…grayblog…

Category: old blogging

  • hmm. Looks like my decorating

    hmm. Looks like my decorating plans for tomorrow have just been blown out the water. Apparently I’m going to have fun instead. Guh. I’m sure it’s a bad idea.

  • For the first time in

    For the first time in weeks, it is raining. Doesn’t look like much though, and we really could use some steady rain for a few hours.

  • BBC Reporters’ Log: Final Thoughts.

    BBC Reporters’ Log: Final Thoughts.

  • Well, my plans to complete

    Well, my plans to complete the painting have been thwarted by a lack of paint and the Sunday trading laws. And I’m very close to completing everything I set out to do, which is annoying. The skirting and door frame of the cupboard have been done, as well as the skirting in the hall and the frame of an internal window in the hall. Unfortunately, I only had enough paint to do about 60% of the bathroom door frame, and none at all for the bathrom radiator. But, if I get myself organised tomorrow, I’ll be able to do those two areas. If I get really carried away, I might have a go at the woodwork in the kitchen too. I also need to get some Danish oil so I can treat the new shelves for the cupboard and also a couple of CD racks I’ve had sitting here for ages.

  • Easter Sunday. Even though I’m

    Easter Sunday. Even though I’m a committed atheist, I always mark Easter Sunday in the time honoured manner.
    Mmmmmm. Chocolate.

  • Fans of the classic 80s

    Fans of the classic 80s late-night Channel 4 show that was Club X, amongst others, will be sad to learn of the death of Regina Fong.
    I’ve had a quick look on Google and struggled to find anything on Club X. The TV Cream entry is brief and dismissive. Off The Telly says this:

    In terms of expense and airtime alone, Club X turned out to be one of Channel 4’s biggest disasters. Attempting to marry pop culture with contemporary art in as ambitious a manner as possible, both Charlie Parsons – its editor – and C4 fatally overreached themselves. In an intriguing interpretation of focus groups, Parsons cited the English National Opera – "it’s packed with 16 to 23-year-olds!"- as proof that "there is a young arts educated audience to be catered for. By putting the fun back into art Club X is more than equipped to extend this audience even further." But there was nothing fun about Club X. Each edition lasted a sprawling 90 minutes; the plethora of features never gelled; its lofty pretentiousness clashed with its often somewhat seedy content; and chief presenter Murray Boland struggled gamely to link it all together against a studio background of deafening noise and crowds wandering all over the place. Unbelievably, it was initially repeated on Sunday afternoons at 2pm – until protests about sketches poking fun at Dickie Valentine and Eric Morecambe woke C4 up to just what was going on. A second series was never commissioned; out of the ruins, though, emerged The Word and youth TV for the 1990s.

    I’m not sure that it is fair to say that there was no fun in Club X. It was certainly anarchic, and the sight of a horde of naked women creating a work of art by daubing themselves in poster paint and then running at a huge canvas has certainly stuck in my mind, as has the excellent Victor Lewis-Smith "Buygones" slots, which were nothing short of marvellous. I used to enjoy it, but maybe I was just young and impressionable.

  • One coat of paint on

    One coat of paint on the walls and ceiling in the cupboard. I’ll check in the morning when it has dried to see if it will need a second. I hope not, and I’m not too fussed about it, as it is a cupboard after all. I’ll do the skirting and door frame tomorrow, and also the bathroom door frame and radiator.

  • Congratulations to Melanie (nursery employee)

    Congratulations to Melanie (nursery employee) and Jonathan on the birth of Oliver on Thursday.
    Everyone I meet at the moment is either pregnant or with a newborn. OK, maybe not everyone, but there do seem to be quite a few families getting started at the moment. Maybe there isn’t anything good on TV.

  • Why do these jobs always

    Why do these jobs always take longer than you think?

  • After yesterday’s cleaning marathon, when

    After yesterday’s cleaning marathon, when I shipped out three full car loads of stuff (one and a half to the tip, nearly all of which went into recycling – I’m proud of that; one to the British Heart Foundation shop; the rest to the nursery – which was old boxes that will be re-used and some files and things which will be used by PFE), I’m now working on the next phase of actually decorating. I’ve just removed some crappy shelving, ripped out all the rawl plugs and filled the holes. I’ve also pulled away some loose woodchip, though most of it will be staying, as I’m certain the wall behind it is in a pretty grotty state. Now I’m going to wash it down with sugar soap, allow it to dry over lunch and then paint the walls and ceiling this afternoon. The skirting and door frame will have to wait until the walls and ceiling have dried.