The death of a blog- the birth of another

Fear not blogspot users- I abondon ye not! It is of the blog that is MSN based of which I speak. For some time this fine weblog, entitled "The Place that is" was the centre of my conversations with the world, but sadly it is rolling over and slowly dying a painful death, whereas this mighty piece of literary excellence is flourishing by comparison...well people read it at least! So I say adieux to that piece of work, I will be posting the rest of the contents here in quick succession and bidding farewell to that project and focusing on this from now on- but there will still be plenty of C 'n P to come- the Ratfish post has inspired me to find random content from the web and bringing to your eyes by virtue of the Copy 'n Paste functions.

A few people have been kind enough to draw attention to my blog- so I feel i should return the favour and highlight a few blogs that are worth a glance.

Program Filez My creation: A fansite for the Matrix and more specifically the Matrix Online MMORPG- if neither of these interest you it's probably better to pass this one over.

Teatime My mate Tim's blog- Tim is one of the best bloggers I know, he blogs hard fast and says lots of things about his precious bike

Life's Student Caleb's blog, he posts long deep serious posts and they've all got Dr Who in them somewhere!!

Pasta Davey My most regular commenter as of now- posts about his lovely permanent holiday in France, where he happens to be a missionary- lots of pics, lots of links to BBC news!

That'll do for now- I'll just hunt for something to paste in- goodbye my pet monkeys!!

"

Trains!!!

OK, so you want to know more about me huh? Well listen to this- I HATE TRAINS!!! When I made the decision to become a day student, a decision I am still pleased with on the whole , I have become reliant on trains for transport, which can often mean problems! I have just had my second problem in as many days and am currently very disgruntled. The main problem is Bidston (Noun- nowhere, centre of:) registered charity number N12358876D. The meeting place between two trainlines and the conection to the city of Liverpool- you'd think they'd make an effort to accomodate the unfortunate souls who have to wait there wouldn't you- well they don't!

Bidston has got to be the least accomodating station I've ever set foot on. To be fair my home station is little more than two platforms, but there's only one train to catch there. Besides a few chairs and a "heated" waiting room there is absolutely nothing to satisfy the trains customer on a cold wintry night when the train's 10 minutes late (again) and the wind is howling around your legs as you struggle to remain upright from exhaustion. All in all, not a nice place to be waiting when something goes wrong. as has happened recently- let me go into detail-

Day1- Due to a cow being on the line, the Wrexham line train was delayed to the point where they gave up trying to run the train, and therefore kindly presented a bus for us to use. Seems reasonable- but it ain't, firstly buses take twice as long to travel as trains and escondly buses, like trains are never on time, so after waiting for ages for this bus I hopped on and was slowly driven home, arriving only two hours after I'd left. The only comfort of this was that the bus was quite warm and there were other people to moan with- nothing like the trains to bring people together!!!

Day 2- I arrive at Bidston to learn that there's been a fault on the train that will cause major problems (they helpfully tell me this after the train home has left, leaving me stranded at wonderful Bidston) i decide to stick it out and see what happens- the train is a full 40mins late, by which time I've decided that it's not worth the risk and then go home after waiting for the next train home, which surprisingly runs on time.

So you can see- despite being helpful fast and cheap transport, trains and train station are not reliable in the slightest- so be warned traveler. I would just not that this is not a slight on the people of Bidston, I'm sure your town is a wonderful place- but your train station isn't!! I may take a photo or two of the desolation to show you, and you can send in your money- just £2 a month will get us a radiator!!

I am aware that I am being rather moaney on this blog, and while the main purpose is to relate my life and to have an attempt at being at least vaguely funny- it's probably be a btter idea to look at some more positive aspects of life the universe and everything.

I went to the cinema on Saturday to see V for Vendetta- I don't know what the critics are saying about it yet, but in my opinion it's an excellent film. I bought the comic series on which it was based and was blown away- I'd never know that writing of such quality could be found in comics. And I was glad to see this reflected in the motion picture. What's really cool about it is that the main hero, V, constantly wears a mask throughout the film, and that mask has a big smiley face drawn on it- so no matter what he feels, anger, sorrow, happiness, he is always smiling. I think it was incredible of the actor (Hugo Weaving aka Agent Smith) to be able to convey emotion and feeling through this character. What I also like was that it was an American made film set in Britain and British culture (they've finally realised that other countries exist!!) and that it was set in modern times, yet and insane terrorist is the hero- on the whole very refreshing!

Like I said, I really enjoyed the comic book writing and have even attaempted to turn my hand to comic writing. I can't draw at all, but I've been making a comic script and i'm getting along quite well with it, though annoying things like coursework keep getting in the way! Since I'm studying Screenplay in Uni, visual language and description are something I'm quite used to, and i find writing a comic quite similar to writing a script so it's reatively easy to get into. Initially I came only to write prose, but I'm finding that I quite enjoy other forms of storytelling so watch this space- I still won't do poetry though!!

Word of the bleh- Porochial, this charcter in Oliver Twist keeps saying it!!

So go and see V for Vendetta, also Firefly and Serenity are highly recommmended, but i'll come to that another time.

See you soon readers"

And that's goodbye from me...

Blogspot Exclusive- The Ratfish!

Oh yes bloggers I now bring you something that has only ever been and only ever will be seen right here on blogspot.com/my website . A few (well one!) people have been asking about the Rat Fish featured in my museum trip pictures- and in true c 'n p style with the help of my good friend google i bring you the top information about the mighty Spotted Ratfish

Just in case I get sued for plagiarism or whatever I'm at least going to acknowledge the source- this info comes from Elasmodiver a database on all things shark. There you are guys, a bit of advertising for ya- I scratch your back you don't steal the meager savings carried in a rag bundle off mine...ok?

Elasmodiver is an image database of sharks, skates, rays, and chimaera's from around the world. It began as a simple web based field guide to help divers find the best places to encounter different species of sharks and rays but it has slowly evolved into a much larger project containing information on all aspects of shark diving and photography. There are now more than a thousand shark pictures and sections on shark evolution, biology, and conservation. There is a large library of reviewed shark books, a constantly outdated shark taxonomy page, a monster list of shark links, and deeper in the site there are numerous articles and stories about shark encounters.

SPOTTED RATFISH

View all available Spotted Ratfish Pictures in the SHARKIVE

Common Names: Spotted ratfish.

Latin Name: Hydrolagus colliei

Family: chimaeridae

Identification: Broad, flat, duckbill shaped snout containing incisor shaped teeth. Large eyes. Prominent, venomous spine at leading edge of dorsal fin. Tapering tail constitutes almost half overall length. Coloration brown or grey with white spots. Skin smooth and scaleless. Can give off an iridescent, silvery sheen. Triangular pectoral fins well developed. Fins grey or dark.

Size: up to 97cm in length.

Habitat: Sand and mud bottoms and sometimes rocky reefs. from 0 to 3000ft.

Abundance and distribution: From Southeastern Alaska to Central Baja. Common from British Columbia to Northern California.

Behavior: Swims slowly across sand in search of prey. Crushes clams, crabs, and shrimp etc. in forward facing "incisors". Food located primarily by smell. Uses its pectoral fins for locomotion.

Reproduction: Oviparous. After elaborate courtship rituals the female lays a spoon shaped egg capsule. The extrusion process can last 18 to 30 hours and the capsule is retained on thin tendrils for between four to six days until finally caught on the seabed or planted in the sand.

Observations:

Photographs: Ogden point ( ratfish), Maple bay (egg capsule), Vancouver Island, Canada.

Similar species:

Reaction to divers: During the day moves slowly. With patience it is possible to get quite close. Although able to inflict a mildly toxic wound, it is not aggressive and prefers to maintain a safe distance.

Diving logistics: In British Columbia this Chimaera is quite easy to find. One very nice dive is off of the Ogden Point breakwater. This is a 1km long jetty that runs away from shore into about 120ft of water. From about 2/3rds of the way along, the water is deep enough to support ratfish. To find them simply take a compass reading away from the breakwater and head directly out into the sand. The terrain is fairly featureless and unappealing but supports a reasonable number of ratfish. I have seen about 10 ratfish within a few minutes here at about 80ft in November. Ogden Point Breakwater has a full service dive shop at its base and offers air and nitrox fills. The walk out can be a bit challenging in full gear. The breakwater itself offers excellent shore diving with opportunities to see wolf eels and giant pacific octopuses. Spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) may be encountered at the far end of the breakwater but this area is deep and current swept.

Other diving locations submitted by readers:

References:

• Pacific Fishes of Canada - J.L.Hart. Fisheries Research board of Canada. Ottawa 1973.

Pretty awesome huh?

Catch ya later dudes and uncool people

The Figleaf

Word thingy- chronology

Catching up- writer's blog

Ok, well since all I have to do is copy and paste things into this blog I figured it's time i actually did it, here's another time-irrelevant blog entry for you all to read. This does actually lead me to wonder what will happen when this blog catches up/overtakes the other- hmm, we shall see. Apparently a few people are taking an interest in my blog so I guess I'll have to post up some stuff for them to read- I know it's a bit naff now but if folks wopuld be so kind as to post comments it would spur me on to post more content.

Here goes:

"Writer's Blog

Greetings world!

Word thing- peripheral

OK, my lecturers and the books they publish and try to make us buy (The Writer's Workbook- an excellent helpful read available at all good bookshops ('cause the bad ones don't sell it!)) advise their students to make a writer's journal. Apparently it's something really helpful to do, so while i'm still studying Imaginative Writing and can still, to a degree, call myself a writer I'll have a bash at it.

I recently went through the ordeal of having a writer's workshop- that is to sit in a room with your fellow students and listen to them rip your precious beloved story to shreds for an hour!! What pleased me was firstly that everyone in the room thought it was a good story (this doesn't happen to everyone!) despite it having some mistakes and places that could be improved upon. Secondly the fact that it was wacky mind-bending Science Fiction didn't stop people understanding or enjoying it, which has happened in the past (they just don't share my vision man!!) But this time everyone got on fine with it, though as always there were areas that could be improved upon- I'm not perfect yet! And as Ernest Hemingway excellently put it- "first drafts are S**t!"

Having a workshop is a good process to go through, especially if it's done by other writers who know what they're talking about, and aren't afraid to tell you what needs working on- constructive criticism and all that! But despite it being a bit boring/ unpleasant sometimes it has been one of the things I've found most helpful, because you have to realise that you're not gonna get it perfect first time and that if you want to take writing seriously you well.. have to take it seriously!! It turns writing from a hobby to a passion and a possible career as you learn to accept criticism and to learn how to be absolutely brutal to a piece of writing to make sure it's the best it can be.

This does have a negative side (though it is ultimately a positive one)- it makes it very difficult to write just for fun because you find it harder and harder to just write without correcting or destroying what you've just written. Ultimately this is what makes you a good writer I suppose, but in the mean time it's hard to write something wihtout it turning into a project of some kind. For example I started writing a comic strip (script only, no pictures) to see what it was like and I'v ended up editing it and spending ages trying to figure out how best to convey emotion etc.

Right, my time is up- I hope you enjoyed this insight into the world of a writer to be, untill next time..

Goodbye"

Enjoy- comment I dares ya!!