It seems one of the main reasons why I set up this blog was due to the fact I was bored at work and had time to post. I'm currently into my 3rd week of unemployment and despite all the apparent free time, this is the first time I've posted.
Now that I'm not working I've been too busy doing this that I want to do rather than sitting bored out of my mind in an office.
Here is a quick summary of what's been going on:
My flat has been rented out so my mortgage is now getting paid which is good.
I've been playing The Godfather on Playstation 2 and I have now taken over New York.
I move up to Aberdeen on Sunday for the start of Fresher Week. I initially thought I may not have to move up yet but unfortunately Physio people have things on everyday that they have to attend therefore I need to move up now. I've been quite busy recently getting things organised for uni and it isn't cheap. I've spent £180 on physio books so far, roll on the student discounts.
I'm looking forward to the start of uni, it's going to be good to actually be learning something I want to learn. However I am quite nervous at the same time, it's a completely new start and I'm going to be in classes with teenagers. Hopefully there will be other mature students in the class so I don't feel old.
Wednesday 12 September 2007
Thursday 23 August 2007
Dangerous Person
If you want to see a great film of the type that Hollywood would never make then I'd recommend Eagle vs Shark. All the big blockbuster films promise a lot but never quite deliver (just like the Hibs strikers sometimes) but despite this they clog up the multiplexes. At one point over the summer all you could see at some cinemas was Harry Potter, Shrek, Transformers or Die Hard. However Eagle vs Shark is an antidote to this and it deserves to be seen by a wider audience. It's a difficult film to categorise it's similar in feel to Napoleon Dynamite but different in story. It's part comedy, part drama, part animation which works together really well. Basically a guy and a girl meet at a "dress as your favourite animal party" (hence the title) but things don't go smoothly mainly due to the fact neither of them is the normal kind of person you usually see in American films. Every character in the film has their own quirks and even though these may be exaggerated, it's probably quite close to real life.
Some of the comedy moments are excellent especially when the film goes places you don't expect. The script is sharp with lots of memorable quotable lines and the performances are quite believable. In the words of Sarah "It's the best film I've seen in ages"
Of course you never do find out whether an eagle would beat a shark in a fight. It does also raise an interesting question which is what animal would you dress up as if you were invited to a dress as your favourite animal party?
Thank you to Scott for introducing me to a great new bar last night, Cloisters. It's got a great ale and whisky selection but best of all it's also part library! They have books on the fireplace which you can take away with you as long as you replace with another one. However I broke the rules on my first visit. I really wanted to read Norman Mailer's "The Naked & The Dead" but didn't have a spare book with me. So I just took it. Perhaps I should feel guilty but then I am going to be a student and won't be able to afford to buy books for the next 4 years.....
Some of the comedy moments are excellent especially when the film goes places you don't expect. The script is sharp with lots of memorable quotable lines and the performances are quite believable. In the words of Sarah "It's the best film I've seen in ages"
Of course you never do find out whether an eagle would beat a shark in a fight. It does also raise an interesting question which is what animal would you dress up as if you were invited to a dress as your favourite animal party?
Thank you to Scott for introducing me to a great new bar last night, Cloisters. It's got a great ale and whisky selection but best of all it's also part library! They have books on the fireplace which you can take away with you as long as you replace with another one. However I broke the rules on my first visit. I really wanted to read Norman Mailer's "The Naked & The Dead" but didn't have a spare book with me. So I just took it. Perhaps I should feel guilty but then I am going to be a student and won't be able to afford to buy books for the next 4 years.....
Tuesday 21 August 2007
Racket
The Bourne Ultimatum is ace, if you like the first 2 then you will like this one. Sometimes when I really look forward to a film its doesn't quite match my expectations but thankfully this wasn't the case here. The film kept the frantic action from the first 2 and it tied up the origin of Bourne without getting too confusing. It's actually great to have a trilogy which has 3 films of an equally high quality. So many times trilogies are let down by the third film, witness The Matrix. I loved the first 2 but the 3rd was just dreadful and ruined the trilogy.
One thing that did annoy me a bit was having to wait half an hour before the film started. The showing was at 8.15 but we then had to sit though half an hour of adverts, trailers and various promo's for the odeon cinemas. Now I actually like watching adverts and trailers, it's part of the general cinema experience but they should be restricted to 15 minutes max. At the moment you end up watching adverts you have seen many, many times before and are invariably bored with. The guy behind me seemed to find all of the adverts funny though, must have been his first trip to the cinema in years.
Talking of the general cinema experience, I hate the food kiosks with a passion. Everything that is on sale there is marked up to a horrendous amount and yet most people don't seem to bat an eyelid paying £4 for some popcorn or £3 for a bucket of juice. Seriously who ever needs a cup of juice that big? If you do manage to drink it all you will initially feel sick before having to rush to the toilet as you are bursting for a wee therefore missing part of the film. Apparently there is no other food you can buy which has a more expensive mark up than popcorn. It's a complete rip off and I hate paying the prices.
One thing that did annoy me a bit was having to wait half an hour before the film started. The showing was at 8.15 but we then had to sit though half an hour of adverts, trailers and various promo's for the odeon cinemas. Now I actually like watching adverts and trailers, it's part of the general cinema experience but they should be restricted to 15 minutes max. At the moment you end up watching adverts you have seen many, many times before and are invariably bored with. The guy behind me seemed to find all of the adverts funny though, must have been his first trip to the cinema in years.
Talking of the general cinema experience, I hate the food kiosks with a passion. Everything that is on sale there is marked up to a horrendous amount and yet most people don't seem to bat an eyelid paying £4 for some popcorn or £3 for a bucket of juice. Seriously who ever needs a cup of juice that big? If you do manage to drink it all you will initially feel sick before having to rush to the toilet as you are bursting for a wee therefore missing part of the film. Apparently there is no other food you can buy which has a more expensive mark up than popcorn. It's a complete rip off and I hate paying the prices.
Monday 20 August 2007
Frank Crow
A couple of highlights from a week in the life of me
Duke Special concert
This was my first concert in months and I really enjoyed it. Hadn't heard much of his stuff before hand, just a couple of tracks on the internet, but he was really good. Managed to get his album for a fiver a couple of days later (despite every other copy being £12.95) and it's great. Normally I find it difficult to enjoy concerts if I'm not familiar with the songs but you can very quickly get Duke Special's songs. He reminds me on an Irish Badly Drawn Boy (before he went a bit shit) crossed with Ben Folds. Highlights were Last Night I Nearly Died and Everybody Wants A Little Something which isn't as smutty as it perhaps sounds. I did realise a few things during the concert:
1) Bars at concert venues are a rip off which admittedly I already knew. However £3.50 for a small coke and a bottle of water is just ripping the piss, just because it's festival time in Edinburgh it doesn't mean that everyone should be paying tourist prices. Consider yourself warned Liquid Room.
2) Support acts are in the main rubbish and there is often very little point turning up to see them. Some mince band called The Ghost Frequency were the support and I really have nothing positive to say about them. It's always a concern when a band has more keyboard players than guitarists. It would be better if support bands were actually similar in someway to the main act rather than being completely different and alienating the audience. Perhaps that is a ploy to make the main artists seem even better. However you do occasionally get a gem of a support act, I remember being really impressed by Longpigs supporting Sleeper many years ago. This means I do keep going along to see support bands in the vain hope they may actually be good.
3) You know you are getting old when you hope the concert is finishing soon due to the fact you can't be bothered standing for much longer. This wasn't helped by my knackered ankle which meant I couldn't put my weight on one foot which lead to a sore leg and back.
Musselburgh Races
You can have a really good night out at the races although this does depend to a certain extent on the weather and on betting success. Unfortunately it pissed down for the whole night. The weather had been dull but dry all day until we actually got to Musselburgh when it started to rain before getting heavier and heavier. It's the lowest crowd I have ever seen there, even the bookies were going home early. Spent the whole meeting standing in the bar at the top of the stand, only really venturing out to put on a bet. We could see the races from where we were but in hindsight it would have been cheaper to just go to the pub and watch the races on the TV. Despite that I did have a good night. I ended up even for my bets which isn't too bad after a poor start. I ended up getting my first win at Nottingham before winning on the 5th race at Musselburgh although it's a bad sign when you have to start betting on the away course.
The one problem with spending the night in the bar was the I didn't get home until 1am so I wasn't feeling the best at work the next day. It's just as well I don't have much work to do at the moment.
On a connected matter, the proposed revamp of Musselburgh racecourse has been rejected by the council in their infinite wisdom. There were plans to create an all weather facility which would have resulted in a greater number of race night of a better quality. This would have been great for Musselburgh itself due to the extra revenue that would have been brought in. However due to the objections of a few local residents and despite the fact a number of their scare mongering rumours about the revamp were proved to be false, the revamp was turned down. There was also political games at play here, Labour initially approved the plan but the Lib Dems/SNP then gained power and turned it down, partly to get back at Labour. Overall I feel it was a short sighted decision which will cost Musselburgh in the long run.
Duke Special concert
This was my first concert in months and I really enjoyed it. Hadn't heard much of his stuff before hand, just a couple of tracks on the internet, but he was really good. Managed to get his album for a fiver a couple of days later (despite every other copy being £12.95) and it's great. Normally I find it difficult to enjoy concerts if I'm not familiar with the songs but you can very quickly get Duke Special's songs. He reminds me on an Irish Badly Drawn Boy (before he went a bit shit) crossed with Ben Folds. Highlights were Last Night I Nearly Died and Everybody Wants A Little Something which isn't as smutty as it perhaps sounds. I did realise a few things during the concert:
1) Bars at concert venues are a rip off which admittedly I already knew. However £3.50 for a small coke and a bottle of water is just ripping the piss, just because it's festival time in Edinburgh it doesn't mean that everyone should be paying tourist prices. Consider yourself warned Liquid Room.
2) Support acts are in the main rubbish and there is often very little point turning up to see them. Some mince band called The Ghost Frequency were the support and I really have nothing positive to say about them. It's always a concern when a band has more keyboard players than guitarists. It would be better if support bands were actually similar in someway to the main act rather than being completely different and alienating the audience. Perhaps that is a ploy to make the main artists seem even better. However you do occasionally get a gem of a support act, I remember being really impressed by Longpigs supporting Sleeper many years ago. This means I do keep going along to see support bands in the vain hope they may actually be good.
3) You know you are getting old when you hope the concert is finishing soon due to the fact you can't be bothered standing for much longer. This wasn't helped by my knackered ankle which meant I couldn't put my weight on one foot which lead to a sore leg and back.
Musselburgh Races
You can have a really good night out at the races although this does depend to a certain extent on the weather and on betting success. Unfortunately it pissed down for the whole night. The weather had been dull but dry all day until we actually got to Musselburgh when it started to rain before getting heavier and heavier. It's the lowest crowd I have ever seen there, even the bookies were going home early. Spent the whole meeting standing in the bar at the top of the stand, only really venturing out to put on a bet. We could see the races from where we were but in hindsight it would have been cheaper to just go to the pub and watch the races on the TV. Despite that I did have a good night. I ended up even for my bets which isn't too bad after a poor start. I ended up getting my first win at Nottingham before winning on the 5th race at Musselburgh although it's a bad sign when you have to start betting on the away course.
The one problem with spending the night in the bar was the I didn't get home until 1am so I wasn't feeling the best at work the next day. It's just as well I don't have much work to do at the moment.
On a connected matter, the proposed revamp of Musselburgh racecourse has been rejected by the council in their infinite wisdom. There were plans to create an all weather facility which would have resulted in a greater number of race night of a better quality. This would have been great for Musselburgh itself due to the extra revenue that would have been brought in. However due to the objections of a few local residents and despite the fact a number of their scare mongering rumours about the revamp were proved to be false, the revamp was turned down. There was also political games at play here, Labour initially approved the plan but the Lib Dems/SNP then gained power and turned it down, partly to get back at Labour. Overall I feel it was a short sighted decision which will cost Musselburgh in the long run.
Friday 10 August 2007
Hobble
Now I remember why I stopped playing football regularly. Damn injuries.
Was playing fives last night and have knackered my ankle. Went in for a heavy challenge (the guy had been niggling at me earlier in the game) but unfortunately it was me that came of worst. Guess I should follow the lessons of My Name Is Earl more closely. Ankle gave way and went right over on it. Couldn't walk this morning so couldn't make it to work, have had to lie on the sofa with my foot up all day. It sounds a good way to spend the day but it's actually quite restrictive. It's painful everytime I have to hobble anywhere even when I'm using an umbrella for a walking stick. Still it gave me time to finally watch the Hibs CIS cup final winning dvd, first time I had watched the game in full. Was just as good as I remembered from the day.
Let's hope it's better for tomorrow. I don't mind missing work but there is no way I want to miss the Hibs game.
Was playing fives last night and have knackered my ankle. Went in for a heavy challenge (the guy had been niggling at me earlier in the game) but unfortunately it was me that came of worst. Guess I should follow the lessons of My Name Is Earl more closely. Ankle gave way and went right over on it. Couldn't walk this morning so couldn't make it to work, have had to lie on the sofa with my foot up all day. It sounds a good way to spend the day but it's actually quite restrictive. It's painful everytime I have to hobble anywhere even when I'm using an umbrella for a walking stick. Still it gave me time to finally watch the Hibs CIS cup final winning dvd, first time I had watched the game in full. Was just as good as I remembered from the day.
Let's hope it's better for tomorrow. I don't mind missing work but there is no way I want to miss the Hibs game.
Monday 6 August 2007
Woof
I've realised that Ryan Phillippe is the acting equivalent of a cocker spaniel. It doesn't matter what emotion he is trying to convey, his facial expression never changes. He seems to have a permanent bemused look on his face as if he has just been asked a particularly difficult question. This could well be something as challenging as what colour is green.
The latest film I watched to be ruined by the ex Mr Reese Witherspoon was Flags of our Fathers. Initially it had the potential to be a good film but it ended up being a bit shit. While the war sequences were well done, the acting wasn't great & the last half hour was shockingly bad. I think Clint Eastwood must have developed a drinking problem when he finished the film, it didn't fit in with the mood of the rest of the film and it's was just far too mawkish and sentimental in a way only American films can be.
The companion film Letters From Iwo Jima was better, this is the story from the Japanese point of view. However it was still an Americanised version. Certain scenes showed how the Japanese were influenced by American ideas, the implication being that this was better than the traditional Japanese way of doing this. Perhaps I was being a bit sensitive after the stars and stripes bravado of Flags of our Fathers but this did annoy me.
It did make me wonder if it is perhaps time Clint Eastwood retired from the film business. He obviously still has some talent but it's perhaps getting a bit patchy now. It would have been better if he had bowed out at the top after winning an Oscar for Million Dollar Baby
The latest film I watched to be ruined by the ex Mr Reese Witherspoon was Flags of our Fathers. Initially it had the potential to be a good film but it ended up being a bit shit. While the war sequences were well done, the acting wasn't great & the last half hour was shockingly bad. I think Clint Eastwood must have developed a drinking problem when he finished the film, it didn't fit in with the mood of the rest of the film and it's was just far too mawkish and sentimental in a way only American films can be.
The companion film Letters From Iwo Jima was better, this is the story from the Japanese point of view. However it was still an Americanised version. Certain scenes showed how the Japanese were influenced by American ideas, the implication being that this was better than the traditional Japanese way of doing this. Perhaps I was being a bit sensitive after the stars and stripes bravado of Flags of our Fathers but this did annoy me.
It did make me wonder if it is perhaps time Clint Eastwood retired from the film business. He obviously still has some talent but it's perhaps getting a bit patchy now. It would have been better if he had bowed out at the top after winning an Oscar for Million Dollar Baby
Saturday 4 August 2007
False Alarm
Some recommendations for you:
Book
The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
I occasionallylike a good supernatural/fantasy novel and this one is excellent. It's probably easier to click on the link to read the blurb rather than have me try to detail the plot. I'd watched the film based on this book about a year ago and really enjoyed it. There was a quote on the book which said the film feels like a trailer for the book so I decided to buy it and wasn't disappointed. There are more books in the series so I'm looking forward to them.
Album
Thirst For Romance by Cherry Ghost
I'd heard good things about this album and bought it after hearing a couple of tracks on a listening post. I'm trying not to buy that many cd's at the moment so that I can save money for Uni therefore. Thankfully Thirst For Romance is a great album, sounds a bit like a rockier Richard Hawley with a bit of a country edge.
Film
Stranger Than Fiction
A film in the same vein as Being John Malkovich. Will Ferrell realises someone is narrating his life and sets to find out who it is. I really enjoyed this, a very interesting plot and some good performances especially from Ferrell doing a straight role for a change.
Book
The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko
I occasionallylike a good supernatural/fantasy novel and this one is excellent. It's probably easier to click on the link to read the blurb rather than have me try to detail the plot. I'd watched the film based on this book about a year ago and really enjoyed it. There was a quote on the book which said the film feels like a trailer for the book so I decided to buy it and wasn't disappointed. There are more books in the series so I'm looking forward to them.
Album
Thirst For Romance by Cherry Ghost
I'd heard good things about this album and bought it after hearing a couple of tracks on a listening post. I'm trying not to buy that many cd's at the moment so that I can save money for Uni therefore. Thankfully Thirst For Romance is a great album, sounds a bit like a rockier Richard Hawley with a bit of a country edge.
Film
Stranger Than Fiction
A film in the same vein as Being John Malkovich. Will Ferrell realises someone is narrating his life and sets to find out who it is. I really enjoyed this, a very interesting plot and some good performances especially from Ferrell doing a straight role for a change.
Down It
I'm not sure how much fun pub treasure hunts are. Had one with work last night and while it was decent enough each visit to a pub consisted of the following:
Fight your way through all the festival tourists to reach the pub
Once in said pub, wade through the festival tourists to try and reach the bar
Wait ages to get served
Once served, knock back your drink as fast as possible and then get strange look from barman/woman when you ask for a receipt
Leave pub
Repeat same process at next bar.
All that really seems to happen is that you remember why you hate Edinburgh in festival time (damn tourists) and you get drunk really quickly. Not sure that really qualifies as a great night out. Of course the cold I now seem to have developed isn't really helping.
Fight your way through all the festival tourists to reach the pub
Once in said pub, wade through the festival tourists to try and reach the bar
Wait ages to get served
Once served, knock back your drink as fast as possible and then get strange look from barman/woman when you ask for a receipt
Leave pub
Repeat same process at next bar.
All that really seems to happen is that you remember why you hate Edinburgh in festival time (damn tourists) and you get drunk really quickly. Not sure that really qualifies as a great night out. Of course the cold I now seem to have developed isn't really helping.
Thursday 26 July 2007
Dope
It was an interesting day of sport for me yesterday.
Last night was my first Hibs game of the season. It was only a friendly but it's always exciting going back to Easter Road after the summer break. Normally friendlies are a bit crap but Hibs were very impressive last night and beat Bolton 3-0. We played some impressive football and at times Bolton struggled to get the ball from us. JC seems to have got the Hibs players very fit during the pre-season and everyone seems to be comfortable on the ball. Let's hope we can continue the form into the new SPL season.
Last night was also when the Tour de France descended into farce. The race leader (and odds on favourite to win overall) Michael Rasmussen was sacked by his team for lying about his whereabouts last month and suspicions over missed drug tests. Two other riders including Vinokourov the pre race favourite were kicked out for failing drug tests and this meant both their teams where withdrawn under the new zero tolerance policy.
I'm actually quite disappointed by all of this. This year's tour had been one of the most open and enjoyable for years. As much as I liked Lance Armstrong, the 7 tours that he won where never always that exciting. Usually he exerted a stranglehold over the race lead early on and the final result was never in doubt. However this year there were a number of riders in contention and the mountain stages were fascinating to watch. The battles between Rasmussen and Contador over the past couple of days had been amazing to watch. However any credibility the race had has been ruined, one French paper has even run an obituary for the Tour - died aged 104. Many of the team sponsors are thinking of pulling out due to the bad publicity which will be a disaster for cycling. It takes millions of pounds a season to run a pro cycling team, if sponsors do pull out then there will be hundreds unemployed.What is most galling is that I do believe the majority of riders are now clean, it is the idiots in the minority who are ruining the sport for everyone else. Most of the teams themselves have recognised the dangers of doping and have instigated strict anti-doping programmes, however a few have slipped through the net. In the past, drugs were almost an accepted part of cycling. Riders in the early tours used to get round the course powered by brandy, cocaine and amphetamines. Recently cycling has tried to clean up it's act as fans were gradually becoming disillusioned by all the drug scandals. Many of the so-called star cyclists of recent years have been linked to drug taking in some way.
It's imperative that cycling manages to get rid of all the drug cheats and removes any suspicions otherwise there may not be a future for it. There will be very few sponsors and very few fans left if the scandals continue.
Last night was my first Hibs game of the season. It was only a friendly but it's always exciting going back to Easter Road after the summer break. Normally friendlies are a bit crap but Hibs were very impressive last night and beat Bolton 3-0. We played some impressive football and at times Bolton struggled to get the ball from us. JC seems to have got the Hibs players very fit during the pre-season and everyone seems to be comfortable on the ball. Let's hope we can continue the form into the new SPL season.
Last night was also when the Tour de France descended into farce. The race leader (and odds on favourite to win overall) Michael Rasmussen was sacked by his team for lying about his whereabouts last month and suspicions over missed drug tests. Two other riders including Vinokourov the pre race favourite were kicked out for failing drug tests and this meant both their teams where withdrawn under the new zero tolerance policy.
I'm actually quite disappointed by all of this. This year's tour had been one of the most open and enjoyable for years. As much as I liked Lance Armstrong, the 7 tours that he won where never always that exciting. Usually he exerted a stranglehold over the race lead early on and the final result was never in doubt. However this year there were a number of riders in contention and the mountain stages were fascinating to watch. The battles between Rasmussen and Contador over the past couple of days had been amazing to watch. However any credibility the race had has been ruined, one French paper has even run an obituary for the Tour - died aged 104. Many of the team sponsors are thinking of pulling out due to the bad publicity which will be a disaster for cycling. It takes millions of pounds a season to run a pro cycling team, if sponsors do pull out then there will be hundreds unemployed.What is most galling is that I do believe the majority of riders are now clean, it is the idiots in the minority who are ruining the sport for everyone else. Most of the teams themselves have recognised the dangers of doping and have instigated strict anti-doping programmes, however a few have slipped through the net. In the past, drugs were almost an accepted part of cycling. Riders in the early tours used to get round the course powered by brandy, cocaine and amphetamines. Recently cycling has tried to clean up it's act as fans were gradually becoming disillusioned by all the drug scandals. Many of the so-called star cyclists of recent years have been linked to drug taking in some way.
It's imperative that cycling manages to get rid of all the drug cheats and removes any suspicions otherwise there may not be a future for it. There will be very few sponsors and very few fans left if the scandals continue.
Monday 23 July 2007
Ring
Do you want to know what really grinds my gears? (thought it would be nice to pay homage to the simpsons on the week of the film release)
Call centres being permanently busy. Due to the fact I have been moving, I have had to phone a lot of call centres for address updates etc. However every time I phone, I'm told that there is an unusually high volume of calls at the moment. I'm then on hold for about 10 minutes with the same message being repeated every so often. It doesn't seem to matter which company I phone, what day or what time of the day I call, the call volume is still unusually high.
At what point does the unusually high call volume become the norm and the company realises it needs to hire more staff? Doesn't take a genius to figure out that if you never answer the phone to your customers you are eventually going to alienate them.
The worst were BT ironically, you'd think they would know about telephones. I was getting told to call back between 1pm and 4pm when it would be less busy. Of course the fact I was phoning at 2pm just didn't seem to register.
Call centres being permanently busy. Due to the fact I have been moving, I have had to phone a lot of call centres for address updates etc. However every time I phone, I'm told that there is an unusually high volume of calls at the moment. I'm then on hold for about 10 minutes with the same message being repeated every so often. It doesn't seem to matter which company I phone, what day or what time of the day I call, the call volume is still unusually high.
At what point does the unusually high call volume become the norm and the company realises it needs to hire more staff? Doesn't take a genius to figure out that if you never answer the phone to your customers you are eventually going to alienate them.
The worst were BT ironically, you'd think they would know about telephones. I was getting told to call back between 1pm and 4pm when it would be less busy. Of course the fact I was phoning at 2pm just didn't seem to register.
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