Xúxú

JMP - party girl!

Wie geht's?

'Steady' was what my grandfather (I called him Deedoo) would say to me from time to time.

He meant, slow down. Or, go gently. The Chinese version of that is beautiful [take a listen here].

After three months of living in the UK, I'm yet to get fully in my blog groove. But xúxú.

These things take time. Like giving birth.

Three years ago in dog years (28th of November 1991), a momentous event happened, as we welcomed Jade Michelle Purdy to Planet Earth.

As she is expecting her first child in April next year she will soon know first hand what an amazing transformational moment that can be.

Pure joy.

Happy birthday DLG. 

Love - dad

This is a modern world (The Jam)

Wie geht's?

A few posts ago I mentioned the ipod situation.

It's a classic (pun intentional) case of brand obsolescence.

My ipod Classic's battery is giving up the ghost. After turning down the offer to queue to make an appointment to talk about it at Stratford City Mall, I decided to buy a replacement and transfer my music files.

Not so fast. The ipod Classic is no more (rather unfortunate name then, huh Apple).

Seems Joe Public doesn't use them much now - all bright shiny phones and Spotify.

What they could and did sell me was an ipod Touch. It appears to be an iphone apart from the fact you can't use it as a phone! But I can store music on it. Wahoo.

Now the problem centres on how I can retrieve stuff from my ipod Classic and put on my ipod Touch.

Not straight forward and I am still to master that. Instead I've loaded my new CDs from FOPP and HMV onto it. My new vinyl, hopefully, to come after I've transferred them into MP3 files.

Complicated. 

As you know, Occam's razor is deep in my DNA and all this faffing about is wounding my soul.

Hey ho.

Love and peace - Wozza

Sugar Magnolia blossom's blooming (The Grateful Dead)

Wie geht's?

Caterham's high street, like most high streets from what I can see, has a profusion of charity shops and that means loads of quality DVDs and CDs on offer.

Problem is that many of the DVDs are available on Netflix. But once in a while I come across an interesting one that probably isn't.

Magic Trip (Ken Kesey's Search for a Kool Place) was gobbled up for a quid!

Of course, I had to watch it when the LOML was otherwise engaged because it was mos def not her cup of Kool.

But I loved it - Ken Kesey (of Merry Prankster/ Further/ One Flew Over...fame) was left of centre and so were his mates: Neal Cassady comes across as a complete nutter; Jack Kerouac severely a fish out of water; Allen Ginsberg a star struck kid and the Grateful Dead as acid head doodlers.

So yeah, I guess there's an element of truth to the film - these people existed and the times were what they were.

Given my love of the beat poets and the Dead it was great viewing.

Love and peace - Wozza

You don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger and you don't mess around with Jim (Jim Croce)

Wie geht's?

You alright?

Some things you can mess around with.

Dr Who can become reincarnated in a woman's form.

The 4th plinth at Trafalgar square undergoes constant change.

But other things can't be altered.

The Match of the Day theme is untouchable, for instance.

Two minute's silence, is another example.

Armistice day, a.k.a. Remembrance Day was yesterday.

We were on a train heading in to London Bridge when 11.00am happened.

Two minutes silence seems like such a small demand.

Last night we watched the highlights from the ceremony at Whitehall on BBC2 and that was followed by Peter Jackson's extraordinary film, They Shall Not Grow Old.

A very emotional, humbling experience.

WNP

You're the apple of my heart, but now, the time has come to part (Badfinger)

Photo by Julie Johnson on Unsplash

Wie geht's?
Comment allez-vous?
'Sup?

Apple smapple!

I'm over my Apple product bromance. It's sad but true.

Let me explain.

Tech issues consumed my weekend. First my ipod's battery died a while ago (still goes on an ipod dock but dead as Julius Caesar otherwise). Plus my iphone battery was a step away from critical failure.

Long-time readers will remember the search for a heater in the middle east and the search for a watch (also in the sandpit). The search for new tech was compressed in time but no less stressful.

Figuring it has an Apple store, Vodafone, Carphone Warehouse, Zara, Foyles and HMV, we decided to trek into Stratford City Mall.

Bad bad mistake.

Mistake 1 - no HMV!!! Goneburger. 

Mistake 2 - West Ham United were playing at home so there were 60,000 fans milling around the mall adding to the thousands who normally spend their Saturday milling around the mall.

Mistake 3 - the Apple store was mad mad mad. People everywhere. Noise of people and noise of some trendy techno junk booming out. The twenty somethings dressed in natty tight fitting black Apple monikered apparel were friendly to a point. I was told I'd need to queue to make an appointment to talk to some other twenty something techie dressed in natty tight fitting black Apple monikered apparel about my dead ipod (no thanks) and they didn't have the iphone I was interested in buying.

You know - the slightly less than current and cheaper than the latest bright shiny one.

All this came after we'd queued in Vodafone to buy one there (they didn't have it and sent me to the Apple store on the top floor).

The Apple people suggested I go to the Carphone Warehouse (on the lower ground floor).

I did mention there were 60,000 Hammers fans and the normal thousands of mallsters present didn't I?

Eventually I made it down the escalators to the Carphone Warehouse. They made it a hat trick of stocking only the latest iphone (which is now using Superbowl style roman numberings...pleeeze!!!!).

So, by default I saw a slightly older and cheaper Samsung S7 on their racks and bought that.

Boo hiss Apple!! Not cool!

The ipod? I'll save that story for next time chums.

Love and peace - Wozza