Once I rose above the noise and confusion...

I appear to have Carry on wayward son by Kansas going through my head at the moment.

Not complaining, just an observation. :o)

It's Shrove Tuesday? OK...

Right, I'm off Shrove hunting.

Doubt I'll have any joy, on past experience they're as hard to catch as real live Haggis. But I'm determined that one year I will be successful in my quest.

That census meme...

In 2011, I am...living in Hemel Hempstead with my lovely wife, Sarah, and working in Milton Keynes.

In 2001, I was...living in Chelmsford with Tim, having left university and London a couple of years before, and working in admin at the local hospital.

In 1991, I was...living in Chelmsford with my mum, stepdad, and sister, and working at my stepdad's company in London.

In 1981, I was...living in Chelmsford with my mum, stepdad, and sister, and going to Meadgate school in Chelmsford.

In 1971, I was...living in Chadwell Heath with my mum, I think, my dad having left us a few months before. I was too young to remember anything from that period of my life, but I know that the UK currency went decimal in February of that year. Do I get bonus points for knowing that?

In 1961, I was...nonexistent.

My tweets

• Mon, 15:40: Oh, that's disturbing... http://j.mp/gcaku6
• Mon, 20:19: I was happier when they were asking about the opening lines of sci-fi novels. :o) #UniChall
• Mon, 21:45: Last night's Being Human was pretty darned amazing, IMO. Kudos to @SineadKeenan, @RussellTovey, and all involved - a fabulous piece of TV.
• Mon, 21:56: @eeejaytee95 by crikey, that looks a bit old -I had one like that about 35 years ago. The record player, not the cat...
• Tue, 00:56: RT @marcusbrig: Spent a fair bit of day with a GP, then several doctors + nurses at A+E. We're so lucky to have the NHS. Thank you to al ...
• Tue, 08:21: Once I rose above the noise and confusion... http://j.mp/dH5ljJ
• Tue, 08:28: It's Shrove Tuesday? OK... http://j.mp/gk1vAv
• Tue, 11:49: Listening to @suerinaldimedia's "Personal Worship 3" while I work - wonderful way to de-stress.

Writer's Block: Toys in the attic

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I don't know about "took everywhere", but particular favourite toys included:

• A fairly extensive collection of the Star Wars figures, ships and playsets as released by Palitoy in the UK (Kenner in the USA), which sadly I got rid of at some point around the late '80s. Pity, some of them may well have been worth something (although none of them were in their packaging). At any rate, looking at the price of the new model Millennium Falcon, I'm wishing I'd kept my old one...
  
  
• Meccano. Nowhere near as extensive, but I enjoyed tinkering with it (at one point I tried to build a life-size robot. That was fun!). I presume this was chucked out. I've certainly no idea where it ended up.
  
  
• Lego. Pretty extensive, and I had it from a very young age. My mum and I used to sit together making models in the playroom (I think it was more a case of she made whilst I sat in fascination), including one I vividly remember of the shop in Gidea Park where my grandparents lived and worked. Included some of the early '80s Lego space stuff and a Technic car. And a Norton motorbike. I'd assumed this was all thrown out, but it turns out it's in my parents' loft. When we've room for it, I shall reclaim it.
  
  
• Ted. My little teddy bear, with a bell in each ear so that he jangles distinctively if you shake him a bit. If memory serves, my sister and I had identical ones. Mine has been with me through thick and thin (I once took him with me to a holiday in Scarborough; the hotel staff on finding it, tucked him up neatly in bed. Bless. I would have been 31 at the time. *ahem*). He's a little bit threadbare now - indeed, the right ear has now nearly worn through and you can see the bell in the ear - but he's very definitely my favourite.
  
  

Ah, that makes sense.

I was confuseded. Because 24 Hour Panel People was on over the weekend just gone, I foolishly assumed that Comic Relief was on this Friday and was puzzled that I couldn't find it, or the Only Connect Comic Relief special, listed on the Sky+ programme guide. But now I see from the Radio Times that arrived this morning that it is in fact on next week. So that's okay.

Although isn't there a cover feature about Comic Relief in this week's Radio Times? That probably doesn't aid my state of confusion. Seriously! I am Very Easy to confuse - you don't have to try anywhere near that hard!

Made of Winchester

The context isn't terribly important, although it will probably form another post entirely, but...over the weekend, Sarah and I and a friend were discussing firearms. Specifically American 19th century firearms. And every time the name "Winchester" was mentioned, the fannish part of my brain went "wibble".

I now desperately would love to see an animated .gif userpic with a picture of Dean and the caption "Knows how to use a Colt," followed by a picture of Castiel and the caption "Knows how to use a Winchester."

I may well end up downloading GIMPShop for my laptop to do it myself (it really is high time), but if anybody fancies being generous..?

She don't like Firefly

This is a fabulously funny song and video - musically it's not great, but hey, I'm not complaining. And it's just been twittered by Morena Baccarin, so watch the views go stratospheric.

Contains a spoiler for Serenity the movie. If you've not seen that and are likely to want to.