Thursday, March 29, 2007

Window

Gone and done bloody done it now. A job that is...I guess the time was coming. It seems as though I'll be teaching Summer School classes at an English language School here in Edinburgh. The School doesn't know how many students they will get, so it's currently unclear how much teaching I will be doing but they have in principle agreed to hire me over the summer months. 15 hours a week. Not great but not bad and since I'll be doing my Dissertation, I can combine the two. Hopefully, that will all kick off in june, if not before.

Was actually quite nervous about the interview. I guess it's something you never really get comfortable with since it's your only shot at impressing whoever is interviewing you. But, it went fine. It seems that i'm over qualified. My interviewer suggested that I could be a Director of Studies at some schools given what I've got. Nice of her to say that alas part-time Summer School geezer will have to do for the time being.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

shelter

So then...England are crap. Scotalnd are not and neither are the Irish. Fact.

Actually, it's all abit of a nonsense really. Scotland have had a terrific start to the Euro 08 campaign but they are only a point better off than England. Meanwhile, the Northern Irish who every man and his dog things are going to qualify only have 1 more point than us Scots. Yes, we are all in different groups but all three countries are only separated by 2 points. That is it in black and white. Performances, who played where or who scored are all secondary considerations. Points means prizes. Simple as that.

If we can get 20+ points, I think we'll be in with a chance. 12 points currently but with the Faro Islands and Lithuania up next we should be looking at getting upto 18 points. However, with France and Georgia away and Ukraine and Italy expected at home, we really need to be taking a minimum of 6 points in order to be there or there abouts. Don't fancy having to be the Italians by 2 clear goals to qualify. To coin Ferguson, that would be squeaky bum time indeed.

Friday, March 23, 2007

sofast/sonumb.

Been abit crap lately...guess I just haven't got much to to write about. Actually, I probably do but I'm not sure I want to share it all.

O.K. easist first.
University has finished. The taught aspect of it anyway. No more classes, ever. That's not to say that i'm done. Far from it. 3 more assignments to do before the 1st May. Then a Dissertation to sort out. The proposal for that needs to be signed off for on the 31st May. I'm on my way to achieving that. Second draft is nearly ready to be sent off in order to be knocked back ^^.
Alas, I probably won't see my 'classmates' again until Graduation. I use 'classmates' in a very general sense given that we are all on the same program but might not have actually been in the same physical classroom. So, in that respect I'm not really caring if I see them again because I didn't see them in the first place.

Next easist. Has to be the football.
Seems like Celtic are toying with everyone, trying to give the illusion that they really want not to win the Championship with 10 games to go. Actually, they are just saving themselves so that they can go to Ibrox and win it. Won't that be good. Almost as good as Chelsea playing for 4 trophies and only coming away with the Carling Cup. Nice. Old Valdas has been 'relived' of his duties at Hearts though remains on the payroll and will be with the team at training. Which leads to the suggestion that nothing has changed. All he did was take training and thats it. It's not as if he picked the team or made any signings. Would quite like England to not win in Israel. Think that would be nice especially if we beat Georgia aka Turkmenistan. /did you know they are the same?/

And this is where is gets complicated.

Be a Nationalist if you like but at least be critical of your country. No nation is perfect. Show me a perfect country and I'll show you a liar. Realise that. Don't believe the lie that your country is any better than any other country. It's not and you should see that.
/This is not a party political broadcast on behalf of the pf party./

This fame thing, I just don't get it.

Sunday, March 18, 2007

huddle

Was listening to this Japanese sounding band earlier - Fujiya and Miyagi, they're from Brighton actually and not Japanese at all - via iTunes on my computer. When an album finishes, iTunes doesn't stop playing, it just continues onto the next album in the list which just so happened to be 'Up All Night' by Razorlight.

All of a sudden, the rush of supressed feeling was thrown to the fore. It's one of those 'Korean' albums. An album that I didn't get into when I was here but one that was listened to and liked when I lived over there. Those Saturday mornings when the apartment was a tip and it was time for the weekly clean, cue Up All Night. The punk leanings that urged you to imagine you are Johnny Borrell singing to along to Rip It Up 'Hey girl, get on the dancefloor' and jumping around when it starts to speed up...'until I don't know why!'

Then back to the reality that its not Saturday in the apartment and its not a tip and you can't jump around, shouting 'come back, come on back, come back come back. Just come on back' when Dalston kicks in.

It's funny that. Small, random things that trigger even more random things...

Then, it was time for Thursday edition of 'Off The Ball'. An hour of Scottishness, listening to the utter pish that comes from Tam's mouth to the slightly more coherent chat of Cosgrove. It did frustrate me when the Beeb didn't update it in time. You would click on the link only to find that it was the previous weeks edition. A sure sign that the weekend wasn't going to be a good one.

Alas, reality seeps back into view.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

junior-kickstart

So then, the world is a vampire...

There seems to be this wild rumour circulating that yours truly is actually quite good at Statstics. A lie. A bear faced lie. Just because I ask questions that sound quite relevent does not mean that I have any idea about what it is I'm talking about. I can however, tel when people are talking nonsense and have no idea what they are talking about when they ask questions about Statstics. Like, why would you need to generate 16 different boxplots corresponding to the answers for 16 different questions. What important information is that going to generate for you in the whole scheme of things?
Anyway, each to their own.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

infatuate

you are my sunshine,my only sunshine. you make me happy when skies are grey. you'll never know dear, how much i love you so please don't take my sunshine away. away, away, away...

Friday, March 09, 2007

sequestrate/

go on.
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save as draft +publish.

Thursday, March 08, 2007

zero.

1st time i've been around in 7 years to see the blooming of the snowdrops, the crocus' /or should that be croci?/ and all the bulbs...all this climate change 'stuff' suggests that they are too early. Whatever.
They arrive when they arrive.
Seems like the longer winter may well be on the way out. You get to a point in the winter when you really think that it will never pass. But, it seems that it is passing. Quite like spring. In fact, I would perfectly happy to live in a perpetual spring. The weather on the up...the flowers starting to grow, the first cut of grass and the whole year ahead.
Next up will be the cherry blossom followed by the azeleas.
Colour!
That's what we want.

Alas, the assignments from Semester1 came back. Neither delighted nor upset by the results. If I was greedy, I would easily have been dismayed but what is the point in getting uptight about what you get? Nothing you can really do to change them...just put them into context and get on with it. Comparisions. Don't do it.
Semester2 assignments will get started in due course.
More joy.

Friday, March 02, 2007

this is a call.

to past resignations.
or not.

Buses have alot to answer for. Yeah, those red ones. They are either late, on time or come at once.
Or are full of loud mouthed people who are intent on telling the world and his monkey that he can't go to Manchester because he'll get done in. Tell you what mate, continue and you won't need to travel to Manchester to get done in. All you need to do is step outside.

Early contender for rather tasty album of the millenium. MSTRKRFT - The Looks. Yes, the band are the first bit, the album the second bit. Definitely something to tap your feet to. In fact, I might even sway slightly, although that may be just the movement I need to squeeze a fart out. Pulsing bass, hi-hat and abit of vocal in the right place. A kind of progression from Daft Punk's Homework. The album that perhaps should have come after that, instead of Discovery. That is not to say that Discovery is a bad follow up to Homework/ on the contrary, it is a mighty fine follow up. A follow up that could not have been predicted giving the rolling and scratching and downright dirtiness of the sound created on the original. MSTRKRFT do it on Neon Knights. A song that actually has to be turned up particularly loud to fully appreciate. A rythmic bassline that is incessant. Hope is not lost.

Results for semester1 are out on monday. If I don't post for awhile then you know that its gone pear shaped. Disappointed/Depressed/Devastated/Dizzy/Delighted/Deceptively interesting. Pick your d-word of choice. But choose it carefully because it might mean something other than it is meant to mean. Indeed, it might mean what you want it to mean. That's the problem with words. Little f_kers that they are.

Everybody's got something to hide apart from me and my monkey.
See what I mean.
haha.