Friday 31 October 2008

hmph

Getting baws deep now, my To Do list is still growing and there's nothing I can do to slow it. Somehow I got myself talked into coming into work this weekend to set up a computer as a server so everyone can access the manufacturing database.

Alas, I have no idea what I'm doing and despite the fact that servers do exist and can be set up by human beings, I'm starting to have reservations as to whether I can actually do it.

Not only that, but somehow I have to make this database presentable and probably have to migrate it from OpenOffice into something else, Oracle, PostgreSQL or MySQL. I have no idea about any of these.

No one will help me, no one can help me.

So expect bad bad moods next week.

Not that I've been in much of a good mood at work this week. Screaming rows with the boss probably aren't helping my employment prospects.

What's changed? Despite what Zee says, I'm pretty sure I didn't get as stressed or as screaming rowdy before.

In other news, no one else has bought my naked chicks book here, but I have been playing Scramble against other human beings on Facebook, winning and losing. Its kind of like social interaction.

Only fifty-nine pics left to draw on the nuddy site, then I can skip away into the distance, end of next week I reckon.

Hold onto your hats.
hast
tash
shat

Thursday 30 October 2008

Messageboard update

More from the Chris Gilmour messageabord in Nice n Sleazy
DSC00231
DSC00233
There are some very sweet and big hearted young women out there.

Wednesday 29 October 2008

Wrong

This could be the wrongest thing I've ever done.

This link here

It should take you to an internet book publish company thing, where you can actually buy a book of a selection of pics from my nuddy website.

I submitted the artwork and a pdf of the book and they have like a digital printing station thing, so when you order the book from that link, the printing press springs into action and poops out a copy of the book into a jiffy envelope and it goes spinning away to your real-world snail mail mailbox and a few coins drop into my bank account.

It could be a great wee Christmas present for yer pa or other male loved ones. Possibly female loved ones too, but I'm not sure how that works.

To Do 3

Went through list with my boss and managed to eliminate about 30% of the list. Which was a bit of a relief
Chase up parts for November's CD build
Chase up IR emitter for REM003
Go over amplifier bom with designer
Go over CD player bom with designer
Check BOMs for high-end preamp and power amp
Check part built boards for preamp and power amp
Finish entering K2CDP BOM
new CD main PCB
new CD front PCB
new amp main PCB
new CD product BOM
new amp product BOM
high-end product PCBs for components we populate
Chase up specs for IR receiver
Chase next regulator heatsink delivery
Add beads to amplifier BOM
Order beads for November's amplifier build
Print out parts list for front panels
Print out parts list for chassises
Chase designer for solid state relay specs
Chase stores for any old amplifiers left to build
Inventory of WIP in stores
Order grinding discs
Compile daily production report
Calculate amplifier bom cost with new prices
Update parts prices via Umi
Update supplier part nos via Umi
Chase up supplier for surface mount versions of brown blob parts
Kitting for next build of amplifier through hole parts
Tidy production line area and label up bins for everything
Check phono BOMs
Return phono kit to stores
Go through box of unlabelled parts in storeroom
Go through CD player parts box in storeroom
Kitting for last old CD player build
Update purchasing list with UK alternative suppliers
Username and password list for supplier websites
Do query for alternative supplier required parts
Rename all queries
Make more jaunty videos in manufacturing
Kit for high-end power amp
kit for high-end pre-amp
Install server stuff on spare computer
Install Open Office on spare computer server
Interpret "Components for K2 main PCB missing"
Update the following BOMs urgently and send upwards
Import flash test data to MRP system
Label and stock check front panel store
Make database documentation more complete
Construct resistive loads for K2INT units

Tuesday 28 October 2008

To Do 2

My current 'to do' list at work:-
  1. Chase up parts for November's CD build
  2. Add beads to amplifier BOM
  3. Order beads for November's amplifier build
  4. Chase up boxes for remote control (REM004)
  5. Chase up IR emitter for REM003
  6. Print out parts list for front panels
  7. Print out parts list for chassises
  8. Chase designer for solid state relay specs
  9. Chase stores for any old amplifiers left to build
  10. Inventory of WIP in stores
  11. Chase up prototype job cards
  12. Make cable assemblies for next amplifier build
  13. Order red cable
  14. Order grinding discs
  15. Compile daily production report
  16. Calculate amplifier bom cost with new prices
  17. Update parts prices via Umi
  18. Update supplier part nos via Umi
  19. List amplifier test fails
  20. List CD plater test fails
  21. Put green LED on CD BOM
  22. Chase up supplier for surface mount versions of brown blob parts
  23. Kitting for next build of amplifier through hole parts
  24. Tidy production line area and label up bins for everything
  25. Check phono BOMs
  26. Return phono kit to stores
  27. Check reject / faulty / scrap metalwork
  28. Provide reject bins and post-it notes
  29. Get storeman to round up reject parts daily
  30. Go through box of unlabelled parts in storeroom
  31. Go through CD player parts box in storeroom
  32. Type up job cards
  33. Go over amplifier bom with designer
  34. Go over CD player bom with designer
  35. Kitting for last old CD player build
  36. Update purchasing list with UK alternative suppliers
  37. Username and password list for supplier websites
  38. Do query for alternative supplier required parts
  39. Rename all queries
  40. Batteries and remote on new product BOMs
  41. Change CAP006 to CAP087 on CD player front PCB BOM
  42. Make more jaunty videos in manufacturing
  43. Check BOMs for high-end preamp and power amp
  44. Check part built boards for preamp and power amp
  45. Kit for high-end power amp
  46. kit for high-end pre-amp
  47. Install server stuff on spare computer
  48. Put heatsink on amplifier BOM
  49. Finish entering K2CDP BOM
  50. Install Open Office on spare computer server
  51. Interpret "Components for K2 main PCB missing"
  52. Update the following BOMs urgently and send upwards
  53. new CD main PCB
  54. new CD front PCB
  55. new amp main PCB
  56. new CD product BOM
  57. new amp product BOM
  58. high-end product PCBs for components we populate
  59. Check parts shortages on remaining CD main PCBs
  60. Get new parts ordered
  61. Check parts shortages on remaining CD front PCBs
  62. Get new parts orderedImport flash test data to MRP system
  63. Kit mechanical parts for November builds
  64. Label and stock check front panel store
  65. Computer test amplifiers
  66. Quantities and locations BOM for new CD front PCB
  67. Chase up specs for IR receiver
  68. Find BOMs for mid-range products and send upwards
  69. Find BOMs for high-end products and send upwards

Well, I'm ready to ROCK today!!!

Added 9:32am 28-OCT-08
Get regulators for November ordered (2000 of each)
Chase next heatsink delivery
Make database documentation more complete

Added 14:08 28-OCT-08
Give designer excel spreadsheet of entire parts and supplier list
Return parts to stores
Move seeled kits away from storeroom
Find alt supplier for 11-way connector

Added 14:41 28-OCT-08
Order resistive loads
Construct resistive loads for soak testing K2INT

Today

Listening to the radio this morning on the way into work, The Today program on Radio4, it was all trivial. Still navel gazing about Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand.

They had some MP in Roger Wittington or something, who said "We need to find out how this happened...".

No we don't we just need to sack the presenters, it was them who made the poor judgement call. And if later an investigation finds that their editor/producer had a judgement lapse too, then sack them. Or is it now impossible to get fired from the BBC?

I think the next commentator they had on said something regarding Russell Brande "If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys" Which kind of misrepresents Russell Brande. He gets paid a fucking fortune to act like a monkey, not peanuts. If you paid him peanuts, he wouldn't work for the BBC. In fact if you paid someone peanuts they'd probably do a more professional job for fear of losing their job.

There were a few mentions of Ofcom fining the BBC, like they did over the telephone quiz thing. The problem with this is that the fine just comes out of lisense fee payers money, and doesn't hurt the BBC.

On the other hand, sacking Jonathan Ross and Russell Brande would save the lisencefee payers several hundred thousand pounds.

Can we no do that?

Monday 27 October 2008

To Do

My current 'to do' list at work:-
Chase up parts for November's CD build
Add beads to amplifier BOM
Order beads for November's amplifier build
Chase up boxes for remote control (REM004)
Chase up IR emitter for REM003
Print out parts list for front panels
Print out parts list for chassises
Chase designer for solid state relay specs
Chase stores for any old amplifiers left to build
Inventory of WIP in stores
Chase up prototype job cards
Make cable assemblies for next amplifier build
Order red cable
Order grinding discs
Compile daily production report
Calculate amplifier bom cost with new prices
Update parts prices via Umi
Update supplier part nos via Umi
List amplifier test fails
List CD plater test fails
Put green LED on CD BOM
Chase up supplier for surface mount versions of brown blob parts
Kitting for next build of amplifier through hole parts
Tidy production line area and label up bins for everything
Check phono BOMs
Return phono kit to stores
Check reject / faulty / scrap metalwork
Provide reject bins and post-it notes
Get storeman to round up reject parts daily
Go through box of unlabelled parts in storeroom
Go through CD player parts box in storeroom
Type up job cards
Go over amplifier bom with designer
Go over CD player bom with designer
Kitting for last old CD player build
Update purchasing list with UK alternative suppliers
Username and password list for supplier websites
Do query for alternative supplier required parts
Rename all queries
Batteries and remote on new product BOMs
Change CAP006 to CAP087 on CD player front PCB BOM
Make more jaunty videos in manufacturing
Check BOMs for high-end preamp and power amp
Check part built boards for preamp and power amp
Kit for high-end power amp
kit for high-end pre-amp
Install server stuff on spare computer
Put heatsink on amplifier BOM
Finish entering K2CDP BOM
Install Open Office on spare computer server

Added 8:30am 27/10/08
Test 45 old CD players - done 15:18 27-OCT-08
Interpret "Components for K2 main PCB missing"
Update the following BOMs urgently and send upwards
new CD main PCB
new CD front PCB
new amp main PCB
new CD product BOM
new amp product BOM
high-end product PCBs for components we populate

Added 9:40am 27/10/08
Check parts shortages on remaining CD main PCBs
Get new parts ordered
Check parts shortages on remaining CD front PCBs
Get new parts ordered


There's probably some way I can reorder and prioritise these, but well, I'm stuck working the product test computer for the next few hours. So I guess I'm a bit fucked.
Added 13:54 27/10/08
Import flash test data to MRP system
Kit mechanical parts for November builds

Added 14:42 27/10/08
Label and stock check front panel store
Computer test amplifiers
Quantities and locations BOM for new CD front PCB

Added 14:42 27/10/08
Chase up specs for IR receiver
Find BOMs for mid-range products and send upwards
Find BOMs for high-end products and send upwards

Saturday 25 October 2008

Politics gone bad

Over on Guido
Rami Okasha, Labour's head of communications in Scotland, was in charge of handling Sarah Brown's visit. He threatened unruly hacks with heavies from Special Branch, "There will be six or seven guys with guns who will keep you away from her. You may be shot and then it won't be my problem."


Things have gone too far in British politics, we've got to put a stop to this sort of thing and we can't afford to wait until a general election.

Day off

I am sitting in the corner of my bed, ipod headphones plugged in, playlist set to shuffle. My left arm rests awkwardly against the windowsill and my head hurts.

I've had the day off work, stress or something, I was ordered to take the day off after getting increasingly sloppy, working a couple of extra hours every day and a couple of weekends. No matter how much I do, my To Do list gets longer and longer and the daily duties I am allotted just pile up. I started shouting, swearing, raving and frothing at the mouth to my colleagues, its a side effect of my "Don't worry/do it myself" theory.

I'm not sure how much this day off has helped. I have the urge to go into the office on Saturday morning to catch up on what I've missed today.

The internet at home is buggered, and I'm in no fit state to fix it, so my plan for getting fifty or so pictures on the other site out of the way has failed miserably. I did however draw a couple of ill theatre pics last night, and got round to recording an incredibly half-hearted version of Town Bike's Trouble Fucken Rocks.


I dunno how, but acquired the ability to figure out chords by ear, rather than my usual method of trawling ultimate-guitar.com or inviting bands to play for me on video and then watching their fingers. Trouble Fucken Rocks seems to be C, G, Am, G, F, G for the chorus and for the verse its Am and F finishing with E.

For Mexican Kids At Home's Female Thief, when I recorded it it was A, C, D, E for the chorus and C and G for the scat verses.

So anyhoo, I'm sat on my bed typing, wishing time would pass quicker so I can go out to the Lost Music show in Chalk Farm, Pocketbooks are playing and uncle Pete and Sarandon. In the gaps between songs on my ipod, I think I can hear the noises of shagging. My head hurts.

It didn't have to turn out this way.

I wandered round Shoreditch, Bricklane and the Camden today, starving and thirsty, but unable to go in anywhere. Irrational anxieties I can spot a mile away, knowing about it doesn't stop it. Cafes looking too busy, or too dark, or too small, unsure whether they have free internet and will I be able to get online, will I be able to ask for the WPA key. I'd read that a bar called Prague has free wi-fi, and I'm sure I'd seen it, but for the life of me I couldn't remember where in the east end it was. Unless I was getting confused with Prague4 somewhere on Canal Street in Manchester in the mid-nineties, supposed to be meeting Zee, but winding up with Gay Dave and some of the cute girls from the school bus until Zee arrived later. I can still remember the taxi ride home.

Three hours later I'd wandered to The Oh Bar in Camden, unable to get a cappucino from the cute Cameron Diaz-ish barmaid, I got a guiness instead, tried to get the wi-fi working, but unable to ask for the WPA key, as predicted.

A phrase bumped into my head, when yo're talking to yourself or playing over arguements and conversations you've had before, and this phrase was in response to a girl suggestng I should see other people "Ah, so I ought to add to the list of folk who don't want to go out with me"

It sounded good and biting earlier, but isn't quite so satisfying hours later, still sat on my bed, glancing at the clock and wishing time passed quicker so I could go out.

It was the start of the millennium, 2000/2001 new year, I was besotted or in love with my flatmate. We spent too much time together, watching TV, going drinking, going out and everything, but at 3am every morning her boyfriend could come round, and he'd be gone by the morning. I couldhear them every night and it almost killed me. I could put on music to blot out the sounds, but then came to dread the few seconds of silence between tracks. The silence seemed much louder, my ears straining involuntarily.

Even now, years later, with leaps and bounds in technology, itune and mix/fade in the next track, but then every so often there's still a wee bar of silence, with other noises that I was trying to drown out.

Months back Robbie suggested I use some kind of white noise track, there was a website when could do it, a white noise website, also pink noise and brown noise, if you're into that sort of thing. But it didn't help, it just made my hearing more sensitive, I could hear everything.

Yeah, these crushing feelings of rejection and isolation, that are themes of my soul, there ain't no getting rid of them or hiding or surpressing them.

Can't even write it off as adolescence no more.

This day off was a bad bad idea.

Thursday 23 October 2008

Off-line

Got home last night and the internet wasn't working at my house, so I spent a good six hours clicking on the reconnect button, but to no avail.

My brain was starting to dribble out of my face in frustration, who knows what soulmates messages I'd be getting or friends on Facebook saying hey, lets go drink, or people with urgent post it note drawing requirements. All of this was too far out of reach.

I couldn't even surf to porn sites to draw stuff.

Instead I had to pick up my guitar and record cover versions of your favourite indiepop tracks.

Here's Female Thief, originally done by The Mexican Kids At Home


I'll put up my cover of Town Bike's Trouble later, its a cracker.

Wednesday 22 October 2008

Acknowledgements

Have started writing the acknowledgements page for my nuddy site, only four weeks left to go until I'm done with it, and well, I'm getting a little tearful in listing everyone who I'm grateful to, all the named models I've scrawled, all the folk I've drawn from real life, and then all the other websites who've linked in over the past eighteen months. Its kind of scary, fifty or so and I'm about halfway through.

Kind of disappointed that I'm not going to hit a million visitors, I'm at 750,000 right now. There'll be a wee burst of interest at the end, then daily visits will drop to a few hundred as I stop updating and the site drops off the radar.

I tried by bestest, and had that much success, no more, and no less. What else could I have done?

Monday 20 October 2008

Few clicks

Just read this post up on Dev's blog.

Someone called Zoe getting paid by the NSPCC says:-
“Children are just a few clicks away from innocently stumbling across upsetting or even dangerous pictures and films such as adult sex scenes, violent dog fights, people self-harming and children being assaulted.”

Call me sceptical, but I'm just a wee bit concerned by this.

I've been surfing the internet for the best part of twenty years now, and whilst my address bar is carefully primed with every porn site, it takes more than 'a few clicks' to get there.

First, 'a click' we're talking about one of the actions you do with the mouse, like clicking on links, or on the OK button, or google search. Actually, for most of those things you have to type something first, but thats not what Zoe says, she specifically say 'a few clicks'. Hmm, what could these kids be clicking on?

Secondly, 'a few', to my mind this means between two and five. We're somewhat limited here. How can you find "adult sex scenes, violent dog fights, people self-harming and children being assaulted" from your typical startup page in two to five clicks?

Hmm, actually, going by yahoo.com, google.com and bbc.co.uk its mostly likely that these kids are innocently clicking on news stories, such as
Taliban gun down British aid worker
Man arrested after office killing
Man bailed after Daughter Death
and even then, that's not 'innocently stumbling', that's looking for stuff with killing, murder and death.

Am I clicking on the wrong things here? I want my adult sex dog fight self-harming child assault. And I want it in less than five clicks.

What is Zoe doing? I want to see a demonstration of this innocently stumbling across dangerous images in two to five clicks, otherwise its all bullshit.

Saturday 18 October 2008

Band

Couple of songs up on SoundCloud
My cover of The Boo Radleys's Wake Up Boo


Alan singing Bacon Sandwich and Vodka


And me doing Bacon Sandwich and Vodka and Such Great Heights


I wanna be in a band again. Some band where its someone else in the driving seat, and I just stand at the side and play.

18th of October again

It broke me, all these years.

I failed.

Here, this is what I wrote in my teenage diary the next day in 1995, subsequently transcribed into my 2005 blog

Im pretty sure that explaining it here, what's on my mind, won't help in the slightest, it never has done, after thirteen years. I have nothing to show for for it all.

Yearning, heartache, longing, terror, insecurity, shyness, bitterness, moodswings.

There's something inate which I can't do, I am unable to do, I don't have the skillset for.

I'm typing this now at quarter to nine on a Saturday night, wondering, once more, if I should go to HDIF or Twee As Fuck. But even that kind of gives away the problem. "Should I go" to either of these indie club nights, rather than "Do I want to go".

Want to recreate the scene in my head in real-life, and in my head is a replaying of what happened that night in October '95. Not the same venue or the same bands, the same people, the same faces, the same music, but its the vibe I'm seeking, the excitement, the sweat, the emotions. It ain't coming back, going to these places ain't going to bring it.

So yeah, what I'm missing...

In a month or so I'll be putting up the 1,000th pic on the nuddy chicks site. Its a bit of a milestone and it's going to mark the end of that glorious quest, my heart will lie peaceful and calm when I'm laid to my rest.

I had a wee plan to get a book printed up, via lulu.com, some kind of tangible and transferable artefact, but that plan has gone awry, and its not going to be ready in time. So what else? A party perhaps.

Here, The Londonist blog had a 4th Birthday party the other day at some pub in town, going by the twitter reports it was quite fun, and elsewhere people have birthday parties for themselves, friends and loved ones gathered round seemingly at the drop of a hat.

I am absolutely certain there is no way on earth I am able to motivate friends, loved ones or even complete strangers to come out for me to a pub or art gallery for the reason of my 1,000th drawing.

Or for my birthday even.

Tweet any question

I just posted this over on my slightly more popular blog
I just had a great idea for a website. In the UK there's a question answering service for text messages, its called AQA Answer any question. You just send a message like "Where are Idlewild playing tonight?" or "How much does the British prime minister earn?" "Where are the guys from the Bowlie messageboard meeting up today?" and so on, to 63336. It costs £1 if they reply. Its kind of fun to do in the pub.

Anyhoo, my great idea for a website... It searches twitter for occurances of "?" and copies that tweet to the website, and anyone can answer the question.

So there's just this stream of questions, it looks like a chatroom, and when you see one you know the answer to, you click on it and can send a reply to the person who asked it.

Now, if some twitter programming chap reads this and actually does it and it turns into a hugely successful thing, can you buy me a drink?

And to see what it would be like tried searching for "?" here, and the coolest thing, although it look like there are about 50 question mark tweets a minute, the first time I did it, it got one from Stephen Fry.

Stephen Fry is everyone's favourite uncle.

I'm refraining from following him though cos on Never Mind The Buzzcocks he came across as being a bit gimmicky "Man who knows obscure facts" rather than being a sophisticated genius type.

Amstard Action

My brain no longer works, I've been at the office every day for the past thirteen days now, I reckon clocking up 70 hour weeks. My mood is in a bad way.

Darren Hayman gig last night, I scrawled half a review in my notebook, but it'll never get typed up. Paul was down from Glasgow for it, and I got pleasantly drunk. It was a bit of a trek home, but I discovered some neat bus routes.

Anyhoo, sinc eI got back from work this afternoon, I've been meaning to draw lots of pictures, only a hundred or so left. But I got distracted by Wikipedia.

Something last night, I was checking out the talent, and spotted a girl thrusting her chest out who for a brief moment reminded me of a former friend from up north, and I'm not sure why, but the name "Sterner Regnix" popped into my head.

Think about it for a few moments, have you heard that name before? possibly, if you are of a certain age and were previously an 8-bit computer geek. Anyhoo, I want to draw a comic based round Sterner Regnix, and maybe give him an assistent or a sidekick called Trenton Webb.

So, aye, I was on a 8-bit computer game trip on wikipedia, reading these pages

Elite
Target: Renegade
The Way of the Exploding Fist
Rick Dangerous
Microprose
Wing Commander
Druid
Tau Ceti
The Sentinal - ooh ooh, play it here
Stunt Car Racer
Laser Squad

It was a whole world, thats lost to us now.

A bit like me.

Thursday 16 October 2008

Diff

My hair, it turns grey.

My job gets harder and harder.

My To Do list, it doubles in length every day. I manage about two things on it a day, and other things drop off the bottom of the list, never to be done, too late to do.

There's no release, no release.

This crushing feeling of isolation.

It would be so much easier if it was killing me.

But its not, I just trudge on, getting bitter and bitter, angrier and angrier, turning into more of a monster.

I need you to hold me still.

Tuesday 14 October 2008

The17 reprise

Was wading through old emails deleting what I could and I trawled up one from Bill Drummond / Penikiln Burn from a few years back, something to do with Robert Anton Wilson. And I think to myself, that its about the same time period that he writes about in his book, 17, that I destroyed in a fit of disgust a few weeks back. It might be worth looking up to see if he actually writes about the same subject matter at the same time.

So I dig out my spare copy, and lo and behold the very next chapter to where I'd gotten up to reading, was written / dated the same day he sent me the email in October 2006.

Could I be legend?

Dunno. After explaining that the chapter will be about his dealing with Stock, Aitken and Waterman, he drops in a few lines explaining he's in on the ledge in his flat in Shoreditch/Dalston, on a indian summer's evening looking out at London.

And suddenly I remember why I had to destroy my first copy.

It takes me to a place, memories, hopes, dreams and heartache. So near and yet so out of reach.

And I know, I have to destroy a second copy of The17.

Monday 13 October 2008

The Lesson of the Smiths

In Bowlie I just got nudged about SoundCloud, so I've uploaded a song I recorded a years or so ago.

Its a cover of MJ Hibbett's Lesson of the Smiths. It chimed with me when I first heard him play it, some time in Motherwell. I remembered marching in a march again the war, and I remember seeing Back for Good at the Brits.

Sunday 12 October 2008

Wine review #1

Winemaker's Seal
Gallo Family
Rubt Cabernet
California
2006

Have worked too much over the last few days, spotted some new grey hairs recently and social life is deeply unsatisfying, so I'm having myself a cheeky bottle of wine on Sunday night.

Charley Boorman's on TV, travelling to Sydney, entertaining stuff, but I'm not really a passive TV watcher. Giving a great deal of thought to buying all the serieses of 24, taking a few days of work and watching them.

So the wine is a bit winey, its red, fruity, sweet rather than dry. I like it.

Good legs.

Ooh, Spider-Man 2 is on. Its like the best of the three films. and now its on TV, for me, and my bottle of wine.

**UPDATE**
Time passes, spider-man gets the girl, I think about the girl, and then later discover that the wine has dyed my tongue and makes my toothpaste froth grey.

Success!!

Aw man, my site got mentioned in a Gaping Void tweet here.

GapingVoid:Cartoons drawn on the back of business card occasionally comes near the top of the most popular or most influential UK blogs and was an inspiration to me back when I started the nuddy chicks site.

Whilst I'm still in the factory, plugging away at my database and taking photies of things when I should be outside enjoying the sunshine or reading a book over a pint of beer and thinking about texting a girl, finding out about a link on the internet is a little personal ray of sunshine.

Like the god of 21st century internet marketing blogs, glanced in my direction and smiles.

Sunday Sunday

Good morning gentle reader,

You find me today still at work, the calendar says Sunday, but it feels like Wednesday or something.

Its cold, the heater's on, I'm wearing my Love Love Love t-shirt which seemed like such a good purchase early in the summer. The radio is playing the original version of Valerie, rather than Amy Winehouse's cover. Not quite as good as the nineties acid jazz that yesterday we had from someone's ipod hooked up to the factory hi-fi.

If we're lucky I can get out of here by noon and head along to MJ Hibbett's DJ session and a quiet beer or two in Islington, maybe pick up a Sunday Telegraph, and make the best of the twilight of the weekend.

Today I'm working on updating various BOMs on my database, like adding grub screws to the the K2INTBITS list, and trying to figure out exactly how long these 6mm brass rods are supposed to be rather than just 'as long as the last one'.

Strange things in sexblog and nuddy chick land. Several writers have cover the death knells of the genre, write Violet Blue and a few others leaving Gawker's Fleshbot blog. And then over the last few days it looks like YouPorn have disavowed a load of blogs from their aggregator page. Traffic to my nuddy site is about a quarter below average.

Luckily I've only got 125 pics left to draw before I can give up, should only take a couple of days, then that's a thousand done.

Rather neat Sinfest comic today. Will we ever trust the banks again. Or will their liquidity become an important selling points in adverts?

Saturday 11 October 2008

Clerks

Hi there,

Thanks for visiting my blog today, it means a lot to me that you take a spectatative interest in my life, even if it is just checking I'm not writing about you.

Right now I'm at work, it a quite leisurely and relaxing pace, but its still the weekend, I should be in bed or watching DVDs, or to get me out of the house, I could be sat in Borders or the Oh Bar reading a book.
theatre126theatre128

Had some weird database-based dreams last night. You know when you're a teenager with a computer and you spend too many hours playing solitaire, and when you finally retire to bed, you can only think in terms of playing cards, it was like that.

When I wanted to roll over, my head phrased it as changing the 'Direction' column from 'left' to 'right', and then after trying to debug the SQL queries in my mind, I realise that its not so healthy. But still stuck in the database mindset, I try to figure ways to debug the 'Healthiness' table, possibly by sticking a LONGVARBINARY column at the end, but I'm a bit lost as to how to handle that datatype, maybe some kind of linked field in the table, but I don't know how to do that either

Anyhoo, but to work.

So far today I've created a CAPACITOR SPECS table, which lists all the capacitors that we use, and has columns for the capacitance in UF, NF and PF (Microfarads, nanofarads and picofarads), and now I'm doing another column for what series they are, be it C0G, NP0, FC, LH and so on.

It makes me happy to spend hours offline doing a neat thing in my database so that when we're in a hurry at other times, really complicated things become quick and easy.

Friday 10 October 2008

Thursday 9 October 2008

Fake fun

Not that this is the place for shamelessly slinging up fun videos off of the internet.

But I was a West Wing fan back in the day, and this Paris Hilton clip tickled me
See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

Wednesday 8 October 2008

Dat

This is interesting, I could be damned with the naked chicks on post-it notes thing.

It doesn't go away does it?

There's nothing I can do about it.

Rolling my noodles

Saw this video on Boing Boing the other day.


And, as is my tendency in life, I thought "I could do that". The internet provided a simple recipe for egg noodles, 310g flour, two eggs, pinch of salt, 120ml milk and 15g of butter.

The dough was fun to play with and kneed and stuff, but I think I rolled it too thick, when I cooked it it was a little bland. And no way could I get it to go as think as the chap in the video, it all stuck to my hands or broke apart.

There is loads of dough left over so I think tonight I'll try to make ravioli with it. I need to cook the mince first, right?

And whilst its kind of cool to make these things, and to make them with my own hand, I find my life to be deeply unsatisfying. I'm pretty sure its the lack of female companionship what does it.

And the wee frustration of knowing that the girl I long for is just as lonely as me, which leads me to think that she wants anyone but me. So I try to move on, but with the wee nagging feeling that I've lost something, and weeks later the situation is the same.

Keep moving on, aye?

Tuesday 7 October 2008

One way

I used to love this song when I was a kid


Did I break it?

Have the intervening years somehow sullied me? Or have remained at the same level of sull?

Monday 6 October 2008

DVD

Have acquired Brain Dead on DVD, now would like to curl up with someone warm and watch it.

Possibly with pizza and wine.

Have been knocked back on my last ten attempts at asking out.

Sunday 5 October 2008

Kebab Day 2008


I know, I know. The song doesn't really have brackets in the title.

It did on the mp3, but apparently not in real life

Saturday 4 October 2008

Lemmings

Just across the street from my desk there were some chaps re-laying a roof.

I thought it was really cool the way they had two ladders, one for going up and one for coming down, so when folk were bringing tiles up, they'd never crash into each other or have to wait for someone to get out of the way.

But when I was videoing it, they occasionally didn't use the one up one down system.

Ah well.

Sapphire

Did I ever put this video online?



Its me doing my cover of The Smittens Sapphire. First take

Critique of the financial crisis


Nicked from Sinfest

Miss

I think I'm missing huge swathes of the internet experience.

Like, I tick some of the boxes, I have a wide range of informative and unique niche blogs, some spectacularly successful and some not so. And I vaguely know people on teh interweb. But still I only hear about things, internety social media events and stuff a few hours before they happen.

Is there a door that is closed to me, or am I just not paying enough attention?

Or is it the case that I woose out like I did with HDIF and almost did with the Bloggers thing earlier in the week?

Hmph!

morning after

Aw man. that was so much fun. And i still have this bag of crisps to eat for breakfast.

Thanks to all the folk who made it possible.
Ian for HDIF
Rax for the Smirnoff vodka
Shoelace for being there
Boing Boing chatroom for starting on the right note
The girl for being communicative
The internet for entertaining me
The flatmates for running interference
Blogger for being easy to use when under the influence
The toilet bowl for being in just the right place

Things that didn't go so well:-
Ooh, ginger root had gone mouldy
Should have paced the drinks with orange juice
Should have eaten more food
Should have use camera more often

Friday 3 October 2008

Vodka Liveblogging

21:32
Evening folks, and thanks for joining me. I got as far as getting dressed and walkeding to the front door before deciding it was too late, I'd get to HDIF too late, thepalce would be packed, I'd either know no one, or wouldn't feel comfortable talking to folk I knew and couldn't find anywhere to sit and hide.

So I turned round, picked up my bottle of Smirnoff and headed back to the PC.

You find me here, starting with about 4cm of vodka and another 7cm of ginger beer mixer

In another window the Boing Boing chatroom is doing a Rule 34 contest and in Bowlie, there is no one there.

21:41
Over in BoingBoing the first round has been won by this pic. I barely got to google. Need to try harder

21:44
McCain Palin pron
I submitted this one

21:49
Bah, its too fast for me.

Why has my music stopped?

21:59
Got distrated by Ghastly's Alan Moore porn

Now feeling the urge to abandon BoingBoing chat and go and watch TV with my trusty bottle of vodka. Still on first glass, ought to drink faster.

Wonder if anyone is in Bowlie

22:14
On vodka and ginger number 2 and have cranked up the volume for Future Bible Heros. Am mostly listening to Hopeless on repeat, and trying not to hear anyone else in the house.

Never quite made it to the living room to watch TV. I think I have teh fear now.

22:18
Sudden image in my head of the Kelvin where it passes the old BBC.

And now memories of dates wandering about round there.

What actually are the lyrics to Birdhouse in your Soul?
"My name is blue canary one note* spelled l-i-t-e"?

22:26
REM - Everybody Hurts comes on random, and I suddenly remember Saint Valery en Caux. Its this lovely wee town on the coast of France, just over from Seaford. Really nearby. Parents took us on holiday there once. I remember thinking, way back then, that it would be really nice to take the girlfriend there for a weekend/week.

Alas, never had the opportunity. No girlfriend.

And what kind of crazie would go with me on holiday to some other country after only knowing me for a few weeks.

Likewise with camping.

It'd be nice, but can't possibly happen.

Need drink no. 3

22:44
Sultans of Ping album has come up on random, am soldiering through drink three.

Over on Facebook, the girl is responding to status comments, and here in West Hampsted I'm getting all sniffly.

The front door just slammed. The jingle of keys suggests a female flatmate. But I can hear the rumble of a male voice. Possibly grli coming in, bloke in kitchen sayinghi, and then girl engaging in conversation

No wandering into the living room to watch TV for me then.

Ooh, 'Where's Me Jumper'.

Should have urged a Sultans of Ping covers album on Anorak earlier

22:50
Ooh, the second chap in this prono video seems to have the same hair as I did 1993 to 2005.

I miss that hair style.

Hmm, quiet predictably I find myself thinking of folk I knew back then.

Ought to chase them up on Faceookb.

And now remembering the response last time I chased them up on Faceobok.

Damn you east London!!!

23:05
I can haz picked up guita and attempting to learn Idlewild and Jimi Hendrix's Little Miss Lover

Also contemplating slinging old manc_ill_kid tracks up on the naked chicks site every few posts. Just cover versions cos it would be amusing if a load of people listened to them.

Ooh, suddenly pondering whether or not its Friday

Maybe it Thursday and I have work tomorrow...

I've never really done that recently. Not in the last eioght years, going to work or whatever drunk. University was a nonstop drunken haze and you could skip lectures and mornings whenever wih no penalties. But I remember many occasions in school going very hungoer or still quite drunk.

I remember one day in te form room worlk shop the morning after some drunken gig, NOsni just spent the lessopn under a table, red faced and giggleing and I was acting like world president of engineering.

We were gods back then.

23:22
Slightly entertained that a marketing chap from Smirnoff has just urged me on facebook to drink responsibly. I think that could be thr future of drinking.

"It looks like you're enjoying that pint of 'Cheap Lager^tm' but wouldn;t it be so much better as a shandy at this time in the night..."
It would give me someone to talk to I guess.

Anyhoo, I was learning to play Judy Over The Rainbow by Orange on guitar just then. Running through it as best as I remembered before digging out my old 1995 guitar class exercise book which happened to be about 8 inches away under my desk.

It was a cool song way back when,made even cooler when in 1997 I found out that Laura Pilling remembered the song too, and she had way better taste in music than I did. Time passed and it became 2005 or maybe '06 when at the international pop overthrow thing in Liverpool and I got to see Mick Corcormon play the track live. I almost cried.

Ooh that was the last time I saw Nosni too.

Drink number five and thinkingabout wandering downstairs to see who's about

23:36
Wandered do2n and bumping into a flatmate who was wondering where stuff wa in the kitchen I tried to talk throught the last time I'd seen it, but go sidetrdked to a cake making contest.

Ooh , I cut myself on the door, I see blood.

Anyhoo, my cake tastes disgusting, I make it using rice rather than floir, just wait until you see the mashied potato cake, and cos its disgusting I don't offer it to anyone who happens to be nearby.

Imagine if I was opening a can of dog-food. Should I offer that to flatmates? Indded.

Indeed even

Aw man, I still haven't poured number five, and I need a wee.

Right

Plan of Acton:-
*open a window witrh Bowlie
* poour drink number 5
* go for a wee
* plau disposable by orange, or look up the uitat tab in Simon the guitar teacher's books
* drift off into 1995
* ooh remember that day in 1996
* shit, getting lost in the mid nineties
*its October again innit?
* aw man, It was October 18th,
tjat Boo Radleys gig when Zee was there and all of this started
Crikey
just as I typed that, the epic and stabbing guitar solo in Disposable started
I love this tune so much
and whilst I havet see Zee in real life for over a decade, she's still the kindo f genotype for girls who I fancy

its abit fucked up

but going by watever of the profil I can see on faceookb, she's sytill pretty hott
hmm, there was a plan a few lnes earlier.

gonna scroll up and carry it out
ooh need a wee so much.

23:54
Ooh, there are people in Bowlie

And things and stuff too
I wish I had buscuits

and was sober enough to drive

Some things just aren't possible

00:08
Orange Juice - Rip it up on te h music thing

All conversation windows flawshing

and alchol shouting at tummy to be let out

should open crisps soon

00:50
Day 6 in the Smirnoff muleish house
and Chris is a quivering wresck, conteptarteriong his postition in life and

00:51
whilsy unable to do anything, ctaationically, every thing he des do is right

At the same time, getting t o this state is too micuh of a abattle

when al he needs s the message, yeah , I'll see you there then

01:20
havenea spew yet

n#but chatted to people
and its goigh tonbe ok

I love you gus

Y


zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
z

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
z
z
dsd
a
sdz
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
zzzzzzzzzzzz

Shoelace suggests

Slight change of plan for this evening. Whilst last night I was ploughing the depths of stress, depression (the natural human emotion, not the serious mental disease), and frustration, I vowed that my Friday night would be spent live blogging my Smirnoff sponsored descent into alcohol abuse, over in Bowlie I was explaining my plans and frustrations and an alternative was suggested.

Whilst if I go to HDIF on my own, I would unfailingly arrive early, recognise 2.5 people in the room, head straight to the bar and get a pint of 'cheap lager' before finding a dark corner to sit in, and jab at my phone briefly before realising the battery is flat and besides, I have no credit, before necking my pint and leaving within ten minutes, to make a slow and crushing way home, and then resume the drunken oblivion thing. It was suggested that another tack might be possible.

I should try to last an hour, and drink three pints rather than ten minutes and one. I could stretch out the time by looking at my watch as though waiting for someone.

Alas, I have no watch, but maybe if I get some credit for my phone and juice up the battery, then maybe an hour would be possible.

Shoelace assured me that three pints would be enough.

I trust his judgement.

Thursday 2 October 2008

Live blogging


There's nothing for it, I'm going to spend tomorrow night liveblogging. I'm going try drinking all this bottle of Smirnoff from the other night, and give you dear blog readering folk regular updates.

My only company shall be the TV and possibly some Schwepps ginger ale as a mixer and some curious syrupy stuff as specced by Smirnoff.

Meh, not even a 4,000 hit day on the other site can improve my mood. Sometimes it fills me with feelings of satisfaction and achievement, but alas, I need something more tangible than pixels.

Oh fucking hellski, I can hear sex nearby. This is the last thing I need.

Its not even as if sleeping with the ipod plugged in helps, the gaps between the songs are all the louder.

Alas its too cold out to sleep in my car.

I kind of feel life 2001, that almost killed me.

Even with ipod on max volume, I can feel vibrations.

Maybe if I take my winter coat and my sleeping bag, the car won't be so cold.

If I neck my vodka now, I could spend the night with my head in the toilet in drunken oblivion.

Its tempting.

Anything to escape the hell that I've descending into.

Ooh, CD idea

Do a CDr release or pressed CDs where its an album, but it comes in just a CD sleeve and for the inlay, its a five pound note with the name of the band printed on it. You could sell them for six quid. How decadent would that be?

Hmm, the track listing would have to be printed on the CD.

Hmm, would it save on costs if the name of the band was die cut out of the five pound note rather than printed?

B. Happy

Current stress at work mostly stems from the phrase "Don't worry".

It's used in the following situations:-

CDG - "Are we going to have these things built in time?"
anyone - "Don't worry"

CDG - "Have we ordered all the parts to make this thing?
anyone - "Don't worry"

CDG - "Am I going to end up having to do this thing that I've asked you to do, myself, at the last minute whilst I have a hundred and one other things to do?"
anyone - "Don't worry"

I think what bugs me is that worrying about things is a personal choice based on information available. And the simple phrase "Don't worry" gives away no useful information, which in itself is worrying.

So in the three examples previously give "Don't worry" is a negative answer to the question.

CDG - "Are we going to have these things built in time?"
anyone - "Don't worry (we don't know, we have no idea of even an estimate, therefore no we will not have these things built in time, you'd going to have to ask more specific questions and investigate. Time long it takes to build one, find out how many we have yet to build, do the sums)"

CDG - "Have we ordered all the parts to make this thing?
anyone - "Don't worry (no, we have only ordered some of the parts, but we're not sure which ones, we will only know when someone lays them out and counts them, this will happen halfway through making this thing, by which time it will be too late to order parts to get the thing made on time)"

CDG - "Am I going to end up having to do this thing that I've asked you to do, myself, at the last minute whilst I have a hundred and one other things to do?"
anyone - "Don't worry (no one is going to even try to do the thing you've asked, so you're going to have to do it yourself at the last minute)"

My new policy henceforth is that when someone replies "Don't worry" to any question, I'm going firstly worry, secondly do the damned thing myself and thirdly never ask the person to do anything again, thus rendering them redundant and keeping all the profits for myself.

Wednesday 1 October 2008

More face-melting

Its almost like my eyebrow is trying to detach itself from my face.

I'm starting to not like me with a moustache.

Still need more clothes, or possibly just need to throw away this damned red hoody.

Maybe its cursed.

My face is melting


300920081273
Originally uploaded by Aref-Adib
Merhdad's photie of me at the blogger thing last night. I think the bone structure of may face is changing as I become more stressed, and what's wrong with my eyes?

I need new clothes