Julian Cope - The Followers of (S)aint Julian *cough*

The Fall - The Wonderful & Frightening World Of The Fall

John Cale & Terry Riley - Church Of Anthrax

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - No More Shall We Part

Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band - Mirror Man

The Dropkick Murphys - "The Meanest Of Times"

I could have gone for Gorky's Zygotic Mynnci's "Bywd Time"

But I thought better of it.

Bugger! Bacup has just beaten mr to it by a minute....back to the drawing board

The Yobs - Christmas Album

Frankie Goes To Hollywood - The Power Of Love

and just to reply to myself:

Suicide - "Frankie Teadrop"

Teenage Fan Club -"Songs From Northern Britain"

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - This Is Weeping Song

Never Loved Elvis - The Wonder Stuff (bit of closed loop evolving here!)

The Clash - Guns Of Brixton

If any of you are in Manchester and you fancy a curry you could do a lot worse than here

How did your first contact with John of God go?

Nice timing.

We went there today and it was really pleasant. There was no attempt at at all to induct nor introduce us into any kind of spiritual or religious dogma. Just a really nice light & airy cafe to while away a couple of hours.

Recommended.

Paul,

The Schwalbe Marathons recommended pressure on the side is 100ppsi. Previous tyres have been 60ppsi which I've been able to measure using a car tyre pressure gauge which goes up to 50ppsi. I went up to 50 & then added some more.....

I've now got them up to about 85 ppsi, using a newly acquired bike tyre pressure gauge and they feel like rocks. I'm not actually physically capable of getting them up to 100ppsi.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's commmute.

Colin, everything you say is correct. Currently I ride on Continental Super Sport inflated to 8 bar (plus an extra push to allow for the air that comes out when you remove the thing that attaches to the valve). 8 bar = 116ppsi, my cycle shop says it should be 7 bar (just over 100ppsi). Quality tyres, correctly inflated, with a puncture strip are almost indestructable. I haven't had a p******e for over 7 years - so this morning I'll have several!! Ive also had Schwalbe Marathon, excellent tyre, and Gatorskin, another good one.

Heavens knows how you get to 110ppsi! I've inflated with a metal foot pump designed for a car. I'm physically unable to get the pressure beyond about 85 ppsi. After that the blighter simply refuses to yeild to my 60kg/9.5 stone frame. Maybe I should try some more with a bucket of water in each hand!

The tyres are rock hard though. Just for information - my car tyres are at 30ppsi. The bike tyres should be at 100ppsi. A bit scary.

One of you lot could have warned me that "A Game Of Thrones" needs a bloody wheelbarrow to get it home. 800 pages.....

Due to circumstances outside my control (otherise known as a slightly obsessive 85 year old mother) I will soon be taken

here

I will report back in due course and mention any Germans or Mormons or lycra-cladded slender ladies who try to induct me into the way of whatever. Wish me luck. I'm going in there fairly soon

Too blooming right on that one AS. I heard her a Radio 6 whilst I was pottering around the kitchen. The lobster thermidor could just go on hold as I listened. She is brilliant.

Back up to the top then..... at least for a while

Andy Kershaw's autobiography "No Off Switch"

You may remember him from having been on Radio 1 & Radio 2 & (indeed) Radio 3 and being banged up a few years ago for violating a "stay away from your wife" court order on the Isle Of Man.

It's a thoroughly entertaining read, if not only for his complete enthusiasm for music & travel, but for his complete enthusiasm for life in general.

He's from Rochdale, so it's OK, he's a Lancastrian.

If anyone can get to Chorlton in Manchester for a social ride on a Sunday then I'd recommend

Chorlton Wanders

Usually a good day out.

this is not really a reply to the previous comments. but it's a comment.

I've got a weekly habit of turning the bike over and flicking out all the crud that has accumulated on the tyres. The weekend just gone I decided that my tyres were just getting to old and knackered. I bought a pair of Schwalbe marathon tyres at £50.

They are suppossed to be pretty much puncture-proof. I'd consider it money well spent if it's correct.

(1)Has anyone got an opinion on Schwalge's claim that their tyres are 5/6 rated puncture proof?

I've also got a puncture prevention strip between the inner of the tyre & the inner tube.

(2) I also got a thinner diameter tyre (from 1.75 to 1.5) and this seems to be working for my daily commute, which is on Mancunian Roads and seems to be making cycling a bit easier. Am I imagining this?

(3) Finally. The Schwalbe tyres recommend a pressure of between 70 & 100 pound per square inch. Is there anywhere where I can but a tyre pesssure gauge that can measure up to 100 ppsi?

I recollect Paul inflating his to 110 ppsi and thinking "How the heck does he do that?"

Happy cycling everyone

(when I used the word "heck" you know what I meant to say....)

"Game Of Thrones" added to my reservations at the library. I don't think you've let me down yet Cheeky Sidders.

Speaking of brainwashing. It was revealed on the news this morning that the AVERAGE family throws in excess of £700 worth of edible food into the dustbin (and obviously destined for land fill sites) every single year!

It's just people with too much money being suckered into excessive purchasing of cheap food and then just binning it when they read the use-by date. You're right to suggest that the major retailers may well have a hand in this as they just want the public to buy as much as they can. The Retailers have no interest in whether or not the public eat it. I'm of an age when wasting food is offensive. My parents were of an age when it almost was an offence to throw away edible food. I have taken on their frugality. No doubt you have a similar attitude.

The bottled water "sell-by" date depends on if it's in plastic, which decays over time and releases something into the water thus rendering it a bit risky. "Sell-by" salt does appear a joke, but it may be the packaging contaminating the salt.

Just think if we all saved that £700 there'd be no need for the public sector to whinge about their pensions would there?

They could do like the rest of us and simply man up and provide for themselves in later life. Who knows some might even gain some self respect too.

You were doing so well until that comment,which defies all logical analysis.

But it's great that we agree on something.

Cheers mate

Ossie, Thenodrog

You may be interested in a book “Mindless Eating” by Brian Wansink. It's all about how the food industry brain-washes us all, not just children, into buying their products and going back to them again and again. McDonalds has it all wrapped up with its "Happy Meal" brand and Ronald McDonald (who, quite frankly I find disturbing,) but children don't.

The food industry is a multi billion pound industry and it suits its profits to have the lot of us to consume salty, fatty & sugar-laden. Brian Wansink makes the point that only 3,000 years ago we were just hunter-gatherers. For the previous 300,000 years we were just hard-wired to grab our calories and nourishment where ever we could. A couple of hundred years of "civilisation" has not yet overturned that primative urge in many people. We are still, deep down, up for the next calorie hit.

So the food manufacturers play on this, just watch the next advert for a food or a supermarket advert that appeals to either children or their parents.

If you want to get kids off commercial burgers then just mention that the product may well include (& I'm being delicate here to protect the site owners) cows anus; lower intestine where faeces are gathered; a cow's udders; or a bull's penis.

I hope this is useful

Addition

Sorry, If anyone doesn't know I'm a vegearian and have been for a long time