Another Tattoo Session

Saturday was my latest tattoo session. I had another 2 and a half hours worth done which included colouring the dragon and a bit of shading and highlighting around my back. Wow, was it painful around the base of my back and I will be glad when it is all done. That was my last session of the year and my next session is in January 2008 and he told me that the next session should finish my back (until I decide on the rest of the design around my ribs) and my leg should be started after that. So the total so far is 11 hours of work and £600.

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Foot Injury

For several months now, I've been walking around with a foot injury, which I put down with the long hours at work where I am constantly on my feet and to the footwear I wear at work. I finally went to see my doctor who told me I had to see a physiotherapist as he couldn't do anything. I went to see the guy last night and it seems I have got a condition called Plantar Fascitis which is the tendon the heel of the foot is inflamed and sore. He said it is due to overuse, which means a lot of walking but can be healed (no pun intended). I had shockwave treatment on it which meant 20,000 volts into the heel right on the spot it hurts to stimulate healing and also I have to stretch my foot as also it means the tendon is trying to flatten the arch of my foot. So I have to have treatment on it for the next 2 weeks and hopefully it will work, plus now I know exactly what I am dealing with, I can use Reiki on it. I really hate being ill or carrying any injury, it's just not me.

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Latest Reiki - Seichem Level

On Saturday I took my latest Reiki level. This was Reiki - Seichem level 3 and the next level for me is Master level which won't be for a year or so. I have been doing this for almost 2 years to the date and the transformation of me and the way I think about things has been amazing and hopefully made me a better person. For me to explain everything that has happened to me would make me look like I've finally lost the plot but those who have done similar and had similar things happen to them will totally understand.

Today I rode to Withernsea which is a small seaside town about 20 miles East of Hull, I've not rode this far before or spent as long on the saddle as I did today and I can tell. It took me 2 hours to get there and a little longer getting home. When I got there it wasn't busy as the season has almost finished so most of it was shut and all I needed was a coffee but what cafe's were open were the ones where I couldn't take out a coffee and wasn't leaving my bike. So I spent just over 30 mins there and started riding home. so I did 40 miles and 4 hours cycling, wow just think of the calories burnt today. What makes me quite happy is how other road cyclists or mountain bikers always say Hi as they ride by, a mutual cycling acknowledgement I guess

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Meditation

As I have said before I'm a Reiki Healer but today I went to my Reiki Master's house and we had a meditation workshop. I got there for 10.00am and left just after 4.00pm and was about Angelic Meditation. It was really good, I got some answers in my Meditaion plus some messages which is always amazing. It delt with Archangels and Chakras and the Archangel that is associated with the colour of the Chakra. Very interesting and worth reading about, during the day we had to pick out a card from random and I chose this card, Self Trust. Say's it all really

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Latest Tattoo Session

Saturday the 8th of September was my third session on my back. Wow this one really hurt, more for the after shock as much as during the tattoo session. He tattooed all over my back and it was sore everywhere, but it was later that night that I started to feel really ill. I guess my body went into a kind of shock as I felt so tired, sick and ached everywhere so I was in bed at 10 and had a bit of a rough night as I seemed to keep rolling onto my back (I tried to sleep on my side). They say no pain no gain so I guess this one lived up to that quote! So up to now I've had eight and a half hours worth of tattooing and cost £480. Next session is in October

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Back To Normal

Well, I went back to work this week and everything just seems as normal as it did before I went on holiday. I did enjoy the break, I went to London for 4 days, and Brighton on one of those days. The second week saw me in York, Scarborough, Manchester and Leeds so I did get about a bit. Went back to work to begin learning to program a new machine we were getting, it was similar to the old machine but obviously does a lot more so as well as doing my programming I had to take care of my job as well as sort out other problems. Through all this I have had to work overtime, so been doing 11 hour days plus Saturday and Sunday. I'm tired and a little bit annoyed I didn't get out on my bike but having said that it is raining. I was lucky with the weather as the week before I broke up it rained and we had 2 glorious weeks of sunshine and now all back to normal like I said!

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Holiday In The Sun

Wow, it is nice to have my holiday in the sunshine. I am into my second week of my holiday and it feels great. I was in London last week for 4 days, this week I have been to York for a day and possibly going to Manchester one day this week. I got a camera for my birthday, a Canon EOS 400D and it is awesome. I used it in London and it has been going around with me. Got a users guide book to read and that is quite a read so will do bits a a time. Had quite a few good remarks about my red mohawk, I really like it and glad I have grown it back!

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Time To Dye

Tonight I had my mohawk bleached blonde, ready for dying red for my trip to London next week for my birthday. My hair is long enough now to put gel in and spike it and the bleach makes it look longer as well.

I'm going to Derby on Sunday as there is a tattoo convention on, Vince is going in this one so that should be good. He will be using his digital camera and taking photo's of the tattooed guys walking around there!

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Meeting Old Friends

Saturday was a nice day for me, I bumped into 3 old friends and was nice to catch up with them. One was an old friend from when I used to live at home with my parents, wow it was hard to believe that I am older than him but he looks a lot older than me! Another was my friend Brian who I first met at Fitness First. We had coffee in Costa Coffee shop in Waterstones and was nice to catch up. The next was my best friends ex wife. It was great to see Pam and after a few short seconds I could see that I missed her. She was just as funny and warm as ever, it was a shame that they split up but I guess if you are no longer happy in a relationship then it should end. She has become a Muslim and has taken on the muslim ways including the garb they wear, makes no difference to me but I must ask her next time I see her what her name is as she has changed her name too.

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A Much Needed Update

I seem to have forgotten to update here so now is the time. A week after the floods in Hull we still have got bad rain. Today and tonight it has rained so everyone is on guard incase it starts to flood again. I have never seen anything like it in my life and still can't believe I was up to my knees in places in water!

I got the second session completed on my back on Saturday. Bob (my tattooist) started to shade my warrior in and it looks awesome but my back is sore, it feels like I have been sunburnt. So far I have had 5 and a half hours of tattooing on my back and has cost £300 up to now. I just want to keep a record of the hours and the cost as so many people ask me how much I have spent on being tattooed that I forget. As I have posed that question I guess now that I am coming towards £2000 and a good 20 plus hours of work. I have got a long way to go yet towards my full bodysuit!

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I Did It!

I rode to Hornsea today, it doesn't sound a great deal but it means a lot to me. It took an hour and 30 mins to get there and back and I went along the Trans Pennine Trail. It was a great trail, easy to ride and great scenery. I have always wanted to do it and finally I have, pat's on the back to me! I just got home before it started to rain so I was pleased there too although we had such a down pour yesterday that there were still pools of water so me and my bike were covered in mud but that was all part of the enjoyment!

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Wet Wet Wet

For the last 2 days it has rained. I got soaking wet and had to work in my damp clothes. The whole of the country has suffered from floods and parts of Hull were deep in water. There is supposed to be more rain on the way and I have to work tomorrow, I just hope it isn't raining.

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Humber Bridge Trek

Today was really nice warm and sunny so I decided to go for the ride along the Trans Pennine Trail to the Humber Bridge. I took my leg and arm warmers just incase the weather suddenly changed and it was a good job I did. The trail led right through a good mile or so of over grown track which was full of nettles and it ran so close to the waters edge at one place it was the track and a drop to the water, not what I thought it would be. A guy stopped and asked where I was going as he told me I might not get through to where I was going.

I managed to get to the bridge and it was really nice to get there, it was warm, peacefull and relaxing along the waters edge. The size and scale of the Humber Bridge always takes my breath away and it looked as grand as ever against the afternoon sun. I hung around for a while and decided to head back home through the over grown track again. It was great going back home as my bike just amazingly sped through the track just as it was made to do and I hardly felt any of the uneven track as we sped along, well for a while anyhow lol

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All Is Quiet

Nothing much to report, things are quiet here. My back is healing well but now itching, I've not been out on my bike for a ride as the weather has been really lousy. Hopefully tomorrow I can get out for a ride, I am planning to ride to the Humber Bridge depending on the weather. I am getting back into the gym now and getting slowly back to where I was a few months ago. I went tonight and worked my legs and ran a little. It's time I went to bed as I am working tomorrow so will sign off and hopefully have something more to write soon.

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Tattooed

I had my back tattooed on Saturday, 3 and a half hours of pain, strange feelings and burning and my tattooist managed to get the outline and some shading done. The design looks awesome and I am really pleased with it. I still can't believe that I have got a tattoo on my back. Tonight I am at the itching stage, but I can't itch any of it as I will bring the scab off and pull some colour out of it. Next session is at the end of June for 2 hours but looking forward to it.

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Riding Again

Went along the Marina again tonight, I really must try and get out earlier so that I can go a little further. The weather was fine again tonight, just a little breezy but OK. So hopefully will get out somewhere tomorrow. Going to the gym tomorrow, legs to workout. Then going to get my eyes examined which I hate, tomorrow it's for my contacts and next week for my glasses. I should be free after that till around 4pm ish.

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Tattoos And Holidays

Well, Saturday went well and got ideas sorted for my back tattoo. The dragon is going to come down and wrap around my leg, sounds great but painfull! I am on holiday this week and the weather has been, so far awful. There has been 3 days of rain and tonight I managed to get out on my bike and go for a ride, it was cold though and typical me decide to go for a ride along the docks. It was great as I have never been around there before so it was interesting and new for me and will explore it more another day when it's warmer.

I decided to get a mohawk today. I used to have one a couple of years ago and I have been thinking about growing it back and today I went to a local hairdresser they had it done. I think they look great one they have grown a little longer to put gel in so a couple of months it will be long enough!

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Computer Crash

We have just had a serious PC crash and had to take off all the files we had stored on the computer. Vista was really playing up and it just went on an almighty go slow, cpu was fine but it was saying that there was huge usage on the memory. So there was no choice but to re-boot but finally back on line with no real problems as such.

I break up this Friday for a week's holiday and will be going to see my tattooist this Saturday to finalise plans for my back tattoo. I'm really looking forward to this as I have wanted this for years and in two weeks time I will start getting my back tattooed. They have booked me some sessions in for the coming months which I have to make sure fit in with my arrangements.

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Nilsson - Without You

This is my All Time Favourite Single, so I thought as an occasional thing I would feature a favourite song of mine, there are lot's as you can imagine.

I first heard this song as a youngster back in the early 70's when it came out and I always liked the song. As I got older, I had to find out who it was and I bought it as it is just an amazing piece of music.

Without You was first performed by Badfinger who at the time were signed to the Beatles record label Apple records. Nilsson, heard it and thought it was the Beatles (he befriended John Lennon later) he recorded his own version of it and it got to number 1 here in the UK charts in 1972. His heart wrenching vocals about a failed relationship, just make this song and the emotion is just so raw you can feel every 3 plus minutes of it as it plays. A classic song that has a sour ending to it. In the mid 70's there was a royalties row with the writers of the song and Nilsson, they claimed they wern't getting any royalties for the song. The stress of the court case was too much and Pete Ham hung himself, several years later on Tommy Evans hung himself as well. To make matters worse, in the 1990's Mariah Carey issued her version and completely murdered the track dead with her screeching awful vocals.

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A Close Up

A close up of the bike

The New Bike

I finally decided to buy the bike, I went out yesterday (Saturday) and bought it and got some new cycling shoes too. I had to leave it a couple of hours so they could check it for me and put my new pedals on (SPD's) which wasn't a problem as I had stuff to do in town. I walked it home and it just looks amazing!

I woke early this morning (Sunday Morning) and decided to put my gear on and try my new bike out. I still have my cold and still finding it hard to breath and cough all at the same time, plus riding my bike was pushing it a little. I got out my lycra gear out of the wardrobe and put it on, I've not worn this stuff for several years and it was great to wear it again. I decided to have a ride around then went to Cottingham which is a small village just outside of Hull. Wow the bike is amazing, it's fast and it is just great to have a bike that works again. I took my camera with me to get a couple of shots of the village and asked a passing guy if he would take a couple of photo's of me with my bike which he did. The photo's came out great so i'm really pleased.

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The Reason Behind The Last Post

I decided to put the lyrics of Mama Cass Elliot's Make Your Own Kind Of Music as I was listening to it and it reminds me of a time around 1998 when I was going through a bad time and I heard this song on a film called Beautiful Thing. The song just summed up how I felt and what I needed to hear. Sometimes the lifestyle you choose, some people can't or won't understand it and no longer want to know you, so you have to follow your own path to get to where you need to be. I have been on that path and it has led me to where I am today.

Here's a saying I found and it sums up the way I feel about music
"One good thing about music, when it hit's you, you feel no pain"

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Make Your Own Kind Of Music

Nobody can tell ya
There's only one song worth singing
They may try and sell ya
Cause it hangs them up
To see someone like you

But you gotta make your own kind of music
Sing your own special song
Make your own kind music
Even if nobody else sings along

You’re gonna be nowhere
The loneliest kind of lonely
It may be rough going
Just to do your thing’s the hardest thing to do

But you gotta make your own kind of music
Sing your own special song
Make your own kind music
Even if nobody else sings along

So if you cannot take my hand
And if you must be going, I will understand

You gotta make your own kind of music
Sing your own special song
Make your own kind music
Even if nobody else sings along

Ill Again

I can't believe it but I have been ill again. Similar thing as before but more like an allergic reaction and affected all my joints and even the soles of my feet. I guess I'm gonna have to seriously watch what I eat now as it affects me for days and leaves me feeling awful. It is either fish or cooking oil that is affecting me. I had eaten a cooked breakfast from a local department store on Monday and usually the meals are fine. I like runny eggs but they were really fried hard and I had fried bread which I don't normally get and that was fried solid too, when I cut into it and used my fork it shot off my plate. Oh well, I'll soon be over it and back to my usual jolly old self. Oh, I had my hearing tested at work and it's perfect which I am both surprised and pleased about as I have worked in the same noisy factory for the last 25 years!

Most Haunted Live

Tonight starts the TV program that I enjoy watching. Most Haunted is a TV show that deals with the paranormal, ghosts, Spirits and anything else that haunts places. This show is a series that is on Satellite TV and every now and then they have a live 3 night special ghost hunting. Tonight they are in Bristol finding about places where Pirates still haunt and trying to get in touch with the pirate Blackbeard. Previous Most Haunted Live's have been amazing and my favourite is Pendle Hill where the spirits of the witches were taking the crew down one by one, and Edinburgh where two of the crew were slashed by an unknow presence live on TV.

I believe in the paranormal, afterlife, Spirits, ghosts or what ever you want to call it. I believe we do not die but our Spirits live on and that we can communicate with the dead as they can communicate with the living. I have spoken to Spirits several times and I have been told that I am a going to be a Spirit Medium. I know about my Spirit Guides and have spoken to him. His name is Kieropek and he is a Native American Indian, he is my main guide with Cara and Peter as my other guides. Cara is my guide for Psychic and Peter is my guide for Spirituallity especially Buddhism. Told you there is quite a lot about me!

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Mountain Bike Update

I have seen the bike I want!

I first saw it before Christmas 2006 but it is £999 and about £300 more than I wanted to pay, but I keep going back to it. Can I really justify spending a grand on a bike that I am mostly going to be using to go to work on, having said that I use it twice a day, work 6 days a week but it is just parked outside in a bike rack. I really need to think this one but I really like it, it's a Cannondale in army/olive green which is my kind of colour as I really like army/cammo colours. So what should I do?

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Tattoo Time

This month I need to really decide the design for my next tattoo, my back. I want a Japanese samurai warrior fighting a dragon on my back. It will be the full length of my back and full colour. I have been going through my designs but haven't seen anything to say "that is the design". My appointment is booked for June and I need some rough ideas and design so we can get started. I have a four hour tattoo session booked and I guess it will take and hour to decide the right design and placing. I must go over to my tattooist next week and look through his books and talk over any ideas he might have. I am really looking forward to this as this is a dream come true.

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New Bike

I'm looking for a new mountain bike. I have had this bike, an Orange c16 for nearly 13 years and paid around £600 for it then. It was an amazing bike, weighs around 23lb I think and can pick it up with one hand. We have been riding around since and I've been using it for work but over the years it has become worn and tired. I would like to go for another Orange but they only make bikes now for competition at £1000 plus, so that's way out of my price range and I can't justify paying that much on something that is going to be parked outside of work. I have been looking around for a new bike but nothing really has caught my eye but I keep looking. I really need one soon as this bike is on it's last legs, it needs so many repairs doing that it would cost a fair amount which now would be better put towards a new bike. I don't drive so my bike is my transport around, so just got to keep looking I guess!

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The Impossible Dream

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chased from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star
This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far
To fight for the right
Without question or cause
To be willing to march into hell for an Heavenly cause
And I know if I'll only be true to this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm when I'm laid to my rest
And the world will be better for this
That one man scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To fight the unbeatable foe
To reach the unreachable star

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What's In A Name?

I decided to explain my choice of name on here. It came about after I was chatting to a dear friend in America. He asked about my name and it's meaning and suddenly realised that maybe it might be a bit obscure so here's the explaination.

A Friend Called 5 came from a song by Gary Numan under his then band name Tubeway Army. Going back to 1979 he released a single called "Are Friends Electric" which got to number 1 here in the UK in 1979. It was, and still is a classic single and the album it came off, "Replicas" is just as good. On that album there is a track called "Down In The Park" which was the single before "Are Friends Electric" and it contains the line "down in the park with a friend called 5". Being a kid of 14 I thought this was a great line about someone having a friend with a number instead of a name not realising that he was talking about robots taking over as humans!

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Uuugghh

I had food poisoning this weekend and have been really ill. I have put it down to the fish and chips from the local chip shop and although they tasted ok the effects didn't hit me until Saturday morning. Me and my partner decided to go to Manchester this weekend and was looking forward to it, but I started to feel ill during the car drive there and gradually got worse. The scary part was that I almost passed out as everything started going grey but luckily I got sat down before I went down.

So I got home and went straight to bed and stayed there till about 7pm ish and just came down and laid on the sofa. Today I feel a lot better but not perfect, hopefully I should be ok for work tomorrow. It kinda scared me as a few years back I had uticaria (I think it's spelt) which is an ellergic reaction and was ill for days. My doctor told me not to try and find what it was as it could kill me, the symptoms were very similar except I didn't get a body rash!

I bought a mobile phone while I was there which I didn't open till today which is not like me as something like that I can't wait to get my hands on it! I also bought some record boxes for my singles which are like rocking horse shit! My old single boxes are falling apart but HMV are selling metal cases but they are hard to get and so far only been able to get them in Leeds and Manchester. I really don't know how many I need but have started so hopefully this time next year I will have them all!

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Healing

Time for a little more about me. I'm a Reiki healer. Reiki is hands on healing and the word means Universal Life Energy. It isn't attached to any belief system so anyone can recieve and learn Reiki, all you need is the desire to be healed. Reiki can help to heal all kinds of ailments being it physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. It is amazing and so much has happened since I had my Reiki attunment it has changed my life and beliefs around for the good. I am currently level 3 Reiki and I plan to learn to become a master.

It has opened me up to understand about Spirit Guides, Angels, Spirits, it has got me interested in Buddishm and Spiritualism. I use crystals and a pendulum to communicate and use with Reiki and also to use with the chakra's in the body. All interesting stuff which I will tell more about!

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Back To Work

Good Old Monday! Back to work after a good weekend and I found out that the prototyping I did at work last week has gone together well so that pleased me. It's my Partners birthday today so we went off to PC World to buy a lap top. It's amazing how much money you can get for a birthday lol!

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A Day In The Life

I went to York today, it was a really nice warm sunny day and I decided to wear my black kilt. It's the first time I have been outside in it (the other times were just parties) and I gotta say I felt really good in it. It isn't that often you see a guy in a kilt anywhere around here and it was funny to watch people trying not to look but they couldn't help but look and make eye contact. Guess I am becoming more of an exhibitionist than what I thought!

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Turning Japanese

Yes I guess I Am!

As you can see from the picture, I am heavily tattooed. Since I was 13 years old, I decided I wanted to get tattooed. I always had ideas of what I wanted and just a few days after my 18th birthday, much to the moaning of my Parents I got my first tattoo. I got an eagle on my upper right arm and it looked great and felt really grown up, two years later I got my next tattoo, a swallow and a heart with a scroll and my name in it. I knew I just wanted loads and got two more on my legs but resisted any more on my arms. My next tattoo was a dragon on the top of my left arm going onto my chest. It was outlined and that was as far as I got, the tattooist who did it wasn't that brilliant so I left it. I bought an american tattoo magazine in 1992 and saw exactly what I wanted. A guy had a japanese half sleeve that looked amazing, then I began to see pictures of Japanese style tattoos from arms to full bodysuits and they just blew my mind. That is when I knew I wanted a full Japanese bodysuit!

I managed to find a guy down South in Clacton who specialized in Japanese tattoos and was amazing and he did my half sleeve, well three quarters of it. The distance, cost of travelling and the work was too much so left it for a few years till I found a closer tattooist. I found one in West Yorkshire but was a little bit of an ego guy. I then left it another year until 2003 and found my tattooist at a tattoo convention in Manchester and started going to him,. He re coloured and styled my left arm and sleeved it over a year. Then we started my right arm, went over my old eagle and finished it Feb 2007. I start my back in June 2007 and plan to get a warrior fighting a dragon on my back. I will go into details when the work starts but I'm really looking forward to it. It has been a dream of mine to get a full bodysuit which is from my neck to my ankles completely covering my body in ink, and I also plan to get a tattoo on my neck and hands as time goes on.

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At Home

I guess I have to get used to writing my blog a little more regular so I have decided to put a little more about me here. I am an avid record collector, been collecting those shiny 7 inches of pleasure for around 35 years now. The first single I was bought was The New Seekers, Beg Steal Or Borrow back in 1972. As I grew so did my record collection covering all delights of Glam Rock, Punk & New Wave, New Romantics and 70's & 80's charts but as I hit the mid 80's music seemed to become really stale and uninteresting.

Getting into the late 90's Dance music, of all things, especially Trance began to interest me again. The music today has really lost a lot of the diversity it used to have. I remember when I used to listen to the charts and on a Saturday afternoon on Radio 1 there used to be the American charts. Nowadays our charts are really the American charts, so does that mean on a Saturday afternoon on Radio 1 they will be doing the UK charts? To me, all this r&b, rap hip hop all sounds the same but the charts has become full of this stuff, so what has happened to all the British music. I've nothing against American music but it would be nice to have good old music from Blighty in the charts!

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Easter

Well it's Easter time, the weather here has been nice so far as usually this time of year in the UK it's raining or just cold and dull. I've got a few days off and still recovering from having the tooth out, just got dull pain all the time now. I should be decorating the hallway and landing but I'm away for today and tomorrow so it won't get started till Monday now maybe lol, got stuff to sort and move too which I can do.

I have a huge record and CD collection that is basically in a shelving unit on the landing and in the spare room. I have been sorting through my collection and had a few bits sold on Ebay and stuff has been taken to the charity shop as well. I have got loads of old cassettes that I have bought again on CD so they have gone, hope somebody can find a use for them. Just my old cassettes to go through now, of stuff I've recored over the years although I have bought most of them on CD too, isn't it amazing how much you can collect over the years and not throw away.

Time to get a photo up of me on here, me thinks. Here is a photo from my London trip outside Harrods in 2005

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Dentist

I Went to see the dentist today. I've had a really sensetive tooth for about 2 weeks and thought beginning of my holiday I would get it sorted. I thought they would just clean it and re fill it but oh no, they had to pull it and I'm really gutted. Apparently I had described the last stages of a dying nerve before infection sets in and as I'd previously had it filled there wasn't much of my tooth left and it would have cost £700 to rebuild my tooth and root treatment. Even if I had said yes he didn't think it would have worked so out it came and cost £19.20. A great start to my holiday!

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Just Moving In

Hello Everyone!
Just taking my time to look around and learn how to blog. This place looks a lot better than the others that are around so hopefully I will feel right at home

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