Bristol Vice!

I caught the news at 11 (on going to bed) and then followed up with some BBC News 24 on my pal Dave Patreus. Then I couldn't sleep so here I am at 03.00 nearly at the end of the movie Miami Vice!

A strange, long day of 21 hours and a bit.

Warning: rant!

Now I'm all for excellence in education and standards, and I believe the last Gov't had decent intentions in starting up the Academy system. What really gets my goat is the apparent belief underneath that, that to triumph excellence and standards is somehow elitist and therefore bad.

If you are going to promote good schooling why would you start with the wholesale abandonment of capital letters where they really have every right and duty to be? A great way to welcome your pupils.

This has recently spread to all those nob ends who recommend company strap lines and logos should all be lower case too.

Bring on the triumph of the mediocre and the average. Excellence and 'academy' indeed.

'bristol' my arse!

My new lock screen!

Top spoddery !

My snap!

Now I'm not generally one to spot artistic things but I am quite pleased with this photograph, taken by me!

I like the fact that it is a neat shape with floors going up and up, and the decorated garages coming out at 90 degrees. I like the lamppost halfway along and the blue sky above. It's kinda neat and tidy.

These are some flats near me and they are getting a new skim.

Bridges, trains and daft things will resume soon.

Wow!

F1 gives you a scary kick when you see this live on tv! Webber flipped the car and belted into the tyre wall just now. Phew, and he's okay tho'!

Spod!

Speedy Internet in the mornings - love it!

Running OS4....at last!

Hooray!

A speedy download that took two failed attempts, one that went for an hour and crashed, and finally , a 122 minute update that has given me OS4. Off to spod about with it now!

A bit tragic!

Now those two clever Russians at Google keep a list of all my Google
searches via Iphone.

These are my most recent searches and it makes for a tragic list,
especially the penultimate one!

Parp!

Dog in a wigwam!

I meant to blog this a few days ago.

This is Quaddie my brother's dog. He's a happy hound and his tail is
wagging all the time, often knocking stuff over.

Here he is on a walk in the woods checking out a wigwam!

Tough job!

So there's a Welsh born woman running Australia now! That has to be a
tough gig in a pretty blokey sort of a country.

Dude!

A Dude on the field (Golden Boot Mexico '86, with 6), a dude in the
studio 24 years on.

Lineker and Jean Luker; a late 80s pair of inspirationals!

L'Assassin....

Wow, that was a stifled game of football tonight (Argentina - Greece).

Greece were an embuggerance to free flowing football and Messi didnt
score, but blimey, when Lionel Messi was given room he was like a
sniper killer. Inspiring!

I must have come across him when I taught Assassin Special Forces
classes a year or two back....

And the word is 'Fuck!'

Wanker!

Two minutes before k o my diggiebox crashed. Then the fuck awful
rigmarole of a call centre 8,000 miles away where they don't give a
stuff. Platitudes and call centre excuses and no tv.

£39 a month for it to go wring and then lackadaisical customer service.

Radio 5 Live it is.

Irri bastard tating.....

Sorted!

Tuesday night in BS5......

Seaside!

Store visits by the sea in Dorset today!

Train home shortly from a warm summer day. Ships and trains today......

It's sooooooo happening, dude.

Off to Weymouth today; a plesant and very sunny two hours through the
countryside.

Passenger numbers just halved here at Castle Cary, the train stop for
Glastonbury.

Lots of right-on Student types bundled off the train carting wellies,
beer, smiles and (presumably) no soap. Must be Glasto' this weekend?

Apparently this service will be heaving these next few days so I am
glad to be Ninja'ing my way through and back today!

Digger Blogger!

Weyhey! Found these at a small park not too far from BS5.

Had a bit of a dig dig....

Sunny Bristol

At home this weekend and larking about near Clifton Suspension bridge!

Happy running.

Chicken!

A contented post at Blog BS5, 45 minutes in to the 17.00 Paddington
train home.

Pint, solitude and Brazil vs. North Korea

Not such a bad way to spend a Tuesday evening if one has to be away
from home.

:-)

Connections.

Sometimes when luck is around after Paddington I have a 40 minute wait
at Kings Cross for my train up to HQ. If I am hungry or thirsty I
stroll for a coffee but more often than not I will take the minute's
wander to St Pancras.

I like St Pancras; it's a full on, unashamed Spod stop with a great
mix of old and new architecture, top trains, and great pools of light
through the steel and glass. Some random photos are here. They won't
win prizes for artistic merit but I like them!

Parp!

Trains!

Here I am, once again at Bristol Temple Meads for a train out of BS5.
To London today.

These carriages are here often, and just as often they catch out the
unwary Spod (like me ages back) because they give the suggestion of a
steam train at the front of them. Alas it is not so and just a big old
advert for the weekend steam-hauled Torbay express.

Other things:

I have downloaded a Vuvuzela on my iPhone for England's Friday game
against Algeria!

Out Ninja'd!

Arse!

BS7 has just kicked me off the number 1 spot on Fruit Ninja :-(

Check it out below (sorry it's sideways).

Broadband BS5

Phew! Back home after a long week out and back to 8-10 meg broadband.

At my B&B downloads were tortoise-like, but here I am back at a
decent pace. 30 mins for 1300 meg; that'll do!

Coffee...

....With my brother at Paddington right this mo'. He's that tall dude
in a hoody!

Barks, larks and sparks!

These two loons are coming to stay in BS5 this afternoon!

Cue running up and down the stairs, flying sofa leaps and moving
around the house to snooze in the sunny bits.....and that's just me!

Pay that dividend!

Now I'm not an American and I am not near a massive oil spill but I do
think BP should pay its Dividend and that the American Government has
this one wrong.

BP are hugely, hugely awash with cash and have said they'll pay all
costs, and that's good.

Shareholders didn't spill the oil so why should they be penalised ?
Also, loads of pension funds the world over rely on that Dividend to
finance pensions for folks you and I know, so that wouldn't be fair?

If BP are good to their word and pay, why should the rightly
expectant nominees of a Dividend payment be denied their $2600
*Million* dollars?

Imagine how repeatedly that is spent again and again in the economy
and all those knock ons for kick starting an economy and driving sales.

Is this the US Government being seen to look chastising? Kinda wrong
IMHO .....

Soap box away now.

Come on Capitalism!

Our Spaceship Winner!

Hi readers,

After many, many comments and interest from the USA, UK and the Far
East, we have a winner from the car parking competition post just a
few items down from this one.

Regular visitors will recall that you had to use your skill and
judgement to spot the girl parking from a random car park shot outside
a hotel in Wales.

We had analysis, weighed opinion, controversy, denial and exasperation.

For the quiet acknowledgement of poor parallel line recognition
(through denial) and the virtual slap, GYMBUNNY has won this fine warp
capable Spaceship.

Gymbunny, it will be landing soon! Please park it carefully.

Look out for more reasoned and well informed competitions later in the
month.

June Spodding.

Here's some top Spod action rather spazzily caught via my clunky old
windows laptop, but it is exciting news!

The next Operating System for Iphone is a free upgrade and is out really soon; bring on the multi tasking and indeed my increased risk of falling over whilst using the phone as a result.

Almost Apple

Well I just about got to see most of the Apple launch of the next
Iphone.

Ironic that it was clunky to watch it streamed on my Apple iPhone on a
decent wifi connection; it skipped, it raced, it flipped to Audio only
but I got the gist. Apple do cool stuff but maaaaaan, they are self
centred. I suppose you can be when me and other folks consume a
billion downloads from the Apple store.

Still like my Iphone best of all for train vids though!

Here's Steve-oh telling us about a gyroscope that's in his next phone.

Geeky stuff and cool.

A geeky Gizmodo Monday

I woke at my house today, which was rather pleasant and novel after a run of days away.

I woke at 6.30 and had a good morning run in the course of which I met two mates who live nearby and drink in The Rhubarb - I think they were both surprised to see me gangling along in my new bright green running top! A few sit ups and the plank on coming home, and I feel zingy for the day.

I am working at home today and also keen to catch the Apple event today where the rumour is that a new type of I phone will be launched, so that must mean OS4 for my Iphone is also due soon. Top geeky action!

The week ahead will take in Dorset, London, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, and finally home through London, via Didcot and two dogs who I am looking after here in BS5 on Friday! I will also encounter both my brothers and lovely BS9 - who could ask for more?

An outbreak of Britishness.

I am on the train home as I write, catching various services across
the country.

I am out of Crewe on a train bound for Birmingham now, but it has come
from far up country, apparently chasing itself all the way down the
land to make up lost time. It seems that many folks on board need to
make a connection at Birmingham that was looking to be a close run
thing with only a minute to play with.

An announcement just now: the connection train was ahead of us but its
driver pulled over to let this train hurtle past, ensuring we are in
Birmingham first and all who need to can disembark in good time and
scuttle to another platform to meet it.

Polite applause all round and general agreement that the driver must
be a good chap.

All rather civil.

Breakfast in Wales

Probably not an ideal way to stoke up for the day but I did have a
decent run through Llandudno Junction at a quarter past six this
morning, so maybe that makes for evens?

Controversial Quiz time!

Quiz time here at Blog BS5!

If you've already tuned in today, you'll know I am away at a hotel
tonight amid Store visits in Wales.

Here's a hotel view from my window tonight with a follow up quiz
question:

Q: Which of these cars was parked by a girl?

Send your comments in to win a prize!

No charges apply to this quiz and you could win a Spaceship!

Content with the content.

If I could choose to, I would not stay away from home as much as I do
(and it's not a great deal, really). That said when I do stay away I
am often content and this is so tonight.

I am in a decent hotel that my firm is paying for. I've had dinner and
rest and I have wine in my room now. I have a speedy old 3g signal so
I can stream cintent from one of a dozen channels via iPhone (News 24
from the Beeb' pictured here) . I may catch a DVD on my laptop later.
I Robot, I think.

I hope to sleep well and I'll wake at 6 and take a run just after.

I am counting my 'away' blessings just like I count the ones on home
fixtures too ( and you know who you are!)

Content indeed.

PS: I am not in Brighton, the tv pundit is. You know how it is in
Brighton. Eek!

No train action!

Here I am with an evening pint in a railway hotel after a good day's
store visit.

This should be a perfect spot: sunshine, ales and trains just across
the road, but alas I am at the end of Wales by the sea near Anglesey;
any fast train action here would generate a right old splash with a
train getting a wash in the Menai Straits. Oh well. Good bridges, all
that said.

Nasty business an hour or two from here with 12 folks shot dead today.
On reflection BS7, BS5, trains, bridges and harmless blogging are just
fine by me....

Large Welsh feet.

Here I am at Flint, where the signs are bilingual and the feet are
massive.

Curious statue really.

Good journey from Chester so far; i've seen one large commercial jet
and two parked up fast jets on display!

And tons of sheeeeeeeep.

It's a nice run along the coast and Colwyn Bay next.

It's shiny in Birmingham.

Here I am at Birmingham, having just hopped off the 07.30 Edinburgh
service from BS5.

I have a long journey to North Wales today which one can do on a
reasonably direct but small train through Wales or larger, faster
trains via the Midlands and the North West.

This train, which leaves shortly is particularly shiny! All good fun
save for the bell end with really loud headphones.