Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Kick me!

Due to my little game not displaying properly on the side bar, I have moved it to a post...

... Enjoy!



Sunday, May 27, 2007

Half-term!

hello readers, welcome to this weeks thrilling instalment. As promised I am now back on blogging-schedule, and will hopefully remain this way!

Right, well we start with last Monday... I hate Monday mornings... So I went to work as usual and had a pretty non-descript day, actually. In the evening the usual crowd went out... Somewhere... Damn it! I can never remember what happens at the start of the week! Don't worry, it will come to me, I'm sure.

On Tuesday I saw father. We went bowling and I bowled a good game. My final score was 164, opposite fathers 129... bwahahaha!

Wednesday at work was awful. There are people who work at school who really nee to work on their people-skills... Thats all I wil say about it. In the evening people came over my-way for a drink in the Packhorse.

I was in there on Thursday as well as usual. Thursday was a good evening although we were a bit thin on the ground people-wise. Unusual.

Friday at work was non-uniform day due to it being the last day of term. I wore my "I am the stig" T shirt, but the only thing everyone said to me was "What? Like, Stig of the Dump?" This was getting quite frustrating so I decided to just say "yes" to everyone who asked. After work people went to the Packhorse for a drink (I swear they are going to get sick of me in that place!)

In the evening I met up with Jenny, Marcus and Carl for a drink. Carl got to mine and decided to have a go with my lightsaber...

... So I videoed it!...




Ok, Saturday... In the daytime I tidyed the house because my mother was going to Becketts with a load of people who have met on the internet (Yes, I know... Tell me about it!) well they were stopping the night, on camping beds and the such like. I went out late afternoon to Meet up with marcus, jenny and carl for something to eat, and then on to see pirates of the caribbean. it's a good film actually, and Keith Richards as Captain Sparrows dad is a nice touch.

After the film I got back home to discover that everyone was back from the meet-up and were ever so slightly drunk... Lovely. I made the coffees while the one sat playing her 12-string guitar...!

I got to bed at about 4:30am and didn't get up thismorning until 11:30am I had Mr B. phone me to ask if he could come round to try a DVD in my computer since it wouldnt run on his. He did, and after I let him have a go on Guitar Hero 2 on the 360. he's not exactly Slash, but he's not bad...

Well. I'm off now readers, so I will leave it there....

TTFN

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

These holes are too tight!

Hello readers and I appologise for yet another delay in the whole grand-order of things that is my blog. The reason for the delay is the fact that nowadays I find it hard to access my computer as my mother does insist in spending all day chatting to people on it...

But enough ranting, let's blog...

Ok, Wednesday. Well not a lot happened actually, and in the evening I went down to fathers as usual...

So I guess that would bring us on to Thursday. I will skip work and get straight to the evening because I went with Donna to "The Sunflower Lounge" in Birmingham to see a couple of live bands...

Donna very kindly picked me up at about 9:30pm in her lovely little VW Beetle. We set off and made a slight detour to pick up another friend of hers, before driving (quite rapidly) in to Birmingham! After parking up we took a short walk to Where we were meant to be... I got the first round in and we headed downstairs to where the stage is. We met up with Niccola and Spike who were already there (as per the plan.)

The evening was a good one. The drinks weren't too expensive and the end result of it all is lost somewhere in the back of my mind, obscured by an alchohol-induced, mild-amnesia. After the gig, Donna dropped me home and I went to bed...

... Friday morning was hell. You know what I mean. When you've drank quite a bit, and then have to face the world again less that 6 hours after passing out... I went to work and perked up quite a bit during the day, thank god. I did the usual teaching/tidying/tormenting and was out of work for about 3:30pm. I came home and played a bit of Oblivion for a bit before getting ready to go out. This time I was going to Reflex on Broad Street with Donna and some of her friends...

... Donna very kindly picked me up in her lovely little VW Beetle. We set off and made a slight detour to pick up some friends of hers... (I'm having De Ja Vu!)... From the Drawbridge pub. After collecting them we shot in to town and met up with some other people. Now after Thursdays antics I was going to play it safe... Just a couple of pints and a dance, nothing more...

... That plan was enforced to the letter by the fact that even if I wanted to get absolutely Rat-faced, I couldn't because of the moronic, dim-witted, stupid, fat, bloated, saggy-arsed troll behind the bar! She was useless! Honestly, I've met diseases with more charm and personality than the thing waddling up and down, trying to serve drinks!

Anyway, enough of her, the vile creature! I had a few pints and a dance-or-two and at christ-knows-what-time-AM we decided to go, since the birthday-boy was smashed beyond reason (on a mixture of alcohol and "other substances" shall we say) and everyone looked like that they were going to fall asleep. We said goodbye and made our way back to the car. After Donna dropped me home, I went straight to bed!

Ah... saturday...


... What the hell did I do saturday?


... Oh yeah! I got up and had brekkie, and early on in the afternoon I went, with mother, over to Selena's. My nan and grandad were already there and Kieron was sat in the lounge playing
Command & Conquer 3. I have downloaded the demo on xbox live and it looks good, but I always prefer playing RTS games with a mouse...

Ah well.

After leaving at around 4:30pm I phoned around to see if anyone was up for going out somewhere. It turns out that everyone was up for a bit of bowling, so Adam, Carl, Marcus, and Jenny got to my house for early-evening. I waited until everyone had arrived before going to pick John up. When I had him in the car, I phoned the others to let them know to start out and I would meet them in Hollywood bowl.

We arrived for 9:20pm and had a lane booked for 9:40. This was handy as I had managed to beat the others to Rubery by about 5 minutes... So this gave us time to queue up and get served. The lady who served us looked like a waxwork of Anne Robinson that had been left by the fire a bit too long, and was moving at about the average speed of any waxwork model...

Anyway, after getting the bowling shoes (Marcuses were still warm from the previous occupier!)
I inputted the names on the score computer... In doing this I accidentally started typing on the wrong panel and altered the screen of the people who were on the next lane...

... Oops. I managed to correct everything though and we got started. Being Saturday it was very busy and that meant that the first problem we encountered was the fact that we couldn't find the right size balls...

... I will give you a second to get the laughter out of your system...

... Ok? Right, well the balls were either the wrong weight, or were designed for people with little fingers...

... Again, I will give you second to get the laughter out of your system...

... So our first game didn't go spectacularly well, and I think I ended up coming 4th, with Jenny or Adam coming 1st. Our second game was better though. Half way through I managed to find some 12lbs, large-drill bowling balls which improved our game, somewhat. At the end of the second game I came in 3rd, with Jenny winning, I think. After we had got our own shoes back on I drove home, with Carl behind me. When we got back to my house Jenny and Marcus went because of getting up early on the sunday, but Adam, Carl, and John came in for a bit to watch Red-Dwarf and Top Gear. We decided that on the Sunday we would go to the Tolkien weekend at Sarehole Mill, the place where J.R.R Tolkien, author of Lord of the Rings, grew up. Sarehole Mill is less than 10 miles away from where I live, so we have been going every year, for the past 3 or 4 years. The plan was to get to Johns house for 11:30am and I would drive to the Mill... After this was finalised, everyone left and I had a quick go on Oblivion...

... Until I looked outside and thought "Why is it light outside?" The answer was simple, I had lost track of time and it was 5:00am! I hurryied up to get some sleep before having to go to Johns house for 11:30am....

... 11:30am...

... 11:30 am...

... I awoke at prescisely 1145am and immediately went in to that kind of panic-rush that people sometimes do if they are late for something...You know the one I mean, it's where you aimlessly charge around trying to catch-up with yourself, whilst constantly saying "bollocks.bollocks.bollocks.bollocks.bollocks.bollocks.bollocks" over and over to yourself in your head.


Anyway, I got to Johns for 11:55am (No, really, I did! As soon as I woke-up I just threw on some clothes, grabbed my wallet, phone, and keys and dashed out the house, still half asleep!)
We set out and was parked up by 12:15pm after I had missed the entrance to the carpark which I did the year before as well.

Our little fellowship spent some time walking around the tents, gawping at the fat women dressed as elves, and admirig the guy chainsawing a log in to a sculpture of something. After I had spotted a couple of Woodrush kiddies we went round the mill itself...

I have visual media for you readers!




sarehole Mill... It's lovely on the inside, don't you know! Anyway readers, I Swear you wouldn't believe just how much there is to do in and around the mill... Look! I have videos to prove it...








See? Riveting stuff!

Well anyway, after we had finished with the mill, we decided to have a quick pint in the Drawbridge pub. Whilst there the Drawbridge itself was raised... Now I have lived in Wythall all my life and I have NEVER seen it in operation...



So there we go! After our swift pint we decided, randomley, to have a barbeque at Carls house! we shot over to Carls and got started. After piling the coals, and adding copius amounts of lighter gel (or barbecue jizz as we somehow named it!) we got the thing burning in no time at all... We ate the equivalent of a childrens petting zoo! Sausages, bacon, then burgers, chicken, and more sausages just semed to keep coming. It was great. We had a spell of fun on Carls Wii before leaving at about 9:00pm so that I could call in on my nan like I always do on a Sunday before coming home to bed...

Now what I will do here, dear reader, is end this blog so that when I (Hopefully) blog next Sunday, I will be bloging as full week and everything will be back to normal...

TTFN

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

So long, Farewell, aufweidershien, a'dure...

Hello readers. And before you start ranting, yes, yes I know I am 2 days late. I appologise. But lets not bicker and argue, lets blog...

I start last monday... Bank Holiday. I went with Kate, Jenny, and Marcus to Kinver to meet up with Niccola and Spike. Kate drove, which was nice of her, and she came to pick me up at about 1:00pm. We arrived in Kinver (or "Revnik" as Spike calls it, for some reason!) about three-quarters of an hour later, and immediately went for a canal-side walk. On the way we saw a duck with some chics, so out came the ol' camera...

All together now... "aaaaaawww... Thats soooo cute!" Ha ha... Well we walked on and came to a set of locks which were about to be opened. Since kate had never seen a set in operation before we watched them go through. Whilst watching some tosser on a push-bike came up to Kate and barked "can you MOVE off the cyle path "please") in a mannar which suggested that he owned the damned path! He didn't, of course, and was simply just a random wanker who, if he had hung around any longer, would have found himself with his bicycle wrapped round his neck and thrown in to the canal! I can't stand people who have no manners, we are in the 21st century, not the fucking dark-ages... Honestly...

Well, after he cycled off I managed to capture the best photo of the day...


Ha ha... I love this... It's the infamous Wheatley-Smile that makes me laugh. Plus the fact that Jenny is completely oblivious!

After the walk Niccola suggested we visit Kinver Rock-houses. Basically caves that had house-fronts built on to the front of them back in the late 19th century. We grabbed an ice cream and walked up the 70-billion degree hill to get to the houses. Inside they really were caves with cupboards and beds and stuff... It was most perculiar! We then went up to the "old bit" where the houses used to be, but were weathered away over time, there is still an old iron gate/door there though...


Finally! Put somewhere they belong! ha ha! Actually it was very interesting. Whilst in this section I videoed Marcus who thought i was only taking a photograph... He made me promise not to display the video on my blog so I haven't...






... But he didn't mention anything about uploading it to you Youtube, so here's the link...

Right... On with the show... Afterwars we went to the pub for some food and a drink. While there Julia and Lee came to see us. They didn't stay long though, and to be honest, neither did we. At about 5:30-ish we hit the road back home. I didn't go out in the evening because i was a bit knackered due to all the walking we did around Kinver!
So I will go on to Tuesday... Back to work I went and it was an OK day. In fact we had the start of the art & design A-Levels to prepare for. (a mere week after the GCSE's!) In the evening I cant remember what I did... Sorry. You may have to read John's blog to find out... (I know I will!)
Wednesday was the start of the A level art exams and so I was on some serious cover-work. 5 periods of straight-up teaching... It's difficult when you have to go scrumping for classrooms!
I went down to fathers as usual that evening to watch some telly... I needed it!
Thursday... Was... Well it was the 2nd day of exams... So it was exactly the same as the day before... I was glad to end up in the Packhorse that evening.
Friday... Guess what? the 3rd (but final) day of the A-levels so more cover, more teaching! I went out in the evening though which was good. Me and Marcus ended up in the curry-house next door to the red lion, and who should walk in? Jo! with Kerry and her chav-tastic looking boyfriend. She was back from uni' for the weekend so we had a chat, and planned to have lunch the next day.
Saturday felt good. After a lie-in I met up with Marcus, Adam, John, and Jo for lunch in the Black Boy. as planned the day before. We then decided to go for a walk but it started to rain. We got in the car and ended up at Earlswood where it was sunnier, so we walked around the lakes for a bit. On the way round we came across a play-area, which had a good climbing-tree in it...
Look out! It's Adam in a tree! Actually we all ended up climbing it, and at one point I was hannging upside down by my legs off one of the branches... But not a high one! After our merryment we walked back round to the Resevoir pub... I was talking to Marcus about school when I hear, from the window of a moving car...
"Mr Evaaaaaans!"
I have no idea who it was, but it was someone quite young. We went in to the pub and was met by one of the year 11 girls who I forgot started working there a few weeks earlier. Honestly, I can't go anywhere! After we had been there a few hours, we left at around 7:00pm The others wanted to go and rent a video but I whimped out and went home. Since there was nothing on the telly I decided to watch the Eurovision... Yes I know the voting is political, and our song was the most pointless piece of shite ever written, but I watched it anyway.
Ok, Sunday... The day I should have blogged (oh, the shame!)... I actually did a few hours at the legion, because Val' phoned me the day before saying they had been left in the lurch by the normal two that do it. I agreed because I never have anything to do on Sundays... And I enjoy working with Becky who works there now. She left Woodrush a few years ago, but she has me in stitches laughing sometimes! I finished there at 7:00pm, came home, and went down to my nams after picking Selena up.
Which brings us to Yesterday. I had a good day at work, and in the evening went with Donna and Benji to the packhorse. I haven't seen Donna in about a month so it was good catching up with her. In fact i am going in to Brum' on Thursday to "The Sunflower Lounge" I've never been before but it is meant to be good... I will blog it readers, never fear!
Ok, Today... Today has been a bit... well, sad. The year 11's had their final day today. So at 2:00pm they had an assembley to say goodbye. Afterwards it was all hugs and handshakes... I walked in to the hall after the main assembley to hear someone shout... YO! IT'S MR EVANS... and was swarmed by about 8 year 11's who tried to group-hug me... Strange bunch. They will be back in a fortnight for the GCSE's but after that they will be out in the harshness of the world. I can honestly say I will miss each and every one of them.
And on that note, readers. I will bid thee farewell.
TTFN



Sunday, May 06, 2007

Picasso, Butterfles, and Derek acorah...

Hello readers. Welcome to this weeks update. Now my last entry was a rushed affair so I will make it up to you by making this one a bit less hectic, and a little more informed.



Now I actually posted last Tuesday but only blogged up until the previous Sunday, so I am going to have to "overlap" my blogging slightly...



Ok, Monday, the day before my last post, I went to Solihull with Kate (from college) who I haven't seen in a while. It was a good evening because we always have each other in stitches laughing. We met at about 7:30pm in the Coach House and then went to get something to eat in Weatherspoons. During the course of the evening I tried phoning Corrine (also from college) who I haven't seen in about a year! Unfortunately there was no answer and I have yet to make contact! Still, I can keep trying. It would be good to catch up with her.



Right... Tuesday the 1st of May was a bit of a hectic day at work. I didn't seem to sit down all day. I was used for cover because we had a huge number of staff out of school... 12 all together I think, which is really quite bad. I don't remember our teachers being off shcool as much as some of them are today... Maybe the education industry has gone soft...



On Tuesday evening Me, Adam, and John decided to go for a drink in that pub we went to once... Oh heck I can't remember it's name... Ok, I will desribe it's location to you, sorry about this readers: If you go past Widney Manor station, at the junction turn right towards Dorridge/Knowle... Keep going and you come to a small roundabout. Go over that and keep going past the... Hang on, I've just remembered! it's the Drum and Monkey... Thank god for that! Right where was I? Oh yes, well we went to the Drumand Monkey but Marcus called us saying that he and the girls were meeting in the Packhorse... So we decided to join them! We shot back to Wythall and was enjoying the comfort of the packhorse for 9:00pm.

Ok, on to Wednesday and I had a rather more befitting challenge given to me at work... on that required my spesific talents... No, not that... And not that either! It was infact art-based (something of a rarity of late!) The year 9's had to draw a picture of Picasso's "Weeping Woman" but the print outs were difficult to see and rather small. Solution: Get me to draw the entire picture to within a 99.9% accuracy for the lesson using only my own knowledge of the picture and a small, badly inked printout as reference, and to get it done within one hour... Surely, no one could do that!







... But then, I'm not just anyone...









Ta-daaah! I now hate this picture and if I ever have to draw it again I would sooner chop my hands off than have to painstakingly copy almost every single line. Still, I'm quite proud of it, even though it isn't 100% accurate (there are a few minor differences with the lower hand, and the shape of the tissue differs ever-so-slightly due to having to fit it on to A4 paper which is a different aspect ratio to the original image.)

Anyway, after thatI got on with the regular stuff, and was glad when 4:30pm came so I could go home. In the evening I went down to fathers as usual to watch a bit of telly.

Ah, Thursday... A nice easy day... NOT! I should like thursdays as I get lots of "technician time" where my duties involve "sorting stuff out" and "talking about that stuff to other people" which is nice. But I was on for a full days cover... I had to pretend I was head of technology at one point! To make matters worse, the day seemed to drag on and on... Hometime felt like it was never going to arrive and that we would sooner be abducted by aliens than be let out of work...

The packhorse was a good laugh that evening. We were joined by a newbie to the group, Zoe, a friend of Nicolas came a long. Nice girl, quite friendly, but a bit difficult to talk to... Lank spent most of the evening talking to her breasts, but to be fair, if they are their, then it's only polite to acknowledge them... Kate and Nicola randomely invited me to Kinver for the day that evening so I am going tomorrow... I will blog that next week for you.

Friday came around and everyone was excited because we were going to see Spiderman 3 that evening. I got out of work at 3:30pm and went home to get ready. We had tickets for the 9:30pm showing in Solihull. Me and John were supposed to meet Adam in the Barley Mow, as he was in there with some work mates on a leaving do for one of the girls...

... Ok, prepare yourself for a story...

Me and john got in to Solihull for 8:30pm... We walked round to the pub but were accosted by 2 bouncers who stopped John from going in because he was wearing trainers... Now this is a PUB don't forget and we were rather surprised at this skin-headed freak's attitude. Apparently the pub enforces a dress-cose after 8:00pm to stop rabble from going in. A nice idea, but this dress-code wasn't displayed anywhere from outside. John was fuming so as a joke I said "why not take your shoes off... If thats whats causing the problem." Now when I said it there was no way I expected him to actually do it... But fair play, he took is shoes off, marched up to the skin-headed freak on the door and started arguing his cause... And was let in! I couldn't believe it! the bouncer was obvioulsy at a loose end... I bet this had never happened before, and in all fairness John's argument was valid... the dress cose (which was printed on A4 paper and displayed INSIDE the door!) said no trainers are to be WORN after 8:00pm... That was the only item of clothing that they had stopped John for, and now he wasn't wearing them... He was only CARRYING them! ha ha! I love it when people win battles against overwhelming odds. So we got in and met Adam and his Transconian* friends.

(*Transconian. noun. Someone who dwells, or works within the company of Transco, and/or it's derivative sub-companies)

Whilst there, Adam mentioned that one of the girls was looking to have some sort of tribal tattoo done on her lower back and that she was looking for a unique design.....

... " Mate? you got a pen and a scrap of paper? I've just got to jot something down for this young lady..... Cheers mate" *scribble, scribble, scribble*

So I started drawing... I ended up with a Yin Yang symbol, with tribal-esque "blades" coming off it that ended in whispy points, and Rune-like markings along it. it only took me 2 minutes and I expected that she would just dismiss it as it wasn't drawn very well and just an on the spot type of thing... To my amazement, she and her friends had a long discussion of how it would be placed, how much they reckoned it would cost, and how unique it was! I felt rather pleased with myself... Although I'm not sure if she will actually have it done.

At 9:20pm we left to go across to the cinema. It was packed out.. We ended up sitting about 4 rows from the front, craning out heads up at the screen. Not the most comfortable position in the world, but at least the film was good...

... I say "good" and not "great" because to be honest I think I prefer the second one. This one was all a bit "messy" in parts with too much trying to be squeezed in. Lets hope number 4 sticks to its guns and focuses the action in a much more artistic way! Anyway we got out for about 12:30 and I was ready for bed. I dropped John home and shot back because I could feel my eyes getting heavy.

Saturday Morning I got up and took mother shopping. I ended up getting myself some more trousers for work (since mine are now getting a bit tatty) and some t-shirts. We then went over to Selenas for lunchtime as did my nan and grandad. We stayed until about 4:30pm, and I went over to Solihull to meet Adam, Jenny, and Marcus. They had been to the Butterfly Museum and were looking for something else to do. We ended up going for a curry in Knowle. I will admit that the service there wasn't as good as usual. We waited quite a while to be served and the restaurant wasn't as busy as I've seen it in the past... After our meal we decided that we would show our disapproval by not leaving a tip! (the harshest thing a brit' can do!) and going back to Marcuses for a bit to watch some telly. Most Haunted was on, but it is so obviously faked...





... That we left. I was very tired anyway. I came home and went to bed. This morning Adam rang me to tell me he has a wireless router he wants me to have a look at. He is bringing it round in a bit so I will sign off, readers...

TTFN...

Does Derek win the £20?

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

May day, May day... I'm going down... Oops, sorry madam.

Hello readers and welcome to a belated blog... I could fob you off and tell you that I held back 2 days of blogging so that I could start on the 1st of the month, but that would be a load of bollocks...

I was too plain lazy to blog on Sunday, and on Monday I didn't really have the time... But enough of this, I will start by taking you back to last Sunday when I covered a shift at the Legion. It was good to get back to basics for a few hours. I left at 7:00pm though to go and have tea at my nans as per usual.

Monday morning was dreadful, as always... I'm not a natural morning person at the best of times but Monday is just that bit more, well... Shite! I dragged myself out of bed and went to work... And that was that, really. So I will skip to the evening... Me, Adam, and John went bowling. Now there is an offer on at the moment: 2 Games for £7, 3 Games for £9 or As many games as you like for... £7! Um... Yeah... 'cos that makes sense! But we didn't argue and paid the £7 for unlimited bowling (well, we could play until midnight, but that still gave us 3 and a half hours!) We fitted in 4 games, which is just about the longest we have ever gone for. By the end of the session though, our arms felt like they had been streched a few inches longer and we were glad to go!

Skipping ahead to Tuesday, we went to see Blades of Glory in Solihull. The trailer made it look like crap and I wasn't expecting much, but actually it has some very funny scenes and a good plot. If you want to see the trailer, John has posted it Here (scroll down about a 3rd of the page to see it)

Wednesday (I'm doing this quick as I don't have much time before I go out, sorry readers) I went to work and ended up doing masses of photocopying.... I was glad to go home at the end of the day! I went down to fathers as per usual on theevening to watch some telly.

Thursday night in the packhorse was a laugh. I haven't been properly in about a month what with skiing and my aunts Birthday and various other Thursday-based activities!

Friday night I went for a curry with Marcus and Jenny. Jenny had come back from Portugal that very day and was hankering (what do you mean it's not a proper word!?) after some good old british food... I.e. an Indian! We went down to Millenium Balti at the maypole... Very good food and at a good price, too! We then had a drink in the packhorse (thats PACKHOR.R.R.R.SE!) if your name is Marcus (don't worry, readers, it's a private joke that only me, marcus and john will understand)

saturday daytime me and my granddad took out the old conifer tree from the garden. It took a while to cut through the roots and dig it out. Even when we had done that, it was still stuck, so I ended up just grabbing the trunk and yanking the entire tree out of the ground! The thing must have weighed a good quarter-ton and I very nearly dropped it on next-doors fence!

I went out Saturday evening but I cant remember where! Sorry.

And on Sunday I lounged about and did nothing exept play Oblivion all day, and went down to my nans for tea as usual!

Right. I've got to fly. Sorry readers, catch you all next time!

TTFN....