Pacman Seat

Love this, especially the red one.

Get in someone's head

Not sure who's exactly, and definitely not sure about the sheepskin type interior going on, but for the people out there that need their very own hiding place inside their home, this could be the answer. The link for this is here, but you'll need to click around to find it as they have masking on all the sub pages of the site. And while you're there, you can check out some of the other slightly weird stuff (like Man with Prick sculpture - "The penis of this sculpted a man is completely out of proportion to the rest of his body. While proud of his huge member, the man is unable to move because of its staggering weight." Apparently)

I'm pretty sure none of this stuff is sold at Ikea.

Showers Forecasted

I'm a big believer in the shower we finally got installed in our bathroom (Kohler Rain Tiles, lots of space, lots of water) but this actually looks pretty cool. Technically it can be an almost bath one way, and a full on shower the other.

The Non Camping Post

The Vegetable Garden, originally uploaded by Aaron in Denver.

My initial intent was to post a gorgeous photo of where we camped at the weekend, basking in sunshine, with a beautiful stream flowing next to the tent (or something like that). However, no sunshine, 5 inches of rain and a little sleet and hail meant the stream turned to a river, we sheltered (shivering) in the tent and I never got the camera out. And we left after (just) surviving one night in the elements. It's not often the weather sucks in Colorado, but last weekend wasn't good.

So, instead, I've posted our (or really the wifes) ever growing vegetable garden. If you take a look at this pic, you'll see that the tiny boxes sitting on the table have turned into something a little special. We picked the first cucumber last night, and I can't wait for the tomatoes to be ready - there's something strangely satisfying about picking stuff out of the garden for your tea, even before you realize it saves you dealing with the lines at Safeway.

Table Watch (or Watch Table?)

I used to love my watch that looked just like this back in the 70's. It was way too big for my wrist, but I thought I was the coolest 7 year old in school. If only the batteries didn't crap out every 4 weeks or so.

Now you can have a decent sized table made to look just like that watch. And it even works - press the buttons, and it changes from time to date to some special 8 character message you can plug in. And if you don't like the finish, chrome and gold are available as well. The site doesn't have the price on there, so I'm guessing if you have to ask it's too expensive, but I'm seriously tempted to ask.....

Best Ever Coat Hangers?

Coat hangers have never really been that cool - they get hidden when they're in use, and the fact you can pick up about a million for 20 bucks at Target probably were part of the reason.

But Yuedo have a new design out that changes all this. Obviously the footy ones caught my attention, but the swimming ones on the website also look pretty cool too.

Numeric Keyboard Chairs!?

If you own a big house, or an office that needs some stools, or maybe a school I guess, this might just be a perfectly nerdy way to get some seats in there. Unfortunately, my house is too small, we never need quite this many seats (apart from Heidi's annual birthday party - stay tuned if you're expecting an invite, it's on my list to start getting sorted this week).

I'm not sure if you can actually buy this or not, but if you're really interested, just keep following through this link and you'll get to the source eventually (I think).

Freddy Shepherd, Quote Machine

Always one for a classic quote, Freddy Shepherd, former Chairman of Newcastle United came out with this one today, in response to questions about him buying a stake in (dirty, dirty) Leeds United.

"It's in my blood. You can get rid of the wife or the bank manager, but a Geordie can never get rid of Newcastle"

Gangsta Rap - Geordie Stylie

Not really safe for work so you've been warned, unless you're wearing headphones. Thanks to (big) Neil for the link (ages and ages ago, but just getting to it now - I know I owe you an email or 6...)

Just in case you were wondering

This is actually a chair. I think it's for girls, coz that looks nothing like my arse. And obviously, it's Italian.

Magnetic Table

I guess this is for those people who live in NYC, or London and don't have access to the space saving gadgets available at Ikea.

Personally, apart from the fact that I'm way too clumsy to not pull up the chair and knock everything I'm not using to the floor with my knees, this kinda freaks me out a little. I'm not sure I'd ever feel like the room was tidy with stuff hanging below, and trust me, I'm not what you'd consider tidy.

Oh yeah - here's the link

My Next Trash Can

Or bin, if I'm speaking in real English. Urban Outfitters have the pics/price/details if you want it.

Inflatable Buildings

Now here's a great idea from a UK company - just make sure that you don't lay it over any sharp objects...

Details via DVICE are here

Blow Up Hot Tub

Could this be the answer to the Hot Tub addicted Mr Penn's problems? Throw it in the back of the car, and where ever you are (and provided you can find some water, and I presume electricity) you can blow up your very own hot tub.

Alternatively, you can just use it as a cheap skate way to get one in your back yard. Just avoid the pointy sticks when you're deciding where it's going to go.

Link is here if you want to buy one

Keegan Returns

Bit of a shocker, and just breaking, but Keegan is back in management at Newcastle. BBC has the news here - this will definitely improve the amount of attacking the team does, but will we win anything this time around?

One of his more famous moments at Newcastle was following the away game at Leeds (which I happened to have gone down to, coz those were the days when I actually lived in England), when he got pissed off with what Ferguson was saying and went ballistic on Sky (see the video below for what I'm talking about). That was one of two classic post match listening to Five Live moments on the BBC (both times I was actually with Pete, who now gets to spend all his time on football) - the second being when Cantona karate kicked his way into the crowd when Man U were playing Crystal Palace.

Wiii Races

If you've never played on a Wii, you should really try and have a go - they're a lot of fun....

Back Home

So we survived the flight home with no drama (for a change), and now merrily making my way through the usual list of food (Gregg's pasties today, steak pie yesterday, curry when we got off the plane). Of course, it's raining outside, and despite the weather being about 20 degrees colder in Denver, it feels much worse here, so I've been wrapped up warm since I got off the plane.

It turns out the UK actually has a freedom of information act these days (although I'm sure they've got some pretty good exemptions in there), and so The Times has compiled this list of 59 things we wouldn't know if it wasn't in place. I particularly like the fact that Thatcher was planning to send dolphins to look for the Loch Ness monster....

Cool Kitchen Stuff

The VW Van Toaster

And the cool kettle

Formula One Lawnmower

Gardens are much bigger over here than back home (for comparable size houses and money, obviously) - case in point The Thompsons, who could/should fit a five a side pitch in the back yard. Being English, I think as a nation we're opposed to the whole sit on a lawnmower and drive around on it, but Mr Thompson has had to fend off questions about why he can't sit on his lawnmower (technically I guess he could, but I'm sure it would get warm and maybe a little painful).

Anyway, this could well be the answer. A Formula One inspired lawnmower. Although you still have to follow it round, it looks kinda cool, and I'm sure must go faster than the normal ones. And the JP paint job - brings a tear to my eye, remembering the old Lotus cars from my yoof. No-one would question your machinery when you're pushing this around your back garden.

You never really

wooden dolly northumberland square
Originally uploaded by Carol 112.

know where you come from until you read Wikipedia about your home town....

The guy who invented plasticine lived there!

New Favorite Chair

Called the Solar Chair, I think I like this a lot. No idea how comfortable it actually is, but it would go great in our office (or maybe even at work). Details here, but it looks like it's for sale back home, which doesn't really help me out much....

Jonny Decker Has a MySpace Profile!

OK, unless you lived in Shields as a kid growing up (or I guess later on in your life), this post is completely meaningless, so just stop reading now.

Anyway, I screwed up my back again a couple of weeks ago, which meant I spent the immediate 3 days afterwards flat on my back on the couch or bed. This obviously is great for the first 10 minutes when you realize that's all you've wanted to do for the last few weeks of total hectic life, and then you get bored.

So, I did the MySpace thing coz I hadn't ever created a profile, and despite the awful user interface, me being too old, and realizing that I couldn't write html to save my life, I've been checking it out every couple of days. I somehow ended up traversing a few people from Shields, ended up on the John Spence page, and from there, the classic Jonny Decker page. Like I said, if you didn't grow up in Shields, you should have stopped reading ages ago, but if you didn't, Jonny was local celebrity bloke who hung around bumming tabs off everyone. He had this weird ability to be pretty much everywhere you ever went, never seemed like he caused any bother (not much, anyway, at least by Shields standards - put him in Denver and it might be a bit different), and actually brought a big smile to my face when I realized he had a page. I'm not technically sure if he somehow found a computer, or if someone else has created it in his honour, but I'm glad it's there. Makes me a bit homesick in a way, but guess I'll have to wait until Christmas to get over that one.

Giz a tab man.......