The Daily Carrot

Goings on

2009-03-03T10:37:00.001-08:00

Ok so here's what's going on at the moment:

Degree - looking like a strong 2:1
Project - Enthusiasm was sapped by crappy report, but it on the rise again.
Hockey - Leading goalscorer, team not top of the division, though there are divides in the team, making it not as much of a ‘team’ as last year
Gilbert & Sullivan - Has taken over life, only 1 week away, Eep
The Future - Is as uncertain now as it ever has been, curse you father time!

Smoothies with Dave: Cheap, easy and yum.

2009-02-01T15:48:00.000-08:00

Kitchen gadgets have a tendency to create more problems than they solve, requiring multiple parts to wash, often with fiddly features that are difficult to get a sponge/brush into, prime example: juicers.

The exception to this is found in the humble, yet stupendous hand-mixer. I suggest you all go and buy one now if you don't already have one as they're ace (especially at fluffing up egg whites, but that's another story)

So yes, smoothies are mega. Ok, so essentially blending fruits removes practically all the benefits of the fibre reducing it to a sugary mess, but what a tasty sugary mess it is. This is a favourite of mine when I want something substantial yet thirst-quenching.

Ingredients:
- hand blender and associated receptacle
- one banana
- orange juice, about a glass
- peanut butter, a hefty tablespoon (chunky or smooth will do)

Do this with ingredients:
- Blitz them with the handblender, making sure that everythings nice and.. blended.

And that is the path to a great smoothie with an interesting peanut twist.

Disclaimer: I adapted (nicked) the idea for this recipe from a smoothie stand. I would post a picture but I didn't take any. Maybe someday soon when I make another yummylicious drink.

Cooking with Dave: Performance-enhancing drugs

2009-01-24T08:35:00.001-08:00

This post is spurred by the truly awesome present my housemate just gave me:

Is this not the coolest mug you have ever seen? Of course it is.

So without further ado, I give you the most successful performance enhancing drug, bar none: Tea. Tea has the amazing ability to both sooth an aching mind and reinvigorate it, with just the right amount of caffeine and antioxidants to promote general awesomeness and heightened levels of concentration. Tea must be drunk the proper English way with milk and sugar, anything else and you're a traitor to the empire.

Ingredients
1 x Tea bag
1 x Kettle of boiled water
1 x Awesome mug
Splash of milk
Sniff of sugar

What you do
1) Tea bag in mug. 2) Pour in boiling water, being sure to compensate for the tea bag volume displacement and eventual milk you will have to add. 3) Admire your awesome mug. 4) Remove tea bag (a teaspoon is good for this) 5) Add milk and sugar 6) Stir. 7) Take a good amount of time to enjoy your warm beverage, using it's heat to warm hands and allowing the steam to curl up in your face refreshing your eyes. The refreshing properties of tea are a 50/50 split between the actual chemicals within the tea and the ritual of drinking it, so allow for a good measure of ritual.

Exams

2009-01-20T04:42:00.000-08:00

Keeps me going

Cooking with Dave: Nibble away your exam woes

2009-01-17T13:58:00.000-08:00

So you're bogged down with revision, mindless note-taking turning your brain into mush while you stare out of the window in despair at the heavenly weather. Ok so maybe not all of us are still bothered by faraway concepts such as 'revision', but we all know when it's time to take a break and bake up a delicious batch of distracting, worry-free cookies!

Ingredients
225 g butter, softened
200 g white sugar
220 g packed brown sugar
2 eggs
250 g all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
245 g oats

What you do:

1) cream the sugar, butter and egg together in a big bowl. If you're going to add chocolate chips now is the time to do it, as leave it later and the mixture is too hard.

2) mix the flour, oats, baking soda and salt in another bowl, add this mix to the big bowl and stir. The resulting dough should be pretty tough and difficult to stir, though if it is a bit liquidysticky thats alright.

3) roll the dough into balls and flatten a little bit before putting them on a tray, then bake for 10 minutes at 190 degrees centigrade. WHABAM!.

Note: even if the cookies still seem like dough when you take them out, don't matter, they harden up nicely. If you overdo the cookies they'll end up like rocks.

p.s I nicked this recipe from allrecipes.com

Cooking With Dave: Lest we wake the slumbering dragon

2009-01-14T17:14:00.000-08:00

Today a friend inspired me, harkening back to our colonialist Chinese roots he presented me with a recipe for 'Chairman Mao's Red-Braised Pork' and instantly I knew I had to eat this dish.

"you make pork now"

As it already exists online I am going to be lazy and merely provide a link to it. I urge you all to try it, if not for the subtle yet tasty flavour, for the sake of seeing plain pork turn into a golden source of goodness which, if Chairman Tse Tung is anyone to believe, will help you build your brains.

You can replace the pork with vegetarian fare, such as bean curd, but don't; only girls eat bean curd.

Cooking with Dave: Tea-time inspiration

2009-01-11T16:36:00.000-08:00

As requested, here is a little dinnerlicious suggestion for those in a bind. The immoveable pasta bake, the swiss-army knife of foods. Incredibly versatile in that you can stick almost anything in, yet undeniably satisfying and voluminous.

There are two elements to be considered when getting your bake on*, the main contents and the sauce. The following sections are thus split respectively.

Ingredients:
Contents:

A big wodge of cooked pasta (about a face-sized saucepan full)
Whatever vegetables you have (personal favourite: brocolli, peas, onions)
Whatever meat you have available (can be sausages, chicken, pork. Beef isn't known for it's brilliance in a bake so beware)

Sauce:
One to two tins of chopped tomatoes (plus whatever tomato sauce you have left from other meals, hey bolognese would probably work too!)
A small onion
blob of garlic
manly amounts of: mixed herbs, pepper & salt

Method to the madness:

First off: turn on the oven, 220 degrees C. Sorted.

Sauce
Chop the onions itty bitty, fry them in a small saucepan with a dash of olive oil, add the garlic, chopped tomatoes, herbs, pepper and salt. Leave on the lowest heat to simmer while you cook the rest of the stuff.

Rest of the stuff

Cook the pasta until cooked, whilst at the same time frying the meat in a big frying pan. When the meat is looking done-ish throw the vegetables in with them, giving it a jolly good stir. When you are satisfied with the general state of the veggies, throw the ingredients into a large oven-proof dish, pasta first then meat-veg, smothering it with the sauce. Mix it all up and finally grate a healthy amount of cheese over the top of it all and bung it in the oven, leave it there for 15-20 or until the cheese has gone black**.

Note: the tomato sauce can be successfully replaced with the cheese sauce mentioned a few weeks ago.

So now all that remains is to, as the french would say "mange tout".

*Bacon is a ready addition to this meal
*Golden

Cooking with Dave: How to bake a potato

2009-01-05T09:12:00.001-08:00

Hello dearies, If you think you know the best way to bake a potato, then you are wrong. BP's are a delicious option for lunch or dinner, especially when served with the ol' faithful tuna & mayo/baked beans* combo. However this takes planning as it's best done in an oven, which takes a fair amoutn of time so rumbly tummies beware!

*ahem*

Ingredients:
A largish potato
Oil (olive if you want to be healthy)
Salt (if you want to be healthy about this.. well you can't)
Paprika
and of course the various toppings

Procedure-oonie:
Whack on the oven, turning it to about 210ish degrees C. Take your potato, imagine it's the face of someone you don't like, and stab it a bunch of times with a fork. Drizzle on some oil and sprinkle liberally with salt and paprika (don't be a wimp). Now use your hands to rub the saltyoily goodness all over the potato, as you may now realise the oil acts as an adhesive, trapping the salt/spice on the skin.
Now simply place on a sheet of foil or whatever, and bung it in the oven, middle usually works fine. It should take between 1 to 1.5 hours (give it a turn halfway through) depending on the size of the tater. To check if it's done, stab with a knife, the skin should be crispety and the insides should give little resistance to aforementioned stabbing.

All that remains is to ladle on the toppings and pig out on this totally rad food.

*Invented in America would you believe

Cooking With Dave: Saucy Shenanigans

2008-12-18T14:22:00.000-08:00

Inspired by events transpired, todays post shall contain silly food puns.

Everyone likes a bit of sauce in their lives, it would be a gruel and unusual punishment were we to endure our meals without it. A well-balanced sauce can really soup-up a dish, that is, if you can be broth-ered to make it. So get a penne and paper out without delay and note down this simple yet versatile recipe.

Ingredients:

- Butter (golden in colour and slippery to the touch)
- Flour
- Milk (the precursor to butter)
- Cheese (a distant relation of milk)
- Pepper
-Paprika

Method:

Melt the butter in a pan, add enough flour to make it into a thickish paste, add a gurgle of milk in order to turn the butter/flour paste into a buttery/floury/milky liquid. Add a good deal more milk (depending on how much sauce you need, a 'general purpose amount' would be about one to one and a half cups) and then turn up the heat. Stir in a lot of grated cheese and finish off with a generous sprinkling of pepper and paprika for some zesty tingliness.

This sauce can be used on pasta, in lasagne, pasta bakes or even on it's own as a tasty soup* the possibilities are endless!**

Until next time,

Stay saucy

*don't be this silly
** possibilities subject to abrupt end

Cooking with Dave: The secrets

2008-12-09T09:21:00.000-08:00

A little culinary enlightenment for you all (I should turn this into a food blog)

Tip #1:
The secret to making anything (savory) taste awesome is worcestershire sauce. Liberally dump a tonne of this into any meal you prepare and by thunder it will improve no end.

Tip #2:
When applying herbs and spices, increase the amount you put in by at least 3 fold. Too many times have I seen someone expecting a few flakes of oregano to flavour their meal. Help me start the flavour revolution and combat the incessant blandness that otherwise occupies our dreary existence*, to arms (and salt shakers, and pepper pots, and spice.. shakers) !

*your experience may differ

Cooking with Dave: When you don't know what to do

2008-12-04T05:39:00.000-08:00

For all those moments where you fancy a snack, but don't know if you want savory or sweet. I give you, the PB&J sandwich.

Ingredients:

Peanut Butter (real men use the chunky variety)
Jelly (for the english in us, Jam. Though I'm all for experimentation*)
Bread (must be Warburtons Toastie Thick Slice, any other brand will result in food poisoning and death)

Combine generous helpings of the above ingredients, making sure that the spreads are on the inside of the sandwich. Enjoy at your leisure whilst humming the peanut butter jelly song

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

*not the gay kind

Cooking with Dave: Quick Lunch

2008-11-25T08:39:00.001-08:00

Here's an excellent little recipe for those with little time and/or ingredients:

Cooked pasta
Ketchup
Ham (chopped into itty little bits)
Cheese

Combine the above ingredients in a bowl, serve hot.
Superb

Extra-curriculars

2008-11-19T09:25:00.000-08:00

So now I'm also helping to coach the beginners on wednesday afternoons, I keep adding things to my list of commitments this year. For those interested these include:

- Ice hockey social sec and general guy who does a bunch of random things
- Assistant captain of the B team
- Prod soc basketball team founder and captain
- The lead role in the Gilbert and Sullivan production "Ruddigore"

Then there's the small matter of my degree, but never mind that eh, uni is all about the other stuff because honestly how much are you going to learn from a lecture you're just going to sleep through.

An excerpt from the travel diary of Dave

2008-11-11T13:05:00.000-08:00

USA 2008, day 29, Fruita CO

Today we have done relatively little. Drove from pokey-ville (may or may not be the proper name) with its pit-of-doom toilets to Fruita. Got to the campsite, a very picturesque, state park affair right next to a lake. Worked out to about 3.30 pounds each, bargainous! There are lots of animally noises around us, traditional cricket-chirping accompanied by a rather worrying grunting, sounds rather like a broken set of bellows, peculiar..

By jove it's warm tonight. Just got into the tent and the floor is still warm from being heated during the day, as is my sleeping bag. This could be a good or a bad thing, time will tell.. I also saw a man sleeping on his own in a camp pitch, no tent, just a sleeping bag and a mat. Hardcore, or homeless, I didn't hang around long for fear of being murdered. Hopefully the pig-alligator outside (which we suspect is some kind of sprinkler system) won't eat us. Fingers crossed.

Also: Chris was fooled by a mexican waiter who claimed to be David Beckham's godson, hehe.

Last night

2008-10-29T08:06:00.000-07:00

I spent funtimes in a kareoke bar with new friends and was bought a beer by a soldier on leave, a simple gesture which in retrospect was quite poignant..

Thought of the day

2008-10-22T07:31:00.000-07:00

Cooked bacon is a really welcoming smell to walk into from the cold, burnt fat is not.

New Spectacles!

2008-10-11T05:57:00.000-07:00

25/08/08

2008-08-24T15:50:00.001-07:00

So I am back from my travels, the olympics are over and world war three is about to start in Georgia. Good ol' Europe I say, never a dull moment. I fully intend to give a breakdown of my travels, state-by-state, however that will have to wait for the moment, it's far too late and too stuffy in my room to even begin contemplating undertaking such an expansive task.
So what now? What's next on my proverbial plate? I think a spot of getting back my old self, with it the activities that used to give me a sense of satisfaction; painting, drawing, concerts, playing guitar. All creative outlets that I've so cruelly neglected for far too long. Balls to that I say! From now on a new era of disturbing 30 x 30 cm scribbles, ear-wincing noise and other such whacky pursuits, eclectic is the word of the hour and let it be heard echoing across the rooftops for miles around. Also I've been playing a lot of basketball, ripping good laugh.

Now I'm off for a game of good old British Wiff-Waff

09/06/08

2008-06-09T02:31:00.000-07:00

In a few hours my journey starts, lincoln - london - new york and beyond. I don't think a travel-blog is a good idea, primarily because I'm rubbish at updating. I'm keeping a travel journal so I'll be able to fill y'all in with the juicy details upon my return from the land of hope and glory. Note to self: I need to get more large bags to pack my stuff in. Well good bye y'all, see ya in 10 weeks!

28/05/08

2008-05-28T03:48:00.000-07:00

Two week until the big trip, two weeks until the adventure into the (relatively) unknown. I don't think I've ever felt this much excitement for a trip, ever time I look at my camping backpack I get a little rush of happy giddiness.
Talking of this travelling, I've been thinking abotu the future a lot lately, what I want to do after university. It's a perplexing issue as most of you know, with about a million different factors to consider. I used to think the US was the answer, but having done some research I've come to the point where I don't know what I want any more. So for now I think I'll just try to 'live in the moment' (as cliche as it sounds) and try and be happy. After all that's what everything boils down to in the end right? the pursuit of happiness? right?

23/05/08

2008-05-22T16:32:00.000-07:00

7.45% of all facebook users are named "Dave" *

So exams are over, all that remains is the preparation for the ultimate trip, the soul-defining journey that should hopefully shake some shape into my otherwise fractured persona.
An overwhelming sensation of nostalgia has been rippling through me the past few days, potentially due to having accessed a large number of pictures from a long time ago, I know it's important to not live in the past but I'd like to somehow pay tribute to the memories and good times.
Things will never be the same again, and that blows.

* may or may not be true

Phorteenth Mae

2008-05-14T03:37:00.000-07:00

One week until my last exam, four weeks until 10 weeks in America. Three weeks until I go back to Sweden for my brothers graduation, 54 weeks until I'm Mr J.D. Andersson MEng (yeah that's right suck on that!) and subsequently unemployed. 1148 weeks since coming to be, 0.018 weeks since my last meal. 18 weeks until hockey and probably another week until I write a new post.

08/05/08

2008-05-08T04:31:00.000-07:00

Well it seems that summer has finally arrived, the sun is shining, the shorts are on and the barbeques have been lit. With only two exams this term, the first of which is on the 17th, life is pretty relaxed at the moment. Plenty of time to pursue hobbies, extra-curricular activities and whatnot. I bought some camping gear the other day as the US trip draws ever closer, I can't wait to get over there and embark on the epic adventure, should make up for last summers general crapness (besides greece of course).

Time to go make some noodles

24/04/08

2008-04-24T05:40:00.000-07:00

Slowly the term is winding down, several pieces of coursework have been submitted with a few to go. Lecture attendance is at a minimum, the days are my own to do with what I please. Luckily this term has given me a good lesson in time management, so instead of pissing away my days I'm settling into a pretty decent work routine. This routine probably won't get me any better marks, but as long as I can get it done relatively stress-free then I'm a happy camper.

On a positive note I wore shorts for the first time this year (outside the house) and not only was it a bracing experience, but when digging into the pockets I found one of my long-lost USB memory sticks, a positive sign indeed! I'm happy because prior to losing the stick, I hadn't backed up any of the work I had on it. Now with it back I can proceed to spiff it all up and eventually form an uber-portfolio.

21/04/08

2008-04-21T02:10:00.000-07:00

Two weekends of hockey-based madness have culminated in both a gold and a bronze medal for the Nottingham Mavericks B's. We worked our asses off all season and both weekends, beating Sheffield to win the league cup with a thriller of a penalty shootout one weekend. Then sadly being knocked out in the tournament semi-finals by Northumbria but going on to beat Manchester to take 3rd place. I've mentioned it before but there probably isn't a team in the league that gels as well as we do & it makes me sad to think that some of the guys will be leaving next year. At least we have our memories and a nice big shiny cup.

Nottingham Mavericks B Team
League Champions 07/08

12/04/08

2008-04-11T23:36:00.001-07:00

I watched Forest Gump for the first time last night and, wow, what a movie. One of the best I've seen in a long time. A real emotional rollercoaster, with not a dull moment in the whole film. Makes you think about life and the eternal quest for answers that many of us face. It seems one of the main messages of the film was that good things come to those who arn't looking for them. Here's hoping we all find our place in life.

2008-04-03T15:29:00.000-07:00

MODERN MAESTRO
You furnish your home to reflect the way you live your life: it's functional while being stylish, easy on the eye and adaptable. No wonder, then, that it's such a popular look these days. The trick is to find clever ways of introducing a sense of your own style and personality. Inspiration doesn't just have to come from the home: check out shops, bars, restaurants and even look at museums and galleries for smart ideas and finishing touches.

http://mydeco.com/imagini/test/

Inspiration!

2008-04-03T02:47:00.000-07:00

You have truly inspired me my little friend, I didn't know a person as selfish as myself could feel so happy for another human being.
Behold a new era in the age of Dave!

26-03-08

2008-03-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

*DANGER DANGER*

Update time: I am home in Sweden, work is to be done as always, more often than not I find myself at the computer. I have today decided, whilst on a long walk to the beach, that I shall do something nice for someone. Something that has long been overdue. I have also decided that I am crap at social situations in swedish, my deep-veined insecurity with the language has thwarted me once again as I realise it's better to be an english-speaking foreigner in this country than it is to be a poor swedish-speaking quasi-foreigner.

A sudden realisations

2008-03-06T07:23:00.000-08:00

I just dawned on me that I didn't write a single blog entry through the whole of 2007, the whole year! It's pretty god-damn insane how fast time passes these days.

Now, as I've not really done anything productive all day, I must make good progess on this latest report.

The team

2008-03-06T07:06:00.001-08:00

Never having played any team sports until my university days, it comes as a bit of a surprise that, looking back on the past 3 years, the thing that has made me most happy is just that. The feeling of belonging to something, a team, is one of the stronger sensations I've felt. Relationships fill you with false hope and leave you disillusioned at the whole concept. Though the team won't last forever, the brotherhood and camraderie that I've come to know these past few months, has made a mark to be remembered for the rest of my life.

Thu 14:18

2008-02-07T06:17:00.000-08:00

Today has been bland so far. Overslept this morning, got into uni, did some work, came home for lunch.
I'm starting to view the US trip with the scepticism and realistic point of view that has fouled so many of my ingenious plans in the past, which is another irritant added to the swirling pool of toxic annoyance that has accumulated in my life. Poop.
On the other hand Orsi is coming to visit me for the weekend today, so hooray! Much fun shall hopefully be had. Boo to all you posers who can't be bothered to visit.
Well now I must away and prepare for her imminent arrival.
Yarr

Drivel

2008-02-03T07:40:00.000-08:00

So here I am again, after many moons of nothing I decide to update my sorry excuse for a blog. So what is the elusive Dave doing these days? I could simply tell you, or I could express myself with interpretive dance. Or I could simply tell you:

The stark realisation that life can be a big bag of crap is slowly ebbing away, which is a bonus. I've been down and now I should be on the way up again. However if I were to sum up my life in one word right now it would be: Confusion. I couldn't be more uncertain about where, who, why and what is going on at the moment. They say university is the time in your life where you find out who you really are, it defines and shapes you as a person. Horse crap.

Hockey is going amazingly this year, my team is currently top of the league with an unbroken string of victories. I've somehow managed to claw my way to 2nd highest point scorer of the southern division, which is a nice confidence booster. The team itself has a real sense of camaraderie, which is a great sensation.

I've been watching a lot of "Miami Ink" recently and have become somewhat addicted to it. It seems like such a cool way to make a living and you get to meet so many different people plus it's made me start drawing again, something I used to be good at. Also it's re-activated my unhealthy itching to get a tattoo, although now I'm thinking on a bigger scale, which I'm sure my Mum would be oh so pleased about.

Summer travel plans: Two buddies of mine from hockey are planning a coast-to-coast US trip, which they've invited me along to. I really want to go and I've almost convinced myself that to pass this opportunity up would be perhaps one of the dumbest things I've done. I've wanted to go to North America for ages and considering my last summer was spent living in nottingham, working, not really enjoying it, I really should be taking advantage of these long summers as I probably won't get many more of them in my life.

Well I think I'm going to go play some video games now

Much Love

Poo

2006-12-05T12:35:00.000-08:00

I am rubbish at blogging
the end

Cars

2006-11-19T15:31:00.000-08:00

So I watched cars last after watching the B team play a rediculous game against the nottingham under 19 B's. I say rediculous because half our team consisted of players that the under 19's had given us because of the poor number of uni players that showed up..

Anyway so cars, an enjoyable movie indeed, pixar just seem to get it right every time, believeable characters (despite being .. well.. animated cars) a good plot and of course, lessons to be learnt.
The lesson in this case being about friendship and about human (or rather, car) value. It's about not forgetting where you're from, and not forgetting your friends. Even though you may not speak to them as often (if at all), and actually see them even less, it's important to remember that they're still your friends and still there for you in times of need.

Oh to heck with it all

2006-10-24T17:06:00.000-07:00

What's that coming over the hill? Is it a monster? is it a monster?
No it's an update from me, an occurrence only marginally less infrequent than the coming over of hills of monsters.
So what's new:
I live in a big, cold room
The blutac holding my posters up is ruining the walls
I'm on the C team, which means more games for moi
I'm doing bucket-loads of computer modelling and photoshop
I'm doing no work for any other modules = a bad thing
I'm spending far too much money
I sometimes wish I had gone to a red-brick university with a rich history, like oxford.

Obviously everyone who did has stopped reading this, so I could pretty much say anything & it would be like shouting into a ducks bum. Pointless and somewhat questionable.

That is all

a cerveja está muito fria

2006-08-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

"The beer is very cold"
So what's been going on for the past month? well asides from the BUIHA Tier 3 championships and a trip to Sau Paulo, not much. but what a trip.
So I went to england on the 14th of July,in time for the championships on the 15th, after a completely knackering yet awesomely fun day of hockey (whereby we won none of the matches) I collapsed into a heap on my aunts sofa. next day I was off down to London to stay with my dear chum Orsi. I won't go into details about her residence but it did make my future house look like a palace, good thing she's moving. Then after a few days living la vida london I scuttled of to heathrow airport to hop-foot it all the way over to Brazil (or as they say over ther "Brasil") where I spent 2 lovely weeks, 1 in the sun in sao jose do rio preto, and one in the bustling metropolis that is central Sau Paulo. I also learned to drink caipirinhas, a great drink which hits you like freight-train.
The two weeks were over as fast as you can say "muffins" and I returned to sweden, a little browner and overall pleased with my trip. Of course getting home was a 24 hour journey, involving a 7 hour wait at Heathrow airport, which passed surprisingly quickly all things considered.
then there came the Polish cruise, which was a blast. Staying up all night until breakfast and then sleeping all the way back to Sweden. Top notch.
Then the boredom ensued, and the weather got bad. Each of these factors horrifically magnified each other to gross proportions. Furthur enhanced by the prospect of not seeing my girlfriend for a good 1.5 months I wasn't in the best of spirits, but today I've booked at ticket to go and see her and eventually go back to nottingham, which I am looking forward to incredibly.
So the days drizzle on, occasionally interspersed with fun-filled evenings, but only occasionally.
Roll on september

09/07/06

2006-07-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

And thus it stands, 5 days from the start of a long journey, 5 days from the beginning of fun. 14th - fly to england, 15th - a whole day of hockey, 16th - down to london to orsi and hopefully ina, 19th fly to sao paulo, 20th to 2nd august - Sao Pauloing it up. It's going to be good.
But now I have a headache, which is annoying. Pants.

28/06/06

2006-06-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

I never knew time could pass so slowly...

12/06/06

2006-06-12T05:26:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while since my last update, sorry to all three fo you that read this blog, it's been a pretty lazy time.
Take 3 parts insanely warm weather, add 2 parts of really awesome girl, a a generous splash of freedom and serve in a highball glass on the rocks. Pretty much sums up these past few weeks.
Been doing so much fun stuff recently, alton towers, hockey games, nights on the town, various bars, ironic how I have to go through a whole year of uni for it to finally become fun, oh well that's life.
Can't wait for next year, my course actually kicks off, living in a cool house with cool people. It's gonna be crazy (off the hook some might say). Can't wait to get out of this hall and say goodbye to all the lame-oes I've been forced to live with this year. Of course there are exceptions but I'd say that I don't like about 75% of the people here. Only another week to go. Then after a week in the picturesque bamford it's back to sweden, where martin, mike and I (cos all you other smellies are going to be in london/solihull/thailand) shall paint the town red night after night (postmaster martin's schedule permitting that is). Of course by "paint the town red" I naturally mean "sit in someone's room and get stupidly drunk"

good times good times

over and out // Dave

Hot Dang

2006-05-28T17:36:00.000-07:00

Hot dang it feels good to win
3-2 get some!

Hockey Withdrawal

2006-05-15T11:35:00.000-07:00

It's been over a week since I last played hockey, the withdrawal symptoms have started, a restlessness that is consuming me. I can't wait to get back on the ice and experience the rush of adrenalin and endorphines that take me to my happy place. oh well less than 2 weeks to next game =*( I'm not even goign to get any skating in next week because of exams, good thing my rollerblades should be arriving next week. Then all I need is some good weather and the fun can commence.

Impose new laws

2006-05-09T05:37:00.000-07:00

For example old people should NOT be allowed to go to night clubs. There's nothing creepier than having some 50-something, wrinkly, bulemic hag sit next to you. When will the realise NO they are NOT young anymore and hence should not go out to nightclubs caked in makeup, with their bleached hair and tramp-stamp tattooes.

Also: a well known fact but it's surprising just how loathsome chavs are, a brief encounter with 2 last night confirmed that they are one of the most repulsive types of people you could ever come across. 2 textbook, stereotypical chavs (burberry, adidas tracksuits, the whole hog) walking around drinking cans of fosters apparently "feeling a beef"*. It seriously makes me worry about humanity.

*rant over*

*chav for "looking for a fight"

Gotta love the English

2006-05-03T09:12:00.000-07:00

It's as if they've never seen sun before, in the world of 1337sp33k it would probably look something like:
"zomg sun! mst snbathe kthx lololololol!"
Ha!

Tonight implies me finding an alternative source of dinner, seeing as there is to be a "formal" (read: crap food served over a long period of time. oh and people dress fancy) but I digress. And then off to beloved hockey practise.

Tomorrow implies working my bum off to finish a report due friday, paying my accommodation fees for this term, do some design work and finally eagerly anticipate saturdays game against Cardiff B, Notts D for the win!

well time to pop off to the student union shop to buy some neccessities, adios mi amigos.

Yes, I now do requests

2006-04-30T06:12:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been pretty cool, the stress of work being balanced by some cool chill times, a drink or two with friends, and great weather. Admittedly the weather today isn't anything to write home about, but it makes for easier studying. Found out the other day that Ive already passed one of my modules by 0.25%, and that's with a 40% report due to hand in *score*
Might be playing our first game as the Notts D-team next sat, if it happens we're probably going to get creamed, but no worries.

Only 2 more weeks of lectures then it's exam time, which is somewhat worrying. Especially seeing as I'm going to have pretty much 1 week to revise everything, what joy.. aiming for the pass *bwahaha*

Viv la france!

2006-04-07T15:55:00.000-07:00

Off to france in a couple of hours, gone for a week. Hopefully an interesting and fun week, not to mention productive and enlightening.
Roulez moi dans du beurre!

Goshdarnit

2006-04-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

Wo bist du?

2006-04-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

Dead knees

2006-03-15T17:55:00.000-08:00

So yeah I just got back from practise, it's 2am, both my knees are completely bugger (I honestly doubt I'll be able to walk properly tomorrow" and I have a lecture in 7 hours. But I'm happy, which is strange. I've been on a high of general upliftedness for the past week, no reason for it really. I'll probably be brought down to earth with a start next week when i realise I have 101 pieces of coursework to do and entire modules to learn, but until then I remain pleasantly jolly.

well it's about time for me to go off to bed now, early rise for a lecture in my favourite module. ahh the life of a student.

Wednesday

2006-03-09T15:07:00.000-08:00

Had one of the best wednesdays in a while yesterday, no lectures, just skating, bowling, eating and chilling with some cool people. Went to a really nice cafe, spanish-esque theme & was very laid back. Excellent burgers for decent prices (considering the competition), some funky tunes playing in the background (Easy Star All Stars: Dub side of the moon) and some alround pretty cool feelings flowing all over the place.

Thursday was pretty crap as usual, stress & work. pretty much the opposite of wednesday. Oh well weekend soon.

Gold

2006-02-26T07:21:00.000-08:00

Sweden FTW!

Olympia WA

2006-02-19T14:58:00.000-08:00

"Hangin' on the corner
of 52nd and broadway
cars pass by
but none of them seem to come our way
New York city
I wish I was on the highway
Back to Olympia"

Life progresses as usual, with its highs and its lows. This coming week brings much challenge and long days. I'll buy some alcohol and make nice drinks to relax with. Or not.

Vanity, thy name is:

2006-02-13T14:45:00.000-08:00

I do believe this is the best picture that's ever been taken of me. T'was this very night, before a hall formal. Two of the fellows next to me are my future roommates, the one with the glasses and scary grin is not. Not to be vain or anything, but here we go:

IDMM

2006-02-07T12:55:00.000-08:00

..is the name of my least favourite module right now.. god it's turned into such a boring, tedious pile of gunge. I get my exam results on thursday, which I'm not looking forward to but at the same time not particularly bothered about. Which is a complete lie, because I do care, but would like not to.

Housing is a bitch too, hopefully we'll sign a contract tomorrow and secure our second year housing, which would take a heavy load of our shoulders. I quite look forward to living in my own place next year, access to fridge, cooker etc.

I have a funny little project up my sleeve, expect it up in a week or so.
That is all.

Template Change

2006-01-30T12:42:00.000-08:00

So what interesting hijinks have I been getting up to today you may ask, well... not much. Lectures started today, I have by far the worst timetable ever, it clashes with hockey fitness training, every week. To add to the totally bogus nature of the schedule I had a lecture from 13:00 to 14:00, then a nothing until another one hour lecture at 17:00. Joy of joys.

Either eay, enough of bodgy timetables, more of current goings-on. Steven coming up on friday, going to paint the campus red. Almost finished patching my favourite pair of jeans, I'm quite pleased with the results so far. Crazy to think that this is one of the most interesting things I can think of to tell people about. There's that and hockey, which is fantastic as always.

Also: my washing is still damp. I miss having access to a washing machine/dryer that didn't cost 20 pence per 10 mins of subpar drying/washing.
I just walk around listening to NOFX's "Green Corn", such a very true song.

More than a man

2006-01-25T03:24:00.000-08:00

"Why do we fall Bruce? .. So we can learn to pick ourselves up."

Eggs-hams

2006-01-20T17:14:00.000-08:00

More than half way through exams, a little disruption here and there and yet at the same time a small revelation. A fun project to set my mind to, I intend to remain single for a good while yet.
Exams are going alright, nothing remarkable but hopefully no fails, keep telling myself that life's too short to be taken seriously.. I like that saying.

Either way, exam will be over on wednesday, then a few days of no plans. Most excellent indeed.

Macho Night

2006-01-06T14:21:00.000-08:00

Nothing manlier.. the manly men that we are.
Open fire, leather armchairs, many a bottle of whiskey (with the odd bottle of JD) followed by homebrew, JD and coke, risifrutti, cranberry vodka and more JD and coke. not to mention the manly movie Equilibrium. Good times good times.
It's moments like that you really appreciate good friends, and an open fire.

Back to England tomorrow, back to uni on Sunday. Mixed feelings really, it's going to be nice to see everyone again, and partake in activities such as hockey again. but at the same time I miss the people back home.. but I realise that practically everyone is out of the country at about the same time as me. On the bright side it makes the holidays all the more special.

Go Ducks!

An Enjoyable Day

2005-12-23T09:41:00.000-08:00

I just had one of the most enjoyable days I've had in a very long time. Spent the majority of the day with good chum Martin. I need the kind of day that today has been every once in a while, keeps me sane. Helps me push my accomodation worries to the back of my mind. All in all good stuff. Today's word is "staccato".

The end of the term as we know it

2005-12-12T02:15:00.000-08:00

So yesterday was the last Sutton practise session of the year, quite sad to think that there won't be any hockey until next year, and late next year at that. Oh well at least I can get some stick handling practise at home, as well as go skating as often as possible. Which reminds me: have to find the best time to go to the rink so as to avoid the masses of annoying children who seem to take a delight in being knocked over by me. Christmas this year promises to be one of the better ones, it's going to be mighty nice to see everybody again.

Now must dash off and write an email

First Game

2005-12-05T15:43:00.000-08:00

Well, on sunday I played in my first ever actual game of ice hockey. Sadly we lost but still the experience was invaluable, and a bunch of fun at that. Gonna have to keep up the skating during the x-mas break, this will of couse involve dragging as many unwilling friends along as I possibly can. I can't believe that there are only two and a half weeks left of this term, it's gone by pretty fast but when you think about it, so has the rest of your life. so ha.

It is goign to be nice to see everyone again, friends, family and the like. Add a bottle or two of malibu mango into the equation and we'll have ourselves a very merry christmas indeed. or as engrish.com would so adequately put it: "Merry Chrastmas!"
Well time for me to get to bed, the life of a nottingham undergraduate is a tough one. Tough but satisfying.
also: I need to somehow acquire a graphic pc-tablet.

New word for the English language

2005-12-02T15:40:00.000-08:00

From today onwards ... "Fibbed" is now an alternate word for "Drunk"... as used in the following sentance..

"I got completely fibbed last night"

thank you ladies and gentlemen..

My Euphoria

2005-11-25T03:45:00.000-08:00

So yeah the last 2 days have been pretty good on the universal scale of goodness. Yesterday I hired full ice hockey kit, some pieces were a tad smelly but that is being rectified as I type. I look forward to the first ever full kit practise on wednesday with much childish glee and suspence.
To add to this happiness today we had a tutorial session where we got to meet some second year students, see some of their work and have a chat with the course conveners. All my speculations were confirmed, next year everything gets good. Even the conveners told us that the first term of the first year sucks and that we've just to grin and bear it. Next term gets better and according to the 2nd year students the second year is 100 times better. And the design studio where we'll do most of our work is sweet too. w00t!

so yeah that's my happiness rush of today sorted

One Last Breath

2005-11-21T03:16:00.000-08:00

Solid Mechanics is not going well, I disliked physics before but now I hate it with a passion. I just don't think the right way..
it's the only thing which is bringing me down at the moment, I feel pretty much on top of everything else (asides from the massive amounts of reading I should be doing for my business module.. so really I should be studying some mechanics as opposed to updating my blog.. but meh.

Todays objectives:

Finish maths coursework and make it presentable.
Study some mechanics and business operations
Design a cooler Mavericks logo

D team represent!

2005-11-17T03:47:00.000-08:00

So now it's official, I am a member of the Nottingham Mavericks D team, doesn't sound too impressive but I'm well chuffed.
Go Mavericks!

In other news today was the first day where we had frost on the grass in the morning, a sign of the freezing weather to come.
In a good mood today, I'm slowly reaching the top of the mountain of coursework that I've been scaling this week, almost done.

However when I think of the studying I should be doing and am not, my mood turns to other things... so enough thought of that!
Mike's coming up tomorrow, going to have to prove that we're potent in potting. yes indeedy.

My Band

2005-11-07T08:47:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I contacted 2 people through the band societie's web page in the hope that someone would be interested in starting a band with me. Last saturday, being late as ever, I ran all the way from my hall to "the ark" (the main bar on campus), quite a feat of physical healthiness might I add.. which surprised me. So I met the two people I contacts, James and Lucy, and I couldn't have made band buddies with friendlier dudes/dudettes. the best part of course is that finally I've met some people who actually share my musical tastes. All I need now is a second guitarist and possibly a singer. Magnificent.

In other news: I suck at C programming, which is somewhat tragic seeing as my only assignment in the class is to make a fancy programme.

Ye Olde Trip

2005-10-30T08:44:00.000-08:00

Me and my pals went to the (apparently) oldest pub in England the other day, and well.. had a pleasant time.. so here are some pics!

the pub (it's built into a cave you know) and a nice group pic of my homies:

The thin ice

2005-10-26T02:07:00.000-07:00

The title is relevant because I will be going Ice-skating later today. I sit here writing this minutes before I have to catch the university hopper bus to the Jubilee campus for my exciting introduction to business operations lecture... a module for which I still haven't bought the recommended reading. I hope that the lecturer will be ther this time, so as to make the journey there not a complete waste.

In other news life is going swimmingly, I'm happy and content and have made some good friends. The majority of the things I'm learning are interesting (asides from solid mechanics and the materials part of IDMM), and the extra-curriculars are just great, should try and start a band sometime soon.. or at least put a bit more effort into it.

Well that's about all for now, but behold.. Ivan the terrible!

Saturday

2005-10-22T11:48:00.000-07:00

Today I have accomplished the grand total of practically nothing. Currently I'm waiting for a friend to return from his beer festival so we can go drink some beer. In my wait I got bored and decided to mess around with photoshop a little, so I edited the picture of the downs as follows:

I'm hoping that tomorrow will hold more excitement than today.. but of course it will, it's hockey time tomorrow!

Knackered Knees

2005-10-19T07:10:00.000-07:00

So I was intending to go ice skating today, but decided against it after I realised that my knees need a rest.. they twing considerably every now and then so I'll leave the ice until sunday, hooray for sundays!

I sorted out my papers today and filed them, really should do some serious studying but everything seems a bit vague, I'll probably trawl ebay/amazon for course books. Saving Private Ryan shall be watched tonight, quality movie. Perhaps some pizza will be ordered.. that would be pleasant. There's so much more to uni life than the actual course, it's those bits which I like the most, the new people and new things to do.. not just sit in my room all day *ahem*
I really shoudl do something with that ham salad sandwich on my shelf.. as well as do some studying.. mechanics is such bum.. I like it not.

and finally...

London, old friends and new friends.

2005-10-16T16:40:00.000-07:00

Well I boarded a bus bound for london on friday the 14th at 4:30, a very punctual start.. three hours 20 mins later after a long trip filled with contemplation I arrived in central London. Already I was missing Nottingham, which I foudn somewhat strange.. either way I spent the next day and a bit walking round the various bits of london, meeting old friends and their friends and generally catching up on this and that. Some things had changed though, I should have been more prepared after reading about how univeristy can change things. I'm pretty sure that no-matter what, we shall always remain good friends (those in the know will understand this).
Got back to Notts today at around lunch time, after which me and some friends proceeded to watch "Seven", a movie I've seen before but nevertheless was somewhat chilling. Morgan Freeman is very talented in his field. Then came hockey practise, which was as ever, a great laugh. Must get some mighty ducks merchandise to adorn my room walls, brighten the place up a bit.

and on that line of thought, here is a picture of the downs.

Lemsips

2005-10-09T02:33:00.000-07:00

Well it seems like I've come down with some alien form of "fresher's flu" and got a sore throat. On top of that I have a bazillion things to do today.. but enough about woe.
last night I went with a few friends to the venue "Rock City" which is where all the cool bands that I'm going to see come when they play in Nottingham, so it gets points for that. On saturdays they host a rock club, where they play metal, rock and generally alternative music as well as having the whole dancefloors stuff going on. Now this was really a new experience, I'm used to the typical club dancing.. skimpily clad girls "shakin' their booty" and guys trying to look as though they can dance, but this was new to me. It was kind of amusing seeing the heavy metal dudes "dance" (stand in a circle and wave their hair around) also noted were the amazing amount of people playing drunken air guitar, and of course there was the two goth chicks dancing alone with each other in close proximity in the middle of the dance floor. Another plus for the club was that they played some pretty decent music, me not being much for dance and house and handbag or whatever music gernre they decide to make up to classify it. After we all went back and ordered pizza.. I really have to stop eating pizza.

Toilet valves and midnight snacks

2005-10-06T08:25:00.000-07:00

Well last night I had a midnight snack of mackeral on crackers, most delish on a semi-empty stomach.

And today in my Integrated Design, manufacture and materials class we took apart toilet valves and investigated how they worked, riveting stuff really.

Stroke of genius

2005-10-05T01:31:00.000-07:00

As you possibly know, in many english pubs there is a pay-per-play pool table, where if you pot a coloured ball, or the black you cannot get it back. Now this is fine, after all how else is the owner goign to pay for the repairs needed when some drunken elephant pours beer over it or tears the tabletop fabric.. however it is a tad annoying when someone pots the black early in the game. Official rules state that whoever pots the black before potting all their colours should lose.. but if this happens early in the game it feels like a waste of 50p. On top of that, if there is no white ball at the pool table, and one is forced to use on of the coloured balls as a white ball this gets even more complicated seeing as once one pots the "white" ball, one is truly buggered. This is the situation in the sherwood hall bar, one pay-pet-play pool table minus a white ball.

Then a stroke of genius..

We were playing the other day and realised that if we got the other people not playing to guard the pockets, that is, to make sure non of the balls got so far as to actually fall down into the pockets, we would solve the problem of potting the white ball.
"clever!" we thought.. but then came the real revelation: if we did this, we could save all of the balls! We got a good 4 games out of the one 50p we put in that pool table that night. Good times..

Aardman

2005-10-03T06:14:00.000-07:00

Two things on my to-do list: watch both corpse bride and wallace and gromit: curse of the wererabbit.
One thing that irritates me though is how the nightmare before christmas has become affiliated with the goth culture.. I mean sure you can draw parallels between the movie and the culture: they're both dark, gloomy, slighty twisted. But the problem that occurs is that I don't like goths, and certaintly don't want to become somehow linked to them. I like life, even though it has it's downs it's got plenty of ups. Also I like not having the complexion which hints that I'm a) malnourished or b) anorexic. So yeah go me in not being goth. and boo goths for taking my movie.
In other news I got my insurance sorted out and went to my first "lecture" today. the bunny ears indicate that it was only an introductory lecture and hence was not terrifically interesting, however whether one could possibly believe that solid mechanics could ever be interesting is questionable.

In other news other than that other news: I played ice hockey for the first time yesterday, it was awesome. So now I have to pretty much spend next weeks budget on skates and a stick. After that hopefully most of my expenses should be paid.. most, curse university for being so expensive. Yet rather it be expensive and offer a lot, than there be nothing to do. Looking on the bright side and all..

Playing pool

2005-10-02T05:30:00.000-07:00

Well the other night some hall-mates and I played a game or two of pool.. no Q-ball of course, and we potted the black first thing.. rather annoying with pool machines that don't give aforementioned balls back.. Also we highly suspect that Rutland has stolen our common room's pool balls. the bastards.

Success!

2005-09-30T03:52:00.000-07:00

At last I have managed to get this damn internet up to speed, have to run some tests of course to make sure that the download speed is running as fast as it should be but this is certainly a step in the right direction. One day soon I shall take a tour of the campus with my camera and update my blog with lots of delicious pictures of Nottingham University, can't say fairer than that.

Ducks and my Uni dorm-room

2005-09-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

Well yes, here we have some pictures of my dorm room and some ducks.. enjoy!

Arrival

2005-09-27T07:30:00.000-07:00

Well I've arrived at Nottingham University, moved into my spacious (ha!) room, complete with bisquit factory odour and non-existant heating. Finally activated my internet access so I'm once again plugged into the world wide web, however the connections seems to be somewhat cruddy, download speeds of 10 kb/s and skype works poorly. Oh well. Met some interesting people so far, not terribly sure if I made a lasting impression. Presently I'm waiting for a fellow sherwooder to come back from the geography department so we can go and withdraw some money and possibly buy some essentials at the student union shop.
Marvellous

Waiting

2005-09-24T06:48:00.000-07:00

Moving into halls tomorrow, got pretty much all my stuff ready including my amazing 15 watt fender amp.. that's right.
Hopefully I'll be able to get my internet connection sorted out pretty quickly, then I'll post some photos of the room, campus and things to that effect.
not that this blog is freaquented by many people, let alone people interested in who I am and what I do.. however this could be rectified by me actually telling some people about it. That mission will be undertaken when I move into Sherwood and have set up a base of operations.

Leaving

2005-09-19T23:54:00.000-07:00

Well this'll probably be the last post for a while, I'm going to have to survive without the internet for at least a week *lord have mercy* and then it's time for the crunch, I'm hoping that I dont end up in a hall full of idiots.. that would surely put a dampener on my whole university experience.. surely and without a doubt.
Over and out.

Learning HTML

2005-09-18T15:46:00.000-07:00

Well, made some minor changes to the layout and colour scheme of the blog, more aesthetically pleasing to my eyes. Gah only 1 day left in Sweden, that is, until x-mas. Mixed feelings really, excited at the prospect of new beginnings, interesting people and different experiences. But at the same time sliightly worried about the whole "leaving-the-home-for-a-long-time" thing. I suppose I'm comforted by the fact that I'll at least be in the same country as my old chums, only a train/long bus ride away.

last day in Sweden

2005-09-16T13:40:00.000-07:00

Well, just said my goodbyes to Mike, he's off to London tomorrow to begin at Queen Mary. Got to make sure to visit London, so many people there.
Here's to you mr. Appletini!

One cobb against the grain..

2005-09-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

What a clever idea it is indeed, to activate an account in order to let the ones at home get an insight into my life as I will be out of the country for a good time. So yes, this all seems to be working.