Interesting idea in a story in the Guardian today. Apparently Peterborough council has had a problem with fights between “goths” and “chavs” in the city centre, and has tried to defuse it by sending them off to shoot at each other in local woodland.

In a lot of ways I hope it works – if a scheme like this can release some of the inter-clique tensions, and also take that tension out of the town centre where apparently it’s also been affecting other members of the public, then it may even be a good thing. Of course there’ll also be the lobby bleating on about how it promotes guns and blah blah blah, but if it’s done as an obvious game along with adequate safety information etc., I still think it’s probably going to be beneficial.

One of the sadder aspects of my life is that I still actually own – and use – a FiloFax. Thankfully they no longer seem to have the “yuppie” overtones of the 80s, which is no bad thing. I have used electronic organisers too, but find that invariably they’re a pain in the arse, and that I can’t be arsed to go through all the gubbins in order to simply write a note, or a reminder, or just look up a phone number.

In some ways I’m just so not a techie. But I digress.

The only time when a Filofax is more of a pain in the arse than something electronic is when it comes to the diary. I’ve just bought a new diary for 2006, and so I’ve got to trawl through 2005, making a note of all the important dates, anniversarys, birthdays, etc., and make sure they’re carried forward into the 2006 one. I’ll also then make sure I archive off (for which read : open the binder and take out the pages) all the older stuff, which has the happy side effect of making the bloody thing less heavy again.

At some point I really should also go through and tidy up the addresses/phone number pages too, as some have been in there for four years or so. But I can’t be arsed. Maybe while I’m away.

Yes, another post under the “time flies” banner. I really should make it into a category title – but then I’d look even sadder than I already am.

Anyway – while I was in Oxford I finally got round to buying a new pair of Cat boots from Oxford Boot Store, which is a bit of a return to form, as it’s where I always used to get my boots when I lived in the area. I knew I hadn’t had the other pair all that long (well, in Cat boot terms, anyway) and thought I’d look back on d4d™ to see when it was I got them.

So I looked back, and it turned out that it was in June last year, and I had to get the new boots in time to go for the wedding where Herself and I got together properly for the first time. Hard to believe they’ve been going as long as we have.

OK, so we’re now four weeks in on “Lost” (Ok, five weeks in if you’re watching the next episode on E4 too – but I’m not, so it doesn’t count for purposes of this post) and I’ve a couple of predictions and thoughts…
Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday turned out to be one of those “can’t be arsed” days. I turned the PC on to get the emails, and then turned it off again. No idea why, but I just wasn’t in the mood to do much at all. Mind you, isn’t that what bank holidays are for?

It may be a bit quiet here next week too – we’re away for the week, so while I will probably leave some stuff to go up during the week, I’m not sure what else will be going on. Just have to wait and see, I suppose…

Every so often I get accused of being far too derogatory about my fellow human beings – primarily because I apparently decide that they’re “all” (for which read “the great majority”) effing stupid, and normally with more feet than IQ points. On a charitable day I might allege that they’ve more digits than IQ points. But that’s about as far as it goes.

On the other hand, I sometimes believe that I still actually over-estimate the intelligence, common sense, and general willingness to continue living. Or at least living with a full complement of those aforementioned digits.

Today’s example…

If you were to see a bloody huge German Shepherd dog tied up outside a supermarket, with no owner in sight, would you approach it, saying “Oh, what a cute dog?” Possibly.

If the same dog were visibly pissed off and growling, would you still go up to it? Probably not.

If the same dog, as well as being pissed off and growling, was wearing a very solid muzzle – and let’s bear in mind, here, that German Shep’s aren’t listed under the Dangerous Dogs Act, and so don’t have to be muzzled in public – then would you go near it? Almost certainly a resounding “fucking hell, no” is the reaction here.

But no, as I came out of the supermarket, two stupid twats were trying to stroke it. Despite growling, hackles, and barking through the muzzle. Fortunately the owner came out just after me, and suggested that perhaps the twats should fuck off out of it before he decided to just take the muzzle off, and let the dog have some fresh meat. If you’d seen the owner, you’d have believed him too.

The point of this is that I was actually considering taking Hound down, and doing the same thing – she gets anxious and snappy when strangers come up to her, so I’d definitely have muzzled her, but I did think that having the muzzle on would suggest to people that she shouldn’t be approached. See what I mean about over-estimating now?