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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
kebzero's LiveJournal:
| Monday, April 16th, 2012 | |
| 10:44 pm | The smallest remarks can have the biggest impacts Got home after a rather 'meh' day at work, 14 hours after I got up and headed for the office. Blasted commute. Wasn't in too good a mood. Then I came home... to a 'fic review. I think the first I've gotten in years - certainly the first of such depth of feedback. I haven't written/published 'fics in years, so it's hardly a surprise they're rare, but I can't overstate how happy those lines made me feel. All I can say is - thank you! Maybe I can get back into writing... |
| Thursday, January 12th, 2012 | |
| 10:35 pm | Twelve hour conference call... Someone shoot me now; I'll probably develop cancer anyway. |
| Saturday, November 19th, 2011 | |
| 6:38 pm | Of mice and men. Mostly mice. With a bit of cat for good measure. Been a while now. Life keeping me busy, not always in ways I'd like. Still at my job. Haven't died of stress yet, but I've been through another few bosses in the last month, and there's some other work-related developments that have led to two things; near permanent telecommute for me (which is good), and not a chance in heck I can take out the two weeks of paid vacation I'm still due this year (which is bad). It's mid-November, and temperatures are way above normal. I should have seen snow by now, at the very least sleet. And mild autumns and winters mean... mice. ( WTB services of Hamelin flute player ) The fun never ends. If this mild winter continues, I can look forward to a zillion ticks on the cats come spring, and probably more ants in the bathroom. Of course, the option is a balmy +15*C indoors, tops, courtesy of the insulation the mice have probably eaten up. The urge to build a new house just gets stronger every day. Current material choices; thick, solid concrete walls, brick fence and asphalt garden. Thing is, not sure I want to get back in debt in the current world economy. Things are still fine in my corner of the world at the moment, but you never know. |
| Saturday, February 12th, 2011 | |
| 10:11 pm | Eurovision night, woo! The Norwegian final just concluded; we've made our choice, and I believe we made the best one. Eight finalists today. I liked four songs. Three of them didn't make the first cut to four superfinalists. The last one won. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7k9vOc_ Haba haba! A Norwegian contribution with Swahili lyrics. Whodathunkit? Europe, watch out, we've got a positive and catchy song coming your way. I think we should avoid the infamous 'zero points' situation with this one. :-) Just to be fair, the other songs that I liked (but that sadly didn't make it to the final selection); http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Usxkz43k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQXWXWVo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8ZdZtn6 ....and I should probably toss in the last four songs that were part of the finals; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1JXhbvu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdItdPhw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc9c7VJs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT0PLRME The Eurovision Song Contest will be a week-long thing in May. Two semifinals (where all but the 'big five'(Germany, UK, Spain, France - and this year, returning for the first time in... fourteen? years, Italy) have to qualify), and then the ultimate final. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. All is webcast. I know I'll be watching and tossing commentaries - hopefully to some of you? *puppyeyes* |
| Wednesday, December 1st, 2010 | |
| 8:28 am | As much as I like winter... ...I tend not to when the temperature drops significantly. Today, it was -16 degrees Celsius - about 3 degrees Fahrenheit. I know that's not that cold to some of you, but for my southern, coastal area it's fairly chilly. Usually, winter temperature hovers just below freezing; just enough to sustain a thin blanket of snow. These are the days when that cat-flap seems like a terrible idea. I try to keep the hallway warm for the cats while I'm out of the house, but when it's this cold, the radiator there can only do so much. The biggest irritation is how public transportation just grinds to a halt. Local infrastructure just isn't built to handle weather - be it rain, snow or frost. Today, the subway system in Oslo derailed, and my intercity train line suffers from malfunctioning trains, frozen switches, signaling systems that break down... So yeah, telecommute day. I'm ready to hibernate until Easter. |
| Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 | |
| 11:13 pm | Some times, the world makes a strange turn As you might know, I live in a rural/suburbian area stuck between three small towns. The nearest of them is the one I feel the most ties with. Population about forty thousand people. Tomorrow... Will Smith w/family and Jackie Chan are coming to town, for a movie premiere. Why? Because Smith's son and Jackie Chan starred in the remake of Karate Kid, and the director was a Norwegian from "my" town. He invited them (which I presume means somehow 'forced' them) into coming here for the Norwegian premiere. I feel so... rural. It's like Hollywood stars would visit any old small town in the US, only worse, since we're an ocean apart. It was a big enough event when the Smith family was in Oslo to lead the Nobel Peace Prize concert last winter. Now, they come out in the "bush". It isn't the first time the director has taken this step; on an earlier premiere, Don Johnson came to visit since he had a small part in a Norwegian comedy. Makes me wonder who he'll lure here next. And of course... I won't go to see the stars. I'm perfectly comfortable witnessing them on the screen instead. |
| Saturday, April 24th, 2010 | |
| 9:25 pm | More Eurovision preview show stuff... My tickets still haven't arrived. *nervous* Today, there was a show focusing on the contributions of 'the big four' - as in EBU sponsors; France, Germany, Spain and United Kingdom. Germany's contribution this year is very nice, and AFAIK also the bookmakers' favorite. The song is catchy and I think Germany certainly will have their best placement in years from this. I really shouldn't be one to criticize verbal English, but she does have a few quirky pronounciations. :-) France... Well, I'm usually content every year France doesn't send a ballad. France knows ballads, and they usually do okay - but I find them bleedin' boring. This year, though... they're certainly not sending a ballad. More like a Caribbean soccer chant. I'm reminded of 'Cocoa Dance', by Monaco several years ago. I remember Cocoa Dance. I won't remember the French song. Spain. Oh, dear. I'm missing Las Ketchup. David Copperfield does painful ballad, then goes to circus. Maybe I'd have gained something if I understood Spanish, but... Solid voice, though. United Kingdom - well, I've heard worse from those islands. Mind, I wish babyface could do without the Hooters dancers. I'd be shocked if he won, but when thinking back to UK's contributions in the last decade ('Flying the Flag', AAAARGH!), it's not that bad. |
| Saturday, April 10th, 2010 | |
| 9:41 pm | Eurovision preview time That time of the year again - my national broadcaster has started previews of this year's contributions to the Eurovision Song Contest - this year to be held at Saturday May 29th, in Oslo. Semifinals are Tuesday and Thursday prior. If any of you want to join me in an AIM room side commentary to the broadcasts (also streamed online), let me know. :-) This is, sadly, a ballad year. Lots of dull, dull songs as a result. Norway follows this track, as does Ireland, Malta, Cyprus and Belgium, in my opinion. Switzerland has a Trowa-copy in golden glitter but more of a beat, and Greece sends something only Greece can - modernized zorba. Found that one a bit catchy, to be honest. Could be the leather outfits. As for the Netherlands... a fairground organ and barndance-type dance music? Can't claim it my favorite, but at least it ain't a ballad. That's it for the contributions I've heard/seen so far... If I'd have to pick here, it'd be Ireland, Switzerland and Greece. |
| Friday, January 29th, 2010 | |
| 9:28 am | Statistically, you ought to be alive It's strange. Humans have crawled this rock for thousands of years, and the phrase 'countless lives' might apply - but it doesn't. Why? Because we have a rough census on the population today - just a few billion people more than the earth can really sustain comfortably and rising fast. And here's the nifty nugget; about 80% of all humans ever to live are alive today. Those that are dead are actually a minority. Naturally, this won't last for very long, since the current generations will be dead in a century or two, but still... I keep waiting for a medical breakthrough offering clinical immortality, but even though that might save 80% of humanity through all time, it would also mean absolute disaster without an immediate, massive colonial program out into the heavens, since even immortals would face the urge to reproduce. Then again, if I was immortal save severe injuries or accidents, I wouldn't mind sitting in a tincan on the way to Betelguese or Wolf 359 or Alpha Centauri for a few millennia, playing computer games. So... Go, doctors! ;-) |
| Saturday, January 9th, 2010 | |
| 11:40 pm | TIA, man... TIA... Got two calls this afternoon. This is unusual in itself, my cell phone tends to be very quiet during the weekends. Both calls terminated as soon as I answered them, which is even more unusual. The kicker? Both calls are from the same number, which appears to have the country code for Rwanda. Now, I don't know anyone in Rwanda - at least not as far as I know. Maybe someone who has my number decided to move and didn't blog about it, but I sorta doubt that. :-) I'm tempted to call Information and see if they can trace the number back to someone, but I'm 100% certain this is a scamming attempt - the sort where you call back wondering what's up - and automatically donate $$$ to the owners of the number. Why waste my money - or rather, my company's money, since they foot the bill - on this? I actually dug up the online phone book for Rwanda, but the number doesn't appear to be registered there. Of course... I'm not sure the phone book covered much beyond the yellow pages. The number format matches Rwanda, though. If any of you happen to be having an exotic holiday and are playing me a prank, please let me know. :-) |
| Thursday, November 19th, 2009 | |
| 10:46 pm | Go, Texas! http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/sto I sorta like this blunder. At least Texas has true fairness according to the law, then. If all can't marry, nobody should be able to! :-) Current Mood:  amused |
| Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 | |
| 1:15 am | Happy 140th birthday, Mohandas! So, today - or in my timezone, since I'm posting this very late, yesterday - would have been Mohandas 'Mahatma' Gandhi's 140th birthday. I believe it is worth mentioning, as I believe it is only a few days until the Nobel Institute will announce who gets the Peace Prize for 2009. It's become seldom they award a 'traditional' award now, which is a bit sad. There are not enough Gandhis in the world today - but quite a few dictators and dictator-wannabes. The world will forever be more pragmatic than idealist - for good or bad. Bought a new sofa - or rather, eldest sis bought a sofa she couldn't fit anywhere. Got it at a bargain. Lad has already claimed it, as he did the previous one. Moreover, Lass has suddenly expressed an interest for that side of the living room (she prefers the blanket under the TV set). ...I promised cat photos, didn't I? I hope to get around to that this weekend, if anyone wants to see. They ain't small cuddly things anymore. They're big, cuddly things now. Current Mood: hopeful |
| Monday, August 31st, 2009 | |
| 10:40 pm | GW Fic - 'July' (part 31 of 31) July, part 31 of 31 3+4+3. R. Shounen Ai/genfic. ( GW Fic, 'July' (part 31 of 31) ) |
| 10:26 pm | GW Fic - 'July' (part 30 of 31) July, part 30 of 31 3+4+3. R. Shounen Ai/genfic. ( GW Fic, 'July' (part 30 of 31) ) |
| 10:13 pm | GW Fic - 'July' (part 29 of 31) July, part 29 of 31 3+4+3. R. Shounen Ai/genfic. ( GW Fic, 'July' (part 29 of 31) ) |
| 10:00 pm | GW Fic - 'July' (part 28 of 31) ...I promised myself that I'd finish this fic today, and by God, I shall. *edits madly* July, part 28 of 31 3+4+3. R. Shounen Ai/genfic. ( GW Fic, 'July' (part 28 of 31) ) |
| Thursday, August 27th, 2009 | |
| 10:55 pm | GW Fic - 'July' (part 27 of 31) July, part 27 of 31 3+4+3. R. Shounen Ai/genfic. ( GW Fic, 'July' (part 27 of 31) ) |
| 8:05 pm | ...and I thought US court damages were bad. I can't find the matter yet in international media, since it has probably been too small for any of the big players to bother pick to pick up, but after today, they might. It's been all the rage here in Norway for the last few months, of course... Two Norwegians are currently standing trial in Kisangani, in The "Democratic Republic" of Congo, faced with murder charges. Now, I'm in no position to comment the question of guilt, but after hearing of how the prosecution fabricates evidence at will and doesn't bother to check even the simplest facts, I'm very much inclined to think they're innocent. The prosecution seems like they trained under witch-doctors rather than went to a law school of any kind. When Norwegian reporters on site corrects their facts - incorrect translation of Norwegian, misinterpretation of photographs so blatant even the court room audience wishing the defendants dead object, factual errors (Norway is not part of the EU, as they seem to think), etc... At any rate... Since the Norwegians had identification papers issued by the Norwegian Defence Forces - not altogether unusual since conscription is still in effect in Norway, so participation is mandatory unless you're excused - the prosecution claims that they must be spies working for King Harald and the state of Norway (never mind that royalty here are figureheads, not political powers). So, they not only go for the death penalty, but claim five hundred billion US dollars in damages, which they insist the state of Norway should pay. I'm aware that African courts love blood money, and the initial claims from the widow, family, friends, witnesses (!), car rental company etc. of some $36 million didn't surprise me - but the sheer cheek at the state prosecutor's claim? Completely absurd. I don't know if you've heard of the Norwegian Petroleum Fund - basically all the money Norway has made on the oil for the last forty years, and put in the bank for safe-keeping and cautious investment. Well, the Congolese claim dwarfs even that. I say, no more foreign aid to any country that can't show they're at least keeping corruption out of the government and the courts. Current Mood:  enraged |
| Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 | |
| 10:04 pm | GW Fic - 'July' (part 26 of 31) July, part 26 of 31 3+4+3. R. Shounen Ai/genfic. ( GW Fic, 'July' (part 26 of 31) ) |
| 9:42 pm | GW Fic - 'July' (part 25 of 31) Note to self: post fic first, then play computer game until falling asleep. If this is the falling action, I'm winging this in for a crash landing... July, part 25 of 31 3+4+3. R. Shounen Ai/genfic. ( GW Fic, 'July' (part 25 of 31) ) |
