Head Rambles

Grandad January 3rd, 2008

I am beginning to realise that fame has its price.

I am late in writing today, because I have just been interviewed by the lovely Deirdre Walsh on Radio Kerry. 

No.  It was nothing to do with blogging.

They wanted to talk to me because I am an endangered species.  Along with various whales and tigers.

Yes.  Pipe smokers are almost extinct.  I am going to apply to Brussels for a preservation order, but in the meantime, Radio Kerry wanted an archive of an interview with a real live pipe-smoker, before we are overpowered by the cigarette smoking hoards.

Also, my other little sideline has been exposed on the Interweb.

That b*st*rd Dick has blown my cover.  He never got over the Ron thing and has been itching to get his own back ever since. He has discovered the real reason behind Head Rambles and has posted about it.

What’s worse, he was obviously at the New Years Eve party [though I don't remember seeing him there], and the f*ck*r had his camera with him.

Now, we celebrities have our rights.  We have a right to private lives.  We resent media intrusion.  Just ask Paris Hilton or Jane Goody. Look what happened to Diana.  So when Dick starts publishing private photos of me on the Interweb, I get annoyed…..

I’m off to see my solicitor, and buy some pipe tobacco.

• Podcasting , Rambles , Smoking
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Grandad November 11th, 2007

Our K8 has come up with a new meme.

And, bless her little cotton socks, she has passed it on to me.

She wants me to write a post that uses every tag. It’s all very well for her - she only has a few. I have loads. The cow!

Now I may be getting old but I find these difficult. I had a hard days blogging yesterday, as I had a good rant on a podcast to America. That was after I did my post on Cully and Sully.

So today I went for a ramble around the garden, trying to think of a topic. No go. There was no inspiration around the house either, and I’m damned if I’m going around the village or around the town for something so trivial.

Back in the 70’s life was a lot simpler. There were no computers or Internet, or even television so there were no memes. I had no irritating daughter in the family either. We found our pleasures in simple things. I remember learning to drive so we could go on holidays touring in the West, with no worries about flying and Global Warming. We had such simple sports as children in times past, like watching spiders spin their webs, and the designs they’d make. We’d go for rambles through the woods and have picnics of tea and spam sandwiches. We were a lot healthier for it.

Nowadays, work is the new religion and people have lost the use of their imagination. People only get worked up over celebrities and smoking out corrupt politicians. They panic over property prices and have lost sight of the soul of life.

No.

I can’t think of anything.

I elect not to do it.

I’m going to file this under Uncatagorised.

Maybe Sixty should have a bash at this?

Or how about Kirk at Just Thinkin’? I haven’t tagged him before.

And it’s a while since I annoyed Grannymar!!

F*cking memes….

• America , Around the garden , Around the house , Around the town , Around the village , Back to the 70s , Cully & Sully , Election , Getting old , Global Warming , Health , Holidays , Internet , Learning to drive , On the road , Podcasting , Politics , Property , Rambles , Rants , Religion? , Smoking , Television , The Family , Times past , Tourists , Uncategorized , Web design , computers , spam , sport , work
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Grandad September 30th, 2007

I don’t know how I forgot to mention this.

It’s one of those little lapses that happens with old age, I suppose.

There is a new web site up and running. It’s only a new-born so there will doubtless be sleepless nights, and loads of nappies to be changed.

It’s called Kilos of Craic.

So what is it all about?

Just think of four or five people sitting in a pub, having a bit of a laugh. The conversation flows freely and the topic changes from minute to minute. Now imagine that those people are in fact sitting up to 12,000 miles apart! That is Kilos of Craic.

A group of us - Jefferson Davis, BrianF, Baino, Doctor Don and myself get together once in a while and have a group chat in the Interweb. Sometimes we have contributions from others, like Daz. It can be weird, zany, crude and even funny. It can be very disjointed, because, like any good craic, it is unscripted.

As for who is who? This episode starts with me bitching about my software. I’m the one with the non-American, non-Australian accent. Baino is the soft Australian female voice. Jefferson is the one with the Southern Drawl, and BrianF is the other one - the one who never shuts up. Doctor Don makes the odd appearance [so if you hear a strange voice cut in, it's probably him. He doesn't say much].

So head over to Kilos of Craic and have a listen. Let’s know what you think.

Incidentally - Craic means ‘fun’, ‘laughter’, ‘good conversation’.
Not to be confused with Cráic which means ‘arsehole’

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Grandad July 19th, 2007

Picture the scene last Sunday:

I’m sitting half asleep at midday. I’ve only had three hours sleep because K8 the GR8 and TAT have been on the tiles all night celebrating K8’s birthday. They stayed the night, and are clattering around me. TAT [fair play to him] is frying up a breakfast, and Herself is wandering around in a daze as she too missed her sleep. K8 is giving out about her hangover. Puppychild is having a fine time bashing our Sandy over the head with a tray.

In other words, a quiet Sunday, where I just wish I’m in bed.

Suddenly I remember - it’s Podcast time! I had forgotten all about it. So I connect up to tell the other Podcast members that they can stick it for once.

But it’s too late. They have me on line and I can’t get off again.

So into the middle of this domestic chaos I am suddenly speaking to America and Australia. And I haven’t a clue what we are talking about. There is no schedule or running order. We just talk about wherever the conversation takes us, and the result is fun.

In the next hour, myself, Baino, Brianf, Jefferson and K8 bat the breeze [as they say], with occasional interruptions from Granny, TAT, Drummerboy, Puppychild and Sandy. There’s even a contribution from the New Zealand Pubcast crew.
The whole lot was recorded and has been edited by Jefferson to remove the rude bits [well, most of them].

Nip over and have a listen.

I think it is the best show yet. It’s chaos. It’s fun. It’s zany.

It’s also the last show. So it’s a bit of a party.

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Grandad July 11th, 2007

I had a little idea.

I have all this expensive broadcasting stuff lying around, and it seems just a waste to record myself waffling, when I can write just as easily.

One of my great loves in life is music. I tend to listen to classical stuff these days, but occasionally I’ll listen to a bit of pop.

But here I am going to sound my age - pop these days is rubbish [in the main]. Singers seem to be chosen for their ’sex appeal’ rather than their talent. I am tired of blokes pointing to, or actually clutching their crotch. I’m tired of bimbos who prance around dressed as pre-pubescent schoolgirls or who wear next to nothing at all. They all sound the same anyway.

In the 60s and 70s, pop music went through a huge transition. To be successful, you had to have talent vocally and musically. You had to be able to compose good lyrics and harmonies. It didn’t matter a damn what you looked like. You had to be able to play an instrument, as there was no fancy electronics to get you out of a hole.

One of my arguments that this was the heyday of popular music is that so many of the songs are being re-released by modern ‘artists’.

So, back to my idea. I thought I would do a brief sample of music from the 60s and 70s for two reasons. One is to bring back some memories for those of us old enough to remember those days, and the other is to show the younger generations what real pop music should be.

Each sample will be quite short as for one thing I don’t want people screaming about copyright, and the other is that Ron or Dick will start screaming about how much space I’m taking up on the website. Sound files tend to be big!

What do you think?

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Grandad July 9th, 2007

I have a wee problem with my podcasting.

I bought all my equipment from a bloke on eBay. He swore it was all the latest stuff, but I’m not really very up to date on these things. Now I find I can’t get spares because the company went out of business twenty years ago. And they don’t make tapes for it any more.

B*st*rd!!!

So now I’ve got to get rid of it and start again. It cost me €25,000 but I’m not totally out of pocket - I’ve managed to sell it to the RTE Broadcasting Museum for €50. I’m having to make do with an old Philips reel to reel that I found in the attic.

Herself has taken the plunge. She has done her first podcast! So nip over and leave her a message. Don’t encourage her too much as she’ll get big headed. And I’ll have to spend all my time editing tapes and cutting and splicing. She is a bit of a perfectionist and that podcast only took 63 takes and 8 hours of editing. I didn’t get any sleep last night.

I went for a walk this morning to clear the head.

I thought I’d try my hand at a short bit of Outside Broadcasting [that's what we broadcasting people call it!]

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