The Engineer also Muses

Muchas Grassy Ass Amigo!

Random Happenings July 22, 2010

Filed under: on me,on my friends,on nothing in particular,on the interblahs — Janek @ 02:27

So, I was sitting at home after a rather… uneventful day, and doing as I am want to do – cruising the interblahs. For some bizarre reason, I flick over to craigslist. Now, no good story usually begins with craigslist, but this on I promise to keep short and G-rated (how unusual from me. Here’s a fuck to make sure it isn’t, and maybe I’ll imply that I’m naked).

Anyway, I see an add for a guy asking to hang out, and I respond that I would be interested in doing so. I don’t know why, I might just have been feeling lonely for a moment. But, we got in touch, and in the end he came over to mine, we watched Thank You For Smoking, which is one of my favourite films ever and he had never seen, and then we stood in my minuscule kitchen and chatted about the problems with Sydney, and then I drove him home.

It was non-sexual in every way, it was like to friends catching up for an evening together. I feel refreshed for the experience as well :)

 

A Few Cool Things July 3, 2009

Filed under: on nothing in particular — Janek @ 16:22

I read tonnes of things online every day, and here are some of my favourite videos (or links to videos) that I wanted to share:

Mrs Slocombe discusses her pussy

Web-Side Story

Those folks at CollegeHumor have put together this little ditty to the tunes from West-Side Story about, well, the internet: Link

Africa, complete with thunderstorm

Toto’s Africa is a well-known tune, and this group from Solvenia has put together a stunning performance.

 

Social Networking June 10, 2009

Filed under: Polls,on homosexuality,on nothing in particular — Janek @ 19:00

In honour of my friend MaestroJ I’ve decided upon a new quiz… this time on social networking. See the side bar….

Meanwhile, the “Out At Work” quiz yielded some interesting results:

The first three results show positive trends:

  • I’m openly gay at work, no one seems to mind (11) – 22%
  • My workplace has a positive vibe (10) – 20%
  • My workplace has anti-discrimination rules for queer people (8) – 16%

Then we take a downward turn:

  • My workplace has a negative vibe (6) – 12%
  • My workplace doesn’t have anti-discrimination rules (5) – 10%
  • I’m closeted at work, but not for any significant reason other than my own (4) 8%
  • I’m closeted at work, I fear the backlash (3) – 6%
  • I’m closeted at work, and I wouldn’t ever come out (2) – 4%
  • I’m openly gay at work, but that was a big mistake (1) – 2%
  • I’m openly gay at work and have had some negative reactions (1) – 2%

So, I have a mixed set of readers! Good on you all, and keep on polling!

 

Eurovision Spektakular! May 15, 2009

Filed under: on nothing in particular — Janek @ 15:51

Good evening Moscow, this is Glebe calling…

Yes, ladles and jellyspoons, it’s time again for that institution that is…. EUROVISION! Woot.

I’m going into radio silence shortly (*cries*) to make sure I don’t accidentally find out… ANYTHING. But, first, I wanted to share this graphic to make sure everyone is up to date with how to vote in blocs:

Eurovision Bloc Voting

Eurovision Bloc Voting

Got that? Right? Now, Germany officially stopped voting for Poland last year, to great uproar, so they’d better pick their game up again this year (it’s like their annual apology for WWII). But, it will be good to see how it flows this year :)

 

Terrorise NY, get a crummy picture May 9, 2009

Filed under: in pictures,on nothing in particular,on the government — Janek @ 11:09

Some people who read lots of blogs will be aware that recently, NY City was terrorised when they saw several low-flying planes zipping around the sky during the day.

Here’s a typical reaction:

Turns out, this was done by… Air Force One. Someone decided they wanted a shot of AFO with NY in the background. The official shot was released yesterday:

First off, that’s not even NY, it’s NJ (see, I’m a geography buff); and second… didn’t anyone think it might be a BAD idea to low-fly over NY? Anyone?

 

Are blogs passe? April 2, 2009

Filed under: on my blog,on nothing in particular — Janek @ 14:21

With me having not sat down to blog in a couple of weeks, I can’t help but ask the question… are blogs passe?

And with that in mind, I present The Dandy Warhols: Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth

 

After School March 16, 2009

Filed under: on homosexuality,on nothing in particular — Janek @ 12:29

I got a link to this page via my email, and I do love a good story over the interblahs. After School is the true story of two different kids at school and snapshots of their lives through time. One is the popular jock, one is the dork, but both are gay, and they both have lives that cross over, especially as they’re both ghey.

Give it a read, and then zoom through the rest of the site :)

 

Keepin’ it real January 29, 2009

Filed under: on Dan,on coming out and moving out,on indecisiveness & depression,on me,on my family,on nothing in particular,on university — Janek @ 16:18

I’ve been busy these past few days, so I thought I’d do a mass update post! Yay!

The Party

I do love a good party, and usually I just go along to them and play host while the actual host sits and chats. This time, it was my turn to actually host, and now that I have a place I actually would invite people too, I decided to go all out. It was a raging success, as it eventuated. Tonnes of wonderful, lovely people came, and aside from a short tryst in my bedroom by two partygoers, and a third who barged into my flatmate’s room, waking him up, I’d have everyone back again.

iTunes Genius – Not so

I was listening to my iTunes the other day, and having lots of time to fill in, I was playing with iTunes Genius. It seemed like a fantastic invention, plucking out playlists from my 11,000-odd songs, until I looked down the list.

Some of you may know that Breathe Me by Sia is the last song in Six Feet Under, and has been known to bring me to tears. iTunes provided the following playlist of 24 songs to accompany it:

  1. Let Go – Frou Frou
  2. Maps – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
  3. Ooh La La – Goldfrapp
  4. Look After You – The Fray
  5. Hang Me Up To Dry – Cold War Kids
  6. Don’t Bring Me Down – Sia
  7. Chicago – Sufjan Stevans
  8. The First Day Of My Life – Bright Eyes
  9. Back In Your Head – Tegan & Sara
  10. Do You Realise – The Flaming Lips
  11. Precious – Depeche Mode
  12. Mad World – Michael Andrews
  13. Gold Lion – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
  14. Phantom Limb – The Shins
  15. Icky Thump – White Stripes
  16. Strict Machine – Goldfrapp
  17. Day Too Soon – Sia
  18. Electric Feel – MGMT
  19. Lover I Don’t Have To Love – Bright Eyes
  20. We Used To Be Friends – The Dandy Warhols
  21. Where Is My Mind? – The Pixies
  22. Rebellion (Lies) [Live] – The Arcade Fire
  23. Run – Snow Patrol
  24. Be Be Your Love – Rachel Yamagata

Now, don’t get me wrong, I do like some of those songs. In fact, I like all of those songs. But as a match for Breathe Me? A quick check on Last.fm suggests the following artists as being similar: Zero 7, Flunk, Emiliana Torrini, Hooverphonic… Now, I have three of those four on my iTunes as well, and yet none appeared. Sure, Run and Mad World might be complimentary as well, but Maps and Ooh La La rank higher. Have I completely missed the point of Genius or is it really just not that smart?

The Situation

My parents are causing me to be anxious, I have to draw more boundaries in my life. But I love my new place!

Message 1000

As far as things go, Dan and I seem to be going brilliantly. In fact, I noticed something the other day: I had received my 1000th sms from him since the first time he asked me back to his place. It said, quite simply, “Nah, I’m cool”, which is true. He is a cool boyfriend :D

Home, Sweet Home, aka: Things that go bump in the night

Last night, at about 5.30am, I was tossing and turning in a sweat when, suddenly, there was a creaking sound that drew me awake, and then a thunderous crash. The hook I had put up on the wall the night before had come unstuck, and sent the picture it was suspending crashing down into Lloyd, my poinsettia, and my stereo. It was not a pretty sight when I woke up to see dirt and leaves everywhere, but at least the picture seems to be ok… it was a Christmas Gift from Dan, hand made.

 

Lost in Translation October 31, 2008

Filed under: on Dan,on nothing in particular — Janek @ 01:57

I know translation sites can be a little dodgy sometimes, but have you ever tried ping-ponging back and forth? It’s a great way to waste time as you come up-with amusing answers to your original statements :D Try in here

An example for you:

Original English Text:
I love my boyfriend very much, he is my rock

Translated to French:
J’aime mon petit ami beaucoup, il est ma roche

Translated back to English:
I love my boy friend much, it is my rock

Translated to German:
Ich liebe meinen Freund viel, es bin mein Felsen

Translated back to English:
I love mean friend much, it am my rock

Translated to Italian:
Amo l’amico medio molto, esso la mia roccia

Translated back to English:
I love the medium friend a lot, it it my cliff

Translated to Portuguese:
Eu amo o amigo médio muito, ele ele meu penhasco

Translated back to English:
I love the average friend very, it it my cliff

Translated to Spanish:
Amo al amigo medio muy, él él mi acantilado

Translated back to English:
Master to the friend half very, he he my cliff

Funnily enough, the phrase “I think that the Republicans will win next week” didn’t work… it broke the system down :P

 

Academic freedom: exit, far left – Opinion – smh.com.au October 21, 2008

Filed under: on nothing in particular,on university — Janek @ 23:34

via Academic freedom: exit, far left – Opinion – smh.com.au

Ok, so I was just catching up on my reading of today’s Herald and saw this.

Far be it from me to pursue a “leftist agenda”, but I think most people who read my blog (and those who are my friends on facebook) know that I’m hardly in line for the Conservative of the Year award (I think Maggie Thatcher’s getting it again this year). I have several points to make despite all this:
 

  • Point the first – I’m an engineer. They don’t come much more conservative than us. Unless the indoctrination of homosexuality is in calling the output of a distillation column “Tops” and “Bottoms”.

  • Point the second – I am fairly certain that most people in educational fields are slightly more liberal, bar the Exclusive Brethren teachers, just because traditionally liberals are more focused on supporting workers in these fields. We will ignore State Labor for the time being, given their total ineptitude.
  • Point the third – “Put the Liberal Party last… that’s where they put you”
  • Point the fourth – *a large quantity of swearing for wasting Senate time*
  • Point the fifth -

    Ask the Cardinal Newman Society at the University of Queensland. Earlier this year it had stalls outlining pregnancy-support options for women – a move that contradicted the student union’s policy of safe, free abortion on demand. The Catholic student group was reprimanded, threatened with disaffiliation and faced formal disciplinary proceedings.

    Somehow I don’t think that’s the whole truth. I’d be interested to hear more about it.

  • Point the sixth -
    “I have been abused and mocked by a lecturer in front of others for refusing to acknowledge the ‘genocide occurring in Lebanon’ during the Israeli-Lebanese war,” one student, Joshua Koonin, told the inquiry.

    I think that falls into the same category as holocaust denial. If it didn’t happen… how did they die? They all just happened to be living in tight quarters with no means of communication with the outside world and occasionally happened to trip and fall onto a bullet?

Anyway. I think the whole thing is just some bizarre way for the Liberals (conservatives) to find prominence in the media.