Roxy and the Ghost Hands

We have/are moooving!

2007-03-20T13:58:00.000Z

I finally got the new blogger import to work, so, I'm using wordpress on my own hosting now. Please update your links, RSS etc. Thanks! :)

http://trubble.co.uk/blog/

Time flies.

2007-03-20T13:06:00.000Z

I'm not doing so well with the not spending unnecessary money it would seem. I'm going to try to rectify that since I only have about £100 to last me until April 16th...

I also missed a few expenses off of this, car insurance because while it's come out of my account I'm still not 100% sure how much it was because they made changes. When it shows up on the statement I'll consider it gone. Also, I ordered two books off of amazon - totaling about £12, but I plan to get reimbursed for that as Easter presents.

They were...

I'm working towards a goal of a more varied and healthy diet and I'd heard good things about these books. Once they arrive I'm going to aim to try one recipe a week and work out what I like, don't like and can grow to like. I'm an incredibly fussy eater and a huge cheesatarian so it should be good to get some variation...

Monday 19th March

Broccoli £0.42
Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream £2.50
Curly Fries £0.99
Waffles £1.69
Pepper £0.78
Organic Goats Cheese £1.29
Pasta £0.85
Crisps £0.48
Quorn Escallops £1.99
Bagels £0.70
Lindor Egg £0.50
Cheese Baps £0.20
Butternut Chunks £0.75
Houmous £0.99
Birthday Card £1.85
Gift Voucher £10

Totals so far...
£192.71
Necessary £141.46 73.41%
Unnecessary £51.25 26.59%

Lazy Days

2007-03-18T23:41:00.000Z

Friday 16th March

Petrol £5
Mini Eggs £0.99
Mars Eggs £0.99
Mother's Day Card £2.95
Phone Credit £10

Saturday 17th March

Celebrations £2.87

Sunday 18th March

Mother's Day Chocolate £4.97
Mother's Day Thingy £0.99
Pizza £2.45
Cheese £1.84
Pepper £0.89
Cucumber £0.52
Spaghetti Hoooooops £0.46
Hula Hoops £0.34

Totals so far...
£166.73
Necessary £123.83 74.27%
Unnecessary £42.90 25.73%

No Surprises

2007-03-16T09:08:00.000Z

Thursday 15th March

Photocopying 0.64
Baguette 1.70

Totals so far...
£131.47
Necessary £98.51 74.93%
Unnecessary £32.96 25.07%

2007-03-14T21:06:00.000Z

Wednesday 14th March

Cat food 15.00

Totals so far...
£129.13
Necessary £97.87 75.79%
Unnecessary £31.26 24.21%

Evaluation of the first two weeks...

2007-03-13T23:15:00.000Z

I don't think I'll have time to evaluate this tomorrow, so I'll look at it now.

The two weeks of normal spending is pretty much up. It's so easy to see the common places I waste money. There was also the near miss with Sonic & The Secret Rings (Wii) (would have been £17 as my boyfriend and I were going to split it, but in the end we completed it and returned it :S haha) and also I get so tempted by books but I've been really good with that for quite a while now.

Amazon used to be my worst thing, but I really tried to cut that out at the beginning of the Uni year. Although as a result my wishlist is triple it's usual size :S (Or it was until I was really cruel with it yesterday and hacked it to pieces)

Looking at my old Amazon orders, I've only ordered myself one book since the end of August and it was a uni book. I did however blow £350 on a camcorder not long after that...

Anyway, looking at the spending... The totals for two weeks and the cost should I live like that for a year (which is unrealistic but it's a nice shocktastic way to curb the spending)

Alcohol - £13.55
Cost - £352.30
I doubt I'll be drinking again for a while anyway, considering the other night...

Chocolate - £8.29
Cost - £215.54
That's really scary... although I did vow at the weekend to not buy myself chocolate

Other junk food - £9.42
Cost - £244.92

Total - £812.76

Not really surprisingly, since I already curbed the book/music/game outlet at the end of summer, it's all foooood. Vending machines are definitely my downfall. I've been taking a bottle of water to uni to stop myself buying Ribena and I really have got to remember to eat before going to uni. I'm sure that would stop the vending machine snacking. As for supermarket bought snacks... I'm trying.

It's definitely been interesting. The next two weeks are no doubt going to be difficult, I do so love my M&Ms :(

I'm contemplating keeping a food log in conjunction with this, although I'm really not sure I want to know what I've been eating. I'm sure if I have to blog it I'll think twice before looking like a gluttonous heifer... so maybe it would be a good thing.

Squaternut Bosh

2007-03-13T22:30:00.000Z

Tuesday 13th March

Celery £0.68
Butternut Squash Chunks £0.20 (oh yeah, how amazing is that!)
Red Pepper £0.78
Carrot £0.10
Cucumber £0.47
Coconut £0.10
Waffles £0.95
Printer Paper £2.24
Houmous £0.74
Wraps £0.79
Petrol £10
Pizza £0.88 (while I needed a meal this wasn't necessarily the most healthy choice, and I could have made something out of all of the above without it)

Totals so far...
£114.13
Necessary £82.87 72.61%
Unnecessary £31.26 27.39%

Vodka = Eeeeevil

2007-03-13T15:53:00.000Z

So I'm sitting here in my boyfriend's jeans (I spilt water on my skirt and I'm too lazy to change now I'm home), having eaten more pasta than ever before, again, wondering why one can never ever do anything with polystyrene without making a mess of giant proportions, thinking that it would be great if it really was 20:44 (as my clock says) because then my work would be done maybe and procrastinating about going to the shop because I know once I've done that I'll have to do some work.

I am actually rather knackered.

Also, trying to remember my spending for Sunday's gonna be difficult...

Sunday 11th March

Petrol £9.02
Alcohol £13.55 (I think)

Monday 12th March

Vegetable thingies £1.75
Misc £0.25

Totals so far...
£96.99
Necessary £66.61 68.68%
Unnecessary £30.38 31.32%

I miss cheese.

2007-03-10T16:11:00.000Z

Friday 9th March

No spending! Woo.

Saturday 10th March

Groceries...
Red Pepper £0.89
Apple £0.24
Carrot £0.10
Banana £0.14
Broccoli £0.38
Cat Litter £2.49

Totals so far...
£72.42
Necessary £55.84 77.11%
Unnecessary £16.58 22.89%

Sonic's a blue bastard.

2007-03-09T00:23:00.001Z

Thursday 8th March

Chocolate 2.35

Totals so far...
£68.18
Necessary £51.60 75.68%
Unnecessary £16.58 24.32%

Melty melty melty cheeeese!

2007-03-07T18:46:00.000Z

Wednesday 7th March

Groceries...
Crisps 0.79
Hula Hoops 1.05
MilkRoll 0.71
Parsnips 0.49
Smoothie 1.29
Chocolate Pudding 0.69
Organic Shop Stuff... (no receipt so just a total)
Cheezly Melty Cheese
Organic Soap
Organic Shampoo
Vegan Chocolate 1.41
Veggie Sausage Rolls
Organic Moisturiser
Total 16.71 (15.30 essential)

Totals so far...
£65.83
Necessary £51.60 78.38%
Unnecessary £14.23 21.62%

M&M Addict

2007-03-06T17:29:00.000Z

I guess I'm just feeling a bit down, so, M&Ms and their consistency of existence are keeping me going.

Tuesday 6th March

M&Ms £1 (yes, I got two bags, whilst at the library, vending machines are extortionate)
Art Supplies (2 paint brushes and a dipping ink pen plus nib) £2.50
Photocopies £0.60

Totals so far...
£44.10
Necessary £35.81 81.2%
Unnecessary £8.29 18.8%

That's not that great really...

Day Whatever Day It Is

2007-03-05T19:26:00.000Z

Monday (?) March 5th

Groceries...
Cucumber 0.85
Peppers 1.42
Brown Rolls 0.48
Houmous 0.80
Bounty (chocolate) 0.34
M&Ms 0.50

Totals
40
Necessary 32.71 81.78%
Unnecessary 7.29 18.22%

London Baby!

2007-03-04T16:32:00.000Z

We went up to Londinium yesterday. We have this project at uni at the moment which entails some science research and looking at how people engage with science and various things. I didn't think I'd be well enough to go to London, but really wanted to because there's so much one could get out of this project. I was also still miserable about not being able to hit the galleries in our two weeks off.

As it was we didn't make it to the galleries, just the Science and Natural History Museum - both of which were awesome but exhausting. Worth a visit, I really want to go back to the Natural History Museum for a proper nose about.

I might have some photos, I don't know. Maybe I'll check the camera in a minute.

Anyway, huge step for me, and I survived. I'm not too tired today despite having to get up at 7am to go do a table top sale. I have to sell a lot of my unnecessary stuff simply because it's unused clutter - I didn't make too much today, but will be doing another sale in a few weeks. Hopefully do a bit better. :)

Money Money Money Money Mushroom Mushroom Money Money Money

2007-03-04T15:59:00.000Z

I tend to read a lot of things on how to not procrastinate, life stuff, but usually fail at actually implementing anything etc.

I love Zen Habits - I tend to use it to procrastinate with - haha, completely the opposite of it's purpose, but you know, it's interesting.

Anyway, the author of Zen Habits did this thing where he tracked his expenses for a month and worked out what percentage of them were necessary.

My boyfriend and I thought we'd try it, for funsies. I'm going to document mine here, just because it's somewhere I always have access to. Although unlike Leo we're doing two weeks of normal spending and then two weeks of trying to cut down on the unnecessary expenses and then comparing. I do think though that documenting it alone will affect the first two weeks simply because we're more aware of what we're spending and more likely to think it through.

Also I won't be generalising food as groceries, otherwise I could buy eight packets of M&Ms and consider them necessary. I'm thinking healthy eating here - if I'm aware of how much money I spend on crap food I'm more likely to not spend it, and therefore it's more healthy. Woo.

1st March
None

2nd March
Ribena £1.10 - U

3rd March
Train Ticket £10.65 - N
Cake and Crisps £2 - U
Groceries...
Carrots £0.23 - N
Flour £0.31 - N
Loo Roll £1.69 - N
Lettuce £0.49 - N
Quorn Burgers £1.79 - N
Goats Cheese £1.35 - U
Sweetcorn £1.99 - N
Broccoli £0.54 - N
Cucumber £0.47 - N
White Rolls £0.20 - N
M&Ms £2 - U
Red Pepper £0.78 - N

4th March
Petrol £10.02 - N

Totals so far...
£35.61
Necessary - £29.16 81.89%
Unnecessary - £6.45 18.11%

Five Reasons my Uncle is Awesome

2007-02-28T18:14:00.000Z

1. He's my uncle.
2. He has a beard.
3. He bought me almond M&Ms when he was in New York
4. He lets me have his Pentax K1000 on extended loan
5. He drove 5,500 miles across the Sahara in a Citroen 2cv. Yes you heard.

A Quick Question

2007-02-18T20:49:00.001Z

Anonymouse, who are yoooou?

You ARE Amazing

2007-02-18T19:03:00.000Z

Things are good.

I'm on the mend now. Fingers crossed it stays that way. I made it into town the other day, and I've even been to Portsmouth and to uni. I was mortified about missing the start of that really. And also, I have so much work to do now, last semester's, and this semester's... but that's ok. Because it'll get done. So long as I can stay well. I still get fairly tired easily, but that'll go. Thankfully the feeling depressed about it has passed, I think that went with the actually being able to do things again-ness.

South Park, good or bad?

I actually did something artistic the other day, it felt good.

I'm also reading Design Anarchy - finally managed to put my hands on it in the uni library (yeah, because I can afford £50 for a book). It's good. It scares me sometimes, as do the Adbusters magazines, but it's good. I like it a lot.

I finished The Modern Pagan: How to Live a Natural Lifestyle in the 21st Century. It came across to me as a little preachy at times, a lot of things are common sense, but it was alright. Not the best book in that vein that I've read, but still good to read all the same. I know I marked off some pages to go back to, maybe when I do I'll think some more about how useful I thought it really was.

I started a Library Thing thing actually, though I've not had much time to play with it. I like the site and what it does, but not the interface so much. I don't know. Anyone know of any similar sites? I guess it's like last.fm in a way.

So it's halfway through February. Anyone keep their new years resolutions this time? I didn't make any. I stopped eating chocolate for a bit, but that went to hell when I got sick. I can't count how many Mars eggs I've eaten - they have to be the best invention since.... cream eggs. Still, that needs to stop. Really.

Actually, that's a lie, I did have a resolution in mind. Haha. Guess that went to hell too. I'll dig that out and maybe start doing it. It involves cameras.

Happy belated Val Day world. Love is amazing. Find some.

I got an essay back that I wrote "analysing an image found within contemporary visual culture". I got 70% which is really good, and some really nice comments. Considering I was in quite an upset/stressed out state the day I wrote that, that's pretty amazing. I did put in some library time for that though, and it paid off, judging by one of the comments. I guess I might just live in the library this semester. It's not like I don't have too much to do.

Quite probably one of my favouritest photos ever. <3 Although it should be the other way around, as per the way it was developed ;P

I'm getting rid of my tellybox. That's not to say I won't watch telly elsewhere, I think that's inevitable. And you know, the stuff I watch on the PC, but but but, I'M GIVING UP HOLLYOAKS. Properly this time. Yes. You heard. Giving it up.

24 is scary. It's all going wrong. Fix it.

I should do the stuff I came home to do.

Sing me a love song. Drop me a line. Suppose it's just a point of view, but they tell me I'm doing fine.

2007-02-07T12:10:00.000Z

They diagnosed it as glandular fever on Monday. The second blood test is expected to be confirmation. At least it's out of the way right? I can't get this again. Not like this. Thank god. I don't think anything's ever messed up my life quite so much as this.

Ohnoes.

2007-02-02T15:22:00.000Z

Glandular fever (mono, 'tever). Well. Whodathunkit. Worst timing ever to get this. Well, I suppose there's never really a good time to get something like this.

It's still not 100% confirmed. I have to have another blood test, but from the results of the last one, it looks like I have it. And also the fact that the antibiotics aren't touching the tonsillitis - because that's actually gotten worse over the last few days.

I've been ill two weeks now. Two weeks. I've missed two deadlines, I managed to make one other one but I'm not too happy about what I handed in. This was supposed to be our two weeks off to do things like visit Johnathan Creek's windmill, but nooo. I can't drive. Bah. There was so much else I wanted to do too, and I've already lost a week and still have that work to do when I feel well enough. I'm also bored of being stuck indoors - since last Tuesday the only places I've been are the doctors and the Co-Op (for Mars eggs, yeah, chocolate, so kill me) - and I'm used to galavanting many many miles cross country for uni, boyfriendness and various things, but, stuck here. Bah. :(

On the plus, I've been spoilt by my mother and my boyfriend and even J came to see me :) I have *flowers*. They so pretty :) :) :) Props go to those people for putting up with me being all ill and stuff. I can't imagine it's much fun for them either.

I've been listening to old Placebo music while I've been dozing, some of which I'd not listened to before - and I'm endlessly fascinated by how all their songs rhyme. What's up with that?

Also, happy Imbolc.

I hate karma.

2007-01-20T10:04:00.000Z

Eating bread soaked in yoghurt and honey just so I can swallow some food was not how I envisioned the next few days. Although, there may be ice cream soon. I guess that's an upside, right?

Some Advice

2007-01-16T01:51:00.000Z

Always check your toasters for mice.

SLOW DOWN

2007-01-12T12:32:00.000Z

Adbusters have announced 'Slow Down Week' (see the animation here). The premise being:

For one week, instead of running to catch the bus or zipping in and out of traffic, try walking to work. Instead of grabbing take-out on the way home, cook a meal with your family. Leave the TV and computer off, and play an old-fashioned board game, or just sit and catch up with family and friends. If possible, take a day off work — and then while it away with a long walk and an afternoon nap.

It sounds interesting, but then one has to have been going fast in the first place for that to work :P

I checked out the latest Adbusters in the liiiibary t'other day, it was a roundup of 2006 edition, which, as per usual, scared me senseless. It's very interesting though. Always worth reading.

Also, it being new year and all, I thought I'd share this link with you - yes everyone claims to have the secret to willpower, but this kind of thing I think would actually work if anyone actually tried it.

And now, I must go blitz my Play to Create project...........

ETA: I've been chocolateless since Sunday.... similar to last year I've given it up.

James Dream

2007-01-10T10:47:00.000Z

I had the weirdest dream, whereby I was in a James Dean movie, but I was also a man wearing a Jack Daniels t-shirt (JD I guess) and everyone was in colour except James Dean. Something weird went on, where we all ended up in this testing centre with lots of PCs where we just had to do whatever we would normally do on a PC, and I remember desperately trying to think of a way to escape. Dean was there too. I think someone had an afro.

What the hell was that about, and why was I a man?

It was not helped by my cat waking me up at 5am by walking on my head repeatedly until I got up.

I don't like Mondays.

2007-01-06T23:26:00.000Z

Almost 24 hours until the first deadline hits. I like flashing underscores, they're helpful.

I also got rid of so many videos in the last 24 hours that I'm terrified. My amazon wishlist consists almost entirely of DVDs now, which is most unusual.

My hair is two colours. See my Myspace for more details.

Space Monkey.

2007-01-04T01:02:00.000Z

Happy new year. Do not drink wine. That is all.

I can't believe it's 2007. That's all kinds of scary. I'll be 20 this year, no more teenagerness. Although, twenteen :P

I'm working on an essay about imagined communities, joy. Ed's playing Sonic Heroes, I'm jealous. But I'm listening to Placebo, so it's ok. And I have cake. Good cake.

Also, if you've never heard of Girls are Pretty and have a few decades to waste reading amusing things, you should go there now.

Trolleys taking over Godalming...

2006-12-26T13:49:00.000Z

I was browsing flickr late last night, as you do, and I found a trolley spotter. I'm very amused, but he does have a point. There's a Sainsbury's trolley right outside my house right now (which I may go steal and use for something, I don't know. It's been there about a week, and for the record, I guess Sainsbury's is about a mile away).

Anyway, be amused, I was.

The standard Christmas message.

2006-12-25T21:13:00.000Z

I want waffles oh yes I do, I want waffles and so should you.

The Incomplete Manifesto

2006-12-20T21:42:00.000Z

Bruce Mau wrote this in 1998, and I always find it an interesting and inspirational read.

I don't agree with all of it, but I do like what he's saying.

Burning the Clocks

2006-12-19T23:10:00.000Z

I'm going to Brighton for Yule (21st) - Mum's treating me for Xmas. We're going to the Burning of the Clocks, which looks amazing. I think I missed Yule last year, shame on me. I think I was generally lazy the last holiday season.

I'm going to take a camera, I just have to pick which one...

Some thoughts...

2006-12-19T23:02:00.000Z

Time and memory fades all too quickly. All those amazing moments and experiences, gone, lost.

Is the fact that we're allowed to have those moments at all the reason we're not allowed to keep them all? Is that the price? Is that why we're told to live in the now? Is there only room in one's head to keep some of them? All of the above? I do hope not. I want them all.

If there's nothing to look back on, what do we have to look forward to? How would we know?

Sometimes people walk into your life, knock you off your feet for whatever reason, and you wonder what you did to deserve them. People are the most amazing things. They can also be the most annoying things, but that's ok. It makes the good ones that much more special.

If you can't be bothered to get out of bed in the morning, do it anyway. You never know what might happen.

Thanks for sharing my random moment.

When the fat cat sings...

2006-12-19T19:29:00.000Z

This is Paws, eying up Shaun the Sheep as her next snack. Paws is a greedy fat cat, and today at the vets I got a bit of a lecture, and they even gave me a graph to show how her weight's gone up to 6kg! So, Paws is on a diet. I will keep you updated, but be rooting for Paws, cause a diet at Xmas? That's gotta suck.

Black Christmas Update

2006-12-16T22:37:00.000Z

So we saw Black Christmas. I got mostly what I expected, and was pleased to see that the Final Destinationer's creativity with deaths was not lost (I won't spoil it, but, ice).

It was pure entertaining rubbish! What else can I say? Like cheesy teen horror with a flimsy plot, bland acting and a woman that looks like a man, go see this film.

Kept me entertained anyway, I love picking apart horror :D

Black Christmas

2006-12-13T18:43:00.000Z

I'm excited. Why? Because I love cheesy horror. The Final Destination films are on my list of favourites, because they are mostly rubbish. And that's what makes them so good.

Black Christmas - made by the people who made the FD movies, a *remake*, the cast list is mostly a remash of people from the FD films, and the annoying one from Buffy. And and and, it revolves around Christmas. Magic. I expect laughs. The clip I watched earlier floored me. It seems the producers haven't got any less inventive with their deaths.

Friday. I'm excited. And yes I am a tad morbid.

Take a Bow - Coming Soon to DA

2006-12-09T23:41:00.000Z

Update: Now available on DA, although still not happy with the photo.

Some of you know I was painting, and painting I did. The piece is finished, however, the photo I have of it, it was still wet, and the painting is now down at my boyfriend's in Portsmouth. So, until I'm next round there to take a decent photo to put on DeviantArt, you'll just have to cope with the sneak preview in my photobucket here. The lighting of the photo is also rubbish, so basically, it looks an awful lot better than that.

Click to fullview

DeviantArt Description - This is Matt Bellamy (aka Tiny Man) of Muse, at the opening of some concert in Las Vegas. Or at least that's the reference I used for it. There are differences however, just not many. Reference is here

I went to see Muse a few weeks ago with someone quite lufly. The concert was amazing, and I missed art, and felt like doing something creative with the experience. They opened the concert with Take a Bow, and in this amazing moment when the singing stopped and the music took off, Matt stepped up, kissed his fist and thrust it in the air. Everyone went wild, it was amazing. And that was the entire basis for this painting. You can see a not great quality vid of the opening here

Acryllic on card - roughly A2 size. Maybe, 20 hours? On the painting, the sketch took about 2/3 I should imagine.

I gave it away the same day I finished it, now hung proudly on the lufly person's wall.

---

As an aside, we have tickets to see Muse at Wembley Stadium - woooooooooooooo.

Something to do on a Sunday night...

2006-12-05T18:24:00.001Z

Giant Mars bar
Originally uploaded by snowtru.

Not the best photo in the world, my phone camera is rubbish.

Anyway, Sunday night Ed and I got eight Mars bars, melted the ends, and made one giant Mars bar. Just because. We're awesome. ;P

Roxy and the Ghost Hands

2006-12-04T11:00:00.001Z

The compilation album thus far:

1. I Know a Song that'll get on your Bananaphone
2. I Bananaphone
3. A Little Bananaphone
4. Take a Bananaphone

Bladerunner Unicorn

2006-12-03T11:34:00.001Z

Bladerunner Unicorn
Originally uploaded by snowtru.

I was looking through some of my old research, and found a photo of this - an origami unicorn I made when I was doing a project about Bladerunner. The site with instructions is here.

I don't like Saturdays...

2006-12-02T23:35:00.000Z

These past two weeks I've had to get up stupidly early on a Saturday. I don't have a Saturday job anymore, therefore I resent it. Today was for a boring mundane reason, but I did end up working from 8am until about half 8 tonight on one of my projects, and yet, I still feel I should have done more :P

I did stop, and, I got my paint out. *PAINT* I have it on my face, it's quite exciting. I think I thoroughly ruined the outlining I did for this piece, but I don't care. I enjoyed myself. I had to voluntarily stop though because I am so god damned tired. Plus it will end up being awesome I'm sure, I just haven't painted in about 18 months :/

Also, I wasn't aware Jared Leto could sing. And now I am. I've been listening to 30 Seconds to Mars pretty much all day. I really like their music. It reminds me of things like Nickleback I guess. Which I also liked. It went with the mood anyway, and that's why I like music, moods.

Purple is a fruit...

2006-12-01T22:41:00.000Z

Just as a random post, some awesome Simpsons quotes (mostly Homer, Homer is god).

"Purple is a fruit"

Bart: b-6
Homer: you sunk my scrabbleship!
Lisa: this game makes no sense.
Homer: tell that to the good men who just lost their lives... SEMPER-FI!

Homer: Aw, twenty dollars! I wanted a peanut!
Homer's Brain: Twenty dollars can buy many peanuts!
Homer: Explain how!
Homer's Brain: Money can be exchanged for goods and services!
Homer: Woo-hoo!

Marge: Homer! There's someone here who can help you...
Homer: Is it Batman?
Marge: No, he's a scientist.
Homer: Batman's a scientist?!
Marge: It's not Batman!

;)

Homer: [Looking at a globe map...country being Uruguay]
Hee hee! Look at this country! 'You are gay.'

Billy Corgan: "Billy Corgan, 'Smashing Pumpkins'."
Homer Simpson: "Homer Simpson, smiling politely."

Homer: "Yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum"

I could go on, but those are some of my favourites I can remember at this present moment in time. There's a whole site dedicated to this here.

I want...

2006-11-30T18:50:00.000Z

I want to paint my picture. I want to paint it now. I don't think I've ever wanted to paint anything this much. But, I have too much work to do, so I'll just take a minute to rant about how much I want to paint.

I miss my art lessons, I miss getting messy with paint or mod rock or ink. Last year had the photography labs. I miss those too. I drew about a million stars on a piece of paper in a lecture today, mostly because I was bored, but also because I miss art.

The painting is going to be awesome, also, by the way. I have to do some more Design for Digital Devices research tonight, I might let myself stop at 8, depends how much I get done, and finish working on the background sketch. But then tomorrow and the weekend's going to be almost completely taken up with HCI... I guess I should do some work.

I miss art.

Flash Mobbing Disco Styleeee

2006-11-29T17:44:00.000Z

You should all go and look at this, because, it's amazing.

(I found it here)

4am Does Not Exist (Eurostar to Lille)

2006-11-26T15:47:00.000Z

I went to Lille, France yesterday with my Mum to do Christmas shopping. She booked it up months ago and I'd forgotten. Therefore I failed at buying nothing, as I did end up spending all of the Euros I took.

Anyway, I'll update this later, as I should be working.

The flickr set of photos is here, which will also be updated later. I do recommend you take a look, it has a dude on a unicycle, a giant plastic elephant's bottom AND a headless dog.

Muse-Day!

2006-11-22T22:37:00.000Z

Yesterday was Muesday. Yesterday was awesome.

(See also this post)

I've never been to a gig before. I am evidently very deprived. We went to Wembley, to see Muse. Hence, Muesday.

The crowd was rather boisterous, so whilst we were near the front for the first song we did move back a bit so as not to die or something.

It was amazing.

The set list (found here) was as follows:

Take a Bow - amazing intro, people got quite into the "you'll burn in hell" part. I was a bit distracted by all the being thrown from side to side and what not, but it was still awesome.
Video@myspace Shortvid@youtube Vid@youtube Bestvidthusfar@youtube
Hysteria
Vid@youtube
New Born - I was dying to see this. I love the piano bits in their songs. Thus, the intro to this song, is amazing, and it was even more amazing seeing it live.
Video@youtubeland Video2@youtubeland
Butterflies and Hurricanes - This is my favourite Muse song. Ever. Therefore, them playing it, well. It. Was. Amazing. Just how Matt plays piano like that is beyond me.
Vid@youtube Pianosolovid@youtube Vid2@youtube
Assassin Vid@youtube
Map of the Problematique Vid@youtube
Plug in Baby - Shiny. Shiny. Shiny.
Vid@youtube
Soldier's Poem - This was pretty special. Matt told peeps to get their mobiles/lighters out. I think Wembley holds something like 12,500 people, so looking back over the crowds was stunning.
Vid@youtube
Invincible - The whole arms in the air thing. The music. I loved it. Probably one of the best songs they performed, although that said it is really really hard to choose.
Vid@youtube Vid2@youtube
Supermassive Black Hole - This song gives me a buzz, live, was just. I hate to keep using the words amazing and awesome. But that's really what it was.
Video@youtubeland Vid2@youtube
Forced In
Time is Running Out - One of the things I really liked is how they did different intros, outros and stuff. Half the time you didn't know what they were about to play because it didn't quite sound how you expected. This was one of those. I was glad they played it, I remember years ago when it first came out, it felt nice and nostalgic.
Starlight - I loved this. The clapping. The everything. I really love the lyrics to this.
Vid@youtube Vid2@youtube
Stockholm Syndrome - My favourite parts were the "this is the last time..." bits, everyone got all arms in the air-y.
Vid@youtube Vid2@youtube Vid3@youtube
-----------------------------------------
Citizen Erased
Vid@youtube
Bliss (with balloons) - Balloons. Balloons are awesome. Although they were the wrong side of the arena for us really. Bliss is also an excellent song, and this was all very excellent.
VidofBallooooooons@youtube
-----------------------------------------
Hoodoo - Shiny piano. Lots of it. :D
Vid@youtube
Knights of Cydonia - Great finale. The on screen type was a bit cheesy, but that's ok. My arms almost died at this point. I still can't really move them very well.
Vid@youtube Vid2@youtube Vid3@youtube

I checked out flickr, as you do, and thus far there are two people with sets of photos from last night - you can check those out here and here.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I want to see them again. Right now. I loved the set list too. Especially as they played Butterflies. That made my week.

Will probably update this shortly.

MY M&Ms

2006-11-19T17:16:00.000Z

I want these and I want them now. Well not all of them, just the AlmonDee-licious, Mint Condition and Cookie Minster. Well maybe all of them. But fifty bucks?! FIFTY? Ridiculous.

The Big Bowl of M&Ms
Originally uploaded by snowtru.

The Prestige

2006-11-18T23:01:00.000Z

We went and saw The Prestige the other day. I'm not sure if I liked it or not. It was entertaining, don't get me wrong, but quite slow in places.

Like Batman Begins, the art direction and what not was pretty decent and it had that same shine to it - I don't really know how to explain it. It was refined. The cast listing was impressive (what was David Bowie doing in there? That was unexpected.)

I just didn't like the twist, which I suppose, is entirely what the thing was based on, so I guess that's why I'm unsure as to if I liked it.

Five stars for effort, two and a half for the story.

Buy Nothing Day

2006-11-18T22:29:00.000Z

"Every November, for 24 hours, we remember that no one was born to shop, we make a small choice to participate by not participating. If you’ve never taken part in Buy Nothing Day, or if you’ve taken part in the past but haven’t really committed to doing it again, consider this: 2006 will go down as the year in which mainstream dialogue about global warming finally reached its critical mass."

It's this coming week. See here for more information.

I don't think I can get away with buying nothing, I'll need train tickets, but otherwise. Should be ok. Should.

They also have this idea for a buy nothing Xmas. I like buying people presents, and already have done, so it's too late for me, but I must admit I did consider opting out of Xmas this year. Just because, the Xmas stuff was in stores before Halloween, and Halloween is a lot more fun and should not be overshadowed by the confused mess of emotions that is our modern day Xmas.

Play-Doh and Evils

2006-11-18T22:01:00.001Z

Play-Doh is obviously one of the most amazing things ever. It celebrated it's 50th anniversary just this year. There's an entire group on flickr dedicated to Play-Doh (check it out for more amazing stuff like the below image). Everyone loves Play-Doh, and I'm pretty sure everyone's tasted it, just because of that amazing smell it has. (You can deny it all you want, I won't believe you).

I don't know, it might just be me, but I think it's wrong for corporations like McDonald's to get in on the Play-Doh act. I was at Toys R Us just last night and they had a Play-Doh McFlurry maker. I can't find it on their site, but it's there. The 'mercan site has the french fry one. McDonald's do and will always target kids, but that doesn't make it right. The little MickyD's checkout sets freak me out and then some too, why would you give that to your kid? "Here Bobby, have this McDonald's checkout! Aspire to be a checkout person, live your dream!"

If that was me I'd give my kid some paint, or something musical, or a book or a football or something. I mean seriously, who would give that to a child. If you would, I'd like reasons. It also makes me wonder what kind of kids would *ask* for that kind of thing. Why is that ok in society? Everyone knows McDonald's is evil, everyone knows they're bad for you... so why?

Society is strange.

I also appreciate the concept of propaganda, and that MickyD's list of crimes may or may not just be media hype, but, if there's even a grain of truth... I'd rather steer clear. And have done, for almost 18 months now. I can't remember the last time I ate real fast food, and I doubt it's something I'd do again.

Also, I miss Sesame Street. Where has it gone? WHERE!?!

Sesame Street
Originally uploaded by arkworld.

Licence to Pink

2006-11-16T16:05:00.000Z

I passed my driving test just over a week ago, and my licence showed up today. Admittedly, I'm excited, but only mostly because it's pink.

This is also my excuse to go out and buy a bottle of Bailey's mint chocolate. Which by the way is cheapest at Tesco, beating Asda by about £4 (so long as the internet prices aren't lying...)

ETA: The internet was not lying - Tesco's have the new Bailey's flavours on offer. Yay for almost cheap alcohol.

ETA2: Mint choc Bailey's isn't as amazing as expected, but still damn good.

And, if Wiki is telling the truth, someone made real tomacco!

Monday, one day, Tuesday, Muesday....

2006-11-15T23:18:00.000Z

After watching random clips of Muse's live performances, I'm now more than excited about next week. Live Muuuse, how spiffing. :D

Also, pianos + Matt Bellamy = amazing.

(Check the piano link for an awesome photo, also, see below for another awesome photo...)

The Haunted Piano
Originally uploaded by WisDoc.

"... or you can be the teapot..."

2006-11-14T00:43:00.000Z

I found a quote in Remediation (Bolter/Grusin) which I quite liked by Meredith Bricken, I don't think it just applies to Virtual Reality, but that's just me. Anyway, I found it on the web, citing it from this linky

"you can be the mad hatter or you can be the teapot; you can move back and forth to the rhythm of a song. You can be a tiny droplet in the rain or in the river; you can be what you thought you ought to be all along. You can switch your point of view to an object or a process or another person's point of view in the other person's world."

Just a blog for bloggy things...

2006-11-11T23:40:00.000Z

I just felt there should be a post here, before I trundle off to bed.

Right now, I want white chocolate spread on crumpets.