Kudos goes out to Gill Pepper for introducing me to Ani Difranco! Who is an amazing singer songwriter, how did I not know anything about her! Anyway I embeded a live track for those who look at my blog (all 3 of you) and for those on facebook follow this link!
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Just because we can, should we............?
This is a question that has been continually argued by scientists and their constantly hounding moral police for years. I remember my first real argument on this point after watching Jurassic Park, I think my farther and I were debating whether if we could bring back dinosaurs should we? I, at that age, could not honestly understand why anyone who could bring back dinosaurs would not want to (the fact I had just watched a film where lots of people had been eaten by said giant lizards not withstanding). Dinosaurs where cool, I think my farther did agree with this point but highlighted that they had died out and we should leave them where god intended them to be. He also brought out the argument often thrown at me when discussing this point, that if we could build a bomb that could destroy the world should we? I suppose at that age I couldn't really argue with this and he reminded me that technology can be turned to evil.
Now after years of forming my own sometimes convoluted opinions I am still of the firm belief that if we can (scientifically speaking) we should! Just on the whole dinosaur front the advances in genetics gained by bringing a dead species back to life would be of enormous benefit. Think if you could bring a species back from the dead you could also preserve the rapidly shrinking biodiversity of the earth, nearly extinct species could be gene mapped and saved from annihilation and then brought back when we have finally sorted out our problems with the environment. The medical advances from such a project would be great and not to mention the fact that we would have dinosaurs to marvel at. The atom bomb, while it is a dreadful piece of technology whose only function is destroy and maim, it also ended a conflict that could have gone on to kill millions more, the advance brought about by its development are far ranging and have improved the lives of millions. Splitting the atom provides power for millions and kick started a whole new branch of science that has produced great advance is medial sensor technology and treatment to name but one area. Going back to my dad's point on the bomb that could destroy the world, I imagine now that the development of such a device would lead to some pretty amazing discoveries relating to energy creation and some pretty funky particle physics which would probably change the world on their own. Of course we would also have a bomb that could destroy the earth and that is no way a great outcome but I would hope if the planet where at stake cooler heads would prevail as a device like that is a lose-lose weapon of the highest order. Anyway the point I am trying to make (yes there is one I assure you!) is that advances in science should be taken advantage of, some of the best advances have come off the back of risky lines of research. Now I am in no way condoning testing random drugs on children, breeding mutant rabbits or indeed building a bomb that could destroy the world, I am saying that sensible well regulated research should always be encouraged.
There will always be those who object to lines of research. This is usually focused around medical and biological research as those are the areas most likely to offend personal and religious views I suppose. What sparked this post is the resent decision by the UK government to let scientists use hybrid human and animal embryos for stem cell and other medical research. I think this is a landmark decision, an actual turn around in UK policy towards this type of research, not to mention going against the increasing attitude in the west (mainly from the christian right in the US) that any testing on embryos is evil and should be stopped and the scientist burned at the stake. It was a source of annoyance for me how the US was so willing to stop all research using embryos and cloning, effectively stopping their stem cell research in its tracks, I was concerned the EU would go the same way. It confuses me how the decisions on these matters are legislated by politicians who are more concerned with the views of the lay masses and not with those who actually (pardon the arrogance of this) know better. An article I read recently (again from the guardians comment is free site, a favorite haunt of mine) echoed this opinion, highlighting how research in this country should be regulated not legislated to avoid stifling vital advances.
India and China have no where near the regulation on medical and biological research that we have and are racing ahead in those areas where the west is stuck in a quagmire of umming and arring! This highlights one of my main rebuttals to the "If we can, should we?" argument. If we don't pursue it then someone else will, there is of course always a risk that research no matter how benign the intentions of the scientists, can be turned into something potentially dangerous but again I make the point that who would we rather be in control of potentially dangerous scientific research, sticking our heads in the sand and pretending it doesn't exist is no defence, someone somewhere will do the research and will hold the advantage. The moral doom mongers will say this is a reckless attitude but to them I say that we have had scientific research for centuries and the planet is still here and the human race has not been wiped out by genetically engineered viruses or giant killer wheat plants.
I have faith, and I know this will draw bellows of extreme laughter from many, that the human race is capable of not destroying itself. That science holds the key to the future of our race and our world and that the conservative views of many in the places of power on our earth have, and will continue to prevent advances that could help millions. I am however aware that there needs to be a moral balance, some research can go too far, but I believe this limit should be decided by learned people of the scientific community not politicians hoping to gain the votes of a few ignorant, overzealous, perpetually scared, right-wingers.
Now after years of forming my own sometimes convoluted opinions I am still of the firm belief that if we can (scientifically speaking) we should! Just on the whole dinosaur front the advances in genetics gained by bringing a dead species back to life would be of enormous benefit. Think if you could bring a species back from the dead you could also preserve the rapidly shrinking biodiversity of the earth, nearly extinct species could be gene mapped and saved from annihilation and then brought back when we have finally sorted out our problems with the environment. The medical advances from such a project would be great and not to mention the fact that we would have dinosaurs to marvel at. The atom bomb, while it is a dreadful piece of technology whose only function is destroy and maim, it also ended a conflict that could have gone on to kill millions more, the advance brought about by its development are far ranging and have improved the lives of millions. Splitting the atom provides power for millions and kick started a whole new branch of science that has produced great advance is medial sensor technology and treatment to name but one area. Going back to my dad's point on the bomb that could destroy the world, I imagine now that the development of such a device would lead to some pretty amazing discoveries relating to energy creation and some pretty funky particle physics which would probably change the world on their own. Of course we would also have a bomb that could destroy the earth and that is no way a great outcome but I would hope if the planet where at stake cooler heads would prevail as a device like that is a lose-lose weapon of the highest order. Anyway the point I am trying to make (yes there is one I assure you!) is that advances in science should be taken advantage of, some of the best advances have come off the back of risky lines of research. Now I am in no way condoning testing random drugs on children, breeding mutant rabbits or indeed building a bomb that could destroy the world, I am saying that sensible well regulated research should always be encouraged.
There will always be those who object to lines of research. This is usually focused around medical and biological research as those are the areas most likely to offend personal and religious views I suppose. What sparked this post is the resent decision by the UK government to let scientists use hybrid human and animal embryos for stem cell and other medical research. I think this is a landmark decision, an actual turn around in UK policy towards this type of research, not to mention going against the increasing attitude in the west (mainly from the christian right in the US) that any testing on embryos is evil and should be stopped and the scientist burned at the stake. It was a source of annoyance for me how the US was so willing to stop all research using embryos and cloning, effectively stopping their stem cell research in its tracks, I was concerned the EU would go the same way. It confuses me how the decisions on these matters are legislated by politicians who are more concerned with the views of the lay masses and not with those who actually (pardon the arrogance of this) know better. An article I read recently (again from the guardians comment is free site, a favorite haunt of mine) echoed this opinion, highlighting how research in this country should be regulated not legislated to avoid stifling vital advances.
India and China have no where near the regulation on medical and biological research that we have and are racing ahead in those areas where the west is stuck in a quagmire of umming and arring! This highlights one of my main rebuttals to the "If we can, should we?" argument. If we don't pursue it then someone else will, there is of course always a risk that research no matter how benign the intentions of the scientists, can be turned into something potentially dangerous but again I make the point that who would we rather be in control of potentially dangerous scientific research, sticking our heads in the sand and pretending it doesn't exist is no defence, someone somewhere will do the research and will hold the advantage. The moral doom mongers will say this is a reckless attitude but to them I say that we have had scientific research for centuries and the planet is still here and the human race has not been wiped out by genetically engineered viruses or giant killer wheat plants.
I have faith, and I know this will draw bellows of extreme laughter from many, that the human race is capable of not destroying itself. That science holds the key to the future of our race and our world and that the conservative views of many in the places of power on our earth have, and will continue to prevent advances that could help millions. I am however aware that there needs to be a moral balance, some research can go too far, but I believe this limit should be decided by learned people of the scientific community not politicians hoping to gain the votes of a few ignorant, overzealous, perpetually scared, right-wingers.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Ethical Pharmaceuticals
On my travels around the inter-blogo'shpere I come across a lot of rubbish but now and again random scatter-shot Google searches bring up something that can inspire me to get off my arse and blog. I look at early posts on this blog and I forgot how opinionated and passionate I used to be about politics and current affairs, recently I only seem to have written about how heavy my last night out was or some song I found that I liked. Since leaving uni I seem to have developed a generally apathy to the current state of the world, an insular attitude I hope to change in near future starting with this article I found from January this year on "Ethical Pharmaceuticals".
Two Indian researchers have found a way to beat the patents of the massive multi-national pharmaceutical companies by subtly altering the chemical make up of know drugs to produce the same effects from what is essentially a new drug. As the research costs are low the cost of developing the drug is minuet compared to those of the big drug companies and so cost to the end user is dramatically smaller. This is just what the developing world needs, but also just what our NHS needs. Drug costs and the postcode lottery are crippling the Health Service and research like this could save a system that is in real danger of collapse within the next decade. Of course the article mentions that the big drug companies don't like the idea of this one bit and have their armies of lawyers ready to destroy those well-meaning few who threaten their massive profits!
One industry insider envisaged legal challenges if the new drugs were not genuinely innovative. It could become "a huge intellectual property issue", he said.
Huge interllectuall property issue! What about about a huge bonus for the all the sick and dying in the world! This really got me pissed off at the general state of the capitalist world. It is great to see academics taking hold of their research and saying that they don't want it to make loads of money, they want it to help people. Lord knows the poor of Africa and the developing world don't give a flying monkey turd about the profits of GalxoSmithKline and whether their shareholders can by another Merc or BMW this year, they care about weather their son will see the morning. It seems crazy to me how an industry whose end user is the sick and the dying are purely profit driven, I think we have reached a point now where the end product is irrelevant, not just in pharmaceuticals but in most business in the Western world, all that matters is units sold and shares traded. It is a self perpetuating systems that seems almost completely virtual and closed off from the real world, systems like that cannot last in my opinion because they increasingly cut the poorest people out of the loop and eventually there will so few inside the loop that collapse is inevitable. I just hope they take as few as possible with them when the Ivory tower comes crashing down.
Honestly I am not a communist, but capitalism scares me.
Two Indian researchers have found a way to beat the patents of the massive multi-national pharmaceutical companies by subtly altering the chemical make up of know drugs to produce the same effects from what is essentially a new drug. As the research costs are low the cost of developing the drug is minuet compared to those of the big drug companies and so cost to the end user is dramatically smaller. This is just what the developing world needs, but also just what our NHS needs. Drug costs and the postcode lottery are crippling the Health Service and research like this could save a system that is in real danger of collapse within the next decade. Of course the article mentions that the big drug companies don't like the idea of this one bit and have their armies of lawyers ready to destroy those well-meaning few who threaten their massive profits!
One industry insider envisaged legal challenges if the new drugs were not genuinely innovative. It could become "a huge intellectual property issue", he said.
Huge interllectuall property issue! What about about a huge bonus for the all the sick and dying in the world! This really got me pissed off at the general state of the capitalist world. It is great to see academics taking hold of their research and saying that they don't want it to make loads of money, they want it to help people. Lord knows the poor of Africa and the developing world don't give a flying monkey turd about the profits of GalxoSmithKline and whether their shareholders can by another Merc or BMW this year, they care about weather their son will see the morning. It seems crazy to me how an industry whose end user is the sick and the dying are purely profit driven, I think we have reached a point now where the end product is irrelevant, not just in pharmaceuticals but in most business in the Western world, all that matters is units sold and shares traded. It is a self perpetuating systems that seems almost completely virtual and closed off from the real world, systems like that cannot last in my opinion because they increasingly cut the poorest people out of the loop and eventually there will so few inside the loop that collapse is inevitable. I just hope they take as few as possible with them when the Ivory tower comes crashing down.
Honestly I am not a communist, but capitalism scares me.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
The commandments Moses couldn't be bothered to write down.......
Best lyrics to a dance/rap song i have ever heard! Preach the good word!
Thou Shalt Always Kill - Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip
Thou shalt not steal if there is direct victim.
Thou shalt not worship pop idols or follow lost prophets.
Thou shalt not take the names of Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer, Johnny Hartman, Desmond Decker, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix or Syd Barret in vain.
Thou shalt not think any male over the age of 30 that plays with a child that is not their own is a paedophile - Some people are just nice.
Thou shalt not read NME.
Thall shalt not stop likin' a band just 'cause they’ve b'come popular.
Thou shalt not question Stephen Fry.
Thou shalt not judge a book by its cover.
Thou shalt not judge Lethal Weapon by Danny Glover.
Thall shalt not buy Coca-Cola products. Thou shalt not buy Nestle products.
Thou shalt not go into the woods with your boyfriend’s best friend, take drugs and cheat on him.
Thou shalt not fall in love so easily.
Thou shalt not use poetry, art or music to get into girls’ pants - Use it to get into their heads.
Thou shalt not watch Hollyoaks.
Thou shalt not attend an open mic and leave as soon as you done your shitty little poem or song you self-righteous prick.
Thou shalt not return to the same club or bar week in, week out just ’cause you once saw a girl there that you fancied but you’re never gonna fucking talk to.
Thou shalt not put musicians and recording artists on ridiculous pedestals no matter how great they are or were.
The Beatles - Were just a band.
Led Zepplin - Just a band.
The Beach Boys - Just a band.
The Sex Pistols - Just a band.
The Clash - Just a band.
Crass - Just a band.
Minor Threat - Just a band.
The Cure - Were just a band.
The Smiths - Just a band.
Nirvana - Just a band.
The Pixies - Just a band.
Oasis - Just a band.
Radiohead - They're just a band.
Bloc Party - Just a band.
The Arctic Monkeys - Just a band.
The Next Big Thing - JUST A BAND.
Thou shalt give equal worth to tragedies that occur in non-english speaking countries as to those that occur in english speaking countries.
Thou shalt remember that guns, bitches and bling were never part of the four elements and never will be.
Thou shalt not make repetitive generic music, thou shalt not make repetitive generic music, thou shalt not make repetitive generic music, thou shalt not make repetitive generic music.
Thou shalt not pimp my ride.
Thou shalt not scream if you wanna go faster.
Thou shalt not move to the sound of the wickedness.
Thou shalt not make some noise for Detroit.
When I say “Hey” thou shalt not say “Ho”.
When I say “Hip” thou shalt not say “Hop”.
When I say, he say, she say, we say, make some noise - kill me.
[Ah, forgot where I was, hang on]
Thou shalt not quote me happy.
Thou shalt not shake it like a polaroid picture.
Thou shalt not wish you girlfriend was a freak like me.
Thou shalt spell the word “Pheonix” P-H-E-O-N-I-X not P-H-O-E-N-I-X, regardless of what the Oxford English Dictionary tells you.
Thou shalt not express your shock at the fact that Sharon got off with Brad at the club last night by saying “Is it.”
Thou shalt think for yourselves.
And thou shalt always, thou shalt always... kill.
Thou Shalt Always Kill - Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip
Thou shalt not steal if there is direct victim.
Thou shalt not worship pop idols or follow lost prophets.
Thou shalt not take the names of Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer, Johnny Hartman, Desmond Decker, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix or Syd Barret in vain.
Thou shalt not think any male over the age of 30 that plays with a child that is not their own is a paedophile - Some people are just nice.
Thou shalt not read NME.
Thall shalt not stop likin' a band just 'cause they’ve b'come popular.
Thou shalt not question Stephen Fry.
Thou shalt not judge a book by its cover.
Thou shalt not judge Lethal Weapon by Danny Glover.
Thall shalt not buy Coca-Cola products. Thou shalt not buy Nestle products.
Thou shalt not go into the woods with your boyfriend’s best friend, take drugs and cheat on him.
Thou shalt not fall in love so easily.
Thou shalt not use poetry, art or music to get into girls’ pants - Use it to get into their heads.
Thou shalt not watch Hollyoaks.
Thou shalt not attend an open mic and leave as soon as you done your shitty little poem or song you self-righteous prick.
Thou shalt not return to the same club or bar week in, week out just ’cause you once saw a girl there that you fancied but you’re never gonna fucking talk to.
Thou shalt not put musicians and recording artists on ridiculous pedestals no matter how great they are or were.
The Beatles - Were just a band.
Led Zepplin - Just a band.
The Beach Boys - Just a band.
The Sex Pistols - Just a band.
The Clash - Just a band.
Crass - Just a band.
Minor Threat - Just a band.
The Cure - Were just a band.
The Smiths - Just a band.
Nirvana - Just a band.
The Pixies - Just a band.
Oasis - Just a band.
Radiohead - They're just a band.
Bloc Party - Just a band.
The Arctic Monkeys - Just a band.
The Next Big Thing - JUST A BAND.
Thou shalt give equal worth to tragedies that occur in non-english speaking countries as to those that occur in english speaking countries.
Thou shalt remember that guns, bitches and bling were never part of the four elements and never will be.
Thou shalt not make repetitive generic music, thou shalt not make repetitive generic music, thou shalt not make repetitive generic music, thou shalt not make repetitive generic music.
Thou shalt not pimp my ride.
Thou shalt not scream if you wanna go faster.
Thou shalt not move to the sound of the wickedness.
Thou shalt not make some noise for Detroit.
When I say “Hey” thou shalt not say “Ho”.
When I say “Hip” thou shalt not say “Hop”.
When I say, he say, she say, we say, make some noise - kill me.
[Ah, forgot where I was, hang on]
Thou shalt not quote me happy.
Thou shalt not shake it like a polaroid picture.
Thou shalt not wish you girlfriend was a freak like me.
Thou shalt spell the word “Pheonix” P-H-E-O-N-I-X not P-H-O-E-N-I-X, regardless of what the Oxford English Dictionary tells you.
Thou shalt not express your shock at the fact that Sharon got off with Brad at the club last night by saying “Is it.”
Thou shalt think for yourselves.
And thou shalt always, thou shalt always... kill.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Lets talk about the weather!
Yes lets talk about the weather! How random has it been lately! I was in Bournemouth this weekend, on Saturday (after purchasing some fine knock-off aviator style sunglasses) we hit the beach and showed off, to one and all, our astounding frizbee skills. After a few hours of diving catches and some close calls involving the heads of nearby children we had well and truly caught the sun! I had to wear sunglasses the whole way back to Suffolk because of the sun with the windows down because it was so warm, however literally 5 minuets after I got through the door the sky went from blue to gray and there was a blizzard! I don't know if you have ever seen "The Day After Tomorrow" but that kind of rapid change freaks me out a little! Global warming....... or mad scientist with doomsday weather machine...... answers on a postcard/text message/email/Myspace comment/Facebook Wall (Check my multi-contactability)
In other news the line up for Reading and Leeds is amazing, dare I say better than V2007. I would rather not dare to say this however as I have already brought V tickets, attracted as I was to the Foo Fighters, Editors, Snow Patrol, Basement Jaxx and the mighty Goo Goo Dolls! However Reading & Leeds has The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Klaxons, Kings of Leon, Biffy Clyro and Funeral for a Friend to name a few! Boooooooooo! Oh well V will be great because all my friends are going, but still you would think the festivals could announce there line ups well in advance of the tickets going on sale! Again I reassert my previous Booooooooo!
Finally I thought I would put up a bit of comedy in this post, a section from the wonderful mock the week, if it doesn't appear (those of you on facebook) click here! It features that fabulous welsh lanky star, Mark Watson, whose final episode of his quest to make the world substantially better is on Radio 4 tonight at 6:30pm! Listen to it! Bloody hilarious!
In other news the line up for Reading and Leeds is amazing, dare I say better than V2007. I would rather not dare to say this however as I have already brought V tickets, attracted as I was to the Foo Fighters, Editors, Snow Patrol, Basement Jaxx and the mighty Goo Goo Dolls! However Reading & Leeds has The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Klaxons, Kings of Leon, Biffy Clyro and Funeral for a Friend to name a few! Boooooooooo! Oh well V will be great because all my friends are going, but still you would think the festivals could announce there line ups well in advance of the tickets going on sale! Again I reassert my previous Booooooooo!
Finally I thought I would put up a bit of comedy in this post, a section from the wonderful mock the week, if it doesn't appear (those of you on facebook) click here! It features that fabulous welsh lanky star, Mark Watson, whose final episode of his quest to make the world substantially better is on Radio 4 tonight at 6:30pm! Listen to it! Bloody hilarious!
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Another Web 2.0 social networking spare time sucking sign-up!
Ok, first it was blogger, then myspace, then faceparty (for about 5mins until I realised it was rubbish) and now facebook! Which to my suprise is quite a tidy little site, the profiles are neater than myspace and the social networking is much more refined! But the main advantage I found was that nearly all my uni friends are on there! Myspace is better for music, facebook is better for keeping in touch, plus the photo utilities are miles better! Anyway, join facebook I say! Or better yet get myspace and facebook to merge creating a uber social site called Myface.....or Spacebook.....no I like Myface better! Let the joining begin!
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Sightly more than a mouthful!
Wooo! What a weekend! A 12 hour bender! It's like being a student again!
After several pints whilst watching our brave chaps giving the Italians a swift and resounding kicking at the rugger we decided to go for an afternoon's constitutional and take in the sights and sounds of Camden Town's bustling bazaar, however after only a brief foray into the early evening sunlight we decided that the strain was too much and we would have to have "one for the road" in a passing public house. One, it seems means, three and a "constitutional" appears to imply staying in the pub and reading random tombs from yesteryear in some form of bastardised, alcohol fueled, Jakanory session, including expertly read passages from such literary masterworks as "Dude Woman" and "A Piper's Remorse"! After we had had our fill of popular literature we decided there was still time for our brisk walk in the nations capital, however our minds changed quickly when we realised it was dark and we couldn't be bothered. Instead we decided to gather the various constituents required for a game created only the previous night by several of our party who evidently had far too much time on their hands.
This game of skill was know only by the mysterious title of "Slightly more than a mouthful"! After buying a six pack of that bastion of drinking games, Fosters and a large quantity of vodka of a dubious quality we head back to the flat. Upon arrival the rules of the aforementioned game where spelled out to us in all their complexity. The complexity being you had to sit on the sofa, hands on knees with a tumbler in front of you on the floor, containing, as one might expect, slightly more than a mouthful of beer. The challenge was to drink the slightly over-sized shot down and place it back on the floor in the shortest time possible, a feat which sounds simple in theory but I assure is much more difficult in its execution!
Needless to say this game coupled with the dubious vodka lead to a comfortably high position on the funky inebriation scale. We soon left the flat and headed to what can only be described as the greatest club I have ever seen, a barely converted opera house with the worlds largest disco ball.
In the words of some great dude " 'nuff said ", anyway after some crazy dancing,
a game of stick in the mud, and large amounts of cheap sambuuca,
we returned home.
The next morning, to our utter shock, no one had a hangover. Proving once and for all that dancing and alcohol are good for you!
I rest my case!
After several pints whilst watching our brave chaps giving the Italians a swift and resounding kicking at the rugger we decided to go for an afternoon's constitutional and take in the sights and sounds of Camden Town's bustling bazaar, however after only a brief foray into the early evening sunlight we decided that the strain was too much and we would have to have "one for the road" in a passing public house. One, it seems means, three and a "constitutional" appears to imply staying in the pub and reading random tombs from yesteryear in some form of bastardised, alcohol fueled, Jakanory session, including expertly read passages from such literary masterworks as "Dude Woman" and "A Piper's Remorse"! After we had had our fill of popular literature we decided there was still time for our brisk walk in the nations capital, however our minds changed quickly when we realised it was dark and we couldn't be bothered. Instead we decided to gather the various constituents required for a game created only the previous night by several of our party who evidently had far too much time on their hands.
This game of skill was know only by the mysterious title of "Slightly more than a mouthful"! After buying a six pack of that bastion of drinking games, Fosters and a large quantity of vodka of a dubious quality we head back to the flat. Upon arrival the rules of the aforementioned game where spelled out to us in all their complexity. The complexity being you had to sit on the sofa, hands on knees with a tumbler in front of you on the floor, containing, as one might expect, slightly more than a mouthful of beer. The challenge was to drink the slightly over-sized shot down and place it back on the floor in the shortest time possible, a feat which sounds simple in theory but I assure is much more difficult in its execution!
Needless to say this game coupled with the dubious vodka lead to a comfortably high position on the funky inebriation scale. We soon left the flat and headed to what can only be described as the greatest club I have ever seen, a barely converted opera house with the worlds largest disco ball.
In the words of some great dude " 'nuff said ", anyway after some crazy dancing,
a game of stick in the mud, and large amounts of cheap sambuuca,
we returned home.
The next morning, to our utter shock, no one had a hangover. Proving once and for all that dancing and alcohol are good for you!
I rest my case!
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Sia - Breath me
Not brand spanking new but a great chilled out tune! Nice to see she has made beautiful music away from Zero 7. Enjoy!
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Hi, I'm a Twat and I'm a PC!
The recent Mac TV ads with Michelle and Webb are blatantly condescending and portray the the Mac user as somehow socially superior to us lowly PC users, I could go on a massive rant about this but Charlie Brooker beat me to it! read the hilarious rant here!
Monday, February 05, 2007
The web 2.0 in a nutshell!
Found this video on a tour of youtube! Really interesting description of how the new shape of the web came about and how it will change things! Anyway watch it and make up your own mind!
The legacy of Salford......
Ahhh well that was another great weekend in London! Come on England! About time we beat someone at something! Was good to see Mike again, we schemed more about moving to Manchester and starting a property empire and also managed to book up every free weekend of mine from now until I move to Manchester! I hate free time anyway I never know what to do with myself, a legacy of Salford uni I guess! God I am so glad I never have to go through that hell ever again! WoooooHooooo!
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Any excuse
We rarely need an excuse to party! Last weekend I was in Cambridge with Lou, Ben, Alice and Ruth and this weekend I was there with Mike, Lou and Ben! We had a f'in excellent time, went to a rock club, alienated Lou's friends (who to be fair ain't the rocking type) the preceded to mosh our rocks off to fall out boy and disturbed! Haven't had that much fun since the days of the Leicester fan club! More of it I say! MMMMMMMMMWWWAAAAAHAHA!
Friday, January 05, 2007
From hectic to boring and back again via a lot of procrastination!
Yes it has been awhile and yes I always say I will blog more but that last few months have been all over place, from hectic to boring and back again via a lot of procrastination. My last post was just after me and my girlfriend had broken up. That was a confusing time, went though the classic "We're gonna be the best of friends" phase to the "I hate you so much right now" phase and then through the protracted "I really should have a reason to be angry at her so should rehearse as many arguments as possible" (that one was a brain melter!) to finally excepting that us breaking up was for the best and things are much better now than they would have been if we'd dragged it out (flogging a dead horse and all that).
So that mental fuzz boxing went on for a few months and in the mean time to my great surprise I passed my driving test (with 2 minors - Get in!), moved to Suffolk, started my job and finished my dissertation! That was a horrendous experience in itself. I came home from work every night, made dinner, watched the news then sat at my desk and crunched numbers. It was decidedly half arsed number crunching however, when I finally managed to secure a week off work to "write up" the results of my 3 months of computations I realised that they were all completely useless! So in classic student style I researched, analysed and wrote up my entire dissertation in a week. 20,000 words of grade A bull digestive by-product! Handing it in felt surreal though, that year in Salford was really hard work at time I didn't think I could take anymore but I made it, 2006 generally will be a year I will try hard to forget but there were some good bits!
So anyway here I am sat in my own house, on my own sofa, with my own shiny laptop blogging away listening to Gilles Peterson's (the legend that he is!) minimal house mix, thinking "funny how things work out"!
So that mental fuzz boxing went on for a few months and in the mean time to my great surprise I passed my driving test (with 2 minors - Get in!), moved to Suffolk, started my job and finished my dissertation! That was a horrendous experience in itself. I came home from work every night, made dinner, watched the news then sat at my desk and crunched numbers. It was decidedly half arsed number crunching however, when I finally managed to secure a week off work to "write up" the results of my 3 months of computations I realised that they were all completely useless! So in classic student style I researched, analysed and wrote up my entire dissertation in a week. 20,000 words of grade A bull digestive by-product! Handing it in felt surreal though, that year in Salford was really hard work at time I didn't think I could take anymore but I made it, 2006 generally will be a year I will try hard to forget but there were some good bits!
So anyway here I am sat in my own house, on my own sofa, with my own shiny laptop blogging away listening to Gilles Peterson's (the legend that he is!) minimal house mix, thinking "funny how things work out"!
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
A note from the otherside....
Well it has been nearly 2 months since is posted last! And alot has happened in that time! First and probably most importantly my girlfriend and I have broken up! I was gonna post when it happened but realised I would end up writing some semi-emo self obsessed "woh is me" bollocks so just let myself just float along. I went to london for a few days after it happened, stayed with a friend of mine, Emily, it really helped. I can can relax around Emily and we've always got something to talk about and she is one alexs oldest friends which in a stange was good too as iot help sort things out from her perspective. After a few days bumming around london I headed back to manchester to get started on my master dissertation! Since then I've to a few gigs, brought some records and gernerally ticked over for the past few weeks! Really need to get on with some work but its tough going, not looking forward to the single way of life, I was happy to be with Alex partly because it meant I didn't have to go through the rigmarole of "pulling" which I frankly suck at! Still life would be boring without challenges! On the up side its my old friend crazy lou's birthday next weekend so I'm returning to the mighty D for some old school schinanigans! Anyway as always I am gonna state that I intend to post more, not because I think people will read this but more because I can look back on this blog like a sort of diary and remember when things were good (and bad)!
Right well back to work!
Right well back to work!
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Oh i'm getting too old for this!
Wow nearly a month later he posts again! Well what has happened this month..... thats it you guessed it assignments!!!! Yesterday I handed in number 14! Only 3 more too go! Apart from that my life is a bit thin on the ground; this course seems to be designed to eliminate all semblance of social interaction, joy, hope or any of the other things that make life worth living! Moral on our course is low to say the least! But I have finally started to learn to drive which is actually really fun and its my birthday this Wednesday (17th)! I have managed to convince my friends to down their tools of solitude and come out for a night frivolity, which I and everyone else (I hope) is looking forward too! 22! I am getting old!
Further in the future lie some pretty cool gigs, going to see get cape, wear cape, fly in Manchester on the 3rd of June with my good buddy Dom from Leicester and then going to see Gilles Peterson in London in July with my mate mike form Salford, also trying to sort lost prophets, snow patrol and others in there as well so its going be a busy few months. Oh yeah got to do a dissertation and learn to drive too but lets not worry about that!
PS. Please note the top artist box on the right, this lists my weekly most listened to artists! Its very cool! Check out last.fm for your personal music database and stats as well a great way to discover new music!
Monday, April 17, 2006
What an easter.....
Well what an easter I'm having. We've been going out nearly every nite and having a good old time! HA! Had everyone round on saturday for a drinking/chips and dips/listening to random music evening (photo above) then we headed into the mightly D for more of that wonderful watering hole, the clive! Anyway I have finally set up my flickr photo gallery, so I can finally fit all my photos online! So far only got the photos from this easter at home but will eventually have all the salford and leicester ones up there! So here is the link enjoy!
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
ahh but blogger is still the best!
Well I have a myspace now (a term soon to enter the dictionary no doubt)! I only did it cuz people were moaning that I didn't! Frankly the layout is a bit cluttered, there is far too much going on with the interface and any of the layouts you use just make your text unreadable and crummy but what the heck its done! For a look at my.....space click here!
The one thing that seems overwelmingly obviouse with myspace is the incidious self advertising that most people seem to go through! I admit i did a bit of "biggin' myself up" but some of the stuff I've seen goes above and beyond! But what does it matter? It's a way for people, particularly teenagers, to express themselves and meet people so it is probably a good thing!
However in my opinon blogger is still the easiest and best way to express yourself on the web! I won't be changing anytime soon, also it doesn't seem possible to import a rss blog feed so I can't get my beloved blogger on my less than loved myspace oh well their loss (don't laugh)!
The one thing that seems overwelmingly obviouse with myspace is the incidious self advertising that most people seem to go through! I admit i did a bit of "biggin' myself up" but some of the stuff I've seen goes above and beyond! But what does it matter? It's a way for people, particularly teenagers, to express themselves and meet people so it is probably a good thing!
However in my opinon blogger is still the easiest and best way to express yourself on the web! I won't be changing anytime soon, also it doesn't seem possible to import a rss blog feed so I can't get my beloved blogger on my less than loved myspace oh well their loss (don't laugh)!
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
More than one hundred reasons to be happy!
Yes I saw them again! Hundred Reasons! The first time was amazing and this one lived up to all expectations! Took my brother to go see them at acadamy 3 in manchester and I think it was fair to say he enjoyed it! These guys are amazing and you should take any opertunity to see them, the energy they produce is fantastic and I really hope their new record goes far, it should it is f'in great!
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Robin hood, Robin hood, riding through the glen, robbin beer from other people then going to the bar again.......
This was the aftermath of our Digital Signal Processing hand in day I'll leave you to fill in the blanks........
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