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September 20th, 2005
08:54 pm
It's been a few months since I added anything to this. The original idea was that it would be a place where my boys and the odd friend who I've told about it, could catch up on what I'm up to and add comments. But I think it's too much like a universal group email that people send out; it's far too impersonal. And I find I leave out some things for different reasons because I can't please everyone all the time. And I wasn't getting any comments so only the cyber-ghosts would ever be looking at it.
It can be addictive. So, cyber-ghosts, I've been up to Amiens and to Villers-Bretonneux, Le Hamel and Bullecourt to visit the Australian grave-sites, do a pilgrimage and pay my respects.
Then back to Paris. It feels like a second home, there's something very attractive about the atmosphere there. It has more light, to me it feels that way anyway, than London. And seems roomier, even the Metro compared to the Underground, just seems roomier.
And work. It's more endurance than enjoyment. But, like most people, I'm there for the money. It's just, despite the people I like there, it has such a high-proportion of very stupid people. It's ok, but not brilliant, if people are stupid but nice but not so good if they've few redeeming personal qualities and are also stupid. I do despair of people at times.
To keep my weight down I've dropped out of my pub-binges. Instead, I put time into genealogy, the last time I touched it was in 1994. Nerdy stuff certainly, but I made some progress with my mysterious great-great grandfather and have gone past him and into the mystier parts of my family history. Well, it keeps me occupied. They were Mariners, which may account for their not being around for some of the Censuses, but I'm just guessing. I'll do a load of work on it and then get onto something else.
And I can't get a couple of Nick Cave tunes out of my head ...
Current Mood:  melancholy
Current Music: Stars & Nick Cave ... still
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July 12th, 2005
09:58 pm
I'm up early after a racket outside at 3.15. Two women at it which attracted a small crowd (at that time in Leeds?). The police turned up eventually and carted them off. Amazing how much noise two women can make.
I'm up early after a lot of noise outside. With the double-glazing I rarely hear anything, other than occasional sounds of the pub being re-stocked some morning. But at 3.15am there was a racket, and a small crowd. The racket turned out to be two girls having a go at each other. The crowd was made up of young couples mostly apart from three street-people ducking around like pigeons feasting on the contents of the rubbish bins and what could be picked up from the pavements.
The Police turned up, with some directions given by the street people, and actually ran to break the girls up. The crowd dispersed. The streets became completely deserted. I couldn't get back to sleep.
I went uptown after work and on the way back passed my neighbours drinking outside at my local so I stopped there for a few local bitters. Then back to the flat to update the website for last week's results.
And yes, the murderers all came from Leeds. It doesn't surprise me.
Current Mood:  tired
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July 9th, 2005
05:27 pm
Nice to have people emailing or texting to ask after me. I do go to Kings Cross from here ... no choice really from Leeds. And interesting that the texts come through on Saturday, a long delay. Mobile network must be closed down at the threat of terrorism. I was living in London when the IRA were there terrorists so it's almost like being back to normal.
Current Mood:  content
Current Music: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
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July 6th, 2005
08:56 pm
Job-hunting continues. Difficult. I'll get there eventually.
I must be one of the few in this northern city that like rain and wind. I just had the windows open to let the wind blow through. But I do like standing on cliffs during storms. I could never get my quota of wild weather in Adelaide - it is, bushfires and sharks notwithstanding, a gentle sort of place.
I like it up here, it'd be a pity to leave when I eventually do.
For those of you who remember French Nuclear Testing at Mururoa, the Rainbow Warrior and the pressure brought to bear on NZ to let the murdering scumbags go home for their medals, that was all down to Jacques Chirac. So I am delighted by recent events; Jacques publicity urges France to stop drugs coming in by closing the border between France and the Netherlands, thereby enraging the Dutch firstly by suggesting that French drug-taking is a Dutch problem and secondly for failing to realise that there isn't a border between the two countries, and managing to enrage the Belgians who do have a border with France but resent being thought of as Dutch; Jacques' support for French rural bludgers at the expense of all un-subsidised agriculture world-wide took a serious dive when the Francophone nations together with our own Don MacKinnon ganged up to oppose it; Jacques' little jokes to Schröder and Putin in a cafe about inedible and nasty English cooking was overhead and reported worldwide, embarrassing enough for tenuous Anglo-French relations as it is, and despite food at the lower-levels in England being absolutely abominable, at the level that Chirac gets to eat, England has far more Michelin-starred restaurants than France; and to be known for washing down excellent English lobster with cheapo lager isn't all that conducive to his gallic gastronomic pretensions. And I am even more delighted today by the news that Paris lost the 2012 Olympics to London, a feat I'm sure his fellow countrymen will completely blame on him. So, up yours, Jacques. God knows I've left enough messages at French embassies over the years suggesting you're not quite up to the job, or any job, as I recall. So, we may yet see Chirac cooking burgers at a McDonalds in Auckland.
Current Mood:  pleased
Current Music: Loved Ones (live tracks)
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July 4th, 2005
09:57 pm
There have been a lot of jobs coming up this past 4 weeks or so, but it's difficult to chase them up when I'm working. I come home around 2pm to make phone calls but invariably the person I want is out or doesn't want to take calls or is away or they haven't got my cv. Despite leaving details for the missing ones to ring back, not one of them yet has, and when in frustration I tell them no-one ever rings back so why take my details, they get tetchy, but of course there's never a return call. I'm only applying for those that my cv fits, and that's up to 10 a day, but I'm lucky if I can get onto one of them. When they do read it, properly, which seems to be something of which most are incapable of doing, they'll say good skills/experience/qualifications then something like 'do you have tsetsi-fly experience? or something equally unrelated' and of course, no, so 'oh, a pity, the client has said it's a mandatory'.
Needless to say, no interviews. I'm starting to wonder if it's not my address that's holding it back as the recruitment people don't have the imagination to realise there are people like me who can relocate quickly.
Current Mood:  frustrated
Current Music: Flogging Molly
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July 2nd, 2005
07:52 pm - Scarborough
I took the train to Scarborough. The castle's good, the view from there is good and plenty of good images. But equally, plenty of dire ones as well. A lot of terrible buildings. Easy to see what gems they must have replaced.
When I wandered down to the Esplanade in the early afternoon, it was full of fat people in trakkie-daks eating while they walk, so reckoned it was time to go home.
At the station, a tall boy-girl doing an amazing imitation of a transexual queen was abusing the station people ... but non-stop, an agressive queer-act from a tall, skinny black-skinned person with a buzz-cut. I needed a videocam. The mannerisms were amazing. Reminded me of something nasty I'd seen on a movie once.
The train was 'cancelled' when it got to York. But they waited until everyone at York crowded onto the train with their masses of luggage before they told everyone to get off. Then we all crammed on to a three-carriage train, people standing, that filled up to Japanese-style at Leeds. I'm convinced the train people secretly video these things, these situations they create for their own amusement, then all get together on weekends a get their rocks off watching them. The snuff-porn of train-plotters.
Bought the 2003 Sinead O'Connor double album. I'd read somewhere it was brilliant, and I wouldn't disagree.
Current Mood: impressed
Current Music: Sinead O'Connor
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July 1st, 2005
08:12 pm - Paris
Paris. Work.
Got back mid-morning on Thursday as England was fog-bound so all flights delayed.
Put my neck out again with discs popping on both sides, filled myself up with you-beaut painkillers but it got worse just as I was tucking into an entree based on pig's brains in a Corsican restaurant near the Places des Vosges - the one at Bastille. I'd taken four others there because guaranteed no tourists and it's going to be different to other food. They said I just went completely white, which I do when it's pethidine time, or morphine time - but don't the GPs in England hide under their desks at mention of the word morphine. Pity because it's less addictive than pethidine. Not that either kill the pain, just makes me care less about it.
Compound analgesics wake me weary for days after, and not helped by little sleep on Thursday morning and this morning when I woke up at three.
The owner/waitress of the restaurant was great. Someone asked for butter - non. Quite right too. She asked me about the wine, it was so-so, she gave me pseudo insulted looks. But the food, what I'd tasted, was good. The guys all enjoyed it. I must go back. If I stay with this contract (but I need more money) i'll be there once a month.
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Cake (Pressure Chief)
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June 26th, 2005
09:31 am - Scarborough
Up early to get get the 9.11am to Scarborough and as forecast, a perfect day. The trains to Scarborough run every two hours. Get to the platform, quite a few people there. Then just before the train's meant to arrive, the train's cancelled. Amazing to think they can actually cancel a train, but that's what they tell me. No reasons ... just cancelled. I get my money back with no apologies, although if they were to get motivated and actually try to apologise, I and they know it's not meant any other way than ironically.
To work for the railways here you only get the job if you can prove how much you hate your fellow humans. I've never much liked the railways as they have a long history of not working much and doing that with not much enthusiasm. After due consideration, it's time to close the railways down completely, rip up the tracks & sell the steel and the trains off as scrap, make all railways' employees permanently non-employable, concrete over where the tracks were and allow cars, motorbikes and buses to use the new super-highways with no speed limits. Some of the tracks no doubt would make good runways for light planes and that should be encouraged, to the exclusion of KLM, Air France and Afghan Airways, however, who don't seem to know how to get their planes running anymore than the rail people here can get the trains to run.
Alternatively, sell this entire country off to someone who can get it working again. To make it saleable. however, all the useless laws and legislators and administrators will have to go. Why have gender awareness officers, racial awareness officers, anti-smoking enforcement officers and animal rights awareness officers in hospitals when nurses would be more useful? No point in asking the question really as hospitals only have awareness officers now and a few nurses from the Philippines, since all the English nurses are in Australia and Australian nurses in the USA. Once the useless and the parasites are gone, perhaps to Afghanistan or somewhere else that's emotionally cuddly for them, since they seem to like it so much, the country may even start working again. But really it's not worth the effort to try doing much with it, I don't believe. I suppose one could try a long-term lease with the Americans, but I fear they'd only make matters worse. And then they wouldn't give it back. The French would be interested, as would the Spanish - they both have unresolved issues - but no-one wants Euros.
However, the Americans would certainly be up for a lease-back arrangement on the Royals, I'm sure. They just love them. So long as they pay their rental each month and house and feed them, I'm sure we'd all benefit. Someone may have to talk to the Australian monarchists first since their entire reason for being depends on the English (is there still a Britain?) monarchy actually existing. But please can we avoid talking to the Australian Republicans who just don't understand a thing about Australia. The last time those useless mongrels left the Sydney north shore was when their local bottle-shops ran out of wooded chardonnay and they had to get to the Barossa, which must have been inconvenient for them, getting their Audis out of their garages and trying to work out how to put petrol in them. Anyway, that's an issue to do with Australia, but if it wasn't for the Republicans we may actually now have a Republic. Perhaps the north-shore chardonnay-sippers could be persuaded to go to Afghanistan as well and they could really concentrate on getting this republican model of theirs up and running. I'm sure the Afghans appreciate steering committees and working groups as much as anyone.
With the palaces and castles and parks and farms and duchies and crowns and things, there'd be a lot to be made from sales and demolitions. Windsor Castle would make a great refugee camp and somewhere for the travellers to settle, since they always whinge about having no place to live.
Or alternatively, the stone could be used as roadbase for the network of super-highways created by closing down the railways. Look, it's just a suggestion.
As for crowns and tiaras and coaches and who-knows-what-else would someone tell me what they're for? Crowns and tiaras may have looked impressive, in a marketing-manager-gone-wrong sort of way, and no doubt got the peasants to take their hats off back in the heads-on-pikes days, but really, they do look odd wearing them. Not that I'd like to see the Queen or Chas wearing a baseball cap to Parliament (isn't Blair abolishing Parliament? I thought I'd read it somewhere) but someone should tell them that they don't go with spectacles. Perhaps put some lights in there amongst the rubies? Don't know, tricky one really. Advertising opportunities here I think, though.
However, as much as I may dislike the Monarchy, which I do, no prizes for guessing that really, I find myself agreeing with a lot of young Charles' views, or at least I'd like to hear him express them, rather than have Murdoch interpret them. I've always been convinced that Murdoch is the Anti-Christ and News Limited the home of his Acolytes. He'll never die, you know that don't you? If his body finally disintegrates, his soul will just migrate to someone else. The trick will be to keep him, in his final days, only amongst farm animals.
So, unfortunately, I have to go with Charles. I don't much like him, but that's neither here nor there. Everytime a Murdoch arse-wipe has a go at him, I think, Chas, I'm with you here mate.
In any event, I'm all dressed up here but with nowhere to go. Fucking railways.
Current Mood:  angry
Current Music: Thomas the Tank Engine
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June 25th, 2005
06:13 pm - Cricket
Heaven. Listening to the Cricket commentary from someone with a marvellous Yorkshire accent. Must be a local FM station. All Yorkshire accents. Great up here in Yorkshire.
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05:32 pm - Tuner
To the fitness equipment shop looking for something small and portable to tone up my chest muscles as the bar-bells won't do it. I had a chat to the bloke there who told me that I can work a range of muscles just by varying how I do push-ups - hands closer together, taking longer going down, legs on chair and so on. He used to run courses just on push-ups.
When I left there I went across the road to a hi-fi shop looking for a tuner, but nothing flash, AM/FM. I can't pick up every FM channel, and a lot I don't want anyway because of the ads, but then it stopped on a radio play, and I realised I hadn't listened to one (apart from Hitchhiker's) since I first arrived in Australia.
Current Mood: content
Current Music: something tibetan
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