World's worst crazy golf...

The funfair in Bangor gets more depressing by the year. :(

The 34 year old me

I love my phone

How good are the frames on this thing?

Change of image time!

Looking at the previous picture it's easy to see why i shaved the head.

Relax ladies...

I'm still single, so don't be worrying. Gotta love the way this pic highlights the receding hairline. It's not that bad though, it's been pretty much like that since I was 16!

The aftermath of a saturday night.

Some doormen are better than others. This saturday nights' are just about the soundest we have. You'd be amazed how much they can ruin a night just by getting on their high horse. Happily tonight there was little incident, and most people would go home with no bad memories of another night in Wolseys.

Ducky

It was his last week doing the quiz this week. No-one can hack it as long as i did!

Another day, another delay...

I fucking hate trains. Not as much as i hate buses though! :(

Weekends are more fun if you get paid...

This is what i do for extra money, now i no longer do the quiz. I do it badly needless to say, but i still get paid occasionally. And it's fun to get to choose what music you get drunk to!

So where do i put the bbq?

Space is kind of limited in my backyard. No taking advantage of the sun for us!

DJ ken-e

He's a twat...

Apropos of nothing...

After my e-mailing Martin Samuel as detailed below, I went looking for one of his non-sport commentaries which he mentioned were usually on a Tuesday. Without further comment this was posted today; http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1072-1434764,00.html

Coincidence I'm sure...

He still has the common touch, you know!

So, I was reading Martin Samuel's latest column on the use of video technology in football following the latest saga (as of last week) involving Man Utd, and I thought he'd expressed himself so well I should send him an e-mail saying how much I appreciate his writing. I pointed out that I really missed his non-sport commentaries which cheered me up no end on a Friday morning on the bus or train to work. I should say that at this point I don't usually send people e-mails like this. I always think they would treat such contact as potential stalkers in waiting, and would ignore if at all possible. But then there's the other part of me that thinks of people slaving away wondering why since they've published their e-mail address, no-one ever contacts them apart from to try and sell viagra and dodgy Russian porn, which is the usual result of publishing your e-mail address on the internet...

Anyhoo, the end result is that I got a slightly cagey response from the great man thanking me for the kind words while implicitly not inviting me to be his new best friend, and (more importantly) pointing out that he still does publish the non-sport stuff, just not as a regular comment page, but under his own byline in the Times weekend review, as well as occasional pieces for the Thunderer column, which I was previously unaware of. So, happy days! I just need to figure how to link to his non-sport output and we are officially laughing as he is a very funny man, with a similar liking of Bill Hicks to myself, as well as possessing a particularly cutting insight.

So, that is my contact with the stars for now. Next time, I'll recount my contact with Jon Ronson, the author fawned over in the post below, and how it didn't end up with his taking out a court injunction, which is nice...

Goat Starers Of The World Unite!

I've been meaning to add some new ones for a while now, so here goes the first batch. A brief explanation as to who they are and why I have added them follows:

• Jon Ronson - He is the author of two of my favourite books of recent years, the best selling Them: Adventures with Extremists, which I don't think I can recommend highly enough. I got his new book (The Men Who Stare At Goats) for Christmas and I'm still reeling from it's revelations it but it has also inspired me to dig out 'Them' again as well as post a link to his website. He also has his own (far better designed) blog at http://fromronson.blogspot.com/ which is worth a look. You may notice he updates his regularly, albeit with very short posts. Maybe that's where I've been going wrong in waiting for some earth-shaking events to happen to prompt me to post. Actually given the devastation caused by the tsunami in the Indian Ocean caused by a massive earthquake, that was maybe not the best terminology to use. Ah well....
• James Randi - One of my pleasures in recent years has been on a Friday evening checking the weekly commentary by this renowned magician turned international skeptic. His views on the surfeit of new age mystical bullshit that seems increasingly prevalent in recent years, particularly with regards to health matters, have rarely failed to enlighten me. I first remember him from a half remembered TV series in the late 1980's in which he displayed all the talents that psychics claim to have while showing how all of it could be done without any of the supernatural powers they claim to have. I would recommend anyone to read his commentary archive which can be found here... http://www.randi.org/jr/archive.html

That'll have to do for the first batch. I'll be adding a few more soon, as well as weeding out those that aren't really in use anymore. Obviously that means the Wolseys and Flange ones, but I'm not sure I'm ready to cut them out of my life just yet!

Just noticed that both of those people have the same initials. Weird or what!? Watch out Jonathon Ross or even Jennifer Rush!

Not with a bang, but with a whimper...

So the pub quiz ended on Monday 20th December 2004. An historic day as it will hopefully be the last quiz I ever organise.

People have asked me reasons why I'm giving them up and whether I will miss them and, to be honest, the answer is no. However come January and when I'm not heading out on a Monday night or worrying about getting everything organised for the long day ahead, who knows? Maybe I will miss them. I know I'll miss the banter with Craig as it was only the pub quiz that kept me in touch with him for the last few years, although with the advent of poker in our lives at least there's something else to keep in touch about now! Also, I've hating writing quizzes for a long time now, and it was only the fact that I genuinely enjoyed presenting them and feedback that I got from people who took part, that kept them going for the last two years, especially going up against Cafe's big Monday nights for the last few years. With that and Craig going to Australia for a year, it just seemed a good time to call it a day.

Unbelievably, I've already had one offer to do a quiz somewhere else. I haven't said no yet, as the offer is not yet concrete, but the answer will be no. I only hope that my friendships with some people will not be harmed by saying no to them. They certainly seem to have got their hopes up judging by how far along their proposal is with my name being bandied about already. I will write some other time with the details if it all pans out...

Anyway, tonight is Craig's last night in Wolsey's so me & him and I suppose a few others will be DJ'ing to what promises to be a reasonable crowd. There should hopefully be a few people down to say their goodbyes from friends and staff of Wolsey's who have known him over the years, so should be a good one! All the other nights this Christmas have either had too few people I know out, or just way too many people out for it to be comfortable. Bloody-once-a-year-out-partying-taking-all-the-seats-and-cold-beer-from-those-of-us-out-all-year -round-bastards!