Blogwatch

Welcome (a bumper selection today)...

Forksplit - Mike's been raving about this site, and with very good reason

The Quiz Blogger - a new site from a quiz fanatic, complete with fiendishly difficult questions

Drawing Moustaches In Magazines - the blog of the fanzine of the same name written and edited by comedienne Josie Long

Oh! - written by a chap called Russ who seems to spend half his time at gigs in and around Birmingham and the other half writing about them

One Eyed Man - written by Scott, a Brit from Brighton currently resident in Melbourne

After The Rat Race - the internet diary of someone who dropped out with a stitch

Eine Kleine Nichtmusik - witterings on everything and nothing, which is just what we like

Photographs Of Newcastle - a self-explanatory site, quite enough to make me feel a bit homesick

Meanwhile...

The most touching yet gently amusing post of the week? Mish saying a tearful goodbye to a dear friend, her cat Big Ron - "He was diagnosed with inoperable tumours back in November and I was told it would be ‘weeks, not months’. Three months and one week later he was still around despite being merely a bag of bones held together by spite ... The vet trapped his finger in the medical box as he was putting everything away. It’s what Big Ron would have wanted".

Elsewhere...

LondonMark is now New York Mark, for obvious reasons.

Robin contemplates that modern phenomenon, the conspiracy theory - "There is an infinite supply of facts in the world and not all of them will fit together neatly on a grand scale. Some people will find that worrying, others will not feel the need to resolve every fact neatly into a whole. The worriers have enough material to select any two events and connect them, while ignoring other events which resist connection. After God, conspiracy is the second most popular forwarding address for incongruous facts".

Jonathan is smitten by Graham Coxon's new LP - "Love Travels At Illegal Speeds is an absolute joy. Each Coxon record has been a progression from the last, but most have been dizzily eclectic and varied - only on 2004's decent Happiness In Magazines did it sound like he was moving towards a level of consistency. But this time round all 13 songs are both tremendously self-contained and perfectly in sequence".

Pete announces his Big Project for 2006, writing a book about the Birmingham Outer Circle bus route - "Maybe it'll get published and I'll be able to retire on the earnings. Maybe I'll just move to onto something else. Whatever happens, it should keep me nice and busy for the next 10 months, and that's the important thing. I've been faffing around too much recently and need some kind of long term thing".

Judging by Clare's post (and those by other attendees), Saturday's blogmeet in Manchester was quite a success, complete with special guest.

Alan had the good fortune to see Nick Cave on his recent tour - "Nick Cave is an enigma, almost impossible to explain, a man who can sing about the darker side of life and make you feel good, who can take a cacophany of noise and turn it into something beautiful. His existence makes the world a much stranger place, and it’s all the better for it".

Paul and Neil give that "four things" meme a go.

Phill's Say No To Sting campaign steps up a gear - "The Say No To Sting campaign dictates that I immediately stop playing the banjo. This will be a wrench, but I'll manage somehow. Though where the ukelele stands with regards to this I don't know".

And finally...

Del recounts how he managed to blow up his toilet - "Argh! I cracked the bowl! I blew up the bloody toilet! It's full of a black evil looking liquid, which is now leaking all over the floor, and burning it away! Holy sweet merciful crap!"

Good to know, isn't it, that even misfortune and disaster have their silver linings - if it hadn't happened, Del, the post wouldn't exist and I wouldn't have spat coffee all over my keyboard.