Eating Cookies

As I write, I'm sitting with Eoghan and Andrew and the rest of the history class in An Tobar Nua, eating cookies and drinking hot chocolate as treated to us by the delightful Christy Griffin. Eoghan says hi, Andrew gives me a look of disgust. Now I will most likely sleep soundly through English and French.

In other news, I had my Irish Oral Exam yesterday. Bhí sé ar fheabhas (it was great!)! As someone said, it was like talking to a brick wall...

Tim Coffen has Been Booted from the Server

Yesterday (and most of this morning), we had Tim Coffen's going-away party. Tim has been an amazing friend to us in his time while working in squareyes and he's not someone we will forget too quickly. Tim is going back to Canada in a few days, so his remaining time in Ireland is precious to us. Tim, I hope you find your Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figurine, before it succumbs to the rural wasteland of Connemara.

Now, for the final time:

Tim Coffen has been removed from the server.

Game Over

Diet Drinks get too much bad rep

What is it with diet drinks getting so much bad rep? Of course, they're usually sweetened with the potentially lethal, toxic substance known as Aspartame (to which we can thanks Donald Rumsfeld) but let's look at it from another point-of-view.

About four weeks ago, I decided to stop eating what I consider "junk food": fried food, candy, chocolate etc. This wasn't anything to do with "Lent", although it was most likely inspired by it. I just think that I don't need it. Not only is it bad for me, but it's also burning a hole in my pocket. At this stage, it has become a sort-of challenge, to "see how long I can go", without junk food, much like my good friend Jason (www.jasonparmele.com), who hasn't touched candy or chocolate for many, many years.

I have had one saving grace in this time though; diet drinks, more specifically Coca-Cola Zero and Rockstar Zero Sugar. I drink roughly seven bottles/cans of these drinks per week, which with all things considered, isn't very much at all. At 0.7kcals per bottle, me and Coke Zero get on great together.

Cheers.

My Life Minus Music

A dark, lonely, desolate place, devoid of any color or emotive influence. Deep? That's music, baby.

For the second time since the beginning of melodic interference in my life, my iPod is broken. Music has become a major part of this life, such that I can confidently boast ownership of a "soundtrack to my life". The earlier days contain a lot of Green Day stuff, which eventually transitioned with a bang into my blink-182 days. Next came a surprisingly brief engorgement into Weezer. My current musical love affair is somewhat retro, but cool nonetheless: R.E.M.

• Green Day was the beginning of music for me. I was about 12 years old and was relying solely on my brother for Green Day albums. I only really 'got into them' when I heard the song "Wake Me Up When September Ends". That one struck a nerve; I never found out why. That whole American Idiot album was one that played to most of my (undeveloped?) emotions at the time. I fell head-over-heels in love with anything that took my fancy at the time, something which I think most people get at that age. Make up your own minds...

• blink-182: Mark, Tom and Travis who briefly turned me into a wannabe punk - something which I'll never be ashamed of! It was strange that I only ever started listening to blink after they broke up [c.2005]. I relied on old footage from concerts when they weren't much older than I am now to assure me that 'things do get better'. Their songs were, and still are, absolute gold. They appeal to their target audience, which is the most important thing. Sure, blink were never known for their instrumental complexity (bar Travis Barker's drumming), but frontmen Mark and Tom knew how to write a song aimed at a single mass of people. I'm happy that blink-182 are back together. I look forward to seeing what they can do.

• Weezer was that point I reached where I didn't "give a crap anymore". As a result, I never got very emotionally attached to Weezer or any of their music. Most of their stuff is fairly straightforward anyway. The only complex piece of music written by frontman Rivers Cuomo is the now infamous, "My Name is Jonas", written about his handicapped brother. Lyrically, it's remarkably powerful. Here are some of my favorite lines:

"My name is Jonas, I'm carrying the wheel."

"My name is Weepeel, I've got a box full of your toys. They're fresh out of batteries, but they're still making noise!"

"Building's not going as he planned. The foreman has injured his hand. The dozer will not clear a path. The driver swears he learned his math. The workers are going home..."

• I first heard an R.E.M. song when I showed somebody another favorite song of mine, "When Your Heart Stops Beating" by (the now defunct) +44. He described it as 'sounding like "Orange Crush" by R.E.M.'. I liked it enough to download it from iTunes. One day I was in HMV and saw In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 being sold for €9. On the recommendation of my friend Eoghan, I bought it. I haven't looked back since. It's hard to find much to dislike about R.E.M. Not only are they excellent instrumental musicians, but Michael Stipe's ambiguous lyrics pack a punch. My favorite song for the past while now has been "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?". Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wtxz4yV_-3g

The following songs are the songs which I played during the writing of this entry:

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Now playing: R.E.M. - Man-Sized Wreath
via FoxyTunes

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Now playing: blink-182 - Every Time I Look For You
via FoxyTunes

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Now playing: Flogging Molly - Drunken Lullabies
via FoxyTunes "

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Now playing: Rod Stewart - Young Turks
via FoxyTunes

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Now playing: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
via FoxyTunes

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Now playing: Motion City Soundtrack - Everything Is Alright
via FoxyTunes )

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Now playing: The Who - The Seeker
via FoxyTunes

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Now playing: R.E.M. - Orange Crush
via FoxyTunes

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Now playing: Ash - Girl From Mars
via FoxyTunes

Mock Update - Tuesday

English Paper II

Oh gawd no... the dreaded "Papier Deux". I think I can safely say "ohnoes" to my results for this one. I spent 2.5 hours writing three paragraphs on a Macbeth question (recommended is seven) and didn't even attempt the poetry.

Geography

I failed miserably. I didn't attempt anything but the Section One and Question 1 on Section Two. I don't mind though, because I'm switching my Option to Geoecology. My heart just isn't in Culture and Identity. The highlight of that exam was when Mr. ************ showed up ten minutes late looking hungover and as if he was hit by a few buses on the way in. He must be sick... or just hungover and got hit by a few buses?

Mock Update - Monday

The first day of Leaving Cert. Mock Exams has gone and passed.

Maths Paper II

As I just described to a friend of mine on MSN, I spent a significant amount of this exam flicking through the pages mentally ticking off all of the things I had neglected in my study. I was fairly confident with things like "Simpson's Rule" and "Geometry - The Line", dominating the former question, but drowning in the latter. Why do those asses always phrase the question differently? Fuck you anyway trigonometry, you slippery bastard, you've got me once more.

English Paper I

Oh come on, this paper was never really a daunting prospect. Just a lot of bullshitting about your understanding of a piece. This year's mock was based around the general theme of "childhood", which bollocked a fair few people, from what I understand. My proudest achievement was writing that essay about the Guatemalan circus boy smuggling himself into Mexico. I thought it was written well, albeit a little short (1 1/2 pages).

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Now playing: Coldplay - Life In Technicolor II
via FoxyTunes

I'm Happy!

Without dwelling on it too much, I'll just begin this entry by stating that I'm not longer at the cliff-edge of depression.

The world seems to have a silver lining now and my future seems like a happy, bright, sunny place. Okay fine, scrap that last superlative, Galway weather is "shoyte", as Paul might say. As a complete coincidence, my cloudy thoughts were cured for good as soon as I started studying. For the first time in 19 months, I feel like I can actually achieve a decent Leaving Cert, albeit a year-and-a-bit late...

Can I Has Lock Back?

This one goes out to the complete bastard who stole the padlock to my school locker. What the hell dude? I mean, I know I bought it in €uro 2, but still, get some manners.

I've been out sick for a week now and I have to come back to this bullshit...

Thanks to Rory for the heads up!

<3

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Now playing: The Killers - All These Things That I've Done
via FoxyTunes

Microsoft Flight Simulator is No More

Something which has become an intricate part of my life over the past eighteen months, died yesterday.



With the announcement of the closing of Microsoft's ACES studio, the Microsoft Flight Simulator series, established in 1982, was finally laid to rest. In a statement from the company, Microsoft explained that they are "still committed to the Flight Simulator franchise" and expect to release more updates for it. However, with no further comments from the horse's mouth, all does not look good.

Days before this, websites around the internet were rampant with the rumors that Microsoft Flight Simulator 11 would be completely rebuilt from the ground up, comprising of a brand new engine to make better use of newer Graphics Processing Units and chipsets, some even going as far as claiming Microsoft would develop their own Blade Element Flight Dynamics, as in rival sim X-Plane.

Goodbye Microsoft Flight Simulator. May you be reborn again someday soon.

Trying to Sort Out a Lot of Things

Hi guys, girls, friends, readers, StumbleUpon'ers.

I haven't been in a good frame of mind recently, what with looming exams, trying to gather the mentality to study and a whole host of other crap filling up the pink, globular goo in my skull.

I hope you'll be patient and allow me some time to think things over.

Thanks,
Aaron.