| Issue 7 |
[Jul. 26th, 2008|01:33 pm] |
| [ | Today i'm feeling |
| | busy | ] | Issue 7 available to buy now
Copies for friends etc. will be sent out next week! |
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[Jul. 23rd, 2008|01:45 pm] |
my job is wondrous, free fruit twice a week - i had blueberries for breakfast, bagels and beer on a friday, massages on a thursday and i'm allowed to do what i want when i'm not Pming.
also going to paris and stockholm next week. what fun!
wow, life's ok. |
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| Bwa ha ha ha. The future is ours! Welcome to the Mesh! |
[Jul. 22nd, 2008|10:55 pm] |
Hi Folks,
Love it or hate, many of you know that I work at Microsoft, as a video compressionist.
Today we had a product fair, which much like it sounds, is a way for different product groups and teams to share with the rest of the campus what they are working on, and in some cases give us a glimpse of what is coming soon.
I had a chance to talk with someone from the "Live Mesh" team, and they helped me get all hooked up with the Live Mesh beta.
It might not seem like an incredibly big deal, but I think if you take a look at it, many of my readers might discover that this is a pretty spiffy sync tool.
If you are so inclined, just go to http://www.mesh.com
I just installed it at my office desktop, and my laptop at home, and whamo! the mesh is live. When you add a machine to your mesh it loads a small amount of software (like 2 megs) that enable you to have your own secure mini-WAN. This includes a "Virtual Live Mesh desktop" that you can access via a web browser, and becomes the home base for the mesh.
Right now, the Mesh is just desktop to desktop, but mobile PC (ie, our phones) and even Mac desktops are the next clients to be delivered, and this team takes that to mean weeks, not months or years...
As a test of this, I just connected from my laptop at home to my office pc via the mesh client, and it worked really easily/quickly, with almost no fuss. In the background, this traversed two gnarly firewalls that were not previously made aware of the Live Mesh technology. Put another way, I just clicked and it worked, seamlessly, without any hassle.
I know that this sort of thing can be done with other applications like VNC, or "GotoMYPC" and that sort of remote desktop, but this lets you maintain a shared document pool that is always syncronized, as well as let you navigate as if you are local from any of the systems that are part of the mesh.
It seems pretty darn incredible.
In other news, I think I just picked up another wedding to offiate. Yay.
And last but not least, I will be hosting a Lughnassadh ritual on August 2nd in Menlo Park's "Bayfront Park". Please contact me if you are interested in joining us. The ritual is free and open to the public.
Cheers, joel |
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| Still alive |
[Jul. 22nd, 2008|01:51 am] |
Today I have been wielding a soldering iron; it's all gone a bit analogue! It's been quite satisfying actually, although we worked too late and I haven't had a proper meal today.
I'm not feeling quite as lonely as I was, but if people that want a chat want to drop me Skype / MSN IDs, then feel free (comments screened).
Too late for a proper update. |
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| Gothla 2008 |
[Jul. 22nd, 2008|01:02 am] |
| [ | Today i'm feeling |
| | tired | ] | Still tired after Gothla (going back to work today was probably a bad idea!). But we did have a fabulous time.
We weren't sure about when we'd get there on the Friday, but in the end after leaving Colchester about half two we managed to arrive in Leicester at about half five giving us time to find a chippy and get dressed up a bit to go to the Hafla on friday night. The Hafla was brilliant, I think my highlights were Morgana, Sashi and Ariellah, but I liked the group with the gypsy style skirts (I can't find my programme so have lost their name) and Raqs Macabre reduced us to tears of laughter. It was also really nice to meet Angela from Tribe Zuza and Jesse who I'd met at Raqs Britannia. After the hafla we went off to the Quebec club, and danced our little socks off for a few hours before turning in.
Saturday we relaxed in the morning before wandering over to the Souk to look at the pretty things and do a little light shopping before Ariellah's workshop. Lunch in the cafe / sandwich place next door (the people in there were really nice to us) and then on to Ariellah's workshop. I was half really looking forward to some serious focus on arms, as I've found them really hard (lots of boxing doesn't make for graceful arms) and half dreading it as I find them really hard. However, it was brilliant and I really felt I took a lot away from it. I found Ariellah a great teacher and really nice too and kept up better than I thought I would. It's also really nice to dance to music I know and like. And One and Qntal, yay!
After the workshop it was a quick change and out to the buffet meal, we were running a bit late, but were reassured but a couple of dancers we met that the restaurant were happy wiht that so there wasn't an unmanageable rush. We'd only just got out of the hotel when we bumped into Ariellah again, and wandered up to the restaurant with her, listening to Dean's tales of winding up gormless american tourists, and bemoaning chav's who below abuse out of cars. At the restaurant, we got chatting to various people, especially Clare who lived quite locally and Sonia from Germany, living in London.
Food was great and we trolled back to the hotel to get ready. This took a little time (he heh, okay, quite a bit of time), but suitably dolled up we made our way out to the club just in time to catch up with Lee (DJ Cruel Britannia) who my husband Jamie had DJed with when we toured with the Last Dance in 2006, and his lovely lady Laura, before he had to go and DJ. Much dancing and drinking ensued, and I even managed to say hi to Neal from Screaming Banshee Aircrew who I hadn't met before as he's joined the band more recently. We also got chatting with Sonia who we'd met in teh restaurant. Back to the hotel, pack so we don't have to in the morning and go to bed.
Sunday we had the workshop with Ariellah early, so a quick breakfast then off to the workshop. This one I found harder but still managed to pretty much keep up, and felt again that I took a lot away.
Back to the Souk to look at pretties and we bump into Sashi. I'd been sent photos of Keri,my friend from Calfornia, by Shawn last Wednesday (Keri is the girlfriend of Jeff from The Last Dance, and Shawn married to Pete the bassist). I'd known for a while Keri was getting into bellydancing but we were pleasantly surprised to see that she was dancing with Sashi. Hence we introduced ourselves, and it turns out that it's a terribly small world and not only does Keri dance with Sashi, Sashi's known the guys from TLD for years. Thus ensued much swapping of "gory stories" and drinking tales and we all wandered off to lunch together before it was time to make for Sashi's workshop.
Sashi was *mean* :o) !!! she really made us do a serious cardio, running up and down, warm up to get us really flexible before starting to work on the combo's, more like the warm up I do before kick boxing than what I'm used to for dancing. It was effective though and we soon went on to the combo's. Sashi has a completely different style of teaching to Ariellah, and it was really good to move into a different view of it. You see and understand it from more ways. I really enjoyed the workshop and learned a lot to take away with me. Katie was also very pleased to dance to NIN, and me to dance to VNV. Even more surreally, after whole TLD connection with Sashi, in the workshop I bumped into Tamsin and Nadia who I went to school with 15 years ago and who now live in Germany. We instantly recognised each other, bizarre!
Anyway, we pretty much had to disappear immediately the workshop ended as Dean had to be back on set for the independent movie he's been roped into (I'm in it too!) and after a few quick goodbyes and swapping of contact details we zipped back across the country to collapse in an exhausted heap back in Essex! |
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| They mostly come out at night. Mostly. |
[Jul. 16th, 2008|05:07 pm] |
I'm in the middle of Guaira, practically on my own, and the sun is setting. I have a camera and a mobile on me and a laptop in plain sight.
Actually, there are a couple of guys around, on the other side of the cabinet, but I'm trying to stay out of their way and, as far as I'm aware, they don't speak English, anyway.
Passers by are coming up and talking; it's quite amusing trying to communicate that I can't possibly help them with their, no doubt serious, telecomms issue, mainly because I have no clue what they are saying. One of the guys didn't actually believe it when he was told, as if I'd fake foreign-ness… actually, if you're an installer and people keep bugging you about stuff outside of your control, maybe it's a handy defence trick.
So I'm waiting: for someone to get in position, for a 'phone call, or something. I could be waiting a while. Given a list of problems, Brazilians seem to elect to work on one of them, but will then discuss all of the other problems, instead of making progress.
Oh dear, insects, and me without repellent. A bus labelled Santa Malaria just pulled up, although the 'la' might have been a trick of my vision.
Lunch was in the other hotel in Barretos, well the only other one I've heard of. The Barretos Country Hotel "Convention and Resort" is supposed to be very nice, with Cable TV in its rooms, but apparently it's less friendly.
Anyway, the bar area is very cleverly named Bar Retos and all the staff appeared to be wearing cowboy hats. Actually the three staff in reception were also wearing hats. I feel I ought to get one. I think I even spotted a little english on the menu.
The food itself was simple, but tasty, we had bacalhao (cod), rice and a salad of tomato and onion served in the family manner, i.e. plates in the middle and help yourself. I had a perfectly drinkable sucos de abacaxi com hortelho (pineapple and mint).
If I have to stay in Barretos for the weekend and the tedium gets too much I might have to move hotels. But I couldn't abandon the fridge that makes noises all night, the hideously loud and, thankfully, largely unnecessary air-conditioning, the lack of power sockets, dodgy lights and ridiculously clangy metal doors that make the Kelha Plaza so endearing, could I? I guess it depends. |
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| Noisy's 2009 Calendar |
[Jul. 17th, 2008|08:09 pm] |
| [ | Today i'm feeling |
| | dorky | ] |
| [ | I 'ave been mostly listenin' to |
| | Shanklin Freak Show | ] | Not sure if this is relevant to (m)any people on my friends list now, but please pass on to anyone you think may be interested!!
Wanna star in Noisy's 2009 calendar?! The ink on the pages of brand new issue 7 may still be wet but that doesn't stop Noisy planning ahead. What now? How can we make the next issue even more exciting? Well, we may have found the answer - seeing as issue 8 is due to be unleashed just before everybody's fave time o' year - Crimbo, we thought we'd go all 'Smash Hits' and create a super-duper, 'stars of the Essex music scene' 2009 calendar! oh yes! What we need you to do: If you're in a band, a solo artist, or a promoter/radio station/zine writer/club night, and you are BASED IN ESSEX, UK ('cos that's important), send us a 'themed' photo of yourselves - perhaps you'd like to be captured sat round the Xmas tree in hideous sweaters or engaged in a snowball fight for December or January? Maybe you're a bunch of moody goths eager to break out the fake blood & fangs for October? Or you're more at home on the beach, soaking up those rays, for the Summer months - the funniest/most creative efforts are sure to secure a place in our calendar! Entries need to be sent to me at info@noisyzine.co.uk by SEPTEMBER 1st 2008, the best ones will be chosen, announced on our website/myspace where more details of the final 'thing' will follow... How the final result will actually be realised has yet to be decided - it could be a proper 'hang on your wall' jobbie, a PDF download or a mini pocket-sized dealy, I don't know, these schemes mainly fall flat on their face due to apathy so we may only get 2 month's worth of material submitted! - but please, PROVE ME WRONG PEOPLE, PROVE ME WRONG!!!! |
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| UNEMPLOYED? CAN YOU USE OFFICE?? |
[Jul. 17th, 2008|02:12 pm] |
From 27k
A company I have trained for are looking for an IT trainer , you would train B2B groups in how to use Office programs to an advanced level.
If you are interested FB me or email me world_of_cat@hotmail.com and I will send you a job spec. It's an immediate start after interview and refs.
If you are unsure of what it means to be an IT trainer, email me. |
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| Exhausted |
[Jul. 16th, 2008|12:06 am] |
Too shattered to write much.
Lot's of dogs wandering around the streets, particularly of Guaira. I don't remember feral canines from before.
The churrascaria in Guaira was better than I'd been led to believe. Some of the meat was overcooked, but I became reacquainted with chicken hearts and linguiça, as well as some fantastic grilled cheese; a bit like halloumi and mozarella.
The evening meal was very light after the rodizio. We had a couple of pasteli (airy pasties, light on filling, claimed of Chinese origin), I had cheese and palmito variants; delicious, although I still crave the palm hearts au naturel.
Can't stay awake any longer. |
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| Barretos |
[Jul. 15th, 2008|12:16 pm] |
So Barretos is a bit quiet; frankly that's just what I need. Some time with few distractions, where everything at work is clearer because I'm working on one task, where my other survival needs are provided without my having to plan too much (laundry, food, shelter), and a lack of entertainment allows me to catch up on those things that feel imperative; namely sorting photos and maybe even doing some writing.
I'm on the road from Barretos to Guaria... something tells me I'm going to be sick of this road by the end; 40 minutes each way dodging lorries fully laden with sugar cane. Apparently the harvest continues 24 hours a day at the moment. This means that even at 2am we still meet oncoming lorries and catch up with others that we, seemingly, have to pass, particularly as a long stretch of the road is a single contraflow carriageway. I'm not sure which is more scary at the moment, overtaking or the uncertain dread that fills me every time I see headlights coming towards me.
The bits without sugarcane are nice. |
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| Working Already |
[Jul. 14th, 2008|10:07 pm] |
| [ | Today i'm feeling |
| | tired | ] |
| [ | I 'ave been mostly listenin' to |
| | Imogen Heap - Headlock | ] | I can't believe that I'm working already
I only landed in São Paolo at around 5.30am, then caught a second flight after midday and arrived in Barretos at about 2pm. I'm now on-site in Guaria.
Barretos is like some brazilian suburban sprawl; I can see why it could be seen as boring. I hope that I don't have to spend a weekend here, alone. There's a sort of a frontier feeling; I feel as if I ought to get a cowboy hat and maybe even some boots; I haven't seen a lot of interesting buildings, though. Apparently there's a big rodeo next month, but I don't think that I'll still be here, unless something goes terribly wrong.
We wandered out for coffee and I had a couple of sticky buns, one filled with beef, the other with chicken, then picked up some toiletries from a pharmacist and then some coconut juice and a sweet made from dried coconut with condensed milk from a street stall. The sun was blazing.
We went back to the hotel to get some rest. I failed. First I internetted, chatted to a few friends, including a couple of people in Brazil. One of the women I met on the last day in Uberländia all of those months ago may be able to sort me out with a travel agent, which may be handy. After that I lay in the dark for a good long while until I finally went to sleep for maybe an hour, at which point I really didn't want to wake up. We went for dinner at 7.30pm; it was already dark, which startled me. I ordered Picanha (beef) and manioc, with bacon rice. I also had a surprisingly bitter orange juice. We had a long wait. Eventually farofa, some tomato and onion relish and a bowl of chopped chillies in clear sauce arrived and then our plates. I steered clear of the chilli for now, but filled up on manioc and rice.
In Brazil a full plate does for two people, so you order half plates. In Switzerland a half plate is a starter, a full plate is a main course.
While Ricardo was on the 'phone I got chatting to a couple of women on the next table, naturally intrigued by the fact we were speaking English. They were english teachers, one of whose parents was American.
There aren't as many good restaurants in Barretos as in either Curitiba or Uberländia, and there are even fewer, if any, in Guaria. I think that there's neither a good Churrascaria, nor a Japanese restaurant in either. Apparently there's a very bad Churrascaria in Guaria.
I may be rambling. I feel very tired.
On the other hand I may be doing some driving tomorrow. Doom! |
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| Riberão Preto to Barretos |
[Jul. 14th, 2008|01:12 pm] |
Riberão Preto is teeny. Well, the airport is. It has one conveyor belt, about ten metres in circumference and you can watch the baggage handlers unloading onto it. Well you could, but for the crowd of people massed around it.
I notice that my driver has my name wrong.
It's a hell of a lot hotter, though. The sky is blue and seems clear. São Paolo was immense, but obscured.
We're heading towards Franca and B. Palmeiras.
The land seems pretty flat. Noticed a couple of circular roads, like large roundabouts, from above.
Green fields and trees; almost English. Lorries and trailers stacked with, is it wood, cane, rushes or other.
Turned
Speeding along straight roads, only inclines to break the monotony and, of course, provide bind hazards. Ok, the lorries are quite good at that too.
Rust-coloured soil exposed by building work.
Detritus blowing across the road.
Bizarre patches of unmetalled road. About six or seven metres at a time; more understandable over bridges.
Merged with road that fans out to toll gates; auto sensors of some kind. Slow down to 40 and wait for the gate to open before accelerating again.
This is more foreign! Fields of some monocotyledonous plant with wispy white flower heads when mature. Sugar?
Turn through Sertãozhino towards Bebedouro.
Despite sleeping through much of the flight, suddenly I feel every mile away from home. No idea where I'm going, or even if I have a hotel booked.
Yeah, Açucar, I asked. :) Masses of it. I'm sure we passed that lorry going the other way. Or there are a few of them.
Driving alongside asymmetric pylons. Only the right arms and top have insulators and cables. Half used. Shadowing the road.
Two lanes, every road so far, minimum.
Minerais Nucleos?
Barretos 11 Brasilia 696 |
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| In and Out of São Paolo |
[Jul. 14th, 2008|09:29 am] |
Guarulhos is Chaos; it is not merely chaotic; it is a living embodiment of Chaos, whose tides ebb and flow with the hope and despair of its victims.
Eventually I fought my way through the currents and found my luggage, then became caught in an eddy, which, eventually, took me through customs.
One funny moment was when two guys, presumably American, but they could have been Swiss, were roundly remonstrated at for queue-jumping. At first they ignored the rather agitated man who was haranguing them, but it must have been quite hard to ignore choice phrases like "Get out of here! You're not wanted. You're not wanted here. Get out. Get out of this country. This country doesn't want you. This world doesn't want you!" Eventually a security guard wandered over and, after a short conversation, beckoned the protocol violators to follow him, which they again tried to ignore, until the guard returned a little more impatiently. It was the closest thing to entertainment.
Lest anyone think I'm being racist, the main reason that I thought that they were American was that there were a few of them around (that's British for "the place was crawling with swarms of them") as we'd landed at a similar time to a plane from Dallas.
Once I'd made it through customs, I eventually found my driver, startling him with an enthusiastic "Bom Dia". I tried to get money, but failed as the machine wouldn't give any. We left.
It was cold and foggy: "Poco frio", Marcus said. The fog gradually cleared as we drove across town, maybe a factor of location as much as the passing of time. Traffic was busy, motorcycles drove in trains, the leaders beeping on their horns as they wove through the virtually parked or slow-moving cars, presumably swerving to avoid the people standing in the middle of the freeway (motorway) selling mobile 'phone accesories to the drivers, approaching trapped vehicles and climbing up the sides of lorries. Perhaps as much to to avoid scooters as to talk. So many things I'd forgotten:
The police cars with their wide red arrays of lights on the roof.
Lorries with tubes or cables connected to each hub, the lumps of chrome seeming to hang away from the wheel instead of capping it. Presumably the tubes monitoring or maintaining tyre or brake-fluid pressure. I'm guessing tyre.
People crossing the main roads.
Additionally, though, I saw some things I hadn't seen before: An Egyptian obelisk, or modern facsimile thereof - huge and grand against the skyline.
A building with a giant female status - somewhere between African and South American in style, the adjacent wall adorned with huge Zulu-like shields.
Of course I also felt slightly vulnerable: too many stories of gun-crime at stop-lights er cetera.
Check-in at Congonhas was fairly painless. Getting cash wasn't: the only cashpoints (ATMs) in the main areas were internal cards only and the only one that accepted Mastercard was out of operation for over twenty minutes while it was refilled, overseen by twitchy-looking men holding their guns half out of their holsters. And the only exchange I found open, once it had got to 9am, only accepted dollars and euros, neither of which I use or am carrying, somewhat foolishly on reflection.
I'm tucking into Maki & Ngiri in Congonhas Airport after a drive through São Paolo and half an hour of trying to find money. Feeling very tired though. Hard not to doze off in the car. Time for coffee and Pão de Quejio! :)
10.12 Security was easier. It took longer to get my Pão de Quijio. Looking at the departure board I am reminded that plane times are only estimated. My flight to Riberão Preto is estimated at 12.05 - on time, at the moment. Must stop thinking about eating. Too many nice things to try again. I'm also a lot calmer now that I have some money. |
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| Gone & Dry |
[Jul. 13th, 2008|11:58 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | cinema | ] |
| [ | Today i'm feeling |
| | unamused | ] |
Ok. I am already disconcerted that we are flying south-west.
I have unerringly found the Michael Gondry film, unintentionally of course, in Be Kind, Rewind. Sadly Michal Gondry seems to have forgotten that a comedy ought to be funny. Saying that, the Lion King was hilarious / amusing. [Generally, however,] it's only funny in the the way that Steve Zissou is funny, i.e. a) playing with the uncomfortable and b) not very.
Oh, Boyz 'n the Hood was also silly. [I should probably explain that the plot of the film is that the main characters wipe every tape in a video store and try to keep the business going by remaking the films themselves.]
I think, to be fair, it being marketed as a comedy was a disservice. Not that I know what it should be described as. I could see the Gondry, but I guess it has a bit of Spike. And a hint of [?and??]. |
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| League |
[Jul. 16th, 2008|09:29 pm] |
| [ | Today i'm feeling |
| | bouncy | ] |
| [ | I 'ave been mostly listenin' to |
| | The Human League - Don't You Want Me (Special Extended Dance Mix) | ] | Picked up a CD in Fopp with The Human League 12" mixes and B-sides on. Turns out it was released in 2005, but I never knew (I've been after something like this for years). This makes me very happy.
Now all I need is a copy of 'Love and Dancing' and my League collection could be called 'complete'...... |
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| Saturday: Fields of the Nephilim |
[Jul. 15th, 2008|07:02 pm] |
| [ | Today i'm feeling |
| | hot | ] |
| [ | I 'ave been mostly listenin' to |
| | Paradise Lost - True belief | ] | Saturday daytime, Emily and I went to Camden where she bought a pair of new boots and we went to the Ice Wharf and met erming and Scott. We had dinner and quite a few alcoholic drinks. We then caught the tube to Shepherd's Bush station and had another drink in a pub there before going to the Empire for the gig. We arrived in time for the support act Inkubus Sukkubus, who I personally thought were ok even if I have probably seen them too many times in the past. The set included such songs as Belladonna and aconite, Heart of Lilith, Wytches and the cover of Paint it black just incase anyone is interested. Then Fields of the Nephilim played, and whilst it wasn't quite as powerful and intense as the Astoria gig last year, it was still a really good show. Highlights for me included For her light (which they didn't play last year), Straight to the light, Penetration (I like the Nefilim era stuff too :P) and Psychonaut. From the fire was a complete surprise as I assumed Carl McCoy wanted to distance himself from anything off the Fallen album. Once the gig was over, it left a sense of anticipation of what they might play the following night, which was slightly annoying for me as I didn't have a ticket for that :P (I'm guessing they played Dawnrazor and Last exit for the lost on the Sunday? I haven't seen any setlists yet). Nevermind, less than a month until I see them again at M'era Luna. :)
Once the gig was finished, we caught the train to Angel where I had more food in the Tai Veg place before going to Slimelight, which was a slight mistake since there was no goth floor this time, so I had to suffer the bleep. The music got better later on but I was quite tired and seem to have caught a cold there(!) so we left at about 2.30. I do like the way Slimelight has recently been decorated though, and it was good to catch up with Loki and Marie even if I didn't know many people there.
Last night I went to visit Alex and Katia in Chafford Hundred and had a good time there. As for this weekend, there is a beer festival at The Pembury in Hackney where I shall hopefully be on Friday night, then on Saturday it is Invocation in Tower Hill to look forward to. |
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| Zürich Flughafen |
[Jul. 13th, 2008|09:19 pm] |
| [ | Today i'm feeling |
| | tipsy | ] |
| [ | I 'ave been mostly listenin' to |
| | Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars | ] | So I'm at the airport a bit early. Could easily have spent another hour at home, but basically I probably would have spent it watching Doctor Who. If you include the session last weekend where we watched all of season 4, I have watched 4 seasons of Dr. Who, with the exception of three episodes (I've aready seen the Titanic episode, which is he 'next' and two in Season Two were corrupted).
I think that 'Blink' has been the best, despite the 'shouting at the screen' moment.
On the whole I've enjoyed them, but I can't decide whether the season finales are generally acceptable or terrible. Equally, what is it with all the Daleks? How often can one commit total genocide on/to* the same species?
I'm flying to Brazil. I'm flying to Brazil! I have no idea what I'm doing out there, or for how long I am going. It has to be less than 90 days, because of visa limitations, but it's probably more than 5 weeks as I have at least 2-3 weeks of work, plus some holiday. Neither work nor vacation are adequately specified. Four days notice. I guess that might be equated to excitement! ;)
Oh, by the way, I procrastinated mightily this weekend, to the extent that I transcribed my spanish entries...
Right... I guess I'd better try to squeeze another Bloody Mary in (it's a Bloody Mary, rather than a Campari and Orange flight tonight) before boarding. Although, if I drink too much, I won't be able to watch as many films.
* What the hell is the correct preposition? |
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