This is a medical term that is related in some way to having a baby apparently. This means we're likely to have a new niece this afternoon, we'll call in to see her on our way to Canterbury for lunch tomorrow, I think she's in Ashford. This new niece is on Clare's side, but also today, it's my nephew Jack's birthday, happy birthday mate.

Speaking of place name links like Canterbury, Folkestone, Ashford, etc, I just added a tonne more pubs and things for London and for Fareham, and for Portsmouth. If you've been to any of those places and fancy clicking on the stars to rate them, please feel free, help me build the site up a bit...

Today we're having a Life On Mars / 1970s themed day at work, fancy dress and stuff, and there's a '70s quiz where I could win a telly. Here are the questions:

1: What were Starsky and Hutch's First Names?

2: What issue forced President Nixon to resign?

3: Which video/arcade game became a hit in 1973?

4: Actor Roy Scheider appeared in the 1975 blockbuster "Jaws". What hit 1970's cop film did he also star in with Gene Hackman?

5: Which of the following characters was NOT in the Village People? Construction Worker; Biker/Leatherman; Policeman; Fireman

6: Eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team were murdered by terrorists in which city?

7: Which colour does NOT appear on a standard Rubik's Cube? Orange; White; Purple; Green

8: What was the top selling single in Britain in 1975?

9: Which year did Margaret Thatcher become Prime Minister?

10: Name 2 IHG hotels at Heathrow which can take Park & Fly and Legoland bookings.

11: Name 3 hotels who are featured in the Show & Stay programme who are attending today.

12: When was the break-up of The Beatles officially announced? (Date & Year)

13: Who won the English Cup League at Wembley in 1973?

14: Which actor played Dr Who in the late 1970's?

15: What year did Disney World open in Buena Park, Florida?

16: What is the car registration of the car featured in Life On Mars

17: Which significant celebrity died on August 16th 1977?

18: What year was the first supercomputer produced and by whom?

19: Name 2 airport hotels (APART from Heathrow) attending today.

20: Name any other IHG hotel in London featured in the Holiday Extras programme. (Be as accurate as possible!)

21: Brian Blessed appeared as Frank Kemble in the first ever episode of which 1970's TV cop show?

22: What were the initials of the crime fighting organisation The Professionals were members of and what do they stand for?

23: What is always appearing on Sam Tyler's TV screen in the BBC's Life on Mars?

24: What is DCI Gene Hunt looking forward to for dinner when he first meets Sam Tyler in Life on Mars?

25: What year did the final episode of Dixon of Dock green air?

I need 100% to go into the draw apparently, and I've just spotted those questions from the quiz sponsor, IHG, and I need to get my answers in right now, not sure I will bother with this then...

UPDATE: Baby Poppy Mahon has been born already, and should be home tomorrow, so we're off to see them all then. Also, I did not win anything in the quiz, not even joint third place half bottle of wine. Being able to answer the sponsored questions was quite important in the end.

Clarke (Harry).- Goethe (Johann Wolfgang von) Faust, one of 1000 copies signed by the artist, 22 plates, 8 colour and illustrations by Harry Clarke, original vellum-backed boards, dust-jacket, minor chipping to head of spine and corners, a fine copy, 4to, 1925.

A whole lot of signing up to be done before being able to bid on this book...

No family tree updates for a little while, though I'm off to investigate The Grants of Winterbourne Stoke again in case I missed anything before, one of my great great great grandfathers is there. In the mean time, here's a smashing super rare copy of a book illustrated by Harry Clarke:

Harrap, 1919. SIGNED LIMITED EDITION, one of only 170 deluxe copies on handmade paper. Numbered and signed by Harry Clarke. Full vellum binding with gilt lettering and vignette to upper cover. Top edge gilt and others untrimmed. Poe's magical tales are accompanied by 24 full page black and white illustrations, which are stunning. He uses large areas of black and intricate lines which have a strong effect. A near fine example of this stunning book, many pages unopened. This deluxe edition was originally published at 5 guineas. The Christmas Bookman of 1919 announced the book at the top of their seasonal list of gift books.

That's the wife's relative Harry Clarke.

Weekend start sort of badly, and then sort of worse, and then actually got going really very well indeed. Train home hit some kind of delay, caused by some kind of delay on another train. That's as much detail as we've come to expect in the non explanations from south eastern, but HEY, thinking about it I shouldn't complain about them too much, in case I ever end up applying to them for a job. I was quite comfortable on the train, got my paper and my book and my episodes of Dexter, but being late home is never good. We were just over the half hour, so that's a refund on the way, so that's nice. BUT, then every silver lining has another cloud, this one came in the form of a torrential downpour on the walk from the station. We had coats and brolly and that (Clare came to meet me) but still walking into the rain I could have done with my waterproof trousers or waders or something.

We couldn't figure out what to have for tea before going to the pub, so we booked dinner at Escondido and decided to make that our night out, a nice bonus fab meal and bottle of wine. Even sitting with wet trousers on (caused by the rain...) didn't spoil this.

Saturday we got up fairly swiftly and headed to Tunbridge Wells for the day. didn't get that much shopping done, but we did have another smashing meal in Pizza Express, and even the hour's journey each way was OK. Being used to commuting helps here, and also knowing we weren't actually going to work, and then also getting the journey for free adds a bit more.

Saturday night we were out for pa-in-law's birthday, in Hythe, at The Red Lion. In theory this should be a GREAT pub, it has two bars, ale, sofas, big tellies, pool table, darts, food, everything. In practice, it's possibly just me, but there's an unsettling air about the place. It's just a little bit "out of town" which gives it the atmosphere of a roadhouse type place. I wasn't exactly expecting to be killed at any moment by vampires, but there's something about it. We played loads of pool and I lost every game. This (combined with generally feeling on the back foot when I am a cab ride or further from home) is probably where my bad feelings came from.

Sunday, we shopped, and then the Mahon clan gathered again, this time just for drinking tea and playing with the kids and the cat, and plotting christmas dinner. This will be GREAT, so long as I'm not forgotten. There is already talk of smearing everything in goose fat for some reason, so I am preparing my own feast. I've already had a trial run of making a nut roast, but half way through the process of putting it in the tin, piping some cranberry jelly into the middle, so it's like a giant pop tart, spewing out scalding jam when it comes out of the oven. I might mix some chillis in there too. Also I'm having vege sausages wrapped in vege bacon on the side, though these might not taste of too much.

I've made myself hungry now, time to sign off for lunch.

Well spotted Mum and Dad, there is a Harry Clarke at the Victoria and Albert museum:

Harry Clarke was one of the great masters of 20th-century stained glass. He trained in his father's studio and at the Metropolitan Art School in Dublin, which gave him an intimate understanding of the nature of glass. He soon learned to employ sophisticated techniques to create decorative effects. He toured Europe to study medieval glass, and was especially inspired by the 12th-century glass in the French cathedral of Chartres. Many of his windows, such as this one, are reminiscent of those at Chartres in the depth and richness of their colour schemes.

Clarke was especially skilful in exploiting the qualities of the new slab glass, which E.S. Prior had invented in 1889. The irregularities in the thickness of this coloured glass mimicked that used in medieval stained glass. Clarke enhanced the qualities of this richly coloured glass by acid-etching, the application of stains and fine delicate painting.

He created the design for the Apparition of the Sacred Heart in 1918. This was in preparation for a window for Phibsborough Church in Dublin, commissioned by the Arch-Confraternity of the Sacred Heart. The window was completed and installed in 1919. Subsequently, Clarke and his studio reused the original design to make other Sacred Heart windows.

The devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ dates back to medieval times, but it did not become a feast of the Catholic church until 1670. The spread of this devotional feast was largely due to the visions of St Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-90), who communicated that Christ wanted to reveal his ardent love for mankind. He wished to manifest his heart with its abundance of love and mercy. Margaret Mary was canonised in 1920.

Nice picture here...

No, Clare's grandmother's maiden name was Clarke, her Grandfather changed it from Clark when he moved to Ireland. So they're originally Clarks, and we wer enot previously related...

Always nice to see Stephen Fry on TV, the wife especially loves him. Interesting show about bipolarity too, I assume it's a series, and that all the normal working class people with depression who are not millionaires on cocaine will be featured in future episodes.

Hmm, so far not much. I am mostly pinning my hopes on one job offer that I'm expecting to hear back from any minute now. It's a really good fit for my skills and experience, I only hope I don't get "gazumped" by someone offering to do the job for half the money, we'll see...

Decided to kickstart my gigging, which didn't quite tie in with trying to cut down on spending right now... Got some tickets for The Dirty Pretty Things at The Leas Cliff Hall. Hoping it'll sell out pretty fast, I think it will, so then I've got the option of going or flogging the tickets nearer the date. Could this be the start of a new ebay empire? Maybe not.

Got some email from the person who made the Harry Clarke: Darkness in Light documentary (about Clare's uncle. I'm getting a DVD copy of it off them, which will be nice.

Kept my self busy just recently doing some work on newsbiscuit.com, a new satire site by John O'Farrell, and also putting some voting into the gig listings on Folkestone Gerald. Getting a tiny bit more activity on the forum there, including plenty of dolphin stories.

Happy Talk like a pirate day, arr, have some real pirate gold...

Averaging only one post a week at the moment, blimey.

I was just browsing ABE Books for Harry Clarke, as I knew they had some signed first editions and things, albeit at high prices. So what's the most expensive thing on there I wondered? Only this original water colour of The Emperor's New Clothes, thirty six grand to you squire!

Can we get a family discount do you think? Harry Clarke was Clare's great grand uncle remember.

They also have this Sleeping Beauty watercolour, at only 33,000, and some very lovely books indeed. So this is the place to look for that special book! I'm off to buy more lottery tickets.

Crap weather today, I am almost jealous of everyone we know who is off on holiday right now... took a windy bus ride into Canterbury today for a lovely yasai chilli men at Wagamama, and a bit of shopping and pubbing. Got hugely delayed on the way home by The Tour Of Britain which closed all the roads around the bus station.

Yesterday saw a trip into London, an interview that I think went OK, and then a meeting in The Coal Hole that I know went very well indeed.

Just waiting for The Wife to finish applying her makeup, and we're off on a windswept crawl of the pubs of Folkestone.

Just been a bit busy with I don't know what. Fending off a few jobs and interviews and things, and then also hanging around the shops like other unemployable Folkestone delinquents.

Yesterday I drove the in-laws to Gatwick, and nearly got in trouble with the uppity neighbour for having an unauthorised vehicle within her line of sight or something.

Today I am left in on my own while the wife goes out on the razz in London; she's just too good for me these days, with her high faluting city ways. I'm taking the opportunity to soak up as much of the TV that she doesn't like to watch as possible, including Lovejoy Cowboys.

Tomorrow the drinking starts in earnest, brother in law from America is visiting for brother-in-law from here's wedding, we will have about 10 days of living it up I think.

That's another DVD burned, back to the lounge again, bye.

Just searching for Sir Fred Clarke, who seems to be related to the wife's family but not to our Clarkes, and I'm not sure if this is him in the National Portrait Gallery or not, but here's a list of other Clarkes who are. Hold your mouse over their name for more info.

Adam Clarke

Aimée Mary (nee Cumming), Lady Rupert Clarke

Albert Clarke

Alured Clarke

Sir Arthur Charles Clarke

Sir Arthur Wellesley Clarke

Sir (Henry) Ashley Clarke

Brian Clarke

Sir Caspar Purdon Clarke

Catherine Clarke (nee Hunter)

Catherine Clarke (ne;e Overton)

Charles Rodway Clarke

Charles Cyril Clarke

Sir Charles Mansfield Clarke, 1st Bt

Christopher Clarke

Sir Cyril Astley Clarke

Dennis Robert Clarke

Denzil Robert Noble Clarke

Edna Clarke, Lady Hall

Edward Daniel Clarke

Sir Edward George Clarke

Eveleen ('Eve') Clarke (nee Myers)

Frank Clarke

Sir Fred Clarke

Sir Frederick William Alfred Clarke

Geoffrey Clarke

Graham Clarke

Harold George Clarke

Henry Clarke

Henry Lowther Clarke

Katherine Clarke

Kenneth Clarke

Margi Clarke

Mary Clarke

Mary Anne Clarke (née Thompson)

Matthew Clarke

Nicky Clarke

Norman Harry Clarke

Sir Percival Clarke

Sir (Charles) Philip Clarke

Sir Reginald Clarke

Sir Richard William Barnes Clarke

Sally Clarke

Samuel Clarke

Samuel Clarke

Stanley Clarke

Terence Hugh Clarke

Thomas Cecil Arthur Clarke

Sir Travers (Edwards) Clarke

Sir William Clarke

Mrs Clarke

Gene Simmons breathing fire at a recent KISS show to launch a new casino:

Also today I'm officially PISSED OFF with technology - while transferring all the weekend pictures from the camera (including both our birthday nights out, and Jenny's hen night, where Clare snapped a couple of the party skinny dipping in the sea) something happened that made Picasa erase all but one picture from the card. Yes I did pick "wipe the card after transferring" and I had excluded some duplicate shots, but not all of them! This is a real shame, and I might have to try some data recovery place to get these pictures back :-(

Done a little work to tidy up Clare's family tree, it had been a bit neglected for a while and some mistakes had crept into the HTML and that.

Aciton packed weekend, yet again quite literally TWO daytime trips out of the house that were not just to the shop or the pub, what is going on? We had such a full weekend that I had just about no time for larking about on the computer or even sitting watching TV, so I'm a little behind on my ripping / burning / watching plans. The computer is mostly working well though right now, I have burned data disks and even a real style DVD (with footage I shot myself, so I know it all works. Soon I will be editing myself a masterpiece I'm sure. The Oscar to go with my BAFTA can surely only be a matter of time...

Went for a picnic on Saturday, a stroll through town to the East side of Folkestone as it was such a nice day, I think Folkestone looks GREAT in those pictures. OK, so the pictures are mostly taken away from the town, but still, it's nice that this is walking distance from our flat. Saturday night we headed into Hythe, a few drinks in The Butt of Sherry for the first time, which was great. It could easily become my favourite pub, except for one thing - they have a picture of Jimmy Saville up behind the bar, what's that all about? Anyway, nice cosy characterful pub, the food looked good too. We opted for a curry though, on to Everest also for the first time, and that was a lovely Nepalese meal. Only upset of the day was the three quarters of an hour wait for a taxi home, bah.

Sunday we headed to Ashdown Park with Mum and Dad and the inlaws and everyone, quite a possee. Ashdown Park is a is a hotel now, that was a convent, and the chapel of the convent had some spectacular Harry Clarke windows - Harry was Clare's great-grand-uncle. I've seen a few before in Ireland and in Miami, but these were the most impressive so far. It's great the way the chapel's been converted, a mezzanine floor cuts right through the building, so windows that would have been forty feet up in the air are now at eye level. It's great to get right up close to this, and FRIGHTENING to think what they're worth. And that they're not owned by anyone in the family now, bah. We had a great meal in a pub called The Black Peter too. All round, a very nice day and weekend.

AAARGH frightening USB bear, thanks for that Ro.

Just remembered, I did find some computer time, I've had a play with Picasa, and it's fabulous, hoping that if I tag pictures there before uploading them to Flickr it'll recognise all the geotagging and things too. Wonder if there's info on this in the flickr geotagging group.

Busy today I'm sure, IT manager is away so any IT related queries will fall to me...

Clare's a Mahon, her dad is Irish, he's got the accent and everything. His great uncle is famed Irish artist Harry Clarke, that surname is just coincidence though, no relation to me (apart from now by marriage). Future generations of genealogists are going to have trouble with this one...

You keep missing the "Name" box btw, but you're trying to remain anonymous, what's going on..? Is there a problem at my end?

Re: Maime MAHON

Dear Maime,

My name is Tario Mahon and I am from London. Just writing because I have a great uncle named Iven Mahon. Last I knew he lived in St. Michaels on My Lords Hill next to a Texaco station. I was last there over 18yrs ago though...

My wife's grandmother is Bridget Clarke, no blood relation to me (I am Paul Clarke), the names are just a coincidence. So, sorry Bridget, you are not the only Bridget Clarke in the world, I'm afraid it's a very common name...

James (aka Jim) is my father in law, I expect there were plenty more James Mahons going back in his family too... where are you then, Ireland?

thought I'd google my name and found your site, boredom eh! keep up the good work, congrats on getting married,

James jcmahon@yahoo.com

The Clarke family tree and the Mahon family tree are now linked, since Clare and I got married on the 12th August... tree pages still to be updated!

Please note really important if you're looking at this page for Clare you'll see there's not much family info in there for her. This is because this is where Dad's family tree info runs out - you want to head on into Clare's own family tree page to carry on. The same applies for her dad James Mahon and her mother Pauline Margaret Elliott, they also have pages here and here. Cheers!

Also note, there are Clarkes on both sides, not related as far as we know though (except now by marriage).