I haven't really said much this week, primarily because I haven't been DOING much. Mainly I've been keeping a low profile (because the funds are ticking away), and showing Geraint around the place.
On Tuesday we went to The London Eye, which is a giant skywheel thing which apparently gives the best views there are of London. I thought it was pretty cool, but it didn't float my boat that much. I guess I've got an aversion to queueing for things – did it at Disneyworld in 1996, had enough.
After the Eye, Geraint and I went to The Saatchi Gallery. Once again, here I am looking at modern art. I've got to say I thought the whole collection was pretty damn cool, and I found myself getting affected by the works in ways I didn't the first time I started looking at this sort of thing, at the Tate Modern. Maybe I'm getting more out of the art world with continued exposure ? Anyway, my favourite installation would have to be 20:50 – the artist has filled a room half up with used sump oil, creating a mirrored black finish (how much more black could it get ? The answer is none – none… more black ?). And you can smell it all the way up the corridor too. I loved it !
I went to see Fahrenheit 9/11 the other night, which to sum up really quickly (cos I'm meant to be ELSEWHERE right now) was quite thought provoking really, and I know Moore has plenty of critics, but I think it's great that he's saying what he is and getting an alternative viewpoint out there into the wider community. I think he's got enough credibility these days that everything he says isn't just being dismissed as raving extreme left wing twaddle. ANYWAY.
The big news is that this afternoon I'm heading off to the Cotswolds with the Westminster lads for the weekend, and instead of coming back here I'll be dropped in Oxford, because… I'VE GOT A CONTRACT STARTING MONDAY ! It's pretty exciting stuff – my first job in the UK. It'll be Visual Basic programming primarily, but I'll still keep working on the PHP and probably start into C# or VB.Net soon too. But yes, getting a job is a welcome relief. To start with it's a 2 month contract, and we'll see what happens after that. I'll be living in a backpacker's hostel for the first week, and again, once I'm a bit better oriented I'll see what the other options are. Yay !
Some of the more astute folks will have noticed additions popping up on the right hand side of my page – they're just a few bits & bobs I've been thinking about adding for a while. We'll see how they go. The exchange rate one I'm particularly proud of, because it communicates using SOAP to a Web Service to get the data… which probably doesn't mean much to most of you, but the nerds in the crowd will nod sagely and say “Humpy, you truly are a technological wizard”. OK going now – have to go buy some shirts.