What a day!

When it rains, it pours as they say. After months of idly sitting around doing not very much two very largish pieces of news fall in my lap all in one go. This started with the very good news that I have finally found a job that looks half decent who have offered me a position. It's doing technical pre-sales in a similar vein to back home but with a much stronger emphasis on business development. It certainly ticks all the boxes with a good working environment, lots of European and International travel (kicking off with 2 weeks in Montreal as of next Monday), pays well and has good internal advancement prospects. I also had RSA fighting over me which was especially good for the ego. So by and large the day had gone well thus far.

Discontent at spacing out my big news days however, fate decided that another stupendous event should happen on the very same day, namely: MAT AND KATIE GETTING ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't tell you how awesome I find this news. Two of my best friends getting married is truly an event to celebrate. Well done kids.

Things not to say in an Interview 101

Last Monday I had an interview with a directory service company. By and large it went OK in spite (or perhaps because) of the fact that I used the phrase 'Underpants Gnomes'.

For those not in the pop-culture loop, there was an episode of South Park in which the boys encountered a group of Gnomes who steal peoples underpants. The Underpants Gnomes have a three-phase business plan consisting of:

1. Collect Underpants
2. ???
3. Profit!

None of the gnomes actually know what the second phase is, and all of them assume that someone else within the organization does.

Since it was a pre-sales role I was applying for part of the discussion involved my relationship to the sales staff. During the discussion it was mentioned that the sales staff in this particular organisation have a reputation for establishing leads and then taking all the credit when a deal is closed with very little input to the actual design or implementation stage. "Oh, like Underpants Gnomes!" I said before my brain could catch up with my mouth. Luckily, after minimal explanation, the interviewers got it and had a chuckle.

In other less spastic news the last week has seen me rock climbing in a building made to look like a castle, sanding walls and watching Top Gear.

Banksy fansite No.38746

"Any advertisement in public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It belongs to you. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock that someone has just thrown at your head."


OK, admittedly I'm not exactly setting a trend here but thanks to the insights of Chia, a coffee table book and various London walls I've come to discover the worlds best known graffito artist, Banksy.

I think at heart he is basically a shit stirrer although admittedly a very moral and clever one.


In addition to the large volume of stencil work he has also pulled a few scams placing bogus satirical works in museums. The piece in the British Museum was a very funny. His websiteis also worth a gander.

He has also done some work on the Segregation wall (680Km wall to isolate a section of Palestine) in Israel which gets the point across.


I also love the sardonic overtone of the whole scene. They certainly aren't the pretentious bunch of twats from the traditional art schools. Well, at least they are a different type of pretentious twats. A couple of quotes I found amusing:

"All artists are prepared to suffer for there work but why are so few prepared to learn to draw?"

"There are no excepts to the rule that everyone thinks they are an exception to the rule."

"Leave the house quick before you find something worth staying in for."

Time Wasting 101

This segment is a pisser.

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4

No more blinding our eyes and baring our asses to the world

Secondly, I have finally got around to uploading some of the better images from my time in South East Asia. In the navigation section to the right of the page links can be found. It should be noted that some of these photos (generally the better ones) were in fact taken by Marcelle and are being published without the owners express consent. I'm taking Google's approach and promise to take them down (at some unspecified point in the future) if the author has a problem with them being published.

Yr city's a sucker, my city's on heat.

Arse chocolate by request:


It's all an elaborate scam, a conspiracy if you will, to discourage people from coming to England. England is bright, sunny and cheerful. It has been that way for over a month. I'm not suggesting there may be some sort of low-level hypnosis or psychological conditioning used when people arrive to enforce this perception but plainly there is. Somehow I slipped through the net and I'm busting it wide open. This may be my last post before the BWMA* catch up with me but I believe it a worthwhile cause.

Apart from this shocking revelation there's not much to report I'm afraid and in given that I've not had much to do it does, somewhat frustratingly, give me time to write on the blog. But not about much. You see the dilemma?

Anyway, slow news week though it is, here goes:

I have discovered the wonders of a morning shake. Not much thought required, just throw whatever fresh fruit you have handy in a blender with some yogurt and honey and (in the words of Elzar) 'Bam', instant delicious breakfast.

I finally joined the gym up the road and have been pumping very small amounts of iron therein.

Had a couple of job interviews that look promising. Follow ups this week will hopefully result in something half decent. Apparently my experience ideally qualifies me for IT recruitment which, IMHO, would be the very definition of tedium and discontentment.

Well, apart from a few other market visits around London and trying to get into some more museums and whatnot that is about it.

Thought I'd leave you with this thought provoking image:

* British Weather Misinformation Agency

Congratulations and Jubilations

The weekend just past has ushered in a new era of Mahney matrimony.

Courtesy of Crim, I present you with a accurate pictorial representation of Mahney and Dora on their big day.

I wished I could have been there but the UK, like some overweight woman of negotiable affection, has drawn me in and taken all my money. It sounded like an awesome day and I can't begin to say how envious I am of Mahneys maturity and courage.

I also noticed a couple of other things whilst looking through the photos. 1) All the people I know from school physically resemble my mental stereotype of their chosen profession. 2) They (and I probably need to include myself here as well) also seem to be slowing morphing into our carbon copies of our fathers.

Aaron, Tim, Mahney and Reid (doing his best Bond impersonation)

Anyway, congrats and well done Mahney. May your future together be as awesome as Krylos.

* For anyone who picked the title of this entry as the lyrics from a Cliff Richard song: SHAME.