That meant we missed Urban Scum, a Clockwork/Oi! band that I was interested in. When we got to the Winter Gardens, a little bit wet, I might add, we went straight to the Backstage Bistro for some dinner. In the queue behind us was Phil from the Duel and a friend of his called Sian (I have just amazed myself with my ability to recall names). We chatted for a while and I gave him an honest account of their set from the previous day. Not that I slagged them off, I didn't; I like the Duel.

After that, we went and caught part of Los Fastidios' set. I saw Los Fastidios at Wasted 2006 and I was undecided about them at the time so I wanted to see them again. They did not disappoint. To be honest, they were far, far better than I had remembered them. I would class them as Oi! Enrico is a good singer and they are all good musicians, which, to a classically trained punk like me (I've got Grade 8 piano, you know) is important. They finished with Angelic Upstarts' "Last Night Another Soldier" (click here for the lyrics), a song that spoke to the hearts of everybody there. They are brilliant.

Goldblade were on next. I will probably have to restrain myself here because I could (and probably will eventually) devote a whole blog to this band. Darcy, a former rockabilly, classes them as psychobilly. I class them as effing brilliant. I have mentioned before that I am convinced that John Robb's sweat has magical properties. I wasn't close enough to the stage this time to get showered with it but never mind. They were, as always, absolutely brilliant from the first song, "Fighting in the Dancehall, Fucking in the Street" right through to the end. I spent the first three songs muttering "When are you going to take your shirt off?". When it came off, I had to use all my willpower not to get to the front of the crowd by any means possible (how useful a jet pack would be in such situations). Let's get back to the songs. Well, they included Jukebox Generation, My Name is Psycho, Do you believe in the Power of Rock & Roll ("I believe, Brother John!"), All we need is Rebel Songs, ACDC and many others that I've forgotten now. Needless to say, they were great but I think I've said that already.

We left Goldblade, me starry eyed and breathless and Darcy his usual cool self and went off to the Bizarre Bazaar and caught the end of Nick Cash's acoustic set. I sang along to Emergency and Homicide with gusto, which is good because that's what he wanted the audience to do. After him was a comedian, Ted Chippington. I saw him support Goldblade once and thought he was great. This time, the mic was playing up, the backing tape was too loud and nobody could hear him. He was going down like a lead balloon when we left, which was a real shame because he had had a rapturous reception the last time I'd seen him.

We went back down to the Empress Ballroom and saw 999's set, including for the second time that day, Homicide and Emergency and Nasty Nasty. Great songs. We stayed in the Ballroom and moved up to the front for Anti Nowhere League. They started with "So What". I love that song. I mean it's damn good musically (my friend DB, who is certainly not a punk or skinhead or particularly into this type of music, once saw them with me and was particularly impressed with the virtuosity of Jez) and it speaks to the rebel in me. I've been to Hastings, Brighton and Eastbourne too but I can categorically state that I done none of the other things in the song. Good thing too, probably. After a few songs, it was too rough at the front - I was never really up to rowdy moshpits but I can always use my age as an excuse nowadays - so Darcy and I retired to a calmer area and watched the rest of the set from there. I managed to get a few photos while I was at the front but to be brutally honest, they were crap.

We had something to eat after that. In the queue was another Straps fan (sometimes we seem like a rare breed) who thought he knew me but wasn't sure (sorry, mate, I didn't get your name). I explained our common ground and we commiserated with each other for a minute or two on the Straps' demise.

After that we went to The Olympia to see the Rezillos. I loved the Rezillos and then the Revillos first time round. I remember putting Top of the Pops on the jukebox in the Mocha Cafe in Saffron Walden when I was 15 or 16 and loving it. I had Motorbike Beat (by the Revillos, I think) but it got warped when I left it in sunlight - stupid! I think they started with Flying Saucer Attack, although my memory could be playing tricks with me. They played plenty of other stuff, including (My Baby does) Good Sculptures, 2000AD and Top of the Pops. We left after Top of the Pops (but not before I bought a Rezillos t-shirt) to go and see the Notsensibles.

I only ever knew "I'm in love with Margaret Thatcher" and the other songs on the single, "Concerto No 2", "Little Boxes" and "Garry Bushell's Band of the Week" and I'd forgotten two of them anyway. Darcy and I both had chronic back ache now so we sat down and leant against the wall. I sang along to "Little Boxes" when they played it and, as they neared the end of their set, I got up to take a couple of photos. It was at this point when they decided to launch into "I'm in love with Margaret Thatcher". I took one photo, put my camera away and went mad, right in front of the stage. God, I love that song.

Then we went back to The Olympia to see Stiff Little Fingers. I was tired, my back and feet hurt and I really wasn't up to it anymore. I just wanted to sit down. I can't name any of the songs they played apart from Johnny Was and Suspect Device, my favourite SLF song, and it took them a bloody age to get to it too. I wanted to stay until they played Alternative Ulster but the first song they played in the encore was self-indulgently long and I was far too irritated to stay. We buggered off before they finished it. As far as I am concerned, punk songs should be no more than 3 minutes long. Get back to your roots, Jake!

Other things I remember from Saturday? The Winter Gardens ran out of draught lager and cider. I don't drink the bitter in there - I'm a cask ale girl, myself - and I was reduced to buying bottled beer at a stupid price. The other thing was Darcy talking to a chap at the bar who had a tattoo on his head. Darcy was interested to know if it had hurt. The chap assured him he has tattoos in more painful places. Good man!

When you work for an ambulance service in a control room.

Let me explain. It is the kind of job where people call you for help, often they only way they can feel reassured is when someone tellsvthem help is on the way, but sometimes they need your help before a paramedic even gets to their door.

The diffrence you can make at the end of a phone is vital, you can save a life without even being there.

So it is always painful when you make a mistake that could cost someone their life and you always hope and pray that everything will turn out for the best, partly for the paitent but mostly for selfish reasons and to ease you own concious.

Many people think the job of 999 call taker is easy, just take a name and address and you done. But what most don't realize is that you are the first line of help in someone desperate hour of need and we need to be able to offer advice which can make a difference.

So next time you call 999 remember what we have to do to help you.

I have just had my ultimate nightmare at work!

I work at a local sports club doing a few evenings a week and a couple of full nights where i have to lock the building up etc.

The main part of the shifts been brilliant, we’ve had a good group of staff on, its been busy enough to pass quickly and everythings gone well.

Until it came to locking the building up that is.

Ive done the usual stuff, made sure everythings locked and turned off etc etc. Gone out the front door to lock it and put the shutters down, First thing I noticed is that the outside big floodlights are off, occasionally they trip but its absolutly pitch black outside as its quite far away from the main road and other houses. Thought nothing of it until it came to locking the front door. The lock wouldnt budge in the door. I tried, and the girl I was with tried too. Neither of us could do it. Went back in and tried to ring my manager, she didnt answer so we decided to bite the bullet and ring the People who Are in complete charge of the club.

Went into the office to find thier number and Emma followed me, couldnt get through to them either. As i put the phone down we heard banging outside in the members bar. Its not a place thats got drafts or has anything anything that could bang so they were definatly noises like someone else was in the building. We immeadiatly locked the office door so that if anyone WAS outside they couldn’t get into us.

We rang 999 and literally minutes later the police turned up. They had a good check and said that if anyone was around chances are we frightened them off by me shouting to Emma to lock the door. They checked internally and externally and said that there was no-one around.

It took them about ten minutes of trying to frce the lock to work for them to operate it! Eventually they managed it and agreed with us that it could have been forced back and tampered with. There were just to many coincedences.

Also last monday one of the other girls said that she had had a white transit van driving round and watching her lock up. They drove off eventually but she was frightened and luckily had her boyfriend with her.

Im convinced that someone has been watching the place and planning this.

Im NEVER locking up on my own again, and if somethings not done about it I will be very surprised!

I'm just goig to add that I dont spook easily, Ive worked in some rough pubs etc and dont normally let things like a few noises bother me, but this was completely different. Its now over an hour later and I can still hear the blood pumping in my ears and my hand is still shaking!

This is brilliant, on a number of levels.

Firstly, it reinforces the message that these numbers are for emergency calls only. Secondly, it's amusing. Thirdly, it's a great use of social media to get the message through.

Nice on all counts.

My employer is about to start charging some customers $1 to call us not because we'll make money out of it (far from it) but because we get a hard core of customers who ring to ask questions like: how do I turn up the volume on my phone; how do I change my ring tone; what's the time and so on. These people tie up resources that can't be used for other things, like answering and sorting out problems that really do need a call centre rep's attention.

Glad it's not just us though.

Salmon Sandwiches. Seriously.

Despite how much we hate it, that commercial for the Domino's Gotham City Pizza must work because we wound up buying one.  Was it worth it?

This commercial makes little sense.  Why would the Joker have his thugs attack the car that's delivering the pizza which is going to his hideout anyway?  Also, why would the Joker order a pizza to his hideout under his criminal name?  Furthermore, that girl is giving way too much sass.  The Joker we all know and love, would have her cut up and fed to her pooches.  Overall, this commercial sucks something fierce.   

Instead of having it delivered we went to the local Dominos and picked it up there so we missed out on seeing if it would arrive in busted up car.  The location we went to was filled with promotional material for the pizza including posters in the window and displays on the counter.  Domino's is really pushing these things.  You can either buy the Gotham City Pizza for $9.99 or a special combo for $19.99 which includes the pizza, ten hot wings, and bread.  If you do the math, this combo is only saving you $1.00 in the long run.  That is a huge deal.

The box claims this pizza to be both "cloaked in pepperoni" and "deliciously mysterious".  One of these is true.  The pizza is indeed slathered with pepperoni, to the point where Alex had heartburn afterwards.  Which is hardcore, because Alex has eaten a pound of bacon without getting heartburn before.  As far as being "deliciously mysterious" that is a bold faced lie.  While it may be a little better because of the influx of pepperoni, it's not better to the point where it is "mysterious".  

Would we recommend this pizza to anyone?  If you have a death wish, hate the sight of cheese, or want to bring the box with you when you see The Dark Knight  then buy it.  Otherwise, don't waste your time and money.

Source with Audio of Emergency Call

Police called out to a 999 call about an unexplained object in the night sky solved the mystery straight away for their operator - "it's the Moon, over."

But the emergency call meant the officers were sent out to a house in the valleys area of south Wales.

They were told a "bright stationary object" was spotted above the unnamed caller's home.

A recording of the call has been released as part of a police campaign asking people to use 999 appropriately.

The Control Room conversation, which took place in May, was recorded - and below is a transcript:

Control Room: "South Wales Police, what's your emergency?"

Caller: "It's not really. I just need to inform you that across the mountain there's a bright stationary object."

Control room: "Right."

Caller: "If you've got a couple of minutes perhaps you could find out what it is? It's been there at least half an hour and it's still there."

Control: "It's been there for half an hour. Right. Is it actually on the mountain or in the sky?"

Caller: "It's in the air."

Control: "I will send someone up there now to check it out."

Caller: "OK."

The mystery was soon solved, as the exchange between control and an officer at the scene, makes clear.

Control: "Alpha Zulu 20, this object in the sky, did anyone have a look at it?"

Officer: "Yes, it's the moon. Over."

Control room staff also dealt with a stream of unsuitable calls on the 999 number during an "extremely busy period", said a spokesman.

Another caller rang asking for help when they wanted to vote for Rhydian on the TV programme X-Factor.

'Real emergencies'

Another wanted a pound for their supermarket trolley.

Following the calls, South Wales Police has changed the way it answers the phone.

Instead of saying "South Wales Police, how can I help?", control room staff now say "South Wales Police what is your emergency?"

Since the change, they have reported a 10% drop in 999 calls.

Superintendent Kevin O'Neill said: "There is no doubt in my mind that the public have taken on board the message we sent about making inappropriate 999 calls and thought twice about dialling the number in a non-emergency situation for which we are extremely grateful.

"Thanks to the public we have been able to answer calls, concerning real emergencies, quicker," said Supt O'Neill.

Between January and June 2008, the force answered 86.4% of calls within 10 seconds compared to 76.2% in the same period last year - an improvement of just over 10%.

The change in the greeting is being monitored by Cardiff University researchers Professor Martin Innes of the Universities Police Science Institute and Dr Frances Rock of the Centre for Language and Communication.

Control Room: "South Wales Police, what's your emergency?"

Caller: "It's not really. I just need to inform you that across the mountain there's a bright stationary object."

Control room: "Right."

Caller: "If you've got a couple of minutes perhaps you could find out what it is? It's been there at least half an hour and it's still there."

Control: "It's been there for half an hour. Right. Is it actually on the mountain or in the sky?"

Caller: "It's in the air."

Control: "I will send someone up there now to check it out."

Caller: "OK."

----------------------

Control: "Alpha Zulu 20, this object in the sky, did anyone have a look at it?"

Officer: "Yes, it's the moon. Over."

via BBC News

Control Room: "South Wales Police, what's your emergency?"

Caller: "It's not really. I just need to inform you that across the mountain there's a bright stationary object."

Control room: "Right."

Caller: "If you've got a couple of minutes perhaps you could find out what it is? It's been there at least half an hour and it's still there."

Control: "It's been there for half an hour. Right. Is it actually on the mountain or in the sky?"

Caller: "It's in the air."

Control: "I will send someone up there now to check it out."

Caller: "OK."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Control: "Alpha Zulu 20, this object in the sky, did anyone have a look at it?"

Officer: "Yes, it's the moon. Over."

Lucky they had such a smart officer on the force there.

Sources: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7489457.stm, http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=204958&in_page_id=2

Ehrmann, un héritier de Cheval ?

"Le Palais Idéal", c'est un exemple pour moi. Une véritable passion. Je l'ai découvert enfant. Et depuis, Cheval m'a toujours hanté. Notre "parenté artistique" m'a toujours poursuivie. Nos deux histoires sont singulières. Ce sont deux histoires de vie. Et la plupart du temps, les visiteurs de l'un se rendent ensuite chez l'autre..."

"Ce qui importe c'est la démarche"

Pour thierry Ehrmann, "Cheval a toujours été présent dans la réalisation de la "Demeure". Il a été mon compagnon de jour et de nuit. Il est également peint chez nous à Saint-Romain".

Mécène du concert de CharlÉlie

L'artiste-choc du XXI^e a fait fortune sur le net. Entre businessman et plasticien déjanté, l'homme est également mécène du concert de CharlÉlie. "CharlÉlie est un homme d'une très grande sensibilité qu'on ne rencontre pas chez tout le monde. Quelqu'un de polyvalent..."
Du Palais, le 25 juillet à Hauterives, le public sera enveloppé d'une atmosphère insolite, unique.

Thomas ZIMMERMANN

copyright ©2008 Le Dauphiné Libéré - mardi 22 juillet 2008

Here's the lineup:

Twitterific - Great twitter client, it is as good if not better than the Mac OS X version and is a must have if you are a Twitter user. On that same not you should also check out Twinkle from Tapulous. I personally don't like it nearly as well as Twitterific but it has an opposite but equally viable approach to deliver your tweets. Titterific is either free (with ads) or $9.99 without ads and with an extra theme and it's from The Icon Factory.

Remote - Apple's remote app that allows you to control iTunes on your computer or Apple TV from your iPhone or iPod Touch from across the room using your wifi network in your home. Works just like it should perfectly. Remote is available for free.

Tipulator - a nice simple  tip calculator for $.99. What sets this tip calculator apart from the rest of the many others available on the app store  is this one doesn't  look like scraped ass. Tipulator is from tap tap tap.

Enigmo - first of two games on this list it is a great puzzle game with the objective of getting 40 water droplets into a bucket. It is not as easy as it sounds, there are obsticles you have to surmount to get you droplets from one side of the level to the other. Enigmo is $9.99 by Pangea Software.

Auroa Feint The Beginning - is the second game on this list. It is another puzzle on league with Bejeweled, however it has a backstory, and it is free from Danielle Cassley and Jason Citron.(UPDATE - This app has had some security problems that are boarder line illegal. It has since been pulled from the App store. If you did download this I suggest removing this immediately. Link to the article, Sorry for the inconvenience.)   

Mobile News Network - This is a news app that from The Associated Press that brings all the news from the Associated Press and their subsidiaries. This app works much better than The New York Times news app. It is free from The Associated Press.