Captain Ska

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQFwxw57NBI

Fantastic stuff. 

Winter...

.

has arrived in the UK from Siberia, or Norway, or the arctic. Worried newscasters and trembling weather people declare hourly that we're all doomed unless temperatures begin to rise. Snow covers Scotland, Newcastle and the eastern counties. Many hands thrown up in despair snapped off so vicious is the cold. A variation of boules involving snapped hands became the main sport in some areas for a short while. Unimaginatively called, 'Hands' it was the snatching dogs that stopped the whole thing going global.

To G. x

Bloodsuckers...

cause panic in New York, or so says Friday's Guardian Newspaper. Rather than another acid tale of Wall Street high life this creepy story focuses instead on New York low life, to wit, bed bugs. So confident have our little friends become, it is reported, they're parading openly and some might say brazenly in department stores and upmarket residences. To curtail ensuing panic the mayor has demanded their extinction.  A mayoral spokesperson said, "We demand their extinction." Speaking on condition of anonymity a spokesbug declared, "The hysteria may be entirely justified given our nature but hey man what all this stuff about extinction? Jeeze, even Hedge Funds get a better press."

Later, whilst mopping brow the spokesbug was overheard telling a friend.

"Damn, wish I'd not linked us to Hedge Funds."

Yesterday's...

copy of The Independent  reported on a study done at the University of Kentucky demonstrating  that pigeons are inveterate gamblers. The four birds involved: Eddy 'The Pigeon' Pigeon; Johnny 'Are You Looking at Me?' Pigeon;  Leon 'Stumpy Pigeon' Pigeon (so named because he has no feet) and his cousin Dermot 'These are not my wings' McGuire Pigeon are well known amongst the Columbidae as fleecers of the unsuspecting. Gerald 'I've a Migraine' Pigeon, spokesbird for the Kentucky Chapter of "Nod and Poo, Nod and Poo" told a local reporter, "Recently we've been trying hard to clean up our act, staying off window ledges, eating stodgy food, that sort of thing so it's disappointing when studies such as this appear. It sets us back. I'm afraid those four wily birds have done us no favours whatsoever. Sorry, but you'll have to excuse me, I'm desperate for the bathroom... yes right now... fortunately there's a car... it's your car... bollocks..."

You learn something new everyday.

I've returned from...

two weeks in Tokyo and Beijing.  Both cities I thought astonishing. Tokyo is awash with sky scrapers whereas Beijing is simply huge, a great city bounded by westerly mountains and endless plains to the east and south. I was in awe of the two capitals  and though each were welcoming, the Chinese being the most open and friendly, I felt dwarfed by Tokyo heights and the grand open spaces that characterised central Beijing. Coming from a small Island crammed with 60 million people there's little sense of big space in the British psyche. Maybe it's experienced in sparsely populated Scotland, upper northern England or the flat-lands of Norfolk but as a citizen of comfortable old Manchester I found big space a tad intimidating. Nicely intimidating because Tokyo and Beijing, so different in culture, history, layout and architecture are cities first and foremost and being a city boy I fitted in very well. Tokyo was the more modern with a centre so clean one could eat dinner off it whereas Beijing was more fun, more frayed and less exact. Tokyo felt like a bright new ipod packed to the gunnals with sharp technology whilst Beijing was the clever old uncle slightly scuffed but smart as a whip. I fell in love with both towns, dear reader, I really did. Sigh.

Spring

is sprung. Ha ha. Snowy weather delayed the affair but this past four weeks spring has definitely sprung.

An ode to spring...

Oh spring,
fucking fantastic
say no more.

We're not used...

to cold weather in the UK. Being an Island kept balmy by the warm gulf stream it's not very often arctic temperatures descend on these shores. However it has been so cold even the Great British Penguin has sloped off to sunnier climes. The GBP, not a native of these parts usually swims north for the shopping but lo, the weather closed most shops, as can be seen in my photo.

Whilst I appreciate this bit of snow doesn't seem much to hardier types who live on cold continental land masses it does mean a great deal to me. Wey hey!