Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Blinky the Tree Frog's LiveJournal:

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Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
12:05 am	Links Post Number 52 Tapestry woven entirely from spider silk. It cost half a million dollars to make. Wow. The Two Paths for Girls and Boys. It's hard to decide which is more appealing, really. Accidental headline of the year :-). Cheese or font? Can you decide? Okay, I'm not sure I'm as appalled as the guy in this post but... that is pretty freaking creepy. How Google streetview works. Well no, actually it's how we kinda wish it worked. It would certainly be cuter that way :-). Finally, what does the internet think? About the ozone layer? About nuns? About torture? Or what about you? Current Mood: cheerful (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
11:04 pm	... As an addendum to the last post, I wondered whether there was an actual meaning to the term 'Boo-yah', or whether it was just one of those things you yelled when things were cool. So I looked it up. Number 6 is...not what I meant. You learn something new everyday? Current Mood: weird (1 Comment |Comment on this)
10:55 pm	Back home for another week... ...then I'm going to head back to the UK probably until March, I think. I mean, I've got the visa until my birthday in October next year, so I may as well use it, right? I've come back for a few weeks to catch up with people, attend a teacher friend's wedding and see S and confirm her okayness :-). She's out of hospital and recovering well, so that's a relief. I'm staying at my parents house and it's nice to just relax for a bit. I haven't really gotten everything done that I said I would, however. Ah well. In other news, I've decided to attend Spiel 2009 in Essen, which is basically the biggest board game festival in the world. I've been really enjoying the games I've played at the game club I joined, and since I'm going to be closer to Germany this year than I'm likely to be for a while, I might as well go for it. Boo-yah! Current Mood: cheerful (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, September 6th, 2009
9:52 pm	What I've seen and done so far: Geeky things! - London MCM – This was a film, comic, but mostly gaming convention at the Excel centre in London. They were trying to set a record for the most people dressed as video game characters in one place, which means there were lots of awesome costumes around. - The Hub 2 – A Torchwood (Doctor Who spin-off) convention in Northhampton. Most of the cast where there and they were very entertaining. - Torchwood mini-series preview – At the BFI on the river. The first episode was really character driven and team-centred, which was why I was so disappointed when the whole mini became less and less about the original characters and more about a bunch of new characters I wasn’t half as interested in. And then they pretty much killed off the whole original show in the finale, which was just fine if you hadn’t actually liked the original show. - Watchmen and Wolverine – Saw the first in a tiny theatre in Leicester Square, the second in the local cinema near where I live. Gambit and Wade Wilson were cool. Plus the Watchmen credits. - The Torchwood Forum Meet-Up – Met up with a bunch of people from an online forum I browse at. We hung around Cardiff and had a lot of fun. - The Doctor Who Exhibition in Cardiff – This was seen while we were there. You needed to be a kid to really get into the ‘terrifying atmosphere’ but it was fun seeing all the props :-). - London Film and Comic Convention – I saw Tom Baker at this one, although it was hard to tell what he was saying because of poor sound equipment and a stage that was not cut off from the rest of the convention. What I did hear proved that he was just as bonkers as everyone always said he was :-). - Joined a weekly board game club – I’ve always been interested in board games, but could never really find enough people who were interested in playing a variety of complex ones regularly. The great thing about being in London is that there are always people around interested in anything. This is a well organized club and the people are very friendly. My favourites from what I’ve played so far have been Amun Re and Stone Age. ( Pictures: ) Current Mood: tired (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, August 30th, 2009
1:25 am	Things to Watch Post Number 4 He Dies at the End. A short indie film. As you might imagine from the title, you might not want to click if you're the jumpy type. Every jellybaby scene from Doctor Who (except for a handful that got missed). I really didn't realise there were so many of them! OMG I'm having bad nostalgic flashbacks. Emphasis on the 'bad'... I've always loved this song from Kate Bush, but I only recently saw the video. It's got some awesome interpretive dance in it, as well as some awesomely weird moves. Very Kate Bush :-). Ghost Busters (1954) Trailer. What do you mean, it wasn't made in 1954? And to finish with some creepy reality, "The War Game". Created for the BBC in 1965 as a "fictional, worst-case-scenario docu-drama about nuclear war and its aftermath in and around a typical English city", it was declared too disturbing to show on television and was instead licensed to play in a limited number of theatres. It was finally shown on the BBC in 1985, when the cold war had been going on for quite some time and people where presumably more jaded about these things. It's a bit over the top at times, but the calm documentary manner is genuinely rather chilling, moreso for knowing that the threat of nuclear weapons has not receded as much as we wish it has... Current Mood: awake (Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009
11:30 pm	Links Post Number 51 Dice! Lots and lots of dice, including ancient dice. Kewl! Probably Bad News :-) The 50 best cover versions ever recorded? Agree with some (Pet Shop Boys ftw!), haven't even heard of a few... When you see it... The first image is crap, but the rest of the thread has some good ones if you scroll down! Chailmail Chess set? Wow. Awesomest keyboard ever. Also most expensive, but still... My parents are looking after my cat at the moment, along with the two cats they already have. This sums up the current situation better than anything I could say :-). Current Mood: sleepy (3 Comments |Comment on this)
10:41 pm	Odd Photos From Overseas Number Five ( Maybe I'm confused because I've never seen a sign like this in Australia... ) ...is this a triffids thing? Current Mood: complacent (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
12:20 am	Odd Photos From Overseas Number Four ( As seen at the top of a very tall flight of stairs in Camden... ) Current Mood: calm (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, August 16th, 2009
12:25 am	Most astounding coincidental symbolism ever! I am in Cardiff at the moment, and for the next couple of days at least. I'm busy getting my geek on here, but in amongst the geekiness I had to snap a photo of this... ( It's the recent healthcare debate totally summed up in one image! ) Current Mood: wry (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, August 14th, 2009
3:02 am	Links Post Number 50 Okay, I know romance novels are kind of running out of good names by this point but... Pregnesia! Stupid Comics - the stupid plot twists edition The garbage pin! It's art! Or more properly it's, 'a metallic silver structure that holds a tiny, transparent plastic bag (the garbage bag). this bag, once full, can be removed, closed with a wire and kept as a outcome of the experience.' You see? It's no longer your sweet wrappers and a snotty tissue. It's an 'experience'! This art, however, is more kinda freaky yet cool. Lovelace– The Origin! Finally, I present the most unfortunate-in-retrospect advertisement ever made. After all, why take diet pills when you can enjoy ayds? Oh dear. Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)
2:25 am	Odd Photos From Overseas Number Three ( From the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood, which is an awesome place ) Current Mood: listless (Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
10:23 pm	Odd Photos From Overseas Number Two ( This time from Europe... ) Current Mood: amused (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, July 27th, 2009
8:38 pm	Odd Photos From Overseas Number One I've been awful at actually getting pictures of my trip overseas up, mostly because the thought of uploading the masses that I have and writing witty comments on all of them seems like a lot of work and I've therefore been procrastinating. So here's me trying something small, and uploading pics one by one. More specifically, this series will be of some of the odder pics I've got, because they are always more amusing :-). So... ( Lj cut for the win! ) Current Mood: hungry (1 Comment |Comment on this)
12:20 am	Things to Watch Post Number 3 Okay, so I haven't really been numbering my infrequent "Things to Watch" posts, but I think there's only been a couple so that'll do :-). In one of the most insanely endearing advertising shticks ever, Tom Dickson advertises his company's blenders by posting videos of himself blending weird and inadvisable things together on YouTube. And I have to say, they are some damn rigorous blenders there :-). Here, see him battle with glow sticks to find the answer to the age old question, "will it blend?" The worst music video ever? Man, it's gotta come close. Seriously, what? The worst purple prose ever written, however, could well belong to the book "Silk and Steel". Here, let Alix K demonstrate :-). This is an awesome cake with an insane amount of detail, and it's fascinating watching them make it too. "We didn't start the fire" with pictures and years for all of the listed events. Awesome history tour! An Engineer's Guide to Cats. 'Zoe measures 17 inches by 10 inches, which gives her an aspect ratio of 1.70 and a large internal volume...' :-) Finally, a look at one of the most gob smacking cutesy children's animated movies to ever be made. Be struck dumb as you watch a review of that classic tale, "Titanic: the animated musical". With Mexican mice and a rapping dog. No, really. Current Mood: relaxed (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, July 26th, 2009
1:46 am	Oh, and one more... I have to put this link in a separate post so that people will pay attention to it, because it's one of the cleverest and most awesome one-shot web comics I've seen in quite some time :-). Warning: you may have to think about it for a while... Current Mood: enthralled (5 Comments |Comment on this)
1:25 am	Links Post Number 49 And since I really need to whittle these down: 13 year old swaps ipod for an old walkman for a week. "It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape." If you've been browsing on any even slightly geeky web sites you may have noticed the ads for the game 'Evony' getting more and more ludicrously sexist as time went on. This link sums up the madness rather well: How Not to Advertise on the Internet. "The Radium Water Worked Fine until His Jaw Came Off" may be the most bizarre headline the Wall Street Journal ever printed. Warning: as you would imagine, the death detailed within is... unpleasant. Bollards of London. A site dedicated to people who care about bollards. In London. Who says that there isn't room for everyone on the internet? Commodore 64 reincarnated in laptop form. It's like my childhood turned into awesome! Of course it's from Japan. Of course. Finally, I present the most awesome job ever! And yes, it is perfectly real :-). Current Mood: tired (4 Comments |Comment on this)
12:18 am	Six months already? My contract is finished and the school term is over. Teaching in a school in another country was... well, an experience. Not really that different to home, although the kids were perhaps a bit rowdier. I'll have to collect my thoughts on the whole thing now that I actually have time to think and post a proper post about what I've learnt. For now, I'm resting a bit before I launch in more touristy pursuits. Hopefully this will mean more posts, both about holidays and fandom things (or both- I have been to a few conventions now!). One thing my students taught me, however, are some brand new words to use! Here's a quick guide for all you Aussies out there on how to speak like a proper East London school kid! :-) Word: jack Meaning: to steal or take without permission. Example: Me: Why aren't you doing any work? Student: Miss I can't. He jacked my pencil at the beginning of the lesson. Me: 40 minutes ago? Student: Yeah! Me: ... Student: What? Word: innit? Meaning: short for 'isn't it?', or "isn't that right?' Added to the end of a sentence to reinforce it or get someone to agree with you. Example: Student: This book is boring though, innit? Me: We have to do it as part of the course. If we get through this bit we'll do some work in the computer rooms though. Student: *elaborate, put-upon sigh* Word: allowit Meaning: stop it, or leave it; don't go on about it. Example: Me: Sit down and stop flicking other class members with pieces of paper! Student: Miss allowit. They threw them at me first! Me: Didn't we come across the quote 'an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind' last lesson? Student: But they flicked paper at me! Me: *sigh* Word: spud Meaning: to curl your hand into a fist and touch it against someone else's fist. Sometimes known as a fist bump. Example: Student: Miss, spud me! *holds out fist* Me: Errr... *looks confused but obligingly bumps fist* Student: Hah! Look at Miss's face! Word: try'nit Meaning: trying to make trouble with someone Example: Student: What you doin' man? Why you try'nit? *pushes other student* Student on the sidelines: It's okay, they're not really fighting... Me: *disbelieves* Word: bunkin' Meaning: skipping out of lessons. Wagging for Aussies Example: Me: Where's (insert student name here)? Student: Miss, he's bunkin'! I saw him jump the fence! Other Student: No he's not; he went to the dentist last lesson. Student: Aww, you spoiled it! Current Mood: cheerful (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, July 5th, 2009
10:44 pm	Links Post Number 48 Haven't really been doing anything notable of late, except spending a weekend in bed sick and another meeting friends at the Borough market (although that's a bit of a tale in itself). Also, Friday night I went to a Torchwood book thing, and I will explain that in more detail later too. For now, here's a links post, because I have tons saved up. Props to blake_reitz because I know I stole borrowed links. First, for the benefit of the peoples that I met on Friday, and also because the first episode of the mini series in on tomorrow, some Torchwood links! The special online Torchwood comic, complete with crappy art and Ianto inexplicably taking his shirt off at the end. I'm as confused as you are. And talking of inexplicable, Torchwood babies! Why ask why? Ten Bizarre DW/TW Fan Theories. Rhys is who? In conclusion: watch the mini, flist! I have personally previewed it and the first episode at least is awesome. Ahem. More links! The 13 Most Unintentionally Disturbing Children's Toys. An extra finger that shoots out a fragmentation bomb? Man, I knew my childhood was missing something... Artwork created by creasing paper. Wow. I'm sure you all saw the story in the paper about the stoned wallabies in Tasmania. This takes things one awesome step further :-). Robot Bugs Accepted by Cockroaches as Their Own. Awwww. What? I'm allowed to find Cockroaches cute if I want to! Perhaps the most unfortunately named product to ever exist. And here would be the most unfortunate headline. *boogles* Current Mood: tired (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, June 13th, 2009
2:06 am	Still in existence! I'm really quite crap at this updating thing, mostly because when I get home from work I always feel like doing stuff that doesn't actually involve thinking much, and so I end up playing games instead of writing about what I'm doing. Anyway, significant places visited since the last post include: * Another go at the Natural History Museum. I've only got one gallery to get through now! * Covent Garden, lots, because it is awesome. Also, I found a game shop in the Seven Dials next to it, and bought Zombie Fluxx, Once upon a time and the roleplaying game based on PS238! * The London Transport Museum, which is also in Covent Gardens technically. * Borough Market, twice, because there are tasty things. * Spitalfields market (awesome) and Petticoat Lane (kinda sucky). * Saw Watchmen at a teeny theatre in Leicester Square. * Saw Wolverine: Origins at a slightly less tiny theatre in East London. * The Bethnal Green Childhood Museum. Took photos of almost the whole damn place, for it was awesome! * The London MCM Film, Comic, Anime and Gaming Expo. My first big multi-fandom convention! It was insane and cool, and I listened to Linda Hamilton and met Craig Charles! * The official preview and cast and crew Q and A of the new Torchwood Mini-series! Perhaps, if I can get my butt together and all goes well, I might actually put together proper posts for all of these. For now, I sleep :-). Current Mood: sleepy (Comment on this)
1:09 am	Torchwood Preview!!!! There was a preview of the first episode of the new Torchwood mini that screens next month, on tonight at the BFI’s cinema at Southbank. With a Q and A with cast and crew after! Tickets opened to BFI members before the public, but it was so popular that the BFI members bought them all before it was even opened to the general public. But man, I really wanted to go, so I asked about standby tickets and… let’s just say I was there embarrassingly early in order to snag one. But snag one I did! Hoorays! So, the episode? I am happy to say that it was pretty damn awesome. Action packed, but with a surprising amount of personal baggage to deal with from all team members. Okay, this section may have some spoilers, but I’m not going to spoil everything, and this is not a real review, merely a selection of comments and things that I remember striking me. That said: ( Spoilers for the first episode of Torchwood: Children of Earth ) Afterwards there was a Q and A, with John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Euros Lyn, and Russell T Davies. Gareth David Lloyd was supposed to have been there but mysteriously sent his apologies, which I really hope doesn't mean that the curse of the Torchsong convention got him. Anyway, they discussed the making of certain scenes and the ideas behind Torchwood, and were all very witty and entertaining. Then the audience asked questions, and the night ended with a small child dressed as Captain Jack being given the microphone for a last question. His question to John Barrowman? Did he like the costume he'd made! John told him it was the best Captain Jack he'd ever seen. And yes, it was as adorable as it sounded :-). The Q and A was being videoed to apparently go up on the bbc's website at some point, so I'm guessing you'll all get to see it eventually! Also! There was a promo postcard given out with a new image. I don’t have a scanner, but I imagine it will turn up soon. Ianto looks very depressed, continuing his new trend :-). Current Mood: bouncy (13 Comments |Comment on this)