Resolutions of 2009 (A reflection of the year)

So, last December I made the following new years resolutions: (taken from a deviantART journal entry)

- Take more photos. If I see a good target, shot it!
- Look into starting Karate again (it's been 7 long years since training stopped)
- Get (at least) 5km fit for Nov. 3rd
- Research more about what I do in my career. Better thy self.

Have I kept to them? Let's see.

Photography

I have been taking more photos, and some new work has gone up onto deviantART but not as much as I'd like. Now that I have a premium membership I hope that I'll be more productive with my photography. I may try the whole, take a picture of yourself everyday thing. Might force me to think more about it.

Karate

This one has just been flat out fail. I haven't started again. I suck.

Running

I probably could run 5km by Nov. 3rd, but I never tried. My training was going well(-ish) up until December. Kind of fell apart though. This has to be rectified, starting Jan. 2nd.

Career

Over the past year I have learnt to be more confident in myself and my abilities when it comes to my job. I'm still finding that sometimes holding myself back for too long before I force myself to "fake it 'til I make it". It's coming with time and experience, just got to keep it up.


What's in store for 2010? More of the same really, only a lot more of it. More photography, more training, more confidence in myself in my career. Nothing new, just consistent. I think it's easier to focus on things you are already doing than try to force new rules and regulations on yourself every new year.

I guess we shall see how I've done in 12 months.

Happy new year all.

M

Is it too geeky...?

What with a new decade just around the corner, I could help but think to myself:

Lots of binary dates coming up soon!

The level of geek surprised even me!

Binary dates (in my moment of maddened mind) are the following:

• Jan 1st 2010
• Jan 10th 2010
• Jan 11th 2010
• Oct 1st 2010
• Oct 10th 2010
• Oct 11th 2010
• Nov 1st 2010
• Nov 10th 2010
• Nov 11th 2010

These of course can be written as:

• 01/01/10 or 010110
• 10/01/10 or 100110
• 11/01/10 or 110110
• ...

These can also apply to 2011! Wow! 2 for the price as 1!

For the non-geeks among you that haven't got a clue what I'm on about but are in any way interested, check out the Binary Numeral System

For the rest of you... Here are a couple of ninja cats

Enjoy.

M

Xmas In The Name of... (The success story) #ratm4xmas

YYYYEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RATM RATM RATM!!!!!!! XMAS NO.1!!!!!! WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!

This was my first tweet as Joe McElderry song was announced as 2009 Xmas number 2.

After all the tweeting and retweeting and trying all I could to spread the word, the (initially) Facebook campaign to bring down the 'curse of the X Factor Xmas No.1' has been lifted. A great moment in music and the first time I've been excited over the charts since I was in my early teens!

I do feel that this tweet is oh so very true...

Would RATM be no1 without Twitter? I think not. Well done Twitter! - @Oscli

Twitter played a HUGE part in this campaign, and provided a much need voice (for both sides of the 'battle')

But what got to me was the people that were attacking the idea of getting RATM to number 1:

"Both artists are under the Sony label so they are getting the money either way"

NOT THE POINT!! I, like many if not most/all, didn't buy the RATM single to try and get at the record company! Where the money ends up didn't matter! (Except for the money that RATM are donating to Shelter)

"Joe deserves the No.1 / He's worked so hard"

What has he done to deserve a free pass to a No.1 single?! Won a glorified karaoke competition!! True music artists take years to establish themselves and even then have difficulty breaking into the business.

"The RATM song isn't even xmasy"

And 'The Climb' is?!

"The song says 'Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me' but that's exactly what they are doing"

Oh dear, oh dear! But then again, 'The Climb' includes the line 'Always going to be an uphill battle, Sometimes I'm gonna to have to lose' ... and look how that turned out.

"Yeah they can play their instruments, but they can't sing"

One of my favourites... no comment needed

This whole campaign wasn't aimed at Joe. It would've happened no matter who won. It was about people standing up and showing Simon Cowell and the X Factor that people will buy what they want and not just what is shoved down their throats by the media.

To quote Tom Morello:

Changing the charts or the world: together we can't be stopped

Merry Xmas all

M

Xmas In The Name of... #ratm4xmas

So, the race for Xmas #1 is on and our (as I first thought of) unlikely contender is actually picking up pace and keeping up with the predictable option (X-Factor winner #234).

From the newspaper clipping below (taken from today's Metro, p11), Rage Against The Machine's "Killing In The Name" has been such a popular choice among the non X Factor fans that it was actually top of the iTunes download chart yesterday and many other online retailers are reporting that it features highly on their download charts too.

This is all good news.

What with Amazon confirming that their 29p download of Killing In The Name DOES count towards the charts, the 740,000+ fans of the Facebook groups in support of the song and the number of celebrities (such as Bill Bailey and Lenny Henry) supporting it too... This could be the greatest Xmas in music in quite a while!

I've bought my first copy (of possibly many)... Have you?

M

People die in war?!

Why is it that when the media doesn't agree with a war, they are outraged when someone dies (well, when one of their countrymen dies anyway). I'm wondering if they'd make so much of it if they were behind the government and believe in 'the cause'.

The front pag of the Metro today holds the headline "AFGAN CONFLICT DEATHS HIT 100". Am I supposed to be shocked or surprised at this?! Whether people back the war effort or not, it is a war they are fighting. Those that join the armed forces know that they put their lives at risk and yet the media seems to find it a shock when they are causalties.

If we were all behind the government's war, would we happily accept this as an outcome of mass killing or would we still kick up a fuss?

M
(via Mobile blogage)

My 2000th Tweet

It's only been 71 days since my 100th tweet and I've already rolled around to my 2000th!

Addict much?

M