h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

yeah, dane just announced sadly that the bathroom will take several more weeks to be fixed, as all the plumbing has to be replaced etc. at least once the plumbing is fixed they can put the floor back and maybe people will be able to use it...
in other house trouble news, our electric bill is 3X the usual and it's my responsibility to call up the company and try to get them to explain why it has shot up for no discernible reason. as time goes by i'm wishing more and more that i could just pay it. you know i am willing to pay dearly for the privilege of not calling them. but i have my roommates to think of.
sorry to hear about glastonbury. but yeah, if the process of preparing for it has been beneficial in itself, you've still come out ahead. just not as far ahead.
did you visit anne's mom this weekend or is that still upcoming? no news is good news, i guess. i presume if you did meet her it must have gone smoothly.

Nah, going to Cromer (where her old dear lives, on the north Norfolk coast) the week after next. I tend to disappear a bit at the weekends nowadays as I spend it all in Camden.

I just bought a vinyl cutter, half of the stuff I need to begin t shirt production. It is so expensive that I feel sick. Still, in for a penny, in for a pound. Need to find a heat press next, then got a thousand blank t shirts, then we are in business. God the expense.

Not a great deal else to report. Went up to see my old dears tonight, it was nice to be fussed. Other than that, I am too worried about the expenditure on the company to be able to think about anything else.

yep, and here i was fussing with the electric company over $113. they were of little help, by the way. i figure it's our space heaters.
nothing going on here, either. going to wal mart later, which is good since i've been out of beer for days.
and i got a notice in the mail today about how the graduation ceremony will go. i have to process fckin TWICE! oh god, it goes from 7:30 AM- 2:30 PM... the horror. etc. i really, really want to back out of the damn ceremony now, though it's not like i didn't know what was going to happen. just like high school graduation, only a little bigger, right? but it just finally hit me how insanely miserable it will be sitting in a football stadium full of tulane students for that many hours, trooping around with them, and going up on a stage a couple times and all that. wearing weird hoods. EWW! but i think i am committed to taking part. if only i could forgo the indignity of it and just creep out into the world with my diploma folded up in my pocket or thrust in a holster of some kind...

I can think of few things more tedious than a graduation ceremony. Take a Playstation or something.

Feel a bit more chipper than of late today. Applying for Reading Festival, a joint venture with Simon, an East Yard vinyl trader and Hawley drinking chum. He's talking about going Dutch on the stock and splitting the profit, with a bonus for me having thought of it in the first place. Sounds promising to me. I want to do a couple of festivals this year if possible, so it could be a standing arrangement for 2005.

Fran's doing a porn flick next month, so is going to Charing Cross Hospital for an HIV test on Tuesday, which will be a fun evening in Soho afterwards. Good chance to finally get some pics of her in pgj product, also.

Oh look - Craig's company: http://www.adinfa.com/

ah, the neverending fun of fran's life. at least video porn has a bit more caché than internet porn.
i don't know what caché is, but i couldn't think of a word i did know the meaning of. but it's cool that you're taking her out post-HIV test. showing someone a good time on that sort of occasion is a fairly important function, i know, having performed it myself more than once in my tiny life...
i'm feeling chipper today myself, inexplicably. everything just felt easy and larkish. not that i did anything unusual. spent most of my literature class drawing avocados, then went to get coffee, bantered a bit with my co-DJ Li, had coffee, wrote random stuff... then the absence of the obnoxious attention-seeking guy in screenwriting class was a plus. we read a couple scripts, one of which i got to read the slutty best friend role for. half the class was absent, in fact, so we also got out early. other than that... it's sunny...cold though.
anyway, my week is over, and i am determined to get loads of stuff done this weekend. and to fit in time to catch up on my campy horror movies. i watched Texas Chainsaw Massacre weeks ago but have been holding onto it since the part of me that loves CSI (fckin awesome detective drama about forensics, very gory with saturated colors, ambient music and science. it is the best thing ever.) thinks i will want to watch it again because it has that same beautiful disgustingness to it... and it is just insane. i also got Shaun of the Dead as a birthday present from corrie, so i need to spend some quality time with that. most of all i need to get some poems ready to submit to this big Academy of American Poets contest which i am destined to win...

I watched Texas CSM the other night, they are doing a season of films which were at some point banned, on Channel 4. It's quite good, I don't really go in for horror flicks but it is a good one. Yeah, we have CSI over here, it is quite popular, I am pretty sure I have watched it at some point.

We may have a lifeline for Glastonbury. Simon bumped into some bloke in a van (that's right) on Camden High Street that arranges stuff, and reckons he can get us in. I am a bit wary of these Mr Fixit types, and would really rather stick to applying through the front door, so everything is sorted properly. But it is an interesting lead. Meanwhile, we are applying for Reading and 'Guilfest' (a rock festival in Guildford, the irony of which is probably lost on you) which sounds like a larf.

At Anne's last night, when for a meal to a Thai restaurant that plays reggae.

My vinyl cutter arrived yesterday, which is quite exciting. I am too nervous to get it out of it's box at the moment, will probably venture into it on Monday. Just need the heat press, some coloured vinyl, a stock of blank t's and a heat press and we're off. Need to get these last three items quite quickly; the money invested in the vinyl cutter is just dead otherwise. But it is the first step in edging the company towards a profitable entity.

Yeah, you may have escorted people to HIV tests before, but I doubt they have as much need of one as Fran.

http://www.rollingstone.com/advertisewithus?pageid=rs.Shop&pageregion=Footer you should eventually be advertising in Rolling Stone. you may not like it, but it's true. i got a couple issues today, was looking at the 'shop' section and i suspect your products would fit into that market. along with http://www.randomshirts.com and all the usual hippie crap etc. etc. etc.
ew, reggae. but thai food is infinitely excellent. especially now because i am hungry. if i'm lucky i might get a special treat of movie theater popcorn later. there's talk of going to see Be Cool or something.
anyway. hooray for dramatic expenditures! hope the heat press and shirt stock come through with all speed... you get tax write offs for that sort of thing. in america you do, anyway. doing your own printing should be cool, i guess. are you doing it all yourself or taking on extra staff to do the grunt work? what do these damn things look like? smaller and simpler than i am envisioning, no doubt.
no news here. graduation day is ticking closer, spring break is next week, and my scary nerd LJ persona is coming along well, i've noticed. i have nothing to talk about but ceramics, poetry, and horror movies. speaking of which, i should probably be working on one of the above right now.

Um, haha, yes, 'tax'. I'll have someone look into that for you.

Odd kind of a weekend. Usual Camden and Hawley related japes. Good day trading on Saturday, awful one today, so a fair weekend overall. Something rather mad though: a film company working for Channel 4 (a cool terrestrial channel over here) want to speak to me on Thursday evening about maybe - *maybe* - following griefjunkie around at a music festival as a fly on the wall thing. Hello fame. Basically, they are doing a show about small businesses, and deem pgj interesting enough, and at an interesting enough stage of developement, to shadow. I need hardly say that if that happens, the company will go stella overnight. Never mind Rolling Stone magazine, it'll be doing the Super Bowl next year. But who knows what, if anything, comes of these speculative tv ideas. Interesting, though.

Re: printing. I'll do it for the time being, although I could employ someone (probably long-time pgj associate, afficianado and shag-if-I-want-it Gaby) to do it. The hardware itself is pretty straightforward - for vinyl cutter, think printer. That's what it is, really, except that it scores a design onto sheets of thin vinyl instead of paper. It's about four foot long. The heat press is exactly that. A hot plate, essentially, with a contact surface about as big as the front of a t shirt. It momentarily superheats both the vinyl and the shirt, so that they melt into each other. Not unlike ironing on stuff yourself with a normal iron, but about a billion times more effective.

Well, hope you got to the pictures.

well, we won't speak too much about the tv movie deal. too fragile, too tantalizing to mention without jinxing it... would be quite a nice opportunity, enough said.
fck, i hope mohammad is talking on the phone and isn't just moaning in fluish delirium...he is apparently really sick and i'm alone in the house with him, which makes me nervous. he is sensitive and needy even in the best of health, so i am just going to watch TV and hope he stays in bed and gets well...hmm... and that i am not next.
nope, didn't end up going to the movies the other night. will probably do so sometime this week though. my weekend was fine, i managed to get a respectable amount of stuff done, predictably. did some bowls, typed some poems, submitted said poems today. the one unpredicted thing that happened was this extremely-though somewhat trashily-hott boy i know from wtul came over and chatted with me sunday at PJ's (coffee shop on campus where i go pretty much every single afternoon). he ended up telling me among other things that he'd gotten arrested for drunken brawling on campus which was why he was behind in french class. could he have sensed the extent to which i am turned on by pale punkish alcoholics? if i see him again i am so going to 'hit that.'
ah, mohammad is laughing, i take that as a good sign. assuming, again, that he is talking to someone on the phone and not to himself.

Yeah, get that trashy bloke. I've also been arrested for brawling (affray or violent disorder as it is called here) in my chequered life.

And yeah, probably correct policy on the telly thing. It really *is* too good to be true. But maybe something will come of it, if not a prime time documentary featuring me talking nonsense.

Discovered today that although the vinyl cutter looks nice, the software with it won't load on windows, and the plug only has two prongs. We have three pronged plugs here. However, the bloke is sending replacement bits down. Bit of a cock about, though.

Spoke to the bloke about how he can get us into Glasterberry, he was more interested in talking than listening so I faxed him (how '80s is that) what we needed and we'll see how it goes.

Also spoke to Fran today, she is trying to move to London, which will be good for her. So up town with her tomorrow as advertised, then round to Jon's in the evening, possibly with Anne dropping in. An interesting mix of people, if ever there was one.

i don't know if brawling is a legal term. i think they'd probably call it 'drunk and disorderly' or 'assault' or something. apparently what it amounted to in his case was being drunk and hitting someone, in a dorm, so, considering most tulane students are cnts it was undoubtedly deserved. violence is sexy.
that is irritating about the vinyl cutter. but something is always bound to go wrong when you make a huge investment in technology. just be glad it didn't come alive and eat you.

Yeah, my affray charges were at the football. At Manchester City, Liverpool, and at home against Birmingham City and Swansea City. All dropped, the police just detain you and let you go in the morning.

Good day yesterday. A lot of hanging around in a sexual diseases clinic, but Fran is pretty confident. She had a clean test in January, and doesn't do it without condoms anymore. Anyway, went to see this flat she's moving to in South London. It's really nice. I'd live there. After, went up to Jon's and got the rest of the pictardz done, which was a real larf. Hopefully, the updates will be on the site tomorrow, but it could be a couple of days, as Ollie is extremely busy with work he actually gets paid for. However, once it's updated, it'll be over to 3PO for a proper shake up of the thing for the festival season. I really wish there was more actual new stuff to put on, I had really wanted the ever-problematic chops on for this update, but it wasn't to be.

chops. is that those poster things with the storm troopers and what not?
fck fck fck. feeling kind of bad at the moment because a kid from my screenwriting class killed himself this weekend, as i just found out in class. didn't know him well because well, i'm used to not getting to know even the (extremely rare) cool and interesting people i come in contact with here... he was one of those people i felt attracted to and kind of wished was my friend, but didn't bother because i generally assume my interference and friendship is not needed. of course if i had somehow managed to befriend him he would still have killed himself and then i'd be *really* sad. so, hooray for emotional isolationism. it's the only way to fly.
anyway, i'm now on spring break. i am very excited about going home. it will be great. everyone there loves me, and they do things for me like cook and hang out and act like they give a sht whether i live or die. always good to have people like that in your life.

Yeah, the Star Wars chops.

The meeting with the woman from Channel 4 went well: I feel reasonably confident that we'll be on the telly in some form or other.

Wow, sorry to hear about the screenwriting bloke killing himself. Never going to be much of a laugh, that, especially since you were quite attracted to him. Although, as you pointed out, you didn't actually know him properly.

Well, good for you going home from a while. I am off on a holiday of sorts myself after the weekend, after which (on Thursday) I can set about sorting my life out. It is falling apart at the seams. Still, at least Anne is providing sterling support.

cool, glad the channel 4 prospects remain promising. that really is awesome. i would hope that the tv people would not be encouraging any unreasonable hopes, knowing what a big deal that kind of exposure is for a small business...so if you're confident, then you have reason to be.
nothing going on here, which is fine. everyone is all stressed about our respective futures and what we're going to do with our lives, etc.
is your life falling apart? i guess what with the no job prospects and money running out... but you have a nice girlfriend and you're going to be on TV, so that's something.
oh yeah.. this thursday is the premier of the american version of The Office. it's finally happening.
also i saw a preview for some Alan Partridge Experience or other that will soon be on BBC America, with a lot of the cast from TDToday... though i don't suppose chris morris himself is involved, it's just sort of a spinoff, isn't it? i'm assuming you've seen this, i think you mentioned Partridge having his own show.

Yeah, Alan Partridge *is*, strictly speaking, a spin off - but an excellent one. The series was called Knowing Me, Knowing You over here. Not sure what you'll be getting, but if it is anything like Knowing, it will be essential and hilarious viewing.

Just back from 3 1/2 days in Norfolk, in a farmhouse with Anne and her mum and brother. All very enjoyable. Lots of time spent at the seaside and such, home cooking, fresh air, all that good stuff. Norfolk is very different to what I am used to: largely rural, with the main city (or sit-dee in local dialect) of Norwich little more than a village in comparison to London. We were in Cromer (Crarmer in dialect) which, according to very plausible local legend is the actual 'coastal town that they forgot to close down' of Every Day Is Like Sunday fame. http://www.about-norfolk.com/holt/images/cromer.jpg Having actually seen the pier and such, it looks very like that on the video. Which you now have. Anyway, it is certainly a fact that Morrissey wrote the song there, and I listened to it as I trudged slowly over the very same wet sand in the pictar going to meet Anne on the pier, and it was an extraordinarily moving experience. The slightly pink building above the yellow building on the left is where we did, indeed, share some greased tea, before realising that we were in fact living the lyrics.

Yes, my life is falling apart, although I feel more able to handle the situation after my restful few days. The telly thing, who knows. This bloke who can allegedly fix us up at Glastonbury sounds like a typical charlied up Camden idiot to me, so I am not hopeful of that particular little venture coming off. But they might hang around to film the company at another festival.

the cromer experience sounds very nice. hmm. along with mountains, beaches have always seemed a bit overrated to me, but walking in morrissey's footsteps is another matter... that and i've never really been on a wet sandy beach in england.. as far as i can remember, anyway, since i haven't been in england since i was little, except to change planes.
yeah, i'll be looking forward to the Partridge thing. BBC America is now part of basic cable back in Lincoln, but not here. of course, i'll be out of new orleans forever in 7 weeks or so. then it's back to the future. may go in for the piano tech training, though it would sort of be just a way to occupy myself while i figure out what to do...
the american Office is just weird. i have no use for it, really, since it's EXACTLY the same as the original, in that i know exactly what these people are about to say because they're using the same script, only this time it's easier to understand what they're saying... and it's different people. which is creepy. i guess they didn't want to risk coming up with their own scripts and looking stupid; now they just look like soulless replicants...
well, it's 6.30 in the evening, and they're still working on the bathroom. usually they put in about 3 hours a day in the afternoon, but i guess they're getting down to business now. neither of our showers (we're also using the bathroom in the downstairs apartment) have any water pressure, i'm fairly sure they're completely fcking up the plumbing forever.

Yeah, really, I can't see how an American Office is going to work. It's like whoever it was that cloned Fawlty Towers: the essence of the thing is that it *is* very English humour. So just leave it alone. No one over here has cloned the Simpsons, for the same reason.

What the *fck* is wrong with your bathroom? Three hours a day?

Anyway. Getting kicked out of the flat in two months. That's the main news, I suppose. Hassle, certainly, but I have to get hold of this at some point, so a little shove won't hurt.

Been at Anne's a lot recently. Obviously, she's my girlfriend and everything, and I have a lot of stuff to do in London, which is the other bonus.

Haven't seen or heard from Kate for ages. She managed to put a kitchen knife through her wrist, as I think I mentioned, which has messed her hand up quite a bit. How the fck she managed to do that is anyone's guess, but we may safely rule out foul play.

Ah, be a piano tech. I think that's a pretty cool thing. It isn't like you have to do it forever. I was a postman when I left education, and look at me now. OK, you can stop looking.

ha. i didn't know there had been a clone of fawlty towers. but did the original fawlty towers ever win a golden globe or whatever? there probably was no such thing in those days. corporate people just have no sense of reality and its subtleties, any further than the fact that something was SUCCESSFUL. they say: 'british people have funny accents and THAT is why we don't understand what they're talking about. after all, we have offices too! and office humor! just eliminate the accents and we have something regular americans will identify with.' well, we'll see. i can't confidently say it won't catch on, but it would be kind of a shame if it does.
enough about that.
as for the bathroom, for some reason they completely demolished it, floor to ceiling, and are rebuilding it. why do that? i don't know. i kind of thought my bathroom (the one attached to my room, that is, as opposed to the one in the hall the boys used to use when it existed) was more of a mess. at some point they had said my shower was leaking into the lower apt. and they'd have to regrout it -- never happened. actually, i suspect our landlord is very probably dying of lung cancer or something. i called yesterday to complain about my shower and he seemed more out of it than usual, and he's selling the place so i don't think he's really able to manage it anymore. apparently mohammad called him today and tried to complain, about various things including the fact that neither the freezer nor the stove are working properly, but it's pretty clear to me that nothing is going to be done about anything besides the bathroom until the new landlord takes over. we'll just have to hope nothing gets worse before we can move out. i had intended to complain about the freezer and stove, too, but either he can't hear you or he won't, you know. luckily i had the complaint about the shower, which was something he could just tell max (the guy who works on the house) to take care of. i wish dane had had a go, either he could have gotten results or he would at least know that mohammad and i are not just being p u s s i e s. kind of a sad situation here, good thing we're all getting out. and i'm getting a sense of how much comfort and convenience i need/am accustomed to. already i am kind of shuddering with revulsion just from having to deal with this place, so i am really hoping i will not have to live any worse in the future... and i can better appreciate what it is to have a fully functioning toilet, ice, a reliable shower and an oven with a pilot light and all that, since we don't have any of that at the moment. ech. well, the shower is fixed at least. and it could have been so much worse, too. cockroaches, for example. the fact that we only had a couple run-ins is something i consider a huge blessing.
well. anyway. i need to come up with an idea for my final paper. i am not really in a thinking mood tonight so who knows.. something to do with insanity and gender in Mrs. Dalloway, perhaps. that was what lenna suggested and i do not really give a damn.
didn't win Academy of American Poets contest i entered, by the way. which was to be expected, i suppose. lenna assures me that the fact that i don't see what's so superior about the poems that did win is a good thing. because i don't have to respect the decision or whatever. though i actually think god is punishing me for having an ego and aspirations.
people who lose poetry contests and get grumpy about it are funny, aren't they?

Yeah, God knows why they had to rebuild the bathroom. I don't understand anything like that. You should have seen some of the kennels I've lived in in my time. Well, you can probably imagine.

Ha, Anne and I made the rather sobering observation last night that the only way we can afford to live pretty soon is to move in with each other. So we probably will, somewhere in Camden or Kentish Town. Which sounds like some kind of mega huge step, but it's the prime reason for people living together in London, as it is so expensive. It's no big deal really, it isn't as if we are buying a flat, just moving in to one for a while.

Off to Ollie's tomorrow to get the site updates sorted out. It's been getting a ton of visits recently, as a result of getting mentioned on a few livejournals and people looking at it from there. Nine online sales in March, too, which is good. Including two to Milwaukee.