Happy New Year

Just to let you know what's on - courtesy of Wikipedia

2009 (MMIX) is the current year, a common year starting on Thursday, January 1 of the Gregorian calendar.

2009 has been designated as the:

• International Year of Astronomy.^[1][2]
• International Year of Natural Fibres.^[3]
• International Year of Reconciliation.^[4]
• Year of the Ox (by the Chinese calendar)

Predicted and scheduled events

January

• January 3 - 111th United States Congress begins. A new delegate will be added for the Northern Mariana Islands.
• January 9 - Mahmoud Abbas's term as President of the Palestinian National Authority will end.
• January 15 - International Year of Astronomy Opening Ceremony at UNESCO HQ, Paris, France.^[13]
• January 20 - Inauguration of the new United States President, Barack Obama.
• January 26 - Annular solar eclipse.^[14]
• January 26 - Possession of "Extreme pornography" will become illegal in the United Kingdom.^[15]

February

• February - The NASA's Dawn spacecraft will flyby Mars for data and gravitational assist en route to Vesta and Ceres.^[16]
• February 1 - The International Cospas-Sarsat Satellite System will stop monitoring for 121.5 MHz and 243 MHz (Class B) signals from distress radiobeacons.^[17]
• February 2–15 - The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2009 will take place in Val-d'Isère, France.^[18]
• February 8 - The 51st Annual Grammy Awards will be held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
• February 12 - Celebration of Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday in the United States. The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission has scheduled a series of events in Washington, D.C.
• February 12 - Darwin Day, the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. Events are already being planned at the London Natural History Museum.
• February 12 - On STS-119, the Space Shuttle Discovery will deliver and install the fourth starboard truss segment on the International Space Station.^[19]
• February 13 - The Unix time number reaches 1234567890 seconds at 23:31:30 UTC.
• February 14 - Lithuania will celebrate the millennium of its name.
• February 17 - Analog television broadcasts will mostly end in the United States, as the Federal Communications Commission will require all full power stations to send their signals digitally.^[20]
• February 18–28 - The 2009 Winter Universiade will be held in Harbin, China.^[21][22]
• February 22 - The 81st Academy Awards will be held at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California.^[23]

March

• March - The United States will begin the first round of negotiations with the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership countries on a possible free trade agreement.^[24]
• March 5 - The second World Baseball Classic will begin.
• March 5 - NASA's Kepler Mission, a space photometer which will search for extrasolar planets in the Milky Way galaxy, will be launched.^[19]
• March 5–7 - The 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens will be hosted by Dubai.
• March 14 - Opening ceremony of Lille 3000, Europe XXL
• March 29 - The 60th FIA Formula One World Championship will begin in Melbourne, Australia.

April

• April - Albania and Croatia are expected to join NATO.
• April - The Women's Professional Soccer league will debut.^[25]
• April 2–5 - The 100 Hours of Astronomy begins. This is a cornerstone project of the International Year of Astronomy.^[26]
• April 4–6 - The 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Final Four will be held at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.^[27]
• April 13 - Citi Field, which will replace Shea Stadium as the home of the New York Mets, will open with a game against the San Diego Padres.
• April 16 - The New York Yankees will open their new Yankee Stadium, located across the street from the original facility, against the Cleveland Indians.
• April 24 - The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the LCROSS impactor will be launched to the Moon. Part of NASA's Lunar Precursor Robotic Program (LPRP).^[19]

May

• May - On STS-125, the Space Shuttle Atlantis will conduct the last servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. It will be one of the most advanced missions in space.^[28][29][30]
• May - General Elections will be held in India.
• May 2 - Presidential Election will take place in Indonesia.
• May 3 - Parliamentary and Presidential Elections will take place in Panama.
• May 12 - General election and referendum on electoral reform will take place in British Columbia, Canada.^[31]
• May 15 - On STS-127, the Space Shuttle Endeavour will deliver and install the Exposed Facility of Japan's Kibo laboratory on the International Space Station.^[19]
• May 16 - The Final of the 54th Eurovision Song Contest will be held in Moscow, Russia.^[32]
• May 20 - The UEFA Cup final will be held in Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Istanbul, Turkey. It will be the second European Final held in Istanbul this decade after the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final
• May 25 - Triple conjunction of Jupiter and Neptune, Jupiter 24' south. First of three triple conjunctions of Jupiter and Neptune.
• May 27 - UEFA Champions League Final will be held at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy.
• May 30 - Rededication of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Titled "Retrospective" the ceremony will recreate the program from the original May 30, 1922 ceremony.

June

• June 4-7 - The European Parliament election 2009 will take place, the exact date varies depending on country.
• June 7 - A referendum on changing the Act of Succession will be held in Denmark.
• June 6–13 - The World Air Games will be held in Turin, Italy.^[33]
• June 12 - Iran will hold is 10th Presidential Election.^[34]

• June 14–28 - The FIFA Confederations Cup will be held in South Africa.^[35]

July

• July 1 - Sweden takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from the Czech Republic.
• July 1–12 - The Summer Universiade will take place in Belgrade, Serbia.^[36]
• July 3–5 - The Global Conference on Abraham Lincoln at St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford.
• July 11 - The Ares I-X test flight of the first stage of the Ares I launch vehicle, the crew launch vehicle of NASA's Constellation program.^[19]
• July 13 - Triple conjunction of Jupiter and Neptune, Jupiter 37' south. Second of three triple conjunctions of Jupiter and Neptune.
• July 14 - 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be held at the Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.^[37]
• July 22 - Total solar eclipse. The longest lasting total solar eclipse of the 21st century.^[38][39]
• July 30 - On STS-128, the Space Shuttle Atlantis will use the MPLM Donatello to deliver experiment and storage racks to the International Space Station.^[19]

August

• August 23–30 - The 2009 World Rowing Championships regatta will be held at the Lake Malta in Poznań, Poland.
• August - The 30th Anniversary of the foundation of the Puerto Rico Statehood Students Association.

September

• September - The Burj Dubai in Dubai, UAE will be completed. It is already the tallest man-made structure ever built.^[40][41]
• September 12 - TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities will open against the Air Force Academy.
• September 14 - Parliamentary election in Norway.
• September 27 - Federal election in Germany.
• September 29 - The NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft will make its final flyby of Mercury, decreasing the velocity for orbital insertion on March 18, 2011.^[42]

October

• October - The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom will be opened.^[43]
• October - Presidential elections in Tunisia.
• October 1 - Denmark will begin turning off Analogue TV.
• October 2 - The host city of the 2016 Summer Olympics will be announced at the 121st Session (which will also be the XIIIth Olympic Congress) of the International Olympic Committee to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• October 10 - The "Conference on Precession and Ancient Knowledge" (CPAK) will be held at the National Academy of Sciences Beckman Center at the University of California, Irvine.
• October 15 - On STS-129, the Space Shuttle Discovery will deliver integral components including gyroscopes, tank assemblies, and a spare latching end effector for the station's robotic arm to the International Space Station.^[19]
• October 25 - Presidential Elections in Uruguay.

November

• November - Singapore will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
• November - Presidential Elections in Romania.
• November - The retail sale of incandescent light bulbs will be banned in Australia.^[44]
• November - The NASA's WISE mission will be launched. It will survey the entire sky in the infrared with far greater sensitivity than any previous mission ever has, over hundreds of millions of astronomical objects will be catalogued.^[19]
• November 29 - Presidential Elections in Honduras.
• November 30 - Vancouver, Canada will open the Canada Line rapid transit line connecting Vancouver with Richmond, British Columbia and the Vancouver International Airport.
• November 30 – December 11 - The UNFCCC's COP15 Copenhagen 2009 conference will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark.^[45]

December

• December 10 - On STS-130, the Space Shuttle Endeavour will deliver and install the Node 3 and the Cupola on the International Space Station.^[19]
• December 11 - Presidential election in Chile.
• December 12 - The Oasis of the Seas cruise ship will make its maiden voyage. When completed it will be the largest passenger ship ever built, carrying 5,400 passengers.^[46][47]
• December 20 - Triple conjunction of Jupiter and Neptune, Jupiter 34' south. Last of three triple conjunctions of Jupiter and Neptune.
• December 31 - The deadline for implementation of the controversial United States legislation REAL ID Act.^[48][49]

Unknown dates

• Apple, Inc. will release another update of their operating system, Mac OS X v10.6 "Snow Leopard".
• Asunción, the capital of Paraguay, will be the American Capital of Culture.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Ukraine and Georgia hope to join NATO program Membership Action Plan, the last step before full membership.
• Completion of the Metro Gold Line (LACMTA) Expansion and the Expo Line in Los Angeles, California.
• Completion of the Three Gorges Dam in China.
• Completion of the Virgin Galactic Spaceport in New Mexico, United States.
• East African Community to implement a common currency called the East African shilling.
• First flight of the SpaceX Dragon commercial manned orbital spacecraft.
• Intel will release as many as five new microprocessor variants of the Nehalem microarchitecture throughout the year. The Beckton variant may have as many as eight cores.
• Jay Leno begins a new late night television talk show, tentatively titled The Jay Leno Show.
• A restart of the Large Hadron Collider is scheduled for summer 2009. The LHC was shut down on 19 September 2008 after problems with a magnet quench.
• New Zealand will stop the sales of incandescent light bulbs.
• Next award of the Sylvester Medal.
• Opening of Tseung Kwan O South Line, MTR, Hong Kong.
• Possible launch of the KEO satellite time capsule. If it is not launched in 2009, it will be launched in 2010.
• Possible start of construction for a fixed-guideway mass transit system for Honolulu.
• RFSA's Phobos-Grunt, sample return from Phobos.
• Tesla Motors will mass produce the Tesla Model S, its second electric car.
• The completion of the Sound Transit Central Link Light Rail system in Seattle.
• The Boeing 747-8 will achieve entry into service (EIS).
• The Compact of Free Association between the United States and Palau expires.
• The final phase of the L.A. Live project will be completed, including a 54-story Ritz-Carlton/JW Marriott hotel and the 14-screen West Coast flagship theatre multiplex operated by the Regal Entertainment Group.
• The Dallas Cowboys New Stadium will be inaugurated.
• The Greenville Bridge will open to traffic.
• The United Kingdom will continue a 5-year process to cease analog television broadcasts region-by-region, with Granada, HTV Wales and Westcountry Television.^[50]
• The University of Greenland will move into a new research complex called Llimmarfik.
• Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, is going to be the European Capital of Culture.
• Western Australia will vote on the controversial topic of daylight saving time.
• World Trade Center Tower 5 will have its groundbreaking ceremony in New York City.
• Australia will begin turning off Analogue TV.

Have a good one guys!

Word of the post: Reroute - to change the route or path of, to send another way; also written re-route

Stuff I've read recently 6

It's not been too horrendously long since my last one of these I don't think and with Christmas and being far busier than I've ever been before I think I'm excused (though that excuse is already starting to sound tired.) Anyway here's a look at some of the literature that's stumbled across my way in recent weeks.

The Bible - God et al

Right well I've caught up with myself and am now in 1 Corinthians, having read the Gospels I missed and jumped over the ones I didn't...yeah. Anyway the combination of the story of Jesus along with Paul's God-inspired instruction has been very helpful reading. I should really think about how to do these things properly, but I think just letting you know what I've been up to will suffice for now.

Running the Race - R.C. Sproul

A nifty collection of pieces from Sproul's work aimed at graduates who are looking at what to do next with their lives, it felt appropriate to my situation and it was on my bookshelf so I decided it was worth reading. The book tends to aim at the non-Christian, which is probably it's remit so I can't criticise it on that, but I did find some of the subject matter, a lot of which deals with postmodernism and worldviews, a little heavy handed and the fact that it was drawn from a number of previously published books and articles meant it felt a little disjointed at times. But nonetheless it speaks truth and wisdom and is a valuable read especially for someone finishing University.

Marvel 1602 - Neil Gaiman

I'd been intrigued by this book and it's author for some time so I decided to pick it up. The book covers the stories of famous Marvel characters and looks at them as if they had been born and changed during the reign of Elizabeth the 1st. It weaves a fascinating tale, with the X-Men as feared "Witchbreed" hunted by the Spanish Inquisition and many other heroes struggling to find their way. For me it was a great way to become familiar with Marvel characters like Nick Fury and Dr Strange by putting them out of usual context, but it also spun a fascinating mystery that I eagerly turned the pages to unravel.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin (Abridged Audio) - Louis de Bernieres

Perhaps this would usually be by "main" as it is one of the great modern classics but as I picked it up as a free abridged audio in one of those newspaper giveaway thingies I'll put it amongst it's commoner friends or it's less well renowned friends I should perhaps say. The epic love story begins with a sleepy Greek island discussing the distant possibility of invasion by wartime forces. This invasion comes in the form of the Italian forces who occupy the towns and bring with them the kind and gentlemanly Captain Corelli, who falls in love with the girl in whose house he stays, and gradually she with him. But love is never simple and certainly not so in war and as the Axis loses and a group of rebels decide they should rule and as peace finally returns the story of two lovers takes it's time and brings more into their lives than they could imagine.

Star Wars Coruscant Nights: Jedi Twilight - Micheal Reaves

As always I'm a big Star Wars fan so reading this book was a foregone conclusion, but I got into this book a lot more than I expected to it and was pleasantly surprised as I read it, something I wouldn't expect when reading my favourite genre. The story covers the life of a fugitive Jedi living in the underlevels of Coruscant where the sun is blocked by the gleaming towers where the civilised folk live and the Empire rules. His life changes dramatically when Darth Vader comes looking for him and so do a bunch of others, some friends, some foes, some with no idea of what they truly desire. A great ensemble of new characters and a few well placed cameos make this a treat for SW fans and a gripping story in a fantastic setting makes it a worthy tale in it's own right.

Sandman Vol1: Preludes and Nocturns - Neil Gaiman

I got my hands on another piece of Gaiman's work, perhaps his most famous, well in the comic book world at least. The Sandman weaves an epic tale of what happens when the God of Dreams is captured by an occult group seeking to imprison Death itself. The consequences for the world are grave when dreams are denied them and for those who seek to take his power when he finally breaks free and exacts his revenge. Dream, or Morpheus, journeys across our world, and goes literally to hell and back to regain his power coming across villains who want to control his abilities and a few familiar DC characters also as his journey goes on. A fascinating and disturbing tale that stands out on the graphic novel bookshelf.

The Arrival - Shaun Tan

Incredible book introduced to me and devoured during an English lecture! A fantastic graphic work using only it's captivating illustrations to tell a believable tale of a displaced refugee in a fantastic world, yet with all the difficulties faced in the real world such as the need for food, and language and cultural barriers. Thoroughly captivating.

Batman: Year One - Frank Miller

A fascinating read as I begin to see more and more of Miller's influence on Christoper Nolan's new Dark Knight on screen. The book covers the return of playboy millionair Bruce Wayne to Gotham and how he takes his first tenuous steps as the caped crusader, tackling the gunmen, dealers and bent cops of the city. It also weaves a compelling tale of Lt Gordon's arrival in the city, how he too has to face up to corruption and makes his stand in the criminal city. I was surprised by it's brevity considering the power and punch of Dark Knight Returns, but it is still a great story of the caped crusader.

And now on to the 'main' course

Well it;s two books actually, one's SF t'other's not, neither fit into the usual 'classic' category reserved for the main as I decided to branch out a bit, but anyway these books are "what I was reading"

Neuromancer - William Gibson

A fantastic book, one of the seminal works of "cyberpunk" the subgenre of Sci-Fi that explores the gritty possibilities of cities under corporate control and man and machine so closely integrated into a network referred to as "The Matrix." The film you're obviously thinking of now draws a lot on this book, but took it to new hights. The Matrix in this book is more akin to the internet, with gleaming towers of corporate databases and walls of 'ice' that must be cut through to get to the precious data inside. Case, a hacker 'cowboy' who'se lost his ability to jack in is swept back up into the data thieving world he once thrived on, but soon finds himself a well placed pawn in a much bigger plan. Excellent mind bending read.

Man Bethau Hwylus - Wil Sam

Welsh literature has not been a familiar presence for me since I left high school so I decided to give this book, a gift to me on my birthday I think, a go. It took a while to get my brain used to what I was reading, but I found the book pleasant and amusing. The title loses something in the translation, but is there to present a series of short reccolections from the life of a prominent Welsh language author. The story is pleasant as it doesn't attempt to be biographical or to show hoe it shaped the author's life, it is simply a collection of tales about things and people that come to his mind when thinking of the area he grew up and lived in. While it gave my brain a good workout I'm glad of the exercize and of the chance to read some real and amusing stories in my own language

Well that's you lot, or my lot I guess I should say. Well I've only to decide what to read next now!

Word of the post: Bypass –verb (used with object)

5.	to avoid (an obstruction, city, etc.) by following a bypass.

6.	to cause (fluid or gas) to follow a secondary pipe or bypass.

7.	to neglect to consult or to ignore the opinion or decision of: He bypassed the foreman and took his grievance straight to the owner.

Weekly Quote W/E 27/12/08

With it being Christmas I think I'm excused a postless week!

"Garnet is usually the one who writes stuff. Her writing's neater than mine. So often I get her to do my schoolwork. She doesn't mind.

Yes I do." - Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson

Weekly Quote - Festive Edition

This is an adaptation of a kid's Christmas carol that myself and a few friends wrote at school - enjoy!

"Syrthio lawr y grisiau
Presantau yn y tan
Santa wedi marw
Nadolig wedi canslo."

Translation? You'll have to ask...

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Fo 'Shizzle

In what seems like a never ending quest to humiliate myself (see number 23 from brighton post) I've decided to share another mostly thought based pastime of mine with the wider world (also known as Tim and Sam)

I'm quite a fan of using the 'izzle' suffix when thinking out things to say and then occasionally slipping it in to conversation. This doesn't stem from any real desire to be cool, but rather from the amusement of playing the kind of word game that I did as a kid, which is now culturally acceptable amongst the elitists of cool and 'ard who would never give the time of day to most of my other pastimes. The other thing I like about doing it is that I haven't got a clue what I'm doing.

A few of my favourite uses:

Chizzle my bizzle mizzle = Cheers, my best mate

Joe Bizzle in the Hizzle = Joe B in the House

I do like getting into more elongizzle and nonsencizzle sentizzles that confizzle most dizzles who hizzle them, which makes them more fizzle for mizzle ya dizzle? Here's some shizzle from Wikipizzle on the subjizzle...

"Izz" infix usage

Although there are no hard-and-fast rules governing its usage, in general, the izz infix technique is performed by inserting izz, usually after a word's last pre-vowel consonant in its final syllable without deleting any letters.

Examples: minute becomes minizzute, and Kazakhstan becomes Kazakhstizzan. One-syllable words generally translate better with this technique: cream becomes crizzeam, for example.

It can also be performed by inserting izz at the beginning of a lone vowel: A becomes Izza and O becomes Izzo. This specific technique is implemented in Jay-Z's song "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" found on his album The Blueprint.

It can also be added onto the end of words, as in the phrase Fo' shizzle meaning for sure and televizzle meaning television.

Origins

The origins of '-iz' spawn from the postwar harlem renaissance when little black girls used to stand on the street and jump rope, making up nursery rhymes on the fly. Sometimes the words wouldn't fit the measure and so they would use '-iz', or doubling letters or syllables in words to make it fit the measure.

While Snoop Dogg and Jay-Z are credited for popularizing these techniques in the early 2000s, previous artists used them or similar forms earlier.

Shizzle

Shizzle is a rap slang word for "sure", coined by E-40 and popularized by rap star Snoop Dogg. It has been adopted by several rappers and reggae deejays and is commonly used as: fo' shizzle as in, "for sure", often paired with "my nizzle" as in, "my nigga". This pairing became popular after Snoop Dogg used it in his song, "What's My Name (Part 2)" on his Album Tha Last Meal. At the beginning of the song, Snoop talks over the beat:

Izzle kizzle, fo' shizzle

My nizzle, what you sizzle?

Fo' shizzle bizzle, ha ha

(Lyrics)

Snoop Dogg himself probably did not expect the phrase "Fo' shizzle my nizzle" to gain such popularity.^{[citation needed]} First, the phrase is broken by a long pause on the track itself, suggesting that Snoop himself considered "Izzle kizzle, fo' shizzle" to be one phrase ("It's okay, for sure") and "My nizzle, what you sizzle?" to be another ("My nigga, what you say?"). Snoop's laughter at the end of the blurb further suggests that the whole intro was just meant to be a joke, albeit one that caught on quite broadly.

A simple example is translating the word "house", to become "hizzouse".

An example of a sentence using this technique of slang is:

• This new doggyfizzle televizzle gon' be off the hizzle, fo shizzle.

• Translation: This new Snoop Dogg television show is going to be off the hook (meaning great), for sure.

The song Double Dutch Bus, written by Frankie Smith originally spawned the use of 'izzle' as a suffix for words. While used in its purest form and true meaning as listed above, izzle as a suffix was rarely used, with exceptions occurring in a song now and then.^{[verification needed]} But as the pop and rap scene grew increasingly successful, the phrase became quite popular.^{[verification needed]} Those who heard the phrase, not understanding its meaning, often misinterpreted it, and further spread it without fully understanding it.^{[verification needed]}

This has led to the use of Shizzle to mean "s***", in its slang form meaning "cool", to replace any noun in popular speech, much like "shizznit", as in "my shizzle's hella fizzle, yo." Such terms can be used in slightly more polite company, or to get past censors on TV or radio.

"Shizzle my Nizzle" has also become a popular phrase to express surprise in New Zealand, popularised by Glen Browne who is also the author of the wildly popular Diggy Dr Brzay's word of the Dzay

I think also that on of my biggest influences in liking this is the classic Orange cinema add with Snoop Dog himself going up against the Orange crew.

"Let's roll y'all" - love it!

Word of the post:Redundant –adjective

1. characterized by verbosity or unnecessary repetition in expressing ideas; prolix: a redundant style.
2. being in excess; exceeding what is usual or natural: a redundant part.

A perfect plate

BL06 AWW

Driving yesterday I was behind a car with this numberplate or something to a similar effect and thought it accurately summed up the home for this text you are now reading. Props to Sam for spotting it!

Word of the post: Nefarious - adjective

extremely wicked or villainous; iniquitous

Weekly Quote W/E 13/12/08

"If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until it gets so ugly you can hardly bear to look at it." - The Twits, Roald Dahl

I tried it

Don't worry it all still seems to be working...well give it 24 hours eh?

Word of the post: Clemency –noun, plural -cies.

1.	the quality of being clement; disposition to show forbearance, compassion, or forgiveness in judging or punishing; leniency; mercy.

2.	an act or deed showing mercy or leniency.

3.	(of the weather) mildness or temperateness.

Weekly Quote W/E 06/12/08

" 'I'm not going to run away' Stanley said.
' Good thinking' said Mr Sir. ' Nobody runs away from here. We don't need a fence. Know why? Because we've got the only water for a hundred miles. You want to run away? You'll be buzzard food in three days.' "- Holes, Louis Sachar

Jus' writin'

I want to do my blog, but I'm not really with it in the ideas or alertness departments so I figure I'll just ramble on for a bit in the hope that my constant blargh (or stream of consciousness to literary types) will be amusing or readable- I daren't hope for both.

One thing I've spotted already which is tickling me is that the imported spellchecker for blogger flags up "blog" and "blogger" as spelling mistakes, you'd think they'd take the time to put in their own product names as correct spellings, but hey I guess they're busy or something.













I was introduced in a lecture to a fantastic book called The Arrival which has a fantastic setting but a very real sense of character and loss. The story is a tale of displacement, of a refugee fleeing and unknown danger to a foreign land where the food, language and customs are all alien and he struggles to find work, shelter and friendship. The genius of the book is that the story is told completely through illustrations which are breathtaking in detail and emotion. It takes a while to get into the story, but once you're in you are definitely hooked.

And on the same day it was kinda weird 'cause there was snow and stuff and on one side the sky was very much cloudy and grim, but on the other side it was solid blue, but not your typical sunny day blue sky, it was much darker, a shade I'd never seen before, much closer to purple than sky blue actually. I pointed it out, but people were a bit busy listening to the lecture so I didn't get much response, but I found it interesting anyway. The other kind of sky I notice is when it's snowing and the sky goes pure white and you have to concentrate to see the clouds.

I don't like planning

I like Video Games

I wish I was Spiderman

Word of the post: Antioxidant –noun

1.	Chemistry. any substance that inhibits oxidation, as a substance that inhibits oxidative deterioration of gasoline, rubbers, plastics, soaps, etc.

2.	Biochemistry. an enzyme or other organic substance, as vitamin E or beta carotene, that is capable of counteracting the damaging effects of oxidation in animal tissues.

Round 2

After my embarrassing drubbing my Sam I'm a bit worried to post my results of the Wikipedia game, but since I did this round in two moves I think I'm fairly confident of what will most likely be a draw with my opponent Caleb (see sidebar).

If you are wondering what the game is read my post "You are challenged" before this one and see if you fancy a game.

OK, Caleb's word was sausage which means my links went...

Toast

Breakfast

Sausage

Resulting in a score of 2. If Caleb pulled it off in one move I'll be very impressed, but I'm doubting he did it in more than two either so well done and thanks for playing.

Weekly Quote 29/11/08

"...the roofscape was neither more nor less than a conglomeration of structures spreading to right and left and away from him. It was a mist of masonry. As he peered, taking each structure individually, he found that he was a spectator of a stationary gathering of stone personalities." - Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake.

Weekly Quote W/E 22/11/08

Well I've had one challenge already, and he won! Anyone else up for it?

"The days are long and humid. The river shrinks and black crows gorge on bright mangoes in still, dustgreen trees. Red bananas ripen. Jackfruits burst. Dissolute bluebottles hum vacuously in the fruity air." - The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy

You are challenged!!!

I can't remember if I've talked about this before but myself and my not to often blogging friend Dan have devised a game that can be played on Wikipedia. We've come up with several different variants and rules, but this is our latest version and it works quite well as it has a more competitive edge than previous variants.




Anyway, fancy a game?

Ok so first of all you think of a word, or more precisely a thing that can be looked up on Wikipedia and you check it's on there. If the thing you look up turns up a stub, that is an article with only a paragraph or two then you will need to make your choice more general as it makes the game too difficult or even impossible so we've found.











Then you find someone to play with - in your case reader that person will be me. You both reveal your word and then you each compete, trying to get from your word to your opponent's in the least amount of 'clicks' possible. The person with the least amount of links wins. You can play it under time, but it only works if your in the same room or are in close communication with your competitor. So in our game we will allow a day, not to think that it would take you that long, but of course with online communication it's not fair if someone misses out because they didn't see the e-mail or whatever.

So, if you fancy a game then post a comment saying you acknowledge the challenge. You will then have 24 hours to complete the challenge, post your results on your blog or other site, and let me know you're done. Once I read your initial acknowledgement I will let you know I'm playing and then I will also have 24 hours to complete the challenge. I think that might possibly be clear so let's lay down some ground rules.

1. You cannot leave the Wikipedia site for any part of your challenge, even external links in a Wiki page do not count.
2. You will need to post your 'path' from one link to the other when you've finished to prove your move is valid (hence rule 1)
3. The use of Ctrl+F or any other "find" function is prohibited, you find the links yourself!
4. You are allowed to backtrack, but each time you do it counts as a move

Well if I haven't put you off and you're still actually reading this then...game on!

Think of a word...

Check it on Wikipedia...

Scroll over to reveal my word which is..... TOAST

Then acknowledge the challenge and we're on!!

Hope you enjoy it, once you've battled me use your word and pass the challenge on to your friends, of course letting them know about the genius who started it all!!

And if you can come up with a better name than "The Wikipedia Game" or "Wikimania" then extra points for you!

The number 23 from Brighton

Well I thought I'd break the silence while I've time to confess to a slight obsession...nay interest...nay mild curiosity of mine. While I don't have the energy, time or enthusiasm to be an enthusiast on the level of the locomotive observers hinted at in my title and whose occupation is also the name of a famous film starring Ewan McGregor.

But nonetheless I do have a mild interest in the different types of packaging for DVDs and CDs. I don't mean the cheapo cases you buy to put the songs you illegally ripped off your mates in, I mean the cases that CDs come in on the shelves, maybe the CD analogy isn't that appropriate these days, and if you read my blog at all you may know it isn't too familiar an experience for myself either.

I am a fairly prolific buyer of DVDs and also Video Games, which come in the same type of cases. Time spent frantically trying to claw a disk out of a box, while struggling not to snap the thing in half, made me wonder about how manufacturers go about designing the containers to put entertainment products in and how boxes are chosen. I tried to find the name of the offending manufacturer, but they had wisely declined to put their name on their shody human-unfriendly box and so instead I will move on to some positive designs.

The 'classic' for me has to be the Amaray DVD Single. It is elegant in it's simplicity, and the performance of it's function is poetry in motion...well a limerick...at least a Haiku!! The central button or 'hub' as they call it is integral to most case designs and few have managed to top the system incorporated by the Amaray box. The hub consists of a split circle which, when pushed, actually lifts the disc out so you can easily remove it, then with a simple push down the disc is securely locked in again - beautiful!!

• Designed in close co-operation with the DVD industry and preferred in consumer trials
• Unique, patent, stress-free locking disc hub
• Proven economical inlay system
• Compatible with available automated packing machinery
• Find out more at the manufacturer website

The only box with a slight improvement of this is the DVD case for the series Firefly which has a mechanism with a slightly smoother running, adding an extra touch of elegance to the same principle, unfortunately I couldn't track down the manufacturer for this one either. I haven't seen many around, and the Amaray I think will always be top dog for some time.

My last one (was that a sigh I heard?) doesn't have a particularly elegant mechanism, but it has solved the problems of earlier holding mechanisms of it's type so the disk lifts easily from the holder, yet is still secure in place. It is not this that I call your attention to - it is that it looks pretty sweet! This product is the Super Jewel Box, which I first came across holding Ta-Dah by Scissor Sisters and then in DVD form with the Gorillaz live gig.

- New and improved look and feel for higher perceived value
- Same size as the old CD jewel case
- Flexibility of inserts, from a single sheet to a 50-page booklet
- Fits existing CD-based retail displays, security keepers and other packaging standards
- More details at the manufacturer's website




This box features rounded corners, giving it a touch of class over your johnny regular box. You can also see the transparent corners which stand intependent of the hinge, reducing the chance of damage to your CD's "lid", which happens frequently in standard jewel cases. The cases also feature a nifty "push" button to open, which is smooth and again reduces chance for damage - good stuff eh?

Two things for you to know

- I needed to kill time and I wanted to post stuff on my blog

- I looked up the names while I was writing and got images and details from Google

Word of the post: Supplement –noun

1.	something added to complete a thing, supply a deficiency, or reinforce or extend a whole.

Weekly Quote 15/11/08

" 'What do you think it's like for me?' says Vicky. 'It's bad enough when you see a ghost. It's much odder being one.' " - Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson

Weekly Quote W/E 08/11/08

Well I'm going to give you a double quote this week you lucky people, first a quote from a book as per usual and then a quote from the author to complement it.

"In the four thousand rooms of the centre the four thousand electric clocks simultaneously struck four. Discarnate voices called from the trumpet mouths." - Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

"Technological progress has merely provided us with a more efficient means of going backwards." - Aldous Huxley

Well there you go - don't get used to it!!

The Ultimate Rehab Programme

This has been bouncing around the net for a while, but I've only recently watched it and I think it's brilliant, the Filipinos really know how to do prison!! I don't quite know what they wanted to achieve by getting 1500 prisoners to perform a classic dance routine (besides internet fame) but I bet it killed a few of those lonely hours. Note that the video uploaded is of a practice - I'd love to see what the finished version looks like.



Word of the post: Byzantine- adjective

5.	(sometimes lowercase) complex or intricate: a deal requiring Byzantine financing.

6.	(sometimes lowercase) characterized by elaborate scheming and intrigue, esp. for the gaining of political power or favor: Byzantine methods for holding on to his chairmanship.

Weekly Quote W/E 01/11/08

"When you were very small - so small that the lightest puff of breeze blew your little crinoline skirt over your head - you had seen something nasty in the woodshed." - Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

Frusciante's New Music Challenge (3 of 3)

Well there's some space to fill and I may's well get this last music post out of the way as it has been a while coming. I had to trawl for a bit to find this post and remind myself what I was doing and why I'd gone and spent money on CDs instead of listening to songs on YouTube. For those of you who've forgotten I have been buying albums based on criteria mentioned by John Frusciante as a way to widen your knowledge of this wonderful thing called music.

The last category mentioned is to buy an album because you like the cover and so I decided to give it a whirl. I struggled with this one as I generally like to know what I'm buying before spending money on it. There were a few albums that were a intriguing but none really cried out to me, not many albums seem to have that epic, stand out "Dark Side of the moon" cover. I was also trying to find albums that fitted into the 2 for £10 deal going, on, but eventually I found something that was part of the deal, something I'd heard of, though I didn't know the music and something that had a good cover, something a bit like this...













And again it was a very good album. There was more than a hint of REM in the first song, but that is no bad thing, and the band do quickly move into their own sound. I had no idea what would be coming out of my CD player, I'd heard Editors were good, but it was one of those names mentioned by cool people as one of those bands they think are cool, but don't want anyone else to know about because it would make them slightly less cool.

Despite this I found the band very accessible and some very distinctive songs on the album that I really enjoy listening to. "Blood" is a particular favourite of mine, with the chorus line "Blood runs through your veins, that's where our similarity ends" a particularly striking one. "Munich" and "Camera" are also good ones I think. They are much more downbeat than bands I would normally listen to and so I find I don't listen to them very often, but I do catch myself humming the chorus lines and there is a power to the vocals and music that makes me want to keep digging the album out.

Well to say more would be to pretend to know anything about music. I will briefly comment on the excersize and say that on the whole it has been positive, I had no idea what to expect when buying this album and would probably not even have thought about it other than for this challenge so I'm pleased with that. I have also felt freer to buy into music than I normally would feel, I got Pendulum's first album after being reintroduced to their hit "Slam" and I've thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the CD.

so yeah...s'been good.

Word of the post: Verbatim –adjective

2.	corresponding word for word to the original source or text

Weekly Quote W/E 25/10/08

"The magician was engulfed in an eerie light., pulsating with energy. /he stood at the centre of the storm. A terrible figure in the dark." - Magician, Raymond E. Feist

Stuff I've read recently 5

Wow! It's been a long time since I've done this, this is testament to my never failing laziness, my capacity for putting books in places I'll never pick them up from and being far busier than I ever have been before. I'm also really bad at reading my blog, so much so that I've missed comments that people have kindly put up on my blog, including one from the author of one of the books I talked about in my last post!!! I think it's partly the whole blogger self-esteem issue and I just assume that no one's commented at all. But enough self-deprecation, on with the post.

As per usual start with Christan stuff

The Bible - God et al

Right, it's going to be too much effort to actually recall what I've read, but basically I found my Bible, finished the book I was on (Acts or Romans) and then went back to wherever I was in the old testament and am now storming through Luke and nearly back to where I should be...yeah...that makes...moving on. Anyway it was all very good and helpful as the bible always is.

Ultimate Questions - John Blanchard

A nifty little booklet containing key questions people might ask or should ask about God and the Christian faith. Usually something you'd maybe give to a friend top help them understand, but I figured I should probably read the thing should it ever be something I'd need to do. And it was a pretty good and clear explanation of key information people might need to clear up, and going over the fundamentals of Christianity can never hurt!!

Moving on to "incidentals" books I've picked up along the way and aren't my "main" book, generally because they're easier to read!!

Star Wars Legacy of the Force: Invincible - Troy Denning

This book wrapped up the galactic civil war covered in the Legacy of the Force series of books, this book resolves the conflict across the stars, the reign of Sith Lord Jacen Solo and the tension between the Solo and Skywalker families because of the actions of their children. A fitting end to the series I thought, and I'm intrigued as to what they'll bring out next.

Dark Horse Heroes Omnibus vol 1 - Various

I bought this out of curiosity more than anything, but was pleasantly surprised at the story that unfolded in the book. The publishers started with a crossover title to introduce a load of new characters, some of which were popular enough to spawn their own series, such as X, Barb Wire and Ghost, who appears as only a minor character yet turned out to be the most longlived! The first part covers the experiment of an alien scientist and how it went wrong, creating superpowered humans all across the globe, we view the adventures of the more heroic of these individuals and the aliens who track them searching for the man who gave them their abilities. The next part covers one hero, Titan and how his powers coupled with his insecurities end up making him one of the most dangerous forces on Earth -a very good read.

Maus - Art Spiegelman

One of the most fantastic pieces of work done in the comic book format, if anyone says comic books are stupid or just for kids hand them a copy of this. This true account of holocaust survival is brilliantly illustrated with the characters drawn as animals based on race to emphasise the cruel racial distinctions made by the Nazi regime. The story is powerfully honest as it shows the survivor (also the author's father) as he was in present times, a cantankerous olf man that the author found frustrating to live with. A fantastic piece of art.

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - Frank Miller

Another one of these great works of comic book writing I'd heard about and it was on the cheap so I purchased it and was glad I did. The story revitalised batman which had become something of a joke with the camp costumes and the "Kapow" and all that and this story is credited with bringing it back to the dark brooding title it should be. The story takes place when Batman is an old man of about 60, and is retired from his life as the caped crusader, and yet he feels something calling to him, something from the darkness. He returns to his former identity but finds there are big consequences and big changes ahead for the Batman. I can see it's been a big influence on the recent Batman movies and it's a very good read.

And now my "main" book.

Crime and Punishment - Fyodr Dostoyevsky

A really great book, and not hard to read at all so it's to my shame that I haven't finished it sooner. The story is of a student, who is compelled to murder and the consequences of his actions, but it's far more than just his journey to justice. The story explores his feelings as he deals with trying to have a normal life, the unexpected arrival of his family and his reactions to people who suddenly become part of his life. His sense of guilt and relief when he thinks judgement is passed is very tangible and real and the book is exciting and believable to read and I certainly enjoyed it and if you want to get into classic and/or Russian stuff this would be no bad start.

OK and that's (probably) it, I'll make no promises about when I do the next one of these!

Word of the post: Novel –adjective

of a new kind; different from anything seen or known before: a novel idea.

Weekly Quote W/E 18/10/08

"Whee. Sal, we gotta go and never stop going till we get there.

Where we going, man?

I don't know but we gotta go." - On the Road, Jack Kerouac

Charity Shopping

Well I nearly forgot like last year, but at the last minute I remembered it was the momentous Blogger Action day and time for me to pause from rambling about nothing in particular and instead to talk about something very particular - the issue of poverty. This is naturally a huge issue and I'm not going to pretend to have an easy answer to it, but I'm going to share one idea that I had on the issue and do no more than that - it is simply something I've thought about, not my absolute stance on the subject.

My idea would be something along the lines of this - that someone (initially I thought me, but I doubt I've got either the brains or the time) could set up a shop, probably online, where people could buy goods to help the poor and suffering, which would then get sent to the charities or organizations working with those who need it. It could be just like amazon or other online buying sites (or even become part of one who knows?) only instead of paying for stuff and having it sent to you you could buy say a hypodermic needle, parts for a well, leprosy vaccinations or materials to build a temporary shelter and then pay to have it flown to a third world country of your choice.

I guess this idea came out of a general desire to contribute to the poorest people in the world, but being in a very flexible financial situation (as well as being more than a little bit greedy and lazy I'm loathe to admit) I find this £2 a month business a bit hard to contemplate. While I definitely think we should give in this way and without charities doing the work my idea would be useless but I think this kind of idea could help someone who wants to give, but is not sure how or if they can afford to have money withdrawn from them constantly. Using this kind of system you could make a one off donation and know what the effect was. You could even make one off donations to charities through it, perhaps rectifying the people like me who would maybe use it to avoid regular giving.

Well that's my idea roughly - any takers?

OK, well I'm sure something similar is going on, and I doubt I'm the only one with that kind of idea and there are a few related sites that I will share with you now.

Kiva.org is the first I'll talk about and the one I'm most interested and since it's an official partner to Blog Action day it's not a bad start!! I've been really impressed by what I've seen on their website and it seems a really good way to give directly and make a direct impact on someone in poverty. Kiva is a micro-lending organisation, members of the public through them lend money (as little as $25) to an individual or a group in poverty to support their business or livelihood, people can contribute small amounts to a larger loan of around $1000 or more. What's interesting is it's done as a business so it is a loan, you will get repaid as the entrepenur's business grows and they get out of poverty - though this will naturally be a gradual process, and of course there's no such thing as interest in this arrangement. I think this idea is fantastic, you can contribute directly to people who are being held back by poverty, you know you are making a difference to an individual or a group and you even get your money back - I'm almost reaching for my wallet as we speak. If you haven't come across them before I strongly reccommend you take a look.

If you want to give to charity but aren't sure how then there's a way with agoodcause.com I'll admit to being a bit cuatious when it comes to these software download thingies, so I haven't signed up myself, though it seems like a good idea. Essentially through them every time you make a purchase on Amazon, Apple store or anywhere else then a donation will be made to charity - at no cost to you!!! I personally want to know a bit more before I sign up, and I'm slightly worried by the amount of dating companies that are signed up, but it's definitely worth a look at at least.

Right I think that's all I've got to say other than to encourage you, and more importantly me, to be active in giving to those who don't have what we have, whether it's through one of the sites above, or regular giving or even being involved. I've just demonstrated without much effort that there are ideas we can come up with and there are multiple ways to give so why not take action and give one a try? Have a look at the action day site for more ideas - I think I've got a link somewhere.



Word of the post: Malaise –noun

1.	a condition of general bodily weakness or discomfort, often marking the onset of a disease.

Weekly Quote - 11/10/08

"Who is to say we should obey the laws they make for their own interest and to our hurt? And who are they then to meddle when we look after our own affairs? We will manage our world for ourselves because it is our world, Cosa Nostra." - The Godfather, Mario Puzo.

It's back!!!

Oh yeah - Cherry Coke is making a comeback, and with it no doubt my disturbing fondness for blogging about Coca-Cola. Well I think I'll let the picture do the talking this time (it comes, incidentally) from a blogger who obviously has a similar enthusiasm for Coke.

I'd always been rather partial to Cherry Coke, but it stopped appearing so regularly on the shelves a while back, and I only occasionally got it from some suppliers such as a local chippie. While I do miss the arty scrawl of the original can design I'm just glad to see the classic flavour make a return - my heart yearns for it to be more than a limited fad, though my teeth are secretly hopeful!!

Word of the post: Underwhelming -

To fail to excite, stimulate, or impress

Blog Action Day 08 - October 15th

Greetings fellow Bloggers

I'm posting this as a heads up for those of you who may want to get involved and I would encourage you to think about it. You may not achieve much, but for one reason or another you have chosen to make your voice heard and perhaps it might be a good idea to use your voice as part of a bigger scheme looking at a global issue. I'm not going to be so pretentious as to say you can change the world, but it might be interesting, and it's not like it costs you anything.

Last years bloggers wrote about the envirovment in thousands of different ways, styles and approaches. The organisers don't want you to turn into a campaigner or to do in depth researched sob stories, they ask you to write as you normally would, only to use this day for writing about one issue - the issue of Poverty. Perhaps I'm not being as clear as I should be so I'll let you hear a message from the organizers themselves...


Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

So I'm not going to give you a campaign spiel, I'm just going to suggest that maybe it'd be something you'd like to get involved in. If you think it is, let me know and I'll be interested to see what you write.




Word of the post: Amalgamate –verb (used with object)

1. to mix or merge so as to make a combination