gaggle64

£1700-odd pays off my MA for the year and a years subscription to the student gym. I feel oddly faint...

Ah, I wondered why I was having this massive erection. This explains the first nine inches at least.

Getting a teaching job anywhere seems to be impossible. It was pretty difficult before thanks to the slightly idiotic and continuing government policy of throwing money at training as many teachers as possible without giving schools the money to actually bloody hire them. It was bad before but it's impossible now as schools cut budgets and reduce hours. I have a cousin who recently finished training who can't get a job anywhere. My mother had to leave our area (Dumfries & Galloway) as soon as the youngest of us left for Uni because there was so little work, but she's still only been able to find supply work which is ridiculous given her training and experience: She's a fully qualified music teacher and specialised in teaching kids with severe learning difficulties. She's done terms in secure units in inner-city schools in London turning the problem kids no one else wants around - we're talking about kids with assault charges and diagnosed behavioral problems no one wants to deal with. She's turned whole departments around in at least two different schools, vastly improving grades in just a few weeks. She's done work in both public schools and at least one private institute, but still the most she can get is supply positions with no definitive period of employment, often having to pick up after somebody else's mess. She's considering taking a position in Dubai because nowhere in the UK seems prepared to giver her a permanent job. To put it bluntly if someone like my mother, with all her skills and experience, can't get a decent basic position in this country I can't help but feel most of us are pretty much fucked. On a vaguely related note, I understand Tony Blair (the great architect of our current prosperity) is a very wealthy man now. I hope he drowns in something.

Nothing really. They just sort of changed the canon. One the character's asks him how many he's got during a quick fire Q&A (during an air vent infiltration) and that's what he tells them. If you want to you can imagine he got into something during one of his many off-screen adventures I suppose.

Nope, they rewrote that in an episode of Sarah Jane Adventures - he's got 512 or something now.

This episode kind of grated me a bit. It wasn't bad, but it kind of felt like the whole thing had been constructed starting with a lot of really cool sounding ideas that the story struggled to develop or sew together in any convincing manner. The twist was sort of clever but that didn't really make sense even within the mythology established by the episode. Really by constantly trying to threaten the Doctor I think they're grabbing the wrong end of the stick. The Doctor's immortal, either because he's too clever or he can keep on regenerating. There' no point in threatening him, there's no real peril there. Instead they need to start threatening everyone and everything else a lot more. That doesn't mean the whole world or the whole universe has to be at stake, we've had quite enough of that recently. But the bad guys should be allowed to win from time to time - the Doctor wins, the Doctor loses, the Doctor may muck things up from time to time, but the show still goes on. Let the bad guys win just once and suddenly anything is possible.

We're gonna need a bigger boat... Happy Birthday!

On the subject of Finnish F1 drivers: Do you think there'll be much left of the body?

Lots of articles floating around from people who have played the first 2 hours verbatim which I've been scrolling rapidly through but I'm delighted to see impressions have ranged from cautiously optimistic to pro-actively and overwhelmingly positive. I've seen very little of this game so far save for a couple of brief trailers. Someone could tell me that Link turned into Jeremy Kyle for it's 2nd act and I wouldn't know enough to refute it. Can't wait to really get stuck in and find out what's up.

See, that's the problem. The now now operates in proximity to an unknown future point. It's like being in a Terminator film but without the gelatinous robots, blonds with machine guns or Arnold, and Terminator Salvation was awful enough without your granddad dying at the end of it.

Long story short, turns out grandad's got cancer and the doc's talking months, definitely not years. I feel like I've just been handed something heavy to carry after finally putting down a couple of other small things. I honestly do not know what I should be feeling, if anything.

God it's so nice to read a match report involving the 64ers that doesn't feel like being stabbed for once.

Great race all considered, I still really like Singapore, it's still the only circuit that has a genuine claim on being a modern Monaco. It's incredibly challenging and fantastically glamorous with it's quasi-futuristic setting perfect for a modern F1 event. All sorts of emotions yet again as a die-hard Lewis fan. I held my head in my hands when he clipped against Massa and then watched him fight his way back past the entire field almost to where he started the race. It seemed almost as though he misjudged how soon Massa was going to turn into his corner and had actually given up before that point. I do worry for him at the moment, it seems like he's frustrated with himself as much as anyone for not performing to the abilities he feels he has. A couple of decent results before the end of the year would give him the mental boost he needs, I hope he gets them soon. Amazed Rosberg never got a penalty for jumping onto the run off area, I reckon he could stayed on track by dropping a couple of places. Not to mention other drivers have been penalised for far less... Glad Schumacher didn't do his back in, looked like he hit at the barrier at a good pace. Di Resta's going from strength to strength, he must be a shoe-in for one of the top drives in the next couple of years, in Schumi's Merc I reckon. Once again, Vettel toddled off into the distance and was never seen again. It's shame the championship wasn't (past tense) a patch on last year but the racing's been so good it would be churlish to complain.

I missed registration for my course last Thursday because the geniuses running it didn't think to send an email as opposed/as well as a letter which inevitably went straight to my old address almost immediately after I had left and didn't have anyone to forward it until it was too late. Apparently there's at least six other people in the same boat as me and the dude said he'd phone "middle of next week." Can't seem to get a hold of him. This is irritating because a) I don't like badgering people but obviously I want to get this sorted and b) I really need to know when class is because I have to work around it as well, goddammit. It's probably gonna be fine but it's one more thing on top of other things that I need to deal with and shouldn't have to by now anyway. Also the Leprechaun is telling me to burn things. This is not a good thing.

Hot (cold?) Iceman news - Kimi Raikkonen chases F1 return with Williams in 2012. Seems there'll be something to discuss this silly season after all.

Daaaaaaw, lokathereyes! "Why... why... why would you do this to meeeee? =( " I must say though she's growing up to be quite a beauty! :3

And now, the launch trailer, because everything looks better in slow motion -

Auuugh, Raining... when I read posts like this around here I feel like my sig should read "Just because I can't reach through the screen and hug you..." =(

I've decided to splurge on a single preorder of The Legend Of Battlefield Effect 3: Assault Sword Horizon (25th Anniversary Edition). It's only one, single, and ONLY ONE GAME that's I am purchasing despite my BOTTOMLESS PILES OF MONEY because I am staying on a budget just in case. People tell me I'm in denial, but I've never even been to Egypt.

Cracking pictures Retro, glad you had a good time, yah lucky bum.

Solicitors.

The last two dev diaries have been very interesting, detailing the co-op miode and safety car feature: Also all reviews so far have been extremely positive - every one giving at least an 8, many a 9 out of 10. It's basically an improvement over '10 in almost every way. I will not be purchasing it. I know I will regret it.

6 up, 2 down, Not a great report but broadly positive. Time for some fresh blood. Send an invite if you want friendly folks.