Saturday 30 June 2007

You know you watch too much anime when...


My sis got a new top for her birthday... It's very cool... But what makes it unique is if fact it has cat ears on the hood. She's been watching too much cat girl anime me thinks :-)

Friday 29 June 2007

Disco Bowling


It's my sisters birthday tomorrow... So it's time to party... Tonight we're off bowling. To jazz things up in the evening they turn on UV lighting and have disco like light displays. Makes for a cool experience.

Tuesday 26 June 2007

Migraine or am I just a wimp?

I don't usually suffer with headaches and the like, but I've had a few really good ones, today I've been suffering with a real killer. I have no idea what a migraine feels like, but I can't imagine anything worse than this... feels like someones trying to push my eyes out from the back of my head!

Must sleep now to try and shift this... codeine is my friend :-)

Sinfull

Greed:High
Gluttony:High
Wrath:Medium
Sloth:High
Envy:Very Low
Lust:High
Pride:High


Take the Seven Deadly Sins Quiz

I'm not normally a quiz peron, but I thought i'd post this as I thought my score was rather impressive :-) Strangely the only one thats low is envy, I'd consider myself quite an envious bloke, ho hum I agree with everything else tho. Looks like I'm in for a rough ride being so sinfull :-)

Monday 25 June 2007

Madness

Sanity is a strange thing... it changes depending on the perspective of the person. To some people what is deemed insane appears to others as sane, which in turn makes sanity relative to popular opinion, or cultural norms even, which brings us to the ultimate cradle of all doctrine... faith. But is belief in a higher consciousness madness or the ultimate sanity? I know what I believe and I care not to share it less other judge it. Which makes my sanity a closely guarded secret... and in secrecy lies strength, for knowledge that is not in the common realm holds a power over those that desire knowledge. Therefore is madness the ultimate release from this as knowledge has no meaning?

Saturday 23 June 2007

London Astoria



The London Astoria is a small but extremely popular venue for heavy metal gigs... a lot of the bands I've seen I first saw play there, then at larger venues when they became more popular. For several years it's been at risk of demolition, due to the local area being re-developed. A petition was raised and thousands of people signed it. However it's still going to be demolished... i hope whatever it's replaced with was worth destroying some of our heritage. I somewhat doubt it will be tho... expect to see another Starbucks here soon.

Japanese Food In Camden


Camden town in London is a bit of a tourist spot, as it contains one of the most vibrant markets in the "center" of London, popular for it's punks and "alternative" clothing it's a popular destination for people that listen to Rock music and the associated cultures. But I digress I'll mention more on Camden another time. One thing Camden does very well is cheap food available from market stalls. The newest addition to which is a Japanese Takoyaki stall. Takoyaki are a popular Japanese food stall snack, mainly made from octopus onions pepper etc in a pancake like mix and about the size and shape of a golf ball. Served with a brown sauce (A little like sticky Teriake sauce) and ground seaweed (Nori). They're eaten off a toothpick or other small stick. Quite appetising, but I'd eaten far too much by the time I spotted this new shop. A curse of walking through so many places selling nice food :-)

PS Check out the sign, it shows an octopus wearing a bandanna that is traditional to Japanese Chefs

Tap n Tin


It's Pauls mate Tracys birthday so we went to a club that I haven't been to in years called the Tap n Tin it's a fantastic little place. You'd be forgiven for walking past it in the street as the frontage is really small... but it's huge inside, 3 floors high 2 with seperate dance floor and bars the top one is practically in the roof. It even has an outside area where they sometimes hold free BBQs (Like tonight... yum). Prices are ok, and the music can be excellent when live bands are playing. Paul's playing there next sat so I'll be back there soon :-)

Thursday 21 June 2007

Driving

Congratulations to my sisters boyfriend Paul, he's passed his driving test. Well done mate. Welcome to the official designated drivers club, your drinking days are over :-)

In seriousness tho those of us that've passed our tests remember the day when you suddenly realised that you could go anywhere you liked with that tank of petrol in the car. No waiting for trains, buses etc, no timescales to follow, just jump in and GO! It's a liberating experience, and I myself decided to go on a road trip when I passed my test, It hardly was the most exciting thing in the world, but I put down a lot of mileage, and basically did a trip the length and breadth of the UK. It was an experience I'll never forget having total freedom.

Wednesday 20 June 2007

Filmtastic

One thing I have been doing lately is seeing a lot of films at the cinema, Recent years have seen a sharp decline in me going to the cinema, this has changed now with the last 2 nights being spent in the cinema.

First off I went to see Vacancy, it's a good horror film, not unique, not gorey or shocking, just frightening in the good old fashioned jumps out from behind you kinda way. I like that it a horror film, gore is cool, but not so much so that it turns into the SFX studios 1000 litres of raspberry sauce bonanza.

Last night I went to see Fantastic 4 2, despite dire reviews it was good family marvel fun, the only thing I'd say is shame they put the whole Silver Surfer interrogation scene in, not that it was graphic, far from it (The films a PG after all), but I think it'd deter some parents from bringing their children to what was overall a family film.

More Posts

Since coming back from German there's not been a lot to post about, it's also been made a lot worse by my lack of a PC at home at the moment, hopefully it'll be back up and running again soon as I've got a lot of video editing to do from Germany and photos to upload. Not to mention a couple of websites to do... best pull my finger out and sort my PC out then :-)

Friday 15 June 2007

Back to the Grind

Well here I am back to the grindstone... I've plenty of good photos from my trip to Germany, and some good video's too. When I get my PC back together I'll uplad them to my myspace... watch this space.

Monday 11 June 2007

Back in England


Back in England... The ferry ride was pretty uneventful. There was a couple of vintage MGs on board... Strangely all cream in colour... Perhaps it was a classic cream car rally?

Belgian Fags


And i don't mean homosexuals... Bringing back cigaretes for the family is expected of when anyone goes abroad. As a result we now look like smugglers... Argh Jim Lad

Long journey home


Feels like we've hardly been here and now we're traveling home. Its 700km in total and after stopping to refuel we've got another 600 to go.

Sunday 10 June 2007

Closing speaches


Germans have a tradition of giving speaches at special events... We do too to a degree... But in germany both sides guest and host give a speach. My upmost respect to our chairman for not only giving them in german, but also throwing in a english joke.

Beer Tab


Due to the social nature of dining and drinking in Germany they have a totally different system for working out the bill. Your beer mat is used to keep score of your drinks (especially easy if you stick to the same thing). When it comes to saying up the beer mat is totaled up and the waiter either remembers what you ate or you tell him. It's a great system because you can leave as and when you like or keep going... Only problem i see is you have to remember how much you have in your pockets!

Power Gliders


Flew in a power glider today... It's more similar to a light aircraft than a classic glider... Except that it has much longer wings. We flew around for about half an hour taking in all the local sights then landed again... The turbulence and g-forces were making me somewhat quesy (i'd make a rubbish jet pilot) so i was glad to be down rather than make a mess in the cockpit. It was fantastic tho... I video'd all of it :-)

Saturday 9 June 2007

Night Flying


This picture doesn't do it justice... This is a wombat fitted with led's flying at night... Anyone not in the know would expect to be in the middle of a UFO invasion. Paul's going to make me a wing so i can build my own... It'll rival the Decotora trucks of Japan when i'm done :-)

Propper BBQ


The germans know how to cook... And cook pig better than anyone... My favorite is loin steak... They marinade it so it's so tender you can cut it with a plastic knife and fork. It's to die for... I need to see if i can get the recipe :-)

When does a model stop being a model


This is a giant 1/3 scale model. It's so big it has to use a conventional petrol motor and ignition system. It only just fits in Manfreds people carrier :)

Ficklety of German Weather


German summers are very fickle... Due to the landlocked nature of this part of Germany summer thunderstorms are quite common. One moment your moaning about the heat... The next you're running for shelter!

Wisdom of Wombats


My dads friend Paul makes a foam delta airplane called a wombat... It's a brilliant acrobatic plane, extremely cheap too and very hardy. I'm going to build a custom one for my dad with night flying lights.

Friday 8 June 2007

Dinner and Drinks


Dinner and drinks is always a comunial affair in Germany. We sit along benches, if there are more people than bench space, another is added... Even to the point where other already occupied tables are emptied and added (at the approval of the people sitting there... Which is never refused). It's a fantastic social atmosphere.

Slope Soaring


Drove to a club that's on the side of a large hill. Excellent thermals as it's 30deg plus today (28deg in the shade) my dad's managed to get up to at least 1500ft so far on only 1min of power :-)

Salt Mountain


Last time i was in germany we passed this... We're off to the same area again. Believe it or not this is rock salt for putting on icy roads. God know how big it is but it's a mountain in its own right. Why would anyone need this much salt?

Thursday 7 June 2007

Hot dog


It's 33deg out here... Hot enough to turn a sausage dog into a hot dog.

Super computer helicopter


This helicopter is one mean machine... Powered by a huge lipo battery and a 1600w motor it develops a huge amount of power. But what makes it extremely clever is it has no fly-bar (a fly-bar adds stability at the expense of adding drag), this is compensated for by an on board computer which doubles up for a giro. In the hands of an experienced pilot it can perform apparently impossible feats of acrobatics such as flying whilst sideways!

Spezi


It's fiendishly hot here... Now beer is great for cooling down... But given the heat i'd soon be hammered... So another german drink satisfys my thirst... That's Spezi... It's a mix of orange juice and coke. It's really refreshing. Sadly you can't get it anywhere at home.

Lunchtime flying


At lunchtime flying of power (petrol/diesel) is prohibited, as the Germans like to have quiet time at lunchtimes... So those that wish to fly usually use electric gliders for a nice sedate pootle round.

First flight of the day


Way off in the distance is a white speck that is my dad having the first flight of the day. He even beat the germans.

Zum Adler Guest House


The guest house we always stay in is right next to the flying patch. It's a beautiful old building with paintings of german country life and the kaizer. It's what you'd imagine a old german country house to be like.

Wednesday 6 June 2007

First meal in Germany


Now although i'm big... I'm not a glutton... I do however like my food, I tend to like the more exotic cuisines such as japanese, thai, mexican etc. But for good wholesome food you can't beat German. It's mainly pork so not so good if you're Jewish... But Mmm what they can do with a pig is fantastic. Jägerschnitzel is my favorite. The Beers were free flowing... And so was the schnapps. A good evening... Somewhat drunk now :-)

Interesting Flavours


Now i know that us english can be a little prudish when it comes to lifes necessities compared to europeans... But this is just god damn funny! Now as flavours go smack has gotta appeal to stoners... But the last one cracks me up... Can't decide if it's gerbil or garibaldi biscuit flavour. Whichever it is i'm not so sure it will appeal to the ladys so much as capt condoms ribbed :-)

German border control


Well we're well inside germany now... On our way in the entire motorway was forced to drive through a border checkpoint (since the days of the EU these are unused as crossing borders can almost go unnoticed as all there is is a sign saying "Deutschland") I was driving so I was bricking it... being foreigners with interesting cargo (planes) we usually attract a little interest. Suprisingly we didn't get stopped. Good really as i just spotted a stow away!

Belgium

On the journey to Germany we travel through France, Belgium and the Netherlands. We're about half way there now. Belgium is a funny country... It's almost perfectly flat. The language confuses the hell out of me... I can speak a little German and French. Flemish has elements of each so i end up speaking in spurts of German and french. It's lovely countryside tho... Great plains with farm houses and large wooded areas.

Captain Jack Sparrow


Ferry journey was one of the roughest i've been on. Nothing i imagine to a propper seafairer but to a landlubber like me enough to have me staggering about like a pissed Captain Jack Sparrow!

On our way


Well i'm using the french network to send this hope it works.

Tuesday 5 June 2007

Crazyness in my genes?


Anyone that knows me knows i'm a bit of an eccentric... Or rather a big kid at times (ok all the time!). My parents and my sister are the same if not worse tho... Must be in my genes!

Monday 4 June 2007

Germany

Well on wednesday I'm off to Germany with my dad to fly model airplanes, we do this about once every couple of years and it's fantastic fun. It's a long old journey by car (7hrs), why by car I hear you say? Because understandably the airports get a bit moody carrying aircrafft fuel, not to mention the planes themselves are delicate and I doubt the baggage handlers would appreciate that!

I'm hoping my phone will be able to blog from out there, because ther'll be plenty to take pictures of. So the next few days could be inundated with posts... or not. Fingers crossed.

Sunday 3 June 2007

Nephwrack vs Cursed as Angels


Haven't heard Nephwrack play in ages... They're a shitload better than last time (tho that was like 5+ years ago), probably due to them having a new lead singer. As always my sisters fellers band Cursed as Angels was damn cool... So gotta burn their cd for my car.