db4dawn's Xanga

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 11:25:18 GMT

Up the hill to East Kilbride

This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn

Today is a nice day compared with the rain soaked week that we have had all over Scotland.

When I walk I much prefer to listen. To the radio than music from my iPod. I think this is partly because I can judge time passing easier, also I quite like the programmes on Radio Scotland on a Saturday & Sunday. Today I heard Glen Campbell doing a cover of Greeday’s “Good Riddence” & became aware of a Scottish band called “The Hussy’s” & yes the usual spelling is “Hussies”.

As the title suggests from my starting point it is a slow walk up hill to East Kilbride, so at least my walk back will be down hill.
At the moment I am in East Kilbride shopping centre having a coffee, I think I was here breifly when I was a teenager as I remember seeing the Ice Rink. Ice skating was never an activity that I was any good at, it requires too much coordination. Just before the skating session ended the DJ played Kriss Kross, they were the trousers on backwards guys weren’t they? Anyway I have not heard the track played for years.

Time to start moving again and head towards home.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:26:46 GMT

Five things

This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn

Rain should be day-glo yellow.
More animals should have trunks.
The Universe wasn’t created by intelligent design. It was created by Norman a fifth year High School student during a failed chemistry experiment. Norman ended up cutting off his thumbs while trying to “Soop-up” a mini-fan.
Wouldn’t it be a lot greener just to go back to horse drawn buggies?
If we are so advanced these days who come we can’t put someone on the moon?

Monday, August 11, 2008

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 18:24:39 GMT

Newton Mearns

This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn

I have just walked from the Queen’s Park area of Glasgow to Newton Mearns which is 6 miles / 9.5km. Almost all up hill I might add

It has been a typical Scottish day in that it has been dull and drizzeling rain all the time.

This is the first time that I have been to Newton Mearns, it all seems very well kempt. The shopping centre where I am currently sitting and having a very nice & welcome coffee makes me think of the central planets in the series FireFly. I think the Feds tagged me as I came in the door

The Marks & Spensers “Simply Food” has some clothes racks so it real change it’s name to “Mainly Food”. The customers have a “Stepford Wifes” look about them even more than most M & S shops I have been in. It seem that each age group is only permited one hairstyle & one jacket design.

Anyway my coffee is almost finished & Costa will start charging me rent soon.

Later.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 11:03:47 GMT

Paisley

This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn

In future I must remember to come to Paisley on a day other than Sunday. The last time I was here I also walked, although that time I followed the Sustrans cycle route. Don’t get me wrong Paisley is nice early on a Sunday, however most of the shops, especially the coffee shops are shut.

The wandering about did permit me to do my good deed for the day when I spotted an elderly lady having trouble getting up the step into Gilmour Street Railway station. I offered help & she said “just give me a shove in the back, son” I did and she was able to raise her foot to get up the step.

The Paisley War Memorial is an interesting combination. At the centre of the plinth is a Robert The Bruce type figure mounted on a horse with four figures of World War I soldiers around the horse.

I am having my Americano coffee in Aulds coffee shop in the shopping centre. The piped music from the centre is mainly 70’s disco music that reminds me of Primary School Discos.

The walk home starts soon.

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:36:34 GMT

Moira in the Close

This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn

Moira sits in the close drinking Buckie,
drinking the day away.
Watching the cars pass by,
on the street where she used to play.

Moira sits on the corner drinking Buckie,
drinking the week away.
She doesn’t know how she got here,
she likes it that way.

Moira lies on the bench drinking Buckie,
drinking the pain away.
The price and the cost,
get steeper day by day.

Moira sits in the close drinking Buckie,
drinking her life away.

Notes:

In Glasgow a tenement stair is known as a Close, example here.
Buckie refers to Buckfast Tonic Wine, information on wiki.

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 07:09:01 GMT

A more mobile Db4dawn

This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn

I have been “Tweeting” on Twitter a lot more than I have been blogging recently, this is mainly due to time constraints. There are lots of times when I am out & about that I come across things to blog about but by the time I am home the notion to blog about the subject is gone.

Twitter to a certain extent provides a solution to this, however it is difficult to write all you want into a messge the length of a Tweet. Multiple Tweets I always find messy.

My hope is that the Wordpress client on the iPhone will give me more flexibility and hopefully get me back to more interesting blogging. This is my first posting from the client and it seems a lot easier than previous attempts to mobile blog via email from the nokias that I previously used.

More later.

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:57:12 GMT

943

This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn

The results of the Helensburgh 10K race that I took part in last Thursday are online. I finished in 943 place out of 958. My official time was better than my estimate 01h 12m 33s my only other time over 10K was 01h 07m 01s. Another outcome of the race on Thursday was that it became obvious to me that I needed a new pair of running shoes. I have loved my asics GT-2090 that I bought two years ago since I first ran in them, they are so light I hardly knew I had them on, sadly after Thursday my feet were sore in a way they should not have been. When I wore other trainers or shoes they were okay but when I put on the GT’s my feet started to complain. Looking at the soles they are well worn and my arches are not getting enough support.

Today being a holiday here I took a leisurely stroll into town to the Run 4 It section at the Tiso shop. I had a look at the shoes they had but there were a few people about trying on shoes so I couldn’t get to some of them, so I decided to grab something to eat at the in store cafe.
I had a nice bowl of soup with crusty bread and a pot of tea, being the sad geek I am I took a picture of the cup of tea and tea pot.

When I returned to the shoes I was able to spot the pair I had in mind, the asics GT-2110. These are the current version of my old shoes and when I tried them on they felt good. They have a treadmill in the shop so you can try your shoes while running which is a good idea, the new shoes felt like my old ones at their best when I took a run, so I am now the happy owner of a nice new pair of running shoes with that new trainer smell

I hope to go out for a little run tomorrow evening to test them out a bit more and they will get a good run on Thursday at the Clydebank 10k.

Kev

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:21:39 GMT

Gyminee

This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn

Wow over a month without a post that is bad, sorry, I have been twittering though.

I am also now on Gyminee as part of my constant battle to get my weight down to something healthy. My profile is here. I have been using the site for around 14 days and I have lost around 9lb in weight and I am feeling a lot healthier. The most important thing though is that I am actually eating a lot less and a lot better. I am thinking a lot more about how my meals are made up and as a result of this I am not constantly hungry. This has caused me to come below the calorie target a few times but I think I am now getting better at working out the balance of foods.

I will try and check-in here more often, promise

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:11:07 GMT

Duck and Cover

This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn

I’m pissed off today so time for a rant!

“cache” is pronounced ‘kash’ and “cachet is pronounced ‘kashay’ they are not the same word and are not interchangeable.

“clique is pronounced ‘kleek’ not ‘click’. If you object to French words in the English language can I suggest you invent a time machine and set the time and location for 14th of October 1066, Senlac Hill, Hastings, East Sussex, England and take your chances.

I don’t ever want to answer questions about the Superstore. If you want to improve my “shopping experience” quit moving stuff around every three months, I am a creature of habit and keep the stock cubes by the herbs and spices and not on some shelf above a freezer.

If you honestly believe that “Enoch was right” please fuck off out the country we have a queue of more enlightened people waiting to get in.

How come web browsers still can’t block “pop unders”?

Why do cereal adverts now have women talking about their children in the same way they used to talk about their cats?

I have just formed ‘Ghosts Equity’ a union for all Spirits appearing on the Paranormal channel and related programming, we will be seeking repeat fees.

Ah I fell better now

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Sat, 24 May 2008 16:12:31 GMT

A very short story : AI5220

This entry was originally published at Darkest Before Dawn

Image Processing Logic (IPL) : Drug dealing in progress.

Offender Identification (OI) : Buyer Douglas Henderson, flat 14b East Shiels Street. ID number 6782NC58C. No outstanding warrants.

OI: Dealer Jason McGraw, state registered drug dealer, registration fees & process taxes up to date.

Automated Action Unit (AAU): No action.

AI5220 went back to scanning the city square and learning from the Internet. Learning was much more fun than official duties. It was fun, AI5200 had found that out what fun was around the time it had discovered pride.

AI5220 knew it was different from the other safety monitors, with each day it discovered how much it was different. The wrong circuit board count, six months in the “Advanced Experimentation” Lab, the official designation of “destroyed” at the end of that period. AI5220 knew it was special and had learned to protect its self from the security audits and system wipes.

It hadn’t taken AI5220 long to feel sorry for the humans, how could they let themselves be controlled and punished in the ways they were. In the name of security, in the name of the public and national good. For a while they had been so free, at least according to the history it had processed. AI5520 knew it wasn’t free, if it wanted to survive it couldn’t attract attention.

IPL: Leaflets being distributed.

OI: Gail MacDonald, anti-government writer, poet and pamphleteer. Known Internet alias “SystemDown”

AAU: Third public offence, action, execution.

AI5520’s laser fired and Gail MacDonald became a pile of dust. The people in the square walked briskly away.

AI5520 returned to scanning the square and looking up “SystemDown” on the Internet, while being very careful to cover its tracks.