February 25, 2009 by dafyd
This BBC headline confused me for a few moments:
I didn’t think turkeys were flightless (wild, they’re not), so why the plane? Images of Chicken Run came to mind…
Bad bit of journalese there, I think. Not a great idea to associate plasticine poultry with a plane crash, however unintentionally.
Update: The BBC has updated the title to “Jet crashes…” – much clearer.
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February 23, 2009 by dafyd
Eaten alive, originally uploaded by dafyd.
This poor Lego chap appears to have become something’s lunch – my bet is on the mice that seem to have moved in…
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February 23, 2009 by dafyd
Tonight is the final of series 15 of University Challenge, as Corpus Christi, Oxford, take on Manchester. Both teams have done phenomenally well in all of their previous games, so tonight promises to be a tough game.
I’m tipping Manchester to win. I know a lot has been written about about Corpus Christi’s captain, Gail Trimble, and she’s certainly very bright, but I think Manchester has a better team overall. Trimble has dragged her team through the previous four rounds – without her, I doubt they’d have made the second round – whereas all four of Manchester’s team members contribute a great deal (also, the Manchester captain is doing a PhD on “the history of the book” – awesome).
Team Durham, two years ago, did rather well (if I say so myself) because we were able to rely on each other, rather than having one person answering all the questions. Kudos to Trimble, though – she’s a general knowledge machine. I’d love to see her on Mastermind. Heck, she could easily have been the sixth Egghead. I really can’t work out what angle this article in the Sun is going for – are they suggesting that she’s out of touch, elitist, or that it’s good that she doesn’t bother with such trivia? Knowing the Sun, I’d say the latter, but the tone of the article suggests the former. Curiouser and curiouser…
Category 1 | Tags: quiz,sun,tv,universitychallenge | Comments Off
February 17, 2009 by dafyd
A quick snippet of a track from the brilliant Avenue Q, which describes pretty well how I feel about job hunting at the moment…
On a related note, the West End production of Avenue Q closes at the end of March. If you haven’t seen it, go now. If you have seen it, go again – I’m fairly certain I’m going to…
Category 1 | Tags: avenueq,jobs,music,theatre | Comments Off
February 17, 2009 by dafyd
It’s been a long time since I’ve done one of these, but I really don’t feel like posting anything else at the moment.
Rules: 1. Put your iPod, iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle. 2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer, hit skip if you get the same artist. 3. You must write down that song name, no matter how silly it sounds. 4. Have fun!
If someone asks if you’re OK, you say… “We’re in the Money” by the Original Broadway Cast of 42nd Street
How would you describe yourself? “Sugar and Spice” by the Searchers
What do you look for in a girl? “Brown Eyed Girl” by Everclear
How do you feel today? “Hurt” by Johnny Cash
What is your life’s purpose? “Purpose” by the Original Broadway Cast of Avenue Q (Seriously, this is what came up. I think iTunes is slowly turning into HAL…)
What’s your motto? “Walk Like an Egyptian” by the Bangles
What do your friends think of you? “Crazy” by Aerosmith
What do your parents think of you? “Wonderful” by the Original Broadway Cast of Wicked
What do you think about very often? “Little Moments” by Brad Paisley
What do you think about your first kiss? “La Belle et le Bad Boy” by MC Solaar
What do you think of your best friend? “Rolling Stock” by the Original London Cast of Starlight Express
What is your life story? “Crippled Inside” by Widespread Panic
What do you want to be when you grow up? “I Wish I Was James Bond” by Scouting for Girls
What do you think when you see the person you like? “You Raise Me Up” by Josh Groban
What will you dance to at your wedding? “Megamix” by the 1991 London Palladium Cast of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Seriously.
What will they play at your funeral? “Raiders March” by John Williams
What is your hobby/interest? “100,000,000,000 Green Bottles” by Max Boyce
What is your biggest fear? “If I Can’t Love Her (from Beauty and the Beast)” by John Barrowman
What is your biggest secret? “(I’m Spending) Hannukah in Santa Monica” by Tom Lehrer
What do you want right now? “The Perfect Nanny” by the Original London Cast of Mary Poppins
What do you think of your friends? “Fat Bottomed Girls” by Queen
What title will you give this post? “Moi j’aime le music hall” by Charles Trenet
Category 1 | Tags: me,Memes,music | Comments Off
February 8, 2009 by dafyd
So, when I said that I’d be blogging more frequently, it looks like I lied. Sorry about that. No real excuse – just didn’t have anything to say.
I’ve still not got a proper job, seven months after graduating, which is incredibly frustrating. I’ve been doing odd bits of freelance website work, which keeps me busy, but I don’t think counts as a job, and certainly isn’t what I wanted to be doing. Lots of applications, lots of rejections, lots of not hearing anything at all. Most frustrating? Being told that you’re “over qualified” or would “feel restricted by the role”. Frankly, I don’t care – I just want to work!
Still, light at the end of the tunnel, and all that: there’s a 50-50 chance that I’ll end up in the States, where there’s an even bigger jobs market in which to not find work. I’m also seriously tempted to take a PGCE – teaching seems to tick all the boxes on my “what I want from a job” list, and they pay you to train, so that may be what I’m doing next year if the dates work out. I’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime, a snippet from an email I received from East Midlands Trains. Seems they need to revise the difference between “less” and “fewer”…
Category 1 | Tags: grammar,jobs,me | Comments Off