M40 memorial
There is a memorial plaque on the northbound M40 motorway in Oxfordshire.
Out of morbid curiousity, I pulled over this morning to pay my respects and read the inscription:
'Do not stand at my grave and weep
Bring a picnic here instead
Just be careful opening the driver's door
Because that's what I did and now I'm dead'
BA launches bid for prestigious 'marketing campaign' award
British Airways, shocked at missing out last year's trophy, have launched a superlative campaign for 2008. Agency: Itchy & Scraatchi. Cost: £25,000 found in a digger after the completion of T5. Gate 3 - Newcastle airport.Together we can work wonders
Off to a gentle modest start.
Together we can get people talking about T5
That is certainly true.
Together we can make T5 world famous
Some wag has added a prefix of 'in'.
Together we can keep people smiling
Most people smile, dumped in Vancouver 17 hours late with no clean shirts and underpants, don't they ?
Together we can keep things moving
Well most things with the exception of the baggage carousels.
...and the final, closing, crowning glory.
Together we can get off to a flying start
Honestly, if you made it up, people wouldn't believe you.
blogging bankruptcy
It's no good. I simply can't go on. I can no longer summon up the enthusiasm for blogging.
All the warnings from the blogging 101 courses over the years have proven to be very true.
I foolishly dipped my toe into Twitter and then FriendFeed but it's no good I simply can't go on with this any longer.
I can't bear to miss my children growing up just because 'Facebook is so last year, Dad.'
I can't bear to talk to my wife and be abrupt and terse simply because I am now limited to 140 characters.
The time has finally come for me to declare complete 100%, unadulterated blogging and Web 2.0 bankruptcy.
Thank you all from the pit of my burning, nauseous stomach for your comments during the past years.
Tomorrow I will resign from Oracle Corporation and will devote the rest of my life to my one true love.
Learning to play guitar well enough to cover 'Country Feedback' by R.E.M. Wish me luck.
Peace, love, empathy
The byte stream that is 'Blog in Isolation'.
the wit and wisdom of Terry McDermott
'We were the best team. People say over a season you finish where you deserve to, but we didn’t deserve to finish behind Manchester United. We were everyone’s second team.'
Terry McDermott on Newcastle's near miss in 1996.
Just a reminder of the final League positions for the 1995-1996 season.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts |
| Manchester United | 38 | 25 | 7 | 6 | 73 | 35 | 82 |
| Newcastle United | 38 | 24 | 6 | 8 | 66 | 37 | 78 |
top 10 concerts of all time
- The Fall - Hazel Grove Youth Club (1979) - 'We are The Fall. Rule One: no-one gets on stage. Rule Two: no spitting. Rule Three: no requests.'
- The Chameleons - Salford University (1984) - The Manchester gigs just seemed so much more manic.
- The Fall - Stockport College (1979) - Not so much a stage as a large step. Standing three feet away from a snarling Mark E. Smith and his carrier bag.
- The Chameleons - Gallery (1982) - Notable for a gigantic leap by skinhead from the gallery onto the dance floor. When we left, we found him lying semi-conscious on the pavement outside.
- The Fall - Manchester Poly (1980) - Compered by the late John Peel. Smith waded into the crowd to sort out a brave individual who doused him in lager.
- The Smiths - Brixton Academy (1986) - Little did we know it but turned out to be the final Smiths show. Morrissey walking on wielding 'The Queen is dead' placard. Pure theatre.
- The Smiths, The Fall and New Order - G-Mex (1986) - If The Chameleons had been present, my life would have been complete.
- The Fall - Walthamstow (1986) - 'Bend Sinister' tour with Brix and two drummers. So fantastic we went to Woolwich the next night.
- U2 - Warwick University Arts Centre (1981) - U2 blown away by an unknown support band; 'Hi - We're The Chameleons and we're from Manchester.'
- The Chameleons - Shepherd's Bush Empire (2001) - Reunion gig - After 14 long years, as if they had never been away.
- The Fall - Lyceum Ballroom (1984) - sad to say, I went on my own and taped this show with a cheap Saisho walkman from Dixons.