Callan 的个人资料Shadows and Crystals照片日志列表更多  |  工具 帮助 |
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11月30日 Quick Life UpdateQuick update to my life, to remind you that it is not simply the repeating actions of sitting, playing badminton and going to work. So tonight, on Meridian News, if by 'Meridian' you mean tiny hamlet and by 'News' you mean, well, not, there are a few items of potential interest...
11月23日 Off again.....to Plymouth this time. Should be good, for all that the weather is predicted to be DIRE. Apparently all fun things have been cancelled, so I will make up new fun things to pass the time. Seven hour coach journey will be a bit crap though.
Hate coaches...always have since a long, winding road in the French Alps, and the subsequent involuntary regurgitation onboard. So lame.
And on that pleasant thought...good night  11月22日 MortalityIn the last two days, I have heard about 2, entirely unrelated deaths, of people either I met, or shared something with, or both.
The first was a girl, Zoe, I met on hospital work experience. She spent her life in and out of hospital, in agony, sometimes, and yet retained that spark of vitality that made her a person you'd want to know. She was 23, and her funeral was yesterday. She touched my life, with the effort it cost to smile and thank me for wishing her luck through a veil of pain and morphine. Part of the reason I now am so focussed on medicine is because of a desire to help her, people like her. 15 minutes, I met her for, and she changed the direction of my life. Now she's gone.
The second was a former college student from my year. He died in the Cairngorm mountains because of a winter storm, after being rescued and taken to hospital. I read about it in the newspapers this morning, and found out he was from my college a half hour ago. Interesting how much more vivid it makes it, when you know you were linked in some way, even unknowing. He was 18.
It seems so unfair, to have these people snuffed out, with everything to live for. It is an unpleasant reminder of how frail we are, and how all the expectations of life, the perfect partner, the holidays and the work, the friends, the nights out and days in, seeing the sunset and feeling the breeze...it's all being taken for granted. How much more beautiful the sunset, if it is your last?
I do not pretend that this is some sort of command or order to be obeyed without question, nor am I being pretentious, but I'd like it if anyone reading this would take a minute in silence, to think about these people and their families, and everyone in similar straits, and to pay your respects.
11月20日 A Series Of Unfortunate EventsSo the last few days have been something of a domestic disaster. The house power kept cutting out, the immersion heater broke, half the heaters had to be switched off to isolate the problem, and then the taps all stopped working. The cold tank proceeded to overflow, and it was raining in my parents bedroom for half an hour before anyone noticed. Hence, it was also raining in the lounge, which is the floor below. The hot water tank wouldn't fill back up after we drained it, and when it did (this morning at 6:45) it started doing credible impressions of a foghorn. Today the house tripped a further 4 times in the space of an hour, and then hasn't again, with no changes to anything. Then we had a proper powercut, so logically I walked for a two and a half hours, through the woods, in the dark, to get a cookie. They were offsale, so I had to settle for wine gums. Got back, got blamed (justly) for not cooking, got blamed (unjustly) for not washing up a plate I'd never seen before, sorted out some road tax, wrote this blog twice after the computer crashed, and now am going to go to bed.
11月19日 Casino RoyaleNew bond, new feel, new film. Casino Royale is not exactly what I expected. and yet, was. The new James Bond is gritty, hard and cold. And built like a brick shithouse
 , although at times he seemed a bit wooden to me...but then, his character was kind of wooden as well. Not a suave as Pierce Brosnan, but he is technically a younger Bond so he wouldn't be...As for the film itself, it was good (though whether you'd classify it as a Bond I don't know...). It actually had a plot other than world domination and men in jumpsuits, complete with treachery and love. Unusually, 007 is pretty much a gadget-free zone, and there is a distinct lack of car chases and similar. Some of the plot I don't think was well-explained enough - there was a significant amount of reading into things required to get the whole plot, and I'm still not certain quite where some characters fitted in, or who some people were. A mystery...
Worth watching. I got the feeling that something was missing, though - a big finale, or similar...something elusive on the edge of perception. It's Bond, but it isn't the same type of Bond we are used to.
But to be frank, it'd be worth seeing for Vesper Lynd, because she is stunning
 8.-5/10 South West TrainsIt's been a little while since I found a cause to moan about SWT. They've been quite good of late, probably because I've been using the car. Unsurprising, perhaps, that I expected to be able to go to Guildford and back without too much trouble. Half hour journey. No problem.
And it wasn't. All the way there in one easy move, arriving a grand total of 45 seconds late. And as I boarded the return train at 23:25, one Nando's and one Casino Royale later, I was confident that I would be home soon enough. It was only 18 miles, after all.
Well and good, you might say, save the return journey had an average speed of about 8 miles per hour. And a modal speed of zero. All the way back, I was kicking myself for not buying that big pack of peanut M&Ms in the cinema. Or for walking from Witley. Or for not bringing Monopoly with me.
Maybe I'll try to claim, citing post-traumatic stress disorder.
But maybe not. 11月16日 Nice to be trusted.So, I was at work today.
And I met the new trainee BM (branch manager).
And he accused me of shoplifting.
And then I went home.
Awesome. 11月15日 Ok...own up...Now I know that this is potentially embarrassing, and that its a hard thing I ask of you all, but I DO need to ask and whoever is was, DOES need to own up. I know you are out there, skulking in the shadows. I have the evidence right here, traced from the statistics page.
So tell me.
Who was it who googled 'fatpuss'? Because my cat is awesome, and I won't hear a word against him...
and yes I know it's very unlikely they were looking for my cat. but bear with me! 11月14日 Come On Ken Livingstone!!CHARGE those SUV drivers! MAKE THEM PAY a £25 congestion charge. TAKE THOSE THINGS DOWN!!! 11月13日 BristolAs some of you know, and most of you don't, I was visiting Bristol this weekend - primarily to catch up with a friend of mine, and secondarily to scout out the city in uni terms. Having applied there and all. No organisation quips please.
And now, having seen the place, I am infinitely more concerned about not getting into it - the place is ace. I doesn't have the "really big city" feel that it so easily could, and it has atop the hill a huge (HUGE) expanse of grass. I was spinning poi there for no more than 5 minutes when I was joined by three more spinners, and it became a veritable poi party on the hill. Loving the ease of that...
And there are loads of big beautiful old buildings as well. I can think of certain people who would love to get photographing around town...
Oh, and it has a Nando's. Perfect. Last I heard, there was a uni there too which might be worth a look in future...
Comment reply: Tie-dyed Dave
If only I understood what you just said, then I'd be able to formulate a reply...
Comment reply: alex
What's ftw then...that's one I've not heard. 11月9日 So...ResultAnd I'll tell you what.
I AM IN! I went down to London (up I suppose, but hey). I saw their offices, had a chat with most of the organisers - all a very cool bunch - and then had a short interview in which they asked a set set of questions. Some of which patently didn't apply to me and were somewhat amusing.
And then they said "We'll give you a ring and let you know tomorrow." So I went down to the other office, and talked to Denny, who said "They'd better let you in, because I've put you on the timetable." We all chatted for a while. They called me back to the interview room. "We can't be bothered to call you tomorrow, so you're in."
And so I'm in. Officially. New dates for my diary:
This is going to be awesome. 11月8日 So...InterviewSo my XtremeEverest interview is tomorrow. I've polished and e-mailed my CV to Kay, who is the expedition organiser, and I am increasingly rich in the scientific knowledge that I'll be absorbing myself into for six months. It's really nice actually, to have something to think about again - more so, though, to have the basis in biology and chemistry which is providing me with a springboard to it. Here are all these people, talking about (albeit often at much more complex levels) the same things that I know, that I understand. I'm going to go over a whole load of my biology notes now, because I need that knowledge back!
Strange to think that the second entry of this entire blog is about Everest, as a distant possibility. Seems like a long time ago now, although it's only been a year. We say the years fly by now, compared to how they did when we were children, but when you look back on everything that happened in that year it's a mighty long time.
Wish me luck. 11月7日 The Death PenaltyWith the recent sentencing of Saddam Hussein, I have been thinking about the death penalty a great deal. It threw forward some interesting questions, removing my first line of argument - namely, the number of people executed innocent. There is little question of innocence with Saddam, which prompted me to rethink. And think some more.
No matter how I thought about it, I still feel that the death penalty is morally wrong, and is a reprehensible part of some human societies. Obviously, I say this as an outsider - would I feel differently had it been my parents murdered and the person responsible facing death? I like to think that I'd still think it wrong, but unless I have been there, can I be certain? Admittedly, in the case of Saddam Hussein I am less against it than I would be in the case of an unknown person - but then, the magnitude of response is always relevant to the crime.
I think, in general, a society that has to kill people to enforce the law is not a healthy one.
Having said that, the idea of dying is an effective deterrent. Does it make people think before they commit murder? If so, it might well prevent premediated murders. However, no-one premediating a murder plans on getting caught. No matter how hard we try to create a fair justice system, it will never be 100% accurate. Can you justify the death penalty to the percentage of people who are convicted, and are innocent?
I couldn't. Better, I say, to let the criminals sit in jail (on which note, I think that jails are a bit people-friendly - tricky balance to strike, between rehabilitiating criminals and punishing them) for a lifetime and when the innocent among them are found allow them to be released, than to execute them and find, days, months, or years later that one of them was innocent. There is no way to undo that mistake. Sure, there's no way to undo 5 years unjustly spent in jail, but at least you could release them and let them get on with their lives. The death penalty leaves no chances for redemption - from both the justice system, and the person under it's jurisdiction.
As such, I am against the death penalty. Despite seeing its merits, I still cannot condone the murder of humans in the cause of a flawed justice system, or think that it has a place in a civilisation that no longer considers itself barbaric. Even in cases of certainty, I think that jail should be the preferred choice. An dreary cell, a single high window, and hard bed and a toilet. No cellmates. No good food. No chance of friends to be seen, people to be heard from. And to see time go by, day after mundane day, and know that your life is wasting away, and you will never see the world again. Alone with your thoughts for year after year - would that be punishment enough? Would an insanity of solitude catch up with the dread of imminent death?
I'm not sure. But that doesn't change my mind.
Comment reply: organictwiglet
Yes, I'd forgotten (!) the hanging bit. Medieval and primitive. I am with you on the rehabilitation - keep the jails for rapists and murderers etc, and have those people who have commited minor crimes given community service and rehab. At least that way they put effort back into society...
11月2日 Etc.Lots of snippets...
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