Richy's Random Ramblings – Page 131 – Random ramblings and ravings of Richy B

Snippet: Too Hot

June 22, 2003

It’s too hot to go to sleep, I’m too tired to attempt a 6th install of Debian Linux on Zaphod (with its shiny new 120Gb HD, new processor fan and 15m network cable to Ford), I’ve got programming work to do for work, but I’m too tired to even start reading Book 1 of the Harry Potter series (I finished Order Of The Phoenix earlier today and it was a bit of a disappointment: it could be so much shorter without most of the blurb, and there were no real surprises in it).

Oh – along with it being 11.50pm and being quite hot, it’s also raining, but my throat feels parched. I can’t win 🙁 Can somebody please sort the weather out for me please?

Change of subject: Does the word “Mardy” mean anything where you are? I’m asking as it means something here in Leicester (and, it appears, over most of the East Midlands), but my GESF had never heard of the word before (her flat mate, from London, knew what it meant though).

Books: Harry Potter etc etc

June 21, 2003

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I’m now in possession off an authentic, hard-cover copy of Harry Potter And The Order of The Phoenix – even though I had no intention of actually buying it. £16.99 for a book is a bit pricey for me (unless it’s a specialist book: I’ve paid nearly £100 for a copy of the “Programmers Reference Manuals for RISC OS” before), and even WH Smith’s reduced price of £12.99 didn’t get my fancy (my Mother brought my sister a copy for that price).

But when I calmly manoeuvred my extra big trolley into Macro (a “trade only, usually in bulk” style supermarket) to buy a dishwasher, I noticed they had Order Of The Phoenix available for just £8.99! Normally, Macro adds VAT (17.5% of the purchase price) onto goods as they are intended for business use (and businesses can then claim the VAT back afterwards), but books are VAT-free!

So, Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix cost me just £8.99 from Macro! Can any body get any cheaper, and if so, where did you get your copy from?

Fun: Cross Crossing=Happy People

June 19, 2003

Movies: Quick Movie Reviews

June 18, 2003

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Quick reviews of films I’ve seen recently:

Matrix Reloaded: Same characters. Different Story. Good special effects. Scenes too long in place and mostly “throwaway” plot. Worthing paying to see twice (if only to catch the bits you blinked at: one of the most important bits is only on the screen for a few seconds in a dark room!). Number of times watched so far: 7
Dumb and Dumberer: Same characters (different actors though, but they look strikingly similar). Different Story. Bad Plot. Some poor acting. Good “doesn’t he look like Jim Carey” factor. Not worth paying to see. Number of times watched so far: 1 (and not again)
Italian Job: Same title. Some same characters. Same make of car. Different plot, different location (the “Italian Job” itself takes place for just 5/10 minutes at the start then it’s a case of re-creating the Italian Job in Philadelphia whilst borrowing bits from the original Italian Job movie). Doesn’t seem to have much of the “human factor” (the original one had a lot more “respect”, feeling etc for me). Lots of violence/guns/number of deaths. Worth catching on DVD/Video/TV, but not really worth paying to see. Number of times watched: 1 (but it’s “todays film” so I haven’t really had a chance to re-watch it anyway)
Bruce Almighty: Not a sequel, prequel or remake. Good plot. Good acting. Thought provocative in places. “Proper special effects” (i.e.: you hardly notice they are SFX until you think about them). Quite funny. Worth paying to see. Number of times watched: 2.5 – soon to be 3.5

In-depth movie reviews, this post wasn’t. But it’s 11.50pm at night, my hands are hurting a bit (I’m trying to reduce my time at a keyboard because I think I’m overdoing things a bit recently), the cat wants me in bed (don’t ask!) and I’m getting cramp in my legs…

Personal: Oooh, all excited.

June 18, 2003

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Oooh, following up on a comment (well, two comments) that someone left on my blog I’ve got something slightly exciting (and potentially embarrassing for myself and someone) in the next few weeks. But I’ve “got to keep it under my hat” for at least a month – possibly until September.

I’m really looking forward to it as it’ll help me get something off my chest that I’ve been worrying about for around a year but been too afraid to do anything about it, but this will give me a chance to sort it all out one way or another (I think the saying is “trial by fire”). And it’s amazing how much “true gumph” I can come out with if people ask me about certain topics and the way it makes me feel (watching “Bruce Almighty” before responding to that person’s email made it even worse/better).

Anyway, whilst I know this is called “Richy’s Random Ramblings” (see, see – at the top it does say that!), I’m rambling a bit too much now even for my level of ramblingness. But enough said – more details will follow in the future I’m sure, but now we return you to your regularly random ramblings.

Pa-pa-pah-pahha-pa-pa-pah-paaaa! (Cue Pearl+Dean advertisements)