It's been too long...

So maybe I have a few things to share.

Earlier this month I went to the Stevenage Christmas Lights Switch-on event. I went last year pretty much by accident but enjoyed it so much that this year I got there early so I could be right at the front. It was headlined by F.Y.D. from The X Factor and also featured Daniel Boys who is starring in the pantomime in Stevenage this year, and is known for Any Dream Will Do. I took lots of pictures and videos. Pictures are on my Flickr, videos aren't on YouTube yet but I will put them there, I promise! At the end, F.Y.D. came down and shook everyone's hand. It was lovely to meet them. They're gorgeous in the flesh!



I've posted about how much I hate clothes shopping. Often, I see things I quite like, try them on and hate them, then get all depressed and give up. But usually I can't find anything nice at all. Yesterday I went to the new Blue Inc shop in Stevenage. It's moved into a bigger shop, and I was really impressed. I got a new pair of jeans which I really love. Then in Tesco I saw a pair of trainers I really liked, so I bought them today. I always feel like I have absolutely no style, so I'm really pleased. And with the top I bought in Topman a few weeks ago, I'm looking quite good. Plus I'm really pleased with the style of my hair lately. When I can get it do it! I also bought a part of red aussieBum Wonderjok Pro briefs! They're very comfortable and they work wonders! But I have no reason to wear them just yet. And I look nothing like the model.

I think I've given up going on walks for the rest of the year now. It's just too dark, so I've been cycling a lot. Which is what I was mostly doing in the summer too. Just the start of the autumn was about going for walks. I've missed a lot of things. I do miss visiting the woods and the countryside. Next year I'll have to make sure I get a mix of both. My main aim is to lose weight, but I also want to discover new places and find species of flower and fungi that I haven't seen before. But cycling is good. I got a new cyclocomputer, which tells me how far I've been, my average speed and my maximum speed. The fastest part of Stevenage is on Six Hills Way, near to Fairlands Valley Park! There was snow on the ground today but that won't stop me!

Pretty fed up of being single. Just realised I've been single for nearly seven years. Joined a dating site recently. It's actually a free one so I can read messages. And I've had quite a lot. It's weird though. I can't see me meeting anyone. When the opening message says "hi gorgeous" it really puts me off as well. But I'm just letting people come to me at the moment. I don't know what the best opening message is, but I'm repling to most messages I receive.

Can't think what else I wanted to share, so that'll do for now.

Grafham Water

Grafham Water
Originally uploaded by anemoneprojectors

Finally, Sweetie Petie had an amazing adventure with a friend!

Last Sunday, the lovely Lance drove up from Woking to meet me. We planned to drive up to Grafham Water, cycle around it, then come back to Stevenage to get something to eat and catch a movie.

I met Lance at 10.31 (I was a little late) in a local park's car park. A huge hug made me feel relaxed. Then he revealed he lost the back wheel to his bike somewhere on the motorway. It just fell off. I thought this was going to ruin our day. We took a trip to Halfords but they couldn't help. But we remembered that there is cycle hire at Grafham Water, so off we went, with both our bikes on the back of the car.

I'm not sure what time we arrived at Grafham Water. Lance hired a bicycle, which was quite reasonably priced for a whole day's usage (until 6.30pm). We made our way around the lake, travelling in an anti-clockwise direction. The route was reasonably flat, which was nice. Only a few ups and downs, but that's ok. Lots of lovely scenery and wildlife. We had a look at some of the flowers, and I was amazed by the number of dragonflies. One particular flower had three pairs of mating beetles on it, and just seemed like a very popular flower in general.

As we approached Perry on the southern side of the reservoir, we stopped for a quick drink, and then headed off again. We were going to have a little look around the village but there wasn't really anything to see. We took a diversion to have a look at the nearby prison, HMP Littlehey. It was nothing special. We then headed onwards around the circular route. Just before reaching the dam, there was a little ramp that I cycled over. That was a bit fun. Then at the dam, the path goes down away from the road, but lots of people make their way up the hill. We did this to have a look, and then went back down the hill. I noticed my front tyre was a bit soft, so pumped some air into it. But air was coming out, and I noticed that the innertube had cracked just by the valve, meaning I'd have to throw it away as it can't be repaired (it happened once before). Thankfully I had a spare. After changing that, we reached the point where we had started.

Back at the start, Lance treated me to an ice cream and we had a sit down on the grass. We looked at our options for what to do next, but I felt that I hadn't cycled enough, so we decided to go around again. This time we went faster, and made no diversions. About a third of the way around, I decided I'd had enough, but when we got to Perry again it felt rather good. It was more sunny the second time around, and I started to catch the sun on my arms and face. I had my factor 30 with me and I regret not using it.

When we reached the little ramp, I went over it fast and it felt like I had taken off. That was cool! Then at the dam we went along the road instead of on the stony path, as it was nicer and smoother. I'm sure that's what most people do. The second time around took us about an hour (I don't know how long the first time took). Back at the start again, we decided to return the hired cycle and head back to Stevenage.

We arrived at the Leisure Park in Stevenage where we planned to eat and watch a film. We had already decided on Shrek Forever After 3D, and discovered there was one starting at 7pm, which gave us an hour to eat. We chose to eat at Pizza Hut where I had a barbecue deluxe with a garlic bread starter. It was delicious! The film was very good too. It was the first time I had seen a film in 3D, and I was amazed. Actually, it was the adverts before the film started that amazed me the most, as they were actual real people and things rather than animation. A football flew into my face and I shouted! It was that scary. Also, during the film, someone's face was right in my face. So I vowed never to watch a horror film in 3D.

After the film, Lance dropped me back at the car park where we first met, and after another huge hug, we went our separate ways. But we are going to meet again and do more cycling, so I am looking forward to that!

Flickr part 2

Moments after posting the last blog, I received a reply!

Hello,

Female breasts, bare/thong bottom, see through topless nudity, pasties, etc.. images/videos need to be marked as "moderate".

Genitalia/pubic hair images need to be marked as "restricted".

Regardless of the artistic intent, "restricted" video content is not allowed on Flickr.

Regards,
-Terrence

Aside from not knowing what "pasties" means, I think it's clear they won't allow my video to be uploaded again. It seems, however, that most of what he said applies to females only. For example, pubic hair on a woman can cover her genitals, but on a man I could crop a photo so his pubic hair was visible but not his penis. Oh well.

WNBR, and Flickr rant

Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 June 2010 were two of the best days ever. Saturday was the World Naked Bike Ride in London and Sunday was the same in Brighton. My fourth London ride and my first Brighton one. I took plenty of photos and a few videos. But I came across problems when uploading them.

Flickr has three safety filter settings. "Safe" is the lowest rating, which is for general photos that wouldn't offend anybody or as they say "Content suitable for a global, public audience." "Moderate" is next, about which they say "If you're not sure whether your content is suitable for a global, public audience but you think that it doesn't need to be restricted per se, this category is for you." Finally, "Restricted" means "content you probably wouldn't show to your mum, and definitely shouldn't be seen by kids." There's no specific guideline as to what that means.

I was aware of the safety filters when I uploaded my photos from the 2009 event. I was totally unsure which setting to use for any of the pictures. After all, there were children at the event, and any unsuspecting member of the public could see all the naked bodies on display. I eventually settled for "Safe" as there was nothing inappropriate about any of the pictures. Then someone must have reported me to Flickr, who set every single photo I had uploaded, reglardless of its content, as "Restricted". I didn't want this, and although they told me how to request a review and have my "Safe" and "Moderate" content visible to those who want to see content at those levels, there was still nothing to say what pictures should be marked with what filter. I eventually managed to find out that "Moderate" includes bare breasts and buttocks, and "Restricted" means anything more than that, i.e. full frontal nudity. And of course sexual content.

Fair enough. No problems with that. Until 2010. I took videos of the event. The difference being that Flickr doesn't allow videos to contain "Restricted" content. I assume this is to stop people uploading pornography. But my video was simply an 8-second clip of a man who chose to run instead of cycle at the World Naked Bike Ride, and as I cycled past him, my camera got sight of his penis flapping around a bit. I uploaded it at "Moderate" as it was clearly harmless, and sure, why wouldn't I show it to my mother? I received an email after a few hours from Flickr HQ:

As per our Community Guidelines, “restricted” video content is not allowed on Flickr . We’ve removed your video.

If you continue to upload videos that contain “restricted” content, we may take further action on your account.

Regards,

Flickr Staff

I wrote them a reply, basically saying that I understood why they deleted it, and that I would follow their rules, but explaining that it was a legitimate protest that was supported by the police, and that treating sexual content and non-sexual nudity as if they were exactly the same was highly unfair, and I accused them of having a Victorian attitude to nudity. This was yesterday morning and I am yet to receive a reply.

I then uploaded the video to YouTube. They soon sent me an automated email.

The following video(s) from your account have been disabled for violating the YouTube Community Guidelines:

World Naked Bike Ride London 2010 - runner - (sweetiepetie)

Your account has received one Community Guidelines warning sanction, which will expire in six months. Additional violations may result in the temporary disabling of your ability to post content to YouTube and/or the termination of your account.

Sincerely,

The YouTube Team

I haven't written back to them. There are, however, other WNBR videos on YouTube, and I could appeal, but I can't be bothered (plus don't know how). I would also like to upload some of my longer videos to YouTube, such as the singer/cellist on Brighton nudist beach, but that contains lots of nudity and I'm not sure YouTube would even allow it if I appealed. I'm rather annoyed and I would like to see some sort of change on both sites. Flickr needs to make a distinction between sexual content and non-sexual nudity. Perhaps make a fourth setting, or allow non-sexual nudity to be "Moderate". YouTube would benefit from similar filters, though I don't think they should allow sexual stuff, there are plently of PornTube-type sites out there.

Anyway, I have since uploaded three further videos to Flickr, none of which contain a single penis. Have a look at my London and Brighton photos. Or have a look at a few of my favourites below!

Shoes

I hate shoes.

And I hate shopping for shoes.

I have a lovely pair of shoes that I have owned for maybe 10 years. They weren't my main pair at first. I had a lovely pair of blue trainers when I bought these brown ones from River Island. The blue ones eventually died and I swapped them for the brown, which became pretty much my only pair. I wasn't a huge fan of the long white laces that came with them, but over time I just started to tuck them into the inside of the shoe. They have served me very well. However, last year they were attacked by a dog who loves to destroy shoes. They were still wearable, and I didn't mind that the laces were broken because it just meant they were shorter. However, they developed holes in the soles that started letting in water. I would come home from a walk with soaking wet socks and black feet. In fact, the hole on the left got so bad that it would tear holes into my brand new socks.

So for the last 4 months I've been on the look out for new shoes to replace them. I want shoes that I can wear down town with jeans, and for (possibly muddy) countryside and woodland walks, but I also want the option of wearing them with shorts in the summer. Last year I bought a pair of those shoes you find in all the men's clothes shops like Burton's and River Island, that I can wear with shorts in general, but they're no good for getting muddy. And for these 4 months, I've put up with sore, wet feet. The final straw came a few days ago when I was in pain because the part of the shoe that tears holes in the socks was trying to tear a hole into my foot. So I stopped in the middle of the woods, took off my shoes, and put the sock from my right foot over the sock on my left foot. This was better, but I had no sock on one foot. I couldn't carry on with socks being destoyed or having to wear two pairs.

So off into town I went to buy some new shoes. I've been looking for 4 months and not really found anything I like. This is why I hate shoes. I did actually manage to find a pair of trainers I really liked. Black ones, 9.99 in Shoe Zone, who claim to be the best value in Stevenage, and I believe them! So I tried them on, and they were totally uncomfortable! The inside was totally the wrong shape for my foot! Should I have bought them anyway in the hope I would have got used to them? I spent a bit of time looking at people's shoes and what they wore with them. White or black trainers were the most popular choices. I didn't see anyone else wearing brown, but in the end I bought the best pair I could find that were affordable and comfortable. Brown. Wore them home; they fit well and are fine to wear, but I don't know if they look right. From my own eyes they don't.

But I can't go back to shoes with holes in!

Oh, I was right

I forgot to mention it. Yeah, I guessed correctly that Stacey killed Archie. I wish I'd bet on it because her odds were like 16/1 and I was so sure I would have bet £100 on it! I was right about the Christmas Day clue, which was that she was looking towards the Vic. Apparently she acted strangely when Roxy handed her the baby Amy but I'm not sure how that's relevant. She was angry, but apparently it wasn't on Christmas day, it was at Archie's funeral when she spat on his grave. That wasn't a clue in the show but a clue from Diederick Santer. The other clue was that she was the first character to appear in the Christmas trailers. There were actually lots of little clues on screen, like Stacey telling her friend Becca that no murders would get in the house, or telling Bradley "it's what you wanted".

Oh and wasn't the live episode good? A few glitches but I think they did great. Scott Maslen (Jack) stumbled over his words, but people do that in real life when they're trying to get something out in a hurry. The other things were barely noticeable. I'm now looking forward to Max and Stacey's two-hander.

Now we have been given a few more teasers - the major one is that something spooky happens in the forest. Lots of people think Lucas is going to re-bury Owen in the forest and come across the coffin Tanya and Sean left there when they buried Max alive. That would be cool. I'm looking forward to it.

Who killed Archie Mitchell?

The storyline that has the nation gripped. EastEnders' Archie Mitchell was murdered on Christmas Day 2009 when the bust of Queen Victoria was pushed off the bar of The Queen Vic and landed on his head. But whodunnit?

In my mind there have only been two suspects: Jack and Stacey. The show's executive producer has given a number of hints. He said there have been three big clues, initially he said "one in the Christmas Day episode, one more recently than Christmas and there's another one that, if I were to tell you where it was, would perhaps give it away too easily" but in a chat with Sharon Marshall, shown on today's This Morning, he said there was one in the Christmas Day episode, one about halfway through the investigation and one "on screen but not in the programme". He also has said that the outcome would be "surprising", "satisfying" and "in retrospect, inevitible", adding that "it makes sense". I also believe he said the killer was angry on Christmas Day. We know that the cast received their scripts for the Live Episode, featuring the reveal, about 10 days ago, that rehearsals for the 10 or so possible endings started about 2 or 3 days ago, and that the person playing the killer will only find out during the live broadcast.

Apparently Sean Slater is the bookies' favourite to be the killer. He might have come to the Vic on Christmas Day to see Amy and overheard Bradley and Archie talking about his sister Stacey and decided to kill Archie for raping Stacey. How does Sean fit in with what we know? Well, that would have made him angry on Christmas Day, but he wasn't mentioned so there's no real clue there. Also, he knows Amy isn't his daughter so why would he try to visit her? Maybe he wanted to see his wife Roxy? He didn't know the Mitchells had been kicked out of the Vic. I don't remember him being mentioned since, so I'm not sure how that fits with the second clue. However, when Diederick Santer was interviewed on This Morning a while ago, he said he was disappointed with Sean's exit. Could that be the third clue? Maybe we could be satisfied with his new exit?

Unfortunately for everyone, it doesn't make sense for it to be Sean, since if Rob Kazinsky had turned up for rehearsals, then everyone in the cast would know it was Sean. If Rob Kazinsky doesn't return and it's just mentioned that it's Sean, that won't be very satisfying, and also the killer won't be there to be told it's them. It has to be someone appearing in the episode, and if Sean was appearing, surely at least one other cast member would know about it? Unless he's going to shock everyone by having a solo scene! But I can't see Rob being sneaked into the set and hidden from everyone until the final scene. Would Santer have lied about the killer finding out during the broadcast?

Anyway, I don't think it's Sean, and I hope it's not Sean. From episode spoilers we know that Bradley Branning is leaving during the live episode, and we've all guessed that he dies in it. He's credited in the following episode on the BBC website, meaning he'll probably appear as a corpse. Larry Lamb, who plays Archie, appeared as a corpse for two episodes after his death and was still credited for those two episodes. Bradley is about to become the prime suspect for the murder because of Stacey's friend Becca Swanson, who it seems is becoming paranoid and knows all about Archie and Stacey, and what Bradley did at Christmas. Bradley may try to escape from Walford to avoid being sent down for the murder, and somehow die in the process. As he is dying, Stacey might tell him that she killed Archie, but then after Bradley dies, the case might close because the murder has been pinned on a dead person. DCI Marsden is also in the following episode, but it seems that's her last appearance.

Let's see how the clues fit in with Stacey. On Christmas Day, Stacey was seen looking towards the Vic before Archie was killed. Didn't she vanish after that? She would have been angry. It would make sense for it to be her, and it would be surprising and satisfying. I don't know what the other clues were. It's almost impossible to guess. If it was Jack then the major clue for me is in the Boxing Day episode where he went off to do something while Roxy and Ronnie stayed with Archie. So that doesn't work. We know Janine, Ian, Peggy and Phil were all heading for the Vic that day. Ian went to steal Archie's laptop, Peggy went for her divorce papers, Janine planned to kill Archie with a letter opener. I don't think it was any of them. Other clues were the blood on Phil's shirt and his lost cufflink. Phil claimed that he found Archie dead before Ronnie did and that's how he got the blood on his shirt. Do we believe him? There's also Ben. He had a perfect motive as Archie manipulated the entire Mitchell family. Could be. Then there's Ryan, who might have done it for Janine, and if it was him he's very clever at covering it up. I don't think so. Maybe it was Shirley. She covered up for Phil and tried to pin it on Janine by lying that she saw her on Christmas Day. I don't think it'll be anyone who is too obvious (i.e. the main suspects: Janine, Ronnie, Peggy, Phil, Ian, Bradley). Then there's the matter of the missing ring. Stolen from the Vic on Christmas Day, Janine was arrested after it was planted in her teapot. Shirley may have tried to pin it on Janine a second time. But I don't think so. Was the killer the person who stole the ring? Janine said that it probably was, and only Roxy, Peggy and Phil were there when she said it. Someone wearing black gloves too it, and lots of characters were seen with black gloves.

Also, Rob Kazinsky is currently filming in America! (Thanks, Kieran, for reminding me!)

This storyline has been so cleverly done that it could be almost anybody. But my first choice is Stacey, second is Jack and third is Ben. If it's Sean, I'll be very disappointed.

Watch the live episode of EastEnders tomorrow night on BBC One at 8pm to find out who it was. What do you think?

How Charles Darwin changed me

Charles Darwin sort of changed my life. Maybe sounds strange, especially as he was alive long before I was, and his theories have existed all my life. But David Attenborough helped. This day last year was the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and a whole bunch of special documentaries about him were shown on TV, including one presented by Attenborough. I think it came at the exact right time in my life. A year earlier and I might not have even watched it. That programme made me realise that all species on the planet are equal, and humans are not superior to anything. I stopped trying to kill little insects that annoyed me. They didn't annoy me anymore.

This lead to me reading several books about various forms of wildlife and I became very interested in the classification of species. I was actually already interested in that when I was about 15, but I realised classification has changed a lot since then. It lead to me taking lots of walks in the woods near where I lived. I would hope to see some insects hiding under things but never really found anything. But those walks got me interested in photography. I bought my first camera about three or four years ago, but I never really used it. But I started taking it with me on my walks. On one walk, I spotted a large birch polypore fungus growing on the side of a silver birch tree. I became fascinated with fungi, photographing what I found. I became a lot more observant and aware of the different species around me, as my interest grew to include all types of plants and animals. I bought my own books about mushrooms, flowers, trees and insects, and I followed the life cycles of various plants throughout the year, seeing them go from flowering to fruiting to dying or losing their leaves in winter. I identified the species I photographed and made a list, which is ever-growing. I stopped my walks over winter but have been on a few this month, but I can't want for spring and summer because it's so cold, and it's not very green yet! Very much looking forward to that.

So basically, a documentary about Charles Darwin gave me a new hobby. And without that I wouldn't have joined Flickr, which lead to me joining Twitter and contributing more to this blog. So, if you're not already, you should all be thankful to Darwin as well.

Happy 201st birthday, Darwin!

If I don't get naked I'll die.

Those were the words I thought to myself this evening as I cycled home from the town centre. I'd bought some lights for my bike and a rather nice high-visibility jacket for cycling home in the dark, and they're all pretty cool for being seen. I've cycled in the dark and worried about people not seeing me, especially as I couldn't see them, and I've been fined for cycling with no lights too. As I cycled through Fairlands Valley in Stevenage at around 4.15pm, I had to take everything off.

You probably know from my previous blog entries or from Twitter that I'm a naturist. Not being able to be naked often is quite frustrating for me. Nudism is always better outdoors than in, I think, so the urge to be naked as I cycled home was not an unusual one.

I had the same feeling about a week or two earlier. The day before, I'd been in Hampson Park after dark hoping that I could cycle a bit through the playing fields with my trousers down and not be seen, but it was scary. I know there's nothing wrong, illegal or indecent about being naked in public, so technically I should be able to just go for it with no worries, but I do worry. I worry that if someone sees me they will think I'm something I'm not. I did get my trousers down for a little while but I had to give up due to worry. So the next day I came home making a major detour (though one that I often make anyway) through the southern part of Fairlands Valley. It was about 6pm, and one of the warmest nights recently. I didn't know what to do though! I couldn't go into the woods because it was far too dark. I once walked woods at night and it was very scary (just fortunate that I knew the path well). So I didn't want to do that again.

For anyone that doesn't know, Fairlands Valley is a large recreational area in the centre of Stevenage, in two parts. The northern half has some lakes for boating and fishing and is home to ducks and geese. There's a park there too which, in the summer, has an aqua park for the kids to enjoy. There's a few wooded areas too. The southern half is pretty much all fields surrounded by woodlands. I knew it would be empty at that time of night as a few nights before I had cycled through there. But I still knew there was a possibility of people passing through, even after dark on a cold night. So I cycled down a path towards some woods where I thought nobody would go. I made my way onto the field, cycling around the outside of the woods. I stopped when I felt safe (about here), and carefully took off certain items of clothing. I cycled a short way with nothing on my bottom half. It was amazing, but it wasn't enough! I've done the World Naked Bike Ride in London three times, and that's fully nude! Yes it's in the summer, and yes it's during the day, but ever since doing it last June I was desperate to do it again! So I got up the courage to take off my jacket and my top, and I cycled for about three minutes wearing nothing but my shoes and socks. When I felt I was getting too close to the road, I stopped and dressed. I was mildly satisfied.

But tonight I was coming home earlier. The woods weren't completely dark yet, so I knew I'd be able to see well enough. So I went into Monks Wood but I only got my trousers down. That was no good! Why did I do that? I made my way to the northern part of the valley, and cycled around as it got darker. I remembered about the woods to the east. These are the woods I used to walk through on the way home from school and the first place I ever attempted naturism at 12 years old. A few weeks ago I'd cycled through them in the day time so I sort of knew the paths. I made my way, on bike, through the woods. The birds went wild and it took them quite a while to settle. I reached a corner where there's an exit to the valley, and knew that nobody would be coming through, and if they did they'd probably have a torch so I'd see them from a distance. I stood around wondering what to do, and eventually decided if I didn't go for it, I'd never be happy. I moved my bike out of the way so if anyone did come through, they wouldn't see it, and then I'd be able to leave it there with my clothes. I stripped from the waist down, leaving my shoes on, and stood looking over the park. Nobody was around. I took a walk through the woods, almost to the other side, until I reached a large oak tree. The street lights let me know how far I was from the footpath, and I considered going further but the woodland path was less straightforward so I figured in the dark I might not find it on the way back. I turned around, and took off my jumper and t-shirt so that I was completely nude.

From there I walked back to my bike, very confident that nobody would see me. The birds were quiet so I would hear anyone walking. I stopped at another exit just to have a look, and then made it to my bike. I stood at the exit and considered walking a certain distance on the grass, but I didn't know how well I'd be able to be seen in the dark, so I put my jumper back on and took a little walk to some chin-up bars that weren't very far away, and held on to the bar for a second, and then walked back. I felt satisfied and very happy with what I'd done, so I got dressed and cycled home.

You might be thinking that I was cold being naked outdoors in November and December. But I wasn't. I don't know if it's due to cycling, or some sort of defence within the genes (maybe how we survived before the invention of clothes), or something to do with adrenalin. Generally on my bike I tend to warm up after a while anyway, though somehow it only seems to happen in the evening and not during the day. During the day in winter I'm just cold. The two nude nights were probably warmer nights than others recently, but even so, you'd expect to be colder in the nude than not. Last Thursday was the Stevenage Christmas Lights Switch-on event, which I attended. I felt colder then, wrapped up in clothes, than I did tonight. In fact I was shivering. Cycling in the field really only felt cold on my chest when I was cycling into the wind, but even then it was just fresh and not really cold. Being naked in the cold so far for me just doesn't feel cold. Tonight I wasn't cold until I started to get dressed again. That's when I felt the need to really wrap up. But walking through the woods naked wasn't cold at all.

So, if you ever see a naked or semi-naked man walking or cycling in Stevenage, don't worry, it's probably me getting a fix, and not some dirty pervert lurking. In fact, why don't you join me? You don't have to be naked, but it might be fun to have some company!

And if you're interested, I videoed some performances from the switch-on event, which are on Flickr and Youtube. The main attraction was Scott Robinson from boy band Five.

Virgin Media sucks

Sucky sucky suck suck sucks!

SUCKS!!!

Hehehe. Well, anyway. As you probably know, I recently moved house into shared accommodation. I brought my Freeview TV with me. When I lived with my mum and her husband, I had the same in my room, using an indoor aerial. I had to perch it on the window and was unable to move it or I'd lose my picture. Even then, I could only watch a handful of the Freeview channels, and sometimes it didn't like any of them. I had to watch ITV and Channel 4 through analogue, and I had to watch some other channels online.

So when I moved I thought I'd have the same, but maybe I'd get a better reception.

I thought wrong.

Every channel is fuzzy, and as for Freeview — I can't get a single channel. So, fed up of missing The Xtra Factor, Family Guy, Misfits and repeats of QI on Dave, I decided to get in touch with Virgin Media and get their TV and broadband installed. Went online and got their best deal for that, and had a nice chat with a woman called Emma, who turned out to be a robot. That was fun. Ordered it for delivery on Thursday 26 November to install it myself. Got a nice email confirming it. I even passed their credit check.

So the next day I got another email, this time saying that there was already a VM customer registered at this address and they can only supply one service per household. THAT SUCKS!

They said they'd look into it, in case the other person had moved out or whatever. I thought 'that's ok, they'll contact him before they do anything'. And the next day, today, I got an email saying all was done and I'd receive the stuff from them on Wednesday 9 December between 7am and 9am. THAT SUCKS!

It was a lot longer than I wanted to wait, and way too early for me. So I decided to phone them up and change the time. It was then that they told me they had almost cut the other customer off and I wouldn't be able to set up an account. I cancelled the order and dispaired at the thought of having five channels and no internet for the rest of the time at this address. THAT SuCKS BIG TIME!!!

I figured I would contact my landlord to see if he'd come across it before. But when I got home, my housemate, Michael, asked if I'd been in touch with Virgin. Turns out they HAD cut him off, WITHOUT WARNING. THAT REALLY SUCKS!

So he phoned them up, fuming! Fortunately, he got it sorted out pretty quickly, and they gave him a discount off his next bill for the mix-up. And we made a deal that he would contact them the next day to see what they could do in terms of getting a second box for me and WIFI so we can share it and we'll just cut the bills in half. So I shall hopefully have internet access at home soon!

That definitely does not suck.