What's The Meaning Of Free?

After Carphone Warehouse's re-imagining (see Orange Goldspots ad below) of the word "unlimited" in relation to mobile downloads (250 Mb a month se article here) we now have Sky offering free broadband, calls and Sky+ Box as the main thrust of their advertising campaign. In the small porint it does mention that you have to pay a minimum of about £16 a month to get these "free" services.

A similar thrust is 3s "never pay for another phone call" advert , the condition being that you make Skype to Skype phone calls using VOIP and incur the related internet access data charges . Yes, you dont pay for the calls , but you DO pay for being able to make them!!

The Orange Goldspot that uses THAT word:

The Train Can Be Fun

Train journeys can be annoying , borring and infuriating. There's lots of things can go wrong , unexplained delays , drunken idiots , jobsworth officials who just seem intent on obstructing you in any way you can.

However the experience can often be enhanced just by talking to the person you sit next to. Sometimes it can be amazing the number of things you find in common. Speaking to a young lady who alighted at Durham for a 62 mile journey to her job in York, we found that we both like the Sage, Richard Thompson , Half Man Half Biscuit and our conversion finished as she recognised my alarm tone of ELP's Hoedown which was meant to be my alarm call to wake me up at Darlington, which thanks to her I didn't need.

Hopefully there will be more journeys like that and less where they guy at the barrier at Darlington spends an age inspecting my ticket making me miss my train.

Here's the video for "Dickie Davies Eyes" one of my favourites, and it features Forton Services , I remember it when it was modern. When this hit number one in the Indie chart the band split for the first time!!

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I Didn't Imagine The Jazz Playing Monks in Bright Orange

In a conversation in the Market Lane last night I was accused of being off my head when I said I had seen a troupe of monks dressed in bright orange playing jazz in the street in Tynemouth. I spoke to a couple of them in the queu for the beer tent in the Priory (Tynemouth Priory that is) where they told me they were called Excelsior (or some derivation thereof) , maybe had a relationship with the Dutch Excelsior Brewery or Football team. Anyway cant find anything about the jazz band on the net , though I'm sure I did at the time. Situation is the only proof I have is a bit of video I took when I saw them at the 2006 Mouth Of Tyne Festival , the sound was attrocious so I've replaced it with Morse Code Melody by The Alberts available on the album "By Jingo It's British Rubbish" here

The video proof is above

(S)crappage

Scrappage ... Is it even a real word? This must rate as the most idiot waste of tax payers money ever. Supposedly to help the (British?) Car Industry. You get a couple of grand off a new car if you scrap that one one you've kept on the road for the last fifteen years or whatever? Apparently 35,000 people have taken this up , so that's cost us £70m in payouts to car companies for discounts that you could have got with a bit of negotiation anyway!! Then there's the cost of trashing the old car. Recycling?? , will probably end up as landfill.

And the killer punchline .... you can trade in against a new Skoda, Fiat, Ford , Renault , Peugeot etc because we dont really have a British car industry any more !!

I'm keeping my 16 year old Renault Clio until it drops , then it can go for scrap . That's a far greener and more cost effective option.

Lucifer Sam....

Earlier in the the year we had a problem with cats using the garden as a toilet , so decided to try the "Silent Roar" Lion Poo solution (see here) One cat in particular was a total git , any way I have some film of said offender now avoiding our garden in this bit of video accompanied by Pink Floyd's "Lucifer Sam" which you can get here.

Jan's Jansz

Just wandering past Oddbin's today and ran into my good friend Jan, just as I was about to purchase a couple of bottle's of the appropriately named Jansz for a party!! Co-incidence or what!!

Jan's on the right in the left hand photo and the gorgeous wine is described thus on the Oddbin's site:

"The bouquet shows lifted aromas of honeysuckle and citrus fruits from the Tasmanian Chardonnay, with nougat and roasted nuts derived from the lees ageing, while the Pinot Noir contributes delicate strawberry. The palate is well balanced with delicate fruit flavours, creaminess and fresh acid, leading to a dry, light finish." ... much like the lady herself.....

Last Record Shop Standing?

I'm currently half way through reading the excellent "Last Shop Standing" by Graham Jones (web site here)which for some reason isnt on Amazon , so hopefully you can get it from Ebay , though you can definitely get it from Folk Devils in Whitby, because that's where I bought it.

I mention this , because of a worrying development in Currys on the high street. The Hi-Fi section is shrinking alarmingly and I can see a day when you they wont be selling CD players , only iPod docks. I dont have and will never have, an iPod. Maybe the independent record shops should start stocking low end CD systems or pair up with audio shops.

Luckily Comet still stock a reasonable range but they're out ouf town.

This is on the day I purchased my most expensive ever CD (from Amazon he said shame facedly) , the very rare John Kongos , 18 track Repetoire version!!!