Bearpups Cyber Kennel ... In the Dog House Again

On Books

2010-05-03T00:28:00.000+01:00

Despite the rather innocent looking title I'm actually here to talk about one of my vices (don't worry no NSFW or TMI flags are required).

Books seem to have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My parents and grandparents read to me often when I was small and by the time I was 11 I was a member of 3 libraries and borrowing 12 books a fortnight. This started a lifelong addiction I do not want curing of.

I love books. My home is almost overflowing with them. I struggle to throw books away (even the ones I didn't enjoy reading!).

They bring me joy, comfort and assistance on several levels, some of which I'll talk about here.

Books as Escape
This is the bit where I'm supposed to tell you about my deep love of Dickens, Bronte, Tolstoy and the like. I fear you will be disappointed, an unfortunate run in with The Mayor of Casterbridge and The Pearl whilst at school left me wary of literary fiction.

My addiction is science fiction.

Give me aliens, technological utopias, technological distopias, alternate universes, time travel and telepathic dragons. When I read I want to be transported to the fantastical.

Of course the funny thing about this is that science fiction (at least the good stuff) is ultimately about the human psyche and human relationships just like any other novel. I just like some blasters, spaceships, supercomputers and time machines as set dressing.

Books as Information
As I am sure some of you know I am a techie by trade and it tends to be a very fast moving one. In theory books should be a poor source of information in such a fast moving world but they have many advantages.

Most of my reference books can sit on my desk without taking up valuable screen real estate, they don't need batteries and, since the company I work for tends to hold on to technologies long past their usual sell by dates, they can outlast what's currently trendy on the web.

Books as Fetish Objects
When I was a child my dad gave me a great gift, access to a set of "The children's encyclopaedia". Published in the 1930's they were huge leather bound tomes with crisp, thin pages and a smell which only ever comes from old books.

I read about rubber from the East Indies, I read about prisms, I distinctly remember reading about creating a light show by boring a hole in a glass bottle then filling it with isinglass and letting a point source of light hit the bottle whilst the liquid runs out in a darkened room.

My middle school had some early, beautifully illustrated hardback copies of Frank L. Baum's Oz stories. They were gorgeous and now I would probably give a fair portion of my bank account contents to own them.

To this day I don't know what isinglass is (though I'm sure wikipedia will tell me) but I do know that sometimes the look, feel and smell of a book can be a perfectly valid reason for me to want it.

Books as Magical Totems
Some of my books have a very odd place in my collection, I call them my magical totem books.

These are books I think I should read but never quite get round to.

I have a book on Java development, one on design patterns some on coding standards and several volumes about tech management and quality assurance. On my more optimistic days I like to think that by simply owning them I am afforded some mysterious magical protection or that their knowledge may seep into me just by my being in their vicinity.

Books as Gadgets
This one is stretching the definition but I love my gadgets as much as I love my books and these gizmos allow me to partake of both addictions at the same time.

I own a Sony e-reader and a Kindle. Strictly speaking neither of these things are books, they are simply devices for carrying and presenting books.

The Sony is used at work and contains some reference texts and a lots of my own notes. The Kindle is used in my leisure time and contains some works of fiction.

I had hoped that the Kindle would cut down on the books on every flat (and not so flat) surface problem but, in all honesty, I find I still prefer the shredded tree type of book for the most part.

So...
I love books, they bring me escape, knowledge, comfort and something to do with my eyes when they're not busy.

The addiction is long standing and, as far as I'm concerned, completely incurable and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Let's Give This Another Try

2010-04-01T00:28:00.000+01:00

The kennel is undergoing redecoration renovation and, hopefully, reinvigoration.

Abnormal service will resume soon ;-)

Rescue Me!

2009-02-09T19:56:00.003Z

If anyone sees this handsome, bespectacled, shopping loving man please send him my way ;-)

And the world gets a little dumber

2009-01-14T22:01:00.004Z

English readers of my blog may be familiar with a television programme called "Grumpy Old Men" which basically consists of a gang of middle aged male celebrities ranting about why the world has gone to the dogs.

I've watched it a bit and it's quite funny, not least because I find myself agreeing quite a lot!

Well yesterday I had my very own "Grumpy Old Man" moment.

I saw the following at a branch Currys (for those not in the know they are a national chain of electrical retailers).

Bargin? Clearance Isle?

For heavens sakes who wrote this?

I actually spent 5 minutes debating with myself as to whether I should call the manager and ask them to correct it.

Then I realised that they would just think I was some kind of weirdo for even thinking that it mattered, so I left, grumbling and muttering to myself all the way.

I just wonder how many people saw that sign and thought nothing of it, how many saw the sign before it went up and thought it was fine to display to the public?

Ho hum, I guess I'll just have to get used to this new world we're making.

Star Trek universe has lost a heroine

2008-12-23T15:03:00.005Z

On December 18th 2008 one of the most enduring characters of the Star Trek universe,
Majel Roddenberry, passed away aged 76.

Depending on your vintage you may remember her as nurse Christine Chapel or (pardon my spelling if it's wrong!) Lwaxana Troi.

She was also the voice of nearly every starfleet computer in every film and series.

Majel Roddenberry seemed to go from an elegant, sparky, forthright, young woman to an elegant, sparky, forthright older woman. Her role as Lwaxana was fabulous and funny and, I think, the first time Majel got to show us all what she really could do.

When the long awaited Star Trek prequel comes out next year you will get to hear her perform one last time.

My deepest sympathies to her friends and family

TV Shows get the Bear makeover

2008-12-15T19:10:00.004Z

I found these on the old youtubes and they just made me howl!

Hopefully some commissioning editor out there might take on "Bear Eye For The Twink Guy" or "Dr Woof" :-D

As a few of you know I'm a bit of a sci-fi fan (not saying which bit!) so this version of Doctor Who? absolutely ROCKED for me! For all you sci-fi geeks out there you can play spot the sci-fi show.

Seasonal Survey - What Reindeer are you!

2008-12-12T19:49:00.002Z

Thanks to doppleganger for the idea on this one!

You Are Dancer

Carefree and fun, you always find reasons to do a happy dance.

Why You're Naughty: That dark stint you had as Santa's private dancer.

Why You're Nice: You're friendly. Very friendly.

Which of Santa's Reindeer Are You?

Finally Revealed - What Breed is the Bearpup?

2008-10-11T18:23:00.003+01:00

Labrador Retriever

The Caretaker

Your family is what makes you tick, and you never "flea" from an opportunity to hang out with the whole gang. A family picnic complete with hot dogs, deviled eggs and a refreshing swim in the lake is hard for you to stray from. Your sparky temperament and dogged intelligence mean you are not only a blast to hang out with, but great to work with as well. Your close pals appreciate your patience and forgiveness, knowing you'd rather let sleeping dogs lie than dwell on the mishaps of the past. Your dashing good looks may one day lead to a modelling career, if only you can tame the unfortunate clumsiness that sometimes causes you to go flailing from the catwalk. Learn more »

FAMOUS LABRADOR RETRIEVERS: Bill Cosby, Jackie Onassis, Dr. Phil, David Beckham

LIKELY PROFESSIONS: Doctor, Sales Executive, Teacher

A big thanks to Romach for the inspiration on this one!

Guy Ritchie is there something you want to tell us?

2008-09-13T20:21:00.006+01:00

So, as part of our weekly food and a film social thing, we went to see "Rocknrolla" on Thursday.

We actually picked that film as we considered it the least worst of the new releases available (Sorry Guy!).

The film is a comic mockney gangsta fest in the same vein as Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and (as far as I can tell) every other film Guy has made.

As it turned out the film was hugely enjoyable, not least because of the great quantity of hot man totty in the cast!

First up there was the gorgeous Gerard Butler; this guy looks rough and ready in the film, at least he looked rough and I felt ready ;-)

Next up was his best mate and sidekick played by the ever so sexy Idris Elba

Add in a rather tasty ,indeed almost edible, gay gangster played by Tom Hardy

A very shaggable record producer played by Jeremy Piven...

and Toby Kebbell provided the junkie chic look, looking WAY healthier than any real junkie ever would. He seemed to have not a single gram of fat on his body, just muscle. To be honest it's not quite my taste, I like my fellas with a little crackling (if you get my drift) but I'm sure many of you out there will love him!

Various other bits of sexy manhood were scattered through the film, and it does have some great humorous moments which make up for the sometimes slow and stilted bits.

But here's the thing...

An eye for hot fellas and a love of Maddonna....

ARE YOU SURE THERE'S NOTHING YOU WANT TO TELL US GUY?

;-)

Tagged! An image meme

2008-09-09T20:06:00.028+01:00

Eiain, a good friend of mine has tagged me to try this google image meme so here I go!

I should warn you, in some cases I bent the rules (just a tiny bit!) and in others I stuck to them very close!

Here are the rules:

a) Answer the question below, do a Google Image search with your answer, take a picture from the 1st page of results, do it with minimal words of explanation; and
b) Tag 5 people to do the same once you’ve finished answering every question. (my tags are at the bottom of the post)

1. The age you'll be on your next birthday: Forty

2. Place you want to travel to: Sidney, Australia

3. Your favourite place: The Pennines

4. Your favourite food: Balsamic strawberries

5. Your favourite pet: Toby

6. Favourite colour combination: Orange and Purple (!)

7. Favourite piece of clothing: Tight Jeans (on men with nice bums!)

8. Your all time favourite song: The sun's coming over the hill

9. Favourite TV show: Ugly Betty

10. First name of your significant other: Frankiebear (his choice)

11. Which town do you live in: Winterton, Lincolnshire

12. Your screen name/nickname: Bearpupuk

13. Your first job: Programmer

14. Your dream job: Multimillionaire Playboy ;-)

15. One bad habit that you have: Biting my fingernails

16. Worst fear: Dementia

17. Things you'd like to do before you die: Eat at "The Fat Duck" and fly first class

18. The 1st thing you'll buy if you get $100,000: Morgan car

19. Your husband/wife: Not answering this one

20. What present would you like for your next birthday? Iliad E-book reader

Whew! Well most of that was great fun!

My tags go to

Romach
Turnipstyle
Gooster
Jonathan
And anyone else who fancies a go!

Take care and have fun all.

Hugs!

Phase 1 - A Social Life

2008-08-29T19:48:00.004+01:00

So I made a new start in the blog and decided it was time to look around and make some new starts in my life too.

I decided to look at the causes of my 'small life' and start doing something about them.

SOCIAL LIFE

My social life is almost entirely lived online. My main interactions with people in the physical world are at work.

I've already started doing something about this one.

A few friends I work with, and a few of their friends all get together once a week to have a meal and see a film. I had an offer to join them a while back but I chickened out and avoided the opportunity.

Yesterday I bit the bullet and said yes. A group of seven of us met at a local pub for a meal before going to the cinema where we watched "You don't mess with the Zohan".

The film was dreadful, terrible, poor, sucked rocks through a straw, in short it was bad, very very bad, very very very bad, very very very very very..... (you get the idea).

BUT

I had a great time! I met new people and I started forming new friendships, I chatted, I listened, we joked, laughed, bitched about work, gossiped about all sorts of things.

We did all the things that all of you out there with active social lives do all the time, but for me it was new, scary and enjoyable.

I'm doing it again next week. The film will be "Babylon A.D." (at least I'll have some hot totty to watch!). But as one of the girls commented last night, what film we go and see is not really that important, the fact that we go out and do something is.

It's a baby step but, hopefully, the first of many.

Identity Crisis

2008-08-26T15:04:00.006+01:00

Those of you who have followed my mutterings in the past will have noticed that, in the last few months, my blog theme has changed over and over again.

You'll also notice my output has dropped from little, to none.

These things are closely related to the state of my life at the moment.

I've suddenly realised that, at 39, I still don't know very much about who I am or what I should be doing with my life. I guess it's past time for me to make my mind up.

And of course, those who know me will also know that this post is a pretty good sign that my "Black Dog" is currently in control which makes everything (including getting my arse out of bed every day) difficult.

I heard a podcast from someone called Wanda Wisdom where she described how, during a bad relationship, she wound up living 'a small life' doing little more than a stale routine each and every day. That's how I feel right now.

So I've destroyed the old postings, picked yet another new template, and made this post.

It could be a fresh start or this could be me shrinking my 'small life' a little more, I don't know just yet.

Thanks to everyone who read my blog in the past and special thanks to all of you people out here in cyberspace who made me feel welcome and became (I hope) good friends.