Reactionary Post (Yay Internet Meme)

Hello Everyone,

I realise that it has been some time (some months) since I last posted. I can’t even disguise the fact that this is a completely reactionary post caused by people *cough* Hui-ai, Jack, Geri *cough* poking fun at my lack of posting. SO, in an attempt to make up for this, I’m going to do Jack’s internet meme which he said I should do, which curiously doesn’t have a music related section.

Eight things I am passionate about:

1. Gaming
Ever since I was first squeezed out of the womb, I’ve been interested in computer games. Although the rate at which I play them has tapered off slightly in the last few years, I’m still very much a gamer at heart and love a good multiplayer session.

2. Software Development
My passion for software development was spawned as a spin-off passion from my passion for games. Originally I wanted to create games, but soon I began to simply enjoy the power of being able to build pretty things that work on a computer.

3. Music

4. Rock Climbing
This is the most surprising passion ever. Though I’m not completely over my fear of heights, I’ve become extraordinarily close to doing so thanks to climbing. Bouldering in particular is a brilliant social activity; the buzz of solving a problem with a whole bunch of friends is really satisfying, especially when the problem involves a whole bunch of physical constraints.

5. Pasta
O god yes. If I only ate pasta for the rest of my life, I would be a very happy (but fat) man.

6. Friends (to blatantly steal from Jack’s list)
I often take for granted the fact that I have a really close group of friends that I can just be myself around. Thanks guys – without you, life might just be a huge, smoldering turd.

7. General Hilarity
You can’t take things too seriously. I love laughing and making other people laugh. Laughing at a good joke is one of the best feelings in the world

8. Integrity & Honesty

Eight things I want to do before I die:

1. Europe / UK
I neeed to see Europe before I die. Places with Historical significance blow my mind. Specifically, I need to see: Spain, Rome, Istanbul (bleh, Constantinople), England & Ireland and possibly Jerusalem.

2. Create my own 3D engine and game
It would be enormous amounts of fun to make a 3D engine that actually works properly and can be extended to work in a game. I’ve tried to start one of these several times, but always lose interest or direction.

3. Learn to play piano properly
I want to be able to play just well enough to figure out how to make nice sounding music in any key. Improvisational skills would be wonderful When I was a kid, I always wanted to be able to play Elton John’s “Funeral for a Friend”, but I think that may be setting the sights a little too high.

4. Write a small novel, even if it sucks
What I really want to do is write a billion of my own characters, and combine them with a brilliant story. It’s that easy!

5. Climb a 4+ pitch route
The idea of doing this scares the absolute shit out of me. But it would also be one of the most amazing things I would ever experience, and an unbelievable challenge.

6. Have kid(s)
I call the big one ‘Bygie’

7. Sing for some kind of band
Unfortunately for the rest of society, or more specifically, their ears, I am one of those people who arrogantly think they have a nice voice because when I was a kid my mum, or grandma or some other relative, said , “wow you have a great voice” and I believed them. It would be a really satisfying feeling to have some other people agree with that poor relative

8. Eat an entire steam-train full of truffles

Eight things I say often:

1. Awesome
I need to use this word more… currently constitutes every adjective I ever use. I should start using it in place of nouns.

2. Basically
It makes me sad when I hear myself use this word.

3. Sorry
I apologise to people for stupid things which they are not genuinely offended by. It reduces the feeling behind other apologies, so I should stop doing it.

4. Oh Well…
Generic sentence fader when topics of conversation are few and far between…

5. Fuck
Used everywhere, in front of anyone. Nobody at work has ever complained, though I’m sure they would profit heavily from a swear jar.

6. What’s going on?
Thank you Peter Griffin and Geoffrey Eagle for reducing the variety of greetings I have to just the one.

7. Ass-hat
I like this as an insult because I am greatly amused by the idea of a hat designed to be placed on the butt.

8. Absolute Noun
When all other adjectives fail, just stress the fact that they are indeed what they are.

Eight books I’ve read recently:

This section is disgraceful. I’ve taken the liberty of defining ‘recently’ to mean ‘within the last 4 years’ because I simply do not read that many books.

1. The Foundation Triliogy (Isaac Asimov)
Best. Triliogy. Ever. Guy uses a form of social-mathematics to predict the future and save humanity from itself.

2. The Stars, Like Dust (Isaac Asimov)
Not quite as good as the foundation triliogy, but a very interesting novel, none-the-less. About tyranny and the abolition of science to maintain order.

3. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card), 4. Speaker for the Dead, 5. Xenocide (Orson Scott Card)
These books were all challenging to put down – particularly speaker for the dead. About humanity’s attitude toward extraterrestrials.

6. Godel, Escher, Bach (Douglas R. Hofstadter)
Amazing book which explores the idea of a ‘self’, how we define intelligent life, and how it may theoretically work.

7. The Pragmatic Programmer
If you’ve ever wanted to become a good programmer, this is a good place to start. I am still a pretty shitty programmer, but I am better because of this book.

8. This Other Eden (Ben Elton)
I had a few nice chuckles reading this book. It’s about the end of the world, and people trying to ensure their survival through it.

Eight Movies I have seen Eight times:

1. Batman Begins
I’m sure nobody is really surprised here.

2. Kingdom of Heaven
Great movie except for Orlando’s speech. Seriously the worst ‘inspirational’ speech I’ve ever heard.

3. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

4. Star Wars – The Return of the Jedi
Not sure why I’ve seen this episode of the saga way more than the others.

5. The Matrix

6. Snatch

7. Groundhog Day
I like Bill Murray

8. The Pink Panther Returns
I like Peter Sellers more

Eight people who should do this meme:

1. Hui-ai & Geri
Just because you pointed me out as not having posted, you should have to do this too

2. Andrew
Should start blogging just to do one of these. I think he’s read some good books and seen a lot of movies, so it would be interesting.

3. Studds
Curious to know what he wants to do most before he dies. Could ask him. But I’d have to get up.

4. Em
I know for a fact that she reads a lot of books, so that alone should be justification for imposing this meme upon her.

5. Adeline
Abortions! Addy is passionate about abortions.

6. Henry Pym, 7. Professor Charles Xavier, 8. Nick Fury
I need 3 fictional characters to do this meme, because I don’t know enough people who still blog

Good Day

Today was one of the great work days – I got to feel useful and important :

• I was repeatedly requested for knowledge I gained during the past year
• Responsibility for work is piling up, which is a good thing, and I don’t have half the time I need to finish most of the stuff I’m supposed to do.
• For the first time in a long while, I had the opportunity to show that I actually know something about software engineering (now I have 3 days to provide results in the form of a prototype)
• There was no time to do anything except rush from one problem to another. Constant problem solving is great for killing time and maintaining interest!

Next episode: can Lachlan maintain this positive run? Has Goren finally met his match? Will Batman make it out alive? Who are you anyway?!

Tuna Sandwiches

So for the grampians trip right, we bought a whole bunch of long-life-type foods for camping. Since we were camping nowhere near where we were actually climbing, and in the quite civilised town of Halls Gap, it seemed stupid to make our own crappy food when there was a pub 2 minutes down the road. Not surprisingly, we ate (and drank) at the pub every night for dinner, and used next to fuck all of the food we bought. It’s been a few weeks since the trip, and I don’t think we’ve used anything yet except for the cheese and the salami.

Until two weeks from now, I resolve to eat tuna sandwiches for lunch every day.

Catcatcat!

Opened the window after getting back from climbing tonight – white cat jumped up to peek inside Maybe he doesn’t hate me!

Piano Bar

So I went to the cricket tonight and shockingly Australia won. Also, I missed all the interesting parts coz a) I can’t see very well from the back of the stadium and b) I spent the whole time debating the rules with an Englishman while trying to explain them to a Canadian.

Anyway, by this point I’d already had 4 beers, and was downing a 5th one, so it was a good way to spend the evening.

On my way home though, I was in one of those ‘walking home in the dark with no rush’ moods, where I whack on some Miles Davis and stagger home deep in thought. About halfway down Glenferrie, I thought to myself, “If there was an old-school bar here, I would stop and talk to everyone about my problems”. I thought to myself that it would be a really awesome idea to open a bar where someone (obviously more talented than me) plays some tunes on the piano in the background, while I stand at the bar talking to people about their problems and serve them beers. I would really like that.

Don’t know how this compares to Studds’ warehouse conversion project though.

Things to do that are preferable to going to work

1. lying in bed with the covers over my head (that rhymes) for the rest of the day
2. cleaning the house, especially the dust bunnies that are starting to form a rebellion in the living area
3. drinking lots of beer
4. playing piano
5. sometimes when i write lists i stop because i run out of the items that were in my head and need to think of new ones. this is that point.
6. completing my never-ending to-do list, which still contains things i was meant to do 6 months ago. go procrastination!
7. having 10 cats claw my face for an entire day

Grampiansyeahawesome!

So we just got back from grampians – fucking awesome trip. There are two items which I have become aware of since returning:

1. I use ‘awesome’ as an adjective FAR too often
2. We kick ass at safe top-rope setups

Obviously, point 1 is not addressable – awesome will forever remain the only word I use to describe things, except possibly for ‘cool’, ‘kickin-rad’ and ‘sick-wicked’ (wicked-awesome may also be used every now and then). Point 2 is fantastic for climbing confidence. As a person who used to be absolutely petrified of heights, I still can’t believe that I had no qualms with climbing 30m into the air on a cliff face, using our own top-rope setup as protection.

Best parts of the trip:

• Finishing the bottom half of a 21 on a 30m wall off our own setup
• Spectacular views from the top of the cliff
• All of us getting absolutely fucking drenched trying to peg the tent in properly in the Saturday afternoon
• Parma’s + Beer each night. We suck at camping

Downers of the trip:

• Taking 1.5 hours to set up a top-rope on the last day, only to not climb
• Guy snapping his leg bone from falling
• Being bagged out something shocking for my shitty driving / music / directions

Next time: Camp closer to the walls. Learn first aid / self-rescue. Actually eat the food we buy for the trip. Faster top-rope setups. Get a set of nuts / wires to use for setups.