Boom! Taiwan launches new express sushi delivery service. And another one.

The things you do for love, or lust. As a younger man I had a girlfriend whose grandparents had the pub at Muker (Farmers Arms ?). After Christmas with my own family I set off to spend a few days with Mandy and her family. I took the bus to Hawes, it arrived in pitch darkness at half past four in the afternoon and I resolved to walk from Hawes to Muker. About half an hour after setting off a blizzard descended, I couldn't see five yards in front of me. Now a vehicle passed along the lonely and windswept moorland road as I trudged along, headphones on, singing Marillion songs to dopey looking sheep. When I eventually reached the pub I was freezing and soaked, despite my waterproofs, two hours of driving snow into my face, melting down my neck. My snow covered glasses steamed up rendering me doubly blind. I could just see the fire so I shook my jacket in the doorway, walked across the room and hung my coat to dry over a chair in front of the fire. A wave of laughter erupted, grizzled farmers telling jokes at the bar, oh good thought I, plenty of folk here already, should be a good evening then. After cleaning my glasses I glanced over to the fire, oh horror, they hadn't lit a fire at all, they'd stuffed the fireplace with red tinsel and aimed a spotlight at light. The farmers were not telling jokes, they were laughing uproariously at the long haired, dippy hiker bloke. Life moves at a slower pace in Muker, my unwitting moment of comedy was repeated to every newcomer for the rest of the night.

Two items worth mentioning from my hit log. "Worksafe free pussy", well let's face it mate, the two are not exactly compatible. "What does Justin Hawkins of The Darkness think of groupies ?", he probably thinks, wahey!, except for the ugly ones, then he thinks, these are for the drummer.

With the average cost for a Nursing Home per day reaching $188.00, there is a better way when we get old &feeble. I have already checked on reservations at the Holiday Inn for a combined long term stay discount and senior discount of $49.23 per night. That leaves $138.77 a day for:breakfast, lunch and dinner in any restaurant I want, or room service, laundry, gratuities and special TV movies. Plus, they provide a swimming pool, a workout room, a lounge, washer, dryer, etc. Most have free toothpaste and razors, and all have free shampoo and soap. They treat you like a customer, not a patient. $5 worth of tips a day will have the entire staff scrambling to help you. There is city Bus stop out front, and seniors ride free. The Handicap bus will also pick you up (if you fake a decent limp). To meet other nice people, call a Church bus on Sundays. For a change of scenery, take the Airport shuttle Bus and eat at one of the nice restaurants there. While you're at the airport, fly somewhere. Otherwise the cash keeps building up. It takes months to get into decent nursing homes. Holiday Inn will take your reservation today. And - you are not stuck in one place forever, you can move from Inn to Inn, or even from city to city. Want to see Hawaii? They have a Holiday Inn there too. TV broken? Light bulbs need changing? Need a mattress replaced? No problem. They fix everything, and apologize for the inconvenience. The Inn has a night security person and daily room service. The maid checks to see if you are ok. If not, they will call the undertaker or an ambulance. If you fall and break a hip, Medicare will pay for the hip, and Holiday Inn will upgrade you to a suite for the rest of your life. And no worries about visits from family. They will always be glad to find you, and probably check in for a few days mini-vacation. The grandkids can use the pool. What more can you ask for? So: When I reach the Golden age, I'll face it with a grin. Just forward all my email to: me@Holiday Inn! Nicked from I B Dreamy, she's nicked from somwhere else but she doesn't say where.

Wednesday night at the Box Tree then, and the third attempt to post this article, Blogger having eaten the last two. I haven't published any restaurant reviews before, being in the business myself it seems a little odd to be commenting on my neighbours, then again, at least I have tasted the sand in the arena. We went to the Box Tree with the Times Eat Out For £5 Offer, collect three vouchers and you can take a party of up to six people for a two course meal at £5 per head. Two things that the BT should have attended to on a freezing cold Yorkshire winters night, some salt to grit the icy path would have been good, and a warmer dining room would have been nicer to sit in. The offered menu had three choices on each course, asparagus soup, chicken liver parfait or gravadlax, then smoked haddock with thermidor sauce, chicken with cep veloute or pork fillet stuffed with black pudding. My gravadlax was small but perfectly formed, with a zig zag pattern of lime hollandaise, Mrs YS declared the foamy soup to be very nice. The chicken main course was presented on a pillow of buttery, chive speckled, creamed potato, with tiny, pretty vegetables arranged in the light, delicate, perfumed cep sauce. Father went for the pork, which looked very nice if little petite. Both of our initial wine choices were unavailable, but the excellent waiter/sommelier provided two very good wines in the same price band, the Box Tree having the sort of wine list in which you can soon find yourself in financial trouble. Le Pavillion Semillon Chardonay from Boschendal was clean and crisp with nice lime notes, and a snip at £11.50, for the red we had a Bellesuche '99 M. Chapoutier Cotes Du Rhone, very nice indeed, quite big and a little smoky but not too overpowering for the main course. Desserts were £5, I had a very nice apple and raisin crumble, served in a butter pastry tart shell, but no presentation at all, just dumped on a plate, Mrs YS had the iced vanilla parfait with strawberry sauce which was very nicely presented. After coffee, another £2.50, we retired to the lounge for glasses of marc de champagne, a spirit made from the champagne lees and an acquired taste despite mother recommending it. In all it was a fairly good night, but if the Box Tree wants still to be seen as one of Yorkshires premier eating houses it really should pay attention to things like heating, both rooms and food. Another Ilkley restaurant, The Steps, I won't visit again, on our last trip the food was again wonderful, my seared pigeon breast with parsnip puree was a delight, but I think that one and a half hours is too long to wait for a starter. Furthermore, when a customer makes a complaint, and the staff say something rude about them (and I know we all do it, in the privacy of our own kitchens) SAY IT WHERE THE CUSTOMER CAN'T HEAR YOU!

There's half an inch of snow on the ground, but it still makes putting impossible, so we are closed. Therefore I'm trolling the interwebnet to amuse myself. Here's a sort of foody blog, Playing With My Food, I'm trying to persude the author, Paul, into posting some recipes. A transvestite skinheads tour of Catalonia, yep, it made me look as well, and you can read it in Dutch too, how useful. Dear Abby, My husband is not happy with my mood swings. The other day, he bought me a mood ring so he would be able to monitor my moods. When I'm in a good mood it turns green. When I'm in a bad mood it leaves a big fuc*ing red mark on his forehead. Maybe next time he'll buy me a diamond. Sincerely, Bitchy in Boston (Taken from Karen blogs from Malta.). And now, I'm off for dinner at The Box Tree, owner Madame Avis once threw me out of her nightclub for fighting, let's hope she doesn't remember. It was a crap fight, I got hit from behind which knocked my glasses off, then someone kicked me whilst I was on the floor scrabbling for my specs, then to cap it all, she throws me out and lets my assailant stay! I suppose though it's just French history repeating itself, the BEF leave via Dunkirk, the Germans get to keep all the vineyards.

Oh please, as long as I live I don't want to have to see John Lydon blowing his nose ever again, somebody buy the man a hankerchief. Kerry McFadden - still cracking up nicely, 'exhaustion' and tears after being asked to walk 400 yards, and even better, the evil and malign British public have forced the poor girl into the next Bush Tucker challenge, ha ha, we're going to drown her! Alex Best - the invisible woman, famous for being married to famous alcoholic George, so what ? 'Razor' Ruddock - you do realise your wife can see you hugging all those young women don't you ? Peter Twat Andre - nothing nasty has happened to him yet, but I keep voting.

Yes, yes, I think the word Arooga is in order, if you pop over to Jasmin you can download this fine piece of art as wallpaper, and see the new ad in full. (For my D&D players, hey look, she must be wearing a +5 Thong!)

We're already planning our next holiday, a sort of circular trip to New York, New Orleans and Florida, and a visit to Hooters ? Your waitresses tonight, Jennifer and Caren. I keep suggesting to my girls that we have a staff uniform along these lines, thus, I keep getting slapped.

Yorkshiresoul 'Finds' Nemo

So the 'Big Freeze' is here. What is wrong with us all ? A spattering of wintery weather and all the media are behaving as if the next ice age is upon us. The Daily Mail yesterday actually printed this advice............if you are feeling a bit chilly, try wearing a scarf! You rather wory about the Mail's readership if they need that sort of advice. As for all the muppets who will doubtless have got stuck on roads up and down the country, BUY SOME BLOODY SNOW CHAINS, we've had about an inch of snow last night, that's London ground to a halt then.

This is respected a.f.w. contributor Ian Hoare replying to a post I made yesterday on the news group...........(My comments in "") "Jane MacQuity writing in last weekends Times claimed that almost without exception there is never a need to decant wines or even to let them breath." I disagree profoundly. "She said that the practice of allowing some fine reds to breath before drinking was actually damaging the wines." If you leave them too long, of course. "Quoting Macquity "There is no mysterious alchemy that occurs if you decant a wine. Take my word for it, wine does not freshen, improve it's bouquet, or open up when exposed to air." Not freshen, but it does improve its bouquet AND open up. She's completely up the creek on this one. "Ms MacQuity further stated that the only wines that ever require decanting are crusted ports and old reds that have thrown a sediment." Wrong. Only yesterday, Mikulski, talking of his Meursault-Genevrières 2001 said that it would improve considerably when drinking at less than 5 years' old, if decanted 3-4 hours in advance. I don't know what Ms McQuitty is up to. Perhaps she's been told to throw off the stuffy "Times" image and start being more "modern". In any case, I think - from personal experience that she's wrong all along the line on this one. Final example. Over Xmas (we were in the UK with my brother), my brother brought up 3 bottles of Ch Beaucastel '95. We weren't sure how many we'd drink amongst the 11 of us round the table, so we opened (and decanted) 2 of them about an hour and a half in advance. About half an hour into the meal, it was obvious that we'd need the third, so I opened it and decanted it. Upon drinking it, the wine showed far less expressively at first, and was quite closed in. Lots of enthusiastic glass twirling DID get it to open up, but nevertheless, it was noticeably less expressive than the first two. "What do the knowledgeable AFW contributors think ?" Same as I think of people who say that all guidelines as to what wine to drink with what dish are useless. Rubbish. -- All the Best Ian Hoare Another regular, Mark Lipton, added this......... As others have already said, the notion that breathing and/or decanting is pointless runs contrary to fact. Ms. McQuity must either not have tried many ageworthy wines or have no palate. What I can contribute to this discussion is a little sense of *why* air may improve a wine's bouquet. Most wines are bottled under what we could term "reductive" conditions (reduction here meaning the opposite of oxidation). Part of what happens as that wine ages (but only part) is the gradual and slow oxidation of various components to give rise to what we think of as "bouquet" and "tertiary aromas." A very powerful red wine might remain in a reductive state in perpetuity. So, when you open one of these wines, exposure to atmospheric oxygen induces chemical reactions with the reductive flavors of the wine that produce more bouquet. FWIW, the same thing happens with coffee: the familiar aroma of fresh-brewed coffee is the result of oxygen-induced reactions that liberate odorants. That's why you should start with cold water that is used just before reaching a boil (more dissolved oxygen in the water). Come to think of it, oxidation also accounts for the familiar smells of onion and garlic.......... For more wine anorak stuff than you can hit with a stick, and to see this thread in full (title - Wines, No Need To Breath ?) go to alt.food.wine

A small pile of hits yesterday from Globe Of Blogs, why ? Because I'm on their front page, woohoo, fame at last.

Although I'm not a huge fan of reality tv shows, I'm going to make an exception for the new series of . I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, and the reason ? John Lydon. Johnny Rotten as was, lacks the social programming that prevents most people from saying what they truly think about others, people who can remember his cringemaking interview alongside The Carpenters will know what I mean. Sparks should fly, it's going to be like waiting for a car crash to happen, horrible, but compulsive. Last night I must admit I was very impressed with Jordan, and not just with her impressive chest, but by the way she performed the first bush tucker trial, I would have freaked out on the first jug of spiders, good going girl. Kerry McFadden is TAPS (that's Thick As Pig Shit to you), she's also a wuss of the first order, one bout of tears on day one, bet she doesn't make it to the end of the week. When asked her opinion of her fellow contestants, Kerry cheerfully admitted she had never heard of Lord Brocket, Diane Modahl, Jenny Bond or Neil Ruddock, oh well. Peter Andre, is a twat. Let's hope something heavy falls on him.

I have played Dungeons & Dragons for a long time, it's a big part of my social life when I get to see all the gang and their children, we try to have a session once a week, playing, eating, drinking, stopping the kids from eating the character sheets, it's all good fun. Last week we lost one of our lead characters, Charle Aminger, it went like this...................... The Company had traveled to the country estate of Symon Vyner, Charles' cousin, whose house and grounds had been taken over by an evil entity known as the Corinthian, and his fey and dreamkin cohorts. They bravely their way through numerous deadly encounters, including a showdown with the Corinthian himself and his dreambreeder. Whilst mopping up the last of the enemy forces, the company were lured into an ethereal demi-plane inhabited by five vengeful ghosts. The Company 'destroyed' two of the ghosts, then two more, and were then rather disturbed to find that all their kills were actually reforming themselves. In the final battle, as Beltain, Saragon and Psyche were brought down to single figure hit points, Sibornal summoned holy powers to throw back the evil spirits, Callran hurled mighty magicks at the opponents, Charle was hit repeatedly by a ghost dragon. No need for saving throws, no fortitude check, just dead. Seeing that the entire Company was about to be killed, Saragon grabbed a Wand of Resurrection and forced Charles' soul back into his body. A few more strikes and the ghosts were defeated. Charle though has decided to call it a day, the endless violence and bloodshed has become too much. He is a nobleman and has done much to restore the good name of his family, as the most politically powerful of the current adventuring party he will continue on in the game, but in the background. He is retiring to his duchy, to breed horses and deal in spices and gems, and to devote more time to a certain young lady mage methinks.

Like many bloggers, I often add my url to various databases, Popdex, Globe Of Blogs etc., I have come across this one, The Truth Laid Bare Ecosystem and added Ysoul, wow, soon I could be an amoeba in the TTLB system, oh well.

But Is It Art ? Helmut Newton is dead, well, at least he got to see Iman in the buff before he went. Crocodile and Ballerina, of course I could have used this to write a glowing recommendation of Newton's work, but this being Yorkshiresoul, I'll just use it as a cheap shot to publish tits and bums shots. Linked shots may not be worksafe. Automobile and girl. Office Love. Naked French Vogue Allure.

"While you're down there.........." Seen at Serial Deviant.

Another book meme.......... Q - What did you last read? Stupid White Men - Michael Moore Q - What are you reading now? Aftermath by Charles Sheffield and Cursed Days by Ivan Bunin. Q - What do you plan to read next? The Beatles by Hunter Davies, a biography of Spike Milligan and David Brin's Kil'n People, plus a few cookbooks. Q - What would you like to read, but don't have? The Allan Clarke diaries, The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn Q - What would you recommend for others to read? Lord Of The Rings - Tolkien, The Uplift War series - David Brin, Saga Of The Exiles series - Julian May, Spike Milligan's autobiographical WW2 novels, Neil Gaiman's brilliant Sandman graphic novels, Watchmen - Alan Moore, Join Me - Danny Wallace, and read a good quality daily newspaper. Q - What's your favourite book from childhood? The Dark Is Rising sequence - Susan Cooper Q - What book last made you laugh? Jennifer Government - Max Barry Q - What book last made you weep? I don't think I have ever cried over a book, though I read a book last year about the Holocaust in Hungary, Survivors of the Shoah I think, it came close. Q - What book last made you angry? Stupid White Men - Michael Moore, angry at the US Government and Mr. Moore both. Taken from Fraser Speirs.

Get over to Deborama's today for a great cassoulet recipe, some stimulating book reviews and the meaning of 'Shibboleth', a Cthulu nightmare or having your tongue cut out by vengeful Gileadites ? A snazzy new look over at Kennamatic, Stevan muses on colons, sci-fi novels and J-Lo's arse, Jim's in Germany building the Starship Enterprise or taking mind altering drugs, whilst Emma features crack babies, bitch mothers and spank the penguin, enjoy.

Here's some Sunday morning fun for you, change your life with the parascience pack, read why the great man thinks anti-semetism is bad, smile knowingly when Debbie Harry says he looks like an alien and be frankly baffled as the great man combines spoon bending with strategic nuclear arms reduction treaties. Who ? Uri Geller of course.

A little theme thing for the week, women drivers, and before you all have a fit, blame Penny Farthing and Cheryl, they sent the pics.

An Eskimo takes his snowmobile in for a service. The mechanic checks it out and says to the Eskimo , "It looks like you've blown a seal" "No," says the Eskimo, "that's just frost on my mustache."

A pic from our hols in Lanzarote, this is in the Timanfaya National Park, an area called the Sea Of Tranquility on the volcanic slopes. Timanfaya is pretty good value, for about four and a half quid you get a bus tour of the volcanoes, plus you get to see lunch being cooked over a volcanic vent, and a man poking bits of tree into holes, more piccies to follow.

What do you call a Lancastrian with a sheep under each arm? A pimp. What do you call a sheep tied to a lampost in Bury ? An entertainments centre. How do you castrate a Lancastrian? Punch his sister in the jaw. How do Lancastrians practice safe sex? They mark the sheep that kick. (Thanks to Matt)

A man is in a hotel lobby. He wants to ask the clerk a question. As he turns to go to the front desk, he accidentally bumps into a woman beside him and as he does, his elbow goes into her breast. They are both quite startled. The man turns to her and says, "Ma'am, if your heart is as soft as your breast,I know you'll forgive me." She replies, "If your penis is as hard as your elbow, I'm in room 1221." (Thanks to Lindsey)

A customer phones Mrs YS to ask about my proposed menu for Valentines Night...... "Those oysters, are they real oysters ?" Mrs YS (baffled already), "Of course they are" Customer, "Oh, well I can't eat real oysters"

Book Meme. The rules are as per the film meme, bold for works you have read, italics for works you would like to. 1) Lord Of The Rings - J R R Tolkien 2) To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee 3) Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck 4) Animal Farm - George Orwell 5) War And Peace - Leo Tolstoy 6) Riders - Jilly Cooper 7) The Stand - Stephen King 8) The Sicilian - Mario Puzo 9) Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 10) Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte 11) Great Expectations - Charles Dickens 12) The Saga Of The Exiles - Julian May 13) Sandman:The Dolls House - Neil Gaiman 14) Vurt - Jeff Noon 15) A House For Mr Biswas - V S Naipul 16) Endymion - Dan Simmons 17) Space - Stephen Baxter 18) Hi-Fidelity - Nick Hornby 19) The Dark Is Rising - Susan Cooper 20) Valley Of The Dolls - Jaqueline Susann 21) The Allan Clark Diaries - Allan Clark 22) Charlotte's Web - Elwyn Brooks 23) The Scar - China Mieville 24) The Iliad - Homer 25) Peter Pan - J M Barrie 26) Mansfield Park - Jane Austen 27) Carry On Jeeves - P G Wodehouse 28) Porterhouse Blue - Tom Sharpe 29) Watership Down - Richard Adams 30) Tarka The Otter - Henry Williamson 31) Epitres - Voltaire 32) The Uplift War - David Brin 33) The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain 34) Adolf Hitler, My Part In His Downfall - Spike Milligan 35) Jennifer Government - Max Barry 36) Catch 22 - Joseph Heller 37) Watchmen - Alan Moore 38) Clan Of The Cave Bear - Jean M Auel 39) The Merchant Of Venice - Shakespeare 40) Tess Of The D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy 41) Consider Phlebus - Iain Banks 42) Parliaments - Thomas Carlyle 43) Tales To Ticklish To Tell - Berke Breathed 44) The Day Of The Triffids - John Wyndham 45) Green Eggs And Ham - Dr Suess 46) A Traitor To Memory - Elizabeth George 47) I'll Be Seeing You - Mary Higgins Clark 48) The Stone Raft - Jose Saramago 49) Lord Of The Flies - William Golding 50) The God Of Small Things - Arundhati Roy 51) Alias Grace - Margeret Atwood 52) Fantastic Mr Fox - Roald Dahl 53) The Hunt For Red October - Tom Clancy 54) Count Zero - William Gibson 55) Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintanence - Robert M Pirsig 56) Wilt - Tom Sharpe 57) The Silmarillion - J R R Tolkien 58) Time Enough For Love - Robert Heinlein 59) The Love Knot - Charlotte Bingham 60) Female Parts - Dario Fo 61) Beowulf - Seamus Heaney 62) Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton 63) The Forge Of God - Greg Bear 64) Jack Holborn - Leon Garfield 65) Bruno's Dream - Iris Murdoch 66) Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets - J K Rowling 67) Praxis - Fay Weldon 68) The Monkey King - Timothy Mo 69) Stupid White Men - Michael Moore 70) 1984 - George Orwell 71) The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant - Stephen Donaldson 72) From Hell - Alan Moore 73) 101 Dalmations 74) The Time Machine - H G Wells 75) Runaway - Lucy Irvine 76) Huis Clos - Jean Paul Satre 77) Love & Rockets - Jamie Hernandez 78) The Death Of Grass - John Christopher 79) Naked Lunch - William Burroughs 80) Fevre Dream - George R R Martin 81) Books Of Blood - Clive Barker 82) Antigone - Sophocles 83) Wealth Of Nations - Adam Smith 84) The Colour Of Magic - Terry Pratchett 85) Cry Wolf - Wilbur Smith 86) Barman Year One - Frank Miller 87) The Tale Of Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter 88) Point Of Origin - Patricia Cornwell 89) Jackdaws - Ken Follet 90) Idoru - William Gibson 91) The Code Of The Woosters - P G Wodehouse 92) Shardik - Richard Adams 93) Helliconia - Brian Aldiss 94) Macbeth - Shakespeare 95) Shattered - Dick Francis 96) Disgrace - J M Coetzee 97) Ink Paintings - Gao Xingjian 98) The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks 99) The Simple Art Of Murder - Raymond Chandler 100) Aenied - Virgil There we go, fly little meme, fly.

A complaint, from a hypocrite............... "You are stealing images from my site and cropping my logo from them." You are correct, but unless I am very much mistaken, none of these images are yours in the first place, the sporting pictures (footy-below, Karin Koch etc) are all taken from sports sites, your photoshopped images have all been sent in by readers and you pop your own url on the pics and then do not credit your contributors. You will note on Yorkshire Soul that I usually credit where pics and links have come from (unless I have trawled them from linkdumps), or else I credit whoever had e-mailed these items to me, now piss off and stop whinging.

Proper footy, the Vinnie Jones/Norman Hunter tackle..............

A meme, which I try not to do too many of, Shiela might be interested, as per instructions, bold I have seen, italic I would like to. 001. Godfather, The (1972) 002. Shawshank Redemption, The (1994) 003. Godfather: Part II, The (1974) 004. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003) 005. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The (2002) 006. Casablanca (1942) 007. Schindler’s List (1993) 008. Shichinin no samurai (1954) (The Seven Samurai) 009. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001) 010. Citizen Kane (1941) 011. Star Wars (1977) 012. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) 013. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 014. Rear Window (1954) 015. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) 016. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) 017. Memento (2000) 018. Usual Suspects, The (1995) 019. Pulp Fiction (1994) 020. North by Northwest (1959) 021. Fabuleux destin d’Amelie Poulain, Le (2001) ("The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain") 022. Psycho (1960) 023. 12 Angry Men (1957) 024. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 025. Silence of the Lambs, The (1991) 026. Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966) (The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly) 027. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) 028. Goodfellas (1990) 029. American Beauty (1999) 030. Vertigo (1958) 031. Sunset Blvd. (1950) 032. Pianist, The (2002) 033. Matrix, The (1999) 034. Apocalypse Now (1979) 035. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) 036. Some Like It Hot (1959) 037. Taxi Driver (1976) 038. Paths of Glory (1957) 039. Third Man, The (1949) 040. C’era una volta il West (1968) (Once Upon a Time in the West) 041. Fight Club (1999) 042. Boot, Das (1981) 043. Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001) (Spirited Away) 044. Double Indemnity (1944) 045. L.A. Confidential (1997) 046. Chinatown (1974) 047. Singin’ in the Rain (1952) 048. Requiem for a Dream (2000) 049. Maltese Falcon, The (1941) 050. M (1931) 051. All About Eve (1950) 052. Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957) 053. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) 054. Se7en (1995) 055. Saving Private Ryan (1998) 056. Cidade de Deus (2002) (City of God) 057. Raging Bull (1980) 058. Wizard of Oz, The (1939) 059. Rashemon (1950) 060. Sting, The (1973) 061. American History X (1998) 062. Alien (1979) 063. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) 064. Leon (The Professional) (1994) 065. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) 066. Vita bella, La (1997) (Life Is Beautiful) 067. Touch of Evil (1958) 068. Manchurian Candidate, The (1962) 069. Wo hu cang long (2000) (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) 070. Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948) 071. Great Escape, The (1963) 072. Clockwork Orange, A (1971) 073. Reservoir Dogs (1992) 074. Annie Hall (1977) 075. Amadeus (1984) 076. Jaws (1975) 077. Ran (1985) 078. On the Waterfront (1954) 079. Modern Times (1936) 080. High Noon (1952) 081. Braveheart (1995) 082. Apartment, The (1960) 083. Sixth Sense, The (1999) 084. Fargo (1996) 085. Aliens (1986) 086. Shining, The (1980) 087. Blade Runner (1982) 088. Strangers on a Train (1951) 089. Duck Soup (1933) 090. Metropolis (1927) 091. Finding Nemo (2003) 092. Donnie Darko (2001) 093. Toy Story 2 (1999) 094. Princess Bride, The (1987) 095. General, The (1927) 096. City Lights (1931) 097. Lola rennt (1998) (Run Lola Run) 098. Full Metal Jacket (1987) 099. Notorious (1946) 100. Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957) (The Seventh Seal) (Found at ItCrossedMyMind) Gosh, that was hard work, think I'll dream a book meme now

Book Review, Jennifer Government - Max Barry ***** In Barry's vision of the corporate future employees take the surnames of their employers, big business is more powerful than government, there are no armies, you just rent the Police or the NRA to kill people. Hack Nike has a problem, Nike's latest marketing strategy involves assassinating teenagers just after they've bought their $2,500 Nike Mercury trainers, he doesn't really want to kill adolescents so he gives the job to the Police, who subcontract the killings to the NRA. Buy Mitsui has a problem, Buy only ever hits his stock dealing targets on insider trading tips, he wanders into Hack's sponsored killings and a young girl dies in his arms, he decides to kill himself. Jennifer Government has a problem, she badly wants to arrest, or shoot, she's not fussy, John Nike. John Nike is a stop at nothing, power crazed megalomaniac, when he says he wants to wipe out the competition, you had better take him literally. Max Barry plunges his characters into a maelstrom of corporate greed and business war, as some struggle to find their individuality others fight their way to the top of the ladder. Although Jennifer Government provides plenty of noir laughs along the way, you tend to think after reading it, hang on, apart from actually shooting people, this is how big business behaves. As the novel progresses, and the bullets fly, and Billy NRA runs from disaster to disaster, and Violet (no last name, hah, she's unemployed!) loses the plot, and John Nike floats to the surface like the biggest lump in the cess tank, Barry's rather chilling vision of a brand ruled future doesn't seem very far away at all.

You didn't nominate me ? Mind you, they don't have a category for 'Most Eclectic Blog'. Don't nominate me for any of these please.

Tesco responds (which proves at least they have more manners than PETA)........... "Thank you for contacting us. I was sorry learn that you are unhappy because we are already introducing some Easter goods into our stores. Like all other retailers, we introduce our Easter lines several months before the holiday period, in order to provide our customers with the chance to buy some of their requirements early. I am sure you will agree that all holidays are very expensive times of year and we like to give our customers the opportunity to spread the cost. Whilst I am sorry that you are unhappy, I do hope you will understand our reasons for this. However, I appreciate your letting us know your views Kind Regards David Traynor Customer Service Manager - Tesco" Well David, I tend to think that these 'holidays', or should that be holy days ? These marketing periods then are very expensive because in our consumer driven society we have turned these celebrations of the christian faith into orgies of present buying. Now I like receiving gifts, it's lovely, there's no denying it, but there are children growing up today who think that Christmas is a celebration of Santa Claus ! Don't buy Easter presents at vastly inflated prices, just get the family together for dinner, get some friends round. Give your children an empty cardboard box, a tennis ball, some string and two sticks, keeps 'em happy for hours, they don't need those £85 Nike trainers, they'll only jump in the mud in them anyway. Whilst I'm on a rant, kids with mobile phones. How did we, the phoneless generation, survive to adulthood ? We didn't get mugged or murdered because we didn't have personal comminication devices. How did we network ? We talked, and when we talked we said things like........... "Let's all meet at Chris's house 10am tomorow," then that's what we did. We didn't sit alone in our bedrooms chatting on the phone, we went and saw our friends and talked to them face to face, then we went and played on the railway lines, but that's another story.

Kayleigh Rose A fanfare please, a very welcome phone call from P&C early this morning to announce the arrival of their baby daughter Kayleigh Rose (hope I've got the spelling correct), sister to Joshua, mother and daughter both fine, father sounds shattered, we're coming round for a cuddle tonight (with some wetting of the baby's head, obviously). Brother in law Mk.2 Andy and partner Carole have bought their first home, they're having to decorate the entire place before moving in due to the previous owners tastes in purple paint, dirt and cat urine, nice. Final bit of family&friends stuff, bother in law Mk.4, Rob, faces an 8 week ban from the football pitch when afters were offered during the match between the heroic Burley Trojans Reserves and the rough boys from Pool. Trojans were winning the match 5-0 with only moments to go when our warrior/midfielder let fly with a haymaker, sadly only glancing off his opponents cheek. Rob's hoping that a few weeks in the Gym with the punchbag will sharpen up his reflexes ready for the Burley vs Otley Super Middleweight contest.