Love Arcade Fire – but they’re the Blue Aeroplanes with singing. Not revolutionary (but still brilliant).

Only one big new thing since Elvis.

Hip Hop/Rap

May as well try this for size…

In my opinion, Funeral was a work of complete genius. Best album of the year, or most years thereabouts. All subsequent output has been a bit disappointing purely because Funeral was good. Go watch them do “Rebellion…Lies” on Jools Holland (available at a YouTube near you). If you can watch that and not be stopped in your tracks…. then you probably don’t like them. Maybe you knew that already?

Sometimes the terrible twos can be frustration about inability to communicate. I’ve seen people teach their kids sign language to get past it – they pick up much quicker than talking and it let’s them tell you what they want you to know. They lean on it and therefore start to talk properly a bit later, but soon catch back up once they’re chattering. If yours isn’t talking yet might be worth a try. And a big +1 for all the naughty step/consistency/follow though with threatened actions stuff. Did that with ours and we have two young but impeccably polite and reasonable kids. They’re actually a joy to be with – feel very lucky. Mind you, in a couple of years time I’ll be sharing a house with two teenage girls, so my time will come…

Pete and the Pirates – United.

Saab. Very decent boot, not bad even with roof down compared to folding hard tops. Back seat useable. Somehow manage to be both classy and classless.

Another Zesty here with RX. Impressed with them, though also have the rattling levers on faster descents. Find that a bit distracting, but once I get enough speed up I find that having to concentrate on not mashing my useless old bones into a tree usually does a good job of taking my mind off it. If you can find some for a good price probably worth a try?

Had a 9-3 estate and loved it. Somehow a bike rack on the roof looked right in a way it doesn’t on a beemer. If you can find one, the twin turbo diesels are quick and very economical. I used to regularly get over 50mpg from mine which had 180hp (manual gearbox).

Sounds great – if a bit long for someone with my level of fitness. Nevertheless, will get out a map and have a look – may give it a go some weekend when there’s not too much family stuff going on…

No one else feeling the love for Raymond Chandler? I must be getting old.

If you want a truly great crime fiction book I’d recommend going back to the greatest – Raymond Chandler. Any of the Philip Marlowe books are worth reading. Just re-read them all, and thoroughly enjoyed them all. Genius – all crime fiction owes him a debt.

Lots of good stuff here. Thanks for some new tips – esp. not squares. Anyway – it’s bedtime for us all, surely, so time for something relaxing. Turn this up, then go on Amazon to buy some new speakers.

Agreed on the Metronomy song. Also got this stuck in my head – looking forward to the new album…

Cessna?

Was wondering if taking off the trusty Mud Xs was a good idea. Seems the time is nigh. Off to the shed…

That Allez was a bargain. Well spotted!

-1. Always had very good service, and shoes always lasted a decent time. They’re usually trashed before they’re grown out of. Recently bought some foy my eldest and very helpful lady sugggested a larger size as “still OK for fit and they’ll last her longer”. As always, some good and some bad. Like Halfords…

Wow – I must ride underprepared as I seem to take very little. I have:
1 spare tube
2 patches
mini pump on frame
water bottle on frame
tyre levers
multi-tool with chain tool
phone and house key
Admittedly not out doing 100 miles each time but unless you are going so far you need to think about nutrition never found I needed any more than that…

You can put me down as another lycra conscientious objector. Road bike has SPDs and I ride it in MTB shoes, MTB helmet and baggies. I have too much consideration for my fellow road users than to subject them to the sight of my puny frame wrapped in a thin layer of slightly shiny stretch covering. Euuhh.

Having said that, always get the silent nod from other bikes when out and about. They’re very broad minded.

Am about to switch to a CX bike to allow mixed surface commute. Will I face similar sartorial challenges? Or does anything go for CX folks?

I have SKS raceblades on mine which do the trick of keeping arse dry. Don’t stop frame/mech getting messy but the aforementioned cruds offer more protection.

I have two kids so bike time is precious and can’t afford not to drive – the ride to and from adds too much time. I went to Woburn today – 20 minutes away by car. I can detour on way home from work via Woburn so try to do a couple of night rides a week, then one longer at the weekend. I used to live in Hertfordshire and could do a nice 12 mile XC loop from my door with almost no road in it at all. I miss that, I must admit…

To all the “do it yourself” vigilantes, I say this: Yes, done the slow way is even better. But we don’t all have time (or at least not always), and being able to have a loaf done overnight is hard to match the old fashioned way. Horses for courses, but a machine can make a pretty decent loaf with very little effort if you’re stuck for time.

For all of you in a hurry with a Panasonic:
250g white
250g wholemeal (try to get decent flour, I’m using Doves Farm a.t.m.)
one tsp yeast
bit of salt
20g oil
25g runny honey
320ml warmish water

Do on rapid cycle, takes 1hr 50 mins and makes a perfectly respectable sandwich loaf if you’re in a hurry. I tend to put one on after breakfast on Saturday and have while still slightly warm at lunchtime. Yummy.

And yes, if I have a lazy day I do sometimes do without the machine. But that is more a relaxing past-time rather than just needing some nice nosh

Have had a few, and ended up with Panasonic. Should have got that first – well worth the money and massively better built and therefore reliable than the others, plus you can get spares. My Kenwood went to landfill for the want of a new bearing – “that one is discontinued so we don’t do repairs…”.

Would politely suggest either get Panasonic or do by hand if you have time. I don’t. Lunchtime sandwiches with bread baked overnight are in another league from shop stuff.

Am now an ex-expat, but when away missed:

Pubs
The BBC
The British countryside
Cheese that tasted of something.

I was in USA…

Is this the start of an STW bake-a-thon? If so, can I request a bread category for us carbaholics?

Can’t at present due to all possible routes involving a stretch of certain death road. However, about to move house and a little time perusing OS maps shows from new place I can do in 14 miles each way with all dodgy roads bypassed by bridleways etc. So – looks like I’ll need to buy a CX bike this summer once I move. Maybe one of those new Boardmans…

Mudguards all winter. I can get back to the car (my current favoured spot is mid way home from work so stop off on the way home) and not get crap all over the seats. Only other way is to undress in the street, and it’s too cold and the lady at number 6 was starting to scare me.

Grace Jones – Pull up to the bumper
Actually any Grace from the Sly & Robbie period – rhythm section genius

I don’t care. And I do. Let me elaborate…

I have no desire or need to “impress” people. I do my own stuff and people can take it or leave it.

However – I do think people need to get along, so I wouldn’t want people to have a problem with anything I do. So I try to be considerate and make sure that doing what I like doesn’t mean at the expense of someone else’s happiness.

Actually that sounded a bit hippy with an added side of knit your own wholemeal sandals. Hope I haven’t offended anyone. What a dilemma…

Ignore the naysayers. Utterly pointless. Totally unnecessary. And magnificent for those reasons alone. As a previous poster has already said, men in sheds and all that made Blighty great. Brings to mind Barnes Wallace and Whittle. Suggest you build in a speaker system that plays the theme from Dambusters that you can activate with full power mode at the start of fast decent…

Usual suspects
Memento

Happy with my Blackburn Mars, but only on the proper mount. Had one tagged onto pack and lost it in the woods. Oops. The Mars 3 isn’t expensive and seems decent to me.

Do it. Bass is a fab instrument. Sounds great and easy to play. A double bass is, however, a whole different kettle of fish. Never managed to get to grips with one of those…
🙁

Yep – just need an Airport Express. Wirelessly stream from iTunes to the Airport thingy, control as you say from iPod touch or similar. Easy, and on top of that peasy. Must dig out my old Airport Express to do the same myself when I’m too lazy to look for CDs…,

First – disclaimer. I am professionally involved with this lot. So…
Not sure what sort of car you’re looking for, but you may want to try looking at Saab Contract Hire. Not only decent rates but can build quickly, so you don’t have the four (or more…) month wait you may find with others. The deals are on http://www.saaboffers.co.uk.

That’s a very small amount of abuse for a fist post from a newb. Must all be having a lie in or something…
🙄

Nice bike b.t.w. Enjoy it. Got my first decent bike last year and the first flush of enthusiasm shows no sign of wearing off. Have fun!

Was lovely last night in woods at Woburn. Even I could get some speed up. Today’s deluge will sort that out. Must have been the wind plus it was mild for a bit. Not long ’till spring…

Never used to bed in pads, but have a fancy schmancy new bike now so thought I’d better make the effort. Rode up to top of a big road hill and then came down accelerating rapidly up to decent speed then stoppping repeatedly all the way down the hill. Decided at the bottom to see if I had got them hot enough by lightly touching the rotors with my fingertips. Bad idea, as it turned out…
😳
On the upside, they don’t squeel. And I shall bed in pads from now on. Will not bother touching them though…

About 8mph around woods at Woburn for me. Bit more if it’s dry, bit less if it’s muddy…

Was plagued with thorns when farmers cut hedgerows in autumn. At least one puncture on every ride. Switched to pre-filled Dr Sludge innertubes (same ideas as slime) and problem went away immediately. Not one puncture with them since. The “gunk” tends to get in the valve and make them a faff to top up pressure from time to time but worth it IMHO. Tempted to try tubeless but sounds a faff and too busy to bother at present – what little time I have for bike stuff needs to be used for riding at present…