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Yup, my BlogWise thing came through finally, so I'm on that list. Go click on the link below to see others!

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx (1890 - 1977)

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Well, just as the Squawkbox comments come fully into play, the other ones come back on. Since I've paid for the damn thing I'll keep them, but keep the old one for now as well. I like knowing what people said before.

"No comment" - anonymous

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I finally got bored with non-working comments, so I'm following the pack and heading over to SquawkBox. I am leaving the old comments on, though, to see if they ever come back. Which means the 'script error' message will remain for the forseeable future.

"Comments are free but facts are sacred." - Charles Prestwich Scott

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Now this week's Friday Five is actually quite interesting... I'll do my best to answer it.

1. If your life were a movie, what would the title be?

'Life In The Corner', the quirky tale of a geek with less of a life than a bowl of gravel.

2. What songs would be on the soundtrack?

Definitely 'Human Behavior' by Björk... And almost certainly 'Creep' by Radiohead and 'How Soon Is Now' by The Smiths. Since those are the ones I thought of straight away, that means I can't think of any more. But then, I wasn't asked for the whole soundtrack.

3. Would it be a live-action film or animated? Why?

Either would work. But an animated film would make for good daydream sequences...

4. Casting: who would play you, members of your family, friends, etc?

Tricky. With so many people to choose, who to pick on? Sorry, I mean pick out. Someone short for me, I guess. With small hands. Too many choices. It's enough to make me settle more on an animated feature, as voices would be easier to cast. Not much easier, but easier.

5. Describe the movie preview/trailer.

Starts with a simple table, with the aforementioned bowl of gravel in the middle. Camera zooms in, then suddenly zooooms in to reveal uninteresting but comical moments from the film intended to illustrate that my life is not that dull after all. In fact, it looks quite fun.

[when people finally go and see the movie, they realise that the trailer showed them all the best bits and the film is a total flop]



And yes, I have used this quote before... Fits though, doesn't it?

"Life is like a B-picture script. It is that corny. If I had my life story offered to me to film, I'd turn it down." - Kirk Douglas

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You're a Centaur. You're intellectual and very in tune with people. You could even have psychic abilities! You like the dark and if anyone crosses you, you won't easily forget it.
Which mystical creature are you?
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I'm not really sure that quite works...

[insert horse noise here]

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Apparently, it's an "Audience Potpourri Participation!" over at This-Or-That today...

1) DVD or VHS?
Well, certainly at the moment, DVD for watching but video for recording, as I don't have a DVD recorder.

2) Best Literary/Movie Villan: Voldemort (Harry Potter) or Sauron (LoTR)?
Sauron had bigger plans and bigger power, but at least we get to see Voldemort actually doing things.

3) Meat: rare or well-done?
Well-done. Food should be properly subdued before eating.

4) High Speed Internet-Cable or DSL?
Just speed, please. But, forced to make a choice at modem-point, DSL.

5) Women: 1-piece bathing suit or Bikini?
I can't really answer in the expected spirit, but I'm happy to see them in either.

6) To be fair--Men: Boxers or briefs?
I wear boxers.

7) Beer or Liquor/Wine?
Forced to the choice, beer.

8) Coke or Mountain Dew?
Mountain Dew is water? If it's still water... probably that, if it's well chilled.

9) In honor of my 10/18/03 nuptials: Morning or Afternoon/Night Wedding?
I think a wedding under the stars on a clear night sounds ace. If cold. So do it somewhere warm.

10) Carpet or Hardwood Floors
I'm strongly leaning to hardwood floors with the occasional rug, myself.

11) American cars or foreign?
Ones that work OK.

12) Cutest TV Twin: Mary-Kate or Ashley Olsen?
Whhhooooooo???

13) Coffee: Caffeinated or Decaf?
Ca-ca-ca-ca-ca-caffeinated p-p-p-please.

14) Thought-Provoking Question of the Week: Computers: Do they make life better or worse? Why?
Better. Information, communication, automation, entertainment, something to bitch about.

"If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions?" - Scott Adams (1957 - )

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So I've been in Andover again the last few days. Went down there Sunday afternoon, worked Monday and Tuesday, came back tonight. The start of that big to-ing-and-fro-ing I mentioned before.

If it stays as easy as it was so far, only the travelling will be a problem.

And just watched Sunday's 24... Whoa!!

"The true traveler is he who goes on foot, and even then, he sits down a lot of the time." - Colette (1873 - 1954), Paris From My Window, 1944

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This time, the Friday Five seems a little... uninteresting. So, actually, I'm not going to bother. I don't have any answers for the questions, not even dull ones. Sorry.

"Nothing spoils a confession like repentance." - Anatole France (1844 - 1924)

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Stormy Weather

The weather (the world's most exciting topic of conversation) is getting quite unfriendly just now. Not satisfied with being very hot, it decides to start the mornings wih fog, of all things, and now it seems to think storms are a good idea. There are even severe flood warnings in some parts of the country.

But the oddest part of all this is the strange feeling of constriction I have had in my chest all week, just in the middle of my chest. It feels like a fist. It's obviously related to my almost non-existent asthma, since it feels the same. Or at least I think it does: I can't remember what that feels like because it's been so long since I had a real episode (which wasn't really all that much anyway), but my first thought when I felt it was it felt like asthma.

[actually, my first thought was that it was some kind of stress or anxiety relating to... something else, but it's not, of course]

My purely relieving, hardly ever been used inhaler provided no relief. And last night I got a bit of a headache too. Then I'm told that such things can be a response to air pressure and other things related to storms. See, we got back to the storms eventually, didn't we?

So anyway, that's what it is, apparently. Weird. Never had that before. Maybe it's because it's so DAMN hot too?

So I'm going to the doctor tomorrow, mostly because my inhaler cartridge is supposed to run out in September; since it was of no use it might need replacing. Even more entertainingly, I also go to see the dentist tomorrow morning as well. What fun.

Exciting news, eh?

"Barometer, n.: An ingenious instrument which indicates what kind of weather we are having." - Ambrose Bierce (1842 - 1914), The Devil's Dictionary

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I saw this one somewhere else, but thanks to Mie for inspiring me to actually do the quiz!


Threat rating: Medium. Your total lack of decent family values makes you dangerous, but we can count on some right wing nutter blowing you up if you become too high profile.

What threat to the Bush administration are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

"If your morals make you dreary, depend on it , they are wrong." - Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - 1894)

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So, two website changes and two others worth mentioning.

Firstly, remember Audrey? Seems she dropped her UpSaid journal for a LiveJournal one. So the link here has changed to that one, which you can find here. On top of that, she's an animation major at the Columbus College of Art and Design, specifically doing a degree in Time Based Media Design ("a fancy way to say animation and video work" apparently). There are two places you can find her work on the web; one is at deviantART.com, an online art community. Her section is here. The second is her personal site, Stage Left Studio. Both are worth a look.

Secondly, Edie's blog, A Mating Call in the Concrete Jungle, has moved to her own domain, so you can read her continuing adventures here.

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." - Scott Adams (1957 - ), 'The Dilbert Principle'

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So, as you do when you're bored and on the internet, I decided to take a quiz. For a change, this one was a little different to the usual more comical quizzes. It was a Purity Test, one of many out there on the net.

And what d'you know: I rated the number two highest purity rating on that test, at 83%.

Mind you, considering the number of questions relating to some fairly extreme fetish/deviant stuff, that can only be a good thing. And a lot of them were asked again and again and again, all in different contexts. So, yay me! I guess that makes me kinda normal, or something. Or dull. I'm going fifty-fifty on that. Perhaps I should ask the audience?

"Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny. Get thee to a nunnery, go." - William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), "Hamlet", Act 3 scene 1

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It's Tuesday. Time for This-And-That, cartoon style.

1. Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck?
Bugs is too smug. Give me Daffy anytime.

2. Tom or Jerry?
I'd rather cheer for the under, er, cat.

3. Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck?
Donald gets irritable. Mickey gets giggly. You work it out.

4. Rocky & Bullwinkle or Boris & Natasha?
Never watched it.

5. Road Runner or Wile E. Coyote?
Oh, come on. With the success rate of my plans? The coyote, super-genius, gets my vote.

6. Sylvester or Tweety?
There's a pattern forming. You work it out.

7. Popeye or Bluto?
Neither, even if one of them was played by Robin Williams.

8. South Park or The Simpsons?
South Park. The Simpsons tends to be dull and repetative... Now, hang on a mo...

9. Jetsons or Flintstones?
I care for neither.

10. And finally, the eternal question asked by all good Scooby-Doo fans: Velma or Daphne?
No, the "eternal question asked by all good Scooby-Doo fans" is "why did Daphne go off with Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy?" Actually, that's the second eternal question. The first is "why was Scrappy not aborted long before he was born?"

"That's all folks!" - Porky Pig (far, far, far too often for my liking)

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Well it looks like I'm signed up to this job thing I mentioned before. Driving down there Wednesday evenings, working Thursday and Friday, driving back Friday afternoon/evening. That might vary a little, meaning I might be there at the beginning of the week instead a few times, so I can escape the Friday Rush. It'll probably mean I'll also miss out on one of the few things I actually go out and do during the week, which is, naturally, on a Friday evening.

I really don't want to waste my time travelling there and back every week, but I'm not sure I have much choice. My boss did mention the possibility of employing someone to do it if I said no, but there are benefits, namely an increase in pay at a later date.

I sometimes feel guilty about complaining about my job when I know people who have lost theirs. Most of the time I don't worry about them, though.

I like lounging around the office getting paid for doing what I want. So sue me.

Maybe I should get a lazy IT support job or something...

"Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy." - Edgar Bergen (1903 - 1978), (Charlie McCarthy)

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I've added another blog to my list: Stage Left, from Audrey aka Medic aka JolaEdana. Be nice to her, she's just starting out in blog-land. Yeah, like I'm an old hand or something...

"Be nice."
"I'm not good at nice."
"Just don't shoot her."
-- John and Aeryn, Taking The Stone, Farscape

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The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Fifth Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	High
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Very High
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	High
Level 7 (Violent)	High
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	High

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

"Hell is other people."

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It's the Friday... wotsit. Thingy. Whatever.

1. Do you remember your first best friend? Who was it?

Yes. Someone I knew in primary school and in secondary school till I moved away.

2. Are you still in touch with this person?

No.

3. Do you have a current close friend?

I guess so.

4. How did you become friends with this person?

Met them, talked to them, the usual.

5. Is there a friend from your past that you wish you were still in contact with? Why?

Not really.



Can I go now?



"Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods." - Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC), Nichomachean Ethics

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Past And Future

I received a letter from Cardiff University about it's alumni programme. This is where graduates can find out what everyone they knew when they were at Uni together is up to now, and find out about official or unofficial meet-ups and reunions. Sort of like Graduates Reunited.

Do I care? Not really. Those I knew then I can barely remember now. Not many of them made any impact on me, I think. And besides, it's really for people who used whatever they studied to actually get a job. I often comically refer to my degree in the inverse Rimmer sense; a BSc I call a bronze swimming certificate instead of the opposite for Arnie. 'Physics With Astronomy' has not been much use in my career as a too-lazy computer programmer.

And in one of those final steps on the path moments, we are finally having some estate agents (spit hiss) come round to value the house. The next step is looking for the new home... and moving out. All the fault of that may-acid-burn-out-his-eyeballs bastard of a stepfather I may well have mentioned before. A sad day. I like our house. I like being out in the middle of nowhere. Some might not like the idea of not having any close neighbours, but I like the quiet nights and the clear skies unaffected by streetlights.

And finally... Some changes to my job are in the offing.

[Incidentally, did you know that the phrase 'in the offing' has to do with ships? The offing is a part of the sea just offshore where sailing ships would be anchored to wait for crew and passengers. So if something is 'in the offing' it's just sort of anchored in sight but a little out of reach. Interesting, neh?]

The boss of our laughable two-man band of a business works down at that place I went to for a week + two days in May sometime. Our company, apparently, has "a chance of virtually taking over the running of the system" there. What does this mean? Me working down there a lot. Two days a week (Thursdays and Fridays) for three months to begin with, with the other three days working remote from the office. I get expenses paid, and travel expenses, and B&B costs. If it goes well and we get extended for another three months my wages go up another two k. Another three month extension adds another two k on. Oh, and I have to cover him again when he goes on holiday for two weeks in August/September.

Sound good? Here are my problems with this plan:

• I don't want to go down there for two days a week


• I don't want to lose my Wednesday evenings driving down there so I can be there at the proper time the next morning


• I don't want to lose my Friday evenings driving back home


• When do I get some fucking holidays? Who covers for me?

Oh, and I forgot this one:

• I really, really can't be arsed

Unfortunately, I really feel like I've got a gun held against my head on this one. Do it... or the company gets it.



"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind." - Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)

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Just thought I'd add that the Audi Olympics is one of those read-cover-to-cover blogs I mentioned. It's just damn funny to read. I'll be keeping my eye on this one, all the while expecting to receive suggesions in red ink on how to correct my spelling, punctuation and grammer...



"When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth." - George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

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Two Quizzes and a Packet of Poems, Please

First things first: it's the This-Or-That Tuesday "Summer Potpourri", so here we go:

1. Strawberries or blueberries?

I've never actually had blueberries, so I'd go with strawberries. But with cream; I don't really like them by themselves.

2. "Legally Blonde 2" or "Terminator 3"?

I suppose it could depend on my mood. I like comedy, but not idiocy; when I went to see The Matrix Reloaded and X-Men 2 recently they both had the advert for Dumb And Dumberer in the trailers, and I seemed to be the only person who did not find it the slightest bit amusing. And it's entirely possible the Terminator story reached it's end already... didn't it?

3. Hamburgers or hot dogs?

Burgers. Bigger, more stuff on them.

4. Boating or hiking?

Boating, I'd say. Better than walking, and lots of water. I seem to like water, have you noticed that? I haven't seen the sea for more than a year.

5. Suntan lotion or sunblock?

What's the difference exactly?

6. "Big Brother" or "The Amazing Race"?

Presuming they are both reality shows (don't know "The Amazing Race", you see) that would clearly mean: NEITHER.

7. Beach Boys or Jimmy Buffett?

Jimmy Buffett? Whhooooooo???

8. Grow your own produce or buy from supermarket/greengrocer/farm stand?

I don't like gardening. Can't really be bothered with it. Even if we're just talking greenhouse stuff. So, that's what shops were invented for.

9. Drive with car windows/top down, or with air-conditioning on?

Well, I have air-con in my car, and it's usually better to get a face full of cold air from that than a bit of a breeze from the windows. My room doesn't go down with using a chainsaw.

10. Go away for vacation, or stay at home?

I'd absolutely love to go away for a real holiday, as I often say, but unless I actually get my act together to do it (as well as decide where I'd actually go) I'd end up stuck at home.


You are Fozzie the Bear!! You are a born jokester, although most of your jokes are absolutely horrible! You are very friendly and have a terrific imagination.
Which Muppet are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

An interesting outcome... Wakka wakka wakka!!

And finally... Head on over to Rob's Amazing Poem Generator, type your blog URL in and see what strange piece of poetry your irregular ramblings make. It comes up with a new one every time you press the button... Here's one I liked:

After The rides were you?will be
as a teenager you
No, idea.
of things
and
it was,
a proper holiday but you
read? comes by Quizilla
The beach.9. or beach?
Tricky... Warmth, sun,
sand and polite, gentle, almost ambient.



Okay, not finally. I've added a few more blogs to my list now. Some of them I've read cover to cover, as it were, some I glance at. They've come to my attention via other people's blogs, so I thought I'd just collect a few of them here. This includes Den Of Lions, a film production blog for one of Mr Stephen Dorff's upcoming movies, with lots of cool pictures. THE Mr Bob Hoskins is in it too. Thanks Jenna.

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." - Sir Richard Steele

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And to go with the small changes to the template, or, in fact, not at all, here's another quizlet thingummy.

Cor blimey, I taste like Tea. I am a subtle flavour, quiet and polite, gentle, almost ambient. My presence in crowds will often go unnoticed. Best not to spill me on your clothes though, I can leave a nasty stain. What Flavour Are You?

"To be a well-flavored man is the gift of fortune, but to write or read comes by nature." - William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

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A book-related Friday Five this week. Unfortunately, it's kids reading, and I don't remember much about what I read then...

1. What were your favorite childhood stories?

In the main I'd say they were epic fantasy books. Swords and sorcery, that kind of thing. Otherwise, no real 'child' stories stand out, other than the usual animals kinda yotz.

2. What books from your childhood would you like to share with [your] children?

I might share them with children (I don't have any of my own, by the way, or anyone else's either) but I'd be more likely to get them into something newer. Dare I say Harry Potter?

3. Have you re-read any of those childhood stories and been surprised by anything?

Not really. It's not like they ever had any deep, adult meanings in them or anything.

4. How old were you when you first learned to read?

I have no idea.

5. Do you remember the first 'grown-up' book you read? How old were you?

No, I don't.



Well, wasn't that informative?

And while we are at it...


WATER is your chinese symbol!

What Chinese Symbol Are You?
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"The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them." - Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)

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which smilie are you

Hmmm.... Shocking. I'm a winker.

Thanks Mie.



;)

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It's the first of the month, it's a Tuesday, it's Cracker- Oh, no, that's wrong, it's This-Or-That Tuesday...

1. Lemonade or Ice Cold Beer?

While I will drink both, my preference might actually be for the lemonade, especially if it's as chilled at the beer.

2. Swimming pool or beach?

If there's sand rather than pebbles, and the sea is warm rather than cold, then the beach.

3. Long weekends here & there, or a 2-week vacation?

I tend to get long weekends more than actual holidays, but I think I'm really due a proper holiday so let's say that.

4. Destination: Acapulco or Hawaii?

Either could be interesting. Without really knowing what they have to offer it's hard to choose between them.

5. Destination: Mountains or Beach?

Tricky... Warmth, sun, sand and water over majestic views... Let's say mountains.

6. Hotel/motel/B&B or camping?

Another hard one. Although... I think I'd prefer the luxury of a hotel room,though it would depend on what was in offer in/around the tents.

7. Carefully planned vacation, or play it by ear?

Improv all the way.

8. Sneakers or sandals?

Sneakers mostly, unless on the beach.

9. Air-conditioning or fans?

There's a lot to be said for both.

10. Concerts in the park or baseball games?

A concert every time.



"Most of the time I don't have much fun. The rest of the time I don't have any fun at all." - Woody Allen (1935 - )

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