"The fairies only left Orkney when folk stopped seekin' them" - Anonymous Orcadian
"Never be afraid to seek" - Ally

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

The Musical Interlude...

Subtitled: Messing About On The River...

Another one off Kerrang! (which is turning me into a metalhead - last night the "Just For You" section of iTunes recommended Slipknot and Korn for me, instead of the usual Coldplay!)...

Good Charlotte - "The River"...

"The Riverboat Song" by Ocean Colour Scene...

Shallow Al

I love the Channel 4 comedy "Green Wing" - and not just for these 2!

Julian Rhind-Tutt, strawberry blonde (Okay, who said "Ginger"? He is NOT ginger!) vision of gorgeousness...

And Steven Mangan, poodle-haired ditto...

Monday, July 30, 2007

Erm... Oops...

Here I am again, feeling like a bit of a twonk...

... Of course, "Heroes" is on Wednesday night now, not Monday!

Monday...

Work's been okay... Flunky's still labouring under the misapprehension that HE's in charge while the boss is on holiday, but poor thing couldn't organise an orgy in a knocking shop.

It's been a reasonably bonny day, so I decided I would walk back up the road to the office after I'd covered the shop at dinnertime. This, however, was harder work than it should have been, as the wind was head-on for most of the walk. Not that it was blowing a gale or anything, just it was blowing more than I expected when I decided on the nice, sheltered street that walking up was a good idea.

The rest of the afternoon's been uneventful as well.

I'm still at work... not that I'm working (as you can tell) - I've done the till up here for tomorrow, and now I'm going to walk down to the shop (hopefully with the wind at my back this time) and do the till there for tomorrow.

Then off home for something to eat and set the vid for "Heroes" (coz I've still not watched the first 2 episodes I taped last week).

Well, I guess I'll toddle then. See ya tomorrow!

The Weekend...

Saturday... As I alluded to in my "Musical Interlude" post on Saturday, I had to start work at 8am since the boss is on holiday, and I had to open up. It was a pretty quiet day for the most part, with very little challenge or excitement.

Come 5o'clock I did the till ready for Monday morning, and hot-footed it down town in a taxi for a well-earned coffee and poke o' chips (well, I'd been stuck in the office ALL DAY, with only a mangy sandwich and bar of chocolate). Then I had to go to the shop and do the till there, which meant counting out £176 in change coz our shopgirl had decided it would be a good idea to offload some change from the sports club she's treasurer of (grrrr)! What should have been a 15 minute job took me 3 quarters of an hour (double grrrr)!

Then was the usual shopping, home for tea (tin of beans & sausages on toast - nothing like a bit of comfort food), and stick on a DVD - "The Corpse Bride", which was excellent.

Sunday... Erm, I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I did nothing at all of any consequence on Sunday. Did a load of washing, made my dinner, and besides that, I slept, cuddled the cat, and watched TV. Well, Sunday is my one day of rest!

A Peedie Bit O' Orkney...

The rich, fertile land of Orkney, and the seas surrounding, produce food that's exported all over the world and enjoyed in top restaurants in the UK and much wider afield.

I'll deal with others yet, but start with possibly the oddest - the North Ronaldsay Sheep, which live on the northernmost of Orkney's islands.

"Sheep?" I hear you say, "What can possibly be odd or prized about mutton?"

Well, these sheep are not normal run-of-the-mill, wandering about in fields, sheep... for at least part of the year, they live on the shore around the island, kept there by a 6-foot-high drystane dyke (or wall, for the benefit of those of you who wouldn't know what a drystane dyke was if you tripped over one), and they live on seaweed... which (so I'm told, coz I've never eaten North Ronaldsay lamb or mutton) gives their meat a very distinctive, and much sought after, flavour.

And why do the sheep get shunted on to the shore? Quite simply, North Ronaldsay's not a big island, and good grazing land is at a premium.

The sheep have evolved in several ways to cope with their environment... for instance, instead of eating during the day and ruminating at night, these woolly beasts eat twice a day, at low tide, and digest in between.

Their wool is also highly prized, and lots of products knitted in North Ronaldsay wool are available.

Shallow Al

Actor Marc Warren - always plays the bad guy...


Ooo... he's a baddie, but a goodie! Those eyes are incredible...

The Musical Interlude...

Subtitled: Hush... Don't Tell Anyone...

All American Rejects - "Dirty Little Secret"... Love the video...

No Doubt - "Don't Speak"...

That bit at the start with the maggots in the orange still makes me squirm...

Saturday, July 28, 2007

A Peedie Bit O' Orkney...

A piece of Orkney folklore, or a Famous Orcadian... you decide...

Janet Forsyth - The Storm Witch

The story of Janet Forsyth dates from the 17th Century and whether the tale is fact or fiction is up for question. However, we begin in 1627 in Westray, when Janet was a young girl and in love with a local lad, Benjamin Garrioch.

Benjamin and some friends set off one fine day on a fishing trip going against Janet's wishes. In fact she had had a dream the night before that there was to be a mishap at sea and begged Benjamin not to set to sea.

Shortly after the men had set sail a thick fog engulfed the island and the Westray Firth, and Benjamin and his friends never returned. The local islanders pinned the blame on Janet and branded her a witch, saying that through her magical powers she had made the fog descend. Janet was heart-broken that she had lost Benjamin and shut herself away from the community.

All subsequent storms were blamed on Janet, and the suspicion grew so much that if there was any misfortune at all in Westray, Janet was the culprit.

A few years later, there was a ship spotted off the coast of Westray struggling in the bad weather. Janet without any help from the rest of the islanders set sail to try and help the ship. She managed to board the vessel and guide it through the waters into Pierowall Bay.

The islanders considered her actions to be those of an enchantress and she was put on trial in Kirkwall two weeks later. The judge ruled that she was indeed in a witch and sentenced her to death.

Throughout the trial a crowd had gathered to watch the proceedings, and once the judge had passed his verdict Janet turned and saw Benjamin standing there in a naval uniform. She reportedly screamed, "Save me, Ben!" as she was taken from the court.

The next day when she was sent for, she was no-where to be seen and it appeared she had escaped.

She was never heard from again until a few years later a local who was in Manchester saw a shop with the name "Benjamin Garrioch", upon further investigation he found that the women serving behind the counter was Janet!

What had happened was that on the day the fog came down, Benjamin and his friends had met a man, who press-ganged them into joining the navy. The day that Janet had been on trial, their ship was sheltering in Kirkwall from bad weather and they had gone to see the witch trial.

Benjamin upon realising it was actually Janet on trial, got the jailers drunk, freed her and they both fled to England.

Story taken directly from
www.ancestralorkney.com/ - Go and take a look... Who knows - you might discover Orkney connections you never knew you had!?

Shallow Al

Um, I don't fancy my chances with this one...

Rufus Wainwright


Sigh... why are the best ones always gay?

The Musical Interlude...

Subtitled: Ain't Nobody Here But This Chicken

It's 8:30am and I'm at work already. The boss is on holiday and I'm stuck here until 5pm without even the Saturday boy to keep me company for a couple of hours... I can't even escape at dinner time.

"Alone" by The Bee Gees...

Roy Orbison - "Only The Lonely"...

Among the rejected possibilities (as I was looking through "The Guinness Book Of Hit Singles") for this were:

Stereophonics - "More Life In A Tramp's Vest" (no decent video on YouTube)
Celine Dion - "All By Myself" (not a chance!)
Slim Whitman - "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" (ditto)
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel - "Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)" (customers don't usually have that effect on me)

Friday, July 27, 2007

A Peedie Bit O' Orkney...

Two of our ancient monuments again tonight (Don't worry, it'll be a while before I run out of them to show you!) - a couple of circles of standing stones, or henges...

It's believed that they would have been used by ancient druids for rituals, probably linked with the summer and winter solstices, or would have certainly had some ceremonial uses - animal bones have been found around the rings, giving evidence of ancient sacrifices.

Standing Stones O' Stenness

The older of the 2 circles (although it's actually more sort of elliptical), now consisting of only 4 upright stones, but these are considerably taller than those of the nearby Ring O' Brodgar - up to 19 feet!

More information here, courtesy of Orkneyjar: Orkneyjar: Standing Stones O' Stenness

(Credit to www.allfivesenses.com/ for the image - come to Orkney and learn the ancient stone age survival skills of making fires, etc).

Ring O' Brodgar


More complete than the Standing Stones, this consists of a true circle, 104 metres wide, and originally contained 60 megaliths. Today, only around about 30 of these stones remain. The stones vary in height from about 7ft to just over 15ft - imagine trying to put those into place without the assistance of a JCB!

More information from my bible here:
Orkneyjar: Ring O' Brodgar

A Plea...

To the record-buying members of the Great British public:

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE stop buying that bloody "Umbrella" (ella, ella, ella) record by Rihanna!

How the hell has it been number one so long? It's not THAT good...

Shallow Al

Alan Rickman - loved him as the Sheriff of Nottingham in "Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves", and secretly wanted him to win.

And really love him in "Truly, Madly, Deeply".


Not so sure about him as Snape in the Harry Potter films though!

The Musical Interlude...

Subtitled: On The Inside Looking Out (coz I'm at work, and the sun's beaming in through the window, turning my new little rubber duck (don't ask) that changes colour with heat from purple to pink)...

Another gem from Kerrang! that I spotted last night. Don't know if this is a new song, or an older one, but I'd never heard of it or the band before... and I love the video...

Stone Sour and "Thru Glass"...


And "On The Beach" by Chris Rea (coz it's where I'd rather be, passing the time exploring)...

LOL... every time the sun goes behind a cloud for any length of time, my duck goes purple again - at the moment he's two-tone!

Timewarp Again Again

I forgot another one last night:

10. (9's in a comment) I had a few things out the back of the house for the local authority to take away to dump (including an old TV that Minnie was using as a seat). Well, yesterday they came, and took it all away - but they did too efficient a job and took away the garden bench that the TV was sitting on (despite being told by the woman in charge of them NOT to) and they took away a really old sack barrow that wasn't quite antique, but was probably upwards of 50 years old.

They took them direct to the dump, and have gone on holiday for 3 weeks now, so there's no way to get them back.

So, if any of the family had a hankering for that sackie barrow, it wasn't my fault!

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Let's Do The Timewarp Again...

Contrary to what the calendar says, today is NOT the 26th of July (bad luck to my sister, whose birthday it would've been)... today I, at least, have time-warped back 12+1 days to Friday the 12+1th!

What's gone wrong today? Let's see...

1. Slept in AGAIN, only wakening up when the boss texted me at 25 past 9. Dashed about getting ready and couldn't let the cats in coz I didn't have time to feed them.

2. Left for work at 20 to 10, with my last 17p in my purse, and got the taxi to take me to the bank on the way so that I could pay them - and didn't I pick the bank whose hole in the wall was "TEMPORARILY OUT OF SERVICE". I then had to dash across the road to the next one and, of course, it had a queue.

3. Went to get something to eat at about 11am from the shop up the road from work and spotted a box of toffee and pecan crumbly biscuits in among other types - all of which were priced at £1.65... Expensive for biscuits, I thought, but they were kind of "home-made" looking, so I bought them - and of course, they were more expensive... £2 bloody 45p! But by that time she'd rung them up, and it was too late. So now I've got a box of biscuits that are too damn expensive to eat!

4. Had to cover the shop at dinnertime, and the weather was quite nice when I left, so I left my coat behind, and planned to get a coffee and walk back up to work after. Nope - when I was in the shop, the black clouds rolled in, and it started to rain!

5. After I was finished in the shop, I dashed out into the (not too heavy - yet) rain. Got one or two bits, hurrying between shops as the rain got heavier. Got my coffee, and a bit of toffee cake for tonight, and then I had to go to the pet shop for something for the cockatiel. Came out the back of the shop I was in, and the rain was dancing off the car park - so poor Paddy had to do without his seed sticks coz there was no way I was venturing further in a short-sleeved top!

6. Was clearing stuff out the fridge tonight when I dropped a bottle, which smashed the glass shelf above the vegetable bit. Took the vegetable bit out (thankfully, with only bottles in it) to clear out the glass, and underneath it was a pool of water, which came out all over the clean floor!

7. I've burnt the bit of gum just behind my upper front teeth on a pizza I had for tea, and it hurts. Gave it a gentle prod with my finger, and I definitely tasted blood.

8. My "yummy" bit of toffee cake was a bit burnt under the creamy icing, so I had to leave a bit of it.

Please, god, nothing else can go wrong today!


So you can see why this is officially "Friday The 12+1th" all over again!

The only bright spot on the horizon is that the boss buggers off on holiday tomorrow for 10 days (yay!), but even that has a down side, coz I've got to do the tills for both shops and they'll either need to be done after 5pm, or before opening the next day. And I've got to cover the shop over dinnertime every day... meaning I won't get a proper dinnertime myself... and I've got 10 days alone with an all-singing, all-dancing Flunky, who I've got to resist the temptation to murder horribly.

Wish me luck!

A Peedie Bit O' Orkney...

Repeating myself a bit, but here's today's "Giddy Limit" cartoon strip from The Orcadian newspaper:


And just in case you can't read it very well, here's the link to it on The Orcadian website:
The Orcadian: Giddy Limit no.100

Shallow Al

Two good reasons to watch "Heroes" (other than the fact it's BRILLIANT) - the Petrelli brothers!

Peter, played by Milo Ventimiglia...

And Nathan, played by Adrian Pasdar...

I think Adrian Pasdar's my favourite of the 2 (coz he's playing the "bad" brother) - unless you're talking Fergie's video for "Big Girls Don't Cry", starring Milo Ventimiglia with ponytail and tattoos... I think they add to his charms!

The Musical Interlude...

Subtitled: Time For Some Sax...

These tunes have nothing in common, except a great saxophone part.

Hazel O'Connor and "Will You?" - I remember having this on a "Greatest Love" (or something like that) double tape (ask your parents) I bought once from a sale in Woolies... I think it only cost about 99p...

"Lily Was Here" by Candy Dulfer & Dave Stewart from The Eurythmics (looking very cool and moody in the video)...

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

D'oh!

Here you go... here's what Flunky's been driving us crazy singing for the last 3 days!

Shallow Al

As hinted at yesterday, today's work of art for your apreciation is Red Hot Chili Peppers' singer Anthony Kiedis... Cor...

Tragically, I chose a fully-clothed shot, so you can't see his fine set of tattoos...

Plus the fact you wouldn't kick that stomach out of bed, would you?

Whew... I feel a flush coming on...

A Peedie Bit O' Orkney...

Kirkwall is very lucky to have the ruins of not 1, but 2 impressive palaces across the road from each other, and across another road from the side of the Cathedral.

First, The Earl's Palace, started in 1600... which must have been beautiful in its day, but hides a bloody and cruel history.

Read about it here:
Orkneyjar: Earl's Palace

Then, the older of the two - The Bishop's Palace, built in the mid-12th century for Bishop William the Old...

Orkneyjar.com have a wonderful history you can read here:
Orkneyjar: Bishop's Palace

The picture above shows the interior of the palace, with the spire of the Cathedral visible over the walls.

Set into the exterior wall of the palace is a closed archway, which at one time stood across the street between the 2 palaces, and which gave the street its name - Watergate.

The Musical Interlude...

Subtitled: The Greenest Grass?

Red Hot Chili Peppers and "Otherside"... I don't remember this video, but I really love it (saw it last night)...

And back to the times of Free Love with The Doors and "Break On Through"...

LOL... I didn't actually realise the implications of my subtitle with the "Free Love" mention - I meant the grass that grows in fields and gets eaten by sheep!

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Suck It & See...

Monday... was a bit of a change from the normal, but not necessarily a good change. I was at work in the morning, covered the shop over lunchtime, and then wandered up to the doctor in the beautiful sunshine because my ruddy cough's still here - and those tablets I got a month ago for "seasonal asthma" did no damned good at all. So, perhaps this asthma's not so seasonal after all? This time I've got an inhaler to puff on twice a day, but no mention of going back once it's done... Don't worry though - it's not serious, breathless, life-threatening asthma... It's just an annoying cough and slight wheeze that won't go away...

Anyway, I didn't go back to work after being at the doc and picking up my prescription, since it was coming on 4pm by that time. I wandered down the street to my brother's and he took me home. Had my tea, and sat down to watch half an hour of telly before I came upstairs to blog... and that was more or less me til this morning. I must have been asleep about 9pm, and don't really remember anything else!

Today... started about 7am, when I woke all nice and refreshed, to the dulcet tones of Minnie the cat wanting in! I tried to ignore her, but she's got a meow that's not designed to be ignored. Got up, let her in, and made myself a coffee - which I went and laid down with again for a while - desperately trying to ignore the dulcet tones of Minnie wanting back OUT again! (Grrr).

Got up about half past 8, because I had an appointment at the Citizens' Advice Bureau just before 9:30am. Got through there pretty quick, went and got another coffee (sorry, Viki) and walked up to the office in the sun.

Work was pretty boring... and I had to own up to a mistake I'd made - which unfortunately meant owning up to Flunky, coz it affected him, so I had to suffer him humming "The Muppet Show" theme to me for the rest of the day... Still, it made a change from "Spiderpig, Spiderpig, does whatever a Spiderpig does", I guess! Anyone want a Flunky? Going cheap? And he's house-trained... nearly...

Counsellor tonight. Was good.

Before I came up here, I watched Kerrang! for a while, and they had "Red Hot Chili Peppers: Top 20" - Bet you can't guess who's going to be in the "Shallow Al" feature tomorrow?

A Peedie Bit O' Orkney...

Tonight a shameless plug for 3 of our local alcohol producers, all offering online ordering if you're a whisky lover, wine buff or real beer nut...

First, The Orkney Wine Company for lovely wines made from ingredients such as carrot, cranberry, rhubarb, elderflower, and lots more. I thoroughly recommend their Black Portent - a port-type wine, which is absolutely gorgeous...

Then, Highland Park Distillery - one of the finest single malt whisky producers (if you're into that sort of thing - unfortunately, I can't stand whisky, but I'll give them a free mention anyway).

And, if beer is your drink of choice, then Orkney Brewery is the place to go... there's not much of a site there at present, but there is a phone number to order beers (the last 3 digits are missing in the address, but it's probably the same as the head office number. Again, I'm not a beer or stout fan, but my Dad gave them a very high rating when he was alive, and liked an occasional bottle. Their beers have wonderful names like Skullsplitter, Dark Island, The Red McGregor and Northern Light.

Remember, drink responsibly, and cheers!

ps. Mine's a Black Portent, ta.

For Viki...

Something "better" for you to look at...


;-D

Shallow Al

Here we go... the one that my friend Viki has been dreading me posting!

She can't believe I'd fancy someone so "old and wrinkly", but as I said, "If the Devil's anything like he played in "The Devil's Advocate", then you can sign me up for Satanism right away!"

Ladies and Gentlemen, "Wrinklyguy" - otherwise known as Mr Al Pacino! (swoon!)


But I didn't like him when he was younger - circa "The Godfather"... It's only really since "Scent Of A Woman" that I started to notice his charms.

Just, what the hell did they do to him in "Ocean's 13"!? It's like they were afraid his cragged good looks would overshadow Messrs Clooney, Pitt, et al...!

The Musical Interlude...

Subtitled: Monkeying Around

Inspired by two songs I've heard this morning... the first on Kerrang! as I was getting ready for work...

The Bloodhound Gang and "The Bad Touch"...


Then, the song that the taxi driver was playing this morning - AND SINGING ALONG TO! - "Apeman" by The Kinks...

Sunday, July 22, 2007

The Rest Of The Weekend

Well, I managed to escape work about quarter past 4, and headed off to Starbucks for an eagerly-awaited coffee before heading grocery shopping. Grabbed my takeaway coffee and then off to my brother's. Watched a bit of telly with him, then time to shop.

After getting my messages, it was home, put them all away, check the lottery numbers (nothing, as usual), bung my pizza in the oven and pour a glass of wine, before looking for a DVD to watch.

In my searching, I came across my (still sealed) copy of "Steven King's IT", and I was feeling sufficiently brave and in the mood for something not funny or romantic that I decided to take my courage in both hands and watch it (which I haven't since it was on TV for the first time!).

"I am eternal, child! I am the eater of worlds... AND OF CHILDREN!"


I thoroughly enjoyed it! Yes, there were bits that still made me shriek and grab the cushion to hide behind like a girl, but it wasn't as scary as I remembered... and I just love Tim Curry as Pennywise the Clown!

The worst bit was when my sister phoned me just at a scary part! I leapt feet!

Today's been a really lazy day... watching telly, sleeping, and cuddling with Harriet the cat... who's been in a really soppy mood - lying on my chest, with her head hard against my cheek, and purring like a tractor!

Well, I'll go bugger off to bed now - back to the evils of work tomorrow!

A Peedie Bit O' Orkney...

A couple of the many species of breeding and visiting birds of Orkney tonight...

Firstly, a very rare bird - almost extinct in Scotland, save parts of Orkney, the Western Isles and Inner Hebrides - the Corncrake (known by its "crake, crake" call)...


A very shy bird, that likes to hide and nest in long grass, and has been almost wiped out by modern farming... but is slowly regaining in numbers, it would appear...

This story's from a few years ago, but we can only hope the numbers continue to increase:
BBC Scotland: Corncrakes Return?

Then, the colourful and clown-like Puffin or "Tammie Norrie", which will be breeding on clifftops in various parts of Orkney right around now.


Birsay is a good place to spot either of these birds, but you're more likely to spot a Puffin than the elusive Corncrake!

Shallow Al

Another 2 "unconventional" Phwoars...

Eddie Izzard... especially with the little goatee... Gorgeous, and funny too...

And Tim Curry... starting with my first introduction to him, and what started me off thinking he was hot - as Frank-n-Furter (see, I told you "strange") in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show"...

And even as he got older (and ditched the suspenders & make-up), he's still not bad...

The Musical Interlude...

Subtitled: Busy Doing Nothing

How I've spent my day.

"Lazy Sunday" by The Small Faces...

Oasis - "The Importance Of Being Idle"...

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Psst... S'me...

(Hi... I'm whispering coz the boss is out, and if he comes back suddenly, I don't want him to know what I'm up to! Well, I've got nothing else to be doing, and there's no customers coming to give me their pennies.

I'm feeling a bit better today... my tummy's only a little funny feeling now, and I've been trading emails with the friend from last night - I think things are okay there again. The irony is that yesterday was our "anniversary" - a year since we first met over an internet connection, and we spent it fighting!

The sun is nearly shining here today - I hope the weather's okay with you, but from what I'm hearing on the radio, if you're in Englandshire, it's a pretty fair bet you're getting some distinctly unseasonal weather... hang in there, folks... it can't rain forever.

After I've finished work (hopefully in an hour, because I've stayed here over dinnertime), there'll be the usual Saturday routine of shopping, then a glass or two of wine and a pizza while I curse over the fact my lottery numbers didn't come up and watch "Casualty" and a DVD of some description.

The bonus this weekend is that in my clearing up on Thursday, I found 2 bottles of wine that I'd bought for Christmas presents for family last year, and then didn't get to them. Now, I could have given them to the folk now, but that would just be insulting... so, as Mum would have said, "What they don't know won't hurt them" - and I just so happen to have chosen wine I like myself....

Right, I'm offski now, coz the boss is bound to be back any minute... Remember - you haven't seen me).

A Peedie Bit O' Orkney...

Today, the traditional straw-backed Orkney Chair... once found beside the fire in many an old farmhouse...

Orkney's quite a flat landscape in bits, and with so much wind, it is relatively treeless. This is reflected in these chairs, because wood forms a relatively small part of the chair, and would normally have used driftwood that washed up on the shore - sometimes from unfortunate shipwrecks in Orkney's strong tides and small rocky islands.

The backs of the chairs are made from oats, and the seats from seagrass, and the chairs are largely handmade. The rows of oat bundles are woven together with rope to form a very warm back, resistant to draughts.

The hooded chair above would have belonged to the man of the house, of course!

There are still traditional Orkney Chair makers working, and if I remember rightly, there are Orkney Chairs in Royal Palaces!

Shallow Al

Still with Scottish men... and possibly the strangest - although I'm not alone... I know at least one other person who'd fight me for him!

Robbie Coltrane!

The Musical Interlude...

Subtitled: Can I Help You?

I'm working today, and (in the words of Simon & Garfunkel) trying to "Keep The Customer Satisfied"...


The Wonderstuff - "It's Yer Money I'm After Baby"... Lol!

I Had All These Plans For This Post...

I was going to come on and tell you it had been a lovely sunny day today (yesterday, I guess... since it's now after midnight), and how work had been okay, and how I'd had a phone call from Lord O. at Julie's bookshop's (well, not JULIE's bookshop, but I bet she could do a better job!) party for the Harry Potter book launch, which seemed to be a great success... but then I came on MSN for a chat with another friend, and I've obviously done something to piss her off - and she let me know. I had to just say goodnight and come off before it got too much for me.

And now I've just had an upset stomach and had to dash to the loo about 10 to midnight, where I stayed for a good 20 minutes. I've still got stomach pains, and I feel sick, but I was fine before... Coincidence?

So, I'll bugger off to bed... or back to the loo again... and just say sorry to the friend in question, but hey, at least I'm being punished for my crime!

Friday, July 20, 2007

Shallow Al

Two for you tonight, and two of perhaps my more "unconventional" choices - and 2 of my Scottish choices, because a reasonable number on my list are from north o' the border. It must be something in the water up here (and also, the Scottish accent - especially Glasgow / Edinburgh area - can be really sexy).

First up, Glaswegian actor David Hayman, who plays Chief Supt Mike Walker in the "Trial & Retribution" series of dramas... I don't know what it is about him - maybe it's the scar...

And then Ken Stott, from Edinburgh this time. He plays DCI Red Metcalfe in the "Messiah" series, and took over from John Hannah to play "Rebus" in 2006.

I first saw Ken Stott back in about 1991 in "Taking Over The Asylum", a BBC Scotland drama he did with current Doctor Who, David Tennant (who will also be making an appearance in this shameful display of sexism).

See... I told you some of my choices were... less than obvious...

A Peedie Bit O' Orkney...

Tonight, another one of our wonderful prehistoric sites... which are, literally, everywhere in Orkney - we're so lucky to have a landscape so rich in ancient history.

Older than the pyramids in Egypt, and Stonehenge, we have the stone age village of Skara Brae, situated on the shore of the Bay O' Skaill in the parish of Sandwick... although it wouldn't always have been so close to the sea... storms and the sea have caused a good bit of coastal erosion in the 4,000-odd years of Skara Brae's existence.

Read more about it here: Orkneyjar: Skara Brae

It's discovery was amazing... basically, a great storm in 1850 stripped the grass off the top of a bank, and the outlines of some of the houses were exposed from where they had been buried by a sandstorm many, many years before. Excavation continued for over a century, on and off, and what's left is what we have now... but it's an on-going work to preserve this ancient site from further erosion and damage - you can see one of the houses in the picture above has been covered over, and you'll find most of the site can only be viewed from above the houses.

Below is one of the dwellings, with the hearth in the centre (and there would have been a roof of sorts, with a chimney), beds to the left and right which would have had animal skins to keep you warm, and in front is the stone dresser - way better than Ikea could do, and built to last!

Skara Brae's well worth a visit, followed by a wander on the beach.

And why not order this? A children's book, but a good read - "The Boy With The Bronze Axe" by Kathleen Fidler...
The Orcadian Bookshop: The Boy With The Bronze Axe

The Musical Interlude...

Subtitled: Pottery!

In honour of all the fools getting worked up because the last Harry Potter book is finally launched tonight, and all the great secrecy and stupidity, here's my take on the matter... I mean, come on... it's only a bloody book! Is it really necessary for all the cloak & dagger stuff to get the books to the shops? And all the carry on over who dies - No one... IT'S A BOOK! IT'S NOT REAL!

Julie, I hope your launch party goes well and lots of idiots... sorry, fans... come and buy the book... It's nearly over now, hunny...

The Sundays and "Here's Where The Story Ends"...

The Futureheads and "Skip To The End"... Listen to the start of this - It's quite appropriate...

Oh, and I know who's dead.... It's Moaning Myrtle...

For His Lordship...


I hope you can read what this says, but just in case you can't... It says...

Hippo Birdie Two Ewes
Hippo Birdie Two Ewes
Hippo Birdie Deer Ewe
Hippo Birdie Two Ewes!
Happy Birthday, Splott - The card's going in the post today, I promise... I hope it'll hit Taunton on Saturday... and the present will come, but I need some time to look around and get something good...

Birthday hugs, hun... Keep smiling! x

Thursday, July 19, 2007

I Am A Domestic Goddess.... Not!

But more of that in a minute... let's get the how I slept / work thing over with first...

I got to sleep earlier last night than the night before - it was 4am instead of 5! But at least I managed not to sleep in today. Work (as you may have gathered from my morning post) was boooooooooooooooring. See, that's the problem with being up-to-date... you sweat and struggle to get there, then you have a few slow days where there's no new stuff coming in, and you're left twiddling your thumbs.

Now, here comes the domestic goddess bit... For the last few Thursday nights, I've been having some help come in to give me a hand sorting through Mum & Dad's stuff, and helping take it away for dumping. Don't get me wrong, I loved Mum & Dad, but Dad in particular was a hoarder, and there's a good few years worth of junk around the place that was kept "in case it was valuable". And between his books, and Mum's ornaments, there's a LOT of stuff to be dumped. So, that's what I was doing after work tonight... going through old letters and the like and dumping them, and getting rid of some of their clothes - which I'm dumping. I know charity shops need clothes, but Orkney's a small place, and I'd hate to walk down the street and see some woman wearing a coat that looks familiar and thinking "I wonder if that's Mum's?"... I'm sorry, I just couldn't do it, so it's better to dump it all.

And then, when my helper went away, I learnt a valuable lesson - I started to make my tea (just microwave spag bol), and I was going to fry some diced bacon to give it a little extra flavour... but I went to the loo first, and changed out of my top I'd been wearing while working... and then I came back to the kitchen - and realised that I'd sprayed the frying pan with some of that spray-on cooking oil... and left it on the cooker at 6! Thankfully there was no fire, and not much smoke, but the oil in the pan was nearly black and it was HOT! I dashed to the sink with it and shoved it into the washing bowl of water, and it sizzled and steamed like buggery! But, hey, the pan was okay.

And I'm having one of those spells where all the electrical & technical gizmos around me are packing up - today I had to get a new hoover, coz I've got 2, neither of which work worth a damn, so they've been chucked... and I've been wondering why NOBODY has phoned me on the landline for the last month - not even someone trying to sell me anything! Well, it transpires I'm not a Gilly-No-Mates after all... the ringer of my phone's not working...! But, these are the joys of working for an electrical shop - I got a digital cordless phone, and a new hoover (I say "got" - I paid for the phone (less £5 staff discount), and the boss owns a little more of my soul until I can afford to pay for the hoover).

And these things come in 3's... Do you remember the saga of my fancy LG Chocolate phone? The one that cost £250 (or a bit more of my soul) and then had to go away to be repaired because the cable in the slide mechanism was dodgy and the screen kept going funny? And sometimes people could hear me, but I couldn't hear them? Well, I've now had it just little over a year, and the fucking screen's going blank and breaking up on me AGAIN! I'm telling you, folks, I like the phone... I really want to say it's perfect, coz it's sleek, sexy, thin and has the fancy touchpad which I really like now I'm used to it... but I don't think I'd have an LG again. What's the use of having a sexy little phone if it's not reliable? I think next time I need a new phone, I'll go back to Nokia. Their cameras in the phones might be shit, but at least the phones themselves work.

Well, it's later than this post says it is, and you're bound to have had enough of me waffling on today... so I'm going to bugger off to bed soon... after I've done one little job for a certain Lord O.

Cheerio!

Shallow Al

A new post, named in honour of the film "Shallow Hal" - the one about the guy who was obsessed with looks until he was hypnotised... you know the one I mean?

Well, I'm shallow... I appreciate the male form - quite a lot of male forms, if the list of actors & singers, etc. I made last night is anything to go by... These are the guys I look at in something and that little voice in my head goes "Phwoar".

However, it's also occurred to me that perhaps some of my choices are a bit... well... unconventional (if the startled reaction of people who go "YUK!" when I tell them is anything to go by). So, because of that, I've spent the last couple of hours trying to get one of those little "5 star rating" widgetty thingies into blog posts so you could tell me if I'm right or wrong, but I bloody well give up. I'm not technically-minded, and all this html stuff just goes right over my head! So, if you want to laugh at my taste in famous totty, you can do it by comment.

First on my list (not necessarily FIRST, these are in no particular order) is Foo Fighters' lead singer, Dave Grohl...


Now, you have to agree with this choice, surely? There's a Queens Of The Stone Age video a bit further down, and he's playing the drums - and even pounding hell out of them, he looks hot.

And it's not just the fact he's gorgeous... he's talented (drummer, guitarist, singer, songwriter), effortlessly cool, and when I've heard him on the radio, he's been witty, cool and... and... and I'm trying to think how to say he seems so nice, without using the word "nice". Oh, and you can't see them here, but he's got those tribal swirl tattoos on his arms & shoulders... and I love good tattoos on a guy (GOOD tattoos... not "Mum" and an anchor!)

So... am I right?

ps. some of the guys featured in this feature will be former phwoars, and some current phwoars... the former ones I've grown out of... Dave Grohl wasn't a former phwoar - I don't think I was really aware of existence when he was in Nirvana... and looking back at some of the photos from then, I'd say he's definitely got better with age!

A Peedie Bit O' Orkney...

Today's "Giddy Limit" cartoon strip from our local paper - It made me laugh so much!


See more about the artist, characters, etc. at The Orcadian Newspaper: The Giddy Limit,where you can download wallpapers and see some of the other strips in the archive.

The Musical Interlude...

Subtitled: In The Days Of The Cavemen...

This was played on Kerrang's music channel this morning (which I've taken to watching, coz in the middle of the night they do music videos with sign language, and it's hysterical to watch!)... Queens Of The Stone Age (with Dave Grohl from The Foo Fighters on drums... sighhhhh...) and "No One Knows"...

What's going on? I thought your music tastes were meant to moderate as you got older? I mean, I'm 33... in 15 years I should be hurrying down to the local music shop for the latest Daniel O'Donnell CD! (Promise me you'll shoot me if I do). I'm suddenly getting into louder and heavier stuff... I was never into AC/DC or anything like that when I was young, but now I like My Chemical Romance and stuff like the above. The funniest thing about that is when I bought "American Idiot" by Green Day from our local supermarket... the 18 year-old wannabe emo on the checkout looked at the CD, looked at me, and gasped "YOU like Green Day?" :-D

But there's still room in my music collection for things like this - Was (Not Was) and "Walk The Dinosaur"... I guess you could call my tastes eclectic!

I'm Boooooooooooooooooooored!



The boss is out, my work is up to date, and I'm bored...

Somebody send me a comment please, just to give me something in my in-box rather than spam for Wondercum and Megadik and cheap software like I'm getting at the moment...




(ps. if anyone wants any of the above, I'll send you the links... for a small fee...)

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

I Spoke Too Soon!

"I'm actually in quite a good mood all things considered"

Not any more, I'm not... It seems I've caught "Misery" from listening to that Soul Asylum track, coz I seem to have come down with a severe dose of "can't be arsed"...

Mind you, it didn't help that I didn't get to sleep until 5o'clock this morning (that's right... that's when I FIRST got to sleep) and then I slept in... AGAIN... for the second time in less than a week... My boss' text (simply "?") woke me up at 20 past 9 (luckily he was in a good mood). In fact, I've just looked back, and it was 20 past 9 on Friday morning as well!

Work's been not that busy the last few days... which means that I'm pretty much up to date, and killing time doing all the boring jobs that I've been putting off (my filing trays are now virtually empty)... I wish I could take a few days off, but Flunky's on holiday this week, so I can't even do that.

Walked down the road after work, as far as the harbour area and my brother's. There's a replica Viking longboat in at the pier just now... full of Norwegians, having crossed the North Sea on the route that their predecessors would have taken hundreds of years ago. However, it's a fair bet that the ancient Vikings wouldn't have arrived under tow like this lot did! The intention was to sail across, but the winds weren't favourable - I wonder what Thor The Ugly or whatever would have made of that centuries ago...

Thor: Right, we're going over to Orkney for a spot of rape and pillage... who's coming?
Sigurd: Sorry, Thor... I've just seen the forecast, and the wind's no good for Orkney.
Thor: Bugger. Oh, well... who's for a can of Carlsberg and a game of backgammon?

I meant to take my digital camera with me today so that I could take photos, but I kind of forgot in the rush this morning (I went from horizontal to out the door in the space of about 15 minutes - apologies to the cats who got booted out without any breakfast). My brother was planning to take some photos, so hopefully he'll email a couple to me so that you can see it.

Well, it's now 20 to 1... I've pottered about all evening playing spider solitaire, then terrorising a few poor defenceless Chuzzles, and I've done a couple of jigsaws on the computer... as well as dipping in and out of SN - which I'm going to have a last dip into, and then bugger off to bed...

Ta-ra!

A Peedie Bit O' Orkney...

... will return probably tomorrow, when I can be arsed to think of something to feature and then to go looking for pictures and information...

The Musical Interlude...

Subtitled: Always Look On The Shite Side Of Life...

(Okay, this could give you the impression that I'm on a bit of a downer, but I'm not - honest... I'm actually in quite a good mood all things considered, but I was desperate to post this song since I heard it again while watching "Clerks II" at the weekend) - Soul Asylum and "Misery"...

I downloaded that off iTunes last night (other internet download sites are available... some of them even legal! ;-D) and listened to it on a loop what must have been 14 or 15 times, singing along... Do you do that? Find the song that is perfect for whatever moment you're in at the time, and then just listen to it over and over and over again? (Just me then...).

And Theaudience (fronted by Sophie Ellis-Bextor... who I think looks, and sounds, different here... I actually like this better than her solo stuff - a case of not improving with age, perhaps? What do you think?) and "A Pessimist Is Never Disappointed"...

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

A Peedie Bit O' Orkney...

It's a big week in Orkney's second town this week... the annual STROMNESS SHOPPING WEEK, a week long gala, originally designed to bring commerce into a declining Stromness post-war.

It commences on the Monday, when the Shopping Week Queen is crowned (a girl from 4th, 5th or 6th year at Stromness Academy), along with her attendants, page boys & flower girl, and runs to the Saturday, culminating in a fancy dress parade and dance.

There are events for young and old, including the yard of ale competition...

...doughnut eating contest for the kids, the greasy pole, raft race, fancy dress 3-legged race...

...baby contest (which a certain baby Ally won for my age group in 1974); as well as stalls, fairground rides, and much, much more besides.

There's a lot going on, and a lot of fun to be had for locals and tourists alike - it's just a shame the weather's so rotten so far this week... but that's kind of a tradition of Shopping Week!

A Peedie Bit O' Orkney... Appendix...

No, not the body part!

I just remembered I'd stuck a photo of me with the prize I won in the baby show on my Selkie's Tales blog... and here I am in all my glory!

The pictures each side of me (which I still have... somewhere...) were my prize... not the frisbee I'm clutching!

And it's thanks to my Granny I was entered at all... she disappeared (so I was told), came back and said "There you go... She's in the baby contest"... Thanks, Mum, for the faith in your youngest daughter(!)

:-D

The Musical Interlude...

Subtitled: My Hero(es)!

It's okay, there's no spoilers here... but how brilliant was last night's series finale?

Bucketheads - "The Bomb (These Sounds Fall Into My Mind)"...

And, yes, it's predictable, but it's a great song - "Heroes" by David Bowie... And, as you'll see from the video, the sun really DOES shine out of his erse! ;-D

Monday, July 16, 2007

Black Armband At The Ready...

It's the last episode of series 1 of "Heroes" tonight... sob, sob, sob...

I'm going to have to watch the re-runs on BBC2 when it starts... 25th July... Damn it, this is why I should never start watching serial dramas - I can never wait for the next episode / new series..!

So, what else is new today? Not a lot, really. Flunky's on holiday this week (no singing and dancing in the office... bliss), so it's been nice and quiet, but it does mean that the boss has only got me to take the piss out of, and that's not so good - it's more fun to sit back and watch Flunky take the heat!

It's been a slow day at work (where I am still, coz my brother's coming along in about half an hour to pick me up) - in fact, I've been able to sort through my trays on my desk, and they're now almost empty... I don't think they've EVER been empty before (and I haven't just dumped all the paperwork... it's actually filed!).

Dull and rainy here today... where's our summer gone?

Well, I'll skedaddle now and post this...

A Peedie Bit O' Orkney...

Today, one of Orkney's hidden (and protected) treasures - the tiny Primula Scotica, or Scottish Primrose (but not widely known as that here)... It grows on maritime heaths and cliff-tops, and is pretty much found only in Orkney, Caithness and Northern Sutherland.

As you can see from the photo, it is tiny, and has 2 flowering periods... one in April - May, and its main one right around now. Because of its rarity, you aren't allowed to pick them, or dig them up to transplant... stick to taking photos (if you can actually find one to photograph!).

They're a lovely mauve pink, with golden yellow centre.

The Musical Interlude...

Subtitled: The Cocktail Hour...

Edith Bowman played this as her Logical Song today, and now I can't get it out of my head - "Funky Cold Medina" by Tone Loc...

And my personal favourite (in a cocktail sense... Orkney's far too cold for the real thing) - T-Spoon and "Sex On The Beach"...

Cheers!

Sunday, July 15, 2007

That's Goodnight...

Just making a last reappearance to say "Goodnight" and say that Saturday was normal (work, shopping, video, fall asleep), as was Sunday (watch telly, sleep, lounge around, cuddle the cats).

So I'll bugger off to bed now...

Nighty-night...

Great Moments In Cinema...

And TV - Part 37

I've dragged this feature out of mothballs for one night, after watching the DVD that I treated myself to yesterday (I'd resisted buying it when it was full price, but I spotted it in Woolies about 25 past 5 for £7) - Clerks II.

Now, I loved the original, and cherished it on video for a good few years before it ever got a DVD release here... I was afraid to watch it too many times in case my VCR ate it... and was a bit wary about what the sequel would be like - would it be a stinker, a pale imitation of the first?

I needn't have worried - Kevin Smith really struck gold. The balance between juvenile humour (the Donkey Show... lol) and real grown-up emotion is spot on, and the love he has for those characters is clear to see.

So, on to the clips... and they do contain bad langauge, and some crude humour - so don't say I didn't warn you!

The Dance Number...


The Jail Scene... for me, the best scene in the film...


Oh, and special mention for the new character of Elias... LotR/Transformers Geek and God-Fearing Virgin - Pillow-Pants Scene...



IMDb Website Here: Clerks II

Why Should You Watch This Film?: Coz it's brilliant, and Kevin Smith is a foul-mouthed God!

The Musical Interlude...

Subtitled: Girl Power (with not a Spice Girl in sight)

From the new movie Hairspray, "Ladies Choice"... Thankfully John Travolta in drag doesn't appear in the video - that's just wrong...

"Just A Girl" by No Doubt...

Friday, July 13, 2007

It's That Date Again!


Once again, the 12+1th has raised its ugly head... and even before I knew what date it was, things were going wrong... I woke up at 8am, thought "Just 5 minutes more" - and next I knew, it was 20 past 9! So you can imagine the abuse and sarcasm I suffered about that all day...

But it's not fair... how come some years you only get one Friday the you-know-what, and then, like this year, there's 2 about 3 months apart (last one was April, if I remember rightly)? Even the Gregorian calendar's got it in for me!

Well, so far I've managed to avoid any further disasters, but there's still 2 hours to go before I'm safe again, so I'm ever-vigilant just in case...

Not a lot's been happening the last couple of days really.

Right... I'm going to go and save this before my computer realises what date it is and crashes!

A Peedie Bit O' Orkney...

And another coastal feature tonight, on the northern isle of Stronsay... The Vat Of Kirbister, probably the finest sea-arch in Orkney, created when the roof of an almost-circular sea cave collapsed... leaving an inlet with an archway at its seaward end.

It's easily possible to explore it by boat, or look down into it from the clifftop, but not safe to walk across the arch itself.

Beautiful, isn't it?

The Musical Interlude...

Subtitled: A Date With Disaster (or "Don't Look At The Calendar!")

De'Lacy - "Hideaway"...

"A Day In The Life" by The Beatles...

Thursday, July 12, 2007

A Peedie Bit O' Orkney...

And a bit more - as promised - on the area of Scapa Flow and Wartime developments, today focusing on The Churchill Barriers and The Italian Chapel.

In 1939, the Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Oak was at anchor in Scapa Flow (whose entry was protected by blockships that had been sunk to make access harder), when German U-Boat U-47 under the command of Gunther Prien managed to sneak undetected into the Flow and torpedo the ship, which sank with the loss of 833 of her 1,234 man crew.

In 1940, a series of 4 causeways were built, linking the Mainland to 3 of the south islands, thus making a permanent defence from the East. They were built by Balfour Beatty, with labour provided by Italian prisoners of war who were held in the area.

One of the Barriers:

The prisoners had asked for somewhere to worship, and were given the use of 2 Nissan huts on the island of Lamb Holm. And this is what they built...

Spectacular, isn't it?

Most of the interior decoration was carried out by Domenico Chiocchetti, making use of materials lying to hand... for instance, some of the ornate fittings round the lights were made from corned beef tins!

Domenico sadly died in 1999, after returning to Italy after the war (but not before helping to finish the chapel), and his widow has passed away within the last few days. They were not forgotten, and he returned a couple of times to assist in the restoration of the chapel. Orkney held them in high regard, and I believe this was returned.

The chapel is well worth a visit if you ever make it to Orkney... it really is beautiful.



The Musical Interlude...

Subtitled: Gobble, Gobble, Gulp, Gulp, Munch, Munch, Munch...

It's lunchtime, the boss is down the shop, and I've finally got some food... I was starving! So, in praise of the bacon & burst egg roll that is rapidly disappearing, here's a couple of foodie songs...

Duran Duran, "Hungry Like The Wolf"...

Weird Al Yankovic and "Eat It"... :-D

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Bedlam Centre!

That's what the streets of Kirkwall have been today - and it's all due to the fact that there were not one, but TWO cruise liners in the harbour, and one was bloody huge!

The Golden Princess, capacity 2,600, according to our local newspaper's website:

Then, the Costa Classica came in this afternoon, capacity 1,700...

Now, the population of Kirkwall is round about 6,000 at the moment - so that's it been nearly doubled today!

And, of course, what do tourists do? They wander about taking photos of anything and everything (I witnessed one American drag his wife so he could get her to link arms with 2 police that were standing outside Woolies while he took her photo!)... they stop in the middle of the street... and generally slow you down while you're trying to get from A to B through the main street - which is not wide!

I was at the office today, with a spell in the shop over dinnertime, and I watched them go by the window in droves (not coming in, I guess pens and pencils aren't high up on a tourist's shopping list of souvenirs)... then came time I had to venture out among them and try to get something for my lunch - and it was like trying to swim against the current! In the end, I went back to the office early, because they were doing my head in.

It's not even been a bonny day for them all... it's been misty and drizzly and grey. Well, I guess you don't come on a cruise by Orkney for the weather!

I don't understand cruising either (not THAT kind of cruising... get your minds out of the gutter - this is a respectable blog)... to me, boats are a necessary evil, to be avoided at all costs... not somewhere where you pay hundreds and thousands of £s or $s to be trapped for 2 weeks or whatever. What about you lot? Would you go cruising? (Look, I've already told you... not that cruising!).

Not a lot else to report today, so I reckon I'll have a game of Spider Solitaire and shuffle off to beddy-byes...