Saturday, December 31, 2005

Many best wishes for 2006.

A first tonight as I tried out Skype video with my brother. Worked really well which was a surprise as all previous attempts to try on-line video calls with other systems have failed. So if anyone out there uses Skype and wants to give me a call, let me know.

Have a good, peaceful New Year.

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Everton
Liverpool



An unusually one-sided affair last night, not helped by Everton failing to keep 11 players on the pitch. If you go to the Everton website you get greeted by a large "Sale Now On" message.

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

My good friend Michael tells me the M.A.S.S. video link I gave below did not work - so just in case here's the front page section http://www.myspace.com/mass and then click on Christmas video.

Hope you all had a good Christmas. Helen and I have spent the last few days eating - and I've polished off the wine (tis sad being the only one who drinks - but heh - at least I get more of the bottle!)

Santa brought me a variety of presents ranging from a set of books on music management from Helen, to a blow up Match of the Day armchair from my brother - I wonder about his sanity at times!

Hope you all had a good Christmas - watching the Tsunami broadcasts the last couple of days I realise how fortunate we are with our nice home, despite the lack of good health for Helen.

Nice to see Liverpool continuing to play well - big game tomorrow against Everton. This time last year it was a role reversal in the league - year is a long time in football.

Saturday, December 24, 2005

U2 - Party Girl Chicago - don't know if this ever made the official video - shame if it didn't


Thursday, December 22, 2005

It's been a manic couple of weeks busy sorting out our house in Liverpool. In September we were told boiler would be condemned and had to get new central heating system installed, then we recently were told the whole placed had to be re-wired. As the place is let we had a legal obligation to get the work done or risk prosecution if something went wrong. Not good news for the tenant though, especially so close to Christmas. Nearly all the work now completed but it's been a difficult time and I've sent the builders home for Christmas.

The other major crisis was my losing my credit card last weekend. Suddenly you realise how important that little piece of plastic is - especially just before Christmas. With most of our money tied up it looked like it could be a bleak Christmas. But a knock at the door last night brought some light relief as a courier handed over the new cards.

Totally hooked on the video I gave link to below - site appears to have crashed at the moment so be patient and check it out when it returns.

Christmas will be the usual quiet affair. The problems of sorting the Liverpool house has taken its toll on Helen so it will be just the two of us on Christmas Day. Hopefully I will get over to see my parents late morning as they will be in London. Brother has gone to Thailand to cover the Tsunami 1 year on which the BBC will be reporting on over the next few days. Then he gets the joy of going to Haiti to cover the elections - must be mad!

I've noticed on other blogs various comments about Advent Calendars. We bought ours from Southwark Cathedral - we've tried to avoid chocolate non religious calendars the last few years. This calendar is pretty scary though - its origins are German and judging by the various characters in it, could just have easily have come from Transylvania. Santa Claus and the snowman are looking particularly evil. Keep expecting the 24th window to be a picture of Damian from the Omen!

On the work front life is getting busy. We won 2 rail franchises last week and were short-listed for another this week so lots to do.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

CHECK THIS OUT NOW http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=7505147&blogID=70533516

Tell your friends, enemies, loved ones. Put it out on your Blog pages. I just love it, as I do M.A.S.S. Not the greatest song in the world but take a listen to the words. It's a rush job but a good one. Expect to hear great things in the New Year - I've got back the 3 tracks that have been mixed in New York and they are amazing. Will have to see if I can sneak a few snipits onto here without anyone noticing.

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Youcan find this on Beneath the Ashes but this is a raw unreleased version that I like

Michael McDermott - Silent Will Soon Be Singing


I love this song - never been released - but deserves to be heard more widely


Michael McDermott - When the rain comes down


A Christmas gift to readers - from Beneath the Ashes - knocks the Bowie/Crosby version into touch

Michael McDermott - Little Drummer Boy


Thursday, December 08, 2005

Danger of becoming a weekly blog at this stage. Yesterday was the office Christmas lunch - decent food and plenty of wine. Opted out of late night visit to KPMG's CHristmas do at the 100 Club.

Busy trying to sort out our house in Liverpool as being re-wired next week and decided would be good to gut the bathroom at the same time.

One spot of luck - we'd decided to finally replace our TV after many years - splashed out on an LCD only to be told it is in short supply and can no longer guarantee delivery before Christmas. Instead we were offered a much better model at a similar price - decided to accept! I like my gadgets - as those who know me will testify. My latest "toy" is the "Sonus" Pure radio - it's great as it talks to you - and the sound is excellent. We also have my pride and joy, the Pure Legato hi-fi system which is just so different to anything else on the market. I'm a big fan of digital radio so gradually making sure I can access anywhere in the house!

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?