Lithaborn Central

Um

2017-12-26T10:50:00.000+00:00

So I googled my real name....nothing. So I googled Lithaborn and found this again, after forgetting about it for 7 years. Hi.

Resurrected

2010-07-14T21:28:00.001+01:00

I'm back. Lots of things have changed. I know nobody is going to be reading this, but if, on the offchance, you have happened upon this blog, peruse the ancient history and maybe just put a little comment to say "Hi"

All done...

2006-03-27T21:37:00.000+01:00

You shouldn't be here!

Update your RSS feeds to:

http://lithaborn.co.uk/?feed=atom

This blog, hosted on Blogger's servers, will no longer be updated. I'm now posting to the real blog on lithaborn.co.uk.

The change is going ahead right now

2006-03-27T12:57:00.000+01:00

Normal service will be resumed just as soon as we're sure what is normal anyway.

Ok, so it's more than tempting...

2006-03-26T19:19:00.000+01:00

I signed up for some of that webspace today. No-one's in the office until tomorrow, so it's then that I'll finalise things.

Not sure if you'll see a huge amount of difference, or if I'll try and get Movable Type working, or one of the blogging platforms that comes with the webspace, but this time you'll have lots of notice.

The URL will always point to a blog of some description, so if the RSS feed suddenly stops working, or doesn't show a new post for a few days, you know where I'll be.

This is almost too tempting...

2006-03-25T00:56:00.000+00:00

I think I've mentioned before that I run the website for the Church I grew up in.

In the process of finding hosting for the site, I found a rather usefully titled site - Churchhosting.co.uk. Well, how could I resist?

Also, they invoice their customers, which I've found is quite a rare occurrence.

So anyway, everything was set up and working just fine, so I didn't bother with the site's Control Panel too much.

It's working, don't try and fix it. Fair play.

Well, tonight I decided to have a bit of a click around to see what some of the nifty buttons do.

I discovered a huge amount of site applications - like a forum, chatroom server, powerful picture gallery, guestbook, PHP tools...you name it!

What I'd forgotten is that this hosting company doesn't just cater for Churches, but also for individuals looking for a not-for-profit hosting package.

So in short, I could buy myself some webspace instead of piggybacking this here blog off the Church webspace, all for a pittance.

Problem is, we don't just have Easter fast approaching, we have a spate of family birthdays to budget for and right now that pittance would knock a noticable hole in our finances.

Fucking damn tempting, though...

Quick thoughts...

2006-03-24T01:32:00.000+00:00

I'm in a reflective mood. Just been for a walk to liberate some money from a nearby cashpoint and got kinda thoughtful about various things. More on that later.

On my way to the bank, I happened to be listening to The Division Bell. At what point between Momentary Lapse of Reason and this album did Floyd become U2 lite? I had to check I'd uploaded the right directory. Not even close to what I was expecting. Odd.

Apparently Prime Minister Brown has committed an extra fuckwad of money to continuing our subjugation of other countries. I totally missed the Budget this year for the first time in ages. I did however catch the headlines about it being hailed as a "Budget for Education". So tell me, has he reformed the Student Grant rules? Has he scrapped all this Tuition Fee bollocks? I'll have to have a look and find out. I'm guessing the answer is "no".

If anyone out there knows how to get a Belkin wireless LAN card working on Windows Millenium, do drop me a line because it's pissing me off.

I'm tired, it's been a really nice spring day and tomorrow we're off to the Chinese for lunch with my mother-in-law, her sister and various others. Goody.

We got our new Cable box. Yay.

Another quiz...

2006-03-23T09:19:00.000+00:00

This time it's rather an interesting one, though. Thanks to Sheerie, a fellow hedgewitch who dropped by to comment on the Star Trek post.

You scored as Celtic Pantheonic Pagan. Your answers leaned very close to that of the Celtic Pantheon. Very popular now among pagans, the Celtic Gods seem to draw those who are sensitive and insightful, but also very passionate about their beliefs. Many Pagan Holidays are named for this pantheon and here is where you'll find many stories on Horned God, Green Man, and Druids. You likely either have been or want to visit Stonehenge one day. Many Arthurian legnds include references to the Celtic faith, as well.

Celtic Pantheonic Pagan

85%

Zoroastrian Pagan

80%

Egyptian Pantheonic Pagan

65%

Roman Pantheonic Pagan

60%

Shamanic Pagan

55%

Ecclectic Pagan

55%

Eastern Pagan

45%

Kabbalistic Pagan

45%

Greek Pantheonic Pagan

40%

Sumerian, Babylonian, and Mesopotamian Pagans

40%

Norse Pantheonic Pagan (Asatru)

35%

Catholic (Pagan?)

10%

What kind of Pagan are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

I'm back...!

2006-03-22T18:33:00.000+00:00

OK, so I never went away. Someone at Telewest fucked up and only cut our TV and Phone.

I'm not gonna complain!

Well, anyway, the first sign that they'd actually acknowledged that we'd given them our last twenty quid was when I got through to the speaking clock this morning.

Oh good I thought, we can catch up on some stuff on Teleport tonight!

Apart from one thing...when I was forcing the...let's say slightly recalcitrant Scart plug into the back of the Cable Box, said box slipped out of my hand and bounced neatly off the top of the TV.

The engineer will be popping round tomorrow morning with a new box, which is a bit annoying as we were planning on embarking on some quality shagging...

No, we will not be propostioning the Cable Guy, even if it turns out to be a large chested Cable Lass...

Well...

Back to where it all began...

2006-03-22T11:46:00.000+00:00

Genesis - From Genesis to Revelation

Bloody 'ell!

OK, I guess everyone's seen the images of Peter Gabriel dressed up as a sunflower, or daisy or whatever, but I hadn't ever realised just how much of a hippie band Genesis started out as.

This album comes at you direct from the Age of Aquarius, summer of love, commune living days of the 60's and a bigger slice of real honest to goodness hippie groove you could not hope to find.

I was shocked - truly shocked, but then my recent overexposure to Pink Floyd can probably account for some of this: imagine wading through tar, traversing still-smoking battlefields, then falling headlong into a field grown high with wild flowers, bathed in late summer sunshine and dancing naked with the beautiful people. Culture shock?! Heavy, man...

Where's the radio friendly bland pop meanderings of the 80's? It's fair to say that when you're talking about complete and total 180 degree turnarounds, Genesis is there at the top of the heap.

If you're not quite sure of my opinion of this record yet, let's just say that as an old hippie myself, I loved it.

Next up: Nursery Cryme

Any Star Trek fans out there...?

2006-03-21T21:45:00.000+00:00

Over at Ain't It Cool, there's a rather lengthy and quite fascinating essay on the contents of a script that's been hovering around the Trekverse for some time...

Starfleet Academy.

Learn about what Kirk, Bones, Spock and Scotty did at school here.

Still hanging on...

2006-03-21T09:31:00.000+00:00

Seems someone forgot to switch my internet access off.

Well I'll be paid up to date by midday, so if they cut me off before that I'll be mightily pissed off...

OK, more pissed off than I am now, anyway...

Now that's more like it...

2006-03-20T16:01:00.000+00:00

So far I've listened to about 30 minutes of this concert.

At last, the sound has a context. This is a much more natural environment for the sweeping, vast sounds on offer.

I still don't have any particular emotional attachment to the music, but now I've heard it the way it was meant to be heard - played live to screaming fans.

Yes, much better. Wonder what the next hour will bring...

Chicken Licken never thought of that...

2006-03-20T12:25:00.000+00:00

A 50 meter long part of the new Wembley roof has fallen down, creating an "Enormous bang".

Oh yeah, I'd be so happy to stand under that roof now!

The "Should" List...

2006-03-20T12:06:00.000+00:00

Eagle eyed regulars (all one of you) will recall that I've mentioned my "Should" list a couple of times lately.

This is basically a list of all the things I should do, read, watch or visit before...well, before I die, really.

Anyway, I thought I'd share that list with you - along with the reason they're on the list. It's a bit long, so you'll have to wait until I've coded it into a popup window or something, but that's something I can work on while I wait to be reconnected.

In the meantime, any recommendations?

Point to ponder...

2006-03-20T11:51:00.000+00:00

I've been thinking about the MPAA, the RIAA and all these filesharing prosecutions that are going on, and I got to wondering something...

You know all these charity shops, market stalls and car boot sales (not the bootleggers or con artists, but the kids flogging their old Transformers videos) where you can pick up anything by Mantovani or Brother Beyond, or Jane Fonda's Workout video for 50p? Do they pay royalties to the artist? I'm assuming the answer is "no".

And as they don't pay royalties, isn't buying from these people tantamount to taking money out of the artists' mouths? Apart from handing over your money, isn't it very much the same as downloading music or movies from the web? The artists never see the money, the studios never see the money. Isn't there something in the copyright laws about not being able to give away or resell the item without the artist's consent?

Now I wonder how long it'll be before they start prosecuting Oxfam...

It's all about...

2006-03-20T10:53:00.000+00:00

Since embarking on my Floydathon, I've been made aware - from multiple sources - of all the intrigue, backbiting and arguments that have peppered the band's history.

The problem is, I don't care.

I've never been one to immerse myself in all the gossip and real lives of the artists I enjoy. Oh, I watch the gossip websites, but not as closely as most. Now and again there'll be a titbit that grabs my attention, but not for more than five minutes.

For me, the music is where it starts and ends - and no, the mystery of why a band's image or sound inexplicably changes doesn't interest me at all. The way I see it, I'll either find out one day, or I won't. In the meantime, if the music's good, I'm happy.

At the end of the day, isn't that what it's all about?

In other news, I've just finished listening to a borrowed copy of E.L.O's "Out of the Blue", which is, let's face it, the perfect incarnation of 70's electronica. what's needed to make this album perfect is to listen to it in this room:

Bloody Telewest...

2006-03-20T07:27:00.000+00:00

Touchy and annoyed perator #1 tells us we've got until Monday to pay the last - and most critical - installment that we forgot to pay last month, and we won't get cut off.

Mystified and apologetic operator #2 tells us that actually we'll be already cut off when we wake up on Monday morning and it'll take up to 72 hours for them to register the payment.

All because we were £20 short on the last bill.

This leads me to a number of conclusions:

1) Telewest are officious cunts.

2) I'll be off the radar until Thursday.

3) Time to crack out the Freeview box again.

Play nice, See ya later...

In the air...

2006-03-19T10:41:00.000+00:00

Following Stef's suggestion, I'm now taking a slight diversion on my journey through Pink Floyd's back catalogue, with a live show from Sapporo, Japan 1972 and a show from Paris, 1989. I reckon I know what they're going to sound like, but I'm open to be pleasantly surprised.

I might even line up the DVD on my Blockbuster list.

In the meantime, I've decided on a new music marathon to embark on: a group whose lineup and style have changed over the last thirty years, but who have been persistently in the top echelon. A group whose music forms the backdrop to many lives, but which inspires more indifference and derision than love.

Peter Gabriel, Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks, Phil Collins. The Genesisathon will begin shortly...

Momentary lapse of interest...

2006-03-18T15:46:00.000+00:00

The Floydathon wends its weary way to 1987, and A Momentary Lapse of Reason.

This is a return to Floyd's stadium oriented content, with the echo already there. Sweeping guitar interludes and occasional bursts of vocals bring "Wish you were here" to mind. I can well imagine people saying it's Floyd's return to their roots. As a new listener, I wouldn't know, but this is so reminiscent of WYWH that I could easily play them back-to-back and not see the join.

This isn't altogether a bad thing, and I can now see how Floyd get their reputation for performing mindblowing gigs, but does that transfer well into a format that's accessible to the new listener? Does it grab the guy who isn't cranking up his record deck and minutely adjusting his quadrophonic speakers? Can someone who's just stuck this on his walkman to listen to on a crowded bus get as much as the audio geek out of this album?

No. WYWH and Lapse are in danger of alienating the casual listener. Like Judge Dredd the movie, it's one for the die-hards.

Not that I didn't like it, it was OK, but I haven't found a new favourite - not by a long stretch.

Next on my chronological slog through Floyd's back catalogue is Division Bell, which I'm not looking forward to.

Only 42% corrupt..?!

2006-03-15T17:07:00.000+00:00

Dilettante
You scored 41% Experience, 65% Adventurousness, 66% Kinkyness, and 42% Corrupt!

You have definitly found your way to pleasure. You know what you like and continue to do it. Do not hesitate to continue to push your limits. Do not get stuck only doing what is comfortable. Sometimes we learn the most about ourselves when we push ourselves harder and further on the journey to self discovery.

Please remember to rank my test. Thank You

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 88% on Experience
You scored higher than 78% on Adventurousness
You scored higher than 76% on Kinkyness
You scored higher than 89% on Corruption

Link: The Sexual Experimentation Test written by LadyLilithDreams on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Take a chance with a couple of kooks...

2006-03-14T11:29:00.000+00:00

The Floydathon gathers pace with The Final Cut.

Well now. Something has happened here that I never thought would. I actually quite like this album.

I know, knock me down with a feather.

Morose, yes. Unrelentingly whiney, yes. But you see, I've never heard an album that sums up my feelings on the real cost of both World War 2 and the Thatcher years better than The Final Cut.

Everything's there, the powerlessness, the horror of seeing the whole country fucked over by the government, the aching frustration...

"Oh Maggie, what have we done..."

I can see why people don't like this album - it's not really the Floyd that's gone before (apart from The Wall, and that doesn't count). This is the stark, bleak work of angry people. They're saying things that people don't want to hear. We don't want to know that the War killed our friends infront of our eyes, we don't want to be reminded the depths of depression we were all feeling in 1983.

The 80's these days means mis-matched clothes, boots over jeans, retro heaven. Forget that the evening news had a section every night on how many factories had closed, how many people had lost their jobs that day. Forget that everything that was built up over the previous 150 years was stripped and sold for vast profit in the space of four years. forget that they tried to tax us for simply being alive...

I've been watching "Our Friends In The North" on DVD for the first time since....oh, god knows when, and it's fascinating to watch all of these threads coming together, cohering into a solid mass of excellent drama - and then to listen to Final Cut - well, it brings the whole feeling of the times back to me.

By the way, I can also heartily recommend listening to this album back-to-back with Bowie's Hunky Dory, which I've just discovered is a thoroughly teriffic album.

Luvvie grub...

2006-03-13T17:01:00.000+00:00

Geilgud Shrimp Remoulade, Vivien Leigh's Brandy Snaps, Dickie Dahling's Chicken Risotto...

All courtesy of the recently rediscovered Theatre Recipe Book, a copy of which I'd quite like to own.

Not what you'd expect...?

2006-03-13T12:32:00.000+00:00

Madison Young is one of my favourite fetish models, whose Livejournal I found some time ago.

It's fascinating to be constantly reminded that these girls you're used to seeing poured into latex outfits and covered in ropes also have regular lives - a bit like getting your head around the idea that A-list celebs shop at tesco's just like we mere mortals do.

Anyway, through the links on her LJ I discovered a new site from the Blog of Ms Marina who describes herself as "Resident Headmistress of Purgatory at Bar Sinister, fetish model, artist, singer, ex-professional gypsy, masseuse, world traveler, potential nymphomanic."

What kind of site could this woman have linked to on her Live Journal?

Well, here it is, freaky, slightly OTT, but reassuringly totally work safe!

When will they ever learn...

2006-03-13T11:01:00.000+00:00

Ian Blair's in trouble again, this time for recording phone conversations.

Why is he still there?