Bugger. Went to the bank (online of course) to pay my dues and, well, fucked up proper. I had thought that the measly amount of money I receive in what is termed my 'salary' was sufficient for the purchase of a removable hard drive as well as rent, food for the week, transport and beer (of course). I was mistaken.
The buggers at amazon dot bloody transact three days bloody later dot com didn't help cause they did just that. Charge me three bloody days after I tried to buy the thing. And timing wise they couldn't have chosen better to illustrate to the world that I HAVE NO MONEY. It came JUST after I stupidly assumed i'd enough money to make the rent payment. I'm officially in arrears... To both Amazon and Sal. 'Tis and 'twill be a hard grind clawing my way back into liquidity. Till I do I'll take solace in the beer, a liquidity of sorts...
Hope you are all well and not suffering what I like to term shitty biscuit syndrome. SBS. TLAs. I love 'em!
17 August 2006
11 August 2006
While I'm here
Visual Factory:
At work we have a glorified notice board. It is called the visual factory. It comprises a bunch of laminated info sheets that are not particularly visual or informative.
I on the other hand perceive my world as a visual factory. A proper one. Interesting and, well, visual. Some visuals of note...
V for Vendetta - Dvd, glad I watched it cause finding a library copy of the graphic novel was proving too difficult to come by. It reminded me of the comics, and made me so pleased that Chris G pushed it upon me (in his unassuming ways) back in the Todman St days. Some things you connect with in unpredictable ways. Others fit. Chris's suggestion fitted and it was good to be reminded of that thanks to the film. I can't knock it because of this even though there was no LSD induced revelation. Bah!
Little Fish - Actually this was more of a COMPLETE experience, visuals, accents, Shortland St actors and, well, just normal people. As a movie it works SO well in terms being it's namesake. Everything about the film is little fish. Ab-so-lutely loved it and was well homesick at the conclusion despite the fact that it was set in Aussie. Good old Joel Tolbeck turned up. I remember him in a weird NZ kid's program about pirates whose name I can't remember. Can anyone help?
Maimi Vice - well it was a film and therefore visual. But it was complete shite, and I don't have anything to say about it except that it was shite.
Firefly - THE PILOT!!! At last. I have the series and Serenity in my possession. Am watching in relish, mostly due to the fact that I ain't seen a lot of TV recently (seeing as I don't have one) but also cause the good ole folk back Welly-ways seems to almost universally recommend it. Anyway loved the first 120 odd mins. At the conclusion of this I'm off to watch MORE!
The LARGE 'Ciremai' poster looks down upon me from its pride of place, hanging on the living room wall. Visuals are EVERYWHERE. Even the ones that exist only in your mind. Open your eyes and take a look.
At work we have a glorified notice board. It is called the visual factory. It comprises a bunch of laminated info sheets that are not particularly visual or informative.
I on the other hand perceive my world as a visual factory. A proper one. Interesting and, well, visual. Some visuals of note...
V for Vendetta - Dvd, glad I watched it cause finding a library copy of the graphic novel was proving too difficult to come by. It reminded me of the comics, and made me so pleased that Chris G pushed it upon me (in his unassuming ways) back in the Todman St days. Some things you connect with in unpredictable ways. Others fit. Chris's suggestion fitted and it was good to be reminded of that thanks to the film. I can't knock it because of this even though there was no LSD induced revelation. Bah!
Little Fish - Actually this was more of a COMPLETE experience, visuals, accents, Shortland St actors and, well, just normal people. As a movie it works SO well in terms being it's namesake. Everything about the film is little fish. Ab-so-lutely loved it and was well homesick at the conclusion despite the fact that it was set in Aussie. Good old Joel Tolbeck turned up. I remember him in a weird NZ kid's program about pirates whose name I can't remember. Can anyone help?
Maimi Vice - well it was a film and therefore visual. But it was complete shite, and I don't have anything to say about it except that it was shite.
Firefly - THE PILOT!!! At last. I have the series and Serenity in my possession. Am watching in relish, mostly due to the fact that I ain't seen a lot of TV recently (seeing as I don't have one) but also cause the good ole folk back Welly-ways seems to almost universally recommend it. Anyway loved the first 120 odd mins. At the conclusion of this I'm off to watch MORE!
The LARGE 'Ciremai' poster looks down upon me from its pride of place, hanging on the living room wall. Visuals are EVERYWHERE. Even the ones that exist only in your mind. Open your eyes and take a look.
A note of Ron The Body
Check out this.
--
Edited cause I am a muppet myself and can't spell. Also I meant note as in Floral. A hint in other words.
--
Edited cause I am a muppet myself and can't spell. Also I meant note as in Floral. A hint in other words.
06 August 2006
Will wonders never cease?
Seems as if the e-mail to blog feature is working again. I guess this means that there are NO excuses for not keeping things up-to-date. Except for the fact that I'm lazy...
Tired from two largish nights in a row topping off a sport-billy week. A slow sunday will ensue as the sore muscles and sleep deprivation combine to make lethargy the number one activity. Will have to eventually leave the flat, as I have to go to chemist to find painkillers for the headache. Damn it all!
So, yeah, the week was a sporting one. Had Badminton on Tuesday, Rock climbing on Wednesday and BASKETBALL on Thursday. My whole body is a wreck of stressed muscles and tendons. But I'm much happier for it. Thinking of repeating the whole exercise next week...
I've never climbed before (except for one form three camp I can hardly remember). Was thinking it would be all about ropes and belays and harnesses, but was surprised with the sole activity I pursued - bouldering. It's ridiculously hard and I'm incredibly poor at it, but when my lack of skill combines with a simple course and I actually climb to the top, the sense of achievement is amazing. I plan to do it again, that is if my arms and hands ever regain a semblance of strength...
The climbing centre is a bit of a local landmark round these parts. It's called the castle and it was once a water pumping station for London water supply. If you're interested you can check out this picture of it (thanks wiki!). And if you follow the links back to the forwarding pages you'll even get a bit of the history of area in which I'm currently living; Stoke Newington/Dalston.
Anyway the return to basketball, oh it was good. Played for damn near three hours, which was fun for allowing me to watch my own skill and stamina ebb as I became more and more tired. It was a thorough workout, and left me feeling as if I remembered enough of the game to want to play it again properly. Just need to work on the fitness. Would also be nice to drop a few years off my age. Nothing quite like waking up sore and thirty and then having to go to work...
Not much else to say. So lets confirm if this post mechanism is returned.
3
2
1
...
Tired from two largish nights in a row topping off a sport-billy week. A slow sunday will ensue as the sore muscles and sleep deprivation combine to make lethargy the number one activity. Will have to eventually leave the flat, as I have to go to chemist to find painkillers for the headache. Damn it all!
So, yeah, the week was a sporting one. Had Badminton on Tuesday, Rock climbing on Wednesday and BASKETBALL on Thursday. My whole body is a wreck of stressed muscles and tendons. But I'm much happier for it. Thinking of repeating the whole exercise next week...
I've never climbed before (except for one form three camp I can hardly remember). Was thinking it would be all about ropes and belays and harnesses, but was surprised with the sole activity I pursued - bouldering. It's ridiculously hard and I'm incredibly poor at it, but when my lack of skill combines with a simple course and I actually climb to the top, the sense of achievement is amazing. I plan to do it again, that is if my arms and hands ever regain a semblance of strength...
The climbing centre is a bit of a local landmark round these parts. It's called the castle and it was once a water pumping station for London water supply. If you're interested you can check out this picture of it (thanks wiki!). And if you follow the links back to the forwarding pages you'll even get a bit of the history of area in which I'm currently living; Stoke Newington/Dalston.
Anyway the return to basketball, oh it was good. Played for damn near three hours, which was fun for allowing me to watch my own skill and stamina ebb as I became more and more tired. It was a thorough workout, and left me feeling as if I remembered enough of the game to want to play it again properly. Just need to work on the fitness. Would also be nice to drop a few years off my age. Nothing quite like waking up sore and thirty and then having to go to work...
Not much else to say. So lets confirm if this post mechanism is returned.
3
2
1
...
01 August 2006
What is going on?
I'm having difficulty. The e-mail to blog thing seems broken. I've lost the measly three posts that I've tried to write since the 12th of July. And I don't know why! It is currently residing in the too difficult basket. Till I fix it I guess I'll have to resort to trying from within blogger.com.
So what has been going on? Well work for one. A co-wo got fired the other day. I'm VERY pissed off about it, because it wasn't justifiable for the reasons that they gave (it might have been justifiable for others they did not give - I'm not sure). But it just wasn't justifiable, and worse it was the inevitable outcome of some extremely poor management finally jumping on an opportunity, no matter how un-justifiable it was, to rid themselves of a staff member they no longer wanted.
And I'm pissed off about it. It is an illustration of how bad the management is at my work; how they approach problem staff, the quality of their decision making abilities in dealing with difficulties and worst of all the trumped up buzz they evidently gained from the whole business. The look on the fresh-faced management involved after the 'affair' was enough to make me want to ball my fist and ram it down their fucken throats.
In the process I've lost a friend at work, any last respect for the 'senior' management, and any desire to continue to do good work in the role for anyone but me. Unfortunately I can't let up my depraved profesionalism and actually do a bad job. I really want to, but every time I find myself cutting corners and shirking responsability, it hurts me. Yeah, so work is difficult at the moment.
--
I need to lighten this post before I think too much about work. I'll therefore try an experiment:
Hypothesis;
Sidonia is not accepting posts.
Null-Hypothesis;
This post or other avenues will create posts at Sidonia.
Therefore, if I see this post on Sidonia soon, I'll try to post a funny picture through Picassa (and lighten my load) and this will give me confidence that the next three e-mail to blog posts will NOT be eaten by the mysterious internet.
Lets see on the other side of this! ...
So what has been going on? Well work for one. A co-wo got fired the other day. I'm VERY pissed off about it, because it wasn't justifiable for the reasons that they gave (it might have been justifiable for others they did not give - I'm not sure). But it just wasn't justifiable, and worse it was the inevitable outcome of some extremely poor management finally jumping on an opportunity, no matter how un-justifiable it was, to rid themselves of a staff member they no longer wanted.
And I'm pissed off about it. It is an illustration of how bad the management is at my work; how they approach problem staff, the quality of their decision making abilities in dealing with difficulties and worst of all the trumped up buzz they evidently gained from the whole business. The look on the fresh-faced management involved after the 'affair' was enough to make me want to ball my fist and ram it down their fucken throats.
In the process I've lost a friend at work, any last respect for the 'senior' management, and any desire to continue to do good work in the role for anyone but me. Unfortunately I can't let up my depraved profesionalism and actually do a bad job. I really want to, but every time I find myself cutting corners and shirking responsability, it hurts me. Yeah, so work is difficult at the moment.
--
I need to lighten this post before I think too much about work. I'll therefore try an experiment:
Hypothesis;
Sidonia is not accepting posts.
Null-Hypothesis;
This post or other avenues will create posts at Sidonia.
Therefore, if I see this post on Sidonia soon, I'll try to post a funny picture through Picassa (and lighten my load) and this will give me confidence that the next three e-mail to blog posts will NOT be eaten by the mysterious internet.
Lets see on the other side of this! ...
13 July 2006
fucked off
all work related, for which I feel shouldn't tell you. but I am. Well fucked off.
--
At home. Alone. A leprechaun has stolen the S and left me the man-in-charge. I think there was a program out there called that. I'm not living in a sitcom though. For the above reasons. Grr!
--
Speaking of sit-somethings, I've been watching Prison Break on the olde computer. It's OK. Addictive but nothing special. Seriously fucked off with a scene in episode 12 where a rubbish bag plugged a two foot hole against a 20 foot high water pressure. Fuck Off!
In fact the whole set up can be surmised by 'The Incredible Machine meets Apollo 13' - An intricate, highly thought-out and well executed plan is hit by an asteroid that should have been blown up by a nuclear warhead delivered by Ben Affleck and Bruce Willis, but before you panic, don't worry it'll all be right on the night (of the execution).
Aim to get a hold on the remaining episodes soon to knock this bastard off the must-watch tv (oxymoron?) list being bandied around at the mo.
--
The sweet sounds are heaven. Even Bob D's 'Oxford Town' ain't too discordant these days (I find this song strangely UK appropriate cause I have a fucked up word-association=happy brain connectivity thingamajig). So good to come home and thrash something that makes you happy instead of fearing that the laptop will shake itself to bits (the shitty speakers of which have previously provided the sounds).
In a
bopping
to the sounds
kitchen meets MAN
moment, I cooked myself dinner. In the understanding that a) I'm poor, b) cheap & c) skinny - I've taken it as a personal challenge to:
EAT THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF THE FRIDGE (TM)
[DISCLAIMER: 1, in a vaguely healthy kind of way 2, in the time remaining between now and when S comes back (I want her to think I cleaned the fridge!)]
In fact, I started yesterday. I had a block of tofu bbbd* of 11 JUL 06, therefore in DIRE need of eating. I ate it. I ate it good.
Fried, coated in rice flour (very effective soft-tofu batter!). I had 1/3rd block of the fried stuff left as entree tonight, and added to it:
1 Med-Large Courgette
3 Cloves of Garlic
3 Fat RED THAI chillies
3 small spring onions
1 small (slightly manky) pack of asparagus
[* Note * "Don't die just yet" David Holmes = Rocks...]
Anyway stir-fried the above after giving the garlic, chillies and spring onions the once-over with the mortar and pestle (the NEW Chef's Mate!). Delicious and hot and vaguely healthy. This leaves:
1 courgette, 1.5 cucumbers, (now) 3 beers, ~100g Stilton cheese, 50g budget cheese, 2 eggs, 1 small bunch of coriander, 2 green peppers, 1 lettuce, fresh ginger, 1 tube tomato paste, a couple of cherry tomatoes, an assortment of pickles and dressings (incl. salad cream (it tastes sooooooo good with chili sambal...) 0.75 loaf of bread, 0.5 small container of marge AND about 50 assorted green and red chillies...
I think that the pain rating of the meals over the next few day might out score the taste!
Wish me lcuk.
Fcuk.
Hcuck
!
--
At home. Alone. A leprechaun has stolen the S and left me the man-in-charge. I think there was a program out there called that. I'm not living in a sitcom though. For the above reasons. Grr!
--
Speaking of sit-somethings, I've been watching Prison Break on the olde computer. It's OK. Addictive but nothing special. Seriously fucked off with a scene in episode 12 where a rubbish bag plugged a two foot hole against a 20 foot high water pressure. Fuck Off!
In fact the whole set up can be surmised by 'The Incredible Machine meets Apollo 13' - An intricate, highly thought-out and well executed plan is hit by an asteroid that should have been blown up by a nuclear warhead delivered by Ben Affleck and Bruce Willis, but before you panic, don't worry it'll all be right on the night (of the execution).
Aim to get a hold on the remaining episodes soon to knock this bastard off the must-watch tv (oxymoron?) list being bandied around at the mo.
--
The sweet sounds are heaven. Even Bob D's 'Oxford Town' ain't too discordant these days (I find this song strangely UK appropriate cause I have a fucked up word-association=happy brain connectivity thingamajig). So good to come home and thrash something that makes you happy instead of fearing that the laptop will shake itself to bits (the shitty speakers of which have previously provided the sounds).
In a
bopping
to the sounds
kitchen meets MAN
moment, I cooked myself dinner. In the understanding that a) I'm poor, b) cheap & c) skinny - I've taken it as a personal challenge to:
EAT THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF THE FRIDGE (TM)
[DISCLAIMER: 1, in a vaguely healthy kind of way 2, in the time remaining between now and when S comes back (I want her to think I cleaned the fridge!)]
In fact, I started yesterday. I had a block of tofu bbbd* of 11 JUL 06, therefore in DIRE need of eating. I ate it. I ate it good.
Fried, coated in rice flour (very effective soft-tofu batter!). I had 1/3rd block of the fried stuff left as entree tonight, and added to it:
1 Med-Large Courgette
3 Cloves of Garlic
3 Fat RED THAI chillies
3 small spring onions
1 small (slightly manky) pack of asparagus
[* Note * "Don't die just yet" David Holmes = Rocks...]
Anyway stir-fried the above after giving the garlic, chillies and spring onions the once-over with the mortar and pestle (the NEW Chef's Mate!). Delicious and hot and vaguely healthy. This leaves:
1 courgette, 1.5 cucumbers, (now) 3 beers, ~100g Stilton cheese, 50g budget cheese, 2 eggs, 1 small bunch of coriander, 2 green peppers, 1 lettuce, fresh ginger, 1 tube tomato paste, a couple of cherry tomatoes, an assortment of pickles and dressings (incl. salad cream (it tastes sooooooo good with chili sambal...) 0.75 loaf of bread, 0.5 small container of marge AND about 50 assorted green and red chillies...
I think that the pain rating of the meals over the next few day might out score the taste!
Wish me lcuk.
Fcuk.
Hcuck
!
11 July 2006
The jinx!
Gave myself a dose of the jinx today with my NOT want towards work. Train was late on the way to work and I came THIS close on the local station to saying fuck the money and walking home and calling in sick.
Not that I'd have been paid for it. I signed a contract where my work is poorly paid, sick leave isn't covered, I get no bonuses at all and I still have to give notice that I'm going to take time off. I wouldn't stick with it if it were not for the poorly pay. I need every last cent. Grrr!
Anyway, late, unimpressed and slightly hungover (the three day kind of hangover - you know, the slow ache in the pit of your stomach and full body realisation of the punishment you've recently been giving it) at work to find a heavy schedule of work and bullshit meetings interrupting the productivity process.
So I stayed late to finish up and complete my precious 'billable' hours. And leaving late from work, I find that the rail network is still in flux and I get to wait another 30 minutes going nowhere. I tell you some Mondays just ain't worth waking for.
--
Fortunately, I've not let the work and transport issues impede my life-o-solo. And I made good on my promise to hang out with JJ and book with him a boys weekend away. That's done now and I'm home blasting Hurt out of the surprisingly loud little speakers I ordered off Amazon in a rash display of my earning potential. The trip that's lined up should be fun. It is going to be cheap enough and happily sandwiched in the Friday after 4pm to Sunday midnight slot of NOT interrupting my 'billable' hours.
--
JJs got a set of scales at the flat. The digital kind, one tap to turn it on, large LCD screen etc. etc. which appeals to my gadget needs. It says that I weigh a lot less than I thought, especially given all the bloody beer I've ended up drinking in this place. I'd not trust the scales, except other users seem to think they are bang on (maybe we are all delusional). If they are right I've never been less substantial than I am right now!
I think I'm mirroring this insubstantiality in many facets of my life right now.
...
Not that I'd have been paid for it. I signed a contract where my work is poorly paid, sick leave isn't covered, I get no bonuses at all and I still have to give notice that I'm going to take time off. I wouldn't stick with it if it were not for the poorly pay. I need every last cent. Grrr!
Anyway, late, unimpressed and slightly hungover (the three day kind of hangover - you know, the slow ache in the pit of your stomach and full body realisation of the punishment you've recently been giving it) at work to find a heavy schedule of work and bullshit meetings interrupting the productivity process.
So I stayed late to finish up and complete my precious 'billable' hours. And leaving late from work, I find that the rail network is still in flux and I get to wait another 30 minutes going nowhere. I tell you some Mondays just ain't worth waking for.
--
Fortunately, I've not let the work and transport issues impede my life-o-solo. And I made good on my promise to hang out with JJ and book with him a boys weekend away. That's done now and I'm home blasting Hurt out of the surprisingly loud little speakers I ordered off Amazon in a rash display of my earning potential. The trip that's lined up should be fun. It is going to be cheap enough and happily sandwiched in the Friday after 4pm to Sunday midnight slot of NOT interrupting my 'billable' hours.
--
JJs got a set of scales at the flat. The digital kind, one tap to turn it on, large LCD screen etc. etc. which appeals to my gadget needs. It says that I weigh a lot less than I thought, especially given all the bloody beer I've ended up drinking in this place. I'd not trust the scales, except other users seem to think they are bang on (maybe we are all delusional). If they are right I've never been less substantial than I am right now!
I think I'm mirroring this insubstantiality in many facets of my life right now.
...
10 July 2006
grumble
I really do NOT want to go to work today!
*grumble, grumble, mutter*
Have the house to myself for the next week, so aim to surf the internet in peace and write the occasional post. Keep a lookout...
*grumble, grumble, mutter*
Have the house to myself for the next week, so aim to surf the internet in peace and write the occasional post. Keep a lookout...
29 June 2006
Break
Walking home from the train, I got snuck up upon by my afternoon nemesis. Yes, I'm being stalked by a deaf 100 year old paedophilic ice-cream pusher. How do I know he is deaf I hear you ask? Well you might assume that wrinkly old fuckers made a bad impression on me once, and that I'm bringing every last one of my anti-old-people stereotypes to bear on him; hence he is old, paedophilic, toothless, wrinkled, worthless, deaf etc. etc. But that is not entirely the case.
No this malicious fucker, is deaf because of his modus. He sneaks up with his ice cream on unsuspecting children and plays them the moving tune of "come get a snow-cone" in a Gary Glitter-esque grooming kind of way. Every-freaking-day!
And judging by the VOLUME that the bastard now plays this tune, I'd suspect that the last vestiges of his senile hearing have long since vanished, blown away by the MEGAPHONE styled speakers BLASTING the oft'licked, never beaten tunes.
Given this, you may well ask how this could possible sneak up on me. I'll explain...
It all started in Florence, Italy, this Sunday passed. Awaking from a drunken slumber, the Sunday resolved into a 35+ degree clear sky day. The only pressing engagement? A swim in the villa's pool, a leisurely lunch and a relaxed return to London via Bologna where the cheap flight advocates Ryan Air fly from... Bologna? Hardly. At 70 kms distant, Bologna, Fiore can hardly be called B O L O G N A!
It started at about 2pm with a 45 minute drive to the Florence Station, thanks to the handy get-to-and-fro hired car the organisers of our little Italian soiree had hired. It was efficient, air-conditioned and on time. It didn't get any better than that.
Que Florence Stazione Centrale (actually is called something else but my Italian's limited, so bear with me). Sunday. We had no tickets. There seemed to be thousands of others in the same position. Fuck...
It took an hour and a half, three ques, multiple swear words and a few free Nesteas (Limone flavour) to work out that the next available train was the only non-EuroStar inter-city at 6.30. That meant arrival in Bologna at least an hour and a bit later, leaving us preciously short of time to traverse the 70 or so kms I've previously mentioned between the city and the CHEAP airport... Needless to say that the overbooked train packed with Italians, sans air conditioning (on account of the fact it was broken), got us in late, too late for the 10 euro a ticket for a last-bus-to-cheap-airport bus. Fuck...
A quick internet mission dispelled the option of aborting the cheap flight in favor of another , easier to get to cheap flight. They didn't exist. In fact I can think of ways of hemorrhaging money cheaper than the prices of some of the alternative tickets that were optioned for us in our quick search. That left us the taxi option. And that would have been fine, it was air conditioned, it was fast, it was so fast in fact it clawed its way back in the past to make up for some of the train's lateness. It also cost the earth. Fuck...
And to help the ongoing saga, our arrival at the check-in counter, just before closure, was met with helpful PA announcement that we'd better clear security asap. Hurriedly we were patted-down, our bags were scanned and we rushed to the waiting room only to find a helpful LCD screen at the gate flashing a very unsettling "Delayed". Fuck...
The knock on effect was comical. Our plane didn't land to pick us up till well over an hour late. That meant that we didn't have a change in hell of catching the last Stansted Express. Which meant that we'd be taking the bus, a helpful alternative given the news rushing around the other waiting passengers that the M-whatever-the-fucking-number highway to London was closed due to an accident. But that ended up being OK cause we were SO late that Stansted Airport itself decided to shut itself down for maintenance 10 minutes before our updated arrival time was due to land there. So we got diverted to Luton. Luton? Yeah, well I've got no idea where that is either! Fuck...
To cut a long story shorter that the actual 15 and a half hours it took us to get home, we did--get home. It was late. Or early. Depends on your perspective I guess. Either way I had to get up FAR TOO SOON after falling asleep to go to work. I haven't caught up yet. In fact I'm in a daze, and it is precisely that daze that allowed the ice-cream truck to sneaky-sneak up on me. Fuck...
No this malicious fucker, is deaf because of his modus. He sneaks up with his ice cream on unsuspecting children and plays them the moving tune of "come get a snow-cone" in a Gary Glitter-esque grooming kind of way. Every-freaking-day!
And judging by the VOLUME that the bastard now plays this tune, I'd suspect that the last vestiges of his senile hearing have long since vanished, blown away by the MEGAPHONE styled speakers BLASTING the oft'licked, never beaten tunes.
Given this, you may well ask how this could possible sneak up on me. I'll explain...
It all started in Florence, Italy, this Sunday passed. Awaking from a drunken slumber, the Sunday resolved into a 35+ degree clear sky day. The only pressing engagement? A swim in the villa's pool, a leisurely lunch and a relaxed return to London via Bologna where the cheap flight advocates Ryan Air fly from... Bologna? Hardly. At 70 kms distant, Bologna, Fiore can hardly be called B O L O G N A!
It started at about 2pm with a 45 minute drive to the Florence Station, thanks to the handy get-to-and-fro hired car the organisers of our little Italian soiree had hired. It was efficient, air-conditioned and on time. It didn't get any better than that.
Que Florence Stazione Centrale (actually is called something else but my Italian's limited, so bear with me). Sunday. We had no tickets. There seemed to be thousands of others in the same position. Fuck...
It took an hour and a half, three ques, multiple swear words and a few free Nesteas (Limone flavour) to work out that the next available train was the only non-EuroStar inter-city at 6.30. That meant arrival in Bologna at least an hour and a bit later, leaving us preciously short of time to traverse the 70 or so kms I've previously mentioned between the city and the CHEAP airport... Needless to say that the overbooked train packed with Italians, sans air conditioning (on account of the fact it was broken), got us in late, too late for the 10 euro a ticket for a last-bus-to-cheap-airport bus. Fuck...
A quick internet mission dispelled the option of aborting the cheap flight in favor of another , easier to get to cheap flight. They didn't exist. In fact I can think of ways of hemorrhaging money cheaper than the prices of some of the alternative tickets that were optioned for us in our quick search. That left us the taxi option. And that would have been fine, it was air conditioned, it was fast, it was so fast in fact it clawed its way back in the past to make up for some of the train's lateness. It also cost the earth. Fuck...
And to help the ongoing saga, our arrival at the check-in counter, just before closure, was met with helpful PA announcement that we'd better clear security asap. Hurriedly we were patted-down, our bags were scanned and we rushed to the waiting room only to find a helpful LCD screen at the gate flashing a very unsettling "Delayed". Fuck...
The knock on effect was comical. Our plane didn't land to pick us up till well over an hour late. That meant that we didn't have a change in hell of catching the last Stansted Express. Which meant that we'd be taking the bus, a helpful alternative given the news rushing around the other waiting passengers that the M-whatever-the-fucking-number highway to London was closed due to an accident. But that ended up being OK cause we were SO late that Stansted Airport itself decided to shut itself down for maintenance 10 minutes before our updated arrival time was due to land there. So we got diverted to Luton. Luton? Yeah, well I've got no idea where that is either! Fuck...
To cut a long story shorter that the actual 15 and a half hours it took us to get home, we did--get home. It was late. Or early. Depends on your perspective I guess. Either way I had to get up FAR TOO SOON after falling asleep to go to work. I haven't caught up yet. In fact I'm in a daze, and it is precisely that daze that allowed the ice-cream truck to sneaky-sneak up on me. Fuck...
18 June 2006
LOST, Cricket.
Caught up with the final episodes of LOST Season 2 a week or so ago, and am pleased to report that there is enough 'hanging' to make me want to catch up with the Season 3 when is airs later this year. In fact the final cut scene was for me the most interesting of the season. Though undoubtedly it will create yet another season's worth of material to explore and un-resolve...
I'm not sure why LOST is 24 episodes long easch season. It doesn't need to be. It should be shorter, and give better pace to the action. Like I've said before the slow-motion montages should be cut and and lo the season could be dropped to a more managable 20 episodes or less..
Speaking of long losses, played a game of cricket for the first time in about 12 years. It was a work organised 20/20 game. We lost. I batted (scored 13 - lucky for some) and bowled (I opened an unrewarded 4 overs for 22 runs). In all I was a 9 run deficit for the team. Games as long as cricket shouldn't have statistics. All that time and I amounted to -9. Silly game. It did make me thirsty for a G&T. Awfully brittish...
I'm not sure why LOST is 24 episodes long easch season. It doesn't need to be. It should be shorter, and give better pace to the action. Like I've said before the slow-motion montages should be cut and and lo the season could be dropped to a more managable 20 episodes or less..
Speaking of long losses, played a game of cricket for the first time in about 12 years. It was a work organised 20/20 game. We lost. I batted (scored 13 - lucky for some) and bowled (I opened an unrewarded 4 overs for 22 runs). In all I was a 9 run deficit for the team. Games as long as cricket shouldn't have statistics. All that time and I amounted to -9. Silly game. It did make me thirsty for a G&T. Awfully brittish...
02 June 2006
broken links
Sorry, have been away -- an enforced absence due to the bloody computer failing to maintain stability and a coherent registry file. Wasn't exactly the perpetual "blue screen of death'', but it was a terminal issue that is ONLY just resolving itself; that is if the bloody Windows Update does its stuff and installs stuff instead of crashing. Helpfuly the MSN messenger icon has appeared (I wonder if through a successful update) which is odd given that the registry file corrupted trying to install MSN a couple of weeks ago.
Anyway, this combined with the fact that the NEW JOB (now over a month old) won't let a) personal cell phones b) private web browsing c) private e-mail and d) spare time (I'm perpetually busy doing NOTHING) I feel as if there are MANY more broken links out there that I need to reinstall.
Slowly folks, slowly. First I gotta stop talking like a bloody computer!
Anyway, this combined with the fact that the NEW JOB (now over a month old) won't let a) personal cell phones b) private web browsing c) private e-mail and d) spare time (I'm perpetually busy doing NOTHING) I feel as if there are MANY more broken links out there that I need to reinstall.
Slowly folks, slowly. First I gotta stop talking like a bloody computer!
13 May 2006
Pay dirt...
yes, the pay is dirt, but at least the dirt came through, in its meager trowel sized shovel, today.
and with it i'm off. yes, 'tis sal's dirt-h-bay next week and to celebrate we are off to italia. yay! first continental excursion is afoot. will write post the event to tell you just how much fun it all was. i'm looking forward to good coffee and pesto. fyi the location is cinque terre wherever the feck that is (poor sal had to organise her own travelling birthday this year!).
and that reminds me, a year ago on the 7th of may, we left NZ. fuck me time flies. this time last year we were in Bali, heading for Flores, drinking arak, sweet&nasty arak...
quick shout out to the NZ folk who will gather in my absence this weekend at Rumpletron. stiltskin!
have a bottle of piper-heidsieck (a perk from bar work) to drink in celebration of the upcoming holiday, so i'm off to sozzle. wishing you all well.
and with it i'm off. yes, 'tis sal's dirt-h-bay next week and to celebrate we are off to italia. yay! first continental excursion is afoot. will write post the event to tell you just how much fun it all was. i'm looking forward to good coffee and pesto. fyi the location is cinque terre wherever the feck that is (poor sal had to organise her own travelling birthday this year!).
and that reminds me, a year ago on the 7th of may, we left NZ. fuck me time flies. this time last year we were in Bali, heading for Flores, drinking arak, sweet&nasty arak...
quick shout out to the NZ folk who will gather in my absence this weekend at Rumpletron. stiltskin!
have a bottle of piper-heidsieck (a perk from bar work) to drink in celebration of the upcoming holiday, so i'm off to sozzle. wishing you all well.
05 May 2006
I got paid!
Thank the sweet-sweet capitalistic Lord, I got paid this morning! I might just have to celebrate by drinking most of it...
Lost Season 2 Episode 12
For want of not revealing MASSIVE spoilers I'll just ask this wee question.
wtf?
wtf?
22 April 2006
Lubricated
Well currently felling as though communication is divine (pigphone - sadly all google searches for the old party site have long since vanished) and am mentally well lubricated because of My Best Friend's chat that has just concluded and in which games of Rock Paper Scissors were played over the distance of half the world (wtf?) and that was also fuelled by a whiskey or two. It is after 2pm so hey, what the hell.
Anyway I thought I'd get back on the blog and type random shit. Last day of unemployment. Shit.
Am listening to The Fragile by NIN and am reminded by my earlier post of the Neuromancer film preparative work that I carried out in my head many moons ago. I was hoping to get Trent to do the music, but well, seeing as it was a theoretical exercise anyway decided that he was on board anyway. So it was great to think about the music for Neuromancer the movie a la NIN, and then it quickly became a compilation album with Neuromancer themed music that I put out on my own record label under some fucked up DJ handle like Lupus Wonderboy or some such something.
Daydreams ARE free!
Anyway I got it down to a two-disc compilation. First disc appropriately titled 'The Sprawl' would kick off with the excellent NIN instrumental 'A warm place', replete with its wasp hums and atmospheric build up and would then lead straight into 'Eraser'. The shot for the credits that opened with it (sadly cliched) are already penned in a notebook somewhere and play in my head whenever those two songs play side by side. Second disc notable tracks on the 'Freeside' (fuck I'm a geek) CD would be The Nomad's version of 'For the Love of It' which has this beautiful build-up that I always equate with Case's departure from Morocco to wake plugged into a terminal in space with hypoderm's in his arm and drum'n'bass piping LOUD through headphones, his heart only just having survived the flat line...
The other notable, is David Holmes 'Don't die just yet' which for many many many reason is SO appropriate for Armitage's death scene. The sonar ping just fits the scene so well and the atmosphere of the music is totally tragic mirroring the way that Case reacts.
And this is the mental space that I go to when I'm having fun and thinking of HOME. It is scary that stuff like this, unrealised and creative and so meaningful (to me), only ever exerts itself when I feel connected to the world and my place in it. That is exactly why I love Neuromancer. It makes me feel connected to this earth. I have no idea why. And I guess that is why I love coming back to it whenever I've done something that reassures my faith that I'm not about to fly off the face of this world, inconsequential and void.
And of course I'd be thinking NONE of these thoughts at all if it weren't for alcohol. Don't even get me started about that. I'm for another dong. Probably won't even remember any of this. That is the devil.
--
"Don't die.." is playing in the background and soaring like it was meant to in its stuttered climaxes...
Anyway I thought I'd get back on the blog and type random shit. Last day of unemployment. Shit.
Am listening to The Fragile by NIN and am reminded by my earlier post of the Neuromancer film preparative work that I carried out in my head many moons ago. I was hoping to get Trent to do the music, but well, seeing as it was a theoretical exercise anyway decided that he was on board anyway. So it was great to think about the music for Neuromancer the movie a la NIN, and then it quickly became a compilation album with Neuromancer themed music that I put out on my own record label under some fucked up DJ handle like Lupus Wonderboy or some such something.
Daydreams ARE free!
Anyway I got it down to a two-disc compilation. First disc appropriately titled 'The Sprawl' would kick off with the excellent NIN instrumental 'A warm place', replete with its wasp hums and atmospheric build up and would then lead straight into 'Eraser'. The shot for the credits that opened with it (sadly cliched) are already penned in a notebook somewhere and play in my head whenever those two songs play side by side. Second disc notable tracks on the 'Freeside' (fuck I'm a geek) CD would be The Nomad's version of 'For the Love of It' which has this beautiful build-up that I always equate with Case's departure from Morocco to wake plugged into a terminal in space with hypoderm's in his arm and drum'n'bass piping LOUD through headphones, his heart only just having survived the flat line...
The other notable, is David Holmes 'Don't die just yet' which for many many many reason is SO appropriate for Armitage's death scene. The sonar ping just fits the scene so well and the atmosphere of the music is totally tragic mirroring the way that Case reacts.
And this is the mental space that I go to when I'm having fun and thinking of HOME. It is scary that stuff like this, unrealised and creative and so meaningful (to me), only ever exerts itself when I feel connected to the world and my place in it. That is exactly why I love Neuromancer. It makes me feel connected to this earth. I have no idea why. And I guess that is why I love coming back to it whenever I've done something that reassures my faith that I'm not about to fly off the face of this world, inconsequential and void.
And of course I'd be thinking NONE of these thoughts at all if it weren't for alcohol. Don't even get me started about that. I'm for another dong. Probably won't even remember any of this. That is the devil.
--
"Don't die.." is playing in the background and soaring like it was meant to in its stuttered climaxes...
21 April 2006
NZ Called
Whoopee!
NZ called, sounded fantastic, made me miss them and then told me to buck up my 'oh woe is me' ideas about life the universe and everything. So now I am charged with enthusiasm for the new job and London and everything. But then of course she spoiled it by signing off with a "come home before Feb '07" comment. Conflicting advice there Acting Manager! Sort that shit out before the worker bees mutiny.
Oh and instead of your gratitude journal, I've decided on a gratitude journ-cal, daily entries along the lines of:
Cal rocks the party, Oh she rocks the party,
Cal rocks the party, Oh she rocks the party,
etc., etc....
--
You know what?
Cal rocks the parteeeeee!
--
And special shout out the Captian Kes whose e-mail (in response to a whine) brightened my day immensely.
And to Matt (c) who doesn't read this but will be chatting with me tomorrow thanks to google!
And generally being unemployed WITH purpose. Life is all good.
--
Finally I agree that NZ is the place and I will be there soon enough. Till then I'm off to make the most of the UK and beyond.
NZ called, sounded fantastic, made me miss them and then told me to buck up my 'oh woe is me' ideas about life the universe and everything. So now I am charged with enthusiasm for the new job and London and everything. But then of course she spoiled it by signing off with a "come home before Feb '07" comment. Conflicting advice there Acting Manager! Sort that shit out before the worker bees mutiny.
Oh and instead of your gratitude journal, I've decided on a gratitude journ-cal, daily entries along the lines of:
Cal rocks the party, Oh she rocks the party,
Cal rocks the party, Oh she rocks the party,
etc., etc....
--
You know what?
Cal rocks the parteeeeee!
--
And special shout out the Captian Kes whose e-mail (in response to a whine) brightened my day immensely.
And to Matt (c) who doesn't read this but will be chatting with me tomorrow thanks to google!
And generally being unemployed WITH purpose. Life is all good.
--
Finally I agree that NZ is the place and I will be there soon enough. Till then I'm off to make the most of the UK and beyond.
20 April 2006
Pooh
...to Lost Season 2 Episode 19.
Pooh! And not a cool Pooh like a honey loving fellow neither!
Though confirmation of a Jin/Sun conflict is of interest...
--
I need to sleep but just can't quite be fucked.
--
Have been boozing. Am quite wasted. In a very lucid and awake kid of way.
--
Can't wait to hear from NZ. Come on NZ. Call! I'll be sober 10pm NZ time...
Pooh! And not a cool Pooh like a honey loving fellow neither!
Though confirmation of a Jin/Sun conflict is of interest...
--
I need to sleep but just can't quite be fucked.
--
Have been boozing. Am quite wasted. In a very lucid and awake kid of way.
--
Can't wait to hear from NZ. Come on NZ. Call! I'll be sober 10pm NZ time...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)