No More Emo-Messenger

Quote of the moment:
"GABORA!" - the first thing I said (to Prill m8) after getting onto Messenger on my laptop for the first time in a year.

I think it was probably installing the newest one that made the difference. It didn't work still, but I was on it while playing Halo 2 in K3 and I thought I'd give it another go when I came back. The error message had changed from saying I was behind a firewall to telling me I couldn't connect from behind a firewall via proxy server. I didn't want to! So I went into tools, connections etc and disabled connecting via proxy server (by removing a tick in a box). Hey presto, it worked!

Circuits tonight wasn't quite so awesome. A new format means a break in the middle (good) but running from side to side in the hall, like doing a bleep test (bad). Especially when I still had a pulled something-near-my-bad-knee from not stretching properly on Sunday. Silly me. Anyway, I preferred running laps around the outside. The new version has twice as many exercises as running slots, up from one to one. I'm undecided about that. Less cardiovascular but more strength stuff... meh.

Anyway, I ended up sitting in my own little space at the end just doing situps, pressups, bunny hops etc for a minute and a half each instead of a minute, to balance out the running that I'd abandoned.

Good news: My BMI (as per my clothed and shod weight on Saturday) is 25.7... So I'm lingering on the border of being officially not fat. Hurrah!

Go Stevey, It's Your Birthday

Quote of the moment:
"Oh no! He's got away again! Wait, I seem him! Quick, he's nearly at the bar!"

The poor boy (Steve) was so hammered that he didn't wake up when Rhodri blew a whistle in his ear. He just put his head up, then dropped it back onto his pillow like a sack of cement. It was so awesome we did it again and videoed it.

By that point he'd already lost an eyebrow and gained a large amount of facial artwork, but that was all before I arrived. Since her flatmates departed in a taxi shortly before she emerged from Creation, where they and we had been, I walked Rowena back to Allensbank House... which is the furthest from the city centre/Senghennydd Court/me. It's literally 5 minutes from Creation to our gates, about 30 to their door. Slightly faster on the way back since it was only me (and I don't wear heels).

Got email address and hence surname (finally!). Vice versa too, but I just said I'd email her so she wouldn't have to try and spell it. Lol.

Am off to bed now. First lecture at 10am, finish at 4pm. She doesn't have anything all day and she's not even an arts student. S'not fair :(

Name The Films...

Quotes of the moment:
I feel the need - the need for speed!

Say "hello" to my little friend!

You had me at "hello."

You can't handle the truth!

I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse.

Preferably without reference to the AFI Top 100 Film Quotes. Personally I'd have included:

"Oh Captain My Captain"

"I'm Spartacus"

"My Name is Maximus Decimus Meridius..." etc

"I shouldn't have told you that"

"If he pulls a knife you a gun, if he puts one of yours in the hospital you put one of his in the morgue"

"You may take our lives..." etc

and

"You have bled with Wallace, now bleed with me"

You can name those films too, if you want. Please note the last is not Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

While I'm here, Film Scores should be won by Last of the Mohicans.

Achtung Weir!

Quote of the moment:
"Bow pair, from backstops, row... No, ROW. BLOODY ROW!"

Went out in the boat today for the first time in at least 2 weeks. Was on the bow side again, which was fine, unlike the last time. Boat was "bow rigged" meaning the normal sides were swapped, which didn't help Olly, the vice captain, in his first attempt at coxing... we came a little close to going over the weir (see above) at the start, stuck the bow in the bank turning around and went close to the bank too early at the landing stage and ended up stuck with the oars in some reeds. Weather was good though!

Stayed behind to do some ergos and James and Olly came up to see one of the senior ladies who was in there too. They were suprised to find me doing a second 2k in 24 hours... until I told them I'd already done one with a ten minute break after. I did a third as well. Reasonable times too: 7.27, 7.25 (yup - I got faster!) and 7.38, compared to a measly stand-alone 7.15 in the test.

Met "someone" (aka Rowena - as in Ivanhoe). Toured around the shopping area, found out she has an xbox. How awesome. A chick with a console. Not unheard of, obviously, but I haven't met one til now. Went to see Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Cracking stuff :D

Went out to watch the fireworks by the castle from across the river (ie without paying) with Little James, the only one of K3 still here. Came back, played Halo 2, came back to my flat/room to read Going Postal. Big up the Pratchett massive. I agreed to go to the gym with him at 11 tomorrow. Am only 10 minutes over the recommended hour of ergos for this week, after all. I can do so much better than that!

P.S. Wales 3-41 New Zealand. Saw the crowds before and after. LOL.

Karma

Quote of the moment:
On...A...Roll. - me.

The yin and the yang? Boasting's bad for you? Anything I say comes back and bites me in the arse?

For whichever reason I got paid back somewhat for that extended self glorification. Got so knackered at circuits last night that didn't go do drawing afterwards, as I meant to. Circuits plus ergos on Wednesday combined to give me a stiff arse, plus the resistance stuff on my weak leg made that twinge all day. Failed to get out of bed early either, so had severe issues with my drawing. Attempted to do a Rolf Harris speedy "Can-You-See-What-It-Is-Yet?" version, but failed due to a miscalculation in scaling the dimensions (it was unhandily slightly too big to fit as 1:100, so I went with 8:1000). I then had to start again since I'd made such a mess, and as a result will have to slip it under the lecturers door by Monday. Tsk tsk, old habits die hard, etc. Also missed lunch/supper as a result, eating one apple all day.

Got back to my flat at 17.30 to find I'd locked myself out of my room due to my STILL unfixed lock. Had to wait in reception for a student warden to open it for so long that I only managed to leave for the rowing club at about 17.53... 3 miles and about 12 minutes later, I fell through the door of the club covered in mud from the waist down. Shortest way = path beside river. Path beside river = very muddy. D'oh!

Obviously in peak physical condition at this point. Got on ergo, did my 2k test, tried to keep at my target split of 1m45s per 500m, which with start and finish sprints would be under 7 minutes. Kept it up til about half way, then started dropping gradually off the pace... by the end I was managing about 1.55, which only improved to 1.45 for the final sprint. Bah. Got 7m15s in the end. 8 seconds better than my previous test time, but I've done better in the gym. Apparently the amount of time I've spent in the gym is actually well above average, so they were especially disappointed with me. Sigh.

On the plus side (fingers crossed no bad effects) I did collect my mail when forced to go to reception which included a belated monetary gift, I have plenty of scope for an impressive score next time which, since I should have taken the test a week ago, will be this weekend or next, and I'm meeting someone tomorrow afternoonish to go to the cinema or suchlike.

To balance that out a bit, I've got rowing at 11.30am tomorrow, which will probably be ergos since the river's still high. Bums. Or maybe my chance to shine? But probably bums.

Circuit Critique

Quote of the moment:
"If you didn't go to the gym on Tuesday beacuse circuits was cancelled, you should be ashamed." - Rowing James.

Went Monday and Wednesday, but apparently I should be doing that anyway! Easily on course to reach 60 minutes of ergo time this week, but "that's the minimum".

Wank0rs :p

Happy Birthday Podge M8

Quote of the moment:
a) you forgot HAPPY BIRTHDAY KOEL

B) I AHTE BEING DRUNK

c) get on msn bitchface

TWAS AN AWESDOME BURTHDAY

Doesn't it sound like she had fun?

Rabbit's Lucky Day

Quote of the moment:
Went to see the regional "Army Recruitment Adviser (Officers)" who was at his termly visit to the university careers centre. Wore the suit, tie, silver cufflinks, scholar's tie, the works. I was pretty much just transferring from the East Anglia one to here, but I still got a few questions just for good measure. Apparently I was the first person in a week to know Charles Clarke was home secretary and the only applicant he's ever met who knew that the Iraqi Kurds are actually Sunni, thus the balance of power in Iraq is held by the Shi'ite Arabs and Sunni Kurds, replacing the Sunni Arabs (eg Saddam Hussein). W00tage for me.

More importantly, as of this summer ACL injuries (such as mine) are no longer grounds for automatic medical unfitness for service, so if I reapply this year (or any time until the maximum age of 28) I will be eligible for normal entry, without the need for an appeal, provided I can pass the fitness assesments and have a letter declaring complete recovery from my surgeon.

GABORA!

W00t! Yes, I was very excited. VERY VERY VERY. GABORA AGAIN! That means I go from probable rejection to probable acceptance, unless I muck up my knee further or somehow mess up my commisions board tests. If only I'd known that at the start of term, I might be a TASO (Territorial Army Sponsored Officer) in the OTC by now.

D'oh!

Nevermind, I'm going to see if I can join late anyway. Mwahahah!

In other news: I was so happy afterwards that I went to the gym with Steve (the rowing runt) for a fair while. I was recognised again by Inger Nag, who yelled "POYNTZ!" at me across the gym, I felt power mad when telling Steve (who has been to TWO inductions because they didn't record his first in the computer) how to use stuff and I did a 2k ergo (poo due to stomach cramp) and 2 ten minute sets at the end. We were going to leave after the first but I was riding the adrenaline wave and would have done a third if possible. As it was I beat my distance for the first one, 2532 to 2481. Ownage.

I love the spanky new machines in the gym where you can get a "ghost" (aka a "paceboat") going along next to "your boat" which is based on a previous time you can select from the most recent 50, which are stored in the memory. It's like playing timetrial on Mario Kart, except sweatier. Thanks to that I kept my split time (how long to do 500m) below 2 minutes for the whole of the second one and downed my stroke rate to only 27 strokes per minute (up to 29 for the last 2 mins, because of sprinting at the end). That's down from about 34 and I did better, because I was getting the hang of the slow powerful stroke thing, as I need to, being a lack-of-finesse "engine room" (central four) candidate (based on size, mainly. Smaller people need awesome technique because that's more important at the bow and stern than power).

I was indeed on a roll. That roll continued into the evening, because since there was no rowing pub meeting due to the big night last night my young acquaintance + mates came to the Taf (the union pub) instead, which happened to be where I was. Cha-ching. Cue use of conversational skills - but I was on a roll. NP's mate, NP's. Went into Rubber Duck a while later, doo-doo-doo-di-doo, even managed to catch another free wristband (like the one I got in on tonight) but I obviously was a gentleman and gave it away. Well, at least I know where to go next wednesday :D

To top off the night's entertainment, upon returning home I got yelled at out of an upstairs window by Sian, one of the neighbours I know. Went up, found Matt from K3 and another Sian in there. Very confusing. When Matt and I returned downstairs I went to check if Steve had returned from Rubber Duck ok without me (I walked milady the first part of the way home when she left, then bummed straight back here without him) and we opened the door to their flat to see "Little James" (the tall skinny one, resembles a cross between Jimmy and Jim) curled up and passed out in the corridor outside his room. Apparently he'd lost his room key, but had said not to call security to let him in in case he barfed on them. LOL.

Pictures of that (that I took with Matt's camera) soon, hopefully.

Slightly drunk and extremely verbose Will, out.

[Edit 3:14am - I just checked my mark for my first drawing on Blackboard. Average was 13.9 out of 20. I got 18. On...A...Roll.]

"Greenpeace fined for reef damage"

Quote of the moment:
Their flagship Rainbow Warrior II ran aground at Tubbataha Reef Marine Park, in the Sula Sea, 650km (400 miles) south-east of Manila.

Greenpeace agreed to pay the fine, but blamed the accident on outdated maps provided by the Philippines government.

"The chart indicated we were a mile and a half" from the coral reef when the ship ran around, regional Greenpeace official Red Constantino told AFP news agency.

LOL. Oh, the irony. Imagine if a bottom-trawler had run into the reef. Would Greenpeace have been sympathetic to the fishing company protesting about dodgy charts? Methinks not.

I Ain't Fraid Of No Ghosts

Quote of the moment:
It’s close to midnight and something evil’s lurking in the dark
Under the moonlight you see a sight that almost stops your heart
You try to scream but terror takes the sound before you make it
You start to freeze as horror looks you right between the eyes,
You’re paralyzed

- Michael Jackson, Thriller.

Last song of the night at Metro's, "the stronghold of the alternative scene here in Cardiff". It was pretty cool, I must admit. The K3 boys bottled out of going with me, partly because it was raining and partly because they didn't wear costumes (even the two out of four who had them). Pussies. Had they gone on my little wander around the city center trying to find it, in the rain, in a cape and horns, with a trident, they would have been rewarded with a 20 minute wait just to make them appreciate the rain some more.

Once entry was gained however, there was ample compensation in the form of DOUBLE VODKA AND COKE FOR 99P. Yup. Uhuh. Absolutely awesome. I didn't actually have that many, since I didn't want to get too lairy/leery, but still. 99p, in a blue plastic cup that glows under the UV lights. Awesome.

The music was pretty cool, ranging from Greenday, Blink 182 and QUOTSA, through the Killers and the Kaiser Chiefs, through a couple of darker more gothesque songs to the cheese classics like the Ghostbusters theme and Thriller. It was Halloween, after all.

The company was acceptable too... A certain young lady, her flatmates and another handful from her block. Cat costume. Miaow.