*slurp* Enjoying the last few sips of a sugar boost (hot water and honey with a dash of lemon) while watching the music channels and wondering what it is that keeps Daniel Bedingfield up there with the likes of Robbie Williams.

I was terribly reluctant to enjoy Williams' music when he first went solo (it seemed too trendy at the time ;), but I've slowly but surely been won over - he's one of the few real rock stars of the moment, I think. I dig his attitude, even if it is just good marketing. Willing victim of the hype, thy name is Bash. I still don't own any of his CDs though. :p

His new song, Come Undone, is wonderfully cynical. Good video too... I'm dying to see what's underneath all the blurred bits. :)

But, I digress. I needed the honey drink as a restorative - I suffered a godawful migraine this afternoon. It came upon me slowly ... starting yesterday as a mild but persistent headache, which I put down to withdrawal symptoms from trying to kick the caffeine habit. I woke up this morning with a pounding in my skull, feeling completely hungover even though I'd had nothing stronger than some trusty Rooibos tea the night before. I drank bottle after bottle of water, but that didn't help - and I suppose, nor did the fact that I left home with wet hair, and then didn't bother adjusting the blinds in my office when the sun started glaring off my PC monitor.

So by the time I was meant to leave for my first Pilates class at the Leisure Centre with some workmates, I was feeling none too well - but being an idiot and ignoring every single crisis signal that my body was trying to get to me to hear. :) I bumbled my way through the class, growing paler and shakier with each passing minute, and had to abandon it halfway through. After a brief and somewhat therapeutic hurl, I walked home (the Leisure Centre is very close to the Marina) and collapsed into bed. I was woken by the pain a few hours later, and thank goodness, managed to find some Anadin. There's a profound magic in the words 'pain killer'.

When I awoke later, it was with the deepest respect for people who have to manage worse pain than that every single day of their lives. I was reduced to a mewling wreck by what was admittedly a pretty bad headache (felt like my brain had swollen and was banging around the inside of my skull), but it was easily treated and mercifully fleeting. So join me, if you will, to say a prayer for those who aren't as lucky.

Pilates rules, btw ... even though it was quite depressing to realise just how weak my core is! I'll definitely be keeping it up.

S. Francis and Rico, those geniuses behind the Madam and Eve comic strip, have several other projects on the go; Chilling Out and Vern and Dern. I've read some of the Chilling Out strips, and I really wish the guys would do more with it, but Vern and Dern is reportedly more popular and therefore more frequently updated - although I suppose it's a chicken and egg thing, really.

Lawyers with a sense of humour - way cool.

This homepage is intended to be a joke. Other parts of this website are also intended to be jokes. However, as a public service to enable our readers to determine whether or not they are complete idiots, we have also included a bunch of boring, serious material without a joke in sight. If you can tell the difference, you are not a complete idiot. Just to show we are not totally heartless, we will give you a little hint to help you with this test: if your eyes start to glaze over, it's the serious, boring stuff. Good luck.

Gosh, it has been a while.

First, the bad news. IT Wales is supported by the European Regional Development Fund. The current round of funding will last until the end of September, and in preparation for this red letter day, we recently submitted our bid for a second round of ERDF funding, which if it had been successful, would have given us three more years of bouncy, bouncy, bouncy, fun, fun, fun!

But it wasn't.

I took the news really hard initially; I've come to love Swansea and of course, I love what I do, and then there's the baggage of the ups and downs I've had career-wise since leaving SA - all in all, it was very disheartening. Then Carol reminded us all that we're still free to apply for funding from the European Social Funding programme, which could give us two more years in which to become self-sustaining, and failing that, there's a tender for a three-year contract which we're in the process of applying for - so there's light at the end of the tunnel, even if it is flickering like mad. ;)

In the meantime, the team is demoralised and unmotivated. I admit, I have been feeling the same way myself, but I keep trying to remember that I have, at the very least, six more issues of the mag to work on, and this is the time to rally and produce six sterling issues which if nothing else will act as a showcase of one's uber editorial skills. :)

So, what else has been going on?

We had a really cool visit from Jon's aunt and uncle over the weekend; they arrived on Saturday evening, having been delayed by the anti-war demonstrations in London. While he entertained them, I went along to watch The Ring with Andy and Julie. I love horror films, and this one, though it had its shortcomings, was at times truly petrifying. Very very good, even if I am just a big wuss. Or woos, as Moby would write. :)

For those of you from the ol' alma mater, Dustin is done with Primedia Publishing - he starts his new job (managing financial publications and supplements) at Media24 tomorrow. Good luck, buddy. :)

Happy Vernal Equinox, everybody! :-D

The circus, the circus! I love the circus! :)

I had a day off on Wednesday (yeah, I know, I'm equally amazed at how many leave days I'm allowed in a year!) and spent the day swanning about the shops with my newest buddy, Jo.

Two successful purchases later, we moved over to Skin 'n Ink where I met Lex, possibly the happiest, most laidback person in Swansea. She's a complete darling, and really handy with a piercing needle.

I'd decided to have my bellybutton piercing redone. This time around, I've had a bar (with gorgeous teal chips) instead of a ring and I'm really, really, really pleased with the way it looks and how cleanly it was done. Lex was quite sneaky about it too ... the needle was halfway through my navel before I'd even realised the piercing had begun. :) It was a bit more painful than the last time, because there was scar tissue to go through this time around, but it was over in a flash.

In the evening, Jon and I strolled down the bay to the Recreation Ground car park, where the Moscow State Circus has pitched its trailers and tents for a two-week run in Swansea.

The walk was lovely; it was a mild night, and the haze in the air blurred the lines between land, sea and sky, making it seem as though we were walking in a marvellously muted, one-dimensional bluescape. The twilight deepened as we went along, silhouetting the fishermen that we passed, and the stillness in the air to our left was offset by the energetic thrum of evening traffic to our right... it was a beautiful moment of balance, and made me appreciate for the umpteenth time just how lucky I am to live where I do.

I have loads more to write about the circus, but it will have to wait - damn this thing we call work. :)

Well, what do you know?Complaining through the official channels really can make a difference. From ITWeb:
The Advertising Standards Authority of SA (ASA) has ordered that a Microsoft ad implying that its software will bring about the extinction of the hacker is to be pulled for being "unsubstantiated and misleading". Full story here.

There's an anti-war slogan spraypainted onto the wall surrounding a construction site on campus. Sadly, while the protestor's heart seems to be in the right place, their spacing is not; the slogan appears to read: "I will not beat war". D'oh!

Aside: this sort of graffiti reminds me of those counter-culture slogans that used to appear on the walls of the over- and underpasses along the M1, in and around the Sandton area. Did anyone else see those, or was it just me? And is it still happening, or has the artist given up?

So, anyway. I must, at this point, wholeheartedly and with much exhortation, recommend that you go out and find a tai chi class, asafp. When you do, I hope you'll find it as physically relaxing as I do, and as mentally challenging, and energising, and stuff. I say stuff, because the class tonight was really... weird. I don't know exactly what happened, but I came home feeling like I'd smoked a very medicinal joint. Far out, as they say. I dunno ... do people still say far out?

Woohoo! My April issue is done (well, mostly) and can be seen sporting its new livery here. What a weight off my shoulders - the last time I was this relaxed was possibly January 5, 2003. I was in the office over the weekend, slaving away over my keyboard and feeling a terrible sense of deja vu ... it was like ITWeb all over again. :p

But it's worked out well in the end... now that I have a decent CMS and site design to work with, I can really start concentrating on the writing. Western Mail, your ass is mine. :)

I have new shoes! Jon and I hit the High Street on Saturday, and we came away all consumer'd up - Jon with boots he's wanted all his life, and me with a pair of terribly comfortable work shoes which also happen to be red and gorgeous.

And lastly, on this fabulously sunny day, something quite commendable from the folks at Wordsmith.org - the Wordlovers' Library Project. Anu's book "A Word A Day: A Romp Through Some of the Most Unusual and Intriguing Words in English" although well received, is not that affordable in some countries. So they're going to give a copy of the book to each library or school which wants it but whose budget does not allow for the purchase. If you want to recommend a library or a school to receive the book (and I'm looking in your direction, if you're reading this from somewhere in Souf Efrika) you can e-mail the following info to library@wordsmith.org : Name and address of the library/school; name and title of the contact person; approximate number of readers.

Damn! I missed all but the last half hour of the Red Nose Day Comic Relief special on the Beeb. And no, I'm not being sarcastic... I really wanted to watch that. :(

Yes, I realise the site is looking wonky. No, I don't know why. Yes, I do plan to fix it - but only after I miss ... er ... meet my deadline, alright? :)

The sky is blue, the sun is shining, and I went for a walk in the park with some work mates over lunch - what bliss! :) That's the benefit of working right next to Singleton Park - one of the most beautiful parks in Swansea. All you gritty urban warriors out there, eat your hearts out. :->

Business card update: The printers reckon the ink needs 48 hours to dry. Hmmm.

And in other news: this, which is likely to induce a belly laugh in the reader, and this, which is likely to make any sane person wonder, Wtf??

Wahey! Exactly 4 months and 8 days have passed since I joined IT Wales, and I finally have new business cards! :) (The delay was caused by a rebranding exercise which kicked off just as I joined.) Unfortunately, it's a bad print job, so unless we actually /want/ recipients of said cards to come away with black and blue fingers, we'll have to have them redone .... Poo, bum, bottom, as they say in the classics.

When will the exploitation end?

I've just had a piece of kangaroo biltong. Interesting... it's quite lean, as can be expected, and weirdly enough, smelled a bit like cat food. Didn't taste like cat food though - of course, I couldn't really say what cat food tastes like, but I can imagine it, I think. It was really bland, as far as biltong goes, but more-ish nonetheless. Cross that off the exotic food experiences list. :)

Bringing cheer to an otherwise uninspired day: FlyGuy. It's very cool.

Chilling stuff. An open letter from advertising guru Toby Barlow to the sad little man we know as Dubya.

OHMIGOD. I've received an internal server error message from Google. What clearer sign than that to say it's the end of the world as we know it?

Just checked out Channel 4's Gayometer.
Bash is 46% gay! You're very open-minded between the sheets and just as balanced when out on the streets.

Somehow, that surprises me - I thought I'd score a lot higher. ;)

*giggle* This is a product of the hysteria that follows an extended period of intense concentration (which pretty much sums up my week). I was watching an advert celebrating the success of BBC Wales' Wales Today news show, and as my gaze wandered over the timeslot information I thought, "Wee knights at 8? That's pretty weird..."

Net speed record smashed

I love the Internet. Thanks to the Internet, I know now that the hauntingly gorgeous song in the Audi FIS advert - the one with all the fish guzzling petrol - is Pendulum, by a band called Cinema. No relation to the South African band of the same name, as far as I can tell. :)

It's taken about a year of Jon's gentle encouragement, but I finally got around to installing a Linux OS on my home machine. Sfw?, I hear some of you say. Well, I haven't really got my teeth into it yet (busy, busy, busy) but I'm already impressed with the absolute flexibility it presents to the user. And although it's slightly more demanding on said user than Windows, I actually like that - I find it challenging, and we all know how I love a challenge. :) Not much more to say than that, really.

Quick rant: I hate trains. I especially hate express trains that run an hour late, so that Little Miss Me has to take the admittedly scenic but definitely longer route across South Wales to return to work after a morning event. I /really/ need a car. Or a self-propelling bubble - either one will do. :)

Talk about multi-skilling! From a 'situations vacant' ad: Publishing firm seeks freelance writers with experience in large projects. Knowledge of corporate, medical, aviation and equine journalism an advantage.

Sheesh, what a weekend. Jon and I spent some hours dancing and swigging death-by-sugar-pops at Escape on Friday night. It was pretty good, even though my t-shirt attracted the attention of the World's Biggest James Fan, who proceeded to follow me around the dance floor for a bit, trying to determine if I was as big a James fan as he. Bless, as they say in this neck of the woods. :)

Had a better dance class on Saturday than I've had in a while. We did a bit more work on the first verse of the Farruca - very rhythmic dance with lots of funky footwork and a brilliant build-up to an energetic finale - fabulous! :) It's traditionally thought of as a male dance, but women have performed it before - of course, dressed in a man's costume. And there endeth the trivia lesson. ;)

We watched Monsoon Wedding this afternoon (which I absolutely loved), and then went on to JC's for the weekly get-together of Go Swansea, where I had a most interesting experiencing playing partner Go with two other players. I think I learned quite a bit, but bloody hell, the game took /forever/ to complete. :)

This week is going to be quite hectic, so I probably won't be posting too much, but then again, I might be forced to WAB like crazy, so... watch this space.