Proper Followers

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Goosed!...

BOXING DAY.
It's Boxing day and I'm well and truely goosed. I woke up this morning with a streaming cold. It was only a few weeks ago when I said that since I gave up smoking, I hadn't suffered from so much as a sneeze. Then earlier this month I came down with that horrible 24 hour thing, I felt terrible, I was either too hot or too cold. This time I don't feel so bad but I'm aching all over and my nose and eyes are streaming. In short, I'm well and truely goosed!
FREE RANGE.
Nicola said she wanted a simple Christmas dinner this year, eventually choosing free-range chicken. No problem, I told her and went out to look for one. My looking involved a bloke in the local pub with a leather jacket. He told me he could get me a free-range goose! So, I went back to Nic and told her that the local farmer was going to reserve us one of his finest birds, specially bred for the Christmas table. Fine, she replied, I don't think I've ever had goose before!.
WHALLEY RANGE.
When the big day came, a couple of nights before crimbo, I went out in search of Farmer Giles. (rhymes with piles, as in, he's got piles of money!) I found him, drinking a large measure of brandy, in the aforementioned inn. How's my goose? I asked him, It's under the table somewhere, he replied. I cautiously lowered my head beneath the pub table, half expecting to be pecked by a live bird. No such luck! There was a single Netto carrier bag on the floor and on closer examination I discovered it contained a previously frozen duck. I couldn't get yer a goose, the farmer started to exlplain... Needless to say, I went elsewhere.
FINALLY.
I suppose the moral of the story is :Never trust a pub farmer!
Finally, it was more a case of Whalley Range than Free Range...
if you get my drift!
261206

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Just talking at you...

THE STREETS.
It's funny the way that streets change, sometimes they even change their name. I was looking for a street yesterday and it had disappeared - not completely - but nearly. It was I found, hidden behind a building site hoarding. Maybe one day, when the development is complete, the little street will be returned to the public, as a right-of-way!
THE PARAMOUNT.
I was informed today that the iconic Paramount Theatre building on Manchester's Oxford Street is to be demolished to make way for yet another corporate Head Quarters tower. The Paramount Building is better known of course as the Odeon Cinema. It closed down last year sometime and the building has been boarded up. It's sad to see all these old cinema and theatre buildings disappearing, although if you take a walk along Oxford Street, Oxford Road, Peter Street and Quay Street you will still find many clues as to where these fine buildings once stood.
BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLES.
I was reading about the uptake of the electric car within the M25. The M25 is of course the London Orbital Motorway and covers a Metropolitan area of I believe some 900 square miles. The London based daily Newspaper I was reading, mentioned that some 800 people have recently purchased a quirky battery car (their description, not mine). These little 2+2 seater jalopies are made of fibreglass and run on batteries that you can recharge from the mains. Fantastic! But it gets better, if you drive one of these ev's you get free parking in Westminster and most other London Borough's. Not only that, but you don't have to pay road tax. Insurance, is cheap as chips! and guess what? You don't need to pay the congestion charge either! Anything else? I hear you exclaim! YES! I reply. In Westminster you can re-charge your battery electric vehicle for FREE!!! at no less than 26 on street charging points.
MORE NEXT TUESDAY!

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Catching Up!...

NO NEWS?
No news is good news, or so the saying goes...
It's not that I haven't any news to impart lately, it's just that I haven't been feeling too good for a few days and all of my computer time has been taken up with Nicola's Newsletter Raw Meat. Okay, so that's the sick note out of the way. So, if you're sitting comfortably, then I'll begin.
We've just reached issue number 75 with Raw Meat and it's a bit of a landmark, as it coincides with the seventh anniversary of issue number one. We issue RM on a monthly basis but for a time while Nic was doing her MA we only did it bi-monthly, if you get my drift, or if you're some sort of mathematician that has multiplied 12X7 in his/her head and come up with a higher figure than 75.
ONLINE.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that not only is Raw Meat No.75 a landmark issue but it is also a turning-point-issue. Yes, RM#75 is the very last paper/printed/posted issue of Nic's Newsletter. From RM#76 onwards, it will only be available Online. You can take a look at it right now, just clink this link
SUBSCRIBE!
With Raw Meat, we don't really want to lose all our old paper and ink subscribers. I know that we are picking up many new readers from all round the world and that is good for Nic's writing, exposure wise. However, I feel that if the Newsletter isn't dropping in through the letterbox once a month, people will start to forget about it. That's why, we are asking everybody and anybody to subscribe to our new FREE mailing list. You can do that by simply visiting the Newsletter site at: rawprintz.blogspot.com and leaving your e-mail address in the form provided in the sidebar. Phew! I didn't know I was going to write all or any of the above until I had started! I hope it doesn't sound to advertacky!