On the Road again

Yes, it's been an obscene amount of time since I last updated this blog but I've been busy saving the planet by watching as many 80s films as possible and occasionally taking an exam or two.

And so begins the great adventure: the j1.

4 months wandering around the east and west coasts of America and trying not to get sunburnt (or, as my mum worries, kidnapped by a mexican drug cartel) along the way.

Here, I will detail the good, the bad and, undoubtedly, the very ugly.

Hasta la vista!

WANT!

Just had to share this with you. It is ridiculously nerdy but I love it. It is a handbag made using recycled keyboard keys. Genius!Good idea for a Christmas present if you're in need of inspiration.

Procrastination station

Occasionally I surprise even myself at how long I leave it until I start something. Like an essay that's due the next day. Or due that day.

It's like my mind and body are playing a game of chicken with each other. Mind always starts to panic fairly early on in the build up but Body usually refuses to budge until very shortly before the collision.

This very post is being written when I really should be doing something else.
And the fact that we've recently purchased an alarmingly large bronze statue of Samuel Beckett is not helping matters. I'm being stared out of it by the great man and reminded of how much he somehow managed to get done.

I can't stand his judgmental gaze any longer. I'm off to do important things.

Slán go fóíll!

Back to the future.

I was recently brainstorming ideas for useful gadgets that I could patent and become fabulously wealthy from. Pipe dream, I know. It didn't go extremely well. The two viable ideas I managed to come up with were the milk kettle and an oven/ac/light and heating system that can be controlled remotely by internet/mobile phone technology. It turns out that there is already a patent out on the milk kettle, which I thought would be useful for hot chocolate drinkers like myself and possibly for parents of young babies. The kettle, rather than boiling milk, would stop at the required temperature to heat milk without boiling over.Now, I know this won't happen because you'd have to clean the thing out every time you used it or risk your kettle becoming a giant sour milk container but it was a start!

The second idea is also in the early stages of coming into being. I happened upon this website, where the moderator has taken it upon himself to install webcams in most of the rooms of his house and to wire some of his household appliances up to be controlled remotely by people visiting the site. This means that I can turn his christmas lights on and off despite being on a different continent to him. This, frankly, scared the crap out of me (too much power!) and I did have to question why he would want this. I can only imagine people coming over and lights flickering on and off at random like something out of the exorcist.

But you can see how something like this might be useful. I'm not suggesting you let others control the workings of your house but what if if it was just you that had access to this? You could turn some lights on in your house if you were going to be home late or if you were on holiday and wanted to discourage burglars. With advances in the technology you could turn the heating on while on your commute home so the house would be warm to greet you. You could put a roast in the oven in the morning and control its cooking time from your desk at work.

I think changes like this are a very real possibility and am quite excited by the prospect.I'm off to do more research into how exactly it works.(Rather than doing college work or anything of immediate value...)

Slán go fóill!

Crazy people!

I found something on the web this week that reassured me a great deal that I'm quite a sane person. I was looking for "The Killers" (band) tshirts and put something to that effect into google.

It showed me some tshirts with Brandon Flowers and co., yes. But it also led me to something else...

Serial Killer tshirts.

It's official. You can now pick your favourite serial killer and buy a tshirt with their face and a lot of blood spatter on it to wear with pride.

Joy.

I really don't know how I survived (pun alert) this long without one.

But seriously, I was completely shocked when I stumbled on this website.I can't imagine someone browsing online and saying to themselves "you know what's missing from my life?A tshirt with Ted Bundy's face on it and a mug with a drawing of one of Black Dahlia's victims on it".
I mean, WTF?!?I'd love to know if there's actually a market out there for this.I'll be the first to admit that I like my share (and possibly some other people's shares) of crime dramas and murder mystery novels.I also have a big interest in the paranormal and gruesome histories. Despite being a complete sceptic, I like the stories and find them interesting.
However, I think there is a line and buying serial killer calendars and wall clocks might just be it for me.

For the rest of you though, if you're interested...Christmas is a-coming!

(I'll take a small polo. Something in the Charles Manson range, surprise me!)

Random observation of the day: Debra Messing in Casablanca?

I was watching Casablanca today and noticed more than once that Ingrid Bergman looks eerily like Debra Messing (of "Will and Grace") fame.Or should that be the other way around?

The similarities are so strong I even went so far as to research whether or not they are related but they don't seem to be!You'd have to watch the film to really see it but I've done my best to find 2 photos that look vaguely similar.

The french happenings

Still in Montpellier and having great craic.The funniest thing about coming over here was discovering that Sarah and Naomi have made names for themselves as complete party animals.We're talking Kate Moss during the heroin chic days.It appears this legendary status is mostly down to the fact that the Americans on Sarah's course are extremely lightweight in the drinking department so Sarah and Naomi's intake looks pretty hardcore and/or alcoholic by comparison.

It's nice to see they're getting on well and meeting people anyway.The range of people stopping by the apartment is like a United Nations conference.Sarah is the only Irish person on her course so has to put up with the constant stream of Americans coming up to her and going (in a really thick Texan accent) "Oh, I'm Irish too!My Granny's dog once stayed with that guy from the Quiet Man so I'm pretty much a native."

I'm going to be home to tomorrow but will take with me the knowledge that the only helpful French people are the ones who don't work in customer service; that in a battle between me and the sun the sun will always win; that Guinness is older than America (really!) and that hurling is older than Jesus.Unfortunately I cant smuggle home any lovely bottles of French wine but might attempt to get some cheese home.I managed to get 2 pounds of sausages from Shannon to here so I'm feeling optimistic!

Sin é en ce moment.Slán go fóill!