Charley Uchea Attacked

OK, now while I'd usually be totally against blogging or even discussing this kind of thing in general I couldn't help but make an exception in this instance. Basically - when I go to Boots to grab my Meal Deal lunch, the way the ques are laid out you must walk past the usual girly gossip mags (Heat, Closer etc.) to get to the tills and I'll admit, I have a quick look at the covers to pass the time waiting in the que. Anyways - saw an article that looked a little weird which was Charlie Uchea being attacked (the bird from Big Brother with the dope bod). Anyways - decided to have a quick look to see what it was all about and ended up finding this video. Now keeping in mind that I'm currently at work so I can't hear the sound...but I gotta say...1st thing I did was laugh my ass off!! The neck brace is comedy at it's best...and having been subjected by an ex-g/friend to big brother (I stopped watching a few series back after it got STUPID) and listening to this woman speak (for some reason the way she talks is like nails on a chalk board to me). Either way...I ain't trying to get on at the lady and the fact she got a beat down ain't right (although the fact the other chic still had a lit ciggy hanging from her lip is class!)...but the video still looks funny as shit!

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UFC 78 : Validation

So, the new UFC 78 site is now up and running and another good job by Red Interactive I must say...they're turfing out those sites pretty sharpish without any detriment to quality.

Meanwhile - Matt Serra's team is cleaning up on The Ultimate Fighter and I gotta say I'm well chuffed about it. I wasn't a fan of Matt Hughes ever since I saw him on another season of the Ultimate Fighter taking a dig at Rashad Evans for "show boating". All due respect - but what business is that of yours bro?? You may not like it but what's the point in tellin' him?? What did he expect...the dude to say "Oooh...I'm sorry Matt...I'll stop doing that then" - DIV! The guy carries himself in totally the wrong way and I agree with Matt Serra when he was throwing his dummy out of the pram because his fighter didn't follow the game plan. DUDE!! The guys cousin just died...have a bit of decorum man. I'll totally be routing for Serra (even if he did beat my favourite UFC fighter for the belt) to bring the pain!!

You can view Matt Serra's comments of the episode in question here.

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I wanna go to America!!!

Daaamnnn...the Economy in the US seems to be going ever so slightly in a downward spiral. I remember when a British Pound would get you 1.4 dollars, 1.6 on a good day!! Just done a currency check on XE.com and as it stands - 1 British Pound will get you 2.07 American Dollars. Soon as I get back from Amsterdam...thats the next place on my list...no doubt! I don't think I've ever seen the GBP double the dollar before.

So check this out for size...

Apple Store US: iPOD Touch (8GB model) Cost: $299
Apple Store UK: iPOD Touch (8GB model) Cost: £199

Total Saving £54.76

Dell US: Inspiron Starting from $499
Dell UK: Inspiron Starting from £399

Total saving £158.22

BUY BUY BUY!! MUHAHAHA

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Bruce Lee - what a guy...

Was doing a little trawling around the internet as you do (oh the joys of wireless) and came across this poem written by Bruce Lee. Very inspirational...

Who am I?
That is the age-old question
Asked by every man
At one time or another.

Though he looks into a mirror
And recognizes the face,
Though he knows his own name
And age and history,
Still he wonders, deep down,
Who am I?

Am I a giant among men,
Master of all I survey,
Or an ineffectual pygmy
Who clumsily blocks his own
way?

Am I the self-assured gentleman
With a winning style,
The natural born leader
Who makes friends instantly,
Or the frightened heart
Tiptoeing among strangers,

Who, behind a frozen smile
trembles
Like a little boy lost in a dark
forest?

Most of us yearn to be one
But fear we are the other.
Yet we CAN be
What we aspire to be.

Those who cultivate
Their natural instincts,
Who set their sights
On the good, the admirable,
the excellent,
And believe they can achieve it
Will find their confidence
rewarded.

And, in the process,
They will discover the true
identity
Of him who looks back from
the mirror.

Blackberry Pearl - the search is over

The search is finally OVER! Went and scored me a Blackberry pearl yesterday and I gotta say, it's the freakin' shiz. My best mates girlfriend got one about a month back and I was put off by the fact that the typing was a little weird. However I was informed that the difficulty only lasted a few days and after speaking to the dude in the Orange shop - he said the same thing too. Anyways - I left it on charge for the day yesterday while I went to go pick up 'the little one' and I've only been using it today. What can I say...this phone is the SHIT! Works great although I've not hooked it up to my regular email account being as I get ridiculous amounts of spam and I don't want to lash all my allocated blackberry megs before I get a chance to use them. However, the update prior to this one was done via the blackberry and it took maybe 5-6 goes before I got used to the typing. It's roughly the same dimensions as the Prada phone and around the same weight which is great. It has all the features I need (Phone calls, text messages and email) and a bunch of stuff that other people may be interested in like a camera (I just don't see the point), an MP3 player (again...I don't see the point being as I have an iPOD that does a way better job) but I can say with confidence...get this phone!! I wasn't looking to set the world on fire (and this phone by no means does that) but in terms of what I wanted it for...it is absolutely perfect. Well done Blackberry.

Entertaining a ten year old (part 4)

So we've had our first 'incident'. Took 'little miss' shopping earlier on and being as she has been so good I bought her a bratz doll (if your ten and female, these are the shit apparently). Took her to pizza hut for lunch where she ended up ordering more than she could eat, so I ordered her dessert to go. So we get back and the few glasses of wine I had with lunch have made me well sleepy. Luckily, short stuff is content to watch TV and play with her new bratz dolls. Before I go she asks if she can have her cake..."yeah...err no! Not until you've had dinner". So I wake up and go check on her and she's fine, no fires, no male strippers, no drugs all over the table. However I could not help but notice...no cake either. Just the box that the cake came in. As punishment, we're not baking anymore. She didn't seem too bothered but it was the only punishment I could think of on the spot that would equal the crime.

So my friends earlier comment of falling at the first hurdle (based on the fact that I refused to play 'dolls' with her) was apparently unfouded. This entire parenting business is pretty easy. Feed them, give them tools to amuse themselves and bribe them when things get difficult. I should write a book!
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

Entertaining a 10 year old (Part 3)

So far this entire thing is working out alright. No moans, groans or complaints from short stuff. Although when asking her if we couldn't go bowling what it is she'd like to do..."we can talk about it tomorrow, I'm reading..." which had swiftly brought me to the realisation that she's absolutely right. Why have a master plan? Everything does not require meticulous planning for us to have a good time. And as I watch her stare out of the window at the world whizzing by I'm reminded of something that a friend once said to me long ago...

"Everything in life is simple, people make things complicated"

I'm now looking at this entire "mission" with a new found positive outlook and weirdly enough...it's all down to the simplistic rationale of a 10 year old. So no more worrying or attacks of anxiety...just play it by ear and have fun while doing it.

On a related note, one of the great things about chilling with the little one is this. With the strikes on the trains etc seemingly catching not only me but most of the travelling public by surprise, the amount of people getting on a dual carriage train at Leicester was a joke at best. However, having the kid with me has it's perks. Soon as I told her to go before me it was as if a path magically appeared in front of us. Let's face it...who's such an arse they'd push in front of a 10 year old girl? We even managed to get a seat while the majority of passengers were standing...mainly thanks to her diving on the 1st pair of seats she could find and lying across them...bless!

Entertaining a 10 year old (Part 2)

...currently sat at Leicester train station. Today of all days they're having a strike so the journey home that should have taken no more than 3 hours is now set to take 5 hours! There was no mention of this on the website of course...money grabbing bastards they are and the train is not for another 30 minutes! I just don't get it. I've been in jobs that I didn't like and do you know what I did about it? Yes...that's right...I got another job! Anyway, thinking about it...they did mention "disruptions to the service" as I was travelling down but the mention of a strike...no where to be seen!

Meanwhile, the little one is sat reading a magazine. When helping her choose she asked "Where are all the girly mags" to which I replied "Cosmo's right there! You got Bliss, the enquirer...take your pick babes". I was met by a comment that made me giggle and cringe at the same time..."I'm 10!". I dunno! Thankfully, the nice lady at the counter (after laughing at my blatant naivety) pointed us in the direction of suitable magazines and a selection was made. Praise lord
for the kindness of strangers!

Regardless of this entire debacle...she seems content to read her mag and I think 'short stuff' (inaccurate for a nick name as she's tall for her age) is looking at this as an adventure more than anything else. Let's see if this lasts!

Entertaining a 10 year old (Part 1)

So I'm currently sat on a train on my way to pick up my little cousin Tiahnna, who may I add has the misfortune of spending 3 days with me. She's a great kid (10 years old), switched on, very intelligent and has yet to loose that honesty that most children are forced to abandon by that age. It's strange how you can both dread and look forward to something at the exact same time - but they're in equal proportions which I guess, helps them cancel each other out. My main worry derives from what it is 10 year old's are into these days. I could use my own
experiences of being 10 years old but this presents the following problems.

1. Back then movies like 'The Goonies' and 'Superman 3' were the shit!

2. Based on past experiences with my nephew of the same age I fear she'd not be impressed by late 80's entertainment and as such it would be wasted on me alone, spending the hours reminiscing about my own childhood and making comments such as "back in my day there was non of this Shrek stuff...", which will only prove to her (and me) that I'm old and uncool! (would most probably cause some eye rolling too)

3. She's female...girls didn't do/act the same as boys did back then and I feel it safe to assume this is still the case.

3. Little Timmy (me) at age 10 was all of 18 years ago and I can barely remember a damn thing about it!

However, I think (or hope...I'm unsure of which yet) that I have a plan. Not only that...I have a backup plan!! My plan is, the cinema to watch that movie with the rat that can cook (even at 28 that looks kinda cool). And then off to a bowling Alley (if I can find one). That should eat up enough of one day and the following day I figured off to Liverpool to visit the slave museum. Teach her a little black history. Now, my worries with this initial plan are as follows.

1. I ain't sure I'll be able to find a bowling alley. I think the one that was there before was closed.

2. If the above turns out to be the case then I'm gonna have to come up with a plan of attack for the 2nd part of day 1.

3. While my recollections of my childhood at 10 years old are vague, one thing I do remember is that when I was off school, learning anything with the exception of how to play the latest video game was the furthest thing from my mind.

Which brings me swiftly onto plan B. I'm going to ask her what she wants to do. Now my worry with this is that she'll come up with something outrageous and ridiculous, this being the case...there is no plan B!

Now I realise that it would appear I am looking at this opportunity to bond with my little cousin in a negative way, which I will admit is true to an extent. But this negativity derives only from my worry that she'll be bored and will want to go home as swiftly as she arrived! Regardless of which, I realise that in life there are no problems merely challenges and situations and I have every intention of rising to this challenge!

More on this later...

Find a distant cousin with your DNA

So Ancestry have started a service by where you can send in a swab of your DNA in order to help find relatives. In principle this is an outstanding idea, however, this all seems a bit suspect considering the fact that one of the many ongoing debates in the UK right now is the privacy of biometric data. With the possibility of identity cards being mandatory for all UK citizens by 2010, recent moves toward combining European DNA databases and all current UK Issued passports containing biometric data, not to mention the fact that the UK is one of, if not THE most surveilled place on the planet, it would seem that things are slowly moving toward a big brother state without the masses realising.

They'll have a disclaimer and privacy policy saying that they won't share such information and blah blah blah, but I'm not about to believe that such agencies as MI5/MI6 and Special Branch can't get hold of that information if they "REALLY needed" to. And all this talk about it helping with terrorist threats, what a pile of shite. Unless you have some system by where anyone without an identity card is automatically recognised (and a system of that magnitude would cost billions to roll out), not to mention the fact that for those who had left their cards at home would feel harassed and threatened due to the constant requests for the card. Throw in the obvious discrimination issue (it would be safe to assume the establishment is more likely to ask non-whites to produce these cards on an ad-hoc basis) and if we mix in the fact that damn near all UK Communications are monitored, it makes me worry where things will be in 20 years. I'm not a criminal, the extent of my law breaking is taping something off the radio and a bit of littering every now and then but with that said, I still have every right to my privacy. It seems like a conspiracy theory right now - but a great many things sound unbelievable until they actually happen.

Anyways, just a thought....

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UFC 77 Review and Brock Lesnar in the UFC?!?

So UFC 77 was alright last night...seen better fights but the Franklin/Silva fight was edge of the seat stuff.

Tim Silvia vs Brandon Vera
This fight was about as exciting as watching paint dry. Pretty much 95% of the fight consisted of Brandon Vera being pushed up against the cage with not a great deal of action at all. Tim's getting booed quite a bit in general these days and I can see why. People want exciting fights - and if you play it safe all the time, people will get frustrated and show that frustration. Not to mention that the dude's 6' 8". He's awkward as hell! So with that working against him, he can't really afford to have boring fights if he wants to get the fans respect. If you knock opponents out - the people will come! However, I'm not hating on the guy (although it certainly sounds that way I know) and I totally respect all the fighters and the work they put in. That said - the end result was exactly how I predicted.

Tim Silvia wins by Judges decision.

Anderson Silva vs Rich Franklin
This was not a bad fight at all. Right away you could tell that Franklin had a few more tricks up his sleeve to ensure what happened in the last fight was not going to happen again. Soon as Anderson tried to get him in that Thai clinch, Franklin immediately started making moves to get out of it and the first 3 minutes of the round didn't look too bad. With that said, Anderson has way more in his repertoire than just holding someones head and kneeing them in the face and right at the end of the 1st round, Franklin got tagged with a sweet shot, talk about saved by the bell. Second round comes and I knew it wouldn't get to a 3rd. Much respect to Franklin as the dude totally gave it his all but Anderson's too hardcore right now. Anyways, once again and exactly as predicted...

Anderson Silva wins by 2nd round stoppage.

Nostradamus who?? Randy Couture...eat your heart out!!

Finally, they announced during the event that Brock Lesnar is now a heavyweight in the UFC - ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME!! As someone who used to be (USED TO BE!!) an avid fan of WWE, it's hard to imagine him being anything but awkward...although admittedly - he's a freaking HUGE dude and I wouldn't wanna take him on. Although for some reason I can't help but think of that episode of friends when Monica's boyfriend joins the UFC and gets a total ass whippin'. But hey...we'll see. He's a former All American wrestler which counts for alot but until I see that first fight - I'll be reserving judgement. Size and strength only takes you so far (Couture vs Silvia is a perfect example) - and if you come up with someone who has the skills...nighty night!

Oh - and the UFC 78 site has a holding page now, those guys at Red must be well busy!!

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UFC 77 : Hostile Territory TONIGHT!

Yeah - I know it actually "happened" yesterday, but living in the UK - we always get stuff late. Anyways...just a reminder for those of you who have totally forgotten about it. Bravo Channel 121 - 9pm tonight. And lets not forget my predictions for the 2 main fights on the card.

• Franklin will almost certainly get another ass whippin. 2nd Round stoppage. He's a great fighter but Silva's skills are jumping by leaps and bounds each fight.


• Tim Silvia will win it by judges decision.

Enoy people, I reckon it should be GREAT!

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Command & Conquer and Quake Wars

Yeah, so I was threatening to give my opinion of Quake Wars a few weeks back and decided to give it a quick review on here. Basically - it looks well sexy but being as I ain't played Quake properly (or games in general for that matter) since Quake II was released (yeah...that long ago!) it was all a bit to take in. They've totally changed the format from the old 'Dive onto a server, kill some people and do one' methodology to this ongoing game where you're either a human or alien and the game pretty much lasts forever (give or take a day or 2). Pretty cool theory I guess and I s'pose there's still room for clan play - but for my liking...waay too complex. The reason I say this is because what I got was not what I was expecting and it just was not my cup of tea. I was looking for something you could pick up every now and then if you get bored and have a play but there's so much too it you'd need to take a few hours figuring out what all the different characters you can play do. All in all - a great game if you're into that kinda thing with a shed load to do but for me...way too complex for the kinda stuff I want it for.

Meanwhile - just has the most incredibly geeky weekend in years! Was wanting a little R 'n' R without having to lash a fat wedge of coin so had a little play of Command & Conquer the 1st Decade for pretty much the ENTIRE WEEKEND! (yeah...little seems a bit of an understatement - but hey...it ain't like I do it all the time now is it). Anyways - Pretty much stuck to Generals and I gotta say...I like it. Totally my kinda game...takes about 20 mins to work out the functions of each side and then bingo bango...you're off. Totally recommend it (even if it is 4 years old!!!).

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Propod, Fantasy Interactive and Google

Well, decided to drop an email to Fantasy Interactive to find out what the deal was with Propod and whadaya know, the gems that they are mailed me back!

"Dear Tim,
Thank you for your recent contact, and interest in Propod. Already, Propod has generated a lot of excitement and interest and we are currently producing all the relevant information that will go live on the Propod website in the 4th quarter of this year.

Given the wide-ranging inquiries from individuals and businesses among a variety of industries, we have prepared the following brief details.

Propod is an interactive solution of the highest quality. The dynamic application has all the markings of Fantasy Interactive; it is not just simple and beautiful, its usability is exemplary. The platform has been developed to allow the simplest of users, the “Moms and Dads,” as we put it, to easily share their digital life through a clean and efficient platform.

Propod will launch publicly in the earlier part of the upcoming 4th quarter and will be released in three unique versions.

A brief overview of the 3 models:

Propod.com: Individual members of the public can sign-up for free and businesses can sign-up for a small monthly fee. You will then receive your own “pod” with a URL such as, “yourname.propod.com” or “yourbusiness.propod.com”.

Propod Enterprise Edition: Businesses or organizations can have the Propod platform customized to fit their specific needs, and then implemented into their own environment. This version is for internal use only.

Propod Complete: Corporations with a large distribution network can buy Propod. Fi customizes and implements over an agreed-upon period of time. The client can then distribute it under their brand to their customers."

So - as you can see, by the end of the year it would appear that I'll be blogging on propod! If you'd like to see an example of a propod (there's only one out there at the moment) visit Think Swedish. Oh yeah, that'll all flash baby!! I'd code my own but just don't have the time with the amount of freelance stuff I'm doing. Also, while programming skills are up to par, my design ain't nearly as pristine as there's. And as an old friend would say "you don't have a gimp to put a pool ball in your own gob!". Shame I can't say the same thing to my underlings at work but gotta keep P.C. n all o that. Anyways, I'll be turning this back into my online folio at some point but until then I'll carry on blogging here and will add a final post when my Propod is up n running. One thing I will say...this blogging lark is a bit addictive once you get going, but hey, better this than .

Also - been checking some news articles and quite frankly, I want a job at Google. If you're in the development community it's a well known fact that certain companies really take care of their staff (Google being one of them) and looking at this article it would appear that these guys being big on technology have even extended this to their toilet facilities! Sweet lord! Toilet seats that vibrate...I read that article and I was like "DUDE!!! Niiice!!!". Apparently IBM are pretty cool for that kinda thing too. Rumour has it that they'll literally leave a bunch of developers in a room and just let them come up with stuff on their own! This idea being that intelligent/creative minds will come up with pretty fly stuff without the requirement for direction. GET IN!! No change of that happening at most companies though! The mere suggestion of such a think would either cause a barrage of laughter or weird looks swiftly following by the recommendation of psychiatric help. However, what these people fail to realise is that some of the greatest products were based on some guys coming up with something as a school project or hobby (Facebook and Google being perfect examples of this). 'Outside of the box' is the key phrase here, I don't think following the usual mould is the way to go if you're planning on setting the world on fire.




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UFC 77 : Hostile Territory

3 wild guesses what I'll be watching this Sunday. UFC 77 : Hostile Territory will be showing on Bravo (Sky Channel 121) on Sunday at 9pm. 3 hours of woop ass cage fighting action and I reckon it's gonna be a hum dinger!! Rich 'Ace' Franklin will be fighting Anderson 'The Spider' Silva for the UFC Middleweight championship which is a rematch I've been looking forward to for a long time. I was shocked like you would not believe when Silva pretty much handed Franklin's arse to him back in UFC 64. Then we have Brandon 'The Truth' Vera facing off against Tim 'The Mainiac' Silvia (who for some reason does not have a profile on Sherdog?!?). For such a big dude (he's 6' 8") Tim's got some decent skills so here are my predictions.

• Franklin will almost certainly get another ass whippin. 2nd Round stoppage. He's a great fighter but Silva's skills are jumping by leaps and bounds each fight.
• Silvia will win it by judges decision.
  

Let's see if my predictions are as accurate as those of Randy Couture...

Meanwhile - it would appear that England's very own Michael 'The Count' Bisping is set to fight Rashad Evans in UFC 78 : Validation (at the time of this post the site was not up). It's a tough one to call but as usual...I'll definatley be routing for Mike. Both have 15 wins with 0 losses (the only difference being that Rashad has 1 draw to his name but that was against Tito Ortiz which is a great achievement by any standard!). So way too close to call in my opinion but I'll make a prediction on that closer to the event. And the great thing is - the winner will face Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson for the UFC light heavyweight championship. How cool would it be to see an Englishman win it??

Either way - it's nice to see that the UFC is getting the coverage it deserves as opposed to being called a "blood sport". You gotta remember, these guys are skilled professionals who train hard constantly. Not just random dudes off the street that love to have "the off".

You can find out about this and many more UFC events at the official UFC web sites: -

• UFC (US)
• UFC (UK)

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Black people less intelligent? PLEASE!

So - was reading the Metro on the train as usual this morning and was reading an article on Jean Charles de Menezes. For those of you not living in the UK - this poor dude was shot by the Fuzz back in 2005 when we had the terrorist attacks over here in England. Few hours later...it turns out this guy wasn't a terrorist at all. Anyways - thought I'd write about it as they're now saying that he had cocaine in his system which caused him to act irrationally when confronted by armed police. Sorry - but this is a blatant character assassination of an innocent man in order to show the police in a better light. I'm not about to say that the police are not allowed to make mistakes (although this was quite a mistake) but their profession as some may feel, does not make them high and mighty beings, and like you or I they are human beings and as such are going to make mistakes. That being said, why not just admit you were wrong as opposed to disrespecting the mans memory in such a way. That would certainly count toward earning my respect and I believe the respect of many people in the public arena as opposed to what can only be referred to as the actions of cowards.

Meanwhile, in my search to find some links to relate to "my 2 cents" I stumbled upon an article entitled "Black people 'less intelligent' scientist claims". Being a black man myself I decided to have a read and thought this was some form of joke paraphrased to draw attention. It never occurred to me that this was literally the case! However it would appear that Dr James D Watson (one of the molecular biologists responsible for the discovery of DNA structure) has been ignorant enough to make such a claim. My first reaction was laughter quickly followed by sadness. I think any statement that claims black people are genetically predisposed to being less intelligent than other races is mentally retarded to the highest degree. It also leads me to wonder if Dr. Watson has taken social and economical factors into account. While I am willing to concede that in certain parts of the world black people may well have a lower IQ compared to some other races, this has nothing to do with genetics and everything to do with environmental factors. Let us not forget that Egypt - globally known as one of the greatest and most advanced civilisations of it's time is in Africa and it was that very continent that gave birth to such notions as democracy and commerce. And would this sad little mans theory not filter to all black people?? If so how does that explain the likes of Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King and Barack Obama? Furthermore, while the IQ of many non white peoples may be less than that of their caucasian counterparts - this is something that I am willing to guarantee has see-sawed over a period of a few millennia and will continue to do so on the basis of the fluidic nature of cultural, economical and political change in different countries. 1,000 years from now will be very different compared to 2,000 years from now in terms of cultural diversity and the opportunities available (or not as the case may be) to the masses. Regardless of which, what disturbs me more are some of the comments added to the post. For the most part the comments were well thought out and presented in a fashion as to not cause offence but it's a shame that in our day and age there are so many people that agree with this obviously deranged fool.

I totally concur with fellow blogger's Karen Scott and Mike Yarmish and feel there are enough sane and like minded people in the world to outbreed fools like this!

Where's Huey when you need him?




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The countdown begins...

Yup - 5 weeks and 2 days until I go to my home from home...Amsterdam! I absolutely love the place and have been a minimum of once a year for like the past 5 years since the very 1st time I went. My boy reckons that the 1st coffee shop you go in tends to end up being your favourite and for me - it's Betty Boop! Absolutely love the place...it's small but don't let that fool ya, the tunes are mellow, it's chilled as anything (although ain't too easy to find) but if you go - I would totally recommend the place. The people are way cool, they make a bad ass fresh orange juice and the nicest black coffee I've ever had! Another place I'll be visiting...the Green House. Pretty cool on a night and a major mix of people. Last time I went I was sat around a table with a couple o guys from Cali, a geezer from South Africa and some of my homies from good ol England - just chillin and talkin about life n stuff (as you do). Going to be taking my cousin with me and we're calling it her Hajj being as I've been telling her everyone should go at least once in their lifetime if able!

One thing I do remember - and I was higher than a giraffe's ass when I was told this so lord know's how I remember. Just as the South Africa dude was leaving - he said some (what at the time sounded like) meaningful stuff which for some reason stuck with me.

"You walk down the street, you smile at someone and sometimes they smile back and sometimes they don't smile back. The important thing is...you smile."

Was either the ramblings of a total stoner or some zen Socrates type stuff - but the dude was right. Other people should never define how you perceive things and you should never let anyone have that kind of control.

Anyways - just occurred to me that I'm telling peeps the weekend I'm not gonna be at home n stuff...so don't go trying to steal my shit - I'll find you!!!

Spooks and The search for a gym!

Spooks was cracking last night. Although a bit gutted that it's a 2 parter - my lack of patience for this kinda thing is a joke at best! They always show the 2nd episode on BBC3 at 10.30 - but ain't no way I'm gonna be up til midnight just to be mullered the next day at work (sad I know but I prefer to be on point than waiting for the day to end!). Any who - I think it would be really cool if they got Matthew Macfadyen back in at some point as a special guest. And as usual it was always good to see Hermione Norris back on the scene, I ain't usually one for blonde chics but she's a M.I.L.F!!!

Anyways - went searchin' for a gym in my lunch break...I do this like every few months now. I used to go to a gym that was literally 3 minutes from where I work and it was great!! Less chance of spending my time buzzing around town buying crap I don't need and I get to keep fit in the process. Only problem was - went there one day and there's a notice on the door saying the place had been repossessed!!! I was GUTTED! Anyways, still working out but it's hard to get into the routine being as soon as I finish work...the last thing I wanna do is go to the gym! So I found a new gym on yell.com today and decided to check it out. What can I say...questionable ain't even the word. A very close friend of mine told me that if you go into the changing room of a gym and there's no lockers be weary! Usually means dodgy as shite and this place was just that. Broken windows, workout benches being held together with electrical tape and equipment that looked like it would fall apart and kill you if you were dumb enough to use it. Not to mention most of the dudes in the place looked like they were, are or very soon would be on some form of illegal medication. Just one of those places where you walk in and everyone stops what they're doing and looks at you!! Erm...no thanks...think I'll stick to what I'm doing at the moment...ergo the search continues :( SHAT!!

New and improved baby!!

Just updated my blog template. The standard ones with blogger were kinda boring and the one I used was the best of the bunch and even then I wasn't totally impressed so I decided to update the template and here it is. Had to get rid of the Blogger bar at the top as it was messing with the layout but I've added a nice little feature to the panel on the left which displays the labels, added some links to web sites I visit pretty regular (I'll be adding more soon), so all in all, quite chuffed with this :)

Anyways - off to watch Spooks

Heroes, Spooks and Barack Obama

So - as per this post - watched the 1st 3 episodes of Heroes Season 2 - actually quite good (spoiler to follow...) seems like Peter Petrelli's been workin' out (I'm sure the dude didn't look like that in series 1!!) although I'm a bit gutted that he decided not to open the box. What gives dude!! And it's a damn shame that they killed off George Takei (Sulu from star trek)but it would appear that it's out with one original star trek member and in with another as it turns out that Micah's grandmother is Nichelle Nicols (Uhura from star trek)- I so didn't see that coming. I reckon she's got a power!!! And what the hell is Sylar's problem...the damn fool!! Evil or not...find out where you is before you start killing peeps you idiot!! Also - I think that Heroes and Star Trek have a bit of a deal going being as the dude that plays Sylar is gonna be Spock in the next Star Trek Movie.

Anyways - enough about that. Spooks is back on tonight (if you're in America the show is called MI5 apparently) - it ain't 24 (or as good as) but it's the closest we got. Besides...as woop ass as 24 is...it's pretty much the same flavour each season - you'll have a mole, someone you expect to be evil that turns out to be good and vice versa with a touch of "What's gonna happen now" at the end of the series. Also...if I was in the "24 world"...I'd be wondering why all these dodgy goings on in my life always lasted for exactly 24 hours...not knocking the show cos I never miss an episode but comon guys!!!

Finally - was watching Panorama last night with the title being "Is America ready for a black president" and while I admire Barrack Obama for going for it - I think the poor guy is ahead of his time. We've come a long way in the past 50 years but he's always going to be looked at on the basis of his colour, not his skills as a politician. I also got to agree with Al Sharpton's comment with regards to Obama saying we're 90% of the way there. Soon as he said that I found myself screaming "Stay of the crack!" at the TV! This is not the case in most if not ANY country and this is certainly not the case in America. If we had come 90% of the way...he would have a better chance of becoming president and would NOT be judged by the colour of his skin but the content of his character. Colour just simply would not come into it and it's the big debate right now! Either way...I think it would be way cool to see a black president in my life time - but the dude better be working out cos you ain't gonna be able to do no speeches without bobbing and weaving them hill billy snipers!! And either way...I think almost anyone would be better than the dude they got in office right now! It always makes me twitchy when a man who is in charge of one of the most powerful countries in the world can't even pronounce the word Nuclear!!! (please tell me I ain't the only one to have noticed that!)

Randy Couture Quits the UFC

They've called it a retirement but it's actually a resignation. Probably the best damn fighter in the UFC and my hero, Randy "The Natural" Couture has handed in his resignation as of 11th October '07 and I got to say I am gutted!! Apparently - he's not being paid enough (and possibly some other issues) and while I'd usually say "Stop your whining" I think I can understand the dudes point. If you've been around for ages - worked your way up - slaved your guts out to become world champ, only to see newly signed fighters getting paid more coin while having not proved themselves in the UFC, I'd be pissed too (and while they may have proved themselves in other MMA organisations - the fact still remains that you gotta take care of the people that helped you get to the top). Anyways - the guys at the UFC are calling it a "retirement", however it would appear from reading pretty much every other article on the net that's it's blatantly a resignation. From the Articles I've read, Dana White is playing it off like Randy's some freakin' idiot and other people are putting ideas in his head, namely his agent who was apparently "Bitch Slapped" by Dana. But I must agree with what has been said by Randy...

"Disrespecting my agent Matt is insulting to me because it says I'm not
intelligent enough to make a decision on my own or surround myself with quality
people. It's all about respect, something they've never given me or anyone
representing me."

Taken from The Fight Network

When it comes down to it - you gotta do what's best for you and you can not continually take advantage of any one's good nature without expecting some form of repercussions at some point. Respect works both ways in any situation and while I think it's a damn shame that he's handed in his resignation - I got to admit that I would have done the exact same thing.

More information on this as well as links to other sources regarding this incident can be found on Randy Coutures web site.

Being Human

My cousin, who may I add is one of the nicest people I know sent me this over the weekend and I thought I would share it with the world. Some very true stuff!

Being Human

• You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around.
  
• You are enrolled in a full time informal school called life. Each day you will have the opportunity to earn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.
  
• There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial and error, experimentation. “Failed” experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately work.
  
• A lesson is repeated until it is learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. Then you can go on to the next lesson.
  
• Learning lessons does not end. There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.
  
• “There” is no better than “here”. When your “there” has become “here” you will simply obtain another “there” that again, looks better than “here”.
  
• Others are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
  
• What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need; what you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
  
• The answers lie inside you. The answers to life’s questions lie inside you. All you need to do is look, listen and trust.
  
• You will forget all this.

Heroes Season 2?!?!?

Yeah...so as usual - we in the UK are still on Heroes Season 1 which is currently running on BBC 2 (already finished running on Sci fi a few months back) - however after a quick browse just realised that the 2nd Season has already started in the US. OBVIOUSLY I have no intention of waiting and will therefore be on http://www.tv-links.co.uk/ to keep up (my lack of patience with this kinda stuff is astonishing!!)


If it wasn't for the fact that such a wonderful country was ran by a complete retard - I'd move to America in a shot to rid myself of always being behind with pretty much EVERYTHING!!!

Global Releases people...they're the way forward!!!

http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/

Microsoft...WTF!?!?

Just a quick post. But what the F*@! are Microshaft playing at with these .NET releases. I'm still using verion 2.0 and they're now release version 3.5!!!

WANKERS!

Where are the old days when you had a chance to get used to shit before they released a new version. Whats the frequency now....every 6 months?

I say again...WANKERS!!!

Mary Jane, Joe Rogan and the Prada Phone

So I've got this Prada phone which I've had for like 6 months now. At the time the iPhone was all the jazz and everyone was waiting for it's arrival (including me) but with O2 having exclusivity and me having been with Orange for so many years...it's either a case of switching to O2 (NOT GONNA HAPPEN!!) or waiting/hoping that they'll start selling a version that's compatible with all networks (which as per this post...is unlikely to happen). Anyways - popped into Orange today cos I'm fed up with this freaking thing! The novelty has totally worn off now and I just want a regular phone! No bells, no whistles...just something small that does what it says on the tin. Anyways - after WASTING 20 minutes of my lunch break the chic tells me it'll cost me £150 bones to upgrade. I dunno...seems a bit steep to rid myself of an irritation but I gotta admit I'm thinking about it!!

Meanwhile - I found this article on marijuana - freaking excellent read and in my opinion...they should make alcohol illegal and take the Amsterdam route of legalising the weed! Let's face facts - there's been no recorded deaths due to the usage of Marijuana in the history of man EVER!! (that's actually true). And if you're sat with your homies higher than giraffe pussy...you ain't starting no fights n stuff - the most you'll be doin' is thinking of the best place to order some munchies!

Finally - for those of you who live in the UK - did you know that Joe Rogan was a stand up comedian?? I heard Mike Goldberg mention it on one of the UFC events I was watching explaining why the dude wasn't there. Anyways - for those of you who don't watch UFC - it's the geezer from Fear Factor basically. But I managed to find a 60 minute vid of him of Google Video and I gotta admit - FUNNY AS SHIT!!! Watch it - and there's a download available for the iPOD and PSP too.

Techy Stuff

Tell you something - this email bloggin is pretty handy (if it works that is). Anyways - spotted a few nice bits I thought I would share :)

Fuser
Found a site called Fuser - released a few days ago. Basically consolidates all of your email accounts into 1 manageable monthly payment...erm...sorry - touch of cross over there. But yeah...looks alright - they seem to like Java in them parts though. Only problem is - I was kinda looking to "cheat the system" at work. Not like I'm on all days browsing the internet and emailin' my homies - but it would be cool to be able to access my hotmail, gmail etc without being blocked by the company filter. Only thing is - from what I can tell - they're letting the client connect to Hotmail when you add the account as opposed to the server doing it - so I think it's a case of - if you're blocked from viewing hotmail where you are - this won't help :( Still looks nice though.

iPod Touch
One of the guys came in today with his brand spanking new iPod Touch which pisses me off. In fact - that don't piss me off...what pisses me off is the fact that I spend 250 bones on a 30 GB ipod - for apple to re-release the latest version where the smallest size available is 80gb and for the same price I paid for mine!!! anyways - bitching aside - this thing is sweet! They've basically taken the iPhone and:

• Added a smaller/thinner case
• Removed the proximity detection (that cool thing that makes the phone fade to black when you put it near your ear)
• Left in ambient light detection (checks the ambient lighting and changes the contrast of your iPOD screen to suit)
• Left in the accelerometer (detects when you change your view from portrait to landscape and vice versa and changes the display to suit)
• Removed Messaging and Phone calls
• Removed some other crap (that you probably wouldn't use anyway).

It works sweet...very intuitive and the multi-touch display is bad ass! Only thing that pisses me off about it....all this bad ass technology...and the capacity is like 16GB. Sorry Apple...but you've sold 1 less iPod because of that! Either add memory expansion capability OR come up with a bigger size - but I wouldn't get out of bed for 16GB - if it can't fit your library on it then HELL NO! I ain't sitting there for hours on end unchecking items in iTunes just so that I can get enough shit to fit onto it - been there - done that - seen the light - don't wanna do it again!!

Oooh - CNET have done a nifty review on it n all.

What the hell??

So I'm finally back to work today - although it seems to be one thing after the other. I think my body is broken!! Getting over the flu - pretty much all sweet and come Friday I'll be sound in that regard, although my freaking leg is screwed!! No idea how...but the more I seem to move around the more it seems to hurt! Can barely walk at the moment and it's that bad I've actually made an appointment at the doctors (1st time in like 10 years!) - so yeah...needs to get this sorted - hobbling up to come bird to get your mac on don't really sound appealing in any sense...oh and the pain is a bitch n all ;)

Oh it's nice to be wanted (part 2)

Yeah...so totally forgot to mention the crack with me interview. Turns out they couldn't afford me - good in one sense...crap in another - but I'm not about to sell myself short now am I?

Meanwhile - still confined to my bed, although I do feel better today. Gonna go drink copius amounts of water and SLEEP!!

Oh how life sucks!

Yeah - so I been in bed since Saturday feeling like complete shat. Had a game of squash which probably was not the best idea and I reckon that sent me over the edge (so to speak) - so for the past 3 days I've been stuck in my bed with the flu...sleeping and watching day time TV. On a good note - I've finally finished the 2nd series of Lost (Yeah - well Heroes ain't on anymore so I hear this is the next best thing). Anyways - what a way to end a series...kinda pisses me off with all the questions. At the end of series 1 it's like..."ooohh...what's down the hatch" - then come series 2 it's like "What happened to Locke and Eiko, does Michael come back with Walt, what happens to Sawyer, Jack and Kate....does Hugo get back OK?" - Piss taking bastards!!! That's why I prefer 24...cos even though they leave you wanting for more...they give you some answers to make you feel better.

Oh - I've also decided that Yunjin Kim is going to be my future wife!