Poddities
Soooo, Marc-Alex over at Dream Pod 9 has rejected Hispaniola, at least in its present form. Frankly, I think he's right. Not only did we not really convey just how great it was going to be in the proposal, but our plot hook wasn't too amazing in the first place. Jon's come up with a kick-arse reversal of the original concept, though. In this iteration, we keep the setting as is, but the protagonists are the raiders now, not the cops. So, we get our Miami vice car chases, Mad-Max-at-sea pirates, our already way cool Matrix-style action and so forth. Storming.
Also, I mentioned the title of "Dinosaurs + Dirigibles" in an email to Marc, and he sounded interested just by that. D+D is an over-the-top hoot all the way, and it could be fun to develop, so we'll have to start thinking about that. It's a setting Jon and I talked about at length in the first year, and we'd always thought Silhouette would be the system to use, so if the Pod were interested in publishing it, that would be great.
Wednesday, April 30
Monday, April 28
Against my better judgement, went to the Walkabout tonight on Upper Street, with Kirsty, Carole, Kunal and Jaye. Pretty good night, though people had a tendency to apppear and disappear at a moment's notice. I seemed to spend most of my time keep Carole company on the dance floor. There are worse ways to spend an evening, I dare say.
When we got back, the subject of films - and inevitably, "raison d'etre" - came up. I just watched Raison again, and I have to say, I'd forgotten just how good Ciaron's delivery is on the voice-over, especially during the flashback.
"The Agency has rules about these things". Really understated, yet so full of the character. That he could convey the character so well in such an isolated environment (the film has only one close-up) really speaks volumes of his acting ability.
When we got back, the subject of films - and inevitably, "raison d'etre" - came up. I just watched Raison again, and I have to say, I'd forgotten just how good Ciaron's delivery is on the voice-over, especially during the flashback.
"The Agency has rules about these things". Really understated, yet so full of the character. That he could convey the character so well in such an isolated environment (the film has only one close-up) really speaks volumes of his acting ability.
Sunday, April 27
What Is It Good For?
I don't, as a rule, do political schtick here (because Lord knows no one wants to hear my opinion on these things) but I've been thinking a bit about this whole war thingy.
Before the kick-off George and Tony assured us they had super-whizzo irrefutable proof that Iraq's Ba'ath regime was maintaing weapons of mass destruction. Now they tell us they'll find the WMDs as soon as they can get captured Iraqis to talk.
Hmm....
I don't, as a rule, do political schtick here (because Lord knows no one wants to hear my opinion on these things) but I've been thinking a bit about this whole war thingy.
Before the kick-off George and Tony assured us they had super-whizzo irrefutable proof that Iraq's Ba'ath regime was maintaing weapons of mass destruction. Now they tell us they'll find the WMDs as soon as they can get captured Iraqis to talk.
Hmm....
Posterific
New splash page over at the raison d'etre website.
Much more appealing than the old one. I also made a version with credits text on it. Might put that up instead, later.
New splash page over at the raison d'etre website.
Much more appealing than the old one. I also made a version with credits text on it. Might put that up instead, later.
Saturday, April 26
The Game Is Afoot
Just printed out my essay on Chinese detective fiction in the post-Mao period (no, really).
Three and a half thousand words of Commie whodunit fun.
So now I just need to do all that revision business.
Went to the Fridge in Brixton last night. Contrary to what you'd expect, it's actually pretty hot in there. Rather mental - dayglo all over the shop, outre clothing all round. I was rather underdressed, as I came along on the spur of the moment. So I was still wearing my 'lying on the bed watching Midsomer Murders' clothes.
Just printed out my essay on Chinese detective fiction in the post-Mao period (no, really).
Three and a half thousand words of Commie whodunit fun.
So now I just need to do all that revision business.
Went to the Fridge in Brixton last night. Contrary to what you'd expect, it's actually pretty hot in there. Rather mental - dayglo all over the shop, outre clothing all round. I was rather underdressed, as I came along on the spur of the moment. So I was still wearing my 'lying on the bed watching Midsomer Murders' clothes.
Tuesday, April 22
No Time, No Time, No Time
I don't foresee much updating here over the next few weeks - exams loom and so do essay deadlines.
Just photocopied some past papers - Modern Chinese Literature: Analysis & Interpretation looks overwhelmingly daunting. Going to have to devote a lot of time to it, I think.
Wales was nice. Very sunny. Learned from graffiti by one"J.P." on some steps in Harlech that "Emma is a slag", "Emma is a bitch" and finally, the rather lame "I hate Emma". Emma should think about getting an agent - her graffiti press coverage is all negative at the moment.
And who would have thought that slate steps would take green felt tip so well?
I don't foresee much updating here over the next few weeks - exams loom and so do essay deadlines.
Just photocopied some past papers - Modern Chinese Literature: Analysis & Interpretation looks overwhelmingly daunting. Going to have to devote a lot of time to it, I think.
Wales was nice. Very sunny. Learned from graffiti by one"J.P." on some steps in Harlech that "Emma is a slag", "Emma is a bitch" and finally, the rather lame "I hate Emma". Emma should think about getting an agent - her graffiti press coverage is all negative at the moment.
And who would have thought that slate steps would take green felt tip so well?
Saturday, April 19
Friday Five Again
Back from Wales. Kind of bored. On with the questions.
1. Who is your favourite celebrity?
Dunno.... Barry Norman?
2. Who is your least favourite?
Could be Lowry Turner, for her generic uselessness. Or maybe it's Jack Nicholson.
No, wait. Anne bloody Robinson. Self-righteous bint.
3. Have you ever met or seen any celebrities in real life?
Yep. Barry Norman for one (yay Baz!). Jimmy Hill, Audrey Tautou. People like that.
4. Would you want to be famous? Why or why not?
Maybe. There are certain nice jobs - music, acting, writing, that sort of thing - that make you famous when they're well-paid.
Getting my face in the papers, however, isn't that attractive.
5. If you had to trade places with a celebrity for a day, who would you choose and why?
If skills were no object, Fernando Alonso (to pick a driver out of the air).
If I don't magically get the required abilities, Mr. Benn style, then Steven Soderbergh.
Back from Wales. Kind of bored. On with the questions.
1. Who is your favourite celebrity?
Dunno.... Barry Norman?
2. Who is your least favourite?
Could be Lowry Turner, for her generic uselessness. Or maybe it's Jack Nicholson.
No, wait. Anne bloody Robinson. Self-righteous bint.
3. Have you ever met or seen any celebrities in real life?
Yep. Barry Norman for one (yay Baz!). Jimmy Hill, Audrey Tautou. People like that.
4. Would you want to be famous? Why or why not?
Maybe. There are certain nice jobs - music, acting, writing, that sort of thing - that make you famous when they're well-paid.
Getting my face in the papers, however, isn't that attractive.
5. If you had to trade places with a celebrity for a day, who would you choose and why?
If skills were no object, Fernando Alonso (to pick a driver out of the air).
If I don't magically get the required abilities, Mr. Benn style, then Steven Soderbergh.
Wednesday, April 9
Two Items
First thing first - go and see Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind. I just did and, man, I have a lot of time for that film. I'm going to go and see it again, probably next week.
Secondly, the film brought to mind a spooky dream thing that happened to me recently. Some months ago, I had a dream where I killed somebody - strangled them, I think, though I'm not sure. Anyway, the thing is this dream lurked somewhere in the back of my mind. A few days ago, for some reason (maybe I was reading something that asked "what crimes have you committed?", I don't know) I started thinking about whether or not I'd committed any crimes.
And for a good ten or so minutes, I actually thought I had killed someone in the past. Obviously, logic overcame the false memory - who did I kill, when did I do it, that kind of thing. But I really thought I'd killed somebody. It was unpleasant, to say the least.
And don't even get me started on the dream I had last week involving (of all people) Zoe, a garden party at my house, and me bleeding from the mouth. Dreams are weird. Mine are, at any rate.
First thing first - go and see Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind. I just did and, man, I have a lot of time for that film. I'm going to go and see it again, probably next week.
Secondly, the film brought to mind a spooky dream thing that happened to me recently. Some months ago, I had a dream where I killed somebody - strangled them, I think, though I'm not sure. Anyway, the thing is this dream lurked somewhere in the back of my mind. A few days ago, for some reason (maybe I was reading something that asked "what crimes have you committed?", I don't know) I started thinking about whether or not I'd committed any crimes.
And for a good ten or so minutes, I actually thought I had killed someone in the past. Obviously, logic overcame the false memory - who did I kill, when did I do it, that kind of thing. But I really thought I'd killed somebody. It was unpleasant, to say the least.
And don't even get me started on the dream I had last week involving (of all people) Zoe, a garden party at my house, and me bleeding from the mouth. Dreams are weird. Mine are, at any rate.
Interview
I was awake at half six this morning. That's misleading, because I was never really asleep. I was lying in bed with my eyes shut, but I wasn't asleep.
Mum called at quarter to seven, just in case, but I was well ahead of her.
I put on the kettle, went about my ablutions and put on my suit. I drank my coffee.
I'd been slightly concerned about the tie for some time - it's purple and shiny, and I was afraid it might be a bit over the top.
However, it seems all my other ties are at home in East Anglia, so there was nothing to be done about it.
I hauled on my overcoat, which made me look sort of like a Mafia lawyer, and off I went down to the Tube station in my slightly iridescent tie.
High Street Kensington is on the District and Circle lines. Both of these lines suck. I took the Circle down to Edgware Road and hung about in the cold for a District down to High Street Ken. I read my copy of the Metro - it was shallow and boring. I had expected nothing better.
Got down to Kensington Square with no trouble, but time to spare. I remembered the location from previous visit to Heythrop (which, against all the odds, turns out to be pronounced "Hee-thropp"), so I didn't have to do the usual thing everyone does where you walk right past the college door the first time and do a circuit of the square.
I spent that time getting nervous and reading Mum's good luck text message over and over again. With six minutes to go, I threw caution to the wind (at this point, I was still nervous about my gleaming tie) and went in.
Inside I met some of the organiser people, including Peter Smith the Archbishop of Cardiff. The guy is, frankly, a legend in his own lifetime. Seriously, he rocks.
Anyway, one of my fellow contestants... I mean candidates, had come in at the same time as me. Her name was Helen, an English student at Swansea.
Further inside the maze that is Heythrop (remember: "HEE-thropp"), we met more of the gang. Quite a mixed bunch, though I talked to some more than others and so confuse a few names. Joe was the only other male applicant who'd been called for interview, and was a Cambridge law graduate. He too was wearing a suit and tie. His tie didn't gleam quite as much as mine, but I was suitably reassured.
Also on the staff side was Kitty, a current intern on the CARE programme, which is vaguely similar to the CPI, though this is the CPI's first year. Anyway, I was sitting opposite her at lunch, next to Archbishop Smith and Phil (female), one of the Secreteriat workers. Kitty, it turned out, was working with Alistair Burt, MP for North-East Bedfordshire, so we had a good old chat about Bedfordshire, Jonathan Sayeed, the fact that crazy old Frank Branston is now the mayor of Bedford, that kind of thing.
I'm pretty sure she was, y'know.... hitting on me. Over the course of the day, that is.
[Reader's Voice] : Dude! You should totally have got her number!
I agree, Reader's Voice, but I was kind of locked in conversation with the Archbishop of Cardiff. Still, if I get the place I'll most likely see her again. If not, well, maybe it's time to start attending Jonathan Sayeed's constituency days. He is my MP, after all... *waggles eyebrows*
Anyway, on with the prologue (don't worry, foreign readers - this is merely a turn of phrase). The exercises weren't too bad - the first was a series of short debating bits. Each of us in a group of three would take it in turns to propose a motion, oppose it or act as chairman. The topics were "The War in Iraq is a Just War" (I was opposing - luckily); "Top-Up Fees Are the Only Way Forward for Higher Education" (I was chairing - luckily) and "Faith Schools in England cause Divisiveness" (I was proposing - gah!).
It was an interesting exercise. I wasn't too great as a chairman, but the Iraq thing allowed me to make backhanded digs at the Halliburton corporation.
My interview was just before lunch. It was with the Archbishop, Phil and Charles Wookey of the Secreteriat. It was fine really. I only really buggered up on the "So what are your plans for the future?" question. Curiously enough, that was the very kind of question I had expected I would mess up on. I had tried to remember some good answers, but it came so late in the interview that I'd forgotten what I'd prepared. C'est la vie.
The written exercise was this - you're an intern, and the MP you work for has been asked by the local paper to write an article explaining why he supports lowering the voting age to 16. Unfortunately, he's stuck in a Select Committee meeting, so he asks you to write it on his behalf, in the next 45 minutes - he says whatever you write will be fine.
So.... no pressure. We got given this briefing along with a whole bunch of stuff from lobby groups, Hansard transcripts, all that stuff. About fifty pages, I'd say - judicious skimming was required. Interesting, though - I've never read transcripts from the House of Lords before. Anyway, we were given an hour to read this stuff and write a 500-750 word article on the subject. Wheee.
At this point, my snuffly nose kicked back in and I sniffed my way through the last of my Lockets. My article was a bit on the short side, but I'm hoping my deathless prose stylings will score points. Hell, if you're still reading the blog post, I may be in with a chance.
So, off I went after that. Fact is, this whole experience has been pretty good for me. I met some very nice people and got quite a morale boost. I was one of the last nine applicants. when I first arrived I was all "I don't know how well I'll do", but I was repeatedly assured that if I had made it this far, I was 'severely qualified'. They received 42 (*bling*! Douglas Adams coincidence!) applications that - and I quote - 'met the application requirements'. So, you know, I actually got selected for something! Huzzah!
And to think I was happy when they let me study music at SOAS. I've actually got something to offer an employer! I'm not entirely sure what that might be, but let's not mess with a winning formula.
In other news, James is going to Boston on Thursday. I know he's able to vote and all that, but I still think of him as my baby brother. It'll be strange to see him heading off to another continent by himself. Of course, when I was only slightly older than he is now, I went to China. I've wondered from time to time what they were doing the other side of the barrier, when they saw me off. I'm about to find out.
I was awake at half six this morning. That's misleading, because I was never really asleep. I was lying in bed with my eyes shut, but I wasn't asleep.
Mum called at quarter to seven, just in case, but I was well ahead of her.
I put on the kettle, went about my ablutions and put on my suit. I drank my coffee.
I'd been slightly concerned about the tie for some time - it's purple and shiny, and I was afraid it might be a bit over the top.
However, it seems all my other ties are at home in East Anglia, so there was nothing to be done about it.
I hauled on my overcoat, which made me look sort of like a Mafia lawyer, and off I went down to the Tube station in my slightly iridescent tie.
High Street Kensington is on the District and Circle lines. Both of these lines suck. I took the Circle down to Edgware Road and hung about in the cold for a District down to High Street Ken. I read my copy of the Metro - it was shallow and boring. I had expected nothing better.
Got down to Kensington Square with no trouble, but time to spare. I remembered the location from previous visit to Heythrop (which, against all the odds, turns out to be pronounced "Hee-thropp"), so I didn't have to do the usual thing everyone does where you walk right past the college door the first time and do a circuit of the square.
I spent that time getting nervous and reading Mum's good luck text message over and over again. With six minutes to go, I threw caution to the wind (at this point, I was still nervous about my gleaming tie) and went in.
Inside I met some of the organiser people, including Peter Smith the Archbishop of Cardiff. The guy is, frankly, a legend in his own lifetime. Seriously, he rocks.
Anyway, one of my fellow contestants... I mean candidates, had come in at the same time as me. Her name was Helen, an English student at Swansea.
Further inside the maze that is Heythrop (remember: "HEE-thropp"), we met more of the gang. Quite a mixed bunch, though I talked to some more than others and so confuse a few names. Joe was the only other male applicant who'd been called for interview, and was a Cambridge law graduate. He too was wearing a suit and tie. His tie didn't gleam quite as much as mine, but I was suitably reassured.
Also on the staff side was Kitty, a current intern on the CARE programme, which is vaguely similar to the CPI, though this is the CPI's first year. Anyway, I was sitting opposite her at lunch, next to Archbishop Smith and Phil (female), one of the Secreteriat workers. Kitty, it turned out, was working with Alistair Burt, MP for North-East Bedfordshire, so we had a good old chat about Bedfordshire, Jonathan Sayeed, the fact that crazy old Frank Branston is now the mayor of Bedford, that kind of thing.
I'm pretty sure she was, y'know.... hitting on me. Over the course of the day, that is.
[Reader's Voice] : Dude! You should totally have got her number!
I agree, Reader's Voice, but I was kind of locked in conversation with the Archbishop of Cardiff. Still, if I get the place I'll most likely see her again. If not, well, maybe it's time to start attending Jonathan Sayeed's constituency days. He is my MP, after all... *waggles eyebrows*
Anyway, on with the prologue (don't worry, foreign readers - this is merely a turn of phrase). The exercises weren't too bad - the first was a series of short debating bits. Each of us in a group of three would take it in turns to propose a motion, oppose it or act as chairman. The topics were "The War in Iraq is a Just War" (I was opposing - luckily); "Top-Up Fees Are the Only Way Forward for Higher Education" (I was chairing - luckily) and "Faith Schools in England cause Divisiveness" (I was proposing - gah!).
It was an interesting exercise. I wasn't too great as a chairman, but the Iraq thing allowed me to make backhanded digs at the Halliburton corporation.
My interview was just before lunch. It was with the Archbishop, Phil and Charles Wookey of the Secreteriat. It was fine really. I only really buggered up on the "So what are your plans for the future?" question. Curiously enough, that was the very kind of question I had expected I would mess up on. I had tried to remember some good answers, but it came so late in the interview that I'd forgotten what I'd prepared. C'est la vie.
The written exercise was this - you're an intern, and the MP you work for has been asked by the local paper to write an article explaining why he supports lowering the voting age to 16. Unfortunately, he's stuck in a Select Committee meeting, so he asks you to write it on his behalf, in the next 45 minutes - he says whatever you write will be fine.
So.... no pressure. We got given this briefing along with a whole bunch of stuff from lobby groups, Hansard transcripts, all that stuff. About fifty pages, I'd say - judicious skimming was required. Interesting, though - I've never read transcripts from the House of Lords before. Anyway, we were given an hour to read this stuff and write a 500-750 word article on the subject. Wheee.
At this point, my snuffly nose kicked back in and I sniffed my way through the last of my Lockets. My article was a bit on the short side, but I'm hoping my deathless prose stylings will score points. Hell, if you're still reading the blog post, I may be in with a chance.
So, off I went after that. Fact is, this whole experience has been pretty good for me. I met some very nice people and got quite a morale boost. I was one of the last nine applicants. when I first arrived I was all "I don't know how well I'll do", but I was repeatedly assured that if I had made it this far, I was 'severely qualified'. They received 42 (*bling*! Douglas Adams coincidence!) applications that - and I quote - 'met the application requirements'. So, you know, I actually got selected for something! Huzzah!
And to think I was happy when they let me study music at SOAS. I've actually got something to offer an employer! I'm not entirely sure what that might be, but let's not mess with a winning formula.
In other news, James is going to Boston on Thursday. I know he's able to vote and all that, but I still think of him as my baby brother. It'll be strange to see him heading off to another continent by himself. Of course, when I was only slightly older than he is now, I went to China. I've wondered from time to time what they were doing the other side of the barrier, when they saw me off. I'm about to find out.
Tuesday, April 8
Monday, April 7
Spies From The Future
Some of you may think it strange that I routinely read Pravda online, but I'd like you to banish those thoughts to the back of your minds for the time being. Instead, read this article about UFOs. Would the Guardian print something like this? They probably would, actually.
Some of you may think it strange that I routinely read Pravda online, but I'd like you to banish those thoughts to the back of your minds for the time being. Instead, read this article about UFOs. Would the Guardian print something like this? They probably would, actually.
What has Bond been up to?
Ian Cooper lays it down....
"As a British taxpayer I have paid good taxes to HM Government MI6 to fund James Bond's casino expense account, Saville Row suits, and gadgets from Q division. So I have one question: Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein. How could Bond have let it get to this state? Time was you could rely on the 00 branch to nip any mad dictator's evil schemes for mass murder and world domination in the bud. Removing WMD from insane leaders was a particular speciality of his IIRC.
"Now sure Osama does not spend a lot of time in the world's top casinos or have any beautiful womenfolk who Bond could seduce (or even a cat) but surely there was an in somewhere. And Saddam'sevil sons certainly seem to enjoy the international playboy lifestyle. Surely there was an opening there for Bond to win his way past the evil henchman such as Chemical Ali and take the big guy out (preferably in his private jet).
"Of course I fully expected members of the SAS to have to abseil into Saddam's WMD facility or Osama's mountaintop fortress, but the full-scale deployment of troops can only suggest one thing: Bond has let us down.
"I knew things were off to a shaky start when the put Dame Judi Dench in charge of the SIS. She is an actress for crying out loud. What was the PM thinking?
"Perhaps we need to consider pensioning the old fella off and getting some new blood into the 00 branch."
Also, A Colder War is a damn fine novelette, available online in its entirety.
Ian Cooper lays it down....
"As a British taxpayer I have paid good taxes to HM Government MI6 to fund James Bond's casino expense account, Saville Row suits, and gadgets from Q division. So I have one question: Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein. How could Bond have let it get to this state? Time was you could rely on the 00 branch to nip any mad dictator's evil schemes for mass murder and world domination in the bud. Removing WMD from insane leaders was a particular speciality of his IIRC.
"Now sure Osama does not spend a lot of time in the world's top casinos or have any beautiful womenfolk who Bond could seduce (or even a cat) but surely there was an in somewhere. And Saddam'sevil sons certainly seem to enjoy the international playboy lifestyle. Surely there was an opening there for Bond to win his way past the evil henchman such as Chemical Ali and take the big guy out (preferably in his private jet).
"Of course I fully expected members of the SAS to have to abseil into Saddam's WMD facility or Osama's mountaintop fortress, but the full-scale deployment of troops can only suggest one thing: Bond has let us down.
"I knew things were off to a shaky start when the put Dame Judi Dench in charge of the SIS. She is an actress for crying out loud. What was the PM thinking?
"Perhaps we need to consider pensioning the old fella off and getting some new blood into the 00 branch."
Also, A Colder War is a damn fine novelette, available online in its entirety.
TV Review
The Martin Freeman (of The Office) vehicle, Hardware, just came on.
It's rare that I look at a programme and think "Hey, Waterworld's on the other channel!", but this is one of those instances.
Do DIY shop employees even still wear those fecking brown coats? It's like we're back in the Sixties.
Update: a few minutes have passed. Hardware is better than Last Of The Summer Wine, but its genuinely funny jokes are shackled by the horrible format.
The Martin Freeman (of The Office) vehicle, Hardware, just came on.
It's rare that I look at a programme and think "Hey, Waterworld's on the other channel!", but this is one of those instances.
Do DIY shop employees even still wear those fecking brown coats? It's like we're back in the Sixties.
Update: a few minutes have passed. Hardware is better than Last Of The Summer Wine, but its genuinely funny jokes are shackled by the horrible format.
Feeling Much Better
I can actually, y'know, walk around and talk now, which is handy as all that time I was spending lying in bed watching Columbo was time I wasn't spending in a flustered panic about my interview on Tuesday.
For the concerned relatives, here's a rundown of the nightmare scenario I face. I have to be at Heythrop College for 9 o'clock (that's one way to thin out the ranks of undergraduate applicants). I'll be there till about five in the afternoon. After the introduction bit, there's a group exercise, a written exercise and an interview with a panel. Doesn't sound pretty.
On the other hand, I sorted out my suit for the day and I look pretty damn good. Now I only need to get over the hurdle that I'm woefully underqualified for the job.
Oxford won the Boat Race by about a foot. Before that I watched a rather good film of The Scarlet Pimpernel starring Jane Seymour, and now it's time for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Not a bad afternoon, TV-wise.
I can actually, y'know, walk around and talk now, which is handy as all that time I was spending lying in bed watching Columbo was time I wasn't spending in a flustered panic about my interview on Tuesday.
For the concerned relatives, here's a rundown of the nightmare scenario I face. I have to be at Heythrop College for 9 o'clock (that's one way to thin out the ranks of undergraduate applicants). I'll be there till about five in the afternoon. After the introduction bit, there's a group exercise, a written exercise and an interview with a panel. Doesn't sound pretty.
On the other hand, I sorted out my suit for the day and I look pretty damn good. Now I only need to get over the hurdle that I'm woefully underqualified for the job.
Oxford won the Boat Race by about a foot. Before that I watched a rather good film of The Scarlet Pimpernel starring Jane Seymour, and now it's time for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Not a bad afternoon, TV-wise.
Sunday, April 6
There are, by the way, a couple of new photos of me and my brother in the China photos section of the webpage.
Urgh
Gradually recovering from awful cold. Got it off James, I think.
Doing belated Friday Five in effort to stay sane.
1. How many houses/apartments have you lived in throughout your life?
Um... one house - moved there when I was one, from the flat in Tottenham.
Lived in three different flats in London, two different flats in Beijing.
2. Which was your favorite and why?
Well, the house. It's my home.
3. Do you find moving house more exciting or stressful? Why?
Exciting. But I've never really "moved house" in the sense of totally uprooting (that I can remember), since there's always been my room at home to go back to for the last twenty years.
When I do move into a new flat, I'm not taking all my possessions with me - I generally just bring a suitcase or two and kick off from there.
4. What's more important, location or price?
Location, up until the point where I can't afford it.
Then price, up until the point it's a freezing garrett.
5. What features does your dream house have (pool, spa bath, big yard, etc.)?
An impluvium in the front hall. Yes, I do want to live in a Roman villa, so there.
Gradually recovering from awful cold. Got it off James, I think.
Doing belated Friday Five in effort to stay sane.
1. How many houses/apartments have you lived in throughout your life?
Um... one house - moved there when I was one, from the flat in Tottenham.
Lived in three different flats in London, two different flats in Beijing.
2. Which was your favorite and why?
Well, the house. It's my home.
3. Do you find moving house more exciting or stressful? Why?
Exciting. But I've never really "moved house" in the sense of totally uprooting (that I can remember), since there's always been my room at home to go back to for the last twenty years.
When I do move into a new flat, I'm not taking all my possessions with me - I generally just bring a suitcase or two and kick off from there.
4. What's more important, location or price?
Location, up until the point where I can't afford it.
Then price, up until the point it's a freezing garrett.
5. What features does your dream house have (pool, spa bath, big yard, etc.)?
An impluvium in the front hall. Yes, I do want to live in a Roman villa, so there.
Thursday, April 3
Wednesday, April 2
I Am The Black Pharoah
I know some people hate the inclusion of "Which X Are You?" results on weblogs with the burning fiery passion of a thousand suns, but this one is good.
I know some people hate the inclusion of "Which X Are You?" results on weblogs with the burning fiery passion of a thousand suns, but this one is good.
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I amNyarlathotep! The 999 forms of Nyarlathotep are a point of meditation for the true initiate. It is through these manifold faces that the secrets of the universe are made known. Called "The Crawling Chaos", Nyarlathotep is the disembodied ego of Azathoth and thus the universal "I" of known reality. Some of the many documented forms are; Father of Knives, Nephren-Ka, the Black Man, the Beast of the Lashing Tongue to name a few. |
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| Which Great Old One are you? | |
Well, I'm Back
Popped up home on Mothers' Day. On Monday was James' concert. He was really good - his group did Cocaine, All Your Love and Mustang Sally. James nailed All Your Love in particular. The rest of the performers.... eh. About half of them were good. The other half just held them back. But I guess you can't have everything.
As I walked up here from the station, I saw a cherry-picker lorry parked across the way. It looked like they were taking the lights down from the trees on Pentonville Road.
Popped up home on Mothers' Day. On Monday was James' concert. He was really good - his group did Cocaine, All Your Love and Mustang Sally. James nailed All Your Love in particular. The rest of the performers.... eh. About half of them were good. The other half just held them back. But I guess you can't have everything.
As I walked up here from the station, I saw a cherry-picker lorry parked across the way. It looked like they were taking the lights down from the trees on Pentonville Road.
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