My life in France

hey hey guys. Just a quick heads up to say that I'm fine and well. Employed for the next 4 months, which should get some cash in if nothing else. Just thought I'd post a few film reviews. Mostly because I can.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Dark, dark and disturbing. Oh, and with Angry Harry. Remarkably good. Could have done more with Cho and her redemption (as I remember it from the book, but it's been a while since I read it so may be wrong on this fact), but Delores Umbridge was genuinely disturbing. The Room of Cats will give me nightmares for a while - as opposed to the Room of Requirement which made me want one! And I think the actors do remarkably well, especially Luna Lovegood.

Transformers: Went to see this with I as a birthday treat for him (same day as N's as it happens). Excellent film. Even if it had a blacker-than-black car and a laughable attempt at a plot. As soon as those vehicles started unfolding I was grinning like a loon (ok, not much of a stretch I realise, but there you go), and Optimus Prime with flame decals made me laugh. I'm just not hugely sure about the whole scanning-something-else-and-turning-into-something-different part, but it worked very nicely I think.

The Simpsons: just saw this this afternoon with a friend back here at home. The move from small to big screen has worked very well I think. It pokes fun at itself ("Why would we pay to see something we can see for free at home" being a notable example of this) and loads of other stuff. The plot is fun, but nothing special. All we really care about is the gags, and they come thick and fast. Whether it's the visual puns or the one-liners, I was laughing lots. Oh, and I now have the Spider-Pig theme tune in my head...

Hope all is well with you guys, and you've not been swept away by the flood waters

Jon Out

Just realised that there's a few I've seen recently

( Spiderman 3. )

( Pirates of the Carribean 3: At World's End. )

( Shrek the Third. )

( Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer. )

On the whole, not a great bunch. Looking forwards to Transformers though.

An era has ended. I've left Bath, possibly for good. The Uni life is left behind.

And this is at the same time fantastic and scary. I'm used to having defined end points (end of A-levels, end of gap year, end of Uni etcetera etcetera). Now the only end point that I can see is death. Well, that and birthdays, but they don't count. There's no end points for phases of life. And that's slightly worrying.

Before I go all depressive, let's recap. It's been 12 weeks or so since I last posted anything here (blame my growing addiction to facebook for that one), so what has happened in the intervening time? Well, ( lots really. )

Right then, on with the job hunt!

Toodles

Mixed bag of stuff in this post. Firstly, 300. Went to see it tonight with xanthipe and another LARPer called Flo. And we enjoyed it. Mostly because we were laughing. A lot. I mean, guys in tight black leather underwear? A little hard to take them seriously (although much droolage on my part =p).

There were a couple of odd little bits that also caught my eye. A large bottomless pit? In the middle of a city? Obviously I've not been keeping up with Garden Force or Changing Rooms, as this seems to have replaced the water feature as a must have. It just strikes me as...unnecessary I think is the word I'm looking for. Also, major bling on the Persians. Did they also come up with the concept of Burberry while they were at it? If so, I now know who to blame! And somehow, during the course of the film I came up with the idea of an exploding rhino. I tell you, my mind is a very strange place... One other thing that struck me was that I could (and did from time to time) segue quite happily from 300 to another film. Namely, LOTR. As Xan pointed out, you could yell "Orthanc's the other way guys!" and still feel right at home.
The bit that tickled me the most was that, according to Hollywood, Sparta is now in Scotland. I mean, Leonidas has an accent only beaten by Sean Connery! Colour him blue, change the red cloak for tartan and you've got William Wallace from Braveheart!
"Spartans! They may take our Land, but they will never take our Freedom!"
On the whole though, a good time out. Especially as we went out for tapas afterwards ^_^

Also, just to earn the name "mixed bag", this post has ( some angst )

Drat. Should have gone for a slightly longer one last time.

I'm taken ^_^. Cue the squee-ing (or squo-ing. I can pretend...)

Oh well.

That is all. (told you this was going to be quick, mostly as otherwise I'll start a-ranting, and no-one wants that...)

well, madder if you want to be pedantic.

Since going around on these crutches, I try and avoid steps wherever I see them. (Unless they're in the lecture theatres, in which case it's a case of grin and bear it) This means I use the lifts quite a lot. Now, the lifts up here on campus are the sort that tell you what floor you're on, that the doors are closing etc in a rather calm voice. All very well and good if you're partially sighted.

However, for me to thank them? They're not *that* special. And when I've named the different lifts, as they have different voices (the library on is Catherine, the two in Norwood are Janet and Wessex house are Jane. Oh and the one near the bus stop is Mavis), I think we have a compelling arguament to get me committed into a mental institution.

Bring on the men in white coats, I'll take you all on!

Gibber, gibber, gibber...

Now I'm not one to complain usually - in fact, I'll usually stay quiet and grin and bear it. But I'm not happy about the University's decision to remove our Inter Semester Break. OK, I knew it was coming. It's been talked about for ages. But it's not right.
That week off was our reward for persevering, for doing the exams. A pat on the back, if you will, for having completed the first semester and giving us chance to recuperate ready for semester 2. And now we can't. Joyous.
I admit, I've got no real room to talk. Since Wednesday's exams, I've basically done sweet F.A. It's been a very enjoyable few days lying on the sofa with a blanket over me, playing on the internet and watching DVDs on my laptop. Nothing really strenuous (unless you count going to the market on saturday morning, which was by choice so it's my own silly fault). But it's the prinvciple of not having a chance to recharge your batteries and get back in the swing of things that annoys me.
Oh well, it's unlikely to affect me much anymore amyway. If I get the Sabb job (elections soon folks *subtle hint subtle hint*) then I'll be working through it. If not, then I'll like as not be out of here asap. But I hope they bring it back, for everyone else's sakes...

Hope all is well with you lot out there

Jon

Right, exams are over, I've been kicked out of uni accommodation, and I'm back in Twerton in a bloody freezing house (even with the heating on!). Oh and I've been to the hospital too.

First things first. The exams were an odd bunch. The two I had since I last posted were both 9:30 exams, so I was quite fresh for them (despite getting hardly any sleep the night before for one of them...). Both went quite well. One was fair to good, the other went very well, which is nice.

After that, it was time to get lunch and then go and pack. Thankfully xanthipe came over to give me a hand with most of it, and then I had a lift with me and all my stuff to twerton from a lovely pink haired friend of mine ^_^

It's good to be back certainly. Even if the house is cold. It's just being around my friends again that makes me realise just how lucky I am to have people I get on with so well. The guys in the Uni accommodation were lovely, but not up to the same league as this lot. Spent all of yesterday sitting on the sofa playing with my laptop and a housemate's external hard drive. Music and anime, you will be mine! Even if I was huddling under a blanket at the time...

And this morning was a lovely taxi trip up to the RUH to see the consultant. Didn't like him particularly, but hey, as long as he fixes me, that's OK. I now no longer have to cross dress (i.e. wear the delightful surgical stockings - also a bonus as they were beginning to smell like a dead animal...) and I can start putting weight on the leg. Only a little, mind, but it's still a start.
Afterwards me and inverselina [who had very kindly agreed to come with me] walked home - not too bad as it was downhill for the most part. I'll tell you something, I'm gonna have wonderful pecs after this... We stopped off at a good bakery on the way to get some lunch, and then made it home. Collapsed for a bit, and then got a phone call from a friend who works in the AWARE (academic welfare and representation) centre up on campus - would I be able to come in for a discussion with people from the national audit office about student retention in higher education? [keeping students in university] Cue a taxi drive to get up there (£8! It's going to cost me a fortune to do this all the time!) and a pleasant hour and a half talk about what's so good about Bath, before another taxi ride home again.

Nothing else to report as yet, except that lectures start again on Monday. Oh what fun?

Toodles
Jon

Hey guys, just thought I'd let you know what's happening in my life

Well, I'm back at Uni for the exams (joyous) and I've got Uni accommodation in Osbourne house on campus - the residence furthest away from the centre of campus without actually leaving the campus itself. This means much crutching around which, considering for the previous 2 and a half weeks I'd been basically lying on a bed not doing anything, means that I'm shattered. However, looking for the silver lining, I'm gonna be really buff by the end of this. Well, my top half anyway

Exams wise, 3 down 2 to go. Come Wednesday at 11:30, I'll be freeeeeeeeee. Well, until summer at any rate... And I'm being kicked out of this room on campus that night . Yay.

Outside of exams, I'm missing living with everyone in the house in Twerton. Even Robin, so it must be bad! But I'm seeing them occasionally on campus, and I'm moving back in on Wednesday, so not too long to go.

Oh, before I go, here is a little ideo to keep you entertained. It certainly made me laugh!

Have fun ^_^

Jon

Hey guys, and firstly, happy new year! It's been an..."interesting" few days. I've been in Austria skiing since the 23rd. Well, not exactly...

Family holidays are lovely, mainly due to them being free for me to participate in. This one was a Christian group that organises skiing holidays to various places. We went to a place called Schladming, about an hour from Salzburg. There's four mountains side by side which have lots of pistes all over them. Not much snow though, so v icy.

All was going well up until thurs (28th) , when the group I was having lessons with decided to try out blades : these are basically shorter skis which are v firmly attached. And admittedly, it was my suggestion to try them.
Well, the morning was spent with a friend trying them out, seeing what happened. And then, as we were heading across from one mountain to another to get back for our afternoon lesson, I was going down a piste topwards a cable car, slowed down, hit *something* (probably a lump of ice or similar), went spinning up in the air, landed and... *SNAP*

Now, I have never broken anything before, bones wise, so I didn't know what to expect. But when you're in a lot of pain and can *feel* things grinding in your leg when you're moving it, then it seems to point to one conclusion...
So I told my friend. Whose reaction was "you're joking!" Nice to know that I'm believable really... He went to the cable car station (which, ironically, we were about 10m from...) and told them, and they sent a skiddoo out to come and collect me.

You know me, I don't intentionally *try* and be difficult (it just happens =p). But when they had me seated on the back, they couldn't support my leg enough to take me down. So they called the bloodwagon. For those not in the know, this is basically a stretcher on skis that people pull down the slopes after them. And could we get my leg supported properly on that? Fat chance.
So, they called in a helicopter. In order for it to land, they had to close off the entire piste! Just for me ! My first ride in a helicopter! I just wish I could have seen more than the ceiling...

got to the hospital in schaldming (and was videoed by a camera crew as they we taking me off the helicopter for some reason - never did find out why...) and was in the operating theatre in about an hour to an hour and a half. *Much* faster than if I'd tried the NHS... They gave me a spinal anasthetic, so I couldn't feel anything from my waist downwards, and then spent three and a half hours operating. Thankfully, I slept through most of it (though waking up and seeing them wield a drill was enough to persuade me to go back to sleep v quickly!) and then I've spent up until yesterday (tuesday 2nd) morning in an austrian hospital, not understanding the nurses and being pumped full of painkillers on a regular basis!

I've seen the xrays - I managed to break the lower half of my left leg in three seperate places! I'm *special*. Oh, and my leg is truning various odd colours from the mass bruising as well. Joyous...

Still, I'm home now, which is all that really matters. Though when I'll be going back to Bath, I haven't the foggiest...

TTFN

Jon

Hey peeps

It's been a busy busy weekend here. Friday night I went clubbing for the first time ever, which was an..."interesting" experience. It's confirmed my suspicion that I wouldn't want to do it every week, but every now and then is fine ^_^ Only problem was getting back home at 4am - not a pleasant experience...

Yesterday was a *very* late start, then doing a bit of work before going out to the cinema to celebrate Cherry's birthday - OK, so her birthday was technically Wednesday, but this was the first chance we had to celebrate. We were going to go and see Casino Royale, but that had sold out by the time we got there. After several attempts to try and organise something else we wanted to see, we ended up going for a drink in the pub and then going for a very nice meal in the Hong Kong Bistro in town. After that, we went home via Sainsburys for some drinks and then had a very nice evening drinking and chatting.

Today was a late start again followed by more work, then inverselina, theodor and I went to see Pan's Laybrinth at the Little Theatre - in the original Spanish (hence El Labyrintho del Fauno) but with English subtitles. A very very very very good film. Quite dark, very gory in places (Someone getting their face smashed in with the blunt end of a bottle amongst other things), but a damn good story. *takes a deep breath...*

A long time ago in the underground kingdom, the princess was seized by a longing to see the outside world, to feel the sunshine warm on her cheek etc etc etc. She slips away, but when she gets to the top she is blinded by the sunshine and looses her memory, eventually dying topside. Her father knows that one day, even in a different body, his daughter will return.
Now the rest of the film takes place during one of the more recent Spanish Civil Wars. Ofelia and her pregnant mother are taken to her step-father, who is a captain in the Spanish military and who is trying to root a group of insurgents out of the surrounding countryside. Ofelia is fascinated by fairy tales and legends, and when a fairy leads her into the old labyrinth near the mill here she is staying, she willingly follows. there she meets a faun, who tells her that she is the lost princess. All she needs to do now is complete three tasks to prove her worth...

It's a brilliant film, highly recommended to all. Except possibly those with weak stomachs...

Good grief, has it really been that long?

Right then, what of interest has been happening over the past few months?

Erm...

erm...

( well, there's the end of my time in france... )
( my summer... )
( or the Return to Uni... )

Right, that's a decent enough summary. Time to go and do some work u_u

TTFN

Now that the main news is out of the way, here's a couple of links for you. Don't you feel special? ^_^

Now either I'm the victim of a very good marketing campaign or I'm more gullible than I thought, but either way these Genpets disturb me. A lot. The FAQ says they're real flash and blood. I wouldn;t say I'm the most sensitive person ever, but this just made me cringe. A lot...

However, cheering me up significantly is 100 awesome music videos (I love my random link sending sites ^_^). Headphones definitely required for this one.

well, now that the news has broken I can actually write this up. For those of you who don;t know what I'm talking about, go look at xanthipe. Now! And go awww at the cuteness...

Well, that's what's been happening since Wednesday folks. lawfulstupid turned up. Cue much overwhelming sweetness and general awww moments. J has been ther happiest I've seen her in a long long time. Which is good. Considering all the string-pulling I did to get it to this point, I'd hoped for this result =p

Seriously though, aside from those two being very sweet together (pass the insulin!), we've had a good time. Took R out for his first mexican meal ever on wednesday, which he seemed to enjoy (or rather, wasn't lying on the floor going "It burns, the pain, it burns", which we decided to take as a good sign). Showed him around the town on thurs and had a nice lazy day on friday before inverselina arrived. Was going to climb the via ferrata (basically an easy rock climbing course) up to the bastille (a big hill with a fort on top overlooking the city), but it rained. Not pouring it down, but enough that we didn't want to go out. And then it stopped. And started again. Rinse, repeat all day long. Went out for R's first chinese meal on the saturday to our favourite place. The head waiter (who seems to adore us silly english people =p) was delighted to see us and even asked if Nikki and Judith were sisters. When it came to leaving, they didn't seem to want us to go... Sunday, me and Nikki went to the market and for a walk in the morning and we all watched a dvd or two in the afternoon. Saw Nikki off at the train station and then went to the park after tea to play flux and enjoy the warm weather. R left monday morning - v early, so I woke up to say goodbye, then went back to sleep =p. Great to see him again..

RULES
1. Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2. I will respond; I'll ask you five questions.
3. You'll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.
4. You'll include this explanation.
5. You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed

Questions from Liz:
1. Nihilism or apathy?

Lets see. Nihilism is that nothing matters, right? And apathy means that you can't be bothered (or a path to the reason why if you're a Rune-ite). So if I say I can't be bothered to answer this one as it doesn't matter, I'm being a smart arse ^_^. Normally apathy though.

2. This is a classic from Virgin Radio: Would you rather be locked in a cupboard with either a clown or a wounded badger?

Can't I lock the clown and the badger in the cupboard together with me on the outside? No? Drat. Erm.... I'll go for the clown please, as I don;t think they'd injure me. Squirt me with a flower, yes. Attack me and bite my leg, unlikely.

3. Hentai. Why, oh why, oh why? Discuss. :p

Because it's funny? Oh, and because it's also the embodiment of typical male fantasies, thus there's a strong market for it. And because it's anime/manga, you've got situations that could never conceivably happen in the real world, including magical girls, gender changing and all kinds of things along those lines. Not forgetting tentacles a-go-go, which is male phallacisms taken to an extreme. For an expanded version of this potted praecis, see my latest research paper =p

4. If you had the chance to learn only one of the following languages, which would it be: Japanese, Gaelic, Greek, Dutch?

Due to being an anime nerd, japanese. Plus it's be a cool country to go to. Gaelic sounds lovely, and greek would be cool as well. Dutch is a no-no I think though...

5. Worst film you've ever seen?

You mean aside from the recording of a nativity play i was in when I was 4? Well, there have been very few films I have hated. More often than not I manage to mock them mercilessly. However, there has been one that I intensely disliked...
Picture the scene. Mum and dad are going out for the evening and leaving my brother, sister and I at home. They've said we can go and rent a film to watch. So the three of us go to the local rental store and have a look around. I happen to find A.I., so I go over to them and suggest it. However, they've found a film called Gorgeous (and yes, that is the right link). Two to one, we rented that. And it was dire. Jackie Chan in a kung-fu rom-com? I'll let you decide what you think of that... Suffice to say that they both apologised to me afterwards...

Right, anyone for questions?

Ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch

That's what I get for watching the entirity of The Prisoner in under 24 hours. 17 episodes, each at about 50 minutes long of sheer randomness...

For those who don't know what the Prisoner is, let me explain. There is a man who resigns from a very important government job for reasons which he refuses to reveal. He goes home and starts packing things when he passes out. When he comes to, he is no longer in his flat in London. He is in...the Village. He is now Number 6 and meets the boss of the Village, Number 2. Number 2 shows a startlingly deep knowledge of Number 6's life and doings. the only thing he doesn not know is why Number 6 resigned. After refusing to tell No.2, No.6 is shown a tour of the Village. An entirely self-contained community that, as he discovers, is impossible to escape from.
The series deals with No.6's attempts to escape, and to find out who is the mysterious No.1.

And believe it or not, it's absolutely fascinating. There's all kinds of attempts made to get No.6 to reveal information, including altering his dreams, making him think he was a cowboy (it makes sense in context, honest) and using traitors to try and win his confidence, but it all works very well as a plot device. The last episode is hideously confusing (and no, I'm not going to spoil it), which could actually sum up the entire series. Hideously confusing. But, somehow, at the same time incredibly absorbing and very good. This is highly recommended to you all

Be seeing you...

Nearly there guys, only two days after today until it's all over and the holidays have begun. Well, those at Bath anyway.

Me, I've been chilling this week. I've finally managed to get my marks for most of the modules I've done this year (yes, including the ones I did last semester which I still hadn't got the marks for) and not done too badly.
Last night, there was a free concert in town which I went to with a few friends from Uni. Two people performing. Amel Bent, who was a semifinalist in one of the french versions of Pop Idol or something like that, and Daniel Powter, who is Canadian. Pre-concert, I'd never heard of either of them until I did a websearch for Daniel Powter and found that he'd done a couple of songs I'd heard of before - Bad Day and Jimmy Gets High. The concert itself was...interesting. Loads of people in the open air, lovely clear night. Amel started off and I had no idea what she was singing (aside from a bad cover version of "Eye of the Tiger"). Daniel was a lot better, despite his rather poor attempts at speaking french. At least he tried I suppose. Got home about 11:30 (I know, I'm a dirty stop-out =p)

In other news, I've heard from the Bank in the UK which wants me back either on the 26th or the 19th of June. The thing is that we have Rob here from the 14th to the 19th - do I run out on him and J or not? hmmmm. Choices choices...