half_orc

I just did not enjoy the series finale. I'm not entirely sure why - I think that I'm probably getting a little sick of epic universe-saving plots; attempts to tie everything together whilst making sure that the viewer gets everything they want; and probably just too much stuff going on at too fast a pace (both visually and in terms of the story).

I think that I want the writers to just slow down and relax. Some cheesy undersea monsters would not go amiss either.

( Summer Rain. Belinda Carlisle )

First off, a quick hurrah at odds with my post title. Hurrah for being an Uncle. I promised that I'd hold off until the proud parents had a chance to post, but that being done, I can now express my extreme delight at being an Uncle. Not least cos it gives me the opportunity to be disreputable at young Davey and buy him innapropriate presents. Grats to both parents!

Anyway, today was the friday practice at the British Grand Prix. Silverstone has a rep for being hard to get into, and so I took at back route that not only got me there in good time, but also gave me an opportunity to play with my Porsche on the twisty stuff, which is one of its favourite places. Yeee, and indeed, Haaaaa!

Good practice sessions too. Young Lewis and Heikki look pretty racy; Kimi, whilst fast, doesn't look entirely comfortable; and Fillipe, Fernando, and Jarno gave us lots of broken cars to look at. The Red Bulls seem particularly quick this weekend thus far, as do the Toyotas, when they aren't shedding their rear wings and plunging into the Armco. Even Jenson posted a decent time!

Toyota have the best booth babes. Red Bull the most tongues in cheeks (there's actually a full publishing outfit on site producing the irreverent "Red Bulletin"). Honda have the most pretention - in the form of a giant inflatable cinema with a 15 min short promoting their green credentials and racing heritage... how environmentally responsible is a giant inflatable cinema anyway? McLaren have the biggest crowds. And Ferrarrrrarrrrar have the most merchandise... by a distance.

Seeing a man named Senna put a motor car on pole sent a shiver down my spine. Seems nephew Bruno is quite a talent. Formula BMW is sllllllooooooooooowwwwwwwww (at least in comparison with F1 and GP2). The Silverstone Racing Drivers Club have the best bar (and we have guest passes to it). And I am too old for any of the E-Zones.

Anyway, qualifying tomorrow and race sunday. W00t!

Special thanks to pennyanne for the tix, and to pauln for the good company.

2. List 5 songs you like that start with that letter
3. Post them to your journal with these instructions 

Mr Childs gave me an M

from: Yahoo News, on gang/knife crime:
Teams of officers have already been deploying to trouble hotspots since the launch of Operation Blunt 2 in May. Armed with wands and knife arches, the officers have been carrying out searches using powers under Section 60 of the Public Order Act, which allows them to operate under the presumption of reasonable suspicion.

Now, clearly I know too many Harry Potter fans, but this did give me a lovely mental image of the chaps form the Met pointing eight-inch-willow-and-unicorn-hair sticks at teenage crims and threatening them with a Crucius.

I wonder if the Ministry of Magic is aware.

I see Prince William has got himself involved with drugs already. Excellent.

A good manager is a buffer between the directors and the schmucks who do the work.
We don't have one.
Starting to fill in timesheet, starting at 5am is a novel experience.
Fortunatly this exhibit is sponsored by Red Bull.

so....

job interview today for a permanent position in the county council

i did the 1/2 hour test and then went to the interview and walked out of the interview an hour later, at 1030

the rest of the candidates came and went and then i get a tap on the shoulder from my line manager (who was on the interview panel)
'so how do you think the interview went?' asked my possible future line manager
'well' said i 'i have just emailed my mum to say i feel i was under experienced for the role but worst case scenario i have some interview practice and waved my cv under some important noses'
'well you under sell yourself, given the quality of the interview (this position has been advertised twice before) you produced an interview that was in the top quater percentile (blah blah blah to me that means) we would lie to offer you the job pending references
'um..ok..thank you'

so it would seem that 'take no shit' month is working and i have secured a permanent forever more typr job in the county council as admin assistant to comittee support.

and then i went to drama and splashed paint on the wall, stood back and went all is just details now


catch ya on the flip side
j

Well Looks like my new job is going tits up.

Long story short.

Bos has been drinking the profits

Thus I have a simple choice.. Tell em to piss of Im not working for no pay (definietley killing the company)

Or

Working in an asshatty 'we cant pay you at the moment' way and hoping things sort themselves out

Having a meeting with more sensible boss tomorrow.

Time to play hardball methinks (and roll on the land of unemployment)

Just misread the CBBC childrens show "Hider in the House" as "Hitler in the House"
Which amused me

Thanks to Mr caddyman

( A Music Meme )
And this amused me.
http://uarrr.org/blog/30-06-2008/how-to/#

It appears that Violin playing is not like riding a bike
Will have to do some serious practise before I contemplate joining anything

I appear to have accidentally ordered D&D4. It was an honest accident - I was clicking back and forth through the order process on Amazon to check out the shipping rates and figure out whether it was cheaper to order it from Amazon.co.uk or take advantage of the comically weak dollar and order from Amazon.com, when I clicked on one Comfirm button too many.

Luckily, that happened when I was checking out "International Standard" delivery, not "Priority International Courier". So in about three weeks, I should be receiving a box set of D&D4 books. Just in time for the honeymoon. This can't get me a beating!

So you have to compute a Radiosity solution before you hit the Render button? Ohhhhhhhhhhh.

No wonder I didn't get why everyone loved Radiosity so much. Doh!

Very tempted to join http://www.cardiffphilharmonic.org/
Would require pretty much all my Friday evenings though...

Just applied for the First job which had the line "Must have driving Licence" on it :-)

Have been off work today as I had a few dasy of holiday to take before the holiday year rolls over (yes - Sky have their holiday running from July to June and yes, it is stupid.)

Anyway - we waited for a bloke to come and fit the new carpet for the nursery, which has now been done, and done well. Restores faith in trades people.

I have mainly been doing gardening though. I love gardening as I find it very therapuetic. Nothing amazing, just weeding and tidying up but I've enjoyed doing it all the same. I really wish I had more time to do it than I do.

Tomorrow I have another day off in which my Mum will be visiting. I like this not doing work thing. :)

We're going to see Ben Folds in Bristol Carling Academy in a couple of weeks and are looking to recreate the experience we had a while back in Cardiff where we walked out of the gig over the road and into the cheap hotel where we'd booked a room.

Unfortunately I have realised I have absolutely no idea where anything in Bristol is. Does anyone know if there is a travelodge, holiday inn or similar anywhere near the venue?

Well, it's been a delightful weekend. There were water pistols, waistcoats, fortifications, port, bacon and an awful lot of cheese, plus a visit to the Underworld and a room with seven identical doors and a slowly revolving floor. Thanks to andyk16 for the making it happen.


A fine octet of dashing young chaps, bringing a very strong game.

In other news, I've just been told that I have three years of PhD funding. So I get to do stuff like this and call it work.


MINOTAUR - Modern 16" gun-armed frigate

On Friday I received a letter from the Arts and Humanities Research Council about my application for PhD funding. The letter informed me that my application had not been considered because the AHRC had not received a form from the University updating them of my MA progress. I am thus coldly furious at present because filling in the forms and completing my side of the application took a great deal of my time and effort and significantly affected how much I could put into my MA coursework. It was also enormously stressful.

I'm not completely fucked as far as funding goes - I still have the offer of a funded studentship from the University - but that pays about three grand less than a successful application would. That's not to say I'd have been successful, but having the chance to at least be in the competition would have been nice.

Anyway - before I begin screaming angrily at people I have contacted the postgraduate admin person explained what's happened and asked for an explanation. I am willing to accept: lost in the post; life threatening illness; family emergency; and bereavement as excuses. Anything else may well result in an enormous bout of deliberate offensiveness. I suspect that they will try to tell me it's my fault somehow.