Hi guys. Just got back from a very pleasant evening at Ruth's, and having seen off Shinwa (well played btw) at Flash penalty shootouts, I am here to tell you about said evening. I hope you enjoy the fruits of my labours. If not, I suppose I will have wasted your time. Either way - score!

So yes, after a hearty meal of faggots, mushy peas and chips (though I don't really go in for mushy peas, the sight of them clogging up the freezer was starting to get to me) we set off for Ruth's, listening to Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit as we went along. Nicholas had not heard of Jeeves and Wooster, or of Wodehouse, but he seemed to enjoy it, and we chuckled along merrily, and I suspect he may determined the source of certain peculiarities of recent Markan speech.

We played a couple of games of Jenga, and I knocked it down both times because I suck. However, at Scrabble I did rather well. This is unusual despite my knowledge of many things verbal because I never do get the right letters whereas this time I was richly supplied with individual high-scoring letters and a splendid supporting cast of nouns. We had some good words, inherently I mean, not score-wise. Here are some of the highlights.

• Hyenas


• Slake


• Brio


• Feign

It was all very pleasant, and the conversation very amiable and natural and it was great. And then we drove home, listening to more Jeeves and Wooster.

Of course; it's so simple!

Wahoo! There's a new version of OctaMED out, OctaMED being the tracker I used to make music with many years ago on my amiga. I bought the PC version a while back, only the playback skipped something chronic, which is a bit of a bind when you're trying to listen back to what you've done. However, as I'm a registered user, I am entitled to download all 2.62MB (Marvel at the efficient coding!) of the new version which works on computers made of string, such as mine, for free! Perhaps I will start making music again. Unfortunately, I'm too lazy to do my own sampling; I might have to buy some CDs to get in the swing of things again. And I can play the guitar now too. Whee!

Play a daft game and get in a prize draw for a watch or something!!!!

Doctor Who passes from I to Withnail - from one of my "neighbors in meatspace". Not quite sure about that. Oh well, it'll be interesting to see. By a startling co-incidence I was watching Doctor Who - The Pertwee Years only the other night. It's not half so good as Doctor Who - Cybermen - The Early Years presented by that impostor Colin Baker.

Just a post to point you over to Nick's blog, who has recently had a dream every bit as bizarre and engaging as one of Phil's. I also note that said cove can drive me round from the 15th! Topping!

I am bewildered by the continuing, apparently welcome, online presence of Nihil Obstat. To save you the few seconds it would take to work it out, this guy has a blog which has the sole purpose of taking the piss out of various errors (spelling, syntax, typography) in other blogs by Catholics. And when they come under scutiny, it's an event, like "Wow! I'm on Nihil Obstat!" rather than the more intelligible "Have they nothing better to do with their time?" Bizarre. And yes, I know that I've been known to take it upon myself to do the same thing, so none of that thank you. At least it's never been systematic.

Two more letters from the Jobcentre. One to say that I am getting JSA and one to say that they can tax me on it. I guess that makes sense, though it seems a little odd. I was getting some bread, and the local paper, when I came across The Morning Star. Has anyone heard of it? It says it's the daily paper of the left. It is bizarre and gratifying to think that such a thing is ditributed by my local Balfour's in the midst of Toryland.

I'm not signing onto MSN very much these days, but I was very gratified today to find myself chatting to Phil, John, Rosie and James Dean in swift succession, pleasany online company all. It is my opinion that popular music is in fine fettle currently; Beyonce's single was quite good, I'm loving 'Rhythm Bandits by Junior Senior, possibly even more than 'Everybody' and I rather like Hot Hot Heat's 'No, Not Now'. Very pleasant musical climate.

Myeerrrh... must... crush... capitalism...

This might've been fun. She was always going on about the bible.

Huh. It seems I only have one GCSE certificate to my name. I wonder if I should look into getting all of them. On the other hand, it seems a trifle unnecessary when I have my A-levels and degree certificate to hand. What does everyone think, just ignore it and get on with my life?