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previously known as [cold][wet][durham], [dirty][grimy][london],[busy][shiny][toon],[frantic][crowded][south]
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Cold Water Swimming Trailing : One

August 2nd 2010

This afternoon I started my training for Septembers charity swim.  Whilst working up in Scotland on a job I’m taking a few hours every afternoon to walk, kyak or swim.  Today we kyaked round form the beach round an island (dropping off prawn traps on the way) and then half a mile out to sea [...]

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Forget the deli, find a German

June 15th 2010

I’m a huge fancy of nibbly things, salty things, crunchy things and antipasto, but the big problem is the price. Good olives, grilled peppers and the like are often £3 for a little tub. I’m not complaining if they’re great quality (I used to run a market stall selling great olives from Sicily and Greece) [...]

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The strange and pale styling

December 24th 2009

Whilst I was down in London a few weeks ago, I drunkenly set about re-skinning coldclimate.  Since I moved to WordPress a few years ago I’d used the Ocadia theme, and very nice it was too.  However, lots of people use it, so it was time to make something of my own. I’m no designer.  [...]

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The magic of computing

December 16th 2009

I love computers. I really seriously love technology. I have no other tangable skill set (other than talking and maybe a few other things). I love making file systems work, getting databases to do backflips, to root my way through a problem and determine that it’s actual X not Y that is causing problem. However, [...]

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Two very important things

December 15th 2009

Two things I’ve discovered this evening… 1) The best milkshake includes no milk. It’s expensive organic vanilla icecream you left out overnight (yeah yeah ignore the fact that this is made with milk), and something called Rice Dream, which might be a poor milk substitue most of the time, but is very very tasty. 2)The [...]

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Don’t panic! I’m not fucked (yet)

December 4th 2009

if you happen to be on the coldclimate domain, ad things look screwy, it’s not because somethings wrong, just that I’m slightly drunkenly trying to bolt together Blueprint CSS and the sandbox wordpress theme. Stay calm! Carry on! If it fails it’s back to the original theme! Possibly Related Posts: Cold Water Swimming Trailing : [...]

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I’m not dead (I’m not sleepin’ either)

September 15th 2009

So, the blog here had been terminally quiet of late, mostly because I’m run off my feet with work, and have limited internet access (Orange Mobile is gash where signal is patchy). Fear not – many half writen drafts to be published. Possibly Related Posts: Cold Water Swimming Trailing : One Forget the deli, find [...]

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I am not dead!

August 6th 2009

I’ve just not got internet except through work, and I’m freaking busy.  Normal service will resume later, probably around mid September. Possibly Related Posts: Cold Water Swimming Trailing : One Forget the deli, find a German The strange and pale styling The magic of computing Two very important things

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Food

April 27th 2009

Whilst looking a a brilliant post about “what people search for and found my blog” , and thought I should have a go. Instructions, copy, paste, and bold the things you’ve eaten (and maybe add some comments) Venison: Lots, and it’s one of my favorites. Nettle Tea: No and I too have no urge. Huevos rancheros: [...]

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Book names missing a letter

April 10th 2009

I hear something on Radio4 the other day that made me laugh, how your book name meaning change when you miss the last letter off.  Pure genius.  So I fired up my LibraryThing account and ran through knocking off the last letter to create… The Righteous Me IS HARRY ON THE BOA No Country For [...]

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Deaths in Buffy

April 8th 2009

Its funny what makes you think about things isn’t it.  Despite all the crap in the last few months, it’s Buffy which makes me think. Anya – Dies completely unnoticed in the chaos of the last series and the world just moves on around her.  It’s only when the dust settles that Zander realises she’s [...]

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This weekend – MakeFaire UK

March 12th 2009

Yes – this weekend it’s the first Make Faire outside of the US and it’s here in the town of heros – Newcastle Upon Tyne (and Gateshead). Come down and see what people are making – I should have been exibiting my 8×8 leds display (homebrewed, Arduino powered) but I’ve not finished it in time. [...]

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A days worth of web finding

October 4th 2008

What a strange day.  I got locked out of my house.  My spare keys were in my car.  My car keys were in the house.  Epic fail on so many levels.  Anyway, life got a bit better when I opened my rss feeds: Flickr Panda - truly this is a very strange thing. The prime number shitting [...]

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Learning Polish

September 17th 2008

Youtube – full of crap keep saying. However, should you wish to learn Polish, this might be quite handy…. I am scared of Tigers! Your mother makes laundry in the river! Possibly Related Posts: Cold Water Swimming Trailing : One Forget the deli, find a German The strange and pale styling The magic of computing [...]

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Spam or Engrish chat up?

September 17th 2008

As recieved by email: Hello! My name is Margarita! I am 29 years old. I addressed in agency acquaintances. When I have specified, how I search for type of the man. Me have told to approach in 1 week. When I have again come to agency of acquaintances, to me have told yours email adress. [...]

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Link brain dump

September 14th 2008

It’s Sunday morning, and I’ve a list of things I should be doing, but one of them is clearing through a week’s worth of feeds.  Here are a few that I’ve enjoyed: 8 meatless dishes for meat lovers – I’m no vegetarian cook, probably because I’m not a good enough cook. The tech behind Nine Inch Nails [...]

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Poxy Boggards Anime

September 7th 2008

Yes, it is true. At some point in the past, some genius took the faux-medievil ballards of the Poxy Boggards (whom I first ran across though Warren Ellis’s excellent 4am podcast), mixed it up with anime style drawings, and posted them up on youtube. A star is born I feel. Possibly Related Posts: Cold Water [...]

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Car flirting

August 3rd 2008

In the last week I must have driven nearly a thousand miles, which given the current price of petrol*, and the size of the UK is not bad going. Something made me think of a game my ex used to play (or that she told me about anyway) called Car Flirting. It seemed an idea [...]

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Tips for photographing otters

July 31st 2008

Rarely will these tips be of practical to anyone, but you never know… Otters are extreamly quick. You will need the same sort of lenses which are used to capture sports cars, race horses and chavs at Primark sales. Otter smell vile. I have been near dead things that smelled better. Last time I was [...]

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Princess Anne wears a dress twice!

July 22nd 2008

This week the papers (and indeed the venerable Today Programme) have been talkiong about Princess Anne wearing the same dress to two weddings, 27 years apart.  What does it mean?  Is she promoting recycling?  Is it a fashion faux-pas?  Dies it show how in touch with we proles she is and is a nod to [...]

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Free ideas

July 19th 2008

Somebody please make the following: * Fabulous Cooking Blog : a photo blog curated by an aging New York socialit, all photos featuring over made-up hands, far too many wedding rings and mis-matched crockery.  All measurements in the form of “2 martini glasses full of dried olives”, darling. * Interviewing actors – can’t get an [...]

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Wii LightSabre!

June 25th 2008

Finally somebody has made something which I rambled on about ages ago (and I imagine a load of other people did as well) and created …. A light Sabre fight game controlled by wiiMote! Possibly Related Posts: Cold Water Swimming Trailing : One Forget the deli, find a German The strange and pale styling The [...]

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Early morning link-o-rama

June 13th 2008

Got up and packed this morning (long train later tonight) and got to work early, so plenty of time to go through my Google Reader feeds.  Much tasty goodness in there too. I love the idea of 7 in 7, 7 creative projects, one every day.  Sort of artistic, sort of techie, all good clean [...]

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RIP Humph

April 26th 2008

Rest in Peace Humph, I shall miss you.  I never did get a chance to see you play at the Bulls Head, and I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue won’t ever be the same. Possibly Related Posts: Cold Water Swimming Trailing : One Forget the deli, find a German The strange and pale styling The [...]

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Pirate Juice – Yaaarrrgh!

April 14th 2008

Put a bottle of cheap dark rum in the freezer.  The next day, mix 5 parts fiery ginger beer (not ale), 2 parts dark rum, and one part fresh lime juice.  Pour over ice.  Slip.  Shout Yaaarrrgh and stomp round in circles! Possibly Related Posts: Homemade flavoured spirits Cold Water Swimming Trailing : One Slow [...]

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Info trackers

April 13th 2008

I am a bit of a data whore.  I want to know where I’ve been, what I’ve listened to (via last.fm), what I’ve read (via LibraryThing), and if I could record my thoughts (Twitter maybe?) so I could read then again later (especially when I was sober again), I would do. What I could really [...]

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What everybody should know about the Middle East

April 1st 2008

What a fantastic little article is What every American should know about the Middle East.  This will only take you 2 minutes to read (really) and I guarentee that you will learn something (if I know my demographic).  I was embarrassed at how I knew the basics, but missed a few critial bits. Go in, [...]

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the sopranos continues to educate…

March 27th 2008

“No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which one is true” : Nathaniel Hawthorne Possibly Related Posts: Cold Water Swimming Trailing : One Forget the deli, find a German The strange and pale styling The magic of computing Two [...]

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Best quote of the week

March 27th 2008

Next heated meeting I have I’m rolling out… “Take it easy. We’re not making a Western here” Thank you The Sopranos. A few more I might just throw out there Tony: Think Christopher, think! The big f**king picture, huh… “I don’t understand” “Thats because I wasn’t fucking talking to you” “She’s so fat, her blood [...]

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RIP Arthur C Clarke

March 19th 2008

The king is dead. Long live the King! Possibly Related Posts: Cold Water Swimming Trailing : One Forget the deli, find a German The strange and pale styling The magic of computing Two very important things

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A Tescos Poem

March 3rd 2008

I only popped in, for five spice, and cabbage, and maybe a beer, but you made me so angry, wish your pushing and your grabbing and your lofty accents, I will return, with a stick.  Fear me. Possibly Related Posts: Cold Water Swimming Trailing : One Forget the deli, find a German The strange and [...]

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Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

February 21st 2008

Any economics 101 student or 1980′s middle manager can tell you about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Simple put, theres a stack of stuck of stuff, and unless you have the items in the stack below you, you’re unlikely to be happy. It’s a way of modelling ways of motivating people. Giving me a pair of [...]

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Look up people

February 18th 2008

Sitting on the train this morning, reading the news and catching up on my inbox (pre-7:30am – get me), I looked up, and my mouth fell open, as I watched the firey peach ball of sun burning off the layer of mist which was caught agains the frozen ground.  It was breathtaking, magnificent, almost too [...]

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Evil vile slimy flesh eating wormoid

February 9th 2008

Kitty was cool, but these are vile. Possibly Related Posts: Cold Water Swimming Trailing : One Forget the deli, find a German The strange and pale styling The magic of computing Two very important things

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Super stealthy mega ninja kitty hunter

February 9th 2008

oh yeah!  kitty rocks! Possibly Related Posts: Cold Water Swimming Trailing : One Forget the deli, find a German The strange and pale styling The magic of computing Two very important things

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Googel Maps Poetry

February 6th 2008

From my minds eye High in the sky I see a house I knew so well And where I will Trend never again I’m sorry Possibly Related Posts: Cold Water Swimming Trailing : One Hot and sour manly popcorn Forget the deli, find a German The strange and pale styling The magic of computing

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