Mumbl

Traumatic Disordered Post Stress

2007-02-03T05:14:39Z

Another year, another update! *cough*

Major developments:
++ New Job
+ New owners for flat
+ Running Vista RC1 (for a lark)
+ Now investing time in World of Warcraft
- Flatmate will not shut up about World-of-Fucking-Warcraft
-- Car Scrapped, now 'Carless'..
- which means public transport everywhere..
+ but this is CHCH, so it's at least well organised.

Movies seen:
++ The Prestige - Batman is a magician and so is Wolverine!!1
+ The Departed - Great, but already seen the original, so not much new.
+ Children of Man - Disappointing ending, but great a ride.
+ Deja Vu - Deja Vu (har)

Geek Spendings:
Wii (with Sports pack-in)
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
2 x Tickets to Video Games Live
WarioLand 4 (GBA)
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (DS import)
World of Warcraft (the first hit was free courtesy my flatmate)
NetGear WRG614 Router

So I had a great time in Aussie and learned much about the way they do things in the Libraries over there... but I've had to explain this to so many people now that I just can't be bothered anymore. So ask me in the street or something, or email me, or plead in a comment below here. "For all intents and purposes it was an amazing experience!" and that's that.

X-mas was good; nice to go and see all the folks up in Auckland and jam with my uncles on SingStar Legends after 'a couple'. I was only up there for two nights before coming to ground once again at work on the 27th, so hurrah for stat days!

I'll be up again soon enough though, for a decent week of exposure, then down to Welly for VIDEO GAMES LIVE! YEAH ROCK ON WOO AWRIIIGHT!

After seeing Tenacious D live at the town hall three weeks ago (which was great despite The Press' curt writeup the next day), VGL will be a good continuation of the concert vibe I've now caught. The interactive part sounds a bit knobby, has potential I guess, but the music (and prizes) are what I'll be there for.

Still holding out for BioShock, and hoping that my PC will be able to handle it in 1280x1024 without crippling issues when it arrives. I just can't stand playing games in anything lower than that, since LCD tech makes it looks all... fuzzy. I guess I'll lower the Video settings and be pay a visit to Legoland then. On a side note, System Shock 2 Co-op is great fun to play, even if it was an afterthought. Have tried it in Vista (RC1 mind), with limited success, so it's back to XP for that gem.

Oh yeah, my new job: I start in two days time, in a full-time capacity as a Reference Librarian! Been a long time coming, and I've had alot of support from colleagues throughout the network, so it's going to be awesome. I make more money hourly, which is amplified by the extra hours, plus I'm still able to head off on my month-long holiday in feb. Nice!

Disturbing report: I was waiting by the Avon early on a saturday morning, and the ducks were just getting up and about. A wee duckling was meandering on the bank near it's mum, when a seagull swooped by and snatched it up by the neck. Said seagull then landed further away with prey in beak, and once the duckling had ceased struggling from its no doubt broken neck, began.. eating it. Fucker.

bob_e @ 2006-10-22T02:17:00

2006-10-22T02:30:46Z

Day Eight!

Well, since the last post we've performed our team presentation just once, which went quite well by all indications! We did go a *little* bit over the 20 minutes alotted, but we're going to be slimming it down in time for the district conferencein just under a week.

After the evening of our presentation, we headed out to Bowral, Mittagong. I stayed with Brian and Judy in a very flash house overlooking the valley below (well, if it weren't for a couple of trees). My vocational visit consisted of meeting and talking to the staff of Bowral's public library (one of three branches in the Wingecarribee District Libraries) and I made some more notes about things they do there. I also looked around some local book stores, and we all had a chance to say something about ourselves at another Rotary club meeting which was attended by Bowral, Mossvale and Berrima members. No presentation this time, just a quick summary about ourselves and what we do.

I gotta go! I'm now in Gerringong, and I'll post more later. Seeya!

Day Three

2006-10-16T09:14:58Z

Day Three

So, Vocational day, where to begin...

Got up at 7am and had a nice, healthy breakfast of fruit, and honey on toast. Then we headed out at around 8.50 to Kippax Library, where I met with some of the staff there and was given a tour of the library's layout. After that I met with the ACT Libraries Manager, and we discussed all things circulation, distribution, and policies. She also mentioned that she had visited Christchurch Libraries earlier on in the year, and had been to South, Upper Riccarton and Parklands during her visit! It's a small world I guess, and we went on to talk about things such as their recent email notification system (which we have had for a while), and their upcoming SMS notification system (which is, lets face it, the next logical step). This is something I will raise on my return to Christchurch, since it could help hopelessly mobile-addicted people all over the city keep track of their reserves and late books... though I'm not sure how readily this could be implemented given the differences in our backend software. Meh, we'll see.

Other than this, I had a look around a few shops and tried Stollen bread (but it was paid for, lol-z0r) which was delicious, and also visited Halconnen Library for a browse. It was quite small for what I expected a central city library to be, but it'll be moving location soon, so no doubt it will grow in size then.

I'm sorta looking for a digital camera while I'm over here, so any input would be appreciated brand/model wise. Something around 4MP minimum, 3X optical zoom, preferably with a decent amount of onboard memory..?

That's all for today!

Day one and two

2006-10-15T11:23:08Z

Day One

The trip over went well, with only one altercation at Sydney airport. One of our number was detained for, erm, pushing some of *our* luggage along on *her* trolley (one trolley each for a single bag or two is slightly excessive). Clearly, protocol demanded a trip to the Yellow Gate once it was discovered that we had paintings in one of the boxes, and time was wasted proving that they were indeed artworks and not illegal immigrants (or something).

Arriving in Canberra, we were greeted by a comittee of people and our Gininderra hosts, but not our luggage, no! That would arrive much later in the evening just before the barbeque came to a close.
Reunited with our undergarments and fancy suits, we each headed off to our alotted homestays, and I got to bed around 11pm Canberra time (about 2am NZ).

Day Two

Up at 6am, headed off to a busy day looking around the pretty sites of Canberra; visited 'Floriade', a floral trip around the world, which had all manner of stalls and attractions. I bought some Rum 'n Raisin fudge, (bringing my total spending thus far to AUS$7.50) and marvelled at a mechanical brass band that both captivated and scared me at once. It was music played according to a stream of punch-cards, which while sounding very convincing, was more than a little odd without actual people involved.

After that, we visited a monument that was also a musical attraction, albeit played by a living, breathing musician:
The National Carillon

The structure itself is pretty interesting on the outside (we didn't strike a tour day), and there was live feed from the Carillonist's (?) chair which gave you a good idea of how the damn thing is played; with great gusto. That said, the music itself was noticeably off-key to my ear, but I guess 55 bells only go so far..?

Finally, I visited Mount Ainsley and looked out over Canberra and the seat of Autralian Parliament. Very nice view, but better at night when it is all lit up I'm told.

Tomorrow it's off for a vocational day, and I'll be working at a few Libraries in and around the city. The National Library comes later, which will be the most interesting, it seems!

bob_e @ 2006-10-13T22:41:00

2006-10-13T22:43:39Z

I'm off to Australia, and I hope to post a few updates here each week to keep folks informed!

So, erm, stay posted for more.

Refresher Course

2006-08-16T11:41:46Z

New Flat! (I'll pretend this is the most important thing)

I'm in a new location now with friend Ben, and all is going well so far. Moving went remarkably well, what with said flatmate's girl-friend helping out with a trailer for the big furnitures. Things like the couch, dresser, side-table, computer desk, etc. Since I felt it was my turn to be 'the responsible/liable one', I've slapped my name on all the bills and take care of all that official stuff. The bloke whom acts as our landlord is a down-to-earth bloke, very straight-forward and friendly; basically have the rent in on time, no crazy loud parties or Multiple Kitten summonings.

We are situated a reasonable walk from the centre of town now, which is much closer than in St Albans, not that I've attempted it yet on account of the harsh southern winter. On that note: we just bought a fridge, which now means less effortless-and-getting-old pasta creations, and more dairy/fresh produce/meat meals! Ah Icecream, my old friend, welcome home.

The Computer!
Friends hoodooyoudo and Steven gave me a few useful ideas for my new PC, which I now proudly type this entry up on. Relatively cheap and packed with a helping of grunt, this little Small Form Factor beauty caters to all my gaming and multimedia needs! In particular, the Pentium D 805 was a stroke of cash-saving genius in particular, since I've overclocked it to a reasonable 3.2Ghz, with 2.66Ghz being 'the ususal'. This was a bit frustrating initially, but by increasing the default voltage to RAM and CPU, I've found this to be a good middle-ground between stock and stupid speeds. Oblivion plays all pretty and smooth, and I expect this to last for all new games at least until the end-of-year releases.
PC Gaming: Cough up the Dough, you Tech Whores!

The Gaming!
Finally: a fully playable (as far as I know/care) Sega Saturn Emulator! My god, do you know how long the wait has been? No? Legend of Thor, Mystaria, Dark Saviour, Shining Force-freaking-III!! Now I can finally play them all once again without having to rely on dodgy old hardware and import/memory requirements. It has sound, full speed, DirectInput support, and is documented in Japanese! 優秀な仕事の! SSF rocks.

So aside from the aforementioned Oblivion, Legend of Thor is my game of choice currently. The handhelds aren't getting much of a look-in at all, least of all the poor PSP. Sony may have convinced me to buy (from a friend) their latest little piece of movie-playing eyecandy, but $1200 for the PS3? No. Fuck Off.
It's a refreshingly simple Wii for me ('hurhur.' - A Guy), and maybe a 360 later on down the track when I get over the brand revulsion/limited 1st party game catalogue.
$1200 people, that's $500 too much for a console controller with tilt technology, or for a console in general. How much will the games cost to fund such a beast?!

I'm still actively applying for jobs in the Library, and have been for a couple of interviews, but no success as yet. Admittedly, the last one didn't go so well as I had hoped, what with my 'bravado and improvisation' method falling flat on its face once my mind duly emptied in the opening moments. Maybe the original Plan 'A' next time: 'prepare and relax'. Could help.

I'll be visiting Hanmer Springs this weekend, which I am very much looking forward to. A good friend said she would provide road-trip musics, after already figuring out that a shuttle/bus was cost-prohibitive in comparison to the good old-fashioned, passenger-funded JeremyCar Express. I shall not call my vehicle 'reliable', 'efficient' or 'a bargain at the time', for fear that it will promptly renounce any given two of those titles halfway up the coast. On a shit day outside Cellphone reception. But it does still go when I fill it up with my hard earned money, and that is all I ask of it. But hey, non-crackly stereo speakers would be nice.

More on the trip later!

A sequel to the power of X!

2006-05-30T01:38:24Z

Where X = 'lacklustre'. Ouch!

X-Men 3: The Last Stand Reviews

The action was there, the newcomers were well cast, Storm gets better at acting somehow... but it was still a letdown. Juggernaut was okay: "You can't stop me! I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!" (unfortunately, she does), but the movie itself was pretty lame in comparison to the last two outings.

The setup is good: There's an inject-able cure for the mutant gene, which has sprung from one very special child who can nullify the effects of the gene within a certain proximity to himself. This is good news for some, who would be more than happy to shed their slimy/furry/life-draining 'gifts'. However other mutants (who can for instance manipulate metal, polymorph, or manipulate fire), don't really like the idea of the G-Man having the capability to normalize you with a quick jab. So basically, the chase is on for both the X-Men and Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants to track down this kid before it all gets crazy-nuts and turns into a full-scale genetic war.

Unfortunately, this doesn't save it from the man who gave us Rush Hour and Red Dragon. Sure, it was a rollicking fun ride with Wolverine, Beast and Dark Phoenix slashing/pounding/discombobulating shit up, but there was a major lack of humanity and gravity to the whole thing. You don't really care about the characters as much as the last two (and if you didn't, well, you might even resent them now), and it feels like a sour ending to what could have been the best comic book trilogy in recent memory.

Ahh, that feels better now that it's out of my system.

On the upside, I can now look forward to Superman Returns, which has Singer at the helm. He made the last two X-Men movies what they were (for better, not worse it seems), and looks to give top treatment to the Man of Steel in a couple' months time.

Also, this was a good laugh:
Blue Sky in Games!

So much things to say

2006-05-15T12:14:55Z

It is May now, and the fact that the year is almost half over is somewhat unsettling. I still have a few things to achieve, as per my goals made at Outward Bound. Some of them have not eventuated out of necessity, while others I have managed to put off quite well up until now. But no more! It is time I took action, and all that good stuff. I'll get back to my fitness regimen, continue looking for new work, and get a Full driving license (finally).

Now, apart from all that, I've managed to acquire a Philips 170B6CB 17" LCD Monitor. It's pretty smart in black, sporting a handy USB port on the side, an 8ms response time and supporting DVI-I input. I could have done without the sad, tinny-sounding little 2W speakers, but they serve as easier access for my headphones. I have to play all my games in 1280x1024 now, but that's a small price to pay for something that is much easier on the eyes, energy-efficient, and less desk-consuming. CRT may still have its uses, but I need none of them anymore it seems!

I'll be traveling up to Auckland in June visiting friends and whanau, and will be lugging this box up as well, to set up for one of my parents. I'll be stopping by a friend's place first, to indulge in a little LAN gaming and file-swapping, but then it's off to greener pastures (?) and I'll be investing in a Shuttle PC somewhere down the line. Expect an update before then, as for a while I will be without a computer at all, save basic emailing from work.

Specifically for BurningSol:

I ended up as Pestilence!

1. Ginger Ale and Milk. 'Perfick!
2. I Geek out about certain things, but occasionally treat those who do likewise with distaste.
3. Always wash my hands before lunch after handling books. Filthy public...
4. Very careful to enunciate words correctly (most of the time)
5. I crack cheesy jokes to improve the mood of others in dire situations (not sure if this works at all)
6. I own a GameBoy, Gameboy Advance, Nintendo DS, PSP, Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo GameCube and Sony Playstation. Oh, and a PC with various emulators. Gaming a go-go-nuts!

Ahh, that was fun. In the words of the late, great Edward R. Murrow, "Good night, and Good Luck." (great movie, that)

Remember, remember, the.. erm, 3rd of May? No, wait, 12th of August? Oh, I forget...

2006-04-11T12:10:45Z

Another month, another update.

I've had the fortune of paying to see some good movies recently, V for Vendetta and The Inside Man. Both are great viewing in their own ways, V for its comic-book appeal and excellent performances all round; Inside Man for its unusual take on the typical 'heist' movie and incidental humour. But don't just take my word for it, oh no! Visit The Onion A.V. Club for previously vetted reviews that I find align with most of my opinions:

Favorable:
V for Vendetta
The Inside Man

Rotten Tomatoes has a good balance of reviews, for those who don't wish to line the pockets of the communist cinema plutocrat scum:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/v_for_vendetta/

Saves me a whole load of typing, that does!

Cinema aside, I had a good weekend up in Wellington at the start of the month, catching up with my good friend dreamer, and in turn meeting some of the friends he has made up there himself. Street Fighters were played, curry was consumed, and I got to play two distinctly different Megaman games. Well, only as 'distinctly different' as Megaman games can be.
Which is to say 'not much at all'.
But Maverick Hunter X at least offered a big incentive: the ability to play as a previously unexplored character, with their own storyline and an arsenal that puts X's to shame at least 3 times over. Winnah! Rockman Rockman (ugh) does the same thing, only the eight bosses just use their signature attack and it feels a little limp in comparison.

Other news: I went to a 20th Party recently and was instructed to bring along 'a spare pair of trousers and a shirt' for the host's favorite game. Upon inquiring as to the nature of said game, their reply included 'Don't worry, it's not kinky'. This did not so much quell my suspicions, as heighten their pitch and volume in my head.

In the end the game was never played, and I surprise myself by being oddly unsatisfied by this sinister loose-end.

Onwards and Upwards

2006-03-15T10:23:02Z

Over the last few weeks, I've been applying for a couple of jobs that have been on offer in the Library. The most recent, as a Reference Librarian, was unsuccessful - but I did get alot of positive feedback on the interview, and what I need to work on. I pretty much need to spend more time on the reference desk, answering queries and digging up information. To do this, I need to get some full-time work at a community Library, so I'm keeping my eye out for anything along those lines from now on.

Other than this little reality check, I've had a great time catching up with what's been on at the cinema; I watched Good Night and Good Luck with a friend from work, then The Producers, and most recently Aeon Flux on Saturday. It was a great popcorn movie with a neat twist to keep things fresh, and had some good 'ol sci-fi wierdness inherited from the source material.

Other news; I am considering selling my PC and invest in a Notebook of some type. The digital kind, not a 1B5 or anything. I figure it's time I un-tethered myself from my desk at home to travel a bit more and visit distant, less familiar flat surfaces.
Mostly though, I find home distracting for my study, since 90% of it is online-based. I'm considering a Dell, maybe a Toshiba, or even a PowerBook*. Suggestions welcome.

*I know a certain someone just felt Hell's temperature drop sharply.

Great Scott! This is heavy...

2006-02-24T04:41:08Z

At the urgings of a friend, I am back posting here in LiveJournal.

It has been quite some time since I last posted, and it also seems that my page has developed an odd error. No matter, so long as these words can still be read it's a-okay.

I am no longer in 'The Big City', having moved down here to Christchurch in early 2004. Over two years I've been down here... wow, time flies. I am gainfully employed at the Christchurch City Libraries as a Network Library Assistant, which means I travel from Library to Library, plying my trade for the money I need to survive on the stree... Ahem. Basically, I fill in for people who are away on holiday/at meetings.

I also have a vested interested in a certain girl, go out for drinks regularly each week, read alot of books, and *still* enjoy playing video games alot. So, life as usual I suppose.

More complete updates later!

(Interesting Title goes here, I guess)

2003-01-13T11:34:44Z

Christmas has once again come and gone, and I've managed through much effort to avoid getting out of Auckland. Because of course, there's no place I'd rather be than right here in the scant time I have off from work over the holiday period. Nope.
Mt Maunganui? Bah!
Wellington? Humbug!
Tramping in the Waitakeres? I think not, my frivolous friend!

No sir, I'd rather be here in the heart of the smelly, noisy, busy city with all the crap weather to boot!

At least I plan to move out of this town towards the end of the year. I've lived here all my life and I think it's about time I saw more of NZ before I head off overseas. Namely, I'm off to Wellington to study with a couple of friends. It should prove a great time, but more importantly a change from the only city I've really known the past 22 years. Recently I've had the yearning to go tramping, or for a hike in the Waitakeres. I suspect it's because I'm bored mindless by the city now, having been exposed to it quite alot now that I live here.

Once I manage to get some more time off work (later this year), I'll head down to Welly and look around a bit. Everyone I know says it's a great place, so I figure it'll be time well spent. Maybe I'll find some bushwalks to go on while I'm down there.

On another note, I've been neglecting quite a few good friends of late, so I'm going to try and catch up with a couple of them this weekend. I'll have to remember to get a present, since I received one quite unexpectedly from them leading up to christmas. And I thought the stupid season was over...

Anyway, hope 2003 will be a good year for you, and goodnight!

- Jeremy

Update the Third

2002-12-18T22:27:44Z

Shock, horror... two updates within the space of a week?
I must be bored!

The Two Towers made it's big entrance last night at the Civic in town, and now everyone at work (well, two people anyway) can't stop talking about it. I don't blame them, I'd be spilling the beans if'n I'd gone, but looks like I'll have to go see it with everyone else and their bloody Nokia interrupting the good scenes.

Is it me, or are phones on during movies now deemed 'okay' or something? It seems to me that it's happening all too often during a flic, and the person responsible is not being hauled to the back and forcibly strapped to a chair while '3,001 Ringtones through the Ages' is being played into their skulls via a pair of headphones. It's a crime to have a phone go off during a movie, simply put. Not as bad as burning a house down, but no-one is stupid enough to do that when there's a room full of people surrounding them, right?

A friend of mine had a very good idea to solve this problem; and I think I'll take it just a little further for humourous effect.
Basically, there would be a dead-zone in the actual cinema for cellphone traffic. You can still call and text friends in the lobby, but while you're watching the movie, your cellphone will be all on it's own... no signal for you, ya little bugger! A-hahahahahaaaa...

But I digress. My friends idea, while effective and subtle to a point, lacks the brute force required to bring an end to the cellphone-ringing-during-the-movie outrage. I propose that an armed guard is stationed above the audience in a balcony, stealth camoflaged (all he has to do is wear a black shirt really, it's pretty dark) and armed with a tazer. No, make that an EMP rifle. (So what if they haven't invented it yet? I figure will all the millions they make off popcorn, Village could invent one if they put their cash into it.) This way, whenever some git gets the hit from a random Boy band beeping away 40 minutes into the movie, the guard will extinguish the digital flame of the handheld beast with his righteous cannon of electromagnetic *justice*!

I think I'd better stop typing now. Getting all worked up.

Mega 2002 Special Turbo Edition EX 100% Good Update

2002-12-12T07:29:37Z

Well now! Seems I've been neglecting this blog, like so many others... (well, one).

So, this will be quite an update as far as change is concerned. First off, I'm no longer living at home anymore. Yep, I've moved up (this is debatable) in the world, and am now flatting with two friends in the city. It's of course costing me alot of money, so I don't have much to spend on myself anymore. Apart from the essentials of course, like fuel for the car, food for the week, etc. But it's an important lesson on living on your own...(blahblahblah)

It's odd coming home from work to.. well.. what essentially feels alot unlike home. Sure, I've got all the stuff that makes me feel at home... like the bed, cabinet, PC, books etc.; but I'm still not used to it. Fact is, I've never been here an entire day. I'm either at work most of the day, or visiting friends on the weekend. Must try to stay here longer... I get the feeling I'd get bored pretty quick though.

Otherwise... I've been at my job for around three months now, only feels like one! This means I'll be getting a raise at some point soon... just in time for the end of christmas. Bugger.

I'm looking forward to The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, like any good cinema-goer should do. Thing is, I've never read the books, and... Crap, Obsessed LOTR fan coming!

First post

2002-11-09T22:45:56Z

This is my first post, which will hopefully create some sort of interest from friends I know to come visit and read about what's happening with their mate Jeremy. Of course, this is mainly for folk who don't get to see me much, thus crave details on how my life is progressing. Yes, that's you! No, wait, come back...!

Anyways, this weekend has so far been quite good. I went out on Friday to a friend's 21st Birthday party, and much fun was had. There were one or two hiccups, but oherwise myself and the others, including of course the birthday girl, had a great time. I'd go into detail, but that's hardly neccessary.

Last night was just a case of bumming around and doing bugger all. I caught up with a few friends and played Starcraft LAN, then finished up with a bit of CounterStrike, which ended the evening on a losing note for the poor (??) Terrorist side (myself and Ben).
Ah well, CS sucks anyway! *GrizzleMoanWhinge...*

Back to work tomorrow... ugh. This whole Full-Time thing sure grates on your nerves alot... but it pays pretty damn well. Guess that's the tradeoff, time for money.
Personally, I preferred 'Time to do what I want' to 'Money to do what I want', but then money buys cool stuff and pays bills.

Well, this is me signing off, I hope to remember to update again at some point. Carl, that's your job. Hehehe...

- Jeremy