peck72: (Who Killed Amanda Palmer)
So then, what have I been up to since I was last here?

Well, I went to Dublin to see Amanda Palmer performing at the Sugar Club on 16/02/09 which was incredible. Standing in the queue beforehand I was almost having second thoughts since when I looked up and down the line I was pretty much a decade older than anyone else waiting to go in. I don't often feel my age (in my head I'll always be 14) but this was one of those moments. The club is only a small venue with rows of tables and and fixed chairs running down an incline to the stage so the fact you had several hundred people packed in like sardines added to the atmosphere (and the heat). I can't really describe the concert (these guys can though) except to say that I loved it and to show you a couple of selected clips (caution, may contain swearing), here, here, and here. That last one was her encore and was just wonderful.
So that was the 16th and than on the 17th Amanda was doing a signing at Chapters Bookstore in Dublin which is massive and has the best graphic novel section I've ever seen in a mainstream bookshop. But not only her, the signing was with Neil Gaiman as well. Nominally it was for their book 'Who Killed Amanda Palmer' (which is still awaiting publishing, I think) but was a combination of readings from the book by Neil and songs on the ukelele from Amanda finishing off with a signing for all the people there (500+ by official estimates). For more details, pictures and video footage of the event go here, as they've been much more complete than I could ever be.
All told it was a really good weekend and a treat I felt in need of having worked much too many hours over christmas and new year (and am still working now although an end is in sight).

Now I had planned to mention other stuff in catch up but it's late and I want to try and get some sleep before I'm back in work tomorrow later today.

Anyway here is the thing that got me to begin this post in the first place, a Meme from [personal profile] trixie_chick 

people who have been tagged must write their answers in their blog and replace any question that they dislike with a new, original question
tag 8 people, don't refuse to do that, don't tag the one who tagged you

1 What are you listening to right now?
All Day and All Of the Night by the Kinks

2 How do you style your hair?
It's kept short now since last years big cut although I do seem to have developed a pair of lambchop sideburns, somehow.

3 What are you wearing right now?
Jeans and shirt

4 What are you currently reading?
Jules Vernes 'Journey to the centre of the Earth'

5 Dumbest thing you've done this week?
not set my alarm yesterday and then not wake up till 11.40

6 Have you named your computer? If so what's its name?
HAL, I'm a sci-fi nerd so what did you expect?

7 Theme song playing in the background as you die?
Monty Pythons 'Always look on the bright side of Life'

8 What have you ever wanted to do in your life but never had the guts to do it?
try and make a career from photography

9 What is your all time favorite movie?
This is liable to change on any given day but for today it's going to be Akira Kurosawa's 'Seven Samurai'

10 What is your weirdest habit?
probably the one I don't realise I'm doing

11 What is your favorite color?
blue

12 How much money do you think you are worth?
priceless but if I got a pricelist from work I could probably give you a breakdown for salvage

13 What's the weirdest thing you say in RL?
most of it, I don't do conversations well

14 Which languages do you wish you spoke fluently?
welsh, to keep in better contact with mums side of the family

15 What is your biggest pet peeve?
people that turn and walk away from me while they are talking to me

16 What's your ideal weapon?
Klingon bat'leth or samurai sword

17 Who was your childhood idol?
Didn't really have many but Monkey from the tv show of the same name might come close

18 Funniest movie quote you've ever heard?
From Serenity:

The Operative
: That girl will rain destruction down on you and your ship. She is an albatross, Captain.
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: Way I remember it, albatross was a ship's good luck, 'til some idiot killed it.
Capt. Malcolm Reynolds: [to Inara] Yes, I've read a poem. Try not to faint.

19 If you were in a band, what kind of music would you play and what instrument would you want to play?
If I were in a band I'd probably be the roadie as I have the ability to play even a triangle out of tune so there is no way I'd be let near real instruments

20 Tell me something you love about the person who tagged you.
She waves her geek flag high and proud (and she's a generally cool and caring person who sends wonderful christmas cards)


Maybe more posts coming, or I may pull the plug on this LJ completely since Facebook seems to have taken over by din't of not having to write whole paragraphs there. Either way, notification will be made. Till then, lets be carefull out there.

peck72: (Default)
I should have known that as soon as I wrote that I'll update this coming weekend, there would be absolutely no chance what so ever that I would. So sorry about that.

I'll begin with the promised news. On the 7th of September I will be getting my long hair (which hasn't been cut since 2000) cut off and the beard that I've had since the age of 18 shaved off, all in the name of charity!





The cause in question is to raise funds towards building schools for the Dalit people in India. I have set up a Facebook group with more details about my temporary madness and which will contain many pictures of my hairless state after the event. Details for sponsorship are on the Facebook pages as are details of where I'll be doing this, so any visitors are welcome. If you want to know anything more about the event or more about why I'm doing this then please comment  here or e-mail me.

On other news, yesterday was the Mathew Street Festival in Liverpool which I've finally managed to get along to see. It usually seems to happen that I'm working when its on and so can't get to it. Technically,  I was working yesterday but finished at 08.00 so I was able to stay up and after a quick shower and change of clothes head back into Liverpool with Anna.
Our first port of call was the Tate Gallery on the Albert Dock for the Gustav Klimt exhibition. Really enjoyed the exhibition even if some of his more famous pieces (such as 'The Kiss') are not there because they never leave Vienna due to their fragile condition.

After the exhibition we wandered up into the centre of Liverpool to see some of the festival and to look for some more of the Superlambanana sculptures dotted around the city. The weather was perfect, so wandering from music stage to music stage amidst the crowds of people was incredibly pleasant and relaxing. It also helped that our route took us past the my favourite comics shop which meant that I could pick up the 'Brief Lives' Sandman graphic novel as my anniversary present from Anna.
On the way home, we dropped in on my sister and got to see her wedding video and look through the official photographers pictures of the day. I was horrified to see that on the video, during the ceremony, you can see me over Claires shoulder grinning like a loon. Ok, it was a very proud moment seeing my little sister getting wed but even so I could have held a little decorum, surely ;)

And so then back home and an evening catching up on tv which having been up since 4pm the previous day really was all I had the energy for.
Definitely a day very well spent.

And to finish, a meme pinched from greygirlbeast.

Go here (UK) or here (US) and see what was on the top of the charts on the day you were born and every birthday thereafter. Learn just how astrologically-musically lame your life has been. If you want, add in your own favorite No. 1 hit single of that year, wishing that your birthday had been cool enough to have that song be #1. Share your findings with your unsuspecting friendslist. Put it behind a cut.

peck72: (Scouse keyboard)
. . . but then it is an internet quiz and so it must be true ;)




Have to go get tea on soon but first a quick link to a new webcomic I started reading last weekend called Gunnerkrigg Court. It's very Harry Potter in it's set up with the exception of the main character being female, but it doesn't really suffer for that. J.K.Rowling borrowed from all over the place for her and it's not as though 'orphan child of power with a great destiny' is an original concept anyway.
That aside I'm enjoying the way the story is progressing with the occasional plot point reveal and character development amidst the  general storyline.  The art work is good with a simple style of clean lines and strong colours (I say simple, in that it's not going for a realistic look rather than it being basic because it's far better than I could ever dream of doing). the characters have something of a manga look to them but not so much that it's overdone. The overall style reminds me of one of the artists who worked on Neil Gaimans Sandman comics but of course I can't figure out which one. Should I work it out (I may have to mine Wikipedia for the answer) I'll post it here, although that would probably by for my benefit rather than yours as I guess you're not overly worried about it, are you dear reader ;)

Anyway, go take a look at Gunnerkrigg Court, it's good.

 

peck72: (Can you see it?)
Pinched (as so many things are) from [personal profile] trixie_chick

Ask me seven questions. Not just any seven questions though. No, to keep it interesting, use the seven questions as per below - just copy and paste the following, replace the blanks with something you want to know/ask (e.g., 3. Donkeys or sandcastles and why?), anything you want, personal, silly, surreal or deep, comment away and I'll answer honestly as I can! Then post this in your own LJ and see what kind of things people want to ask you!

1. What do you think of _____________ ?

2. When did you last ____________?

3. __________ or ___________ and why?

4. What did you ______________?

5. What's your favourite ______________?

6. How would you ______________?

7. Who would you most like to ________ ?
peck72: (Books rule)
Meme pinched from [profile] bwinter 

Name...

* Three books that have marked your childhood...


+ The Mr.Men series by Roger Hargreaves
+ The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
+ The Warlock of Firetop Mountain by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone

* ... and your teenagehood:

+ Dracula by Bram Stoker
+ Night Shift by Stephen King (although this could have been any of a number of his books)
+ The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

* Your three favourite books (only 3, even if it's hard!):

+ The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein
+ Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett
+ Enigma by Robert Harris

* Three books you could read again and again without growing weary of it:

+ Mort by Terry Pratchett
+ The War of the Worlds by H G Wells
+ Batman: The Killing Joke by Moore, Bolland & Higgins

* Three books you've read or are reading recently:

+ Diaries 1969 - 1979, The Python Years by Michael Palin
+ J Hudson Taylor: A Man in Christ by Roger Steer
+ To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

* Three books that you'll read soon:

+ Stardust by Neil Gaiman
+ Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
+ Making Money by Terry Pratchett

* And one special, fetish book that you'd keep with yourself all the time:

+ A Gideons New Testament


Well, that was harder than I'd expected.
peck72: (Cyborg smiley)





, you're now logged in!


Below you'll find your test result. After, continue on to your
homescreen to discover what we're about.






Spotted over at [personal profile] trixie_chick's LJ and quickly nabbed for here:













a Ninja

You scored 10 Honor, 3 Justice, 6 Adventure, and 4 Individuality!

You are a soldier of the night. You rely on no more than your cunning and your repuation to strike fear in the hearts of lord and peasant alike. You've a sense of honor, but one that comes from within, not imposed from outside.

Black clothes and shuriken for you. You're gonna do just fine.


















My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 99% on Ninjinuity
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 99% on Knightlyness
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 99% on Cowboiosity
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 99% on Piratical Bent




Link: The Cowboy-Ninja-Pirate-Knight Test written by fluffy71 on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

I do like that result, although any of the four would be cool ;)
peck72: (Cyborg smiley)
Tagged by [profile] bwinter so here is a meme for you:

YOU'RE ON MY FRIENDS LIST; I WANNA KNOW YOU... I want to know 33 things about you. I don't care if we never talk, never liked each other, or if we already know everything about each other. Short and sweet is fine... You're on my list, so I wanna know you better!


Thank you
peck72: (gorillaz)
Swiped from [livejournal.com profile] trixie_chick

You'll die from an Unlikely Illness (like the plague).

You will unfortunately succumb to a random and unlikely disease. Only to find out after death that eating more broccoli would have cured you.



'How will you die?' at QuizGalaxy.com


Hmm, could be worse. Guess I should eat more broccoli, though.
peck72: (Caitlin. R. Kiernan's Dancy Flammarion)
Pinched from [personal profile] greygirlbeast, a meme to find the soundtrack of my life:

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're drad...

the songs )


If anyone fancies any of these, e-mail me and I'll send you a copy.
peck72: (Cyborg smiley)
Now this is what I tried posting last night, but without much success. Pinched from [profile] bwinter

Greed: Medium
 
Gluttony: Low
 
Wrath: Low
 
Sloth: Medium
 
Envy: Very Low
 
Lust: Medium
 
Pride: Very Low
 


The Seven Deadly Sins Quiz on 4degreez.com

I guess it means I'm not quite as bad as I thought I might be, but there is definitly room for improvement.
peck72: (serenity)
For those of you as know her, [profile] graceunplugged has arrived safely in South Africa after her 12+ hour, 3 legged flight and is settling in to her accomodation at the local High School in Nelspruit. I'll let her recount all the details once she gets back, but till then I'll put out the occasional update if anything big happens.

It looks as though last entries big question has been answered, I'll be sticking a vamp for the time being. A job came up in the Tissues department at work and I even got to the point of beginning  to fill in  the application form when I wussed out and  filed it under 'not yet'.  When another post comes up, then maybe I'll try again but I think for the moment I'll just stick in my comfy little hole and keep my head down.
But however, this act of gross cowardice does not come without a price. If at any point I complain that I don't like my job or grumble that I've been doing it for too long then everyone reading this has the right to inflict punishment upon me and I'll leave the means to your own choosing (boy, am I going to regret that!) just make sure to leave me at least 2 out of 4 working limbs.
peck72: (serenity)
Taken from [personal profile] humglum (a maker of wonderfully fantastic doll figures)
Go to Wikipedia . Type in your birth date (but not year). List three events that happened on your birthday. List two important birthdays and one interesting death. Post this in your journal.


Events:
800 - Coronation of Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor, in Rome
1818 - The first performance of "Silent Night" takes place in the Church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria
1939 - Charles Dickens 'A Christmas Carol'  is read on the radio for the first time

Birthdays:
1642 - Sir Issac Newton, English physicist and mathematician
1944 - Kenny Everett, DJ and entertainer

Death:
1977 - Charlie Chaplin, English actor (b. 1889)

Music share

Mar. 9th, 2006 10:58 am
peck72: (Cyborg smiley)
a meme filched from [profile] bwinter:

Do you trust my taste in music? Pick one number from 1 to 2101 and I'll find the corresponding song in my playlist. I'll upload it for you to grab. When you've gotten a song from me, go post this meme in your own journal, replace the number with the number of songs YOU have so I can grab a random song from you.

I'll be trying to put any files up with yousendit but it may be a bit experimental, so bear with me.
peck72: (Good music)

Well, my shift has been a wonderfully quiet one (hopefully not speaking too soon) and so I'm getting the chance to wish everyone a Very Happy New Year!

and to put up a review of the year meme swiped from [livejournal.com profile] bwinter

 

Review of the year )



(Edit. Me and my big mouth! I got as far as 'review of the year' and the phone went. I really will never learn)

peck72: (Good music)

This caught my attention and since I've just watched 'The Matrix' again it seemed kind of appropriate.

 

SF meme )


Interesting to see how many of the (so-called) influential films I've seen and of them, how many I'd still lilke to own. but then I always was greedy ;>

On to home news, Anna and I are about to be offered the (red?) right hand of friendship at church as we have been accepted into membership.

Hmm, guess this means I'm about to become a Baptist! So far in my christian lilfe I've been non-denominational, with my church's being of an independant nature. Not that it really makes any difference but it feels a little . . . odd? Really not sure why though and it's definitly not in a bad way. I guess it's not something I'd ever really given a great deal of thought to.

Finished Neil Gaimans 'Anansi Boys' last night and have to say . . . Anansi boys review )


Now I've finished 'Anansi Boys' though, I really, really want to tell stories again. I just havn't had an original idea since about sometime in '97 and it was even longer ago that I sat down and told a group of kids a story (the best time I had doing that was telling watered down Sandman stories at a bible week in Scotland. Me and the kids had a blast). I am going to have to do something about this, I'm just not sure what? (Suggestions on a post card to . . .)

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