Christopher Hamilton

I think it originated from a radio show here in the UK, but I’m not too sure. We played it last night on the way to, and from the Chris Cornell gig.

It’s called “In My Pants”

The rules are simple. Think of a song title, and insert the words “In My Pants” at the end of it. That’s it. The funnier the better, but there are no prizes, no points, nothing except making people laugh. This is especially effective when you’re drunk out of your face.

The best ones we’ve had so far are:

1. “I Would do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)….In My Pants” - I laughed so much at this one, I thought I was going to be sick.

2. “And The Gods Made Love…In My Pants”

There were many, many more but for some reason I can’t think of any of the good ones at the moment.

Ah the drunken fun than can be had when a new game is born.

I went to the Glasgow Carling Academy with a few guys from work last night to see Chris Cornell. We had all gone to see Audioslave at the venue a few years ago, (maybe even last year..not sure), and had a great time, even though I was sick. This time though, it was just Chris Cornell and his backing band.

It RAWKED. It was like a greatest hits tour for his solo stuff, the Audioslave songs, and the Soundgarden back catalogue. He only played a few of his solo tracks, but that didn’t matter, because he performed one of the best versions of “Black Hole Sun” I’ve ever heard, and when they played “Jesus Christ Pose” the place went wild. I never thought I’d get to hear that song live. Amazing.

Half way through the set, Chris Cornell, played a few acoustic tracks, one of which was on the first Audioslave album, “Audioslave” called “Like a Stone”. I’m not a big fan of the album version, although it’s ok, but the acoustic version is fantastic.

He played a few of his new tracks, and the one that got a huge cheer was the theme from the latest Bond movie, “Know my Name”. It got the place jumping, and was delivered perfectly.

It was such a good gig, that I have no doubt at all, that if he, or any future band he is involved in, play in Scotland, then I’ll be going.

It was an excellent evening, and an excellent gig.

Technorati Tags: Chris Cornell, Music, Live Gig

The EPT Season 4 schedule was released recently. I had intended to make a run a qualifying for the event in Barcelona, thinking it would be around the same time as last year. Unfortunately it has been moved forward by a few weeks and completely eliminates any chance I would have been able to go. Of course there’s no guarantee I would have qualified, but now there’s no point even making the attempt.

Looking through the schedule, the first event I will be able to attend is the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure in January. While it’s not strictly on the EPT, it is listed in their schedule, which is good enough for me. Plus a trip to the Bahamas during winter seems like a great idea.

So, with that being the new aim, I’m going to be keeping my eye on the Events tab in Pokerstars, and as soon as the qualifiers are available I’m going to take a run at it.

It might be an idea to build the bankroll a little to cope with the attempt, so I should really get working on my game.

I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End on Tuesday evening. I have mixed feelings about it at the moment. Personally, I think it was an hour too long, and the first half of the film was far too slow. In fact it’s the first time I’ve seen anyone walk out of one of these summer blockbusters before.

The cinema I saw it at decided to go with the intriguing idea of having an interval halfway through the movie. It gave us ten minutes to use the bathroom, and pick up any refreshments we wanted. Unfortunately though, the cutting for the interval was shocking. It didn’t help the story in any way whatsoever, and came about 30 seconds later than a logical place for a cut.

Overall though, it was an okay film, and Johnny Depp was back on form as Captain Jack Sparrow, after a lackluster outing in the second movie (Dead Man’s Chest). There were several comedy moments involving him, and he was the only thing that saved the first hour of the movie.

Would I watch it again? Maybe when it comes out on DVD…. maybe.

It was an acceptable ending to the franchise, and it has left room for possible spin offs, but as with a lot of “trilogies” they really should have just stopped after the first movie.

Here’s hoping some of the other sequels released this summer are of a higher standard.

The event programme for the Edinburgh International Book Festival was released the other day. There are a few authors involved this year that I really want to go and see. There are a few I should be able to make, but unfortunately there are a few at times I won’t be able to get to.

Some of the authors I really want to go and see are William Gibson, (I got so excited when I read he was going to be there… it was embarrassing). Then there’s Steven Hall, who will be talking about his debut novel, The Raw Shark Texts, which is holy shit awesome.

In fact stop reading this, go onto Amazon, or head to a Book Store, (whatever is more convenient for you), and buy it.

It. Is. AWESOME.

Where was I…. Oh yeah.

There are a lot of great authors attending the festival this year, and I would definitely recommend checking it out if your any where near Edinburgh in August. The programme can be downloaded from the festival website, here

It runs from the 11th to the 27th August, and tickets can be bought from their online store from tomorrow morning.

***Annoying Side Note ***

I’ve barely been running in the last week, (only a few miles), so that’s the only update on that subject your going to get. I’m very annoyed with myself that I didn’t go out more in the last week, but it’s done, (or rather not done), so that’s that. I’ll make more effort in the next week, and hopefully I won’t feel so bad this time next Monday evening.

Technorati Tags: Edinburgh Book Festival, Steven Hall, The Raw Shark Texts, William Gibson

I’ve been really rubbish with my weight loss/training regime over the last few weeks, and because of that I’ve put back on a few pounds that I worked damn hard to get rid off. It annoys me, which is a good thing (sort of) because it means I’ll do something about it again.

I missed a few runs, and because of that I’ve fallen out of the habit of going. I’ve found myself saying that I would go out the following day instead, and then just simply not going.

So tonight is when I start everything again. After work I’m going to go home, put on my running shoes and go. That’s going to be the very first thing I do, otherwise I’ll put it off again.

I’m also thinking about putting some kind of widget on the site to chart my progress, that way at least it’s a very public thing and it will force me to get training.

I’ve noticed as well that my eating habits have changed back to where they were before too. I don’t have several smaller meals each day anymore, and tend to have one big one at lunch, and a snack in the evening. I spent a huge effort changing the way I ate, and for it to slip back so quickly really annoys me.

So, until I can figure out a way to monitor things on this site, I’ll give you a quick snapshot of my Nike+ Goal that I’ve just setup. It’s a very modest goal at the moment, but it’s one that is achievable, and should give me the confidence to make the next one more challenging.

The plan, for the moment, will be to update this every week for the 8 weeks, so expect another snapshot next Tuesday (The 19th)

Technorati Tags: Fitness, Health, Running, Weightloss

I’ve been thinking recently, that in a busy schedule where can I find time to write?

It’s a question that has been bothering me recently. As I have almost no spare time at the moment, but a strong desire to sit down and work on a few things, this site included. As much as I’ve been trying to develop a GTD attitude, there is only do far that can take you, and there’s only so much I can realistically do.

When I get home from work at the moment, I usually have a spare hour, or maybe two, after I take care of a few things around the house. Normally with that time I’d write, or at least try to. However, recently my brain seems to shut down, and no matter how long I stare at the screen, nothing comes out of my head. I end up spending those hours watching TV, or reading a book. I’ve even tried getting out of bed earlier, but because I’m so exhausted that hasn’t been working either.

My workload should drop off in the next few days, but there’s no guarantee that it will, which leads me back to my initial question. How do I find time to write in an already extremely busy life?

Is it a case of setting a time and writing regardless of whatever else I have to do, or should I really try to write whenever I have any free time?

I have no idea which way to go, since neither really seem to be working for me at the moment. Once I get a rest this weekend, I’m going to try and shift my sleeping pattern again, so I have plenty of time in the morning to go for a run, and fit as many tasks in as possible before work. That takes a while to do properly though, and it will be a few months before I’m able to add writing for an hour into that morning ritual.

I know each person will have their own routines, (in fact I just noticed Wil posted about that very subject a few hours ago), but any suggestions on how I can find a way to write regularly and get everything else done would be appreciated. While I doubt there’s an answer, at least no easy one, it is something I’m going to have to figure out, and soon.

Technorati Tags: GTD, Writing

Work is crushing me at the moment. We were in all weekend carrying out some major work, and it has left me exhausted. It’s not an “I could do with a sleep” tired, but more of a “my brain keeps shutting down intermittently” tired. I don’t have any time off until this Saturday, but this weekend is going to be so busy with my friends birthdays that I doubt I’ll have any time to slow down.

Last night when I got home, I had several things I really needed to do, and some writing I wanted to get into. All I was able to manage though, was to crash out on my sofa and watch crappy movies all evening. I tried to read for a few hours, but after I realised I’d just read the same page three times, I put the book down and decided to go to bed. When I picked up the book again today during my lunch break, I realised I had no idea what had happened over the last four pages, and had to re-read them again.

This tiredness is really messing with my attempts to get out of bed earlier in the morning too. Being something of a mild insomniac and really detesting mornings, it was never going to be an easy prospect to change my sleeping pattern, and become more productive in the mornings before work. I had been making an extended effort to get up slightly earlier every few days, and I had found that I was getting more and more done. So far this week I’ve struggled to get out of bed with enough time for a shower before work.

All I really need is a few early nights, and a few days where I can just relax and do nothing that requires any real brain power. I doubt it’s going to happen any time soon though.