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2001-09-30 21:59:59 Source: Web

Finally! The gallery component for my site is complete. *phew*!

It was almost ready the weekend I discovered SoulXchange. Since then I haven't touched it ;-) Finally though it is complete.

Now it will be ready to receive the pics I will no doubt take when we travel to Cyprus. For the moment there are some rather fetching pics of me out and about in Gothenburg and some luvverly photies of Lotta and I on our 5 year anniversary.

All I need now is a digital camera ;-)

2001-09-29 21:57:57 Source: Web

A fine weekend so far! Last night Lotta and I had a prawn feast! We got through almost a kilo of fresh prawns and a couple of bottles of wine. Mmmm! Then we played Scrabble in Swedish until the early hours and Lotta squeaked in her first victory (we've pretty much managed to prove that tactics count for more than word knowledge when playing Scrabble, but that handicap is closing fast!).

Today I have spent tending my soul in SoulXchange and we popped into town to look for christening gifts for my niece. It's just over a week until we head over to Cyprus and we're both truly looking forward to it.

Big shout to Chris C who has picked me up a PCI graphics card!

Tomorrow? Well, I'm wondering if I shouldn't finally get round to some more programming on Cookstour. SoulXchange has gotten to a point where my portfolio is going to require less tending and I have a gallery application almost completed, just waiting for me to put some finishing touches to it and get everything uploaded. Hmmm. Maybe so!

2001-09-27 08:54:48 Source: Web

An eventful evening - to say the least!

Lydia was great and Terry Edwards who accompanied her on sax and cornet was a great chap. We had a chance to meet them afterwards and got a signed poster each (fanboys!).

After that though, things took a turn for the wierder! A guy who is an old acquiantance of Lottas had been winding me up all evening. As we sat around finsihing our drinks after the concert, he became more and more lairy. Suddenly he grabbed my poster and started to scrunch it up in one hand. I don't really know what happened, but I reacted without thinking and grabbed him by the throat! Totally unlike me.

Everything happened in less than a second - I let go and a couple of seconds later he released my poster. However then he got up and started threatening me. By now my defence mechanisms had kicked in and I sat silent and let him do all the threatening. A bouncer saw what was going on and came and kicked the guy out.

So that's the nearest I have come to being in a fight since I got beaten up in Wimbledon (10 years ago perhaps). Not pleasant at all. The bizarre thing is that nobody saw me grab the guy by the throat, so everyone thought that he went nuts for no reason. I'm not proud (kinda worried that I did that more than anything else), but a little part of me is amazed and slightly chuffed that I stood up to someone.

Anyway, Lotta and I left somewhat later. I was still pretty shaken by the time we got home. I want to thank you Lotta for supporting me last night xxXxx

Anyway, on top of all that, our office was broken into last night. Some fucker smashed a window and grabbed a laptop that was on a desk inside. It could have been worse, but it'll take a while before we can get a replacement.

So, an eventful night as I said at the start of this post. I feel the need for a long bath and a relaxing night in!

2001-09-25 22:55:46 Source: Web

Lotta and I are going to see Lydia Lunch tomorrow. We last saw her the day *after* we first met, so it's quite romantic ;-)

Cyprus tickets are now booked and in a surprise twist, I now have a couple of friends comeing to visit from the UK in the next few weeks. Check out Ryanair - they are having a sale apparently and feel free to invite yourself over (assuming you are one of my friends and not just a complete stranger reading this!!!)

My wrist hurts!

2001-09-21 10:04:48 Source: Web

"I remember even though it felt soft at the time
I always used to wake up sore."

A favourite lyric ;-)

2001-09-20 17:54:49 Source: Web

What a classic! I had someone apply to be on my Wap-dev list today and I was curious when he mentioned he'd read about the list onf Slashdot. Well, I went to see who had been pimping me to find this article.
Reading it, it seemed very familiar and then I noticed that it mentions "my wap search-engine" and all of a sudden it seemed *very* familiar! It's actually a comment I had posted over a year ago, cut and pasted under someone else's name!

If you're not familiar with Slashdot, you might be wondering why someone would do such a thing? Well, there's this thing called Karma, which is a sort of rating system on Slashdot. If your post gets moderated up (you'll notice this particular post has a score of 4 points), then you get extra Karma points. If you have over 20 (I think it is), you can post your comments at a higher starting score so more people will read them. Myself I have 50 karma (which is the highest threshold - it used to be higher and I had a lot!). The other side of the coin is that if your comments are trash and get moderated down a lot, you start at a lower score. A lot of people post "trolls" on Slashdot and this guy seems to be a troller who used my comment to help raise his karma.

I'm not terribly worried, but the comments are very out of context and *could* potentially be miscontrued as being the current views of the owner of Wapwarp and Wap-Dev. Still with my comment underneath pointing out the fraud, that shouldn't be an issue.

You have to laugh ;-)

2001-09-20 17:25:10 Source: Web

I was wondering this evening whether anyone has actually figured out yet what Bush is up to? I mean, when it struck me, I was horrified by the magnitude, but there doesn't seem to be any reaction or any commentary at all on the fact that he's not just out to avenge the attacks on New York and Washington, he's out to try and wipe terrorism off the face of the earth!

The day after the attacks, I saw a news snippet where Bush said that the US would hunt down and destroy those responsible for the attacks and then they would continue to track down terrorism wherever it is found. I heard nothing more about this and nobody else seemed to have noticed it, but now we're hearing details of Operation Infinite Justice and it suddenly struck me - the clue is in the name. Infinite Justice - Bush is on a holy jihad of his own and he's not intending to stop with the Taliban.

Now, don't get me wrong. I have no love for terrorists or people who commit terror deaths. But this is just insanity. It's as though Bush is out to make a name for himself as "The Man Who Conquered Terrorism". I mean it's just nuts! It's like "The War On Drugs" - it just can't be won. What many people fail to see is that most terrorists look at their situation differently from how we, the media observers, see it. They are at war. For them, this is as serious as WW2 was for our grandparents. The problem is, they have no, or very few resources. So they fight their war with the means at their disposal.

The second problem is that these people are seriously aggrieved. The live in poverty for the most part, they consider themselves to be oppressed by (their govt | the US | the rest of the world) and their wounds run deep. Generally several generations of built up hatred at least.

These people are not gonna just lay down and die.

And as soon as the US decides it's gonna wade in wherever terrorism is found, the situation is going to explode. It's like in the schoolyard - if gangs, or smoking, or listening to certain types of music are banned, ou can be sure as hell that kids will flock to it. The amount of people around the world seriously ticked off at the West is gonna mushroom.
Jeez. Nobody seems to have noticed that Bush is on this mad crusade. Of course, I could be "out and cycling" as they say in Sweden, but somehow, I've got a sneaky suspicion that within a few weeks, others are gonna notice what's happening here.

Remember folks - you heard it first at Cookstour! The end of the world is nigh!

2001-09-20 10:00:59 Source: Web

I've been hit by viruses (virii?) both computer and biological ;-)

At least computer ones we are taking care of, it's a fag, but no major problem. Myself, I'm feeling pretty crappy, but not crappy enough to stay at home wrapped in a quilt :-(

Good news though . I booked our flights to Cyprus today! Hurrah! Holiday and christening here we come.

2001-09-18 15:55:44 Source: Web

Man it's been productive today! I feel kinda frazzled though - I think I'll enjoy being at home and taking it easy tonight ;-)

2001-09-16 21:19:27 Source: Web

Humty hum! Sunday evening again. What have I been up to? Not much when all's said and done and loving every minute of it (apart from Saturday morning when I wasn't feeling 100% kosher!).

Not that it means much to anyone, my reign of terror on SoulXchange is going well. For a newbie player with only just over 2 weeks in the game I'm climbing the ranks quite effectively. It's a lot of fun and I'm managing my time in the game much better now. Damn it's addictive though ;-)

Lotta and I are aiming to get to Cyprus in the middle of October for my niece's christening. I haven't been to Cyprus since I was about 16 or so and we have never travelled anyplace warm together! However money is somewhattight, so I'm waiting until a week or so when there should be some cheaper airfares available *crosses fingers*. For those who don't know, both my sister and my grandma live in Cyprus.

La la la! *drums fingers on table*. Well, that's pretty much it really. Not much to shout about. Oh - congrats on the job Chris! You'll have to set up an "American Pie" style private feed ;-)