Any interest in the above three generally singals that a weekend is about to begin. With a little more time on my hands than normal on a Thursday i sloped off in the direction of the town, debit card in hand, and so began the countdown to the start of the weekend!
As usual when you have a little extra cash burning a hole in your wallet or wherever you stash your cash on walkabout, previous forays into town this week have given more weight to the age old theory that whenever you want to spend, every shop goes to an extra effort to fill their rails with complete and utter crap!
Nevertheless i persevered and today managed to make an exit with a couple of tops, belt and watch. A good start to the day culminating in cashews and beer this evening to celebrate the coming of the last working day of the week with comedy provided by Mock the Week.
7 hours of work tomorrow and then freedom for a little while once more...
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Road Kill
Looking for new ways to amuse yourself at the weekend? Why not try Street Luge! Created in California by apparently bored skateboarders sometime in the 70's Street Luge offers people the chance to hurtle down the steep and sloping roads at speeds of up to 70mph. While over the years safety equipment and guidelines have been issues by various governing bodies Street Luge never quite maintained a grasp on the mainstream sport industry and has often been overlooked in favour of stadium extreme sports. Nevertheless there is still thought to be over 1200 lugers worldwide and if you want to help them raise the profile one more check out the vid for an insight into what these guys get up to!
Fail?
Bouncing through internet threads and forums these days is Fail, an accusation levied at someone who hasnt quite got something right. Such is the popularity of laughing at the cock ups of the stressed and embarassed new sites have come into creation to help it along. Check out the video below courtesy of failblog.org with what followers may describe as an epic fail!
Back from indifference!
Well finally i have made it back to blogland after a couple of weeks out. With a heavy work schedule and a full social calendar to match (dramatic i know!) the little time ive had to myself ive felt too tired to have a continuous thought for more than a few moments!
It has led me to believe that we would have advanced much further as a species if we actually had more time to ourselves to think of stuff worthwhile doing! Did all the great inventors work in quiet, darkened rooms away from birthdays and weddings and parties? Not to mention work- did they all live squalid, luxury deficient lives before they hit the big time with their master invention? How do people working full time jobs, caring for kids, assuming other responsibilities cope with such busy lives?
Look around these days and there is an array of theories and products and classes all designed to de-stress the stressed worker, to relaxed the unrelaxed and to relieve the anxiety of the anxious. Great. But when do people find the time to do all this stuff? Are these classes all attended by people with less hectic lives and already fairly relaxed?
Gym membership has rocketed in recent years- why? So people can get fit, de-stress, become healthier? Speak to your average regular gym user and they will tell you they feel great or had a really good session. Scratch beneath the surface and the anxieties begin to appear - the fear of looking silly in front of the nearby `Olympians`, the struggle for the chance to use a machine in a crowded gym then to be hounded off it minutes later, the fear of impending doom if a planned gym visit has been missed (think hectic work and social calendar) - what do the gyms do to combat this? They put on classes.
And for those of us who dont do classes? Well we blog i guess...
It has led me to believe that we would have advanced much further as a species if we actually had more time to ourselves to think of stuff worthwhile doing! Did all the great inventors work in quiet, darkened rooms away from birthdays and weddings and parties? Not to mention work- did they all live squalid, luxury deficient lives before they hit the big time with their master invention? How do people working full time jobs, caring for kids, assuming other responsibilities cope with such busy lives?
Look around these days and there is an array of theories and products and classes all designed to de-stress the stressed worker, to relaxed the unrelaxed and to relieve the anxiety of the anxious. Great. But when do people find the time to do all this stuff? Are these classes all attended by people with less hectic lives and already fairly relaxed?
Gym membership has rocketed in recent years- why? So people can get fit, de-stress, become healthier? Speak to your average regular gym user and they will tell you they feel great or had a really good session. Scratch beneath the surface and the anxieties begin to appear - the fear of looking silly in front of the nearby `Olympians`, the struggle for the chance to use a machine in a crowded gym then to be hounded off it minutes later, the fear of impending doom if a planned gym visit has been missed (think hectic work and social calendar) - what do the gyms do to combat this? They put on classes.
And for those of us who dont do classes? Well we blog i guess...
Monday, 6 July 2009
Manic Monday
Well the arguably worst day of the week is almost at an end. Thank God! After a very disturbed sleep last night it was a long day at work followed by a very lazy night tonight! Therefore today's blogging is going to be minimal to say the least!
Well theres been some interesting and deadly developments in the Chinese region of Xinjiang. A protest on Sunday of about 300 Uighurs (Turkic Muslims) soon swelled to around 1000 before disturbances and violence broke out. As is usual in these circumstances Beijing claimed the Uighurs went on the rampage, however Uighurs leaders living in exile claimed the police shot at students. Either way it led to the arrest of hundreds of Uighurs over the weekend.
Governement sources said that hundreds of shops and cars have been attacked by weapon carrying Uighurs. In the following hours around 156 people are said to have been killed, mostly believed to be Uighurs who claim police have fired upon them indiscriminately. There was said to be previous tension between Uighurs and the Han ehtnic groups but this has yet to be established.
Certainly it is the largest scale public unrest for some time in China and the fear is that it has been dealt with with the same ferocity as in previous times. Reports are already suggesting posts on social networking sites have been removed or blocked to ensure the events are kept hidden from the outside world. This is a side issue regardless though and one that is inevitable when dealing with occurrences in China that may be viewed negatively by other countries.
The real issue is ethnic tension. Is it possible for those of different ethnicities to live safely, securely and perhaps most importantly happily alongside each other? In every country people are divided by various differences from the obvious to not so obvious. Campaigns and education go some way to enlighten people of others rights, views, religion, fears, beliefs and outlook but sometimes it feels too little.
Integration seems to be the key factor- when groups of people go into a different, possibly unknown environment it is only natural for them to associate with those who seem to hold common values or backgrounds. Then those outwith begin to fear this new unkown that has appeared in greater numbers and the cycle of disassociation continues.
Community leaders and educators need to take the lead in putting greater emphasis on cultivating a society of openness and acceptance. Perhaps there has always been tension and always will but we should never give up the courage to reach out to people we dont undertsand and foster new, productive relationships with those around us.
Well theres been some interesting and deadly developments in the Chinese region of Xinjiang. A protest on Sunday of about 300 Uighurs (Turkic Muslims) soon swelled to around 1000 before disturbances and violence broke out. As is usual in these circumstances Beijing claimed the Uighurs went on the rampage, however Uighurs leaders living in exile claimed the police shot at students. Either way it led to the arrest of hundreds of Uighurs over the weekend.
Governement sources said that hundreds of shops and cars have been attacked by weapon carrying Uighurs. In the following hours around 156 people are said to have been killed, mostly believed to be Uighurs who claim police have fired upon them indiscriminately. There was said to be previous tension between Uighurs and the Han ehtnic groups but this has yet to be established.
Certainly it is the largest scale public unrest for some time in China and the fear is that it has been dealt with with the same ferocity as in previous times. Reports are already suggesting posts on social networking sites have been removed or blocked to ensure the events are kept hidden from the outside world. This is a side issue regardless though and one that is inevitable when dealing with occurrences in China that may be viewed negatively by other countries.
The real issue is ethnic tension. Is it possible for those of different ethnicities to live safely, securely and perhaps most importantly happily alongside each other? In every country people are divided by various differences from the obvious to not so obvious. Campaigns and education go some way to enlighten people of others rights, views, religion, fears, beliefs and outlook but sometimes it feels too little.
Integration seems to be the key factor- when groups of people go into a different, possibly unknown environment it is only natural for them to associate with those who seem to hold common values or backgrounds. Then those outwith begin to fear this new unkown that has appeared in greater numbers and the cycle of disassociation continues.
Community leaders and educators need to take the lead in putting greater emphasis on cultivating a society of openness and acceptance. Perhaps there has always been tension and always will but we should never give up the courage to reach out to people we dont undertsand and foster new, productive relationships with those around us.
Sunday, 5 July 2009
the weekend
Well it has been a very good weekend. Friday was spent relaxing in front of the TV with a glass or 2 of wine, although i have to admit i was watching Big Brother, sad i know! By Saturday i knew a night out was needed and after a sneaky 2 glasses of wine in the afternoon i got ready and heading to a friends where cider and rum was drank- not together! Afterwards into town for a spot of clubbing where Passoa (reliving the student days) and Cheeky Vimto (port & blue wkd) was added to the combo! Normally such a mix of drinks would have me laid up on the sofa for the following day but im glad to announce that despite being tired no hangover has managed to kick in! A late lunch of bacon rolls washed down with Irn-Bru has helped also.
Yesterday saw Serena Williams win the Wimbledon womens final against her much fancied (in tennis anyway!) sister Venus and today Roger Federer takes on Andy Roddick- currently at 1 set all! Roddick having put Andy Murray out on Friday will fancy his chances so time will tell. I still have very little interest in tennis however and im desperate to see the return of the footie season!
Yesterday saw Serena Williams win the Wimbledon womens final against her much fancied (in tennis anyway!) sister Venus and today Roger Federer takes on Andy Roddick- currently at 1 set all! Roddick having put Andy Murray out on Friday will fancy his chances so time will tell. I still have very little interest in tennis however and im desperate to see the return of the footie season!
Saturday, 4 July 2009
Mock the Week
A new series of the popular comedy show kicks off on Thursday 9th July on BBC2. Now in its 7th series, the show, hosted by Irish comedian Dara O'Briain, will feature regular comics Frankie Boyle, Hugh Dennis, Russel Howard and Andy Parsons as well as two other comics per episode. The show features regular rounds from `scenes we'd like to see`, `what a ...... would never say` and `if this is the answer whats the question?`. For those of you who have never seen the show take a look at the video below - this series runs for 13 episodes so don't miss it!
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