I just had a meeting with my lecturer and they said everything about my plan is good because I can spend the whole of my coursework saying why it would never work.
Oh well, silver linings and all that.
30 January 2004
29 January 2004
A flicker of winter.
The snow came, we ran and saw how far we could slide.
The snow went.
The ice came, we walked and tried our best not to slide.
Snow has its moments, one of them is when it snows for the first time in ages and you get really excited about it. We managed to waste 15 minutes of thrilling coursework by looking out of window and talking about how cool snow is. The second snow moment is when it gets people stuck in cars. For weeks now we have know a "big freeze" was on the way and then when it comes and hundreds of people get stuck for hours in traffic jams, they moan and blame the council. Watching these people on news reports just makes my "hot chocolate with marshmallows" day. The third snow moment is when it turns to a crappy brown mush and you start moaning because the capillary action of your trousers means you end up with wet knees.
Today I have been researching a risk reduction scheme for a small island which has a massive great big volcano on it. Everything that I have proposed seems almost pointless as if the volcano decided to blow, there is nothing anyone can do about it. I've made them a bit safer with regards to earthquakes, landslides and hurricanes, but if that volcano decides it's all over . . . then its all over.
The snow went.
The ice came, we walked and tried our best not to slide.
Snow has its moments, one of them is when it snows for the first time in ages and you get really excited about it. We managed to waste 15 minutes of thrilling coursework by looking out of window and talking about how cool snow is. The second snow moment is when it gets people stuck in cars. For weeks now we have know a "big freeze" was on the way and then when it comes and hundreds of people get stuck for hours in traffic jams, they moan and blame the council. Watching these people on news reports just makes my "hot chocolate with marshmallows" day. The third snow moment is when it turns to a crappy brown mush and you start moaning because the capillary action of your trousers means you end up with wet knees.
Today I have been researching a risk reduction scheme for a small island which has a massive great big volcano on it. Everything that I have proposed seems almost pointless as if the volcano decided to blow, there is nothing anyone can do about it. I've made them a bit safer with regards to earthquakes, landslides and hurricanes, but if that volcano decides it's all over . . . then its all over.
27 January 2004
Too much tea to sleep, but my day is over.
My eyes are starting to bleed!!!!
Its now 10, I started lectures at 9 this morning. I have stopped for lunch, dinner, extreme boredom and a hot chocolate with marshmallows. I'm done for the day, that's it, I've had enough.
While friends sit around me still with their heads in books I'm taking a stance.
I'm tired.
I want my bed.
I got handed a piece of coursework today and that is what I have been working on all day. The nice thing is, I reckon with one more days hard slog I will have it sorted. That's the kind of work I like, straight to it and get it out the way. The fact that its only a tiny piece of work has nothing to do with it. It will be finished and I can cross it off my list.
Tomorrow is politics with the greatest lecturer the university has, a great bear of a man called Roy May. He is just the best guy to teach you about politics ever, although he could tell me about anything and I would take it for gospel truth. He's just one of those guys.
Its now 10, I started lectures at 9 this morning. I have stopped for lunch, dinner, extreme boredom and a hot chocolate with marshmallows. I'm done for the day, that's it, I've had enough.
While friends sit around me still with their heads in books I'm taking a stance.
I'm tired.
I want my bed.
I got handed a piece of coursework today and that is what I have been working on all day. The nice thing is, I reckon with one more days hard slog I will have it sorted. That's the kind of work I like, straight to it and get it out the way. The fact that its only a tiny piece of work has nothing to do with it. It will be finished and I can cross it off my list.
Tomorrow is politics with the greatest lecturer the university has, a great bear of a man called Roy May. He is just the best guy to teach you about politics ever, although he could tell me about anything and I would take it for gospel truth. He's just one of those guys.
25 January 2004
Wiley Kit Butcher and Baroness Jones.
After the almost unparalleled humour of Friday night we dragged ourselves to the library to try and do more work. Saturday was going well, even though we were less motivated than the Japanese to go to war, we stuck it out and managed to squeeze a couple of thousand words onto the page. It was getting late in the afternoon, we had been working almost solidly for a week. We got chatting about how much work we were going to do the next day, and then it hit us.
We had worked every single day that we had been at university, weekends included.
There had not been one day of unadulterated relaxation.
Even if we did no real work, we would read a book, or some notes, or write an essay plan.
We were turning into habitual workers.
With this shocking revelation we thought it only right that we go to Coventry's coolest bar and have a celebratory afternoon drink. Soon after this my as yet unbroken "only one night out a week rule" went to the dogs and I decided to just enjoy myself and not spend every waking hour worrying about my degree.
This led to one of the most enjoyable 8 hours I have had. I don't know why it was so decent. It wasn't planned, it just happened, we made plans for the night and scrapped them on the spur of the moment for different ones. It was a fluid night. We weren't out for the sake of it. We were out to celebrate and chat. The night was just so. . .easy.
We argued about war and whether there was any honour in it. We discussed who had more honour, Knights or Gladiators. We discovered that we had independently experienced "paranormal" activity in the house we lived in last year but never told anyone about it for fear of mockery. We gave each other new and better nicknames. The slogan "white bread is sugar in disguise" came out again and was ingrained into our minds. We ate chips. We ordered drinks and didn't care what flavour they were. We talked to glass collectors and then tried to get rid of them after they seemed more "clingy" than "friendly". We settled Chris' tab after he just stood up and left the bar. We carried a large orange folder around with us all night. We asked barmen where they got their trousers. We laughed. We chilled out. We had fun.
Then in the morning we got up and went back to the library. Read journals, did work and absolutely bust a gut laughing about the night before.
Now its Sunday night and I'm going to be up at 7 tomorrow for the gym before the week starts all over again. Lectures, reading, writing and more reading and writing.
Yeah this place stresses me out sometimes and yes, like everyone else at uni, I worry myself stupid at night wondering if I'm going to get good enough grades. But then days like today, where I was sat in the library, with a book of International Humanitarian Law on the desk in front of me, the sun streaming in the window and a stupid big grin on my face. . . on days like this. . . . it all seems worth it.
We had worked every single day that we had been at university, weekends included.
There had not been one day of unadulterated relaxation.
Even if we did no real work, we would read a book, or some notes, or write an essay plan.
We were turning into habitual workers.
With this shocking revelation we thought it only right that we go to Coventry's coolest bar and have a celebratory afternoon drink. Soon after this my as yet unbroken "only one night out a week rule" went to the dogs and I decided to just enjoy myself and not spend every waking hour worrying about my degree.
This led to one of the most enjoyable 8 hours I have had. I don't know why it was so decent. It wasn't planned, it just happened, we made plans for the night and scrapped them on the spur of the moment for different ones. It was a fluid night. We weren't out for the sake of it. We were out to celebrate and chat. The night was just so. . .easy.
We argued about war and whether there was any honour in it. We discussed who had more honour, Knights or Gladiators. We discovered that we had independently experienced "paranormal" activity in the house we lived in last year but never told anyone about it for fear of mockery. We gave each other new and better nicknames. The slogan "white bread is sugar in disguise" came out again and was ingrained into our minds. We ate chips. We ordered drinks and didn't care what flavour they were. We talked to glass collectors and then tried to get rid of them after they seemed more "clingy" than "friendly". We settled Chris' tab after he just stood up and left the bar. We carried a large orange folder around with us all night. We asked barmen where they got their trousers. We laughed. We chilled out. We had fun.
Then in the morning we got up and went back to the library. Read journals, did work and absolutely bust a gut laughing about the night before.
Now its Sunday night and I'm going to be up at 7 tomorrow for the gym before the week starts all over again. Lectures, reading, writing and more reading and writing.
Yeah this place stresses me out sometimes and yes, like everyone else at uni, I worry myself stupid at night wondering if I'm going to get good enough grades. But then days like today, where I was sat in the library, with a book of International Humanitarian Law on the desk in front of me, the sun streaming in the window and a stupid big grin on my face. . . on days like this. . . . it all seems worth it.
23 January 2004
A normal night out in Coventry.
As the song goes, oh what a night.
My house mates couldn't make it out this weekend so we decided to go out tonight. This meant we ended up in a Garage night!! Hmmm, different!!
The night was going well until Ron was talking to Abby and some randoms decided they would take offence. This resulted in them planning on following him to the toilet and beating him up.
Luckily this plan was cleverly foiled by me being dragged to said toilet with no inclining of what was going on and having a bizarre conversation with Ron over what was the matter.
Since neither of us knew of the plan to rearrange his face the conversation was both short lived and confused. However we both left with bodily functions intact and even with the Tesco Clubcard that was causing too much trouble for its own good.
Then in the takeaway some other random lass was swearing at Ron for being a "fake" Geordie. Hmmm, yes, he's only lived there for ALL his life!!!
Honestly, this city just has to make you laugh sometimes. It kind of helps the blood pressure from the unparalleled hatred that would surface otherwise.
My house mates couldn't make it out this weekend so we decided to go out tonight. This meant we ended up in a Garage night!! Hmmm, different!!
The night was going well until Ron was talking to Abby and some randoms decided they would take offence. This resulted in them planning on following him to the toilet and beating him up.
Luckily this plan was cleverly foiled by me being dragged to said toilet with no inclining of what was going on and having a bizarre conversation with Ron over what was the matter.
Since neither of us knew of the plan to rearrange his face the conversation was both short lived and confused. However we both left with bodily functions intact and even with the Tesco Clubcard that was causing too much trouble for its own good.
Then in the takeaway some other random lass was swearing at Ron for being a "fake" Geordie. Hmmm, yes, he's only lived there for ALL his life!!!
Honestly, this city just has to make you laugh sometimes. It kind of helps the blood pressure from the unparalleled hatred that would surface otherwise.
20 January 2004
Warmth. . . sweet warmth.
Finally the boiler got fixed. Exactly one whole week since it broke it took an engineer 15 minutes to sort out. I was expecting some kind of marathon boiler refurbishment. I thought these magical four parts we have been waiting for would be of some complexity. 15 minutes. What a joke.
But at least it is finally fixed. I'm going to have a shower tomorrow morning and its going to feel soooo good.
I went shopping today and bought real food for the first time in ages. I have white bread and everything!!!
Muffins for breakfast. . . .oh yeah. . I know how to lead the good life!
But at least it is finally fixed. I'm going to have a shower tomorrow morning and its going to feel soooo good.
I went shopping today and bought real food for the first time in ages. I have white bread and everything!!!
Muffins for breakfast. . . .oh yeah. . I know how to lead the good life!
Todays lesson
If you can buy a pizza in a two for one offer, if it only costs eight pound anyway and if you get a large portion, corners have to be cut somewhere.
So while I was munching away I did notice that the ham seemed to be the type that obviously had a lot of water added. It texture was somewhat. . . different. . to the ham I usually eat. I ate on however and even used sour cream and chive did that was provided for free to make eating the crust more interesting.
Then this morning, the pizza got its revenge.
Mental note to self. Do not order food from Kasra pizza.
Repeat, do not order food from Kasra pizza.
So while I was munching away I did notice that the ham seemed to be the type that obviously had a lot of water added. It texture was somewhat. . . different. . to the ham I usually eat. I ate on however and even used sour cream and chive did that was provided for free to make eating the crust more interesting.
Then this morning, the pizza got its revenge.
Mental note to self. Do not order food from Kasra pizza.
Repeat, do not order food from Kasra pizza.
19 January 2004
Have you heard the one about the students who froze to death??
Hey guess what everyone, THE BOILER IS STILL BROKEN!!!!!!!
Oh the hilarity of actually spending a week in January without central heating or hot water. The people on the end of the phone are soooo very polite. . well that can be cant they. They are sat in warm offices, go home to warm houses and have hot water. I went into university early today simply because I knew it would be warmer than my house. I have showered at three different peoples houses, I have taken to wearing 4 layers, I am glad my mum buys me jumpers when she goes to Castleton, I started drinking hot squash, I can no longer remember what Monty looks like, when I shiver in bed it makes so much noise I have to wear ear plugs, my sense of humour for the whole situation is waning, I have lost the ability to sweat, Tom has fallen ill, you can see your breath in Rons room and the Ice Queen has eloped from Narnia to use my wardrobe as a holiday home.
Oh the hilarity of actually spending a week in January without central heating or hot water. The people on the end of the phone are soooo very polite. . well that can be cant they. They are sat in warm offices, go home to warm houses and have hot water. I went into university early today simply because I knew it would be warmer than my house. I have showered at three different peoples houses, I have taken to wearing 4 layers, I am glad my mum buys me jumpers when she goes to Castleton, I started drinking hot squash, I can no longer remember what Monty looks like, when I shiver in bed it makes so much noise I have to wear ear plugs, my sense of humour for the whole situation is waning, I have lost the ability to sweat, Tom has fallen ill, you can see your breath in Rons room and the Ice Queen has eloped from Narnia to use my wardrobe as a holiday home.
17 January 2004
Typing with gloves on. . . a new skill is born.
Once again the students of this world are left to suffer in shitty accommodation with no heating.
I was assured by the woman on the phone yesterday that someone would be round to fix our boiler. But funnily enough . . and this is the bit that really makes me laugh. . . they never showed!! Oh the hilarity of spending yet another night and day slowly freezing to death.
I called again today but they are not holding out any hope of it getting fixed until next week. I did talk to the emergency engineer and he said if the guy with the parts has not been by four thirty today he will come and try and do a botch job to get us through the weekend.
So its another day of putting the oven on 250 degrees and leaving the door open to try and defrost the lounge. Another evening of sitting wrapped in a duvet and another night of feeling like I'm camping cause I'm wearing all my thermals. You gotta love university life.
Luckily I wont be feeling the cold tonight as I'm taking deliver of a brand new beer jacket. Its arriving at about 8 and if the labels are to be believed it will keep me toasty right through the night. Here's to Chimay Blue!!
On a much happier note I made soup again yesterday and it was lovely. Maybe a little too much carrot and apple, but I'm slowly getting there. The market rules, I got two bags crammed with veg for only two pound forty one pence. If it wasn't for the overriding smell of fish that permeates the place, I would go more often.
I was assured by the woman on the phone yesterday that someone would be round to fix our boiler. But funnily enough . . and this is the bit that really makes me laugh. . . they never showed!! Oh the hilarity of spending yet another night and day slowly freezing to death.
I called again today but they are not holding out any hope of it getting fixed until next week. I did talk to the emergency engineer and he said if the guy with the parts has not been by four thirty today he will come and try and do a botch job to get us through the weekend.
So its another day of putting the oven on 250 degrees and leaving the door open to try and defrost the lounge. Another evening of sitting wrapped in a duvet and another night of feeling like I'm camping cause I'm wearing all my thermals. You gotta love university life.
Luckily I wont be feeling the cold tonight as I'm taking deliver of a brand new beer jacket. Its arriving at about 8 and if the labels are to be believed it will keep me toasty right through the night. Here's to Chimay Blue!!
On a much happier note I made soup again yesterday and it was lovely. Maybe a little too much carrot and apple, but I'm slowly getting there. The market rules, I got two bags crammed with veg for only two pound forty one pence. If it wasn't for the overriding smell of fish that permeates the place, I would go more often.
15 January 2004
Alone in my igloo.
I get to spend tonight all on my own in this freezing cold house. My housemates have gone to Wales for a night to be even colder and more uncomfortable than usual. They are also planning on going up Snowdon, if I haven’t heard from them by Saturday lunch time I get to practice my search and rescue!!
The boiler is still broken. “Waiting for a part”. I’m sure if I was old it would have been fixed by now. When I wake up breathing mist tomorrow it will have been three days without hot water. I think a stern phone call may be in order tomorrow.
The boiler is still broken. “Waiting for a part”. I’m sure if I was old it would have been fixed by now. When I wake up breathing mist tomorrow it will have been three days without hot water. I think a stern phone call may be in order tomorrow.
8 in the morning and 2 degrees.
It is just to cold to go to the gym this morning. I can not even contemplate having to wash in cold water in this house. I am sat here wearing two thermals and a fleece, if I could type in gloves, I would.
I really need to call Mercia Gas again before my eyes freeze shut.
I really need to call Mercia Gas again before my eyes freeze shut.
14 January 2004
It's getting cold in here. . .
So the boiler was fixed. . . . . . and now its broken again!! woo hoo. Yet another January night with no hot water or central heating! Looks like I'll have to start showing at the gym, which would be ok if it were not for the fear of being made someones "bitch".
Had a productive day today and am hoping to keep this going all the way through to the weekend. It also snowed which cheered me no end.
We got shouted at by one of our lectures today as she just marked our coursework and she is not happy with the quality. Luckily this is for the whole year so if I bombed again, I can only hope I'll take others down with me.
I also found out the Deli where I get my lunch does jacket potatoes. This is some of the best news this week as I can now enjoy a filling lunch and not have to worry that I'm eating crap. Chilli con carne filled spuds, here we come!
Had a productive day today and am hoping to keep this going all the way through to the weekend. It also snowed which cheered me no end.
We got shouted at by one of our lectures today as she just marked our coursework and she is not happy with the quality. Luckily this is for the whole year so if I bombed again, I can only hope I'll take others down with me.
I also found out the Deli where I get my lunch does jacket potatoes. This is some of the best news this week as I can now enjoy a filling lunch and not have to worry that I'm eating crap. Chilli con carne filled spuds, here we come!
12 January 2004
Every now and then, the days dont like me.
The first day of term is over.
What a disaster.
I got my first piece of coursework back today. . I bombed it. I don't just mean I didn't do well. I failed this coursework with everything I had to fail with. I failed it, then got a mark and lost it just for the hell of it. I failed as badly as you would if you used a Molotov cocktail as a fire extinguisher. As starts to the year go, this one sucks.
So after the humiliation of my coursework I went to get a baked potato. . . . . and the baked potato can was not there. . . . so I went to get a hot roast pork baguette. . . . and they had run out of pork. . . .so I got two spring rolls.
Not the same.
Not even nearly.
Now I'm at home and the boiler has gone so we have no hot water. That's good, I'm only in the attic and we are only going through the coldest and worst storms in the midlands for ten years!!!
Oh world, how thee mock me.
But hey, I did buy a new bag today, it was less than half price.
Woo. . .ahem. . hoo.
This is a pic of what Dave is doing at the mo. . . . Damn Jews have all the fun!
What a disaster.
I got my first piece of coursework back today. . I bombed it. I don't just mean I didn't do well. I failed this coursework with everything I had to fail with. I failed it, then got a mark and lost it just for the hell of it. I failed as badly as you would if you used a Molotov cocktail as a fire extinguisher. As starts to the year go, this one sucks.
So after the humiliation of my coursework I went to get a baked potato. . . . . and the baked potato can was not there. . . . so I went to get a hot roast pork baguette. . . . and they had run out of pork. . . .so I got two spring rolls.
Not the same.
Not even nearly.
Now I'm at home and the boiler has gone so we have no hot water. That's good, I'm only in the attic and we are only going through the coldest and worst storms in the midlands for ten years!!!
Oh world, how thee mock me.
But hey, I did buy a new bag today, it was less than half price.
Woo. . .ahem. . hoo.
This is a pic of what Dave is doing at the mo. . . . Damn Jews have all the fun!
11 January 2004
Hmmm, needs. . . . . . binning.
Well I just had the crappiest workout ever!!! I didn't really eat well today and it has shown in the pathetic piece of drama that just unfolded under the pretence of exercise. Managed to pull my thigh as well. . nice one Wardy, why don't I just eat lettuce all day tomorrow and then run for an hour or two and see how much weight I put on then?!?!?!?
I tried making soup today. Tried.
I watched Jen make it and it looked so easy. Cut up the veg, make the stock, add pepper and stuff. Well, it was not as easy as I thought. It think I was on the right track till I started adding spices. It was vile, it actually hurt after half a bowl. Literally, it hurt your mouth. I poured a whole HUGE pot of it down the sink. I will try again next week and be a bit more delicate with the seasoning.
I tried fixing my bag today that I managed to rip the hell out of when I moved back to uni. Fixed that is, until I pulled my new seam a bit to "simulate actual usage" and it split like the winnings at a Democratic Christian Poker Tournament.
Shopping tomorrow. . . . buying a bag.
I tried making soup today. Tried.
I watched Jen make it and it looked so easy. Cut up the veg, make the stock, add pepper and stuff. Well, it was not as easy as I thought. It think I was on the right track till I started adding spices. It was vile, it actually hurt after half a bowl. Literally, it hurt your mouth. I poured a whole HUGE pot of it down the sink. I will try again next week and be a bit more delicate with the seasoning.
I tried fixing my bag today that I managed to rip the hell out of when I moved back to uni. Fixed that is, until I pulled my new seam a bit to "simulate actual usage" and it split like the winnings at a Democratic Christian Poker Tournament.
Shopping tomorrow. . . . buying a bag.
10 January 2004
Water water eveywhere, and not a jot to think.
I have officially gone backwards this week. I'm starting to worry about my Independent Study now. I have NO idea what to write about now. The more I look into it the more indecision I come across. I keep on wanting to just walk away from it but I haven't got anywhere and feel like I have done nothing this week. Think I'll just go out tonight and forget about it, hope I get struck by inspiration or something.
On a lighter note, I bought some supplements off the internet yesterday on a bit of a whim cause my work wasn't going well, then later started regretting it as although they would be nice to have, they don't rate high on my "things I must own" list. Well luckily for me the company were sold out so cancelled my order. Phew, that's more money to spend on milk and tuna then!!
Every time I read an article about being healthy its says you need to drink more water. This is now my new pastime. Seeing just how much water I can drink in a day. then I figure if I strap weights to my ankles it will defiantly keep me fit cause I need the toilet about every 40 minutes. Don't really feel any different yet, although it has only been one day. But if I have been suffering form dehydration and notice a sudden surge in my energy levels accompanied by a general feeling of well being, I will let you know.
On a lighter note, I bought some supplements off the internet yesterday on a bit of a whim cause my work wasn't going well, then later started regretting it as although they would be nice to have, they don't rate high on my "things I must own" list. Well luckily for me the company were sold out so cancelled my order. Phew, that's more money to spend on milk and tuna then!!
Every time I read an article about being healthy its says you need to drink more water. This is now my new pastime. Seeing just how much water I can drink in a day. then I figure if I strap weights to my ankles it will defiantly keep me fit cause I need the toilet about every 40 minutes. Don't really feel any different yet, although it has only been one day. But if I have been suffering form dehydration and notice a sudden surge in my energy levels accompanied by a general feeling of well being, I will let you know.
09 January 2004
I'm stuck like a fat girl on the Log Flume!
For the past week I have been doing research for my Independent Study. I was going to be writing a paper about improving the security of aid workers in the third world. It was going well, I had a fair amount of info and figured I could write it. The only problem is that it looks. . and I know this sounds a bit crazy. . a bit too easy. Well not easy exactly, , but almost like cheating. I have found a document that is basically exactly what I was going to write. Then I found loads of others. I've read them all and they are good, but now I don't know if I should still write it or not because not 100 words of the finished product would be mine. It would either be absolutely jam packed full of the same 2 references or just blatantly plagiarised.
So then I got onto a new UN Security Council Resolution (1502) which among other things basically says that killing humanitarian personnel is a war crime. Now although this sounds nice, in reality it's just full of holes in legislation and technical details. So I was thinking I could talk about the problems with the practical application of this resolution, I could say how it's a good idea in theory but that it just wont work.
So now I'm sat here listening to Chris Thomas King and trying to work out what I'm gonna do. I've been reading most of the day so I think a nice steak or two is in order and then I'll make a decision.
No pressure, only have to have the whole thing mapped out by Monday!!!!
So then I got onto a new UN Security Council Resolution (1502) which among other things basically says that killing humanitarian personnel is a war crime. Now although this sounds nice, in reality it's just full of holes in legislation and technical details. So I was thinking I could talk about the problems with the practical application of this resolution, I could say how it's a good idea in theory but that it just wont work.
So now I'm sat here listening to Chris Thomas King and trying to work out what I'm gonna do. I've been reading most of the day so I think a nice steak or two is in order and then I'll make a decision.
No pressure, only have to have the whole thing mapped out by Monday!!!!
08 January 2004
A dropped out Mustang with silver bits sticking out the bonnet. . .yes please!
Today has been constructive, I have got a lot of work done.
This is, if pursuing the internet looking for boats, bikes and cars I could buy to travel around the world in is constructive. I have managed to find a boat that could be sailed around the greek islands in comfort for only six grand. I have priced up limos in florida for less than seven thousand dollars and have even found a couple of nice bikes that I could buy in ohio.
Unfortunately I didn't win the lottery last night so this has all been in vain. Should I somehow manage to come into a spare ten grand however and I will be purchasing one of the above and you wont see me for the mountain of debt I will leave behind.
This is, if pursuing the internet looking for boats, bikes and cars I could buy to travel around the world in is constructive. I have managed to find a boat that could be sailed around the greek islands in comfort for only six grand. I have priced up limos in florida for less than seven thousand dollars and have even found a couple of nice bikes that I could buy in ohio.
Unfortunately I didn't win the lottery last night so this has all been in vain. Should I somehow manage to come into a spare ten grand however and I will be purchasing one of the above and you wont see me for the mountain of debt I will leave behind.
07 January 2004
Questions of morality.
Walking back from the gym this morning and there was a drunk in this little park that they use as a open all hours meths bar, hunched over himself laying on the floor. He was covered in mud and not really moving much. But you know what I did. . . . nothing. Its really weird, I knew that I should go and help him but just didn't. I was walking home thinking about him, why he was laying there, what was up with him, what his name was, but I still didn't feel any inclination to lend a hand.
Then on my way into uni, he was on the other side of the street, still lying on the floor and everyone just walked around him like he didn't exist. You know what I did. . . exactly the same.
I just had no desire to help him at all.
I can usually detach myself from issues like this, but for some reason this one affected me. I think it's because this was right there in front of me. It's not so much that I didn't help him, I stepped around him. I went out of my way not to help him.
I see drunks all the time on the street and I don't help them, I have no idea why this one bothers me so much. I think it might be because this one was so blatantly in need of something. He wasn't just a drunk on the street, he was a person in need. But all I saw was a drunk. . . . and then I walked on.
I never realised how callous I had become to other people suffering. I guess you really do harden to it if you are exposed enough.
Then on my way into uni, he was on the other side of the street, still lying on the floor and everyone just walked around him like he didn't exist. You know what I did. . . exactly the same.
I just had no desire to help him at all.
I can usually detach myself from issues like this, but for some reason this one affected me. I think it's because this was right there in front of me. It's not so much that I didn't help him, I stepped around him. I went out of my way not to help him.
I see drunks all the time on the street and I don't help them, I have no idea why this one bothers me so much. I think it might be because this one was so blatantly in need of something. He wasn't just a drunk on the street, he was a person in need. But all I saw was a drunk. . . . and then I walked on.
I never realised how callous I had become to other people suffering. I guess you really do harden to it if you are exposed enough.
06 January 2004
Back to University.
After the holidays where I ate what I wanted, got up at 11 and did NO work whatsoever. I am now back in Coventry and once again the grind us upon me. I am now up at 7, eating healthy - which is odd as the only time I eat well is when I'm not at home??? - and trying my hardest to get work done through the day. This is made more difficult by my complete lack of discipline after returning from Christmas and the constant pub offers from my housemates. I've decided I'm going out this weekend though to make up for what is going to be a very boring week of reading UN documentation till it almost makes sense.
New Years
I spent new year in Manchester with a load of girls who design clothes. I got mistaken for a bouncer by a woman who tried giving me her umbrella and had a conversation with an underage lass from Ireland who kept on telling me she was the Baby Jesus. I had to listen to the virtues of the, and I quote "to die for", Justin Timberlake Very Slight Look A Kinda Like in the bar and spent almost five minutes trying to explain that I wanted a whisky, after pointing at the Malibu bottle, then the Archers then looking confused and trying to work out where I was pointing, I finally got my message across by counting how many bottles along the row it was. All in all a good night then.
Christmas
I used to have a problem with Christmas. I used to be in the "too commercial" camp, but not anymore. I was looking at Christmas this year and have decided that it isn't commercial enough. Yes it may make people spend more money than they have, and yes we may be getting further into debt, but why are we doing this? We do it to make our friends and families happy. Parents want to see their children smile when they open their presents, everyone wants to put on the biggest meal and of people seem unhappy then everyone does their best to cheer them up. It must be the only time of the year when the layman cares about a complete stranger and when people in stupid hats smile at each other in the street. We make city centres light and appealing places at night, we have community gatherings and those in need are helped more than otherwise.
So what if Christmas in commercial, we all sucker for it and it makes us better people.
So what if Christmas in commercial, we all sucker for it and it makes us better people.
24 December 2003
Out of my way, those are my croutons!!
Well it’s Christmas eve and today I will start and finish my Christmas shopping. To do this I intend to travel to Meadowhall and take full use of the elbows that God gave me to nudge, coerce and barge people out of my way. Then after queueing for what I’m sure will seem like and eternity, I will get back on an overcrowded – stinking of pee – bus and await the serenity that is my house.
To accomplish all this without feeling the need to resort to outright violence I will be turning my music up very loud while I’m walking around and staying away from any music that contains bass guitars, drum kits and lead singers with blood shot eyes. I think for this type of expedition it’s more of a “one guy, one guitar, one mic” kind of vibe.
To accomplish all this without feeling the need to resort to outright violence I will be turning my music up very loud while I’m walking around and staying away from any music that contains bass guitars, drum kits and lead singers with blood shot eyes. I think for this type of expedition it’s more of a “one guy, one guitar, one mic” kind of vibe.
23 December 2003
I am alone.
I miss not having a computer in my room. I have come to realise this after I have come home without my pc for the first time in 3 years. My room feels odd without it. There is no longer a soothing hum from its fan, nor the warming glow of the LED. I can no longer go into my room and chill out to music or write e-mails or drop into MSN to see who’s on.
Now I have to go into my parents room and do my writing.
It sucks.
Now I have to go into my parents room and do my writing.
It sucks.
22 December 2003
Goodbye Tuna, hello anything else!
Well I’m back home now for Christmas and this can mean only three things.
1 – I am going to eat like a king as I no longer have to pay for the food!!
2 – I will be able to eat more than tuna and pasta every night.
3 – There will be more flavour to my food than the one pot of mixed herbs and spices I put on everything.
It’s almost as if there is a theme here.
My mum is trying to finish the Harry Potter books at the mo. Apparently she isn’t worried that this is in direct contradiction to her Christian faith. It would seem she doesn’t realise that harry potter is satans messenger and that by reading the books she is only one step away from sacrificing me on the alter we have in the basement, then drinking my blood and waving my spine around in church next Sunday while singing Marlyin Mason songs.
I tell you, the adults of today!!!
1 – I am going to eat like a king as I no longer have to pay for the food!!
2 – I will be able to eat more than tuna and pasta every night.
3 – There will be more flavour to my food than the one pot of mixed herbs and spices I put on everything.
It’s almost as if there is a theme here.
My mum is trying to finish the Harry Potter books at the mo. Apparently she isn’t worried that this is in direct contradiction to her Christian faith. It would seem she doesn’t realise that harry potter is satans messenger and that by reading the books she is only one step away from sacrificing me on the alter we have in the basement, then drinking my blood and waving my spine around in church next Sunday while singing Marlyin Mason songs.
I tell you, the adults of today!!!
18 December 2003
In my. . .
In my head - Construction engineering coursework, going round and round and round.
In my belly - Chilli con carnie jacket potato with cheese
In my ears - Jason Mraz giving it some with his licks.
In my mouth - Chewing gum so I don't stink of chilli at the meeting I have in about an hour.
In my eyes - Word 2000.
In my calf - Pain from the Iron Maiden concert. Cause Unknown.
In my mind- Plans for the Christmas ball tonight. Be nice Wardy, don't make a fool of yourself, you have a date, don't be yourself!
In my tongue - A bar where the top keeps popping inside my tongue when I sleep and I have to push it out again in the morning.
In my dreams - Money, girlfriend, bike, new pc, nice house, job offers, Talisker and diplomatic immunity.
In my belly - Chilli con carnie jacket potato with cheese
In my ears - Jason Mraz giving it some with his licks.
In my mouth - Chewing gum so I don't stink of chilli at the meeting I have in about an hour.
In my eyes - Word 2000.
In my calf - Pain from the Iron Maiden concert. Cause Unknown.
In my mind- Plans for the Christmas ball tonight. Be nice Wardy, don't make a fool of yourself, you have a date, don't be yourself!
In my tongue - A bar where the top keeps popping inside my tongue when I sleep and I have to push it out again in the morning.
In my dreams - Money, girlfriend, bike, new pc, nice house, job offers, Talisker and diplomatic immunity.
17 December 2003
Cello to Bellow!!
So its Tuesday and at lunchtime we had a classical rendition of Christmas carols to raise money for charity. We had Richard on cello and his sister on flute - her name eludes me, I'm not being rude, I think its Cathy but cant be sure! - We ate cheese, chocolate and crackers, drank wine by the box and managed to drag £180 from people for the privilege. All in all quite a successful day. Then, to really round off my day of classic music and culture I went to an Iron Maiden concert!
To say they ruled would be to cheapen the word rule. To say they were the bomb would just be lame. To say they fully and wholeheartedly kicked the proverbial ass out of every single tune they did while looking cool as you like and rocking the place so hard it made Coventry's cathedral blowing up look like a wet tissue being eaten by a pigeon, would be closer to the truth than Saddams balls were to his larynx when he heard the yanks coming down his steps.
The Maiden rule, to say otherwise is to lie, and people don't like liars.
To say they ruled would be to cheapen the word rule. To say they were the bomb would just be lame. To say they fully and wholeheartedly kicked the proverbial ass out of every single tune they did while looking cool as you like and rocking the place so hard it made Coventry's cathedral blowing up look like a wet tissue being eaten by a pigeon, would be closer to the truth than Saddams balls were to his larynx when he heard the yanks coming down his steps.
The Maiden rule, to say otherwise is to lie, and people don't like liars.
Oh I only have Alessi in my kitchen. snort snort
Its Monday night and I'm at a fundraiser for the Automotive Design people. They charged 3 quid to get into the nicest bar in Coventy and had free drinks goin, do the math, how they made money eludes me but I was there and feeling a little un-designerish. The thing was, they all had the same haircut. They all had half arsed mullets. There were no full on mullets cause they are still lame, but they were all hinting at it, which would seem to be cool. I was there with my boring old normal short hair, Tom had his quite cool longish hair and neither of us had a parker jacket or a canvas bag. Still, we had a good time and left with the warming glow that can only come with free Sambuka.
Mighty Mo...
So its Saturday and I have nothing to do apart from finish coursework off, but it's the weekend and I feel like a deserve a break so find it increasingly difficult to sum up the courage to actually do any. Luckily for me I get 100% distracted when I get a phonecall from Sam asking if I want to go down south with her to chill at the pub? Well let me think, stay in Coventry, the ugly horny girl in a club of subdued hotties, or go to a pub for the weekend? So off we went and spent the whole weekend doing fully nothing. We put some lights in a tree. That was it. the rest of the time was spent labouring over what to eat for dinner (oh yeah, I had a gorgeous meal every time we ate - guine fowl for dinner, yes please - ) or trying to decide what to drink next, Guinness or wine?? I tell you people, when this is the biggest decision you have to make in life, it sure feels good!!
Louging about on Sunday night and we were looking for something half decent to watch on telly. There was nothing on the normal channels so we went to sky and still, nothing looked that good. So we started looking through the kids channels. What did we happen to come across?? Right there in the little blue box was "Might Mo…" Nice one I though, havnt seen Mighty Mouse in ages. So I hit the button and what was there in front of me but "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers".
I felt old people. . . . for the first time, I really felt old.
Unfortunately all these things have to come to an end and on Monday morning I ended up back in the sticky pocket of the midlands. Went to lectures and dreamt about the next time I get to go to a pub and not pay for anything!
Louging about on Sunday night and we were looking for something half decent to watch on telly. There was nothing on the normal channels so we went to sky and still, nothing looked that good. So we started looking through the kids channels. What did we happen to come across?? Right there in the little blue box was "Might Mo…" Nice one I though, havnt seen Mighty Mouse in ages. So I hit the button and what was there in front of me but "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers".
I felt old people. . . . for the first time, I really felt old.
Unfortunately all these things have to come to an end and on Monday morning I ended up back in the sticky pocket of the midlands. Went to lectures and dreamt about the next time I get to go to a pub and not pay for anything!
Mammoth Update To Make Up For My Lack Of Updating
I know I havnt blogged for a while. This is not due to some blatant lack of interest in my blog, it really is because I have been too busy to. This shall all be put to rights now though, with what I like to call my "mammoth update to make up for the lack of updating blog" kinda catchy I know, I thought of it myself.
12 December 2003
Its my geeky moment here.
Now I know this is going to make me sound like such a lu-hu-ser but I have just been converted to the wonder that is Mozilla Firebird. This program rules like nothing has ruled before. I am amazed, it literally makes browsing the internet a piece of pee. Now I know I've sometimes been described as geeky; nerdy; sad; recluse; honest; hardworking; trustworthy; good looking; fair; funny; open; easygoing and single but looking (ladies???) but this really is a piece of software that you should all get.
That's enough of that.
I found some more Speechwrites LLC tunes today that they have put online, I downloaded them with easy using Mozilla Firebird (arrgh, did it again), so I've been listening to them for almost all the afternoon. Its getting dark now and when I came up here I had a cup of tea and toast.
My crazy new phone arrives tomorrow and I just cant wait for that first exciting 20 minutes while I press everything and do everything it can before it gets resigned to my pocket for 23.5 hours of everyday. This means I am going to have a "full of fun" night going through my old phone and writing down all the numbers. Sometimes I need to just slow down!!
All that was meant go get posted last night but the internet wasn't working. I would like to point out at this juncture that it had nothing to do with the might that is Mozilla Firebird, more the junk that is NTL cable.
I've just got back from the gym, phone not here yet. Still excited!
That's enough of that.
I found some more Speechwrites LLC tunes today that they have put online, I downloaded them with easy using Mozilla Firebird (arrgh, did it again), so I've been listening to them for almost all the afternoon. Its getting dark now and when I came up here I had a cup of tea and toast.
My crazy new phone arrives tomorrow and I just cant wait for that first exciting 20 minutes while I press everything and do everything it can before it gets resigned to my pocket for 23.5 hours of everyday. This means I am going to have a "full of fun" night going through my old phone and writing down all the numbers. Sometimes I need to just slow down!!
All that was meant go get posted last night but the internet wasn't working. I would like to point out at this juncture that it had nothing to do with the might that is Mozilla Firebird, more the junk that is NTL cable.
I've just got back from the gym, phone not here yet. Still excited!
10 December 2003
Not a bad result really.
| ESFP - "Entertainer". Radiates attractive warmth and optimism. Smooth, witty, charming, clever. Fun to be with. Very generous. 8.5% of the total population. |
and according to the people here, this is what I'm meant to be like. Must admit I do agree with " they may tend to avoid situations which involve a lot of theoretical thinking, or which are complex and ambiguous. For this reason, an ESFP may have difficulty in school." Finally, an excuse for handing in lame essays time and time again!!
08 December 2003
How to be blatent.
Sat in a lecture, third year of my degree, the stakes have been raised, we are expected to produce work of an exceptional standard, our lives - literally - laid out before us and the leaders in our field surrounding us, moulding, teaching, educating.
First line of lecture this morning,
"Planning and organisation clearly has an impact when it comes to planning and organisation."
Not even said in jest. . . . and they want to introduce top up fees for this stuff!!!
I got my hair cut today - wow wardy, exciting blog - and just round the corner from the barbers, not 500 meters from my house was a sack load of police, in a street they had closed off with unmarked cars, carrying guns in manner that made you want to watch while simultaneously making you hope nothing kicked off. Brightened my day to think that this time the bad guys got really screwed!!!
Then I got home and unbeknown to me there was an absolute fox in the house. She is one of my housemates friends from back in school, really made me aware that I had hair stuck all over my face as I came through the door!
First line of lecture this morning,
"Planning and organisation clearly has an impact when it comes to planning and organisation."
Not even said in jest. . . . and they want to introduce top up fees for this stuff!!!
I got my hair cut today - wow wardy, exciting blog - and just round the corner from the barbers, not 500 meters from my house was a sack load of police, in a street they had closed off with unmarked cars, carrying guns in manner that made you want to watch while simultaneously making you hope nothing kicked off. Brightened my day to think that this time the bad guys got really screwed!!!
Then I got home and unbeknown to me there was an absolute fox in the house. She is one of my housemates friends from back in school, really made me aware that I had hair stuck all over my face as I came through the door!
Its gone and done it again.
I just found out that yesterday one of my housemates had to get himself out a fight because some guy thought he was a cop.
He was just standing there, at quarter to four in the afternoon, waiting for a friend and someone starts a fight with him!!!
Words can literally not describe the hatred I have for this cesspool of humanity.
Brits go to Spain for their holidays.
Satan goes to Coventry.
He was just standing there, at quarter to four in the afternoon, waiting for a friend and someone starts a fight with him!!!
Words can literally not describe the hatred I have for this cesspool of humanity.
Brits go to Spain for their holidays.
Satan goes to Coventry.
07 December 2003
A Smashing Time!
I have done NO work all weekend and its feeling good. After all the stress I figured a couple of days off was just what I needed before I have to get back into it again for the remaining two weeks. So what have I done then. . . well.. . nothing. That's kinda the point. I have woken up at quarter to seven every morning but instead of resigning myself to getting up soon, I have rolled over and gone back to sleep.
This is made even more tricky by the fact by bed is right under a velux window and so lets light stream directly onto my bed. I would pull the blind down but it sags at the edges and then falls off in the night and scares the life out of me. I'm still trying to rig something up to stop that from happening.
In fact this weekend has been great. And it's not even over yet. I have a whole half-day left. I'll probably get my hair cut or something equally as thrilling.
The only bummer of the past couple of days was last night. We were sat around having a good old fashioned chin wag when the guy who left only twenty minutes previously came back in the house carrying his bumper. He had only got to the end of his road before he was T-Boned, pushed across the road, spun round and into the corner of a skip. Luckily he's ok but his car is basically written off. To make matters worse the car that hit him just drove off. Now looking at the damage to his car, which is pretty extensive, the other one must have been in a similar state - albeit minus the hole the corner of the skip made in the rear doors -. Once again Coventry manages reinforce its status as England's diseased little sister.
Stolen cars being driven at speed around the back streets, surely not your honour!
This is made even more tricky by the fact by bed is right under a velux window and so lets light stream directly onto my bed. I would pull the blind down but it sags at the edges and then falls off in the night and scares the life out of me. I'm still trying to rig something up to stop that from happening.
In fact this weekend has been great. And it's not even over yet. I have a whole half-day left. I'll probably get my hair cut or something equally as thrilling.
The only bummer of the past couple of days was last night. We were sat around having a good old fashioned chin wag when the guy who left only twenty minutes previously came back in the house carrying his bumper. He had only got to the end of his road before he was T-Boned, pushed across the road, spun round and into the corner of a skip. Luckily he's ok but his car is basically written off. To make matters worse the car that hit him just drove off. Now looking at the damage to his car, which is pretty extensive, the other one must have been in a similar state - albeit minus the hole the corner of the skip made in the rear doors -. Once again Coventry manages reinforce its status as England's diseased little sister.
Stolen cars being driven at speed around the back streets, surely not your honour!
04 December 2003
Toilet, Yes. . . Humour, No.
Literally seconds after blogging I got up and went to the toilet. There was a guy infront of me as I walked in and there are three urinals. So what did he do, he went to the middle one!!!
What is all that about. I just stood there for a second trying to work out what to do. He was a big bloke so to stand next to him might have meant some serious invasion of my personal space, this left me with the only other option of having to use a cubicle. Why did he do that. . . why??????
I am mainly shocked with a touch of appalled.
But mainly shocked.
What is all that about. I just stood there for a second trying to work out what to do. He was a big bloke so to stand next to him might have meant some serious invasion of my personal space, this left me with the only other option of having to use a cubicle. Why did he do that. . . why??????
I am mainly shocked with a touch of appalled.
But mainly shocked.
The Library, , , My Home.
Yes ladies and gentlemen I was there till midnight last night, its now about five in the afternoon and although I am close to finishing, I’m not quite there yet.
All I really have left to do is my referencing so its not that bad, its just that the tutor who Both these essays are for is a real stickler for getting references right. If you don’t use the Harvard method, you may well get shot.
Life this week has been one long essay. At eight last night in the library I was discussing how I wasn’t comfortable with the way my essay was going with my housemate when, after about twenty minutes of good healthy debate, we concluded that I was doing it wrong. Yup, 2300 words in and it all fell to pieces. He was more than happy though as he was just about to start and so now knew exactly what he had to do. We discussed this further with Sam and then called Tom – who incidentally was at church asking the man upstairs for help with his essay – dragged him out of prayers and into the library, then set about slogging through the motions that is the education system.
So now nearly one whole day later and both essays are close to completion. It has been a long day already, and it has a few more work hours left in it yet. If I get finished for about seven I’m going to a carol service that the CU are putting on. I figure this will be a nice way to wind down. Then tomorrow I’m working with another guy to finish off some group work and then it’s all over.
And do you know what I’m gonna do then. . . . . after sleeping. . . . I’m gonna buy myself a bottle of Talisker, Isle of Sky, 12 year old Whisky. I’m gonna get myself a clean heavy glass, put two large ice cubes in it, pour myself a healthy measure of the gold stuff and then repeat as necessary.
Ohhhh, its gonna feel good!!!
All I really have left to do is my referencing so its not that bad, its just that the tutor who Both these essays are for is a real stickler for getting references right. If you don’t use the Harvard method, you may well get shot.
Life this week has been one long essay. At eight last night in the library I was discussing how I wasn’t comfortable with the way my essay was going with my housemate when, after about twenty minutes of good healthy debate, we concluded that I was doing it wrong. Yup, 2300 words in and it all fell to pieces. He was more than happy though as he was just about to start and so now knew exactly what he had to do. We discussed this further with Sam and then called Tom – who incidentally was at church asking the man upstairs for help with his essay – dragged him out of prayers and into the library, then set about slogging through the motions that is the education system.
So now nearly one whole day later and both essays are close to completion. It has been a long day already, and it has a few more work hours left in it yet. If I get finished for about seven I’m going to a carol service that the CU are putting on. I figure this will be a nice way to wind down. Then tomorrow I’m working with another guy to finish off some group work and then it’s all over.
And do you know what I’m gonna do then. . . . . after sleeping. . . . I’m gonna buy myself a bottle of Talisker, Isle of Sky, 12 year old Whisky. I’m gonna get myself a clean heavy glass, put two large ice cubes in it, pour myself a healthy measure of the gold stuff and then repeat as necessary.
Ohhhh, its gonna feel good!!!
02 December 2003
Bed Bugs. . . literally.
I have just noticed how crazily noisy my bed in when you move about on it. thing is, now I have noticed it, it seems louder. I always knew it was relatively noisy, but now, as I come to be more aware of it, it gets noisier. I feel this cycle will never end so am looking for an alternative.
Knowing me I will probably end up sleeping on the floor again like I did for the whole of last year.
But what to do with the divan?????
Knowing me I will probably end up sleeping on the floor again like I did for the whole of last year.
But what to do with the divan?????
The Incubation Of Disasters.
". . . when an unattended mental patient lights a match in a high-fire risk hospital."
Quote from a book I'm reading.
Quote from a book I'm reading.
Oddly Helpful.
With only a week to go till coursework deadlines I was starting to get a wee bit worried about my work. I didn't sleep for trying to work out when I would do what, for how long, what targets I needed to set myself, the list went on. So after a crappy nights sleep - on my crappy bed which I will get to later - I got up to the sound of pouring rain.
I ate my breakfast, got a shower, got my books together and all the time all I could think about was the fact that I had to walk to uni in the rain. I don't like this city at the best of times and trudging through it at eight thirty in the morning while getting rained on did not sound like my idea of fun. So there I was, getting myself into a worse and worse mood when I just came to my senses and thought, " you know what Wardy, Fuck it"
I decided there was nothing at all I could do about the rain, so why worry about it. I threw my coat on my bed, put my earphones in, turned the music up and set off to uni in a t-shirt.
And let me tell you, I felt soooo much better for it.
I mean yeah I got wet. I was fully soaked through by the time I got there, but I felt so good. I was in my own world on the way there; everyone else had buried themselves under coats and umbrellas, all rushing around looking as pissed off as I was only minutes before. And there I was, slowly walking through puddles with my hair stuck to my face and a grin all the way across it.
It felt surreal, I couldn't hear anything but my music - yeah yeah, I know, that's really dangerous - and the rain was so hard the near distance had a mottled grey distortion to it.
The best bit about it though, all my worries were washed away, it was like spiritual cleansing. It reminded me of when I used to play in the backgarden as a kid when there was a thunderstorm. My brothers and me used to run around in our shorts and have competitions as to who could see the biggest bolt of lightning.
So there you go, next time you are feeling stressed about anything, just walk really slowly through a rainstorm, you may not like the rain, but you can't stop it, so why worry about it.
I ate my breakfast, got a shower, got my books together and all the time all I could think about was the fact that I had to walk to uni in the rain. I don't like this city at the best of times and trudging through it at eight thirty in the morning while getting rained on did not sound like my idea of fun. So there I was, getting myself into a worse and worse mood when I just came to my senses and thought, " you know what Wardy, Fuck it"
I decided there was nothing at all I could do about the rain, so why worry about it. I threw my coat on my bed, put my earphones in, turned the music up and set off to uni in a t-shirt.
And let me tell you, I felt soooo much better for it.
I mean yeah I got wet. I was fully soaked through by the time I got there, but I felt so good. I was in my own world on the way there; everyone else had buried themselves under coats and umbrellas, all rushing around looking as pissed off as I was only minutes before. And there I was, slowly walking through puddles with my hair stuck to my face and a grin all the way across it.
It felt surreal, I couldn't hear anything but my music - yeah yeah, I know, that's really dangerous - and the rain was so hard the near distance had a mottled grey distortion to it.
The best bit about it though, all my worries were washed away, it was like spiritual cleansing. It reminded me of when I used to play in the backgarden as a kid when there was a thunderstorm. My brothers and me used to run around in our shorts and have competitions as to who could see the biggest bolt of lightning.
So there you go, next time you are feeling stressed about anything, just walk really slowly through a rainstorm, you may not like the rain, but you can't stop it, so why worry about it.
30 November 2003
Thought I'd try one of these.
You are a steroid. You're a special kind of inter-
nuclear hormone and have direct, immediate
effects on the near future; you are pumped up,
ready to go, and excite the people around you
into action. You can also cause cancer.
Which Biological Molecule Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
A cheapo night out.
And so yet again my housemates and course pull through to make an average night a great one.
I only took ten pounds out with me as I didn't want to stay out too late and what happened, my friends coerced me with promises of "paying for entry" and "I'll get you a drink" to make sure I stayed up till the early hours. I even managed to get a lift home. Sorted.
So now I'm feeding Monty, checking my e-mail and catching up on my blogs. Its good to see that my bro had a good night too and never missed a beat to spread the word!
I only took ten pounds out with me as I didn't want to stay out too late and what happened, my friends coerced me with promises of "paying for entry" and "I'll get you a drink" to make sure I stayed up till the early hours. I even managed to get a lift home. Sorted.
So now I'm feeding Monty, checking my e-mail and catching up on my blogs. Its good to see that my bro had a good night too and never missed a beat to spread the word!
28 November 2003
A wee dram.
A nice quite coffee after a day of hard work turned into a crazy night out in 4 bars and 4 takeaways last night. I had been working in my school since 10 in the morning and as 6:15 rolled along me and the only other person crazy enough to still be there - a girl called Sam - decided we would go and get a celebratory coffee.
As we were stood at the cash machine we realised that the pub was closer so we popped in there instead. Then we went around the corner to try some Belgian beer,then we decided to go to the nicest bar in Coventry, then on the way home we met some of the guys from the course and got dragged in to another pub!! What hardship!!
Man I love my course. I have not been on a night out yet where I haven't bumped into someone I know.
Oh yeah and the four takeaways got us from pub to pub with a portion of chips and a pizza on the way home. Classy!
As we were stood at the cash machine we realised that the pub was closer so we popped in there instead. Then we went around the corner to try some Belgian beer,then we decided to go to the nicest bar in Coventry, then on the way home we met some of the guys from the course and got dragged in to another pub!! What hardship!!
Man I love my course. I have not been on a night out yet where I haven't bumped into someone I know.
Oh yeah and the four takeaways got us from pub to pub with a portion of chips and a pizza on the way home. Classy!
26 November 2003
The Missing Mrs Jackson
Sat in Resource Engineering yesterday I was framed for a crime in which I only partially had a hand. Every week we have been putting the name of our landlady on the register - it's the little things that brighten the day - simply to amuse ourselves. We have managed to do this for a good 6 weeks now but finally we have been busted. The lecturer wanted to know who Hannah Jackson was and had singled me, Tom and Rob out as likely culprits. He had been searching for her on the University records and had even got Administration involved to find out about her so her could enrol her on the course. When Admin told him she didn't exist he figured out what had happened and saw the funny side, it would seem however, and I quote
"Admin don't find that kind of thing funny."
Consider us suitably chastised.
It wont stop us though and people have even started leaving a space in the register so we can put her name in different places. A cult following may be born!
You know, that story seemed so much funnier when you were involved in it.
Less than two weeks to go now before my coursework has to be in and I involve myself in one of the biggest "guilt free" nights out ever. After December the 5th I should have nothing to do but turn up to lectures. Obviously I will be using my spare time to read around the subjects and fill my head with knowledge, but still, I will have nothing to do but turn up to lectures!!
"Admin don't find that kind of thing funny."
Consider us suitably chastised.
It wont stop us though and people have even started leaving a space in the register so we can put her name in different places. A cult following may be born!
You know, that story seemed so much funnier when you were involved in it.
Less than two weeks to go now before my coursework has to be in and I involve myself in one of the biggest "guilt free" nights out ever. After December the 5th I should have nothing to do but turn up to lectures. Obviously I will be using my spare time to read around the subjects and fill my head with knowledge, but still, I will have nothing to do but turn up to lectures!!
24 November 2003
23 and still can't shave!
Never shave while angry at technology.
I worked up a healthy manly sweat tonight getting annoyed with my "burnproof" CD burners inability to produce a CD with anything on it other than whatever I throw in my bin next. To refresh myself before bed I decided I would have a shower, those Original Mint Sauce showergels never fail to impress! Then I had a brainwave, "hey, why not shave now to save time in the morning!" what a great idea.
A great idea that is, untill you take your mind off shaving.
Now those that know me know I don't have a lot of facial hair. I have to shave however as otherwise I look like I'm trying really hard to grow a tash that just wont come. So there I was, half-heartedly shaving while mulling over how to get my CD writer to work when. . . . scrape. . . I take half my chin off.
So now I'm bleeding into the sink while trying to finish off the job when. . . slice . . I manage to cut myself just under the nose!!!
This leaves me feeling like a delinquent shaver as I look at the mess I've just made of my face. I hastily finish the rest off and get to brushing my teeth while splashing blood all over the sink. It looks like a scene from American Psycho but I neither look cool nor have the respect for electronics that he does.
So now I'm off to bed with little bits of toilet roll stuck to my face.
Single??? Who. . . . me!!
I worked up a healthy manly sweat tonight getting annoyed with my "burnproof" CD burners inability to produce a CD with anything on it other than whatever I throw in my bin next. To refresh myself before bed I decided I would have a shower, those Original Mint Sauce showergels never fail to impress! Then I had a brainwave, "hey, why not shave now to save time in the morning!" what a great idea.
A great idea that is, untill you take your mind off shaving.
Now those that know me know I don't have a lot of facial hair. I have to shave however as otherwise I look like I'm trying really hard to grow a tash that just wont come. So there I was, half-heartedly shaving while mulling over how to get my CD writer to work when. . . . scrape. . . I take half my chin off.
So now I'm bleeding into the sink while trying to finish off the job when. . . slice . . I manage to cut myself just under the nose!!!
This leaves me feeling like a delinquent shaver as I look at the mess I've just made of my face. I hastily finish the rest off and get to brushing my teeth while splashing blood all over the sink. It looks like a scene from American Psycho but I neither look cool nor have the respect for electronics that he does.
So now I'm off to bed with little bits of toilet roll stuck to my face.
Single??? Who. . . . me!!
23 November 2003
A weekend in the worlds ass.
And as the weekend draws to a close I have to look back, hit my forehead with my hand and ask the eternal question. . . Why???
I used to love weekends as a kid. You know what I think of them now. I think they suck. And do you know why I think they suck. Because whereas before a weekend was a time to go grass sledging or BMX'ing, back when BMX'ing meant more than hanging around with a group of dope smoking layabouts and trying to look cool, weekends were a time for getting grass stains in clothes and 10 pence mixes. Now they are for getting work done and doing your washing. This weekend has consisted of me catching up on the work I was meant to do last week when I was ill. It hasn't been a weekend at all. It has been an extended week. I did watch the rugby, that's it, I watched rugby, then I worked. Bummer.
So tonight I stopped work at seven. I have had enough. I'll catch up tomorrow. There must be more excuses. I need to do my washing.
Tomorrow is the first day back at the gym after a week off. I bought some more protein stuff today so I'm all psyched up for the week ahead. I have been toying with the idea of going every morning before uni but I don't know what I would do with the two extra training days. Maybe I could hang around the bench press and regale stories of how much I used to be able to lift before I broke my back. Hmmm, then again, I reckon to pull that off I would have to put on 200 pounds and grow a beard first.
Have I mentioned before that I hate this city. Well I hate it more now. One of the guys I live with got grief last night while walking home just because there were more of them than there were of him. How badly can people suck? I might write a letter to Germany and ask them to finish what they started.
It's raining at the moment as well. I hate this city more when it rains. It gets slippery and smells.
I used to love weekends as a kid. You know what I think of them now. I think they suck. And do you know why I think they suck. Because whereas before a weekend was a time to go grass sledging or BMX'ing, back when BMX'ing meant more than hanging around with a group of dope smoking layabouts and trying to look cool, weekends were a time for getting grass stains in clothes and 10 pence mixes. Now they are for getting work done and doing your washing. This weekend has consisted of me catching up on the work I was meant to do last week when I was ill. It hasn't been a weekend at all. It has been an extended week. I did watch the rugby, that's it, I watched rugby, then I worked. Bummer.
So tonight I stopped work at seven. I have had enough. I'll catch up tomorrow. There must be more excuses. I need to do my washing.
Tomorrow is the first day back at the gym after a week off. I bought some more protein stuff today so I'm all psyched up for the week ahead. I have been toying with the idea of going every morning before uni but I don't know what I would do with the two extra training days. Maybe I could hang around the bench press and regale stories of how much I used to be able to lift before I broke my back. Hmmm, then again, I reckon to pull that off I would have to put on 200 pounds and grow a beard first.
Have I mentioned before that I hate this city. Well I hate it more now. One of the guys I live with got grief last night while walking home just because there were more of them than there were of him. How badly can people suck? I might write a letter to Germany and ask them to finish what they started.
It's raining at the moment as well. I hate this city more when it rains. It gets slippery and smells.
21 November 2003
Something odd is happening
no, I dont know how to get rid of all the random characters that have appeared in the posts. I'm hoping if I ignore the problem it will go away.
Another Wardy!!
While trying yet again to find a look I like - and I'm thinking I might keep this nice simplistic one - I stumbled across another Wardy on the internet. We were born around the same time, have the same surname and . . well. . . everything.
I'm putting a link to him so all go and have a look.
I'm putting a link to him so all go and have a look.
1,2,3,4, my hippy chant is sure to bore.
Some of the better placards on display in London,
Nuke is Puke!
Catchy
We need Trees not Bush!
Lame.
Fuck Bush.
Direct.
And so the bandwagon of protest rolls out again to give dolers something to do on a weekday other than not have a job. Thousand upon thousand of people waltz down to London to compare a simple yet powerful man to a dictator who has systematically killed hundreds of thousands of his citizens by testing his weapons on them. Is Bush the worlds number one terrorist as some dirty dredlocked hippy would have us believe, well I think after only a nuance of rational thought we can safely say he isn’t. But hey, don’t let that get in the way of us making an effigy of him so we recreate scenes from the war that we are all protesting about. Yes, what better way to protest about a war than to act parts of it out. While we are at it we could offend Iraqis by mocking their groundbreaking act of freedom and liberation after a lifetime of oppression, oh oh, my mistake, we just did.
I could go on but I’ve already had my say on protestors when the war was ACTUALLY on. What war are these people now trying to stop? It’s over. Let it go. You lost.
As much as I don’t mind Bush, I think the whole “security� thing is a bit out of hand. It’s good to see that we are not letting terrorism rule us by only employing the population of a town to protect one man. Yes the terrorists sure are laughing, that’s now 4 million more pounds we don’t have to fight them.
While we are on the policing discussion I have a little fact for you. 14 000 police men in London for this circus, 11 000 troops in Iraq. Go figure.
On a lighter note does anyone else think that Bush may have just had a hand in the fact that Michael Jackson was arrested right in the middle of this visit. Hmmm, let me think, an unpopular trip that is attracting criticism and the worlds most famous and news worthy star gets arrested for child abuse again . . . . . coincidence???
Nuke is Puke!
Catchy
We need Trees not Bush!
Lame.
Fuck Bush.
Direct.
And so the bandwagon of protest rolls out again to give dolers something to do on a weekday other than not have a job. Thousand upon thousand of people waltz down to London to compare a simple yet powerful man to a dictator who has systematically killed hundreds of thousands of his citizens by testing his weapons on them. Is Bush the worlds number one terrorist as some dirty dredlocked hippy would have us believe, well I think after only a nuance of rational thought we can safely say he isn’t. But hey, don’t let that get in the way of us making an effigy of him so we recreate scenes from the war that we are all protesting about. Yes, what better way to protest about a war than to act parts of it out. While we are at it we could offend Iraqis by mocking their groundbreaking act of freedom and liberation after a lifetime of oppression, oh oh, my mistake, we just did.
I could go on but I’ve already had my say on protestors when the war was ACTUALLY on. What war are these people now trying to stop? It’s over. Let it go. You lost.
As much as I don’t mind Bush, I think the whole “security� thing is a bit out of hand. It’s good to see that we are not letting terrorism rule us by only employing the population of a town to protect one man. Yes the terrorists sure are laughing, that’s now 4 million more pounds we don’t have to fight them.
While we are on the policing discussion I have a little fact for you. 14 000 police men in London for this circus, 11 000 troops in Iraq. Go figure.
On a lighter note does anyone else think that Bush may have just had a hand in the fact that Michael Jackson was arrested right in the middle of this visit. Hmmm, let me think, an unpopular trip that is attracting criticism and the worlds most famous and news worthy star gets arrested for child abuse again . . . . . coincidence???
20 November 2003
A warning.
I'm trying this new look for a bit but it does discriminate against people who's resoloutions are lower than 1024x768. If you are still having problems with getting everything on the screen then mail me and tell me to sort it out.
17 November 2003
Just a little test
I'm just testing mew templates at the mo so if you happen to come here and its all a mess or not working, dont worry about it. i should have it all sorted out for tomorrow.
Taking Lemsip TO THE MAX!
Well the only thing that could be better than seeing your brother in drag would be discovering that the aches and pains you have been harboring over the past couple of days will jump up and drag you down.
I'm now sat at home being generally poorly and trying to get my washing done without wanting to chunder!
I'm now sat at home being generally poorly and trying to get my washing done without wanting to chunder!
Stephen in Sister Sibling Sensation.
What could be better than getting up on a Monday morning, braving the cold morning air to walk into university, sitting down at a computer ready to check your mail and blogs before starting a hard days work. . . and being confronted with your brother in drag.
Monday mornings will never seem the same.
Fifth picture down on the left. His girlfriend is the one on the right ;)
Monday mornings will never seem the same.
Fifth picture down on the left. His girlfriend is the one on the right ;)
16 November 2003
Heel Toe, Heel Toe, Step Step Step Change.
There I was Saturday night, all ready for a night in front of the telly when Rich come in the lounge and goes “Hey Wardy, wanna go to a barn dance?� This was admittedly quite unexpected but after a small amount of deliberation I decided that a nice barn dance was just what I needed on that lonely Saturday afternoon.
We piled into the taxi when it arrived and on the way there were discussing how much Richard fancies CJ from The Westwing when we turned into an industrial estate. Now we didn’t have a clue where we were going and to suddenly find yourself in an industrial estate when the cabbie obviously knows we have no idea where we are going is a little scary. I had vision of robbery at gun point or a gang jumping us as we got out the cab. Luckily for us it wasn’t nearly as bad as that and it just happened that the place we were going to happened to be near the Jaguar plant.
So we went inside and nervously looked around for people we knew. There were none.
This left only one option, the bar. If we were going to get set upon in the middle of knowhere we may as well do it with a belly full of beer.
As the minutes passed people finally started arriving and we felt a little more at home.
Then the fun started.
A barn dance, it really does sound like the lamest thing a bunch of students could do. But you know what, it really was fun. We danced all night and it would be very true to say that our course owned the floor. We whooped, clapped and stamped the loudest. We danced the best and although some of the people there didn’t seem to be getting into the spirit of things we definitely made the night for a couple of old dears who got to dance with in excess of a dozen “young things�.
I remember as a kid being dragged to barn dances and hating it, then when my bro had one for his wedding it looked like fun – although I was on crutches so didn’t get to dosie doe – and now I love them. We are thinking of organising another one for ourselves in an actual barn, with hay and everything!!!
Barn dances, it doesn’t matter if you cant dance, everyone looks stupid.
We piled into the taxi when it arrived and on the way there were discussing how much Richard fancies CJ from The Westwing when we turned into an industrial estate. Now we didn’t have a clue where we were going and to suddenly find yourself in an industrial estate when the cabbie obviously knows we have no idea where we are going is a little scary. I had vision of robbery at gun point or a gang jumping us as we got out the cab. Luckily for us it wasn’t nearly as bad as that and it just happened that the place we were going to happened to be near the Jaguar plant.
So we went inside and nervously looked around for people we knew. There were none.
This left only one option, the bar. If we were going to get set upon in the middle of knowhere we may as well do it with a belly full of beer.
As the minutes passed people finally started arriving and we felt a little more at home.
Then the fun started.
A barn dance, it really does sound like the lamest thing a bunch of students could do. But you know what, it really was fun. We danced all night and it would be very true to say that our course owned the floor. We whooped, clapped and stamped the loudest. We danced the best and although some of the people there didn’t seem to be getting into the spirit of things we definitely made the night for a couple of old dears who got to dance with in excess of a dozen “young things�.
I remember as a kid being dragged to barn dances and hating it, then when my bro had one for his wedding it looked like fun – although I was on crutches so didn’t get to dosie doe – and now I love them. We are thinking of organising another one for ourselves in an actual barn, with hay and everything!!!
Barn dances, it doesn’t matter if you cant dance, everyone looks stupid.
15 November 2003
Dumbass
I just wrote this in an essay
"How long can your business afford to be out of business?"
Well I don't thing any professional writers are going to be running for cover at the thought of me graduating.
"How long can your business afford to be out of business?"
Well I don't thing any professional writers are going to be running for cover at the thought of me graduating.
14 November 2003
A day of distantly reading around a subject.
Today I got fully distracted from work by reading a satire website for in excess of an hour. To refresh myself I walked from my school to the library, which ended up being rammed full of noisy people, so I walked back home and proceeded to find anything else to do with my day other than work.
This means I am now going to work both days of the weekend to teach myself a lesson for being such a waster.
I will have Sunday morning off to watch the rugby for obvious reasons but I really do need to get on top of this essay that is doing my head in now.
I read an article on sit ups today – really pushing the boat our Wardy, well done – and it would seem that I have been doing all sorts of exercises for my stomach that are of no use at all. To start with I thought it was just some crazy man with something against leg raises but as I read on it really did make sense.
Long story short – if your rib cage isn’t moving towards your hips, you aren’t working your stomach. Leg raises; out, short sit ups; in.
Dinner: fish and chips
Music: funeral for a friend
Throat: hoarse
Neck: sore
This means I am now going to work both days of the weekend to teach myself a lesson for being such a waster.
I will have Sunday morning off to watch the rugby for obvious reasons but I really do need to get on top of this essay that is doing my head in now.
I read an article on sit ups today – really pushing the boat our Wardy, well done – and it would seem that I have been doing all sorts of exercises for my stomach that are of no use at all. To start with I thought it was just some crazy man with something against leg raises but as I read on it really did make sense.
Long story short – if your rib cage isn’t moving towards your hips, you aren’t working your stomach. Leg raises; out, short sit ups; in.
Dinner: fish and chips
Music: funeral for a friend
Throat: hoarse
Neck: sore
13 November 2003
Track after track of quality.
When I left the club last night and went out into the cool Coventry air, the night came to a close in the best of ways. I stood there . . . . and steamed. Yes, there was steam rising off me. It felt good.
I danced.
And when I say danced I don’t mean the kind of dance that people do where they hold a bottle in one hand while trying to look cool and catch some uninterested girls eye. No, I danced like a man possessed by the spirit of Jack Daniels. I had the perfect amount to drink – that great feeling where you know you’ve been drinking, but you’re not hammered and you don’t feel ill – and with strategic top up drinks the feeling lasted all night. They played great music – apart from a bit in the middle where they went on some random 80’s stuff – and played requests. I even bumped into a guy in an Iron Maiden t-shirt and discovered that he was going to see them the same time I was.
In all my years of dancing I have never danced for so long or for so hard as I did that night. By the time we got kicked out I was absolutely drenched in sweat. Truly nasty, but the unavoidable by product of spending the night in a heavy metal frenzy!!
I danced.
And when I say danced I don’t mean the kind of dance that people do where they hold a bottle in one hand while trying to look cool and catch some uninterested girls eye. No, I danced like a man possessed by the spirit of Jack Daniels. I had the perfect amount to drink – that great feeling where you know you’ve been drinking, but you’re not hammered and you don’t feel ill – and with strategic top up drinks the feeling lasted all night. They played great music – apart from a bit in the middle where they went on some random 80’s stuff – and played requests. I even bumped into a guy in an Iron Maiden t-shirt and discovered that he was going to see them the same time I was.
In all my years of dancing I have never danced for so long or for so hard as I did that night. By the time we got kicked out I was absolutely drenched in sweat. Truly nasty, but the unavoidable by product of spending the night in a heavy metal frenzy!!
12 November 2003
When Scrabble turns nasty.
Well what a great couple of days it’s been. My time of trying to like whiskey is over. After making myself chug down two bottle of Jim Beam in the quest to look sophisticated I finally managed to acquire a taste for the proper Scottish stuff. Talisker is my new drink of choice, its just soooo nice. Taste like liquid smoke and it’s the drink that just keeps on givin’. You think it couldn’t warm you any more and then it starts moving through your head after warming the entirety of your throat. Fantastic, give me more.
Played Scrabble last night – random I know – and managed to make up a story as we were playing that contained the words “alien�, “scroata � and “cloned�. You can kinda guess what kind of night it was.
Tonight is about the fourth party I am having for my birthday, its going out and getting crazy drunk then dancing like a maniac night. Should be good. The only problem is that due to the complete lack of decent clubs in this god forsaken city we have to go to a dive called “The Phoenix�. Still its cheapo student night and they don’t seem to mind doing requests so if all goes well they will play an eclectic mix of metal tunes and I wont be able to use my neck in the morning!
Played Scrabble last night – random I know – and managed to make up a story as we were playing that contained the words “alien�, “scroata � and “cloned�. You can kinda guess what kind of night it was.
Tonight is about the fourth party I am having for my birthday, its going out and getting crazy drunk then dancing like a maniac night. Should be good. The only problem is that due to the complete lack of decent clubs in this god forsaken city we have to go to a dive called “The Phoenix�. Still its cheapo student night and they don’t seem to mind doing requests so if all goes well they will play an eclectic mix of metal tunes and I wont be able to use my neck in the morning!
10 November 2003
I was at work and I poured a bucket of hot tar on myself.
And so there I was in a lecture. I was not going to say anything, I was going to sit there like a good little boy and keep my mouth shut. It was time to go and he just wanted to know if anyone had anything else to say. . . .so what did I go and do . . . yeah I went and lit a fire under everyone’s arse.
We were talking about risk, how it is perceived and the structures we have in place to deal with it. Everyone was making perfectly good points about how the government is set up and that there are agencies for this and departments for that, the lecture was at an end. . but I still had something to say.
What if. . I said. . what if we took away all these safe guards that have been protecting us everyday. How would we cope. What if the only person who was there to look after you was yourself, would we manage? Crashing your car is a risk but if we disbanded the emergency services would this not make people drive with a lot more care, thus reducing the risk. What if there was no health care system, would people still smoke, get blind drunk, take part in dangerous sports. People expect to take chances and lose. We rely on the emergency services to get us out of trouble that we get ourselves into by choice. The speed limit is just that, a limit, not a target. Do we have to see how fast we can travel on county B roads? Do we have to take part in activities that we know could cause us harm? The answer obviously is no, but we choose to because we have these safety nets to fall back on.
People no longer accept responsibility for their actions. We are always blaming the government for harm that befalls us. Do I have sympathy for the people on the telly who are dying because they have been smoking. . errr . . no, read the packet, talk to your doctor, open a paper, turn on the telly, open your eyes. Smoking kills, you wanna smoke, fine, but don’t complain if you die because of it. It was your choice.
“Accident Blackspots� are not caused by road design, they are caused by drivers not taking due care and attention. The road does not suddenly move, the markings do not change on a daily basis and unfortunately the drivers do not get any smarter.
Accident happen, yes, people get ill, yes, but can it still be called an accident when the person involved is aware they are putting themselves in harms way?
Now I’m not sat here saying I’m perfect. I do a lot of dumb stuff, and I too rely on the emergency services, and I know that disbanding them would be a really bad idea. All I was trying to do was get people to think about the ownership of risk. Why can’t we take responsibility for ourselves anymore? It is because we have lost our capacity to cope with even the slightest of mishaps. Look back to the war, when peoples houses were getting bombed they just got on with their lives. They helped each other out, pulled together and did the best they could. We act like we are in the middle of a catastrophe today if our oven breaks down at the same time as the telly.
To round up, this was all brought about because as I look around I can see that society is becoming weak. Us young ‘ens have had it easy, we have always had everything we needed and now with the chance of being compensated for every accident we are involved in, the world is a pretty cosy place. We don’t need to be scared of risk anymore because we get picked up, brushed off and then a cheque arrives in the post. We have lost our resilience, our coping capacity and our sense of responsibility. Maybe when we get these back we can start to accept that the world isn’t a perfect place but it’s the only one we’ve got, and that when the shit hits the fan you just have to get on with life.
Whooo, pretty heavy for this blog methinks. But there you are. I got shouted down by a lecture room full of people on that one but hey, it was never going to be popular was it.
We were talking about risk, how it is perceived and the structures we have in place to deal with it. Everyone was making perfectly good points about how the government is set up and that there are agencies for this and departments for that, the lecture was at an end. . but I still had something to say.
What if. . I said. . what if we took away all these safe guards that have been protecting us everyday. How would we cope. What if the only person who was there to look after you was yourself, would we manage? Crashing your car is a risk but if we disbanded the emergency services would this not make people drive with a lot more care, thus reducing the risk. What if there was no health care system, would people still smoke, get blind drunk, take part in dangerous sports. People expect to take chances and lose. We rely on the emergency services to get us out of trouble that we get ourselves into by choice. The speed limit is just that, a limit, not a target. Do we have to see how fast we can travel on county B roads? Do we have to take part in activities that we know could cause us harm? The answer obviously is no, but we choose to because we have these safety nets to fall back on.
People no longer accept responsibility for their actions. We are always blaming the government for harm that befalls us. Do I have sympathy for the people on the telly who are dying because they have been smoking. . errr . . no, read the packet, talk to your doctor, open a paper, turn on the telly, open your eyes. Smoking kills, you wanna smoke, fine, but don’t complain if you die because of it. It was your choice.
“Accident Blackspots� are not caused by road design, they are caused by drivers not taking due care and attention. The road does not suddenly move, the markings do not change on a daily basis and unfortunately the drivers do not get any smarter.
Accident happen, yes, people get ill, yes, but can it still be called an accident when the person involved is aware they are putting themselves in harms way?
Now I’m not sat here saying I’m perfect. I do a lot of dumb stuff, and I too rely on the emergency services, and I know that disbanding them would be a really bad idea. All I was trying to do was get people to think about the ownership of risk. Why can’t we take responsibility for ourselves anymore? It is because we have lost our capacity to cope with even the slightest of mishaps. Look back to the war, when peoples houses were getting bombed they just got on with their lives. They helped each other out, pulled together and did the best they could. We act like we are in the middle of a catastrophe today if our oven breaks down at the same time as the telly.
To round up, this was all brought about because as I look around I can see that society is becoming weak. Us young ‘ens have had it easy, we have always had everything we needed and now with the chance of being compensated for every accident we are involved in, the world is a pretty cosy place. We don’t need to be scared of risk anymore because we get picked up, brushed off and then a cheque arrives in the post. We have lost our resilience, our coping capacity and our sense of responsibility. Maybe when we get these back we can start to accept that the world isn’t a perfect place but it’s the only one we’ve got, and that when the shit hits the fan you just have to get on with life.
Whooo, pretty heavy for this blog methinks. But there you are. I got shouted down by a lecture room full of people on that one but hey, it was never going to be popular was it.
09 November 2003
So I'm still in the library
But I just went upstairs to the Arts + Media floor and they have got the sweetest computers up there. All LCD monitors and sexy black keyboards and mice. Not like on the engineering floor at all. And the irony is that the arts people don't even write essays . . .What a rip.
There is a tear in my eye
Because it's Sunday afternoon and I'm in the library doing work.
I just spent 20 minutes looking for books for an essay I'm trying to write and it looks like everyone else on my course got here before me as there is not one left on the shelf. This means I have had to be very intuititive and . . . . . .err. . . just use my notes really.
Still we gave Wales a good beating so its not all bad!
I just spent 20 minutes looking for books for an essay I'm trying to write and it looks like everyone else on my course got here before me as there is not one left on the shelf. This means I have had to be very intuititive and . . . . . .err. . . just use my notes really.
Still we gave Wales a good beating so its not all bad!
08 November 2003
The Frech dude. . . . . . . . ?
Well I’ve just been to see the matrix and . . . . . well. . . . I dunno. I left feeling like they should have just stuck with the first one. To start off, Music. What went wrong here. The first film had an amazing sound track. It almost re-wrote how music in films should be used. The music took a good film and made it legendary. Then Reloaded came along and you get all this wishy washy chanting rubbish, and now Revolutions is here and its all big choirs and organs. Where are the heart rate increasing, speaker wrecking, ear bashing tunes that we came to love. Where is the bass line that rumbles through your body and makes you believe that while listening to this music you too could jump off walls and pull of a spinning flying high kicking thing. There is nobody in the world who can now listen to Spybreak without imaging themselves as a whacked out ninja. All we got from the last films was a feeling that Moses had just parted the sea.
Which brings me nicely on to the BLATENT Christian imagery. I mean, I don’t mind if they wanna use it but could they have not tried to be a bit subtle. We had the crucifixion, the fact that the devil owns the world, free will, there was probably some to do with the French dude as well. Yeah you remember the French dude, who fits in WHERE??? The architect HUH, the traindriver WHAT, and don’t even get me started on the kid who isn’t old enough to be in the army “The war is over� . . repeat . . . repeatedly.
I don’t mind a complex film but if they are gonna set up questions they could at least answer them. Crazy superhuman powers in the real world, what do you mean you don’t get it.
I must admit there were some nice touches, the Neo/Smith fight was quite cool, some nice touches like the dust blown up under them when they fly around a foot from the ground, very Manga, very nice. Using the same “Big Hit – Both fly back – Shock wave� time after time, not nice.
So basically don’t watch it. there are better fight scenes in the first film, better set pieces in the second and better music in Spice World.
However, I did have a party this weekend for my birthday and it was sooooooo cool. There were loads of people there and I had such a fantastic night I wanna do it all over again. There was fire, fireworks, drink, food, marshmallows, bad wine, good music and the best company you could ask for. Sorted.
Well as much as I would like to stay its getting late and I need an early night more than that kid needs to stop shouting “The war is over!�
Everything that has a beginning, has an end.
Which brings me nicely on to the BLATENT Christian imagery. I mean, I don’t mind if they wanna use it but could they have not tried to be a bit subtle. We had the crucifixion, the fact that the devil owns the world, free will, there was probably some to do with the French dude as well. Yeah you remember the French dude, who fits in WHERE??? The architect HUH, the traindriver WHAT, and don’t even get me started on the kid who isn’t old enough to be in the army “The war is over� . . repeat . . . repeatedly.
I don’t mind a complex film but if they are gonna set up questions they could at least answer them. Crazy superhuman powers in the real world, what do you mean you don’t get it.
I must admit there were some nice touches, the Neo/Smith fight was quite cool, some nice touches like the dust blown up under them when they fly around a foot from the ground, very Manga, very nice. Using the same “Big Hit – Both fly back – Shock wave� time after time, not nice.
So basically don’t watch it. there are better fight scenes in the first film, better set pieces in the second and better music in Spice World.
However, I did have a party this weekend for my birthday and it was sooooooo cool. There were loads of people there and I had such a fantastic night I wanna do it all over again. There was fire, fireworks, drink, food, marshmallows, bad wine, good music and the best company you could ask for. Sorted.
Well as much as I would like to stay its getting late and I need an early night more than that kid needs to stop shouting “The war is over!�
Everything that has a beginning, has an end.
07 November 2003
An amazing discovery
While sitting in uni doing research I have discovered that both www.gogole.com and www.gooogle.com take you to Google. But the "gogole"one takes you to the English site.
Thanks mum and dad for paying my fees!!!
Thanks mum and dad for paying my fees!!!
05 November 2003
Well I'm not getting any sleep tongiht. .
. . . and not for any of the fun reasons either!
Yes its bonfire night again and while politicians moan that people are having too much fun with explosives I have to sleep under a velux window and be woken approximately every fifteen minutes by a flash of red light and a boom so loud the neighbours cats haven’t crapped in our garden for a week.
Today I learnt the difference between hunger and famine and why just because there may be millions of people starving to death you cant class it as a famine. I then spent the afternoon looking at pictures of malnourished children and read a very refreshing article by Clare Short. Due to this article I will never read the Independent – not that I ever have – but they were having a real go at her without actually looking at what she was saying. Go Clare Short, my new favourite politician.
I have been listening to Speechwriters LLC almost non stop for two weeks now. If you haven’t already downloaded their stuff you have got to do it. I’ll put the link up again. HERE IT IS, and you have got to listen to them. If you like a dude and a guitar playing some awesome ( I’m not afraid to use that word ) tunes that you have got to get it.
There, I feel I have plugged them enough now.
I have two days to think of a question for my Independat Study, I’m thinking along the lines of “What steps can aid agencies take to improve the personal security of their staff?� So far I’m still deliberating but seeing as I have to have my proposal in my Friday I had better get my finger out.
Tomorrow I’m going to try and go charity shopping. We have discovered that Coventry is an untapped resource of charity shops that are actually quite good. I haven’t yet found a 70’s style brown leather jacket but I’m keeping my hopes up.
I leave you with the statistic that I have now fallen down my stairs zero times while drunk and four times stone cold sober!
Yes its bonfire night again and while politicians moan that people are having too much fun with explosives I have to sleep under a velux window and be woken approximately every fifteen minutes by a flash of red light and a boom so loud the neighbours cats haven’t crapped in our garden for a week.
Today I learnt the difference between hunger and famine and why just because there may be millions of people starving to death you cant class it as a famine. I then spent the afternoon looking at pictures of malnourished children and read a very refreshing article by Clare Short. Due to this article I will never read the Independent – not that I ever have – but they were having a real go at her without actually looking at what she was saying. Go Clare Short, my new favourite politician.
I have been listening to Speechwriters LLC almost non stop for two weeks now. If you haven’t already downloaded their stuff you have got to do it. I’ll put the link up again. HERE IT IS, and you have got to listen to them. If you like a dude and a guitar playing some awesome ( I’m not afraid to use that word ) tunes that you have got to get it.
There, I feel I have plugged them enough now.
I have two days to think of a question for my Independat Study, I’m thinking along the lines of “What steps can aid agencies take to improve the personal security of their staff?� So far I’m still deliberating but seeing as I have to have my proposal in my Friday I had better get my finger out.
Tomorrow I’m going to try and go charity shopping. We have discovered that Coventry is an untapped resource of charity shops that are actually quite good. I haven’t yet found a 70’s style brown leather jacket but I’m keeping my hopes up.
I leave you with the statistic that I have now fallen down my stairs zero times while drunk and four times stone cold sober!
04 November 2003
Evening all.
I cant work in the evenings. I'm meant to be working right now and I just cant. I don't know what it is, I get distracted really easily. During the day I'm not too bad but as soon as I've had my dinner its all systems shut down, kick back and relax. I think I'll have to stay in university till later as while I'm in I don't mind working, its just the moment I get back home that all enthusiams in lost.
Luckily for me I'm up at 7 every morning anyway so its looking like a few early studying sessions will be on the cards.
I got another piece of coursework today which I have three weeks to complete. I think I'm gonna do it this weekend so if I don't I'll post it on here and you can mail me telling me what a slacker I am.
This Friday its my hijacked birthday party and I cant wait, bought myself a liter and a half bottle of Grolsch today to celebrate with even though I don't like larger!!
Luckily for me I'm up at 7 every morning anyway so its looking like a few early studying sessions will be on the cards.
I got another piece of coursework today which I have three weeks to complete. I think I'm gonna do it this weekend so if I don't I'll post it on here and you can mail me telling me what a slacker I am.
This Friday its my hijacked birthday party and I cant wait, bought myself a liter and a half bottle of Grolsch today to celebrate with even though I don't like larger!!
03 November 2003
Thumbs up with a star!
So the weekend is over. Its Monday morning and I’m sat in uni waiting for my lectures to start.
This weekend was one of the best I have had at uni. On Friday night I had a fantastic night out for Halloween. There was dancing, drinking and generally silliness by all. Then to top the night off we even managed to get a selection of photos to remember it all by. You can see then here if you want but as with all photos of nights out, if you weren’t there then you don’t get that warming glow by looking back. You will also not understand why Ron has a star on his finger, but hey, you cant have everything.
Then on Saturday there was the recovering from Friday, and then yesterday there was the return of Sewer Strike. Yes, that most worthwhile of pastimes has reared its head once again. I’m getting all the pictures together at the mo and as soon as they are up I shall let you all know about it. Suffice to say that it should be amusing.
I’m still deliberating over whether I want to get a contract phone. I really did think I want one but then I keep thinking about all the other stuff I could buy with the money. If I got one I could call my friends in the evenings, but I wont be able to buy supplements, but I will be able to reply to text messages, but I wont be able to buy fish and chips on a Sunday. . .the list goes on and only leaves me wanting to increase my overdraft.
I think our house is hosting dinner this Thursday so I will have to clear the lounge of pizza boxes and bb guns. Oh yeah baby. . . we know how to live.
This weekend was one of the best I have had at uni. On Friday night I had a fantastic night out for Halloween. There was dancing, drinking and generally silliness by all. Then to top the night off we even managed to get a selection of photos to remember it all by. You can see then here if you want but as with all photos of nights out, if you weren’t there then you don’t get that warming glow by looking back. You will also not understand why Ron has a star on his finger, but hey, you cant have everything.
Then on Saturday there was the recovering from Friday, and then yesterday there was the return of Sewer Strike. Yes, that most worthwhile of pastimes has reared its head once again. I’m getting all the pictures together at the mo and as soon as they are up I shall let you all know about it. Suffice to say that it should be amusing.
I’m still deliberating over whether I want to get a contract phone. I really did think I want one but then I keep thinking about all the other stuff I could buy with the money. If I got one I could call my friends in the evenings, but I wont be able to buy supplements, but I will be able to reply to text messages, but I wont be able to buy fish and chips on a Sunday. . .the list goes on and only leaves me wanting to increase my overdraft.
I think our house is hosting dinner this Thursday so I will have to clear the lounge of pizza boxes and bb guns. Oh yeah baby. . . we know how to live.
28 October 2003
Please enter your fist again as it was not recognised.
I was sat in Defence Policy Analysis today and it suddenly occurred to me that I had no idea what these people were talking about. There was a girl at the front doing a presentation on America and talking about the dissolving soviet union and how Yugoslavia was a good case study, how we are no longer living in a bi-polar world ( or something ) and I was just sat there thinking “ I wish I was in Field Skills.�
This led me to the conclusion that I might drop Defence Policy and do Development instead, even though I have been complaining about the Development module for two years now. I really don’t enjoy it, but I figure I should probable do something that I get a half decent mark in rather than -crazy over my head- analysis of places I have difficulty spelling.
I did hijack a party today though and call it my own. A couple of people off my course are having a big fireworks party near my birthday so I figured I’d invite loads more people and tell them it’s my birthday party!! Clever thinking. If any of you are interested it’s on the 7th of November. Mail me for more info.
I’m getting a bit tired of eating the same thing day in day out now. I am putting on weight but I don’t know how people do this for a living. I swear once I reach 13 stone I am never eating egg whites again. Luckily for me though, even though it is quite hard work, it’s working a treat and I reckon I will easily reach my target by Christmas!
There was a man on the street today trying to punch his way through a cash machine. He didn’t put his card in, he just walked up to it and started bashing the hell out of it. Made me glad I have hobbies.
This led me to the conclusion that I might drop Defence Policy and do Development instead, even though I have been complaining about the Development module for two years now. I really don’t enjoy it, but I figure I should probable do something that I get a half decent mark in rather than -crazy over my head- analysis of places I have difficulty spelling.
I did hijack a party today though and call it my own. A couple of people off my course are having a big fireworks party near my birthday so I figured I’d invite loads more people and tell them it’s my birthday party!! Clever thinking. If any of you are interested it’s on the 7th of November. Mail me for more info.
I’m getting a bit tired of eating the same thing day in day out now. I am putting on weight but I don’t know how people do this for a living. I swear once I reach 13 stone I am never eating egg whites again. Luckily for me though, even though it is quite hard work, it’s working a treat and I reckon I will easily reach my target by Christmas!
There was a man on the street today trying to punch his way through a cash machine. He didn’t put his card in, he just walked up to it and started bashing the hell out of it. Made me glad I have hobbies.
27 October 2003
Katie Faulks
After recieving a telling off via e-mail for not properly name dropping I hearby inform you that one of my "new friends" (see previous post) is Katie Faulks.
She has bright red funky hair and did a dissertation in heavy metal music. If she were a biscuit she would be one of those pink wafer things.
She has bright red funky hair and did a dissertation in heavy metal music. If she were a biscuit she would be one of those pink wafer things.
26 October 2003
and at the very end of the last day, he put his clock back, and rested.
Well it’s five to nine and my weekend is officially over. Since Friday night I have been boogieing with my buddies, but now I have to drag myself back to reality, and get my sorry ass to the gym at eight in the morning.
So what has this weekend taught me, what can I take away from it except for the burn on my lip caused in the heat of frivolity? Well I have some very good memories, some new friends and a new personal best in the “How many matches can you extinguish in your mouth at once?� game. I know some of this sounds fickle, but hey, kids laugh a lot more than adults do.
I was planning on writing more but I am soooooo knackered I just can’t.
Setting my clock back now captain.
So what has this weekend taught me, what can I take away from it except for the burn on my lip caused in the heat of frivolity? Well I have some very good memories, some new friends and a new personal best in the “How many matches can you extinguish in your mouth at once?� game. I know some of this sounds fickle, but hey, kids laugh a lot more than adults do.
I was planning on writing more but I am soooooo knackered I just can’t.
Setting my clock back now captain.
24 October 2003
Gym at 8, library by 10 and I'm even finding time for the pub tonight.
Well what a day it has been. Firstly I get up this morning and check the blogs only to find that not only have I managed to help out my bro – hey, that’s what I’m here for buddy – but I also got a special mention on moogaloo!! So if any of you Toms lot are reading this, welcome.
The house blog doesn’t seem to be going anywhere as they guys havn’t managed to get excited over it. This means I’m going to have to keep the tradition going strong all on my own right here. It’s a heavy burden I know but I think I might just manage it.
I’ve been checking out other peoples blogs and mine seems quite the amateur compared, I have no pictures, fancy colour schemes or cool little lists that I can add to. If anyone knows of any websites that will tell me how to do this please let me know and I’ll try and keep up with the jones’.
And so here is my treat for you all today. As a special thank you to Andy for so publicly advertising me and also because I am quite the music freak, I have found some amazing music on the internet that you are legally able to download and listen to. The band are called Speechwriters LLC, and they are sooooo cool. Go here to get loads of their mp3’s and here to look at the web site. I recommend you download the live set by Dave as the other guy really cant sing and only has one good song.
Enjoy.
The house blog doesn’t seem to be going anywhere as they guys havn’t managed to get excited over it. This means I’m going to have to keep the tradition going strong all on my own right here. It’s a heavy burden I know but I think I might just manage it.
I’ve been checking out other peoples blogs and mine seems quite the amateur compared, I have no pictures, fancy colour schemes or cool little lists that I can add to. If anyone knows of any websites that will tell me how to do this please let me know and I’ll try and keep up with the jones’.
And so here is my treat for you all today. As a special thank you to Andy for so publicly advertising me and also because I am quite the music freak, I have found some amazing music on the internet that you are legally able to download and listen to. The band are called Speechwriters LLC, and they are sooooo cool. Go here to get loads of their mp3’s and here to look at the web site. I recommend you download the live set by Dave as the other guy really cant sing and only has one good song.
Enjoy.
23 October 2003
Found out today that we didnt destroy ourselves quite as much as anticipated. this means that the girls have agreed to come round to our house for dinner next thursday.
Yeah. . . on one hand but
AARRggghhe, on the other.
Our house has that "student" feel to it. very impersonal, white walls and the only thing hung on them is one of those rugs you had as a kid that has roads on it. we also have to think of something to make them which will marginally impress.
in other news, there was a girl on my course today that couldnt remember what a gun was and described it as "One of those things that goes bang!". when we all graduate and are in charge of keeping you lot safe. . . . be afriad.
Yeah. . . on one hand but
AARRggghhe, on the other.
Our house has that "student" feel to it. very impersonal, white walls and the only thing hung on them is one of those rugs you had as a kid that has roads on it. we also have to think of something to make them which will marginally impress.
in other news, there was a girl on my course today that couldnt remember what a gun was and described it as "One of those things that goes bang!". when we all graduate and are in charge of keeping you lot safe. . . . be afriad.
21 October 2003
So I just got back from a dinner party that some of the girls threw for us and as a house I think I can safely say. . . . we totally bombed!!
It was a “Lets get to know a few more people from the course� kinda meal and although we went with all the good intentions in the world, we just came off bad.
See the thing is, the normal kind of banter that we throw around the house just didn’t fit in at all well, but we know of no other way to act, so we just had to be ourselves. Which on this occasion, was the wrong choice.
We are going to get a full damage report tomorrow through a bit of subtle questioning from a mutual friend but as it goes I think we may have a bit of ground to make up.
It was a “Lets get to know a few more people from the course� kinda meal and although we went with all the good intentions in the world, we just came off bad.
See the thing is, the normal kind of banter that we throw around the house just didn’t fit in at all well, but we know of no other way to act, so we just had to be ourselves. Which on this occasion, was the wrong choice.
We are going to get a full damage report tomorrow through a bit of subtle questioning from a mutual friend but as it goes I think we may have a bit of ground to make up.
I'm sat here in uni having just been told off - with the rest of the class - by a lecturer. having reminded everyone i met that we had some homework to do it turned out that i had told them all to do the wrong thing. this meant i had not read the information i was supposed to and didnt know a thing about the lecture.
hopefully this will never happen again although dont start holding your breath.
next i have doctor fox and his - takes 20 minutes to get going - lectures on water. no really, its exciting.
hopefully this will never happen again although dont start holding your breath.
next i have doctor fox and his - takes 20 minutes to get going - lectures on water. no really, its exciting.
18 October 2003
This city is slowly destroying me. This city makes me angry, it makes me swear more, it makes me walk faster and look over my shoulder more often. This city, the city in which I am stuck for the next nine months during which I have to put together achievements which will shape the course of my life. This city of perpetual worsening of the spirit, of humanity caught between anger and resentment. This city of pigeon poo. Coventy, my home.
I went to watch Kill Bill tonight, if you haven’t seen it don’t bother. If it wasn’t made by Mr Tarentino it would just be passed by as an amusing flick that a few people will love but most will just not get. Much like my love for Dog Soldiers, this film is not for everyone.
But I digress.
I went to watch Kill Bill tonight and there was a delinquent couple sat on the back row talking throughout the entire film. Well I say talking, it was a bit more one sided than that. She was reading him the subtitles! Loudly. She wasn’t leaning over and whispering them to him so the rest of the folk could get on with watching the film. Heaven forbid, she just sat there reading them out like she was proud that she just got her Key Stage 4 reading award. Then they would sit there laughing. . .at nothing. They didn’t even laugh during the funny bits, and its not like the film was crammed with intellectual jokes, we’re talking slap stick here, they just laughed to themselves. Even during repeated calls for them to be quite from the other members of the audience, they just sat there in a little world all of their own - labelled “reprobates� - and ruined what turned out to be an overrated film for everybody else.
Then on the way home, by a statue of Lady Godiva, because this city has to make up people to be proud of, there were a group of largered up lads having a nice big fight. The problem is in these situations, it’s hard to tell which are the good guys. One group is always “losing� but what if they jumped the other group and it just happened that justice was running strong this day and they got beaten up. Either way, one lad was getting his face smashed in quite nicely and we just kept our eyes averted and tried to walk past without getting dragged in. And for anyone reading this that says we should have tried to do something about it, you can come visit me and watch the football fans fighting 20 meters from my house, lets see how much good you want to do then.
As if in the space of 3 hours this city had not done enough to make me want to get home and lock it away behind my front door, a man then approached us. This man had a can of larger in one hand and a cigarette in the other. As we were walking past him he asked us for a moment of our time, usually I would have just said no and walked by, but we were in a group and as we exchanged glances he started talking. This man wanted some money off of us. He didn’t even give a reason. That is how blatant they are down here. He just asked if we could give him a pound. Not spare him a pound, or lend him a pound, he just came straight out and asked for money. In a way I have to respect the guy for not giving us some crap story, just give me some money and be done with you. I refused for the group and we started on our way again while being serenaded with obscenities from the man who was upset, smoking and most likely drunk.
And so now I’m at home, sat at my computer, listening to someone in a car across the road repeatedly lean on the horn while down the road a shop alarm cries out for recognition in a city full of deaf ears.
I went to watch Kill Bill tonight, if you haven’t seen it don’t bother. If it wasn’t made by Mr Tarentino it would just be passed by as an amusing flick that a few people will love but most will just not get. Much like my love for Dog Soldiers, this film is not for everyone.
But I digress.
I went to watch Kill Bill tonight and there was a delinquent couple sat on the back row talking throughout the entire film. Well I say talking, it was a bit more one sided than that. She was reading him the subtitles! Loudly. She wasn’t leaning over and whispering them to him so the rest of the folk could get on with watching the film. Heaven forbid, she just sat there reading them out like she was proud that she just got her Key Stage 4 reading award. Then they would sit there laughing. . .at nothing. They didn’t even laugh during the funny bits, and its not like the film was crammed with intellectual jokes, we’re talking slap stick here, they just laughed to themselves. Even during repeated calls for them to be quite from the other members of the audience, they just sat there in a little world all of their own - labelled “reprobates� - and ruined what turned out to be an overrated film for everybody else.
Then on the way home, by a statue of Lady Godiva, because this city has to make up people to be proud of, there were a group of largered up lads having a nice big fight. The problem is in these situations, it’s hard to tell which are the good guys. One group is always “losing� but what if they jumped the other group and it just happened that justice was running strong this day and they got beaten up. Either way, one lad was getting his face smashed in quite nicely and we just kept our eyes averted and tried to walk past without getting dragged in. And for anyone reading this that says we should have tried to do something about it, you can come visit me and watch the football fans fighting 20 meters from my house, lets see how much good you want to do then.
As if in the space of 3 hours this city had not done enough to make me want to get home and lock it away behind my front door, a man then approached us. This man had a can of larger in one hand and a cigarette in the other. As we were walking past him he asked us for a moment of our time, usually I would have just said no and walked by, but we were in a group and as we exchanged glances he started talking. This man wanted some money off of us. He didn’t even give a reason. That is how blatant they are down here. He just asked if we could give him a pound. Not spare him a pound, or lend him a pound, he just came straight out and asked for money. In a way I have to respect the guy for not giving us some crap story, just give me some money and be done with you. I refused for the group and we started on our way again while being serenaded with obscenities from the man who was upset, smoking and most likely drunk.
And so now I’m at home, sat at my computer, listening to someone in a car across the road repeatedly lean on the horn while down the road a shop alarm cries out for recognition in a city full of deaf ears.
11 September 2003
well lucky old me, my identity card for university has just run out which means i now have to explain myself everytime i want to get into the library. This also means that i may not be e-mailing anyone for a while untill we get a connection in the house, in fact it means i probably wont be leaving the house again as the one redeeming feature of coventry is the library and i cant even get into it.
i called my estate agent again today and he assured me he would send my cheque out today. if he doesnt he's gonna get a shock when we have to pay rent and there is a sizeable sum missing from mine!!!
i called my estate agent again today and he assured me he would send my cheque out today. if he doesnt he's gonna get a shock when we have to pay rent and there is a sizeable sum missing from mine!!!
03 September 2003
well i have moved into my new house and unsuprisingly it does not come without a few problems.
the first of these is that we do not have any hot water as the boiler is broken. this means i stink. our landlady even knew it was broken but didnt bother getting it fixed before our tenancy started which was nice of her. the estate agent also has £190 pounds of my money that his monkey working on reception does not seem too keen to give me back. i will be calling them yet again today to find out what is happening with it.
todays jobs include
- seeing if it is worth my while getting a mobile phone with a contract.
- looking around at gyms.
- cleaning the kitchen up as it is covered in some kind of unidentified sticky substance.
i am going to be setting up a blog for the house as well so that the other guys can post on it. i'm not too sure if it will work well or just degenerate into slandor but we can only watch and find out.
the first of these is that we do not have any hot water as the boiler is broken. this means i stink. our landlady even knew it was broken but didnt bother getting it fixed before our tenancy started which was nice of her. the estate agent also has £190 pounds of my money that his monkey working on reception does not seem too keen to give me back. i will be calling them yet again today to find out what is happening with it.
todays jobs include
- seeing if it is worth my while getting a mobile phone with a contract.
- looking around at gyms.
- cleaning the kitchen up as it is covered in some kind of unidentified sticky substance.
i am going to be setting up a blog for the house as well so that the other guys can post on it. i'm not too sure if it will work well or just degenerate into slandor but we can only watch and find out.
22 August 2003
21 June 2003
just been looking around at other peoples blogs and it makes mine look really depressing. not only am i the only person in the world who actually knows that i have this but it just looks lame! so i have a lame looking blog that no one knows about.. . . and yet i'm keeping it!!
i suppose i could just go and learn a bit about putting a web page together so i could personalise this a bit but . . . ya know. . . .hard work man.
so i think i shall just leave this hear, safe in the knowledge i own it, and then one day i can get around to making it fully kick ass. although this will probably be around the same time i update my website so dont hold your breath.
why am i writing this as if its going to be read!!
i suppose i could just go and learn a bit about putting a web page together so i could personalise this a bit but . . . ya know. . . .hard work man.
so i think i shall just leave this hear, safe in the knowledge i own it, and then one day i can get around to making it fully kick ass. although this will probably be around the same time i update my website so dont hold your breath.
why am i writing this as if its going to be read!!
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