Monkee

Monkee is the only poster who's posts make me ragingly jealous due to all your motor racing escapades. Damn you!

 

 

It's really not that expensive depending on the track you go to and where you stay. Turkey used to be so cheap (about

Go for it! A guy I know has been doing a Red Bull blog for ages and getting in with the team over the last 2 years via Twitter and stuff and now they've just hired him as web content editor for their website! Persevere and make contacts and you'll get there. I will warn you though, getting to know the sport from the back end does kill the passion a bit and you get to see the horrible side of things as well. Knowing more about the inner workings killed my passion a bit. It used to be a hobby to watch a race but it became too much and I wasn't enjoying it as much any more. It's hard to explain but last year was a bit of a chore for me which is why I'd not really planned on doing a race this year. My passion is coming back but not as much as it used to be. My ambition was to work in F1 somehow - marketing, design or PR - but I'm so glad I'm not there, it's too back-stabbing and political. I prefer to watch from the sidelines.

 

Don't let that put you off though, if that's what you want to do then go for it. If it's what you want then you'll get there

I've done Barcelona, Turkey, Monza and Spa (as well as Silverstone and Australia). I'd definitely recommend Monza and Spa because of the history of both circuits. Monza usually has the weather but, typically, when I was there it was the first time it rained since the 70s. It's still great to see the old banking and stuff though and I skipped Friday practice in favour of taking a trip to Maranello. I saw the Ferrari factory, the Ferrari Museum and Fiorano. Definitely recommended if you 're a Ferrari fan!

 

Spa was great too but it always rains so much. If you're going you should get a grandstand seat. I went GA because it was my 3rd race of the season and I couldn't afford a grandstand seat. The only reason I went was because I had a paddock pass for the Friday so GA seemed worth it. However, there are SO many people there you can't really see much of the track unless you get there as soon as the gates open in the morning. And you also have to make sure you get a spot that's not going to turn into a mudslide later. Seeing Eau Rouge did kinda make up for that a bit though.

 

I've been to the Nurburgring but it wasn't for a GP and it was the Nordschliefe rather than the modern circuit. I'd really like to go for the GP though. The only other circuits I'd like to go to if I had the chance are Singapore and Canada. They always go all out for the Canadian GP with street concerts and stuff. Always seems like such an event there compared to some other places where it seems to just pass the locals by.

It does seem pretty stupid to have a test/reserve driver who can't step up to the plate when required. There are so many talented drivers who'd willingly jump in and do have super licenses but instead the seat went to waste.

 

On a similar note, as much as I used to love Virgin Racing when they first started and they really did give me the most amazing opportunities and experiences I just think they're a joke now. They haven't had any improvements and are rubbish. They started off on a par with HRT but even they've improved compared to Marussia. So disappointed in them.

 

And thanks, it's going a lot slower than I expected. But I'll definitely be there next year! I've missed going to a race this year since they got rid of Turkey. Would love to do Austin though, might save for that one next year.

The only reason she didn't cover for Glock at the last race was because she doesn't have her super license. I guess we'll never know if she'd have made it or not now

I'm in a grump at the moment because I'm meant to be at Silverstone this weekend but had to postpone because of the surgery (slow recovery). I won VIP camping in November but luckily they've been really understanding and have kept it for me for next year instead. I know it's going to be a washout anyway as they've put a red alert on all campsites due to the weather but I'm still jealous of everyone I know who's going.

 

Also, such bad news about Maria de Vilotta. Feel so bad for her and the team.

 

That is absolutely brilliant. Can you tell us a bit more about it? It looks like it could be done on a scratch board? (I could be way off the mark there though). Either way, it

I'm currently advertising for a new assistant and you wouldn't believe how hard it's going! I need someone who's equally got with sub-editing, page layout and design as well as good PowerPoint skills. The majority of the applications that are coming through are for wannabe writers and journalists even though we've specifically highlighted in the advert that it's not a writing role.

 

In my experience a standard 'one-size-fits-all' CV is OK (obviously if you're applying for jobs all in the same field) as long as your cover letter highlights specific skills that match the job description. The ones I've had through have been shocking. Some of cover letters just say "I'm applying for this job, my salary expectations are xxx. Look forward to hearing from you." Basically, your CV should be short and to the point with only relevant details expanded. Don't start off with a personal paragraph unless it's similar to what you've said in your cover letter. Don't put things like "I love going to the football every Saturday" unless maybe you're applying for a football-related job and this would be an advantage to mention. If this is a hobby then just add to a couple of sentences at the end of a CV to maybe make yourself sound a bit interesting.

 

For your cover letter pick aspects out of the job ad they're specifically looking for. If they ask for experience with a certain computer programme then mention that you've used it a lot and maybe give an example of what you used it for. If they ask for a particular attribute (being able to work to deadlines or willing to work weekends) then say this in the cover letter. Keep it to maybe 2 paragraphs and outline the experience you have specific to what they're looking for. The CV will just back this up.

 

I think one of the main pieces of advice from my side is spelling. I had a cover letter that had obviously not been spell checked and, considering it's applying for a sub-editor role, then I immediately binned it. If you can't even be bothered to put a little bit of time and effort into a cover letter and a CV then how is this reflecting on your work ethic?

 

If anyone wants me to have a go at doing your CV then I'm all for this. I did one for someone off here a while back. Not sure it led to any jobs to be honest but I liked doing it. Let me know.

Frankie the Blade gives me a rock-on.

She's real, y'know. I designed the costume for a friend who's a chef.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And not a drawing but I did this last Halloween:

 

 

Ming was not impressed by Eddie Jordan yesterday.

 

Ming and his boyfriend Jeff just cheered me up no end!

They do that on a daily basis for me! Except when Jeffrey gets a bit annoyed with me and pisses on my handbag. Done that twice now.

Butch and Steve's dogs are so cute. I don't like dogs but they're very cute.

 

This is Ming - super RetardoCat:

 

 

 

Got up for a pee around 4am one night and had this staring back at me when I put the bathroom light on. Once I scraped myself off the ceiling he hadn't moved so I got my phone and took a photo.

 

 

And this is Ming and his boyfriend Jeff:

 

Over the last few years my feet have shrunk from an 11 to a 8 and 3/4 so I did not know my size which is why I used to feet measuring equipment at the store which they told me I was a 8 and 3/4.

I don't understand why nobody is questioning this element to the story. I mean, what the fuck? Did you slice your toes off?

Considering his feet grew back to size 11 by the third day he had the trainers, I don't think it needs questioning.

That genuinely made me laugh far more than it should have.Just saying. Carry on.

Murtz, that TW Steel one is gorgeous!

 

I HAVE to wear a watch. I would rather go out of the house commando than without my watch. The only time I don't wear it is when there's water involved (shower/swimming/washing up) or in bed. The one I have now was a leaving gift from my old job. I really like it because it's casual or dressy depending on what else I'm wearing. The only problem with it is you have to catch the face in the light to read the numbers. They're not immediately obvious.

 

Oh, and excuse the veiny hand...

 

 

(It's a Baby-G GMS btw)

Box of Delights in its entirity. Fucking Awesome!

 

I got that for Christmas last year. It was a childhood favourite of my brother and I. I remember it being really scary at the time and it's still got it after alll this time.

I know where she lives

Starchaser: The Legend of Orin

 

Ive not seen this for, oh, 20 years!

 

Animated Star Wars style epic from 1984. Animation looks like the same team behind Bravestarr/He Man with added Kray 1 Spaceship Modelling

 

It starts off horrendously grim, seriously! As cartoons go its a bit adult themed/gory (perhaps best to view before kids letting them watch Nightmares a plenty possible especially the mandroids and so forth)

 

The language is also a bit harsh I think was the first 15 rated cartoon, then revised down to PG with cuts, but has no Region 2 release.

 

Definately worth a watch, it really is! Its comparable to Lensman in quality look and there are obvious similarities., which given source material isnt massively surprising.

 

Lots of big set pieces, some romance, lots of tragedy, some double dealing, some thrills and some regime change.. I rate it a solid 8/10.

 

 

Wow, I remember this being one of my favourite films when I was little. My brother had it on VHS and I watched it all the time. I remember it being something about slaves in a mine who are freed by Orin? I need to track this down.

Just wanted to echo Rockwell's sentiment in case I came across too bitchy or whatever - it's just not my kind of music but the production was really good and didn't sound amateur or anything like that. So yeah...

That sample just sounds like white noise to me. It's a minute and a half of something that sounds like you're sitting on a train and can just about hear the music of the person sitting next to you with the volume turned up too loud.

 

And before someone says "I'd like to see you do something better" - I can't. But that doesn't mean I should stop listening to music or having an opinion. I'd really like to hear what other people have to contribute though.

I finally gave in a got a free upgrade to an iPhone. I hate Apple and have never owned any of their products until now. I've been playing with it for about 5 hours now and I've given myself a headache from staring at the screen too long. Seems cool. I've downloaded some cool apps including a live F1 timing one and a couple of games. I just need to get some sort of rubber cover for it now because knowing me I'll drop it and scratch it in no time.

I had to share my friend's latest blog entry with you all. A colleague just asked if I was ok because I was laughing so much...

 

 

 

 

I should be working right now, but I have extended my dinner hour to do some much needed venting about my Demon Assistant, who is rude, stupid, ear-bleedingly loud and generally annoying. I know that whinging about a colleague online might seem foolhardy, but I suspect that Demon Assistant doesn't know how to read properly, so I think I'm pretty safe.

 

Demon Assistant started working here a couple of months ago. Our office is quiet, so when speaking to each other, we usually speak at "library volume." Demon Assistant prefers "foghorn volume," and so rubs me up the wrong way as soon as she opens her mouth, and that's before she unleashes one of her rude comments (the best being, "I wondered where the bloody hell you'd been!" when I returned from a long meeting during her first week here). *Hnnng*

 

She forever hands me work that she just hasn't thought about. We make a children's magazine, so the activities on the pages need to be clear and easy to follow. Demon Assistant does things like asking an observation question about a picture that's on a completely different page, or something that has no possible right answer, the best one of those being a "noise and sound" activity where you had to number some pictures of objects from 1 to 5 in order of how loud they were. Is a dog louder than a phone? Is a rubber duck quieter than a spanner? Who knows? IT MAKES NO SENSE!

 

By far the most annoying habit, however, is when I give feedback. EVERY time I tell Demon Assistant to change something, or that something is wrong, I get a reply along the lines of, "oh, I thought about doing it that way, but then I wasn't sure," or, "I had it like that before but I changed it." It's just lies. She didn't think about doing it that way, or else she'd have done it that way and it wouldn't be wrong. It's like she just cannot accept that I am right and she is wrong. She even does it when I point out spelling mistakes: "I wrote it like that to start with, I don't know why I changed it." Because you didn't. You are lying to save face. *Hnnng*

 

This particular bad habit led to a rather hilarious conversation on Friday. She had done a page showing the children how to make something, and had listed the dimensions in inches. We then had the following conversation.

 

Me: This needs to be metric.

Demon Assistant: What's metric?

Me: Centimetres, rather than inches.

Demon Assistant: But it's easier to do it in inches. I always work in inches.

Me: Kids don't use inches, they use centimetres. It needs to be metric.

Demon Assistant: But if you're doing something that's 8 inches, then it makes more sense to do it in inches, if it was smaller I'd do it in centimetres, but it's easier in inches with something this size. (At this point she got out a ruler, and demonstrated to me that an inch was indeed bigger than a centimetre.)

Me: *stunned silence*

 

This reasoning, of course, is utter gibberish. Inches and centimetres can both be used to measure things of vastly varying sizes, since they both rely on the ingeniously versatile concept of NUMBERS. Numbers can be big. They can also be small. It's astounding, I know.

 

Anyway, the conversation continued.

 

Me: It doesn't matter how big it is, it has to be measured using the metric system. Kids aren't taught inches at school anymore, some of them won't even know what inches are.

Demon Assistant: REALLY?

Me: Yes. Really. Didn't you learn centimetres at school?

Demon Assistant: No, I was taught to use inches.

Me: Well, we went metric in the UK in the 1970s, so I can pretty much guarantee that you didn't learn to use inches at school. (By now, I could hear my colleague sitting opposite spluttering and laughing behind her monitor)

 

She continued to argue with me until I gave up trying to explain and just resorted to repeating the phrase, "it has to be metric," over and over again until she shut up.

 

Unless she is Amish, or grew up in a commune or on some remote island civilisation where she was schooled by pirates, I can be 100% certain that she was taught to use the metric system at school, since everyone our age in the UK was taught the metric system at school. We went metric in 1975, and the imperial system hasn't been taught as the primary method of measurement since then. And I can be almost 100% sure that she concocted this whole ridiculous argument because she just cannot handle being wrong.

 

Personally, I'd rather be wrong than stupid.

I met Chris Moyles yesterday in Angel. He was outside a pub having a smoke so I just went over, apologised for interrupting and asked if I could have my photo taken with him. I absolutely love the guy but my friend regrets not kicking him while she had the opportunity.

 

I also met Kimi Raikkonen and Jenson Button back last year. Raikkonen was actually very nice despite not being the most personable person in the world and Jenson Button smelled absolutely amazing. I even got a kiss off him.

 

I used to work for Equity, the actors' union, so I met a few people there - Tony Robinson, Richard Wilson, Prunella Scales, etc. And I was an editor for the uni newspaper back in the day so met quite a lot of bands during that time too. Other randoms include Mike Patton, Johnny Knoxville, Justin Lee Collins, Henry Winkler, SOAD, Dr Karl and Steph from Neighbours, etc. etc.

It's called the cibi apparently.

Oh dear, my friend's got one... She just sent me this e-mail:

 

That reminds me, at dinnertime, when we were walking to the shop, I said that I was sick of winter and that I was going to move somewhere hot like Fiji. Louise said, "Ooh, yes. I'm quite good at the haka." FFS. She thinks Fiji is in New Zealand, and it doesn't matter how many times we have this conversation, she STILL thinks Fiji is in New Zealand. She asked me what New Zealand was like once, and I said I'd never been. She said, "But I thought you said you'd been to Fiji." I explained to her then that it was an entirely different country, but she still can't get it into her head. Her reaction today when I reminded her that Fiji wasn't in New Zealand was, "Well, where IS it then?" As though it couldn't possibly be anywhere else.

 

I'm getting irrationally annoyed just remembering it!