Patecatl

The Holidays Are Coming

2007-11-23T20:58:00.000Z

Yes indeed, with Christmas just around the corner, I can finally say it's starting to feel like Christmas, you may ask why. Well, that's simple, tonight for the first time I have seen the Coca Cola 'Holidays Are Coming' advert, as much as I dislike Coca Cola, I have to admit, that advert always gets me in the festive spirit. And just in case you're wondering what advert I mean, it's this one:

What did you during the war Grandad?

2007-11-08T20:56:00.000Z

ON the SFX forums a thread was started in the discussions forum about what your Grandad did during the war. This has been a very interesting thread, seeing the different stories, it reminded me of a school assignment I had once, to find out what a grandparent did during the war. For this, I asked my paternal grandfather, and had a very long account of his time in the Merchant Navy, alas, my memory being what it is, I can't really remember much of it now, apart from thinking how brave he must have been to go on this practically unarmed ships under constant threat of attack from u-boats and enemy warships. How scary it must have been at times, in the dark crossing the english channel, carrying essential supplies for the war effort.

I for one, will be remembering on Sunday at 11:00, all those who served and who serve today, all those who gave their lives defending this country and our values. I ask you to please spare a couple of minutes from your lives and pause to think of those men and women who have died for our freedom.

A bad week so far

2007-10-30T10:12:00.000Z

At the weekend I developed a cold, and not feeling too well for most of sunday, decided to stay home from work Monday, so not really too good a start to the week.

This morning things went from bad to complete crap. Got myself up and ready as usual, left the flat to go get my bike only to find it has been stolen. Whoever has stolen it, has had to force the wall post/securing for bikes from the wall and they've taken this along with my bike (obviously I had a good lock as they've done this instead of just breaking the lock). So yeah, a real crap morning.

Spent some time on the phone to the police and then the insurance company, it looks as if the bike is covered, so hopefully will get something from that. As for the police, well there's probably little they can do, but will wait and see what the officer assigned my case says when they get in touch.

In the meantime, I've printed off a flyer to put up in the lobby of the flats where we live, hopefully someone saw or heard something over the weekend. At the very least it will act as a warning to the other people that use the storage room.

Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon

2007-10-23T19:55:00.000+01:00

I switched to linux sometime ago, opting for the popular Ubuntu OS, version 6.10 (the 6.10 indicates year and month of release, so it October 2006) They have had a couple of updates since then, as they have a 6 month release cycle, but opted to stay with 6.10 as it worked reasonably well with my laptop, just a couple of problems, mainly to do with proprietary firmware/drivers. But with the release of 7.10 - Gutsy Gubbon, and some fancy new visuals I decided to upgrade.

As I was still on 6.10 I couldn’t just upgrade to 7.10 using the updates manager, so I downloaded the live cd iso, burned this to disk and gave it a try. This is when the graphics failed me, for whatever reason the main desktop screen wouldn’t appear, and instead I was left with a black/blank screen, thinking this was due to my laptop being to old to run the newer os, I went back and tried to upgrade to 7.04, but for whatever reason this didn’t work. After searching round the net I found others having similar problems, and the one suggestion that worked for me, was running the install from the “Safe graphics mode” on the live cd, this worked fine and after about half an hour last night I was up and running in Ubuntu 7.10.

Overall, it’s simply been tidied up, some smarter graphics/visual effects, and an improved way to install non-free firmware (Nvidia drivers). The first major improvement I’ve noticed is when using my 320gb external hard drive, in the older version I had to mount the drive manually using the terminal command, now with 7.10 it’s automatically detected, not only that, but 7.10 also gives me access to my Windows XP partition without me having to go through some long winded convoluted setting up (may be exaggerating there).

So far, I’ve got to say it’s well worth the upgrade, it’s looks nice and shiny, and simply works, something that I’ve never been able to say about XP, which still gives me no end of headaches. I think this report by Rupert Goodwins on Zdnet is pretty damn good, and to quote the guy:

“So here's the funny thing. I've used Windows since 1.0. I've lived through the bad times of Windows/386 and ME, and the good times of NT 3.51 and 2K. I know XP if not backwards, then with a degree of familiarity that only middle-aged co-dependents can afford each other. Along the way, I've dallied with many other operating systems on many other platforms - but never with Unix and only lately with Linux.

Then how come I'm so much more at home with Ubuntu than Vista? It boils down to one abiding impression: Ubuntu goes out of its way to get out of your way, even if it doesn't succeed all the time. Vista goes out of its way to be Vista and enforce the Vista way. You must conform regardless of the implications”

I think that about sums up Linux perfectly, it simply works, making life as easy and simple as possible.

London Sunrise

2007-10-21T19:22:00.000+01:00

This is one of the reasons I'm really enjoying cycling in London each day, the sunrise can be quite glorious some days.

We have a Wii

2007-10-09T21:16:00.000+01:00

We have our Wii. It arrived last Friday, upon arrival C phoned me at work and simply said Wiiiiiiiiiii, of course it simply didn’t click and I thought she was just being silly, as usual, but then of course when she told me it had arrived I couldn’t wait to get home set it up and try it out. Which I did in short order after we’d done our shopping. Was nice and easy to set up and nicely straightforward to connect to the internet too. Of course we only had Wii Sports, which came with the console. But personally, I quite like the sports games provided, except for Baseball and Golf.

On Saturday we had my parents round for dinner, and decided we might as well have some fun with the Wii so had ourselves a mini bowling tournament, think even my parents enjoyed playing it, which is something as they don’t usually like “computer games”.

I think that’s part (a big part mind) of the attraction of the Wii, it’s something anyone can play and enjoy, even those who don’t like the more traditional adventure/action/driving games. It has something for everyone, and is something of a party piece.

Of course, I couldn’t resist buying another game other the weekend, Resident Evil 4, I simply love the Resi Evil series of games, and am loving this one too. There are a few other games I’d love to have, but they will have to go on my Christmas wish list (yes I’ve already started one of those).

New Toy(s)

2007-09-12T18:32:00.001+01:00

With C’s mobile phone contract up with Orange it was time for a new phone, and we found an excellent deal on Phones 4 U. A Samsung U600 18 month contract with Orange, 14 months half price line rental plus a free Nintendo Wii. So of course we ordered it, and now I’m jealous, it’s such a wonderful looking phone, so shiny and slim, I did offer to let her have my Sony K800i, but she’s having none of it.

Well at least next month we should receive our free Wii, then I can beat her at Tennis and Bowling.

Cycling

2007-09-12T18:30:00.001+01:00

In a bid to save money, and partly due to the tube strikes of last week, I’ve started cycling in London. From Fenchurch Street Station to where I work. It surprised me just how quick it is to cycle the 2.5km (didn’t know how far it was myself, but that’s what the websites say). Taking around 15mins. This is some 10mins quicker than taking the bus, and if you include the 10mins you normally have to wait for a bus as well, actually cuts a good 15-20mins off my journey times. Add to this the fact that by cycling in central London, I will be saving around £800 in travel expenses a year, and everything seems great, not only will I be saving money, I’ll be improving my overall fitness.

However, now we come to the stumbling block, train companies do not/will not allow you take bikes on their trains during the rush hour, whilst I can understand this, surely it makes sense to have exceptions on 2 or 3 trains in the morning and evening rush hour. Though even worse is the train company I use, c2c, who make an exception in the morning rush hour, but not in the evening rush hour, that makes perfect sense, let people into London in the morning, but don’t let them home, well done people. These policies are in conflict with Transport For London and the Mayors office, both of whom are publicly trying to get more and more people to cycle, yet if they don’t consult with and put pressure on the train operators all their good work will count for nothing as no one will be able to get in or out of London during the rush hour. The only exceptions they do make are for folding bikes, but these can cost a small fortune for a decent one, and the only company that seems to make proper folding mountain/road bikes is Dahon, with prices starting from £330.

Celebration Europe

2007-07-14T12:12:00.000+01:00

AS you can see from the pic yesterday we were at Celebration Europe. We arrived at about 10:45 at the Excel Centre, and just about everyone else on the train was going there as well. As we were walking from the station to the centre we saw the first signs that we were there for Star Wars, when we saw a little kid dressed in a Darth Vader outfit, as we got to the entrance there were some Stormtroopers and Imperial Officers hanging about for fans to have their pics taken with them.

When we got inside the centre, the first sight was a model Death Star followed by a Jabba the Hutt model. To the right was the autograph hall, where they had some of the actors/puppeteers from the films. To the left was the merchandise hall and fan areas. We met up with a friend, Steven, who C has known for many years and who I know from the SFX forums, along with some of his friends. We were all wearing T-shirts C had made for us, though mine was not SW related. We had a bit of a wander round the various stalls and the official CE merchandise area, we managed to meet back up with Steven and another of C's friends at lunch time'ish, before heading to the "One Man Star Wars Show" at 1pm.

We started queuing at 12:30, by which time the queue had already double backed on itself, but we managed to get in ok. The One Man Star Wars Show is basically what it says, one man, Charles Ross, re-enacting scenes from the OT. This was really good and quite funny, though some people couldn't have thought so as there was a constant stream of people leaving during the performance. All in all the show took just over an hour.

After the show we had a bit more of a wander around the main hall looking at all the things people had for sale, as well as picking up some freebies, mainly promotional pamphlets and the like. We had a look at an exhibition of Darth Vader Helmets that had been "modified"/"painted", some of them were pretty good.

We then had more of a wander around which allowed C to finally have her pic taken with various characters from SW, from Stormtroopers and Darth Vader to Obi Wan Kenobi. We then headed outside at about 18:00 for the official opening of CE. They had set up a big screen by the small field area, and at 18:30 the SW music started and we were introduced to Steven Sansweet, fan relations, who gave a speech about how good it was to be here in London etc, he was followed by Mark Hamil and Ian McDiarmuid who introduce Star Wars EpIV A New Hope to loud cheers and appluase. Shortly after this we decided it was time to head home and grab some much needed dinner.

Overall it was a good day, and I'm glad we went, though the one day was more than enough for me, and I think C felt/feels the same.

Tomorrow - Friday 13th

2007-07-12T21:26:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow on Friday 13th we go to Celebration Europe at the Excel Centre in London. For those that don't know Celebration is the big Star Wars convention held in America, and for the first time they've decided to hold one in Europe - London.

Seeing as my GF is a big SW fan, I bought her (and myself) a ticket for Friday (though it's actually on for three days, Friday to Sunday). She's really excited about going to this, but me, I'm still not sure if I'm excited by it or not...as I said to her over dinner, I may well take moments away and just sit in a cafe having tea while she wanders around...or something, we'll see.

The tickets themselves weren't that bad, costing approx £21 for a one day adult pass, or about £50 for a three day adult pass. There are a number of SW stars going to be in attendance, including Luke himself, Mark Hammil, though if you want his autograph it's going to cost you £85. Yes that's right £85, alas there will be more than enough people who will queue up for his autograph, personally I think it's disgusting how much they'll be charging.

Metallica

2007-07-11T20:07:00.000+01:00

On Sunday, as an early birthday present from my parents, I went to a Metallica concert at Wembley Stadium. So two first for me, first time seeing the fantastic Metallica live, and the first time at the new Wembley Stadium.

The approach to the stadium from the underground station (Wembley Park) has been much improved, with better access to/from the station, the signs were clearly marked for the various entrances around Wembley, and I soon found myself making my way up to the third tier of Wembley to find my seat. Unfortunately this happened to be right at the back of the seating area I was in, had a short bout of dizziness when I first got there, but soon got over that.

The concert itself started at 16:30 with the first support act, Mastadon, I don’t think I’ll be rushing out to buy any of their cd’s, that’s about all I can say for that. Then at about 17:10 came the second support act, Machine Head they came out and played a 30 minute set, again, not really a group I like and again wont be rushing out to buy any of their stuff. Just before the end of their set I decided to make use of the facilities, which surprised me by being quite clean and reasonably plentiful, decided to use the time to grab a bite to eat as well, which wasn’t cheap, paid £7 for a small portion of fish and chips and £2.20 for a medium coke, after this I made my way back to my seat and at approx 18:00 we had the main support act, HIM, and I’ve got to say they were pretty good and played for a good 40 minutes or so. But lets face it, I wasn’t there for the support acts.

After HIM we had a loooong wait from 18:40 to about 19:30, during which time they changed the stage around. I used this time to have a wander round the stadium, and gave into temptation by buying a Metallica T-Shirt for £18. By about 19:20 fans were getting restless and some chants of Metallica started up with whistling and clapping and some Mexican waves, finally at about 19:30 the big screens came on, and they came on out to huge cheers and applause, the crowd were quite literally electrified, it was an awesome moment. They played for nearly two and half hours, with a good mix of classic and newer songs, from Master of Puppets to The Memory Remains.

One of the highlights of the night was when Rob played his bass like the bongos, treating us all to some monster bass. This was shortly followed by The Memory Remains, with the crowd asked to join in, at one point they dimmed the stage lights and just let the crowd sing away, James and Lars looked really moved by this, with some great gestures to the crowd. It was without a doubt a great night, and Metallica were quite simply magnificent live. I decided to leave just before 22:00, and by looking around the web, seems I only missed the one song, but as I didn’t fancy my chances of making my train home with 60 odd thousand other fans pouring into the local underground stations at the same time, I thought it best to leave a little early (I wasn’t the only one mind, the guy who had been sitting next to me left at about 21:00 and didn’t re-appear).

Seems that at the end Lars promised the new album and a new tour for 2008, so I guess I best get saving now for that.

Natures Cry

2007-06-24T20:06:00.000+01:00

Such beauty all around
But so few of us truly see
The wonders of nature
Such diversity and passion
A variety of life

From the feel of the wind in your face
To the smell of springs first bloom
The excitement of the young
When winters first snow comes

The simple joy of watching a squirrel
Run across a field, or waking to the song
of birds. Such great tranquility surrounds us
But so few of us truly see.

Then a great roar in the depth of forests
Natures peace so rudely disturbed
As JCB’s and chainsaws are brought to life
To wreak havoc and death to it’s splendour

Huge plumes of smoke high in the sky
As our factories and homes spew forth great filth
Nature itself left to wonder, as the seas and oceans,
polluted with humanities waste

What did she do to deserve such treatment
To watch as her children are killed and maimed
Hearing the cries of her beloved planet
go unanswered, as the plague of humans spreads.

What price will we pay for this disregard
Already nature seems more vengeful than ever
With the seas rising and wreaking havoc upon humanity
Storms lashing the landmasses we over populate
Earthquakes so powerful ripping the earth from beneath our feet

This is surely but a warning from the oldest living thing
Take better care of my child for she supports you too
Listen not to this cry, and surely we will perish
Then who will care about humanity?
The animals shall once again have their peace.

Deaths Eternal Charge

2007-06-24T19:57:00.000+01:00

Lurking in the shadows
Too afraid of the light
Waiting for our cry

Watching all the world
Coming for us one by one
Taking from us our greatest prize

Young and old
Rich and poor
None exempt from it's call
For always it claims it's prey

Something to be feared?
Or a freedom from our chains
Only when it comes
Will we know the answers to our lives

This is deaths eternal charge.

A Summers Day

2007-06-24T15:29:00.000+01:00

A break of light shining through the curtains
Woken by the sun of summer
The birds chirping and singing
Flowers in bloom, their scent in the air
Animals out playing and having fun.

Children allowed out
Playing with friends
A purity of soul
An innocence we forget.

Nice long days, weather to bask in
From dawn to dusk, time to enjoy
Relaxing by a pond, or out with friends
Summer is a joy for all.

But just as quick, dark clouds form
A storm a summer storm
With rain and thunder, lightning too
A little cooler, the temperature dropping
But nice enough still, to have that BBQ.

My Celebrity Look A Likes

2007-06-11T22:20:00.000+01:00

Faith

2007-03-21T19:27:00.000Z

There’s been a lot of publicity in the UK recently about Muslim women/girls wearing veils in public places/schools. This has been due to some high profile court cases where schools have banned girls from wearing veils, and a teacher was sacked due to her wearing of a veil in a school. In both of these cases the schools argued that the wearing of a veil in a teaching environment interferes with the teaching/learning process, as the teacher (in the case of students wearing veils) is unable to tell if they are paying attention to what is being taught etc.

Now, I fully believe that everyone is entitled to follow their own beliefs/religion whatever, but, only as long as it doesn’t break any rules/laws of this country. After all this country predominantly Christian, yet things have gone so far out of whack that it’s practically racist for us to openly admit this. It’s got to such an extent that schools are now banning traditional English celebrations in schools for things like Easter/Christmas, stopping the morning assemblies where hymns are sung, are even some councils have been following suit, all for fear of offending people of a different belief system.

Surely, rather than trying to force their beliefs on the majority of the populace, in instances such as these they should follow the rules of this country. If they don’t like these rules then of course, they can either go to a country that is predominantly of their faith, or in the instances above find a faith school to attend rather than an ‘English state run school’

I think this quote sums things up beautifully, and not just about this, but about the state of the world today: “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts” Bertrand Russell (1872 – 1970)

Job Hunt

2007-03-19T20:25:00.000Z

I've been in my new job for about four and a half months, and I've decided it was a mistake, the work itself is ok, it's just the big boss is one very annoying twat who doesn't listen to what you say, and you have to do everything exactly as he wants it done, even if that way makes no sense and will take two or three times longer than another way.

So yeah, I've had enough and have started looking for a new job, again. So far I've applied for 4 jobs, keeping my fingers crossed for a couple of them.

Windsor

2007-03-19T20:24:00.000Z

The Saturday before last we went to Windsor to see C’s friend Sara, and as she’s working at Windsor Castle she was able to get us complimentary tickets to go in. Now, what can I say about the castle, it was nice for a castle, but you don’t actually get to see that much of it, and even though the tickets were free, we both felt a bit disappointed by it, thank god we didn’t have to pay the £28 entry fee (£14 each).

After the tour of the castle, and a quick walk round the gift shops, we met up with Sara and went for a lovely meal in the King and Castle along Thames Street.

Windsor itself looked like a lovely area, with some lovely looking areas by the Thames, unfortunately we didn’t have a chance to really explore Windsor, something we’ll do next time.

If you drive to Windsor, you should really make a day of it, and not just afternoon like we did, as finding a parking space can take a while, and a lot of the car parks are on the expensive side costing almost £10 for 5 or more hours. Fortunately we parked in the King Edward Court car park, which only cost £4 for the same amount of time.

Down and Out

2007-03-19T20:21:00.000Z

A few weeks ago I was struck down with the flu virus. Now, a lot of people say they have the flu when in fact they only have a very very bad cold. But this was like nothing I’d ever had before. I had no energy for over a week, was feverish at times, going from freezing cold to burning hot in the space of milliseconds and just felt like I wanted to curl up and sleep all the time, and then there was the annoying cough.

So yes, not a very fun time for me at all, the one bonus was, I did have to stay home from work for nine days, this let me catch up on some TV/DVD viewing.

The annoying thing now though is that where I work, they include the weekends in the time you take off sick, so although I only missed seven days of work, by their reckoning I was off sick for 10 days, this means that I need to get a doctors certificate, for which the doctor will charge me £13 which I cannot claim back from work even though it’s because of work that I need the thing in the first place. What’s up with that.

Vista is here...god help us all

2007-02-03T19:42:00.000Z

Vista has arrived, after delays and a long gap from windows XP to this. What have most people got to say about it, that it's an improvement, that about sums it up, no great OS revolution, but plenty of potential problems.

Already some people have found potential flaws with the program, that given the right circumstances your computer could actually delete files or folders without your consent or knowledge. However, perhaps even more worrying than that is this little phrase in the t&c/licence agreement...

"this agreement only gives you some rights to use the software. Microsoft reserves all other rights".

Simply put, this means that you will have limited control over your computer, whilst MS will be able to do pretty much as they please with YOUR system, even going so far as to remove programs that aren't properly licensed/registered. The full story of this can be read here.

Lastly, after 2011, MS will no longer offer support for XP, which means you'll either have to upgrade to Vista, or run XP with all of it's flaws and security holes. Of course you could always do the more sensible thing, and ditch Windows completely and join the growing community of Linux users.

New Toy

2007-01-15T22:41:00.000Z

Kinda. My shiny new 80GB hard drive arrive today, so of course as soon as I got home and had eaten I had to install it, took all of about 5 minutes, however, installing WinXP took about 3 hours, well at least it's restricted to only 25GB, and that's just for gaming, should be enough for the few games I've got.

The remainder of the space is for Linux, which from now on will be my main OS for everything else, it's so quick and easy to install, and the interface is very simple and straight forward, very hassle free, quite a surprise after all the crap XP has put me through in the time I've been using it, so there we have it I'm a Linux convert.

New Arrival

2007-01-13T20:26:00.000Z

On Tuesday 9th Jan, my sister gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, they've decided to call her Amelia. Today, we finally got to see my new niece, and she is beautiful...and small, very very small, it's amazing how fast they grow.

Of course, for most the time we were there Amelia slept and slept some more was fed and then slept some more. C had personalized a couple of baby grows as gifts, which are very nice, and my sister liked very much.

New Arrival

So small and innocent
So charming with her smiles
And hugs so sweet and dear
She'll steal your heart so gently
With her precious baby ways
For love is all around you
When a baby shares your days.

Asta la VISTA Windows

2007-01-05T20:45:00.000Z

New year, new start for my computing ways. With the imminent release of Microsoft Windows Vista, I've finally decided to install and run Linux as my main OS (Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy) and to get away from the whole MS world of computing. The install was straightforward and very painless, have so far only opted for a dual boot machine, so I do still have windows XP installed, but as soon as I've backed up all my files from Windows, I will going for the full thing.

The only minor niggles with the installation was a lack of internet connection, due to out of date firmware on the router, a quick update of that and I was up and running on the web. Next, had to install codecs for 'non-free' encryption codes, MP3 MPEG etc, as they are not natively supported in Linux, going against the whole 'it's free' ethos. As with the install this was very very easy and painfree.

The only thing I still need to sort out is getting the wireless connection working, this however may never work, as my laptop has a bcm4303 wireless chipset from Broadcom, and it seems as if Broadcom are just as anti-linux as MS is, there are some 'tricks' that seem to get most people up and running with this chipset, but so far I've not had that luck, I'll keep trying and plugging away though.

All in all, Linux is just as user friendly as Windows, and I would even go as far as to easy it's an improvement, more options to control the computer than you get with Windows, a huge amount of online help/support, so far I'm impressed.

Godt Nytaar

2007-01-05T20:39:00.000Z

Or Happy New Year for those who don't speak/understand danish.

I know, tis a bit late, but you know what they say, better late than never.

Christmas and new year are well and truly behind us now, seems like a distant dream almost. Just 359 days to go until we go through it all again, not that I'm counting down the days or anything.

Poor Japanese

2006-12-21T21:04:00.000Z

You gotta feel sorry for the Japanese. It appears as if they have such a romantic impression of Paris, that when they actually get there and encounter the true Paris and Parisians, it comes as so much of a shock it can cause a psychiatric breakdown, this is apparently known as the 'Paris Syndrome' and affects a dozen or so Japanese visitors to the country each year.

Full story here.

Christmas

2006-12-02T20:21:00.000Z

All I seem to be hearing/reading at the moment, is how fed up everyone is with Christmas, why the shops have to shut for Christmas day, why is there so much rubbish on television. Then of course we get to the political correctness gone mad, where schools are banned from having nativity plays or nativity scenes for fear of offending those of other religions. Well, what about our right to celebrate Christian holidays, we do after all, live in a predominantly Christian society, but it’s almost as if that’s a taboo subject these days.

Well, even though I’m not religious, I still look forward to Christmas, to spending time with my family. That to me is what Christmas is all about. Just taking a few days to stop your busy hectic lifestyle, and spend time with your family, your loved ones. Take the time to talk to one another, enjoy the company of people you may not have seen for some time and in some cases may not see again until the following Christmas.

All this about people ‘escaping’ abroad for Christmas, have we as a society as a culture fallen so far that we cannot even stand to be around our friends families anymore, is it so horrible to have to spend just one day of the year with the shops closed. I for one actually enjoy this, can remember as a kid, opening my presents Christmas morning and then going out to play, yes play, with my friends, showing off my new toys, and just having fun on Christmas and Boxing Day. Yet, this year, just as it has been for many years, there will be people who will gladly drag their kids round the shops on Boxing Day, to you I say STOP! Let your kids enjoy this time, let them play with their new toys, their friends, you’ve got 363 other days you can go shopping, just stop for these two days, do nothing for a change, play with your children, spend time with your families, after all Christmas only comes once a year.

Two Minutes Silence

2006-11-11T12:51:00.000Z

We was out doing our shopping today at 11:00, which is when the two minute silence is held for remembrance/armistice day.

Now, the supermarket we were in was good, gave us notice and asked people to observe the silence. I'd say that about 90% of the people in the shop did, however, there was 10% that couldn't be bothered. They obviously felt it was more important to do their shopping than spend two measly mintues thinking about and remembering all those who fought and are fighting for the very freedoms we take for granted.

I felt like going up to some of them, and just saying "thank you so much for paying your respects"...arrogant sods.

Remembrance Day

2006-11-11T12:50:00.000Z

Today is Remembrance Day. As I’m sure most people know, at the 11th Hour on the 11th Day of the 11th Month there will be a two minute silence held across the nation. Giving people time to reflect and think of those who have fought and are fighting for their country, for their way of life and their freedom, which so many of us take for granted.

I bought my Poppy last week, as a sign of respect, and to show that I am very grateful for everything our soldiers do for us. However, I have been almost saddened by how few people I have actually seen wearing them, it seems that every year fewer and fewer people are prepared to wear them.

Then, this year, there has been some controversy over the traditional red Poppy, which was first sold for Remembrance Day way back in 1921. There are some people who refuse to wear it saying that it doesn’t show thanks or respect to black soldiers who fought, and some that are claiming it’s an almost religious icon, with calls for it to be treated as such (if you’ve followed the news in the UK recently, the wearing of a Christian cross is practically banned in a lot of workplaces). All these people need to stop their selfish moaning, the Poppy is a way to say thank you, to show respect for ALL those who have and all those who are fighting for their country, which is what we need to remember at this time, not start some political correctness rubbish. I for one am proud to wear a poppy, and will do so every year until I’m dead or until they stop selling them.

The whole reason for the red poppy is that it was the only/first form of ‘life’ to grow on the battlefields of France after WWI. The full story of the poppy and its association with Remembrance Day can be read here.

So to those of you out there who are moaning and complaining, I say grow up, shut up, and just think how the world could have turned out if all those brave men and women hadn’t stood up for YOUR freedom.

Cold Winters Morning

2006-11-07T20:22:00.000Z

Cold winter mornings,
Here for those early starts,
Huddled over your first cup of tea
Urging the warmth to flow through your fingers
As the heating creaks to life
Wrapping up warm before you leave for work
With scarves and gloves, several layers to keep warm
As you make your journey to work
On this cold winter morning.

Bonfire Night

2006-11-06T20:26:00.000Z

On Saturday we went to my sisters to partake of food and watch some fireworks, gave me and C a chance to see and play with my nephew Thomas…but he was far more interested in playing with my sisters friends little girl (she’d invited them round as well).

Surprisingly, the fireworks didn’t bother Thomas one bit, but the little girl was scared of them and stayed inside either cuddling up to her father or hiding behind the sofa, Thomas kept going up to her and saying “Come outside”, as he couldn’t understand why she was frightened/scared.

But then, at one point we were all a little worried as first one firework went up…kind of, flew over the top of the fence and flew lowly across the road, we then heard a car beeping its horn…obviously and thankfully it had just missed hitting the car. Then the next one didn’t fly into the sky at all, it stayed on the ground and blew up, at that point we were all more than a little concerned about these fireworks bought from Tesco’s, and so the rest of them remained unused.

Apart from that we had a good evening, at one point Thomas and his friend dragged me and C to the spare room to play with them. I tried to get Thomas to say girls are stinky, but he simply laughed and replied,
“Boys and Girls are best, mum’s and dad’s are stinky winky”
This had me and C laughing. Out of the mouths of babes, as they say.

Now, some people seem to have no understanding of how dangerous fireworks can be, as on Sunday when I went to pick C up from work, I noticed that from the balcony of one of the top flats across the way from us, someone was firing fireworks, no only was this irresponsible, but it was highly dangerous and stupid. It would have taken all of one firework to fly into the flat for a big disaster to have happened. Thankfully nothing did happen.

New Gadget

2006-11-06T20:22:00.000Z

Well, seeing as I lost my MP3 player, and have been jealous of C’s new phone, and that the price plan I’m on with T-Mobile was only good for calls during ‘off-peak’ hours. I decided to get a new phone….on a new provider, this time with 3. The phone I’ve got is the Sony Ericcson K800i.

This is the first phone from Sony to carry their Cybershot branding as it has a 3.2megapixel camera with Xenon flash included, and it’s great. Had a chance to use it on Saturday, when we went to my sisters for fireworks, took a few pictures, and they all came out pretty good.

I’m still discovering all the features, and things I can do with the phone, and the services provided by 3, which so far have been great.

New Gadget Where Art Thou

2006-11-03T21:19:00.000Z

I’m rather annoyed and angry at myself at the moment. You see, before starting this new job I treated myself to Philips 6GB MP3 player, for those tedious train journeys, and it was a lovely little player, with some really comfortable earphones. However, the other night when I got home, I went to take it out my jacket pocket as it needed charging, and voila, it wasn’t there. Either someone stole it from my pocket, or more likely, it fell out at some point on the train, when I was either putting on or taking off my jacket. So, yeah, I’m very angry with myself for this.

New Job

2006-11-03T21:18:00.000Z

Sorry for the interruption folks, normal service should resume shortly.

Where was I, ah yes, we had a nice break in Denmark, during my two week break from work. While out there C found out she had got the job she’d gone for in Woolworths. So YAY!, we have more money coming in, this is very good especially as Xmas is fast approaching.

The following week she went to work, just knew something like that would happen, I get two weeks off from work, and she starts work. Ah well.

Anyway, I’ve been in my new job for two weeks now, and so far it’s been good…if a little boring. The first week saw me mostly reading through the corporate plans/guidance, staff code etc, and reading the procedure notes for some of the work I’ll be doing. So, whilst it was interesting, it was also boring. The journey to and from work isn’t as bad as I feared, door to door takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes, whereas I was thinking it would be two hours. However, I have now found out that in the autumn next year, we’re actually moving offices, this should make the journey a little quicker each day. Though everyone keeps saying that there doesn’t actually seem to be enough room for all the people they want to move to the new building, sounds quite typical of the public sector.

The people are nice enough, though the layout of the office isn’t so good, and makes it hard to really have a good ‘chat’ with people. The building itself overlooks the Thames from the Southbank, and as we’re on the 7th floor it has quite a nice view, though my desk in situated to the back of the office and I have no windows, probably a good thing considering I’m not so keen on heights.

The walk from work to Westminster Station of an evening is quite nice, especially seeing The Houses Of Parliament all lit up, though I’m sure I’ll tire of it soon enough and start moaning about the walk each night.

Long Time

2006-10-17T15:58:00.000+01:00

It's been a while since I last blogged, and to be quiet honest I'm not entirely wher to start. Let's see....

I'm currently in the middle of a two week 'break' from work. Finished my old job on the 6th October, and start the new one next week, so I'm just at home relaxing and unwinding, recharging the batteries as they say.

The frist weekend was quite a rush, as on the friday I'da taken C to the airport, and then on saturday I went myself. We were in Denmark for the christening of her friends baby, t'was a nice enough ceremony I guess, but well, I'm not a religious person, and add the fact I couldn't understand a thing the priest woman thingy said, well it was a little long and boring. The meal afterwards was nice enough, and gave us a chance to spend some time with C's friends, and their babies.

The Hoff God

2006-09-17T19:48:00.000+01:00

On Saturday we ventured over lakeside, a local shopping center. Whilst there we remembered that the god himself, Mr David Hasselhoff was going to be there for a book signing. So of course we had to wait around for the man himself to turn up.

This took longer than expected as he was coming from another shopping center and he got stuck in traffic, why the frell he didn't use KITT I'll never know, anyway, as we were waiting I kept overhearing people asking "Who is he, what's he from?" It really makes you feel old to realise that someone you grew up watching on TV is unkown to the youngsters of today. Depressing that was.

Anyway, he turned up about an hour late in the end, C got some great pics of him, we were standing so close we nearly got to shake his hand. It was kind of weird seeing him in real life, didn't look as old as he does in those Pipex commercials and he seems taller in real life than on TV. The only mistake they made, IMO, is not playing the Knight Rider theme tune when he arrived.

West Ham United

2006-08-31T23:16:00.000+01:00

I ish a West Ham fan, and right now, I'm ecstatic. We seem to have pulled off the coup of the decade, signing two of the greatest young players in the world today, Argentinians Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.

The only question over this is, just what did this deal entail, especially as MSI are the managing agents for the players, and they did try a take over of West Ham last season.

But, whatever happens, it's fantastic news for West Ham.

Tea healthier than water??

2006-08-24T12:04:00.000+01:00

It seems us english folk have had it right all these years with our love of a good cuppa. Scientists have found that Tea is as good as water when it comes to needing to rehydrate, and that there may be other benefits because of the 'contents' in tea.

Tea healthier than water

Inconsiderate twat's

2006-08-24T10:38:00.000+01:00

Monday morning we woke up to a wondrous sight. All the twats that had been parking around the grass edge on the access roads in our flats had been clamped. Notices had gone up the Friday before informing everyone that clamping would be enforced, and numerous letters had been sent out to all residents in the previous several months informing people of the parking rules within the flats. But a number of people decided that they were above the rules.

Well, now they’re not. About half a dozen or so cars were clamped, and since then the area has been clear of cars…mostly. It would seem as though one or two people haven’t quite got the message. Well if those people continue to park where they are, I may just have to report them to the clamping company.

Every single person their should know the rules, one allocated space per flat with no visitor parking within the grounds. Whilst that maybe sounds harsh, there is a public car park opposite where we live.

Got my parking permit on Tuesday, as they will eventually be clamping anyone in a parking bay who is not displaying a permit. The letter that came with it once again explained the rules regarding parking within the grounds. It also went on about people having put up their own satellite dishes, this is totally unnecessary as there is a communal dish. The letter basically said that anyone who still has their dish up, which again is a breach of the lease, after the 25/08/06, that it will be removed by them, with the cost of the removal added to that persons annual service charge.

It appears as though the management company, CPM, has finally decided to get tough with those residents who blatantly flout the rules. So for once I will say well done to CPM.

Cars

2006-08-24T09:30:00.000+01:00

On Sunday we went to see Cars, another wonderful film from Pixar. The animation was fantastic, as you’d expect from them. And the story itself was pretty good, though the ‘love story’ in the middle of the film was perhaps a bit boring for the younger children (my nephew got a bit fidgety at this point according to my sister).

*****SPOILERS*****

Basically, it’s about a rookie race car, Lightning McQueen, who in the last race ties for the lead with two other cars in the race and the championship. One’s the retiring champ, The King, the other’s a car who has always come second to the champ, Thunder. Anyway, to decide the overall winner their will be a race off between the three cars in a weeks time. After acting a little selfishly, Lightning’s pit crew quit, and we find out he’s embarrassed by his major sponsor and dreams of taking the place of The King. He set’s off in his truck to San Francisco, but the truck gets tired and accidentally Lightning rolls out the back whilst asleep.

He ends up in this little ghost town on Route 66, that’s been bypassed by an Interstate, where he’s arrested for speeding and damage etc, gets sentenced by the local Judge, and the local lawyer suggests he repair the main road through the town. Eventually he makes friends with the locals and even falls in love with the Porsche. Finding out along the way what it’s like to have friends, and that one of the town folk is in fact an ex race car himself, the Hudson Hornet, but that he’s pretending otherwise and who feels bitter at the way he was treated by his sponsors after a race accident. There are some really funny scenes whilst Lightning is in this town, with most the ‘comic relief’ coming from Rusty, an old tow truck who likes nothing better than to go ‘Tractor Tipping’ at night. Just as Lightning realises he’s made some real friends in this town, the world catches up with him, as news crews and his truck come to town. He’s then taken to the race-off.

At the race off, Lightning keeps thinking back to the town and the woman he loves, his mind not on the race, where he’s left for dead by the other two. With Thunder commenting to his crew that Lightning’s not ‘in the race’. Just as things look their worst for Lightning he hears the voice of Hudson, who’s at the track with almost all the town acting as his pit crew, realising his friends are there to help him he’s spurred on, putting in some flying laps to catch up to the others. On the final lap of the race, Thunder, fed up with always being second, rams The King off the track, causing him to roll over and crash out of the race, as this happens Lightning steals the lead, as he nears the finish line he sees what’s happened to The King, and remembers back to what Hudson had told him earlier. He slams on his breaks, stopping just short of the finish line, and sits their idle until Thunder storms across the line to take the win. Lightning then goes back to The King and pushes him to the finish. Everyone goes wild for Lightning with the commentators stating that ‘that’s some real racing’. As Thunder takes the stage to claim his trophy he’s booed by everyone and quickly scurries off to hide, whilst Lightning is offered what he’s always dreamed off. However, he now knows what it’s like to have real friends and decides to stick by his sponsor. We then cut back to the Town, where we see a revival, as cars are coming and going as Lightning started a rumour that he was setting up his head quarters there.

************************

A good film, well worth going to see if you like any of the other Pixar films. Though I would say it’s more of a Kid’s film than some of the others.

Birthday

2006-08-24T09:28:00.000+01:00

T’was my birthday last Thursday, had a nice day, lots of lovely prezzies, CD’s, DVD’s, Clothes and a Book. Everything I’d asked for (except for the clothes), plus one thing I wasn’t quite expecting that day.

We went out with my parents for lunch, to TGI Friday’s which they kindly paid for, and whilst there I received a call from the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, offering me one of the jobs I’d applied for. Whilst not the better of the two jobs I’d applied for, it’s still excellent news as it pays roughly £5k more a year and is a step in the right direction as far as my career is concerned. Now, if only I could win the lottery ;-)

All in all t’was a pretty good birthday.

Ruined weekend.

2006-08-14T08:53:00.000+01:00

It’s Monday morning, and here I am back in work when I should be in Denmark with C, enjoying myself and relaxing, but alas, that aint gonna happen.

So, here I am. Hopefully they’ll let me have next Monday and Tuesday off instead, just really didn’t want to be home alone today and tomorrow, the weekend was almost bad enough and fairly miserable. Though in all fairness it could have been a lot worse.

Saturday I went to a place called Timbuk2’s with my sister and nephew. It’s basically a big kid’s play area thing, with lots of different climbing frame, slides and stuff, and Thomas absolutely loved it. He just ran around, climbing up, jumping in the ball pits going down the slides, a complete and utter little nutter, and of course with my sister pregnant she needed someone to go with her to watch Thomas, make sure he didn’t get hurt. Well, I enjoyed it as well, though it was quite hot in there, and by then end of the two hours you get, I was very hot. After that, we went back to my sisters, and I read some Thomas the Tank Engine books to my nephew (after he insisted), and he let me have one of his ‘Cars’ ice lollies before settling down to watch Bob the Builder. After having a bit of his birthday cake that was left from the week before, I decided to head home, at which point Thomas became sad saying “No, Tony” and hanging his head, kids, so sweet and cute.

Yesterday, went to the gym in the morning, for the final time at Bannatynes, our membership there has finally come to an end, and next Monday we start at a new gym, a council owned one, that has got the good Lifefitness cardio and weight machines. After lunch I went to my parents for dinner as I just didn’t want to be home alone. Whilst there, I sort of talked my parents into getting Sky TV again, as they’re offering free broadband to their subscribers, and with the base Sky subscription only costing £15, it would be the same as they’re currently paying for just an internet connection. After thinking about for a bit, thought it would make sense for ourselves as well, so I’ve registered my interest, and we’ll see what happenes.

Critical Security Alert

2006-08-10T09:26:00.000+01:00

To say I’m more than a little worried this morning is an understatement, I’m worried as hell due to the ‘critical’ security alert.

Some 18 people were apparently arrested early this morning following months of work to stop a terrorist plot to blow up flights leaving the UK in mid flight. Due to this, all airlines have effectively banned hand baggage being taken on planes, everything HAS to be checked in, not even allowed to take books or newspapers on board.

So far this morning, just about every flight is delayed, with cancellations expected as the day goes on, and Heathrow shut to all incoming flights, and German airline Lufthansa cancelling all flights to the UK until at least 12:00pm today.

This security alert is expected to continue for a few days at least, so yeah, I’m worried.

Chinese Anger Bar

2006-08-07T12:09:00.000+01:00

A bar in China has opened where you are allowed to 'beat up' the staff as a way to vent your anger, even going as far as being allowed to ask the staff to 'dress up' as the person you want to beat up.

Chinese Anger Bar

An interesting idea, though I'm not sure I'd want to be one of the staff, regardless of the protective gear and training.

Pirates

2006-08-02T22:05:00.000+01:00

At the weekend we saw Pirates Of The Carribbean: Dead Mans Chest.

My sister and brother-in-law saw this while we were in denmark, and didn’t think too much of it, so wasn’t expecting it to be fantastic. But I was wrong, was a great film, rarely letting up.

All the characters from the first film were in it (and yes, that included Barbossa – but he wasn’t back until right at the end, which leads to the third instalment). It picked up quite well from the first film, tying into it nicely, and adding more to the mythology of the series.

Davy Jones was done really well as was the entire crew of the Flying Duthcman, great effects, and perfectly acted/voiced by Bill Nighy.

The action scenes sword fights were as good as if not better than the first film, with one in particular standout moment, when Will, Jack and Norrington are having a sword fight on a water mill wheel that has broke free from the mill and is rolling around the island.

It was great fun and will keep you entertained throughout, well worth seeing especially if you liked the first one.

Now I just want to know when the third instalment is out.

Holiday

2006-08-02T21:58:00.000+01:00

This is more than a little overdue so here goes.

Had a lovely break in Denmark, spending a few days with C’s parents on Roemoe, a little island of the west coast of DK. No really much to do there, but it was very scenic. The beaches, and yes there are beaches in DK, went on as far as you could see in all directions, and according to her dad, when the tide is completely out, you can actually drive from this island to another one.

Anyway, as I said had a lovely few days there, saw a little more of DK, we went to a little village where one of the crown princes has a palace, a gift to him on his 9th birthday (that’s one hell of a prezzie). Very beautiful village, cobbled streets and all.

Alas, we didn’t have time to go to a Viking museum in Ribe, which is one of the oldest towns in DK, and very much reminded of the museum village in Aarhus.

After those few days, we took the train back to Aarhus, after stopping of to see some pretty huge statues of men sitting down, and just relaxed for the rest of week, was too damn hot to do much anything else.

Cars

2006-07-05T08:14:00.000+01:00

After my post the other day about perhaps wantng a new car, I got thinking about my 'car history'. In the 9 years I've held my licence, I've had 6 different cars, that actually surprised me, especially considering I had one of them for 3+ years. So it would seem that I'm something of a 'car addict'. Oh well.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend?

2006-07-05T08:10:00.000+01:00

Tonight, perhaps for the first time, every England football fan will be cheering on the French. This is quite unprecedented, as pretty much all the world knows there is quite the rivalry between us and France. But due to circumstances, tonight in the World Cup France face Portugal, who all of England now hate with a vengenance, and in particular one of their players who we will all be wishing the worst for.

So for this one night.....COME ON FRANCE!!!!

allofmp3

2006-07-03T21:59:00.000+01:00

Further to my past posts regarding this website, the BPI, British Polyphonic INdustry, has been given the go ahead to sue/take the site to court in their bid to prove it is an illegal site. Oh dear, there goes the chance to get cheap priced songs.

Full Story

Time for a new car?

2006-07-03T21:49:00.000+01:00

Maybe. Especially as I've had my second accident in less than a year in this one. On Friday, driving to work, some tosser wasn't pay attention to what he was doing, as I've braked at a roundabout, after slowly moving forward, the guy behind me hasn't stopped, and ended up bumping into me. The guy then got into a bit of a fit, trying to blame it on me for braking to quickly, uh-huh. So then we've looked at the damage and he's said we should just go down Halfords and he'd buy some spray paint to re-do the rear bumper, yeah right. After about the fourth time of asking I finally got his details for the insurance claim.

So as I said, it may well be time to look for a different car.....maybe.

Memory Lane

2006-06-23T11:22:00.000+01:00

The past couple of day's I've been browsing around a website calles 80's cartoons. It's fantastic, hearing the old theme tunes to the toons I watched as a kid, those were the days.

Futurama - It's ALIVE!!!

2006-06-23T11:18:00.000+01:00

Futurama is coming back people. Yes, you heard me right, the fantastic cartoon from the twisted mind of Groening that was cancelled by Fox is coming back.

Comedy Central has ordered 13 new episodes. The original cast have all agreed to come back to do the voices.

Full Report.

My home away from home.

2006-06-12T13:58:00.000+01:00

Many moons ago I was a regular poster on the Star Wars forums, but things change, people move on, and acceptable behaviour is re-categorized. This simply means that I've stayed clear of the sw forums for a long long time, which I never realised I missed posting on...until now.

You see, the past week and a bit I've been posting on the SFX forums, nice friendly people, almost as mad and crazy as myself, though so far I've considerably toned down from my SW days, not sure if my old 'persona' would be acceptable on SFX. But I've enjoyed it, as I said nice crazy people, and as the old BT add's said, 'It's good to talk'

Summer, bah humbug

2006-06-12T13:50:00.000+01:00

I hate and despise the summer months. You might think that rather mean and miserable of me, but it's the truth, and here are my reasons why.

1. It get's so damned hot, and it's an uncomfortbale heat, making you feel clamy and sticky all day long. And bear in mind, that in our flat, the temp tends to be a good 5 or so degrees warmer than outside.

2. The sun. It shines for far too many hours for my liking, from early morning until very late at night. Compeltely screwing with your internal clock/systems.

3. Sleeping becomes something of a challenge. Even at night, with the window open, it's still bloody hot, your uncomfortable, head sweating on the pillow. This all means you wake up as tired as when you first went to bed.

4. People. Simply put, the slightest bit of sun, and in this country, people rush out to 'tan'. Soaking up all those lovely cancer causing rays. It's fucking dangerous people, especially between about 11:00 and 15:00. Stay clear of the sun, or do you want to spend the last 10 or so years of your life in agony.

5. Hayfever. It's a god damned nuisance to say the least. Sneezing from first thing in the morning, to last thing at night, and for the last couple of years, I can add a constant runny nose, and itchy eyes whenever I venture outside.

So, yeah, all in all...summer bad. Come on winter.

Bannatyne = BannaCRAP!!

2006-06-07T08:20:00.000+01:00

Think I posted on here about Bannatyne some time ago. Well, quick low down, last August we joint our local Bannatyne gym, not too far, and when being shown round it looked big and impressive, so we signed up, paying £99 a month for a joint membership.

After the first few months I realised just how bad the place was. It's a disorganised mess, which is rarely cleaned (at least it doesn't look like it), the shower area in the men's changing room is quite disgusting. And as for the actual equipment, well, it's in serious need of updating.

Now, earlier this year they replaced their Lifefitness carido stuff with Technogym. It looked nice and impressive, each maching having it's own TV screen, all new and shiny, but since it was installed...well, it's crap. The cross-trainers, which I use most, are very very very poor when compared to LF. If you go at any real pace on them, the things rock side to side quite badly, that's if you can get comfortable on it in the first place. Most the time it just feels like the damned machine is trying to throw you off.

Anyway, that was the final straw, finally decided to hand in our notice, which for some annoying reason has to be three months, anyway did that on 02/05/06, then received a letter from them saying the usual crap, and stating our membership would expire on 31/08/06. Hmmm, strange, I could have sworn three months from 02/05/06 would take us to 02/08/06, so I wrote back stating this, and law and behold they have decided to be generous and let us go on the date we joined, so as of 13/08/06 we're no longer tied to Bannacrap, and will look forward to a new gym.

Oh Lordi

2006-06-01T15:54:00.000+01:00

It seems some Finnish magazine/newspapers ran pictures of Mr Lordi himself without his make-up. This has caused public outrage as the band have stated that they never want to be seen in public without their make-up on, for photo shoots etc.

Well, for whatever reason this magazine did publish such photo's, and now it's finding itself in an embarrasing situation, after some companies cancelled their advertising with them, and readers have been cancelling their subscriptions.

It seems that one country in this world does have some respect for the privacy of their 'celebrities', go Finland.

Full Story.

Parcelforce?

2006-05-31T14:07:00.000+01:00

Nope, they need to be renamed ParcelFARCE!!

After four and a half days of their complete failure to collect two packages from either our home address or my work address, I got fed up with waiting and took the damn things to their main depot in Romford myself.

Their excuse for their complete failure? The drivers weren't given any contact details for getting in touch with myself to find out exactly where we were. How bloody stupid are they.

God knows how long it will take them to deliver the thing. The only thing I know for sure is that I will never use them for anything else in the future.

My Old Man's A Dustman...

2006-05-31T14:03:00.000+01:00

...well, he's not relly, but he is old ;-)

Having just celebrated his 60'th brithday this past week, so Saturday night we were all treated to a meal at Top Meadow golf club/restaurant. Close family only mind, so all in all there were about 25 of us, including my aunt and uncle who live in Peterbrough.

The place had a wonderful view over some lovely fields, and where me and C were sitting, we could see it all as the sun started to set, and it was absolutely gorgeous, C kept wanting to run outside to take pictures, but alas we had a meal to eat.

The food was really nice, though the service was a little bit lacking. Weeks and weeks ago we’d had to place our orders for the meal from a set menu, however come the night, things were a little chaotic to say the least, as no one could really remember what they had ordered, and seeing as my mum was the only with the list, well you can imagine, food was arriving, and shouts were going out for someone to claim their food. Apart from that, as I said, the food itself was really nice. A bit later on in the evening and they had singer their, and a smallish dance floor, but we did manage to get in a couple of dances before calling it a night at around 23:00.

The flat that time forgot

2006-05-26T12:47:00.000+01:00

Or so it seems after Parcelforce have failed to collect a package from our home in the past two days. Ok, I know we live on a newish development, and the address doesn't always show up, but jesus, they could at least have the decency to phone and say we couldn't find the address etc. But no, nothing from them. Don't think I'll ever use parcelforce for anything in the future.

Angels & Demons

2006-05-23T12:24:00.000+01:00

Well here's a surprise. Sony has decided to develop the thrid Dan Brown book and the first to star Robert Langdon, Angels & Demons, into a film.

Full story can be read here.

I must admit, I much prefered Angles & Demons to Da Vinci Code, though they are both very good books A&D just had that something extra. Maybe it was because it had a faster pace and a bit more action.

The Da Vinci Code

2006-05-21T17:00:00.000+01:00

We went we saw, we were impressed.  After having read and heard about all the criticism the Da Vinci Code had received I was more than a little concerned when going to see it, but well, the film was good/very good.  It does not deserve any of the criticism it has received in the press.

Where to start, well, first the book.  Now, it was quite some time ago when I read it, but from what I can remember of the book, the film is very faithful, so if you liked the book you will like the film.  The casting is very good, everyone gives a good performance, but I would say Paul Bettany does a wonderful job of bringing Silas to life on screen, he is exactly as I pictured from the book.  Jean Reno is excellent as Captain Fache, once again proving himself to be a great actor and Sir Ian Mckellan does a masterful job of bringing Sir Leigh Teabing to the big screen, whilst Tom Hanks and Audrey Tatou do good jobs in their roles, but then I’ve never been a big fan of Mr Hanks, feeling he’s a good actor but not quite up there with the true greats.

Now for the film, it is visually wonderful, and some of the best scenes in it are when you see the visualisation of Robert Langdon solving the puzzles laid out before him, a masterful piece of cinema, it’s fast paced at the start from the death at the Luvre to Robert Langdon and Sophie Nevue on the run from the police trying to solve the mystery, all the while Silas hotly on their trail.  The film really picked up when the seek the aid of Sir Leigh Teabing, and the film continues it’s pace almost until the end, but of course, just like the book, the film slows towards the end.

Overall this was a very good film, well worth going to see, especially if you liked the book.

Star Trek Auction

2006-05-19T13:58:00.000+01:00

Later this year Christies will be holding an auction for props and memoribila from all 5 shows and all 10 films.

If only I had the spare money, tis a once in a lifetime chance to own a piece of TV history from one of, if not the greatest tv/film franchises ever.

Well...actually, it's not the greatest film franchise ever, that of course is Bond.

Busy Busy Busy...Work Work Work

2006-05-19T13:56:00.000+01:00

It’s been a little while since my last update, I guess I just don’t always know what to write, plus the fact the last week and a bit has been very very hectic at work. And seeing as how most my posts happen when I’m at work, I just haven’t had the time.

Yes I know, I could always post after work, but by then I’m usually too tired, and just want to crash in front of the TV or something, and not have to think about things. Personally, I think my brain has an auto shut off at about 16:30 each day, after that, I just can’t seem to think straight.

Anyway, tomorrow we’re off to see the Da Vinci Code, was looking forward to it, but now, well, after hearing some of the reviews, I’m a little more cautious about it, especially as it’s two and a half hours long. I’ll post my ‘review’ of it the day after.

Which superhero are you?

2006-05-09T18:52:00.000+01:00

Well...this is my result.

You are SUPERGIRL
Lean, muscular and feminine.
Honest and a defender of the innocent.

Supergirl

85%
Superman

75%
Spider-Man

70%
Robin

67%
Green Lantern

65%
Batman

65%
Catwoman

50%
The Flash

50%
Wonder Woman

45%
Hulk

45%
Iron Man

30%

Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...

Not sure what to make of that. On one hand I'm beautiful, strong, can fly, have many many many super powers...on the other I'm a girl...hmmmmmmm.

The Best Fictional Book

2006-05-07T20:12:00.000+01:00

It has got to be the Bible.

So full of intrigue, backstabing, death, affairs, magic etc.
And who wrote it....Judas of course, for his daughter, cos they didn't have anything else to do back then, I mean, no fucking television, how boring. So one day Judas decides to write a book for his daughter to give her something to do on those lonely nights.

Well, that's my take on things anyway ;-)

Google finds the truth

2006-05-04T13:04:00.000+01:00

What the hell am I talking about, it's simple, go to google.com and simply type in liar, and there as the first search result is the truth of it all.

Science....Fact?

2006-05-03T19:37:00.000+01:00

The world of sci-fi took a step closer to reality, with the publication of papers in one of the UK Royal Society's scientific journals.

They claim that a 'cloaking device' is in fact possible and not simply fiction, for the full details read this.

I find this quite cool, but also a little worrying, there are way too many people in the world who would use such technology for ill reasons. Though, of course the actual technology is far far far far of.

A Creative Blank

2006-05-02T11:39:00.000+01:00

I like to write poetry, and for a while last year I was doing reasonably well, with my creative flow...well, flowing. But now, for whatever reason, I just can't seem to get back into the swing of it, there's something missing. I've tried several times putting pen to paper, but to no avail, I just don't have that 'spark' that I need, hell, even after spending roughly four hours at the airport last week didn't help...*sighs* ah well.

Star Trek is Dead.......

2006-04-21T11:07:00.000+01:00

Long live Star Trek.

In case you’re wondering what I’m talking about, it’s the welcome news I’ve just read on Dark Horizons, that Paramount is handing over ST to J.J. Abrams for the eleventh film in the franchise. Abrams, most famous for the hit TV series Lost and Alias, has just directed MI:III, which is currently receiving good reviews. Perhaps this is just the man to re-invent the franchise.

According to the report, which can be read here, Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, the two people most trekkies blame for the franchise’s demise, will NOT be involved in the new film.

Although I’m pleased that ST will be coming back, there’s a part of me that thinks they should have waited another year or so. Though I suppose as they’re aiming for a 2008 release it will be a few more years, but still, that’s only going to be about a 3 year gap. Not really long enough for fans to forget how bad the franchise had become in it’s dying days.

The worlds most expensive sandwich

2006-04-10T15:33:00.000+01:00

This sandwich will cost you £85, or roughly $148, or 913DKK. That better be one seriously good sarnie. Mind you, reading those ingredients, it sure sounds like it would be...but personally, I'd much rather have a good old fashioned chip butty. ;-)

Unsettling events

2006-04-10T11:35:00.000+01:00

Things have been a little strange at work over the last few days….to say the least. I work at the hospital in Hornchurch where, Cheryl Moss, a nurse for some 17 years, was murdered last Thursday. To say it frightened people is an understatement, most were completely shocked by the events, not just because it happened where we work, but because a lot of people use the park, go over there with their children on their days off etc, and of course I was no different. My sister quite often goes over that park with her two year old son Thomas, and to know something like that has happened there…well, it’s quite unsettling.

There was a major police presence on Thursday and Friday of last week, monitoring/recording when people came and went from the site, I think it helped ease some people’s fears. I think the strangest thing about it all was seeing the press gathered around the gates, it was truly like something out of a film or TV show. Dozens of press officers, with their pads, recording devices, TV cameras. Apparently some of the press were ‘bothering’ members of staff, trying to get that ‘exclusive’ report. That to me was the most unsettling thing, seeing this invasion of privacy, the lack of respect the press have for people’s lives. Yes, this was a big story, but people, the staff were in shock over what had happened, it was almost surreal, not quite believing that it could and had happened right here.

Thankfully, the police have arrested a ‘suspect’ and he has been charged with murder, and will be appearing in court on July 17th at the old bailey.

Man charged

SOCA

2006-04-04T14:00:00.000+01:00

Yesterday saw the official launch of the new SOCA, Serious and Organised Crime Agency. Basically, the UK's answer to America's FBI. Supposedly set up to tackle the Mr Big's of the criminal world, and to work with international agencies to help stop drug/people trafficking.

What has shocked me about this, is the amount of people, british citizens, seemingly oposed to the new non-police crime agency. Personaly, I believe this agency is a good thing, at the moment we have squabling between the various forces when there's a 'national' crime, or when a crime crosses borders, there's a lack of forces sharing information, hence the various mistakes that have had disastrous consequences in recent years, and finally because they are a non-police crime agency, there's a hope that they'll be able to do things that perhaps the police cannot currently do because of all the beuracratic red tape.

Films

2006-04-04T13:53:00.000+01:00

I finally got round to seeing the War of the Worlds remake. Not really sure I want to say much more than that….it was such a big disappointment, I was really expecting something truly fantastic, but it never happened. Hell, the original was better…..and that’s not really saying much as even the original film isn’t great.

On a better note, we watched Lord Of War at the weekend, a much better film. Although, I was left disappointed that the film jumped from Nicholas Cage's character being a nobody to this big international gun runner. I would have liked to see how he rose up to that stage, but apart from that it was an excellent film, well acted and directed with a good sotryline. Though it probably helped that it was based on 'actual events'.

Simpsons Film

2006-04-03T19:51:00.000+01:00

It's finally been anounced, the Simpsons, quite possibly the greatest TV creation ever, will hit the big screen in July 2007...in the US. For the full story, click here

MP3

2006-03-28T21:56:00.000+01:00

After being completely fed up with the likes of itunes, MSN music, and all the other MP3 sites, due to the poor quality of songs, the drm's they impose and the still high prices...I thought I might as well go back to buying CD's.

Well....I was wrong, after reading a report on the BBC website about DRM, they mentioned what I now think of as one of the greatest MP3 sites out there, AllofMP3. It's fantastic. no DRM and ridiculously low prices. I'm talking about paying approx $2 for an album at 320kps in MP3 format. And that's the other thing, you can chose what format you want the song in, MP3, WMA, OGG etc, and what quality you want.

I can't praise them enough..congratulations guys/gals/monkeys. Check it out.

Computer Gaming Woes

2006-03-28T12:11:00.000+01:00

To my utter disappointment, I’ve found out one of the computer games I got for Christmas, X3: Reunion, wont run on my laptop….it’s not powerful enough, dag nam it. Spose that serves me right for getting a laptop instead of a desktop, but personally..I like my laptop, it’s nice and small, and apart from not being able to run that game, I’ve never had any compatability problems before.

So, instead I’ve gone out and bought myself X2: The Threat, as it’s older it has no problems running on my laptop. It’s a pretty good game…if you liked Elite/Elite II…which I was a huge fan of, it’s just a shame it takes so long to earn decent money and buy the better ships/weapons.

I’m just concerned about the other two games I’ve yet to try, should be ok though, as they don’t require quite as high a spec machine as X3 does.

Jury Service - Week 2

2006-03-14T19:00:00.000Z

Well....it's all over, we have been released from Jury Service after only two days of our second week. And due to a muck up with the answerphone system, I thought I had to go in today, but actually we weren't required...ah well, managed to spend my £5 daily allowance.

MS Trials

2006-03-13T22:14:00.000Z

Further to my 'testing' of Microsofts Live Mail and Live Messenger, I'm now also testing IE7.

At first glance, it's an improvement over IE6, simply because it has proper tabbed browsing, and seems to support more 'code' than previously. The code for my blog layout never loaded properly in IE6, in IE7 it does. Apart from that, not too sure I like the layout of it...but I'm sure, as with most things, after a while I'll get use to it.

Jury Service - Week 1

2006-03-10T19:49:00.001Z

Well…what can I say to sum up what happened this week, one word springs to mind…farce!.
But, let’s break it down day by day…not that there are actually many days of actual Jury Service to report, as all in all, this week I, and everyone else on Jury Service at this court, were only required in for two days, Monday and Wednesday., So…

Day 1, Monday – Arrived at 08:45, a few people already there waiting, by 09:20 most of the ‘week 1’ jurors have arrived, Jury officer introducers herself, does a role call to ensure we’re all there, then plays a video showing the role of the juror and what will happen if you’re asked to be a juror on a case. Then the café manager gives his speech on how the café works, and how to use our ‘smart’ cards with the £5 daily allowance on, so by about 10:30 or so, all introductions are complete and that’s it…..we’re just left sitting and waiting and waiting and waiting, get released for an hour at lunch time, come back at 14:00 and again just sit there waiting, by this time I’ve read the book I brought with me, and am now half way through one of the books I bought at lunch time, brain is starting to melt…at 15:30 the jury officer comes back in, apologises for the long waits, and then states we’re all released, but that we need to phone the answer phone service and see if we’re required the following day. Phone some time after 17:00, Week 1 jurors are not required on Tuesday. Good start to the week so far….not.

Day 2, Wednesday – After phoning the answer phone service Tuesday evening, week 1 jurors are required in on Wednesday, week 2 jurors are released from jury service. Get in at about 09:30, sit somewhere different today, hoping they’ll be friendlier jurors who will actually talk to people, and sure enough, they are. Have a nice little chat with several people, and then watch another great farce unfold. A court official enters the jury assembly room, asks if the jury for court 4 is there, a group of people get up from the far table and walk over to the official, apparently two jurors are missing, about 5 minutes later another juror comes in and joins them, and now 1 person is missing. Overhear the court official saying something about the person being ill, and not being able to make it in so they’re dismissed..this is at about 10:15, so they all go to the café to spend they’re allowance…great amusement to us watching, giving running commentary on what everyone is buying, seeing people leaving with 10 bars of kit-kats, several crème eggs…quite possibly the highlight of the day.

Around 10:50’ish, another court official comes in, and calls out names to go up to a court, I’m amongst them, some action at last. We’re taken up to the court waiting room…waiting, waiting, waiting, at about 11:30 the official comes back out, says there’s a slight delay and that we can go and have a drink or something and come back in 15 minutes or so. We do, and we return and wait for another 10 mins, then finally we’re taken into the court, lined up, we’re all thinking this is it, gonna actually do something finally. Then the Judge speaks, says that no Jury is required for this case, and there will never need to be a jury for it, apologises for making us wait around so much and then dismisses us, free to go home.

Phone the number that evening, not required on Thursday, phone again Thursday evening, not required for Friday. So back to work for me. Hopefully we’ll see some action next week….if we’re required.

Civic Duty

2006-03-05T20:52:00.000Z

Tomorrow I start two weeks of Jury Service. A little nervous about it to be honest, not sure what to expect.

The people in work I've talked to who have done jury service before all seemed to have enjoyed it...as long as they got on a case, and of course there's no guarantee that will happen. So I'm taking a book to read and a pad so if the mood takes me I can write some poetry....maybe.

Yesterday we went for a trip to the town where I'm to serve, to find the train station and the court house, seems easy enough, though I've since discovered that to get there by train isn't as straight forward as it should be, ah well.

Another useless quiz

2006-03-02T11:30:00.000Z

Which Norse God or Godess are you most like?

Which Norse God or Goddess are you most like?
created with QuizFarm.com

As I have a little bit of interest in the older religions/faiths of the world, thought it would be fun to do this one, and see who I came out as, quite pleased with the result.

Friday's v2

2006-03-01T15:05:00.000Z

Here's a reworking of a poem I had previously posted. As someone had pointed out, the poem seemed to be two things at once, so I cut it back to what I had originally intended it to be...about that most wonderful of day's, Friday.

The alarm clock sounds, waking you from your peaceful slumber
The DJ sounding far too awake this early in the day
Your eyes barely opening as the first rays of light
Peek through your curtains

Then you hear it, was it a dream, no
The DJ said it, it's Friday
One more day of work, then you’re free
For two days at least

A struggle to get work, your concentration gone
As you dream of the two days to come
Someone hands you some tea
Everyone with smiles, as they wait for the day to end

Time moving so slowly, everyone watching the clock
When will this torture end?
When will you be free?
Your mind wandering, then you hear it
People starting to leave
Could it be true, is it really the weekend?

You look at the clock
Sure enough, it’s time to go
A cheery goodbye to your colleagues as you head for home
Time to relax and unwind
A time to catch up with friends and family
Out drinking, time to let loose
Work but a distant nightmare, forgotten for now

Star Trek - RIP?

2006-03-01T11:49:00.000Z

It looks as though it is well and truly over for Star Trek for the immediate future.

"Star Trek XI" Cancelled?

As it says in the article, this could actually be a good thing, hopefully by the time it does come back, the public will want it, and the current batch of writers/producers/directors will be long long gone, which can only be a good thing considering how bad ST had become towards the end.

So what's left for the hardcore Sci-fi junkie, well of course there's Stargate SG1 & Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica, which unfortunately I can't watch as we can't afford to pay out £30+ a month for Sky. Fortunately, my boss at work is as big an Stargate fan as I am, and has kindly been recording the new season of Stargate Atlantis for me, but apart from that...I am bereft of Sci-Fi, for now.

Useless quizzes

2006-02-28T12:34:00.000Z

Continuing from yesterday I decided to do some quizzes to see 'Which character' I would be from two of my favourite shows.

Up first we have 'Which Farscape Character are You?'

You are John Crichton. You might be tough on the

outside, but inside you're just a sweetheart.

Even though no one else may believe it,

you're actually a brilliant scientist. You're

gorgeous, and you try to get by on your charm

-- but you're not fooling anyone. And really,

you're just looking for a way home.

Which Farscape Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Next I have 'Which Serenity Character are you?'

Simon Tam

100%

Kaylee (Kaywinnet Lee) Frye

88%

River Tam

88%

Zoe Alleyne Washburne

75%

The Operative

69%

Capt. Mal Reynolds

63%

Inara Serra

63%

Hoban 'Wash' Washburne

50%

Jayne Cobb

44%

Shepherd Derrial Book

25%

Which Serenity character are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

I'd agree with being Chrichton...but for Serenity, I was really hoping to be Wash, I so love those dinosaurs, ah well.

Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in?

2006-02-27T10:44:00.000Z

Here are my results.

Moya (Farscape)

94%

Babylon 5 (Babylon 5)

81%

Serenity (Firefly)

81%

Enterprise D (Star Trek)

81%

SG-1 (Stargate)

75%

Nebuchadnezzar (The Matrix)

75%

FBI's X-Files Division (The X-Files)

63%

Galactica (Battlestar: Galactica)

63%

Andromeda Ascendant (Andromeda)

63%

Deep Space Nine (Star Trek)

56%

Bebop (Cowboy Bebop)

50%

Millennium Falcon (Star Wars)

38%

Your Ultimate Sci-Fi Profile II: which sci-fi crew would you best fit in? (pics)
created with QuizFarm.com

I'm actually pleased with this, my favourite shows coming out on top, from Farscape to ST:TNG...and in the right order too.

Hjem kære hjem

2006-02-27T10:43:00.000Z

Or in English….Home Sweet Home.

We flew back Saturday morning, came home to chaos…M11 was completely shut, so me and C sat down and hot a drink, Tea for me, and Hot Chocolate for her, while we waited for my dad to arrive, all in all, he was only about 30 minutes or so late, which wasn’t bad going considering.

Anyway, we had a lovely time in Denmark, and even took a trip into Germany (so that her parents could buy some cheap booze), the drive took about three hours (there and back), we did manage to get some nice German chocolate though, 10 bars for about £5. Then, on the way home we stopped off at Jensens Boefhus, a lovely steakhouse, for dinner, and I even managed to order my dinner myself in Danish…though I did forget how to say how I liked my steak cooked (well done).

On the Thursday, we woke up and there was snow on the ground, a light dusting…but still, it was nice to wake up to the white, we then went into Aarhus, C had to sort out some stuff with the social security type people, though as per usual, the bureaucrats were most unhelpful, then we went shopping…well C did anyway, though I did get Season 2 of Futurama for £20…bought it in Denmark for the Danish subtitles, should help me learn the language a bit. In the evening we went round to friends of C, though I think I should have stayed at her parents as I wasn’t feeling too well, but I struggled through.

Before I go back to work, I must give praise to the Ryanair staff at the gate for outbound flight on Tuesday. If you’ve ever flown with Ryanair, you’ll know what chaos it can be getting through the gate. Where we were, they had the queing system of people with tickets 1 – 65 stand by the window, the rest in the cordoned off bit near the aisle. However, people try and jump the queue, and they did here. People with higher tickets went to go through with the first boarding call, but for once the staff didn’t just make them wait, the made them rejoin at the back of the second queue. And where some with high tickets had waited with the lower ticket numbers, and then tried to board, one of the staff came out and told them in no uncertain tone, that they would not be allowed to board from that area, and that they had to join the back of the big queue. So well done to the staff…for once.

Freeeeeedom

2006-02-20T16:41:00.000Z

Yes, it's true, we're finally free of E7even, today we were migrated to Virgin.net. Now the real battle begins....claiming back our money for the unused time.

And as of now, I'm off work for a week....going to denmark tomorrow for 4 days...and hopefully some snow.

God bless friday's.

2006-02-17T11:10:00.000Z

Friday, the best day of the week...for most people. The last day of the working week, you have something to look forward to, a couple of days of freedom from the slavery of work. A time to relax and unwind, a time to let loose and forget all about work. And this Friday, today, is doubly good for me, as I have all of next week off as well, a nice little time to completely relax and unwind before the madness of year end starts, so many things to do in March...but that I don't to need worry about until then.

The alarm clock sounds, waking you from your peacefull slumber
The DJ sounding too far awake this early in the day
Your eyes barely opening as the first rays of light
Peek through your curtains

Then you hear it, was it a dream, no
The DJ said it, it's Friday
One more day of work, then your free
For two days at least

A time to relax and unwind
A time to catch up with friends and family
Out drinking, time to let loose
Work but a distant nightmare, forgotten for now

There they are, that person you've been watching
You like them, but always too shy to do anything
Maybe tonight, a quick drink for courage
Making your way over to them

They see you, a smile on their lips
You buy them a drink, neither of you upto danicng
Sitting and chatting, so much in common
Before you know it, the night draws to a close

An offer of a nightcap with this lovely stranger
A cab ride home, their touch so electric
Your senses fully awake, you've never felt like this before

In to their place for a drink, this so unlike you
Feeling liberated, alive, they sit close to you
A hand on your leg, looking at them with a twinkle in your eye
A soft kiss, your heart pounding as your caught,
Over so quick, of they go....a look behind them,
Beckoning you to follow

Into their bedroom, the door closing slowly behind
As they strip before you, such beauty you've never seen
You take them in your arms, kissing them passionately
Lost in the moment, ahead a night of hot passion

Andreas Katsulas - RIP

2006-02-16T12:59:00.000Z

The actor, quite possibly most famous for his role of G'kar in Babylon 5, has died at the age of 59 from lung cancer. You can read more of his way too short life here.

G'kar, and his counterpart, Londo Mallari, were probably the two greatest characters in Babylon 5, and possibly two of the greatest characters in Sci-Fi. You got the impression he had great fun playing the art of G'kar.

With the constant rumours of J Michael Straczynski, trying to resurrect B5, no show would be compelte without Andreas.

Pointless quizzes

2006-02-16T12:41:00.000Z

Had nothing better to do, so I do couple of quizzes, here are my results:

"The Completely Pointless Personality Quiz"

The Completely Pointless Personality Quiz

Are you Addicted to the Internet?

64%

Hardcore Junkie (61% - 80%)
While you do get a bit of sleep every night and sometimes leave the house, you spend as much time as you can online. You usually have a browser, chat clients, server consoles, and your email on auto check open at all times. Phone? What's that? You plan your social events by contacting your friends online. Just be careful you don't get a repetitive wrist injury...

The Are you Addicted to the Internet? Quiz at Quiz Me!

The Number 4

2006-02-16T11:26:00.000Z

Seems to be the new thingy to do.......name four things about yourself etc, so here's mine.

Four jobs I’ve had:
1. Administrative trainee – local council.
2. Finance trainee. – local council.
3. Finance Officer – Local council.
4. Management Accountant – Health Authority

Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. LOTR – All of them
2. The Crow.
3. Batman Beings.
4. Dogma.

Four television shows I love to watch:
1. Stargate (SG1 & Atlantis)
2. Star Trek (All of them)
3. House
4. Supernatural

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Majorca.
2. Glasgow, Scotland.
3. Paris, France.
4. Aarhus, Denmark.

Four of my favorite dishes:
1. Fish and chips.
2. Beef stew.
3. Steak Pie.
4. Roast dinner.

Four websites I visit regularly:
1. Dark Horizons
2. Aint it cool
3. Play.com
4. Cheat Code Central (For all your game playing hints and tips)

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. In Bed
2. At the gym
3. Denmark.
4. At home with my girlfriend.

Now it's your turn.

The great car insurance scam

2006-02-15T15:23:00.000Z

For the first time since I started driving I can't afford to pay for my car insurance in one lump sum, so I needed, or thought I needed a pay monthly scheme. Now, most insurers charge about £30 extra for pay monthly, yet Admiral, who I have been with on and off for the past 8 years, wanted an extra £110 on top of the premium. What the hell could warrant that kind of mark up, it's not as if they actually have to do anything, just need a direct debit set up, and the money will paid monthly to them.

Was speaking to my manager about this, and as she had worked in the insurance sector for a while, she stated that the insurance company would be charged about £8 for a direct debit to be set up, so Admiral have gone from an £8 charge to them to £110 for me, the customer, well it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out I cancelled the policy with them, and eventually found a competitive quote from RAC, with the option of making two six monthly payments, and at no extra cost to me, so there we go I'm now insured by the RAC.

The End Is Nigh.....

2006-02-15T15:18:00.000Z

For our E7even connection, hopefully.

Sometime this week we should finally be switched over to Virgin broadband, and a decent service. Though our e7ven connection has been back up and running for the past week or so *touch wood*, no longer care though, just want to get away from them.

Then of course, the second battle will start, to get compensation for the remainder of the unused contract as promised by their refund amnesty, and for the period of time our connection was actuall down, all in all should come to about seven months worth of a refund.

Valentines Day = Corporate comercial overdrive

2006-02-14T12:44:00.000Z

Ahh valentines day, the day of love, oh sorry, that should say the day of overpriced flowers/chocolates and corporate greed.

It's supposed to be about your love for that special someone in your life, yet we're almost brainwashed into thinking that we must go out and spend a small fortune on gifts and flowers for that person, is that really what love is, what it means for most people?

Not me, if it's supposed to be about love, then surely the smallest little thing, if from the heart, should mean everything to your partner. Instead of going out and buying over-priced flowers, chocolates, jewellery etc, why not write your loved a poem, doesn't matter how good or bad it is....as long as it's from the heart.

Microsoft Prefered Customer

2006-02-13T18:45:00.000Z

It would appear that I'm a 'preferred Microsoft customer', as I've been invited to test the Beta versions of Microsoft Live Mail and Microsoft Live Messenger 8. This is really weird as I rarely use either anymore, but perhaps that's why I've been asked...to try and get me to use their products more. If that's the case, well, it'll take more than a new version of their products to get me to use them.

Overall though, neither really offers anything new over the older versions, as far as I can see yet, and the Live Mail, well they haven't built it to work with Firefox yet, if they ever will.

Weirdness

2006-02-09T20:19:00.000Z

I’ve just had the weirdest ever conversation on windows messenger, with someone I don’t know, who was certain I did know them….anyway, here’s a little bit of it:

them
hya tony
them
r u in club/
them
its cheirell
Me
ummmm, sorry....but I don't know who you are/don't recognise your e-mail addy...
them
hya
them
cuz
them
r u in club
Me
ok, honestly I have no idea who you are.

What club you talking about?
them
ova da road #
Me
I think you've got me mistaken for someone else
them
hya toney
them
its ur cuzon cheirell
Me
Ok, I don't have a cousin Cheirell.....at least not that I'm aware of
them
uncle pauls daughter ya weirdo
Me
and I don't have an uncle paul
them
ur jokin around
Me
nope
them
im jokin im ur sister
Me
ah-huh
them
yer
them
i am
them
ur sis
Me
don't think so
them
yeh bruv i am
them
i no ur jokin around any way
Me
I aint jokin around
them
yeh u r
Me
I'm talking to my sister on the phone right now
them
all right u aint evan got a sister
them
that u no
them
talk or av u got nufin 2 say
Me
I'm on the phone
them
lia
them
stp lyin#
them
stop
them
r u in club
them
stop bein silly now ur just jokin
Me
nope aint jokin
them
tonyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
them
oh
them
is my sis wiv u
them
and hows my bruva
Me
who the frell are you?
them
cheirell wilson
them
u got a bruva called cortney and kyle and ryan and marcus
Me
I really think you have me mistaken for someone else

I have no brothers, just one older sister called Michelle
them
yeh but u aint toney harris
them
who lives in fairwater
Me
nope
them
r u?
Me
I'm ########## (edited for security reasons)
them
cant u spell ur name u spell anthony like dat
Me
no, there are two ways of spelling my name, Antony or Anthony
Me
I'm Antony.....no 'h'
them
well............ why does ur addy say tony_harris@hotmail.co.uk
them
derrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Me
becaue everyone calls me Tony
Me
and most people know me as Tony
them
lierrrrrrrrrrr
them
im gonna kill u tony
them
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Me
I don't know you, as said, I have one older sister, I live in Grays...if you don't believe me, go phone this other tony and ask him if he's using Messenger live now, and ask him what his e-mail addy is

At this point I invited C into the conversation

Me
and here's my girlfriend......say hi
C
hello
them
here my boyfriend yes yes bruva
C
who is this??
Me
I have no idea
them
its my boyfriend
Me
who?
C
excuse me?
them
my boyfriend
Me
who's your boyfriend?
C
really
them
do u no ur mothers aunties uncles brother sister boyfriends cuzon

A very very very odd conversation indeed.

O Brother where art thou!

2006-02-08T12:13:00.000Z

Still we're without an internet connection, came back up for a week or so...then died again as E7even finished there server migrations or whatever it was, of course now I get zero connection, damn blasted fools.

The good news, the nice folks at ADSL Guide have managed to get my MAC code from E7even, of course they can't really refuse to talk to them there, but they are perfectly happy to ignore their actual customers, well I no longer care, have signed up to Virgin.net, and hopefully within the next week we will be back up and running with our very own home internet connection.

Oh, and yes, I do like the film by the Coen brothers, hence the use of the title.

ISP Woes - E7even.com

2006-01-24T12:38:00.000Z

At the start of Jan our internet connection went down, tried reconnecting using a new log on I had been given, as the ISP was switching users to a new server, so the weekend of the 07/01/06 it died...completely, nothing worked. In work on the Monday went to their website and found out, that yes they were having problems with the new server, but they hoped to have it fixed soon. By the end of the week still no connection and only one further update on their website, this time offering people with more than 3 months contract left a MAC code and refund on unused time. Therefore I requested this, and at the same time ventured to Adslguide.org.uk, where several other e7even users were complaining of the same thing.

Then on about the 17th Jan, sam some people were having success with their old log on's for the server, tried it and voila we were back online.....for 4 days, now it's gone and died again, with no end in sight. After several e-mails, and unanswered phone calls I put in a complaint to ofcom and watchdog, which several other users have done.

Well, basically we have no idea when normal service will be resumed, no idea when I'll be able to migrate to a new ISP and no answers from e7even, this is beyond a joke now, and seriously annoying, we just want our internet back...but god only knows when that will be.

Insomniacs Curse

2006-01-19T14:04:00.000Z

So tired now,
With night after night of restless sleep
No respite given from the chaos of life
How I yearn for the sandmans embrace

A full busy day
Since the crack of dawn
Night is once again upon me.
Yet already I know
It will not give what I desire

As my eyelids fight to remain closed
My mind whirs with a thousand thoughts
Sleep nothing more than a distant illusion

Now the middle of the night
And here I sit, reading a book, watching TV
While the rest of the world sleeps
One question on my mind

What must I do to break this insomnia curse?

Global Wamring - Myth or Fact

2006-01-11T13:28:00.000Z

Like most people, I firmally believed that Global Warming is a true fact. All you had to do was look outside, especially now in the middle of winter, and see the bright blue sky, and feel how mild it is compared to when you were child. And up until now I belived it, lead around by the media reports, the politicans, the arguements over the Kyoto Protocol, and the universal condemnation of the USA for not signing up to it.

But I don't any longer. What changed my views you might ask, the answer, a book by Michael Crichton, State of Fear, which deals with global warming, eco-terrorism and the politics behind it all. You might argue that it's just a book, it couldn't have any basis in real life, but it does. Throughout the book references are made to real scientific studies of the earth, temperatures, sea levels, carbon dioxide emissions. All of these studies show that yes, there are changes the earths temperature, fluctuations, but nothing out of the ordinary, the antarctic is getting colder not warmer with the ice shelf thickening instead of thining.

After reading all this in the book I thought it was time to do some research of my own, and used that most valuable tool the internet, and found page after page contradicting the common held belief of global warming.

Myths of Global Wamring
Global Wamring - An Official Pseudo-Science
Science Has Spoken - Global Warming Is A Myth
Bellamy on Global Warming

The real question we should asking, is, with so much evidence to the contrary, why is there so little 'real' scientific work being done to investigate the phenomenon of Global Wamring, or perhaps more accurately should be called Global Climate Changes.

The worlds governments are spending billions each year to cut carbon dioxide production, yet it is firmly held in the scientific community that more carbon dioxides means more flourishing plant life as carbon dioxides are an essential part of a plants life.

Personaly I no longer belive that Global Wamring is true in the way that we have been lead to believe, perhaps the world is warming up, but we're at no greater risk than at any time previously in our history.

We all remember the Acid Rain scare of the late of 70's, the spread of exotic diseases of the 80's, the supposed influx of killer bees from Africa in the 80's. All science fiction, not fact. Is Global Warming nothing more than the latest invention of this type of scare. Designed to guarantee second rate scientists extortiante sums of money in the forms of government grants.

The Joy Of Snow

2005-12-29T14:12:00.000Z

It falls all around
Giving preferance to nothing
Covering all with it's purity
So clean and perfect
Giving joy to all who see
With each flake, a perfection unseen
So beautiful for all

The Children laugh and play
An innocence so pure and true
Such joy and happiness
A perfect moment in time

All around covered in white
A beauty from the heavens
For all to see and share

I had posted this a year or so ago on another blog, but thought I'd re-post it here what with the current weather we're having.