Bally's Journal

Monday, July 6, 2009

8:45PM

It's been a while. [/Hermes from Futurama]

( A recent weirdness )

Anyway, must dash. Torchwood starts in a mere three minutes! I have to wonder something at this stage, though. Torchwood was the title the production team gave early new Doctor Who programmes in the production stage to fake out people at the BBC. Now, Torchwood itself has gotten pretty big... so what do they use to fake people out for that?

I'm betting on a short-lived educational series called How Cod Rot.

Well, see if you can do any better! ;-P

Current mood:

pensive

Current music: Duckworth Lewis Method - The Nightwatchman

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Monday, May 25, 2009

11:27AM - Deep, Deep Trouble

One of my colleagues has never seen an episode of The Simpsons.

I'm just going to give you a couple of seconds to try to get your head round that one, dear well-manicured reader.

...

I've lent him one disc of the fourth season, which he promised to try and watch over the half-term holiday.

In other news, it struck me on Friday that adding the letter 'e' to the front of something now makes it cool and trendy-sounding. There's a loud buzz about e-learning at work, for example. We're all familiar with e-mail and, I'm sure, have heard the word "e-business".

Well, I'll catch you later - after e-lunch I'm heading to e-town for some non-e-shopping.

Film Reviews

Angels & Demons: Yes.

Current mood:

dorky

Current music: none

Saturday, May 23, 2009

10:44AM - Human Technology Will Render You Obsolete

I just love this kind of stuff. It's good to know that, from the perspective of a self-confessed geek, mad scientists really do exist.

Current mood:

bouncy

Current music: none - everyone's asleep!

Monday, May 18, 2009

11:25PM - I'll Never Tell

The conspiracies mount up, my friends.

The other day it struck me that Really Light Ribena has replaced Toothkind Ribena. Now, after a day or so's ruminating, I decided it must have been because the idea of one Ribena being kind to teeth meant that the others were... not so. After a small amount of trawling with the Internet, I found this. Confirmation! All right!

Edit: Well, it worked when I found it lying around as a Google result... the link doesn't seem to want to play bally. Hmph.

Secondly, after the Tenth Doctor's appearance in Buffy's Season Eight (as detailed here, Wikipedia-stylee), I discover the existence of this character in the latest Pokémon game. Another Internet source claims he is "a detective who talks weird, shows up in a lot of places, wears a long, brown coat and gives the player futuristic equipment". I rest my case. Slashnotalawyer.

Finally, the pieces of the puzzle are slotting together! The most obvious thing about the whole conspiracy is that Blurty has gone on the wonk, thus hindering me from getting all this important information out to the masses! Fight! Spread the word!

Current music: Dame Helen Furtado - Maneater

Sunday, May 10, 2009

1:15PM - Money Money Money

Could be funny
In a rich man's world

Well, as the Sunday Times's Rich List suggested, it's not that much of a rich person's world anymore. Billions was wiped off the total value of this year's Rich List. I'm not sure if I'm glad about that.

Anyway, money is certainly funny for this man. I've got just short of £4250 in my ISA, and last month's interest was... drumroll, maestro*... seventy-two pence. This, however, is offset by the fact that my mortgage payments will go down by £160 next month. Phew, of sorts. How is the financial madness affecting your good self, dear well-endowed (financially, natch) reader?

Finally, a little strangeness I happened upon during my regular trawls with the Internet a few weeks ago. Empire Online challenged its readership to "mash up", as I believe the younglings say these days, movie posters with gaming icons. The results can be found here.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend, everyones!

*And by "maestro", I mean Caz. ;-)

Film Reviews

Star Trek: Yes.

Current mood:

busy

Current music: Pokémon fight music (an addict am I)

Monday, May 4, 2009

8:55PM - Wrong Baby

This Bank Holiday weekend has been a heady (steady now) mix of work and procrastination. The work has included finishing all the worksheets and such that I need for the last few weeks before exams, as well as marking the dreaded coursework for one of my modules. The procrastination I took part in delayed the completion of that till about 3pm today. Grrr.

Amongst the procrastination was a trip to the gym, a walk down to Maplin's to replace my knackered computer speakers (love the new ones, by the way - nice and loud), and a trip to see X-Men Origins Wolverine at the Kino.

Film Reviews

X-Men Origins Wolverine: No.

Current mood:

content

Current music: none

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

7:07PM - Going Out Of My Head

I am considering if I am going crazy or not. To test this, I have started

( Slightly disturbing because of Too Much Information )

In short, save Chuck.

Current mood:

crazy

Current music: Mint Royale featuring Lauren Laverne - Don't Falter

Friday, April 24, 2009

7:24PM - Betty

The end of a stupidly busy week. I don't think I could have sweated more today if I'd spent the entire time being chased by a bear. In a tank. In the Sahara.

DIGRESSION ALERT: Do you feel that that last gag was overdone? If so, please write your congressman.

In other news, two of my former students have told me that they want to become Maths teachers. In spite of my current mood on the topic of work, I haven't tried to discourage them. In fact, I'm sort of proud in a way. Yeah.

Current mood:

cranky

Current music: Pokémon music

Friday, April 17, 2009

4:31PM - Clear Fanfare

The other day I was struck by this thought. You know the sign "KEEP CLEAR"? Well, if you were to treat it literally, you'd never cross a road or entry or whatever that had it, would you? Cos as soon as you crossed it, you wouldn't be keeping it clear anymore.

In other news, after a few days of searching, I got myself a copy of Pride And Prejudice And Zombies. There's a BBC News interview with the co-author Seth Grahame-Smith here... I'm afraid I couldn't resist. I'm going to have to wait a bit before I start reading it - I began Frost/Nixon on the train yesterday, which is a bit big (and dry, but, y'know, you pays your money and you takes your choice).

DIGRESSION ALERT: Surely that expression should read "you takes your choice and you pays your money"? Illogical, Captain...

Mind you, I like the blurb on the back: "JANE AUSTEN is the author of Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, and other masterpieces of English literature. SETH GRAHAME-SMITH once took a class in English literature."

Current mood:

bouncy

Current music: Verve - Lucky Man

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

4:28PM - Musique

It's happened, like I was hoping it would.

The arrival of iTunes into my life has revitalised my love for music. Over the last couple of years I'd almost lost faith in it - some of my favourite artists released stuff that I didn't like, and the new things I was buying weren't that great either. So music started to lag behind books, films, videogames and TV in the time-occupying stakes.

The biggest problem, though, was that I'd lost the buzz. Songs that I used to love were no longer exciting me in the same way that they used to - if I put on Right Here, Right Now, f'r example, I'd know that I was putting the song on and so wouldn't get that little shiver of surprise that made me listen to it and concentrate on it. Well, iTunes fixes that right up.

I've made myself a playlist called "Happy", which currently features 36 songs. They're all songs that I won't skip and that I loved. Setting it to random means that the surprise element is back - I've got it going at the moment, and I've spent much of my time listening to it with goosebumps... this despite the fact I was sweating somewhat when I got back from today's jaunt to Crewe. Bought a tie.

Hope that, wherever you are and whatever you're doing, you're a little bit happier than you were this morning.

Current mood:

giddy

Current music: Revtone - Love Movement (Ulrich Schnauss Remix)

Friday, April 10, 2009

6:57PM - Wherever I Lay My Hat

*breaks radio silence*

Wow, is it really the 29th of March since my last entry? Gor blimey guv'nor, stone the bleedin' crows, and other such nonsense. Sorry, alls.

As has become the custom this year, I've changed my Facebook profile picture to one of me wearing a slightly different hat. The hat thing fell into place (?) a few weeks ago. Basically, every fifty days of this year I'll change the picture for one of me wearing a different hat. This time the idea was to be wearing a hat like the Fifth Doctor (little bit of Tennage in there, too) to celebrate the fact that there's new Who tomorrow (eeeeeee!, by the way).

Now, no-one I know has a hat like that, so I had to be crafty (some might say "dafty" by the time the story's over). I nipped over to Manchester yesterday for a bit of shopping and general moochery. I'd got my camera with me for The Plan: head to the inordinately large Marks & Spencer, grab a hat, go into a changing room and snap a picture of me wearing it. A beautiful and, more importantly, cheap solution to the problem.

Bizarrely, The Plan came off without a hitch. Can't remember the last time that happened.

Currently drinking a Coke Zero, reading The Anonymous Venetian, and not being able to wait for tonight's new Red Dwarf and tomorrow's new Doctor Who. *massive grin de la fromage pure*

Film Reviews

The Damned United: No.
The Boat That Rocked: No.

Current mood: fizzy

Current music: Fatboy Slim - Right Here, Right Now

2 pennies | Penny for your thoughts?

Sunday, March 29, 2009

1:49PM - Try Again

I'm in the middle of starting to mark some coursework. I've got my "Happy" playlist on the go, which has reached Mer Du Japon by Air. There's a phone call, which I answer, as is the custom in polite society.

"Steve?" a slightly timid elderly female's voice asks. "No, sorry, I think you've got the wrong number," I say. "Oh, I'm so sorry," the slightly timid elderly female says. I put the phone down and make sure to restart the song. It gets just over a minute in before the phone rings.

"Steve?" a slightly timid elderly female's voice asks. "No, sorry," I say, and tell her my phone number so she can make sure to dial/key in the right one next time. It's been ten minutes so far.

Got myself involved in a pub quiz last night. The team I was on got 211 points out of a possible 270 and, if we'd been braver on a few questions we might have had enough to overhaul the eleven-point gap separating us from fost place. On a personal note, the biggest lowlight of the night was when the announcer gave the answer to the question "Find the sum of all the internal angles of an octagon" as 960 degrees. I took that up with him and he issued a correction shortly afterwards.

I've experienced my first defeat with iTunes! On Guitar Hero III there's a track called Radio Song, performed by a French band named Superbus. I like it, and looked for it on the system. They don'y have it! I've ordered the album it comes from from Amazon.fr - the shipping will cost more than the actual CD. D'ohs all round.

Back to the coursework... I shall see you in the future, dear speculative fiction loving readers.

Current mood:

dorky

Current music: Room 5 - Make Luv (Axwell Remix)

Monday, March 23, 2009

8:56PM - Just Friends

According to that famed repository of all facts, fact or fiction, Wikipedia, today is the Day of Hungarian-Polish Friendship. How could I refuse to make an entry on such a beautiful day, dear well-dressed reader? Especially not when there's stuff to say.

I am now the owner of an iPod.

I looked for one - specifically, a silver Classic - while I was in Manchester on Saturday. The city seemed to be dry of such articles. It was not so important, though, as I had a great time helping young Liz celebrate her birthday. Sunday was iPodless too - the Tesco and Argos near to my parents had both run out of stock. Mother's Day was a nice time: better than I expected, as Pyro wasn't in one of his stranger moods (as he has seemed to be whenever I've been over recently).

So, with determination in my heart - and right thigh, for some reason - I went on to the Argos website to check stores in my area.

DIGRESSION ALERT: I just typed that as "stores in my ear". If anyone can figure out why my fingers Freudian slipped up like that, please put your answers on a postcard to the usual address.

Funnily enough, the very nearest one to my house had two, but by then it was too late on the Sunday. Monday lunchtime, I said to myself.

And so it came to pass. I slipped out of work just after 12 and did the deed. I tell you, I've almost forgotten the joy of opening new stuff. Dropping the case felt weirdly like getting some cufflinks out, or something. Anyway, iTunes now has my credit card. I may have to sign up to mark exams, or something, because heaven knows I'm going to need the money!

Catch you on the flipside, dear tech-savvy reader.

Current mood:

hyper

Current music: Röyksopp - You Don't Have A Clue

Saturday, March 21, 2009

12:01PM - You Crack Me Up

Every so often Dave mentions this Onion article.

DIGRESSION ALERT: It's not a regular thing, mind. He doesn't go, "Ah, third Sunday of the month, time to mention that Onion article again", or anything.

So I finally checked it out. It was funny, but not as funny as last night's episode of QI. That was so funny, I'm going to describe it as "well funny".

Current mood:

dorky

Current music: none - no real reason