Thought I might as well put some pointless holiday thoughts here while bored. 

The first weekend of my time off work was pretty dull and non-eventful. I just picked up a hire car and layed about doing not very much except playing xbox. 

I left Glasgow this morning having no idea where I was going to stay tonight. I drove to Gretna Green, and sent a tweet requesting someone to come and marry me. That went better than expected, with only one outright rejection. The remainder of the replies were generally acceptable excuses, which was fine for me!


I then drove down the M6 to Tebay services, which has the Westmoreland Farm Shop. When I'm going to Wakefield for work I make sure I stop here, because they are pretty much the only not-utterly-shit services in the country. I half considered camping here, but decided I'd be a posh bugger instead and stay in the hotel, which is where I am writing this.


The food in the restaurant in this hotel is amazing. It isn't just good by the generally poor standards of service station hotels - it is properly good. I'd say in the top 5 meals I've ever had in a restaurant. I'm utterly stuffed at the moment.


Tomorrow, I'm going to Birmingham. 


Bye for now!

Look
This car looks really good outside. I don't think my pictures do it justice really, but I can't be bothered going to take anymore. Good sporty look. Must look great when flying down the M6 (all within the speed limit, of course).

Feel Inside
Comfy enough, though possibly not as comfy as I'd expect from  top of the range model, which apparently the Zetec is. Some of the interior is also a bit plasticky, but I can live with that. Definitely spacious enough.

Sound System
This is very good. Has a very clear sound with lots of options to get the quality of sound you like. Not sure what it is like in the back, but I suspect it will be as good. Also a consistent radio reception all the way.

Drive
The drive is normally very good; smooth and with sufficient power for long motorway driving. However, there are times which it doesn't appear to have the power it normally does, which can be a bit frustrating. This MAY be down to my crappy driving though.

Other
I'm a little surprised that this car doesn't come with more features, considering it's supposed to be a top of the range model. I really noticed not having auto-windscreen wipers (which I'm used to) when it was pissing with rain on and off. Still, these things aren't necessary.
Space wise there are no complaints at all.

Summary
I really like this car, and would be very happy if I got one every time I got a hire car. There is pretty much nothing that REALLY annoyed me, and on the whole, is very good. I doubt I'd buy one, cause 17 grand seems kind of pricey, but a good hire car.

I've not added anything to this for ages. How neglectful of me. I'm not exactly certain what to put now. OK, quick update then:

- I've recently experimented with double fermenting some beer. I'm pretty certain it is going to be lethal. It certainly smells it. I'll have to leave it for a bit.

- I have filled another barrel with some Yorkshire homebrew ale, that smells really good. Roll on next Tuesday!

I just made a Spotify playlist, which you can get here if you have it. If not, get it here first.

I'll finish this now and try and think of something remotely interesting to add next time!

The internet is awash with claims made by religious / non-religious groups making claims for specific people: "Einstein is ours!" "Hitler is yours!". I find this really boring, so I thought I'd list some confirmed completely fictional atheists.

In no particular order:

Gregory House, House
There can't be many better TV characters than House, surely? I haven't seen anything like enough of this show, to my shame. Everytime I see it, I decide I'm going to watch much more, but end up being otherwise distracted. His miserable, Sherlock Holmes style genius is just perfect.

Daniel Plainview, There Will Be Blood
If you've not seen this, and dark, brutal, slow-paced movies appeal to you, then you are really missing out. I'm sure there will be lots of people who wouldn't enjoy this, so don't come moaning to me if you don't like it! This was beaten to the Best Picture Oscar by No Country For Old Men in 2008. There Will Be Blood has religion running right through it (like the oil... geddit?), with the miserable, capitalist, atheist Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) battling against the faith-healing preacher Eli throughout.

Brian Griffin, Family Guy
The smartest dog ever? This one is really quite interesting. Brian only recent "came out" as an atheist on the show. There have been thousands of blog posts about this, stating things like "Is this the first ever endorsement of atheism on TV?" (presumably American TV...).
Seth McFarlane, the creator of the series, is also an atheist:
"I’m an atheist, not to be a dick, but just cause it seems like the most likely scenario."

Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Picard was probably the most philisophical character in this very secular minded series. His talks on what it is to be human with the cyborg Commander Data were always a highlight. (The second video is just included for a laugh, of course...)

Mr Big, Sex and the City
I'll be honest, I've never really watched this show, and on the few times I did, didn't really get it. I'm reliably informed that Mr Big is a very important character, who is also extremely successful and smart. He certainly seems an important character, as all the videos I can find with him in also contain the Horse Faced One.

So there we are! Feel free to rip my selection to shreds, or leave your own suggestions below. If I get enough I might do a part 2. Maybe...

This is pretty unbelieveable. Not the most exciting 4 videos ever, but still jaw dropping!

The BBC News Magazine has published a piece about "the other G20", the area of Glasgow known as Maryhill (and where I live, and have lived for nearly 9 years).

It is worth a read, and an interesting viewpoint of the area. It comes across as a bit depressing I think, which doesn't really tally with my view of the area. On the whole, people usually seem pretty happy with life here. Maybe I'm one of the "middle-class gentrifiers" that the story speaks of, though.

It reports that 29% of the population here is classed as "income deprived" by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), without explaining what this actually means (I tried to find out what it entails, but the reporting functions the Scottish Government use require some decades old Adobe program that doesn't work). The SIMD apparently measures a lot more than simply "income", but the BBC report makes no mention of any of the other measures.

Comments have been added to the story by some readers, all making interesting points, in particular the comments by Rod Fleming, Lynn McCulloch and Jonathan Kennedy.

Here is a recording of a debate on Blasphemy (actually religion in general) between Stephen Fry and Christopher HItchens, from the Guardian Hay Festival in 2005. (78 minutes long, taken from the Guardian website)

Some more (what I think are....) interesting news stories from this week...

The Lancet has responded to the Pope and his ridiculous claims about condoms in Africa. This is an "unprecedentedly virulent" attack by The Lancet, according the the BBC. There is now a Condoms for Pope Benedict XVI Facebook group you can join!

In other Pope news, the Vatican this week showed how in touch with the modern world they are, by discovering that the internet exists. If they are to use the internet as a guide to appointing new Bishops, then there are BOUND to be some interesting upcoming appointments...

The Archbishop of Canterbury has raised concerns that the BBC is neglecting its Christian viewers.
A spokesperson said "The BBC is a public service corporation. It is funded by licence payers and part of the broadcaster's duty is to represent the population. If it ignored Christians and the church it would be negligent."
To ensure consistency, I look forward to the progamming that the BBC should provide for the 390,127 people (0.8% of the population) who declared themselves as "Jedi" in England and Wales, in the last UK census.

Terrifying news from the UN, regarding "defamation of religion" now being declared unacceptable. This was voted for by the "Human Rights Council", who clearly decided that forgetting what "Human Rights" actually means was appropriate on this occasion. This was, of course, proposed by Pakistan, and supported by other such caring Islamic states.

If you've ever heard or used the phrase "Evolution is just a theory"... then read this. Language is important, and words do not always mean the same thing in all situations.

Someone showed me this at work today.... don't want to lose it! Enjoy!

I started my latest brew today; my first cider. This pack is from Finland (a place that seems more amazing every time I learn something new about it). I'm not a fan of that stuff that they sell in Ikea (which I KNOW is Swedish and not Finnish), so I hope it doesn't end up tasting like that.

I've gone for the minimum amount of water, with a medium amount of sugar - meaning it should be about 5% when ready. It needs less sugar than I expected would be needed for cider; I used about 500 grams, and it says the maximum that is needed is 800 grams.

The beer is coming along very well too - quick wee taste earlier was very promising. I'm a little closer to sourcing the heather honey for my mead (I THINK I know where I'll order it from), but still not ordered yet. I have received the yeast enhancer that I am going to use for the mead as well (arrived with the cider).