Let it snow

Hi everyone! It's been a while. I've not really been in the blogging mood as, well, nothing has really been happening apart from the usual. It's still snowing here in Ramsgate which is nice and makes it actually feel like winter. I'm a firm believer in the seasons, and like it when things happen how they're meant to. Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, and all the elements thats belongs to them in the cycle that is life.

The weather isn't quite what it used to be [from what I remember] and I didn't like it that on Christmas day it was one of the warmest days of winter with sun pouring through the windows. Add this to torrential downpours in Summer and something is most definitely f**ked up. [there are many theories as to the cause of this i.e. global warming, but I won't go into these today.]

This may sound a bit flakey, but isn't nature, the weather, the world, a brilliant and mystical place??? I was thinking this when I was walking in the snow on Monday night.....absolutely brilliant, and something that I will never be able to fully comprehend.


I hope you all got what you wanted at Christmas and more importantly spent time with friends and family and enjoyed yourselves.

I'm off to work at the pub in a bit [3pm-11:30pm shift!] so we'll speak later.

It's Christmas!! [in a Noddy Holder stylee]

not long now........

but it still doesn't feel like Christmas.....

They know that Santa's on his way; He's loaded lots of toys and goodies on his sleigh.

Is it the 22nd already??? I've got most of my presents but I've still got a few to get, but couldn't really be bothered today so I'll get them tomorrow. I hope I've been a good boy so that Santa visits me!!!

Let's talk about sex for now to the people at home or in the crowd, It keeps coming up anyhow

For regular readers to this blog you will know that I was going to Stevenage this weekend to meet V. Stevenage is 113 miles from here but as it's only on motorways it doesn't actually take that long. Now for those that don't know V. is 18 and has moved up to Stevenage with her family so I was going to be staying in the family home which could potentially result in some awkward moments, as her mother and brother were going to be there for the Friday and most of the Saturday, but unluckily for some fate played a hand.

V's soon to be stepdad, who was still at their old house, had broken his ankle whilst at work, leaving him incapacitated, and so V's mum and brother left that night leaving us the house to ourselves for the weekend....Brilliant [bad news about the ankle though].

We spent a fair bit of time just chilling and watching TV, going to the shops, and alike, and even managed a trip to the cinema to see Harry Potter [okay but mediocre] but you don't really want to hear about that do you??? Do you want all the juicy details??? Well if you do I will have to insert this....



[TOO LATE! It's been removed in case of future viewings from those who shouldn't see it!]
V should be coming down this week sometime and no doubt I'll be going up there again. I don't know how serious the relationship is but at the moment we're enjoying each others company and just going with the flow. Hopefully more news to follow from the big blog, which I hope has become more engaging in the past few weeks.

The winner takes it all... the loser has to fall

I'm off to a quiz tonight at the giant corporation that is Pfizer. Quite a few of my friends work there and we've done the quiz the past few times but never actually win. I don't know if this has something to do with the fact that we usually get very...very...drunk. "Armadillo's" [that is for Jonny if he reads this.]

Then on Friday afternoon I'm off to Stevenage....

On the road again...

A few posts back I told you of my brief dalliance with V. She moved away and I thought "end of story" although she said she would be visiting from time to time. Well we've been talking a bit on the phone and she told me that she'd be visiting this weekend as she could get a lift down with her Mum, I said that I could always give her a lift back, and then she said why don't I just go up there this weekend to visit.

So on friday I'll be making my way to stevenage and I'll come back early Sunday morning.

I'll tell you more then......who know's what will happen...it's been a while......

Happy Christmas (War Is Over)

A very Merry Christmas,
And a Happy New Year.
Let's hope it's a good one,
Without any fear.

mmmm...."Merry Christmas"...yes...."Without any fear"...ummm...no. On 20th March 2003 the Iraq war started, and although it was assumed that the conflict would be over pretty soon [after all we are vastly superior] today 'celebrates' the 1000th day of the war. Okay troops are pulling out and the US may not still class it as a war against Iraq [afterall they got Saddam didn't they], instead a war against terrorism, but people are dying everyday, bombs are going off, and I think we can categorically deny that 'War is Over' and that it will be a 'good one, without any fear.'
[Read more here]

There'll be parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting

Hi everybody! Just checking in before the weekend. How's your week been?? Mine's not been too bad although I am aching at the end of the week. On wednesday I was at work 10am-1:45pm then I played Rugby from 2pm-3:30pm and then I worked from 4pm 'til 9pm in the pub. I got home and my arms and legs were aching as I'd been putting in a few tackles at Rugby and my body isn't really used to it. Only my arms hurt now as I've used muscles that I haven't used for donkey's years. I am getting old!

I went out for my first Xmas dinner last night, then I've got a footy one tonight, and then another one on Saturday!! I will be even fatter by Sunday!!!

Have a good weekend guys and gals

Laters

i hurt myself today to see if i could feel

Yesterday's excursion into pain involved a drawing pin. I was at work and putting a pin back into a notice board when without realising it I had pushed the pin vitually all the way into my thumb! What had happened was that clumsily the pin had flipped around and so instead of going into the board it went in me! That didn't hurt as much as pulling the f**ker out...here come the blue plasters again.

'Cause I saw the end before we'd begun, Yes I saw you were blinded and I knew I had won

My plans for my actual birthday were to have some fun during the day, maybe a spot of bowling, etc, but in the end we were all too tired and hungover and so I text everyone to tell them to meet up the Pub at 8pm for a few drinks and then maybe a wander down the seafront. That was the plan.

After the escapade's of Friday night I got a call from V [the now ex-colleague moving away] asking to meet up the pub at 6pm [10 minutes away] so I popped a fresh top on [bought from Matalan with some Birthday money] and got around there. I admit it was slightly awkward at first and slightly embarrassing as this is the pub where I work and there were loads of nudge nudge wink winks going around. We went into the pool room to play a few games and be somewhere a bit more private and soon things got back on track. As I said it was awkward and the first thing was to get this out in the open, she agreed, and from there we were able to talk honestly and frankly about everything.

It was a weird situation as we both knew she was going away but we both agreed that if that were not the case then we would've moved the relationship on. I know V only through working we her and so we have a few things in common but what do you talk about??? Usually crap because you're scared of making a fool of yourself and not actually committing to talking about personal things, but here's how it changed with V. Everything was going well and it was really good to actually talk about relationships with someone who I've had one of the shortest relationships with! [less than 24 hours!!]

It was soon 8pm and my friends turned up and so I had to share my time with V and them, but they were cool. The thing with Ramsgate is that virtually everyone knows everyone else, especially if you frequent the pub [a bit like Eastenders then], and so everyone we knew came in, and usually I'd be a bit embarrassed but in this case I wasn't and I think this was because we were very honest with each other and everyone likes to see 2 people happy in each others company.

V was meant to be finishing her packing that evening but of course couldn't resist and stayed till 10pm. We went outside and said our farewells which was quiet hard but obviously inevitable, and so that was the end of that. we've got emails and phones and so we will keep in touch although it won't be the same. Long distance relationships do not work and are very hard to maintain but I will visit her when she's settled down just to catch up with something who I could connect with.

I think the lesson learned is to be more confident and not afraid to express feelings. It's pretty obvious but something we do not always do. I hope you've enjoyed this romantic excursion on the Big Blog and hopefully more to follow from this Lothario.....either that or more boring posts coming up.

One way ticket to hell...AND BACK!!

Today is my birthday and I am now 25 years of age but I will not be partying too much tonight as I celebrated yesterday by going to France with 7 friends and am now very tired.

I got up at 6:20am to shower and make 8 lots of bacon sarnies before getting to the train station for 7:15am and getting the train to Dover in order to get the 9:45am sailing to Calais. It only takes 40 minutes to get to Dover but due to increased security we would have to check in 45 minutes before the sailing. I won't talk much about the day sufficed to say that I started drinking at 9:45am and ended at 2:30am, which meant that I drank A LOT. I've got to say that I'm shockingly quite proud of this and am being a complete hypocrite as in the past I've had many rants about drinkers and alcohol, but hey it was my birthday!

Now to go slightly on a tangent.... We got back to the local at 10pm and had slightly sobered up by this time so we were going to stay there till 12am, have some more drinks, and then make our own ways. I had also arranged to meet a work colleague from the Pub who is moving to Stevenage this weekend and when we got to the pub I bumped into her and she tried to persuade me to go clubbing in Margate. As I said I was quite tired by that time as it had been a long day but I really wanted to go as, well, I quite fancied her. We've been working together on Monday evenings and have been getting on really well together, and dare I say it slightly flirting, so maybe the evening was going to get even better [if you get what I mean].

I had a word with the guys and tried to persuade them to come along to Margate but they weren't really up for it, but a couple said they'd come along if I really wanted them too. I was going to hold them to it but before I knew it I was in a Taxi with said colleague and several other fellow workers or the female persuasion. We had a few drinks in Yates and then headed off to Buzz club and it soon became apparent that something could be happening. The night went well and we spent the night dancing and kissing. I felt good and rejuvenated as it's been a while since I've seen some 'action'.

She told me that she hadn't been sure whether I was interested in her or not [obviously this had been clarified over the evening] and it's true as I'm really quite bad at taking hints and spotting signs as I guess I'm quite scared of making a fool of myself by misreading the situation. I've been the subject of unrequited love and also been a victim of it too, and I can tell you it is very awkward. In this circumstance everything worked out quite well, but obviously she is moving away and so this relationship is ended before it has begun...damn.

I have a few questions. How can you tell the difference between casual friendly flirting and 'I want this to be something more' flirting?? Usually unless it's very full on then there's not much difference. In the past my lovelife has been saved by getting the lowdown from best friends and knowing that my advances will not be rejected. I guess I'm scared of rejection but for this I will use one of my favourite sayings: "You can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket."

So here I am slightly boosted in confidence but knowing that I won't take my own advice.

I'm off out again tonight but will definitely be taking it a bit easier tonight. Laters

If I'd been out 'till quarter to three,would you lock the door?

I'm off to Calais tomorrow on a 9:45am sailing from Dover. Not much news this week as I've been working away from a PC. I'll try and get some pictures and put them up sometime over the weekend.

Farewell for now, au revoir 24 years of age, hello more mature 25 years.

[soundtrack to the weekend: Royksopp - What Else Is There?]

I was looking for another you, and I looked round by you were gone

George Best, often regarded as the greatest footballer to have played, died yesterday at the age of 59. If you don't know anything about his history then you must've been living on a desert island [if so then a big 'hello' from me and the new world order and click here to find out more].

It was announced a few days ago that his death was imminent and that there was nothing that could be done for him. He was going to die very soon and that was that, a life wasted? Maybe. Could it have been avoided? Possibly. But I couldn't believe some of the comments I heard over the past few days. Several people at the pub said that they hoped he would die! What? And after he had passed away they said that he deserved it and that it was good news! Their argument was that he'd been given so many chances, been given a new liver [drink related], but had still gone back on the booze, and as that was his last chance then he deserved to die.

I can't believe that anyone would wish someone were dead. We may say it from time to time but do we mean it? Well sometimes.....

At the end of the day [a great footballing cliche] he was a man who had too much talent, too much too young ,and in the end used alcohol to alleviate the pressure on him. Okay he did have some great times in his life, some that we'd give right arms for, but he was a celebrity that men wanted to be and that women wanted to be with, and alcohol seemed like a way out. It seems that the more you are graced with talent the more you are prone to lapses and the need to release. Alcoholism is a disease, one that you can never beat. Even if you stop drinking you will still class yourself as an alcoholic, and temptation is only a bottle away.

I know he was given chances but if you have a self-destructive psyche can you ever do what's best? I don't think so and so we say goodbye to one of the greats, who was always destined to be substituted before the end of the game of life but only after scoring the winning goal and causing the crowd to go wild.

[if you need help with alcoholism, either yourself or someone you know, then click here for info and links]

You're as cool as ice

Last night I saw the documentary "Touching the Void" which recounts the true story of two British climbers and their journey up the west face of Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985. They reached the summit but what happened on the way down has got to be one of the most amazing feats of human will, endurance, and perseverance that I have ever known of.

It's an amazing documentary and I'd reccommend it to anyone. If it had been me in that situation I believe I would've given up and died, but these guys didn't. Watch it.

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Over at SwissToni's Place he gets a guest editor to submit their Earworms* on his friday slot.

Earworm, a loan translation of the German Ohrwurm, is a term for a song stuck in one's head, particularly an annoying one. Use of the English translation was introduced by James Kellaris, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Cincinnati. His studies appeared to demonstrate that different people have varying susceptibilities to earworms, but that almost everybody has been afflicted with one at some time or another.

I often wondered how he selected his contributers and it happens to be quite random. Last thursday I opened my inbox and there was an email from Mr ST...

hello mate - not in the least related to this post, but would you be free willing and able to be my guest editor on the Earworms of the Week slot over at my blog? All i would need is a list of the 10 songs stuck in your head over the next week, along with a little story about each?WHat do you say? Next Friday?

Well I sent off my choices yesterday so hopefully they will go up sometime today.

I ain't got a fever got a permanent disease, It'll take more than a doctor to prescribe a remedy

I've got ANOTHER cold!!!! I used to never get ill, I think it's because I never believed in it.

The thing is that because I work at a University I'm prone to being in contact with hundreds of people with different strains of cold and I can't be immune to all of them so they're queuing up to invade my body [the viruses not the students]. When I was a student I didn't get many colds but I think this is put down to me pickling my body with alcohol.

So I've got my 3rd cold in about a month, which stinks. My usual efforts to expunging the illness is to have a hot curry (last night) and to take vitamin C tablets, and getting drunk always helps but this isn't an option till Friday [time to join the rest of Britain in binge drinking].

I now put it to you [see I'm getting interactive] to tell me what your best cold cures are. Go on, tell me.

Erase and rewind

My last post was, let's admit it, slightly boring and non-engaging. The fact is that after an absence of blogging my current material hasn't been up to much and has slipped from the personal into something more clinical and impersonal. The best blogs are once which engage the reader in the personal lives of the blogger and which fulfil our voyeuristic needs.

A while back I was posting regularly and was getting quite a few hits and comments, but now I only get the odd couple from a select few who have endured through the mire of mediocrity of what 'The Big Blog' has become. I have to get my ego back and start talking about ME and MY world. So it's back to basics and talking about stuff that I care about.

Well here we go...............

Okay I've got nothing to say at the moment.

somehow the vital connection is made

I am blogging wireless!

I ordered a 3com Wireless ADSL Modem Router from Ebuyer.com which included a free 802.11g Pcmcia Card (is it really free or do they just whack the price up and put it in the box?) which came to £64.99 (incl. VAT) plus £5 postage. There were a few cheaper options but 3com are a recognised name and I read the reviews on the site and most were extremely positive.

It arrived on Thursday and I left work early so I could try it out! It was very simple and initially involved loading the software and plugging in the gagdets. I then had to go to an admin screen on the web and configure the connection, change passwords, usernames, and activate other security features. I connected the desktop to the modem via cable and used the card in my laptop. A few wizard steps later and I was wireless!

Obviosuly the novelty of walking around the house with the laptop has worn off but I'm thinking of morefun to be had. I'm thinking that I could possibly be able to get the wireless at the local pub from the reception from my house! It may invlove getting a stronger attenna for the modem but it would be bit of novelty althoug hit would interfere with drinking.

I haven't set up a network yet because I can't be bothered at the moment but that will be the next step. The one thing stopping me is the crap that's on the desktop PC. It's slowed down from what it was before to to the extreme amount of crap on it. I really need to delete a lot of stuff from in and maybe transfer some of it onto DVD. I made a start before but it's going to take quite a while.

That's the end of the techy post but all I can say is that if you're looking to go wireless then the 3com Wireless ADSL Modem Router is a good deal and very easy to set up. If you want something else then remember to get a modem and router together, unlike my friend Tim who also just bought a router, saw ASDL in the title, and thought it had a modem. WRONG. Always read the small print thoroughly. Lesson learned.

Laters all.

Arrivederci its one on one

At Preston FC we've had a bit of a turn around over the past 2 weeks and have won our last 2 games. The first was against Pfizer (the guys who make Viagra), a team who we have a little history with, after they played against us with an inelegible player, and had to replay the game. Well it was a divisional cup game and we won 2-1 with a penalty in the last 5 minutes of extra-time, very sweet and we were on a high (no game for me due to a slight pull on the old hammy). This week we were playing a team one point and one place above us so we had to win it to move up the table. We won 5-2 and team moral is high going into future games. It's great to see the team doing doing well and everyone is very positive. It's amazing what a difference a few weeks can do.

The website is going really well and although I haven't played for a couple of weeks I've been able to take some good photos of the games and upload them. The forum's now had 896 posts in just over a month and the website has had 900 hits too! Great.

But we did nothing, absolutely butkis that day

England 19-23 New Zealand

Damn it. We went up the pub at 2:30pm to watch the rugby....and stayed out till the pubs shut, so a fair bit of alcohol was consumed...and I've got to go to footy in an hour!

We made a detour from out normal pub route and actually visited a pub that's just re-opened, The Wheatsheaf. It used to be a bit of a dive and closed down for quite a while but has now reopened with a new owner and decor. It's still nothing special, has no TV, and is full of dodgy old men, but what it has got is a jukebox and pints for £2.30, which is a 50p saving on normal pub prices. Also the pool table was brokenlast night so we got to play on it for free!

Speak laters

What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet

When you are registering a domain check to see if they can be read differently. (borrowed from THE RAW FEED)

Who Represents? - www.whorepresents.com

Experts Exchange - www.expertsexchange.com

Pen Island - www.penisland.net

Therapist Finder - www.therapistfinder.com

Mole Station Nursery - www.molestationnursery.com

Power-Gen Italia - www.powergenitalia.com

A few dodgy choices there.

Seven Rides for Seven Brothers

I finished reading 'Porno' by Irvine Welsh on Wednesday and now I'm bookless.

The novel is a sequel to 'Trainspotting' which I must admit I've only seen on the big screen and not read but this gave me a great mental imagery of the characters and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Welsh's use of dialogue and character accents adds something brilliant to the book and although slightly challenging at first I found myself slipping into the language and terminology.

I'd reccommend it to those who enjoyed Trainspotting, and best of all I picked up the book for £1.50 from the Cancer Research shop. Bargain.

I need to go out and get a DVD of Trainspotting pretty soonish as I need my fix.

New Laptop

I've got a laptop! A friend of mine was able to get me a refurbished IBM Thinkpad T23 for £175 which was quite a good bargain.

I must admit that I don't need a laptop at this time but at that price I couldn't really say no.

Its basic specs are PIII 1.133Mhz processor, 768MB Ram, 40gig Hard-drive, 14.1" screen, and it also came with a docking station.

I spent Sunday installing XP on it along with various other programmes and just getting to grips with it and checking out what it can do.

I've also ordered a wireless modem/router so that I'll be free to use the internet around the house. This should hopefully come tomorrow so next blog I may be using the laptop instead of the desktop.

Message in a bottle

I've been looking at installing some kind of chat feature on my football club's website prestonhellings.co.uk but all the ones I've come across haven't been exactly brilliant. I installed a forum on the site using YaBB 2.0 which is absolutely brilliant and involvesjust a little bittle of tinkering on the server side. It's been going for a month and has already (i've just checked) had 479 posts on it which is amazing when you consider that there's only 17 members signed up.

Many of the guys on the team work in offices and have the forum on in the background and comment throughout the day but it would make better sense to have something like MSN messenger on the site. I scoped the net for solutions and first tried a chatroom but the free ones you can get are pretty bad without much admin control (you can upgrade to these features), also you still need the browser window open which lead me to the idea of a messenger type thingy.

I found neomessenger.com which gives you a pop-up messenger but the features are bit poor in that even though it is site specific you have to manually search for people to add to your friends list.

I really want a free web-based messenger that has heavy admin controlls. It must also involve no software downloads as many offices don't allow this. If anyone can help me on this matter I'd be very happy.

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I've got bowling tonight at AMF in Margate with the football club. I'll chat with them about it too I think.

I’m sick and tired, of always being sick and tired

I had quite a nice weekend. On Friday we went around to Dan's for a poker night. I took round my table and chips along with the PS2. Tom and Ian were the big winners taking home £30 each but at least when I got knocked out I got to play the new Pro Evo 5!

On Saturday I had a bit of a clear-up in the garden, finally putting away the BBQ, the garden chairs, and sweeping up all the leaves on the patio, then in the evening I went to Andy and Mel's housewarming and fireworks party.

On Sunday I had football, a county cup game in Dover. We had a full squad but alas no strikers (all crocked) so yours truly went up front with Stiffy (midfielder). In the first half we dominated and I bagged a 2-yarder after a bit of a goalline scramble (not goal of the season, although it's my first). At half-time we were leading 1-0 although we should've got a few more goals. The opponents looked more determined in the 2nd half and in the space of 2 minutes they had got 2 goals which was enough to win them the match. Damnn! Could my day get any worse?....Well I also got a slight pull on my hamstring and then fet really ill in the evening.

Here I am on tuesday morning still feeling ill. I was physically sick on early Monday morning (1am) and didn't get any sleep due to the constant shivers which resulted in me wearing socks, tracksuit bottoms, and a t-shirt in bed cover up by a fleece blanket, a crochet blanket and a duvet! Obviously I didn't feel well yesterday so I got the day off work and caught up on some sleep in the afternoon. I'm feeling a lot better today although I still ache all over and have a headache so I'm staying at home again today although I'll try and do some work later.

So that's been my week so far.....It can only get better.

Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough

Man Utd 1:0 Chelsea

Wahey!!!! Now for those of you who follow football you'll know what this means. I am not a supporter of either team and actually hate them with great fervour. It is something quentessentially British that we like to see those once great figureheads fall, be it a celebrity or in this case a footbal team. I used to just hate Manchester United but once they got crap then I didn't mind them as much, now my hate has projected to Chelsea who tonight lost for the first time in 40 league games.

So there we go.

Step 2: Instead of shit say poo, as in "bull poo", "poo head" and this "poo is cold"

Here's another brilliant post on a scientific tangent today....well kind of.

Blogland is an open place where you can talk about anything so I'm going to exercise my right and talk about defecation. [if this offends then stop reading here]

All week I've been feeling quite ill with a sore throat (I'm prone to throat infections when I get tired and exhausted) and also dull headaches and general dull aches in my joints. I'm not moaning but it's at times like this that I will generally eat comfort food which contains things that make me feel better (in the short term). These food items include burgers, chocolate, icecream and generally not anything healthy. The sugar and fat contents in these give me a high that will make me feel immediately a lot better but after a few hours result in me feeling sluggish both physically and mentally. It also leads to a catch-22 scenario whereby I'm eating bad food to feel better but in fact it makes me feel worse.

Now onto the poo bit. It makes sense that you can tell how you are doing in the health stakes by examining your feces. Not in a sicko scat kinda way but just a quick look before flushing. Yesterday I went for a number 2 at work and damn it the old fella wouldn't flush, he just floated there and wouldn't go down, which was unusual for when I "drop the kids off at the pool". Normally they sink to the bottom and that's the last I see of them, but this one didn't want to leave...I think he was trying to tell me something!

When I was a schoolboy I was chatting with someone about "floaters" and they told me that their grandma had told them that poos only float if you're unhealthy. Blimey....and he was right. Apparently poo will float if it has a high gas content or a high fat content!

So Mr Hanky told me that my feeling ill was not only because of a cold virus which had initially started the illness but my over zealous munching of bad things which had exaserbated the situation and maybe added new symptoms. I had to do something.

Yesterday I only ate good things. For lunch I had a Tesco healthy eating Curry, and then for dinner I had pork chops with new potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. I made sure I chewed everything instead of gulping it down (this removes the gas) and I removed the small amount of fat from the chop. I did get a bit peckish later on but instead I had a few bananas and a mullerlight yogurt (cherry).

I don't normally look at my poos, unless I'm a bit curious or they won't flush, but today I made an exception and had a peek....Those babies had sunk to the bottom and were flushed without a trace.

Today I'm feeling much better although the effects of the cold are still there a bit but I do feel quite good (maybe it's because the weekend is here almost). I think they vegetables helped out too and also the fruit.

I hope you liked my talk of poo. If this is something on your level then why not check out:

The Scoop on Poop

I Gave my Cat an Enema

Rate my Poo

"Howdy-ho!"

As we are told that this is the end

Quite a few of my past posts have been a little sparse in content and have been a bit run of the mill so I'm going to talk about something a little controversial.

I THINK PEOPLE SHOULD DIE

I don't mean that we should commit genocide or blow up the world I just believe that there are too many people on earth. I may not believe in a higher-being (I don't rule it out though) but I do believe that there is a design to life and to nature.

I look at the news and see that millions are dying from AIDS, Cancer, and a variety of other diseases, and I sometimes think to myself "maybe that is a good thing?". I wouldn't wish this fate on anyone and know that they are horrible inflictions to have which cause great amounts of suffering but do we ever ask ourselves why this is happening?

It used to be that the world was kept in order, something died, something was born, and in general everything was hunky-dory. From time to time nature would have a big shake up but apart from that everything was cool. Then during the last couple of centuries humans have been reproducing at an expenential rate which can be seen in the graph below (along with future predictions).

I'm not saying that my views are neccesarily correct but it is something to think about. I think that nature is trying to find new ways of keeping our population to an amount that is sustainable on earth with regards to resourses etc. Everytime a new disease comes along we find a cure and then something else even worse comes along. We are now finding cures for Cancer (not 100% but survival rates have increased) and there are now treatments to extend the lives of AIDS sufferers (which will lead to a cure in the future) but I believe that new, more virilant disease will come along and continue to try and keep our population down.

I don't like it that anyone should die but it is what nature intended. Roll-on Avian Flu!

Maybe this is what we have in store?

Hello

Hi all,
I'm just checking in to say I'm still alive. Not much has been happening, well nothing of any significance, so this is a pretty useless post.

I still haven't made my effort to start cycling to work due to many excuses the main one being that I can't trust the weather. I really don't like cycling in the rain as I end up soaked and have to sit in the same clothes at work. tsk tsk tsk.

I've got a poker evening coming up on Friday...should be fun....

yada yada yada.

I won't bore you with any more, except leave you with this link to check out...very funny.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mb606/F2241577?thread=1247780

Now I'm a believer

I've just been on Ginny's blog and saw a link to find out whic hreligion is right for me. I'm sure I didn't fill out some of the questions properly but here's the results. I would agree that I'm an agnostic so fair dinkum to the quiz.

You scored as agnosticism. You are an agnostic. Though it is generally taken that agnostics neither believe nor disbelieve in God, it is possible to be a theist or atheist in addition to an agnostic. Agnostics don't believe it is possible to prove the existence of God (nor lack thereof). Agnosticism is a philosophy that God's existence cannot be proven. Some say it is possible to be agnostic and follow a religion; however, one cannot be a devout believer if he or she does not truly believe. agnosticism 75% Islam 58% Buddhism 54% atheism 54% Hinduism 54% Paganism 42% Christianity 42% Satanism 33% Judaism 33% Which religion is the right one for you? (new version) created with QuizFarm.com

What is dying?

The ship

What is dying?
I am standing on the sea shore,
a ship sails in the morning breeze
and starts for the ocean.
She is an object of beauty
and I stand watching her
till at last she fades
on the horizon
and someone at my side says:
"She is gone."
Gone! Where?
Gone from my sightthat is all.
She is just as large in the masts, hull and spars
as she was when I saw her, and just as able to bear her load of living
freight to its destination.
The diminished size and total loss of sight is in me,
not in her,
and just at the moment when someone at my side
says, "She is gone"
there are others who are watching her coming,
and other voices take up a glad shout:
"There she comes!"
and that is dying.

Bishop Brent (1862-1926).

They spun a web for me

I've done the Preston Hellings Football Club website!

I started playing for Preston at the beginning of last season August 2004 and thought it would be good to have a website. I made a few incarnations but due to lack of content they were shite, and in the end I removed the site and replaced it with a splash screen.

I thought that if you can't do a job properly then don't do it at all and so I was happier with just the splash screen and was willing to wait until my emphusiam gained momentum and I actually had things to put on the site (It's no use having a site if it doesn't actually do anything).

After my revelations of a few weeks ago and my kick-start I've done the site and it's actually getting quite a few of the players visiting.

The key has been the installation of a forum which is providing feedback for the team, information about upcoming matches, and also a place for the team to socialise and chat when not meeting up on a Sunday to punt a ball around.

Due to the dark nights we stopped training in September and so it was only Sundays that we would catch up with each other so hopefully the site will help in other areas.

I'm happy with it and now that other members ofthe team are having an input I'm sure it will be a success.

Laters

Stand by your man

I've just been going to a few blogs and I got around to Statue Johns brilliant "Stand By Your Statue" and behold I'm famous!

It's been a while

It's gone a bit quiet at this end hasn't it?

I must admit that I just haven't been bothered with blogging which is a little annoying as I hate it from my point when I visit other people's blogs and they haven't been updated for ages.

I'm back off to work in 1/2 hour so this is your lot for today.

I must admit that even typing this small amount is quite nice and maybe I will do a bit more blogging soon.

More stories from Ademland coming soon.....

Knit one, Pearl one, Drop one, Curl one

Football Manager 2006 is out tomorrow. I've pre-ordered it on play.com so hopefully it'll arrive in time to have a quick game tomorrow before I head off to Kentish Town for a house party on Fiday evening.

Joy.

When you’re through with life and all hope is lost, Hold out your hand ‘cause friends will be friends, Right till the end

So last week after a trip to Chichester (where I lived for 5 years) I decided that I'd lost touch with quite a few old friends from Uni and that it was about time that I actually got proactive with something as simple as emailing them. I'm still waiting for some email addresses from Jamie (I should probably ring him) but I did get in touch with Mike, and on Sunday I received an email from Tim SJ asking what I was up to. Now for a bit of history:

Tim was Vice-President of the Students' Union in my 3rd year and we got to be good friends as I lived next door to him, and I was also the Communications Officer for the SU (a voluntary committee position). We drank, hung out, played PS2, bitched, and worked well for the SU, even getting their first website off the ground, so I guess I owe Tim for getting me into webdesign. He had a few girlfriend problems and left Chichester when his sabbatical position finished in 2002. We still kept in touch and made the odd visit but after a while nothing.

The last time I saw him was about 1 1/2 years ago when he came down to visit me in Chi and we went to a nightclub in Bognor with Owen and Sam, got stinking drunk, and spent the whole next day eating pizza and playing Sega Bass Fishing on the PS2....Truly a 'Men Behaving Badly' scene.

I was at Pub work last night but actually checked my emails around midnight to find a message in my inbox asking what I was up to. I told Timmy what had been going on in Ademland, and then went off to Sleepyland. This morning I checked my emails at 8:30am to find another reply from Tim telling me that he was doing a Graduate Teaching Programme and was actually doing part of the course at my Campus where I work! I couldn't believe the coincidences and rang him up and we met up at lunchtime for a pint and some grub at the Pub.

It's weird how I haven't seen him for such a long time but on a whim sent him an email and got an email from him the day before he was going to be in my neck of the woods.

Crazy.

Can I kick it? (yes, you can!)

England are through to the World Cup finals in Germany and have finished top of their qualifying group. Nuff said but I do look out for other teams' results..in this case Turkey. England will always be my first team but Turkey come second for me.

On wednesday they finished 2nd in their group which included Ukraine, Denmark, Greece, and also Albania, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. This means that they've been entered into the playoffs with 5 other European teams with only 3 of them going to the actual World Cup finals.

The draw was this morning and the teams in the draw were Spain, Slovakia, Norway, Czech Republic, and Switzerland. The final draw was:

Spain v Slovakia
Switzerland v Turkey
Norway v Czech Republic

I think Turkey have got quite a good chance of getting past the swiss although it'll be a tight set of matches (Matches to be played 12 and 16 November)

On another point I put 50p on them to win the World Cup at 125-1 a few months ago (I think that the odds have lengthened now though...dammit)

I'll tell you what's going on

It seems I've become a fairweather blogger lately, only posting a few times a week, when I used to try and blog every day.

So what's been happening?...Well nothing of great interest.

Me, and a group of friends have been having HUGE email conversations about going on holiday next summer. Ian started it off because he wanted everyone to be able to get the time off and also save enough money. He first of all suggested Las Vegas and maybe another part of the USA, although this will be very expensive. I said I'd rather go somewhere a little more cultural, although with lots of fun too, and so Egypt has entered the equation. We're still decing on where and when but hey, we've got another 9 months eh?

I was off work yesterday. I never have time off ill but I had felt the ill effects coming on since last Friday, and I finally caved in to some R&R when I had a sore throat, headache, aching joints, and wasabsolutely knackered. I lay on the sofa all day and watched daytime TV, the highlight being "To Hell and Back" - The true WWII story of Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in U.S. history, based on the autobiography of Audie Murphy who stars as himself in the film. The film was made in 1955, when he was 31, but he was playing himself between the ages of 16-18 which was when he served in the Army. Hollywood eh? Still he did well and it was some good escapism TV. And I feel better now.

On Monday after my great weekend away I got working on a website I'd promised to a former work colleague who had left the Students' Union a couple of months ago. Liz is a really talented lecturer, MA student, and also artist, and is branching out into drawing portraits with a difference. I did the site in one day so why not check out MangaPortraits.co.uk

I've now got a few websites under my belt and feel comfortable enough to actually make my own web & logo design website. I'd been putting it off as I needed some sites to put into a portfolio, but I should be able to put something good together. I've been researching other design sites and am going to take a while putting it all together as I really want something that's simple for others to use. I surf a lot and know what I hate and what I like and would like the site to be accessible to all, provide competitive prices, and be something that I'll enjoy doing. A while ago I got the domain SolidMedia.co.uk and this is where it'll be hosted. I'll keep you posted [P.S. Does anyone know the tax/law about having another business? It might not make any money, but what if it does? Anyone got any tips?]

I was lost but now I'm found

Isn't life strange? In the last post I was lamenting lost friends and aquaintances and was wishing to get back in contact with a lot of people. Well yesterday I got an email in my inbox from Mike, who was Vice-President of the Students' Union when I was a fresher, and also ran the bar for a while the year after that. I wouldn't say we were best mates but we got on well and had a fair bit in common, and it's nice to catch up with him.

I'm not too sure how he found my site, I probably got googled, I must find out. But my blog has inspired him to start his own which you can find at http://stinkies.blogspot.com/. It's in its early day but who knows..

On the point of googling I typed in a few people's names but got back nothing...tsk...who would've thought that....

gonna try with a little help from my friends

I've just got back from my weekend jollies away visiting friends.

I left Ramsgate at around 2pm on Friday and got back at 9pm on Sunday so I had a pretty long break away, the whole weekend virtually.

My first port of call was Chichester. My friend Sam is the Bars and Entertainments Manager at the Students' Union, and I'd rung him a few weeks ago asking when would be a good time to visit Chichester (usually shortened to Chi), and he's suggested Friday as it was the Graduation Ball. I went, I saw, I had a few drinks, and I saw a few old friends.

On Saturday in the spirit of Lord Bargain and Ka I met up with a fellow blogger, this one was Phil, from Bournemouth (I do know Phil though). It was good to catch up with an old friend who I haven't seen for over a year and nice to chill out. We did Pizza Hut, Serenity at the cinema, visits to loads of DVD and games shops in Bournemouth and Poole, and had a good chat and a catch-up.

On Sunday I returned to Chi for a game of footy (this used to be a sunday tradition at Uni) saw a few more old friends and then came back home. All in all I did 420 miles in the old car. Not bad.

For those of you who read my blog regularly you'll remember that a while back I was pining a bit for Chichester and the life I'd left and I wrote this post. After this visit it's clarified things quite well. Chichester has changed a lot and it's not what I rememeber. The University where I spent my time studying and working for 5 years is changing into something completely different to the place where I had so much fun and from what my memory recollects. That was the past and I'm better off for it. I left just before the Student's Union moved into their new building (which I had a part in designing) and before a lot of changes to the way the University was developing. I think that if I'd stayed I would've ended up hating the place and that I would've had to leave or have a bit of a break down as it doesn't have the same identity as the place I loved. I guess I need these little visits to confirm this to myself.

One thing I do miss is the friends there. I keep in regular contact with a handful of them but there are more that I forgot about and have lost contact with. This was brought home to me when I learned that not one, but two of my old friends had given birth! So congrats to both Hannah and Erin! I am a bit sad that I didn't know about this but I've just emailed another friend, who I never contact but who I saw today, and asked him to send me lots of peoples emails and phone numbers who I've lost contact with.

On the drive home I had a glow about me and I felt that everything is going to be great.

Now off to bed for some well-earned sleep.

I've been working all week and I'm, Just living for the weekend

SwissToni has been telling us all about how terrible certain days of the week are....but now we get to one of my favourites...Wednesday. It is the day that divides the working week and from now on all I'm doing is thinking about the weekend.

So what's so special about this weekend?

Well I'll be going on a road trip down to Chichester to my old Uni's Graduation Ball (featuring Nemone, The Cut-up Boys, and loads of cheese I'm sure). I've still got good friends down there, namely the Bars and Ents Manager, Sam, who is gonna put me on the guest list which means I save myself£25, and let me kip on his sofa. I'm gonna leave work around 2ish and so I'll get there before the afternoon has ended, and I'll get to catch-up with other peeps in the Chichester area.

On the saturday I'll be heading down to see Phil of Freespurge fame down in Bournemouth. I think we'll be watching Serenity and also having a few beers no doubt, but I'll see what else he's got planned for me as I haven't seen him for over a year, also he's going one better than Sam and gonna give me a fold-up bed...5-star all the way.

Then on Sunday I'll head back to sunny Ramsgate knowing that I've actually had a good weekend [although a bit tired from driving nearly 400 miles]

[Wednesday is often reffered to as "hump day" because of its position as the middle day of the work week. If the work week were a hill. Then Wednesday would be the crest. It is all down hill from there. (Whether the down hill ride is a coast or a descent into a swamp is left to the individual.)] - http://www.indepthinfo.com/weekdays/wednesday.shtml

You know that I've been drunk a thousand times,and these should be the best days of my life,

If you've been in your town centre on a friday or saturday night then you'll see large groups of 18-30s drinking alcohol. Fair enough, they're old enough and have worked hard during the week so they're entitled to relax. But what about the increase in binge drinking? Those levels of drinking are the cause of many other ills of society, such as violence, vandelism, sex attacks, but what about the other ill-effects? What about the harm to your relationships and what about the harm to yourself.... Physically and mentally?

This brings me to my little poser today. Obviously the blame for drinking too much lies first with the individual but it must also lie with the suppliers, the pubs and clubs, but what about the people like me who serve the drinks?

I am on the frontline and actually see the results of alcohol consumption. Last night I was at the pub and first one guy punched another guy whom he thought was insulting his girlfriend, and then their girlfriends got into a argument in the toilets. Luckily I went in there [pervert] and tried to get them to calm down upon which they broke into a fight which I had to separate. They hadn't drunk a huge amount but the friction of too many people drinking caused it.

I also see those quiet drinkers who are in there everyday drinking large amounts, and no doubt doing themselves harm.

In other areas of life I try to be ethical and moral....but what about this area? I've worked in bars for 5 years, have seen what alcohol does, but I still work there. Technically I am a drug dealer.

Is it morally right to work in the alcohol industry when I see what harm it causes?

I've seen so much, I'm goin blind, And i'm braindead virtually

Surprise surprise....a new report by Dr Aric Sigman, who is an Associate Fellow of the Surprise surprise....a new report by , who is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, is out claiming that TV is bad for children and can stunt their brain development. The next few paragraphs have been lifted from Yahoo News:

"Television viewing is also now linked with stunting brain development in the child's frontal lobes leading to reduced impulse control and increased antisocial behaviour."

"Teachers are under pressure to vie for the child's attentional resources which have been damaged by exposure to fast changing screen images. This leaves teachers facing a generation of children who find it more difficult to pay attention and thereby learn but also exhibit poor self-restraint and anti-social behaviour," Dr Sigman added.

Even moderate amounts of viewing can dramatically increase their risk of myopia, slow down their metabolic rate and may trigger premature puberty, according to Dr Sigman. It was also found to lead to a "significantly elevated risk" of sleep problems in adulthood, causing hormone changes, which in turn directly increase appetite and body fat production and damage the immune system leading to a greater vulnerability to cancer.

I can believe parts of this report but there are other parts that are sheer scaremongering and making assumptions to appear to tie in with conclusions they already made.

I think it boils down to being lazy. If you sit around watching too much telly, and not exercising of course you're going to experience slowed metabolism, sleep problems, and increased appetite. I get that if I spend even one day loafing around, so imagine what it's like for a growing child. I suppose this report would be an easy solution to the problems facing our children, and we could ban television and save the children but not all television is bad.

The main problem is the sheer dirge of programmes on offer to children and adults alike. If what children watched was regulated by parents and guardians, then TV would have a great place in society, instead of somewhere filled with gardening and makeover shows, puppets talking gibberish, and mindless soaps.

The brain is a muscle and needs to be exercised, if you don't exercise it, then it will cease to function to 100%, or somewhere nearing that amount. I've had times when I've not stretched my mind, gone with the flow for weeks on end and not been able to cogitate or articulate to a level I know I'm capable. But I've corrected this by trying to read more or see more by either reading more books, catching up with the internet, talking to people outside of my usual spere, and also watching selected TV programmes.

There is a load of crap out there but there is also a lot of good on the old gogglebox. TV's primary use is as a form of escapism and it's secondary use is for education, therefore there will always be a load of shite to get through before you get to the good stuff. TV programmes are made as a source of revenue, simply there to make you watch the adverts in between. It's sad but true, and therefore TV for the masses rules.If there's nothing good on Telly then don't watch it. Turn it off, and better yourself. You're bigger than a machine.

I've got to go now......Neighbours is about to start!

Whoa, whoa, back-up

Yeaterday morning I got up at 8am thinking I would be the only one up as it was a Sunday morning, but there in the front room was my sister (visiting for the weekend) on the laptop doing teaching plans for the whole week. I made myself a bacon sarnie, and started running a nice muscle relaxing bath as I had a football match at 10.30am in Margate and was getting a lift with Dan at 9:30am.

Everything was going to plan when my sister 'lost' all the work she had been doing. Apparently she was copying her files to another folder when they 'dissapeared'. I thought she was being stupid and ran a search for them thinking she'd maybe just dropped them into the wrong folder. I was wrong they had gone. I started a recovery programme to find the lost files in the clusters of her hard-drive and some came back but very corrupted. I was doing my best but by now it was 9:30 and I had to go to footy. I didn't have my bath, which was waiting there for me nice warm, taunting me, and so I chucked on some jeans and a t-shirt and when to Footy (incidently I strayed on the bench all match).

When I got back my sisters boyfriend had managed to get some more useable documents off the hard drive and it was a semi catastrophe averted....or so I thought.

I went onto the net on my PC to check my emails and one was a request from my friend Jo for some files from her website which I maintain. I went into my website directory which is in \my documents\sites to grab the files and SHIT....the folder was completely removed! Then it hit me. During the early morning I had downoaded several recovery programmes from my computer onto her laptop using her USB stick and obviously whatever virus/trojan had done that to her laptop had now done it to mine.

I was very pissed off but luckily because it's my web directory, nearly everything is on the web, and it's a matter of just downloading the sites from my remote directory. I've lost a few old files, or works in progress, but every so often you need something like this to realise that the web isn't infallable. I've left the PC downloading my folders (around 450MB worth) and when I get home I'm gonna back-up the ass offa my computer. I did read the Tao of Backup which puts backing up into perspective.

I guess the lesson of all this is make sure you've got everything backed-up that you can't replace. I've got Norton Internet Security 2005 on my PC and it has protected me constantly and not let a thing in so I'm annoyed this 'thing' has sneaked in. I ran a full system virus check but it came back with nothing so I hope it was just a file on the USB stick. If this has happened to anyone else and they've got some tips then let me know.

Smells Like Teen Spirit

At the moment I smell like a cheap man-whore.

I've been out shopping (pure hell) to buy a few bits and bobs for my sisters birthday (she'll be 27) and I really hate having to buy things when I don't know what I'm looking for. If I was better prepared I would've scanned the internet and got her stuff from there but I only remembered yesterday about her birthday.

Back to the man-whore bit. Whilst I was looking for presents I thought I'd try on a few men's fragrances.....8 different types later and I still ended up with what I got last time.

I used to get a bottle of CK Eternity for my birthday and that'd do me, but it's very expensive and don't get it anymore. Last time I got Versace - Blue Jean, which was nice and at £10 a bottle from Matalan, a pretty good deal for something with a 'name' attached to it. I did think about treating myself but at the end of the day I just stank of too many fragrances and gave it a miss, and went with the Versace again.
I wanted to know if any of you out there in bloggerland could recommend an aftershave that you personally use? Put it in the comments please. Cheers

How much is that doggy in the window?

I was in Tesco on wednesday and they've already got some Christmas stuff in store, such as cards and wrapping, and a few other gift ideas.

Every so often I come up with stupid ideas that could make me a millionaire, and I'm going to let you all into one I had a while back and was triggered by this foray into the festive season.

What do you think when you hear 'A dog's for life, not just for Christmas'?

My new slogan would be 'A dog's just for Christmas, not for life'.

The pitch for my idea would revolve around the fact that many people get dog's for Xmas but can't be bothered with them once the the shine has worn off, so why not just hire them out for Christmas and then take them back? There are so many dogs in Kennels and Rescue homes that there would be plenty to go around. Obviously a fee would be charged, and there would be the optional extras of hiring out baskets, collars, food bowls, toys, etc. and I think it would make a mint.

I'd give a percentage of the money to the kennels, who would also be saving money as they'd have less dogs to look after, It would be helping the dogs and making them happy, and it'd also be bringing happiness to families at Christmas time.

It's a foolproof plan and I can see no chance of it being a failure!

If all goes well then I could branch out to cats, then guinea pigs, etc.....endless.

They spun a web for me

There was a fairly large spider in my bathtub last night and I could've picked it up and put it somewhere else but I thought I'd let him keep his dignity and do it himself. Thinking back to something I'd read on someone elses blog (I can't remember who's) I fashioned my first 'spider ladder' which was basically a length of loo roll hung over the side of the bath. Using this the spider is able to crawl out... in theory.

Guess what?..... theory works! The spider was gone this morning and is probably coming up with plans to lay egg in my ears, or something as devious, honestly it was quite a big spider and was giving me evils.

Everybody knows, Badger loves...MASH POTATOES!

Hey I'm back!...for the moment.
I've had a hectic last week and was going to blog yesterday but ended up going on an all day piss-up to unwind from everything.

So, do you want to know what I've been up to?

Well as I mentioned before I work at a University and the new students, Freshers, arrived a week ago. It has been my job to organise and run the evening activities, as well as doing my normal daytime stuff. A few posts ago I seemed a little disheartened with the job but at the moment things are going great, all the new students are very nice, and I'm actually enjoying my job!

On friday I hired a coach to take us to the main campus for their Funky Friday shindig and I didn't have much to do apart from make sure everyone got where they were supposed to go and that they all got back safely. So I decided that I might as well have a few drinks as I wasn't really working. Quite a few Carlings (only £1.50!) later and I was a bit trolleyed but was having an f-ing brilliant time, but there was one thing that absolutely made my night.....

I got to see 'Bodger and Badger'!

For those of you who don't know, they're the stars of their very own show on CBBC, and have quite a cult status amongst students. They turned up and gave a brilliant live show (no apologies for calling them 'they' even though one's a puppet), and of course, for those of you familiar with them, they got messing with loads of mashed potato. I also got their autographs!

Everybody knows, Badger loves...MASH POTATOES!
He makes them into shapes and eats them every-day!

Bodger and Badger, Bodger and Badger.
La, La, La, La-lah,
La, La, La, La-lah

Bodger and Badger are never far away.

I'm now gonna check out what everyone's been up to.......

Tomorrow, Tomorrow,......

I will be blogging tomorrow. Laters - Adem

I've got few stories to tell.

Express yourself, Create the space, You know you can win, Don’t give up the chase

I went into work today at 3pm and just got back in a 11pm... and it's only a sunday!
I had footy at 10:30am and I was in quite a good mood though as we won our first game of the season. The mighty Preston Hellings had lost their first two games in the Thanet Sunday Football League, the first game 5-1, and the second 2-1, but today was our day and we thrashed York Arms 5-1, which helped our goal difference and moved us from 12th to 7th place.

It was made even sweeter as they were a very aggy team, and I admit we baited them a little bit and they took to it hook, line, and sinker, with them giving away fouls all over the place. We could've got more goals but at the end of the day, it was a game of two halves, and the best team won (how's that for cliches?)

I did receive a rather harsh foul upon myself as their no.7 (their right-winger and I was playing at left-back) decided to launch a flying tackle at my knee and try and snap it. Luckily my leg gave way otherwise it could've been a lot worse, but I only ended up with a bit of bruising and some stiffness.

Hopefully this is the turning of a new leaf for the season and we can carry it on. (still no goals for me though...I got 4 goals last season, but that was from left-wing and up front, maybe next week.)

I am the eggman, we are the eggmen, I am the walrus

One of the stupidest things I've ever done (a continuing theme)
Date: 9/1/05
location: Dlouha Hostel, Prague, Czech Republic

After a very drunken Saturday Night, now Sunday morning, of visiting bars and strip clubs I returned back to the hostel with Ian and Tom B, whilst Jonny, Matt, and Danny went to investigate the lower echelons of Czech society. It was our last night at the hostel, I was drunk, I had bought some eggs and bread during the day, and I had the munchies.

The hostel was quite basic although there were shared facilities such as showers and a 'kitchen'. I've put apostrophes around 'kitchen' because the only cooking facility in there was a microwave, although strangely there were several pots and pans (obviously left by previous backpackers). What do you think I was going to use to do the eggs?

My first attempt was akin to poached eggs. I'd beaten the eggs added whatever spices were in the kitchen, and cooked it in a bowl for about a minute. It was okay but not quite what I was looking for. Then it hit me....a hard boiled egg (not literally coz that would've hurt!)

Through a bit of egging on (pun intended) and my lowered inhibitions caused by the alcohol, I decided to nuke an egg in the microwave. I put it in and turned the timer to 1 minute. Shock..after 30 seconds nothing was happening and I put my head right up against the door of the microwave to check for any changes. There was a hissing noise but that was it, and so Ian left the kitchen, and left me and Tom still watching.

BOOM! In what was one of the pant-filling experiences of my life the egg had exploded and I thought I'd been very bad. The microwave door had actually expanded outwards and I'd got hit on the head by it (maybe it wasn't too wise to be that close), and now with the door open smoke was billowing out and the whole inside was covered with egg and shell. I felt very naughty and quite scared, as were Tom, who had been sitting down, and Ian who had only just re-entered the kitchen to be greeted by the explosion.

Surprisingly no-one came out of the other rooms and I was left to have a nervous laugh, check the microwave still worked (it did!), and clean up all the fucking egg. We decided to retire to our dorm before anything else happened and that was that. We got up the next day went to the kitchen whilst everyone else was eating food bought from elsewhere, and had a bit of a secret laugh. The microwave was still a bit dirty but I'd gotten away with it.

We left Prague that day but I will always have that memory to put in my file of 'Things that could've killed me but didn't'. I've got plenty more of these types of experiences (I can be a stupid twat when drunk) and I'll share some more with you when I can.


------------------------------------------
I'm going to be very busy with work over the next 2 weeks as the Freshers are arriving on Sunday and muggins here will be working days and nights, so don't expect too much blogging from me, but I'll try.
Laters

I'm a joker, I'm a smoker.....

I've just got home from the pub quiz, which my team won!!!!!
It was made even better because we saved our 'Joker' till the last round...brilliant.

The prize was a bit crap though, 25% of a meal at the pub, but I shouldn't complain as I also won a prize in the raffle.......an out-of-date e#bottle of ale and a freeebie Grolsch T-Shirt!

Still it was all in the name of charity and around £160 was raised.

Off to bed now. zzzzzzzz

Wherever I lay my hat that's my home

Here's a bit of history for you....

1980 - Born in London (December)
1980/1984 - Lived in Sidcup till the age of 3.
1984/1986 - Moved to Doha, Qatar, till the age of 5.
1986 - Returned to England to live in Ramsgate, Kent.
1999 - Moved to Chichester age 18 to study at University.
1999/2002 - Completed my degree.
2002/2003 - Elected as Vice-President for the Students' Union (1 year term).
2003/2004 - Worked as Bars and Entertainments Assistant Manager at the University.
2004 - Moved back to Ramsgate.

Ramsgate has always been my home town and will always be the place that I grew up in but Chichester also has a place in my heart. The thing is that I loved my time in Chichester and spent 5 years there, but by the end of that time I was missing Ramsgate. I could've stayed but I had felt a rot settling in and had to leave to save myself. There was another reason for me to move back to Ramsgate and that was because my Mother and Grandmother also live there.

They both lived in the same house and this is where I moved back to. My Grandma was very ill and I think it helped that I was home to help my Mum whose responsibility it was to look after this bed-ridden old women, who had in her earlier years been the live and soul of the party, but in her latter years had been ravaged by Parkinson's Disease, stokes, and also arthritis . Sadly she died in December 2004, but I thank God that I was there to be able to be at her side at the hospital, to tell her I loved her, and to reassure her everything was alright. If I had still been living in Chichester I may not have been there for her and I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself. It was also good to be able to support my Mother at a time like that.

I am still living with my Mum, and we get by quite well, but it is times like now that I start to miss Chichester. I have got a lot of friends here but I only really see them at weekends so I think it is loneliness that is giving me these feelings for Chichester, where my life revolved around a place heaving with youngsters who are all experiencing something new, which in turn added something to my life. I am fed up with Ramsgate as it never changes, or maybe it is me that never changes. I am in a job where I spend most of the time by myself in a small office, and I think I need something new to put the spark back into me.

I'm looking into new avenues for job prospects and ultimately I keep coming back to the same areas. The only problem is that I can't commit myself to jumping into something, and it will ultimately have to be something which will start off working around my present jobs, the ones that pay the bills. Do I risk it all and follow my dreams, or do I stick with the status quo and keep doing what I'm doing?

The area I'm interested in is promotion and design. When I get the chance to work with Dreamweaver or Photoshop I become more animated and can spend hours working on something, perfecting it, and making someone else happy. I have mainly done small websites for bands, or people I know, and really enjoy designing something which has been transplanted from their ideas into something physical. I've just got an email from an old friend who needs a website for his band, and so I'm going to work on that later.

Another reason why these homesick feeling for Chichester have come up is that most of the people's sites I run are from Chichester, as it is where I learnt about t'web. I could honestly see myself living back in Chichester but what about the sacrifices I'd have to make to leave here?...my friends and my family.

At the end of the day nothing will probably come of this post and it will be resigned to history, but I will be visiting Chichester again on October 7th and we'll see what happens then. In the meantime I think this post has helped me a bit and I'll try and get my head into the correct mindset and try and be the person I was a few years ago, still me, but having more fun, and more self-assured.

Thanks for listening reading

The answer is blowin' in the wind

I finally gave in and got some questions from Phil. I asked him some last week and he's left a few comments on my blog along the lines of "...if you want any questions then just ask", and so I knew that he REALLY wanted to get some pearls of wisdom out of me, or make me squirm. The questions have really put me on the spot.

Bloggerland is full of people I have never met, but after frequenting their blogs on a daily basis I feel like I know them fairly well (well, what they decide to write about themselves). In the case of Phil, of Freespurge fame, I DO know him. We met at University (I was working for the Students' Union running one of their bars, and he was on the Exec Committee), and actually started our blogs at the same time, along with another friend Dave.

I [boasting] have kept my blog going along since that time (around 1 1/2 years) but both Phil and Dave disappeared, Phil in Jan '05, and Dave in Oct '04. I'd given up on both of them returning, but Phil made a comeback this Summer. So without further delay here are the questions and my answers.

Question 1.
Death sentence. Good, bad, or necissary? Discuss.

Catgorically my answer is 'no to the death sentance'. It is a very bad thing. I don't know the figures but I'm sure that there's been quite a few people on 'Death Row' who have been aquitted, who were proved innocent by new technology which wasn't available at the time of their detainment.

But some people are guilty, and some of very very bad things. Sometimes revenge will pop into my head and I'll think it was better if they died, a horrible death too, but what would that make me?

I'm sure executions help the families of murder victims, so they can gain 'closure', but in the long run will it ease their pain?

I do think there's something wrong with the prison system though and that some prisoners get off too lightly [watch out I'm getting all Daily Mail here!] and never have to deal with the crimes they committed, never have to meet the relatives of their victims. Could they still contribute to our society even if they are deemed monstors? What is the alternative way of paying their debt?

I don't know the answer to that but in the meantime I have to say no to the Death penalty.


Question 2.
What's the one thing that you wished you had said to someone but never did?

I think the person would've been my Grandfather on my Mum's side, who died when I was around 11. And I would've just liked to have said that I loved him. As a kid you take loads of things for granted and don't look to the future, just taking each day as it comes, and I wish I'd got to spend more time with him and been able to grow up with him as he was a great person. He was the first person i knew who died.

Question 3.
You're in a room with all the world leaders of Earth. You've been asked to speak on behalf of the masses. What you say next will change the face of Human society, what is it?

I would probably say:

"One Love! One Heart!

Let's get together and feel all right.

Hear the children cryin' (One Love!);

Hear the children cryin' (One Heart!),

Sayin': give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel allright;

Sayin': let's get together and feel all right. Wo wo-wo wo-wo!

Let them all pass all their dirty remarks (One Love!);

There is one question I'd really love to ask (One Heart!):

Is there a place for the hopeless sinner,

Who has hurt all mankind just to save his own beliefs?

One Love! What about the one heart? One Heart!

What about - ? Let's get together and feel all right

As it was in the beginning (One Love!);

So shall it be in the end (One Heart!),

All right!

Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right;

Let's get together and feel all right.

One more thing!

Let's get together to fight this Holy Armagiddyon (One Love!),

So when the Man comes there will be no, no doom (One Song!).

Have pity on those whose chances grows t'inner;

There ain't no hiding place from the Father of Creation.

Sayin': One Love! What about the One Heart? (One Heart!)

What about the - ? Let's get together and feel all right.

I'm pleadin' to mankind! (One Love!);

Oh, Lord! (One Heart) Wo-ooh!

Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right;

Let's get together and feel all right.

Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right;

Let's get together and feel all right"

Good enough for you?

Question 4.
Name a book that changed your life for good or for ill.

This is a tricky one. I suppose it could be something as mundane as a story book at school, thus enabling me to actually read and write, but I think I'll go for 'Stupid White Men' by Michael Moore, a critique of the 2000 USA elections where he believes Bush was fraudulantly elected as President. I know some of it biased and to get the whole story you will need to read a few more books from different sources, but it opened me up to the fact that USA is not A-OK (sorry Trong Van Din), and the problem's associated with politics.

Question 5.
Of all the women you know, who's the one you want to sleep with most?

Fuck me, what a way to put me on the spot. I love women, that's a fact, but the strange thing is that there hasn't been anyone I'd want to sleep with for quite a while. I've been off the scene for a bit, but I do go out and see women whom I'd like carnal relations with, but it is just lust, pure animal hormones, seeking some sexual gratification. I could probably give you 50 names of those types of women. But I can honestly say that there's no one that I'm "keeping my eye on", no one I really want to get involved with, and so to cop out of your question, there's no one I want to sleep with....at the moment.

But......I'm sure someone will come along, who'll turn my head, someone I least expect ,whom I'll want to get to know better, discover who they are, grow to love each other and then......

FUCK LIKE RABBITS!

I don't like cricket, oh no, I love it

England have beaten Australia to win the Ashes!

I've been watching the tests over the series and have thoroughly enjoyed them all. I must admit that I only watch International matches and don't watch any county cricket.

There were more highs than lows and many of the matches have been edge of the seat stuff, but I think that the end result was correct as England have shown that little bit extra.

Brilliant!

[I know this is a bit of a weak post but I'm not really in the blogging mode. I have been checking out and commenting on other blogs though so don't worry.]

Question time

Questions for Tom
1. Using advanced technology and satellite tracking you can order a 'hit' on anyone in the world. Who would it be? (no one will know you did it)
2."Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me". Have you ever been bullied or been a bully?
3.Which is your favourite Spice Girl and why? (Posh, Ginger, Scarey, Baby, & Sporty)
4.What Superpower would you like and would you become a SuperHero?
5.Pick 3 songs to be played at your funeral

Questions for Phil
1. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
2. Blondes, Brunettes, or Redheads?
3.How will the Third World War Start and End?
4. What's your view on 'designer babies'. Would you play god and create a 'perfect child'?
5.If you could have written one song and lived off it's profits which song would it have been?


Remember to update your blog with the answers to the questions, offer to interview others in the same post. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Laters

Coming soon...

I'm still thinking of some questions for Phil and Tom. Watch this space.

Ask Me No Questions, I'll Tell You No Lies

There's been a lot of questions around bloggerland lately, and I admit I was feeling a little left out. But luckily Lord Bargain has leapt to my aid and has given me 5 questions to answer. So here we go.

1. Describe your journey to work.

I have 2 jobs so I'll describe my journey to them

My first job is 2 miles away. I usually drive. Quite lazy, I have cycled a few times before but I've slipped back into getting there quickly. It takes 5 minutes, time for a couple of tracks on the CD player, and then I'm at work. Not a very interesting story.

For my other job I only live 30 seconds away so I usually leave 3 minutes before I'm meant to start. I walk (obviously) and I'm there pretty soonish.

2. You’ll starve unless you eat a dead human being. Which bit of them do you eat first?

Leg or Breast mmmmm....Oh that's a Christmas question, not to be confused with becoming a cannibal. The obvious thing I'd ask is 'what is the situation?', and I would probably want to know that before I made this decision but I won't delve into that too much and will instead assume that I've got to pick a body part.

I love meat and I can never refuse a bit of rump steak so my choice would have to be the rump, the buttocks, call it what you will, but I think that would be the best bit. I've seen the film 'Alive' many times and that's the bit they go for. Apparently it tastes a lot like chicken....

3. What’s your favourite Disney movie?

My fav of all time is 'Jungle Book'. When me and my sister were kids, we used to visit family in Northern Cyprus on our summer holidays. They used to have siestas in the hot afternoons, but us being hyperactive kids needed to be entertained whilst they were all napping. They had a collection of 'English videos' that would come out and we would watch them mesmerised. They included 'The Fly', an old copy of Wrestlemania 2, and also 'The Jungle Book'.

These would get played on rotation but invariably only one of these could I call a classic and a favourite. I'm not a big Disney fan, and a lot of their creations piss me off but with The Jungle Book you get something great (incidently it was last film personally overseen by Walt Disney). It's built around a great story by Rudyard Kipling (although some of the darker elements are removed, is full of great characters voiced by great actors, and is chock-a-block with magnificent songs.

Who would have thought that a bear could come out with this classic:

"And don't spend your time lookin' around

For something you want that can't be found

When you find out you can live without it

And go along not thinkin' about it

I'll tell you something true

The bare necessities of life will come to you"

4. In what circumstances is a “shoot to kill” policy acceptable?

Are there any circumstances where this is acceptable? This is a question that arose following the death of Jean Charles de Menezes (23/07/2005) at the hands of the Metropolitan Police when he was wrongly suspected of being a terrorist. And it has been raised again when the USA adopted a "shoot to kill" policy in the wake of violence following the devastation of Huricane Katrina.

I've had to think long and hard about this question. What would I do? I could take the Utilitarian viewpoint and decide on the 'greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people', is it worth sacrificing one life to save many more? What if de Menezes was a suicide bomber? Would his death have saved innocent lives? Of course he was innocent, we know that now, but what if?

There are too many questions to be asked, and hindsight is a wonderful gift, but after all the things I've seen I would say that a 'policy' of death is not acceptable under any circumstances. How can yu tell someone they've got a greenlight to kill people indiscriminately. Do they have a set of guidelines in this policy about what the person has to be doing to get killed? And how do you gauge such a thing?

Every decision we make in our lives is effected by the situations we are in. No two scenarios are the same and so there must be flexibility in the laws we uphold and the policies we make.

So to answer the question I would have to say that a "shoot to kill" policy is never acceptable but if someone was threatening me and it was me or them then I'd probably do what I could to survive.

5. The music police will erase every song in the world except five of your choosing. What do you save?

Oh my god, what a toughie. You really saved the hardest question till the end. I'm always terrible at these type of questions..."what's your favourite film?", "Best album of all time?"..etc I think you get the drift.

I'm sure that I'll remember a few classics after a while but I'll just go for it now as I'm sure if I don't decide soon then the music pigs will delete everything.

1.End Of A Century - Blur (something to reminiss to)

2.The Day I Tried To Live - Soundgarden (something to rock to and play air guitar)

3.Jump Around - House Of Pain (something to jump around to...obviously)

4. I'm So Tired Of Being Alone - Al Green (something to get your groove on to)

5.Wise Up - Aime Mann (Something to think about to)

It was really hard to pick a set of 5 songs because new ones kept popping into my head. I hope you like some of them.

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1. If you want to participate, leave a comment below asking to be interviewed.

2. I will respond by asking you five questions - each person's will be different.

3. You will update your journal/blog with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview others in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions