Petrol prices

Every so often someone wants to involve me in a campaign to lower petrol prices. I invariably decline and in this blog post, or rant - we'll see how it turns out - I shall attempt to explain my reasons.

Primarily, I don't think that petrol prices are too high. I can afford to fill my tank up, and last time I checked the roads were full of other people who had managed to fill up too. If people want to save money on motoring I suggest selling cars and using public transport.

Secondarily, everyone wants public transport to be better  but I think the only way this is going to happen is if more people use it. Higher petrol costs would give an incentive to use it.

Finally, since the more people use their cars the more petrol they have to buy this is the fairest way to tax motoring. I think that Road Tax should be integrated into fuel tax, this would benefit people who have a car but use it only sparingly but would transfer the cost of road maintenance etcetera to the people who use the roads most.

In summary, I will not sign your petition.

That beer is tainted with fish

One of our suppliers decided to show their gratitude today by donating a case of lager to the support team: 24 cans of Stella. I haven't drunk this particular brew because I had heard that it wasn't vegan but since this was free beer I had to check my facts - and it isn't even vegetarian since they use isinglass (a kind of gelatin made from fish) for fining (clarifying by removing the bits of yeast etcetera floating in the liquid)
I must confess to being a bit slack myself with booze, since it doesn't usually have ingredients and normally when people are talking about this topic they are somewhat drunk and unreliable. Also after a few drinks I become unreliable. But I'm going to make an effort. After all most brewers have an Internet presence and it isn't too much work to email them asking if their products are suitable for people who don't eat animal products. If they get enough emails they may even think about the commercial benefits of products which appeal to the 0.3% to 7% (estimates vary) of the population who are vegetarian.
I'm going to email Joshua Tetley right now

Music - Racine

As I go about my day, songs from yesteryear jump out of the dark alcoves of my subconscious and start playing themselves. From time to time the songs of Transvision Vamp do this, and that happened recently. I thought to myself "whatever happened to Wendy James?" and realised I had three options
1.) decide I didn't need to know
2.) decide that I wanted to know, but do nothing about it
3.) use the awesome power of google to find out

I went with option 3, and it turns out she's now making music under the moniker of "Racine" and had an album out in 2005. Some (maybe all) of the tracks can be heard on the website (link, use the top player - the bottom one just plays 30 second snippets) and are worth a listen. I especially liked The Last American Hero, but it doesn't appear to be available in the shops.

The music isn't much like TVV, which is probably a good thing - there are enough people putting out 80's sounds nowadays. It does still sound like her singing and the material/attitude is similar. A second album is due early next year.

And if you were wondering about the other members of TVV, have a look here

Back of the net

I enjoy playing football very much, but I'm not any good at it. Tonight however, I ended a dry period which has lasted pretty much all my life* in the work 5-a-side match and got the ball in the other team's net. Obviously football is a team game so thanks to my team for the work involved in getting the ball up to my foot, and apologies for messing up all the other chances I had.
*except for own goals

No music day

Occasionally I wonder what Bill Drummond is up to, besides making crop circles of course. Turns out he's established the 21st of November as No Music Day and I haven't listened to any. Mostly by luck but I might as well see it out.

Pub quiz

There is a quiz every week at the local "international centre for contemporary visual arts and film", went there with my lovely gf and some of her international friends. We did pretty well (3rd place IIRC) but getting some of the questions right can be embarrasing. Do I really want to admit that I know He-Man's first name, or what the follow-up to sit-com Fresh Fields was called?
Still - got a free cinema ticket

mince pies

Hola amigos,

I know it's been a while since I last rapped at you (link to that Anchower guy who coined this expression), I guess not that much has been happening that I had to blog about. And still not much has happened but I've got five mins, so here is some stuff which isn't exciting, interesting or relevant. Is this blog a spent force? Is FaceBook where it is at now? Will I ever be confident with apostrophes? leave comments if you know any of the answers

Tonight my lovely gf and I made mince pies. Don't get me started on that 'festive season' stuff. Hell, they're in the shops for about six months of the year so they aren't special. Mince pies are just a kind of pie. Like jam tarts with lids and bits of dried fruit in. My favourite kind of pie actually but they don't mean anything, other than, maybe, winter is coming/here.

Also, someone sent me this link to an article about about how vegetarianism is good for the environment. I guess my opinion on this will be pretty obvious to anyone who knows me, and why would anyone who doesn't know me be reading this? I'll leave you with that puzzler

Fog lights

There are lots of things that annoy me, especially when I'm on the
road. Something that upsets me especially at this time of year is
people driving with their rear fog lights on - when it isn't foggy.

There must be a reason for people to do this, maybe when it is
raining, they think "rain is a bit like fog, therefore I'll stick my
fog light on" But this is wrong, the extra light has no benefit and
creates a dangerous glare which reduces visibility for road users
behind. What if it isn't raining? I don't know

I haven't got time to go into details of the cure for this issue, but
in brief I'd like the police to stop people who are drving dangerously
and caution them about it, or even charge them with dangerous driving.
Yes, I know it isn't realistic

George Best

Just been to see The Wedding Present. The concert was basically a revisit to the George Best tour and they played all the songs of the album, in order. "My Favourite Dress" is also my favourite song by them.
I had a slight increase in self-esteem when the band's photographer* waved at me. But it was short lived - the guitarist waved at a bloke stood next to me almost immediately afterwards and I returned to relative anonymity.
*a work colleague (in fact, my team leader) when doing his day job

the blue bell on saturday night

went back to Preston last night, had some beers with my old friends. then a few hands of texas hold em. felt a bit rough this morning. the M&S mango smoothie didn't make me feel better.

bigmouth bikes again

went on a bike ride today, details at the link above. To be honest most of The Smiths references escaped me. I recall a song about cemetery gates, possibly an iron bridge may have been mentioned. I've never heard the Strangeways Here We Come album either. But I do enjoy cycling around manchester, and I can appreciate the social benefits of providing activities for young people in Salford.

Tribute band The Smyths were there, but for me the top special guest was the one and only Frank Sidebottom visible in photo above, on the right wearing a purple shirt

Musically the highlight was a performance by the Levenshulme Bicycle Orchestra. The eycatching percussion instrument at the back of the hall appeared to have been made from a pair of old bicycles, joined by a combination of crude welds and tape. It sounded considerably better than it looked. Two other members of the band were playing rather orthodox instruments: bass guitar and drum kit. The fourth member of the band took vocal duties. The resultant sound was a surprisingly business-like wall of sound. Put me in mind of Nurse With Wound - which is a compliment.

The statistics: Distance = 15.3 miles, maximum speed = 21.1 mph, moving average = 8.5 mph and time moving = 1h 48m 24s

Climbing again

Went to the Manchester Climbing Centre with MC last night. It was fun, despite my lack of success in getting up anything in the last half of the evening. I think it was the extra weight of the cup of tea

tattoos

The theme of tattooed knuckles has been going round my head for a few years. What would be the best eight-letter sequence to display? Or a pair of four-letter words? Plenty of examples at Knuckle Tattoos
Get your own knuckles at the knuckle tattoo gun.

Vegan cheescake

I had two recipes, but the first (from the Real Food Daily cookbook)required white miso, and since I couldn't find any I found another recipe on the Internet. I ended up combining the two recipes in an apt and original way. Read on for the full story, with pictures.

The RFD cookbook had a fancy-schmancy wheat-free crust made with barley flour and stuff. Probably would have been delicious but I couldn't be arsed, what with the time it was going to take to make the cheesecake itself. I didn't want to spend all day in the kitchen so I smashed up 20 hobnobs and fried the bits with 3 tsp of margarine, and spread that in my pie tin. Mmm, fried biscuits. They're unhealthy-licious.

The filling was made in two parts - first was 1 cup of maple syrup, 1 tsp of vanilla extract, 3 dessertspoons of sunflower oil and a lemon. The zest of the lemon was put in the liquid, then I peeled the lemon and removed the pips and some of the tough bits and blended it all up with my hand blender. Then I whisked in one tsp of baking powder and half a cup of arrowroot powder.

For the second part I used one 225g tub of Tofutti "Better Than Cream Cheese", one packet of silken tofu (approx 14oz) and half a packet of normal (firm) tofu (125g). I blended these up a bit, then I added the liquid< from the previous paragraph and blended some more. By this time it looks pretty gooey and tastes sweet, and the work is almost done. Pour the gooey liquid over the crust and bake at about 180 deg C for an hour (check to make sure the top doesn't burn) then take out. It should be a bit runny in the centre but firmed up at the sides. Then leave to cool for four hours

As a topping the RFD have a raspberry puree to make. Or get a tin of black cherry pie filling from the supermarket and pour on the top. I went with option two.

I could eat a really large amount of this.

Quick!

Google Analytics says that 83% of visitors to this site stay less than
10 seconds. Can I say a brief hello? No - they've gone

My footprint

Apparently, if everyone lived like me, we'd need 2.6 planets http://www.myfootprint.org/ My fuel consumption estimates were very rough though

Hygiene

For ages I couldn't spell hygiene. But that isn't the point right now. I want to share with you my world-improving idea. Everyone worries about germs nowadays, especially when using public toilets, which is why they have taps which operate by waving your hand under them, and hand dryers (previously covered in this blog)
But door handles? Well, someone has an idea which I don't really rate. My idea is to have two handles and a note advising customers who have washed their hands thoroughly to use the top handle (ideally white) and others to use the lower handle (a dark colour). Probably wouldn't work. Non-washers are no worse off than if there was only one handle, but have everything to gain by using the "clean" handle. Would anyone use the "dirty" handle? If no-one uses it, would it be cleaner than the clean handle? Which handle would you use?

insomnia

morning everyone. I'm back in the GMT timezone, and finding it a challenge to adjust. why does everyone get up so late here? it's nearly 04:00 already and everyone seems to still be asleep. anyway, I've got myself a laptop (that works) so I can while the time away posting stuff on my blog and doing other important stuff. like working out how much tax I pay. seems a lot

Portobello mushrooms and polenta

One of the places that we ate at on holiday was Real Food Daily in Santa Monica. I had a pair of lovely tacos, and sushi. It was so good we bought the cookbook and tonight we made one of the recipes from it. Which, as you can see, was some big mushrooms, and aubergine, and vegan soft cheese, on a disc of polenta. Pretty delicious even though I say it myself, took about four hours to prepare though. Since it isn't my recipe I better not reproduce it here. But if you want to come round and read the RFD cookbook you're welcome to.

touring the west coast on one burrito per day

holiday going well. LA was a good place to land. Oceanside had awesomw burritos. San Diego was a happy place with nearly perfect weather. Stopped in Santa Barbara for an extra day because we like it. Went canoeing around the bay/harbour this morning. only capsized once -while landing on the beach. My new favourite mexican food place is Chilango's.

Multimedia message

Got to philadelphia largely without incident. However Moving though the intestines of PHL is a slow process. Getting through customs involved filling in forms, lengthy queuing, speaking to two customs officers and even more queuing. Still waiting for our connecting flight though it is apparently somewhere near. Had a warm doughy pretzel with mustard- philadelphia cuisine is novel. In UK time it is 23.05 but only 15.05 in LA so quite a long time till bed. I hope to obtain a decent meal and a glass of wine before the day is out. Looks like the peristalsis is about to get us on the plane and onward to the west coast.

Great train journeys of the world #173

Went to Bradford to leave my bike somewhere safe while I'm away. Much as I love the idea of public transport, the journey back was expensive and slow. Never mind that, think of my carbon footprint. Going to have to take a lot of trains to make up for the plane journey tomorrow.

windgather

Went to climb some rocks with MC. Did a couple of routes
near Pott Shrigley. Lovely countryside made me regret not having a
camera. Did a couple of leads. Must get myself some more gear e.g.
Nuts 1 to 10 and some quickdraws. Maybe pick some stuff up in the US

the weekend

my game plan was to stay up late tonight but I'm quite tired. probably a side effect of drinking all that wine last night with GV and her bf. anyway, have realised that after three weeks of ownership there isn't a picture of my bike up here yet. So here is one

I've come across a couple of vegan blogs tonight, and I know you all love vegan blogs so check these guys out
Yeah, that vegan shit
Vegan cupcakes take over the world

dry hands

Most hot-air hand dryers are useless at drying hands. Useless at drying anything. And while some people say they are good for the environment, I'm sceptical. I recall that at the Centre for Alternative Technology they advocate paper towels which can be composted. But this isn't the point I want to make. Last night I found an electric hand dryer which actually dried my hands. It made loads of noise and the fan seemed to be strong enough to blow the water right off. I was so impressed I took a photo

Opportunity

I always worry about what i put on this blog. I'm going to spain for a long wknd. Not that i have a massive readership but just my luck if the three people who read this are my mum, my gf and a local burglar. Anyway i'm taking all my valuables with me. Should be good, a bit of fresh air, dry weather and duty-free is just what i need. Although the holiday is starting in the traditional way with a surprising delay at the airport.

rained on

we went for a walk in Glossop today. At the top of the first hill it became apparent that the weather wasn't going to hold out. It rained heavily while we were retreating. Noticed that the bricks in Glossop say "GLOSSOP" on them which I found very pleasing.

footy

I got a place as substitute on the Main Office team in the annual work five-a-side football tournament. In the pub on friday night Dempsey and his mate Ian gave me football knowledge which I took away on a beer mat

In the event just the knowledge didn't make me a star, experience seems to count for a lot. I don't think I disgraced myself though, and I enjoyed it.

Would I eat a beef burger for one million dollars?

This question has been troubling me for a while.

Everyone thinks they have principles, but if I was actually sat down with the suitcase full of money and a flame-grilled, 100% beef patty in a sesame bun, would my principles match up to my greed?

Some people say that the good deeds they could do with the money would outweigh the bad deed being done to the animal between the buns. To me it seems difficult to quantify some unspecified good deeds. If mcdonalds gave a million dollars to the WWF for every burger they sold would that make their business morally acceptable? I don't think so.

Perhaps this theory can be extended. If one million dollars donated to a worthy cause offsets a beef burger, how many dollars makes it okay to eat a human burger?

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Back to the snack. So, I swallow the last morsel, dab the ketchup from my lips with a napkin and gleefully toss handfuls of bank notes into the air. I give it all to the WWF right? I don't keep any myself e.g. to cover my expenses. Or a solar powered rolls-royce to help the environment?

I can't help wondering about the shadowy figure in the background, pushing the money at me. Who would pay a million dollars to watch me eat a burger? Nobody nice would make an offer like.that. Would Ronald McD do it for the advertising?

"Our burgers are so tasty even Matt the Vegan can't resist them"

How is this for a headline: "Vegan eats burger for million bucks". Would be difficult to keep it quiet. People would be jealous because they didn't get $1000000 for eating a burger. They'd probably shout 'Sellout" at me when they saw me in the street. It doesn't matter to me what the world thinks, though it does bother me what my friends think of me. And if I could justify it to myself then I could justify it to other people. Maybe.

It is a stupid question because the situation won't arise. But the question of what makes people do the right thing or the wrong thing is a tasty one. And how the wrong thing can be justified is the cheese slice on top.

New tyres

Yesterday was the day i finally needed new tyres, four of them. I went for Michelin Energy E3A. Not the connosieur's tyre i prefer but not the cheapest tyre on the market either. I worry about buying cheap tyres. Will the last thought in my mind as i skid off a cliff be "at least i saved forty quid on these tyres" According to Michelin this type will not only last longer, it will make my car use less petrol too. And both of these features are highly desirable at the moment. I'm on a decent wage but i can't seen to live within my means.

Me vs. The DSA

A two round knockout. They gave me my motorbike licence just after lunch today. A couple of minors which is a shame since i didn't get any last time. But no majors which is better than last time. Rode home by myself, and felt seriously free. Now for a bike

Holiday postcard

The holiday venue this year is a huge stone castle in Scotland. Not very old but the biggest place we've stayed in. Large en-suite rooms for everyone and for the first time ever no shortage of fridge space for beer. Perhaps we're drinking less? The views are good enough for a travel magazine. Haven't seen a red squirrel yet though.

Holiday activities so far have included learning to play Texas Hold 'Em and cycling up and down hills in the direction of various beaches. There is talk of playing the famous Withnail & I drinking game and on thursday a trip up Ben Nevis. I'm not sure if i'm in shape for either of these but the latter will probably be the easier of the two. One thing that is missing is a connection to the outside world. Mobile phone signal is only reliable from the roof of the tower and i haven't been on the Internet for three whole days.

Concert at the Night & Day

Went to see a few bands tonight. Had booked tomorrow off work so i could let my hair down -euphemism for getting drunk. Sandbox were on first and got the event off to a good start. You can't go far wrong with Loud guitars and an attitude. Second band -Hey Bulldog were even better. The singer had a kind of high pitched style which worked for me though my lovely gf thought he sounded like a girl. The band got on with a dense wall of sound thing behind him. I was happy with the result. A bit disappointed with Frontrunner who started out like Oasis wannabees. They got going later on but were on match for the headliners. Pitch Invasion reminded me a bit of Mudhoney-which is high praise from me. Sounded a bit rough but with loads of energy and enthusiasm. I would have bought their album. If they had one. And if i had some spare money. As it is I'll be revisiting their Myspace page and seeing if they have any tracks to download. And looking out for any more gigs in the area. They rock!

booze, delicious booze

I was working last weekend, and I've been on the night shift last week. It's been a while since booze passed my lips which made it even more of a pleasure to go out with my lovely gf to some of manchester's finest taverns and alehouses.
I particularly enjoyed the FrÜli at Kro2. Could hardly stay awake on the bus home, but this is not uncommon.

Went for a little walk to Chrolton Water Park today. Weather was pretty sunny, waterfowl were plentiful.


Fruit & veg today? - Salad
Exercise today? - at least 12 miles of walking

Where is R'lyeh?

Last night i dreamed about Great Cthulhu again

the beach

Went to Crosby on Sunday, lots of iron statues of Anthony Gormley

I hate computers

Have you ever had a USB device, like a flash drive or an external hub refuse to install? You can try to reinstall the drivers again and again but you just get an error message saying it couldn't install because "function driver not specified"? Well that used to happen to me on a PC with Windows 2000 and SP4 installed. But when I installed the Windows 2000 Update Rollup 1 for Service Pack 4 my troubles were over. I googled about this error prior to my breakthrough but didn't find this helpful hint on the web anywhere. It is on now.

Back to work plan

I've had a week off, but i'm about ready to return to work. I've had a shave and i'm in place for an early night. This week has been relaxing but not very productive. I've had a dabble with vmware, I've caught up with some friends and I've caught up on my sleep. Going to work does impose a structure on one's life and that isn't always a bad thing.

handy dial up Internet access

here's a handy number - 0845 604 3090. And one just needs to point your computer at it, give them any username and password you like, and you're headed down the information super highway

I'm a winner

Passed my motorcycle theory test, celebrated by buying myself a pair of non-leather motorcycle boots (Dainese Torque Out). Obstacles to me becoming a hell's angel that still remain are

1. DSA practical motorcycle test
2. initiation into Didsbury Chapter of Hell's Angels
3. buying a chopper, with extra long forks and a petrol tank in the shape of a skull
4. growing a beard

want to send me a file?

click here

a weekend away

took my lovely gf away to Yorkshire for the weekend. did a bit of a walk from Otley to the Cow & Calf in Ilkley And then had a meal at an undeservedly obscure café.

On sunday had a walk round Harrogate, and called in at the orange shop. I've been a bit unhappy with Orange for a while now (mainly the high costs of calls on my PAYG tariff and their habit of passing my number on to their dealers so they can mither me about getting a new phone) so I asked them for a PAC number which would let me take my existing phone number to a different telco. I thought that as a PAYG customer I was unloved, but it turned out Orange want to keep me. A nice lady called Karen told me what they could do

• calls to landlines or orange numbers were 15p/min, now 5p/min
• calls to other networks were 35p/min, now 12p/min
• texts were 10p each, now I get 300 free per month (since I'm not a voracious texter I doubt I'll have to pay for any)
• 1MB of Orange World access - I'm not sure what this is, but thanks anyway

so I guess Orange can provide a cheaper tariff for PAYG customers. The moral of the story is ring up and act like you're leaving them. My current balance is £7.91 so I'll see if my credit lasts a bit longer now. Karen didn't mention but it seems this tariff only lasts for six months, I've made a note in my diary to call them back in september.

flushed with comnsumer power we then moved on to Leeds, home of the ever-so-lovely Leeds Corn Exchange and a rather good thai restaurant. the courgettes with chili and basil were delicious

return from Switzerland

I'm back. It was nice to see the baggage handlers in Geneva enjoying their work so much when we got there. Chucking bags about, putting each other on the carousel. So I should probably not be surprised that on the flight out of Geneva my luggage didn't come with me. After five days it has allegedly been sighted in London Gatwick.

Had a good time though, and I feel refreshed. Probably the fresh air and the early nights

switzerland

Having a week of snowboarding, not in too much pain at the moment.
still trying to decide if I prefer left foot or right foot forward.
struggling with swiss keyboards where the Z and Y are swapped round
and the symbols are all over the place

back soon, will upload pictures then

Death

I've been thinking about death lately. Not in a morbid way. If you can think about death in a non-morbid way then that's how I've been thinking about it. It's pretty inevitable so I might as well plan for it and then hope to delay it as much as possible.

I sort of know what kind of funeral I want, but I need to put the word out, otherwise the secret might die with me and I might get something unsuitable. I'm not sure how much my personal taste should run wild in this area. On one hand I expect I'll be paying for it, or at least the costs will come out of my estate, and I should be calling the tune; but since I won't be conscious it doesn't really matter to me what happens. Like any good host I should provide whatever the attendees will enjoy (?) most.

But who will the attendees be? I'm planning to outlive everybody I know. I suppose I have to assume that something has gone wrong and everyone I know now will be there. Or even that the people I know around the time of my demise will be similar to the people I know now. So basically, whoever turns up should know me, know what I'm like and be able to say to each other in the car park afterwards "I've never been to a funeral like that before, but it's what he would have wanted"

I don't want any of that religious stuff. I've lived the majority of my life outside churches and I'm not planning to skulk back inside when I'm dead. I don't want to be buried in consecrated ground either. It's cremation for me, dressed in some nice black clothes. And I'd be obliged if someone could take my ashes back to Leeds. There's a park where I believe I planted an acorn when I was very young, Butchers Hill I think its called. That seems like a good place for me to symbolically rest.

The service should start with a great tune- "Glam Racket" by The Fall. I've listened to those lyrics time and time again, and they still don't make any sense. A bit like life really.

And I'm not really sure what else should happen. It's tempting to just have a sombre DJ in a black frock coat play my all time top ten songs. But I should try to put on a show which has a meaning. To convey the message that I've had a fairly enjoyable life, tried to live it the way I wanted to, and I go into oblivion with out too much regret. There's a passage which sums this up at the end of "The Watchmen" by Alan Moore, where Rorshach realises that Dr Manhattan has to kill him. Someone could read it out.

After this it would be nice if someone who knew me could stand up and say what a nice chap I was. I don't want to be too ambitious though, maybe a PowerPoint presentation of some of my recent holiday photos would be a good alternative - the first one should be upside-down, that's always funny. And a song, either "Orange Claw Hammer" by Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band, or "54 Cymru Beats" by the Aphex Twin.

Maybe both, how am I doing for time? I'd like to have another reading, one which neatly encapsulates my personal philosophy, makes everyone think a bit. Nothing comes to mind though. So my choices are

1. something bizarre, like the Windows 2000 EULA or an extract from "Moby Dick"
2. something pretentious e.g. from Paradise Lost, a book I can't make head or tail of while I'm alive
3. something from one of my favourite authors, H P Lovecraft or Philip K Dick or William Gibson

I have to go with option 3, and I had a skim though tonight. Didn't find anything appropriate so unless I change this later please use one of the bits about the battle robots from Count Zero

And for the outro, "This Corrosion" by the Sisters of Mercy. It's pretty long so the guests don't have to stay for all of it. My environmentally-friendly cardboard coffin (with the Ajut eyes drawn on) should whisk through the curtains when the bass guitar part begins.

With a bit of luck I'll have a bit of money left over when I'm gone and after my bills are paid. If there's some funds available I'd like to put on some drinks and a vegan buffet. Linda Mccartney sausage rolls and avocado sushi.

Any volunteers to be my executor?

roots

this is what the Internet is all about for me. this would take years of research to do by hand but in a couple of clicks you can look at the purple bit on the map and find out where home is. my home is in God's Own County. Or the People's Republic of West Yorkshire (PWRC) as some call it.

Is february the worst month?

many think it is, but the weather wasn't too bad for most of saturday, went for a walk in the countryside near bolton with my lovely gf. the sunshine got obscured by fog about halfway though, but we managed to get back to the car.

Started work on the new Thomas Pynchon book. Apparently The Klaxons are engaged in the same pursuit. I've just read the link to Against The Day and found that it is over 900 pages. I'm going to need more reading time in my life

peace & quiet

PHD survived the blogger changes, but this might be the end of the line for another reason. I'm dissatisfied with the quality of my output. There are a couple of reasons for this.
Since this blog can be connected with me I have to consider that what I write may come back to bite me if read by future employers, voters, etcetera. I tend to under-report events which would show me in a bad light
And I plan to one day supplement my pension by doing a bit of journalism on the side. I can see myself having a weekly opinion page in the guardian/radio times/heat magazine. A flattering thumbnail picture of a younger me in the top corner and a quirky title: "Matt grows more week by the day" or something. But I can't imagine editors stumping up hard cash for the tripe I've been producing here
So I'm going to take January off and see how I feel after my hiatus. In the meantime I'll be posting my photos on webshots.com. Photojournalism is apparently not a moneymaker