c u r r e n t l y

Currently reading: The Dawkins Delusion: a critique of The God Delusion - should be pretty interesting.
Currently working on: Limb Bud Development
Currently listeninging to: Interior Lulu by Marillion - an epic track from their 2000ish album Marillion.com. Not an easy one to get into if you've never heard Marillion before, but beautiful none-the-less

Photos

I've joined flickr as an attempt to make my photos more easily available online, as blogger is often a little unsure of which photos it'll keep, and not everyone has access to facebook. My URL is http://www.flickr.com/photos/recognisetheview/ with the username recognisetheview if you just want to search for me from the main page. All the pic resize to 800 pixels, so if you want a BIG original copy, then just email me!

Enjoy!

I've just finished going through Module 3, and am not far off making lecture notes for the other 3 modules. Getting there...

Last Friday was the "What you wanted to be when you were younger" bop, which was really really good fun - probably one of the best bops for a while. Vicky, Iona, Erika and me went shopping (yes, I was a girl for the afternoon) for costumes, and I picked up a hard-hat from an army surplus store for £7. I need more use out of it, so no-doubt next year whenever I do any sort of DIY I'll be putting on my hard-hat. "You need a plug rewiring? Of course, I'll just go and get my hard-hat".

One never can be too careful.

But yargh, bop was good fun and photos (with my exciting new camera!) are available on flickr.

Cambridge

I have returned, and spent much of my time back in Cambridgeland putting finishing touches to my dissertation. It's now all handed in and completed, so it's in the lap of the Gods now. It was nice to see it all bound up and posh-looking, all 23 pages of it. Iona, Vicky and Erika all handed theirs in today, so we're all going out to Dojos to celebrate, hopefully followed by a bar trip.

In other news, I broke my cafetiere! The glass bit now has a tasty hole right in the bottom. No full on (non instant) coffee for me until I can get a new one and I can see me needing it in the coming weeks. The only question now is where to find one!?

__________________
Update: I now have a cafetiere - £7 (-70p student discount = £6.30) from Whittards. I got it from the scary lady. It took all my guts to ask her to go and get them.

I wanna feel alive, gas up the 4-wheel drive.

Good evening all. I haven't posted ALL holiday - which is a bit lame really. First thing's first - there's a new Marillion album, so I'd better get a review out the way.

Marillion - Somewhere Else.
After the first few listens I was, how shall I put it... shocked... and somewhat apalled. H's voice has a real habit of sounding terrible when he's singing something you're not used to. His melodies seem random, and his voice seems droll. But after a few listens it sounds incredible! You realise why he's singing why he is, and how it sits with the rest of the song. Because they have a tendency to make such epic songs, you need to know what's coming to enjoy the rest of the song. That's why I love them so much - every minute of (almost) every song is building up to something big, small, poignant, whatever. Just magical music.
My hilights from the new album are the opening track (The Other Half), Most Toys (which has a radioheadesque guitar line running all the way through it), The Last Century for Man, which builds up beautifully similarly to King (if you know Marillion!) and has the best few seconds on the whole album ("I wanna feel alive, GAS UP THE 4-WHEEL DRIVE). Oh, and A Voice from the Past (which I hated at first), is perfect. Perfect guitar solo, perfect vocals. Glorious.

This album is probably the biggest grower since Marbles!

I've also recently bought the new Maximo Park album, and the new Bloc Party album, and both are pretty good. Somehow none of the songs hold me like Marillion though! I'm going to see them in Cambridge in June! Hurrah!

Finished Gormenghast

It was a really good series.

Well, the 1st 2 books anyway.

It's dark, it's beautifully written, and even in the page-after-page where the castle just undergoes it's painful and unceasing monotony, it's worth reading, and still holds you. And of course, when something does begin happening there's no way you can put it down. The last book is strange, and such a huge leap away from the first two, that I found it a little strange. Titus leaves the castle, and finds a magical land with cars, and flying space-ships. All a little weird and unexpected for my tastes. However, if you get the chance, read them. It's well worth it.

Pub Golf.. FORE!

Met Matt et al. in Surbiton for a number of people's birthday's (Matt and Matt infact!). We played Pub golf all the way to Kingston. Lalalalala. I got hole 1 (Guinness) in 2, that's 2- par. Oh yeah - hardcore me! Then I didn't play the next round, but lied to Dan (who was scoring), or the next round (but lied again)...

Then we all gave up cos everyone was FAR to drunk to carry on (though no hangover for Tom! I know my limit now. Woooo!) and spent an hour or so in The Mill (which had NO drinks. I had to get Gabriel his 4th choice. FOURTH! jeez!) and then went on to McCluskies, and danced to shite music till the night was done. Was pretty good fun all told!

Pic stolen from Natalie. Sorry, and Ta!

Alex's visit

Alex visited - we went into London to see Vicky, and had the classic Wagamama lunch, with the less classic Haagen Daas dessert - the service in that place is terrifyingly personal. Just give me my food and leave! We also ate LOADS of Pret (darling Pret) a mange, bought numerous textiles commodities in Kingston (for Alex is once-again making her own ball-dress!), had chinese takeaway, watched programs about GIANT SQUID. mmm... invertebratey, and generally enjoyed having a couple of days together and without work.

Today I had my last ever lecture in Downing Site. After three years, and a fair few hundred lectures in there it's all done! Can't believe it's the end of my EIGHTH term in Cambridge - it really has flown by. I'm stupidly relieved that I'm not leaving after this year though!

Lots of work done Saturday... many notes made, more lectures understood - all good.

Emma bar that evening. Had scary 9 foot sofa. No-one danced. Was a bit lame. Saw Rich though. Came back to Reece's. Had gardies with Bethmo. Saw the Royal Tenembaums. Was bon. Went to bed at 3am. Sleeeeepy. So slept till 1pm. Lots of work done again. Adventure up Histon Road and scary back streets. DINNNNER

Want house? Get house.

We have a house! We spent this afternoon wandering around the Chesterton region sneaking around cute little terraces trying to find somewhere to live. We saw 3 houses in total, and paid a deposit on the first one we saw. It was really lovely - a great sitting room, big kitchen, side covered outside bit, off-street parking, and 6 bedrooms, 3 of which are en-suite. The rooms are small (presumably the house is made to only have 2 bedrooms!), but it'll do the job, and with the lounge we won't need much space in our rooms. The 2nd house was nice (bigger bedrooms) but the lounge was in the basement - felt like walking into a dungeon. The third house was newly revamped, but unfortunately was ALL corridors - the kitchen was a tight galley, and there was no living room (just a breakfast bar). All in all, a good choice was made. Now all we have to do is set about planning how to "make our mark". Get out the spray paints and skull-and-cross-bone stensils!

bathtub 2

Today the bathtub made it to its final home - the english faculty. One excited drama-studio fellow helped us lug it down the stairs, and the world was happy.

in Cambridge, there is a bathtub...

In Cambridge, there is a bathtub...

It was thrust into the world many moons ago with a hiss of smouldering iron and clank of moulds. For a numer of years its history has remained elusive. No-one is really sure where it lived (though presumably in someone's bathroom) or what its purpose was (some suspect it was used as a bath). However, it was eventually picked up by the Cambridge ADC theatre who required it for a play, and it played the role of 250lb* cast-iron bathtub expertly; like no actor could have done**. However, its weight and unstoppable bid for the crown of King-of-all-rustedness led the prospect of its final days being lived out in the pouring rain with nought but a prop-filled skip for company. Its number was up, until a play was written. A play so perfect that it required a bath.

THIS bath.

Like greenpeace to an oil spil the directors of this play flocked to the bath's side with friends and taxis in tow to bring it to its rightful place back on the centre stage. After much scooping, de-watering, turning, seat arrangement, huffing and also puffing, it was positioned on the back seat of a taxi and transported to that so illustrious of Cambridge colleges, Clare. Here it was unloaded by a team of handsome muscle-men*** and was given its own room complete with central heating. So royal was this bath that mere "acting-removal-person" plebs were left to walk or cycle to Clare while the bath rode in its carriage of expense.

And so it was a happy day for the bathtub. Soon, oh so soon, it shall have its golden day once more, soaking up the applause in the English faculty like those goading sponges and their soap-water.


* estimate
** (the phrase "no human could play that part" springs to mind, but no doubt Andrew could have had a good bash)
*** Me, Vicky's friend Joel and a Taxi Driver. So awe-inspired by the life-story of this bath was the driver that NO questions were asked. And why would they be!?

The Ent last night was really good fun. We danced pretty much continuously (with the odd drinks break) from 10 till 12.30 when it closed. It was an indie/alternative set, so we got to hear such classic wonderments as the Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party, Maximo Park, and, really impressively, Doves (Pounding). Really good fun.

TDL SAVED!

In other important news. TUDOR DRIVE LIBRARY HAS BEEN SAVED! See the article in the Surrey Comet:

How to avoid lions, bears and catch up vaguelly on what I've been doing.

It's been a while again. I was being so post-worthy last month, and this month it has just died.

"Could you rinse a lion if it charged at you?" Apparently this is the best tactic should a lion be attempting to take-down your LIFE in a big field, try and rinse it. The best way to do this is to SHOUT and RUN and WAVE YOUR ARMS. Freak it out, just like you would a small cat in the road that has just stolen your chicken fillets. Just so you know. Don't try this at home (lions don't really go in suburban London), OR with bears. They get "scratchy".

So now you know.

In other news, I had a formal with Tiffin friends and Uni friends, which was really good fun. Rahul and me beat the buttery staff at pool, and Chris told us all about facebook. ALL about facebook. He really is the king of that place, though merely through total-man-hours-spent. Natalie is going to London to be a REAL LIFE DOCTOR, Andrew is cool, and Joe is the May Ball President! Hardcore!

Also, we went to see Tom perform at West Road with his quartet. He played Schubert, though not after we'd watched a concert pianist playing many a piece, each interspursed with violent, AROBTTH inducing bows. He was good, just bowed. ALOT.

Tonight is my "daughter's" birthday, so we're going to TeriAki (mmm noodley goodness - in other news a Wagamama is opening in Cambridge. Finally!), which should be really good fun. There's then an indie/alt Dj in the cellars, so no doubt we shall toddle down there.

Sorry for it being so long, hope you enjoy the album spinny chart below:

"An Essay Bastard: The illegitimate offspring of my brain." Alex

Spinny Album Chart

The soundtrack to my life.

Courtesy of Jenjen,
How to make the soundtrack to your life…
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle/random
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool...

• Opening Credits: Sunday, David Bowie
• Waking Up: Vegetable, Radiohead (ahem!)
• First Day At School: A Whisper, Coldplay
• Falling In Love: Sebastian, Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel (blimey!)
• Fight Song: The Hardest Button to Button, The White Stripes (amazing!)
• Breaking Up: It Ain't Necessarily So, Nicola Benedetti
• Prom: Gleaming Auction, Snow Patrol
• Life: Oh You Pretty Things!, David Bowie (so true...)
• Mental Breakdown: Paper Lies, Marillion (clearly I'll break down over money)
• Driving: Packing for the Crash, Tom McRae (scary... this is completely random...)
• Flashback: Billets Doux, Django Reinhardt
• Getting back together: Script for a Jester's Tear, Marillion
• Losing your virginity: Aftermath, REM
• Wedding: The Fountain of Salamacis, Genesis
• Birth of Child: The Hindu Times, Oasis
• Final Battle: You Fool Noone, Deep Purple
• Death Scene: No Cars Go, The Arcade Fire (aw)
• Funeral Song: Cave, Muse
• End Credits: Shine it All Around, Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation

I have never heard anyone so excited about pyrex bowls as I did today.

More later.

Or maybe I'll just leave it like that actually, seems quite magical.