tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19968232401404197332011-12-08T11:28:15.121ZA place where I comment on my experiences of life on planet Earth from an outsider's point of view.Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.comBlogger2431100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-24287427059711707202011-09-24T19:41:00.002+01:002011-09-24T19:45:48.573+01:00

Well, I've managed to get it together to do another blog post. Yay for me. The old twitterfeed code, which automatically tweets whenever I update this thing, still apparently works. According to the stats, precisely one person clicked the link to view that last entry, and I've a feeling that was me. I can see these things, you know. I know what's going on out there. Let's see if this one is any

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-91652898477788364272011-09-21T18:40:00.002+01:002011-09-21T18:44:29.334+01:00

The alien amongst you is amongst you again. Actually, he never really went away. I've been posting stuff I doubt anyone's been reading on Twitter all this time, nicely packaged in one hundred & forty character sized bits.If you go back to that first entry here, I'm sure I say something about how 140 characters are not always enough to say what you want to say—and that's still true. It's actually

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-77108306798798567152010-06-06T04:35:00.001+01:002010-06-06T04:37:06.396+01:00

It's been over a moon since I wrote anything here. And to be honest, I think this entry will be amongst the last here. Not the very last - I'd like to write about my trip to Oslo to witness the Eurovision Song Contest in person, which was an amazing experience - but after that, this blog may well be closed.To tell you the truth, I just don't seem to get the same enjoyment from blogging anymore.

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-63928486193896777062010-05-03T21:51:00.001+01:002010-05-03T21:53:19.218+01:00

...well, maybe. But listening to tracks like this at least allows me to feel like I can postpone the inevitable. Ironically I wasn't much of a fan of this track, or this band, back in 1983, but I've been playing it an awful lot recently and now, as I said when I blipped the track a few days ago, I love this song so much it hurts.the alarmsixty eight gunsdeclaration 1983I reckon I've got a few

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-15415552711112553942010-05-02T00:25:00.001+01:002010-05-02T00:27:35.277+01:00

I'm still here - still around, although I know it's been a while since I wrote anything here. Hell, even the guy who tries to leave comments with Japanese porn links in them has noticed it's been a while!! I've been really busy over the last half-moon though, mainly due to some very heavy working days. That's been caused by the UK general election which is almost upon us, so hopefully things will

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-14313757242623095272010-04-18T11:37:00.001+01:002010-04-18T11:39:40.471+01:00

Just a quick blog entry while I wait for some cooking to be done. That is, my style of cooking - bung something under the grill :)I was in the city core doing my usual Sunday morning recycle run and grocery grab, and was awaiting my ride home via the sick joke that is public transport on a Sunday. (Seriously, I laugh when I'm in London and hear people moan about it there. Imagine a Tube system

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-34497536517783529212010-04-14T21:56:00.000+01:002010-04-14T21:58:05.866+01:00

OK, so I'm sitting in the dark musing on how much my life sucks right now, like some moody teenage girl or something. And I am not a teenager, or a girl, although I can get a bit moody sometimes. Again, I had plans to do something with today, and I didn't... my sleeping pattern is once again in shreds and I'm beginning to think this is all there ever will be. This, babes, is as good as it's ever

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-9578304728402189312010-04-06T22:21:00.001+01:002010-04-06T22:23:06.805+01:00

And for once I don't mean in the musical sense, although I do find myself flicking through the tracks of what I think I'm going to start calling the "golden quarter-century" (1964-1989)No, it's my sleeping pattern, which once again is wrecked... I dozed off in mid-afternoon, leaving the heating on, and woke up five and a half hours later sweating to death and feeling pretty grotty. Didn't feel

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-14572958447693536292010-04-03T21:53:00.001+01:002010-04-03T21:56:07.895+01:00

You may remember last week I mentioned that I had to go to a disciplinary hearing for "taking too much time off" after my four-day absence when the pain and tiredness I'd been suffering from for quite a while eventually became too much. This was all automatically generated - basically, if your absences meet a particular criteria (in my case, two within six months) you get hauled upstairs for a

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-43670293339916472142010-04-02T21:23:00.002+01:002010-04-02T21:31:58.784+01:00

I should really be doing something more worthwhile than writing this blog entry, you know. Like drawing up another grocery order for dispatch tout suite. There's virtually no chocolate in the house, and virtually no alcohol save for one bottle of cherry beer which I really want to give to Groupie. Naturally I am aware of the fact that chocolate and alcohol are not the two most important food

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-85614429668316643102010-03-29T23:15:00.001+01:002010-03-29T23:17:24.404+01:00

Well, after a quarter-moon of chilling out, exploring Aberdeenshire and fun with Groupie, it's back to work, back to reality - and back to my sleeping pattern being completely out of sync with everything. I could blame the clocks changing last Sunday morning, but not sure how a one hour time difference could throw me this much. I was dozing for a while yesterday evening and ended up staying at

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-27260749429405725442010-03-27T15:23:00.001Z2010-03-27T15:25:24.801Z

I am bloody annoyed. Seriously, heavily, PMS-style annoyed. In fact the most uptight woman on the planet with PMS probably couldn't hold a candle to how annoyed I am right now. It all started when I heard my employers will be calling me in for a disciplinary interview for "taking too much time off work" which was triggered by the absence I had last week. It's all automatic - if your absence

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-73149506285728486102010-03-24T21:24:00.001Z2010-03-24T21:27:08.746Z

I've been daytripping with GroupieGirl again... this time heading to the town of Huntly in Aberdeenshire. I've not been there for years - 1997 in fact, only a few months after Groupie and I met. She used to have a biker friend who lived there, and she had invited the two of us over for some fun over the Easter weekend. I vividly remember it because the comet Hale-Bopp was visible in the sky about

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-78668907359609377752010-03-23T18:40:00.000Z2010-03-23T18:41:31.506Z

Back in 2008 when I was finding my feet with Twitter I found myself posting a lot of musical tracks there. I used to do a "track of the day" feature, and I remember a certain person (who actually inspired me to start blogging in the first place) saying to me "I pretty much love every track you post". And ever since starting this little old blog eighteen moons ago or thereabouts, I've tended to

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-35521475353273018922010-03-22T19:33:00.002Z2010-03-22T19:37:12.420Z

You know what? It's great not to be in pain anymore. I still have a little twinge every now and then but that's just a reminder to take my little pills :) I'm certainly feeling a lot happier at the moment. Could it be spring related?Groupie and me decided to go off on a little trip this Sunday. There's not an awful lot to do around here on Sundays, and not an awful lot of public transport to

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-65405336607168042482010-03-20T20:53:00.001Z2010-03-20T20:55:43.649Z

It's March the twentieth, the first official day of spring, and to my fellow aliens all over the planet, happy new year!So welcome to the 23rd orbit of the current generation then. You may think it's a little strange and alien celebrating the new year in late March (and that's partially the point - heh heh) but it makes much more sense to me than midnight in midwinter. Winter is on the whole a

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-27992658797212074912010-03-19T23:21:00.000Z2010-03-19T23:22:33.669Z

...but then is anyone? :)Had a l-o-n-g day to get through today. I've returned to work, and that went OK I guess - my bloody employers may well slap a disciplinary charge on me for "taking too many days off sick this year" (a number in single digits, incidentally) but they'll have to wait until after my alien new year holiday to do so and I'll worry about that then. Or rather, I won't worry about

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-76031416583042597732010-03-18T19:05:00.000Z2010-03-18T19:07:21.135Z

One thing which makes life with Groupie interesting - and always has done - is the fact that we're quite different in several ways. There's a few things in life where we find ourselves on opposite sides, ranging from the trivial (she watched Swap Shop on the BBC as a child on Saturday mornings, whereas I was a huge fan of their competitors Tiswas over on ITV) to the more serious (she's generally

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-5807903152680129242010-03-16T21:43:00.002Z2010-03-16T21:46:47.457Z

Well, I'm feeling a little less tired than yesterday, which is a start. I called work to keep them informed of the situation (told them about my doctor's appointment etc) and they of course asked when I would be returning to work. I was thinking about going back on Thursday, but this evening I was checking myself out in the mirror and noticed something a little worrying. I feel, well, different

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-56379283225299869932010-03-15T20:04:00.001Z2010-03-15T20:06:48.333Z

This morning when my alarm went off I knew I wasn't physically (or psychologically) capable to go into work, and so reluctantly I did call in sick. Equally reluctantly, I called the pitiful excuse for a doctor's surgery we have in this town, and got an appointment there for Friday. As I said last time, there's clearly something wrong with me, and I may as well get it sorted out, yeah?Two things

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-15334892128617033022010-03-14T10:45:00.002Z2010-03-14T10:47:50.290Z

The usual proviso as I start this entry applies - I'm feeling rather tired and my brain is obviously not working as it should be, so hopefully you can make sense of this all. As we reach the last day of the last moon before the alien new year (which is on Saturday) I'm still finding life very tough to cope with, although having spent the last twelve hours lying on my bed sleeping has improved my

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-32371843619689411742010-03-05T21:49:00.001Z2010-03-05T21:51:24.473Z

I've had the weirdest, strangest dream - and there's no way I could have fitted this into 140 characters so I guess I will have to make another entry here after all. Is there a place on the internet where people can blog their dreams? I was in some town in France - which is odd, despite never having visited France. Groupie was there too, which is odd, since she rarely shows up in my dreams (and

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-13723417035192790142010-03-02T22:33:00.001Z2010-03-02T22:35:38.094Z

I started this blog back in October 2008, nearly 18 months ago. Since then, I've written over two hundred entries covering all sorts of things happening in my life and elsewhere. However, I'm not sure how many more of them I'll be writing. To be honest, I'm not sure if my heart's in this any more. And it's not just the blog - it's the entire web presence of Zaphod Camden. I'm finding I'm checking

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-30210911694777754182010-02-19T23:49:00.002Z2010-02-19T23:52:03.362Z

I really should be doing something else, but I'm still too tired... although Groupie got me some ginseng-enriched multi-vitamins today which should help. They did in the past, and hopefully they will this time. Then when I've got my mojo back I can work on a more permanent solution :)Anyway, I find myself on the sofa again, this time leafing through YouTube clips, and I came across this beauty

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-53475183330716070512010-02-18T23:23:00.002Z2010-02-18T23:27:37.910Z

The extreme tiredness continues. As does the rather black mood.A friend of mine, when he gets drunk, tends to send me text messages extolling the beauty of Pink Floyd tracks in general and Shine On You Crazy Diamond in particular - in fact he wants that track played at his funeral. I'm crashed out on the sofa having been there all day, more or less, and my mind drifts off to another Pink Floyd

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-6657229177314646862010-02-17T22:52:00.001Z2010-02-17T22:58:49.371Z

Finally getting it together to blog about the events of Sunday past. I'm in a rather hibernatory mood right now, and have been for the last few days. It's getting very difficult to get up for work in the morning, and sometimes even to think. Although this tends to happen every year with me it's still a worrying trend, as I can't remember being this tired in winter before. So if my writing doesn't

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-22595281087563716802010-02-11T21:03:00.001Z2010-02-11T21:05:57.423Z

Sitting on the sofa, I'm chilling out and trying to achieve a Zen-like mood. Well, maybe not. Actually, I'm feeling a little fragile right now. The wheels are beginning to fall off again - the clutter in my house is making a return and it's been a while since I've been to my local "cardroom" to indulge in a spot of poker. Also, organizing the trip to Oslo is going to be a bit more complicated (

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-72470739154115640872010-02-08T19:45:00.001Z2010-02-08T19:46:43.901Z

I'm currently jumping all around the room in an incredibly happy mood. Why is this? Well, I've just got two tickets to this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo. Admittedly it's not the "actual" contest (those tickets sold out almost as soon as they went on sale this morning) they're for the dress rehearsal on Friday night. But that's still significant because the Eurovision "juries" cast their

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-53357221678228359042010-02-03T22:50:00.001Z2010-02-03T22:52:43.219Z

I now realize why most big poker tournaments are usually scheduled to start in mid-afternoon, or early evening. You don't hear of many with a 06.30 starting time, do you? And yet, that was the time I found myself logging into my card room and preparing to play a bit of Razz. But then I didn't have much choice...With a bankroll of only about $17.50, the determination not to deposit any more money

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-18445747739834842932010-01-31T20:27:00.001Z2010-01-31T20:31:32.950Z

The alien years... the 2010s... call them what you will, but we're now one month in, already! Hope it's going well for you so far.I started the year full of optimism about the new decade, and I guess I'm still in that frame of mind, despite the usual feelings that kick in around this time of year. I still have nagging doubts that I could be doing more with my time, but I think I've done OK

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-28719092787892456962010-01-30T21:50:00.001Z2010-01-30T21:52:36.554Z

My sleeping pattern has completely lost touch with reality at the moment. I seem to be getting more and more confused about what time of day or night it is, and my habit of biphasic sleeping doesn't seem to help. The original plan of sleeping four hours in the day and four in the night came from my rather unorthodox working hours - it seemed to be the only way to deal with a 05.00 alarm call!

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-54086294686909800472010-01-27T20:09:00.001Z2010-01-27T20:11:43.172Z

48 hours on and this still hurts to write...oh Zog...I decided to spend Sunday night out in the rural wilds of Aberdeenshire seeing my parents, who I've not actually seen since November 2008. If you think that sounds terrible, I suggest you read this which was the blog entry about that trip, and that'll give you some idea as to why it's been so long since I've been up that way. Still, glorious

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-30182327840174257762010-01-24T11:48:00.000Z2010-01-24T11:49:54.379Z

I do insist on doing these things to myself, don't I? Didn't get to bed last night until after 06.00 due to entering a poker tournament last night (or was it this morning?) Admittedly it was a freeroll so it's not as if I was risking any money on it, and it was a different style of poker than the kind you've probably seen played. Not many people have heard of Razz, and my brain's too tired to

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-77630281378884302592010-01-21T21:06:00.000Z2010-01-21T21:08:05.626Z

There must be something about Week 3 in a particular year. There was the so-called "blue monday" earlier this week, which is the first time I've heard of the media covering it, and certainly the first time I've heard it called by that name. But it's a concept I'm sadly all too familiar with. We're pretty much in mid-winter now, the snow has all gone but the short days remain, and even though

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-584598536278260242010-01-20T21:52:00.001Z2010-01-20T21:54:24.559Z

Practically every single person who lived in the UK during the 1980s will remember this advert...This has got to be amongst the most successful ad campaigns in TV, and even now you probably can't listen to Desmond Dekker's original without thinking about this advert (or possibly the one for Maxell cassettes, which used the same track) GroupieGirl and I, who were both teenagers in the 1980s, were

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-72161760809891171432010-01-17T22:34:00.001Z2010-01-17T22:36:51.971Z

Apologies in advance - this is another long entry... grab a coffee...I've always had a fascination with the game of poker, ever since my early teens when I watched the BBC drama series "Big Deal" which was about the (mis)adventures of a compulsive gambler and his long-suffering girlfriend. My dad's always been a fan of westerns, which was another place to see this strange game played with five

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-49657465773792980722010-01-15T18:42:00.000Z2010-01-15T18:44:08.266Z

It seems strange to look out of the window and see things like grass and sidewalks and tarmac again. Apart from a few stubborn areas, all trace of the big freeze of 2010 has now vanished, and we've returned to the seasonal average temperatures of 5 or 6 degrees Celsius...not exactly bikini weather, but a real change compared to what we've had for the last month!In fact, it's been exactly 4 weeks

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-86619307931224988252010-01-14T23:54:00.001Z2010-01-14T23:56:04.855Z

Well, it took two weeks, but this is officially my first entry of twenty:10. I sincerely hope my readers (assuming I still have readers) had a good New Year period and wish them all the very best for the coming year, and indeed the coming decade. We've already started the debate on what to call the thing - I've heard the most ridiculous suggestions like "ten-sies" - but hopefully we'll choose

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-82398883158253002842009-12-31T22:24:00.000Z2010-01-11T22:25:41.003Z

Well, we're just about at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, despite some muppets I've seen who claim it ends in 2010!! Really? So, 1990 was a year in the eighties then, was it? That's funny, because I remember 1990 very well, and that's not what we said at the time. So go away and leave me alone, I really just don't have the time for the likes of you. (Did you see what I did there?

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-53491632316284214802009-12-29T21:17:00.001Z2009-12-29T21:17:32.768Z

I'm writing this entry on my iPhone, not the easiest way to blog but it's my only alternative at the moment. I upgraded my MacMini to Snow Leopard yesterday, which went really well - got about 15GB of hard disc space back for a start! Unfortunately, my router's not so keen, and I've not been able to persuade it to connect to the Internet at all. I've heard of other people having problems with the

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-15751692464694094182009-12-25T23:03:00.000Z2009-12-25T23:04:26.032Z

Apparently there was something on today... which may explain why public transport wasn't running and Twitter was so quiet :)For my own part, I spent December 25, 2009 running my equivalent to a chinese laundry. I've not done any housework for ages due to working like a slave for the last three weeks, so today I just had my washing machine and tumble dryer running pretty much constantly while I

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-15776608604524279122009-12-24T17:47:00.000Z2009-12-24T17:48:17.703Z

Somehow, I managed to survive another December hell at work. Bloody but unbowed. Well, maybe not bloody, but bloody tired, and I can see myself just chilling out until I have to show up again on December 29. I'm literally too tired to think at the moment, and I'm trying to keep myself from going on a hate-filled rant about certain work-related things and people that I've got a really serious

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-78891702928159543142009-12-17T22:55:00.001Z2009-12-17T22:57:16.000Z

Certainly feel like I'm on the treadmill at the moment. It's always a hard slog at work in December for me, and this year is no exception. I've been doing pretty much nothing else but work and sleep over the last couple of days, and now I can feel a cold coming on. I'm just living from day to day at the moment until I can finally rest up and chill out next week with a four day long weekend. Which

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-92035417936960788052009-12-08T20:03:00.003Z2009-12-08T20:06:10.922Z

Writing here for the two hundredth time. Wow. Just a short one though as I have other business to attend to at this time of the year... One of the many (many) things that people think is strange about me is my wearing of earplugs at work. It originally came from people playing the radio too darn loud with my particular area at work being directly under a speaker. I'd turn the thing down a few

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-17167877872088234612009-12-07T21:27:00.000Z2009-12-07T21:28:13.787Z

Sleeping at odd hours again, and of course it's that time of the year again, the start of the two or three Weeks Of Hell(TM) so it'll probably be a case of working and sleeping only for the next half moon or so. Which is a bit pif, to be honest. Especially since there's a lot of other stuff I'd like to right now. Still, I've worked out I only need to show up for work twice between December 25 and

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-33574366980264282832009-12-01T19:25:00.002Z2009-12-01T19:27:01.183Z

Yesterday I changed my duvet & pillow covers, which are now a quite fetching shade of orange, and I also got my "winter" duvet on my bed - in reality, my "summer" and "autumn" duvets clipped together and put in the same cover. And I was glad of it as well, as it was a really cold night last night, getting down to -4 Celsius at one point. It's going to stay quite cold for a few days, and hopefully

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-2333636883716535742009-11-30T19:40:00.000Z2009-11-30T19:42:27.973Z

OK. So I'm still feeling a bit black and nihilistic about it all, but I am managing to deal with my demons again. Maybe it's the fact my back doesn't seem to hurt as much as it has been, or maybe it was the fact work was quite easy today (although very cold - the heating's not working properly and I had to wear my happy hat indoors throughout) Or maybe I just thought getting mad, or sad, about my

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-75559634696613676992009-11-29T13:20:00.000Z2009-11-29T13:21:38.404Z

Those who know me well will tell you I very rarely get angry. I'm quite a chilled out, laid back person. Which means when I do get angry it's a really serious business. At the moment it feels like I have the male equivalent of PMS and woe betide anyone who crosses me right now. I am a ball of negative emotions, anger, frustration and sadness predominating.My lower back hurts like hell. I'm OK

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-75491858474337367712009-11-23T20:19:00.001Z2009-11-23T20:21:44.606Z

Well, the alien amongst you is feeling a lot happier about life than I did when I was typing the last entry. This can be put down to a combination of work lightening up a bit (just a bit, though), spending some time searching through vintage episodes of Top Of The Pops (about which more later, perhaps) and some quality time with GroupieGirl...Actually, the two of us spent a great time yesterday

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-48084677418609501632009-11-19T22:26:00.000Z2009-11-19T22:28:34.971Z

Ow. I'm not sure what I've done to my back, but it hurts. Has been for a while actually. And now it's spreading to my legs. I'm sitting on the sofa in my Cyberdog PJs trying not to move very much. It's taking me about five minutes to put my socks on in the morning, which isn't natural, is it?And the inside of me isn't much better. I thought I'd go shopping yesterday, maybe spend all afternoon out

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-51702634588333900802009-11-16T20:34:00.001Z2009-11-16T20:35:49.594Z

I was sleeping and hearing the bassline to ELO's "Last Train To London" in my dreams (no idea why) when my iPhone text message alert awakened me. "Probably GroupieGirl" I thought. But it wasn't, it was Dad, telling me that a relative of mine had died. Specifically, my brother-in-law's mum. She'd had a stroke on Thursday night, and died today. She was in her eighties, so had had a fair crack of

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-16951335577297876512009-11-11T21:00:00.001Z2009-11-11T21:03:06.729Z

They went with songs to the battle, they were young.
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted; 
They fell with their faces to the foe.They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old. 
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn. 
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, We will remember them.For the first time on

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-74955006524123744142009-11-08T21:48:00.001Z2009-11-08T21:51:22.139Z

When I was a child, there was a programme on BBC TV called "The Record Breakers" hosted by the legendary Roy Castle. It was all about world records - any kind of record - and occasionally they would attempt to set new world records in the studio. I used to love watching the show, and still can remember Roy's song at the end of each episode, reminding us that if you want to be a record breaker, "

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-10527836066005234952009-11-07T20:35:00.001Z2009-11-07T20:39:01.424Z

We've reached the Thursday (October 29) in my London trip diary, which was the day when Zaphod Camden went to his namesake area of the city for a good time there. GroupieGirl absolutely LOVES Camden Town, she enjoys looking at the little goth shops to see what's available. I obviously love it too, it's a great part of town and we both feel we belong there. Write me a cheque for the deposit on a

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-63187770049781635912009-11-06T20:48:00.000Z2009-11-06T20:55:26.424Z

There's nothing like spending a Tuesday morning in a lovely dressing gown & slippers, lounging around drinking coffee in a plush London hotel, and that's how October 27 dawned for me and GroupieGirl. A really nice relaxing start to our second day in London, and we stayed there until checkout time. "Thanks for coming to help me with my bags" Groupie said rather pointedly to me at reception -

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-25007360222820204482009-11-05T19:21:00.001Z2009-11-05T19:25:39.943Z

Well...I am back after spending a fantastic week in London with GroupieGirl. I'm still in recovery from it to be honest!! Those of you who follow my Twitter stream will of course know all about what we got up to down there, but for the rest of you, well, I'll tell all here over the next few days. Yes, we did that much...so I'll make several entries over the next few days so I can do the trip

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-23503648908264837312009-10-25T00:12:00.005+01:002009-10-25T00:21:37.870+01:00

Just a quick entry to let my blog readers know I'm off to my favourite city in the world for a week of fun with GroupieGirl - and let me tell you, we'll both have some stories to tell when we get back home! No time to tell you about them now... although don't forget I'm on Twitter if you want to keep in the loop :)So here's a little something to be going along with until I get back. This is just

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-86247486113643894562009-10-19T20:58:00.001+01:002009-10-19T21:00:30.330+01:00

Well, here we are on October 19 again. Why do I mention that? Because it was on Sunday, October 19, 2008 - one year ago today - that I made the first entry here. Amazingly, I have now officially been a blogger for an entire year.This is entry number 186, which means effectively an average of one entry every other day, although there's been a few long-ish gaps of a week or two between entries in

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-6649709678796426942009-10-18T21:57:00.001+01:002009-10-18T22:01:06.899+01:00

I've got that lovely warm glow that you get from drinking just the right amount of wine :) or maybe it's just the fact that things are going rather well in life at the moment. Hey, they could be better, but they could be an awful lot worse and I'm happy to take what I've got at the moment. I spent all afternoon with GroupieGirl and we finally got train tickets booked for our little break in

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-64623632016340088902009-10-13T21:31:00.000+01:002009-10-13T21:32:40.265+01:00

I've got a rather off-beat sense of humour, always have done, and thankfully it's shared by some (though by no means all) of the people I work with. One of the things I like doing is latching on to people making slight mistakes in what they say and spinning that out into something funny - though I should point out it's all in a very light-hearted fashion, I would never intentionally take the

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-23789008249694548822009-10-12T20:12:00.002+01:002009-10-12T20:17:35.044+01:00

So basically, I was watching Franz Ferdinand in concert last night, and, um, you weren't. Yay for me :)Franz Ferdinand are one of those bands whom I've always wanted to see play live, ever since they first stormed the charts five years ago, but it's not been easy. It's not often that bands of that stature play this far north, which means trying to swing days off work and making travel and hotel

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-24654091985406191642009-10-10T23:37:00.002+01:002009-10-10T23:43:53.279+01:00

I'm glad to say I'm on the mend and smiling again :) my digestive system appears to be working as it should be now, more or less, although it's probably another reason to perhaps eat a little more healthily than I currently do - despite being an alien, I am also male and therefore should probably listen to my body a little more, yeah?I've spent all Saturday night watching YouTube clips of various

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-86859392255097730182009-10-09T19:44:00.001+01:002009-10-09T19:46:27.856+01:00

I found myself lying in bed this morning musing on nihilism and how I really feel like nothing matters any more. I mean, I'm sitting here in pain and thinking "is this what it's going to be like when I'm old?" Strange illnesses that are just annoying enough to piss you off, slowly increasing in number until your body can't take it anymore and you keel over dead? That's what I've got to look

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-81840336037727121212009-10-08T22:13:00.001+01:002009-10-08T22:16:46.039+01:00

For Zog's sake. Why is it when I try to make something of my life things screw up? My body feels like it's on the verge of collapse, my work feels like it's on the verge of collapse (I feel like carving "Arbeit Macht Frei" on my desk), bloody travel companies are frustrating my efforts to take a trip to London with GroupieGirl... argh!! I've got bloody male PMS right now and woe betide anyone who

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-2839101109362257802009-10-07T20:23:00.001+01:002009-10-07T20:23:54.615+01:00

I'm in a bit of a state right now. My digestive system is shot to pieces. Has been for days, to a greater or lesser extent. When I've not been sleeping today, I've been lying on my bed doubled up in pain. I'd call the doctor, but it'd be probably over a week before I get an appointment, and if things get worse they can just rush me to Casualty instead. So there's no point, really, is there?As

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-53560038892637338552009-10-04T22:32:00.001+01:002009-10-04T22:35:08.428+01:00

October already?? Wow... autumn's here again, with that lovely feeling I get from the season. Looking outside last night at the light rain and the leaves falling was really enjoyable. Mind you, at the moment I'm taking my enjoyment from any source I can find it, as I'm not feeling particularly well at the moment... and trying to arrange a break in London with GroupieGirl for Hallowe'en is proving

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-85007976706936297552009-09-25T05:23:00.001+01:002009-09-25T05:25:47.831+01:00

I've been spending some time looking back - at blog entries and email folders. Can you believe it's been nearly a year since I started writing this blog? Back in October 2008 I made the first post here, having been inspired by reading the blogs of certain people I'd recently become friends with on Twitter - which itself was something quite new to me then. That first entry was written about one of

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-11172728303557037292009-09-23T23:04:00.002+01:002009-09-23T23:10:21.059+01:00

September 23rd, as well as being (near enough) the first day of Autumn, is also apparently Celebrate Bisexuality Day. The first I heard about this was when I woke up this morning, but I'll be pencilling it into my 2010 calendar so I'm ready on the next orbit. I of course nailed my colours to the mast within this blog back in November 2008 and I did say then I wasn't going to make a huge issue of

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-804320263407063382009-09-20T03:10:00.001+01:002009-09-20T03:11:58.486+01:00

Is it the place I live?Is it the company I keep?Is it the time of year, now we're on the threshold of autumn?Am I just associating with the wrong people in the wrong town?Or is it just me?Then again, what's so wrong with wanting to be alone? There are benefits to being a recluse, you know...THE WHO - BEHIND BLUE EYES(from the album "Who's Next", 1971)

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-44769533570928160012009-09-17T07:09:00.002+01:002009-09-17T07:11:54.401+01:00

Urrgh... things are just getting on top of me right now.The lawn outside my house has been slowly but surely turning into a set from "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here" and so on Sunday morning, I decided I really should do something about it. So, as well as the lawnmower, I got my cordless headphones connected up to my Sky+ box so I could listen to the sounds of Gaydar Radio while I indulged

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-33261390938597991812009-09-12T21:30:00.002+01:002009-09-12T21:34:51.448+01:00

Yeah, it's been a while since I updated here. For which I apologize. I've let my readers down again, what can I say?And I'm kinda not in the mood to do a proper post right now anyway. A couple of glasses of 2006 St.Clair red wine has kinda dulled the senses a bit. And when I say a couple of glasses, I mean a couple of my glasses which hold about a quarter litre each... and there's still some more

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-23539506316577883852009-09-04T22:06:00.000+01:002009-09-04T22:07:54.469+01:00

I don't think I care anymore....Whenever I play this track, I have vivid memories of one night during my time in university, a good decade and a half ago now, where my class went on a "pub crawl" - which wasn't much, in the event - both bars at the university union, then a club which was frequented by the local students. Anyway, there was a beautiful girl I fancied, and conversation at my student

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-69252518435211784252009-08-31T21:54:00.002+01:002009-08-31T21:57:28.952+01:00

So here I am, typing this, wearing pyjamas for the first time in twenty years...well, pyjama bottoms anyway. They've started selling really funky PJ bottoms in the city core, and I've bought some with a Japanese anime print which reminds me of being a kid watching Battle Of The Planets. And if they get some more of those Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in stock in my size, I'll be going into the

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-4727188061388620462009-08-19T19:15:00.001+01:002009-08-19T19:18:06.107+01:00

A while back, I mentioned the nasty, evil tower block that I had to visit regularly as part of my job, and the frankly disgusting condition it was in. The local junkies use it as a public toilet and a place to smoke heroin, and there's one old guy who sleeps in the stairwell from time to time (apparently he lives there, but his wife keeps throwing him out for coming home drunk...)Anyway, I won't

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-52329029537749111462009-08-18T20:17:00.001+01:002009-08-18T20:19:10.284+01:00

I'm seriously worried about myself now. Over the last few days or so I've started to get these headaches which are making me quite worried that I'm going to have a stroke or something. They feel almost like an electrical wire inside me, going down one side of my head (always in the same place) and they last for about thirty minutes or so. And it's not a fun experience at all. Sometimes I just

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-35161253536829637542009-08-12T18:58:00.001+01:002009-08-12T19:01:38.502+01:00

I've been having a rather strange twenty four hours or so. Yesterday evening was spent lying on my bed feeling dizzy and weak. Today I was at work, but finding things rather tough going. I felt like I was going to have a stroke or something, pains in my head and difficulty moving about...in fact by the end of the working day I was finding it a real pain to walk around. "Like climbing Everest" I

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-10714646838168677902009-08-09T11:05:00.001+01:002009-08-09T11:08:32.460+01:00

During the morning of August 8, 1969, photographer Iain MacMillan took some shots of a pop group on location near a recording studio in London NW8, to be used as the cover of their latest album. The group was the Beatles, and the location was the zebra crossing at Abbey Road. The resulting album would go on to become the fourth biggest selling album of the 1960s in the UK, and the cover one of

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-38454197042600658962009-08-08T03:00:00.001+01:002009-08-08T03:02:28.404+01:00

So why am I typing a blog entry (in pink typewriter font, although you won't see that) at 03.00 on a Saturday morning?? Well, my sleeping pattern is in shreds again... just the latest thing to happen in the last twenty four hours...It all started when I woke up on Friday morning and turned on the lights to find that they weren't working. Any of them. One of the bulbs must have blew, and when that

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-19591556596961745462009-08-06T21:40:00.001+01:002009-08-06T21:43:14.440+01:00

I've been playing around with Spotify for a while now, and am generally impressed with it. I've shown it to GroupieGirl during one of her visits to Zaph's Place and she loves the idea - all this music to listen to, and it's free!! As long as you don't mind the odd advert, but then, we get that with radio, don't we? And unlike radio, there's no bloody annoying DJ talking all over the records - I

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-6962583365471722772009-08-05T22:08:00.001+01:002009-08-05T22:11:23.841+01:00

It was Tartan Day on Sunday - something which I'm really not sure we should be celebrating here. As I said on Twitter at the time, I don't need to watch grown men prance around in plaid skirts to feel proud of my own country. OK it may bring in the tourists (particularly the Americans) but there's not much reason to come up this far north if you're touring Scotland - at least until Donald Trump

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-32563222491984229572009-08-03T20:50:00.002+01:002009-08-03T21:04:20.112+01:00

The #zaph80 project that I've been doing on blip.fm (and echoing to Twitter) continues apace, and recently I completed the entries to 1981. So, just like I did for 1980, here's a mini YouTube videowall containing twelve of the best songs I was listening to in the year when I watched Charles & Diana's Royal Wedding and the launch of the first Space Shuttle on TV...The tracks featured are as

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-40465268472220438882009-07-31T22:36:00.001+01:002009-07-31T22:39:47.835+01:00

If you've been reading my Twitter posts recently, you may have seen me occasionally use the tag #LastNightIDreamt from time to time. There's actually a Last Night I Dreamt account on Twitter which tracks and then re-tweets anything it finds with that tag, and sometimes it's interesting to see what people dream about. I've had a strange sleeping pattern for two decades now - I tend to have two

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-10546310039966988132009-07-30T21:34:00.002+01:002009-07-31T22:42:27.844+01:00

This is a personal blog - sometimes, very personal, as my long time readers will testify - but occasionally I like to do entries about others, when I feel they deserve it :) Well, this is one of those times, concerning an internet friend of mine and her dream - and how you can help.The friend in question is a New York city gal who I know from Twitter (where she posts under the ID misssomething)

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-56914285025265370372009-07-29T22:57:00.004+01:002009-07-29T23:15:35.921+01:00

I'm going through one of those times when my sleeping pattern bears even less resemblance to society as a whole than usual. I'm also going through one of those times when there seems to be no time to do anything and so much to do :(So instead of wittering on and on I've decided to follow the old adage "a picture paints a thousand words" and link to my latest flickr upload.I took a day trip to

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-1686679858747569352009-07-23T23:43:00.002+01:002009-07-23T23:47:09.422+01:00

Those who know me know I like being in places where there's a lot to see and do - one of the reasons I love London so much!! However, this weekend just past found me and GroupieGirl in very different surroundings to what we'd usually find if we were off on a trip somewhere... Groupie had won a competition in the paper, and the prize was a free weekend break for two in a three-star hotel up in the

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-2269407107992785572009-07-22T22:22:00.003+01:002009-07-22T22:36:22.519+01:00

...just about.I've been meaning to blog about the long weekend GroupieGirl and I spent in Pitlochry, but I just can't seem to get it together to finish the entry right now. To be honest, I can't seem to get it together to do much of anything at the moment. It wasn't helped by my general experience today - once again I find myself feeling fragile and alienated. I should be used to this though,

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-91718561216078584582009-07-12T22:52:00.001+01:002009-07-12T22:56:46.831+01:00

I didn't mean to leave it seven days between blog postings - honest, I didn't! But then I've been bouncing between being too tired to blog and being too busy to blog all week, so I guess I should update my readers on what's been going on...I've made a decision to go on some more little day trips on my days off from work - I've often said that the town I live in is not exactly the most happening

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-74454011560047248502009-07-05T21:01:00.001+01:002009-07-05T21:04:11.744+01:00

As I'm typing this it's Sunday evening and the end of a week of high temperatures. We got as high as 26 Celsius earlier in the week, which I know may not seem like much to some people around the globe, but for the north of Scotland, that's bloody good going. Even the (admittedly rather short) nights are working out quite warm - in one case I was walking around in a T-shirt outdoors at 01.00 in

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-14443978698878455692009-07-01T00:05:00.005+01:002009-07-01T00:33:19.124+01:00

Given that...(a) I'm shamelessly plugging my zaph80 project on blip.fm and twitter - one alien's journey through the UK pop charts of every week of the 1980s,(b) One of my favourite bloggers has a section on her blog called "Soundtrack To My Life",(c) Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery - or, it's always easier to steal someone else's idea than come up with your own,(d) I'm older than her

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-77861279563018011392009-06-30T20:29:00.002+01:002009-06-30T20:33:29.053+01:00

Before I start, just a quick word of thanks for certain people who said nice things about me and my blog after the last entry. No names, no pack drill - but it's nice to know you care :)Anyway, I spent Sunday with GroupieGirl in the city core having fun. We enjoyed a frappucino from Starbucks which are rapidly becoming a favourite of ours - this time we went for the raspberry one, which is

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-727643625238038332009-06-28T10:36:00.002+01:002009-06-28T10:39:53.127+01:00

..and you know who you are.Stop contacting me. I mean it. It's not fun any more. It hasn't been for a while. You are freaking me out and more importantly you are freaking GroupieGirl out as well.It is NOT ok, for example, to continually send me tweets demanding my phone number, as you did a couple of months ago. Nor is it OK to bombard me with "can we still be friends" messages. We can't. End of.

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-37268534748565833422009-06-27T21:04:00.001+01:002009-06-27T21:06:34.424+01:00

I'm sitting here on my sofa, in my bathrobe, feeling pretty grotty and this is probably going to be a tough entry to write, but I feel I need to write it for my own sake if nothing else. Apologies if this makes less than perfect sense...I know I can do better - at least I hope I still can.Basically, I have been feeling rather tired a lot recently, not really wanting to do much during my free time

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-38553145372372775492009-06-26T19:07:00.003+01:002009-06-26T19:14:50.656+01:00

Once again, I find myself thinking about a blog entry to make only to be overtaken by events...When I got home from work I found I had an email from one of my online friends. I am certainly not going into any details on these pages, but basically, it said that we couldn't be online friends anymore. It's for the best of reasons, it really is - and while I will miss the person involved, all I want

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-83302398290402780462009-06-25T23:40:00.001+01:002009-06-25T23:44:19.999+01:00

Just as I was going to type out a standard blog entry about being a bit down because I was sleeping all the time, I got a text message from my mate which said "unconfirmed at present but Michael Jackson has died of a heart attack". I'm currently monitoring the developing story on the radio and TV networks, and it appears, at this moment (22.45 Universal Time), he has in fact died.Despite

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-36875009372837882212009-06-21T20:08:00.001+01:002009-06-21T20:10:22.644+01:00

Today, June 21, was the summer solstice in this part of the world (and of course, the winter solstice in the southern hemisphere) and I hope it was a good one for you all!! I spent it mainly recharging and resting - I really needed it - although I was awake around sunrise in the event.Today's the day associated with gatherings at Stonehenge, both of the druids, and with the "hippie" community -

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-15425401267636934362009-06-20T15:08:00.001+01:002009-06-20T15:11:16.044+01:00

Regretfully, and after giving it a lot of thought, I've protected my Twitter updates. I didn't want to, but the unholy trinity of spammers, salesdroids and lamers have finally driven me to do it. The original plan was to do this at the dark moon, but bitter experience has shown the weekends are when they really come out of the woodwork, so I did it late last night instead.I've already mentioned

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-31905859750713091582009-06-19T21:22:00.001+01:002009-06-19T21:25:39.200+01:00

As far as metallic materials go, I've always been much more attracted to silver than gold. Oh sure, gold has the connotations of wealth and prestige - we're always told we should "go for gold" - but as far as jewellery and the like go, I've always preferred the look of silver.In my early teens I noticed some of my classmates - like the sportsmen and pop stars I naturally looked up to - were

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-39644922728816560332009-06-18T20:41:00.001+01:002009-06-18T20:43:51.324+01:00

So, as I type this, and drink some more nice wine (I'm such a lush...) I'm downloading the software update for my iPhone (it's about an hour's download, and that's on a 2Mbps broadband line). The new iPhone has been all over the newspapers recently, but thankfully the operating system can be downloaded on what I'm going to have to get used to calling the "old" iPhones - just as well, as I've been

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-91155589285157929102009-06-17T22:51:00.001+01:002009-06-17T22:53:21.739+01:00

In light of the fact it's been a few days since I updated here, I thought I'd dash off a quick blog entry to keep my readers happy :) I did say I'd try and write something here at least once a moonphase and it's around that time again.I did plan to write about the great day I spent with the GroupieGirl on Sunday, but right now, I'm basically looking forward to the next moon and hoping things will

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1996823240140419733.post-60043909009519196922009-06-13T22:56:00.003+01:002009-06-13T23:03:38.323+01:00

My last entry here covered the long weekend GroupieGirl and me had in Glasgow, which was at the full moon. Well, if you've been looking at my moondial, you'll know we've now moved on to the disseminating moon, which was a lot less fun mainly as I had to work through all of it :) I'll try and get an entry done here at least once every phase - which would be about once every four days or so for the

Zaphod Camdenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17842473720036362843noreply@blogger.com0