Happy Happy Joy Joy
I'm in quite a good mood today. Work is not sucking quite so hard at the moment, and a few things have been cleared up and whatnot. Secondly, I'm still buzzing from last night's 'epic night of telly.' True Blood was spectacular, I loved how well drawn the various characters are, and the tension is very well managed. Generation Kill was very good too, and Criminal Justice is excellent so far as well, even if it remains the most depressing piece of drama ever made.
I have also now officially finished my first module for my OU course, so I'm just waiting for my final mark and then it's onto the second module. My average mark is around 70% so far, and that's even taking into consideration the massive mess I made of one assignment.
On top of this, I appear to have gotten involved in yet another 'unnamed online project' with someone from Twitter. I have promised not to say too much about this while we are still in the process of making ludicrous statements of intent to each other, but it promises to be the bestest and greatest thing that teh Internet has ever seen. Even better than this blog that you are reading right now.
I know, you're sat there right now, reading this (look at you, don't you look nice today?) and wondering to yourself, how can that even be possible!? Well, it is. And we will show you, just as soon as we stop talking about it and start to do it.
And if that's not enough 'Epic Awesome' for you, then you will be pleased to hear that this week the benevolent First Buses have extended one of their bus routes to take me from my house directly to my work. No more getting off the bus and walking the last fifteen minutes for me. No. I think this is their way of apologising to me for all of the miserable joyless bastards they have been employing over the last few years. You know, the ones who see that you only have a ten pound note (still legal tender as far as I'm aware) and then tut and shake their heads as though you have defiled their grandmother and then shaved their cat on the way out.
So, to recap, it's a good day, and I am in a good mood. Which is nice. How are you?
Abnormal Service Resumed
So that was interesting. The whole 7 days experiment was, I think it's safe to say, pretty successful, although I will admit defeat on the timescale. I forgot how little I am on the computer over the weekend, and the fact that I had an OU assignment due in at the same time. But overall it's been lovely to get the feedback that I have, and nice to see the rise in visitors too, but most of all it's been good to do some writing that has stretched me a little bit. Some of the topics were quite hard to wrap my head around, so thanks to everyone who left a suggestion, and I hope that you all liked it.
One thing this week has shown me is the potential of this blog, so over the next few weeks I'm going to try some other interesting things. I already have something in the pipeline for a collaboration with a fellow twitterer, which should be up and running in the next week. In the meantime, as ever, any thoughts on stuff you'd like me to write about are always welcome. The first issue of Blood On The Motorway is done, second issue is being written, so it wont be long before that starts.
Other than that, the big news for me is that I'm about to say goodbye to Microsoft completely at home. Unfortunately work is another matter, but tonight (or over the weekend) I will be installing Ubuntu on my PC at home, and saying goodbye to the steaming pile of excrement that is Vista.
It's been a long and slow decline in my relationship with Microsoft. Like most people like me, who aren't particularly techie, Windows and its products were always just easier. As the default setting on every PC I've ever used (I used a Mac once. Didn't like it) I learnt the Internet through Explorer, used Media Player to play music, even had a hotmail account, and 'made do' with the tools at hand.
It wasn't until I met Jonic that I realised that there was more out there. I mean I had always known that there were alternatives, but I figured they would be so impossible to use that there wasn't any point. This is the mythology that Microsoft have perpetuated throughout their history. But then Jonic showed me Firefox. It was a joy. Even in its infancy it was smoother and easier to use, and came with an added sense of freedom.
Next up was Gmail, and again a whole new world of usability. I still love Gmail, and am now a bit of a slave to the Google machine. I don't know what I would do without iGoogle. (Clue: I may get more work done.) But now I've decided to take the next step away from the hideous chud of an operating system that is Vista. I'm sure I don't need to list its faults here, you will all have heard or seen for yourself.
For someone moving very slowly into the world of tech geekery, the move to a Linux based OS is quite a large step, but I'm determined to do it, and do it on my own. Wish me luck.
World FAIL
So once again it's been a while since I've blogged, I've been suffering with a writers block so severe it's become crushing. But really it's hardly surprising, given that every day seems to bring so much to comment on that it's impossible to choose.
First of all we have total meltdown of our entire political system, which sees every range of the political world running around, flailing their arms, blaming the system for allowing them to steal and promising to 'do something about it.'
Secondly, we see that the tabloids have a new sport, which I like to call disability taunting, wherein the red tops go positively agog with the news that a woman with learning difficulties reacted to instant global superstardom by acting like someone with learning difficulties struggling to deal with an overwhelming change in their life.
Thirdly, we see North Korea's heirs to the throne staging their own talent contest by trying to be more threatening to the world than the others. Less Britain's Got Talent, more North Korea's Got Apocalypse.
Now, planes are falling from the sky, the world's ex-biggest company has gone bankrupt, doctors are being shot in America for helping women, and Africa has yet another calamity of a nation on the brink of disaster. And yet, through it all, half the publishing houses in the UK are more concerned with the divorce of the two most despicable people imaginable.
Happy days, eh?
On the plus side, while there is a massive whiff of FAIL all around the world, I have recently discovered the marvellous FailBlog, which makes me chuckle whenever it drops a lovely little thing into my google reader. So it can't be all bad.
Sheer brutal brilliance.
Whoever wrote the copy for this piece deserves medals. Lots and lots of shiny medals.
'If You're Gonna Have Tea Bagging All Over the Country, You're Gonna Need A Dick Armey!' If, btw, any of you are unsure what teabagging actually is, go here. It's just hilarious what depths the Republicans will go to to ensure they are seen as the most bizarre and idiotic party in political history. If only the Tories were this dumb.
5000
Happy Easter everyone. A bit of inside baseball today, as I was rather excited to discover that I have passed the 5000 visitor mark.
In the two and a half years that I have been writing this here blog, and spread out over 120 different posts, this averages at around 42 visitors per post. Considering I have no idea how to market a blog, and have posted somewhat infrequently over the last few years, I would say that this is pretty good going. So thanks for stopping by!
I shall be posting again later, but at the moment I have to go feed Rosie a banana.
Still here at a ripe old age.
Well, it's been some considerable time since I last blogged, a period of time that can best be explained away by the fact that I dried up (post-wise, not literrally) roughly the same time I discovered Twitter. I know it's platitudinous to enthuse about anything on the Internet, but I love Twitter. It requires virtually no upkeep to work well, and you can just dip in and out at your own leisure. Marvellous.
Now, the other main occurrence to have befallen me during my absence is that I have shifted up a decade. I am now thirty, something that managed to be terrifying and nothing to write home about all at the same time.
I can be quite proud, however. Back a few years ago when Iwas sharing a house with people younger than myself and smoking myself into a stoned stupor on a nightly basis, immersing myself in a life of sheer geek enjoyment, I did so on the understanding that it didn't really matter because I would get my life in order before the big 30 hit. And for the most part, I have. Career is certainly no better than it was a few years back (although Ilike this place a lot more than my last job) but that is being addressed by my Open Uni degree. In any other area of note, things are going pretty well. I love my girls immensely, and am at a point in my life where I wake up in the morning happy and contented in any number of ways. Oh, and I recently had a lovely little mini holiday in Llangollen.
So that's you all caught up. I am going to try and ensure normal service is resumed again, and shall henceforth try and, you know, be funny. About things. Like, for instance, governmental departments providing links to porn on their websites. In fact, I don't need to say anything funny about that.
Greatest Shopfront Ever
Apparently this shop is in Southampton. You've got to admire the tenacity. Via Metal Injection.
Apologies for the lack of posting recently, but I've been busy staring at my brand spanking new twitter page every thirty seconds or so. Feel free to swing by if you are twitter-inclined.
2008
And so, with barely a day to go, I suppose I had better try and get down my round up of the year, something that has been buzzing in and around my head for the last few weeks. In the time since I started thinking about it, my feed reader (and probably yours too) have become bogged down by such things, but nonetheless I strive to empty my head of the buzzing sound of formulating top tens, fives and ones.
Top Ten Albums of the Year
1. Meshuggah - Obzen
A spitting, spiralling mas of polyrhythms that will melt your head and confound the ear. Truly mesmerising. Imagine all the worlds classical music being played at once by a robot with a distortion pedal and it would sound nothing like this. I just like the image. Brutal, technical metal that manages to be accessible and, well, rather splendid.
Meshuggah - Bleed (video)
2. Sigur Rós -Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
By far and away the best non-metal album of the year for me. Alright, so it's not as good as Takk, or (), but it fills me with a sense of unbridled joy whenever I listen to it, and it pulls me back again and again. Uplifting and yet mournful at times, I love this album.
Sigur Ros - Gobbledigook (Live With Bjork at Naturra)
3. Origin - Antithesis
If you watched the Meshuggah video above and thought to yourself, 'bloody hell, that's a bit too heavy,' then you probably don't want to follow this link. By far and away the most technically astounding album made this year, it is a relentless, bludgeoning cacophony of noise. And it's brilliant.
Origin - Finite (video)
4. Portishead - Third
One of my favourite ever bands coming back, something that happened a lot this year (AC/DC, Metallica and Guns n' Roses) but this was the one album which really didn't disappoint. Dark, mournful, harrowing, a truly stunning album, with easily my favourite song of the year, Machine Gun.
Portishead - Machine Gun (video)
5. Mogwai - The Hawk Is Howling
A startling return to form by Scotland's premier instrumental weirdos. A crystalline sheen sits atop these tracks, which became a staple of my listening when I was doing my nano novel.
Mogwai - Batcat (video)
6. Kings Of Leon - Only By the Night
Many purists see this as a dip in form, but to be honest I've never really been sold on Kings until now. Slightly hampered by a dip at the end of the album, this nonetheless became a regular fixture in my household as Ellen loves it too. And the bassline on Crawl makes my spine tingle.
Kings Of Leon - Crawl (video)
7. Mouth Of The Architect - Quietly
In a year with no new releases by Neurosis, Pelican or Isis, a brilliant slab of Post Metal which remains ethereal and bruising throughout from a band I had never heard of before Last.fm. No videos for this, you'll just have to wait for my mix!
8. Dozer - Beyond Colossal
Great dirty slabs of Swedish stoner rock. If you like your rock dirty and fuzz-laden, seek this out. No vids for this either.
9. Cult Of Luna - Eternal Kingdom
One of my favourite bands, I would hesitate to say this equals their early work, despite a return to heaviness eschewed on Somewhere Along The Highway, but it remains a fascinating listen, layers upon layers of Post metal noise linked to a central concept based on a book they found in a mental institute.
Cult Of Luna - Eternal Kingdom (Live in Warsaw)
10. Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
I'm sure this merits a higher place in my list, but I did overplay this over the summer to the point where I can barely listen to it again, but this remains a rarity, a British indie album that doesn't make me want to throw things out of windows. Great songs, brilliant lyrics, and a wistful melancholy that erupts into a joyful chorus by the end.
Elbow - One Day Like This (live at Glastonbury)
Honourable Mentions for; Metallica, AC/DC, Cancer Bats, Ben Folds, The Sword, Adele.
Worst Album of the Year: Guns N Roses - Chinese Democracy
As for gigs, the truth is that I have only been to two gigs this year, shameful though it is to admit. However, that does at least allow me to do a best and worst gig of the year!
Best Gig: Conor Oberst - York Duchess
Worst Gig: The Streets - Leeds Academy
Top 5 Films
1. The Dark Knight
2. No Country For Old Men
3. There Will Be Blood
4. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
5. Juno
Greatest Thing to Happen This Year: The election of Barack Obama
Worst Thing to Happen This Year: Israel's bombing of Palestine seems to making a late grasp for the honours here.
Paul's quick capsule review of the year:
This year has been a good one for me, despite the world seeming to cave in around me. Obviously the most significant thing to have happened to me was the start of a new relationship with Ellen, the mother of our wonderful little girl Rosie. It was hardly the most traditional way to start a relationship, but I'm happy to report that nine months on, and everything is still tickety boo. We clicked so immediately that I almost forget sometimes what a new relationship it is. Not only that, but Ellen has brought something out of me, a drive that was never really there before, which makes me want to achieve things that will make the lives of my family move forward. I've never really had direction before, and 2009 will hopefully see it being implemented. But that's for another post.
As for all the standard geeky Paul stuff, it's not really been a great year for anything other than political reading. Music had been a bit ho-hum, with not many great new bands and most of my favourites not releasing anything this year. Telly has been a bit rubbish, with Heroes going a bit shit and nothing to really get excited about outside of the excellent Big Bang Theory, The IT Crowd, Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe, and the frankly excellent Dead Set.
This year has also been the year that I rediscovered the Internet, in all of its shiny glory. Without Google Reader I think I would be adrift now, and Last.fm has introduced me to a ridiculous number of bands.
I also returned to Nanowrimo and managed to succeed yet again, although the book itself is far from finished. But still, quite an achievement.
The other main event of the year was of course the economic collapse, but to be honest I really can't bring myself to care very much, as it seems the richer you were, the worse of you are. Now I'm no raving pinko, but so? It seems to me we are on the brink of some kind of epoch making shift in the way we all live our lives, and that everything terrible that's happening, from the meltdown to global warming, to the increase in mental religious nutbars killing each other for no particular reason, is providing a rich stew in which we can move forward as a race to find some better ways of dealing with the world around us. Whether we will or not is another matter.
Blimey, I went a little bit Star Trek there.
So there you go, my review of the year. I shall be doing a year end mix and posting soon, but not today.
Nano Count = 50,015
Well I did it, 50,000 words in 30 days, and now have the shiny evidence of my ability to write a ton of drivel in a short space of time. That may sound harsh, but it probably is drivel at the moment (I don't know either way, I haven't looked back on it at all) but hopefully once I give it s re-write, it may come out as something readable.
I'm sure you'll understand that this is the reason posts have been a little sparse of late, I only have the capacity for so many words at any one time, and they've all gone in the book. If anyone is remotely interested in reading it, let me know and I will mail you a copy.
Other than that the main news is that I'm going to be a student again. Starting February I will be doing an open university degree in computing, although I won't choose a specific path until I've done the basic modules. I utterly messed up my last attempt at a degree, and I'm sick of being poor, and of not knowing more about computers. So that's exciting.
With the nano month, I neglected to mention anything about the election, suffice to say when me and Jonic stayed up to watch the speech and the result, there were tears in my eyes. At the time I was pretty pissed off with some of the coverage of the man's race, until a few days later when I listened to Nina Simone's Strange Fruit, and it hit me how far America has come in less than a century.
Other than that, my expert opinion on some things for you, in bullet point fashion:
- This video is one of the greatest things I've ever seen
- The new AC/DC album is alright
- The new Guns N Roses album is terrifyingly awful
- The return of Charlie Brooker, first with Dead Set and then Screenwipe, is a very good thing
- This video is beyond comprehension, Rosie...please never be like this
- Last.fm is my new version of online crack
- The new trailers for Trek and Watchmen blow me away
- Shopping for kids toys is brilliant
- I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here is every bit as horrifying as I'd imagined, only I never knew it would be this watchable
- The new series of Spooks is very silly
- Little Dorrit is marvelous
Lastly, I heard some truly horrible news today. J+H, you are both in my thoughts, and if I were a praying man, you'd be in my prayers too.
That is all for now, but now that I have gotten back in the writing frame of mind you can expect more frequent posts.
Face in book.
I must admit that while I do have a facebook account, it's not something that occupies a huge amount of my time. There are too many irritating things about it. I for one am constantly bombarded with requests to do this or that, or bite another zombie, or take a movie taste challenge. To be honest I have neither the time nor the inclination. A lot of the people who send these are good friends of mine, and I always feel really bad when I ignore the request of my girlfriend, or a close friend, but I have decided on principle not to do them.
But yesterday, having signed on, I found a new crack-like way to pass the time, and that was the 'recommended friend' feature. And there was a whole evening gone. Now I have another rule when it comes to social networking sites, which is to only accept the friendship of people who I have actually met, or at least spoken to enough to genuinely call them a friend. But nevertheless, so many old acquaintances made my head dizzy. Now to sit back and see if any of them remember me.
This weekend I am spending a rather pleasant weekend with my ladies, but it is being somewhat undercut by the constant wave of nausea that hits me when I remember that I will, in the next few days, be finding out if I have a tremendously exciting new job. So to distract myself from this question, I present you with a picture of my little Rosie. Isn't she cute?
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