The IT Crowd, Lesson 2

The second rule of IT (the first is, obviously “have you tried turning it off and back on?"), is this: Never do anything major on a Friday afternoon or a Monday morning. It’s common sense, really; when Friday comes around, you’re focussed on the upcoming weekend, so your concentration is a bit off, and if anything goes wrong, you’ll try to rush things in order to try and fix it (which will go horribly awry).

Monday morning is fairly similar, bit with an added complication: something has bound to have failed over the weekend, so it’s pointless to try and do something big when you’re going to get five phone calls in the first half-hour.

So, that’s why you can’t get IT to do anything at the start or end of the week!

currently playing: The Dresden Dolls – Good Day

London Village

Obviously, it’s a bit far for me, but if anybody is around London tonight, they could do much worse than going to see Johnny Boy DJ at the Pleasure Unit bar tonight!

(now, guys, if you could just sort out a UK release and some tour dates, that would be grand!)

currently playing: Jackie Lee — The Town I Live In

Not Feeling So Good

It’s going around.

But, as it's almost a year since I saw the wonderful Saturday Looks Good To Me in concert, I thought I'd direct your attention to this:

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Sound On Sound contains 30 tracks culled from SLGTM's seemingly endless series of 7" and one-off CD-R runs. A veritable bargain at $11.95!

(this promo not influenced by the delightful Betty Barnes posting here earlier. Oh no! I never talk about celebrity appearances on my blog. (PAUL MORLEY WUZ HERE))

currently playing: Mint Royale – Dancehall Places

Somewhere Across Oxford

So, uh, consider this: if you found yourself in the position of having to interview Stellastarr*, and you only had 24 hours to prepare, what questions would you think of asking?**

* This is not a footnote. Oops. I blame the band. ** This is, of course, highly hypothetical. Oh yes.

Failed In Wales

I was all excited today, for I was told I had a package from Wales* arrive this morning. At first, I couldn’t remember why, but then: Yes! I thought. It’s the Johnny Boy Theme / Dub single that I’ve been waiting for!

Except not. Apparently, Boobytrap have sold out, and shouldn't have had it listed on their website. While the label in question did send me an impressive load of stuff as a way of saying sorry, it quite a disappointment.

And no-one offered to sell me their underwear today, either. I feel neglected by my spam.

But! Five weeks from now, and I'll be in Chapel Hill again, running scared of The Evil Squirrel Conspiracy, and walking until my feet explode into giant blisters. Hurrah!

* Sadly, no krill, either.

currently playing:Aimee Mann – One

Lost Connections

Hah! I may be mocked for having a MySpace profile, but, as well as the crazy people who offer me their bodies and their underwear if only I’ll send money to a box in a London branch of Mailboxes, Etc., sometimes you get a nice surprise. Last week, it was Mandy from North Carolina (currently resident in Missouri), and this morning, an unexpected message from Helen, once of St. Gabriel’s Hall (Helen with black hair, rather than Helen with blonde hair (if I heard from Helen with blonde hair, you would have heard about it sooner, believe me)). She’s off to study to be an opera singer! Which sounds quite spectacular.

Me? I fixed a printer today by sending an email: "Have you tried turning it off and on?" Tomorrow, I plan to tidy up some cables! I'm setting my aims high, like Matt.

currently playing: Chic – What About Me?

Other Sites Are Available

To be honest, I feel a bit bad about my blog at the moment; the new working regime is playing havoc with me adding anything interesting here right now (yes, you at the back, I know it wasn’t all that great beforehand). I don’t have many amusing anecdotes; my journey into work consists of waiting for the bus, getting on the bus and trying not to embarrass myself in front of the rather cute girl who invariably sitting at the front, fall asleep until it’s time to get off, and then into work.

While I haven't gone down to the level of The IT Crowd, I normally fix at least one computer each week by turning off and on.

Then, on the way back, it's pretty much the same process, although at the moment instead of sleeping, I'm reading a biography of Lyndon B. Johnson (part 2 of the series I started in 2003, Laura!). Exciting times.

So, er, sorry. You do have Google search now, so you can find happier times. And don't forget I'm off to America at the end of March, which normally means things get a teensy bit more exciting. Until then, well, I hope you can bear with me…

currently playing: Clearlake – Amber

No "fright wigs"? I'm v. v. disappointed.

And no, I wasn’t drunk when I wrote this. Though I should probably have been.

currently playing: Sing-Sing – A Modern Girl

Glorify A Terrorist Today!

currently playing: The Pogues — Birmingham Six

Oh, They'll Find You

The IRS have sent me this year’s tax forms. So kind of them. I didn’t make any money in America this year, lads! Nor last year! You can stop!

currently playing: Johnny Boy – 15 Minutes