Google Talk

I’ve recently gone Google mad having installed Google Desktop plus a myriad of plug-ins. At the same time as I was doing all of this the whole spiel around Google Talk kicked off in the news and like a lamb I followed.

I’ve used MSN Messenger for years now but I think that, with the weight of the Google machine behind it, Google Talk won’t take long to surpass MSN in usability and features.

As such I am now contactable via Google Talk on:
iandotrdotwilsonatgmaildotcom

Drop me a line if you’re using it too (and I know you).

Only other news is that sometimes having your mom stay with you for a week while on holiday can be very very hard work.

Testing BloggerforWord

Don’t ask me what I’m doing at home right now. Not having a UK passport seems to cause an endless number of problems when joining a new company (especially a blue chip company wary of employing terrorists, suicide bombers, and animal activists). I feel like I’ve sent them my entire life story via fax over the past few weeks… and now I have to send my drivers licence and birth certificate… again. I can’t wait for the reaction when they notice that my father was born in South Africa, my mother was born in India… and yet I have an ancestral UK visa.

Anyways, this is my first post using the new BloggerforWord function. No more excuses for typos I guess.

**Update**
Found a couple of teething problems, but they’re mainly due to the way I format my posts.

Mystery Track

Yep, it's a bit belated but there's a new mystery track for download. It's a pretty big jump from last 'weeks' track, which was a folky little number. This time around it's a distortion heavy punk rocker by a little known band from the States (in fact I think they're pretty much unknown on this side of the Atlantic).

It's a great song, and even my girlfriend (who listens to alot of terrible R&B and Hip Hop) fell in love with it.

Wikipedia

I can lose hours just by following a single link into Wikipedia. From there on things just branch out at an alarming rate.

I mean, did you know that Tom Morello of RATM and Audioslave fame has appeared twice in Star Trek (he's a fan it would seem). He's also an honours grad from Harvard.

Anyways, this whole experience is a result of watching an avi of RATM's final concert at the Grand Olympic Auditorium. Morello is shockingly fantastic to watch live!

Reflection

I've been neglecting my digicam over the last couple of months. In fact I haven't used it in that long that not using it has become a habit. My new resolution is to take it with me whenever I go out. Even if I just take random shots to keep things ticking over.

Heat Rash

I have it.

I think. I have the most annoying rash on my face right now. It starts in my cheek bones just above the shaving line and stretches out underneath both of my eyes. It doesn't itch... thank God... but it's annoying all the same.

I don't get rashes. What the hell is going on here?!

It's not how you stand by your car, it's how you race your car.

Am I the only one who finds it absolutely frustrating that even though you play a DVD formatted for a widescreen picture through a home cinema system setup to play widescreen DVD's on a widescreen television... you still get annoying black letterbox strips at the top and bottom of the picture?! I've tried every known variable of setup and I can't get them to go away.

I drank a litre of Red Bull this evening. I'm now on my third consequetive DVD. Matrix Reloaded, followed by Rocky, and now the Fast and the Furious. I was heading to bed after Rocky but ...(phrase removed)... so I reckoned another film was in order. Thankfully I'm a man and at the age of 25 I've come to realize that there are certain things I will never understand.

"I need NOS. I need NOS. My car topped out at 140mph this morning."

Goddamnit I love this film!

The Getaway for PS3

I finished the original Getway on my PS2 a couple of days ago (after an 18 month sabatical). I was thinking about purchasing Black Monday and completing that, just so that I could say I'd done both.

Then I saw this video.

PS3. The real Revolution.

** Updated**
Having just checked some stats on Howstuffworks.com it would seem that the PS3 has twice the floating point performance of the Xbox360! (2TFLOPS Vs 1TFLOP). I guess Sony have decided not to let Microsoft catch them with their pants down again.

Grand Theft Auto: San Adreas has taken over my life. Officially. It's bordering on an obsession now - to the point where I find myself speaking to my flatmate in ghetto. The problem is that I'm 25... white... from a middle class suburb... IN CAPE TOWN. That shit just can't be right!

Thankfully the g/f unit has been understanding up to this point. She's yet to complain that I'm spending too much time hanging with my gangsta's. But I am the O.G. I rule ma hood with a fist full of steel. I have the respect of homies. And that's where it's at.

A'ight!

(Blackstate.com)

..ok, seriously. The game just is that good.

Better late than never

It's a day late, but this weeks mystery download is ready. They're a folky little band I first heard while plucking pheasants and drinking Sloe Gin down in Dorset (seriously!). The track itself is sweet and happy-making... much like muscadel (or 'soetes' if you're from my part of the world) but without the attendant headache the following morning.

Last weeks track was Lump, by the Presidents of the USA. By far the most well recognised band I've showcased on here, but possibly one which has undeservedly faded into history. I felt it was my duty to remind you all.

Musical chairs

Is Essex really that bad?

You see, come the end of September I have to move. More importantly I have to move to a particular area for reasons out of my control. And that area happens to be Essex. Yes, the land of hoopy earings, hair pulled back too-tight, and baby blue track pants with diamante logo's... not to mention Jodie Marsh.

So the past few weekends (in between getting shit faced) have been spent tubing it over to east London to look at suitable areas in which to live. For work purposes I have to been within a reasonable driving distance of Barking and Dagenham and with that in mind the first to areas I went to see were Barking and Dagenham.

I won't beat about the bush here - Barking in a shit hole. It's dirty, run down, and the second I stepped off the train I felt that I should have invested in one of those chains punk rockers are so fond of attaching their wallets to. Not for fashion reasons either. In fact Barking is so dire that even the grass is dying there... which is a considerable feat bearing in mind the amount of rain this island gets. Stepping off the train in Dagenham on the other hand and I felt like I may have fallen asleep by accident and travelled 200 miles into the middle of nowhere. I half expected a ball of tumbleweed to blow past and some old codger to be sitting in a rocking chair on his veranda chewing tobacco.

Yesterday I travelled into Ilford to meet up with a mate who lives in the area. Ilford was a massive step up on Barking, but even the people who live in Ilford don't recommend moving there! So following some advice from various people I'm now looking at either Romford or Chadwell Heath as prospective new areas to move to. Pricewise it would seem I can pick up a one bedroom flat or a studio flat in Romford for between £400 and £550 per month... which suits me to a T. I'm relishing the idea of living alone right now.

Other than that, no real news at the moment.

Friday was spent drinking Snakebite at the Swan. I really think I may be getting to old to carry on doing that. Saturday afternoon was spent at the Ship in Wandsworth, where I met some new people, including Bimbler and Quinparker. Many thanks to Adrian for organising. Saturday evening was spent largely drinking rum and coke at B@1 in Clapham Junction. I was supposed to go meet some other friends later on in Clapham North but faded and headed home instead. And then Sunday was spent watching the Grand Prix (when will Mclaren manage to get 2 cars to finish the same race?) and drinking with mates 'Norf' of the river. A largely alcoholic weekend I'll admit, but very good.