Forty-One

Obviously, at this time I have been thinking about my great friend Matt Beck who passed on Thursday 15th Oct. It's heartbreaking. He was one of my best friends. We never had cross words in near 20 years. Long ago, in the bustling aisles of the Army & Navy store on Guildford High Street, our paths first crossed. I would go and visit Matt and Dan in Menwear on the ground floor from my own Toy department on the fourth floor. It was on the way to the canteen, so I passed by often. We would go for a few pints at The Star pub most weeks. We used to reminisce about the great bridge jumping episode on the River Wier. How we bought a canoe for a cigarette. I remember watching a barge crash into the river bank exposing a rat's nest and watching a dozen or so rats fall into the river as their home was expectantly destroyed. I remember the crazy party at their house in Guildford. Someone punched a hole in the bathroom floor (on the first floor) down into the kitchen below where the party raged on. Someone had a massive teenage vomiting session in the bath. I recall drinking frozen beer on a sofa in their garden after the party and the trip to buy cheap Royal Standard Lager from the Happy Shopper on the estate. The train ride up to Epsom college where Peter had his wild night with some girl and earned great respect from the Beck Brothers. And of course there was the Toilet Warrior at Pete's famous party eons ago. Our thoughts are with Dan in particular, who is studying History I am pleased to learn.

When I was back in England last April, I had a great time with Mat and Dan down in Wiltshire. We had a grand walk along a white road on the windswept hills and a huge lunch at Dan's local. Always great times with those guys.

Yes, it's my birthday today. Thanks all for kind words and thoughts.

The move is on, and I went to the house today to do the last bit of painting before the big day. It's in not bad condition, but there is still a lot of work to be done after we move in.

School is okay and I am doing my best to get into it, though I am aware I am not performing to my usual standard. The kids have been great though and are very forgiving.

I would highly recommend a rapidshare account to all and sundry, then log onto rapidfind for the best collection of movies I have ever seen. It is probable the internet connection at the new house will not be as good as in town, so I have been furiously DL everything. Among the jewels, as I am sure you will want to know are; Angelique, The Ruling Class, Repulsion, Evil Roy Slade, all of River Cottage series and more to come in the closing moments of high speed. You could literally spend weeks sifting through the threads of movies. In particular, I recommend the Movie Collections forum. There are some great groups thrown together including sixties movies and WWII, of course. Did you know their is a Stones film called "Sympathy for the Devil"?

Resident Evil 5 has been great fun and I think I am nearing the end. Almost worth a replay, such is the quality of this shooter.

Grace has been developing very nicely. She's smiling at lot more and her focus on us is more direct. She seems to be a month ahead of where she should be. She's definitely a sweetie.