Fuel in Withington

Withington is lucky enough to not yet have a starbucks. Until the arrival of big coffee, Fuel is doing pretty well serving up drinks and vegetarian/vegan food. It's been running for donkey's years and it's still busy, so the mix of breakfasts and burritos, coffee, tea and slightly-left-of-centre beers (e.g. Cruzcampo) isn't just to my taste.



Fuel
448 Wilmslow Rd, Withington, M20 4AN
Telephone (0161) 448 9702

Film review - Iron Man

It's a blockbuster style action movie with exciting special effects. That's it. I was entertained for the duration of the film and I award it one rivet out of a possible four. It could have done so much better simply by taking the song "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath and using it at one of many opportunities during the film instead of wasting it over the end credits.

Crown Hotel, Blockley (Cotswolds)

Spent last night in the above. Very comfortable en-suite room including four poster bed which wasn't bad for 60 quid. The comprehensive breakfast was included and they coped well with my requested Full (Vegan) English Breakfast of beans, mushrooms, tomato and fried bread. I award them 35 winks out of a possible forty

Sony

I never buy anything from Sony, primarily because of this. There are other reasons though, such as the rootkit malware which they put on (some of?) their CDs. Or the exploding batteries.

Film Review - Hitman

Sometimes I'm not too discerning about the films I go to see. I've seen some really bad ones, where I didn't just want my money back - I wanted my two hours back. I had a feeling that a film based on a computer game (worse - a computer game I've never played) would score pretty low, and after I spent forty five minutes watching adverts (at minimum wage I should get paid £4.14 for their use of my eyeballs) I was beginning to forebode.

Actually it was okay. There have been some really good films about hitmen e.g. Day of the Jackal, Leon, etcetera. This wasn't as good as those but it was watchable. Enough action to keep one's mind off the holes in the plot. Some funny moments.

There are better films, certainly, but the are a lot worse. I give this film five black brief-cases out of a possible ten.

Daytona all season grips

I've only just got these, will edit next week when I can give a proper opinion on whether they've changed my motorcycling life for the better. I'm happy with the grips, they had some pretty cheap looking stickers round the ends but these came off without leaving any trace. The switch isn't too pretty either, a little box with a three position dial on it which bolts onto the handlebars. Well, what's important is whether I can still feel my fingers after an hour in the cold. Cost me nearly 55 quid (plus fitting) from Hunts on Kingsway.

But to be honest I wouldn't have gone there if I'd got better hearing. I thought they charged £35 per hour for fitting and I wsn't too happy when the bill showed £45 per hour. They thought it was pretty amusing though and had a bit of a chat amongst themselves about who could remember back to the days when they only charged £35 per hour. Since the most expensive of their competitors still charges £35 per hour I'm unlikely to be back there for any mechanical work. At least I got a free coffee, though I should have had about 30 coffees to get my money's worth.

** EDIT **
After a few hundred miles and some very cold mornings I have to say that these have made riding all Winter very possible. On 'full' they are too hot, on 'normal' they aren't warm enough but switching between these two setting is not a big deal and it works okay. Yes, my palms stay hotter than the outside of my hands and on a realy cold day I couldn't ride for hours. But I can certainly do a half hour commute and feel fine. I award these grips four and a quarter fingers out of a possible five

Ning - Thai/Malaysian eatery in Manchester's northern quarter

From outside this place looks pretty inviting. Probably helped a little by the cold, and the less-than-swanky location on Oldham Street. Once inside the decor is sophisticated black and pink, and the staff are friendly and efficient.

The prices were a big factor in tempting us in. They have a deal to get a starter & main with rice/noodles for a tenner at less busy times. And in these circumstances it made sense to stop by before heading over to the Monday quiz at the Cornerhouse.

The vegan spring rolls were cooked perfectly -crispy on the outside and chewy with a delicate spicy flavour on the inside. The spinach/mushroom/tofu stirfry was tasty too but my ovely gf had the nyonya lime curry - and I wished I'd gone for that too. Actualy I'm getting hungry now just thinkng about the food there.

www.ningcatering.com for details and PDF menu

1408 film review

Billed as a scary film this movie uses every trick in the book to
frighten the viewer. Surround sound in the theatre is put to good use
with creepy sounds coming from all around you. Plot is okay, but in
the end you can tell it came from a short story, feels a bit padded
out but believeable. Acting is good, special effects were good. No
obvious flaws and I was entertained, but not a film I'll need to see
again

I award this film: three skulls (out of a possible score of five skulls)

Linux

I'd like to run GNU/Linux on my PC. My reasons are:
a. Cheap in money terms (can be expensive in time terms)
b. I enjoy messing about with computers so time cost not a terrible thing
c. Microsoft have allegedly done some pretty shady things. It would be good to get a non-MS operating system giving them some competition


I want my PC to do the following
1. Let me surf the WWW and send emails (webmail makes both of these the same) * I may want to connect to a WiFi hotspot e.g. at a coffee shop. I have a Centrino laptop
2. Let me create documents & spreadsheets (google docs makes these the same as 1). I need to be able to output the documents in MS Word format, as anyone who has dealt with an IT recruitment agency will appreciate.
3. Let me watch DVDs and media files, even propretary formats like Youtube and Windows media


There may be some problems with using a "hard-core" open source operating system because sometimes manufacturers will only give out closed source drivers. I am happy to use these as being the best choice available, although I would prefer my free operating system to be totally without restrictions.

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Free hard disc partition resizing

Your hard disc can be divided into partitions. Most likely it only has
one partition with everything in it. But what if you want to create a
new partition, or resize the ones that you have? Partition Magic will
let you resize the partitions on your hard disc but it costs about
fifty quid.

"GParted" is a GNU/Linux based tool which can let you alter your hard
disc partitions. Just download the Live CD image and burn it onto a
CD. Then boot off it, and work with the menus.

Five stars

Real Food Daily - vegan café/restaurant

If this place was nearer I'd visit all the time. Everything is vegan, and nearly everything is organic - some things just can't be organic e.g. water.
The nori maki we had as a starter was perfectly made and tasted great. The tacos were outstanding and filling enough even for a greedy person like me. Service was quick and friendly.
They have two locations - santa monica and west hollywood. Details including an up-to-date menu on their website http://www.realfood.com/

Yosemite camping trip

We've been on a trip to Yosemite National Park organised by Incredible Adventures.


This was a three day camping trip (two nights under canvas) in and around Yosemite with it's amazing scenery. The waterfalls weren't exactly gushing in August (they are best seen in Spring when the snow melt volumes are highest) but all that granite sure looks pretty. Most of the vegetation is Pine trees, although Giant Sequoias grow naturally in this area west of the Sierra Nevada mountains and they are as spectacular as you would expect a 3000 year old tree to look.

The valley and surrounding areas are filled with exotic wildlife. We saw chipmunks, coyotes, bears, and other creatures. The bears didn't disturb our sleep at the camp-site, which was a relief, although a big dog in the dark was an acceptable substitute.

We had a blast from start to finish. Our guide Jerry was perfect - gently guiding us where we needed to be, answering our stream of questions, and sorting out the food and shelter situation. Often doing all three at the same time.

In fact, from start to finish the trip was brilliantly run. Everyone we spoke to was friendly and very helpful. It couldn't have been better. Well, headrests on the bus would have made sleeping at little easier. All that fresh air must have tired us out.

Spaulding Hotel on O'Farrell Street in San Francisco

Rooms seems okay and we got a good rate by booking in advance over the
Internet. The room isn't air-conditioned but it's pretty spacious with
windows that let in a breeze. Hey - the sink doesn't have a plug. Well
it's pretty cheap

Chilango's - mexican food in Santa Barbara

Dear reader, if you like mexican food and you find yourself in Santa Barbara - and especially if you're vegan - make your way to Chilango's at 503 State Street and enjoy a delicious Tofu or Tempeh burrito. Quick service, friendly staff, comfy seats. This place isn't lacking anything. It isn't expensive either.

Chilango's
503 State Street
Santa Barbara CA
+1 (805) 897 1161

"Not Fast Food, Fresh Food Faster!"



BTW, it does have people in it, just not anyone in the seats I took the photo of

Comfort Inn, Gaslamp, San Diego

room was pretty small and hot. noise from the aircon units in nearby
rooms was considerable. and not at all cheap at $205 per night incl
taxes. Was amusing when we asked at reception where the stairs were.
("The WHAT?")

Room has a fridge and a microwave though.

Howard Johnson International Airport Hotel (near LAX)

not a bad hotel. the bed was a bit worn in (u-shaped) and the fridge
wasn't on (working?) but the service was good and the adjoining
chinese restaurant had a pretty good breakfast buffet

three stars

Actually two stars - the shuttle bus is free but doesn't run when you need picking up (you need to ring them up to get them to come out) but goes without you when you want to get down to the airport. Pah!

Dragonfly Tea

Naturally Caffeine Free Rooibos Earl Grey



I like these teabags. If Brad Pitt came round I'd offer him a cup, and I bet he'd love it.

motorbike and GPS

If I had three hundred quid burning a hole in my pocket i'd get myself GPS for my lovely steel horse. The garmin zumo 550 is more than £300 and it appears to only run on batteries which is poor. The tomtom rider (v2?) is under three hundred and could charge itself off the tiny battery of my bike

GARMIN ZUMO 500

TOMTOM RIDER

I'm not sure what Paris Hilton would make of these, didn't she have some kind of BlueTooth-related mishap a while back? She probably travels in a limo anyway and wouldn't have any need for either device