act as if he isn’t there.
A watery autumnal sun shines down on the litter scattered across the cathedral green as the bells ring out from the tower to announce the morning service to the waking city. A man sits on a bench under the lime trees rolling a cigarette, and looks up at me as I walk past him. Nearby, a middle aged woman stares vacantly into the middle distance as a young girl walks past on her way to the shops, where workers are unlocking doors and switching off alarms.
A pigeon picks at a discarded sandwich crust.
At the railway station, a mother and daughter speak in high speed Spanish about their plans for the day, clutching their tickets for the Brighton-bound train. Jamie, working the early shift in the coffee shop, gives me a cheery “good morning!” as I pick up my newspaper.
Two men disembark from the train as it rolls to a halt, tweed jackets slung over their shoulders, talking about cars and motor racing as they head to the courtesy bus to the Goodwood Revival Meeting.
The countryside rolls past the window, filled with the sights, sounds and smells of the harvest, as I flick through the stories of war, rape, murder and D-list celebrities. A woman on the next seat wth puffy eyes and tousled hair dozes blearily.
As I arrive at work, the sun becomes stronger - I can feel it on my arms.

Flash Long Jump - they seem a bit harsh on faulters.

Over the course of the weekend, at least four people told me, with varying degrees of subtlety, that I could use a little more exercise and a modification of diet. And, yes, I know I still haven’t fulfilled that resolution in the sidebar to take more exercise. I should really get my bike fixed so that I can get out on it a bit.
What I really hate though is coming to work, opening up the e-mail that contains my daily horoscope, and reading this:

Harrumph. I *like* food and drink! It takes hard work to maintain my reputation as an epicurean! sulk.

UPDATE: it’s not just me then.

Almost forgot - food and beer last night with Bren, Greg, Bora and Paul F.

Another air hockey game to enjoy on the wettest afternoon I’ve seen in ages.

Whilst researching a long piece that will appear here on Wednesday, I found this: marketers explore product placements in music. As we all know well, Lola rhymes perfectly with Pepsi Cola. But we also know that the Beeb wouldn’t play it until it was changed to “cherry cola”.

Sorry for the quietitude - busy busy busy, mainly dealing with an idiotic customer who has returned a perfectly healthy plant for no discernible reason, and without contacting us first. So I’m just sending a fresh specimen back, with a note to the effect that the original one would have grown just fine if only you’d left it in the bloody ground!
I don’t mind offering good customer service. But I expect my customers to at least use a little savvy.

My e-mail inbox has been quiet all day. Not even much spam. Write to me?

Nick Robinson’s Newslog at the BBC is good, and appeals to the cynic in me (that’ll be all of me then, as I’m cynical to the core). Shame you can’t link to individual posts.

Comments should be functioning again later. And I notice that the GBlogs recently-updated list is broken too.

Yes, you too could own a street-legal Star Wars Land Speeder!
Can you imagine taking this thing to your local supermarket? At eight feet wide, could you get it into your supermarket’s car park? A bit more interesting than your average Ford Escort, it must be said.

For the past few days, I’ve been trying to come up with an appropriate way to mark the first anniversary of the events of September 11th 2001. It is a subject that is being well-covered, perhaps to excess, on other websites and in every other medium. Earlier this week, Laura Bush, the First Lady, pleaded with broadcasters to show restraint in their programming for this week - I can see her motives, but I doubt that the broadcasters will be swayed.
It’s a time to reflect not only on the deaths that occurred that day, and the thousands more that have occurred since as a direct result, but also to look at our own attitudes that have been changed and modified and formed by the events and the events since then.
I think the biggest single lesson that has come from this is that there is never a simple or straightforward solution for anything. We live in a world of unbelievably complex networks, links and associations, such that any action in one place can have repercussions in a place far, far away, or on a group or individual that apparently seems far, far removed from the instigator or recipient of the original action. If a butterfly moving its wings in the Amazon rain forest can cause a storm in England, what impact does launching a battery of missiles in the Middle East have?

It almost seems trite to draw a literary comparison, but the best book I have read that attempts to look at nature of these connections is Ghostwritten by David Mitchell - I’ve just read it, and it is one of the best novels I have ever read.
But I digress.

Perhaps the best way for us to mark the anniversary is to carry on with life: to remember, certainly, but also to build, learning the lessons that have been or should have been learnt from the events that day, and the attitudes and mindsets that led up to them. And not just learning the lessons, but implementing them, allowing those ideas to form our new ideas and actions in the future. If we don’t do this, with the aim of creating a better world for ourselves, the people around us, and the generations to come, then the deaths of everyone in New York, Washington, Pennsylvania, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Phillipines and elsewhere will have all been for nothing.

I hope and believe that this should apply to everyone, no matter what your race, faith, background, language, gender, nationality, colour, politics or belief.
If only I had the sufficient faith in human nature to believe that it could happen.

I’m not going to write anything more on the subject. I don’t think I can express my ideas sufficiently clearly - and those ideas are not fully formed and are always in flux, changing as new information becomes available to me. What I will do though is to encourage you to read widely - check out other people’s blogs and see what ideas they have; look at news sites around the world (see here for a list of sites that I visit from time to time); read newspapers and magazines, and not just the usual ones. Get opinion and “fact” from as many viewpoints and sources as you can.

I’m going to leave you with an article. It hasn’t been published online as far as I can tell. It is from the September 2002 issue of Marketing Business, which is the magazine of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. It is by Jaimie Seaton. She is a journalist based in Connecticut, and has written for many titles including the Sunday Times and Newsweek. I present this article without any further comment.

Related:
eSpeed/Cantor Fitzgerald website - you can view the ads here.
Cantor Fitzgerald Relief Fund
BrandEra article on the same subject
Advertising Age article
One Year Later: A Triumph of the Ordinary - also from Advertising Age
BBC - Flashback to 10 September 2001

TFF: 2 points (only one match this week), taking my score to 62.

You lot are being very quiet today.
Anyway, to keep you all entertained, I’m working on a new header graphic for this site, which should be launched sometime tomorrow.

New header graphic now in place. As usual, the photo was taken somewhere within Chichester, and the first person to correctly identify the location will win a firm handshake.
I think this one is pretty easy, but here is a larger image to save you squinting at your monitor.

ADSL update: well, I now have my box of goodies (kindly taken in by my neighbour - why don’t BT give you the option to have it delivered to your work address?) and I’ve attempted the installation - and hit two problems. Firstly, it definitely will not run on Win95. Secondly, the cable supplied doesn’t reach my phone socket. Not a good start.
Thankfully, Arron has offered to help me out in the PC department (subject to a visit to the bar, of course). And hopefully, I’ll be able to pick up a longer cable from the DIY store - in fact, I think I’ll head there now.

Hmm - no joy on the cable front. Dad has a spare cable that is the right length, but has the wrong connection at one end. guh. Anyway, hopefully between us we will be able to cobble something together.

Beer tonight with Arron, Aris, DA and Kearn. And it seems that I’m still fat. oh good.

Interesting: an aircraft that seems to be a combination of ekranoplan and conventional aircraft. How would that work?
UPDATE: Boeing webpage.

You may recall (it’s in the sidebar, so it’d be hard to forget) that I made a resolution to take more exercise this year. Well it’s high time I acted on that, particularly as everyone keeps making jibes about me being a bit soft around the middle these days.
So I’ve decided that I’m going to diet and exercise, and you guys are going to help me. In the sidebar, you’ll see a new section entitled “Diet with Graybo”. In it you will see my current weight (13st 13lb - that’s 195lb or 88.5kg) and my target weight (12st 13lb - that’s 181lb or 82kg). I aim to reach my target weight by 20 December - that’s 14 weeks to lose 14lb.
At 6ft1in (185cm), I have a current body mass index (BMI) of 25.7. A BMI of more than 25 is deemed to be overweight, so I need to get my weight down to 13st 7lb to no longer fall into that category. My target weight will give a BMI of 23.9. (Incidentally, to be classed as underweight, I’d have to drop to less than ten stone - that’s ridiculous, as when I dropped to eleven and a half stone, I looked like a concentration camp victim).
So, how am I going to achieve this? Well, I’m not going back to the Corn Flake diet because losing a stone in three weeks can not be healthy. Instead I’m going to:

• cut out all snacks between meals
• go for a walk or cycle ride every evening after work, even if only a short one (must fix the bike!), because you’re not likely to see me in a gym
• cut out some of the fattier stuff at meal times
• eat more fresh fruit and vegetables
• cut down on beer (suggestions for alternative drinks welcome - is vodka and tonic fattening?)

How are you going to help? By being my conscience - watching those weight reports in the sidebar. And also by offering any practical advice that you may have. And if anyone from around Chichester wants to join me on the walking or cycling, I’d like that too (what’s the old Garfield gag? “Misery loves company” or “Diet is DIE with a T”) - I’m not talking about scary walking or cycling, with lycra shorts or anything - jeans and a sweater will do.
Wish me luck!

Incidentally, if anyone else wants to join in on this weight loss/get fit idea, and is brave enough to have their weight known by all the world (or at least the few people that read this site), then step up to the microphone now.

Vodka and tonic with Arron, Nikki, Joel, Kristian, Paul F, Malcolm, Sally, Wanda, Jo and Julie, but not all at once.

Expect even more prolonged silence today as I attempt to uninstall win95 and install win98SE on my home pc.

I now have win98SE. I also have a functioning ADSL connection. I also have real processor speed problems, and a severe lack of hard drive space - time for a clear-out, I think.
Big thanks to Arron for help and advice, and also to annoyances.org - if you are having Windows problems, I recommend a visit here.

Vodka and slimline tonight with the utterly gorgeous Fi and the devastatingly lovely Julie, as well as Kearn, Stein and Arron, with sightings of Cat, Karen, Joel, Kristian, Nikki and various other usual suspects. This followed by an unexpected and pleasant call from Mr Nick T.

I need a hug.
Which is a sure sign that I’ve had too much to drink. So I’m going to head off to bed, chewing a lump of celery as I go.

Yet another battleships game.

Have you noticed that every Formula One fan, whoever they support, loves it when Rubens Barrichello wins? And that the Italians celebrate like no other nationality?

This is an utterly brilliant and highly original game/logic puzzle - and you have no idea how much I enjoy flicking someone called Kevin into outer space by means of a giant rubber band!

We haven’t had one for a very long time, but there is a new rogue over at Graybo’s infamous passport photo page - go see.

To make up for the fact that I didn’t do any walking yesterday for fighting with the PC upgrade (which seems to be working fine now), I went on an extra long walk this evening. It was a 14km circuit (that’s a little more than 8.5 miles) and took just under three hours (I walk at quite a brisk pace). The route took me through the city, to Apuldram, Dell Quay, Chichester Yacht Basin, and then along Chichester Canal past Donnington, Hunston and Stockbridge and back to the city.
Much to my shame, I have never walked along the entire length of the canal before, and I’d recommend it to anyone. My walk was made very enjoyable by the gorgeous weather, with the blue sky and lowering sun reflected in the sparkling harbour waters. Along the way I saw all sorts of wild flowers, too numerous to mention, but including some beautiful knapweeds and very tasty brambles (proper brambles, not the fat wild blackberries - they are smaller and have the most sublime taste to them). I also spotted terns, swans, mallards, moorhens and coots as well as a rapid streak of blue low over the canal - something that can only have been a kingfisher.

I can empathise with Dead Kenny - West Ham are doing just about as well as Brighton at the moment. Dark days.
And Sussex lost against Derbyshire in the one-day cricket today. gah.

Things I am currently missing:

• wine gums
• chocolate
• beer
• sausage rolls
• butter in my sandwiches
• Red Bull
• sugary breakfast cereals
• …did I mention beer?

Could still do with a hug, too. gah.
Anyway - must be positive - it’s a nice day again and the weather forecast is set fair right through until after the weekend, so walking should be more of a pleasure than a chore. Marvellous.

Can I add

• motivation

to that list? Not for losing weight and getting fit, but for just about everything in general. I’m feeling very "blah" today - or at least I am now, as I was pretty lively first thing this morning.

Tonight’s walk took me down Westgate, along Centurion Way to Lavant, back through Fordwater and Summersdale (with a stopover at Sarah’s to chew the rag) and home - a distance of 10.25km or just over six miles, covered in slightly under two hours.
Centurion Way is a cycle route on the line of an old railway. There are some good views along there, both towards and away from the city, and the walking is generally easy. Seen along the way today was a heron, more brambles, some wild blackberries, hawthorn showing fruit ranging from cherry red through to deep blood red, rose hips and some lovely yellow toadflax.

Judging by recent audience figures, radio grayblog listeners must think I’ve died if the lack of updates over there is anything to go by. Well, you’ll be glad, if not downright excited, to learn that I’ve just added three fresh top quality tracks by the amazing Neko Case and Her Boyfriends for your listening pleasure, with more tracks to be added in the next few days. I’ll also get round to updating the playlist at some point so you know what you are listening to.

AFF - 8 points. I think I need to make a few transfers.

Arron tells me that the best time to do exercise (in terms of its effectiveness in weight loss and getting fit) is in the morning before breakfast. So, by his reckoning, I’d need to haul myself out from under EvilDuvetII sometime around 5.30am to get my two hours of walking done and still get to work on time.
Hmm. Highly unlikely, I’d say.
However, one of the things I am considering is walking home from work. I need to suss out a route, but I reckon it is about eight or nine miles and would take two and a half to three hours. That means that I really would only be able to do it this week or next, as after that it will be too dark.

Not all bad news, but still an alarming number of newly naturalized plant species, which, undoubtedly, is the fault of nurserymen and gardeners. A very difficult issue.

Lyssa is not having a good time. Go over and be supportive.

Do you know this girl? via B3ta.

Interesting night last night. Vodka and tonics with Paul F (feeling his age), Arron (feeling “fuh, well, whatever” as usual), Bren, Greg, Cat, Karen and Emma, but not before unwittingly sitting through a presentation about a pyramid selling scheme. More on this later.

TFF: 45 points. Not great in a week with so many matches.