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Showing posts from May, 2007

The Code.

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Thunderbozz has breached the code. Apologies, I've started watching Big Brother . If anyone else says "yeah, but where are all the guys?" I'll tut loudly. Chanelle is the best looking one, despite the fact she likes like Victoria Beckham. And remarks like "I either want to be rich and famous, or a speech therapist in Spain". Hmm. Emily – the "rich bitch" who single-handedly discovered indie music – only makes second place by default. Charley , south London "it girl" just reminds me of Foxxy Love from Drawn Together . The look on her face when she realised all the effort she'd put into getting ready was all for nothing: priceless. Tracey is a cross between Worzel Gummage, Bez and tourette's-suffering Pete: note they're all men. Carole is madder than a barrel-load of monkeys. Lesley I was feeling slightly sorry for as she's so out of place in the house. That was before I saw her picture, which makes her look li...

Big Brother

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Facebook has recently opened the "platform", so now users can add a whole range of gadgets and gizmos to their profile page. As I like things kept simple, this is a slight disappointment to me, but it will at last allow me to add information from last.fm , like my charts or the last tracks I listened to (just like I have now on Thunderbozz ). In the course of browsing last.fm's forums, I came across the thread discussing Facebook integration and the following comment caught my eye: "Facebook... insists on real names, and usually has other details of real life identities, like work and education. [But] I like to keep a bit of breathing space between my online identity and my real one." Which, combined with me updating all the websites I'm registered to with my new e-mail address, got me thinking: how much could you find out about me from the web? Well, finding out my name is easy because you can find that linked to from this very page. Indeed, ...

So let me take you by the hand...

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I'm in the very strange position at the moment of actually enjoying doing some research for an essay. Writing about the portrayal of London in the 18th century ( The Dunciad , since you ask) means investigating a fascinating period of history. Tracing street names, working out where houses stood and rivers flow... all made the more hi-tech by the handy map programme on Google: it's the first time my essay notes have ever taken the form of an Ordnance Survey. That said, it doesn't have to be in until Tuesday, so actually committing words to the page is proving slightly more difficult. On an entirely different matter, I'm starting to find the whole Madeleine McCann "story" as baffling as it is annoying. Once again, the British media have successfully crafted a mountain out of a (tragic, yes, but not extraordinary) molehill. Firstly, people go missing all the time, so why has this one story received so much prominence? Is it because "Maddy" ha...

Poem:

“Forget her” I remember these words- (just a whisper) A little time. Secrets- given away, misread. Don’t tell me what Sarah said. or, for the more musical amongst you... “ Forget her ” I remember these words - ( just a whisper ) A little time . Secrets - given away , misread . Don’t tell me what Sarah said .

Bar two to go

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I've got one of the three essays I have to hand in before the end of the year completed, so there's now only the small matter of 4,500 words standing between me and erm... employment. To celebrate, both Corporation and Gatecrasher have enjoyed our presence these last 2 nights... and both had their fair share of very surreal moments. For a start, there was one of those confusing situations where you think you've seen someone you know, but can't remember for the life of you where. You look again, and they look back, and you try and work out if they've seen you, and whether to nod or smile or wave back... but then they turn away and you're head's full of doubt again. I believe this scenario is documented in a group along the lines of You know when you spend too much time on Facebook when... - it turns out you've just seen their profile so many times, you think you know them. However, this time that wasn't the case. I realised that she (it was a gi...

Red/orange/yellow/green/indigo/claret/blue

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I've made a horrific discovery. Thanks to my braces, my teeth are gradually straightening up and it looks as though I may be able to smile with confidence again. That's not the bad news. The bad news is that now all my teeth are in the wrong the right place, I can no longer chew the insides of my cheek or bite my nails properly. This is quite frustrating. Oh look, a pretty rainbow! Ahem. Sadly, this sight from Saturday didn't bring much hope to the supporters of Sheffield United, who were relegated from the Premier League following defeat to Wigan. West Ham managed to stay up - in theory at least, subject to intervention from the powers that be, but it means there'll be no top-flight football to go and watch at Bramall Lane next year. Speaking of rainbows, have you ever noticed that Zippy only has one hand? How has this never been brought to my attention before?

J'ai mal au dents

Having had a new brace wire fitted this morning, my teeth are once again causing me pain. Crunching my way through a cup of ice cubes has helped numb the ache slightly, but I fear that it may prove to be a hideously temporary solution.

The end of an era

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Yes, it's the end of another semester. Oh, and Tony Blair has finally stepped down . After weeks of sham government, Blair has finally thought it was time to confirm the worst-kept secret in contemporary politics. It's now highly likely that a sham leadership contest will take place, after which Gordon Brown will be confirmed as the new big chief. Many are calling for a general election as soon as this happens. While I would like to see Brown serve the shortest premiership ever, I don't think the timing is right: the Conservatives still need to put together a decent manifesto (and sort out the party's members) so we need to be a little patient. Back in the real world, it really is the end of another semester: only three essays stand between me and the summer holidays/workdays. Thanks to HM Revenue & Customs finally paying back my tax from last year, at least I know now that I can survive until then.

Thanks for the umlaut

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Go and buy Maxïmo Park's new album Our Earthly Pleasures because it's brilliant. There's more synth, more energy, more random wordplay and more emotion than ever before. The "difficult second album" has been pulled off magnificently. It just feels like after the massive burst of energy they burst onto the scene with via A Certain Trigger , they've gone away, calmed down (a bit) and come back with a new, refined sound. It's good. The following joke is aimed squarely at physicists: the first single from the album, Our Velocity , was originally going to be called " Our Speed ", but they thought it lacked direction.

Local election results

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As predicted, Dartford council has been won by the Conservatives (from no overall control) and Labour have lost seats. In fact, across the county and across the country they've taken a battering. Neighbouring Gravesham has also turned blue on the political map, joining Sevenoaks, Medway, Swale, Dover, Ashford, Canterbury... the Conservatives now hold the vast majority of the South East in their control. Conservatives gain Dartford from No overall control Turnout: 36.6% In Sheffield, the Liberal Democrats couldn't quite gain a majority, but they've done enough to shift the balance of power. Sheffield, like fellow major northern city Hull, no longer appears red on the map, but Labour have held on to Rotherham, Barnsley and Wakefield. Labour lose Sheffield to No overall control Turnout: 36.0%

The name of the game

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For some fans, the Football League Championship will always be "Division 1", teams still compete for the "Milk Cup" and the "Premiership" is what the Prime Minister serves. The spate of name-changing to make the leagues sound more "exciting" a few years ago have now been accepted and have fallen into common use, but when you think about them, they're still a bit ridiculous. It's bad enough having a Ryman Premiership and Division 1, but from next season the Conference will become the Blue Square Premiership , and the North and South leagues will become the Blue Square North and South respectively. This now means that there are three "Premierships" between tier 1 and tier 7. Leagues and sponsorship deals may change, but at least the clubs stay the same, right? Wrong. As of May 1, Gravesend & Northfleet are no more: to cash-in on the redevelopment of the area, and the forthcoming cross-Channel rail link terminal, the clu...

Local Elections 2007

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A supporter of the Green Party was handing out flyers outside the union today (not very environmentally friendly, as rather than recycle them, everyone just put them in the nearest bin). "We came second last year, we've got a really good chance of winning this year", he said. Highly amused by this statement, the only reply I could think of was " No you haven't !" Sheffield council is currently led by the Labour Party, who hold 44 seats to the Liberal Democrats' 34. The Conservatives and the Green Party are out of the race with 2 each. In Broomhill ward, the story is slightly different. Being a very wealthy district, the Labour party has virtually no footing, and Lib Dems have a strong hold (although in fairness, the tree-huggers Greens are also well-supported). Above are the votes from last year's election. It's worth remembering that the Broomhill ward is also represented by two further councillors, voted for in previous elections. Bo...