Shared by SimonDespite recent wintry weather, the Met Office said many parts would experience "plenty of sunshine and dry" conditions.
Stuff that for a game of soldiers. Do these people never learn. Those of us who occasionally put our heads out of the window know that we will have some stunning weather between when the kids go back to school and when they get a week off in October... you heard it here first kids...
Bank Holiday weekend to get 'sunny weather' in summer's 'last gasp'
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Bank holiday Britain
Shared by Simon
Britain Britain Britain...
Desperate not to miss an important cricket match between his village and its local rival, it was the liberal politician and banker Sir John Lubbock who introduced the August bank holiday in 1871. 139 years later, up and down the country, the end-of-summer weekend break is the preserve of a far more eclectic range of hobbyists and sports people.
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Shared by Simon
Britain Britain Britain...
Desperate not to miss an important cricket match between his village and its local rival, it was the liberal politician and banker Sir John Lubbock who introduced the August bank holiday in 1871. 139 years later, up and down the country, the end-of-summer weekend break is the preserve of a far more eclectic range of hobbyists and sports people.
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Marathon to Snickers, why didn’t we see it coming?
My wife and I were musing the other day - as we often do, and the subject came around to chocolate bars. In particular the Snickers bar. For those of you Brits of a particular age, and I include myself in this category, these things will always be Marathons. I quite often say I'd like a Marathon - primarily out of habit, but also cos it winds the kids up something rotten. What's a Marathon, Dad? Well if you don't know, perhaps you should find out? And so they do, only to forget the next time that I fancy such a naughty snack.
On the subject of the name, Snickers is such an un-British one don't you think? OK, so that's what they were always called in Australia - but then they call Castlemaine XXXX beer. Anyway, enough such national stereotyping, I was looking for one of the ads that ran in the run up to the name change. It has an Aussie, recently arrived in Blighty, desperate for a Snickers, but since we called them Marathons at the time, he couldn't locate what he wanted. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it for you, but I have got this one from around 1980. 'Comes up peanuts, slice after slice.' Just look at the strange angle that the actors are obliged to hold the bar to show the name. Like we're gonna forget?!
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My wife and I were musing the other day - as we often do, and the subject came around to chocolate bars. In particular the Snickers bar. For those of you Brits of a particular age, and I include myself in this category, these things will always be Marathons. I quite often say I'd like a Marathon - primarily out of habit, but also cos it winds the kids up something rotten. What's a Marathon, Dad? Well if you don't know, perhaps you should find out? And so they do, only to forget the next time that I fancy such a naughty snack.
On the subject of the name, Snickers is such an un-British one don't you think? OK, so that's what they were always called in Australia - but then they call Castlemaine XXXX beer. Anyway, enough such national stereotyping, I was looking for one of the ads that ran in the run up to the name change. It has an Aussie, recently arrived in Blighty, desperate for a Snickers, but since we called them Marathons at the time, he couldn't locate what he wanted. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it for you, but I have got this one from around 1980. 'Comes up peanuts, slice after slice.' Just look at the strange angle that the actors are obliged to hold the bar to show the name. Like we're gonna forget?!
Hat trick
Hat trick - is that a trick with a hat? Well, yes it is.
Posted in Random Thoughts
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We are GO! for camping…
Or should that be stay? Yes, it's that time of year again, August Bank Holiday is nearly on us again. This year to save us some beers, we're staying at home, but spending it in the tent in the garden. And boy is it a whopper, sorry, boy are they whoppers! Yes, the tent is almost as big as the garden. Or not actually, as the garden is about a quarter of an acre, but the tent is getting on for ten percent of the total area. I think, but you know I may actually be exaggerating slightly. Only slightly mind...
Anyway, we have an Outwell - Hartford is the model and it comfortably sleeps five and could probably fit another couple in the 'living room'. It's got all mod cons, well a carpet and a special zipped slot where you can post your plug and then velcro the lead to the tent fabric for a light or perhaps more importantly, a fridge. My wife and I put it up this afternoon, and despite the constant mizzle (August bank Holiday, see) we finished the job in about 90 minutes. We're in the house tonight then tomorrow when our first guests arrive, we'll be out in the great outdoors...
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Or should that be stay? Yes, it's that time of year again, August Bank Holiday is nearly on us again. This year to save us some beers, we're staying at home, but spending it in the tent in the garden. And boy is it a whopper, sorry, boy are they whoppers! Yes, the tent is almost as big as the garden. Or not actually, as the garden is about a quarter of an acre, but the tent is getting on for ten percent of the total area. I think, but you know I may actually be exaggerating slightly. Only slightly mind...
Anyway, we have an Outwell - Hartford is the model and it comfortably sleeps five and could probably fit another couple in the 'living room'. It's got all mod cons, well a carpet and a special zipped slot where you can post your plug and then velcro the lead to the tent fabric for a light or perhaps more importantly, a fridge. My wife and I put it up this afternoon, and despite the constant mizzle (August bank Holiday, see) we finished the job in about 90 minutes. We're in the house tonight then tomorrow when our first guests arrive, we'll be out in the great outdoors...
Site redesign
Title makes it sound more involved than it is as I am no expert in CSS, though I get by. I am using the new WordPress default theme, twenty ten with a child theme called thirty ten to convert it to three columns a la the previous incarnation of the site. I've been playing around the edges to get it to look similar to the previous incarnation - same colours (ok, colors) for links, that kind of thing. I have been ably assisted by using the excellent XHTML / CSS book HTML Dog by Patrick Griffiths. He explains things in very simple terms, for very simple people like me. So much so that I have been able to rescue what may previously have been a terminal imperfection. If you look at the header, the bar with the page navigation in it lines up beautifully with the image below. This wasn't always the case as in trying to put some white-space around the header box, I had managed to offset one from the other. But the Dog came to the rescue and showed me how to align the two elements with just a simple additional line in my style file. So there you go, HTML Dog helps dangerous simpletons such as I to come up with something halfway decent. It may not be cutting edge design, but it pleases me...
Posted in Books, Random Thoughts
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Title makes it sound more involved than it is as I am no expert in CSS, though I get by. I am using the new WordPress default theme, twenty ten with a child theme called thirty ten to convert it to three columns a la the previous incarnation of the site. I've been playing around the edges to get it to look similar to the previous incarnation - same colours (ok, colors) for links, that kind of thing. I have been ably assisted by using the excellent XHTML / CSS book HTML Dog by Patrick Griffiths. He explains things in very simple terms, for very simple people like me. So much so that I have been able to rescue what may previously have been a terminal imperfection. If you look at the header, the bar with the page navigation in it lines up beautifully with the image below. This wasn't always the case as in trying to put some white-space around the header box, I had managed to offset one from the other. But the Dog came to the rescue and showed me how to align the two elements with just a simple additional line in my style file. So there you go, HTML Dog helps dangerous simpletons such as I to come up with something halfway decent. It may not be cutting edge design, but it pleases me...
Grr! It’s only August and &^*$% X-Factor has started again…
Words alone cannot express just how much I despise this show. Anyway, enough about that, I should have realised that it was about to start again sometime soon. I don't think it's entirely coincidental that I have just finished reading John Peel's auto-biography / biography. In common with other luminaries of the 'new music' scene such as Radcliffe & Maconie, I am pretty sure that he would be absolutely horrified at the thought of it.
On one level, I suppose it is the sort of show that is a) an ITV staple and b) probably very good television, but as far as bringing new musical talent to the nation, well it's a complete and utter turn off. Good singers though the winners undoubtedly are, in the main, they and the others who have made it to the final three months of programmes do represent the safest of safe choices. Of course the odd act is different, Diana Vickers springs to mind, but some of them are truly teeth curlingly bad, &^%$ing Jedward and that awful brother and sister combo from a few years back being the worst examples. Oh yes, and Chico.
Anyway, enough of this, I was trying to write about John Peel's book. I found it hard not to cry as a I read it. It's so obvious, especially reading the second half which his wife finished, that he was loved and admired pretty much by all and sundry for the work he did in giving people a chance. Would we have had The Smiths or The Undertones for example without him. Possibly, probably even, but that's not the point. He deliberately, certainly in the early days of Radio 1 went against policy and played new stuff by band and artists who wouldn't have made it to the playlist without him.
Posted in Books, Random Rants
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Words alone cannot express just how much I despise this show. Anyway, enough about that, I should have realised that it was about to start again sometime soon. I don't think it's entirely coincidental that I have just finished reading John Peel's auto-biography / biography. In common with other luminaries of the 'new music' scene such as Radcliffe & Maconie, I am pretty sure that he would be absolutely horrified at the thought of it.
On one level, I suppose it is the sort of show that is a) an ITV staple and b) probably very good television, but as far as bringing new musical talent to the nation, well it's a complete and utter turn off. Good singers though the winners undoubtedly are, in the main, they and the others who have made it to the final three months of programmes do represent the safest of safe choices. Of course the odd act is different, Diana Vickers springs to mind, but some of them are truly teeth curlingly bad, &^%$ing Jedward and that awful brother and sister combo from a few years back being the worst examples. Oh yes, and Chico.
Anyway, enough of this, I was trying to write about John Peel's book. I found it hard not to cry as a I read it. It's so obvious, especially reading the second half which his wife finished, that he was loved and admired pretty much by all and sundry for the work he did in giving people a chance. Would we have had The Smiths or The Undertones for example without him. Possibly, probably even, but that's not the point. He deliberately, certainly in the early days of Radio 1 went against policy and played new stuff by band and artists who wouldn't have made it to the playlist without him.
