Counter and Groove

Saturday, April 30, 2005

BBQ + Sun + Beer + Friends = Perfect end to a great year :)

!

The second year of university life and its energy-sapping routine has indeed reached a climatic end! My final exam finished at 11.30am today, giving myself and a few friends an hour or so to forge a plan to storm a near-by a cliff-top for a good ol' BBQ in the name of celebration!

So, one trip to Tesco + £68 on Chris's card later, the coals were ignited! It was a perfectly sunny day, which caused concern for myself who's used to BBQ's dowsed in rain ("The Bringer of Noah!"). But still, it kicked arse! Kudus to Alex and Neal: the master culinary duo. A general 'thanks' to everyone who shown up :) And 3 cheers to Chris's marvellous plan to cool the beer! (and I was but a naysayer! I'm not worthy!). *hip hip hip yo!*x3

Overall I had a great time! Bar falling down a minor trench and into a nest of thorny shrubbery..and being caught with my pants down by some women who *were* enjoying a pleasant stroll in the summer-sunshine (literally..though I'd rather not explain this unsavoury event!) ^^,

But now I feel spent in an almost literal sense: what the f*** am I to do for 4 months?! Anyone read 'Norweigan Wood'? Well I feel like the dude from that at the end when he's trapped in the phonebox and cannot figure where he is - he's spent so much time entangled in the power-struggle that is his his love for a girl with mental issues that he's lost all concept of love and general everyday goings on..replace the asylum with uni, and some nutter of a bird with work, and, well, the result is seemingly yours truly! ><, (and probably the rest of my mates on the same course, ha!).

..I think thats a good anology. Then again, maybe my thoughts have just been warped by Matt's awesome playing of 'Norweigan Wood' on the ol' acoustic guitar?! Who knows, hah!

Out of interest, any idea why Luke had a brolly on him in the glaring sun?! It's just occurred to me how bizarre that was (even though I spent a lot of time basking beneath its shady canopy of tan-dodging joy)? And who kept screaming 'Jah-ming!'? (zack? haha).

Anyway, time to conclude! An excellent end to the year, couldn't of been better :) Will miss you mofo's ^^,

Friday, April 29, 2005

A cloud without a tear..

Argh, what a complete joke of a day today's been.... Ever have 'one of those' days? well this was that and that was this.

I don't know, I seem to have lost every last drop of motivation and drive in exchange for a misty-haze of total confusion. I'd usually be happy to dwell in such conditions, but I've an exam tomorow and really need to study, so times are bleak.

Worse still, my Twin bro' and a friend got assaulted last night whilst out on the piss: Just leaving a club and strolling down by a take-away when a group of chavvy-bastards decided to land a punch on him for seemingly no reason beyond the fact that he had 'piercings'. Totally unreasonable, resulting in a stop at the police-station/hospital until gone 6am.

They seem fine though, just pissed off: wouldn't you be, though? Hmm, 'pissed off' - a general theme for todays posting ne?

Oh well, I guess the bad days make the good ones sparkle, and a bit of sparkle's what I could use right now, so I guess in that sense a bad day is needed (and indeed a good day?). No wait, the bad days suck fullstop. ,l,, ><, Anyway, I'm out. 1 exam's all that stands between me and a BBQ, 4 months holiday, 3 weeks in Tokyo and who knows what else. Rock on yo \,,/, A Cloud without its sorrow
is a Cloud without a tear;
knowing not of joy
and holding back its fear.

(apologies to those who deserve them).

Thursday, April 28, 2005

No Comment(s)

..quick update: Comments are gone, and will probably stay that way. I figure that this is a blog for posting meaningless shite on, most of which will be incorrect on numerous levels. So, it's probably for the best that I don't invite the views of others in regards to the published thoughts of yours truly...

..any comments? ..oh wait.. man, blogs suck ><,

Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Heads up Tokyo...

..I *sort of* blew the remainder of my student loan on flights to Tokyo, today.. ><,

So, Tokyo, You've been warned ;) 25thMay-16thJun; watch out \,,/, ^^,

Monday, April 25, 2005

4 Legged Black Cheese Turns 56

^^, My Black lab', Stilton, has gracefully turned 56 today! (That's 8 for the non-canine readers!)

*Happy Birthday to you*
*Happy Birthday to you*
*Happy Birthday dear Sti-ii-l-ton*
*Happy Birthday to you*

..back to revsion, cya soon :)

Edit @ half 11 (pm): Oh dear, just found out I'm revising for the *wrong* exam...and i've just 1 and a half days to catch up on 4 months of work. Rock on.... \,,/, ><,

Saturday, April 23, 2005

Saturday Night Griever

Gah! It's Saturday night, aprox' 9.30 pm, and I'm stuck at home doing exam-revision!

I wouldn't normally go out of my way to complain about such a fact, but right now I'm on a 'break' from study, and my blog was calling me! "Ben! Ben! You can tell me how you feel, I'm always happy to listen.." and so on :p

Anyway! I'm pretty pissed off actually ><, I'd organised to hook up with some freinds in Leeds this weekend - check out a few bands, as many bars and down a fair-share of pints.. well ok, 3 pints for me ><, (Ultimate lightweight-drinker as I'm sure most of you can and will vouch for :p Bastards! ;) ). But! I hadn't realised the dates and had completely overlooked the fact that my exams and such are lined up all next week and had no choice but to bail - realisticly speaking, of course!

Ah well, 4 months holiday come friday! Just an exam to get through then the difficult, torturous endeavour that is a BBQ followed by a party ;) ! Hurry up you sexy-biotch of a day, hurry-the-f***-up! :p

ooh, gotta dash*: some girl-type-creatures have just landed at my house ;) *Shock Horror!*

*Dash as in escape.. long story, sort of ties in with my stir fry recipe that I'll publish shortly :p

Thursday, April 21, 2005

A bit more about me - Why Japanese?

After showing this blog to a few friends, the most popular response is 'Hey I didn't know you were into Japanese, why do you study it?'..and then it starts: a whole stream of pokemon related questions follow ><,

I got into Japanese at around May '04 when I was getting ready to leave uni' for the summer and had bugger all to do. I decided to spend the time constructively and wanted to learn a second language: Enter French! You see, I'd studied French for 5 years at school, yet I'd forgot it all; I knew nothing. I'd even forgotten how uninteresting the French parts of the world were and upon rediscovering such facts, my quest ended! C'est tres mauve, non?

Then, whilst strolling my uni one day, waiting to meet a friend, I spotted a series of posters on the notice board that is seemingly stuck in some sort of stasis, shielded from change and the dusts of time alike. I mean, it had an array of posters ranging from ‘have you got dyslexia’ ( I always wanted to make a mock up one of those, riddled with spelling errors...), through to ‘for sale: scuba diving gear’ (I jest not!). Then it caught my eye: “are you bored of England?” “hell yeah”, I thought. “Can you teach?”, she asked (she is the poster, it’s more magical this way!). I replied “yeah I’m sure I could now you ask me such a question!”. She then started telling me all about her worldly offerings, how she needed English teaching staff around the world, and described the adventure that I’d yearned for but up until now had no idea how to reach. Then an enchanting two syllable word gracefully vacated her blood-red lips: “Jah-Pan”. I was hooked. "Why?", you ask? Well, I’ve always had an affinity for the bizarre and consequently for Japan, (no offense, I was educated by Challenge TV [Takeshis Castle], Ju-Jitsu classes and late night pornography about weather women – what else was I to go on?!).

So, to cut an already long story short, I decided this was my calling card; it was my wake up call. Time to do something, time for an adventure my son! This A4 sized print was more than a poster to me for it’d now become my escape; my ticket out of here, if you like. Well, in a sense, at least. So, I (Naively) decided to start learning Japanese. Strangely, I found a great deal of joy from doing so and have stuck at it since.

It's actually a pretty interesting, but rather tough ordeal :p And I've met an assortment of interesting people as a result though it: ranging from a gay Chinese bloke who was determined to train me up into a Chinese-lady-killer (Luke, you can vouch for that ^^, ), through to close friends, spanning the globe a few times over :)

..and then there's chinese! I'm planning to start a chinese class of some sort next septmeber at uni with a few friends. Could be fun, no?

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Today's 5 word summary©: awaken, uni, bank, jam, revision.

My lord, today's been such a fun-filled, energy packed, sarcasm riddled day! -_^

5 word summary©: awaken, uni, bank, jam, revision.

Aww, I was sarcastically questioning the value of my day with the '5 word summary', and now I'm a bit down that I actually achieved an accurate account of my day in just 5 words. Toying with unknown forces does indeed lead to unpleasant outcomes ><, I did have a band practice lined up (I play bass guitar in a progressive rock/metal band for the distant readers), but the drummer bailed on us. Also, tonight's a local nightclubs' rock/metal night, though fast approaching exam deadlines and the inevitable accompanying revision hath me pinned to the books and glued to the harsh regime that is study. Hmm, this is strange writing an 'article' that has no one in mind - I enjoy writing, infact I love writing, but I always write to someone and so I kind of know where to 'aim' it..if that makes sense? (Who am I asking that question to? Who am I asking this question to, for that matter?!). This 'blogging' thing seems wierd though, almost like talking to myself: shouting at a wall and awaiting the echoe'd voice to keep me entertained. Somehow, I think.

Anyway! I've not much decent to say right now so I'll go do some work and come back when I've something positive to comment on! Wow, writing this is like thinking aloud, only quieter. Bizarre.
-over 'n out.

A New Age Hath Cometh (0000 ABCD [After Blog Conception Day])

wow, my first blog *stands back, gaping in awe*.

I always thought blogs seemed a strange, maybe even pointless concept - and now I can share that view, thanks to my blog.

Lately, I've been meaning to get a blog or something where I can note down my thoughts, express my ideas, post my adventures and generally poison the world with brief excerpts of my totally meaningless daily happenings; and that place is here, for here is that place! *joy*!

I know the colour scheme's a bit strange, but the only other decent one, a green thing, is already taken by two of my friends, so.. ><,

Oh, and forgive my poor spelling at times - I'm a computer student... but, the grammar, what i use often, can be proper, so that's good.

..yeah just a few short paragraphs to test my new portal-to-the-world!

*tes*
*tst*
*teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeest*