simon clauson

Untitled

2010-12-12T21:04:00.001Z

In the middle of summer when I decided I no longer wanted to work at the pub I was at in Fulham and wanted to branch out a bit; I had no idea this is where I was going to end up.

Now, I work in a busy pub in London's West End just off of Soho. I'm currently in the process of being trained up as a Supervisor with possibilities of even further promotion.

This week I could end up throwing all of that away because of one principle -- and I'm not sure what to do.

In all my jobs I've had in the past I have never taken any time off for myself unless forced to. Some call that being a workaholic, I call it passion.

Two weeks ago I asked my manager for some time off, mainly because I'd been working 50+ hours a week; but more because the whole time I'd been working I'd missed, not only my sister's entire pregancy (possibly a blessing in disguise if I'm honest) but also the birth of my first niece.

However, management have now said that my request may not be possible because someone else booked theirs a few months before me -- which is fair enough. What I don't understand though: is why I was told when I booked the time off that it was OK and not that someone else had already asked for the same time period off.

The whole time I've been with the company I've just felt like certain advantages have been taken out of me and that I'm being used. It's very disheartening and makes me feel like a complete sucker.

I've sought advice from lots of different people about what my next move should be with a varied mixture of opinions -- one of which being incredibly illegal (I wouldn't know the first place to get a nuclear bomb, anyway...) but some being quite wise thoughts. I know I can't leave two weeks before Christmas, that would be madness. The flip side being, though, I can't stand to be there anymore at the moment -- I honestly believe it's corroding my brain...

I guess I'll just have to ride this week out and see what the result is come the end.

Posted via email from pieman's posterous

Who did you vote for?

2010-05-07T01:23:00.001+01:00

Today was a huge milestone in the history of my life.

It marked the first time I actually voted in an election. I'm not going to lie: it was an experience.

However, while in the pub watching the exit polls on the TV I got talking to someone who was moaning about a certain party being on top. Politely I asked him if he'd voted and who he voted for (adding that he didn't have to tell me if he wanted to keep it a secret).

He told me that he hadn't voted because he didn't believe in it.

We then got into a mild disagreement (read: me laying into him) because, quite simply, I felt that as he'd not voted and was complaining that said party was taking the lead he wasn't entitled to feel the way he did. He'd been given the chance to have a voice and totally wasted it. I told him so and walked away from him.

I do hope I was actually in the right...

Posted via web from pieman's posterous

Festivals

2008-07-17T09:03:00.000+01:00

Glastonbury has just gone, Glade starts tomorrow as does Lattitude. What am I doing all "summer"? Working a part-time job for next to nothing sitting around writing blogs that aren't read by anyone.

~~I feel kinda sorry for myself (something I do a lot) but at the end of the day we all choose the path we take.~~

What a crock.

The only thing I have to look forward to this year, festival-wise, is the One Love Festival (15th-17th August) which I still need to get a ticket for.

Is it strange that all I want to do this year is get drunk on Cider and sit in the mud?

I should really buy that ticket...

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

2008-07-17T00:39:00.004+01:00

I was going to use a Google image search for something to go with this post, but all I could find was a guy trying to shove a Lemon up his backside...

I've been trying recently to put my finger on some of my favourite things/things I am obsessed with in my life.

I really suck at analysing myself but thought I'd give it a go anyway. See if you can spot how many of them are web based as well.

They are, in no particular order:

Twitter
Totally obsessed with Twitter. Been using it for over a year and can not leave it alone. There are days when I have nothing worth saying (and days I do I normally just spout a load of shit) but I still check it to see what the people I'm following are up to.

It's an excellent utility that a lot of celebrities are on to now, including Gordon Brown (well, his web management team at least).

I also use it to send out updates whenever I make a new blog post.

By the way, following me?

Tea
I start and end my day with a cup of Tea, as well has having many during the course of the day, too.
I also have an obsession with Chai (which I think can fall under this category as well).

BBC News 24
Often when I'm sitting at home doing nothing except sitting on the computer or reading I'll have BBC News 24 on the TV in the background on mute; so if I get bored of what I'm looking at I can turn round and see what's going on around the world.

Facebook
I'm not even going to go into this, just read the post I made about it.

Last.fm
I love it, not as much as Facebook, but I love it.

Guinness
It's the most beautiful drink in the world.
I have Guinness T-Shirts, socks, posters, squeezy balls, coasters and St. Patricks Day hats.

There are probably a thousand more things I could add to this list (like shoes, shopping, films, Star Trek etc); but there's only so much I can talk about 'me' without driving myself mad.

(yes I did just post this for the sake of posting a blog, sue me.)

Retro Gaming

2008-07-16T13:17:00.000+01:00

One of the best games consoles I had as a kid was the Nintendo64. It was fast, it was sturdy and it had some of the best games ever released.

Like a lot of people I got mine for the sole purpose of playing Goldeneye 007; which, to this day, remains my #1 favourite Computer Game.

It is the only first person shooter worth mentioning in the history of first person shooters. It stays true to the story (despite the Silo level), brilliant graphics (for its time) and an unrivalled Multiplayer mode.

But, this isn't a review of an eleven year old game.

I was bored on my day off the other day and decided to browse through eBay looking for junk to buy that I didn't really need (as you do) and something sparked in my head that made me go looking for N64 Systems -- just to see how much they were going for these days.

I was very impressed to find they are very reasonably priced; the best one I saw being the console in its box, plus 2 controllers and 4 games (2 of which were Goldeneye and The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time, another favourite) - all of which came to around £30-£40.

It took a lot of restraint for me to not ask to borrow someone's credit card and buy it!

I lent my old system to a friend of mine who sold it; something I will never be able to forgive.

I get paid soon and am giving some very serious consideration as to whether or not I need an N64 in my life again. It would prove to be a very useful time consumer!

How are you gentlemen!!

2008-07-16T11:47:00.000+01:00

All your base are belong to us!

Consumed by Social Networking

2008-07-10T03:21:00.004+01:00

It suddenly dawned on me when I woke up ~~this afternoon~~ today that a large majority of my life is governed by Social Networking sites.

What caused this realisation? I was awoken by a text message from Facebook telling me that I had been poked by my friend Terry.

I'd set up Facebook Mobile on my phone a few weeks ago without giving it much thought, just so I could be up-to-date.
Had I known at the time how pathetic this was in the first instance I would have never done it.

I'm blaming companies like O2 and Vodafone who offer free connection via their WAP services to Facebook (yes, I'm looking for someone else to take the fall for my own short-comings).

I poke Terry back (I pwn at Poke Wars!)
I update my status
I reply to messages
all via SMS!

Just thinking about it, I also have a very large dependency on Facebook... I don't go to peoples parties, out clubbing, to gigs or remember people's birthday's without being reminded about them by Facebook!

I even have this Blog imported onto it (as well as on Twitter, too)!

Openly admitting that I have an addiction to Facebook is very relieving; but I don't want to give it up...

Bad Wolf

2008-07-04T13:00:00.000+01:00

Warning: Here be spoilers!

If you missed last weeks episode of Doctor Who what are you doing reading this?! Go to the BBC iPlayer and watch it!

I'm going to presume that you've watched it now, if not then prepare to have the whole thing spoiled!

I have a love hate relationship with this episode; I love it for the content I hate that it ended.

I was in total shock with the way it ended as well. The BBC along with the cast and crew have done very well to keep it hush-hush.
I've read many things online on other blogs and forums (everyone has an opinion on what is going to happen) and have discovered nothing conclusive.

I hate myself for looking instead of being patient and waiting for tomorrow, but after a cliffhanger as shocking as that... temptation was too strong.
Luckily I didn't find anything definite and some very stupid predictions.

I can't wait now until tomorrows episode. The only annoying thing is I have to work while it's on. So will have to catch it on iPlayer when I get home!

It better be good!

Independence Day

2008-07-04T09:08:00.004+01:00

Today marks the 232nd anniversary of Will Smith saving the whole planet from Alien invasion. With the help of Jeff Goldblum he managed to stop the invaders from harvesting us all and turning us into dust.

Wait... that's not how it happened, is it?

I'm sure it had something to do with us being the honourable fellows we are and giving them civilisation and words like colour, authorise and aluminium and letting them totally cannibalise them...

However it happened; Happy Fourth of July, chaps!
Enjoy the day off on us!

Viva la Vida or Death And All His Friends

2008-06-19T09:00:00.000+01:00

In 2005 at an MTV Music Awards show they said they would be away "for a very long time" , now, they're back and with a new album 'Viva la Vida or Death And All His Friends'. I downloaded it the other day and have been listening to it since; but how does it compare to their previous albums?

I've found that after looking at A Rush Of Blood To The Head and X&Y (the only two Coldplay albums I have at the moment) then trying to compare then to 'VLVODAAHF' it's very hard not to notice certain similarities between all 3.

AROBTTH, I think, was the album that gave Coldplay the success they have today (despite the fact that Parachutes had Yellow on it).
X&Y for me was a powerful album; but it lacked a certain je ne sais quoi.
VLVODAAHF, however, has that definitive Coldplay sound, it sticks to the band image and it sounds like they've found what was missing.

When I first saw them perform Viva La Vida at the MTV Movie Awards 2008 recently I knew I had to have it.
A result of which now means that Coldplay are Number 1 on my most listened to artists for the past 7 days on Last.fm!
I love the symphonic sound and the lyrics delivered so expertly by Chris Martin.

The band, along with Brian Eno, has done well to produce such a masterpiece as this. They get brownie points for such a unique title, album artwork and track title choices.

I'm definatly going to have to remove an album from my iPod to fit this on!

Haiku

2008-06-09T22:14:00.004+01:00

So far,
This Is The Oldest
I've Ever Been.

I want this T-Shirt!

Facebook loves me!

2008-05-30T04:12:00.003+01:00

Awwww, Facebook wished me a Happy Birthday.

It's odd, I don't feel any older...

Sod it, I'm going to bed.

It's coming

2008-05-26T13:48:00.004+01:00

Around this time every year there are two big events that happen.
My Birthday *cough* 4 days*cough* and the start of Big Brother.

Last year I didn't watch it because the people they put in there (one word: Samanda) and the format it followed.
This year, however, I think I'm actually looking forward to it...

I want to know though is who this real life Ugly Betty is and who she had to sleep with to become one of the presenters!
Bring back Dermot!

This year the show kicks off on Thursday June 5th at 9pm on Channel 4.

Working hard...

2008-05-25T13:48:00.000+01:00

...or hardly working..?

It's good to know that there's someone looking out for you out there...

But if you look closer...

Oh dear.

UR DOIN IT RONG!

2008-05-22T07:00:00.003+01:00

So I appear to be failing epicly at keeping this thing updated. I don't know why... It could just be that nothing has grabbed my attention enough to write about.
It could also be that I seem to be sticking myself on one track and not varying my entertainment enough.
Something I will endevour to fix. Promise!

UR DOIN IT RONG!!

I got my hair cut a few weeks ago. Going to get it trimmed a bit in a couple of days as it seems to have grown much quicker than it normally does.

I'm going to trawl through Google and Wikipedia tomorrow and find something worth actually writing about for you.

Would I lie to you?

In the meanwhile watch Brains from ThunderBirds dancing.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=e2aRDacKANs
It's pretty good CGI but would have been Super Win had they actually made it with the marionette.

I've started vlogging on YouTube recently, too. I might talk about that later.

Anyway.
Have a nice day!
Pip Pip!

Makeover

2008-04-19T06:43:00.007+01:00

So lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about my body and general appearance and have come up with a list of things I want to do/get done.
And, as summer (all 2 weeks of it) is on it's way it's important to me that I look and feel the part.

So! The changes I want to make are:

~~Hair cut - much needed. I'm starting to look like Daniel Radcliffe did in 'Goblet Of Fire'. It's sooo 2005.~~
Get a new facial wash - needed more than a hair cut. Seriously. My skin is really bad at the moment.
Lose the Christmas belly. Seriously, it's been 4 months!

~~Get a new piercing - I'm thinking eyebrow.~~

~~Get a new wardrobe. In every defining sense. It's falling apart and has crap clothes in it. I'm going to end up wearing my work shirt out soon. Dire. F'r real.~~
Buy a new razor. Not *that* much of a necessity (OMG! I can't believe I spelt that right first time without a spell check, serious, I have a HUGE problem spelling those words.), but the Catweasle look just aint working for me any more.
Re-colour my hair. This isn't a big thing for me, generally, more something I'd like to do again... It's been 2 years.

And that's about it.

I would say that the new clothes and hair cut are probably the most important because I really do feel like I've exhausted every single possible look that I have; and I simply can't do anything with my hair.
Really. I've started wearing hats again... I need new hats as well (they don't count as part of the wardrobe though... but at the same time kinda do...)

Nothing new to report on this week. Soz.
♥<3

I'm a wild and untamed thing...

2008-04-11T03:18:00.002+01:00

...at least that's how I'd like to see myself -- I'm more of a docile scruffy thing.

I've realised that it's been almost a month since I last posted anything (sorry about that) and saw something earlier that I wanted to write about; but seem to be unable to form any sort of well constructed sentence about it.
I find this most curious as I've managed to put this entry together just fine... Kind of...

W'evs.

It snowed on Sunday. In April. Twice. I know! Look at photos.

Now look at Tim Curry, then drool.

I really don't know what the blue blazes this entry is all about - I'm so sorry.
Normality will resume soon. Promise.

Happiness is...

2008-03-13T06:10:00.001Z

...watching the sunrise while drinking a cup of Chai brewed to perfection, with a cigarette listening to ambient music.

It's really calming.
This is my sanctuary, my nirvana.

Flock Browser

2008-03-12T15:11:00.001Z

I realised I haven't really used my right as a blogger to write any kind of reviews of anything. I just seem to be posting stupid jokes about gay couples and spoons. lolz.

I got a new browser the other day, so decided to write something about that.
I've been listening to a lot of music over the past week, so might give you something on that later.
On to the browser review!

Over the past two weeks I have been scouring teh webz looking for a new browser.
After reading a recommendation from Stephen Fry's blog for a Mozilla made browser called 'Project Seamonkey' (which was just basically Netscape 5) and getting very annoyed that the extensions and themes designed for it never worked I went off to find something better -- and I did.

Flock Browser is a Firefox shell designed for Web 2.0 addicts everywhere.
It runs much more smoother than Firefox itself does, as well as having a plethora of useful tools for social network-a-holics built in.

You can enter in all your network details (Facebook, Flickr, Livejournal, YouTube, del.icio.us, Ma.gnolia & Twitter to name a few) and it shows all the recent updates from your contacts.in one sidebar.

You can also set up the browser to use Gmail or Yahoo as a default email and will notify you of any new messages.

Flock also has an in-browser RSS Feedreader similar to that of Safari, which is very useful.
As well as that there is also a Media uploader which uploads to places like Facebook and Flickr.
Another feature allows you to update your blog as well. Which I am using at the moment to write this very review!

Did I mention tabbed browsing yet?

As Flock was built on Firefox you can also use Themes and Addons (although as the browser is quite new not many have been developed for it) as well as use a handful of extensions originally made for Firefox.

I've only been using Flock for two days, but already I have it set as my default browser.
It's still in it's first version, and it's already very impressive.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

The Missing Gravy Spoon

2008-03-04T16:39:00.002Z

John invited his mother over for dinner. During the meal, his mother couldn't help noticing how handsome John's roommate was. She had long been suspicious of Johns' sexual orientation and this only made her more curious.

Over the course of the evening, while watching the two interact, she started to wonder if there was more between John and the roommate than met the eye.

Reading his mum's thoughts, John volunteered, "I know what you must be thinking, but I assure you, Mark and I are just roommates."

About a week later, Mark came to John and said, "Ever since your mother came to dinner, I've been unable to find the beautiful silver gravy spoon. You don't suppose she took it, do you?"

John said, "Well, I doubt it, but I'll write her a letter just to be sure." So he sat down and wrote:

"Dear Mother,

I'm not saying you 'did' take a gravy ladle from my house, and I'm not saying you 'did not' take a gravy spoon. But the fact remains that one has been missing ever since you were here for dinner."

Several days later, John received a letter from his mother which read:

"Dear Son,

I'm not saying that you 'do' sleep with Mark, and I'm not saying that you 'do not' sleep with Mark.
But the fact remains that if he was sleeping in his own bed, he would have found the gravy spoon by now.

Love, Mum"

War only affects the soldiers?

2008-02-26T14:32:00.001Z

sonatfuneral,
originally uploaded by truckinon44.

I think this picture says otherwise...

TAG! You're it.

2008-02-19T14:39:00.003Z

I was Tagged on Livejournal but am posting my response here.

I have to tell you 5 random facts about myself that nobody/not many people know about and then 'Tag' 5 friends to do the same.

So:

When I was 4 years old my mum took me shopping while on holiday in the Bahamas for a T-Shirt and forgot I was with her and left me in the shop for half and hour.
I once ate a tablespoon full of chilli seeds and chilli oil for a bet and spent 45 minutes on the toilet the next day.
When I was 10 I swapped the salt and the sugar around. My sister covered her Corn Flakes in salt every day for a week.
In year 6 I wrote "SEX!" all over the walls in the boys toilets and blamed it on the school bully and got away with it.
When I was 8 I stole my teachers wedding ring and sold it to her son who was in the same year as me. When she found it in his room he told her it was me who sold it to him and she didn't believe him.

This is going to be imported automaticly into Facebook, so I'm going to Tag 5 people there, but would like Abscond, Brianshizniz, Alendaris, Dandavies and ECAkeris to reply with theirs here, if they want.

Dear Body

2008-02-19T12:53:00.003Z

Inspired by a video on YouTube. I thought I'd do a written one.

Dear Body,

I write you this letter as both an apology, and a thank-you. You've been with me for twenty-two wonderful years and I want you to know how much I love you.

Hair: I'm sorry for putting so many chemicals in you over the years; but thank you for not following the same route that my Dad's did. Thank-you for such a beautiful hair line.

Eyes: Thank-you for your perfect 20-20 vision and your subtle green colour. I hope you stay perfect until the day I die.

Ears: I'm sorry for sticking so many holes in you and damaging you with deafening music. Please don't give up on me in old age.

Lips: My best feature, I should look after you more. The lip ring accentuates your beauty and makes you even more kissable.

Arms: I'm trying to bulk you up a bit; one day you will lift that car.

Hands: Thanks for being so perfect; not too skeletal and not too chubby.

Belly: I'm sorry for filling you with so much junk food and beer. I will have you back to the way you were when we were sixteen soon.

Legs: You hold me up, you move me; without you where would I be? Thanks.

Feet: I'm sorry that you seem to always have something wrong with you; but thank you for helping my legs do their job. You are the perfect team.

I promise I will continue trying to look after you and hope you will never give up on me. We belong together and will remain so until we die.
Here's to the future, I love you.

-Simon

In other news there is no other news.

Just Keep Swimming

2008-02-18T15:07:00.004Z

Words often fail me, but I am compelled to write an entry about something today.
The only problem is I am suffering from a rather nasty bought of writers block.

In spite of this I have decided to persevere nonetheless and hope that as my fingers tap across the keys of my laptop, that something obscure and profound other than the utter drivel that is currently being produced will sprout forth like a Springtime Daisy. It doesn't look like that's going to happen though, does it?

I took some time out, had a cup of tea and looked around for inspiration and all that I managed to find to write about that would probably make for interesting reading was a Gold Fish tank. So I'm going to talk about that!

On Saturday we got Gold Fish. Three of them. Kebab, Baby and Pirate.
Kebab got ill so my Mum and Sister took him back to the pet shop and got a new one, Marmalade.

Marmalade also got ill, so instead of taking him back as well I decided I would try and get him healthy again.
I took him out of the tank away from the other fish and stuck him in a bowl on his own with some Formaldehyde and some food and looked after him.
He started to move a lot more than he was before, except this time he was swimming upside down and around in circles...Google told me this wasn't what fish normally do but I let him carry on and rest a bit.

When I woke up this morning he was back to his normal fishy self so I emptied some of the water out of the tank (as I realised this was the main cause for the illness, as there was too much and not enough oxygen) and he's been fine all day.

Call me Dr. Pieman.

There, I wrote something. Utter nonsense, but I don't care - it's kept me mildly entertained.

The inevitable "anti-valentines day" blog

2008-02-13T10:45:00.000Z

Right, it's terribly (do you love how English that sounds!?) cliché and even more predictable as every blogger around the world will be writing something related to Valentines day either today or tomorrow; but I couldn't give two shakes of a monkeys doo-dah.

I have never been that big on this 'holiday' and have only ever celebrated it once, which wasn't really by choice. I have very passionate feelings towards February 14th:

I HATE IT!

It's just an excuse for those tossers at corporate companies like Clinton Cards to hock their stupid, crappy, pointless products. Honestly, is a tacky cutsie wickle teddy bear with "I wub woo" in a pretty, glittery heart on its chest and a really expensive meal really affirmation of your true, deep undying feelings for one another and the only opportunity to get the best night of sex you're bound to get all night? The hell it is! If that's what it takes, then there's a problem with your relationship.
It's a whole heap of commercial, corporate bullpoo.

I know what you're saying: "Oh, Pieman, it's just because you're single". No it's not!
This farce has been going on since the land that time forgot and every year it becomes more and more pathetic. It's tragic.

Every single restaurant, club, pub, supermarket, card shop and brothel all jump on the Valentines Day bandwagon offering discounts, roses, candles, wine and free chocolates just so you'll give them money.
It's things like this that make me sympathetic to the 'hippy cause' because they really do have the right idea. I don't like the way that the bigwigs have totally destroyed two Christian holidays (the other being Easter, which is also round the corner) by sticking price tags on them.

My ideal Valentines Day would be sitting in the pub with my partner with a cold pint of Guinness, a BBQ Chicken and Bacon Melt watching the football and hanging out with my mates. That's enough love for me.

I urge all you hapless romantics just for once to put everything on hold and to sit this one out just to see how much more fun it will be.

Do the right thing; tell cupid to go swivel.

Cigarettes are the product of The Devil

2008-02-08T13:30:00.000Z

I'm sick of seeing 'quit smoking' adverts all over the place. TV, Newspapers, magazines and on public transport.
I know and respect that there are people who do want to quit, who do need help and who will probably gain from having this kind of media thrusted unceremoniously 'all up in their grill', but how about those of us who like being smelly, having yellow parts and shortening our life-span?

I've been a smoker since I was 14 years old (I'm 22 at the moment) and have "given up" four times. Three of those times it was for financial reasons, the last time was just to see if I could and to see if I could make myself healthier (read: New Years resolution that, like so many, didn't last long).
The longest I managed to fight the addiction was 1 month and 4 days, not at all impressive by some peoples standards, but for me that was quite an achievement.

The problem is I really love smoking. I know what it's doing to me, I know I'd probably have a nice flat and no debts if I quit; but I still can't give it up. I know 90% of the addiction is psychological. I'm not going to list the reasons why I smoke and why I started because that will just lead to someone emailing me with a counter-offensive.

On March 26th 2006 the United Kingdom introduced 'the smoking ban'.
Starting in Scotland on that date it became illegal to smoke in an enclosed space and in pubs, restaurants and clubs. The rest of the countries that make up Great Britain all, eventually (after the initial 'trial run' in Scotland and Ireland), became "Smoke-Free" ending with England on July 1st 2007.

It's the last one that affects me (being English) and I have to say it has been a minor inconvenience. In the summer, when it first came into play, I wasn't that bothered. It was reasonably nice weather. Now, it's winter and no pub that I go to has a decent way of keeping you warm in the harshness of the weather. Those heat-lamps don't work at all!
So, like many, I'm 50-50 on the ban: good in summer, bad in winter!

I do agree that sitting in a smokey pub or restaurant for a non-smoker is...unpleasant to say the least. Subjecting someone to endure my filthy habit is unfair; but sending us out in to the cold is inhumane!
The amount of times that I've been ill over the winter this year [so far] has been more than last year. I put that down to the July 1st ban.

On October 1st 2007 the government raised the legal age for cigarettes to be purchased from 16 to 18. Not something that affects me but I do think that was a smart move and one cigarette related ruling put in place last year that I do agree with. It's not because I'm old enough to do everything in this country now (except go to an over 25's bar, which are quite rare) but, and this makes me sound old, things were different when I started smoking.

My sister, who turned 16 in August, has asthma and I often wonder if she didn't whether or not she would start smoking. She's very intelligent though, so I doubt she would.

I do have one anti-smoking related hate though: Cigars. I hate the smell of someone smoking a cigar. Vile. Although it is hypocritical (and I freely admit this) I will smoke a cigar if something is being celebrated. It's like drinking Champagne, really. But to smoke them regularly for the nicotine I don't like the idea of.

OK, that's that done. Time for a fag.

Bringing back Piecore?

2008-02-06T09:00:00.000Z

With all the spare time I've had lately I've been thinking about my old website/blog and how best to go about bringing it back.

I first launched I R Pieman back in 2005 but had been writing blogs since 2004, nothing too interesting, just something to distract me from the world that I was in back then.
I started writing about music - albums that I had heard, unsigned and undiscovered bands I'd found on Last.fm and occasionally music videos.

It never really grew to anything, nobody ever visited and I lost all interest in running a site that I couldn't be bothered with (and this became very apparent in my posts).
So just before I was about to leave for Christmas in Barcelona I deleted all of the pages, the blog and dumped everything in the database and deleted it.
Last year it had a brief reprise, but due to a disagreement with my webhost it went again in October.

It's been three years (I'm not counting last year) and I'm starting to make plans to bring it back, resurrecting it, starting afresh, with a new name and a new purpose...which I haven't quite worked out yet (it's all part of the thought process). I R Pieman will be reborn as Piecore?.
I don't know why I decided to have a question mark in the name, I might lose it; as I said, all part of the planning. I might not even use the name Piecore.

All I need is a website (and the money to get a website) to start the ball rolling.

Happy Winter-een-mas!

2008-01-25T13:14:00.000Z

So, today is January 25th which is the first official day of Winter-een-mas!
You all know by now that I am a huge geek who reads webcomics and an even huger gamer.
All of those elements combined result in my love for Ctrl+Alt+Del. Which is why this year I will be celebrating Winter-een-mas with style.

There are 7 days of Winter-een-mas. On each day I celebrate by playing a different game on any console I can be bothered to hook up. Here is what I will be playing:

Halo 2 (Xbox)
Tetris (Game Boy)
GTA: Vice City (Playstation 2)
WWE Smacdown vs Raw 2007 (PSP)
Crash Bandicoot 1 (Playstation)
Tony Hawks: Project 8 (Xbox 360)
Final Fantasy VIII (Playstation)

I didn't get to celebrate last year as I was working a lot so I'm making this year a classic rather than playing all the newest games I have.
Enough Blogging, TIME TO GAME!

Puss In... Slippers?

2008-01-23T22:27:00.000Z

I just got a Twitter update (or a "tweet" as it's known to users) from one of my friends, Xen. Who discovered something similar while she was out in town.

I got my trusty Google out and went on a hunt for what she was talking about an in turn found these which, in all honesty, made me laugh and then proceeded to confused the bejezus out of me.

Why, oh why, would you make your beloved pet, a creature you care for and love wear these? Slippers for cats? I ask you!
I have a dwindling faith in the human race and this is not helping!

Anyway, enough about this.
I have decided to give my blog a bit of "uumf" and give it some direction. I also plan on not leaving a month between posts (sorry about that) so I'm re-working a few things, coming up with a new format and finding more things to write about. I currently have 3 posts (and yes, that post I started writing on the Web 2.0 subculture 3 months ago!) in production one of which I shall bring to you tomorrow.
I've also spent all day planing my Winter-een-mas week (I know, I'm a big gaming geek), which I shall share with you on Friday.

Catch you later <3

Heath Ledger

2008-01-23T15:35:00.000Z

First blog of the year. Happy 2008 guys. It's a shame I have to write my first Blog post on such a sad event.

It was announced last night that the actor Heath Ledger had been found dead in his Manhattan home.
The New York Police Department have been quoted as saying that they "found pills near his body".
His family stated:

We, Heath's family, can confirm the very tragic, untimely and accidental passing of our dearly loved son, brother and doting father of Matilda. We would like to thank our friends and everyone around the world for their well-wishes and kind thoughts at this time.

I was actually quite shocked when I found out about this an hour after it was reported last night. I don't normally follow 'celebrity news' but really liked Ledger's films and was really excited about him being in the new Batman film.

I haven't read anything from Warner Bros. about whether or not they are going to pull the film (due out this year) or release it in his memory. To be honest if they do put it out the publicity it will get because of recent events will be almost as big as The Crow.

So, this is Christmas?

2007-12-20T19:57:00.000Z

And what have you done? I thought about writing a blog on the subject, but decided to do the annual (funny that) 'Year In Review' on my Livejournal rather than here.

In less than 11 days 2007 will be in the past, a distant memory. But what will we all take away from it? What has the world as a whole achieved? What have we been talking about? Who has the media shown a lot of interest in? And who have we lost?

Blogs like this aren't easy for me to write - this could be attributed to several things. I think it's mainly because I have such a short attention span and end up going off on a tangent about something that has nothing to do with anything! Kind of like I'm doing now.

So, instead of boring you all to tears and wasting everyones time and brain-power I've decided to just tell you about my tree!
We picked it up on Monday. It looks a bit drab I must admit -- but I guess that's what you get for leaving it to the week before Christmas to buy a tree!

I have been a tad lax with my blogging (and journalism) this week. I can't make any excuses other than I couldn't be arsed or just haven't found anything interesting enough to write about.
I might get down to writing something tomorrow. Untill then I shall tip my hat & bid you adieu.

(sorry about the picture)

Ron Mueck

2007-12-16T00:00:00.000Z

Now, I never claim to be (and I've said this before) an art-buff -- but I know what I like when I see it and I like the work of Ron Mueck.

I happened across his work a few days ago while Stumbling through the internet and have been reading about him for the last forty-five minutes. Some of his work just made me stop and stare at the screen for a while.
I need to see his work face-to-face (as it were).

His sculptures are so unrealistically proportioned and yet, so realistic that they look like real people.
The hairs are real human hair and attached one by one, the nails look realistic and the skin is translucent. It's very haunting.

Did I mention he helped with the designs on Labyrinth (1986) and did [one of] the voice of Ludo?

Pure genius. I really want to find an exhibition of his.

So confused.

2007-12-08T05:28:00.000Z

I... really don't know what to make of tonight.
Normally I get home and reflect (if I'm not so wasted that I pass out) on the nights events and imprint the good ones on my mind and purge the bad ones.

I don't know what to imprint and what to purge!!

It was a night of all sorts. It involved walking too and from Southside, Guinness (my new tipple and I love how that's in the Firefox dictionary!), a walk in a full circle around Southside looking for more drink, Lee, Pure Garage 2, a hammer and a vibrating USB hand massager... It sounds like a list of things on the conveyor belt from The Generation Game!

Did I mention I woke up at 5pm today?

I also have no clue why I'm posting this here and not in my journal...
I'm not going to tag it.

YOU ARE A WEINER!

2007-12-06T04:59:00.000Z

Do you know what I hate the most about society today? Advertising. I don't think that there's anything in particular wrong with it, on the contrary I think it's a brilliant invention; it's the best thing since sliced bread (and believe me, they had some brilliant advertisers working on that one!).

No, my beef with advertising is it's becoming too forceful.
If you have ever watched the episode of Futurama where they go online and get attacked by ads you'll understand what I mean.

I prefer advertising to be subtle and to the point. I despise adverts for cars, fragrances, mobile phones and super markets.

The first two rarely make any sense. Take the advert for the Citroen C4 for example.
If I had no common sense and no media knowledge I would think that if I purchased this car I could take it down to a frozen lake and it would transform and start skating! The advert also tells me nothing about the product. How many seats does it have? Does it have 4 doors? How advanced is the sound system?
All that we are told from this advert that would have cost a huge amount of money to make is that it is "Alive with Technology".

I'm not even going into why I can't stand perfume adverts. I just don't have the energy to type it all; besides, nobody reads this!

The reason I started this whole (let's call an egg an egg) rant is because of this advert that popped up while I was coming here to finish an entry I've been writing on the Web 2.0 world - when one of the most annoying adverts in the world popped up (to be honest I did mistype the address and got directed to a search engine).

The point I'm trying to make is that advertising is great -- as long as it's relevant and to the point.

The Macless fanboy

2007-12-03T16:19:00.000Z

It's no secret that I am a huge Mac lover. It's also no secret that I don't actually own a Mac, of any kind.
The only Apple product I posses is a 2GB iPod; and I rarely even use that!
I did used to own a very slow iMac G1 (pictured, except mine didn't have that sexy flat-panel monitor) which ran OS9 and we upgraded it to OSX when that was released. It also had a ZIP disc drive (remember those?).

I used to love that machine so much. When my parents split up my Dad took that with him and I never saw it again :(
I think I remember him saying he sold it, but I wasn't paying that much attention; I was too shocked that he didn't have it still I blocked what he said next out.

Now, at the moment I am breaking the 10th Commandment, but let's be fair here - with my lifestyle I've never really been a good Christian, have I?
I want an iPhone and a Macbook Pro. It hasn't got to the stage where I have contemplated prostitution to get it, but I don't think I'm that far off!

I'm not going to ask for either of these things for Christmas this year as I want to earn them by working my fanboy balls off.

I did, however, set up a Facebook Group as a joke, asking for donations towards me getting a Macbook. It's not going too well!

Awake, at this hour?

2007-12-03T05:08:00.000Z

An early morning entry for your enjoyment.
It's just gone 5am and I am sat here, on my bed with a glass of Mango & Orange cordial defragging my laptop, Susan and thinking about all the general nonsense that one thinks about at this hour.
Mainly "why the hell is one awake at this hour?" and it's a question I have no answer for. I just am.

I have come to the conclusion that as it is so unlikely that I'll be getting a job in an office, working that 9-5 that I long so much for I should get a job where I have to work through the night.
Perhaps as a milkman, a security guard or a night stacker at Tescos.
Then I think to myself that those options and the very notion is stupid, unhealthy and would clash horribly with my social life!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am going to be all over the job getting business tomorrow and the rest of this week.
Barbra Streisand said it best: "Enough is Enough" and it is.

Photo Credit.

Desperate times

2007-12-02T20:07:00.000Z

I don't have the foggiest clue what the blinking hellfish is going on, Jim.
Why in the name of all that is fishy is it December? What is wrong with this world?!?!

I can't keep going on like this anymore. This time 365 short days ago I was quite content with life, things had started to pick up and all was right with the world.Now, as the end of this year looms I seem to be back at Go without £200 and no get out of jail free card!

This is a real noggin scratcher.

I need to up my game, I need to put everything into gear, I need to... to... to stop using euphamisms and get the hell on with it!

I have sent my old recruitment agency no less than 3 emails over the last 2 months and had piddle squat back from them.

Tomorrow, sir, I will call them. Ever since leaving CPW I have developed a bit of a phobia when it comes to talking to people on the phone. I've never really been able to hold myself verbally. I'm at my best when it's my fingers doing the talking.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. I need to man up. I'll have to communicate with my mouth-hole.

I don't like it, sir.
Not one bit.

Picture Credit.

Moo

2007-11-25T02:35:00.000Z

I'm currently at Arlans watching him play Prince Of Persia. I think we're about to watch some Boosh.

I hope so.

It's been a while

2007-11-24T17:20:00.000Z

I must apologise, I totally forgot I have this blog. I spent some time actually using my own; but ala, that has now been closed down due to non-payment.
I started using my LiveJournal for a brief period but that doesn't serve the purpose I want.

So here we are.

I don't really have anything to blog about, I just wanted to make a post as the last one I made was over a year ago.

Shake it up!

2006-11-06T13:08:00.000Z

Thursday night saw me deeply buried in ebay shopping.
I was very naughty :(

I purchased myself a super sexy new belt:

And a new power cable to replace the broken one for my laptop.
Both of which I was expecting/hoping to be delivered today.

Didn't happen. I'm such an impatient person!

I had the best weekend I've had since god knows when.
Went to the pub on Thursday and saw loads of my old mates.
It was brilliant!

Saturday I went and saw Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. I almost wet myself at least 20 times.

Sunday I was sat at home all day relaxing, watching West Ham make fools out of Arsenal. Super!

I spoke to Mike about the West Ham - Chelsea game.
Turns out I'm not going with him. He got the tickets but can't make the match so it's going to be me taking my little brother.
As if it's bad enough I'm watching the game in the Chelsea section but I have to be extra careful not to cheer if West Ham score, but also make sure I'm not killed and end up leaving my little brother deserted in the process!
Fun times to be had by all!

I WANT MY EBAY STUFF!

Anyway, off I go.

As you were.

Good Day

2006-10-30T11:17:00.000Z

So this is Blogger, eh?

Sounds fun. You! Show me how to use this thing. Post haste!