On the mend
Tuesday, May 12, 2009 ~ 1 comment so far
“You’re free!” he exclaimed.
And, with that, I skipped down the hall.
Well, not really, but he did say I was free, free from attending physio again as, by all accounts my knee is on the mend and there is nothing else they can do for me. He was happy that my left Vastus Medialis had improved sufficiently (you can now see it on my leg, yay) and that I can handle doing some non-impact cardiovascular exercise (bike, cross-trainer and the like).
Now it’s down to me to remember to do my exercise and to get my lazy ass off the sofa and down to the gym a few times a week.
And, because I like to plan these things, I’m aiming to go Monday and Wednesday evenings, and then at some point over the weekend. I won’t be able to do all that much at first, I’m steering clear of anything approaching impact as it’ll only cause the issue to flare up again. But if I take it slow and easy, continue to build up the muscle around my knee correctly, then maybe, just maybe, one day I will jog again. One step at a time.
The weekend that wasn’t
Sunday, May 10, 2009 ~ Comments Off
Friday night, drinks are flowing, laughter is heard and, unfortunately so are the voices of … well I won’t names names. Suffice to say there is a very good reason I dislike karoake and Friday night only served to provide me with more ammunition for my argument.
If she talks very nicely to me I might not even put said evidence up on YouTube.
We were in a small restaurant in Dumbarton called Scruples. It’s a BYOB affair, and whilst pretty basic it’s good a well deserved reputation for good food and Firday night was no different. The food was tasty.
Unfortunately the food disagreed with me and I’ve been a bit bleuch all weekend. I had planned to go into work today but never made it and whilst I did get some work done at home it’s not quite the same when you are distracted by, say, a small black cat that is determined to get up onto the windowsill and, yes, he will break the printer drawer and bend the blinds should they dare get in his road!
Wee sod.
So, as I sit here I can’t help think that my weekend has been stolen. I did manage to go out and book an induction at the gym though so at least it wasn’t a complete failure.
And to make sure I have something to show for my weekend, other than an arse shaped dent in the sofa, I’m off to install the Windows 7 Release Candidate. Wish me luck!
Lessons learned
Friday, May 8, 2009 ~ 3 comments so far
It’s all go at McLean Mansions but that’s nothing new for the first week in May with my sister celebrating her birthday on the 5th and my sister-in-law celebrating hers on the 7th. Of course that means presents and nice meals in restaurants, so we were out for dinner on Monday evening, and we’re back out tonight. Twice in one week! I know, I know, such a heady life I lead.
It’s not all fun and games though, I’ve spent the rest of my evenings either watching football, working on a client website, and royally screwing up my Windows PC (thank heavens I have a Macbook as well). Add in a fairly mental week at work and a rapidly filling list of things to do and I’ll admit that I’ve not really been fully concentrating on some things.
In other words I’ve fucked up a couple of things. But hey, a wise man once said you “learn by your mistakes”, although this stupid man is wondering how many more mistakes I need to make before being granted “wise” status.
However, in the spirit of sharing, here are a couple of the lessons learned.
* Geek warning active *
(more…)
Why can’t I own Englishmen?
Wednesday, May 6, 2009 ~ 3 comments so far
There was a bit of a stramash in the Scottish press yesterday, when a fairly high profile Reverend in the Church of Scotland coming out of the closest and declaring himself a big gay (those may not have been his exact words…). As many of you will already know, religion and homosexuality don’t mix very wel at all, with homosexuality being stated as an “abomination to God” by some.
Yes, don’t worry, it really is 2009.
Big Rab picked up on this news as well, saying:
The whole thing reminded me once again of the excellent “Why can’t I own a Canadian?” letter and the episode of the West Wing on which it is allegedly based. I don’t know if the letter is genuine but it sure covers all the relevant points.
I’m not going to repeat the entire thing here but it’s funny and pointed and you can read the full thing on his blog:
Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians?
Wolverine
Monday, May 4, 2009 ~ 3 comments so far
IMDB information
Metacritic reviews
I’m a big fan of the X-Men series of movies and I’m happy to say that, on the whole, this movie delivered pretty much what you’d expect. It was a big budget, action heavy story with hints of the softer side of the main character.
Not being a huge comic book reader, my bad I know, my knowledge of the various X-Men characters is largely pulled from the cartoon series and various articles read on-line. Couple that with, somehow, being able to avoid most of the trailers for this movie, I went into the cinema with no real idea of what to expect, other than the premise being that the movie would explore how Wolverine became the shiny clawed, sarcastic and bitter fighting machine that we all know (and secretly want to be).
I’d never really considered Wolverine as anything other than a mutant with adamantium claws so the opening montage, of Logan and his brother, ravaging their way through several wars helped fill out the realities of the character and his mutant powers. All of which was really little more than filler, of course, before we get to the modern day and the action heats up.
Long story short, Logan joins up a unit of mutants carrying out covert military operations, but soon things get out of hand and, with his brother the main protagonist, Logan decides he’s had enough and disappears. Cut to idyllic new life as a lumberjack, a sexy girlfriend, and a cabin in the wilderness.
Then cut to rather obvious murdering of said girlfriend to lure him back into the fold and, using his rage, getting him to agree to be injected with said shiny metal. With that done and an almost indestructable mutant created, all hell breaks loose. There are some twists and turns but nothing you can’t predict but hey, this isn’t a movie about being clever. This is a movie about action, fighting and mutant super powers.
And boy does it deliver on that front! One of the closing fight scenes is a high paced, mutant powered delight. In fact all of the fight scenes, from start to finish, are carried off with aplomb, the special effects mixing perfectly into the scene. Which makes some of the closing effects, simple ones like overlaying a group of mutant kids onto a backdrop of a forest, for instance, bafflingly bad.
However that’s a minor glitch in a movie which moves along fast enough to keep you engrossed, has some genuinely funny moments, and which delivers what it promises by the bucketload.
My only other complaint is one similar to the other X-Men movies, barring X-Men 3, in that you are suddenly presented with several mutants at once and don’t really get a chance to see them in action. But I guess that’s greedy of me, as there is plenty to see here. In what looks like it’s going to be a summer filled with blockbuster action movies (Transformers 2 & Terminator Chronicles to name two), Wolverine gets the balling roll big time.
Can’t Cook, Watch Cook
Saturday, May 2, 2009 ~ 2 comments so far
Weekends roll around and, these days, start in the same manner. Breakfast, coffee and whatever cooking show is on that day, Saturday Kitchen or Something for the Weekend.
Rarely do I awake at noon, hungover and with little thought for much else other than Irn Bru and a bacon roll. Even as I type this, Saturday Kitchen is on and the Two Fat Ladies are baking cakes. How very middle-age of me!
It’s not that I do much in the way of cooking or baking myself. I should, I can, but I don’t. It’s yet another item on the list of Things Wot I Should Do More.
However, tomorrow morning I will be challenging this perception. No, I won’t be doing any cooking, I’ll be hungover as I’m off out for a Stag Day; paintballing this afternoon then vodka bar later on.
If I’m still alive tomorrow that is…
Wood and steel
Friday, May 1, 2009 ~ 2 comments so far
Playing with the Camerabag app on the iPhone, which has some nice effects that really lift some of the photos, like this one.
Hoping to take a photo every day this month, using my iPhone (don’t worry I won’t post them all here), to help me learn how to get the best from it.
And I probably shouldn’t tell you I was sitting on the toilet when I took this…