Apparently Today is Special

It's Blog Day. I wasn't really sure what it was all about until I read Tara's site, so now I know, I have to recommend 5 blogs for you to read - I think I was meant to let the blogs know in advance or something, but as I'm late to the party, I guess that's going to be missed. And it's meant to be new stuff that I probably haven't linked to before, which rules out the usual crew of suspects...

OK - so here goes (a very random sample of stuff that I occasionally get a chance to read)

• I Quit for LIJIT - I guess it's only fair as I found out about this whole deal coz I was hoping to catch her usual Friday interview with one of the staff. I've never met Tara, but she works for Lijit that develops the search widget over on the left. And they're based just up the road in Boulder, so I'm all for supporting the local tech industry.
  
• Blog.Pmarca.Com - Marc Andreessen's blog - very smart, very opinionated, and despite only entering the blogging world a few months ago, has amassed enough posts to keep you reading for a long time. Oh, and he does startup stuff.
  
• Feld Thoughts - Back to local stuff (well, Boulder again), Brad Feld writes about lots of different stuff, but mainly life in the Venture Capital world. The fact that he manages to invest in some of the (what I personally think are) cooler internet companies make it a pretty cool place to stop by on your travels.
  
• Gotham Gal - if you ever need a decent recipe, or are struggling to find somewhere nice to eat in NYC (mainly), you can always count on Gotham Gal for some recommendations (and her recipe posts make me way too hungry given my current starvations/eat mainly salads approach to life). In between the food, there's lots of decent life stuff as well, and she writes in a completely honest and open way that you kinda feel like you're following along with her life.
  
• Perez Hilton - I debated alot about the last one - so many choices, and only one space, but one thing that is sure to brighten up a tough day at the office is the latest celebrity gossip. Plus, he sealed the deal with the extra little white bits he puts on the photo's - sometimes annoying, mostly darn funny.
  

That's my duty done - hope you enjoy. I really should update my links section over on the left one of these days - now that Google owns Blogger, wouldn't it be cool if you could just auto-import your feeds from Google Reader as your Blog Roll on your site?

Best and Worst

Prime examples of how the world likes to keep you on your toes

Best - the boss buying rounds of drinks for everyone in the club - he even got the club to change their dress code so they could get in - not an easy task if you've ever tried that in Newcastle.

Worst - MTV's new "program" Celebrity Rap Superstar, where none of the competitors were either celebrities or superstars, and even the rap helpers they had on were introduced as "from (insert 50, eminem, etc etc)'s crew, random name of someone you've never heard of". I couldn't decide what was worse - seeing Lauren's old boyfriend (that'll be LC, not Mrs Stone) Jason attempt to "dance" and "rap" at the same time, or the cringe worthiness of Pedro's appalling attempt to do In Da Club. I think I'm over crap summer TV now - bring back the real shows - it must be nearly time by now....

The Boat Will Be No More

For all of my drinking life, The Boat (aka The Tuxedo Princess) has sat below the Tyne Bridge, enticing students and locals with cheap drinking specials, dodgy PA appearances, and the landmark known as the revolving dancefloor (the cause of many a drunken stumble).

There were so many rooms that it was easy to get lost (some were open more than others), it often lent to one side, and as I got older, I frequented the place less and less. It got a bit of a reputation for fighting, and so nearly lost it's license in 2005.

I guess all change is inevitable (and I'm dealing with that on another front, with the sale of the home I grew up in going through last week), and with the upgrading of the Quayside, The Boat is no longer welcome. Not sure when the closing down date is going to be, but the BBC has a few more details if you're interested.

Maybe they'll have a closing down party at Christmas when I go back, so we can pay our last respects or something. I'll have a triple vodka, lime and lemonade please..

Sick

Been a rough week, spent mostly in bed or on the couch, hence the lack of posts.

Starting to feel slightly normal again now, so apologies - I'll try and fix it over the next couple of days...

One Day...

I hope the be rich, but I promise I will never be rich enough to forget that my Maserati has been towed, and I need to pay the fines.

Apparently this guy was "too busy" setting up his new company to remember that his car was towed, and he needed to pay the fines before they auctioned it off.

Luckily, he now has a PA once again to take care of the "domestic" stuff, and anyway, he never spends much time in London in the summer.

Give me strength.....

Become Jason Bourne

Or some other semi-super hero, by watching all these videos...

You realize you're old when....

It seems like 5 minutes since you were watching the Avs in the waiting room when you're first neice was born, but you turn around and realize she's already lost her first tooth!

Congratulations Meaghan! I hope the tooth fairy was good to you xx

Fynn gets bigger

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Originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

And ever more curious...

It's a Card Eater....

If you happen to be in the habit of carrying around your extra memory cards, no doubt you've lost at least one by now. This little thing is designed to prevent that from happening, while providing a little joy in your life as well. Or something like that.

No idea how much it costs coz the site is in some foreign language that I'm making an educated guess is Korean, but no doubt someone at this very second is working away in a factory somewhere to create US copies to make them rich, so just hold on.

If only I was psychic

I could be as good as this one...... Mystic Meg, I miss you!

911 Gemballa

It seems like ages since I posted a pic of a fast car, so here's the new Avalanche GT2 650 EVO R by Gemballa (who names these things?). 650 BHP and the so pretty it hurts the eyes. No doubt way to expensive for me to afford, but if that lottery ticket comes through this week, it's on the list....

Health Kick Begins

After a kick up the arse from the doctor last week, the health kick that has been threatening to begin for the last 2 years has officially started. I found out that salad isn't exactly the worse thing in the world and re-aquainted myself with that strange place known as the gym. It's early days, but I'm going to have to stick this one out for at least a couple of months ;-)

Anyway, I was thinking that maybe this thing might help....

Time Travel

If you're stuck in the 80's still, this might be the perfect dock for your iPod.....

ToonTastic Start to the Season

Oh happy days - Newcastle travelled away to Bolton today to kick off the new Premiership season, and came back with a 3-1 win. Martins (pictured) scored twice and either Charlie Zog or David Rozenthal scored the other, depending on which commentary you read. Rumour has it that Martins first was an overhead kick, but I haven't seen any highlights yet to confirm.

So, I guess I'm in a little shock, but with a smile as wide as the Tyne. It's still way to early in the season, but we're top of the league, and long may it last 8-)

If only I'd known

This might have been prefect for Tonk's Bachelor/Stag/Bucks party

If pixelated body parts will offend you or get you fired, you're not allowed to click the link - you have been warned.

Scariest Use of Inkjet Printer Technology

I started listening to this thinking it was some sort of joke, but apparently they're deadly serious. It gave me the distinct impression that I was in the middle of some weird Sci-Fi movie flashback - maybe RoboCop or Starship Troopers?

Tony Wilson Dies

Tony Wilson, founder of Factory Records and The Hacienda, and manager of New Order, Joy Division and The Happy Mondays died in hospital today after a long battle with cancer.

His obituary is here and of course, there's always 24 Hour Party People to watch.

Most Expensive Computer Speakers?

Despite the fact that these speakers from Bang and Olufsen are pretty damn gorgeous, and handle up to 250 watts of power, the price tag of $3200 is just ridiculous. Does anyone ever pay this sort of money for computer speakers? The fact that you could get yourself a very (very) well specc'd Mac or PC for the same amount of money must at least deter everyone except the stupidly rich.

Not saying I don't want a set if someone's going to buy them for me of course...

More details here if you're still interested.

Top Gear Coming to America

Top Gear is coming to America, in all it's uncut glory. I'm a happy boy, and off home to program the TiVo... 8-)

Sega Rally is Back

Well, not quite yet, but it's looking good for when it does make it. Not only does it take advantage of the new consoles (PS3 and XBOX360) to bring lots of realistic pretty pictures, the developers have somehow built into the physics the effect of driving cars on the track. Not really surprising you might say - all the good racing games vary the grip with the type of track and/or weather - dry concrete is less slippy than snow covered mud for example. However, Sega has taken it a step further, so that the car actually has an effect on the track - that ridge you left in the mud on lap one is there to throw you off course on lap 2 if you're not paying attention. What this means is that there are unlikely to be 2 laps the same, ever. Anyway, the guy from Sega explains and demos it a lot better than I do, so listen to him...

More Wedding Footage

Courtesy of the video machine that is known as Flangio (you can tell by the giggles in the background on every video he shoots). This was a late night official group shot (can't wait to see how it came out), with a brief Aussie sing song thrown in for good measure

TV Premier Dates

Especially for the wife, here's a link to all the dates for when the TV shows kick off again.

New iMacs

They're pretty.......

Also, new iLife 08 (despite Leopard not being released yet), new .Mac functionality (and more space), new iWork with a spreadsheet app now included and other bits and bobs along the way.

TUAW has loads of coverage of it all as you'd expect but here's the link to the iMac details if you're lazy.

Oh, and the official ad is here - when it looks this good, you don't really need to do anything...

Tonks and Aly Get Hitched

So, it actually happened - the wedding went ahead without a hitch, the weather held out for the top of the mountain, and everyone had a complete blast. So many stories, so little time, but maybe the pics will give you an idea of how much fun everyone had. Of course, Mr Batty managed to take a few as well (and even had the ceremony ones ready by the cocktail hour, which was pretty damn impressive). The reception ones from him are here....

I survived my MC'ing duties for the night, and luckily didn't feel the urge to break out the MC Hammer impressions (and the boxing approach to introducing people got nixed the night before). Everyone who spoke did a pretty amazing job - I was worried for Sam when I saw him before the speeches, as he looked like he was about to die, but to be honest, when he got going, he managed to make probably the best speech I've ever heard. Ash and Nick also did a great job, and the girls (who had to follow Sam) had obviously done their homework and pulled off the synchronized speech to a tee.

Obviously, being Mr Tonkins wedding, there was a couple of drinks consumed during the day/night and then everyone hit the dancefloor in a big way. Many highlights (Tartleys dive for prime spot in the group photo, Sam's 8 drinks at last orders, Glenns 4 and complete panic that he might have to drink them, Ted shouting out of the balcony window until 3am when Heidi decided to join in and abuse him until he shut up, Nicky offering to get naked if the DJ would play just one more song etc etc), but seeing Aly and Adam smiling the whole night made the hangover worth it.

There's one more video that needs a little touch up before I can post it, so stay tuned for that later in the week - if you weren't there, it'll give you a great feeling for how good it was, and if you were, you're probably in it ;-)

Now, if I can just kick this hangover thing, and stay off the booze for a couple more days......