Tuesday 29 December 2009

It's educational

The wheel turns and we approach 12 months since my departure. It sure hasn't felt like it. Not that I haven't seen a lot in that time. But there is still so much more to see and do so I don't think I will be returning anytime soon.

Finished up work at Boys stuff last week, glad to be done with that. And so much for a Christmas bonus. What a joke. Still, paid the bills, just. Plus I will be back to teaching in '10, which should be better, and more money.

Christmas was an exciting one for me. Well not really. I decided it was about being with people you care about and as I had none nearby, I stayed in and watched Terry Pratchett movies. They were brilliant. Very funny in an obvious and subtle way all at once. Looking forward to the next one in Easter.

As for New Years Eve, think I will just go to the local for a few drinks. Can't really be bothered doing any more than that and to be perfectly honest I am getting a little tired of the bar and club scene.

Monday 21 December 2009

The weather outside is weather...

Snow! It's brilliant. Makes everything so peaceful because the English can't deal with it so don't go to work. Although it does make cycling pretty interesting, especially as they only grit the main roads.

I saw my first 3d movie on Saturday, and what a movie to pop my 3d cherry. Avatar, a movie designed from the ground up for 3d. It was fantastic. They used more shots where things seem behind the screen which works a lot better than when thing come out of the screen but get cut off at the edges. The plot and action were pretty good as well. Although there were a few moments where the dialogue seemed a bit, well borrowed.

Only three more days left at Boystuff. Will be glad to finish up there and have a weeks break before starting at Kings Langley School. I will be back to earning a decent amount and doing what I am supposed to be doing.

You know those stupid Windows 7 ads? Well, for one thing how the hell is it windows 7? After Windows 3 we had 95, 98, 2000, me, xp, and Vista. So if anything it is Windows 9. But I digress. My idea is a combination of an Eyetap, cellphone, projector, all in headset, = awesome. The Eyetap is a camera that records what you see then alters it. So it can add information to the scene or take away advertising. Add to that a smart phone and the technology used with web cams and tags on products. Then you use you hands to move the information projected on your retina in real-time. You could even fit a micro projector to it so you can share what you see. All these things exist, they just need to be combined, it would be brilliant. I am a PC and where the hell is my headset?!

Wednesday 16 December 2009

Jobbed!

Yes, I finally have another teaching post lined up. This time at Kings Langley school teaching Science and Chemistry. Should make a change from Verulam, and a welcome relief after working in the warehouse.

Sunday 13 December 2009

Bonk

What's the difference between a golf ball and a car? Tiger woods can drive a golf ball 400 yards. Just something I saw on the big screen at Eddie Izzard on Friday night. Which was fantabulous by the way. So much better live with the atmosphere of the crowd. Some of the highlights I can remember:

Terms and conditions: Everyone signs them, no one has ever read them. You could be agreeing to anything.

Bonk: Scrabble, a game invented by Nazis to make fun of people with Dyslexia. Dyslexia, a word created by Nazis to make fun of people who can't spell. Bonk is Eddies suggestion for what it should be called. 'Miss, I can't do this, I have Bonk. Very well, entertain your self with the sponges'

Stone age: How did men hunt without tools? Eddie mimes a guy hunting a buffalo who trips on a stone and gets an idea. 'Hey Steve! Check this out. What? (Hits him with rock.)'

Latin: Not just a dead language, a silly one. 5 ways of saying one word. a 10 second English conversation takes 10 minutes in Latin.

Ark: Noah 'OK, 2 tigers, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 mice, 2 rats. Hey Steve, what have we got so far?' Steve 'Uh, 2 tigers.' That is why all the pictures show a lion and tiger with big grins.

Stromatolites: 2 billion years of rocks with organic content. God must have been wasted.

10 commandments: Thou shalt not covert thy neighbour's ox. Typo, should have been cover. Hey wheres my ox? and whats your duvet doing out here? Also, why 10? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you pretty much covers it. Don't kill, don't steal, it's built in.

spartan sheep: Spartan men went GRR! and women went grr! and dogs went WOOF! and cats went MIAOW! and the sheep were silent! and snuck up on wolves and shore themselves with rusty blades to show they had no fear. So the wolves stole their clothes. True story. The battle of Thermopylae was immortalised by the movie 'The good ship lollipop' Starring Shirley Temple, although most links to the battle were removed in editing.

Dark side of the moon: The Americans must have landed on the moon as the Russians were first to do everything else and wouldn't have let them get away with it. And if there was a god surely he would have done something when we got from the blue ball to the grey one. Welcome, come to the dark side of the moon, sit with Darth Vader, Pink Floyd, and the giant squid that held back the Red sea for Moses.

All much funnier in the show however.

Coming up to the end of my stint at Boysstuff, but at the moment working 7 days a week which isn't fun but should mean some decent money for Christmas. I have 2 interviews next week so fingers crossed I get a place at one of them. Also I have noticed that the English weather isn't as bad as its made out. I think the English just like complaining. Speaking of the English, I also discovered why employers here like hiring Kiwis. British work ethic is rubbish.

This is giant squid of the starship Nostromo, signing off.