Argh!

My laptop's hard drive has died. I spent around ten hours trying every trick in the book to try and get it to work, alas it has given up the ghost. So, I'm now without a computer until I can get my hands on another serial ATA drive which will cost me between £60-£100 I expect.
Since I don't have any other form of entertainment at home I hope that getting hold of a HD will be easy and painless or I will surely go mental, sat at home all day, every day, with nothing to do!
I suppose this is going to be a good time to find out the true capabilities of my iPhone, I've never written a blog post with it before so I'm slightly unsure if this will work, I can only hope I haven't completely wasted my time.

I'm off to Bristol later to see Banksy's exhibition. Hopefully we can take time out during our trip to stop at a computer shop so I can buy a new HD, otherwise I won't be able to share many pictures with you.

Sent from Gwyn's iPhone

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Phew pt.2

It's so muggy I can't sleep.

I really have no idea how I can cool myself down. I'm already naked, I have a fan whirring away quietly to stir the air, all my windows are open and my patio doors are as wide open as they can possibly be.  According to the iPhone it's still 21ºC out there and it's nearly half past two in the morning.

I'm absolutely baking.

I'll feel sorry for any potential burglars who might want to enter my unsecured abode, last thing anyone wants to see is a portly Welshman in the nude sweating away.  If it was slightly more private I'd go sleep in the garden but there are about ten other flats overlooking my place and I doubt very much any of them would like to hear me snoring away under the overcast sky.

The thing is, I love the sunshine and the heat during the day, but come sleeping time I can't bear to be hot.  I love a cold bed and cold pillows. It's a must for me to be able to snuggle under the covers and make a nest for myself, otherwise I'm in this position, tossing and turning all night, feeling tired but unable to sleep.

Oh well, I'm sure I'm not the only one…

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Phew!

Summer is truly here, temperatures reaching 30ºC, which most of the time is unheard of in the UK.

I've generally had to spend much of the day inside, it's simply too hot to be in the sun. But what has been making me hotter than usual is the fact that my laptop seems to be throwing out a vast amount of heat lately. I don't know if this is a fault or if it's always been like this and that because I'm overheated as well it might just seem hotter.

One thing is certain though, I've had to break out my electric punkawallah, or for the rest of the world, my desk-fan. I'm now basking in a gentle breeze which makes all the difference when it's so hot your scrotum sticks to your knee.  I have no idea how obese people cope in such weather, just imagine the sweatiness underneath the folds of blubber… eww..

Anyhow, enough stomach-churning, I may have something to look forward to in a months time. My old mucka Smiling Grump may be getting his hands on a couple of free tickets for the WOMAD Festival. If he does get his hands on these tickets this will be my first music festival of the year, terrible I know.

I usually attend the Nailstock event but that was cancelled this year due to local council issues and I normally attend one or two concerts here and there, but having been skint for the last six months hasn't helped my situation. I missed out on the Wychwood Festival this year as I didn't want to do the work that was offered as I would have preferred to have been serving customers and getting tips rather than hiding in the background on low wages. I rather hoped that someone would have had a complimentary ticket on offer, but none were forthcoming.

With any luck Lee will come up trumps and we'll be listening to world music in a months time.  I can't say I've heard of most of the artist playing, but that doesn't matter as it will be a good weekend regardless.  If anyone is thinking of going, let me know, we could meet up and make a day of it.

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Wacko

Another pop icon is dead, but do we really care?

When I heard the news last night I took it with a pinch of scepticism, I thought it was just a PR stunt for his upcoming concerts, but after reading all the news today it seems that Michael Jackson has indeed kicked the bucket.

I'll be the first to agree that he made great music and the pop world will miss him, but lets face it, he had dubious sexual tastes and although he wasn't convicted of any wrongdoing we all know that he confessed to sleeping with children in the Martin Bashir documentary of his life. We also know that he had to pay $22 million to keep Jordy Chandler quiet.  One can only assume that there is no smoke without fire.

So what are we actually looking at here? A man who was a paedophile and a drug addict who happened to make two great albums back in the 1980's. Gary Glitter did the same but I doubt very much that people will have the same reaction when that bastard dies.

All over the internet I see people with selective memory, on Facebook I've had some friends think that my views are disgusting and that I shouldn't be making jokes about Jackson's death. On Twitter we have people on both sides of the fence, some cracking jokes and the others screaming out in anger because nobody should disrespect the 'King of Pop'. The newspapers are having a field day and all of the online journo's have aired their views and pre-written obituaries.  Sure it's sad the man died, but he was a dubious character, I certainly wont miss him, nor will the music industry as he hadn't produced a decent song since the early 90's. But saying that I expect that his albums will now sell in their millions and make the Jackson family rich once again.

However, he wasn't the only 'star' to die yesterday, but his death overshadowed Farrah Fawcett's tragic demise from cancer, which is a shame. Her battle against cancer and the true bravery she had will be an inspiration to millions for years to come.

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Twitter

Hmm, interesting, I've been the victim of a cyber-attack on Twitter. Someone has tried to hack my account and I can't get in because they have tried their upmost to divine my password.

Shame on them…

Oh well, I'll just carry one with my other umpteen ways of being social online….

Big hello to my new readers! x

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Psychoanalysis

Mystique Tweeted a link earlier and I thought I'd share my results. You obviously have to be a Twit to take part. What do you think? Is it a valid analysis?

There's also a version for your website, give it a go.

For Twitter

Time: 114.7

Past tense: You tend to talk about the past. 65.25

Space: 49.14

Cognitive processes: You often talk about various cognitive processes like learning, thinking, knowing, etc. 43.15

Similes: 40.6

Sensations: You tweet about your various senses often. 22.56

Future tense: You talk about the future often. 12.97

Sleep: 12.44

Certainty: 11.84

Insight: 11.22

Occupation & work: You talk a lot about jobs and your work. 10.77

Abstract thought: 104.16

Temporal References: 72.89

Affection: 32.55

Oral fixation: 24.59

Moral imperative: 19.78

Visual sensations: 19.61

Consciousness alteration: 11.18

Glory: 11.01

Anxiety: 6.93

And for my blog

Present tense: You tend to talk in the present tense. 6.19%

Self reference: You talk about yourself a lot. 4.93%

Social processes: Many of your posts reference various social behaviours. 4.44%

Time: 2.66%

Space: 2.33%

Concreteness: 2.24%

Temporal References: 2.24%

Abstract thought: 2.15%

Past tense: You tend to talk about the past. 2.01%

Social behaviour: 1.98%

Upward motion: You often make references to physically upward movement. Like upstairs, climb, etc. 1.61%

Constructive behaviours: 1.52%

Sensations: You tweet about your various senses often. 1.42%

Future tense: You talk about the future often. 1.21%

Visual sensations: 1.19%

Positive emotions: You express plenty of positive emotions. 1.07%

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In-game Chat

I really don't know how I manage it sometimes.  I seem to be attracting a lot of these American Conservative types through no fault of my own.  

For instance I like to play this game on my iPhone called Undead Live! You basically undertake quests or attack other players to gain gold so you can buy more property and better weapons, you know the type.  Anyhow, I attack this guy called ObamaSucks, in fact I pwned him, I nicked over a billion gold off him and lo and behold I get a message from him later in the day saying that I was a bastard.  So I replied…

KingOfAnkh: Thanks for all the gold sucker! I'm just glad I got a chance to irk a Republican idiot like yourself.

Then ensues this little diatribe, all spelling mistakes are his.

ObamaSucks: Its an iPhone game I am not going to lose sleep over it I still have more money then you will ever dream of making in real life

ObamaSucks: I'm a libertain by the way your the one that supports Obama so who is the idiot look at the facts boy

ObamaSucks: You know what irks me dumbass uninformed bleeding heart liberials that get there political info from MSNBC or MTV hitler was a socialist to

So I had to reply out of common decency:

KingOfAnkh: Get your facts right. Hitler was a National Socialist, a right-wing party, but I didn't expect a Libertarian knobtard to know that.

So far this is as far as it has got, I might get more, who knows, if I do I'll share them in the comments.

But what I really would like to know is, are all Republicans/Libertarians absolute idiots? Have they ever attended school?  

It seems none of them can spell and they have a terrible time stringing a sentence together properly; they also only have a passing grasp of political history.  

You can tell they know that there was a naughty man called Hitler around some time in the past as they keep bringing him up in online debates, but they have absolutely no idea what the man stood for and which side of the fence he leant towards. They all seem to think he was a Liberal???

Surely the American schooling system is better than this!

I had to learn English as a second language and as you can see my spelling and grammar isn't perfect, but one can assume that a the majority of these right-wingers, or should I say whingers, are native speakers of English and yet they have trouble knowing the differences between 'there', 'their' and 'they're'. Something I was taught at elementary level.

They seem to delude themselves and ignore historical facts to make their extremist views more acceptable, thus lying to themselves and to others. Then what happens? When people point out they are wrong they simply stick their fingers in their ears and chant 'la, la, la' until the issue goes away or retort to name-calling as they know they're in the wrong.

I have seen better behaviour from five year old children, in fact I know a five year old who is more intelligent than most of these guys.

Another thing that gets to me is how they are blaming Obama for spending trillions of dollars on saving the economy when the ball was dropped during the Bush administration. It's almost like suing a doctor for saving your life.

I wish they'd all go back to school to learn about common sense, something I see less and less of each day.

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Chatting

The one thing I have noticed since I have been out of work is that I can go a long time without talking to anyone.  For instance, up to today I haven't actually spoken to anyone verbally for four days.  This is a departure for me as having worked in the service industry for such a long time my whole life has revolved around chatting to people about their mundane lives, whether I was interested or not.

I have found that because I have no money to spend I'm no longer going to the one social area I'm very comfortable with, the pub; I know a few of you will probably say that I should find other interests to get me out of the house, but when you put your mind to it, there isn't much you can do for free when the weather is rather inclement if you live in a rural area like I do.  I've tried offering my services as a volunteer at a couple of places, but they haven't been interested, I suppose they are inundated with a glut of people wanting to offer their time due to the unemployment situation.

So thank goodness for things like Twitter, Facebook and online chat, I think I'd go absolutely mental without them, although during the day there aren't many people online, so I do get very bored.

I keep thinking of older people who live alone whose only human contact may be collecting their pension or going out to do their weekly shopping, perhaps only seeing someone once a week, if that! I'd say that generally they don't have outlets like the internet to keep them in contact with others so they are stuck watching daytime television and slowly growing more and more senile as time goes by.  It sounds like a purgatorial state to be in, before they are sent upon their merry way into the burning depths of their own hell.  Sounds a bit over-dramatic, but try sitting alone at home for a week and see how you feel.

What I am eventually alluding to is that if you are bored one afternoon, try messaging me on one of the various ways advertised on the left.  Obviously no arseholes are welcome, you know who you are.

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Differences

Yesterday I had yet another lovely meal at Lee’s place, he's been very kind to feed me when the chips have been down as it were.

I arrive at his place and I'm asked what I would like to drink, I initially have a glass of water because I was thirsty.  On sitting down I'm offered a beer, which I gratefully quaff, then the meal arrives which is probably enough food to feed two people or a hungry King.  As a digestif, a gin and tonic ensued before we walked to the pub for quite a few pints of dirty dish water over the rest of the evening before retiring, happily sated and slightly tipsy.

The last time I fed Lee was back at my place a few months ago, we'd been out on a bender and had a couple of smokes so we had the munchies, I had nothing in the house other than bread and butter.  So I made him a butter sandwich which contained about a third of a pound of butter and I insisted that he ate it, knowing full well he'd die of a heart attack if he consumed that much butter.

Being the polite person he is, he ate it.

He's still alive, which in a selfish way is very good for me, but last night we did remark at the differences in both our hosting styles.  He provides an excellent fare, I pile pure fat down his gullet.

I guess I need to brush up on my dinner party skills.

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Summer Walks

Seeing that my mate Lee has been off work recently, we decided to go on a second walkabout yesterday.  So I got out my OS map and plotted us a nice amble that should take in a few local sights and give us some well needed exercise in the sunshine.  

We started off at his house with bacon sandwiches and by midday we were on our way.

It was decided that we'd take in Woodchester Lakes, The Mansion, Uley Longbarrow and Coaley Peak before returning to town by a path that was well mapped on the OS which took in some magnificent woodland areas and farms. It should take in about ten miles of walking which we had all afternoon to achieve.

WPark

Although neither of us had used this particular route before, I had an inkling of where we were meant to be as I'd already been to the lakes a few years ago by another route, but as soon as we set off Lee insisted we were going the wrong way, although we weren't at that time. Much to our joy and jubilation, we found the entrance without too much trouble.

Once in the park we found our way around quite easily, even encountering a couple of National Trust wardens who asked us if we knew where we were as we were using a path that was not normally used by visitors.

We amble along quite nicely, meeting lots of cows which insisted on letting loose some very loud farts and pissing whenever we came close to them.

Moo

Close to the mansion there were quite a few baby moo's about, very cute.

Now onto the mansion, it's meant to be haunted, not that I have ever seen anything there, but many TV productions have been there to try and film the ghostly goings on, I suspect that all of them left empty handed.  There are plenty of stories about the place, I'll leave you to look at the link above if you are interested.

The Mansion

It's a very picturesque place in a gothic style, I could quite easily see myself living there if I ever make my billions as I'm sure it would take as much to restore the place and finish off where the workers abandoned the place.

It was as we were walking away from here we heard a spooky noise, where Lee remarked it could be a ghost, I just said it might be from the gliding club up the road, and surely enough a glider soon appeared above the trees and dropped the winch cable which made the noise.

We managed to reach Coaley Peak with only one wrong turn, so all in all getting to the halfway point wasn't that bad.  It was all uphill but not too strenuous.

Coaley Peak

There's the view from Coaley Peak, that picture is made up from three photos I stitched together, so please forgive the seams as I had to do it all by hand.

As we rested there and had some water and ice creams, we were refreshed enough to attempt the return journey, one that looked simple enough.

How wrong can somebody be? Very it seems.

The paths we were taking were not real paths but 'rights of way' through private land and as we all know a few farmers we know they hate people walking on their fields. What we discovered was that all the styles and paths had been left to overgrow, so it was hugely difficult to find the pathway and to get over to the next field because of the nettles and brambles.  I think by the time we got back into town we must have been stung about a million times each and half eaten by horseflies. 

I can't complain, it was a lot of fun, especially the rope swings in the woods and finally reaching the pub for a well earned celebratory pint.

Hopefully the next walk will take in the area around Horsley, we just need to decide where and when.

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