Friday, 24 February 2012
A Very Special Woman
I know I have already written something to this effect but I think this evening is more appropriate for me to write more.
Three years ago was the evening before my wedding, and myself and my wife to be were in the hotel room of the Hotel Scandinavia. Our room over looked the Campo Santa Maria Formosa, the same square our room looked over when we visited Venice just a week ago.
I know that even then I did not understand why may guys fear their wedding. As if the world would end. No, instead I was more worried about getting the vows correct on the day. Getting married to Sam was nothing to fear.
Now just as then I know I made the right choice, and to work through the tough times. Some may think we have had it easy all the time, but that is not the truth. What is true is that Sam and I have always clung on to each other and known that giving up would be wrong as better things were right around the corner.
Now 3 years on, and I know that this is the case, and I honestly can see things getting better all the time. I have the greatest hope for our future together. I know there will still be challenges along the way, but with Sam I know that we can overcome it all.
Sunday, 26 September 2010
Catching Up #sam #kittynapalm #birthday
Otherwise this week is back to normal, planning new research funding proposals and finishing another project.
We've picked up a few new things. We now have the entire of Deathnote, RahXephon, and The Hunger Season 2, on DVD. So lots to watch. Sam also had her hair recoloured (see previous post!) and it is awesome!
On a relate note Changeling, for roleplay, is going great. We finished the first episode and tomorrow evening is episode 2. But also, since I wrote a post a few weeks ago, my Etheric Labs posterous is getting hit a lot! Some actualy play posts for changeling are hitting 1000 hits, while one post is now close to 2500. It was my rant about Vampire. I need to write more.
Sunday, 19 September 2010
Thursday, 9 September 2010
Update
So since last time....
I am applying for jobs everywhere. The list is getting bigger, the net is being cast wider. This is fun... not. I am finishing off the paper as I speak and prepping a poster
Anyway Manchester was good. Good to see Sam's Mum, the cats, and others. While Sam was at the Muse gig I hung out with John at his place and watched Prince of Persia and chatted at length about various things. Good just to catch up with someone and somehow not feel out of the loop.
Following the Muse gig, and finding Sam, we headed to Analogue Trash, where it was great to see Rhys, Sarah, Midnight, Tofu, Nix and others. However, we didn't stay long as the Muse gig had destroyed Sam's feet making walking pretty impossible for her.
Otherwise, roleplay is going well with the Changeling chronicle now building steam, and of course Sam's birthday is coming up and a small stay in London.
A taste of things to come. I took this on my X10 camera.... but consider this was me messing about while a true artist was taking photos with a proper camera, I bet you imagine how epic Sam will look.
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
Saturday, 10 July 2010
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
An update - Gaga - York etc
First up Sam passed her first work probation. I an extremely proud of her for working so hard over the last few weeks since she has been unemployed for over a year. It really makes a world of difference for us, both mentally and finacially.
This weekend we had the joy of going to Manchester to see Lady Gaga. It was awesome. I post here my wife's review as I cannot sum it up any better.
Lady GaGa has now finished the first leg of the tour which took place in the US and Canada before Christmas - and after doing so, she completely trashed her original set design and started afresh for the world tour (she will be returning to the US again later this year with it). The scary thing, as I learned last week, was that our show in Manchester was the very first one of the new tour - which meant that we were the first to see this incarnation of the Monster Ball. It was fairly secret, and I knew nothing about how it would look compared to the old one. But I was not disappointed in the slightest.
First though, the hour or so leading up to the main event. The first support act, Semi-Precious Weapons, have been touring with Lady GaGa since 2006. They are a joyous, anarchic and camp outfit, dirty glam rock 'n' roll. The guitarists kick and roll around on the floor during their nightmare-like punkish riffs and get ceremoniously thrown around by the lead singer, who is flamboyant, filthy and unapologetic. Last night he was dressed in only a t-shirt, underwear and stockings with stilettos. Oddly enough much of the audience seemed bemused by this choice of support act - to us Semi-Precious Weapons was the perfect taster for GaGa. The second act was a different matter entirely. Alpha Beat, who I've honestly never heard of but may have heard one of their songs on an advert or something, were pretty dull. A lot of the people in the crowd appeared to know all the lyrics however. I just found them pretentious (in the bad way) and as Kris pointed out, they didn't seem to fit at all and were probably only there because they're on the same record label, etc. They ruined the mood a little bit. Nothing much more to say about these vibe assassins,since I've wasted a paragrah on them already!Then the moment came, rife with anticipation - the Michael Jackson tracks that had been playing out at full volume since Alpha Beat left the stage were halted. Fragmented electronica leeched from GaGa tunes boomed from the speakers, and images were projected onto the closed curtain with a countdown of 00:59 seconds. The screams were deafening; I don't think I've screamed at a gig since I was a teenager! Once the countdown got to 00:05, the whole crowd counted down to zero. And the intro sounds of Dance in the Dark filled the arena.It was the most intense and beautiful opener. The Queen herself, stood on top of a flight of steps and partially obscured from our view by the scaffolding that was part of the set, retained an air of mystery during this first number and didn't venture too far out into the wider stage. Soon, she broke into Just Dance which allowed the back screens of the set to be lit up with psychedelic madness and an array of dancers joined in.From there, the show became a twisted modern fairytale, wherein GaGa explained to us that she and her friends were trying to find The Monster Ball but had gotten lost along the way.
The set began as a hellish cyberpunk fantasy dystopia (with a 'climbing frame' for the dancers lit up with LEDs) and only got more insane as time went on. At the beginning GaGa's car (a totally fucked up Rolls) 'had broken down' and so they 'went on the subway.' This involved dancers and GaGa gyrating inside a disconnected and battered subway car during Lovegame.Other incredible highlights along the way included an excellently choregraphed version of Teeth, which is one of my favourites, and Alejandro - an impassioned display which took place before a fountain graced with an angel statue and punctuated with two pairs of dancers performing an exotic tango.One moment of pure insanity was when GaGa stood at the end of the catwalk that stretched into the standing crowd, joined briefly by two dancers carrying a change of costume for her. A sweet little-girl music-box tune began to play, as a huge circular screen descended from the ceiling to enclose GaGa. When the screen came back up, the dancers were gone and GaGa was stood alone dressed like a Marie Antoinette-esque doll - big white hair and Rococo gown with panniers (but a short skirt). The floor below her began to rise up, jack-in-the-box style, until she was stood fifteen feet up on a platform to perform So Happy I Could Die. She gave a perfect and emotive rendition of Brown Eyes on the piano before going into Speechless, which she sang while playing the keys in a madcap manner, kicking out her legs here and there and having her face scorched by the pyrotechnic flames that burst out of the lid of the piano every few seconds. This was so utterly spectacular (and dangerous) that it left everyone in awe.In between these stunning pieces was a small barrage of lighter songs - Boys Boys Boys (complete with shirtless male dancers), Beautiful Dirty Rich and Money, Honey. I particularly enjoyed Monster as I adore it, and Poker Face was obviously eagerly anticipated and probably received one of the biggest responses of the night from the audience. There were also lots of amazing dance routines (including dancers jumping out of the floor).Scattered through the breaks were artistic and wondrous yet disturbing images projected onto the curtain, of GaGa in various guises, wearing a latex-corseted bunny outfit and military fetish garb and gimp masks. There was also a short display on the screen, of more images accompanied by a GaGa voiceover about the nature of the Fame Monster, which was truly epic.However, the crowning glories of the night appeared as the penultimate, and ultimate performances. The curtain had dropped again, and when it was raised, to the opening beats of Paparazzi, it was almost impossible to believe what we saw - a twenty-foot high animatronic monster, with writhing tentacles, GaGa and her friends dancing around it. I can remember the moment when the curtain rose, seeing the monster who looked insanely ALIVE, and just going 'OH MY GOD WHAT?!' It was the most pure of WTF moments, and seemed to just give everyone in the audience pause. At the close of the song, the curtain fell again as GaGa lay helplessly beneath the tentacles of the monster. There was an agonising wait, and everyone knew that she was going to return to perform Bad Romance as her finale. The arena was dark and buzzing with excitement. After a few minutes came one of the best experiences of the night - a group in the standing crowd began to sing the opening lyrics of Bad Romance, and the ENTIRE audience slowly joined in until all that could be heard was 'Ohhhhhhh- caught in a bad romance...' and then repeat - followed by THE most crazy, cultish mass chant of 'RAH RAH AH AH AH - ROMA, ROMA-MA! GAGA OHH-LA-LA! WANT YOUR BAD ROMANCE!' until the curtain was raised again to more deafening screams and GaGa sang Bad Romance whilst performing an energetic routine with her dancers. It was a truly explosive finale and afterwards, when GaGa and her dancers had left the stage and the lights came up, everyone just sat there for a moment basking in the epicness of what we'd just seen.I was very impressed by the show, the visuals were stunning, costumes droolworthy and as a whole it was the stuff of dreams. Lady GaGa is (as you've probably seen, i.e. the Brits) a fantastic and talented performer, she was very sweet towards the audience and thankful for the Brit awards she had won. AND she didn't fall over once whilst dancing in her heels, which sometimes happens at her shows - I was gobsmacked as I'd wagered with Kris she would fall over about six times! (Kris said twelvety).Still on an extreme concert high, and I would say I wanted to see it again if it weren't so emotionally exhausting! Can't wait for the DVD (which will be of this set design, not the old one as GaGa feels this one, and the performances within it are more representative of the Fame Monster and the Monster Ball).
Sam looking gorgeous for Gaga
Coupley.
Following this we journyed to York. The weather was cold but bright, and the B&B we stayed in was pleasant and the room was massive. The Viking festival was on, we had much food to eat in a number of lovely restaurants, and we went to see the excellent Castle Museum, Fairfax house, and just generally walked around in the medieval city.
Weirdly we bumped into my ex, from my undergrad days. Needless to say I was surprised, and was really just hoping to socialize with the amazing Nix in the Evil Eye (awesome cocktails!). Fortunately she left us to it. It was just weird considering this was mine and Sam's anniversary holiday (1 year married). Anyway the rest of the weekend was excellent, good to relax, eat good food and spend time with my wife. It even snowed one day, turning the city white, making it extra magical really.
Me
Sam next to the bridge.
Monday, 15 February 2010
Sleep Ruined
Did I say I have now become a student hating old git???? Haha!
Ok so other news I have been teaching a tutorial on the use of Endnote to the first years today, and getting stuff all sorted for my long weekedn away in York for my anniversary with Sam. 1 year eh? Feels liks it was only yesterday.
And for fun here is Sam looking gorgeous and me looking like a goon.
Right back to work for me... programming, doing more for this proposal, and tonight writing some more stuff for Vampire which is going very well right now,
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etheric_labs
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Update
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glittersavvy has been busy with her new job at the uni and we have had the pleasure of being able to spend more time together. It also means the future is somewhat more exciting as we can afford to go on holiday etc, the first of which is for our 1 year anniversary of being married, and we are going to York for a few days next weekend. IT should eb really good fun as we will also get a chance to see Nix and Tofu.On the work front I am still coding away, getting nearer to that first Warwick paper, while also working hard on my first research proposal, and preparing for applying to EPSRC for more funding. I have also been getting a few chances to do some teaching, only helping in tutorials, but it is all good fun.
But I have now been able to sign off on my literature review paper. I have seen the final cover proof of the journal, and it will appear in print on March 18th in JPCA. I also have news that another paper is being put together based on my work at Manchester. This would bring papers from my PhD to 8. And this one would be the fucking icing on the cake as the models I developed are applied to long timescale simulations to obtain macroscopic water properties. Quite good timing considering the cover article on New Scientist this week.
IN other news roleplay for this year has been restarted, and the chronicle now nears the first major event. Setting shaking stuff. All this is on
etheric_labsOtherwise we have had the pleasure of having James M stay over for the weekend,
glittersavvy photobook by aiko273. It's called The Orpheum Circuit. Aiko is extremely talented and the book looks stunning. Maybe some of you might consider buying a copy? You can do so here, as well as preview the book: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1147613Add to that her nice new hair which I love!
So all in all not a bad few weeks!
Sunday, 11 October 2009
London, Phantom, Photos, Work, Freshers
Well London for Sam's birthday was great fun after the disappointing weekend before. We trekked down to London ad made our way to our hotel for the next two nights and got ready to go see phantom of the opera. Of course the performance was amazing, and as my first time it was well worth it. The film is one thing but to see it live was epic and I was really glad to have a chance to see it. In particular the tricks used to make use of the space were impressive. Sam has a better summary here.
On wednesday we moved to other end of London to stay with our friend Rachel who we met two years back in Venice. We had the joy of meetig her and her then boyfriend at the masked ball we attended, and so it was good to catch up with her two years on now that Sam and myself are married. I then spent the next few days writing while Sam attended her classes. I was starting to put together the story that I woud be running for freshers week roleplay society.
We also made time to meet up with Dan, and headed to Brick Lane and ended up at a nice little bar that served the best cocktails. Of course Dan and myself descended into gentlemanly banter and discussion. Brick Lane by the way is hipster central save for the bar we ended up in.
I returned back on the Sunday ready for work, and over the last few weeks have finished of my literature review and it should be submitted soon. Otherwise work has been good, slow, but gettig there, and I think the end is in sight for my next paper. Just have a few more simulations to do and then that should wrap up the first one and setup the next paper (same thing alterative method).
Otherwise the roleplay group has seen the sad loss of our good friend James, as he moves back home with the end of his contract to his job here, and the group gaining two new players, James and Izzy. So far the Vampire chronicle has been progressing well, and I think I have already surpassed my last efforts in running it.
Also on the rp front I have had the joy of running a new World of Darkness mortals game for freshers week, which I hope to submit to white wolf as a example of my writing. Also I have a chance of getting a credit in a new rp as I made someuseful ideas and contributions to the game!
Plans for the future. Well halloween will be spent in London with my old PhD collegue Mike, and Sam will have her last two modules and we will go to Club Antichrist. Otherwise we should be up in Manchester closer to Xmas, and we have a gift voucher for use on gig tickets... maybe go to Alec Empire supported by Mechanical Cabaret?
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
4 Years Back
Well this weekend has been a bit mad as Sam has dealt with her fears and anxiety of going to London on her own for her course. I can tell you that she has been having really good fun and learnt a lot. Meanwhile I have almost finished my first paper at Warwick and also got good feedback from the draft of my 6th paper for Manchester. SO it looks like I could get 5 papers done this year and still have about 3 papers to hear from in Manchester (my work is being used to churn out results so I just get to write some bits for it and get my name on it).
This week also see's my rp group expand as I may loose one player very soon. It will be a shame to loose James as he has brought a lot of life to the games and is a clever man and good friend.
Of course this weekend see's myself and Sam in Manchester for her birthday, going to Wendy House, and then the week after being in London to go and see Phantom of the Opera and other brithday fun and of course more module courses for Sam.
Oh and if you haven't seen Dorian Gray then go and see it. It was great. Very dark, gothic, and well executed.
Oh and my newer laptopn runs Dawn of War well so finally I get my wargame fix without having to buy and paint expensive plastic.
Saturday, 23 May 2009
The end of uni was good though. I had learnt I had friends where I had least expected. To be honest then end of my 3 year relationship was not easy. I had to remove myself from certain circles of friends which I found left me quite alone. However, to my surprise, the people who I knew in my year at uni held me in high regard, and so I found that I had more friends then I initially thought. Together we all stood the the edge of the future as none of us were convinced we would be getting the courses we wanted. However, nearly all of us had been offered a PhD in the uni, and mine had the clause that I just had to get a 2.i. Thus the next 2 months were quite nail biting and I was already making preparations for the worst. Of course this was made all the worst because no matter how much there wasn't competition I felt that I had to for the sake of my parents. My sister had straight A's at A-Level and a 1st at uni. Myself, well I was more the rebel it seemed. I had only an A and two B's at A-Level and well I was doing so well at uni.
July though was to determine my future. After a nervous walk into uni and a double take at the results I found that I got my 2.i. I was congratulated by the my class mates as it meant we were all still together in the coming three years. About a month later or so I quit Games Workshop. My manager was beign an ass, incompetent and well I had no reason to be there. I was being nice. I was clear that I was starting my research early. But no. He crossed a line and I quit.
Now of course doing a PhD, having a lot more money and meant I had new freedoms, and found many new friends as I discovered the goth scene of Manchester. It was music had liked or a while but for the first time I felt myself. It was good as many of the people I met at Sin City soon became some of my best friends and friends that I respect and in time would be people who would make the effort.
Now almost 3 years ago I went down to UCL with my old supervisor and some people from the old group to apply for hours on a super computer. It was a farce as I remember and well it didn't amount to much. It was also about this time that I was about to move house to live in Withington.
2 years ago around about this time myself and Sam, now a fairy new item, headed off to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3. This was still early into our reationship and it was intoxicating as I had not felt this way about someone for so long. Also about this time I was was the filming of the zombie short film. This was the film that myself and Dan had spent some time writing and now was the chance to use expensive BBC equipment.
1 year ago was not so good though. It was half way through the final year of my PhD. We had got back from Venice about amonth ago which was the best thing ever in my whole life. I was engaged to Sam, but then it all seemed to have nearly fallen apart. I don't need to go through the gory details but lets just say things were on a cord ready to snap, and Sam was hurt and it has now taken a year for her to now be fuly better. But it still means that there is some pain that will never go. We had just started getting a new flat together in order to ground us and repair ourselves, rather more apart. But the worry, pain and unease I had caused now put both my life with Sam and my PhD in danger. I was a wreck, and it seemed that I couldn't turn to some friends as they were being so nonchalant, or because of their own incorrect opinions, or in fact that they seemed to not see it from Sam's perspective and yet understand how I felt her pain. I was angry because I seemed to not be able to turn to anyone because it seemed to me that they thought I would be fine and that Sam was just someone passing by, an unimportant plaything, or a little melodramatic girl. Or that we were both over reacting. Well it's funny how it all turns out in the end. I'm glad that I can say all that is now over, but over the following year, and of course during my final few months in Manchester and my wedding gathering there, you come to realize who you can depend on.
So thats whats kinda come to pass. Ups and downs yes. Plus a number of papers and here I am now with a official piece of paper with saying I am a Dr of Chemistry. I now have a nice new set of friends down here who also form my new roleplay group. Also we now have more of a chance to see Dan and Stacey and others in London. This last six months have really shown me that I have been right to stick to my guns, and that I have made the right sacrifices. And in some ways I am now happy to have left Manchester behind me, after 7 years of being there I think I am glad to leave it and fine and forge my life with Sam.
So this week has seen my fourth and third paper get accepted/published on the web. Also today we went for a long walk, almost into Warwick as I got us lost, to the pet shop to look at Dwarf Hamsters. So looks like we are going to get some and fuck what the landlords say. Hopefully won't be long before we can move out. Sam got a job interview at Warwick this week which is also good news.
In the end it all kinda works out, regardless of what some people may think.
Back this time 2008 I had black hair!
Back in June 2007 me and Sam outside Manchester student union waiting to see Mechanical Cabaret
I think in 2006 my hair was red.
Thursday, 2 April 2009
New LJ layout
Oh and a few pictures while I can.
The arsenale
My sister Zoe with a huge strawberry in Venice
CHURCH OF SANTA MADDALENA and it's All Seeing Eye
A plate of Meat in Vernoa that I ate
Dan and Stacey... bringers of cool wedding gifts!!!
Sam's new hair
My New face!!
On the day of my vivaSO yes lots of photos to upload and share... and video. Just need some time to do it.
Monday, 23 February 2009
Venice - Day 1
So the first morning of our stay in Venice has gone by. Since I last wrote we had some fun. First of all did I say I hate the French?? They have no manners and always seem to be trying to barge into queues. They fucked me off at the airport, then waiting for the shuttle bus to Venice, and then getting the vaperetto. Oh and these old French ladies should all be put down for being miserable. Snooty hags.
Once we got off at the Rialto we had the fun of taking our cases to the hotel, over many bridges. I had a good work out. Once we arrived things seemed fine at the hotel, that was until we got to our room. The door was chipped all over and the bath room was grotty. Considering it was no cheaper than the hotel we had last year we complained (i.e. glittersavvy insisted, we called her mum to find out the best solution, called expedia). The manager promised us an upgrade, but we didn't have much hope in it. So we spent the evening in the shit room. This room was right next to one of the side streets, and so until in the night we had Italian louts wailing. This was due to the fact that the square the hotel is in is one of the busiest at night. So at 3 we found it went deadly silent and we got some more sleep. However, I seem to be able to sleep though nuclear detonations and so was able to sleep before then. This being the reason why I am awake now and glittersavvy is not. :(
Come morning we had breakfast and we told that they would move out bags to the next floor room 1. We should come back at 1pm to see it. So for the time being we buggered off into the city to buy new masks for Tuesday and to see what over things there were.
Window shopping this time is a very different beast. For starters we are near the shopping districts. Plus we have seen everything before meaning we can take things at a more leisurely pace, absorbing the party spirit of the carnival and marvel at the architecture. Of course this means we have found ourselves becoming more annoyed at the idiot tourists, the ones throwing stupid confetti left right and centre, wearing retarded costumes, and children spraying silly string. This may sound like we're having a shit time but in fact it means we appreciate the city more, how stunning it looks, and of course we are in no rush and so can savour the food, the coffee and the excellent costumes and masks. We picked up two new masks (you will see the pictures in all good time) and retired to the hotel where we found to our delight that our new room was remarkably better. Giant mirror, no tatty décor, a good bathroom, and a excellent bed.
That's all for now. We hope to have better thing to say this evening and when it gets closer to the wedding with the end of carnival approaching and the tourists leaving.
Ciao
Monday, 10 November 2008
Halloween and fun.
Currently I have a few options. A programming job in West Berkshire is possible, I have to see if I can get it. Then on the 21st I have an interview for a postdoc in Essex. Yep that would mean leaving Manchester but for almost tripling my pay. Let me think. YES! Also I have postdoc applications to hear from in Venice/Padua (Yes you read that right!), Warwick, Paris and of course getting the funding for the postdoc here in Manchester. Ultimately the one in Manchester is ideal (better money and not having to move) but in all honesty all the postdocs have their advantages.
In other news, Mirrors is an awesome film. Very spooky and one scene will have you fearing the bathroom. You never know who's watching!
My wedding outfit has arrived and is currently being altered to fit better! Sam has hers and well it's gorgeous.
Halloween was spent watching quite a bit of Burlesque and going to rockworld. Mr J didn't play this year since there were too many wannabes out there. So Mr Todd was the costume of choice this year, while Sam was a divine Mrs Lovett.
We also followed this up with Sunday's Carnival Divine and this weekend watching people almost set on fire at trashkitty 's bonfire night party.
Right well back to work for me!
Pics from Halloween. Grabbed from glittersavvy 's lj.
^Sweeney Todd & Mrs Lovett getting ready for the Burlesque Ball. Mr. T doesn't look very happy! :(
^I look quite scary here.
^Yeah... I have no idea.
^Cocktail umbrella at the Burlesque Ball.
^Rockworld
And pictures from Carnival Divine on Sunday. I liked my wig so much that I wore it again.
^Chris promises his eyeshadow was MP Vampire Red, not pink!
^They had cupcakes at Carnival Divine. We got a chocolate one. Here is Chris with the case on his nose.
These were taken after the show, in the Secret Hallway! in our apartment building.
