I've been quieter than usual, I know...strange eh?
All the usual culprits are there but I'm also trying to get my writing notes in reasonable order for the first meeting of the scriptwriters group I've joined. We're meeting tomorrow night in a pub in Soho. I'm hoping it's a good crowd that aren't paralytic when it comes to talking about their writing or various opportunities in the city. It's definitely the kind of thing that will only be really beneficial if a certain level of trust can be created. If that happens then I reckon it will be very helpful to me if only because few things galvanize my writing quite like running through what I have with someone sitting across from me.
Meanwhile, though England is a seething mass of slang and has a somewhat notorious reputation for coin related slang from the pre-metric days (ha'pence, tuppence, shillings etc etc)....I just realized today I have not once heard any slang for coins while I've been over here. The closest is to hear a five or ten pound note referred to as "fivers" and "tenners" respectively - which isn't too crazy. Everything else is simply a ten pence coin, a pound coin and so on. What's up with that?
Also, airline food and VCR clocks and jokes about tired stand-up schtick.
Meanwhile, I'm sure most of you already know but for those who don't or maybe read about it a while back and forgot....the new Radiohead album is available to download both legally and free from their website. If Bjork is my favorite solo act than Radiohead has to be my favorite band, and while Beck sometimes jostles with Bjork for her position in my mental rankings...no other band ever threatens Radiohead. That being said, I try to stay highly objective about their work and frankly I found their last album to be kind of underwhelming given what incredible songs they'd put out before.
I also find that the very act of recommending something, anything, has become highly diluted thanks to the sheer proliferation of reviews covering everything which one all but trips over in their daily life. Think about how many times you've tried to recommend a movie to someone in recent years and how much you've had to qualify what you're about to say before you do - or how many times you've had the person half-roll their eyes while saying "I'll put it on The List".
SO
When I listened to In Rainbows for the first time, this Thursday past, I lay back on a park bench during my lunch hour and positioned myself so all I saw were my feet, trees, bushes, flowers and an old brick hut with a conical roof. I listened from start to finish with no interruptions and it felt like the band had somehow broke into my deepest memory vaults and carefully sampled pieces of all the sounds and songs I'd heard during my most primordial, formative moments from the womb up until my laying down in the park and plugging in my earphones.
I haven't felt like this while listening to an album since late 2001 when it happened almost back to back with Bjork's Vespertine (August) and Stereolab's Sound Dust (which came out earlier, but it was introduced to me in November that year). This is not hyperbole designed to overcome that problem with reviews and recommendations I mentioned. This is how the record made me feel.
I mean this. I mean every word.
And I gotta say, those who maybe get fed up with Radiohead's well expressed "dreary" side should download this because even the last track - to do with a videotape one leaves to be viewed after their death - fills you not with any kind of grief but instead an optimistic appreciation of how all things have their nobility, grace and charm.
So there you go, I've given this my best shot. Now I am spent, weak, sweating into the cheap carpet while leaving myself vulnerable to some foul degenerate sneaking up, twisting my arm into my lower back and making comical imitations of my cries for help to the staring crowd of strangers.
I shall now slink back again into my nook and leave the music reviews to better men than myself.
Showing posts with label Cultural Learnings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cultural Learnings. Show all posts
Monday, October 22, 2007
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Another post pertaining to the general area of below the waist
But not poop! No, no no, this shall not become a PoopJournal. This I promise.
I've recently been asked in an email, "Why don't you talk much in your site about British accents or slang?". This is a fair question since British accents and slang are two of the most defining national qualities - particularly as seen by foreigners, but for Britons as well. It's not something everyone does, but there are native Britons who still take pride in being able to tell where someone is from (be it as vague as "up north" or as specific as what city) simply by hearing them talk. Meanwhile, I'd say that slang is certainly a more slippery beast here than I ever recall it being in the parts of Canada which I've experienced. Terms I heard in Reading had no bearing in London as terms I heard in Broadstairs had none in Reading. Not that England has a monopoly on this phenomena, but there is a notable volume of slang and accents for a country of such modest size.
The reason I've strayed from getting deeply into the subject - and my experiences with it - is twofold. 1) I don't want the Britons I speak with to feel that anything they say to me is up for linguistic study and dissection in front of an online audience. 2)That good old fashioned desire not to feel too much like a tourist, pointing and marvelling at "the funny way these people are".
But for the sake of anyone who plans to visit here, I shall warn you of something which I tripped up over the other day. Yes, "trousers" is still the word for what North Americans would call "pants" - but what is less widely known is that "pants" has, in somewhat recent years, become the term for "underwear".
This would explain the raised eyebrow I got when I was explaining to a co-worker that I didn't have my tube pass on me, thanks to having put on the wrong pants. "Which is a real pain in the arse, because that means I don't have a host of other things on me as well. I keep everything in my pants, pens, pencils, a small exacto knife..." I went on to explain "It's a bad habit I've inheirited from my father, he practically has half of Office Depot in his pants".
Well!
Meanwhile, did the "No gurlz a-loud" sign (written in messy crayon, of course) we posted over the internet fail us? Apparently! Also a baby, named Bubba no less, has proven that America's gun laws continue to be a shining example to us all. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to cough my way through being sick for the first time in England. Wheeeee! Literally the day after I signed up with the National Health Service, no less.
I've recently been asked in an email, "Why don't you talk much in your site about British accents or slang?". This is a fair question since British accents and slang are two of the most defining national qualities - particularly as seen by foreigners, but for Britons as well. It's not something everyone does, but there are native Britons who still take pride in being able to tell where someone is from (be it as vague as "up north" or as specific as what city) simply by hearing them talk. Meanwhile, I'd say that slang is certainly a more slippery beast here than I ever recall it being in the parts of Canada which I've experienced. Terms I heard in Reading had no bearing in London as terms I heard in Broadstairs had none in Reading. Not that England has a monopoly on this phenomena, but there is a notable volume of slang and accents for a country of such modest size.
The reason I've strayed from getting deeply into the subject - and my experiences with it - is twofold. 1) I don't want the Britons I speak with to feel that anything they say to me is up for linguistic study and dissection in front of an online audience. 2)That good old fashioned desire not to feel too much like a tourist, pointing and marvelling at "the funny way these people are".
But for the sake of anyone who plans to visit here, I shall warn you of something which I tripped up over the other day. Yes, "trousers" is still the word for what North Americans would call "pants" - but what is less widely known is that "pants" has, in somewhat recent years, become the term for "underwear".
This would explain the raised eyebrow I got when I was explaining to a co-worker that I didn't have my tube pass on me, thanks to having put on the wrong pants. "Which is a real pain in the arse, because that means I don't have a host of other things on me as well. I keep everything in my pants, pens, pencils, a small exacto knife..." I went on to explain "It's a bad habit I've inheirited from my father, he practically has half of Office Depot in his pants".
Well!
Meanwhile, did the "No gurlz a-loud" sign (written in messy crayon, of course) we posted over the internet fail us? Apparently! Also a baby, named Bubba no less, has proven that America's gun laws continue to be a shining example to us all. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to cough my way through being sick for the first time in England. Wheeeee! Literally the day after I signed up with the National Health Service, no less.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
A BLOG POST IS BEING MADE*YOU ARE USING THE INTERNET*YOUR WIFE IS LEAVING YOU...
You know, when I used to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine I often wondered why having so many basic things being announced by the computer didn’t piss people off more. “Well, I’m just glad I don’t live there!” I’d think.
See where this is going?
I could list the full litany but instead I’ll just mention the straw that broke the camel’s back. What woke me up half an hour early today? Why it was a megaphone loud, repeated announcement of “STAND OUT OF THE WAY, THIS VEHICLE IS BACKING UP. STAND OUT OF THE WAY, THIS VEHICLE IS BACKING UP” blasting from the garbage truck outside my house. From transit, to cameras, to trash to appliances….everything in England WILL TELL YOU WHAT IS UP AT THIS PARTICULAR MOMENT AND ALSO MAYBE WHAT YOU SHOULD DO IN CASE SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS.
THEN IT WILL TELL YOU AGAIN.
See where this is going?
I could list the full litany but instead I’ll just mention the straw that broke the camel’s back. What woke me up half an hour early today? Why it was a megaphone loud, repeated announcement of “STAND OUT OF THE WAY, THIS VEHICLE IS BACKING UP. STAND OUT OF THE WAY, THIS VEHICLE IS BACKING UP” blasting from the garbage truck outside my house. From transit, to cameras, to trash to appliances….everything in England WILL TELL YOU WHAT IS UP AT THIS PARTICULAR MOMENT AND ALSO MAYBE WHAT YOU SHOULD DO IN CASE SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS.
THEN IT WILL TELL YOU AGAIN.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Slow Food For Thought
I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned before how I feel strongly that my perception of times passing has ratcheted up a rather large notch since leaving University and perhaps another notch upon on my getting settled in England. It’s a scary thing to feel that almost as soon as you have planned what to do in a day, by merit of it having been planned it has now basically happened already and now you must plan the next day. The busier my life gets (and I am pretty bad for piling more onto my plate before I clear something else), the more this sensation intensifies.
Trying to think of a way to deal with this, while still doing the things I want do, my mind was drawn back to the Slow Food Movement. Started in Italy several years ago, the point form edition is that it entails…
- Trying to reverse the trend towards rushed lifestyles where families don’t eat together so much as nuke this and that, eating as a chore in-between tasks, instead of treating dinner time as its own entity.
- Taking pleasure from the process of cooking as much as the eating, often engaging in cooking meals that take several hours to prepare but which pay off for the effort expended. Superior satisfaction follows.
- There is also an element of environmentalism in that the Slow Movement encourages eating locally produced, organic goods instead of chemically sprayed vegetables trucked across half the globe.
I'd love to be able to fully engage in the Slow Food Movement but, like a lot of people, organic foods are a luxury item to me (on my less than epic budget) and I find that sharing a kitchen with house mates makes it very tricky to spend more than an hour on cooking and eating. So I just try to avoid more than one microwavable meal a week and I don't go buying apples from bloody Madagascar when I can get Empire Apples from within the country.
The name may also have something to do with why I purchase those apples, I admit!
From this we come to the lesser known umbrella under which Slow Food rests, the Slow Life Movement. Some of it can come off as what some would dub "fruity hippy crap" but I highly recommend persevering. Entire towns are being planned, on both sides of the Atlantic, around the Slow Movement principles. This grouping of guiding principles stress that you can still live a perfectly modern life and work the job you want while changing the way you engage your life, your job, so that you take greater pleasure from it while losing that terrifying feeling that the days are slipping through your fingers.
My apologies for not getting into a lot of the nitty-gritty, but as the movement seeps into all aspects in life (yes, there is even Slow Sex) I would have a lot of ground to cover if I tried to! So, aside from the web links, I shall direct you all to a great book which I bought Joe for Christmas last year. In Praise of Slow acts as a very good introduction to it all, written from the perspective of a convert as he chronicles the process of his induction to the different aspects of the philosophy. I remember being particularly gripped by the opening, wherein he states the event which made him think that he might be in need of Slow - the evening he seriously considered reading his children one minute bed time stories, so as to save time. I mean, screw bonding with your children when you could be making so many awesome Excel spreadsheets!
He also keeps a blog of new slow developments!
So okay, coming back to the focus - ME, ME, ME (and you, I guess!) - how to integrate any or all of this? Hard to say. I know I've managed to wean myself from looking at my watch while on the bus, train or tube - doing so and getting anxious won't actually get me where I'm going any faster! That I had to do during Uinversity and it seriously helped me get to class in a better state of mind for learning.
I also make a point of waiting until I have an hour to just listen to a new album I've purchased, instead of slapping it on while I write or whatever. That has resulted in some very enjoyable listens where I have definitely noticed subtleties which it might have taken months of background listening to find.
Other than those two, I've generally tried to cut down on multi-tasking and to tell myself that "I will spend x amount of minutes on this task before I consider working on another". Oddly, putting that kind of contstraint onto my writing, drawing etc has in fact left me better able to focus and more relaxed. Before, I found I would rush one task to get to the next and in the end have not lived up to my full capabilities in anything I had done!
Otherwise, it's something I'm still wrestling with and I suspect I'll be wrestling with it for some time, given the deadline driven nature of the film industry. Ah well. In closing, I'll recommend the second last issue (#69) of one of the few magazines worth more than the paper it is printed on - Colors. This particular issue is devoted to Slow Food around the world and, as with every issue, it has a lot of weblinks, books and phone numbers in the back to help readers further explore the topic as well as related topics. If nothing else, this magazine has some of the most beautiful and natural looking photography that I've seen in my many years of devouring media. For my Ottawa readers, you can buy it at Mags & Fags on Elgin St. while for all my other readers (Hello to my new reader in Tokyo!) I can suggest you follow my link to their website where they have scans of all their issues. That being said, do see if you can find an outlet to buy it in - this is the kind of magazine you keep on your shelf for years and find yourself coming back to more than once.
Plus, if you like Found magazine, then may I direct you to Colour's very impressive "1000 Extraordinary Objects" Book? Yes, yes I may.
Them folk on yonder island ain't so much like our folk
-This all reminds me...microwave meals (usually called "Ready meals") are ten times as popular in England as they are in Canada. They take up much more space in supermarkets and many of them are actually very high quality - though still pre-made food which has been stored for lord knows how long and it tends to have way too much salt in it. Certainly, there is a lot more temptation to pull you away from trying to live slow, to be sure.
-People from sleepy towns beware! A yellow light, even when the green man is still flashing underneath it, apparently signifies GO NOW NOW NOW to London drivers. This has resulted in a fair share of near misses on my part!
P.S. I have recently learned that if you read my site on an RSS feed then you only get the first version of a post. I often go back to add pictures or correct errors, so may I recommend that you bookmark the site instead? If only so I seem a tad more literate? This is important, I swear!
P.P.S. It is weird seeing people debate and discuss your possible identity.
P.P.P.S. Why the hell am I using post-scripts on a website? OH WELL, NO TURNING BACK NOW
Trying to think of a way to deal with this, while still doing the things I want do, my mind was drawn back to the Slow Food Movement. Started in Italy several years ago, the point form edition is that it entails…
- Trying to reverse the trend towards rushed lifestyles where families don’t eat together so much as nuke this and that, eating as a chore in-between tasks, instead of treating dinner time as its own entity.
- Taking pleasure from the process of cooking as much as the eating, often engaging in cooking meals that take several hours to prepare but which pay off for the effort expended. Superior satisfaction follows.
- There is also an element of environmentalism in that the Slow Movement encourages eating locally produced, organic goods instead of chemically sprayed vegetables trucked across half the globe.
I'd love to be able to fully engage in the Slow Food Movement but, like a lot of people, organic foods are a luxury item to me (on my less than epic budget) and I find that sharing a kitchen with house mates makes it very tricky to spend more than an hour on cooking and eating. So I just try to avoid more than one microwavable meal a week and I don't go buying apples from bloody Madagascar when I can get Empire Apples from within the country.
The name may also have something to do with why I purchase those apples, I admit!
From this we come to the lesser known umbrella under which Slow Food rests, the Slow Life Movement. Some of it can come off as what some would dub "fruity hippy crap" but I highly recommend persevering. Entire towns are being planned, on both sides of the Atlantic, around the Slow Movement principles. This grouping of guiding principles stress that you can still live a perfectly modern life and work the job you want while changing the way you engage your life, your job, so that you take greater pleasure from it while losing that terrifying feeling that the days are slipping through your fingers.
My apologies for not getting into a lot of the nitty-gritty, but as the movement seeps into all aspects in life (yes, there is even Slow Sex) I would have a lot of ground to cover if I tried to! So, aside from the web links, I shall direct you all to a great book which I bought Joe for Christmas last year. In Praise of Slow acts as a very good introduction to it all, written from the perspective of a convert as he chronicles the process of his induction to the different aspects of the philosophy. I remember being particularly gripped by the opening, wherein he states the event which made him think that he might be in need of Slow - the evening he seriously considered reading his children one minute bed time stories, so as to save time. I mean, screw bonding with your children when you could be making so many awesome Excel spreadsheets!
He also keeps a blog of new slow developments!
So okay, coming back to the focus - ME, ME, ME (and you, I guess!) - how to integrate any or all of this? Hard to say. I know I've managed to wean myself from looking at my watch while on the bus, train or tube - doing so and getting anxious won't actually get me where I'm going any faster! That I had to do during Uinversity and it seriously helped me get to class in a better state of mind for learning.
I also make a point of waiting until I have an hour to just listen to a new album I've purchased, instead of slapping it on while I write or whatever. That has resulted in some very enjoyable listens where I have definitely noticed subtleties which it might have taken months of background listening to find.
Other than those two, I've generally tried to cut down on multi-tasking and to tell myself that "I will spend x amount of minutes on this task before I consider working on another". Oddly, putting that kind of contstraint onto my writing, drawing etc has in fact left me better able to focus and more relaxed. Before, I found I would rush one task to get to the next and in the end have not lived up to my full capabilities in anything I had done!
Otherwise, it's something I'm still wrestling with and I suspect I'll be wrestling with it for some time, given the deadline driven nature of the film industry. Ah well. In closing, I'll recommend the second last issue (#69) of one of the few magazines worth more than the paper it is printed on - Colors. This particular issue is devoted to Slow Food around the world and, as with every issue, it has a lot of weblinks, books and phone numbers in the back to help readers further explore the topic as well as related topics. If nothing else, this magazine has some of the most beautiful and natural looking photography that I've seen in my many years of devouring media. For my Ottawa readers, you can buy it at Mags & Fags on Elgin St. while for all my other readers (Hello to my new reader in Tokyo!) I can suggest you follow my link to their website where they have scans of all their issues. That being said, do see if you can find an outlet to buy it in - this is the kind of magazine you keep on your shelf for years and find yourself coming back to more than once.
Plus, if you like Found magazine, then may I direct you to Colour's very impressive "1000 Extraordinary Objects" Book? Yes, yes I may.
Them folk on yonder island ain't so much like our folk
-This all reminds me...microwave meals (usually called "Ready meals") are ten times as popular in England as they are in Canada. They take up much more space in supermarkets and many of them are actually very high quality - though still pre-made food which has been stored for lord knows how long and it tends to have way too much salt in it. Certainly, there is a lot more temptation to pull you away from trying to live slow, to be sure.
-People from sleepy towns beware! A yellow light, even when the green man is still flashing underneath it, apparently signifies GO NOW NOW NOW to London drivers. This has resulted in a fair share of near misses on my part!
P.S. I have recently learned that if you read my site on an RSS feed then you only get the first version of a post. I often go back to add pictures or correct errors, so may I recommend that you bookmark the site instead? If only so I seem a tad more literate? This is important, I swear!
P.P.S. It is weird seeing people debate and discuss your possible identity.
P.P.P.S. Why the hell am I using post-scripts on a website? OH WELL, NO TURNING BACK NOW
Racially Charged Monday
I just thought this was great, especially the two guys who were the first heterosexual pair of guys to be married – just to spite people who can’t handle the idea of a black, Belgian registrar. Nice!
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
You can drink an abstract concept...
...provided it is a bottle of London Pride you're treating yourself to.
These last two days I mostly wrote and applied to some temp agencies in Reading, so as to hopefully get a part-time job to replenish funds while I'm there. Alex is being helpful and has promised to harrass a friend of his who might be able to get me some temp work, so I've got that going for me as well. But whatever comes of that, it shall be dropped rather hard and fast when I get something decent in London. Tomorrow I'll be able to get away with harassing Lead Generators to see if I make it to "The Interview-Round Two: Do we like your face?".
Meanwhile the Conference Producer thing fell through, but that's okay - the nice woman at Greythorn was honest when she told me that the hiring company had ratcheted up their expectations from when they posted the advertisement. I'll just keep casting the net, I suppose! What else can a lad do?
Today I headed into the heart of London to hit up some more recruitment offices, then treated myself to a "Tourist Afternoon" in my absolute favorite part of the city - along the Thames embankement area. Lo and behold - I had my camera and I remembered to use it!
A tribute to RAF pilots in a certain famous battle. It was touching to see that people still lay fresh wreaths here.
A tribute to RAF pilots, period, though as with a lot of war momuments there was a certain focus on the two great wars to be found in it's text.
The millenium pedestrian bridge! Good fun, especially if you can forget the footage from it's early days, when it bounced an swayed like a bouncy castle thanks to a mistake in it's construction.
The lush Embankment park, as seen from the other side of the Thames.
The Royal Courts of Justice. Basically every building in this area was as impressive though - there were simple business offices which looked like the set for a Victorian era romantic tragedy.
One of the CCTV camera's which keep an eye on the public. Yeah yeah, big brother....but they kind of make me feel safe! I guess so long as we are wise enough not to vote in ultra-fascists, then things will be ok.
Perhaps you've heard of this bridge? It's always falling down.
I was well pleased to come across a street exhibit of Gorillaz artwork.
More pictures........in that nebulous realm known as, the future. Once again, it was truly humbling to be around so much history. There is something akin to the Ottawa War Memorial about every other city block and smaller bronze statues (including all sorts, from war heroes to the inventor of Sunday school!) are even more common. Meanwhile, about 60% of the buildings were standing before Canada even existed and some from before the Old World had even discovered the new. Yowza.
For now I am going to do a little more online job searching and then sleep in. I plan to hit London again tomorrow, perhaps more pictures shall be taken?
Differences! The one thing we all have in common! Er...
1) So I think I have a lead on the dearth of garbage cans, in the tube at least. I found a large painted sign in Victoria station letting people know that thanks to 7/7 (AKA the tube bombings last summer) all tube trash cans have been temporarily removed since it would be so easy to conceal explosives in them. It didn't say how temporarily though. A little scary in theory, I guess, but I haven't felt bothered even when I've been going through Kings Cross station.
2) Tying into #1, if there is one thing that recorded public announcements will make clear to you on any tube or train or just about anywhere else - for fucks sake, do not leave any unattended bags laying about. If you do this, your bag may be taken out back to be shot and buried. Again, I reckon this is a result of 7/7 and that other famous, highly marketable date.
3) It is pricier to live in London, no doubt, but people do it! That being said, I won't deny that I was shocked to run into a very common practice amongst sandwich shops - charging an extra 10p or 20p on each item should you wish to have the privilage of setting your arse down in their establishment. Needless to say, I have been pleased to find a plethora of benches in most areas I've been to.
These last two days I mostly wrote and applied to some temp agencies in Reading, so as to hopefully get a part-time job to replenish funds while I'm there. Alex is being helpful and has promised to harrass a friend of his who might be able to get me some temp work, so I've got that going for me as well. But whatever comes of that, it shall be dropped rather hard and fast when I get something decent in London. Tomorrow I'll be able to get away with harassing Lead Generators to see if I make it to "The Interview-Round Two: Do we like your face?".
Meanwhile the Conference Producer thing fell through, but that's okay - the nice woman at Greythorn was honest when she told me that the hiring company had ratcheted up their expectations from when they posted the advertisement. I'll just keep casting the net, I suppose! What else can a lad do?
Today I headed into the heart of London to hit up some more recruitment offices, then treated myself to a "Tourist Afternoon" in my absolute favorite part of the city - along the Thames embankement area. Lo and behold - I had my camera and I remembered to use it!
A tribute to RAF pilots in a certain famous battle. It was touching to see that people still lay fresh wreaths here.
A tribute to RAF pilots, period, though as with a lot of war momuments there was a certain focus on the two great wars to be found in it's text.
The millenium pedestrian bridge! Good fun, especially if you can forget the footage from it's early days, when it bounced an swayed like a bouncy castle thanks to a mistake in it's construction.
The lush Embankment park, as seen from the other side of the Thames.
The Royal Courts of Justice. Basically every building in this area was as impressive though - there were simple business offices which looked like the set for a Victorian era romantic tragedy.
One of the CCTV camera's which keep an eye on the public. Yeah yeah, big brother....but they kind of make me feel safe! I guess so long as we are wise enough not to vote in ultra-fascists, then things will be ok.
Perhaps you've heard of this bridge? It's always falling down.
I was well pleased to come across a street exhibit of Gorillaz artwork.
More pictures........in that nebulous realm known as, the future. Once again, it was truly humbling to be around so much history. There is something akin to the Ottawa War Memorial about every other city block and smaller bronze statues (including all sorts, from war heroes to the inventor of Sunday school!) are even more common. Meanwhile, about 60% of the buildings were standing before Canada even existed and some from before the Old World had even discovered the new. Yowza.
For now I am going to do a little more online job searching and then sleep in. I plan to hit London again tomorrow, perhaps more pictures shall be taken?
Differences! The one thing we all have in common! Er...
1) So I think I have a lead on the dearth of garbage cans, in the tube at least. I found a large painted sign in Victoria station letting people know that thanks to 7/7 (AKA the tube bombings last summer) all tube trash cans have been temporarily removed since it would be so easy to conceal explosives in them. It didn't say how temporarily though. A little scary in theory, I guess, but I haven't felt bothered even when I've been going through Kings Cross station.
2) Tying into #1, if there is one thing that recorded public announcements will make clear to you on any tube or train or just about anywhere else - for fucks sake, do not leave any unattended bags laying about. If you do this, your bag may be taken out back to be shot and buried. Again, I reckon this is a result of 7/7 and that other famous, highly marketable date.
3) It is pricier to live in London, no doubt, but people do it! That being said, I won't deny that I was shocked to run into a very common practice amongst sandwich shops - charging an extra 10p or 20p on each item should you wish to have the privilage of setting your arse down in their establishment. Needless to say, I have been pleased to find a plethora of benches in most areas I've been to.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Mind the Pap
Hoo boy, I must have spent about five hours on the train or the tube yesterday. That plus a fun night with the lads and it took me just about all of today to rest up. A phone call with my parents and watching The Guns of Navarrone with their good friend Penny were the weightiest tasks I set myself.
Lo and behold, yesterdays interview was in fact the real thing and not a practice interview with a recruitment agency (like my escapade on Tuesday). This was the first half of a two part process, apparently, wherin the first interview is a test of writing ability. If you prove that you have the necessary skills then you get to have a second interview where they decide if you would be a decent fellow to work with or if you're someone out of a Ricky Gervais television show. If I progress to this second stage than I would probably be called in sometime late next week or early into the next.
The test was actually a rather enjoyable exercise. You see, Lead Generators are a company which is hired by other companies to provide them with copy for their websites which not only tries to effectively sell the product in question (Travel packages are a big earner) but also word their pitch in such a manner that it will appear as high on a search engine inquiry as possible.
My job, were I to start there, would have the primary duty of writing this kind of text - utlizing a list of most commonly searched relevent phrases which I would then weave as tightly and frequently into the sales copy without being absurd (typing "super cheap vacation super cheap vacation super cheap vacation Scarlett Johannson Nude" might get a lot of hits, but it won't really read very well!). It is not a lot unlike playing an advanced kind of Scrabble, using whole words instead of letters. This can get very tricky because it is not enough for the key words in a phrase to be present, they have to all be put in a very close row - though you can shuffle them about a bit.
For example, the phrase "cheap tropical Fuerteventura holiday" might be a popular search entry. Thus an improper weave migth read thusly:
"Come to sunny, tropical Fuerteventura, where you can find cheap acommadation which will free up more precious pounds for enjoying your holiday"
While a successful weave might read:
" Cheap holidays in tropical Fuertenventura can be had by all, thanks to new deals offered by..."
And so it goes. Now I doubt I need to make anyone aware that one does not need to pass any tests of linguistic ability to utilize a search engine. Thus part of the challenge was integrating some truly inane searches. The most challanging line I can remember was one which involved an unecessary repetition of the "Costa" in "Costa De Antigua". The actual string was something like "cheap apartment holiday costa costa de antiquga". Yes it is a dumb typo to have that second "costa", but because it is a typo that is made by approximatly 1100 people a day...then it is worth big points if you can weave it in. After an awful lot of shuffling, I eventually conquered the bugger by making a terrible pun about the low "costa" accomadation in Costa de Antigua.
This may sound terribly dull and I am sure that if I get the job there might be days when I find myself trying to perfect voodoo rituals that I might lay down more than terrible invective upon the masses of internet users who I wouldn't trust to cut the crusts off a sandwich....but gosh darn it, I love the prospect of being able to play with language and get paid. Plus the area where the office is situated, East Sheen, is very nice. I can see myself living there and wearing a smile more often than not.
I look forward to this, as a job is the key step to knocking down a series of very important dominoes (bank account, place to live etc). As it stands, I will have to retreat to Reading at the end of the month - but the fact that rent is paid weekly, instead of monthly, in England means that I am not then consigned to a full month outside of the city I am trying to get started in. It's annoying, but I shall take care to polish that old silver lining. Aside from enjoying my friends in Reading, I think I would try to hop over to Oxford and visit the fine family friends who first introduced me to Richard Dawkins via his collection of short essays and speeches.
I feel a little stressed out right now, it's hard not to when you have so little under your feet, but I do still feel very much in control and the publishing interviews have left me feeling vindicated in my decision to come here. Homesickness paid a visit earlier while I was on the phone and hearing all about today's Carp Farmers Market - but I managed. I wish I had the time and energy to better keep on top of my emails. Trust me guys, I always read them right away -it's finding time and energy for the replies that gets tricky.
Heck, I wish I was a wealthy fellow who could afford to just hop on a jet and visit Ottawa for a while (Toronto and Taipai too, for that matter!). But for now I just need to endure this transient lifestyle for a handful more weeks. I'm rolling back in for my last week in Tottenham on Tuesday morning and I guess we'll see what develops!
Plaid shirts over a white or black tee on one side, understated Polo shirts with faux family crests on the other
1) There is a definite reduction in the amount of clever t-shirts over here. Mens clothing is a lot less attention seeking, favoring a good fit and streamlined design instead of bold colors forming a work of art upon the chest, back or shoulders.
2) Meanwhile, most women seem to favor the "If you've got it, flaunt it" policy - which is perfectly compatible with my "If you've got it, can...can I see?" policy.
Lo and behold, yesterdays interview was in fact the real thing and not a practice interview with a recruitment agency (like my escapade on Tuesday). This was the first half of a two part process, apparently, wherin the first interview is a test of writing ability. If you prove that you have the necessary skills then you get to have a second interview where they decide if you would be a decent fellow to work with or if you're someone out of a Ricky Gervais television show. If I progress to this second stage than I would probably be called in sometime late next week or early into the next.
The test was actually a rather enjoyable exercise. You see, Lead Generators are a company which is hired by other companies to provide them with copy for their websites which not only tries to effectively sell the product in question (Travel packages are a big earner) but also word their pitch in such a manner that it will appear as high on a search engine inquiry as possible.
My job, were I to start there, would have the primary duty of writing this kind of text - utlizing a list of most commonly searched relevent phrases which I would then weave as tightly and frequently into the sales copy without being absurd (typing "super cheap vacation super cheap vacation super cheap vacation Scarlett Johannson Nude" might get a lot of hits, but it won't really read very well!). It is not a lot unlike playing an advanced kind of Scrabble, using whole words instead of letters. This can get very tricky because it is not enough for the key words in a phrase to be present, they have to all be put in a very close row - though you can shuffle them about a bit.
For example, the phrase "cheap tropical Fuerteventura holiday" might be a popular search entry. Thus an improper weave migth read thusly:
"Come to sunny, tropical Fuerteventura, where you can find cheap acommadation which will free up more precious pounds for enjoying your holiday"
While a successful weave might read:
" Cheap holidays in tropical Fuertenventura can be had by all, thanks to new deals offered by..."
And so it goes. Now I doubt I need to make anyone aware that one does not need to pass any tests of linguistic ability to utilize a search engine. Thus part of the challenge was integrating some truly inane searches. The most challanging line I can remember was one which involved an unecessary repetition of the "Costa" in "Costa De Antigua". The actual string was something like "cheap apartment holiday costa costa de antiquga". Yes it is a dumb typo to have that second "costa", but because it is a typo that is made by approximatly 1100 people a day...then it is worth big points if you can weave it in. After an awful lot of shuffling, I eventually conquered the bugger by making a terrible pun about the low "costa" accomadation in Costa de Antigua.
This may sound terribly dull and I am sure that if I get the job there might be days when I find myself trying to perfect voodoo rituals that I might lay down more than terrible invective upon the masses of internet users who I wouldn't trust to cut the crusts off a sandwich....but gosh darn it, I love the prospect of being able to play with language and get paid. Plus the area where the office is situated, East Sheen, is very nice. I can see myself living there and wearing a smile more often than not.
I look forward to this, as a job is the key step to knocking down a series of very important dominoes (bank account, place to live etc). As it stands, I will have to retreat to Reading at the end of the month - but the fact that rent is paid weekly, instead of monthly, in England means that I am not then consigned to a full month outside of the city I am trying to get started in. It's annoying, but I shall take care to polish that old silver lining. Aside from enjoying my friends in Reading, I think I would try to hop over to Oxford and visit the fine family friends who first introduced me to Richard Dawkins via his collection of short essays and speeches.
I feel a little stressed out right now, it's hard not to when you have so little under your feet, but I do still feel very much in control and the publishing interviews have left me feeling vindicated in my decision to come here. Homesickness paid a visit earlier while I was on the phone and hearing all about today's Carp Farmers Market - but I managed. I wish I had the time and energy to better keep on top of my emails. Trust me guys, I always read them right away -it's finding time and energy for the replies that gets tricky.
Heck, I wish I was a wealthy fellow who could afford to just hop on a jet and visit Ottawa for a while (Toronto and Taipai too, for that matter!). But for now I just need to endure this transient lifestyle for a handful more weeks. I'm rolling back in for my last week in Tottenham on Tuesday morning and I guess we'll see what develops!
Plaid shirts over a white or black tee on one side, understated Polo shirts with faux family crests on the other
1) There is a definite reduction in the amount of clever t-shirts over here. Mens clothing is a lot less attention seeking, favoring a good fit and streamlined design instead of bold colors forming a work of art upon the chest, back or shoulders.
2) Meanwhile, most women seem to favor the "If you've got it, flaunt it" policy - which is perfectly compatible with my "If you've got it, can...can I see?" policy.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Who's a big boy now then? Eh? Eh?
A little update which might amuse some. I finally bought my first cell phone (AKA "mobile) today, so maybe I will finally learn how to use the stupid things. Why, it could only be a matter of days before I send an obscene text message to some hapless young woman sitting across from me on the bus.
Er...
Anyways, good news! The first sniff of paid writing work came in today from a website, which had advertised at the best temp site I've found so far. A good article can net upwards of fifty pounds (with the possability of vouchers, it seems). It would just be a little money on the side, I'm certainly not done hunting for a job....but to have some writing experience on my CV would be marvelous. A few decent articles for these people, who tell me that they want stuff from a student or recent graduate perspective, would allow me to apply for some rather nice jobs I've seen advertised.
With a word minimum of 350 and a fortnightly publishing schedule, I think I should easily be able to fit this in with the rest of the mess.
We are all different...except for identical twins, who don't count as they aren't really human - are they? Really? Huh...
1) Do you like babies? Then England is for you! I have seen basically more babies in the past while than I can remember seeing during my last six months in Canada. While in Broadstairs I overheard on the radio that England is the number one nation in Europe for having "children with children" (14-24). I thought conventional wisdom taught that as nations became more developed, birth rates declined - Japan being a glaring example - but apparently the English have found the secret to fitting more sex into the hectic twenty-first century lives we now lead.
Or maybe their just isn't enough education about birth control?
Er...
Anyways, good news! The first sniff of paid writing work came in today from a website, which had advertised at the best temp site I've found so far. A good article can net upwards of fifty pounds (with the possability of vouchers, it seems). It would just be a little money on the side, I'm certainly not done hunting for a job....but to have some writing experience on my CV would be marvelous. A few decent articles for these people, who tell me that they want stuff from a student or recent graduate perspective, would allow me to apply for some rather nice jobs I've seen advertised.
With a word minimum of 350 and a fortnightly publishing schedule, I think I should easily be able to fit this in with the rest of the mess.
We are all different...except for identical twins, who don't count as they aren't really human - are they? Really? Huh...
1) Do you like babies? Then England is for you! I have seen basically more babies in the past while than I can remember seeing during my last six months in Canada. While in Broadstairs I overheard on the radio that England is the number one nation in Europe for having "children with children" (14-24). I thought conventional wisdom taught that as nations became more developed, birth rates declined - Japan being a glaring example - but apparently the English have found the secret to fitting more sex into the hectic twenty-first century lives we now lead.
Or maybe their just isn't enough education about birth control?
Before it all slips out...
...I shall blather a bit.
Broadstairs is a great beach town and I am lucky to have an Aunt who lives right up by the water in a large home which used to serve as a hotel. She still rents rooms to travelling students sometimes but generally I can always count on there being a spare room for me to sleep in. As mentioned earlier, this a great thing!
Over the course of the weekend I spent a lot of time with a very intense relaxation ("intense relaxation"?) program which I drew up on the margins of something more important - which was in turn written on the back of the train ticket which took me there. Going to Broadstairs is about the same as going to Toronto, in terms of distance. You're looking at about three hours of transit in total if you take the train, which I always do. Thanks to the tube and the national railway system, English buses are still a mostly unknown thing to me - not unlike unicorns and being succinct when I speak.
There isn't a whole hell of a lot to say about Broadstairs other than the sea air is wonderful and it's a rather typical tourist town - not that "typical" is a derogatory term here. You've got lots of sand, places to drink and eat by the sand, a great bookstore (Albion Books) so you can buy something to read by the sand, swimwear stores where you can buy trunks to fill with the sand and on and on. Meanwhile, the family I have there (my mother's sister Liz, her husband Phil and their children) are very friendly and kind. True story!
Coming back into London on Tuesday, I felt very refreshed - which is good because I am now in a frantic rush to get a job which isn't total shit (re: retail/food) and a place, preferably with post-Dickensian amenities, by the end of the month. If this does not happen, then I may have to retreat to Reading and stay with some old University pals of my parents - who, funny enough, are the parents of one of my own pals in Reading. All hope is not lost if I have to go down that path - I'll just earn some money in Reading and then tunnel back into London. Luckily Reading is only about a half hour on the train headed west out of Victoria station, which is roughly in the heart of London...so I am not super worried. It would take some pretty outlandish events to send me packing back to Canada, that is for sure!
Reading, meanwhile, is a perfectly nice town - though maybe not as glamorous as London, there is still plenty to appreciate about it. Most of it reminds me of Kanata, which is fitting because it might wind up being absorbed as a suburb of London as the latter continues to roll across the countryside in search of smaller cities for sustenence.
Anyways, I won't be hitting up Reading this weekend so as to save cash - but I will instead make that planned trip to the heart of London which seduced me in my ill spent youth (of two years ago...). I caught glimpses of it through the high arched doors in Victoria station and even that lifted my spirits a bit - though I had to laugh at how the sun was shining just perfectly so as to suggest that you might spot a winged cherub hiding behing the weathervane on a nearby roof, reading the London Times and complaining about immigrants.
A stand up comedian from the early '90s might say "Ya see, people on this side of the Atlantic are like that and people on this side eat their toast like THAT"
1) Roads are generally much narrower and the single lane's can sometimes feel almost like a tunnel with a sun roof. The breadth of Bank street seems like a footbal field by comparison.
2) Temp employment agencies in London are very popular and numerous. Unlike the ones I encountered in Ottawa, these actually seem to be competent and specialized in a variety of fields. My cousin Suzanne tells me that all of her work in England has been attained through these agencies and that it was been fine for her. Encouraging!
Broadstairs is a great beach town and I am lucky to have an Aunt who lives right up by the water in a large home which used to serve as a hotel. She still rents rooms to travelling students sometimes but generally I can always count on there being a spare room for me to sleep in. As mentioned earlier, this a great thing!
Over the course of the weekend I spent a lot of time with a very intense relaxation ("intense relaxation"?) program which I drew up on the margins of something more important - which was in turn written on the back of the train ticket which took me there. Going to Broadstairs is about the same as going to Toronto, in terms of distance. You're looking at about three hours of transit in total if you take the train, which I always do. Thanks to the tube and the national railway system, English buses are still a mostly unknown thing to me - not unlike unicorns and being succinct when I speak.
There isn't a whole hell of a lot to say about Broadstairs other than the sea air is wonderful and it's a rather typical tourist town - not that "typical" is a derogatory term here. You've got lots of sand, places to drink and eat by the sand, a great bookstore (Albion Books) so you can buy something to read by the sand, swimwear stores where you can buy trunks to fill with the sand and on and on. Meanwhile, the family I have there (my mother's sister Liz, her husband Phil and their children) are very friendly and kind. True story!
Coming back into London on Tuesday, I felt very refreshed - which is good because I am now in a frantic rush to get a job which isn't total shit (re: retail/food) and a place, preferably with post-Dickensian amenities, by the end of the month. If this does not happen, then I may have to retreat to Reading and stay with some old University pals of my parents - who, funny enough, are the parents of one of my own pals in Reading. All hope is not lost if I have to go down that path - I'll just earn some money in Reading and then tunnel back into London. Luckily Reading is only about a half hour on the train headed west out of Victoria station, which is roughly in the heart of London...so I am not super worried. It would take some pretty outlandish events to send me packing back to Canada, that is for sure!
Reading, meanwhile, is a perfectly nice town - though maybe not as glamorous as London, there is still plenty to appreciate about it. Most of it reminds me of Kanata, which is fitting because it might wind up being absorbed as a suburb of London as the latter continues to roll across the countryside in search of smaller cities for sustenence.
Anyways, I won't be hitting up Reading this weekend so as to save cash - but I will instead make that planned trip to the heart of London which seduced me in my ill spent youth (of two years ago...). I caught glimpses of it through the high arched doors in Victoria station and even that lifted my spirits a bit - though I had to laugh at how the sun was shining just perfectly so as to suggest that you might spot a winged cherub hiding behing the weathervane on a nearby roof, reading the London Times and complaining about immigrants.
A stand up comedian from the early '90s might say "Ya see, people on this side of the Atlantic are like that and people on this side eat their toast like THAT"
1) Roads are generally much narrower and the single lane's can sometimes feel almost like a tunnel with a sun roof. The breadth of Bank street seems like a footbal field by comparison.
2) Temp employment agencies in London are very popular and numerous. Unlike the ones I encountered in Ottawa, these actually seem to be competent and specialized in a variety of fields. My cousin Suzanne tells me that all of her work in England has been attained through these agencies and that it was been fine for her. Encouraging!
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Sloe Gin Goes Fast (Clever!)
Let's see now, today I...
-Got up at 11am.
-Had some orange juice, then took a long walk along the coast.
-Came back into Uncle Phil and Aunt Liz's house for five hours of good food, drink, stories and two hilarious looking boxer dogs. They are named Harvey and Webster, and you know they are a good breed of dog because they are big enough to wrestle with, while friendly enough to be left around small children. Plus their default expression make's me want to burst out laughing almost every time.
-...recharged my iPod?
I normally wouldn't consider this a productive day, but this time I will. After a brief strut across my internet catwalk, I reckon I'll go read some more of my Hunter S. Thompson by the seaside. Take that, productivity!
Broadstairs has done wonders for me. Yesterday I pierced the thick, stodgy veil of jetlag and felt like something other than Oliver The Lump for the first time since I got here. I felt more like Oliver the Hustler or Oliver the Writer (or Oliver the Setting Himself Up for an Easy Joke) and proceeded accordingly. But then, it would be hard not to get inspired when the English channel is maybe one hundred feet from your bedroom. Two nights in a row I've been treated to a full moon reflecting off the water. This has been rendered equal parts lovely and horrifying, thanks to H.P. Lovecraft - but I'll take it.
I have, of course, forgotten to bring my bloody camera. Ah well, my Aunt Liz has made it clear I'm welcome up here any old time. This is a great resource to have for sure...for as much as I love big cities, I do need a break from them once in a while and Carp is now too far to just sling myself over for a weekend. This particular break is exactly what I needed....and maybe what I should have done during my first few days in the country - instead of trying to be super productive during every waking moment. When I roll back into Tottenham sometime Tuesday, I shall have the fire in my belly necessary to begin shaking my delicious behind under the noses of many a prospective employer. Hopefully enough to justify heading out to Redding next weekend.
Or at least the purchase of a new pair of pants. Three pairs of blue jeans and two dress pants are not enough for this fashion-minded man (who might have been able to pack more pants, but size fourteen shoes take up a lot of room!). Anyways...more to report when I am not stuffed to the point of bursting.
We are all filthy foreigners to someone...
1) Shoe sizes in the UK are all generally one size smaller than the North American equivelent. Ergo my size 14 is a 13 here. Man, that is boring...I'd better follow up with something true, yet engaging and classy.
2) Bare tits, you will see plenty of them in the weekly SUN. I suppose this does put it slightly ahead of our own much beloved Ottawa Sun, the only boobs it features being our local politicians!
See what I did there?
3) Ladies, if you are the only woman within sight and you overhear men (of any age) using the phrase "moose" or "shot-putter" while looking in your general direction...give them a smack. They've earned it.
-Got up at 11am.
-Had some orange juice, then took a long walk along the coast.
-Came back into Uncle Phil and Aunt Liz's house for five hours of good food, drink, stories and two hilarious looking boxer dogs. They are named Harvey and Webster, and you know they are a good breed of dog because they are big enough to wrestle with, while friendly enough to be left around small children. Plus their default expression make's me want to burst out laughing almost every time.
-...recharged my iPod?
I normally wouldn't consider this a productive day, but this time I will. After a brief strut across my internet catwalk, I reckon I'll go read some more of my Hunter S. Thompson by the seaside. Take that, productivity!
Broadstairs has done wonders for me. Yesterday I pierced the thick, stodgy veil of jetlag and felt like something other than Oliver The Lump for the first time since I got here. I felt more like Oliver the Hustler or Oliver the Writer (or Oliver the Setting Himself Up for an Easy Joke) and proceeded accordingly. But then, it would be hard not to get inspired when the English channel is maybe one hundred feet from your bedroom. Two nights in a row I've been treated to a full moon reflecting off the water. This has been rendered equal parts lovely and horrifying, thanks to H.P. Lovecraft - but I'll take it.
I have, of course, forgotten to bring my bloody camera. Ah well, my Aunt Liz has made it clear I'm welcome up here any old time. This is a great resource to have for sure...for as much as I love big cities, I do need a break from them once in a while and Carp is now too far to just sling myself over for a weekend. This particular break is exactly what I needed....and maybe what I should have done during my first few days in the country - instead of trying to be super productive during every waking moment. When I roll back into Tottenham sometime Tuesday, I shall have the fire in my belly necessary to begin shaking my delicious behind under the noses of many a prospective employer. Hopefully enough to justify heading out to Redding next weekend.
Or at least the purchase of a new pair of pants. Three pairs of blue jeans and two dress pants are not enough for this fashion-minded man (who might have been able to pack more pants, but size fourteen shoes take up a lot of room!). Anyways...more to report when I am not stuffed to the point of bursting.
We are all filthy foreigners to someone...
1) Shoe sizes in the UK are all generally one size smaller than the North American equivelent. Ergo my size 14 is a 13 here. Man, that is boring...I'd better follow up with something true, yet engaging and classy.
2) Bare tits, you will see plenty of them in the weekly SUN. I suppose this does put it slightly ahead of our own much beloved Ottawa Sun, the only boobs it features being our local politicians!
See what I did there?
3) Ladies, if you are the only woman within sight and you overhear men (of any age) using the phrase "moose" or "shot-putter" while looking in your general direction...give them a smack. They've earned it.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Tonight We Link To YouTube
Yes, the trailer for "Tonight We Fall In Love" is finally online. The compression required to post it on YouTube has reduced the quality, but not to a mongoloid level.
My father has a friend who specializes in video file manipulation who will take a crack at rendering a higher quality video which still fits within YouTube's hilariously tiny file size requirments. But hey, you get what you pay for and this is much better than nothing. That being said, I think I shall wait until Dad's friend takes a crack at it before I send it out to production companies and other folk who I would like to give me money in exchange for my goods and services. Also before I send it to the cast/crew because I think they deserve only the best after the hard work they put in for naught but tasty sandwiches and a chance at fame.
Meanwhile, today was alright - despite finding out that getting a bank account in England is pretty damn hard compared to how it is in Canada. Mostly I am just pleased to be finally making good progress against the evil forces of jet-lag. It took all the way until 5pm before every cell in my body stood up to say "SIT DOWN AND STAY DOWN". This is hard because I want so very much to keep going. My mind is almost constantly twittering away, working on ways to get the basics set up so that I can then have the time to waste on the finer things. Ah well, I suppose it could be a lot worse. I could be working for Joshua Blahyi.
Meanwhile I finally tooled about connecting my camera to my cousin's computer. More pictures will arrive as I find things worth taking pictures of - which should be in the near future as I hit downtown London and/or Broadstairs in the coming weekend. My cousin and her husband are both getting back this weekend from long, seperate and draining trips. After seven weeks apart, I reckon I should let them have some privacy with which to rest and catch up. Christ knows I wasn't ready to entertain company when I got off at Gatwick.
They are not the same as us and the vice is versa!
1) Apparently I cannot hate Google Maps too much. Today I discovered how a good deal of roads will continue without any physical interruption, but at some point they will change names and even switch up the numbering system. All I could do at the time was cut a fatted calf and spill it's blood on my copy of "London A-Z", in the hopes that everything would be okay.
My father has a friend who specializes in video file manipulation who will take a crack at rendering a higher quality video which still fits within YouTube's hilariously tiny file size requirments. But hey, you get what you pay for and this is much better than nothing. That being said, I think I shall wait until Dad's friend takes a crack at it before I send it out to production companies and other folk who I would like to give me money in exchange for my goods and services. Also before I send it to the cast/crew because I think they deserve only the best after the hard work they put in for naught but tasty sandwiches and a chance at fame.
Meanwhile, today was alright - despite finding out that getting a bank account in England is pretty damn hard compared to how it is in Canada. Mostly I am just pleased to be finally making good progress against the evil forces of jet-lag. It took all the way until 5pm before every cell in my body stood up to say "SIT DOWN AND STAY DOWN". This is hard because I want so very much to keep going. My mind is almost constantly twittering away, working on ways to get the basics set up so that I can then have the time to waste on the finer things. Ah well, I suppose it could be a lot worse. I could be working for Joshua Blahyi.
Meanwhile I finally tooled about connecting my camera to my cousin's computer. More pictures will arrive as I find things worth taking pictures of - which should be in the near future as I hit downtown London and/or Broadstairs in the coming weekend. My cousin and her husband are both getting back this weekend from long, seperate and draining trips. After seven weeks apart, I reckon I should let them have some privacy with which to rest and catch up. Christ knows I wasn't ready to entertain company when I got off at Gatwick.
They are not the same as us and the vice is versa!
1) Apparently I cannot hate Google Maps too much. Today I discovered how a good deal of roads will continue without any physical interruption, but at some point they will change names and even switch up the numbering system. All I could do at the time was cut a fatted calf and spill it's blood on my copy of "London A-Z", in the hopes that everything would be okay.
Monday, October 02, 2006
Mind and Body, Oliver has Landed
Well, I've foraged and eaten and realized that if I wait for myself to be perfectly free of jet-lag and disorienation, then you might all have to wait until early 2007 before getting another post out of me. So!
I've decided I'll file all but the most epic or relevant of Canada/U.K. differences at the bottom of my posts so that only those who are fussed (or planning to travel over here) have to read them. I think I shall use an appropriate heading to split things up.
Right then, it's early afternoon and I am doing my best to break out of the jetlag malaise and get rolling. The equivalent of a SIN number over here is an NI (National Insurance) number and so that is my top priority in the short term, as you cannot be employed without one. Last night I managed to read a local paper cover to cover, something unusual for me in Ottawa (just try and bear with the Sun's many, many grammatical errors and horseshit journalism....I dare you!). Two things stood out, which I thought I'd relate.
One is that Tottenham recently had a "Peace March" which had nothing to do with overseas wars. It was a community thing where churches of all shapes and sizes opened their doors to all others of any shape, size or colour. Where large throngs of people made a point of being friendly in formation and local politicians took the time to establish their stance on horribleness being "no good". It's a nice idea, but I cannot help wondering if I should be alarmed that such a thing is considered necessary. The jury is still out on what kind of a neighborhood I've moved into, crimewise.
The other is that, thank God (I know I don't believe in him, but "Thank the unconfirmed possibility of something bigger than us" is too much of a mouthful, unlike this overweight addendum) there seems to be a decent supply of office jobs for which I am overqualified...but they do not ask that I speak "French" or have security clearance. This is what I pretty much knew all along, but it was nice to have it confirmed. So hopefully, even my "just get a steady income and then keep looking" job will actually be a step up from the bloody Comic Book Shoppe or data entry at Pearson.
Not long before leaving for England, I did something up for my pal, Shawn MacLean, to help pay him back for numerous favors. I took a pen and marker, then outlined all sorts of interesting downtown locations for him to explore on a big map of Ottawa. For a laugh, I outlined the airport and wrote "Progress to next level" or something similar on it. Little did I know how this image would come hurtling back to the forefront of my mind within the first minute of sitting on my flight. I don't know if this is a Zoom airlines thing or if all airlines do it now, but on the big television screen at the front I was treated to a pixelated map of the northern hemisphere with a little plane on it (sitting over top Ottawa, of course). There was a dotted red line leading to London, which became solid line as the plane went along the path. The screen would rotate between this and a series of stats on how fast we were going, how long until we got there, how many kilometers we had to go and so on. In-between movies we were treated to little updates and when we were descending into London, a glowing green diamond formed over Gatwick's location. To a fellow who grew up on world management computer games, it was pretty weird!
No sleep was had, of course, but luckily I didn't have to wait too long before my cousin Daniel showed up to help me get from way down South London all the way up to North-East London. After having been up almost 30 hours at that point, I wasn't quite up for pulling the task solo. Even with a good buddy, I was hell of paranoid about running into trouble as I had all of my possessions (not including the many boxes I left in Carp, love you mom! love you dad!) in but three bags as well as all my money in the world. I really felt in touch with my primal, caveman ancestors who had naught but the contents of a crude leather sack to carry with them. As I rode the tube. Sitting across from some kid fiddling with his iPod Nano.
Ahem.
What with all the lack of sleep, I was happy just to eat the meal Dan kindly cooked up for me, then sleep for many hours and then read the paper before going back to bed again. After I post this, I see a small nap in my immediate future - followed by another exploratory walk around the neighborhood. Luckily it seems that Suzanne is quite savvy about where she buys a home, as I am but two blocks south of a busy market street with many places to explore. According to Google Maps, there is a good sized park a little ways North-West....but let me just say that the simple act of trying to get home from the supermarket with one of their printed maps made me lose a good deal of faith in the bastards.
In other news, the last technological hurdle has been jumped and so my trailer for "Tonight We Fall In Love" should be up on YouTube within less than twenty-four hours.
More later!
They are not quite like us! We are not quite like them!
1) Garbage bins are much harder to find. Get used to stuffing candy wrappers and tissues in your pocket for later disposal, instead of just walking eight feet as in the good city of Ottawa.
2) Street signs are rarely found on top of poles. They tend to be posted on the wall of a corner building, about twelve feet up. Assuming the stupid thing hasn't been vandalized or removed - in which case keep an eye out for chalk or painted substitutes....or nothing at all.
3) Google maps can bite my arse. It is sort of accurate, but leaves out every fifth side street and occasionally blurs two streets together. Sometimes it is just plain wrong about a street name. I'm sorry people but the shit just is not infallible.
4) Taxes are included in the listed price of items, which made grocery shopping way the hell easier to budget this morning.
I've decided I'll file all but the most epic or relevant of Canada/U.K. differences at the bottom of my posts so that only those who are fussed (or planning to travel over here) have to read them. I think I shall use an appropriate heading to split things up.
Right then, it's early afternoon and I am doing my best to break out of the jetlag malaise and get rolling. The equivalent of a SIN number over here is an NI (National Insurance) number and so that is my top priority in the short term, as you cannot be employed without one. Last night I managed to read a local paper cover to cover, something unusual for me in Ottawa (just try and bear with the Sun's many, many grammatical errors and horseshit journalism....I dare you!). Two things stood out, which I thought I'd relate.
One is that Tottenham recently had a "Peace March" which had nothing to do with overseas wars. It was a community thing where churches of all shapes and sizes opened their doors to all others of any shape, size or colour. Where large throngs of people made a point of being friendly in formation and local politicians took the time to establish their stance on horribleness being "no good". It's a nice idea, but I cannot help wondering if I should be alarmed that such a thing is considered necessary. The jury is still out on what kind of a neighborhood I've moved into, crimewise.
The other is that, thank God (I know I don't believe in him, but "Thank the unconfirmed possibility of something bigger than us" is too much of a mouthful, unlike this overweight addendum) there seems to be a decent supply of office jobs for which I am overqualified...but they do not ask that I speak "French" or have security clearance. This is what I pretty much knew all along, but it was nice to have it confirmed. So hopefully, even my "just get a steady income and then keep looking" job will actually be a step up from the bloody Comic Book Shoppe or data entry at Pearson.
Not long before leaving for England, I did something up for my pal, Shawn MacLean, to help pay him back for numerous favors. I took a pen and marker, then outlined all sorts of interesting downtown locations for him to explore on a big map of Ottawa. For a laugh, I outlined the airport and wrote "Progress to next level" or something similar on it. Little did I know how this image would come hurtling back to the forefront of my mind within the first minute of sitting on my flight. I don't know if this is a Zoom airlines thing or if all airlines do it now, but on the big television screen at the front I was treated to a pixelated map of the northern hemisphere with a little plane on it (sitting over top Ottawa, of course). There was a dotted red line leading to London, which became solid line as the plane went along the path. The screen would rotate between this and a series of stats on how fast we were going, how long until we got there, how many kilometers we had to go and so on. In-between movies we were treated to little updates and when we were descending into London, a glowing green diamond formed over Gatwick's location. To a fellow who grew up on world management computer games, it was pretty weird!
No sleep was had, of course, but luckily I didn't have to wait too long before my cousin Daniel showed up to help me get from way down South London all the way up to North-East London. After having been up almost 30 hours at that point, I wasn't quite up for pulling the task solo. Even with a good buddy, I was hell of paranoid about running into trouble as I had all of my possessions (not including the many boxes I left in Carp, love you mom! love you dad!) in but three bags as well as all my money in the world. I really felt in touch with my primal, caveman ancestors who had naught but the contents of a crude leather sack to carry with them. As I rode the tube. Sitting across from some kid fiddling with his iPod Nano.
Ahem.
What with all the lack of sleep, I was happy just to eat the meal Dan kindly cooked up for me, then sleep for many hours and then read the paper before going back to bed again. After I post this, I see a small nap in my immediate future - followed by another exploratory walk around the neighborhood. Luckily it seems that Suzanne is quite savvy about where she buys a home, as I am but two blocks south of a busy market street with many places to explore. According to Google Maps, there is a good sized park a little ways North-West....but let me just say that the simple act of trying to get home from the supermarket with one of their printed maps made me lose a good deal of faith in the bastards.
In other news, the last technological hurdle has been jumped and so my trailer for "Tonight We Fall In Love" should be up on YouTube within less than twenty-four hours.
More later!
They are not quite like us! We are not quite like them!
1) Garbage bins are much harder to find. Get used to stuffing candy wrappers and tissues in your pocket for later disposal, instead of just walking eight feet as in the good city of Ottawa.
2) Street signs are rarely found on top of poles. They tend to be posted on the wall of a corner building, about twelve feet up. Assuming the stupid thing hasn't been vandalized or removed - in which case keep an eye out for chalk or painted substitutes....or nothing at all.
3) Google maps can bite my arse. It is sort of accurate, but leaves out every fifth side street and occasionally blurs two streets together. Sometimes it is just plain wrong about a street name. I'm sorry people but the shit just is not infallible.
4) Taxes are included in the listed price of items, which made grocery shopping way the hell easier to budget this morning.
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