Studying has been gobbling up my time in front of the computer and I haven't been getting here to blog even though there were things I wanted to sound off on. Such as more of the DNC Primary Election, "Deal or no Deal" (which I enjoy watching for ALL the wrong reasons), video games etc.
Even thought the motivation was there I still wasn't getting on to blog but today is different, its different because I've discovered that Coldplay has two singles off their new Album released. 'Viva la Vida or Death and his friends' is the album title and Viva la Vida (translation: Long live Life) and Violet Hill are the 2 releases.
Lately I've been listening to Parachutes, particularly track 1 'Don't panic', the phrase "We live in a beautiful world" have been resonating with me recently. Now comes along Viva la Vida and I love it, really puts me in that place where you are remembering an event or situation when you were in control but then you lost it and you realise you are reminiscing about something past and the phrase 'but that was when I ruled the world' really sums up how you feel. Its a bittersweet feeling because from the disappointment you gain an opportunity (if you can find it) but the song just captures that sorta exaggerated feel those situations have.
Dido's next album comes out later this year and possible another Keane album so I'm excited about music again as should any right minded person who enjoys music in this vein. Why is it so many words have e before i if its i before e except after c? meh!
Viva la Vida
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Week 8
Its the 8th Friday I've spent here working and its 5 or 6 left depending on my return date.
The time hasn't passed the way I thought it would and it sure could've been more productive but thus far its been a good experience. Before I arrived here cooking was really a pseudonym for frying or microwaving. The only spices I added to my food were black pepper and salt, usually after the fact. I'm not chef material and there is still quite a bit for me to come to terms with in the kitchen but I know I've got various forms of Pasta down, rice to some extent since the pot I have is too thin and tends to burn the rice at the bottom before it dries out.
Its also changed the way I view my diet, so now I think starch, protein and veg/vitamins. I don't snatch what is necessary the tastiest thing off the shelf but I take my time and look at what I'm going to be shoving down. So by and large its been a positive experience in that respect.
With regards to house keeping I now have a full appreciation and confidence in my ability to keep a house from smelling like hell while living in it. Of course it all comes down to getting certain things into a routine and maneuvering to keep the routine in tact. Laundry day, garbage Days, cleaning days. Of course the place still looks like crap but who's perfect?
I'm alot more mellow, the lack of things to do afforded me time to catch up on my gaming abit and do some studying I needed to do, but not enough of it. The 12 day visit from the other half was also a good experience kinda got to know the things I like/don't like about the living arrangement which presents things that can be worked on and improved.
So 8 Weeks in I know the only things I need to work on are keeping the house looking decent, keeping up my routine and doing more reading.
The time hasn't passed the way I thought it would and it sure could've been more productive but thus far its been a good experience. Before I arrived here cooking was really a pseudonym for frying or microwaving. The only spices I added to my food were black pepper and salt, usually after the fact. I'm not chef material and there is still quite a bit for me to come to terms with in the kitchen but I know I've got various forms of Pasta down, rice to some extent since the pot I have is too thin and tends to burn the rice at the bottom before it dries out.
Its also changed the way I view my diet, so now I think starch, protein and veg/vitamins. I don't snatch what is necessary the tastiest thing off the shelf but I take my time and look at what I'm going to be shoving down. So by and large its been a positive experience in that respect.
With regards to house keeping I now have a full appreciation and confidence in my ability to keep a house from smelling like hell while living in it. Of course it all comes down to getting certain things into a routine and maneuvering to keep the routine in tact. Laundry day, garbage Days, cleaning days. Of course the place still looks like crap but who's perfect?
I'm alot more mellow, the lack of things to do afforded me time to catch up on my gaming abit and do some studying I needed to do, but not enough of it. The 12 day visit from the other half was also a good experience kinda got to know the things I like/don't like about the living arrangement which presents things that can be worked on and improved.
So 8 Weeks in I know the only things I need to work on are keeping the house looking decent, keeping up my routine and doing more reading.
Congrats to Manchester United
Manchester United won the 2008 UEFA Champions League Trophy in nail biting down to the wire fashion. The game wasn't the best mainly due to the field condition, which was wet, slippery and a bit unstable but it was a tremendous game with regards to effort. Hargreaves did his usual work horse routine Lampard was quiet in the first half and then scored a classy equalizer. C. Ronaldo did his bit using his height and pace to get in his goal and it went all the way down to penalties.
Of course there was the Drogba red card that kinda put a dramatic spin on the proceedings and while I agree a red card was deserved I don't understand why Tevez was only given a yellow when he clearly shoved another player, on dead ball and with full intention. He brought the game to stop and allow for the escalation and while I think Vidic was cutting it a bit close as well if your going to be dishing out red cards you can't give the one red and share out yellows.
In the end a penalty shootout always has a cruel end where 1 or 2 players will feel they were directly responsible, in this case it was Terry and to a lesser extent Anelka; very nearly C. Ronaldo.
Man U did play great football all season and the squad has the depth and strength as well as the potential to be a force next year without any major restructuring so I congratulate them.
Of course there was the Drogba red card that kinda put a dramatic spin on the proceedings and while I agree a red card was deserved I don't understand why Tevez was only given a yellow when he clearly shoved another player, on dead ball and with full intention. He brought the game to stop and allow for the escalation and while I think Vidic was cutting it a bit close as well if your going to be dishing out red cards you can't give the one red and share out yellows.
In the end a penalty shootout always has a cruel end where 1 or 2 players will feel they were directly responsible, in this case it was Terry and to a lesser extent Anelka; very nearly C. Ronaldo.
Man U did play great football all season and the squad has the depth and strength as well as the potential to be a force next year without any major restructuring so I congratulate them.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Phantom Hourglass
So I had half written off The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. I had cleared the third temple and already I was sick of back tracking to the main temple and how just very tedious sailing around from island to island had become. To be honest though its still handled far better than Wind Waker, thinking back it seems like just yesterday I wanted to throw the game through the window for making me change the direction of the wind just so I could sail for 5mins to another location.
The scenic route is fun sometimes and to be honest there was something very enjoyable about galloping across the plains in Ocarina of Time. This feeling of enjoyment, however, is lost with sailing and now that you set a route and then shoot anything that moves it feels like a routine chore between objectives.
So basically the boat and the back tracking were about to turn me off a Zelda game but then I forged on a bit farther and they made up for it by giving me a halfway point in the re-occuring dungeon and with some genuinely clever gameplay aspects. I've been won back over and I think I shall make it to the end.
The scenic route is fun sometimes and to be honest there was something very enjoyable about galloping across the plains in Ocarina of Time. This feeling of enjoyment, however, is lost with sailing and now that you set a route and then shoot anything that moves it feels like a routine chore between objectives.
So basically the boat and the back tracking were about to turn me off a Zelda game but then I forged on a bit farther and they made up for it by giving me a halfway point in the re-occuring dungeon and with some genuinely clever gameplay aspects. I've been won back over and I think I shall make it to the end.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Water Proof Cell Phone
I LOVE technology, there is something so satisfying about going "I wonder if they have a..." and finding it online, for sale and in different colours!
For me today that was going "I wonder if there are water proof cell phones?"
To my pleasure I found two, a Sony and an LG, but they only are sold in Asia so then I found this watch phone with bluetooth and a touch screen that comes in Black and Red.
If they were cheaper I would try to sell some this Crop Over!
For me today that was going "I wonder if there are water proof cell phones?"
To my pleasure I found two, a Sony and an LG, but they only are sold in Asia so then I found this watch phone with bluetooth and a touch screen that comes in Black and Red.
If they were cheaper I would try to sell some this Crop Over!
Friday, May 16, 2008
Iron Man...For Real
Cute in terms of timing...real cute this video (sucky buffering you may just be better downloading it) shows an exoskeleton capable of enhancing strength etc. I don't have much to say but the second comment on this website made me at least smile.
I had come across this blog which I think spewed enough hatred toward Macs and the ridiculous television advertisements that I would never have to say anything about it. I was sorely mistaken because new ads keep coming out and they just get more and more annoying.
Seriously, somebody needs to just stop this.
Seriously, somebody needs to just stop this.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Dear Nationnews.com
It occurs to me that this website has been up for sometime and like a monument to the 'old' ways of infantile website design it stands as a testament to commercial commitment and rigidity in the face of a new dynamic information age.
Long story short it look old and stink.
More ads than content, content placed haphazardly around the web page. Its a down right shame and someone needs to catch a clue and rebuild that website from scratch. Implement a content management system of some kind, migrate it to a blog engine; do whatever is necessary but do something please.
Regards,
Person with a headache from your cruddy site
Long story short it look old and stink.
More ads than content, content placed haphazardly around the web page. Its a down right shame and someone needs to catch a clue and rebuild that website from scratch. Implement a content management system of some kind, migrate it to a blog engine; do whatever is necessary but do something please.
Regards,
Person with a headache from your cruddy site
Net Neutrality
Net Neutrality doesn't really, in my opinion, get the press it deserves. Here in Anguilla I use Caribcable and I've had a host of problems with my internet when I've done things other than surf the internet. When I called the first person I spoke to said, quite adamantly, no we do not restrict connections etc. but I'm not an idiot (most of the time) so I asked to speak to an engineer who then said well yeah we 'manage' peer-to-peer traffic. He said this was in an effort to curb illegal file sharing.
So I said to him, well I want to download things using Utorrent that don't infringe copyrights and more importantly I purchased 2 gaming consoles both of which use P2P connections for online gaming. Neither of which work because of your restrictions, the gentleman said he would monitor my connection and see what could be done. One week later nothing had been done, so I called back and got another lady, one who seemed aware of the restrictions but seemed fine with BSing me. She tried then to explain to me, which I find rather amusing, that people can hack my files using P2P and give me viruses and to protect me they need to restrict my P2P connections and bandwidth. She informed me that this protection is relaxed between 11pm and 6am.
RUBBISH, this is where net neutrality comes in, they should just provide the connection they advertise and I pay for. No one is paying to surf the internet, if all I wanted to do was browse web pages I would expect I'd pay a lower rate to have my connection severely gimped. The simple fact that these restrictions are removed off peak tells me that its a bandwidth conservation method more than anything else. I mean if it was to stop piracy and protect me from viruses as they seem to think I'd believe then why remove the restrictions at all?
If it was my home that I lived at that connection would be gone in a hurry but I have no choice in the matter so I'll call them back again and try to reach that engineer, to see if I can have something done.
Update:
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/charter-will-monitor-customers-web-surfing-to-target-ads/index.html?ref=technology
This is the type of Garbage that just needs to STOP.
So I said to him, well I want to download things using Utorrent that don't infringe copyrights and more importantly I purchased 2 gaming consoles both of which use P2P connections for online gaming. Neither of which work because of your restrictions, the gentleman said he would monitor my connection and see what could be done. One week later nothing had been done, so I called back and got another lady, one who seemed aware of the restrictions but seemed fine with BSing me. She tried then to explain to me, which I find rather amusing, that people can hack my files using P2P and give me viruses and to protect me they need to restrict my P2P connections and bandwidth. She informed me that this protection is relaxed between 11pm and 6am.
RUBBISH, this is where net neutrality comes in, they should just provide the connection they advertise and I pay for. No one is paying to surf the internet, if all I wanted to do was browse web pages I would expect I'd pay a lower rate to have my connection severely gimped. The simple fact that these restrictions are removed off peak tells me that its a bandwidth conservation method more than anything else. I mean if it was to stop piracy and protect me from viruses as they seem to think I'd believe then why remove the restrictions at all?
If it was my home that I lived at that connection would be gone in a hurry but I have no choice in the matter so I'll call them back again and try to reach that engineer, to see if I can have something done.
Update:
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/charter-will-monitor-customers-web-surfing-to-target-ads/index.html?ref=technology
This is the type of Garbage that just needs to STOP.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Democratics (You need to a be a lil Bush Fan to get that)
A long 3 day weekend and a cockroach have deeply disturbed my sleep cycle, *note to self* if i'm sleeping, stay asleep.
I've said on a few occasions I thought the American process for electing a leader was a good one; since it separated the election of a leader from the ruling party. At home I felt (why can't these people read a fricken promtper?...re: the horrible penis enlargement ad currently eroding my brain through the television) as though choosing the representative for your constituency and by extension determining the ruling party was a conflict of interest. I mean, your constituent could be an idiot but represent the party you want to vote for.
I realise now, however, anything to simplify the process of voting is a good thing. I've been following this American election very closely and it makes very little sense. I just get annoyed at how stupid the coverage/opinions are.
Intro one of my new favorite quotes:
"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." - Winston Churchill
Oh and Comedy Central is it.
I've said on a few occasions I thought the American process for electing a leader was a good one; since it separated the election of a leader from the ruling party. At home I felt (why can't these people read a fricken promtper?...re: the horrible penis enlargement ad currently eroding my brain through the television) as though choosing the representative for your constituency and by extension determining the ruling party was a conflict of interest. I mean, your constituent could be an idiot but represent the party you want to vote for.
I realise now, however, anything to simplify the process of voting is a good thing. I've been following this American election very closely and it makes very little sense. I just get annoyed at how stupid the coverage/opinions are.
Intro one of my new favorite quotes:
"The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." - Winston Churchill
Oh and Comedy Central is it.
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