Blog! I've been visiting Plain Layne a bit lately, initially because she looks a bit like Tori Amos but mostly because it isn't often you stumble across something so honest and elloquent:

"I inhabit a world that has shifted into unbearable poignancy. A familiar-looking face in a bright bustling crowd will remind me of her, or any Spanish I overhear. My heart is broadcasting cliched songs of love and longing to the radio. Everyday objects have become remarkable things, suffused with memories of her, like the striped chopsticks of mine that she loved. In the Bug I remember Christmas with my family at the resort, and how we saved up our affections for a deserted dirt road and the backseat. My bedroom is drowsy and plush with her ghost. Life seems far better -- and far worse -- whenever I glimpse a couple in their happy private bubble, hands clasped, leaning into each other, eyes shining with contentment. That should be us. That was us."

Today, Layne introduced me to the work of the Kabalarian's who seem to spending their lives giving their own definitions of baby names. I smell both a fish and a rat, but here anyway am I ...

"Your name of Stuart has created the desire to focus on the details of your immediate interests to the extent that others consider you to be fussy. You are attracted to, and could excel in, the mechanical or technical fields, such as computers. Instead of establishing the system and order you would like, you are over-particular in some things that matter to you personally but lax and indulgent in other ways. You place great importance on whatever you happen to be interested in, and can be quite thorough and detailed in what you are doing, but find it difficult to be consistent. You scatter your efforts when things becomes too monotonous. You have intense urges and feelings for which you can find no expression. At times you are motivated more by moods and desires than by sound logic and reason, and under conditions of stress you could react inadvertently in temper or stubbornness that you would regret later. The indulgences prompted by this name can lead to high blood pressure and its relative ailments, as well as nervous tension affecting the whole nervous system. "

Oh who want's to believe these things anyway?

Blog! Couldn't agree more Ranleigh:

"Note to Self - From now on only go to Matinees. Do not, I repeat do not go to evening films. $9.50 is too much for a movie even if the damn thing does run something like 3 hours. Also, while matinees are virtually empty ensuring a relaxing movie going experience, evening showing are completely packed meaning you'll have to sit within the heavy oppressive blanket of humanity feeling all hot and claustrophobic while some huge guy spills over into your seat. The feeling of claustrophobia will be worse when the running time is something like 3 hours. In fact everything is worse when the running time is 3 hours."

Unless it's something with Lord, Rings, Dances or Wolves in the title. I'm sorry what?

Blog! Matt Haughey has been threatening to start The Ticket Stub Project for some years and it finally launched yesterday. It's fascinating, idiosyncratic and nostalgic. Already started glancing through my books looking for old tickets I can write about ...

Blog! Ladyblog's Erika:

"I just got super glue on my tongue. Thank the Lord, it isn't stuck to anything. It's just there. It's annoying and hard and well, stuck. I guess I deserve it. I shouldn't have had super glue anywhere near my mouth. You see, I have several cracks on my fingers that are killing me, so I bought some super glue and filled in the cracks. I didn't buy the real super glue, of course, because there were others that were cheaper. Two for the price of one, in fact. The stuff took longer than I thought to set and I don't know how it ended up on my tongue, but there it is. I am tired. I am a dork."

I sometimes get brown sauce in my hair ...

Blog! DaisyBlossom offers a stunningly accurate description of what also happens to me at concerts:

"When the matches came out and started playing, everyone starting moshing and slam dancing which had me crushed against the stage like you wouldn't believe. I used to mosh when I was like 15 and 16 but back then I didn't realize how annoying it is to be unwillingly part of it. I got the wind knocked out of me 2 times as people we pushing me into the stage which came right in my abdomen. Unfortunately, I couldn't move so all I could do was try to guard my rib cage the best I could. It was so gross though, I mean people are like humping me. Their whole body jumping up and down right on my backbody was I think the grossest feeling in the world. I was in agony the whole time the matches were out there but like I said I still loved their music."

As Sheryl Crow sang 'No one said it would be easy ...'

Blog! Take care of yourself Dave. If you can survive university, you can survive anything ...

Blog! I feel you pain. The title says it all ....

I hate trains, oh how I hate them. The journey time is one thing, but the fact that one is constantly surrounded by screaming kids, belching lads and chatty old ladies is quite another. Virgin have scrapped their smoking carriage in favour of a 'Quiet Coach' for one - having sat in one of these on the way into the city on Friday, I can honestly say that it should have been reported under the Trades Descriptions Act. There were kids everywhere, screaming and squawking, fat bald thirty-something men drinking cans of Tennants Super and an old Grandma behind me who chirped and tweeted her way city-bound.

But was it any better under British Rail?

Blog! This is probably old news to everyone ... but I've just been reading 'Scotblog' and it's bloody good ...

Blog! When I was Star Trek fan, I would always look forward to Peter David's work. His prose seemed effortless in comparison to the other authors, his characterisation as close to the television as anything. His are the only novels I kept when I had the great clear-out. So it's rather fun that he's keeping a fabulously unstarry weblog. I've a feeling he's itching to get his hands on Buffy, the amount of writing he does on the subject, but today he turned his attention to another vampire themed musical:

Early on in the show, Steinman (composer) -- who wrote songs for Meat Loaf --slides about sixteen bars of "Total Eclipse of the Heart" into the middle of Krolock's first song. It draws huge laughs as the audience slowly tweaks to the self-referential digression. But when kicking off Act II, they do a full blown rendition of "Total Eclipse." It's great to hear. They do a terrific job with it. The problem is that it really points up the fact that no other number in the show can touch a song he wrote at least two decades ago, because that's the song you'll come out humming.

'Once More With Feeling' is coming to BBC2 shortly ...

Blog! The irony of the Wrzl Weblog:

You are searching for meaning of the life? We sure that we cant help to find the meaning of your life. But everybody knows, this is a search. The ultimate search. Search for a clue. You are going to find that clue from another human beings. Other people's wisdom, weirdness, happiness, delicacy, sorrow, stupidity... And the ultimate search begins here.

It's actually a wicked list of ladmag style link and flash games. A sort of bubblegum version of Metafilter ...

Blog! Altered Context made my heart melt:

I talked to Samantha on the phone for about two hours today. The sound of her voice was so...perfect. I love her so much. We are without a doubt soul mates.

What a feeling ...

Blog! anna has posted something new:

maybe i will get back to blogging when i can. maybe it will provide the necessary me time and the release that i need sometimes. maybe i'll leave this here until it disappears. but i thought i'd let the world know that i still exist. if you cared to know.

I care ...

Blog! I used to think I was the only weblogger in Liverpool. It seems I was very wrong, and even worse than that someone is doing this thing better than I am. The magnificently titled 'Imperial Doughnut' covers mainly pop culture of the Adam & Joe kind. Today for example features a brilliant review of 'Bubble Bobble' the dragon game which I played for hours and hours on my Commodore 64. Dashing through the archives I find myself grinning over and over ... how could I have missed this? The guy links to Scary Duck for goodness sake!

Blog! Michelle at Demerol signed my guest book today and said some nice things. Her sight is an emotionally charged place and obviously work a visit. Particularly love these animated gifs, 360 degree cat swings around all the rooms in her department.

Blog! In case you're wondering I'm still trying to work out how to review 'Waking Life' properly But while you're waiting perhaps I should point you in the direction of 'News of the dead', the weblog of Wiley Wiggins, the lead actor in that film and 'Dazed and Confused'. It's a ecclectic mix of tradional bloginalia, news about the projects he's working on and life's meanderings; from the strange to the truthful. I can relate Wiley -- and can't help but agree that the film was cheated at the Oscars -- 'Johnny Neutron' for goodness sake ...

Blog! So basically general ambivalence all round then ...

Blog! Melissa is 'A Girl In Love'. As well as a positively gorgeous design, her writing style is light, breezy and above all, real. Especially love her review of 'The Musketeer':

"We watched The Musketeer last night. It sucked. It didn't just suck in one arena, it sucked in them all. It isn't a pretty way to put it but there is no way to explain it better. There is no amount of clever and well choreographed fighting scenes that can fix this kind of movie. If there was we wouldn't know it because for a movie billed as well choreographed and jam packed with fight scenes it had very few. Want something with the same feel this was going for, with the same basic plot and fun to watch, watch The Princess Bride."

Amen. I would also add that after Disney's version and 'The Man In The Iron Mask', Dumas' stories would be laid to rest for a while ... see you when I'm not sneezing at you all ...

Blog! Ecritures, a Dutch weblog mixes photography with current affairs comment. Today's commentary regarding the Pim Fortuyn killing is particularly illuminating.

Blog! Blind Date Blog. Don't even get me started.

Blog! OK, that's it. I'm throwing in the towel. No more weblogging for me. I'm going to retire to the gills, become a hermit and talk to the trees for the rest of my life. What's the point in writing any further when I know that something like VerseGuru is flying around. The opening page signals something different -- a reproduction of an ancient science book, edited to become the navigation for the site. Find the weblog and I find something which references many of the things I do, but with many more exclaimation marks and subtlety (see if you can find the Hitchhiker's homage in the sidebar). And it has it's own radio station. That's it. No more. Goodbye.