The Hands of Joe, that is.
Despite a remarkably successful début:
A scheduling issue due to one member having a life that needed attending to conflicting with the aspirations (i.e. need to show off) of another member led to an unbelievable outbreak of SpinalTapism.  I did contemplate going along with the idea of a temporarily reconfigured lineup. When it became clear that no rehearsal would be possible, that there would be no certainty of an adequate fill-in drummer - and certainly not one familiar with the material, I backed out of the prospect of a 500+ mile round trip for a maximum half  hour slot that promised to be a musical débacle.

The project is dead - so much for creative chemistry!

There's some doubt about which side of  the schism holds the name - either we've been kicked out, or the ego has left the building *G*

No doubt more to come...

 

The 

Hands

Of 

Joe 

It has been a long time coming, decades for some of us, but now it it is here! The Hands of Joe are performing their first ever gig:

 

Date: Saturday 2nd August 2008

Location: the Magdalene Arms, Ifley Road, Oxford

Start: be there at 8pm sharp of you will miss us!

 

The Hands of Joe will be performing all their own material; and eclectic mix of art house poetry jazz and rock n roll - not to be missed!

 

 

 

(It is the Legend, Pete fryer's, of the Pete fryer Band, birthday so it will be a good fun night)

American Gods by Neil Gaiman.
Not sure why I never got around to this one before. There's an odd "who influenced who" underlying this wonderful tale, it bears some similarities to Pratchett's "Small Gods", but since they are sometime collaborators... Either way, it's dark, thrilling, enthralling and superbly written.

Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder
A refreshingly different take on the Ringworld/Orbitsville school of BDO stories - steampunk in tone and dfinitely a tale of aventure.

Ministry of Space by Warren Ellis
I think the "Dan Dare for the deranged" blurb sums this one up nicely. A visual treat and a splendid alternative take on the space race.

But the worst of it is over - was back to work today anyway, and got sent home at just after 3 anyway. Lots of nice new CDs and DVDs, but I don't get to play them because everybody else is just sponging up the endless reams of satellite broadcast tripe. I think my family worry that heir eyes will cease to function if not bathed incathode rays at all available moments. Unbelievable scenes in the supermarket this lunchtime too -you' have thought that they'd been closed fr a month rather than two days, with trolleys piled as high as they were at the weekend... Iwas kind of like Zombies _ Dawn of the dead without the cannibalism *sigh*

By seeing and grooving to Black Stone Cherry at The Astoria in London

Watching & grooving to Black Stone Cherry at The Astoria in London

Almost a cliche to do this, but a tragic loss. Urbane, witty and brighter than 90% of the musico-cultural pundits. Aman without whom there would have been no Factory Records, and possibly no Joy Division or Happy Mondays. The world is a poorer place.

No surprizes on the first, not sure about the second

Your results:
You are Green Lantern

Green Lantern 90% Iron Man 80% Hulk 75% Superman 65% Robin 57% Spider-Man 55% The Flash 55% Catwoman 50% Supergirl 50% Wonder Woman 40% Batman 35%

Hot-headed. You have strong will power and a good imagination.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

Your results:
You are Mr. Freeze

Mr. Freeze 86% Venom 74% The Joker 70% Riddler 65% Lex Luthor 64% Dr. Doom 63% Apocalypse 61% Dark Phoenix 60% Juggernaut 58% Poison Ivy 52% Magneto 50% Catwoman 41% Green Goblin 38% Mystique 38% Two-Face 38% Kingpin 38%

You are cold and you think everyone else should be also, literally.

Click here to take the "Which Super Villain are you?" quiz...

That's this year's big mountain done, with no injuries this time. Ben Cruachan is, however a mean mutha of a mountain compared to Cader Idris. About 700' higher, and the last 1000' up from the bealach is deceptive. It's basically a boulder field all the way to the top, and we got hailed on. Most of the day the weather was glorious, so I'm not going to complain. The four fit bunnies completed the horseshoe, and the other three of us just went directly back down, satisfied that we'd had a gentlmen's day out on the mountain. The serious errors were (a) leaving my daysack with cameras and knee & ankle supports on a chair in my kitchen, and (B) not taking a bottle to the top to celebrate. There was, however, much consumption of Islay malt in the evening.

Not helped by being woken up in the middle of the night. Cohabiting with a TV junkie really has its downside sometimes *sigh*

Obviously, given the time between entries...
With my son seemingly determined to leave the rails big time and completely torpedo his chances of finishing his BTEC...
With the company being taken over (at least they can meet the payroll now) and working like crazy just to keep things running...
It's a wonder I can even think about anything at all!
BUT...
I've restored contact with two old friends, and a heroic effort by various people means that we've got hold of 86 out of 92 people from our school year for a reunion, and only one has completely gone off the radar. So, apart from possibly that last one, no fatalities so far: extraordinary really since we've all now passed our 50th birthdays. Should be a good do, too - one of our fellows is a pub landlord, so no problem with a venue, and he's arranged for two local micro/boutique breweries to produce special ales for the event! Given that this is in Burton Upon Trent, birthplace of Draught Bass & Marstons Pedigree, this is delightful AND appropriate.

The abovementioned errant son did a disappearing act over the weekend, so I could indulge in some light retail therapy on Saturday morning before parking my brain at the door of the local cineplex to enjoy Ghost Rider. Loved it - great relaxation for the overstressed middle-aged comic fan!
Later, I took my best-beloved to see Hot Fuzz, Simon Pegg's giggle-worthy spoof of buddy-cop movies set in a Dorset village. Worth seeing just for the supporting cast of grand old luvvies hamming it up as the deranged local residents.

TaTaForNoW

A novel patent rejection (caution advised...)
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/09/11/uspto_encloses_10mb_.html

Old news now, but nice to see that my favourite former NME hack has still got his cultural chops!
http://www.newstatesman.com/200604240026

Hah! Big Blue sending itself up...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSqXKp-00hM
more stuff @ http://mainframe.typepad.com/blog/2006/08/mainframe_meets.html

Up at 6:00 on a Sunday morning - for work! - feh!
Still, it's what we ubergeeks get paid for.

For those of us of a certain age, this is a hoot!
http://www.alice.dryden.co.uk/ho_for_hoggwarts.htm#intro

A good day to not have to drive to Luton Airport methinks...

Not that I'm at all surprized:

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2006/08/08/israels-attack-was-premeditated/#more-1000

And bet that Dubya is loving it - none of his boys getting shot at: client-state foreign policy strikes again!

Another web project that I started on with good intentions... and then got sidetracked; I can hardly blieve that this has lain dormant for nearly two years - and so much has happened in the mean time that I hardly know where to start.