Doing my bit for heavy metal on the cheap... got a pair of £5 tickets to see Metallica at the O2 in a couple of weeks; I'm not their biggest fan but I've not been to a gig for ages so it's something to do...

Dear aggrieved Hillary supporters - you'd actually vote for McCain/Palin because there is a woman involved rather than vote for Obama? Congratulations - that spinning sound you can hear is every female who ever battled for equality spinning in their graves. Vote for what you believe in, not for which ticket has the most vaginas.

I'm coming to the US for the election, btw - so if it does go wrong and you vote the Republicans in for another four years I'm going to sit in Times Square and sulk.

Tunes I am loving at the moment...











...Noah & The Whale, The Hold Steady, Florence & The Machine, Brighton Port Authority and The Peth.

I am not well; I have a huge case of man flu - so I'm snotty as fuck and achey and I don't want to be at work and... and... and...

oh well; what's a chap to do eh? I'll soldier on bravely... downloading the new Brian Eno / David Byrne album to cheer myself up a wee bit

I'm pondering whether or not to have a cull of my friends list... I'm not one for facebook, etc. but I appear to have stacked up quite a collection of chums on here, but only so many ever pop by and say hello, and I'm just as guilty of not reading everyone's blogs either. So should I brandish the axe or not? As far as I can see, friends break down thus:

1. People who say hello on the blog and MSN and email once in a while.
2. People who I see about in threads a lot, and it's nice to check out their blogs once in a while
3. People I fancy a lot (yup, it might seem shallow to you but it works for me!)
4. Other people who I'm not sure how they ended up here.

It's the 'Other people who I'm not sure how they ended up here' who might get the chop.

Bless you all for the Birthday messages; much appreciated. Now getting on with being old... albeit while hammering Soul Calibur IV on the xbox and listening to The Wackness soundtrack; I suppose I can put off worrying about age until I'm 40, right?

eek - it's my last day of being 35; which means tomorrow I'll be nearer forty than thirty...

This is not good; I'm far too childish to have a midlife crisis

It's been an odd week so far; the hot weather (and I like the sun, don't get me wrong) has played merry hell with my day-to-day; it's been overly hot and sticky all night and the air pressure means my ears are bunged up and I can't hear anything, which means I get crabby which is then amplified by the lack of sleep.

so, in summary, MEH!

oh, and as a bonus :Glen Campbell - Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)

Dear god it's hot at the moment; we *need* a good thunder storm to clear the air - it's sticky and muggy and just a bit much (yes, I probably would be complaining if it was chucking it down for days too!).

Went to see The Dark Knight yesterday; cracking film but I'm still not convinced that it's a great Batman film. One reviewer made the point it's very Michael Mann; god knows I don't want camp Batman back but a little levity would have been nice...

Insomnia and general work stress means I'm on MSN a lot at the mo' - if you fancy a chat give me a nudge on penhapus@hotmail.com and say hello!

To borrow a phrase from the X-Men's Beast 'oh my stars and garters!'



The simply sublime NickiLove