Esmerelde:

And lo, the gym calleth

2009-01-11T23:02:00.002Z

Well, after about 2 years of saying "I should really join the gym", I actually got around to doing it last weekend. A few reasons for joining:

1. I'm fat. I seriously need to lose some weight.
2. I'm unfit. Important for fieldtrips and I actually miss having a lot of stamina.
3. My clothes don't fit and I'm too much of a tight wad to keep buying more.

So, this blog may now become splattered with gym updates, and I realise they aren't interesting, but they are a good record of what I've done for myself, so stuff ya!

My starting weight is 11.4 stones (around 160 pounds for you metric folk) - in my peak fitness I only weighed 7.5 stone - but 1) I was too thin, don't really want to get back that far 2) it's probably unrealistic anyway. 9 stone would be good, and I'd like to get back don to a size 10-12. Yay, targets!

Anyway, gym activity this week:

General gym: 2 hr 15 mins
Weights: 15 mins
Classes: 2 hours
Swimming: 30 mins

Not bad if I say so myself. When it came to swimming I was actually surprised at how bad I was - guess that's what happens when you don't swim for 4 (!) years. *sigh*

I think it's gonna be a hard slog, but it'll sure be worth it!

Best Xmas ever?!

2009-01-01T10:12:00.002Z

So for Xmas My brother bought me a Wacom Bamboo tablet which has handwriting recognition! And I am, in fact, writing this whole thing by hand and it is being converted into text ! So don't be surprised at bizarre mistakes and punctuation- it just can't understand my writing!

Xmas was ok here, nothing to report really! Spent NY at Ray + Dave's house which was cool . Played an awesome game where all you need is a cereal box and a pair of scissors! on-and you need to be flexible!

S0, 2009. It's going to take me ages to get used to the new date-it always does! And my new years resolution? Yes, I think I'll actually make one this year ... is to loose weight! Being meaning to do it-far ages so hopefully this year is the year! of course, i need to find a cheapish gym first!

Right- I think that's enough handwriting from me . i highly recommend the tablet by the way, not only is it cool-but also a good alternative to a mouse! Oh-and if you want to see an example of how it works here is a screen shot I took yesterday:

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g47/esmerelde/blogtest.jpg

Happy New Year everyone :)

John Sergeant Leaves Strictly.

2008-11-19T21:15:00.007Z

John Sergeant has pulled out of Strictly Come Dancing, and like Cilla Black, I am shocked and stunned. And in fact, I am quite angered by the whole thing, because I feel that he has essentially been bullied out of the competition.

Yes he wasn't the best dancer, but you know what? He was entertaining, and the public quite obviously loved him. The show is about entertainment, it's not REALLY a dance competition. You win a glitter ball for crying out loud. Strictly Dance Fever on the other hand, IS a dance competition, and it shows. In that show, people are literally competing for their careers, for the chance of a lifetime to land a real dance contract. STC is all about fun and entertainment.

I feel quite outraged on John's behalf. He's a nice guy, and he would never say he had been bullied out, but I have to say, I don't really blame him for wanting to pull out. The judges don't want him there (which to some extent is fair enough, but you don't have to be vile about it), and now some of the contestants are being horrid to him on the sly. James Jordan, I am looking at you. And to think you had be convinced that you had turned over a new leaf.

John does put hours in, he doesn't sit reading the paper ALL the rehearsal. And Kristina, what about all the work that she has put in? All that wonderful choreography that makes his routines worth voting for. What about the public who all got off their apathetic back sides to vote for him?!

Last week John was saying (rightly) about how this is an entertainment show and how the public have their say. It's just SLIGHTLY odd that he has done a complete u-turn, no? I really feel for him, he had a right to be in that competition and to dance as much as anyone else there. I am glad that they will still be doing a dance on Saturday. We love you John and Kristina!!

Additionally, BBC: If you are going to let people bully off those who are no good, then you might as well make sure from now on that you only invite young people with prior dancing experience onto the show, otherwise you will be creating more "travesty" in future series.

As an aside, I am especially cross with all those who think that it is "right" that he has quit. Particularly those who barely even watch the show.

I shall end with this quote from Cilla herself:

I am shocked and I am stunned, I think it is an absolute disgrace because it is a public show, it is supposed to be entertainment - so yes the judges judge on the dancing, but at the end of the day it is the public that pays money for the licence and it is up to them to judge who they want on the show.
"I am absolutely disgusted by the whole thing, John I love you.

Being a Gamer

2008-11-15T12:19:00.002Z

I was in Game the other day, and was struck by how open and accessible, and indeed 'normal' gaming has become to society. The launch and huge success of systems like the Wii, DS and PSP have made gaming open to everyone. The Playstation, xBox and PC are no longer the sole haunts of the gaming elite, and dare I say it, geek-dom.

My mum's other half is a recent player of the nintendo DS, and it was while looking at the game library for gift ideas that I looked to my brother and said, "do you feel embaressed looking at the DS section?" And yes, like me he does! I feel I should be holding a sign proclaiming "I am looking for a present! I am a true gamer, I was there with the BBC, the master system and the amiga!" I feel the need to distance myself from the so-called "next-gen gamers" who I feel are not gamers at all!! I grem up gaming, and will always love it.

Similarly, when I am buying games like the Sims 2 and Singstar: Abba I feel like I should confide in the sales assistant that I actually love blowing the heads off monsters in Unreal Tournament, getting scared to deal in Alien VS Predator and role playing in modern classics like Oblivion. I don't want to be steriotyped as a next gen gamer who oly plays "girly" games and squeels at the sight of blood (althugh in RL, that would happen!)

It's not that I feel judged when I buy games, I'm glad that everyone has suddenly realised what a great hobby it is! But sometimes I look around at the games and sigh *ah, mainstream*, and I must admit, dodging prams and screaming kids never used to be a problem in game stores in the 90's. Then, there was recognition of us true gamers!!

Oh well. We'll see who is still gaming in 20 years time!

In the meantime, I'm going to go and rock out to Singstar: Abba, and unleash my girly gamer side upon the world...But I'll be avoiding the rads in Fallout 3 tomorrow ;)

Musings on the latest banking crisis

2008-10-02T14:40:00.003+01:00

I've just been reading that the senate in the USA has backed a slighty changed version of the bail-out bill and that will go back to the house of representives on Friday. And also that Northern Rock have cut a lot of it's saving deals due to a large number of customers switching.

Apparently, because Northern Rock are government backed, any savings with them are 100% guarenteed, whereas savings with other banks are only guarenteed to the first £35,000.

Now, I don't have savings anywhere near 35k, but surely it makes sense that you want to be 100% guarenteed wherever?! Apparently people who had larger lump sumes in just one or two banks, are now taking them out and spreading them around different insitutions. And I can't say I blame them.

However, I was talking to someone the other day, and we were saying that if everyone in the UK suddenly got the willies about their savings (like they did with petrol) and went and tried to withdraw all their money, well, the banks really WOULD run out of cash, and that would spark a TRUE credit crisis. That's a scary thought, no matter how unlikely it is.

Still, seeing as I just spent all my remaining savings on my car, I'm not overly bothered!! Still, I like to keep an eye on the news, even if I'm not too great at keeping up to date or have good knowledge etc hehe.

Freshers!

2008-09-24T15:10:00.003+01:00

The madness has decended, the hordes have arrived. Nothing will ever be the same again...that's right, it's FRESHERS WEEK at Birmingham University!!

After having about 2 weeks of peace and quiet (more like deathly silence) the arrival of all the new 1st years is a slight shock to the system. In some ways it can be counted annoying, but in others, it's nice to see the campus so alive and well, enthused! How many weeks will it take to knock the grins off their faces? Not a lot I imagine!

Anyone walking around campus (any campus!) at this time of year runs the risk of being either a) mistaken for a fresher or b) mistaken as a friendly face by a fresher. I'm not quite sure which is more annoying!

In the first case, people act like you know nothing while trying to shove a dozen carrier bags and/or leaflets into your hands. I can't complain too much, the inevitable poster sale is here again, and as usual I have perused it and made a purchase! However, when I wanted to pay I enquired as to whether I could pay by Visa (as stamped on all the poster carboard dividers) but no, the card machine wasn't out yet (wtf?) so I'm trying to see if I have enough in cash when one guy leans over and says "there's one in the guild behind you...if you know where it is" in the voice of someone talking to a "special" child. You just want to yell I'M NOT A FRESHER AND I KNOW WHERE SHIT IS BETTER THAN YOU *cough*

In the second case...well, if you aren't being nabbed by random strangers whilst walking between the guild/library/office etc who want direction, you're being distrated from your reading by people in the library wondering why they can't get to section D of the library from floor 4, or asking how the classification system works (wtf? never been in a library before?) or just generally looking lost in the periodicals section wondering where all their textbooks are supposed to be, hehe. (The best bit about the periodicals section is that people rarely use them, know how to find them and is thus very quiet and fresher free!)

I guess I find it all quite amusing as I never went to my own freshers fair (plain laziness). But as I said, at least the campus feels alive now! Next week is when the fun begins...

It's all go now...

2008-09-19T17:26:00.005+01:00

Latest happenings:

1. My PhD has started!

I've been in Anglesey at the beginning of the month, looking at the rocks I'm going to be studying for the next three years. Being Wales and the time of year...yes it was very wet. It was very interesting even if I found it rather difficuly to unterstand what was going on most of the time.

Paul is away in Assynt for this week and melanges, but it hasn't been going toooo well. Google and the Web of Science have been letting me down! Also, it's VERY annoying when you find what looks like a vital journal only for it to have been published in a journal that you don't have access to.

Next week I will probably spend looking at carbonates in the teaching collections to get up to speed with textures, terminology and basically what they look like. Will be very useful when it comes to looking at my own samples.

2. I have a car!

A friend of mine is going into The Salvation Training College and was selling her car, so I am now the proud owner of a Peurgot 206. And I have named her...Fi Fi La Ren. Very french sounding, hehe. I think it suits her quite well. I'm sure I have heard the name beofre, so if anyone reading this knows the origin, or someone of the same name let me know. Otherwise I'm going to take the credit for it, heh.

~ ~ ~

Other than that, everything else is pretty much normal. Been playing on the PC, 360 and PS3 a lot lately. Also, been working on my Oblivion section of my website quite a bit, so quite pleased with that. Still needs lots of pictures and work, but am happy with how it is coming along.

I'm thinking I might have a section devoted to my PhD (sad I know) so people can stay updated, (see how depressed I've got!) and just basically a log so I can look back on it too. I've already uploaded references and work onto my FTP server to I can access it pretty much anywhere. Yes, I'm that sad, lol.

Oh, I may scout out the local gyms for costs and stuff. Went round the uni gym which is dirt cheap (only £16/month) but it isn't the nicest, and rather cramped and hot. Some friends go to a local one, so would be nice to have a variety of people to go with.

Anyway, think that's enough for now.

Cheers.

Car stuff...

2008-08-12T21:18:00.003+01:00

Most of you reading this will have realised/read/heard the happy news...I passed my driving test on Monday, whoohoo! *party*

I was so relieved, I made a right muck-up of my parallel park but got away with it so it's all good. 8 minors. All good! I was double-y realieved seeing as if I had failed I would not have been able to retake my test until October at the earliest due to being away on fieldtrips and stuff for the whole of September, as well as the generally long waiting time to get a test anyway.

~ ~ ~ The remainder of this blog entry is a copy + paste job from a forum post, so you may have read this already. Also, it's kind of a rant/randomness typed directly from my brain, so it might not make too much sense!! There, fair warning to ya! ~ ~ ~

So I passed my test, and now I need a car. I want to be driving as soon as possible otherwise the first time I drive by myself I'm going to be a nervous wreck.

I bought my lessons in blocks of 10 hours to save money and had one owing, so rather than refund it I'm using to get practice on motorways with my instructor, and how to bay park (WHY you don't learn how to do possibly the most important manoeuvre is beyond me) - so that's next week, so not so bad.

So car. My brother passed 1st and is the second driver of my mom's car. He works as a croupier in a casino and works nights, my mom works days, so using the car is going to be pretty much impossible.

My mom's partner has a (to me) massive, vauxhall astra, and driving that would scare the shit out of me. I drove it as a provisional driver, but no way do I want to drive it by myself. Plus, insurance would be insane.

So I need my own really. I want a smart car. I don't care what anyone says, I love them, though I would need to take it on a test drive. I've requested a brochure, but new, it would cost around £7000. I have £3000. Fuck. Unless I find a 4 year interest free deal, )and that is more vauxhall than smart) I'm stuffed there.

So I'm stuck waiting for enough money to buy a new car, or I buy second hand. Now, I know the benefits of a used car, particularly where depreciation of value is concerned, but I don't want to have a string of cars like most of my mates. I want MY car, I want it new and shiny and have it in 20 years time when it breaks on me or something.

So I'm at a bit of a dilemma. A mate is selling her 04 Pergeot 206 (she is going into the church to put it in a very simple way). It was new when she bought it. She is asking £4500 for it, which is slighty beyond my budget. Mom and fi says it's awkward, because if she wasn't a friend she would ask for £1000 off the price. I mean, as a friend she might cut me a deal anyway, but still. It's an option. Even full price my mom would be able to loan me just enough to pay it back.

It's just, gah. Who would have thought getting a car was so much bother?!

Also - insurance. It's probably going to be around £800. If I'm lucky. My age and gender helps, but it's no good getting a car if you can't pay the insurance and upkeep.

Once my money from uni starts coming through it wont be so bad, can easily afford petrol and stuff then, especially while I'm still at home. But I also need a new laptop, and field gear, new office furniture etc.

Bah, this turned into a bit of a real rant after all.

Basically, I'm pissed off that I don't have enough money for what I want.

I'm definitely not alone in the world there. *Sigh*

An inbetween-y time...

2008-08-01T11:53:00.002+01:00

So as of yesterday I am once again unemployed, though this time by my own choice. My time at Wilkenson is at an end. Which is just as well, as customers were beginning to get on my nerves severely!! Seriously, I should never have a job that involves dealing with customers. After a few months my patience starts wearing thin.

Anyway, I now have an "inbetween" period of one month, seeing as my PhD stuff doesn't start until September. I thought I would need this time to sort myself out.

Firstly - I want to chill out after my retail stint. It's the second longest job I've ever had, the longest being at UCI cinemas. It was being to frustrate me, and it's always a good idea to leave before you take it out on the customers. So yeah, I wanted time to leave my "work" hat behind and basically chill out for a bit!!

Second - I do need to prepare myself for the PhD somewhat. I desperatly need new field gear, but I wont get any money for a while, and as I'm pretty broke I'll have to wait. Also, the season is not condusive to buying decent field gear. It's all summer macs and gaitors nsutff. No hardcore jackets with removal fleece layers, lots of pockets etc.

As well as sorting that stuff, I need to sort out my rooms. Get my PC fixed, that kind of stuff.

Third - I'm supposed to have my driving test on the 11th, and basically I'm going to fail. There is no point postponing it cus I wont be able to take it again til October sometime, which means I'd have to have another stack of lessons. I might as well give it a good go, and if I fail, well, I've got my first fail out of the way and know what it'll be like and stuff. I've got two 2-hour lessons the week prior, so hopefully I'll be back up to scratch. I had a two week break and basically it all went haywire. My manouvers are absolutly fine, but "general driving", not so much. I especially hate islands.

So yeah, that's basically what's going to be going on and such. I'll probably get bored and wish I was still working because money is getting tight, but hey. I'm sure I'll manage.

Ciao f'now.

Love Rats and Doormats

2008-07-08T10:23:00.003+01:00

The title for this blog is shamelessly stolen from a magazine article in Psychologies (linked in title) that I want to comment on today. The article (by Amelia Hill) was discussing the obsession behind famous infidelities.

The most interesting point in the article came near the end, where modern celebrity gossip and drama functioned like a morality play or Greek tragedy. Having studied Greek tragedy you can see why I was interested!

In a way, I can see how that might be. Some people have "Celebrity Worship Syndrome" (that's a quote from the article!) and read everything and anything about their hero's, but anything that ever makes the news is how celebrities are in the wrong, or have fallen, whereas Greek tragedy always some kind of GOOD moral message.

I have always found celebrity worship odd, I don't care who is staring in a film, if it looks good I'll go see it, if it looks rubbish I wont - I don't care who is in ok. Ok, I have a small soft spot for Johnny Depp - sue me :P Reality shows like Big Brother are just as bad.

Anyway, the article was quite interesting, and the magazine is good for those of us who don't want to spend money of celeb. gossip and pages of "fashion" that you would never. ever. wear. I recommend the mag. as a good read!

Here are some intersting quotes from the article:

A publicly scorned woman might arouse our sympathy at first, but once she decides to stand by her unfaithful partner, our support is crowded out other emotions. At best, there's pity...at worst, vitriol and scorn.

One of the most bizarre was how some Americans view Clinton:

How can a woman such as Hillary Clinton lead a contry when she can't 'control' her husband?

How idiotic is this sentence, let alone what it implies?! Gah!

Long time no post

2008-07-06T11:40:00.002+01:00

Howdy all,

Just a quick update from my last post really. After reading what I said, I have to say that I never did get onto the job line! However, I am due to start a PhD at The University of Birmingham in Sept/Oct and I'm really excited about it, so it's all good!

I'd explain what the PhD is about, but it would probably sound like gobble-de-gook to most of you (no offence!). Suffice to say, it is about rocks, mainly those located in Anglesey, Wales, and I will be looking at origin and formation and stuff. I'll get to travel which is awesome, as well as confrences and stuff, I will hopefully be heading out to Newfoundland and Labrador (Canada) to do some comparative work. And one of the best things about all this is that I have NERC and CASE funding, so I won't end up out of pocket this time. Time to practice budgeting for when I have a real job and place of my own, methinks, hehe.

Anyway, in the meantime I've been working hard (lol) at a retail job at Wilkenson. It's not great, but ok. Brings the money in - and I'm using that to learn to drive, got my 1st test in August so fingers crossed.

In more benign news, I'm still working on my website. In fact, I'm quite pleased with myself at the moment as I have written my first fluid layout completely from scratch. Sadly only one page has this at the moment, as it's taking some time to adjust the other pages of my website to it, but it's so worth it! Readers of all resolutions will be able to read without seeing cropped edeges and the like! Hooray.

My PC is currently broken, so not much gaming going on. However, the PS3 is good, and singstar is an awesome game, I don't care what anyone says! I am enjoying trying to beat my own high scores, so it's always entertaining. For me. Not to sure about anyone else in the house, hehe.

Anyway, that's enough of an update for one day, work soon *sigh*

Cheers

Personal Update

2008-01-19T17:15:00.000Z

I don't really have much to say, but it's been a while since I wrote anything, so here goes...

Still living at home at present. Having trouble getting all my stuff into my allocated rooms - I blame it all on being a rat (Chinese symbol)! This was of course not helped by my latest furnature addition - the eagerly awaited glass coffee table.

Had a big move round today (still got lots of tidying to do) to make everything fit. The upshot is that now not only do I have a working TV in my room, but also dual monitor set up. This is very useful when using dreamweaver, as that takes up the whole screen, and if I want to have other things going as well can get very irritating. So that's all to the good.

With regards to the website, I'm very pleased with how it's been going. Over the last week I have updated the colour schemes, looks much more, well, professional isn't really the word, but it's good nonetheless, not like this sentence...

Ste is skiing for the week in France, so I have the xbox 360 for a week. With that and guild wars (which I am now sort of addicted to) I don't really see myself getting much done ^_^

As for more serious matters, I have one main job application in the pipeline - and I am really fingers crossed about it - where I would really love to work. I have heard that there may be some vacancies at Tam's place too, which is good. Looking forward to moving out and getting a real job nstufff. Whoohoo. Still, gotta wait and see on that front I guess.

Umm, yeah. Think that's everything. Ciao f'now.

Cooking Experiences

2007-12-06T13:45:00.000Z

Today I learnt that scrambled egg without cheese in tastes manky in comparison.

Lesson 1: Always remember to put milk and cheese in the pan with the eggs!

WWJD FTW?

2007-12-02T13:18:00.001Z

I saw this T-shirt on split reason and it was too hilarious not to remark upon. For those not in the know "WWJD?" stands for "What Would Jesus Do?". You've probably seen lots of kids through to teens wearing the slogan on a little band round their wrist, possibly accompanied by the likes of "FROG" - which has a slogan I can't actually remember, probably something along the lines of being friends of god. I could be wrong. Also "PUSH" - pray until something happens.

I have seen many humorous other uses for these slogans, one of the funnier being the adaptation by Rich Burlow, the creator of The Order of the Stick comic. One of the characters is a Nordic cleric, and one particular frame forever immortalised on a t-shirt includes Durkon (said cleric) wondering: "WWTD?" - What Would Thor Do?.

However, this latest T-shirt encompasses the whole spirit of the gaming nation globally. WWJDFTW? - What Would Jesus Do For The Win?. For those of you who don't feel like clicking on the link, I shall provide the description on the website:

Scholars, philosophers, teachers, and laymen alike have been asking and pondering this question since at least 1982: What would Jesus do for the win? Would he snap his fingers and turn your controller into a loaf of bread rendering you defenseless while he's tea-bagging your rotting corpse? Perhaps he'd simply teleport into your base and promptly start shouting: 'I'm in ur base, performing miracles!' Though most likely unanswerable, it's a question, we here at SplitReason.com must continue to ask.
100% cotton
Pre-shrunk
Fair warning: While wearing this t-shirt you may accidentally immaculately impregnate some hottie.

Oh how I lol'd.

I love splitreason.com

2007-11-09T11:16:00.000Z

I was reading my daily dose of Ctrl-Alt-Delete today (a web comic) and the T-shirts that are advertised in the side bar were making me giggle again (I have the lilah one because she is awesome, and the statement is oh so true). So I browsed over the splitreason.com and browsed the rest of the stuff (not CAD related) and found THE best pair of pants ever, with the statement Achievement Locked on them, referring of course to xbox 360 gamer points and achievements. Oh I want. So bad. Unfortunately, I also want a load of other things from there too. The t-shirts designs are just classic. I'd want them all in vest top designs, or at least women's fit, but they don't do those *sad*, well not on the CAD stuff anyway. Maybe I should check it out. So should you. Because it is awesome.

That is all.

Childhood Obesity

2007-10-22T13:04:00.000+01:00

I was just watching the news where they were addressing the issue of childhood obesity once again. The latest trial is to introduce free *healthy* school dinners to young children. Now that's all well and good, but I don't think that's actually going to do sod all.

Take my school dinner history, in Primary School from years 3 to 6, I ate burger and chips and some kind of cake for pudding EVERY DAY, as well as a chocolate bar at tuck time. In high school I changed my eating habits about once a year. I remember in my first year having sausage and chips everyday, then I went onto a sandwich, before going to chicken nuggets and waffles, and then chicken burgers in my final year. For 5 years they were the only foods I ate at school, on top of a sausage sandwich on toast everyday at break time, as well as doughnuts or cake or chocolate from vending machines, as well as umpteen amounts of fizzy pop.

Was I fat at school? Hell no - I was one of the thinnest and most athletic. I could outrun most people in my year, had more endurance and was a six 6. SIX!! It was insane. Being thin and healthy had nothing to do with the food I ate, but rather the amount of exercise I did, in the form of P.E and school sports teams, both at lunch time and after school.

Now I'm not in school anymore I've shot up to a size 12 and I have no stamina whatsoever! My diet hasn't changed, but my exercise routing sure has. In short, no more sport (which I really miss, incidentally).

They need to get kids out more, let them play outside, in the street (what I did every night) go and climb trees and in wade in rivers. I played computer games, but only in the evening or it was raining generally.

People need to stop being so over-protective of their children and let them play outside. Or in the park, or whatever.

One note, I acknowledge that the food I ate wasn't healthy, but it didn't stop me being fit and my proper weight. Actually, if anything I was under weight. I will always appreciate the fact that I was allowed to eat the food I liked and enjoyed, rather than being forced other stuff that was more healthy.

Hard-Fi new album - anyone fancy going to a gig?

2007-10-21T11:24:00.000+01:00

I went out and had a big spend up at Merry Hill, spent a lot of the gift cards/vouchers I had for my birthday. Had a nice mix of: New games (The "new" Lara Croft game for xbox360, and the Knights of the Nine + downloadable content for The Elderscrolls IV: Oblivion [heart that game]); new clothes-ish (yay for coloured tights and leg warmers LOL - I couldn't resist, go Primark!); technological gear (new foldable headphones I'm wearing right now, and a new corded lazar mouse for my PC reading up to 3200 DPI!); aaaaaand MUSIC (Beautiful South - Solid Bronze Great Hits, Green Day - Dookie, and the new Hard-Fi album - Once Upon a Time in the West)!!

So, onto the purpose of this blog...I'm really into the stuff by Hard-Fi, I actually have hard copies of both of their albums. Very rare for me, and I bought their new one the other day without ever hearing it before, or any of the tracks. I really can't remember the last time I did that. Probably never actually, even in my high school days of buying Now! compilation CD's I knew at least some tracks!! But anyway, it paid off (plus, you can get chart album CD's for like a tenner now, bargain really).

Thus, seeing as I am liking them a lot, I thought I'd see if they are touring at all, and they are in December. I would love to go, but I don't know anyone else who knows them except Andy at the NHM who is responsible for me getting into them in the first place! (Yay for the ability to share library's on a network on iTunes). SO, if anyone wants to go to one of their gigs let me know. They are in Birmingham twice, as well as Manchester and London etc. Tickets seem to be about £22-25.

While I'm on the subject of Hard-Fi, I have to say I love their approach to album art and stuff. on their latest album there is just the band name, album title, and then in large font NO COVER ART and on the inside it just says INSIGNIFICANT PHOTOSHOOT. I would have liked the lyrics, but it's all good XD. Apparently on one of their singles from this album, one cover said "expensive black and white band photo not available". Awesome.

Good but lonely.

2007-10-18T16:26:00.000+01:00

Another day at uni and all good. It's actually a lot warmer in the department than I remember, so I'm pleased about that. I just have memories of freezing my ass off at the weekends for 4 hours and having to breathe on my fingers to keep them warm!

Did more databasing today. Did almost 80, which is better than my 50 records yesterday, but it would have been even better if I hadn't had to go home so early! Fi arrived at around 3:30 because her training finished early, so it was a mad dash up to the car park! Highlight of the work day was recording some actual sapphires, and also having to wear gloves because I was holding rocks of death!! (They contained mercury, lol).

However, despite the experience being good, I felt fairly lonely walking thru campus at lunch time looking for something to eat (the guild has changed lots and I was like ARGH!). I really miss the NHM now, because rounding everyone up and going to lunch was one of the nicest parts of the day. As well as not having that anymore, there is the knowledge that I'm not going to bump into anyone I know either.

There was a departmental coffee today, but I didn't stay long, as I didn't really know anyone, and I didn't wanna impinge my presence on the 1/2 people I did know. Nor did I fancy striking up random conversation. In London I think I was more sociable, but then outings to the pub were much more sociable than just a dept. coffee. Also, I probably felt that I had to talk to people in London, or I really wouldn't get to know anyone. In Birmingham, my old shyness has come back a bit. And my fear of groups, heh.

It made me briefly think about doing a PhD again, because I don't wanna be lonely for 3 years, but i figure then I'll know the other students anyway, so shouldn't be so much of a big deal.

First day back at B'ham uni...

2007-10-17T21:15:00.001+01:00

Getting up this morning was a hell of a killer - getting to uni at 8:15, like the "old days", hehe. Spend the whole day databasing but it was good. Pretty simple stuff, minerals, with not much data, so not too complex to break me into it. They have lots of other stuff in mind too, so reckon it's gonna be fun.

Highlight of the day had to be Paul coming in to see how I was getting on, and his first comment being "oh, you almost look sophisticated in those glasses!", rofl.

Should be going in tomo, but some david wilson person is supposed to be coming round, and if my brother has to go and sign for his JSA I might have to stay in to wait for him, I will NOT be happy, esp. as I have to sign for mine on Friday, so I'll be getting a half day then. Gah!!

Facebook-Friend Wheel

2007-10-16T13:14:00.000+01:00

I was perusing some profiles on facebook, and came across this friend wheel thingy. it looks pretty nd stuff, so I thought I'd try it out (link to mine in title). I was quite impressed with the results, it clearly shows my friendship, and I even learnt that some friends are friends with others of my friends, where I would otherwise have said it was impossible that they knew each other!

I found my wheel fairly interesting...it is comprised of two major groups, within which is high interactivity and many people, and there are some smaller groupings, that are very insular:

Major groups (most extrovert):
1. School/college friends (cyan/light green coloured lines)
2. Salvation Army people (yellow/orange coloured lines)

Minor groups (very insula):
1. UCL/NHM people (dark blue/dark purple lines)
2. B'ham uni friends (bright pink)
3. Internet friends (red - due east from Neill to Fredrick)
4. London friends not course related (red, east, Malte to Jack)

Random group:
1. Mid purple, NNE section

The random collection is very wierd, and wonder if they are so placed because they have no particular network they belong too.

I find it grouped them all very accuratly, and was quite impressed with the results. It also makes me look a whole lot more sociable than I actually am!! ^_^

Of course, it really could just be a product of how many people I know in various groups, but the fact that quite a few lines cross the circle is interesting. Or maybe I'm just looking for relationships that aren't there :P

What's curious is that I then went to look at other friends who had a friend wheel to see various results. Now, some wheels were very simple with few crossing lines. Seemingly this shows that they have various friendship groups, and they don't interact much. On the other hand, one of my other friends had NO blank space in the middle at all, with crossing lines EVERYWHERE. At first I was thinking "woah, this guy has friends everywhere" but then I realised that they were all probably from the same environment, such as work or uni for example. Fair enough, but is it as complex at is looks?

Maybe people who have isolated segments of connecting lines balance more friendship groups, or maybe they don't mix in different groups or something.

For some reason, I think there is an interesting study of sociology there somewhere, I just can't grasp it! Hehe.

That's my randomness for the day ^_^

The relief of Belsen

2007-10-16T12:45:00.000+01:00

Last night, I watched a programme on channel 4, about the relief of Belsen, a concentration camp in Germany. It was compulsive, yet horrific viewing. It was a dramatisation of the even that happened around that time (1945) featuring first hand accounts of people that were there, and most shockingly of all, real footage.

In brief, there were 10's of 1000's of inmates in a holding camp. It was estimated that 50,000 people died there, many from an outbreak of Typhus. The camp was originally designed to hold 10,000 inmates but at around 15th April 1945 it was holding 60,000. When the British soldiers arrived, there were just thousands and thousands of unburied bodies lying in heaps, or where they had fallen. I wont go more into it, but there is information about it all over the web.

What disgusted me, is that there are people in this world who promote holocaust denial (not that all the people in the camp were Jews. Most were women and children from various European countries, some of which had even been transferred from Auschwitz, as well as Russian PoWs). There is real live footage of people using tractors to shovel the bodies that look no better than emaciated barbie dolls into huge mass graves. It's so very saddening and despicable.

What was more heart wrenching, was that even when the British arrived, they just kept on dying, from both typhus and starvation. Even just 10 days after the British had liberated the camp, a further 11,000 inmates had died. They really portrayed the anguish that must have plagued the men and women there trying to help. Overall, the relief was a success story, but still...

The film also got me wondering about the footage. Sure, it's bad, but some of the first hand accounts that were read out were worse. I bet there is footage somewhere that isn't even on display in holocaust museums because it is so bad.

The one uplifting thing about the film, was how it recounted what the relief soldiers and some of the inmates had gone on to do in the rest of their lives. I was surprised at how many of them are still alive.

Nearly everyone knows, or should know, the story of Auschwitz. it shouldn't stop there, everyone should know the true horror of the holocaust. Noone should be brought up not knowing about this horrific story in my opinion. It makes you wonder, that as time passes and it fades in the minds of people, how many people will tend toward "holocaust denial". Shocking, really.

Need a new book

2007-10-14T22:29:00.000+01:00

I've finished reading my set of Conan Chronicles by Robert Jordan, and now I'm annoyed because I don'y know what to read. I mean, I have ~500 books to chose from (all fantasy/science-fiction) and I don't fancy ANY of them!

Prolly cus I read them all so many times. Authors need to write quicker so I can buy more! I'm fed up of going into Waterstones and thinking "got that shelf...and that shelf, oh and..." etc etc etc.

*sigh*

Someone find me a decent series I haven't already read!

/rant

Near Future Happenings & Stuff

2007-10-14T15:27:00.000+01:00

Well, I've stiill being a scav and living off my JSA at the moment, but for anyong who doesn't already know, I've got an xmas temp job at M&S starting early November, so that's all to the good. Can buy people nice xmas presents, as well as using the money for more material things, and driving lessons maybe.

I'm likely going to be applying to Brum/Leicester to do a PhD starting next Sept, and my mom thinks it would be beneficial to be able to drive. It's not necessary as such though, as I can get a lift in with mom/Fi, if I was at Brum. need to learn though really. Already been a bit of a millstone round my neck preventing me from applying for jobs and stuff.

Also on a work-related-ish note, I'm setting up some time for me to go and volunteer at the lapworth museum. I did the 'scholarship' there in the summer between my 2nd and 3rd year, so hopefully I'll kind of know what I'm about, though that depends what Paul/Jon find for me to do I guess. Not only is it something I will enjoy doing, and be good for the whole CV thing, it will also be good to have something to do. I don't know ho my brother sits at home all day doing nothing except playing computer games etc. I've only been home about a month, but I'm already getting extremely restless. I'm looking forward to getting out of the house and having soemthing to occupy my time. Something useful at that. Hopefully going to be going in Weds-Fri (waiting to hear back atm) til I start at M&S, then I'll have to change it to just Tuesdays and Thursdays. But yeah, looking forward to that :)

~ ~ ~

Don't know why, but I haven't really felt in the mood for writing blogs of late. Dunno cus it's because I'm so restless, or just because I have nothing to say! *sigh*

In other random news, I feel that I'm getting a better grasp of Fireworks and Dreamweaver, and my website looks better than it did before. Much better in my opinion. The only thing is that now there isn't much content as I took down all the original pages and am uploading new ones as I complete them rather than leaving the old ones up there, thus the only stuf up there is regarding my books. I should write some more personal pages again, but last time they started takin of the site, and well, having so much personal info up on the web isn't always the best, even though I don't create it under my real name! Besides, who really wants to know stuff about me?!

My hit rate has gone up very much over the last few months, think it's because search engines have finally indexed my site, now that I have posted up incoming links here and there. Good to see that people can find their way to my site from google searches and such. Just need more content really. I'm trying to review as I read, but I read so quickly it's hard to keep up.

But anyway, I'm really rambling here.

Ciao for now.

In the unlikely event...

2007-10-14T15:22:00.000+01:00

...that I ever get married, I've decided that the first song/dance that I would like at my wedding would be Look After You by The Fray. I think the song is beautiful, and I love the lyrics:

If I don't say this now I will surely break
As I'm leaving the one I want to take
Forgive the urgency but hurry up and wait
My heart has started to separate

Oh, oh,
Be my baby
Ohhhhh
Oh, oh
Be my baby
I'll look after you

There now, steady love, so few come and don't go
Will you won't you, be the one I'll always know
When I'm losing my control, the city spins around
You're the only one who knows, you slow it down

Oh, oh
Be my baby
Ohhhhhh
Oh, oh
Be my Baby
I'll look after you
And I'll look after you

If ever there was a doubt
My love she leans into me
This most assuredly counts
She says most assuredly

Oh, oh
Be my baby
I'll look after you
After You
Oh, oh
Be my baby
Ohhhhh

It's always have and never hold
You've begun to feel like home
What's mine is yours to leave or take
What's mine is yours to make your own

Oh, oh
Be my baby
Ohhhhh
Oh, oh
Be my baby

Also, who wants terribly clichéd songs at their wedding? Heh.

Of course, my taste in music in likely to change in the future, but I reckon I will still love this song. The Fray's debut album How To Save A Life is amazing, and I would highly recommend it :)

360 Games round-up

2007-10-01T12:09:00.001+01:00

I've been doing a lot of 360 playing latly, and I thought I'd round up a few games:

Blue Dragon
My last blog was about how Enchanted arms was a complete Final Fantasy (FF) rip-off, but in a VERY bad way. Blue Dragon is essentially a FF rip-off also, but in an AWESOME way. The music is even composed by the same Jap. guy who did the music to FF8, my favourite game of all time (for the uninitiated), which basically means I was destined to love it.

The story is very FF. Small group of teens have to save the world kinda thing, from an unknown menace. The magic system is identical to most of the FF games, particularly 12 (not 8, where rather than using MP to cast spells, you draw numbers of aarticular spells. Ie you have 8 cure spells and when they are gone they are gone). In BD (and FF12) you keep casting til you run out of mana. The turn based combat is alo very silimar, although more FF10 like, where you see when each character will play their next move or action.

The only thing different really, is that the animation is very anime esk. Normally this means I would hate it, but they actually come across as rather cute. Come to think of it, I guess it's very FF9. (If any of you are unfamiliar to FF, these comparisons aren't doing you a lot of good, are they? heh).

Essentially, it's some great parts of FF, rolled into one came. If you like games like FF, you will love this. And I'm only 4 hours in. Whoo! (Only cus I started playing it yesterday though!). Also, unlike most 360 games, it comes on THREE disks. Prepare to be out-awesomed.

Tetris Evolution
I may have blogged on this before, but thought I would post a quick titbit. I have read several reviews about this game, where they have pronounced that this is one of the hardest tetris games ever in terms of achievement points. The game is playable on Live!, and I have seen more than one person say that if your opponant on multiplayer has more than 3 achievements, they you are going to get owned. I have 10, so suck on my mighty skills :P

Oblivion
I'm no up to 60 hours on my 360 ave, and I must say I enjoy playing on the 360 more than PC now, the controls are much better, and I guess the PC fanboys were correct in saying it (the elderscrolls games) had been streamlined for consoles, because it does work better.

I am 20 hours into a new PC saved game where I am finally able to play with mods. They make the game different, so I am till enjoying it thoroughly. Props to Bethsoft.

Crackdown
Been getting back into this, even earned a few more achiements. Another worthwhile game. I like just finding the agility sphere's and leaping over roof tops, though gunning people down and blowing up cars with grenades does have it perks. This game has a co-op featre as well, though only over Live!, so alas I haven't had chance to play it. But again, recommended.

Hexic HD
hexic apparently comes with the 360 under arcade games, I didn't realise that. I have become rather addicted to it in the last couple of days. It's like tetris but not. Rather than having to stop the screen filling up, you have a full screenthat you have to eliminate, getting bonuses for creating certain paerns, or colour combinations. it sounds silly, but it's practically as addictive as tetris, if not more so, as you can play at your own pace. I guess it's more like Bejewelled than tetirs, but if you like those kinda games, you'll love this one.

~ ~ ~

I think the problems I used to have with the 360 (and consoles in general) was that I just wasn't very good using a control pad rather than a mouse and keyboard. Though if anyone had seen my attempts to use a mouse to look in games like UT04 and JK2: Jedi Outcast, they would think I was some kind of gaming noob!

Getting used to the controller has finally enabled me to enjoy the games more. So yay for getting square eyes in the future XD