goggles, no braids

Buzzword Bingo

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 20:53:07 GMT

Working for a large mega-corp has its advantages from time to time but last week was like being in motivational video nightmare. One of the projects I've been on had a bit of a reputaion for 'going off the rails' so a WorkOut(tm) was organised to deal with it. Cue 8 people from various parts of said mega-corp (4 from the development side, 4 from the projects - or my side) and two very bouncy organisers.

It all started so innociously - put down what you feel is wrong on post-it notes and hand them in - and then the buzzwords started flying around. I heard:

Many Synergies *wince*
At least one Paradigm
Numerous Proactives
But the winner over the two days had to be Solutionize

Is that even a word? I know the mega-corp loves its catchphrases - Productionize is another favourite - but Jesus. After two days of that my brain had turned to swiss-cheese and was in bed by 9:30!

In the preceeding three months I have been Snowboarding in France (excellent), working late on another project that is teetering on the edge of disaster (not so excellent) and attempting to go to the gym (see work for reasons why not). Turns out (he says having logged onto LJ for the first time since my last post) Ascension is on this weekend so I'll be heading Studio24-ward this weekend. Be quite good to have a bit of a bop before Dark City.

Oh - Cath and myself also have a shiny new Sony Bravia 32inch LCD TV. Very very very nice...

Five working days down...

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 11:48:37 GMT

Ten till I'm back on holiday again :) Actually this week hasn't been to bad workwise and although stuff is coming down the pipe which will require some weekend working later on in the year, if I plan now then I should be able to avoid working seven day weeks for two months straight.

Outside the office it's officially grim, and has been grim since Saturday. Yesterday I honestly felt I was going back to school as the galeforce winds, driving rain and walking in the pitch-black (ah the joys of Winter in Scotland) reminded me of being back in primary school. It is, however, making an attempt to brighten up (with the rain still pounding down).

So - a fun filled weekend awaits. Off to see Colin, Carla, Stu & Suz with the ever lovely Cath tonight as it was Suz's birthday yesterday and we're off to a fine restuarant to celebrate. Tomorrow night it's more of the same although with a different party as Leena celebrated her birthday last week and we're off to the Guru Balti Indian. Yum. Sunday, I think, will be spent on the sofa.

I'm also counting down the days to the World of Warcraft Expansion - although the patch that was released this week managed to universally kill everyone's addons :( Made the Wednesday raid into Zul'Gurub rather interesting but we did survive and take 5/7 bosses out before it was time for bed.

Back to work on Monday...

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 19:26:44 GMT

After two weeks of not even remotely thinking about work it's back to the grindstone on Monday. Fortunately I still remember my main password so I should at least be able to start wading through my inbox. Renewed my train pass today (and it had gone up but only by the princley sum of £1 for a month) which is quite organised for me as well.

Thursday's trip to X-Scape was a definite success although John declined the offer to hit the slope as he didn't feel he met the 'recreational standard' the complex wants you to be before using the tows. Was very impressed though as it's a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be and it wasn't overly busy. Lighting was a bit weird though giving the slope a bit of a 'flat light' look but it was smooth so no danger of catching a hidden bump and having your knees hit your chin (or taking off - either's possible :) ). The good news is that I'm now acquainted with my new board and boots and can confirm that the board is very good and the boots (Vans Encore Boa) are very very comfy - much better than my old Burtons. Roll on the 28th when I head to France :)

Went over to the Parental Unit last night to see them after New Year and got a final piece of my Christmas from my sister - namely the new Autoclav1.1 album. Haven't mp3'd it yet to put it onto the ipod but will do that tomorrow so I can listen to it on the train on Monday. Happened to catch the tennis on Eurosport where Andy Murray was playing and he seems to have (thankfully) calmed down a bit. No more screaming like a madman (I remember the pictures the papers had of him looking like The Scream) and a bit more focused. Not that I can play tennis at all mind :)

Right - I think it's time to do some more fishing on World of Warcraft before I head out to see friends. My skill's now 291/300 and I'm going to hit 300 before Burning Crusade comes out.

Erase / Rewind

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 22:26:46 GMT

And it's out with the old and in with the new - thank god. If I had to rate 2006 out of 10 it would get a 3 - which is mighty generous. Cath managed to spend almost 12 months recovering from recovering from the mumps in January, I managed to spend almost half my life in the office and we never got anything else in the flat finished (the bathroom is still in the same state since this time last year). 2006 was definitely a non-event.

So - to 2007. Off snowboarding in three weeks for a week in France (Tignes for those who really want to know) and I'm going to head to the X-Scape centre in Glasgow on Thursday to try my new boots and newish board out. I've never been to the centre before so I'm quite interested to see what it's like (people in my team have been and all I got back was 'It's good but expensive'). Still - it has to be better than the plastic matting at Hillend.

I've never been one to make (and therefore have never had the problem of breaking) New Year's Resolutions but I think I will this year. So - in no certain order:

Cath, Family, Friends, Work - in that order.
Be more structured in going t'gym (and if that means torturing myself with Personal Training Sessions - so be it).
Climb a 6C - I've been doing 6B+s for a year now and I'm getting bored.
Make fuller use of our joint CAMRA membership (beer festivals here we come!)
Post to LJ on a frequent basis.
And aim to have fun.

Normality - that's what I want

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 21:26:33 GMT

And that's what I'm going to get! After working weird hours since June it's all come to an end and, as of tomorrow morning, I'll be back doing normal hours. I was meant to be working 8pm to 8am shifts this week but got thankfully stood down last night or I'd have been sending this from the office.

I'm looking forward to the weekend - both niallsdiary and Maria are up for the weekend so it'll be good to see them again and it'll be nice just to kick back and relax. Even Cath is doing better so she hopefully should be able to join in on the Saturday night pub extravaganza (although I doubt she'll be dancing on the tables ;) )

My determination to act my shoe size and not my actual age continues apace though with my latest purchase (Heeleys) and I've managed to practise to the point I'm able to remove the front wheel and use them like Proper Heeleys™. I'm now eyeing up the Gyle Shopping Centre and its lovely smooth floors...

Also splashed out on a pair of double-decker New Rock Springy Platforms and the scary thing is that my dayglo trousers still stop 1/2 an inch from the floor! I think that's as high as I want to go though - any higher and I'll be in severe danger of clocking my skull off the door jams.

And that's it really - most of the two months have been spent working, planning on working or doing on-call. Now that I'm liberated Edinburgh better look out as I have a lot of partying to make up...

He's finally going...

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 18:31:24 GMT

So Schumacher has finally decided to call it a day. He's certainly shattered every record ever set in F1 and I expect most will never now be beaten but I cannot help but feel that he'll never really belong alongside the true greats such as Senna, Prost etc because:

1. He's never had an 'equal' in the other team's car.
2. He's always demanded No1 status to the extent where the No2 has had to throw race wins for him
3. Some of his racing decisions would have got him censured in karting, let alone F1.

I really hope Alonso manages to keep his slender lead intact and win the drivers championship for a second time or we're going to suffer years of "but would he have beaten Schumacher..."

Back in the land of not-Infest

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 21:22:23 GMT

I am so glad I had yesterday off as I was a broken shell of a man. Being almost 32 and staying up till 4am all three nights at Infest, followed by a very long drive back up to Edinburgh, pretty much did me in. However, that's not to say that the weekend itself wasn't enjoyable as I had a fantastic time down in Bradford.

Picked up Hilary and drove down to Bradford. Managed to get lost in Bradford, again, and finally arrived around 5ish. niallsdiary arrived shortly afterwards with newly found friend lproven in tow (they bonded whilst desperately trying not to career down the hairbus on cushions!) and we went to Omar Khans for a very nice curry. Apparently Omar Khans is legendary for its 'Table Naan' but I daren't risk it so it was chapatis all the way.

By the time we were done eating we only caught the tail end of Destroid and then it was Lab 4, who were excellent (if slightly marred by two brief cutouts.) Met cities_of_sound and Eve (this was much better than last year where I only found them on the last night. Finished the night off with some more dancing and then it was back to the flat for some Polish Vodka and coke.

Woke up on Saturday to the sound of Niall calling me. My head felt like it was being stomped on (I blame the Polish Vodka) but food beckoned and it was off to the Love Apple for brunch. Headed into town and, after walking around Bradford city centre and a trip into the 'Worst Goth Shop Ever (tm)' we settled down at the Bavarian Beer Tent and quaffed some fine German Lager.

Headed for another curry and then it was off to the Union again to see some more bands - Architect and Rotersand. Rotersand, in my opinion, didn't really live up to what I was expecting. I saw them at Dark City last year and, I dunno, it may of been the slow ballad in the middle but I felt kinda deflated. Sloped off to the second dancefloor and discovered they were playing a mixture of cheese and fine music which myself, Niall, Liam and Colin spent the rest of the night dancing to. Didn't spend the rest of the night drinking as I was still feeling the aftereffects of the vodka from the previous night! John and Eve only made a brief appearance (the vodka was blamed as well.)

Sunday started late, very late. Woke up at 1pm realising that I had missed the start of the Turkish GP. Oops. Somehow we managed to get food, get changed and get back for Autoclav 1.1 (which was an excellent start to the proceedings and I don't think I've ever seen it so busy at 4pm on a Sunday), missed Frozen Plasma due to being upstairs and came down for Stromkern (good but sounded like a harder version of Linkin Park), Wai Pi Wai (who I must get on CD) and FLA (excellent!) Headed to the second dancefloor and was subjected to Madonna(!) which prompted an about-turn straight to the main floor and all too soon it was 2:30 and we were being ushered out of the building and back to Halls.

We all rendevouzed in the flat kitchen for a final few drinks and I headed off to bed around 4 as I had to drive back up again in the morning. And that was it! All over in what seemed like a flash and I can't wait till next year.

Met loads of people (too numerous to lj-name here) but it was excellent catching up with airport_tales, robotboi and the rest of the Edinburgh/ Glasgow crew. Special thanks go out to niallsdiary, cities_of_sound, Eve and lproven - you guys (and gal) rocked :)

So - here's to next year!

Cath is coming home...

Thu, 17 Aug 2006 12:49:58 GMT

Cath is finally coming home, which is a good thing (an excellent thing in fact.) SMS'd the upstairs landlady and it turned out that the tenants had already moved out (which does kinda explain why upstairs had been so quiet for the past couple of weeks.) Also, whilst not wishing to tempt the gods, Cath is starting to slowly improve so being down in Wigan was the right thing to do, even though it meant we were apart for 5 weeks.

Apart from being apart from Cath, since my last post I have:

Worked all hours godsends (a weeks worth of overtime last month!)

Seemed to have spent a lot of time in the pub - most of which were free due to end of project pissups

Went to London for a weekend of clubbing with niallsdiary, Othon & Laura. Maria was celebrating the end of the school year and managed to get a two day hangover :(

Been very very very very very tired (which is probably due to a combination of the above.

Roll on Infest!

Dark City 2006 madness

Tue, 30 May 2006 18:45:24 GMT

Well - that's Dark City over for another year and I have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed myself. James, Julia and Jonathan managed to pull off another top three nights and they didn't even look that stressed by the end of it (either that or they were hiding it well. :) )

Going back to work today was a bit of a bind tho - I had completely forgotten what I was doing last week and I had only been off on Friday and yesterday! Oops.

Friday:
Friday started off with me working in the shop alongside ishkhara although I was only doing wristbanding. Wandered back home to get changed and then back up to Teviot for the first night's events (although I missed Trauma Pet due to me faffing around.) Sound was a bit weird tho - Glis seemed really distant and Panzer AG seemed quite muddy. Weirdly the bass was there when they were playing CDs...

Panzer AG's set was interrupted by the fire alarm so it kinda threw the schedule out so I didn't head down to the clubs until well after 12:30. Downstairs Kyrogenix were DJing and I had a top time - I'll need to check their website for the playlist.

Saturday:
Stu & Suz turned up around 4ish as I was cooking dinner. Once that was out the way Suz gave us a lift up the road and we headed into the building. Started off the night well by falling down the stairs (fortunately not much was damaged other than my pride!) Irish turned up later on and we watched Soman (excellent and it looked like he was enjoying himself onstage as we were watching and listening) , XPQ-21 (also excellent although Jayenne was even madder than last time) and Fixmer/ McCarthy (piss poor.) A bit of a shame as I quite enjoyed F/M at Infest.

Headed downstairs to Ascension and danced the rest of the night away to a fine selection of tunes with Stu (and occasional help from Hilary and airport_tales)

Sunday:
Started off by feeding Cath and Stu sausage rolls and watched the Monaco GP. Was very pleased to see that Schumacher had been demoted to last after what happened in Qualifying. Whether he did it intentionally we'll never know but he's got so much history of doing things like that it's hard to give him the benefit of the doubt. Race itself was unusually good for Monaco (and much better than the snore-a-thon that Barcelona usually dishes up.)

Faffed around and didn't actually get up the road until just before Psyche played. Met airport_tales, Emma and his friend (and I can't remember her name - argh!) and settled down for what I thought was going to be a quietish night. Bumped into a couple from London I had been chatting to off-and-on over the weekend and we ended up staying together for the rest of the night - drinking in the bars, watching Combichrist and then down to the Underground for the final night of dancing. Playlist was top and we ended up getting home around 3:40! Amazingly it's getting light now at that time.

People:
Finally, a hello to everyone I met - Jay from Kyrogenix, Othon and Loz from London, airport_tales, doctorbutcher, ishkhara, Hilary, Steve... the list could go on and on. Here's to next year!

Just push Fast Forward...

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 20:29:29 GMT

Well, it's been a while, a very long while. On the one hand I cannot believe it's April as this year appears to be whizzing past at a rate even I can't comprehend. On the other hand, the year's been so crammed full of stuff (a lot of which has been work related) I'm amazed I managed to get it all done.

So, since the last post (which was January!), I have:

1. Delivered yet another internet facing project in the bank. The world did not end although it was interesting trying to take part in a recovery meeting whilst killing Ogres in Tanaris in World of Warcraft. Volume controls are a wonderful thing.

2. Delivered yet another internet facing project in the bank. This one is still ongoing tho as there are a couple of cleanup tasks to do.

3. Plodding my way through WoW - lvl 52 and counting. Only 8 more till I hit 60 and then.. well.. that's it. Until they raise the level cap and then I start again.

4. Tending to Cath as she's still not back at work :(

5. Been attempting to go to the Gym and keep up the climbing (points 1 and 2 have done their damnest to interfere with that.)

And that's been it really.

Beware the teapots and anvils...

Sun, 29 Jan 2006 21:32:41 GMT

Well, it has indeed been a while since I last posted. And with good reason too - I've been unbelievably busy and haven't stopped long enough to think of a post to actually post. Anyway, before I vanish World of Warcraftwards, here's what's been going on in SimonLand™.

Looking after Cath - she's been (and still is) very ill and is knackered all the time.
Work, and lots of it. Enough, you might say, to keep me completely busy from 8am->8pm if I let it.
Exercise of the gym and climbing variety. Not as much as I'd have liked but see point (2) for the reason.

And that's been it really. Didn't go to Ascension a week ago as I was utterly shattered and didn't go to the Haunt on Friday as I had to be in work at 5am! However, all that nasty project work has finished so hopefully everything should be back to normal tomorrow.

However, I think it's fair to say that this year has got off to a far better start for me than 2005. Long may it continue...

(*Musical footnote : Is it just me or does Death Metal - ie where someone sings like they're belching down a drainpipe - crack you up? I find it very hard to listen to it without laughing...)

Season's Greetings...

Sat, 24 Dec 2005 15:16:22 GMT

Hope everyone has an excellent Christmas and New Year :) I'm in Wigan with Cath (our first Christmas together) - I just hope our cats will forgive us when we collect them from the cattery on the 28th...

Cry Wolf! (and swords)

Mon, 05 Dec 2005 11:37:22 GMT

A week later than intended but this time last week I was at work currently wishing I was in bed. Today I'm not in work and feeling a lot less sleepy...

VNV were excellent. From what I've been reading about the other events (unexpected indoor fireworks in Newcastle etc) it seems that we in Edinburgh got the best gig of the tour. Which wasn't bad considering there must only have been a smidgeon over 400 people in the room. Still, you could move around which was more than was possible during Dark City when Icon of Coil were playing.

Show was excellent, even including the unplanned Mac crash that prompted a five minute standup routine from Ronan whilst machines were frantically rebooted in the background. Cath really enjoyed herself as well :) I do agree with sterroneous and niallsdiary tho - Ronan really doesn't have the best singing voice or timing but as gigs go, it got a 9/10.

Friday was a bit more laid back - trip to the pub after everyone else had been at work (as myself and Cath were off) and then off to Opium for a few more beers, chat and possibly listening to some loud metal. Previous years ended up in the Liquid Rooms and me staggering home at 3:30 but this year I was actually still able to balance without the aid of a wall and felt ok on Saturday. Am I getting more sensible in my old age?

Saturday was Thai meal followed by Ascension. Cath and Suz went through to Falkirk so it was the hard-core party mob that was left. All in all an excellent night although it did take a long time to fill up to usual dance-floor crushing levels. And we managed to get a night bus down the road as well so that saved everyone a long walk back through town.

Sunday was the killer - I was tired, Cath was tired, we were both very very tired. Drove through to Falkirk to collect Cath and then it was off to Sunny Fife to meet the parents. Cath did a sterling job of staying awake and I would like to think I did the same. In any event I managed to stay awake long enough to drive home and then pass out on the bed.

Saw A-Ha last night in Glasgow and it was excellent. Saw them a couple of years ago with Cath (which was a sheer fluke as I was walking past Ripping Records, saw the tickets onsale and went "Nah... it won't be them" but it was) and really enjoyed them then. (For those not in the know a-ha have actually been releasing new albums since 2000.) Stage show was excellent - sort of thing that would make VNV drool with all the plasma screens behind the band, back projection etc.)

Only minor downsides were:

The squawling laydees behind us who sounded like they were about to erupt in orgasmic fury every time Morten hit a high note.

The support act - a single woman who seemed to switch between three identically sounding guitars and all her songs were suicidally depressing. A real shame as she had a stunning voice.

Problems with the sound - I dunno what it was like for people in the stalls but it seemed to take the sound engineers a good song and a half to find Morten. Before that he sounded like he was 40ft behind the band.

Ker-thunk!

Wed, 23 Nov 2005 23:02:30 GMT

Question: If you had to sum up this year in a word (or two) what would you say?
Answer: Blindingly quick!

I cannot believe it's almost December and, with it, the fact that ~90% of the year has gone already. I also cannot believe that the last time I was able (or actually in the mood) to post was over a month ago. So what's been going on in SimonLand(tm) since the last post:

Working all hours godsends at work for a project that finally went into production after several attempts. This included working 2pm -> 2am once Saturday and required me to get a company taxi for Cath as I had promised her a lift and was shackled to my desk as the (work) world came crashing down around me.
Working all hours godsends meaning I've had a hellish time trying to keep to some kind of regime at the gym (and by regime I mean actually being able to go when I want and not when work stopped me).
Working all hours godsends which resulted in us not being able to roleplay as I was stuck in late meetings, changes and all manner of ugly "this really shouldn't be happening to me" situations that always seemed to happen to other people.
Did I mention working all hours godsends.

Seriously though, Cath managed to keep me sane through the last six? seven? weeks and it's all better now so I'm looking forward to the weekend, which starts tomorrow with VNV Nation. Cath and myself have tickets so we'll be there and, given that it's an Ascension gig, we have the Friday off as I'm not going to work on Friday feeling like death :) Friday should be fairly relaxed - meeting a fair few friends in Opium Bar for beers, music and chat.

Saturday is Ascension and Big Haggis Towers (name courtesy of Cath) is turning into a mini hotel for Stuart, Steph and Billy. Cath and Suz are off back to Falkirk for a night of Warcrack (which I believe will entail some kind of fishing competition but I could be wrong.)

And that's it. Next post on Sunday (which will contain, amongst other things, how bad my hangover is...)

Not dead, just very very very busy...

Wed, 12 Oct 2005 15:41:01 GMT

Gawd - over a month since my last post. In fact, the last post was just before Cath and myself headed off to Corfu for a well deserved week off. We both had an excellent time and I actually felt life slow back down to a more manageable pace. All that changed when I got back to work tho.

Last three (or is it four?) weeks have been a project rollercoaster ride. Imagine the Big One at Blackpool (the first hill and drop) repeated over and over again and that's the insanity of the project I'm on at the minute. Weekends have blurred into a continuation of the week and, to add to it, Cath's not had an easier time at her work so we've both been exhausted at night.

Fortunately sanity seems to be returning and myself and Cath are getting back into a normal routine again...

So - this weekend is Ascension, last GP of the season and I think that's it. Gym's been pretty erratic of late (see above) but we both should get a few sessions in before Monday.

The good, the bad and the just plain silly

Tue, 06 Sep 2005 15:22:17 GMT

Life's pretty much returned to normal after the madness of Infest although Cath and myself had mad weekend - Cath's nephew was christened and Cath, being one of the God Parents, kinda had to be there.

Churches and me (and Cath for that matter) are usually places to be avoided at all costs. In fact, I have been noted to say that the good use for a church is as a nightclub but that's by the by. However, with Cath's nephew being christened it was on with the suit and into the church.

Church of England events are definitely a lot more audience participation centric than Chursh of Scotland ones. All the 'And now you say' meant that there was no way you could fall alseep or let your mind wander. However, the christening ceremony was mercifully short (all five babies survived their contact with the Holy Water(tm) )

We then headed off to the after christening party and then it was back up the M6 again. So - that was 500 miles in two days and, I have to admit, I felt surprisingly ok afterwards...

Whilst the drive down and back from Wigan was very pleasant - sun was shining, blue skies and the roads were generally quiet - the food at Southwaite was definitely not pleasant.

Normally Southwaite is the stop of choice but it's more routine than any real 'We must stop here because it's lovely' feeling. However, both Cath and myself proceeded to be served the worst Burger King burgers we've ever had the misfortune to order. Mine was lukewarm and Cath's chicken burger looked like it had been just cooked and no more. If it was dirt cheap then you wouldn't really feel like complaining but at a tenner for both meals it's daylight robbery.

So - we're never going back - ever! It's going to be a packed lunch in the coolbox.

After the Christening ceremony had finished, but before the doors were unlocked to let us out the church, I noticed that the man standing two pews down from us seemed to have the most absurd haircut (as well as the biggest 70's Roy Orbison framed sunglasses you've ever seen.) On closer inspection I realised that he was actually wearing a god-awful wig - it was clipped on and you could see the wrinkles where he'd done that.

Sadly I don't have any photos but it looked like something like Elton John used to wear in the 70/80s and was probably made out of 100% nylon! No, I tell a lie, it looked like one of those hair pieces you get for the Lego people... In any event it cheered me up no end...

Note: I am not anti-wig but, if you're going to wear one, at least make sure it looks decent...

Back from Infest (attempt 2)

Wed, 31 Aug 2005 20:54:09 GMT

Well - this is the second attempt at doing this after LJ swallowed my first post. Infest itself was a blast and I'm having a fair amount of difficulty remembering everything as it seemed to fly past incredibly quickly.

Friday started off with the drive down and I had the pleasure of fuzzygoth's company. Drive down passed without incident and we got there for just after 4. Plonked ourselves in the Union bar and waited for niallsdiary to arrive.

Met Niall and we headed back to our halls (fortunately we were in the same campus, just in different buildings) to get changed. Due to dinner we missed the first band and it was left to Pow[d]er Pussy and Fixmer/McCarthy to impress us (which they did - and then some.) Rest of the night was spent dancing and then it was off to the halls again for vodka and coke.

Headed into town as the venue didn't open till 3pm. Managed to pick a pub which sold laughable bar food (my chicken burger wasn't all that great and Niall's burrito looked dodgy as hell.) Managed to find Bradford's only goth shop (which seemed to be above a second hand shop and sold - and I quote - Skulls, Boots, Black Things) and an alternative pub which sold cheap drinks to Infest band wearing people.

Saw Tin Omen, who were OK but didn't really live up to the hype, and then went for curry. Whilst the curry was good, we missed The Azoic and most of HIV+ so it was onto Decoded Feedback. They started off well but then the singer opened his mouth and it all went downhill. It just seemed a bit too harsh for the otherwise excellent music. Punch Inc were also excellent and then it was onto Covenant who were fantastic - the new stuff from their upcoming album sounds amazing.

Danced a bit more and then it was back to the halls for some well earned rest (I think I'm getting old...)

Sunday followed a similar pattern to Saturday except the pub was shut (after we walked all the way to it) and, due to us heading for another curry, we missed Deviant UK and Final Selection. Iris weren't at all bad - Niall commented in his LJ that they were a bit like Mesh and I have to admit, thinking back, I agree. Kiew were amazing - I'll need to get some of their stuff and then it was onto Blutengel.

First we had a five minute intro followed by an hour of sheer gothness. Musically it wasn't at all bad and the stage show was impressive. I have to admit to being quite impressed by it all, even though the band and show wouldn't have looked out of place (in fact, it would have looked more at home) in Whitby. Spent the rest of the evening dancing and that was it. The end of Infest 2005...

People
Over the weekend I managed to catch up with festen and his fiancee, ghost_danser, nathan_nothing, favouriteslave, airport_tales and many others that I don't have LJ names for. Kudos also goes to fuzzygoth who survived the drive down and back without too much mental scarring :) .

Quote of the weekend
"It...it...it's like speed-metal mixed with Clannad!" - fuzzygoth upon listening to Nightwish for the first time.

Roll on Infest 2006!

I hate LJ

Wed, 31 Aug 2005 20:37:28 GMT

Argh! I've just lost my Infest post due to me clicking the tags help icon. Why oh why oh why does it not open in another window! It's a help thing for f@*ks sake.

*sigh*

I am /NOT/ amused!

Anyone needing a lift to/from Infest from Edinburgh this weekend?

Tue, 23 Aug 2005 13:06:24 GMT

I'm heading down to Infest this Friday and coming back up on the Monday. As I'll be on my own I have space in the car if anyone's needing a lift there and back.

Wigan Pier

Mon, 08 Aug 2005 19:57:16 GMT

After the mad rush of the previous weeks it was nice to escape down to Wigan for an albeit quick visit as it was Cath's Mum's birthday. Drive down was surprisingly quiet so I didn't feel so frazzled after the drive for a change. Went to see Dunham House in Cheshire on Saturday and then it was a trip to the Golf Club for some top nosh and food. Met Cath's brother, fiance, daughter and baby on the Sunday for lunch and then it was back up the road again...

Frequent readers will remember that Cath and myself had joined a gym. Both of us had been up for our induction but last week saw me undertake my first ever Personal Training session over lunchtime. That was mistake number one. One hour of utter, relentless, excercise. I thought it was almost over until I glanced at a clock and realised that it was only halfway through.

Still - managed till the end even if I wasn't able to lift my arms above my head for an hour or so. Made showering interesting (as well as getting changed.) Staggered back to the office and then made my second mistake...

Which was climbing. Yup - I also decided to go climbing after work. That was interesting - it certainly taught me not to haul myself up with my arms as I had no strength. Managed the overhang but my arms were gone after that.

Next day I felt different - arms were sore, legs were sore. Basically I was sore. You'd think that would have been the end of it but no... my third mistake loomed which was agreeing to rack some servers after work for a colleague. Finished around 9pm and staggered back to the flat to relax.

So - exercise is good but I think the moral of the story is to never, ever do that again. I also have to apologise to the Ever-Lovely-Cath who heard nothing but me complaining about my arms being extremely sore.

On the plus side - it's not long till Infest...

Ow ow ow...

Wed, 27 Jul 2005 20:09:02 GMT

This week is turning out to be a lot more energetic that I had anticipated. Went climbing last night and spent two hours hanging from the indoor walls in Alien Rock. Next week I think I'll try some 6Bs as I was able to get up all the 6As I tried. Felt a bit 'tight' afterwards and this morning my arms were screaming a bit (but were ok once I was in the office.)

Fast forward a few hours to my induction at the gym over lunchtime. The ever-perky Laura had devised a program for me so it was off to the Crosstrainer. Then to some weird weight machines. Confident that I was able to do them without killing myself she then left me to do a round of them on my own. My god... my arms and shoulders were screaming after one pass and that's not the half of it! Because it was only a half hour session I need to go back tomorrow lunchtime to do the rest of the machines she wants me to do!

So, I staggered back to my desk and discovered that it actually hurt to type. Still - it felt kinda odd being in the gym as it's not somewhere I ever really pictured myself. However, I did enjoy it so I'm actually looking forward to going back tomorrow...

Impending fitness alert!

Sun, 17 Jul 2005 17:48:29 GMT

Cath and myself have joined a gym! We're still waiting for our first phone call to 'invite us' up for our first session so I imagine that'll happen tomorrow.

After the week of G8 (and Cath's night shifts) Monday was almost a relief in some respects. Cath (and her other night-shift colleagues) had the Monday off in order to get their body clocks back on BST rather than somewhere in the mid atlantic. I met John at the pub for the usual few pints after dinner and then proceeded to miss every single bus and taxi on the way home. It takes ~30 minutes to walk from Gilmore Place to Cannonmills on foot...

Tuesday saw me going to Ratho for climbing (I've only gone to Alien Rock as it's within 5 minutes driving time of the flat). It's quite stunning, if a little intimidating. Did ok although it wasn't one of my better nights climbing to be honest. Managed to clatter myself off the wall a few times after a misplaced grabs left me dangling on the rope.

Wednesday saw Cath and myself do the Gym-walkaton. Not quite what we intended as it was only meant to be a trip to Holmes Place to have a look. Being of the 'must get three quotes' mind we then plodded off to Bannantyes (who saw us there and then) and then Fitness First (who also saw us there and then.) End result - three gyms down, no dinner and a very hungy Cath and Simon. Decided to celebrate our new path to fitness by going for a Haggis Supper (and Cath had a Fish Supper.) Oh dear...

Met a friend from my old work on Thursday for some food and a few pints. It was at this point that my legs and arms started aching (dontcha just love delayed excercise pain?)

Dave from Bradford (Cycle-route-proponent extraordinaire) was up for the weekend, primarily for his brother's three day Stag Night! Deciding to give his liver a rest he joined us for a trip to... the pub. Cue a nice relaxing evening spent in Leith and we got home around midnight.

Last night was Rammstein in Glasgow. Very very impressive and probably an improvement on the last Rammstein gig I saw in the SECC. They had the bigger hall (Hall 4) this time so the stage was bigger, the standing area was bigger and they made excellent use of the space. Loads of pyrotechnics, flamethrowers and fireworks and the highlight had to be the bassist crowdsurfing in a rubber dingy!

Only minor blot on the evening was the SECC's usual crap carpark barrier and traffic management. Why oh why oh why can't they get it right. The SECC has been there long enough (as have the roads surrounding it) for them to actually work something out. Still - managed to get home around midnight so it's not as bad as I've experienced in the past.

Calm after the storm in a teacup

Mon, 11 Jul 2005 10:57:05 GMT

Well, the sun is shining and I'm stuck in the office. Sadly, unlike last week, I'm in a shirt and tie again but at least the streets look busy again. Last week was certainly interesting - I seem to recall this time last week there were pitch battles on Princes Street. However, putting everything into perspective, Edinburgh got off lightly - especially compared to the events down in London.

The weekend was the last Ascension before the Summer break and it was really busy. Saw the usual suspects there (airport_tales how was your hangover on Sunday?) and, compared to last time, I had an excellent time. Only downside was that it was hotter than, well, a hot thing. It's never nice having to peel your t-shirt off when you get home at 3am in the morning.

Cath is slowly returning to the UK timezone after a week spent working 7pm - 7am. I think her body clock is stuck somewhere in the mid Atlantic but that's a definite improvement over yesterday, where she seemed to be living in LA! Still - she had the day off work so she's currently sitting in Princes Street gardens enjoying the weather.

So - this weekend is Rammstein in Glasgow. Cath's coming along as well (she's borrowing my springy New Rocks so she can see over the crowd) so it should be a good night. Last Rammstein gig I saw was excellent so I'm expecting more of the same. And that's it musically until Infest

Hawaiian Shirts

Fri, 17 Jun 2005 19:28:42 GMT

Survived the works night out (Group Technology Summer Party to be exact) which was not mean feat considering it was a free bar. Left around 11pm and felt surprisingly ok this morning. Other people don't seem that bad either although I wish I had a video camera to capture the hideous Hawaiian Shirts people were wearing (me included.) Also, a lot of people were indulging in Dad-Dance-Moves that really deserved to be captured on video *shudder*.

So - a weekend of BBQ and parents beckons. Hopefully the weather will hold out otherwise it's going to be me in the garage again getting slowly smoked on a low heat :)

Grump removed

Tue, 14 Jun 2005 18:44:01 GMT

Hmmm... I'm not usually one for bad moods (I'm usually a happy-go-lucky person) but the vast majority of this month has left me feeling, well, grumpy. Pretty much culminated on Saturday night when I went to Ascension and left around 2am as I was in a foul mood and wasn't really enjoying myself. If I'd been a cartoon character I'd have had a large, black thundercloud above my head with lightning striking out at people. Still, grump aside it was good to see everyone ( ishkhara, airport_tales, Hilary, who was having her Birthday Ascension, and others.)

So - the tiler came round on the Sunday, tiled the bathroom and my mood seemed to lift. So there you have it - DIY puts me in a foul, foul mood. The bathroom is looking much better (less like someone had shot the wall with an Uzi and more like somewhere where you'd want to shower.) Next plan is to get the woodwork done and then the decorating done (by joiners and decorators respectively.)