Mark E. Smith Video

Here's another link to check out.

http://www.channel.tate.org.uk/#media:/media/71190048001&context:/channel/playlists

This link may not work. I've tried it a few times so you may have to copy and paste it into the web browser thing. Try this one and go into the "Fall News" link:

http://www.visi.com/fall/index.html

It's a short interview Mark did for the Tate art gallery. Great stuff from our curmudgeon of a pal.

New album out soon to watch out for

Skinny Pete

I'm on a diet. Someone at work had the idea of starting an office version of the TV show "The Biggest Loser". A few of us have paid $50 each and will be weighed monthly until the end of June to find out who has lost the biggest percentage of their weight. The winner will pocket all the winnings; about $600 now. Having thought about it I think we should be offering the winnings to charity and will suggest that this week. I probably won't be very popular but who is going to be brave enough to challenge a plea to have the winnings sent to Oxfam or UNICEF...or whatever. Most of us have declared that we are not interested in the money but the challenge to lose weight so there shouldn't be much of a challenge to my charitable suggestion. We will see.

Anyway, I've been measuring myself for the past few weeks and have lost 6 pounds. I've set a target to lose about 20% (this may or may not be realistic) and I will see how I get on. Other fatties in the office have lost considerably more but have taken to cheating by taking tablets that speed up the metabolism and colonic swilling-out.

My approach is simple; no alcohol (I can't anyway), no chocolate (very difficult, more so than beer), no candy, no cake and no cookies or pop or ice-cream or normal cream and a bit more exercise. "A bit more" equates to a run once a week so far, but I'm still playing football on a Thursday and trying to ski when the weather and my time permit it. I could also cut out bread but I need something to look forward to.

I'm going to try to keep this up beyond June too. I see no point in losing some weight during this period and then putting it all back on again in the latter part of the year. This is the problem most habitual dieters face as their weight drops and increases at regular intervals. Pointless. I could have the occasional chocolate after June, but the problem I have is that once I get the taste of chocolate I have to eat the whole lot. I think my simple sub-conscious thinks the chocolate will go off if it's left for more than a few hours after opening it. I will have to be very careful.

I've noticed a change already; my trousers have a habit of falling down if I don't wear a belt. Belts were simply fashion accessories for me in the past with no real function (my kecks would happily remain around my ever-expanding waist on their own, thank you very much) but now I actually need them to hold my pants up. I ventured out with the garbage the other day without a belt and had to hold my trousers up with me free hand. When I do wear my belt it's now tightened up an extra hole. The problem is, as I lose more weight, and therefore girth from around my middle, I will have to tighten my 36" trousers so much that they will make me look like a rather well dressed vagrant. I've taken that too far.............

More Books

I've just spent the weekend finishing 3 more books from the BBC's Big Read list:

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Brigit Jones Diary by Helen Fielding

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

The first was written in 1925 and is narrated by Nick Carraway as he spends a summer in the company of a variety of characters who live in mansions on Long Island's shoreline. The story centres on the Jay Gatsby, a mysterious neighbour of Nick's who's background is revealed throughout the novel. It's one of those stories that has no real plot but a series of narratives about parties and meetings with new friends for Nick, not all of which he likes.

Brigit Jones was published in 1994 and everyone already knows the story. Actually the book is a little different to the film but ironically mentions Colin Firth and Hugh Grant in it. It's a great read and very funny...funnier than the film.

Jane Eyre is a great love story written in 1847 and tells the story of a young teacher of the same name who falls in love, loses love and (I'll not spoil the ending).

All these are very short books and can be read in a single day as long as you don't have too much on.

I'm tackling Dickens' David Copperfield, allegedly as close to an autobiographical piece as you can get from old Charley boy.

Go Canada Go

The hype is over and the population of the country are delirious following the Sid the Kid's overtime goal in the Gold Medal hockey game. It was a tense affair that we watched on the internet...well, the 3rd period and OT. Because we were watching on the internet the feed kept freezing the game and returned from the same place it froze so that by the end of the game we were watching 3-4 minute old footage. Josh, who was listening to the game on the radio live came through to tell us that the US had scored their goal with 24 seconds on the clock, 3 minutes before we saw it. I gave him hell. In OT the screen once again froze so I joined Josh in in his room and when Crosby scored the winner I did exactly the same. Tracey gave me hell.

It was dream end to a heart stopping game and a fitting finale to the games.

We then watched the closing ceremony on line.

It would appear that the games were a success. Visitors enjoyed the Canadian welcome and BC hospitality, especially the laid back west coast way of life that we all love here. Businesses downtown apparently boomed (at least restaurants and hotels did - not sure about the stores) and the feared traffic congestion did not transpire for the majority of us.

It was, however, debatable whether the games were entirely environmentally friendly with trucks and helicopters shipping snow from outside the local area and the Olympic flame burning huge amounts of either propane or natural gas 24 hours a day but the traffic was greatly reduced for the event as an estimated 250,000 people left to escape the madness.

Britain won one medal (albeit a gold one) and Canada won a record 14 golds so i am now Canadian, except when Scotland play football or rugby or anything else come to mention it.