My Boo

My little boy is wonderful. I love being a Mummy and Boo is a happy, content baby.

My tummy with Daddy's hands - 27 weeks

Going to see Steve Coogan / Alan Partridge!!

Hurrah! We have 5 tickets to see the man himself in October. Can't wait. It's been ages since I saw him last. 27 weeks pregnant today...only 13 weeks to go :-)
Here's me at 26 weeks.....

Radovan Karadzic & Father Ted...separated at birth??

Our clan

Family photo taken for Irene's 60th birthday...

:-)

Easter Has Been Cancelled...

Terribly sorry people, but due to unforeseen circumstances, Easter has been canceled this year.

Gogol Bordello, Norwich University of East Anglia

We saw Gogol Bordello 14th Dec....I was cheeky and asked their manager if I could have a photo pass....and she said yes! Here are a couple of my photos...

New job, new everything.

I have been offered a job in the substance misuse sector, which I had been wanting for ages. I can't wait to leave the unit I currently work on. It's like stepping back into the early 80s....very old-style care and the unit could be managed so much better. But it's not, and it seems that it will never change, so best that I leave and pick up my career from where I left it 2 years ago when I got moved here. New post is a bit out of area, but that's no problem. Lots of new changes in my life right now, and I love change.

On the move....

I've returned from Galway, Ireland. What a beautiful place. A nice place to have my baby in, too, I reckon. Slower paced than here and greener. I shall be on the move soon, keeping my forwarding address quiet. Only those who ask for my new address can have it....so ask away :-)

Alan Partridge statue for Norwich.

I am a life-long fan of Alan Partridge, and here's a lovely article about the character that's so dear to my heart:
Dip thy quill and clappeth loud...............
Alan Partridge statue for Norwich, A Fine City

Travel map

I thought I'd covered more of the globe than this.....but the map can't lie, I guess.

George Michael Wembley June 2007 free ticket hoax

I received an email today telling me I have won 2 tickets to see George Michael on June 10, 2007. However, the email curiously says not to ring Wembley as it will jam their lines. I think this is a load of Billy Bollocks, and can't be bothered to go because I don't really like George Michael..........just putting it out there that it's a hoax.

Strandhill, West Ireland

The trip to Ireland was brilliant. We went for a seaweed bath here at Strandhill, Sligo, Ireland. Highly recommended, very relaxing. The beach is a surfy area...with good reason.

Going to Ireland

Off to Ireland for a week soon. I will be staying in Sligo and visiting all the local beauty spots, like The Lake Isle Of Innisfree, Lough Gill, The Horseshoe Mountains, Easkey etc. I shall post a photo or two once home. Guinness, anyone?

Trip to Southwold

I am taking a trip to the Suffolk coast. Can't wait.
I had my teeth fixed.....there was nothing really wrong with them, but I had it done anyway.
We went to see Barenaked Ladies at Cambridge in March. Here's a photo of me with Stephen Page.............

Sign the Petition to Save Some Major English History!

A major, globally significant historic find is to be destroyed in Colchester in order to have some flats built on it. The find is of Britain's only chariot race track, which is also to 2nd largest track outside Rome. Such an amazing thing should surely be preserved and not covered in concrete. Please sign the petition:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/SaveColchesterHistory/

Your signature will count!

No Wivenhoe May Fair this year

Sadly, there will be no WivStock this year due to the council making the venue hiring rules completely prohibitive. It seems that we're on course to become a featureless, personality-less, concrete town whether the locals want it or not. Time to move away, I think.

MUNKEH!!!

Best friend munkeh

Over-talkative munkeh

Trip to Norfolk.

I drove up to see Virginie. We went to Horsey Beach where I took this photo. The snow came the next day (today).

Colchester Castle

Irene and I went out photographing Colchester yesterday. The castle looks really great at night now that they have changed the lights. Here's my picture of it............

I hate tennis elbow.

Just back from the gym. Still can't work on my arms at all because of this RSI thing. It's been 3 months now and I can't see it improving much. Lots of physio leaves me in more pain, but I think there's improvement - until I actually use my arm again :-( Then it goes back to stage 1. Isn't that Dirk Benedict a sort?

I am not a spanker!

Dave B. alerted me to the fact yesterday that an 'atomicpuppy' search on Google brings up some spankers' site.....that AtomicPuppy is not me!!! Why are so many people pinching my name and using it scurrilously? Perhaps I am going to have to change my moniker :-(

Prince is a shaved cat. Discuss.

Right, I finally have to make my point here about Prince. He thinks he's sexy, but he's not. Does anyone else in the world see what I see on the cover of 'Lovesexy' (and the merest thought of him being connected to those 2 words makes me feel queasy)??
Ok, imagine you are holding a cat in front of you with one hand, with its legs just dangling and hanging down. Cute on a cat, agreed. Now shave that cat (with your mind's eye). Still quite cute seeing as it's a cat. Now hold up the cover of 'Lovesexy' next to the cat. That's it!! Prince is a SHAVED CAT!!! Does it not make you feel sick??? To me, it's so glaringly obvious that I assume everybody thinks it, but I am finding out that this is not the case. If you have any thoughts on the matter, feel free to comment.


This entry seems to have generated a bit of a noise at prince.org for some reason. And a certain floppy-haired, girl's-voiced, Hugh Grant wannabe can kiss my @ss Jordan Thompson!!

MERRY XMAS!!

Have a good one, and a quiet Boxing day. I have to work Xmas day :-( but have Boxing day off, and will be doing the family thing. See you in the new year!!

Muse at Wembley!

Hurrah! I saw them!! And what's more, I have tickets to see them in June 2007 at Wembley, London. I have 2 spares, so if anyone wants to make me an offer, I'm listening. The tickets sold out in about 30 minutes, so get them while you can ;-)

I am in the USA

Sadly, it's nearly time to go home again and back to that horrible place they call 'work'. However, whilst I am still here in Mississippi, I shall continue to party like it's on sale for 19.99
Last week was spent in Georgia where I met some fine people and enjoyed some grand scenery. Hello to Dave Bass and Scott B. And to the others who kindly opened the restaurant at 3am and cooked specially for us until 5am. Nice touch. I will not forget those portobello mushrooms in a hurry. Nor that bruschetta.
This week has been spent in Yazoo City, Mississippi. I have lunched in Louisiana, been driven by a biker dude on the back of a Harley through the Gateway to the Delta (Tatts, Putts, Butts and Sluts....he says it's a biker thing), been to Memphis and Graceland and went to a 'charismatic church', which I assure you, was a) very charismatic, and b) an experience to remember, despite not being able to make out a word the preacher said - A-MEN! Mm-Hmmm...ah say-ud A-MAYEN!!!
Currently running a fever, but I am not letting a little thing like that stop me, no siree. With Tylenol as my guide, I shall make it through.
See y'all later.

Ricky Gervais free podcasts for 2006

Funniest man around right now. Smitten in the knees, indeed.

There will be 3 new special podcasts for free download. Hurrah!! The dates are 31st October, 23rd November and 25th December. For people not familiar with podcasts and how to get them, download iTunes. Look in the comedy section and find the Ricky Gervais casts, then hit 'subscribe'. Your pc will then download them as they're broadcast (or the next time you switch your pc on it will download them).

Or you can download them at www.guardian.co.uk/ricky
I can't wait. More banality. I have about 28 hours of this stuff downloaded, and I absolutely bluddy love it!
Have a look at the advertising pic for the podcasts. Fab isn't it? The hand holding the mp3 player and the iPod in his pocket. Nice one.

For USA fans, series 2 of Extras starts on January 14th on HBO.*

*You will regret it if you miss it.

MOOGWA!!

Hello Zak! Long time no see. How are ya? Having all manner of problems with this site. Guess I'll have to go beta soon, too. I published your comment, but it hasn't turned up here yet. This site has been down for maintenance quite a lot recently. I wish they'd put it back to how it was before they started 'maintaining' it, because now it doesn't work. I am putting off going beta because I know I will feck it up in some way and that will be that :-(
Say hi via email?? Or if you're a Skyper, giz a bell there. You'll find me under my usual AKA.

Wide Awake Club.

I have done a night shift, but have been awake since9.50am courtesy of my neighbours. The bloke, Alex, keeps making odd vocal noises and I am wondering if he has Tourette's syndrome or ADHD.

Georgia and Mississippi in November.

Almost decided where I'm going in 3 weeks time...Georgia/Mississippi. Can't put the decision off much longer or I won't be able to get a flight ticket to anywhere. I'll make a proper decision at the weekend....

RSI and Skype (in that order).

I have RSId my elbow by PUTTING UP A FLATPACK FUTON! UNbelieveable! That's my w*nking arm out of action then :-(
I have now sorted the Skype thing. Paul and I have pointless conversations using it, and just leave it on while we watch TV in our respective houses, making the odd comment on what we're watching here and there. It really doesn't get any more pointless than that.
We like technology.

Oh, and we get bored, obviously.

Attention! (...or not enough)

I have the option of going to Atlanta in November...it really depends on who vies first for my attention. I'm in need of a trip. I need to make my mind up within a week or so though, so I can get my tickets booked and sort stuff out........

Stalker dealt with.

Hopefully he will stop doing his creepy thing now.

STALKER!!

I don't like it and I think you're creepy, so stop knocking on my door late at night and at 7.25 in the morning, and stop with the 11 phone calls between the hours of midnight and 7.25am (when you woke me by stalking) or I shall....I don't know what I shall do yet, but it will involve large friends.

Long time no blog.

Life has been fairly uneventful. Big Brother 7 has got me hooked so now I have even LESS reason to go out. Pete or Richard to win.

Atomic Puppy from Colchester Google search..........

I have just done a search on my name. When I invented this name for myself some 4 years ago, there was one other entity out there with the name already (some band or other that no-one has heard of).
Now, there are loads of AtomicPuppies! There's a gay fellow who has himself listed on every dating site known to man, there is a Japanese AP, a wrestling AP, and most worryingly of all, someone has pinched my name, created themselves an email address with it and even knows my first name. Creepy or what? I have been cloned!! It must be someone who knows me, but who?

Own up.

Happy Easter!

Have a nice weekend. I'll be working :-(

Back from weekend away.

All very nice. Weather was perfect. Took this photo from the hotel window. It's Dover lighthouse.

Pampering

Jo and I are off to Kent for a pamper-weekend. This will involve a massage and sauna/steam-room girlie type of unwinding. Bart is stressing her out big time and she needs the time away. So who better to go with than ME!! We shall eat, drink, excercise-bike, treadmill, sleep and generally girlify ourselves.
The cats will have to hold their own whilst I am away.

Dennis Rodman to win CBB 2006!!

Sadly, I have become caught up in Celebrity Big Brother 2006. It currently takes up most of my waking thoughts and my mobile bill has increased due to it inveigling its way into my texting habits. Despite the above complaint, I would like to take this opportunity to say.......DENNIS TO WIN!! (Or Maggot)

Dare's More To Ireland....Dan Diss

Paul and I have been to Cork for 4 days. We visited Mallow, Skibbereen (solely because Lynn used to go there as a child) Blarney and Cobh. The weather was better than UK...which is a first for me. Blarney Castle (click on the picture---->) is still the best castle in the world. For those of you who haven't visited it, you simply must, and that's that. Having said that, dare really is more to Oireland....dan diss.

Happy New Year 2006!

I hope everyone had a good one.

Boxing Day photos

Christmas 2005

Hello, long time no blog. Christmas was adequately pleasant. Nice to be in the presence of friends and family, where people drink sensible amounts. No Christmas grumpsters either. Santa visited and, realising we're all too old for this malarky now, gave us 'token' presents...which was nice. Thank you Santa.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! (excl.) A time for resolvedly promising to start something, or give something up (generally to improve self), which lasts approximately into the middle of the second week of January.

Camping at Dunwich

Did I mention that Anne-Marie, Francis and I went camping a few weeks ago? I rather like this photo, as Anne-Marie looks so darn NAUGHTY!!
And Francis looks, curiously, like he is pecking the back of Anne-Maries head repeatedly, like a wood-pecker. He doesn't do that sort of thing usually, so why he would choose to now, I can only guess at.

Alan Partridge Monkey Tennis site

http://www.communigate.co.uk/ne/alanpartridgesociety/index.phtml
Click on that!

Ferrari Drive Day

The day was wonderful. We stopped off in Warwick the day before and went to Warwick castle. Wondrful place, but a bit on the steep side at £15 each to get in.
Anyway, the driving. I drove the 355 Challenge to start with...and wasn't THAT fab! James was brilliant and laughed as much as I did. Then I drove the 360 Spider. Finally, I got driven round the track in a Subaru Imprezza and got spun around to the point of feeling unwell by the driver. I am still buzzing from it.
Fanny took lots of photos and has now realised his abilities as a proper photographer. As a result, he has gone a bought a Nikon d50.

Ferrari drive

I have got myself a day driving Ferraris! Very excited, but nervous, too. Arno and I will be driving up there the day before and will hopefully manage to get some good photos of Stratford Upon Avon as well. 2 birds with one stone. Hopefully, Arno will get some good fast-moving shots of me in the cars ;-)

Speeding ticket

I have just received from the police a photograph of my car doing 50mph in a 30mph area. Bah! My first ever speeding ticket in nearly 20 years.

www.imagefinders.co.uk

www.imagefinders.co.uk for stock photography...both to download and for photographers to submit their work. This site's fairly new.

Jo's 40th Birthday!

Happy birthday to Jo, Happy Birthday to Jo, Happy Birthday dear Jo-o, Happy Birthday to Jo! Round of applause please.
Congratulations girl. Hope you enjoyed everything...much love from your little sister xxx

Clogs and Tulips

I have absolutely nothing to say with regard to the above topic...until I have more time.

Chiropractic

I have had my 2nd, and last for now, chiropractic appointment. Amazing how they can straighten one up so quickly. Tomorrow, I am off to Holland for a long weekend. I hope to post a photo or two of my trip when I return. Pip pip.

Keith Barret weekend

It was fun, but the show was over half an hour earlier than the Colchester show. Lots of laughs. Shame the tour's nearly over, but the poor fella must be knackered. Paul enjoyed his new lounge pants and I have photographic evidence that he wears them up to his armpits.

We're seeing Rob Brydon again!

Yippee! I spotted front row tickets on Ebay to see Rob Brydon again, this time at Croydon. Bagged 'em for £3.00 each! Can't say fairer than that.

REM world tour comes to Ipswich

Yippee! We saw REM last night at Ipswich...and weren't they good?! Michael Stipe is really charismatic and put on an excellent show. The arena wasn't packed by any means and I wonder whether that bothered them. Some pointless teenagers got off the train at Manningtree and started screaming that there was a bomb on the train. Idiots.

London Bombings

The news was awful today. 4 bombs went off in London train stations and 1 on a bus. People killed and many wounded. Horrifying.

London got the 2012 Olympic Games :-(

Well, we got the 2012 Olympic Games. Much as I love the Olympics, and think the ethos is great, I do object to £££ millions of tax payers' money being spent on what is essentially some people running round in a circle, especially when so many other things are sorely in need of the cash (think NHS and education for starters). People keep coming back at me with (put on high-pitched, whiney voice) "but the games will bring lots of revenue back into this country", but that's not entirely my point (you can stop the voice now) . They will build new arenas for running round in in our over-crowded and overly built-up little country that used to be quite pretty, because people who run round in circles or throw pointy things into fields need brand new arenas, right?? For heaven's sake, they've only just knocked down a shabby, but perfectly ok Wembley Stadium. Do we not know where to dispose of money next?
I do think the games are wonderful and it's amazing to see people reaching their potential in life, but can't they do it in a country with a bit more space, and even better, some modern arenas so the environment may last just one more day when it eventually reaches its demise due to our destructive ways? No? oh alright then.
When the council pops your council tax up by another £300 per year, just remember...the 2012 Olympics will be paid for by YOU, my friend, and ME!! BRAVO!!!

Norfolk Broads

Hello. We are just back from the Norfolk Broads. I can recommend the Woodforde's Wherry. Met some friendly locals...hello to the Berney Arms! Little Sandswallow was ever reliable.

Daily Dancer

Two 'blog entries today. This is because a) I have stumbled across the talents of one "Daily Dancer" and would like to share him with my 3 'blog readers, and b) I'm a bit bored. See how this fellow ROCKS at www.dailydancer.com . My personal favourite is the Musee Mechanique video. And I like his slippers.

Andy Williams

We went and saw Andy Williams at the Ipswich Regent last night. Voice is still superb...however, he dances like my dad. Due to see REM soon, Status Quo and The League Of Gentlemen (live)...all at Ipswich. I took this nice picture. Click on it to see Andy in his silver glory.

Batman Begins

Fanny and I went to see Batman Begins yesterday. The first half was ok, but the rest.... I'd forgotten that films could be that boring. Both of us wanted to leave, but didn't want to disappoint the other, so didn't say anything! How I endured it, I'll never know. And it's far too long. The average ADHD kid like me starts fidgeting at around 1 hour 30. We saw Mysterious Skin last week. Now THAT was an entirely different kettle of fish.

Hard drive failure :-(

My hard drive failed 2 weeks ago, but I got the new one today and managed to fit it and load windows onto it without the need to smash my pc to bits. It actually went quite smoothly. I don't want to do it all again though.

Snake in the Grass

The Levellers will be playing at Colchester Castle Park at the weekend. The festival is going by the name of The Snake In The Grass Festival. The Scoobs will be playing as well, and I think they'll out-class The Levellers (imho). Go Sally!

League of Gentlemen movie

We went last night the see the League of Gentlemen Apocalypse. I really liked it, and can't wait 'til they get it onto DVD. Then on to the Playhouse for a couple and some food. I am going to the gym today. And I must pick my car up from the garage. Needs new shocks at the front, so I'll just try and sell it. Which is a shame, as I really like it.

Gerbillion on the London underground. Grumpy looking git.

This is me, Atomic Puppy

Beer festival

We went to the 13th Colchester Beer Festival last night. Buckshee were playing (nice to see them again). All in all, a vey nice night. Bumped in to some old friends, and tried the Skippers and the Lemon. Nice to get out and about as I haven't been out properly for ages. Fanny has just played the Anglia close-out TV theme from 1984 down the 'phone at me.

Barnstaple (AKA Molly. AKA Greens) 

Fanny and Barnstaple

"My pal Fanny came round and told me that he's now calling his cat Molly, Barnstaple. Can you believe it?"

Wivstock

Today, as always, is Wivstock day. It used to go by the name of Wivenhoe May Fair, which describes the event nicely for beginners. It's usually a good day out...live music, catching some rays and generally chilling out. If John Cooper Clarke turns up, so much the better. Hurrah for JCC!

Sidney (he's sure got a purdy mouth)(Click on him and see for yourself)

This is Fat Pooh, who recently hurt her leg. Ahhh! She has a nice mouth, too. But best of all, she has 8 boobies.

31 degrees

Another fine sunny morning. Yesterday, it hit 31 c (how do you do the degrees symbol on a keyboard?)...allegedly, the hottest May since 1952 in UK. Alan's fascinating fact of the day.
Pooh continues to heal (I didn't mention that she injured her leg, but she did 2 weeks ago).

I still haven't decided whether a leather sofa is a good idea or not. The cats will pluck it, and then I will have to kill them. It could end badly.

Shopping

Shall I buy a leather sofa or not? On the one hand, comfortable, on the other, I don't feel happy with a dead cow's skin in my house.

League of Gentlemen and Rob Brydon

Just back from the dentist. All nice and shiny again.
I have got tickets to see the League of Gentlemen live at Ipswich in October. The line was busy for ages, but I got a seat 6 rows back.....which is nice.
We went to see Rob Brydon at Colchester Mercury Theatre recently...it truly was just a bit of fun!!!
Little Bart is getting nice and fat and looks more like George did at that age.
Got to get ready for work, so I'm off.
Bye.

Atomic Puppy and Rob Brydon 

Viruses (or should that be viri?).

Good morning!
I just downloaded AVG anti-virus programme from their website (do a Google search for "AVG") and it told me I had 5 viruses which had infected a total of 13 files on my pc. The viruses were "AGENT.AS", "stubby.c" and "stubby.d". After a look on the Sophos site, I found out these are trojan downloaders to do with advertising...now all safely quarentined on my hard-drive somewhere. The worrying thing is, all this time, I have had PC-cillin 2002 anti-virus software on my pc, and it didn't spot these.
Anyway, all dealt with now.

I watched Gosford Park last night...is it just me, or is it rather dull? It just didn't get going at all. However, I was rather lost in the costumes and props, so they made up for 2 hours of not knowing who "Mr. Jennings" was. I'll flog it on Ebay sometime.

Jan 5th - George's 12th birthday

Hello again.
Still alcohol free. Strangely (and worryingly), I had a dream about guzzling 2 glasses of wine and a pint of beer, then felt really disappointed with myself. I'll have to lie low at the weekand, as that's going to be the most testing time.

George is 12 today!! Happy birthday, fella! xxx

That's it. Bye.

New years day 2005

Good morning!
I've just woken up at 11.00am, to the sound of the alarm clock. I made it to 2005!

I discussed this blog thing with my friend the other day, and thought I'd try my very own one. So here goes....

....nothing exciting has just happened in my life, I don't have much more to write just now. The phone just rang, but I'm not sure if that's blog-worthy. I'm off to make a cup of tea and will see what happens next. As soon as something happens, I will put it here.




Back again. I have just decided to make January an alcohol free month. Just to give my livers a rest. Wish me luck.