The ‘Small’ Things In Life

As I mentioned in my last blog I like the natural world and the little critters that are in it. From a young age I’ve always been fascinated with the little critters and loved seeing them.

Growing up in massive Northern English sprawling concrete estate, with not much green space, I delighted in little critters or other natural world occurrences. I remember seeing Aphids on a Dock plant with black Ants milking them for ‘due’ and marvelling at them! I also remember waking up to Starlings singing, they lived at the top of the Maisonettes in the rotten fascia boards, I don’t hear that much anymore around where I live, though I do hear a lot more song birds since the maisonettes were bulldozed away and new modern housing was built with gardens.

However I’m going of course a bit, this was meant to be about the little critters! When I’ve been fortunate enough to get out and about gardening and just generally enjoying the outdoors I took some pictures! I just want to share these because they make me happy, it’s as simple as that! Seeing these, birds and a nice green space just makes me happy, and so I’m going to share, just cos I can!

First off, a Bumble-Bee! Picture’s not that great, but Bumble’s always make me smile! One was flying outside window the other day, and I live pretty high up!

A Millipede! Yeh I know, too many legs… but not everything can be cute! These are so interesting in their own right! They were some of the first creatures on land 443MYA – and they’re still here! Albeit they’re not as big as a Human these days.

A great big stonking Wasp! I think this was a Queen I disturbed a bit early while tidying the garden up for Spring. She wasn’t happy!

A Masonry Bee! This little Gal was busy living up to her name by flying in and out of gaps in the Masonry laying her eggs for next year. If you find them in your wall, don’t worry, they’re not hostile and don’t swarm.

Another Bumble-Bee… just cos! It was pollinating my Raspberry plant!

Another Bumble! I know… But I’m not sure what type this was. Had a red back but white tail? Anyway, I felt it looked good amongst the Buttercups and Clovers.

I think this was some kind of Damselfly. Couldn’t be sure as it kept moving the closer I got. I can only assume it didn’t want to be mugged, given where it was!

A Giant House spider, the kind that get trapped in your bath in September! He was a big mofo, though I’ve seen bigger!

Keeping with eight legs, although this isn’t a Spider but is closely related to them, it’s a ‘Harvestman’, which is actually an Opilione.

Coming back to Bees once again, I think the one above is a Bumble-Bee, but I was never able to identify which type. It was all black and looked like a huge fly till I noticed the pollen sacks on its legs. If you know what type it is then let me know.

One last Bee… I swear! This is obviously a Honey Bee, which I see less and less of these days. I caught this one having a rest on a headstone on a particularly muggy day at the Cemetery.

A Green Bottle! A bit boring and more of a pest, but I thought it looked more ‘garden friendly’ sitting on a flower, rather than that something else they enjoy so much.

I know I said one last bee, but this is the final one! Red-Tailed bumble!

A Hover Fly. Not got a clue which type, but thought it was worthy of a picture.

I think this is a ‘Leaf Cutter Bee’, resting of course! I know I said no more, but he needed to be included because of his obvious cuteness and general awesomeness!

A Red Admiral Butterfly (I think it is anyway). It wouldn’t sit still for me to take a picture, but they seem more than willing to sit still and let Cats catch them.

Another Butterfly, can’t tell what type, because like the other it wouldn’t sit still!

If Moths are your Cryptonite then don’t read on… the last few are months!

A Day Moth (possibly ‘Burnet’?), being slightly up-staged by a Red Cardinal Beetle!

I just thought this looked nice with the glass and backdrop! It was probably dead 15 mins after this pic was taken, it was roasting that day and was stuck in a stairwell.

Another Moth, also stuck on the stair-well, but a bit more brighter this time. I think this was a day Moth too, though not sure what type.

This one’s a bit blurred, but you can still make out the colours and features. It’s a Shield Bug I found on my kitchen wall. I think this one is the native Common Green Shield Bug (correct me if I’m wrong). The markings on it’s back look like a face with fangs.

I love the colours on this garden spider. I was clearing a corner out last year and this guy came tumbling out of the leaves.

A hit and a miss!

This has almost happened to me several times! However, I can confirm I did not break the toilet away from the wall and nor did I fall head first onto the floor. I just broke the toilet seat.

In other news I’ve been getting acquainted with my Xbox, when I’m not feeling ill of course, and it’s been quite good getting back into gaming again. It’s been good especially as I can’t go out as much now.

Anyway, I was editing my profile on there yesterday and went to add my ‘Hitler Ballerina’ picture to it, as it turns out pictures of Hitler are frowned upon, even those mocking him. So I received a ‘suspension’ for a day. Luckily I only got banned from editing my profile and other non-essential things that won’t stop me from playing games.

Microsoft have always been funny and ‘selective’ with their idea of what violates their terms of service. When I used to have a ‘Windows Live Space’ they banned me for posting pictures of people with cancerous growths as part of a piece I wrote on smoking. And yet there was some sites on their with full frontal nudity and other sorts of TOS violations.

It’s the same on Xbox live, someone I know on there had a picture of Joseph Stalin for a laugh, and the last time I looked he killed more people than Hitler. Look at the chart below…

My point is, if you’re going to ‘suspend’ people for breaches of your terms of service then you should do it across the board, not be selective. Not that I support such bans.

I think history forgets the horror and violence of despots like Stalin and Mao Zedong, though I think that’s another topic for another blog.

Right, I’m off, be safe out there, especially around the toilet if you have an IBD or IBS!

The Garden 2015

Hey there readers! Well… I say ‘readers’ and mean those few people still here and that one goat (Simon) that wondered over from Daf’s page!

A few words about that poor goat, when he came over to my place he was in a right state! He couldn’t talk as he was so traumatised (or maybe that’s because he’s a goat?). I don’t know what Daf had done to him but he looked like this after a visit to the vet:

But not to worry, he was back to normal after a all expenses paid holiday. Check him out:

Anyway, back on track! If you like gardening then you may like this! If you don’t then you’re best off watching the goat surf and giggling to yourself for a while instead (I managed 3 minutes before I got bored, let me know how long you last).

This year I did a lot of work in the garden, I usually do something with the garden each year but this year I did quite a lot! In fact I managed to get it more like my original plans I created fifteen years ago (those old plans never came to fruition for a few reasons that I don’t need to go in to right now).

The first thing to note about the garden this year is that the two huge Leylandii trees were removed from the back of the garden, which gave us a lot more sun, space and water for the surrounding garden. Unfortunately the stumps and root systems were left in place! So me and my brother got to work to remove most of the root system, but will have to remove the full stumps in early 2016.

The first few pictures are of the garden in early April 2015 as it was after it was cleared the previous Autumn. I’d also like to apologise for the blurring out of certain things as I’ve had issues with morons on the net before and value my own and my family’s privacy and safety.

In the above pic you can just see one of the tree stumps I mentioned earlier in the top right.

In the above picture you can just see the old hedge I planted, from the end paving flag at the middle bottom of the picture, moving it’s way to the left then around the edge of the path. We had to remove these as well as they were taking up far too much space. The point of the hedge was to be a wind break for the plants, but they stood up just fine when they were bunched together (well… most of them did anyway).

The above picture is the position where most of the comparison pictures will be taken from.

You can see (above) that there is a circle of greener grass in the center of the lawn, this was because I seeded it last year in preparation for putting a path around the edge which would be contained by log edging (pictured before it went in).

I decided to move the path from left of the picture to the center and make it wider, which is marked by two orange bricks.

In the above picture you can see how much clearer and ordered the garden is. We created the new path and had to use a different log edging to finish the edge as the original large ones were not sold anymore. We had to make do with small ones and add steaks to them every 2 and half feet to enable us to sink them.

Next (above), I wanted to add an inner level circle of bricks (I had these left over from my old cold frame) flush with the grass for the inner edge of the path and to make it easier for mowing. This didn’t go very well but was rectified later on.

A view from above shows how the inner circle was a bit ‘out’ at the 10:50 position if you look at the circle as clock with the path as 6. Also, look at the bluebells at the bottom left and right of the picture. Sadly they’re not English but invasive, but still beautiful!

While that was being done we also decided to mend the fencing and give it a lick paint seeing as it hadn’t been done for a while (that’s my brother there painting away). It wasn’t really the weather for painting and I can remember it rained on us at least once, but it had to be done before all the plants were in place and growing.

In the next few pictures below you can see the grass being removed, the ground being leveled, the brick circle being fixed and the chip-bark going down.

It doesn’t look like it (above) but a liner was laid before the chip-bark went down, I just laid it section by section as it was windy (the bricks were used to hold it down).

There it is all done! You probably noticed that some plants were springing up too. Some of these were already there and some were added later on that were either grown by myself of came from the garden centre.

Below there’s a picture of the garden a little further on with more plant growth.

You can see on the left and almost top right there’s some Lupins, I grew these myself and was quite proud of them, until the giant aphids ate them! Something else I grew this year for the first time were Foxgloves (top center), although they are quite toxic I didn’t know how toxic they were. However I kept them on for that year and had no issues with them and neither did any of my Mam’s cats, and they also flowered right up until November!

Here’s a better look at one of those Lupins with one of my Mam’s cats. I think he was contemplating attacking a Bee!

The next lot of pictures (below) are panning from the left of the garden to right to give you a full view of the garden.

The final picture of the garden from that angle is it in full bloom at the height of Summer!

Something else I finally did after all these years was create an area for the family to sit! It was supposed to be paved but seeing as I lacked the monetary funds and the skills to lay paving, I opted for something else.

I first tried chip-bark but it didn’t feel or look right, so then ended up using gravel. Gravel wasn’t great but was better than the chip bark. Next year the gravel will go around the path, as it was supposed to, and hopefully we can finally get a patio!

The pictures below show this evolution.

This is the area just when I started (above).

The above picture was after and I wasn’t that fond of it.

And there’s how it looks now. It isn’t great but it’s better than nothing! In fact I enjoyed myself out there last Summer, having a little drink and chat (obviously there was table and chairs then)!

Here’s a view from the gravel area:

There you can see most of my planters. In fact the blue one closest to the camera is the planter I entered into a competition with my good friend Daf! This year we had a competition for the best planter, the award was bragging rights! The pictures are below, apparently it was a draw?

Anyway that’s enough of that, I shall await Daf’s wrath! Oh, and I’ll be returning to some blogging soon and will visiting some pages too! It’s not like I’ve had nothing to say I’ve just been busy doing other stuff and generally got sick of politics and debating it. I just needed  break from it I think.

Until next time take care and all the best!

 

Day 2: What’s Your Name?

It’s day 2 of the zero to hero blog challenge, well it’s in fact day 3 but I was out of a time a little yesterday.

This challenge was to edit my title and tag-line and also put in a widget (Go here for a full run down of the challenge). I’d already done this a while a back and was happy with it, so I thought I’d just give my tag-line some work as the: “Warning: Strong Content! You Have Been Warned!” one was a little lacking. It does serve a purpose as it warns people there is strong content here that could make them cry and quickly inspire someone to “Think of the children!”.

 

I settled on: “Questioning Everything and Everyone!” Why? Because that’s what I do! It’s also what everyone else should do, if you’re always aware of the world around you and the people in it, especially the type that come to you as authority figures, then the wool will not be so easily pulled down over your eyes. Even question those you agree with or share ideological sympathies with, and, quite crucially, yourself. There’s nothing worse than a big head who thinks they’re never wrong! Once you start to believe you have it all sussed then you may as well change your name to ‘Smuggy McSmug‘ and join a cult because your critical thinking days are over. I’d just like to say I’m not advocating people act like a KGB agent and interrogate everyone they meet or know, I mean people should question the world and things around them if they don’t seem right. And if you can’t tell when something isn’t right then just question everything for a while and you’ll pick it up soon enough.

This leads nicely to why my blog name is: “I Don’t Fear The Chaos!“. This is because I’m not afraid of the fall out of the resulting of asking certain questions, saying certain things many in society dare not to and standing against established political authority (Especially when I think what they’re doing is questionable).

Here’s a poster I made a few years ago about questioning everything and everyone:

I know this gif is quite slow, I did originally have it faster, but I slowed it down for those who don’t read so fast. I was contemplating doing a post on this poster but this post will suffice.

That’s it for that task, I wont be doing Day 3 because I’m happy with the blog I wrote. Also, just for the fun of it, here’s Sick of it All:

Excuse me while I cripple myself for the good of my health

So I’m trying to do some weightlifting exercises again, even though the Doctors and specialists have advised me not to. I can’t keep sitting on my arse and doing nothing. A lack of inactivity sinks my mood quicker than a huge iceberg sinks a super liner that was poorly constructed with sub-standard steel (I know, I’m hilarious).

Now when I say ‘sinks my mood’ I mean I get horribly depressed, and I don’t like to admit that on here. I mean, I can quite happily mention and chat about shitting my guts out with Ulcerative Colitis but I don’t like mentioning depression. Quite odd for an individual who talks about anything and everything, isn’t it? I suppose because I think it’s a weak spot for me, but this isn’t the subject of the post.

What I want to get across is that the importance of physical activity to me is paramount! I need to do something physically demanding to keep my mood ‘stable’. Other things I do don’t come anywhere near to providing me with the feel-good endorphins I get from weights or jogging. I want you to understand why I choose to do something that leaves me in pain, discomfort and maybe even cripple me temporally (It’s happened before, of course I wasn’t literally crippled, just immobilize for days or even weeks).

Why am I telling you this? I’m telling you because I’m going to keep a diary for a few weeks (It may just be a few a days depending on how long I can last) of my progress and then post it, and it will contain pieces of me moaning and hurting myself while trying to be healthy physically and mentally. I have to do something or I will be worse off. I’m also documenting this so it gives me more reason to do it and keep up with it.

Mon 23rd Spe 2013: Day 1 – Chest & Tricep – 5 sets of 5 reps

Chest press – 45kg

dumbbell Flye – 10kg each

Dumbbell pull-over – 15kg

Overhead Dumbbell extention – 15kg

Close grip bench press – 10kg

Reverse close grip press – empty bar

I found this difficult, especially as I don’t have the right type of bench of for the dumbbell pull-over. I had to do the reverse close grip without weights. I wasn’t powerful enough to press in that position.

I had pain during the exercise but it was tolerable at the time. Once I’d finished and showered I had more pain and couldn’t get comfortable. Had to get out of bed and take some pain killers and hit the hay.

Woke up the following morning feeling surprisingly OK as I usually wake up with pain in my back, which can get worse towards the afternoon.

Tues 24th Sep 2013: Day 2 – Legs & Sholders – 5 sets of 5 reps

Barbell Sqauts – 50kg – 20kg

Dumbbell Lunge – 15kg – 10kg

Stiff leg deadlift – 40kg

Seated Barbell press – 30kg 20kg

Dumbbell front raise – 10kg each

Barbell shrug – 50kg – 40kg

It hurt more today than yesterday. I couldn’t do squats with more than 20kg safely without the right equipment. Didn’t have enough weight for the dumbbell lunges as they’re an old set and not like my olympic weight set. Stiff leg dead lift hurt, but not as much as I thought it would. I had to do the seated barbell press stood up as I couldn’t comfortably lift from the bench, which as always isn’t fit for that exercise. Barbell shrug was the worse! I don’t think I’ll be doing it again, it just causes more pain than usual, which means ‘stop!’.

Wed 25th of September -Day 3: Back & Bicep – 5 sets of 5 reps

Deadlift – 60kg 40kg

One arm row – 15kg

Reverse grip barbell row – 30kg

Barbell curl – 20kg

Dumbbell concentration curls – 10kg

Reverse grip barbell curls – 20kg

I woke up on day three felling stiff in the back area. Warmed up and tried to do some weights. After my first set of deadlifts I crippled myself. I’m now taking medication for it and I feel drunk. If I wasn’t feeling this way I’d be annoyed, frustrated, mad and depressed. Don’t think I’ll be doing anything for at least 4 to 5 days. Still some slight discomfort and difficult to walk.

It’s now November 2013 and my back is still weak and other attempts to get started again have failed. They failed because my back feels so weak, in pain and ready to go at any time, even when walking. I can only walk for half an hour before my back starts getting tight and I start staggering.

I went to see my Doctor last week and he gave me a run down of what the specialists said. It isn’t Sacroilitis, it’s ‘mechanical back pain’, that is nondescript back pain. There’s apparently something wrong with certain disks in my spine in the lower back area but they can’t really say what it is. They also can’t do much for me besides give me pain killers which I try not to take because they don’t kill the pain completely and they make me feel tired and drunk.

The only option I have left now is swimming and the Doctor and council will not help me, like they would’ve done before the government cuts (Because of lack of funds). So Now I have to find £25 a month for the liberty of going swimming for 2 hours a day 5 days a week. I’m going to try it for a month and see what happens, if it does work for me I’m not sure I’ll be able to afford it as I have money issues as it is already. Let me tell you, living on benefits in the UK isn’t that great, so I don’t have much to live on (Regardless of what the Tories and their voters say).

I could go swimming in the local river, but I don’t much fancy picking up a flesh-eating disease. So I’m pretty pissed off, oh, and my Doctor had the nerve to say having a negative state of mind makes any pain I do get worse. So any pain I do get is magnified and said I should be more positive. To which I replied: “That’s bollocks” he said it wasn’t, I repeated again “It’s bollocks!”, he disagreed again and I said for the 3rd time, “That’s bollocks!” I said this because he was basically inferring my negative state of mind was making the pain seem worse.

I told him that I was in the best state of mind and body I’d been in for years prior to developing these current back issues and even when they were at the most painful I was still in a positive mindset and the pain was excruciating. The issue is I’ve been gradually getting less and less active and because of that I’ve been getting more and more depressed because I can’t exercise and raise my endorphin levels. There’s nothing else I can do that lifts my mood like exercise does, so I end up eating food I shouldn’t be eating.

You could argue I should go on a diet and not eat the stuff I eat, however this isn’t so easy as I can’t raise my mood so sticking to a diet is almost impossible because I have zero will-power (Because I don’t have exercise to help me keep my mood stable and so suppress my appetite). So going on a diet would make my mood sink more and I wouldn’t be able to keep to it. So yeh, self-control, I used to have it!

What’s the point of this post? I just wanted to whine because I have no other outlet.

And here’d Suede, just for the fun of it:

A Pain in the back, a pain in the head and a pain in the arse (basically an update)

Any regular readers or old-time friends who read my blogs will know that I was almost completely absent from blogging last year (2012), and most of this year (2013). For me this is unusual, I can go missing from blogging for weeks or months on end and then come back with something.

However, this time I didn’t. The reason for this? I was preoccupied with my University degree and generally being  and trying to be healthy. For those people who know me they will know how rare this is as I have several illnesses that impact my ability to do many things and go places.

One of the worse of these was Ulcerative Colitis. I was taking Prednisolone steroids to control this in conjunction with Mesalazine. But then I had to switch medication as the medical steroids I was on had given me steroid-induced diabetes (Type 2 Diabetes) and weren’t always delivering consistent results. Since I started taking Azathioprine medication to control the Ulcerative Colitis in late 2011 I slowly got better and it gave me my life back. Now when I say ‘better’ I mean things were good and well controlled but I still had and still do have issues with the UC. In fact after being diagnosed with the diabetes it made me more depressed and this stalled the UC recovery into to early 2012.

As the UC was beginning to get better I was able to be more physically active, something I’ve not been able to do properly for a while. I think I was helped along with this when I had a bad bout of OCD, to stop myself from ruminating and worrying I threw myself in to my exercise regime, which is something I badly needed to do as I was 25st (350lbs/158kgs) and had the diabetes to worry about too. I’d gained so much weight because of years of the UC affecting my diet, so many foods I ate, that were good for me, triggered a reaction with the UC. So I ended up eating junk food, which didn’t apparently do anything. Combine that with lack of exercise because that set the UC off too and being housebound and you’ve got yourself the right combination for more health troubles.

I started off on the treadmill just walking for half an hour five days a week, it was gentle and not too much hassle. I did however get blisters on both my feet and on my toes because my feet weren’t used to wearing shoes for so long and in such conditions. These were huge blisters too! But I couldn’t take time out, it wasn’t an option anymore, so I just looked after my feet and bandaged them when I went on the treadmill.

Gradually my feet got used to it and I started to walk for longer and then jog. I made a game of it, I’d try to jog for that bit longer each time I did the ‘run’ in the run and walk system that I used on there. When I say ‘run’, it was more of a jog for me as running put too much pressure on my back and knees, not to mention the treadmill! I began to develop great endurance and at my best I could jog non-stop for an hour and half. I couldn’t go no more than that because if I did my back would completely give in, I was getting back pain just doing the run and walk system for an hour.

During the times I was doing the treadmill I was also lifting weights too, but not too many and not too heavy. I’d set off my back pain doing weights on and off since the age of 16.

All this paid off as I went from being 25st (350lbs/158gs) to just under 18st (252lbs/114kgs) from November 2011 to August 2012 (though I only started my proper exercise regime in April 2012). I felt great! I was feeling physically and mentally well, the first time in a long while. Things were going so good I moved out of the family home and was even contemplating getting a part-time job, because despite what some people may say the UK benefit system isn’t that great and I’d rather make my own way in the world anyway.

Then came August 2012, the back issues I’d had on and of since I was 16, the ones that made me unable to walk for days and not able to walk properly for weeks, came back! The Doctor who came out to see me diagnosed Sciatica and my GP said the same thing. They gave me pain killers and told me to rest, do some core exercises to help strengthen my back then exercise as usual when back to normal, and if the pain comes back then take some pain killers and carry on. The pain has never gone away and I could not possibly exercise with those pain killers as the amount I’d need to dull the pain sufficiently leaves me really tired and feeling drunk. And lifting weights and jogging when you’re drunk aint such a good idea.

I had the issue investigated this year with X-rays and a CT scan, one of the Doctors said I may have Sacroillitis, before the X-rays and CT Scan was done, though I couldn’t see how that could be as Sacroillitis is a problem caused by inflammation caused by inflammatory bowel disease, I know I have that but I’ve only had that since 2005 and I’ve had these back issues since 1999! So that was dismissed by me and my GP who thought it unlikely too. The results from the X-ray and CT Scan came back and there’s a problem there, they can’t say exactly what it is, but it’s there and there’s nothing they can do. They advised me not to jog, run, lift weights or do any exercise that puts pressure on my back. This only leaves me swimming, which I can’t afford as a pass at the local gym is £22 a month which I can’t afford, the only other pool near by is £29, so both are out of the question.

Walking is supposed to be good but I can’t walk or stand for more than half an hour anymore without getting a tightening in my lower back, like someone’s stuck a cork-screw in there and is turning it. If try to carry on walking the pain gets worse and spreads down my groin and legs. Despite this I’ve been trying on and off since August 2012 to restart my regime despite what the Doctors and specialists say but I am just incapable of keeping to it anymore, there’s always pain and a lot of the time I’m physically incapable of completing the movements.

Without the exercise to release the endorphins (and I really need those guys) I need to help suppress my appetite and generally feel good… I’m slowly putting it back on. So I’ll be starting another diet tomorrow, only 1500 calories, to try drop my weight because it just isn’t healthy at all for me, and I don’t enjoy feeling unhealthy. The most annoying thing is I want to be physically active, but my body just wont allow it.

Hence why I wasn’t around much last year or most of this year, because I’ve been trying to stay physically and mentally healthy.

Another reason why I haven’t been on much is my University degree. Despite the obvious study, reasearch and writing of notes and essays and the like, there was something else about my course that stopped me from coming on.

It’s not that I can’t do or understand the work, I mean I passed the level 2 Philosophy module in my Politics, Philosophy and Economics degree and 2 others, the issue is that I’m learning so much and it makes me even more unsure of my own opinions. What I mean by this is I read a piece of work then think I’ve got it nailed and seen from all angles, then comes along another way to look at a particular issue from another angle I think to myself, “How could I miss that?”. It’s made me quite unsure of many opinions I hold.

I mean, if I’m wrong about that I could be wrong about many other things. And in fact, so can many other people. This is nothing I didn’t already know but doing this whole course brings it to the forefront because I’m forced to think about these things a lot.

This may sound stupid and cliché, but the more I learn the less I feel I really know.

Anyway, it’s this thinking, alongside my obsessive over thinking I do anyway, that tires me out mentally. Combined with illness and medication side-effects I can barely think straight most days, which makes it extra challenging to do the course and put everything I have into it. This is another reason I couldn’t come on, I was just too mentally tired after being consumed in study, reasearch and writing.

This piece is the blog I should have come back with instead of my Syria one, which is a bit of a throw back to how I used to write, my other blogs should be well thought out and researched, just like the essays I’ve had to write. And you know what, writing them can be a pain in the arse too, especially as only a few people will even read them. Which is another reason why I wasn’t posting much, because if I do one of my long blogs again many normal people don’t bother much. There’s also the fact my blogging at the world also wont change much.

Oh, I didn’t mention my headaches, but they impact my blogging too, but sod them.

My next course starts in October 2013, so expect me to go quiet a little but I will still be around commenting on blogs and such. For now I’ll leave you with Bat for Lashes, simply because it’s the song I’m currently listening to. Oh and how cute is Natasha Khan in the video?

Much love to all!

– Phil

Let’s Build Something Useful

I was replying to Pete on my blog last week and it came to me that we need some kind of plan to turn our situations around in life. I suggest an invention, an invention that will be useful in someway and earn us £billions!

So, here’s how it goes, you leave suggestions for additions to this invention, past, present or future, invent your own to add to it. Anything goes basically… Anything! Yes, not strictly an invention but more of an amalgamation of inventions from reality and our twisted, warped little minds! You can leave pictures as my comment box is HTML active, or you could leave the ideas in written form and I’ll find the bits and pieces you mention myself, but it would be nice to have pictures.

I’ll leave this blog open untill Sunday, when all your suggestions are in I will make a picture of our new super-duper invention that will change the world!

I’ll start…

It has to have wheels for driving on land, huge wheels, like this…

For crushing our enemies. And because we’ll have so many enemies, we need a plasma cannon for defence. Like this one but bigger…

You may think “How are we going to sell this thing if we have so many enemies?”. Well, can you imagine the arms manufactures and the Oil monopolies when we put them out of business? So, we crush them if they attack us, which they will, then we sell our invention, once it’s complete!

If they attack us before the invention is complete we will send the army out that will consist of Daf armed with a plastic fork on a long stick… and that’s it (Sorry Daf, we need all the supplies we can, can’t spare any guns or stuff). Ian and the Goth twins, Andro and Jen, will be suicide bombers (Don’t complain, you’ll have a quicker death than Daf.), as will Sam, if he can be bothered to turn up. Remember, you’re all expendable, except for me, and to a lesser extent, Pete. But if the time comes Pete, you’ll have to sacrifice yourself for the good of the project! I know you’ll understand! Oh, and Mags Moo can make the tea, but if the worse comes to the worse you’ll have to back Pete up Mags.

Let the ideas flow!

Few Songs I like

Just thought I’d post some of the music/bands/singers that I liked and listened to when I was growing up and beyond. There were more bands but I don’t listen to them anymore, so I only include the ones I still like.

Just because I like a song doesn’t mean I’m an expert on that band or know more of their songs and albums, though I do know a lot about some bands than others.

Songs are listed in the decades I first heard them.

—-1980s—-

The Police – Walking On The Moon (One of the first songs I ever remember hearing).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPwMdZOlPo8

The Petshop Boys – What Have I Done To Deserve This

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn9E5i7l-Eg

The Waterboys – Whole Of The Moon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsNTmjlf1vI

Eurythmics – Sweet Dreams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJE_Sc1Wags

Procol Harum – A Whiter Shade Of Pale

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb3iPP-tHdA

The Moody Blues – Nights In White Satin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9muzyOd4Lh8

Tears For Fears – Everybody Wants To Rule The World

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST86JM1RPl0

Talk Talk – It’s My Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXQYyKzyDaE

The Specials – (Don’t remember which song it was but it was most likely ‘Ghost Town’. So see The Specials in the ’90s section for one of my favourites).

Madness – It Must Be Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puYt7B-tKQ8

The Stranglers – Golden Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7R7q1lSZfs

Simple Minds – Alive And Kicking (the leader singer looks like the late Steve Irwin!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljIQo1OHkTI

New Order – True Faith (EPIC WINNING!).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og1HAkjOuL0

Joy Division – (Can’t remember the song but I heard the music, see 1990s for one of my favourites)

The La’s – There She Goes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZXLLMbJdZ4

 —-1980s—-

—-1990s—-

Depeche Mode – Enjoy The Silence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGSKrC7dGcY

Talk Talk – Life’s What You Make It

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST86JM1RPl0

The Specials – Gangsters (look at the guy’s (Dam’s) [RAPE] face at 1:27 lol )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgCZN1rU5co

James – Sit Down

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRD51qEJ8t4

Sepultura – Ratamahatta (first taste of metal back in ’95, it tasted good!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiwqRSCWw2g

Joy Division – Dead Souls (WINNING! so much they created a hole in space-time that will forever keep pushing their music from Universe to Universe!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK7YPVwM2Jo

Radiohead –  Fade Out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrTB-iiecqk

Pulp – Misshapes (Never, in Human History, has so much WINNING! been created by so few people and dedicated to so many.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUqg5DLReJA

Stone Roses – I Wanna Be Adored (“I wanna be a door…” I wonder if Ian Brown achieved his ambition?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D2qcbu26gs

Orbital – Lush (First song I heard from these guys was ‘The Box’ but I prefer this song)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I66UrRQgkbA

The Orb – Asylum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1v1RSjEX3Q

Aphex Twin – On (First track I heard of his, still like it, even though it sounds like a strained fart looped over and over. By the way, Jarvis from Pulp made this video, not sure if he provided the sample for the track though).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-US91WU8zA

Manic Street Preachers – Design For Life (The first Political song I ever really liked and still love it. It’s still relevant fifteen years after it was written.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfEoVxy7VDQ

Bjork – Hyperballad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CSiU0j_lFA

Sex Pistols – Anarchy In The UK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na7A3-UCCYE

Public Image Limited – Seattle (I like PIL better than the Pistols)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFOjktDN0IA

Dubstar – Not So Manic Now

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCW53mSd0hs

Massive Attack – Rising Son

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85E9Q5Wx210

Paul Weller – Wild Wood

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9_ffgwLVCs

The Clash – Straight To Hell (I heard the Clash back in the ’80s but didn’t listen to or know who they really were untill the late 90s early 2000s. Not that much of a fan anymore now).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vxZUMSX4jo&feature=fvst

De-Lacy – Hideaway (A one off from ’95)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ATA_zyhsWA

U2 – The Unforgettable Fire (I aint a big fan of U2 at all or they way Bono sucks up to world leaders, but I like a few of their songs).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHa4y0uGKZw

Monaco – What Do You Want From Me? (side project by Hooky from New Order).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRhIAQAiTtY

The Smiths – There Is a Light That Never Goes Out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRtW1MAZ32M

Morrissy –  Irish Blood, English Heart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKoS5X4SMrY

The Beloved – The Sun Rising (EMI is not letting me see the video so I can’t post it).

808 State – Pacific State

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jQ_bOP0HfY

Electronic – Getting Away With it (Side project by Bernard Sumner from New Order, Johny Mar of the Smiths and feature Neil Tennant from the Pet Shop Boys).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSfjtdnUsls

Cast – Alright

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moXuDjAZ_og

Everything But The Girl – Missing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kedd2-0IE5U

George Michael – Spinning The Wheel (I don’t think he get’s enough credit for his other work in the mid-’90s)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JnACEyYZOE

Suede – Trash

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PdKGDMhau4

Blur – The Universal (I hate that British Gas used this in their ad, I now think of them instead of blur or the times when I first started listening to this song!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrbxWOMpwfs

Saint Etienne – Only Love Can Break Your Heart

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZAajrxvDs4

The Bluetones – Slight Return

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIzcRqyXGdk

Primal Scream – Higher Than The Sun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHjVIBDYgXg

Lo Fidelity Allstars – Blisters On My Brain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZov7BvX2Iw&feature=fvsr

—-1990s—-

—-2000s—-

Killing Joke – Love Like Blood

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnpwuRlXbhk

Slayer – Raining Blood

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KsPZ1f7MDs

Pantera – 5 Minutes Alone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m7njvwB-Ks

Atari Teenage Riot – Hetzjagd Auf Nazis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmDZakq1Ysk

Hatebreed – Live For This

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTEyp7YHSyM

Agnostic Front –  Gotto Go! (Don’t listen to these much, but still like the hardcore punk skinhead theme and music).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Mn1WN5yeag

Sick Of It All – Just Take a Look Around

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMDxpis72Fc

Machine Head – Davidian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mWPPBW4DU8

Dropkick Murpheys – The Spicy McHaggis Jig (Music to sing to when ya drunk lol)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZN3weW1udE

Rokysopp – What Else Is There?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLpkXtM-VI8

Bat For Lashes – Daniel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00ZHah-c0hQ

Jarvis Cocker – Cunts Are Still Running The World

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRGGbyZzuTg

Cyantoic – Deface Glitch Mode Stomper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFWw22UXpMU

Feindflug – Alptraum

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFrJBRhskRY

Terrorfact – Hate Like This

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqZO80dSzmA

Propergol – Fahrenheit (I like a line in this track that sounds like it says: “What?! You don’t see no light!!!”)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9qzIIrOtn0

The Peoples Republic Of Europe – Monopoly Of Violence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whMcPRrhUd4

Dead Hand Projekt – Hate Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahwXqnqLOwk

—-2000s—-

One Wants One’s Country Back!

Just spruce up my poster a made a while back, added the Queen for a laugh and stuck my display name on there. Not sure if I can use it for a background or as a poster I can use to advertise my site elsewhere on the web.

But I’m not sure I want all that traffic and the inevitable aggro I’d get and have to deal with. I already get it on my Youtube page, I’d get worse on here. I’m not so much bothered about me though, I’m worried about these idiots going for other commenters and bloggers I talk to on here.

Anyway, thoughts on the poster are welcome.

Libyans are complaining they’re upset with NATO’s actions, or lack of, in the country. Well, maybe we should take our military hardware and go home? Maybe we should do that and leave the support up to the Arab Countries who are also supposed to be helping you but have a taken a back seat! In the West you can’t win, you go in to save a people, and they still bitch and moan. We should pull out and leave the business up to the Arab League and the Arab countries that are bitching about NATO doing things wrong. Pull out and let them take care of it, but they wont, because they’ll fail outright and also cost them money. So… they should either shut the fuck up or do it themselves, same goes for the Libyans complaining.

Oh, and how cool is this: The Stars Sing. No, I’m not talk of the Human kind, but like our own Sun! They actually sing! I hope they do anyway and the BBC isn’t pulling a late April Fools! I’m not sure how recent this discovery is, it strikes me as something that should’ve been known for a while. Anything with such power and force must emit some kind of hum. I’m sure it’s old news but they’ve discovered something new about it. I would find you the story but the BBC don’t have it on their site yet!

A new particle may have been discovered in the USA via their Tevatron Accelerator. I just hope it’s real and one of the workers haven’t dropped a Cheeze Burger in there! Imagine it… ‘Tha Cheeze Burger Particle’.

Have a good weekend to all!

Open University Prep Activities

Just a couple of Prep activities I thought I’d share here. It says write them in your journal, and this site is sort of a journal for me, so why not? I think I’ll also have to post them on my Open U page too!

Activity 1:

Why Have you chosen Introduction To Social Sciences? What are your goals in studying the course?

To try to bring some kind of positive change to the world and extend my knowledge on the subject  of Social sciences. Yes, that may sound like a cliché, but I mean it! I could try to bring change and extend my knowledge without the help of the Open University, but I think learning with the Open University will give me more reason to keep to study. There’s also the fact that to bring change in Politics, I need to have a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the system. There’s also having the Degree that brings a certain legitimsation and may make me more electable. By no means is a degree needed for a Political career or to make an effective change, some of the best Political leaders and activists the world has seen have had no formal education on the subject, but still managed to become leaders of their respective countries, communities or causes and have large-scale impact and make positive changes.

As well as studying to expand my knowledge I’m also studying as a way to improve my health and maybe chances of gaining employment outside of the main Political areas. 

Activity 2:

What have been your experiences of learning in the past?

Think about your experience of learning. These may be when you were growing up or, more recently, at work. Try to identify:

an enjoyable and effective learning experience

an experience that was not enjoyable, or where you perhaps struggled to understand or learn something.

Quite a mix really. For the most part things were easy to comprehend, except  Maths. My main problems with learning were I didn’t always retain the information, which I think is normal for the majority of people because of typical modern schooling techniques. As well as that, class disruption and distractions effected my learning. It’s hard to concentrate when other students are pulling you in to a joke, conversation or argument.

I’m not sure there’s any positive experiences, learning was sort of a chore in Primary school, unless it was something I was actually interested in.

A bad experience would have to be Maths. I really am extremely bad at Maths! In class you were expected to know the answer right off the top of your head if you were asked a question on It. I always panicked because my mind didn’t, and still doesn’t work that fast when it comes to maths, for some reason. I’m sure the fear and dislike I developed in school for Maths have something to do with that. The only subject with a barrier to it that puts me off learning and makes it seem very hard or next to impossible to improve, is Maths. All because the teacher used to make you answer a Math question in school and if you got it wrong you’d be laughed at by all the class. Knowing Maths was a sign of intelligence, and still is now, and if you don’t know it, then you can’t be that bright.

Another thing, anything that has a time limit! This applied in Maths too, you had half an hour to complete the multiplication table for that day, and I rarely finished it. The same could be said for almost any subject that had a time limit placed on it.

So I think on the spot questioning/thinking and time limitations are an enemy.

Activity 3:

What are your existing strengths, preferences, habits or skills?

I think I have the capacity to see both sides of any argument. I am, or at least I try to be, rational, logical and unbiased (as much is possible).

I usually learn as I go along, I know that sounds obvious but most people some times get an idea of what they’ll be doing before they jump in to something. I used to do this a lot in the past, but now the majority of the time I come prepared or learn a little before hand. I also tend to learn better if it’s with someone else, especially during debates, nothing like having your arse kicked in a logical debate involving facts to get you learning!

I’m not really sure about habits and skills.

Activity 4:

Look back on the enjoyable and effective learning experience you described. How did you learn there? For example, did you learn by seeing, listening, or doing something?

I’m not sure, I just liken a mind to an empty cup, if you’re really interested in something when you learn it is as easy as pouring water (Knowledge) in to a cup (the mind). I learned effectively on some subjects because I found it interesting and not a chore or a competition.