Today I'm having the sort of cruddy day that makes you want to curl up under a duvet and hide until all the bad stuff goes away. Go on bad stuff - shooo!

Okay, now these handbags are pretty nasty. Who the hell would buy one?

Something a little different to normal. Quite tough tho.

Zookeeper is quite addictive too.

Been a bit bored at home (I have the place to myself at the moment) so was looking around to see if there were any interesting computer games out there at the moment. It's been a while since I've played a game that I've really got into and there is nothing like being totally addicted to a game (just once in a while of course). You play it when you wake up, you play it when you get back from work. Things like sleep, food and going to the toilet just stop being important.

I spotted Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War first. I used to play the tabletop games many years ago with my little brother. I would command the noble and superior Eldar whilst he would be the scummy orks. Being older I obviously had more brains and would carefully plan my armies tactics, confident that I could devise cunning strategies to defeat him. Never happened tho. I always had the worst luck going it seemed.

"D'oh, he's shot my best unit. Okay, only need to roll a 3 or more on the dice and it'll miss. 1 - damn. Okay, just a 3 again and it'll bounce off. 1 - shit!! Okay, now I just need to roll low for the amount of damage. 6 - Kaboom!!!!! Stupid game *mumble*.. never liked it *mutter*...."

Happened every time. Anyway, the computer game looks pretty promising (better than some of thier previous releases thats for sure.

Next up was a game I saw aaaaaages ago and has only just been released (but not in the UK). If you've ever wanted to be a super hero then this is definitely the game for you. In City of Heroes you get to don your (virtual) tights and go fight crime in a Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG). Hmmm, I'd have to come up with a superhero name of course.... the 'Crimson Monkey' maybe?

I remember this from last year - is it time for the lingerie bowl again?

Those bods at Apple are at it again with a new gadget - the iBrator

A cool micro radio controlled helicopter. I wonder if you get the hamster with it if you order one?

Something else to add to my 'I want one' list - dolphin shaped submarine thingy. You can check out lots of other interesting pictures and designs here too.

Looking good Tony!

I really have a hard time motivating myself to go shopping for food during my lunchbreak. I don't know why, its not like I have anything better to do. Most times I end up sat on my arse in front of the computer doing the same thing I've been doing all morning - random internet surfing. You'd think I'd want to leave my windowless, air conditioned prison cell and get some fresh air on the way to the supermarket? You'd think the prospect of having bugger all to eat when I got home would be good motivation. Apparently not.

Maybe I just don't like supermarkets. Ever since Safeway was taken over by Morrisons, everything has moved and I keep having to hunt around for things which were easy to find the week before. Razor blades next to the shaving gel - nah, that would be far to simple.

Today I did make myself go and whilst dropping various vegetables and several doughnuts covered in icing into my basket I started thinking about a program I'd been watching the night before. 'You Are What You Eat' it was called and basically took a (really) fat couple who lived on nothing but chips and chocolate covered lard sanwiches and made them eat healthy food for 8 weeks. Looking at the contents of my own basket I started to think maybe I should reconsider my eating habits.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm one of the lucky people that can eat whatever the hell I like and never put on any weight. If I ever go over 10 stone I'll be surprised! And I do exercise - not much maybe but there is basketball every weekend and I walk to work everyday. Doesn't mean I have a healthy diet tho. Fruit is pretty much non-existent in my diet and the amount of vegetables varies (I was never a fan of the green stuff - peas are just pure evil and should really be wiped from the face of the planet in a giant pea cleansing).

So tonight I might make a list of all the things I can cook (and I'm a pretty decent cook) and start doing them more often rather than the curries, stir fry and oven chip meals that make up most of my week.

The annual Italian Miss Chubby contest has a winner. Thats a whole lotta lady....
(link via the lovely Michelle)

Man sells genuine Loch Ness water for fortune on Ebay. With the amount of money he can make I'm sure the market will soon be flooded.

Its just a day full of Japanese today. Two shy Japanese people at the front of the queue to get a new iPod mini on the day of its release wouldn't go in when the doors opened as they didn't want thier pictures taken. Bless.

A 'frozen ark' is being set up in order to protect the DNA of animals that are facing extinction. Seems like a good idea to me.

Talking of the Japanese earlier, seems Tokyo is getting a little too warm and they want to cover the building with plants and trees to help cool it down and keep the air clean.

Have to love the Japanese, they always have the best gadgets going. For instance if you are one of those people that has trouble getting out of bed then this is the gizmo for you. When you alarm clock goes off it inflates a pillow to force you to get up. Might be better if they invented one that just steals the duvet.

Being none too happy after getting forced to get up and go to work, you can display your unhappiness with the emotion car. Now who wouldn't want a car that can smile or cry?

You'll have noticed bloggage has been light today. Guess I'm just all blogged out after this weekend. But fear not oh gentle visitor to my website for I shall no doubt be back into my old ways tomorrow or maybe the day after.

I shall also not go without giving you at least something for today. These are courtesy of Manic who seems to be once more back in the saddle at Bloggerheads after his long hiatus. Tis nice to see the man that inspired me to become a blogger in the first place, back posting.

A much more useful version of some government leaflet thingy which sometime over the weekend I vaguely remember hearing we were all going to get. Official one is here. £8 million seems a bit of a waste - they could have sponsored me and saved 320,000 acres of rainforest for that you know....

I also remember seeing this about a month or so ago but can't remember if I blogged it? Probably not, so thanks for the reminder. Anyway, a kitten on a motorbike Flash music video.

I've archived all the posts from the weekend and put them on a seperate page for your viewing pleasure. The link to the webcam pictures is also there. Slight cosmetic changes (ie. a divider between post) added to make it easire to read but I might change the look when I'm more awake.

Oh, for those that sponsored me and want to donate directly online, then go here.

Well, I slept for about four or five hours and woke up feeling pretty much okay. The place is a bit of a mess with dishes, the various hats and shirts I wore and other junk lying around. At least the kitchen floor is sparkly clean after the mini flood.

In the end I raised a total of £200, which is enough to save 8 acres of rainforest and give me the feeling that I've done something which might still have a lasting effect fifty years from now? I also had a good time in the process.

So, as Kim asks, knowing what I know now, would I do it again? With the memories of the early hours of this morning fresh is my mind I'm tempted to so "no" but I think I probably would to be honest. There is a great feeling of community with all the participants looking at each others blogs and leaving encouraging comments - I've met some nice people whose pages I'll be looking at from now on. If I am tempted to do it again next year I have also learnt a few things.

There are four stages you go though - or at least there was for me. The first stage lasts for maybe 12 hours and is when you are feeling ready and raring to go. You look at your usual favourite sites, visit other participants, start doing what you'd planned to do and are full of things to talk about. Time flies by and no sooner have you finished one post than you it seems you have to start on the next. You can see the minutes ticking down until you have to post and its almost stressful rushing to finish what you are writing.

Next for me came the bored stage. You do something for so many hours and it becomes a little dull. I was very easily distracted by the telly and other stuff during this phase and wasn't too motivated to spend ages looking for the answers to some of the questions I'd been set.

The next stage was the worst and could be called the 'zombie phase' (appropriate considering what I was watching at the time). Times drags by soooo slowly and my brain literally stopped working. Looking back on what I posted, this was the period of about 3am to 6am and I was surprised to find I was relatively coherent up to that point. During that stage tho I could just not think of what to write, it kinda went

"Okay brain, its just me and you. What shall we write about?"
"Sleepy. Me hurt."
"Yes, I know, but we've talked about being sleepy for the last three posts, we need somethig else."
"Zzzzzz"
"BRAIN!"
"Wha..? 1924. Purple. The one that had the sock on."
"Oh never mind....."

The last stage you usually feel more awake and are just counting down the last hour or so and finishing things up.

Next year I'd have more of a plan. Doing the difficult and important stuff early. A list of simple things to talk about that don't involve much creativity ready for the early hours. A common theme to run over the whole 24 hours and can involve as little or as much brain power as you want (or are able) for each post. Keeping a list of other bloggers and visiting them more.

Anyway, this post has gone on far too long - can't honestly believe I'm back blogging already. I also want to go off and archive the whole event away from the main page so people can just go and look at that. Sleep well everyone, I know I will tonight.

... night one and all. BlogMonkey signing off!

Would you believe I'm not actually that tired now. Guess I've pushed through to the point that I normally wake up and my body clock is kinda back on track. Just hope I can actually get to sleep after all this!

Anyway my last post is likely to be v. short as I'm off to bed straight away so I'd like to say thanks to everyone for the comments that have helped to keep me going. Hope you all make it through to the end. I'll be checking your blogs again when I'm less tired.

Yes, it's been an experience thats for sure. And so begins the last 30 minutes......

My eyes were only closed for a couple of minutes! I'm awake!

Finally, the last hour. Does anyone else think the last 3rd of the 24hrs goes by far slower than the rest?

Man, my head is soooo fuzzy. Really having trouble thinking straight. Looking at a few of the others and thier postings are dropping to short ones like mine. Don't know how many people are almost done like me? Still an hour and a half tho.

Having a very sugary cup of tea in the hope that the sugar rush will keep me going.

Must. See. It. Through. To. End....

Went for little walk as I thought fresh air might clear my head. Didn't work.

Not been this tired since I went to Japan.

Why am I sat here watching a program about love and relationships? Way too depressing. Must reach the.. remote...... control......

It's strange, I'm usually not a night person (I'm one of those freaks that always gets up early, even at weekends) so I'm never normaly awake at this hour or with this little sleep. My mind has literally stopped working. I'd like to post stuff but everytime I try and think what to write all that comes out is

"Me tired. Sleep good."

Its definitely a case of the spirit is willing but he body is nowhere near able.

This is a bad film. Then again what was I expecting at this time in the morning?

Notice how my post have shrunk considerably since I started yesterday morning.

Oooh, my heads starting to hurt now - thats a bad thing right? Maybe that beer was not such a good idea after all?

God there is still ages to go. Why is time running so slowly?

Still 5 hours to go. Nobody minds if I watch some telly do they - the interwebnet seems less appealing after 19 hours on it.....

Besides, 'Return of the Living Dead' is on.

Just cos he asked nicely (and sponsored me for lots) here is me eating a self drawn picture of a banana for Poons....

A new pledge to go on my sponsors list and its the biggest one I've had. Thanks very much Poons. Unfortunately no printer so I can't eat the banana picture.....

I'll drop you an email when it's actually working again - whenever the hell that might be?

I was going to do a nice big post about the crapiness of the Isle of Wight for Andre. Either my brain is starting to turn to complete mush or there really isn't that much to say about the Isle of Wight tho. Oh, except they have a page about dealing with vomiting & diarrhoea.

And of course it's where all the angels go.....

Damn, why did I buy the extra hot salsa for my Pringles? Actually I'm not even hungry cos I never eat at 1am but I bought the damn things so I'm going to eat them!

I was listening to some rubbishy europop trash of a song earlier (I'd already heard bits of it 400 trillion times on the sodding annoying ringtone comercials that are on every 49 seconds) and now its stuck in my head. It's in Italian too (or it might be Spanish - I was always rubbish at languages) so it doesn't even make sense when I'm humming it! I do know what the lyrics mean as they were helpfully translated at the bottom of the video but I'm trying to forget them too as it made just as little sense in english as it did in italian!

Least I have a few hours to remove it from my brain. I heard the new single from Girl Aloud just before I went to work te other week and I swear I hummed it all day, dreamt about it that night and woke up the next morning with it still buzzing around my head like a wasp on LSD.

Maybe ice cream will cool my mouth....

7 hours to go. The time was going by so fast to start with - seems to have slowed to a crawl now.

A town in Italy has banned people from keeping goldfish in bowls. They are worried that the fish will suffer a 'distorted view of reality'. Ooooookay.

I FINALLY won!!

I'd like to thank my mum and my brother, the little lady that used to live next door and who gave me a pound for moving her dustbin once, and all the other people that believed in me. *sniff*

I'm actually feeling more awake thanks to the encouagement from Kim (I followed your advice and didn't touch the wine. The beer is nice and cold tho) and the poking from the quizmaster general over at Wiggle Bottoms. I've not seen much in the way of wiggling by the way!?

I think I may have just reached the mad stage now - it will become more apparent with the next webcam shot. I can't concentrate long enough to come up with a topic to talk about for each post so I'm just going to waffle. Hmmmm, I've not opened those Pringles yet....

.. forgot to say, my email is still fubar so if anyone has emailed, I'm not ignoring you honest. Also forgot to say I'm 2/3 of the way thro now!

Beer to celebrate!

I think I made a mistake. When I left a lot of the questions and tasks I'd been given this morning with the idea of having something to do in the early morning hours, I didn't take into account the fact that I wouldnt have the energy left to do them! Creative energy I have not to write a 200 word post sounding like Yoda. I really don't know how long it would take to dig to Australia - I'd have to figure out if you were using a shovel or a spoon first. As for entering a chat room under the name 'Handsome Tiger' to see what reaction I get, well I think that would depend on the type of chatroom I went to.

I have realised I didn't answer one question thats worth money. Mark and Lee are fine Rich. He now has a music shop in Lough and little Ralphy is 1 on the 11th of August.

I was challenged to find not one but 5 Googlewhacks by my friend Kerry but it was also suggested by Paul (who is currently reading Dave Gormans Googlewhack Adventure). So, lets see....

I could have this one (I can't use the words or it won't be one in 12 hours time when this page is indexed). Or....... ummmmmm....... bugger! I can't find another one. And I thought this would be easy. Okay, I'll raise my hands and admit I failed this task. Maybe if I was more awake and had more time?

Okay, time to get back to some of those questions I guess.

Why do men struggle with the art of multi-tasking?

Why can't women throw? Its just one of life's 'thats the way it is' things. Don't try and figure it out, just accept it.

Is it me or are things starting to get a bit harder? My motivation for random surfing seems to have dropped considerably. Might be cos I had the telly on and kept getting distracted with watching Daredevil - which is an okay film I guess. Did think it was stupid that his secret identity was found out so easily. In the comics the characters always manage to keep it secret for years but in all the comic book adaptions to film they get found out straight away. Spider-man was the same.

Anyway, films are turned off and the music channels are back on so less distraction there. And... yes! I do believe that after about 10 hours the really annoying rattle in one of my computer fans has finally stopped. Who says whacking a computer never fixes anything. Hah!

Just a quick post as for some reason I lost my network connection and had to fiddle about to get it back. Why hath you forsaken me oh God of the blogathon!?

Apparently red wine is great for tightening the stomach and firming the breasts. Thats when appled on the outside and not the inside in case you are wondering ladies. If anyone wants to try it and needs help rubbing it in....

Over halfway now. I'm waiting for my second wind to kick in. I've just been trying to answer another of the questions set to me and can't. If anyone can tell me how much was raised by speed cameras in the UK in 2002 (which might be £27 million but I can't be sure) then let me know. I think tho that I may have reached a dead end on those questions now.

So, least that means I can move onto less taxing websurfing! Bring on the stories about grandads building sandcastles.

Why can't my webcam software just run smoothly for 24 hours!?! Having to do things the real hard way now as it's stopped putting pictures where it is supposed to. Nothing is ever easy in life is it?

How many people died as a direct result of these causes (most recent year, probably 2002).

Chainsaws
Lightning
Ecstasy
Smoking

Harder than you think but as each is only worth 25p I'm not going to try too hard. Plus the question was a little vague in term of world or UK figures.

Smoking - Smoking kills 114,000 people a year in the U.K. and more than 440,000 a year in the U.S., according to ASH and the CDC. source

Ecstasy - The number of deaths known to be due to Ecstasy (ie, it was found in their blood and there was no other obvious cause) is about seven per year in the UK. source

Lightning - Around 73 deaths a year in the U.S. source

Chainsaws - 622 accidents a year in the UK (no idea of fatalities). source

Can't talk. Eating. Foody stuff good.

I decided to do a little washing up earlier. I started filling the sink and then went upstairs to go to the toilet (probably more info than you needed but its part of the story). Guess what I forgot to do when I came back down....

I'm sure there should have been more water on the floor than there was - not that there wasn't quite a boating lake anyway. Still I do wonder where the rest went? Ah well, the floor needed a good clean anyway.

Wow, starting to feel drained a little now. Not physically cos I'm still wide awake - although I feel the urge for some alcohol soon which will likely make keeping my eyes open a much harder task. Its also likely to make most posts funnier (in a weird rather than amusing way).

No, this having to post stuff every 30 mins is hard! It's like having a deadline at work. Not that I have any deadlines at work really - or work at work for that matter. Maybe thats the problem, I'm not used to working this hard?

You'll be pleased to know that my showerhead seems less bunged up after several hours soaking in coca-cola btw.

A guitar made of lego. Suppose that if you do end your act by smashing up the guitar you can just put it back together again?!

This one is only worth £1 but took a little research as it was not exactly clear which was the real meaning. A tricky question set by 'Tricky' Owen.

What does GOURANGA mean on Motorway bridges?

Gouranga (the Scottish spelling of 'Gauranga') is a spiritual chant used by the Hare Krishna to become liberated and happy and refers to Lord Gauranga
(Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu). From what I can gather this word may originally have been written on motorway bridges to promote hapiness in people but the reason has since changed. It's orginal meaning may be lost on most people and may now just be put there to distract motorway drivers in the North West of the UK.

There are also references to the Grand Theft Auto game which I can't be bothered to delve into but are probably related to the facts above in some way. It is also a chain email that has been circulating for some time.

Call out Gouranga be happy.
Gouranga Gouranga Gouranga.
Say Gouranga my friend
Gouranga.....That which brings the highest happiness!

Almost missed this post. I had to reboot the computer cos Outlook had crashed so much. Then I forgot to restart the webcam. Plus I'ven been researching some patricularly nasty questions set by evil people (3 of them I am totally stumped on - maybe someone else can help me with those later). I'll answer one question next post tho - I need another 30 mins to get it all down properly!

A green top as requested Angela. No, really it is green - its the webcam colour definition, honest. Besides its the only one I have cos I don't own much green (not worn this since about the winter of 2002...). And it so does not match my jeans - but then you can't see my bottom half so thats okay.

Seems email is knackered. Now I can't decide if this is due to a problem with NTL or if the servers at work have gone down? NTL were messing about with a new cache or something the other day which screwed my internet connection for most of the day so maybe it is them. Bottom line is that if you have emailed I can't look, plus I can't get at the questions that were emailed to me and I need to answer to make more money. Bugger.

I have learnt this last half an hour that tortillas fly pretty well - I managed to get one 20 feet across the garden with little effort. I'm also seeing if some left over coke can clean the limescale from our showerhead. It's just an afternoon of scientific experimentation!

Does anyone want to suggest which colour top I should change into next - have to keep the webcam shots looking interesting (difficult as they have me in).

Thought I should maybe make a start on some more of the questions I was set. This one is actually worth money unlike the others I've already answered. Courtesy of Mr Ian.

Baking bread, horseradish, swallowing a willow catkin, Drought, guilty Polish housewife and a pond are linked by something - £2 if you can tell me what it is.

These are all parts of traditional Polish Easter celebrations I believe. Swallowing a willow catkin from a tree consecrated by a priest will bring health for instance and baking bread on Good Friday would bring drought - the gulty housewife and her evil cooking utensils would have to be thrown in a pond to avoid that. I quite like the sounds of "Smingus-Dyngus" - an Easter Monday tradition where it sounds like they just have a big water fight. I wonder if they get to use one of these??

Time for a bit of link love baby. I didn't notice for a while that other fellow blogathoners were visiting and leaving comments (too busy ambling around the interwebnet looking for inspiration for my next posts). Anyway, I'm trying to visit back and leave comments of encouragement for them too but I'll also list 'em here too.

Artgrrl wasn't feeling well but soldiered on anyway. She's also invited people to ask her anything they want (be nice people). There's a film quiz going on over at Wiggle Bottoms thats worth checking out. Angela is talking about night time attacks by wild beasties and finally Poons - although not taking part in the blogging marathon himself - is giving me a little link love of his own. Go visit and leave him a comment (I swear I was going to when I had more time - honest). Thanks for the link to the banana page as well, I'll check it out more fully later.

Womans arse implants explode! The hosiptal are trying to get to the bottom of the accident. Well she certainly won't be able to go out and get nice bronzed buttocks anymore (hah - told you I'd get that phrase into a post Kerry).

Answers to more questions.

Have you ever caught your chest hair in the vertical zip of your new jumpers?

I have two new tops that have zips all the way down the side and although some people claim I look like an extra from Star Trek, I like them! The answer to the question is no, my chest hair is not normally anywhere near long enough to get caught. I have caught the skin around my neck once or twice when mucking about however.

Have you caught any type of hair in a zipper?

Hmmmm, methinks you are getting a little personal there - or maybe I just have a smutty mind? Anyway, the answer is again no. The hair on my head is.... well, there's pretty much no hair on my head. As for any other type of hair - well lets just say I'm very careful......

Next question please, I'm on a roll.

I've been checking out some of the other bloggers around the world but most of them are only on 2 posts so far (and some seem to have failed to even start). Was going to link to some of them but I think I'll leave it a little longer. I on the other hand am now 1/4 of the way through!

One thing about looking around loads of other peoples blogs is that I start feeling the need to change the layout of this place. I was never that confident in my design talents and although I quite like the layout, I'm never fully satisfied. I 'think' I want to put some seperators between the posts but I'm not sure messing about with things in the middle such a large blogging adventure would be a vey good idea - something is bound to go wrong.

It's a dot on the horizon.
(link via The Presurfer)

A question from Miss Spooney.

Q. How many times can you bleach your hair before it falls out?

For those that don't know, I had a 'bleached blonde' period a couple of years ago - and no, I wasn't trying to look like Eminem. It lasted about a year and a half and I usually had my hair bleached once a month on average. I guess I must have had it done about 20 times and my hair never fell out (although some people looking at me now might disagree).

This response to a letter asking about the damage that bleaching does to hair should answer most questions. Unless something goes horribly wrong and damages the scalp then your hair won't fall out - just get very brittle and break more easily like mine used to.

And for the curious amongst you....

By my reckoning, the folks registered over at Project-Blog should be starting thier 24 hours soon. Will definitely need to check out how some of those blogs are going a few hours from now.

As for me the time seems to be passing pretty quickly. Actually, having to post every 30 minutes almost makes you feel like you are constantly having to rush. By the time I muck about with the webcam pictures, toddle off to get a drink or answer a call of nature and then surf a few more pages, I'm halfway through the half hour already.

Might have to start thinking about answering some of those questions soon but lunch first!

Just a quicky this time.

Lifeboat rescues fisherman from bees.

The Chemical Brothers 'Hey Boy, Hey Girl' track is just great - just been watching it on MTV Dance. The video is good too (help considerably by the rather attractive woman in it). That track was followed by 'Halcyon' by Orbital - another good song but with a rather freaky video involving a kitchen sink and a baby. Goes on forever too.

Speaking of music, I finally bought tickets to Summer Sundae. Could not decide what I wanted to see so bought a whole weekend ticket. The one band I am keen to see is Air (who seem to have lost thier official website) just because they made one of my favourite songs ever - 'All I Need'. Love that song

And in case you are wondering.

Halycon
Noun.
1. (Greek mythology) a woman who was turned into a kingfisher
2. A large kingfisher widely distributed in warmer parts of the Old World.
3. A mythical bird said to breed at the time of the winter solstice in a nest floating on the sea and to have the power of calming the winds and waves.
4. Mythical being - an imaginary being of myth or fable

Adj.
1. Idyllically calm and peaceful; suggesting happy tranquillity
2. Marked by peace and prosperity; "a golden era"

Seems like Andre may have found love again? Lost his angel but maybe found a goddess? If you've never checked out his page I'd take a look - a very good read.

Makes you think about fate doesn't it? Is there some all powerful being up there pulling on the cosmic strings and directing your life? Personally I'm not religious and don't believe in a 'God' as such but sometimes I do find myself thinking that maybe some things in our life are destined to happen. That the universe gives us certain chances and opportunities but that the outcome is in no way guaranteed - we still hold our fate in our own hands and have to work at the things that we really want.

Hmmmmm, kinda early for philosophical posts isn't it? I was expecting those to start during the sleep deprived, mind altering early hours of the morning.

Seems giant tidal waves that sink ships are no legend. Now they just need to track down those sea monsters that I know are out there....

Seems like it might be a nice day today? Shame I’ll be inside for most of it although there is nothing to stop me sitting in the garden for 10 minutes now and again. If we’d ever got around to setting up a wireless network I could have blogged from outside. Ah well.

And whilst sitting in the garden I could have had a nice ice cream (or frozen cow juice as it is also known). Okay, so actually I bought two tubs of Haagen Dazs yesterday anyway. What? I wanted something to snack on...

Webcam is working!!! For the moment anyway. Now if only I didn’t look quite so gormless in all the pictures. Just in case you are wondering it’s set to take the pictures automatically every 30 mins so I shouldn’t be posing in any of them.

You might also be able to see that I’m sat on my sofa. I don’t have a desk and its much more comfortable than sitting at the dining table. Plus I get to watch the telly as well. Oooh, Dragonball Z is on. Seems they might be working on a live action film version – now that I would like to see!

Well, heading towards my first hour gone. Still trying to get into a routine at the moment - will be easier once the webcam is sorted (still no ftp connection so no current webcam image until I get it back - sorry).

I've taken a look at the questions and challenges I've been set and this should prove interesting. Some are pretty simple and should only take a few minutes. Some tho are damn hard - I'm looking your way Ricky Owen!

Express in Hours, Mins and Seconds the amount of money the Govt raised from speed cameras in 2002 compared to the amount of money they got from fuel duty!

Making me work for my money there!! I'll take a look at that question properly later...

I'm also curious to find out how easy it will be to keep writing posts (entertaining ones that is). Normally I surf the internet for a couple of hours, see what’s happening, think about what I might like to talk about and them spend a while writing the post. With only 30 minutes in between each post now I have to just let my creative juices flow and see what explodes onto the screen (sounds icky). I was never very good at creative writing (think it comes from being very quiet and shy and not expressing myself much during my younger years) so this should be interesting.

And so my troubles with the webcam continue. For some reason the webcam software keeps holding open the ftp connection. At the moment I can't connect at all (even via other ftp sotware). So, it looks like I'm going to have to upload all the pictures and create the image archive manually. Bugger.

Oh well. Now that I have started the blogathon I can take a look at the questions people have sent me to answer. Won't answer any yet as I think I'll wait until I'm bored of general surfing around and need something to do. Curious to see what tasks they have set me tho.

Right, post this and then reboot the computer and hope that clears the FTP connection.

I was going to cheat and pre-write this post last night so that I wouldn't have to get up early but ended up going for a few drinks instead. Logically I knew I should be sensible but who am I to miss someones birthday drink? Anyway as a result things are still a little unfinished. The webcam page for instance will be updated shortly. Other than that I'm ready to go.

I'm off to make a cup of tea and have a bowl of cereal.....

Next time any of you have a problem with your computer (I'm looking your way Linda) you could always consider phoning a tech support line that's a little different such as Ask The Tech Girl. You could talk to Tara:

Some things that really make me hot are Macromedia Dreamweaver, Homesite, various FTP apps, Windows, Microsoft Office, Outlook, Outlook Express, JASC Paint Shop Pro, Microsoft Image Composer, HTML and Java Scripting."

Outlook Express? - Damn she is kinky.

Do we all remember having one of these as a kid? I think mine is still lurking about at home somewhere. Who says kids need all these hightech gizmos to have fun?

Speaking of useless gadgets, would you really want a guide to public toilets on your iPod?

Yup, in just under 24 hours I shall be starting my mammoth blogging session. I'm actually really looking forward to it. I'll have the whole place to my self so I can just relax and get on with it with no worries about getting in anyones way or appearing totally mad as I sit chatting to myself. Whether I'll still be enjoying it at about 4am the next morning is another question.

Sponsorship has now reached £177 with around another ten to add on the completion of various tasks (which I've not yet seen) set by two people. Anyone else that still wants to sponsor me - well its not too late yet! You can tell me how much (just so I can keep a running total) and then donate online once I'm all done on Sunday. Ah go on - think of all the monkeys and fluffy animals you can help.

I spent last night cleaning the dust and gubbins from inside my computer and oiling the fans up so its running like a..... ermm, well oiled machine I guess. Still sounds like an old biplane taking of when it starts tho. Also updated and patched my spare computer plus installed all the needed software like Firefox so I'm ready for emergencies. With the purchasing of much needed food supplies after work, I'll be ready.

A rather complicated game about a girl who's head turns into a balloon. Not always obvious what you should do next (I'm stuck on level 3). Takes a while to load.

Although I am on early shift and have to get up at some silly hour in the morning, I was talked into going out for a few drinks last night. Mr J and I ended up in one of our locals and as usual were tempted into playing Hangman on the quiz machine. Now normally we do okay - we win a few pounds and lose a few more - but last night the God of pub quiz machines himself must have been smiling down on us.

Every few questions we would get a bonus - usually just when we needed it.
"You appear to have used all your 'try agains', would you like a couple more?"
"Struggling with this word? Want me to finish the phrase for you and win you money?"
"Tell you what, how about £5? Awww go on."

We ended up winning eleven quid in total, the most I have ever won (3 being the previous best). After collecting our winnings just so we could hear the lovely sound of all that money hitting the tray at the bottom, we decided to take a break. More beer was bought and I celebrated with a big bowl of ice cream.

Of course the lure of the machine sat only a few feet away was too much and we had to go and play again. Alas our deity had forsaken us by this point and after being bombarded with questions such as "What year the first nudist colony in America was set up" and "What is a Tuco-Tuco" we cut our losses and left.

Seems I'm going to have to step up my efforts to find my perfect woman, get married and find the ideal job - the world is due to end on September 29th. Oh well, least it's a wednesday and I don't miss any of the weekend.
(link via The Presurfer)

I thought the report about a recent survey on interwebnet risks was a little amusing. You have a survey that involves probably about 600 boys - aged mostly between 13-19 - and according to the results for what kids look at on the net, 'porn' doesn't get a mention and yet 'sites for making drawings/stories' is on 15%. Suuuuure!

I guess it wouldn't look as good for them if they actually put the truth that 80% of those boys are actively seeking pictures of naked ladies and don't just accidentally happen to come across (pun intended) rude pictures via spam and pop-ups.

As always they just tell people what they want them to hear.

Now people have a go at me now and again because I don't vote. Sometimes I wonder if I should be making use of my voice but then I see something like this and feel content that I have nothing to do with a system that puts a man like Godfrey Bloom in a position of power.

Mr Bloom told journalists he wanted to deal with women's issues because: "I just don't think they clean behind the fridge enough".

D'oh!

The BBC is reporting the story of the Church of Spongebob today - little behind the times really. The church has been around for ages now and I'm sure I've posted a link to the Church of Spongebob Squarepants website before now?

The BBC story is a little light on info to be honest and only mentions briefly that 700 members meet for services across the US. What they don't tell you is that the official website was pretty much shutdown after lawyers told the owners to remove all copyrighted material.

Maybe I'm just being stupid but surely a fan based site that is making no money, doing no harm and actively promoting the cartoon (almost 1 million hits) is a good thing? Not like Spongebong Hemppants which has also been (understandably) blocked for legal reasons (that link is different from the one posted a couple of days ago and should still work).

Actually busy today at work - 6 new servers all in need of putting together and putting in place. Not that it is a very exciting job plus I always think I'm about to drop/break something expensive. Not that I'd mention it here if I did - too many people from work read this thing. If in doubt, deny everything - "It was like that when I found it" always works wonders!

As this weekend seems to be coming up far too fast for my liking I've had to start putting some thought into the charity blogathon. I've got a little list of food I need to get in - mainly ice cream, pizza, crisps and oven chips. I also need to get my spare computer set up and updated just in case something goes horribly wrong and I need a backup pc. Spent the last couple of days mucking about with my page layout to include a webcam and I think I've got that bit sorted. You will be astounded by the results of my creative talents! Well, maybe not - it does look like something I could have done with crayons at age 6. Unfortunately my plans for a webcam image archive seem to be a little less complete after I discovered a small snag. I'm working on it tho....

I wonder who starts rumours like this? The handshake rumour is much funnier tho.

Its just the brilliant look on the monkeys face which makes the second shot a great picture.

Oooooooooh, who lives in a bong in a dormatory?
Spongebong Hemppants

3 exciting episodes of the adventures of Spongebong and HashBrick for your viewing pleasure.

Bush and Kerry sing - This Land. Some other good stuff on this site too.

Some interesting flavours of ice cream that you can find in Japan. Can't say I ever saw any of them whilst there but then I wasn't really looking. If 'lettuce and potato' flavour doesn't get your juices flowing, then maybe 'horse flavour' will. Yup, that comes with real bits of horse meat in it!

It's just like your mum always warned you - running with scissors is dangerous!

Doggles - Protecting the World one dog at a time. Who buys this stuff??

A game for the more destructive amongst you - Jack-hammer Rampage.

I think I need to be a little more productive over the weekend. I've done pretty much nothing for the last four of five weekends in a row. I know lazing about is what weekends were designed for but its probably not good for my health. The hour of basketball I do on Saturday is probably totally wiped out by the 12 hours of sitting on my arse on Sunday. And my diet over the weekend usually consists of whatever I happen to have left in the house.

For instance yesterday I had (in the following order):
1 bowl of