Well what did yer get?

Well I never got the flavour shaker BUT I was lucky I never went on a full on Jamie Oliver rant because my Mum in Law did get the Italian book and some of his food ingredients for me. yum yum, will start to have a read and make some of them over the weekend.

Got an amazing set of saucepans from my Mum as well, as I said I do love cooking, the pans are really nice and called Stellar Lamina Tri-Ply Copper, here is a picture:



I will now hopefully be able to increase the collection.

What else? well I got lots of other things but my other main present was a Line6 toneport UX1, I can plug my guitar into it and connect it to the mac to make all sorts of noise :-) I still really need to sit down and play with it because I have only managed to have a very quick go on it due to people coming and going at our house. Will take a photo of my "rig" tomorrow.

Have Fun,

It's been a while, MERRY XMAS

Merry Xmas to everyone and a big ALL THE BEST to all those that know us in real life and those regular bloggers that also look here.

Been really busy as you can guess but I have been a bit slack getting the blog updated. Well my new year resolution will be to make sure I keep this updated at least every couple of days. Easier then giving up the beer !!!

So who has asked for Jamie Oliver Flavour Shaker? I have not but I do love my cooking so I have to be careful because I am going to hate myself for blogging about it and then getting one ! BUT I'm going to stick my neck out and think that most people will think the same as me and say "What the hell is that about?"

From the description:
Features

* It crushes, grinds, blends, mixes and more!
* The Flavour Shaker is a fun, quirky and highly original food preparation item
* Invented and endorsed by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver
* More versatile alternative to the Pestle and Mortar
* Creates lovely flavours in seconds
* Lightweight and easy to use
* Dishwasher safe (top rack only)
* Made from high grade thick core polycarbonate for strength
* Comfortable non-slip grip for safety
* Includes a ceramic ball for crushing ingredients

I use a pestle and mortar and it was quite an expensive one ( I hope, thanks Mum in -law !) because it's not a wooden one but a kind of stone one. It's great and I have to give it some force to get everything into a powder. Now I can not see that a little ceramic ball in a plastic container can "crush and grind" the way my pestle does but I would be interested to hear from anyone that gets one.

Personally there is no way I would spend £20 on it but I guess lots of people have because it is sales rank number 2 on Amazon.co.uk I will wait for the reviews to be added to the site so I can see.

Quick Question: How do I see what the top sales are on Amazon.co.uk, could not see a link

Quick Tip: Lightly fry your spices before crushing.

This is Max playing with his new play mat that his Uncle Matt got him yesterday. I'm not sure what he is trying to tell me but look at his fingers in the mirror !!!!


Have a good one and I will blog tomorrow. Happy Xmas all.

James, Faye and Max
x

2 weeks old today

Max is now 2 weeks old and we are coping quite well. Seems like he has been around longer then that and he is getting bigger and bigger.

Personally Im still struggling with the fact that my sleep is in stages. It's strange because I probably have only had about 6 - 7 hours sleep a night for quite a while but now it is broken with feeds it is harder. I used to go to bed about midnight and then be up around 6am, now I'm trying to sleep earlier. say 10pm and then use those 2 hours for feeding, changing etc.

I'm still off work so it's not too bad but I have to try and get this sleeping thing sorted by Monday. Work are really good, I get 2 weeks off paternity but I also do compressed time so I get a day off because of that and I need to take 2 days holiday and I will of had almost 3 weeks off in the end :-0

We managed to get out and go to Brent Cross (shopping centre) yesterday. We were very chuffed with ourselves and even managed to to do a nappy change in the little changing rooms that they have.

Apart from that we have not really managed to get out. I did manage a trip down Selhurst to see the Palace (Fayes mum was round so I never left her) Its a lot harder then we thought it was going to be and even a small trip down the local shop is a task and a half BUT it is getting a lot easier for us now.

This is a photo of Max in his probably the best baby in the world t-shirt. One of my fav bits of clothes on him and a present from Fayes work colleagues.

PS Thanks for the gmail account Jane and also Laura, gutted I can not have Palace Fan but oh well. Looks really good but I still need to play around with it.

Gmail invite

Can anyone help me get a gmail account?

Just been reading up on this new feature and it looks quite good and I would like to have a play.

Thank you.

What is 'Web Clips'?
Web Clips shows you news headlines, Gmail tips, blogs, any RSS and Atom feed, relevant sponsored links, and more -- right at the top of your inbox and messages. Receive updates from your favorite sites without having to leave Gmail!

Here's how to customize which Web Clips are shown in your account:

1. Log in to your Gmail account.
2. Click Settings at the top of any Gmail page, and open the Web Clips tab.
3. Browse popular clips by selecting a topic link along the left. Search for feeds by entering topics that interest you -- use this feature like you would Google Search. Or, enter specific feed URLs.
4. Click Add next to the clips you'd like to see in your Gmail account.

Each clip displays the source from which it was received, how long ago the clip was published, and a link to access the entire story or page containing the clip.

From your inbox, you can scroll through clips you’ve already seen by clicking < or see new clips by clicking >.

Note: Clips of your favorite RSS and Atom feeds are displayed randomly, and aren't targeted to the contents of your mail.

When you got to go, you have to go

Happy birthday Max, 1 week old :-0

The joys of parenthood. Today while changing Max from his moist and dirty nappy he decided it was time to go again. Now when he first started a couple of days ago actually having a poo we were very excited and kept saying good boy, we are not too sure now if we should of been encourging him all the time.

Anyway, So I'm there all happy thinking good stuff all done, baby clean and dry, I turned to get a fresh nappy and throw the old one, I come back and he turned himself into a water feature and sprayed everywhere. OK another clean but then he farted and not just any fart but a full on poo fart all over the mat, his clothes, himself and me :-(. He then did it again straight after !!! Faye heard me scream and came running in but just laughed at me.

Here is a picture of Max in his Palace gear taken this morning for his grandad and uncle.

Tired

Well what can I say other then I have the greatest son in the world and a wife that is brilliant and so so good with Max BUT we dont seem to have sleep anymore.

I might get Faye to write about the labour as she saw it and I also will at the same time and we could see how close they are to each other ! So I wont go into it all BUT he was born at the Royal Free in Hampstead and had a view of the Crystal Palace tower. I never knew that until we went in the birthing room because we had not been able to see that birthing room (had the pool) during any of visits to the hospital. As I looked out I thought "this is just meant to be" :-)

He was helped out by the ventouse method in the end so his head has quite pointed but he already, to us, has got his shape back and the only signs of the delivery are a couple of small bruises.

This is a replica of the bags under my eyes:


Today is going to be our first day truely on our own so really looking forward to it. It has been great having all the family round especially getting clothes as presents. We only bought a few cream / white things and have yet to venture out so have not got all the blue clothes.

We should be able to email people we were meant to tell about Max and also try to reply back to some, sending some photos out, thanking people for the flowers and presents. Sorting out my printer so I can become one of the people in the office with a photo on the desk.

I always said that I would not be one of them office people with their life posted all over the desk in pictures. I do have a couple of concert tickets lying around but thats just to prove to myself that I have seen some bands this year. Not sure why you would need the whole family in pictures on your computer monitor. I'm going to be going home to them in the evening and if need be I can actually look at my blog. So I might just keep a picture in my desk.

Thanks again for all the comments and nice to see some friends posting a comment. I dont get too many comments and hardly any from people I have actually seen and drank with.

And the name change of the blog I guess will be happening soon. Didnt really think about that did I !!

Anyway enough about me here is Max at 24 hours: I will take some in daylight later !!!! He tends to be more awake at night though.


This us playing on the Mac using front row and glow as the setting:

Welcome to the world Chosen One

:-0

What a marathon, thanks for the comments and emails. It was really hard on Faye and I will hopefully blog more details laters. We went to the hospital after the last update but got sent home and went back again yesterday at about 1pm. A few problems happened but nothing too major. I stayed last night in the hospital because a) they are nice midwifes and B) it would be dangerous for me to of drove home.

I'm going back soon to bring them home.

Anyway the bits you want to know.
Sex: We are going to wait quite a while before doing that again !!! Oh, its a boy. Get in there. Just what I wanted.
Name: Max James Simmonds aka The Chosen One
Weight: 7lb 8 (Think that is about 3.2kg)
Date and Time: Wednesday 30th November at 23.48
Picture: This is Max at 8am this morning. He has not really cried at all and just seems to stare out at this new and amazing world.

Come on Chosen One - update 2

Well we are still at home, contractions are really strong now and every 5 minutes lasting a minute. The midwifes have told us to stay at home in comfort for as long as possible but Faye is getting really tired now so we might have to head off soon.

Hope that when we get there Faye is in an advanced stage and they dont send us home. I dont think Faye will like that !!!

Now gone over but it is looking good.

Best stop blogging and start helping :-0

Come on Chosen One - update

Still here and everything is starting to slow down :-(

Dont think it will be tonight now.

Must be my fault for blogging about it happening :-0

Come on chosen one

Well today is the day. Thanks for the comments from yesterday everyone.

It looks as though chosen one is going to come on the day s/he is due. Faye has been having contractions since about 11pm last night. I was rubbing her back talking to her about them until I heard her snoring so I guessed it was OK for me to try to sleep for a bit. She did keep waking up though but the contractions were not strong so no need to panic. I left for work as normal but have "worked" from home this afternoon because the contractions have been about every 10 minutes and lasting 30 seconds. It did start to go quicker i.e. it got down to every 7 minutes but has gone back to every 10 minutes BUT they are a lot stronger now. Still not going for a minute yet.

Faye is coping really well and is using the TENS machine. We are going to stay here for a while as it is more comfortable.

We are kind of hoping that it builds up around 8pm so that we have a chance of a parking space after visiting hours :-0.

Keep your fingers crossed for us all,

James

The world through my eyes

I am one of the many males in the world that has a colour (color for our friends over the pond) deficiency. Deficiency sounds better then my normal term of Colour Blindness. I'm not blind to colour, it just kind of merges into one when I see red, green or browns together.

What I hate though is when I say I am colour blind the first thing I get asked is "What colour is this?" and they point out allsorts of things normally the sky and grass !! What people forget is that I was born like this so have been told that the colour up there is blue and the stuff that a cow eats is green.

I hope that chosen one is not colour blind, I found out by chance when I drew a picture of my favorite food. A hot steaming bowl of tomato soup aged about 7 and threw my toys out of the pram when the teacher said it must be oxtail soup because it was brown and not red like a tomato. I got a note to take home and a trip to the optician followed the next day. At least they never thought I was stupid or lazy !!

A search of the web has lead me to this website where you can actually see the world how I see it. Click Here

Makes me glad I can see blue and Yellows.

The Ishihara plate one is good though, I can not see anything on ether but the hat one I can make out all the colours of the hats. Strange hey.

Baby News: Due tomorrow but no sign of the chosen one yet. You will all be 2nd to know.

Harry Potter

Well went this afternoon to see the latest instalment in young Harry's adventures.

Harrys first love interest is bit of over the top, he says 2 maybe 3 lines to her ! I have to say I never got into this one and found it the worse film out of them all. It just had so many bits missing and to me just did not get anything across. I cant even really sum it up. My attempt would be Harry wins a game that he should not of been in.

The others had a bit of everything and this well, just didn't. Mrs Palace Fan says that the book is loads better. I really need to put down Carl Hiaasen and read the HP books.

What I did notice though was that Seamus, the young Irish wizzard who always gets a spell really wrong (not in this one though !) Looks like Wayne Rooney.

This a early shot of him


And here is Rooney: Sorry but not having Man U Kits on the blog.



Seperated at birth I think so !

Baby News: Due on Tuesday :-0

Footy News: RIP George Best

Tired

Too tired to blog but here goes; Upgraded the mac to 1.5 gig of Ram now and everything OK with the baby.


Baby News: Faye went to the midwife today and next week they are closed ! so they can not see her and the following week they forgot to book her in ! Baby is due 29th. She has to go to the local doctors next week now but can not get her usual female doctor.

Footy News: Well a shock about Roy Keane. I fully expected him to leave at the end of the season and would of thought he would of got his wish to say goodbye to the clubs fans. Something happened I guess but I am sure that we will never find out due to clauses in the final payout.

Palace take on our big rivals Brighton on Sunday. The game is away but on Sky and hopefully I should be able to watch it. We need revenge for the loss not so long ago.

Photo Booth: Done using the mirror effect.

Time Warp

Went to the birthing centre yesterday and learnt quite a bit to be honest on when to call and some pain relief methods. They really dont want you turning up at the place too early they said that we have to wait for 1 contraction lasting a minute every 3. Think we will be leaving to get there a bit earlier !

We drove there as a bit of a dry run and got there OK but parking is a nightmare. I really hope the baby does come at night so that we have a chance to park in the car park. For those in London we are going to the Royal Free in Hampstead.

Have I hit a time warp? As we were walking back from the hospital after a visit to the birthing centre we went past this place:


2006?

2 weeks today :-0

Photo Booth Pic: Todays is using the X-Ray effect

Photo Booth

This was done using Comic Book

iMac Pics

Here it is:


And side on, amazing to think that everything is built in and no base unit.

iMactastic

What can I say other then the iMac is rather great.

Front Row works like a dream and is great the way I can bring up videos, iTunes, movie trailers. It really is good. The EyeTV box I bought is working really well, I think that is down to the fact that the big tree out the front of our house has lost it's leafs. Come Summer the signal will probably be worse.

It is really quiet compared to the Rev B, seems faster although does need more RAM.

The inputs (USB, Firewire, Headphone etc.) are now in a better place at the bottom of the screen and keep the wires a bit tidier.

It does seem thinner as well.

The iSight built in is great and we have managed to link to Fayes mum and dad and it worked fine. We also bought a webcam for my mum and her husband and connected it up yesterday but when I got home it never connected. It is a firewall problem probably but I'm no XP expert. I have done the decent thing though and sent them a list of websites to help sort it. See how we get on later.

Once I have sorted out the area where the iMac lives I will take a photo of it.

Baby News: Just over 2 weeks to go, tomorrow we are going to the hospital to the birthing centre to check out the pool.

Footy News: What a great game, Only managed to get the 2nd Half because I was coming back from my mums but what a ending. Well done England.

It's back for one day only.. Fact of the day: Females learn to talk earlier, use sentences earlier, and learn to read more quickly than males.

My new one for each day is going to be a photo from photo booth, well, until we all get bored of that one. Once I get on the iMac I will post one up. Faye is watching Parkinson that we recorded last night on to it.

The iMac is here :-)

Quick post from work as might not have time tonight as will be playing.

TNT had me waiting all day but it has turned up.

Will post my views and pictures as soon as possible.

Must dash home now.........

Where is my iMac.. Oh well tea anyone

Well the mac is not here :-( I did receive my new footy manager game so will have a look at that later.

I called TNT and the mac is meant to be in Luton but they can not be certain that it has arrived. It should be out for delivery tomorrow though. Hope so. Update tomorrow from work.

What I want to know is what happened to the cup of go juice in the morning, yep the good old cup of coffee or tea to start the day. Nowadays I get a whiff of Orange, Blackcurrent, mango or some other fruity smell and it's a cup of tea... Thats not a cup of tea it's a stewed bag of twigs and leafs. Where's the hit of caffeine to get yer going?

It used to be generally be the woman in the office wondering past my desk with these strange slightly sickly smelling cups of hot water but now I get a deep "alright mate, I got Apple, ginseng, Ginger and Blackcurrent because I can feel a slight tickle in throat. What you got?" Well I have a strong coffee to get through the first hour followed by another one to get me to lunchtime. I was sat a desk today going through some work and the guy had a desk full of fruity teas. All sorts of various flavours he had. (Owen's desk if anyone from work is reading, Matt you can probably borrow some off him or have a Strawberry and Mango from your better half)

Got to love a good detox ;-)

Mrs Palace Fan is drinking them at the moment but that is because she does not have caffeine.

Her fav flavour is Pear and Apple; Whats your favorite flavour or even strangest mix you have seen?

Come on don't be scared to comment on here....

iMac update

The latest is that TNT are saying that I should have the mac tomorrow. The TNT site though says it is in Holland. Fingers crossed that tomorrow there is an update from my work omputer to say it has arrived.

I should also get my copy of Football Manager 2006 tomorrow. Think this might be taking a bit of time before chosen one comes.

Today is 3 weeks to go before the due date :-0

footy, Bangs, iMacs and Gti

Went to the footy yesterday and watched a great match but saw a crap ref. When Warnock from Sheff Utd says that the ref had a great game you know something is wrong we lost 2-3. Got an international break and then the grudge rematch against Brighton.

Our friends came up yesterday with my godson and his sister. Had a small firework display in the garden, not for long though :-0, after a couple of fireworks went a bit haywire in the garden and nearly set the hedges alight we went over to the park over the road to finish it off. Managed to get a small crowd that lasted all of one firework . They saw us light it and run like the wind only for the most pathetic firework to fizz and then go out. The small crowd went straight off after that.

The iMac is finally starting it's journey to me. It has started to ship from Shanghai (3/11) so hopefully it wont be too long. We have bought our parents web cams so that they can see Chosen One via our built in iSight on the iMac. Need to get it to work between the Mac and PC using iChat and AIM.

We have decided to keep the little 206 and see how we get on with it before rushing out and getting a larger one. One huge reason is best explained with an example; we went down to Swiss Cottage to get a few bits and bobs and parking is tight but hey with a nippy little 206 we managed top get there quick and straight into a tiny gap to park. Now if we had anything bigger it just would not of fitted and we would of been going round and round for ages.

Its grim up north but they love their dogs xx

I saw this today on email :-0

You have to love the judge's comments.
News from Yorskhire
Extract from the Yorkshire Evening Post:

"A drunk who claimed he had been raped by a dog was yesterday jailed for 12 months by a judge. Martin Hoyle, 45, was arrested by police after a passing motorist and his girlfriend found a Staffordshire bull terrier, called Badger, having sex with him at the side of a road in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.

Prosecutor Ben Crosland said the couple had stopped to help because they thought Hoyle was being attacked by the animal. But when they got closer they saw that he had his trousers round his ankles, was down on all fours and the dog was straddling him from behind.

"The defendant mumbled something about the dog having taken a liking to him," said Mr Crosland. "The couple were extremely offended and sickened by what they saw." Another passing motorist contacted the police and Hoyle was arrested as he walked with the dog down the road.

Hoyle, of East view, Marsh, Huddersfield, told police "I can't help it if the dog took a liking to me. He tried to rape me."

He repeated the rape allegation at the police station and added "The dog pulled my trousers down." Hoyle, who has had a long-standing alcohol problem, was jailed for 12 months after he admitted committing an act which outraged public decency.

His barrister said Hoyle had no memory of the incident because of his drunken state, but was now very remorseful and incredibly embarrassed.

Jailing him, Judge Alistair McCallum told Hoyle "Never before in my time at the bar or on the bench have I ever had to deal with somebody who voluntarily allowed himself to be buggered by a dog on the public highway. Frankly it is beyond most of our comprehension. It is an absolutely disgusting thing for members of the public to have to witness

Story is Here

Thanks for the Palace comments, big hello to another Palace fan called James.

Baby News: Faye has now finished work and looking forward to "resting"

Crystal Palace 2 Liverpool 1

Get in there !!!

Report from BBC site is here

More tomorrow

Hello Mum

I'm not a huge fan of Eastenders but remember it fondly from the past when Ethel with Willy would be talking to MMMmmm damn it I cant think of her name. Got it Lou Beale, that hurt the old memory banks !! Who in turn would be shouting at Arthur to get a life and Pauline to see that Pete was OK on the stall. Where was drugged up Mark and why Michelle always round the pub talking to Sharons old man Den and why he was serving another portion of divorce after closing time.

Arr Happy days hey. Well as I said I have not really been watching but had to watch tonights one in the background. There it was the brothers are back. Yep the Mitchells are back and they looked pissed off. Give it to them Phil and Grant and welcome back to the East End :-), Grant had the speaking part this episode: Hello Mum (Shot was look at Camera "Hello Mum" and a cheeky but menacing grin)

Dont know where his tan and daughter were but I'm sure that we will find out and hey it was dark.

Footy News: Well Palace won again 2-0 but some of the crowd were getting on the players backs even though we were winning and won. Got the mighty European Champs Liverpool tomorrow night, I wont be there though because I have a work thing and it is on Sky so will try and watch it in the pub with a beer. Come on you Eagles.

Baby News: 5 weeks and counting tomorrow, tried the car seat out on Sunday and a 3 door Pug 206 is not the best car !!! Managed to get it in etc. but want to have another go at the weekend to make sure it is OK. We dont really want to buy a bigger car until we move out of London but it all depends on how it goes.

Bloody Brighton

Went to the football last night, Palace played our biggest rivals last night, Brighton.

It's a strange one why we are such big rivals because Millwall are are closest team and Charlton tend to think that they should be our rivals but the only team that a Palace fan would love to beat would be Brighton. It goes back to the late 70's why we are such rivals and I wont go into here because it may not interest everyone. There was a bit of trouble at the game but nothing major. A Palace fan tried to get in the Brighton section and was stopped. I thought it would be great to let him go because I bet he wanted to be stopped. I can just imagine him running at the Brighton fans and the stewards and police just stand back saying "go on son, you must be a man now to try and take on 5,000 fans" I can imagine he would run straight back to where he started from.

I often wonder why so many teams dislike Palace because I always thought we were a good bunch but if you look around the following teams have pretty much no feeling of goodness towards Palace: Brighton, Millwall, Charlton, Gillingham, Wimbledon , Man United (Certain French bloke jumped into our stand and now they hate us) QPR and recently even Norwich fans have been on the Palace site giving it some. Strange because every time I go to an away game there is no trouble and more often then not other clubs say we have one of the best away following and loudest songs.

We lost last night in a very poor way, we were terrible and never looked like scoring (although we did have a goal ruled out for offside), not really a lot to say about that other then it also poured as I got home and the roads were flooding.

Today I have had to drive to Manchester for a meeting. I hate the roads, it took hours and hours of sitting in jams to get there and back. Saw a transit van that had left the road and embedded itself front on into a bridge, I hope the driver is OK and that was why the M6 northbound was closed. I was going southbound. Why is it though that people can not drive in the rain? it is almost as soon as the rain comes brain goes !

I saw some car with a baby on board sign weaving like an idiot through the traffic I just hope that the baby was not on board.

Last moan about cars.. Cars from Poland on the road, Where I live there are hundreds of them going round. I dont mind people from Poland being here and all that, this is not about that BUT it is about a car from Poland that is not taxed in this country, probably not insured, not with a UK MOT and also can go through London without paying the congestion charge or getting fined because they do not have a link to the Polish database (If it is still being driven by the registered owner) They can also beat the speed cameras until they get pulled over by the police. What would I do, good question, I guess maybe enforce somehow that if a car is staying for more then 6 months it has to have a UK MOT and pay a tax for using the roads.

Baby News: Been a little while since the last update. Well Faye is now 34 weeks and we only have about 6 weeks to go :-) The baby is kicking and punching a lot and it must be down to the fact that there is not a lot of room. We are quite ready now for the baby and only have a few things left to sort.

James

PowerBook Woe

In my post a couple of days ago I mentioned that I had got the new iMac because the PowerBook was starting to be get old. Well last night the screen broke ! it is as though it locked itself and when I closed the lid it snapped off ! it is still working though !! I now have no button 6, the CD drive is cracked, headphone input is split and now the screen has come apart. Still works well.

I have been emailed by TNT to call them about collection of the iMac so should be picked up early next week and hopefully will have the new new one in 2-3 weeks, it's still 10 days before shipping and mine will need to be checked before they send me the new one.

Here is a couple of shots of the powerbook with snapped hinges. I can not even move the broken bits.


It's as though it locked or even melted ! I am going to have a search through the Apple site this afternoon, What else. well I will listen to the Palace game on the radio and rebuild the iMac so all my data is removed and pack it up ready to go back.

James

New iMac MMMmmmm YES PLEASE

Have called apple and as luck would have it I can return my iMac for the latest and better one :-) Well chuffed. I have to send the old (I say old, not even two weeks !) one back and then wait for the new one so I think that it will take a while. It's not even in the country for for at least 10 days. I am now waiting for Apple to call me back with a date to collect it but I have the number. I am going to call again tomorrow just to confirm it all. It's 14 days tomorrow. I have also emailed and did it online as well !



I did get offfered a goodwill gesture of £50 but said no as I thought at the end of the day I might as well have the iSight built in and new mouse (approx. £150). They did say that I might have a problem because I had a wireless keyboard and mouse but it seems OK. Can you change the rules of return just because I wanted a better then standard one? Quite a result, because to be honest if I never got the wireless then I would of received iMac earlier and then would not be able to return it.

Thanks Apple and that's now 2 things this week that have been good including the stapler !

Keep your fingers crossed because I wont be happy until the mac goes back.

James

iMac it had to happen

No sooner do I buy the G5. It gets a face lift :-) I knew it would happen but I waited past the Paris Expo and nothing so went for it. I'm not even that bitter. If you read on the Apple sites and you would think that Apple had to tell the world 3 months ago that it was happening. Well people that is not the way it happens with Apple.

As it happens though I might be able to send it back for 60GBP because it was delivered 30th Sept and you get 14 days to return so that would mean Friday. I am going to call tomorrow and find out. Then I will buy/exchange for the new one

Fingers crossed for me !!!

PS iPod looks good and am I gutted about buying one a few months, nope, still does what I wanted it do at the time as does the iMac I bought so if I can not return it I wont be too upset.

What a nice man

Bloggers,

Went to a shop today. Its a local one in the town I work at called Rickmansworth. The shop is called Serves U Right and it's a kind of shop that sells everything. It is incredible. It sells anything from light bulbs and dimmer switches to Candles and matches. The last item I bought last week was a lampshade holder keeper upper thing, its like a rim that screws on to the rose. I mean what sort of shop would have that. As I said it is a real have everything shop and so I went in today to get a bag of little U shaped nails to hold up some fairy lights for the baby room.... I looked and I looked but could not found nowt, although I did find nails to fit all sizes and cable nail things (as you can tell I dont know the names and am not really a handyman kind of guy) I couldn't find the correct size so I asked at the counter and she sends me down to the secret magical part of the shop where the owner Stephen is in the middle of something in the staff only area. "Stephen" I hollow and out he comes to show me round his store trying to find a bag of small U shaped nails. Well he cant find them and has to order them in so it's going to take a couple of days. He asked what it was for and so I tell him and he calls me back to the staff area where his painter mate is (He looked like a painter anyway. Although he could just have bad dress sense and like paint style clothes) and asked him what he used because he has a little baby girl and has done the same thing i.e. used fairy lights in the room. Well it turns out he borrowed Stephens industrial stapler so he turns round says I look honest and gives me a stapler with a bag of staples and tells me to get it done tonight and bring back in tomorrow.

What a top bloke and a rare thing to happen !!!

Last week some guy reversed into my car door and rather then go through all the insurance and it being a smallish dent I let him off and now I feel that because I was nice it is starting to pay back.

Lost

It's not a bad program but I'm kind of getting a bit bored with it. It's just running so slow at the moment. Also I have to say that the adverts are always on. I guess that as four paid so much money for it and it is one of their top shows they can get more adverts for the money. It's also a USA show and prob uses the same advert pattern. Bit like 24, I bought the DVD set of the first series and it had bits cut out because the first UK DVD sets we got had the episodes shown in the USA. When it was shown here in the UK it was on BBC2 and therefore no adverts and could be a bit longer.

Anyway back to lost the main question I have to ask is..... How have they all kept their teeth so clean !

iMac and Windscreen

It's been a while but lets try and get back to this blogging stuff.

Whats gone on, well I have yet another windscreen in the car after a stone flew through the air and gawd knows hey managed to hit my car. Now you have to picture that the lorry was about 100 meters and some up the road and I had pulled out to the overtaking lane or middle cruising lane for the old and BMW drivers, no other cars out there and out of nowhere "CRACK" window needs replacing. The stone somehow has flown 100 meters and with the accuracy of a SAS sniper taken my window out.

Some good news - well the iMac G3 has gone to a good home and my PowerBook was dying so we have replaced it with the top of the range G5 iMac - WOW is all I can say and it has been taking some of my time up playing and setting it up. It's a beauty I tell thee. Have bought the EyeTV adapter to turn it into a TV as well. That part is not going great because I need to sort the aerial out. We dont have an outside link in the bedroom so have to get an internal one and the last one would get a different set of channels each time and I have yet to get ITV channels. It's to do with the MUX signal at Crystal Palace I have been told. I cant believe that Crystal Palace is to blame :-)

Now solved the TV problem getting a new aerial. Its a strange flat one from One for all but it is working a treat.

Music Copyright Question

I am thinking of doing a music "quiz" once a week. Am I right in thinking that as long as the snippet is under 30 seconds am I OK to use it?

Thanks.

Also I still need help looking for a camcorder. JVC GR-D270 is the I am looking at.

Here

Dirty Phone Calls

So I get a phone call from Mrs PF "so what you got on?" Well I thought it was the start of a dirty phone call but nope she meant what have I got to do at work. Oh well.

I have been up north and travelled from Sheffield to Manchester for a meeting this morning. It was quite a bit nicer then my drive up the M1 and across the M25 for my normal drive to work.

I even managed to get a couple of photos as I was driving. Not the safest thing to do but hey I had to show you all.


Will take some on Monday of my normal drive !

Baby news - We are getting there now and the baby is due in less then 10 weeks.

Footy News - Preston at home tomorrow so will be there.

Todays Fact - According to a recent survey, more than half of British adults have had sex in a public place!

On this day - I had sex in a public place :-) and in 2000: Redgrave wins fifth Olympic gold.

British rower Steve Redgrave has entered Olympic history by winning his fifth consecutive gold medal.

Redgrave won his gold alongside Matthew Pinsent, Tim Foster and James Cracknell in the coxless fours on day eight of the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

The crowd of 22,000 dominated by British fans, let out a roar of triumph and relief after a thrilling and nail-biting race that saw the British crew win by less than half a second ahead of their closest rivals Italy at Penrith Lakes.

Joke of the day - What a wally !!! put it out man.

Camcorder advice wanted:

I'm after a camcorder so that I can get some film of Chosen One growing up.

I only really want to spend a max of £300 GB pounds (If the pound sign has not come out) a) running out of money and b) never used one before

Prob could do with DV in and out I guess so that I can edit on the camera.

Think it will go nice with the new iMac :-), I still have my powerbook though so I can start to play and edit asap.

Thanks bloggers,

Where does time go?

This baby stuff really starts to eat into your time, you have so much to do and prepare that most of your time is taken up with that.

We managed to get out yesterday and had a nice lunch in Camden with our friends. Went to a great thai by the Market at the North End of Town. Been a while since we had a stroll round the market and being so close we should really try a bit more BUT dont think we will take the baby round there. Just not enough room to get around.

It does seem to be losing it's charm and all the stalls are becoming a bit commericial , you can still get the "strange" but mostly it seems the "norm". I took the camera but only took 2 shots. 1 of my foot very boring and 1 of people getting off the bus that I used a serpia setting. Did it so I can compare it to Photoshop's conversion.

Off again tonight to Anti natal. We were discussing on the way home from the market about wetting Chosen Ones head, well I was and I was saying it would be great to go out and see some bands with my mates. Mrs PF thinks it is really nice of me to think of mates after she has done all that work. All heart me.

Tomorrow is the Mac Expo in Paris and I hope that a new iMac G5 is coming out so I can buy it :-), if not I will have to wait for Brent Cross to open. Went there Saturday and still no signs that it is even going to be there.

Baby news - Today is my compressed day off so I have put up a black out blind today in the nursery. Tommorow is 30 weeks so have 10 weeks to go, really feels like it is happening now and we can start the 10,9,8,7... countdown :-)

Footy News - Lucky we have bought forwards because we have none left. Still wish that we could call Sandor Torghelle from Greece. Got Coventry tomorrow in the League cup, again I wont be going :-0

Todays Fact - 70% of the land in Britain is owned by 1% population

Shocking but true

On this day - 19th September 1985: Mexico suffers devastating earthquake
A massive earthquake has hit Mexico not far from its capital, Mexico City, causing untold casualties and widespread damage.

Officials say at least 170 people have been killed and thousands injured, but it is feared the death toll may rise into the thousands.

The quake hit the west coast near the resort town of Acapulco early this morning, and was measured by the US Geological Survey at a magnitude of 7.8.

It lasted for 50 seconds, and devastated three states on the Pacific coast.

"A part of a mountain just slid away, falling on the peasants who were just getting up to go to work," said Lieutenant Manuel Sanchez, from the fire department's headquarters in the state of Jalisco.

More info on BBC website Here

Joke of the day Thanks to Mrs PF for this one:

3 tortoises, Mick, Andy and Roy, decide to go on a picnic.
Mick packs the picnic basket with beer and sandwiches.
The trouble is the picnic site is ten miles away so it takes them ten days to get there.
Mick unpacks the food and the beer.
"ok Roy, give me the bottle opener" he says.
"I didn't bring it" says Roy, "I thought you did."
Mick gets worried; he turns to Andy and says, "Did you bring the bottle opener?" Naturally, Andy didn't bring it, so they're stuck 10 miles from home without a bottle opener.
Mick and Andy beg Roy to go back for it. But he refuses as he says they will eat all the sandwiches and leave none for him.
After two hours of bickering, and them promising on their lives that they will not eat the sarnies, Roy agrees to go back.
So Roy sets off down the road at a steady pace. Twenty days pass and still he isn't back and Mick and Andy are starving, but they remember their promise and stay away from the sandwiches.
Another five days and he still isn't back, but a promise is a promise. Finally, they can't take it any longer,.so they take out a sandwhich each, and just as they are about to eat them, Roy pops out from behind a rock and shouts, " I knew it...I'm not f***ing going now, you b8stards!"

Katrina Photos - Real or Not?

Today I recd these photo's my mate is not sure that they are real (it was Nascot Dan, link on side)

Me, I'n not sure but what do you think?

A picture blog

A picture blog

I dont know why my format is so all over the place so sorry about that.

Baby news - Here is a a picture of our cot, We have not finished the room so decor is not correct.



Footy News - Come on Palace, Won 2-0 against Hull. See the report Here.

Nice to see Morrison get a goal but it was after a great run from Tom Soares.

This is the view from my seat:

The Hull fans:

AJ after scoring (Patting Andews on the back): Not very clear

Final Whistle:

Todays Fact - It was discovered on a space mission that a frog can throw up.

On this day - 10th Sep 1547
Defeat for the Scots by the English at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, Edinburgh

Joke of the day How to spot a millionaire:

Pug Jumping

I want to say sorry to all the people that were parked on the side of the road as I went past them only to release it was a traffic jam and I had jumped most of the queue :-0 Not my fault honest. It was a transit that had the blanked out windows so I just presummed no one was in it but I guess there most of been. So if you were in one of the industrial parks near Watford and a 206 went past. SORRY.

I will have a good apple blog soon but in the meantime the Nano looks good, I have the iPod photo one and mine seems loads better for cost value etc.. Cant wait to see it in the flesh though. I can not believe that they dropped the Mini range. Still waiting for the Brent Cross shop to open and I will be buying my new computer. They normally have an opening special.

Baby news - Well only 1 man never turned up at the anti natal class last night, His wife said he was working late but then when I mentioned about the football being on TV her face kind of twisted.

Last night I learnt that women in the 70's were shaved with a blunt razor and then had a pipe and warm water squirted up their arse before giving birth. It was all part of the way it was.... scary hey.

I also learnt that Mrs PF will have a show that I dont really want to go to before going into labour.

Footy News - Oh dear.....

Todays Fact - You share your birthday with at least 9 million other people in the world.

On this day - 8/9/1968
British tennis player Virginia Wade beats American Billie Jean King to win the US Open

Joke of the day

Only some baby news really

Baby news - Well we have received our cot\bed, wardrobe, drawers. We have managed to set it all up apart from the wardrobe because we have to return part of that due to a corner being slightly damaged. Do you realise that the baby furniture cost more then our room (we do have built in wardrobes but still a more then our bed etc.)

We have chosen and received our travel system. We have gone for a Chicco CT0.1 trio auto-fix system and we even got a couple of bits free like a lightweight stroller and a high chair (Chosen one has to be 6 months old before using it though). It seems really really good and all just clicks on top of the frames. It also has a carry cot that we can use for chosen one to start off in so saves us getting a moses basket

We have also gone to our first Anti Natal class. 2 hours long :-0 We have another one on Wednesday. Yep as the footy kicks off I will be learning to relax and breathe....

Footy News - Well what is Sven going to do then tomorrow, I bet Owen plays and the guy has not played a competive game since the end of last season. Play Johnson I say, but then I would wouldn't I.

Todays Fact - Because metal was scarce; the Oscars given out during World War II were made of plaster.

On this day - 6th September 1997
Millions of people around the world watch live television pictures from London of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales who had died in a car crash in Paris a week earlier. Britain comes to a virtual standstill for the whole day with an estimated two million mourners either outside Westminster Abbey or lining the route and a further 32 million watching the funeral on television.The worldwide TV audience is estimated at two billion

Cant say I did.

Joke of the day Thanks to a girl at work for this one. She does not read this blog though:

A brain and a pair of jump leads walk into a bar. The jump leads take a seat
and the brain gets the round in, but the bartender refuses to serve the
brain.

"How come?" says the brain.


"Well," replies the bartender, "you're out of your head and your mate looks
like he's gonna start something."

It Walks, it is alive

Yipee, I'm out of bed. Still a bit sore BUT it walks. I have managed to get downstairs and have even managed to sit rather then lie. I'm off tomorrow anyway on a compressed day so will be resting yet again.

Hey, I found my friend today on the blogger circuit. I will add a link but have look a Here, cant believe he never mentioned it to me but i think he was seeing how he got on first. Oh and yes he has a bad back as well. Strange...

Baby news - We have a midwife appointment tomorrow morning and we have our nursery furniture coming tomorrow afternoon. If it's no lifting then I will try and set it up.

Footy News - OK well we signed no one.

Todays Fact - Babies start dreaming even before they're born.

On this day - 1st September 1879 In southern Africa, Britain signs a peace treaty with Zulu chiefs.

Watched Zulu the film again a couple of weeks and never rembered it being so long and drawn out.

Joke of the day So who has noticed we have not had one? I'm going to post them again soon.

Heres one though: How do dinosaurs pay their bills?
With Tyrannosaurus checks.

Doctors

Quite an eventful day today, I mean un-eventful. First of all it took 2 hours to get through to the doctors only to be told that I had to ring back at 2pm. I had to "shuffle" up the road to get some painkillers so I am went in and saw the receptionist only to shuffle back out to ring at 2pm. Decided then and there that if I never got an appointment this afternoon I would of gone into that surgery and lied on the floor, I would of been lying down and singing. I will not, I will not be moved. I will not, I CANT be moved.

Anyway I managed to get an appointment and have been told to lie down for at least 3 days, take tablets (at a cost of £6.50 per box) and do not a lot. It's not too bad but I feel useless. I am not ill, feel alright but am not comfortable and in quite a bit of pain. I have been logging into work and doing some stuff so at least it's not too boring. I am one of those strange people that really likes work so would rather be there and not here in bed.

Did manage to get a bit of time to "tidy" up the blog. Think it looks a lot cleaner now.

Baby news - Now in week 27 and Mrs PF has had some Braxton Hicks contractions.

Footy News - Looks like, if the rumour is to be believed, that Bentley from Arsenal is signing tomorrow for us. Along with Jamal Campbell Ryce from Rotherham. Tomorrow is the last day before transfer deadline.

Mr Owen is going to be a geordie hero. Think he is better off going there then Liverpool as the fans will love him plus from a selfish point of view how good to see the England partnership I have wanted to see for years !

Just looked on the FA site and they have that Owen is already playing for Newcastle. Click Here

Todays Fact - There is no tipping at restaurants in Japan

Somewhere I have not been so if you can validate this one that would be great. It's so expensive that you prob can not afford to.

Also has anyone seen a book called Fruits, it has lots of pictures of these people all dressed up in Tokyo. A really good book, we got it from Amazon but managed to see a art thing in New Zealand on it so I wrote all the details down so we could order it when we were back.

On this day - 30th August 30 B.C: Cleopatra commits suicide

Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, takes her life following the defeat of her forces against Octavian, the future first emperor of Rome. The daughter of King Ptolemy XII, Cleopatra became the lover of Julius Caesar, who helped her seize the Egyptian throne from her brother in 47 B.C. After Caesar's assassination, Mark Antony, another powerful Roman, fell in love with her, and in 36 B.C. they were married. Four years later, Octavian, the designated heir of Caesar, declared war against Antony and Cleopatra. In 31 B.C., they were defeated at the Battle of Actium and fled to Alexandria. Soon after, Mark Antony committed suicide after hearing a false report of Cleopatra's death. Rather than fall into Octavian's hands, Cleopatra likewise ended her life.

Greetings from a very sunny North London I am meant to be outside at a local park flying my kite and having a laugh with some friends. Im not though I am lying in my bed looking out of the window at the sun. Gutted.

Yesterday my back went and I am in agony. I can not move from my bed because when I stand it puts so much pain on my back that I huddle over and fall on the floor crawling to get to the loo. Quite a site to see I would think. I dont know what caused it to go although I have been suffering for a couple of weeks with the back.

I have never had a problem with my back and just hope it clears up. Mrs PF has said that if it was not for the pain it would be my ideal day as I am lying in bed typing on the powerbook, browsing, learning how to use photoshop, got the web radio going with some football on (Five Live) to be honest it's not too bad apart from the pain. Got lunch and a coffee being brought up in a minute :-)

Baby news - Went to Mums on Saturday and both her and my sister got us lots of stuff for the baby so cant wait to get the baby furniture on Friday and start to set everything up. Back permitting !!

Footy News - AJ for England. Shouldnt really of gone to the match on Saturday because we were out to my Mums for a meal and had to leave earlier to drive BUT I had to go as it was Clintons home coming. Palace won 2-0 and we did deserve it but we never played well. I left early so I could get the fast train back to London Bridge. But I did manage to see the last goal. Andrew Johnson really is a class above everyone else. Our young left back Borrowdale is having bit of a nightmare at the moment but until Granville is back we have to stick with him. Clinton did well when he came on but I thought that Macken had a great game.

England squad was named and AJ is in again. David James has been "dropped" and I think it is for the best. He seems to have a problem when playing for England that when he pulls on the shirt he goes blind. It's in Man City's favour because I do believe that he is a good keeper when he plays for his club.

Todays Fact - Avocados are poisonous to birds.

I'm going to have one with my lunch BUT do I test the the fact on the pigeons?

On this day - 29th Aug 1835
Founding of the Australian city of Melbourne

Im a movie, Im a movie what movie am I?

Not a lot to blog about other then looking forward to the bank holiday.

Here is some movie reviews of films that we have recently watched. I'm going to keep them short:

6 word film reviews

The Island - Logans Run meets the truman show
Skeleton Key - Voodoo Magic with great end twist
Dukes Of hazzards - crap film crap car crap stars

Baby news - Went to my mates at lunchtime and saw his little girl and also his slighter older son. Good lungs on her.

Footy News - Watching Liverpool on TV tonight but looking forward to Clinton Morrison playing tomorrow for the Eagles

Todays Fact - To take an oath, ancient Romans put a hand on their testicles…that’s where the word “testimony” comes from

On this day - 26th Aug 1959
British car manufacturers Austin and Morris launch a small family car known as the 'Mini'.

Went out in a new one today and was very good fun !

Foo-king Brilliant

What a great concert. Last Time I saw the Foo Fighters was at Wembley arena a couple of years ago and they went to the top of my must see bands but yesterday was great as the venue was so small. There is a great reveiw on the concert by NME Here I can not say anymore.



I must be getting old though because I was in the mush pit for about 30 minutes but had to leave and stand at the back due to my back hurting !!!

Best concert though this year for me was Feeder. Best concert ever would be AC/DC in 2000 at Wembley Arena. Hope they tour soon and I have heard that a new album is out this year so could mean a tour

Baby news - The baby is now moving higher i.e it is above the navel. Still kicking all the time. Tomorrow I am off to lunch at mates house to meet his new daughter.

Footy News - He has returned. Morrison is back at the Palace. Have to say that I am really chuffed about it. Think AJ and Morrison will be great together. Also think it is great when you think that we AJ and 2 million plus Morrison back after 2 years from Birmingham. Thanks Big Nose Bruce ha ha

Todays Fact - According to studies, men change their minds two to three times more often than women.

No I dont, Yes I do, nah I dont, maybe I do

On this day - Aug 25th 1985
American singer Michael Jackson pays $25 million for the rights to a catalogue of music which includes copyright of more than 5,000 songs, including many by the British group, The Beatles.

Todays Joke -

Acid T-Shirt

Well today during a meeting I discovered the other T-Shirt that was in the bag that got acid on it ! I looked down and I was suddenly was looking down at a crop T-Shirt :-0 I dont understand why it only seems to react when I wear the top. It has been washed but survived that only to fall apart when worn by me ! It's really weird ! Had to hide behind a Black and Red notebook during the meeting and run down the road for another new top !

Tomorrow night I am at the Foo Fighters concert, come on ! I'm well looking forward to it because I can not make the Foo's concert in December. Might be a bit busy with nappies in December :-)

Baby news - Today we have ordered the cot \ bed, Wardrobe and a dresser. Chosen One is now due in less then 100 days.

Footy News - Beat Walsall 3-0 tonight and it looks like we should sign an old boy tomorrow morning. Clinton Morrison looks as though he is coming home. Now am I a bad fan because I could not be arsed going tonight. Well lets just say it will cost me 15 pound to get in plus travel and I get home about midnight to watch a weakened Palace team? I love Palace have a season ticket and get quite a few away games during the season but still some people will think that I am not a real fan because I never went on a Tuesday night. Oh well can not please everyone

Todays Fact - In 1897, Bayer, who is the maker of Aspirin, marketed the drug heroin.

On this day - Aug 23rd 1962
John Lennon, founder-member of The Beatles, marries his childhood sweetheart Cynthia Powell.
1963 The Beatles release 'She Loves You'.


Todays Joke

The doctor said, "Joe, the good news is I can cure your headaches. The bad news is that it will require castration. You have a very rare condition, which causes your testicles to press on your spine and thean pressure creates one hell of a headache. The only way to relieve the pressure is to remove the testicles."

Joe was shocked and depressed.

He wondered if he had anything to live for. He had no choice but to go under the knife. When he left the hospital, he was without a headache for the first time in 20 years, but he felt like he was missing an important part of himself. As he walked down the street, he realized that he felt like a different person.

He could make a new beginning and live a new life. He saw a men's clothing store and thought, "That's what I need...! a new suit." He entered the shop and told the salesman, "I'd like a new suit."

The elderly tailor eyed him briefly and said, "Let's see... size 44
long."
Joe laughed, "That's right, how did you know?" "Been in the business 60 years!" the tailor said.

Joe tried on the suit.. it fitted perfectly. As Joe admired himself in the mirror, the salesman asked, "How about a newshirt?" Joe thought for a moment and then said, "Sure."

The salesman eyed Joe and said, "Let's see, 34 sleeves and 16-1/2neck." Joe was surprised, "That's right, how did you know?" "Been in the business 60 years." Joe tried on the shirt and it fit perfectly.

Joe walked comfortably around the shop and the salesman asked, "How about some new underwear?" Joe thought for a moment and said, "Sure."

The salesman said, "Let's see... size 36." Joe laughed, "Ah ha! I got you, I've worn a size 34 since I was 18 years old."

The salesman shook his head, "You can't wear a size 34.
A size 34 would press your testicles up against the base of your spine
and give you one hell of a headache."

Summary:

New suit - £400
New shirt - £36
New underwear - £6
Second Opinion - PRICELESS!!!

Acid Jumper

Well I have not seen the spider so, with a sigh of relief, it meant that I never had to try and catch it and let it outside.

Had a weird one yesterday at the football. As I was sitting down before the game I happen to look down and see a small hole in my fav jumper (Only worn it once before at the Norwich game and we never lost so wore it again) I touched the hole to examine it and it disintegrated ! It started getting bigger and in the end I had to borrow Dads jacket to go to town in because I was meeting up with friends. Anyway I speak to Mrs PF and start going on about how mad it was after the match and she's like "thats really strange because my backpack went like that last week. MMMMmmmmm and your new jumper was in there." Right O what batteries have leaked in your bag? Must of, Then I remember I have a car battery in the boot of the motor so Mrs PF walks out and checks the car and whoops it's leaking ! It's managed to attack some of the other stuff in the car so she got her Dad to get rid of the battery. I was meant to take it back to get a refund so have lost out on that. Took all the carpet out of the boot when Mrs PF got home and have rinsed it all out. I managed to buy a new jumper and did get a strange look when I said that I want them to take all the tags off and I wanted to put it straight on. I would of thought that it was quite common.

Quite expensive though as it cost 60 for the battery, 60 for the old jumper, 35 for new and 30 for the new backpack.

Did the iMac. How nice do they still look. If your interested it's 100 pound. Drop me an email for more info but in a nutshell it's a G3 400 DV OSX 10.3.9 and I will throw in a CD writer.

Would prefer collection from North London but you can pay postage



Baby news - Chosen One is really kicking a lot now and you can see the belly move and everything.

Footy News - Never took a camera but we won 1-0 with Darren Ward getting his first goal for Palace. Ref was awful again.

Todays Fact - More Monopoly money is printed in a year, than real money printed throughout the world.

On this day - Aug 21st 1959
Hawaii becomes the 50th state of the USA

Nice place, we were there this time last year at the end of our year out. Here is Mrs PF with the statue of Duke Kahanamoku.

Good cause

I have been keeping a close eye on a blogger called Tartan Red on Tour, His link is on the side but here it is again
We have had a few email "chats" and he is a great bloke that is helping raise money for a disability that he has. It is called AtaxiaHe is welsh but dont let that stop you from clicking and having a look at his blog :-)

He currently has 2 signed footballs on eBay and I hope that you will pass the details on to any football fans but particularly Dundee United or St Johnstone fans to click HERE
I would also recommend signing up to his tour and giving some money to a great cause.

Spiderman or should that be Woman?

I was out last night at a work thing as we have re-branded ourselves BUT as I dont talk about work you will have to guess who I work for.. Anyway Mrs PF saw a monster last night and took a photo of it, no not me rolling in drunk but this...



Jeezz it's scary as, I hope that it does not come out tonight as I am home alone. Mrs PF has taken the long drive up to her parents. Got a text saying that she has gone to a car boot, yep on a Friday night she has gone to car boot !! Down in London we go out to live music and over in Shropshire she goes to a car boot :-)

This is a measure of how big and horrible the spider was (not the best photo though)...



I personally am knackered as I have spent the day sorting out the attic as a spare room so we can sort out our real spare room as nursery. Quite proud of myself as I have changed the light, light switch and 2 power sockets plus managed to get the futon up the stairs, well the stairs are more of a ladder. Now sitting waiting my old iMac to format the hard drive before I sell it. So far it has been going for 5 hours ! I am zero(ing) it and writting data across a few times so nobody will be able to get anything from it unless they work for some top spy place. Maybe I am paranoid but dont anyone tell me. Am sure you will see an advert here soon.

Baby news - As mentioned we have almost sorted out the attic for guests so will be making a real start on Chosen Ones room

Footy News - Plymouth at home tomorrow so may take the camera and give you a photo from my seat

Todays Fact - Butterflies taste with their feet.

Unless they are making love.. Photo by Mrs PF last year while travelling in Chaing Mai, Thailand.





On this day - Aug 19th 1953
The England cricket team, under captain Len Hutton, wins The Ashes against Australia for the first time since the controversial 'bodyline' tour of 1932-1933.

Todays Joke - An old one.
Dont forget to check out OJ Simpsons site, at WWW.slash-slash-backslash-escape

Catch the pigeon

I got a tube the other day to work and when I got on at Finchley Road a pigeon got off !! I swear to you, I stepped on the tube and it flew out. No ticket or anything :-0 Guy sitting on the tube said it had been on there since Farringdon and was just walking around the carrage. I'm going to have to start to carry a camera around with me as I do see some strange things around. If I never had a work mobile I would get a camera phone as the quality of those shots will be fine for blogging. Maybe I should look at a cheap 2nd hand one.

Joanna - I have ordered a book on photoshop, The Photoshop CS2 Book for Digital Photographers Scott Kelby - Thanks for the advise

Baby news - Not our Baby news but a very strange man that is running aroung up North in Teeside in his nappy asking women for baby changing areas. Click Here for more info !

Footy News - Finally the transfer that has taken all pre season is about to be completed.
Lyon have announced that they have agreed a £26m fee with Chelsea for Ghana midfielder Michael Essien BBC Details

Todays Fact - Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.

Not in the cartoons when a mouse comes though.

On this day - Aug 15th 1998
A terrorist bomb explodes in the centre of Omagh, County Tyrone killing 28 and injuring more than 200 others. It's the biggest single incident death toll in recent Northern Ireland history. A splinter group of the IRA, calling itself the Real IRA, claims responsibility.

Todays Joke - Little Mary was not the best student in Sunday School. Usually she slept through the class. One day the teacher called on her while she was napping, ‘Tell me, Mary, who created the universe?’

When Mary didn't stir, little Johnny, an altruistic boy seated in the chair behind her, took a pin and jabbed her in the rear. ‘God Almighty!’ shouted Mary and the teacher said, ‘Very good,’ and Mary fell back asleep.

A while later the teacher asked Mary, ‘Who is our Lord and Savior?’ But, Mary didn't even stir from her slumber. Once again, Johnny came to the rescue and stuck her again. ‘Jesus Christ!’ shouted Mary and the teacher said, ‘Very good,’ and Mary fell back asleep.

Then the teacher asked Mary a third question. ‘What did Eve say to Adam after she had her twenty-third child?’ And again, Johnny Jabbed her with the pin.

This time Mary jumped up and shouted, ‘If you stick that damn thing in me one more time, I'll break it in half!’

The Teacher fainted.

Norwich Away

Took Mrs PF to Norwich on Saturday morning for the football and we stayed over. Norwich is a great town and will go there again if play them. Shame the weather was not great. We really had 4 seasons in a day. Sunny, Pouring, Cloudy and the windy.



Went to a rather good seafood restaurant called Loch Fyne was really really nice. Recommended.

Left this morning after a good breakfast. Mrs PF got a good deal on the hotel, over the internet it was £122 and when she called direct, it was £85 so result

Does this sound weird or does anyone else do this: When I turn the radio up or down I have to leave it on a even number ! Nope, thought it was just me :-) I also do it with the stereo and TV, Anything that has a digital showing of the volume level.

Baby news - Chosen One was very active at the football and also when we were out Thursday night it was kicking when the music was going.

Bought a few more "toys" for our jungle theme nursery. Also got some clothes, Thats it now though until we know if it's a boy or a girl.

Still need to get cot/bed and furniture sorted, need to get a travel system as well.

Footy News - Well we finally got a point and as Yazz would say "the only way is up"

AJ has had to pull out of the England squad because of an injury.

Todays Fact - A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.

On this day - Aug 14th 1945: World War II ends.

Japan agrees to surrender to the Allies. The decision, which brought an end to the most costly war in human history, came after a momentous week that saw two U.S. atomic bombs dropped on Japan and a declaration of war by the Soviets. In the evening, 1,000 Japanese army officers attacked the imperial palace with the intention of seizing a recorded message of Emperor Hirohito announcing the surrender; the imperial guards repulsed them. The next day, Hirohito's speech, which asked his people to endure the unendurable, was played on national radio, and hundreds of millions of people around the world celebrated V-J Day. Victory over Japan.

Todays Joke - Thanks to Jane again over at Slothblog

1st day
On his first day on the job, the trainee dialed the kitchen and
shouted into the phone: "Get me a F***ING cup of coffee, quickly!"

The voice from the other side responded: "You fool, you've dialed The wrong extension! Do you know who you're talking to?"

"No," replied the trainee.

"It's the Managing Director of the company, idiot!"

The trainee shouted back: "And do you know who YOU are F***ING talking
to, you F***ING idiot?"

"No!" replied the Managing Director indignantly

"Thank F**K for that!" replied the trainee and slammed down the phone

I'm still here

Just thought I best post to say that I am doing well unlike the Palace !

Well went on Saturday to the game and O Dear what a load of rubbish. There was me meeting a Luton fan from work for pre game beers and after game laughs at him BUT Luton decieded that they should spoil my day ! Well after losing it put me in bit of a downer so instead of going off to a BBQ Party I went to sit, drink and slouch on the couch.

Lost again tonight to Wolves although I never went. Went to smack some golf balls and get some anger out. Been having a bit of a stressful time at work but think I am over the worse of it now.

I started about 2 weeks going to a golf driving range and I enjoy it so I'm going to get a couple of lessons and try on a proper course. Only been twice but was managing to hit most of the balls in a straight line off the mat. Think it is going to be another thing to consume my time. Dont have enough hours now let alone playing golf as well but think it will get me out and walking.

Mrs PF started decorating the attic on the Saturday and it is starting to look like a bedroom rather then a dumping ground for all our books and stuff. Once we have finished it then we can move all the stuff from the spare room to up there and start to make a nursery :-0. I did help on the Sunday.

We also had a look up in the retail parks at Enfield for furniture for the Chosen Ones room but could not see anything we liked. Had the old dont make contact with the salesmans eyes....NO Dont look at him Mrs PF, too late, and then we have to explain that we are just looking and yes..Keith, right, OK, we promise we will come back to you if we see anything. We then take a couple more steps and go through the whole thing again.

What else has happened in the last week. Well I went off to a work pub quiz on Thursday and came last ! Dont know how it happened because our team was sitting with the team that came first ! It was then sent out on an email to all our department that we came last.

Tried to win a guitar on ebay but lost and now keeping thinking that I should of gone higher. Thats the problem though with ebay you just want to win but i was good and set my limit and said no more. Then I sit here 2 days later wishing that I added some more ! So Im still looking for the Fender Jaguar.

"Normal" layout should resume soon but in the meantime heres a quick joke from my Dad.
A bloke is in a queue at the Super Market when he notices that the
rather dishy blonde behind him has just raised her hand and smiled hello
to him.

He is rather taken aback that such a looker would be waving to him and
although familiar he can't place where he might know her from, so he
says "sorry do you know me?"

She replies "I may be mistaken, but I thought you might be the father of
one of my children"!

His mind shoots back to the one and only time he has been unfaithful to
his wife - "Christ"! he says "are you that cracking strip-o-gram on my
stag night that I sha**ed on the snooker table in front of all my mates
whilst your colleague whipped me with some wet celery and stuck a
cucumber up my ar*e?"

No she replies, I'm your son's English Teacher!

The man from Palace he says...............

do do do do.....Andy Johnson ..HE'S STAYING

Bet there is a load of clauses but ho hum he will be given a heros welcome on Saturday.

Looking at the BBS site you would of thought that they would never of survived if he had been off. I think great he is staying but Palace would of kept going if he had been off.

Here is to Saturday and to our man AJ.

Baby news - Mrs PF went to the doctors today and everything is good. The chosen ones heart beat is really strong and Mrs PF is right as rain as well.

Oh and Dan S at work had a little girl last night called Lucy weighing in at 8 pound 10 ounces so his wife never had to be induced.

Footy News - See main !

Todays Fact - By feeding hens certain dyes they can be made to lay eggs with multi-colored yolks.

Never seen them myself but would be cool.

On this day - 2nd August 1934: Hitler becomes Führer

Chancellor Adolf Hitler becomes sole leader of Germany upon the death of President Paul von Hindenburg. The German army swore allegiance to the Führer, who planned the rearmament of Germany and vast territorial expansion. In little more than a decade, the National Socialist (Nazi) Party had risen from a radical splinter group to Germany's ruling party, allowing Hitler to seize powers previously divided among president, chancellor, and the Reichstag. With Hindenburg's death, the last remnants of Germany's democratic government were dismantled, leaving Hitler--a megalomaniac intent on war and genocide--in command of the nation.

Todays Joke - Thanks to Dan M at work for this one who in turn stole it from a man called Chris B.

A lady walks into a BMW dealership and browses around. Suddenly she spots
the most perfect, beautiful car and walks over to inspect it. As she bends
forward to feel the fine leather upholstery, an unexpected little fart
escapes her. Very embarrassed, she anxiously looks around to see if anyone
has noticed and hopes a sales person doesn't pop up right now. As she turns
back, there standing next to her is a salesman. With a pleasant smile he
greets her, "Good day, Madame. How may we help you today? "
Trying to maintain an air of sophistication and acting as though nothing
had happened, she smiles back and asks, "Sir, what is the price of this
lovely vehicle? " Still smiling pleasantly, he replies, "Madame, I'm very
sorry to say that if you farted just touching it, you are going to sh*t
yourself when you hear the price."

Spot the Spot

OK so what have I done to deserve the biggest spot I have ever seen suddenly decide to introduce itself to the world using my nose as it's platform?

I dont get spots ! I was really lucky when I was growing up and never suffered. Had enough with my eczema to worry about. Thats another story though.

Even Mrs PF who is scared to take the mickey out of spots, we both believe that once you take the piss out of someone else it will happen to you, has said that it is rather large :-(

I'm 33 not 13, I should be worried about the grey hair starting to show on the side of the head, the hair sprouting from my ears, The hair getting a lot thinner, anything but a spot.

Do you know what the worse thing is? It hurts ! I cant stop touching it and everytime I do I can feel the tears wanting to come out ! It throbs ! it's not right I tell yer, It is throbbing. I can actually feel the blood being pumped around the spot and it throbs !!! I am worried that tomorrow in meetings people will be talking to the 2nd head and not looking at me. Maybe I should get some sunglasses for it and introduce it as my siamese twin.

I have to admit that I gave the beast a squeeze earlier and it has not made a difference. It's still there gloading me and looking all shiny. If anything it has made it more painfull.

I just hope that the local kids were looking for a dog called spot and not trying to wind me up.

Better be gone soon. I have a mirror to clean now so I bid you a good night.

Baby news - Still no sign of the friends from work baby yet. It is getting induced on Wednesday.

Mrs PF has been been buying some cool clothes for chosen one. We are also about to start getting stuff for the nursery. Going for a jungle theme.

Footy News - "AJ is bound to go now because I have posted his image up"
Will the last post come back to haunt me. Palace have a press announcement at 09.00

The gossip is that Sven has said that it wont matter that he is playing for Palace in the fizzy league and he is going to withdraw his transfer request.

I can see it going the other way though and he is saying goodbye and that he has to leave. Hope not and not long to find out ! All I want is it sorted and will be tomorrow

Todays Fact - Women end up digesting most of the lipstick they apply.

On this day - 1st Aug 1914 The Great War erupts

World War I begins with Germany's invasion of Luxembourg. The same day, Germany and Russia declare war against each other, and France mobilizes. At the end of July, Europe's tenuous peace collapsed when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. By August 5, Russia, France, Belgium, Great Britain, and Serbia had all lined up against Austria-Hungary and Germany. One month later, the bloody Battle of the Marne was fought outside Paris, halting Germany's advance to the sea and effectively deciding the future course of the war. World War I would be a terrible war of attrition, won by whichever side was willing to commit the greater number of men and resources to the lethal trenches.

Todays Joke - The Bartender

A man walks into a bar one night, goes up to the bar, and asks for a beer.

“Certainly, sir, that’ll be one cent.”

“One penny?!” exclaimed the guy.

“That’s right.” The barman replied.

So the guy glanced over at the menu, and asked, “Could I have a nice juicy T-bone steak, with fries, peas, and a salad?”

“Certainly sir,” replied the bartender, “but all that comes to real money.”

“How much money?”

“Four cents,” the barman said.

“Four cents?! Where’s the guy who owns this place?”

The barman replied, “Upstairs with my wife.”

“What’s he doing with your wife?”

The bartender smiled. “Same as what I’m doing to his business.”

Another new format

Changed the background colours and added an image that I created in photoshop earlier. Not the easiest program to use in my eyes. Anyone got a tip for a book to help me? I love taking photos so wouldnt mind getting into photoshop.

Went to a stag doo on Wednesday night, very strange night to pick but had a good one. Went to St Albans. Should of been at Palace V Inter Milan but I cant be everywhere.

Baby news - About 4 months to go and we can not wait. My mate (at work) wife is now a week overdue so should have some news of a birth soon. We have about 3 dads to be in the next 3 weeks at work.

Footy News - Off to Palace tomorrow for a friendly against West Ham. Meeting some mates (WH fans) for a beer before the game as well. Going to try and sit in the main stand for a change.

AJ is bound to go now because I have posted his image up. Spurs and Everton are after him if you believe the newspapers. Would rather he went to Everton then anywhere else.

Todays Fact - A spider's silk is stronger than steel.

On this day - 29th July 1588: Spanish Armada defeated

Off the coast of France, an English naval force defeats Spain's so-called Invincible Armada. After hours of furious fighting, the remnants of the massive Spanish fleet broke off and headed north on a long and difficult journey home. Two months earlier, King Philip II had launched the Armada, consisting of 130 ships and 30,000 men, to conquer England. However, Queen Elizabeth and her naval advisers prepared a brilliant defense, employing their superior guns and ships loaded with explosives to decimate the Spanish fleet. After retreating north, the Spaniards sailed around Scotland and Ireland, where the fleet was battered by storms. By the time they returned home in October, more than half the ships had been lost.


Todays Joke -