Through My Eyes
My wonky eyes have given me an idea for a new photography project.
The Best Worst Guitar
Epiphone 435i – a 1980s superstrat. HSS, with locking trem. I didn’t know anything about guitars. But I decided I wanted to play electric guitar. Mainly to fit in with some new friends at sixth…
A Voice for Ellie
Today I published my first short story on Amazon Kindle. Well not my first ever short story. It’s just the first that I’ve published on Amazon’s Kindle platform.
Videogame Ghosts
Lack of interactivity is something I’m noticing more and more in games. It’s not that the worlds used to be more interactive – it’s that as the detail in games has increased the level of…
Trouble in Greendale
For many years now Royal Mail Postman Pat Clifton was the man you could always rely on in Greendale. He was the glue that held the community together, the face of officialdom that could be…
Satan’s Navy – not by Patrick O’Brian
It seems the Royal Navy has officially recognised its first Satanist. You can read the full story courtesy of the BBC. At the urging of a friend and because clearly I had nothing better to…
Bagpuss – The Chocolate Biscuit Episode
Remembering a childhood classic now, in the form of my rant about the political ideas behind a certain episode of Bagpus. Well as you remember, Emily, the little girl who seemed to have somehow become…
Behold a Random Selection of Nonsense
Muddied and Bloodied at Burton Bradstock
Today is the first day of a new week. Our youngest is back at school following his bout of chicken pox. And that meant I…
British TV Is Rubbish
What on earth has happened to television in recent years? Yes I know we’ve always had plenty of guff on TV such as Mind Your…
Save Us From Preachy Kids TV
Over the last five years I’ve seen a lot of CBeebies. Probably more than any of our children have actually seen. Some of it was…
The Wuss-Tones of Modern Rock
What in Tony Iommi’s blessed name is wrong with modern, so-called rock bands? I look at these bands such as Strokes, Kaiser Chiefs, Franz Ferdinand…
Bugera V22 Review
Judging by all the chat online the Bugera V22 has become a very hot talking point. That’s no surprise given what it offers for the…
Lancaster Reunion 2002
In January 2002 a few of us old Cartmelians made our way to the hallowed ground of Lancaster University. Those present were James, Harry, Rob,…
Camera Gear Forums & Obsession With Sharpness.
It is mad how much stock people put in sharpness. On camera gear forums it seems to be the aim for many people – they’ll…
Blackstar Unveils Revolutionary Marketing BS
British advertising bullshitter and sometime amplification manufacturer Blackstar has unveiled its latest state of the art marketing nonsense. The company describes its latest verbal slight…
Filing Wives in Chronological Order
I wish to register a complaint. My complaint is with the jargon one has to work with when discussing your married relationships should you have…
Grandpa In My Pocket
Cbeebies is full of very strange programmes. Take Numberjacks for example. This appears to be a remake of spooky 70s show Sapphire & Steele albeit…
Jools Holland’s Formulaic Tosh
There was a time when “Later…” the live music show presented by Jools Holland was essential viewing. On a BBC that knows so little about…
Ending the Guitar Tone Obsession
Do we guitarists obsess too much about tone? I’ve realised I certainly do. If I look back to the first 15 or so years of…
Airships – You Know It Makes Sense
I hate flying. Flying on commercial passenger jets that is. Such planes are horrible, claustrophobic, smelly, unsafe, fragile tin-cans that hurtle through the sky at…
Peavey Sanpera II Vypyr Controller Review
In my review of the Peavey Vypyr 75 I pointed out that to get the full functionality of the amplifier you would need one of…
Children & Violent Videogames
Do you ever just read something and hold your head in your hands in despair? I did when I just read some online debates among…
The Watchers
I went for a walk at Westbay today, which is something I do quite often. I took my camera along and my Samyang 50mm f/1.2…
The Food of Kings
The Goblin Meat Pudding sounds like something Gollum would buy down at Crazy Saruman’s Convenience & Liquor Store. But behind the silly name lurks a…
The Birds & Bees Conversation
I’ve just driven back from town with my three year old daughter where we went to get a birthday card for a friend of hers…
Votes for Children
Parents, I imagine that unless you’re loaded you aren’t exactly keen on the Coalition’s efforts so far. The massive real-world cuts in public spending –…
Jumping Ship from Sony to Fujifilm?
Next week Sony will announced its successor to the NEX-6 camera. I’ve owned an NEX-6 since the camera was launched in the UK and it’s…
Trouble in Greendale
For many years now Royal Mail Postman Pat Clifton was the man you could always rely on in Greendale. He was the glue that held…
My Sex Is On Fire
I wrote recently about how I wasn’t well at the moment and some of the rather unpleasant procedures I’ve undergone to get to the bottom1…
Channel Four Nonsense
Have you noticed something very wrong with many of Channel Four’s output over the last few years? My beef is in the way many of…
Sparrowhawk
Deadly goings on in our garden this morning as a Sparrowhawk captures a small bird.
Flappy Paddle Middle Age
I’ve not yet reached the age of forty but it’s pretty clear I am entering middle age. However none of the usual signs are there…
The Whole Women Bishops Thing
Imagine for one moment that rather than being a lapsed Roman Catholic married to an Anglican priest I’m actually a member of the Anglican church.…
How I Didn’t Learn to Play Guitar
In 1989 I got a book that was just strumming easy chords to famous songs. It was frustrating because they weren’t necessarily in the right…