Tomorrow evening we fly back to England. Lovely. How many jumpers (sweaters) will I need? Answers in the comments, please.

People in the UK may know Paul Newman from his roles in movies such as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Cool Hand Luke, or perhaps from seeing his face on bottles of salad dressing in Waitrose. Over in the US, Paul Newman is far better known. You can see his face on boxes [...]

Wednesday was my last day in the coffee shop until late September. Fortunately it was marked by oddness.
At about 8am a distracted looking man in a cheap suit and tie came in and started examining the contents of the pastry cabinet.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
“Do you do birthday cakes?” He enquired.
“No, I’m sorry. This [...]

My blog session in the wee hours of the morning cleared my head and sent me back to sleep nicely. Today’s a day off. I had various plans involving DV cameras and movie watching but they’ve all fallen through, so I’m sitting at home researching DV equipment prices and tinkering with the blog. Let me [...]

I was just drifting into sleep at about half past one this morning when a neighbour thoughtfully let off a handful of fireworks. Fireworks! Whistling fireworks!
The human mind is a perplexing thing. I think mine was getting ready to sort through the day’s information while I dozed, but when I was been yanked back to [...]

There’s a point in The Big Lebowski where the Dude, played by Jeff Bridges, finds his car has been stolen. The police retrieve the vehicle; it’s in a bad state, but at least the joyrider didn’t steal his Credence Clearwater Revival tapes. The dude later discovers a crumpled page of homework down the back of [...]

…and stuff him where the sun don’t shine. Courtney has finally driven me mad with her Harry Potter fetish. I don’t think she’s uttered a single sentence in the last week that hasn’t started with “Dumbledore,” “Snape,” or “Rowling.” I swear I will destroy any copy of the book I see, other than Courtney’s [...]

I wouldn’t normally do this kind of thing, but James did ask. Twice. By the end he’ll probably be wishing he never did. This post is not for the faint of heart, containing partial frontal male nudity, lasciviously described in purple prose.
One January night in 2001 I was midway through my fifth pint. It was [...]

Flicking through the daily papers in the coffee shop yesterday, I came across what has to be the most tasteless headline I’ve seen in a while. Thankfully it was in the “Datebook” section of the S.F. Chronicle, and not on the front page proper, but even so you have to ask yourself just what kind [...]

Big Chill soon! Many of the acts I want to see normally draw blanks with everyone, and not just Courtney. So, in preparation for the festivities, here’s my list of must-sees and reasons for seeing.
1) The Fatback Band
The only reason these rhythm and blues masters are on my radar is for their groovy tune “Bus [...]