The best election data EVER.

I am a political junkie.

Political junkie I am a.

Junkie political a am I.

A political junkie I am.

You get the idea.

So it will be not a huge surprise to discover that I spent part of the other evening trawling the internet looking for data and maps relating to the recent German Federal election.

I stumbled upon a treasure trove of insane gorgeousness, the finest art I had found since falling in love with 'Bowsprit'.

Check these out!

                          

With absolute respect and delight to the team at Die Zeit, Lisa Rienermann, Anna Lena Schiller and Sylke Gruhnwald.

Customer service

I love decent customer service.

Who doesn't?

I need to tell you about this beautiful customer service moment.

In September I purchased a beautiful pair of Dr Martens boots.

Unfortunately they let me down.

After much 'umming and ahhing' I wrote to Dr Martens and explained the fault.

I was polite and reasonable.

They wrote back.

They offered to repair, replace or return the shoes. I just had to send my broken pair to them.

I sent them back,  within a few days they told me that they would replace my broken boots. I just had to look at their website and choose a new pair. Sadly they no longer had they original pair in stock.  They politely asked, could I find a new pair?  I couldn't find a pair similar to the broken pair so I chose a  pair of shoes.

There was a £15 difference in price.

I wrote to Dr Martens and explained that I was willing to pay the excess and they just needed to let me know how to do this.

They wrote back and said that the new shoes were already on their way and there was no need to pay the difference!

Bravo Dr Martens!

Brilliant customer service!

Sailing

Broads views.
Hickling at sunset.

Heigham Sound.
Crisps.

 Slow boat to Hickling.

 Sunset over Hickling.

 Finding 'The Pleasure Boat' inhospitable, we headed to 'The Greyhound' where we were greeted as liberators and fed like heroes.

A ramblin man.

I'm on the ropes

A long held ambition achieved.
Why the hell had it taken so long?
Saw the Eels live at  the UEA (goddammit, still one of my favourite venues)

I had a head full of other stuff, work things, stress things, work things, work things , work things.

I saw the Eels and it was wonderful glorious.

I would go out tonight...

... I get a phonecall, not a message, a real life phonecall with a human voice on the other end, very 1986.
It's my brother with a spare ticket for Johnny Marr!

A grainy photo which sums up a grainy yet wonderful evening with an absolute legend.

And yes, He played about six of his very own Smiths songs.

Uncle Danny Baseball Eve!

Can it be that time of year again? Dan Raphael's birthday eve? Known to millions of kids around the globe as 'Uncle Danny Baseball Eve'.

My kids are at the perfect age to really enjoy the festivities, there's absolutely no doubt that they believe in the magic of UDB and the magic he spreads. 

Please enjoy some pictures of our family festivities.

Our very own Daniel building a tower of strength. He wanted to be the first kid in town to get his finished!

 Yes, You guessed it, the traditional breakfast of salami, cheese, bread and kiwi fruit.

 Traditions for the evening meal vary, but we stick to the old fashioned approach. Baked potato, cheese, sausages and kiwi fruit.

 The two kiwi fruit slices representing the two passions of Uncle Danny Baseball. Baseball and indie music. Reformists sometimes add more to include TV, family and food but we like it traditonal.

 Hey, it's all about the kids. Michael and Henry rocking out during the evening meal.

 Daniel lapping up his apple pie and custard for desert!

 A traditional scene dating back 39 years.

 Daniel is chuffed! He's the first kid to finish his meal so he gets to hold the kiwi fruit and minifigure!

 Henry is a pretty proud second!

This is what it's all about. The magic, The Huey Lewis TV special, The minifigures and the kiwi fruit!

Happy Uncle Danny Baseball Eve everybody!

Tip top

Ways to lose that tip Mr delivery man.

Get ridiculously lost trying to find my (very central and easy to find) house and in the process make a number of mildly pointless phonecalls during which you persist in telling me "I int got a clue where I am or where you are either".

Use my loo ( Fine if you were working here for a little while but you were in my home for 45 seconds!)

Call me 'mate'. I am not your mate. You came to my home, dropped off some flatpack shelving and left. Call me anything, anything, but not mate.

Make odd comments about the pictures on my walls!

Be scarily reminiscent of Neil from The Inbetweeners.

About a beard

The beard.
It's been growing since December 1st.
I'm really not sure.
I am way outside my comfort zone.
I can really only think of two people I know who can do a decent beard.
Officially I only need to grow it until the 24th. The thing is, on the 21st, 22nd and 23rd I have three quite major social outings to attend. The beard is going to get quite a bit of publicity.

It's scruffy, itchy and I have yet to reap the benefit of the extra 3 and a half minutes each day that I could have spent shaving.

Then I get to thinking, LBJ never had a beard.
Nor did Richard Nixon.
Not one of the Watergate conspirators had facial hair.

What am I to do?

Florida

Just went for the dream job.
Didn't get it.
Compensating by listening to lots of Billy Bragg.
Also growing a beard for charity.

Looks like an Al Gore moment to me.

Glory, Glory...

... Man United?

This is not a food blog...

... but this is worth a mention!

Buttered dish.
French bread, sliced.
100g of Gruyerre.
300ml of milk.
4 eggs.
Two or three first class sausages, I used Gloucester old spot for this one.
Salt n' pepper.

In a baking oven for half an hour.

Breakfast of champions!

Bloody marvellous!!

La mia vigna incredible

A misty autumn morning. Observe the vines at the back of our garden. These provide delicious shade during the warm weather. And yes, sometimes we spot tiny green grapes in amongst the foliage.

 Look, can they be grapes? Real grapes? Big , red , juicy ones?

 Large? Good enough to eat?

Surely not?

Absolutely! This year, out of nothing, we have a bumper crop of sweet and tender decent sized grapes!
They are good to eat and as yet we have experienced no ill effects.

Macca-pacca-stacca-beans!

You want to funk up your beans-on-toast? You want to add some jazz to your pauper meals? You want to revibe after yet another bloody day of all being in it together?

I think this may be what you have been looking for.

Heinz beans, simmered over a hob, with a good pinch of chilli powder for some extra soul.

White sliced is preferable, toasted, lashings of butter  and, this is the key, cut lengthways.

Then stacked, like a game of Jenga.

Pour the beans into the hole at the top.

Allow the beans to drain south for a moment or two. The hole in this stack was smaller than usual, See the second picture. This meant that the beans did not sink down as normal.

All being said, it brightens up those dull Tuesday evenings.

DMs!

It's been about 22 years since I last bought a pair of DMs. Probably about 18 years since I last wore them into the ground.
To some, the shoe (boot really) might look like a comfy midlife crisis version of the classic DM boot but to me, delivered today with it's matching twin and tried on, and walked about in, it was just marvellous.
I should be careful, soon I might be buying retro 'Wedding Present' T shirts and flopping about to 'Meat is Murder'*
Wearing them I feel prouder, stronger and ready to take whatever the man (or the weather) decides to throw at me.


*That happens anyway.

Chestnut cottage

Sometimes, you don't need to go far for the holiday of a lifetime.

Sports emotion

Living in a transatlantic household is always interesting.
Never more so than during the great international sporting challenges.
Last night Frau Random Doubt shed a tear for Jessica Ennis.
I asked her "Did you actually just feel a pang of British pride?"

"Yes"

Coming soon...

...Brooklyn, the lost notes.