Catching Up Post 3 - Sunday

We woke up fairly early on Sunday. We got ready to leave and helped Chris clean up a bit before heading off to Portsmouth. We tried to go via Winchester by accident after missing the M27, but soon got back on track.

We went to visit Viv's Dad and had a bit of a chat. It was Kyle's birthday as well, so we got him a card and gave him some money. We were going to go to Viv's Dad's Cafe for a free breakfast, but it wasn't open, so we went to find a Burger Van. We were told it was on top of the cliffs, but ended up taking a massive detour when we missed the turning and then couldn't turn around due to a car accident. We finally got there though and it was very worth it. I had an Animal Burger, which is 3 burgers, 3 eggs, cheese and onions in a massive bun. I wish I'd taken a picture, it was a thing of beauty.

When we got back we had a quick visit to Portsmouth, then said goodbye and headed to see Dom. He was in a barn at Deagan's girlfriend's house (Baz). He was there for his band practice. We met most of the band (the bassist wasn't there), and listened to a few songs, which were really good. They have a MySpace page which is here, go and check it out, it's good stuff!

Once they'd finished we went back to Dom's house and got stoned and wasted. It was a really good night!

Catching Up Post 2 - Saturday

Saturday was loooooong. We woke up early and Viv went to get a taxi to get the car back from Glenn's. I felt a badger had slept in my mouth, then crapped in it before leaving. Viv felt a bit better than me, but also had a sore neck from jumping about the night before.

When we got the car and had packed stuff we headed to the Garage to get our wheel *ching* £50. We then went to Kwikfit where they told us that the tyre was knackered and needed replacing *ching* another £50. They sorted that out and we headed off.

The drive was long and I felt crap. Viv took the first leg and we swopped over just before we left the M1 to get on the A43. From there is was M40, A34, M3, A33. It wasn't that bad a drive, the weather was ok and the traffic was easy. Almost as if someone was finally trying to give us a break after our crap week.

When we got there we met Fulli, Chris, Chris, Nick, Hogg and his girlfriend. Kate turned up later as well, and Gemma couldn't make it as she was baby-sitting cats (WTF?). The Hog Roast was excellent, lots of meat, stuffing and a huge tub of mash/potatoe salad.

After a bit the Dukies decided to head off to the pub, me and Viv couldn't be bothered so we hung around and chatted to a few people. We also got to be in charge of music, which was quite cool as well.

Fulli and Kate apparently had an argument at the pub and came back. The others turned up later and went to bed. Me and Viv stayed up for a bit before heading in and calling it a night.

Catching Up Post 1 - Friday

I'm well behind having been away for a few days and then busy at work, so I'm now trying to catch up.

Friday was Glenn's birthday, so we all headed round to his house. I took Guitar Hero, as he requested it and a few extra people were gonna be there who hadn't tried it out yet. Unfortunately Glenn's present hadn't arrived, I'll have to check about that on eBay... But we did have a card.

It was a really good night overall. Got to see Jim, Martin and Morgan turned up as well. Once everyone had had a bit to drink and played Guitar Hero a bit we went into the garden and jumped about to a bit of Korn, which none of us had done in ages.

Viv got a bit upset when Kirk started asking questions about the guy earlier in the week, but she was Ok after that.

There was lots of Tequila and drinking, a very good night. I was almost sick on the way home, but managed to hold it till I got out of the Taxi and spewed over the Bin Shed instead. Great stuff.

Viv - Drama Magnet

Viv always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Yesterday she saw a guy commit suicide. He jumped out of a window in the centre of York.

Viv had gone to the Doctors and was on her way to work when she saw something going on. She went to have a look and saw the guy standing on a window ledge. He got talked down and everyone was leaving, when he apparently came back and jumped. Viv said she saw him falling, and then shut her eyes, but she heard it. I told her to go home, but she went back to work, mostly to calm down I think. I picked her up a bit later, once I'd got home to get the car.

This sort of thing always happens to Viv, in the six years we've been together, she's seen two motorbike accidents, one involving a kid on a bike, she helped out in both. We both saw a woman lying in the middle of the M25 and stopped. Now she see's this.

Viv said she saw on the news this morning that the guy isn't dead, but I can't find anything about it, even though the centre of York was shut until 8 o'clock last night. She seemed OK this morning, I hope she's alright.

Car Wheel Drama

And I thought this was going to be easy! I should know better by now...

Everytime it seems we are going to go to Portsmouth to visit Viv's Dad, we have some kind of car trouble. It's fucking frustrating, because it's expensive, and it's always just before we need to use the car. Last time our car got written off! Which was kind of the exclaimation point on the end of a similar run of bad luck. So we caught the train. Unfortunately this isn't an option this time as we'd have to pay for all of our tickets and the train is, to be honest, a ripoff.

Kwikfit finally got back to me saying the wheel would be £93. That's not funny. I phoned around to find a dealer and got a more reasonable, but still large price of £56. Great. I need to phone the guy back and give him my wheel size and stuff before he orders it to make sure we get the right one. I've also got to ask my Dad to see if the price is reasonable and see if he can get anything better. The main problem is that the wheel then needs to be delivered, which can take 48hrs, or until Saturday. I then need to get the tyre put on it, which Kwikfit said they do for free, so that's cool.

I just hope it get's here before Saturday, or we won't be going to Southampton.

Tags: Drama, Car Trouble, Weekend, Bank Holiday

Now that was a good weekend!

Oh yeah! That was cool. Friday was a good start, a nice laid back evening, with lifts there and back, plus I got some more food, it saved us Taxi fares, it also meant I had the car for Saturday.

Viv was working so I cleaned up again, then took our flat tyre to Kwikfit, I need a new wheel apparently, but they havent got back to me with a price yet. So I headed in to town to give Viv her lunch and exchange some games. I'd finished Phoenix Wright during the week (excellent game!) but couldn't trade it in as it's American. I traded a couple of old Gamecube games and some DS games and got Tetris DS for 50p, bargain :) I'll have to put Phoenix Wright on eBay later.

During the week a few things I missed:

1. Viv destroyed her calf
2. We can't get broadband
3. Our tyre was flat (previously covered)

Viv hurt herself doing the Ministry of Sound workout video, based on the song and video you can see here. It's a great DVD to watch (for obvious reasons if your a man) but not that great a workout. Viv pulled her calf muscle and has been limping about till today.

I've been informed by BT that the local exchange in my area is full, and no new broadband connections can be made. So basically I have to sit around until they can be arsed to upgrade the exchange. This may be some time...

We had the Dudes around on Saturday night, we watched Eurovision, which Finland won, I was well impressed as they were rocky, different and dressed up with masks and stuff. Viv phoned up and voted for them. We were also tasting wine for Sarah and Glenn's wedding, I think we decided on the 3rd one, I'm not sure, by the end they just tasted the same. There was about a bottle of wine each, plus whatever people were drinking themselves. It was a great night, very funny. Also Al fell asleep so we stacked stuff on him and Viv got her own back with a picture :)

The Da Vinci Code Movie crap

Apparently people are rather upset about it

IT'S FICTION!!! F-I-C-T-I-O-N!!!

...and breathe... For @#%$'s sake, this film is FICTION, based on a book, also FICTION, written by a FICTION author, about stuff he made up or ripped off.

demanding that, at a minimum, the picture contain a disclaimer testifying to the fact that The Da Vinci Code is simply a work of fiction

They shouldn't have to, it's a FICTION film! It has Fic-tion-al Char-ac-ters in it. Say it with me now, Fic-tion-al Char-ac-ters. Do I need to use hand signals or pictures? Should I write it in crayon? Other films have this at the end: "This film is ficticious and any events, characters blah, blah blah". Why is this film so special it needs this at the beginning?

One Roman Catholic activist has gone on what he says is a "hunger strike until death" unless the film is banned.

Please... I hope his family is proud of him when he starves himself to death over a FICTIONAL FILM!

The Catholic Secular Forum has described the film as "offensive" because hits "certain basic foundations of the religion".

It's sad that they find the fact that a 33 year old man 2000 years ago MIGHT have had children offensive. Besides the fact that this is FICTION!!!!!!!

Live episodes of Trisha

I don't like public transport. It's expensive, inconvienient, and pretty much always late. Looking on the plus side though, the fact that the buses are always late will mean that you have a chance to catch a bus that's running late, if you get to your stop early.

A further plus point is the always entertaining world of chavs on the buses. Most of the chavs that get on the bus are young and don't have cars, but it's fun listening to the drama in their life, if only because it makes you feel better about your own. It's like listening to Trisha live (for those of you in not in the UK Trisha is our equivalent of Jerry Springer).

An example of this was a couple of young chav girls talking about what they were doing this time last week. One of them mentioned hanging out in front of the shops (a typical chav activity), while the other remembered she'd actually been shagging a chef whose name she couldn't now remember (another typical chav activity). I've heard similar stories from chavs talking about their pregnancies, abortions, sex lives, cheating on their boyfriends/girlfriends, fights they've had/will have/are considering. It brightens up my day and makes the trip home more interesting.

On the negative side it does kind of make me realise how boring my life must seem. But then I don't really need all the drama in my life.

Tags: Humour, Trisha, Bus

I have the Tickets!

My Download Festival tickets arrived today! It's quite a bit earlier than they normally get here. They were sent on Thursday, but required a signature so it had to be redelivered. I got them sent to my work address and picked them up a few hours ago. Excellent...

What's now even better about this is that the World Cup begins that weekend and I get to watch it on a cinema screen with a whole bunch of people. I think Download has around 60,000 people at any time, and I reckon AT LEAST 10,000 of those will be watching the game. That'll be a hell of an atmosphere to kick the World Cup of too. I can't wait!

Tags: Download Festival

40 Questions... thats a lot!

1. What's in the glove box of your car?
A few borrowed CDs, my CD player and car kit, MOT certificate and a few other bits of documentation.
2. Favorite classes in college (or high school):
I didn't like much about school, but Technology was always good, woodwork and stuff.
3. Shampoo brand:
L'Oréal Kids Cherry and Almond favour
4. Favorite piece of furniture you own:
Our Sofa, it came from a friend, it's old and very battered, but very comfortable and long.
5. Idea of a really good first date:
Someone incredibly attractive, great food, great film, and a blowjob.
6. Favorite fruit:
Strawberry.
7. Pick a passage from a favorite book:
'Piglet was still a little anxious about Tigger, who was a very Bouncy Animal, with a wasy of saying How-do-you-do, which always left your ears full of sand, even after Kanga had said "Gently, Tigger dear," and had helped you up again.' - A. A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
8. What would you eat for dinner if it were your last night on earth?
As much as I could, lot's of things I'd never tried, as well as small bits of my favourites.
9. Free Will or Destiny?
We're destined to end up somewhere, put you choose how you get there.
10. What would you sing at karaoke?
I have no idea, something rockier I can shout instead of sing, and hopefully other people will join in.
11. Sweater or Sweatshirt?
There's a difference? Sweatshirt I guess, is that a jumper?
12. Paris, NYC, Tokyo, or Rio de Janeiro?
I wouldn't want to live in any of these cities, I'm not really a city person, people there piss me off. I've been to NYC, but I'd like to visit Tokyo most.
13. What do you wear to bed usually?
Nothing
14. If you dyed your hair, what colour would you dye it?
Black and red
15. If you went back to school, what would you study?
Film or journalism, or both!
16. Gum or mints?
Mints, gum sticks to stuff.
17. Recurring nightmares?
No
18. Age & location of first kiss?
I honestly don't remember, it may have been when I was 5 or 6 in Paderborn, Germany, in our cellar with one of my sisters friends
19. Describe your favourite pair of shoes:
My DCs. I absolutely love DC Trainers, I wish I had more money as I can only ever have one pair at a time, they cost about £50 a pop and I only get one pair a year.
20. What movie/tv character do you feel like you relate to most?
Silent Bob, or the guy from Office Space.
21. First CD purchase:
No Doubt - Tragic Kingdom
22. First concert:
I went to V98 in Leeds with my sister to see Green Day, The Verve were headlining. I think my first none festival concert may have been Korn, my best friend got tickets for his birthday and we went to see them at Wembley Stadium.
23. Do you like camping?
Yes
24. If you were doomed to be mauled to death by an animal, what animal would you prefer that to be?
Something that would make it quick, a Tiger or a Bear
25. Do you/would you own a gun?
Hell yeah! I'd love a pump action Shotgun, and Desert Eagle .50
26. What religion would you like to know more about:
Buddhism, it sounds fairly laid back and not too 'religious' for a religion. It seems a lot less rigid than most religions and let's you question things.
27. Favourite food as a kid:
Probably chicken, I would always eat chicken. Or Bangers 'n Mash.
28. How many languages do you speak?
Only English fluently. I got an 'A' in German at GCSE and hardly spoke it since. I'd like to learn Japanese or Spanish.
29. If you were a natural disaster, would you be a tornado, hurricane, or earthquake?
I don't know the difference between a hurricane or a tornado, isn't that just a location thing? I'd be an earthquake though, it's takes a lot to set me off, but it gets messy when it happens.
30. If you could make one state in the US just go away, which state would that be?
California. There's too many weird people there, if LA would just disappear and take everything with it, the world would be a better place.
31. How many prescriptions do you take?
None regularly, only if I've caught something. I don't believe in medicating for psychological problems.
32. Lake or Ocean?
I like lakes, they're generally cleaner and feel fresher when your in them.
33. What is the worst lie you've ever told to get out of work, (and don't say you've never lied to get out of work, because that my friend is a lie and you know it)?
Nothing drastic, I normally just say I'm ill. I've lied about having holiday booked when I've changed jobs to make sure I get it.
34. Do you carry a backpack, a satchel or "man bag", tote bag, brief case, or a backpack on wheels?
I use a 'messenger' style bag across my back. I don't know what most of those bags are. Tote bag? Man Bag?
35. Have you ever been arrested/cited for anything other than traffic violations?
Yes
36. Would you ever move for/with a significant other?
Yes, she's done the same for me.
37. What was the weirdest thing you had to dissect for biology?
Cabbage, science was never really that interesting.
38. Would you ever consider spending some time at a nudist colony?
No, I don't see the point, other than looking at breasts, which your not supposed to do, and could lead to embarresment.
39. Best thing you can cook?
I can cook anything if I have the recipe, maybe not very well though. I'd consider Meatballs to be my speciality.
40. If you were going to donate 1000 dollars to a charity, what would that be?
Probably Cancer Research, call it investing in my future.

New Buses in York

I had my first ride on York's new buses this morning. Usually Viv and I get a lift from my Mum as she drives past our house on the way to work. She then drops us at the Train Station in York, which I then get to Leeds. Viv works just across the road from the Station. Every Thursday my Mum goes to College, so we have to get a bus.

We used to get a normal bus like every other route in York. Oldish buses, with a driver that you paid, who then gave you change if you needed it.

The new buses are not like this. They are weird futuristic buses, that kind of look like coaches. The inside is big, as the bus is very long, but there is only 1 more chair in these buses than the old ones, despite them being nearly twice as long as a normal bus. Theres a lot of standing room, woooo! Everyone wants to stand! I don't see why they didnt put more seats in.

There are weird machines that take money, BUT DO NOT GIVE YOU CHANGE. This is just weird. Surely a machine in this day and age, being given coins all day, should be able to figure out what you've given it, and give you back the rest? Even vending machines can do that! We can buy tickets in advance from a shop, which is quite handy, but only if you want a week or a month pass. As I only use the bus a few times a week, this is useless to me. Apparently I can text for 10 tickets, but I don't know how long they are valid for, or if they'll work on my phone.

As you may have guessed, my first impressions of this new bus weren't great. But we did get a free ride as the ticket machine was broken. Hopefully this will be a regular occurence.

In pursuit of fitness

I continue today in my pursuit of fitness and the fabled Holy Six-Pack. It was a fairly small step to be honest. I walked home from the Train Station. Oooooooooh. Well it is roughly an hour walk. I think it took me about 40mins really, and it's around 2-3miles, I'm not sure exactly.

Walking is apparently one of the best types of exercise you can do, which I think is rubbish, surely if I'd run home I'd have used more energy and got more exercise? But at least I've done something on a Tuesday, normally I don't do anything.

More pain will result from tonight, we're doing another Tae Bo DVD. We did the instructional one on Monday, followed by the 8 Minute Workout (which is really 12 minutes, go figure). I wasn't very stiff yesterday, but I was incredibly tired, I'm not sure if this getting up early thing we had planned will work, but we seem to be eating earlier anyway, now we're exercising at home.

I think I'm losing weight. I really felt bad on Monday, but this week I've felt slimmer, even if I don't look it. Exercising is a good thing.

Tags: Tae Bo, Exercise

Hot Dickings! ...from Dr. Tran

I have pretty much no idea what this video is about, but it's very very funny. Very funny.



I've made the video a bit smaller so it looks a bit better on the site, if you want to see a larger video you can see it on youTube here.

Tags: Humour, Dr Tran, Hot Dickings

Abs Of Steel!

I hate to disappoint anyone, but I don't really look like that, that is not a picture of me, not even a photoshopped one. I've got a bit of a belly on me, that's why I'm trying to get into an excercise regime now we've moved house.

Our first attempt was with the Tae Bo DVDs, which resulted in this post. Further to that we tried another DVD on Thursday night. Viv did it in the morning, I did it in the evening. It was an Abs and Gluts workout. Now I ache even more. In fact, I still ache now, 3 days later. The weekend was unbareable! I couldn't sneeze, cough, sit up or bend over without moaning in pain. Our flat sounded like some kind sado-mashicistic dungeon.

On the good side though, by the time I can actually do the DVD workout properly, I will look like that picture. I'm counting on it.

Tags: Tae Bo, Pain

Johnny C's Birthday!

It was a slow weekend, which makes a nice change. Friday was a nice night, Saturday and Sunday day was slow and comfortable. I read all of Terry Pratchett's latest book 'THUD!' which was very good. We also finished off Season 4 of Friends. On Sunday we went shopping to Tesco's and got some No More Nails from B&Q. I then used the No More Nails to stick the bathroom cabinets to the wall. Which means this week we can finally unpack the rest of our crap boxes and get everything away as it's supposed to be.

On Saturday we were invited to Johnny's house in Leeds for his birthday, we got a little lost on the way there. We also stayed the night. It was a good night, there was a chocolate cake that Johnny's girlfriend Frankie made, it was covered in sweets over the top of it, literally coated in sweets. Just looking at it made me think I was becoming diabetic. It also tasted ace! Sarah and Glenn got Johnny a pinyata for his birthday, which turned out to be very entertaining, even if it was a bit harder than everyone thought it would be!

Viv fell asleep about 12:30, and as is now customary in our group, everyone had a go of Bucka-Viv, putting things on her, and hoping she doesn't wake up. There are pictures as well, unfortunately we still have no broadband at home, so I can't post any here, but I will in future at some point.

We didn't go to sleep till about 3:30, we got to sleep on the floor with the chairs cushions. We got up and headed home about 12:00, stopping off at McDonald's on the way home.

Tags: Drinking, Weekend, Birthday

Crazy Japanese Gamers

I have no idea what this guy is playing, but at some points you can't actually see his hands moving. He is incredibly fast.

Tags: Amazing, Fast, Japanese Gamer

Happy Star Wars Day!

Apparently it's Star Wars Day, it's even listed in wikipedia. Now theres a number of reasons why it's Star Wars Day, and none of them are good.

1. It's May the 4th. Sooooooo... May the fourth be with you! (Groan...)
2. The date is 04/05/06, for those of you in America who can't order their dates properly, this will mean nothing to you. This also happens to be the episodes of the original Star Wars Trilogy.

Just thought you's all like to know...

Tags: Star Wars, Star Wars Day

I ache

Do not do Tae Bo. It hurts.

Me and Viv had a great idea two weeks ago, when we were drunk and watching info-mercials at a friend's house. We should've just stopped right there and taken a good long look at ourselves, what were we doing?!? It involved Tae Bo. We've been looking to quit the gym as it's expensive, we need the money and it takes up too much time. Getting some excercise DVDs and doing it at home seemed excellent, and I'd heard good things about Tae Bo. So I ordered a set of 4 DVDs for £7.99, bargain! The gym costs £60 a month, we'll be rich!

We watched two workouts through to get an idea. That's when we started worrying, I got the hint it was going to be hard from the fact even the instructor looked like someone had thrown a bucket of water over him, he was sweating that much. On Monday Viv convinced me we should give the Basic one a go. I still hurt now. I have also discovered I have the coordination of a drunk spastic, and rhythm to match. The DVDs require quite a good level of flexibility, which I don't really have, fitness, which I don't really have, and balance, which I have apparently lost all control over.

At least we're getting more excercise anyway. Sure we have to take 3 days after to recover, but we're getting there. Hopefully after a few tries I won't look like a bad white breakdancer trying to get the ants off himself, and instead I will have transformed into a young Chuck Norris, ready to roundhouse kick my way to work everyday.

Tags: Humour, Tae Bo, Pain

The Quest for the Holy Drawers

Another weekend, yet another trip to IKEA. A lot of last week wasn't actually recording much that happened, so heres a quick recap. We went to IKEA in Leeds on Wednesday, trying to get the draws that were out of stock. Viv had phoned in advance and we were told there were some left, but by the time we got there, there was only one drawer left. We were suitably annoyed. We were then told they had some new ones in stock, currently being counted, but they won't be on the shelf until Friday.

After our mid-week trip to IKEA in Leeds we were being a little bit more cautious before we decided to go for a hour long round trip, so Viv phoned again to make sure they weren't taking the piss. Turns out they were, as they didnt have any draws in stock. We were told to head to Gateshead, an hour away, if we wanted those drawers, as they wouldn't have any for another month at least. Viv then phoned Gateshead on friday night checking they had the drawers, yes, 320 apparently, the only ones in Northern England.

So just before we head off on saturday for our hour long quest Viv phones to check again. They still have the drawers, but there's only 290 now. Concerned by this we jumped into the Batmobile and sped away. When we arrived in IKEA in Gateshead about 75 minutes later I practically sprinted through the store, only pausing to pick up a curtain rail and leap onto a trolly so I could lance an old woman out of my way. I then got trapped in the labyrinthine 'Marketplace' wondering in circles till I spied the foot wide exit, flanked by columns of woven baskets. I took my chance and ran through, narrowly avoiding a cave-in. Viv wasn't so lucky, by this point she was carrying a new king size duvet and it got caught on the way through. I just about heard her cries of "Save yourself!" above the sounds of collapsing wicker.

Eventually we got to the Warehouse, where we had to wait in line to find an assistant, we had skipped the main store and so had no idea where the drawers actually were. As I was waiting I heard the guy at the front of the line mention 'Komplement Drawers'. My senses were tingling as I waved frantically at Viv in the other queue, then quietly instructed her to follow those men! By the time we got to the location we found it empty! Of the 3 levels of massive shelves the bottom and middle shelves were empty, only the top shelf had anything on it. Just 7 boxes...

We started chatting to the men we'd followed discovering that they were a gay couple from Leeds, they'd had the same problem finding these drawers as us, they needed 6 of them, while we required 8. Luckily they also said that the assistant had gone to find a ladder and there was another stack of drawers a few locations over on the top shelf. I smiled at this news and put the set of carving knives back in our trolley, there was no need for a fight to the death this time. It also turns out that there had been Drawers in IKEA in Leeds on Friday, it's just that all 300+ of them had gone by Saturday morning.

But we have our drawers! Took me most of Sunday to get them up. The journey was eased by listening to Led Zeppelin, which was cool. Also Jon and Karen finally moved into their new house this weekend, after a two week delay. We went round to theirs on Sunday night. It was a good weekend and the Bank Holiday was well appreciated too.

Tags: Humour, Ikea, Weekend, Bank Holiday