Suicide bombings, continued Al-Qaeda activity, Archduke Ferdinand-style Euro executions,
Come back Clinton, all's forgiven. Oh, except for this pretty perturbing
statistic I just read:
in 1999, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 28,874
Americans were killed with guns. Reflect on that for a moment. That Star Wars
sequel had better be head & shoulders above its laconic predecessor.
Having expanded my newspaper umbrella from the (London) Times to the New York
Times, Washington Post & Grauniad, I have a chance to pit the NYT against
its older sibling. A daft story of pesky pike in Northern California eluding
human attempts to be massacred provides an interesting comparison. Round one:
The Times 1, NYT
0.
5/8/02
Another one bites the dust...
A disposable camera was lost in the thick fog of the Pearl St Housewarming.
No amount of laser light has led to its whereabouts. If anyone's seen it, I
appeal to you to let the public see the beauty of that particular night.
Meanwhile, if you're out there in deepest Philly, Shiv, take a gander at the stats
-- Skankmeister is on the ascendant.
Shiv has outfrostied
frosties itself, in a brilliant display of wry-comments-with-expandable-thumbnail-photies,
focusing on Adam&Simon's party. Worth a visit
(after 5/2). The DJ
set went without hiccup & was critically acclaimed but not exactly
popular. Perhaps it was missing a fog
machine/laser? This weekend should prove that particular experiment.
Recent UK trip documented here, including the worst wedding shot of my (not
inconsiderable) photographic experience. No photos from this morning's comedy experience
This morning JB & I left the house to find a pigeon spinning around on its legs kebab-style, unable to move other than in a circular fashion. JB spotted a puddy cat with feathers in its mouth at the end of the garden and chased it away. The sight of JB in high speed pursuit of this feather-loving feline villain was one that will remain with me for at least the remainder of the day.
Another new player?
Wolf Camera has upped its prices to an extortionate $16 per set of photies+cd,
so if anyone has any ideas for photies lettuce no, or else it's snapfishhereicome.
4/11/02
eJay
Badger me if I'm not finding myself writing a utility for converting a RMP
file to M3U. Did 2 mins of surfing & thought it would be easier to write
one. Anyway, the reason? The Honeybadgerz
project (OK, more an attempt to emulate the Avalanches than the animal
itself) has kicked off in earnest. Get
it yourself.
Some utterly non-descript noncery based
around Kelley & Steph's joint (but distinctly separate) birthday on April 2. A definite
lack of photographic editing. Must get the digital camera fixed for such scenes
("Let's get another angle on my double chin!").
Player du mois? Click ici. Le Pen in
second round? Zut alors!
4/11/02
Under a lobster red sky
Life is swings & roundabouts at the mo'. Job is in the toilet,
but personally things are nae so bad. Just came back from a glorious trip to
Blighty blessed by constant sunshine, family/friends and good chocolate. Last
night I found myself under a typically never-ending Colorado sky playing
footy for Madras. Tonight Spiritualized/BRMC in town & tomorrow off to San
Fran for the w/e.
Well well well, if it isn't our old friend Mr Pearl St Party (more a soiree
than a party in truth) disposable
camera, previously considered lost.
The Oscars were generally pants again this year. Yes, yes, great to see the
racial imbalance addressed etc, but did Halle Berry nearly have to outannoy
Julia Roberts in the overreaction department? Just when you thought things
couldn't get any worse, the scrawny dullard appears herself (in the guise of
giving an award to Denzel Washington) to blubber forth with "Oh God I love
my life". Here's to her career going the way of George Lazenby's...
Quite how we had such a large gathering and only made off with one photy is
something for its organiser to lament. Anyway, for the conclusion of all things
luvvy go ye here.
3/28/02
"Though my body gets tired...
My mind does it no favours at all/And there's so little time/To do something,
something, anything more" [J Pierce]. Words have scarcely been more apt for
the last week (and beyond, perhaps). "Have a real good life".
Another new player with a Scortish surname? Shorely Shome Mishtake, Miss
Funnyfanny?
Last ever Gaylord photies from the hasty exit
party & a trip to check out the snow in Lake Tahoe.
JB & I found ourselves in the misery of a Kmart shopping trip for house
stuff the other day. Just as we were feeling sapped of the very will to live, a
(middle-aged female) angel came from the adjacent aisle declaring that she
was "so happy". After JB inquired if the lady in question was
"high on life, or other external influences" the woman defended her
felicity by exclaiming that "I'm so happy to have all these savings".
Joy is clearly a subjective emotion.
3/1/02
And so it came to pass
Along with noncemanchild Tartley, I failed to organise the DSL in Pearl St. Apparently the phone
company (Qwest) requires 2 weeks until they can find the lever to pull the switch (the house
already having had DSL a few months ago, it must be a particularly tricky
operation). How we managed to move house on the
day of a 10 inch snow blizzard is something the gods of misfortune can only be
smirking about.
Anyway, a thousand grazie, as usual, to Nixta,
who has come to frosties aid in a time of (Tartley-induced) need.
All that romance stuff is done with, now it's
time to get down to business. To wit, the end of Gaylord Central is within a
hair's breath. A final batch of mulled wine will see the old place off. The
question remains as to whether the landlady considers vomit stains to be an
impediment to returning the deposit intact. As of late Feb 28, the site will be
down for a few days while Tartley
figures out the DSL in the new house.
2/8/02
Debt Ahoy!
Some January japes based around Ash'
Bachelor thingy & various related happenings. It's at this point that I have
to reveal that I've decided to join the great society of debtors, in spite of
the obvious
folly of such an idea. The Gaylord
Massive is relocating, expanding as fast as the EU and renaming itself to
the Pearl Street Posse.
2/4/02
February Frugality
Large changes are looming on the frosties horizon. Yet more xmas (or
thereabouts) events. Is that a
new player I see before me?
1/23/02
Christmas Hangovers
Pre / Post-xmas
excitement, xmas
itself and New Year Noncery. I fear it's
the end for the public NYE celebrations. Other than the usual Champs Elysees
crowd-crushing, one of our group got attacked for an expensive camera. After
successfully repelling the potential larcenists the scene turned surreal. Water
pistols were shot through the freezing air in our direction as a general "fous
la camp". The problem was that they contained some sort of WWI liquid acid
weapon, causing temporary blindness, beesting pain & general nausea. C'est
la vie, eh?
1/11/02
Clearing the backlog
No recession in the frosties photo vault. A monster night out for J.Be's
b'day (the big three oh) back in December. Not a spewfest as promised but an
EU-surplus amount of booze was necked as numbers swelled into the forties for
this 12 hour pub crawl along the seedy side of town (E Colfax). I've tried
on several occasions to get a photo of each pub/drink, and this attempt was
every bit as unsuccessful as previous efforts.
1/8/02
Bonne Annee / Alles Gut in Neue Jahr
In spite of lost film (featuring Great Ocean Road footage), everything from Thanksgiving
to Melbn / Sydney and in
between. Something of a frantic last month, Australia & Europe trips,
J.Be's b'day, Christmas in Blighty, moving into Vail house, skiing. Time is
being crunched, the Honeybadger project is being delayed.
12/17/01
Bah! humbug
Life's been a tad blurry of late, but not even I could forget a couple of
Autumnal trips to San Fran, including the birthdays of Alexis
&, but a mere 7 days later, Alex.
Things have been getting pretty ugly in the recently-emigrated friend
department, as an IMHO Rant can attest -- whatever
happened to the xmas spirit?
Just come back from a 10 day sojourn of sun in Sydney & mayhem in Melbourne, where an
entire roll of film, a gem in the frosties.com crown, was lost at sea. Expect an
outpouring of emotion on a Princess Di-like scale. Just as well the court photographer, Percy, managed to
shoot off an extra roll at the nixta departure
party, after I had done the first one.
11/16/01
Something in your eyes
Was so inviting...something in our voices was so inciting. In addition to
Halloween horseplay in SF, Karaoke
clumsiness at Armida's straight after an inaugural salsa lesson. It was a
seemingly perfect karaoke venue, just outside downtown and sketchy enough to
detract 'professional' singers (the looks of Celine Dion, the moves of a koala
and the sound of a strangled cat). We were practically escorted off from such a
serious K place the last time ($300 to the lamest, er, most talented singer).
But even a seedy location couldn't save us from a bewildered crowd, unsure whether to laugh, cry or take to the hills at such stock manoeuvres as writhing
around on the floor uncontrollably, or the old
going-into-the-crowd-for-an-impromptu-lapdance move.
11/06/01
Nick Furness -- setting sail at last
Still recovering from the latest Gaylord party, Nixta
is finally orf this week. This means that nixta.com is down the pan
(specifically, it's speeding through the Autumn night in a van bound for NYC
driven by Vinny & Jimmy) and with it the hosting of my site is finito. This
has forced me back out onto the vagaries of the market. Specifically, I've had
to settle for second best -- that's right, Linux lurks beneath the frosties
sheen. Still, this threatening cloud might actually have the silver lining of a
fully functional GaylordCam once more. Stay tuned. 'Til then, check out this Autumnal
Action.
Ye gads, what's going on with the climate this year? Denver, city of sin
& snow, feels globally warmer than it should (every day is 70F in November,
confusing the aviary population into decamping to Canada for winter). We'll just
have to compensate for the lack of snow.
To: The usual crew
Subject: Bi Celebration
Message: A man of wit, intelligence and discretion.
Not exactly a description to conjure up images of the Nick Furness we know today, but it was a long, long time ago...before a debilitating condition, known as Gds-ArcSystems-Convergent-Schlumberger syndrome, took a hold of him in late 1995. As a final measure to break free from the illness, he has decided to decamp to the little-known northern spa-town of New York, where he is hoping to cure himself with long walks in the clean air & frequent baths in the hot springs.
A quiet family gathering is being held in his honour, Friday Nov 2 commencing at 9pm 1114 S Gaylord St (303 777 8925) located in the salubrious district of Washington Park. By the purest of coincidences the meeting will be combined with an effort to welcome Lindsay Campbell into our humble abode and into our hearts.
If you can find it in your soul to put in an appearance, perhaps a parting medical gift, this world will truly be a better place. Tea and cucumber sandwiches will be provided, and if we're feeling frisky we might crack out the sherry.
My sincerest apologies if you receive this twice, I want to be sure to spread the love.
10/31/01
Nightmare: Groundhog Day
Anyone going to the BBC/CNN/whatevershoddynewsserviceyouuse
-- allow me to introduce the news for the forseeable future:-
"Allied Northern Alliance Anthrax Air Attacks
Pounding High Alert Stronghold Ground Troops". I know, I know, it's all
important. So in the spirit of this unchanging headline, frosties has yet more photies
from the London trip as its own ode to repetition.
10/24/01
October Zest
Just when I thought the photographic diarrhea was over,
it appears to be defying the season and blasting through
autumn. There is still another batch to do. As ever, thanks
to Al & Jane for sponsoring frosties.com for the London weekend. Will be
looking for Al & Flange to commit in Oz come Thanksgiving.
Ooh, looks like there are a couple of new players on
the scene, including a canine character larger than his frame, as well as
a bouncy bird with a long tongue. Shocking.
Fortunes have waxed and waned a tad over the last week.
After a blinder of a trip to Blighty (family/club/pub type activities -- photies
to follow in due course), I came back to feel the force of an
as-yet-to-be-determined illness which exhibits flu-like symptoms. Could it be
the big 'A'?? Anyway, 'til the Blighty ones stream through feast yer eyes on
Elizabeth's birthday.
The fate of Real Madras now hangs in the balance, mere
weeks after the crowning triumph of our league victory. After a series of
what I believe is termed 'disappointing results' (15 consecutive losses), team
captain and all round oirish legend Ray "tatties" O'Connell has thrown
in the towel. In his own words to the team, "you're all sh**, I'm quitting" and the great man feels he cannot muster up the strength to carry
on.
Crowning of another kind occurred within the confines
of my mouth yesterday. Smoke was billowing out from the rubble of my teeth as
the dentist went "crazy with the cheezewiz" in the drilling
department. Note to self: go back in time and cut down on 1.5 litres of coke per
day consumption between ages 15-25. The jumper hiding my mouth now serves a
purpose.
10/10/01
Flying overseas, no time to feel the breeze
There simply can't be a safer time to fly than now. So
in my bid to get enough airmiles to go down to Australia for the wedding of
Captain James "SoftCock" Sanders, I'm off to Blighty for the weekend.
Should anything untoward occur, know ye this -- Labour Day weekend was celebrated in Californian quasi-white trash style on a houseboat.
It's time to whinge about our cleaner. Not content with
being a thieving gypsy (where oh where did my goggles go?), she's moved into
slyly repositioning things like bread into the bathroom and condoms onto the,
erm, bookshelves. Perplexing. And Nick says she's jammed the plates in so
tightly that he cannae get them out.
08/10/01
Emerging from workathon
Been a bit holed up, deep in the salt mines of
SchlumbergerSema for a couple of weeks. Occupational hazard of being a
button-pusher. A few straggly photies from a trip to Carmel/SF and
the awe-inspiring victory of Real Madras at the tail-end of summer.
Is the recession going to affect frosties.com? I fear
so...IMHO Rant to follow...
21/9/01
Dinner Party Malarky
A dinner party to
celebrate the arrival of autumn and empty the wine
stocked in our fridge. Nickles brought the
sound recorder for posterity...there are some mp3s that should offend anyone between the ages
of zero and two hundred. And a piccy or two of an amusing Winter Park biking
misadventure. Spot the new player.
14/9/01
More Birthday Buffoonery
One would have to reach back possibly even further than
1970 to find the DOB for Mr R Younger, aka the Iron Monger, but no further than
the Wash Park Grille to see birthday-type
activities. Cathy also threw a pink slip party (amongst other things) all
over Steph's house, which comically nearly ended in fisticuffs ("I'll take
7, er, 4 of you on!", youknowwhoyouare).
Television -- not sure how
much we use ours, but I have noticed that, upon switching it on a few times
in the last week, the channel always seems to come up in Espanol. Neither Sean
nor JB speak English fluently, let alone a foreign tongue (though Seanie
obviously tries). What is the
allure? I have a flatmate who is content to gawp at the 1880s sexism that is
Latin American / Italian TV (read: 50 year old suited, plump bloke flanked by
birds spilling out of luminous dresses) without understanding a word. Next time,
use the DSL (Direct Sleaze Link).
As Nbci, former webhome, have ditched their lovely
little counter service I was forced onto the vagaries of the open market. We
live in harsh times, where customers have to actually part with (ten)
hard-earned (somewhere) dollars to get a newie.
Anyway, it's all back on, so I know not only your browser type & operating
system (JB, Linux is up to 40 out of twenty seven thousand hits), but also your
shoe size and childhood memories.
26/8/01
Red Rocks Romp
Ron/Mel/Emily visit from
Blighty, as well as the tail end of the trip to SF. What to do with people from England who choose not to visit in ski
season? Dispatched Ron & Mel on an Aspen-Ouray-GrandCanyon-Santa Fe circular
road trip. Denver itself is not exactly replete with touristy things to do
beyond going to sports games, but Red Rocks/Lookout Mtn does make an amusing
afternoon out. Especially when boosted by a "Chariots Of Fire"-style
scampering up the amphitheatre seats race with JB. Rounded off with a Wash Park
picnic.
Plug for friendsreunited
(only for Blighty folk),
with the reservation that they try to fleece you for a fiver to see other
people's email addresses. Workaround: stuff your address in the notes section
& use <> before "." or "@" (or some similarly
cunning scheme).
17/8/01
Looking for America
A never-ending road trip
from Denver to San Francisco, passing through Wyoming, Salt-Lake City, a jolly
big desert, Tahoe & Sacramento. Driving 19 hours straight to Tahoe gave new
meaning to the term "Redbull Hangover" (the jitters accompanied by the
feeling that your mouth has been dissolved by hydrochloric acid). Washed down by
a luxury stay in Lake Tahoe & a boozy party in SF, where Libby was on the
last leg of her world holiday travels.
A far out trip to deepest
Nebraska results in sunburn, spiritual enlightenment and the marriage of
John "Foobar" Fowler to his rather attractive bird, Nickie. My first
land trip east of Denver and I'm not sure if there's enough incentive to make
the sequel. Didn't catch sight of any wigwams, but there is a stench to die for
on the Colorado/Nebraska border. Particularly if you happen to be a cow.
Lexington proved itself amply in the American small town department. We waited
in the square beneath the clock tower but no Libyan terrorists came rushing by
in a VW van.
What's all this, then? Some new players.
Yes, yes, it's in need of a scrubbing but hell, this is a personal website and
is not meant to have been updated since January 1996. And where's the black
border & midi file? More Ouray/weeding
photies are still at the cleaners -- never take your ex-flatmate's film out
of the fridge, only to discover that it's slide film requiring processing to be
done by a 96 year old blind woman in southern Sicily (cheers, Al).
A party to celebrate the departure of Katie was dragged into the mud by some powerful fruit-on-the-outside/firewater-within concoctions made by her erstwhile
flatmate, Lindsay. Inevitably, the police wanted a piece of the action and events were terminated in the wee hours. Still got Nebraskan wedding,
fondue & Californian road trip photies coming out of the wazoo.
Thanks to the efforts of my web presentation tutor Justin
Thomas (mailto:athomejt@hotmail.com), the site is undergoing metamorphosis, shedding its 1980s HTML 1x skin and slipping into something more
slinky, albeit firmly rooted in the last century -- Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Although undoubtedly stylish (and certainly
handy for making sweeping changes), the name seems to conjure up images of sheets billowing down from damsel-holding mediaeval towers. Computer language inventors are compulsive liars. Hypertext doesn't really warp past your eyes, Java doesn't herald from misty mountains in the Andes and XML is certainly not going to get chopped by censors.
19/7/01
Back in the Gutter
Not many people could tell me what it was about, but
celebrations took place on & around July 4.
Either way, the fireworks do not hold a candle to Nov
5 in Blighty
My coworkers, congenial intellects that they are, have
been flexing their, erm, wits and catching me in unreal
positions. And then humiliating
me.
5/10/02
The world goes down the swanny...
