A good end to a shat week and UFC 81

Well, the weekend was actually pretty cool. Had some friends up from Birmingham and spent the weekend chilled as anything. Barely did a thing apart from chill out and listen to a shed load of Neo Soul which I'm so getting addicted to of late (Big thanks to Josi for hooking me up with the names of all those artists).

Meanwhile, REALLY looking forward to UFC 81 this weekend. Living in the UK we end up seeing it a day later than the live event, so Sunday's the day where I get to see Brock Lesnar receive some whoop ass from Frank Mir. I ain't a fan of Brock for a few reasons.

1. He's a former WWE wrestler for crying out loud.
2. He's been talking way too much smack for someone with a 1-0 record!

Now I know he's a former NCAA champ and is meant to be "hot shit" when it comes to Collegiate wrestling. I'm also aware of the fact that many of the best MMA fighters in the UFC were former wrestlers (Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, Rampage Jackson). With all that being said and having seen his debut MMA bout (I was not impressed), I gotta say I'm looking forward to him getting his ass beat down! The thing that done it for me was seeing him talk smack about Tim Silvia and Randy Couture. He says something like "Tim Silvia lets a guy half his size do that to him". I got a few things to say about that...the size of you or your opponent don't matter a lick! It's skill and not strength that matter in MMA which has been proved many times. Also, Tim Silvia has been doing MMA professionally for some years and Randy Couture even longer - both of which having a number of accomplishments in the field where Brock has...hold on..let me count all of these....carry the 2...NONE! Just gives the impression that he has no clue what he's on about and it'll make his defeat all that much sweeter.

What a dodgy week!!!

This has been such a dodgy week it's untrue!!

Monday
Thought it was like any other day until I left work. Get to the bus station as usual and there's loads more people at the bus stop than usual...this happens every now and then when the bus is late so I think nothing of it. The slower bus shows up so I decide to hop on board being as everyone is ploughing onto the bus like their life depended on it. Now keeping in mind that the bus leaves at 5.30 at the latest (which it did) and on a bad day it'll take until 6.15 to get into Huddersfield (where I live). What time did the bus get in?? 8.45pm!! That's not an exaggeration at all...it took more than 3 hours to do a journey that takes on average 40 minutes. I was not pleased at all being as my arse was numb for a start, not to mention that I was hungry and I totally missed my Mixed Martial arts session which combined with last weeks chest infection is 2 weeks in a row! Throw in the fact that I forgot my wallet meant that I couldn't afford to get a taxi too!

Tuesday
Wake up and the dude on the Radio says that the Rail service in Yorkshire is telling people not to travel. I go check the National Rail web site and I can't get to work being as it's flooded half way between where I live and where I work so I have to work from home. Now this is not a bad thing, I get to wear what I want, have some tunes on the go, no having to "go outside for a ciggy". Anyways, lunch time comes and so I bounce into town to get some scran. Make a quick stop at the cash machine and it eats my card!! WHAT?? There's money in all my accounts?? So I go into the freakin' bank and she tells me "Unless you have the card number we can't tell why the card was obtained" - "SORRY LOVE BUT I AIN'T ABOUT TO MEMORISE IT NOW AM I!! PRAT!!" So the chic at NatWest tells me she'll order me a new card...fair enough...it happens.

Wednesday
Trains are still screwed so another day working from home. The boss says that tomorrow I gotta make an effort to get into work and all I can think is "What am I meant to do?? WALK!! It's 11 freakin' miles and it's not like I drive now is it??" Add to that the fact that I don't wanna spend 3 hours plus getting home on the evening does not help anything at all. Anyways - I decide to call NatWest to make sure they've ordered my cards (I could tell that the chic in there was well slack and would have forgotten to do it the moment I asked)...the geezer tells me nothing has been ordered! "Dude...get them ordered please...I don't wanna walk around with cash all the time!!" - "Not a problem sir...we'll do that right away". Anyways, gets to around 4.30 and as I'm working away, rocking tunes...the hard drive that I bought less than 6 months ago just dies!! ALL MY TUNES THAT I'VE BEEN COLLECTING FOR THE PAST 7 YEARS GONE!! ALL THOSE EPISODES OF LOST THAT I GOT FROM iTUNES?? GONE!! ALL THE TUNES THAT I'VE PURCHASED FROM iTUNES?? FUCKING GONE!!!
Anyways - spirits are heightened a bit being as when I call National Rail they tell me the trains are back up and running again which means no struggle to get to work tomorrow.

Thursday
Get to the train station...every train is running sweet...scroll my eyes down to my train..its the only one that's fucking cancelled!! FUCK OFF!!! Anyways, I got no choice but to catch the bus, which after Mondays debacle - worries me! Soon as I walk out of the train station I see my bus and run like fuck to try and catch the thing...just as I get there the driver pulls away with a grin on his face "MOTHER FUCKER!!!" So now I gotta walk to the bus station and wait 20 freakin' minutes for the next bus. Lunch break comes and I decide to call NatWest to make sure the geezer I spoke to ordered my cards...apparently not! My reaction?? "OH FOR FU....LOOK!! ORDER MY CARDS!! You're the 3rd person I've spoken to and this is now getting beyond a joke...it's not rocket science" - "No sir..I am sorry...I am doing it now..I assure you the cards have been ordered now and I am sorry for the inconv..." I slam the phone down. I gotta get out for some air cos NatWest and their retarded ways are getting right on my fucking tits!! I decide to walk up to the local branch to make sure it's been done and surprise surprise...it's not been done!! So I tell the chic behind the counter what's been happening and she's like "Ordering your cards now"...I see this little print out in front of her which is a confirmation and she's ordered the wrong freaking card!! "I never wanted that card love" - "Sorry...you'll have to wait until tomorrow before we can cancel it, and you never said what type of card you wanted" "HANG ON A MINUTE!! YOU NEVER ASKED ME!!! GET YOUR MANAGER! I'M FED UP OF SPEAKING TO MINIONS WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THEIR JOBS PROPERLY...AND I HAVE NO INTENTION OF LEAVING IT WITH YOU JUST TO FIND OUT THAT TOMORROW YOU HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING ABOUT IT!!!" So I end up speaking to this Supervisor chic who is cool as school but I couldn't care less and I tell her that she working with a bunch of incompetent fools anyway! She assures me that everything is gonna be cool/taken care of and gives me her card so I tell her straight.."I don't wanna have to talk to you again!" and I bounce. I go to the local fitness shop being as I've ran our of protein shake this morning and the big dude is in there (very sound geezer). Turns out that the other dude has sold me the wrong freakin' protein 2x in a row and blatantly lied to me about it being the same as the one I usually get!! OH FOR FUCKS SAKE!!! Anyways - as usual he does me a good deal (bless his cotton socks) and I bid the dude a fair well. This brings us to now.

I'm looking at the rest of the week in the same way I'd look for that dodgy smell. Could be something really fucked up or could be something that's just passed your nose but you can't quite tell! I'm hoping that the remainder of the week will be uneventful...but we'll see!! I don't wanna have to add a "What a dodgy week!!! (part 2)" to this!

UFC takes Randy Couture to court!

Yes, you have not read that incorrectly, the machine that is UFC seem to have turned into "the man" which is a damn shame! I have a DVD at home called Ultimate knockouts and it has an interview with a young Dana White saying how he wants to take care of fighters and what not, and while this may have been the case early on, I can't help but think this is a thing of the past. I understand that the UFC (owned by Zuffa LLC) is a business and as such their primary goal is to make money. With that said, it's a shame when everything boils down to "the bottom line" and people are known as numbers and not names. I'm still waiting for the point where I'm in a meeting and after raising a hand to get some attention, someone looks over and says "yes number 42"!

You can view more info here.

Apple

Right, while I've gradually been warming to apple products over the past few years I can't help but be a little pissed about the fact that I've had to fork out 13 notes for the January update! It makes no sense and here is why! Anyone who goes and gets an iPod touch from here on in will have the January update already installed. Sounds quite normal right? Wrong! Basically, there has been no price increase to iPod touches at all, so we're basically being punished for buying the touch early and supporting apple! While I hear you say "why get the update then?", this is simply because I don't like having out of date shit - plain and simple. There are many others out there with the same sentiment but I have no intention of getting another apple product again!

BNP Wives

So I watched a show last night called BNP wives in the hope that I could understand a little more about the BNP, their exact motivations and what they were about. What I expected to see? Intelligent human beings directing their intellect at something counter productive. What I actually witnessed were angry, misguided, angry people who had no real argumnent to backup their claims that this country is apparently being 'raped'. By the end of the show my feelings consisted of 20% anger, 80% pity. There was the old lady with White hair who had a fascination with cats (I found it ironic that she had a statue of a black panther - at that very moment I had visions of Huey P. Newton laughing heartily from beyond the grave. I thought it sad to see this quite obviously disillusioned lady make uninformed comments about people of colour and when challenged, could not even make an argument to backup her claims but instead refer to the other party (who was being more than amicable) as a "fat slag" (obviously not within ear shot as this negates the acts of cowardice people of this organisation are so obviously accustomed to). Then onto the lady who's husband had left her quite some time ago who is obviously bitter about the entire thing and it was apparent to me that she opted to convert this anger into racially motivated hatred. When asked if Britain should have gone to war with Germany..."well there's hundreds of thousands dying in Iraq and that has not helped anything". Obviously she failed to mention that these hundreds of thousands are innocent civilians killed by American and English soldiers. The one that saddened me the most was a lady who's father had died whilst on a trip to Jamaica. Upon receipt of his body she had found that his watch and wallet had been stolen. Shortly after she met a guy who happened to be a member of the BNP and had quite obviously manipulated her sorrow and anger. Being pregnant she had asked for a Caucasian midwife and had received someone of African descent. When asked why she opted for a Caucasian midwife her reply was childlike and could offer no viable explanation as to why she had made such a request other than to say it was her husbands idea. Obviously a woman who has a mentality of following the crowd and not very likely to make decisions on her own.

All in all this program left me with a feeling that we have nothing to worry about. England is a wonderful country full of diversity in culture and a world leader in many fields. This will continue to be the case and unfortunate as it may be, there will always be a few who's misplaced anger will cause a quiet and irritating noise in the ether but will most definitely never prosper in their goal.

I'm off to live in China

Totally random I know, and it's not going to happen for a bit but I'm gonna be heading off to China for a few months. Basically - this is not so much a holiday as an adventure. I'm going to be staying at a Martial Arts Academy studying Praying Mantis Fist (Tanglang Quan) 5 days a week for a minimum of 2 months (3 depending on whether I can get sabbatical or not). Anyways, while I understand this seems entirely random, it's not totally that way. I've been wanting to visit China for a while anyway, that along with the fact that I'm very much getting into Martial Arts on a whole (thank you UFC!) and spiritual enlightenment - I think it's high time I start doing more about it. Still trying to figure out a date but I'm thinking July, just after my birthday. My overall plan (which still has me cringing to an extent) is, attempt to get a sabbatical from work for 2 months (not looking good so far). If that's cool then I got a job to come back to, if not...then I quit my job and go for 3 months instead. No Phones, Computers, Gadgets etc...just me and some other like minded people getting away from "Real Life" for a while.

So - no longer is it a case of having a list of things to do but having a list of things that have been done. Even went and spent a tasty wedge on a home gym today n all!!

The new year starts a touch late...

Yeah, my new year is starting a touch later than everyone else especially after the disastrous weekend I've just had. Seems like things were going wrong one by one...I'm in a position where I can giggle now (cos it's the only thing I can do) but all in all - a totally shite start to the new year.

So - this week sees the start of my new year.

Concentrate on health, well being and peace of mind which actually means - get my martial arts instructor to beat the shit out of me as much as possible - go to the gym 4 times a week to pick up and put down "the heavy thing" and work like a whipped slave to get some of these ideas I have off the ground finally!

Anyways - Happy New Year, Peace and Love to all!

iPod Touch baby!

Contrary to previous opinion I've gone a sorted myself and iPod Touch. Chuffed?? Proper!! This thing is the business and my gas has definatley been flabbered! So many nice little features to it from contacts to finding music. GET ONE!

Back but I don't want to be

Got my Octagon Necklace yesterday. Well chuffed with that :) Doesn't look cheap and tacky or anything - although it wouldn't go with my style of dress so it's never coming out of the box - but chuffed non the less. Talking of which - UFC 79 was the BOMB! I was well chuffed with that being as the last few have been a bit of an anti-climax. The fight with Machida was cracking...that dude is on fire. He's easily one of the best fighters I've seen but I'd prefer to see him against some notables before I make a firm decision. Also, the fight between Silva and Liddel was cracking! Not a moment to be bored in that fight and I don't care what anyone says - win or lose Silva can take a punch! Anyways - to the good stuff - GSP is now interim champion - YAY!!! Well chuffed about that and the entire fight went exactly as expected. Matt Hughes has got skills but he ain't GSP. Next on the hit list is Serra and then home free :)

Right - in other ramblings...back to work and don't wanna be. I think the time off has been cool - but it's a damn shame that work beckons. I think the entire country just can't be bothered this week. But sooo looking forward to my little lie in tomorrow - Woo Hoo!

Oh - Finally - Merry Christmas and Happy new Year to all. I know it's a good week late but better that than never. Also - I have finally scored me a HD DVD add on for my XBOX 360. Does what it says on the tin but when it's spinning disks it's as loud as the XBOX. Does not matter too much with the surround sound on full bollock but still...if you wanna just chill to a quiet movie - you don't want constant whizzing in the background do ya?