Still little time or will to blog, but there's a new update over at Dad's place.

As this thing grows, I'm going to have to figure out how to do chapter headings, so the updates are easier to point to. At the moment it's all just one great long post with new bits tacked on at the end each time. I'd like to be able to add each new chunk as a seperate chapter, with a little navbar somewhere in the left margin - but not have it do the reverse default chronological thing that Blogger wants to do. If anyone knows how I can tweak this easily, I'd be very grateful for the help.

I've also had requests for a guest book/commenting feature, which I'll try to hook in once I get the chance.

Finally, I've got some family photos to add to the project too at some point. All this, and more, to come - what started as a late night discussion over the 4th or 5th bottle of wine has taken on a life of its own and looks like it could grow into quite the family archive...

Meanwhile, I'm also overdue a quick pointer to the latest blogeny to be spawned by this place - my cousin Adam Maguire, back home in Dublin, has started blogging over here. Excellent stuff. Adam's way too freaking smart to be only 19. Where the heck did all these brilliant cousins come from all of a sudden? I remember them when they were still curled up in their bunk beds reading the bloody Rupert Annual - now they're bright, entertaining bloggers. I must be getting old...

...normal service will be resumed...um...soonish...

Lots of blog catch up to do - both reading and writing. 

Just getting back into the swing of it after a wonderful week of birthday treats layered on top of more birthday treats. Fantastic dinner the night of my birthday at home, then Sausage whisked me away on a secret trip to the phenomenal Langdon Hall - two days of sheer hedonism.  Got back to town last Friday afternoon, just in time to head out again for a great night surrounded by fine friends, swimming in rivers of Guinness.

Tons to write, no time to do it. 

Just popping in to post Charlie's latest story - cross-posted below, and at his own blog.

This was presented to me in the stack of birthday presents last Monday - beautifully framed for hanging on my office wall. (Yes - that's my reflection you can see in the glass of the picture frame.  Was tempted to retake the shot, but what the heck...)

Thanks Charlie, I love you.  And thanks everyone for the best birthday ever.

Fantastic day, wonderful night. Lots to blog, but too tired and ill to write much.

But what a thing it is to have a loving wife who reads your blog, heeds your hints, and indulges your geek cravings.

I got an iPod!

Thanks Sausage.  Love you.

...at least I won't be doing any singing. 

This is not quite the "Happy Birthday to Me" post I was going to write, but then I'm feeling every single minute of my 40 years this morning. 

Just coming off the tail end of strep throat and I've managed to pick up some other random nasty throat bug.  I've completely lost my voice. Fantastic bloody timing.

I'm hoping it will be better in time for some appropriate noisiness this Friday.  For those who might be interested, here's the invitation that went out to friends and colleagues last week:

40 is no big deal.

So my Mum noticed last night that I'm going grey. I pointed out that I've been greying slowly since I was 20. It's no big deal.

And that's the way I'm looking at 40 too. Um... I think.

The fact that I've been listening to a lot of The Cure, Gang of Four, XTC -- and that I've had my hair hacked back to pretty much the exact same spiky haircut I had in '77 (when I was first getting into The Cure, Gang of Four, etc.) -- has really absolutely nothing to do with a sudden wish to recapture my youth. Nothing. Nope. No way...

One thing I can say for sure about 40, though -- it's a bloody good excuse for a few cold beverages amongst friends.

Last year's informal gathering at Dora Keogh's was such a hoot, we've decided (with traditional short notice) to do it all again this year (but sans kilted musos this time).

So. Not a party: a gathering. A hooley, if you will.

• The where: the Snug in Dora Keogh's -- 141 Danforth Avenue, Toronto. Around Danforth and Broadview.
• The when: Friday, April 9^th, 2004 @ 7:30ish until falling-down time (Isn't Canada terribly bloody civilized, btw? Pubs back home are all shut on Good Friday.)
• The what: No presents -- merely your presence.
• The why: You're speed reading this, aren't you? Go back to the top and start again.
• The how: http://tinyurl.com/2r2ke
• The who: Sausage, meself, Mum & Dad, the usual suspects, your fine self.
• The Who: Quadrophenia

Be there, or be not...there is no try.

Requests for clarification may be submitted in advance on the back of a $20 bill.

Aye thenk ewe,

/m

P.S. An RSVP would be nice, if you're so inclined. Or just show up -- that'd be nice too.

P.P.S. Yes -- I know some of you on the list don't actually live in Toronto any more, and a couple of you have already said you can't make it; but maybe you'll just happen to find yourself in the area anyway and at a loose end. And it's always nice to get invited, don't you think?

P.P.P.S. Er...there was something else... it'll come to me in a minute...

P.P.P.P.S. Oh yes --

P.P.P.P.P.S. You must be of legal chortling age to attend.

So, as that second postscript says - if you do happen to be in Toronto and reading this (and at a loose end this Friday), feel free to drop in.

Meanwhile, in the not so good news department, I'm distressed to learn that my good blog-friend Dr. Stu Savory has just been "uninstalled" by the software house with which he was consulting.  Their loss, IMHO. 

Stu is a warm, sympatischer (thanks Martin!) gentleman, and a card-carrying genius, as far as I can tell.  He's one of the smartest, most perceptive people I know.  I'm confident he would be a remarkable asset to any organization that hired him.

Maybe Martin's JobBlog will be able to help...

If there's an alternate blog universe somewhere, in which the characters of the 100 Acre Wood are all bloggers - Stu would clearly be Owl. 

For some reason, my birthday cards and greetings from friends very often feature A.A. Milne characters.  For my 30th, my Mom and Dad gave me (amongst other wonderful things) a high quality lithograph of the original pencil sketch for this page:

...and now even Stu, who I've never even met, is wishing me Pooh-inspired birthday greetings.  There's a message in all this.  Not sure quite what it is, but I'm sure it's a good one.

Update: OK, now this is just genuinely odd. 

I swear, I've never gone out of my way to present myself as some kind of Pooh afficionado.  I do love the books, and have greatly enjoyed re-discovering them with my two oldest kids, but now one of my bestest friends has independently picked up on the Milne vibe without even the prompting of this blog post.

The very wonderful Kate Atherley just emailed, saying: "In the words of our hero A.A. Milne, Hipy Pappy Bithuthday..."

That's almost exactly the same as the lovely little birthday message Stu tacked onto the end of this post at his blog.

Odd.  Definitely odd.

"I don't see much sense in that," said Rabbit.
"No," said Pooh humbly, "there isn't.
But there was going to be when I began it. It's
just that something happened to it along the way."

The syndication/summarisation standards debate continues to rage back and forth between RSS/RDF, Atom, et al -- even spilling onto the pages of this morning's Globe, with a column from Jack Kapica.

With so much discussion, debate, dissent, and plain silly-buggery it's reassuring to know that we can always count on Gary Turner to marshal the finest minds and come up with a solution we can all be happy about.

Announcing: BLX 1.0

BLX - A Standard For Our Times

BLX 1.0 is a new XML shema designed to be principally used as a dynamic summarization methodolgy, with full optimization for aggregation services.

Adherence to the BLX 1.0 standard involves a careful and detailed assessment of the intrinsic value of a weblog or weblog posting and determining it as generally being of a 'Bollocks' nature in both its style, content and accuracy.

Excellent. 

As long time readers (or even casual, just stumbled in drunk while surfing for porn readers) will know, this blog has been BLX 1.0 compliant for the last 3+ years.

And proud of it.

Our guarantee to you: Premium Grade BLX in every single post, or your money back.