Applying for jobs
Not to be too dramatic about it, but I have two financial crises on the horizon. Well, they used to be on the horizon, but have now climbed my neighbour's fence and are currently drooling onto his dahlias. My fixed-rate mortgage is going to end in September, and it's going to go up a lot. And come next February I'll have a large tax bill to pay. I've been living fairly close to the edge for a while now and it's been ok, but I haven't a hope of coping if nothing changes, so it is therefore time for me to get a proper part-time job. Which is fine and will be a blessed relief. It'll also give me a little extra capital, and it'll be nice to buy books without feeling guilty.
I've applied for jobs at the local library before, and as it happens they recently announced two full-time vacancies. But, I can't pull that off once my university course starts in whenever (I haven't heard anything since the acceptance letter, which is getting worrying). Happily there are a couple of other options. Today I applied for insanely cool dream job. Really, it would be fantastic. I've no clue what my chances are, but if I have no luck I'll apply for a part-time post at the local Jessops. I was going through all sorts of I'm-24-I-should-be-past-retail-work silliness for a while, but I now think it'd be a good job, particularly if I'm doing the photography degree at the same time. It's within walking distance and I'd at least have some idea of what I'm talking about. And, you know, discounts 
Some people
Radio DJ: So I'm reading in an email that Mars is going to be incredibly close to the earth in August. What does this mean for us?
Radio Astrologer: It means some people will believe anything.
Oddly, this morning's horoscope warned of my irony gland exploding.
Ugly, ugly email disclaimers
What do you think of email disclaimers? The kind that say things like:
This confidential e-mail is for the addressee only. If received in error, do not retain/copy/disclose it without our consent. You must delete it immediately and return it to us. Please do not infer from this communication that we like you. We are not responsible for any damage caused by a virus or alteration by a third party after it is sent. Outgoing attachments are scanned prior to leaving our server but they are opened at your own risk and you are advised to scan incoming email for viruses before opening any attached files. Don't think we won't sue your ass. We give no guarantee that any communication is virus-free and accept no responsibility for virus contamination or other system loss or damage of any kind. Nothing you do is our fault. Nothing that happens is anything to do with us. Emails are not necessarily secure. Opinions held within this document and/or attachments are those of the author and not necessarily those of the company. We as a company operate under a groupthink principle, and no advice or help given by an individual is of any use whatsoever. We as a company take no responsibility for anything, but demand money nevertheless. Even this disclaimer is not to be trusted. It may have been altered by a third party. Any advice given herein should not be followed without consulting appropriate legal counsel.
I hate them. They repeat themselves, clog up inboxes, are normally all HTML, make email conversations ridiculously hard to follow, must take up insane amounts of bandwidth and have the air of businesswank. I also find them dubious. I send an email to the wrong person, and my telling them to delete it actually has any legal bearing? And surely there must be rules regarding the liability of a virus-laden email - does saying 'it might have, but it's nothing to do with me' make any difference? I am not a lawyer, but that sounds dodgy. Research suggests that they're advisable rather than legally binding, but nevertheless it seems OTT.
One of my clients has been told to put these ridiculous things in their emails, and it looks dreadful. I've recommended they put a link to disclaimer text hosted on their website. It's still a bit of HTML, but far better than all that kak. Of course, nobody's going to read it. But nobody reads it anyway, so what's the difference? But maybe I'm wrong - any opinions?
Donnie Darko and Director’s Cuts
Last night I saw the director's cut of Donnie Darko. Bizarre. It's one of my favourite films, but this added a chunk of religiosity and sci-fi exposition, and I think I prefer the more enigmatic original. The score was also different, and sometimes came close to overpowering the dialogue (on a small tv, anyway). Abi hadn't seen it before and certainly enjoyed this telling, though, so maybe it doesn't detract much from the film.
It's unusual for me not to like a Director's cut. Watching a film for the fifth time is a different experience from the first, and extra scenes that would have made an initial viewing tedious can be fascinating, especially if it's a movie you love. I've liked the DCs of Armageddon, Gladiator and Superman. Blade Runner is another oft-quoted example, but I don't think I've seen the non-DC version. I like the longer versions of the LOTR trilogy too, even if they do last forever. Sometimes DCs can be mental: The Abyss is a classic - the Director's cut completely changes the story! And occasionally it goes the other way - the recent DVD DC of Star Trek: The Motion Picture is significantly shorter than the original.
Little Miss Sunshine
I'm a little late to the Little Miss Sunshine party. It's languised on my to-watch list for months, and last week I finally got around to renting the DVD. From the trailer and reaction I was concerned it might be another Life Aquatic - I'd see that it was interesting yet be unmoved - but, happily, I enjoyed it very much. Most reactions I've seen online seem to centre on the negative elements, usually quoting demonstrably untrue cliches about modern Hollywood films, but I thought it was heartwarming and touching, admittedly in a bittersweet way, and the ending was positively joyous. Lovely.
The Poddington Peas have a posse
I have for over a week been meaning to start a Poddington Peas fan group on Facebook. Well, mainly for fans of the theme tune, which went like this:
Down at the bottom of the garden,
Among the birds and the beas,
A little lot of little people,
They call the Poddington Peas.There's Cree-pea, Black Eye Pea and Dum-pea.
Keep it a secret now please.
There's Zip-pea, Hap-pea and there's Sweet-pea.
And all the Poddington Peas!The Poddington Peas!
This morning I went to set it up, and it turns out there are thirteen Poddington Peas fan groups on Facebook already. Thirteen. I had not anticipated this. It did, however, lead me to a surprisingly in-depth 'Which Poddington Pea are you?' quiz. I am P.C. Pod. Also: The Poddington Peas in 3D.
So much Poddington Pea-related excitement, so little time. Bravestarr, The Family Ness and Bucky O'Hare next, I think.
Baden-Powell on Bees
The scout master thinks they rock:
"They are a quite a model community for they respect their Queen and kill their unemployed."
Also self-abuse - because you know somebody's right in the head when they call it 'self-abuse' - "brings with it weakness of heart and head and if persisted in idiocy and lunacy". Monkeys.
Chronologically inept
Me: Huh, that clock must be broken.
She: Why?
Me: It says ten to twelve.
She: Andrew, it's ten o'clock.
I have apparently forgotten how to tell the time.
Warwick Castle ticket prices
I'm not normally one to complain about ticket prices - it's a free market and things will always be more expensive than you expect, and it's not something I can be bothered getting worked up about. That said, Abi and I went to Warwick Castle today, where a single adult ticket costs £17.95. £17.95!! That's plus £3 for parking, £2.95 for a guide to the castle (you get a leaflet map for 'free'), and an unknown extra charge for the non-permanent exhibitions. And then the weather was so bad they cancelled the jousting and trebuchet demonstrations. That's just crazy money. A theme park, sure, but a castle? Thankfully we had a buy-one-get-one-free offer; I think we'd have balked otherwise. As it was, the rain was so heavy that we left after a couple of hours.
Happy about flood photos
I've had some luck with my floods pictures from the weekend. BBC Coventry used a few of them this morning, and Yahoo News contacted me to express an interest. A shot of the dancing couple1 hit #23 in the daily Flickr Interestingness, which I'm very happy about - I've never broken the top 200 before! It's turning up in Explore and everything . I wish I'd been a bit faster with the geotagging, though - they were clearly looking for shots for the Flickr Blog today...
- who've contacted me and are very nice people indeed [↩]
Hello!
Hey, thanks for coming! I'm Andrew, and this is where my headthinks come to breed. They often meander around humanism and photography, but they're flighty and you can't trust them, so anything is possible.
Do feel free to email me - I get lonely:
Your hair looks swish, by the way - have you done something new?
Recent Comments
- vicky: going up this weekend having done all the welsh peaks except 4 snowdon, cant wait
on Climbing Snowdon. - vicky: what, how can u live in the 21 c and say that, probably a sexist thing
on Climbing Snowdon. - vicky: da iawn laura, cant believe what im hearing, all this fuss, anyway love the site, and i agree, normal people who swear and curse clomb mountains cos we live in the...
on Climbing Snowdon. - Andrew: Did a few quick test shots to check the light levels, then balanced the camera on the arm of a bench, set it for a 20s exposure and hoped for the best
on ISS. - lynsey: Wow, how did you take that photograph?
on ISS.
