Will it blend?

FIND OUT HERE what happens when you put things in a blender

OR HERE for what happens when you put pucks in.

Ham on the Road......

Jo passed her driving test last friday!

Abandon hope, all ye who drive in the Greater Belfast area.

Actually she is doing quite well and has been out the odd time by herself. Who's a big grown up girl. When she went out for her first solo drive I didn't tell her mum till she was away a good half hour, and I took down their Christmas tree so I wouldn't have to worry for a time.

All worked well though, there ain't no stopping her now.

I've still not heard back from the phone folks. Damn their eyes. I keep seeing picture/video opportunities, reach for my trusty capture device only to be dissapointed when it isn't there.


Also, happy 1st Birthday young Caleb, hararya?

M


Currently listening to:
Track: "For You"
Artist: Barenaked Ladies
Album: Everything to Everyone

Mobile madness...... part deux (thats french)

My lovely Nokia N93 has had a bit of a difficult few weeks, what with the turning off by itself every time I put it in my pocket. At first I thought it was my fault, but after extensive testing I've realised that I wasn't pushing the off button, or any combination of buttons that should have caused a fault.

Phones 4 u were nice enough to send the phone back for me, but they could not hand me a replacement handset to make making phone calls handy. Or any handset for that matter. (Sorry to those who know how to use the English language properly).

I'm currently relegated to a mobile phone that, and wait for it, makes phone calls. And that's it. No camera, no video, nuthin.

Well, its nice to get "back to basics", after all it was the rage at one point. The thing is I love using my camera/phone/video camera. I've enjoyed taking good resolution (but not quality) pictures and video for a while now and to suddenly have the facility taken away is a bit annoying.

Never mind, the Sony Ericsson J220i has its bonus features.... actually, it doesn't but it does work.

I've never been good at what the boys in work like to call 'change control' when it comes to phones. Out with the old and in with the new without any planning is usually order of the day. The handing of my phone back to Phones 4 u was no exception. I forgot to backup the numbers of those I hold dear before submitting the handset and so, now I'm back to square one. I've lost your number. Yes you. All of you. So if/when you text and i text back and say "who are you" please, once again, don't think I've stopped loving you in any way. Its just that I'm much better at planning this sort of thing for others, forgetting to look to my own data recovery needs.

Its 2am. I can't sleep. But I'll stop talking now.

Until next time gadget.....

M

This post is mostly for Jim Chambers.....

Ok, so I don't update this blog as often as I would like to, or even as often as Dermo does, but there is a good reason for this.

My day is usually quite boring. If I were to tell you about everything I did every day you would read this blog even less than you do now!

For example, here is my day so far.

I woke up about 10am after a phone call. I got up, got washed, drove to Paul Fellowes' house, drove him and his brother Davy into town for a coffee or two, then met up with former boss Bob Zeller to advise him on some laptop work I'm doing for him, met Paul and friends in 'The Grill" bar on the way back to the car park (but no drinkin', i'm drivin), bought a book lon how to play the mandolin, drove home, updated my blog.

Later I'm going to a Giants game, where I will be running the show and playing the music just like I do every week. We are playing the Basingstoke Bison, if the Giants continue on their current form we shall be slaughtered. Joy.

Here are some photos I took on my travels.

I used to live here:














This is Margarita Plaza in Adelaide Street, Belfast where I shared a flat with a fella called Andy. I found out after I left that it was the biggest brothel in Belfast. Yay.

I used to work here:














Lyle-Bailie, formerly McCann-Erickson. An ad agency full of ego driven maniacs who make, among other things the road safety adverts in this country. The best and worst job I ever had. Bad because the management were awful, good because after I worked there I could work anywhere.

If you are lucky, I'll update on the Giants game later.

Bye for now,

M

Merry Christmas

(and happy hanukkah, good luck with those Dreidel thingies.)

I believe I can fly.....

I got lots of nice things for Christmas, but my most surprising is a flying lesson!

Look out good people of the Newtownards area, I'm gonna fly over you!

Also, anyone know how to play a mandolin?

May God bless you.

M

Christmas Spirit (24 hour party people)

I was talking to the lads in work today and we were discussing how people who are normally pretty mannerly, even cordial to strangers, the most humble characters turn into monsters at the shopping centres at Christmas.

I was in town not 5 minutes when I started realising how rude people have become.

I was standing in HMV looking at some cd's. I was in a bit of a dream world. I reached out to the shelf that was less than 2 feet away from me and several chav's decided to walk through me. They actually pushed my arm out of the way to get past.

The best one was in Abbeycentre. I was in the shop Game looking for goodies. They still have an xbox360 on display and you can play the demo's of such fun games as "Call of duty 3". I decided to have a blast. While I was standing at the console a large woman pushed me out of the way with her considerable posterior. She nearly knocked me to the floor and was now occupying the space I was in seconds previously. She was talking to the sales assistant, asking about various deals. I glared at her in wonder as to why she just pushed me out of the way but she just glared right back as if to say, "Hey, I'm shopping here, what business did you think you had standing in my way?"

I had 2 possible reactions planned out. 1. Punch this 'lady' square in the face and say "how do you like that, HUH?" 2. Sigh and just walk away. I took the second option, and here's why; I've noticed the distinct lack of any kind of Joy this year and I'm trying my damnedest to try to redress the balance.

People are so determined to get the bargain or present of choice that they don't care who they trample to get it. God has no place in this new commercialised Christmas, except to be a politically incorrect notion that your average retailer would rather forget. After all, what is Christmas about, and how long is it before we have to refer to it as something like "festive season" or "holiday season" like they do in the states. (Happy holidays!) NO! Happy Christmas, Christmas, CHRISTMAS!

Its not about the presents or how drunk you can get for a few days. Its about celebrating our Saviour's birth. Ok, its not the exact day, but its the day we choose to celebrate.

In the spirit of this season of love and forgiveness I'm biting my lip every time I get shoved into. Actually sometimes I'm apologising. My Canadian friends should be proud of that. Canada is the only country in the world that I know of that when you bump into someone they apologise!

May I encourage you to do likewise. Lets remember the reason for the season, may God bless you all.

/rant.








One last thing as I close. Marks and Spencer in Newtownabbey is now open 24 hours a day. I dropped Jo off tonight and thought I'd go in to see what kind of wierdos would be walking around there after midnight.

The food court was bunged, but I wandered upstairs to the gadget/toy part. I was the only wierdo up there. I laughed to myself about that for a second which attracted the attention of a nearby security guard. I though i'd tell him what I was thinking, but I figure he'd just think I was a wab.

Goodnight.

M.

December Blues

Its December and I should be feeling festive.

I've just got over the cold/flu and have been feeling rough since last Friday due to something I ate. The mornings and evenings are dark. I have little time to do anything besides work, study, Giants and sleep. Oh Joy.

I was fixing a server t'other day and this happened.

Oops.

Of all the silly things for me to do......

Tesco Value Coffee.

Every little (you throw in the bin) Helps!

It tastes like sawdust. For the good of anyone you were thinking of making it for, for the love of all that is good in the world, don't do it.

I made the mistake of buying some of this for our office thinking how bad can it really be? Let me tell you friend, real bad.


Currently listening to:
Song: When I fall
Artist: Barenaked Ladies
Album: Born On a Pirate Ship

Apparently I'm a type 2

you chose CX - your Enneagram type is TWO.

"I must help others"

Helpers are warm, concerned, nurturing, and sensitive to other people's
needs.

How to Get Along with Me

• Tell me that you appreciate me. Be specific.
• Share fun times with me.
• Take an interest in my problems, though I will probably try to focus
  on yours.
• Let me know that I am important and special to you.
• Be gentle if you decide to criticize me.

In Intimate Relationships

• Reassure me that I am interesting to you.
• Reassure me often that you love me.
• Tell me I'm attractive and that you're glad to be seen with me.

What I Like About Being a Two

• being able to relate easily to people and to make friends
• knowing what people need and being able to make their lives better
  
• being generous, caring, and warm
• being sensitive to and perceptive about others' feelings
• being enthusiastic and fun-loving, and having a good sense of humor
  

What's Hard About Being a Two

• not being able to say no
• having low self-esteem
• feeling drained from overdoing for others
• not doing things I really like to do for myself for fear of being selfish
  
• criticizing myself for not feeling as loving as I think I should
• being upset that others don't tune in to me as much as I tume in to
  them
• working so hard to be tactful and considerate that I suppress my real
  feelings

Twos as Children Often

• are very sensitive to disapproval and criticism
• try hard to please their parents by being helpful and understanding
  
• are outwardly compliant
• are popular or try to be popular with other children
• act coy, precocious, or dramatic in order to get attention
• are clowns and jokers (the more extroverted Twos), or quiet and shy
  (the more introverted Twos)

Twos as Parents

• are good listeners, love their children unconditionally, and are warm
  and encouraging (or suffer guilt if they aren't)
• are often playful with their children
• wonder: "Am I doing it right?" "Am I giving enough?"
  "Have I caused irreparable damage?"
• can become fiercely protective

Renee Baron & Elizabeth Wagele
The Enneagram Made Easy
Discover the 9 Types of People

Harper
SanFrancisco, 1994, 161 pages


You liked the test? so please don't forget to RATE it...
but remember! it had only two questions!!! ;-)

you wanna know MORE?

so check out, what Wikipedia says about your type...
...even more you'll find in Google

Happy Birthday to me

Oh good grief, 27 today.

Also, Happy Birthday to Dave Allen (no the comedian, he's dead) and Lisa.

Many happy returns, or warm jumpers depending on where you live.

Oh, check out Jo's blog for a lovely picture of me.

I'm currently at home, in bed after not feeling too well. Thought i was getting over stupid cold/flu, but i guess not. More paracetamol at table 4 please!

Goodnight Ken Gourley......

Ken was a lovely fella.

This is an odd post, I was discussing with Dermo and Elia earlier, its always hard to say the right thing at a funeral or about the person who passed away.

In case I get it wrong, i'll borrow some words. Today Lindsay Allen was saying some really good things about Ken. For instance, he was an easy guy to like, he could disagree with you picking his words carefully not to make you angry, lastly and most importantly - all was well with his soul (even when the going got tough).

Those are some of the most important things a man can have going for him. I really hope that when I finally go that people will be able to say something similar of me.

The end of the service brought those all important words, "We do not grieve as those who have no hope". Death is not the end for us, its only the beginning.

Its an odd thing, but at a Christian funeral there is no despair. Sure, we will miss the person, sure we'll cry, but we know we'll see him again. He's fallen asleep here and woken up with God. Amen.

Goodnight Ken.

Mobile madness......

MY MOBILE PHONE NUMBER HAS CHANGED. (well, it has been 10 years). I will be sending a message shortly. Please don't feel put out if you don't get a message, it does not mean i don't love you any more, it just means that I've lost your number. My other phone is beyond use, so I did lose quite a few up to date numbers.

There are two ways to get the new number:
1. The old number is still connected to a spare handset, please text to it leaving your name .
2. alternatively e-mail me and I'll sent it back.

Yes, there is a story about this one, are you sitting comfortably?

So, there I was on a friday afternoon, minding my own business setting up for the Giants game against the Basingstoke Bison when my phone rang. I was carrying a sound desk at the time and therefore was unable to answer before the answering service kicked in. I picked up my walk into more of a run, set down the apparatus and grabbed my phone from my pocket. To my intense frustration the phone's display did a criss-cross-tartan-firework-display-type-thing, and then faded to black. I've seen this before, it occurs sometimes when the phone's battery expires mid operation. Being the boy scout that I am i grabbed the phone charger from my kit and plugged it in. Nothing. I tried re-starting the phone a few times but it only got as far as the nokia logo, then the tartan fireworks again.

This day had been filled with technical difficulties. The ranged from the password for my work e-mail not being complex enough and being a little more than patronised by the help desk staff about what a 'complex password policy' was, getting a puncture in one of my car tires and my apple laptop having a bit of a seizure. I don't usually do this, but i saw red. My phone was launched across the odyssey and landed in 3 different pieces. That felt good.

Below is a 'Crimewatch' style reconstruction, using actual places (the Odyssey Arena - where is happened) as a reference!



I gathered up the phone and put it back together, tried turning it on and guess what? (this is the part where people usually say "Oh, did it work then!?") NO! i broke it more.

The screen was now not registering at all, but the keys were lighting up. Bonus.

I panicked. I've had my mobile switched on and strapped to my side constantly for the last few years, suddenly i was no longer contactable. That was an odd anxiety. I called Jo and let her know but i didn't really know anyone else's number so...

The game went on and we won, it was a fine evening, finished off with some pizza at sarah's.

The next day i went to beg forgiveness at the orange shop. This was not a pleasant experience. I will put it in script form. Here is how the conversation went between 'Orange Bimbo Girl (OBG)' and Me.

ME: Um, hello......
OBG: *finishes reading article, glances up* Hi.
ME: Hi, I was wondering if you could help me, my handset is broken and I was wondering what I need to do to get another one.
OBG: *sighs* do you have insurance?
ME: I'm not sure, if i give you my number can you check?
OBG: *sighs* ok *saunters over to counter* Whats your number?
ME: (gives number)
OBG: *tappa tappa tappa, pauses* You don't have any insurance.
ME: OK..... so what are my options?
OBG: *sighs* Well you could register for emergency insurance... then you could claim the accident *starts making conversation with other bimbo*.
ME: *kinda annoyed that she's not really paying attention*I kinda need a new handset right away....
OBG: I'm not really sure what we can do....... *while half making in jokes with her other bimbo* you can buy another handset for 100 pounds.
ME: *tries to contain shock* ok, i'll get back to you then.
OBG: *didn't react continues to chat with other bimbo*

I was a little furious. Not at the fact that I'd have to pay money, but just the sheer rudness and uninterested-ness of the orange staff. I've been their customer for 9/10 years.

I marched down to phones 4 you down the mall a little. In 25 minutes they offered the phone I wanted, offerred me the money to pay off my orange contract and gave me the phone for free. I got the Nokia N93, which is the first entry level mobile phone video camera. I am overly pleased with it, though it is a bit short on battery life.

Its now early in the morning. This post has gone on long enough, so in summary:

•Orange phone shop people are unhelpful and rude.
•Phones 4 u people are quite nice
•i like cake

Goodnight
M

Aint that a kick in the head.....

The other day I was listening to some recordings a friend had put together. I was so impressed by his work it made me hugely depressed!

realisticly, I can't see myself ever recording anything that will be ground breaking, at least I don't view anything I've written to be worthy of being aired.

If I'm going to do anything good, it will rely on me being smart, funny and having something to say.
I guess I can forget it then!

In other news, Gav from work showed me this video today. It involves side splitting Supermario mischief.

Got sidetracked in tech..

When someone is being a wab, you should tell them.
Tell them in a loud voice or maybe with a photoshop image of ridiculous-ness.

The Road To Omey.....

Today Jo and I are heading down to the South of Ireland for a little break. We are heading to the back end of nowhere, or more specifically Omey Island off the west coast of Ireland.


The place belongs to Nathan and Alannah's folks, who converted it entirely from being a bit run down to a lovely little cottage. They are clever like that (and lovely into the bargain).


It will be fun for a whole variety of reasons, the first of which being that it is a good 5 to 7 hours drive away down the 'interesting' back roads of Southern Ireland. For those of you who 'aint from around these parts' the roads down there are pretty basic. They have improved greatly over the past 10 years on the main routes, but these are not the main routes!


The second reason is that the island is only accessible when the tide is out. The picture above shows how you drive across the sand at low tide to reach the place. The height of the tide across this sand bank apparently varies from either the sea not coming in fully at all at some times of the year to its current seven feet at high tide.

Alannah's dad has kindly written out for us the estimated high tide times to save us from being washed away. Timing is of the essence then, we must arrive in a specific time window to cross safely. Any of you who know Joanne and I will be laughing at the thought of this already.


Also, I'm taking my guitar, laptop and mixing desk. I'm determined to get a bit of inspiration to record something while I'm down there in the beautiful, basic and rugged surroundings.

I nearly gave up playing the guitar recently because I figured that if I were to write a song about any topic I'd easily be able to list you 10 songs better written. I was feeling a bit unstable and was asking myself what can I really offer the musical world? Now that I'm feeling a little steadier I've remembered that it was God who has given me the gift of being able to play. If I were to stop it would be like saying I don't appreciate the gift. I'm determined now to use it more.

In other news I've been going to tech with Gav from work to study for 4 different Microsoft exams. My motivation for this was clear. I simply remembered trying to get a job in computing after being layed off from the Belfast Giants. Since then I have gained a qualification in E-media (bit of computing, bit of web design, bit of sound and video manipulation) but that is still not good enough. I worked for the Spar for almost 2 years trying to re-motivate myself back into a proper job. That will not happen again.

All in all, with still covering the Giants on the weekend (and more), work 5 days a week and study Tuesday and Wednesday 6.30 - 9pm, makes Matty a very dull boy.

I'm off to Ireland to relax before someone finds me scaling a clock tower with a sniper rifle!

Farewell,

M

well...

Its coming up to 3am, and I can't sleep.

I've been off sick for a few days and today i felt well enough to go to tech.

Trouble is, cuse i'm so freakin' well rested I no can't seem to sleep.

I've read all the news articles i care to, caught up on all the tech-y web sites, blogs, live-journals etc.

Now I'm really at the bottom of the sleep inducing activity barrell. I'm backing up my MAC over my home network to a PC over remote desktop.


Whats all this chat about running xp on a mac, as if its a new thing? I've been doing it for ages, as the picture above shows.

I don't even have one of those funky intel based macs like Elia does, nope mine is a bog standard powerbook-melt-the-skin-off-your-lap-top-g4-1.25ghz.

I did put an extra gig of ram in it though, i was feeling depressed.

Now, its 2.54am, i'm off to try again.

"Goodnight england and the colonies, i'll just pop on this record of royal snoring..."
Neddy seagoon
Excerpt from "The Last Goon Show of All"
BBC Light Programme 1972

Full weekend.....

Saturday night was the Belfast Giants first game of the season in the Odyssey Arena. I was back in the driving seat keeping the show ticking over.

Even though I was panicking more that I think I've ever done, things went without a hitch. Even the new sound desk that I bought worked exactly as I hoped.

I went into Maplin to get advice on what cables to use and one of the guys told me the biggest load of rubbish. I thanked him for his advice and then asked another member of staff who was more than helpful.

The hockey match itself was a bit of a penalty filled farce. There is a new zero tolerance policy in force for penalties. As a result our underexperienced referee Mr Mike Hicks called everything from legitimate roughing to one of our guys getting his face cut open - giving the injured guy the penalty!

Joanne's review is accurate, see here.

Below is a shot of my view:


On Sunday I slept in, then met Paul and Colin for a coffee in Belfast.

It was nice to catch up with colin, after not seeing him for a long while.

Currently Listening to:
Song: America
Artist: Razorlight
Album: Razorlight

HEUGE Spiders

Looking out the front window of our living room, i spotted this guy:


I very seldom take good pictures, but i likes this one!

ITS STARTING.....

That feeling that winter is really on the way, more than that, its really close by.

Dark evenings, leaves falling, its not cold but its getting there, listening to "Simon and Garfunkle" or "Iron and Wine".

I like winter. Lots.

What celeb do you look like 2.....

Here were some of the experiments i ran:

Firstly, the McIvors:
(I was personally really amused that I looked like Chuck Norris!)

Next Fish and Raj:

Paul Fellowes:
MORE WILL BE ADDED IN TIME, NO ONE IS SAFE!