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Another Sunday, another day spent in a field with lots of old and not so old Volkswagens. But yesterday I wasn’t just admiring them as a visitor, but examining them at close quarters, and awarding points. Yes, it was the one time of the year when I wear my concours judge hat.

The theory is simple. A class of cars fight it out for points awarded to them on the basis of cleanliness, originality, or tasteful modifications. First place and runner-up prizes are awarded in each class, rosettes and trophies given, and everyone congratulates the lucky winners. Job done.

Not so yesterday. A shortfall of judges and larger than expected classes of cars meant that, as judges, we had our work cut out. The ‘other water-cooled’ mixed class of Audis and Volkswagens was larger than I had thought, and with each car taking an average of 10 minutes to judge, much of the middle part of the day was spent scrabbling around in the grass looking at floorplans and walking around talking to the owners, clipboard in hand.

Added difficulties included modified cars sitting in the same class as standard vehicles, and two-year old hatchbacks mixing it with twenty-year old coupes. I mean, how do you score an old car with excellent paintwork and interior with another which also has coachwork and a cockpit of an equally high standard, but is fifteen years younger? The older car should score similar points to its newer opponent, as it has been looked after for a much longer period of time.

It can be a tricky job, but I think all went well yesterday.

It was the older cars which caught my eye during the afternoon in Kent, though. The Series 1 water-cooled Volkswagens from the 1970s were pretty cars, but as rust-proofing was more of an afterthought in those days, few survived, and good examples are hard to find.

Mildly-restored Series 1 Polo from 1979 wore a typical 1970s paint colour 

But, a 19 year-old Polo, and an 18 year-old Scirocco were delights to judge, their crisp lines still attracting as much attention as their successors spread around them in the field. Of course, a judge’s preference may also have a part to play in deciding a winner, but overall, cleanliness and condition must prevail.

Original: new Scirocco will surely make older models gain more prevalence

An enjoyable (and surprisingly sunny) day was topped off perfectly by supper in the garden at Gareth and Debs’, enjoying the last of the day’s sun, as it slowly started to set through the tree canopies above us. The orange and pink-skied journey home was fuss-free, too. All in all, a very enjoyable weekend day out.

It’s a month to go until the latest assault from Kylie’s X tries to crack the charts. The One had ‘single’ leeching from every disco-bleep electronic pore, and it’s been an X highlight for many a fan, so it’s good to see it getting the commercial treatment.

Part of that treatment is of course, the ubiquitous set of remixes. Mostly, the majority of remixes on a single (or in modern pop parlance, download) are rubbish, all dancefloor filler, only appealing to clubbers and not those of us who only wave their hands in the air when saying goodbye to someone. It will, somewhat obviously, go down a storm in the gay clubs, but will it be a summer smash?

Popjustice is campaigning the track, and so in good jumping on the bandwagon fashion, I’ve pinched their clever widget, as I like it a lot, too. I don’t know about ‘one of the most beautiful and captivating pieces of electronic music you’ll hear in 2008,’ but as the high-camp album version (also produced by The Freemasons) got such a favourable response, this remix should do equally well.

(Bah, spoilsports! You’ll have to click on the Popjustice link above to hear the remix, as Parlophone have made this player only feature recent Kylie tracks.)

And, perhaps as a masterstroke, Parlophone have chosen a 28 July release date, just a few days into the tiny stars (broken) 7-night KylieX2008 tour residency at The O2.

‘Love Me, Love Me, Love Me,’ Kylie coos in the chorus. Applicable to both the singer and the song, I already do…

It’s only taken just over two years. I moved into the first property I’ve actually owned in January 2006, and have planned a raft of sympathetic improvements since then. Built in 1937, just in time to catch the end of the Art Deco movement, the spacious two-bedroom flat has been a cosy home.

Some of those improvements will more than likely never see fruition, but one that needed to was the repainting of the main bedroom. The flat is painted in light colours, from a beige-cream with a hint of yellow in the kitchen, through to two shades of blue, one each for the entrance hallway and the spare bedroom/study.

See the pinkness! Pink paint and anaglypta - a no-taste combination

Why was the main bedroom so in need of a colour change? It was baby girl pink, the same as the loo, which even for me was a colour too far. If it was the same off-white shade of pink as the open-fireplaced lounge, it wouldn’t have been so bad. It has taken me long enough to decide on a colour, so maybe it wasn’t that awful after all. I think I got used to it. It didn’t offend me enough when I moved in, and I think it gradually had a strangely soothing effect, and so I warmed to it.

But, I can warm to it no more, because it’s gone.

The process of what to replace it with was a long and needlessly drawn out one. I’d originally wanted to strip the (surprisingly tasteful) anaglypta wallpaper that was in each room, and coat each one in white, with a contrasting wall of deco colour. But, when we stripped the very same paper off the dining room at Nik’s house in Chelmsford, I had second thoughts of too much work and potential plaster damage, and so decided there and then to leave it on. It kind of matches the old-fashioned style of the flat anyway. Or so I kept telling myself.

Light French Grey a restful replacement (and no, I didn’t buy the light)

The replacement Light French Grey is darker than I’d envisaged, but is none the worst for that. A mixed-in-shop shade, grey with a hint of lavender blue is, I think, the best way to describe it. A Saturday afternoon’s work, and it looks great, and is a vast improvement, even making the flower-embossed wallpaper look more…French. I’m finding it more restful at night, too, and I’m almost staying awake a little more to enjoy it.

Next stop the loo. I just hope the colour doesn’t have the same effect in there.

Another day, another fox, but this one’s hasn’t got anything to do with the internet or computer programmes. This one’s got four wheels, and is made from metal, glass, plastic, and rubber. This one’s a car.

Volkswagen Fox ‘Raumkonzept’ TV spot features VWs new…

It may have a roof lining that’s 100% organically grown and 100% recyclable, made from fibres from the ‘Curauá’ plant in Brazil, but just how many Foxes has Volkswagen sold? Rarely seen on UK roads, the entry-level model from the German company was launched in 2006, in basic ‘Fox’ and humorous ‘Urban Fox’ trims.

…old and familiar… 

Simplicity is the name of the game with the Fox, and with prices starting at £1,100 cheaper than the equivalent but not-much larger Polo, you have to ask yourself why VW haven’t had huge demand for the smaller car. Sure, it looks unexciting, but it does boast ‘exceptional space’, which VW uses as the selling point of this neat little TV spot, which aired in Germany when the baby Volkswagen was launched.

…versatile… 

As any VW enthusiast will tell you, we all have our favourites. Whether they are old Beetles, buses, camper vans, Type 3s, Polos, Golfs, or Jettas, Volkswagen fans have a place in their hearts for the older, cooler cars, alongside the newer ones. VW understands this too, and plunders its history in this commercial, which has added interactivity for the internet.

 
…speedy…

When it’s finished playing, the floating dots can select a particular car, which can be found after the commercial has rewound to the spot where that vehicle appeared. On certain cars, a technical panel can be displayed with information on that specific model. And from fast, through large and small, adventurous, commercial, well-known, and futuristic, there really should be a Volkswagen for every enthusiast here.

 
…and genre and class-defining. What’s your favourite?

Here’s some of my favourites. Can you spot yours?

One thing that makes my internet surfing a much better experience, is Firefox, the open-source browser launched by the Mozilla Foundation in 2004. I’ve not been a fan of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer for a long time now, and even though it’s still the most widely used browser in the world by some margin, Firefox does just about everything better.

Whether surfing and reading pages, downloading media files, or buying online, the programme that uses the fox wrapped around the world as its logo makes the internet simplicity itself. Others agree; most of my friends use it, and 15% of worldwide online users are Firefoxers, too. And with plentiful plug-ins, smooth running on both PCs and Macs, and customisable looks, it’s easy to see why.

And so it’s with great anticipation that the latest version, Firefox 3.0, is launched today. Mozilla senses that anticipation, too, and so aims to set a record for the most software downloaded in 24 hours. It’s not even just any record either; it’s aiming for a Guinness World Record.

‘It’s a global effort to make history,’ the developer says. Is it aiming too high? Who knows, but with over 1.6 million downloads of version 2.0 in 2006, it might just do it. A reported 1.3 million users have already pledged to download the new version (myself included) when it goes live at 18.00 BST.

Tech-savvy users love Firefox, and the update promises many new features. Automatic warnings when users stray onto web pages booby-trapped with malicious code is one, and the ‘Smart Location Bar’ is another. This lets users return to sites they have visited before, but not necessarily bookmarked, also helping those who cannot remember the name of a site that they really liked. Improved security and faster browsing are but bonuses.

There’s no actual record for software downloaded in 24 hours, but ‘Download Day 2008’ aims to get 5 million copies of the programme onto existing users’ machines. Around 2 million users currently use the ‘fox, so Mozilla are obviously counting on word of mouth and promotional internet campaigns. Click the banner below to get your copy of Firefox 3.0, and help challenge Internet Explorer’s dominance.