Month: May 2003

You know what I found myself thinking about for a while today?

Giving it all up and moving back to Dublin.

I’m writing some documentation at the moment and I’m actually enjoying it. This surprised me quite a bit, I usually despise writing stuff like this. But it has to be done and it’s kinda interesting. It’s also something I am in need of practice at. So working on something that interests me and helps me is a good thing. I hope to get it finished in a couple of hours and then get it reviewed and passed along.

The soundtrack for this work is the unmixed bootleg copy of the new Radiohead album: Hail to the Thief. I’m sitting here typing away and I’m putting more effort into it than anything else I would normally write especially this. I really want to get it right but I suspect that as usual I won’t. But it’s a funny thing about music and it was only when I was talking to someone about it in the pub last week that I realised this.

I can’t listen to music in work if I’m doing something I consider unimportant or dare I say it mundane. I have to be concentrating on something in order to have the music going. We did manage to explain this quite well at the time but I’m struggling now. Anyway I’m finding today that I’m hearing the music more despite or perhaps because of the concentration on the writing.

Anyway what broke me out of my document was one song, where everything was good for a moment. There was just this second where for no reason other than the music I was smiling and it was a good moment. I read somewhere yesterday that the author of that particular track cried the first time he heard the final mix of it. I sorta um dismissed I guess is the word that as being a little silly and uncalled for. But you know if I can suddenly find myself smiling for no reason other than that, well why not cry?

I’d love to know how much I’ve blogged over the past few years, and I’m looking forward to the info that I hope Dano will provide. I just did a word count on my Saturday and Sunday postings and it’s just over 2000 words. I know I typed quite a bit more than usual then but that just goes to show that if I put my mind to it and more importantly I want to do it, then I can write and a lot. Not saying anything about the quality mind you, but in this case I’m thinking quantity. Interesting. I will word count all my posts someday just to see how much it is. I’m curious.

Anyway back to documenting.

There should be a fucking law banning three fucking sets of roadworks on the same bus route.
90 minutes for a 25 minute journey is a fucking joke.

*sigh*

Having the “edit your blog” window open while someone looked at something on my computer was not the best idea in the world. Guess that means one more person knowing about it. Just great. Perhaps a less obvious url might be an idea. I also don’t know why WinXP shows up as Win2K in my stats. *sigh* Real smart move there Dave. Although in fairness until he clicked on the window I had forgotten it was open. I was adding stuff to my last post for a couple of hours.

On a somewhat related note, I’ve been blogging for going on three years now. I have full archives for just over two and a half years. It surprise me how long it really has been when I think about it but it also makes me smile. My daily reads must number close to 40 blogs of which I actually know over 15 of the people in question, 5 are group blogs and the rest are jumbles of stuff I picked up on.
This also makes me smile, I like blogs a lot. I should expand on that at some stage when I’m able to explain it.

Buffy second last episode, downloading now. This show is really the best there is, full stop, end of story. Should be ready for me when I wake up in the morning and then I hope to watch it tomorrow night.

My god, I love West Wing.

Hmm, I’m a little worried about something which I suspect will turn out to be nothing. I got home tonight around 11:20 to find the door open. Not enough to be really noticeable, I had my key halfway in the lock before I noticed, but it was open. Katrina seems to be around but her room door is closed. I am, I have to admit considering knocking and making sure she is ok but at the same time I’m thinking she just pushed it and it didn’t actually close.

Tonight wasn’t bad. It was an interesting day, can we say all change in work. Fuck I have no idea what’s going on there anymore and we ended up in the local after work. I was not playing good chess today and lost 3 games rather badly. I did win 3 which was ok, but not really very good, in fact I may have only won 2. Not the best start to the week.

I so wish I could talk about some of the stuff which made me very excited today, all I can say is that there are really good things on the horizon and I am looking forward to them.

Radiohead announced a much larger tour later in the year which I intend to catch in Dublin and London. Tickets go on sale this weekend.

Listening to some live Radiohead today has me looking forward to the weekend even more. BMI have this great new feature on their website, confirm some details and it will show you your entire itinerary. Seen as I had lost mine this was really good. It details your flights, the distance, your plane details, the expected weather and the local events. I was quite impressed by it. Only problem is, my flight is much earlier on Saturday than I had realised so less sleep for me. Ah well.

Speaking of, I was talking to my dad on im a couple of nights ago and I’m kinda disappointed we are not going to get the chance to go out this weekend. I shall be seeing my grandmothers on Sunday afternoon I expect and more than likely have lunch with my parents and my sister that day too and then just take it easy on Monday. I forgot aswell as it being a long weekend, I’m on a training course (Change Management, not even the good kind) on the Tuesday and that will keep me out of the office all day. I like this, quite a bit.

Fuck, I am really shit about remembering birthdays.

Angel renewed for a fifth season is a good thing, not sure about Spike joining the cast. I note I was right about both Connor and Cordy being gone. I think this is a good thing.

OK, the first paragraph nevermind page of this Scientific American: Parallel Universes:
Not just a staple of science fiction, other universes are a direct implication of cosmological observations made my head hurt and there are 9 more to go. However it looks absolutly fascinating and I intend to go and actually read it today.

Whoo hoo:
In an interview with Fanboy Radio on Sunday evening, writer Brian Bendis announced that he will remain as the writer on Ultimate X-Men for at least a year past his originally announced 6-issue arc.
Bendis also announced that Ultimate Black Cat will appear in Ultimate Spider-Man #50. Additionally, a sequence within Daredevil #50 will be illustrated by Gene Colon, John Romita Sr., John Romita Jr., Lee Weeks, Klaus Jansen, Joe Quesada, and David Mack.
Newsarama

Wow. This is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

Hubble Watches Light from Mysterious Erupting Star Reverberate Through Space

BEST. 24. EVER. : “I’m gonna need a hacksaw”
SECOND. BEST. 24. EVER. : “Shoot him again, Kim!”

Oh yes, I only realised today that No Man’s Land Vol. 1 has some really sweet Alex Maleev art.

Also last night I only found out that comics luminary Jeph Loeb wrote both Teen Wolf and Commando.

Buffy wrap party pictures. I like the now leaving Sunnydale sign up in the background, it’s a nice touch. A mighty fine looking cast there too.

Another quiet day on the western front. Slept in and then caught the end of Tron. Dug out some of those Batman books I had been talking about and read for a whiile before catching a little 24. It wasn’t bad at all and I’m looking forward to the end of the season. Next ep is downloading now.

Raiders of the Lost Ark is on in about an hour and I reckon that will do nicely for my evening’s entertainement. If the download keeps going as is, I should have another 24 lined up for later and then bed early.

I guess everything yesterday covers what’s going on in my head at the moment. There isn’t really all that much else going on. Been playing chess a little and winning more than usual which I like.

Right some stuff.
I cooked some dinner, watched CSI: Miami and then headed out to the cinema. It was a nice 30 min ish walk to get there which was good and left me time for thinking.
Caught the 11pm showing of Dreamcatcher which wasn’t bad. It certainly wasn’t great but it was watchable. I have more hope for Thomas Jane as The Punisher after seeing it. There was nothing really riveting about it, the book captured the claustrophobia and the sheer terror so much better.

Just before it came on tho, was The Animatrix: Final Flight of the Osiris which wasn’t bad and had some damn good effects in it. Making me look forward to the real thing even more.

Walking home from the cinema was a much nicer walk. There was for the entire way back the ending of some sponsored run/walk/march of some sort. So for the entire 30 minute walk I was being passed by groups of women in their underwear. A quick google has shown it was the Playtex Moonwalk in aid of breast cancer research. Strangely enough no-one was collecting along the route, I guess it was too late at night to wander around asking for money.

I mentioned dreams earlier today and I was talking to a friend about them in general a few nights ago. Something that I have been getting quite a bit lately, well I say quite a bit but I just remember it happening 3 or 4 times in the space of a few weeks. It’s just one of those things that happens to me every now and again. Pretty typically it’s just after I go asleep and it’s never happened after a few hours sleep or early in the morning when I’m slowing coming around to walking up. I’ll be in a dream of some sort, this varies alot but at some stage I’ll be walking or running somewhere and in my dream I trip. I have this sudden feeling of fear and then I am wide awake and just for that split second I am falling. I know that I’m lying in my bed but I’m not really, I’m in free fall and my body reacts exactly as if I was falling. It’s a very strange feeling, after another couple of seconds I realise exactly what had just happened and the feeling of being ok is quite a good feeling. It also never throws me out of sleep like a nightmare might for example. I can always settle down pretty quickly after waking up. I guess it’s just the sheer relief.

So I was walking to the cinema and I was thinking. Strangely enough I was thinking about religion. It’s been a topic on and off my mind for a few weeks now. It’s not something I often give any thought to, in fact I tend to dismiss anything like it out of hand. But someone I know is being affected by it and so I’ve been..well honestly avoiding the issue alot but spurred on tonight by a random mention in a conversation earlier.
It must be nice having faith. It’s something that at least you can always turn to, if you have that belief/faith then it’s a comfort level. Hm, I think that pretty much covers it actually, I thought I’d get more mileage out of it. Guess not.

On the flip side, walking home after there were no more half naked women (darn) I was crossing Battersea bridge and listening to Us by Mull Historical Society. That reminded me that I had booked tickets to see R.E.M. in a couple of months and they were supported by MHS. The thought of gig just made me smile, and cheered me up instantly. This then tied into the thoughts on the way to the cinema, music is so much better than religion. There is nothing that music can’t make better. It can take your mind off everything and just force you to smile, which is by all means a good thing.

I’ve seen R.E.M. live before. It was in Lansdowne Road, Dublin in ’99. It was the first proper concert I ever went to. I had to borrow the money to get two tickets from my mom. It was also the first official date I had with someone who I then went out with for quite a while. That relationship ended quite badly, really fucking badly in fact. She was a strange girl, not saying I’m not strange but she was a strange girl. Heard from her a couple of times after we broke up (I did the dumping before you ask) but nothing much. Anyway the gig was great, and we didn’t have great seats for it at all. It was a big stadium gig and we were way at the back. So seeing them in a small venue which only holds a few thousand and having standing tickets is a very good thing and I look forward to it a lot.

The Lemon: The History of The Internet.

Oh and the track of the day which I need to hunt down is Moonlight, Music And You by Laura Greene. It’s being used in the KFC ‘Soul Food’ ads and it’s a really great tune.

It has been a quiet Saturday afternoon as it should have been. I’ve done nothing. I’ve surfed the net aimlessly to the music of U2 and now some Ryan Adams. I’m off to Dublin next weekend which I had forgotten was coming up so quickly. Given that the reason I’m going to see Radiohead play a couple of gigs I’m getting quite excited by this. It should be a good weekend and I am looking forward to a little time wandering around Dublin. So much so I was even dreaming about it last night. I have the Monday off aswell as I don’t get back until sometime in the afternoon so I’m looking forward to a long weekend aswell.

So last night was strange and well lets leave it at strange. One of the lads was leaving to work for himself and so we poped along for a few drinks. All was going well and a couple of pints were had and then I planned on leaving and getting an early night. My how plans change so easily. Looking back I should have just left and gone home but there was a couple of good reasons for staying. Ok that’s not really true but I’m trying to convince myself a little here. There were some ahem minor issues in work yesterday and several of the lads were working late to try and sort them out. The issues I am very glad to report were not mine, but they did impact on me quite a bit. So I wanted to wait till they got to the pub and get an update. The other reason is far more stupid and one which I’m sure a couple of you can take a guess at.

Anyway it was around closing time when I left the pub on a mission go to McDonalds. Looking back now I realise I did not in fact have breakfast, lunch or dinner yesterday and that perhaps explains much. I really have to stop doing that. Anyway after a successful mission I grabbed a bus home and collapsed into bed, but not before leaving stuff to download and stupidly blogging.

Woke up around 9:30 this morning, not feeling the best. Check the downloads and finding they had both failed, set them to resume. Fell back asleep for a while and got up then sometime after 12, feeling much better.

The Matrix Reloaded opens in the US on Friday, it opens around the world the following Friday. I’ve got tickets to see it with the team on Wednesday week. I’m avoiding spoilers for this like the plague. The trailer alone makes me just sit and smile with such glee that I can’t wait. I’m hoping to not see any spoilers anywhere, I reckon with being away for the weekend I have a good chance. So then just avoid many of the usual forums and bring on Wednesday.

The Ryan Adams I mentioned at the start is Gold and everytime I hear it, it makes me think. It’s a very angsty album and his voice really works in some places. In particular, When The Stars Go Blue.

I have just this second found out there is an Angel event on in Pages tonight. I’ve not been there in a long time, I’m very much out of that scene but had I known I would have given some thought to going along for the night. Ah well. I might do one con next year or later this year, just see how it all goes.

I’m going to have to have food soon. I just don’t know what. I can go out and get something probably in the American Diner on Kings Road which I like alot or I can have some chicken and garlic bread, both of which I have in the freezer. I’m thinking the latter option will win out right now. Then I can watch CSI: Miami just after 9 and still go and see a very late movie if I feel like it. Or alternativly just stay home and watch a movie. Hmm I think I like the idea of wandering somewhere, going to a late movie and walking home with some music going. Perhaps I just want some sweets and popcorn..I do have a craving right now for some popcorn. *shrug* I shall see how the rest of the night goes. Right now that idea sounds really fucking good.

I should be able to migrate my blog over to Dano according to the dev blog, but I keep getting told I don’t have a suitable blog. *sigh*, the search feature would be really nice. Ah well, soon enough from the plan they have outlined.