My robot is sick.

I love my robot, but he needs the doctor.

Yep, my Roomba’s right wheel has been sticking, and I’m going to need to perform a transplant. Today iRobot let me know they are sending me his new limb (“Limbcrafters - quality prosthetics in about an hour” – thank you FASS ’92!) and when it arrives I’m going to scrub up and dive in!

But in the meantime my carpet is starting to show signs of needing attention. Gah.



(That, by the way, is my first ever YouTube video!)

I love my Roomba. Personally, I think he got ill because I haven’t named him yet. I dunno, a name just hasn’t popped to mind. L has given me suggestions of course but I don’t feel they’ve captured his personality — although Belvedere came close!

Given the sticky wheel situation, perhaps Dizzy would be a good name...

Influence

“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” - Mark Twain

Okay, I’m not talking about that kind of influence.

During an inebriated discussion at a party this weekend a group of us were listing five albums that influenced us. I took this strictly to mean albums that were different than anything I had heard before and focused the direction of my tastes afterwards. My list, in no particular order, was:

• Bill Bruford - Gradually Going Tornado
• The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta
• The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
• Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine

And I had a fifth one that was pretty pivotal, but of course I can’t remember it now. I've looked over my collection and searched online and nothing’s ringing a bell. Ah well - I’ll add it when I finally remember it!

With sober hindsight, and if we relax the rules a wee bit, I believe my list could easily be expanded to add:

• Frank Zappa - Sheik Yerbouti
• Tom Waits - Raindogs
• Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love
• The (English) Beat - Just Can’t Stop It
• The Fixx - Reach The Beach
• Joe Jackson - Night And Day
• Wall Of Voodoo - Call Of The West (oooh, this might be that elusive number five I mentioned! I was sure I'd know right away but I’m not sure - I’ll look for a corroborative voice on that...)
  
• They Might Be Giants - Flood
• Skinny Puppy - VIVIsectVI
• Peter Murphy - Love Hysteria
• Cocteau Twins - Tiny Dynamine/Echoes In A Shallow Bay
• Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress
• Moby - Play

It’s a long list, but these are all albums that sound like nothing I had heard before (I can’t pretend they’re all completely unique, but we’re talking about my own exposure, not the world’s), and for me they stand the test of time.

And if we expanded it still further, to include albums that were simply soaked up when I was a child (say, by the age of 10), and therefore were the beginning of my own personal musical journey, I would have to include:

• Cat Stevens - Teaser And The Firecat
• Willie Nelson - The Red-Headed Stranger
  
• Bob Dylan - Blood On The Tracks
• Leon Redbone - On The Track
• Rush - Caress Of Steel
  

What about you? What would your influential albums be?

Hey, more words!

So 'nigh' needs to be added to the list of course, as per the comment on my last post (thanks!)

Any more?

- bespoke
- chemist (instead of pharmacist)
- cobbler
- insipid

Words are postage stamps

Words are only postage stamps delivering the object for you to unwrap - George Bernard Shaw

So recently some friends and I were talking about words, and we started listing words we feel have either fallen from use and should be welcomed back, or are just great words that aren't used enough - and I've continued that discussion with other friends. A selection:

- wont (as in "I was walking along the seaside, as is my wont")
- vile
- efficacious
- nonce

More?

The List

Wow, did a tumbleweed just blow past?

*blows off dust*

Okay, you all know you have one. Here's my current Top Five - well, let's make it Ten - no particular order:

• Paul McGann (of course - you all know me)
• Robert Downey Jr. (I don't care how many times he's f*cked up his life, he's adorable)
• Johnny Depp (again, of course)
  
• Viggo Mortensen (but he may be dropping off the list soon)
• Bradley Whitford (especially if he came with the writers too)
• Nathan Fillion (yep)
  
• Daniel Craig (the only Bond who actually looked like he killed people for a living)
• Ben Browder (not initially my type, but Crighton grew on me)
  
• Julian Rhind-Tutt (cute as a puppy)
• Alan Davies (the most realistic on the list, and mostly because he's just sweet)

The Gay List (as in, if I was ever gay, they'd be my type):

• Jennifer Tilly
  
• Drew Barrymore
• Toni Collette
• Renee Zelwiger
  
• Theda Bara (back then of course, not the corpse she is now, what do you take me for?)