Harold Budd kept me sane

It's been a gloomy week this week. Apart from the rain and wind, my PC decided to call it a day (I had backed everything up the day before, thanks for asking).

So in need of a bit of cheering up where do I turn? Lady GaGa? Pet Shop Boys? Lily Allen? Well, all of these actually, but the music that really did the trick was Harold Budd and his neo-classical doodlings. Along with his mates Brian Eno and Andy Partridge, it's been just the right sort of music to wash over me, allowing me to get an important report written and forget about the most depressing month of the year. I commend Mr Budd and his works to you.

National Geographic

I'm a big fan of National Geographic Magazine for the quality of their articles and the brilliance of their photographs. This month's issue is well up to standard and I was very struck by one picture by Monica Szczupider of chimpanzees mourning the death of one of their number.

Cameroon—At the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center, more than a dozen residents form a gallery of grief, looking on as Dorothy—a beloved female felled in her late 40s by heart failure—is borne to her burial.

Original Jake and Dinos Chapman art

I've been having a bit of a trawl through my database (it's nice to have a tidy up occasionally). I came across the following artwork which was given away, I think, by the Guardian website. It's by Jake and Dinos Chapman and I thought that you out there in the Blogosphere might be interested.

Birds on a wire

I saw this photograph in National Geographic magazine and it made me smile.

London tourist tube map

With all the fuss about TfL removing the Thames from the tube map, lodonist.com have come up with a new simplified map for tourists.

Nice fretwork, sir!

Cross dressing, a thumping bass and glasses of milk (towards the end). What's not to like?

Wonderful projections

It's a great shame that someone decided to switch the light on in the west wing about half way through.

Shoe Fetish?

It's not only the ladies that like a nice shoe. I've just bought some of these fabulous black leather George Cox shoes from the British Boot Company in Camden. The chap behind the counter told me that George Cox shoes are more popular in Japan than DMs.

These beauties will form the basis of my outfit for an upcoming 50s night that's being run in the local Village Hall. All I need now are the appropriate trousers, shirt and jacket. That shouldn't be too difficult, should it?

Queen are alive!

The new Muse album is released today and jolly good it is too. The thing that strikes me on first hearing is:

1. There are large chunks of it that could have been written by messrs Mercury and May
2. There are large chunks of it where there's so much going on, I'd swear I can hear the sound of a kitchen sink being played

Each of these points on their own would be A GOOD THING, but together they make A VERY GOOD THING.

Not sure about Twitter? This is worth a look.

Graham Linehan (Father Ted and The IT Crowd writer) is something of a star in the Twittersphere (he kicked off the #welovethenhs campaign in response to the US criticism). One of his pet gripes is the media knocking Twitter and how it's used, when they don't really understand it. He's just posted this on his blog. It's worth a look.

Jeremy Beadle lives! And he's French

Are reunion's ever a good thing?

The news that Mott the Hoople are reforming for a series of gigs leaves me cold, and I was a big fan. The same applies to the Specials reunion. I remember both these bands when they were new, fresh, glamorous and exciting. These new gigs are effectively going to be upmarket tribute shows. When will they ever learn?

The Sartorial Rule

When wearing a jacket, remember:

Top button sometimes.
Middle button always.
Bottom button never.

Whilst I've known this for some time, my thanks go to Bill Nighy who encapsulated the rule in a recent issue of the Word magazine.

Isn't technology wonderful?

I'm very new to this blogging mularky, but it gives me a huge kick to send an update to my brand-spanking new blog from my mobile. I'll be in touch.