June 2009 Archives

[Moozik: The Prodigy - Firestarter]

Last year I got a speeding ticket from a nice motorcycle Policeman. Very friendly he was as he filled out the form to inform me I'd been naughty. To avoid points on my license and to ensure I pay a lessor financial penalty (ahem), I went to traffic school, promised I'd slow down, and the world was a happy place.

So fast forward to, er, well now. No nice chap on a motorcycle this time unfortunately. Instead, my mugshot was snapped by one of those ever so helpful speed cameras on the freeway. Bless them.

Got the ticket in the mail a couple of weeks ago. My options are (1) don't pay the fine or (2) er, pay the fine. Note there's no option (3) go to traffic school, because you can't go if you've already attended in the last 3 years. The ticket itself is worded very scarily and involved such phrases as "...warrant for my arrest..." and "...lose your license...". You know, that kind of thing.

So I'm going with option 1.

[Moozik: Public Enemy - Lost At Birth]

Who doesn't love a good cooked breakfast eh? And let me tell you, if you're ever in Phoenix, you must try Scramble.

Quite simply, the best French Toast in the history of ever.

Polishing off other people's leftovers is just one of the many skills I have. Ahem.

[Moozik: The Birthday Massacre - Violet]

If you like going to the Zoo and you happen to be in the Phoenix area you have two choices. You can have a wander around the Phoenix Zoo or you can have a gander at the World Wildlife Zoo & Aquarium. We went to the Phoenix Zoo back in March and yesterday we decided to complete the set by trying out the World Wildlife Zoo.

We had a great time even though it was just a little on the warm side. I mean, outdoor events in the middle of the daytime in the Arizona Summer are not for the faint of heart. Thankfully though the A/C gods were smiling on us in the aquarium. So, if you like this sort of thing, I thoroughly recommend you go. Just not in the Summer.

Head Above

His Best Side

Shocking Doo

Green Paddler

Rocky

Focus

[Moozik: Android Lust - Kingdom Of One]

Growing up in England means that you miss out on all kinds of nasty things. I mean, for one, there are no natural disasters. No tornadoes, no hurricanes, no earthquakes, no volcanoes. And there really aren't that many poisonous creepy crawlers to worry about.

Now, compare that to the US. We've got all the natural disasters taken care of. And we sure have our fair share of creepy crawling goodies. Last year at my old house I had a couple of Black Widow Spider nests on my front porch that were fun to get rid of.

This year, new house, new creepy crawlers. We've had some decent sized spiders appear in the house and I've killed them. My better half goes off screaming while I grab a paper towel and go a squishing. All good right? Well yeah, until we found a scorpion in the laundry room. And then another one in the garage last week.

I don't mind killing them but it's a little worrying when you've got a little one sleeping in her bed close by. So, we're having the exterminators of doom come out to the house next week to, well, exterminate I guess. Die crawlers, die.

[Moozik: Fixmer/McCarthy - Trans European]

What to do when you're feeling lazy mid-week? Have a gander at some pics you took last year and throw them on your blog? Yes yes (nods).

Lit

Press Us

Simon

[Moozik: Jesus Jones - Stripped]

My afternoon soundtrack today has been a veritable early 90s flashback. The Beloved, The Shamen, Jesus Jones. Bugger, I haven't heard Ebeneezer Goode in, well, forever.

Trips like these down nostalgia avenue really make you think don't they? Seems like a whole lifetime ago. That 17 years sure went by quickly.

[Moozik: The Horrorist - Mission Ecstasy]

Well, at least I can still say I've never seen a Pixar movie I haven't liked. So there's that. On the other hand I couldn't help feeling just a little underwhelmed by it though if I'm honest. Perhaps the glowing reviews I'd read lifted my expectations somewhat. A little over-hyped even?

So, first of all, the good. Well obviously, it's a Pixar movie so I don't need to tell you that the animation was breathtaking. We managed to catch the 3D version which I must admit was most impressive*. The story was ok and I found myself laughing at various points throughout the film.

And the bad? Well, I don't know what to say. Nothing that I can really put my finger on. Perhaps the story was a little weak now that I think about it. Don't get me wrong, this movie isn't bad. At. All. Just didn't leave the theater with a feeling I'd seen something special.

Bottom line, if you're a fan of previous Pixar movies, you won't be disappointed if you take the movie for what it is so go see it. I'd rate this one about middle of the road. Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille are safe in the top three spots for now.

7/10. Watch again? After some time has passed, yes.

* Impressive from a technical point of view not impressive from the $3.00 extra per ticket for the "3D fee". Yeah, so I'm a cheapskate, and I'm ok with that;-)

[Moozik: The Glove - Mouth To Mouth]

Over the years I've written little pieces of code that have come in handy for whatever task I was trying to accomplish at the time. In other words, it was of no use to me 47 seconds later but at the time, priceless.

Of course, I wasn't always the conscientious backer-up-of-data (cough) that I am today and the majority of those code snippets were lost forever as new hardware was acquired. I'm a bit bummed about that actually.

Going forward, anything I write that I find remotely handy, will be added to the new code section of this site. I'm a big fan of git and github in particular and have started migrating all my little code snippets there as well.

</geekpost>

[Moozik: Tubeway Army - The Dream Police]

It's not exactly a secret that I like Coke. Actually I've never had a Coca Cola product I didn't like. In fact, you could say I'm Coca Cola's bitch.

A couple of weeks ago, if you'd asked me what my all time favorite drink of, er, all time was I'd have replied instantly with a hearty Cherry Zero. Not anymore. For there's a new drink in town.

And it is awesome.

Diet Dr Pepper Cherry, words fail me. Simply lovely. Go try it.

Dear Dr Pepper Snapple Group, if you'd like to throw a few dollars my way for the free advertising, I'm not above that. So just let me know. kthxbye

[Moozik: This Ascension - Exhibition]

I'm 11 years into the great America experience and at 35, have spent the majority of my adult life here. Of all the little teeny cultural differences I experienced after crossing the pond, I've gotten used to and have completely embraced every single one. Well, that's not entirely true actually for there's still one thing I haven't gotten used to.

Guns.

Wanna go play with some? You sure can, and take your pick. For pawn shops, sporting goods stores, specialized gun dealers, and gun shows will give you your fill of all shapes and sizes from the tiniest of handguns to huge hunting rifles. If you've never been to a gun shop, you certainly should go as it's an eye opening experience.

But it's not just the fact that you can buy guns seemingly on any street here in Arizona, the thing that always amuses me are the carrying rules. I kid you not sometimes it's as if we're still in the wild west. While you're not allowed to carry a concealed weapon without a permit, it's perfectly ok to have one in a holster attached to your belt in plain sight.

So it's not at all uncommon to go into any shop and see someone walking around with a gun on their hip. I dunno, maybe it's the 20+ years of growing up in a country that doesn't allow you to just ponce around with a gun in a holster, but I'm just not sure why you would want to do that. I mean, sure, it's not illegal, but just because you could, doesn't always mean you should. Is it just the ' do you see how tough I am, I have a gun' thing?

I have visions of getting into an argument with a gun carrying Phoenician and sorting the whole thing out at 50 paces. In fact this does play into a lot of temper inducing situations. Someone cut you off in traffic? Be careful who you flip the bird to as they could very well brandish that new .44 Magnum freshly purchased at Uncle Willy's gun emporium.

Anarchy I tell you. Anarchy. Now if you'll excuse me, there are some sweet shotguns I want to go play with.