Mat Bowles

OK, last Tuesday, I was tired, decided to take an early night. Unusually, I took a shower (I'm a morning shower person, usually, although I shouldn't be, they help me sleep). Y'know how it is in the shower when sometimes you get a 'moment of clarity' and everything comes together? I had one of those. I could see the 'perfect blog post' in my head. It was the right time, the right reason and the news of the week wasn't cheering me up. I came out of the shower, turned the PC on, and typed the whole thing up, wrapped only in a towel. It, um, captured the mood.

When we started counting numbers for the site, 100+ was a bloody good day. Then we got a bit more established, 150 was good, 100 was avarage. Recently, 150 became avarage. Until last Wednesday...
( Viewer numbers chart )Look at that spike. It's stayed up there, today, we've got even more before the normal busy time even starts. I got used to nosemonkey linking every so often. chickenyog had done so as an aside. This weekend, I've been their link of the day. Today, we're top link on bloggerheads. That's a whole lotta readers; including more than a few MPs.

What have I let myself in for? I appear to be in the centre of a blogswarm and the beginnings of two new political movements, one of which should have long-term legs. It's just l'il ol' me, I was just writing up an idea I had while dripping wet( ... )

Um, paulatpingu? We've got everyone's attention; my MP has emailed asking me to help him on his website and offered research and info assistance. Um; I have no idea what to do next, apart from go with the flow.

Anyway, I have a post to make, momentum to maintain, and a game to go to. Holy...

OK, last year, my parents, being the nice people they are, gave my an expensive DAB car stereo with CD player. y'know, the car I spend about half an hour a day in. I love listening to the radio, but mostly I listen to Radio 4, which I can get anywhere in the country on the old analogue thing installed by the manufacturers.

This year, we agreed not much money on presents. My parents weren't going to get each other stuff (right, like anyone believed that), and everyone knows I'm a bit skint (the family don't know how badly, but still).

So, I open my parcel yesterday afternoon. Some shoe polish (yup, from my dad, and even I'll admit it's a good idea), a self inflating lightweight pillow (now in the boot with the sleeping bag and blanket, very useful I think), Louis de Bernieres Birds Without Wings (which I'd never buy for myself but I think I'll like, I think that's what you call a 'safe' book buy; it's good, but it's not what I buy myself, they know half my debt is caused by the bibliophilia). And then, well, a Phillips DA100 portable! It's a third the price of last years gift (not much money they said, right...) and it's GREAT.

Why? Well, BBC Radio 7 of course. It's like Radio 4, but without the dull bits. Last night, I plugged it into some spare PC speakers and listened to Ladies of Letters make mincemeat which was brilliant. Today? Well, it's been Narnia day. Prince Caspian is about to finish, and I slept through Magician's Nephew, and dosed off for Horse and his Boy. So, of the four they've broadcast, I missed the two crap ones. Here's hoping for a quick CD release, go listen again, it's great (oh, tLtW&tW is here).

Thanks M&D. Oh yeah, it's small enough to fit in a trouser or jacket pocket and is completely rechargeable but takes AAs as well. Happy happy joy joy.

On the first day of Cephalopodmas,
Cthulhu gave to me
Histioteuthis heteropsis.

On the second day of Cephalopodmas...

Oh yeah; happy celebration of the axial tilt. From now on, the days start getting longer, and people have been celebrating this for a long time. Personally, I'm in favour of calling it yuletide, but then, I'm pretty sure there's a bit of viking in me. Along with a lot of bits of other european tribes.

Me:

I won't see much snow though, Torbay's microclimate will kill it all

here.

Snowed in this morning in Torquay, had to clear the screens and get the driving gloves out; didn't wear them all last winter. If it's this cold in the Bay, it must be bloody freezing in the rest of the country. Driving in was a nightmare, too many idiots on the roads.

I get home after my nice break in various places, some post, some bills, new people in the flat downstairs that think playing crap music loud and then shouting so they can hear each other is the height of sophistication and no food. Ah well.

To sleep? Or go online. Hmm...

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Hmm. Well, not sure why I volunteered other than a fit of stupidity inspired by nadriel's snoring (kidding Mike, thanks for the crash space), but the old maintener's account had been deleted, so some new fools volunteers were needed. So, go on then, join... swuk

Proper update on the last week or so to follow when I've had some sleep, food and told the neighbours... Wait, I hear nothing but silence! Yay.

For those that haven't listened to me yet and gone to buy it yet, the winner of this years World Fantasy Awards best novel? Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury). It's definately my favourite book of the last few years, I plugged it a bit here and everyone I know that's read it loves it. That includes Neil Gaiman, although I haven't met him yet...

Currently reading the Dark Materials trilogy by Pullman, very good so far, but keep getting distracted by the evil intorw3b so am only on the first book. I'm, um, succumbing to the lure of Harry Potter, and am going to see the film when it comes out. That's the 00.05 showing Friday morning, (faeriecween already has the tickets) and I'm being dragged along with aliennurai, byteback, Logan and Lucie. Lucie's the crazy one who thinks the Palace of Westminster should be painted pink.

But before that, am travelling to Germany with granjero to attend KoHIT, the Warlord worlds, which will be fun. I'm one of the few that's been to every event so far. Travel back Monday, stay, hopefully, with nadriel for a bit before trotting off to Reading for the random insanity that always seems to occur there.

There's a chance I'll be posting either via SMS or LJ2ME to warlord_ccg while I'm at the event itself, if anyone's interested...

Look, it's a piss take of NoNoWriMo, which I have to approve of just on principle. It's also on 5th November, which is a day of the year I tend to need to get drunk on, have I ever mentioned I hate fireworks? Not fear them, mind, just hate them.

In other news, I'm still off work, and I had to reinstall Windows this evening because it decided my keyboard and mouse didn't exist. It either didn't like my mouse driver or didn't like Warcraft III, both of which I installed last night.

Oh, Saturday am, 10.30 BST to be precise, Radio 4 has a half hour documentary on Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. The trailers for it have been very cool.

I wrote a brief item on nolittleengland about this news from the BBC. Then I saw a reaction to it on matryx's journal that really confused me. Rant time...

How on earth can anyone support such a gross infringement on individual choice and personal freedom? Don't like smoking? Fine, don't go to places that allow it, and tell the management/owners why. Market pressure will (and is) changing British pub culture, and an increasing number of establishments are no either entirely or almost completely non-smoking. But some people like to smoke while they eat. Others (like me) don't mind it if it's not too intrusive. I cannot, and will not support a blanket ban on individual behaviour. I don't want the Government telling me, or my friends, where I can or can't do something that is perfectly legal.

Market pressure will force clubs and pubs to change, but it will also allow encourage a minority to continue to cater for those that, unlike me, like to kill themselves in a different way. Anything else is, well, just wrong.

An anti ban rant from an avowed non-smoker? Yup, you did read that right.

[Edit: Greg has responded in the comments on his own journal, and made me think of some issues I hadn't, especially unenforced bans and the affect on those with medical conditions. Worth a read here.]

OK, the moral of this story is...

I have 1000 free minutes evening and weekend to landline and other Orange phones. This is good. Except that, well, people who know me know I don't tend to ring people that often, and when I do, it tends to be a fairly brief "I'm on my way", or "I got your email, I'll get back to you" or "No, I'm not out of bed yet, I'll be there after I've had time for coffee". That's normally the length of my phone conversations. My August bill says I used 9.32 minutes out of those 1000 available.

I also get 25 minutes free to any other network. Good job really. When offering to ring someone regularly, check that the Orange handset they have also has an Orange SIM card? Oops.

So, I think I need to a) start using my minutes up a bit on occasions (yes, I know I should ring my mother more often), and b) keep track of who I can ring for free.

Besides, it's an excuse to put up a text entry poll and see how they work.
[Poll #577930]
Results only seen by me, it was either that or screen comments, bit pointless really.