Podcasts, and why I don’t read books..

There was a time when I used to read books, regularly. No better way to pass the time on the daily commute into London than losing yourself in a good book.

Then things changed. Firstly, it was free newspapers. When you are walking to the station and someone thrusts a newspaper into your hands, you can’t help but take it. The combination of the Metro in the morning, followed by the London Lite and the London Paper in the evening (now both superceded by the Evening Standard becoming a freebie) - led to me carrying a book around in my bag, and never reading it. Eventually I stopped even carrying the book.

Then I got an mp3 player (not an iPod at first, it was a Creative Zen thingy, it was pretty  good).  I’m not the sort of person who can listen to music and read at the same time, so the music took over for quite a while, and the books and papers were both relegated to the Reserve team.

iTunes

2006 – I switched. I got a Mac. Everything changed. I got totally into iTunes and all it has to offer. Wasn’t long before I got my first iPod – a 30GB iPod with video.

Then I discovered podcasts. and that was it for me. No more books, newspapers or music. Well, I still pick up the newspapers and thumb through them, and I do listen to music when I’ve got through all the podcasts, but primarily it’s podcasts for me now.

It’s great to be able to listen to radio shows you missed, or someone talking about a subject that really interests you. There are some great video podcasts too, both entertaining and educational. I should add I now have an iPod Touch 32GB, and watching video is a joy.

If you haven’ t tried podcasts, I suggest you do. They’re completely free – just subscribe to them in iTunes and they are automatically delivered to you whenever a new one is released.

Here’s some of my favourite podcasts:

Adam & Joe

Adam Buxton’s Mixtape

The Collings and Herrin Podcast

Frank Skinner on Absolute Radio

The Perfect Ten with Phill Jupitus and Phil Wilding

British Mac

Pets

Photoshop User TV

D-Town TV

Photofocus

Friday Night Comedy from Radio 4

As It Occurs To Me

That’s just the ones I can remember. See what I mean?

Always look on the bright side of life

Now here’s a funny thing…

I’ve always been a huge fan of the film Life Of Brian. It has always been in my ‘Top 5 films of all-time’ list.

My eldest daughter is now 15 years old, so it’s time for her to start watching some of my favourite films (to make up for all the times I had to sit through her favourite films throughout her childhood!). Need to steer away from the 18-certificates for another year or two, but we can get stuck into the 15s.

I decided that a good place to start for her would be Life Of Brian. She’s a smart kid, and would ‘get’ the irony of it, no problem. She’s also got a friend at school who’s really into it,  so she’s already heard a lot of the quotes in the playground.

We sat down to watch it on Saturday night, me full of anticipation that her taste in films was about to change forever. Armed with a box of Roses, we watched the film.

Afterwards, I asked her what she thought of it. Her response: ‘it was ok’. Now here’s the thing – I had to agree with her. I’ve seen that film umpteen times, and can almost quote it word-for-word. But I hadn’t seen it in a couple of years. I think it’s hit a point where it’s finally ’aged’. Can that happen? I have adored this film for all these years, then suddenly I was indifferent towards it. I don’t think I’ve changed, and of course the film hasn’t changed – but something has. Fine wines improve with age, but do they hit a point where they don’t taste too good? Not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with the wine, but our taste in wine may have changed?

I’m scared to watch This Is Spinal Tap again now!

Whatever, it’s not a life or death situation, but it is surprising how time can change your views on something you thought you knew so well.

Square patterns are SO in at the moment.

Bought a few new work shirts yesterday from M&S, the non-iron variety (my favourites!).
Took one out of the pack last night and popped it on a hanger ready for the morning, knowing full well that the sqaure creases on the front and back from being in the packet were still there.
I took a punt on the creases disappearing during my trip to work, these non-iron shirts are great for that – you put a creased one on and it sorts itself out in 10 minutes.
Alas, this doesn’t work with hardcore packaging crease lines.
So, I’m sitting in the office looking like a total spanner with these creases on my shirt.
Maybe everyone will think I got lucky last night, didn’t make it home and had to buy a shirt on the way to work this morning.
But probably not, they’ll just think I’m a spanner.

The Benefits Office

Started another blog with my a-steamed friends Talcy and Bingo. You can find it at http://benefitsoffice.wordpress.com
Not much on there at the mo, but keep an eye on it.

Ta

Fashion Tips for the Over-40s

Having recently turned 40, signalling the beginning of life, I’ve realised that there comes a time in a chap’s life when he has to evaluate his wardrobe situation.

A few weeks ago I was getting ready to go out for dinner with Tash (a rare occurrence since baby arrived!). All I could find to wear were jeans and t-shirts (mostly with something garish printed on the front). I tried a few on and they all looked terrible (for a restaurant situation). I think maybe I’m too old to wear t-shirts now?

I have to dress smartly for work, not a full suit and tie, but smart trousers\shoes and shirt. I feel comfortable in my work shirts, they seem to fit me properly, whereas my t-shirts don’t. Maybe it’s that I’m carrying a bit of weight these days – if I’m honest, I’m carrying more weight than I ever have. If I could shift a stone or two, the t-shirts would probably look and feel better. That still doesn’t account for the style of t-shirt, as plain as possible has to be the way to go, and definitely no brazen logos or cartoon characters!

I suppose a good compromise is the ‘polo shirt’. The casual look and feel of a t-shirt, but with a collar (always to be worn down, never up!). I’ll treat myself to some new shirts and polo shirts I think.

 Btw- thanks to everyone who bought me a t-shirt for my 40th, I got seven

That brings me on to the trouser\shoes department. Jeans and trainers are fine I think, for most situations. In fact I think there is a style of jeans for every situation. ‘Smart’ trousers are no good for casual wear, and please shoot me if I wear Chinos. So jeans it is. Nice dark denim (blue or black), is good enough for a semi-smart environment. Trainers are mostly fine too I think. I tend to favour old-skool (sic) Adidas trainers, that’s just my thing (they go great with the aforementioned polo shirts – Fred Perry of course). I have some Converse All-Stars too, but don’t wear them too often. It is quite nice to wear smart shoes on the weekend too, they can look good in combination with the right jeans.

Jackets. I’ve got quite a few jackets, mostly short ‘blouson’ type jackets, in various colours. They’re fine, no problem. For a change, I like to wear a smart jacket (usually left over from a suit where the trousers have rotted!). Yes, a suit jacket can look good with jeans.

So, in summary – a nice pair of jeans with smart shoes. A polo shirt and ‘suit’ jacket is the style for me from now on.

Hang on a minute – fuckin ell, I’m turning into Jeremy Clarkson!!

I’m off to change back into my baggy combats, CK T-shirt and Adidas Gazelles.

That was close.

Thanks for listening.