I recently discovered that my housemate has a list of goals that she wants to complete by the time that she's 30, and a second list of stuff that she wants sorted by the time she's 35. These aren't lists in her head - these are written down, and pinned up on the wall of our study. Unsurprisingly, this got me thinking - I have nothing like that, and the thought of creating any kind of list of goals hadn't even occurred to me. I knew that such things existed, but I had assumed it was the kind of thing that motivational gurus espoused whilst the espousee (which is probably not a real world) smiled, nodded and ignored them for being full of shite. Apparently not.
So, as I was thinking about this, I started to wonder what would be on such a list if I were to create one. Obviously, any list that I have of stuff to do by the time I'm thirty wouldn't really be of much use creating so it comes down to what would I like to do by the time I'm 35. So I put some thought into this, and for me it seems to be that the goals I come up with revolve around childish pursuits such as snowboarding, travelling, and not being a proper grown up. So I'm not going to write those down.
If for no other reason than that'd put me one step closer to growing up, which definitely isn't on my list.
Saturday 31 March 2007
Friday 30 March 2007
I want to be a proper skateboarder.
I've had an on/off relationship with skateboarding for quite a few years now, and to my great personal chagrin I still manage to be totally naff at it.
It's something that's frustrating about skateboarding. The keystone to the vast majority of skateboarding trickery is the ollie, which is an incredibly frustrating trick to try and learn. You have to tap one foot down, scrap the other foot up and across and jump in the air - all at the same time.
Despite having a skateboard for so long, I suck at ollies. I'm fed up of it, and I'm determined that it's going to change. So here on this blog I'm going to promise to learn better ollies, and keep the internet updated on my progress.
I suspect that I won't get around to it, but the intention's the important thing isn't it.
It's something that's frustrating about skateboarding. The keystone to the vast majority of skateboarding trickery is the ollie, which is an incredibly frustrating trick to try and learn. You have to tap one foot down, scrap the other foot up and across and jump in the air - all at the same time.
Despite having a skateboard for so long, I suck at ollies. I'm fed up of it, and I'm determined that it's going to change. So here on this blog I'm going to promise to learn better ollies, and keep the internet updated on my progress.
I suspect that I won't get around to it, but the intention's the important thing isn't it.
Thursday 29 March 2007
Things that I have learnt in the last year.
I thought of this last night, but didn't really have the time to compile the list then, so I'm going to do this now instead. Here, in no particular order is a list of some things that I have learnt in the last 365 days. Enjoy folks.
1. BS180 on a mountainboard. It's a basic trick, but it's also an awesome one. The backside 180 is one of the coolest tricks around, and once you've learnt it, it rules.
2. Haruki Murakami is a great author. I've had a couple of Murakami novels sat around the house for a while now, but I've finally gotten around to reading 'em. I really liked them.
3. I'd be in the intellectual top 5% if I lived in Canada. The Canadian equivalent of 'Test the Nation' included an IQ test on it's website. I did it, and was told I'd be in the top 5% if I lived in Canada.
4. Snowboarding's supposed to be fun. This might be a little surprising, especially if you take into account that I've been riding snowboards for about 5 years now. I got a new board for this season that I originally intended to be just for riding the snowdomes and the local dryslope. When I got out on the snow though, I had a load of fun on the new board. It's an Atomic Hatchet, and it's a fair bit softer than my old board. The extra flex and pop made a real difference to how I approached the mountain, and I spent a lot more time dicking around and riding with a smile on my face.
5. I can drive a car. I didn't have a license before I moved to Cardiff, and I'd not really thought much about getting one, but about 2 weeks after moving I realised that I needed a motor. So now I've got a license and a car. Woo-hoo!
6. Wifi isn't quite as awesome as the adverts would have you believe. I had the dubious pleasure of sorting out a wireless network at my current abode. It was a pain in the ass, and I had no end of trouble making sure that everyone's pc had enough signal.
7. My great grandmother was the last person to be sold at Abergavenny Market. She was sold into service, and bought by a farmer. My uncle told me this a couple of months ago. It blew my mind.
8. I look better without a beard. I've had a goatee for ages, but over Christmas, I wasn't paying as much attention as I should with a pair of clippers, so it had to all come off. It took a while to get used to it being naked on the chin, but I prefer it now.
9. The new Battlestar Galactica is awesome. It really is folks. You should be watching this tv show, as it's clever, thought provoking and awesome. So there.
10. Owning a car is expensive. As mentioned in number 5, I now have a car. What I didn't know is how expensive just owning a car can be. I've had to spend more on repairs to my car than I did on the car itself.
11. I can make t-shirts. I was given a crash course on screen printing onto fabric back when I was an art student. Now though, thanks to spending some time refreshing my memory I know that I can still make t-shirts should I so desire.
12. I am a happier person when I'm less stressed. In October, I stood down from leadership of the ATBA-UK (the UK mountainboarding governing body). Since then I've had more free time, and fewer sleepless nights. It's been enjoyabe.
13. Shergar tastes good. I ate some horse steak when I was out in France. It tasted good. Yummy.
14. Getting Uk government security clearance is a needlessly beauracratic process. It's a huge form, and it has an awful lot of officious conditions involved in it. Things like abbreviations will get the form sent back and you have to start all over again. What a gyp.
15. Captain America is awesome. I picked up some of the newer cap books this year, and I really enjoyed them. They're written by a fellow called Ed Brubaker, and I would recommend that you read some. I would, but seeing as how they've killed him off now, there's not really much point is there. I guess y'all missed your chance on that one.
16. I still don't like fish. I tried some this year, and I didn't like it.
17. As you get older, injuries take longer to heal. I damaged my ligaments back in January, and it still aches. It's a sad irony that as I get older, I enjoy the things that cause these injuries all the more.
18. Latenight television is very strange. Really, do you need to dedicate a 30 minute show to tell me how recorders are made? No, you don't.
19. Itunes is an awesome bit of software. I've tried a few of the contemporary alternatives in the last year, and Itunes really is a lot better. If you want to see how bad it can be, have a look at Sony's Soundforge. It's endlessly frustrating, and can give you herpes.
20. I didn't learn 20 things in the last year. That may seem a bit depressing, but remember - I knew a hell of a lot already.
1. BS180 on a mountainboard. It's a basic trick, but it's also an awesome one. The backside 180 is one of the coolest tricks around, and once you've learnt it, it rules.
2. Haruki Murakami is a great author. I've had a couple of Murakami novels sat around the house for a while now, but I've finally gotten around to reading 'em. I really liked them.
3. I'd be in the intellectual top 5% if I lived in Canada. The Canadian equivalent of 'Test the Nation' included an IQ test on it's website. I did it, and was told I'd be in the top 5% if I lived in Canada.
4. Snowboarding's supposed to be fun. This might be a little surprising, especially if you take into account that I've been riding snowboards for about 5 years now. I got a new board for this season that I originally intended to be just for riding the snowdomes and the local dryslope. When I got out on the snow though, I had a load of fun on the new board. It's an Atomic Hatchet, and it's a fair bit softer than my old board. The extra flex and pop made a real difference to how I approached the mountain, and I spent a lot more time dicking around and riding with a smile on my face.
5. I can drive a car. I didn't have a license before I moved to Cardiff, and I'd not really thought much about getting one, but about 2 weeks after moving I realised that I needed a motor. So now I've got a license and a car. Woo-hoo!
6. Wifi isn't quite as awesome as the adverts would have you believe. I had the dubious pleasure of sorting out a wireless network at my current abode. It was a pain in the ass, and I had no end of trouble making sure that everyone's pc had enough signal.
7. My great grandmother was the last person to be sold at Abergavenny Market. She was sold into service, and bought by a farmer. My uncle told me this a couple of months ago. It blew my mind.
8. I look better without a beard. I've had a goatee for ages, but over Christmas, I wasn't paying as much attention as I should with a pair of clippers, so it had to all come off. It took a while to get used to it being naked on the chin, but I prefer it now.
9. The new Battlestar Galactica is awesome. It really is folks. You should be watching this tv show, as it's clever, thought provoking and awesome. So there.
10. Owning a car is expensive. As mentioned in number 5, I now have a car. What I didn't know is how expensive just owning a car can be. I've had to spend more on repairs to my car than I did on the car itself.
11. I can make t-shirts. I was given a crash course on screen printing onto fabric back when I was an art student. Now though, thanks to spending some time refreshing my memory I know that I can still make t-shirts should I so desire.
12. I am a happier person when I'm less stressed. In October, I stood down from leadership of the ATBA-UK (the UK mountainboarding governing body). Since then I've had more free time, and fewer sleepless nights. It's been enjoyabe.
13. Shergar tastes good. I ate some horse steak when I was out in France. It tasted good. Yummy.
14. Getting Uk government security clearance is a needlessly beauracratic process. It's a huge form, and it has an awful lot of officious conditions involved in it. Things like abbreviations will get the form sent back and you have to start all over again. What a gyp.
15. Captain America is awesome. I picked up some of the newer cap books this year, and I really enjoyed them. They're written by a fellow called Ed Brubaker, and I would recommend that you read some. I would, but seeing as how they've killed him off now, there's not really much point is there. I guess y'all missed your chance on that one.
16. I still don't like fish. I tried some this year, and I didn't like it.
17. As you get older, injuries take longer to heal. I damaged my ligaments back in January, and it still aches. It's a sad irony that as I get older, I enjoy the things that cause these injuries all the more.
18. Latenight television is very strange. Really, do you need to dedicate a 30 minute show to tell me how recorders are made? No, you don't.
19. Itunes is an awesome bit of software. I've tried a few of the contemporary alternatives in the last year, and Itunes really is a lot better. If you want to see how bad it can be, have a look at Sony's Soundforge. It's endlessly frustrating, and can give you herpes.
20. I didn't learn 20 things in the last year. That may seem a bit depressing, but remember - I knew a hell of a lot already.
Tuesday 27 March 2007
Monday night, Tuesday morning
Oh woe is me. Today, I start a seven day masochistic shift pattern know as 'working nights'. This really, really sucks. I spend the next seven days going to bed at eight in the morning and getting up around 4 in the afternoon. I will then potter around for a few hours before dragging myself into work for a 9pm start. So don't be too surprised if by Sunday night the posts on this blog increase drastically in frequency (due to boredom) and become very weird (due to living nocturnally).
In all fairness, I do get next week off, and I will be paid handsomely for this week's work. It just sucks that I have to watch as friends go out and go to pubs just as I'm off to work.
In all fairness, I do get next week off, and I will be paid handsomely for this week's work. It just sucks that I have to watch as friends go out and go to pubs just as I'm off to work.
Friday 23 March 2007
Danger! Everything may be hazardous
I noticed today that bottled water has a serving suggestion on it's label. This started me thinking, and I've found that everything these days appears to have some kind of guidance on the label.
This made me think some more, and during this thinking I managed to find the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accident's statistics PDF from 2000. After reading this, it would appear that the world is a much more dangerous place than I give it credit for.
To save you ploughing through the 55 pages of the report, I'd like to bring some of the highlights to your attention. Now before I start, I think that it's important to note that these statistics deal with injuries that resulted in a trip to the hospital. So, let's get started. According to RSPOA, 2,431 people were injured by a couch. This means that your couch is more dangerous than a kitchen knife (1,555)!
But it doesn't stop there, folks. The statistics page is an astounding source of information. 173 people needed a trip to the local A&E thanks to the terrible dangers of pillows. 506 people fell victim to the predations of their hoover. 155 people found that leaflets held unimagined dangers.
Despite all the warnings in both the press and tv about fireworks, 55 souls needed a trip to hospital for not paying attention (I tend to think that they deserve it). In contrast, double that number (110) of children were injured by "Soft Toys, Dolls, Action man". Where's the fucking warning for that then?
772 people were injured by a football (not playing football mind you, by a football). This is an order of magnitude more than the number of people injured by skateboards (149). 208 people were hospitalised due to the dangers of bouncy castles.
I could go on about this all night, as this sheet is full of amazing statistics, but I'm going to sign off now and leave you with this one titbit to think on. In the year 2000, at the dawn of the 21st century; 231 people suffered an injury sufficient to warrant a trip to hospital from their trousers.
No, I have no fucking idea how that happens either.
This made me think some more, and during this thinking I managed to find the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accident's statistics PDF from 2000. After reading this, it would appear that the world is a much more dangerous place than I give it credit for.
To save you ploughing through the 55 pages of the report, I'd like to bring some of the highlights to your attention. Now before I start, I think that it's important to note that these statistics deal with injuries that resulted in a trip to the hospital. So, let's get started. According to RSPOA, 2,431 people were injured by a couch. This means that your couch is more dangerous than a kitchen knife (1,555)!
But it doesn't stop there, folks. The statistics page is an astounding source of information. 173 people needed a trip to the local A&E thanks to the terrible dangers of pillows. 506 people fell victim to the predations of their hoover. 155 people found that leaflets held unimagined dangers.
Despite all the warnings in both the press and tv about fireworks, 55 souls needed a trip to hospital for not paying attention (I tend to think that they deserve it). In contrast, double that number (110) of children were injured by "Soft Toys, Dolls, Action man". Where's the fucking warning for that then?
772 people were injured by a football (not playing football mind you, by a football). This is an order of magnitude more than the number of people injured by skateboards (149). 208 people were hospitalised due to the dangers of bouncy castles.
I could go on about this all night, as this sheet is full of amazing statistics, but I'm going to sign off now and leave you with this one titbit to think on. In the year 2000, at the dawn of the 21st century; 231 people suffered an injury sufficient to warrant a trip to hospital from their trousers.
No, I have no fucking idea how that happens either.
Thursday 22 March 2007
The key to limitless strength!!
I hate to admit it, but there's not really any point to this one. I saw this poster at work and the tagline on it gave me a real chuckle.
It got me thinking about some of the other things that we get advice pamphlets about. The Welsh Assembly have recently released a pamphlet for immigrant workers living in Wales which includes such gems as the fact that you're not legally allowed to fuck your sister (I find myself wondering where that's legal).
However, I think that the champion information pamphlet comes from Latvia. The government there, in an attempt to make all their young people blind have provided a step by step guide to masturbation (unsurprisingly, these images aren't really work safe - you have been warned). As is traditional with these things, the guide illustrations have creepy faces, and frighteningly blank expressions. It's all a bit un-nerving. Which may be the masterstroke (apologies for the pun). I suspect that the youth of Latvia would be so disturbed that they'll become completely turned off by the very idea of sex.
I'll have to keep a close eye on the Latvian birth rate.
My workshifts are awful
I just wanted to make sure that everyone knows this important fact. So far this week, I've worked 45 hours, and I've got another 9 hour shift to go tomorrow. Next week is even worse, and I'm going to work a 70 hour week. The bright side to working such long hours on the days that I do work is that I get more days off in return.
Anyway, so now it comes to what to do with all these days off this summer. Last year I was insanely busy with running the UK Mountainboard series, but now that I've managed to pass that headache on to somebody else (thanks Paul) I'm going to have a lot of free time over summertime.
I'm leaning toward taking up surfing. I did give it a try last summer, a fella I know who lives down in Cornwall works as a surf instructor, so I blagged a board and a wetsuit and spent an afternoon trying to catch waves. I can say in all honesty that I was crap. I managed to stand up twice all afternoon, and ended up completely knackered. I had no idea that surfing was so tiring! But despite my incredible naffness and the physical exhaustion involved in trying to surf, I really enjoyed it. So now I'm sorely tempted to see if I can pick up a surfboard and wetsuit of my own and spend my days off over the summer getting stand stuck up the crack of my arse.
Part of the reason for this is that I've recently watched Riding Giants again, and the film is such an awesome visual treat that my overwhelming crapness of surfing is offset by the delusional belief that I can be even 10% as awesome as the riders featured in the movie.
The other thing is that now that I'm living in Cardiff, I'm pretty close to some decent surf breaks on the Welsh south coast. This will mean taking my life into my own hands and swimming in the Bristol Channel, so some kind of underwater gasmask might be a wise investment.
Of course, the other option is that I'll use this free time to doss around in the back garden drinking cider and reading Murakami novels. This is probably slightly more likely, as I am a bit of a lazy sod but the romance of being a cool surf duder may well be enough of a pull to motivate my sorry arse into action. Bets are now being taken.
Anyway, so now it comes to what to do with all these days off this summer. Last year I was insanely busy with running the UK Mountainboard series, but now that I've managed to pass that headache on to somebody else (thanks Paul) I'm going to have a lot of free time over summertime.
I'm leaning toward taking up surfing. I did give it a try last summer, a fella I know who lives down in Cornwall works as a surf instructor, so I blagged a board and a wetsuit and spent an afternoon trying to catch waves. I can say in all honesty that I was crap. I managed to stand up twice all afternoon, and ended up completely knackered. I had no idea that surfing was so tiring! But despite my incredible naffness and the physical exhaustion involved in trying to surf, I really enjoyed it. So now I'm sorely tempted to see if I can pick up a surfboard and wetsuit of my own and spend my days off over the summer getting stand stuck up the crack of my arse.
Part of the reason for this is that I've recently watched Riding Giants again, and the film is such an awesome visual treat that my overwhelming crapness of surfing is offset by the delusional belief that I can be even 10% as awesome as the riders featured in the movie.
The other thing is that now that I'm living in Cardiff, I'm pretty close to some decent surf breaks on the Welsh south coast. This will mean taking my life into my own hands and swimming in the Bristol Channel, so some kind of underwater gasmask might be a wise investment.
Of course, the other option is that I'll use this free time to doss around in the back garden drinking cider and reading Murakami novels. This is probably slightly more likely, as I am a bit of a lazy sod but the romance of being a cool surf duder may well be enough of a pull to motivate my sorry arse into action. Bets are now being taken.
Wednesday 21 March 2007
Budget reaction (how crap are some people??)
I'm not going to go into the budget much, as I have no backgrounds in economics and it'd not make much of an awesome post.
I do however want to draw attention to the lady who was just on the beeb giving her reaction to the budget. Her complaint (and she was complaining) was that she has a disabled son, and she needs a 4x4 so that she can change his incontinence pants. I'm stunned at this one. This woman's justification for driving a gas guzzling giant 4x4 boills down to "my son is disabled and shits his pants".
That hardly seems right. But, as this is a positive and supportive blog, I want to help her out by suggesting that she investigate the following vehicles - The Citroen Berlingo & The Skoda Roomster. Both have loads of space (a friend of mine has the Berlingo and it's awesome), and aren't those big evil 4x4s. So not only can she care for her disabled son, but she can also care from the environment and pay less tax.
In truth though, I suspect that this woman won't be switching any time soon. I don't want to be judgemental, but she looked and sounded an awful lot like a person that the term "Chelsea tractor" was invented for. I mean, if she bought a Skoda she'd have to give up membership of the Sloan Rangers regional croquet team, and I'm sure her bridge club at the WI would be mortified.
Well look at that, I was judgmental after all.
I do however want to draw attention to the lady who was just on the beeb giving her reaction to the budget. Her complaint (and she was complaining) was that she has a disabled son, and she needs a 4x4 so that she can change his incontinence pants. I'm stunned at this one. This woman's justification for driving a gas guzzling giant 4x4 boills down to "my son is disabled and shits his pants".
That hardly seems right. But, as this is a positive and supportive blog, I want to help her out by suggesting that she investigate the following vehicles - The Citroen Berlingo & The Skoda Roomster. Both have loads of space (a friend of mine has the Berlingo and it's awesome), and aren't those big evil 4x4s. So not only can she care for her disabled son, but she can also care from the environment and pay less tax.
In truth though, I suspect that this woman won't be switching any time soon. I don't want to be judgemental, but she looked and sounded an awful lot like a person that the term "Chelsea tractor" was invented for. I mean, if she bought a Skoda she'd have to give up membership of the Sloan Rangers regional croquet team, and I'm sure her bridge club at the WI would be mortified.
Well look at that, I was judgmental after all.
I love extreme sports (gnarly shizzle dizzle)
This is an interesting one for me. I remember being introduced to one of my current flatmates as a snowboarder, mountainboarder and skateboarder. All pretty accurate, and those 3 activities do occupy a fair amount of my free time. Now here's the thing - the guy commented that "So you're an X-treme kinda guy" (or words to that affect). This started me thinking on the topic - am I X-treme?
The thing is, the use of the X in X-treme is a bit of a marketing gimmick, it's not something that should be taken too seriously, and if I'm honest I find the label extreme sports a bit naff. I'm not saying that there are any viable alternatives out there but if we accept that X is used to describe a certain subculture from a demographic viewpoint, then I'm pretty certain I don't really fit that well.
Let's face it, the mass media have a prestigious history of not getting what extreme sports are about. Last year at the winter olympics the Beeb's Clare Balding managed to put her foot in her mouth by suggesting that snowboarding wasn't a real sport, and I know from my own work in mountainboarding that PR companies really don't get what these sports are all about.
I guess however that I'm going to be stuck with the label for a while longer. It's not so bad after all, I mean at least I'm not being called boring. the other definite plus is that it seems us extreme sportists get our own language to confound the rest of you with. So keep your shiz tight, and gnar out folks.
The thing is, the use of the X in X-treme is a bit of a marketing gimmick, it's not something that should be taken too seriously, and if I'm honest I find the label extreme sports a bit naff. I'm not saying that there are any viable alternatives out there but if we accept that X is used to describe a certain subculture from a demographic viewpoint, then I'm pretty certain I don't really fit that well.
Let's face it, the mass media have a prestigious history of not getting what extreme sports are about. Last year at the winter olympics the Beeb's Clare Balding managed to put her foot in her mouth by suggesting that snowboarding wasn't a real sport, and I know from my own work in mountainboarding that PR companies really don't get what these sports are all about.
I guess however that I'm going to be stuck with the label for a while longer. It's not so bad after all, I mean at least I'm not being called boring. the other definite plus is that it seems us extreme sportists get our own language to confound the rest of you with. So keep your shiz tight, and gnar out folks.
Good morning everyone
Just thought I'd be cheerful today for a bit.
I've been reading a lot of stuff over the last couple of days and I'm going to share some of it with you. It's a generous move all in all, but that's because I'm a generous guy and it's important to be friendly when you've been up since 5:30 in the morning. Unsurprisingly, the cheerfulness vanishes later, but for now at least I'm chirpy.
I've been following political stuff lately. I've always been mildly interested in what goes on in the halls of power, but if I'm going to be dedicated to this blog I thought I'd share some stuff with you. So for example if you head over to the Guardian's Organmonkey webblog, you can read about how John Simpson on BBC's today show has apparently reached the conclusion that the government's WMD intelligence may have been sexed up. It appears that for the 4th anniversary of the war in Iraq, the BBC are giving old reports to different reporters and changing the words around a bit.
So it's a bit like giving your wife the same present but with a different colour bow on it.
There's also a potentially interesting blog over at the beeb website. Sexily titled Open Secrets it's written by Martin Rosenbaum, a journalist who confesses to enjoy reading other people's documents. This presumably means that he's the kind of unmitigated bastard who reads your newspaper over your shoulder on the tube. So I guess I've found a kindred spirit.
There you go, 2 recommendations for you to have a look at. Anyway, I'm going to go and try to be a stalinist bully to my colleagues. More later.
I've been reading a lot of stuff over the last couple of days and I'm going to share some of it with you. It's a generous move all in all, but that's because I'm a generous guy and it's important to be friendly when you've been up since 5:30 in the morning. Unsurprisingly, the cheerfulness vanishes later, but for now at least I'm chirpy.
I've been following political stuff lately. I've always been mildly interested in what goes on in the halls of power, but if I'm going to be dedicated to this blog I thought I'd share some stuff with you. So for example if you head over to the Guardian's Organmonkey webblog, you can read about how John Simpson on BBC's today show has apparently reached the conclusion that the government's WMD intelligence may have been sexed up. It appears that for the 4th anniversary of the war in Iraq, the BBC are giving old reports to different reporters and changing the words around a bit.
So it's a bit like giving your wife the same present but with a different colour bow on it.
There's also a potentially interesting blog over at the beeb website. Sexily titled Open Secrets it's written by Martin Rosenbaum, a journalist who confesses to enjoy reading other people's documents. This presumably means that he's the kind of unmitigated bastard who reads your newspaper over your shoulder on the tube. So I guess I've found a kindred spirit.
There you go, 2 recommendations for you to have a look at. Anyway, I'm going to go and try to be a stalinist bully to my colleagues. More later.
Tuesday 20 March 2007
Would you wear this?
I just wanted to share this image with you so that I can't be accused of not putting any effort into this blogging lark.
On the right, we have Mr Dan Watson. Snowboard bum extraordinaire. On the left, we have a lady who was skiing in Courchevel.
Now it should be said that Dan had previously asked this lady's permission for a photograph and had been rebuffed rather rudely. So we did what any other person would. Chased her down the piste, snuck up behind and took this photo.
I'm sure that some of you out there are thinking that this is childish behaviour, and that making fun of someone afflicted so badly with the rare and debilitating disease "Dressinglikeaclownism" is morally repugnant, but really - I disagree. I believe that it is our responsibility to draw attention to this disease and it's horrible side effects every chance that we get. After all, it could be that your kid's next - and if that's the case, won't you be happier if at least some of the stigma of looking like a complete idiot has been removed?
The thing I can't work out though is why anyone would choose to wear that.
So I am incredibly lazy and should be flogged...
I seem to recall around 14 months ago, I moved from London to Cardiff. Some people who read this might recall that as well, but this isn't your blog it's mine. So tough cookies on that one I'm afraid.
Now, there was a completely lame attempt by me to have one hosted on my own domain, but a combination of me really not being bothered by the whole idea, and the fact that the subdomain forwarding never worked properly meant that I was a little stuck.
So why am I creating this? Has there been some great epiphany? Nope, I just figured it was time to pull my finger out and get this moving.
I know from personal experience htat there are blogs out there with themes, ideas concepts and the like, but this for me is much more about me stretching my mind, and putting ideas in a format that I can then read and look at in a slightly more rational way than if they're pinging around inside my head like an excited electron just looking for an unstable hydrogen molecule to split (is that right? Nuclear physics isn't my subject...but I thought the fission comparison would be geeky and endearing).
Now while I'm being geeky, I want to take a moment to talk about David Cameron being the champion of the NHS. I am full of admiration for this man. How he can be so charming convincing and straight faced when he, as the leader of the conservative party talks about how to save the NHS I just don't understand. I mean, as ironic humour goes, it's up there with the best. At this point, I'm sure some of the better bloggers out there would give you links to how Thatcher ravaged the NHS, how Michael Howard wanted to give out vouchers for private healthcare rather than fund the NHS or how Cameron's own shadow chancellor is tabling huge tax cuts that others suggest would mean that they'd have to cut millions from the NHS. But I'm a bit too new to the blogosphere to be doing that, and besides, I don't particularly want to encourage you to abandon your normally favourite haunts. After all, I may well revert to total laziness and not keep this up to date.
Last thing is this : Lemmings aren't suicidal. The idea was Walt Disney's and he staged the whole thing in Newfoundland. The footage was created by getting production assistants to throw lemmings over a cliff.
Some people get all the best jobs.
Now, there was a completely lame attempt by me to have one hosted on my own domain, but a combination of me really not being bothered by the whole idea, and the fact that the subdomain forwarding never worked properly meant that I was a little stuck.
So why am I creating this? Has there been some great epiphany? Nope, I just figured it was time to pull my finger out and get this moving.
I know from personal experience htat there are blogs out there with themes, ideas concepts and the like, but this for me is much more about me stretching my mind, and putting ideas in a format that I can then read and look at in a slightly more rational way than if they're pinging around inside my head like an excited electron just looking for an unstable hydrogen molecule to split (is that right? Nuclear physics isn't my subject...but I thought the fission comparison would be geeky and endearing).
Now while I'm being geeky, I want to take a moment to talk about David Cameron being the champion of the NHS. I am full of admiration for this man. How he can be so charming convincing and straight faced when he, as the leader of the conservative party talks about how to save the NHS I just don't understand. I mean, as ironic humour goes, it's up there with the best. At this point, I'm sure some of the better bloggers out there would give you links to how Thatcher ravaged the NHS, how Michael Howard wanted to give out vouchers for private healthcare rather than fund the NHS or how Cameron's own shadow chancellor is tabling huge tax cuts that others suggest would mean that they'd have to cut millions from the NHS. But I'm a bit too new to the blogosphere to be doing that, and besides, I don't particularly want to encourage you to abandon your normally favourite haunts. After all, I may well revert to total laziness and not keep this up to date.
Last thing is this : Lemmings aren't suicidal. The idea was Walt Disney's and he staged the whole thing in Newfoundland. The footage was created by getting production assistants to throw lemmings over a cliff.
Some people get all the best jobs.
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