Yes as it says I am fnially back in Staines for good. It doesnt mean that I will never go back to Aberystwyth again, oh no. I have to come up several tmies in the next few months anyway, and there will always be friends to meet. I'm looking foward to seeing people when I will be up during this coming term time, so you cvan expect me to pop along to some of the anime soc screenings.
I had a lot of travelling to do over the weekend of course since I had to move all of my stuff back home. My father was going to hire a van but I insisted on using my car... a british racing green Fiat Punto. I love that car. Of course it meant that I had to take the train back to Staines, pick up the car, drive to aber, pack and drive back again. In the end I drove 531 miles and with fuel at about 93 pence per litre... it hurt. But the driving was fun. I left early on Sunday morning on the way back to beat trafic on the Welsh roads. It worked... I didn't encounter a single car until Builth Wells. Of course this meant that I could go, rather erm... quickly ^_^;
Anyway I can't think of much to write at the moment. I have to go and get my hair cut anyway so here is something to keep you amused... The questions were taken from Choms blog. Answers of course taken from my winamp playlist. If you have all of initial d your in for some weird answers.
What do you think of me?
Glorious pop song (does this mean that I am excessively hyper?)
Will I have a happy life?
Parting (ut oh, thats depressing. I'm gonna ahve a sad parting it seems, but with who or what?)
What do my friends really think of me?
Shi no mori (eeer, let me translate that... sort of means "forest of death". I'm not that sick ^_^; This could also mean forest of peoms. I've never seen myself of the poetic sort, make of it what you will).
Do people secretly lust after me?
Result (wooooooooo ^.^)
What makes me happy?
Its only a fairy tale (aaaaah, nothing like good story. Weird though, i'm always thinking stories in my head).
What makes me sad?
Bad Boy Boogie (erm, perhaps this is when a group of idiots do as idiots do and piss me off? I.e. chavs?)
How can I maximise my pleasure during sex?
Kiss me deadly (eeeeeer, I wonder ^_^;;)
What should I do with my life?
You're my best friend (to make friends? I've already got plenty. Perhaps to find a really good friend. Riiiight).
Why is there suffering?
Spark in the dark (spark eh? Could this be the flash from the muzzle of a gun?)
Why are there good things too?
With my own eyes (So much beauty in this world to look at?)
What does my significant other think of me?
Farewell (noooo don't say that. God thats really depressing. Thanks goes to Apocalyptica).
Will I ever have children?
Station to station (what the heck? Am I going to sleep around and have loads of kids :S).
Will I die happy?
Remember me (maybe i'm gonna get famous.... or die lonely ^_^; This is scarey though since everyone wants to be rememberred after they die).
Can you give me some advice?
Night of fire (to burn things?)
What do you think sadness is?
Tell me there's a heaven (Weird, religion and curiosity at what happens after death has led to much sadness in this world).
Why are we here?
Super trampoline school kid (hahahahahaha. I came up with an explanation but as Chom pointed out it would spoil the fun).
stuartparsons
Todays events; silence, Go, marks and retards.
Hey all, at least now I have a few interesting things to report.
As far as the train tickets go, I shall be heading back to the ticket office today to complain, and I do have some power with regards to the national conditions of carriage. As far as they are concerned, if it is clear that there is an error in the dates of the tickets (I can prove this by taking in my form which shows the dates of travel to the Czech Republic) then a refund can be given. Hopefully they should notice how absurd travelling to staines from aber the day after the trip and realise that there is a mistake. The person who was in the ticket office was blatantly new and didn't know what he was doing. My god the collective intelligence of the people that work in that ticket office must be the equivalent of a PE teacher.
Retards!
Edit: My apologies to the PE teacher. I'm sorry to compare you to the people in the ticket office.
Work on dissertation... meh.
Today was an important day however; as a mark of respect to the London bombings, a two minute silence was observed. While I wasn't out anywhere to observe it in public, I put down my Go stones and remained silently reflective. I remember once reading an article about the history of the silent reflection, I think it was in G2. I remember it being surprisingly negative about them as a way of respecting the dead. I would tend to disagree, since as a country who wants to honour the dead in some way or another what other way is there? I think its less of a way to remember the dead (since you can do that in your own time by remembering those who had died, by offering silent prayers etc) but more a sign of unity and respect. Between each other we don't need to say to the next person "I care more than you do", but its a way that collectively as a nation shows that we care. Anyway thats my two cents... read whatever in to it you will.
Congratualtions to all those who are graduating this week, i'm sure that they have all earned it through hard work, blood sweat and tears (I know I did) and comiserations to those who are not. I have reason to be happy since I got my letter through today that confirms that I have passed part one of my Masters degree. I failed one course this semester unfortunately (I got a 48), however it doesnt count since I could afford to fail 30 credits in part one. The other marks I got were two first class grades, and the other three marks were two one class. As long as I do well in my diss, I will be on for a good quality degree.
The European Go Congress will be soon and I eagerly look forward to two weeks of Go. Wish my luck since I will be representing this country with a handfull of others and will be competing against the rest of the world. This is my firts major tournament in anything and I am reasonably nervous about it. I have my plane tickets, accomodation, and registration... all I need now is to pack some clothes and a Go board. I feel that I must say to Chris, a very big thank you for showing my Hikaru No Go three years ago. If you didn't I probably wouldn't be here today.
Anway... on with the latest GT4 stuffins...
======GT4======
News: Mike, you must be right about Forza's Nurburgring being longer since that lap that I did in the Imprezza was without mistakes too. Also by no means is the GT4 version easy to drive on. I just discoverred some new settings on my wheel and I am now driving with power steering and steering assist off. The wheel is set to simulation now rather than amature so it tries to mimic how a real wheel would handle and also I have the force feedback up to max. A race on Circuit de la Sarthe makes my arms hurt ;_; Also i'm pleased to say that my monkey in b-spec mode has finished one of the 24 events on the Nurburgring earning my 1.25 million in credits and an F1 car that is work 1.5 million. Nice! As for lap times on the ring, apologies to those who made requests, some of the cars you wanted I have yet to unlock... but I got some more done, particular those that would piss Chris off ^_~
Latest times:
*New* Mercedes SLR McLaren '03 – 7'22. 885
FORD GT '05 – 7'45. 563
Aston Martin DB9 '03 – 7'50. 451
Nissan R32 GTR S-tune '00 – 7'54. 502
Subaru Impreza WRX Sti sp.C '04 – 8’04. 023
Nissan R34 GTR M-spec '02 – 8'11. 876
Mitsubishi LanEvo VIII MR GSR '04 – 8’24. 263
Nissan Skyline R33 GTR '95 – 8'27. 473
Nissan Skyline R32 GTR '90 – 8'27. 898
Mitsubishi LanEvo VI GSR '99 – 8’29. 130
Mazda RX-7 Type R (FD, J) '91 – 8'39. 972
Nissan Sileighty '98 – 8’42. 068
Sprinter Trueno AE86 GT-APEX S.Shigeno Ver. 8’43. 420
Mazda RX-8 Type S (J) '03 – 8’45. 545
DMC DeLorean S2 '04 – 9'00. 691
*New* VW Golf GTI '05 – 9'01. 678
Honda CIVIC TYPE R (EP) '01 – 9'04. 437
Vaxhaul Vectra 3.2 V6 '03 – 9'19. 723
*New* VW Golf GTI '01 – 9'36. 931
Comments:
SLR McLaren... a very very rude car. I refer to Clarckson's comments about the brakes. Tap lightly and nothing happens, tap just a bit more and i'm sure if I was being subjected to the approprite g-forces my face would have been pulled off. Very fast!
Golfs... hahaha Chris your fav one is the new slowest car on the track. Not quite a brick on a trampoline, but the 2001 model rolls a lot in the bends.
No beers - bottles of beer
Cars, Go and stuff.
Hey folks, not an awful lot to report this time round assides from talking to you about my dissertation but i'm sure that would bore you to sleep. I know it does me so you it certainly would. Fun things... what have I done today? Played lots of go in preparation for the European Go Congress. Khang and I think it would be a good idea that my brother go as the 10 million pound fool (piss take of Yakitate Japan). We bet all our money on us, I kick arse... of course :P and come back rich. Oh yeah, I may need contributions since I am sadly short of a million. If everyone could help I would greatly appreciate that you all give me your life savings ^_~ Khang will have a lexus IS200 in it, so you never know, I might chuck in a car of your choice... oh and your money back I suppose XD
I spend most of my days playing Go it seems and not much else. Today was too hot to go out and do anything so I stayed in fanning myself. The only thing that I did do was go to the train station to buy tickets home to go to Prague in a weeks time. I would be going next wednesday, but the dumb bint in the ticket office gave me a return to staines and back to aber on the 8th of august. No wonder it was so cheap ¬.¬ I distinctly said wednesday the 20th of July. I asked whether a scheduled return on the 9th or 10th would save money, she said yes. I went alright i'll have that please. Retards!!
Currently listening to Rammstein... it annoys Chris, hehehe.
I will post more when I can think of something to write about, but to keep people amused, here are a few GT4 times:
======GT4======
News: Completed main event, the Gran Turismo World Championships. That was tough! Next times will largely focus non Japanese cars to even out the list.
Latest times:
FORD GT '05 – 7'45. 563
*New* Aston Martin DB9 '03 – 7'50. 451
*New* Nissan R32 GTR S-tune '00 – 7'54. 502
Subaru Impreza WRX Sti sp.C '04 – 8’04. 023
*New* Nissan R34 GTR M-spec '02 – 8'11. 876
Mitsubishi LanEvo VIII MR GSR '04 – 8’24. 263
*New* Nissan Skyline R33 GTR '95 – 8'27. 473
*New* Nissan Skyline R32 GTR '90 – 8'27. 898
Mitsubishi LanEvo VI GSR '99 – 8’29. 130
Mazda RX-7 Type R (FD, J) '91 – 8'39. 972
Nissan Sileighty '98 – 8’42. 068
Sprinter Trueno AE86 GT-APEX S.Shigeno Ver. 8’43. 420
Mazda RX-8 Type S (J) '03 – 8’45. 545
DMC DeLorean S2 '04 – 9'00. 691
Honda CIVIC TYPE R (EP) '01 – 9'04. 437
Vaxhaul Vectra 3.2 V6 '03 – 9'19. 723
Comments:
Have a look at those figures for the R32 and 33 GTR. Could they be any closer? They could be, in fact I know in the last lap I had in the 32, I lost two seconds spining off on one of the final bends. Thus the 33 would have been beaten by its older brother. Cor blimey!
R32 GTR S-tune: This was because I was upset to see the 32 GTR lose to the 33 GTR since its Chris' favourite skyline.
DB9: This is up since I fell it needs more British cars. Also Mike and myself are big fans of the DB9. You wouldn't think it by the skylines and Japanese cars up there, but the DB9 is my favourite. It was a challenge to drive, and with the road tyres it was all nice and drifty.
Another message from sunny Aberystwyth
It really is. The last couple of days here have been gorgeous which obviously hasn't been good for those who have to work on a dissertation, namely me. I end up procrastinating a lot going outside and doing cool stuff. I frequently get dragged along to the arcades with Chris and our new friend Simon since thats his idea of a day out. I watch in shocked amazement as the two pump pound after pound into the machine racing each other and doing a mediocre job of it (hehe joking Chris ^_~) whereas I only spend a quid, beat one of them and then get the free go to tune my car. I have two more races and I will have completed the game. Yup you heard me, completed, thus my car will be fully tuned. I also have 47 wins against human opponents of which most were against Chris, bless him. Other than that I hang out with Ricky quite a bit, and then there is a special lady friend who I see too ^_~.
I will upload some more times from GT4 soon. I haven't played it in a while but I have been getting back in to it again. I have recently completed the main event (GT World Championships). My car of choice was the Nissan R390 GT1 race car. That set me back 4.5 million credits. In the UK version, a credit seems to me to be the equivalent to that of a pound, so yeah... it cost a lot. I had to do endurance races in order to get the money (thank you b - spec). No way in hell I was actaully gonna do all that racing! The GTWC was tough, very tough. I kept coming second or third for most of the city races so I was really having to work hard to pick up the points. Eventually I got to the last race and all I had to do was finish fifth or above and my win was certain. If I came six I would be tied with the second place car, and knowing how unfair the computer is he would win. But coming fifth was not hard to do, still I surpased that and came first XD.
Anime... not seen much really. Been to busy doing other things. The main thing on my plate at the moment is studying Go. Afterall I have a tournament coming up in Prague in a weeks time. Its two weeks long and I will be playing in the main tournament which will then rate me with the rest of the world. Yes you heard me, this is the world amature championships. There is no way in hell I can win it. I'm decades off that, but I shall definately plan to own the group I will be ranked with thanks to my bga ranking. So wish me luck people. I fly out there with BA which was oddly enough the cheapest airline over ryannair, easyjet, jet2 etc etc.
Other than that, play squash, ride my bike and moan at Chris to clean up the flat. I wont tell you about my diss since that would bore you to tears.
More to come soon...
I will upload some more times from GT4 soon. I haven't played it in a while but I have been getting back in to it again. I have recently completed the main event (GT World Championships). My car of choice was the Nissan R390 GT1 race car. That set me back 4.5 million credits. In the UK version, a credit seems to me to be the equivalent to that of a pound, so yeah... it cost a lot. I had to do endurance races in order to get the money (thank you b - spec). No way in hell I was actaully gonna do all that racing! The GTWC was tough, very tough. I kept coming second or third for most of the city races so I was really having to work hard to pick up the points. Eventually I got to the last race and all I had to do was finish fifth or above and my win was certain. If I came six I would be tied with the second place car, and knowing how unfair the computer is he would win. But coming fifth was not hard to do, still I surpased that and came first XD.
Anime... not seen much really. Been to busy doing other things. The main thing on my plate at the moment is studying Go. Afterall I have a tournament coming up in Prague in a weeks time. Its two weeks long and I will be playing in the main tournament which will then rate me with the rest of the world. Yes you heard me, this is the world amature championships. There is no way in hell I can win it. I'm decades off that, but I shall definately plan to own the group I will be ranked with thanks to my bga ranking. So wish me luck people. I fly out there with BA which was oddly enough the cheapest airline over ryannair, easyjet, jet2 etc etc.
Other than that, play squash, ride my bike and moan at Chris to clean up the flat. I wont tell you about my diss since that would bore you to tears.
More to come soon...
No beers - bottles of beer
Watashidesu
Plan of attack
Recent Insurgents
Tomodachidesu
