Syd E profile picture

Syd E

Can't get AIDS from knitting needles...

About Me


My Interests

Music, books, food, words, those little things that make that noise when you stand on them. You know the ones, they come in different flavours.

I'd like to meet:

Anyone who can further my aims. And I really do mean that. Yes, I do.

Music:

Last 6 cds played: "Souljacker", Eels; "So Much For The City", Der Trills; "Words Of Wisdom And Hope", Teenage Fanclub & Jad Fair; "Prophesy", Nitin Sawhney; "Get Behind Me Satan", The White Stripes" "Most of the Remixes", Soulwax. (Is that 7? Never mind, have one on me.) Recent live bands: Josh White Jr, Jim Lauderdale, and a wee lassie with a fiddle at Celtic Connections. (Note to the 'sound guy' at St Andrew's In The Square on 20th January 2008; if you're interested in becoming a sound engineer, there are several very good courses available in Glasgow. They'll give you all kinds of important information, like what all those buttons and sliders are for, on that big rectangular device that seems to puzzle you so much. It's called a 'mixing desk'. Hope that helps.) Also, The Hugh Reed Explosion (still crazy after all these years, magnificent). And now for a Public Service Announcement; do, please, have a listen to Elvis's version of "Stranger In My Own Home Town". It really is truly magnificent, and either The Adjournments will be doing a version of it soon, or I'll be having a major hissy fit. Oh, and does anybody know what's happened to Billy Bragg? He's gone all... odd. Yes, distinctly odd. Thank you very much for your time. :)

Movies:

Blade Runner (but not the director's cut); The Blues Brothers; The Godfather II; This Is Spinal Tap; The Exorcist; Blazing Saddles; Van Helsing; Fargo; Wayne's World; Twins of Evil; Shawshank Redemption; Zulu; The Libertine; Babyface; In The Heat Of The Night; Young Frankenstein; Blood Simple; Matrix; Bugsy Malone. And lots of other stuff. Don't know much about films and am too lazy to find out. If anyone wants to teach me, that'd be quite good. However, it's only fair to point out that I don't think films are as important as music or food, so my attention might wander. Just poke me in the ribs if it does. (And on that subject: remember, kids, you can live for quite a long time without food, but your soul will die pretty damn quickly without music. This has been another Public Service Announcement.)

Television:

I have now got a telly, AND an aerial. It was playing videos for a wee while there, then it stopped, and now it's started again. Who am I to interfere? I was watching BBC1 and Channel 5, which is all I can get, but I've become a bit fed up with it, and rather quickly, at that. It's not very good, is it? Well, if you've only got two channels it's not, anyway. And the sound comes and goes when it's on Channel 5, for some reason. And "Ashes To Ashes" is a complete disappointment. So I'm mostly wathing videos again. Especially the ones from that brilliant charity shop where the staff don't speak English (Polish or Portugese, hard to tell) and clearly come from an economy in which two and sixpence is ample reward for a days work. Which is nice. And the video shop where the staff can't keep track of which ex-rentals are 5 for £20 and which are 3 for £10. ;)

Books:

Yes please. Currently reading: "Hammer Of The Gods", Stephen Davis; "The Pillars of the Earth"; Ken Follett; The Kilmarnock Edition of the Poetical Works of Robert Burns. Recently finished: "Without Feathers", Woody Allen; "1984, George Orwell; "Spike Milligan, The Biography", Humphrey Carpenter; "The Fifth Elephant", Terry Pratchett; "Flash For Freedom!", George MacDonald Fraser. And on the subject of books, I think it's appropriate to note the passing of George MacDonald Fraser in January 2008. Author of the Flashman books amongst other work, and the acknowledged master of the scrupulously well-researched historical novel, he will be sadly missed. His last book, "The Reavers", was published (by Harper Collins) shortly before his death, and I heartily recommend anything and everything he wrote. R.I.P.

Heroes:

I thought The Stranglers sorted all that out? And who was it that said "heroes are for zeroes"? Richard Hell?

My Blog

Puzzling Things VII: (Im always touched) by your Presence, Percy

Here we go again, then, mumble mumble, cogitating, mumble mumble, perplexed, etc... Cheese Which is the most recalcitrant of all the cheeses? My money was on Red Leicester, but then I was reminded of...
Posted by Syd E on Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:12:00 PST

Vegetarianism and Cycling: ask not for whom the bell tolls...

Cloned Steaks Herald Inadvertent Victory for Common Sense Scientists in America have developed a method of cloning steaks from a living animal. Seemingly the source animal is not harmed; it simply pro...
Posted by Syd E on Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:30:00 PST

Advertising Feature

Regular readers (hi! and hi! to you) will know that I am proud to be associated with the mighty Adjournments, easily the best blues band with one member in the KA24 postal code area. Adjournments bass...
Posted by Syd E on Mon, 28 Jan 2008 09:24:00 PST

The Worlds Gone Mad, Again.

Well, a happy new year to you all, hope you had a good one, and all the very best for the coming year. For whatever reason, I've been doing a bit more pondering than usual lately, and it struck m...
Posted by Syd E on Tue, 08 Jan 2008 08:33:00 PST

PUZZLING THINGS VI: Beer-Run on the Red-Eye (Ok, I know, theyre getting worse.)

Encore with the puzzling things, then. It has come to my attention that the Spaniards have no word for puzzling, or even for perplexing. And this from a language which has two words for "beautiful". Y...
Posted by Syd E on Sun, 09 Dec 2007 12:02:00 PST

Arent Clever People Wonderful?

In terms of amelioration of the human condition, the history of mankind is one of monumental failure. Not the most palatable of notions, perhaps, but when you consider the facts, all the available ev...
Posted by Syd E on Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:04:00 PST

COMPETITION WINNERS ANNOUNCED!

The moment has finally arrived; the winners of the "What was the first record you ever bought?" competition are now up, on the blog of that name. Congratulations to the two lucky winners, a...
Posted by Syd E on Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:27:00 PST

What was the first record you ever bought?

What was the first record you ever bought? All my life I've told people it was either "School's Out" by Alice Cooper (b/w "Generation Landslide"), or "The Groover" by T Rex (can't remember the 'B' sid...
Posted by Syd E on Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:27:00 PST

Puzzling Things V: The Umpire Likes Crack

Here's the latest batch from what I'm now mentally calling The Path Of Puzzlement. (It's a bit shorter than usual because I've been busy not being puzzled.) If anyone knows the answers to any of these...
Posted by Syd E on Tue, 25 Sep 2007 11:54:00 PST

Thank you!

I'd like to thank everyone who posted comments and emailed me to wish me a happy birthday; most unexpected and very welcome. I'm terribly touched. Thank you all! Since I am now of an age that might we...
Posted by Syd E on Wed, 12 Sep 2007 01:34:00 PST