Books, Football & Warriors

It's amazing how I haven't been able to find the time to write on here and how much my manuscripts has stalled lately. Maybe I'm battling too much with the eternal forces of Kronos instead of trying to cut a deal with it. Or maybe I tried to and got the short end of the stick. Either way, I've got the whole of the coming week off (in theory anyway) since its the school holidays over here, so I figured, why not try to kick start something I should have always been doing.

Work wise, it's been relatively weird. I guess that's the closest word in the English language I can think of to aptly describe the feeling I'm getting. I still do not see myself as a teacher even though I have been teaching a single non-academic subject for a few months now. Maybe its because I felt as if I haven't made a difference or perhaps it is a difference I am not able to perceive as yet. Added to that I would be shifted to a different set of more challenging students in the next term with a different set of subjects to teach. So I guess somebody must've thought I did a pretty good job.

Been playing a lot of Football Manager 2007 as of late and I'm proud to say that my team, Blyth Spartans (theres a certain sense of irony here which I'll point out later) are already in the Championship in England and doing nicely in 6th position with 3 more months of the season to go. That's not the most notable of my achievements, though most who play this game would not actually classify them as achievements. Basically I've managed to sign some of the more notable names in British football if not world football. Granted they are already old fogeys as the year I am currently playing in 2010 but the quality still remains:-

GK - Roy Carrol
DR - Kewullay Conteh
DC - Chris Coyne
DM - Gavin McCann
AM - Nick Barmby
AM - Gaizka Mendieta
AM - Lee Bowyer
AM - David Dunn
ST - Marcus Bent
ST - Duncan Ferguson (retired)
ST - Julian Joachim (retired)
Quite a catch for a relatively unknown team ey. I'm hoping that these oldies would be able to influence and tutor the young-uns that I have. Onward Spartans! Heh.

Got myself some new toys recently and have been testing them out rather intensely the last few days. A big appreciative thank you to all the willing victims...err...I mean helpful friends who have indulged me since. I've basically gotten myself a new headset and mic accessory, a webcam, a wireless router (no it ain't a Linksys) and a storage adapter. The webcam needs some extra lighting cause the feedback I'm getting is that I kind of look like a faceless shadow... Can anyone say Myrdaal? Definitely need to get a desk lamp or something. Router is working splendidly. I can now access the net on my laptop while I'm on the ground floor of my apartment building. Signal strength seems quite good as well. The headset and mic thing is a Godsend as I've been meaning to find a cheaper - if not free - way of communicating with my pals overseas and those locally as well. Next up is for me to find a VOIP program with relatively cheap rates for me to bother my victims..err... friends on their landlines and cellphones. Muahahahahaha..... did I just laugh out loud?

Haven't actually had the time to take a picture of these items but once I do, I'll post em up in my next entry.

There were a couple of movies that I had wanted to catch and were featured in my previous posts. Sad to say that I missed Eragon but friends of mine who did watch it weren't too impressed by the director's take on Christopher Paolini's first book. I myself can't say much till I see it with my own eyes - DVD grabbing time. I'm still waiting for Rocky Balboa to come out here. It's scheduled to be released this month though I'm unsure of when, exactly. I was supposed to catch The Last King of Scotland but found my own timetable a bit too congested to fit that in. A good thing a friend of mine already has a DVD of it.

The one movie I did manage to catch though was a real beauty. Frank Miller really outdid himself this time. That's right, I'm talking about 300. The battle of Thermopylae, pitting 300 free Spartan warriors (Blyth Spartans - see the irony) against the masses of Xerxes' Persian army. It wasn't the battle itself but the manner in which the film was done that was just so freakishly, aesthetically pleasing. Well, what would you expect from a Frank Miller film. The story in itself was well written and the pace of it was surprisingly easy to follow. I'm definitely getting a DVD of this for future viewings.

That's all there is for now that I feel about writing on. There are a few other stuff that I'd like to share but not now, I guess.... Another time.