Sunday, February 29, 2004
Being in the mood for a lazy 'brain not needed' night yesterday, I watched Resident Evil. Not a bad film really and it definitely filled my criteria - plus it has Milla Jovovich in! Only problem was I spent the whole of last night dreaming that I was being chased by zombies! Oh well, always thought any sort of dream is better than no dreams (or at least not remembering them).
Today is going to be an energetic day I feel. Shortly I shall be off round to a friends house to help them move after being cajoled into volunteering with promises of beer and food being cooked. I sell my services so cheaply. I shall have to leave myself some time later on for the important task of packing and organising ready for my trip Venice tomorrow.
Yup, I've not mentioned it for a bit but the trip is now upon me. Been strangely unbothered about it up until this last week but I am now starting to feel the tingle of excitement run through me......
Speaking of parts foreign, I had an email from my friend Cat just the other day with news on how she is settling down over in the US after moving there to live and work. Sounds like things are going well for her which I'm pleased about. Her landlady - who lives above her - is a country and western singer song-writer would you believe - has her own website and everything. For some reason tho the name Lurleen Lumpkin springs to mind every time I think about female country and western singer song-writers...... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 9:41 AM
Friday, February 27, 2004
I know where things started to go wrong today. It was the point when I decided to go along to the RAG beer festival for a quick lunchtime drink.
Now normally my alcohol tolerance is decent - not great but I can hold my own on a long night out and not end up stumbling around with no limb control after only a couple of hours. Lunchtime drinking seems to be a whole different matter. Maybe it was the fact that I'd not eaten before having that pint of 'Steaming Billy' but within half an hour I felt ready for a long afternoon nap. Shame that option was taken away from me - I'm sure someone would have noticed me asleep on the helpdesk.
And what could be worse than answering stupid questions from dopey sounding people on a Friday afternoon when feeling totally unmotivated to work? Yup, an hour and a half meeting! I honestly can't remember most of what was said in that time - all I can remember is feeling the need to batter some people around the head repeatedly until they stopped talking so that maybe, just maybe, we could finish before we all died of old age..... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 8:01 PM
(link via The Presurfer) # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 8:38 AM
Thursday, February 26, 2004
I'm sure by now that most of you have heard of flash mobs?! Well, what about flash mob computing? Lots of people turn up - with a computer - with the aim of making a flash mob supercomputer. Interesting idea....
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 9:52 PM
Speaking of Manic over at Bloggerheads, check out his latest project - The Happy Poster Project. What more worthwhile cause could you think of. In fact I'm going to print a poster or two off now and stick 'em up around here. That'll help cheer up those miserable lecturers! # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 5:56 PM
Then, not 5 minutes after I got to work we had a power surge that took down half the systems. The half that let people log in and work of course. So the next hour was spent trying to explain to people that no, they couldn't do any work and that when I tell them I have no idea how long it will be before things are back to normal it means I don't know how long it will be! Strange how some people think that if they keep repeating the question I will suddenly gain more knowledge on the subject!
Lastly the students chose yesterday as the day to demonstrate against student fees. This involved pelting the chancellors car (and any other car nearby) with flour and also the administration building. They then blocked off the entrance to the university - at least until the police arrived anyway. Apparently the chancellor is not a happy bunny as his nice shiny car got a little dented..... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 5:39 PM
Wednesday, February 25, 2004
If you are after a new screensaver and are bored of SETI then you could always try LifeMapper. As it says "you will help discover knowledge of the life of the planet for the benefit of the Earth, its inhabitants and its environments."
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 8:53 PM
Update: My top score is now 1073.1 # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 3:01 PM
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Feeling very lazy today really - not sure why. I did go swimming this morning which normally perks me up for the rest of the day - ah well.
Pub quiz later on tonight. Last week was the first week in ages that we didnt win anything - we were most dissapointed. Will also no doubt have to put up with a few insinuations regarding my intentions to one of the girls that should be there tonight.
It does annoy me a bit to be honest. Just because I spend longer then 6.2 seconds talking to a woman it does not mean I am trying to chat them up! Okay all men do have one track minds and odds on if a woman is vaguely attractive then we will be having thoughts about being more than 'just friends'. Its what blokes do, accept it. I for one do not want to go out with every single woman I find attractive tho - it just doesn't work like that in the real world - and I dont need people trying to matchmake me on that basis alone.
Blokes motives for how they act around women are pretty easy to work out and I'm always quite surprised that most women I've spoken to don't understand the basic workings of the male mind. Its a very hard concept to explain because men and women are pretty different in this respect. I think the thing that really sums it up for me is a woman can say she is 'just friends' with a man and that is all she ever has or ever will see him as. It is virtually impossible for a bloke to say the same about a woman as it's 99.9% certain that he has thought about her as more than a friend at some point..... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 6:12 PM
Monday, February 23, 2004
Mondays are just so dull - worse when I'm stuck here on late shift for another hour with two people messing about with a new environmental monitor that we had installed last week. Damn moisture detector - which is supposed to warn us of a flood - keeps going off and there are all sorts of theories as to why. Mice chewing the cable, rising damp, very humid air or maybe its just buggered! If only it didn't make such an annoying noise everytime....
Got talking a little bit to an interesting young lady at our party over the weekend. I already knew her as she comes to the pub quiz regularly now and has done for the last month or so. Never had much chance to really chat before tho and definitely not when a little drunk (me not her, tho she probably was too after the several cocktails I made her).
I say she is interesting because she leads a life thats a little different to most people I know. Never wears a watch, never watches TV as she prefers going to the cinema, a frequent visitor to fashion shows. As far as I can tell a highly creative, talented and intelligent young woman. It just amazed me to find someone that had never watched Big Brother or heard of The Simpsons.
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that - far from it really. Just made me take a look at my own life. Too often I just go home and plonk myself in front of the computer or TV all night when I could be out seeing a play, watching a film at the cinema or going to some exhibition or other. If she doesn't mind I'm hoping I can tag along with her a bit - experience a little of a life different to the one I usually lead. Just a thought anyway...... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 5:45 PM
Sunday, February 22, 2004
As parties go I think you could call that one a success. The exact details are not important - plus things get a little hazy towards the end of the night if I'm honest - but I can do a quick roundup. Drinking games, cocktails, Dennis the Menace, a dance mat, bubbly, christmas pudding at 2am, false beards, men in dresses - what more could you want from a party? It was nice that everyone had made an effort to get dressed up too. Made me feel less stupid when I made my grand entrance (complete with theme tune - Yello, Oh Yeah).I promised a photo of me in costume tho and I wouldn't want to dissapoint......
There is a close up of the pants but I wouldn't want to put you through that. The sad thing is I had to buy a damn 5 pack of horribly coloured briefs (large size) just to get those. What the hell I'm going to do with them now is beyond me......
Oh, and please try to not look at our carpet! # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 10:29 PM
Friday, February 20, 2004
Ever wanted to look dead cool in a pub and impress the ladies by doing tricks with a lighter? No. Oh, you wont want to visit LighterTrick.com
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 2:56 PM
Then we have women in spacesuits - dont think I need to explain that one.
If you are feeling nostalgic, how about taking a trip down cereal box memory lane.
Finally an old classic - tho a bit to fast + hit and miss for me - Hungry Hungry Hippos!! # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 2:39 PM
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Right, time for bed. Been walking around all day and I finished it off with an hour of badminton and a long walk home. Actually glad I went to badminton. Its only the second time since my self imposed exile from the game a couple of years back and I think this session proved to me that I really still don't enjoy playing. I have now officially left the badminton circuit!
Anyway, I'll leave you with a game. Guide the birdie thro the clouds whilst dropping eggs. Night all.... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 9:52 PM
The other thing is 'The Party'. Okay, I know that I've not actually mentioned 'The Party' before now - not sure why really. Kept meaning too and just always seemed to get distracted. Its this Saturday and its a theme party, the theme being the letter 'D'. Means you have to dress as a person or thing beginning with 'D' whilst we play drinking games and dance etc. My costume has been taking up a bit of time with trips into town in my lunch hour hunting for peices of it and internet surfing the rest of the time looking for other bits. Getting close now but its going to be tight getting it all together by Saturday evening. I wont give away my costume just yet but you will get to see pictures...... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 9:29 PM
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
At number 10 in the top ten list of the most secure places in the world - coming in just behind Area 51 - is a multi-storey car park in Derby!? Oooookay...?
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 8:25 AM
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
Should be an interesting footy match - Man vs Segway.
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 1:49 PM
After watching it tho I did have some funny dreams all night. I was on a planet when the cylons attacked and loads of people died. They were burried in a mass grave (I know its a little morbid but bare with me here) on a school playing field but then the teacher wanted to play sport on the field so we had to start re-laying the turf properly. For some reason I started out putting the strips of grass back but ended up instead laying down large strips of ham and bacon! Once we'd done that I went off to track down pairs of shoes to sell in order to hire a spaceship.
Analyze that! # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 8:13 AM
Monday, February 16, 2004
Some great experiments to try about the house.
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 7:15 PM
Sunday, February 15, 2004
Ever noticed how things are so much more simple after you've had a few drinks? The answer to a complex question that you have been pondering for hours just seems obvious after half a bottle of medium white. That thing thats been on your mind for the last week - solved in a second after 4 cans of beer.
Its a damn shame that common sense tends to reassert itself when the wine or beer wears off. Guess the answer is to act when drunk and then regret the consequences when sober......? # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 9:25 PM
Saturday, February 14, 2004
Valentines Day. What a crap day for all us single people of the world! Reminders everywhere that you have no one special to do anything for - not nice for a hopeless romantic like myself.
I was in the city centre shopping earlier today (whilst trying to clear my head of the hangover I had) when a young girl in a shop asked me if I'd bought my valentines present yet. I suppose part of me felt pleased that she automatically assumed that I was not the sort of person who would be single. Another part of me just wanted to tell her to sod off and stop reminding me of the fact. I settled for grinning stupidly as I mumbled "no" and walked hurriedly away.
Did I mention I don't like valentines day? # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 3:37 PM
Friday, February 13, 2004
More games for you. Guide the office worker through his workplace whilst killing zombies with your staple gun.
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 4:56 PM
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 12:49 PM
Thursday, February 12, 2004
I realise that I've been neglecting my blog the last couple of weeks. Combination of reasons really. Suppose the main one is how quiet it is at work at the moment - I just don't seem to have anything to do all day. Yeah I know, that should mean I have loads more time for idle internet surfing and posting. Doesn't seem to work like that in practice. Usually within about 30 mins of getting to work my brain has reached a stage of shutdown from which there is little return. Motivation for anything work related - or just anything in general - has dropped to zero and I find I can't even manage to post.
So, now that I'm at home and motivated, what news. Well I went to a lads poker night last night. Been a long time since I've been to (or hosted) one of those. We played for money (converted to chips) and even tho it was only a couple of quid most people were taking it very seriously - including me to start with. But a mixture of beer and my incredibly short attention span meant that after an hour I was bored and started to play a little less than seriously shall we say. Took me about 15 minutes to lose everything. From what I heard (seeing as I left shortly after the parting of me and my chips) everyone there either finished slightly up or slightly down on the two pounds they put in. Next time I feel rules have to be changed to push people into taking a few more risks!!!
Tuesday was quiz night and for the fourth week in a row we won something - 4 cans of larger to be exact. More interesting than that was the tension that built up within our team - due mainly to one person. Whilst very clever (we'd be buggered without him) he tends to have an uncanny ability to annoy people. Correcting spelling, dismissing or ignoring people's answers that he thinks are wrong, double checking scores that have already been added up and leaping in with answers before anyone else even has a chance to speak our his main problems. Most of us are used to it and tend to just ignore it but two new additions to our team are not so quick to turn a blind eye. Their not so subtle mocking and jibes only seem to push him to new heights - I think the fact that they are women doesnt help. I fear bloodshed next week.....
Oh, I was also promised a pair of superman pants made from old curtains. Its not the pants I'm worried about so much as they potential fitting session I'll have to go to first......... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 10:05 PM
Hint: Actually click on the penguins to hit them. # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 12:45 PM
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Now I actually played on one of these things out in Japan. Well, it was the larger arcade version but same thing really. Its good fun.
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 3:57 PM
So below is a list of the B & J's flavours that you can get in the UK and I'm going to see if I can work my way through them all. My two Sunday purchases have already been crossed off the list.
Karmel Sutra
Coffee for a Change
Vanilla for a Change
New York Super Fudge Chunk
Half Baked
Chunky Monkey
Vanilla Caramel Fudge
One Sweet Whirled
Charamel Chew Chew
Cherry Garcia
Cookie Dough
Honey I'm Home
Berry N'ice # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 12:03 PM
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
I'm actually quite pleased today. You remember last week when I was moaning about work. Well, I made myself as much of a pain in the arse as I could this morning, brought up numerous other topics and complaints and as a result I got my way! Yay for me for I am head of technical support - hear me roar!
What shall I do with my new found power next.....? # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 4:59 PM
Monday, February 09, 2004
Friday saw the departure of my friend Cat for pastures new - more precisely Nashville. Hopefully she will continue to visit this here weblog ('lo Cat) and I wish her the very best of luck out there. Even tho most of our contact was in the virtual world, I'm still gonna miss her. 
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 2:42 PM
Sunday, February 08, 2004
Been a while since I've visited Rathergood.com but it looks like Joel has been busy. There is a nice little ditty about biscuits but I really like the one with all the stomping kittens.
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 5:08 PM
So you have these advanced intergalactic aliens with spaceships and invisibilty fields that need to come down and mark their invasion sights with crop circles because that don't have any other means of co-ordinating an attack? Plus they do this several days in advance to make sure everyone has plenty of warning! They fail to realise that their whole invasion plan is buggered if it happens to be raining and not one of them considers going out to invest in a good set of waterproofs! And why bother with weapons - oh no, they can get by just as well without unless they happen to come across someone with a bat! Duh!
I just hate films like that - they so annoy me. # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 4:50 PM
Saturday, February 07, 2004
Some days are just good days that leave you smiling and wondering if the future holds something nice after all. Yesterday and today were two such days....
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 7:10 PM
Thursday, February 05, 2004
Ever wanted to be a hero? Then use the Hero Machine to see what you might look like....
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 6:14 PM
"What makes Fast Film unique is that all its scenes were taken from 300 different feature films. Director Virgil Widrich captured stills from the 300 movies, and made over 65,000 photocopies of these, then folded them into a variety of shapes and animated them. " # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 5:55 PM
(link via Rach) # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 5:51 PM
I've tried to keep it a secret that I'm starting badminton again. Sounds silly I know but I have my reasons. I used to really enjoy playing and I was as good or better than everyone else I played with back then. Then stuff happened - as stuff often does - and I stopped enjoying it. I hung up my racket, put away my shuttlecocks and put aside any thoughts of ever wanting to play again. In the year and a half since that point, no one ever managed to tempt me into playing again - not even once.
Until now that is. More stuff happening - as stuff often does - and the thought that maybe it had been long enough? Maybe...? # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 5:39 PM
Second problem is that I want to build this page without tables and its taking a little time to get the look I want with CSS and DIV tags. I can see that they are a lot better and I will be able to do loads of stuff I can't with tables but just getting the basic layout is taking time. Just loads of "But that box should be over there!!! Why? WHY?!?!". Soon... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 5:26 PM
Wednesday, February 04, 2004
Thar she blows!!!
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 6:08 PM
Okay so its split 6 ways but twenty pounds each is still good. Maybe it will reduce the number of comments I (still) get about the time I didn't put any money in to play and they won 740 quid.....
Was also feeling good yesterday as I went swimming in the morning for the first time in - what... 3 months? Felt like it too. I thought maybe the basketball would have helped keep my fitness levels up - and it has in some ways - but its a whole different muscle group that gets exercised whilst swimming! Hopefully I should be able to stick to it. A friend has already said she might start going so that might help with my motivation levels.... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 5:16 PM
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
Learn how to make a turban - you never know when it might come in handy....
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 5:22 PM
Monday, February 02, 2004
I first wrote this post yesterday - moaning about work - but on taking a second look I decided that a) it might not be best if I left it as was in case certain people at work found it and b) it was a little long and dull.Anyway, long story short someone at work annoyed me. I get the feeling that no matter what I say I'm not going to be able to get what I want so I'm resorting to plan B. Moan! I'm going to start complaining and making issues out of every small thing. I doubt it will change the outcome of things but it'll make me feel better to be such a pain in the arse!!
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 5:52 PM
Wednesday is 'Create a Vacuum Day', whilst Thursday is 'Disaster Day' and 'National Weatherman's Day'. 'Compliments Day' and 'Lame Duck Day' (????) is on Friday and you have the joy of 'Boy Scout Day' and 'Kite Flying Day' on Sunday.
Finally don't forget that February is 'Great American Pie Month' and 'National Grapefruit Month'. Mmmmmmm, grapefruit..... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 5:15 PM
I often spend 2-3 hours working on some small graphic or design layout - tweaking, fiddling, enhancing - untill finally I sit back and look at it and think "Thats pants!!" Then its back to square one. Sometimes alcohol helps.
Anyway, I think I am actually happy with what I did yesterday. Can be hard to tell as sometimes when you get that close to something you look at it far too critically and see all the tiny imperfections. After a good nights sleep and looking at it in the light of day this morning its still all good! Another week and I'll be done - hopefully! # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 8:35 AM
