ScottIsAFool

Glad I Wasn't Going Anywhere This Evening

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:29:48 GMT

I'm glad I wasn't going anywhere this evening. And yes, this is the same family!

She just parked that close to the back of my car! It's not like she would have been blocking a driveway by being just a bit further back either!

Whilst writing this, I was listening to Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard - Always a Catch

Oh, Come On!

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 17:17:49 GMT

Seriously! How fucking hard is it?! Yes, you are seeing correctly, they have parked on the bloody pavement!

"Ma, where's my hunting gun.?"

Whilst writing this, I was listening to Velvet Revolver - Come On, Come In

My Friend’s New Kitteh

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:54:45 GMT

My friend Lisa has just got herself a new kitten (kitteh ) and I took a few pictures of her that I just wanted to share

Whilst writing this, I was listening to Oasis - 01 Rock 'n' Roll Star

A Twitter Social Experiment

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:01:34 GMT

I’m planning on doing a sort of social experiment with twitter, and would like some people to help me out (hence the social). My experiment is simple: I want to see what kind of tweets people are writing, and by that I mean are they positive tweets, negative tweets, or somewhere in the middle.

So for example, if I were to twitter the following: “Ugh, why can’t developers just release things properly?!”, then this would be classed as a negative tweet. Over a two week period during August, keep a tally of how many tweets you send (or make a note of how many you’ve sent already then take that off how many you’ve sent at the end of the two weeks), and make every time you make a negative tweet, add it to the negative total, and the same for positive and neutral ones. Replies and retweets also count towards this as do blog posts (if you tweet your blog posts).

Once you’ve done your two weeks, email me at scott[at]liveside[dot]net with the subject “Twitter Experiment” so I can collate the results. When emailing me, please include the following information:

Your name
Your twitter name (eg, @scottisafool)
How many tweets were sent
How many of those were positive/negative/neutral (the totals of these should equal the number of tweets sent).
Whether you would like your name to appear in the results

Please feel free to pass this blog post on (or retweet my announcement tweet) to those who might be interested in taking part in this and please try and be as accurate as you can, although I know this is just a bit of fun I would like to get the results for all this done by the middle of September, so if you plan on starting your two weeks after the 17th August, could you please just drop me an email (above) and just let me know, so that I know to wait for your results.

Whilst writing this, I was listening to Aerosmith - Sedona Sunrise

You Must Watch This Film!

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:43:49 GMT

Last night was the night. The night I’ve been waiting for for over a year since seeing some sneaky peek look at some clips (thanks mate you know who you are!) of The Dark Knight. Let me tell you, believe the hype! Forget that some of the hype is probably due to Ledger’s death and no-one wanting to say that his last fully completed film is crap, because Ledger as the Joker is simply breathtaking!

I think what makes his portrayal so good is how naturally he seems to play the role. He does things in the film, pretty bad things, but he does them with almost a cold casualness to them (think the pencil magic trick). For me, it’s also the little things, like the way in which he talks, the way his tongue always seems to be licking his lips (for want of a better description). The other factor is with most actors, no matter how good the performance, you could always look at them and remember other roles they’ve been in (although there are exceptions, Gary Oldman and Jonny Depp being two), but with The Joker, there is only one second in the film, just one second, where you see him without the white face paint, and so all you see through the film is the character, not the actor.

This is truly a great film, with a stunning performance by Heath. Of course there are other great performances in this film other than Ledger’s, but his is the one that really stood out for me.

The other thing I absolutely love from this film is Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack. The Batman Begins soundtrack was pretty good, but this new one for TDK is just so dark it’s brilliant, really captures the film well, and I just can’t get enough of it!

So now I have another wait: for this to come out on Bluray!

Whilst writing this, I was listening to Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard - Why So Serious?

Oops!

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:04:42 GMT

Yesterday I decided my hair needed cutting, it was starting to get unruly! So I got the trusty clippers out and asked Mel to do the honours, down to about a grade 2, something sensible like that. We started, but nothing was really getting cut off, so we lowered the clipper blades, still nothing, lowered more, still nothing, until we were at the shortest it would do. Still nothing. This was on the top of my head, where admittedly, it's at its thinnest. So Mel decided to try at the side: success! Or was it. we still actually had it on the lowest setting and I would have been left with a random patch of no hair if I hadn't then got the rest done to the same length.

So now I look like a convict/crazy ass biker! Oh, and balder than ever

Whilst writing this, I was listening to James - Tomorrow

This Is What I’m On About!

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:57:24 GMT

In some of my tweets on Twitter, you might have seen me complain about how incompetent my neighbours are when it comes to parking. I should iterate at this point, by incompetent, I mean f*cking retarded and can’t park for shit!

So when I got home last night and discovered that the same people have parked like morons again, I decide to show you all what I meant, so I took a couple of pictures (and then stitched them with Windows Live Photo Gallery) and present that to you here (number plates blanked to protect the thick):

Seriously, look how much space there is between each of the cars! What you can’t see very well in the picture is the Astra (red car on the left) is actually parked at an angle!!!! But it's their daughter (green 106) that is the worst at the moment. Seriously, how hard is it to park sensibly and show consideration for the other people who have to park there. I should point out that all three cars (hippy wagon, astra, 106) all belong to the same family, so I’m guessing parking skills is not something this family possesses!

If this continues, then I will having words with them and telling them if they can’t park properly, to park elsewhere!

Whilst writing this, I was listening to Ozzy Osbourne - Perry Mason

Justice?

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:36:56 GMT

Justice: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7441793.stm?

Whilst writing this, I was listening to Girls Aloud - Close To Love

New Indy Film! Yeah!!

Fri, 23 May 2008 14:56:00 GMT

Yesterday was the release of the new Indiana Jones movie, and is the first of my “big four” films that I want to see this year. There’s been a lot of hype surrounding this film, and it’s certainly had its critics panning it. But I don’t [generally] care what an over paid film critic thinks, especially when it concerns one of my favourite film franchises

So needless to say, I was at the cinema last night watching the new Indy film, and I thought it was actually very good. Harrison Ford still did pretty well in the role considering he’s now 64! The only thing I didn’t really like was the ending. I will now talk about the ending, but it will contain spoilers, so if you haven’t seen the film and don’t want to know what happens, don’t read on! You have been warned!

<spoiler>
The thing I didn’t like about the ending was the aliens. I mean come on! Really didn’t like that, and the weird thing is, considering I’m not in the slightest bit religious, I would have much preferred some old legend or religious tale to have been used as the ending as believe it or not, I’d have found it more believable than some typical 1950s looking aliens and a bloody flying saucer (I’m not kidding!!). That really ruined the ending for me at that point. Next time guys, stick with the religious stuff, it kinda makes more sense!
</spoiler>

If you’re an Indy film, I would say you should definitely go see this film, but if you’re an Indy fan, you probably already have seen it

Whilst writing this, I was listening to Girls Aloud - Sexy No No No...

How Is This A Selling Point?

Fri, 23 May 2008 14:44:48 GMT

Over the last few days I’ve been having several problems with my internet and my BT Home Hub that has resulted in several calls to BT’s “Technical Support” (I quote that because they appeared thick as pig shit)! The trouble is that BT’s call centre is situated in India, not in the UK, so you have people trying to be helpful, but where English isn’t their first language, so you try and explain something to them and they just haven’t got a clue!

I was then watching the TV the other night, and an advert came on for a bank and one of the big selling points was “if you call our call centre, you’ll be speaking to someone in this country.” I couldn’t help thinking “how is that a selling point?” Has the situation with call centres got that ridiculous that companies are now offering UK based call centres as a selling point?! I mean, shouldn’t that be a given? I mean let’s face it, if someone in Germany calls a call centre for a German company, they’re not going to get someone in India saying “Guten tag, kann ich innen helfen?” are you! So why should we?

So again, how is something that should be a given become a selling point…?!

Whilst writing this, I was listening to Def Leppard - Love Bites (live)

A Week Of Comedy

Mon, 12 May 2008 13:38:02 GMT

Last week was a good week for me with comedy. It started off with going to London for the Filming of QI for their new F Series. There is a review of the show on the QI Blog which does a good job of summing up the experience. It was great watching it be filmed, just like a 2 hour long episode, which works for me It was also an eye opener as to how much gets cut out of each half hour episode, I knew there were cuts made, just didn’t realise the extent. Having now seen this, I am even more desperate to get tickets for Have I Got News For You.

Next up was the end of the week seeing Paul Merton and his Improv Chums. This was like an extended version of Whose Line Is It Anyway, with the audience giving suggestions for things that the comedians then have to act out. I actually think improvisational comedy is the way to go, certainly if you’re a comedian, because it means each show is fresh, new, and different from the last. I would certainly recommend going and watching Paul Merton and his Improv Chums, or if you live in London, go to the Comedy Store and watch the Comedy Store Players, as this is what they do every Sunday night, as well as other nights during the week. It’s well worth doing!

Whilst writing this, I was listening to Aerosmith - Heart's Done Time

I'm A Wreck!

Sun, 04 May 2008 15:25:59 GMT

It was the last match of the season today for Coventry. We were going into the match in the best position of all the teams in the relegation dog fight. A draw would see us safe no matter what anyone else did. A draw. So naturally Coventry got thumped 4-1 at Charlton, which meant we needed to rely on results of other matches. That is never something you want.

Fortunately, the position we were in at the start of play meant that we only needed one match from about four to go our way (not including our own). And anyone that was following my Twitter throughout the 90 minutes will know what a crazy roller coaster ride that was! It was some real nervy times, and not good for the heart.

With 10 minutes left, Leicester were in the relegation zone, drawing 0-0 with Stoke. One goal. Just one goal is all Leicester needed. If they got that, then City went into the relegation zone, and with our score at 4-1, there was no way we would survive.

All I can say is, I'm glad Leicester have had issues scoring this season (although the reports I heard suggest that they should have had a penalty, boo hoo). The important thing is Coventry survived. Just. I can now get back to repairing all my damaged nerves!

Quite Interesting

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 13:36:04 GMT

Yes, Quite Interesting (QI). Just before I went to the States for the MVP summit, I got a phone call asking if I was still interested in watching QI be recorded; of course I bloody was! So, I am . I will try and make sure I write a blog entry about it afterwards (assuming I can). Should be good, just hope we don’t have anyone crap (like Jo Brand).

Whilst writing this I was listening to Imogen Heap - Can't Take it in

Room With A View (Uh Huh)

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:27:29 GMT

So I’ve been in Seattle this week for the Microsoft MVP Summit, and it’s my last day here, flying back home later this evening. But I thought before I left, I should take a picture of the view from my room, and this is it:

You might need to click through the picture to get the full size (Spaces won’t show it all). The photo was stitched together using Windows Live Photo Gallery, and is a great tool, and free!

No Time To Think

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:49:59 GMT

Recently I’ve been that busy that I’ve had no time to do anything, let alone blog (aside from the odd quick amusing post)! But now I’m enjoying a little bit of time to myself (although not much). So what have I been up to recently? Well, the other week I went and watched Velvet Revolver (pics in the normal place). Was good to see them live again, and always good to see Slash doing what he does best, which always worth watching.

After that I visited my friend Tracey in Bulgaria. Tracey moved over there in January with her job, so was nice to see her again. Bulgaria is a very odd, very different country. It’s the first country I’ve been to where more people don’t speak English than do! We spent the weekend with some of her Bulgarian co-workers (and her only two English co-workers) in some hotel in the middle of nowhere! Which was fair enough. On the Saturday night we had a whole cooked lamb; like the whole thing! Lamb was nice, but I drew the line when they brought out the cooked lamb’s skull and they started picking at the brains, eyes, tongue, etc. I like meat, but not like that!

I got back from Bulgaria a day later than planned due to a cancelled flight (thanks Bulgaria Air!!), I was back at work for two days, then off on holiday again. This time I’m in Seattle for the Microsoft MVP Summit, and currently I’m sat in the lobby of the Westin Seattle Hotel, where I stayed last year.

I will try and blog a bit more, but certain things in my personal life are taking up a bit of my time at the moment (don’t worry, it’s all good!), but I am blogging where I can.

Hilariously Named Restaurant

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 09:45:14 GMT

Ok, it might seem that hilarious to some, but for me, it had me in stitches, especially when I saw the following poster advert for it on a local ferry:

Everything about this ad is funny. For a starter, those who aren’t getting the joke, go here for a definition… I can imagine the question “I fancy eating out at Beavers tonight, do you hun?” Brilliant. Either a pissed off girlfriend, or a very happy chappy .

Then, just to add, “Children Welcome.” Oh really…?

And then you have arguably the worst phrased line ever: “Dogs welcome with their Owners on Leads.” Why, prey tell, do the owners have to be on leads?

Whilst writing this I was listening to Faithless - God Is A DJ

Gotta Laugh At BSOD

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 10:41:14 GMT

I was at Gatwick last night, and one of the arrival screens had me chuckling, see if you can see why

Whilst writing this I was listening to Lenny Kravitz - Uncharted Terrain

Lenny Kravitz

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:19:42 GMT

Last night I was in London with Mike to watch Lenny Kravitz. Lenny is one of those artists that has been on my must see list for quite a while now, so when I saw this one off date (at the time) was announced, I was on it like a rocket. Originally scheduled for February, it got postponed due to Lenny being in hospital with bronchitis (yup, that'll cancel a gig!).

The venue was an awesome little place, the Koko Club in Camden Town, and was just this great, intimate little place; even if stood at the back, you were only about 60 yards from the stage. Mike and I got there early, so were quite close to the front anyway (about 10 yards), which was cool. He was on for about 90 minutes and rocked the place. There was even time for a random rant about avoiding the government and big corporations, which is kinda strange, cos the gig was sponsored by sony-ericsson, but hey, what do I know...

Pics are up in the usual place.

Whilst writing this I was listening to Foo Fighters - Band On The Run

Rich Hall

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:14:12 GMT

Last Saturday, a group of us went to the Tivoli theatre in Wimborne to watch Rich Hall, an American comedian. You might know who he is if you watch QI on BBC 2 or Dave, he has a very dry wit, which is perfect sort of humour for me.

He did two different halves of the show, the first half was as himself, just doing normal stand up; the second half was as his "Uncle" Otis Lee Crenshaw which is him doing some songs, but with a comedic edge to them, like "Do Anything To The Girl, Just Don't Hurt Me".

As with most comedic gigs, you very rarely remember some of the things that have been said, which is a shame cos usually they could be just the thing to cheer you up sometimes, but hey ho.

This gig actually kicked off what is my busy, busy schedule of gigs that I have coming over the next 4 months, and it was a good way to start .

Whilst writing this I was listening to Lenny Kravitz - Fly Away (Acoustic)

Interview On Live In Europe

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:34:05 GMT

This is another one of those "honest g'vnor, I planned to post this last week" posts...

I was recently asked by the Live In Europe blog if I fancied doing an interview with them. Sure, sounded good to me. Live In Europe is a blog run by some Windows Live marketing guys in Europe (all self explanatory really).

Anyway, you can read the interview which is now posted up there. In it, I talk about Windows Live, developing for Windows Live, and Windows Live Writer and about being a Platform MVP. It's not gonna reveal any in depth secrets about me I'm afraid, but you do find where I got the ideas for some of my plugins .

Whilst writing this I was listening to The Beatles - Can't Buy Me Love

Photo Album: Def Leppard - Whitesnake

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:06:48 GMT

Def Leppard - Whitesnake

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Photo Album: Bon Jovi 08

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:10:15 GMT

Bon Jovi 08

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Photo Album: Foo Fighters 08

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:03:38 GMT

Foo Fighters 08

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Photo Album: Girls Aloud

Sun, 18 May 2008 13:42:47 GMT

Girls Aloud

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Photo Album: Matchbox 20

Fri, 02 May 2008 10:26:38 GMT

Matchbox 20

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Photo Album: Craig's 24th

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:07:14 GMT

Craig's 24th

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Photo Album: MVP Summit 2008

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:48:21 GMT

MVP Summit 2008

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Photo Album: Velvet Revolver 08

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:09:51 GMT

Velvet Revolver 08

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Photo Album: Combe Martin Wildlife and Dinosaur Park

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:58:07 GMT

Combe Martin Wildlife and Dinosaur Park

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Photo Album: Lenny Kravitz

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:12:28 GMT

Lenny Kravitz

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Photo Album: 080120 - Tracey's Last Night in Notts

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:56:52 GMT

080120 - Tracey's Last Night in Notts

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