Victory not Vengeance

Whether the weather is hot...

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:38:06 GMT

Allow me to explain the perception that we English are obsessed with the weather.

In the past half an hour we have had:

Overcast, cloudy skies
Light rain
Bright, warm sunshine
A thunderstorm
Heavy rain
Strong hail

I have no doubt whatsoever that sunshine will be restored by the end of the day. Right now, the ground outside is covered in white hailstones.

I hope that enlightens all you non-UK folk.

Bang

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 22:26:49 GMT

Reports of my disappearance from the interweb were greatly exaggerated.

Fansubbing has eaten my online time, and I feel like it's a worthy enough thing to be doing. Still, it has meant I haven't got around to posting on livejournal in forever.

Livejournal also annoys me these days. I miss you lot, though.

Since the last time I posted I've been to Brussels, where I ate lots of nice food on the expense account and watched Full Metal Alchemist in French. I've got back into writing after the trainwreck that was my last NaNoWriMo novel.

I hang out on IRC all the time these days as an occupational hazard. If any of you guys are ever on there, let me know where you go and maybe we could hook up. :)

~~Biased~~ Anime Recommendations:

Gundam 00 - Best Gundam EVER
Heroic Age - Offbeat mech anime
Hatenkou Yugi - Very funny fantasy story

And that about wraps it up for a quick and dirty update, aside from saying I'm off to Japan in a few days, and you can just bet I'll find all manner of daft things to post about there.

It wasn't us. We didn't do it. We were dead at the time.

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 10:21:40 GMT

When will politicians realise that George Orwell's 1984 was a warning, not an instruction manual?

- UKIP MEP Derek Clark

I think that is the most deeply wonderful quote I've heard in a long time. It really reflects my own feelings on certain issues of modern politics.

For interest, the quote was occasioned by this little controversy.

Autumn Holiday

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 07:17:13 GMT

So, Sakura and I are off on a jolly holiday today. We're going to Cornwall to enjoy relaxing times and... Cornish stuff.

If anyone needs anything, you can reach us on our mobiles. I'm hoping to have a little net access, but I won't be using it to check email or LJ or anything, so forgive my inattention.

Have a great week! See you next Saturday.

It's still raining. Huh.

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 01:23:10 GMT

So, it turns out food poisoning isn't nearly so much fun as everyone makes it out to be.

Where's the glamour? The excitement? The walk down a long red carp...

Wait, did I have it confused with something else?

I can't complain. It was mild, I guess, as these things go. I just don't remember the last time I had anything like this; it doesn't happen to me.

I did spend about half an hour semi-awake and in pain, thinking I was a Gundam pilot and someone had poisoned me, before I actually woke up properly and went to the bathroom...

I need to be unconscious again.

Mononoke is over!

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:08:47 GMT

Very bittersweet to have completed Mononoke. I was rather hanging onto the fact that, whilst the last episode was finished, there was still the high definition to watch, but it all ended up being released yesterday. (See final release post here.) It was a brilliant project, although the odd drama threatened to swamp it. I was just so excited when I found out they were giving the Medicine Seller his own series, and I was in no way disappointed.

Out with the old, in with the new. Can't really talk about the new, yet, though. None of it has emerged so far. Soon!

By the by, I just came across a guy whose name is Raul La Cruz. Any SEED veterans who find that awesome, too? (I say 'veterans' because 'fans' is rather a strong word for a series that concluded with Destiny...)

Sat, 06 Oct 2007 09:18:59 GMT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CORI!!!

You're even better than Gundam. I hope you have a really special, fun day.

Chivalrous, or stupid?

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 15:30:18 GMT

I'm such an insufferable fool.

I had a minion today who filled eight or nine large bags full of mail to be sent out to various places. Well, I thought to myself, the postman should be grateful we're paying his wages. I bet he'll whinge about the amount of bags or something. None of my business!

Then I saw the van arrive, and half of me wanted to stay out of the way and avoid any possible sour comments. Then I thought Bah! I'm not scared of a POSTMAN! and strode out into the hall anyway about my business.

The only thing was, tonight, for once, it wasn't a postman. It was a postwoman, and she was rather pretty.

"There're a lot tonight," she commented brightly.

"Yes," I agreed, then found myself adding, "would you like a hand?"

Of course she did. So, I went out in the wind and rain, ferrying heavy bags from the building to the back of her van.

Just don't tell me the age of chivalry is dead.

Trouble from the Middle East and other lunchtime occurrences

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 11:53:24 GMT

I can't win with Middle Eastern food!

I try to eat falafel and get told by an Israeli the way I'm eating them is insulting her country and culture (though I suspect, coming from zehavit_lamasu, that was quite a compliment,) and in the office I bring in houmous and my coworker gives me a very suspicious look, as if I had just casually inquired after the quality of her life insurance.

Bring on the dietary defiance, then! I will eat what I want, how I want! Avert thine eyes, native consumers of houmous and falafel! HERE COME THE KNIFE AND FORK!

Are you really supposed to use the phone unsupervised?

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 14:24:11 GMT

I just had a phonecall from a gentleman who I strongly suspect was quite mad.

The actual content of the call was effectively: "Is so-and-so there? No? I'll send him an email, then." And yet somehow it went on a risibly long time.

I suspect it was a long time, because over the course of it, my screensaver appeared.

The fellow rambled on in lengthy, unbroken sentences so garbled I could only pick out the odd word. He did pause sometimes to laugh at something he had said that he had found particularly amusing. The occasional "mm" on my part was sufficient fuel to keep him going, and when I made the mistake of asking his name I got his full career history.

I think he's on his own in the office a lot. He must be lonely. Someone should buy him a mirror.

In other news, happy birthday, Freddie! And to your great glory, I offer two shiny new subtitled episodes of Mononoke.

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please.

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 10:09:50 GMT

I have just done a very brutal friends list cull.

I have mostly taken off the journals of people who have not posted in months, or who I cannot quite recall who they are, but there is every chance that in my enthusiasm I have pruned some friends.

Basically, if you read this and can be bothered to comment, you probably should not have been removed. If you have been, let me know.

Mammoth Update

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 12:32:26 GMT

I don't update here very often, do I? I fear livejournal is losing its allure. Nonetheless, there are some things I still like to share in this forum.

I spent a refreshing few days with zehavit_lamasu recently, not having to make any serious decisions or worry about anything. It is always quite wondrous to take the bus from Bristol to Glastonbury, through the beautiful countryside with the sunshine making everything vibrant and lustrous. Just that was enough to lift my spirits considerably after too many drab, grey days of late.

zehavit_lamasu's children were also a delight, as ever. I had lots of fun playing Bionicles with Gabriel and watching him play various cool computer games. Raphael is a fabulous little fellow who can now walk and is putting the new talent to good use. Always amusing watching him pull all his parents' freshly laundered clothes out of the washing machine and onto the kitchen floor.

We went for some very pleasant walks in the summer heat and took in a few of Glastonbury's magnificent views. This time we also went to Wells and wandered around the gardens there, where Gabriel saw alien landscapes in the algae and detritus in the great ponds, and zehavit_lamasu and I saw homoeroticism in the statuary...

And lo, I was enlightened by the Books of Gor, from which we made many readings over the duration of my visit. They are quite possibly the least sexy submission fantasy books imaginable, but above all they are stupendously badly written. Take, for example, my favourite passage from one: "A Gorean man truly looks at a woman, and she knows herself looked at, truly." The author (if such a strong word can be applied to someone who rambles over a page as he did,) repeats himself over and over again, seems to believe that a liberal sprinkling of commas will hide from readers the fact that a sentence does not, in fact, make sense, and somehow does not even manage to work any sexiness (or sex, for that matter,) into books whose whole premise is an unimaginative adolescent boy's dream.

I was sorry to leave, but then as zehavit_lamasu rightfully pointed out to Gabriel, I was missing Sakura, so I was also glad to be home.

On the way home, however, I also had an interesting encounter. When I paused at an Underground gate to ask how best to get to my next destination, the guard quite blatantly came onto me in a way I've never experienced before.

Ordinarily I'm quite oblivious to people looking at me with more than friendly interest, but she invaded the hell out of my personal space to the extent that she was practically grinding against me, and looked up into my eyes as she spoke in a way that made me go quite cold and hot all at once. It was so utterly unnerving I rather had trouble finding my way to the train she had recommended. I'm far from shy, but even so...

Which, I suppose, brings me to today, and organising helicopter flights at work like it's the most natural thing in the world. I hope I'll get to go on one myself. Also, having finished Fulgrim (which was absolutely brilliant,) I have subsequently discovered that reading Anita Blake at work is not practical. Whilst Fulgrim combined just a hint of sex with a whole universe of violence, Anita Blake is quite the other way round these days, and I ended up blushingly stashing it in my bag and turning to blogging to while away the last of my lunch hour.

So there you have it. You probably wish I hadn't broken my silence now. Ah well, I'm finished.

What the?

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 12:14:10 GMT

There's something wrong with the world when your peaceful lunchtime is disturbed by a couple of rowdy accountants...

Mononoke 01

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 07:46:24 GMT

I would just like to say to all of you, if you like anime that's a bit different, give Mononoke 01 a try. That's the link to the Shinsen sub.

It tells the story of a mysterious Medicine Seller travelling from place to place in search of Mononoke (spirits) that plague the guilty and innocent alike.

If you know it, this is the continuation of the final arc of Ayakashi ~ Classic Japanese Horror (Bake Neko.) You don't need to have seen that first though as this is suitably standalone.

Honestly, I've been waiting for this since Ayakashi finished, wishing they would give the Medicine Seller his own series. Finally, they have!

Go on, download it and give it a try. ^_^

Fulgrim's Mighty Cake-Slice of Justice

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 13:36:29 GMT

Some lardy monster's only gone and had two thirds of the cake from the kitchen.

The gentleman who brought it back from holiday had a single, modest slice. Our two fair office ladies present today had a slender slice each. So somebody tell me how the entire thing is now but a distant memory.

I know I didn't get more than a fond, lingering glance at it, awaiting this afternoon when I was planning to indulge.

That leaves two possible culprits, and one claims to have had only his fair share.

Which brings us, finally, to the crux of the matter. Either a certain project manager is a greedy gutso, or this other fellow is lying to me.

Either way, I have no cake. I will find out the truth, my cake-guzzling friend, and when I do

WOE UNTO THEE.

Join my party

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 09:11:54 GMT

I have been careless indeed with my relatives lately. I've lost two of them in as many weeks. I really need to pay more attention to where I put them.

Seriously though, not so great.

But moving on - I'm having a BIRTHDAY PARTY* this weekend! On Saturday, I think the plan was. If you can make it, or need to discuss directions or lifts or whatever, drop me a text or comment. It would be great to see you there!

*Yes, by 'party' I do of course mean sitting around playing games, eating stuff... you know, the usual. Probably no drunken shennanigans.

Though we all might be better at Burnout that way...

Bad things come in a small package

Thu, 31 May 2007 13:31:39 GMT

Extracting photographs of elegant buildings entered into our architectural competition for a presentation, I was disgusted to find one of our entrants had seen fit to put their pictures on one of those horrid, pint-size CDs.

"They couldn't even be bothered to send a whole CD!" I observed in dismay, peering disdainfully at the tiny affront. "I don't expect to receive entries on media I might accidentally inhale! This isn't an entry, it's a choking hazard."

"It looks rather like a donut to me," my coworker offered with a smirk. Yes, it's true, since the boss brought in mini donuts this morning they're all I can think about. Lying there in the kitchen with their delicate frosting of sugar, the naughty little temptresses, beckoning me with their cakey siren call...

"Ugh!" I cried in distress as another diddy circlet peered up from the bottom of the envelope at me, "there are more of the nasty little things!"

It is my opinion that, if they are so mean as to deny us the simple courtesy of a full-sized CD, they should be struck from the competition.

Sadly I'm not Lord of the Competition, so I suppose I'd better get on with processing the pictures from it.

BUT I WON'T ENJOY IT.

Rosemary's Focaccia

Wed, 16 May 2007 12:00:16 GMT

Nothing ruins a nicely ostentatious lunch of focaccia with a side of good cheese faster than TOO DAMN MUCH ROSEMARY RAMPAGING ACROSS ONE PIECE OF FOCACCIA.

Grief, Sainsburys. Are you trying to kill me with HERBS?

The bitter tang of disappointment

Tue, 15 May 2007 13:44:11 GMT

Being the consummate professional I am it's good to know I form part of a crack team of similarly gifted individuals.

Consequently, you will imagine my delight on discovering that on April 1st a few years ago one of my colleagues left a message for someone informing them a Dr. Hugh Jass had called from the Institute of Materials and would like her to call back. She did. She doesn't work here any more.

Following on from these matters of professional pride in the work we do, I just forwarded an enquiry email with the following comment:

"I think you will find, as I did, the content of http://www.bathingbeauties.org.uk to be surprisingly disappointing."

For a moment there I actually I thought I might, quite legitimately, be able to gaze upon something truly interesting this afternoon. How wrong I was.

The judicious application of fire solves many problems.

Mon, 14 May 2007 12:02:02 GMT

Contemplating the efficacy of alcohol handscrubs in warding off bugs such as MRSA and C.Difficile, my colleague and I have concluded the authorities just aren't trying very hard.

"What other solution is there?" he wondered.
"Flame throwers," I suggested lightly.
"Sorry?"
"Flame throwers," I repeated, warming to the idea, "or sand blasters."
"Or just dipping people in nitric acid, yes..."

Following on from this I opened my latest delivery, containing more 40k books and a Japanese yakuza/zombie/martial arts flick, and our coworker expressed some concern about my hobbies.

"You could play it on there, couldn't you?" my previous colleague suggested gleefully, pointing at the computer.
"...I'm not putting Versus on right now," I assured him.

I don't think the secretary would ever speak to me again.

Real Cowmels of Genius

Sun, 13 May 2007 12:47:24 GMT

Today we salute you, Cow-Camel.

When you didn't bond well with your mother you didn't mope, you quickly found yourself a different role model.

Yes, charging around after four-wheeled vehicles the guy who fed you may or may not be in was quite entertaining for a while, but still there was something missing. Something within you was not yet satisfied.

And you found what you were looking for in those dangerous, long-horned cows. Yes, they could severely injure you entirely by accident. No, you do not resemble them even superficially. You don't care though, because you've decided they're your herd.

Other aspiring cowmels might have given up when concerned zoo-keepers tried to shut them in after feeding with the other camels, but not you. No. You just waited until the fat, stupid camel was holding everyone up in the doorway and slipped off to be with your real friends.

This LJ entry's for you, Cowmel. Keep shunning other members of your kind and upsetting your keepers, and more power to you.

Resplendent dream it overtook me

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 06:37:36 GMT

I've been having really exciting dreams lately.

They've taken me from warzones of the far future to last night's police chase where I was trying to get away from a crazy criminal with a vendetta who was trying to blow me up. I woke up shortly after jumping out of a window onto a roof far below, narrowly avoiding the blast, and heading back to the station in a helicopter that arrived slightly too late to actually be any help.

It's great fun and all...

but it's actually really tiring.

Can I please dream about exercise cages and polishing my armour, or getting off a few rounds on the practise range?

Please?!

Gelatinous Ninja Bunny Pirates

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 12:14:22 GMT

Summer seemed to begin when I reached Glastonbury. I had a fantastic time with zehavit_lamasu and her lovely children, alternating the admiration of her formidable library with grubbing about on the floor building a lego underground station and having Darth Vader become pouty because he wasn't invited to his subordinate's tea party...

The baby spent a lot of time trying to climb on me, particularly when I was holding hot drinks. He's an absolutely smashing little fellow, chortling to himself about some fresh amusement even when he had a cold. He was totally absorbed by the baby video zehavit_lamasu put on for him... and so was I. Swirling colours and classical music are particularly hypnotic.

We went to Chalice Well, which is always beautiful and particularly amusing this time for the presence of a Hobbit gardener, and up the Tor. (Don't believe zehavit_lamasu's account of us frightening pilgrims with talk of Space Marines. It's not true! Well okay it might be.)

I also got to enjoy the genius that is the film Hudson Hawk. I have no idea why it bombed at the cinema because I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The only trouble now is I'm still rather tired. Today I'm wandering around in a bit of a fuzz trying to remember what I'm supposed to be doing. Somehow I've managed to blunder through the majority of my work though so hopefully this afternoon it won't matter if I'm napping with my eyes open.

To conclude, I will soon be writing something concerning the adventures of the Gelatinous Ninja Bunny Pirates. I blame zehavit_lamasu's son who wanted to know what he should draw next, at which point zehavit_lamasu and I got rather carried away... He took our opinions on board, then went ahead and drew the Death Star instead.

Probably wise.

The Warmaster is mother...

Thu, 12 Apr 2007 06:37:02 GMT

How can three inches of fur make so much noise? Somehow Samsung manages to find everything in the place that will clatter if banged against other such things, or the side of the cage, and then sets about doing that all night. Mice.

In an update on the Milk Thief I must have frightened him on Tuesday when I shot a glance at the bottle he was conveying upstairs and enquired as to whether that might not, in fact, be our milk. See, yesterday he actually came into our office with a pint of it looking rather sheepish and asking if it was ours. It was theirs on this occasion. I like to think they learn though. ^_^

My mother has been tearing through the first book of the Horus Heresy at an unhealthy speed. I am now being informed by email she took her storm bolter out to deliver leaflets (is that a new euphemism for 'illuminating the masses'?) and the cooker must yield to the will of the Warmaster as it did the Emperor before him. Just in case anyone ever wonders why I'm not like other people...

As for me, I am going to fair Glastonbury tomorrow for a few days to visit zehavit_lamasu. I'm very excited. It's been three days since the last one and I need a holiday.