| Stuff |
[Sep. 14th, 2007|04:51 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Bracknell | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  relaxed | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Funeral for a friend - tales don't tell themselves | ] |
Live in new pat of country.
Am selling house.
Am buying house.
Have new job. Is good.
Went to 'Merca for 2 weeks to see the septics on business.
Got engaged. Am smooth.
Got to 200 on CNPs. Have retired.
Have updated LJ.
-Flange |
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| ...and now for something completely different. |
[Dec. 14th, 2006|11:10 am] |
Things on this journal have been getting far to serious of late. So it's time to redress the balance. First have some stuff;
Clicky
Very cool.
Next, have a quizzy thing, shamelessly nicked from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) jodiejo (who nicked it from someone else ), with a few bits added. So, how well do you know me? Try it out and submit your anwers. Answers will be hidden (so only i can see them), but if you want I'll do a little league table of who gets the most answers right, and maybe post some of the more amusing answers;
You get the corresponding points for the answers you get right. If you want to know the answers, put your e-moon address in your comments section and I'll slip them to you.
(2 points)My name:
(3 points)My last name:
(4 points)Take a stab at my middle name:
(3 Points) Who was my first celeb-crush (not sure I know the answer to this one):
(2 Points) Do I have any children:
(2 Points) How old are they:
(2 Points) What work do I do:
(3 Points) What am I afraid of:
(2 Points) Do I smoke:
(3 Points) Do I drink:
(2 Points) Do I have any siblings:
(2 Points) How many:
(1 Point) Do I like 'em:
(4 Points) What's one of my favorite things to do:
(2 Points) How many tattoos do I have:
(3 Points) What's my favorite type of music:
(2 Points) What's my favorite TV show:
(2 Points) Who is my favorite band/artist:
(4 Points) Am I shy or outgoing:
(3 Points) Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules:
(2 Points) What’s my favourite colour:
(3 Points) Name something I hate:
(4 Points) Name a talent I have:
(4 Points) What kind of shoes do I wear:
(4 Points) Do I have any pets: Bonus points for names, or names of former pets (me or family):
(2 Points) Who am I dating right now:
(5 Points) What did I study in university:
(5 Points) What is the colour of my bedroom:
(5 Points) What is my worst habit:
(5 Points on creativeness) If I were stranded on a desert island, what would I bring:
(1 point for each) Name the bands I have been in (6 I think):
(1 point for each) Name the places (towns) I have lived (7). Bonus points for street names (14):
(1 point each) Name the people I have lived with (20):
(1 point each) What sports to I do (I reckon there's 6 you could pick):
(1 point each) Which (club) football, rugby and F1 team do I support?
That is all.
-flange
CNPs seeking 196
--------UPDATE--------------------
Here's the league table of answers so far, along with a few of the more interesting answers to questions:
Dave scored a heavyweight 101.5
'Len scored a very impressive 108
Nicky is a smarty-pants with 126
The maximum possible score is 149
Nicky win?
Here are the interesting answers, some because I can't argue with it, some becasue other people's perspective is interesting:
Do I like 'em: I'd say "love" would be closer, you always seem very fond of your sister (in a good, family-love way, not a bad incest-love way)
I hate: Being mistaken for a Nazi skinhead and The All Saints (Stains) version of 'Under the Bridge'
What am I afraid of: Turning into your Father
Name a talent I have: Making everyone around you feel relaxed and happy. |
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| Mental resolve |
[Nov. 30th, 2006|11:38 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Work | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  hopeful | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | The flaming lips - Race for the prize | ] |
The choice is made. I will turn right. [see my last post]. I am going to leave Croda.
In the end, when i think about staying I can rationalise it, but when i think about leaving I start to smile. Also, I think about what I'll miss from 3 1/2 years at Croda, there are people, I enjoy the site I work at, and i'll miss playing football on Wednesday lunch times. That's it. They aren't good reasons to stay. Nicky wants to leave also, so that's it, we're taking that path to the right. And it's good that it's my (our) choice.
Time to take the plunge and not look back...
. |
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| Crossroads |
[Nov. 28th, 2006|01:27 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Work [after a fashion] | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  contemplative | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | None, but i'm gong to stick on Tool after lunch. | ] |
I am at a crossroads. (Actually, it's more like a T-junction, but that doesn't sound so dramatic for some reason).
I am at a crossroads in life and I have until Friday to make up my mind and turn down my new path.
"standing at the crossroads with a suitcase in my hand"
You can read the short version, or the ( long version )
So here are my T-junction options;
"to the left, to the left"
A job with Croda in a role that i think I'd enjoy, as described in the long version.
Good points: I can pay my mortgage; I enjoy the site I work at; I like Sheffield; I can still look for another job while taking this one if we want to move; it gets me lab experience more recently on my CV which may otherwise be a handicap getting a new job; I know what I'm getting into; my would-be boss is quite good.
Bad points: I have been bored for most of my time with Croda and while this is a good job, who's to say it will be any better; Nicky wants to move, this isn't moving; it's not getting me any closer to friends and family; Croda has no sites in the South and never will, long-term any career with Croda will be up North, or overseas; the job is in personal care i.e. hair and beauty products, including efficacy testing of hair products - the irony is not lost on me.
"right turn Clyde"
Redundancy
If I take redundancy, the redundancy payment combined with benefits of savings schemes maturing instantly, I'd be better off by ~3 months wages, paid as a lump sum, tax free. I'd finish working either mid or end of January then receive the payment.
Good points: a nice lump of cash; more time to look for a new job; more time to play the drums and go mountain biking; a definite step to change our circumstances, not getting round to it will no longer be an option; I get to leave Croda; Nicky wants us to move ASAP, she is not happy at work and doesn't like the commute.
Bad points: the possibility of a long time unemployed (and associated financial constraints); my CV is really broad - to the right employer that's really valuable - but it's hard to make it stand out instantly, so i might need a crap lab job first before I can get the right job; can i get a job as good as that being offered?
To apply for the job, I need to submit my application before Friday.
Nicky and i need to talk it over thoroughly, but let me know what you think...
"I'll see you at the Crossroads, crossroads..."
( CNPs ) |
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| A golfball through a hosepipe |
[Sep. 21st, 2006|09:15 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Work | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  sleepy | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | None | ] |
Random thought for the day;
If the world didn't suck, we'd all fall off. |
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| You scurvy currrr! |
[Sep. 19th, 2006|08:42 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | A midships | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | Yahaaarrrrr | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum | ] |
AVAST YE SALTY SEA DOGS!
Why are pirates so gruff?
'cos they YARRRR!
What did the pirate say when it saw the baby?
yaaaaaar.
-Flange
For those confused |
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| SHOCK - a second update |
[Sep. 15th, 2006|04:33 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Work | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | thoughtful | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Offspring - Defy you | ] |
A second update in a week! What's going on?
This one's not a real update, that's what. (See the one below to read about me).
Just read this on a message board. It was referring to the 15th September (today), which is Battle of Britain day, and how nobody celebrates / remembers it (except the history channel).
Thought it was a great post, so here it is for a (very slightly) wider audience;
By some chap called RobSK on the Saintschat message board:
--------------------------
Agreed that more people should know about this day. It was a massively important battle, one which could have changed the course of history. Often days and memories are not given appropriate emphasis, though.
Example - It is totally tragic and awful that 2900 odd innocent people died on 9/11, and given the impact that has had on the world and the knock on deaths and suffering etc, it is appropriate that we remember it I guess. Again, world changing event.. so dramatic and unbelievable were the scenes of that day, it is fair to see a lot of symbolism and so on in those towers crashing down.
No disrespect to that event - as I say, tragic - but what of the 1000000+ who died only 10 years earlier in the Rwandan genocide? The world did nothing then, and hardly remembers now. An incredible atrocity on all levels, innocents rounded up and shot, beaten, hacked to death, raped, burned alive and so on, just because of their perceived ethnicity and racial hatreds? To me, each person killed in that even is at least as tragic as those who died in 9/11, and there are many more of them. So why do we not really commemorate that? I know it's an African thing and not a British thing, but nor is 9/11, as a whole. Surely if there are to be memorial days, some should be global, and if anything is deserving, then Rwanda is? Cambodia is? The Stalinist Gulags are? The Balkan ethnic cleansing is? I mean, combined, these genocides number way outnumber even the number of Jews murdered by Hitler.
Another example - Diana. Why the massive outpouring of grief? it was absurd. She was just a woman in a fairly priviledged position who, OK, gave a bit back here and there. To me, though, every child that dies of hideous diseases or in wars or famines is much more tragic than Diana, being sadder, more miserable and more preventable. But no life exposure means no death exposure. Just as well, you could say, because if we devoted as much airtime to each death more tragic than Dianas, we'd never have anything else on TV apart from deaths.
Food for thought. |
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| Miscellaneous miscellany |
[Sep. 14th, 2006|11:33 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Work | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  for a change! | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | None. Though Anathema is going through my head | ] |
I saw Anathema last night. They were a bit pant-creamingly good.
Seen them before, so i know they are a great live band, but that was an awesome show.
They were supported by leafblade (side project of Anathema guitarist Danny Cavanagh) who are a folk-guitar band. Interesting and quite good.
The other support band was Wolverine. A main course of Rock, with a side salad of 80s goth, garnished with nu-metal and lashings of early Iron Maiden and Dio - it all became clear when they said they were Swedish. I began to take them less seriously when someone pointed out quite how much the singer looks like Bill Bailey. He moves like Bill Bailey. He nearly raised his 'goblet of rock' many times. "Cool. Let's rock".
Nearly as entertaining a front man as Mat the Hat. As anyone who ever came to see my ex-uni band Gas Veags could testify, Matt is a wonder. If ever there was someone with stage presence, it's him. Anyhoo, I went down to Bath a weekend or two ago to see his last gig with current band "Axe-attack".
http://www.axe-attack.co.uk/
WARNING - May contain traces of spandex.
Great show (if with a little too much lycra). Sadly, they are no more (or not with Matt anyway). He's off to stage school in London, doing a course that specialises in fighting. Yep, Matt is going to be a stuntman (though he may have to change his name - as Matt Austin is already in use as a stage name - the green power ranger has it).
It was good to see Bath again. I've only been back once before since leaving Uni 4 years ago. Loads of little things have changed (Babylon is shutting down, there's now a multiplex and a wetherspoons, the green park balti has become a Jaflong, the Hatchets is now the Raven, the Kebab house near Flans is now a fish'n'chip shop etc etc) but it's still the same place, and one that I really love. But wandering around, it seemed odd that I'd spent 3 years there - familiar as it was, it no longer felt like home (or even a former home).
I think Sheffield really does feel like home now. As a city and with the countryside nearby, you can't fault it. ...which is why I want to leave!
that's right, Nicky and i want to move. I'm miserable in my job - on account of it sucking big fat hairy donkey balls - and Nicky is not enjoying hers - on account of her various managers being a bunch of goat blowing turd burglars. Plus we miss family and friends - who are, in various locations, down south.
So, my CV is now on Monster.com, and i shall be contacting lots of recruitment agencies this weekend.
But here's where I get you to work for me. I could be coming to live in your town. This prospect may either fill you with joy or dread. So, you can make a difference. if you want me to live near you, find me a job. If you can't stand the idea, find me a job elsewhere!
I'm after a lab-job, preferably one that either commercialises funky ideas (like Qinetiq do), or that makes stuff for the motorsport industry (novel composites, lubricants, oils etc).
We're thinking M4 corridor, or South. Nicky doesn't want to live in London (though I'd like to), the South East is expensive and not so easy to travel out of, Oxford is a bit further North than we would ideally like, Swindon is wrong, and Dorset is dead - so all of those are ruled out. Our preference would be Bristol or Southampton, or at a push, Reading.
So get hunting - fly my pretties, FLY!!! Ahhha hahhhha hahaaa haaa hhhahaaa haa! [or something].
...and I'm spent.
CNPS - looking for 189. The 170s were an absolute cock-jockey, but now they're finished, the 180s have been relatively quick.
-flange |
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| Prepare for a dump... |
[Jul. 11th, 2006|03:15 pm] |
Right, there's no time for messing about. Lots has happened in the last 9 months (though, no I'm not pregnant) and I'm going to dump it on you. Haha! It's going to be like in the goonies where Chunk is told to tell them everything (though i have no stories about vomit).
This is no particular order, just how it spews out of my head;
I'm a black belt in Judo now! After a few gradings going for my black belt (with mixed success), I had accumulated 90 points (that's 9 wins folks - I needed 100 points - one more win - for a 1st Dan). I happened to be in Cambridge visiting friends with Nicky and spotted there was a grading in Bedford (nearby). So I went on my tod. The first guy I had to fight was BIG. Really big. I beat him in about 3 seconds flat with a sweet ko-uchi-gari (like him stepping on a banana skin). Yeayyy!!! Black belt. But I carried on fighting at that grading to try and win my belt on a line-up - and do it properly. My next fight was weird. I'm quite careful and calculating when i fight, but this guy was the extreme of that. It made me really cautious because you could almost hear his brain working, and anything I did was analysed and countered. And each time I made a move, he would respond in a better and better way. Odd. Eventually he won. Burgeg.
The next bloke (I had to win to get my line) was a nippy little shit with a bad attitude (though quite skillful too). It made me very happy when I strangled him. :)
So, I got my line up. 3 blokes in a row to win my black belt on the day - my last ever chance to do it like that. First in line was a nice guy I'd been chatting to on the benches by the mat. Second was a young, light, quick left-handed guy who'd graded up from lower-brown that day and third was the gobby-shite - again.
I beat the first guy with a hold down, strangled the second and then threw gobby-shite twice for the win! WOOOOO!!! Je suis une fcuking ninja....and smug.
That week my shaver broke. My manly black-belt stubble had clearly become too much for it.
CNPs - I have spent forever looking for the 170s. They are evil. I spent months on 177. Anyway , I have now seen 178, and there is a car at work with 179, so things might move forward (casually - I'm not that bothered really. I can stop any time I want to. I'm a social CNPer. It doesn't rule me.)
House - Still live in Sheffield. We decorated a room, we've made the place our own. We have tried (and failed) to grow vegetables. Sheffield is a great place. Just too far from everyone else though.
Work - I'm going to be changing roles again soon. It mostly comes down to boredom. I've had such a minimal amount of motivation for at least the past 6 months, that I have really struggled to do any work. I turn up, sit at my desk, then a few hours later I leave. It's confusing, because normally, I motivate myself and work hard. That's what I used to do. Now I can't get myself to do it. Between the work on offer and how I interact with my boss (we're really not compatible) there's no incentive to do anything. As a result I have been mind-knumbingly bored. And therefore not exactly successful. And largely miserable. So, time for a change. My priority is doing something I'll enjoy. I enjoy being in a lab (and not sat on my arse all day) so let's get back to that. For now I'll stick with Croda and see how it goes. My options may change a bit though, as we've just bought a company twice the size of ourselves (Uniqema) so recruitment is on hold and moves are a bit up in the air.
Having said all that, there have been good bits of work. Like going to Madrid for an exhibition and going out running with Madrid Hash House Harriers (look it up on google). They describe themselves as a "drinking club with a running problem". One person (the Hare) runs off and lays a trail of flour(great fun for security services, finding piles of white powder around a nation's capital city), with dead ends and false leads, then the rest of us run after them. We ran past great buildings and tourist sights, and through the dodgiest underpasses where the homeless live and the roughest squares where they deal class-As. Then we all drank some beer and sang stupid songs. Not bad for a night out in a new city with strangers.
Been on a few holidays. We've been to Edinburgh, the Yorkshire dales and Prague recently.
I miss my friends. They live too far from me.
Band - I am in a band. We are not very good. I play bass (and mandolin). For now it's all covers (mostly of britpop-era stuff). They are all older and have kids and stuff.
Drums - bought myself a bumkit. For the sanity of Nicky and non-wrath of neighbours, it's an electronic one (a Roland TD-6 with mesh head snare for anyone vaguely interested). I am half way through "The art of the drummer". A classic drummer's book. Hitting stuff is fun.
Apathy - I still haven't done anything about music industry careers. I booked into a training course "Introduction to the music industry" at a good music college in Sheffield, but it never ran. There's so much more I could do, and intend to do. But then I've been intending to do that a great deal of time. Meh. I'll let you know how it's going next post I make.
Seen a few gigs, but no festivals this year (probably for the first time since 1999). The highlight has got to be the Flaming Lips who are amazing live. One word: FUN.
That makes my best ever gigs a bit of an odd mixture: Flaming lips, Tool, Sensefield, Iron Maiden, Faithless, Magic numbers.
Car - m'beast is still going. It's done 150,000 miles now. Mostly with me at the wheel. It is also still very dented from the argument with the HGV back in February 2005. Norwich Union are turd on a stick. In the last couple of weeks, I have decided not to pursue the claim further as it will cost Nicky and I more money than I might ever re-coup. It all seems very unfair. I get hit, he says sorry, admits it's his fault, insurance companies faff, I end up paying. Great. This month is tight on monkey 'cos of the car. New brake discs + pads, brake shoes, timing belt, MOT, service, random pipe, and exhaust midsection = £500. Insurance = best part of £400. Ouch.
My Dad has passed his degree. He got a first. I will see him graduate this weekend.
I get to see Chris, Dave and Jin soon. I have spent time amassing a fine collection of party games (bomberman - SNES, Super Smash bros - N64, Micro-machines - N64, Donkey Konga - Gamecube, Fuzion Frenzy - X-box, Burnout revenge - Xbox, Super Monkeyball - Xbox) and we have a curry house nearby. Wooo. Going to be mint.
So that's me. In a nutshell [help. help. i'm trapped inside this enourmous walnut. Somebody get the nut-crackers - a hahahahahahaha. a hhahahaha hahah hahaha..... Maybe I should do some work].
-flange |
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| Ponderings |
[Nov. 25th, 2005|05:06 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | crap | ] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | bored | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Nowt. Sadly. | ] |
Well it's been six months hasn't it? You might think I should start by explaining what I've been up to all this time. But you'd be disappointed.
Instead I'm going to tell you about some slightly interesteing, but largely inconsequential ponderings and quotables i have recently come across. And you'll like it.
Tough poo-poo if you don't.
Apparently, the polite, gentlemanly practice of allowing "ladies first" through doors etc, goes back to the middle ages, where knights would often be ambushed as they came through doors, so they insisted their wench go first as then it mattered less if said door pioneer lost their head. Nice.
Next time you're at work and get asked how far you've got with a project you don't like, tell your boss you've made a quantum leap forward. They, like most members of the public, will take this to mean you have taken leaps and bounds forward and have really done some excellent work. You however, can sit there smugly knowing that if your boss had a physics A-level of was a particle physicist (said fizzy-cyst) that they would know it means you have gone forward the most infinitessimally small amount possible. Probably because you were bored and surfing the net (or updating your LJ).
Imagine where you live. Now imagine it has been decimated. Now think about how many people are left alive.
You are probably wrong.
As it turns out, decimated actually means to kill every tenth person (with the latin deca bit for ten). Dictionary.com handily informs us that "Decimate originally referred to the killing of every tenth person, a punishment used in the Roman army for mutinous legions. Today this meaning is commonly extended to include the killing of any large proportion of a group. The Jewish population of Germany was decimated by the war, even though it is common knowledge that the number of Jews killed was much greater than a tenth of the original population."
And finally a nice little quote (this one's for you Lanky boy);
"Death is not the end. It's just an end of level boss. Level 2 has much better graphics."
It's a more romantic idea than being eaten by worms anyway. Hopefully Mr Miyagi will be finding that this is true. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=1345535 As my mate Mole has said of today; "It's a sad day for Football, Heavy Drinking and Karate... And possibly car waxing too..."
-flange
CNPs 170 has eluded me for a number of months. Bum flaps. |
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| The righteous indignation |
[May. 13th, 2005|10:08 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  shocked | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | The noise of the office printer | ] |
OK, so stuff has happened, like going to Antigua, and going to Geneva on business (ooooh, get me, all la dee da). But there's more important things. I am shocked and disgusted. Dave and I have been lied to.
"Kopf, shiltern knee und fuss, knee und fuss."
That's what mentalist and salad dodger Mrs Roots (aka Frau Wurzeln), our GCSE German teacher insisted on singing at us. It may have been stupid, but it worked. It has stayed in my poor brain for ten years. That and Kanninchen (rabbit), durchfall (diarrhoea) and stupfen (constipation).
Dave and I were happy with this. Untill today. Untill the blinding light of truth shone upon this dirty, festering falsehood.
Head, shoulders, knees and toes. That's TOES, not FEET. Fuss is feet. Toes are Die Zehen! We were lied to! My righteous indignation grows stronger by the minute. Something that has held tennancy in my precious swede for ten years is fallacy. (Not fallusy btw).
Miffed.
In other news, Saints might get relegated on Sunday. Bricking it. At least mates are coming up.
CNPs A 58 wouldn't make me unhappy.
(ps, a fudge bar to anyone who can point out the kids TV reference in this post).
-flange |
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| Eeeeaassssseee the scorpion into the spacesuit. |
[Apr. 13th, 2005|12:00 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | tired | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Tom Hark - Pirhanas | ] |
Well lots more has happened since last time. It's been quite a hectic month really.
We have moved into our house. It's not quite yet a home though. It's starting to feel like ours by virtue of being there each day and all our stuff being there, but I think it won't quite feel like OUR home untill we've changed a few things (like DIY type stuff - I can see a few things getting broken).
Neighbours are nice. One helped us pirrouette our blagged (courtesy of Nicky and alcohol) dining room table over our bannisters and scratching all the paint off in the process. Ho hum.
Went to another judo grading, for my dan grade (black belt). The way it works is you need to win 2 of 2 or three fights, against others going for thie dans. Then those that manage this get a line-up. In the line-up, you have to face three people (who haven't got a line), one after the other with no break in between. One 4 minute Judo fight is knackering enough, three (if you don't win quickly) is mental.
Anyone winning all three in their line (with at least two ippons) is awarded their black belt. For those not getting their black belt, 10 points are awarded for each person you beat by ippon (that's an out-right win), 7 for a win by wazari. You need 100 for your black and can collect them up over more gradings and competitions.
Myself and another guy (Chris - nice bloke, weighs ~8kg more than me and it's all upper body muscle, insanely strong and left handed, good fighter) from my club (http://www.shef.ac.uk/~jc/) were going for our black belts.
He lost his first fight, but won the next two and got himself his line, but lost his second fight.
I won my first (by a hold down) lost my second (to the best figher there on the day - 5 fights, 5 very quick wins) but won my third (also by a hold down), so I got a line - at my first dan grading!
I was waiting around for ages before they got around to my line and was not feeling confident. As they announced I was next, and as I put the belt on, I started to get myself pumped up for it (so to speak). Looking round, I reckoned I could win against most of the people that weren't getting line ups and were close to my weight. I started to realise I could get my dan then and there.
Then I heard the names I was fighting. Chris was second in the line. Bollocks.
I beat the first guy in my line (nearly pulled off a lovely sweep, but got him with a big counter for an ippon throw). Then i fought Chris. It was bit of a rubbish fight actually, and pretty even. In the end he got the throw (I landed on my head) and I was beaten.
I was more upset afterwards than I thought I'd be (not with Chris but generally). I rationalised this as being upset at the manner of the defeat (normally they wouldn't give you someone from your own club or someone who's fought well enough on the day to get a line - in your line). It could also be that I'm a bad loser, which normally I'm not, and I wouldn't like to think I am (not since I was much younger anyway). I think in the end it's because I got myself about right for mental preparation. Normally I'm not competitive enough at sport, but this time I made myself believe in it. I was even more annoyed when I got home and realised I'd left my licence at the grading and that our phone line had stopped working (high winds and phone cables going through trees is probably bad).
Now the dust has settled, the cold comfort that Nicky and friends from the club were serving me at the time is becoming warmer and sinking in, as I knew it would. 30 points from my first dan grading is pretty good and I looked comfortable at that level, so I'll get it eventually. My licence is getting posted and BT are coming round on Saturday.
It's my birthday tomorrow. Hooray!!! Me and Nicky are celebrating tonight so I can go to judo tomorrow, cos I missed it last night, 'cos I was up till 3AM doing a stupid essay for my OU course, which is why I am knackered.
Then in a week's time, we're off to Antigua. Fun in the sun in a swanky resort for Nicky's brother (Andy)'s wedding. I'm stocking up on factor 35.
In other news, we have broadband!
We have a router!
We have no telephone connection :(
Never mind. I needed to get some more ether net cable off Dave (please :) ) anyway.
-flange
CNPS - casually observing for 155. |
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| Lots of stuff |
[Mar. 23rd, 2005|05:21 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | relieved | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Gas Vegas - Pretty Little Sacrifice (new mix from Ben K) | ] |
Having not updated ever, here's what's happened in the world of your friendly neighbourhood ginger champion.
- Today I have spent half of one eighth of a million quid on some bricks and the mud that's under it. We get the keys tomorrow.
- Buying a house makes Nicky stressed.
- Have learnt that most solicitors are the spawn of satan. Particularly fuckwitted incompetent ones, such as those the vendors were recommended to employ (http://www.atteys.co.uk/).
- I now work in marketing. I have moved office and job, and it is loads better. Despite being in marketing, I've not grown a pony tail to fit this new job.
- Me and the other Croda grads won a national business game thing. (The prospects cup - http://www.bimg.co.uk/proindex.htm). That means we're shit hot. Despite the company normally being fairly tight fisted, we got a monkey (http://www.aldertons.com/money.htm) for our troubles. Which was nice. A pretty good return for spending an hour a week down the pub.
- I am a first kyu in Judo (top level of brown belt for those not in the know). Having been 2nd Kyu since 1997 when i last graded, it was nice to go along, kick some ass and go up a belt (I won two fights out of two in a combined total of about 40 seconds). Next stop black belt.
- Sheffield is good.
- HGVs hitting your car is bad. Norwich union are slow.
- CNPs (not playing really, I can give up any time I like) looking for 152.
- Saints might just stay up this season. Yeaayyy!
- Bought a new mountain bike. She mint. Disc brakes am good.
-Flange |
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| Randomness |
[Oct. 15th, 2004|10:09 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  lethargic | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | The hum of chillers, fans, pumps and other plant machinery. | ] |
I've just realised that the word "coarse" is like co-arse. Like siamese twins joined at the rump. Which might be quite messy.
Also,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3744226.stm
Nicky and I put in an offer on a house. Then someone else got interested. After a small bidding war, we lost. Which sucks 'cos it was a nice house, but it simply wasn't worth the money that the other people must have offered to pay for it. I guess we'll keep looking.
Started Judo again too. Which was mint. At the Sheffield uni club. I have been hurting for a week now, as I remember muscles I had forgotten I posess. I couldn't go again last night, which is frustrating, but I've done something odd to my leg. (So to speak). Hopefully it will disappear (the injury - not my leg).
I've started a new role (another one) at my job. I'm finding it very hard to get much done though, and very easy to slack. Hopefully this will change as it is starting to annoy me.
In other news, I'm doing an Open University course (Professional certificate in management), I'm not looking too hard for 123 (CNPS) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is an ace film. I watched it last night. It am mint.
There's lots more that has happened in the millenia since I last updated, but I really should get on with some work...
-Flange. |
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| Poor poor Jokes |
[Aug. 5th, 2004|09:35 am] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  amused | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Bad Religion - The Empire Strikes First - In my head | ] |
I know this is very much an e-mail forward, and how irritating they can be, but I'm a sucker for crap jokes. So here, have some:
Two fish swim into a concrete wall.
One turns to the other and says "dam"
**********
Two peanuts walk into a bar
One was asalted.
**********
A jump-lead walks into a bar.
The barman says "I'll serve you, but don't start anything."
**********
A sandwich walks into a bar.
The barman says, "Sorry we don't serve food in here."
**********
A dyslexic man walks into a bra.
**********
A man walks into a bar with a slab of tarmac under his arm and
says: "A beer please, and one for the road."
**********
Two aerials meet on a roof, fall in love get married. The
ceremony wasn't much but the reception was brilliant.
*********
Two cannibals are eating a clown.
One says to the other: "Does this taste funny to you?"
**********
"Doc, I can't stop singing 'The green, green grass of home'."
"That sounds like Tom Jones syndrome." "Is it common?" "It's
not unusual."
**********
Two cows standing next to each other in a field, Daisy says to Dolly
"I was artificially inseminated this morning."
"I don't believe you," said Dolly.
"It's true, no bull!"
**********
Two hydrogen atoms walk into a bar.
One says, "I've lost my electron."
"Are you sure?"
The first replies, "Yes, I'm positive..."
**********
A man takes his Rottweiler to the vet and says,
"My dog's cross-eyed, is there anything you can do for him? "
"Well," says the vet, "let's have a look at him" So he picks
the dog up and examines his eyes, then checks his teeth.
Finally, he says "I'm going to have to put him down." "What?
Because he's cross-eyed?" "No, because he's really heavy"
**********
I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day but I couldn't find
any.
**********
I went to the butchers the other day and I bet him 50 quid that he couldn't
reach the meat off the top shelf.
And he said, 'no, the steaks are too high.'
**********
My friend drowned in a bowl of muesli.
He was pulled in by a strong currant.
*********
Our ice cream man was found lying on the floor of his van covered with nuts
& hundreds and thousands.
Police say that he topped himself.
**********
What do you call a fish with no eyes?
A fsh
*********
Two fish are in a tank
One says to the other "I'll man the guns, you drive" |
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| Zombies, zombies and more zombies |
[Jul. 26th, 2004|10:15 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | tired | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Rock'n'Roll Racing on the SNES | ] |
In well over a year I have single handedly and - if I may say so myself - quite spectacularly achieved, with my fanzine...NOTHING. Absolutely bugger all.
Not a pip.
Zero, zilch, sweet F.A, nought, nowt, zip, nada, burgeg all.
So if you can't beat them, get a bigger stick. And if you can't find a bigger stick, you may as well join them. There's a free print and internet fanzine in Sheffield (and a couple of other cities) called Sandman which I have asked to contribute to. The crazy fools said they'd takea look at my stuff and consider it, so I submitted summat.
I went to see the Misfits the week before last week, so here's what I wrote about them;
"The Misfits
Send More Paramedics
Last Years Youth
Wednesday 14th July 2004
Sheffield Hallam – Nelson Mandela Building
Tonight the NMB hosts a legendary punk band and despite being a students union in July, it is crammed with fanatical fans. Local three chord punks Last Years Youth open, but just plod along - their bassist looking just as disinterested as they are making the crowd. In fairness, their guitarist has recently left - this is their last show before starting afresh as B.S.D. (Burn. Subvert. Destroy) - but they fail to set the venue alight.
Altogether more entertaining are Leeds’ Send More Paramedics. From the moment they Zombie-lurch on stage, to the very last scream, it’s enthralling. Dressed as the undead (and a gimp) they play a horror inspired brand of thrash-punk. Guitarist Medico has stolen his entire repertoire from Slayer, but tonight he is every bit Kerry King’s equal. Meanwhile vocalist B’Hellmouth throws himself around the crowd like a zombified Kermit the frog, barking out tales of eating brains. I’m not going to buy the CD, but live this band are superb.
After 26 years, the only original Misfits member is bassist Jerry Only. Accompanied by Marky Ramone and Dez Cadena (Black Flag) this is not a vintage line-up for the purists, but a kind of supergroup capable of knocking out one hell of a racket. Their approach is to blast through as many songs as possible in 80 minutes. This means that the most we get from Only is “THIS ONE’S CALLED ASTRO-ZOMBIES…1,2,3,4…” or likewise. They play fast and hard, but with a sense of fun and the crowd lap it up. Highlights like “Dig Up Her Bones” get the whole venue bellowing in unison. After their encore, Only and Cadena take the time to sign everything presented to them and speak to each fan that approaches them mirroring the appreciation that they have just inspired.
Words: Adam Banks"
So there. I don't know if they'll accept it yet, and I had to chop it down from 400 to 300 words, which made it a little more cliched and prone to hyperbole, but we'll see what they make of it.
In other stuff, last weekend was mint. I saw Chris. He am odd. Still. I saw my sister graduate. Woo! I went body boarding on Fistral beach, Newquay. I saw monster trucks. I saw a human cannonball. I went to Eden. I now have a dedicated gaming telly (TM) in my house. :)
I have decided I would like to learn to surf. Anyone want to join me? We should do it as a weeks holiday some time.
That is all.
-Flange |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 7th, 2004|05:43 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  drunk | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | None, 'cos I'm at work. | ] |
Well Hello.
How are you?
I'm fine. Yeah. We haven't spoken in ages.
No we haven't sorry about that.
That's OK, what have you been up to? It's been a couple of months now hasn't it?
Yep, it certainly has, although it seems much longer. Well, what have I done? Let me see... I changed jobs to do production planning (still with Croda) but am likely to change roles again slightly soon. That's working at a different site near Goole. People say it smells of fish. I have been into the town only once but it didn't. I spent three weeks living in flats near the site, with no TV and no company. Aaaarrrgghh. Actually it was quite good, 'cos it meant that I phoned friends, read some books (1984, Brave New World to name but two), played my guitar. Which just goes to prove how much of a menace TV is (see my second ever post). Then eventually, Nicky and I moved into the new house.
Oh really. Where's that?
Sheffield.
Oh right. Weren't you in Sheffield before?
No you stupid cretin, I was in Northwich, which is about two hours drive West of Sheffield.
Do you like the new place then?
Yep. I now live on boulder hill (that's very cool if you ever had Mask toys). It's a 3 bed house. Nice neighbours, comfy house and Pingu, Nu-nu and Pickles (the cat from Bob the builder) painted on the walls of the attic room. It's a short tram ride into the city centre where THERE'S STUFF TO DO. Woo Hoo. I'm off to see the Misfits next week, and the killers this Friday having already seen a couple of bands this month. There's also a dog / speedway track near us.
Wow. Can I come up and visit?
Yes you can. Any time you like.
Good. I'll do that.
Anyhoo, so moving was fun. I got to drive a van. We've got quite a lot of stuff now. Though now we've also bought a bed, scavved a table for free (it's amazing what beer can do) and got other things. Now I need the TV from my folks to have a dedicated gaming tele in the attic. Mmmmmmmmm! Console-tastic.
Cool. Done anything else recently?
Then last week, me and Dave went to Glastonbury. It wam mint. Bands, good times, odd stuff, friends. It was great.
So, that's what I've been doing for the last two months.
Hmmm. That's all really interesting. Erm ... can you take your fist out of my arse now please?
No.
Oh go on.
! < SSSSSSSSCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHLLLLLLLLUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP P P P P P PP!! > !
There.
Thank you. |
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| Cracking |
[Apr. 29th, 2004|01:02 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  curious | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax | ] |
Can anyone tell me why bottoms are arousing?
For both men and women, seeing a nice arse on a member of the sex you are attracted to is a wonderful thing. But why?
Poo comes out of them and they smell. They don't really do anything else. Why bums - and not thighs or hips or something else?
I can't work it out the logic behind it.
I can understand the appeal of breasts from an evolutionary point of view (suggests good ability to bring up children), but why bums?
-Flange. |
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| Do Zombies dream undead sheep? |
[Apr. 27th, 2004|01:55 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| |  crazy | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Something else by Thursday | ] |
I had a weird dream about zombies. We were lying in the sun on a grass verge relaxing with some zombies. That was the really cool bit. Just relaxing in a summery way with a few zombies. But as I happened, I had become a zombie, so I was telling Nicky to get away before I bit her and turned her into a zombie too. I even got one of them to bite me again to demonstrate to her that I was a zombie - he bit me on the forearm and it looked really chewy - and I showed Nicky, and slowly she started to believe me.
Later it turned out that I was wrong and that I wasn't a zombie after all (the guy that bit me was also wrong - he wasn't a zombie either) and so Nicky got upset that I had lied to her (even though I was mistaken rather than lying). So she ran off into town (which was Bristol, but looked like Manchester) and met up with her Mum and a gaggle of older females and went into a pub. I ran after her, along with a black girl we had met and had been hanging out on the grass with who we both thought had been turned into a zombie, but it turns out that the person who bit her (the same guy I had asked to bite me) had been bitten by a shark and not a zombie, so she was also fine after all. Once we were in the pub, Nicky's mum's girlfriends were in the way, and there wasn't enough space to get to Nicky to talk, so I ordered a white wine... then I woke up.
Zombie dreams are cool.
That's the first time I've ever ordered wine in a pub too. |
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| Guff and stubbins |
[Apr. 27th, 2004|01:31 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | indifferent | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Something by Thursday on my MP3 player. | ] |
What a fantastic week. That's the one before last. Not being back a t work. 'cos that sucks big fat donkey scrotum.
No, I'm talking about the week of my birthday, seeing friends and doing stuff. We went to go-ape (www.goape.cc) which is an assault course 30ft up in the air. That was great. Dave going down a zip wire in the lotus position was a highlight.
Having opened a carpet donkey, with male and female rude bits in a bizarre birthday type ritual, and played a 2-world domination game of risk, Nicky and I went off to Dorset to have a mini holiday. We went zorbing (www.zorbsouth.co.uk) which is chucking yourself down a hill harnessed inside an inflatable ball. The place in Swanage has the longest run in the world. Woohoo. We went quad biking too. But managed to not give ourselves brain damage (in an Ozzy / Rik Mayall stylee). Which was nice. More than that, Nicky and I were just doing stuff the whole time while we were there. It wam fun. And the weather was great.
It's actually quite odd. I have had my last Monday at this placement in the company (next Monday is a bank holiday). We have given written notice to end the contract on our house. I'm off. Cool. I'm looking forward to living in Sheffield and it's coming up really quickly.
I've been playing Green Day's Dookie album on my guitar and bass a lot for the last couple of days (I got the TAB book for m' B'day - thanks 'Len) and it's really good fun to play. I always knew that the songs were simple, but I never realised that the three or four chords they chose to use are the same for every song on the album. It's amazing that you can get so many really good songs from such a simple pallatte. That's good songwriting I guess.
It's so much better now that there's some light in the evenings and some half decent (if indecisive) weather is finally with us. I went for a run at the weekend, and I'm not gay or owt, but the forest looked magical because it was carpeted in bluebells, and the sun was beaming down. Good stuff.
Nicky was away this weekend seeing friends and it made me realise hopw far away from friends I am. Arses. There's no-one I've met since being here who lives close by that I could call up and just invite over / go and see and just hang out. I have friends in Bath / Bristol, friends clustered around London, friends in Cambridge, friends in Fareham but none (except Nicky) up here. That smells. But I think once I get to Sheffield there will be more opportunities to meet people, and I'll be nearer the other grads in the company that I get on well with. So that'll be good.
Right. That's enough drivel for one entry. Hello.
- Flange. |
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