The Happy Goth

Happy Halloween! I had no outfit and no plans but I really can't go without dressing up for my favorite holiday. I just bought myself some over the knee purple socks, hand gloves with purple skulls on them, purple hairspray, and purple lipstick. I don't really know where to go either cause most places did their thing on Saturday, but I was thinking the Purple Turtle cause they are having something (random coincidence with the clothing color and bar.) In case you haven't guessed my half-assed costume yet, it's a Camden wannabe goth chick.

Also, my goth name is Damaged Roses. Get your goth name here.

You Know You're a VIP at Work When...

...YOU HAVE TO WEAR A FUCKING BRIGHT YELLOW REFLECTOR VEST TO BE RECOGNIZED AS STAFF. God help me.

Another way in which the University of Westminster has screwed up yet once again - e-mailing me asking to give my opinion of the school's modules and lectures (which I obviously can't wait to do considering I have numerous complaints), I sign onto the page and it says "You do not have permission to view this page. The page you have requested is protected and you do not have permission to view this page." Stop e-mailing me then assholes!

Thanks for listening.

Current Music: Turin Brakes - Underdog

One Night in Bangkok

I've got nothing to write about so I'm going to post some photos from Asia since I previously failed in that department.

BANGKOK!

Big-ass Buddha #1

kjgjfKhao San Road (aka stinkiest place on earth)

Wat Po Action

KUJGKUGUKFYD

Big-ass Buddha #2

KUJGKUGUKFYD

Mo' Wat Po

KUJGKUGUKFYD

Laura Getting Her Hair Did

KUJGKUGUKFYD

Me Surrounded by Aforementioned Stink

Floating Market

KUJGKUGUKFYD

Yummy Fruit

KUJGKUGUKFYD

Current Music: Suede - Stay Together

Rapper's Delight

Has anyone, particularly in the U.S., ever heard of the rapper Rhymefest? He met with a U.K. politician recently and I thought he was a total nobody unless I've missed something on the American rap scene? Help please?

Also, what the fug is this game?! A 2D dog-thing that raps about shampooing and perming hair and has to save the world from a noodle takeover?!

Parappa!

Current Music: Delays - Hideaway

Finally!

My most favorite break-up ever.

The Curious Incident of the Lemonade in the Night-time

The Scene: My Kitchen
The Object: One 2-Liter Bottle of Sainsbury's Diet Lemonade, 2/3 full
The Objective: Drink Said Lemonade
The Scenario: I go into the kitchen heavy with thirst. As I rarely buy bottles of soda for the home (they are too heavy to carry with other groceries), I am filled with excitement as I open the fridge to drink my rarely-there treat. My soda is not in the door where I left it.
The Reaction: Shock, Confusion, Anger
The Action: Check all over the kitchen as well as fridge #2 in the hallway.
The Suspects: Flatmate #1 - Me to her: Hey! Have you seen my lemonade by any chance? It's a 2-liter Sainsbury's Diet Lemonade and it was in the door of the fridge but I can't find it anywhere. Her to me: Provides a very sincere answer saying she didn't take it and suggests alternatives to where it may be or that perhaps someone else thought it was their's (strange considering there was a 2-liter bottle of Schweppes Lemonade on the table which is obviously better quality and worth more but no one took that.)
Flatmate #2 - Me to her: Same as above. Her to me: Shrugs and grunts.
Flatmate #3 - Me to her: Same as above. Her to me: Same as Flatmate #1 with an added 'I didn't drink it!'
Flatmate #4 - Not questioned yet, but she admitted to finishing off someone's milk last week.
Thief may also be linked to my dwindling shaving gel.

Songs I'm obsessed with at the moment:
Rifles - 'Peace and Quiet'
OK Go - 'Here It Goes Again'
Muse - 'Starlight'
The Automatic - 'Recover'
Snoop Dog v. Huey Lewis and the News - 'Drop It Like It's Huey'
The Killers - 'When You Were Young' (yes, I admit it)

Also, I double booked myself for two gigs in one night. This is very annoying considering I haven't been to one in months. The original is Art Brut at Mean Fiddler, the second one is The Stills at 93 Feet East, both on 15/11/06. I'd rather see The Stills but think I've gotta get myself out of that one. Anyone want to buy my ticket?

Current Music: Badly Drawn Boy - The Blossoms

Goody Two Shoes

I had my first nonebrity spotting at the museum on Sunday - Jade Goody with her tabloid boy toy and her 2 year old son! For those not from the UK, Jade Goody is a notorious British TV reality star (Big Brother) and her new show (Jade's P.A.) just started this week. The reason why she's so popular is simply because she's comically ignorant and seems to be just plain dumb. When I gave her the imax options, she appeared totally confused so I'm thinking the stereoptype holds true. She ended up not buying show tickets because she said her son wouldn't last through the 45 minutes. Instead, I told her to go to the basement where all the annoying reality stars are sent for lifetime imprisonment. Nah, I actually sent her there cause there's tons of interactive stuff for kids, and I figured her 14 year old boyfriend would like to play in the Launch Pad.

Current Music: Bjork - Human Behaviour

Weird Science

Not only did I go from being completely jobless last week to getting a job, I actually got two jobs!

I spent all of Tuesday training to learn all things silverware:

And about silver service, and like how to set the table properly and stuff:

I also learned how to do this the professional way:On Wednesday I had an interview where we did group exercises so the interviewers could evaluate our team skills:

Then I went to see this for free:(Can you guess where I was? Answer to follow)

On Thursday I worked for the first job doing this:

And today I started training for my second job at:(that says 'The Science Museum')

Where I sold Imax/Simex tickets beneath the energy ring:

And then I went on the Spongebob Squarepants simulator ride!

I also ate fish sticks for dinner and watched One Tree Hill but there's not enough memory to pop that photo up of the stix or Bethany Joie Lenz cuz I love her (hello, she also played Michelle on Guiding Light remember? Duh.)

Current Music: Radio 4 - Absolute Affirmation

Detachable Penis

Yes! It's what we've all been waiting for...Penis Week on Channel 4! Don't you just love British TV?

Click here for all things penis being shown this week.

Live & Amplified

I've finally posted my videos from Benicassim. I couldn't get the photos up so I may try that at a later date. If you want to see the videos, check out this former blog post for the following (bouncy) performances I filmed at Benicassim 2006:
The Kooks - 'Naive'
Franz Ferdinand - 'Take Me Out'
People skanking to Madness - 'House of Fun'
We Are Scientists - New Song
We Are Scientists - 'Textbook'
Art Brut/We Are Scientists - 'The Great Escape'
Silent Disco (half the people dancing/singing to 'Whoomp! There It Is' and the other half to 'Dare')

We Drink on the Job

I'm just looking at some individual company websites (political-type ones at the moment), and under one particular think tank's description of the salary, the end part cracked me up:

"The starting salary for young and talented researchers is £22,000 with senior researchers starting at £33,000 and going up to £50,000. There is also a contributory pension scheme and free coffee."

I want that job!

I Think I'm Turning Japanese I Really Think So

Last night I did a random music/film quiz at The Warwick on Essex Road. After the first question was 'name five movies starring Cher', I thought we were doomed (got 3 right though), and by question number 50 that assumption proved to be correct.

As hard as it was, we did manage to get a bunch right (embarassing questions involving Wilson Phillips, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, and Sexxyback) and they had some really random rounds like the Kenny Loggins Footloose Challenge. What it was, was the MC playing Footloose on the turntables whilst spinning another record and you had to decipher what the other song/artist was. By the fourth one I was thinking gimmie a break this is impossible, I just wrote 'Footloose' as a joke. Turns out number 5 was actually 'Footloose' against 'Footloose'! (Liz was wondering why the beat sounded similar.) The other round that gets the award for best music pub quiz round ever was the translation round. They took a song title, translated it into Japanese, and then translated it back into English and it sounded totally different. Can someone please tell me why 'Permanently' translates from 'Back for Good' rather than 'Live Forever'?

Also, if anyone can tell me what 90s band was originally known as Ted Ed Fred I'll give you $94 because I couldn't believe the answer. Ok I'm lying, I'll just give you a high five.

I'm Not Working.

Now that I'm all moved into my flat (did I mention the clothes dryer?), if there are any job vacancies in your office, please let me know because I'm desperate to start working. If you want to know what I'm offering, I've got:

• A soon-to-be Masters degree in International Relations
• An honors B.A. in History with a 3.5 GPA
• I've been promoted from within in my previous company
• Experience as a meeting planner (or conference producer to those in England)
• I've also worked at places such as a museum, radio station, and mortgage company (and shot girl/salt beef slave most recently)

On the exciting news front, iTunes are offering free downloads of the season finales of Grey's Anatomy, Lost, and Desperate Housewives to the first million downloaders. I'm all off track with the American pace of shows, but this is excellent news for me as I had missed the final DH episode.

My landlord bought me a TV for my room today! Best landlord ever!! Although I've had to forfeit my freeview box (bye bye E4), I've got Sky, The History Channel, The Discovery Channel, and the Cartoon Network. Roll on Samurai Jack!

Also, HSBC is a horrible, horrible bank. Please don't do business with them.

Current Music: The Ordinary Boys - Boys Will Be Boys

Lil' Jon Says 'Happy New Year'

The Old Apartment

There's been closure on the old apartment. Liz and I called in all of our meter readings, shut down our utilities accounts, and scrubbed that mofo clean. I'm not kidding, the place is actually shimmering, you'd go blind if you saw it.

Example #527 of why my school is dumb:
Liz and I went to return our books to the school library the other day. I knew I had a bit of change left on my student card as I had originally planned to print my dissertation there so I told her she could use it to print out some documents. When I checked, I had a whopping £15.75 left?! There was no way I had put so much money on there and we stood there in shock at how dumb I must have been to have put that much on it. Then she checked hers and had £15 as well. Turns out the school gave us a 'gift' of £15 on our cards to start the new non-existent school year off with. As we had previously had our cards changed from expiring in June to expiring in September (the morons in the postgrad office thought they just wouldn't let us continue to be students throughout the dissertation writing period), the university now thinks we are starting another school year, hence the gift. Last year they only gave us £5 so I can't really complain, and it turns out that aside from printing myself a copy of my dissertation (cost me £10 per copy at my binding place, the school does it in a 'different' quality for £3 each) I have the option of using up the rest of my money on either purchasing blank DVDs, CDs, or a 512 gb memory key which I already have. Dumb school!!

I played 7 games of Sorry! in the pub today. And people wonder what I do while not attending university or working.

Current Music: Placebo - Meds