"The Ability to Fence is Insignificant Next to The Power of The Left Hand"

I had my first proper fencing bout today after two weeks of reffing on the sidelines and not having time to dig in properly. I also got to be El Presidente on another bout, which was only marginally less taxing than fighting! My opponent was quite experienced but in the end I annihilated her with a pretty decisive coup-de-fin at 5-3. The fights went on for quite some time as well (the other teams having had 2 additional matches before we were even done) with quite a few rounds where we both mananged to stab each other simultaenously (not a good thing if it ever is for real).

My opponent was also quite crest-fallen when she picked me and discovered I was a lefty. It's actually very easy to flick a right-handed opponent's blade to the left side and then riposte at the open torso. Added to the fact I seem to be quite accurate at hitting what I'm aiming at with a blade (which is good because I can't hit the broadside of a barn with anything else) makes up for spending a good 5 minutes looking at foils and trying to decode drunken and blurred scrawlings of "LEFT" from "LUFC" (Leicester University Fencing Club).

Of course it took me many bouts to realise I could try parrying to my left and quickly stabbing my opponent rather than always parrying to the right, riposting and either getting countered or dodged. But I won, and from my POV it was almost like something out of a movie - a really long, tiring fight that ended with a good finishing move on my part.

Next week is exams - but alas I can't make it. Fortunately I can take the exam the week after, assuming I get back from the trip to London I'm planning before a ridiculous hour.

Choo Choo

I'm off home next week it seems. I was casually enquiring about my holiday allowance (seeing how my only holiday was 10 days long) and discovered I had 14 days of allowance left.

And I couldn't take these in term time.
And they had to be taken, bar 4-5 days, by the 31st of December.
And term ends on the 16th of December.

So - not enough days outside of term time to take holidays with.

I managed to haggle a long weekend home (actually Wednesday-Friday) next week as I have only 1 class during that period (Mondays and Tuesdays are my busy days). Happily I even have all next week's coursework done, meaning I can do most of next week's work on Monday or...

... on the train. For I am using public transport (though sensibly my changes are 20 minutes apart). So I will be back in Dundee it seems late Tuesday night until Sunday afternoon. And not shattered from driving! I plan on taking a laptop, some marking and some XViDs of Rome or Smallville or some such and chilling on the train.

Everyone Else Was Doing It

 

scroll to bottom to copy the html

IMDB's Top 100 Best Movies of All Time generate this HTML for your own page at ObeytheFist.com
Rank Movie Didn't See It/ Started It/ Finished It/ Hated It! 1 Godfather, The (1972) 2 Shawshank Redemption, The (1994) Finished It 3 Godfather: Part II, The (1974) 4 Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003) Finished It 5 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The (2002) Finished It 6 Casablanca (1942) Finished It 7 Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001) Finished It 8 Schindler's List (1993) Started It 9 Shichinin No Samurai [Seven Samurai] (1954) Finished It 10 Star Wars (1977) Finished It 11 Citizen Kane (1941) 12 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) Finished It 13 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) 14 Rear Window (1954) 15 Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Finished It 16 Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Finished It 17 Memento (2000) Finished It 18 Usual Suspects, The (1995) Finished It 19 Pulp Fiction (1994) Finished It 20 North by Northwest (1959) 21 12 Angry Men (1957) 22 Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le [Amelie] (2001) 23 Psycho (1960) Finished It 24 Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 25 Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il [The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly] (1966) 26 Silence of the Lambs, The (1991) 27 It's a Wonderful Life (1946) Finished It 28 Goodfellas (1990) 29 American Beauty (1999) Finished It 30 Vertigo (1958) 31 Sunset Blvd. (1950) 32 Matrix, The (1999) Finished It 33 Apocalypse Now (1979) 34 Pianist, The (2002) 35 To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) 36 C'era una volta il West [Once Upon a Time in the West] (1968) 37 Some Like It Hot (1959) 38 Third Man, The (1949) 39 Taxi Driver (1976) 40 Paths of Glory (1957) 41 Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi [Spirited Away] (2001) 42 Fight Club (1999) 43 Boot, Das (1981) 44 Double Indemnity (1944) 45 L.A. Confidential (1997) 46 Chinatown (1974) 47 Singin' in the Rain (1952) 48 Maltese Falcon, The (1941) Finished It 49 M (1931) 50 Requiem for a Dream (2000) 51 Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957) 52 All About Eve (1950) 53 Se7en (1995) Finished It 54 Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Finished It 55 Saving Private Ryan (1998) 56 Cidade de Deus [City of God] (2002) 57 Raging Bull (1980) 58 Rashômon (1950) Finished It 59 Wizard of Oz, The (1939) Finished It 60 Sting, The (1973) 61 Alien (1979) 62 American History X (1998) Started It 63 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) 64 Léon (1994) Finished It 65 Vita è bella, La [Life is Beautiful] (1997) 66 Touch of Evil (1958) 67 Manchurian Candidate, The (1962) 68 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Finished It 69 Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948) 70 Great Escape, The (1963) Started It 71 Wo hu cang long [Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon] (2000) 72 Reservoir Dogs (1992) Finished It 73 Clockwork Orange, A (1971) Finished It 74 Amadeus (1984) 75 Modern Times (1936) 76 Ran (1985) Finished It 77 Annie Hall (1977) 78 Jaws (1975) Finished It 79 On the Waterfront (1954) 80 Braveheart (1995) Finished It 81 High Noon (1952) 82 Apartment, The (1960) 83 Fargo (1996) 84 Sixth Sense, The (1999) Finished It 85 Aliens (1986) Finished It 86 Shining, The (1980) Finished It 87 Strangers on a Train (1951) 88 Blade Runner (1982) Finished It 89 Metropolis (1927) 90 Duck Soup (1933) 91 Finding Nemo (2003) Finished It 92 Donnie Darko (2001) Finished It 93 General, The (1927) 94 City Lights (1931) 95 Princess Bride, The (1987) Finished It 96 Toy Story 2 (1999) Finished It 97 Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) Finished It 98 Great Dictator, The (1940) 99 Sjunde inseglet, Det [The Seventh Seal] (1957) 100 Lola rennt [Run Lola Run] (1998) Started It
Which movies have you seen?

Source of the Goodness

I've been reading numerous blog posts on the new Highlander film written by Adrian Paul, the guy who plays the current Highlander (who offed the old Highlander in the last movie) and is Executive Producing the new film, Highlander: The Source.

I'm actually really looking forward to it despite the fact every post seems to report some disaster or other, the budget isn't exactly massive on this film, Christopher Lambert isn't in it and I didn't win the prize draw to visit the set in Lithuania. :P

However apparently there's going to be a big Highlander convention just down the road from me in Leeds next year. I'm tempted to go for the once-in-a-lifetime experience (these are usually in places like LA and Sydney, so this'll be relatively cheap even if it is $150 just to get in the door).

Still debating whether or not to go.

And now it's official

Word's come through that if I give 2 bound copies of the thesis to the Postgrad Office in Dundee, and 1 bound copy to my supervisors, 1 for myself and 1 for my parents (better save up for this I suspect) I will get my PhD. Yay.

Amusingly Sad...

Dead Ale Wives

Dead Ale Wives 2

Classic.

The End of All Things

It's in. It's done, quest complete.

I've just submitted my final thesis draft. Cue dramatic montage involving volcanos, towers exploding and mass-armies of algorithms triumphing over dark ignorant orc-types.

I'm glad to be with you, here at the end of all things.

The Story So Far...

On Thursday we went out to the Last Plantaginet, a Wetherspoons, for a good feed and late dinner. Friday saw Steve explore Leicester while I worked and discovered the joy of drinking Loozers at lunchtime. Friday night saw us see Brothers Grimm with yet another loud mumbling guy sat behind us in the cinema, proving it doesn't matter where you go in the UK, ignorant people pay up to £6 to sit in a theater talking to their mates and texting. The film itself was quite good though I was a little confused in places. It was a Gilliam effort though.

Saturday afternoon saw a visit to the Space Museum (near to B's number 1 tourist recommendation, the sewage works). Rather than seeing how a U-Bend works we made our way through some pretty fascinating exhibits, went into the space theatre and tried numerous spacey-type adventure things including a 3D simulator.

Saturday night saw us go to the Worst Pub In Britain - the Wyvern's Arms. We were going to go into town to Jongleurs but the Leicester transport system totally conspired against us, but at least we got a good look at the fireworks.

As to the Wyvern's Arms it's down the road from where I live. Upon opening the door we were assailed by loud music and smoke. If that wasn't enough the place was pretty filthy. The pregnant woman smoking and drinking Smirnoff capped it for me and after a swift pint (we couldn't talk after all) we fled back to mine to watch more DVDs and drink more beer.

Then came Sunday. Now I have to admit I'd been cynical about the whole November trip to Alton Towers, but the rain in the morning made me even more of an unbeliever. Ironically it only rained on Sunday, and hasn't rained since until now, Friday night.

Finally when we were 20 miles outside of Alton unable to see through the car windows I chickened out and drove us to Bugman's Bar in Nottingham for a game of chess and a cheap burger and drink. And some shopping. And not much else. But we did waste our tickets we'd prebought over the internet.

Steve took it all well and I think he enjoyed himself despite my ranting about things in general. I've decided I need to get myself a bigger place though to be honest, so I may be thinking about moving again come January. All in all interesting times.

Vitamin C High

Having been ill again with my 3rd flu in as many weeks I've now developed a Vitamin C habit that involves drinking a pint of OJ in the morning, evening and so forth to avoid the student germs I'm obviously no longer immune to. Did more fencing, and finally actually got to stab someone in a vaguely competitive exercise that showed me how being a leftie gives you an advantage.

Unlike when I moved here my weeks are getting pretty full. Got my RPG fix on Monday. Watched Saw 2 on Tuesday night - which was more disturbing than Saw 1 - and discovered the fun of chauffering the ultimate hyperactive back seat passenger. Tonight was good fun with my WFRP group derailing my plot in some mad cap scheme for cash which ended up with one player nearly dying and another fighting for his life. And for tomorrow Steve is coming round this weekend and a dark trip to Alton Towers is in the offing.