B is for belt

Missed grading on Friday night [entry], so last night when I went to taekwondo I was given my yellow belt. Am relieved that I didn't double grade-again [entry], as I'm cautious about rising through the belts too fast when it is clear I don't yet know anything.

First point of order with the new belt: breaking (side-kicks, which was easier than I expected), and then learning reverse crescent kicks (which will look cool when I finally get the hang of it).

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B is for Burton

Left work early last night to pick up the hire-clothes I'm wearing for Laetitiapaul's wedding next week. Tried it on when I got home. Looked in the mirror. Managed to get my laughter under control about a half hour later.

Oh yeah, we are going to look good. I'll try to post some photos on my return to the country, but that's reliant on my camera not messing me around. The way it's been acting recently, it's not likely.

B is for bored

Quiet-ish weekend as I spent another trapped in the Concrete Kingdom of Swindon. Friday night was especially quiet as I spent the night at home bored.

Saturday morning went to taekwondo. First class I've done on a Saturday morning, as I'm usually either hungover or in Devon. Pretty cool; used the staff for the first time (sparring against a Johnny Vegas-a-like, which was weird), and finally completed Do-San. Had a hair-cut in the afternoon, went for a walk.

Saturday night went with Jen to my French teacher's housewarming. Possibly the most multi-national party I've ever been to. Ate sauerkraut for the first time[17]. Spoke at length about my upcoming linguistic humiliation for Laetitiapaul's wedding. Drank sangria and san miguel. Discovered that whilst I had been bored at home on Friday, Andy and Jen and other work people had been out at beer o'clock drinking[18].

Sunday was a bit of a do-nothing day. Went for a couple of walks, but cried off going for a run because my hayfever -- which has, up until now, lain dormant -- was giving me abuse. Watched Windtalkers in the evening, about the Navaho code-talkers. An average film, which seemed determined to cover just about every war-movie cliché in the book.

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[17] Didn't really like it.
[18] Was not amused . . .

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B is for 'breeze and mud!'

Nolove from Dark Recesses Press for The Well [entry]. Looked like a bit of a form rejection. Ah well. Bounced it straight back out to the next market.

Number 12.

07 07 2005 . . .

Strange day yesterday.

Generally a lot of confusion -- first we heard about the incident was at 1040hrs when an email went round warning us of transport problems in London -- and feelings of impotence brought about by the distance, and the fact that although we had information as events unfolded, that information was generally vague and contradictory. Most of the day spent periodically checking the BBC website along with every other office worker in Britain.

The secretaries spent the day trying to track down some of our people who were lost in London somewhere. They did eventually track them down.

Swindon station was shut down for a suspect package. This prompted a text from Dan, but turns out he knew as much as we did: station shut down, package (some said birthday present) detonated.

Most of the people I know in London had no reason to be in the City. Some have reported in (Wes and Wesleybuffer, some of my work colleagues) and let us know they're safe. I'm trying to work on the assumption that the rest are all right, as it's pointless getting worked up when the odds are so low.

Strange day. Probably should try and get some work done today.

B is for bargain

I am worth $1,531,000 on HumanForSale.com

Great, I thought, I'm worth a million. That was until I realised that the number is in dollars. When you do the conversion, it turns out that I'm actually only worth £877,448. Not even a million?

Gutted.

B is for Batman

Batman Begins

I didn't think it was possible, but Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale have undone a lot of the damage done by Schumacher and Clooney's rape of the franchise.

Put simply, this is how a Batman movie should be. Well written, with ample time given to character development and plot, dark, moody, well acted. There should be no Bat-credit-cards. There should be no Robin. There should definitely be no Bat Girl. There should be no Governator-style one-liners.

Christian Bale is a good choice for the role. I had my reservations, but he plays the three sides of Bruce Wayne well.

The film feels quite long, but it's down to the amount of time they've spent developing this character and his motivations. You don't really notice the length until it ends. Unfortunately, and this is the only negative aspect I can think of looking back at the film, the characterisation is slightly biased towards the hero. What motivates Ra's Al Ghul is mentioned, but never explained, and the drive behind the Scarecrow's criminality is even more vague.

B is for broken

Been ill for the last couple of days -- my cold has suddenly decided it wants to kick my teeth in -- so I've been feeling sorry for myself, and not really doing much of anything. Missed taekwondo last night, and spent the evening watching telly and drinking lemsip. Missed rugby practice today because I think running around for an hour would actually kill me. Shame, because I enjoyed it last week.

B is for bruising

Sparred with weapons for the first time last night. Really good fun[1], although me and the guy I was sparring with did get a little carried away. Basically ended up trying to hurt each other. I managed to escape with only a bruised thumb, although I did manage to break one of my nunchucks.

The other guy got a little more battered than I did. Somehow I even managed to break the skin.

Oops.

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[1] And I guarantee that statement is going to scare everybody that knows me.