So what is timesnewroman? It's not the font, rather my take on the age we live in. The USA is the new Rome and the times we live in are timesnewroman.
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Shrine of the blind winger Jones
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timesnewroman is listening to: Tiken Jah Fakoly, Arctic Monkeys, Biffy Clyro, Kings of Leon, Bloc Party, Led Zeppelin, Jimi, Franz Ferdinand, Youssou N'Dour, The Strokes, REM, The Kings of Leon, Curtis Mayfield, Jefferson Airplane, The Trashcan Sinatras, Jeff Buckley, Phil Ochs, Stan Kenton, The Smiths, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Mogwai, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, The Zombies and Orange Juice amongst many others.
Sunday, November 30, 2003
These people are seriously taking the piss big style. The Big Conversation is Bliar's newly launched New Labour big idea to dupe (sorry the cynic in me took over for a bit) the populace into the notion that Tone actually gives a shit and wants to hear your opinion. You can call them, email them or wait for it even txt them with your views at at your usual text rate plus 25p. Maybe they really just want to rake in some much needed money, cos there is no way that the lying Tory entryist is going to listen to anybody.posted by timesnewroman at 4:59 PM
Spent the entire afternoon tinkering with the motor. Chuffed to bits that I managed to get the heater, tape deck and washer nozzles working to an extent.
The heater is a bit erratic, I fixed it previously and it stopped heating after a bit, so there are no guarantees. The tape deck crackles occasionally. The washer nozzle on the driver's side is fine but a bit feeble on the other side. But what the hell.
posted by timesnewroman at 4:10 PM
2- 0, Young Stuart sees his first victory for Kilmarnock. Despite the atrocious weather, chill wind and driving rain, we had much joy, if little entertainment.
posted by timesnewroman at 1:25 PM
Saturday, November 29, 2003
We were invited to jimstewart's for dinner last night, amazingly after a 12 hour shift he manages to get home and pull off a gourmet 3 courser for 4 in an hour which was pretty damned impressive. Stuffed mushrooms for a starter, followed by crepes with vegetables for me and chicken and ham for the others, followed by a huge gateau. The man has no conception of the term portion control. If he ran a restaurant he'd be bust in a week. Consequently spent the rest of the night stuffed.posted by timesnewroman at 1:21 PM
Thursday, November 27, 2003
Painless, sort of. Just been along to the BBC to read out the 5th November entries in the Blog for the Scottish Blogday Programme. It was fascinating, being in the BBC studios and Margaret, the producer made it really simple and down to earth, even if there were a few takes and some artistic licence. thewife asked if I saw anyone famous and I did I saw Tony Roper of Only an Excuse. thewife asked if I had remembered to kick him when passing and I said no, I like only an excuse, he's funny. She said that he wanted a fortune in fees from her little community drama group to stage one of his plays. Oh well, I'll remember next time. The programme goes out next Friday, 5th December at 11.30am and 10.30pm.The apprentice entertained us with an enthralling circular sort of Deja Vu event when he recalled a time as a builder, working on the roof of a building overlooking a primary school that he spotted this lad looking up at him from the classroom, which took him back to a specific moment in his life when at school he was looking out of the window at a workman on the roof of a nearby building and the teacher shouted at him to pay attention or when he left school he would have a job like that, working on roofs.
posted by timesnewroman at 6:55 PM
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Twas thewife's birthday today and I had a flexi which meant we could go to IKEA which was pretty much what she wanted for her birthday. Really bizarre coincidence happened on the way there though. Her friend moved to near Dundee just over a year ago, and is seen only occasionally, they speak on the phone and text and that's about it. We were heading to Braehead on the A737 and were static for a while because of roadworks. thewife's phone goes and its bestfriend, who is on her way to Ayrshire to visit in the course of work and she asks thewife where we are and can we meet up and thewife tells her where we are and she says keep an eye out for me as I am coming the other way and would you believe it she passes us a couple of minutes later heading the other way and I'm thinking weird or what.After thewife spent all her birthday money, we went home and bestfriend came round for tea before heading back for Dundee. thewife went thespianising and I had to go and work with kids which I struggled to drag meself to do but did anyway and it was worth it really. I think thewife had a good birthday.
posted by timesnewroman at 11:04 PM
Monday, November 24, 2003
Jimty beware! I have just had a thorough clean out of my computer with a new virus check, courtesy of some nice people at Panda I've had a couple of strange looking emails over the past couple of days which look very much like they are worm infected. They were from people I know but totally out of context. So I'm checking my machine with the software above and discover that the bold jimty is to blame for a whole batch of infected stuff! Ahhrggh! (Re-edited following the comment from you know who - can't have the folks at the bbc reading bad grammar)posted by timesnewroman at 9:47 PM
Saturday, November 22, 2003
After checking to see who has been around of recent. I came across a search of Google France which threw up this site in response to Calvin Klein Eternity. Hmmh. Anyway this is what it looks like translated into French which I thought was amusing, particularly my favourite band of all time "avion de Jefferson", Ale Fan's link was a cracker too.posted by timesnewroman at 12:52 PM
Eejits
thewife and I were sick of there being bugger all on tv to watch, despite shelling out a massive sum for around 100 channels, some of which could not be remotely considered entertainment, except of course as some sort of perverse comedy like god tv or shopping channels. So its Friday night and we decide to rent a couple of DVDs. We really shouldn't visit the shop together. thewife really wanted X-men 2 and like I didn't at all. So we ended up with a compromise of sorts. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Welcome to Collingwood. Yep George Clooney in both. After a few minutes of Confessions, thewife pipes up with "we've seen this!" and I'm saying no, don't recall this at all and then she starts telling me the plot and I think mm maybe I have its coming back to me now, didn't we get this a couple of months ago duh! So it was Welcome to Collingwood, by which time I had more than my fair share of South African Pinotage and of course fell asleep before the end. Bollocks I hate that.
One of the myriad channels we get that I do love is BBC4, good for films, music and documentaries. So just as I was waking up again, we watched a Neil Young concert from 1971. Fabulous it was too, until thewife asks was that really over 30 years ago, we must be getting old!
posted by timesnewroman at 12:43 PM
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Back to earth with a bang.I've gone off orange!
posted by timesnewroman at 9:54 PM
So they have invaded here as well. Find out where monkey boy and his posse of dimwits are hiding themselves. I particularly like the alternative state procession. To take part you will require a dark suit, white shirt, black tie, dark glasses and an earpiece for one ear. If you don't have the latter a button on a piece of string will do.
posted by timesnewroman at 6:43 AM
Monday, November 17, 2003
Ninea Gramsci is in business already. 1 Day and 2 Guestbook entrys and already the bait has been taken. Stephen Madu, the Auditor General of a bank in Africa, during the course of auditing discovered a floating fund in an account opened in the bank in1990 and since 1993 nobody has operated on this account again, after going through some old files in the records, discovered that the owner of the account died without a [heir] hence the money is floating and if this money is not remitted out urgently
it will be forfeited for nothing. The owner of this account is Mr. Phillip Morris, a foreigner, and a sailor, he died, since 1993. Stephen Madu's address is stmadu3@yahoo.ca. Watch this space.
posted by timesnewroman at 6:48 AM
Sunday, November 16, 2003
The power of advertisingRight, that's it, I am getting sorely pissed off by that little advert up above. I promised myself that I have to do this for a year before any upgrade so I'll have to live with it. The thing is, it obviously runs through your blog to decide on whatever it's going to advertise and unfortunately it seems to have chosen, because of recent football commentary, a certain weegie football team from Govan.
posted by timesnewroman at 3:20 PM
Scam Surfin'
Following my post on 30th July, regarding the Nigerian "419" scam. I read an article in the Observer about how some people are turning tables on the scammers. By far the funniest was here. Of course you get sucked in when surfing, so had a look at the bait advice and found this. Which is also extremely funny. Seems the whole world is out to catch guymen and mugu. Not to be left out of things Ninea Gramsci is born. Thats nineagramsci@lycos.com. Why not drop her a line.
posted by timesnewroman at 1:23 PM
Saturday, November 15, 2003
The future's bright, the future's possibly not orange.Always a team to suffer defeat in total ignominy against minnows and raise their stature in a valiant, but nevertheless vain effort against the best, Scotland's football team have for once done themselves proud. A massive victory, if not in goals, in guts against Holland, a team ranked 5th in world standings.
Not only has the victory provided more than a glimmer of hope of reaching the European Championships in Portugal next year. It has also shown that there are a number of extremely promising young talents out there in the form of McFadden, Fletcher, Pearson, Miller etc. Things are looking very promising for the future of the Scottish national side.
posted by timesnewroman at 5:35 PM
Friday, November 14, 2003
Just when you think, well what was the point in having a comments bit if nobody ever comments and it suddenly gets busy again. Or was it a case of I'm really worried that nobody actually reads my blog? I dunno, but I did discover that its quite important that you are careful about what you say in your blog as this poor chap learned to his cost. Has Gates and co. no sense of humour or decency, or is the U.S.A. full of corporate scum and corporate scum lawyers. They should be put up against a wall............... and have the wall knocked down with a bulldozer. That would sort them.posted by timesnewroman at 6:31 PM
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
After some years between 15 and 20 I think, we changed our Woodie night from Friday to Tuesday. We were competing with too much modern nonsense like discos and the like and weren't coming out best. Sou Tuesday it was, with a bit of publicity and letters round the former attenders, schools and a bit of word of mouth and we were innundated with a good mix of kids. I'm looking forward to this again. A night of silly games to get to know peoples names before we really begin with the lets change the world for the better stuff. Oh and Pantos and camps and messy craftwork as well.posted by timesnewroman at 6:20 AM
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
The most bizzare of referrals. The sitemeter on this page tracks visitors to an extent. Yeah, I'm spying on you, I know roughly where you come from e.g. ntl.com, when you visited and how long you stayed. Its fascinating at times, what with visitors from India, USA, Netherlands, Sweden and more. Some people arrive via a search engine which is a hoot. Somebody was looking for "mature porn pigs for free" at 2.56am yesterday, as you do, and ended up here, as a result of an MSN search, top result in fact, bet they were really impressed probably should have used google.posted by timesnewroman at 5:58 PM
Monday, November 10, 2003
The monkey man cometh, soon. The cerebrally challenged Dubya is soon to visit our shores and perhaps share another prayer with Tone Bliar. Hilarious article here where Dubya claims god chose him as president. Mmmm tha would make god a cheat too.It's scary though, where these people are taking us.posted by timesnewroman at 7:37 PM
Sunday, November 09, 2003
Bollocks, bollocks, bollocks. We deserved at least a draw, possibly even a win. But it wasn't to be. You can read the BBC's version of events here, but suffice to say they are a mite blinkered, that they "deserved a win" bit could only have been someone of the hun persuasion and as for Lovenkrands being "bundled off the ball" well I am sorry but that was a poor impression of Petrov. The only world class players in evidence in their team are Klos (M�nchen bound?) and Arteta, with Arveladze possibly chapping at the door. Emerson looked pretty useless, just doesn't cut it without Lake and Palmer methinks.Overall a much better performance from Killie but with some work still to be done in the midfield. Young Stewart got some excitement though seeing a couple of Killie goals for a change.
Finally what is it about their fans and their peculiar allegiance to that banjo plucking gaggle of parasitic European inbreeds that is the British Royal Family? Its bizarre. No less bizarre than the current speculation over prince Charles. The Italian press have published the following extract, kindly but poorly translated by Google, from La Repubblica:
LONDON - Whichever thing is, prince Carl says that it has not made it. It will remain more in annals of Buckingham Palace like the refutation bizzarra than all the times: "I want to assert frankly", ago to know the heir to the throne through its secretary, "than circulated chiacchiere recently regard me, but they are completely false".
What says in concrete that to chiacchiere, Carl not if it feels to tell it it; and up to now the average local has not been able to speak of liberations because of the strict British law on the defamation. But it is a history that circulates the same one for a long time, on Internet, in the references of the English newspapers to that the foreign press writes, and in monito the more times express openly from all the average here that the vicissitude, if came to the light, could "make to fall the monarchy".
Well, hour is coming to the light, is pure in oblique way: it is said in fact (presumed) sinner, not the sin, but enough the same one in order to understand nearly () all. We reassume, in three actions. First action: in 1995, George Smith, valletto of prince Diana, reveals to them of to have been stuprato two times from a dependent of court and of then to have seen the sodomita one to bed with a member of the real house.
Diana records the testimony on one video cassette, then guarded from its butler Paul Burrell, therefore seized passing or from the police. A scene, second the indiscretions made subsequently to trapelare from the butler, would have gone therefore: Smith opens the door of a room and discovers one of the Windsor under the sheet, between the arms of its violentatore.
So future King allegedly shags personal Valet. Who cares?
posted by timesnewroman at 8:14 PM
Friday, November 07, 2003
thewife and I were sort of surfing through the tv channels and couldn't quite believe the title so we watched this and boy was it a hoot. Totally unmissable. 5 gay blokes try to provide this guy called "Butch" (honest I am not making that up) with style. We are addicted already.I'm off for a long weekend and getting ready to head off for the Isle of Mull, for a couple of days. Yahoo.
posted by timesnewroman at 10:46 AM
Wednesday, November 05, 2003
The BBC Radio Scotland Blog Day reaches its conclusion and finally its quietened down a bit outside and we can let Charlie out. I used to like fireworks as a child, I still do to an extent, but only when they are part of an organised display. Maybe I am becoming an old killjoy, but frankly I find them increasingly annoying and dangerous. Given the rise in injuries caused by fireworks, ohmygawd I'm supporting David Blunkett for once, I would ban their use in public places entirely, and severely limit the sale and use of them.posted by timesnewroman at 10:50 PM
Briefed we were, but not about our place in the big picture. It looks like they are still drawing the big picture and we will be phase 2 of it. Its not exactly comforting and we are no clearer about our future roles now than we were before the briefing.
Yet another group of workers facing re-organisation are the firefighters. It seems that at every stage of their recent industrial dispute that they bent over backwards to be accomodating and yet were simply abused by the government. Now even the reduced pay deal that they fought for and accepted is to be reneged upon by the paymasters. Sue them, I say, for loss of earnings.
posted by timesnewroman at 6:10 PM
Its that day already. We are going to be briefed today at work, on the staffing review. Initially most people thought it was about regrading and the need to get qualified people working in local Area Teams. There's a dearth of ordinary social workers in Scotland and it does have an effect. This most undervalued of societies' workforce (and I am not one) who get vilified every time something goes wrong, but rarely praised for what goes right, are pretty much under siege. Some of the work they should be doing, in terms of getting in there early and making a difference to young people and to families is not happening. Its not happening because they are so short staffed they can only deal with critical child protection stuff day in day out. Which brings me back to the need to get people back to the basic social work. Most of Scotland's local authorities are desperately trying to recruit social workers and most are increasing staff salaries, grades and in some cases conditions to entice people to come to them and work and to stay. Hence our staff review. Prophets among us are suggesting that it'll be further reaching than just gradings and salaries. There is the suggestion that there will be major changes in the structure, to move people into the local teams. That strikes me as being more of a stick than a carrot. You build up teams and relationships that work well together and every 5 years or so, someone somewhere seems to decide that there is a better way, so you demoralise people, move them around and generally mess up something that, if it didn't work in the first place was at least beginning to take shape. Watch this space.
posted by timesnewroman at 6:40 AM
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
Omne or should I say Wight Cable has been down since first thing (6:00am) this morning. I was mighty unimpressed and have written an extremely stroppy letter of complaint which is currently winging its way to them. thewife phoned them and they gave her some cock-a-mamey story of how their technicians were working on it. I phoned again on returning from work a 6.00pm, still not on, major problem somewhere in Carlisle or Lancaster with the fibre optic cable and their engineers were still working on it and would be working through the night if necessary. They didn't offer, I had to ask, about a Dial Up alternative which suggests just how keen they are to retain customers. The Radio Scotland Blog day thing is tomorrow, where a few Scottish Bloggers and me will be Blogging a Day in the life of...and I did promise to go easy on the language ... and I still can't get broadband access. This time I really think we will be saying bye bye.posted by timesnewroman at 10:32 PM
Monday, November 03, 2003
Strange day indeed, there is a "Staffing Review" happening at work, much of it to do with regradings and possible salary increases for some staff, however the feeling is it is likely to be accompanied by some restructuring implications. Whether it will affect our goodselves directly is as yet unknown to us, but it almost certainly will have some impact on morale if nothing else. There's little point speculating, there will be briefings over the course of the next week or so, when things will hopefully become clearer.Father Bell kindly emailed the following moral observation on the Anglican Church
"The actions taken by the New Hampshire Episcopalians in ordaining a gay bishop are an affront to Christians everywhere. I am just thankful that the church's founder, Henry VIII and his wife Catherine of Aragon, his wife Anne Boleyn, his wife Jane Seymour, his wife Anne of Cleves, his wife Katherine Howard, and his wife Catherine Parr are no longer here to suffer this assault on traditional Christian marriage."
posted by timesnewroman at 5:29 PM
Sunday "Spring " clean at the Woodcraft Hall. Its been long overdue. The building is looking sorely dilapidated both outside and in nowadays. We used to regularly get a gang of folk round to wash and buff the floors, give it a good clear out and feed them at the same time for their trouble. But we have sort of let it drift for a while, people are just too busy I guess to run a group night during the week as well as give up precious weekends as well. Ideally we could do with a lotteries grant for a � 100,000 or so for a prefab new building, which I am damn sure we would keep clean and tidy. For a wee while anyway.
Fascinating article in the Guardian about it's digital picture editor, Simon Waldman's blog. He recently uncovered an 1938 Homes and Gardens edition featuring Hitler at home in "Haus Wachenfeld." A sort of Hello of the 30s it refers to the evil one in fawning terms throughout. Seemingly the house painter favoured a cool fade green throughout the chalet, tranquil or what? His decision to let IPC magazines, the publishers of the magazine, know that he had put scans of the magazine on his web site, led them to invoke their copyright ownership and request that he remove it. Which he obligingly did. Following a bit of a stushy, it became apparent that the magazine did not own the pictures at all, but that they were publicity shots (propaganda) taken by the Reich Fuhrer's personal photographer. Whether Goebbels wrote the text remains to be established. What does beggar belief is that the article appeared in a British publication, in 1938 following Hitler's seizure of power, Kristallnacht, persecution of Jews. Were the publishers worried about copyright at all or the adverse publicity of the public knowing just how far the British establishment had a soft spot for the Fuhrer and his achievements?
posted by timesnewroman at 6:53 AM
Saturday, November 01, 2003
Home from football. 0 - 5. The result more than flattered them, against recent performances I thought we played okay. Totally lacking imagination in front of goal, but the new guy Greir at the back looked very good.If any Celtic fan ever mentions conspiracy to me again I will laugh at them. 2 outageous penalties given in their favour and 2 penalty claims denied Killie. Stilian Petrov is a diving cheat and I hate him. Refer to 14/09/03 post regarding Hugh Dallas. Applies even more so. Scotland's finest, can you begin to imagine what our worst are like?
Young Stewart's second Killie game and he certainly can't complain about not seeing goals, that's 8 so far, unfortunately none of them have been ours.
posted by timesnewroman at 3:26 PM
Off to the fitba. Filled with trepidation, we are likely to be on the end of a gubbing and thewife, bless her is ironing a tee-shirt for me cos I'm late, only its a bright green one and I'm looking at her like she is from planet woman. She laughs, brings out the fawn one she did earlier and yells gotcha. We are going to get a gubbing, but you have to go anyway.
I had a big post about Big Licks gig, which I'll redo later cos I lost it.
posted by timesnewroman at 11:36 AM
