DawsonWorld

I’m pretty rubbish when it comes to taking photos.

My method of choice is to snap, snap, snap and hope that something came out that captures what I was after. Most of the time this is not a good method - but every now and then I get something nice.

I’ve had a Canon 350D for a long time - and a Panasonic LX-3 for pocket snaps. My efforts can be seen at: Ocadotony@Flickr.

Despite being continually told not to upgrade to the 7D by one of my best mates, I’ve decided to get one.

Does buying a better camera mean you’ll take better photos? Who knows? But the better car surely helped Jenson Button win the F1 Championship in 2009!

I’ll no doubt be praising the Canon 7D in postings future.

I’m lucky enough to have a TVR Tuscan.

Unlike most TVR owners, I drive mine every day - come rain or shine - and put on a fair number of miles as I go. 10,000 miles since May 2009.

The one thing Tuscans need is regular servicing and finding a good garage is not easy. Word of mouth from other TVR owners tends to be the best approach. Word of mouth lead me to my ‘Servicer of Choice’.

Techniques (near Hitchin) are a great little garage. They are primarily a Morgan specialist but they have also been servicing TVRs for 20 years. They certainly know their stuff.

This is my second service since I have owned the Tuscan and, like last time, the car has come back running like a dream.

I can’t praise these guys enough. They are honest, reasonably priced and very friendly. And for me they are local too !!!

After a fun night in London trying out some ales, today I have a day off work in a vain attempt to get some of the housey chores done that just don’t seem to get done at the weekends !It’s nearly eleven and I haven’t done much - so not a good start. The mission today is to:

• Put up the two kitchen blinds
• Touch up some bits of painting that didn’t quite get finished in the kitchen
• Change the fluroescent tube for a light I bought in a bric-a-brac shop in Lyon, France
• Put up some pictures in the kitchen
• Put up a blind in the utility room
• Wire the outdoor lights
• Sort out the mess of cables around the TV and relocate the SKY+, DVD player etc.
• Split and connect the TV aerial to the office and the bedroom
• Shift a load of CDs onto the new CD shelves and catalogue them in Delicious Library

Not an unreasonable list - but I reckon I won’t get them all done. Let’s see !

Courtesy of a work pal

I keep having my profile on that dating website ‘Match.com’ rejected. 
One of the questions is, ‘What do you want in a woman?’. 
Apparently ‘my dick’ is not an acceptable answer. 
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A suicide bomber runs into a pet shop and yells, ‘you’ve all got 30 seconds to get out!’ 
The tortoise at the back of the shop shouts, ‘you cu*t !’ 
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why are women like clouds? eventually they fu*k off and its a really nice day 
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Whats the difference between light and hard? 
You can sleep with a light on. 
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A man walks into a petrol station and says, ‘can I please have a KitKat Chunky?’ 
The lady behind the till gets him a KitKat Chunky and brings it back to him. 
‘No,’ says the man, ‘I wanted a normal KitKat, you fat bitch.’ 
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My wife, being unhappy with my mood swings, bought me one of these mood rings so she could monitor my mood. 
We discovered that, when I am in a good mood, it turns green and, when I am in a bad mood, it leaves a big fu*king big red mark on her forehead.
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I was at an ATM money machine when an old lady came up and asked me to check her balance. 
So I pushed her over. 
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Zebo, a half blind five year old south african orphan, has to ride 7 miles a day to school with only one leg on a bicycle with buckled wheels and no brakes. Give just small donation of 2 dollars and we’ll send you the video, it’s fu*king hilarious….
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I had a dog named minton who had an unfortunate habit of eating shuttlecocks. 

Bad minton. 

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Two men are in a pub. One says to his mate ‘My mother-in-law is an angel’. 
The reply from his friend…… ’You’re so fu*king lucky… Mine’s still alive…’
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A man goes into a library and asks for a book on suicide.. 
The librarian says; ‘Fu*k off, you won’t bring it back.’ 
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2 Men in a pub and one is riding a Bucking Bronco Machine. He lasts over 10 minutes. 
‘Geeeeez  mate, that was impressive!’ 
‘I get lots of practice’ Replied the other guy. ‘My Wifes an epileptic’

Tony

Having just acquired an HD projector, I was horrified to see the price of a projector screen. They aren’t cheap!

I needed one at least 2 metres wide with a drop of 1.8 metres. This was likely to cost 3 - 400 quid.

A mate of mine cheated rather successfully with a wooden frame and a sheet which he then painted even more white than it already was. I wasn’t really up for this - given the increasing number of outstanding DIY tasks. Besides I didn’t want it to be a permanent fixture.

I plumped instead for a custom-made blind from 247 blinds. The make blinds up to 3 metres wide, any drop !

After doing a bit of research into why projectors are not good with a lot of black, my mate and I pondered on whether a grey screen would do a better job. After all - a projector can project white on anything, so why should the screen be white! With grey - any not so black blacks would certainly look blacker.

Anyway, the blind arrived yesterday and I screwed it to the wall. The results are excellent. I no longer need to totally black out a room to watch a movie. Just closing the curtains is generally enough.

I can thoroughly recommend this solution to anyone. Faced with spending 400 quid on a projector screen, or 55 quid on a custom made blind is a total no brainer for me.

On Sunday I went to see Helen Mead (one of my friends) sing at a private function. The venue was the Cart and Horses pub in Commonwood, just outside Kings Langley. She was performing an acoustic set with her guitar tutor Geoff.

I got there pretty early and had a few pints of Abbott Ale.

The gig started late as the function overran - but when it got going at around 4:30pm it was worth the wait.

Helen and Geoff were very polished and performed numbers by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Kate Nash, Snow Patrol and many more.

Shortly after their first break, the heavens opened and the marquee started to fill up with water. Bar staff and willing helpers tried to evacuate the rain with big brooms but to no avail. The water drifted further and further into the marquee and Helen’s nephew and myself quickly lifted the PA equipment of the floor and onto chairs.

It was one heck of a downpour. It did have the desired effect of getting the heavy drinkers inside and listening to the music. At one point Geoff ad-libbed with ‘Singing in the Rain’, ‘Purple Rain’ and other rain related songs.

Nice one Helen. Great voice and great acoustic versions of many songs. I look forward to seeing you at your next gig.

The Bassingbourn Festival - shortened to Bassfest 2008 takes place every year in the local vicar’s garden.

Mp>This year and, for the third year running I believe, live music has been performed by member of the ‘Swinging Blue Jeans’ and ‘The Zombies’. A couple of the members were in the Kinks for 20 years!

The music included classic tracks like ‘She’s Not There’, ‘Lazy Sunny Afternoon’ and many many more - several 60’s hits written by the artists themselves. We were in very good company indeed.

The festival was a - bring a picnic, and help yourself to the BBQ - affair. It was very good indeed.

Part two of the festival is today - where the live music continues. Sadly I won’t be going. But if it was as entertaining as last night, the locals are in for a treat.

Welcome to Dawsonworld.

Future postings will record things of interest in mine and my family’s life. Most likely it will be dominated with my daughter - now one year old and changing every day.

Expect random rants, awful jokes and unintentional controversy - apparently all these things can be attributed to me on a daily basis.

Also coming soon, keep and eye on applefreak.co.uk (for all things Mac) and spendalot.co.uk (for things that I want to buy, have bought, or think you should buy!).

Keep watching.

Tony