Going swimming again at 7. The girls have pulled out. So they’re saved the trouble of having to pretend like they’re not with Mr. Bozo who’s flapping around like a puppy on acid. I just had a Joey-tribute sandwich, Italian meatballs (as opposed to the original Fijian ones, I suppose) in a rich tomato sauce with ‘mozarella’ (processed ordinary) cheese. After washing it down with a thick chocolate milkshake, I fear I have only added to my bone-density problems, especially around my midriff (I know there are no bones there except for the lumbar bones) which is why, I presume, I don’t float so well. Or at all.

As some of you may know, this weblog will soon be shifting to another site. What this means is that:-
1) I will no longer be piggy-backing on our isom site, as I have been deemed old enough to stop suckling and go foraging for myself.
2) Errr, that’s about it.
Of course, you junkies will have to type in a new URL (that be the wwwww thingy you type in the browser), it’s going to be http://www.xxxxxxxxxxx.co.uk. (I can’t type the real add here untill I’ve got it in case some jealous nobody buys it and then tries to sell it to me at an exhorbitant price that may or may not include the sale of mine grandmother dear)

Jill and I heard some real blasts-from-the-past at Ioannie’s yesterday. We went ASDA shopping, and bought 3 pizzas for dinner, as well as a gorgeous pesto’n’cheese ciabatta. Which we sat down to eat while having a moan about life, washed down with Bud. Then we went through I’s music files. Songs like

‘Mr Vain’ by Culture Beat,
‘Viva forever’ by Spice girls with Pavarotti,
‘Rhythm is a dancer’ by Snap, ‘It’s a rainy day’ by Ice MC ,
‘Reach for the stars’ by S Club 7,
‘No limit’ by 2Unlimited,
‘That’s why (you go away)’ by Michael Learns To Rock or MLTR as I’m told they are currently known.

It were a right riot, I tell thee!!!
(As a sidenote, I see on the official MLTR page that they’ve just had 50, 000 fans come to their concert in India this October).

I watched Shrek yesterday after I got home, didn’t find it much funny apart from a few classic Eddie Murphy moments (like when Donkey’s twitching before waking up he goes “Yeah baby, you know I like that” in his dream!). I could see in my mindseye little children roaring outrageously at the karate stunts of Princess Fiona (if that is indeed her real name) for example, but it just looked too manufactured to me.

By the way, if you look to the left of this blog, you will see my new tagline (in the little puke-yellow box). This is what I used to get threatened with as a kid. Rather counter-intuitive, dontchathink? Another Indian proverb = “Agree, don’t agree, I’m your guest” which is about those sticky guests that invite themselves to stay. And for balance, a Russian one = “Without rest, and a horse doesn’t skip” (I’m laughing as I write this) which means ‘all work and no play…’

Was just thinking of sharing a moment of reflection with you guys. I used to listen the The Eagles a lot when I was a kid, and I know all the lyrics to all the songs (everyone has a claim to fame. This is mine). Every now and then some poignant lines springs forth randomly (but often quite relevantly). Here’s an example.

“What do you do when your dreams come true
And it’s not quite like you had planned?”
From ‘After the thrill is gone’

“There’s talk on the street, it’s there to remind you
That it doesn’t really matter which side you’re on.
You’re walking away and they’re talking behind you.
They will never forget you till somebody new comes along.”
From ”New kid in town’

Nope, not at all. Managed to get some swimming done (to paraphrase the words of the great Ali, “I float like a lead weight, sink like a Russian Oscar-class atomic submarine”), which left my shoulders aching from pulling all 13 stone of me through the water.
Also went into town with Ioannis after swimming, and after a whopping great spicy chilli at The Footage, to see if something could be done about some person’s birthday. I bought an Asterix comic (the first one, ‘Asterix The Gaul’), and a Tom Holt omnibus, whcih I am presently working my way through.

Hey hey hey!!! It’s Lekha’s birthday today, many wishes for whatever it is you plan to do and all that.

Mahesh has got a weblog now, he’s an ex-Mancunian back to living in Brussels at the mo’, for those who don’t know him. He joins my ‘Links League’ table at the bottom, let’s see what he can do to win my favour!!

Looking for a new house now, since I’m leaving the one I currnently live in. Although the reason for my moving is ostensibly that the owners want to re-decorate, the reality is that I’ve extracted just about as much use as anybody can from it, and I leave it, like a cast-aside second skin, for greener (cleaner) pastures.

As I was lying on my bed, a random memory clamoured for attention from the murky depths of the slush that I like to call my brain. My sis and I use to amuse ourselves literally translating Hindi proverbs to English. My favourite? “Black letter equal to a buffalo”; meaning to an illiterate person (of which, you might be surprised, there are quite a few in India) a black aphabetic character might as well be a buffalo for all the sense it makes.

I hadn’t heard Bruce Dickenson’s ‘Tears of dragon’ for approx 7 years, so it was a pleasant surprise to hear it this weekend.

Sorry I’ve been away for so long. I know you guys are now locked in a dependency relationship, where the unwritten contract is that I continue to provide you with a source of amusement that, albeit temporarily, removes you from the hustle and bustle of everyday routine and allows you to look up to me and sigh in despair, thinking “When will I ever be like HIM???”

I got ‘The Dilbert Future’ from the library yesterday, along with some other high-brow philosophy books that I’m not going to bother you with the titles of. A quote is therefore in order here, so I quote Scott Adams, cartoonist (of Dilbert fame).

Thousands of years ago, women figured out they could disguise their preferences as “religion” and control gullible men that way. In one part of the world, I imagine the conversation went like this:

Husband: I’ll be back in an hour. I’m going to covet my neighbor’s wife,
Wife: You can’t do that.
Husband: Why not?
Wife (thinking fast): Um… God said so. He’s an omnipotent being. If you don’t obey him you’ll burn in hell.
Husband: Whoa, that was close one. Thanks for warning me… How about if I kill her husband first?
Wife: Ooh, bad news on that, too.

And I know it should be spelt neighbour, but he’s American. ‘Nuf said!

I’m supposed to be making applications, selling myself, power lunching, market re-structuring, blah blah. Instead, I’ve usually got my feet up, a couple of books strewn around, telly on and a few take-out numbers close at hand! Vive la Pigginess! (It’s an Early French term that has fallen into disuse over the ages). Pour l’example (another instance of my casual, off-hand switchery between languages that demonstrates my mastery thereof) I left home at 3pm today to get stuff sorted out, and by 5 I’m already hooked up to my IntraVenous drip and blubbering away.

I know I promised Walter Mosley a while ago, but I’ll do that tomorrow. As a taster, I’ll tell you it’s about the phenomenon of groups keeping each other informed as an alternative to media dependance and brainwashing.

I am informed that a professor has been sacked from MIT for fabricating data in his research. So, we’re not the only ones then, eh??? (This is a nod to our own Gareth “Cut’n’paste” Edward aka “Fingers”)
I bumped into Brian yesterday while having a red curry at the Royal Orchid restaurant yesterday (yes, I’m trying to find a replacement for that belter I had in Munich), he’s doing a gig at The Rampant Lion, so gonna go pick up Tinks and her flatmates and party till late!!

..and sparkling wine!! I was squeezed out this very day, a couple of decades (and then some) ago. To all my dear friends who greeted this glorious day for mankind with me, a big thanks! For those who haven’t, I know who you are, there’s a list (there’s always a list) and you’re not on it!!

Ohh, now I’ve got the podium, I have so much to say.

Great night at Po Na Na (liver, what liver?), thanks to “expense account” Ali for comping me all the way. The lovely dinner at Rusholme where I lost my handbag (manbag) with keys, but then retreived it at the cost of 15 squidders for the taxi. And a great pasta Alfredo (I really must meet him one day) lunch at the Waterhouse today as well!!!

Dad called me in the morn, he seems to be getting happier each day. Must be the lack of stress that he must’ve felt having to save little premature babies all his life (there was a little shout to my under-recognised dad).

Other friends made me happy as well, some (very) expected calls, and some quite unexpected, like the one from my old school friend and ex-mosquiteer (it’s a long story) ‘Thanatte’ in Indianapolis, or the one from Gowri from the West Coast, who’s going to get married soon.

I’ve been down to the ‘The Pub’ with Jill n’ Tinks for a pint and a laugh, and now Ioannis is driving us down to Cheadle, where there’s a Jazz club. So we’re going to be chillin’ cool cats, listening to some deep vibes.

What a crap game! What a crap game!! As my esteemed friend and personal mentor was talking about just yesterday, those overpaid sods at United were disgraceful. As the guy sitting behind me said, “We should start paying them based on performance, that’d change their attitude”. D’accord mate.

One highlight of the match though, was when Giggs was substitued for Park Ji-Sung. Giggs gave his captain’s arm-band to Park as they changed places at the touchline, who promptly put it on his own arm! This amused me greatly, and I couldn’t stop making ribald comments about ‘Our Captain’ and his effect on his players.

Went to Deansgate Locks after that to sink a few well-earned ones with Dave of CCRM. The topic of the day was Life, Religion, the Universe, and Everything.