Enfuriating.

Today has been a very annoying day and I am pretty glad it's over. It all started okay; I woke up in a decent mood which is very unlike me. The annoyance started when I got to the bus stop; I discovered that even though I had taken the care to put a Zubat into my Pokewalker and had taken my wallet and DS with me I had left my phone and debit card at home. This made me very angry as I require my phone at all times in order to idly check my twitter and facebook whenever I get bored. My debit card's requirement is obvious but luckily I JUST had enough money to get to town and back. Still this annoyed me, and made me worry about it's whereabouts for the rest of the day, even though I knew exactly where it was. Walking from the bus to work I was caught up in a minor blizzard, giving me the appearance of the abominable snowman; a misfortune which caused much delight to my colleagues on my arrival. Work itself was particularly frustrating today; my customers were all perfectly agreeable but it seemed that everything was running against me today from tills being horrifically slow through to laptops I sell being immediately faulty; one laptop I sold (brand new) arrived back literally five minutes later as faulty. Entertainment was to be had in a bitter battle over a 42" TV which appeared on the clearance list at 99 pounds; two people decided it was theirs leading to a despicable feud which lasted the whole day. The only real excitement today was the fact that I had a Zubat in my pocket the entire day. However, this had an enfuriating edge to it as every wild Pokemon I tried to capture escaped.

On my mad rush to the bus, prompted by my leaving work twenty minutes late, the snow had stopped falling in Inverness and what had settled in the morning had metled away. I overheard a woman I'd say was in her fifties complaining about the weather having just stepped out of her front door, saying the following in a rather angry voice; "I thought it was supposed to be terrible snowstorms today." This made me laugh as it is only in Britain that you can find someone complaining bitterly about there being a lack of something to complain about, as though the subsiding of the unwanted cold, stormy weather was something of a disappointment to her.

This evening the anger kept coming. I downloaded Marina and the Diamonds' album at which time iTunes informed me that an update was available. I screamed in joy as I clicked the accept button and half an hour later (due to the update being over 100MB and taking an age to install), I opened iTunes... nothing. I tried again. Nothing. I spent the next hour trying everything I could think of, along with suggestions from the useless support section of the Apple website, all to no avail. I have since found out that someone else I know is having the same issue, so it seems to be a bug in the program that I guess/hope/insist will be sorted out by tomorrow evening.

Well, I would say that I endured this day rather than any other word, and I am quite pleased to be going to bed.

What life I had has been lost.

Today I was pleased to discover that I had a surprise day off; I spent the morning in town with Catriona which was awesome as I haven't seen her since Christmas. It was great catching up with everything that's happening.

The title of this post is not an emo statement in any way, it is explaining the effect the new Pokemon game has had on me. The game rules and every single "classic" pokemon I encounter makes me start screaming like a fanboy. I say "like" a fanboy, but it might be more appropriate to say "as" a fanboy... anyway, I properly used the Pokewalker today, using it to capture two pokemon, interact with Jamie's pokemon, find some items and train my Sandshrew. What Nintendo have done with the pokewalker is incredible, and really adds another dimension to the game.

The only real down point of the day was the horrific weather; walking through Drum to get a lift to town this morning I felt like a Polar Explorer. The wind was so bitter I felt like my face was going to fall off, it was actually getting painful after a while. Given that it's Easter this weekend, thus the beginning of Spring as decreed by the Vatican, having it attempting to Snow for the most part of today is unacceptable. It appears that it is continuing to be stormy this evening, as I am remaining locked up in my house not venturing outside to investigate, but there has so far been two power cuts which is really getting on my nerves. I'm hoping that it stays active for the duration of typing his blog.

Tomorrow I'm back at work, this time working through to Sunday. If you happen to see me tomorrow, you may notice a tiny pokeball attatched to my trousers...

Bump

Came back down to earth today; was at work, which was much less fun than my last two days. I did not have a good day at work, but to avoid winging and/or ranting, I shall cover the best part of the day: Pokemon Heart Gold is fantastic. Not only is it a Pokemon game, but it features loads of the classic pokemon in the Jhoto region. Also the pokewalker accessory bundled with it is incredibly cool. I just transferred a Sandshrew to it and tomorrow I shall walk everywhere to see how much I can train it. The tiny machine has a good few features on it; you train your Pokemon as you walk around, you can catch Pokemon using it, and transfer them to the DS game, you can find items, and you can communicate with other Pokewalker trainers. Can't wait to get it properly going tomorrow.

After work, I sat in the staff room playing with an all-in-one PC with a touchscreen which would be cool if it was powerful enough to keep up with the touchscreen controls, and playing Pokemon. I did so as it was one of those days where I finished at 6 leaving me two hours to wait for a bus. On said bus I met Stephen, Megan and Duncan. There was a brief spell of about three seconds where I was slightly disgruntled at the presence of people as it would mean not being able to play Pokemon more, but it passed as soon as I spoke to them; they are some of the select few people in Drum I like and it was cool to see them unexpectedly as since leaving school I hardly see anyone outside of my closer small group of friends.

I fear that this post was somewhat boring as I literally have spent the day at work and playing Pokemon. Ah well, hopefully some things will happen in the next few days to make this a bit more interesting.

I choose you.

This morning I actually managed to stay asleep until 10am, which was definitely what I needed. I had an extremely hot bath which made removing the latex wound from my leg much easier and was a great way to start the day.

This afternoon I went ahead with my thoughts yesterday and went back to Hi-Ex. To avoid the entrance fee I dug out my old costume of Goku from Dragonball that I made for my last day of school a year ago. I also took my brother, Kyle, who wore his prized Optimus Prime costume. Even though he's only seven I have spent the last couple of years training him with movies and such, so his current favourite films are Beetlejuice and Gremlins. This went down a treat with the geeky comic book artists etc at the convention. I am very glad I did go again, as I was this time able to talk to all the guests properly and genuinely enjoy it. At the Forbidden Planet stall things were being sold off, where Kyle got a heap of Indiana Jones toys for a tenner and I finally got a Domo Plush; something I've been wanting to get for ages, but are so damn expensive. I got a portrait of me and my brother done by Tanya Roberts who draws the Star Wars: Clone Wars comics. I know it's an aquired taste, but I love the angular style of the drawings, so it was incredibly cool to get our picture done by her. Also, she doesn't usually do portraits, but she accepted to do it, I believe largely due to Kyle's presence. Kyle got his picture done by manga artist Inko, who did my portrait last year, and I spent the afternoon talking to various other artists, and had a long conversation about films with people from Nimba Creations, a special effects company who have just relocated to Inverness from London. Speaking to them and hearing about their experiences was incredible and makes me even more sure I want to work in films. The woman I was speaking to worked on King Kong, and both people have worked on various other productions. They didn't have any jobs going but were really supportive of my plans to get into films and the route I am taking about it. On the same subject, there was a stall by the makers of Electric Man, an upcoming comedy being made in Scotland. The guys I spoke to were great, and even though I wasn't prepared to cough up a hundred pounds towards the film in return for a guaranteed DVD on release amongst other perks, they instructed me to contact the makers directly to inquire about helping out behind the scenes, as their stall was more aimed at auditioning for actors/extras. I have emailed them and am eager to hear back from them as it would be awesome if I did get to help out on set.

This evening I watched Lost from the other night which blew my mind; it was definitely the best episode in a while, and I really like the way they're starting to rule out fan theories about the "big reveals" that will be happening in the coming weeks. I am now going to start playing Pokemon Heart Gold. I hope to get some sleep before work tomorrow, but I saw the advert on TV for it tonight and it looks fantastic.

Another excellent day today, and I am very pleased with how everything has gone this weekend.

Zombies!

Today marked the day of Hi-Ex at Eden Court, and so too the day of the Zombie March organised by Jamie and Myself. The morning was spent at Jamie's, getting up at 7am to start on our makeup and gore effects; all of which turned out pretty well. We strolled around town beforehand, buying last minute supplies and Pokemon Heart Gold, before heading to the meeting place; the cemetary on the riverfront near Ironworks. As we approached, a group of about 5 were also approaching, followed by another group of 3. We were already quite chuffed with this, when we entered the cemetary to find that another 10 people had already arrived. As preparations were being made, more and more people kept turning up until the final figure was, according to Jamie, 38 zombies! We left the cemetary, proceeding up Union Street, through Eastgate and down the High Street. This was fantastic to see people's reactions, and it was genuinely amazing to think that we had organised this ourselves. One highlight was the whole group pressing up against the windows at MacDonalds, with the staff looking nervously at us, prompting customers to look behind them, and literally screaming at seeing us scratching at the windows. On arrival at Eden Court, we were greeted by the group of Stormtroopers, starting off a literal battle between the undead and Star Wars characters. At this point, I stopped and looked back at the mass of Zombies leaping around, literally pouncing at Stormtroopers who were retaliating by shooting blasters and so on; it was an amazing sight and it was definitely worthwhile. Thanks to everyone who turned up; every single person there made it that much more amazing. This slightly rejuvenates my faith in the human race; there is still a minority of awesome people out there.

After this success, we went to Pizza Hut for dinner before going to the Cinema to see Kick Ass. It was here that Danny was instructed to remove his ninja veil as it was "intimidating". He obliged, but we found it very strange that a cinema was the only place to have a complaint. Also there is the argument of other ethnicities wearing similar veils who would never be asked to remove them lest there be an uprising in the Tabloids about "human rights" etc. Slightly petty, but it took us off guard, especially when the others amongst us with flesh hanging off and such were not deemed unacceptable. It just goes towards my hatred for Vue cinemas.

Kick Ass was fantastic. Genuinely the best of the last few films I have seen at the cinema. As I have only slept a few hours in the last two days and have been busy all this time I am knackered, so shall write a fuller review tomorrow.

This has been a day that would best be described as being made of 100% pure win. I have a day off tomorrow, in which I may return to Hi-Ex to find some last-minute bargains at Forbidden Planet. Scavenger.

WOOAH! WE'RE HALFWAY THERE!

Today was the last day of work for the week. It was just as quiet as it has been all week so my targets have noway near been reached. Somewhat annoying but im not going to cry about it. Was surprised to hear that nick in the stockroom has handed in his notice. It will be a shame when he leaves.

This evening was spent at Jamies house with Jamie and .amber, preparing for tomorrows zombie march and playing guitar hero and mario Kart Wii. Our costumes are looking fantastic; I cannot wait until tomorrow.

I shall end the blog there as, due to the fact that I am lying on jamies couch, I have typed all this on my phone. I shall end it before my eyes fall out.

N's and L

Today I worked 9 to 5. My previous statement whereby I said that this shift goes past quicker apparently cursed me, as it took forever today. I did however do my share of good deeds in giving discount to a boy like 10 years old buying his first camera with christmas money and fixing someone's ipod instead of sending it away for repair like I should have done. The week has been horrendous in terms of there being no customers, so unless tomorrow turns out to be a major change I have no chance of hitting my targets. This annoys me.

The earlier part of the evening was spent with Drew and Darroch, where we filmed Darroch's scene for Milk Paton. It is incredible how less than a minute of filming will lead to literally hours on a computer for Drew, painstakingly editing every damn frame. It lies somewhere between heroic and insane in my estimation, but the final product will certaintly pay off. We went on to the pub, joined by Allan and (Goth) Tom. This was largely uneventful, so after a brief stint in public we returned to Drew's for Call of Duty. Firstly Nazi Zombies was played, with a rule in place where we must not leave the initial room. Me and Darroch achieved level 5 which isn't actually too bad considering the hardened veterans of Drew and Allan only managed level 8. This was followed by a deathmatch which I played against Drew, leading to me being slaughtered. A fun evening capped off with a lift home in the Brattmobile, avoiding walking home in the disgracefully damp, thick mist that seems to have settled over Drumnadrochit today.

I would like to post a rectracton for my comments last night referring to The Highland Foodstop. My review implied that my coffee's bitter, unrefined taste was due to mechanical flaw or costcutting points having been made. The barista however contacted me, informing me that the machine was brand new and the coffee beans were freshly crushed for my drink. So I apologise to the management of the establishment, and pass on my criticisms to a lack of skill and technique demonstrated by James Redmond. My review of the cafe now stands at 7/10, calculated as an average from the following; Decor: 10/10; Service: 10/10; Food: 10/10; James: negative 2/10.

(There is no title for tonight's blog, just think of the Crystal Maze theme tune)

I was at work again today, this time the shop was completely dead. This gave me and colleagues some time to trawl through the clearance files for all stores in the region to discover bargains. I did find a netbook for 99 pounds but upon phoning the store to which it belongs to get it transferred, they refused me it; quite possibly because they didn't know it was there and a member of staff called shotgun on it immediately, thus blocking a transfer. I was marginally gutted. My previous success with the store's music was apparently short lived as today I hooked my ipod up with agreeable classic rock playing such as Kiss, etc, but it was thwarted in favour of a mix of Lady Gaga and Oasis, bringing me much displeasure.

Today was one of those fateful days where I finish working at 6, leaving me waiting for the 8:15 bus. I decided to investigate the new cafe opened in town; The Highland Foodstop (THF), opposite Falcon Square. I was walking past, considering entering when I spied the chap behind the counter; James Redmond. I immediately entered, requesting from James the Macaroni Cheese featuring, and I quote; "THF's renouned Cheese Sauce". My food was prepared and bought to me by the Captain himself, followed by my Coffee. I give James' food a marginal 6/10; the macaroni was indeed "renouned", but the chips were undercooked. I expect more in the future. The coffee earns a heart-wrenching 5/10 as it was bitter, and tasted as though James had not renewed the coffe beans in the espresso machine before processing my beverage. A cost-cutting procedure no doubt, but one that detracts from the quality of the end product.

One thing I didn't discuss yesterday was my encounter with a new product from Dyson; the air multiplier. It is a fan that features no blades, so doesn't give the buffeting effect, instead administering a steady flow of air. One was revealed to the staff by a Dyson representative. It is quite impressive; a large circle on a stand that does as described; gives out a constant flow of air. To prove the lack of blades, the person passed a pen through the gaping hole, followed by a couple of my colleagues gingerly poking their hand in before I inserted my head into the machine. I can vouch for the claim that there are no blades present. It is indeed a clever toy, but the sales pitch for it is that "for every piece of air that goes in (into the impellor), FIFTEEN pieces of air come out". I did not make an arse of myself at the time, but I do believe that if this is truly the case, Dyson has broken the laws of physics in creating something out of nothing. The major blow comes in the pricetag; if you wish to negate the buffeting effect of your 20th century, analogue office fan, you will be required to fork out 200 pounds. It IS a very cool, stylish object that would be pleasant in any stuffy room, but I do feel it is far too pricey.

I spent the evening having a cold bath as the hot water has run out for the night, and watching clips from the Crystal Maze. If the crystal maze does ever come back, I will be very excited but also anxious about it being ruined with the rumoured host being Amanda Holden, and the rumours of "Celebrity Guests" replacing genuine contestants. At the end of the day though, there has been rumours of a crystal maze revival every now and again since it last aired, so I won't hold my breath or get too worried about it being destroyed; whatever they do the old episodes are still some of the greatest TV ever. One thing that is untouchable is the theme tune; if there is a horrible remix of it or something I will destroy whoever is responsible.

A perfect cuboid

Again at work. This time however I was doing a 9-5 shift which always seems to go much quicker for some reason. I had quite a good time today largely due to the music playing; for quite a while it was a collection of David Bowie hits until the person's MP3 player ran out of battery at which point the manager instructed me to put some music on as I had my ipod on me. After serious consideration, the store was treated to some Rhapsody of Fire. Never would I have expected symphonic power metal to work so well in a shop. It was perhaps Currys finest hour.

After work I went to Jamie's house to prepare for the Zombie march on Saturday. Firstly, Jamie excitedly showed me today's issue of the Inverness Courier featuring a small front page section about our plans, and a larger feature underneath general information about the convention. This is even before we have even attempted to make any press release! So we are severely excited about it. The main point of tonight was to practice making fake wounds using Liquid Latex and tissue paper. It sounds like a terrible idea, but what we came up with as "first attempts" were pretty gruesome and fairly impressive if I say so myself. Luckily I don't say so myself as Jamie agreed and when Darroch and Allan joined us they too agreed.

I left Jamie's and proceeded very briefly to the Loch Ness Inn with Darroch, Allan and Drew. It was here that Darroch consumed too much Whisky in too little time. By the time we retired to Drew's house he was dressed in a black wife-beater vest and explained to me, I quote; "Cameron... I am not drunk; I am just pretending... I'm not pretending, I'm drunk". Jon joined us soon after, just in time for Drew to fully explain his reasoning for giving Alien vs Predator the game 2/10; in fairness it does seem a shockingly bad game. This was followed by a full deathmatch tournament on Call Of Duty: World at war. There was only ever to be a contest between Drew and Allan, but in my match against Drew, I was not as severely destroyed as would be expected and I managed to defeat Jon. However, everyone defeated Jon so this bears little merit. Unsurprisingly the final was between Allan and Drew. In this twenty minute showdown Drew was annihilated in a way that I have never seen.

On a sidenote, I found out today would have been Akira Kurosawa's 100th Birthday. I know very little about the man or his films but it got me thinking about how awesome it would be to live to 100. Would you feel the excitement of "gaining a digit" that you felt approaching your 10th Birthday? I am pretty sure I would. Also, in your 90's your age is definitely just a number and birthdays probably roll by, but you would be so determined to live that last two years or so to reach the magic figure. This thought made me consider that my hundredth birthday will be in 2092, meaning that if I do reach it, I will be required to live another 8 years to be able to say that I lived through an entire century. How amazing would that be? Living the entirety of the 21st Century would certainly make up for missing out on living through two palindromic years by only ten days.

On that thought I shall be going to bed as it is now 1:30 and I have to be on the bus to work at 8. I really ought to be removing the last of the Latex from my arms, but I have no pain threshold left in my tiredness.

Superbio.

Somewhat odd day today; I was back at work, and since I'm in a really bad mood at the minute everything seemed very different than last time I was there. However, the same bad mood meant that small personal victories became large-scale defeats against humanity. One such defeat was me kicking small neds out of the shop. Also I bought an ipod shuffle (the cool one with buttons) for two pounds. two pounds. For an hour or two I was in sheer bliss as someone had brought Marina and the Diamonds' album in and was playing it over the sound system, giving a brief interlude to the constant Michael Jackson/Craig David/Oasis mix. I finished at six which given my mood should have lead to a major mental tantrum (a tantrum confined to my mind as opposed to kicking and screaming) with my waiting for the 8:15 bus, but I had by this time reached a strange mindset where I was really content in walking aimlessly around town for an hour. With very few people still there, and every shop having long been shut, it was quite an enjoyable walk. I did still wait at the bus stop for a fair while, still in a mesmerised state of contentedness meaning I was almost enjoying sitting in the cold doing nothing. This enjoyment was cut short by the intrusion of a young couple (young being around my age), of which the male was perhaps the most nauseating human being I have encountered. Never have I had such an unjustified hate for someone I don't know. On the bus home, the driver I fear had escaped from Craig Dunain as he was genuinely madl I would have not been surprised had he forgotten he was driving a bus and calmly stepped off along the A82 leaving us to plummet into the depths of Loch Ness. However, we did get through the journey, during which I listened to teh Fantasia soundtrack featuring Tchaikovsky and Bach as opposed to my usual metal collection of Sabaton and Rhapsody of Fire.

I had some excellent advice from friends last night and through today about my quandry in last night's blog; I am back to my previous thought that film school is not for me, but I still want to find a way out of Drum in the near future. A "quick fix" has come in me finding out I have two weeks of holiday allowance left at work to be used by the end of April, so I am considering making use of Ryanair's ridiculously cheap flights and gooing for a short break to Barcelona. It's somewhere I've wanted to go for ages, so maybe I'll do it, and get away for a little while at least.

I ended today by playing my ukulele. This is not a Skins-inspired euphamism; I was literally playing a ukulele... I finally learnt how to play "It's my Life" by No Doubt, so I am ridiculously pleased with myself.

Extremely frustrating.

Today was spent at home doing nothing particularly interesting to blog about. However, I did spend a great deal of this time considering what I want to do in the near future. My long term plan is to try and get into film-making, but I am fully aware that that will not happen for a good few years. What I realised is that right now I am stuck in Drumnadrochit where there is nothing to do and no prospects for any future. I want to get out but I have no idea what to do if I was to leave. I spent the evening looking around at film-making courses but all I seem to be able to find is "film studies" which appears to be sitting in a room watching "artistic" movies and writing essays about the techniques and such. This is not what I want; I want to learn how to make movies and how to make them well in order for the movies to become popular so studios or other investors will give me lots of money to make more movies. I am aware that breaking into Hollywood is more complicated than this summation, but that is the general idea.

The closest thing I found was the University of Bournemouth. I know someone studying film there and have heard good things, but then the question is raised about funding; there's no way I can afford a full university course.

All in all today hasn't been a great day; to top off the larger scale worries about my lack of prospects in my current situation, there were some much smaller aggravations present today, firstly in the telephone exchange in Drum being terrible leading to horrifically slow internet for all, and my replacement Watchmen Blu-ray being faulty again. Currently I'm pretty cheesed off with everything; I'm in the mood where I can't be bothered doing petty things like watch a movie or play a game, I want the opportunity and confidence to make major changes. Unfortunately I currently lack both of these, but perhaps if I continue researching courses and such something will give me the opportunity and the opportunity may give me a boost into doing something about it.

OBJECTION! (+Shutter Island review)

This afternoon was spent in town with Danny and Lou shopping for zombie apparel. I found an awesome leather jacket which will do nicely, amongst other things including some Ivory No7 Foundation. It was a low point of my life walking up to the oompa loompas in boots asking for makeup to match my skin tone. In my defence it is for blending liquid latex to my skin for special effects next Saturday for the zombie march. I also exchanged my faulty Watchmen Bluray without hassle even though I bought it two months ago; thanks HMV; I was ready to do battle but wasn't at all disappointed when it all went smoothly. Trawling through almost every charity shop in Inverness for fairly specific clothing was made much easier when we started humming the Crystal Maze theme tune in all of them. Seriously; if you're ever doing something difficult or boring, imagine or even hum out loud the theme tune and the most mundane task will seem like a majorly exciting event; for every part of the task you complete (in this case finding a suitable item of clothing) a crystal is obtained granting you FIVE SECONDS IN THE CRYSTAL DOME.

We then went on to Pizza Hut where I had tried to book a table on the phone to find they were not longer taking any bookings; it would have made my post tonight a bit more heroic as I was going to book it under the name of L. Lawliet; a character in the manga/anime Death Note. This did not happen unfortunately but the Pizza was delicious.

The penultimate section of today was the cinema. The best part of this was seeing Angus for the first time in a while; I have missed his endless, limiteless cynicism and pedantry. I say "best part" when in fact it was the only good part of the cinema. We went to see Shutter Island. I went in knowing very little about the movie, only having heard critics raving about it and the promise by word of mouth of an amazing twist. First of all, the movie as a whole; it is verging on diabolical technically. Yes it has an "ensemble cast" who all play their parts from very well to brilliantly; everyone is cast well and they all put true effort into their parts. However, some simple fundemental flaws ruin it for me to start with; editing is atrocious at times, with characters speaking without moving their lips before a change of shot shows them now speaking. Horrific continuity makes all sorts of craziness occur; one example would be Leo taking an asparin and being given a glass of water. An immediate angle change skips him drinking and shows an empty glass sitting the other end of the room. It may sound petty, but such basic elements should be kept control of. On a larger scale the "arty" scenes of the movie are respectable for cinematography and atmosphere but the film tries too hard to adopt an arthouse, "stylish" tone, leading to the film becoming tediously drawn out and terribly self-indulgent; little more than an hour into it I was mentally begging the movie to just cut to the end to show me what happens so I could leave. The final point remainf however; the twist. Had all these flaws lead the movie to a breathtaking pay-off as has been suggested to me, they would have been so much less important in my crtiticism. However, with no exaggeration Angus and myself had an idea of the twist within fifteen minutes of the opening; our theory was one that we desperately hoped would not be the truth. As the movie progressed, this theory became more and more the obvious outcome, but we were assuming that we were being mislead by intelligent writing, waiting (albeit frustratedly) for the real twist. However, at the point where there could be no other revelation than the one we thought up 90 minutes previously I looked across at Angus and we exchanged a look that conveyed true suffering and despair. We were forced to leave the cinema slightly before the ending to catch a bus (I despise doing this, but I would not like to be stranded in town). As we were leaving, we discussed the very slight possibility of the "true" twist occuring in the last ten minutes or so. A quick look on wikipedia on the bus confirmed however that we were correct and that after this "revelation" there is an end to the plot that served only to heighten our already soaring fury at the movie. It is difficult for me to rate, as it is filmed very nicely and acted superbly with a very good if long-winded script. However, the basic technical errors, dragged out art elements that tend to miss the mark, and enfuriating final chapter bring its mark down to a 4/10 for me.

Finally, I got the bus home where I also met Jamie. As always this was a great journey where we spent much of the time discussing the Crystal Maze and screaming "Objection!" at each other; referencing the Phoenix Wright games. Somewhat sad most may say but we have fun so get over it.

Autobots: Roll Out!

Today's day off work started with a failed attempt at a lie-in; I was up by half eight having spent a while just lying there being annoyed with myself for waking up so early. I spent the rest of the day largely playing Final Fantasy XIII more, bringiny my game time up to a healthy 8.5 hours. It's getting better and better as it goes on, with the battle system slowly progressing, introducing new mechanisms to counteract the more difficult enemies that are appearing. This shows how much effort has been put into the game; that they've properly considered how best to teach people to play it. It is a truly brilliant game so far, and I am sure it will continue to impress me.

I heard some interesting news this morning; Tim Burton is set to direct an Addam's Family movie. It's not a remake of the '90's movies, or an adaptation of the '60's tv show; it's based entirely on the drawings from the 1930's that were printed in newspapers. I've hardly seen any of these but apparently they are far more sinister and dark than the TV show or family-orientated movies could get away with. It is also said that it will be a 3D Stop Motion feature, so even if it is true, there won't be a release for a few years yet. Plus he's got two films on the go just now; Dark Shadows, based on an american horror/comedy/soap opera from the 1960's about vampires; and a full-length stop motion remake of his bizzare half-hour Disney film Frankenweenie. He's a busy guy just now, and I couldn't be happier about that.

Tonight I was busy making more plans for the zombie flashmob we're doing; I've looked into some amazing home-made makeup effects you can do and I'm really excited about doing it.

I ended the night by watching Transformers: The Movie. The seizure-inducing neon visuals looked incredible on my new telly, but it was annoying to find that the sound mixing is horrendous. Nonetheless, it is an awesome movie with an incredible soundtrack; rather than have three and a half hours of Megan Fox running in slow motion, Michael Bay should just do a straight remake of this film, ensuring the 1980's soundtrack remains. Then and only then does he earn my respect.

They're eating her... and then they're going to eat me...

Work was again extremely quiet. However the day passed really quickly for some reason, possibly because I spent the day winding everyone else up, therefore having a great time. I also spent a large portion of the day shopping for some decent speakers for my TV having gotten fed up of the naff speakers they seem to put in TV's nowadays. I went for Logitech Z4's which are incredible; 2.1; 40W RMS; etc, etc. The result is incredible; I've only watched a few music videos on my PS3 so far, but the sound is a major step up. I plan on watching Transformers: The Movie tomorrow to hear all the 80's voices, effects and hair metal soundtrack in their full glory.

When waiting for the bus home I discovered my debit card to be missing. As I'd bought my speakers ten minutes beforehand, I phoned work in a panic, apparently prompting a flurry of people crawling around the shop looking for a card before I found it in my shirt pocket.

Another sport relief special was on tonight; this time far less irritating and featuring genuine celebrities. It was the John O'Groats to Lands End cycle. It was awesome seeing the hard work that they went to for it, and doubly awesome to see the crowd that included myself. Highlight of the show would be Darren Falconer playing the bagpipes to David Walliams on BBC1.

Skins finale was also tonight; after some appaling episodes, it did redeem itself a bit by the end. I think that they've always taken risks in the plotlines, and it just so happens that this time they haven't quite come out as intended. Unfortunate, but I'll look forward to season 5, especially as the writers have pledged to make it more light-hearted than this one.

Last thing to happen tonight was recieving an email from Jason Steadman which made me literally squeal with joy. The best part is that virtually no one knows who he is. He was a main character in a film called Troll 2; a movie that is reverred as the "Best Worst Movie". To explain; there is a subculture of filmgoers who "enjoy" terrible movies. I don't mean Epic Movie terrible, or Just Married terrible, I mean 2012 terrible, Plan 9 from Outer space terrible, generally movies that are SO terrible in every respect that they actually become inadvertently funny, and much more entertaining than most comedies. Troll 2 is the finest example I've seen; you can see my review of it on IMDB BY CLICKING HERE. Troll 2 has, since it's making in 1990, become a major cult classic, and in response to it's following, some of the (then child) stars have joined together to make a documentary charting the success of the movie they were previously ashamed of. I got an email because I will be trying to spread the word about this new documentary around the Inverness area; perhaps try to get screenings, publicity, etc. As a huge "fan" of Troll 2, I am so excited to be a tiny part of it. Enjoy the following clip, which sums up my reaction to being accepted to help out.

You got the touch.

I woke up listening to the Transformers soundtrack from the 80's cartoon movie. There is actually no better way to start the day.

Work was another deadly quiet day, but due to the limitless "currys craic", it was still vaguely enjoyable and the biggest part is that I'm getting paid for it. The big launch of Norton Gold tomorrow meant there was a big shipment of displays to go out this evening. I attempted to build them, but doing so is a feat on par with the building of Stonehenge. I did not succeed.

I discovered today that not only have Noah and the Whale done more than one song (five years time), but that some of said songs are really good. They've got a simplistic, very low production value sound which is nice only if done well; far too often artists use this sound to appear "cool", but it comes across as very pretentious. Noah and the whale however, pull it off. The big thing that struck me with them though is their lyrics; there are some amazing lyrics in the songs, such as this;

For your heart is like a forest, it grows,

and its the rain, but just the sun that lets it bloom,

and you don't know how it feels to be alive,

until you know how it feels to die

I got home today slightly earlier than usual, as I got a lift from Jonathan, where my brother demonstrated what he has learnt from a few weeks of Karate Lessons. Suffice to say that considering he is only 7, he has quite a punch. And a kick... Thankfully, he's only four feet tall, so my face was well out of his reach.

Finally I caught glimpses of a nauseating BBC show about fatuous BBC Scotland "celebrities" kayaking the Caledonian canal. The only reason I mention this is because amongst the flat jokes and forced drama there was a brief shot of my house. Not a shot in which my house was just visible; a shot OF my house. It's both cool and a bit unsettling when you consider that literally tens of people across Scotland were staring at my house briefly where just behind the window I was going about my daily routine unaware of the malevolent lens peering at me. Due to this, I shall never again be opening the front door looking less than ready for a dinner party in the off chance that "TV bloopers 78" features a clip of me letting the dog out and my dressing gown spills open.

So on that image, I shall be going to bed as I have a mother of a headache just now.

I am king.

Today went pretty well in a strange sort of way. Work was incredibly quiet, but somehow I managed to attain a vast amount of sales (compared to my usual sales anyway), so I'm flying towards my target now. Also, I was dealing with a customer with a faulty washing machine (he'd had it over a year mind). I made all the necessary phonecalls and sorted it out for him that it would be fixed within a short while and if not, replaced. Pretty fair I feel. However, because I wouldn't fix it on the spot or give him a shiny new seven hundred pound machine for free straight away he informed me that there was a possibility of aforementioned faulty item being flung through our window in due course. Immediately I asked him to leave the store, to which he continued to protest, so I informed him that if he didn't leave immediately I'd phone the police. He left. This was the highlight of my day, as he was so annoying.

I finished work at 6, but didn't have a bus to get home until 8:15. I haven't been in this situation for a week or so, and had forgotten just how annoyingly boring it is; I've been at work all day and I just want to get home, but I can't. This is why I really want to get driving ASAP.

As I was about to post this blog, I found I had recieved an email from Jamie about a zombie flashmob that we are organising on the day of Hi-Ex (the highland comic/movie expo); the organizers of the expo have caught wind of our plans, and send a lengthy email supporting and congratulating our efforts. That is incredibly cool, and makes it even more certain that everyone I know must be involved. So here's the plan;

Meet at the cemetary on the riverfront (near Hoots & Ironworks) at 12 noon on Sat 27th. Be dressed as ANY sort of Zombie (pirate, ninja, traditional, anything), and we march (RE: Shuffle) along to Eden Court where we shall get free entry due to being in fancy dress, and make a big scene. It shall be awesome.

Very pleased with the day. Keep it up please, karma.

DVLA rhymes with "gay"

On the 10th of February, I paid fifty galactic credits for my provisional licence. Today I was getting frustrated with waiting, so tweeted my anger. I believe that this was heard by the overlords, as today in the post I recieved a cheque for fifty pounds refunding my payment. Now I have to start all over again...

Work was insanely quiet today. Absolutely nothing interesting happened beyond me spending an hour trying to get an awesome Polish couple to pass a credit check; I finally achieved my goal, and the laptop sale was mine- er, I mean; the laptop was theirs.

This evening was host to impromptu "kitchen banter" at Drews. During this time I recalled a phone call I made to NHS 24. It happened in October, but I insist it is relevant, as I am currently attempting to sue the company that caused this phonecall; long story short, I had unimaginably painful eyes (later found out to be caused by my corneas being partly torn off), and after 24 hours of this pain, I finally called them. The phonecall went like this, with the young female operator speaking in a calming, pleasant tone that was totally impossible to get angry with;

Recorded Message: DO YOU HAVE SWINE FLU!? IF YOU HAVE SWINE FLU STAY AWAY, PUT THE PHONE DOWN, LEAVE THE COUNTRY, CATCH IT, BIN IT, KILL IT!!!!. Otherwise, please hold and an operator will be with you shortly.
Operator: Hello there, can I ask why you are calling?
Me: I have, eh.. very sore eyes.
Operator: I see... Is the patient breathing?
Me: Yes. I am the patient. It is my eyes; they are very painful.
Operator: Ah yes, I see... Is the patient conscious?
Me: ...Yes. However, my eyes are very painful.

This continued for a while, until finally I was given the advice I think all callers are given; go to A&E immediately.

After Kitchen banter, Darroch drove me home. Alan shotgunned the front seat, so when I got out and Darroch exited to "relieve himself", Alan took it upon himself to undo the handbrake, making the brattmobile lurch towards my massive hill, with Darroch going mental and Alan's maniacal laughter bellowing out. I thought this was one of the funniest things I had seen until I got on facebook and found this picture.



I literally laughed for ten minutes after seeing this, and on that, I shall end the post. A good day has been had, and in the morning I have a new pack of Alpen to open, so everything is looking fantastic.

Who watches the watchmen? Not me apparently.

After my blog last night, I was awake until 4 o clock in the morning for no apparent reason. Luckily I didn't start work until 12pm today though. Nothing particularly amazing happened at work; there was no customers for most of the day, so there's not much to say about that.

I had the misfortune of seeing some of Wild at Heart tonight; it has the writing, acting, and plot of a children's program. In the brief snippet I saw, it featured people realising their wrongdoings and apologising for minor misdemeanors, and a small group of underdogs stopping a nasty businessman from putting a golf course in the "countryside" (I'm not too sure what you'd call the countryside in Africa, but you get the idea). All this was far too intenst for me so I went through to watch my Blu-ray of Watchmen which I've had for a while. I did see it at the cinema and it's a great film, so I wanted to see it again. When I put the disc in my PS3 it made this horrific whirring noise that made me certain that the console has knackered itself. I retried it a few times and still it made the noise, but any other discs I tried were fine. I looked online and found that there was a faulty batch of discs accidentally put out, and it seems I have won the anti-lottery in getting one. There is a slight silver lining in the story, as it allowed me to write a witty title for today's blog. I gave up on the movie and played Final Fantasy more, and am now going to bed, as I am absolutely shattered.

YOU'RE LATE FOR TEA!

Today started amazingly, as I briefly "spoke" to Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko director) on twitter. I say "spoke" as I tweeted him and he replied, so it wasn't exactly a conversation, but I was close to screaming like a 12 year old girl nonetheless. This is due to the fact that Donnie Darko is my favourite movie, which based on the amount of movies I like is saying something.

My puppy, Merlin, was at the vet's yesterday to have some strange lump removed from his chest. He's home and fine, save for a massive Frankenstein wound held together by large cross-stitching. He looks insanely cool just now; I would perhaps be pushed as far as "badass".

This afternoon I went to see Alice in Wonderland with Danny and Lou. After last week's fiasco, we all got in for free, and the movie was excellent. When she first gets into Wonderland it is very odd, and it all becomes a bit of a sensory overload, but after the first few scenes, it levels out, and it gets back to Tim Burton goodness; bizzare yet emotionally deep characters, fun storyline, and bizzare colourful imagery (sometimes surprisingly macarbre for a Disney film). The 3D was excellent, and the cast was fantastic; Mia Wasikovska plays Alice very well (and is STUNNING), and Johnny Depp, just for a change, steals the show as the Mad Hatter, along with his hilarious sidekick; a Scottish mad march hare. I completely understand that it has a very acquired taste, meaning a lot of people I know will flatly hate it. All three of us enjoyed it greatly though, and I give it 9/10.

The one thing that really bugged me in the cinema was people talking throughout the film. You've paid just under a tenner, so why the hell are you nattering through the ENTIRE film?

Anyhow, we then went to Pizza Hut for what we thought would be a simple takeaway, but we ended up waiting for well over half an hour for a single Margherita Pizza. Oh well, it was lovely, so worth the wait I guess.

I got home in time to watch last night's Lost repeated, which was very interesting.I love Lost, and the fact that we're halfway through the last ever series is both exciting in the sense that everything will be resolved (I hope), but also quite a shame in the sense that there will be no more Lost.

Royaume-Uni; Nuls Points

Today was, as hoped, somewhat better than yesterday. At work again, which was rather uneventful due to a complete lack of customers. I finished at 6, which is usually a pain as the next bus isn't until 8:15, but tonight I met Jamie in town. This lead to the evening being made up of magic tricks and talking absolute nonsense; i.e. a good evening. I got home, and a decision had been made to watch the Eurovision selection program instead of Lost, leaving me to watch it online tomorrow. I accepted this, as I enjoy watching the Eurovision song contest every year. The only real downside there is to watching it for me is the chilling revelation that another year has passed blazingly quickly since I saw the previous show. I wasn't expecting to be blown away by any contestants, but was particularly shocked by the sheer lack of talent displayed by every single act on the show. When it came to the second round, I was now only half-listening, and thought one guy was singing a bad song from the archives, when my Mother alerted me to the fact that it was in fact this year's Eurovision entry song he was singing. The song is nothing other than putrid sausage factory slurry, with no elements that serve more purpose than making me incredibly bored. I did not stick around to watch the rest of the show, so I do not know which of the three remaining acts won, but whichever one was voted for, the following review is appropriate;

They are shit.

On another point, I saw the trailer for the new Twlilght movie; Eclipse. I like the first movie, having seen it quite a few times, and have seen the second one once, again enjoying it. However, I am starting to get bored of the plot dragging out so far. If I was Edward or Jacob, I would have long gotten bored of Bella's antics, and told her to stop being so bloody fickle. My opinion is that she should not go with Edward or Jacob, as they are both horrific monsters. Instead, Kristen Stewart should come to Drumnadrochit where I shall greet her with none of the following; a family who wants to eat her; a group of friends who want to eat her; myself being a vampire; myself being a werewolf. I feel I have digressed somewhat from my point. What I am trying to say is that with such static characters, they are really scraping the barrel for a plot to carry out another movie, let alone the fact that we are not even half way through the book saga. Unless something really starts to happen, I expect to be bored by the end of this one.

It was a shame about Corey Haim dying; I have liked Lost Boys since first seeing it about age 10, so it's always nasty when someone from a loved film dies. Not to suggest that a "normal" person's death isn't nasty, but you know what I mean...

Alice in Wonderland with Danny and Lou tomorrow; if there is any hiccups even close to last week's, there shall be breaking news bulletins tomorrow night; "massacre in highland cinema". On that happy thought, I shall be off.

-1

This morning I woke up with thoughts along the lines of "I'm going to start the day here and finish the day here. There is nothing inbetween these two points that I look forward to, so what's the point in getting up?". Somehow I found the motivation to get up and go to work, where very little exciting happened. The highlight of the day's work would be showing off a new card trick I learnt to a few colleagues. I got the bus home, meeting Chris and Darroch which was a nice surprise. This evening has consisted of me listening to No Doubt constantly (I have rediscovered them yet again, and this time around absolutely love them), trawling the internet, and having panic attacks almost constantly. Anyone familiar with panic attacks will be aware that they are horrific, and I have no idea WHY I'm having them; there's nothing really worrying me just now; but I was awake most of last night from them and this evening has been torturous. I played Final Fantasy for a while, but couldn't even concentrate on that. I ended the night watching Skins which I usually love, but tonight's episode was an abomination. Each and every plot point annoyed me so I shan't even explain my grievances with it as I would be typing all night.

All in all, it's been a pretty disgraceful day, so I'm off to bed and shall hope that tomorrow will be better.

We in the killin' Nazi business. And cousin, Business is a-boomin'.

Today I finally saw Inglourious Basterds in it's entirety. I did see it at the cinema, but had to leave almost an hour before the end to catch a bus. Doing this bugs me, but when said bus is the last bus, there's not much that can be done. I digress. It was excellent, as almost everyone else on earth has concluded long before now. I also totally understand why Christolph Waltz is winning all his awards, but wonder why they are for "supporting actor" when he features in >75% of the screentime. Also, I feel Quentin Tarantino deserves a lot of credit for making a world war two movie that is extremely over the top to the point of being campy, completely inaccurate, full of knowing cheesiness, and lasting over two and a half hours, yet keeping it from becoming silly, boring, or being bogged down by pop-culture references as Tarantino has been guilty of in the past. Don't get me wrong, I love Kill Bill with all the old samurai movie references, but in Inglourious, such blatant homages would have been out of place.

In addition to the movie, I started playing Final Fantasy XIII for PS3. It is actually the first Final Fantasy game I have played (Kingdom Hearts 2 is one of my favourite games ever, but is more of a spin-off). Ever since I bought my PS3 over two years ago I've been waiting for a final fantasy game because I love the visual style of them, and it did NOT disappoint! The graphics are certaintly the best of any game I have played; the cinematics are above the CGI movies I've seen, and the cutscenes/gameplay are lower quality, but still fantastic. There is also a good game underneath the pretty colours; the plot has got me hooked, and the gameplay takes a while to get going, as it really holds your hand, slowly teaching you different elements of the battle system for the entire first Chapter. I clocked in about 3 and a half hours today, and have not long gotten to chapter 2, so it looks like I'll be hooked for a while; sorry, Assassins Creed 2; we'll have to go our separate ways fo the time being...

My evening has been spent editing the rest of Matt's promo photos. I am very pleased with how many of them have turned out; there is a few which I didn't even bother processing, but that is to be expected; I've managed to make the others come out as I had planned, so I feel wholly chuffed with myself just now.

Boxboy

Today I was at work after a ridiculous four days off. During these days off, I have involuntarily woken up at around 7am and disgusted myself at being unable to have a lie in. This morning, when I have to get up by 8am, I found myself still comatose at 8:15. I fear I may have remained in bed until now had I not remembered that Final Fantasy 13 came out today; thus my pre-order at gamestation was ready. I skipped into gamestation and picked it up; the Limited Edition PS3 version; and was spoken into buying the Limited Edition guide to accompany it. I have yet another day off tomorrow, so shall likely spend most of the day playing it.

It may sound as though I have it cushy, with all these days off, but it's actually annoying me, as little work = little money. This is most inappropriate, as I have decided which car I want to buy once I finally get a licence; a Chrysler Cruiser. They are made entirely out of win. It is a car so awesome that I even like it in silver; I HATE silver cars.

Also, I am feeling very much like getting a tattoo in the near future. I suspect that if these two purchases are made, I shall be a man.

My evening was spent firstly aimlessly wandering waiting for my bus. Having finished work at 6, waiting for the 8:15 bus is extremely boring. Once this had passed, I went to the Benleva with Allan, Darroch and Neil (with Ewan popping round for about 20 seconds at the end before we left; poor boy). It wasn't anything majorly exciting, just a few friends sitting in a pub playing pool. My pool playing was mostly uninspiring, with a couple of horrific failures and a fair few spectacular flukes. It also consisted of Darroch coming very close to being murdered by Allan due to making frequent comments on his cuboid physique. All in all, the evening was nothing spectacular, but much more fun than I'd have had sitting at home watching cats doing funny things on youtube.

WOAH-HO-HOO!

I spent the afternoon today with Mata Druim, taking promotional photos for his upcoming solo album. We had a great time, and the sun was out, meaning lighting was excellent for some awesome photo opportunities. Perhaps later on I'll post some of the photos. For now, there's a few "previews" on his facebook page.

This evening was the night of the Oscars Highlights (we don't have sky movies, so I can't watch it live unfortunately); somehow I'd managed to live a normal life today whilst avoiding any news of the winners. Firstly, I'll say that Steve Martin is fantastic. As for the winners, the highlight for me was Christolph Waltz getting supporting actor for Inglourious Basterds; even though I have not yet seen the film in it's entirety, the half I did see showed that he played the part brilliantly. The majority of the show was overshadowed by the Hurt Locker, though, which is a film I am not very keen on watching, as it is based around the war that is currently happening. To me a film is entertainment; people have written the Hurt Locker with the intention of entertaining people and to make money. To do this based on a current event in which people are dying most days (I heard another soldier was killed today) is in very bad taste in my opinion. However, I digress; this alone is not cause for it not to recieve awards; it is the revelation that the producer has spent a while emailing the members of the Academy urging them to vote for his movie. The exact contents of the emails have not been released as far as I know, but reports say that they were reminding the members that the Hurt Locker is "not a $500 million blockbuster", so cannot be expected to compare to Avatar et al, and that this should be remembered in voting. I would not be surprised if it also featured emotional blackmail based around the "cause" of the movie as well. The producer in question was banned from attending the ceremony, but I feel this was far too lenient; Academy rules are very strict and clear in forbidding such activity by filmmakers, so I feel that the entire movie should have been removed from the shortlist. It's winning Best Movie earns it no respect from me because of this. That doesn't mean to say that Avatar should have won and I'm in a mood about it not winning; there was a number of great movies nominated, and I feel that after the rules were so severely broken, another movie should have been given a clean victory.

Ice, ice, baby.

Today was the big day of the X Factor tour! Drove there with Ian and his wife which was good fun and very kind of them. We got there and a select few along with us were let in long before the shows start due to us winning VIP tickets through working at Currys and completing the challenge set to the region by an initiative that will make no sense to most and will bore the rest if I was to explain. Long story short, I sold particular stuff so won. Our early entry was for us to be given goody bags with the tour guide, a t-shirt and a keyring (all for free) before we were lead to a large empty room and instructed to spread out across the walls. As soon as this was done, a door was opened and all the artists that we were waiting to see walked into the room to speak to us, sign the guide, take photos etc. This was incredible. I did feel that some of them were in "default mode" of sorts, probably putting on a performer's front to quell pre-show nerves. Jamie Archer and Ollie were rather worse for wears after partying last night, but Jamie found time to notify me that he liked my hair. Coming from someone with a massive afro that is a major complement. It was during this time that I met Jedward. As anyone familiar with my facebook or twitter page during last Autumn, I was not a fan of their performances, but meeting them was the highlight of my day. They are extremely genuine guys, completely barmy, but they clearly wanted to be meeting their fans, and were darting all over the room, meeting each group two or three times. It was very strange that they were both identical and acted exactly the same; literally like having clones running around you. Coupled with the fact that they are pretty famous, it was a very surreal moment. None less so when they were speaking to me about general things, playing with my camera etc when John noticed my shoes and called to his twin; "Edward! Edward! Look at his shoes!" They requested to see the entirety of the shoes as they were covered by my jeans, and upon seeing them became really excited about them; "We used to have those shoes, John!" "I know, Edward!" "Did you get those at T K Maxx?". In fact, I did get them, and apparently at the same time, John and Edward bought themselves these shoes. They then went on for a while about how amazing the shoes were/are before going around the other people there, never losing any enthusiasm. It pains me to say this, but they are great. Also, their live performances weren't "good", but were very entertaining, which really is all they're meant to be. Vanilla Ice did not appear however.

The show itself was brilliant. I feel I have rambled on enough, so here are a couple of photos from the day. Everyone signed my program, and I got photos with all except Lucy Jones; somehow she escaped my grasp, but strangely enough, she did take a photo of me with Danyl *insert gag about my lens extending for her*. On that note I shall bid you all a good night. It may only be 10pm, but I am shattered.

A disgrace.

Today all started well, when I went to town, got a few interesting DVDs and Music Books, met friends, went to Costa etc etc. We then headed up to the retail park for the usual Saturday cinema where it all started going downhill. We were booked for seeing Alice in Wonderland in 3D, thus avoiding the marauding crowds. It turned out that it was a sell-out, so we were doubly chuffed; firstly that we HAD tickets, and secondly that a packed cinema is good fun. We got into the screen and the attendant found people to be sitting in our seats (at Vue, you book specific seats for 3D screenings and an attendant shows you to said seats). Turned out that somewhere along the line, there was an epic cock-up and the seat had been booked online by both ourselves and the occupant. We were escorted out of the cinema and given a refund. Nonetheless, we were deeply miffed, and spoke to the manager, who give him his due, gave us complementary tickets for next time we visit. Still, though, it left us 4 hours to wander aimlessly around Tesco, which gets boring after 20 minutes. This boredom was converted to frustration by a visit from two females, assumably sisters, who none of us have ever met, yet felt compelled to follow us around remarking on me and Jamie's ugliness, strange hair, clothes, and basically rip us to pieces. Jamie was the main fighter in this situation, dazzling them with his magic tricks that he always has to hand, leaving them to flounder, noticeably confounded, but still trying to prove themselves better than us even when there is no one around of their group to be showing off to. I want to be clear that it isn't the insults that mattered most to me, it's the realisation that these two are typical of the sort of people who are forming much of society nowadays; people who show no sign of wit or intelligence, so set in conforming to a set model that they lose all individuality and personality. It is because of this that I am glad to be a "freak"/"loser"/"wierd", because all of these are much better than being a dull clone. Also I am proud to say that most of my friends would also be vilified by these ignoramuses, as they all commit the unthinkable of today, in being themselves.

It may be apparent that my mood this evening is rather dark, but I remain optimistic about tomorrow's trip to Aberdeen to see the X Factor tour. I really hope that tomorrow's post will be more enthusiastic, and will show a lighter side of the world.

Road Roller

Today was set to be rather uneventful, but it turned out I had a great evening. Firstly, I went to the Benleva for the pub quiz. We were champions, coming 11th out of 12 teams; a true triumph in my eyes. Following this, Darroch, Drew, Ben and myself retreated to Drew's house for "Kitchen Banter". This lasted well over two hours, and it was a great reminder that even though I hate living in Drumnadrochit I have some amazing friends here, and spending this sort of time with them does much more for me than psychiatrists and pills have managed over 18 months. So thanks guys.

There's also another interesting point to be made; if someone can tell you stories that make you laugh INCREDIBLY hard, it can cure sinusitis at least for a while. I shall explain; a particularly amusing story was being told and acted out by Drew, causing me to laugh so much tears were rolling down my face. The story progressed and I continued to laugh harder still, until the point where the story finished and I found my nose to be bleeding profusely, apparently relieving the pressure in my head. And thus my sinusitis has gone for now. An interesting home cure for anyone who suffers with their sinuses out there; get a Drew.

Today I also found out that I am definitely going to the X Factor tour in Aberdeen on Sunday, where I am on the Corporate VIP list! I'm not clear on the details, but I am lead to believe that I will have the opportunity to meet the artists and such, so, as a fan of the X Factor, I am looking forward to this immensely. The sheer thought of meeting Jedward makes me laugh, so if it does happen, I will probably be inconsolable at the event; perhaps the same will happen as with Drew's story. I hope not though, as it would be embarrasing to meet Lucy Jones with blood all over my face...

This, along with seeing Alice in Wonderland in 3D tomorrow night, means I am set up for a fantastic weekend!

Let's start again, shall we?

Technically this is a new blog, but I'm using my old page because I like the address and as I started it over a year ago, I can't be accused of copying Darroch. However, on that note, if there's anyone left who isn't, read his blog ON THIS LINK - it is quite good sometimes.

This page shall be dedicated to whatever I think is relevant, and I'll aim at posting something every day. Much of the time I expect I shall end up in a rant about something, which coincidentally is what the following story is...

The other morning I was waiting for the bus to town; being due at 8:45, it's arrival at 9:10 was somewhat displeasing, but since I wasn't starting work until 11, I wasn't bothered, just rather cold. Once the bus pulled in, it was apparent that the driver was in fact a female; this caused a majority of the bystanders to make humorous comments before approaching the bus. I got on the bus as normal, asking for my usual ticket. I was greeted by the abrupt response "How much d'ya usually pay? Machine's broken." After a seconds pause caused by having not yet properly woken up, I answered truthfully; "Two Pounds". Her reply was a drawn out "REEEAAALLLY", spoken in a tone that made it clear that her true meaning was "Stop lying you filthy faggot". I assured her that I always pay two pounds due to my ownership of a youth discount card. She started to argue that they were not valid on the 19 for some reason, where I informed her that they are in fact valid on all buses in Scotland. She continued regardless; "Oh well, perhaps it's the 17 they're not used on" to which I firmly reassured her that as both the 19 and 17 are bus services in the Inverness-shire district, a district of Scotland, my Scottish youth discount card is valid for a discount on both of them, and that I shall be travelling to Inverness this morning for the sum of two pounds. This battle was thus declared over, and after she spent a minute or two counting out the change from my ten pound note whilst staring at some unknown presence in the distance with burning hate in response to my joking-come-apologising remark that the cash machine doesn't give out anything less, I took my handwritten ticket to my seat and listened to Rhapsody for the journey. When approaching my stop, I stood up, shuffling awkwardly to the front of the bus, where, leaving the previous altercation behind me, said "Could I get off at Tesco please?". Before I had finished my sentence, she interjected with the fury of no man on earth; "SIT DOWN UNTIL THE BUS STOPS!". I obliged, and once the bus has certaintly lost all of it's momentum, I exited, wishing the merry bint a "Lovely day".

It is this sort of scenario that really bugs me; it is the bus driver's job to simply take my money, drive, and stop when it's someone's time to get off. This process has limited spoken contact, but what is said should be polite as a standard rule of humanity. What gives her, and the many others who treat customers with complete disrespect, reason to be quite so miserable when their job descriptions state the complete opposite? At my job, at Currys, I deal with some disagreeable customers, and no matter how much I am annoyed by their words or actions, my next customer is treated with total respect and politeness. I am being payed to do this, and so was the bus driver. If she is incapable of such a simple task, she should not be employed by the service industry.