Back once again

Well,its been a long time since I posted anything on here. Injunctions unfortunately prevent me from talking about what has been happening - suffice to say I'm just glad its all over and I can get on with my life - and this is where I fully plan to be living as much of it as possible:



Leather sofas, the ashes, doesn't get much better than that!

For The Guys

Make your van more 'A-Team'! Next... learn to save lives:

I Don't Get It

What is happening with the world at the moment? Seems like it is getting harder and harder to find people who don't dress like freak. Take a look at this example:



What is wrong with regular dresses?

A funny music video

No Sheep 'til Buxton by the Macc Lads

Sheep shaggers....

Went up in the hills,
We was on a binge,
Look for some pubs and up some minge.
Couldn't find us no beer,
We just found sheep,
So fuckin' many put the Peter to sleep.

There were sheep in the fields
And under the trees,
Sheep in the houses
And under your feet.
Sheep on the pavement
Sheep in the car
Sheep in the pubs and we all got barred.

Sheep, sheep everywhere,
The little woolly fuckers are all over the place,
Sheep, sheep everywhere,
We're fighting for the one with the prettiest face.
Go.

So this is what locals get up to at night.
Trying to get anthrax,
And make sure they use trite.
Sunk to their nuts whilst their rodding a ram,
And they're just as well hung for a sheep as a lamb.
Sheep shit on their foreskin and all over their suits,
Little black berries in their wellington boots,
Sheep shit on their trousers and all over their flies,
Don't let the farmer pull the wool over your knob.

Sheep, sheep everywhere.
Mutton daggers at the ready and they're full of mint sauce.
Sheep, sheep everywhere,
We're gonna get a bleating from the mother in law...
Ooowow!

Sheep, sheep everywhere,
All the farmers daughters' got a sheepskin coat.
Sheep, sheep everywhere,
They've got to wear a woolly if they want to pull a bloke.
Sheep, sheep everywhere,
Sheep, sheep everywhere

Shirts

Did you know you can get shirts like this?



Outstanding.

Animation about climate change

Here is a really cool animation that riffs on the theme of global climate change:

Great Sag Aloo Recipe

Sag Aloo potatoes have always been one of my favourite things to order at Indian restaurants. I wanted to find out how to cook sag aloo because I washaving some people over, so I went about finding a recipe. I found this one, followed the instructions, and guess what? The result was delicious! Here is the video that helped me out so much:

Sexist advert

This is a somewhat sexist advert from the past. It is for the Mini with the automatic transmission. I actually had one of those, it was my first car. I managed to crash it, a week after passing my test, so the advert is not even accurate...



I should look at this picture before I go to car hire places to remind me to take more care!

Two headed snake

This is a picture of a two headed snake. I have been assured that this photo is real and has not been modified in any way. Can it be though?

Ways to get to the UK

What is a better choice for flights to the UK? Is it flights to London or flights to Manchester? Maybe this is just one of those things that mankind will never truly know the answer to.

goat music

Check it out, here is a video of a dude playing a musical instrument made from a goat:



The 'goat bagpipe' is actually a Gaida from Macedonia. Pretty cool. I saw this and I kind of wanted some, even if they are a little weird.I actually feel a little sorry for the poor goat though.I think instead of spending money on *another* musical instrument I can't play maybe I should send some goats to Africa or something.

Look at the pretty colours

Wow.Look at this flower. Is it real,is it fake? First things first, this is not any kind of photo manipulation. What you see in that picture is an accurate representation of something that exists in the world.

Next is it a fake flower. People have been making flowers out of paper and cloth and plastic, and all kinds of things for years. In fact I once had a temporary job when I was a teenager working in a factory that took boxes full of plastic flowers made in China and then put them into frames and made them into nasty little arrangements. Anyway no it is not that.

It is a real, honest, grown flower.Although not the result of genetic mutation or engineering to be fair. In fact it is a normal cream coloured rose of the type that you could get anywhere that you would normally buy flowers. Basically its made with de in the water. Try it out - you wioll have some fun and mess with some roses.

Some things are pretty cool. Like this for instance:


I am really looking forward to watching that show and seeing what they do to transform boring used cars into, well, quite possibly art. Now if only could get some car hire that took that kind of approach my life would be complete.

Another bra and pants video

I remember when you would need to take a flight to Paris to get decent lingerie. Especially in the smaller towns getting anything more than the most basic (and often pretty ill fitting and uncomfortable) underwear was next to impossible. Finding something stylish was very hard. Things have changed a lot over the years. Take a look at this promo video that Marks and Spencer have put out with Natalie Suliman in, who I adore:



Wow! Doesn't she look stunning! the bras that she is modelling really look like good examples of the new style. Call it underwear 2.0 - definitely no need for the flight to France now!

Is sexy CPR sexist?

There is a video doing the rounds at the moment showing CPR procedures being performed by barely clad models.Is this acceptable or is it crude exploitation from the manocentric maleocracy? Decide for yourselves:

this is quite good

Put your vans in the air like you just don't care

Vans, you think they are boring right? You think that the are just big, heavy, un-manoeuvrable commercial vehicles. While I'm sure that you would fully acknowledge their capacity for cargo you probably underestimate their capacity for fun.

Whenever I get van hire, I make sure that I get my moneys worth. What I do is I take the borrowed vehicle some a bit quite and have some fun. An empty van can really shift. I have never done anything quite as awesome as this though:



You can't see that and not smile. It is pure undiluted joy. Admit it, even if you are tutting and disapproving, part of you is already wondering about vans for sale.

Fashion update

Summer is here, and it is time to get kitted out with the latest summer dresses. I can't get enough of them. Between the months of May and September you will never see me out wearing anything else.

The only problem I have ever found with wearing lightweight summer dresses is that sometime they can show more of my underwear than I would like. Don't get me wrong there is some fantastic lingerie available to go with dresses. Recently though I was very excited to learn of a new idea on this front.

The 'c-string' is sort of a strapless thong. How can this possibly work you ask, here is a short video I found which explains the ins and outs of them, so to speak:

So is that the end of summer then?

Iceland has been hit with two volcanic eruptions in a month. “Big whoop” I here you say, “I’m not in Iceland, so I don’t care”. But when I heard about this on the news this morning I was worried that it could turn out to be really bad. Already, as well as causing hundreds of Icelanders with names like Magnusson to flee their homes in terror it has started messing things up for the rest of the world.

Huge numbers of Flights to the UK have been grounded because jet planes don’t like having their engines packed full of volcanic ash. AS well as shutting all the airports in Scotland, anybody wanting to take flights to Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool or Newcastle is having to rethink their plans. Even flights to London heading into Stansted have been hit.

No-one seems to know how long this volcanic no-fly zone will be in effect, or if it is going to get worse. The thing I am worried about is not flying though. Did you ever hear about ‘the year without a summer’? It’s pretty messed up.

In 1815 Mount Tambora (a dirty great volcano) erupted. It spewed ash and debris into the sky enthusiastically. In 1816, across the world, there was no summer. All that ash and muck made the skies dark. Crops failed, there was rioting and starvation. It was during that summer that never came that Mary Shelley wrote ‘Frankenstein’ because she was stuck inside on holiday by Lake Geneva.

So the weather has just started to get nice after that pig of a winter, is going to go all dark and rubbish for the next 12 months? I hope not. To be fair what happened in 1816 was because of a much bigger eruption, but after two in a month maybe there are more on the way. Could be worse though I suppose, they reckon that the Lake Toba supereruption reduced the population OF THE ENTIRE PLANET to less than ten thousand. Very long time ago that, though.

Lego Hellraiser

Hellraiser was a pretty scary movie when it came out. Clive Barker's terrifying horror story still has the power to shock today. Imagine if that terror were combined with the ultimate evil that is lego, could you cope? Would you open the box and summon the lego cenobites? If the answer is 'yes' then click play on the video below. It is going to tear you soul apart!

Lego Hellraiser

vans up, suckers

I need some new wheels. Shouldn't be too hard. But why is it all the used vans I go to see seem to look quite a lot like this one:




Still, at leas that is fairly honest advertising, you know that what you see will very much be what you get. Most of the rust-buckets I've wasted my time going to see did not have anything like such a truthful picture. Of course just cos a van looks OK doesn't mean its going to keep on running. My friend knew I was looking for vans so he sent me this:



Even if the van is running well you still have your image to think about. I think when most people picture a 'typical van driver' they imagine someone who drive a van a little bit like this one:



Not the kind of look you really want to go for! Still, a van is what it is, there is no hope of disguising it. This guy is fooling no-one:



Quite cool in its own little way though I suppose. Not for me though. Well, I guess I'll have to keep on looking, and keep on forking out for van hire all the time. At least the rentals are all quite nice and new - I think that might be the problem actually. Driving the latest just gives me unrealistic expectations!

If love is a red dress...

If love is a red dress, Well, hang me in rags. So sang Maria McKee on that song there, memorably included on the soundtrack to Pulp Fiction. Well, after the red dress in that song, it is easy to think of the world's second most famous red dress.

That's right, it has to he the iconic red dress from the adverts for Special K. Apparently this dress had such a following, with women around the world demanding to know where they could lay their hands on the brightly coloured garment.



Such was the demand for the dress in fact that retailer Marks and Spencer are going to be adding one based on it to their range of dresses. Its a nice dress to be sure, and it is easy to see why people like it. Certainly much nicer than the cereal it advertises, which tastes like cardboard. The low calorie breakfast I prefer is black coffee with a side order of cigarettes.

Yeti fail

So yeah, apparently some Chinese hunters are claiming to have captured a living yeti. The yeti is reputed to be an ape like creature living in the high mountains. Sometimes also referred to as the ‘abominable snow man’ one has never been photographed, let alone captured. Nevertheless artist impressions of the beast usually depict it looking something like the picture below.



The supposed yeti (yes that thing in the cage in the picture) looks very little like this. In fact it looks very little like an ape of a description. Perhaps this should be filed under ‘climate change news’, as maybe it was global climate change that led to its sorry state.



Of course we shouldn’t write off finding new species of animal, even large ones. Naturalists found a 2 meter long fruit eating lizard that no-one had seen before. This was described as being ‘dragon sized’, which surprised me. I thought dragons were mythical creatures so how can you compare things to them in terms of size? Also, I have always thought of dragons as being way bigger than that. Oh, wait, alright Komodo Dragons. Gotcha.

they tried to get a WHAT on the plane?!

I have the privilege of taking flights to Dubai on a fairly regular basis. This means not only that I get to catch up on the kind of movies I wouldn't normally bother with, but also that I am pretty familiar with the procedures in airports. Security, customs, immigration, you have to go through a lot of checks before they let you on a plane. Quite right too. It might have toughened up a little recently, but there have always been checks surely?

That's why this story really amazed me. Two women tried to sneak a CORPSE aboard a flight. Did they really think no-one would notice? The body in question was that of a relative of the women who had died the day before.

The dead man was in a wheelchair, and sunglasses had been put on his face. Perhaps his adventurous female relatives were taking on one last holiday.This has to be a pretty unique crime. Still, luckily enough they were stopped. It is bad enough having to sit next to a big fat person or a screaming child - decomposing human remains is another matter altogether.

Commodore 64 back from dead for Easter

I might be showing my age just a little bit if I start to talk about the Commodore 64, but I’m going to anyway. Growing up in the ‘80’s the C64 was my introduction to computers, or at least to computers I liked. I actually had a ZX Spectrum and a BBC Micro as well – but those were RUBBISH in comparison to the Commodore, especially for games.



The Commodore 64 had a dedicated sound chip, meaning that the music and sound effect for the games were really a cut above the other systems. I love the music from some of those games to this day. Whatever was happening in the music scene back then, the soundtrack to my childhood was definitely some the bleeping-awesomeness of C64 game soundtracks. In realize that most of the people reading this won’t have a clue what I am talking about, so I have been having a bit of a trawl of Youtube looking for something to illustrate the level of Win we are talking about here. Here is a top 10 that is pretty good.



Since you asked my favourite ever C64 game was Bubble Bobble. I think the music for that has been stuck in my head since I was 3 years old. Really I think it was one of the best games ever released. There are a bunch of emulators out there for you to check out what these old-school games were like, or to get nostalgic over if you are a bit older, but nothing really comes close to the experience of sitting cross-legged with your face 6 inches in front of the television in the family living room. Until now.


The whole microcomputer design of the ‘80’s seems to be set for a comeback. Various tablet PC manufacturers have been trying to get consumers to buy into the idea of a laptop without a keyboard, now Commodore USA (a new company from the USA unconnected to the original Commodore) has announced what is essentially a laptop without a screen.



The specifications are impressive. The new machine boasts a 3Ghz Quad-Core processor and 3D graphics processing. Whereas the original C64 had to rely on an external tape-deck or later, if you were flash, one of those floppy drives with the massive disks, the reworked 2010 machine has a 500GB hard disk and a DVD-RW built in. It will ship with Ubuntu installed.

I really want one because of the retro appeal. Also I think it could be really good for using as a secondary PC or media center, as it is a lot less bulky than a full sized PC. If you have a nice widescreen HD TV in your lounge, add this and you will be golden. The manufacturers are selling it on another point though – power consumption .There is a lot of climate change news about, causing concern over energy use. It is claimed that the re-imagined C64 will be a more energy efficient design than the larger desktop machines currently in vogue.

Land peel furniture revolution

Every now and then you run into something that is just absolutely, undeniably, awesome. Very, very rarely does anything to do with furniture fall into this category for me. This is an exception. I really have no idea who Shin Yasmashita is, but she is apparently a Japanese industrial design student, and is plainly one with an amazing talent and unique vision. Just take a look at these photos (originals here).



The idea is basically to have a kind of floor mat that can be reshaped to suit your furniture needs of the moment. This is definitely an idea that has a very Japanese complexion to it. Here in the west I think we are too wedded to the idea of our chairs and sofas to really ever consider ways of making sitting on the floor more comfortable.





I really like the idea of having this one totally configurable bit of furniture. Just being able to grab and manipulate your environment to shape to your needs at that moment. I think this is just a prototype at the moment, but if it goes into production I would be very interested to try it out.

Airbus A380 excitement

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I am a big fan of machines. Bigger. Faster. Louder. That is my mantra. To my mind one of the coolest, and biggest machines is the Airbus A380. This is a really supersized 21st Century Jumbo jet. Aviation moving forward. Concord being retired and the end of supersonic passenger flight was a major setback back, and made me very sad. The A380 is a shining step forward.

Double decked along its entire length the Airbus A380 8000 can pack in an astounding 853 passengers. It has 50% more space than the outmoded Boeing 747. The 747 was introduced in 1969, the same year as Concord by the way.

I’m no plane spotter, but I really want to take a flight on one of these. I must admit I felt more than a little bit excited to read an announcement that flights to Manchester from the UAE will be using the new airliner. Next time I have to be taking flights to Dubai for work I hope that the airline that flies me is running one of these epic sky-whales.

More cool electric vehicles

OK, I know I have talked about electric cars before, what can I say, when I get a bee in my bonnet, its in there for a while. This is different though, hear me out, because before I was talking about cars and today I'm talking about the wonderful world of bikes.

You gotta love a motorbike, the speed, the freedom. The very idea of a motorbike is excitement. I have been ragging bikes around since I was big enough to reach the handle bars, and I hope never to stop. The problem with electric bikes so far has been that the have focused too much on keeping the weight low.

Most electric bikes have basically been push bikes with a weedy little electric motor to help the feeble-legged get up hills. The have lacked the raw-meat excitement of a proper motorcycle. That's why when I saw this.



Wow, huh? This little beast is made by KTM and is totally electric. I'm trying very hard to get a test drive of one of these - I will keep you all posted. Of course part of the appeal of bikes is the ability to get around congested cities as well as the thrill of tearing up a dirt track.

Anyone who has been to a city with truly awful traffic will appreciate what it is like trying to get around. Paris is (for me) the worst. You hope that if you sort yourself out with car hire France will open up for you. Instead you find yourself sucked into the Stygian nightmare of navigating Paris's streets and confusing parking regulations.

One answer to this problem in cities has been suggested as being vehicles like the pricey Segway. The problem with this is really one of self respect. You just don't look cool riding one. You look like a fat, rich, idiot who is too lazy to walk. What can be done? Well perhaps this:



By combining the kind of easy to balance parallel wheels with a motorbike style seat and handlebars perhaps some of the problems of the Segway are solved. Not would the rider look better hunched daringly, athletically over the controls but having a seat could make it more suitable for longer journeys. What will make or break this gadget for me (and probably many other traffic maddened city folk)is the range and the speed. If it can go fast enough and long enough, then sign me up!

cutting corners on flights

I don't mean to come across as whining, but I take a lot of flights with a lot of different airlines and the attitude of some of them really, really sucks. One Irish budget airline that shall remain nameless in particular. The amount of hidden charges they throw at you really takes the... well you know where I'm coming from. I was winging about this online to a friend of mine today and they sent me a link to this video on youtube.



It made me laugh, but it is pretty close to the truth actually. Well I have had enough. From now on all my flights to London are going to booked with a carrier who know how to treat their passengers with a bit of respect, and as always, you get what you pay for.

Electric cars

With concern about global climate change running as high as it is, there is a lot of pressure for individuals to reduce their carbon emissions. A proportion of carbon emissions come from personal transport, the cars we all drive. I love cars and driving, and though I want to do my bit and be a responsible citizen of the world or whatever, I never want to stop driving. They will take my car keys and my pink fluffy dice from out of my cold dead hands.

Because I want to keep driving, and because I don’t want to kill penguins (how could I?), I have been paying a lot of attention to electric and hybrid cars. To be fair most of them haven’t done anything for me. This is either because of their looks, their performance, or the fact that they just would not be practical for me.

There is one electric car I would absolutely love to drive though: The Tesla Electric Roadster! Just because you are saving the planet does not mean that you don’t have places you need to get to fast. Take a look at this video of one of the slick looking road-beasts going head to head with a meaty v8 powered Dodge Viper:



That is certainly no milk float. The only thing that is missing is that throaty sports car roar. I think if I could afford one I would put in a monster sound system and play a CD of raw monstrous engine noise at full blast wherever I went. That wouldn’t be as anti-social as it sounds, at least people would be able to hear me coming and get out of the way!

Lingerie and Sofas

I don’t know what it is, about lingerie videos and the Internet. Just recently I have been running across loads of them. To be fair some of them seem a little bit questionable, but a few of them really make me laugh. Like this one for instance:



I think it is really creative the way they have taken the traditional lingerie photo shoot and put a fresh spin on it. The models look fantastic in the clothing, and it genuinely looks like they are having a lot of fun. It would have been so easy to just have had them lolling around on sofas or pouting in soft focus. I really love to see something taken out of one context and put into another. The brand message that seems to come across really connects in a way. Rollercoasters are fun and exciting, and to me that’s just what lingerie should be.

Formula One

I am very excited at the moment because of the start of the new formula one season. There is no doubt in my mind that formula one is the greatest motorsport that has ever been. The combination of white-knuckle racing with the technical battle really sucks me in. This year there are a couple of big human stories that it will be fascinating to see play out across the season.

The man drama is of course the return of retired Formula One legend Michael Schumacher to the driving seat of an F1 car. If this was a Hollywood movie, Schumacher would definitely be the main character. He would probably also be played by Tom Cruise, so maybe best not to follow this metaphor too far!

The other human drama that I think will prove captivating is the rivalry between the two British drivers on the circuit. Between them Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton have bagged the last two driver’s championships. Last season they were on opposing teams, this year they are united at McLaren-Mercedes. Of course being teammates will not stop the rivalry, and now the world will find out who truly is the better driver, as both will be competing in identical cars.

Any great sports story requires a plucky underdog. For the 2010 season this has to be US F1. The sport of F1 has never really been huge in the USA. Why this has been the case has been the subject of some debate. Possibly it is that American motorsport fans don’t like seeing cars driving very fast around anything other than a perfect oval. Possibly it has been the lack of Americans to get behind the competition. Poor US F1 have set out to change this, but have been unable to get any kind of car ready in time for the start of the season. They are unlikely to get any kind of fairy tale ending to the season, but it will be interesting to see how they do once they actually start, and whether they can hold it together for 2011.

So that is the cast of characters and some of the main plot elements, but the drama that is F1 would be nothing without its jaw-dropping, globe-spanning backdrops. The first race of the season was in Middle Eastern Kingdom of Bahrain. The track looked like it supplied some good racing, but construction equipment visible gave it a half-finished appearance. Certainly it lacked the wow-factor supplied by the other Arabian fixture in the calendar.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was an outstanding visual feast last year, with a unique day-night format and some amazing use of lighting on the grandstands. This year it is to be the climax of the season, the very last race. It may very well be that the next Formula One world champion is anointed at Abu Dhabi. That is and the end of the season though, for now the teams, the cars, drivers and all, will have to catch their flights to Australia and set their eyes on the Melbourne Grand Prix.

Best dresses of the Oscars

So the Oscars were last night. Everyone else on the Internet is busy reporting on who won what. That is not what we are about here - because we are going to be looking at what they should have a special statue for. Every year the 'best dress' category is every bit as much worth looking out for as 'best picture'. This year was no exception with some truly spectacular dresses on show. Take a look at some of the pictures that I got from The Guardian.



That is Vera Farmiga right there, looking amazing in one of the hottest dresses for a long time. Looking great in the photo, but, lets be honest, 'Up In The Air' was a real dog of a movie.



That is Diane Kruger, also looking great in a dress. This particular dress is Christian Lacroix (oooh!). I like it a lot. I could see myself getting away with wearing a dress like that, which is not something that you can say about this last one, being worn by the gorgeous Zoe Saldana.




You have to dress to impress, and its hard not to be impressed by these dresses.

Oh dear....

I just looked at what I wrote yesterday - um... sorry for the over share there...

A guy from Mumbai

So do you believe in love at first sight? Most people don't I think, and it might seem a little silly to some. How can it be that two people can know that straight away? Mind you, they do say that you from like 90% of your opinion of someone within 5 minutes of meeting. If you go on to have a relationship with them maybe you look back, know that you had a good feeling about that person from the start.

What started me thinking about this? Well you might have guessed I have met a guy. It was on that new web-cam chat thing where you get connected to randoms. I was about to leave the sight because, well, take a look for yourself. Its like visiting the monkey house at the zoo. Like I say I was about to give up on the whole thing then this really sweet looking guy appeared on my screen.

Right away I knew he was different. Unlike most of the other guys on there he was fully clothed. Not only that but he didn't seem to be touching himself inappropriately. Plus he was wearing a necktie. That's when I knew he was a class act.

So we got talking - and talking and talking. Honestly we just spent hours chatting about everything under the sun. I think that is when my head began to catch up with my heart and I began to realise that this could be the one.

Luckily he was feeling the same way. We have been talking long-distance since then and I think this could be pretty serious. Only one problem. He lives in Mumbai. Not that I have anything against Mumbai its just it is just so far away. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I'm usually doing my thing either in the States or my home-away-from-home, England. I get back and forth quite a bit so I'm well used to taking lots of flights.

So I'm looking to go out there and meet up in person. I really can't wait. I have been reading up on Mumbai and India. It's fascinating, so much stuff I never know. I found up my doctor about getting vaccinations and stuff, blackmailed my boss into giving me some more time off and now all I need to do is to book some flights to Mumbai. Wish me luck, my experiences with meeting men over the Internet haven't been that great before - but if you fail, try try again as they say.

How to dress your phone in lingerie

I was really shocked when I read about Apple banning all their sexy apps for the iPhone. Personally I love to see lots of sexy models wearing the latest lingerie, swimwear or (don’t tell anyone) nothing at all. Anyway you can read all about that here.

In case you are a busy type who does not have the time to follow every single link that they might find on the Internet I will tell you of the single most amazing thing that I learnt by reading that post. That’s right. You can get lingerie for your phone. I think it makes a powerful statement if you are the kind of person that dresses their smartphone in its own special lingerie. Even more so if you have made it yourself like in these instructions.

I like that idea a lot. So much hotter than putting your phone in a child’s sock or whatever. Personally though I think it is much sexier not to wear any underwear, and spend the money I save on lingerie on some glamorous dresses.

Is this for REAL?

see more Epic Fails

Microsoft dresses up Winows 7 in new Phones

The world of technology has become increasingly like the world of fashion. Consumers seek to align themselves with brands whose core values they feel who reflect their own. Nowhere is this truer than with smart-phones. Over the last few seasons to go along with the latest dresses, shoes and shirts the iPhone has been the must-have accessory.

The iPhone is one of a long line of very trendy Apple products. Costing considerably more than their competitors, apple have carved out a market share for their products based as much on the aesthetic appeal of their design as their technical functionality.

It was the iPod that put an Apple in every well dressed pocket, with a range of colours to suit every dress sense. The iPhone continued this success, with its operating system being used in the newly released floor length dress to the iPhones mini-skirt.

Microsoft have had no way to dress up their failure to compete in this market. The Zune has made little impact compared to the iPod. However one Microsoft product has been phenomenally successful: the almost universally acclaimed operating system Windows 7.

Now the software giant has announced that Windows 7 will be taking to the world of smart-phones. The new operating system will be called Windows Phone 7 series. It will combine services like XBox live for gaming as well as essential social and location based features.

Of course an operating system is only as good as the technology it is clothed in. Of course the new Windows 7 mobiles will have a choice of stylish dresses to wear to the Web 3.0 ball. Top manufactures such as Sony Ericson, Samsung and LG have all been lined up to produce handsets. Though the handsets will vary in design all must have a special physical button to summon Microsoft's Bing search engine as well as a multi-touch screen.

Radiohead perform Lotus Flowers

I was wasting a little time on Youtube this morning (as you do) and I came across this video of Radiohead singing 'Lotus Flowers'. Now I'm not normally a big fan of these kind of live videos because the sound on them is usually so bad. On this version of Lotus Flowers however the sound is really quite acceptable and 'Lotus Flowers' is such a great song I thought I would share it with you all.



So that was Radiohead playing 'Lotus Flowers' they were doing that as part of a benefit for the Haiti earthquake. Its good to see some quality musicians helping out as opposed to the the self serving dross who have been in the public eye so far.

Car Hire Spain

Spain is a fantastic place to go on holiday. That cannot be denied. At any time of year and throughout the country, it is a magical experience. From the sunny beaches on the Mediterranean, to the majestic Pyrenees Spain is a treasure trove of delights waiting to be discovered.

Whether you are going for just a few days, a week, or even longer exploring Spain is always a rewarding experience. It is true however that without car hire Spain would not be very accessible. There are a few alternatives to hiring a car, but in Spain this may not always being advisable.

Public transport in Spain is actually very good. Compared to countries such as the UK the trains and the buses are cheap, clean and reliable. It might seem that without the expense of car hire Spain could be gotten around quite easily. While this is true to an extent, there are some very good reasons why using car hire Spain becomes even better.

Firstly there is the freedom that comes from having access to a personal vehicle. It means that you can a holiday at your own pace, go where you want to go when you want to go there, with the added bonus of a CD player and air conditioning at your beck and call.

There is however one absolutely killer reason why with car hire Spain becomes a much more attractive holiday destination. That is that the roads in Spain are fantastic. During the 80s and 90s vast amounts of money was spent creating one of Europe's finest road networks. But it is not just the convenience of the roads that trying car hire Spain that is good. Some of the roads that you can drive are truly spectacular.

If you took the trouble to learn to drive you really owe it to yourself to try driving on some of Spain's spectacular roads. Twisting through high mountains and along scenic coastal routes you will realise that just getting from a to b is to miss the point.

Flight to Australia

Until very recently those boarding flights to Australia seeking refuge from persecution in their native lands would be met with a harsh reception. In place was a controversial law requiring the imprisonment of all asylum seekers.

Adults and children seeking asylum in Australia were routinely locked up, often in jails in remote locations. This policy applied to both those seeking asylum and to visitors who had stayed beyond the limits of their visas. Many of these centers were on isolated pacific islands such as Christmas island.

A change in policy means that, for instance, children fleeing from violence and persecution in their home companies will not be taken off flights to Australia and imprisoned indefinitely. Also, where imprisonment is deemed necessary detainees will be granted the right to have their cases reviewed every 3 months.

Haiti earthquake charity single

Today the world heard to the first play of the charity single put together by talent show
supremo Simon Cowell tor raise funds for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. The song, is,
typically for the song, 'Everybody Hurts' is a cover version. The track, written by REM, was
originally released in 1993.

The minor-key ballad is performed by a veritable 'who's-who' of bland overpackaged singers.
Amoungst others, Miley "Hannah Montana" Cyrus and James "rhyming slang" Blunt are joined by SuBo and a van load of the other miscellaneous reality TV celebrities Cowell has a hand bringing to prominence.



Although the aim of aiding helping the the aftermath of the catastrophe after the Haiti
earthquake is laudable, it is easy to see other motivations behind this move. This is a
promotional stunt designed as much to raise the profile of Cowell and acts associated with him
as it is with helping the victims of the Haiti earthquake.

The song is an insipid rendering of a song chosen to pluck at the heartstrings. This shallow
manipulation, which serves more to boost the careers of those involved than assisting in the
reconstruction in the wake of the Haiti earthquake should be resisted. Give your money straight
to one of the many charities (also buy the superior REM version if happen to like the song) just
don't further reward Cowell for his crimes against music.

Goat Curry

The next best thing to travel is eating food from around the world. Whether it is Indian, Chinese, Thai or something more exotic. Food is essential to our everyday life but also nothing can transport your senses to another place quite like food.

But why stick with the everyday? The chances are you only get to eat the things that you usually cook or the dishes that the restaurants near you serve. You are missing out on literally a whole world of flavours.

With Indian and Chinese food the chances are that you can either eat out or get great food sent to you pretty easily. With Carribean cuisinne this simply isn't the case outside of a few small areas. This is a real shame, because tht right there is some good good eating - and you need that in your life!

Jamaican and West-Indian cookery embraces a wide range of dishes, but the most quintisential has to be goat curry. This hot and spicy dish will blow your mind if you have never tried it before. Served with rice, it has a complexion completely different to the Asian curries you are probably familiar with.

As well as the cooking style many people will not be accustomed to eating goat meat. Though goat is not a usual choice for most it is in fact much healthier than other meats, having much lower levels of fat. With a taste similar to a lighter, leaner version of lamb - so what's not to like?

So if you, like me, want to enjoy the gastronomic treat that is curry goat, after finding the meat, the next step is finding a good recipe. The Internet is full of recipes, so the question is which to use. Luckily for you I have spent the past month trawling through the web looking for and trying out as many curry goat recipes as possible.

At the end of my research am happy to bring you, without a shadow of a doubt, the best curry goat recipe on the Web. I also have enough goat curry freezerto last me a very long time. Well, its a good thing that I love the stuff. I am sure that if you try it out you will love it too.

The city of Thiruvananthapuram

What's in a name? Well in the case of Thiruvananthapuram a whole lot of letters. Mention Thiruvananthapuram to most people and what they first think is that you have started to make up a word and didn't know when to stop. They may think that it is an exotic foodstuff, one of the 22 Inuit words for snow or perhaps an onomatopoeic sound made by a deflating balloon. All of these guesses however would be wrong, and the guessers might not ever know what they are missing out on.

The city of Thiruvananthapuram is in fact, one of India's most ancient cities, going back over 3000 years. Thats a lot of history, and that means that there is a lot to see for visitors, I found that one week was nowhere near enough. In fact I think a person might never get tired of the many charms of the The City Of Holy Serpent.



A place with ancient roots, modern Thiruvananthapuram very much has it's eyes on the future. In 1966 the nearby Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre launched India's very first space rocket, and is still a key site in India's up and coming space program. This is definitely a city that is going places. Really, don't take my word for it see for yourself, with so many bargains to be had for luxury hotel accommodation and flights to Thiruvanthapuram landing at the convenient and modern Thiruvananthapuram airport there is no reason not to go. The best time to is September through to May.

Haiti earthquake - still not fixed

I have been truly, truly shocked by how ignorant some people can be. After the recent earthquake in Haiti not only have so many people not known were Haiti is or how much of a mess it was in before the quake, but also they have not even begun to think how they could help. The people there had next to nothing before, and now the scale of what has happened is beginning to hit home.

In the most terrible situations though, there is hope. Those on the ground there, the aid agencies and the survivors have an epic task ahead of them. We should think of them, but also we should remember that although charity begins at home, we can also find real ways to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake.