Saturday 30 December 2006

Today's events

I went for a run (first in 2 months), then met Markus for lunch on Goodge Street. I had a lasagna. Then went home and watched nonsense on TV.

Currently QI

Tuesday 26 December 2006

Not much news

Not much news here but just a little message to say that i'm happy. More happy than i've been in a long, long time.

I'm smiling as I write this and i'm looking forward to the new year and all that comes with it.

There's lots of new things in my life and i'm very happy about all of them.

See everybody soon.

Stu

Thursday 21 December 2006

End of an era...

...for me at least.

I leave Lloyd's of London today after a four and a third year stint. I'm excited about the new job but will miss many things about my old one. Canteen, internet and no pressure.

I think it was a great experience for me and I feel very lucky to have worked here. I've met lots of lovely people (and a few arseholes) and will endeavour to stay in touch with my friends. I've met my two lovely flatmates and my even lovelier girlfriend too, so it can't be bad. I've also gained a great insurance background into the bargain. But for me to progress I need to move on to bigger and better things. And learn how the real world of insurance works.

Cheers Lloyd's. It's been emotional.

-----------

Now for the party! One cider at 11am, and 2 beers at lunch. Followed by me leaving work at four for my leaving drinks. It's going to cost me a few quid but it's the done thing. I'm going to put my card behind the bar for a couple of hours so hopefully they won't take the piss too much. Luckily somebody's having a sprog and someone else is leaving so they've asked to muscle in. Fair enough... split the bill!



Stuart Clark (RIP)
Analyst
Lloyd's Franchise Performance
Telephone +44 (0)20 7327 5983
Fax +44 (0)20 7327 5718
www.lloyds.com

Absolute assholes

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/6199211.stm

Rail services across the East will be disrupted over the festive period after unions and train operators failed to reach agreements over special payments.
No Central Trains will run and Midland Mainline services will be cut on Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

On the Midland Mainline the RMT union accused the operator of offering some workers half of a £200 lump sum given to drivers for working on the two Sundays over the festive season.


I know it can't be nice to work on Christmas and New Year's Eve but it's still your job. You don't see Doctors or Nurses, or bank workers shirking their duties at this time of year so why do rail workers feel justified in their actions?

Half of a £200 lump sum? So £100 before tax? This is their senior conductors so I imagine they could quite possibly be in the 40% tax barrier. After income tax and national insurance you're looking at approximately £50! Absolute selfish bastards!

I agree with my brother. Sack the lot of them and hire some hard working Polish people. It'll be a pain for a few months but once they're trained you will have a hard working group of people genuinely happy to work for a living.

Wednesday 20 December 2006

Lunch

Just got back from my current teams' lunch to thank me for my help this last 6 months. 2nd lunch time curry of the week. Urg! 1 day to go and counting.

One of the team is taking me out for a 'coffee' tomorrow morning at 11am. Eek! It's going to be a big one... luckily my flat mates have volunteered to carry me home.

I've just packed up so that I can take everything home tonight.

http://moblog.co.uk/view.php?id=214011

Feels sad in a way to be leaving but excited about the new job and will always see my friends again as the city is a very small place. Certainly in insurance.

Monday 18 December 2006

My weekend

How I feel...



I had another great weekend. Friday night was my work's Christmas ball. Usual affair, dinner jackets and free booze. And of course the lovely April.

I was supposed to be playing on Saturday but I think that was a bit optimistic, I would have played with my usual hangover but it was April's last day in the country so spent it with her instead. We went for a Nandos and had a really good chat. She's off for 3 weeks now though. Boo hoo! I then left her to pack whilst I walked back to mine.

Saturday night was just what I needed, a nice night in with Becky, not booze and a DVD and a takeaway. The Da Vinci Code. It was okay, but I can't be arsed writing a half arsed review.

Last night (afternoon and night) I went on a mini pub crawl round Putney with Shaheen. Ugh!!! Finally got in at about 10 and attempted to watch Miami Vice. What a poor film. I won't even dignify it with a review.

However for some reason IMdb rate it 6.1/10 (17,154 votes). Maybe I should try and watch it again sober.

Off out to my new team's Christmas lunch in a bit. Should be fun meeting the rest of them.

Thursday 14 December 2006

How odd...

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2117817.html

SC Movie Review 10

The Fantastic Four


I had a rare night in last night, I've been doing 'something' almost every night in December (...and November for that matter) and sometimes it's nice to just sit on your arse all night and do nothing. Flicking through the Sky programme planner nothing much was on. Wigan v's Arsenal... not the greatest game. Rubbish on pretty much every other channel then I saw that the Fantastic Four was on Sky Movies 4. I'd not seen it before, probably because I had not heard many good reviews. But for the want of some low brow nonsense to occupy my time I watched it.

It was surprisingly 'okay', I was expecting complete tripe but I didn't actually think it was that bad. Lively action sequences and a lovely Jessica Alba meant for a mildly amusing film. Would I watch it again? No. Would I recomend people to watch it? Yes. Probably only if you have a mild interest in other similar genre films though.

SC Rating: 3 Potatoes (1 Vote)
IMdb Rating: 5.9 / 10 (27,131 votes)

P.S. I can now add pictures!

Wednesday 13 December 2006

For those that really wanted to know...

Pork Chops with Sage and Apples

Ingredients

4 lean pork chops
3 level dessertspoons very finely chopped fresh sage
2 Cox's apples, cored and sliced into rings but with skins left on
4 level tablespoons dried white breadcrumbs
1 small egg
about 3 tablespoons oil
about 2 oz (50 g) butter
1 medium onion, sliced into rings
salt and freshly milled black pepper


First of all, mix the sage and breadcrumbs together and season well with salt and coarsely milled black pepper. Then beat the egg and dip the pork chops first in the egg, then into the breadcrumb and sage mixture, pressing firmly all round so that the chops get a really good, even coating.

Now heat 2 tablespoons of oil and 1 oz (25 g) butter together in a frying pan and, first of all, brown the chops quickly on both sides with the fat fairly hot, then lower the heat and let them gently cook through (it will take around 25-30 minutes depending on the thickness of the chops).

While that's happening, melt a little more butter and oil in another frying pan and fry the apple and onion rings. Drain everything on crumpled silicone paper (parchment) before serving.

And for those that haven't guessed, it's not a Stuart original. I thank all that is cookery goodness, Delia. http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/pork-chops-with-sage-and-apples,1228,RC.html

500th Post...

... and to mark this momentous occasion, what will I talk about?

My solution for ending 3rd world debt?

My guide to end religious hatred?

Or my quick and easy recipe for pork chops with sage and apples?

Nope... I'll talk about my impromptu drinks after work last night!

I was due to help Becky get a Christmas tree for our flat last night but Becky e-mailed late telling me that she'd been invited to a champagne and Christmas pudding reception upstairs here at Lloyd's. At that very same moment I was asked if I fancied a 'quick' drink after work.

Call it fate, or call it me not being able to say no to a drink but I ended up going to the Jamaican Wine Bar down Cornhill (Ian, i've eaten there with you and Wolfy). There were about 10 of us at one point so it was quite a good laugh. I think I may give San Miguel a miss next time. Ugh, I feel a little ropey now. After that we moved on to the Counting House and had a couple more. It wasn't a massively late one but we did have a few.

I then got a taxi to Waterloo with Patrick, then waited for my train home. Ideally I would have grabbed a take away on the walk home as all i'd eaten that night was the odd spicy peanut that Liz managed to hand feed me / throw at me, but my favourite place was shut (Ben, this is where we got our takeaway a few weeks back).

I love the Christmas period. I will make my second 'attempt' at getting a tree tonight…

Tuesday 12 December 2006

...and in local news

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/northamptonshire/6172953.stm

How many of these guys can there be in Northampton?

"The man was described as white, about 40-years-old, 6ft 8in, with brown, greasy, shoulder-length hair. "

For those that are Simpsons fans

http://www.empireonline.com/news/feed.asp?NID=20129

P.S. I'm on my best blog behavior over the next few weeks. April has found my journal...

Monday 11 December 2006

My weekend

I've had a pretty good few days this past weekend.

Friday was good apart from the all day 'blue skies thinking' meeting. I only went because of the free lunch... It was good though, two courses, but all I really needed was the starter. Still managed to eat the main course. Didn't want to see it go to waste. More rubbish talk in the afternoon where one of the team nearly fell asleep. That's blue sky thinking for you, up in the clouds.

After that we had a few beers outside the Lamb (Ben: That's the place I took you last week, the one with a picture of the Queen mum pulling a pint). Shivered for a bit as it was virtually outside then went to Stirling (The bar at the bottom of Swiss Re (The Gherkin)), to meet up with a few old work colleagues, one of which has just past his last actuary exams and is off to Bermuda for two years on secondment with PWC. I left there after last orders and eventually got home at about 1am.

On Saturday I was rudely awakened at 9am by my dentist telling me that my rearranged rugby game was cancelled because that pitch too was water logged and unplayable. Secretly pleased about that as I've never really been a fan of playing in the winter. I much prefer to show off my silky skills in the spring... Instead I went with my mate Iain (Dentist) to Twickenham to see Harlequins play Bath in the rugby equivalent to the UEFA cup. Really good fun, although wished I had another 5 layers on. Bath won 18-24.

In the evening I went out with my new girlfriend April. :-) That's only the second time that I have used an emoticon. We had a quick drink in Wandsworth where I met her old Uni friend Len, he had to meet other friends later so left us too it. He was in the UK for a few days before flying to Turkey then back to Oz. April's from Perth Australia by the way. Then we walked to Clapham Junction to a bar she new and we had a lovely mojito. It's been a while since my last but that was great! Then to a local DVD rental place which she blagged membership for without having full ID then watched the start of I (heart) Huckerbies. I'll watch it fully at some point.

Sunday was just the ticket, Breakfast at Weatherspoons (sequel to Tiffanies), much better than the original. No soppy story line just bacon, egg, sausage and all the trimmings for £1.99. I then did a bit of shopping then headed back to watch the footy. Chelsea v's Arsenal. Best game I'd seen in a while.

Ta ta for now.

Friday 8 December 2006

SC Movie Review 9

Casino Royale

I went to see the new James Bond film with my brother Steve last Thursday and it was very good. I think the poker section was a bit too long, but as my brother pointed out. The film's title was Casino Royal so I guess it should have quite a prominant part to the film.

Great action, not too far fetched as was the problem with the last handful. Invisible car, I ask you...

Daniel Craig was excellent. Even better than Roger Moore.

Go and see it if you haven't already, and role on the next one.

IMdb Rating: 8.0 / 10 (33265 votes)
SC Rating: 4 Potatoes (1 vote)

Thursday 7 December 2006

That'll smart a bit

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/6217036.stm

"They said he had broken his neck. [The impact of the crash] had actually taken the skull off his neck," he said.

Wednesday 6 December 2006

Working from home today...

I could certainly get used to this. It's the first time i've done it in 4 and a quarter years. I hope my new place lets us. I've already done an hours work so have my feet up for 20 mins watching TV.

Wednesday 29 November 2006

Movies

Your Movie Buff Quotient: 68%

You are a total movie buff. Classics, blockbusters, indie favorites... you've seen most of them.
Your friends know to come to you whenever they need a few good DVD rental suggestions.

Monday 27 November 2006

Just given blood...

...and you know what that means...


Stella o'clock. Or at least not until 5.

I should be paying them!

New Years Eve

Hello all

Have any of you got plans for New Years Eve yet?

It's just an idea at the minute but we might be having a party round mine (Putney). I'll find out more soon but if you haven't any plans yet I think it'd be a laugh.

Monday 20 November 2006

Boozy lunch with Gallaghers No.2

I've not even started there yet. Nice food too, they don't mind splashing the cash.

I also met up with the actuary that i'll be working with plus met my new lackey...

Friday 17 November 2006

Ha, ha, ha!

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2080289.html?menu=

Fuck wit!

Ananova is good today!

They just keep on coming

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2080358.html?menu=

I'm a jedi and so are all of my flat when I was back in Bristol. I got home one night and filled the census form in.

Wow!

Look at his guy

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2080438.html?menu=

Pictures are always better!

Thursday 16 November 2006

Boozy lunch with Gallaghers No.1

Just had lunch with 2 of my new team in Gallaghers plus a random actuary from Brit. Ha, ha! I expect there will be many more to come...

For Ben

http://www.empireonline.com/news/feed.asp?NID=19967

Tuesday 14 November 2006

You are an idiot.

I think I have to do something about this. I'm going to e-mail mail@ukmetro.co.uk

Metro letter in response to the topic of the death sentence

There is an alternative to the death sentence (Metro Monday) that nobody seems to have considered - near-death and revival. Anyone who has a near-death experience is changed for ever. Although good people have an experience of light and bliss, those whose lives are not good have an experience of something like hell. Wicked people really are reformed by this - confronted by the terror of what they are and what lies ahead.

Nobody can feign a near-death experience, because afterwards the person has a powerful, disturbed electric field. After my own near-death experience in 1984, for years afterwards I caused interference on TVs and broke electronic watches.

Incidentally, I gave up music (I was a session musician in the 1980s) and studied theology instead.



I'm going to send in a message, perhaps something like this...

In response to Heather McDougall, Tyne and Wear.

You are an idiot. S Clark London SW15

Tuesday 7 November 2006

Hello from HK

Just a quick message from Hong Kong.

Hello and yes I made it. The hotel is simply amazing, lots of photos to follow.

Just had breakfast and about to go for a swim. Then off to Hong Kong Island for a mooch around then of to the Happy Vally race track in the evening. Should be mental!

See you all soon.

Thursday 2 November 2006

Off to the comedy store tonight

8 of us from work are going so should be fun. I've been a few times recently. Part of my plan whilst living in London. At least every two weeks do 'something'.

Off to Hong Kong on Sunday so I think that'll count for a few weeks of doing stuff. Fly back on the Saturday so will be dead on Sunday / Monday.

Monday 30 October 2006

Halloween House Party 2006

Urg!

I feel shattered... Good fun though. I will post pictures once I get hold of them but there are quite a few good ones.

I think around 30 people turned up in the end and it finally ended at around 4ish. No complaints from the neighbours yet so fingers crossed everything is good. I have an unidentified stain on my bedroom carpet but hopefully the scrubbing I did yesterday will have got rid of it.

Overall I think we came out on top in terms of alcohol, we bought 2 crates of beer, 2 boxes of wine and 2 bottles of spirits. We now have 4 half bottles of spirits, one full bottle of whiskey, 20 cans of larger, half a barrel of beer, a big glass casket of cider.

Wednesday 25 October 2006

Praise the Lord, Amen Brother

'Chris De Burgh cured my paralysed arm'

A woman claims pop singer Chris De Burgh cured her paralysed arm with his healing hands.

Best-selling author Marisa Mackle told The Sun her horrifically injured limb came back to life after he touched it.

It follows controversial claims by De Burgh earlier this month that he could perform miracles like Jesus.

Mackle almost died after slashing her arm on a pane of glass trying to break into her own home. Despite six hours in surgery, it remained virtually paralysed.

For the next three months, her left arm was completely useless. Then came the amazing night out in late January.

She says: "I was in a restaurant with Chris's daughter - the former Miss World, Rosanna Davidson - and she noticed I was using one hand to do everything.

"Of course I didn't want her to think that I had terrible manners so I told her about the accident and that I couldn't use my left arm. The next thing, she told me her dad Chris was a really good healer."

At the end of the night De Burgh came in to pick up Rosanna and she told him about her complaint.

The singer sat down beside Mackle and began to place his hands on the scarred area. He told her he was looking for the heat spot and began to concentrate his palms on specific areas.

She said: "I suppose I didn't really feel any different after the treatment. But then one of the girls called over to me to try it out so I tried to lift a pint glass. And I could - it was just unbelievable."

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2050045.html?menu=news.quirkies

Thursday 19 October 2006

Hong Kong Here I Come

I got an e-mail from one of my friends (Ben you've met him, John, we saw Eels together, the first time) asking me if I wanted to go to Hong Kong with him on the 4th.

Flights are £260 return on some new cheap airline (OasisHongKong) and he's managed to find a swish hotel relativly cheap too! I'm off for a week so watch this space.

http://hongkong.langhamplacehotels.com/accom/lh_clubroom.htm

http://hongkong.langhamplacehotels.com/chuanspa/journey.htm#hong_kong_hotel_spa_SP

Last night

I went to The Ice Bar just off Regents Street last night. It was a pretty good laugh.

It was Cleo's boss's 30th birthday / company's 3rd birthday / celebratory drinks for being nominated as best new PR firm for next week's PR award ceremony. I was invited and brought along a couple of friends from work (Markus was one of them) too.

Free cocktails all night which is always good, except one that I tried had a load of biscuit crumbled on top. Why I ask?

The highlight of the evening was that two news round presenters were there too. The two on the left...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/the_team/default.stm

And yes, she is lovely!!! Also there was the heir to the Sainsbury's fortune. Apparently he's a looney toon scientologist.

The party then went on to China Whites so we made our move home. I ended up walking past Downing Street beforeI finally managed to get myself a cab. £22 later I got to my flat and stupidly left my wallet in the back of it!!! Doh! Dumb ass! Mother Fucker!!!

Called my centinal card protection thing to cancel all of my cards. 5 in total. Then this morning the cab driver had called my works number and is about to drop them off at my flat now! Doh! Doh!

Monday 16 October 2006

SC Movie Review 8

The Departed

Awash with acting and directing talent this film had flop written all over it but most of the reviews I had read were good so stuck with nothing to do on a Sunday night I took Cleo to see it. Good news when I bought the tickets. It was an 18, no holds barred, and I was not disappointed.

It was a violent film but not excessively, but in the violent setting (bad cops and gangsters) I think it did enough to make it realistic but held back as not to make the film too gruesome.

All of the actors were great. Here's 7 of the best

Nicolson (awesome)
Damon (cold)
DiCaprio (surprising not annoying)
Wahlberg (very good character)
Sheen (not bad)
Whinstone (nails
Baldwin (extremely funny)

Go and see this film, it's along the same lines as Goodfellas and Casino but set in modern Boston.

IMdb Rating: 8.6 / 10
SC Rating: 5 potatoes!!! (First ever 5 potato rating)

Streatham-Croydon v's Mayfair Occationals (Barnes 4ths)

0-77

We won 77-0 but I bloody pulled a muscle in my leg so had to go off after 25 mins!!! Doh! I could have got quite few points.

Why is my new rugby team occationally called Mayfair Occationals? It's an international ticket scam. Ha, ha. Beating the system.

Wednesday 11 October 2006

£139

Just changed my change pot. £139!

Ha, ha!

Wednesday 4 October 2006

Dogs

Organised a trip to the dogs with work last night.

25 of us! Very funny evening. Once again I won on the 1st race but then proceeded to lose on every other. Doh!

One of us, Nigel, was jumping up and down and screaming as he had thought he'd won, only to realise (as I was pointing and laughing at him in his face) that there was another lap. His dog came in 5th! Ha, ha, ha! Brilliant.

Tuesday 3 October 2006

Git

My brother found a £50 note on the way to work this morning!

I've already told him that he's a git so no need to comment here.

Monday 2 October 2006

Karma

You Have Good Karma

In general, you like to do the right thing when it comes to others.
Your caring personality really shines through.
Sure, you have your moments of weakness - and occasionally act out.
But, all in all, you're karma is good... even with those few dark spots.

Sociopath

You Are 28% Sociopath

From time to time, you may be a bit troubled and a bit too charming for your own good.
It's likely that you're not a sociopath... just quite smart and a bit out of the mainstream!

Lucky git

Just had a lunch time chat with an old boss and mate. Roast beef sandwiches and two fosters later.

Anyway, looks like he might be heading to Bermuda for two years on a secondment.

That would be pretty cool!

Wednesday 20 September 2006

Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored and fucking bored 5

God i'm bored.

I don't think i've done anything remotely interesting at work for over a month. I can actually say that i've hardly done anything for the entire month that is of any importance. I've been working on something that summarises and benchmarks each syndicate's performance but am struggling to get the required input from anyone else. It's very hard to find the motivation needed to push this forward.

I need a decent hurricane to get my teeth into. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be one on the cards this year. How about a big bomb in New York? That would be interesting too...

Obviously I don't want anyone to get hurt or worse die but sadly at the moment that's the only way my job get's interesting.

There's a possibility that I get to go and work in a poor performing syndicate's exposure management team but it doesn't seem to be moving along at any pace.

Looks like i'm destined for boredom.

Tuesday 19 September 2006

Boo hoo! Stinking cold

The guy that sits opposite from me at work had a terrible cold last week, and now I think he's given it to me. The bloody git!

Now I have to go to boots to use the Stuart Clark method of beating the cold.

OD on lemsip. Usually does the trick.

Monday 18 September 2006

Banksy

http://www.banksy.co.uk/drawing/04.2.html

Sore back

I had the same thing a few months back, but it didn't last for more than a few hours, but since midday yesterday i've had a bit of a pain in my back, just below my left shoulder blade. It's pretty sore, and hurts when I breath...

If it's still sore tomorrow, I may get it checked out.

Nice quiet weekend

Stayed out after work on Friday, had quite a few beers with my mate James. Ended up getting a cab back to Putney (Lazy Sod!), £28, quite reasonable really but a waste of money. I've been getting loads of cabs recently and it's costing me a fortune. Roll on pay day, 21st.

Saturday, I had a bit of a hangover in the morning but fine after lunch. I then watched the footy all afternoon on Prem Plus, I've got to make the most of it, the season ticket cost me £60. Then I went to the shos to get some food as I was cooking for Cleo.

Cleo came over and we had a few bottles of wine and played Buzz (PS2), I beat her 3-1, ha ha!

Sunday, didn't really do much other than watch the footy again. Liverpool game wasn't good and we lost to a wonder goal, Utd game was great though. Then watched best of Top Gear, the first half of Sahara, then the League of Gentlemen Apocalypse.

Tuesday 12 September 2006

Monkfiiiissshhhh!

My brother's cat got into a bit of a scap last night and unfortunatley he's on holiday to France early this morning so I had to take it to the vet this morning.

I was expecting no nonsense Monkfish, but I actually got a nice South African vet.

Monday 11 September 2006

Missed it!

http://www.metallica.com/index.asp?item=102290

Although I think that was the American premier.

SC Movie Review 7

Little Miss Sunshine

An amusing story about a disfunctional family's trip to California for their daughters beauty pageant.

I really enjoyed it. I laughed out loud on a number of amusing places throughout the film.

Special guest star: Bryan Cranston (Malcolm's Dad in Malcolm in the Middle)

IMdb rating: 8.2
SC Rating: 4 potatoes!

P.S. When will the idiots that vote on IMdb stop being fuckwits? I really enjoyed it but for over 50% of people to give it 10 / 10??? Come on! They're total numbnutses. If they like it they give it 10, if they don't then 0. The world isn't binary! Spazoids! Saying that, the actual rating seems pretty accurate.

For your amusement...


My Personality
Neuroticism
73
Extraversion
47
Openness To Experience
65
Agreeableness
33
Conscientiousness
83
Test Yourself Compare Yourself View Full Report

MySpace Surveys, Discount Ugg Boots and MySpace Codes by Pulseware Survey Software

Thursday 7 September 2006

Only fools and horses

I'm off to the Nags Head tonight. Not the one in Pecham unfortunatley, but the one in Knightsbridge. Should be good.

Tuesday 29 August 2006

PC (Zone) gone mad

For something to read on my way to Bristol I bought PC Zone.

It was the October edition. Unless I'm very much mistaken it's still August!!!

Reading 2006

I don't generally believe in fate but decided to take it up on it's offer this weekend.

Firstly I left my coat at John's house so we had to turn back whilst on the way to Yatton train station. That meant I missed my train.

I almost missed another as i'd lost my phone. I thought i'd left it on John's car seat but as the train pulled in I asked the ticket guy and it turned out i'd left it on the counter.

I got my train and then changed at Bristol Temple Meads to get my Paddington train. This was delayed due to strike action of Bridge workers just outside Bristol.

I was half asleep as we were pulling into Reading when I got a text from Shaz.

"Tickets are on sale from towts (spelling?) for £45. Come along!"

I had about 30 seconds to make my mind up...

Not much went through my mide to be honest other that "Aw.... Fuck it! Why not..."

So that's what I did. I legged it off the train and walked towards the Rivermead Centre from Reading Station.

Pretty glad I did it. I had a great laugh.

I only really saw Belle and Sebastian and Bodycount but they were excellent.

I got one of the last trains home and got a cab back to Putney from Paddington. All in all quite an eventful day...

http://moblog.co.uk/view.php?id=185209
http://moblog.co.uk/view.php?id=185208
http://moblog.co.uk/view.php?id=185207
http://moblog.co.uk/view.php?id=185206

SC Movie Review 6

Nacho Libre

A lowly Mexican friar dreams of becoming a prize fight wrestler to win the heart of the nun he loves and improve the lives of the orphanage he cooks for.

Switch off your mind before going to see it and you will enjoy it. Any scepticism at all and you'll probably hate it. It's worth going to see Jack Black's soon to be oscar winning facial expressions.

IMdb Rating: 5.9 / 10 (A little low, but IMdb's voting is not the greatest. Too many people who like a film give them 10 out of 10, and the same for people who dislike the film give it 1 out of 10)
SC Rating 3 Potatoes

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457510/

Tuesday 22 August 2006

This is the life...

Lloyd's paid for my cab into work this morning. £38 worth!

Becky's not been feeling to great recently, and to top it off she hasn't enjoyed the tube journeys in to work, so Lloyd's is paying for a cab each way for a few days. Chauffeur driven to work eh? Can't be bad.

Ha, ha!

Thursday 17 August 2006

Tonight's events

Tonight I will mostly be drinking free drinks.

We have a development network social tonight with work which will be fun. I will be doing no mingling with strangers just getting drunk with my team in the corner whilst looking anti-social. There's a 8 line scale electric track that we've hired too. So that will be fun.

Unfortunately I can't stay for too long as I have free champagne to drink elsewhere. My mate Tunnah (my dentist) cheekily got married whilst away in Barbados so has to buy my brother and I a few drinks tonight.

Friday I will mostly be shattered...

4-0, what a result

Get in! If only we could play like we did in the first half all the time, and also play against shit opposition all the time.

The second half was pretty boring and I think Greece actually edged it. Certainly for large parts anyway. Lennon looked dangerous on the right when he came on so the second half wasn't entirely bad.

Terry and Cole where awesome. Terry made a handful of great interceptions whilst Cole made some terrific stops on the goal line to secure the clean sheet.

You could almost call Peter Crouch prolific...

Wednesday 16 August 2006

Tonight's events

Tonight I will be mostly watching England v's The champions of Europe, i.e. the mighty Greece...

Tim's coming over and I have pizza and beer.

What more could you want on a Wednesday Summer's evening?

Tuesday 15 August 2006

Monday 14 August 2006

Pfnar, pfnar

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1949977.html?menu=

Weekend Events

Friday

I had Friday off from work to sort a few bit and pieces out with the flat. Didn't really do much other than a 5 mile run. Ross came down at about 8 and we headed straight out. We got nicely sloshed and ended up getting a burger king.

Saturday was great, we then went for a nice pub lunch then met up with Shaz. We helped my new flat mate move in (whilst semi drunk) then headed off to Kennsington for a night out on the town.

I was quite a weird place to begin with. One of Shaheen's medic friends was having a birthday party and had hired a venue. The Fire Rooms. From the out side it just looked like a really posh house. The inside was a really posh house but with a bar in it. Very weird.

Celeb Spot of the Day Pete Postlethwaite

Amusing Spot of the Day Shaheen got stung for a £55 round

After that we moved onto another (cheaper) pub

Then got cabs to Astoria 2 (I think it's called 'Fish' or something). Lots of rock and metal music and dancing. Good fun again. At 4 in the morning we staggered out and tried to get a cab back to Putney. After much Shaz haggling we got one for £35. Not bad as it was split between 5.

Sunday we went to another nice pub for lunch, then I watched the football where Liverpool kicked Chelsea's ass.

All in all, a very good weekend.

Thursday 10 August 2006

Sad fcuker

Bored so looking at the alumni at my uni

Didn't know this guy but he was in my faculty.

Abhinav Chauhan
"I struggled to get a job after this course but believe me it was not the course but the 9/11 Syndrome that hit me. Today looking back I cannot thank UWE enough for designing such a wonderful course. It has given me a broader vision to the Manufacturing Industry. Today a head of Department International Business to a well known company in India in Injection Molding, Mold making and CAD/CAM designing. I know what this course did for me; what UWE has given me. No words are worthy enough for me to thank the Professors and the University for giving me that edge which only few will have. I miss the days at university I surely have started to worry about my T-shirts from UWE fading. Today I wear my t-shirts with UWE logo with pride. I intend to be back just to have some quality time with my Professors and buy a few more t-shirts from the union shop.
Feb 06"

General state of mind

Having finally found myself a new flat I can honestly say that i'm feeling much better about things. Being settled at home has made all the other problems seem less of an issue and I can actually start to relax.

I think last night was the first time in nearly two months where i've slept the whole night through. Perhaps it was a cooler night and I wasn't so bothered with the heat, but I think it may be a combination of the two.

The flat is great though. Apart from a couple of minor issues that will get sorted out in the next few days I think the flat is excellent.

- The toilet downstairs is broken, not a problem as we have 3, and more importantly mine is fine.
- I can't get the dishwasher or washing machine to work - not a problem as it's forced me to buy new shirts, but that can't go on forever.
- We still have no blinds - not a problem, they're getting measured up tonight.

Busy morning

Wow! My new Exposure Management role has really kicked in. We've been running round frantically trying to assess the impact of today's terrorist events.

Business interruption will be our main loss, but we don't think it''' amount to much. What would happen if they didn't manage to stop the fuckers?

Monday 7 August 2006

Poker Evening 5 (or 6) results

£20 stakes

Ben: Took home £48
Stuart: £32
Ian: £0
Kris: £0

Wednesday 2 August 2006

Funnies...

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1938048.html?menu=

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1937986.html?menu=

Poker Evening 5 (or 6) continued

Is everyone still okay for Saturday night? I'm going to try and get things sorted out with my flat in the morning and then head over to Kettering for around 6 / 7 o'clock.

Does that sound reasonable?

Can someone get a load of booze and unhealthy food in, we can settle up on the night?

Ian: Is it still okay for me to stay over? Are there any decent take aways nearby? I guess the Han is close, but could be quite pricey just for takeaway food.

Kris: Can you bring your poker set?

Ben: No chance of getting Dylan along? Ask him again, if anything it'll annoy him.

Stu: Oh that's me, I'm still waiting to hear back from Ross, but will call him soon to see if he can make it too. That might mean it could be cheap enough for us to get a cab back to Corby afterwards. I guess we can play it by ear.

Jebus: Make sure I win!

Friday 28 July 2006

General Comment

Nobody is commenting at all these days. We're all e-mailing less and less. I rairly hear from anyone unless it's Stuart initiated. Friendships work both ways. I understand that our jobs are dictating less communication to a certain extent but I find the lack of individual posts quite sad.

I make every effort to stay in touch with my friends from past, present and even future??? I think this forum is ideal for quick snappy comments and updates on important (or silly) updates on each of our day to day lives.

I'm considering stopping using livejournal so I can only say this

"use it or lose it"

I know you read my messages. No excuses start to contribute yourselves.

Tuesday 25 July 2006

Feeling much better today...

... something must be wrong.

Not sure what it is entirly but I do feel better today.

Will keep you posted when I find out what it is.

Monday 24 July 2006

Hello to one and all

I went to Ross's place on Saturday and had a really good laugh.

He's got a nice one bed roomed house near to Sizewell and the coast. Despite the power station the whole area's lovely.

We had a look at the beach a couple of the seaside town / villages then had a good few beers in a handful of his local pubs. Topped off with a curry and then watching Payback.

Ross then drove me to me to Ipswich on Sunday afternoon. We grabbed a bite to eat at the pub outside the station (never a good choice). And I went home.

Then ended up watching Narnia (crap), can't remember Santa being in the book. Then Training Day good. I would have liked to have watched Top Gear but unfortunately a woman was in the house so she wanted to watch Big Brother. My brother should learn to put his foot down.

Not much planned for the week ahead. But I can imagine i'll be viewing a few flats, thankfully Liz and Becky are back from their holidays so we can push forward again.

Friday 21 July 2006

Tuesday 18 July 2006

Idiots!

No justice in the world.

"I found a money spider and knew I'd be lucky."

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1918882.html

Monday 17 July 2006

Poker Evening 5 (or 6)

Date: Saturday 5th August
Time: 7:00 pm
Venue: Ian's house
Stakes: £20
Drink: Beer
Food: Pizza
Entrants: (Please confirm)

Stuart Clark (yes)
Ben Sorrie (yes)
Ian Russell (yes)
Kris Matthews (yes)
Dylan Evans
Tim Gilbert
Ross Morton (prob no)

It was going to be this weekend but Ben's doing some Stone Cutting.
I hope you're all free the weekend after then...
Just let me know, here's probably easiest.

Wednesday 12 July 2006

Up again

Called my letting agents this morning and there is a chance that we could know one way or the other early this afternoon. So i'm feeling a little up this morning...

...although that's probably down to my double shot black americano

To cut a very long story short, the other letting agent that we viewed the property stuck their foot in things. they're just annoyed that we're using a different agency.

They're claiming that they have a family ready to view this morning, but our letting agents hold all the keys and they haven't asked for them yet. So our letting agents think they're just bull shitting the land lord.

Our agent asked the landlord out right if they could tell us that the deal was off and he said "no". He'll make his mind up this afternoon.

Then Grant punched Phil in the face because he called him a slaaaggggg.

I think they could make a soap out of estate agencies. In fact, i'm surprised they haven't.

Monday 10 July 2006

FYI

Just got an e-mail telling that the CTC friendsreunited page has been updated...

http://www.friendsreunited.co.uk/friendsreunited.asp?wci=otherprofile&member_key=4287747

...and in other news

I've got my flat.

Just sending reference forms off today. Hopefully signing contracts tomorrow / Wednesday.

http://www.findaproperty.com/agent.aspx?agentid=1249&opt=prop&pid=654839

Fingers crossed we can get everything sorted out early this week so we can move in over the weekend. It's not ideal staying at my brothers. I know it's fine but I really don't want to overstay my welcome.

Otherwise we may have to wait a few weeks until the whole weekend after!!! Liz is having to go to Zambia for a funeral which means we really must sort things out today / tomorrow.

Friday 7 July 2006

Flat hunting

We went back to this flat last night

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-7426807.rsp?pa_n=2&tr_t=rent

and the agent suggested that she thought that the landlady would finally accept. Fingers crossed we can get things sorted out by early next week then I can get out of my brother's hair and start to relax. The constant looking around is quite stressful.

I've agreed to let them have a holding deposit. Now it's just down to the landlady and the referencing.

Wednesday 5 July 2006

I need a home

We're seeing a few more tonight after work but the landlady on the Flat Two (see earlier post) is still willing to wait a week or two more for a family. She must be rich.

On another not dissimilar note, I called the letting agent of my previous flat to see when i'd be getting my deposit back. I'm getting the full £1,000 (minus the checking out fee!)

However I had a full blown argument with one of the agents trying to get all of it back though. In the end he had to admit that the check out report did state that it was the cleanest flat they'd ever seen.

Fuckers! They'll try anything on. I should get the money in a couple of days.

Tuesday 27 June 2006

Homeless

I'm off from work tomorrow / Thurs to move flats but still haven't found one yet so having to move into my brothers.

It'll be fine but hardly perfect. For a start it's hardly fair on Steve, Jen or the cats. A week's fine but any more than that and i'll have to seriously start to think about moving back home and commuting for a while. I think over 2 hour door to door. 4+ hours wasted every day...

The girls i'll be moving in with (eventually) are great but they don't seem to understand or appreciate the urgency on my part. Out of about 10 flats / houses we've seen so far I would be happy to live in 6 of them. There always seems to be an issue. Either too far from the tube, one bedroom smaller than another, too expensive for the area or countless other reasons. I may have to ask them to be more focused.

Here's the latest two. Very nice but again there are issues.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-7766278.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=rent
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-7426807.rsp?pa_n=2&tr_t=rent

Hopefully the cleaning of my flat (it's getting a professional clean tomoorow afternoon) won't take long so that I can visit a few more tomorrow.

Friday 23 June 2006

Comedy Gold

http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~kritip/managers%20job.htm

Congratualtions to my brother

He passed 2 more actuarial exams yesterday. Only one more to do and that'll be in September.

Thursday 22 June 2006

Perfect beer drinking weather

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?id=2159

My mate Markus can't make it now, one of his friends is coming down to visit on Sunday and his girlfriend wants him to stay and help clean up the flat.

Sod that!

Beer or Marrigolds?

Wednesday 21 June 2006

As requested

If you comment on this post:
1. I’ll respond with something random about you
2. I’ll challenge you to try something
3. I’ll pick a color that I associate with you
4. I’ll tell you something I like about you
5. I’ll tell you my first/clearest memory of you
6. I’ll tell you what animal you remind me of
7. I’ll ask you something I’ve always wanted to ask you
8. If I do this for you, you must post this on yours

Now lets see how long it takes someone to garner enough effort to reply...

Tuesday 20 June 2006

Sunday 18 June 2006

Bum

wat_de_fu's Word Usage
1. bum (342) 26. up (16) 51. around (10) 76. eventually (7)
2. the (102) 27. but (16) 52. not (10) 77. are (7)
3. i (88) 28. have (15) 53. before (10) 78. it's (7)
4. a (80) 29. get (14) 54. can (9) 79. ian (7)
5. to (77) 30. we (13) 55. about (9) 80. two (7)
6. and (68) 31. as (13) 56. work (9) 81. year (7)
7. in (44) 32. had (13) 57. one (9) 82. where (7)
8. was (44) 33. 7 (13) 58. from (9) 83. only (7)
9. of (36) 34. day (13) 59. much (9) 84. into (7)
10. my (35) 35. out (13) 60. then (9) 85. far (7)
11. it (32) 36. by (12) 61. what (8) 86. see (7)
12. on (30) 37. there (12) 62. bit (8) 87. night (7)
13. for (29) 38. 10 (12) 63. should (8) 88. time (7)
14. so (26) 39. is (12) 64. down (8) 89. week (7)
15. that (25) 40. me (11) 65. just (8) 90. 12 (6)
16. 5 (23) 41. 9 (11) 66. back (8) 91. watch (6)
17. 6 (21) 42. than (11) 67. will (8) 92. off (6)
18. at (21) 43. nice (11) 68. now (8) 93. go (6)
19. you (20) 44. good (11) 69. got (8) 94. today (6)
20. this (20) 45. last (11) 70. first (8) 95. how's (6)
21. with (20) 46. i'm (10) 71. 8 (7) 96. home (6)
22. all (18) 47. went (10) 72. really (7) 97. an (6)
23. be (18) 48. if (10) 73. barcelona (7) 98. your (6)
24. going (17) 49. quite (10) 74. think (7) 99. however (6)
25. very (16) 50. hotel (10) 75. arrived (7) 100. more (6)
Username:
Word Count by Hutta.

The sad little child that I am...

bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum

Word count

wat_de_fu's Word Usage
1. the (103) 26. get (13) 51. work (8) 76. two (6)
2. i (87) 27. as (13) 52. one (8) 77. year (6)
3. a (79) 28. we (12) 53. will (8) 78. where (6)
4. to (77) 29. had (12) 54. much (8) 79. only (6)
5. and (69) 30. day (12) 55. then (8) 80. into (6)
6. in (43) 31. is (12) 56. what (7) 81. far (6)
7. was (43) 32. out (12) 57. bit (7) 82. see (6)
8. of (37) 33. there (11) 58. should (7) 83. night (6)
9. my (34) 34. not (11) 59. down (7) 84. time (6)
10. it (32) 35. me (10) 60. an (7) 85. week (6)
11. on (30) 36. by (10) 61. just (7) 86. watch (5)
12. for (28) 37. than (10) 62. back (7) 87. off (5)
13. so (26) 38. from (10) 63. do (7) 88. go (5)
14. that (24) 39. nice (10) 64. now (7) 89. today (5)
15. this (20) 40. good (10) 65. got (7) 90. how's (5)
16. with (20) 41. last (10) 66. first (7) 91. home (5)
17. at (20) 42. can (9) 67. really (6) 92. your (5)
18. you (19) 43. i'm (9) 68. barcelona (6) 93. however (5)
19. be (18) 44. went (9) 69. think (6) 94. more (5)
20. all (17) 45. if (9) 70. arrived (6) 95. next (5)
21. going (16) 46. quite (9) 71. eventually (6) 96. some (5)
22. very (15) 47. hotel (9) 72. 5 (6) 97. itâ´s (5)
23. up (15) 48. around (9) 73. are (6) 98. another (5)
24. but (15) 49. before (9) 74. it's (6) 99. cab (5)
25. have (14) 50. about (8) 75. ian (6) 100. too (5)
Username:
Word Count by Hutta.

Last journal entries

Ben 17-05-06
Kris 30-03-06
Ian 29-03-06 (and before these 3 the previous was in March the year before)
Tim 17-10-05

Come on guys, I know you check up on the journal every now and again. The least you could do is reply to the occasional post. Or perhaps even make a post of your own.

Suggested topics

Ben: How's the job going, you've nearly been in it for 6 months now?
Kris: How are the kids? Is your dog still stupid?
Ian: How's the house? How's your redecorating going? Are you going for black paint?
Tim: How's the band going? When's the next gig? How's work? Any news?

It's not as if it takes long... This rant only took me 5 mins.

Saturday 17 June 2006

Carry on Camping (Oooh Errr Misses)

Other than going to the Edinburgh Festival for a few day in early August I haven't any plans for holidays this summer.

How about you guys?

Does anyone fancy a cheap week / long weekend away somewhere. Perhaps camping. Peak district / Lakes?

What do you think? Shouldn't cost much.

Beer festival 2005 reminder

http://moblog.co.uk/view.php?id=76946

http://moblog.co.uk/view.php?id=75302

http://moblog.co.uk/view.php?id=75084

And the piece de la resistance...

http://moblog.co.uk/view.php?id=74987

Hope to see you all there...

Tired

I was in bed by 9pm last night. I think the hectic week finally took it's toll.

I had to go to Clapham to look round a flat so we had to get on the hot and sweaty Northern Line. It wasn't that bad after the first stop but not sure if I want to be doing that every day.

Today, i've tied up around the house and went into Greenwich to get my hair cut. Other than that I watched a bit of the footy, rugby and cricket, plus i'm now lvl 30 in WoW.

Friday 16 June 2006

Weekend plans

A nice relaxing nothing...

First weekend in ages where I have nothing planned. Quite looking forward to it actually.

However I may be meeting up with Nicola on Saturday so this is subject to change.

Thursday 15 June 2006

Come on England

Will Rooney play? Will Theo get the nod? Will we beat T&T?

Who cares?

How early can I convince my boss to let us out to watch it?

So far it's 4:30, but I recon we can go for 4:00.

As i'm bloody writing this my new boss has booked me into a 3:30 meeting with a managing agent. Bugger! He assures me it won't last more than an hour and a half!!!

Sad news

I got a call from my Dad last night telling me that his wife's Mum died.

84 years old. Not a bad age I guess.

Friday 9 June 2006

Weekend plans

One of my best mates from uni is coming down to watch the first England game tomorrow which will be fun.

Then off to a bbq at my brothers on Sunday. I may torment my brothers cats too.

Pool

I organised our annual pool competition last night and it was pretty much a success. i.e. I didn't lose this year.

I actually nearly got into the semi-finals. In all, we had ten lots of two playing in 2 group stages. Probably about 30 people were there at one point. And all it cost was £10 each. In fact being the one collecting the kitty I think I may have forgotten to dip in myself. Whoops!

Corporate plastic is great.

World Cup!

I hope you're all excited about this months world cup.

I luckily picked South Korea and Croatia in our sweepstake at work. Oh well that's £10 down the drain.

Luckily I won the lottery again this Wednesday to pay for it.

Friday 2 June 2006

Flat share

Looks like I will be getting a flat with a couple of friends from work.

Liz and Becky. Should be good, plus will be able to cut my rent / bills down by quite a bit.

I'm currently spending just under £900 all in, including sky and broadband.

I'm looking to cut it down to less than £700.

We're meeting up tomorrow morning to go and have a look round Greenwich / Clapham / Islington / Putney estate agents.

I move out of my current place on the 28th of June, so watch this space for a house party sometime in July. I can't see it being as rowdy as last years but should be fun. Hopefully with all doors still intact...

Beer festival 2006

24th June

I spoke to Ross last night. He's doing well and is up for the event.

I'm not going for the title this year so it's up for grabs. Retiring at the top and all that. What I want to know is if Ben and Kris can last more than 4 hours of drinking before getting stuffed into a cab by their better halves.

And also if Ian can have more than a quarter of a pint of beer this year. Bring back 2004 Ian, you were superb.

Who else is going this year? Ben, have you spoken to Tim? Is Dylan joining us this year? Can you think of anyone else?

Sunday 28 May 2006

Barcelona log 3

Day 3 continued

Friday was good in the end. After walking round the main touristy area of Barcelona all day I was shattered. Eventually I found a nice enough looking restaurant. I ordered Asparagus and Brie as a starter followed by grilled lamb chops in a tomato sauce.

The Aspargus was good although there was a bit too much. I should have just ordered that as a main and I would have been happy. The lamb arrived and wasn´t very impressed. What should have been a sauce turned out to be two lightly grilled tomatoes. Never mind, at least it was cheap. By this time it was about 10 so decided to walk to the central plaza and see what was going on. Some sort of band was playing so watched that for a bit. Then go in a cab and went home to bed.

Day 4

Saturday was probably the hotest so far. I think it was about 28 degrees. Today I went down by the docks. It was quite nice with hundreds of yachts. I found a nice air conditioned coffee shop and stayed there for a bit.
http://moblog.co.uk/view.php?id=156593

One thing that i´ve really noted that the heat really effects your hunger. Apart from the meal the day before and the breakfasts i´ve hardly eaten at all. And i´ve never really fealt hungry. In fact this morning I couldn´t be bothered to grab a breakfast so didn´t bother and still don´t feel hungry now and it´s nearly 2pm. Something must be wrong...

I then sat in the sun for a bit by the main plaza listening to some bloke rant on in Spanish about one thing or another. I found a nice bar in the middle of nowhere had a couple of beers and then went home.

Today once it´s cooled down a touch i´m going to head to one of the beaches and perhaps try and get a little sunburnt. I´m not in the mood to wander around far today so hopefully I can just find a nice spot somewhere to read.

See you

Friday 26 May 2006

Barcelona log 2

Day 3

Hola

Just walked from my hotel to the Museum of Contempory Art and it´s quite a treck. What can I say? Very contempory...

Tired now, so thought i´d update my log.

Last night was good, after much walking I eventually found a bar with the England B game on. Ended up chatting to this random Geordi character. He was over on business (it´s alright for some) to visit the Nissan factory. Managed to get to a tube and tried to get home. Leaving the tube I had no idea where my hotel was, so I decided to try and find it...

20 mins later I gave up and got a cab. The driver laughed at me but took me anyway. The ride cost €2. A one minute drive! Very funny though.

Not sure if I can hack the Spanish way of living though. They don´t start going out until 10 / 11. By that time i´d be smashed. I like the idea of siesta´s though. Lazy buggers!

Off to have another look for Ian...

Adios


P.S. I now know about 5 words in Spanish.

Thursday 25 May 2006

Barcelona log 1

The first of hopefully a series of logs for the beautiful city of Barcelona.

Day 1
My journey to the airport was uneventful but my first worry was when my luggage was getting weighed in. My smaller bag that was packed for two nights in Cologne weighed only 1kg less than my much bigger Samsonite bag that was packed for 7. What had I forgottenÇ (Can´t find question mark so am going to assume that this is itÇÇÇ).

I arrived at the airport a little early and the BA flight was delayed due to the bad weather (Ha, ha) for half an hour so just sat and read and watched lots of chavs with Luis Vouton bags walk by.

My flight eventually arrived in Barcelona at around 6pm local time and it was nice and warm with the sun shining, not a cloud in the sky. Good start.

I made the decision to use local transport rather than get a cab as it couldn´t possibly be that hard. Luck would have it I found it very easy to get near my hotel but handed in the towel soon after once I started wandering aimlessly around the city bags in tow and eventually got a cab.

With a mixture of me pointing at my map and making car steering wheel hand gestures I arrived at my hotel 5mins later and €5 lighter.

I was very pleased with my hotel room (I should be, it cost over 600 quid (another symbol I can´t find on this bloody keyboard).

Í was very tired at this point so decided that all I was going to do was have a wander around the local vicinity and maybe try and grab a little to eat. There are no bloody shops in Barcelona. Or at least there are none open at 10pm. Eventually I gave up and had to laugh at myself. I ended up going to a garage forecourt ´Alan PArtridge Travel Lodge esc´. I´d like to point out that my hotel wass much nicer than a travel lodge and was no where near a motorway.

I must brush up on my Spanish however as there´s only so far "I-o speak-o no-o Spanish-o" gets you. So far so good however.

Day 2
I got up around 9am and went down for my breakfast. It´s the most important meal of the day afterall, and if I don´t want another repeat of the Alan Partridge incident i´d better stock up. I was impressed, avery good spread...

In my meanderings the day before I stumbled across a tube so made my way there. I was heading towards the Gothic district on the off chance I would bumpinto Ian. As it turned out it was very sunny (again) so there where no goths around). Being very warm I had drank quite a bit of water, and by the time I got there was desperate. Looking around I saw my saviour. A home from home, Starbucks. And to add a special little touch I was asked for my name when I bought my coffee, when it arrived I had a personalised paper cup with my name on it. Lovely!

I plan on updating if and when I get a chance.

See you.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?id=4063
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?world=0042

Wednesday 24 May 2006

The Holiday begins..

I fly out to Barcelona today.

Next 5 days weather in London 14, 16, 16, 15, 16 degrees all wet

Next 5 days weather in Barcelona 25, 26, 26, 27, 27 degrees all sunny.

I did want to have a cheap holiday but it's already turned out quite expensive however.

£250 flights, £600 hotel. Just going to relax all week so hopefully won't spend too much.

Wish me luck.

Back next Wednesday, back to work, a week on Monday.

Friday 19 May 2006

Holiday

40 mins left before I'm off on holiday for two whole weeks!!!

Haven't booked anything yet but i'll do that on Sunday / Monday.

Should be able to get a cheap deal somewhere nice.

See ya.

Tuesday 16 May 2006

Possibility of another flatshare

I'm going for lunch on Thursday to discuss in more detail but it will be with a couple of friends from work. One of them I really get on with (Liz) and the other seems really nice and also came to Cologne with us so watch this space.

We haven't thought about an area yet but we should be able to get a really nice place and I'll still save money.

Nothing's confirmed yet but it's certainly another option.

Indoor Golf

Last night I played indoor golf for the first time. I am so crap.

Basically you're in a booth and you smack golf balls at an overhead projector screen that is showing you where you are in the course. Very good graphics too.

In the hour slot, the 4 that where in my bay managed to complete two holes. And I finished with a superb 14 over par, i.e 25 shots. If you extrapolate that to the full course of 18 holes it would have taken me 9 hours and a mamouth 126 shots!

I think I'll keep my day job for the forseeable future.

Next week

Indoor skydiving

Monday 15 May 2006

Cologne 2006

I went to Cologne for the weekend and had a great laugh. Very tired now but well worth it.

9 of us went in total. Seven from work and two girlfriends.

We arrived at 11pm (10pm UK time), and headed straight out to sample the Cologne nightlife. The first thing that was surprising was the beer glasses. They only served beer in 200ml glasses. The second was that you only ever paid at the end. The waitress simply marked your drink totals on a beer mat. Very useful if you often forget how much you've drunk. The girls went back to the hotel at 3, the men, all three of us stayed out till gone 5am and then staggered into a Burger King.

Saturday was good too, in the morning we had a leisurely wander around the city centre (1 million inhabitants) and then climbed up the city's cathedral. 509 steps to be precise! Quite an effort, but worth it as the view was quite something. We then grabbed some traditional German food, on the menu there was jellied pigs head, but I opted for the safe option and just had some sausage. We then moved on to a pub to watch the FA cup final.

What a game. Very exciting and nerve racking, almost on par with last years antics in the Champions League.

In the evening we went out for a Mexican meal before moving onto the student district. Again, lots of fun. Not quite as late however, only till approximately 3am.

On Sunday everyone was shattered so we ended up going to the chocolate museum before heading back to the hotel to collect our stuff. I eventually got back at a very tired 11pm, but it was all good fun.

Unfortunately I have a very busy week planned with work and play. Indoor golf tonight, out in Greenwich with old flatmates Tuesday, Champions League final on Wednesday, meal with work on Thursday and 'Dentist appointment' on Friday so I doubt I'll get a chance to recover before I go on holiday.

Wish me luck.

Friday 5 May 2006

For all those 24 fans.

And i'm refering to the TV programme 24, not all of my 24 fans. As you all know there are far more than that.

FYI

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=DTGOGLBYDDW1TQFIQMFSFF4AVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2006/05/05/ukiefer.xml

Monday 3 April 2006

Which do I watch?

Beavis and Butt-head Do America Sky1 9pm
Predator 2 E4 10pm
Kull the Conqueror ITV4 9pm

Friday 31 March 2006

CM review

Amazon review
--------------------
Waste of money., March 19, 2006
Reviewer: amirlass2 from london United Kingdom
Do not buy this game!!! It takes an age to load, even on an Intel Pentium PC with 1024mb of ram and 3.4Ghz!!!

Transfer system is unrealistic; any high bid will be accepted.
Tactics do not influence the game.
So many flaws.
Rubbish!!!

--------------------


As expected...


--------------------

8. David Hasselhoff can count backwards from infinity.

I feel rough

I went out for a quick drink after work and ended up having 7 pints of stella.

Uuuurrrrggggghhhhh!

This weekend I will mostly be sleeping.

------------------
7. The popular videogame "Doom" is based loosely around the time Satan
borrowed two bucks from David Hasselhoff and forgot to pay him back.

Monday 27 March 2006

Poker Evening 1 Results, The Hare and the Tortoise

£10 stakes (not my choice)

1st Place

Stuart £17


2nd Kris £15

3rd Ben £8

Last Ian £0

Highlights

Ben shot away into the lead and at one point had amased as much as £25.
Kris was reasonably steady all game for a change.
I went down to less than £3 at one point.
Ian was all out after an hour or so.

Friday 24 March 2006

Winner

Entering an Empire on-line competition

I won a signed copy of the script for A Cock and Bull Story

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon.

It's the second thing that i've won from them. Last year I won The Name of the Rose.
--------------------
Do good things happen in 3s?

No. 2: Win the poker
No. 3: Get a lottery ticket and win the lottery...

Monday 20 March 2006

Get your shades ready

It's poker eveing again this Saturday.

What are the stakes? I think last time it was £20. Is that okay with everyone?

Can someone do the honours and get a crate of Fosters or some such (whatever's on special)?

Is everyone happy with just gettting a load of frozen pizzas too?

I should be finished at the rugby club by 7 / 8.

See you there.

Wednesday 8 March 2006

£100k

Just been looking at my pay slips and have worked out that I will have earned (pre tax) just over £100k during my 3 and a half years at Lloyds!


--------------------

6. In an average living room there are 1,242 objects David Hasselhoff
could use to kill you, including the room itself.

Thursday 2 March 2006

I want one

Remote-controlled sharks

The Pentagon is working on using remote-controlled sharks as stealth spies.

Engineers funded by the US military have created a neural implant designed to enable a shark's brain signals to be manipulated remotely.

The Pentagon hopes to exploit sharks' natural ability to glide quietly through the water, sense delicate electrical gradients and follow chemical trails, reports New Scientist.

The project, funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, was presented at the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Neural implants consist of a series of electrodes are embedded into the animal's brain, which can then be used to stimulate various functional areas.

Biologist Jelle Atema of Boston University and his students are using them to "steer" spiny dogfish in a tank via a phantom odour.

Project engineer Walter Gomes, of the Naval Undersea Warfare Centre, says the next step will be to implant the device into blue sharks and release them into the ocean off the coast of Florida.

Sunday 26 February 2006

London Transport

It's just taken me two and a half hours to get back from my brothers.

Bloody wank bollocks.

I got to Raynes Park and found out that the line was closed due to maintenance works. So not to worry, i'll walk to Wimbledon. Oh bugger! The whole line's down, so I had to go 10 stops on the District line. Which was delayed twice.

Then onto the Jubilee line. Major delays due to a signaling problem at Waterloo.

Then national rail to New Cross. Then a 10 min walk.

Argh! Missed 30mins of the Liverpool game.

It should have taken less than an hour.

Thursday 23 February 2006

WOW comment 2

Community

Very impressed with the willingness of others around the worlds to help out. The use of the word world is not miss-used. Perhaps Europe... But seriously, i've been playing for less than a week (just over half) and i've shared conversations with Dutch, French and Germans, all willing to help out for the common good. Even helping me out because I couldn't be arsed reading the manual. I invite my remaining readership to play. To say it would enrich your life would be an overstatement but I think you get my point of view.

Sunday 19 February 2006

WOW!

And WOW it is! I think i've found my new CM/FM.

Broadband

I finally got broadband on Friday and so far I am impressed. I have a much faster conection at work but they don't let you 'use' it.

So far i've mainly been updating my security and updating programs. Any suggestions to what else I may need?

"I love power rangers"

Ben Sorrie

Friday 17 February 2006

Private Eye's Pseuds Corner

“Every day I have a coffee enema. I really love them. I might even be a bit addicted, because they provide this wonderful capsule of time to read or just get some space. I use organic coffee – Fair Trade of course. You can buy a special enema blend which isn’t drinkable, but I usually use Guatemalan, which is. ”
GINNY FRASER
‘A Life in The Day’, Sunday Times

It’s the same with the wonderful Monogram, the stuffed Angora goat Rauschenberg found in an office supply store on 23rd Street in the early 1950s and encircled with a car tyre. One looks at it remembering that the goat is an archetypal symbol of lust, so Monogram is the most powerful image of anal intercourse ever to emerge from the rank psychological depths of modern art. ”
ROBERT HUGHES
Guardian

5. When David Hasselhoff goes to donate blood, he declines the syringe,
and instead requests a hand gun and a bucket.

SC Movie Review 5

Sin City

I finally got round to watching Sin City on Sky Box Office last night. £3.75 was a little steep but it was certainly worth the money.

It was either that or watch John Barnes try to present channel five's UEFA Cup Programme. Although often amusing, i'm a bit football watchinged out this week. I think i've watched off and on 5 / 6 games this week, and there is loads on in the next few weeks.

If you ignore the similar themes between all of the stories (male fantasy: big strong guy, protecting his dame) the film really works. Being a natural born sceptic I thought the film could possibly degenerate into far too much style over substance, but as a whole it seemed to work.

IMDb Rating: 8.5 / 10 (71,691 votes)
SC Rating: 5 potatoes (1 vote)

4. When David Hasselhoff was born, the nurse said, "Holy Cow! That's
David Hasselhoff!" Then she had sex with him. At that point, she was the
third girl he had slept with.

Thursday 16 February 2006

CM06 release date

http://www.championshipmanager.co.uk/shownews.php?id=226

But will I buy it? Doubt it. The last version was a complete waist of money.

-------------------------

3. When David Hasselhoff drinks pee, his asparagus smells funny.

Boo hoo. My phone's stopped working.

I'll have to take it back to the Car Phone Warehouse at some point, but can't be arsed dealing with the fcukwits.

Back to my Sony for the time being.

----------------

2. There is no theory of evolution, just a list of creatures David
Hasselhoff allows to live.

Monday 13 February 2006

Update

Hello all

How is everyone this fine morning? I hope everybody is suitably refreshed for the working week ahead. I had a quite one. Didn't really get up to much.

Saturday

9:30 Went for a run around Greenwich Park. I've changed my route a little so that I don't have to run up a giant hill at the start. This made things a lot easier and much more enjoyable.
11:30 Had a nice breakfast at the restaurant in my development. £9.20 for a full English breakfast and a black coffee...
12:30 Watched Wigan v's Liverpool on PremPlus, I've paid more than the season ticket now in one off buys. Doh! Didn't beat the system. That's one nil to the fascists. I'll get you back.
15:00 Acquired a 'new' entertainment system stand / table for my flat. Someone was throwing it out so I nabbed it. I also had the fun of smashing up my chest of drawers to make room for it.
20:00 Started watching Sky Captain on Sky Movies, bag of shite. Now I remember why I didn't bother going to see it in the cinema

Sunday

10:30 Went for a run around Greenwich Park.
12:00 Had a nice breakfast at the restaurant in my development. £10.70 for a full English breakfast, orange juice and a black coffee… (although it is extremely expensive, it was very good)
12:30 Watched Sunderland v's Tottenham, great goal in the last few minutes to stop Spurs gaining all 3 points
16:00 Watched Man City v's Charlton, very exciting 2nd half
18:30 Watched new Simpsons
19:30 Watched new Malcolm in the Middle
21:00 2 episodes of the new series of 24

As stated not really eventful, but nice all the same.

-------
1. David Hasselhoff is the only man to ever defeat a brick wall in a
game of tennis.

Monday 6 February 2006

He's in the money...

Just won another Euro Millions Lottery.

£7.10

2nd time in 3 attempts

---------------
This time next year i'll be a millionaire.

Del Boy

Monday 16 January 2006

All quiet on the Journal front

Where is everyone? I think it's been months since anyone last posted a message. Have you not been up to anything interesting? Has anyone died?

What have I been up to this year?

I went to Cambridge a couple of weeks ago.
I had my annual appraisal.
David Bruce has been in touch, and we're planning on grabbing a beer or two next month.
I've started going back to the gym.
Rachael Farr is now married / is lead vocals in a band.
Ross is going to work at Sizewell Power Station (Nuclear) after I gave him a reference.
...

Running out of interesting things as you can probably guess.

£1 prize for the next person to reply or write their own journal entry.


-----------------------------

Avoid Quiet and Placid persons unless you are in Need of Sleep.

-- National Lampoon, "Deteriorata"