Very True Things

09 September 2009 @ 08:24 pm

Do you like hairy, sweaty Essex boys¹ making themselves even hairier and sweatier?

Um. Let's start that again.

Do you like gorillas?

Then check out my ~~idiot colleague~~ good friend Chris who is running in this year's Great Gorilla Run and sponsor him

[1] Though if you do, Chris would probably like to hear from you and an introduction could be arranged.

Tags: sport, the world

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22 May 2009 @ 06:37 pm

Quiz like it's 1997

So I found this file, last modified 10 June 1997, on a set of back ups and it's a pub quiz that I ran in Balliol bar. In fact considering the date I suspect that this is the night that

pink_weasel first clapped eyes on me and thought "nice guy, shame about the jumper".

People on facebook and twitter said that they wanted to see the quiz, so here goes.
( Onwards to the quiz )

Tags: books, films, games, music, my life, science, sport, the world, tv

2 very true comments | Leave a comment

14 March 2009 @ 04:59 pm

Wales 20 - Italy 15

That was far too close for comfort. Wales made far too many errors and only two good tries saved the day.

Tags: sport

Very True Mood:

relieved

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14 February 2009 @ 07:47 pm

23-15

Yes. Result.

My prediction before the tournament started was that it would be scrappy with no grand slam. Scrappy it certainly is, as for the rest? We'll see.

Tags: sport

Very True Mood:

pleased

Very True Music: Uncle Johnny - The Killers

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15 March 2008 @ 07:33 pm

Grand Slam.

I'll say that again, Grand Slam.

:-)

Tags: sport

Very True Mood:

jubilant

1 very true comment | Leave a comment

02 February 2008 @ 06:28 pm

Wales 26 - England 19

Well, how about that then?

:-)

Tags: sport

Very True Mood:

jubilant

1 very true comment | Leave a comment

01 February 2008 @ 08:01 pm

January catch up

I met Jeremy Beadle once. He was hosting a charity quiz night that WW sent a team along to.

No one had him on their lists for this year's Deadpool game.

This morning we launched a revised version of the Visit London home page. Along with a tie up with Trip Advisor, a new Japanese site and a site for the China in London season, as well as lots of behind the scenes improvements, it's been a really packed January.

One thing that crosses over from behind the scenes to public is the addition of microformats to the site. hCard, hCalendar and hReview are all in use. Whilst hCard was straightforward to implement I found the hCalendar and hReview formats a little tricky to apply to our data. Anyway, install Operator and take Firefox for a whirl on the site and see what you find.

Rugby tomorrow. Oh yes, it's Six Nations time again.

Tags: deadpool, my life, sport, work

Very True Mood:

accomplished

Very True Music: Coin-Operated Boy - The Dresden Dolls

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06 October 2007 @ 10:08 pm

Funny old game

England beat Australia and France beat New Zealand?

Have I slipped into a parallel universe?

Tags: sport

Very True Mood:

shocked

2 very true comments | Leave a comment

09 September 2007 @ 02:51 pm

Wales 42-17 Canada

Dreadful first half. Much more promising in the second half.

Why is the South Africa match on ITV1 and the Wales and Scotland matches on ITV4? I don't think I've ever watched ITv4 before, the reception is, predictably, only adequate. (I live very close to the Crystal Palace transmitter, is my dreadful digital reception due to interference from analogue signals? In other words will things get better or worse when they switch the analogue signal off?)

Oh, and itv.com need to get a clue. System requirements to watch the match online are:

Windows
Internet Explorer
Flash 8
Windows Media Player 9

I have all that, but why should I need to use IE and WMP when I have far superior alternatives? This is 2007 and insisting that people use a precise combination of four proprietary technologies is so last century...

Do ITV actually want anyone to watch the Rugby?

Tags: sport, tv, www

Very True Mood:

relieved

Very True Music: Once and Never Again - The Long Blondes

1 very true comment | Leave a comment

07 September 2007 @ 05:03 pm

State of the Things

So I've managed to have two weeks off work and not make a single blog post. Okay I was out of the country and off the www for three days but still, it's shocking.

Have I turned into one of those bloggers who only posts to talk about how they're not posting? Oh dear.

Things I'd like to write

A collection of the things I discovered during the site redesign project - mostly new (to me) IE bugs and Ajax gotchas and XSLT moans. This is started and every so often I open up the draft and a stare at it a bit.
The tutorial on HTML tables in the CSS age that I mentioned mumble months back.
All about my holidays - Lettice and I have managed long weekends in Dublin, Dover (don't mock, the castle is amazing) and Amsterdam (see below) this summer but I've hardly said a word about what we got up to.
My continuing investigation of social networking sites. I've reviewed Bebo and Friendster and have Orkut, Yahoo 360 and probably a few others to come. (I'm not doing MySpace and FaceBook beacuse I was already members there and it wouldn't be a like-for-like comparison). Also something about Rapleaf/Upscoop.
Um ....
... the rest of this list...

Some quickies

The world cup starts today. Wales don't really stand a chance. Fingers crossed that they don't fuck up the group matches and finish second behind Australia. Then it's England or more likely South Africa and that's probably that.

I'm not sure about the new White Stripes album.

I fixed the broken shower. This makes me feel all manly and capable and productive. :-)

Amsterdam has a ridiculous number of shoe shops - be aware of this fact if you plan to take your wife or girlfriend there. Also, as everyone speaks English there are a number of English language bookshops and even the Dutch ones have English sections, and apart from Waterstones (which presumably is supplied and priced like a UK branch) the prices are good.

Speaking of books, I attended the launch for Stuffed and Starved by my old university mate Raj.

A war between an authoritarian government and a set of independent planets. The central government wins. Our heroes were amongst the fighters on the independent side. Meanwhile a remote planet is devastated by a chemical that causes the population to become wildly violent. Not actually a summary of the background to Serenity but actually the background to the old roleplaying game Living Steel that I picked up from eBay recently.

Oh, I'm flogging some stuff on eBay. Only Star Wars miniatures at the moment but I hope to list a few books and vids plus some other miniatures over the weekend.

Tags: blogs, books, miniatures, music, my life, rpgs, sport, www

Very True Mood:

pensive

Very True Music: Burst - Magazine

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17 March 2007 @ 10:19 pm

Result

Wales 27-18 England

This is what happens when I go out and don't watch the match.

And there I was doing a Google Images search for "wooden spoon" and "whitewash" in order to express myself in the medium of pictures.

Tags: sport

Very True Mood:

cheerful

2 very true comments | Leave a comment

10 March 2007 @ 10:35 pm

Tales from Croydon

Argh, Croydon was too full of children and chavs and chav children today. I bought a cheap pair of jeans, a cheap t-shirt, a Hellblazer spin-off graphic novel and one of the About Time volumes.

pink_weasel went into a yarn department and walked out empty handed.

Poll #944058
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 9

Is the above a very true thing?

View Answers

I believe that.
4 (44.4%)

You're having me on.
5 (55.6%)

Then round to the in-laws for silliness and thai food. Feeling well stuffed right now.

Oh, and let's not talk about the rugby, okay?

Tags: books, comics, croydon, doctor who, food, my life, sport

Very True Mood:

tired

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04 February 2007 @ 03:48 pm

Wales v Ireland

Six Nations time again, so this blog suddenly starts talking about sport.

Most people, including myself, predicted a close match and that's certainly the case, it's just not a hugely exciting match so far.

Wales are relying on strength and perserverence whilst Ireland are showing some genuine flair. Which is why Ireland are scoring tries and Wales are scoring penalties. :-(

Fingers crossed for the second half.

[Update] - Second half was certainly more exciting and some very nice bits of play from Wales, but luck, Irish defending and a bit of dodgy refereeing meant they came to nothing. Can't fault the Irish tries - all the result of thinking fast in the heat of the moment, which is really what Rugby is all about.

Tags: sport

Very True Mood:

hopeful

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10 September 2006 @ 10:03 pm

Fumblers by name...

This weekend the Frankenstein's Fumblers played four matches. How many do you think we won? None. Not a single one. One draw and three losses. Touchdowns scored: one. Touchdowns conceeded: seven. Oh dear. :-(

Tags: computer games, sport

Very True Mood:

depressed

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11 August 2006 @ 11:58 am

Three for three

Foundry miniature, painted by Steve Dean

Last night Frankenstein's Fumblers lost an exhibition match against the lizardmen of the Turbo Freaks. That's played three, lost three.

Oh well, those were the pre-season warm-ups and with the cup nearly over we have the league to look forward to.

Despite losing the Fumblers continued to provide entertainment and raked in a sizable purse, which along with it being a casualty free match means that we have the cash to spend on new team members.

Say hello to our new Flesh Golem, Bride of Frankie, (pictured on the right in characteristically stoic mood at a press conference to announce her signing) bringing that much needed feminine touch to the squad. Any notion that this is nepotism on the part of team captain, Big Frankie, is strongly denied.

Tags: computer games, sport

Very True Mood:

optimistic

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20 July 2006 @ 01:06 pm

Frankenstein Fumbled

Last night the Fumblers became the first team to crash out of the Cup. After losing 0-2 to the Dwarf Giants and 1-2 to the Numinous Comets they creep back to their crypt in shame.

But, like all good undead, they will rise again!

Frankenstein's Fumblers are now available to play exhibition matches, so all other losers, or any late comers who missed out on the Cup, or any confident winners up there in the heavenly half of the draw, come and have a go if you think you're soft enough.

'cos the werewolves are getting hungry, and want some more star player points...

Tags: computer games, sport

Very True Mood:

optimistic

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18 July 2006 @ 10:12 am

First Blood

Last night the 2006 Old World Cup started. This, in contrast with the recent rubbish in Germany, is a Blood Bowl tournament played over the web with a few friends. My team, Frankenstein's Fumblers, played the opening game against the Dwarf Giants.

The Fumblers have a nice mix of muscle, speed and cannon fodder. The Giants have muscle, more muscle and some muscle on the side. The Giants won 2-0.

As the cup is being played as a double elimination tournament this means that I'm not out but I do have an uphill struggle if I'm going to win. My next match will be against the loser of Numinal Comets (elves) vs Veni Vedi Viking (um, Vikings).

Tags: computer games, my life, sport

Very True Mood:

contemplative

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01 July 2006 @ 04:50 pm

So who's not glued to the box?

Poll #760143 On Saturday afternoon...
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 12

... I am/was ...

View Answers

watching the footie
4 (33.3%)

surfing the web
2 (16.7%)

watching the footie and surfing the web at the same time
0 (0.0%)

doing something else indoors
3 (25.0%)

doing something else outdoors
3 (25.0%)

Tags: polls, sport

Very True Mood:

hot

3 very true comments | Leave a comment

27 June 2006 @ 08:00 pm

A good argument for stricter immigration rules...

Oh dear. Australians. What can you do with them? *

Linky link link 'cos LJ won't let me embed the video and screw up everyone's friends page

*that they haven't already done with themselves

And the one with the beard? I work with him. Take pity on me.

Tags: memes, music, sport

Very True Mood:

distressed