round at louise and dazzers

One of the stinking cats getting comfortable on me

Remains of the curry

Dazzer hard at work (I have a hay fever sick note)

The willow tree

My shadow

Another comfy cat picture

As Louise and Dazzer (and she that shall not be named) moved into their new home on Thursday/Friday, myself and the FPO popped over on Friday night to welcome them to the new abode and prevent them calling round to our place (where the doors are both now kept locked). We were rewarded with a curry for our enevours, so it worked out pretty damn well. Hurrah! Stayed for a while chatting and drinking the finest ale known to man, and even returned for a brief chat yesterday as the parents and Nora also made an appearance (their's not mine, l am a poor orphan). I prefer the new home to the old one in Stockton, and there is a great view of a willow tree from their living room. The home needs some work doing to it, but at least it has character and potential, and they have plenty of time, as, unlike me, they are not old gets. What the???!!.. I am starting to sound like an estate agent! Keith would be ashamed off me, so l will have to overcompensate with booze and drugs for the next couple of days so l can earn back my rock and roll spurs. Chin chin!

toodle pip

scarborough flat in a church for sale

This is a Church in Scarborough that has been modernised and is presently for sale. It looks pretty impressive, but l am not sure l would want to be staring at the plate glass window in the top photograph every day. Is that sort of filth allowed in a Church?

toodle pip

pods for the garden

These things look great. I want to state now that l do not work for the firm or have any connection to them, but l could live in one of these things if it included a toilet and hammock. They are a genius idea and full details are here - http://www.archipod.com/en-us/.

toodle pip

the front of the house

It's Hiroshima all over again.

toodle pip

the tunnel people of las vegas

It's not all fun, games and high rollers in Las Vegas. These are pictures of people who live in the flood tunnels there, which is not exactly the safest place you would ever wish to stay in, despite the sunny weather. Some of them have obviously had drink and drug problems, but others just need somewhere to stay, for a variety of reasons. I bet they have all seen plenty of rats while they have been down there.

toodle pip

watch island home - the thousand islands - new york state

This looks like my kind of place. It's Watch Island which is a private island located by The Thousand Islands region, on the Saint Lawrence River near Clayton in New York State.

Ten bedrooms, some great views and lots of privacy, that's what l find appealing about it.

As l am always a bit dubious about security, l would have to be fully tooled up in case of intruders (I've seen way to many horror movies), and there may be a few too many spiders from the trees and bushes, but l might just give this place a go.

Now where did l stash the $1,950,000 that it is for on the market for?

toodle pip

the bastard bushes

These are the stinking bushes that are outside our house. Easily the most overgrown ones on our estate. This year, something will have to be done to them - l'm all for throwing petrol on them but the FPO says no to that. I guess they will just have to be chopped down and pulled out the old fashioned way. Boring boring boring

toodle pip

recycling time after the bank holiday

The bin men come around today for the recycling bottles. They will be in luck at our house. You can tell it's been a Bank holiday weekend.

toodle pip

what a cool workspace

This was on a blog l was visiting the other night. What a cool place to work in. I l think l will have to get the old decorating skills re-activated and revamp the crappy old place l am currently sitting in (at silly o'clock because l went to bed early and now l can't sleep). Bring on the black paint (although l don't see the need for two computer monitors/screens)

toodle pip

paige drumming alongside lps

This picture was on 'The Word' blog, and features a sad bastard like me's storage system for LP's. l was immediately jealous and wished the storage shelves and all the albums belonged to me (as l am a sad bastard), even though l obviously don't know what the albums are (though l could harbour a good guess at most of them). I can't remember who's taken the picture and l certainly can't be bothered looking, but the child is called Paige and it is either his (it is always a man who who has records like this) child or near relation. It would make a great album cover if it was cropped slightly, a childs innocent pleasure playing music against the history of music and the weight of expectation. One day, when l win the lottery, l will have rooms filled up like this (but without the pesky kids). Ah well, one can still dream.

toodle pip

stewart lee and his shelves

Some of my CD's

Stewart Lee with his stuff

In todays Observer magazine there was an article by Stewart Lee, about his need for shelves to store all his records, books and comics. It involved other stuff as well, but the main thing l was thinking was "It looks great, and l wish l had loads more possessions to put on my shelves". I know l can easily go either way. I really love records, comics, films and books, so I will either end up with too much stuff all over the place (like Stewart Lee), or cut down and get minimalistic in the future, once l have purchased a top of the range computer of the space age, with ultra fast broadband and everything available on the net (mainly for free). The only trouble with the minimalistic approach, is it is so fulfilling to actually touch the objects and know they belong to a certain part of pop culture history (or history in general). That's why l want an original copy of Amazing fantasy no 15, rather than a brand new and ultra glossy reprint. I do know that if l became super rich l would have a large house full of junk l would have collected and accumulated on my travels, but living in the real world (sadly), l may flog off all my tat before l die (if l time it right), so l can fund something along the lines of a trip to Japan (with all the trimmings). It's about time the bleeding lottery selected me as a winner. I blame the new government. Rich bastards.

toodle pip

party in catterick - not!

Damn! I am trying to post every day and it has just gone midnight, even though to me it is still Friday night. Spent the evening in, watching the IT crowd, Question Time (which always takes a while due to the shouting at the TV) and holiday programmes.

Also watched Toy Story, as the FPO admitted she had never seen it before (which at first I thought was some kind of elaborate joke), so I ran (to the best of my ability) up the stairs for my DVD of it and forced her to watch it.

Luckily the result was a good one, she did enjoy it (through her alcoholic haze) so it was a job well done.

Afterwards, I went out to feed Tubbs the rabbit, and there was very loud music coming from the top right hand side of the estate. Naturally I thought "Investigation time" and tried to persuade the FPO to do the same. Obviously this did not work, so armed with a little bit of money, my bank card and a camera, I set of, fearlessly exploring the wilds of Catterick, looking for the party or 'happening', promising to return for the FPO (who had now gone to bed) if there was anything good going on.

Sadly, I found nothing. I relied on my senses (that was obviously a mistake) and followed the trail, but realised it was probably Louie's nightclub I could hear, louder than usual, but then again, I am not usually in my back garden at 11.45pm to hear it.

I did take some photos though, so all was not lost.

toodle pip

night in with sport relief

Spent the evening at home tonight, watching bits of Sport Relief and some of the stuff that had been Sky+, Mad Men, American Office and Question Time. David Starkey was on Question Time tonight - what a knob he is. Talking of knobs, the fat one from Gavin and Stacey was on Sport Relief, which I was not keen on as I don't normally rate his stuff, and don't think he is that funny. he did however, make a good speech tonight, slagging off the celebs in the audience (who were obviously in on the joke), ending in a rousing 'Come on' for England. I must admit it was pretty good, although booze had been drank beforehand. Called in at the paper shop on the way home from work and got two bottles of wine (they foolishly thought I was in to pay my paper bill, which is now £25). After the wine was gone, drank all the cans and bottles in the house (about eight). The FPO was very tiddly and disappeared off to bed, leaving me with Nozzer and the last can in the fridge (always a bad idea). Let's just say me and Nozzy will look a bit sheepish in the morning, but I can live with it if he can.
toodle pip

john travolta's house

How cool is this? I thought Wayne Coyne's house (an earlier post) was pretty good, but fancy having your own runway in your garden (with a 747 in it, on standby).

That is pretty flash by anyones standards.

Mind you, I still think he could be gay and scared to come out of the closet.

toodle pip

wayne coyne's house

This is amazing looking and it's the kind of thing I really like, kind of 'A Clockwork Orange' look about it. Wayne Coyne (from The Flaming Lips) calls this his home. Makes a change from all the bland shite that is always shown on Cribs, here's a man who knows his own mind, even if that mind may be a little off kilter. That's the kind of stuff I would like in my bathroom, wait until I win the bleeding lottery!

Respect to him and toodle pip