Dancing to Jon Bon Jovi

Old video of Jeremy Fry's crazy dance on YouTube pushes Jon Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" to the number 25 spot in Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Donate to my Movember Page

Last Update: 3 December 2013

I have never had a moustache my whole life, partly due (maybe mostly) to genetic reasons. I have attempted in the past but gave up after a few days growth or non-growth of face stubble.

Anyway, I am finally trying to grow some hair on top of my upper lip - for a good cause. It is the time of the year again - it's Movember and I am helping raise some money - all in the name of Men's health.

Please donate generously. CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Thanks

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Pics charting my progress:

Week 1: Clean Shaven

Week 2: Got some stubble. My daughter tell me that it looks horrible

Week 3: Not much difference. I think that's about as much as it will grow

End of Week 4. That's as far as it goes.

Thanks to everyone who supported me.

Free electric blanket safety testing in Coventry

Now that the weather is getting chilly, people are starting to take out their electric blankets. These can sometimes be a safety hazard if they are old or damaged.

Local charity Age UK Coventry is offering free electric blankets and utility safety testing.

They will check the blankets’ fabric, heating elements, switches, wiring and plugs.

In addition Age UK Coventry is also offering a free, no obligation energy quotation.You can go along to see if you can save money by switching to their Age UK fixed price tariff. All you need to do is go along with your latest gas and/or electricity bills.

The electric blanket testing and energy reviews will take placeon the 7 and 8th October 2013, 9am – 4pm.

You would need to book an appointments for the electric blanket testing by calling 024 76 231 999.

Miss America Twitter storm

When this year's Miss America results were announced, it resulted in a Twitter storm from a lot of unhappy Americans. The reason: The new Miss America is Miss New York Nina Davuluri, who is ethnic Indian.

I was going through some of the tweets and revealed how bigoted and stupid some people are. To a lot of people, the fact that she is American and was born in New York was not important. It is really interesting to analyse the linkages made up by these people:

Their logic is so crazy that you seriously wonder about the education system there:

She is not white and thus not an American and she is an Arab and therefore a terrorist. So if you skin is Brown, you are an Arab and therefore a terrorist

I have no idea why some people linked this to 9/11. One guy called Luke even tweeeted: "9/11 was 4 days ago and she gets miss America?"

However, Nina showed that she was a better person and responded: "I have to rise above that, I always viewed myself as first and foremost American."

Where in Coventry 2

Was part of an ancient structure in the City Centre. Later moved elsewhere and then received a direct hit from a German bomb during the 2nd World War. This was one of the pieces that survived. Finally relocated to this place.

Ans: 
This is at the War Memorial Park on Kenilworth Road

Some more pics:

My kids 

My daughter taking a closer look

Fortis Sports Tuxedo watch

This is the latest addition to my growing watch collection. It's a vintage Swiss made Fortis Sports Tuxedo hand winding watch, which I got at a bargain on eBay. Like any stuff you buy over eBay, it is a bit of a gamble but this time it paid off. The watch has kept good time since I last set it this morning (as soon as I opened up the package).

I am still new to horology or the art or science of measuring time but I am learning a lot. I learnt that the company is based in Grenchen, Switzerland that was founded by Walter Vogt in 1912. Working with John Harwood, the British inventor of the automatic wristwatch, Fortis came out with the first self-winding (automatic) wristwatch, the Harwood Automatic in 1926. They are also the official supplier of watches to the Russian space agency.

About the watch - surprisingly for a company which has been around for more than a century, there was very little information about the Watch. As mentioned earlier, it has a hand winding movement and 17 Jewels. It is encased in a stainless steel case with an after market black leather strap. The watch measures 36mm (without the crown)

The description on eBay said that the watch crystal is Sapphire crystal but I found out that it is actually clear acrylic glass. Another mistake in the listing was the age of the watch. It was mentioned as modern (2000s) but I found out that it is a vintage watch (1971-1983). It might actually be older than I am.

Some more pics from the eBay listing.

If you examine the last picture carefully, you will see that the movement is made by Camy, an old Swiss brand. I cannot seem to find any information about the brand and seems to have just disappeared though there are a number of their vintage watches floating around on eBay. Does this mean that Camy used to supply movements to Fortis? Or is my Fortis a "frakenwatch"?

Coventry University cycle locker

Parking at the Coventry University cycle locker at the multi-storey car park near my office,
for the first time. More for protection from the elements rather than for security. 

Had to pay £40 as security deposit (refundable).