Iraq wins; Toothache; Judi's Birthday; Barcelona; Dissertation

So the fairy tale finish to the Asian Cup would have been for Iraq to have won and what happened . . . . they won . . .Good Luck & Congratulations to them! More celebratory pictures

The awesome waves are surfing in Cape Town . . . pictures of Iraq celebration & Cape Town courtesy of Guardian - cartoons of Le Tour - Zapiro from Mail & Guardian South Africa.


OK so where are we since last week - well the first thing that springs to mind . . .can't think why is this toothache I have at the moment . . . . I have a dentist and the oral hygienist appointment for next week - but I had had toothache off and on and decided to get an emergency appointment as well . . . . seeing as I am unemployed student at the moment - it is free - thank goodness - well went in this afternoon and
his first question is right which tooth is it? I'm like right don't worry step aside I know exactly which tooth it is I placed this dye on it last time it was aching . . . . i.e. I don't have a clue - Monday night - it was so bad I couldn't even concentrate - could hardly speak to Judi - was in so much pain - all I can say is thank the Lord for whiskey - as I used that as a local anaesthetic and it eventually worked - - - Yes, before I passed out . . . lol . . . well - I could not specify exactly which tooth he worked on the one that reacted to air being blown on it . . . . now I have so much toothache I'm not sure we addressed the correct tooth . . . thank goodness I kept my appointment for next week Wednesday - hopefully we can sort out these teeth because -there is only so much whiskey a man should have to drink for medicinal purposes - seeing as I only had Malt whiskey that is what I used . . . . . It is funny - when your healthy and fine you don't spare a thought and when something is wrong - how it changes your life - how unpleasant things can be . . . you don't realise what it is to be healthy - you just take it for granted and something as simple as toothache - shows you - how helpless / what a difference it makes when you are healthy . . .



Well last Saturday went through to Judi's - we had the Barcelona vs Hearts game on Saturday - I had worked at Loch Lomond Folk Festival as a steward on the Friday and had said I wasn't coming through until Saturday - I am a glorified parking attendant really - tell people where they can and can't park - where caravans can go etc., - actually beginning to get to know some of the characters involved - Wilma & Campbell; Andy; etc., as well as some of the guests that turn up regularly every year - people recognised me I recognised them - for some it was their 4th or 5th year for me it was my 4th year in a row . . . and I intend being back there next year . . . .

I had my right hand side mirror removed from my car Friday evening - the other one had been trashed a number of months ago - this time it was almost professionally removed almost as if to order . . . .???? I was on the phone to Judi on Friday evening and I said to her - " the natives are restless tonight, I don't think I'll even put my head up and peer at them over the top of the couch, they might just put another brick through the front window. . . ." - little did I know they were removing my side mirror as we spoke . . . my car is know un-roadworthy and I could be fined in its current situation . . . my Mum is very keen for me to move out of this area . . .

On to Barcelona / Hearts game - 'not worth expanding upon' . . . . I really think of Barcelona as one of the teams in European football . . . and players like Ronaldinho; Eto; Messi; Thuram; Guti etc., have always meant so much to me . . . so I was more than excited to see them play . . . the opposition in this game meant nothing to me . . .there were many Hearts supporters there - the first half was the highlight as the second half had so many changes - we did get to see Henry - and he made a good goal by laying off the ball . . . but the level of football 2nd half was not as good as the first half . . . I enjoyed the experience . . .


It was Judi's Birthday on Sunday - I had already taken her to Rome on her Birthday but sent her some flowers for the actual day . . . . in the evening it had been decided that we would go for dinner and if any of the boys wanted to come along they were more than welcome . . . turned out all four of her sons; Andy; Pete; Mike & Tom all came along and Naz, Mike's girlfriend, came along as well . . . Now between you & I - I had never met Tom yet - and there was some issues there (not from my side) - so I was more than curious as to how it might go . . . . nothing to worry about - it all went fine - met Tom we shook hands and that was about it . . . . . we had a very pleasant evening . . .it was special for Juid as she has not seen all 4 her boys together for quite some time - so she was pleased and ended up footing the bill - so the boys were pleased . . . .lol.


So what's up? I am still plodding away with my dissertation. Hence the BlueJ welcome screen . . . one of the IDEs I am looking at . . . what with toothache and all - been a bit difficult to get going sometimes . . . but still more or less on target - need to cut down and precise my work more . . .


I have receive another PhD rejection slip which I don't think I mentioned - Loubourgh Uni - that leaves 2 - Paisley with whom I had the interview last week and Glamorgan - whom I haven't heard from at all, yet . . . If Paisley is successful - I have decided to move to within walking distance from the uni as this is a 3 year commitment . . .I will probably have to go private for this . . . but location is important here.

So they say lightning never strikes in the same place twice ???

Morally abhorrent - but the UK Govt. knew about these renditions - who is fooling who ???

Lastly - if you remember my link to 'The Wire' TV series - courtesy of the Guardian - I've been watching and really enjoying some of the rest of the episodes - using Bit Torrent - downloading the episodes and watching them . . . . then it turned out it was in a format I did not have a player for MCV - needed to download a player as well - very impressed with the quality though - downloads very slow though . . . . but hey! when you dealing with a busy man . . . not a problem. Main sources torrentspy.com and of course other sites like . . . . www.mininova.com

All for now folks . . . .

Dissertation; London; Photo's; Tour de France

Photo's - My Project Plan - rest devoted to Tour de France - 1)Fabian Cancellera - overall leader Yellow jersey; 2) David Millar - King of the Mountains (top with measles) 3) Robbie McEwan wins stage 4) peleton Goldhurst hill 5) Rochester Pipe Band - courtesy of Le Guardian & a cartoon of Brown who apparently wants to scupper the super casino blueprint . . .cartoon by Steve Bell

Let's start of with my project plan - this is my dissertation blueprint - and if you have a good look you'll see - I hit a milestone today - Literature Review and I am pleased to say I am more or less on target . . .Aha! your saying what the hell does that mean either you are or your not - I am!

What I've decided to do is to stretch my literature review across 2 chapters - 1st one being more general and the 2nd being specifically concentrating on IDE's and there own story - not sure may find there is a lot of overlap and end up with one big lit review chapter - my supervisor and myself will consider once we have it in some semblance of order . . .have to wait and see in the interim - I am very pleased to be more or less on target.



The approach I have followed is sort of a reductionist approach - there is so much to cover so keep trying to break it down into ever smaller parts - still not sure the sequence / flow is entirely correct and my criteria needs more work . . . brilliant article by Hristova on the generic errors / misconceptions students make in Java programming anyway . .I'll keep you posted . .

Extensive research - reading reading reading . . . . . read it a number of times - so often you basically know the article when you open it up . . . . this introduces you to the subject - take snippets as you go along . . . . eventually - independently you decide what your chapter should look like - slot what you have into the various categories - my chapter skeleton / outline - then takes shape - and its a matter of classifying everything into one of the identified sections within a chapter. Well that's how I am approaching it at the moment.

I realise now there is just no way I would have been able to cope with the O2 job and still keep on track with my dissertation . . .sad but true - I know I waste time but you can't just work all the time . . .

Anyway off to London this weekend - what did I say you can't just work all the time . . . lol - pushing it a bit - I am taking my notebook and will be working - yes, working whilst down in London - I will lose some time travelling but don't foresee a problem - might be different story last day before I hand in - OH woe is me why did I travel to London - as I say I am on target and have another weekend in August planned as well. Judi is attending a 3 day acupuncture workshop in London - so this is why we are really going down - I'm sort of tagging along and intend (as I said) working - although Sam & I will be out shopping on Sunday whilst Judi is on course - then we plan to have a celebratory barbecue as Sam (my daughter) has just bought a house in Ealing, London - (will save all those mad searches on the Internet for hotels . .lol) so willing be looking forward to seeing her and the house and Hud (her boyfriend) - now Judi no doubt will want my body in the evenings - to stick needles in to me that is - except she doesn't need needles - skilled in the martial arts - she'll be poking her fingers into me no doubt . . . there is only so much a man can take . . .


What else on the go . . . was reading an article describing 'The Political Brain by Drew Westen' For this is no partisan rant of the Michael Moore variety. Westen is a professor of psychology and psychiatry with a specialist's grasp of the science of the mind, not least the cognitive processes by which people absorb information. Through clear, repeatable experiments, rather than focus group hunch or vox pop anecdote, he establishes that "the political brain is an emotional brain". Voters make up their minds not by weighing the competing claims of different parties and deciding which best suits their interests, but by how they feel. They are not "desiccated calculating machines", as Nye Bevan famously cast Hugh Gaitskell, rationally estimating the likely utility for themselves or society by choosing policy A over policy B. Instead, they think with their guts.

Westen's evidence comes from his measuring of the brain activity of people assessing political information. The circuits that are activated are not those associated with logical reasoning but those that regulate emotion. Nor is this confined to the politically unaware or under-educated. Research shows that smart people think with their guts as much as anyone else.



It means that when politicians speak, they trigger a neural network of associations, positive or negative, and these associations owe more to emotion than reason. Indeed, some of these are all but hardwired, the product of thousands of years of evolution. The trick for politicians is to ensure they tap into the positive while associating their opponents with the negative.



More worrying still, Brown could easily be a British version of the Gore of 2000: in command of the facts, correct on all the big strategic questions, yet awkward with people and dull to listen to on TV. Meanwhile, Cameron maps easily on to Bush - a son of great privilege, born with a silver spoon, yet somehow able to present himself as an affable, regular guy.

Well that is probably not everyone's cup of tea . . . . hmmm!


Some photo's I took during the week - prepare yourself for some London photo's next week - might capture those prodding fingers . . .lol

Bowling old harbour

Read about the house - going for a snip in the states -
at £85m - 29 bedrooms - wow

Other links I came across this week:

Water Babies

Hilary Clinton - YouTube1

Hilary Clinton - YouTube2

Nanotechnology

Future of Digital Media

Tickets; Tour de France; Henley; Future of Media; Zimbabwe; Paul McKenna

Listening to: (this is the album cover)
Saint Germain is the stage name of Ludovic Navarre, a French electronica and nu jazz musician. His album Boulevard was released in July 1995 and has sold over 300,000 copies worldwide. His United States debut, Tourist, was released in 2000 and sold 200,000 copies. Bob Marley, Toots and the Maytals, Miles Davis and Kool and the Gang are among Ludovic's early influences. He composed his first work under the name of Sub System with friend Guy Rabiller. He has released EPs under a number of aliases, among them Deep Side, LN's, Modus Vivendi, Nuages and Soofle.

Well Friday was the day for all the tickets to arrive - first the Barcelona Hearts game at Murrayfield on 28 July - looking forward to that - I am on Scottish Rugby Union mailing list and bought the tickets the day they became available £20 concession ticket - Barcelona are one of my favourite teams - Henry as well now - should be interesting. Not long thereafter - a knock on the door - DHL - saw the van as I walked to front door - I asked him if it was the new Harry Potter book (before I saw the envelope) - he said No - and I couldn't work out what it was ??? Opened up the envelope - my Scotland New Zealand - World Cup rugby tickets - so that is 23 September - so lots to look forward to . . . .

Speaking of rugby - South Africa played Australia over the weekend - Hmmm! they led 17 - 10 at half time SA could not add to their score in second half - Australia did though - they won 24 - 17 - a game of two halves guys.

Judi was over for the weekend (hanging out washing . . .) - me I made a curry Sat night we didn't really get up to much just relaxed and chatted and chilled . . .

Some interesting links / things I have come across:
1)
Henley Royal regatta another world ain't it??? . . . lol?

2) The future of Media - makes you think

3) Zimbabwe - Inflation and situation in general have a look at the guys wages . . . unbelievable!

4) Tour de France - interactive guide

5) All in the mind - Paul McKenna

6) Insight - 5 men & a tub - inside the mind of a married man