These pictures don't quite do justice to how wonderful a fall scene I came upon along the Thames, but here they are nonetheless. I actually gasped like a pre-pubescent Japanese girl getting her first Hello Kitty mobile/Nintendo DS/vibrator/fax machine when I rounded the corner and came upon this combination of two of my favorite things in life, Fall and A Cosmopolitan Major City.
Well, maybe this one does a little justice. Like Batman!
Finally, here is the front of the BBC head office.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Friday, November 24, 2006
Friday Update: Fuck
Oh boy oh boy, my faith is being tested here. By "faith" I guess I really mean, patience.
So I have two days of confirmed work on Monday and Tuesday for a different company near Tottenham Court. The three-week thing is up in the air due to some stupidity on the part of the hiring company (as opposed to the recruitment company). The recruitment companies claim of being able to pay me by cashable cheques turned out to be false, so I had to get off the phone and ask my hosts to use their bank information. Luckily, so I could call them back, the recruiters gave me the phone number for the wrong office! I'm also a fan of the fact that in order to claim my pay, I'll have to fax my timesheet to them. Ray covers that pretty well in the latest Achewood, so I'll leave it to him. A cartoon cat.
Between this and a lot of nonsense involving paperwork, lazy people and my trying to claim jobseekers insurance (re: the dole)...well, I can honestly say that I will never need to get in a bumper car match with a dozen mongoloids. I already know the feeling.
But then my spirits were lifted right back up by Richard Dawkins and John Stewart donkey-punching Ted Haggart (my apologies for the uploaders truly remarkable video signature at the end of the clip). Hot damn, I really need to pick up a dvd of Dawkin's The Root of All Evil? some time. Good ol' Andy Brown introduced it to me in the summer and it served as a good primer for The God Delusion. Apparently the BBC editorial board fucked with the title to make it more attention-seeking, which goes a long way to explaining it. But title aside, it's great.
So I have two days of confirmed work on Monday and Tuesday for a different company near Tottenham Court. The three-week thing is up in the air due to some stupidity on the part of the hiring company (as opposed to the recruitment company). The recruitment companies claim of being able to pay me by cashable cheques turned out to be false, so I had to get off the phone and ask my hosts to use their bank information. Luckily, so I could call them back, the recruiters gave me the phone number for the wrong office! I'm also a fan of the fact that in order to claim my pay, I'll have to fax my timesheet to them. Ray covers that pretty well in the latest Achewood, so I'll leave it to him. A cartoon cat.
Between this and a lot of nonsense involving paperwork, lazy people and my trying to claim jobseekers insurance (re: the dole)...well, I can honestly say that I will never need to get in a bumper car match with a dozen mongoloids. I already know the feeling.
But then my spirits were lifted right back up by Richard Dawkins and John Stewart donkey-punching Ted Haggart (my apologies for the uploaders truly remarkable video signature at the end of the clip). Hot damn, I really need to pick up a dvd of Dawkin's The Root of All Evil? some time. Good ol' Andy Brown introduced it to me in the summer and it served as a good primer for The God Delusion. Apparently the BBC editorial board fucked with the title to make it more attention-seeking, which goes a long way to explaining it. But title aside, it's great.
Dilly-dallying with Dali
I think the interview went pretty well yesterday. The word "Excellent" was used more than once to describe my test results. Then again, I loudly used the same adjective when I got my foot caught in the train door while getting off at Paddington. But whatever, I'll (theoretically) get a phone call later today to confirm whether or not I'll have a three week data entry contract which would start on Monday. The pay is decent (eight pounds an hour) and though about a third of what I'll make will go to transit, the rest will still be very helpful. One interesting thing that the nice young girl I spoke with (I'll be damned if she was over twenty, thus "girl") told me was how hiring apparently heats up in January. As she was the third person from as many different recruiting companies to tell me this, I reached a point where I could believe it.
The job would be near Charing Cross, by and by.
So okay, I might not get into London until January, but that's fine by me. Whatever defeatist bastard coined that phrase about horses and hand grenades obviously never played darts - which is a much better metaphor when it comes to life goals. I'm just happy to know that there actually are some good periods for job hunting (another is April, due to the fiscal year). I swear that no matter the time of year in Ottawa, I'd always have a few people tell me of how that exact moment in time was total shit for job hunting. ANYwho....
So London was gorgeous yesterday and after the interview I made a point of trundling about a bit. It was nice, actually, since I managed to connect a few dots and now I think I have a much better handle on central London. PROTIP: The tube is a great way to get around, but you won't learn the city as anything but a grouping of circular patches around the stations unless you walk or bus a bit too. Plus it's much cheaper! The bus is about half the price of the tube and shank's pony costs as much as it always has.
I started by heading over to Trafalgar Square and I pulled the ol' camera out. As with most of Central London, it is drenched in history and I highly recommend taking the time to read all the informative plaques etc. Which reminds me, until recently I have only been reading half of any informative plaque, placard, poster or what have you. I actually had to remind myself that ALL of the text was in English here, thus throwing off the habit of a lifetime...
Eventually I found my way to my beloved Enbankment area and grabbed some lunch, which I valiently devoured in front of a watching crowd of some four dozen pigeons. Despite the fact that entire battallions of the buggers can be seen marching up and down most streets, I have yet to actually get shat on and for that I am thankful. Only that though, otherwise I'm an ingrate. I don't think I've even seen any birdshit! Perhaps they aren't birds so much as the finest concealed CCTV cameras that money can buy?
Heading over to the Saatchi, I saw they still had an exhibiton on the most wretched of artforms - manga - in the main area. But luckily in one of the sub-galleries there was a Salvador Dali exhibit! Knowing that Dali has always been one of my dad's favorites and having grown up constantly seeing bits of his work around the house, I couldn't see a reason not to go in. I gotta say I'm glad I did because it turns out I was powerfully ignorant about the man. Yes the melting clocks were a running gag of his, but there were others which should have been just as famous. Keep an eye out for crutches, spanish beans and disguised self-portraits throughout all his work and you'll see what I mean. In particular, I enjoyed his use of shelving coming out of the body as a means of drawing attention to all that we conceal inside ourselves.
Also, I thought he died ages ago (you know, sometime before Transformers and all that other 1980's crap which won't die) but apparently he only passed away in 1989.
Though I was wary of the kind of "worshipful-masturbation-to-cover-up-the-Emperor" nonsense you often get with "the greats", I was pleased to find that despite it's surreal nature you could often find the meaning within it which was trying to be expressed. Not that this is the point of art! I just have a strong distaste for people coming in after an artists death and slathering his or her work with their own interpretations until they eventually calcify into what the artist supposedly meant.
There were also many, many statues - again, I had no idea he had done anything but sketches and paintings. Dali also had no reservations about doing several series of works which were tributes to what had inspired him over the years (his series on Don Quixote gets my highest recommenation). He also dabbled in surrealist film making, which was constantly broadcast from a few mounted televisions, as well as photography and even a bit of jewelry. He truly deserves the title of "renaissance man".
Also, he apparently did a cartoon with Disney that took over fifty years to get to completion?
For a mere 15,000 pounds I could have bought a signed print, a print, of my favorite work of his...but somehow I thought that this was outside my current budget. Maybe after I get a job?
The job would be near Charing Cross, by and by.
So okay, I might not get into London until January, but that's fine by me. Whatever defeatist bastard coined that phrase about horses and hand grenades obviously never played darts - which is a much better metaphor when it comes to life goals. I'm just happy to know that there actually are some good periods for job hunting (another is April, due to the fiscal year). I swear that no matter the time of year in Ottawa, I'd always have a few people tell me of how that exact moment in time was total shit for job hunting. ANYwho....
So London was gorgeous yesterday and after the interview I made a point of trundling about a bit. It was nice, actually, since I managed to connect a few dots and now I think I have a much better handle on central London. PROTIP: The tube is a great way to get around, but you won't learn the city as anything but a grouping of circular patches around the stations unless you walk or bus a bit too. Plus it's much cheaper! The bus is about half the price of the tube and shank's pony costs as much as it always has.
I started by heading over to Trafalgar Square and I pulled the ol' camera out. As with most of Central London, it is drenched in history and I highly recommend taking the time to read all the informative plaques etc. Which reminds me, until recently I have only been reading half of any informative plaque, placard, poster or what have you. I actually had to remind myself that ALL of the text was in English here, thus throwing off the habit of a lifetime...
Eventually I found my way to my beloved Enbankment area and grabbed some lunch, which I valiently devoured in front of a watching crowd of some four dozen pigeons. Despite the fact that entire battallions of the buggers can be seen marching up and down most streets, I have yet to actually get shat on and for that I am thankful. Only that though, otherwise I'm an ingrate. I don't think I've even seen any birdshit! Perhaps they aren't birds so much as the finest concealed CCTV cameras that money can buy?
Heading over to the Saatchi, I saw they still had an exhibiton on the most wretched of artforms - manga - in the main area. But luckily in one of the sub-galleries there was a Salvador Dali exhibit! Knowing that Dali has always been one of my dad's favorites and having grown up constantly seeing bits of his work around the house, I couldn't see a reason not to go in. I gotta say I'm glad I did because it turns out I was powerfully ignorant about the man. Yes the melting clocks were a running gag of his, but there were others which should have been just as famous. Keep an eye out for crutches, spanish beans and disguised self-portraits throughout all his work and you'll see what I mean. In particular, I enjoyed his use of shelving coming out of the body as a means of drawing attention to all that we conceal inside ourselves.
Also, I thought he died ages ago (you know, sometime before Transformers and all that other 1980's crap which won't die) but apparently he only passed away in 1989.
Though I was wary of the kind of "worshipful-masturbation-to-cover-up-the-Emperor" nonsense you often get with "the greats", I was pleased to find that despite it's surreal nature you could often find the meaning within it which was trying to be expressed. Not that this is the point of art! I just have a strong distaste for people coming in after an artists death and slathering his or her work with their own interpretations until they eventually calcify into what the artist supposedly meant.
There were also many, many statues - again, I had no idea he had done anything but sketches and paintings. Dali also had no reservations about doing several series of works which were tributes to what had inspired him over the years (his series on Don Quixote gets my highest recommenation). He also dabbled in surrealist film making, which was constantly broadcast from a few mounted televisions, as well as photography and even a bit of jewelry. He truly deserves the title of "renaissance man".
Also, he apparently did a cartoon with Disney that took over fifty years to get to completion?
For a mere 15,000 pounds I could have bought a signed print, a print, of my favorite work of his...but somehow I thought that this was outside my current budget. Maybe after I get a job?
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Minor Update
Got an informal interview/test for a data entry job in Paddington which requires me to come into Chancery Lane tomorrow.
Will they screw me about? WHO KNOWS
Will they screw me about? WHO KNOWS
I'll have a White Irish please...
Good god, I was just signing up with another recruitment agency and eventually I got to the part where they ask if you'd be willing to give over your gender, race, religion etc. so as to help them meet their quotas. I always find this about as sensible and tasteful as making a point of telling people how many "ethnics" you know, so I opted out as usual.
Just to see, I explored the drop-down menue to learn how good ol' whitey is being categorized today. Instead of the usual "Caucasian" I saw three options.
Somehow, I doubt I need to expand upon the numerous troubles that I - or any thinking person might - have with this list. Good gravy....
Just to see, I explored the drop-down menue to learn how good ol' whitey is being categorized today. Instead of the usual "Caucasian" I saw three options.
Somehow, I doubt I need to expand upon the numerous troubles that I - or any thinking person might - have with this list. Good gravy....
Monday, November 20, 2006
Chugga-lug Chugga-lug
If only to let you all know that I haven't gone and dug myself a burrow of unadulterated doom, I thought I'd mention that the weekend was beautiful. Though cold, it was closer to that familiar dry cold of Ottawa, and the sun was out at many an hour so as to illuminate the steady stream of picturesque scenes to be found during my three kilometer walk down the Thames. Along the way I came across the reason there were so many swans by the river last time I took pictures there, a full blown enclosure for the creatures. Having safely fed from human hands for years, these birds (some of which were half my height) are very characterful and not at all afraid to imply that maybe you should get out of their way.
I left my camera and all other gadgets at home, but next time I head that way I shall bring it to try and record some of the life-affirming scenes to be walked through along that path.
Today I'm picking up on some more leads and casting the net a little wider, so as to include good ol' data entry. I thought hard about this over the weekend and decided that, in the very beginning at least, it's really just an exercise in foolish pride not to accept anything less than one of the two specific job types I want in the long run. Casting my mind not too far back, to this summer, I have to wonder how much better things might have gone if I hadn't let pride cause me to quit two different jobs and then be thrust back into job hunting purgatory for weeks at at time.
Meanwhile, I've continued to plug away at the horror script and have dug up my copy of AcidForge so as to enjoy making a little music. As my buddy Joe would say, "Productive fun is the best kind".
I left my camera and all other gadgets at home, but next time I head that way I shall bring it to try and record some of the life-affirming scenes to be walked through along that path.
Today I'm picking up on some more leads and casting the net a little wider, so as to include good ol' data entry. I thought hard about this over the weekend and decided that, in the very beginning at least, it's really just an exercise in foolish pride not to accept anything less than one of the two specific job types I want in the long run. Casting my mind not too far back, to this summer, I have to wonder how much better things might have gone if I hadn't let pride cause me to quit two different jobs and then be thrust back into job hunting purgatory for weeks at at time.
Meanwhile, I've continued to plug away at the horror script and have dug up my copy of AcidForge so as to enjoy making a little music. As my buddy Joe would say, "Productive fun is the best kind".
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