My Own Personal Appendectomy
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Warning, pictures of surgery below (not graphic, because I normally squirm at these things).
Come night time Wednesday 2nd May, my day had gone well, revision was on schedule, I was trying a new mouth wash and all was sweet and well. The hard grind of revision, project work and coursework was under way and uni life was as any hectic third term normally is. I think I'd just released my latest fb2k config that day also. At 5 am I was awoken with awful stomach pains; a horrible gripping feeling as though my digestive sack was being used as a stress ball by an over worked underpaid office employee. I couldn't sleep through it so I grabbed some crackers and made some quick fb2k updates until I felt duly capable of heading back to the land of nod.
Thursday was much the same, only worse. I'd hoped the pain would have left me; maybe it was just me lying awkwardly or some bad sausages from the champions league BBQ. I set about revision as normal, struggling to get anything done, some Ibuprofen helped and I continued through until the afternoon thinking I had past the worst of it. With late afternoon the painkillers rescinded and I was thrown full-whack back into the torment of having my digestive tract deciding it wanted to leave my body by turning itself into a truncheon and beating its way out from the inside. Gaviscon stomach sweets failed, as did all the anti-acids and little tricks like drinking Milk or eating dried foods. With the doctors now shut and at a loss for what to do, I tried to simply just rest, sit back and watch a film - I chose one I wouldn't particularly care if I enjoyed or not (My Super Ex-Girlfriend - don't watch this). By the end of the film my intestinal baton had grown spikes in a stepped up bid to escape. I was bent double and in agony with a stomach pain that hadn't caused sickness. I called NHS Direct (with my mum's advice and diligence in finding a Skype compatible number) and they soon advised me to get myself checked out ASAP, just as a precaution. With the walk-in centre shut it was off to accident and emergency.
My very kind accommodation warden drove my friend and I there where we started to wait. One hour later I saw the triage and enjoyed blood sugar tests, blood pressure tests and the usual check-up mumbo jumbo. With intensifying pain, growing hunger and tiredness the two hour wait to see a doctor was horrible. Mid-wait my official accom' warden, Adam, turned up and swapped shifts, bringing crossword entertainment, although we never completed a single one. Both wardens were especially helpful and I wish to thank them both very much for their efforts and care. At 1am I was called into see the doctor, he prodded me and asked where the pain was, whether I'd been ill, etc. He did a blood test and issued an abdomen X-ray. Half an hour later, lying on my back, I was wheeled into the X-ray room and wheeled back out again moments later.
Lying on a bed had its benefits and coping with the wait was not as bad, though just as painful. It wasn't until 4:30 am that someone came to see me and tell me I was heading to the critical decision unit where a surgeon would later see me. At 5 am they decided to keep me in for the night until next morning's breakfast, see how I was then after some food and take it from there. With this news both my friend (thanks Steven!) and warden were relieved to be able to go home whilst I tried to get whatever kip I could. Come 8 am I was up and ready for brekkie! Whilst the patients around me were being served up Weetabix and porridge an important looking fellow associated with the university (with a number of students around him) informed me that I did indeed have Appendicits and that I would be needing surgery sometime during the day.
Whilst in the process of letting whoever I could know what was going on a bubbly anaesthetist explained the procedure to me and said I would be prep'd for surgery within half an hour. And that was that, before I knew it an IV was being put in, pads stuck on and general anesthetic administered, "You'll be asleep within 20 seconds"... I remember thinking, "I don't feel tired".
Here's a video of a keyhole appendectomy, not mine I might add:
I woke up at about 12:30pm in the recovery ward, dreamy and blissfully enjoying my deep sleep and distinct lack of pain. About half an hour later I was fully awake and another cheery nurse wheeled me to my ward. As the anaesthetic wore off some pain returned (including a sore throat because of the tubes they had to give me) but I was much more comfortable than before, I was soon happy to see my grandpa, sister and girlfriend shortly followed by Steven and my warden.
My recovery was (mostly) a smooth one. For the duration of my stay the IV remained attached, through which I was fed and administered the necessary antibiotics. 4-hourly pulse, temperature and blood pressure tests were given; my temperature was high each time ( 37.5) and I was given paracetamol to bring it down. The only problem I had was a growingly uncomfortable and soon to be painful feeling which mounted in the hours after surgery; in short I was having problems taking a piss. The nurse suggested I may need a catheter but before getting one did a quick ultrasound to check if my bladder was full, her response upon seeing the result was quite comic and she soon returned tubes in hand. My bladder was so full it was putting enormous amounts of pressure on my back, wound and abdomen, which suffice to say, hurt a lot. The bladder can typically hold 0.6 litres, within 15 minutes of the catheter being added the bag was up to 1.5 litres, and reached 2 litres before the hour mark. Time for the great British pun, "that really takes the piss". A catheter is quite uncomfortable and it dramatically reduces your mobility, even when you're tied down to an IV, its removal was also quite painful. Getting it put in wasn't too bad, but I was probably still seeing the influences of some anaesthetic.
All this took place at the brand new University Hospital (UHCW) outside of Coventry. It really is a beautifully new, clean and impressive place. I particularly enjoyed their bed-entertainment suite, which, for £3.20, gave me 24 hours of freeview digital letting me watch the morning football round-up, some Jeeves and Worcester and quite painfully with stifled laughter "Have I Got News for You".
My stitches are all internal and set to "dissolve" in the next few days, hopefully I'll be right as rain in no time. This is my wound as it stands (oooh skin!) - doesn't look too bad.
Come night time Wednesday 2nd May, my day had gone well, revision was on schedule, I was trying a new mouth wash and all was sweet and well. The hard grind of revision, project work and coursework was under way and uni life was as any hectic third term normally is. I think I'd just released my latest fb2k config that day also. At 5 am I was awoken with awful stomach pains; a horrible gripping feeling as though my digestive sack was being used as a stress ball by an over worked underpaid office employee. I couldn't sleep through it so I grabbed some crackers and made some quick fb2k updates until I felt duly capable of heading back to the land of nod.
Thursday was much the same, only worse. I'd hoped the pain would have left me; maybe it was just me lying awkwardly or some bad sausages from the champions league BBQ. I set about revision as normal, struggling to get anything done, some Ibuprofen helped and I continued through until the afternoon thinking I had past the worst of it. With late afternoon the painkillers rescinded and I was thrown full-whack back into the torment of having my digestive tract deciding it wanted to leave my body by turning itself into a truncheon and beating its way out from the inside. Gaviscon stomach sweets failed, as did all the anti-acids and little tricks like drinking Milk or eating dried foods. With the doctors now shut and at a loss for what to do, I tried to simply just rest, sit back and watch a film - I chose one I wouldn't particularly care if I enjoyed or not (My Super Ex-Girlfriend - don't watch this). By the end of the film my intestinal baton had grown spikes in a stepped up bid to escape. I was bent double and in agony with a stomach pain that hadn't caused sickness. I called NHS Direct (with my mum's advice and diligence in finding a Skype compatible number) and they soon advised me to get myself checked out ASAP, just as a precaution. With the walk-in centre shut it was off to accident and emergency.
My very kind accommodation warden drove my friend and I there where we started to wait. One hour later I saw the triage and enjoyed blood sugar tests, blood pressure tests and the usual check-up mumbo jumbo. With intensifying pain, growing hunger and tiredness the two hour wait to see a doctor was horrible. Mid-wait my official accom' warden, Adam, turned up and swapped shifts, bringing crossword entertainment, although we never completed a single one. Both wardens were especially helpful and I wish to thank them both very much for their efforts and care. At 1am I was called into see the doctor, he prodded me and asked where the pain was, whether I'd been ill, etc. He did a blood test and issued an abdomen X-ray. Half an hour later, lying on my back, I was wheeled into the X-ray room and wheeled back out again moments later.
Lying on a bed had its benefits and coping with the wait was not as bad, though just as painful. It wasn't until 4:30 am that someone came to see me and tell me I was heading to the critical decision unit where a surgeon would later see me. At 5 am they decided to keep me in for the night until next morning's breakfast, see how I was then after some food and take it from there. With this news both my friend (thanks Steven!) and warden were relieved to be able to go home whilst I tried to get whatever kip I could. Come 8 am I was up and ready for brekkie! Whilst the patients around me were being served up Weetabix and porridge an important looking fellow associated with the university (with a number of students around him) informed me that I did indeed have Appendicits and that I would be needing surgery sometime during the day.
Whilst in the process of letting whoever I could know what was going on a bubbly anaesthetist explained the procedure to me and said I would be prep'd for surgery within half an hour. And that was that, before I knew it an IV was being put in, pads stuck on and general anesthetic administered, "You'll be asleep within 20 seconds"... I remember thinking, "I don't feel tired".
Here's a video of a keyhole appendectomy, not mine I might add:
I woke up at about 12:30pm in the recovery ward, dreamy and blissfully enjoying my deep sleep and distinct lack of pain. About half an hour later I was fully awake and another cheery nurse wheeled me to my ward. As the anaesthetic wore off some pain returned (including a sore throat because of the tubes they had to give me) but I was much more comfortable than before, I was soon happy to see my grandpa, sister and girlfriend shortly followed by Steven and my warden.
My recovery was (mostly) a smooth one. For the duration of my stay the IV remained attached, through which I was fed and administered the necessary antibiotics. 4-hourly pulse, temperature and blood pressure tests were given; my temperature was high each time ( 37.5) and I was given paracetamol to bring it down. The only problem I had was a growingly uncomfortable and soon to be painful feeling which mounted in the hours after surgery; in short I was having problems taking a piss. The nurse suggested I may need a catheter but before getting one did a quick ultrasound to check if my bladder was full, her response upon seeing the result was quite comic and she soon returned tubes in hand. My bladder was so full it was putting enormous amounts of pressure on my back, wound and abdomen, which suffice to say, hurt a lot. The bladder can typically hold 0.6 litres, within 15 minutes of the catheter being added the bag was up to 1.5 litres, and reached 2 litres before the hour mark. Time for the great British pun, "that really takes the piss". A catheter is quite uncomfortable and it dramatically reduces your mobility, even when you're tied down to an IV, its removal was also quite painful. Getting it put in wasn't too bad, but I was probably still seeing the influences of some anaesthetic.
All this took place at the brand new University Hospital (UHCW) outside of Coventry. It really is a beautifully new, clean and impressive place. I particularly enjoyed their bed-entertainment suite, which, for £3.20, gave me 24 hours of freeview digital letting me watch the morning football round-up, some Jeeves and Worcester and quite painfully with stifled laughter "Have I Got News for You".
My stitches are all internal and set to "dissolve" in the next few days, hopefully I'll be right as rain in no time. This is my wound as it stands (oooh skin!) - doesn't look too bad.
That wound is just on the belt line which has meant this past week I've had to wear my trousers like all those hip boxer showing kids do these days.
Labels: Life
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Wii Wii Wii all the way home
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
On September 15th Nintendo announced the European launch date and price, a short while after the American and Japanese launch information was unveiled. And so, come December 8th the Great British Wii launch occurred amongst quivers of reduced stocks and pre-orders not being satisfied. The biggest problems seemed to occur at Play.com where their 10,000 orders were met with a paltry 700 units. Many people, friends included, are now not receiving theirs until after Christmas. I also ordered from Play but I was lucky enough to place my order within an hour of the price announcement aforementioned and Play.com putting up the product for pre-order. Indeed, my Wii arrived by post on launch day, although I could not pick it up until Saturday. This also coincided with a Chinese exam and the last day of term, suffice to say my brain didn't know what to do - torn between the trials of revision and nerves and tribulations of a child's Christmas eve syndrome. I have now had the Wii for four days and feel I am versed enough to give out my overall impressions thus far.
First impressions: this thing is tiny. Even the Wii-mote and nunchuck are deceptively small. They also feel surprisingly sturdy and there is a definite air of quality about their production. Holding the device is comfortable and enjoyable, pointing is incredibly easy and as precise as I had expected, even after reading some reports that this was not the case. The inner speaker is also excellent, despite quarrels about its quality, I just love hearing the sound of hitting a tennis ball or the thwack as I hit the ball out of the park. Turning on, the Wii-mote was sync'd correctly and it worked right out of the box, as did the automatic CD feed. The blue light only comes on when inputting a disc or turning the Wii on; I'm not sure if this is meant to be the case, I'm not bothered.
I could be a hand model
I could be a hand model
Connecting the Wii online proved a significant hassle. No Ethernet port lead me to the setup of my old wireless router which I am not currently using in my halls of residence. This itself came with hassles which I wont go into, but suffice to say it took more than an hour to get this PC back up and running. In attempts thereafter to connect the Wii it connected smoothly and downloaded the Wii updates. However when it came to downloading the license agreement for the Shop channel, etc. I received the Wii error code: 220602, associated with DNS propagation issues. Reading discussions online suggested a couple of solutions, my Wii is already next to the router, on channel 11 and had of course been previously connected. Firstly I tried removing encryption from my connection, this did not resolve the problem. Eventually the problem was fixed by some quirky DNS switching solution: opening the manual configuration of DNS addresses for my net connection I swapped the first DNS around with my second (find these out via run CMD > ipconfig/all). This worked and once again I was a happy bunny.
With my order I of course received Wii Sports and I also purchased Zelda: Twilight Princess. To be honest, I haven't played Zelda too much - I have picked up the dog, and fired the eagle at the monkey before catching two fish for the cat to steal but I am still relatively young to the game. My 7 hours clocked up thus far (total play time is shown on the Wii message board along side daily achievements which are interesting to look back on) have mainly been spent playing Wii Sports. I took first to the Tennis, Golf and Bowling which became instant favourites, now I have practiced a little more with Boxing and Baseball I am also enjoying these. My tennis rating is currently sitting pretty at 940, sub-pro whilst my top bowling score is 181. My Fitness age is 28 and I have yet to get that secret 91 pin instant strike.
My expectations for the product were exceptionally high due to hype and all the videos on YouTube, etc. I was positive nothing could live up to them, yet having played for more than 7 hours it most definitely has. Now all I need is a second controller, some Wii shop credit and another multiplayer game or two; it's going to be hard waiting for Mario, Metroid, Trauma Centre and Smash Brothers. Oh how it all costs money and we British are screwed by our 17.5% VAT.
To end this, here's a picture of Sonic enjoying this new toy:
With my order I of course received Wii Sports and I also purchased Zelda: Twilight Princess. To be honest, I haven't played Zelda too much - I have picked up the dog, and fired the eagle at the monkey before catching two fish for the cat to steal but I am still relatively young to the game. My 7 hours clocked up thus far (total play time is shown on the Wii message board along side daily achievements which are interesting to look back on) have mainly been spent playing Wii Sports. I took first to the Tennis, Golf and Bowling which became instant favourites, now I have practiced a little more with Boxing and Baseball I am also enjoying these. My tennis rating is currently sitting pretty at 940, sub-pro whilst my top bowling score is 181. My Fitness age is 28 and I have yet to get that secret 91 pin instant strike.
My expectations for the product were exceptionally high due to hype and all the videos on YouTube, etc. I was positive nothing could live up to them, yet having played for more than 7 hours it most definitely has. Now all I need is a second controller, some Wii shop credit and another multiplayer game or two; it's going to be hard waiting for Mario, Metroid, Trauma Centre and Smash Brothers. Oh how it all costs money and we British are screwed by our 17.5% VAT.
To end this, here's a picture of Sonic enjoying this new toy:
Woe betide my broken Motorola V220 (and all mobiles)
Monday, December 04, 2006
At one and a half years I figured my phone could last at least double that and I wouldn't have to fork out for a snazzy new gizmo for quite a while. I'm not particularly enthusiastic towards mobile phones, yes I am fascinated by their all-in-one capabilities and ongoing improvements (as, after all, I am an electronic engineer) and I would love to have a 7 mega pixel camera, built in digital radio, 4gb hdd, javascript enabled internet, bluetooth and all those other perks but one simple fact remains; I do not use my phone as a telephone enough to warrant a monthly paid contract agreement. Thus I am left with the low end pay as you go options and all the shitty fallouts, or the one off cost of £300 for something high spec.
Because everything is geared towards contracts and the technology is moving along so fast it seems nothing is built to last, this rules out my second option - a £300 price tag is not a worthy investment if it wont last me 2 years, that and I am liable to lose it and phone insurance is a scam. My previous two phones both died a miserable screen-fading Nokia death before their time and all the other in-betweens have had atrocious battery problems; I have yet to lose a phone and I don't drop them - they just are not built to last. And so onto my Motorola story; having abandoned the faulty screened Nokia product lines I ventured towards a new manufacturer, Motorola paying a lowly £40 for the V220 model. I viewed this purchase as an intermediary until high specification models became affordable and I planned for it to last 3 years. Come Saturday afternoon, a windy but relatively warm winter's day in Leicester, my fully charged un-dropped never bashed phone with already defunct camera is sitting quietly in my pocket. Oh, my phone is on vibrate-then-ring, set to loud - I have a missed call that I somehow missed while waiting expectantly for the phone to go off (this happens often). Unlocking the clam I am presented with this:
Because everything is geared towards contracts and the technology is moving along so fast it seems nothing is built to last, this rules out my second option - a £300 price tag is not a worthy investment if it wont last me 2 years, that and I am liable to lose it and phone insurance is a scam. My previous two phones both died a miserable screen-fading Nokia death before their time and all the other in-betweens have had atrocious battery problems; I have yet to lose a phone and I don't drop them - they just are not built to last. And so onto my Motorola story; having abandoned the faulty screened Nokia product lines I ventured towards a new manufacturer, Motorola paying a lowly £40 for the V220 model. I viewed this purchase as an intermediary until high specification models became affordable and I planned for it to last 3 years. Come Saturday afternoon, a windy but relatively warm winter's day in Leicester, my fully charged un-dropped never bashed phone with already defunct camera is sitting quietly in my pocket. Oh, my phone is on vibrate-then-ring, set to loud - I have a missed call that I somehow missed while waiting expectantly for the phone to go off (this happens often). Unlocking the clam I am presented with this:
Pretty colours. My first instinct is to reset, remove battery and SIM, replace and restart. The error continues and this confirms my fears: c'est cassé! All the functions of the phone still seem to work, I can ring people (if I know their number) and change the ring volume, etc, I just cannot see what I am doing. My first guess as to the cause was faulty software - a nasty bug that I could fix if only I could get to that "reset to factory settings" option somehow (why isn't there a button inside to do that?). However I am now thinking it may be due to wear and tear on the clam's hinge which would explain why the camera went first. Ultimately I plan to open this all up and take a look inside, my sister has the same phone that she doesn't use so I can raid it for spare parts, etc.
Considering I have just finished a safety critical systems course where required failure rates are 1 in 100,000 years, this persistent failure of phones within 24 months when no mistreatment has occurred irritates and annoys me to no end. The irony is that I was for a short time over the summer an "honourable Motorolan", i.e. an employee of theirs (somewhat). I guess now I shall move on to Sony Ericsson and then another manufacturer when that model unavoidably fails.
Considering I have just finished a safety critical systems course where required failure rates are 1 in 100,000 years, this persistent failure of phones within 24 months when no mistreatment has occurred irritates and annoys me to no end. The irony is that I was for a short time over the summer an "honourable Motorolan", i.e. an employee of theirs (somewhat). I guess now I shall move on to Sony Ericsson and then another manufacturer when that model unavoidably fails.
Posterific
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
And so my 35 hour eye-popping 700dpi 6ft by 3ft retina scratching marathon to complete my 4th year poster project presentation has finally ended. It is entitled "CapSense" and thusly covers a "non destructive electrostatic imaging technique for the evaluation of concrete". I am now awaiting it's final print and I hesitantly look forward to seeing its laminated physicality before I and six other group members are quizzed on the content. I would link you to the PDF that took 90 minutes to generate and 10 to open but it is 1.1GB large; sad thing is, I had to create 3 separate PDFs as the first two came out wrong. Purchasing that 512mb of RAM the weekend before was certainly a subliminally good choice as editing kept up a surly 1.9GB of pagefile that would previously have sent my AMD into catatonia.
(The full version is 12960 pixels across and its scalable vectors give my processor its long desired workout, it was beginning to put on some pounds after all those mp3s and spreadsheets.)
(The full version is 12960 pixels across and its scalable vectors give my processor its long desired workout, it was beginning to put on some pounds after all those mp3s and spreadsheets.)
Video Game Sequels - Let's Remove Features
Saturday, November 04, 2006
This is just a little rant; I and my house/hall-mate enjoy a good multiplayer game-fest, usually on Friday evenings. We've played through Halo, Halo 2, Serious Sam and Time Splitters on co-op modes and have taken turns on Burnout 3 world tour until we have completed all but a few burning laps (which are boring). Having enjoyed these we decided to pick up Burnout Revenge and Serious Sam II from the local Game station (that's the name of the retailer).
We often commented about the replay modes in Burnout 3 and how fun it was to watch spectacular crashes over and over again and we countlessly wished for the opportunity to save these replays. Come Burnout Revenge, a new take on the old series and a version that is just as fun, exhilarating and enjoyable to play - traffic checking and trick-shotting in particular. First thing we decided to do was open up ye-old crash junction and see if they had added the feature we so dearly wanted. No, they hadn't (see:xbox version) - in fact instead of adding save-able replays they removed the replay function altogether much to our continual and utter dismay (EDIT:In reference to the original xbox version).
We were faced with another disappointment when we loaded up Serious Sam II (which states on the back: 2-6 players) - both multiplayer death match and more importantly two player co-op modes had been removed and all multiplayer had been shifted to xbox live and system link. The game was promptly put back on the shelf and has not been touched since. We do have two Xboxes and system link cables but its rare we ever have multiple copies of one game - and why should we buy a second copy when the first has already disappointed us so?
Now all I ask of Halo 3 is up to 8 player team co-op modes on xbox live, system link and locally (for at least 2 players) and the ability to save replays for everything. I still have faith in you Bungie, even after that appalling end to the one player story mode in Halo 2. Having a group of friends storm a flood riddled covenant guarded base on multiple warthogs and ghosts á la death match would be a video-game dream come true.
We often commented about the replay modes in Burnout 3 and how fun it was to watch spectacular crashes over and over again and we countlessly wished for the opportunity to save these replays. Come Burnout Revenge, a new take on the old series and a version that is just as fun, exhilarating and enjoyable to play - traffic checking and trick-shotting in particular. First thing we decided to do was open up ye-old crash junction and see if they had added the feature we so dearly wanted. No, they hadn't (see:xbox version) - in fact instead of adding save-able replays they removed the replay function altogether much to our continual and utter dismay (EDIT:In reference to the original xbox version).
We were faced with another disappointment when we loaded up Serious Sam II (which states on the back: 2-6 players) - both multiplayer death match and more importantly two player co-op modes had been removed and all multiplayer had been shifted to xbox live and system link. The game was promptly put back on the shelf and has not been touched since. We do have two Xboxes and system link cables but its rare we ever have multiple copies of one game - and why should we buy a second copy when the first has already disappointed us so?
Now all I ask of Halo 3 is up to 8 player team co-op modes on xbox live, system link and locally (for at least 2 players) and the ability to save replays for everything. I still have faith in you Bungie, even after that appalling end to the one player story mode in Halo 2. Having a group of friends storm a flood riddled covenant guarded base on multiple warthogs and ghosts á la death match would be a video-game dream come true.
Art House Movie Posters
Friday, October 06, 2006
What do you get when your favourite local art house cinema starts giving away its reserve of original theatrical posters from over the past 10 years? A lot of freakin' awesome and huge posters, that's what. The rest of this blog entry is just one giant boast and a list of pictures. The most impressive of finds was the Welcome to the Dollhouse poster, a rare little Todd Solondz feature from 1996 that is hard enough to find on DVD and the David Lynch/Disney team up in "The Straight Story", the soundtrack for which contains "Lauren's Walking" by Angelo Badalamenti, one of my consistently favourite tracks.
Here we go:
Signs
Note the weights to hold down the poster and prevent it rolling up again - some of these have been rolled in storage for years.
The Machinist (sorry for the blur on this one)
The Woodsman
About Schmidt
Lower City
Memento
Me and You and Everyone We Know
Birth
A pretty shitty Starship Troopers
Broken Flowers
The Squid and the Whale
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Sixth Sense
Requiem for a Dream
Metropolis
Welcome to the Dollhouse
Here we go:
Signs
Note the weights to hold down the poster and prevent it rolling up again - some of these have been rolled in storage for years.
The Machinist (sorry for the blur on this one)
The Woodsman
About Schmidt
Lower City
Memento
Me and You and Everyone We Know
Birth
A pretty shitty Starship Troopers
Broken Flowers
The Squid and the Whale
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Sixth Sense
Requiem for a Dream
Metropolis
Welcome to the Dollhouse
To illustrate how big these posters are the next pictures are of the ones posted on my walls. These were the first posters I found and I haven't changed them for my more favourable films yet:
The Others & Memento
The Straight Story, Doom the Movie (heh), The Talented Mr. Ripley, Corpse Bride
The Others & Memento
The Straight Story, Doom the Movie (heh), The Talented Mr. Ripley, Corpse Bride
If people have interest in any of these I might be willing to "swap" for a large Ghost World or Lost in Translation (vertical with Scarlett Johansson) poster.
Labels: Life
Sozopol - The Bulgarian Adventure!
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Here I am in Bulgaria on our first warm evening (Monday). I have decided to write this blog entry as I go so that at the end of it all I won't have to spend forever trying to recall all the fine little details. My girlfriend and I, who I shall from hereon refer to as Samantha, caught a flight from the over-secure queue riddled Gatwick airport via Thompson holidays, to Bourgas airport - a large city on the black sea coast in Bulgaria. From here we travelled by taxi through thunderous downpours to the old old town of Sozopol (610 BC) and its sprawling new town Harmanite.
Language barriers are high over here, I speak a little French and Sam speaks some German. The local tongue seems to be an odd amalgamation of German, French and Russian - most signs occur both in English and Cyrillic alphabets. This meant that showing our driver where the hotel ( Hotel Diamanti, ***) was - sans address, with a poor map in low light and he, without his glasses, proved difficult. The labyrinthine cobbled streets seemed alien and the destination far away and hidden. When hope was running thin, out of the dark and from nowhere the large Russian "Diamanti" sign affronted us. And so we are here successfully. The amenities are as standard - beds, shower, satellite TV, air conditioning and a balcony with slight sea view.
After a good nights sleep came the crashing sounds of Saturday morning and the dust bin men rattling over the cobbles with their wheelie bins. The weather was still overcast. We set out on our tour of the town; leading north then west (along the top of Sozopol) past the harbour and naval base. Old boats rusted and ye-olde Russian cars rolled by. Many of the buildings here were half built and the area seemed unsightly in the murky weather - suffice to say this wasn't the greatest of places to start. We turned left into the centre of town and proceeded past the market stalls selling jewellery, art work and fake Armani for 5 lv.
But back to Saturday - our day saw the exploration of central old Sozopol before lunch. Old hanging buildings of wood and panelling aside newer stone houses, similarly overhanging with orange ceramic roof tiles. All the streets are cobbled with a semi circular pattern and they intertwine seemingly at random. The shops give a limited selection of products - there are the cloths and tourist shops alike with bargainous deals, numerous cafes and food outlets - each selling potato crisps, biscuits and alcohol - lots and lots of alcohol. We have in fact not yet located a good source for fresh bread - it seems to be a rarity and we can only find a peculiar rubbery brand.
For lunch we stopped at a horrid food place that can be likened to a British greasy spoons caf'. We had our pizza and chicken for 6.60lv and swiftly returned home. After a nap and a little sort out we headed south and then west towards the first of Sozopol's two beaches. We passed the elderly ladies selling lace and home made Jam (as mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide) and we came to a rocky outcrop where we could get some good panoramic shots of the new-town and bay. In moving south we came across the finer parts of Sozopol and a little alleyway that took us to a cliff side walk which ran via the city wall. Overlooking the bay the views are gorgeous and the aroma of fresh and trodden fruit from overhanging trees paved the way. This took us right along to the beach side and past many tine restaurants that offered a view and the sounds of a crashing sea.
The remainder of the day and for a lot of Sunday we explored "Harmanite", or New Sozopol; its cemented hotels, abandoned building works and tiny summer-only shops (gone since September) gave a quaint but characteristic feel to the town. On the surface it is just an attempt as a tourist sprawl but the obvious distinction between western and east European modern cultures is of some interest where the prosperous and new dwarf the basic and poor. Here we learnt of day trips via a Bulgarian/Russian man too busy running his business to talk to his customers. Sam also met a charming Russian fellow who was happy to have it pointed out that his bag had been left open.
Sunday was overcast again but today the clouds cleared and we awoke to clear skies and a warm sun. Heading into town to catch a minibus day trip to Ropotamo nature reserve and river was our best option. Out friendly driver - a fan of 90s trance music - carried us to the reserve and organized our boat trip with a newly arrived coach party from "Sunny Beach". From here we chugged away at the front of an open-slow moving tourist barge. The guide boasted wolves and wild boars but we saw only wild and rare birds. Herons, Jays and Woodpeckers speckled the riverbanks and many other unnameable ducks and wild fliers graced the route - such as an all blue king fisher variety and large billed brown species. The hill views were astonishing and we were all happy to see the odd random fish fly out of the water. The scenery also reminded me of that seen in Jurassic Park.
We came home past a marshland and withdrawn 5 star hotel that looked overly posh and introverted. Lunchtime saw us eat at the "El Grecco" cafe above the bay - a selection of freshly made dips and tuna canapes. The sun was now hot hot hot and the only thing left to do was spend the day at the beach. To the sea we went with towels and beach mat. The bay here is such that you can walk half way out and still have your head above water (which is of course lovely and warm at this time of year). And so the hours were spent finding shells, chasing crabs, scaring fish and watching stray dogs play with the tide and each other.
The GBP-BLG exchange rate is favourable to the strong pound. At the time of writing £1 is the equivalent of 2.7-2.9 levs, depending where you get them from. Herein Bulgaria the face value of money is the same as in England, that is for 1 unit you could expect to purchase a coke or for 5 units a single course. Thus for a "budget" holiday this is great - we can have 3 meals out a day and buy plenty in between. Our trip to Ropotamo cost us 40lv, only £7.50 each.
And here is a good place to talk about the food! Saturday night we ate at "Panorama St. Ivan" that offered an outside sea view of the island opposite our hotel. We opened our banqueting with a shared dish of shrimp, we snapped back their heads and sucked out their innards whilst rolling them in a hoi-sin like sauce or butter. This was accompanied by a sweet house white wine. For the main course Sam ate a shark fillet steak with salad garnish and I had a Wiener Schnitzel - an odd looking but tasty pork dish with potatoes. All this cost us only £7.50 each.
For the same price on Sunday at the famous "Viatarna Melnitsa" (windmill) restaurant we enjoyed a selection of salty fish h'orde oeuvres including Anchovies. For mains we had a swordfish kebap - onion, mushroom, tomato and olive flavoured fry/stew whilst Sam ate a Veal cutlet. For desert we had a shared ice cream with freshly cooked raspberries - delicious!! For wine we chose the Pomorie chardonnay.
Tonight we ventured to Ksantana - a three tiered custom built house overlooking/hanging the sea. For the staple price of 40lv or £7.50 each we once again ate like kings. Straying away from wine we had a taste of other alcoholic offerings, a Bulgarian beer - Zargorka and a fine chocolate liqueur and whisky cocktail with creme. For starter we had chicken wings and frogs legs before moving onto a Pork fillet and beautifully stewed vegetable mix and a Bulgarian Rabbit casserole. Now it is late and I must sleep so I can carry on with this fine holiday tomorrow
Part two and it is now Thursday - the day of Sam's atrocious bad luck. From the sun that came out as we went in, the rain that fell during beach time, the cakes that looked delicious and tasted terrible and the 18:00 boat tour that left without us. At about 14:00 we realized everything we would attempt to do would somehow go wrong (even the game of Pool did!), furthermore we narrowed it down to choices Sam had made. She is now lying next to me recovering from a bad dose of Shellfish. So here is my chance to fill you in.
On Tuesday things were once again blistering hot and beautiful; so as all good British folk would do, we went to the beach again - for the day. Walking in the sea here you are incredibly close to the wildlife (unlike in Britain). Around us we saw jumping fish and sea creatures alike. To round off our sun tanning beach trip we took a ride on a Pedalo for the lowly price of 6lv (£2) per hour. Cycling out of the bay gave us some great views of the coast, including the old Sozopol town-wall and overhanging restaurantation.It also convinced us that taking the slide on the back of the pedalo and swimming in the sea was not the best idea as we encountered a number of jellyfish - both large creamy white and small and clear species. The suns warmth did not hasten and suffice to say we are both now a golden brown - even Sam who has never tanned before in her life. For an early dinner we chose to eat at the 'breme' pectopaht at the tip of the town looking out over the bay - the views were great however the food not so. Our seafood salad, bacon and cheese skewers, grilled veg', button mushrooms, "chicken delight" and chocolate pancake tasted prepared and manufactured - entirely horrid and the only saving point was the below average 27lv price.
Wednesday saw the weather turn for the worse, so the beach was out. This was the day of little shopping trips - liqueurs, wines, chocolate, wooden sculptures, postcards and the GREAT WOODEN SNAKE! For lunch we stopped at a tavern looking place with the word "Mexhana" over the door, there we ate a selection of cold and seasoned salami meats with chips whilst accompanied by two charming cats - two of the many that inhabit Sozopol.
For dinner we chose our restaurant well - we did not want to waste another evening eating terrible food. This time we ate at " Neptun", another old establishment along the Morski-Skali road overlooking the black sea. For starters I had a vegetable risotto and Sam had mussels in garlic, for mains Sam ate the pork kebapches (like sausages) whilst I opted for the recommended "grilled belted bonito" fish. And thus the fish came, it was whole - complete, head tail and all, but most of all it was absolutely delicious. My meal was larger than Sam's so she ordered an extra shrimp shish kebap. For dessert we had fig pancake (freshly made this time) and a nougat ice cream - I ended up eating both. All of this and a bottle of domaine boyar wine cost us 42lv (not 72lv as we misread). For me personally it was the best of the meals so far - it was a gamble that had finally paid off, considering I was particularly wary of the concept of giving someone a whole fish to work through.
Part 3 now and here I am on the plane home - writing the final chapter in the Sozopol entry for my blog, on pen and paper that is. I am now amongst the fat and yobbish Brits that come for the sun and cheap booze at Sunny Beach & Golden Sands - they are a delightful bunch, sporting white jogging bottoms, gold jewellery and the latest football strips.
To carry on from where I left off, Thursday evening saw us eat at the recommended fish bar,"Kirik". For starters we opted for the Bulgarian mussel and mustard specialty (after they told us they had no black sea crab) and chicken wings. As Sam was ill and I felt a little under the weather we opted for two non-fish dishes; the mixed grill and meatballs and cheese with sauteed potatoes as mains. Our palettes were moistened by a Traminer white from the Tragovishte province. All this set us back 37lv.
And onto our final day in Bulgaria - it ended as it had began - with rain and lots of it. We stayed in and packed for the morning whilst watching CNN's terrible news coverage and wishing for the BBC. By lunch time we were bored so headed back to "Kirk" to try their infamous fish dishes now that we were feeling better. This time Sam ate the red mullet whilst I opted for the Zargan - a long thin fish with a blue spine. Sam also tried the "buttermilk" drink which she had seen others have, it tasted like some obscure liquid cheese/bitter yogurt and was promptly pushed away. 21.50lv this all costs us and the fish was fantastic.
The rain didn't let up but this didn't deter us from one final shopping tour and photo spree. I have officially been dragged through and around every shop in the old town. When finally my legs gave way we returned to the hotel to finish packing before having a card game of head-to-head Texas hold 'em and a variety of "strip jack naked" incorporating snap and other rules - we dubbed it "Paul wins" three years ago. The kind hotel management let us stay in our room until we need to leave - which is great considering our flight was at 23:45. We paid our dues and booked our taxi before heading out to the "windmill restaurant" for our final Sozopol outing.
Yes, here is ANOTHER paragraph about food - in fact this holiday has been all about REALLY good food, cheap. We ordered some more specialty starters - a serving of caviar and sarmi - vine leaves stuffed with mince meat with a side order of garlic bread. The fun didn't stop there, for our main course we had the fabulous Pork Kawarma that came in a hot pot on a plate of oil which once ignited cooked the food on our table for us and a scrumptious succulent Salmon in honey dish. This came as we overlooked St Ivan's and the distant hills lit up a brilliant burning red as the sun set behind them. For dessert we had the ice cream again. This was one of the greatest meals I have ever eaten and it was the perfect end to our eatery-summer Bulgarian adventure.
I guess I will now sit back and watch the rest of King Kong or do a Sudoku! Oh and here is a girl in a bag on the side of a van:
Language barriers are high over here, I speak a little French and Sam speaks some German. The local tongue seems to be an odd amalgamation of German, French and Russian - most signs occur both in English and Cyrillic alphabets. This meant that showing our driver where the hotel ( Hotel Diamanti, ***) was - sans address, with a poor map in low light and he, without his glasses, proved difficult. The labyrinthine cobbled streets seemed alien and the destination far away and hidden. When hope was running thin, out of the dark and from nowhere the large Russian "Diamanti" sign affronted us. And so we are here successfully. The amenities are as standard - beds, shower, satellite TV, air conditioning and a balcony with slight sea view.
After a good nights sleep came the crashing sounds of Saturday morning and the dust bin men rattling over the cobbles with their wheelie bins. The weather was still overcast. We set out on our tour of the town; leading north then west (along the top of Sozopol) past the harbour and naval base. Old boats rusted and ye-olde Russian cars rolled by. Many of the buildings here were half built and the area seemed unsightly in the murky weather - suffice to say this wasn't the greatest of places to start. We turned left into the centre of town and proceeded past the market stalls selling jewellery, art work and fake Armani for 5 lv.
***
There's a slight wind at the moment, a boat is chugging past and the Cicadas are singing. The odd glitch sound of a passing bat is common and the light-house on St. Ivan's is booming. The stars are bright and Sam is attempting a fiendish sudoku with a deterministic fervour on her brow whilst chomping on her pen ***
But back to Saturday - our day saw the exploration of central old Sozopol before lunch. Old hanging buildings of wood and panelling aside newer stone houses, similarly overhanging with orange ceramic roof tiles. All the streets are cobbled with a semi circular pattern and they intertwine seemingly at random. The shops give a limited selection of products - there are the cloths and tourist shops alike with bargainous deals, numerous cafes and food outlets - each selling potato crisps, biscuits and alcohol - lots and lots of alcohol. We have in fact not yet located a good source for fresh bread - it seems to be a rarity and we can only find a peculiar rubbery brand.
For lunch we stopped at a horrid food place that can be likened to a British greasy spoons caf'. We had our pizza and chicken for 6.60lv and swiftly returned home. After a nap and a little sort out we headed south and then west towards the first of Sozopol's two beaches. We passed the elderly ladies selling lace and home made Jam (as mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide) and we came to a rocky outcrop where we could get some good panoramic shots of the new-town and bay. In moving south we came across the finer parts of Sozopol and a little alleyway that took us to a cliff side walk which ran via the city wall. Overlooking the bay the views are gorgeous and the aroma of fresh and trodden fruit from overhanging trees paved the way. This took us right along to the beach side and past many tine restaurants that offered a view and the sounds of a crashing sea.
The remainder of the day and for a lot of Sunday we explored "Harmanite", or New Sozopol; its cemented hotels, abandoned building works and tiny summer-only shops (gone since September) gave a quaint but characteristic feel to the town. On the surface it is just an attempt as a tourist sprawl but the obvious distinction between western and east European modern cultures is of some interest where the prosperous and new dwarf the basic and poor. Here we learnt of day trips via a Bulgarian/Russian man too busy running his business to talk to his customers. Sam also met a charming Russian fellow who was happy to have it pointed out that his bag had been left open.
Sunday was overcast again but today the clouds cleared and we awoke to clear skies and a warm sun. Heading into town to catch a minibus day trip to Ropotamo nature reserve and river was our best option. Out friendly driver - a fan of 90s trance music - carried us to the reserve and organized our boat trip with a newly arrived coach party from "Sunny Beach". From here we chugged away at the front of an open-slow moving tourist barge. The guide boasted wolves and wild boars but we saw only wild and rare birds. Herons, Jays and Woodpeckers speckled the riverbanks and many other unnameable ducks and wild fliers graced the route - such as an all blue king fisher variety and large billed brown species. The hill views were astonishing and we were all happy to see the odd random fish fly out of the water. The scenery also reminded me of that seen in Jurassic Park.
We came home past a marshland and withdrawn 5 star hotel that looked overly posh and introverted. Lunchtime saw us eat at the "El Grecco" cafe above the bay - a selection of freshly made dips and tuna canapes. The sun was now hot hot hot and the only thing left to do was spend the day at the beach. To the sea we went with towels and beach mat. The bay here is such that you can walk half way out and still have your head above water (which is of course lovely and warm at this time of year). And so the hours were spent finding shells, chasing crabs, scaring fish and watching stray dogs play with the tide and each other.
The GBP-BLG exchange rate is favourable to the strong pound. At the time of writing £1 is the equivalent of 2.7-2.9 levs, depending where you get them from. Herein Bulgaria the face value of money is the same as in England, that is for 1 unit you could expect to purchase a coke or for 5 units a single course. Thus for a "budget" holiday this is great - we can have 3 meals out a day and buy plenty in between. Our trip to Ropotamo cost us 40lv, only £7.50 each.
And here is a good place to talk about the food! Saturday night we ate at "Panorama St. Ivan" that offered an outside sea view of the island opposite our hotel. We opened our banqueting with a shared dish of shrimp, we snapped back their heads and sucked out their innards whilst rolling them in a hoi-sin like sauce or butter. This was accompanied by a sweet house white wine. For the main course Sam ate a shark fillet steak with salad garnish and I had a Wiener Schnitzel - an odd looking but tasty pork dish with potatoes. All this cost us only £7.50 each.
For the same price on Sunday at the famous "Viatarna Melnitsa" (windmill) restaurant we enjoyed a selection of salty fish h'orde oeuvres including Anchovies. For mains we had a swordfish kebap - onion, mushroom, tomato and olive flavoured fry/stew whilst Sam ate a Veal cutlet. For desert we had a shared ice cream with freshly cooked raspberries - delicious!! For wine we chose the Pomorie chardonnay.
Tonight we ventured to Ksantana - a three tiered custom built house overlooking/hanging the sea. For the staple price of 40lv or £7.50 each we once again ate like kings. Straying away from wine we had a taste of other alcoholic offerings, a Bulgarian beer - Zargorka and a fine chocolate liqueur and whisky cocktail with creme. For starter we had chicken wings and frogs legs before moving onto a Pork fillet and beautifully stewed vegetable mix and a Bulgarian Rabbit casserole. Now it is late and I must sleep so I can carry on with this fine holiday tomorrow
***
Part two and it is now Thursday - the day of Sam's atrocious bad luck. From the sun that came out as we went in, the rain that fell during beach time, the cakes that looked delicious and tasted terrible and the 18:00 boat tour that left without us. At about 14:00 we realized everything we would attempt to do would somehow go wrong (even the game of Pool did!), furthermore we narrowed it down to choices Sam had made. She is now lying next to me recovering from a bad dose of Shellfish. So here is my chance to fill you in.
On Tuesday things were once again blistering hot and beautiful; so as all good British folk would do, we went to the beach again - for the day. Walking in the sea here you are incredibly close to the wildlife (unlike in Britain). Around us we saw jumping fish and sea creatures alike. To round off our sun tanning beach trip we took a ride on a Pedalo for the lowly price of 6lv (£2) per hour. Cycling out of the bay gave us some great views of the coast, including the old Sozopol town-wall and overhanging restaurantation.It also convinced us that taking the slide on the back of the pedalo and swimming in the sea was not the best idea as we encountered a number of jellyfish - both large creamy white and small and clear species. The suns warmth did not hasten and suffice to say we are both now a golden brown - even Sam who has never tanned before in her life. For an early dinner we chose to eat at the 'breme' pectopaht at the tip of the town looking out over the bay - the views were great however the food not so. Our seafood salad, bacon and cheese skewers, grilled veg', button mushrooms, "chicken delight" and chocolate pancake tasted prepared and manufactured - entirely horrid and the only saving point was the below average 27lv price.
Wednesday saw the weather turn for the worse, so the beach was out. This was the day of little shopping trips - liqueurs, wines, chocolate, wooden sculptures, postcards and the GREAT WOODEN SNAKE! For lunch we stopped at a tavern looking place with the word "Mexhana" over the door, there we ate a selection of cold and seasoned salami meats with chips whilst accompanied by two charming cats - two of the many that inhabit Sozopol.
For dinner we chose our restaurant well - we did not want to waste another evening eating terrible food. This time we ate at " Neptun", another old establishment along the Morski-Skali road overlooking the black sea. For starters I had a vegetable risotto and Sam had mussels in garlic, for mains Sam ate the pork kebapches (like sausages) whilst I opted for the recommended "grilled belted bonito" fish. And thus the fish came, it was whole - complete, head tail and all, but most of all it was absolutely delicious. My meal was larger than Sam's so she ordered an extra shrimp shish kebap. For dessert we had fig pancake (freshly made this time) and a nougat ice cream - I ended up eating both. All of this and a bottle of domaine boyar wine cost us 42lv (not 72lv as we misread). For me personally it was the best of the meals so far - it was a gamble that had finally paid off, considering I was particularly wary of the concept of giving someone a whole fish to work through.
***
Part 3 now and here I am on the plane home - writing the final chapter in the Sozopol entry for my blog, on pen and paper that is. I am now amongst the fat and yobbish Brits that come for the sun and cheap booze at Sunny Beach & Golden Sands - they are a delightful bunch, sporting white jogging bottoms, gold jewellery and the latest football strips.
To carry on from where I left off, Thursday evening saw us eat at the recommended fish bar,"Kirik". For starters we opted for the Bulgarian mussel and mustard specialty (after they told us they had no black sea crab) and chicken wings. As Sam was ill and I felt a little under the weather we opted for two non-fish dishes; the mixed grill and meatballs and cheese with sauteed potatoes as mains. Our palettes were moistened by a Traminer white from the Tragovishte province. All this set us back 37lv.
And onto our final day in Bulgaria - it ended as it had began - with rain and lots of it. We stayed in and packed for the morning whilst watching CNN's terrible news coverage and wishing for the BBC. By lunch time we were bored so headed back to "Kirk" to try their infamous fish dishes now that we were feeling better. This time Sam ate the red mullet whilst I opted for the Zargan - a long thin fish with a blue spine. Sam also tried the "buttermilk" drink which she had seen others have, it tasted like some obscure liquid cheese/bitter yogurt and was promptly pushed away. 21.50lv this all costs us and the fish was fantastic.
The rain didn't let up but this didn't deter us from one final shopping tour and photo spree. I have officially been dragged through and around every shop in the old town. When finally my legs gave way we returned to the hotel to finish packing before having a card game of head-to-head Texas hold 'em and a variety of "strip jack naked" incorporating snap and other rules - we dubbed it "Paul wins" three years ago. The kind hotel management let us stay in our room until we need to leave - which is great considering our flight was at 23:45. We paid our dues and booked our taxi before heading out to the "windmill restaurant" for our final Sozopol outing.
Yes, here is ANOTHER paragraph about food - in fact this holiday has been all about REALLY good food, cheap. We ordered some more specialty starters - a serving of caviar and sarmi - vine leaves stuffed with mince meat with a side order of garlic bread. The fun didn't stop there, for our main course we had the fabulous Pork Kawarma that came in a hot pot on a plate of oil which once ignited cooked the food on our table for us and a scrumptious succulent Salmon in honey dish. This came as we overlooked St Ivan's and the distant hills lit up a brilliant burning red as the sun set behind them. For dessert we had the ice cream again. This was one of the greatest meals I have ever eaten and it was the perfect end to our eatery-summer Bulgarian adventure.
I guess I will now sit back and watch the rest of King Kong or do a Sudoku! Oh and here is a girl in a bag on the side of a van:
Labels: Life
Living in a strange place
Sunday, August 13, 2006
It's late on Saturday night on a deftly cold August eve', my feet feel as if they were ice blocks and I am relatively lonely and bored in an unfamiliar town. Yes, I shall be living out the rest of my summer holiday's working in Cambridge for a little known company entitled "Motorola". Mirah's "Advisory Committee" comforts me as I continue to feel a little disconcerted with respects to my new residence. Upon first look the place may seem plentiful for a brief 7 week stay. The room is of good size and seemingly appropriately furnished; I also have my own shower and cooking area. Yet I am not settled, even after being here a week already. The overall niceness of the place is offset by the oh so subtle horrors, indeed the devil is in the details.
To begin with, my room; it contains an old bureau, a chest of drawers, a new Ikea bed, a new fridge and a few lights. It is a downstairs room looking into the concealed front garden and is of good size. And of course looking around everything is seemingly sound. However, having lived here the slight problems begin to mount. First the little things; the bureau is old and designed for paper and pen usage, it does not accompany a desktop computer well which becomes a particular problem with regards to cables and their routing; the bed's mattress is inset in wood which presents particular difficulties when changing the sheets, this wood extends downwards – so whilst storage space is visible under the bed the border prevents anything from being slid beneath and it's unshapely form prevents a lift and slide technique; the chairs are old and uncomfy, the drawers are light and flimsy and the room is always incredibly dark with a filtered soft light akin to station lighting where shadows become blurry. These are mere physicalities that I can live with.
Continuing on, the door to my room gleefully boasts two large windows providing clear sight into my room and destroying any privacy I may hope to have. They have kindly provided a blind but this does not block out the light at night – the light from the corridor which is permanently lit and relit should I turn it out, the blind also has a slight kink preventing full cover. The room is not sound proofed in the slightest so that every move outside can be heard and visa versa, particularly annoying when a grandfather clock ticks incessantly in my ears at night or when a dog barks in the morn. Furthermore the house has no insulation – the floor is wooden, the windows are old and single glazed and the room is next to the front door – which lets in draughts a plenty. You wouldn't think insulation would be a problem in August but I am very cold and would dread to spend the winter here. Moving onto the shower, situated under the stairs – a power shower yes, but one of those Italian styled hole in the floor jobbies such that using it wets the toilet seat, toilet roll and the entire cavity. To make matters worse the door is garnished with more windows, this time they provide a little diffusion and have pretty colours yet as the shower is directly in front of the door, which is in the corridor downstairs (the main throughway) all privacy is shot to pieces and no anatomical features are left to doubt.
If we carry through to the kitchen – a converted wash room complete with sink, electric cooker and washing machine. The odour of dog water and washing powder is thick and worktop space is minimal. To exacerbate things further the oven door opens in such a difficult manner in a tight arrangement so that if you wish to use it you must present your face to its front so as to slightly grill your nose. There are cats and dogs that are old and miserable, there is no safe place to keep a peddle bike and I cannot get over this unsettling feeling. If this place was actually affordable then maybe I would not be quibbling. The icing on the cake occurred when, as I was watching an X-files episode in my ongoing marathon, all power was lost and everything turned itself off – but only for a brief second. The lights came back on and everything was running again, except for the computer which was still reeling. It all seemed to happen when the fridge clicked on. So I investigated, it turns out the extension cables (as provided) that I have plugged my desktop into and various others that power the lights and fridge all run into one extension under the bed. This extension comes up from the floorboards beneath and powers everything. The plug sockets in the room do not actually work. It's not like I can turn the fridge off when using the computer and visa versa and I need the fridge (which also likes to freeze my salad!). This has happened twice now and it continuously worries me such that I attempt to power manage as best I can – turning on lights only if I have to and using speakers, CD drives and hard-drives conservatively.
At least the family I live with seem quite accommodating, albeit there is a veil of mystery about them. Oh well, rant over, now I will sleep.
Labels: Life
Weather this imagination
Monday, June 12, 2006
Ah the pleasantries of waking to the crack of thunder as it reverberates through your house, window panes vibrating in their frames with water pounding – like a monster trying to get in. Briefly beforehand I had been surreptitiously sneaking into an enclosed military air base where a school friend had been enlisted; within this base he fancied an over the top and epic video-game proportioned playground contest involving a 60ft noose and demolition ball. This atmospheric battle would reside within an historic school set amidst the dark skies and opened heavens (a metaphor for the shit being stirred?); it would most certainly lead to his and our expulsion from the base in legendary fashion. The penetrating thunder and prompt exit was in fact legendary, condemning the contest, air base and entire metaphysical realm to that oblivion of the dream never to be resumed.
This unorthodox 8am wake up call now leaves me sitting amongst clear blue skies and another burning hot sun; the mysterious black smoke of festering fork energy has also disappeared into oblivion. Like a murderer on the run it leaves behind only traces of its presence – puddle prints, soaked barbecues swept up in its wake and the sodden and appalled victims of its wrath. Within this humid air of disbelief I plan to return to the highways of America via Kerouac. As this new metaphysical world prepares to embark on a journey down the varicose veins of a mega-state my corporeal terrain fades once more, leaving barely the remnants of a tanning sun apparent across all roads, routes and highways, night and day.
Labels: Life
The downfall of this blog
Sunday, May 28, 2006
It seems I have somewhat neglected my blog, my last full non-image post of any real value was back in October – my lovely racism article, if you're lucky you might catch a copy of it by scrolling down this page a little. It seems my time has been spent elsewhere, primarily taken up by my degree; VLSI designs here, Analogue system designs there – an ill fated electronic nose to tout my CV with and a multitude of late nights in the computer room attempting to complete coursework to the best of my abilities. This trend continued right up until last Tuesday when I completed the last exam of my third and penultimate university year. I don't really know what to do with myself and this crazy amount of free time, I am sure it won't last and a bit of sunshine wouldn't go amiss. You see for the last 5 or 6 weeks, following the nerve wracking project presentation to the ever superior dean of engineering and the 16,000 word report associated with it, I have spent each and every day revising—from 9am until 9pm at night, sometimes later, without break or rest. I wrote so much I had RSI before going into the exam hall. Well now those days are over and I am well trained in the arts of digital signal processing, digital and analogue systems design, robotics, finance and accounting, VLSI and digital and analogue communication systems (most of which will be defunct in a few years as the switch to digital is made); or at least I hope the results of the 7 exams will say so. They didn't go as well as I had hoped, you may argue so what, but generally I have been pretty pleased with my exam performance in the past. Maybe it was the change in exam structure that baffled me, this year there's an external examining body coming to check that everything is going well – much like Ofsted but for further education; it is for this reason many lecturers broke out of their well defined mould of predictable exam questions to present confusing and unpolished alternatives in attempts to look good in the eyes of the officials. I shouldn't complain too much, at least the engineers weren't subject to the appalling lecturer strikes that have smitten my friends degrees and graduation – refusing to set exams, mark work or do anything admin related. It's a grave injustice to the hard working student body – the university's customers if you will; months of dissertation struggles traded for an unaccredited degree and covering letter of explanation. It's disgraceful and the university and lecturers ought to settle their battles without involving, disgracing or overly stressing innocent third parties during examination periods.
In other news I have a failed ARM interview and a couple of rejection letters under my belt and still no summer employment, hoorah. Most of my time not spent in education has been devoted to the ongoing and steadily improving indiecult.com website, also mentioned a few posts below and I am off to Venn Festival in Bristol next week in light of that; Vashti Bunyan being a particular highlight for me.
While at home over Easter I made a couple of great discoveries in the attic concerning record players, vinyl, old edition comics and some original D&D. Such beauties include a great electro-jazz 70s piece from Bob Downes and a Morrocan Maghreb at Marrakesh disc, all truly stunning. I'll write a more comprehensive list in the near future but now I must dash to measure my girlfriend's head size and watch X-men 3 at the Apollo.
A time to blog
Thursday, October 06, 2005
It's been a while since I actually sat down and wrote something original for my blog; the majority of the content I put up consists of images I like, articles of interest and a very brief commentary by me. I find myself quoting people and stating that I have the very same sentiments without bothering to add something of my own. I am a very opinionated person that wishes to write often, so I am taking this opportunity when I should be in a lecture, to discuss that which is on my mind. I feel the main problem with my writing is that I really need to be in the right mood, sometimes the words just flow in coherent and correct sentences, sometimes I struggle to form a single paraphrase. Before I slept my mind was running with things to type, now my mind is blank once again.
I have taken to reading The Times newspaper every morning, I particularly enjoy the commentaries and their future responses in letters to the editor. I am hoping regular reading and comprehension will engage my brain in the skill that is writing for journalism, much in the same vein that watching "The Space Race" on the BBC will provide me with great insights into Rocket Science; making the occupation of rocket scientist oh so much closer.
"I feel, the more programs I watch about rockets and how they work, the less brains I need to become a Rocket Scientist"
University has begun once again, we are all going through the motions one more time, one year on, 3rd year brainiacs. I realised as I passed the half way point of my degree that much of my time here has been spent wallowing in the misery of too much work, the dullness of the work and often the frustration of being around the same people for too long. It was this revelation that led me to a new scholastic year resolution: I shall get involved and have fun. Last year I was pretty miserable; whether it be due to my cold uninsulated Victorian lounge-bedroom, my severe tooth ache that led to me missing the first two weeks and the associated introductory fresher events or the content lacking course, who knows. As part of this resolution I have vowed to eat healthy, get fit and build my stamina. I'm a regular sufferer of headaches and I am trying to find ways to minimise this pain, I have given up caffeinated drinks, I wear my glasses during lectures and I listen to my iPod at a lower volume all in hopes of having a pain free week--it's probably good to give up caffeine anyway, I hear that I'll feel more awake within a week or so. To replace my daily onslaught of tea and coffee I have switched to Actimel, Fruit Juice and the occasional decaf tea when I just need something warm. I've also given up salty foods such as crisps (chips in the US) which pretty much consist of fat and salt. I can purchase a Fudge, Nutri-grain, Apple, Banana and The Times for £1.
As part of this new year I have joined the Squash sports club and the Poker society. I'm now playing regular squash, 3 games or so, every Tuesday and Thursday night and plan to partake in regular poker tournaments, the most recent one being a welcome back free roll wherein 200 people turned out to play, they expected 40. It was my first time at playing in real life and it was nerve racking yet enjoyable; I didn't play too badly, suffice to say I went out with a very bad hand having received no good playable cards all night.
In recent years I have also been pretty tight fisted with my money, not through greediness, but in light of student debts and the helpfulness of having money there when you need it. Spending money is something I dread doing and if I can do it electronically so it feels as though cash is not leaving my hands then all the better. This is one of the reasons I didn't go out much last year, I didn't want to waste money having fun. Either spend money and have fun or save money and be bored. My philosophy has been severely altered; I repeat that statement to myself in some form or another whenever I consider doing something potentially fun that involves spending money.
Rightyo, I'm leaving now, without having mentioned the drama and great dissatisfaction of not getting to see 2manyDJs and Vitalic live. Here's a footnote to think about:
"Silent gratitude isn't very much use to anyone"
Make your thanks heard.
I have taken to reading The Times newspaper every morning, I particularly enjoy the commentaries and their future responses in letters to the editor. I am hoping regular reading and comprehension will engage my brain in the skill that is writing for journalism, much in the same vein that watching "The Space Race" on the BBC will provide me with great insights into Rocket Science; making the occupation of rocket scientist oh so much closer.
"I feel, the more programs I watch about rockets and how they work, the less brains I need to become a Rocket Scientist"
University has begun once again, we are all going through the motions one more time, one year on, 3rd year brainiacs. I realised as I passed the half way point of my degree that much of my time here has been spent wallowing in the misery of too much work, the dullness of the work and often the frustration of being around the same people for too long. It was this revelation that led me to a new scholastic year resolution: I shall get involved and have fun. Last year I was pretty miserable; whether it be due to my cold uninsulated Victorian lounge-bedroom, my severe tooth ache that led to me missing the first two weeks and the associated introductory fresher events or the content lacking course, who knows. As part of this resolution I have vowed to eat healthy, get fit and build my stamina. I'm a regular sufferer of headaches and I am trying to find ways to minimise this pain, I have given up caffeinated drinks, I wear my glasses during lectures and I listen to my iPod at a lower volume all in hopes of having a pain free week--it's probably good to give up caffeine anyway, I hear that I'll feel more awake within a week or so. To replace my daily onslaught of tea and coffee I have switched to Actimel, Fruit Juice and the occasional decaf tea when I just need something warm. I've also given up salty foods such as crisps (chips in the US) which pretty much consist of fat and salt. I can purchase a Fudge, Nutri-grain, Apple, Banana and The Times for £1.
As part of this new year I have joined the Squash sports club and the Poker society. I'm now playing regular squash, 3 games or so, every Tuesday and Thursday night and plan to partake in regular poker tournaments, the most recent one being a welcome back free roll wherein 200 people turned out to play, they expected 40. It was my first time at playing in real life and it was nerve racking yet enjoyable; I didn't play too badly, suffice to say I went out with a very bad hand having received no good playable cards all night.
In recent years I have also been pretty tight fisted with my money, not through greediness, but in light of student debts and the helpfulness of having money there when you need it. Spending money is something I dread doing and if I can do it electronically so it feels as though cash is not leaving my hands then all the better. This is one of the reasons I didn't go out much last year, I didn't want to waste money having fun. Either spend money and have fun or save money and be bored. My philosophy has been severely altered; I repeat that statement to myself in some form or another whenever I consider doing something potentially fun that involves spending money.
Rightyo, I'm leaving now, without having mentioned the drama and great dissatisfaction of not getting to see 2manyDJs and Vitalic live. Here's a footnote to think about:
"Silent gratitude isn't very much use to anyone"
Make your thanks heard.
Labels: Life
My Student Bedroom
Friday, September 09, 2005
So, I am in the same house as last year but this time I have been relegated to the smallest bedroom. While this may seem bad, the room is actually the warmest in the house, feels very homely, plush and is just much much nicer.
My workspace, computer and shelves. Note the JS, MySQL and Electronics text books.
My large fitted wardrobe and bedside corner with Godfather framed poster.
The house plant in the corner and an open wardrobe that reveals its technological glories.
An Overview
More of the television and housed Xbox and PS2.
Pimping my foobar, whisky ash tray (I don't smoke) and iPod.
My workspace, computer and shelves. Note the JS, MySQL and Electronics text books.
My large fitted wardrobe and bedside corner with Godfather framed poster.
The house plant in the corner and an open wardrobe that reveals its technological glories.
An Overview
More of the television and housed Xbox and PS2.
Pimping my foobar, whisky ash tray (I don't smoke) and iPod.
I absolutely despise cables and their assorted messiness. In these photos you should only see a couple, the hundreds of others are quietly and neatly hidden away from view. The one trailing the bottom of the wardrobe is the annoying net connection to the Xbox that wouldn't fit through the drilled hole at the back (inside) where the power enters. It's nice being able to hide away the TV and consoles when they are not being used. The room also has 5.1 surround sound setup with correctly positioned speakers in corners. The small shelf lying behind the screen makes a nice cosy area for connector cables to come through from below (away from view); housing the DVD writer, iPod connections, card reader and such. The screen also doubles as a USB hub. So I am happy.
Labels: Life
Finding Art on the High Street
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
I have recently moved into my student house for a second year. For my third university scholastic period I shall be graced with the smallest yet plushiest of rooms in the old 3 storey victorian residence. There's limited wall space in this beige-magnolia wall and floored room and rather than cover the walls in a few tacky well known matrix and kill bill posters I thought I would find some interesting art, photography or vintage film posters. I have a couple of large frames already so today I decided to spend some time in town trying to find something worthy to fill them. I have found plenty of art online that I enjoy; Michael Sowa, Thomas Barbey, Brandon Bird, Ron English, Francine Van Hove and assorted others. I often find pictures on the net and think "I would LOVE to have that on my wall". There's a good selection of shops that sell art prints and posters in town (Leamington Spa / Coventry), Athena being one of them.
I spent a good 5 hours at the shops today, mainly looking for some term-time work. But in my travels I visited and perused every art shop I could find. I started at Athena. There was the usual Vetriano collection, black and white cityscape photography, some quirky animal posters, blue washed beach scenes of John Miller, the odd Dali image and whordes of black and white photo prints. These prints showed Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Muhammed Ali and John Travolta doing their stereotypical thing. Four inspirations for the current generation, one has Parkinsons, one is a Scientologist, one was overweight and died from it and the other did nothing but look pretty until she also died. Great. Do I seem bitter about this? Yes I am. In every single shop I went into I was greeted with the exact same art prints, photos and four icons. Sometimes there was the odd Beatles or Al Pacino addition. But in all SEVEN shops I visited there were the same prints and images. Nothing at all remotely interesting, intellectual, brilliant, beautiful or inspiring to me. Seven different shops run by seven different companies stocking exactly the same shit obviously contracted from the same bulk provider. There was not ONE original image in any of these outlets. It's no wonder people are turning to the Internet to purchase all their goods, the high street sells all the same tacky-kitsch stuff conforming to the lowest common denominator for the unrefined masses to decorate their stereotypical lounge or bedrooms with.
I spent a good 5 hours at the shops today, mainly looking for some term-time work. But in my travels I visited and perused every art shop I could find. I started at Athena. There was the usual Vetriano collection, black and white cityscape photography, some quirky animal posters, blue washed beach scenes of John Miller, the odd Dali image and whordes of black and white photo prints. These prints showed Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Muhammed Ali and John Travolta doing their stereotypical thing. Four inspirations for the current generation, one has Parkinsons, one is a Scientologist, one was overweight and died from it and the other did nothing but look pretty until she also died. Great. Do I seem bitter about this? Yes I am. In every single shop I went into I was greeted with the exact same art prints, photos and four icons. Sometimes there was the odd Beatles or Al Pacino addition. But in all SEVEN shops I visited there were the same prints and images. Nothing at all remotely interesting, intellectual, brilliant, beautiful or inspiring to me. Seven different shops run by seven different companies stocking exactly the same shit obviously contracted from the same bulk provider. There was not ONE original image in any of these outlets. It's no wonder people are turning to the Internet to purchase all their goods, the high street sells all the same tacky-kitsch stuff conforming to the lowest common denominator for the unrefined masses to decorate their stereotypical lounge or bedrooms with.
Labels: Life
Stencil my way out of boredom
Sunday, August 21, 2005
My boredom during these holidays has led me to new hobbies that grant me opportunities to be creative. My latest craze is stenciling! On Thursday I went out and bought a can of spray paint, some 100gsm printable card and some other random helpful oddities. I then used my sister's "scribe" as shown below to begin my work. I'm a complete newbie when it comes to this and I plan to do a lot of experimentation in the next few days involving multi colour designs, painting with a roller, using chalk to touch up after painting and different techniques. Below is my second ever stencil of Donnie Darko (the first was merely a proof of concept to check that I wasn't wasting my time on something that would look shit). I spent about an hour or so sorting out the stencil for this one and then I applied a heavy spray painted layer while it was 'tacked down,' that was a mistake, look at the white splodges and how the paint splurged everywhere!
Quick first spray
So next time I went with just a light spray with the finer parts held down from above using small rocks and weighted objects. Didn't turn out too bad and with the edges trimmed would look quite good mounted. I may make some modifications and add a blue hoodie layer to this.
Latest spray
This is my latest effort (below). It took roughly two hours to make the stencil simply because the hair took so long and at times the bridging was hard to conceal. I was being adventurous with this one and purposely chose an image with difficult areas to cut away. This isn't the greatest of stencils to spray due to all the tiny little bits but I tried it anyway. I plan to go out and buy some paint, rollers and coloured card to make this look nice tomorrow.
The reverse side of the stencil
A simple quick spray in the dark in the garage, splurged a bit to give her a nice beard!
The stencil front side up after spraying.
The reverse side of the stencil
A simple quick spray in the dark in the garage, splurged a bit to give her a nice beard!
The stencil front side up after spraying.
For those wanting to start stenciling, I found this link helpful: Stencil Revolution
Labels: Life
A Rosy Outlook
Monday, August 08, 2005
The summer has been largely uneventful. When people ask what I did I will have to reply with resounding silence. Then I shall listen to all the fabulous and amazing achievements, developments and experiences they have enjoyed.
Recently I was sitting back and trying to rack my brains around a new site I could develop, so I could do something with my free time. I hadn't made a site about anything I was passionate about for a long time. Then it struck me, what am I passionate about? There's nothing I am particularly obsessed with, nothing overtly interests me and I see nothing that fascinates me enough to go out of my way and pursue it. Sure I have interests but there's not one thing that I can say "yeah my life is dedicated to doing that".
I get sudden spouts where I feel I must be creative, write about something, design something, or do something clever. But there's just no something. I'll sit at a canvas and then leave it. I greatly enjoy music and it fascinates me to no end, I do obsessively listen to a lot of odd and enlightening stuff. So why not pursue that? Well I have absolutely no musical talent which rules out all creative aspects.
Maybe I just lack conviction, maybe I will find something or maybe I will forever remain a subjectless critic with an empty gallery of my great shortcomings. Perhaps society has just deluded me into a downward spiral of convoluting boredom, or you could say I was passing the buck. I'll get over it.
Labels: Life
Me, dad and the cat chilling in '85
Friday, July 29, 2005
Attic Treasures and Easy Rider Rare Vintage Posters
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
In a bid to clean up parts of the house we decided to rummage through our attic to make space for more boxes of things we don't really need but like to keep. We removed some old boxes and looked through them, most of it was junk. Door handles, screws, locks, metal brackets, paint brushes, wallpaper, broken things and lots of dust. However we did come across a bag containing two large rolls, upon closer inspection they were my Dad's old posters. These posters look pretty darn cool and I'm trying to value them at the moment.
Easy Rider Posters, very rare and vintage:
Black and White, 29" x 51.5", Peter Fonda and "Chopper", in Las Vegas on scene for filming
Poster date: February 16th 1969 (pre-release)
24.5" x 33.5"
25" x 34"
One of the greatest posters I have ever seen at a massive 34" x 51.5"
Jimi Hendrix:
Black Sabbath:
Soft Machine
Random Science Fiction Monthly Posters
This one's pretty cool.
Che Guevara
Black and White, 29" x 51.5", Peter Fonda and "Chopper", in Las Vegas on scene for filming
Poster date: February 16th 1969 (pre-release)
24.5" x 33.5"
25" x 34"
One of the greatest posters I have ever seen at a massive 34" x 51.5"
Jimi Hendrix:
Black Sabbath:
Soft Machine
Random Science Fiction Monthly Posters
This one's pretty cool.
Che Guevara
If you are interested in purchasing any of these, feel free to contact me at kangoophoo NO at SPAM gmail dot com, state how much you are willing to pay also. Most of these posters are in mint or very good condition and have been rolled away in the dark for 20 years.
Labels: Life
I'll miss my old room
Monday, July 25, 2005
Tales of Bus Fares and Film Certificates
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
About time for another blog entry I feel, something today specifically focused on the lovely new changes made by the BBFC (film classification company in Britain) and the First bus company in Bristol, England.
A few months back I watched one of this year's greatest films, Batman Begins. I thoroughly enjoyed the feature and plan to see it again with my girlfriend at a local IMAX theatre. However, during the more violent and scary aspects of the film my thoughts debated the choice of certification. In Britain, Batman Begins has been rated with the fairly recently created 12A certificate (after the Spider-man violence debacle).
This means that a six year old would be allowed in to watch this film. A nagging child desperately wanting to see the latest super hero flick would be the most likely candidate. However, if I were a parent there would be some scenes I would just not want my child to see. For instance the scarecrow and drug induced hallucinations. Most of the violence and battle scenes consisted mostly of quick camera changes and flashes and these didn't bother me. It was more the frightening aspects and themes that some of my twenty something friends were afraid of that bothered me. Introducing drug induced paranoia and scary hallucinations to a young child could really scar(e) them and keep them up at night. I questioned why a simple 12 rating was not used, anyone over the age of 12 would love this movie. Had this film been released in the early nineties a 15 certificate would be guaranteed.
I have now returned from seeing the latest War of the Worlds adaptation by Spielberg. There were no violent scenes, bad language or sex acts in this movie and there were fantastic special effects, combine this with Spielberg and a 12A rating and you'd think this would be a perfect movie for a group of eight year old's and a birthday party. In fact it was a similar combination that led me to take my girlfriend on a date to see this flick. We settled down with our Fanta and chocolate buttons hoping for another fantastic summer blockbuster. We were gravely disappointed (the ending... seriously wtf, Spielberg you douche). I'd read interviews that talked about how 'berg would concentrate on the human and dramatic aspects of an alien invasion and he did exactly that. There may be some spoilers below, so don't read on if you are afraid of me ruining moments. Dysfunctional families, a lazy yet loving father, distraught children faced with death on a massive scale, images of multiple dead bodies flowing down a river, humans being turned to dust, crazy lunatic hitch hikers frantically attacking the only working car resulting in gun shots and murder, insanity and murder for survival, booming sirens and shuddersome aliens, humans being ground into fertilizer and sprayed across fields, complete hopelessness, fear and death. These were the themes of the movie that were incredibly realistic and terrifying, such that my twenty year old date cowered behind her hands for much of the second half of the movie. I was shocked at the brutal reality of parts of the movie and if this was the aim of Spielberg then I applaud him in his success (although all those narrow escapes were ridiculous). Once again my thoughts turned to the rating of this movie. It was 12A. If I were a parent there would be no way I would ever let my son or daughter watch this movie, even if they were over 12. The themes in this motion picture are simply things an eight year old should not be confronted with in the search for entertainment. What were the BBFC thinking? A film certificate should be a guide to parents and in this country also a governed restriction. Five years ago this movie would have been a 15 or even 18 certificate yet today a six year old can see this with his ignorant misinformed parents. By the time I am a parent I'm going to have to watch all the films they might want to see beforehand just in case they are not suitable. Whatever happened to standards?
BBFC and the 12A certificate
Moving on, to another note entirely. Today I travelled into Bristol city centre to enjoy the day in town. In lacking means of transportation we decided to take the "First" bus (badger line). It used to cost £3 for a single during rush hour and £2 off peak. However since June 28th prices have gone up. Now off peak travel costs us £3.60 each and a massive £5 return. A 40 minute bus journey into town and back for two costs us £10. Comparing this to the bus I take to university which takes 50 minutes and costs £1.80 return (each) during peak periods and the coach tickets to London (return) that cost £16.50 then you see that this price is extortionate. Where a short trip to the next suburb used to cost £1 it now costs three. No wonder people don't want to use public transport.
I'm done, stick a fork in me. (Why doesn't blogger create £ signs without the annoying A-hat before it?)
A few months back I watched one of this year's greatest films, Batman Begins. I thoroughly enjoyed the feature and plan to see it again with my girlfriend at a local IMAX theatre. However, during the more violent and scary aspects of the film my thoughts debated the choice of certification. In Britain, Batman Begins has been rated with the fairly recently created 12A certificate (after the Spider-man violence debacle).
Children under the age of 12 will be able to see a '12A' film at the cinema if they are accompanied by a person of 18 years or over. The adult must watch the film with the child or children and not just pay for the ticket.
This means that a six year old would be allowed in to watch this film. A nagging child desperately wanting to see the latest super hero flick would be the most likely candidate. However, if I were a parent there would be some scenes I would just not want my child to see. For instance the scarecrow and drug induced hallucinations. Most of the violence and battle scenes consisted mostly of quick camera changes and flashes and these didn't bother me. It was more the frightening aspects and themes that some of my twenty something friends were afraid of that bothered me. Introducing drug induced paranoia and scary hallucinations to a young child could really scar(e) them and keep them up at night. I questioned why a simple 12 rating was not used, anyone over the age of 12 would love this movie. Had this film been released in the early nineties a 15 certificate would be guaranteed.
I have now returned from seeing the latest War of the Worlds adaptation by Spielberg. There were no violent scenes, bad language or sex acts in this movie and there were fantastic special effects, combine this with Spielberg and a 12A rating and you'd think this would be a perfect movie for a group of eight year old's and a birthday party. In fact it was a similar combination that led me to take my girlfriend on a date to see this flick. We settled down with our Fanta and chocolate buttons hoping for another fantastic summer blockbuster. We were gravely disappointed (the ending... seriously wtf, Spielberg you douche). I'd read interviews that talked about how 'berg would concentrate on the human and dramatic aspects of an alien invasion and he did exactly that. There may be some spoilers below, so don't read on if you are afraid of me ruining moments. Dysfunctional families, a lazy yet loving father, distraught children faced with death on a massive scale, images of multiple dead bodies flowing down a river, humans being turned to dust, crazy lunatic hitch hikers frantically attacking the only working car resulting in gun shots and murder, insanity and murder for survival, booming sirens and shuddersome aliens, humans being ground into fertilizer and sprayed across fields, complete hopelessness, fear and death. These were the themes of the movie that were incredibly realistic and terrifying, such that my twenty year old date cowered behind her hands for much of the second half of the movie. I was shocked at the brutal reality of parts of the movie and if this was the aim of Spielberg then I applaud him in his success (although all those narrow escapes were ridiculous). Once again my thoughts turned to the rating of this movie. It was 12A. If I were a parent there would be no way I would ever let my son or daughter watch this movie, even if they were over 12. The themes in this motion picture are simply things an eight year old should not be confronted with in the search for entertainment. What were the BBFC thinking? A film certificate should be a guide to parents and in this country also a governed restriction. Five years ago this movie would have been a 15 or even 18 certificate yet today a six year old can see this with his ignorant misinformed parents. By the time I am a parent I'm going to have to watch all the films they might want to see beforehand just in case they are not suitable. Whatever happened to standards?
BBFC and the 12A certificate
Moving on, to another note entirely. Today I travelled into Bristol city centre to enjoy the day in town. In lacking means of transportation we decided to take the "First" bus (badger line). It used to cost £3 for a single during rush hour and £2 off peak. However since June 28th prices have gone up. Now off peak travel costs us £3.60 each and a massive £5 return. A 40 minute bus journey into town and back for two costs us £10. Comparing this to the bus I take to university which takes 50 minutes and costs £1.80 return (each) during peak periods and the coach tickets to London (return) that cost £16.50 then you see that this price is extortionate. Where a short trip to the next suburb used to cost £1 it now costs three. No wonder people don't want to use public transport.
I'm done, stick a fork in me. (Why doesn't blogger create £ signs without the annoying A-hat before it?)
Labels: Life
What a load of shit
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
The worst of things bring out the best in us
Thursday, July 07, 2005
What an eventful week this has been.
Live8, a global protest and collaboration in an attempt to urge on the G8 leaders to cancel debt, provide increased aid and most importantly to improve trade relationships and give Africa free trade; all in an aim to bid poverty goodbye. Millions upon millions gathered, watched and pledged their support on Saturday to the Live8 cause, the level of participation in this international protest/campaign was unprecedented. Despite uttering of hypocrisy and the usual critics, people rallied to show that they do still care, that they want change and enforce that people can make a difference. With the resources and money we have, there should be no poverty in the democratic and fair countries of Africa and we should do everything possible to combat it. It is from the education and presentation of extreme poverty, hunger, corruption and death that we, as a people, can rally and use our power to influence events. It is from the utmost worst of things that we show our true human spirit in a bid to do good.
And today, London Terrorist attacks, brought the city of London to a stand still. Four underground explosions and a bomb on a double decker bus have left 40 people dead, the city at a stand still and complete disruption to the city. A most terrible and terrifying event aimed at murdering innocent British citizens. I've watched it all unfold throughout the day, from 10am this morning I've watched BBC News 24 and debated on Internet fora as more explosions, deaths and happenings unfold. I've seen Chinooks and Apache helicopters fly over and I've seen the nation's businesses on high alert. The combined, swift and excellent aid services have got the needy to hospitals as fast as humanly possible, locked down central London, taken control and successfully prevented panic and unneeded grief; the people of London have stayed calm. I have nothing but praise for the efforts of the services. But once again, it is this most disastrous of incidents that has brought out the best in us. The stories of good will, support and kindness to others are phenomenal; from people giving free lifts out of congested London and people giving up accommodation to those who need it to the bus services helping to cart the injured to the hospitals, the extra hospital workers and volunteers called in, the nurse that's in London on her day off that goes to the nearest hospital to help out, the builders that hear the news on the radio and all head to donate blood generously and instinctively.
In a world that more and more people are calling uncaring, withdrawn, separated, corrupt and commercial, it is these events that have reinstalled my faith in humanity. We still have it in us to do good, it's just we need something disastrous and horrible to remind us of our capabilities.
Live8, a global protest and collaboration in an attempt to urge on the G8 leaders to cancel debt, provide increased aid and most importantly to improve trade relationships and give Africa free trade; all in an aim to bid poverty goodbye. Millions upon millions gathered, watched and pledged their support on Saturday to the Live8 cause, the level of participation in this international protest/campaign was unprecedented. Despite uttering of hypocrisy and the usual critics, people rallied to show that they do still care, that they want change and enforce that people can make a difference. With the resources and money we have, there should be no poverty in the democratic and fair countries of Africa and we should do everything possible to combat it. It is from the education and presentation of extreme poverty, hunger, corruption and death that we, as a people, can rally and use our power to influence events. It is from the utmost worst of things that we show our true human spirit in a bid to do good.
And today, London Terrorist attacks, brought the city of London to a stand still. Four underground explosions and a bomb on a double decker bus have left 40 people dead, the city at a stand still and complete disruption to the city. A most terrible and terrifying event aimed at murdering innocent British citizens. I've watched it all unfold throughout the day, from 10am this morning I've watched BBC News 24 and debated on Internet fora as more explosions, deaths and happenings unfold. I've seen Chinooks and Apache helicopters fly over and I've seen the nation's businesses on high alert. The combined, swift and excellent aid services have got the needy to hospitals as fast as humanly possible, locked down central London, taken control and successfully prevented panic and unneeded grief; the people of London have stayed calm. I have nothing but praise for the efforts of the services. But once again, it is this most disastrous of incidents that has brought out the best in us. The stories of good will, support and kindness to others are phenomenal; from people giving free lifts out of congested London and people giving up accommodation to those who need it to the bus services helping to cart the injured to the hospitals, the extra hospital workers and volunteers called in, the nurse that's in London on her day off that goes to the nearest hospital to help out, the builders that hear the news on the radio and all head to donate blood generously and instinctively.
In a world that more and more people are calling uncaring, withdrawn, separated, corrupt and commercial, it is these events that have reinstalled my faith in humanity. We still have it in us to do good, it's just we need something disastrous and horrible to remind us of our capabilities.
Labels: Life
Exam Results
Monday, July 04, 2005
- Systems and Control (CG203): 85%
- Signal Processing and Communications (CG204): 94%
- Analogue Design (ES21J): 81%
- Applied Linear Algebra (ES21L): 92% (7.5 cats)
- Design of Measurement Systems (ES21Q): 70% (7.5 cats)
- Digital Design (ES21R): 80%
- Electronic Systems (ES21T): 79%
- Software Development (ES22E): 92%
- Starting a Business (IB229): 58% (7.5 cats)
- ULSI (PX258): 70%
Overall mark is 81.4% a First. Im so happy, I only really did badly in the "Starting a Business" module, a completely coursework assessed module with little to no relevance to engineering. The majority of people I know who took that module got 58%. Im a little angry because I worked so hard for the write-up. But overall I am overjoyed, 94% in the hardest module kicks major ass and reflects the unprecedented amount of work I had to do for it.
Labels: Life