Mysterious Thoughts From The Pensive Mind

Back from the land of the unbloggable!

2005-07-14T17:34:00.000Z

Here we go again!

2005-01-06T17:12:00.000Z

I almost failed to get to blog today. I've not had a great day. My alarm woke me at 8:45, 8:50 and 9:00, although I still managaed to go back to sleep for about 3 hours afterwards. I had a bit of a headache, which got worse as I walked back from the dentists. It got to the stage where my headache was throbbing in perfect synchronization with the beat of the songs I was listening to (A bit of Keane, a bit of The Ramones, some soul music and The Killers). Not pleasant.
Other than that I haven't been up to much today. It's typical holiday feeling. Not even my new gmail account can alleviate the boredom. Nor can the revamped stick cricket. All in all, today's going to be rather boring until I get an oppurtunity to fence. It'll be a sharp comedown from when I was fencing at new year against a pack of beginners and walked all over them.
I think the key to my boredom is simple lethargy. I just don't have the energy to get up and do something. Or even to leaf through a book or a web page for something interesting. And the more lethargic I am, the more things I remember, so a DVD won't really solve the problem. As for computer games, well, I guess they just don't grip me like they used to.
On the other hand, my week is looking up. It's Friday tomorrow, and the weekend actually has some stuff for me to do, most notably CYFA. So whilst it's not exactly party central, this weekend won't be too boring.
Anyway, I'm off to flog around my hard drive to look for something interesting. Who knows? I might even pick up a book.

Finally, I'm back to the blog!

2005-01-05T14:14:00.000Z

Happy New Year, loyal readers. I can assure you that my festivities were most enjoyable, with New Year not being totally out-done by Christmas. All in all, it's been pretty awesome.
Christmas went pretty well. Seeing as you'll no doubt ask, I thought I'd list all the gifts I got. Honestly, it's like the Inland Revenue! Anyway, for Christmas 2004 I recieved:
A long-sleeved T-Shirt (blue with cream arms and the number 75 across the chest, surrounded by a small random pattern)
A tea service (sounds boring, yet looks suprisingly cool in my new room, especially the very flash mugs)
Two DVD's - Sneakers (1992 pre-Hackers computer film, suprisingly enjoyable despite having Robert Redford (an actor I normally dislike) in it) and Carry on Up The Khyber which, despite it's occassional funny moments, isn't exactly my style of comedy.
Black Orchid, Neil Gaiman's first ever graphic novel. It's out of print so, to my eternal pride, my mum charmed it out of the crazy people who work behind the counter at Forbidden Planet.
A fiar income in money and vouchers, which was responsibly spent as follows:
The Onion almanac, volume 15. A fantastic spoof and satire of US life. It's so good that it's almost UK-style humour.
The Truman Show and Starsky and Hutch on DVD, both of which are pretty good.
Snow Patrol's Final Straw and Hopes and Fears by Keane - both top drawer albums which are currently the only things I'm listening to.
Two t-shirts - one long-sleeved with a stylized emblem of Neil Gaiman's Lucifer Morningstar surrounded by the outline of wings, blue with cream sleeves. The other, whilst not so cool, is a blue t-shirt from Republic.
Anyway, that's the boring listing of things over and done with. If you're interested in buying me something to reward me for being blogging awesome then refer to this list. I take a 'medium' in mens clothes ;-)

Anyway, New Year was spent with my Christian Youth group at a boarding school near where I live. It was massively awesome with plenty of cool stuff - go karting, crashing in the coffee bar, going delirious from sleep deprivation - to do. I was also greeted on my return by the good news that Katie (there ya go - mentioned twice!) has started going to church, which means that it's only a matter of time before she falls to the dark side of CYFA!

At the moment, I'm just lounging about. Ads Nads has earned my eternal gratitude by setting me up with a g-mail account, putting me among the internet elite, if only until g-mail becomes public release in the summer. Still a good thing though. I'm listening to Half the Fun by Snow Patrol which is the best song (in my opinion) on Final Straw. Although How To Be Dead comes a close second.

I'm also hoping to usher in a new stage of my political life this year. A close friend of the family is organizing a political pressure group, totally non-partisan, to protest agianst the government taking away civil rights and clouding issues and so forth. His ideal protest is a vast, nationwide, silent protest in several major cities in the UK and Eire. Basically, I'm joining in if I can. Which will be my first ever protest. Expect a full report if I do it.

Anyway, I'm signing off.

An important notice for all you blog fans!

2004-12-19T13:24:00.000Z

This might be quite unexpected given that my blog may just have achieved a place in a blog promotion thing, but from now until probably the 4th or 5th of January there will be no bloggage. I'm sorry to have to do this, but the festive period is not made for me to glue myself to my computer.
Although we did get our Christmas tree up and decorated today! YAY!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Woo - I'm being promoted!

2004-12-18T18:25:00.000Z

That's right. A very nice escort lady from New York has said she wants to use my blog as part of her weekly(?) blog-link-fest which she calls 'Festival of Sin'. She seems to like my Israeli Government Christmas List (it's called 'The Spirit of Christmas'). Anyway, just thought I'd share this with you.
Anyway, that's the only positive blogging-related news I've had since someone first posted a comment on my blog.

Woo - holidays!

2004-12-18T17:01:00.000Z

I'm still in full on 'yes - holiday!' mood, but I'm starting to calm down. Yesterday, I didn't have a chance to blog. However, I did get a chance to drink coffee, watch Face/off and play Need For Speed Underground, all of which made up for my lack of bloggage.
I recieved my National Insurance Card in the post today. I don't know why. I also noticed that my national insurance number read something like 'AB-11-AB-AB-11-1B' Obviously some bright spark in the NI offices forgot what a number was.
Anyway, I've found a classic game where you play as David 'Corrupt bastard' Blunkett, running to Downing Street. It's very original.
Other than that, there's not much going on at the moment.

I also found a little 'What are you?' quiz. I'm addicted to these things, especially since I discovered that I can paste the results on my blog:

I am a Gauntlet Adventurer.

I strive to improve my living conditions by hoarding gold, food, and sometimes keys and potions. I love adventure, fighting, and particularly winning - especially when there's a prize at stake. I occasionally get lost inside buildings and can't find the exit. I need food badly. What Video Game Character Are You?

Which isn't entirely untrue.
Anyway, I've been listening to The Ramones almost non-stop for the past few days, so I'm off to try and find something different.

Why Europe Rules

2004-12-16T16:13:00.000Z

Just read this guy's article on why Europe is better than the USA. And I totally agree.
Last school day of term today - so chocolate and no work were the norm, which made me feel a lot better than yesterday. Also, Katie and Renske were hyper at the bus stop this afternoon and fed me Hobnobs, which cheered me up. So I'm having a pretty good day.
Anyway, tomorrow is the school Carol Concert at the Cathedral. Despite being a Roman Catholic (the cathedral is an Anglican cathedral) I've been drafted in to be an acolyte. Which means I carry a candle into the cathedral with the person carrying the cross (the crucifer). I also have to wear wierd white robes and hold the enormous collection plates. Basically, the prefects pass around tiny plates for a collection. They then tip them into plates held by the acolytes. Apparantly it's damn heavy. So I'm all set to drip wax on my hair, trip over my robes, set the cathedral on fire and drop the collection plate.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to the sleeping over the Christmas holidays. And then on the 23rd I'm having a kind of Christmas pre-fest with Rockinfreakinpotomus, Katie, Renske and Anna. Which should be a good crack. Mince pies, tinsel, presents, Christmas cards. It'll be quite exciting, in a pre-Christmassy mood. Especially if we go to Starbucks for Christmas-flavoured drinks and get comfy seats. I'm getting quite excited, to be fair.
I'm hoping that for Christmas I'll get a ton of cool stuff - just little things that are nice - and some money to spend on things. I'd probably buy music - The Killers, The Ramones and Snow patrol. And maybe Keane. And I have got to put money aside for going to Germany in February.
Anyway, I've noticed that my blogs are getting shorter again. It's not on. On the other hand, the short ones are working a bit better. Mainly by not turning into me ranting against the drudge of my life. So I might experiment with some shorter blogs from time to time.

Wow - my life is boring.

2004-12-15T16:04:00.000Z

General Sum of what I did today:
Got up
Got washed and dressed
Had breakfast
Brushed teeth
Went to school
Watched Little Britian and looked at my report card in form time.
Won a game of Monopoly in RS
Watched the rest of The Day After Tomorrow in Biology.
Did some Maths Coursework.
Watched a bit more Little Britain over lunch. Because there wasn't anything better to do. It's actually quite funny, because it rips the piss out of Britain.
The teacher for Games wasn't in today, so I sat in the auditorium with some people and did nothing.
I got a Subway sandwich (meatballs, cheese, lettuce, gherkins, jalepeno peepers and southwest sauce on 6 inch Italian) - tasted damn good.
I got the bus home.
I blogged.

So that is the sum of my day. It's quite boring. And give or take several minor things (playing of games, watching of DVD's, the food) that's my day. It's quite depressing. Still, it's the Christmas holiday's soon which will give me a chance to take some time to relax and plan something interesting to do.
Anyway, that's my creative output for the day. And it's not that creative. I'm feeling in the right depressed kind of mood for Coldplay though. So that'll be the rest of my evening.

This just in...

2004-12-14T21:07:00.000Z

When the Patriot act - a US anti-terrorism act, taking away large ammounts of civil rights, created after September 11th 2001 (please don't forget the original September 11th - thank goodness they've got the ability to prosecute Pinochet now) to prevent such an attack from occurring again - was being drafted, the people drafting it consulting big businesses. Specifically, airlines. Who persuaded the US government to leave out all sections dealing with airport security!
Some people are just crazy.
P.S - tell your friends about my blog. Post it across the internet. Get me readers. I need their brains to survive!

The spirit of Christmas!

2004-12-14T19:14:00.000Z

As the King of Christmas, I feel it is my duty to report unto you some of the fantastic giving spirit around the world, as discovered from this article.
Us companies are seeling such fantastic items as a Rudi Guiliani (The Republican Mayor of new York) doll, a Tony Blair 'British Ally' doll or a Geroge Bush in Baghdad doll. Just the thing to brighten up your child's Christmas.
Or how about a Military Roleplay kit. Not for you fetishists, just the kids. Consisitng of a 'desert-camo-colored play set that includes a helmet, knife, gas mask, and a few grenades.' Well, if your son's going to end up in Iraq anyway, you might as well invest in some gar for him to get used to. Although I don't think that the gun jams regularly.
And for those of you who prefer a quiet, peaceful board game? Army Monopoly. None of this peaceful cut-throat capitalism. Use force instead!
And finally, don't think that just civilians get these benefits. In the truly festive spirit of giving (to your allies) and recieving (US military aid), the Israeli government has asked for:
'2,500 MK-84 live bombs—a general purpose 2000 lb. bomb
1,500 MK-82 live bombs—a 500 lb. general purpose blast/fragmentation bomb
500 BLU-109 live bombs—a 2000 lb. penetrator and blast/fragmentation bomb
500 MK-83 live bombs—a general purpose 1000 lb. bomb'
And they're not alone in taking advantage of Jesus' birthday to buy weapons designed to cause maximum damage to humans. The Canadians have ordered:
'2,000 Radio Frequency (RF) TOW-2A and 600 RF TOW-2B Anti-Armor Guided Missiles, [and] 400 RF Bunker Buster Missiles'
And the Turkish and Brazilians have also placed orders. It'll be a lovely Christmas gift to both army generals and the people on the recieving end.
Anyway, I thought I'd close off with somebody elses Christmas poem. Read his article here.

Oh, the war in Iraq is frightful,
But for Lockheed and pals it’s delightful,
Since the Pentagon continues to pay,
Let ‘em stay, let ‘em stay, let ‘em stay.

Insurgents show no signs of stopping,
Americans can’t stop AK’s from popping,
Since it keeps Boeing’s prices high,
occupy, occupy, occupy.

When there’s a bombing or firefight,
It means moo-lah galore for GE,
And ev’ry IED laid at night,
means they’re buyin’ a brand new Humvee

As long as some Black Hawks keep crashin’,
The Complex can really cash in,
More war equals much more dough,
Let’s not go, never go, let’s not go.

Anyway, my blog does have a lighter side. I just haven't written it yet. And don't expect anything soon, because at the moment I'm trying to get my History coursework started. HAving discovered that my first draft was pretty awful, I'm going to redo most of it. Which will take some time.
However, I have organized a bit of meeting up with mates over Christmas, which should be awesome. And I've got an interview at the school I want to go to, which is also cool. On the downside, the clothes I wanted to get for Christmas are no longer available. Which really, really sucks. Still, I'm just going to go out and buy the stuff I want and get reimbursed by the gift giver. So all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.
And one of these days, I'm going to get myself a Paypal account so you lovely folks can give me money. Because that would be nice!
Oh, and I'm going to midnight mass for Christmas. Yay! Yet another Catholic idea which makes sense. In a mysterious way. But I do like church at Christmas, mainly because it;s the only time I overcome my fundamental distrust of the English Catholic church and turn up for some festive spirit. Anyway, I'm off to eat.

Got to hate the grind

2004-12-13T17:11:00.000Z

Last week of school today. Managed to struglle through on four hours of sleep. Actually, I managed better than usual.
I've got a piece of R.S coursework and some chemistry homework. Monday's just aren't what they used to be. And I accidently lost have a saved game on Phantasy Star IV last night. Not exactly the end of the world, but when you realise that you've lost the time you spent doing somethin gpretty useless anyway. I really do need to wean myself off computing though. It's just not the way forward.
I'm feeding my Killers addiction at the moment. It's very odd, because it's not exactly what I'd expect. But I'm a total addict, and it's quite scary.
I'm looking forward to the end of term. Although every other school in town breaks up two days earlier. Damn my school for it's disrespect of my freedom. I need time to sleep before the Christmas holidays!
I'm also looking forward to (hopefully) spending lots of time with my mates in the Christmas holidays. We haven't met up in ages and I'm quite looking forward to a good crack with my mates.
I'm also probably going to have to buy some beer for Rockinfreakinpotomus' Christmas present. Because Christmas is a time for giving alcohol to people who are underage. Although he is hardcore. As in Jack Daniels from the bottle hardcore.

I hate William Golding

2004-12-12T20:23:00.000Z

English homework was to write a continuation of Lord of the Flies. That blasted book has been the bane of my existance at school for the past few weeks. So I've decided to rip the piss out of both the book and my English teacher in a not-so-subtle manner. It's pretty terrible, but it might be funny. So I thought I'd post it.

How Lord of the Flies should have ended

He stumbled over a root and the cry that pursued him rose even higher. He saw a shelter burst into flames and the fire flapped at his right shoulder and there was the glitter of water. Then he was down, rolling over and over in the warm sand, crouching with his arm up to ward off, trying to cry for mercy.

He staggered to his feet, tensed for more terrors, and looked up at a huge peaked cap. It was a white-topped cap, and above the green shade of the peak was a crown, an anchor, gold foliage. He saw white drill, epaulettes, a revolver, a row of gilt buttons down the front of a uniform.

A naval officer stood on the sand, looking down at Ralph. He took a deep sniff of the air, as if sampling the burning scent of the flaming trees. He exhaled slowly. Ralph stood, hypnotized by this white God standing before him.

'I say! How fascinating.'

The officer spoke with a nasal whine and exuded a powerful aura of arrogance.

'I say!,' guffawed the officer.

Ralph looked behind him. Several ragged savages, once brave warriors, stood with sharpened sticks. One jumped out of the forest, wildly screaming. Upon seeing the officer, the savage skidded to a halt on the sand. The savages began to advance and formed an approximate semi-circle around the cheerily oblivious officer.

'What a splendid metaphor!,' said the officer.

Ralph looked up at him, bewildered. The officer shaded his eyes and scanned the line of trees, rapidly burning away to reveal the scorched earth of the island.

'I say – what an allegory. Definitely a touching and poignant classic, with great reference to the microcosm/macrocosm relationship of humanity.'

Jack stepped forth, and gestured wildly with his stick.

'I'm the King of this island. What are you doing here? Are you going to join my tribe?'

'Oh no,' replied the officer 'I'm merely an obscure reference to a God coming to save humanity from it's failures. I've got a symbol of freedom, hope and civilization over there.'

The officer gestured towards the boat. Ralph, still not fully comprehending what was going on, looked up at the officer with pleading eyes.

'Please sir,' Ralph said 'Can you take us home?'

'Take you home?' cried the officer 'Nobody even knows if I'm real or not. Don't you think you're putting slightly heavy expectations upon me?'

Ralph stopped, dumbfounded at the language of the officer. The two ratings further down the beach looked reassuringly at Ralph. One cried out.

'Don't you mind the Captain, son. He's always like this. He spent five weeks in the harbour at Bermuda analyzing the smilies used in the construction of the harbour wall. We were meant to come and find you immediately, but he decided that the orders were an allegory for sailing around St. Elba for a week.'

'Golly,' said Ralph. 'That must have been jolly boring.'

The officer suddenly appeared to come to his senses.

'Gosh – you're a filthy urchin. You'll have to get a lot cleaner if you want to get on my boat. As will the rest of you savages. Not of that filth on Her Majesty's Navy. Honestly – you're practically animals. Or at least a personification of the Id.'

Ralph warily wandered towards the lagoon. He placed his arm in the water and gently scrubbed. To his great surprise, large portions of what he considered to be his skin turned into mud in the clear water and gradually sank and dissolved. The other boy's joined him and soon the lagoon was black with accumulated muck of three weeks without a bath. The officer glanced at them and felt a little more pride.

'I say – that's the kind of show I'd expect from British boys. Nice and sparkling. Makes a fascinating metaphor for....'

'Oh for heavens sake!' Jack interjected 'If you're going to lecture us on bloody metaphors you might as well do it on the boat. Otherwise we'd be better staying here!'

'Exactly!' cried Ralph 'I'd rather be run through by a half-blunt stick than be subjected to a lengthy analysis of why we've been killing each other.'

'But it's a critical part of what you've been doing. You're illustrating exactly why the human race is doomed.'

The boys ignored him. Slowly, they began to melt back into the remnants of the forest.

'I say Jack – let's not fight.' said Ralph.

'Wizard!' said Jack 'I wasn't really going to kill you, you know. Just rough you up a bit.'

'That's alright old boy. I forgive you.'

Jack and Ralph led the last few boys back towards castle rock. Within minutes the officer was alone on the beach.

'But...but...what about the consequences of your actions on nature in a microcosm/macrocosm sense?'

The beach remained silent. The officer sat down on the charred stump of a try, making a large charcoal smudge across the seat of his shorts.

'The similies...the metaphors! Why won't anyone listen?', bemoaned the officer, almost in tears of indignation over the ignorance of the boys.

A head poked up out from behind a tree. It was Roger, grinning at the officer. The officer looked up, with hope in his heart.

'Finally, someone who will listen!'

Roger grinned a bit more. Then he spoke.

'I'm not actually a psychopath, you know. I was just emotionally disturbed.'

He melted back into the forest. The officer, for once, was speechless. He turned away. He strode down towards his boat. Within minutes, the boat was simply a blot on the horizon. The beach was silent, except for the noise the gentle swell of the tide made and the occasional scream of a little 'un being eaten.

All was for the best in the best of all possible worlds.

Looking forward to Christmas!

2004-12-12T19:42:00.000Z

Can't wait for the 25th. It's going to be a good one this year. Last year was a bit of an anti-climax - eight days of nothing after ten days in Germany of me doing crazy stuff with Rockinfreakinpotomus and hanging with German people. So this year it's like two Christmases rolled into one.
Anyway, didn't do too much today. I went to the CYFA Christmas Tea, which was a good crack. Followed by the 'Carols By Candlelight' which was not only boiling hot but was situated in one of the most fundamental and right-wing churches in Britain. Not exactly prime location for a left-wing Catholic. Still we're all friends. Despite a couple of patronising remarks when I mentioned purgatory.
I've been reading a book about commandoes in the Boer War by a guy called Deneys Reitz, son of one of the presidents of the short-lived Transvaal Republic. It makes fascinating reading, especially the bits about geurilla warfare.
I've also been thinking on Shakespeare. Most specifically, 'All the world's a stage and the men and women mearly players...' Which is, quite frankly, rubbish. I find it much easier to relate it to the wonderful world of Tinseltown. Or just the film industry in general. Sometimes you feel like the lead role - one glamourous loacation after another, lots of action, the ocassional leading lady. Then there are days when you're more like a supporting actor - chipping in from time to time, helping out your friends but never quite making it. Sometimes you're an extra, popping up for one brief moment, pointless in the whole film but very important to you. But most of us are simply viewers for most of the time, sitting in the low-lit cinema guzzling popcorn and watching people on screen do things we've never been able to dream of. And that's where I am at the moment. I'm feeling that everything's just out of my control and I'm just watching everyone else get better and better whilst I just become more and more sedentary.
On a brighter note, it's my last week at school coming up. And after that it's going to be sleeping and socialising.

Lazy Saturday

2004-12-11T13:18:00.000Z

Not doing much today - maybe going to the cinema tonight. Hopefully I can find something that looks good.
Thursday and Friday have been very odd days. Thursday was a day when everyone seemed to be annoyed by everyone else. And everyone (presumably myself included) wound everyone else up. Which was very odd indeed. Then followed Friday, which appeared to be the result of Thursday. Because certain people were on knife-edge tempers. Which meant that it was only 10:25 when a fight started. Anyway, it wasn't too bad because I managed to avoid fighting. I didn't manage to avoid the huge amounts of homework I've been hit with for this weekend.
CYFA social last night as well. Great fun, especially when my partner in crime and I dominated the ping pong table, destroying all comers with a barrage of psychological warfare, guaranteed to blow their minds.
I saw Van Helsing again last night. I'd forgotten how much of it was awesome. It's a solid blockbuster. But nothing compared to the excellent The Day After Tomorrow, which we're going to be watching in Biology next week. Because it shows us stuff about global warming.
Anyway, not many links this week. But I do have the top two links from the B3ta newsletter.
Congratulations, you have won a bench. Big download, awesome joke.
The luck of a trucker. I can just imagine this guy ringing up his boss. "Hey boss, you'll neve guess what I've just done!"
Anyway, I'm off to do stupidly large ammounts of homework. Grr. Bloody coursework.

Sorry!

2004-12-09T22:19:00.000Z

Sorry for the severe lack of bloggage recently. I was away from Monday night to Wednesday and didn't have enough time to blog on Wednesday. I'm back from fencing now, so I can give you a blog.
Anyway, my favourite link of the day. From the guy who gave you 'I despise you and your so-called taste in music' comes the classic 'Infinite Music Quiz' - it's currently set to The Red Hot Chili Peppers. It's basically the iPod music quiz but for a certain artist. It's good, but not for too long.
Anyway, I've not been up to much recently. I've been invited out to South Africa at some point, but I probably won't go for a few years due to serious lack of moolah. Still, I'd love to go out there. And just a nod to Rockinfreakinpotomus who has spent at least three years telling me how awesome South Africa is. So maybe I'll go out and see it for myself.
I've been signing up for breakthru, a Scripture Union holiday I'm going on at the end of December/beginning of January. It's going to be a good crack - quad biking and fencing. I *like* the dangerous sports.
I was grilled this morning after, in last Monday's Chemistry lesson, a gas tap was left on for two hours. Apparantly the gas could have destroyed the entire school. Why did they have to discover it? Just when I could have got a couple of weeks off. Ah well, can't have everything.
Anyway, I'm putting some new music - Snow Patrol, U2 and The Ramones - onto iTunes at the moment. So I'd better do that if I want to have any sleep tonight.

Bigger blog

2004-12-05T11:43:00.000Z

Sorry - I was off at the football yesterday. I was asleep in the morning and by the time i woke up we had to leave. And by the time we came back, my sister was using the computer and I had a lot of stuff to do.
As for the football, we lost 2-0 due to the somewhat dodgy sending off of one of our players for stamping. But we looked pretty clueless for a team 3 points off the top of the Championship.
The V.I.P stuff was, as usual, pretty good. Lots of nice food, which is generally the best bit about the whole deal.
Anyway, I'm trying to write my FCO work experience application. I've got to describe a recent/current foreign affair isue. I'm going to do the orange Revolution in the Ukraine, which will hopefull show my grasp of both internal Ukrainian politics and international East/West relations. It should be pretty smooth, provided I'm not too obviously anti-US in it. Which I shouldn't be, because the USA are (for once) backing the right cause. Even if they are doing it in the wrong way.
Anyway, some good news. First of all, Richard Kilroy-Silk is hit by a big bucket of slurry. Rumours that the slurry asked to be disinfected afterwards have not yet been proved.
And other than that, links are pretty thin on the ground at the moment. Still, it doesn't really matter.
I'm not too tired at the moment, which is a good thing. I'm also listening to Holy Roller Novocaine by Kings of Leon, which is also a good thing. So there are many good things currently going on. Which, oddly enough, is good.
I'm probably going to get the preliminary stages of booking my flight to Germany in the February half term. I'm definetely looking forwards to it, because Germany is the way forward. And I like speaking German and feeling all continental.
Anyway, I'm off to research the Ukraine.

Sorry!

2004-12-04T21:08:00.000Z

No blog today - I'm hideously busy. Work experience application for the FCO, work experience application for my (utterly terrible) local newspaper, History coursework, booking flights to Germany....
It's all piled up, so I've only got a few minutes in which to write this. Mybe a bigger blog tomorrow. And no blog from Monday-Wednesday, because I'm at a funeral.

Woo - the weekend!

2004-12-03T18:31:00.000Z

Finally, I have a chance to sleep as much as I want. It's awesome. I've got the football (Sunderland vs West Ham) tomorrow which, due to some V.I.P tickets, should prove to be a good crack. Then on Sunday I may or may not be doing stuff. It's all good.
Today was actually not that bad, for once. I managed to maintain a bright and cheery spirit unto the lesson of English. And I was still pretty merry in English. Had my photo taken as part of our school's 300 year anniversary. So they dragged my entire form into the main hall and took a photo. I might upload it, unless it's horrifically awful. Which it might, as I'm possibly the least photogenic person ever.
I'm feeling suprisingly calm at the moment as well. No huge hatred for the USA or Israel is welling up and I'm taking it easy. Just a background sussurus of anger. Feels quite nice, really. And rational.
Last night's cooking went better than anticipated, mainly because it turned out that I was only cooking for myself. So it wasn't a disaster at all, pleasingly enough.
I'm quite addicted to The Killers at the moment, mainly because some of their songs have a kind of crazy retro/new melding, which makes them sound quite cool. So get hold of some of their stuff and enjoy. And if you already have their stuff, I'd advise Fortune and Fame by The K.G.B.
I've been playing a game called Pirates recently. In true POTC:TCOTBP (Pirates of the Caribbean to you) style, there's fencing, sailing, pirating and (or so I've heard) romance. There's also crazy-yet-cool bad graphics, that just give the game a retro feel. It buckles the swash. Oh yes.
I'm thinking of inviting more people into my blogging circle. Not that I'd ever give up my nightly blogging practice, but it might be cool to offer up the views of more than one person in one glorious blog. However, it's likely that everyone else I ask will have a life and therefore not want to blog much. Which is a pity.
I would also like to take this as a chance to say that Mirrormask is *still* the coolest-looking film ever. I mean, you can keep The Matrix and Top Gun, James Dean and Marlon Brando and, in fact, anyone else who you think is cool. Because Mirrormask is cool. Damn cool.

A letter to Aria

2004-12-02T17:40:00.000Z

Dear Aria,

Thanks for selling me an MP3 player. It was nice of you to charge me £12 for posting and packaging - I really appreciated the price hike. I'd like to extend my admiration to the way that you ensured my MP3 player wouldn't have the full advertised 256Mb capacity. And finally, I'd like to thank you for the empty e-mails that you send me in return for my requests to return my faulty MP3 player.

Love, Keras

P.S - Go die.

Grr. Bloody Aria.
Anyway, I've been listening to lots of stuff by The Killers recently. It's all good. Although it's not quite awesome. The Killers slot in somewhere between Muse and Kings of Leon on my personal scale of good music.
I've not been up to much today. Due to a lack of spare white shirts, I was forced to borrow one off my Dad. It was quite cool, except for the fact that it's a serious navy-officer style shirt, complete with spaces for epaulettes. Which were made for me in English this afternoon by Harry. Although I did spend most of English half-asleep, so I can't be certain.
Other than that, today ran pretty slowly. At least tomorrow offers the unparalleled doss lessons of Careers and P.E. As we're sorted by Maths Sets, I do P.E with a bunch of socialy inept misfits who have no skills at any sport at all. Which makes it so much better for me. Especially as whilst they're muttering about careers with 'computers', I'm just chatting with my Set 1 mates. A most enjoyable state of affairs which I shall miss sincerely when I drop maths next year. Maths, on the other hand, I won't miss at all.
The end of term seems to be running pretty slowly at the moment. Normally we have a good laugh during the run down to Christmas, but my excessive tiredness has put a stop to this. Maybe I'll be awake next week, which might offer better chances for fun. Unlikely, despite a spate of early nights which I appear to have been suffering from lately.
The next time you hear from me, I'll probably be without eyebrows as I volunteered (rather foolishly) to cook dinner for my two sisters and myself tonight. Based on having once cooked pasta for myself by myself, I'm unlikely to succeed. Still, I'm giving it a shot.
Anyway, I'm off to play on my Sega Genesis emulator. It's like Zsnes, but worse. Hey, I still get to play early 1990's games, which are the best.

Just a quick update

2004-12-01T17:09:00.000Z

Just thought I'd throw a name into the midst: Mirrormask.
It's the most fantastic-looking film I've ever heard of. So far I've only seen screenshots and a blurry, laggy teaser trailer. it still looks like it won't just be the bee's knees - it'll be the whole damn hive. It's a project of Dave McKean (a god of an artist) and Neil Gaiman (a god of an author). So it should be both amazing and neo-gothically bleak. Whilst looking gorgeous.
So there you go. And if you happen to be going to the Sundance Film Festival this year (I wish I was) then drop by and watch the premiere of it.

Not much going down today.

2004-12-01T16:13:00.000Z

Now here's an anniversary to remember. Today is 49 years since Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. So there you go.
I'm feeling less tired than yesterday, which means no more rambling blogs. Still, I can't have everything. As usual, today was boring. But you can't have everything.
I'm suffering from a severe lack of funds at the moment, which is a pity as I'd rather hoped I could buy some things: namely, the Kings of Leon albums, maybe a Goldie Looking Chain album and possibly Inertia by the Exies. But regrettably I have wasted my moeny in a frivolous life of fleeting happiness. Or something like that.
Whatever. I'm fed up of these self-obssessed rants. But I know that the rant tomorrow will be the same.
Anyway, lack of congratulations to Gregor, who failed to pick me up a copy of Metro today. You will be (dis)pleased to know that it made the bus journey home today very tedious.
Just thought I'd tell people that Dan Brown (author of The Da Vinci Code) is a bit of a legendary author. I'm reading Angels and Demons at the moment, which is quite awesome. Quite, quite awesome.
I'm also listening to some mellow music in the form of Hope by Fat Freddy's Drop. Little Jacky P actually fell asleep whilst listening to this stuff, it's so mellow. Anyway, I'm off to scavenge for food.

Just an update.

2004-11-30T20:07:00.000Z

Mainly because I'm bored. I'm too tired to think up anything of any particular interest, so I'll probably just ramble a bit.
I've been reading a bit of Neil Gaiman recently. I've remembered quite how sensible it is to be addicted to his work. From the utterly wonderful Ramadan to the truly midblowing Brief Lives, his Sandman series has not only won Hugo and Nebula awards but has become a bestseller across the world. In short, it's damn awesome.
I've currently been thinking (as in in the past hour) about how in the 'classless' society of democracy, with no aristocracy of working class (or at least, so we are told), we divide ourselves into social classes regardless. The 'geeks', the 'jocks', the 'normals' - the general blend of oddballs that makes our world that bit more varied. And what is more, these classes are ruled far more effectively than the old class system was. There is no movement from one class to another in this structure. You are put into your class at school and can never move from it. Should you start to accelerate beyond the qualifications for your class, you're automatically slapped down by your peers. There's an expectation for you and you can't move from it in any way. Which is what I hate most about sitting still for too long in one place. If you move about, you don't have to live up to peoples expectations all the time - you can just be yourself. And what more, this comes straight from someone in the grips of this system. Because, you see, the system is formed by the less intelligent and so there isn't an 'intellectual' class. Or an 'erudite' class. Oh, no - I'm soldily placed as a 'geek', and I hate it. Which also goes part of the way to explaining why I'm fed up of my current school, where my behaviour is controlled heavily by the social structure. I just need a break.
I've also been thinking about how much I detest democracy.It might sound like an odd view to you readers. Especially those of you who come from the USA. But, insofar as I can see, democracy only ensures that ultimately corporations gain control. Just as a dictatorship ensures that ultimately a bad dictator will gain power - look at the hereditary monarchies of Western Europe for examples of good/bad dictator contrasts. So far, humanity hasn't come up with a good way of ruling ourselves, and we rely on a 3000-year-old system to maintain our 'freedom'. Which is pointless. We've allowed our politics to stagnate and political advancement is at zero - no original systems of government since 1848 (the date of publication of the Communist Manifesto). Advancement politically is simply held back by the powerful corporations (it used to be the landowners, now it's the corporations in control) and the social inflexibility of the superpower of the USA.
I've been feeling quite bored lately, as my bloggage shows, and have had plenty of time to think. Although I still haven't thought up a sensible alternative to democracy - we need some sort of meritocracy (rule by those fit to rule) whilst maintaining the illusion of personal freedom for the masses despite taking it away. A definete conundrum. Should I ever come up with the answer you'll know, because I'll be starting revolutions left, right and centre. And you'll be watching. Mainly because any revolution I start will be peaceful so you'll not be able to fight.
Anyway, I think I'm going to go and sleep now. Au revior!

Now for the real post

2004-11-30T17:31:00.000Z

Now that I've placated Jacky P, I can blog about stuff that's happened to me today.
School was boring as usual. Got History homework which I've managed to leave at school. Also had a Duke of Edinbrugh meeting which I forgot about until earlier this evening. So not exactly a positive record, but I've been feeling really drained this week. I'm questioning my involvement in the Duke of Edinbrugh scheme, which appers to be increasingly looking like a dead weight during the revision period for my GCSE's.
As for GCSE mocks, I've been predicted 9 A*'s. I was quite pleased with my A* in History - on last year's exam I managed to muck it up a bit, but on the mocks I've picked up quite a lot. I managed to hit the elusive Level 4 in some of my longer answers, so I'm getting better.
Anyway, on to the real news:
The Red Cross have attacked the US tactics in Guantanamo Bay, calling them 'tantamount to torture'.
Reports on US-installed dictator Augosto Pinochet's human rights abuses has been released, with compensation offered to the 28,000 victims. All because Allende was too Socialist for the White House.
Bhopal is still totally up the spout. Thanks to Union Carbide's gas leak back in the 1980's, hundreds of thousands are injured. Amnesty International has condemned the company for being, in short, very nasty people.
Also, AID's orphans are being drugged. A very disturbing story.

I'm listening to Suck My Kiss at the moment. It's pretty awesome, as is just about everything on Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Glad I got it. Speaking of which, it's now 25 years since the release of The Wall by Pink Floyd. Also, 50 years since the first person ever was hit by a meteorite. Just some wierd anniversaries for you.

I also thought that I should mention Katie (sorry for the lack of nickname - I couldn't think of anything funny) who has told me several times that I haven't yet mentioned her in my blog. Anyway, she's currently trying to persuade me to give up my dream of leaving my current school for the RGS. It;s nice to know that people care. And as she says 'If we can't argue you into staying, then we can alwasy use force...'
I'm scared....

Just for Jack!

2004-11-30T17:10:00.000Z

Jacky P is the King of all and sexy as well!
There ya go Jack - happy now?

I declare myself Emperor Keras I

2004-11-29T17:14:00.000Z

Based on the historical precedent of Norton I, who was immortalised in the fantastic Neil Gaiman story Three Septembers and a January, I am the new Emperor of the USA. To be honest, I never thought that this guy existed. Which is a pity, because he seems to be a bit of a genius.
The links are pretty thin on the ground at the moment. Not much other than:
Pro-Bush think tank slams global science community over global warming!
And the fascinating curse of Bill Penn, straight from Philadelphia, USA.

Anyway, my day's been pretty boring. I got some exam marks back - mostly A*'s (top grade) and one A, so I'm not too displeased. Bloody Chemistry! It's also quite wierd to have to do work and to not be able to nip off to the shops for a packet of Hob Nobs. Withdrawl symptons galore!
The lack of wiredness has led me to consume large quantities of cold meat tortillas over the past few days, so I'm currently breathing volcano fumes consisting of about 90% jalapeno peppers. Those little peppers pack a punch and a half - don't crunch the seeds, whatever you do!
Anyway, I'm off to shiver in a corner. It's *very* cold today.

Just a couple of random links

2004-11-28T15:25:00.000Z

Picked these up today (or on Friday).
Word Perhect. The replacement Microsoft Word!
Quibble Racing - pretty fun, it must be said.

Sorry for the lack of length, but there you go.

The Big Blog

2004-11-28T13:37:00.000Z

Apologies for my lack of bloggage yesterday. Due to me having a life outside blogging, I spent a full twelve hours hanging about with friends in town. I saw Bridget Jones 2 (which was pretty much the first one) and The Incredibles, which is the best animated film I've seen since Shrek 2. So all in all, a very good day.
Anyway, I've got some less-than-happy links.
Bassically, the US military are using biological (or otherwise nasty) weapons in Fallujah. Please note that that's four seperate links from three different sources. And whilst they destroy the citadels of their enemy with biochemistry, they destroy themselves with biochemical weapons that increase chances of cancer and cause various nasty respiratory diseases. That's right - Iraq's Marlboro Man appears again.

Still, it's not all doom and gloom.
Here's a neat game.
Also, from b3ta newslettery goodness (which wasn't too good this week):
Build a better Bush...
Or build a throne out of free AOL CD's.
Depends on how geeky you are, really. Or how much free time you have.

I'm quite pleased this weekend. Other than a two hour coffee morning turning into half a day with various groups of friends in town, I am happy for other reason.
Chiefly, that Sunderland have managed to win (again) to put them only one point off automatic promotion from the First Division. And only two points off the top of the league. I've got a good feeling about this. Especially as I'm going to see them play West Ham next weekend. Should be fun.

Anyway, I've got to run off now. I'm quite tired and somewhat bored, so maybe I'll blog later.

Small update

2004-11-26T17:28:00.000Z

Just thought I'd drop in to say KILL YOUR TELEVISION!
I don't have a TV, in case you're interested. And I never intend to own one.

Thursday's blog, once removed.

2004-11-26T11:46:00.000Z

Oy Gevalt! There was gornischt yesterday. So schlep yourself over here, and learn Yiddish like I have.
Also, I don't believe I've ever pointed anyone on the path to Weebl & Bob. If you know what it is already, don't flame me. I mean, furrfu - there are people out there who haven't seen them yet.
Haven't been able to find much interesting at the moment. I'm so bored I'm actually gonna watch a DVD (Bufallo Soldiers) soon. In the middle of the day.
I get the day off school as 'study leave'. Woo!
Anyway, I'm off for my DVD.

2004-11-25T16:20:00.000Z

No bloggage today - just finished exams. WOOOO!

Bush Brow-beaten by bunker buster ban!

2004-11-24T16:39:00.000Z

And that's alliteration. See the rest on GNN.
I've just finished what I hope to be my penultimate day of examination. History and R.S Part the First. Both were just going into autopilot and letting the hand just tear through the pages (not literally!). I got 8 sides reeled off in History, which isn't bad. About a page every 12 minutes. As for RS the First - it was Mark's Gospel, always nice and easy. I just went through the motions and got it done. Exams aren't so bad when you know the answers.
I managed to drop the name of a few friends in my history exam. It was a case of 'As historian X. Smith says, it was a case of "Soviet aggression beaten by democratic solidarity".' I like to think of it as a game. So that puts me about two points up on the rest of you.
Anyway, I'm looking for an Ella Fitzgerald song at the moment based purely on hearsay. Apparantly it's got a really cool bass/jazz piano bit at the beginning. If you know the name of the song, drop me a line. Check my profile for an e-mail adress of mine.
Anyway, I'm off for a bit.

Just a shortish blog

2004-11-23T13:55:00.000Z

Haven't been up to much today. Mostly revising Histroy and RS, so I thought I'd take a break and blog a bit. I'm listening to a bit of soul - Otis Redding, to be precise. And it sounds damn cool.
Found some crazy stuff, so I'm just going to experiment with positng in HTML code.

You Are a Pundit Blogger!

Your blog is smart, insightful, and always a quality read.
Truly appreciated by many, surpassed by only a few.

What kind of blogger are you?

You Are a "Don't Tread On Me" Libertarian

You distrust the government, are fiercely independent, and don't belong in either party.

Religion and politics should never mix, in your opinion... and you feel opressed by both.

You don't want the government to cramp your self made style. Or anyone else's for that matter.

You're proud to say that you're pro-choice on absolutely everything!

What political persuasion are you?

Wow - it worked. Anyway, that's just the start. I'm hoping to learn my way around my blog a bit more in the next few weeks. If you know any really cool secret blogger tips, feel free to e-mail them to me. I'm going to get back to Hitler's Foreign Policy and Appeasement.

Reporting for duty!

2004-11-22T15:58:00.000Z

Not much up here today. Due to the vagaries of my schools examination system, I've got a day off tomorrow, so blogging will be lighter than usual (maybe non-existant) in light of the lack of things happening. However, today is another thing.
Well, not really. It was just a case of exam (English Literature - the best way to destroy anyone's love of poetry), long break with food, exam (Physics - not too bad) followed by a somewhat boring bus journey home.
It's all getting rather samey. I usually just post a couple of GNN links about here:
But today, you can go to GNN instead.
I'm listening to When The Levee Breaks, by Led Zepellin. It's not bad, but I don't enjoy it that much. Still, could be worse. Could be Slipknot .
Anyway, I'm off. Won't catch me hanging around here. Oh, no.

General Round-up

2004-11-20T13:33:00.000Z

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Got the b3ta newsletter links section for you. It's a good week.
Zefrank's guide to avoiding unwanted anger towards your boss.
Amusing wannabe Goths from Norfolk. Scum!
Use beer instead of water. Some people just don't understand the fundamental laws of the universe. Beer just lacks those essential water-like qualities.
Also, a bonus link here. Kung-fu monkey. I've been hypnotised by this tiny animal's kung-fu skills for quite some time now. It's really fascinating, in a kind of weird way.

I've been doing a bit of Wiki work. Basically, just clicking a few links. I'm fascinated by the hugely boring yet strangely interested by the Dutch system of claiming land from the sea. I'm probably very weird for finding this interesting, but it's quite a weird thing to do. I mean, imagine going into parliament and going 'Hey lads, I'm going to drain a bit of sea. Give us a couple of mil from the tax fund, would ya?'
I've also been looking at a government/Maori dispute in New Zealand. I'm only particularly interested because it's a very odd thing to happen in a country that has such strong liberal doctrine. I'm quite an admirer of New Zealand - they're a bit like the Southern Hemisphere's answer to Scandinavia. So this is quite an unusual thing to happen.

And now for a roundup of British weekend news and my editorial on it (oh, I love running a blog. It's the sense of ultimate power!) .
The police have admitted that the hunt ban implemented by the government will be impossible to enforce. This is a good thing. First, the hunt ban is blatant class warfare from the Labour government who see hunting as an upper class sport, despite evidence to the contrary. And secondly, it's no more brutal than other methods of keeping fox populations under control. If anything it's less brutal. The people who will suffer most from the ban are the police, who will struggle to enforce this corrupt and pointless piece of legislation.
Jacques Chirac's in my good books this week. He's been making very positive and active speeches. He's taken the stance of a true international friend - congratulating our successes, admiring our winners and gently pointing out our failures. For this, he has my respect. Although I don't really admire his marital habits ;-)
And finally, I'm giving a big cheer for Sunderland AFC's match tomorrow afternoon against Ipswich Town. If we win, we're only two points off automatic promotion. So haway the lads!

Yawns like a cat, smells like a vote fraud!

2004-11-19T21:49:00.000Z

Just woken up from a three-hour power nap. I'm knackered afer a week of no proper sleep and exams. Had Maths Calculator and Chemistry exams today - not the friendliest selection. Still, Maths is easier with a calculator and the Chemistry wasn't too bad. Could have done with some more revision though.
I've discovered some criticial survivl rules. Today was about two degrees (celcius) from about 11:00 to about 17:00. It being our schools own clothes day I decided to wear a thin long-sleeved T-shirt and my big blackish coat. With a scarf. I then - on the spur of the moment - went back to Rockinfreakinpotomuses house. It was great fun until we went out to meet some friends of his. I stood around on the street in a thin T-shirt for about forty minutes in the freezing cold, going slowly numb. At the end of it my nose and toes were numb and I couldn't move my arms properly. I was just standing there going 'Rockinfreakinpotomus - I can't feel my nose!' quite a lot. And I think I swore a fair bit. The worst thing was that this was purely voluntary exposure to extreme cold. I really do need to get a brain check.
I've been listening to quite a bit of Kings of Leon at the moment. I don't know how Radio KoL could do without them, because they're really good. Really, really good.
Only three links up today. Not much, but I'm a bit bored. I'll have you a newletter special tomorrow, if I can be bothered.
Vote fraud Floridia!
Poor New Yorkers are gonna get poorer!
USA accused of flying terrorist suspects out to Egypt, Uzbekistan and Syria to be tortured. And I don't mean the US government - I just mean the average Arab terrorist. Or possibly they just look Arab - it's probably enough of an excuse for the USA.
So there ya go - gotta love the USA. Or not, as the case may be.

Happy Birthday!

2004-11-18T15:48:00.000Z

Happy Birthday to Calvin and Hobbes, who are 19 today. Well done to Bill Watterson, who has done a marvellous job of keeping them funny, freshand original for so long.
I've been having exams recently and have had very little chance to relax and have had mno patience with the crazy evil Blogger server. I've been hyper for two days out of the past three, so I'm feeling quite pleased with myself. Yesterday was a bit of a no-go day, I just sat my English Paper 1 exam and blundered through my Maths Non Calculator Paper. I'm aiming for a crop of A*'s, the highest available grade. I'm hoping to follow through this run until I get to my actual GCSE's, which matter.
Anyway, this lunchtime I gave myself hyperactivity on the sugary and oaty wonderness of HobNobs. At 69p for a packet, I figured that it'd be a good choice. And oh, it was. I listened to funk and soul with my mates all lunchtime. Very crazy. Then I ended up being hyper, which died down during this afternoon's Biology paper but has now resurfaced. And is amplified by the loud Ramones/Clash combo that I've been pouring into my ears today.
I'm quite pleased with my exams so far - nothing too hard, just boring. Still, I get two-and-a-half hours of lunchtime, and I get to leave school an hour earlier. Most convenient.
Anyway, I've picked up Medieval: Total War from a friend recently. I'm the Holy Roman Empire and I've already conquered small parts of France and Denmark. It's top stuff.

Not Much Going Down Today

2004-11-16T17:47:00.000Z

17:34 Log in
18:15 No interesting links today. But lots of advice about music. I spent this afternoon's Physics lesson going through the iPods of Gregor and Jammy R, looking for good music to get. Got a massive list - my personal favourites being anything by The Ramones, Twisted Sister's I Wanna Rock and Prodigy's Firestarter.
18:21 Oh, and You Can't Touch This by MC Hammer! And Shining Light by Ash. The list is endless.
18:27 I'm going to try to think of something in the next few days with which I could make my blog more interesting. I'm toying with the idea of a short story published and written at the rate of one paragraph a day. I'm also considering putting pictures up, but that might be too much hassle.
18:29 I've just thought that my blog has been without a political rant in ages. Be prepared for one in the next few days. Provided my exams don't drag me down too much. Which they probably will do.

A little bit of linkage

2004-11-15T17:08:00.000Z

17:10 Log on
17:20 Right then - just three political links. Two from GNN and one from idleworm.
Associated Press photographers plight in the war-torn city of Fallujah. The pictures I've seen so far make Falluajh seem like a hell. The main high street looks like 9/11/04 ground zero. The city, like the twin towers, has been levelled by terrorists from a totally alien culture.
Stating the obvious from GNN here:
Halliburton are corrupt
The White House are purging the CIA of liberals.
Still, there's hope somewhere. Even if everyone else is deaf, I'm listening.
17:26 I'm listening to some Snow patrol at the moment. I like it, but I'm not overly impressed by it. Hopefully it'll grow on me. I'd still advise everyone to buy the most recent Mull Historical Society album.
17:31 I'm doing a bit of grinding on Kingdom of Loathing. Putting an 'indefinate quantity' of adventures into finding a paintbrush. I really must be bored.

Early afternoon bloggage

2004-11-13T13:52:00.000Z

13:57 I've had a fairly interesting morning. I volunteered to help with my schools 'Open Morning' - a chance for prospective parents to look around the school and decide whether to send their kids to be beaten into fine shapes of English manhood. The girl's school runs on a similar principle. Every department sets up a classroom to show off how great they are and usually ropes a few young 'uns in to help out. Having spent about half the morning in the history room doing nothing, I then got drafted into doing a tour for parents. It was quite successful - I managed to get around plenty of departments before losing about 90% of my party in the Geography department.
14:00 I've got a massive CYFA social - Warehouse - tonight. It's going to be a good crack, especially Laser Quasar in the church!
14:01 I'm listening to Power of Equality by the Red Hots at the moment.
14:02 Got my links sorted out. Lots from GNN and one from idleworm which I've added because it's just a classic. If you can't get access to it, use BugMeNot!
Anyway, here's the linkage:
Stupid tourists and the funny things they say. (May require BugMeNot).
Trying to get a recount in Ohio. Strange stories of election fraud begin seep through.
Vote fraud rumours crushed. Most strange.
Fallujah major disaster - wow, that's not stating the obvious.
Top Indonesian Civil Rights lawyer poisoned. Well, sounds like the work of terrorists - backed by the US government, of course.

Plenty of Randomage!

2004-11-12T17:26:00.000Z

17:36 Today is Friday, which means the b3ta newsletter. I sift through the bad and the good on it so you don't have to!
First up: Japanese businessmen falling asleep. A huge archive of photos, obviously lovingly collected. Personal favourite - the guy at the foot of the stairs. You'll know it when you see it. And be warned - a long loading time.
Morris dancers shot in documentary style. Don't expect too much, but it's still funny.
Crazy head-moving paper dragon. I want one!
Anyway, that's the b3ta linktastic weekly(ish) newsletter
17:40 I'm upset to hear that Yasser Arafat is dead. I'm equally upset to hear the idiots in the US and Israeli administration who have issued statements to the effect of 'ha ha - the bastard is dead! That's one less we have to kill!' Still, with any luck their heads will end up on spikes in the next revolution.
17:41 I'm feeling quite pleased with myself at the moment, despite my cold. First of all, I haven't sworn on my blog in ages. Which should satisfy Gregor. And secondly because last night I disarmed my opponent whilst fencing. For those of you who don't fence or find it boring it's basically like hitting six sixes at cricket or winning in less than five moves at chess. Or whatever. Basically, it's the pinnacle of fencing achievement. Only problem is, I have no idea how I did it. Which is a pity, because the guy I disarmed is the best fencer I've met so far and I wouldn't mind a chance to try out my new skills on other people.
17:58 and an edit - Mordechai Vanunu re-arrested by Israeli police. Suprise, suprise. The evil oppressors crack down on a guy who spilt their nuclear secrets to the world. They still claim that they don't have nuclear weapons. Crazy. So they just abuse the human rights of Mordechai Vanunu as a replacement to owning up to have nukes. It's not like anybody believes their lies.
22:11 and another edit - 'Israel has barred the entire population of the Gaza Strip from attending Yassir Arafat's funeral in Ramallah, and has sealed off many West Bank towns.' Straight from Wikipedia's Current Event Page - see it under the November 12th section.
I've just come back from Greg Hicks' MacBeth. It wasn't anything special - maybe 65 - 70%. Duncan was probably the best actor, with plenty of innuendo and he seemed to be a very good representation of what I understand Duncan to be. The ending was also very good - the witches emerge and walk over MacBeth's body towards Fleance, who tries to back away but can't. Very sinister. However, Greg Hicks was quite bad - his style was very limited and he seemed to be very effeminate - not the macho warrior that MacBeth is supposed to be. Also, they didn't make enough of their time period (the 18th century) for the play to really seem original. It seemed to be very traditional and average. But there you go.
Oh, and I'm listening to 'Sympathy for the Devil' by the Stones at the moment.

2004-11-11T17:39:00.000Z

15:07 - Just logged on
15:47 - I've had a really good day today. My afternoon lessons (English and Maths) are usually really boring - English because we just sit and make notes and Maths because we sit in slence with a psycopathic and crap teacher. However, I spent most of English talking and our Maths teacher is ill, so we had Maths with our really cool German teacher instead.
15:56 - I've got fencing tonight, which I'm looking forward to. I'm feeling a bit ill at the moment, but I'm definetely going in for xTreme physical activity tonight. It's the only way to go.
18:05 - Got some German to do, so I'll go and do that now. I've got to type up a massive presentation (well, it's only about 1.5 minutes long, but it seems like a long time) and learn it off by heart for Monday. The exams are almost upon me. And it's not good. It's very not good.

Just the usual!

2004-11-10T20:08:00.000Z

17:35 I've realised that timestamping by blog might be an amusing idea.
17:38 I'm currently fed up of regurgitating idleworm links. Can't you look at his site yourselves? Is it too much to ask? It's quite amusing. Go on.
17:41 Did find some interesting stuff today. Evidence of Shell being evil in Nigeria. Suprising how little you know when you learn new stuff.
17:54 Found a really funny site against Senator Hillary Clinton. I'm not sure if it's a parody site or not. Debate will no doubt rage on the Emotion Eric forums. It's going to be a good ole morally confused socialist pussies (that's us left wingers) versus a bunch of corrupt fascist Bushist oppressors (that's the right wing). So come along and give your team a hand.
17:56 I've just realised that the above sounds like a game concept.
18:01 This is the time when I should be revising Religious Studies.
18:05 'Sympathy for the Devil' by the Stones is now playing. I love them. But not as much as the Mull Historical Society. Who I love a lot.
18:07 Bye bye, folks. I've got to bite the books and revise like mad. Only another week until exams.

Wow - not much going down!

2004-11-09T20:03:00.000Z

Today has been fairly average. I've continued into my explorations of 'Hegemony or Survival' and I've been listening to Mull. Bottom line - the only way to defeat the US administration is massive popular protest (we're talking about just about everyone North of the Brandt line protesting here) and that Mull is awesome. As in, really, really awesome. You can find the video for 'How About I Love You More' on their website.
Anyway, somebody is nosing in on my bloggage, so I've got to dash off and revise. *Yawn*.

Damn you Blogger.

2004-11-08T17:33:00.000Z

Sorry for the lack of Bloggage yesterday, folks. That's because the Blogger servers have a problem with me logging on. Obviously a personal issue based on politics.
Anyway, today I picked up the new Mull Historical Society album, This Is Hope. It's quite frankly amazing. If I had to pick a genre for it, then it's prog-rock, but I'm not very good at this sort of thing. So far 'How 'Bout I Love You More' seems to be the pick of the bunch - the most polsihed of the songs.
Plenty of politial links, mostly from Idleworm, and an interesting video.
Was the US election rigged? Again. The evidence is scarily compelling.
Then there's the Republican/British Conservative rift. Unlucky, Mr. Bush. Especially when that nice Mr. Howard has a chance of winning the election.
As for the video, it's of a whale exploding. So don't watch if you're exceptionally squeamish.
This morning in R.S Rockinfreakinpotomus was taught a bit of Cockney rhyming slang by me and Little J. My knowledge extended to King Richard III whilst Little J threw in Barry White, Dame Judi Dench and William Pitt. Every one a guranteed cracker. Honest.
Been reading a bit of Noam Chomsky lately - 'Hegemony or Survival'. It's tough going, mainly because it's largely political theory. I've been getting my teeth into it via the sections dealing with US funding of Turkey and Columbia for the purposes of opressing the population of those countries. The opression of the people there (and in East Timor) is a trademark of the USA. And there's always Noam Chomsky's trademark example of Nicaragua. All examples of when the USA has deliberately destroyed a country and the hopes of a people for hegemony. Their only shield is international ignorance.
The resistance by the Catholic church in countries like Nicaragua and East Timor has also pushed me over the edge in my denominational decision. Having spent a lot of time and thought on trying to discover what church is the right one for me, I've figured that the Catholic church is the one that appeals to me most. I like it's strong values and the fact that it appears to be the church most in touch with the issues of poverty and oppression in the world today. That, and i like the Pope. He's dope. White Doc Martins and a member of underground Christian resistance. And played in goal for the Polish football (soccer for you Yanks) team. Cool guy.

Finally

2004-11-06T11:38:00.000Z

Obviously Blogger.com has got some sort of problem with my posts. I even had problems accessing this morning. However, I do have some important stuff to say.
First of all, I apologise unreservedly for the elephantine quantities of swearing used in my previous posts. Gregor pointed out that I was swearing excessively yesterday, so I thought I should post an apology. I won't do it again. Unless it's a direct quote.
Secondly, an update from yesterday. I had an awesome evening at the CYFA fireworks display. I clubbed together with some people to buy an enormous firework, which we contributed to the stock. Suffice to say that the firework had a safety warning telling us to be 25 metres away when the firework was lit. It was utterly, utterly insane. I also discovered that there are actually non-fencers who think that fencing is cool! Quite an epiphany. I also bought 'Hegemony or Survival' by the legend that is Noam Chomsky. I've only read about five pages as I was very, very tired last night, but so far he's said that the USA are, by fighting terror, only increasing the resentment against them throughout the world and the fear of the USA which, in turn, leads to acts of anti-US terrorism. Quite obvious, but nice to see it put down in words.

Anyway, today I'm going to the legendary store of IKEA to buy a bedside table and a blue rug for my new room. My new room is really rather snazzy and comes complete with stripy blue wallpaper and a sofa. It's also about double the size of my old room, so I'm quite chuffed. I alsohave about double the space for my private library. Unfortunately, I've discovered it contains far fewer books than I thought. So I'm going to have to spend lots of money on building up my collection of books. Any donations (books or cash), drop me a line at asymmetricalwarfare@hotmail.com.

I'm currently listening to 'I Wouldn't Believe Your Radio' by Welsh rock supremos Stereophonics. I just can't get enough of them.

Yawn!

2004-11-04T18:07:00.000Z

The first day of the rest of the end of the world. Still, plenty of time left until inaugaration day in which I can execute Bsuh. Ritually. Still, should I have kids and should the election have been before Halloween, I would have got some good costume ideas!
Grr - I just noticed that my Blogger dashboard has changed ever so slightly. Quite annoying - I go to click on the 'hyperlink' button and it's not there. Found it though.
As I'm revising at the moment, I'm afraid my posts will have to become conciser in an effort to maintain enough spare time to do what I want to do.
I'm currently thinking of setting up a refugee service for US draft-dodgers. Just to make it easier to escape the USA, I want to start a company that sets up potential refugees with housing and employment all around the world. Canada and Mexico would be obvious branches, but I'd be happy to rent out our spare room to a draft dodger. And you could charge the draft dodgers *and* the companies you referred them to.
I also need to learn how to say 'Don't shoot - I don't support Bush or Blair' in French, German, Arabic, Punjab, Urdu, Chinese (Mandarin *and* Cantonese) and Russian. The only one I know is German - 'Schiessen sie nicht, bitte! Ich mag nicht Bush und Blair!' which translates as 'Don't shoot please. I don't like Bush or Blair.'

US voters vote to fuck selves with sharp spike!

2004-11-03T17:24:00.000Z

Well, it appears tha Dubya has won himself a fair and square election. Still, it's not time to count our chickens yet, thanks to TooStupidToBePresident's:

Top 11 reasons to be patient and count every vote.

11. The inauguration is seven weeks away, we can count as slowly as we want.

10. States other than Ohio haven't been called.

9. Rove's plan is always to create the impression that Dubya has already won.

8. It was the lesson of Florida.

7. We insisted on it in Afghanistan.

6. Some people stood in line for 15 hours to cast a ballot.

5. Black Box voting machines may not have a paper trail, but they do have logs.

4. John Kerry served two tours of duty to protect your franchise.

3. It will delay the departure of more young people to Iraq.

2. Not to would make it even easier not to count them next time.

1. It is, technically, the way elections are done.

However, it may not be all that bad. According to idleworm, Kerry would be worse than Bush! He might be clutching at straws, but it's not a bad argument. Also, it does mean another four and a half years of being able to laugh at the USA and rip the piss out of them mercilessly. When Bush finally gets kicked out, I won't be suprised if some countries have actually split off diplomatic negotiations with the USA altogether.
However, it does simply appear that the US citizens have voted to insert (see title) a sharply serrated object up their rectum. And I think there's a hint of twisting in it as well.
Soon, the USA will be suffering from the first economic backlash from Bush's deficit, everybody under 30 (or is it 35?) will be off in Iraq getting shot, the name of Bush will be written with a 666 after it, there will still be no major terrorist attacks in the USA.
However, as the Republicans voted for him I want to hear NO whining from them about this. If you voted for Bush and your child dies in Iraq, it's your fault. If you voted for Bush and you lose your job, it's your fault. If you vote for Bush and he mucks up your country, it's your fault and I expect you to take full responsibility for his actions. Have a nice hell!

Bumper Blog

2004-11-02T17:00:00.000Z

To make up for yesterday, I'm making a bumper blog - everything of yesterday and everything of today.

To cover up yesterday, I basically told everyone to vote for Kerry. So do so. Now. Because he's better than Bush. I believe you have about between 7 and 12 hours left in which to do so. And there will be violence if you don't vote for Kerry. Much violence. Pain and suffering comes with the dark side of the farce.Sorry, the dark side of the US elections.
Some last minute links to convince you:
Bush's security pepper sprays protestors and innocents. (If you have any problems accessing this link, use BugMeNot)
More Bush Lies
Colin Powell thinks the USA are losing the war (according to Newsweek).
Iraq - Vietnam parralel (#Number 2031, paragraph C) - helicopters are the only safe transport method in Iraq.
Brits hate Bush. Well, we do.

Anyway, that's yesterdays election special. Vote Kerry. Please.

I also plugged Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. It's an awesome book in a dark and macabre sort of way, and well worth a read. Because it's awesome. It's also fairly cheap. My copy cost about £6 or £7 - pretty good value for such an awesome book.

Anyway, for today not much new. I obtained the Red Hot Chili Peppers album Blood Sugar Sex Magik so I'm feeling somewhat funky. And I managed to pick up some Chronic Future and Future Sound of London. All in all, a fairly awesome albeit eclectic selection.

Had school today as part of the first day back after half term. Most boring. Also am going to have to revise for upcoming exams, which is very, very bad. Still, at least the exams are unimportant.

I'm listening to Sir Psycho Sexy from Blood Sugar Sex Magik at the moment. It's such an awesome song and has the craziest lyrics in the world. Officially. I think they even have a sticker on the front of the album for winning 'The Mysteriously pensive Crazy Lyrics Award'. If not, I'm most disappointed.

Ah well, I'm off to do lovely German homework. Not worth it.

GRR!

2004-11-01T18:42:00.000Z

I had an awesome post for everyone, but Firefox crashed so all the great links and writing I had for you disappeared. So I'm not going to blog today. Which is a pity.

My Blog Years Resolutions

2004-10-31T22:05:00.000Z

I've decided to make a few changes to my blog and so I've invented Blog Year (which falls on the 31st of October on Leap Years or the 8th of March for all normal years). Basically, I'm promising to blog longer and harder. That's right, you lucky, lucky people. I am going to do my best to improve my blog beyond the usual 'I'm bored. This is what I'm listening to.'

First of all, I'm going to lob some of the very many crazy things I hear daily up onto my blog. First of all, did you know that duelling (as in twenty paces, bang bang, honour is satisfied) is legal in Panama provided both duellists are registered blood donors! Given that I'm a mediocre fencer, I'm temtped to go to Panama and decimate the population (EDIT: Have just discovered that this monumental task would require 280,826.8 duels - perhaps I'll lower my expectations ;-)

I'm going to plug, yet again, the rather excellent a cappella group Da Vinci's Notebook. They're just too funny. Obtain their music. Just do it. Download it, buy their CD's, raise the dead and make them sing it for you - whatever floats your boat.

Speaking of floating and boating, I'd like to pass some comment on the events taking place on Tuesday. That's right folks, it's ELECTION TIME. Which means one thing, kids - VOTE RIGGING. A game of skill, speed and trickery that's guarenteed to see Dubya in the white house. However, I still think you should go out and vote for kerry - take this for example. Definetely proof that Kerry has the edge in terms of niceness over Bush. On the other hand, Bush has no qualms over using heavyweight emotional blackmail like this. Cheesier than five-hundred year old Brie.

I'm also going to point out as a last point that I'd like some feedback if you've found this page randomly. It'd just help me to keep my blog at the peak of blogging perfection (or get there, depending on your opinion).

Bored on a Saturday - as usual

2004-10-30T11:46:00.000Z

Not doing much at the moment, just sitting around and obsessively listening to Da Vinci's Notebook - 'Magic Kingdom in the Sky' at the moment. Very funny. Very very very funny.

I was thinking of going to the cinema today but, annoyingly enough, it's only crap stuff on at the moment. Nothing in particualr worth seeing. However, lots of cool stuff is due to come out: Oceans 12, The Manchurian Candidate, The Incredibles and The Aviator. Pity they're not out yet. I'm going shopping instead! Got to buy some new clothes to replace my old threads.

First blog for ages!

2004-10-29T11:58:00.000Z

Am just back from Berlin. It's quite a cool city, but it's shit for shopping. It does have tons of cool Norman Foster buildings. Visited all kinds of interesting places: The Reichstag, Potsdam, Checkpoint Charlie and the Sony Centre. All rather spiffy.
Anyway, I'm listening to the incredibly crap Teebage Kicks by The Undertones. Radio KoL has been in a slide on quality terms lately.
I'm somewhat bored at the moment, but that's mainly because I've got shitloads of revision to do for my GSCE mock exams. I've got about 15 days to go until they start, and I've got 2 years of work to revise. I'm probably a bit fucked.

Random Berlin Bloggage!

2004-10-24T18:09:00.001Z

I've magically found a computer in the hotel in which I'm staying which is connected to the internet. It's quite sad of me to blog, but there you go.
I'm not listening to anything at the moment other than crap hotel background music. If I was listening to stuff, it'd probably be Rammstein as a salute to the cultural heritage of Germany.
Only had two days in Germany, one of which was spent getting from England to Berlin. Today we mostly wandered about. We managed to burn about three hours in the Checkpoint Charlie museum, which was quite cool. I picked up a rather swish little 'You Are Now leaving The American Sector' sign, which will take pride of place upon my door.
Anyway, I'm going to head off for food now, so blog ya later!

Random Berlin Bloggage!

2004-10-24T18:09:00.000Z

Preparing for a week of rest!

2004-10-22T16:37:00.000Z

Quite a cool cartoon by Mark Fiore here. I love this guy! He's funny and scarily correct.
You're going to be without a blog for about a week now. I'm off to Berlin on holiday so unless I find myself an internet cafe then, chances are, you'll have to live without my spectacular writing. Or not so spectacular writing, as it may be.
However, I'm going to try and make this blog better than most of the previous ones. There's going to be some serious linkage, as I know you all need help keeping busy. So, without further ado, I introduce several of my favourite websites:
B3ta - packed full of links to other, funnier sites. These guys send out the best of the web almost every week! They also led me into the big wide world of the internet.
Emotion Eric - His forums are *the* place to wind up right-wing US neo-cons. And he alsop has one of the funniest sites on the web. Ever.
Weebl & Bob - If you don't know these vastly successful cartoon characters by now, you should definetely go here. Now. For pie. Mmmmm!
Stick Cricket - The game to end all games. Top drawer stuff. Bringing across the best of the awesome game of cricket using only the WASD keys.
Wikipedia - If you don't know what Cricket is. Or, in fact, if you don't know (for example) who signed the Kyoto Protocol or the outcome of The Wars of Religion or what the Gnostic heresy actually was, visit this site for a free encylopediea on everything.
And finally, XGen Studios - a great little games studio who make free internet games of exceptionally high quality.

Anyway, that ought to keep you entertained whilst I'm siting in street cafe's in Berlin, drinking coffee. Because you know I will....

I'm listening to The World Is Not Enough by Garbage. It's one of the few James Bond theme tunes I don't actually dislike and is OK. Ish. The chorus is pretty good and it's not like most of the music I have. So it's good.

I'm reading Liar by Stephen Fry at the moment. As I'm very tired at the moment, it's taken me two nights to get through the first chapter. Normally I'd be finished by now. However, it's shaping up to be a typical Stephen Fry novel - louche and confusing. Still cool though.

I'd also like to say that Dogma is a very cool film. And it's suprisingly respectful to Christianity whilst still remaining very funny. Although I think the Catholic Church still banned it. Still, they tried to ban Monty Python......

Man, I wish I was a US citizen!

2004-10-21T16:03:00.000Z

I'd get to go to 'Camp Fallujah' - who knew the draft was so much fun!
I'd get to vote in the next elction. For the Republicans.
I'd be able to shoot people in the face! With a gun!
I'd be allowed to lynch lefties!
I could wrongfully imprison people because they're Arabs! Lock up the towelheads, man!
I could become part of the firing line for the presidnent's next crazy-ass 'bomb the bastards' missions!
Did I mention the glorious way in which I could die in service of my country?
I could pay huge taxes so that the rich people I love could get less tax!
I could buy cars that go to 15mpg - that's 30 less than the current cars I use!
I could illegally log in Alaska!
And club seals!
I could be interrogated for not liking George Bush!
And I could invade people's privacy mercilessly with my Hitler Jugend Gruppe (Montgomery, Al.)

As you can see, the USA are not my favourite country. And we need more guys like this dude. So vote Kerry, for a better, brighter blog. He'll lie and stealand cheat you, but at least it won't be so bad as it is under Bush.

I'm listening to led Zepellin's 'You Shook Me'. It's not that great. I prefer their earlier stuff.

lazy evenings rule

2004-10-20T15:24:00.000Z

Just a brief blog today. Windy and damp and boring here, so nothing much to do. I managed to finish some biology coursework and win some chocolate (yay!), so I'm pretty chuffed at the moment with my lack of workishness. I'm going to watch Dogma. I'm listening to some random shit at the moment which isn't very good on Radio KoL.
I'm reading 'Fools Fate' by Robin Hobb at the moment. As in whilst I write my blog. It's not bad, but it's very standard fantasy fare. I can, however, strongly advise 'Jonothan Strange and Mr. Norell' by Susanna Clarke - it's good, especially if you like 19th century authors. It's also not a cheap Lord of the Rings rip-off, which make it even better as fantasy books go.

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday!

2004-10-19T18:13:00.000Z

Had quite a good day today. Hung around school for Christian Union which was, as always, pretty awesome. We investigated the significance of the parable of the prodigal son using food. It's all good.
I also bought Dogma (the film) today, and it looks pretty awesome. I'm going to watch The Day After Tomorrow, which is an awesome film. If I were you, I'd buy it. Twice.
I'm listening to Goodbye Ruby Tuesday by The Rolling Stones at the moment. It's good crack, albeit not my normal type of music (in case you hadn't guessed).
I'm going to point you to the second best blog on the web now. It's pretty cool, huh? Great author - look at his extra stuff.
Was forced to do a timed essay at school today, so had no chance to begin a new project (of the silly variety) in English. Seeing as my mock GSCE exams are coming up, I'm going to have to stop writing half-arsed musicals about pirates. And start writing more essays. Even if they are unbelievably boring.
I worte a poem once, and considered putting it on the website. I guess I was just too lazy and far too unimpressed by my own skill. Or rather, I was so impressed with my own skill I'd have been gutted when I got a comment saying 'Shit - lool!!!!!11!'
Anyway, I've got a massive disaster epic to watch. You'll have to excuse me.

Just an average post (Mk IV)

2004-10-18T16:21:00.000Z

Just listening to My Friends by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It's great, but not as awesome as it used to be. One Hot minute is still an labum to worship.
Suprisingly enough, I'm feeling quite angry at the moment. It's a positive emotion for me because I've been letting other things extinguish my anger. But on the bus today I was listening to Wake Up and began to feel a bit angry. It's not like I used to be, with my crazed anti-US rants, but it's still there. Just a general feeling of anger ata bunch of profiteering gluttons who've stolen the world from those who deserve it.
If you're wondering how crazy this blog is, it can get crazier. If you think that I'm deep, I'm deeper. For a fifteen-year-old, I'm pretty crazy. I read Russian Literature when I was 14. I've read Noam Chomsky extensively - most people think he's a garden ornament. I'm inspired largely by people who are largely dismissed by the general public (including my peers) - Malcolm X (1964-1965), Steve Biko, Sy Hersh, Salvador Allende and Emilio Zapata. I read more than just about anything else. I have big plands and a grand scheme.
And if that wasn't odd enough, let's just take this thought for the day: If it takes one man two years to build a stable socialist society, how long does it take for the USA to declare them unconstitutional.

Weekend Away Special!

2004-10-17T18:21:00.000Z

I'm going to run my CYFA weekend away special edition blog in chronological order to cut down on rambling.
****FRIDAY****
Arrive at Whithaugh Park (site of weekend away) 7:30. Discover I'm sharing a room with Ads Nads. Have a quick intro talk about the weekend and a beginning to the investigation into the message in the book of Haggai. This is followed by sports. Much hyperactivity, especially when I score my baskets at basketball. Scoring a winning basket and setting up the first leads to Ads nads picking me up and singing 'We Are the Champions'. At 11 we head of to the rooms in our chalet. At 12:15 (AM) we get up and head on out for a reconnaisance mission of the grounds, returning slightly muddied at 1:30.
****SATURDAY****
Wake up at 9 and almost miss breakfast. Quick talk on Haggai followed by 'The Wide Game' - a series of games involving not getting caight by the other team and completing certain objectives. Am relatively successful, especially in a hiding game where I crouched, commando-like for five minutes, whispering 'I am a stone' to myself. As I didn't get caught, I'm quite chuffed. Lunch is followed by another talk on Haggai. This is followed by 'It's a Knockout', in which we had to get as wet and muddy as possible in various different activities. Due to being in the most skilled group, we are cheated out of first place by suspect refereeing. However, we redeem ourselves on the quiz supper by turning our 61/100 quiz score into 393 points through the miracle of gambling on crazy activities. The nearest challengers picked up 16 points, so we are comfortable winners. There's plenty of free time (in which I manage to rip my jeans and get a perfectly triangular cut) and, ultimately, the film. As it was School of Rock, I ended up quite hyper and had raging arguments about music. Retire to the chalet of some mutual friends for cards. I coin the catchphrase of the holiday ('Ye son, is a wanker [miscellaneous hand action]) which is repeated (along with 'yo ma') all through Sunday. The late night mayhem never happens despite our recon mission.
****SUNDAY****
Actually manage to get breakfast at a reasonable time. Last talk on Haggai followed by sports. Decide to play safe indoor sports only to observe some less than amusing accidents. Lunch, followed by packing up. We then journey back to our drop-off point, with plenty of choruses of 'Wanker' and 'Yo ma' ringing out. All very hyper, so school tomorrow will be totally shit.

I'm listening to Ruby Tuesday by The Rolling Stones which is actually pretty good.

Fascinating bit of investigative journalism here...

2004-10-14T17:10:00.000Z

Seymour 'Sy' Hersh is a bit of a good. He's revealed just about every offence against humanity committed by the US government including My Lai, Abu Ghraib and 9/11 1973 when the US government desposed the legally elected socialist President Allende of Chile and replaced him with rather nasty fascist Gustavo Pinochet. Anyway, here's a bit by him about the USA. It's very, very scary.
There's also this bit about a gay guy who got hauled over the hot coals for having a 'King George - Off With His Head' bumper sticker.
I'm listening to Animal Cannabus by Mull Historical Society at the moment. It is, like most of my music, damn awesome. I do quite love Mull.
I wrote a poem today. It's pretty wierd and I did it in English because I was told to by my teacher. Still, it's pretty cool sounding and I'll probably post it soon. However, I'm about to take a three day break and go on a CYFA weekend way. It promises to be a pretty good crack.

I love my evil genius

2004-10-13T15:53:00.000Z

I'm listening to Mein Herz Brennt by Rammstein at the moment. It's quite cool if you like crazy German rock.
I'm feeling quite satisfied at the moment. It's Wednesday, and Wednesday is the beginning of the end of the week which will culminate in the CYFA weekend away, which will rock. I've done weights, which gets the adrenalin pumping. And I've done all my homework before blogging (for once). So all I have to do now is sit back and let the good music roll. Probably going to be mostly The Exies, but there you go - I'm an addict.
I've been doing my best to pimp my blog and so far I've had three more people from school who have gone and had a look at it. So if you've found a link to my blog on the internet anywhere and gone here, here's a big hi.
HI!
Anyway, I'm trying to get my readership up so if you read this and know somebody, anybody, who'd like this then send them the link. Post it on forums. Write it on walls. Pummel people in the face until they go, but spread the word. Even if the word is 'Yawn - bored today. Nothing to blog about.'
Thank you!

The Rain where I live falls mainly on those outside

2004-10-12T17:39:00.000Z

I'm listening to I Don't Want To Go To Toronto by Radio Free Vestibule. It's quite funny in a kind of very crazy and crap way. But listen to it anyway, cos it's an experience.
I'm not really doing much at the moment. This morning I helped out with a church service for my school at our local church. It went really well. We organised it at the Christian Union so we had some pretty good hymns going. Not exactly Tim Hughes or Delirious, but pretty cool anyway. I did a roleplay about God's love for the world which went really well. Quite a good alternative to the fun of double German (no sarcasm intended - we do no work in German).
I've got a mammoth History essay to get started on and I've got to make a compilation CD for my sister, so can't make this too long.
It was raining today, but it was good rain. It started when I was under cover and I haven't got wet yet. It was raining on the bus and the rain managed to make even the scummy end of the city look pretty awesome in a cinematic way.
I've spent three lines talking about rain, so I think I've run out of things to say.

Be afraid....be very afraid!

2004-10-11T16:36:00.000Z

This is a very scary video about how George Dubya is possibly suffering from pre-senile dementia. I might also add that, according to a doctor I know, Tony Blair's heart condition is cutting the oxygen flow to his brain making his decisions irrational. Great - two leaders who could well be going crazy.
I'm listening to Letters to Cleo's Here And Now on Radio KoL. It's not that great. Listen to Ugly by The Exies instead.
I've been playing a lot of GTA3 recently. It's modded up to the hilt. No more stingers - just stupidly and unbelievably fast Ferrari F50's. No BF Injection - just a Go Kart. No Cheetah's - just rather fantastic sports cars of no particular origin. It's so damn awesome. There are only a few cars left unmodded.
Anyway, I've got to do some R.S homework on Justice and Reform. Lucky me.

Just an average post (Mk III)

2004-10-10T11:33:00.000Z

Possibly the most average post ever. Yesterday was quite surreal. Feeling somewhat light-headed and tired with my cold I watched Equilibrium and Brotherhood of the Wolf. No doubt both were much improved through my condition. Equilibrium is a kind of Brave New World-esque film with some very cool fight scenes and funky double-triple-crazy plot twists and bluffs. And it's not as much of a rip-off of the Matrix as you would think. And it has some really cool images and scenery, although the main city looks a little odd.
Brotherhood of the Wolf is just like a French Hound of the Baskervilles.
I then sat up late writing an English essay and insulting the family of an acquaintance of mine.
I'm listening to Smoke Two Joints by Bob Marley at the moment and it's awesome. Very reggae and rasta and cool.

Special Nobel Peace Prize Edition!

2004-10-09T10:25:00.000Z

Just thought I'd dedicate the first part of this blog to the brand new Nobel Peace Prize winner,

Wangari Maathai

who's contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace in Kenya has been judged to be so important that she has been awarded the nobel Peace Prize. Even though she's never going to read this - congratulations! This information is lifted from Wikipedia.
I'm feeling a bit coldy at the moment, which is a bummer. Still, next weekend I'm off on a CYFA weekend away, so better ill now than ill then.
I'm lounging around in my rather cool and brand new short-and-t-shirt pyjama combo. It's as cool as my black and grey scarf, both of which I bought yesterday. I love shopping! i think it's inherited from my sisters.
I'm listening to Ready To Go by Republica at the moment. I downloaded it because it's played before every Sunderland AFC match and happens to sound pretty cool. Nothing will beat hearing this a few years ago when we could still boast full-house attendances. Music plays, players run out, crowd goes crazyand we win 4-0 or whatever. Good times. Now we're lucky to avoid utter destruction at the hands of the likes of Derby and Plymouth Argyle. Oh how the mighty have fallen!
I've got a few essays to write this weekend, which is pretty awful as things go. A poetry comparison in English between Carol Ann Duffy and Simon Armitage? I'd rather stick three fingers down my throat. At least History will be interesting - we're doing Racial Conflict after the Civil War leading up to a huge bit of coursework on the Civil Rights Movement of 1950-1970. It's top stuff and has actually led me to sympathise with Malcolm X (after he went on the hajj) and Stokely Carmichael more than Martin Luther king Jnr, who's not quite as perfect as everyone says. Although he's still damn awesome.

Blog Captain and the Word of Tomorrow!

2004-10-08T20:56:00.001Z

******EDIT: I am fully aware that I have posted twice. It was a mistake, but I'm going to leave them like this so you can see the original classic and the new and updated smash hit. Enjoy!****

Have just come back from Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow - it's the bees knees! In fact, it's not just the bee - it's the whole fucking hive. Sepai 1930's cinema with only a few real props in it - it's mostly faked.
I'm listening to Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen at the moment - it's only on my playlist because of it's comedy value. But it's still good. And very, very frightening. Like thunder and lightening! GALILEO!
I had quite an amusing dance-off style thing today at the back of Physics. Gregor had prodigy's Firestarter on his iPod and, having not done anything particularly crazy at lunchtime, felt the need to go a bit crazy. So I charv danced around the back of the classroom a bit. I'm not sure what's scarier - that I did it or that I'm admitting it on the internet. And trust me - there were all the classics in there. Big fish, little fish, cardboard box. The robot (I'm so bad at it). Stacking the shelves. Skifahren. Putting out the stars. Shameless - that's me.
Not many links floating around at the moment, but You Forgot Poland is pretty awesome. Well, I guess I did acually forget Poland. Still, it's hardly the GNN article on Halliburton's dodgy dealings in Iraq. I wish I could get away with that.
I'm currently involved in an amusing argument on the Emotion Eric forums. It's basically about who's better - Kerry or Bush. But I'm doing the whole rip the piss out of the Republicans show whilst pointedly saying 'I'm British - if you choose a bad president, I'm (relatively) safe.' It reminds me of an argument I had on the SWG forums about roughly the same sort of thing. Although gun control and the gun-carrying of the US police came into question. I actually got the thread locked because some guy wrote a thread stating that the best way to cure the problems of the Middle East was to nuke it into beaten glass. He was so affronted when I accused him of racism that I got the thread locked by complaining. Good times. Especially when some character called Dromir ][ sent me threats of violence.
I must publish a correction - Finders is actually known as Findus. Thanks to Gregor for spotting that one. Are you happy, you pedantic bastard ;-)?
I'd also like to issue a GRRRR to blogger.com - I've had to retype this thread because it faile to post. I won't be fooled again! Ha!
I'm also about to die from using far too many hyphens. Dash!

Blog Captain and the Word of Tomorrow!

2004-10-08T20:56:00.000Z

Just been to see Sky Captain, the rather awesome film that as shot entirely on blue screen which means no real sets or props. Despite that, it still looks pretty cool in a kind of sepia 1930's style. It's great fun and has some great laughs, including one at the very end. However, I won't spoil any of it for you - go and see it!
I'm listening to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody - it's mainly on my playlist for the comedy value. It's still damn funny though.
I haven't been able to root out any particularly good links today. 'You forgot Poland' seems to be fairly popular and is quite funny, but it's not quite the GNN article on Haliburton in terms of hard hitting political fact.
I have an apology - Finders is actually called Findus. Thanks to Gregor for spotting that one.
I'm currently in the middle of quite an argument about Bush vs Kerry on the Emotion Eric forums. I'm KerasTasi. Still, it';s not quite the obsessive and anally retentive argument i had on the WG forums. Unfortunately, the thread was locked (after I protested that a reply saying that the only solution to the Middle East problems was to nuke it into beaten glass) and has dropped off into the mysterious pit of dead threads. Still, some guy called Dromir ][ sent me a threat of greivous physical violence after it. I'd imagine that by now he's imploded with right-wing self-righteousness. Just as I'm about to implode from extreme use of hyphens. They're drowning me! Dash!

Just an average post (Mk II)

2004-10-07T16:05:00.000Z

This is a typical Mark Fiore cartoon - incisive wit, fascinating facts and general amusingness. Visit his site for millions and millions more cartoons in the same style.
This is my second Just an average post, but this time hopefully without the massive glut of reposting that cocked up my last one. I just don't have much interesting to say. I did do some weights this lunchtime - just me and Finders turned up though. Still, it was pretty fun - nothing makes your testosterone pump like weights. It's great.
I've just bee n hanging about today. Maths wasn't awful today - I sat at the back with Whitters and cracked every 'yo ma' joke we could think of. At least twice. And wound up Fizz. All in all, very amusing. Doesn't stop Mr. Ford from being a wanker though.
I'm listening to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody at the moment - it's so crazy!

Pop stars against heroin

2004-10-06T17:40:00.000Z

Never reallythought about this before, but the people who've been the best deterrents against taking drugs for me are The Red Hot Chili Peppers. After all, I'd rather take advice from someone who knows what drugs are like than from someone who just tells you that drugs are bad. There you go - rock stars are beneficial to society. Quote me on that one.
I'm listening to November Rain by Guns n Roses at the moment. It's a bit slow to get started but I still love it. I'm thinking of picking up some Queen and Bob Dylan after I finish my R.S homework.
I managed to lose my wallet today. It fell out of my pocket on the bus, but fortunately I managed to call up the bus station who have collected my wallet. I'm picking it up later this evening.
I had weights today which was pretty awesome. I mostly ran around going 'Who's the man?' Also got the bus with Wee Jack and heard horror stories of his life in London which included a policeman being shot by the IRA in his street and someone getting mugged by a drug dealer on his doorstep.
However, after cashing a cheque at my bank I managed to miss the bus. I was almost on the bus when the bus driver shut the doors to a half-empty bus and refused to let me on. It was quite a gutter, but short of carrying RPG's everywhere with me, I can't really avoid it.
Anyway, I'm off to do my R.S homework. It's on The Kingdom of God - lucky me.

Some stuff

2004-10-05T17:16:00.000Z

If you see one distillation of the Republican Convention into a five meg quicktime video this week, make it this one. The curious thing is that 'September 11th' and 'Terrorist' lose all meaning when they are repeated so many times. And I wonder how many people remember the original September 11th, way back in 1973, when Salvador Allende, legally elected socialist president of Chile, was overthrown in favour of brutal fascist dictator General Pinochet, who went on to kill over 6,000 Chileans. All thanks to a US backed coup. Perhaps the Republicans would do well to remember that those who died on September 11th 2001 left (as said at the beginning of the rather excellent Love Actually) only messages of hope and love. Not vengeance and hatred. Perhaps a monument to them (and the Chileans who died as a result of the original 9/11) would be lasting peace in the Middle East. Not a mess of corpses, crazed fanatics (US and Islamic) and economic destruction. So vote Kerry, ladies and gentlemen. VOTE KERRY! Star Spangled Banner plays. Red, white and blue balloons fly up. Crowd cheers>
Ooops - got a bit carried away there. Point still stands though.
Am listening to 'Keep Your lamp Trimmed And Burning' by French Jazz band Gig Street. It's top stuff. I'm getting quite into jazz. Which is, of course, very cool. In fact, it's the origin of cool.

Just an average post (Mk I)

2004-10-04T16:26:00.000Z

Given up on interesting title names - really can't be arsed. Been playing a lot of Motherload recently. And I've rediscovered the wonders of GTA3 (heavily modded). I'm listening to Mr Brownstone by Guns n Roses at the moment. The Rockinfreakinpotomus got me onto them last weekend, along with Jimi Hendrix and James Brown. I still haven't persuaded him to listen to Mull or The Exies yet, so it's still something like 5-0 to him.
I'm trying to get a little compilation prepared for Gregor, but really can't be arsed at the moment. Still, I'll get it eventually.
I'd also like to thank Ms. Susanna Clarke. Her book (Jonothan Strange and Mr. Norell) is truly fantabulous. One of the few books I've read recently where I've stayed up until well after 0100 reading. It cost me £15 but I got a rather sexy edition - hardback with a linen bookmark from the spine. I'm getting quite sucked in, even though I'm only at page three hundred and something. I'm definetely slowing down - a few years ago nine hundred pages would have been a three day job. Still, I can't have everything.
Ah well, I'm off to play Motherload and GTA3.

Sunday of Doom

2004-10-03T10:21:00.000Z

Well, here I am, sitting in front of my computer at 11:22 Zulu Time (That's GMT for you non-trivia buffs). I'm listening to Kashmir by Led Zeppelin. It's pretty damn awesome - so good that Rage Against The Machine 'borrowed' the opening riff for Wake Up.
I managed to get up pretty early this morning - it was about 10:15 when my bleary-eyed face poked out from underneath a cocoon of warm duvet and said 'Fuck! It's cold". But I'm still here, sitting in a Niagara Falls T-Shirt that I got from Canada about four years ago. I discovered it last night when, in a fit of madness, my parents (at 23:01) decided to change around the chests of drawers in my room before discovering that they had to change them back. As a result, I discovered lots of useless clothes which I've chucked, mainly as an excuse to buy more. Now all I need is money!
I've only got another 20 days or so to wait before the rather wonderful The Day After Tomorrow DVD is delivered to me. It may be an unrealistic view of the future, but it's a leap forward in terms of disaster film realism. It's really rather a sexy film. Definetely one I'd encourage you to watch. I saw it with Rockinfreakinpotomus in late June when our schools exam week ended. We were granted exam leave on the days when we didn't have exams, so we went into town after his Music exam on the Friday morning (last exam for him, I'd finished the day before). We bought expensive yet tasty food from Marks and Spencers and ice-cold drinks. Drinking ice-cold drinks is a sure fire way to feel cold, and when you have a close up shot of the Larsen Ice Shelf it just makes everything feel pretty awesome. And then we went and picked up our German exchange partners. So if you don't mind the rambling, that's why I love The Day After Tomorrow - it was a perfect prelude to a somewhat surreal week.
I've got no real plans to buy any more DVD's, but the cinema is certainly looking like new hallowed ground for me. Oh, and Dave McKean and Neil Gaiman's Mirrormask is looking extrordinarily sexy. Just check out the trailer. I want to see the film and then get them to turn it into a game. Definetely the way forward from kid-friendly animation.

Everything's going slooooow!

2004-10-02T13:10:00.000Z

Typical bloody Saturday - forced by lack of funds to miss out on going in to town with a mate, I'm now sitting hear listening to some Hendrix (It' growing on me, but I still don't really love it). Still, I have homework to do and piles of books thicker than my thigh waiting to be read. Anyway, I'm off for lunch. Food is great boredom relief.

2004-10-01T20:42:00.000Z

You'll be pleased to know that my site is 67% good, according to this site. Which means you should read this blog then spread the good word.
And I'm listening to Welcome To The Jungle by Guns n' Roses at the moment - top stuff.

Mmmm Lecker!

2004-10-01T16:53:00.000Z

Off to Deutschland in Febuary! Yeah! I'm going back to visit my exchnage parnter who I met on the German Exchange. I don't quite know why I'm putting it down now, but hey. I felt like it.
I'm listening to Play That Funky Music White Boy by James Brown at the moment. You gotta love him.
I'm just sitting back and chilling, trying to recharge my energy for a CYFA social tonight. I almost fell asleep in English (last 2 lessons on Fridays - grr) and almost fell asleep on the bus. Still, I should be back to myself soon (ish).
Ah well, am off for a nap.

Mike: Crazy Bus Man

2004-09-30T15:18:00.000Z

This is probably going to be shorter and less interesting than I thought, but Mike is actually quite interesting, so I thought I'd relate his stories to you.
I met Mike on a bus on my way home from Rockinfreakinpotomus' house last Sunday. I was sitting in the aisle seat opposite when a bunch of US backpackers (they might have been German, I'm really not sure) flooded the bus. Worried about having an enormous backpacker squat down next to him, he invited me to sit next to him.
We got chatting about what school I was at and, as all conversations with me ultimately do, it moved towards politics. It turned out he had an illigetimate son living in Israel and he lived in a part of the city with a high Israeli population(Mike, not Mike's son). From what I could hear above the rumble of the bus Mike had nearly been killed in a bomb attack during the first infatada (Palestinian anti-Israeli uprising). This was druing a period in which he flew around the world (Norway, India, Israel and Australia were presumably places he'd visited) leaving a stream of illegitimate children behind him - 3 in Norway, 1 in Israel, 1 in India who he didn't know about until two years ago and 2 in Aberdeen (both fathered in Australia). It was all rather surreal, especially his experiences among Hindu's in India. Unfortunately, I had to get off the bus before I could ask him what exactly he was doing in this particular part of the world. The surrealism of this was compunded by my bus taking a different route, leaving me with visions of being trapped in some random country town without a hope of getting home.
All in all, he was a surreal and strange character, popping up out of the blue. Very wierd. And it doesn't seem so cool written down.

I'm listening to Fairys Wear Boots by Black Sabbath at the moment. I don't like it.

Sorry for length!

2004-09-29T20:53:00.000Z

Time pressures from other computer users are forcing my stuff to minimal length and left you without updates yesterday.
Still only a brief one, will share the miracle of speech day with you. Every year our school offers prizes to the best and brightest (and the not-so-bright: Examples include the 'Presentation prize' and 'Special Merit' prize) by making them come in early one morning for a practice whilst everyone else gets a day off. We also end up sitting in cramped seats and our net reward is about £10. Not really worth it. This year was enlivened by a bunch of people in the year above sitting behind me, whose running commentary almost made me piss myself. Along with the continual rating of girls '8. 9. 3 - what a minger. 5' etc. , they also offered up special prizes such as 'The XXX prize for the largest flares I've ever seen.'
There was also the priceless moment during which a draconian and evil teacher tripped and fell over. She was rewarded fittingly with a long round of applause and a lot of people shouting 'Waaaaaaaaay!' Might I add that this is the rehearsal, not the final thing we do in the evening to a massed crowd. I was almost Fool of the Year when I nearly knocked a couple of trophies over, but fortunately my stupidly stick-thin arms saved me from permanent humiliation.
Still, that's the debacle of Speech Day. Our advice - give those who are clever a day off and make everyone else work like fury. Otherwise, it's just another punishment in the series of events that generally goes: Work Hard - Revise Hard - Do well in exams - Get prize - Speech Day - Work Hard ad infinitum. Gutter.
I'm listening to Alpha Beta Gaga by AIR at the moment. I heard it on Radio KoL and can't work out if it's good or bad yet. Quite a wierd song, but I'm enjoying it. Next up is 'Enormous Penis' by Da Vinci's Notebook. I normally wouldn't plug a song I'm not listening to, but this is *such* a funny song I feel I should tell people to go and listen to it. It could have been written for me ;-). And guess what? - I heard it on Radio KoL!
I picked up a copy of Jonothan Strange and Mr. Novell today on impulse. At £15, it's cleaned me out, but it's looking to be well worth it. It's hardback, first edition *and* it has a little linen sewn-in bookmark. Definetely exciting. I picked it up in my nearest Waterstones whilst in town after my early morning speech day rehearsal. The only advantage of today is, in fact, that I spent time with Rockinfreakinpotomus, Purdita and Gurkin. It was pretty good crack, all things considered.
Anyway, I'm signing off now. But as a taster for next week - be prepared for the adventures of Mike: The Random From The Bus!

Size doesn't matter!

2004-09-27T16:34:00.000Z

Honest! Sorry I haven't posted a mammoth thread in a few days. I've decided to wrap up the whole 'surreal colour' thing, cos it was getting a bit shit. I'm listening to Throw Away Your Television by The Red Hot Chili Peppers - definetely my song.
I promise faithfully to have a decent sized post tomorrow. I'll record all my fascinating thoughts.
Until then, ciao.

Brief and slightly surreal

2004-09-26T20:03:00.000Z

I'm listening to No Secrets by The Exies at the moment - awesome stuff. Buy it. Persuade them to come o a British tour. Please!
My surreal colour for today is yellow sunspot - what you get if you look at the sun too much.
Anyway, I went to CYFA today (as always) and had quite a good crack. Some random who takes sports a *little* bit too seriously almost broke my arm, but I can live with the pain. Also went to some kind of crazy Romanian charity do, which was fairly boring. Not looking forward to Maths tomorrow, but I can't stop it. I guess I'm resigned to the inevitable.

Religious undertones in hard rock?

2004-09-25T13:21:00.000Z

I'm listening to Without by The Exies on iTunes at the moment and one line catches my attention -'I'm feeling no meaning without you'. It's backed up by stuff like 'To save me from myself' and 'I'm searching for the reason without you.' Now this all elates to Christianity which teaches that without God, nothing makes sense and life is meaningless. It's probably not supposed to be Christian undertones, but I like the way it works. Cool, huh?
Anyway, I'm off to the Rockinfreakinpotomuses fund-rasing Curry Evening today. It's going to be pretty cool, a couple of my mates are going to be there - should be a good crack.
I'm writing a couple of essays at the moment - one on 'Segregation in the USA 1945-1970' and one on 'The Dramatic Significance of Banquo's Ghost in MacBeth'. Neither look like being much fun, but hey - school's like that.
My abstract colour is the colour of depth. The colour you see when you look down a hole so deep that you can't see the bottom - not quite black, but not quite anything.
Signing off!

Just a quickie...

2004-09-24T22:59:00.000Z

CYFA was awesome as usual. Got home rather late, so it's only a short blog. I'm listening to Creeper Kamikaze by The Exies. It's a bit odd - no as good as some of their other stuff.
My abstract colour is the pinky/yellow you get behind your eyes when you are ever so tired.

A long one.

2004-09-23T17:24:00.000Z

I've got an update to my story and a couple of long paragraphs on stuff.
My first issue is 'What I'm listening to on iTunes at the moment' - well, it's My Godess by The Exies. Top stuff - I heard it on Radio KoL and downloaded it about half an hour later.
My abstract colour is light Amazon - the colour cheap documentary makers use as a filter when they're filming in the Amazon.
I spent a rather boring lunchtime today just running through the playlist on my MP3 player. It got me wondering if iPods are still cool. Well, for me, they're not. Four people I know have one, I;ve seen them, I've touched them - and they're damn good. They look pretty swish and they've got some neat controls, they hold a lot of music and they are iPods. But I don't crave one. I don't need one. If I see someone with an iPod I think 'Huh' - not 'Oh my God - they must be really cool'. I think it's because iPods are given to people with money regardless of how cool they are. I could use my iPod to store crap music and nobody could stop me. And so iPods are just not cool anymore - too many uncool people have them.
I'm quite looking forward to fencing which I'm off to in about 20 minutes. Some randoms from the RAF have been hanging around there for the past few weeks. Representatices from a company with a poor record of metting targets, to be honest.
I'm thinking of downloading some stuff by They Might Be Giants. I haven't really heard any of their stuff, but I'd like to listen to some of it. I'm also gonna find some stuff by Tori Amos, mainly because I was reading her intro to Death: The High Cost of Living earlier. Top stuff (both the book anbd the intro) so I'm hoping her music matches her intro.
Anyway, I know everybody wants to read more of my story, so I'll go ahead and tell it like it really is. I've got quite a lot of songs, which I'm chuffed about.
:::::::THE STORY: PART THE SECOND:::::::

Bluebeard has attacked Spain! Senor Bob and Roger take cover. But it is too late! Bluebeards barrage blast the blundering Spanish Sea Squadron sent to arest his arrogant artillery. He then destroys the Spanish Coastal Defences - leaving Spain ripe for the taking. Soon he has taken control of the whole country.
Senor (or Prince) Bob and the Brain escape to form the Spanish Government-in-exile in Africa. They sneak away under cover of night, unnoticed by Bluebeard.
Soon their ship reaches Senegal. There the brain meets the tribal leader La'wyer - head of a powerful and deadly tribe. [He sings a song]
I'll sue you if you're English
I'll sue you if you're French
I'll sue you if you're Roger Moore
Or if you're Judi Dench
I'll sue you if you're black
I'll sue you if you're white
I'll sue you if you like Chinese
Or if you smell of shite!
(tune and some of the words by Joel Veitch)
The La'wyer tribe celebrate manhood by ding their skin in pinstripes and meditating for years over the true definition of criminal. This painful and expensive process is called the La'wsc Hool. The brain now tries to convince the La'wyer tribe to lend a briefcase in the battle against Bluebeard. Meanwhile, Bluebeard recruits the Treacherous King of France to his nefarious cause. [The Treacherous King of France sings]

I'm the Treacherous King Of France
Around your walls I'll dance
I shall knock down your wall
(It's a trick from Nepal)
And 'pon your grave I'll prance!

back in Senegal, the La'wyers plan their attack carefully. After a few hours of browsing through ancient documents, they discover a chink in Bluebeards armour. Frist, they must obtain the services of their nearby enemies - the Irs Tribe. They send their leader, Inland Revenue, a train of tributes such as truthfully filled out income tax reports. [Inland Revenue sings]

I am Inland Revenue
My tribe sues too
We'll take all your gold
'Til you grow old
Then give a little back to you.

The gifts astound Inland Revenue, who hastily concocts analliance. The two tribes go to war! They encounter Bluebeard near Madrid and sing their trap:

You never paid tax!
In spite of our fax
to our leader we wax
So we've come for your tax!

The lawyers now spring a cunning attack to encircel Bluebeard.

You must sell Spain to the brain
To cover your backs (and your tax)
This contract you'll sign or thee we'll malign
We'll sell your ship and buy a dip
To feed our tribe and those on our side!

Bluebeard is cast into the Bankrupt Sea and drowns. His ship is sold and the La'wyer and Irs tribes party around a big dip. The king of France (Treacherous) lurks in the shadows. He plots to overthorw King (once Prince) Bob!

Meanwhile, the Brain (Roger) goes on a pilgrimage. He meets Giles, an affluent pilgrim, and his person and his person, Sir Tom. They sing a song:

::::::::THE END SO FAR::::::::::::::::

Just a short one...

2004-09-22T15:35:00.000Z

I'm knackered after lifting lots and lots of heavy weights, so I'm going to be fairly brief. Today was fairly average, as days go. Managed to get home pretty early and avoided oggling too much at the extremely fit girl sitting behind me on the bus. My day was improved by my (rather legendary) Biology teacher chuckling over a fungus that looked like a half decomposed knob.
Just listening to The Zephyr Song by Red Hot Chili Peppers - an awesome song. My abstract colour of today is static blue - the colour you get if you listen to white noise.
Might as well get all you crazy fans (all none of you) of my back, so visit this and leave me to my pain.

Wow! So much stuff!

2004-09-21T16:52:00.000Z

I've got a huge load of stuff to lob on here today. Amongst which is a crazy short story I wrote today instead of doing an essay in English. So to keep you all in suspense, I'm going to post the boring bit first.

I'm still listening to Radio of Loathing, so no joy for you there. My abstract colour is a subtle blend of warm black coffee on cold winter days and the flush of skin on snow. It's kind of a celebration of winter!
Didn't do much work today, and haven't got much homework. So I'm feeling fairly peaceful. Although I did miss my bus. Twice. And the bus after that got cancelled.
Am all geared up for the next CYFA social, coming up on Firday. Might even be able to persuade the rockinfreakinpotomus to come along for part of it. Still, that'll be Friday and this'll be Tuesday, so I'd better not get too excited.

Ah well, now for the story. It did have pictures, but my scanner is buried under several layers of dust and CD's, so you'll hav to miss out on my rather crap artwork. Which is a pity, because it lends a certain something to the story.

*****The STORY******

Bluebard - a strange pirate - in the act of removing a head - without a brain - from the body of Perdita. The brain is called Roger. It is escaped through a hatch. However, distracted by the man in the crows nest, it pauses to write a brief essay. It's perfectly timed jumped lands it in the sea instead of the Gateshead Hilton, much to the despair of the brain. It swims off. Bluebeard gives chase. The ensuing chase stirs up sharks, squids, and other underwater beastlies! They sing a song of the sailing ship.
: The brain is from spain, so bluebeard sails in vain! Bluebeard is so wierd, but o'er all the seas he's feared. From brace to main to the South of Spain, the brain must surely swim in vain!
These words spur the brain (Roger) into a frenzy of cranial swimming. His movements lead him towards Spain, where he meets Senor Oliviera dos Beintos se Landos de Vinos al Bob, a humble prince disguised as a rich and powerful fisherman or angler. Being an angler and a kind and good-hearted soul, he uses his protractor to fish friendly Roger the brain out of the hot water he inadvertently entered.

Bluebeard gnashes his teeth as the brain and his saviour escape to the Royal Palace of Palace Royals. Once there, the brain and Senor Oliviera dos Bientos se landos de Vinos al Bob plot to overthrow that upstart Bluebeard!

****THE END****
More when I think of it, none at the moment.

Grrr!

2004-09-20T17:10:00.000Z

Have got a lot of stuff to get off my chest today, most of which is a rant against my Maths teacher. Basically, my Maths teacher is a bastard. His teaching ability is very much limited to grunting inadequate and overly-complicated notes to us, before making us work in silence for however many lessons he has us for. The complete silence ban is breachable by a very 'three strikes and out' style rule, the third breach of which will land several pages of lines. This would normally not be so bad, but he has a tendency to choose a kind of 'average' offender - usually the first person he clamps his beady eyes upon. He also has a draconian and zero-tolerance attitude to enjoyment. Activities known to draw out his aggressive streak have been: talking, throwing snow, hugging your friend after our yearly cathedral service, playing football in improper footwear and playing football too near to the school. This would be passable if he wasn't so bloody pedantic and angry about it. Wanker. Anyway, if I find out this tosser's e-mail address, I'll post it so that you can hate mail him. Which would be funny. Drive the bastard insane. INSANE!
Anyway, off my main rant, I had a shitload of homework today so am not in a very good mood. And I missed my bus by about 5 seconds and detention by the skin of my teeth. But I guess I'm a naturally upbeat person, because I'm not really that pissed off. I guess blogging is kinda like stress relief.
I'm waiting for a book to come through as my prize for my schools speechday - it's basically a £10 reward for braving the shitstorm that comes from being intelligent and erudite in England today. Still, it's called 'Death: The High Cost Of Living' and I'm sure my teachers will think I'm suicidal if they bother to look at it.
I'm actually getting bored far too much at the moment, which is quite good because you get to read more of my blog. And my blog is without a doubt the bloggiest blog on the whole bloggy internet! And in an attempt to be random, I will nominate an abstract colour every blog as well as my traditional 'What I'm listening to on iTunes at the moment' part.
As for my currents iTunes track, I'm listening to Radio KOL (follow the link from www.kingdomofloathing.com). It's actually pretty crap, but kinda addictive. And the DJ's are really rather funny. If I was listening to music, I'd be listening to Midnight from By The Way by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The Rockinfrekinpotomus introduced me to this album about 4 years ago (maybe 3) and I haven't looked back. I stopped liking it for a bit, but I'm back to loving it again. And if you liked hearing the Rockinfreakinpotomus being random, please drop me a line. Even if there's only one reader out there, I'd like to know what you think.
Abstract colour for today: A kind of pinky/mango shade, about the same colour as memories go after a few months. It's called parvieon, because I like that word.

Waiting...

2004-09-19T11:25:00.000Z

Have only just got up, so am a little tired. Discovered an excellent article in Wikipedia about cricket. Please read this if you have no idea what cricket is, because it'll help you if you ever go near England (or any other cricket-playing nation).
I'm also keeping up to date on the Hollywood Stock Exchange and Kingdom of Loathing. If you sign up for HSX, say that Keras recommended you. Both are fairly time consuming if you want to waste a few hours every day.
I'm not actually listening to anything on iTunes at the moment, which is a pity because I have some good stuff on there. Guess you're gonna have to wait another day to find out what awesomeness I am listening to.

Lazy Saturday Afternoon

2004-09-18T17:02:00.000Z

Just been lazing about today. Doing homework, surfing the web. I'm distressed to find that the formerly excellent Stick Cricket has been replaced by merely good version with better graphics.

I'm still trying to think up some good stuff to put into my extra scene of MacBeth. But it's pretty difficult to figure out the language and I'm trying hard to avoid any anachronisms. It'd better be worth the ffort, but I doubt that it'll come out too well.

I'd also like to point you to an interesting page that keeps idiots happy for hours!

What I'm listening to on iTunes at the moment: paper Houses by the Mull Historical Society. A great song from a great group. I just wish that it didn't have a hidden track on it because i can't fit it onto my MP3 player.

Rockinfreakinblogomus!

2004-09-17T21:23:00.000Z

I'm on the blog! With the Rockinfreakinpotamus (my mate). Just been off to our local CYFA (Christian Youth Fellowship Assosciation) Social - quite legendary. I sucked at After-Eights Challenge but rocked the box at Corx! Just don't ask. Quite embarassed that despite going for the first time, Rockinfreakinpotamus knew more people than me.
Went fencing last night, but I come back so late I barely have time to think about blogging it. It's definetely the most awesome sport ever. And I won a couple of games, which always makes it fun.
As for school, I spent most of today in a semi-comatic state. A bit of History in the morning and it went downhill from there. English was watching Roman Polanski's MacBeth. I'd rather bore my eyes out with Banquo's ghost (in joke).

What I'm listening to on iTunes at the moment: High and Dry by Radiohead. Pretty cool - reminded me of the rather awesome Stereophonics. A bit. But I'm crazy like that.

Now for a message from our unofficial supporter - The Rockinfreakinpotomus!

Yo all! Tom Morrello is God but bass is better. Brought up the old school joke of askin people the question "Dya lick a dick a day?" Quite fun to pass the time in Chemistry. Also used "DOB smells of wee and poo and egg and fishy fanny!!!!" Also a good Crack

Keras is at my hooooose now and there is a mooooose looooose in ma hoooooose!!!! And it is crazy because the M in MJ Ford stands for Munter or Molester and the J for Jizzymiguel or Jam Tart. Miss Perrela is still a Miss! after 9 long weeks of summer holiday, i feel this is because she is more ugly than MJ's fat hairy arse!!

Perdina is cool cos he lives in Rothburnside or somewhere and he has a huge dog that screams "Bloody Murder" at the milkman at 5am. At the weekend he has a red beard!

Keras plays the Double Bass in a Jazz band and he has gigs at sleazy jazz clubs New Orleans cos he is cool

Best Phrase: "Pistol Whippin'"

Bye

-Back to Keras-

Oh, and they hate us because we're free. Just click any of the links!
Au revoir!

The guns are back!

2004-09-16T16:59:00.000Z

The assault rifle ban got repealed in the USA today, which made me remember my first encounter with assualt weaponary. I was in the Metro station at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris when I saw a group of soldiers patrolling the station with assualt rifles. At first I was unconcerned, but when you see a large lump of metal designed to kill people being waved around in front of you, you begin to feel scared. When they walked past I was doing my best to look invisible on the platform whilst muttering silent prayers that they wouldn't randomly shoot me in the head. I felt safer when they left. And that was the army, who I trust with guns. At least, I trust the French army with guns (none of this Yankee 'shooting people on your own side' malarky). If I'd seen a random guy with an assault rifle, I would've been pegging it down the platform like Jesse Jackson on speed. I guess the moral is that assault rifles don't make people feel safe. If you must use them (which you must as an attempt to prevent terrorism which is a renewed threat in France thanks to the crazy religious icons ban) then at least restrict them to the army. They don't make me feel safe, but if it's that or some fanatic (Christian, Jewish or Muslim) killing me, I'll choose highly restricted army use of assault rifles.

In other news, I recieved top marks for a piece of what I was sure was utterly sub-standard English creative writing. Which is a bit annoying, because I don't really want it to stand as my best piece of work. So I've accepted a challenge to create a new scene to Shakespeare's Macbeth. Which should be quite interesting. I might even post it. Look forward to it ;-)

What I'm listening to on iTunes at the moment: Guerilla Radio from Live At The Grand Olympic Auditorium as recorded by Rage Against The Machine in their last concert in 2000. Truly an awesome song.

P.S!

2004-09-15T17:34:00.000Z

Just toexplain away the two temporal inconsistencies in my work. The time is a bit dodgy as I', posting from the UK and the jump from March to Spetember was an experiment. But can't be arsed to change it back.

The Strange Joys of Weightlifting

2004-09-15T17:21:00.000Z

Today was my first weightlifting session. Despite all the rumours (all the brick shithouses fro the years above will be there) and the fact that I'm a 60 kilogram weakling, it went pretty well and I'm going to be doing lots more. Which is good. And the fact that I get to leave school an hour before everyone else. Which is better.
I also spent a lot of time chatting to the Rockinfreakapotomus in R.S today. It went as conversations generally go, but our teacher was not overly impressed when she overheard me going '...'cos you're so sexy! Grrr!' It's very out of context. I'm just glad I didn't get caught when, whilst discussing why some people had smaller houses, I burst out (to Rockinfreakapotomus) 'Because they're *poor*'. Kind of sums me up ;-)
I also finished the fascinating 'Selling Hitler' by the awesome Robert Harris. I got started on his historical fiction which I loved. I nicked 'Selling Hitler' from my sister the day she got it. It charts the tragic tale of the forged Hitler diaries and the reporter who discovered them. Convinced until the end that they were real, the reporter had a nervous breakdown whilst everyone else profited from the affair.
Song that I'm listening to on iTunes at the moment: 'You stole my money honey' - Stereophonics, You've Gotta Go There To Come Back. It's pretty good actually, but so far nothing has matched up to Just Enough Education To Perform.

2004-09-14T19:43:00.000Z

A rather cool picture (courtesy of www.b3ta.com). It's actually being used by Greenpeace. Be nice to your environment!

Sorry

2004-03-20T21:40:00.000Z

My apologies for the way that last blog looked. I had to edit the html code to make it look even passable, and my skills with html are pretty low. Sorry anyway. Have a picture!

Feeling all political!

2004-03-20T21:16:00.000Z

In a desperate attmept to stir up some ANGER I've decided to have a political rant/blog.
Desperately trawling for topics.
Going to www.gnn.tv
Not really working so far.
Read newspapers. Bloody Rupert Murdoch and bloody control of the media.
GIVE ME STRENGTH
Eureka!

What's going on in Afghanistan?

Now that the dogs of war have been pulled away from Afghanistan by a man who probably can't find it on a map, there's quite a power vacuum. The few UN troops are holed up in Kabul and have found, as the Russians did, that trying to fight the Taleban warlords who are retaking power in the North is like shadow boxing. Not only do the Taleban have all the obvious advantages such as terrain, local support, crazed fanatacism etc, but they also have the victor of many a guerilla battle: the RPG. Invented by the Russians, it's a light and portable weapon, easy to use and easy to hide. It can destroy most things. What's more, the US army refuse to use it. So whilst US tank convoys are getting blasted by guerillas, the best the US can do is shoot the ocassional innocent civilian.
But I leave my main point. Does anybody know what's going on in Afghanistan? Who is actually running the country? Why are the US army so awful at urban operations? Not that many other armies would do a much better job but the US army are downright inept. They're big, they're violent, they're scary and they're coming to liberate you! And they won't stop until you are liberated proper! You have the freedom to ask them politely to leave! You have the freedom to accept their refusal! You have the freedom to do what they like!
They're basically the nose of the US governemnt - stuck whenever anything suspect is imagined, sometimes rightously and sometimes because the US govenrment is a bunch of paranoid meglomaniacs. Haven't they read MacBeth?
I'm just going to invest in high land in isolated Southern Europe and wait for global warming to hit. And blog.

Censorship

2004-03-17T19:54:00.000Z

Exchange today:
Him: 'An 18-certificate! But that's censorship'
Me: 'Yes'
Him: 'It's *censorship*'
Me: 'From the British Board of Film Censors? Shocking!'

Onomatopoeia

2004-03-12T19:51:00.000Z

Why do all the words people label 'onomatopoeic' sound utterly unlike what they're supposed to represent. I personally have never said 'Oof' when I have been hit, nor has the fist of my assailant gone 'swish' as it passes through the air. No vehicle I have travelled in goes 'vroom vroom'. And the sound made by rapidly tapping your fist against a door has never been 'knock knock' for me.
Am I a defective human? Can I seek help?

The Beginning!

2004-03-09T03:40:00.000Z

This is it. The Big Bang of my blog.
I bet you're really chuffed that you trawled through the archives for this.
Or really pleased with yourself for having seen it first time round.
Anyway, here begins a blog filled with whining, plugs, craziness, linkage, politics, fencing and free iPods (well not the last one).