we leave tommorrow

well tuesday technically, but tommorrow we head to M's parents for the night to cath the train early Tuesday morningto manchester airport.
yay us. This time tuesday I will be bookin gin to a B&B in Copenhagen. Tell you all about it wheni get back.

Things to think about

These are translations from chinese and have long been favourites of mine.

The Red Cockatoo

Sent as a present from Annam
A red cockatoo.
Coloured like the peach-tree blossom,
Speaking with the speech of men.
And they did to it what is always done
To the learned and eloquent.
They took a cage with stout bars
And shut it up inside.

-- Po Chü-i

Lao-tzü

Po Chü-i impishly taunts one of the most influential of all Chinese philosophers in this poem.

"Those who speak know nothing
Those who know are silent."
These words, as I am told,
Were spoken by Lao-tzü.
If we are to believe that Lao-tzü
Was himself one who knew,
How comes it that he wrote a book
Of five thousand words?

Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!

I am doing the happy dance at my desk right now because in a couple of hours I will be free!!!!!

This weekend I have to do my soil mechanics homework which is less than 1000 words, so that's ok, clean the house and the furries, and pack. Ah yes, I have to pack for 7 days into a rucksack, including my sleeping bag, then on tuesday we are going to Denmark!!!! M & I are meeting rob at the airport and hooking up with some of the others at a B&B in copenhagen, where we will spend one night, then weds - mon we are in a field in Roskilde, living in tents, watching live music, eating, drinking and being generally merry, and almost certainly a bit grubby. Monday we pack up out tents and fly home, if we get up early enough we may even manage a festival shower, but if not, i wouldn't want to be on a plane with us. Mwahahahahahaha

I am starting to get excited, just go tto get Marks travel insurance and then i think we have everything we need. Yay us, it's very exciting!!!

Kamper - Team Chipotle !!!

Enquiring minds need to know!!!
Ok, you guys all seem to know each other pretty well, and a couple of you i know under other names in other places, but can you please explain to me how you are all linked and how you cameto be freinds, and i know i'm demanding, but can at least one of you post some pictures of you all so i can get my head round you?

That's it, enough, no more I HAVE HAD IT!!!!

i have had it with being fat and my life revolvong around food
i have had it with the laundry being piled up in the hamper or on the spare bed (clean)
i have had it with fighting the rubbish for space in the garage
i have had it with letting the mess and chaos rule my life and never taking control
i have had it with feeling tired and lacklustre and not wanting to do anything when i get home
i have had it with procrastination and avoidance
i have had it with the crummy carpets in the living room and the bunny chewed wallpaper and skirtings
I have had it!!!!
I am gonna get on top, in control, back in black!!!
I am gonna have clean folded clothes in the wadrobe, i am gonna have polished wooden floors downstairs if i have to sand by hand
I am gonna have painted walls and repaired plaster,
i am gonna havethe right and proper stuff to storage ratio
i am gonna do the 300 trips to the tip with all the household and garden crap in the garage
I am gonna have a life laundry of my possessions
M is gonna get a job in leicester and move in
i am gonna lose weight
i am gonna sort my finances out
and i am gonna do it all with a goddamn freaking smile on my face!!!

so now you know.

Dave Matthews Band

You Are Dave Matthews Band Magic Brownies Ice Cream

Not *those* magic brownies!

What Flavor Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Are You?

We don't get that flavour here as far as I know, but i think i'd like it!!

Sign me up....again

Well, I passed, which means i now have a level 1 2dimensional autoCAD (computer aided drawing) qualification. Yay me. All three of us signed up fornext year, although we will have to break in a new lecturer which is slightly dissapointing coz this one had got accustomedto our ways.

On an entirely differentnote, here's mewhen i was little.... just because

colour me CAD!

I have my AutoCad multi choice test tonite, with a couple of colleagues. I quite like my CAD lessons normally, but I am not crazy about dragging myself to the exam after work. On the plus side, tommorrow i get a ie in as i am doing site visits straight from home. yay!

funny ha ha or funny peculiar?

Sunday evening M & I headed into sheffield to meet Steve and Stella, Steve is a colleague of M's and Stella is his good lady, I haven't seen them since christmas. Prior to this Steve had asked M not to dress like a tramp (they tease each other) so i txtd steve to say please dont wear pink, Stella then sent a txt back via steve to say, he wouldn't wear pink if mark didn't wear clown shoes, so predictably, steve wore a pink shirt and m wore his size 12 boots. Of course then we had to find each other, M being a rocker and Steve not they dont exactly drink at the same places, but in time a location was agreed upon and they directed us to it.
The point of all this was to see Dylan Moran, a writer on father ted, writer and star of black books with bill bailey and hilarious irish comedian.

We got in a little late, missing about the first ten minutes, but the show was hilarious and i recommend him to anyone who gets the chance to go see him. The only downer was we weren't allowed to take our interval drinks back in with us.
After the show we retired to RSVP (a bar) for more drinkies and an extensive bitching session about the woman both steve and mark hate.
M & I got home a little after midnite and needless to say we did not go into work on monday, just as well we booked it off really. ;)

A virtual life

M did something silly yesterday, he bought the Sims and installed it on his laptop, he then played for about 6 hours straight (while i went upstairs and slept, i was inexplicably sleepy yesterday), so when i go tup i figured it was my turn, just half an hour of course. Yeah right. I'm addicted, i want a promotion, so i can buy more stuff and hang out with more people, my silly 4am- lunchtime job is hopeless for socialising. Oh my god!!!! I should ut this energy into my soilmechanics homework, but the sims are sooooo addictive. I am sure it will pass, but in the mean time, if you want me, i am playing with myself. ;)

mmmm, coffee

You Are a Frappacino

At your best, you are: fun loving, sweet, and modern At your worst, you are: childish and over indulgent You drink coffee when: you're craving something sweet Your caffeine addiction level: low

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

reatail therapy

ah the simple joy of shopping. I had plenty of points on my boots card so when this afternoons site visit got cancelled and i discovered i'd rushed lunch for nothing i went back out, with Jo and bought nailvarnish, a sparkly, purply black. I love it!!! not proper dark dark black, much more girly than that. Presently i have only done my thumbs, but i may treat you to a hand photo when i do them properly at the weekend. Oh and the weekend!! It's nearly here and mark is on his way and we are having comedy fun at dylan oran on sunday and booked monday off work and its supposed to be beautiful weather all weekend!!! yay!

2 wheels - good

I rode a bike to work today. In itself this may not seem a big deal, ut i only just learned to ride a bike, and was terrified setting out. By the end I was actually rather enjoying myself, and i didn't fall off!!!
yay for cycling, i am in danger of becoming a fan.

I started using myspace recently, and last night found two old friends i lost touch with years ago and they were cool about hearing from me, Besty and Sarah, it's been about 8-9 years since i last saw either of them, but they have come to mind from time to time, still waiting to find out if andy is who i think he is and pleased to hear from me, but i only mailed him last night.

Peace and Love & Old Hippies

Old hippie has kindly added peace and love to his links. Click the title bar for his site.

Random trivia

1) I used to be terrrified of beards as a small child, took till my early teens to start to get a grip on it properly. shocked to discover it's a recognised phobia
Pogonophobia- Fear of beards

2) I can ride a horse but am only just learning to ride a bike.

3) I wasn't allowed to use my dads computer at home because it had wires andi had a tendency to knock things off shelves.

4) I once threw up behind a mcdonalds bin after a trip to the dentist

5) I wish i'd got to know my grandpa better

6) I have a mole in my left underarm

7) I wish i wasn't so far away from my family

this time last year i was guiness

What Type of Alcoholic Beverage Are You?

You're Mead!
Take this quiz!








Quizilla
Join

Make A Quiz More Quizzes Grab Code

Happiness is...

sharing a plate of nachos with a friend and discussing Download. I am looking forward to Q69's blog report of the action, as soon as i can dig out her msn blog that is. *looks sheepish*

I have finally started to get my act together on myspace, but i can't access it at work so it will not replace blogspot methinks, useful for other stuff tho.

next on the calender is this sunday I am going to see Dylan Moran live and then nothing until tuesday 27th June when we head out to denmark for roskilde. Non the less i shall continue to blog the dull stuff, the minutae until then. :)

long time no see

Mark, me and Al

I got a txt out of the blue last week. My cousin had a job in leicester, would we like to get together. You're kidding right? Of course I would. Al is always a hoot, and his new girlfriend was going to be with him, and i've seen him once in the last 6 years, last summer, for less than an hour over a pint. To actually get to hang out and catch up properly would be awesome!!!
We met them at Asda and they followed us home, where there was Dr Who, drinking, chilling, music outside by a log fire, and chat. Lots and lots of chat. His girlfriend Jo is lovely, but camera shy, so she took the pic of the rest of us.
Anyway, i really just wanted to say, we had a quiet weekend, but it's been really lovely to catch up with old freinds.

Me want cookies

You Are Cookie Monster

Misunderstood as a primal monster, you're a true hedonist with a huge sweet tooth. You are usually feeling: Hungry. Cookies are preferred, but you'll eat anything if cookies aren't around. You are famous for: Your slightly crazy eyes and usual way of speaking How you life your life: In the moment. "Me want COOKIE!"

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

Attitudes to music

This rambles some.

Ok, so, thank you Carly, your post offered me an interesting challenge, can I offer an intelligent comment on the state of music in the UK. Well frankly (mr shankly) I love lyrics so am happy to investigate further.
Now this is unlikely to be an entirely objective post as I have personal tastes and feelings, so a bit about my bias first, to set the scene.
I love rock and metal, every kind of rock and metal. I am not goth, emo, old school, punk etc etc, I love them all and bless their cotton socks. I like and listen to a wide variety of music, classical, metal obv. A little jazz, blues, but precious little dance and pop only on the freak occasions where its really good. I do have some dirty little secrets in my music collection, because sometimes even I want frothy plastic crap, but I see it for what it is and enjoy.
Right now that’s done, does Britain go in for angst?

Well I did some favourite lyric searches, according to MTV at 8:30 this morning this was the nations top 15 lyrics.
1 10cc
Life Is A Minestrone
"Life is a minestrone, Served up with parmesan cheese"
Life Is A Minestrone Written By Lol Creme and Eric Stewart (c) EMI Music
(I love 10cc, and this is a fantastic line)
2 50 Cent
21 Questions
"I love you like a fat kid love cake"
(a ha, so it’s the fat kid again. I think the lyric is good, but why oh why are so many people listening to 50 cent?)
3 Abba
The Winner Takes It All
"The winner takes it all, The loser standing small, Beside the victory, That's her destiny"
(I like abba but I think this is far from their best lyric)

4 Arctic Monkeys
I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor
"Oh there ain't no love, No Montagues and Capulets, We're just banging tunes and DJ sets and dirty dancefloors and dreams of naughtiness"
(Again, as Carly said, will people think the same in ten years? I love them, but this is not the best lyric)

5 The Beach Boys
God Only Knows
"If you should ever leave me, Though life would go on believe me, The world could show nothing to me, So what good would living do me."
(awesome and classic)
6 The Beatles
A Day In The Life
"I read the news today oh boy, Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire. And though the holes were rather small, They had to count them all, Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall"
(see those beatles quotes rank much higher over here, it’s a form of national pride)
7 The Beatles
Eleanor Rigby
"Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been, Lives in a dream"
(I love this song!!!!! Plangent)
8 The Beatles
Hey Jude
"Hey Jude don't make it bad, take a sad song and make it better"
(uh huh, good stuff here)
9 The Beatles
Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
"Picture yourself in a boat on a river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies"
(somebody calls you , you answer quite slowly, a girl with kaliedascope eyes)
10 The Beatles
Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
"It was twenty years ago today, Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play"
(meh, love the song but as lyrics go its unisnpired, I think the walrus is more interesting)
11 The Beatles
Yesterday
"Yesterday, All my troubles seemed so far away, Now it looks as though they're here to stay, Oh, I believe in Yesterday."
(me too john, me too)
12 Bill Withers
Lean On Me
"Lean on me, when you're not strong, And I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on, For it won't be long , Til I'm gonna need, Somebody to lean on"
(hmmm, ok, yes, there does seem to be a fairly constant angst now)
13 Blur
Parklife
"I get up when I want, except on Wednesdays, When I get rudely awakened by the dustmen"
(well in all fairness, we have all been there, and it sucks)
14 Bob Dylan
Subterranean Homesick Blues
"Johnny's in the basement mixing up the medicine. I'm on the pavement thinking about the Government"
(This man can do no wrong, besides, many of his lyrics where made by mixing words clipped out of magazines. The original fridge poet)
15 Bob Marley
No Woman, No Cry
"Said I remember when we used to sit in the government yard in Trenchtown, yeah! And then Georgie would make the fire lights, I seh, logwood burnin' through the nights"
(doesn’t everyone?)

VH-1 has this to say
The top five lyrics in the VH1 poll were:
1. U2 - One. "One life, with each other, sisters, brothers."
2. The Smiths - How Soon is Now? "So you go, and you stand on your own, and you leave on your own, and you go home, and you cry, and you want to die."
3. Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit. "I feel stupid and contagious, here we are now, entertain us."
4. Bob Marley - Redemption Song. "Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds, have no fear for atomic energy, 'cause none of them can stop the time."
5. Coldplay - Yellow. "Look at the stars, look how they shine for you."

For myself, some of the lyrics in these lists would rank well with me, but others are a bit drab and predicatble. Where are the boomtown rats with I hate Mondays? Surely a classic, with some superb lyrics.

How about Black Sabbath, “look into my eyes and see who I am, my name is lucifer please take my hand” and Ozzy’s solo stuff. Ugh, frankly I am dissapointed and can confirm that the MTV watching, voting british public are dull, and staid and unimaginative, but then look at the government, you could say the same of our political votes.

I dont even bother to look at the charts normally, but I had a quick look just for this and was pleasently suprised.

1 Sandi ThomI Wish I Was A Punk Rocker(RCA)
2 Gnarls BarkleyCrazy(Warner Bros)
3 KeaneIs It Any Wonder(Island)
4 Pink Who Knew(Laface)
6 Ronan Keating & Kate RusbyAll Over Again(Polydor)/
7 Oakenfold Ft Brittany MurphyFaster Kill Pussycat(Perfecto)
8 Nelly FurtadoManeater(Geffen)
9 LL Cool J Ft Jennifer LopezControl Myself(Def Jam)
10 Primal ScreamCountry Girl(Columbia)

I haven’t heard the no 1, but Pink and Primal Scream both in the top ten? Are people with taste still buying singles en mass? Can I get a woot woot?
I think generally the songs that stick with people are the ones they can really understand and feel, so all that angst connects to us so it lasts.
I may make a more meaningful comment at some point but dfor now my ramblings will have to do. Does this help at all Carly?

It's only rock n roll, but I like it, yes I do!!

Click the link for a full and proper review by Warro.

I finished work at lunchtime yesterday, dashed home, collected the bike from its service, had my potato for lunch, fed the furried, changed my top, changed my top a few more times, made a couple of phone calls, and ran out the door at about 1:30pm to go to wolverhampton. Warro and I arrived in Wolves at 2:45ish and took up our positions outside the Civic Hall, where we remained, pretty much constantly until about 7, when we went in.
The point of all that hanging around was smple, Warro wanted autographs, this is due to be Twisted Sisters last tour and a lot of old Vinyl came out for the occasion. We got a couple of signatures and we had our photos taken with Dee Snider (who is a darling btw) and generally buzzed off the whole thing. M arrived at 6:30 ish and joined us, he is not a big fan of Glam, but this was such an undeniably neccessary part of any metallers gig history!!
The gig! Hanoi Rocks were supporting and they kicked off hard and fast. Oh how they rocked!!! And thje outfits, something about skinny man in eyeliner and sequins just gets me going, lol. After a dissapointing performance from them last year in Scarborough they more than redeemed themselves last night.
Then the main event, an hour and a half of pure unadulterated Twisted Sister!!!! Wootwoot. I haven't rocked out like that since i was about 13, it was completely awesome!!! all the favourites, SMF, we're not gonna take it, stuff like that, and a track they haven't played live since donnington 1983 (I think warro was there?, but I was 6, so missed it) there own version of Rolling Stones "it's only rock and roll" and yes, we liked it, a lot!!!!
www.hanoirocks.com
www.twistedsister.com

Photos
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=10698213&uid=3920848&members=1

It's dirt OK!!!!

I just spent two days in a lab learning about soil mechanics. Some of the experiments were fun, but i could pass up on all the math, bleauch. Cheered myself up by investing in Death Cab for Cutie "Plans". Actually class wasn't that bad, itwas just ahell of a lot to take in, in a really short time, thepeople were goodand I had some fun, but added to the travelling needed it was pretty tiring, my brain aches from just tryingtokeep up.
The weekend was Loonstock, but M wasreally poorly so we didn't go, we were both gutted, but its too far to risk him not beinng well for the drive back, if it had been somewhere closer we might have risked it. The best weekend of lunacy, fire staring, tray jousting and hanging out with hippies of the year passed without us, we shall have to make up for it some how.
What else since i last posted? oh I saw my parents, they broughtGrandpa's old sideboard for me, it's abeautiful piece of furniture and i love it!! We all decampedto borders for chats, where mum told me Dad said hehopes i stick with M coz he's such a good sort. I realise this sounds good to you all, but you probably don't realise the imensity of something like this from my dad. If i ask him what he thinks of someone he usually says something like, "oh well idon't really know him", so to volunteer something like this, well we can seriously start looking for rings. Yay!!!