Not much to report from geekville as I have been involved in a single project at work for the whole week.
Although....having had to write at least two leaving cards this week I find myself wondering if there is anyone on the face of the planet who doesn't face writers block when faced with one.
The card has always been around several other people before it gets to you and the usual suspects are all taken.
You are forced into the predicament of choosing either to:
a) write something that you think is funny but which actually makes you sound like a dork. Regular readers of this blog will observe that this doesn't overly bother me.
or
b) write something bland, banal and inoffensive which implies that you actually hated the person who is leaving all along.
I'm sure that William Shakespeare had this problem and would hide behind the photocopier whenever Susan from accounts came around with a card and a jingling envelope.
(Notice in this that my lack of awareness is coupled with a shallow understanding of the technological development of 16th century Britain).
Blessed are the Geek!
Friday 28 September 2007
Monday 24 September 2007
'Autumnal' is a nice word, so is 'meridian'...
T-minus 362 days until the big day....
Well, it appears that I've got my wish and autumn is upon us....
(My sister has recently revealed to me that 'autumnal' is her favourite word. I have to admit that it's a good word although personally I've always had a soft spot for 'meridian').
Had my first opportunity to legitimately wear my new winter coat today and have to admit that it felt good. Gloves were, unfortunately, not quite such a legitimate option and so my not-so-tiny hands were frozen as I awaited my commuter train this cold September morning.
I've spent a quiet weekend whilst Tallulah and I replenished our meagre store of groceries - having largely survived on fast food and the more experimental end of my cookery repertoire since we got back from Amsterdam.
Biggest trauma of the weekend came when I had to stop myself purchasing a large scale Cyberman model that had been reduced at TK MAXX on Saturday (curse myself for having the strength to resist some Sci-Fi tat). I consoled myself with the thought that the 14 points of articulation it possessed is not so much (I believe that I have at least 44).
Tallulah had a similar traumatic experience when faced by a large scale David Tennant doll in Tesco and had to rationalise her rejection on the basis that he was pigeon chested (the doll, not David Tennant)
Film recommendation of the weekend would be 'Run Fatboy Run' which is reasonably amusing and deserves to be seen if only because it involves a) Dylan Moran's bottom and b) a bakery called 'Libby's Lovely Buns'.
I shall end this post now before it probes even more posteriors.
Blessed are the Geek!
Well, it appears that I've got my wish and autumn is upon us....
(My sister has recently revealed to me that 'autumnal' is her favourite word. I have to admit that it's a good word although personally I've always had a soft spot for 'meridian').
Had my first opportunity to legitimately wear my new winter coat today and have to admit that it felt good. Gloves were, unfortunately, not quite such a legitimate option and so my not-so-tiny hands were frozen as I awaited my commuter train this cold September morning.
I've spent a quiet weekend whilst Tallulah and I replenished our meagre store of groceries - having largely survived on fast food and the more experimental end of my cookery repertoire since we got back from Amsterdam.
Biggest trauma of the weekend came when I had to stop myself purchasing a large scale Cyberman model that had been reduced at TK MAXX on Saturday (curse myself for having the strength to resist some Sci-Fi tat). I consoled myself with the thought that the 14 points of articulation it possessed is not so much (I believe that I have at least 44).
Tallulah had a similar traumatic experience when faced by a large scale David Tennant doll in Tesco and had to rationalise her rejection on the basis that he was pigeon chested (the doll, not David Tennant)
Film recommendation of the weekend would be 'Run Fatboy Run' which is reasonably amusing and deserves to be seen if only because it involves a) Dylan Moran's bottom and b) a bakery called 'Libby's Lovely Buns'.
I shall end this post now before it probes even more posteriors.
Blessed are the Geek!
Thursday 20 September 2007
Anti (or Ante) Wedding Anniversary
Hurrah, hurrah for today is my Anti Wedding Anniversary.
I feel I should stress here that I do not mean Anti Wedding in the way that one is Anti-smoking or Anti-drinking.
I mean anti in the way that Antimatter is the equal and opposite of matter for today is one year or 366 days until Tallulah and I get married!
(This is probably an unsound analogy in physics terms and if there are any Quantum Physicists reading this I heartily apologise - while at the same time asking why the hell you're reading this and not developing warp drives or finding a way to accurately calculate restaurant bills).
Perhaps Ante-Wedding Anniversary is a better term.
You may be able to tell from this that I have already imbibed more than enough champagne (it doesn't take much) and are about to depart for happy sleepy land.
Apparently the first Wedding Anniversary is paper and so on this Ante-Wedding Anniversary day Tallulah and I should (by the laws of physics) take a piece of paper off each other.
Anyway, here is the Geek starting our official wedding fund:
and here is the geek trying a tricky backwards starting the wedding fund manoeuvre...
Here is a photo of Tallulah starting the wedding fund in a more sensible way...
Blessed are the Geek!
Tuesday 18 September 2007
Amsterdamned Part Two....
Where was I? Oh yes, I was over here in the corner (in the spotlight and very probably losing my religion into the bargain).
As I was saying (before I was so rudely interrupted by the need for sleep) Tallulah and I have recently returned from a trip to the beautiful city of Amsterdam.
While there we visited a great many famous sights including the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh museum and the moving (and also surprisingly hopeful) Anne Frank House. A substantial amount of eggs and cheese were also consumed during the visit - these are apparently the cornerstones of Dutch cuisine which has led me to theorise that the Dutch are actually descended from the Welsh.
(Further evidence for this theory can be found in the fact that the Netherlands, alone amongst its European neighbours, produces a large number of rugby players and male voice choirs.)
As I was saying (before I was so rudely interrupted by the need for sleep) Tallulah and I have recently returned from a trip to the beautiful city of Amsterdam.
While there we visited a great many famous sights including the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh museum and the moving (and also surprisingly hopeful) Anne Frank House. A substantial amount of eggs and cheese were also consumed during the visit - these are apparently the cornerstones of Dutch cuisine which has led me to theorise that the Dutch are actually descended from the Welsh.
(Further evidence for this theory can be found in the fact that the Netherlands, alone amongst its European neighbours, produces a large number of rugby players and male voice choirs.)
I would now like to present to you a photograph entitled: "The importance of not building a house when you have partaken of too much Dutch Gin". This will give you a flavour of our holiday in Amsterdam.
Monday 17 September 2007
Amsterdamned!
I want to tell you a story about tulips.
Once upon a time there was an old Dutch man who grew the most fabulous tulips. The other tulip growers were jealous of his abilities and of the fabulous tulips he grew and so they constantly pestered him for his secret.
After many years one of the other tulip growers, let's call him Frederick (although his name was Maximilian) decided to discover the secret of these masterful blooms for himself and so he followed the old man out to the tulip fields and watched what he did.
When the old man arrived at the fields he went into a rickety shed which was full of cages. The cages were all full of hamsters and the old man would pull out half a dozen of the fattest of these, stuff them in a blender and turn it on. After turning the defenceless little rodents into puree he would take the resulting gloop and spread it on the tulip fields.
The horrified Frederick witnessed all this and ran back to the other tulip growers to report.
"What is the old man's secret?" they asked Frederick "Why are his tulips so great".
Frederick replied "I'm afraid that the tulips we grow will never compare with his, because his tulips come from Hamster-Jam!"
(roll of drums and strike on the cymbal)
All of which is a very drawn out way of saying that Blessedarethegeek and Tallulah have just returned from a week in the beautiful city of Amsterdam.
More on this in the next post.
(and can I take this opportunity to say that recently a lot of people in what we term consensus reality have mentioned that they read this blog - the fools - but don't ever post comment. To these people I say: please do comment, even if it's to say that the blog is rubbish. Obviously I can't take criticism or anything, but you should know this by now).
Sunday 9 September 2007
Geeks of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your lightsabers!
Greetings.
I want to draw your attention to a very old problem that we've not yet been able to sweep from our society.
The problem is called geekism.
Many other isms - racism, sexism ageism - are thankfully in decline as people are finding their age-old prejudices challenged on a regular basis.
Unfortunately it is still socially permissible to discriminate against people on the basis that they play dungeons and dragons, are able to recite obscure Doctor Who plot points from memory and know how to do a Vulcan salute.
I'd hoped that we'd got over this sometime in the nineties with the cross over success of the X-Files and (more recently) Harry Potter and Heroes perhaps indicating to people that genre is not without merit, but it still seems to be a problem in some sectors. I've encountered at least two instances over the past week when the old jokes have been trotted out in the media - i.e. geeks have no girlfriends, geeks all live with their mothers etc.
Had this been any other minority then the broadcasters in question would have been castigated for their stereotyping - but not with anti-geekism.
Like any despised minority we have our meeting places - Gamestation and Forbidden Planet being two of the most important - but we don't yet have our own subculture.
We need geek newsletters that list geek clubs
We need more geek-friendly pubs and b&bs and, in larger cities, geek villages.
We need more prominent celebrities to out themselves on national TV admitting that they've been living a lie and are actually fans of Babylon 5 and Blakes 7.
We need geek pride weekends and geek pride marches in which we walk down the street, humming the imperial theme to Star Wars (You know - it goes DUM DUM DUM DUMDEE DUM DUMDEE DUM)
Women's rights and gay rights have come on so far in recent years but geek rights are, as yet, not recognised in this country.
So I say to you all: let us rise forth from our hidden places, take up our lightsabers and sonic screwdrivers and march on Number 10 in order to force Mr Brown to make Britain a geekier place!
Say it once, say it loud - I'M A GEEK AND I'M PROUD!!!
I want to draw your attention to a very old problem that we've not yet been able to sweep from our society.
The problem is called geekism.
Many other isms - racism, sexism ageism - are thankfully in decline as people are finding their age-old prejudices challenged on a regular basis.
Unfortunately it is still socially permissible to discriminate against people on the basis that they play dungeons and dragons, are able to recite obscure Doctor Who plot points from memory and know how to do a Vulcan salute.
I'd hoped that we'd got over this sometime in the nineties with the cross over success of the X-Files and (more recently) Harry Potter and Heroes perhaps indicating to people that genre is not without merit, but it still seems to be a problem in some sectors. I've encountered at least two instances over the past week when the old jokes have been trotted out in the media - i.e. geeks have no girlfriends, geeks all live with their mothers etc.
Had this been any other minority then the broadcasters in question would have been castigated for their stereotyping - but not with anti-geekism.
Like any despised minority we have our meeting places - Gamestation and Forbidden Planet being two of the most important - but we don't yet have our own subculture.
We need geek newsletters that list geek clubs
We need more geek-friendly pubs and b&bs and, in larger cities, geek villages.
We need more prominent celebrities to out themselves on national TV admitting that they've been living a lie and are actually fans of Babylon 5 and Blakes 7.
We need geek pride weekends and geek pride marches in which we walk down the street, humming the imperial theme to Star Wars (You know - it goes DUM DUM DUM DUMDEE DUM DUMDEE DUM)
Women's rights and gay rights have come on so far in recent years but geek rights are, as yet, not recognised in this country.
So I say to you all: let us rise forth from our hidden places, take up our lightsabers and sonic screwdrivers and march on Number 10 in order to force Mr Brown to make Britain a geekier place!
Say it once, say it loud - I'M A GEEK AND I'M PROUD!!!
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