Snooze

To be a bit brutally honest, mate - I think you'll be hard pushed to sell a lot of those DVDs for £8 when they're available brand new for less.

Yep. Be very careful attaching a pumped shower to a combi boiler - you need to make sure you get enough flow.

The US also controls what people can view via the internet. They just do it using the law rather than a technological solution.

haha - good point. I'm afraid I didn't cut my teeth with gaming until '79. LONG after the Apple! 'fraid this was the height of home computing graphics back then! This was a very advanced game for its time!

Well - if we're doing the brinkmanship thing, the game that I played the most was Attack Force on my TRS-80:

Nope - you are STILL in a comfortable, tunnel-like hall. To the east there is a round, green door.

Heh - same here. Lots of AD&D and a little bit of Traveller back when I was young, the Summers were longer and all these other distractions didn't suck up all my time! As per previous post, I play lots of Euro/German-style games these days (I got bored of and stopped playing most computer games a few years back), but still have hankerings for my youthful RPG sessions now and again!

I'm a pretty good gamer. I tend to pick new games up quickly and spot strategies early. Last night I came in 2nd at my first ever playing of Tinner's Trail with my final score in the mid-90's, and won 2 consecutive hands of Dominion with a strong Laboratory/Spy combination. I usually win at 3er Puerto Rico, even winning last time I started in the dreaded 2er spot, executing a good builder approach with an early factory and harbour. Does that help?

If you don't like it, don't buy it!

My favourite one on the M25 is when you're travelling anti-clockwise and the congestion is around Dartford, you get signs like; DELAYS J1 - J30

Most likely bruised ligaments - quite tricky to break your foot without an actual trauma to it. Rest it, ice it, compress it, elevate it.

Hahaha - that frustrates the hell out of me too! He's completely incompetent - the kid he's trying to help always ends up having to tell him what to do - AFTER Paw Pilot's already told him: "Yes - that's what Paw Pilot said to do." 3 special steps: Step (1) Call agent Oso Step (2) Tell him to feck off and go back to finding One-Eyed Willie's treasure Step (3) Just do it yourself! Ah - now Handy Manny I have a lot of time for - he comes across as a nice, laid-back guy who still gets the job done.

Man! My son loves this. I just wish I could get the tunes out of my head - especially the bl**dy "Hot Dog" song. Have to say, though - getting They Might Be Giants to write the songs was a stroke of genius.

Block 'em in - big concrete block left in the entrance way while they're all parked up and then left there for a week or two will teach them! Is there anything in the tenancy agreement describing access and use of the driveway?

Have to agree - if you like houses, gardens, country parks, etc. NT membership is a bit of a no-brainer - it pays for itself within just 3 or 4 days out. Canons Ashby House is a nice one near Northampton, and down near Buckingham, there's a good selection: Stowe Gardens, Claydon House, Ascott, Upton House and the fantastic Waddesdon Manor amongst others. The gardens at Wrest Park (an EH property) in Bedfordshire are really nice too (probably better in the Summer, tho!).

The exhibition of the history and design of military footwear opens at Northampton Museum this weekend - you have to ask yourself - can you afford to miss it? I remember a school trip to the Stoke Bruerne canal museum way back when (the 70s!). Is that still there? For sensible suggestions: Apparently it's the Straw Bear Festival in Whittlesea this weekend - not too far from you. Or how about a theatre trip, matinee show or something?

Ah. Gotcha!

I understand the GT5 release date (previously expected to be March of this year) has now been put back indefinitely by Sony.

You booked a week of drinking and clubbing for a guy who sounds like he doesn't like drinking and clubbing?

If you do, I'll be expecting you to do me the courtesy of letting me buy you a drink or two at our regular(ish) Baggy night! As for my 2010, I guess a new baby seat for the car! I'm planning to be a dad (again!) - in fact - expect some news here within the next couple of weeks!

Hang on. Three Siamese twins? This explanation is going to get messier.........

Ever been to Wycombe?

Yes - you have to remember the part that technology makes in creating new music. The early bands (well - mostly 2nd wave - not typically the real pioneers) who used electric guitars, synthesizers and samplers, for example were the ones who tended to genuinely create new "genres" of music. However, once we got to the position of high-quality sampling available to everyone down to the home studio level in the 1990s, it was suddenly possible for anyone to create literally any sound they wanted to. I genuinely agree with you that this means there simply won't be any truly new music genres. The only technologies which could maybe be considered new would be things like using multichannel, directed sounds (eg. making use of a full surround sound image), etc. But I can only see technologies like that slightly changing the way music is delivered, not changing the music itself (I have a copy of The Flaming Lips, "Zaireeka", which is quite an interesting layered music experiment). The only other thing I could think of doing would be breaking away from traditional western music into something microtonal, but plenty of people have tried that in the past with literally zero mainstream acknowledgement. As such I agree that it's going to be nearly impossible for anyone new to truly create an image as big as those that have gone before. And I don't think it's limited to "metal". You can say the same about nearly any other genre - electronica, pop music, rap music, etc. There are big names in all these areas who are unlikely to be surpassed any time soon. That said - it does come in waves - there's always space to revive out-of-fashion styles. Oasis (I liked their first album!) did a pretty job of making themselves known without actually bringing anything new to the music scene, for example.

Where's the RS200???

Hasn't he been rally driving for a few years now?