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Tuesday, September 18th, 2007
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1:33 pm - I will write somthing proper soon...
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Bur in the meantime, here is something that ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) hg253 posted, and since I am soon to be starting a real job I thought it interesting to see how my career path rated with their questions...
1. Go to Career Cruising, www.careercruising.com
2. Put in Username: nycareers and Password: landmark.
3. Take their "Career Matchmaker" questions.
4. Post the top twenty results
5. Put the careers you have seriously considered in bold
- Lobbyist
- Criminologist
- Personal Financial Planner (some connection to job)
- Communications Specialist
- Public Policy Analyst
- Activist
- Political Aide
- Market Research Analyst
- Print Journalist
- Writer
- Translator
- Critic
- Professor
- Human Resources Specialist
- Auditor (some aspect involved in the job)
- Economic Development Officer
- Certified Public Accountant (job I am taking)
- Legal Secretary
- Corporate / Commercial Lawyer
- Actuary (job that would be cool and still have application pending on, but unlikely to take)
Now, I am off to sort out the scary amount of stuff in my room, and then post some mail, and at some point have a shower...
current mood: messy
current music: Tegan and Sara - Dancing in the Dark (playing)
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| Sunday, May 20th, 2007
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12:05 pm - Chris' lookalikes
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So, Chris wanted to change his profile picture, so I thought I'd see which celebrity he looked like... As always, poor results, but funny...
current mood:  okay
current music: Tom McRae - Got A Suitcase, Got Regrets (playing)
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| Monday, May 14th, 2007
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8:28 pm - Flash in a frame...
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Ok, I've been meaning to do this for a while, but I finally got round to making a photomosaic... the pictures are from:
Which I am sure you will agree is an interesting set of films to choose, and are primarily based on the ones that I had easily available... there are two pictures, one of me alone, and the other of a group at the Summer Ball last year...
Hope you like them, if so make one yourself using AndreaMosaic, just in case you are wondering, I think I had about 100-120 frames along the top, each 100 pixels wide, I had 5000 frames from each film, and only a 10% variance in the frame (I tried it at 30% and the picture looked better but the frames didn't look like the film)... anyway, just give it a try... then use Zoomify EZ to display the picture...
And in a homage to Where's Wally? since the one of the films feature nudity, in the mosaics there is nudity... probably multiple times, I only know where one of the frame(s) are...
Oh, and Justin, you may have to temporarily use Flash... sorry about that...
current mood:  full
current music: Broken Social Scene - Windsurfing Nation (playing)
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| Tuesday, May 1st, 2007
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4:44 pm - Homoeopathy is not science
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Ok, so I'm in a bad mood today. There's nothing unusual there. But now I'm fucking livid...
I was doing Prospects careers doo-dah, where you key in your interests and it recommends jobs... and it came up as one of the better matches with 'homoeopath', one of the reasons being that I said I would like science to play a major role in my job, and science plays a major role in the job of 'homoeopath'. The only answer to that is, 'DOES IT BOLLOCKS!!!'
current mood: dissillusioned
current music: A Camp - Walking the Cow (playing)
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11:56 am - Hide from the world...
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So I'm wondering how, amongst all the myriad of moods on LJ there is not one that says this...
Quoting over and over again The Flaming Lips lyric, "We're not gonna make it"... but really wanting to be quoting Cat Stevens', "Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy"...
well maybe without the old part... but the closest I can get is discontent, I think that depressed may be accurate but it is probably a bit harsh for a 'wake up in the morning' mood...
current mood:  discontent
current music: Natalie Imbruglia - On the Run (playing)
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| Tuesday, April 24th, 2007
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12:10 am - The Ambassador of Chocolates...
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Giant Ferrero Rocher... this is what I do with my time... but on the plus side, I can now tick on of my to-do in life items off...
current mood:  bouncy
current music: too busy uploading photos to put any on...
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| Saturday, April 21st, 2007
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12:19 am - An abuse of power...
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I know it is highly unusual to suddenly get on my high horse and rant on a news story that i have seen, spouting my polemic vitriol... or maybe a phrase that I understand that makes sense... but having watched Newsnight Review tonight I couldn't help it...
Orion are bringing out 6 books... compact editions... great books that can be read in half the time... basically it turns out that the work of Dickens, Tolstoy, Melville, Thackeray, Elliot, Gaskell is just, well, too much. Almost half is unnecessary padding. Ok, I admit that I haven't read any of the books they are abusing abridging, but from similar books that I have read the style, the majesty, the essence of the book is not just the story, it is the way it is revealed, and whilst I read Jane Eyre by skim-reading passages, I re-read other bits, and the choices were mine. I have no desire for someone to expurgate a work for me just because it is long. Sometimes the length, the meander is part of the beauty. Anyone who has ever read Gulliver's Travels and then seen filmed versions that just contain Lilliput and Brobdingnag will accept that to leave editing to others is just asking for trouble, and whilst I am certain that these versions will not bastardise to such an extent, I am sure that on reading them people who have read the original will despair at the loss of a distinct vivid description, or sweeping and creeping narrative development, a loss of pace and atmosphere is almost guaranteed... and well that's it... I need to sleep... I just needed to get some of that off my chest... A proper entry sometime soon...
By the way Amy, Jane Eyre follows later...
current mood:  angry
current music: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - O Children (playing)
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| Sunday, April 15th, 2007
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10:45 pm - Coffee - because sometimes even chocolate is not enough...
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So, for one reason or another I was distracted for the past few days, I'm good at that, it's a skill, anyway, I found myself today perusing the Myers Briggs type tests that are out there. As normal I came out as reasonably certain INF and then somewhat ambiguous J or P... or in normal language, Introverted, iNtuitive, Feeling, then Judging or Perceiving... which according to one page (for INFJ) means that I would, perhaps, be suited to:
- Designer
- Writer/editor
- Trainer
- Counsellor...
and the other (for INFP), suggests:
- Accountant/auditor/banker/economist
- Teacher
- Assistant (what the hell is that?)...
of course that only means what my personality is suited to, not necessarily what I may be good at... if I bothered to pay for this account I would not have put a little poll, however 1) I am cheap, and 2) I don't really think that many people read this for any results to be worthwhile, but if you have an opinion then leave a comment...
Meanwhile... sorry, I had something else to write but I have no idea what, I got distracted by the repeated refrain of 'Please just save me from this darkness', which is a haunting if depressing mantra to be hearing...
I think introspection is now required...
current mood:  contemplative
current music: Snow Patrol - Make This Go on Forever (playing)
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| Saturday, April 7th, 2007
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3:25 pm - Generic update of missing days
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Ok, it's been a while. I shall try to be succinct whilst still conveying the depth of knowledge that people demand. I shall maintain my witty prose style, but hopefully apply a sense of brevity that will no bore the reader... With these things in mind, I shall be omitting all vowels, and removing any unnecessary adjective, and all nouns will be replaced with a number, this should, I have calculated will save me 50% of content...
Thrsdy nght ws 1's house warming, t ws fn, nmbr f ppl wr thr, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, nd 12-??, oh and 1 and 1b of course...
Er... this is really annoying, I think I may resort to longhand...
Thursday night was Liz's house warming, it was fantastic fun, a number of people were there, myself, Ian, Amanda, Amy, Shelly, Dan, Chris, Sam, Jeff, Scott, and a number of other people I forgot about, oh and Liz and Alex of course...
Age Concern
Then there was Age Concern. I do like working there. It feels good to make a difference, even if it's only in improving their filing system. But the two women there can drive me to distraction. Firstly they are really nice people, I want that perfectly clear, but they can be somewhat infuriating. Asking me to find pictures for a poster in outline form because they'll print out better, and look more like the rest, and then saying, it'd be better if it was filled in in colour... or other random changes of opinion... someone saying one thing then someone else saying the opposite, and trying to make them both happy... Which reminds me, I need to do a title banner for their notice board... Oh well, I'll put it on my to-do list...
Volunteer Centre
Been pretty straightforward, Matthew has been away, so I've not had much time to do anything different, just keeping things ticking over on my days in, on the other hand last Monday I went on a Deafened Awareness Training session, which basically involved a background of things and what one can do to assist, as well as learning finger spelling, which is ridiculously easy, and embarrassed me to know that I didn't know it before. But I now have a certificate to say I partook the three hours or so... This Wednesday I shall be having a meeting with Matthew to talk through what updates are wanted on their database, so I can get that started. I'm not sure how long it will take, but I am reckoning 5-10 solid days, which will need some organisation...
The killer weekend
So, the Friday before last, (the 30th March) started with Age Concern in the morning until three ish. Then to the department to say hi, Amy wanted to practice her FameLab talk that was due to happen the following day. She had two talks to do, the first on Nuclear Astrophysics, the second (if she got through to the days final) was on the Periodic Table. Both went well, but the nerves meant that they went a bit quick, and she was exasperated at the 3minute slot, too short for any detail, but too long for severe brevity. Prior to the first run-through Tam arrived and said hi, she was in full graduation gown regalia (mmmmm... women in gowns....) and it was nice to see her and find out a little how things are going with her and the 'real world'. Then midway through the second run-through David arrived. Which annoyed Amy no end... but Sue's arrival with scan pictures of little Wolf Wind Megatron baby Howell did a lot to placate her... but he/she/it was so cute... Anyway, after that was Wates for the graduation drinks. I did drink more than I have done for a while... three pints and a couple of tia maria and diet cokes (oh, the irony), but I then mentioned to Amanda that I may do a talk at FameLab, and asked if she had any ideas... eventually we came up with 'The Physics of Laziness or a discussion of the Calculus of Variations and the Euler-Lagrange Equation'... I say eventually but it was really just a 5 minute discussion amongst random conversations and the likes... if people wish to see the photos from then just email me and I will consider it, most of them are on FaceBook, but some people are fussy over the distribution of photos...
Anyway, I got to bed about 1 ish, and was up again at half six... ready for the train to Oxford for FameLab... Amy practised her talk on the train a few times, and it got much better and flowed a lot more... I nipped to the toilet and worked on mine for a couple of minutes, before deciding that I have no real desire to humiliate myself in public and I might do it next year. We met up with Dan at Oxford and wandered to the place. It was a stunning day and the place was filled with Morris Dancers... scary things... anyway when we got there Amy got her registration form, Dan said he was just there for support, and I concurred... at which point Amy called me a 'chicken'... so in true Marty McFly style I walked back and got an application form and began to feel very, very stupid... we practised in a nearby park, I got a couple of run-throughs, but since it was barely written didn't help too much, nevertheless me and Amy gave it a good go when got to our session. Amy was about 6th, and I 7th, the system was, introduce yourself, talk for 3 minutes, wait while the two judges critiqued you, sit down and shake until you could leave... Amy's was good, the nerves did show, and unfortunately it wasn't her best performance of the day, but that's just an experience thing. The judges mistook her nerves for a lack of enthusiasm, now there are many things that can be said about Amy, but a lack of enthusiasm is not one of them. Oh well, next year. Mine was about as good as could be expected. Firstly they said that it was obvious I hadn't spent too much time on it, but they liked my style, laidback and laconic. They felt that I gave the impression that if I could do it, anyone could (I'm not sure if that meant I looked like an idiot, or I had an everyman appeal and a means of simplifying things for a lay audience... I prefer the latter). The choice of talk impressed them, mainly because it was such a fundamental concept, and also abstract in nature, that was unusual. Of the material they said they felt there was a really good talk there that I could do very well, if I practised and good better props... Amy described their comments as gushing, I don't think they were, but I think they felt I could have done better, and should have done so. After that was lunch, a wander round Oxford, and return for the Mini-Masterclass (interesting, but mainly for TV and radio, though I now know, pressing W and B in a PowerPoint presentation makes the screen go white and black respectively...), oh, some photos are available.
Then back to Guildford for Dr Who and Chinese take-away around Becca, Bill and Chris'. I ate way too much, as did most people, and then ate more when I had one of Becca's fantastic soufflés. Then home and chat with Ian and Amanda, and eventually bed about 1 or so... then up for buying of Glastonbury tickets on April 1st, which succeeded thanks to the God-like skills of Ed... (I just need to avoid paying Miss Page and then I'm happy)... breakfast around Wetherspoons, and then home to faff for a bit... and then round Becca, Bill and Chris' for Lost and pizza... ended up chatting till half three and so only got to bed about four, and had to get up about half seven... for the Deaf Awareness Training... all in all, I got little sleep, planned an early night on Monday, instead I went out for a meal with Scott and a number of the PhD guys... which was nice, but it meant another late night and too much food...
And that'll do for the time being... there will be more soon, when I remember what else happened...
current mood:  tired
current music: Bon Jovi - I'll Be There for You (playing)
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| Tuesday, March 20th, 2007
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12:03 am - Very Cold (war kids)
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What to say? To say what?
Ok, a few links firstly...
And beyond that... helped my brothers move in to their new house... very swish... have to say though, I did not participate in the inaugural breaking of the window latch... I did however get involved in the eating of the banana cake... yummy...
I'm also incompetent when it comes to finance... I need to sort out things majorly... I also made a really nice meal for myself and Amanda as practice for later on... it was a roasted duck breast with honey in orange sauce with spring onion and leek mash with asparagus and baby corns. The opinion was it was really nice, but cook the duck a bit less (I agree), and thicken the sauce (my original plan, but since that was my second attempt on the sauce after I added burnt bits to the first, I really couldn't be bothered...)
That'll do for the time being... Oh, except to say been listening to Cold War Kids a lot recently, really cool album, as is Guillemots... and it snowed today... and got BLOODY cold...
current mood: full
current music: Guillemots - Trains to Brazil (playing)
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| Thursday, March 15th, 2007
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11:14 pm - Little Miss Flirt
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What can I say? I think I prefer the title Madame Coquette...
current mood:  amused
current music: Tegan and Sara - Dancing in the Dark (playing)
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| Wednesday, March 14th, 2007
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4:58 pm - Sit, good dog, stay, bad dog, woo... down, roll over...
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Occasionally I like to impart my wisdom to the world. Occasionally my wisdom is not so helpful and usually one will find it is highly specific (people may remember when I reminded them that hopping whilst wearing a short kilt and a long blonde abba was not a sensible idea whilst walking on a glass floor and juggling Faberge eggs...), anyway, today's advice is simple...
When one is hypoglycemic it is best not to try to get cash out of an ATM, as when you think you are requesting £20 you can, and I repeat, can, accidentally get £200, at which point you make a loud and huge deal about it and flash it about like one is thinking that getting mugged is an excellent plan... on the plus-side, my escorts reminded me that it would be a better idea to put the cash away... so potential attack was avoided... Thank you Amy and Amanda...
current mood:  quixotic
current music: The Cardigans - I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need to B
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| Sunday, March 11th, 2007
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3:06 pm - Shutdown day...
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Ok, not for charity... not to save the planet... not as political activism... not to complain about the price of stuff... but just... well... because...
Shutdown day
Personally I know I can spend a day without a computer, but when it is a set day, that is something different... it's kind of a cool idea, I wonder if I should declare that every 24th I will not have my computer on, and just have a real life... [shudder]
current mood:  nervous
current music: Jenny Lewis With The Watson Twins - Melt Your Heart (playing
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| Tuesday, March 6th, 2007
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1:32 pm - Miscellaneous Organic Waste
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Ok, ![[info]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) gleet posted on his journal about a Radio 4 contest to write a 100 word story including 6 randomly chosen words (Bacon, Bodies, Experiments, Fire, Paper, Organic), well, here is my submitted entry...
Miscellaneous Organic Waste
The fire was growing. Results burning. Experiments as if they'd never been. The regulators had found him out. Only they cared he'd broken a rule or two. He'd have saved millions.
He had friends. People who believed the sacrifice was worth it. They'd warned him. He even had time to submit the 'Disposal by fire' form. He felt the description 'Miscellaneous organic waste' covered the lab book paper. And everything else.
He was hungry. He couldn't place why. Then... 'Bacon?' Then he realised. Then it connected. The reason it was called longpig.
The bodies.
The fire had reached the bodies...
current mood:  depressed
current music: silence... waiting for a knock on the door...
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| Monday, March 5th, 2007
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10:04 pm - Things...
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Ok, so here's a few things that I have found out recently...
And that's about it... for the moment...
current mood:  embarrassed
current music: The Cooper Temple Clause - Been Training Dogs (playing)
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| Sunday, March 4th, 2007
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1:53 pm - Cold, wet and windy... like me...
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So, I went to the Lake District with my Dad (somewhere round here, basically midway between Keswick and Penrith). Anyway, on the first day we went to Aira Force, reassuringly, the photo on the wikipedia entry looks a lot like the picture I took below (apologies for the tiny size, I forgot that ages ago I turned the camera onto tiny size when I was running out of memory). It was only slightly raining, so we had a leisurely walk around.
In case people get worried that I made up going away, or the fact my Dad does not exist, I have included a picture of a person, i.e. him, which should put people's paranoia to rest...
Anyway, the next day we attempted our major plan, the walking up Scafell Pike... now I know a lot of people may be going 'oooo' and 'aaah' and a whole array of onomatopoeic words, but the walk should be achievable by most people who are reasonably fit, who set off in good weather, who know where they are going and are in general prepared...
Well, we were prepared to a reasonable extent. We had a map, compass, food, water, waterproofs, many layers of clothes, sensible footwear... however due to a slight miscalculation we parked the car at the wrong location, and only realised this 20-30 minutes in to the walk... we also managed to pick one of the worst days to go walking from a weather perspective, a weather station nearby (20km or so) showed windspeeds of 20mph, and gusts over 40mph, but that may be a little under what we got, also it doesn't really emphasise the rain, and the muddy ground, and the sleet and hail that seemed to sandblast the face (it turns out that wrapping a scarf round one's mouth for protection is good, save one needs to be careful that it doesn't lead to fogged up glasses...) the wind was of the strength that it could virtually hold you up if you leant into it... and the fact that I swear we weren't walking on a path but just a bit that used to be a stream and only had marginally less water than the actual stream... we inevitably decided to turn back (not before I managed to let the wind rip the library OS map from it's cover and watch it fall in a huge puddle/lake)... there was a brief panicky moment when I thought my mobile had fallen out of my bag somewhere close to where we turned back, but it turned out I had put it 'somewhere safe'...
Anyway, below is a picture of the top of a waterfall that we reached, in the middle of the picture you should be able to see the spray being blown back, it's the vaguely miasmic haze in the centre... But we survived, and got to a nearby pub... I used to believe that after 3 or so hours of crappy wet and cold conditions there wasn't such a thing as a bad cup of hot chocolate, that anything hot and sweet was a 'good thing', it turns out that a brown liquid that may, and I repeat, may have at one point seen some chocolate, or maybe been made by someone who has heard the idea of chocolate described to them, in sign-language is not the most appetising this in the world, and is only slightly better that drinking ones own bile... but I may be being a little harsh... but no-matter...
Anyway, the next day we went to Windermere for a look around, you should be able to see the snow-capped mountains in the background of the photo below... 'twas very pretty...
We did manage to catch an impressive sunset over Windermere on the way back. The photo doesn't really do it justice, but it should give you an idea...
What else...? Oh, went to some charity shops and found a DVD of the second series of Round the Twist... :-)
Finished reading Stephen Baxter's Origin (not great), and started reading Nicole Krauss' The History of Love, which whilst not finished, is becoming one of my favourite books... without question, it's just beautiful...
That'll do for the time being..
current mood:  hungry
current music: Neko Case - Wayfaring Stranger (playing)
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12:34 am
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I was gonna do a 'my time in the Lake District' entry but for various reasons I shut the computer down the computer on my draft version and I hadn't saved a draft... guess you'll get that later...
In the meantime, somewhat squiffy (somewhat annoyed that that is not a mood, and one instead has to go that bit further and adopt a vular 'drunk', a sign of the times perhaps...) for no good reason, save I fancied a some Tia Maria... well, with some vodka and Pepsi (or diet ... the perils of diabetes...) and watched The 50 Greatest TV Dramas, and wondering if I am quite sad to have recognised over 90% of the entries, and watched over 50%... I wanted to put a list of them here and put the odd comment or two, but alas, I cannot find them...but I still think that Shooting the Past should have made top ten, but maybe I should give The Sopranos a try... and I need to watch The Edge of Darkness... and a number of Dennis Potter dramas...
And, for no other reason than it needs to be mentioned, but Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins' You Are What You Love is just fantastic...
current mood:  drunk
current music: Jenny Lewis With The Watson Twins - You Are What You Love
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| Sunday, February 25th, 2007
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11:52 pm - It's a plan...
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It turns out that the places that me and me Dad (or my father and I, if you prefer) are staying and wanting to go in the Lake District, are not confined to just the two maps that I have borrowed from the library, but instead are on two additional ones... this means I need to nip to the library to get those...
Which in fact means that I have to do the following...
- Get 08:18 bus (or 08:38).
- Get off at station.
- Buy ticket to Peterborough.
- Get Shuttle bus to library.
- Arrive about 09:30 when it opens.
- Get maps.
- Get next bus back to station.
- Get train (possibly 10:02, or 10:17) to Waterloo (arrive 10:43 or 10:51).
- Get Waterloo and City to Bank.
- Get Northern Line to King's Cross.
- Get train (maybe 11:10 but probably 11:30 and hopefully not 12:21) to Peterborough.
- Get off at Peterborough.
- Meet Dad at station.
- Go to Damon's in Lincoln.
- Have lunch.
- Drive to Lake District...
Wonder how well that plan will work...
current mood: tired
current music: Feist - Lonely Lonely (playing)
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2:09 pm - One man went to mow, went to mow a meadow...
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I know life is hectic and people need a break from the hustle and bustle of the modern world, and gardening is a good out (in fact as I speak Amanda is working in the garden), however I really don't think that there is any need for a computer game to be based on mowing lawns... but that could just be me...
current mood:  confused
current music: The Magnetic Fields - I Think I Need a New Heart (playing)
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| Saturday, February 24th, 2007
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12:20 am - Sugar, fruit and gelatine makes a good permanent scar on a baking tray
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There are things that one learns in life. Some are important, some trivial and some essential... lets consider the important first, things such as look both ways before crossing a road, try to avoid eating seafood that is out of date and, of course, never watch a sitcom on ITV... trivial amounts to things like, if you keep a log book of all correspondences like Lewis Caroll you will very seldom make mistakes (you will also be a major control freak who needs too loosen up), hot chocolate taste has absolutely no relation to the price paid for it, but coffee taste does, and inevitably, any film, or TV show that is declared as 'from the makers of' will, alas, only have that going fact for it... and essential includes the fact that if you make jam tarts you should ensure you have the pastry thin enough, make sure it covers all the pan surface and NEVER, EVER, add too much jam in the hope you will make really great tarts, 'cos it just coats the tray with molten jam lava, which is only slightly easier to clean than real lava...
My reason for saying all that? Not much really, save that I made some really bad jam tarts with some left over pastry (here is an actual recipe that should work includes the making of the pastry itself... smug people...), I had the pastry left over after making the King of school dinner desserts that is Cornflake Tart... which I have to admit I am tempted to make for my turn on cake day...
That does mean I currently have possibilities of:
- Carrot cake
- Banana cake/bread
- Cornflake tart
- Flapjack
- Sachertorte
- Nigella's clementine cake
- General chocolate cake
- Chocolate brownies
- Chocolate cookies
I'm thinking that when it comes close to the actual day I may do a poll, in the vague hope that someone actually will read and then vote...
Amanda was back today... nice to have a fuller house...
I'm off to the Lake District on Monday, and need to go to town to pick up a couple of maps, and then decide what book to take with me...
current mood:  listless
current music: Aimee Mann - It's Not (playing)
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