Should auld acquaintance be forgot

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

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

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

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

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

Here's some festive greeting from me.

Click here

Jack Frost nipping at your nose

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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,

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?

It is my birthday today.

more to follow.

Strange brew, strange brew, strange brew, strange brew

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

miaow!

I paid my dues

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

For a good tune click here.

That's life and I can't deny it

For the past few days I've been doing my bit for charity at the Uni. It's fallen to myself and another member of staff to try and raise money, and honestly if it wasn't for her then nothing would happen. It's Children in Need week and we always like to do our bit and so we thought of a few events such a cake sales, wet-sponge throwing, collections, and leg-waxing, and have been trying to get money out of everyone.

It's not gone too bad although it would've been nice if more people had offered to help out, but hey that's life. We decided to not only cellect for Children in need but were also collecting for a local children's hospice, an epilepsy charity, and a lung-cancer charity, with the proceeds of the week being split between them.

So far we've raised over £200 which isn't bad for a few lunchtimes work.

In other news I've been watching the repeats of This Life, which are celebrating their 10 year anniversary. Brainiacs out there will realise that it first aired in 1996, which meant I was 15, and to be honest I saw a little bit of it but it didn't click with me. But now watching it again it's amazing how much I can relate to it, and it is a fantatic programme to boot too.

I am the same age now as the main characters are, and seeing their lives resonates a lot with my life, the way they feel, what they've done, how they've lived. I've done the whole Uni thing, sharing a house thing, and generally wondering what life is about thing, and I guess it rings true with the nostalgia of not only the way I relate to them, but also the way I relate to the 90s and look back on that era.

It's a brilliant series and although I've caught most of the episodes, I've still missed a few and so may go out and buy the boxset before the BBC airs it's one off Christmas special of This Life, titled "Ten Years On".

Programmes like this show what is good about TV, as opposed to the reality TV rubbish around. Watch it!

Start me up..

Woo hoo.. I've just got Firefox installed on my PC at work! This was done by my mate Paul who works in the computing department and so has admin rights.

He also updated my flash player so I can now watch youtube and visit loads more websites!

Hoorah!

He drinks a whisky drink, he drinks a lager drink

Yesterday was dedicated as a BDOF (Boy's Day Of Fun) and we started off the day by playing a 9-hole round of golf. I was terrible.

Next up was a pubcrawl around all the pubs we don't normally go into, which usually means they are a bit dodgy. I used to go into quite a few of these pubs, but as we've all got older, people get set in their ways and don't like straying from the local.

The pub crawl the Stoneless Clubhouse for one, and then back to Ramsgate for the Australian Arms, The Admiral Fox, The Vale, The De Ville, The Bedford Inn, The Artillary Arms, Harveys, The Queens Head, and Rocca bar (I think that's all although I may have missed some due to excess alcohol.)

We played pool, darts, and drank. done.

I got in around 1am (ish?), and amazingly was quite sober(ish), flicked on the TV and ate my burger I'd got from the kebab shop. The repeat of Friday Night with Jonathon Ross was on TV and guests were John Barrowman and The Mighty Boosh. John Barrowman was very funny.

I then got up at 8:30am as I had football this morning, and I got my first game for a few months. I enjoyed it and we won 3-1.

I am quite tired now but have got to go to Uni to run a Pub Quiz in 20 mins. poo!

That's all for now, although I may reflect later on a few incidents in a couple of the pubs.

Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses

BNP leader Nick Griffin and party activist Mark Collett have been cleared of inciting racial hatred. The original trial was instigated by a BBC programme in which their leader Nick Griffin, described Islam as a "wicked, vicious faith" and said Muslims were turning Britain into a "multi-racial hell hole", and Mr Collett addressed the audience by saying: "Let's show these ethnics the door in 2004."

The jury acknowledged that the BNP had chosen their words very carefully and although many people would find it offensive, nothing they had said had broken the law. They hadn't incited racial hatred, which was the charge, although Griffin admited that he had been critial of religions, most natably Islam, but that wasn't what they were in court for.

I've been watching the live feeds from BBC News 24, and I hate this man. I have to admit that he is a very clever man, and certainly knows how to work the crowd, is a good public speaker, and seems to be getting increasing support.

There was plenty of talks of 'we' and 'us' with reference to 'whites', but if they are only going against Muslims, then why did I see no blacks or asians in their support, the majority of whom are British born and bred? Quite simply I believe they are racist purely against people who they not deem as non-white, and for all their talk of controlled immigration and keeping Britain British, I can't see them making speeches against white-Europeans who reside here.

They do not like blacks and asians [sorry to be pigeonholing here] and are too ignorant to understand that being British isn't about being a certain colour.

The scary thing is that they are finding increased support from a public who see answers in some of their policies, and also I'm sure from racists who are looking for a legal way to express their hate.

I Quit! I Quit! The situation's vacant for me

I have given up on NaNoWriMo. There I've said it. Please be gentle.

I haven't been fully committed to it and now that I've said I'm not doing anymore I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I only decided to do it on a whim the day before it started and I've only written 4000 words so far and we're already a third into the timeline of the contest. I like to think that I could have completed it but I'd be lying. Maybe at the beginning I thought it was possible, but I am not a writer, and never have been.

Yes I know I can 'write', but I just wasn't feeling it, and would prefer to spend the next few weeks catching up on some other projects that I only half-heartedy started and need to complete.

For regular readers of this blog you'll know I do this kinda thing every so often and have in the past considered stopping this blog because I couldn't be bothered, but I have always returned, tail between my legs, and so it is not the end of my NaNoWriMo career but certainly I will not be finishing my novel by the set deadline. I do get bored easily and am always wanting to try and new things, but I should really have some restraint.

There is nothing to compare to that satisfying feeling of completing something, and I have quite a big list of things that need to be done, so I'll try and get them done, and then maybe I could consider committing myself to something as big as NaNoWriMo. I wish I'd thought this out better....

We're the kids in America

I've just been to watch Borat!: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

It's quite niice

Cool for cats

I saw this over at Cheezy's blog, and according to the quiz only 32% of people are cooler than me, with 68% being more of a loser than me.

p.s I am cooler than Cheezy!

You gotta roll with it

yumm. In a post more likely to come from Stef, I'm going to talk about my lunch. I've discovered that the newsagent across the road from work stocks some excellent baguettes and at a very good price.

Normally I'll pop over to the Uni canteen and see what they've got in their choice of baguettes but they are made from cheap bread and the fillings are not really what I fancy (Emmental and Bacon anyone?) and I end up disappointed. I'm sure some people may like them but they are not for me, and I usually don't have the hot food because I prefer a main meal in the evening.

The shop over the road does these baguettes that are made from french sticks, have some lovely fillings, and are cheaper than from the Uni.

Yesterday I had Chicken, Mayonnaise, Celery, and raisons, and today I've had Chicken, Bacon, Cranberry sauce, and Mayonnaise.

Ok, they may not be the healthiest but they are yummy.

Bad to the bone

Saddam Hussein is a very bad man, an evil man and the Iraqi courts have just sentanced him to death by hanging, but I don't think this will happen, and I think that on appeal he'll get a life sentance. Well hey that's just my opinion.

Now I'm going to play devil's advocate here and say that I don't think he should be killed. Yes he has commited the worst kind of attrocities possible, and is surely in the big leagues with Hitler et al in what he has done, and what has been done under his regime, but I'm still not comfortable with capital punishment. Some people may call me a coward and will say that he does deserve to die, and yes I do think that he deserves to die, but not by our hand or anyone others.

It is a hard situation to be in because whilst he is still alive then he will still be a leader to those that still support him, and if he is killed then he will become a martyr.

If only there was some punishment between a life sentance and a death sentance.

I feel it in my fingers

hmmm.. so I'm not exactly setting NaNoWriMo alight at the moment but I've gone past 3000 words now, which is still 5000 behind schedule. I guess I'm hoping that I'll have a burst of inspiration and stamina and turn into a writing machine.

Reading through the aims of NaNoWriMo the main aim of course is to reach 50,000 words with the actual quality being second to the word count. So I can see a lot of bollocks being written in the near future as I aim to pump up the words that my miniscule mind can come up with.

This will definitely be no masterpiece but I'm sure I've read a lot worse before.

Good luck to all those others taking part.

Pick a part that's new

OK, I've started a new novel for NaNoWriMo, after realising the one I had started on the 1st for going nowhere as I had no knowledge of the subject!

I just wrote 643 words in 30mins, and have updated that on my sidebar widget, so that you can see that I've made the slightest dent in the 50,000 words total. The thing is that if I got anywhere near the total and needed to up the word should I just write bollocks? Obviously the novel would be rubbish[er] but I would have completed the novel.

As you can see..I'm a fair bit behind the total I should've reached by now. I always did cram at the last minute.

If anyone wants to check my progress of become a NaNoWriMo Buddy then you can find my profile here.

The title of my novel??

"A UK Monotony"

Well, I got a muscle of love

Today I am walking around like Douglas Bader having got a dead leg in football last night. An opponent went up for a header and kneed me in my thigh which ended my game on pitch and so I opted to go in goal (kept a clean sheet.. no real saves to make though).



For those of you unfamiliar with the term click here. When I've had them in the past it's usually fine after a day or so, but I have a feeling this one will take a bit longer which means I could miss football at the weekend.

On other news, I haven't even really started on my NaNoWriMo. It was a good idea...but I will fail. I'm DJing tonight, probably going out on Saturday and then on Sunday I'm running a quiz which doesn't really leave me with much spare time to write. If I can get a few thousand words done then I'll be happy!

Is that alright?

I heard this song by Damien Rice on the Zane Lowe show whilst on the way to footy.



It's a good live performance [cracking voice], although the version I heard was with the accompanying vocals of Lisa Hannigan.

If you want to be naughty then you can download the track here [just as a taster mind you. then go and buy it!]

Paperback Writer

Ah... a spare moment in the day. I've been at work from 9-4 today and then I'm back in from 5-12 which equals a very long day. I did try and leave at 2pm so I could have a few hours off but that never materialised.

Tonight is the Halloween Party and I've got a Band and DJ playing at the Union, plus decorations and a few games lined up. I'm gonna have a look in the loft in a minute to look for an old Halloween costume from last year [Mad Scientist I think...].

So you may be thing "wow he's busy", and you'd be right, but what else could I d oto make my life even busier......*drum roll*...

NaNoWriMo!!!

In the past I've seen it on others blogs but never got involved so I might as well give it a go and have something to talk about. In no way do I think I'll reach the 50,000 word barrier in 30 days, but I'll give it a go and see if I can just wing it and write any bollocks.

I haven't thought about a theme or characters or plot and am really free to go anyway I want, which I guess is the style of NaNoWriMo.

I'm gonna put a sidebar widget on the template, which I can show off and be proud of.

If a picture paints a thousand words, Then why can't I paint you?

Aren't digital cameras brilliant? I really do wish that I'd had one earlier in my life as there are so many events in my life that I wish I had more memories of. I wouldn't say I have a bad memory it's just that if I think certain information is irrelevant then I will dispose of it and will be pretty hard done by to recollect it.

Of course there are also the memories that I want to remember but after a while certain facts, faces, and info will start to fade away until I'm sure I'll forget completely. I know pictures don't tell the whole story but they certainly help cue up those memories and give you a nudge in the right direction.

It used to be that I wouldn't take many photos, or would have to ration them because the film and the actual developing was expensive, and so I don't have that many photos from my younger years. It also seemed the way that guys didn't really take photos although girls usually did. I'm not sure why, but it's probably got something to do with handbags!

It wasn't until I was at University, maybe as late at 2001 that I actually handled a digital camera (a kodak I think), and it belonged to the Students' Union. I took some photos but didn't realise it's potential until I started web design, and in this case building the Union's first ever website. I would go and take pictures at events and then upload them to the site the same evening, and this would bring many visitors to the site, all eager to see their faces online.

That website is now long gone as when I left there I wasn't able to continue the site, and there was no one there who was able to commit to the site, or indeed have the knowledge, and so I referred them onto another company who could help them out for free. I realised last night that I still had quite a few of the photos on my PC, and it was about time that they got uploaded onto my Flickr.

Most of them are from the Wednesday Sports Fed Nights [Wednesdays in the UK are typically when the University Sports teams play their fixtures] although there are a few others in there.

I'm sure I've got some more photos on an old hard-drive somewhere and will have to check.

My flickr sets are in chronological order to if you want to see these photos then scroll to the bottom.

Tumble and Fall

Is it just me, or is blogger being a bit shit at the moment and not letting me post? [we'll see if this one gets out].

When I've tried to publish I get this:
There were errors.
001 java.net.ConnectException: Connection refusedblog/28/44/5/ademblog/archives/2006_10_01_ademblog_archive.html

I googled around and someone suggested trying to post through another browser, and voila here the post is. It still comes up with the above message but the post does appear.

rubbish.

Baby it's cold outside.

I've got another cold!! I felt it coming on Friday afternoon and it was in full force by Friday night which has meant that I've stayed in all weekend and not gone out socialising. After all who wants to see someone who's continually sneezing and wiping their nose?

Isn't it rubbish that I've worked all week, got ill for the weekend, and then I'm back at work tomorrow!! I blame the bloody students!!!

Get your motor running, head out on the highway

My car is getting old....

Yesterday I broke the 100,000 miles barrier on the speedo, and I recorded it for prosperity.

(before)

(after)

When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May

It's gone all quiet around here at the Big Blog. I've got plenty of stuff to say but I can be bothered which is a bit of a bummer.

One thing I have got to say is that strangely I'm actually enjoying the wetter weather! Usually when summer finishes I get a bit depressed as It takes so long for it to return, but thinking about it I probably have my fondest memories from this time of year and over winter.

My birthday is at the beginning of December, then it's Christmas, the New Year, and of course it's nice to have a few days off.

I like being able to wear a coat and being cold outside but warm inside (It's true what they say about feeling the benefit.)

I like the season too in the fact that it's definitely Autumn and Winter. I suppose it's good that we still actually have seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter), as soon we won't (I don't think), as they all seem to be blending together.

So roll on winter!!

I can only disappoint you 'cos I always let you down

Back to work then eh?? I's been a busy weekend and I am absolutely knackered!!

On Friday I went Ten Pin Bowling and drinking and got home around 2am. Then I had to get up at 7:15am so that I could go paintaballing wit hthe footy lads. I don't mind getting up early but the place we went was a shambles, and although they asked us to be there for an 8:45am start, we didn't actually get going until 11am, which meant a lot of pissing about.

That's never the way to start a day out and will obviously not put you in the right frame of mind, but I was willing to let bygones be bygones and have fun, but the day was very poorly managed and organised and I can say that I won't be going paintballing there again. In the end we left at 3pm as we'd only played 6 games (6x 10 minutes) in the 6 hours we were there, the marshalls were rubbish and didn't know what was going on, and we thought we'd try and rescue what was left of the day. Their site even says that there is a maximum capacity of 75 players, so why was it that 130 people were playing on Saturday? simply put, I think they saw the £ signs and sacrificed quality for quantity. Do not go there.

I stayed in on Saturday night and played some Football Manager 2007 and then Dan popped round and we played Pro Evo 5 for a while. Here's my next annoying rant... I pre-ordered FM2007 from CD-Wow, and so expected it on the doorstep on Friday when it was released, but on Friday I got an email saying they wouldn't be posting it 'til today (monday 23rd), which annoyed me as what's the point of pre-ordering then? I really wanted the game for the weekend and got it in HMV only paying a few quid more, and will be selling the copy I finally get from CD-Wow to another friend.

Yesterday was football in the morning, some decorating in the afternoon, a bit of chill-out and then work in the evening. It was 'Film Night' at the Uni and we were going to be watching 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dean Man's Chest'. Now it's not as simple as buying a DVD and putting it on the TV, I have to rent the DVD from an official supplier who has rights with the film studios to show films in public, and do you know how much it costs to show a film?? OVER £100!!!

Why does it cost so much? Well, you know at the beginning of films they go on about showing them in public, on oil rigs etc, well obviosuly the University Bar is a public place and so to comply with licensing I can only go through Filmbank, which is a shit load of money. We are showing the films fortnightly and for the past 2 I haven't charged, but this week I did charge £1 entry and we got 46 people in which is a good number and will subsidise the costs, but I was very pissed off when the DVD kept pausing at certain points, which is not at you expect when shelling out that sort of money. When it had done it for the umpteenth time I paused it and asked everyone if they still wanted to watch it, they said yes, and we carried on. It still did it and so I asked again, they said yes but frankly I wouldn't want to watch a film that kept pausing and so I told them that next time the film would be free.

Why can't some peopel do their jobs?? So a weekend of disappointments, and a very poorly written post by me. I hope you had fun.

Talk of the way they saw him last

Following my earlier post I've found another photoshop mock-up I did last year.

Click here for the post.

Local boy in the photograph

In my group of friends we don't normally do Birthday presents and usually a pint will suffice, but I usually like to make something, so for Tim's birthday yesterday I made him this and put it in a frame. I picked a bodybuilder as Tim thinks he's got pecs but he's only got manboobs.

and here's the original of Arnie.

It's okay, although I could've made it a lot better if I had some more time, but on things like this there's always things you would like to improve.

Here's on of Phil who's Birthday was in August. He's a West Ham fan so this was an obvious choice.

And the original.

I have got some others lying around and may post them up if I can find them.

My old desk doesnt arabesque

I mentioned that I'd been having a tidy-up, and I've moved my Desktop PC upstairs because I didn't really use it as much as I do my laptop. My laptop does what it says on the tin and I mostly use it whilst sitting on the sofa with it on my lap, but this isn't the best way to work and causes me to slouch a bit.

I've already got a docking station for my laptop and so I've invested in a new desk [£19.99 from Argos!]. The plan is to set up the docking station with all my USB devices pugged into it meaning I'll do more work at the desk, although it'll be simple to still whip the laptop out.

I did see some very nice desks in the Argos catalogue but thought better against spending £100 on one, if I really want to stick to my guns.

What a boring post eh? I'll be posting again this evening to talk about how my day went for this.... maybe.

From Russia with Love

And on a comedy theme... this seems to be getting good reviews.



And check out the faux-bad official site here.

If you're not familiar with Borat then see some clips here.

War! What is it good for?

I enjoy watching the The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and in particular enjoy the segments from John Oliver.



Here's a clip from this week's show [in which he does actually break his nose]. I particularly like the Princess Di section. enjoy

War! What is it good for?

I follow the Moskva, Down to Gorky Park

Not long 'til Monday now and the weekend is almost over. What did I do?? Well on Friday I went out in Canterbury, got drunk, made a prat of myself, and felt hungover for the beginning part of Saturday. I got back from Canterbury at around 3pm of the Saturday having crashed on Jonny's sofa, and decided to try and be a bit productive, and so mowed the lawn, tidied up the shed, and had a general clear-up in the garden.

I decided not to go out in the evening, which was good as nobody else was going out, and carried on cleaning a bit and moved around a bit of furnature [woo hoo], but it was actually nice having a bit of time to myself and I even got to watch some good TV [a rare occurance especially on a Saturday]. I was flicking through the channels on my Freeview box and stumbled across a subtitled German film called 'Good Bye Lenin!', and lately I would've skipped over it but it got my attention and I have to say it's a very good film.

The basic premise of it is that it's 1989 in East Germany and a young man's mother has a heart attack and falls into a coma. She awakes 8 months later unaware that in that time West and East have united and that her communist life is gone, but knowing that any shock could kill her, the young man pretends that the GDR is still intact, and he devises some complicated ruses to maintain his mother's ignorance of Germany's re-unification and the failure of communism in her beloved East Germany.


It's brilliantly filmed and you can watch it again on BBC4 on Tuesday 17th October at 11pm, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes these kind of quirky European films.

I then watched Philadelphia afterwards and got to bed around 1:30am. Today I went to football [we won 5:1 but I was an unused sub], and this afternoon chilled out. This evening I was running a quiz night at Uni and it went really well with 42 people taking part, although I am tired now as I didn't finish there 'til gone 11pm.

I'm just watching CSI and then off to bed for me.....

Keep on running

I'm a little bit tired today as I've played football for the past 3 days. Tuesday was indoor 5-aside, Wednesday was a match on a full-size pitch, and yesterday was a match on astro-turf. It was yesterday's one that rired me out as I started getting shin-splints from running on the hard ground, but never mind as the weekend is here, and I've got Sunday League football, but I expect to be on the bench for that game as I missed last weeks match because I was in Balham.

This afternoon I've got meetings in Canterbury and so I've decided to go out there tonight and I'll crash on Jonny's sofa. I'm not sure what we've got planned but I'm sure it'll involve beer and pubs.

In response to yesterday's post, I did treat myself, but only to the tune of £19.49, by pre-ordering Football Manager 2007 for the PC. The cheapest place I've seen it is at CD-WOW where it costs £20.49 (But I found a £1 voucher in the Uni bar today and used that! Winner!). I've been playing this game since 1993 through all its incarnations and I still love it. Expect a blogging hiatus when it arrives!!

Have a good weekend all.

now you been maxing out my card

Am I growing up, being more mature, and 'doing the right thing'? Well earlier on in the week I was going to treat myself and buy a new camera, but I've decided that I'd be better off paying off some debt, and so this afternoon paid £200 towards my credit card bill.

On my credit card I owe exactly £2,349.26, and the sooner I get rid of it the better. I initially put about £1,500 on my card in 2003 when I went travelling around Canada and didn't have any savings and instead put everything on the card. I then put another £1,500 on my card when my bank took away my interest free overdraft (I still have an overdraft but not completely free) and so using a 0% balance transfer I put that on another credit card.

Altogether I've actually been very good, and not really put anything on my credit cards, but haven't been able to shift the bulk of the debt. I'v been transferring my balance every 9 months or so so that I can keep 0% intrest which most companies offer. This way whatever I pay in is actually paying off some of my debt and not paying off interest. I've so far done this for 4 credit cards.... and I'm running out, or the companies are getting smarter and introducing fees to transer balances (usually around 2% or £50).

I would like to get rid of my debt with 9 months, which may sound a bit optimistic, and taking into account the £200 I've just paid I owe £2,149.26, that would mean paying just under £240 over 9 payments, which is entirely do-able. I may even try and pay a bit more and get rid of it sooner.

There's no point in me trying to save if I'm always owing money to the bank. I think this is the best thing to do, and I may treat myself at Christmas instead as I was doing the Christmas Club at my old pub job and have at £250 saved with them, which is a bonus. I could get that back now but am not going to.

I need to stick to this.

A change would do you good

I mentioned a while ago that I might change my blog template and voila... here you go.

What do you think... and be honest. I've obviously still got a back-up of my original template so can go back whenever I want. I'm also gonna maybe change a few bits on this one anyway.

Just comment away so I can have a few pointers. Tell me what you like and what you don't like.

Cheers

End of a Century

Blimey... It really hits home when someone young dies. I've just got back from work and found out that Paul Hunter, the snooker player has lost his battle against cancer and has died at the age of 27.

He'd been battling cancer for the past 18 months, and even returned to playing again this year but eventually succumbed to cancer of the colon.

He led a very full life, turning pro at the age of 16 and winning 5 major titles, including at hat-trick of Masters, but leaves behind his wife and young daughter, and could have lived a lot more.

Read more here.

In his post match interview following his 2004 Masters title win, Hunter caused a media sensation by admitting he resorted to "Plan B" with Lyndsey Fell, his fiancee, during the interval while 6-2 down. The 'B' in "Plan B" purportedly refers to the word "bonk". Hunter and Fell retired to their hotel room and he recalls "Sex was the last thing on my mind. I just wasn't in the mood. But I had to do something to break the tension. It was a quick session - around 10 minutes or so - but I felt great afterwards. She jumped in the bath, I had a kip and then played like a dream. I reeled off four centuries in six frames. I won easily."

You took an instamatic camera and and pulled my sleeves around my heart.

So I got paid full-time this month and have a little bit of money extra. A while back I posted that I was going to treat myself to a new camera but I haven't of yet, and in 2 weeks time I have to pay the car insurance... so I'd better buy my camera soon whilst I have 'spare' money [yes I know I should wait to pay the car insurance off first!]

I've got 3 choices though of what to do and I'm in a bit of a pickle. I can:
1)Buy the Bulky Digital SLR, 10x optical zoom, type which is cool for outside long-range nature shots. But is very bulky and not good for taking out socially.

2)I can buy a slim, limited zoom one, for taking out socially and which will easily fit into a pocket, but is no good for my sports photos I take as is limited in options

3) I can buy both types.

It's a hard predicament to be in. Ideally I think I'll have to buy both and in reality as it's getting colder the truth is that the vast majority of my photos will be of a social nature and will be taken indoors, and so a 10x zoom is not needed...yet.

If I get the small digital one then I don't want to be spending more than £90. The SLR one I want will cost around £150, and obviosuly any money I spend on the little camera is money that I could've spent on this one... but then again I could just buy that one first and then get the little one!!! Arggh!! Decisions Decisions. (I've just gone back onto the Ebuyer site and they are out of stock!!! But Amazon have it!)

I definitely need 2 cameras. A good one... and a fun one.

Can anyone recommend a cheap, small, digital camera??

p.s. I think I'm gonna order the Fuji Finepix S5600 anyway and bung in a 1GB XD card too! I'll do that either tonight or tomorrow!!!!

Its a gas gas gas.

On Saturday one of my sisters friends had with them what they claimed was a dispenser for Nitrous Oxide, Laughing Gas in normal terms, and I thought he was having us on.

He filled up a balloon with this gas dispenser and proceeeded to breath in and out of this balloon and once he had stopped he started giggling uncontrolably. You can buy these kits form quite a few places, Boss of Nos, being the particular one this was bought from, with the kits including a dispenser, gas cartridges and balloons. The idea is to fill the balloon up with gas and only breath the air in it, recycling it back and forth, which causes you to get the maximum use of the gas. I'm sure this involves a little bit of asphyxiation as you are limited with oxygen which contributes to the effects felt (although N2O actually has more oxygen in it than atmospheric air).

I tried it and I must admit that a bit of 'normal' air got into my breathing as I wasn't quite sure how to do it, but once I'd finished off the balloon I did feel odd, and yes I did start laughing, with other symptoms being 'funny feeling hands'. Within a minute or so it had worn off but I'm sure if I did it again then I'd be better and breath in the gas properly.

I am also sure that there is still some kind of placebo effect as you can't help but laugh when others are watching you and maybe act up a little, but the gas certainly had an effect.

These dispensers were originally used for making whipped cream, where the Nitrous Oxide whould be mixed with the cream as it leaves the nozzle to produce four times the amount of whipped cream, or you can use no cream, stick a balloon on the end, and have a bit of fun.

For note, I checked up on Wikipedia to learn a little bit more, and maybe it isn't completely clean fun:

The recreational use of nitrous oxide is restricted in many districts of theUnited States. In California, for instance, inhalation of nitrous oxide "for the purpose of causing euphoria, or for the purpose of changing in any manner one’s mental processes," is a criminal offense under its criminal code (Cal. Pen.Code, Sec. 381b).

It can also not be completely good for you:

Nitrouse oxide can be habit-forming, mainly because of its short-lived effect(generally from 1 - 5 minutes in recreational doses) and ease of access. Death can result if it is inhaled in such a way that not enough oxygen is breathed in. While the pure gas is not toxic, long-term use in very large quantities has been associated with dangerous symptoms similar to vitamin B12 deficiency: anemia due to reduced hemopoiesis, neuropathy, tinnitus, and numbness in extremities. Pregnant women should not use nitrous oxide, because chronic use is also
teratogenic and foetotoxic

Worth a laugh though eh? (Read here for an article about N2O in UK Clubland). Most of the pages you'll find seem to be against it's abuse, and I agree that some weak-willed persons may get addicted to it, but isn't that the truth with everything?

Let's all meet up in the year 2000

In my last post I mentioned I was going to Balham on Saturday for my Sister's Birthday, and on Saturday morning I saw that Stef had commented that he was going to be in Balham too!!! Coincidences eh??

One of Stef's mates was running a night at 'Snug' next to the 'Duke of Devonshire', and I decided that I'd pop in later that night to see if he was around. I've never met Stef before but I visit his blog everyday.... mostly to learn about bar snacks.... and I've never met a fellow blogger, but when fate pops up like that then I'd have to nip in and see him.

I got to Balham in the mid afternoon and asked my sister if she knew where it was, and lo and behold it was about 30 seconds away from her house, so everything was go, and I decided tht I'd go at about 9pm, when I thought he'd be there, as there'd be nothing worse than turning up and being a Billy-no-mates.

I had a few beers or four at the party which was in full swing, and told my sister that I'd be back in a little while, and so I slipped out and made the very short journey to 'Snug', which used to be a restaurant but is now a trendyish bar. Luckily Stef takes A LOT of photos and shares them on Flikr so I knew who I was looking for, but as I made my way though I still couldn't see him but as I got to the bar [typical of Stef] I kindof recognised the man standing there although it was just the back of his head, and as I swivelled around to get a portrait view it was him! HELLO!!

It was slightly odd to be meeting someone for the first time with who you know only through a blog, but it didn't take long to get comfortable in conversation, and I've got to say that Stef was a good host, introducing me to most of the people there, and explaining our 'odd' situation. As an added bonus I met 'Gordy' who is a regular on Stef's Blog, and in my second visit of the night [I'll explain later] I also met fellow blogger 'Cheezy'. As I said I met lots of his other friends [I don't remember all their names.. sorry], and I also met his wife Sherry, who is as lovely as he always says.

[Me and Stef]

I left 'Snug' at 11pm as I thought I'd better get back to the party, but I said I'd return later, and so I went back to discover that my sister had already gone to bed!!! A few too many tequilas and a session of praying to the porcelain God had rendered her unconscious and so I was definitely gonna be popping back to 'Snug' but stayed at the party till 1ish.

I stayed at 'Snug' till around 3am and when I got back the party had finished and everyone had gone home or gone to bed. I am officially the hardest person at that Party!

Sadly I didn't get any photos of the night but Stef's mate Dylan posted photos of the night at Dontstayin.com so have a browse.

Do I know anymore about Stef now than I did before?? People can put out whatever they want on their blogs and a lot of people hide a lot of their personality on their blogs, but I think you'll find that Stef is exactly like he is on his blog. I was not disappointed and the only thing that was missing was Stef puffing on a big cigar!

I had a cracking night mate - cheers.

Come on get up everybody!

So it's Friday Night and what am I up to??

"The weekend has landed. All that exists now is clubs, drugs, pubs and parties. I've got 48 hours off from the world, man. I'm gonna blow steam out my head like a screaming kettle, I'm gonna talk cod shit to strangers all night, I'm gonna lose the plot on the dancefloor. The free radicals inside me are freakin', man! Tonight I'm Jip Travolta, I'm Peter Popper, I'm going to never-never land with my chosen family, man. We're gonna get more spaced out than Neil Armstrong ever did, anything could happen tonight, you know? This could be the best night of my life. I've got 73 quid in my back burner - I'm gonna wax the lot, man! The Milky Bars are on me! Yeah!"

or... I'm staying indoors watching the Hollyoaks double bill on E4, then gonna play a bit of Pro Evo and chill out for the evening and see if there are any films on later.

Tomorrow I'm off to Balham for my sisters 28th birthday and I'm sure I'll be having a few drinkies there and not getting too much sleep, so tonight is for recharging the batteries.

For those of you that didn't know the quote above if from Human Traffic, which I saw again the other night. Watching it gave me a lot of nostalgia. Now before you get carried away.. no definitely not for the drugs, I never went near them, but just the attitudes, being young, and really go for it and partying. Oh dear, I'm slipping into old man mode again!!!

Anyway it was nice nostalgia, as the film came out in 1999, the year I went to Uni, and obviously partied a lot. I'm looking forward to tomorrow as I'll be in a different setting and be with lot's of different people who I don't really know [I do know my sister though]. I think I'll get drunk.

Let the bodies hit the floor

Today I woke up and was all phlegmy with is usually the first sign of me being a bit poorly. My suspicians were confirmed when I got out of bed and ached all over, feeling knackered and with a terrible headache.

I emailed work to say I wasn't going to be in for the morning.... and now it's afternoon and I'm still at home. I could go in now but I really don't feel like it. I did do some work this morning but that tapered off once I started watching the educational programmes on Channel4 [I got a few tips on starting up my own business... woo hoo... something to put to the back of my mind now] and now I'm deciding what time I will actually go to work. I think around 3ish will be cool.

I know why I'm ill too. Basically it happens whenever I've been busy and then stop. I have been working solidly for the past 2 weeks and haven't had time to get ill or feel tired, but Uni has calmed down and now I've got a bit more time to myself I get some kind of bug. Usually I'll get a throat infection too, but that hasn't arrived yet.

Anyway.. back to doing bugger all and then going back to work.