Jack Sparrow

"Bring me that horizon"

Using only song names from ONE ARTIST, cleverly answer these questions. Pass it on to 15 people (or not) and include me. Try not to repeat a song title. It's harder than you think.


Pick Your Artist: Foo Fighters

Are you male or female: Monkey Wrench

Describe yourself: The Pretender

How do you feel about yourself: No Way Back

Describe your current boy/girl situation: DOA

Describe where you currently live: Home

If you could go anywhere you wanted to go: Breakout

Your favorite form of transportation: Walking After You

Your best friend(s) is(are): Friend of a Friend

Your favorite color is: The deepest blues are black

Favorite time of day: Times Like These

If your life were a TV show, what would it be called: Big Me

What is life to you: Long Road To Ruin

What is the best advice you have to give: Learn To Fly

Thought for the Day: Stranger Things Have Happened

How I would like to die: In Your Honour

My soul's present condition: Everlong

1. What time did you get up this morning?
6am ish. From some cushions on the office floor where I'd snatched a few hours kip. Gotta love night shifts :oP

2. How do you like your steak?
Cooked. Oh I guess to those weirdos who still want it kicking and screaming I'd better say well done.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Terminator 4. Good Fun. Not a T2, but that did set the standard awfully high...

4. What is your favorite TV show?
Many to choose from. Some of my favourites no longer run (BSG, Yes Minister) I'm most eagerly anticipating the return of Dexter though...

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
I'm quite happy where I am, but assuming I could transport my entire life with me, then maybe the Scottish Highlands.

6. What did you have for breakfast?
Nothing yet, sitting here musing on what to have while I fill this out.

7. What is your favorite cuisine?
Indian

8. What foods do you dislike?
Mushrooms, they taste like erasers. Most veg in fact. And seafood *shudder*

9. Favorite Place to Eat?
Cafe Tusk, an Indian buffet (all-you-can-eat) restaurant in Fareham.

10. Favorite dressing?
I normally go with casual :oP though if we're still on food the only thing I might chuck on is ketchup

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive?
A cheap and cheerful Ford Ka. I do about 30,000 miles a year commuting, so need something economical.

12. What are your favorite clothes?
Pirate outfit! Or more commonly jeans and a t-shirt. Not that it's particularly a favourite, it's what I always wear ;oP

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
Canada

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
Half full... course the contents varies with my mood. In a foul mood the cup is half full of steaming horse shit :oS

15. Where would you want to retire?
I honestly beleive that by the time I get to that sort of age there won't really be such a thing as retirement... pensions will be remembered as a nice idea back when the nation could afford them, and basically if you don't want to work till you drop it's up to you to squirrel away enough savings. Which the governement will then tax. ANd probably by then they'll tax you at the cashpoint for asking for inconvenient paper money too...

16. Favorite time of day?
Night :oP

17. Where were you born?
St Helens

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Football

19. Who do you think will not tag you back?
I can't guarantee I'll get the tags right on this in the first place... and as I only have 3 friends on LJ, I'm not expecting too much of a response. Especially givent he person I copied this from didn't tag me in the first place!!! :oP

20. Person you expect to tag you back first?
Well 1 out of 3 is out... where'd that coin go... :oP

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?
Well I've already read Anjis... and probably already know many of the ansewers for Claire :oP

22. Bird watcher?
Only if they happen to be in a 1000 yard stares direction when I'm lost in my own world, not specifically aiming for them.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Night

24. Do you have any pets?
Rats,

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?
BT are a bunch of lying bastards and each day since the MoD signed the contract condemning us to join them is yet another revelation of BT not doing what it promised to do as part of it's deal for being awarded the contract... course the MoD will do nothing, and BT knows this, so they keep going. If i'm still working at that place by Christmas I'll be very surprised.

26. What did you want to be when you were little?
My earliest ambition was apparently to be a Binman. Ones I can remember include Policeman and Actor. Maybe I should audition for The Bill :oP

27. What is your best childhood memory?
The one I look back on most fondly? Standing in front of my dad and blocking his path when I thought he was gonna hit my mum. Not exactly a happy memory but it said "best" and that's certainly one of the moments I'm most proud of.

28. Are you a cat or dog person?
Dog but don't have the time for one. Love rats too now, am a convert :oP

29. Are you married?
No

30. Always wear your seat belt?
Always. Was in an accident as a kid that happened just as I took my seatbelt off to take a jumper off. I suffered because of it. I quickly learned how to remove clothes around a seatbelt :oP

31. Been in a car accident?
Once when I was a kid, fell off my moped a couple times as a teenager, and have written off two escorts (though only one was an accident, the other was an engine blowout) Anji was with me for both escorts, so if I am ever to drive one ever again I shall not be taking her with me :oP

32. Any pet peeves?
Stupidity.

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings?
Meat

34. Favorite Flower?
No. They don't affect my hayfever as much as grass cuttings, blossom or rape seed, but I don't take chances if i can help it.

35. Favorite ice cream?
Ben & Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk, but they don't do it here any more. Or a peach seherbert ice cream that... i've never found since. Or caramel apple and vanilla ice cream... that I've never found in this country... OH FUCK IT, Vanilla. 

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Yuan Su - a chippy :oP Though if we're talking a chain I'll go Greggs, or if you want one of the big ones I'll say KFC.

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
Once. Taught me that you don't learn to drive, you learn to pass the test. My best advice to anyone who hasn't taken it, set your mirror so you can't see behind you. It's stupid and dangerous for driving, but if you have to move your body/head to see behind you, then your examiner will actually notice your observations and not give you a major fault when a light turns red on you.

38. From whom did you get your last email?
Lovefilm telling me a dvd is on the way

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Don't have them any more, but theoretically Games Workshop or it's subsiduary company Forge World.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?
Bought a traffic light to send to Orion? 

41. Like your job?
Less and less as each day passes. The job itself is ok, though of little interest to me. But this whole contracting out thing is just a big con, and has left a very sour taste in my mouth. If it made good business sense I could understand it, but it doesn't. How does the Mod think it'll be cheaper to take the departments running costs, guarantee to give BT enough money to cover them, and a bit of profit, and think that'll be cheaper? And that's just your basic one for starters, looking at BT contracts with the MoD in the past I know the MoD are gonna get screwed... I'll swear the people in charge are complete fucking morons.

42. Broccoli?
Is that some sort of question? Broccolli? If I came up to you in the street and said "Carrot?" how would you answer that? Am I asking if you like it? Hate it? Prefer it? Have had it? Have ever shoved it up your arse? There's no way I'm answering this until someone reads out the whole question.

43. What was your favorite vacation?
The Goldwing Treffen in Stafford... one of the last times we had a holidat as a family... way back in 1990 or so...

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
Anji and Fred. Possibly Orion too, I can't remember.

45. What are you listening to right now?
Nothing. I'm trying to be quiet so as not to wake my housemate up.

46. What is your favorite color?
Black

47. How many tattoos do you have?
None. Needle phobic.

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz?
What the hey I'll try for my entire friends list...

49. What time did you finish this quiz?
09.30

50. Coffee Drinker?
I don't drink any hot drinks.

RULES:
1. You can ONLY answer 'Yes' or 'No'.
2. You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone messages or comments you and asks.

Kissed any one of your LiveJournal friends? — Yes.
Been arrested? — No.
Kissed someone you didn't like? — No.
Slept in until 5 PM? — Yes.
Fallen asleep at work/school? — Yes.
Held a snake? — Yes.
Ran a red light? — Yes.
Been suspended from school? — No.
Experienced love at first sight? — No.
Totalled your car in an accident? — Yes.
Been fired from a job? — No.
Fired somebody? — No.
Sung karaoke? — Yes.
Pointed a gun at someone? — No.
Did something you told yourself you wouldn't? — Yes.
Laughed until something you were drinking came out your eyes? — No.
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? — Yes.
Kissed in the rain? — Yes.
Had a close brush with death (your own)? — Yes.
Saw someone die? — Yes.
Played Spin-the-Bottle? — No.
Smoked a cigar? — No.
Sat on a rooftop? — Yes.
Smuggled something into another country? — No.
Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? — No.
Broken a bone? — No.
Skipped school? — No.
Eaten a bug? — No.
Sleepwalked? — No.
Walked on a moonlit beach? — Yes.
Ridden a motorcycle? — Yes.
Dumped someone? — Yes.
Forgotten your anniversary? — No.
Lied to avoid a ticket? — No
Ridden in a helicopter? — No.
Shaved your head? — No.
Blacked out from drinking? — Yes.
Played a prank on someone? — Yes.
Hit a home run? — No.
Felt like killing someone? — Yes.
Cross-dressed? — No.
Been falling-down drunk? — Yes.
Made your girlfriend/boyfriend cry? — Yes.
Eaten snake? — No.
Marched/Protested? — Yes.
Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? — No.
Puked on an amusement ride? — No.
Seriously & intentionally boycotted something? — Yes.
Been in a band? — No.
Knitted? — No.
Been on TV? — No.
Shot a gun? — Yes.
Skinny-dipped? — No.
Given someone stitches? — No.
Eaten a whole habenero pepper? — No.
Ridden a surfboard? — No.
Drunk straight from a liquor bottle? — No.
Had surgery? — Yes.
Streaked? — Yes.
Been taken by ambulance to a hospital? — Yes
Tripped on mushrooms? — No.
Passed out when NOT drinking? — No.
Peed on a bush? — Yes.
Donated Blood? — No.
Grabbed electric fence? Yes.
Eaten cheesecake? — Yes.
Eaten your kids' Halloween candy? — No.
Killed an animal when NOT hunting? — No.
Peed your pants in public? — No.
Snuck into a movie without paying? — No.
Written graffiti? — No.
Still love someone you shouldn't? — Yes.
Think about the future? — Yes.
Been in handcuffs? — Yes.
Believe in love? — Yes.
Sleep on a certain side of the bed? — Yes.

It seems I can now once again access livejournal from the stand alone tinternet machine at work... for the first time in weeks. Firewall still blocks it from the networked computers though...

might as well enjoy it while it lasts.

And this is the second time I've posted this, as clearly it isn't working as well as I might like... but i guess it's better than not working at all :oS

Yet again the debate about the fact I have never seen Mary Poppins or The Sound of Music has reared its irritating head. EVERYONE says I MUST watch them. I believe I am 20 years too late to do so. I never watched these as a child - my brother was 10 years older than me (technically he still is) so I tended to watch whatever he got from the video shop. (Yes video, remember those!)

Now I'm not saying either of the above are bad films. From what I hear they are wonderful childrens films that have aged well and can thus still delight young audiences to this day. Adults meanwhile enjoy the warm glow of nostalgia they feel whilst watching this spectacle.

Now I understand that nostalgic feeling. I get the same feeling about some of the films I watched as a child, such as Flight of the Navigator, Predator and Aliens. But in order to enjoy the glow of nostalgia, the seed must be planted while young. It's no use trying to jam it down my throat now and expect me to get the full effect. I imagine it would be like watching re-runs of rainbow... sitting there astounded wondering just how many drugs the producers were on...

I can't guarantee I'll avoid this forever. I have a bad feeling Orion will be recruited to the cause before long and we'll end up with a "cars-esque" situation where I can quote the film backwards. But for as long as I can, I will stand against the pressure. If nothing else it irritates the fuck out of my workmates.

Whilst driving back from work this morning I overtook an HGV. It had the Tesco logo adorned across the side in 5 foot high letter, and underneath was written "You Shop. We Drop. Direct to your Door." I'm sure you've seen what I'm talking about. I couldn't help but smile and think "Someone's made a fucking big order!"

Ok, so I'm sat at work alone (the other guys have gone out for a beer) quielty dossing around on the net while reading Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett. I've been working my way through the Pratchetts at the recommendation of a friend, and thoroughly enjoying them. Anyway, I came across a new character, and this paragraph describing him struck a chord with me. I felt if you change the name in the text you'd have a perfect description for myself!

Here it is:

In a sense which his tutors couldn't quite define, much to their annoyance, Victor Tugelbend was also the laziest person in the history of the world.
Not simply, ordinarily lazy. Ordinary laziness was merely the absence of effort. Victor had passed through there a long time ago, had gone straight through commonplace idleness and out on the far side. He put more effort into avoiding work than most people put into hard labour.
He had never wanted to be a wizard. He'd never wanted much, except perhaps to be left alone and not woken up until midday. When he'd been small, people had said things like, "And what do you want to be, little man?" and he'd said, "I don't know. What have you got?"

Replace Victor Tugelbend with Ginge Lock and Wizard with Telecomms Engineer and you'd have my perfect description. It goes on some more, and if you substitute the next few jobs and swap Unseen University for MOD apprenticeship, you pretty much have the story of my life.

I think I have a new favourite Discworld Character.