We've moved desks at work. From one side of the building to the other. I used to look down on this but now I look down on this.

Blackpool was great. 2 blustery but sunny days looking at properties for our retirement. Does no one in Blackpool watch 'The House Doctor'? I found a couple of places we may be interested in but tool belts will be needed.

In other news: My mother arrives this Sunday to stay with us for a week. My Dad is having a golfing holiday with 'the boys' (how gay is that!) and she doesn't want to be on her own. So we get to play with her. She's not a bad old stick I suppose. Might ask her to paint the hall while we're at work (she's quite handy like that). She always brings a pair of slippers for 'round the house'.

And so the pop took hold. Currently spinning in my rio volt are Tatu, Madonna and Justin Timberlake. Madge and Justins albums are a tour-de-force by their producers. Beautiful and sparse, so sparse I can hear silence between the notes. Tatu shout/sing really loud. I haven't bothered with the Russian language versions on their album but the English ones are very catchy. Nice to have some quality pop now and then.

I'm off to Blackpool today on business (Darren and Edward will stay behind in the family home in London). Back on Tuesday night.

*screams at the top of his lungs*
"they're not gonna get us!"

What the fuck are you all blethering on about...?
Downloaded the new Madonna album last night after reading all the fussy bloggers and revolting reviews. On my third spin now and love it. LOVE IT. Spartan, basic, austere, comical, witty, clinical, melodic, modern and full of hope. All tracks sparkle for me except maybe 'X-Static Process'. The choir on 'Nothing Fails' is exquisite. The lyrics are simplistic but suit the bare song constructions (and I think it's nice to hear her singing about being in love).
This album delivers everything that those preposterous electroclash fakers failed to (tunes mainly). Ladytron, Adult and Fischerspooner please leave the building now, she's whupped your asses real good this time. I would use her shit as toothpaste (as my Dad once famously said about Naomi Campbell).
Just imagine the visuals she's gonna give us on 'I'm So Stupid'. Can't fucking wait.
A great companion album to 'Master and Everyone' by Bonnie Prince Billy. Honest.

*leaves for the barbers to get asymetrical hair-don't straightened out*

I really hate those 'friends' in the Doritos adverts. Cnuts.

Too much chocolate, curry, chinese, pringles and dips. Waistbands tightening and will power weakened. No smokes since Malaga. Irritable. This will pass. Oceans Eleven was good. Unfaithful was not. Toms easter visit from Zurich was lovely. Edward barked at Tom. I cut Edwards hair. Edward listens to Jazz FM. Back to work now. Stupid work.

Courtesy of Blue Witch via Darrens comments box:

Notice to people who visit our home:

1. The dog lives here. You don't.
2. If you don't want dog hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture.
3. Yes, he has some disgusting habits. So do we and so do you. What's your point?
4. OF COURSE he smells like a dog.
5. It's his nature to try to sniff your crotch. Please feel free to sniff
his.
6. We like him a lot better than we like some people.
7. To you he's a dog. To us he's an adopted son who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn't speak clearly. We have no problem with any of these things.
8. Dogs are better than kids. They eat less, don't ask for money all the time, are easier to train, usually come when called, never drive your car, don't hang out with drug-using friends, don't smoke or drink, don't worry about whether they have the latest fashions, don't wear your clothes, don't need a million dollars for college, and if they get pregnant you can sell the pups.
9. The same applies for the cats, except they will ignore you ...until you're asleep

Photo's from the annual Easter Friday BBQ at his house. Your marinades were marvellous!

Hello gorgeous!

Just call us Euro-trash....
So, the Spain trip: We spent the first 4 days in a white village called Yunquera. Very pwitty. But fuck all to do. Dreams of owning a house here faded fast as we discovered the drive down to Malaga and the coast was a 60 minute nauseous nightmare. We stayed in the only hotel in town. It was 75 degrees outside but the bedrooms remained at a constant minus 10 degrees somehow. The hotel restaurant was great though (and it had a log fire every night). Excellent sea food, meats and a to-die-for tortilla. We drove around Andalucia during those 4 days, exploring other villages, looking at houses, oooooo-ing and aaaaaah-ing at the scenery and generally discovering the thin line that separates relaxation from boredom. This picture sums up those 4 days.

Our last 3 days were spent in Torremolinos. We went to the beach, sunbathed, read books under straw parasols, ate olives and drank cheap red wine watered down with soda water. In the evenings we got drunk in gay bars. Torremolinos is great, not at all like it was in the 70's and 80's. No crappy English or Irish pubs, no loud disco bars, no fish and chip shops or caffs advertising pie and mash. Loads of Spanish restaurants, Spanish people on holiday, Spanish boys on the beach and loads of excellent Spanish apartments that we couldn't afford.
We spent our last day in Nerja. Gorgeous resort but teeming with middle-class English folk wandering around blethering on about 'the real Spain'. Nice town, shame about the tourists.

Darren was, as always, fantastic company.

More photos:
"Why do you want me to stand in front of this poster?"
Hotel totty (thank God for zoom lenses)
Casarabonela was our favourite white village
Despite the room temperature in Yunqueura, there was nothing wrong with the view from the window
A day out in Malaga city buying cd's, sightseeing and taking photo's

Edward the dog is settling in nicely. We left him alone for an hour in the house today and he seemed fine. He shits a lot though. Luckily not indoors (except for one runny dump on my work bag during his first night here). BBQ tomorrow at a friends house so he will meet the whole gang and pictures will be taken. Stand by.

Our car needs an MOT. Look at the mechanic who will do this for us. Is it any wonder we get 3 MOT's a year and have it serviced monthly?

Do you wanna see my ass?

By the way, that wasn't my Dad in the photo. My Dad plays golf and grows vegetables. When pressed on the subject, he said his favourite Dolly Parton movie is Straight Talk.

This has got us mighty excited.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Ladies and Gentlemen, please say hello to....
Yesterday we became Daddies again. Edward is a 2 year old Jack Russell and lives with us now. He's from Battersea Dogs Home and was made homeless by his previous owners 10 days ago. Their loss.

Hola!
Musta put on two stone in Spain. Yuk. Missed the end of the war (no TV in the mountains! how rural is that?). Great grub though. Big diesel renta car was a nightmare on those single lane mountain roads. Villages and views were stunning. Took loadsa pics to bore you with but you'll have to wait till I've slimmed myself down in photoshop. Rural boys were cheap and hung like their donkeys so long evenings without a telly weren't a problem. Last three days in Torremolinos were splendid. On the beach every day sipping tinto de verano and enjoying my x ray specs.

They're off! To Spain in a few hours. Stayed in last night to clean the oven but didn't wear rubber gloves and now my hands are a bit rough. Parsnips and butternut squash for lunch before we leave. Gotta burn an mp3 cd for the trip: Bonnie Prince Billy, Belle and Sebastian, Erlend Oye, Cat Power, John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Flaming Lips and Zwan. We're back before Easter (last night my BF surprised me with an early Easter present, a Crunchie egg. 2 bars of Crunchie and a hollow chocolate egg. It lasted an hour and the resultant sugar rush was responsible for the oven getting cleaned at 9pm on a Saturday night. Ta hun!).

Is it any wonder I turned out like this! My Dad and his hobby.

Good grief! I'm a hippy (apologies for the lazy posting of another crappy quiz).





what decade does your personality live in?


quiz brought to you by lady interference, ltd

I took these photos on a chilly night last October in Blackpool. I like 'em and may use the images for the 'House of Spellcnut' t-shirt collection.
* eighty3 m.per.h
* down boy!
* the unbearable lightness of being

You can be Stella and I'll be Tom.

Must thank Diamond Geezer for pointing out this article. Hamish in his diving suit had me in stitches (I've always had a thing for animals dressing like humans). And as for Alf, "GET YA COCK OUT!"

Me and wor kidda are off to the Sierra Nevadas this Sunday. A week in a white village called Yunquera. Meat, olives and bread. Tinto de verano, goats cheese and reeeeeeaaaaaaally strong coffee. A car, a camera and a map. An open mind on the open road. Vamos!