I had an interesting conversation with one of my colleagues today about the relative benefit of Children In Need. Well, actually it started with me taking the piss out of her tiny Pudsey that she was wearing.
I am naturally cynical about this kind of television. The last couple of Comic Reliefs, for example, showed images of death and misery that were so graphic and unpleasant that they actually felt like propaganda, almost as though they were designed to tell you how to think. I genuinely think Comic Relief crossed the line on that occasion, and I suspect that Children In Need will do the same tonight.
I could be wrong. My colleagues point of view was that, as a parent, ("I can tell you don't have kids!" she said!) was that kids should understand the value of life, and how privileged they are for having a safe and loving environment to grow in. She makes them watch Children In Need every year, and finds that as a result, they 1) want to contribute something and 2) understand how well off they are. I suspect that her children will grow up to be well rounded, caring individuals and she must be a fantastic parent. Not that I told her that, it was far more fun winding her up by pretending to be terribly callous!
I hope that if I ever get the chance to be a parent (which is on my to-do list, right behind "fall mutually in love with someone wonderful" which seems to be the stumbling block) I can think things through as well as her.
Although I told her that I wouldn't watch Children In Need, I actually did - mainly for the Doctor Who bit, but I also accidentally caught Kylie Minogue. Bloody hell she was looking fantastic. And she is single. Perhaps I should drop her an email!!!
Friday, November 16, 2007
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
I am annoyed.
I am annoyed, mainly with myself. I was hoping to use this blog a lot more often - to use it, in fact, to get into the habit of writing, and actually what has happened is I bleated on about being overweight some time in September and that was the last time I bothered to post.
I am also upset about something that I learned earlier in the month - I have sorted it all out in my mind now, but at the time it really knocked me for six. One of our podcasts - Futility Writ Big - featured a girl called Lisa Bailey, who did two episodes for us in 2005. She was due to appear in the opening episode this year (the only one we did!) but was unwell. I was shocked to discover a couple of weeks ago that she has died of a very rare form of adult Leukemia. Lisa was a quiet, private girl - she told nobody but immediate family how ill she was, so although I knew she was off work (we used to work in the same place, that was how we knew each other) I didn't know she was terminally ill.
I think she died in August. Nobody I ask can remember. I am in relatively constant contact with the people I used to work with (I changed jobs in February this year - same company, different location) and I would have thought at least one of them (especially Ray, who almost seems to enjoy going into gruesome detail about anything and everything!) could have mentioned it. Apparently after she passed away, the whole store did a fundraising event for Leukemia research, which I would have loved to have helped with. I feel as though I haven't had the opportunity to pay my respects, and that hurts a little. Don't get me wrong, it is not like Lisa and I were best mates - she came over here three times to record the show, and I ran her from home and back - but there is still a sense of loss. I did run into her shopping once after she was diagnosed (didn't know any detail, I just knew she was ill) and she seemed okay, even though at that point she would have known she was terminally ill. I asked her how she was, she said okay, and I said "well take care, and keep in touch". I wish I had made the effort, but then I didn't know she was going to die.
So, you only live once. This experience has made me realise that there are things you must do, as you may never get the chance to do them again. So I asked someone out. They said yes. Then no a couple of days later. I am disappointed, but we will stay friends and at least I won't spend my time wondering what she might have said. Life goes on.
And hopefully soon the fucking antidepressants will kick in!!!
I am also upset about something that I learned earlier in the month - I have sorted it all out in my mind now, but at the time it really knocked me for six. One of our podcasts - Futility Writ Big - featured a girl called Lisa Bailey, who did two episodes for us in 2005. She was due to appear in the opening episode this year (the only one we did!) but was unwell. I was shocked to discover a couple of weeks ago that she has died of a very rare form of adult Leukemia. Lisa was a quiet, private girl - she told nobody but immediate family how ill she was, so although I knew she was off work (we used to work in the same place, that was how we knew each other) I didn't know she was terminally ill.
I think she died in August. Nobody I ask can remember. I am in relatively constant contact with the people I used to work with (I changed jobs in February this year - same company, different location) and I would have thought at least one of them (especially Ray, who almost seems to enjoy going into gruesome detail about anything and everything!) could have mentioned it. Apparently after she passed away, the whole store did a fundraising event for Leukemia research, which I would have loved to have helped with. I feel as though I haven't had the opportunity to pay my respects, and that hurts a little. Don't get me wrong, it is not like Lisa and I were best mates - she came over here three times to record the show, and I ran her from home and back - but there is still a sense of loss. I did run into her shopping once after she was diagnosed (didn't know any detail, I just knew she was ill) and she seemed okay, even though at that point she would have known she was terminally ill. I asked her how she was, she said okay, and I said "well take care, and keep in touch". I wish I had made the effort, but then I didn't know she was going to die.
So, you only live once. This experience has made me realise that there are things you must do, as you may never get the chance to do them again. So I asked someone out. They said yes. Then no a couple of days later. I am disappointed, but we will stay friends and at least I won't spend my time wondering what she might have said. Life goes on.
And hopefully soon the fucking antidepressants will kick in!!!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
My plan to not be a fat bastard forever
Yup, I have a plan. It was my 35th birthday a few days ago, and I am the heaviest that I have been for many, many years. And this could go on, well, until I die, which I think will be sooner unless I reduce me.
I have two main problems at the moment (well, in terms of my weight, anyway!!!) - one is that I eat too much crap. And the other is that I rarely exercise.
Now, I am not a huge fan of exercise, but the one I really do enjoy is cycling. A couple of summers ago, when I was a lot fitter than I am now, I spent a contented week and a half cycling around Cornwall. I would kill myself if I tried it now - at that point I was going to the gym three times a week. I hate the gym, and have only once managed to motivate myself go regularly go for more than a few weeks. I tried five months ago again, and failed, I gave up after three weeks.
So this is my plan: firstly, foodwise, I will take a packed lunch and no money to work with me. (Or enough to have beans on toast for breakfast). And for the second, I will cycle five miles per day, fifty per week.
Now, the mathematicians out there will cry "hang on, that twat can't do his maths! Five times seven is thirty five!" and they'd be right. I want to do a minimum of five per day, and I want to do twenty miles once per week (on a day that I am not working). In fact, my ultimate aim is to be fit enough to cycle to work once per week, and that is a round trip of thirty miles, and I am a little way off being fit enough for that. I will not set a time limit for that, but I will do fifty miles per week, five miles per day, and I will time how long that takes me. For the five miles I will do the same route every day - today it took me 26 minutes, which I hope to improve on. There are ways of adding to that route, so as it takes me less time to do (as I get fitter) I will add chunks on here and there.
Well, that's me motivated. Now I'm off for a Big Mac.
Kidding!
I have two main problems at the moment (well, in terms of my weight, anyway!!!) - one is that I eat too much crap. And the other is that I rarely exercise.
Now, I am not a huge fan of exercise, but the one I really do enjoy is cycling. A couple of summers ago, when I was a lot fitter than I am now, I spent a contented week and a half cycling around Cornwall. I would kill myself if I tried it now - at that point I was going to the gym three times a week. I hate the gym, and have only once managed to motivate myself go regularly go for more than a few weeks. I tried five months ago again, and failed, I gave up after three weeks.
So this is my plan: firstly, foodwise, I will take a packed lunch and no money to work with me. (Or enough to have beans on toast for breakfast). And for the second, I will cycle five miles per day, fifty per week.
Now, the mathematicians out there will cry "hang on, that twat can't do his maths! Five times seven is thirty five!" and they'd be right. I want to do a minimum of five per day, and I want to do twenty miles once per week (on a day that I am not working). In fact, my ultimate aim is to be fit enough to cycle to work once per week, and that is a round trip of thirty miles, and I am a little way off being fit enough for that. I will not set a time limit for that, but I will do fifty miles per week, five miles per day, and I will time how long that takes me. For the five miles I will do the same route every day - today it took me 26 minutes, which I hope to improve on. There are ways of adding to that route, so as it takes me less time to do (as I get fitter) I will add chunks on here and there.
Well, that's me motivated. Now I'm off for a Big Mac.
Kidding!
Friday, September 07, 2007
News and Stuff
Three things have made me want to comment today. Firstly, the story of Madelaine McCann. It rather looks like her parents accidentally killed her. This is very sad, however I had a gut instinct that something was wrong with their behaviour. What I am more upset about is all of the media hype that they have generated with their protestations of innocence. An absolute fortune has been spent worldwide on the hunt, I mean they even met the Pope for fucks sake, and threatened to sue a paper that suggested that they might have something to do with it. I don’t believe for one moment that what happened was deliberate, but to try and pretend that she is missing is awful. I bet they were almost creaming themselves when one newspaper had a go at someone who dared to suggest they might have had something to do with it. It is all very, very sad and I feel sorry for the surviving children. Because if there is any truth in what has been announced today the fuckers deserve to rot in prison forever.
Secondly, I watched the new sitcom starring Nick Lyndhurst (After You’ve Gone). I wanted to sit here and slag it off, and had it stayed the same as the first half I would have done. In fact, the second part, where they were all in an internet chatroom, at least some of them oblivious to the fact they were all talking to each other, it was actually funny. Yes, we have a new sitcom that was genuinely good. The only thing that threw me was the fact that Celia Imrie was meant to be Lyndhursts mum – they look about the same age now, so my initial assumption was that they had split up and were living in the same house for the sake of the kids. I can’t work out if Imrie looks too young of it Lyndhurst has just aged really badly. No, that’s a lie. It’s the latter!
It may go downhill again, but for now, After You’ve Gone is firmly wedged onto the series link button on my Sky Plus planner.
The third and final thing that I want to say is to Jonathan Ross: have a fucking shave, you look like a tit.
Secondly, I watched the new sitcom starring Nick Lyndhurst (After You’ve Gone). I wanted to sit here and slag it off, and had it stayed the same as the first half I would have done. In fact, the second part, where they were all in an internet chatroom, at least some of them oblivious to the fact they were all talking to each other, it was actually funny. Yes, we have a new sitcom that was genuinely good. The only thing that threw me was the fact that Celia Imrie was meant to be Lyndhursts mum – they look about the same age now, so my initial assumption was that they had split up and were living in the same house for the sake of the kids. I can’t work out if Imrie looks too young of it Lyndhurst has just aged really badly. No, that’s a lie. It’s the latter!
It may go downhill again, but for now, After You’ve Gone is firmly wedged onto the series link button on my Sky Plus planner.
The third and final thing that I want to say is to Jonathan Ross: have a fucking shave, you look like a tit.
Monday, September 03, 2007
No New Doctor Who Season in 2009
So, is this good news or bad news?
Well, in my opinion it is fantastic. The BBC have confirmed that instead of a 2009 series there will be three “specials” as well as a 2008 Christmas special, and David Tennant will be in all of them. This has ended all of the speculation, at least that he might be leaving at the end of season four. The production block that would have been season five will now consist of probably four specials (perhaps 3 if the 2009 Christmas episode is filmed as part of the season 5 production block). And they have confirmed a full season for 2010, so the only debate will be whether or not Tennant will be in it.
My guess is that he will be. They will finish filming season four in March or April next year, and assuming they film the 2008 Christmas special in June like they usually do, if they film the other specials then as well the whole output of Who for 2009 could be filmed by the end of September, which means that Tennant will then have until June the following year (nine months off instead of three) to persue other projects. (Although it is more likely that they will shoot each special individually, which would tie in with his RSC appearance). He could then do another nine months on (Season 5, which has been confirmed even if he hasn’t) then leave. So he will have been the Doctor on screen for five years, even though he will have only done four full seasons. Or even if he leaves at the end of 2009, he will still have outlasted all but Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee. I suspect this has all been about keeping him, I think the BBC would rather reduce their output next year rather than loose him, which given his popularity is an excellent move.
No doubt some fans out there will moan, and view it as a “cancellation” of sorts, but I think it is just the Beeb protecting the show. Hey, we might even see Tennant in a cameo in Torchwood Season Three (assuming there is one).
I just hope that we have a regular companion throughout the specials. I also hope that RTD doesn’t write them all. It would also be nice if we get something TV movie length rather than 45 minutes to 1 hour. Time will tell, but this really is good news. It means that David Tennant, one of the most popular Doctors in the history of the show, and also a charming ambassador for the show, will be around for at least two more years. Fantastic!
Well, in my opinion it is fantastic. The BBC have confirmed that instead of a 2009 series there will be three “specials” as well as a 2008 Christmas special, and David Tennant will be in all of them. This has ended all of the speculation, at least that he might be leaving at the end of season four. The production block that would have been season five will now consist of probably four specials (perhaps 3 if the 2009 Christmas episode is filmed as part of the season 5 production block). And they have confirmed a full season for 2010, so the only debate will be whether or not Tennant will be in it.
My guess is that he will be. They will finish filming season four in March or April next year, and assuming they film the 2008 Christmas special in June like they usually do, if they film the other specials then as well the whole output of Who for 2009 could be filmed by the end of September, which means that Tennant will then have until June the following year (nine months off instead of three) to persue other projects. (Although it is more likely that they will shoot each special individually, which would tie in with his RSC appearance). He could then do another nine months on (Season 5, which has been confirmed even if he hasn’t) then leave. So he will have been the Doctor on screen for five years, even though he will have only done four full seasons. Or even if he leaves at the end of 2009, he will still have outlasted all but Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee. I suspect this has all been about keeping him, I think the BBC would rather reduce their output next year rather than loose him, which given his popularity is an excellent move.
No doubt some fans out there will moan, and view it as a “cancellation” of sorts, but I think it is just the Beeb protecting the show. Hey, we might even see Tennant in a cameo in Torchwood Season Three (assuming there is one).
I just hope that we have a regular companion throughout the specials. I also hope that RTD doesn’t write them all. It would also be nice if we get something TV movie length rather than 45 minutes to 1 hour. Time will tell, but this really is good news. It means that David Tennant, one of the most popular Doctors in the history of the show, and also a charming ambassador for the show, will be around for at least two more years. Fantastic!
Friday, August 31, 2007
Apparently, Diana died 10 Years ago today!
Okay, I appreciate that ten years ago this was a big deal. Like most of us who remember that day, I can recall exactly where I was and what I was doing that Sunday morning ten years ago. I woke up, turned on the radio to hear the presenter on Talk Radio (now Talk Sport) talking about it, at just after 9am. I remember telling my Mum, who was still in bed, and she didn’t actually believe me straight away. And later that day, I remember Sky TV running all their commercial breaks without adverts, just images of Diana. Ten years ago, yeah, it was a big deal.
But this is the thing: it was ten fucking years ago! I understand that the Princes would want to remember their mother, but surely they could have managed something a little more private than this. Yes, I know that the media would have made it bigger than they would have wanted it to be, so why didn’t they hold it somewhere on their own property? Because William and Harry want people to remember their mum.
And Camilla wasn’t allowed to go to the service, because the public didn’t want her to. What the hell has it got to do with us? Surely she was supposed to be there for Charles. If the Princes can forgive and forget enough to invite her, what the hell has it got to do with the rest of us? Hypothetically, I wouldn’t stop my Dad bringing his second wife to my mothers’ funeral – I would be a complete cunt if I even tried to do so.
So am I dissing practically everyone? Yes, I suspect I am. I am not a big royalist, and I am not anti-royal either. But as human beings they deserve the same dignity that we would expect for ourselves.
What planet am I on? That’ll never happen.
But this is the thing: it was ten fucking years ago! I understand that the Princes would want to remember their mother, but surely they could have managed something a little more private than this. Yes, I know that the media would have made it bigger than they would have wanted it to be, so why didn’t they hold it somewhere on their own property? Because William and Harry want people to remember their mum.
And Camilla wasn’t allowed to go to the service, because the public didn’t want her to. What the hell has it got to do with us? Surely she was supposed to be there for Charles. If the Princes can forgive and forget enough to invite her, what the hell has it got to do with the rest of us? Hypothetically, I wouldn’t stop my Dad bringing his second wife to my mothers’ funeral – I would be a complete cunt if I even tried to do so.
So am I dissing practically everyone? Yes, I suspect I am. I am not a big royalist, and I am not anti-royal either. But as human beings they deserve the same dignity that we would expect for ourselves.
What planet am I on? That’ll never happen.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Getting things done!
Well, I am off work until two weeks from today and I have really got lots done today. I joined Facebook a few weeks ago and never bothered to do anything with it, but yesterday I set up one group for each podcast I am involved with plus made an effort to Friend some people, and it's great! It's a good way of keeping in touch (I friended Emma and Jody today, and sent some requests off to people I have not seen of heard from in years, such as Al Knight. I am trying to get the courage up to contact James Goss, but I will work on that!)
Mike and I recorded and advert for Cadmium 2 that he wrote today, and we also put an ad for the podcast in SFX magazine (it should be in the next issue or the one after). I am also going to join some news groups and pimp it there - perhaps there are some Facebook groups I can pimp it on as well! We also got permission from Nick at Big Finish to use some of their trailers on Cadmium 2, so that is cool as well.
So, the ironing is almost all done, I am tidying the place up a bit, and we have a clear direction on the podcasts! (We even decided to start a fourth show, about random stuff, to be called "The Fourth Show: Off Topic" to be recorded as and when we want to. And we have decided to record some stuff for Jump The Shark next time we all get together. So that will be five podcasts from Futility Radio! Blimey, I'm turning into Michael Meningay!!!)
Going to play more with Facebook now. I have uploaded some photos, and linked this blog to the Notes section. Just need to write. Which means thinking up a story. Hmmm.
Mike and I recorded and advert for Cadmium 2 that he wrote today, and we also put an ad for the podcast in SFX magazine (it should be in the next issue or the one after). I am also going to join some news groups and pimp it there - perhaps there are some Facebook groups I can pimp it on as well! We also got permission from Nick at Big Finish to use some of their trailers on Cadmium 2, so that is cool as well.
So, the ironing is almost all done, I am tidying the place up a bit, and we have a clear direction on the podcasts! (We even decided to start a fourth show, about random stuff, to be called "The Fourth Show: Off Topic" to be recorded as and when we want to. And we have decided to record some stuff for Jump The Shark next time we all get together. So that will be five podcasts from Futility Radio! Blimey, I'm turning into Michael Meningay!!!)
Going to play more with Facebook now. I have uploaded some photos, and linked this blog to the Notes section. Just need to write. Which means thinking up a story. Hmmm.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Discipline!
In my last entry, I was moaning about how much work I had to do for the two podcasts that I produce and edit. Well, that was over a month ago, and something has happened in that last month. I think it is perhaps the realisation that, especially with Cadmium II which involves people outside the immediate group, I need to produce things quicker. I was moaning that I had loads to do. Since then, I have managed to change, to work on the theory that it is better to have no outstanding editing.
For example, we recoded three podcasts over the weekend – one Sending a Wave, and two Cadmium II’s. The Sending a Wave isn’t due out until the 12th September, and is the only episode me are doing that month. How impressive is this: it is already edited and on the server. There are due to be two shows in October, for which there are two reports that have to be pre-edited. I have done both of them. Regarding the Cadmium II’s we are looking at show 8 (Doctor Who – The Daleks) which I will edit tomorrow. I have already edited show 9 (The Tomorrow People: The Slaves of Jedikiah) and will do show 8 tomorrow.
With Cadmium II, we are releasing show 3 tonight. Show 4 is the interview (unless we don’t get it back in time in which case I will bring a future show forward). Shows 5 (James Bond 18) is edited, Show 6 (Doctor Who: Tribe of Gum) is edited, show 7 (The Stone Tape) is all edited I am just waiting for a clip from Paul – it’s a fifteen minute job once he does that. Show 8 I am doing tomorrow, show 9 is done. Once these are done, as we are releasing two per month, that means the September shows are 4 & 5, October is 6 & 7 and November is 8 & 9. So as you can see I am well ahead of the game.
I still have some other things I want to get ahead on. Washing for example. For the last three months there has been a huge pile of ironing in my bedroom, I have been ironing as I need. Over the last two days I have done three loads and ironed them. I am rewashing the pile in the bedroom, and ironing them as I go. It seems less big a deal that way.
The only habit I need to get into now is regular cleaning and writing. But I am working on it all!
For example, we recoded three podcasts over the weekend – one Sending a Wave, and two Cadmium II’s. The Sending a Wave isn’t due out until the 12th September, and is the only episode me are doing that month. How impressive is this: it is already edited and on the server. There are due to be two shows in October, for which there are two reports that have to be pre-edited. I have done both of them. Regarding the Cadmium II’s we are looking at show 8 (Doctor Who – The Daleks) which I will edit tomorrow. I have already edited show 9 (The Tomorrow People: The Slaves of Jedikiah) and will do show 8 tomorrow.
With Cadmium II, we are releasing show 3 tonight. Show 4 is the interview (unless we don’t get it back in time in which case I will bring a future show forward). Shows 5 (James Bond 18) is edited, Show 6 (Doctor Who: Tribe of Gum) is edited, show 7 (The Stone Tape) is all edited I am just waiting for a clip from Paul – it’s a fifteen minute job once he does that. Show 8 I am doing tomorrow, show 9 is done. Once these are done, as we are releasing two per month, that means the September shows are 4 & 5, October is 6 & 7 and November is 8 & 9. So as you can see I am well ahead of the game.
I still have some other things I want to get ahead on. Washing for example. For the last three months there has been a huge pile of ironing in my bedroom, I have been ironing as I need. Over the last two days I have done three loads and ironed them. I am rewashing the pile in the bedroom, and ironing them as I go. It seems less big a deal that way.
The only habit I need to get into now is regular cleaning and writing. But I am working on it all!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Too much to f***ing do!!!
9.20pm.
I have too much bloody work to do! (Not work work, but podcast related stuff). I have about eight things to edit, and I am starting tom feel a bit bogged down.
Firstly, I have the episode of Sending a Wave that I am editing as we speak (show twenty, will be going out tonight). As well as that, we need to get show 21 out this month, which means that I have got to go and see Wendy to record the links for it. Oh, and before we do the links we need to listen to the interview that the show is based around so we can break it all into chunks.
Then, there are the five episodes of Cadmium II to edit. We are planning to out out two per month, this month we are putting out show 2 (already edited, interview with Nick Briggs from Big Finish, just waiting for their go ahead) and show 3 (I will edit that this weekend, which is the show about the first Timeslip serial, already recorded!)
Next month will be shows four and five (4: Big Finish set report, 5: Doctor Who: Tribe of Gum) and the September shows will be 6: James Bond (whichever movie it was that we did) and 7: The Stone Tapes. On the plus side that means that all of the shows until September are recorded. The bad news is that I still need to edit five of them - I am pissed off with myself because I want to get into the habit of editing them as we record, not just before we wast to release them which means rushing around like I am now!)
(I am typing as I proof listen to a 40 minute interview that makes up the main body of the show! I will have a rest when that segment is listened to!)
I also habe a very outstanding Futility Writ Big to do, from May, which I must do this month.
I haven't written anything for my book yet today, and I think I am going to have to set myself a weekly target rather than do 1,000 daily. A bit like my Geocaching target - I still have 6 to do this week, I meant to get one done this morning but some cows scared me and didn't take to Mac either.
Need to chill. Sam and Sukhi want to go out for a meal in the near future. They are nothing to do with podcasting, so that sounds ideal!
I have too much bloody work to do! (Not work work, but podcast related stuff). I have about eight things to edit, and I am starting tom feel a bit bogged down.
Firstly, I have the episode of Sending a Wave that I am editing as we speak (show twenty, will be going out tonight). As well as that, we need to get show 21 out this month, which means that I have got to go and see Wendy to record the links for it. Oh, and before we do the links we need to listen to the interview that the show is based around so we can break it all into chunks.
Then, there are the five episodes of Cadmium II to edit. We are planning to out out two per month, this month we are putting out show 2 (already edited, interview with Nick Briggs from Big Finish, just waiting for their go ahead) and show 3 (I will edit that this weekend, which is the show about the first Timeslip serial, already recorded!)
Next month will be shows four and five (4: Big Finish set report, 5: Doctor Who: Tribe of Gum) and the September shows will be 6: James Bond (whichever movie it was that we did) and 7: The Stone Tapes. On the plus side that means that all of the shows until September are recorded. The bad news is that I still need to edit five of them - I am pissed off with myself because I want to get into the habit of editing them as we record, not just before we wast to release them which means rushing around like I am now!)
(I am typing as I proof listen to a 40 minute interview that makes up the main body of the show! I will have a rest when that segment is listened to!)
I also habe a very outstanding Futility Writ Big to do, from May, which I must do this month.
I haven't written anything for my book yet today, and I think I am going to have to set myself a weekly target rather than do 1,000 daily. A bit like my Geocaching target - I still have 6 to do this week, I meant to get one done this morning but some cows scared me and didn't take to Mac either.
Need to chill. Sam and Sukhi want to go out for a meal in the near future. They are nothing to do with podcasting, so that sounds ideal!
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Not feeling so good...
9am.
I woke up this morning at about six and couldn't get back to sleep. Yesterday I intended to get lots of Geochaching done, however I got really bad hayfever and only got two caches done (it would have been four but there seemed to be loads of people everywhere!) By the time I got home my eyes had swelled up, and the whites of my right eye seemed to shrivel up when I moved my eye as though there was an old plastic contact lens stuck in there (although there wasn't). I felt awful, and spent the rest of the day lazing around.
Today, I don't feel much better. I am back at work for the first time since Friday night (I worked nights last week) and I think I am still jetlagged, I am sure that is why I woke up so bloody early.
Killed time by listening to a load of podcasts. I am several Bablyon Podcast's behind, so I listened to a few of those.
I need to edit some of our own podcasts (I have 5 Cadmium 2's to edit, and a Sending a Wave, and a Futility Writ Big). I need to get the SaW out this week (it won't take long to edit, I just need to get motivated to do it). I am struggling to get motivated to do anything, I keep meaning to go back to the Doctor. I was on anti-depressants last year, and never properly finished the course, which I need to do, as I can feel myself going downhill again. Not rapidly, not as bad as I have been, but I can feel myself going that way.
Still, I don't have to leave for work until eleven thirty or so, so I am going to try and write something. Don't know what. I have a silly idea set around a supermarket and a time machine. Not sure on the details yet, but it could be fun. Perhaps based on the comedy series I started to write, "Any Other Business" which was set in a highly exaggerated supermarket, and I was planning one episode involving time travel. Hmm, now there's a thought!
11pm.
Back from work. Before I went, I managed to write over one thousand words on the afrorementioned topic. All I need to do now is to manage the same for another two hundred days and I will be finished!
I am also reading three books at the moment. I have started reading Tony Hawk's "Piano in the Pyrenees" which is fun. I am flicking though a Famous Five book (the first - in a moment of nostalgia I bought the first four books online!)
And finally, I am reading extracts from the diaries of Alistair Campbell - "The Blair Years." It is in the bathroom so that I can read it when I am taking a shit. Seems appropriate somehow.
I woke up this morning at about six and couldn't get back to sleep. Yesterday I intended to get lots of Geochaching done, however I got really bad hayfever and only got two caches done (it would have been four but there seemed to be loads of people everywhere!) By the time I got home my eyes had swelled up, and the whites of my right eye seemed to shrivel up when I moved my eye as though there was an old plastic contact lens stuck in there (although there wasn't). I felt awful, and spent the rest of the day lazing around.
Today, I don't feel much better. I am back at work for the first time since Friday night (I worked nights last week) and I think I am still jetlagged, I am sure that is why I woke up so bloody early.
Killed time by listening to a load of podcasts. I am several Bablyon Podcast's behind, so I listened to a few of those.
I need to edit some of our own podcasts (I have 5 Cadmium 2's to edit, and a Sending a Wave, and a Futility Writ Big). I need to get the SaW out this week (it won't take long to edit, I just need to get motivated to do it). I am struggling to get motivated to do anything, I keep meaning to go back to the Doctor. I was on anti-depressants last year, and never properly finished the course, which I need to do, as I can feel myself going downhill again. Not rapidly, not as bad as I have been, but I can feel myself going that way.
Still, I don't have to leave for work until eleven thirty or so, so I am going to try and write something. Don't know what. I have a silly idea set around a supermarket and a time machine. Not sure on the details yet, but it could be fun. Perhaps based on the comedy series I started to write, "Any Other Business" which was set in a highly exaggerated supermarket, and I was planning one episode involving time travel. Hmm, now there's a thought!
11pm.
Back from work. Before I went, I managed to write over one thousand words on the afrorementioned topic. All I need to do now is to manage the same for another two hundred days and I will be finished!
I am also reading three books at the moment. I have started reading Tony Hawk's "Piano in the Pyrenees" which is fun. I am flicking though a Famous Five book (the first - in a moment of nostalgia I bought the first four books online!)
And finally, I am reading extracts from the diaries of Alistair Campbell - "The Blair Years." It is in the bathroom so that I can read it when I am taking a shit. Seems appropriate somehow.
Monday, July 16, 2007
It's Been a While!
Indeed, it has been a while since my first and only entry on this blog, so I thought I would do something about that.
This blog is going to be about my random thoughts. As well as what I am hoping to do with writing, I am also going to put my thoughts about books I read on here. In fact anything will go into here, apart from work, which is a banned subject on this blog.
So, to my reason for doing this today. I am a Geocacher, and I have visited 200 or so caches in the first 18 months that I have been doing it. I wish to do my next 100 a lot quicker, so I have set myself a target of ten per week for ten weeks. I did complete my goal last week (Sunday, yesterday, being the deadline) which was my first week. By yesterday, I wanted to be on 210, and I actually got to 212, so I am ahead. (I will allow myself to carry stuff over for if I have a very busy week, so if I do twenty this week it would be okay to do none next week. As long as I hit the target I have set myelf for each Sunday, that is fine!)
So, here are the targets:
1) Sunday, 22nd July: 220.
2) Sunday, 29th July: 230
3) Sunday, 5th August: 240
4) Sunday, 12th August: 250
5) Sunday, 19th August: 260
6) Sunday, 26th August: 270
7) Sunday, 2nd September: 280
8) Sunday, 9th September: 290
9) Sunday, 16th September: 300.
What I will do after that I have not decided. I want to try and keep an average of one per day (seven per week, 31 per month etc) but we will see how I get on with these targets first!
Today, I am going to try and get to 220 and beyond. It is early in the week to do it, however my next day off is Sunday and the last thing I want is to have a full weeks worth to do on the deadline day! I have a TB called Richard Lionheart who wants to visit castles, so there is a cache near a castle 20 miles or so north of where I live, so I shall do some caches there and see what happens.
That's it for today, I will let you know how I get on!
This blog is going to be about my random thoughts. As well as what I am hoping to do with writing, I am also going to put my thoughts about books I read on here. In fact anything will go into here, apart from work, which is a banned subject on this blog.
So, to my reason for doing this today. I am a Geocacher, and I have visited 200 or so caches in the first 18 months that I have been doing it. I wish to do my next 100 a lot quicker, so I have set myself a target of ten per week for ten weeks. I did complete my goal last week (Sunday, yesterday, being the deadline) which was my first week. By yesterday, I wanted to be on 210, and I actually got to 212, so I am ahead. (I will allow myself to carry stuff over for if I have a very busy week, so if I do twenty this week it would be okay to do none next week. As long as I hit the target I have set myelf for each Sunday, that is fine!)
So, here are the targets:
1) Sunday, 22nd July: 220.
2) Sunday, 29th July: 230
3) Sunday, 5th August: 240
4) Sunday, 12th August: 250
5) Sunday, 19th August: 260
6) Sunday, 26th August: 270
7) Sunday, 2nd September: 280
8) Sunday, 9th September: 290
9) Sunday, 16th September: 300.
What I will do after that I have not decided. I want to try and keep an average of one per day (seven per week, 31 per month etc) but we will see how I get on with these targets first!
Today, I am going to try and get to 220 and beyond. It is early in the week to do it, however my next day off is Sunday and the last thing I want is to have a full weeks worth to do on the deadline day! I have a TB called Richard Lionheart who wants to visit castles, so there is a cache near a castle 20 miles or so north of where I live, so I shall do some caches there and see what happens.
That's it for today, I will let you know how I get on!
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
I should be writing
I should be writing. I've known that for years. I should be writing, but I'm not.
Why is this? It's not because I can't - when I do finally get round to it, I really enjoy doing it. Whether we are talking about writing for my podcast (well, it's not a podcast yet, and it's not strictly mine per se!) or the books in my head that are still in my head and not on paper... I should be writing, but I am not.
I was hoping that when I bought my laptop that I would we able to use this to increase my creativity, and to a degree I have - I have done a lot of video editing and creating video diaries of holidays that I have been on, but I have not actually managed to get into actually writing stories down.
I have lots of ideas. One is for a fantasy trilogy, this is the one that I have got the furthest with, although I have not looked at it for years. I started writing this when I should have been writing my dissertation at University, and I have actually written about 80,000 words (I want each book to be about 350,000 words). I have books of notes on character story arcs and other thinks I want to do with the story. It doesn't have a title yet (well it has, but it is a crap one, a made up word that means nothing, The Khalonarii, but I digress) and although it needs rewriting (too much gay angst bewteen the main characters, I'm not gay but when I started writing I had a bit of an identity crises thing going on) there are some great ideas.
The second idea I am working on is a story set at a school where some of the main characters find a method of travelling in time, sort of Harry Potter with time travel rather than magic and set initially in Cornwall. I am still working on Chapter One but again I have an idea for several stories that have a much bigger arc going on in later stories.
I am also working on a black comedy based on depressed moments I have had. It is the story of someone who kills themself and discovers that they can do anything to anyone now they are dead, and basically sets out to get some revenge on the people he blamed for his depression. It is going to be very tastless, quite nasty in places, and although I have not decided on how to end it, but I think something nasty will happen to the main character. The working title is "Une Morte Drole" (a funny death) and I am hoping to finish this first and publish it through lulu.com.
So why the blog? Well, a friend has suggested to me that a good way to get back into the habit of regularly writing would be to keep a blog. In fact I am going to keep a couple - one for my writing, and one for the TV stuff I am into, called Cadmium 2.
So enjoy, and hopefully this won't be my last entry!
Why is this? It's not because I can't - when I do finally get round to it, I really enjoy doing it. Whether we are talking about writing for my podcast (well, it's not a podcast yet, and it's not strictly mine per se!) or the books in my head that are still in my head and not on paper... I should be writing, but I am not.
I was hoping that when I bought my laptop that I would we able to use this to increase my creativity, and to a degree I have - I have done a lot of video editing and creating video diaries of holidays that I have been on, but I have not actually managed to get into actually writing stories down.
I have lots of ideas. One is for a fantasy trilogy, this is the one that I have got the furthest with, although I have not looked at it for years. I started writing this when I should have been writing my dissertation at University, and I have actually written about 80,000 words (I want each book to be about 350,000 words). I have books of notes on character story arcs and other thinks I want to do with the story. It doesn't have a title yet (well it has, but it is a crap one, a made up word that means nothing, The Khalonarii, but I digress) and although it needs rewriting (too much gay angst bewteen the main characters, I'm not gay but when I started writing I had a bit of an identity crises thing going on) there are some great ideas.
The second idea I am working on is a story set at a school where some of the main characters find a method of travelling in time, sort of Harry Potter with time travel rather than magic and set initially in Cornwall. I am still working on Chapter One but again I have an idea for several stories that have a much bigger arc going on in later stories.
I am also working on a black comedy based on depressed moments I have had. It is the story of someone who kills themself and discovers that they can do anything to anyone now they are dead, and basically sets out to get some revenge on the people he blamed for his depression. It is going to be very tastless, quite nasty in places, and although I have not decided on how to end it, but I think something nasty will happen to the main character. The working title is "Une Morte Drole" (a funny death) and I am hoping to finish this first and publish it through lulu.com.
So why the blog? Well, a friend has suggested to me that a good way to get back into the habit of regularly writing would be to keep a blog. In fact I am going to keep a couple - one for my writing, and one for the TV stuff I am into, called Cadmium 2.
So enjoy, and hopefully this won't be my last entry!
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