Month: April 2003

London @ Night.

– Not being able to install Movable Type is pissing me off.
– Doing well on Blogshares, now (hopefully safely) in the top 100 players and I think I have a quite a few undervalued stocks.
– I had a strange moment last night, everything seemed to just hit at once and it wasn’t very good. But looking back it was interesting
– It’s nice to know every now and again that your not alone, that someone else has the same thought that you do.
– Walked up to Clapham Junction this afternoon to return the dvd and then back home. I think I’m going to see about changing my routine for a while and try to walk there every morning for a train. I need to be there by 9 in order to get a ticket so that means leaving about 8:40. I shall aim to do just that in the morning.
– ( ) by Sigur Ros is my soundtrack of the day.
– Looks like there is a chance we might get some talent in on the floor. And lets face it, the technology department if any company is going to be lacking…but we are way lacking.
– Although, having just said that…There is a new job available on the floor, a management position. Not something I was expecting and it’s more of a technical position than some of the others. I would be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it, especially in the way it was phrased to me but, actually I don’t know what the but is. Well I do kinda, while yes it is a step up and would be a management position it’s kinda veering off (way off) left and I just don’t think I want to do that. I do have to wonder with the phrasing that was used if there was any sort of a push there but I guess that’s me reading too much into things…again.
– There are more and more times of late where I wish I was a creative person. I don’t really mind in what. I wish I had a way with words or music or anything really. There is nothing I can point to and say you know I’m really good at that, and I wish I could. I wonder is it something you can learn?
– There is a lot to be said for goth chicks.
– I hate spammers so much. Castration is too good for them.

Some less random thoughts to share. Nothing I have not shared before (I don’t think) but certainly worth saying again.

My country; The Republic of Ireland was founded by terrorists. The USA was founded by terrorists, I’m going a little on a limb here as I’m not so sure on this one..but the French Republic was founded by yes you’ve guessed it terrorists. When you fight for a cause (irregardless of how legitimate it is or how lacking legitimacy it is) and you take up arms against the government, you are a terrorist. History is written by the victors.

Being anti-war (as I am) does not mean that I am unhappy to see the Saddam regime removed from power. I 100% do not believe that the US and the UK should have gone about it the way that I did. I am a little troubled by the talk already that if Syria has WMD and (possibly or) is sheltering anyone from the Saddam regime, then they are going to be dealt with in the same manner.

Where are the WMD and perhaps far more importantly, when and where will they be used? What has Saddam left to loose? If he has them in anyway set up to use, then you gotta know the order is coming. It seems too simple. Iraq has fallen in less than a month without any sign of the reasons for invasion and no-one gets to try that “liberation” bollocks because it is just that.

gah, sleep now. more later

I’m watching Donnie Darko on DVD. I’m a little pissed that the rental version doesn’t contain the commentaries I thought it did. It has got a cast and director commentary and I’m more just listening to that than watching it. It’s such a wonderful movie. Listening to the cast talking about it, it’s so very clear how strong their feelings are for the entire movie aswell. It’s interesting to hear the thoughts the cast and the director have on the story and what it actually means. I don’t care though, the movie means something different to everyone I know who has seen it and it’s going to stay that way for me.

***

The first dvd from the second season of The West Wing is some of the best television ever produced.

Surveying the littered glass wreckage of display cases and pottery shards at the Iraqi National Museum on Saturday, deputy director Nabhal Amin wept and told Reuters: “They have looted or destroyed 170,000 items of antiquity dating back thousands of years…They were worth billions of dollars.”
Looters Ransack Baghdad’s Antiquities Museum

🙁

My weekend has just been decided. There is new West Wing out on DVD. To the shops batboy!

It would appear that Brian Michael Bendis could be at Comics 2003. I am now reconsidering my decision not to go.

Oh yes, the new trailer for The Matrix Reloaded is amazing. I cannot wait for this movie. As the trailer was shown around the floor yesterday afternoon, emails were sent reminding some people that a preview screening would be a good thing… fingers crossed.

I am so very glad the weekend is here. It really has been a week from hell.

I’ve had a headache for the last 4 days, I’m waking up tired and I nearly got up and walked out of work yesterday because I just could not sit there anymore. And there is still weeks of this to come. I am unsure as to whether it can be done, I certainly don’t believe it can be done in the time allotted and as usual I have no idea what to do about it.

Given the grief we got in the pub about it last night, it’s not going down too well and that is going to complicate matters further.

There is a very different dynamic going on at the moment. I’m a little unsure on what it is, but I think things are going to change more soon and for the first time I’m thinking it’s not such a bad thing. I am however a little concerned that the effect take place on someone else. Hmm, I guess time will tell.

Aside from all the grief, last night was fun. It was at times really relaxed and there were a lot of good people there. I was not however up for going on anywhere afterwards. It was time to go home and collapse on my bed and sleep for 10 hours. Which I did. It was really nice and I’m not feeling too bad this morning, certainly a lot better than yesterday morning.

more later

The Friday Five

1. What was the first band you saw in concert?

R.E.M. supported by The Divine Comedy in Lansdowne Road, Dublin 16 July 1999.

2. Who is your favorite artist/band now?

it’s a three way tie, Sigur Ros, Radiohead and U2

3. What’s your favorite song?

Louis Armstrong – We have all the time in the world.

4. If you could play any instrument, what would it be?

Guitar or piano…I can play very basic piano, but I have not in years.

5. If you could meet any musical icon (past or present), who would it be and why?

oh um, now that’s a tough question. I’ll get back to you on that at some stage..or not

I am so very tired right now. I signed out of the office at 3:25am last night. It was not good. We had stuff happen and more stuff happen and more stuff happen meaning we could not get stuff done. Unfortunately the stuff which wasn’t done was being presented to some reporters this morning. Hence the late night.

Came in late today, I don’t even remember turning off my alarm this morning. I was planning on being in at 11, but it was 12 before I made it. And I feel like shit.

It started off bad last night, we knew (or at least I did) that we were in trouble, we just didn’t have the time to get it done and we didn’t have a good atmosphere working at it. No-one was really sure what they were doing and it wasn’t very productive. Of course we have a couple of lovely iMac 2’s on our desks and they work really well as glorified music players. So in went the speakers and on went the music. A little bit of Metallica to kick off with but while it was great stuff (And Justice for All) it wasn’t getting us going. John, not being the biggest Metallica fan was the first to shout out when the cd was over and it was time for a little bit of Michael Jackson. You could see the tension and stress levels drop as Bille Jean began. It brightened up the office so very much and got us going. It was pretty much the first step to getting us into a good mood and then the work just flowed.

So we listened to some Michael Jackson for a while. At this stage it’s about 10:30 and it was all starting to get to us again. There was at least another two hours work for us and so the idea was mooted (guilty as charged) to take a 30 min break and go across the road for a couple of pints before closing time. And so we did. And it was good. It was good, it was really good. We went back and we worked for a few more hours and we had a few laughs and we got it done (mostly) in the end.

Today my eyes hurt and I cannot bring myself to even try and script anything, it’s not going too well and I don’t fucking want to be making goddamn fucking excel sheets of information and then using it to write scripts. It’s all just fucking bollocks (ahem).

Tonight I’m going out to play some pool for a little while. Then I am going home to sleep.