| Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated |
[entries|friends|calendar] |
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[22/02/06] |
I'm going up to visit Durham University in March, so I looked back at the letter they sent me to see what train I should book. My offer is as follows:
"To achieve the following from your A-level's: A+B+B anyway from Russian, Mathematics, Government and Politics OR English Literature."
It doesn't exactly fill me with confidence.
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4 bling-blings mo' ice
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[17/02/06] |
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music |
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KT Tunstall - Other Side of the World |
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Well, what have I done in half-term? Nothing, but don't tell anyone. A significant portion has been spent in bed watching Arrested Development on DVD, but I've also been to the dentist (still only one of my four wisdom teeth has started to come through for fuck's sake) and the optician (where I picked out a pricey new pair of glasses as this is the last year of subsidised frames from the NHS). Thankfully my eyesight is starting to settle so my next check-up isn't needed for another 24 months, but I am still really really blind. I mean without glasses, I can barely make out the top massive letter and beyond that I am considerably fucked. No tinted reaction lenses this time either.
I also spent my £20 WH Smiths gift voucher on a spare deck of cards and Watchmen by Alan Moore. I've read one comic book ever, and that was Dark Knight Returns to get my excited for Batman Begins. However, this is supposed to be a masterpiece and was on the New York Times' top 50 books for something or something so I guess it's an acceptable use of twenty 'free' WH dollars. I haven't even looked at Gatsby, which seems a bit of a missed opportunity (although not half as much as missing the film on TV the other day).
Booked my next driving test for May. Cunts. Might see if it's worth doing it in Barnet or somewhere instead so that I don't have to wait another three months. DSA are challenging OCR for wankiest bunch of knobs in the world (considering I haven't really butted heads with the Inland Revenue or the police yet). Wore my Regina Spektor top for the first time today, and it's actually really nice. Mind you, for the price I paid at the merch stand it bloody well should be.
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mo' ice
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| fuck it - let's do a write-up! |
[12/02/06] |
Friday was Emilia's 18th birthday party, in 'The Opium Den' which is a room underneath Cicada. That didn't mean anything to me then and it doesn't really mean anything now. Wearing my awesome Sword Boy shirt for the first time I met up with the two Lees at Palmers Green station which inexplicably doesn't use Oyster. This meant buying a 'permit to travel' for 10p and then, when we finally got to Farenden station, exchanging it for the privelege of buying a £4+ SINGLE ticket. Fuck the overground system.
After some stellar navigation we actually got to Cicada and after the waiter successfully 'punk'd' Leonora by saying that he didn't know of any "party", we actually got to The Opium Den which was, predictably, chinese themed. This means there were lots of candles, and later they served food which we could eat with chopsticks (prawns, chicken etc. but i'd already eaten). There was a DJ and a bar and two girls Emilia didn't know (but they turned out to be with the DJ and barman so that was ok). There was also Emilia's 15/16 year old sister and two of her friends, and I was convinced that she was awfullllllly close with the blonde one but nothing ever came of it..not while I was watching, anyway. Special mention must actually go to the DJ because he was really good, played a Richard Cheese version of Wonderwall, a funky recording of "I Got A Woman" which I recognised before everyone else heard the sampled Kanye West bit...but best of all he played the absolutely amazingly awesome Spanky Wilson version of Sunshine Of Your Love. I must find out if he was Cicada's or someone Emilia hired.
All the invitations came with drinks vouchers valid for up to £6: a cocktail, or two beers, or, if you're me, a double Jack Daniels with no ice. "Have you got any ID?" the floppy haired apologetic barman asked. I said it was OK and showed him my provisional license. Damn my combined boyish good looks, decision to shave and driving test failure! "No ice?" he clarified. "Just straight double Jack Daniels?" Then he gave me a smile and a thumbs-up, and I realised everyone else was drinking beer. Man I'm hardcore (in this company, anyway) - I had impressed the barman with my suspected-underage drinking habits! It was a good choice for first drink as it made me receptive to some dull chatting and sitting around on sofas. Then the music started to pick up and I had another double and then I got more chatty and went to the dancefloor more often. Then I got Nicole to get me another drink and I started to talk about pornography with Cathia. Then I got myself and Michael a beer, then he got himself and me a beer. Then I went to go home and left my coat behind, so I came back and joined with Arun, who was also leaving. We hot-footed it down to Farenden as the brisk walk sobered me up, and we caught what looked to be the penultimate Piccadilly from Kings' Cross. Then on Saturday I curled up at about 10pm because I'm a big pussy.
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3 bling-blings mo' ice
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| CUSSES LIKE CAVEMEN, YO MAMA WAS HERE |
[06/02/06] |
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zane lowe's radio show |
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I've been a Regina Spektor fan for two years now, after hearing her beautifully haunting 'Ghost of the Corporate Future' on xfm late one night. Three UK tours later (two of which I was present for), she was back in London last Saturday and Kiran, Ben (V) and I went along. Support was Only Son, whose 'band' consisted of prerecorded backing played off an iPod hooked up to the speaker system. The arena (Shepherd's Bush Empire) was all seated and it was pretty much full, definitely the biggest crowd I've seen her play. There was an actual real-life lesbian couple sat in front of us, who had coincidentally gone to Latymer a few years ago. One got expelled, though. We chatted in between Only Son and Regina, talking about the abortion of an English exam we half sat etc and then the lights finally dimmed and on strode Regina Spektor. It was a fantastic set, full of crowd-pleasers and she did all the songs I'd hoped she would. Better still, somebody on her forums has it on their MD so soon I'll be able to relive it on my iPod! Easily the best gig of hers I've seen, probably ranks as the best I have seen as I'm not really one for the shouting and shoving of Foo Fighters or even the sweaty smelly indie fuckers at The Killers.
After the show we debated having a quick pint but decided against it, as I had work the next morning and we didn't want to risk missing the last train. Ben bought a tub of olives and quickly regretted it, and he decided to try and shift them on the tube. This led to many adventures. The first was still on the Shepherd's Bush platform where he traded an olive for a chip with a guy eating some chicken nuggets. "It's all sphincter," apparently. On the central line he got rid of about 6 and the three of us somehow got a kicking rad brazilian bon-bon each from a similarly selfless passenger. The Piccadilly ride was much stranger as Ben and I switched at Holborn; "i'd rather eat shit" was the start of a beautiful friendship between Ben and some dude and his Australian (not South African, and definitely not New Zealand...ish) ladyfriend. This progresseed as we got a seat, and then a bizarre dude with particularly natty dreads got on and partook, telling us that "olives make you curly down there", pointing to "the greeks, the italian and the portugese" as examples. Unfortunately, my relative dearth of experience with the pubic topiary of Mediterranean men means I'm not sure how right he is. There was quite a rude, narky cunt (who had, surprise surprise, rejected an olive) who snottily told Ben "you bought off more than you could chew there" when the nutso dreadlocked dude got off, even though Ben had coped adeptly with the bizarre topic. Cunt. Also, we saw Mr Macmillan who deliberately shot off to another carriage. Cunt.
Also, £136 tax rebate from the Inland Revenue! I thought it had all come through but presumably this is the stuff from before April '05. I suggested putting it all on a quadruple accumulator for the Oscars - Brokeback for best picture and director, Philip Seymour Hoffman for best actor and Reese Witherspoon for best actres - but my mum didn't like the sound of it. Can't stop an 18 year old from making a £40 flutter though, can you?
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2 bling-blings mo' ice
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[29/01/06] |
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Lou Reed - Perfect Day |
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On Friday I had Introduction to Political Ideologies which I feel pretty good about; I answered a fairly straightforward question on Marx and two on conservatism. I think that I will have one resit in June, which will be C3; I don't have the heart to retake S2 again even if it was shit, and C3 was actually OK to work on even though I still had some significant gaps in my knowledge of the course.
The day before Friday was Thursday, and I met Nikita for the first time. Not the former head of the Soviet Union, but rather a different Nikita - Latymer's Moscow State University student helper for 2006. The student helper's main function is to prepare us for our orals in June, and my chosen topic is 'money is ruining football'. Luckily, Nikita is not a freakishly bookish intellectual or worse, a cigarette-chomping teacher-seducing girl like some of our past helpers...he's a Spartak fan and seems pretty au fait with the whole 'football' thing which is excellent. Seemed like a nice guy, and we basically just chatted in Russian about the state of English and European football for about an hour.
The afternoon after Friday morning was Friday afternoon, when I got my hands on MY UNIVERSITY LAPTOP. It's not 'pretty' because it's a black/silver combo, but it is SEXY because it's widescreen and sleek and quite powerful with an 80gb harddrive which means i can store all my iPod stuff on it, and then still basically have a whole other harddrive to use. Now I've got my whole music collection on it, as well as all the basic programs so now I officially don't have to leave my room, except to turn on the wireless router downstairs. Using a tracker touchpad thing is annoying as fuck though, so I'll get a little optical mouse as well as a carry case.
I failed my check driving test on two counts - parallel parking and moving away. I knew the parking was a fail as soon as I did it, I think along with bay parking it's my weakest area...still I have a fair few lessons before the real test so it should be fine. The second fail was not moving back to allow ample space to get past a parked car in front of me, which was a stupid error to make but in making it I've allowed myself to look out for it more when the time comes. So, it's good really.
Next week: going back to school (easy street 'til June!), going to see Arsenal/West Ham (come on you useless Gunners) and going to see REGINA SPEKTOR (AFTER ME COMES THE FLOOD MOTHER RUSSIA). Good times ahead.
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3 bling-blings mo' ice
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[19/01/06] |
LJ Interests meme results
- arsenal:
COME ON YOU FUCKING GUNNERS my passion for football seems wildly out of character, seeing as i'm such a huge fucking nerd. despite both my parents having grown up in tottenham, my neighbour somehow converted me to become a gunner. saved by the grace of god, i guess. - cleavage:
this makes me seem a bit sleazy having it in my interests
still, though...eh, well, eh? - dying young:
...see number 7. - eurotrip:
probably the best 'teen' comedy ever made, easily surpassing american pie due to its focus on casual racist stereotypes rather than bodily fluid. not a guilty pleasure, but instead a massive, proud one. - halo:
should be "halo 2" really, the best online console FPS ever woooooohoooo. i miss the days of yore when i'd stay up until midnight with a bunch of americans, and occasionally joe, shouting quotes from star wars episode III and using the word cunt. - internet:
the internet is the best and anybody that doesn't like it is wrong. - leaving a beautiful corpse:
very much tied in with number 3, the burning ambition of dying young and, in turn, leaving a beautiful corpse. although this is more showing my admiration of a badass phrase, seeing as i intend to die when i'm old, and then be cremated. - mcfly:
they took the bastardised pop-but-pretending-it's-rock-and-roll genre created by busted and made it credible by being normal people in interviews, playing all their instruments live with a drummer and having catchy pop hooks rather than relying on wacky jumps in videos to sell records. - mexican stand offs:
for the uninitiated, a mexican stand-off involves 3 or more people, all holding guns to each other, preferably aiming at the temples. once one person attempts to shoot, everybody invariably gets shot. a prominent film example is reservoir dogs. any film or television show involving guns and not involving mexican stand-offs is regarded as a colossal failure in my books. - pinch harmonics:
pinch harmonics are an effect produced when playing electric guitar and 'pinching' the string between your pick and finger, to create a high pitched, 'ping' noise that is still related to the note held, but somehow roughly a jillion times cooler. best used in frantic solos but still hold their place in melodies or even, if you're feeling siniser, bass note riffs.
Enter your LJ user name, and 10 interests will be selected from your interest list.
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3 bling-blings mo' ice
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| So, the doorbell went today... |
[17/01/06] |
Me: hello?
Him: *inaudible mumbling, then incomprehensible jibberish*
Me: pardon?
Him: i'm looking for...polish speaking people? do you know? which house, near...here?
Me: no, sorry mate.
Him: ok...bye...
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6 bling-blings mo' ice
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[13/01/06] |
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music |
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THE MOTHERFUCKING UNDERTONES |
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I am either going to fail my driving test, or pass with no minors. My lessons are ridiculously hit and miss. I'll be having a few mocks soon though, so that should help.
Had my first exam on Wednesday, resitting unit 2 of Politics despite a) the course being easy and b) getting an A overall. Last year I picked the wrong question and fluffed a 15 mark answer, WHICH I THINK I DID AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY. You pick 2 questions from 4 to do, and I chose 1 (ministers) and 2 (sovereignty) although 2b, "how is parliament sovereign", blindsided me a bit. I'm more used to saying why it ISN't sovereign (which, handily, was 2c) and I chose the question because I was unsure if I could find enough for 3b...halfway through 2b, I decided that "yes, yes I could". That's exams for you. Afterwards I went to the common room and won £15 though, after a tournament and a ring game where I took all the chips in play so the day wasn't a total loss.
Football news has been pretty encouraging - Diaby, the biggest dog in the world has signed and allegedly a big fuckoff Togo striker is on his way too. Wallcott would be an excellent third addition but it's a bit up in the air at the moment.
I might go and see Jarhead on Monday after the Stats exam.
Lastly, everyone on Countdown since study leave began has been an idiot that I have completely and utterly decimated.
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5 bling-blings mo' ice
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[01/01/06] |
goodbye to 2005, and GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE after ending on a ridiculous downer.
arsenal lost 3 premiership games on the trot and limped out of the title race, oxford tossed me aside like some sort of normal person, Lost and Veronica Mars were on hiatus, I accidentally deleted all the songs on my iPod (because the piece of shit asks you 12 times if you want to clear a playlist but don't second guess you if you accidentally WIPE THE HARD DISK) and generally BAD THINGS HAPPENED TO GOOD PEOPLE.
still, 2006 is already looking up. we have tests soon, and i love tests because no matter how bad at a subject i am (see: maths, english literature last year), i can still pull it together and take a good ol' test. tuesday will see the return of school and, in the evening, I will see arsenal vs manchester united!!! then there'll be the west ham and wigan games after that, and REGINA FUCKING SPEKTOR which i caught miraculously because sophie asked if i was going.
resolutions:
shave more
work more
drink more
spend more
care more
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mo' ice
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[22/12/05] |
Well, I didn't get into Oxford. Gutted, of course, especially as two of my friends I've known since Reception got in, but it's hardly the end of the world. It wasn't by much, going by my second philosophy interview, and it was presumably my philosophical ability (or lack thereof) which led to the rejection and elsewhere I won't be doing it, so there some positives to take out. The workload will be lighter, and presumably a first will be easier to achieve elsewhere; I guess I'll also be comparitively a lot smarter than I would have been at Oxford. As it stands I have offers from Leeds (ABB), York and Durham (AAB), I'm waiting for LSE and Warwick has apparently rejected me as well, according to UCAS (wonder what the fuck they're looking for other than four predicted As and the rest of the application) although Durham's probably going to be my first choice even if I *do* get into LSE.
Now I'll have to start that cunting revision.
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7 bling-blings mo' ice
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[19/12/05] |
hear a thud in the hallway...it's the post!
I dash to the front door, and see a big white envelope! I stoop to pick it up...UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM?!
WHAT THE HELL, OXFORD, WHAT THE HELL
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4 bling-blings mo' ice
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| it's so cold in this................house |
[25/11/05] |
ok so let's update!
my iPod is now in transit with UPS because iPods are pieces of shit but they're also pretty and hold more music than iAudios so i got one and it fucking died. it's still in warranty but i'm pretty fucking suspicious of it now, gonna get an iSkin cover for when i get my replacement. of course, my PC's hard drive is smaller than the iPod's, so i didn't backup the music and so am frantically looking to recompile the collection, mainly focusing on the trickier stuff (regina spektor bootlegs for example). not really worth getting a new hd as I will be off to Uni soon with my own laptop which i can use. First up to go on will be Try! John Mayer Trio Live, a live album by the...John Mayer Trio, which is basically pop-singer John Mayer's bluesy side-project. He's an amazing guitarist, and there's covers of Hendrix and 'i've got a woman', as sampled by Kanye West.
I have now received, in writing, my conditional offers to York and Leeds, AAB and ABB respectively which, considering I am doing four A2s with 4 As at AS level, should be highly attainable. More excitingly, I have my Oxford interview letter as well which means me going up on Sunday 4th for 8pm and staying until 10am on Wednesday! Highlights will include a written test at 9am Monday, and the interviews. I have a mock on the Friday two days before the actual interview, which should be helpful. Today Leonora passed Rawls' restatement, Justice as Fairness, on to me which I will try and knock off over the weekend, interrupting my delightful journey through the Collected Works of Nicholai Gogol who is probably going to end up my favourite author at this rate.
Going to the Arsenal/Blackburn game, which is my first Arsenal game ever (but don't tell anyone). Might get Lauren 12 printed on the back of my shirt at the Arsenal World of Sport if i'm making good time, which I probably will.
L O S T is good, but Veronica Mars is the best show since 24 first started. Awesome every single week, but it's ignored in the US and even worse over here.
The rest is poker stuff, so you've been warned.
Made good on my losses from Wednesday today at the poker table, with one of my favourite hours of play ever. I had decent enough cards, but didn't always need them. A9c in the big blind, folded to Mab who limps, Kiran raises to 4BB. Mab and i call, and the flop comes with 3 clubs, giving me the nut flush. I check, Mab checks, kiran checks and the turn is a red rag. I raise 4BB, Mab calls and Kiran folds. River is a spade rag. I check my nut flush (HELL YEAH I'M A BADASS) and my heart tries its best to jump through my chest as Mab fingers his stack (around 15BB) and pushes all in. In my Colour of Money moment, I look at him and say "I have an ace high flush. I call" and without having to put my call into the pot it's pushed towards me as I show my A9. I get congratulated on the play and win about £2.50. Then there's a big multiway pot where I'm in the SB with JTs. I complete and BB checks with about 5 people seeing the flop come 55Q rainbow. checked round and the turn brings another 5, at which point I have decided nobody has anything and the pot is mine. Checked round to kiran, who is last to act, who raises 4BB. Kiran routinely raises with shit at the best of times, so I ask how much he has left and put him all in for the remaining 7.5BB. Folded round, including Kiran, and the money is mine. Good stuff.
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2 bling-blings mo' ice
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[20/11/05] |
I started watching xXx but you know what? I'm better than that.
According to ucas.com I now have a conditional offer from York and Leeds. What those conditions are is slightly unclear, although presumably they mean grades as opposed to daunting tri-wizard tasks.
School magazine is almost done, should be out next week. Mr Gould apologised for how it ended up, but it was his first year doing it so it's not really anyone's fault. In the editors photo I'm in the middle, hahahah. Good photo apparently, I might scan and upload it.
Now I have organised my mock interview, which is two days before I head down to Oxford (hopefully). Leonora should have finished Rawls' restatement by then so I can blast through it. Might look into a bit more philosophy too.
Won £11.70 in one day last week at poker.
The Darkness' new album has leaked but my iPod is fucked and in need of replacement so I'll arrange for a UPS man tomorrow.
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mo' ice
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| best sunday e v e r |
[17/10/05] |
oh man what a kicking weekend. well, i'm 18 now, and i have ID (driving license AND oyster card soon enough) and a hideous amount of money...plus a bottle opener from my sister. i can't believe this time next year i'll be at a uvinersity. all sent off now, oxford/warwick/durham/york/lse/leeds applications in the electronic superhighway. fucking hell. next week i'll have to book my driving test, as suggested by my instructor (maniac)...hopefully by the time the waiting list's eroded i can nail it first time; £45 a pop i think.
friday night was pirate night at rubinarr's boat party where i had the most fucking awesome costume ever. we waited at southgate station for everyone to get there and all the guys in cars would be gawping. then i got to see an escalator full of pirates slowly descend, and then we all crammed into the carriage. then when we got there we thought it might be a bit crap and cliquey but then we got to the boat which had a bar and it improved vastly. joe and i took turns getting drinks in and i bought frances one because it was her birthday. this time the dj actually played thriller when i requested it, and lisa and i did swing dancing and i downed all my JDs in one after the first one because I AM A MANLY MAN'S MAN, MAN and I got a bit tipsy, but it was all cool. then the boat moored up and joe and i went to get some food, and as we wandered back we encountered some girl squatting with her jeans and underwear round her ankles urinating in the street, which was nice.
saturday was work which was a breeze compared to my mammoth 12 hours last week, then in the evening i went to a school quiz with the family. we came second, but only by 2.5 points and only because the quiz was fucking dumb, there was a food and drink round which had WINE TASTING ffs, and a LONDON round which was just a SEE WHICH TABLE HAS A CABBIE round. however, at the interval we played the heads and tails game, AND I FUCKING WON IT AND GOT £24 which was outrageously good. also over the course of the quiz i got a bunch of awesome answers like when the october revolution is celebrated in russia (november).
sunday i had my first lie-in on a sunday since easter, and then met with claire c, narin and ben at palmers green station and we went to st paul's. we were early and saw a street artist drawing a wicked perspective chalk thing of spiderman which looked scarily 3d through his camera, and then we all got horrendously expensive hot drinks. then we saw measure for measure which was excellent, really funny production if a bit creepy (all male cast. frank spencer voiced isabella with horrible david tennant grin as well...) and then we all went to the pub with Ms Kenny where she bought us 2 bottles of wine(!) and we got the third collectively. we then proceeded to reveal far too many sexual anecdotes from the year and attempted to glean gossip from her, all we really found out was what we knew already (ie gay teachers) and that Ms Kenny knows what snowballing and felching are (ie she recognised them when we said them and cringed). then a really motley bunch of us went on to nando's where we had dinner (incl. £31 family platter) and at the end of it ben got about 7 members of staff to all come round and sing happy birthday to will stevenson. it wasn't really his birthday, and he got a free ice-cream!
then today we got ms kenny and the rest of the english class to sing happy birthday to him again, and i got a solid B+ on my russian essay and 28/30 on my english essay (my highest ever iirc) so really this whole week has been PRETTY FUCKING GOOD.
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2 bling-blings mo' ice
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| TODAY WAS A GOOD DAY |
[30/09/05] |
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mood |
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indescribable |
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music |
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franz ferdinand - you could do so much better...with franz f |
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fuck yeah, what an awesome day.
free periods 1+2: won £4 playing poker (rivering 10s full of Jacks to beat Kiran's 7 high flush)
free period 3: went to speak to Mr Donaldson about my UCAS etc which was full great. First, he recognised me, and then when he was going through my references he was all "that should be easy", and read out "...would excel in the Oxbridge tutorial system..." from Granath I think. Also saw at least one tick for "compares very favourably with previously successful candidates". Should have my personal statement sorted by Monday/Tuesday.
break: went to Senior Pupils meeting where we had tea (as per usual) and CAKE (NOT per usual) because Mr Garbot (who is a lovely guy) and Mr Kernan wanted to thank us all for our hard work coming in for the open evenings...and then we all found out we have to come in at half term for the fucking entrance tests.
periods 4+5: maths, where we pissed about with codes for the first half, and pissed about pretending to be doing our trigonometry in the second half
lunch: won another £9 at poker, where I just fucking obliterated everyone. i was playing perfectly, I was bluffing, I was value betting, I was WINNING EVERY FUCKING HAND. so that made a net profit of £13 for the day, which was good.
period 6: english, gave a presentation, complete doss. got my formal invitation to the pirate parrrrrrrrty on the 14th.
periods 7+8: russian literature, with about 20 minutes left tural mistranslated as he couldn't figure out the noun, and gave us the epic line "he kissed her on the whadjacallit" which saw the whole class enter a laughing fit that lasted until the bell.
and now it's THE MOTHERFUCKING WEEKEND!!!
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mo' ice
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[18/08/05] |
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FOUR FUCKING A GRADES
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mo' ice
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| SUMMER READING |
[31/07/05] |
Politics:
On Libert and other essays - JS Mill
The Affluent Society - JK Galbraith
Literature:
Portrait of a Lady - Henry James
War and Peace - Tolstoy
The Collected Tales of Nikolai Gogol - Nikolai Gogol
The Queen of Spades - Chekhov
Paradise Lost - Milton
The Prince - Machiavelli
Fiction:
The World According to Garp - John Irving
Perfume - Patrick Suskind
I've thrown about £30 at this venture - MAKE ALEX SMART. We've started covering Mill in Politics and he speaks a lot of sense - On Liberty is his opus and I decided to read it. It's also highly recommended by Luke and Leonora. Similarly, I came across The Affluent Society when researching some homework and it is supposedly both Galbraith's best work and the authoritative critique of the first world economy. These will also be good to put in my personal statement.
Despite hating hating hating Persuasion, I've decided to give the frilly coats another try and Portrait of a Lady sounds a lot more exciting. It's on the reading list we were given in English, under "aspirational" so it should be good to read for knowledge's sake. Similarly, I've decided to read War and Peace just so I can be all "yeah, I read War and Peace". It's a BIG fucker, 1400 pages or so...that's even wrose than the overlong Order of the Phoenix. I'll eventually attempt to read it in Russian, which will probably be the same with Gogol's works (we already have read The Nose at school, so I'll try Diary of a Madman). Queen of Spades is our literature text in Russian so I HAVE to read that, I will attempt both languages over summer but it's pretty short so I should be fine. I am pretty sure that I'm dropping English but so far Paradise Lost has been awesome, so I grabbed a Penguin Classics version, and The Prince is tied with Measure for Measure but it still sounds interesting - again, recommended by Marina.
The last two books were under the slightly more 'relaxed' part of the English reading list, and The World According to Garp was specifically recommended to me by Ms Kenny; "quirky", apparently. Perfume sounds very interesting too, about a killer with a keen sense of smell but devoid of his own scent.
So, Project Summer Reading is on.
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1 bling-bling mo' ice
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[27/07/05] |
I have had a job since October.
I have been taxed since October.
I phoned the tax office today.
£200+ rebate!
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mo' ice
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[19/07/05] |
Some choice quotes from my report:
English: "Certainly, Alex's quick, witty contributions have been much valued by the set (and by us!)"
Politics: "Alex...has been an entertaining presence in the class with his ready wit and deadpan sense of humour."
Russian: "Alex makes a good contribution to oral classwork, where his dry sense of humour is also in evidence."
Maths: "Attendance has been good."
Excellent driving lesson today, too. flawless turn in the road, unassisted.
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1 bling-bling mo' ice
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[07/07/05] |
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mood |
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DEFIANT AND HEROIC |
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music |
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The Beatles - Happiness is a Warm Gun |
] |
Half a day's disruption for public transport in central London, less than 100 dead and less than 300 injured. Those fuckers are having second album syndrome. I am truly amazed that it has taken four years for London to be hit by a terrorist attack, and we're lucky that it wasn't us first like it was New York because, from what I can gather, all those contingency plans were in action as soon as people realised what was going on. Unfortunately, whereas the IRA could be talked to and bargained with, this is an enemy that's going to be a lot more difficult to overcome.
In other news, apparently Leonora thought I was gay "at first". I have therefore resolved to be more overtly heterosexual, and my first port of call is to indecently assault Leonora. I discovered this last night helping out at the new students evening at school, suited and booted for Senior Pupil duties. It was further agreed that everybody could see me having a "really beautiful girlfriend" that I would take the piss out of relentlessly, and if we ever broke up she would say "it's not u it's me babe xx" and I would say "yes it fucking well is you". So that was strange.
Excluding my overt heterosexuality assertion, I have set myself two further goals - to have passed my driving test by April, and to cover the 2012 Olympic Games as a journalist. Of course, I'm not really a very goal-orientated person and have pretty much drifted through these past 17 years so I'm not sure if it was such a great idea. 2012 and I will be 24, which will give me a grand total of 3 years to get a job as a journalist. Minus six months to get a journalism qualification...and that's 2 and a half years. Plenty for a local paper in London, I should think. Maybe even the Metro if I work really really hard.
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mo' ice
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[18/06/05] |
OH DOCTOR WHO!
i don't care about your deus ex machina, you still rule!
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mo' ice
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[06/06/05] |
what is this, help a retard day? first i spent an hour going through a gcse maths paper with my sister sans answer booklet, and now i've just had to explain to kiran how to hack her dvd player to watch some shitty made-for-channel-4 three way drama about the asian chick from ER and bend it like beckham.
new coldplay album sucks.
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3 bling-blings mo' ice
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| cocky sod |
[23/05/05] |
ring ring
me: who is it please?
foreign callcentre guy: hello is that
me: yes this is
fcg: your number has been selected to win a free mobile ph-
me: really?
fcg: yes
me: really?
fcg: yes
me: really?
fcg: yes
me: really?
fcg: do you not understand the meaning of the word yes, sir?
click
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3 bling-blings mo' ice
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[09/05/05] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Coldplay - Shiver |
] |
parachutes is such a great album and rush of blood to the head is such a not as great album and speed of sound is such a bad single i do not hold out great hope for this new one
today was a fucking AWESOME day. periods 1+2 I lost about £3 at poker and in period 3 i made it all back plus 70p profit. then at lunch i did my english essay on persuasion because it was supposed to be handed in on friday and i felt really bad about not giving it in because my teacher is like a 25 year old girl who is really excitable and emotional and i thought she might cry or yell at me. so then english rolls round and i hand it in and she's all "oh hey thx no yellow slip detention permanent record thing for you" which was nice. then i had double russian in which i had my SCARY MOCK RUSSIAN ORAL which was REALLY NOT SCARY AT ALL AND ACTUALLY FUCKING EASY. GCSE was much harder, you prepare 12 sheets of A4 and you say about 3. and then i came home and played Halo and now family guy is downloading!
i have also decided to organise a yearbook for next year as my sister got one and it's all shades of cool.
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mo' ice
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[04/05/05] |
Instead of doing my Russian revision today I played poker in the morning. I made quite a tidy profit so I wasn't too cut up about having to do the work later but I got probably my worst ever 'beat' since I started playing for money.
I'm dealt KK. I raise to 30p. All fold except Alex G (about 50p more than me in chips) and Pablo (about £3 less).
Flop: AKA
Flopped the full house, and assuming (reasonably) that neither of the other two have pocket rockets, I feel pretty fucking good. I raise to £2 to take Pablo all in, only for him to fold. I raise big because if they called a 30p raise pre-flop they probably have high cards, ie a King or, hopefully, an Ace to make them think they're on top. Alex calls after very little thought.
Turn: AKA2
Pretty much a blank as the flop was a rainbow. No flush draw, and he didn't call £2 with a straight draw. I go all in, £2.65 if I recall correctly. Alex ponders...and calls even though he knows he's beaten.
Pot size: £9.40
Alex G shows: K9KAA (Two pairs, Aces and Kings)
I show: KKKAA (Full house, Kings full of Aces)
River: AKA2A
I go from winning ten pounds to winning about 20p from Pablo's call.
Alex G shows: AAAKK (Full house, Aces full of Kings)
I show: AAAKK (Full house, Aces full of Kings)
Only 2 cards in the whole deck could have saved him. That's a 4.55% chance that I will not win the pot. And he fucking gets one. Unbelievable.
Alex G wins: £4.70
I win: £4.70
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4 bling-blings mo' ice
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[03/05/05] |
so it turns out I AM a senior pupil! mr cooper still doesn't know my name though. got an invitation to the governors' lunch after foundation day and a little sherry party; how queer.
STEPHEN TWIGG STOP SENDING ME FUCKING LEAFLETS I AM NOT ABLE TO VOTE FOR YOU SO STOP FUCKING TRYING
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mo' ice
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[28/04/05] |
"Alex Richman
Would you please come along to my room on Tuesday 3rd May at 10:50am.
Mr Cooper"
o_O i think i am on the final list of potential senior pupils
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1 bling-bling mo' ice
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| YEEEAH |
[25/03/05] |
fresh from appearing on conan o'brien and becoming mega famous, regina spektor's going on tour and she's back in london at the end of may...not just that, but tickets are less than £15 as well!
oh fuck easter have to do everything
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1 bling-bling mo' ice
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[08/03/05] |
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Ordered some prospectuses from Oxford, Nottingham, Bath, Bristol, Queen Mary, LSE and Leeds, relating to such titillating courses as Russian and Politics, Politics and Russian Civilisation, Economics and Politics, European Politics, Theology and Politics and Philosophy, Politices and Economics (PPE). It's all very exciting. And overwhelming. And FUCK SHIT FUCK.
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2 bling-blings mo' ice
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[07/03/05] |
also sam levin practically GAVE me £6 when he kept raising with Kings when I had a King high straight
BEST MONDAY EVER
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mo' ice
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[07/03/05] |
i just had my first driving lesson and the new doctor who episode has been leaked onto the internet
this is the BEST MONDAY EVERR
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mo' ice
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[28/02/05] |
I LIKED YOU BETTER WHEN YOU LIKED ME AS WELL
I LIKED YOU BETTER WHEN YOU LIKED ME AS WELL
I LIKED YOU BETTER
first driving lesson next monday!!!!
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mo' ice
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[25/02/05] |
ok so I now have a cash card dealie, which can be used at amazon.co.uk! this is the most exciting thing ever because i now don't have to carefully keep track of how much i owe others, just how much i owe myself! so i bought these to replace my earbuds for my newly purchased ipod so i don't get mugged. I've also been called by Labour and mailed by the Conservatives canvassing for my vote...even though in May i'll still be 17. Like they don't know when the election is...what a waste of manpower.
Today I was down a little in poker, but made it up with a bit of profit with some damn nice hands. Get dealt J7 spades which ain't too shabby so I see Mark's 40 all in raise pre flop. Wilson also calls. Flop comes J-7-6 with two clubs. Wilson raises me all in and I call him. Everyone turns - Mark has poket cowboys, Wilson has J-9. Thinks he's beating me with the kicker until I point out that the 7 is a second pair. Turn comes blank, and River is a King so Mark steals my 200 main pot...but I still get the side to clean out Wilson. A few hands later Wilson goes all in again, pre flop, and I'm one of about four callers. I'm dealt pocket dames, and nobody else has a pair, it's all AT or KJ. Flop comes blank blank queen and I take the pot. Then, last hand for the day and Daniel raises all in, about 110. Everyone folds, and I'm big blind so haven't seen my cards. Look down and see pocket rockets staring back at me. I call, and Daniel turns over a Jack as we go face up. I turn over an Ace. They turn over another Jack and I put on my shit eating grin as I turn over my other Ace. No Js or As and I take the pot, cash out and go. Hurrah.
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2 bling-blings mo' ice
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| a review of the film Closer by Alex Richman |
[17/01/05] |
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Watching the film "Closer" is a lot like watching the play "Closer". There are only four characters, and the narrative's time-jumping is easily identifiable as coming from a play (or book, as opposed to a screenplay anyway). Unlike the play "Closer" you are subjected to camera angles, which are frequently awful. Slow zoom-ins make you forget whether you're watching several million pounds' worth of Hollywood talent or Eastenders...and again, unlike the play, you are watching four very famous people. Four very famous people, saying fuck and cunt many times. Many, many times. People bitched about South Park, yet I haven't heard anything about this - no sex scenes, yet it's easily the filthiest (cinema release) film I've ever seen. Fuck this. Cunt that. Fuck you. Cunt me. It's every other cunting word, and not in the authentic people-do-fucking-swear way, in the cunt-fuck-haha-swearing way. It's 105 minutes of swearing and four people falling in love and fucking. And saying fuck and cunt. And swearing a lot. As there's only four characters, everyone gets a lot of screen-time and suprisingly of the 4 Clive Owen is the best; there's hope for the next Bond yet. Natalie Portman is OK, but she probably got the worst character and the worst line in the film (up there with Gigli's turkey/cunnilingus banter); Jude Law is a stringy cunt and Julia Roberts is OK as well, but Clive Owen somehow manages to shout ridiculous things and say ridiculous things and say cunt and fuck a lot but still seem a bit believable - the other three don't seem to exert the same effort, as a lot of the dialogue is incredibly forced like in Kevin Smith or Tarantino movies, where 'off-the-cuff' remarks and spontaneous conversations are clearly (and sometimes embarassingly) scripted. All in all I don't think I liked the film, but I liked the third quarter because that's where Clive Owen is in it the most being a badass. And you see a lot of Natalie Portman's ass. 6/10
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1 bling-bling mo' ice
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[12/01/05] |
| [ |
music |
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Kaiser Chiefs - Oh My God |
] |
OMG ok so I have pocket crabs left of the button and pre-flop the raise has somehow got to seventy each, and everybody's called, which is about five people. Flop comes and it's 458 rainbow. I raise 40 with absolutely nothing, and EVERYONE else folds, despite anything on the board AND any other pocket pairs practically guaranteed to beat mine, so I make about £3 without having to show. Then to top that, I find out Martin (who was on the button) had pocket crabs too, so no more 3s were coming. Amazing.
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3 bling-blings mo' ice
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| a new year's post not about new year's |
[02/01/05] |
| [ |
music |
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The Futureheads - Hounds of Love |
] |
When I first got my job I was told I would be working from 9am on Saturdays and 10am on Sundays. This gradually got earlier and earlier from the enquiry to the interview to the phone call telling me I'd got it. They also neglected to tell me it was a 3 month contract, i.e. temporary Christmas staff. The contract is up next Saturday, but I was called in and told that they would like me to stay on. "We're not keeping all the other temporary stuff, but you've just put your head down and got on with it, and haven't shown any attitude...which is rare in young people these days." She looked ready to talk about the benefits of working down t'pit, but I didn't care because it meant I was now sorted, fully self-sufficient with a few pay-packets I can now blow:
* £25.99 on a magazine subscription
* £30.99 on Pro Evolution Soccer 4 (ok I already spent this)
* £37.99 on this shirt with number 7 on the back, which will never go out of style
* £120-odd on an acoustic guitar
* £6 to go see The Editors at the Barfly on Feb 3rd. I saw "Bullets" has got onto the Xfm playlist now, so maybe they'll get a bit famous. And try and see Dustin's Bar Mitzvah, once they get a proper gig instead of this disco club night nonsense.
I still haven't read As You Like It. I really doubt I'll read it tomorrow, too. We got a widescreen TV which is ridiculously big and ridiculously great, and soon we will be getting new flooring in the kitchen to pave the way (aha) for a new fridge-freezer. And then there's the home network to reinstall, which will include getting a wireless access point for my Xbox. That reminds me, another £30 for Xbox Live. I think about money too much. That'll be taken care of soon because I'm going to get DRIVING LESSONS sorted now that my job is nailed down, and all my money will disappear as I believe petrol costs about a billion pounds per tankful. And insurance. And, you know, a car.
January will be a good month. I may start to drive, I will be able to own losers at Pro Evo 4 and get owned by losers in Halo 2, I will go and see The Mandate with my Russian class, The OC will resume (in America), 24 series 4 will start (in America), and I will begin to apply myself in Maths. Maybe.
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3 bling-blings mo' ice
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[22/12/04] |
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Our computer was broken for a few days so a guy came to fix it. Superglued something to the motherboard. Then when he started it up he looked at the desktop and said how impressed he was that I had all the best applications (mainly torrents and MP3s - and there I was worried he'd find and look down on my pornography, albums and films). And then when I asked about wireless networking for my Xbox he told me to get it chipped to download all the games for free, because "Xbox Live is crap". He looked like a gypsy.
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3 bling-blings mo' ice
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[22/11/04] |
About a month ago I got a job stacking the shelves at Matalan. When asking about vacancies I was given hours, at the interview I was given a different set and when I was offered the job I got yet another set, but I took it because I needed a job. It was 7am-11am Saturdays, 8am-12pm Sundays. That is pretty fucking early; weekdays were a lie-in. Anyways, I give it a month and decide I can't do it, I'm knackered all weekend, unsociable hours mean I can't go out for long, etc. so I ask the manager if there's any way of changing shifts. No dice. So the next day I take in my letter of resignation and suddenly "oh, you can't work the hours? How about 9am-1pm?" So now I'm working those at the weekend. Excellent.
The moral of this story is - if you want your manager to take you seriously, threaten to quit because the chances are if you're not a monosyllabic half-wit they'll do all they can to keep you.
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1 bling-bling mo' ice
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[09/11/04] |
We found out about the school magazine editor positions today - Mr Gould was originally taking on an editor and a deputy, but he ended up having two deputies presumably because he lacks a killer instinct to disappoint yet another hopeless, hapless student. Well, I went to the meeting after school and it's a room full of girls and like me, nathan and nye, and the winners are...deputy editors, Leonora and Alex. HOORAY! Wait why aren't I editor (maybe that should be why am I not editor. maybe i've just solved it)? The editor is...Rubena! Hahahah the only WASP male on the senior team. Then he gave a little speech on what we'd have to do, saying that the readership (there's a readership?) is conservative and we have to stick to certain rules, although he'd like to shake the magazine up a bit. All this time he's looking at me, and seeing as my application was just full of stupid jokes and he knows that i love making stupid jokes, he's probably picked me as a sort of school magazine revolutionary to PUSH THE ENVELOPE and SHOCK and AWE. Once a month Rubena, Leonora and myself meet with Mr Gould to discuss how things are going along. I'm not sure what we can do, the magazine's already over 100 pages and it's just FULL of shit and you can't take any of it out because then Year 9 Rugby or the Debating Society will get pissed off. Half of it's full of teachers that have left or arrived, after last summer's cull which saw practically the whole teaching fraternity jump ship.
Eminem's two new singles have been really good, maybe I should check out his album. I got an Xbox and have pre-ordered Halo 2 and am looking at getting an ethernet cable into my room for Live!, and I got great grades in my English and my Politics and it's all going swimmmmmmmingly.
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mo' ice
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[14/10/04] |
Life is good at the moment. The grades are starting to roll in, As in my first Politics essay and an A (just about kindof) in my first English Lit essay. A good mark in my Maths test. I'll now have a steady flow of income, and I can afford to spend some of my money, namely on:
Xbox
Do Me Bad Things @ Barfly in Half Term
Regina fuckin' Spektor on November 15th. This date was just announced on her site and there aren't any ticket details yet but Kiran, do you want to go?
My sister has been fairly fucking crazy about Incubus for a while now. They're 'starring' on the Halo 2 soundtrack, with a 15 minute 'rock oddyssey' spread over 4 tracks on the CD. Apparently it's playing while you play the game...erk. However, knowing I was going to get an Xbox she approaches me, telling me she's going to get Halo 2. I said I was going to, we could go halves, but she says "don't you have to buy Halo 1?". I said not really, but she insisted. So I'll get Halo 1 for like a tenner on eBay, and pay a £10 towards Halo 2 to get the special edition. What a deal. And we can play brotherly sisterly co-op and as a team on Xbox Live! What fun.
Dolbé Keates plans - Nico, Aaron and myself in a band, with Nico on bass and vocals. Are You Gonna Go My Way and another one or two...maybe Hi Ho Silver Lining?
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4 bling-blings mo' ice
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| when i was seventeen...i was underwhelmed |
[12/10/04] |
| [ |
music |
| |
kasabian - processed beats |
] |
Well it looks like I’ll be getting a job. Tomorrow I have an interview, and given that their words were “we’re always looking for new people” I can guess that it’s a shit job that people leave all the time. It’s not the shortest journey, and the pay won’t be great but I REALLY need a job and I guess I can still look for a better one. The hours are early on weekends which would mean I’d be getting up at almost the same time I do on weekdays, but I would get off before lunch everyday I think, so I would still have practically the whole weekend free. If I get it, anyway, although I doubt they need anything more than a warm body.
I casually mentioned to my parents that my Russian teacher had casually mentioned University courses and we got embroiled in a massive discussion. First of all, I have no idea how University works anyway – neither of my parents went, and the system’s been changed dozens of times since they were being schooled. I have a lot of options: English, Journalism, Law, Politics, History and Politics, Russian, Russian and something else…which is why I need advise. Except, the advise will be to do Russian because that’s the most ‘interesting’ and the easiest course to get – even at Oxbridge, it’s far easier to get a placement because there’s far less demand. But do I want to do Russian at University? Not at the moment. Politics is far more interesting, and journalism is what I’d actually like to do; is that a consideration?
Kathie was right. We’re growing up too fast. Once a job is sorted I’ll be getting driving lessons. This morning we were spoken to about exams…in the second week of October. Told about dropping AS Levels, how we can take all 4 although the school doesn’t encourage more than 3, how we can drop a subject but can’t return once the A2 courses start. All I want to do is play guitar and watch movies.
I'm also getting roughly a trillion hours of homework every week. It's probably no more than 2 a day, but considering I did none for five years that's an awful lot, comparitively. Although if I can write 2000 words on Coleridge's exploration of the relationship between intense feeling and natural surroundings in the Aeolian Harp and Frost at Midnight, I can do pretty much anything else on these AS courses. Our school network is now fully online, so not only can we acess school intranet resources, we can access our school drives and folders, and upload and download stuff. No more emailing yourself. It's fucking brilliant...I take Hogwarts for granted.
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2 bling-blings mo' ice
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| Комите́т Госуда́рственной Безопа́сности |
[26/09/04] |
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GCSE Russian seems so easy when I look back at it. It was all communication. Now, "the focus is on accuracy" which means that we have to be 100% right all of the time; every verb form, every aspect, every spelling, every case ending. It's a fucking nightmare.
It's not just that, either. Our oral topics used to be SCHOOL and FAMILY and OTHER USELESS BUT EASY THINGS. Now, we have to pick a broad subject and prepare 10 little different topics related to it, and be ready to answer any other questions as well. I'm trawling through the internet to find stuff on the KGB but everywhere seems to have just copied wikipedia's entry. I'll end up going to the library at this rate.
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1 bling-bling mo' ice
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swander's journal
