Saturday, October 30, 2004


Joe flying a kite at Great Yarmouth - look at the size of those props! Posted by Hello

Firefox and Shatner

Firefox rocks! I am moving to using this browser full-time, it is excellent - fast, efficient, and more attractive than IE, with built-in Google search, the ability to add new search engines, tabbed browsing, and lots more. I don't know if it's using Firefox or something else, but my laptop seems to be working like a dream at the moment, which almost makes up for all the blue screens I've had lately.

I also just bought the latest William Shatner album, produced by Ben Folds, and it is a work of genius. Shatner can take the piss out of himself, but also writes some touching lyrics, and with the music of Ben Folds, it's a great piece of work.

One week left at LU. Five days, two of which at least are likely to be started with thumping hangovers after my leaving do on Wednesday and another on Thursday... ah well, I'll have all the time in the world to kip from next weekend. I'm not rubbing that in at all but, well, OK, I am.

Friday, October 29, 2004

Chavtastic

  • What do you call a Chav in a box? Innit.
  • What do you call a Chav in a filing cabinet? Sorted.
  • What do you call a Chav in a locked room? Safe.
  • What do you call an Eskimo Chav? Innuinnit.
  • What do you call a Chav in a white tracksuit? The bride.
  • If two chavs are in a car and no music is playing, who's driving? The policeman.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Legendary radio DJ John Peel dies

This is such sad news, what a shock! He apparently died of a heart attack while having the holiday of a lifetime with his wife in Peru. John Peel was a fantastic presenter, so funny, while maintaining the deadpan expression and tone of a curmudgeonly old uncle. Home Truths was fantastic, and Peel was about the only reason I would tune in to Radio 1 any more.

Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Booked it!

Give it a woo, and a yay, and a seriously loud COME ON!! I've bought my ticket!

The itinerary is this:
  • London to Mumbai
  • Mumbai overland to Delhi (while in India I'll be volunteering with Aidcamps, seeing Rach in Chennai, and checking out Kerala, Goa, Agra and Varanasi)
  • Delhi to Hong Kong (from here I'll be jetting up to Shanghai to see the Babes)
  • Hong Kong to Bangkok (here I'll check out Thailand and get a flight up to Hanoi)
  • Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to Sydney (Sydney to see Anna and Prue, and check out Oz)
  • Sydney to Christchurch (overland up New Zealand from here to Auckland, maybe on the Magic Bus?)
  • Auckland to Papeete (Tahiti baby!)
  • Papeete to Easter Island (to check out those big freaky statues and eat some choccy eggs)
  • Easter Island to Santiago (to eat some chile in Chile!)
  • Santiago to Lima (Peru is where Paddington Bear came from so I'm looking for bears, and I also hope to do the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, see the Nazca Lines and maybe on into Bolivia)
  • Lima to Quito (Ecuador's capital)
  • Quito to Miami (bienvenido a Miami!)
  • Miami to New York (start spreadin' the news....)
  • New York to London!

Sunday, October 10, 2004

Four weeks to go...

There's four weeks to go at LU now - not long given that I'm only there for three days a week. After such a long time of feeling stressed out and bogged down by the job, I'm finally enjoying myself again - partly because the end is in sight. It's nice to think that, for the first time in a while, I should be able to leave the job happy and on good terms... but then I do have four weeks to go, so I could still cock it all up.

It's now time to start panicking about something else though - the itinerary I had in mind for the RTW trip is looking increasingly unfeasible, having tried a few online route planners, and having looked at the hubs used by the airlines I'd likely use. As an example, I chose to visit Bratislava and then move on to Istanbul and India, but in order to get to India from Istanbul, the Star Alliance round the world route planning software I was using suggested I had to go all the way back to Frankfurt from Istanbul just to get to India! I'm sure this isn't necessary and assume I can go through Abu Dhabi to get to India, but will need to speak to someone at Trailfinders. I've left getting the ticket for far too long and just need to get the stupid thing, quit fannying about. As for the vaccinations, that's another to-do on the list I can't leave any longer.

Still, at least I have a target to aim for - on 30 January 2005 I start two weeks volunteer work with Aidcamps in Pettai, Tamil Nadu. I have high hopes for the trip - that it is worthwhile, fun, challenging, rewarding, a good induction to India. We'll have to see.

Doggles! Posted by Hello

Saturday, October 09, 2004

Music and curiosities

This is a fantastic place to go for MP3 downloads - one of many MP3 sites I'm discovering on the web... This is also an interesting toy to play with, presenting any web site's Google results along with the sites that link to it in a kind of map arrangement...