Okay. This is getting a little overly dog-obsessed now. Need to start posting vids of something else...
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Tina and the Kong
Light's a bit dim. Tina's our new dog. Here she (thrillingly) loses a toy under the TV table. You don't get action like this on normal telly. Oh no.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Snail party
Apparently, according to Julia, snails are cute, and you can see any food they're eating through their translucent bodies. Whatever.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Message to Matthew
From the first night in our new garden. Sheltering under a brolly. Unsubtle direction from moi.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Blog changes
Every now and then everyone (okay, not everyone, but most people) who has a blog realises they haven't updated it for about two months (four in my case) and they should really do something about it. Well I have.
You may have noticed in the last couple of weeks that more photos have appeared (courtesy of Flickr and their marvellous badges), and also that updates have started coming in via Twitter.
Twitter's a social networking tool that lets you tell people What You Are Doing via the web, and from your mobile by SMS. It also sends you text message updates from your friends as soon as they post them (by whatever method), which means you don't have to be in front of the screen to find out how people are and what they're up to.
Matthew argued that this would be vastly annoying. I told him to test it.
Personally I found the idea that I could *choose* to keep people up-to-date with my movements from wherever I am in the world - with or without a PC or laptop in front of me - really compelling. And of course friends can choose whether or not to subscribe to my witterings. Sweet.
So I've added an RSS feed from Twitter into the top of this blog too, and now I have three ways of making changes to my Schmodt blog page: new photos in Flickr (I tag them 'blog' and they appear on my page), new updates to Twitter (from my mobile, mostly, which is so handy - no German pun intended), and straight, simple updates like this one.
By the way, if anyone knows a way to go from running the RSS feed *as is* in this page to actually importing it properly into the blog - so that when people click on the links they remain on my blogspot pages - I'd be grateful to know. Just an idea I'm working on which, as usual, I have no idea how to implement...
c.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Vote Barack
This is the first video I've put on my blog. So kind of an experiment. Anyway, if any Americans are reading this, please, I ask you - I beg of you - vote for this guy. Hi Barack.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Three dunces
Dunce 1. No surprise: Bush. Iran clearly looks like too much of a tricky option to George W., so he's picking on smaller fry instead:
The United States has launched air strikes against Islamists in southern Somalia, confirming the country's status as a new frontline in Washington's war on terror. An AC130 warplane strafed the village of Hayo near the Kenyan border late yesterday afternoon leaving "many dead", according to the Somali government. Ras Kamboni, on the country's southernmost tip, was also said to have been hit.
Guardian
Dunce 2. I shouldn't be surprised by this one either, but Tony Blair what are you wibbling on about, seriously?
Mr Blair rejected the need to set a personal example on greenhouse gases by taking breaks closer to home, insisting science was the key to tackling the problem. "I think that what we need to do is to look at how you make air travel more energy efficient, how you develop the new fuels that will allow us to burn less energy and emit less," he said.
Sky News
Dunce 3. Again, no surprise, just another small emptiness inside
England conceded a record 221-5 before losing the Twenty20 international to Australia by a margin of 77 runs.
BBC
"Don't spoon it. Don't spoon it. Don't spoon it. Doh!"
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The United States has launched air strikes against Islamists in southern Somalia, confirming the country's status as a new frontline in Washington's war on terror. An AC130 warplane strafed the village of Hayo near the Kenyan border late yesterday afternoon leaving "many dead", according to the Somali government. Ras Kamboni, on the country's southernmost tip, was also said to have been hit.
Guardian
Dunce 2. I shouldn't be surprised by this one either, but Tony Blair what are you wibbling on about, seriously?
Mr Blair rejected the need to set a personal example on greenhouse gases by taking breaks closer to home, insisting science was the key to tackling the problem. "I think that what we need to do is to look at how you make air travel more energy efficient, how you develop the new fuels that will allow us to burn less energy and emit less," he said.
Sky News
Dunce 3. Again, no surprise, just another small emptiness inside
England conceded a record 221-5 before losing the Twenty20 international to Australia by a margin of 77 runs.
BBC
"Don't spoon it. Don't spoon it. Don't spoon it. Doh!"
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Monday, January 08, 2007
Gas-like odor permeates parts of Manhattan, New Jersey
Read this story on Newsday:
NEW YORK -- A mysterious gas-like odor covered a large swath of Manhattan and parts of New Jersey on Monday, causing brief building evacuations and mass transit disruptions and leaving people around the area wondering what they were smelling.
You know what's happening here? Watch Ghostbusters 2, my friend. Dan Ayckroyd predicted all of this back in 1992. I think. Or perhaps 93.
Either way, New York is for it unless we can get the ghostbusters back.
Technorati Tags: gas, odour, manhattan, New Jersey
Original story: here
powered by performancing firefox
NEW YORK -- A mysterious gas-like odor covered a large swath of Manhattan and parts of New Jersey on Monday, causing brief building evacuations and mass transit disruptions and leaving people around the area wondering what they were smelling.
You know what's happening here? Watch Ghostbusters 2, my friend. Dan Ayckroyd predicted all of this back in 1992. I think. Or perhaps 93.
Either way, New York is for it unless we can get the ghostbusters back.
Technorati Tags: gas, odour, manhattan, New Jersey
Original story: here
powered by performancing firefox
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Christmas is so, like, still four weeks away
...However I now have a shopping basket full of presents on Amazon already. I'm not going to say what's going to whom, but I thought you might like to know it includes:
- A map of Doncaster
- A book about shepherds (honestly)
- Bob the Builder
If this was a list for me, rather than from me, it would be soooo different.
Hang on, maybe I'll put one together on Froogle...
- A map of Doncaster
- A book about shepherds (honestly)
- Bob the Builder
If this was a list for me, rather than from me, it would be soooo different.
Hang on, maybe I'll put one together on Froogle...
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
What millionaires drink
Millionaires drink booze. But not just any booze, oh no. They drink Champagne, Burgundy (white and red) and Hamilton Russell. They quaff only the most expensive Australian wines.
This was proved by us last weekend at our platinum-plated, starry-eyed, gold-fingered Millionaires' Supper, where we quaffed all these beauties (click pic for a bigger look) and then retired outside, well-refreshed, to check the pre-Bonfire Night firework activity across Highbury.
I say "our" - I mean my lottery syndicate: there's five of us, and we've won three times in the past few months. Never won more than £44 in a single draw, but still, our small total made for a good haul on the fine wine front.
Highlight of the evening was the meat though. Oh! The meat. We got a Chateaubriand from the Highbury organic butcher. It was red all the way through, and to call it perfect would be woefully inadequate. Thank you, TJ.
On a side note, we had a discussion in the newsroom at my work the other day about whether the verb 'to booze' was really suitable to describe what posh people do with fine wines etc at swanky occasions. The consensus was, if you've got a drink in your hand, you're boozing, so there.
This is particularly poignant at the moment, since the Ministry of Stopping You Having Fun is currently considering banning all booze on trains. No doubt there will be exceptions for passengers in first class though, proving as suspected that where posh people think they are above common-sounding verbs like "to booze"... the Government agrees with them.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Magdalen drinks, doesn't it?
What exactly is happening here? Is it important? Does it demand attention, or even deserve it slightly?
The answer to all these questions could either be 'no' (although that wouldn't make brilliant sense for the first question), or it could be blowing in the wind, as the song says.
Me, I'm honestly unaffected by considerations like these. These are Magdalen people. Good people. People who want to go to a swanky West-End bar in the evenings and just bloody drink.
Let's not knock them for that, eh? Let's not be too critical or ask too many questions. Roll out the barrel, instead; pour yourself a large gin and watch. It's worth it: they're entertaining when a couple of sheets to the wind, if you follow me.
Click on the pic to see Jon Stanley, Will Brown, Claire van den Ring, and many more...
The answer to all these questions could either be 'no' (although that wouldn't make brilliant sense for the first question), or it could be blowing in the wind, as the song says.
Me, I'm honestly unaffected by considerations like these. These are Magdalen people. Good people. People who want to go to a swanky West-End bar in the evenings and just bloody drink.
Let's not knock them for that, eh? Let's not be too critical or ask too many questions. Roll out the barrel, instead; pour yourself a large gin and watch. It's worth it: they're entertaining when a couple of sheets to the wind, if you follow me.
Click on the pic to see Jon Stanley, Will Brown, Claire van den Ring, and many more...
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Team Ashurst
On Sunday Julia and her work colleagues ran in aid of a children's cancer charity - the Terry Fox Run, I think - in Hyde Park, central London.
Her mum and I had a leisurely breakfast and strolled down to meet her after the run. Then we took a gentle tour of some of London's more famous landmarks, without really committing too much of our precious time and energy to any of them, before going home for a dinner of slowly stewed lamb shanks (bloody marvellous) and botched German hash brown-style potato cakes.
Julia's mum is with us until Wednesday. I swear we will get the potato cakes (called 'Reibekuchen') right before then, but Julia has bought a bag of frozen hash browns in case. Not the same though...
Her mum and I had a leisurely breakfast and strolled down to meet her after the run. Then we took a gentle tour of some of London's more famous landmarks, without really committing too much of our precious time and energy to any of them, before going home for a dinner of slowly stewed lamb shanks (bloody marvellous) and botched German hash brown-style potato cakes.
Julia's mum is with us until Wednesday. I swear we will get the potato cakes (called 'Reibekuchen') right before then, but Julia has bought a bag of frozen hash browns in case. Not the same though...
Monday, October 03, 2005
Poor car!
I'm so behind. This picture is actually about a month old. Maybe a bit more.
Anyway, Julia was in Germany, pootling about getting wine and *more* glasses from Ikea and whatnot, when she was in a car crash.
She's fine, by the way - and the glasses she had bought remained unbroken on the front seat, but...
...this is the state of the car when she had finished spinning about in the rain and hitting the side of the road and stuff.
I'm so glad she's fine (oh, and she is *fine*). She's home again now, and so is the car (which is fixed too), and she's working too. But more of that next time.
Anyway, Julia was in Germany, pootling about getting wine and *more* glasses from Ikea and whatnot, when she was in a car crash.
She's fine, by the way - and the glasses she had bought remained unbroken on the front seat, but...
...this is the state of the car when she had finished spinning about in the rain and hitting the side of the road and stuff.
I'm so glad she's fine (oh, and she is *fine*). She's home again now, and so is the car (which is fixed too), and she's working too. But more of that next time.
Monday, September 05, 2005
Chris and Hilary get married
This is Chris and Hilary's wedding day. Doesn't Hilary look gorgeous? Just the best dress ever. And Chris wore a suit too. And, well, it suited him.
My first London wedding - and it was so pleasantly easy (and unusual) not to have to travel for hours into the country and spend two hundred quid on petrol and hotel rooms and eating out in order to be able to attend.
We just got dressed, went out, caught the bus (taxi, actually) down to Islington Town Hall... and there it was.
Then there was the reception, which was at The Ivy. More photos here. I made a speech. As they say, the less said the better, which was the rule-of-thumb I stuck to.
Thanks Chris and Hilary. And congrats!
My first London wedding - and it was so pleasantly easy (and unusual) not to have to travel for hours into the country and spend two hundred quid on petrol and hotel rooms and eating out in order to be able to attend.
We just got dressed, went out, caught the bus (taxi, actually) down to Islington Town Hall... and there it was.
Then there was the reception, which was at The Ivy. More photos here. I made a speech. As they say, the less said the better, which was the rule-of-thumb I stuck to.
Thanks Chris and Hilary. And congrats!
Monday, July 25, 2005
Rain, rain, go away...
...or don't go away, actually.
Because this photo might not be the best composition in the world ever, but my god does it sum up this weekend just gone.
The rain may have stopped the cricket (though not for long enough to dry off and dust down the England cricket team's hopes of victory over the Aussies), but it didn't stop us.
This is a photo of my barbeque, which continued despite the rain, and produced some magnificent food, and a certain amount of jolly inebriation.
Barbeques should.
So much has happened in London in the past three weeks - it hardly bears repeating, but well, Olympics, bombs, more bombs, G8, Live8, Ashes, you get the idea - it's worth remembering the things that matter, and carry on regardless:
friends, home, rain.
Because this photo might not be the best composition in the world ever, but my god does it sum up this weekend just gone.
The rain may have stopped the cricket (though not for long enough to dry off and dust down the England cricket team's hopes of victory over the Aussies), but it didn't stop us.
This is a photo of my barbeque, which continued despite the rain, and produced some magnificent food, and a certain amount of jolly inebriation.
Barbeques should.
So much has happened in London in the past three weeks - it hardly bears repeating, but well, Olympics, bombs, more bombs, G8, Live8, Ashes, you get the idea - it's worth remembering the things that matter, and carry on regardless:
friends, home, rain.
Friday, July 22, 2005
Bungle boogie
It's so unfair, isn't it? You get a hilarious photo of someone, that they'd rather no one see, and you go and publish it to the whole world.
London was subject to attack again today. So on this day of sad events, and serious discussions, and recriminations, and consideration of whether going to war on the Arab world might have led to some Muslims being a bit pissed off with Britain...
...I'd like to show off this photo of my friend, Bungle, doing his 'slut face' (you make the connection, I can't) in my lounge at a Barbeque last night.
No, we are not afraid. (Although I'm prepared to admit we shouldn't have attacked Iraq.) However, we are certainly not afraid. In fact, we are holding barbeques, and doing bizarre slut faces, to be honest.
More photos from the barbie (but you'll have to beg me to see the photo of Sian's slut face) at my flickr photostream
London was subject to attack again today. So on this day of sad events, and serious discussions, and recriminations, and consideration of whether going to war on the Arab world might have led to some Muslims being a bit pissed off with Britain...
...I'd like to show off this photo of my friend, Bungle, doing his 'slut face' (you make the connection, I can't) in my lounge at a Barbeque last night.
No, we are not afraid. (Although I'm prepared to admit we shouldn't have attacked Iraq.) However, we are certainly not afraid. In fact, we are holding barbeques, and doing bizarre slut faces, to be honest.
More photos from the barbie (but you'll have to beg me to see the photo of Sian's slut face) at my flickr photostream
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
This be the girl
Me and Drell moved house recently.
She's here, with her sword. Yes. She has a sword. She doesn't use it on me.
Drell's a compulsive sportswoman. She runs, and rides a horse, and she can fence.
She wants to become a professional athlete, I think, and there's no reason why she shouldn't.
Currently she's torn between marathons and swordplay. This is a choice I will never have to make. Am I missing out? I don't think so.
But am I?
She's here, with her sword. Yes. She has a sword. She doesn't use it on me.
Drell's a compulsive sportswoman. She runs, and rides a horse, and she can fence.
She wants to become a professional athlete, I think, and there's no reason why she shouldn't.
Currently she's torn between marathons and swordplay. This is a choice I will never have to make. Am I missing out? I don't think so.
But am I?
Good slap needed
You may have noticed I missed a few days here. This was probably pretty damned stoopid of me, because, like, they were the most important news days in London EVER.
So sue me.
Please.
So sue me.
Please.
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