All Points North

Honestly we work very hard when we’re reviewing the latest Mac kit.

Apple has now sold more than 1 billion iTunes. The winner of the grand prize is a man in Michigan. The press release is so over the top it made me laugh. Not all of it just the Steve Jobs quote, you’d think he’d cured cancer.

“I hope that every customer, artist and music company executive takes a moment today to reflect on what we’ve achieved together during the past three years,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Over one billion songs have now been legally purchased and downloaded around the globe, representing a major force against music piracy and the future of music distribution as we move from CDs to the Internet.”

Today we took a flight on the London Eye. Luckily we had pre-booked our tickets on a Fast Track basis, as the queue was very, very long. The price isn’t that much more and you get to saunter past the rest of the people waiting for up to two hours with free guidebook and personal escort to the pod. Admittedly the personal escort to the pod isn’t much more than ’see that big wheel thingy over there? That’s what you’re after mate’ but still the whole experience is great. As you’d expect the view is good and you’re on for just about enough time to get a nose around at the cityscape. Somehow though it’s not as rewarding as the Empire State building or the Eiffel Tower as you can spend as much time as you want peering over the edge before deciding to move on. I’d certainly do it again though.

I’ve never really bought into all that home is where the heart is rubbish. I’ve always been happy with where I was trying to make the most out of the situation rather than sitting and moping about how everything isn’t quite perfect. However on returning to Leeds last night with the knowledge that I’ll soon be here full time something changed. As I walked through the barrier onto the concourse at Leeds city station I had the most euphoric feeling of coming home. The easily recognisable aspects of my youth all round me and the memories they produced put a great big smile on my face. I’ve enjoyed living in London and even liked Swindon to a point but it’s Leeds that I really understand.

The everyday mundane aspects of the city and surrounding area that are so recognisable to me and the fact that I’ve lived all over Leeds means that almost every view of the city has some kind of resonance. The Yorkshire accent that singles me out in the south, (that’s anywhere past Barnsley by the way) just filters into the crowd of even broader twangs. I really feel I‘m coming home and it’s a really exciting feeling. By the same token I’ll no doubt be totally pissed off at the small town attitude and all the other crap that comes with the place in less than six months of being back here. But, for the moment I’m going to enjoy the feeling of familiarity.

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and all of his breakfast on to the office floor.