Because they're trying to lock us in and keep us away from The Evil Outside (TM), our dear government hasn't changed the import duties law since the seventies. That means that I cannot import anything worth more than NOK 200, which is today at around £16. NOK 200 was quite a lot 30 years ago, but nowadays that gives me barely anything. Books are excempt from this law, but everything else isn't. If I choose to import anything on my own anyway, it'll have to be checked and processed by the customs for a week or two (!!!) and then I have to pay them about 40-50% of the total price (including postage, for some twisted reason) for duty tax and additional charges (for doing their job; I thought I already paid them through taxes). No wonder we're so filthy rich; half of what this country earns comes from duties and charges, it seems.

Current track: Nothing.

Labels: current affairs, Norway, online shopping

Feels like...late September. I'm waiting for them to turn the central heating on. It's raining cats and dogs. Hngh.

Speaking of dogs...a man was fined NOK 5,000 (about £400) for putting a puppy out in the forest to die. After a day a passer-by noticed the shocked little creature and brought it to a vet. It has now been taken care of by a dog-handler and will need some therapy. Our first dog was repossessed by his breeder because the new owner mistreated him. We had to deal with his problems for years and he never quite liked being left alone in a room with all the doors closed. Another one of our dogs was scared by some children playing with firecrackers (which are illegal here, by the way) and after that he went ballistic whenever there were fireworks around or even thunder. The children are now grown up and so there's no reason why I shouldn't hit them really hard for a long time. Yet another one of our dogs was scared by children throwing pebbles on him and hates children after that (not that I blame him; I'm not particularly fond of children, myself, because they're devious creatures (I should know, I used to be one *winks*)). The fine imposed on the previously mentioned man is the first one ever given out for putting out a pet to die in Norway, and I'm thinking "that's not quite enough." People mistreating and/or mishandling animals are the lowest of the low. And I'm not at all political correct about this. My feelings are they should be punished really hard, and after reading a lot of history (for fun) I have collected a few of my favourite little treats for them:

First, they should have all their nails removed, slowly. Then they should be electrocuted, preferably in the private bits. Then they should be hanged by their eyelids and forced into blinking. If they fall unconscious at any point, the treatment will continue as soon as they wake up. Finally, they should be put in prison for five years and all the inmates should be told they're a child molester - that should give them a good time.

And when I'm not this violent, I'm rather nice.

Current track: Something off the telly.

Labels: animals, current affairs

The Home Edition - I started watching this about two months ago and I must say that as long as you get through the first 2/3 of the show, which is pure soap opera, it's definitely worth it because of the amazing result and how the families react. I'm green with envy and tell myself "I could do that...with a huge budget and 100 handymen". I just wish the American shows would cut the constant previews, though. Leaves hardly any of the suspense when you're getting told, all through the show, what's going to happen next. I understand that in a world ruled by the number of viewers a show has this is important to keep the obviously too hyper-zapping audience watching even after the (too many) commercial breaks, but it is getting very tedious. I remember giving up on watching telly in NYC because of the frequent breaks; I felt stressed after watching when I was supposed to feel relaxed. Unfortunately some of our channels are picking up on this and are increasing their number of commercial breaks as well. Luckily I usually already own the films they show on DVD, so if I put it on at the same time as the channel starts it, I'm done watching the film up to 30 minutes ahead of the channel. That's 30 minutes I can spend doing other things.

Another extreme makeover I'm hoping to see soon, is the change of American presidents. I know it's much easier to be the opposing party than the ruling one, but I think Bush has made more mess of the situation than I consider acceptable. And once again I would like to stress that every American's vote (that is, those that can be bothered to get their lazy arse out of the sofa and actually find a voting booth, instead of sitting comfortably in their own home, swearing at the telly and saying "it's no use, the politicians won't change anyway" - well, they won't unless you actually vote) is not only a vote for themselves but also for a citizen of The Greater Unknown (AKA The Rest of the World). Because, unfortunately, whomever you elect for President will have a huge impact on our world as well. Unless the US finally decide to lock themselves in, of course, and saying "good-bye, we're outta here", putting everyone on a gigantic spaceship and going to Mars to colonise a new planet. ;-)

Seriously, though, I heard that there are no less than 36 million Americans living in poverty - an increase since Bush took over as President. Time someone gave them some help, don't you think? Now, I'm not going to pretend I live in the world's best country - even though I do, according to the UN, but that just goes to show how much there is to be done, because we've got a lot of problems here as well - but I just don't get it; what's happening to the US, this great nation we've all been looking up to for so long? The country that has no doubt brought an incredible amount of beneficial research, medicines and technology to the world. Great art and entertainment you have given us for many decades, and even though some of your athletes have turned out to be cheaters you have presented us with some great sportsmanship over the years. Oh, and thanks for bringing us McDonald's and Coca-Cola; thanks a bleedin' lot for making us obese as well. *winks* I'm just wondering what on earth happened. The Americans I have met, both here and on my (few) travels, have been nothing but kind, sincere, curious and fun, but for some reason our general impression of the American has changed during these past two decades - The Typical American is looked upon as greedy, full of himself, paranoid, boasting, nationalistic (as opposed to just patriotic), right out stupid (much thanks to Jerry Springer and Ricki Lake, I might add) and with no sense of humour. Oh, and obsessed with plastic and everything that glitters, but that's acceptable. (Especially considering "glitter" comes from old Norse *laughs*) The TV shows you export (i.e. most of them, it seems) do nothing to change this impression, but of course the people you've chosen to lead you and your country are also to blame for this. I wish I knew what the reason for this change is, because I don't like turning into someone who is highly skeptical of everything the US does. It's turned into a farce - whenever the newsreader starts a sentence with "In the US today..." we all roll our eyes and say "what have they done now?" - it's gone automatic.

Help.

Current track: Dave Gahan - Dirty Sticky Floor

Labels: current affairs, TV

There's something to be proud of. Congratulations to Gunn-Rita Dahle (gold, mountain biking), Eirik Verås Larsen (one gold, one bronze in a little over an hour, kayak), Andreas Thorkildsen (surprising gold, javelin), Siren Sundby (gold, sailing, even after having been disqualified in one of the heats) and Olaf Tufte (gold, single sculler (rowing)). We got more medals the last time around but we haven't got as many gold medals as this in 80 years. I'm impressed. Now, give me the winter olympics... ;-)

Current track: Still nothing.

Labels: Norway, sport

I'm so looking forward to The Sims 2 - I'm almost going to burst. I've been waiting for it for years and now it's just a few weeks away.

Current track: Nothing.

Labels: gaming

Really, George, this is sort of worsening the relationship between Norway and the US. Not that you care. (This photo has been fiddled with by Kjetil Bjønnes and stolen from NRK.)

Also, I have just done something very weird; I bought The Half Brother, written by one of my favourite authors, Lars Saabye Christensen (whom I went past earlier this week), in English. Hey, it was cheaper. :-)

Speaking of seeing celebrities, two weeks ago I went to a wedding (not that I do that very often, the last wedding I went to was...never) in a small town about an hour south of here, not expecting to see anyone but the wedding guests. Well, the minute we got to the hotel we spotted three well-known comedians sitting on the terrace. *shakes her head* I swear they're all following me; it's like I've got a trail of groupies behind me wherever I go. Anyway, turned out there was this comedy variety festival nearby that weekend, and the three comedians in question (of whom one is a favourite of mine, Linn Skåber, she's really funny) were part of the jury for the festival competition. Later in the evening, as I was standing outside chatting with the bride (who looked lovely, by the way), the King of Norwegian Variety (at least back in the eighties) came out and wanted to congratulate the bride. At this point I was starting to consider having bodyguards with me. ;-)

Current track: Jonathan Ross

Labels: humour, literature, name-dropping, party, personal

My current favourite wallpaper.

Two Olympic gold medals today, neither of them was mine, but I'll mention them anyway. Yeah!

Current track: The news.

Labels: comedy, Norway, sport

Went to study at the university library today before eating dinner at the cafeteria for the first time ever - the place hadn't changed too much and the food tasted fine (and it was cheap so I would say it was a very good choice). A good time was had by all, i.e. me.

Another crazy man on the tube. I have started noticing him lately; this guy is about 55 years old and clearly an old hippie. He looks very much like Nicholas Hope (of Bad Boy Bubby fame and currently residing* in Norway, poor man) (*could be wrong on this, I base it on an interview done earlier this year) and he is paranoid, probably with a conspiracy theory, as he is constantly holding a leaflet in front of his face as soon as there is a possibility of any cameras being around. He must be in a state of constant fright these days, as "everyone" has mobile phones with built-in cameras.

Current track: The theme for Ghosthunter, which, incidentally, I shall be playing in just about two minutes.

Labels: personal, studies

I just wish they'd got a grip before it was too late.

This is Herborg Kråkevik, probably our least talented and most hyped actor. I just don't understand what her three fans see in her.

Current track: Aretha Franklin - Respect

Labels: theatre

I'm one of those people who look forward to a certain film for months (years, even), then when it finally arrives I can't seem to find the time to actually watch it. It's been Dawn of the Dead for months now. I probably won't see it. I'm looking forward to The Terminal - which I probably WILL see, but only at the last minute. Furthermore, I subscribe to five very expensive film channels, but even though I watch about ten films per week they're hardly ever being watched on either of those. Strange.

Current track: The buzzing from my printer. Which, technically, isn't very musical.

Labels: film

I live in a city where this nation's worst drivers gather every day in order to annoy everyone else with their driving. As a pedestrian without a driving license I have heard too many times that I'm not allowed to criticise drivers. Well, I'm going to ignore that a little longer. As a pedestrian, you see, my life is at stake every single day and I have a feeling I should be allowed to say something about that. First of all: There are rules and regulations. You're not God, so please follow them. You're not any better than everyone else at driving, so get over it. You'll have to obey the rules. The speed limit is there for a reason. Don't give me that stupid reason for your speeding: "Traffic has to run smoothly, so if everyone else is driving faster than the limit, so do I." If you're running that late, start earlier. I think that in the great battle between Being-On-Time-For-Work and Not-Killing-Anyone-Today the latter should win. Every time. Many of you seem to have got your license through a raffle. It's a privilege to be allowed to drive, not a right. Behave.

As for routine checks by the traffic police: You're not supposed to be sober when driving in case the police are out. How messed up are you if you instantly think like that? You're supposed to stay sober because you have a huge responsibility the second you sit down behind the steering wheel; a responsibility that extends to far beyond your car and yourself. This goes for braking just as you spot a speeding monitor and then speeding again as your drive past it as well, you moron. Behave.

Current track: Nothing.

Labels: Norway, personal

Computer mouse, that is. Logitech has made a cordless laser mouse, the MX1000 and it's looking good!!!

Current track: Nothing.

Labels: computers, technology

Seems like that's where I'm spending my time these days. I have noticed a few things: Manhunt is selling like hotcakes. This is only because it has been banned and acne-ridden teenaged boys think it's "cool" to have it in their collection. Well, it's not. It's rubbish, that's what it is. Secondly, some people just haven't learned to shop online yet. They're bidding on certain games that are less expensive on, for instance, Play.com. And last, but not least, to all the UK sellers: If you would click the "will ship worldwide" button instead of just "UK only", you'd get a lot more bids. Just a free tip from me.

Current track: Still nothing.

Labels: gaming, online shopping

We took our second gold medal today! Let's be fair, only one person should get the credit for this one, and that is the gold medalist herself, Siren Sundby. The event was the single-handed dinghy and in this final heat she had to finish better than number 21 and not be disqualified. I bet she was having a field day out there in the Mediterranean! Congrats!

Current track: Nothing.

Labels: Norway, sport

We just allowed the ever so controversial leader of Pakistan's biggest political party (when are we going to learn religion and politics don't mix???) into the country and he is currently speaking at the Islamic Centre in downtown Oslo. That means we let him into the Schengen area (not the actual area, though, which is much further south) even though he's on the Schengen list. It's a tricky situation. There's something called freedom of speech which allows people to say what they want and form their own opinions without anyone stopping them. This is supposed to be a good thing. Let's just hope his visit doesn't stir up any trouble among the fanatics.

Current track: Nothing.

Labels: current affairs

Preferably unharmed:






Thanks to imbeciles we're two paintings short. Please contact the authorities if you have any idea about where they may be hiding. We'll send a lynching party if the paintings turn out to be damaged in any way.

Current track: Nothing.

Labels: art, current affairs, Norway

This is unbelievable. A brother and sister somewhere in Germany meet for the first time and fall in love. This...I don't care too much about. OK, so it's a taboo and it's therefore yucky and I'd never even consider doing anything like this myself, but as long as everyone involved consents and no one or anything else is hurt in any way I'm pretty much for everyone to do as they please. I would, however, stress that bringing no less than three children, of which two are proven to have suffered brain damage, into this world because they're so f**ked up they can't even use a condom, is outrageous. What is more outrageous is that the government hasn't done anything about it. Sure, they've sent him away to prison for a while, but they haven't been kept from each other. Doing this clearly shows that they're not fit for taking care of neither a child nor themselves and society has some responsibility in this issue - let's keep them away from each other, shall we? Jeez...

Current track: The theme from SSX Tricky

Labels: current affairs

Yes, I totally forgot to celebrate our first Olympic gold medal this year, single sculler I think it was. Yay. Perhaps we will have another one tomorrow, this time in one of the sailing events. Other than that, I really couldn't care less about the Olympics. To me it's become a farce; the lack of sportsmanship in too many athletes makes me less than mildly impressed. Using illegal drugs is too low-life for me to stomach. I fart in their general direction. I do follow the German (female) football team, though; have been following them since '96, and I just discovered seven of the current players were playing back then as well. :-) Found myself cheering for Nigeria the other night, until I realised I was just cheering for anyone who'd score a goal. ;-)

Another gold; I just won the lottery! Woo-hoo! I'm rich! Well, not quite. I got five out of seven numbers right, and that leaves me with the total amount of...a little more than what I gave for the five-week lottery ticket. LOL! But hey, I've never won before, so it was a thrill.

Current track: Pixies - Where is My Mind

Labels: Norway, personal, sport

This is what the main square at the University of Oslo looks like at nine on a Saturday morning. At least it did today. (The litter is there due to the ongoing student festival; obviously quite a party there last night.) Stopped by the library to read for a few hours, then went back to find a few parcels in the post (some Playstation games). I got a book one and a half weeks ago that I just couldn't get out of the postbox, so when I finally got hold of the postman earlier this week - through the art of notewriting - I thought my troubles were solved. But alas; the parcel is now gone and there's no pickup slip or anything, so god only knows where the book went. Too bad I sort of need it rather badly for my studies. Twatty postman.

Back to playing Dynasty Tactics 2.

Current track: The intro theme for the aforementioned game.

Labels: personal, studies

Certainly felt like it, yesterday, as I travelled up to campus in order to buy some books and read some other books. I was back! With a vengeance! Well, nearly. Haven't been there (as a student) for years, so it felt good. Guess I must have lacked something in my life these past few years.

Noticed that the students have changed since I went there. Naturally, they're not the same people, duh, but when I began studying at the uni there were lots more hippie wannabe's there. Nowadays they're much more yuppie wannabe's, with their fancy clothes and mobiles and laptops. Of course, being a student doesn't necessarily mean you're a socialist bordering on communism, like in the sixties and seventies, but I was surprised to see the drastic change that's happened during the last eight years.

In other (related) news, I may have finally found something I actually thoroughly enjoy studying.

Current track: Nothing; the boss is a madman and doesn't want us to listen to the radio all of a sudden. Perhaps he's afraid we might hear of his escape from the mental hospital on the news or something.

Labels: linguistics, personal, studies

Obviously. Our Minister of Culture, better known as Mrs. Disliked-by-almost-everyone, has decided that Norway needs to focus more on making computer games. We've got a couple of companies making less than ten games a year (altogether), and they're already given grants by the government for making those games. Apparently she has realised that since the gaming industry earned more money than the film industry last year (here, anyway), there's an increasing demand for computer games among the consumers. And being a so-called "Christian Democrat" she wants to see wholesome, good, clean fun in the shelves, things that children can learn from. I quite agree with her that we need more titles like that, it's just that those titles seldom sell that much. :-( Anyway, Funcom, the company behind two international bestsellers called The Longest Journey (for which I'm looking for the original, Norwegian version, in case anyone has a copy they'd like to get rid of) and Anarchy Online, are going to release Dreamfall very soon and it's one of those action adventure games you get nowadays (whatever happened to the good, old Sierra On-line and Lucasarts games? Argh.) Lots of puzzles and good graphics. Hopefully another bestseller. That way we can make even better games.

Current track: Nothing

Labels: current affairs, gaming, Norway

After a couple of weeks of hot weather, of which these past four days were spent being near-adhesive in the office because my boss is too cheap to install air-condition and instead leaves the office when it becomes hot (the temperature has been around 32 degrees centrigades (that's 90 F) in the office), last night's thunderstorm fixed all that and has now left us with much more normal weather. Which of course ruins all my plans for tomorrow's clothing - I'm going to a wedding and have bought some new clothes but they're depending on hot weather. Blech. Why does everything have to be so difficult?

Current track: Glenmark/Eriksson/Strömstedt - Jag är en jävel på kärlek

Labels: personal

Six-year-old Irja had a fright when a thunderstorm was raging around the family at their boat trip. She took off and the owner thought he'd never see her again, as they were moored a very long way away from their hometown. But Irja knew how to get home - she took the ferry. She got off at the first stop and then got back on. The ferryman thought she was with someone (so she didn't have to pay). Eventually she found her way back home.

Then, yesterday, a moose calf broke into a grocery store at Hernes, Elverum (about two hours north of here). Unfortunately they'll probably find it dead somewhere, having bled to death, but for once I don't think I can find any humans on which to blame this. Well, unless you count the ones that built the store, then. ;-)

Current track: Nothing.

Labels: animals

Wrongfully convicted man set free after more than 40 years in prison. What if, you know? Anyway, the death penalty is just as worse as murdering someone; sentencing someone to die puts you on the same level as the convicted, and the whole point about the legal system is that the criminal is tried by (reasonably) sane, law-abiding citizens, not some other criminals. I know very well that emotions may lead us to say "he deserves to be hanged", but that is not up to us to decide, anyway. Hatred is much too easy a trap to fall into and sometimes one has to struggle in order to get out of there, but in order for the civilised society to continue we can't fall into these traps time and time again as it makes us just as bad as the offenders in question. I'm sure they'll come back as sewage rats or something when they're reborn; there's a bit of comfort in that. ;-)

Current track: Basement Jaxx - Tonight

Labels: current affairs

The film was remarkably good! Perhaps I should tell you which film it was; Norwegians would have heard of it, because it's Norwegian, but don't expect to see it on any non-Norwegian shelves anytime soon! I think our biggest success in the last ten years has been Elling - a little gem that actually got Oscar-nominated last year, and I would recommend it wholeheartedly. I went around thinking I'd hate it for about a year, before watching it on telly and thinking "they were right, all those tens of thousands of people going several times to the cinema to see this!" Ahem. Back to today's film, Salto, salmiakk og kaffe (I finally got the "salto" (somersault) reference! Cor, sometimes I'm so thick.) - the whole title translates (a bit roughly) to "Somersault, Cleaner and Coffee" and I'm pretty sure that's not the English title they'll give it. ;-) I've been looking forward to that film since...February 25, I'd say. It was well worth the wait. There were quite a few chuckles and belly-laughs throughout the film, but in between the pace slowed down and the comedy went into drama and even tragedy before going back. At one point there I was thinking the director may have seen Requiem for a Dream; the cinematography and music AND theme all reminded me of that one. Dialogue was kind of iffy at certain points, but that was mainly on the young actors' part and we all know there's much room for improvement when it comes to children. All in all I was having a good time; didn't even look at my watch during the screening! Looking forward to seeing all ten of the films director Mona J. Hoel is going to make based on the characters from this film.

Now, about the crazy man on the tube. Not sure what was wrong with him, but I caught a glimpse of him just as he was shaking his head furiously while biting his fist and making a hissing sound and I had great difficulties trying to stay serious after that. Apparently he was just having a brief fit because he was more normal the rest of the trip (there was the occasional omitting of that hissing sound, though.) What nearly cracked me up, though, was the look on the face of the girl sitting next to him; as I caught her eye she had this desperate look, I could almost hear her whispering "help..." as she was sitting there wedged between the crazy guy and her friend. Poor girl. How come I attract all these weird people, I'm wondering? Could it be...I'm one of them? And they're kind of...smelling their way towards where I'm situated? Mind you, it was rather hot out today (still is) so they may have just smelt my natural reaction to the heat. ;-)

Current track: Venke Knutson - Kiss

Labels: film, humour, personal

This heat is...dreadful. I'm off to buy some clothes for Saturday's wedding (not mine...I probably would have told you sooner if that were the case) and then, when I've worked up a real sweat, I'm going to sit down in the airconditioned cinema and see this film I've been waiting for for months, probably stinking enough to scare the others away. That way I'll have the whole place to myself and I can really enjoy the film. :D (No naughty thoughts!)

Current track: Rammstein - Mutter

Labels: personal

I found this link to a site filled with photos of postcards on which pictures of Swedish "popular music" groups from the 70's are present. It's hilarious. They actually wore these outfits. The music, however...is even worse. ;-) Don't mind the Swedish text on the page, it's the photos that are important.

Current track: Renegade Soundwave - Liquid Up

Labels: humour

There is this difference in release dates when it comes to films and games that really bothers me. Films are usually "tested" in their country of origin before being released in any other country. As most of the films landing in our cinemas come from the US, we're used to having to wait for quite some time before they're shown here. This has got a bit better in recent years; some of the films have even had their world premiére here before the US, but there's still quite a gap between release dates on many films. It's the same with computer and video games. American-made games are released in Europe up to half a year later. Why? Because they have to be translated (and some minor trouble with the local worker's unions ;-).) I have a suggestion. Up here where I live we're a bunch of eager Norwegians with a good enough knowledge of English for us to understand any game and film you throw at us. Really. Hardly any games get translated here, this is for the Germans, French, Spanish and Italians who for some reason refuse to learn English or something. From what I hear, an increasing number of younger-generation French and Germans (at least) are getting quite annoyed with this, including the bit where they dub most films. So why don't you just make your games and release the usual English version at the same time around the world; then those who still don't know any English could wait the usual amount of time while the rest of us can enjoy a great (?) game at the same time as the Americans do. I'm so tired of hearing about how great a game is when I still have to wait for many months before I'll be able to check it out myself. Argh. Electronic Arts have realised that unless they release The Sims 2 at the same time in the US and Europe there will be riots in the streets. They lost a lot of money on their Sims Online game because they let Europeans beta test the game for weeks and months before the release and then decided to wait with the European release for another few months. The Euro players were furious. Once again the Americans would be able to build their little empires for a long time before unleashing the Europeans, making it a lot harder for us to enjoy the community. A lot of us grew impatient and went for other games instead, never to return to the Sims Online community which could have been so great. The impatience grows in us every day, though, and let's face it, many Europeans download films and games from the 'Net because they're tired of waiting. I think the manufacturers and producers are shooting themselves in the foot here. Yes, of course a lot of people would still download things from the Internet, just look at the popularity of certain P2P (filesharing) programs, but not such a vast number of people like now.

Now, about the region system on DVD's...

Current track: José Gonzalez - Stay in the Shade

Labels: computers, film, gaming, linguistics, Norway

I've been really lazy these past two weeks, just relaxing, almost lying flat out in the chair in front of the telly. *feeling slightly ashamed* Spent most of today playing Final Fantasy X - I swear, if that guy Titus keeps saying "Huh?" much longer I will turn violent. The battle system is rather nifty, so I like the game in that sense, but I doubt it very much that this game has any replay value. The strictly linear storyline is driving me crazy. I'm not a hardcore roleplayer, as I can't say I'm an expert on D&D, for instance, but I like my RPG's to be much more complicated than this. Oh, well. It's a nice enough game to have me hooked for days on end.

In other news; started watching Ted and Alice tonight; repeat on BBC Prime. Missed the first episode, but thanks to the resume and my superior intelligence (joking, of course) I got into the story straight away. I like Dawn French a lot, and then there's Stephen Tompkinson whom I associate first and foremost with the brilliant series Ballykissangel, and finally Peter Serafinowicz has a part in the show, so I enjoyed it immensely. Owen Teale was quite good, too. Bit of a leap from playing Dr. Roland Freisler in Conspiracy, which I watched for the second time last week. (Speaking of Teale, when will we ever be allowed to see The Search for John Gissing? Considering all the crap they put on video and DVD these days I don't see why this little film should be left out of the market. /sidetrack) Thank Bob for BBC Prime and our many years of importing BBC series. Where would I have been without them?

Current track: ABBA - SOS

Labels: comedy, film, gaming, holiday, peter serafinowicz, TV

Or even better, an English language course. Yep, he did it again. More on the newest addition to the world of Bushisms here. (On CNN! Wow!)

Current track: Nothing right now.

Labels: current affairs, humour

Tropical night ahead...barely. Not very keen on that kind of weather, but what can you do?

Well, I chose to buy Final Fantasy X for my PS2 console earlier today and have been playing it ever since. Apart from some telly-watching, that is. Of course, if it hadn't been for the extremely long story sequences I could have got much further in the game by now. At one point I was so sick and tired of waiting for any action to begin that I loaded Spellforce on my computer instead, bringing my dearly beloved Felyon (I bet you there really is someone out there called just that) back to fight evil skeleton marauders and soulthieves. Instant action, yay!

My favourite episode of Inspector Morse was on tonight. Actually, it's the only episode I've enjoyed watching, number 32, called The Wench is Dead, and only because Philip Quast is in it for about four minutes altogether. I can't believe I actually watched half of the episode tonight when I've already got in on DVD. *shakes her head*

Perhaps it's the heat.

Current track: Nothing, that would wake up the neighbours. Oh, wait, that would be a good idea!

Labels: gaming, philip quast, TV

I've decided to pay more attention to comments left by this blog's readers; there's no easy way to check the comments, so I've got to manually check it. This way some of the older comments may not be answered. :-(

Other than that, I'm trying to post something every day, but some days I actually don't turn on the computer. I know, it's a disgrace. It's usually on all the time, though, at least as long as I'm at home.

Current track: Commercials on the telly.

Labels: personal

I returned on Friday, actually, but then I had lots to do (AKA "watching telly") and then on Saturday I got lots more to do (AKA "bought a Playstation 2 console and played with it for days") so I couldn't post this until now. You believe me, right?

The flight was uneventful, really, apart from the nice chat I had with one of the girls I was visiting (she was returning from her holiday and so we travelled together.) The only pictures I took were of their new flat and of the beach not far from their house; here are the latter:











Oh, and that's the North Sea, by the way. If you look far enough, you can see England. *winks*

We mostly did nothing; I got a cold on my second day there so all I wanted to do was stay indoors and eat lots of Strepsil etc. A few of their friends came to visit and we had a lovely time just chatting for hours upon hours. Watched a couple of films. Played some Playstation (that's why I needed to buy one for myself.) All in all a very nice holiday. Apart from the fact that due to my headcold I had a terrible time flying home, or rather the landing part - I kept saying to myself "the eardrums won't burst, they just won't," all the while I was steadfastly losing my hearing. My ears finally popped a few hours ago. Phew!

Something made me miss "my guys" from La Cage aux Folles (the French films, that is - must get over the stage show soon) but now that I'm home I haven't watched any of the films again, so I couldn't have missed them that badly. I'm also determined to watch all my Eddie Izzard material this week (that's six shows and a couple of one-offs (acts in benefit shows, mostly, some TV programmes as well) AND I'd like to watch all my Have I Got News for You clips (I'm guessing that'll take another six or seven hours.) Get back to me on Sunday to check how much I've actually seen by then.

Current track: Still going to put on that Depeche Mode CD

Labels: comedy, film, holiday

Once again Brad Pitt has been voted the world's sexiest man and I'm thinking the people in charge of the nomination process clearly know nothing of the rest of the world. I'm so tired of reading headlines about all the latest gossip from Hollywood - most of it isn't true anyway - it's like there's nothing outside of the American (and, partly, the British) world of entertainment. Wake up!

Current track: Going to put on some Depeche Mode now.

Labels: film