Is There Anyone At Home?

Come on now.

I know you're feeling down.

But I can ease the pain, and get you on your feet again.

Relax, I'm not going to do a post about Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb, though I must admit that I've been playing it on guitar and singing. I can't sing, but there's something about playing that song, among other songs, that make you want to sing.

Anyways, I thought I'd update you on some of the things I've done since the last post.

The first thing is that I've done my first two assignments for university. Weren't as bad as I thought it was, though I now have a hatred for Final Cut Pro. Fuck, just realised I'm supposed to write the 'development of my video production skills' as my last assignment for one of the courses. Poo. Ah well.

I have, for some reason, began to write a series on Wicid. The series is called Dear World. I got the idea from what David Mitchell does with his Soapbox, though with my articles it's more like a letter to the world (as in the planet itself, not its people). I would've done it as a series of videos, but since I have the face for radio and a voice for books I just decided to do articles of it. Happy days.

Anyway, the thing I was going to do with the Dear World articles is to practice my comedy writing (though I know I have no skill in writing comedy). Now, four articles in, its turned into a more of a series to question the world around me. No idea why though. Two of them have been featured on the Clic website (which covers all of Wales), so the series must have something about it for that to happen.

The first one I've written is on Guitar Hero. I question why people think games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band are crap. This is one of the two Dear World articles that have been up on Clic.

The second one, on the same week as my birthday, is about death. Yes, for some reason, on the week of my nineteenth birthday I decided to write about death. Lovely.

Last week's instalment is about my thoughts on drink and drugs. It just discusses my relationship with drugs and alcohol. Such a different thing that I thought I would be writing about.

Finally, my latest article is about God and religion. I just question religion as a whole. This is the other article that has been put up on Clic, the very same day as I stuck it up on Wicid, in fact. So one of the editors must've liked it enough to think it's good enough for Clic.

Also, there must be a translating ninja on Wicid, since the two articles that have not been up on Clic have been translated to Welsh. Granted, the one's on Clic automatically get translated, but the ones that have not been featured on Clic have been translated to Welsh. I'm not complaining, mind. I like the fact that Clic and its websites use the Welsh language. But, if you fancy reading those articles in Welsh, you can read them here, here and here. There is no Welsh version for the artilce about God, since it has only been set live today.

But yeah, Dear World is a new series of mine, with a new (hopefully) every Monday. If people start to hate the idea, I shall stop, but until then, happy days. =].

In other news, I have a Macbok now. I got it so I could do more for longer (ha, sounds rather sick to me), and to end up being a replacement laptop for my dying one. Ah well.

Also, I'm still looking for someone to help me make a band with my music. I may be in a band with my cousin Michael, Burt and someone who lives close to Burt, but what I mean is that I'd like to be in a band that'd play the style of my songs. Not saying Grrr, I should be the sole music writer, I just want to be in a band that plays the same genre as I do. Even though I have no idea what genre I am. And no, I am NOT emo.

I will leave you now, as I have a sneeking suspision that I'm supposed to be doing something now. Not only that, I haven't installed a dictionary for Firefox yet, so this post might be rife with mistakes. Ah well.

- I throw my hands up in the air sometimes, singing FIN-O, got to let go.

Faking It

I just saw the end of a show on the BBC. It was about GCSE students preparing for, and attending, their prom.

I had one thought all the way through the time I watched...

I'm so glad I didn't go to my prom.

Yes. That's right. I believe that my non-appearance at my year's prom night was an advantage for both me, the other prom night goers, and the economy.

One thing that shocked me in the show was the amount of money some people spend on prom stuff. About five hundred quid? Doesn't that seem... I don't know... way too much for one day? Well, except for weddings and the like, that's an understandable occasion for spending large amounts of money for a day.

Granted, five hundred pounds is not considered a large amount of money these days. People seems to flutter that amount of money every week. But to me, its rather a lot.

Luckily, as a human being with testicles and a penis in my trousers, I wouldn't have needed to spend that amount of money on clothes, make up and travel.

Being me, like I am most of the time, I'd look for the most reasonably priced suit (not tuxedo, not a fan of those if I'm honest with you). Not in an attempt to be extraordinarily in being tight with my money, I just didn't (and don't) see the point in throwing away money for something I'd wear once.

Not only that, it cost something on the lines of thirty quid for a meal and some drinks. That seems a lot. But then again, this is from someone who finds ways on getting Pizza Hut for less.

Another reason why I'm happy with the fact that I didn't go to the prom is, well, the whole social thing. I haven't kept the fact that I don't go out and drink a secret. I don't thrive in situations that demand me to make conversation for conversation's sake. What's the point in that? That's one reason why I stay quiet for the majority of the day. If I have nothing of worth to talk about, I'll be quiet. If I have something to ask someone then I'll talk then, or if someone asks me a question.

A great example of this is of me attending my cousin's parents' vow renewals. The service was rather long (but then again, I'm no Christian, and I found the service rather sexist, but that's just my opinion), but when everyone went to eat food was the point where I became undone.

I ended up doing what I've done in every party I've been to. Sit in one spot, watching the others doing what 'normal' people do. My cousin called me normal, when I told her that I wasn't hungry and I only eat when I'm hungry. She was the first person to call me normal for this thought of mine. Anyceremony, everyone was talking to each other, either about the whole marriage thing or some other subject. Me? I just sat in one place.

I also have a thing about eating in public. Yes, I've done it before, but only on some occasions that I do this. One of these occasions is if I'm hungry. Another of these is if I feel comfortable where I am and who I am with. There are other things, but I can't be arsed to go into them deeply.

I also hate the fact that the word arsed is considered wrong by Firefox. Even arse results with the red squiggly line under the word. Ah well.

The final reason, though there are other reasons that I cannot remember properly at this moment in time, is the attention. Yes, I know I wouldn't have a lot of attention, all I know is that I'd have at least a number of people come up to me and try to get me to drink alcohol or to go up and dance. I say no. They either come back with why not?, what a twat or something like that. So what if I'm a twat for having these thoughts on the subjects in question. I'd rather be a twat and remembering what happened than wasting money by drink all night and then forgetting what you did in the morning in the unwelcoming grasp of a hangover.

Oh, I love the sober life, I really do.

Anyway, I know how much this blog post must make me sound like a right wanker who is tight with his money and needs therapy to rid me of abnormal thoughts. Oh, and a little disclaimer, I'm not trying to offend in my posts. If you do get offended, forget about it. What happens when you do get offended? Nothing. You don't suddenly fall pregnant to a giraffe, neither will you lose your genitalia. It's just a thing that goes away after a certain amount of time.

- Let the bodies hit the floor. Let the bodies hit the floor. Let the bodies hit the floor. Let the bodies hit the.... FIN.

Pretty Vacant

I'll be honest, this has been a slow month for this sorry blog. Not that many of you have noticed. Ah well.

The obvious thing to talk about is the fact that I no longer spell obvious with an l in between the v and the i. It's a small victory for me.

The other thing is university. Its going rather well, to be fair. I'm no longer going for the Welsh version of the Video Production module as it would mean that I would have an eleven-hour day on Mondays next term. And that's not something I want. I rather value my free mornings. =].

Internet Tech's going well. That, Media Tech and Graphics are going really well. Learned how to do a basic webpage, even if it is just a page that says Free Nelson Mandela. Anywho, its progress.

Electronics is a bitch. We've started on building the stylophone. I've nearly burned my hands multiple times as I failed miserably at soldering, and in the lectures all we do is talk about electrons and that, and those lectures are every three weeks. Lovely.

In other news, I have the new Guitar Hero. Its not a bad game, to be fair, though some of the stuff in the game makes sense to me. They made Money For Nothing way longer than it really is, which means playing it on the drums slowly turns into a chore, but that's one small thing. Its a cracking game, to be fair. Could be the hardest band-games (out of the main line of games, as in not GH:Metallica and GH:Van Halen and the like), not sure if its the best Guitar Hero though. Pretty close though. Ho hum, that's the end of that then.

This is just a post that updates you about what's happening in me life thus far. I've kind of ignored my blog (shame on me...) and done a few posts onto Wicid. Either about Stuart Cable's cause of death being revealed, James Blunt and his tactic to make the Taliban to surrender or about Pontypridd YMCA's centenary celebrations. So yeah, lovely.

That'll do for now, pet.

- I want you, to be, left behind those empty FIN.

Walk Of Life

For some reason, this is the only thing I can think of to open this blog. I was going to do the whole 'caring blogger', but then again, you might not think I'm sincere. But yeah, since I've written this paragraph, I've got an opening one. Win win.

Did that make sense to anyone? Probably not. But yeah. Hi. =].

Well, I've actually started the modules of my course. And this is what this post is about. =].

I have six modules for this year (though, for each term I only have to study five, if that makes sense).

I'll start with the most boring one, Video Production. You guessed it, I'll be working with video in this module. But, for some bizarre reason, I have to submit all my work in as MiniDV tapes, which (I believe) would make it harder to work with. I don't know, but I thought working with a digital file would be better than a analogue one (if that is the name of what MiniDV tapes are). Anyfinalcutpro, if you haven't guessed what program I'd be using, I'd be using Final Cut Pro. I've had no experience with it, so that should be interesting.

I have two videos to film. The first one is called Documenting a Space, which sounds like a bitch to do. I have to film a space. That's it. Oh, not only that, I have to record sound too. But, I can't move the camera. No music. No voice-overs. No zoom. Nothing like that. So, I'm rather restricted in what I'm supposed to do with it. Crickey. I'm not entirely sure what the other video is about , all I know is that I'll be working in a group. Nice. But, there's a way to do this module in Welsh, which would be lovely.

I knew this was a BSc degree (Bachelor of Science), but I didn't realise one thing about my course. I have a module in Electronics For Music And Media. The first thing we learned? Ohm's Law. Get in. But then, yesterday, we had to solder. Fuck. I really am crap at soldering. It doesn't help when the fumes affect my asthma. But yeah, we had an hour of trying soldering, but I was shite at it. I mean, I nearly burned myself, and that would've been the first time. But, on the plus side, the first project we're doing for Electronics is to build a stylophone. Oh, happy days.

On the plus side, Internet Technologies looks like a very good module to do. I've already know basic HTML. Not only that, we're learning a bit on the history of the web and other stuff. Bonbon. That module does look like the most interesting out of the five (thus far), the other two being Media Technology For Applications (where we'll be learning about video, flash and some graphics) and Computer Graphics Technology And Integration (which I'll be using PhotoShop, Illustrator and After Effects. Get int). I don't have Radio Production until next term, but I'm not really looking forward to that. Eep.

Well, I shall call another post about university done. Hopefully I will find something in my life not education-related to write about.

But until then.

- Come FIN With Me.