Carpe Vaxium

There was an uncertain amount of grime to remove from the carpets in Bulk Road. Enter the Vax and an immense amount of cleaning fluid. It took two complete sweeps to tame the lounge carpet!

Miyabi Lancaster

The teppenyaki cooking in Miyabi is excellent. We had chef specials for six of us comprising Miso Soup, salad, Sushi and then some impressive fried rice laced with garlic and sesame oil and a combination of king prawns, chicken and steak. All of this was rounded out with a rather interesting Chinese Tsing Tao Chardonney!

We watched in delight as the chef showed us flamboyant Japanese ways to cook mixed with the humour of egg catching and some dangerous knife based stunts.

Of course, like John, we all had to try to flip the eggs, whilst wearing a chef's hat, of course

An entertaining and memorable evening!
Tag: Lancaster, Food and Drink, Japan, restaurant

Warrington IKEA

When I was with Magnus on Monday evening, he was tellling me all sorts of facts about IKEA. In Sweden, everyone shops there and the company has a very strong reputation. The founder Ingvar Kamrad started as a boy living on a farm in Smaland, Sweden, buying matches in large quantities in Stockholm and selling them to his neighbours afterwards. This evolved towards the firm we know as IKEA: I and K as the initials of his name, E stood for his parental home Elmtaryd and finally the A for Agunnaryd, the village where he grew up. Originally, back in the late 1940s, Kamprad sold pens, jewellery and nylon stockings. Then, using a simple catalogue he started a mail order system with deliveries via the county milk van.

By 1951 the Ikea founder published his first furniture catalogue as the forerunner of the 110 million copies now published in 34 different language versions.

And the origins of the flat pack? More or less by accident. To transport a table more easily in a car an employee just took off the legs. A simple idea which has become the basis of the company philosophy.

Well - the morning shopping was an immense collection of items including a bed, two wardrobes, a sofa, a sideboard, a table and four chairs, plus other items which will be delivered on Tuesday.

And then a lunchtime pause for Swedish meatballs!

And then more shopping for incidentals, which we carried in the cars.

Thank you, Julie, for bringing structure to this shopping frenzy.

Bulk Challenge

None of us baulked at the sheer bulk of items to transfer to Lancaster. The bulkiest items were put into the cars with the most room and then we shipped everything in bulk to the new residence. I arrived part way through this and the bulk of the load had already been moved indoors.

Bulk On!

barcamp

Barcamp was organised in San Francisco to provide a forum for a self organised group to talk about latest internetty and tekky things. This is part of the social phenomenon of a global community which likes to network person to person as well as via electrons.

Now Chocolate and Vodka's Suw Charman is starting to organise a UK equivalent known as BarcampUK. At the moment it needs a venue and a date. There is already a wiki to catalyse the event.

Tag: barcamp, barcampuk

Blogday approaches - 3108

Blogday is coming up on August 31 - 3108 almost spells "blog"!. Created by Nir Ofir, it's a day when we should all recommend 5 blogs (maybe not just from the top 100) and to bridge outside of our sometimes closed networks.

The premise is that we all have blogs we enjoy reading that perhaps others don't know about - this is simply a way to expand that network.

Reading a well-written blog which today has just a few subscribers can be immensely interesting. There is always the challenge to remember to update sidebars to add the link. Try blogroll for this. Have fun on the 31st. Participate.

Tag: blogday, blog, BlogDay2005

As you like it

We met outside the Wyndham on the way to see Shakespear's comedy, "As you like it". In fear of their lives, Rosalind and Celia flee to a forest. Escaping what they most fear, they both discover what they both love. Sparkling with wit, this joyous tale of a girl disguised as a boy - who tempts the man she loves to fall for the boy she isn't.

The cast includes multi-award winning Helen McCrory as Rosalind and Sienna Miller as Celia. Sean Hughes from TV's Buzzcocks plays the comic. Great how the plot diverges and then neatly ties all of the ends. All the world's a stage.

Tenth floor talks

A whole day in a glass box on the roof.

And then a delightful evening overlooking the sea, from Per Ander's wooden deck.

Operakallaran, Stockholm

Herman and I met at the Radisson in the evening and decided to visit the town. Herman kept his taxi whilst he checked in and then we headed for the Operakallaran, which was lively but waiting for the main evening to get under way. It was around 11pm by this time and we dined at a table in the roped off outdoor area. At around midnight we headed for the main bar, and a circular table which we shared with some dancers from Goteberg. Eventually the crowd from MTV arrived and we had to give up our reserved area.

Amplified Heat

The Pressed Rat and Warthog closed up their shop;
They didn't want to, twas all they had got.
Selling atonal apples and amplified heat
and the Pressed Rat's collection
of dog legs and feet.

This little Fender practice amp plays rhythms and effects and makes learning guitar into a proper rock 'n blues experience. My fingers are raw.

My G-DEC Midi Page

Tag: Music, Guitar

Beautiful boys with bright red guitars

"Beautiful boys with bright red guitars
In the spaces between the stars"


Early start to take Julie and Andrea to St. Pancras, for their expedition to Sheffield, where they are partying tonight. I drove back to New Cavendish Street, parked on a meter, and taxied to Charing Cross Road to check out a guitar. Melanie is taking her Yamaha to Lancaster and John has been telling me I should play more. OK. I didn't need much persuading and got this really cool Line6 Variax 500. Astounding. I sat in the shop trialling a couple, "Thats OK Mr Shop Assistant; leave me to try the guitars" (a.k.a "Please don't listen to me playing just two chords"). The guitar is great and I know will give a whole lotta fun.

Tag: Music, Guitar

Intense Day

All day session locked in a room, followed by a nice private dinner which finished very late.

Tag: Wales