Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Bit of a wasted day.I checked my bank balance yesterday evening, and seeing it was more healthy than I expected, decided I was gonna go shopping today.
Yeah right... lol.
I didn't wake up till 3:30ish this afternoon, so by the time I'd got bathed and everything there wasn't really enough time for any meaningful shopping.
It's probably just as well really, coz I'd almost certainly have bought something I didn't really need, just for the sake of it. Like... I keep looking at mobile phones, even though I really don't need one. Very few people phone me and I'm usually at home anyway... besides which... as someone who gets annoyed when I'm disturbed by the phone while doing something, letting people phone me while I'm out seems a bit silly.
I dunno. I'll probably still get one anyway, since I'm planning on doing a lot of fishing this summer, and thats the kinda time one comes in handy.
Actually, I think I do know what I'm gonna do this week.
After 6 or so years I think it's time the hair went.
I have the urge to get it all chopped off and then go buy some new clothes. I'm not going conventional, not by a long shot, I just feel like a change of look.
Maybe I'll change my mind... maybe not. I dunno.
Steve 6:33 PM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, April 25, 2004
Went to the cinema with a friend this evening.Kill Bill Volume 2.
I'm not gonna say anyhting about the script itself, except to say it's not a straightforward killffest like volume 1... it tells more of a story.
The question you probably want to ask though is "Is it as good as volume 1?"
In short, no, but it's still very good, and some bits are absolutely excellent. If you liked volume 1 you should see it. If you didnt like volume 1, you should see it, coz it's different. If you like Tarantino you should see it and if you like Uma Thurman you should see it.
Labels: movies
Steve 11:40 PM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, April 24, 2004
Wahay!Digital tv!
Okay, so a few of the channels are absolute crap. I have no interest on shopping or travel channels, but there's a couple of news channels, a couple of music channels, and extended coverage of various bbc channels, and a very cool history channel. Extra general interest channels, a community channel, and a couple of kids channels too. Loadsa cartoons... hehehe.
If you're american it's probably no big deal, but uk tv is far more limited, albeit of a very high quality.... and up till now I've been limited to only 7 channels worth mentioning, so I'm rather pleased. Also the extra channels cost nothing at all, the only cost being for the set-top box.
Steve 12:46 PM [+] (0) comments
Yay!
And about bloody time too.
My bank finally pulled it's finger out and cleared several cheques it's been sitting on.
I wasn't broke by any means but it was a bit disconcerting.
So... shopping.... maybe, if I can be bothered.
Probably can't be bothered to be honest. It's 7am and almost time for bed (yeah, I do keep weird hours), so the shops will mostly be shut by the time I wake up.
Saying that, I'm very tempted to get one of those Freeview set-top boxes to get around 30 free digital tv channels.
Steve 7:04 AM [+] (0) comments
Weird.
It's been a *very* long time since I've found myself sat here at 3:30am and there's been not a soul to talk to.
You'd think living alone would be quite a lonely existance, but for years I had CB radio and there was always someone drifting through the channels, even if it was just a random trucker passing through... but they were always good for a laugh, even if only for their colourul use of language.
Then came the net and irc and I found I could pick and choose, be fussy who I spoke to, coz there's always so many people out there.
Tonight though... the channel's dead. Every civilised person I know (and thats a lot of people) is either in bed, away from home, or doing something else.
I've spoken about the view from my balcony before, shown photos and stuff.... great view across a large part of the town. There's something very special (special isn't the right word, but I can't think of the right word) about standing there an hour before sunrise and staring out at all those houses, you can almost feel all the people, fast asleep.
Aha! I detect signs of life.
Hyperactive foul mouthed party animal nurse and surreal counfused brazilian guy.
Do I really wanna join in with that?
Probably not.
Steve 3:48 AM [+] (0) comments
Thursday, April 22, 2004
Not much to be said about today.Uneventful would probably be the most appropriate word, and you just *know* you're turning into an old fuddy-duddy when the most interesting event of the day is watching the snooker on tv.
Ah well.
Hopefully my bank will pull it's finger out and clear some cheques it's been sitting on for a while and I'll go out and have a bit of a life for a while.
Not quite sure what I'll do then.... but the weather should get better soon, so some fishing may be on the cards. Hardly thrilling stuff, but I enjoy it, and haven't done it for too long.
Steve 2:10 AM [+] (0) comments
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Argh!!!Why do some foreigners assume that because you speak english that you have the time and inclination to do their english homework for them?
Like duh!
The web is a wonderful source of information where you can *learn* everything you're likely to need to know. Getting someone to hand you the answers on a plate is totally defeating the object... and come exam time these people are gonna be completely screwed, coz they won't have learned a thing.
What's even more annoying is they don't seem to understand the meaning of the word "no", and get very abusive when you explain why you aren't going to write their essay for them.
Oh well.
Maybe I'll try a different approach. "If you teach me your entire langguage, I'll take a look at your homework."
Steve 1:35 PM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, April 18, 2004
Hahaha... oh my god, I'm driving like a complete twat!I've always been into driving games and consider myself something of a specialist at Gran Turismo. Having completed all of my PS2 games though, I was bored so nipped down to the local shop and picked up a copy of WRC Extreme II, since they had it pretty cheap there.
This is NOT how to drive... I'm all over the place. Hehehe... much fun.
Labels: games
Steve 8:48 PM [+] (0) comments
Ahhh... loud music... how I've missed it.
Since moving the laptop into the living room I've spent very little time in the bedroom, (except for when I sleep) and that's where the stereo is.
Sure I play music in here, but just mp3s and online radio stations on the laptop, and the speakers hooked up to it, while better than the built in ones, really don't have much oomph.
So when I went for my bath a little while ago I decided 'sod it', stuck a Crystal Method compilation in the stereo and cranked it right up... to hell with the neighbours.
It's amazing what outragous volume can do for your frame of mind :-)
Labels: music
Steve 7:43 PM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, April 17, 2004
*Twiddles thumbs and ponders what to write*.I dunno... I seem to have a whole bundle of half formed thoughts in my head just now, which seems kind of fitting as that's how my life seems to be going lately.
A whole bundle of situations that may or may not develop... stalled projects on the backburner... people who may stay in the background or may come to the fore... finances that should be great but for the bank dragging its feet and making me wait.
"I don't know" Yup... that sums things up quite nicely.
Not fed up, not especially happy either... just indifferent and uncertain.
Well, fingers crossed that when things kick off and start moving again, (and they always do) it's in a favourable or constructive way.
Steve 6:03 AM [+] (0) comments
Friday, April 16, 2004
Here's a funky little website that lets you make George Bush say what you know he's really been trying to say all along, as shown below...
Steve 3:34 AM [+] (0) comments
Thursday, April 15, 2004
God almighty, some people are incredibly stupid.So some guy sends me a message in a particular forum, and coz I went and checked his profile but didn't actually reply, he decides I'm unfriendly and gets all moody with me.
Get a bloody clue.
That's one of the few things that really does bug me with the net. Talk to someone who says hi, just to be polite, and all of a sudden they think they own you, and later on any lack of immediate response from you is seen as an inisult.
It's pretty simple stuff really and you see it in all forms of communication. Just coz a person *can* speak to you doesn't mean they have to or want to... and just coz they may choose to on one occasion doesn't mean they have to or will want to on another.
Sadly some people just don't seem able to grasp that.
Labels: annoyed
Steve 5:13 PM [+] (0) comments
I'm finding myself very unmotivated just lately though I don't really know why.
There's a billion and one things I should be doing, like updatinng websites, grocery shopping, cleaning this flat, recording a CD for my mum, doing laundry, paying bills and a whole load of other little things that need doing... and I just can't seem to find it in me to do them.
Procrastination on an epic scale seems to be the order of the day. Hell... I can't even be bothered to chat on irc to any great degree.
It's not good.
I think it comes down to being bored.
Same routine every single day, so they all blur into one... and when tomorrow is exactly the same as today, why bother doing anything today when doing it tomorrow is no diferent?
Steve 12:31 PM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, April 11, 2004
Ah real life... well.. kind of.So a friend phoned me yesterday saying "I'm bored."..."Me too." I said
So a trip to the movies seemed in order.
Gothika... her choice... yup not a bad film.
There were some slightly predictable elements, but enough surprises to keep it interesting and enough things going bump in the night to make you jump a bit.
I think what I liked most about it... it plays on one of those deep dark fears that people have but don't like to think about...'what if I did something that I had no control of, and then couldn't remember?'
Best thing about the evening?
Real human company. I've been cooped up indoors and online too long.
Labels: movies
Steve 2:07 PM [+] (0) comments
Friday, April 09, 2004
An update on last night's post.Further confirmation has been obtained, enough to convince even a cynic like myself.
It's a strange thing... you wouldn't think you could get so attached to someone who lives thousands of miles away who you never knew beyond text conversations, but Impy was such a charmer, I find I'm quite gutted.
Labels: bereavement, chatrooms
Steve 6:17 AM [+] (0) comments
Thursday, April 08, 2004
A troubling evening.A very popular op, someone I've considered a friend, who's been missing for two weeks, has been reported and confirmed (as confirmed as is possible without actually going there to check) as having died over the weekend.
I'm torubled because I have doubts. There seem to be discrepancies. But then if it's true, to voice such doubts would be grossly disrespectful.... so I certainly won't do that in the channel, or even go into detail here.
Such is the way with irc, or any other form of online chat... you never *really* know what's real.
Whatever the truth behind it all, I know this much... Impetuous will be sorely missed.
Labels: bereavement, chatrooms
Steve 9:19 PM [+] (0) comments
Seems having messed up sleep has something of a knock-on effect, coz I feel like a great big pile of crap today.
Oh well.
So anyway... I'm a great lover of Ferrari cars, and was absolutely gutted to see that the new 612 Scaglietti is an absolute styling abortion. Never have I seen such an ugly Ferrari. I dunno what the people at Pininfirina were thinking of when they designed it, but it's SO wrong.
The photo does a good job of desguising just how ugly the car is, but if you look at the lines along the side, and consider that the bonnet (hood) is a mile long, you'll get the picture.
Just as I was going to dispair that the makers of the most beautiful cars in the world had lost the plot, Aston Martin come to the rescue with the absolutely sublime DB9. Now that's what cars should look like. Ferrari, take note.
Now THIS is a thing of beauty. Nuff said.
Labels: sleep
Steve 1:06 PM [+] (0) comments
Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Jesus Christ!Ever have one of those dreams where you know you're dreaming but can't wake up? You try and try to force yourself to wake up, and then you think you've done it... you sit up in bed, get up and everything... but you're still trapped inside the dream.
I just had one of those.
Must've 'woken up' over a dozen times but still couldn't get out.
I'm writing it here so I don't forget, coz you just know that by morning it'll have gone.
Oddly, I was in my own bed... but it wasn't here, it was back in the family home where I gew up, and my mum and dad were asleep in the next room, or on another occasion I was in the bedroom of my first flat on this estate... both times though the head of the bed was against the window. Another time seemed to be connected to one of the jobs I used to do...they knew I was in trouble or something, and sent a power surge down the phone line to try and purge the system... which worried me coz I though it might blow up my dsl modem. This in itself is odd coz I've only ever had dsl here. Just shows how interwoven the whole thing was.
So the thing is... each time I woke, I couldnt move, couldnt speak or shout... and I sure tried... and there was someone or something in the room... often just a shadow, or a flickering light... or a flickering shadow hovering over the bed. This thing was attacking me. Sometimes it would just rip the quilt off the bed, another time it was trying to smother me, and another it threw me right out of the bed.
The very last time... no last time but one... or two, before I managed to wake up for real, I managed to get out of bed. I pulled the light chord but the lights didn't work. The room was huge and this thing was in there with me. I finally found the door and got onto the landing, but there were still no lights. I opened the door to my parents bedroom and they were there, but really pissed off that I'd opened their door. So they came into my room to see what was wrong and there was this 'thing', like a tall red and black almost liquid moving column of something,,, maybe energy... and it was *me*.... and it was coming for me. It was angry that I'd escaped.
At this point I knew I was still dreaming and started thrashing about.. I got up, still no lights, telling myself "wake up wake up wake up", walked across the huge dark room and went out of the door... found myself in some kind of darkened corridoor or reception area, deffinitely work related... and knew I was still dreaming, so I opened my eyes, forced myself to put out the cigarette I was smokinng and put the ashtray on the floor... it was so hard to move and not close my eyes again...
And then I woke up for real, threw the quilt off, sat up straight away, turned on the light, checked I really was in my own room, got up got dressed came in here and wrote this.
Now I don't want to go back to bed.
Labels: dreams
Steve 9:24 PM [+] (0) comments
Monday, April 05, 2004
F1 Grand Prix has become a curious sport... something of a joke, even.Micheal Schumacher and Ferrari have become so totally dominant that they're now almost irrelevant.
Todays was an interesting and occasionally even exciting race. Lots of overtaking, a couple of shunts, a car eating it's engine for lunch, some mental passing moves, and Jensen Button on the podium again.
Very wisely the director/producer or whoever chose to almost entirely ignore the two front runners... coz they were just going round and round and round, very quickly, and who wants to see that?
Who'd have thought it though? It used to be that the crap teams at the back would be ignored, coz who wants to watch a loser? Now... you get less coverage for being the very best by a country mile and the cars at the back who're scrapping for the leftovers get all the coverage.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining... I wanna see the action, wherever it is in the field... I just find it a bizarre situation.
It's even more bizarre when you remember Ferrari's record prior to and just after Schumacher's joining the team.
I remember praying they'd get a win, race after race, as Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi struggled with poor power and reliability in what were easilly the most beautiful cars ever built. Then Schumi joined and they brought out a radically different looking car... butt ugly by all standards, and the thing simply fell apart underneath him.
Anyone remember the race where the prop shaft fell out from under the car in the formation lap?
Labels: F1
Steve 2:02 AM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, April 03, 2004
Without going into any details at all (which renders this post entirely pointless really), tonight there was complete unity over 3 matters where recently there has been dischord over numerous issues.Very very refreshing and heartening.
So, considering you don't have a clue what I'm talking about, what's the point of this post?
I'm in a good mood.
Nuff said :-)
Steve 12:21 AM [+] (0) comments
Friday, April 02, 2004
Speaking of virus's, a thing just happened in the chatroom.An op (outside of his control) posted a url like "http://www.somewebsiteorother.com/somepicture.jpg Lol" and crashed out of the channel immediately after.
Within 30 seconds, easilly a dozen people did exactly the same thing.
This is impressive, from an outside point of view, in terms of virus design. While the code itself may have been nothing special... how it managed to spread so rapidly is a major achievment.
Most internet chat savvy people know not to click on links from people they don't know, but when an op or friend does it, you expect it to be safe... so several people clicked the link, posted the link themselves and crashed. Several more people clicked those links... and the snowball effect took over... all coz it was being posted by people they knew and trusted.
Clever social engineering coupled with basic coding... very effective, and probably more dangerous than a comlplex or high-tech virus if it included a destructive payload.
Why didn't I get hit by it?
The Lol at the end of the url... seeing that from one person was nothing unusual, but seeing it twice, when both people crashed immediately after... dead giveaway. Maybe it's callous of me, coz I know it cauzed headaches for all those people, having to track down and remove the virus... but while watching them all fall out of the channel like flies, I couldn't help laughing.
Labels: chatrooms
Steve 12:55 AM [+] (0) comments
Thursday, April 01, 2004
Ok, I just remembered what I was going to blog about.Someone out there, possibly a reader here, though probably not, has got a virus.
I keep recieving email server admin notices regarding undeliverable emails, and virus alerts, as responses from emails supposedly sent by me.
Now I know for a fact that they don't originate from me, partly because I keep my anti-virus and other security software bang up to date and scan my system every morning, but also because I never use outlook express. Its not possible for me to unintentionally send emails from my hotmail acocunt.
What these virus's do is spoof the sender address, using the addy of someone in the user's address book... so that user never even becomes aware that they have a problem.
It's not the frst time it's happened... actually, it's pretty common when there's a virus outbreak... but it is annoying.
Steve 10:20 PM [+] (0) comments
There was something I wanted to blog about, but I've forgotted what it was.
Damn.
Anyways, Yahoo are letting me back into my LanchCast station (linked down there on the left as Radio Benway), and after a week or so spent listening to random Winamp stations, noting down bands I like the sound of, I've just added around 500 new songs to my station.
That's pushed my overall ratings level on Launch to over 15,000.
What does that mean? The higher the rating, the more extensive the selection of tunes. This could mean either a wider variety or a tighter focus, depending on the person who made the selection, but what it definitely means is all the tunes played on that station were selected by the owner, and aren't some random pile of crap selected by LaunchCast to fill in the gaps.
Considering I've only ever seen 2 stations with a higher rating, and most stations struggle to get over 2000 - 3000, I'm pretty pleased with it.
Labels: launchcast
Steve 8:42 PM [+] (0) comments
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