Blog Wars: Episode 3 (Return of the Stoob)

Hello!

First of all, I know - it has been a while. Just over two months by the looks of it. My birthday as you can no doubt tell has long since whooshed by and I am now no longer a teenager. Doesn't really make much difference being at Uni mind you.

Some of the other blog mediums you may be familiar with have since transcended to a visual format, but I am keeping it old-school in a textual fashion. So Stevie Mac, Ross Tilley, just because you can be bothered to video-edit don't think you're in anyway better than me!

So whats new? I am back at Uni, still living in Harrow/Kenton and still beating off the local wildlife with coat hangers, bookcases, mousetraps, saucepans and anything else to hand. Finally the house is rodent free as we've sealed off all the possible entrances but now we have a knackered boiler JUST as it has started getting cold. Fun times I am sure you will agree. Certainly makes life interesting mind you. The washing machine was easy to fix, just needed the filter emptying.

I am, like many fellow students, quickly approaching the first big bundle of deadlines which this year will always come in lumps. Lovely lumps of deadlines. Not fun. So this week I need to finish my second year Radio Feature project, which I am doing on Weddings. Weddings were not my first choice mind you, I wanted to teach myself to play Just A Minute in one, but the contact never got back to me and my second idea, to do it on the News Quiz - was hindered by one of the regulars passing away the week I got in touch. So they were obviously tied up at Radio 4 that week.

The Wedding idea came about because, as it would happen, I was going to a Wedding. My Uncle's to be specific. He was marrying a loony and me being family I was there to send him on his merry way into the married life. The best of luck to him and his new family. I was more pleased to have a new suit, which is very nice I might add. I also took the opportunity to grab lots of audio for the feature which I have been frantically editing these past two days because the deadline is the end of this week.

Then, next week, I have a 3000 word Critical Report of the feature due, along with a 2000 word essay on Media Consumption & Identity. Then, the following week (or the one after, I lose track) I have a 1000 word presentation on Propaganda Mediums for my Propaganda module. That one I rather look forward to as I haven't done a presentation in a while and have a lot of experience with Propaganda under my belt. 4 years of History in GCSE and A Level do that to you.

But, all the current worries aside, these past few weeks have been fairly successful. Smoke Radio's School Disco in Freshers Week was very successful, raising over £5000 and tomorrow we're hosting Smoke Radio's Halloween House of Horror in Area 51, hopefully that will be successful too. I will be going as a Pirate, as I make quite a good swashbuckler and have the costume more or less sorted already. The new schedule is up and running and I am being moaned at to get it on the website. All in good time mind you.

The new Freshers are all nice people, although there are a couple of crazies in there too. But lovely crazies all the same. We took them on the Circle Line Pub Crawl and we all got very drunk. Suffice to say I don't remember much of it in detail but I know a good time was had by all, except Pete who died towards the end with a migraine.

But I think that just about brings the world up-to-date with the world of me, so I think I shall leave it at that.

Until next time!

Stoobie reviews... The Bourne Ultimatum

Just as good as all the others.

And then some.

This movie doesn't quite pick off where the other one left off, but then it does. You'll go 'aww, yeah' like a stoned 70's pimp when you realize when the things overlap and come together and when the shit really goes down.

Once again, brilliantly made with intelligent city chases with yet again MORE Landmark's, ones which I have been too. This time Bourne comes to London. He goes to the Guardian, It's spooky I know. Berlin, Moscow, London. Just about all the really major post WW2 cities that having visited made the movie more fun to watch. Sure I haven't been to all the southern European cities in all the films, but really they're not the ones that count.

Brilliantly choreographed fight scenes again - the trademark ones we love with a pleasant....... twist. You'll know what I mean when you see it. Oh god this movie is good.

And if you don't love how this movie ends, well, then you're not bloody human. This film - simply put - awesome. Go see it. Now.

I don't see you moving.

Skit!

One month to go as a teenager.

So it has come to this. I have exactly one month (31 days) left to be a teenager before I hit the big 20. Two decades of life. Twenty years old. Sounds scary. Some people have only just reached 19 and it makes me slightly envious. It shouldn't but it doesn't. With 20 years there seems to loom greater responsibility and a need for maturity. It doesn't sound very fun if you ask me.

But then I suppose I have matured a lot this Summer, having to take responsibility for myself properly for the first time. Paying for a house, bills, food, and working for the money to pay for said things. But hopefully when University starts again I can tap off my inner-child a little more, or at least throw some responsibility to the wind as I get horribly, horribly pissed.

But some people see 21 years old as a landmark, does this mean I have another year to go until I have to start worrying? Much in the same way Dave Gorman claims you're a grown up at 32, not 31? These are all things that spring to mind.

But the main thing that springs to mind, is how should I celebrate? I hope a lot of people will be back in Harrow in time for my birthday, and that some of my friends from home could come up for any celebrations that may occur. Failing that, that I can go home for a few days over or around my birthday to celebrate. We shall see how things go I suppose.

Two Days Off

Ah, two days off.

Nothing quite like some well earned time off. I am just glad it wasn't like last week. One day off is not time off. One day off is poking fun at what freedom from work tastes like, not enough time to fully appreciate the freedom to lay about on your arse secure in the knowledge that no matter how many times you check your watch, you won't have to be behind the bar at 7pm. I love these days.

Monday was quite busy however. Was down at the University of Westminster's Marlyebone campus yesterday discussing Smoke Radio's budget for the year ahead. Luckily we're not getting as little as we initially suspected, but are instead getting more-or-less the same as last year. The problem with last year was the Student Union had a lot of money going out from the department that dealt with Smoke Radio, just no record that it was Smoke Radio the money was going to. This year though, things are changing.

One of the noticeable things about the new committee management structure is that a head of the Station is far easier to reach. So far I think it is fair to say I have been the only one who has been in London all of the Summer. Sam Impey has had work at her radio station back home. Phil Harris has been working in Bristol and is now in Australia. Chris Chilvers is current on holiday - somewhere I forget. Pete was away in the Isle of Wight briefly and has plans to go to the Canaries at the end of the month. Steven is in Edinburgh. Landers is busy. And then muggins here can't afford to be anywhere else really at the moment.

This is why I have to treasure the time off I get. To take the time to get the about-the-house jobs done, to play video games, write blog entries, discuss issues on forums, lounge in the sun, go shopping, see films. All the stuff I enjoy doing in my free time. But, none of this beats the Uni life. Bring on September, I miss the University lifestyle.

Working alongside pissheads has its perks.

I have discovered recently, that whilst I have been relatively sober for the best part of two months now, with only the occasional beer as I have no reason to drink myself silly (eg. The Undercroft of a Monday), that other drunk people can be just as amusing.

Of course there are your piss heads who turn into dicks. But then there are your piss heads that react to alcohol like a monster would to being slain in say... Dungeons and Dragons or Final Fantasy. Like the monsters, they leave behind goodies.

For example, on Thursday afternoon a man came into O'Neills on what I can only assume was a free afternoon for him. He had enjoyed a couple of drinks when suddenly it dawned upon him that actually, he fancied some food from our kitchen. Now, he didn't want something cheap. Oh no, for some reason, he had money and intended to enjoy it. He ordered the 12oz Rib-Eye Steak, minus everything else. All he wanted was a plate of meat and a glass of red wine. No sides, no salad. Nothing. Just meat and wine. So off went the order to our kitchens with me explaining to our chef Haley exactly what this gentlemen wanted.

It came down, went to him, and usually that would be that. The customer would have left, leaving us to clear up after them. But no, he came back to the bar. He wanted to thank the chef personally. So I go upstairs, bring Hayley down, and the man thanks her... via the medium of a £20 note and the compliment that it was the best steak he'd ever had. I don't know what he's eating, but apparently, O'Neills' steaks top the list. Kudos to them for freezing, packing and sending out identical meals to countless O'Neills across the country to guarantee that when grilled, microwaved or fried, they come out identical in each and every pub in the chain.

But after that, things went downhill for the man in question. He broke the delicate fabric of the lunchtime meal ritual. He stayed longer for another glass of red wine. A woman caught his eye. Apparently he liked her smile. Apparently this was excuse enough for him to come to me and attempt to start a £20 tab for her and who we could only assume was her dad. So I explained to the woman that the gentleman wanted to do this. She explained 'Thanks, but no thanks. He's been looking at me for the past half hour and is really creeping me out'. So I returned to the gentlemen with an abridged version of what she said 'Thanks, but no thanks.' What does he say next? Well, first he looked a bit insulted and taken aback and irritatedly said 'Fine. You keep it'.
No complaints here, I'll tell you that now.

So fast forward to Friday night for a little bit of what I anticipate to be a more valuable find. Whilst cleaning up we usually find a lot of stuff has been left behind by those whose senses have been lost to the booze they've consumed. Sometimes a lone shoe, sometimes even stranger, a pair of shoes - meaning someone was so pissed to realize they were leaving in bare feet - unless of course they were carried out. Coats, shirts, jackets, ties and once even a pair of trousers. God knows how we didn't notice the person in their pants. Anywho, suffice to say I found a case. A case with 'Police' scrawled around the outside. I am informed that 'Police' are a rather expensive brand of shades. The shades were intact, inside. I can also say that people very rarely come back for things they lose to our Pub. So excuse me while I go and work out how much these things cost, whether to ebay them or sun myself in them.

Toodles!

IRON MAN TRAILER!

Oh my god, this is going to be awesome!

EDIT: Nyawww... they took it offline.

Stoobie's patented 5am rant.

I suppose it's at these times when your sleep patterns are out of sync with the rest of your timezone, your house mates are asleep with their girlfriends (I am assuming they're asleep here, I mean it is 5am after all), that you sit back and think to yourself. Need I remind you that pondering to yourself in these situations is always the wrong thing to do because it always serves as the harsh backhand of reality. Also, never watch Scrubs whilst thinking. John Dorian's internal monologues only encourage your own to develop, hence my sudden need to blog.

Thinking to myself the issue of being single comes to mind, but I won't go on about that because everyone's heard that story a thousand times. The issue of friends being so thinly spread once you're living in a borough of London and they're either working, back in their homes of origin or just busy. The social life becomes harder to arrange when your hours at work can vary between 4pm starts all the way through to 3am finishes and anything in between. Last week for example I was particularly lucky. My mate Phil, the final house mate to move in was around for a week, settling in and sorting his room and seeing how I only worked 3 days that week, I got to spend a lot of my time hanging out. Heck, I even went to the cinema... twice! Die Hard 4 was pretty damn awesome and considering I loathe Harry Potter with an absolute passion, my friends managed to drag me along to see the Order of the Pheonix. It was better than my pessimism predicted, but it was still pretty dire.

Speaking of the git-wizard, his new book came out tonight. Chris and Aoife scuttled to Waterstone's midnight opening like lambs to the slaughter in order to get their hands on J.K. Rowlings latest piece of *cough* literacy *cough*. Seriously, why not at least pre-order the book and get it in the post first thing in the morning rather than give me further reason to doubt their sanity? At least I can take comfort in the fact some like-minded hackers, thieves and contract breakers have already spread the word of who dies. It will make for excellent leverage in turning the conversation off Harry Potter and onto more serious matters like... heck... the best way to open a can of shook-up coke without getting it all over you. To all the people who I have wound up and angered over the adolescent boy who enjoys playing with his wand far too much I must take a moment to apologise. Whilst I see you look forward to, though don't understand why, the fact remains I hate the whole franchise and it brings me great pleasure to poke fun at it and unfortunately some of my friends don't see eye-to-eye on the matter. Sparks will fly when the issue is raised. Live by the sword, die by the cynic.

In more positive news I have been making lots of progress with the Smoke Radio website thanks to my recent bout of insomniac-behavior. The website now has a Newsletter that can be signed up to on the site as well as the website now having the ability to finally show off them shiny YouTube videos we've had to link to for so long. Joomla sure is a handy tool, but can be a bit infuriating when you haven't got the plugins to do the job you want. A job that can usually be solved with a flurry of HTML. I am considering putting Joomla on my stoobie-land.co.uk website so I can teach myself to build a site from scratch on it.

I also received the cheque for my Uni Halls of Residence deposit-return this morning. £247 back from the initial £250 meaning I only had £3 taken from it, which is pretty sweet all things considering. I have heard of worse flats than mine receiving as much back. I hope the Chinese students are fined for waking everyone up at ungodly hours of the morning. How I love living in a house.

Sorry about the rant, blame Scrubs, then watch it. It is awesome.