http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/We're here because we're here with bells on...(ad infinitum)en-EUMokoFeed10http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/http://data5.blog.de/design/preview/13/6c83b23d79ad090a60f0ec43b68cd0_160x200.jpghttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/20/something-i-thought-i-d-never-say-7423310/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-11-20:/2009/11/20/something-i-thought-i-d-never-say-7423310/Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:45:50 +0100 <p>But that was <em>lovely</em> tofu !</p> <p>Friday is chippy night, and we are spoiled round these parts in that the fish and chip shops are joined at the hip with Chinese takeaways. </p> <p>Firstborn starts getting dreamy about his Friday night steak pie dinner shortly after Thursday lunchtime, while every week Sinister peruses the three-page menu for an hour before settling on curry and chips.</p> <p>Beloved has developed a taste for duck in plum sauce, and trying to claw back some righteous points as a lapsed veggie, I opted for the sweet and sour tofu. Much to my surprise it was delish ...</p> <p>Most chippies are a sobbing disappointment. How hard can it be to fry a potato until it tastes of a fried potato and not a parboiled pre-loved insole ? Apparently very, very hard indeed ...</p> <p>But our new chippy is brilliant They can cook, it's cheap, it's just at the top of our road and they <em>deliver</em>! So although we practically share a bin and can see the sweat on the chef's brow from our unsteamed kitchen window, we can get into our PJ's, pick up the phone and dinner comes to us ... bliss ! <img src="/img/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p>And doing good tofu is <em>way</em> beyond the call of duty. I didn't even know it could be done. So respect to you my sweaty little chippy chef... I salute you !</p> <p><img src="/img/smilies/icon_wave.gif" alt=":wave:" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/20/something-i-thought-i-d-never-say-7423310/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>chippyhttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/20/something-i-thought-i-d-never-say-7423310/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/18/are-scientists-baffled-7403649/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-11-18:/2009/11/18/are-scientists-baffled-7403649/Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:31:12 +0100 <p>Documentaries would have us believe that scientists live in a world of baffledom ...</p> <p><em>'When scientists discovered <em>blah</em> they were baffled'</p> <p>'Scientists were baffled when <em>blah</em> came to light'</p> <p>'At first, scientists were baffled by <em>blah</em>'<br> </em></p> <p>Oi, you scientists ! </p> <p>Just get a grip willya ?</p> <p>If <em>you're </em>baffled how do you think the rest of us feel ? </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/18/are-scientists-baffled-7403649/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>scientist-baffledhttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/18/are-scientists-baffled-7403649/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/18/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-width-7403487/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-11-18:/2009/11/18/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-width-7403487/Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:13:29 +0100 <p>For the first time in nearly thirty years I got my charcoals out to draw naked humans ...</p> <p>I always loved life-drawing (life-painting was even better) ... the human body is like a Simplicity sewing pattern, cut from the same cloth and to the same shapes yet with varying quality of materials, widths and workmanship .</p> <p>The fluidity of the familiar muscle, fat and bone should be as easy as teaching a child how to draw a cartoon cat starting with a horizontal figure-of-eight ...</p> <p>But it aint because drawing people is harder than I remembered.</p> <p>Sod debates on perspective, analysis, watercolours and oils, unless you've got a model who is a witchy-like familiar you won't be able to see the wood for the trees.</p> <p>I turned up today for a two hour class (in between the mobile maliciously buzzing several times to alert me that the world had gone pear-shaped because I'd dared set foot outside the door). There were two fantastic models posing on cushions in front of the two-bar heater. But they weren't <em>Judith</em> .</p> <p>Judith was our major and favoured model at art college. She was short, fat and creamy-white with varicose veins and dyed black/purple hair that cascaded down her particularly shaped back in it's particular way. We painted her sitting up, lying down, dressed, undressed and sideways, but I don't think we ever spoke to her except to grunt '<em>thanks</em>' </p> <p>I looked and measured, filled in and rubbed out, and wondered nearly all the time about where Judith is now ...</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/18/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-width-7403487/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>life-drawing-classeshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/18/never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-width-7403487/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/16/beach-birds-7384444/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-11-16:/2009/11/16/beach-birds-7384444/Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:15:59 +0100 <p><a href="http://" title="pumpkinhead09 001"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/848/4113848_1f4d310539_m.jpeg" alt="pumpkinhead09 001"></a><a href="http://" title="pumpkinhead09 003"><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/849/4113849_3714050413_m.jpeg" alt="pumpkinhead09 003"></a></p> <p>Mornings like this on the beach are bliss... <img src="/img/smilies/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p>The white blob in the centre of the second pic is a little egret, one of a pair who are getting quite huffy with the amassed knots and other greedy little waders. I had the excitable hound with me so couldn't get any closer with the digi.</p> <p>I also took a wobbly video of the knots having one of their frissions for a few seconds, but can't get it to download... <em>grrr !</em> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/16/beach-birds-7384444/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>little-egrethttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/16/beach-birds-7384444/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/16/sleepyheads-7383853/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-11-16:/2009/11/16/sleepyheads-7383853/Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:29:05 +0100 <p>Getting two foul-tempered teens up and out on Monday morning brings all the joys of a particularly aggressive rugby scrum, with much <em>'hup-hupping'</em>, gnashing of teeth, hurled footwear and unveiled threats of physical violence.</p> <p>Despite my best efforts at retrieving discarded uniforms from behind dusty radiators and atop light fittings, laundering and folding throughout the laughably termed 'day of rest', the kids still manage to stagger out of the house looking like Catweazle after a bad night in a haystack.</p> <p>I invariably offer up words of wisdom <em>'Well, if you got more sleep at night'</em>...</p> <p>Firstborn yells back <em>'I don't need sleep at night, I need sleep in the f***ing <strong>morning</strong> !'<br> </em></p> <p><em>*SLAM*</em></p> <p><img src="/img/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif" alt=":roll:" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/16/sleepyheads-7383853/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>teen-sleephttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/16/sleepyheads-7383853/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/14/grace-in-small-things-7370108/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-11-14:/2009/11/14/grace-in-small-things-7370108/Sat, 14 Nov 2009 02:19:50 +0100 <p>I didn't want to go, what with the tiredness and the gumboil and the general arse-feck of it all ...</p> <p>Tonight I sang with the choir in a crimson art gallery for St John's Hospice ...</p> <p>The songs were sad with uplifting moments :</p> <p>Lean on Me<br> Your Song<br> Rhythm of Life<br> Fields of Gold<br> How Can I Keep From Singing ?<br> Tears in Heaven<br> I Dreamed a Dream<br> Lament<br> Only You</p> <p>and ...</p> <p>Goodnight Sweetheart</p> <p>Now you might find that set maudlin, but there was lots of happy banter inbetween and we sang our hearts out to people who were there for a reason, and one that we often unfortunately share.</p> <p>It was wonderful</p> <p>Disregarding the fact that the Victorian-themed-with-bonnets-on buffet didn't extend to doggy-bags for the starving singers</p> <p>(Thanks to Gilraen)</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/14/grace-in-small-things-7370108/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>hospicehttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/14/grace-in-small-things-7370108/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/14/friday-five-7369916/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-11-14:/2009/11/14/friday-five-7369916/Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:04:41 +0100 <p><strong>1. Have you ever taken part in a demonstration?</strong></p> <p>A couple of 'right-on' rallies and <em>lots</em> of hunt-sabbing in my yoof. In the privacy of my own head I'm waving placards non-stop, a bit like an even worthier <em>Daily Mail</em> reader with a bigger cob on.</p> <p><strong>2. Is there an issue you’d protest against?<br> </strong><br> Yes. Are we sitting comfortably ? Then let us begin ...</p> <p><strong>3. Through-out history there has been an event that has lead to every day at one point or another being called “Bloody.” What’s the worst day of the week for you?<br> </strong><br> Has there really, historically ? I haven't got a worst day of the week but I'll gun for .... oh I don't know ... Thursday. Chances are 1:7 that Thursdays are the tipping point</p> <p><strong>4. There have actually been eleven Bloody Sunday events around the world, the last one (1972) leading to a song by U2. Which world wide event would you like to see a song written for?</strong></p> <p>Boxing-day tsunami 2004. And <em>'Oi Bono ! yer still a twat!'</em> ...</p> <p><strong>5. The one person I’d like to see in prison is …………………… for the crime of … ?<br> </strong><br> For crimes against humanity ? War criminals, obvs ....</p> <p><strong>Not</strong> Gary McKinnon (for gawd's sake get a <em>grip</em> USA and British Big Al Johnson... back <strong>OFF</strong></p> <p>And ... oh deary dreary me ! I seem to be on the side of the <em>Mail</em> in this instance ...</p> <p>Never mind, like all readers and voters...</p> <p>I am a movable feast</p> <p><img src="/img/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif" alt=":>>" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/14/friday-five-7369916/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>gary-mckinnonhttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/14/friday-five-7369916/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/07/tag-fight-7323619/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-11-07:/2009/11/07/tag-fight-7323619/Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:39:16 +0100 <p>You-can-always-go-back-and-re-tag-your-posts-under-a-million-words-and-without-hyphens ...</p> <p>Das Tag enthält zu viele Wörter. Ein Tag darf nur aus maximal 5 Wörtern bestehen. Bitte trenne Deine Tags mit Kommas und nicht mit Leerzeichen.</p> <p>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p> <p>Thank you for your understanding. We hope you enjoy the new improved tag system.</p> <p><img src="/img/smilies/grayyes.gif" alt=":yes:" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/07/tag-fight-7323619/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>taghttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/07/tag-fight-7323619/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/07/friday-five-7323480/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-11-07:/2009/11/07/friday-five-7323480/Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:23:24 +0100 <p>1. Do you have a favourite part of autumn?</p> <p><em>The Indian summer, after the leaves have turned but before things get horrid.<br> </em><br> 2. "It's too cold to snow!" Do you think it ever is?</p> <p><em>Nope. It's fucking freezing when it snows, hadn't you noticed ?</em></p> <p>3. Do you feel there is still a place for British Summer Time or should we just stop changing the clocks?</p> <p><em>What clocks, and who's this <em>we</em> ?</em></p> <p>4. Are there certain meals you only eat in certain seasons (salad in summer, stew in winter)?</p> <p>I<em>'m all for spicy lumpy root-vegetable casseroles. In fairness to the kids though, they won't eat those in winter <em>or</em> salads in summer because Vitamin C and roughage is like <em>stoopid</em></em></p> <p>5. Autumn is...?</p> <p><em>Mellow fruitlessness</em></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/07/friday-five-7323480/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>friday-fivehttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/07/friday-five-7323480/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/07/ears-wide-shut-7323383/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-11-07:/2009/11/07/ears-wide-shut-7323383/Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:40:26 +0100 <p>My eye is nearly all better (remarkably fast healing in eyes, something to do with blood supply) thanks for your good wishes ...</p> <p>Tonight our choir sang for deaf children in the Congo ...</p> <p><em>Sheesh</em> ... </p> <p>Talk about a tough crowd ... <img src="/img/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif" alt=":>>" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p>We were at a Northern Working Men's Social Club who's quagmirey carpets would have made Bernard Manning's eyes water (I've got a soft spot for old Bernard, who was totally unfairly voted 16th in 100 worst Britons <em>after</em> he was dead, but that's an argument that will have to wait)...</p> <p>Anyway, we sang the songs the whole world sings when it's a bit pissed, and brought in a small audience who bought the raffle tickets...</p> <p>The money raised will help enable medics in the Congo to fit hearing-aids and fund cochlear-implant operations for some of the most economically-<em>ergo</em>-health-disadvantaged children this world knows ...</p> <p>And the Co-Op is still running it's <em>National Deaf Children's Society</em> gig for rest of this year by the way.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/07/ears-wide-shut-7323383/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>ndcs-co-ophttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/07/ears-wide-shut-7323383/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/05/eyes-wide-shut-7311531/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-11-05:/2009/11/05/eyes-wide-shut-7311531/Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:04:10 +0100 <p>I woke yesterday morning with a searing pain in my right eye. It doesn't make survival sense that the other eye refused to open in sympathy, but it wouldn't, so Beloved had to run me up to the hozzy where they spotted a black & white foreign body and managed to flush it away. I spent the rest of the day zonked out on painkillers, babystepping around and bumping into things (like the black & white dog and black & white cat .... hmmmmmm). <img src="/img/smilies/icon_wth.gif" alt="|-|" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p>I have a scratched retina and an eyepatch so can't drive for a couple of days and am relieved of the responsibility of dealing with mum's meds after all ...</p> <p>Be <em>very</em> careful what you wish for !</p> <p><img src="/img/smilies/graydead.gif" alt="XX(" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/05/eyes-wide-shut-7311531/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>eyepatchhttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/05/eyes-wide-shut-7311531/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/04/the-misfit-7302869/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-11-04:/2009/11/04/the-misfit-7302869/Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:16:53 +0100 <p>Abbyfield residents are sooo genteeeeeel they crap rooobies ...</p> <p>Stick it...</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/04/the-misfit-7302869/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>abbyfieldhttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/04/the-misfit-7302869/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/04/say-it-7302801/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-11-04:/2009/11/04/say-it-7302801/Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:50:22 +0100 <p>Foxhunters, warmongers, Anti-Europeans and anti-abortionists are all cunts ...</p> <p>Apart from that I'm completely impartial ...</p> <p><img src="/img/smilies/icon_censored.gif" alt=">:XX" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p>Wankers anyway innit ? </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/04/say-it-7302801/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/04/say-it-7302801/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/04/shit-day-who-you-gonna-call-7302528/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-11-03:/2009/11/04/shit-day-who-you-gonna-call-7302528/Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:17:21 +0100 <p>I found myself today talking fiveways ...<br> <strong><br> One</strong> to the internet glory that is e-mail ( No we won't fill in the form that allows to access to £20 quids direct payments a week at a cost of £12 a month, but thanks anyway HSBC )...</p> <p><strong>Two </strong>to the mobile (Sinister's sick and sobbing <em>again)...<br> </em><br> <strong>Three</strong> to the landline (Where Is Firstborn ?) He's walking 7 miles home in the pissing rain is where he is, but we don't know that because Sinister's got his mobile and is now tucked up in bed ... the taxi and bus-drivers pull out all the stops and start a search for a vulnerable young adult and call me back every 10 minutes ...</p> <p><strong>Four</strong> to the district nurses and social workers who can't <em>possibly</em> be expected to administer my confuseddotcoms mum's medications 4 times a day ... I have to do it . I conclude that they are overreacting in a Hyacinth Bouquet twirly pit of Abbeyfield Hell way, and things have a habit of sorting themselves out ...</p> <p>And <strong>Five</strong> ...</p> <p>To the trusty wall who absorbed all my pain and yet asked so little ...</p> <p>When I had a phone at the end of each arm and was looking at the inbox in the middle , I perchanced upon the dodgy artex ...</p> <p>Who you gonna call ? (it whispered hopefully )</p> <p>The Plasterers ? ...</p> <p><img src="/img/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif" alt=":>>" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/04/shit-day-who-you-gonna-call-7302528/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>shit-daywho-you-gonna-call-http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/04/shit-day-who-you-gonna-call-7302528/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/02/lush-the-independent-7292571/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-11-02:/2009/11/02/lush-the-independent-7292571/Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:13:12 +0100 <p>I missed this story at the time, but it might still be of interest to people following the progress of the hunting ban.</p> <p>I know where I'll be doing some of my Christmas shopping ...</p> <p><em>Vandals target anti-hunting Lush</p> <p>Branches of ethical cosmetics chain attacked after campaign launched in support of saboteurs</p> <p>By Tom Peck</p> <p>Monday, 19 October 2009</p> <p>In the past week, the cosmetics chain Lush has seen its branches vandalised and its staff threatened, immediately after it launched an anti-fox hunting campaign. In Chelmsford, Essex, a man returned to the same store on three occasions to knock over a display of Fabulous Mrs Fox bubble bars, the proceeds from which Lush donates to the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA). Staff called police.</p> <p>Store manager Sue McKenna said: "He first came in on Tuesday, knocked over all the bubble bars and leaflets, and said he was going to come back every day until the campaign stops. Then he ran out. When he came back the third time, an off-duty police officer was in the shop, who told him to leave. It was then that we rang 999." Essex police were unavailable to comment on the incident last night.</p> <p>In Manchester, members of the HSA had been invited to the Lush store to help with the campaign and hand out leaflets. But a few days before the event, a man entered the shop and told a member of staff that "there will be trouble" if it went ahead. Staff contacted police, and were relieved when the event on Saturday passed without incident.</p> <p>In Maidstone, Kent, a kebab was smeared over the shop front and the words 'Fuck You' scratched into the glass, while in Taunton, Somerset, an anonymous caller told staff to "watch their backs". Promotional campaign blackboards were also covered with "Keep Hunting" stickers, photos of which appeared on the online forum of the magazine Horse & Hound.</p> <p>The Countryside Alliance, which has been highly critical of Lush's decision to support the HSA, has urged hunt supporters not to target the stores. In a statement, the charity, which campaigns to overturn the ban on fox hunting, said: "It is important to realise that while the rural community is deeply upset at Lush's misguided decision to support the Hunt Saboteurs Association, any sort of direct, abusive or tactical protest, illegal or legal, is not appropriate and such action will most definitely not be supported by the Countryside Alliance."</p> <p>The Alliance had previously criticised Lush for supporting the HSA, saying it "advocates direct action and illegal methods to disrupt hunting activities". Head of media Tim Bonner said: "While we support the view that everyone has their right to an opinion, there are groups who legally oppose hunting, and the HSA is not one of them."</p> <p>Hunt saboteurs have been regularly criticised for the methods they employ in disrupting hunts. Many hunt followers tell tales of having been pulled from their horses by "sabs".</p> <p>Lee Moon, of the HSA, said: "The only reason the HSA continues to exist is because hunts up and down the country routinely break the law while killing foxes. We are the only ones who see what is really going on in the countryside, and it's we who are responding to it by getting between the hunters and the hunted, much the same as we have been doing for almost half a century. The hunts are still killing, the police aren't policing and so we are still sabbing."</p> <p>The company, founded by Mark Constantine, donated more than £500,000 to charities and campaign groups last year. In December 2008 it paid the legal fees of the 56 protesters from Plane Stupid who broke into Stansted airport and delayed thousands of passengers.</em> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/02/lush-the-independent-7292571/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>lushhunting-banhttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/11/02/lush-the-independent-7292571/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/31/pumpkinhead-cheshire-cat-7281850/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-10-31:/2009/10/31/pumpkinhead-cheshire-cat-7281850/Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:25:30 +0100 <p><img src="http://data6.blog.de/media/003/4061003_18c68c7451_m.jpeg" alt="pumpkinhead09"></p> <p><em>"But I don't want to go among mad people," said Alice. "Oh, you can't help that," said the cat. "We're all mad here."<br> </em><br> <img src="/img/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif" alt=":>>" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/31/pumpkinhead-cheshire-cat-7281850/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>pumpkin-cathttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/31/pumpkinhead-cheshire-cat-7281850/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/30/any-one-who-had-a-heart-7272308/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-10-30:/2009/10/30/any-one-who-had-a-heart-7272308/Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:35:09 +0100 <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/30/any-one-who-had-a-heart-7272308/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>cillahttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/30/any-one-who-had-a-heart-7272308/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/30/gok-luv-7272090/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-10-30:/2009/10/30/gok-luv-7272090/Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:13:14 +0100 <p>You meant well ...</p> <p>Everyone's <em>got</em> it/ you ...</p> <p>Along with their more pressing roman-candlesque economic and political problems ...</p> <p>If only we had been a size 10 within spitting distance of a Primark, we might not have had to wander around looking like such sacks-of-shite when we were nobbut needy lasses ...</p> <p>Where <em>where</em> you ...</p> <p>But there you go ...</p> <p>PS : I love you</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/30/gok-luv-7272090/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>gokhttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/30/gok-luv-7272090/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/30/i-spy-on-my-little-manchester-eye-7271980/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-10-30:/2009/10/30/i-spy-on-my-little-manchester-eye-7271980/Fri, 30 Oct 2009 03:06:41 +0100 <p>Something beginning with M ...</p> <p>I try to stay in touch with friends, even if it is only every 12 years or so ...</p> <p>So yesterday I drove white-knuckled to Sale with Sinister and her mate listening to Fearne at mega-volume in the back (Boo-Yah !) ... to meet a mate who I haven't seen for 11 years. I don't know why, because it's only up the road and I used to do the trip easily (see a jazz band at The Malt Shovel in Altringham and drive home, pissed, every weekend no problem)...</p> <p>So we went on the Manchester Eye, which is a bit like the London Eye except the carriages are smaller and they sway around a lot, and you get a view of Manchester instead of London ...</p> <p>Then the grown-ups peeled off and had lunch at The Urbis, and a quick tour of the current hip-hop exhibition therein, before having a look around the medieval centre (some of it relocated because of the dreadful IRA bombing) and diving into the Cathedral ... </p> <p>Tell you what though ...</p> <p>I think Liverpool is the more graceful city (and considerably less mucky, which is saying something !).</p> <p>And as always with very good friends, the years between just melted away.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/30/i-spy-on-my-little-manchester-eye-7271980/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>liverpool-manchester-eye-friendshiphttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/30/i-spy-on-my-little-manchester-eye-7271980/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/30/deafstar-kit-and-caboodle-7271866/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-10-30:/2009/10/30/deafstar-kit-and-caboodle-7271866/Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:58:19 +0100 <p>Sometimes when you stop picking at it, it gets a bit better...</p> <p>Firstborn has been provided with two pieces of kit (and considering they sent the list to the Blind Society, I'm frankly surprised they didn't turn up with a white stick)...</p> <p>One is a door-beacon... you knock on the door and a light flashes. And flashes and flashes and flashes. In fact it strobes like the opening sequence in Joe-90 every time someone does a jobby let alone flushes the loo two doors away, so is probably best left to a research team studying epilepsy... <img src="/img/smilies/graybigeek.gif" alt="88|" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p>The vibrating alarm clock is guaranteed to trip off that lump of rock in Gran Canaria and start a tsunami. We just 'pop' it under his mattress and watch it sail out of the window on day-one. Well, rather it than me, and I think this might well work if we gaffer-tape it to Firstborn's head ...<img src="/img/smilies/grayyes.gif" alt=":yes:" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p>And the fire-service rang again. I don't know why they changed their minds because they seemed so adamant that nothing would come of our applications for life-saving kit for Firstborn and we have a bad history of time-wasting assessments, but they assure me that this time they will wire us up so that when the smoke-alarm goes off (which is quite a lot in our house) they will scramble forthwith. Imagine ! Firemen at the door every time you burn a slice of toast... I'm living the dream. <img src="/img/smilies/icon_twisted.gif" alt=":>" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p>And a prospective PA/buddy is coming round on Saturday for an interview.</p> <p>If luck is after all like buses, then three don't just come at once ...</p> <p>We've hit the depot ! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/30/deafstar-kit-and-caboodle-7271866/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>deaf-kithttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/30/deafstar-kit-and-caboodle-7271866/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/27/pumpkin-head-7250939/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-10-27:/2009/10/27/pumpkin-head-7250939/Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:25:36 +0100 <p>Apparently you can preserve pumpkins for a few extra days by soaking them for 8 hours in a bleach solution before you carve them (obviously not before you eat them )...</p> <p>I'd love to see some pumpkin or turnip-heads on BCUK over the next week, both before and after Halloween (well, not <em>months</em> after obviously)...</p> <p>I tried to prepare a turnip once by microwaving it, thinking that only the insides would soften ...</p> <p>One electrical fire, totally knackered microwave and burning turnip later I realised that it was mostly <em>other</em> people who had the heads-up on the whole <em>living&learning thing<br> </em> </p> <p>And once we could only find a one solitary deformed melon, so had to make do with 'the scary deformed melon-man' ...</p> <p>The point is to scare the scariest things you can think of away without recourse to a Kalashnikov ...</p> <p>Anyway, talk and turnips are cheap(ish) so get on with it ...</p> <p>Chop-chop !</p> <p><img src="/img/smilies/icon_evil.gif" alt=">:-[" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/27/pumpkin-head-7250939/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>pumpkin-lanternshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/27/pumpkin-head-7250939/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/27/the-computer-cavalry-7250754/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-10-27:/2009/10/27/the-computer-cavalry-7250754/Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:40:24 +0100 <p>Dear oh dear oh dear ...</p> <p>Beloved got his totally drilled company computer back from the vets a couple of days ago and chose to try and use it tonight while I was busy in another room watching telly (Monday's a busy night)... </p> <p>So after coming in several times wide-eyed and panto-waving <em>it's not working</em> and getting shhhushed and short-shrifted, he calls in the cavalry, who arrive post-haste and point out that plugging it in helps ...</p> <p>Juzz is a star like that ...</p> <p>After <em>Crank</em> (good film, really enjoyed it) I find them huddled around said inert computer all dewy-eyed and shouty ...</p> <p>And where's the brandy gone ?</p> <p><em>'Dunno'</em> they chorus (as if they could hope to fool a woman who has lost her teapot <em>and</em> Christmas cake that very same morning to the same dark forces)...</p> <p>All I can say is ...</p> <p>Have a good day at work guys !</p> <p>*Mwahahahahaaa!'</p> <p><img src="/img/smilies/icon_evil.gif" alt=">:-[" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/27/the-computer-cavalry-7250754/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>crankhttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/27/the-computer-cavalry-7250754/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/26/when-i-grow-up-i-wanna-be-a-7245812/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-10-26:/2009/10/26/when-i-grow-up-i-wanna-be-a-7245812/Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:10:00 +0100 <p>My knee-jerk response to the initiative of giving primary school children careers advice was negative, but it's an idea I'm fast warming to ...</p> <p>On the downside there is the danger of children being vocationally sidelined at an early age and that teaching could become close-ended, because there's nothing the education system likes better than a neat ending with a full-stop at the end of it ...</p> <p>But there is a glorious possibility that children's natural strengths and enthusiasms could be stirred up in a frenzy of aspiration to live a happy and productive life doing something they enjoy and are good at.</p> <p>This is after all the point and purpose of education, to nurture the whole child <em>and</em> help them to become fully-functioning autonomous human-beings.</p> <p>It would be a balancing act, but we're already teaching Wordsworth, quadratic equations and the Napoleonic wars to kids who have fixed ideas about their futures as astronauts or burger-flippers.</p> <p>The playground in school as in life, exists for the precious time in between the slog of trying to make that life turn out for the best...</p> <p>We should tread carefully and hope for full employment, 'lest we step on their dreams.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/26/when-i-grow-up-i-wanna-be-a-7245812/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>careers-advicehttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/26/when-i-grow-up-i-wanna-be-a-7245812/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/25/deleted-deafstar-post-7242008/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-10-25:/2009/10/25/deleted-deafstar-post-7242008/Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:57:01 +0100 <p>I put up a post a few days back describing an incident with Firstborn, but deleted it without replying to any of your kind comments, for which I'd like to thank you now ...</p> <p>I made a decision to use open Deafstar titled posts to chart our feelings and progress through the whole sorry caboodle since he lost his hearing, but his headspace and meltdowns of that magnitude should remain his own business no matter how deeply they affect us, and I felt that I'd overexposed him and overstepped a mark ...</p> <p>So, thank you for listening anyway ...</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/25/deleted-deafstar-post-7242008/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>deafhttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/25/deleted-deafstar-post-7242008/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/24/cheeze-pleeze-loueeeze-7232751/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-10-23:/2009/10/24/cheeze-pleeze-loueeeze-7232751/Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:33:09 +0200 <p>It curdles on the tongue and sticks to the roof of your mouth if you're lucky ...</p> <p>It tastes of fermented nappies ...</p> <p>It's the anarchist and anti-christ of the food world ....</p> <p>Cheeeeeeze !</p> <p>The more you wince, the better it is !</p> <p>See that stinky Stilton ?</p> <p>That's me that is ...</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/24/cheeze-pleeze-loueeeze-7232751/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>cheesehttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/24/cheeze-pleeze-loueeeze-7232751/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/23/democracy-lite-7229192/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-10-23:/2009/10/23/democracy-lite-7229192/Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:37:45 +0200 <p>The Beeb did the right thing in inviting Nick Griffin to join the Question Time panel last night ...</p> <p>Sadly, the program was then devoted to the only topic the one-trick-pony was qualified to discourse on and defend (no matter how odiously) - the BN-bloody-P..</p> <p>If the questions had been broader and the discussions deeper, then Griffin would have been exposed as the political charlatan he is.</p> <p>The arena was patently a middle-class bear-trap and the weapons of choice were wagging fingers, pained expressions and a general sense of grievance that wrong-minded voters had set this particular bear among the cooing pigeons ...</p> <p>All Griffin had to do was sit there while the program effectively did the job of alienating economically insecure jingoists from the main party-lines for him. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/23/democracy-lite-7229192/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>bnblloodypgriffinquestion-timehttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/23/democracy-lite-7229192/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/17/naughtynaughtystep-7185565/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-10-17:/2009/10/17/naughtynaughtystep-7185565/Sat, 17 Oct 2009 06:51:08 +0200 <p>Just sit there for half an hour and say nothing</p> <p>You know that you've made everyone else thoroughly miserable don't you...?</p> <p>Well done !</p> <p>*shhh*</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/17/naughtynaughtystep-7185565/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>shutup-http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/17/naughtynaughtystep-7185565/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/17/deafstar-draw-a-line-7185461/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-10-17:/2009/10/17/deafstar-draw-a-line-7185461/Sat, 17 Oct 2009 05:58:43 +0200 <p>Only two more tests to go ...</p> <p>MS has been pretty much ruled out, so it's one test on his eyes to confirm the possibility of CMV (scarring on the retinas)and a bloodtest to rule out underlying metabolic disorders ...</p> <p>As the Doctor said as I sat boohooing - we do need to draw a line under this.</p> <p>The problem with the eye-test is that this virus attacks neurons in the ear <em>and</em> eyes, and all we can hope for is that is that it's already done it's worst ...</p> <p>As Firstborn said when we left the hospital 'I want a word with god when I die'...</p> <p>And I thought ... 'God.. hopefully He and I'll be well dead by then son, if I can't sort it here I'll bloody well sort it there'</p> <p>And I thought about him losing his sight too ...</p> <p>But what I <em>said </em>was 'move on' </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/17/deafstar-draw-a-line-7185461/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>deafstar-testshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/17/deafstar-draw-a-line-7185461/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/17/on-my-oaf-7185254/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-10-17:/2009/10/17/on-my-oaf-7185254/Sat, 17 Oct 2009 04:13:38 +0200 <p>*shhhh, don't tell anyone*</p> <p>I know where the 'delete' key is and how to block, edit or report someone who gets on my tits ...</p> <p>OMG! Whaddya mean ...</p> <p>It's not a secret ?</p> <p><img src="/img/smilies/icon_cool.gif" alt="B)" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/17/on-my-oaf-7185254/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>on-my-oafhttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/17/on-my-oaf-7185254/#commentshttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/17/horror-the-best-and-last-you-saw-7185079/tag:rubychoo.blog.co.uk,2009-10-17:/2009/10/17/horror-the-best-and-last-you-saw-7185079/Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:23:17 +0200 <p>Fortunately, mine happily fall into both categories as ace ...</p> <p>The last was <em>'The Orphanage'</em></p> <p>The best was the original <em>'Haunting of Hill House'</em> ...</p> <p>Those breathing walls and the ghost hand will haunt me ...</p> <p>Forever ...</p> <p><em>'And we who walk here walk alone'</em></p> <p>*hides under the bed and squeaks like a mouse*</p> <p><img src="/img/smilies/icon_lalala.gif" alt=":lalala:" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/17/horror-the-best-and-last-you-saw-7185079/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>the-haunting-of-hill-househttp://rubychoo.blog.co.uk/2009/10/17/horror-the-best-and-last-you-saw-7185079/#comments