Nice soundtrack!!

Just checked out the trailer for the new Project Gotham Racing game for the Xbox 360. Games looks wicked (see video) but the soundtrack is awesome!! Its a remix of Shadow by the Prodigy. You can download it here (aren't I good to you!!).

Fatboy Slimmin It!!

Little Louis is now 5 weeks old and has been very busy piling on the pounds!! He's managed to suckle himself from a scrawny 7lb 9oz up to a nappy bursting 9lb 13oz!! That's my boy!! He is still an absolute diamond, sleeping well and generally being very content. He has also now started smiling and laughing, especially at his brother and sister.

Both H and Arabella are so sweet around their little brother, Arabella especially is determined to let us know whenever she sees him awake "Mummy, Daddy, baby Louis wakey!!". Adorable!!

Fairy Tiptoe

This is a snap of Bellas new alter-ego - Fairy Tiptoe!!

1 week on

So Little Louis (as he seems to be constantly referred to) is now into his second week of being alive and I must say he's settling into it beautifully. Although he came out crying his head off he has been pretty peaceful since then and is an absolute diamond at night time, hardly making a fuss and not waking anyone up (apart from V who is feeding every couple of hours). Its amazing having a new baby around and I am really proud of Team Barr and the way we have all adjusted to the new man in all our lives. Harrison has been, as Harrison tends to be, an absolute super star, very loving and caring and affectionate towards Louis. Being nearly 6 has given him an advantage and he is coping brilliantly. Bella is a little more difficult to gauge, she loves Louis and wants to hold him and cuddle him but in her less happy moments, in the mornings or if she wakes up in the night, she wants V and I think she slightly resents not getting her mummy to herself, especially during feeding time. On the whole though she is doing well and we are proud of the way she is coping.

Babies are just so adorable, you get stopped in the street so random strangers can have a look and a coo at him! Getting him changed and dressed was a challenge at first, we're used to Bella who can help (when the mood takes her) and who feels a bit more substantial, Louis feels like he might snap!!

It's a BOY!!

Finally, six days late, little baby Louis has made an appearance and what a handsome little fella he is to!! Labour started at 11.30pm on the 12th and after 4 hours of breathing, panting, sweating and pushing (V was quite busy doing something as well) he was born at 3.30am. Home births are definitely the way to go, after the birth, the rest of the messing about and the tidying up you are left alone in your own house, in your own bed and no hospitals. I'd recommend it to anyone.

Louis has had a good first day, after an initial 2 hour continuous cry when he was first born he has settled down and had a quiet day, sleeping a lot and feeding regularly. He's been opening his eyes from time to time but it seems to overwhelm him and makes him cry!! I know how he feels!! He seems to look more like H looked as a new born with perfect little lips and a tiny button nose, he's also got slightly odd ears, they are almost flat against his head and look like a rugby players!!

V and I are both knackered now, we've both been awake now for pretty much 36 hours so we're looking forward to hitting the hay tonight. We just hope that Louis is kind to us and sleeps through until morning.

5 a side goal (for Rob!!)

For those who work for facist dictators here is the best 5-a-side goal ever, again.....

Eat your greens...

Arabella has always loved broccoli, and I mean LOVED broccoli. To the point of nicking it off of other peoples plates and having almost a whole plate of her own. She like the stalks more than the tops so she eats them from the stalk up, usually in one go!! Here's an example of her feelings about broccoli

Where is this baby?

Well it is now three days since the babies due date came and went and still no sign of the little monkey. Its such a horrible state of limbo knowing that it can come at any moment or not for another 10 days. You can't do anything or go anywhere or plan anything because you just don't know whats going to happen and when.

One positive though is that its given us time to (finally) nail down the name situation. Here's what we've settled on:

Boy: Louis Ryan Jake Barr
Girl: Ruby Sky Tallulah Barr

We all like both names and Arabella can say them as well which is a Brucie Bonus!!

Cool paint job

I saw this on one of my lunch time wonders around Shoreditch. Thought it was wicked so I took a snap and now its on the web, you've gotta be impressed with that eh!!

Master Photographer

H has excelled himself this time with a nice still life of his guitar and a self portrait!! Particularly like his accomplices feet appearing in the second one!! I'd love to buy him his own camera, anyone know any good kids ones??

Arrival this week

The due date for the baby is this Friday but I am not sure we'll be meeting the new addition quite that soon. Which is a pity because V is now so big and so uncomfortable its not funny, I feel so sorry for her, it doesn't look like much fun having another person wriggling about inside you, squashing all you internal workings!! But, as ever, being the trooper she is there has been very little moaning or self-pity going on. All she is interested or worried about is the baby and its brother and sister. And that's why she is such a brilliant mum!!

Motorbike Lessons Continued

Lesson #7 - Weather. I've been riding the bike now for a few weeks and experienced a number of different weather conditions. All of which seem to have their own individual problems for your poor bike rider.

Sunshine - Its lovely when the weathers nice but wearing all that gear soon gets very sweaty and smelly. Its fine if you're only nipping down the road, a pair of jeans and a t-shirt feels great, but done up to the eyeballs in boots, trousers, jacket, gloves and helmet is like being in a sauna!!

Rain - Apart from the obvious disadvantage of getting wet there is the added discomfort of not being able to see very much. The visor mists up on the inside and is covered with spray on the outside. You can't raise it up or you'll get soaked and you can't keep it down or you'll be riding in the fog. Not found a good solution for this yet!!

Wind - Ah, lovely wind!! If its not slowing you down in your face its trying to knock you off going right across you. It never seems to be at your back!! On my little bike on the exposed parts of the A13 I get thrown around like a midget in a washing machine!! Its quite scary, especially when there are lorries about!!

I've not had the pleasure of cold weather yet but I am sure it'll be as much of a joy as the others!! And I am trying not to even think about ice and snow!!

Fun day out

Took Harrison to the Science Museum on Friday. I haven't been there for about 15 years, it had changed a lot but was still a brilliant day out with lots to see, do and learn. The emphasis is definitely on interaction with hundreds of touch screens around the place with information, games and demonstrations on them. There are also a number of specific exhibition which you have to pay for but, considering there is no entry fee, is fair enough. We went in to the Spy exhibition, the i-max (dinosaurs 3D) and a Sponge Bob Square Pants simulator. They were all pretty good, especially the Spying and i-max!! I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone with a restless nipper wanting a good day out. The only down side was going in the school holidays, it was pretty busy but well worth queues!!

Wonder Bike v Wonder Pets

Little Arabellas favourite TV show is the Wonder Pets, Linny, Tuck and Ming Ming (guinea pig, terrapin and duckling respectively) save a series of baby animals with the application of a bit of team work. Its lovely, fluffy pre-school kids stuff and its got a catchy theme tune. For some reason she's got it in her head that my bike is called Wonder Bike and she now sings the theme tune swapping Wonder Pets with Wonder Bike. Very sweet, can you spot the difference??

He's been at it again

What I like about these two pictures is that after taking a snap of the whole fridge-freezer he then thought a zoom in on the freezer section was required, genious.....

Bloody football :o(

Its bloody typical isn't it. You sweat through the whole of the closed season with football withdrawal, you find yourself watching almost any football related pap on the telly just for the off chance of seeing a bit of footage, or watching the women's under 19's Asian cup or some such like. The end is in sight, the fixtures are announced, pre-season starts and you can read each result against teams you've never heard of, 4-0, 5-0, 6-0. This is it, this is going to be our year, we've made some storming signings, we've played 7 friendlies, winning them all, scoring 43 goals and conceding none. Then its finally, FINALLY here, the opening day, and even better your team is the first live game on the Saturday midday kick off. You get up early, get everything done so you can sit down and enjoy the opening salvo of a season that will ultimately culminate in silver ware, Wembley, Champions League football and the promise realised after all these empty handed years. And you get beaten by Sunderland, 1-0 in the final minute. Bloody Sunderland.

I hate football sometimes, this is going to be a long season.......

Oh, I almost forgot

I built a cupboard at the weekend. Not a flat pack Ikea jobby but a bespoke, floor to ceiling cupboard with shelves, decorative features all designed by me, on my own with no help!! Not got the doors on yet but thats the next job on the list. I thought I was pretty clever, its a blummin good cupboard too!!

Quiz night let down

After a storming run in The Wharfs Tuesday quiz night last night was a bit of a let down. We'd never finished below 2nd before, usually either winning outright or being joint winners. Last night we flopped to a lowly 3rd with 90 points out of 100. I think its time to shuffle the pack and get some new blood in, the team has had its day!!

On a brighter note we did win "Nicks Naff Raffle". We walked away with a lovely pair of matching 99p shop figurines that will brighten up our mantelpiece a treat. Seen here modelled by the nippers.

My kids are bonkers...

Let the count down begin.....

We are now officially at BabyCon 5, 5 weeks to go and counting!! Not particularly panicking or worried, I feel like this is all going to be a walk in the park, yet strangely at the same time I know that it won't be. Lets forget, for a moment, the trauma and stress of the birth itself (V doesn't enjoy it either by the way!!), straight after which we then have the worry about the little blighter being fit and healthy, having the right number of bits in the right places. Then there's V, the poor thing will (and this is a bit graphic) most likely have been ripped asunder in order to get the little bundle out, she'll be knackered, there'll be blood and shit all over the place and she'll be trying to breast feed while having a cross-stitch done on her particulars. And we're only up to the first hour after the birth!! If all goes according to plan this beautiful little event will take place at home with a couple of midwives in attendance, if not it could just be V, me, some clean water, hot towels and Google ("how + to + deliver + a + baby"). Double worst case scenario is V and the kids but that doesn't bear thinking about!!

Oh well, it'll all be worth it once the little Chester/Ruby is here, and you soon forget about the trauma of the birth once there's something else to take your mind off of it. There are some amazing bits I am looking forward to, like seeing the head come out, cutting the cord, holding the little thing to my chest to keep it warm, its great really, a little scary at times, but truly, breathtakingly amazing!!

PS - Found the review for my motor bike on motorcycle news and I quote "The CG125 is the motorcycle equivalent of spam"........not happy.

One word

Lesson #5 - Sneezing. Blimey, its not nice with a crash helmet on!! Especially when you have a sneezing fit at 60mph on the A13. Had to virtually stop until it was all finished then crack on again. It also led directly to lesson #6

Lesson #6 - Itchy nose (or any facial feature). Is so annoying there is nothing you can do about it, drives you mad!!

Wicked Wedding!!

There is nothing like a good wedding for a fantastic day (and evening) out!! Went to Phil and Alex's wedding on Friday and it was absolutely lovely, one of the nicest weddings I've ever been to. The place was amazing, its up for sale if you are interested, only £8,500,000!! Check it out here... Had a little bit too much to drink but that's what weddings are for, toasting the happy couple!! They really deserve a great day, lovely people with great families and friends and they know how to throw a party!! Good luck Mr. & Mrs Briff!!

Another lesson

After now biking into work 5 times I've found another new thing about biking....

Lesson #4 - Pins & Needles. I keep getting chronic pins and needles in both hands while on the drive in to work. The right (throttle) hand is worse but both suffer. I don't know if I am gripping too tight or if my gloves don't fit but its pretty annoying. Its OK in town because off all the stop/start at lights I can get some feeling back but on the A13 for 20 minutes I can't take my hands off to get feeling back. Answers on a post card for this one if anyone has any suggestions.

Biker man

Well this morning I finally did it and rode the bike to work. Its a lovely sunny day, no rain, not much wind, perfect conditions!! Everything went great, left home at 7.45 and arrived in the office about 8.30, I am pretty happy with 45 minutes for the first day, I was Captain Slow today so the journey will hopefully get a little quicker as I get more used to it. Learned a couple more biker lessons from today's jaunt though:

Lesson #2 - The Leg. As I was being so slow while riding between lines of stationary cars I had to keep pulling out the way to let other bikers through. It seems (and I might have this wrong) that to say thanks, us bikers stick our leg out on one side. They were every saying thanks or telling me to get off the road, not sure which!!

Lesson #3 - The Squeeze. Being a car driver I was always on the look out for bikes squeezing up between the lines of traffic, unlike lots of car drivers I never saw a problem with them doing this so was always happy to keep my eyes peeled. Now having done this manoeuvre myself I can appreciate the benefit for the biker and the problem for the car driver. Its fine to do as long as all drivers check first before pulling out, but lots don't. That's why I was doing about 10mph, had my finger on the horn and kept getting the leg (see Lesson #2).

All in all I am pleased with how it went, really looking forward to this evening now and the trip home!!

Fecking Shed....

After all the blood sweat and tears involved with dismantling and selling the garage, I have now spent a day of blood sweat and tears putting up a shed to replace it!! The end result is pretty impressive but it was hard work. I am going to be in bits tomorrow, already stiffening up (its no fun getting old!!).

I know we bought a cheap one (£220) but the quality of the shed was awful, there are more gaps in between the cladding than a hill-billys front teeth. The wood was obviously the last few scrapings left on the cutting room floor at tidy up time. And the less said about the windows the better......

Still Dickie and I did a sterling job of putting it up and the crap in the garden, the stuff that fits anyway, now has a home.

Now gimme a cold beer and an ice pack!!

Budding photographer...

From time to time H (aged 5 ¾) decides to nick our camera and sets up a series of thought provoking, evocotive and existential photoshoots with (mostly) his toys and (sometimes) his sister. The results are often as moving as they are daft......

Babies and the art of motorcycle mechanics...

After waiting from the age of about 5 I have finally done it and I now own my own motorbike!! Its not everyday you get to realise a boyhood dream and yesterday was one of those days!! Ok, it might not be the fastest or flashiest bike in the world, and I might not be on some wild ride across continent camping out under the stars but its my bike, I bought it, I can ride it and I am thoroughly enjoying it!! I can't wait to get back on and have another ride somewhere, anywhere!! Its a real buzz!! We had quite a long trip back from buying her which was nice as I had V behind me in the car so I was able to get used to it with a little bit of extra protection from the maniacs on the road!! Will keep a regular log of the new and interesting things I learn about being a biker!! Heres the first...

Lesson #1 - Its Hot. All of the protective clothing I've got weighs a tonne and is very hot to wear, I may have gone overboard but I wanted to be safe. Better safe and sweaty I spose!!

Back to baby names, we've had a breakthrough. Its meant to be hush-hush but no one reads this blog so what the hell!! We've decided on Chester for a boy, think it sounds wicked!! And a girl will be Ruby Rose. Finally!!

Nearly on the road

Managed to buy the bike I was after yesterday, a 2002 plate Honda CG125. Its in good condition and only has 7,200 miles on the clock. There are a few sratches but nothing to worry about and it drove around the block fine. Really looking forward to picking her up on Saturday after I buy all the protective gear tomorrow, its very exciting although V is still very worried for my safety. I don't blame her but I am going to take it nice and easy and slowly!!

CBT & 80's pap...

Congratulations to me!! I passed the CBT at the first attempt. Quite pleased about that as the other guy on the course with me was told to go home and has to try again another time!! I really enjoyed the day, especially the 2.5 hour drive around sunny Essex. I made a few mistakes, which is to be expected, but the instructor was very pleased with my overall performance. So now the hunt is on for a bike, there are a couple of options, one of which is buying one of the CBT bikes from the place I did the test. Not sure about that though as they've probably been dropped a lot!! I fancy getting a brand new bike anyway. Off today to buy helmet, jacket, boots, gloves etc. Should be fun (expensive!!).

Then went out for Phil's stag night in town. For some unknown reason the venue of choice was a awful 80's bar. Absolutely FULL of women (which maybe explains the reason) and pervy sweaty middle aged men gawping at them, pretty rancid!! And the music was dire. The highlight of the evening was the Only Fools & Horses theme music!! Phil got suitably sozzled though so mission accomplished!! Managed to get the second last train home and arrive in one piece, which is nice!!

Track Day @ Goodwood

July 2007 - Track Day

Well the Lamborghini day at Goodwood was absolutely amazing!! The event was booked from TrackDays.co.uk and was very well organised. We arrived at about 10.30 and I was helmeted up, sitting in the driving seat getting my instructions by 10.45. As you might know the Diablo is a huge car, very wide and long with zero visibility out of the back window, its about the size of a letterbox!! The interior though isn't particularly spacious or comfortable, considering the car costs about the same as a small flat!! One of the most amazing things was that there was no need to change gears once we were out of the pit straight, there is so much torque that we stayed in fourth gear the whole time even in the slow chicane. It still absolutely flew away in fourth gear as well. frightening speed and power. I managed around 150mph on the shortened home straight but the instructor kept telling me to push it harder!!

The hardest part of the whole experience was trying to get the right line through the corners. Unlike what I had expected you don't steer through the corners, what you do is stay straight after the apex and floor the throttle which brings you around. Its a hair raising manoeuvre though and took me a few corners to master but once I had the speed went right up!! At one point the instructor had to help me break as he said we were going into a corner at 130mph!!

After my laps were up I got a debriefing from the instructor where he explained how "boy racers" all drive wrong and don't use the throttle to steer and that was my lot. Thoroughly enjoyed it and would love to do it again!!

To know or not to know....

When we found out that V was pregnant with our third child I was thrilled and over the moon and all the things you feel when you see that little piece of plastic turn pink or blue or get a line or the line disappear (will someone PLEASE come up with a standard for that ordeal!!). But what I decided almost instantly was that I wanted to know the sex of the baby this time round. To me it made perfect sense to as we have a boy and a girl already it would help us prepare ourselves for what we were going to get. Obviously we have boys and girls clothes stashed in the loft so we could begin to prepare the appropriate lot and consign the rest to the charity shop. That's the practical side, the other HUGE benefit as far as I saw it was to help us narrow down the search for names.

This is already a mind warp job, not only does the name have to fit with the surname, it has to not clash with its siblings, not sound silly shortened, not lead to unfortunate initials and, to compound all of the above, we've given our kids two middle names which means we need to come up with another three names (that meet the above criteria). So if you multiply this by the two sexes we need to come up with 6 (six) suitable, not too normal, not too quirky, well matching, nice sounding, non-clashing monikers. Nightmare.

It seemed to me like a no brainer, find out the sex, half the effort. However, having gone through this well formed, well constructed argument with V she categorically refused to find out the sex and therefore that was that. I can see her point to a certain extent and if it wasn't our third I wouldn't even entertain the idea but surely the practical advantages out weigh the lack of a surprise after 9 months. In fact whenever you find out it is always going to be a surprise, just if you do it in advance you are spared the blood and screaming. There is also the possibility of them sonographer getting it wrong and poor baby Johnny coming out as a baby Jane to a nice blue nursery and a wardrobe full of blue sleep suits. Not the end of the world but not the perfect start either.

I don't know, perhaps it is best left until nature decides its time to know. As this will be the last time I go through this I will never know the flip side of the coin.

Lambo day

The lovely people at RNM bought be a Lamborghini Diablo track day for my leaving gift in April and I am finally booked in to thrash the 200mph beast around Goodwood grand prix circuit tomorrow. I am SO looking forward to it!! Unfortunately I only get three laps but I reckon I might pay for a few extra (depends on the cost).

I am determined to give it full welly even though theres a chance I'll have a £2,000 excess to pay should I (heaven forbid) ditch it. I think its worth the risk!! I'll give details, assuming I survive, on Friday. Wish me luck!!

Still no luck on the bike search, found a few more in eBay but they are either too pricey or too far away. Got my CBT in two days, after that I want to get a bike asap.

The name game

Still struggling with the babies names. V came up with a few today (all boys) that I thought could work, Dexter, Travis and Finlay. Don't mind any of them and none of them would haunt the poor sod in years to come (I hope). None of them feels right yet though.

Oh well, I'm sure we'll get there in the end.

Speaking of which, spent HOURS on stupid, slow, smelly, wet trains today going to Crawley and back. I can't WAIT to get my motorbike and kiss good bye to trains for ever. Incidentally if you have a Honda CG125 going cheap let me know eh!! I've got my CBT on Friday which will actually be me fulfilling a boyhood dream. Never thought it would be in an industrial estate in West Thurrock though, funny how dreams end up eh!!

Picasa rules & September arrival...

I've finally finished uploading 6 years worth of digital photos to Picasa and I'm glad its over!! I can't beleive they all fitted on the 1GB of free storage, was going to upgrade to 7GB but won't need to now until little Barr #3 shows up in September. Speaking of which, I think that is going to be the main topic of conversation on the Blog. At the moment we're agonising over yet another bunch of names (boy & girl) and have to yet again come up with 2 middle names for each..........seriously struggling at the moment!! Will keep you posted on progress!!