Way Out Where

If it isn't obvious ...

2008-01-02T11:50:00.000Z

... I no longer update this blog. You can find a (slightly) more up to date blog at Way Out Where

Posting Pictures

2005-08-29T19:04:00.000Z

Actually, I just need to test the image uploading, so here is a picture of a couple of friends at a dinner in Bristol. Lovely place ...

Movie Tube Map - The "Little Bear"

2005-06-13T09:21:00.000Z

My friend Tom has created a great movie-based tube map, akin to The Great Bear, but superior in one important way - The names on each of the interchanges have done the jobs represented by ALL the lines that run through that interchange.
Kings Cross has 6 lines going through it - any guesses who he found to go there?

When the going gets weird, the weird ...

2005-02-21T23:04:00.000Z

... shoot themselves with a shotgun?

Hunter S Thompson, writer of what is possibly my favourite book (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) and inspiration for about 1,000 different things, is dead.

There was a period in my life where, when people who I respected and admired died, I couldn't care less. I think perhaps I felt this meant they left a perfect legacy; that I could almost be happy about it.

I now think that this is shit. I never met Hunter S Thompson. I knew no family members. I don't know anyone who knows anyone who knows him. I am about as far removed from him as anyone possibly could be. And yet still, I am sad that he is dead.

Farewell to a great man.

Possibly his last published work. Link is here, because I just love the idea of him and Bill Murray hanging out playing golf with shotguns

An epiphany

2005-02-16T15:27:00.000Z

First, I'm gonna have an epiphany, which will give me an idea. The idea will help me think of a plan, which will generate a thought that will trigger a proposal and maybe some inspiration for my next epiphany

This is how I never get things done.

What was it that Ned's Atomic Dustbin said?

2005-01-17T17:35:00.000Z

Kill Your Television

Yep, its gone. In fact, its been gone for over 2 months now. Sweet, blessed ITV-less relief.

People swan around me talking about Celebrity Big Brother - I genuinely did not know the show was on TV again until about 4 days ago. I simply cannot describe the gorgeous sensation it is to realise that you are totally and utterly out of touch with reality television. How to describe it? I guess a mixture of total contentment and slight superiority.

It can sometimes be a little strange - other people's reactions are totally unpredictable, and range from "Good for you, I've been thinking about that for a while" to something like the following:

Workmate: Did you see Celebrity Big Brother last night
Me: Nope, couldn't. I don't have a TV
Workmate: What? No tv? Is it broken?
Me: Nope, just don't own one
Workmate: What? You're about to buy a new big one?
Me: Nope, no plans to buy one, just don't own one
Workmate: None at all? What? Why? When are you getting a new one?
Me: Not getting a new one. Don't want one. Television bores the crap out of me
Workmate: You're not getting one? What? You don't have one? What? Why? How?
Me: Sold it. Not buying another one. Really really don't like it.
Workmate (tears running down his cheeks): HOW DO YOU SURVIVE?!?!?!?!?! WHAT DO YOU DO??!?!?!?!????

(almost true story)

Anyway, the one single response I've not had so far is "yep, I don't own one either. Cool huh?" ... so, anyone else out there quit television? I'm waiting to hear from ya. Wanna form a band? Or maybe start a club or something?

Yeah, the Things To Do Once You've Killed Your Television Club ... I guess the format would be similar to Why Don't You (warning: loads a realplayer in-browser video of the title music), but for adults. We'd read books, drink wine, play guitar, make things (I really want to make a laptop case akin to the one a character in Pattern Recognition carried (actually he turned out to be a douchebag, but I thought his laptop case was cool)), browse the internet, write computer programs, learn Italian ... anything but passively watch television really.

2004-12-23T11:57:00.000Z

ok, I wasn't going to post again before christmas, but this is too cool. Right - check the picture of me in the top right of my blog. Now click here to see an automatically generated ascii version of the photo from typorganism.com ...

try it yourself - go to their ascii-o-matic page and upload a jpg image ... genius

2004-12-22T21:22:00.000Z

I'm high as a kite and my teeth are green, merry fucking christmas

... or something like that. Happy Holidays!

2004-09-29T19:39:00.000Z

The "Celebrity" Awards. This is just a joke, right? I mean, this 1 1/2 hour program on ITV1 giving out awards to the best "celebrity" of the year is just a piss take, yeah? What if it's not? What if it's real? Oh God, I couldn't begin to comprehend it. I can hear it in the background as I type. Westlife are performing "Big Band" music? A cover of "Ain't that a kick in the head" no less? On the Celebrity awards? How the fuck do you win a celebrity award anyway? Most lunches at The Ivy? Most public break up? Most Hello covers? Most appearances of knickers in the Daily Sport? What the fuck? Who the fuck? Why the fuck? How is this program in existence? Who made it? WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS DOING ON MY TELEVISION?

*sob* there is *sob* an award *sob* for best *sob* REALITY TV STAR *sob* *sob* *sob* *sob*

... I have to go curl up and die. 21st century living has finally taken its toll on me ...

2004-09-01T13:18:00.000Z

Gmail.

Ok, so I have a Gmail account, and I've had one for a while, because, well, you know how it is - I work in IT and this sort of stuff is important to me, yada yada yada.

Well, all said and done, it is quite cool - I love listing emails in conversations and really like the amount of storage you get. Which reminds me, I read something about a python-based file-system mounter for linux, which allows you to use your gmail storage space as a file system. Thats pretty cool. I can't remember the link right now, I'm afraid, but I'm sure you're resourceful enough to find it.

I guess the real reason to have a Gmail account though is to brag to all those beardy, sandel-wearing uber-geek freaks amd cause them to explode in a little green puddle of jealousy. Its just a good job I got an account before anyone could brag to me ...

2004-07-25T21:14:00.000Z

My Birthday

Well, I drank, and then I drank some more, and then I drank a little more

Pictures of the early stages of the event can be found here at Dawn's blog (who, poor thing, was sober all night due to illness). This was the quiet part of the night.

Anyway, later, we went to a Mexican bar somewhere. I drank an unknown quantity of Tequila, and also an unknown amount of Deperados (beer with Tequila in them). I think they were pushing the tequila connotations of Mexico.

We left there whereupon we went to The Garage. Well, almost everyone else did. I was refused entry due to my lack of sobriety. It turns out that staying to argue my point was not sensible, and in fact resulted in being forcibly removed from the premises by two overly-large bouncers. I have never been literally ejected into the road before, but in a strange way it was quite fun. Not sure if I'm welcome back

And if that wasn't enough, I then decided to drown my sorrows in an unknown watering hole somewhere in the Hoxton area (it does have a name, I just don't know what it is). Then more tequila (it had just become habit by this point) and possibly more beer and then ... well, no-one really knows. I believe I may have left the bar to go home, but decided to rest on the way. Next thing you know its getting light, I've lost my mobile phone and have no real idea where I am.

I got in around 5.30, had a few hours sleep and then had to get up to spend the next 2 hours in the bathroom vomiting everywhere.

Kudos to Tom, for drinking hilarious cocktails and being friendly; Graz and Mazz, for trying to argue the bouncers into allowing me into the Garage anyway; Rik, for the comedy line of "I am being escorted down the road by two lovely young ladies" (even if it was Dawn and Anna) and of course, kudos to Dawn for somehow surviving as long as she did, even without drinking. That is the sort of power I just don't have.

2004-07-15T14:13:00.000Z

Reality TV - What We Can Learn

Ok, so the other night, I had a bit of a reality TV evening. It was bad. I didn't mean to, it just sort of happened. Anyway, here is what I gleamed from these programs:

Wife Swap - If you are nice to your children, and pay them attention, rather than just stick them in front of the TV, they'll be nice back and not be complete brats. Its a shame that the woman here didn't seem to learn that. Or, for that matter, learn anything. A real moron.

Big Brother - There are guys, and I am NOT one of them, if when they are arguing with a woman, and the woman removes her top, gets her tits out and gets changed in front of them, DON'T STOP ARGUING TO OOGLE. That is just weird. Getting breasts out is surely the easiest way to stop any arguement in the world. This guy didn't think so. There she was (I forget her name - Michelle??), stripped to the waist, with her quite ample heaving bosom out to the world, and this MORON just kept screaming at her. Surely at least you should acknowledge them? You know, just an off-the-cuff "nice tits" would be nice. Not this guy. He sucked.

Average Joe - In which a very attractive girl says "I care more about personality than looks" so the TV producers set her up with 16 geeks, losers and fat ugly geeky losers. Now this was funny, just to watch her spirits break as the 16 got off the bus to greet her. Also, one of them did say "You have to treat women like you treat snowflakes", and then went on about them melting. I've never seen a woman melt (except for the Wicked Witch of the West of course), so I couldn't really empathise with this guy. I liked the guy who said "I haven't been this nervous since trying to climb a rope in gym class" a little bit more. Mainly because climbing a rope is so fucking hard. I'm not entirely sure what I learnt from this show, except, I guess, be careful what you say to reality TV producers, particularly if it is blatently untrue. She really should have said "I'm a dancer and cheerleader - I will take muscles and a beautiful face over personality every time", and saved herself all this trouble.

2004-07-12T21:25:00.000Z

Murderous desires of a company worker

I don't talk much here about where I work. Actually, that's because I have another blog entirely for it (able & tireless). However, this post didn't seem as if it belonged there.
The truth is that working here is making me want to kill. In a few weeks, you'll be reading the report in the paper:

Dissatisfied Worker Kills 12 In Hostage Drama

by Randy Pan in Borough, SE1

It all started at 10.35am, when a worker here at Cable & Wireless's offices in Borough entered the building with a fully-automatic M16 assault rifle. Walking in through the front door, he mercilessly shot the 2 front desk security staff. Bystanders heard him cry "You inept jobsworth wankers - ask for my security pass now you cunt. Go on, ask! ASK YOU FUCK" before unleashing a 10 round burst across the desk and into the security officers, who have not yet been named.

He then proceeded to use the lift to travel up 2 flights of stairs to the project management department, where much of the massacre took place. Survivor M Smith tells the tale of what he saw:

"It was just unbelievable - I couldn't accept it was happening. This guy walked in and started pointing this gun around. He was screaming and crying about project plans and issue logs and SORs and TSRs [types of documents used at Cable & Wireless] and just firing indiscriminately. Most people didn't have time to move - I saw one guy get killed right in front of me - he just collapsed on top of his project plan, bleeding all over the 'Review Issue And Risk Log' weekly repeating task. I was just so lucky to survive"

Worse was to come for two project managers who the individual rounded up and dragged down another staircase two floors to where his desk was situated. The two were later shot dead, although may have been kneecapped prior to death. Police studying the incident have questioned why the killer went up two floors before going down another two floors to his office, although we have learnt that due to security banning people from using other doors, this was in fact the only way that people could reach this particular office.

What is currently unsure is who else was among the murderer's victims. At this time, several people are missing, and it is rumored that some may even have been members of the Cable & Wireless inner circle, mentioned in hushed tones as the "SMT". We believe this stands for Senior Management Team, although at least one employee has suggested it may stand for "Stupid Mongrel Turds".

One thing we are clear on is the fate of the gunman - having carried out his slaughter he re-traced his footsteps up the stairs, and up another (third) flight of stairs onto the roof. Here, balanced on the edge of the building, observers heard him shout "Where are your IT Request Finance Forms now BITCH. Hopefully, you will enjoy the sensation of being shot in the head" before firing three times. The first two shots are believed to have hit and killed Bill Richards, a senior manager usually based in Bracknell. The final shot was aimed at himself. He died here at 12.03pm, less than an hour and a half after entering the building

The question now being asked is how can a supposedly forward-thinking, progressive, large company so twist and antagonize its employees that they feel they have no option but to go on homicidal rampages. Painful months ahead for the telecomms giant.

...

One can but dream ...

2004-07-11T15:20:00.000Z

2004 - Roundabout the half way mark

Well, we're over half way, just, but time for a quick list of things I've learnt so far this year. I guess the question as ever becomes "You needed to learn these things in the first place Adam?". Without further ado:

Seeing your mate's balls is a passion-killer

The Thames is a really fucking dirty river

Concussions can make someone really moody

You can travel from London all the way to Snodownia on one road - the A5

People I don't know actually sometimes read this

Hackney council are complete asshats

You can get some great shoes from eBay

James Fray's A Million Little Pieces is the best book I've read all year

Mona Lisa Smile should never have been made

Giving up PlayStation 2 is hard and I have relapsed

I am supremely, stunningly, amazingly lazy

So that's where we're at kids. Revelation after revelation. Who knows what sort of zen-master-guru-of-wisdom I will have become by 2005.

2004-06-09T23:22:00.000Z

These people are currently my favourite people in the whole world. Charm. Charisma. Good looks. They had it all.

In other news, I've been getting cunted in North Wales (where we met the Minge Hunters), vomitting in B&B bathrooms, walking naked down roads, and swimming in the Thames (near the South Bank - thanks to all who stopped and watched)

2004-02-20T23:00:00.000Z

Jim Davidson appears to have dyed his hair red??

Never mind, he's still a cunt

2004-02-13T14:07:00.000Z

Hmmm, its a bit alarming when so much of what you blog about is watching television you hate. It does begin to beg the question why are you watching the thing in the first place. So, because I'm a weak-minded fool who is drawn to the remote control like a D list celebrity to "I'm a celebrity ... get me out of here", drastic action may well have to be taken.

Yes, I'm considering actually getting rid of the TV (and PS2) completely. No more ITV. No more Maddens. No more TOTP. Scary scary stuff.

Anyway, if I do get rid of it, then maybe I'll keep a blog of what I do instead. See if its worth it. Because I figure without a TV, I'd lead a much more interesting life. I'd be forced to actually DO stuff rather than just sitting there passively watching Club Reps (actually I don't really watch club reps passively, more angrily).

So yeah, I'll keep this updated with my progress.

2004-01-30T22:47:00.000Z

Just a brief repost of Sex and The City. I really hate this show, but watched about 5 minutes of it today, and I just want to make sure that all women who read this understand - if a man goes out with you to a club, where you meet an ex and then go upstairs with your ex, THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL THE BLOKE WILL BE THERE WHEN YOU GET DOWN. No matter what. Never going to happen. It wouldn't work in reverse, please don't expect it to work this way round. This actually deserves a longer post about the evils of television and the effects it has on the relationship, but that will wait for another day

2004-01-30T20:08:00.000Z

Staying in on a friday night means watching Top Of The Pops

Which means I should have gone out and got wasted instead

Things I have gleamed from this evening's "music" show

Michelle McManus, who I believe is the winner of this year's pop idol, is too fat to be on TV. She should have her stomach tied. Too fat is just as bad as too thin. In fact, in number of people affected its far far worse. And I think she needs to be seen to be doing something about it. Diet bitch. Or just get the fuck off my tv screen

Westlife are Cunts

Atomic Kitten have not split up for good. WHAT THE FUCK DOES IT TAKE? Please, is there a fund I can contribute to?? I just want them gone. Any assasination offers, please email adesefton@hotmail.com. I pay well.

Clearly I should have gone out this evening.

2004-01-30T19:00:00.000Z

Why Wandsworth Will Never Be Trendy

A rebuke to the article on today's "London Tonight"

... because its just appeared on the local London news. This in and of itself is enough to ensure that whatever dumbassed survey revealed it was the coolest/best/trendiest place in London to live was completely wrong. London Tonight jumping on the bandwagon shows one simple thing - it isn't trendy, it isn't cool, it isn't desirable; its wank. Whatever shark was ever in any way in the vicinity has been well and truly jumped. The only redeemable thing is that it didn't appear on ITVs local news.

And lets just be clear about this. Wandsworth is a shit hole. A horrific suburb of south London that doesn't even have a tube stop. And why's that? BECAUSE NO-ONE WANTS TO GO THERE. Simple really.

At the end of the segment, the reporter said "and if you want to be trendy just take a look around this bar" ... the only other person visible in the shot was the back of a middle-aged, balding (actually, bald) suit. Thanks for the invitation, but that's the sort of trend that I just don't want to follow.

2003-11-18T23:10:00.000Z

Ok, the site is finally up! WayOutWhere is good to go, cooking with gas etc etc. Its a little short on content at the moment because, well, it takes time to get this stuff up. And also because most of the stuff I've been doing via a wiki. Its basically an open-to-all way of editing and creating pages - you read something on a wiki you disagree with? Hit edit and change the page. Hell, delete everything up there - its saves versions so I can always roll back. And right now, I'm really down with the way it places the importance on the content over the design. So I tend just to create new wiki pages.
If you're interested, I got my version of Blast Wiki from here - its php and MySQL and I was up and running in quite literally 5 minutes (including download time (although see post below for the reason for that!))
Anyway, head over to my wiki, which you'll find here, and, errrm, go crazy I guess.

2003-11-10T22:56:00.000Z

Broadband connections rock. Its true, I've finally got Telewest broadband (Blueyonder if you will) put in at the new flat, and oh my lord it rocks. Of course, I had to go that one step further and get the 1mb version, and OH MY GOD its fast. Distinctly faster than the connection at work. Now free porn and Kings of Leon mp3z can be mine.
The only problem I've had so far is getting a fucking firewall in place which was easy to use and configure and also did its job (because sorry, but I really don't trust the built in M$ one from Windows XP). So first of all I got an old version of Tiny Personal Firewall (2.0 or something) and it sucked. Then I got Tiny 5.1 and it really sucked, hard to configure and blocks everything down straight away (it took me a couple of hours of configuring it to even get my broadband connection back because it was blocking the computers request for an IP from telewest, and not even telling me what it was doing, cunting thing).
Anyway, I finally snapped and uninstalled it and downloaded Sygate Personal Firewall and it seems to be rocking my world. Easy configure-as-you-go type product that simply says "so and so is trying to do this or that. Do you want to let it?" and it remembers the rule (actually similar to Tiny 2.0 but seems to work better). Anyway, hopefully, my pain is over for a while and its all good - we have the home network up and running (once a decent firewalls in place, that was easy) and an internet connection from three PCs!! W00T!!! Or something similar.

2003-10-09T18:35:00.000Z

Ok, so it turns out my last post has become horribly true. Not only do most of the world now seem to own the Eriksson T610, but THEY'VE ALL GOT THE SAME FUCKING RINGTONE!!!!!
Its the retro phone style one, thats great, because the phone rings without making a horrible impression of the latest So Solid single or whateverthefuck is the current favourite out there, but its got to the point that 3-4 times a day I'm pulling my phone out of my pocket because I hear the ring tone, only to find that its some other bastard's phone ringing, not mine. Then they see me, and start grinning, like "oh you thought you were popular but see, it was my phone, I'm popular, not you" like its some big popularity contest. Ah well, maybe I'm still bitter from school.

2003-08-09T22:24:00.000Z

ok a post about a mobile phone. Who knew I would sink so low???

Actually, the Eriksson (sp) T610 is the greatest single phone I have ever seen. It rules. Everyone should have one. 'nuff said.

2003-08-01T09:07:00.000Z

Of all the shows on ITV, I think that "Club Reps - The Workers" is the worst. This was actually so bad that it jarred me out of my week long coma that watching the channel had caused in the first place. I will grant you that it is good for the odd pair of breasts, but the problem is that the trade off for this is the complete destruction of your faith in the human race. You just start thinking "man, we are so stupid, there is just no way we can survive for much longer". In fact this show makes me wonder about our evolutionary thinking. It makes me think that we're the dumb cousins of apes, and that dolphins really have the right idea - get into the ocean, away from these TVs. That way, if a bunch of dolphins want to swim to a resort on the other side of the world and prove how truely braindead and cretinous their species really is, at least the rest of them don't have to watch it on television. It truely makes me wonder how we ever managed to take over the planet - most of the people on the show would have problems taking over their own living room. Deeply depressing stuff.

2003-08-01T08:52:00.000Z

ITV is evil - I started watching it a week ago, and I've only just come round this morning.

2003-07-21T09:41:00.000Z

Last night I watched the movie Traffic. I saw it at the cinema when it was first out, but we bought it second hand at a car boot sale, and settled down to watch it. Does anyone else think that this movie is just really really bad? I mean, its well shot, its got some great camera angles (particularly when the helicopter lands in Mexico with Michael Douglas's character in it and when the car bomb goes off), and its got some good use of slightly coloured lenses (not excatly the most innovative thing in the world, but hey, I didn't think of it). My problem is with the plot(s). Its just one of the most cliched and reactionary movies I've ever seen.

First off, I HATE the plot with Michael Douglas and his daughter, which relies on almost every possible cliche out there. Rich kid, ignored by parents, does some drugs, gets addicted, clashes with parents, runs away from home. She's so desperate for her next fix she starts banging her drug dealer and moves into prostitution. Finally she is saved only because her parents learn to listen. Heartwarming stuff! And of course you twin this with ole Michael's character - father with important job is away from home a lot, something awful happens to family, father has to re-evaluate, father learns that family is more important and that all he needs to do is listen. Could it be any more heavy-handed? And that awful last scene where the daughter stands up in the rehab centre, suddenly taking it seriously, and can at least get through the day because, well, at least everybody listens. Uuurrrghhhh.
I'd like to see a movie where the straight A student takes drugs, but because they're a straight A student, and therefore assumed to be quite intelligent, they don't get addicted, carry on getting straight As and have a great time. I hate the horrible assumption that illegal = bad. Douglas's wife makes the point that his whiskey habbit is just as much an addiction as anything their daughter does, but then this point is dropped, because, you know, thats legal, and "it just takes the edge off", so it must be ok then.

Secondly, I hate the Catherine Zeta Jones plot line too. There's some good moments, and in general its not too bad (my personal hatred for Zeta-Jones not withstanding). However, the ending just ruins it for me. The drug barron escapes, the cop-who-lost-his-partner comes round to confront him and in the ensuing scuffle, he manages to plant a bug underneath the table, and leaves with a small smug smile of self-satisfaction. The message being "don't fuck with the DEA because in the end they will get their man". The film just couldn't help needing to show that this bad bad man wasn't going to get away with it for ever. Warning kids, don't be attracted to this lifestyle, because eventually WE WILL GET YOU.

And of course, thats why the film won Oscars. Its a sheep dressed in wolf's clothing. Looks all inventive and clever from the outside. Seems like its saying revolutionary things (I'm thinking of Douglas's "How do you have a war against your own family" speech) and then just loses it balls, thinks "shit we better not upset those republican Oscar-voters" and cops out. So illegal drugs are bad, families should listen to each others, there is nothing wrong with a daily whiskey or five that you can't live without, and never ever think you can take on the mighty US of A because eventually they will get you and then you will go down. Utter shite.

2003-07-18T11:18:00.000Z

Ok, so I get into work this morning and discover just the single best thing in the world (i'm not sure how to articulate heavy sarcasm using the written word, but thats what this is).
Anyway, a bit of background. for about 4 months I was working on a project to link an old bespoke billing system in with SAP. It sucked. The old system was a DOS wonder and by far the least useable software I've ever set eyes on (just as an idea, Ctrl-F5 was Copy, Alt-i was paste !?!?!?!!!!!) it was horrible. But I battled onwards and finally got something like the results they wanted. So now people can use the old system and each night an extract runs to update SAP.

So what do I discover today? That there is a separate project running to decommission the bespoke system entirely, and migrate it into a totally different billing system. *sigh* 4 months of my time, completely wasted. Weekends at work, banging my head against this crippling 25 year-old system for NO REASON AT ALL because all along there was another plan to just decommission it. And the worst thing: when I was first given the project, my first question was "why don't we just decommission it, and migrate all the data to a new system which is better" ... AAARRRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ... its all too much sometimes.

2003-07-17T11:17:00.000Z

Pixies Could Reform
Oh my god, that would just be too cool.
Although as the initial sheer excitement dies down a little, I'm beginning to think not all reunions are good. I mean, what if they got back together and just didn't cut it anymore? What if their new songs, horror of all horrors, were arse?
The pixies wrote 5 of the finest albums ever. Maybe its best to leave it that way? But how could I say no to new pixies material?? hmmm ...
Having discussed this with a few friends, one of them ventured forth a fantasy gig setlist, which, bar the admission of Hey! and Where Is My Mind (because they're too quiet!! huh, what does he know?) is a pretty good list. Just how good would this be:

Debaser (right out of the starting blocks)
Head On (ratchet it up another notch)
The Sad Punk (and evolving from the sea wouldn't be too much time for me to walk beside you in the sun)
Nimrod's Son (eclectic crowd pleaser)
I Bleed (break it down)
Here Comes Your Man (everyone's happy middle section)
Gigantic (everyone's happy middle section)
Velouria (getting somwhat more excited)
Tame (hips like cinderella)
Hang Wire (every morning and every day - I'll bossanova wit'cha)
Tony's Theme (stomping crowd pleasing build up to the finale)
Oh My Golly (stomping crowd pleasing build up to the finale)
U-Mass (stomping crowd pleasing build up to the finale)
Down to the Well (medley of greatness finale)
Is She Weird? (medley of greatness finale)
Gouge Away (medley of greatness finale)

Encore:

I've Been Tired

Second encore because it was just too wonderful:

The Happening (if they could pull this off I could die happy - "I'm almost there to Vegas where they're putting on a show they've come so far I've lived this long at least I must just go and say hello").

2003-07-17T09:11:00.000Z

Actually, this morning, there is just this one thing I have to get off my chest. No biggie, but I hope you agree with me ...

Pet Hate: Darius Danesh. I caught the opening bars to "Colourblind" in the car this morning, and it just reminded me how utterly wrong this guy is. Here is the living embodiment of why second chances don't work out. After the whole "Baby One More Time" debacle (which I'm sure has won awards for the most cringe-worthy television ever) he should have put out of his misery. Taken into the courtyard, and executed there and then, as an example to others. There ya go Darius, feel the love now bitch. But no, he was allowed to return, and makes it to the last 3 in Pop Idol, where somehow his previous life as a goatee-bearded music torturer counted in his favour. And then, once it was over, and the record deals began rolling in, he stands there and says "no no, I will not do a cover version, I will write my own song" and promptly pens the single worst excuse for a song I have ever had the misfortune to hear. And people applaud him for not towing the record company line! Christ alive, I'd rather hear a rehashed, puked-all-over cover version of White Christmas than the abomination he eventually released. And all these people saying it was such a risk for him to release his own song. What the fuck? He'd spent 2 months on the conscience-invading plain of Pop Idol - he could have released an acapella cover of the muppet show, sung in Danish, and it would have got to number one. And actually I'd really rather he had. At least that would have had novelty value. So, Darius, your Ivor Novello award maybe some way off, but your "Adam's C*nt of the Week" award is in the post. Sheesh.

2003-07-16T22:14:00.000Z

So is a blog posting about a blog a metablog?
I'm just not entirely sure what I should write here, and so I think I've settled on the idea of writing about what I should write here.
So firstly, I hate the word "Blog", but not as much as "Journal" or "WebLog", so I'm sticking with it for now. As soon as I come up with a better term, I'll start using it.
Secondly, should I consider an audience when writing a "blog" entry? I mean, I can hardly pretend that this is somehow a space for my private thoughts, and after all, if I wanted that, then I'd keep a diary*. So, whatever I'm writing, it has to be assumed that other people are going to read it. So does this fact alter what I chose to write up here? Do I feel, for example, more compelled to entertain? To enliven or interest? I certainly don't plan on any spill-my-guts honesty, because, and lets face it, if I was going to do that, then I'd sure as hell not do it in front of 10s of millions of strangers.
Nor do I really think this is a place to indulge in second rate poetry and hacky prose (not that I don't indulge in general, you understand, just not here)
So I guess whats left is occassional musings, thoughts and rants, which I guess is what a blog should be.
Given all that, what else is there left to know that is important to this:
1) I have owned the domain name www.wayoutwhere.com for over a year without actually getting webspace to use it with. I mean to very soon, which is why this is a Blog for a website that doesn't yet exist
2) I work at Cable & Wireless UK. You know those movies that are so bad they're funny? That's exactly like my working life.
3) I'm 27 a week tomorrow

2003-07-16T18:42:00.000Z

This is the first post of my new blog. Today I went to Bletchley. There were lots of teenage mums and people with 6 fingers there (very good swimmers, if you know what I mean). The offices in Bletchley have a pond in the gardens there, and a duck and some ducklings have taken up residence. Have you ever noticed how quickly ducklings grow? Puts human babies to shame to be honest. Sam - if you are reading this, then grow quicker, you lazy bastard.