Oh yeah and Liverpool won 2-1 against Blackburn at home today (despite, apparently, a few shocking decisions going against us)... Didn't see the game desafortunadamente :'(

Happy Birthday Dad!

Well, tis me dear ol' dad's **th birthday today, so throw up yer glasses to him please! We went out for lunch together (he and ma came up by car to see moi. Ain't that good of 'em?) and it were lovely. Couldn't finish my pie mind you, there was a lot there...
Just recently watched The Untouchables with Robert De Niro, Sean Connery, Kevin Costner and Andy Garcia. I gotta say, it's one of the best ideas ever: the action packed story of how Al Capone finally got put away. It wasn't one of the best films ever, though. Hiring the most Scottish guy ever (Connery) as an Irish policeman is a very obvious casting flaw. Then there's the fact they put really cliched elements into the story, like the accountant (who comes up with the plan to put Capone behind bars) being a huge-glasses wearing geek for one example... Urgh. Some of the pseudo-comical moments made me cringe too, like when Costner's character decides that lying flat on the ground will help him shoot at a car coming towards him but - get this - he doesn't get up in time and the car runs him over!!! Oh don't worry folks, the wheels went either side of him! He's not injured at all, just a complete tool. Frank Nitti (Capone's protege) was given an interesting portrayal by a very reptilian looking Billy Drago. He looked a bit scary, but out of place too. I think I prefer Sylvester Stalone's Frank from Capone (the 1970s version, there's probably been a few others). De Niro made a fantastic Capone, with a bit more fat on him than in Taxi Driver, one of my fave films ever. The other strong positive about the film is the graphic scenes. When you make a film about violent people, I think it's good to use violence well, not just willy-nilly. The opening scene, where a little girl is blown up in a pub that won't buy Capone's liquor, is a very striking start. The one where Alphonse himself cracks some guy's skull with a baseball bat for failing in his organization is very brutal indeed, but it's not gratuitous at all, it's telling you about his character.
Film review aside, I found a note I'd written about edible thongs that taste of exhaust-smoked roadkill a couple of minutes ago. Would you buy one?

Both

Yesterday, I had a poor pub sesh and wrote a bitter poem. Today, I went commando and noticed that my worry lines are deepening... I'm not worried about the worry lines, i.e. I'm not going to try and sort em out with lotions and potions, but I'm noticing them. Grey hair to follow...
I'm getting the feeling that I'm just a kinda small cork floating about on the massive raging ocean of life. I just hope that I get washed up on a beach that's relatively litter-free, then things may be ok...
Ciao!
Pictured: Me wearing no underwear and the worry lines.

Clinical

Wow it's been another long period since my last blog. Blame beer, blame football, blame work, blame friends and maybe even blame it on the boogie, but don't blame me. Yeah quite a bit has happened: a very good badminton sesh, a very bad badminton sesh, I went to Anfield (effing amazing! All the celebrities in glorious tru-life HD, a win and the only goal of the game scored at the Kop end where I was chanting meself hoarse. Great stuff), had a real struggle with a 2000 word essay on the gothic novel, watched No Country for Old Men (another great effort by the Coen brothers in which a psychopathc killer is given a very chilling portrayal) and, most recently, I saw Liverpool beat Unirea Urziceni again - on their turf this time - 3-1. Pretty decent match and the first time we've scored more than twice since 30 games ago when playing Hull. Masch put in a Steven Gerrard-ian effort from outside the box to pull us level, then Babel put in some inspired control-and-poke movements near the goal line before the skipper himself showed his usual flair with a shot so powerful that the keeper just wasn't enough to stop it.
Oh yeah I've gotten a little obsessed by Morrissey's 'I'm Throwing my Arms Around Paris' of late. Harry Hill sang it in one of his TV Burp episodes (which I'm a massive fan of) so I searched for it on google and found out that it's actually sung by one of the most genius singers ever.
Something is compelling to talk about the word 'disparity.' I mean, what a word! Disparity... Say it... It means, like, the difference between something. For example, one might say, "The disparity between Liverpool's skills and anyone else's is massive." This kinda word blog thing aint nothing new. Recently been watching 'HotForWords,' a fun youtube sensation where a hot Russian lass defines words for ya. Sex sells, so why not use it for the benefit of mankind in the educational department? Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv2_rSCnBQQ
Todays pics are of a coin that was sneakily given to me instead of £2 at a bar recently, and of Anfield (even though it's frowned upon, I took a picture of it, that's just the way I am). Crafty buggers! Peace out

Monday bloody Monday

Well yeah it's been a pretty dreary Monday with the rain and the oh-so early lessons at 1000hrs. Fiction writing was focused upon settings today: how they inform and enhance characters and plot in a setting. Some people even regard setting as another character!!! Bear that in mind when you next write something, even if it's a shopping list.
So today I found out a couple of new mates' birthdays, bought a mouse for my laptop which helps during internet gaming (apparently), missed out on the opening of 'Club Velvet' in Southport - which I actually wanted to go to despite not being a club person normally - and have got an essay that I'm trying to get going with.
So, to feel like a 'good boy' I'll not rant on any longer about problems I'm having, and leave you in the knowledge that someday soon I'll be free of this essay and we can be as close as we want...
At the top of this post I have included a picture of what the rain outside could look like, with skillful application of a pint glass recepticle, and the coffee which is going to get me through some of my essay (though not in that order or with any known laws of gravity). I know it's what you want.

'Valentine's Day'

Well I 'pwnd' at badminton today (again see www.urbandictionary.com if you don't know what I'm talking about...). I guess I must've lost at least one game but I don't remember it, I did pretty well. Even won in a 2-on-me campaign, which pleased me no end. Was going to include a picture describing 'pwnd' but I dunno if that'd get me into copyright trouble so just google/urban dictionary it. After badminton I got annoyed, don't need to elaborate I just did.
Who actually likes Valentine's day by the way? All I could find out about 'St. Valentine', other than that there's some discrepancy over which Valentine we are talking about, is that he helped people during the persecution of Claudius II's reign and was thus condemned to stoning and clubbing or something. He was made of tougher stuff, though, and it was the beheading that finished him off. He was beheaded on the 14th Feb 270 CE and, upon seeing the blood gush forth from his stumpy neck, everyone shouted out loud, "Let's celebrate love on this day for ever more!" I found all of this out, except the last facetious part, from http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=159. Have fun checking that out for yourself.
I'm single, I'm bitter, goodnight...

Ketchup

Well I've not long since started this blog and I've already neglected it for a day or two, it seems like I don't care. I've actually had a bit of a crisis with this thing; I don't think what I'm doing is particularly interesting... I was never really sure what direction I was gonna take this when I started but I looked at other people's blogs and mine seems pretty lame lol. I'm now following Chris Killen's blog ('day of moustaches' I think) and Jenn Ashworth's ('every day I lie a little' which, incidentally, has won an award because it's so good!). Chris came to Edge Hill to give a reading from his first book 'The Bird Room' last semester, and it were reet gewd.
So, to give you a summary of what's been going on: there have been naked men being chased around our rugby pitch by folks trying to hit them with their poles. Flagpoles for those of you with a smutty disposition (artist's impression above). I got some marks back for my work, a disappointing 54% in Language (I was a little tangential and didn't bother to use the Harvard referencing system... How silly of me...) and a couple of low 60s from Lifewriting. Woohoo... Also there were the badminton team photos. I nearly caused havoc by not wearing a clean, blank sports t-shirt and got a solo shot of me jumping in the air. It wasn't the most glamorous shot I've ever done, but then everything's downhill from 'Playboy' I guess... Also in the news: Liverpool lost 1-0 to Arsenal, so I got drunk (for some reason people started buying me brandies, as if that was my regular drink-of-choice lol!), sung/shouted/wailed 'You'll Never Walk Alone' and met some nice American lasses, hailing from Michigan, one of whom was named Lindsay. Finally, since my last post, I've been shopping. This is the kind of exciting thing I know will make my blog more interesting! No, of course not. What I'm saying is that beer was on my list, I failed to purchase any beer, and now I am beerless. I have a message for you folk out there (as long as you are old enough to make your own decisions about booze); If you are going to buy some beer, buy some beer. I wish I'd thought of this previously...
My final thought (ever? No, just for this blog...) is on the double dot. It's not an elipsis (...) but not a full stop by any means. It's mathematically halfway between the two, but its meaning is nowhere near either... I don't know what it is and trying to solve its mystery makes me unsure as to whether I know anything...

Back from badminton

Good evening guys.
Not been back from badminton long before starting this; it starts at 2000hrs, finishes at 2200hrs and then there's the showering and snacking til you feel back to your usual self. In 2 hours you get a pretty good workout going. Well, that's if you keep on your toes and run around like a madman after all the shots you reckon you can return. I joke that I'm so unfit, just getting the racket out its case makes me sweat, but that's not even funny... I was a bit annoyed with myself that I didn't work so hard as to give myself the usual headache, but I've calmed down a bit now! Could've performed better, dropped a few 'silly points' in the easier games and made stupid errors against more challenging opponents (I've learned that missing the shuttlecock is never good!). First game was good though; me and my game partner beat one of the best in the club and the lass playing with him (no dirty pun intended). It went all the way up to 30 points making it a tense battle. For those of you not in the know, that's significant because doubles games like this usually go up to 21 (ladies' games are sometimes up to 15), but upon both sides reaching 'match point' (20), you then have to score 2 clear points or first to 30. Every day's a school day!
There's news on the football front too; I now know where I'm going to be sitting during my first game at Anfield (Liverpool's home ground guys...) against Unirea, who are Romania's best according to the mate I'm going with. I've no idea what to say about that because I've not even heard of Unirea before! More immediately there's the trip for our Liverpool lads to the Emirate's stadium to face Arsenal tomorrow. They're currently 5 points ahead of us in the Barclay's Premier League, they are third and we are fourth. If we win, we'll be bolstering our chances of remaining in the top four, obviously, but I doubt it's gonna be easy! I think we'll concede, but 2-1 to us would be great. I might even be hypocritical - with respect to my last post, 'Carnage' - and get a little steaming. COME ON LIVERPOOL!
Gonna round off by saying that I've been looking into 'freeganism' recently. For those not in the know, freeganism is the act/philosophy of living without taking part in the wasteful commercial society we live in. They live by 'dumpster diving' i.e. 'rescuing' food from bins that is safely edible but has been thrown out because the sell-by-date has been reached. Yes, that does mean that supermarkets throw out edible food. They probably put cautious sell-by estimates on 'just in case', but this means that perfectly good food is wasted. Freegans can range from people with environmental concerns, moral concerns, economic concerns, a mix of the above or whatever. For more info, check out 'www.freegan.info'. Anyone out there tried being a freegan?
That's all from me folks!
P.S. I've included a picture of the beast I use up top. It's scored many a point and missed many a shuttle. The trainer sneaking in at the bottom is nothing to do with anything. I wear different ones to train in...

Carnage

With all the noise going on outside my window right now, I feel compelled to have another blog. A load of my mates are going to Carnage right now (if you look at www.carnageuk.com, it is described as "Quite simply the best student event ever"), and they've already had quite a bit to drink. I want to make it clear this isn't a big rant at Carnage. The organizers say that student safety is at the forefront of their minds, which is fair enough. I also know that the fact they've already been drinking hasn't been magically inspired by some event that's going on; it's their choice to get drunk when they want to and I've been drunk myself before, so even if I wanted to take the moral high ground I couldn't.
My point actually was going to just be a bit of a taste of what exactly is going on outside. We've got many variants of the chant "let's get f***ing w***ered" (look up 'LGFW' on www.urbandictionary.com if you are unsure as to what I'm talking about) being chanted, windows being rattled by knocking and people whapping out their lovelengths (though, in fairness, I only heard people saying that spam javelins had been unleashed, I didn't look for meself!).
So yeah, it's all kicking off, and that's before people have gone into town! Okay then, probably time to come clean, this is sort of a rant... Sorry to deceive you dear readers! Whenever I get past the point of tipsiness - at least after my 18th - it's always through knowing how I'm pacing myself and not taking it past the point of being able to hold my drink. In short, whether you end up spewing up or not, I think getting really well-oiled before going out to get more drink is not something I'd ever condone. I have pre-game beers before certain events: save a bit of money whilst you're there and maybe get a little more relaxed. Taking it to the really loud point where banging on people's windows and getting your little man out seem hilarious might possibly not be the most responsible thing...
This is where I kinda hope certain friends don't think I'm judging them personally, or I hope they don't read this post, OR I hope they can't remember what they did in the morning and don't know I'm talking about them! Still, if they had a problem with it, maybe they should look at their own regular sessions of excess instead of judging my relatively infrequent ones!
Anyone else been to a Carnage night out and is able to tell me how it went?

Just cherry poppin'

Hi all!
My name is Martin and I'm studying English and Creative Writing at Edge Hill University. I've flirted with the idea of starting a blog for some time now, but not til a few minutes ago did I decided to take the plunge. I'm not a particularly technology-minded kinda guy; I stopped using MySpace and Bebo ages ago (mainly due to the fact that replying to all my comments etc started taking hours each time) and I haven't signed up to the infamous institution known as Facebook. That being said, writing daily is part of my course, and indeed part of the vocation of being a writer if you want to be more precise, so I decided to start this blog. It's not a social networking site in the traditional sense, although you do get to talk to people on the vast network that is the internet. It's more of an information-based thing, which is going to suit me better!
I realised, as well as the benefits to my course, that I look at loads of blogs regularly for fun. I'm sure we've all been there when we're bored at the computer and decide to go on a 'Google rampage,' desperately trying to find something fun and avoid the work we've got to do! It's often here that the keyword I'm searching for is found in someone's blog, and reading what they've written about the thing I'm interested in is great. There's a lot of criticism of blogging due to the fact there's no regulation on opinion or verification of facts necessary, but I say the entertainment is in looking at a multitude of opinions, assessing their biases and reaching a balanced opinion for myself. So yeah, the point of this paragraph is: however poor my blog is, I hope that there are some people out there who stumble across it and find something that they liked in it, pure and simple. I am a simple person (yes, in the intelligence department especially) and I'm simply going to give something back to the blogging community.
I've got a lot more to say, but this is my first foray into the blogging world so I'll restrict myself until later.
Peace out!