The Big Blog

Everybody's changing

2007-04-11T22:29:00.001+01:00

Move on, move on, there's nothing to see here!

Why not go here instead:

Ademweb.co.uk/blog

Please change your links/rss/etc

Get used to one style and you know I might switch

2007-04-10T21:02:00.000+01:00

Whilst I've been sat indoors with my leg up I've been working on a new blog, and will hopefully be able to migrate over pretty soon. I'm going to switch from Blogger over to Wordpress hosted on my own webspace.

I like Wordpress and have several other sites running on it so I know what it can do, and so it shouldn't be too hard to change over, although I'll see how it copes with almost 3 years worth of archives.

What I'm trying to do though is get the site completely sorted, make the template look pretty before I switch over so that you can all bask in the glory of it!

More news to come.

The only difference that I can see, is you are exactly the same as you used to be

2007-04-09T17:30:00.000+01:00

Knee update:

Good Knee:

Bad Knee:

And I been in the hospital

2007-04-08T09:39:00.000+01:00

I've had quite a few different injuries in my time but I can usually diagnose them myself as nothing more than strains, sprains, and pulls, but after my knee injury I thought it was best to go to hospital to get it checked out as it had swollen up a great amount and I could hardly walk.

My kind sister drove me to Accident & Emergency yesterday at midday, and after 2 hours of waiting I was called in. They examined it and said that they'd give me a x-ray to check there wasn't a fracture and see how much fluid there was on the joint. Apart from the long wait, I thought they were very nice in there, although I was slightly disappointed by the nurses' uniforms! The doctor treating me looked at the x-rays and told me there was no fracture (which I didn't think there was) and also said that luckily there wasn't a huge amount of fluid and so it wouldn't need to be drained (phew). She told me that what I needed to do was rest it completely and she gave me a strap to put on it to compress it and limit movement. I was also told that if I did try and do anything on it then I'd probably rupture my ligaments (a very bad thing), but as I can't really move without the aid of a crutch then that's highly unlikely.

With only 3 games left of the Sunday League season, I'll miss out on that too, and don't really know how long I'll be out for. I can't drive for the moment either, but am hoping that the swelling goes down soon then maybe I'll be able to operate the clutch. I'm off work until Thursday on holiday, but will just spend that time resting the knee and not really getting up to much, which is a tad annoying as I had a lot more planned for Easter (I've already missed out on the Beer Festival.)

That's the update for now...... Happy Easter everyone!

Debbi was the girl who used to do it like a bunny

2007-04-07T05:37:00.000+01:00

It's now 5:30am...... Groove Armada have a new single out, and it's exactly the type of thing to get me going at the IOW Festival.

In another post I said this:

I like Groove Armada (a poorman's Bassment Jaxx?)

And was soon put right in the comments. On the strength of this release I'm more than happy to be seeing them. I like it and a funny video too.

Dance like a robot when you're chained at the knee

2007-04-07T04:08:00.000+01:00

It's just gone 4am and I'm here sitting on my sofa, watching BBC News 24, and catching up with emails, etc that I missed yesterday when I was at the Rugby Sevens.

Why am I up at this time? Well obviously I can't sleep, but the reason is that I've f**ked my knee up, to put it politely. Rugby was fun even though we lost both our games, but it was a lovely day, lots of people were there, and everyone was merry, but I seemed to be intent on injuring myself.

In the first game I scored a try, but landed awkwardly on the had surface, hurting my knee. I subbed myself off (no innuendos please) and gave myself 5 minutes before coming back on (always a wise move to try and play on), I then got tackled by two players and as Iwas releasing the ball, Ian followed by someone landed on my head, compacting my neck. Off I go again for the rest of the game!

We had over an hour until our next game, and I decided that I'd take part but only for the 2nd half (these are 7 minute halfs in Sevens). I came on and was doing alright, deciding to fight through any pain because Sevens is only once a year, and then with 1 minute left I went o a run, skipped through one tackle, and then got dumped by a high tackle 5 metres from the try-line and landed on my knee again, and we didn't even get a penalty-try for the foul!

I came off glad that the games were over, and whilst I was still walking around I only had a slight hobble and so I was mostly fine for the rest of the afternoon. We all then went out in Broadstairs for the evening, and as the night got on, my knee got worse, especially when I wasn't moving and just standing still or sitting, so that when it came to go home I was not very mobile, and by the time I was actually at home my knee was killing, and I discovered that it had swollen up loads. I was in bed by 11:30, with my a pillow under my knee and some ice on it, and so I spent the next 4 hours drifting in and out of sleep, but unable to move to get comfortable.

Can you tell which one is swollen?!

I couldn't walk when I got up as the knee had completely seized up, and so made a makeshift crutch with the bar from my weights!! And here we are! I'm thinking of going to A+E tomorrow to try and get hold of some crutches so I can walk and get the weight off my knee.

At least I got to play rugby after recovering from the cold and dodgy neck!! (neck isn't too bad by the way.)

--------------------------------------------
10am Update: I got to sleep at 8am and got 1.5 hours sleep which I needed. When I woke up flickr had finished uploading my photos which you can see here.

It was acceptable in the 80s

2007-04-04T23:41:00.000+01:00

I know this has been out for quite a while but I still love it and can often be caught singing along to it. Enjoy.

I know I get a few 'foreigners' to the blog, and I sometimes wonder if they've heard songs I put up here. I guess what I'm talking about is that nowadays, globalisation, digital age, et al, means that we are getting smaller and a lot of things are international in their appeal, music being the main one. Get what I mean?

She’s on fire

2007-04-04T14:36:00.000+01:00

I've taken these few days off before Easter as holiday from work, as it was pretty quiet and I wasn't needed so hey ho, a free day!!

I cycled down to Ramsgate town in order to get a few bits and bobs from the £1 Charity Shop and was greeted with a cordoned off street. Weird, I though and presumed that maybe there was some kind of affair going on, but then I noticed all the police (around 6 officers) patrolling the taped-off area, then an ambulance, and then also 2 fire-engines!

Blimey! Somethings gone down in Ramsgate, and it's name was Fire! Apparently one of the restaurants in Harbour Street was on fire (next to the Bakery), and so most of Harbour Street and Queen Street were out of bounds apart from a small area on Queen Street.

Smoke was billowing from the top of the building, and the fire-engine's ladder was a full-extension enabling the firemen to try and control the fire, but from where I was, there was a lot of smoke and it could be a lot more trouble controlling the fire, especially as all the buildings are terraced.

I wish I'd had my camera with me, but alas I am no Peter Parker.

That's all from this Ramsgate Reporter today.

Bring to me my big old sweater, Nothing more will make me better

2007-04-01T21:34:00.000+01:00

As you know, I've been a wee bit poorly, but nothing too harsh, it's just annoying. I'm almost over the cold and should be completely fine over the next few days. As colds go it wasn't too bad, just sneezing, runny nose, and a bit of a high temperature, but I didn't feel that ill. The neck ache is a different matter and is still there, as it has been since Wednesday, but is getting a little better every day. The pain has now moved from my actual neck muscles to the muscles at the base of my neck and back, and all I'm hoping is that it's all fine by Friday which is when I play Rugby.

I was hoping to be in tip-top shape for Rugby as I'd been dieting and getting more exercise, but this week has wiped me out and I haven't been to the gym or football and so I'm hoping to get a few more sessions in over the week but this will all depend on the neck but I'm sure I'll be fine.

You will be happy to hear though that after last week's shennanigans, I haven't touched alcohol and haven't even been out, instead staying indoors and getting my rest.

In other news I finally got my composter at a very cheap price. As well as metals, plastics, paper, and glass, I can now be doing my bit and more of my 'rubbish' will be recycled. It'll take 6-9 months for it to all break down but then....lovely compost will be mine!

So tell me can you feel the madskills comin' wid da fever, fever, fever.

2007-03-29T19:33:00.000+01:00

For the past 2 days I've felt crap. I've got a cold and I've also pulled a muscle in my neck. This has meant that I've not gone to the gym and I've had to miss football tonight.

I think the cold is breaking, and I got some Deep Heat to rub on my neck, so hopefully I'll be fine for the weekend, on which I'll incidently not be drinking.... Hurrah! I'm driving on Friday, and I've got no plans on Saturday so a much needed rest will be in order.

How are you?

Please allow me to introduce myself

2007-03-28T11:03:00.000+01:00

Big news for the Isle of Wight Festival, which I'll be going to in June. After weeks and weeks of speculation the Rolling Stones have finally been confirmed as the Sunday Night Headliners! It's a real coup for the festival and I am really excited that I'll get to see the Stones who, you have to admit, are one of the biggest bands in the world (and the oldest!). It really spices up the event as quite a lot of the bands are a bit MOR, and although good, the Stones should hopefully play some real classics.

Also added to the line-up are Groove Armada, for the Friday night, which will add a dance element to the evening. I like Groove Armada (a poorman's Bassment Jaxx?) and will be hoping that another big 'dance' act gets added to the bill. I'd actually like to see Mylo...we'll see.....

Ode to Jose the curse of Cuervo

2007-03-26T14:23:00.000+01:00

I haven't spoken about the diet for a while so let's catch up with that. I was losing quite a lot of weight at first and in the first 2 weeks had lost 12 pounds, which I was really happy with. I was sticking to the diet religiously, but then over the past 2 weeks I've not been faring too well and the 'little treats' have snuck back in here and there.

Before I was having 1 evening off the diet a week, usually a Friday, and would invariably have a nice big dinner and have a fair few vodkas. But lately I've been having big weekends, drinking too much and put on a couple of pounds over the weekends, and then lose them over the week. So I'm not in a worse position but I have halted on the weightloss, yo-yo-ing those couple of pounds.

On Friday I went out with Uni friends as it was their last night of term and I drank A LOT. Beer, Ale, Vodka, Wine, Alcopops, Sambuca, Aftershock..... too much, and I went night-clubbing till 2:30am.

Then on Saturday it was Katie's Birthday, and I stuck to Vodka and Diet coke for the majority of the night and then had several Desperados (Beer with Tequila in it!). Not too bad, but merry enough, and then in the early hours the clocks went forward and so it was 3:30am when I got home, and I had to be up at 8:45am for football!

I did manage to get up for football but had a stinking hangover, and then I played 90 minutes of football. I enjoyed the football and it took my mind off the hangover, but once I'd finished I felt rough again and it basically wasted my entire day.

It's only 10 days till the Rugby Sevens so I'll stick to the diet for that time and see if I can lose a few more pounds, so just the 1 night out a week for me now. I'm definitely doing more exercise now so it's not all bad, and I do feel fitter which is always a good thing.

Caught by the fuzz

2007-03-21T22:29:00.000Z

I nipped out this evening to watch Hot Fuzz as it's only on at the local cinema until tomorrow night. When I got there I realised that the cinema was full of teenage Italian students, all who didn't seem to have control of their volumes! Arrgghh!! It's not what I want from the cinema and had a horrible feeling that they would be nattering throughtout the whole film but luckily their tutor gave a speech at the beginning and they were quiet most of the time.

I enjoyed the film greatly.

I'm gonna hit the highway like a battering ram, on a silver black phantom bike.

2007-03-21T12:12:00.000Z

I was in a Motorbike shop with Chris from Uni, who has his own bike, and we were looking at some of the models and I asked the shop assistant how much one of them was. "£1600" was the reply, and guess what? I bought it there and then, whacked it on my creditcard and took it away with me.

I don't know what came over me to be so impulsive but I did and only after did I think of the consequences as I've still got my car and now a big bill on the Barclaycard. Chris showed me some of the padded protective clothing that he uses, and recommended some to me, and that was about it. Next thing I know I'm going for a spin.

The Bike took a bit of getting used to, especially the gears, and I was having trouble with the throttle, but it was still cool, and I was wondering if I could sell the car to get back a bit of cash.

I did a few other things yesterday too, I bought a new watch, only a tenner, and I bought this really cool deodorant which had a radio built in...cool!

All in all a very good day......and then I woke up.....yes it was all a dream, no motorbike, no watch, no magic deodorant can, and all I can say is "thank f**k!".

What the hell was I going to do with a motorbike?! I can't even drive one let alone afford it!

It was still nice to have a bit of escapism dreaming, instead of no dreams at all, and I can say that I will not be getting a motorbike anytime soon.

He's too stoned, Nintendo, I wish that I could make her see, she's just the flavor of the weak

2007-03-19T13:13:00.000Z

I got to play with the Wii on Friday and Saturday and it was very fun (no I'm not into watersports, it's the new console from Nintendo.)

I especially enjoyed the Boxing game and you can see me in action below (apologies for the angle of the video, but may I recommend you turn your monitor on its side for this bit.)

Although the graphics weren't amazing, poor even, it's the gameplay that counts and the new use of the controllers really added to the experience. If you get the chance give it a go.

Stacy, can I come over after school?

2007-03-15T23:53:00.000Z

So I haven't posted since Monday and I feel it's about time I put up a post. I could tell you how I scored a goal for the University, or how I've just been to the pub on a 'school night', but instead Ill tell you that I've just turned on the TV and on Five US the film "Mo' Money" is on and a quick seach of imdb tells me that Stacey Dash is the hot female lead. Now I know her from her "Clueless" days and have to say that she is hot, but I was shocked to find that she was in her 40s now! I guess that's the miracle of film, that people can stay eternally youthful.

Anyway off to bed now.......

Ice ice baby

2007-03-12T21:48:00.000Z

On Saturday evening I caught a bit of the late-night replay of Dancing on Ice and f**k me was I amazed! I don't watch the show, but I know what it's all about, and the display by Kyran Bracken and his professional skate partner Melaine was brilliant.

The premise of the show is that celebrity novice skaters pair up with professionals and get voted out each week based on their perfomances, and at this rate Kyran should win it. For those of you that are unaware, Kyran Bracken is a former Rugby player so isn't well known for his skating abilities.

Go outside and ride your bike

2007-03-10T21:40:00.000Z

Yummy, I've just had my treat of the weekend and made a curry, but I think I deserve it. I've been doing more exercise including a 2.5 hour session of football on Thursday and then today I went for a nice bike ride (8.76 miles) to Broadstairs to watch Thanet Wanderers play rugby. I went to the casino again this weekend and finished £25 up which paid for my night last night.

I took my camera along to the rugby this afternoon and it was nice to take some shots of something a bit different. You can see the Flickr set here.

Football is off tomorrow so I'm going to go to the bootfair to see how it all works, and then in a few weeks time I'll hopefully be selling my own stuff. It's nice when you actually do stuff at the weekend instead of vegging out isn't it?

It's so nice I had to name it twice

2007-03-09T13:32:00.000Z

Last month on Dragon's Den, a guy called Levi Roots (real name Keith) managed to get the Dragons to invest £50,000 in his 'Reggae Reggae' sauce. I don't usually watch the programme but he had a very infectious attitude and persona, and with that had the possibilty of being a success.

It comes as no surprise that the sauce will now be on sale in 600 Sainsburys stores (see here) around the UK, and will no doubt be marketed along with his song. Hey, I might even buy a bottle! Check out the video below...

Like a fish needs a bicycle

2007-03-07T22:11:00.000Z

I went to the gym today for the first time since last Thursday. No, I haven't been slacking, the gym was closed all over the weekend due to a water problem, and it only opened again this morning.

Sadly the pool was still shut, along with the showers(!) so I had to come home all stinky, and I didn't do too much except cycle (11km) and a few weights.

That's all really.

Had fish for dinner tonight as I wanted a break from the norm and had some cod and some salmon which were reduced in Tesco. I always grill fish, and the salmon was lovely as usual but the cod was disappointing and bland. I think the cod either has to be battered or with a sauce, both of with are not options in the diet.

Am I becoming a bit two-dimensional with all this talk of diets and fitness? What happened to the beer swilling Adem? Am I 'Fun Bobby'?! I don't think so.

In other news I bought a few DVDs yesterday in a Tesco 3 for £15 offer: The 40 Year Old Virgin, Anchorman, and Napoleon Dynamite.

And if I'm starving, you can feed me lollipops

2007-03-05T10:34:00.000Z

I bought some electronic scales on Saturday so that I could monitor my weightloss at home, and I've got to say that the body is a very odd thing. It's amazing how much bodyweight can fluctuate throughout the day with my weight shifting by as much as 6 pounds between the morning and the evening.

I've now taken to only recording my morning weight as the majority of the variables are fixed. I will always be wearing the same clothes (boxers and t-shirt) and won't have had anything to eat yet. Even this isn't fool proof though as my weight was 4 pounds lighter this morning than yesterday morning, and I doubt I've lost that much!

These daily weigh-ins are good and I record them, but in reality it will only be my target end-weight compared to my start weight that will matter, and as that is a larger amount then the small differences and fluctuations won't matter and are only a small percentage of the loss.

I've basically set myself 6 months to get fit, which is how long my free gym membership lasts, but I've got a few goals along the way that I need to lose weight for, which are the Rugby Sevens tournament in 1 month, and the Isle of Wight Festival in 3 months.

In reality, the gym won't make too much of a difference but it will be my diet that does, and apart from a few treats this weekend (the fry-up + and a small slice of pizza after football) I've stuck to it very well. I've also stopped snacking, which I only did out of boredom, and now just stick to my meals. Aren't I being good?! Are you bored yet?

I blame you for the moonlit sky

2007-03-04T00:46:00.000Z

Tonight/this morning there has been a total lunar eclipse, the first for more than 3 years, and it's pretty amazing stuff. Basically the moon has been fully immersed in the shadow of the Earth.

You can read more about the actual nature of it all and how it works by reading the BBC article here.

I did manage to take a few photos and had to use my tripod to get any clarity. I also had my binoculars out to get a better view.

Here's what it looked like:

[you can see the original photo here]

I really like it that I can actually see details of the surface of the moon when it would ordinarily be too bright to work with my camera.

Did anyone else see it?

In the nighttime, In the storm, In the casino

2007-03-03T03:16:00.000Z

It's 3:15am as I type this, and I've been out (why else would I be up at this time?)

As I said in my earlier post, I was going to cut out on the beer and I think I did pretty well as I only had 1 pint tonight (and that was shit Fosters). I did however have 1 gin and slimline tonic, which was OK but not billiant and so I switched over to the vodkas, house doubles with Diet Coke to be exact, and I had 4 of them, so all in all I think I did probably have less calories from them as opposed to me have the 8 pints I probably would have had.

We went the Tavern, the Queens Head, the Red Lion, the Port & Anchor, and then to the Jazz Room, and on to the casino.

I did fall off the wagon though as I was in the casino with Ant, Paul, and Tom, and they decided to get cooked breakfasts and I caved in. Naughty me, but still not too bad in the whole scheme of things, as I probably would've had the breakfast anyway on top of all the beers. I'll definitely be going to the gym tomorrow to burn off a few more calories.

I did have fun at the casino though as I used £10 as stake on the Blackjack and took away £35, so £25 profit which basically paid for my night. My best bit was betting £16 on a single hand and winning. It was fun. I was a little higher on the prize fund but had a little bet at the end which lost me a fiver.

Anyway, off to bed now me thinks as it's now 3:25am and I'm tired(ish). Laters!

There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby

2007-03-02T20:37:00.000Z

I was watching the end of Scrubs this evening and you know the bit at the end where JD gives some meaningful message? Well this song was playing over it (see here), covered by Ted's Barbershop Quartet. Lovely, although don't listen to it too much or you will get a little depressed. The artist is Israel Kamakawiwo'ole....he's dead now.

Sippin on gin and juice

2007-03-02T13:20:00.000Z

So it's Friday afternoon and I can't wait for the weekend, although I don't think much is going on. If I do go out I will have to cut down on the beer. I'm thinking of maybe turning to Gin and slimline tonic, or maybe just no alcohol at all (yeah right).

I played football last night on astroturf and I felt a lot fitter. I know it sounds stupid as I've only had a few days of watching my weight and getting extra exercise, but I did feel better. I'm sure a lot of it is psychological, but even if it's just that it's still good. I ran around for a hour there and was a bit knackered but I still managed to go straight up to the gym and go for a bit of a swim, steam and jacuzzi. I didn't want to do anythin in the gym as I probable would've hurt myself as I'd only just warmed down from footy and was likely to pull something if I started back up again. A swim was nice though and my arms were a bit achy this morning which menas I was doing something right.

I might have to invest in a pair of weighing scales for myself as I've weighed myself a couple of times and the weights keep varying by around 1/2 a stone, which is a lot! If I get one pair for myself then at least, even if they are wrong, they are always wrong by the same amount. I think a trip to Argos is called for.

On the blogging front, I am just being a voyeur, and looking around at people's blogs but not commenting, so don't think that I'm not visiting because I am!

Is it worth it, let me work it

2007-02-28T23:34:00.000Z

I went to the gym this evening. Very nice. I especially enjoyed the steam room. What's that you say? I'm meant to be working out? whoops. ( I did cycle about 4 kms, run 1km, cross train 1km... so not all bad. Just really a chance to try out all the equipment.)

Lip up fatty, ah lip up fatty, for the reggae

2007-02-28T15:33:00.000Z

I don't usually weigh myself, as I don't have any scales, and I generally don't think that weight strictly correlates with fitness, and don't agree with those height/weight Body Mass Index charts that people use, as there is no real uniform rule to people.

One thing I do know is that I've put on a hell of a lot of weight over the past few years, basically since I was an adult. From my 5 years at University (as a student and staff) I put on around 2 stone, and although I knew I'd put on more weight since being back in Ramsgate it seems that I've put on a further 2 stone in the past 2.5 years. Holy Shit.

I'm generally quite active getting in around 2.5 hours of pure sport in a week, but I know that where I slip up on is food and drink. I don't neccesarily eat bad food, but I know my portions are too large and that I eat too much bread. For the past 3 days I've been watching what I eat and basically limiting portions to something acceptable. I do feel hungry sometimes, but haven't caved in with the easy option and have instead been munching away on things like celery in between meals.

I've also been making my own lunch in the mornings to take to work. I used to pop over to newsagents across the road from my office and grab a baguette (chicken and mayo) along with bag of crisps, and do I really need all those calories when I'm sitting on my arse at a computer? No. Instead I haven't gone too mad and have instead taken in a cheese and tomato sandwich (2 slices of bread with thinly cut cheese), a piece of fruit, and 2 sticks of celery. There may be something healthier than the cheese but at least it's got some flavour.

Not only is it healthier but it's also cheaper and saves me around £3 a day on lunch.

Along with the diet, I've also signed up to the gym, although I know that the diet is the most important part for me. I was thinking about joining the gym anyway, but have managed to get free membership for 6 months, which is pretty cool, and something not to miss out on. The gym has all the usual stuff plus a swimming pool, sauna, jacuzzi, steamroom, so I can just relax if needs be.

I meant to do all this a lot sooner, but it was this Sunday that kicked it off. I was around a friends house watching the football when we decided to have a quick weigh-in and I was shocked by mine along with another friends. We have basically put on the same amount of weight in the same amount of time and so we have set up a challenge. We are both quite competitive and so have set up a challenge against each other to see who can lose the most weight over the next 6 months. Don't worry, we certainly won't be getting eating disorders but now that we are at the same gym too it'll be good to have somebody to compete against as this kind of thing can get pretty lonely and boring in a short time.

Also to measure my weight I've registered here so that I can keep accurate readings and see how I'm progressing.

I'm only 3 days in so I don't expect anything too quick, and have still got to contend with weekends, but here goes.

99 bottles of beer on the wall

2007-02-27T10:57:00.000Z

Can I point you over to here?

I've joined a blog about Beer! Look forward to reviews of beer from around the world (the US and the UK at the moment). You can see my reviews here.

It's nice to think that my beer consumption is going towards something constructive!

Woke up cold one tuesday

2007-02-26T23:27:00.000Z

Here's Paolo Nutini (Who'll be at the Isle of Wight Festival). I need to start listening to some of the acts I'm less familiar with so here goes:

All I wanna do is rock

2007-02-22T16:39:00.000Z

I'm really excited!!! Do you know why? I've just booked my holiday for the summer. I'm off to a little island not too far away.

I'm going to....

The Isle of Wight Festival!!

I have never been to a festival like this before, and Glastonbury always seems like a lot of effort, especially with the high demand for tickets, so when they announced the line-up earlier this week I decided that I'd go.

I sent an email out to see who else was up for it and there are 8 of us that will be going. I really like the line-up: Snow Patrol, Muse, Kasabian, Keane, Amy Winehouse, James Morrison, The Fratellis, Wolfmother, Paolo Nutini, The Feeling & Ash so far.

Tickets cost £125 (+£10 from the agents) each, but I think it's well worth it for 3 days of music. Of course I've got to add on travel, the ferry, and all the beer food etc. But it'll be worth it. I've sometimes spent that on a weekend by just going to the local!

One the emails I sent around a lot of people were moaning that it wouldn't be as good as Glastonbury, etc, but I couldn't give a toss. I know Glastonbury is 'the' festival but I'd rather go somewhere a bit smaller and be able to see all the acts I want too, and also be able to buy tickets without being interogated by the Gestapo. Another reason is that I really don't go for the whole festival vibe that seems to come out of Glastonbury. I don't do drugs, I don't want to see all the 'hippy' stuff, I just want to rock out and the line-up is definitely my type of music.

I can't believe I have to wait over 3 months to go though!! I hope it's sunny.

Is that where it ends, with your life thru a lens?

2007-02-21T11:50:00.000Z

You should all know by now that I love taking photos, and the majority of them are proudly displayed on flickr, but I did something yesterday that I haven't done for years. I got some photos developed!

There is something about having an actual physical photograph in your hand as opposed to viewing them on a screen and I really think I need to get more of my photo sets developed too.

One reason I did this was because it was free, and as you know, I love free stuff. Photobox.co.uk are doing a promotion whereby when you register you get 30 free photos, and if you follow this link and use the promotional code "20EXTRA", then you can get 50 free photos in total.

It's a simple case of uploading your photos into a set, and then selecting to print them (you will need that promotional code now). I did this for 50 photos, and only had to pay the £1.50 postage, and the photos came the next day.

The prices are actually very good, and although you may be able to save a few pence on each print by physically going into Boots, this does remove the hassle of having to go there, drop them off, and come back the next day to pick them up. Instead they were delivered to my door. Easy.

This is also a great way to have a physical back-up of all those digital files that we hope will be safe for ever, but can't be too sure about. At least this way if it goes all apocalyptic Rise of the Machines stylee then I'll have some nice memories.

(I've also blogged about this here)

It's oh so quiet

2007-02-18T21:49:00.000Z

I haven't got anything to write about for the moment....so please excuse me.

A little bit of history repeating

2007-02-12T13:53:00.000Z

So this is ~~Christmas~~ Monday and what have you done? Well at the weekend I did bugger all. I went out on Friday night and that was it really. Done. Nuff said. Some things never change.

Anyway here's something I've been singing along to lately:

I like the video too. odd.

Sunday Sunday here again

2007-02-11T20:07:00.000Z

Following on from yesterday's post I've been at it again, and this time it's Chris who get's the treatment:

(click the image to see a full-size version on Flickr)

It was a lot easier this time but there's still some bits I'd definitely improve next time. You can see the original photo here.

There's still the competition from yesterday too, and I'm still open for questions.

Paint my face in your magazines

2007-02-10T23:21:00.000Z

I've been using Photoshop quite a bit at work lately but only for making posters, banners etc, and nothing amazingly creative, but it did get me in the mood and so I've been playing.

It was my mate Ian's 24th Birthday yesterday and I usually like to personally make something for people's birthdays (see here & here) so I thought I'd make him an arty portrait and here is the result:

(click the image to see larger version on Flickr)

You can see the original photo here and I must say I'm very happy with it and I feel confident enough to try some more and get even better results (I know there are bits that can be improved). What I like about Photoshop is that although I've been using it since 2002 and think I'm pretty good with it, there's always more to learn and there are some amazing tutorials out there. I actually got this tutorial from here although I usually get quite a few from here.

Do you like it? Would you like your own portrait? If you do then send me a message via the email address in my profile and tell me why I should.... Easy as that. I'll upload any I do to this blog (I need some content) and I'll send you a high-resolution copy for yourself.

Nothing can stop me now

2007-02-09T16:12:00.000Z

Why don't you tell it like it really is?

2007-02-07T21:38:00.000Z

I've been listing some old CDs on ebay, and one of them is Just Enough Education To Perform by the Stereophonics. Not only does it remind me of a cover band I once saw called the Monophonics, but also of a great song on the album.

and truth is in a tall beer

2007-02-07T14:45:00.000Z

Who ever said romance was dead?

Out of college, money spent, see no future, pay no rent

2007-02-07T10:24:00.000Z

I authorised my new HSBC credit card yesterday and then paid off another £200, meaning I've paid off £1,000 since October. I did mention that I was going to pay off a big lump sum this month as I'd been putting away a bit in savings, but as the card is interest free for another year, I decided it's be better to keep some in the savings account. In theory it doesn't actually matter where I keep the money as in an emergency I could just use the credit card, but somehow that seems a lot different.

I've been paying out a lot lately, and so it comes as no surprise that the roof lost some tiles in the recent bad weather and has caused quite a few more to come loose. This means that the roof needs to be re-tiled and so yet more money to be spent. Regulars here should remember that I live at home with my mum, and so I'm sure we'll split the cost somehow. I like to pay my way and as well as the usual £120 per month rent, I also buy other things, such as radiators, for the house, and will help out where I can.

I moved back home in 2004 after living away for 5 years, and only envisaged being there for a short time, but my Grandma, who lived there too, was very ill and passed away over the Christmas period. That left just my Mum at home, and then my move became permanent. I was happy I'd moved back then though as I couldn't have bared it if I'd been away and missed the last few months of my Grandma's life.

It's a funny situation to be in at home, because I do have my own flat on the back of the house (living room, bedroom, bathroom), and can remain quite separate, which is what I like, but my mum does get lonely and I try and take this into consideration by going into her part to eat evening meals. I like to have my own space and due to the proximity I don't feel I do. I like to be messy, I like to not do the washing up, I like to let my clothes pile up until I have none left and am forced to use the washing machine, I like being able to shop for one, I like playing music loud, I like lots of things that I used to do when I lived on my own. My Mum would argue that I am self-contained and can do whatever I want but it is not true and as long as she comes in and tells me to tidy up, or she comes and does my washing, then I will continue to feel this way.

Obviously there are options. I sacrifice my true Independence for the pure fact that I have a roof over my head, which many do not. I could move out and rent somewhere but I would then be in a worse situation as I'd then have a landlord to report to... and I bet he wouldn't wash my dirty clothes! And of course that still leaves my mum, who would then be alone, in a big house, which used to have four residents but would then only have one, and I don't think I could do that to her. Well no for the moment.

The house is expensive to run, and I know that most of my Mum's wages go into keeping the bills payed, and so the solution would seem to be to move to somewhere smaller and use any profit on the house to pay off her debts and live comfortably, but move where?

This is big ol' cans of worms here, and there is no simple solution. I will stay at home because it is the best thing for both me and my Mum. Instead of getting into more debt by paying more rent, or getting my own house (with a huge mortgage), I know that I need to stay around for longer, and my Mum needs it too. Of course it's not just about money, although many of you who read regularly will think it is, as it seems that every other post I write is about it. I think a few changes need to be made, starting off with me reclaiming a few things, such as washing and ironing my clothes. I had no problem doing all this before, but somehow it's been transferred onto Mum. Yes I do stuff for her, like being her chauffeur and doing all the cooking in the house, but I still don't think it all weighs up and she does too much.

OK. So from today I am reclaiming my laundry privileges, and please hold me to it, that is the first step to Independence for both me and my Mum. The next steps would seem to be moving out, but the smart thing is definitely to stay where I am, at least while the housing market is where it is, meaning that single first-time buyers can't afford to get a new home without risking a lot.

I think you've learnt quite a bit about me in that post as opposed to the usual reviews of nights out etc, and so in this time of sharing and opening up, I open the floor to any questions you may have. They may be simple or complex, and I don't guarantee that I'll answer them, but fire away in the comments section and you may learn something.

So stop your cheap comment, cos we know what we feel

2007-02-05T16:18:00.000Z

Today has been a quiet day. I was working last night so I decided that today would be an easy going day at work and so as well as doing all the bits I have to, I've also been surfing around and making a few comments on the blogs on my blogroll.

I haven't been commenting that muchlately , simply having a quick browse at the posts that pop up on my feedreader, but thought I'd make the effort today.

It's like 10,000 spoons

2007-02-04T15:06:00.000Z

I had a dream on Friday night that I was at a cash machine and was trying to put in my PIN but kept putting in the wrong number, and realised that the keys were not in standard formation. When I did put the correct pin in something happened and all my money in my account came out in one go! Shit! There was no way I wanted to be carrying around that amount of money and I went into the bank and tried to get them to sort it out as it wasn't my fault, but they wanted me to count it for them.

It was at that moment that I realised that I was counting crockery and cutlery and not money, and I was trying to figure out the denomination for each piece. I figured out that forks were worth £1, but what was the rest worth?? Were plates worth more? And would it add up properly?

And my dream ended there. odd.

I hurt myself today

2007-02-01T22:20:00.000Z

My legs simply wouldn't work at Football tonight as I had terrible cramp in my calves. I played indoor football on Tuesday for 90 minutes, then played two 30 minute Ten-aside rugby matches on Wednesday, and then tonight was an hour of football on outside on astroturf.

It was yesterday's rugby that did me in though as I played with the Uni team at a friendly tournament in North London, and hadn't played for a while. There's definitely more running in Tens than there is in Fifteens rugby, and we played the matches in immediate succession. We spent 2 hours on the minibus getting back to Broadstairs and then I went on the town with the team to watch the remainder of the Arsenal vs Spurs match (got to the pub after 35 mins and 0-0).

Arsenal won, which is always good, and then as I couldn't be bothered to go home I stayed on a sofa, a very small sofa, and that didn't help as it was only a 2-seater, and so I woke up with a very sore neck. Luckily the house is very near work and so I got into the office at 8:45am, grabbed a towel and had myself a nice shower before work.

And that was yesterday.

(here I am running with the ball)

What you gonna do with all that junk?

2007-01-30T00:02:00.000Z

I have too many possessions, too much clutter, too much crap.

I must change this.

Ebay, Freecycle, and charity shops....... help me!!

You and your friends, in boxes of ten

2007-01-29T12:10:00.000Z

I think I told you that I'd be invited to go down to Chichester at the weekend, but already had plans here in Thanet, as is always the way.

Well on Thursday night I decided that my time would be better spent going to Chi as I only go down there a few times a year, and I can see my local friends whenever I want, and so at around 11:30am on Saturday I set off on my 135 mile trip to West Sussex. Now Kent isn't really that far from West Sussex, but I live of the most Eastern point, so that's what adds the miles on, but I don't actually mind the drive as it's pretty easy and I get to chill and listen to lots of music.... and stop off and take pictures of cows.

I arrived around 2pm and had a little drive around and popped up to the Uni to have a stroll around campus to see if anything had changed. Well a lot of it's changed and they've built some huge halls of residences, and it definitely looks a lot newer than when I was there (amazing what a lick of paint will do.)

I popped up to watch a bit of footy as the Uni team were playing and I saw Sid there, who runs the Sports at the University, and then I popped off at 3:30pm to meet up with Karen who was finishing work, and whose floor I would be kipping on. It was Karen's birthday the other week, and so she, along with Miffy and James who had also had recent birthdays, had decided to have a big meet-up and this was another reason for being in Chichester. The thing is that Karen had kinda forgotten and had a gig at the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth, and had to leave soonsish and wouldn't be back 'til 11ish, and so I headed off on my own down the town to indulge in some nostalgia. I text a few people but they were'nt gonna be around 'til the evening and so I was flying solo, which I didn't actually mind....for a few hours.

I eventually made my way down to Chichester Gate, the end of town entertainment hub, with the generic cinema, Chicago Rock Cafe, Frankie and Benny's, Lloyds Bar, Ten Pin Bowling, etc thing going on, and knowing I had a few hours to spare I went in to watch a film. Obviously my choice of film was completely dependant on the time, and so I watch Babel, a film I knew nothing about except that it had Brad Pitt in it. I came out of the cinema at 8pm on the dot and headed for my rendezvous.

Normally when I've come down I've seen the same old people but this time it was like a reunion as I got to see quite a few people I haven't seen for a long time, most of which were in my year at University or the year below. We had chats, gossiped, and it was nice to catch-up.

We even had a celebrity with us as James had brough his girlfriend Laura (from the Scott Mills Radio 1 show) with him. It must be quite odd meeting new people who may consider that they already know you as they've read a lot about you, heard you talking on the radio, or in this case read your diary. I'm glad to say that she was really nice and has made one of my mates really happy.

After the pub we all went back to Karen and Miffy's house and the highlight of the party was everyone having a go on Singstar, basically Karaoke on the PS2. It got to 3am and it was time for bed.

The next day Karen and myself had a wander around town, went to a bootfair, and then grabbed lunch with Miffy and Rich. Lunch was good, especially after beers. My time in Chi was drawing to an end and so I bid my fairwells and met up with Jamie for a spot of football on the top field at Uni. Sunday football was a bit of an institution at Uni and everyone used to meet up and have a game for a few hours, and it was great fun especially in the summer. I'm glad it's still happening.

At around 4pm I got in my car and headed back for Ramsgate.

You may have realised that I really like Chichester, and if things had worked out differently in life then I may have still been there, but the grass is always greener, and I am content with my brief visits at weekends, as I know that during the week it would be f**king boring!

Well I just had to laugh, I saw the photograph

2007-01-28T23:51:00.000Z

Now this is very odd, but ultimately captivating.

This guy took a picture of himself everyday for 6 years, and this video is the result.

Standing in the way of control

2007-01-26T20:19:00.000Z

I watched Skins last night, not too bad, but it has meant that I've had this tune in my head.

Now the drugs don't work

2007-01-26T12:41:00.000Z

I don't mean to go all Daily Mail on you, but what's this all about? I'm sure there's no definite answer but surely this isn't the way?

For good or worse, makes you switch

2007-01-25T23:08:00.000Z

After being nagged for months I've finally switched over to 'New Blogger'. I didn't want to switch over whilst it was still in beta but now I feel it's safe to switch over. Let's hope it doesn't f**k up.

The muezzin was a' standing on the radiator grille

2007-01-25T21:12:00.000Z

So it's been cold lately and in the hallway we've had a radiator out of action for the past 9 months. It was corroded at the bottom and had been leaking so I had closed off the inlets to it, drained it, and then left it at that because frankly it wasn't needed for that time.

Now that the weather is very cold, the hallway is not a place to be and not a very nice greeting when it's just as cold inside as it is outside so I decided now was the time to fix it. A small flaw in the plan is that all radiators are a standard size and nothing was the same size as the one I was replacing and so I'd have to muck around with the pipes, and fit in a new section. Oh and I also had to drain the whole heating system too.

I planned to take 2 hours out this morning to sort it out after buying all the stuff I thought I'd need. Well it took a lot longer and in the end I took the whole day off work and took it as holiday.

I had to take up some laminate flooring, the skirting board, and some floorboards in order to get to the pipes.

Well it all works now and the hallway is warm. I've replaced radiators before but never had to muck around with moving piping, and it was actually very easy but only after I'd gone down a few other routes that didn't work. I now know how to replace radiators or even install completely new ones and that's the way of self-learning.

Here's how the hallway looked halfway through...

Dreams can come true

2007-01-23T09:35:00.000Z

I had a dream last night that I was looking around a house as it was for sale and realised it was in Chichester, and was in fact my old house. I wanted to buy it but was probably going to rent it out, and it hadn't really changed that much and was still as messy.

One difference was that they had a small cupboard outside with a barrel of beer in it which looked very manky but the guy selling the house thought it was a good feature.

I realised I couldn't really pay for it and was just wasting the guys time, and so I thought whilst I was in Chichester I'd go out for drinks before I headed back to Ramsgate. A few of my friends from Ramsgate were there along with one of my old housemates but no one really wanted to go for drinks.

What a weird mundane dream and the thing is that I can see where all the parts of the dream came from. Coming from chats I've had, TV programmes I've watched, and the fact that I had the chance to go to Chichester this weekend but had to turn it down as I already had plans for here.

We are family

2007-01-22T17:47:00.000Z

If you look to the right you may see that I've added a new badge. I am now officially a Thanet Blogger and can be found on the Thanet Blog List.

The Isle of Thanet is the area I live in (click here to learn more) and has quite a few bloggers now. It's nice to read about what people think locally instead of just getting the local paper.

As there are a lot of blogs I think I'll be making use of the 'Recent Feeds' page which shows all the recent posts from all the blogs listed, which means I don't have to visit all the individual sites and can simply browse them all in one place and read those that interest me.

Then again maybe I should just stick to the blogs on my blogroll which I've neglected quite a bit lately. I have been reading but not necessarily commenting, so don't think I'm ignoring you.

It's where I find my heaven

2007-01-19T13:52:00.000Z

Thank f**k it's Friday... I'm shattered, and I've managed to avoid blogging all week.

I think what did me in was Wednesday when I was driving a bus for the Rugby and Football teams at Uni. I'd helped organise several matches against another Campus of the same University, and had also arranged for the day to be very social so they went to pubs and the Union with the opposition. I got back home at 1:30am as I was driving the minibus back from Canterbury, but I didn't really mind as I was doing them a favour and they're a great bunch of lads. It's just been the last 2 days when I've really felt it.

Yesterday I was dropping the Minibus back in Canterbury and had to get a train back to Ramsgate so that I could pick my car up from the garage. Due to severe weather my train was delayed 30 minutes, well actually I caught the train before minewhich was 45 minutes late. I later found out that the train I had wanted to catch was several hours late, and then there had been no more after that! Lucky me.

I actually like severe weather (not the bit where people get killed though), but I like it because it's unpredictable and we have no contol over it. We can usually plan our days to the minute, don't have to take time out to prepare anything, and it's so easy, but as soon as something like this happens then we're lost and all our plans are hampered. Of course if it happened too often I'd get annoyed.

So I picked the car up yesterday and it's running lovely. Just like new. And I've just had a big filling this morning. I was a brave lad though and pretty calm but my jaw is really sore from having my mouth wide open for 20 minutes.

I've been approved for my new credit card (interest free 'til April 2008), and have just signed the papers and sent them back meaning I can transfer my existing balance over from my other card which is only interest free 'til the end of this month. Perfect timing.

Also.. I'm aching quite a bit from football last night. I've got a big lump on my left shin where I took a kick, and I've also lost some skin on my right leg from going tumbling on the astro-turf. I woke up this morning aching, but it's good to feel pain every so often as it reminds me I'm alive. It's better go soon though!

I haven't got any exciting planned for the weekend and am going to try and catch up on some sleep and maybe get round to a spot of decorating. I know I was all go a few weeks ago and was planning things for every weekend, but I think sometimes "In the life of man there are times and there are seasons. There is a time to surf and there is a time to wax your board. And I'm not just talking about surfing."

Declare the pennies on your eyes

2007-01-15T14:50:00.000Z

Well I've finally been to the dentist. I'd been dreading the worse as I've broken a couple of teeth, but I only need to have a replacement filling for the moment, and have got an appointment for this Friday.

I know that the broken teeth are beyond repair and will have to come out at some stage, but the dentist said that as long as they weren't causing me any pain then he'd leave them in, but if they did start hurting then he'd take them out. I think I'll wait 'til they start hurting and not take the initiative.

So the appointment and the filling cost me £42.50, which is the standard price now for most courses of treatment, and is certainly not too bad a price compared to private costs. By the same token, when I have my broken teeth out it'll cost me another £42.50. At least at this rate I know how much it'll cost, and not get stung by a big bill.

The car's got it's MOT tomorrow, so that's where the big sting will be. I sometimes wonder why I have a car, and then I remember that I'm a lazy shit and it gets me to places very quickly. When I had the old Peugeot 309 and it died on Christmas 2003, I had to get a replacement as I was still living in Chichester and used to come back to Ramsgate quite a few weekends to see my Mum and Grandma, and when I was back they needed lifts everywhere. Now that my Mum has had a hip-replacement, and that my Grandma has passed away, will I still need a car when this one dies?

It's only 10 years old and so should have plenty of life left in her, but further down the line the costs of getting her road-worthy will probably outweigh the actual cost of the car and the benefits it gives. So would I give it up?? I dunno. It seems like a long way away, but if the government makes driving too expensive then I guess I would get rid of the car.

Then again I may be loaded by that time and driving around in a Hummer.

Sometimes you tell the day by the bottle that you drink

2007-01-14T16:10:00.000Z

Last night we drank all the homebrew. Very nice indeed and it went down very well.

And no gut-rot this morning either.... A success!

You bring that ass, I'll bring the brew

2007-01-11T00:50:00.000Z

Last month I started off brewing my own bitter, and now it's ready!! It was actually ready to drink 2 weeks ago, but I've let it settle for longer so that the flavour and quality improves.

I had a wee snifter and it tastes fine, not brilliant, but fine, and it is drinkable which is always good. I actually used some of it for dinner tonight for my Beef and Ale Pie (minus the actual pie.. I just made the filling), along with spuds and veg. It was good and shows the extra uses for the bitter.

I've invited some of the lads around on Saturday so that we can drink the beer (around 38 pints left) an also play a bit of poker.

Now that I know the home brewing works, I've invested in a batch of cider for my next experiment, this time only making 30 litres..... but the cider will be 7.2%!

Don't need no credit card to ride this train

2007-01-09T13:58:00.000Z

On the whole getting out of debt thing (which we all want to do) I'm still making progress. For those of you who don't come here often, don't think that this is just a post-New Year backlash, I actually started talking about this in October when I had £2,349.26 on my credit card.

Well since then my total is £1550.65 which means I've paid off £800 in less than 3 months which I'm very happy with. My interest free period on my creditcard runs out at the end of the month so I've just applied for another credit card from HSBC which has interest free balance transfers on it 'til April 2008! Of course I will have my debt paid off by then.

I'm going to transfer the £1500 (if I get approved for the card) and then pay off even more money. In fact I'll be able to pay off even more as I've also been putting away about £100 each month into my savings, and when the end of debt is quite near, I'll pay the last large amount in one go.

It all sounds good doesn't it? Hopefully there won't be too many surprises along the way, although the car needs an MOT in the next few weeks, which won't be good news.

The winner takes it all.

2007-01-08T12:07:00.000Z

Where were you when it happened?

Open the door, get on the floor, everybody walk the dinosaur.

2007-01-07T19:53:00.000Z

On Friday Night I wasn't going to go out for long as I was getting up early on Saturday for my trip to London, but instead I got drunk went to quite a few pubs and ended up at the casino! Don't worry I didn't lose any money and came out even.

I got up at 8:45am on Saturday morning at headed off to London Victoria station on the 10am train. I was in London at 11:45am, and after a spot of lucnh was in the Natural History Museum. I was maybe a bit ambitious to think I'd only be in there for a couple of hours finally emerged from the museum at 4:30pm and even then I had to skim over a few of the areas.

I was back on the train at 5pm and back home by 7pm. Phew I was tired, and Saturday night was just spent around the local.

I took plenty of photos and also got a few videos so check them out below.

All in all a nice day out!

Click the pictures to see the whole collection in flickr.

For suddenly, I saw you there. And through foggy London town, the sun was shining everywhere

2007-01-04T13:15:00.000Z

This weekend I am going to go to the Natural History Museum in London, and entry is free (always nice), although I may check out the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition which will cost me a little extra. I could go to the Victoria & Albert Museum too, but it's not my main priority.

I will be going by myself and I'm not going to invite anyone either!

So the plan is...
Leave at 10:00am, get to london Victoria at 11:45am, jump on the tube to South Kensington, and visit the Natural History Museum. I've checked and they're completely fine with taking photographs, so I'll be in my element. Then after that I'll pop out and see what I can grab for lunch and have a nose around the area, and then if my head isn't about to explode I'll visit the V&A museum.

Trains back to Ramsgate are every half-hour from Victoria Station, so I don't have to keep a strict eye on the time.

Does it sound good?? If anyone has any tips to give or more good pointers of places to go in the vicinity then just give me a comment.

It's amazing to think that I can just jump on a train and be there in less than 2 hours, which is nothing really. I shouldn't really take these opportunities for granted. It needs minimal planning and I could do this type of thing quite a lot. Easy.

That's all for now as I'd better get back to some work now.

Can you squeeze me into an empty page of your diary

2007-01-03T23:25:00.000Z

Well surprise surprise it's already that time of year when my mood has dropped. New year is not really a time for looking forward, but more a time for looking back on the past year, and realising that nothing has really changed and I have not developed. I can't really look forward when I've got something like that hanging around my neck.

I can look back on the past 2 years and nothing has really changed (well not positively). Don't get me wrong, I haven't got a lot to complain about and I am happy in my job and am doing okay for money but it's my personal life that needs work on. I need some more personal development and I need to be more adventurous, and I think I need to get out and away more. I'm not talking about going to different bars or getting a new hobby, but instead I need to culturally develop myself.

I stay in Thanet all the time, and usually moan that I don't have anytime, when infact I can really do whatever I want at the weekends. I don't make New Year's Resolutions, as they are always destined to fail but I do want to get away each weekend. I intend to jump on the train and visit more places starting with London. I want to do touristy things, visit museums, see the sights, take photos, and then jump on the train and back again.

I am going stale and need this cultural injection.

I usually won't go and do these things by myself, and will usually try and get frinds to come along to anything I organise, but I think I will have to this by myself. I enjoy being social but I also enjoy having my space. I know it may sound like a contradiction of going to somewhere like London and wanting to be by myself but it isn't.

Crazy thinking eh?

Jamie T - Calm Down Dearest

I'm a joker, I'm a smoker

2007-01-02T18:28:00.000Z

A bit of news slipped by a few days ago that the legal smoking age in England and Wales was to rise from 16 to 18 years in October 2007. (read the BBC article here). This will go hand in hand with the public smoking ban (April in Wales, July in England).

I made a little 'woo hoo' noise when I read about it as I really do think smoking is vile and that people are ignorant to carry on doing it, but I know that I'm being a little harsh with that last comment as I could apply the same rationale to drinking alcohol or excessive eating. I still liked the 'woo hoo' though.

I see a lot of teenagers smoking, some of them not even actually teenagers yet, and hopefully this will mean that they will find it harder to buy cigarettes and start smoking. It's all too easy to buy cigarettes when underage, hell I even tried smoking when I was 15 but for only 2 weeks due to peer-pressure and I stopped once I realised how disgusting it was. I can see the appeal for youngsters though who still see it as 'cool'. Little do they know.

The 16 year old limit is not reinforced, so the question is if the 18 year old limit be enforced? I don't think it will but it will deter younger smokers, although those 16 year olds will still buy cigarettes but it will put off the 13, 14, and 15 year olds (hopefully).

Someone brought up the point yesterday that 16 year olds who have started smoking completely legally will be in a funny situation when it comes to October as they will have to stop smoking otherwise they'll be breaking the law, and will have to wait until they are 18. Weird eh?

If we lived in a utopian society then smoking would be completely banned, but then so would drinking, and so would sweets and any foods with excessive fat, sugar, or salt. It just isn't going to happen as there's too much invested in it. Once people are adults then they should be allowed to make their own choices as long as what they choose doesn't have an adverse effect on others.

Roll on the Smoking ban!!

And don't forget the joker!

2007-01-02T16:16:00.000Z

For my birthday I got a copy of comedian Peter Kay's autobiography "The Sound of Laughter", but I only got around to reading it over the New Year period and I'm not usually one for autobiographies, especially when it's from people who you can argue are only just starting their lives such as footballers and B-list celebs. Mostly I see them as a cynical way to make extra money and cash in on what could be a very shortlived time in the limelight, but I have to say that I enjoyed Peter Kay's.

I've got 2 of his live shows already on DVD (Live at the Top of the Tower & Live at the Bolton Albert Halls) and I can see that his writing style is very much like his performing style with a selection of stories that many will recognise from his stand-up. You do come away feeling you know a bit more about him, but he really doesn't reveal anything grand, and the autobiography ends with him winning North-West Comedian of the Year 1996, and so there's lots more material that I'm sure many would like to know more about such as his TV work.

I probably wouldn't go out and buy it but if you do like his work then try and get hold of a copy and have a read.

Turn me around and take me back to the start

2007-01-01T13:25:00.000Z

Last night was New Year's Eve in case you hadn't noticed and this is usually accompanied by me and my friends going out in fancy dress, getting drunk, and generally having a good time, and this year was no different. Order of the day was 'Clockwork Orange' for the guys and 'Pirates' for the girls, and I think we all looked good, and in total there were around 18 or so of us who made our way over to Broadstairs.

(Us boys before we went out)

Last night was a Guinness night for me, and I probably had about 8 pints with a horrible pint of Stella Artois to end the night with. I've actually gone off lager lately and have been enjoying my ales and stouts, and I think it's got something to do with the weather, and it's hard to describe but they are more 'warm', 'honest', and 'filling' as opposed to the lager wich seems to have absolutely no character this time of year. Anyway back to New Year's Eve.

The evening went very well and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. We started off at the Bradstowe Mill, then went to the Prince Albert, then the Old Crowne, and we eventually saw in New Year at The Rose, and then to The Dolphin for that horrible Stella. We missed the last train home and then had to wait ages for a taxi, eventually getting home around 3am, and certainly the fancy dress was easier to remove than it was 2 years ago when I was covered in brown body paint when we all dressed up as Mr T. I can't believe that I woke up at 8:30am when I'm sure I could've done with the extra sleep.

It's strange that New Year no longer holds the same feelings for me as it used to and it seems to be the same for everyone around here. It's just really another day isn't it? The same holds true for Birthdays and Christmas. Is this what happens when you get older?

I was taking pictures last night with Chris' camera and so I'll get hold of some photos later and post them here and hopefuly they give me a few extra hints to what else happened last night!

Have a nice Bank Holiday people!

(p.s. I took this one when I got home.... I was drunk)

Should auld acquaintance be forgot

2006-12-31T13:43:00.000Z

In an effort to not 'have it large' the night before New Years eve, we went around Phil's for a poker night, with a little bit of Pro Evo stuck in for good measure. 7 of us stuck a tenner each into the pot for a game of Texas Hold 'Em, and I was doing quite well. A few people got knocked out and I let them buy back in by giving them some of my chips (poker chips that is.... Adem doesn't share food!) in exchange for their monetary value, and so I had my £10 stake back in my poker and was playing with about £15 worth of excess chips.

In the end it got to about 2am and I was getting a little bored, the ante was now at 50p/£1 and so several big hands later and I was out. And then I got to play Pro Evo!

We left Phils at around 3:30am, and I finally got to sleep at around 4:30am, which I think you'll agree is perfect preparation for New Year's Eve!

This year we're all going in fancy dress as is the same for every year and I'll try and get some pictures up tomorrow for you.

Have a good time whatever you're up to!

Only the lonely

2006-12-29T00:07:00.000Z

I'm watching 'Under Pressure' starring Charlie Sheen on FiveUS, and an advert came up for text flirting. You know the adverts they have "text to chat to single girls in your area", yadda yadda yadda, etc etc etc. Well I was shocked that this 'service' was charging £1.50 per text message!!! Can you imagine how much a 'conversation' would cost? Who knows who's on the end of the line!

What a crazy world! I'll stick to my 'Premium phonelines' instead!

I've paid my dues

2006-12-28T13:48:00.000Z

I've just paid for another 6 months road tax which came to £60.50, then later on this afternoon I'm taking my car to the garage to get new brake pads, then afte going through my documents I realised that my MOT is up in mid-January, which will mean me getting those 3 new tyres I talked about before, and then I've also got to sort out my wing mirror!

I've managed to get registered at a new NHS dentist and have just booked a preliminary appointment to check over the ol' gnashers, so that'll be a bit more cash too, but at least it'll be cheaper than going private.

Woo Hoo!!!

You gotta stand up straight, Carry your own weight

2006-12-27T23:52:00.000Z

oooh, it's been quiet hasn't it? All I've been doing is eating roast beef all day, and then I went to the pub this afternoon/evening and drank guinness. done.

I did get around to watching 'The Machinest' which I bought on DVD last week for £4.99 in WHSmith whilst Xmas shopping. One of the main talking points about this film was that its star, Christian Bale, lost 63 pounds to play the role. Quite amazing and he apparently ate one can of tuna and one apple a day as part of his 'diet'. After this film he then had to bulk up for 'Batman Returns'. Not a bad film in all, and I won't spoil any of it for you.

(in The Machinest)

(in Batman Begins)

I'd better start getting buff hadn't I?

Oh, I can't wait to see those faces

2006-12-25T12:50:00.000Z

It's Christmas but does it feel like it? I'm at home with my Mum and my Sister, we've unwrapped our presents, we'll be having our feast in a while, and we'll be spending the whole day together, so in that respect I guess that it is Christmas, but do you know what I really want.....

SNOW!!!

I know it's a bit immature but I love it and at the moment it's not even that cold. It may not be good for driving in and may cause havoc for many but there's something nostalgic about it, so here's a selection of photos from February 2005. Either click here to get the whole set or just refresh your browser to see another selection of pics.

www.flickr.com

I hope you all have a good day whatever you're doing.

I don't want a lot for Christmas

2006-12-23T20:41:00.000Z

Here's some festive greeting from me.

Click here

Jack Frost nipping at your nose

2006-12-22T13:36:00.000Z

I've been a little bored this week as I've been off work but haven't applied myself to anything of note. I've watched TV, played computer games, got my Christmas shopping done, had a bit of a tidy-up, but that's about it really. Everyone else has been at work and so I've only had myself as company, which as you'd expect is pretty boring.*

I did manage to go out last night though which was nice and had quite a few pints of Bombardier and Adnams and I had a lovely kip last night. I am refreshed today and tonight I've got my football club Christmas dinner to go to, so I'll be suited and booted and no doubt will have a few more bevvies.

I'm pretty sure I've got some interesting blog posts inside my head but I'll save them for a bit later, so no interesting posts yet.

*You would be bored too if you had to spend a lot of time with me!

Post office clerks put up signs saying position closed

2006-12-20T01:10:00.000Z

Nothing much happening at the moment. Bit boring really.

Post office clerks put up signs saying position closed
And secretaries turn off typewriters and put on their coats
Janitors padlock the gates
For security guards to patrol
And bachelors phone up their friends for a drink
While the married ones turn on a chat show
And they'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow
Gentlemen time please, you know we can't serve anymore
Now the traffic lights change to stop, when there's nothing to go
And by five o'clock everything's dead
And every third car is a cab
And ignorant people sleep in their beds
Like the doped white mice in the college lab
Nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all
The needle returns to the start of the song
And we all sing along like before
And we'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow
Telephone exchanges click while there's nobody there
The Martians could land in the carpark and no one would care
Close-circuit cameras in department stores shoot the same video every day
And the stars of these films neither die nor get killed
Just survive constant action replay
Nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all
The needle returns to the start of the song
And we all sing along like before
And we'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow
Bill hoardings advertise products that nobody needs
While angry from Manchester writes to complain about
All the repeats on T.V.
And computer terminals report some gains
On the values of copper and tin
While American businessmen snap up Van Goghs
For the price of a hospital wing
Nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all
The needle returns to the start of the song
And we all sing along like before
Nothing ever happens, nothing happens at all
They'll burn down the synagogues at six o'clock
And we'll all go along like before
And we'll all be lonely tonight and lonely tomorrow.

Here in my car

2006-12-17T23:10:00.000Z

I was travelling back from Canterbury on Friday in my car, when a car coming from the opposite direction got a little too close to my car and clipped my wingmirror. Ok, nothing too bad except when you calculate that I was travelling at 30mph and they were travelling at 30mph, then that was a 60mph impact on my wingmirror which proceeded to smash it into my window and obliterate it, covering the inside of my car with glass (and me as well).

It produced a very large BANG and the glass came flying at me and I believe the words to come out of my mouth were "fucking hell!". I was shocked and pulled over, but the other car was gone and didn't stop. In all honesty I think they thought it was only the wingmirror and that no damage was done... but they would be wrong. I had several cuts on my hand from the glass and had to drive the remaining 15 miles without a window which made me very cold.

Once home, I parked the car up the drive and taped a black bag over the window, and was slightly annoyed.

In the morning Autoglass came out and I payed £50 for the priviledge as an excess on my insurance, but they were very good and came out about 30 minutes after I called them!

In instances like this I always try and look on the bright side and came to the conclusion that I didn't go out on Friday Night and only bought a crate of lager for a party on Saturday, so in effect that £50 was what I saved by not spending the usual amount on a weekend. kinda.

What's new pussycat?

2006-12-15T21:12:00.000Z

I discovered the monochrome function on my camera!! And my cat did some posing for me this morning.

I didn't focus properly on this next one but I actually like it.

There's functions I'm discovering all the time. Great!

And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear

2006-12-15T00:05:00.000Z

You may remember that last Saturday I went to a Christmas meal in fancy dress, but didn't actually get any photos. Well, a few have surfaced, so here goes.

Jonny also told me that he gave a lift to one of his work colleagues who was there for part of the evening, and he asked who I was, as we'd come as a double-combo fancy dress. Jonny explained that we'd known each other since school, and the colleague looked a bit confused as he thought I was about 50 years old! My make-up was very good then.

My Ding-A-Ling My Ding-A-Ling won't you play with My Ding-A-Ling

2006-12-14T10:40:00.000Z

BBC News yesterday reported two African trials showing results that circumcision can cut the rate of HIV infection in heterosexual men by 50%. Quite an astonishing fact, so much so that the trials were stopped as it was unethical not to offer circumcision in the men who were acting as controls.

There could be several reasons for this: Specific cells in the foreskin may be potential targets for HIV infection and also the skin under the foreskin becomes less sensitive and is less likely to bleed reducing risk of infection following circumcision.

A very interesting article but also one with an ironic and humourous note. The director of the HIV/Aids department of the World Health Organization, who was interviewed in this article is called...... *schoolboy giggle*.....Dr Kevin De Cock!

Is it just me then? hello.... *cue tumbleweed*...

(heads up to ECR for this spot. I had read the article but somehow missed that fact first time.)

BTW.. Have you actually read the lyrics to Chuck Berry's 'My Ding-a-ling'?

I bet you think this song is about you

2006-12-14T10:11:00.000Z

Over at SwissToni's Place, ST has been asking us to submit our Earworms of 2006, and it's really hard to narrow it down to just 5 songs, and the majority of them are quite recent, with it hard to think back through the whole year.

Keep thinking!!

Tell me baby do you recognise me?

2006-12-12T11:28:00.000Z

Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression in animals, characterized by lower body temperature, slower breathing, and lower metabolic rate, to conserve energy, especially during winter. Hibernation may last several days or weeks depending on species, ambient temperature, and time of year. Typically, the winter season for the hibernator is characterized by periods of hibernation interrupted by periodic euthermic arousals wherein body temperature is restored to typical values. Hibernation allows animals to conserve energy during the winter when food is short. During hibernation, animals slow their metabolism to a very low level to allow them to use their energy reserves, stored as body's fat, at a slower rate. Before entering hibernation most species eat a large amount of food and store energy in fat deposits in order to survive the winter. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibernation]

I believe that this means that I'll be shortly going into hibernation. Let's have a look at that again and make a checklist:

1.State of inactivity - check
2.Lower metabolic rate - check
3.Eating a large amount of food, stored as fat deposits. - check

I think that you'll agree with me that I will soon be going into hibernation, and boy do I feel like it. Either that or I've become a fat slob, and the actual evidence seems to point to the latter. I'm going to try and get my shit together over the festive period, and do all the things that I've not been bothered to do lately, such as tidy up, get some exercise, stop eating crap food ,etc.

It's going to be hard with all the celebrating and parties going on but when I come back to work in January I want to feel 100 times better.... and look it. It used to be that I'd put weight on over winter but I'd then lose it over summer and that would enable me to paarty again at winter, but over the past few years, since I've been in 'real' work, I have forgotten to do the summer bit. So I'm gonna have to try and make the winter my lose weight time. Pretty hard though, but hopefully if I write it here then I may actuall do it. I think the best way for me to go is through getting back into cycling which I've completely put on the backburner in favour of driving to work. Part of this is because of the rain and wind, but (puns ahoy) I've got to get 'back into the saddle', as it's 'just like riding a bicycle'.

I've had a lot more convenience food lately too, and have put it down to not having enough time to make something. Bollocks. It is nice though, but I know that it's just the fat, salt, and sugar giving me that artificial high. It's not just takeaway food though, even stuff like shop baguettes are full of calories, and I'm simply not doing enough to burn these off.

So another checklist can be made:
1. Eat less
2. Exercise more

I think this is the general feeling amongst people as it gets to winter time, and I know that once I start exercising again, I'll feel better and will feel less lethargic.

Let's do it!!

Here she comes, she’s a picture of perfect youth

2006-12-11T22:10:00.000Z

On Wednesday I was down town as I had to drop my car into the garage to get the exhaust fixed and whilst I was their I had a play with my new toy.

I have the luxury of living on the coast and so I just wandered down to the harbour and got clicking.

I'm still learning to use some of the features but some of the shots aren't half bad. I've put them on Flickr which is where I try and upload all my photos, and feel free to have a look around at them.

The badge below shows a random selection of photos from the set so just click 'refresh' on your browser to see more.

www.flickr.com

So use it and prove it

2006-12-11T15:10:00.000Z

While we're on late 90s lovey-stylee songs let's a listen to:

I'm not too sure why these songs keep popping into my head as I can clarify that I don't have a muse inspiring these choices. Do I have to have a reason? No.

I do have some good news though... I'm going to be able to finish work this Friday 15th and won't be back until Wednesday 3rd January. That is a lovely break to have, and I must say I'm really looking forward to it. Nice eh? Now I've jsut got to get all my backdated work done by then!

Get this party started on a Saturday night

2006-12-10T21:23:00.000Z

Last night I went to Jonny's work do, which I had the pleasure of being invited to as he had parted company with his ladyfriend and I was a back-up guest. It was definitely worth breaking them up for! (joke.)

The night had a 'Hollywood' theme and so yesterday afternoon we decided to go has Indiana Jones and his father Henry Jones Sr (Sean Connery). We hadn't organised anything to wear and so from 2:30pm - 4:30pm was spent trawling around charity shops, and looking in the loft for anything to use.

In the end it all worked out and we looked very good (very modest). I didn't manage to get any photos of us, but some others did get photos and I'll try and get hold of them. I did get a photo when I got in last night around 2pm, and at this stage I was pretty sozzled and had lost some of my facial hair.

n.b. do not stick liquid latex into your facial hair.

The week's not yet begun

2006-12-08T15:36:00.000Z

Just heard this on the local radio station and thought it'd be nice to spread some of the love.

Once you pop, you can't stop

2006-12-07T13:50:00.000Z

Maybe I've been treating myself a little too much lately and not watching the £££s like I was a few months ago. Today I was really contemplating buying a Nintendo Wii, after a friend was showing me all the cool clips of it in action. Yes it is very cool, but do I really need it? No.

And I know I'll have plenty of outgoings too as today I got my new exhaust on the car (it's amazing how quiet it is now), and was also told I'd need to get 3 new tyres, and I need new Road Tax at the end of the month. I'm also still waiting to get an NHS Dentist and have filled out the same form again and personally handed it in to the practice. It's been a few years since I last went and I know I'm gonna need 2 teeth taken out where I've broken them, which will mean a few visits.

Consumerism is very much like Pringles.

With my extra leg, diddle-iddle-iddle-um

2006-12-06T19:41:00.000Z

Look what I've just bought!

Should go well with my new camera.

Early in the morning, just as day is dawning, he picks up all the post bags in his van.

2006-12-05T22:04:00.000Z

I got my new camera today!! I get most packages delivered to my work as there is always someone there to sign for them, and so when I got in this morning it had arrived!!

I've only got to play with it a little bit and there's loads of features on it that will take a while to learn.

I am happy.

Sleep with one eye open

2006-12-04T09:58:00.000Z

Rules of all-day drinking:

#1 - Never fall asleep

Tom didn't remember the rules and fell asleep on the ferry back from Calais. You have been warned.

I'll do Graffiti if you sing to me in French,

2006-12-03T18:27:00.000Z

As has been the tradition of 2004 and 2005, since I've been back living in Kent, I've travelled on the cross-channel ferry over to Calais for my birthday.

Nine of us went over in total and had a good time, although you can tell that we're all getting a little older, and not drinking as much or being as impulsive, but I guess part of that is that we've been to Calais quite a few times, although this time we did venture futher past the town square and further into town.

It was still nice to get away and nice to be away with good friends.

As opposed to previous years, the ice-skating rink wasn't up yet this year, and I had to settle for going on a big-wheel which wasn't as fun, but I did have my first French kebab!

We got back to Ramsgate around 10:30 and I had a curry, and then I was back home at 11:45pm. I could've stayed out a bit longer, but just didn't feel like it.

I was going to have football today, but I got a great Birthday present when my manager rang me at 8:30 am to tell me that the game had been cancelled after excessive rain. woo hoo! And so I got to lie in until 10am, which is a good sleep for me.

I didn't get very exciting presents, but that's because there's nothing I really need, although I did get 3 books, some chocolate, the new Damien Rice album, a documents folder to keep me tidy, and some money).

I have spent my actual Birthday today just lounging around, enjoying a day off, although I did get around to kicking off the fermentation of my home brew beer, and at 8pm I'm off to the pub for a few beers although I don't think many will be out as they are recovering from yesterday.

Thanks for your birthday wishes too.

P.S. I've uploaded photos from yesterday.

Will you still need me, will you still feed me?

2006-12-03T00:00:00.000Z

It is my birthday today.

more to follow.

Strange brew, strange brew, strange brew, strange brew

2006-12-01T20:23:00.000Z

It's just over 3 weeks 'til Christmas and guess what that means??

Just enough time to brew my own beer!!! I was in Wilkinsons the other day and saw their brewing kits, and it was something I'd discussed with friends before. I was down town again this afternoon and bought the neccessities, and looking at the instructions it should be ready for Christmas and I think I'll have the lads around to sup on it.

All the equipment came to less than £20, and apart from the £4.99 spent on the actual tin of beer ingredients and a bag of sugar, the rest is reusable and so if this work out I'll be able to make 40 pints of beer for a fiver! (I will need to get hold of some returnable style bottles though and a some bottle-tops too though, but yet again they are reusable.)

It's not really about saving money, but just trying out something new, and I think back to memories of 'The Good Life' when they used to make brusselsprout wine.

If I get time I'll kick it off this evening.

p.s. I thought this sounded quite funny (in schoolboy humour), which was located on the top of the fermenting barrel.

"O" RING ...... heh heh!

We're gift-wrapped kitty cats

2006-12-01T11:11:00.000Z

miaow!

I paid my dues

2006-11-30T21:59:00.000Z

In keeping with money issues, a while back I posted about paying off my debt, and I'm happy to say that I've continued paying off monthly to reduce it. When I made that post on 12th October I told you I had £2,349 on my credit card, well since than I've managed to pay off £600 leaving me with £1,749 on it. I've been paying off £200 a month on the card and also putting £100 into my savings, and in theory I could've just paid off £300 a month but it's nice to have a bit put aside for emergencies.

If I get within a reasonable amount of getting to zero on the card I'll use some of my savings to get to it quicker. It's like a game now and trying to get a better score!!

I said you could be mine

2006-11-30T18:50:00.000Z

Oh yes, you will be mine. [in a Wayne Campbell stylee]

I'll be getting my Christmas Club money this week which I was saving whilst I was at the pub, and it should be over £200 (I stopped paying in once I'd quit there in August). I've been umming and ahhing for ages now about which new camera to get, and obviously money is an issue and I've got this money as a budget.

A while back I'd mentioned I wanted a Fujifilm FinePix S5200, and that was 4 months ago, and in that time I've had a look around at other cameras too, but I'm definitely going to get it. It's good to look around but I keep going back to the same camera and I think that shows it's the best one for that price bracket and the features it has, and shows that it's not going to be an impulse buy. It's now only £139 in Amazon which leaves me some spare cash to get a meaty 1GB card for it too.

You know my name

2006-11-30T14:16:00.000Z

Last night I went to my small local cinema to watch the new James Bond film - Casino Royale, along with Ian, Ant, and Jonny, and I have to admit that I quite enjoyed it. [no spoilers in this post]

Do you want to know a secret? This is the first Bond film I've ever watched at the cinema! Shock! I grew up watching all the repeats ov TV and have watched each film many times over but I guess when I did get the chance to watch the later films I didn't really fancy it and would prefer to wait 'til they're on DVD or on TV, but for this one I thought I'd make the effort.

In the cinema I had a really uncomfortable seat and the sound wasn't very good from the off (poor Chris Cornell), but I guess it shows that I hardly noticed these distractions at all and got involved in the film.

I guess the real plus for me in the way that this Bond has shaped out is that that he has more of a vulnerability about him in that he doesn't have this bulletproof demeanor about him which previous Bonds have. He knows that he could die and that the lives of 'Double-O' agents are notoriously short. Another plus is the villains in the film and their motivation, which is not for world domination or vendettas but purely for money and trading on international conflict.

So all in all not a bad Wednesday night.

We play out our last scene

2006-11-28T14:49:00.000Z

I'm going to watch Casino Royale, a film that has had a promotional budget almost a large as the filming budget, and this got me thinking of films I've stumbled across with no prior knowledge.

At the moment I can think of 2 films which fir into this criteria and both were bought on VHS for 99p at a discount vidoe shop in my local highstreet quite a few years ago.

The first film was Happy Gilmore, starring Adam Sandler, which I'm sure did have a bit spent on it but it went underneath my radar and I only discovered it in around 1999. It became I sure-fire hit with me and my friends and we were able to watch it over and over again, quoting all the best lines.

The next film is 'Office Space' which I probably got a hold of in around 2001. It's a very funny film, and I'd recommend it to anyone. Watch it!

So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life.

So why else am I talking about these films?? well, I also put an 'Office Space' picture in my last post and I also want to put in a youtube clip of course!!

I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black

2006-11-27T23:59:00.000Z

I'm feeling better now. I guess it was just one of those days eh?

I have changed my template (again) as I was annoyed with the last one, which didn't seem to update automatically (requiring me to sometimes have to refresh manually to see new content), and also took that little bit longer to load.

I have gone for a clean design, with less clutter.

Done (for now).

You make me completely miserable

2006-11-27T16:15:00.000Z

I am depressed. It's for no particular reason, and I know on a scale of how depressed other people can get I nowhere near that level, but I do feel rubbish today. I've got nothing to really feel bad about but as I am usually quite happy, when I get a little down it hits me more.

What I really feel like doing is going out and getting drunk, but that is not an option, and anyway, what good would that do? The only benefit I feel is that I'm actually writing something personal on this blog, instead of just the usual ramblings.

I am tired, and I guess that doesn't help, and all I really want is to do nothing, to wallow, and to be alone. None of that is going to happen. I honestly can't wait 'til the Christmas holidays when I get a few days off.

Did I mention it's my birthday next week? 26 I'll be. And 'No' that is not the reason I am depressed. I'll be off to France on Saturday with some good friends, and no doubt getting drunk and ice-skating. Doesn't time fly eh? I guess I am a little miffed at getting older, but I shouldn't be. I'm still young although it's weird to thing that a 1/3rd of my life has gone by (hopefully given the national life expectancy). I guyes what I hate is that there are only so many hours in a day. I do not use these hours to the best of my abilities.

I suppose the job is part of the reason although I enjoy it on the whole, it's just some parts which annoy me, and I guess it's those parts that I can't control, like other people.

I should just try and change some things, and I will do that, but they always take longer to do than anticipated.

I guess that's the end of my depressing post, and I'm sure I'll be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed by the next post.

Au Revoir.

I also wanty to change my blogger template because it is shit. It looks good but the functonality is crap, and that annoys me. It will change soon.

I got the fever for the nectar, the payback will be later, still I need a fix.

2006-11-26T23:30:00.000Z

I went out last night to Canterbury, and have to say I had quite a good time. I didn't go out on Friday as I was at work 'til 10:30pm and so I really wanted to go out on Saturday to let off some steam before the weekend was over, and as no one was doing anything in Ramsgate, I headed over to Jonny's who was going out with some work friends.

Normally when I go out in Canterbury I get very drunk by consuming copious amounts of Stella Artois and vodka Redbulls, I don't know why, but it does seem to happen, and so I decided that I'd stay away from any of that crap. 4 pints of Guinness, 1 pint of Masterbrew, and then 2 pints of Fosters did it for me, and I wasn't feeling dodgy at all this morning, apart from having what I have termed 'Sofa Legs' as I had spent the night on Jonny's sofa, which resulted in my legs either hanging over the edge of the arm, or being curled up, which obviously isn't the most comfortable.

We went to a few of the normal pubs, and also went to a new bar called 'The Cuban', which had recently opened on Canterbury Highstreet. I think I enjoyed it because it was midnight when we got there, and there was no fuss about getting in, no entry fee, no nothing, it wasn't being pretentious, just being a cool lace to go. You may have guessed by the name that this is a bar with Cuban influences and they actually had a live duo playing some cuban tunes, but they also sported some lovely decor, and a brilliant cocktail list. I didn't have any of the cocktails (£5.95 each!) but they were all properly made, in all the correct glasses, with all the trimmings and looked fabulous. I can also remember that they had the best decorated toilets I've ever seen!

I will definitely go there again.

Work tomorrow.... boooooo!

And how come we (England) are shit at all sports again!!

Men reading fashion magazines

2006-11-25T16:35:00.000Z

And linking in to the last post how could be forget Martha's fabulous brother Rufus?

I find the map and draw a straight line

2006-11-25T15:56:00.000Z

When I don't feel like blogging I always feel a video is always good and so this weekend:

Snow Patrol feat. Martha Wainwright - Set The Fire To The Third Bar

Also... If you fancy listening to the whole Snow Patrol - Eyes Open album then click here (obviously buy it if you like it!)

It's only words

2006-11-22T19:36:00.000Z

You may have noticed that I haven't blogged for a few days but I just hadn't got around to it, and I don't really mind as I didn't have anything important to say [do I ever?].

On Friday I went and saw Jimmy Carr at the Margate Winter Gardens. Very funny and I enjoyed myself. I did have a worrying moment at the beginning when I went to get a few beers before the performance but once I'd bought them I was told I wasn't allowed back in the hall with drinks as the performance had already started! So there I was with 4 beers thinking I was going to have to down them!! Luckily the bar manager had a word with the usher and it was all cool. phew.

I haven't been up to much else except work.

Bit of a rubbish post but I had to get one out of the way. Laters

Music makes the world go round.

2006-11-18T01:27:00.000Z

For a good tune click here.