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Archive for the 'random' tag
Crazy magical sex? Yes please and some rather personal thoughts…
Well the title is a bit weird but it will make sense. This blog is about three things, thirdly the headline crazy magical sex and how awesome I think it would be, secondly the lyrics to a song and how they speak to me but first it is about how a music video can at times influence what you think about a song.
Yesterday morning I was up at some stupid hour and before clubland.tv went off the air for two hours of teleshopping at 6AM, the last song played was one I hadn't heard yet. It was by an American House DJ known as 3LAU and the song was called 'How you love me' and it was certainly catchy. However the video was one of the most intriguing I've seen for a long, long time. You can watch it below:
It is about a young lady telling her boyfriend that she is ready for sex, then the young lady in question has some rather crazy (and seemingly awesome) magical powers and they have a good time. He then sneaks off to go with another girl but before he escapes he makes the epic fail of a) leaving his phone behind and b) not getting out of there without waking up super hot magical powers sex girl.
Just a quick note here – the woman he's going to meet is nowhere near as attractive as the girl he's trying to sneak away from.
So anyway using her magical powers she knows what he is up to, then she magically tries to choke him (kinky) and then uses her rather large teddy bear collection to attack him before giving her big teddy evil life and then the evil teddy does something rather bad to our male lead who thought he was just going to have his cake and eat it with two women. The ending is left rather ambiguous, has he been turned into a teddy? Is that why she has a large teddy collection? Is this why my friend Emma has a large teddy collection, are they there to attack any men who try to play her for a fool? Many unanswered questions but the video is basically just flat out cool and whilst the song itself is very catchy and certainly worthy of a spot on my YouTube dance mix and my iPod the next time I go to update it, the video adds to the song.
Now on to the lyrics:
Nobody's perfect I'll never try,
But I promise I'm worth it if you just open up your eyes,
I don't need a second chance,
I need a friend,
Someone who's gon' stand by me right there till the end,
If you want the best of my heart, you've just gotta see the good in me.
Cause I could be the rain in your desert sky,
I could be the fire in your darkest night,
I could be your curse or your angel,
It's all in how you love me.
I could be your sun when it's cold outside,
I could be your rock when there's nowhere to hide,
I could be your curse or your angel,
It's all in how you love me.
It's How You Love Me.
You get what you give, that's the simple truth.
So, just lend me your hand and I'll give you someone to hold onto.
I don't need a second chance,
I need a friend,
Someone who's gon' stand by me right there till the end,
If you want the best of my heart, you've just gotta see the good in me.
Cause I could be the rain in your desert sky,
I could be the fire in your darkest night,
I could be your curse or your angel,
It's all in how you love me.
I could be your sun when it's cold outside,
I could be your rock when there's nowhere to hide,
I could be your curse or your angel,
It's all in how you love me.
It's How You Love Me.
Yes. Nobody is perfect and that is something I have long come to terms with. There is no Sabrina/Harvey stone in two halves that create a perfect whole. Not to delve too deeply into my private life but sometimes I sit here (or somewhere else – I think in many places – I also think laying down and walking) about what I want in a partner. On one hand you want the fireworks, the insane chemistry and pure lust but then you also want the person that you can see being a life partner, who could be the friend who'll stand by me right until the very end and who can be the yin to my yang who I can share my life with. I suspect what it comes down to is finding the person who is the best mix of the two. Movies make it seem like the former is the all important whereas maybe the latter is the key. Who knows. I suppose that is all part of the individual journey of life that we all undertake.
I have in essence been single for all of my 31 years and you get to a point where letting someone into your life is actually a big deal. I can't speak for other long-term singletons but I can speak for myself when I say you just get used to the lifestyle. I suspect it is the same the other way round, those who have spent most (if not all) of their teenage and adult life in relationships are scared to a degree about single life. Potentially jumping into a relationship would for me be to some degree scary because it is out of my comfort zone. Being single is what I'm used to but then on the other hand the rewards far outweigh the risks and what if there is potential for something awesome and magical out there?
I am starting to find my, I won't say MoJo but I will say maybe my desire to actually test those potential waters. I am still shy and awkward (more awkward than shy these days though) and I am positively naive in so many things on this front. Everyone learns it when young and I never did. My knowledge on romance, how to deal with potential romance, dating etc. is so miliscule that you could fit it on the back of a postage stamp, but for the first time in a long while I think I'm ready to allow myself to get hurt if that is what has to happen. Maybe it is time to try to not only hit the Home Run but to actually step up to the plate to be in a position to hit the Home Run even though the chances of striking out are abundant.
What this all means I'll leave to the reader to decide but there have been changes in my life recently away from personal stuff that has freed me somewhat and to some degree focused my mind on what I want and what I see me getting from this whole journey of life. Whilst just bumbling along content with life has been fine and dandy, maybe I actually yearn for more and maybe despite my protestations, maybe I actually want to find someone with whom to share my life. I've always said I'm comfortable with the single life (and I am) but does comfortable equate to actual happiness? Seeing my sister so happy at her wedding was such an eye opener. It truly was.
Wow. I did not see me typing this when I woke up this morning. I certainly did think to myself how much I wished I still kept my LiveJournal where I could be more open and frank but this is a very public blog so I have to tippy-toe around certain issues.
To end with though lets circle back to the music video and the first few words of the headline. If anyone has magical powers and wants crazy magical sex then I could probably have my interest piqued by that proposal. I'm pretty open minded but bringing a teddy bear to life with an evil conscious is something that I'd at least take a double take over and I don't want any woman (no matter how crazy hot and magical she may be) ever bring my Care Bears to life. They know too much and have the dirt on me.
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My story of being Catfished…
Ah catfishing. For those of you who don't have any idea what catfishing is then here is the word catfish as described by the urban dictionary, 'A catfish is someone who pretends to be someone they're not using Facebook or other social media to create false identities, particularly to pursue deceptive online romances.' It came about because of a documentary someone made about someone on the internet and has spawned a successful TV show, although so far in season three it must be said it has been darker than the previous two season's.
Last night we saw an episode where someone created a fake profile and promptly killed them off and it took me back to something that happened 18 months ago to me and having done some digging today I think it is time to write about it freely and openly.
There is a TV show called The Newsroom which is pretty fantastic. I would tweet about it whilst watching it and a friend of mine (who definitely does exist for I have met her despite her living in the US of A) also watched the show. She then introduced me to one of the characters on twitter, for fans of the show actually created twitter handles of characters of the show and would commentate on the show and real world events as these characters. Bit weird but all a bit of fun.
Anyway I was then introduced by both my friend and one of the characters to another women and we started to communicate. I wouldn't say anything romantic but we just talked about each others lives. She was portraying a character from the show (albeit one that was never seen on screen) but we weren't communicating with her in that character. Reading that back it sounds weird but heck, even at the time I found it weird but I have communicated with many a random person on the interwebs in the past 15 odd years so I just rolled with it.
Over the next few months we'd communicate more and started to move away from twitter to e-mail. Then suddenly everything went silent and that as they say was that. I thought it was strange but I suspected that real life events had become more interesting and thus she had decided to neglect random people on the interwebs. Makes sense to me and her account just stopped tweeting. Several weeks later she DM'ed me and told me that she had been in hospital. She had suffered from complications of the flu outbreak that had hit Florida. We picked up our communications again for another few weeks and then once more everything went silent.
As this had happened before I didn't think too much of it and then one day I noticed her DM's had disappeared from my TweetDeck. Her account had been deleted and that was that. Again I didn't actually think too much of it and the year carried on before suddenly on Christmas Day I got a DM from the character from the TV show that had introduced us informing me that she had died due to complications from her initial bout of the flu. I was confused but something didn't add up so I did some investigating.
I had her e-mail address and decided to do a google search the username in her e-mail and I found another twitter account, girl with the same name, looked very similar, so I looked through the people she followed and followed her and I found the same mutual character from the TV show. Weird I thought. Very weird. At this point I suspected that she had not in fact passed on so I did a search for death records in her state for her name – no-one of that name had passed away in 2013. At this point I heavily suspected that she was still alive but was trying to work out who or why I was informed of her 'death'
Well I just consigned it to history in my head until last night's episode of Catfish re-awoke my intrigue in the story. I saw her second twitter account had disappeared so I went on to the character's following list and searched for her name and bingo – I found another account with a new twitter handle and this time it wasn't locked. I could see that whilst it was quiet – it was certainly active.
Whilst writing this I just did a google for her name and the state she lived in and I found another twitter handle, which is her, this time the twitter header is a photo of her/someone is high heels and handcuffs dangling off her/someone's ankle – surely I'm the kind of guy she'd want to know if that is what she is into? Having just read the tweets on that account and seen photos – I can confirm I am exactly the type of guy she'd want to know, makes this all the more bizarre.
So yeah, I have no idea who this person actually is. I think the name is accurate and the state she lives in. If she decided that our friendship wasn't something she wanted to continue with that disappearing without a trace was fine but what was with the message that she died from our mutual contact, what the hell was that all about? Unless she has created several new accounts since she passed on then she is most certainly still living. I haven't decided to message any of these accounts for answers and just thought I'd write a blog about it, it is weird and makes very little sense, but on the other hand it is both interesting and perplexing.
If she ever reads this and wants to rise from the dead and tell me the story then I'd be fascinated to hear all about it. If not, well, it has given a few people an interesting story to read.
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16 long hours without the internet – I somehow didn't cry
In the early minutes of Sunday morning I was laying in bed and doing what I often do, I leaned over and picked up the iPad to look something up and my internet wasn't working. So I got out of bed and rebooted the modem. I got back into bed and the internet still wasn't working. Cue panic. Mass panic.
The next four hours (remember I had already gone to bed before this has all started) were spent trying to work out what was stopping my internet from working. You see I'm kinda, ever so slightly, you know, possibly, at a push…addicted to the internet. Not only that I work in websites and I work from home. No internet access means no ability to work. The ability to work is pretty important when it comes to my bank balance. Seriously I was not amused.
At around half two in the morning I picked up my phone and there was no dial tone. Cue even more epic panic. If there was a fault with the line then I knew I could be out of commission for a while. I eventually gave up and fell asleep. I woke up at around eight and heard my neighbour was already awake so went and asked her if her phone line was working. She checked and there was no dial tone. Cue relief on one hand knowing whatever fault was not just on my line but also a small bit of panic as my backup plan of using her wireless internet was also up the swanny.
So I used my 3G on my phone and searched twitter for 'sky broadband' and I breathed a huge sigh of relief as I saw lots of people complaining that their internet was down in my local area. I checked Sky's Help Team's twitter account and it confirmed an outage that spread all across Essex and East Anglia. I knew it a large number of people were without internet and phone services that they first of all knew all about it and secondly that they would be attempting to fix it.
I went out and came down around midday and still no internet, I watched some TV, still no internet, went on the exercise bike and still no blinking internet and then after I finished my second 45 minutes on the bike (I watched the footy and took a break a Half Time for a drink) I was walking to my shower and saw the fourth light on my modem lit up, the internet, it lived, it lived again!
All in all I was without the internet for 16 hours. This should not cause the deep-rooted panic within me that it did. I think the mitigating circumstances of I work from home and in websites was a large part of the panic (I know it was a Sunday but I do plenty of work on Sunday's) and if it was a problem with my phone line individually (or the line coming into this block) then I know from experience that these things can take a significant time to be fixed. Still after saying all of that, I should not be completely freaking out about not being able to go online.
The thing is, I suspect I'm not alone. I have been using the internet daily for pretty much 15 years. These days I have so many devices connected to the internet that whilst I can't go online from the shower, I can pretty much be online doing anything else. Even when I'm cooking I take the iPad into the kitchen and stick on YouTube or Sky Go to watch/listen to something whilst I cook. The first thing I do in the morning is reach for the iPad to check my e-mails, then check the news, twitter et al.
I survived 16 hours without the internet but it reinforced just how reliant I am on it just to function. It is deeply concerning. With that I shall commit this blog post to the internet and go and watch an episode of The Apprentice from YouTube on my iPad that I have connected to Apple TV so I can watch it on the big screen. Technology folks. When I eventually join the world of being a home owner I wonder just what I'll do but I can assure you of this – I suspect I'll have one or two gadgets and I certainly want to be able to turn the heating on from my smartphone.
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The autumn is descending and the Neil starts reverting to type. The lesser spotted Neil (that blimin' spot is still fighting for life on my chin – come on just die and let the beautiful pink skin win already) is a creature of habit. When the nights draw in and the sporting seasons get going then he's rarely to be seen socially unless you happen to catch him between the apartment and a local takeaway establishment.
Unlike previous years this year the Neil has invested in fibre optic broadband and that has led to even more options for him to watch. With an iPad purchased coupled with an Apple TV box the odds of him not spending the whole of his weekend camped either on his chair by the PC watching sport or lounged across one of the sofas doing exactly the same is shall we say low.
People who have lived with the Neil will know all about this. On Sunday's (and to a slightly lesser extent Saturday's) it was known for him not to be seen at all bar forages to the fridge for a cold can of Cherry Coke. A common occurrence used to be doorbell ringing at some point on a Sunday evening and for a bemused housemate to answer it and see a takeaway delivery man or woman standing there. Luckily the housemates knew what this was and a shout upstairs would see the Neil sprint out of his room and bound down the stairs to pay for said food before swishing into the kitchen to pick up a bowl and a spoon before making his way back upstairs to dish out his dinner.
You see the Neil has an issue. That issue is he has no spare time on a Sunday from September through to the Superbowl in February. Yesterday it was noted that he made and ate his dinner during the build up to the Formula 1 as he realised that was the only time he had in the day to make dinner without missing some sporting action unless he wanted to eat dinner at around half past midnight.
We are lucky enough to have been given an insight into how the Neil spent his Sunday…
He was first seen at around 11 o'clock where upon he read his e-mails and read the Sunday papers. He then checked his fantasy baseball team and planned for the big final next week. At just gone midday he remembered the Grand Prix was on and quickly realised about a timing issue that he had. He made dinner just in time for the F1 to start but 25 minutes into the race he switched the F1 to the PC and put the football on the TV. He then remembered the Dundee United v Motherwell math was on BT Sport so put that on his iPad (there is a fellow Neil who follows DU but this Neil has been known to miss occasional sporting events to spend time with his wife – our Neil doesn't have this option).
By 6PM the football was finished but then the NFL was on – a double header. However the live games did not grab the attention of our subject and whilst he put it on he was playing around on YouTube. Throughout the day the Neil was getting messages from a friend of his who was catching up on a week of Masterchef Australia and passing on her opinions. Come 7PM the latest episode was on TV and the Neil dipped out of sport to watch MCA and because of the terrible NFL games he would also watch The X Factor. At 9PM he returned to the NFL for the rest of the night but used the end of the early games to put his laundry on and then half-time to put his own clean laundry on his clothes horse. At the end of the day he filed some work but decided to record the early morning NFL game.
This is a rare insight to how the Neil lives. Some would say he needs a life and some would say he is living the dream. The one thing we know is that he spent nearly ten minutes trying to work out if he had had a shower that day and after the sniff test realised that he had not.
On the Saturday there was an early EPL game then at three there was Soccer Saturday coupled with a choice of live games via the fibre optic broadband route before the late EPL game. Due to TV regions the Neil was unable to watch the Penn State game live in the evening so spent it watching old Law & Order episodes.
Welcome to the life of Neil – not exactly the life of Riley but interesting all the same…
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Neil makes homemade burgers. Were they a success? Lets review the evidence…
Last week I was sitting at this very PC talking to the only person from my first secondary school that I still speak to on a regular basis. We were doing one of the things we always do – discuss food. She was having Steak that night. I sure as hell wasn't. I had some mince that I had to use and said I'd pop over the shop and get a jar of curry or chilli and make a simple curry or chilli. She said I should make burgers. I deliberated on this and then thought about it a bit after looking up burger recipes. I thought I could actually do this.
I had no eggs but she assured me that wasn't a problem. Good I thought as I hate eggs and the smell makes me gag. I had onions, bread and thought I could empty the remains of a Jack Daniels Sauce bottle in. Ok I thought. I'm going to do this. So I went to the kitchen and the first problem was I didn't have a mixing bowl so how on Earth was I going to mix the ingredients? So I opened the cupboard and lo and behold I had a mixing bowl. I don't ever remember buying a mixing bowl but there it was. I suspect this is down to a former housemate who when I moved out of that place went shopping with me and told me all the things I needed to buy and just put them in the trolley. I assume this is where I got the mixing bowl.
So hurray. A mixing bowl. So I dumped in the mince and the onions and then my very roughly chopped breadcrumbs/large bits of bread before emptying the JD sauce bottle and seasoned with salt and ground black pepper. Then I mixed it all up. So far so good. I separated the mixture into five patties and put them in the fridge to chill. Now we get a problem. I was going to grill my burgers on the George Foreman but guess who had cleaned the grill but left the bits in the sink with a tap dripping? Yes that's right. Me. Now I could of course wipe dry the grill bits but I didn't. I made a late decision to shallow fry the burgers. This would be problematic.
So I shallow fry the burgers and put them in bread (I had no burger buns and cba to go and get any) and tucked into my burgers. They tasted ok but the insides of the burgers weren't cooked properly and were pink. I thought to myself that it was fine and carried on but then Googled it and homemade burger patties that aren't cooked properly can result in what they call 'Hamburger disease' or as scientists call it Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7. It is pretty bad. So I spent two to three days waiting for the food poisoning but happily it never came. I ate the rest of the burgers having grilled them thoroughly and they were cooked through fine.
As for the overall meal. Meh they were edible burgers but most certainly not anything to write home about. Too much onion and needed more seasoning and maybe some herbs. Would I try it again? Sure but next time I would actually plan it. The biggest moral of the story is I haven't died and therefore no-one should feel any guilt over my potential death for suggesting I should make burgers…
Here is the photographic evidence:
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Disney has sexed up Brave star Merida but at what cost to young minds?
'Individuality in people is what makes them beautiful'
Words of a very special young man, oh wait, no, scratch that, I said those words this morning. You see I was speaking (well typing) in response to the petition surrounding the 'glammed up' version of Merida by Disney as they have made her look more 'beautiful' as they prepare her for the US market. They clearly think that by making her look more sexual then they'll sell more products but isn't this yet again an attempt by a big money corporation to follow the dollar instead of standing up for what is right?
The creator of Merida – the star of the film Brave – is unhappy with the new version of her character. Speaking in The Guardian she said the following:
"The redesign of Merida in advance of her official induction to the Disney Princess collection does a tremendous disservice to the millions of children for whom Merida is an empowering role model who speaks to girls' capacity to be change agents in the world rather than just trophies to be admired. Moreover, by making her skinnier, sexier and more mature in appearance, you are sending a message to girls that the original, realistic, teenage-appearing version of Merida is inferior; that for girls and women to have value – to be recognised as true princesses – they must conform to a narrow definition of beauty."
By jove she has a point. Now I'm a man so did not face half the issues that women – and in particular young women face as they grow up. Still I see all the magazines and read all the stories (ok that is a lie, I don't but I know they exist). I know that we are spoon fed by the media what to look for in role models and alas looks is right up there. I was standing in the shower earlier working through this blog post in my head (yes this is the type of thing that I do) and I wondered to myself if we asked 1,000 teenage girls and 1,000 teenage men who they would aspire to be like (and for the men would like to share dinner with) – either Dame Helen Mirren or Kelly Brook who would get the most votes amongst both genders?
I think it is safe to say the vast majority of teenage men would be hot blooded and say Kelly Brook but I also fear that an albeit smaller majority of women would prefer to be like Kelly Brook than Dame Helen Mirren. This depresses me. The tabloid media will follow Kelly Brook's (or anyone else of that ilk) every move so they can show a photo of her in an attempt to boost sales. Good looking women sell copies but photos of a respected, Oscar winning actress would not.
Michelle Obama is the most known First Lady of all time I suspect and is it a coincidence that she is the most glam? I had Carla Bruni shoved down my throat in both the written and broadcast media when she was the wife of the French President but I had to go and search for the name of her successor in that position. Valérie Trierweiler is her name for the record. Whilst I don't begrudge the media presence of Michelle Obama as she clearly uses her position to further many great causes – it says a lot that other First Lady's have done just as much good which were not as widely recognised due to being less in the media spotlight.
The media and society have a view on what is beautiful and they try to promote people who fall into that venn diagram of who they believe is beautiful. The media do this to make money (similar to what Disney have done with Merida) and society gets dragged along with it. You ask anyone who they think is the most beautiful person and they'll say their partner if they have one and then if you say ignore their partner they'll pick out someone famous. However they won't all name the same person, in fact quite the opposite, if you asked 1,000 men and 1,000 women who they thought the most beautiful famous person was and I'm willing to bet we'll get at least 100 names for both men and women.
You see the thing is we all look for something different and see beauty in an unending number of ways. If someone asked me what I thought makes someone beautiful then I would struggle to answer. This is just this je ne sais quoi that some people have and some people don't in my eyes. There is no one thing that I could hang my hat on and say 'that is something all beautiful people have' because I just don't think there is that one thing.
I would love to live in a world where beauty isn't dictated by society or the media. I know as we all get older we start to see this for ourselves but when you are young and impressionable you don't see this. When I was a teenager I saw what the media dictated as the most eligible bachelors – David Beckham and Jamie Redknapp – marry two pop stars. Every young women (ok not every young woman, that is a lie) but the amount of young women who wanted to be pop stars increased with this because they thought that is what eligible bachelors go for. A lot (although not as many as some in society would claim) of young women would like to be a footballers wife. Is this really an aspiration we want to pass on?
The best way to tackle this is to promote individuality as beauty. If young people can see that beauty is not just want society tells us it is then they would start to feel less pressure to conform to what society wants them to be. We are all different. This is what makes us a wondrous race. I'm lucky that I have reached a stage where I am comfortable in my own skin but heck in my teens and early 20s I had so much disdain for how my looked it was insane looking back.
If I had my way then schools would promote individuality far more than they do. In our education system you aren't prepared for the real world. Instead you are forced into a mould to achieve the best possible exam results for both yourself and in turn your school. However whilst being academically successful is important, so is the process of discovering who we are and how we can be the best person we can be. I think our education system fails on this and is one thing I'd love to change. The more young people are allowed to explore themselves the more tolerant we would be and the more comfortable we would be with ourselves and others – no matter how different we were.
Back to the original point the petition is here and if you believe that young women need a vaster array of role models then I would implore you to sign. I don't blame Disney for what they did because they are just trying to maximise their revenues but I am disappointed by it. They don't have an obligation to any section of society but it would be nice to see them promote a larger selection of role models and not just do what they think is best for them in the short term profits wise.
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One second can change your life – Zebra Crossing (near) accident edition
Life can be a bit fickle can't it? In the blink of an eye everything can change not only for you but also for many others. One small thing can lead to giant consequences and life altering situations. One of those situations happened to me today and to be frank I'm relatively lucky not to be in a hospital right now, at best.
Many years ago (2000 or so) I should have died on a zebra crossing. There were four lanes of traffic and the green man was all lit up and I was walking across. In lane three there was a double decker bus and therefore i could not see what was coming in lane four but with the green man all lit up I didn't exactly worry but as I stepped into lane four a speeding car whooshed through. I was already a step inside the lane and I saw and heard it and put on the emergency breaks but as I did so my momentum was still travelling forward and my upper body kinda hovered over the car and then when it passed my feet moved to stop me falling into the road. It was most surreal and my phone went but seconds later and I remember answering it, 'I should be dead.'
It showed me how one second can indeed change your life. Had I been one second earlier then the likelihood is I wouldn't have taken another breath as that car was travelling easily at 40+ just going straight through the red light. Well today a similar situation arose. I have had instances where cars have just gone through zebra crossings before – even when I've been on them but this one was different – this one I managed to clock the driver and noticing that she wasn't looking at the road saved me at best a trip to A&E and who knows what else.
Outside my apartment is a zebra crossing and I was off into town to do some food shopping. To my right a car was turning and to my left three cars were coming and they all decided not to stop for the person on the zebra crossing. The traffic to my left had stopped and I went to walk across the road. Then I flicked back to my right and there was another car and it wasn't slowing down and I managed to glance directly at the driver. She wasn't looking at the road. She was looking down the Broadway either at the car that had just turned left or the parade of shops. She had no idea I was there just starting to walk in front of her.
Luckily I had clocked this and I only took one step before stopping and letting her swish by. As she went by she finally swiveled her head back towards the road and still she didn't see me with essentially half a foot out in the road. I'm perfectly fine but it made me think that by her not looking at the road/ahead for just a second or two it could have led to her life being dramatically altered as well as mine. I was lucky I noticed she hadn't noticed me. She was coming from a long way away and had she been looking forward there is no doubt she would've seen me and had ample time to just cruise up to the zebra crossing and let me cross. Instead she was travelling at a good 30-40 and not looking at where she was going.
Just goes to show that small, what seemingly are inconsequential decisions, could lead to rather dramatic consequences.
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If I could go back to (insert date here) would I…?
It is a question I often ask myself when laying in bed or sitting on the throne, if I could go back to (and then I think some random date) would I go back and I ponder how happy I was at that time compared to how I am now etc. Well in the interests of a blog post I thought I'd look back at how I was at the end of April every year for the past ten years and see if I'd go back to that time or not.
Note: Obviously I'd go back in time and just before the huge EuroMillions jackpots were drawn go back and play the winning numbers so lets ignore that.
2003. I would have been coming towards the end of my first year at university in Farnham. I was happy where I lived and had made some pretty good friends. University was going along ok and I was cruising towards passing the first year. At this point in 2003 I had actually had a few dates with someone (cue SitCom studio audience going 'ooooo') but it would not go any further due to her meeting someone else (ahhhh) but I had just witnessed Pompey winning the league so that was good. Would I swap 2013 for 2003? Maybe I would but only because I would like another crack at the whole uni thing.
2004. I would be just days away from doing Jury Duty and I genuinely enjoyed that. I would be just a couple of days away from handing in my final assignment of my second year so I'm probably sitting at my PC trying to string together 3,000 words of cohesive text about some rubbish. No love interests at this point in 2004 and that I fear will become a recurring theme as I rack my brains. I'd swap 2013 for 2004 only because of Jury Duty and I'd be set for my last summer with my IoW based friends before never returning there on a full-time basis, which still shocks me now.
2005. At this point I was arguably at my most lost throughout this blog post. I was coming to the end of my degree and had fallen out of love with Journalism. I had no idea what the future held and the real world was actually pretty scary certainly when it became clear that I would not be able to move back to the IoW. No love interests at this point and certainly no reason to swap 2013 for 2005.
2006. I was lost in 2005 but by 2006 I had found myself. Volunteering in a charity shop had given me a large self-esteem boost and more of a purpose. At this point I had very few friends that I would actually see though and this I suspect was the start of my more reclusive nature socially. I didn't really know where my life was going at this point but I was more comfortable with the journey. Wouldn't swap 2013 for 2006 though despite being relatively happy at this point.
2007. Bizarrely enough despite being unemployed at this point in 2007 I was immensely positive that something good was just around the corner. I had got down to the final two for a job at The Sun which strangely enough a friend of mine actually does these days. Knowing that a large company like that could have some interest in me I felt positive something good was around the corner career wise. However yet again I wouldn't swap 2013 for 2007. Notice no love (or potential love) interest since 2003, that has to change shortly right? Err…
2008. All change please. All change! Well for the fifth consecutive year on April 29 I was living in a different place and this time I had an exciting job to go with it. Hurrah! I was living in Aldershot working as a Sports Editor (right up my street) and was more than comfortable with my home situation. Smallest double bedroom ever but heck cheap rent, Sky TV and good housemates. Yep good times. However the job whilst being great on paper had one or two drawbacks, mainly stemming from essentially working solo on a project and having no one to bounce any ideas or just talk sport with in my office. When you work in an office full of people who genuinely dislike you then you struggle to stay motivated. Pompey are about to win the FA Cup but that is still a surreal day in my memory and not the exciting one I would have imagined it would be as a kid. Would I swap 2013 for 2008? Possibly but only because I have learned so much since then that I could make a bigger success of that project than I did.
2009. No more Sports Editor for Neil as I had moved on to become part of the SEO team at a well known company on a contractor basis. Still living in the same place and still happy with that situation although I was looking to move solely because I now worked from home and needed space for a PC etc… Still no love interests. What was April doing to me through the years? Had some good times though around this point and was pretty contented however I would not swap 2013 for 2009.
2010. In a stunner I had moved back home for a few months to save some dollary-do's as it were. I was still working in the same position and low rent and no bills really does help your bank balance. Living back in an area where you don't really know anyone my social life went to the dogs again. I doubt I'd swap 2013 for 2010 though.
2011. So I'd moved out again and into my own place where I still currently reside. Same employment situation but now I had finally thrown my hat into the ring and just joined the Liberal Democrats. I would be three weeks away from writing the blog post that announced this blog to a wider audience. However I see nothing of too much value or interest happening in my life at this point in 2011 so no swapping here.
2012. This was not a good time in my life. My dad had just passed away and I was fighting an election campaign that deep down I just wanted to get out of because my head was elsewhere. This is the biggest no to swapping years that I have come across on this little journey to how I saw life on this (or around this) date in the past ten years. I'd hate to go back to where I was at this point last year.
So in the ten years the only years I'd think about going back to would be the first two uni years as I wish I had made more of that experience and possibly 2008 as knowing what I know now I am pretty sure that I could have made that project far more of a success (and I have more self-confidence now than I did then) so instead of just seething at certain things I'd face them head-on and hopefully be able to change the direction that the project was heading in.
In those ten years from 2003 through 2012 there was just the one occasion (2003) where there was something going on in my personal life and in all honesty that had finished but I wasn't aware of this at the time. April has not been a great month for my personal life (although as we all know no month has really been a stream of successes) but for the record I think December/January can hold the claim for best month on this front with both of them laying claim to three years where I've had some form of interest on that front in the past ten years.
What I think this shows is in the main I wouldn't like to go back in time although I wouldn't mind giving uni another go around and that project from mid 2007-early 2009 could have been so much better but such is life. On April 29 from 2003 to 2012 I lived at seven different addresses (although one of them was twice in two different stints) so I have gotten around a bit on that front but I have actually stayed put at my current location for just under three years now.
So all in all for this addition of 'If I could go back to…would I?' I think in general I'd say no, no I wouldn't.
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I became a man and I liked it…
Ok there are some things that if you don't actually know me that you need to know. Firstly that I adore takeaway food but hate eating in restaurants. Secondly I still prefer jogging bottoms to jeans (although I have learnt that jogging bottoms should not be seen at any social occasion or even just walking to the shops). Thirdly that I fully believe Sky+ is my most beloved gadget and I fully wonder how we lived before it got invented. Fourthly I have Care Bears and lastly and possibly most obviously I am in no way an alpha male nor manly in any of the traditional ways.
If you know me well you'll know all this but whilst I couldn't care less about owning all the ten original Care Bears (there is a legitimate back story behind this) the fact that I'm not manly still at times leaves me a little bit uncomfortable. Society still expects a man to be able to fix things when they go wrong and not have to call someone in. So we get to the tale of the past few days…
Neil v the blocked sinks
Yeah…my bathroom sink has been blocked for months but it wasn't a huge issue. I live on my own and bizarrely I actually have more bathrooms than people living in my place so I use the en suite and could ignore the bathroom sink issue. I did try using drain unblocker as well as soda crystals/vinegar and of course the plunger but nothing worked so I kinda just left it. It does drain just incredibly slowly. For example if I filled up the sink it would probably take a few days to fully drain away.
So anyway last week suddenly my en suite started draining slower than Eric the Eel swims the 100m Freestyle. This was a problem. I wanted at least one sink working so again I tried what I had previous tried to little effect. Next I bought a wire thing that you can put down the plughole and jig it about and it pulls up gunk. This worked in a very small way so I was stuffed. It was either call the landlord and call out a plumber or do it myself. It was time for me to become a man.
So last night I'm there in the en suite and I unscrewed one of the pipes and I have a look inside. It was relatively clear. Therefore I knew the problem had to be in the trap underneath the sink. I had tried to unscrew this before but it wouldn't unscrew. This was problematic. So I'm jiggling the pipes and the trap as by doing that the water seemed to trickle away and suddenly the trap came off in my hand. Water gushed out and then I saw what was in the trap. Wow. It was completely stuffed up with a hard plaster type substance. No surprise then that my sink wasn't draining.
I scrape out the gunk and I do mean scrape it out. Then I stick my fingers up the pipe and clean out all the gunk and screw the trap back on. I turn on the hot water tap and it is draining so I put it on full blast and leave it to run for a minute or two to clean out any further small levels of gunk down the pipe. It drains well. I go to bed happy in the knowledge that I'd try the bathroom sink today.
Sadly though it was not that easy. My bathroom sink is hard to get to the u-bend (it has no trap) so I have to do it blind. I find everything I can unscrew at the back and finally find the two bits that connect the u-bend to the sink and to the pipe at the bottom of the system. This took me a while. I pull out the u-bend and it is exactly the same plaster type substance completely blocking it up. I must have some really hard water or something. So I run the hot tap through the disconnected u-bend (as I can't scrape it out like the trap) and keep knocking it against the side of the bath. Slowly all the gunk piles out and I can't believe how much there is. That is probably why it wasn't draining.
I test the u-bend under the tap and it is clear and now I have to reconnect everything I disconnected. Again I'm doing it blind because it is against the wall and I can't see anything. I get the top bit connected to the sink and find I have it on backwards. I unscrew it and turn it around and tighten it up again. Happily the bottom part is now lined up perfectly with the u-bend and I struggle to tighten it fully but it is tight. I run the hot water tap full blast again through the system testing both connections to ensure there are no drips and there are none.
Yes I logically and methodically fixed my two completely blocked sinks. I haven't felt this manly in a long time and I'm immensely proud of myself. I'm pretty sure calling out a plumber for both would have cost my landlord a few quid and made me feel pretty stupid when I found out what the problem was and how easy (relatively) it was to fix once I had located where the blockage had to be. This has undoubtedly been a good start to the week and for a Monday morning it is pretty outstanding. I even had my March invoices paid into my bank account this morning. Good times.
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Just catching up with things…
I have been relatively quiet on here for a couple of weeks. In reality I have been relatively quiet across all Social Media in the past couple of weeks. I have been in a sort of malaise regarding a lot of things. I've had a lack of energy and drive. This isn't to say I've been down as you'll find out later if you read long enough that isn't the case but it has just been a general malaise.
Last week was weird. Like seriously weird. I'm not going to write all of the weirdness on here but there was a 48 hour period where pretty much everything that happened seemed to be the universe conspiring against me. However of course the universe doesn't tend to work like that so I'll just take it as a few freak occurrences that seemed to transpire in close proximity to one another.
So what I'd thought I'd do is blog briefly on the main things going on and we'll see if I expand on any of these in subsequent days…
On Thatcher's death…having been brought up in my formative years on a council estate with shall we say not Maggie lovers as parents there aren't many tears being shed. However I do find it distasteful seeing people reveling in her death – certainly people who aren't old enough to have seen her as Prime Minister. I was seven when she left office and don't feel that I know enough to judge her time in office – nor her as a person. Even though my upbringing was certainly anything but Pro-Thatcher I just think the best thing to do – even for those who despise her – is to keep your own counsel and give thoughts to her family.
On the media…well my own opinion is what it is but I think I am in a position to look at and have strong opinions on the way the media have reacted. I think that considering the bias that the BBC is said to have to the left, that they have gone overboard on her passing. I also think certain right-wing newspapers have done the same. I know the former PM was very much a marmite person (I know so many people who hate that term but heck its true) but she was never Mother Teresa or Florence Nightingale and I get the sense some media outlets think she was more important and a better person than the pair of them put together.
On Lib Demmery…it is a strange year in Southend. With no elections in 2013 life is relatively quiet. We have seen the council change from No Overall Control to a Conservative majority of one following a defection to the Tories in recent weeks and that has caused an interesting domino effect. However don't expect anything too dramatic to happen until around this time next year when we find out who is standing where across Southend.
On High Court victory…the fact that the Portsmouth Supporters Trust are set to take ownership of Portsmouth Football Club this week pleases me. Like everyone I can't predict the future but I do know that it was PST or bust and I trust the trust as it were. With a ten-point penalty set to relegate the club it will mean Portsmouth travelling to Southend next season and should I still be living in the area then it'll be nice to see the lads for the first time in a few years. You never know I could be commentating on the game!
On commentating…I think I have done seven or eight games so far this season. Only did one before the turn of the year but have done roughly half the home games since and have yet to see the Blues win. It has got to the stage where the security guy laments my arrival and said to me yesterday, 'when I saw you sitting there I knew we were doomed.' He says we need to get my jinx out of the way and luckily (or unluckily depending on your PoV) I'm behind the microphone for the last home game left of the season – Morecombe on Saturday the 27th.
On dreams…one thing I have learnt about myself is whilst we all dream every night, I only ever tend to remember my dreams when I'm stress-free. Recently I have been in a dream state many times with some extremely vivid dreams. These are both entertaining and at times concerning. Dreams are like your very own television show where usually you are the star. The thing is though clearly I'm feeling ok about life despite this general malaise that I've been going through.
On the week ahead…I'm out on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings for various activities. My favourite TV show returns for its 9th season – Deadliest Catch and I'm still breaking in 12 new pairs of socks. I know how to enjoy life folks. I really do. Socks with large holes in are a thing of the past (for now) the only question left is will pj bottoms with holes in be a thing of the past? Yeah we'll see about that…
So to sum up I'm still alive. I'm doing fine and I'm clearly relatively stress free. I hope that my blogging buzz returns soon.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Please leave any comments or contact me directly via the E-Mail Me link on the Right Hand Nav. You can stay in touch with the blog following me on Twitter or by liking the blog on Facebook. Please share this content via the Social Media links below if you think anyone else would enjoy reading.


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Andre "Dede" Pederneiras, head coach of Nova Uniao -- home of two UFC champions and one Bellator champ -- is sure Brazil has the best fighters in the world. The mentor of Jose Aldo and Renan Barao explained to Ag. Fight why he thinks Brazilians are superior to their rivals of other nationalities.
The Brazilian athletes are the best in the world, I have no doubt about that. With few condition of work that we have, we get these champions, this is something that you don't see in any other place in the world.
Dede, who is also the president of the promotion Shooto Brazil, reminded of the difficulties that a lot of fighters have gone in the past, without an appropriate program from government or school to develop their athleticism.
You watch a person fed poorly in his younger life, some who never took supplements, travel to the US and kick everybody's ass. The guy prosper without incentive and also while having another job, I only see this in Brazil.
Perhaps American fighters will beg to differ?

subset: commoncrawl


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The world's most accurate and precise reconstruction of lead pollution over the Earth's southernmost continent has confirmed that dangerous industrial pollution reached the South Pole over two decades before man set foot on it.
The BRICS New Development Bank is an attempt by five emerging markets to develop a countervailing pole, to stabilise each others' currencies.
With teams like Holland, Germany and France in the last 16, a European team can run away with the cup on July 13.
We face a considerable pressure from China. The events in Pakistan & Afghanistan are creating an uncertain environment that could be exploited by Beijing.
The research from the University of Washington shows that the heat absent from the surface is plunging deep in the north and south Atlantic Ocean.
As PM Modi prepares to head a mega committee to oversee the clean-up of the Ganga, Bancroft-Arnesen Explore has rounded up eight women for this expedition
Experiments at CERN have shown that the mass of the Higgs boson is very close to a critical value that separates two possible types of Universe.
Portugal snatched a dramatic equaliser deep into injury time to force a 2-2 draw with the United States and keep their World Cup hopes flickering on Sunday.


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- Chapter 5 of Internal Damage, "Chopping Block"
- Interview with Baltimore Revo, Going Pro at PSP Chicago
- 2014 PSP Chicago Open Field Layout
- Chapter 4 of Internal Damage, "Blindsided"
- Riley Sullivan and XSV Part Ways, New Players Added to Roster
- Baltimore Revo Goes Pro, Enters PSP Challengers Division
- Pro Team Texas Storm Disbands, Fire at Home Field
- 2014 PSP Mid Atlantic Open Challengers Finals Video
- 2014 CPL Pro Finals, Houston Heat vs Edmonton Impact Video
- Tampa Bay Damage, Art Chaos Raw Practice Video
Giveaways & Contests
Giveaway – Empire Prophecy Z2 Paintball Loader
We're giving away an Empire Prophecy Z2 Paintball Loader. Steps to Enter: 1. Watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY0oX2yIoVw...
SAS Woodsball Mag-fed Marker Giveaway!
SAS Woodsball is proud to announce a mag-fed marker giveaway for 2012! We want to keep the...
Living Legends V (LL5) Health Tips + Kellogg's "Plus Up" $100 Giveaway
Justin gives some tips for staying hydrated and ready to go at Living Legends V (LL5) coming...
Giveaway – XL Planet Eclipse HDE Camo Pants – Plumber's Crack Contest
Justin announces the Planet Eclipse HDE Camo Pants – Plumber's Crack Contest Steps: 1) Post a pic...
Giveaway – XXXL Planet Eclipse HDE Camo Jersey – Belly Overhang Contest
Justin announces the Planet Eclipse HDE Camo Jersey – Belly Overhang Contest. Steps: 1) Post a pic...
Giveaway: GOG-G1 Paintball Marker – We Make Vids, YOU win!
In this episode Justin announces a new policy to give away each item he reviews/makes a video...
Win a PS3 Download of Greg Hastings Paintball 2 – New Trailer
Win a free download of Greg Hastings Paintball 2 for the PS3. Winner will be sent download...


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Correction to Washington baseball brief
In Friday's paper, Colten Garland was incorrectly credited with a win in the Hatchets' 18-3 victory over Evansville Bosse. Austin Moody should have been credited with this victory. Moody threw five innings, allowing two hits and zero earned runs. He struck out seven and walked five.
Washington tops North Posey, South Knox
EVANSVILLE — For the third time in seven days, the Washington boys golf team (41-7) played at the Cambridge Golf Club. Washington posted a team score of 174 to top South Knox (195) and North Posey (212).
"In the individual medalist competition, Washington posted the top three overall scores, led by Sophomore Connor Brown's fine round of 3 over par 39," said Washington coach Bill Ricke. "It is fun to see when the lights turn on for a golfer. Today, I think the lights turned on for Connor. His decision-making was outstanding and his ball striking was very good. He was hitting the ball where he wanted to in order to set up the holes for scoring opportunities. This round will provide him with a lot of confidence in his game.
"Junior Clay Hatton shot a round of 43, good enough for runner-up medalist and freshman Matthew Stephens was third overall with a bogey round of 45. Clay hung in there in spite of not having his best game today. Matthew played a very solid round and we look for good things to come from him the rest of his career. Freshman Max Lancaster shot 47 to complete the 174 total for the Hatchets. Freshman teammates Reid Neff shot 50 and Austin Niehaus 57 but their scores were not used. We try to get all of the kids some varsity experience throughout the season. Tonight was a good night for our team that will be playing as a unit next season. They did a nice job and can be proud of their accomplishment."


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A Redlands man was killed early Saturday, April 13, when he crashed his motorcycle in San Bernardino.
Christopher D. Villegas, 43, crashed about 2:40 a.m. at East 30th Street and San Gabriel Street, according to the San Bernardino County coroner's office.
Paramedics treated him at the scene and took him to St. Bernardine Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 3:13 a.m.
San Bernardino police are investigating the cause of the crash.


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A review and catalogue of lululemon athletica clothing and a place where lululemon fans can read about and see photos of the latest and drink the lulu-lemonade together
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Lululemon Warehouse Sale 2013 in Vancouver!
The Lululemon Warehouse Sale 2013 is coming to Vancouver on January 18 to January 20. No word yet on the US location or dates for their warehouse sale but I'm super excited that Vancouver gets to host the Warehouse sale this year.
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History of Gun in India
Gun History India Links
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
History of fire arms links
Here is an amazing site
And another
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Thursday, April 17, 2014
The 'war raising' Rajput Regiment turns 72 today
BANGALORE: April 15, 1942, Fatehgarh, the Rajput Regiment was raised by field marshal Cariappa. Today, the regiment turns 72.
And ministry of defence's group captain Tarun Kumar Singha, chief public relations officer, Kolkata, features the regiment from Kolkata. Times of India got access to his article authored from Kolkata, and it reads: "Among all battalions of the Rajput Regiment, 17 Rajput has a unique place in present day history of the Indian Army. It was raised during the period of Quit India Movement in 1942. It was also among 10 other Rajput Battalions that were raised following outbreak of World War-II from 1940 to 1943."
In so far as its historical significance is concerned, 17/7 Rajput as it was then known, was the only 'War Raising' battalion by any Indian officer who was none other than Lt col KM Cariappa, OBE, popularly called 'Kipper' who went on to become the first Indian commander-in-chief and later the chief of army staff. He was also conferred the highest rank of field marshal on April 28, 1986.
Popular in the army as the barhe chalo battalion, a motto coined by the first commanding officer to spur his troops, it was meant to convey 'get cracking on'. The battalion continues to crack on regardless in pursuit of glory as one of Indian Army's proudest and finest fighting outfits in recent times.
17/7 Rajput was raised at Fatehgarh on April 15, 1942 as the Machine Gun Battalion of the erstwhile 7th Rajput Regiment. A distinctive colour of maroon and blue was adopted for the new outfit. On August 1, 1942, the battalion was converted into a Regiment of Indian Armoured Corps (IAC) and designated 52nd Rajput Regiment IAC (Bawanja Risala) and moved to Lahore.
On September 15, 1942, the battalion was converted into a 'Lorried Battalion' and moved to Secunderabad to form part of 268th Lorried Brigade. On March 16, 1943, Kipper was transferred and succeeded by Lt Col G.B. Macnamara. In May 1944, 17/7 Rajput moved to Kohima and later deployed at Imphal.
Informed readers may know that Rajput Regiment is one among the senior most regiments of our country. It must therefore, logically, rank higher in the hierarchy of the nomenclatures. Then why the seventh standing?
Evidently, Maj Gen Parr, who had commanded the 7th Rajput in Mesopotamia during world war-I desired that the Regiment to which his battalion belonged be named 7th Rajput Regiment. The suffix '7' was adopted and remained so for all battalions of the Rajput Regiment between 1920 till Independence, where after it was dropped altogether.
In the redesignations that followed, Barhe Chalo became 17th Battalion of the Rajput regiment on May 1, 1948. Later when its founding father, Lt Gen KM Cariappa became Army Chief on January 15, 1950 (commemorated as Army Day), an honour was bestowed on the battalion. The distinct maroon and royal blue hackle of the unit was now adopted by all Rajput Regiment battalions. In 1965, Barhe Chalo participated in Op Riddle as part of 7th Infantry Division, where it successfully executed its task of capturing Bedian bridge. The unit also participated in Op Cactus Lily in 1971 as part of 86 Infantry Brigade in Dera Baba Nanak sector, where it captured Khokherke and Sadhuwan posts of enemy and provided a firm base for Op Akal. The unit was also successful in capturing a crucial enemy post for which Capt Nawal Singh Rajawat and Late Sep Satyawan Singh were awarded VrC.
In 1982, the battalion underwent a change in class composition and reorganised to include Rajputs, Gujjars, Brahmins, Bengalis, Jats, Ahirs and Muslims in equal percentage composition. If ever anyone needs to see the secular credentials of an Indian Army's fighting unit, one need not go beyond Barhe Chalo whose war cry - Bol Bajrang Bali ki Jay! Hanuman ki Hunkare! - yelled by one and all can easily curl any enemy's guts.
The battalion was also the first unit of Rajput Regiment to be inducted in Siachen Glacier in 1991. The unit had a successful tenure without having a single fatal casualty, which indeed is a unique achievement.
Among the wars and major operations that Barhe Chalo participated include world war-II, between May to August 1944, Indo-Pak War of 1965 between September 1965 to February 1966 and Indo-Pak War 1971, from October to December 1971. Among the various military operations include Operatons Orchid, Rhino, Vijay, Rakshak and Parakram.
Glory to the Barhe Chalo has been brought through its gallant officers and soldiers through 2 Military Cross, an OBE and PVSM each, 7 Kirti Chakras, an AVSM, 4 Shaurya Chakras, 3 Vir Chakras, 12 Sena Medals, 3 VSM, 6 Mention-in-Despatches, 38 COAS, 7 VCOAS and 33 GOC-in-C Commendation Cards including several other gallantry certificates.
The battalion is presently serving at an undisclosed high altitude location standing vigil under Eastern Command. The Barhe Chalo battalion is presently being commanded by Colonel Balbir Singh Siwach, a second-generation army officer, commissioned in December 1990.
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Field Marshal Cariappa
gun history india
Rajput Regiment
War raising
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Historical Trivia: Snipe, Sniper, Sniping
The Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)
The term
has an interesting etymology dating back to 18th century India. It comes from the common pastime of snipe hunting a hobby popular with British gentlemen who found themselves posted there. The
lives primarily in marshlands and is an agile, easily spooked bird with an erratic flight pattern that throws off predators and potential hunters. This makes shooting them particularly difficult as such being a proficient snipe hunter became synonymous with being an excellent shot. The hunting of the birds often required the hunter to move quietly, make good use of cover and patiently await his opportunity. All qualities which are today recognised within snipers.
Snipe hunting in India circa. 1870
The term is believed to have arisen during the 1770s meaning someone adept at shooting snipe - a '
'. The term grew in popularity among British soldiers posted in India during the 19th century and eventually entered military parlance as another name for a marksman or sharpshooter. It is thought that the first documented use of the term occurred in the 1820s in sporting magazines. The name '
' itself is thought to come from the Old Norse '
' or
moor snipe
Source One
Source Two
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A Concise History of Tiger Hunting in India and Guns
Persian Miniature of Mughal Emperor Akbar hunting tigers in India.
(Courtesy exoticindia.com)
Talking Tigers: Part 4 of a 12-part series
India's tigers have been in the crosshairs for centuries, with elite safaris dating back to the early 16th century. They rose out of
Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad Akbar
's passion for big game: He began a tradition of
royal hunting, or
, that was carried on by Mughal rulers until the dynasty fell in 1857. Paintings from the period depict Mongol, Rajput, Turk and Afghan nobility hunting from elephant or horseback. These outings were considered exotic, heroic sport—and tigers were the ultimate trophies.
Staging elaborate big game hunts was also a favorite pastime for the
British Raj
that succeeded the Mughals, an activity that showcased their royalty, machismo, power and wealth. They took out tigers with reckless abandon, along with their Indian counterparts that ruled (nominally) sovereign "Princely States." Kings and lords, generals, and Maharajas went out in large parties, carried by 10, 20, 30 or even 40 elephants; their servants often drugged and baited tigers before they arrived so the hunters were in little danger. They legitimized the slaughter by vilifying the cats, casting them as terrible, bloodthirsty beasts with an unquenchable desire for human flesh.
After ascending the throne in 1911, King George V and his retinue traveled north to Nepal, slaying 39 tigers in 10 days. Colonel Geoffrey Nightingale shot more than 300 tigers in India. In the 1920s, Umed Singh II, the Maharaja of Kotah, modified a flaming red Rolls Royce Phantom for tiger safaris in the Rajastani hills, outfitting it with spotlights for night hunting, a mounted machine gun and a Lantaka cannon. Newly-crowned Rewa kings in Central India thought it auspicious to slay 109 tigers after their coronation. Shooting a tiger was a coming-of-age ritual for young Indian princes.
According to historian Mahesh Rangarajan, "over 80,000 tigers…were slaughtered in 50 years from 1875 to 1925. It is possible that this was only a fraction of the numbers actually slain." Not all were trophy-hunted: In some regions, the cats were considered vermin, systematically exterminated with incentive from government bounties.
The killing escalated after 1947. Independence ushered in a hunting free-for-all similar to the 1880s shooting spree that decimated bison herds on the American plains. Anyone who laid hands on a gun joined in. Soon after, hunters streamed in from around the world, seduced by the guaranteed premiere trophies advertised by travel agencies—tiger, elephant, rhino, lion, and other iconic species. The Maharajas created staggering new hunting records. In a letter, the Maharaja of Surguja told wildlife biologist
George Schaller
that by 1965, he'd bagged 1,150 tigers. Because the biggest animals made the best trophies, the largest, strongest cats disappeared from the gene pool.
Thousands of tigers were killed in elaborate hunts by Indian and British nobility before hunting was outlawed by the Indian government in 1971. (Courtesy Valmik Thapar)
And then, as models and Hollywood starlets draped themselves in cat skin coats, a fashion craze for fur took hold in the U.S. and Europe. A tiger pelt fetched $50 in India during the 1950s; 10 years later, rugs and coats sold for $10,000. When conservationist
Anne Wright
explored markets in Delhi—where shelves groaned with skins—she found that the vast majority lacked proper permits and were being exported illegally.
Things changed, however, when
Indira Gandhi
took the reins as prime minister in 1966. She became what tiger expert Valmik Thapar calls "India's greatest wildlife savior." She spearheaded a fight against the growing tiger crisis, outlawing the export of skins in 1969 and appointing a Tiger Task Force two years later.
At the close of the 19th century, when Rudyard Kipling penned the Jungle Book, between 50,000 and 100,000 tigers were thought to roam the Indian subcontinent; by 1971, about 1,800 were left alive and the Tiger Task Force predicted they would be extinct by the end of the century. That year, the Delhi High Court banned tiger killing, despite opposition from the trophy hunting industry that was raking in $4 million a year.
Then in 1973, Gandhi launched "Project Tiger," which still stands as the world's most comprehensive tiger conservation initiative. She established nine tiger reserves, hired guards to patrol them, and forcibly moved whole villages outside their perimeters.
At the time of Gandhi's assassination in 1984, tiger numbers topped 4,000, their prey had increased, and India had created a global model for wildlife conservation. "Tigers flourished beyond our wildest dreams," said
Belinda Wright
, Anne's daughter and director of the Delhi-based
Wildlife Protection Society of India
But by the late 1980s, tigers began to vanish. Rapidly. Biologists and conservationists who reported disappearances to officials were ignored. The seizure of 2,200 pounds of tiger bone (from about 80 tigers) in Delhi in August 1993 revealed what was happening: Poaching for the traditional Chinese medicine trade had hit the Subcontinent, sparking what was being called "the second tiger crisis." To meet a growing demand for tiger parts, the cats were being poisoned, shot, and snared across India.
Meanwhile, wildlife wardens and Project Tiger officials dismissed the warnings, clinging to inflated population numbers based on flawed data. Their 2002 census counted a whopping 3,642 tigers. They estimated populations from paw prints, an unreliable method known to re-count the same cats multiple times.
Bengal Tiger camouflaged in elephant grass in Kaziranga National Park, Assam, India. (Photograph by Steve Winter/National Geographic)
But the scandal went public in June 2004 when national headlines proclaimed the unthinkable: Not a single tiger survived in Sariska Tiger Reserve, despite government claims that 18 tigers lived there. When three men were later arrested, they described how easy it was to kill them: Many of the guard's walkie-talkies were nonfunctional and none of the 300 guards were at their posts during monsoon season. The poachers had even brought in live bait and shot tigers over their kills.
Project Tiger had become, as Valmik wrote, "a success story gone horribly wrong." A 2006 auditor's report found the project riddled with corruption and neglect. Funds had been skimmed by state governments for other purposes. Guards that quit or retired were not replaced; 30 percent of posts were vacant and the average ranger was over 50 years old. Those that remained walked dangerous patrols armed with bamboo sticks or ancient Lee-Enfield rifles—50 year-old British Army-issue weapons, outgunned by poachers toting assault rifles or AK-47s. Ultimately, the embarrassment over extinction in Sariska prompted the creation of a new entity, the
National Tiger Conservation Authority
Wildlife Institute of India
's grim 2008 report shocked India and the world with its findings: A far more accurate camera trap survey counted just 1,411 adult tigers—after a $400 million investment over 34 years to save them under Project Tiger. Two years later, a wider census raised tiger estimates to 1,706.
Today there are 45 tiger reserves, comprising about one percent of India's land. Some hold only a handful of tigers. "Just creating reserves is not a magic wand," says
Deborah Banks
, an investigator with the UK-based
Environmental Investigation Agency
. "We still need people, resources, and the political will to protect them."
continues to skyrocket, and over the last thee years, tiger deaths (from all causes) have been high: 71 in 2011, an all-time record of 88 in 2012, and 80 in 2013.
A new census is currently underway. India and the world awaits the results: The country is home to over half of all remaining wild tigers.
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Sunday, February 2, 2014
Shivaji's Navy & Shivaji, the father of the Maratha Navy - his object
Shivaji and his people had inherited a great military tradition, but the sea was a new element to them. There is no evidence in the past or in the history of the Yadavas of Devgiri of any attempt to build a naval power to rule the waves. Shivaji is, therefore, rightly hailed as the father of the Maratha Navy.
The coast line of the Konkan broken by many creeks, offered excellent shelter for ships, and the rocky islands near the coast presented excellent sites for naval strongholds. Quite early in his wonderful career, he realized the necessity of a strong fighting fleet for the peace of his country, the safety of his subjects, and the prosperity of his ports, which should not be at the mercy of other naval powers – the English, Portuguese, the Siddis, and Dutch.
A strong Navy, he knew, would ensure for the Maratha merchant vessels free navigation of sea and they would not be required to seek permission of Goa or obtain Portuguese pass-ports, which were given on certain conditions. By possessing a strong Navy, Shivaji could secure for his subjects the same rights and freedom on the seas as the Europeans and also a share in the maritime trade, besides ensuring against the possibility of being starved by blockade on land.
Having visualized the need of a powerful navy, Shivaji built a number of naval forts – Vijayadurg, Suvarndurg, Padmadurg, Jaigad, Sindhudurg etc. He also provided the naval bases with docks for the construction and repair of armed and trading vessels such as at Ratnagiri and Anjanwel, besides buildings a merchant fleet for conducting trade with distant Muskat and Mocha.
The strength of Shivaji's Fleet and types of ships
The precise strength of Shivaji's fleet is not known. According to Krisnaji Anant Sabhasad, Shivaji's fleet had two squadrons, each having two hundred ships of different class. Malhar Rao Chitnis mentions four to five hundred ships. The notices in English, Portuguese and Dutch records mention the number of Maratha ships on particular occasions but do not give the full strength of Shivaji's Navy. As new ships continued to be built and added to the Navy, from time to time, it seems that Sabhasad's figures of 400 ships is not exaggerated. The Maratha Navy had different types of fighting ships: Gurabs, Galbats or Gallivats, Pals and Manjhuas.
Naval Enterprises
Of his Naval expeditions, four are more prominently mentioned. In February 1665 he himself set out for Basrur with his army in a fleet, which, according to English Factory Records had 85 frigates and three great ships. In November 1670, a fleet of 160 sail was assembled at Nandgaon (in Kolaba district) under Daria Sarang, the Admiral of the Fleet. In 1675 Shivaji sent 40 vessels full of war material by sea to be used in the capture of Phonda, which, along with Karwar, were two important posts south of Goa. Sometime later, his naval forces occupied island of Kenery, but all attempts to subdue the island Janjira, the stronghold of the
, from where thry carried out plundering raids against the mainland, failed.
When the Marathas were recovering under Raja Ram (younger son of Shivaji) after a turbulent period following Shivaji's death in 1680, Maratha Navy rose to the occasion to meet the great crisis. Under Kanhoji Angria, who was appointed the chief of the Navy with the title of
by Raja Ram, Maratha Navy came to be respected by all the sea Powers of the coasts, both Indian and European.
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The Evolution of the Artillery in India: From the Battle of Plassey (1757) to the Revolt of 1857
By R. C. Butalia
Published by Allied Publishers, 1998
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Found 5 additional ads in areas surrounding Swansea
Graphic Designer (Freelance)Newcastle EmlynThe Job The Restaurant & Bar Design Awards is looking for a recently graduate / current student - Graphic Designer for periodic work. The candidate would work from...1SaveRemove
CASTING CALL Cardiff (18- early 20s) PaidCardiffCASTING CALL Cardiff We're producing a few lighthearted videos (with a hint of comedy) for a client. We're after actors/actresses aged 18-early 20s for a few...SaveRemove
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Rated 3.6 out of 5 by 636 reviewers.
Rated 4 out of 5 by Swan71 Time to dust Overall, I was pleased with the hotel, service & room. However, when I looked up to the ceilings at one point, I noticed several dusty cobwebs hanging...less than comforting for the level of cleanliness expected for a standard night's stay. April 20, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by Chim Extra Pet Friendly The hotel was advertised as pet friendly, but we were extra impressed with how friendly they truly are. They offered a pet bed and food/water bowls on our arrival. In addition, the staff was very friendly in general and the room was great. May 28, 2013
Rated 4 out of 5 by AngieIndiana Great staff Great Location. Wonderful staff...from front desk to housekeeper. The parking cost, 63.00.00 per day, was very expensive. Room was clean. For the price of the room, a refrigerator without a key and a microwave would be nice. November 10, 2013
Rated 3 out of 5 by Chuck777 Started off terribly I was part of a group that was to check in on Friday. When we arrived at 2:50pm (check in time is 3pm) after running a marathon relay, and we were told the rooms were not available and would not be until after 4. I did not get a call that my room was ready until almost 5:30pm. Being almost 2.5 hours late for a check in is bad enough....as someone in desperate need of a shower, it was terrible. Then I was promptly given a room directly across from the bank of elevators, and of course my floor had many people getting on and off later in the evening while I was trying to sleep. Too make matters worse, many members in my group were either given bonus starpoints or vouchers from the hotel to make up for the room unavailability. I was provided with neither, though when I asked the next day (Sat), the front desk told me they would be awarded. But, as of now, they have not been. The hotel itself is extremely clean and well kept. The location is absolutely ideal. If not for such an awful first 12 hours in the hotel, this review would have been much different June 11, 2013
Rated 4 out of 5 by GolfGuy Great Location We were very pleased with our location... However, the computer connection did not work in our room, this was never resolved... The desk chair in our room was broken... Our bill at checkout was in error and required time to resolve. June 12, 2013
Rated 3 out of 5 by Kath This did not feel like a Westin The room furniture and facilities looked so old. The toilet bowl needed serious bleaching. The shower drain needed unclogging. There was a dog barking at my floor at 11PM. My lamp shade was not working. My roller blinds were broken. April 1, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by mmcmullen Helpful Engineering Staff I called to get a key for the "honor bar" fridge to keep a sandwich cold. The operator said the fridge no longer worked but she would see what they could do. Within 15 minutes a building engineer brought a fridge up for me to use. August 5, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by Lars1111 Great hotel for the business traveler I travel every week to Chicago and always stay at the Westin North Michigan. Great facility and perfect location. The staff has been great and always makes me feel welcome. The rooms are always impeccably clean. Highly recommended. June 10, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by Cindy Excellant Place to Stay in Chicago! I have stayed at this hotel many times and the entire staff is top notch! They over extend themselves and make sure everything is perfect! The rooms are very comfortable and the beds are the best! I will be back! My thanks to all! March 17, 2013
Rated 4 out of 5 by Greenfash Please Renovate the rooms I love the renovation in the lobby, but those rooms still look same as I saw them back in 1995. I love the heavenly bed but please do something with the decor of the rooms. flat screen TV, some different type of modern furnishing. March 8, 2012
Rated 4 out of 5 by Gailg Perfect Location This hotel is situated in a great location, easy to access shopping, trains, restaurants and close enough to go to Oak Street Beach and relax. The Grill Bar attached to the hotel has excellent food and the service was friendly. June 8, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by TennesseeTraveler Usual Westin comfort I slept well; elevators were fast ... even for a busy conference. Friendly staff. Great location on Michigan Avenue, if one should want to do some shopping. January 13, 2014
Rated 5 out of 5 by Laine42 The bed is heavenly! After reading "heavenly bed" as part of my room description, I was anxious to try it out! And it was wonderful! As the parent of a newborn, for my one night away this was just what was needed! Best night of sleep in months! February 11, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by Araujo Great location and service On Michigan avenue in front of Jonh H. Building. Small issue with my TV however Justin tech from the hotel took care. Excellent service.... Also lady that cleans the gym and replace towels is so kind. Sorry forgot her name November 23, 2012
Rated 5 out of 5 by Raclay61 Great stay Super accomodations in Chicago. February 18, 2014
Rated 2 out of 5 by Unhappyguest1 Duvet on bed covered in nut gravy! Woke up to find the sheet covering the duvet had been peeled back exposing the many disgusting stains that my wife snuggled all night. She is so horrified that we will never stay at the Westin Michigan Avenue ever again. March 25, 2013
Rated 4 out of 5 by Lisa24 The hotel had great service My only complaint about this hotel was you could hear the constant slamming of doors and the loud talking in the hallway - this was extremely bad in the morning. Otherwise the hotel staff and service was AWESOME! October 16, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by Carol254 Great location! My first time to spend time at Oak Street beach after many trips to Chicago. I really enjoyed the hotel location. Excellent meeting spaces with nice views. A small fish bowl in my room was a fun treat. November 14, 2013
Rated 2 out of 5 by Thankyou Needs improvement - I was surprised at how loud it was at night - doors slamming all night, elevator noise much worse than other hotels. Could do more to "sound proof" the rooms, put seals under doors, etc. - Decor needs updating September 22, 2013
Rated 1 out of 5 by Chicago1 Not good enough They charged me for a drink in room that I did not have. After calling them 3 times and left them voice messages they did not return the call. Not a good service. Old rooms. Small gym. Food in room very expensive. March 12, 2013
Rated 3 out of 5 by Mel13 Disappointed As a SPG gold member I was not placed on a perferred floor. Also after calling twice they couldn't restock my room with bottle water (as a gold member complimentary water daily either). Disappointed for a Westin. March 21, 2013
Rated 3 out of 5 by Steady Bad Temperature Control Our room air conditioner/thermostat was not working properly. Too warm the first night, too cold the second night and finally it was repaired the third day and worked properly. It was disappointing for a Westin. August 5, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by KC324 Our place! We stay every year for our anniversary. Will be back again for the big 20th next year!! February 3, 2014
Rated 4 out of 5 by GaleLL Nice hotel, nice location in downtown Chicago This is a nice hotel and has a great location. The staff was extremely helpful and professional. The hotel could use a little updating, but still a very nice hotel. I had a wonderful view of lake Michigan! June 19, 2013
Rated 3 out of 5 by Chicago2 Three star at best While the staff at the Westin were quite good and helpful throughout the stay the hotel itself was no more than a three star. The rooms were noisy, the beds mediocre, and the space in need of a little TLC. March 11, 2013
Rated 3 out of 5 by Jan2013 average hotel The webite looks awesome. The hotel was average. Very subdued. Nothing stuck out to me. Minimal decor, needs improvement. Staff was average also. Great location, but doesn't make the hotel. Disappointed January 28, 2013
Rated 4 out of 5 by Bonnie52 Westiin Chicago Business Trip Overall very nice facility-staff was very helpful. Great location. Fitness center packed till 7 or so but very large compared to most. Restaurant top notch. Housekeeping a little lax. November 11, 2013
Rated 4 out of 5 by sylso52 this hotel is at a great location Access to tour bus or city bus across the street was good. Right next door the Hancock building was great. The down side was the $60 a night parking fee...ouch! The concierge service was excellent. July 28, 2013
Rated 5 out of 5 by Jacob40 A great experience! Everything was good in my opinion, clean, comfortable room and bed, easy access to and from room with 6 elevators. Close to Chicago's shopping and navy pier. Loved the stay and would recommend it. July 5, 2013
Rated 4 out of 5 by busyman888 Chicago visit Overall my stay at this Westin was great great. We had no real issues and the room was clean and comfortable. The location was great as well if you like shopping. December 10, 2013


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How to Choose an Islamic Forex Broker | 6/22/2014 1:37:00 PM
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Could the 2014 FIFA World Cup opening in Brazil this week affect the global Forex market? Read the full article from DailyForex.com here.
How Retail Brokers use Overnight Swap Rates to Remove or Reduce their Clients' Trend-Following "Edge" | 5/19/2014 1:52:00 PM
Recently, I came across an interesting trading strategy, intended for futures trading but theoretically applicable to retail Forex trading. Learn about the strategy here.
Avoiding Psychological Traps That Ruin Your Trading | 4/20/2014 8:29:00 PM
The mantra that 90% of the struggle to become a profitable trader is fought and decided within the trader's own head has become a persistent cliché within Forex educational literature.
Forex Holy Grail Update | 4/14/2014 9:07:00 AM
An "out of sample" analysis of the same strategies has now been completed. This analysis looks at the hypothetical performances of the same strategies but over a different time period.
Forex Holy Grail Conclusions | 3/31/2014 9:03:00 AM
Last week's piece did include a statistical error, but as often happens with errors if they are discovered in time, it led me to some interesting conclusions which I am going to share with you today.
The Forex Holy Grail Revisited | 3/23/2014 9:35:00 PM
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Discovering the Forex Holy Grail | 3/18/2014 1:59:00 AM
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Order Flow Trading Part Two | 3/3/2014 9:47:00 AM
Last week I began a series of articles about Order Flow Trading. We defined Order Flow trading as a wide-ranging term for styles of trading that are all focused on anticipating where large buy and sell orders would be located, and in trading along in tandem with those orders.
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deadspin.com – By Drew Magary – Charleston, S.C. - In the video, you see shape-shifting coyote trickster god Bill Murray walking in on a bachelor party in Charleston, dishing out some advice to everyone EXCEPT the groom. Here's reader Stephen with the background:
Over Memorial Day weekend, 20 of my buddies from Boston College got together in Charleston for our friend EJ's bachelor party. At one point during dinner at a steakhouse, one guy goes to the bathroom downstairs and sees Bill Murray sitting with some people with a fishing vest on. We talked to the waiter to see if we could send him some drinks, to which Bill declined. One of my buddies then went down and asked if he'd come up and say a few words for EJ and got a "No thanks." My buddy comes back up dejected and tells us it's not going to happen. Two minutes later, Bill fucking Murray walks into the room and gives this speech.
Bill Murray's job now is to pop up in random spots and make your day, and he's gotten so, so good at it. His advice is excellent, by the way. "You know how they say funerals aren't for the dead but for the living? ..."
Link to Story: http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/bill-murray-crashes-bachelor-party-gives-awesome-speec-1581953280


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Looking for parents and siblings of Elizabeth Purviance. She married Francis Bird June 19, 1797 in Bourbon Cty., KY. Other Purviances listed in same Vital Statistics book were Anna Purviance, marrying Sam Wood;and Mary Purviance marrying (1) Sam Snoddy and (2) John Mitchell. I think they are sisters but am not sure. Looking for verification.
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