Endings, scaffolds and Black Fridays

Not massive news to report, apart from the 10th birthday of Radio Clash / Ending of the podcast. All told it's sad but something I planned a LONG time ago, podcasting never was the revolution I wanted it to be - sold out and destroyed by BBC, NPR and iTunes - and the listenership was still there but decreasing. Got some nice responses though, very humbling.

We did a 'wake' meal, myself, John and Kirk - hence the pictures...OK doing photographs while drunk is a BAD idea, you don't know how much work picking up the wrong sign was in Photoshop (luckily still had them, and I work fast).



Other news it was Black Friday / Cyber Monday here, which is a strange incursion of Americanism like Halloween has become (what's with drunken 20-30 year olds dressing up and having parties around Halloween - it's FOR KIDS, and I don't remember ever doing that, or even those parties being there more than 5-6 years ago...certainly the Trick or Treat and dressing up was frowned on as a kid as being too American).

Anyway, I didn't do the scary rugby scrum for crap TVs near me - which made the International Press, no less - which I just googled to find that the crap Polaroid and Blaupunkt TVs they thought were 'bargains' they can't even flog online (Daily Mail link which I usually don't post, but too good not to). This confirms what I thought about the whole thing, really from my research.

I wanted a few things - mostly an external hard drive because I'm running out of space, and some replacement warm lined trousers, but unlike the 'amazing' (?) US deals, lots of Googling and searching on Friday, Sunday and Monday failed to find anything that great. In fact many of the same deals were showing on Monday night, or actually weren't cheaper than other places, or actually MORE than eBay/other sites. Especially on Amazon many of the same 'deals' weren't shifting, as with other places...I get the feeling that BF/CM was a bust this year. (Apart from Tesco and Asda flogging crap TVs).

In the end I bought a 4TB Touro drive from a site nothing to with 'Black Friday' or 'Cyber Monday', and ditto on the trousers. So much for 'capitalism' and sales, as usual, it's complete crap, and they're just trying to shift the same old a normal price and pretend it's special.

Oh and joy of joy...my landlord - well his oiks - put up scaffolding at 8am this morning without saying anything, outside my window...clanking away. Apparently they are replacing windows on the top floor, nothing mentioned to me, no notice at all. So Xmas - which will be spent here and yours truly is going to cook for the first time ever (!!!) will probably spent looking out on a view of scaffolding, and maybe workmen. This is not the porn scenario you want either, namely they are never that cute. Although they MIGHT get an eyefull since they can now look through the gaps in my curtains...and I'm not going to start wearing clothes in bed just because some idiots are playing monkey climbing games.

So I spent some of the morning trying to secure the windows more (either to stop them coming in, as I didn't know if the next question was about access, to which the answer would be 'come back in 2015 mate' - or because now there's scaffolding it makes the place less secure). There are sash bolts but you could still open the window a little which on the first floor was never a problem, til now. What does work is an improvised set of bungie cords from the windows to the radiator...that should make it hard to open the windows. Place is wired anyway ;-)

But it did fuel a rather err, *heated* exchange with the landlord, well his 'staff'. Needless to say people who have been reading this blog for a while will have heard it all, but basically he never gives any legal notice (legal tenancy it's a month) at all, or at very short notice, I then get rude messages from his staff expecting me to just comply...and they get all shirty when I question it, or point out the lack of notice. This one I was told I was rude, which is funny since the same email said that she didn't think that scaffolding 3 weeks before Xmas - and probably over Xmas since I doubt they'd do the job by then - would ruin Christmas, well I can't think of anything more Xmassy than scaffolding and workmen looking into your windows.../not. I did suggest tinsel, a few lights, ;-)

Those kind of churlish passive-aggressive 'Well *I* don't think so' /Janis-The-Noo-Joisey-Secretary-Voice are par for the course, and they call me rude for being a bit sarcastic and calling this crap?

This means I have to have the curtains closed, because Satan's Little Helpers report back (not paranoia, been told off for having an untidy flat before now - yes really!) and generally I don't like blokes I don't know looking at my privates of a morning, well not ones I haven't invited inside! This does not help my S.A.D. - need MORE light not less. *sigh* More Xmess stress...

I did have a rather interesting dream/idea for a short film, about unwanted scaffolding & works awakening a man who then goes mad due to constant unreasonable and constant noise...then pushes the workman off, and is then hung on a...you guessed it, scaffold. Would make a rather dark animation...I was storyboarding it in my head as they clanked and shouted outside. Artistic revenge!