Phew. I'm back.
It's been a long 10 days or so, all to do with BT broadband....it's finally working, but at a price: it wiped my hard drive. I'm going to push them for a refund on my first months bill and some sort of goodwill payment to cover the sheer nightmare of the whole process. If there's anyone out there contemplating broadband, you might want to think carefuly before gravitating towards BT.

Now, this is the coolest thing I've seen for ages- your chance to own the Beastie Boys defunct record label! As of this moment, there are no bids. Fancy being a CEO?

It seems to be getting harder and harder to actually fill the ipod to capacity- current total number of songs? 4900 and climbing. Slowly.

As far as I can see this lady has the honour of posting the most amazing blog in the country at the moment. Despite the (virtual) presence of a "parental guidance" attitude hanging over it, it's strangely asexual. There's also a quite blinding sincerity to it which renders any protracted sexual details impotent (sic). Fierce intellect and passion for life bubble to the surface every time: that's what makes it so special. Don't feel like a voyeur, dig in: you'll be rewarded.

Memo to self: must see "Lost in Translation" before I hit Tokyo at the end of the month. Need that extra emotional resonance. Have already begun making ipod playlists in anticipation of staring out the back window of a people carrier at a steamy neon vista. One of the playlists is about three hours of drones designed to knock me out on the plane.....If it doesn't work, it'll be a long flight indeed.

Take a bow, BT Broadband. It's 10 days since my official activation date and i've spent an average of one and a half hours every single day on the phone to the technical department. (Do bear in mind that it can take up to 40 minutes to actually get connected to the technical department). Every third call or so, one of the helpers will slavishly get me to go through the same old tests. Net result: nothing. Nada. Zip. We've not moved one inch in 10 days. BT, you SUCK.

Last nights 80's Matchbox secret gig was aces. It was over at The Fortress in Old Street, which is slightly reminiscent of the Ambulance Station on the Old Kent Road (ask your grandad) but without the hash cakes. Despite what I thought to be an amazing gig, the band seemed rather upset with it all: after a set-closing "Mister Mental" Sim threw his bass on the floor and stormed off: he's normally the quiet one. It does seem to be a bit "make or break" for them at the moment, maybe the pressure is getting to them a little. The only downer of the evening was the non-appearance of the genius new tune that they've played the last two times I've seen 'em; the search to indentify it goes on.

Oh that's just great. In order to try and conserve battery power on your ipod, turn off the eq (so it sounds like shit) and try not to use the ff and rew buttons. How stupid is that? Create a machine whose raison d'etre is based on the ability to peruse a huge selection of tunes....and then force you to sit through all of it, even the tunes you'd rather not hear. Or, you can do what you want, but the battery will last for about 2 hours. Pah.

Different year, same old hangover.
Might have to go straight edge before our little jaunt to foreign climes later this month.
Incredibly, the Broadband problems still haven't been resolved: i'm starting to lose patience with BT Openworld. Plus, I got hit by the blaster virus within an hour of signing up with them last year....the milk of human kindness is starting to curdle.