3 nasty photos not for the weak hearted.

I watch the UFC. I never used to like watching two guys just punch each other in the face, It seemed pointless. Why would someone put themselves through that? You are going to step in a ring and stand there with someone else who wants to inflict pain on your face. He wants to break your nose, make you eyes swell shut, cut open your mouth, always seemed a bit backwards to me. That was when I was just watching boxing. Ever since the Ultimate Fighting Championship was bought by three guys who enjoyed martial arts and saw something in the future for mixed martial arts, it has become more and more popular and definitely more safer. Gone are the days of the 'Two men enter, one man leaves' mentality. Referees are on hand to jump in if one man can not intelligently defend himself and is getting the worst of a beating. Not the same as boxing. With boxing if a guy gets beaten so badly that he gets knocked down, he is given an eight count to regain himself and get punched in the face some more.

Now from time to time, all it takes is one punch to knock a guy out and then there is nothing the ref can do to save the guy except stop the fight at that point. Anyone can get caught with a knock out punch on any given day. It is almost better to get knocked out in some cases, it saves you from getting hit four, five or six more times before the ref pulls the other guy off, a saving grace almost. However, sometimes a punch, knee or well timed elbow will not knock you out but instead open up a cut so bad that the ref calls a halt to the fight so a doctor can assess the cut. Some cuts on the forehead or around the head area will bleed very badly and quickly but actually not be that serious. Edwin DeeWees and Yves Edwards are two fighters who I think have had the most bloodiest fights I have ever seen, but both fighters were seen by the doctor who allowed them to continue. Some fighters are not so lucky. The most well known "bad cut" belongs to Marvin "the Beastman" Eastman. If you ask anyone that has some degree of MMA knowledge about a bad cut, his Marvin will almost always be the first name mentioned. Here is his photo: Warning It's pretty brutal.



That was caused by an elbow form Vitor Belfort at UFC 43. What make sit so nasty is the length and width. You could park a semi in that thing!! A top contender in the cut department. However, just recently a new challenger has stepped up to take the top spot. This is a fighter from England called Ross "the Gladiator" Pointon. He was recently on the reality fighter series "The Ultimate Fighter" with eventual winner and fellow Brit, Michael "the Count" Bisping. Here is his entry photo:



What makes this cut so bad? While Marvin had length and width covered, Ross takes depth! Yep, that white stuff you can see is his skull. I believe this was caused by a knee. Now for the third scary photo:




Me with a beard, thats scary LOL. Don't worry its all gone now.

Just one man's opinion...

I have asked on several occasions that if anyone had something that they wanted to say, then feel free to email me and I would post it on here. Well I have my first guest poster. A good friend of mine that I used to work with at Shaw. He actually trained me... molded me if you will (LOL) over three years ago. We have similar views on religion in that if bemuses us, almost comical in some ways how people still in this day and age still believe in religion. Here is his view:

In no way do I feel that I have to apologize or justify being an atheist.

I fail to see the difference between the stories of Gilgamesh, the Odyssey, the Iliad and the Torah or Old Testament (Bible), However the parallels are hard to miss.

What I mean is this: How are the fantastical, mythical and outrageous stories in the Bible (Old or New Testament) different than that of Gilgamesh or the Iliad – What makes the Bibles tall tales

true

but makes Gilgamesh bull?

How is Yahweh so much more GOD than Ra or Zeus or Thor or Anat or The Great Spirit or Baal or Dagon or Gaia or Ishtar or Jesus or Juno or Krishna or Loki or Mars or Venus or Santa Clause for that matter.

What’s that you say: time tested and true! A couple of thousand years people have held strong to this belief how could it be wrong? Tell that to the Egyptians who had very strong religious beliefs (superstitions) worshiping Ra god of the sun for at least three thousand years. Or the Ancient Greeks who believed in their

mythology

for at least two thousand years, etc. etc. etc.

But they were just blind, probably just believed that stuff because their parents raised them on it, most of them were probably just ignorant, too scared by superstition and social pressure to really explorer the truth, the world, their feelings – to trust their own good senses and logic. Right?

And JESUS CHRIST let this guy die already. I really need people to know that best case scenario nothing was even written down about him until

at least

50 years after he died by people who likely didn’t even know him. Most eye-witnesses to events can’t even be trusted to recount an event close to accurately who

were right freakin’ there!!

Who cares, even if it’s not true there are so many good things that the church does for people and the world. Thank you very much but it’s not “the church” doing these good things it’s people and just to let you know – people who don’t go to church or believe in fairy tales also do good things – and are generally more pragmatic about it too.

What do you have to lose? Well, religion BREEDS intolerance and stunts progress, do yourself a favor before you get on the bandwagon for or against stem cell research and know what the fuck you are even talking about, read a little on both sides please. What do you have to lose – your own goddamn opinion for one thing.

Next time some well dressed young gentleman who lacks any worldly experience and probably never even played with a nice set of breasts in his life comes to your door in his black gloves and leather bound “good news” ask him why he carries the torch for an ancient religion dreamt up by people who still lived in caves, who sent their women away from the rest of the “tribe” while they menstruated because they were un-pure, who thought that the world was flat, who later thought that the sun revolved around the earth and actually fucking killed people who respectfully disagreed, who (out of duty or something) would marry their brothers wife if he died (yyeeccchhhtttthhhh), who cut the end of their penis off because they though that’s what god wanted – really? the guy who created the whole universe is concerned with your foreskin, the most sensitive part, who would stone women to death for the slightest suspicion of improper behavior.


No wonder the Romans fed Christians to the lions.




Have a happy day without the fear of god... or bullshit.

A.J.

My van bit the dust.

Not too much to say about the old one. It was starting to get too much to keep fixing all the little things that had gone wrong on it. Just recently I spent $373 just to get the front two door handles repaired. Then just last week, it wouldn't start. Various people have all suggested it may have been the fuel pump, another 300 - 400 dollars to fix. I was looking at getting a new vehicle a while ago, but decided to try my old van for a little while longer, but it didn't repay my faith in it LOL.

So, with that all said, I pick up my new vehicle on Thursday. It's a blue 2008 Honda Element. See it here.

A commitment from me.

And I know I say that a lot, but since I left Facebook I guess I really have to keep up with it. Now that I know a lo of you actually do get onto the internet regularly there should be no reason not to check here as well. Just make sure you leave a comment about each blog, just think of it as my new super fun extra cool fun wall LOL.

Today is Sunday 4th November and we have had snow! The first snow fall of the year and it's funny how different people react. I overheard, (when I say overheard I mean the checkout girl at the grocery store thought that it was ok to talk to her friend who was behind me in the line while she was still serving me) a conversation between two teenagers discussing the snow. Basically they were excited that it had snowed so that they get to go snowboarding soon. The girl was "pumped" because she was getting a new board this year. When I saw the new white blanket this morning, I just think about shoveling the snow and how much it sucks to do my job when it snows. I guess it's all perspective. Maybe it's just age.

I am working on a way for you to upload anything you want to to my site. Whether it be a funny picture, joke or video. I'm still working on it and I think you will need to have an ftp client but I think Internet Explorer has one built in so it should be ok.

Yeah whatever...

OK, so I could sit here and tell you all that I've been busy and that writing this has gotten away from me. I could lie and put it down to me going to the gym everyday or doing lots of charity work, (don't like to talk about it mate). But instead I'll be honest and it's Phil's fault and I'll explain why.

About five years ago I went on holiday back to England. I stayed at my sisters house while she went on her honeymoon to Bali. While I was there I asked her if it would be ok to use her computer which she said would be fine. So one night I go and visit my best friend Phil. He casually hands me a CD. "You should play this game mate" he says nonchalantly. "If you like football, you'll love this game". After the visit I went back to my sisters house and loaded the game onto her computer. For the next week I was hooked on this football managerial simulator called Championship Manager. It has since changed it's name to Football Manager. I have bought or downloaded each succeeding version of the game since that first one was handed to me. Each time I always take control of a low league team and try to get as close to home as possible, normally resulting in me being the manager of Torquay United. I go through phases of playing the game especially during the latest version due to the difficulty of this latest incarnation. However, after reading various forums on this 07/08 season of the game, I have a lot more insight in to how the game can be played. As such I have taken my lowly Torquay United from league 2 and in the red with the bank, to league 1 and over 2 million in the bank. Not much of a promotion in leagues status you might think but as I eluded to earlier, this version is very difficult. I have also improved other aspects of the team such as stadium size and training facilities.



I am eagerly awaiting the new copy to be released so that I can be sucked in to the Blue Square Premier league to play my beloved "gulls" as they were relegated in real life. Maybe I should apply?... Nah they couldn't afford me :-)

Also what's funny is that when you set your profile up at the beginning it asks you for your background. I chose the highest level of football history which is 'Former International Player'. Because of my prolific background, while I was in the bottom division Juventus, a big name club in Italy wanted me as their manager. But I turned them down to stay at favourite club!

Still been busy

It always seems that there's never enough time in a day to do everything you want to. That's the way I've been feeling recently. What with deciding to finish the basement in ten days to preparing for my mum's visit, it's all been go, go, go. But the basement room is just about finished. Just a few touch ups and finishing touches left and I will finally have time to breathe. At least it's finished enough for me to be able to setup my Mac down here and hook up the internet properly.


We are hopefully going to Jasper on Thursday which will be fun and also it will provide some good opportunities for some good photos. I will post them as soon as I get back.

I can't stop laughing...

I've been busy lately.

What with playing golf at a Jack Nicholas designed course, to dj-ing a 70th birthday party. It's been all go for me over the past few weeks. I haven't had time to record any new jokes either so I'll get a few of those uploaded in the next few days.

We have finally stopped having bad thunder storms over here and the weather has been hot. It was 30*c the day I went golfing at Northern Bear! It's been in the mid to high 20's since then, so when the weather is good... I'm busy.

Keep checking back this week for new updates, or the best way to stay updated is to sign up for my mailing list. Whenever I update this, you'll receive an email from me. And don't worry about receiving any spam either. Sign up here.

Your daily laugh

Todays joke

Due to overwhelming response, here is joke # 2.

A new feature

I've made it easier for you.

I know how frustrating it can be. I have lots of web sites that I check regularly and there is nothing more frustrating when day after day you load up the page only to see that nothing has changed. Well now I have added a mailing list. All you need to do is sign up for the newsletter and whenever I update any part of this site, you will receive an email notifying you. That way you will not get bored of checking for no reason and I will not get bored of updating and no-one checking it out for weeks. Just click HERE to be re-directed to the sign up page.


Powered by phplist.

Shauna's web site

Shauna has been playing World of Warcraft for a little while now and as she progressed through the game she joined a guild. A guild is like a a group of players that play together and help each other out. Well a lot of guilds have their own web sites so she came to me and asked if I would help her design a site for her guild. You can check out her efforts by clicking on the following link.

Bad weather

The weather over here in Edmonton has been very bad as of late. Although it's not a continuous barrage of all the worst mother nature has to offer, it has been some of the most torrential downpours I've seen. The weird thing is it appears on the horizon as a big black thunder cloud and rolls across the sky until it unleashes a flood of water from above resulting in an inch or two of rivers flowing along the side walks. I managed to capture a few seconds on my camera phone before and after.

A late report

A while a go I mentioned that Truro FC were playing in the final of the FA Vase trophy at wembley. Well that was back on 13th May. The result? Truro City 3 AFC Totton 1. A good win for the local lads.

Source:

Hello, My name is Darryl...

There, I admitted it. And they say admitting it is the first step to recovery. I have always thought all of these sites that pop up were just retarded. Why would someone put all there personal information on to the internet for anyone and everyone to see? Ummm, oh wait a minute...

So I figured what the hell. I may as well cross over to the dark side and join up. Its not like it costs anything and he maintenance is far less than this web site takes. Pretty much just fill in some boxes and thats it. Then go off and search through the endless networks and find some to join that interest you. I have joined two so far. One to do with Redruth School survivors which is a total waste of time as I only recognised one person on there, and I wasn't even really his friend anyway. The other has a funny story with it.

Shaw Cable is located on 178th street here in Edmonton. I drive this road at least four times a week, summer and winter. On this road at various times during the day and year, there is a young man who dances like there is no tomorrow. It has been speculated on many occasion that he has shares in Duracell as he is always listening to his walkman. Bopping away. Arms and legs flailing around all in time to the music. He has the look of a "slow" person. Why else would someone be dancing on the side of the road at all hours of the day. And he doesn't just hang around one particular corner, he walks up and down the length of 178th street, crossing over and boogying as he goes. Well a local t.v. station sent a reporter to find him and find out some more about him. After interviewing him, he doesn't seem "slow" at all. He listens to dance music and takes all the car honks and waves in his stride. The reporter stopped several people going into a nearby restaurant and asked them if they could identify him. "he's the dancing guy" they all replied. It seems he has a following. So much so that when the reporter handed back to the studio, the broadcaster noted that someone had started a facebook fan club for the 178th street dancing guy. Not only that, but at this time he has 3847 friends! I currently have 1. Well I have only been a member for 7 hours, so thats my excuse. Maybe I should start break dancing on a piece of cardboard in a shell suit. Watch the t.v. report HERE

Please fill in my poll.

With the first preview of the new Mac operating system, Leopard, this week at the WWDC07, I was wondering if any of you Wi... Win... Windoze users have upgraded to Vista. I have used it several times when installing internet for customers. In my honest opinion (snigger) it seems to be catching up with OS X Tiger for the Mac. Which is a step forward, except for the fact that OS X Tiger has been out for ages, (April 29th 2005). And with Leopard set to be launched in October, it pushes the Mac further ahead of its competition. If you are wondering what you are all missing out on you can check out the keynote speech from Apple CEO, Steve Jobs here.

My favourite new features that I'm anticipating are Time Machine and Spaces.

Time Machine backs up your whole computer on an external hard drive with a single click of your mouse. Thats it. One click, whole computer backed up forever. Any time something changes on your computer it automatically gets backed up. Even when you delete something it is still saved, which is awesome if you're like me and delete files or move files around and can't find them again. Just launch Time Machine and actually go back through time until you find the file that you were looking for. Then another single click and that file is restored back on your computer. I am getting a 1TB (1 terabyte = 1000 Gigabytes) external hard drive soon which will be networked through my house, to all my computers through my new Airport Extreme Base Station, so there will be no storage complications.

The other new feature is Spaces. Breaking it down to its basics, it gives you four active desktops. This frees up your desktop from having many windows open at the same time. OS X already features an app that I use a lot called Expose, which shrinks all open windows so that you can see them all and click on the window that you want to use. Then when you click on it, it comes to the front. This is particularly good if the windows you have are either all at fullscreen or smaller than some others. With Spaces you have for desktops with which you can create sub-work stations. One screen for web apps, one for iPhoto and related apps, one for gaming, etc. Fully customizable just drag and drop apps to each space or from one space to another.

As a side note, when I was writing this I needed to spell terabyte correctly and looked it up at wikipedia. A gigabyte is a thousand bytes. A terabyte is a trillion bytes. The next step up from a terabyte is petabyte which is a quadrillion bytes. A quintillion bytes is called a exabyte. A zettabyte is sextillion bytes and the highest measurement of bytes is a yottabyte, a septillion bytes. As of 2006 according to the article on wikipedia the combined capacity of all the computers in the world is 161 exabytes pushing up to 988 exabytes by 2010. In ten years from now the amount of online data is expected to approach a yottabyte and 3/4 of that will still be porn!

Also, during the keynote speech Steve announced enhancements to Macs native web browser, Safari. In an independent benchmark test matching the top three browsers, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari, against each other by downloading a preset list of web pages, it was proven that IE7 is the slowest followed by Firefox and the fastest being Safari. Safari was actually twice as fast as IE7 and and 1.6 times faster than Firefox. Well you lucky lucky people. Safari 2.0 is now available for Windows PCs. Just get a Mac and be done with it... you won't regret it.

One last thing to point out to any of you who are thinking of upgrading to Vista. Please watch this first. Vista has six different versions starting from 99.95 for the basic version up to 259.95 for the Ultimate version. Leopard costs 129.95 thats its. One version that does everything. I'll let you all go and cry now!

At last...

Well I have finally received some photos from a visitor to display on here and share with the world... well the half dozen or so people that actually view this web site lol. My cousin Ian went to a special promotion with a PA from two popular snooker players. Jimmy "whirlwind" White and Alex "drunk wife beater" (allegedly) Higgins where great players in their day.


Jimmy White putting on his "I'll smile cos I have to, now get this freak away from me" smile.


Is this stalker still here? Security!!!



Alex "friar tick" Higgins signing an autograph... or a restraining order.

The winner...

Hannah! Seeing as she is the only one leaving me messages and comments, then I guess she wins by default! A brand new IPod shuffle will be on it's way to you Hannah, hope you enjoy it.





Rules and Regulations: Allow 21 business days for delivery. Taxes apply where applicable. May cause drowsiness. Do not operate heavy machinery. Side effects may include runny nose, high fever, shortness of breathe, itchy watery eyes, stomach ache, back ache, head aches, high blood pressure, nausea, anal leakage, heart burn, indegestion, diarrhea, acne and/or mild profanities. Prize may differ in model and color from one shown and stated above. May not be combined with any other specials. Winners who have also won in the last 30 days are not eligable. Competition only open to Guatemala residents. In other words, you 'aint getting one!

Please do me a favour...

Please leave me a message in my guest book or leave a note in the comments section. I don't even care what you say. In most cases it will probably be more interesting than what you have just read anyway. At least then you'll be giving others something to read as well. I know a lot of people come here and view the blogs I write, I have a tracker. I know where you all live. I even had someone visit this site from malaysia! Ok in all honesty it was probably just a bot. For those of you who are mindless when it comes to computers and this big old thing called the interweb I will explain. Internet bots, also known as web robots or simply bots, are software applications that run automated tasks over the internet. Typically, bots perform tasks that are simple and structurally repetitive, at a much higher rate than would be possible for a human editor alone. The largest us of bots is in web spidering, in which an automated script fetches, analyses and files information from web servers at many times the speed of a human. Each server can have a file called robots.txt containing rules for the spidering of that server that the bot is supposed to obey.

Source : Wikipedia

After all that, the bottom line is LEAVE ME SOME FEEDBACK.





Actually, this is the bottom line.

Things that we miss...

I have been asked recently about the things that I miss about England and Cornwall. Contrary to what some people think, there are things that I can still enjoy over here. However, it's just quite not the same. I can still enjoy fish and chips over here and after a few months of going without them, the chip shop over here tastes just like back home. BUT, trying them straight after I have been back home for two weeks reminds you how much they aren't just like 'back home'. I can enjoy a nice cold can of Boddingtons or Caffreys anytime I want but I have to pay more for them than if I was to drink other ales available like Sleemans or Rickards. Although it's now coming into summertime so I will probably be downing a few Coronas or my favourite South American beer Brahma while the barbecue is firing up, but then again I haven't had a beer in ages seeing as I am trying to get fit and beer isn't the best thing for that. Better to drink shorts like vodka, whiskey and gin, not as fattening.

Having said that, I do miss going out on a saturday night for a drink. Not even going out clubbing and dancing like a freak, coming home with a soaking wet shirt, stumbling up the stairs and launching the spinning bed ride while calling to Huey on the big white telephone. I just miss being able to walk to the pub, have a game of pool, and take the piss out of Quinton! I miss being able to order a bitter tops. Caffreys straight from the tap. Having a choice of which pub to drink in. I miss the fact that I would be able to take Nicholas in the pub with me, or even to sit outside at a table and drink a beer while runs around and has a juice. Over here, everything is so far away. The pub, the mall, the shops, everything.

I miss English t.v. Good mindless humour. Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Shooting Stars, Fantasy Football League, Vic and Bob's Big Night Out. I miss watching Grandstand on a saturday morning as well and watching the grand prix on sunday afternoons. I get to watch three football games a week over here on a saturday morning, but its just not the same. It still has English commentary but at half time they cut back to the studio and have Canadians analyze it. At least they don't cut during the game like they did during the 2002 world cup.

I miss the rain! When it rains over here, it really is like the 'heavens' open up and sheets of water fall from the sky. Then after 5 minutes it's all over, the sun comes out and within 10 minutes all the rain is dried up and the only trace of a downpour left behind is the rainbow and the black clouds in the distance. I miss the drizzle. The hours upon hours of rain that I refer to as rain that gets you wet. As stupid as that sounds it's true. When it pours you wear a rain coat or carry an umbrella and you are ready for it. When it drizzles, it never seems enough to bother with the coat, you always seem to sweat more inside than you would actually get wet from the rain. But it's that constant drizzle that eventually soaks you. I'm sure I wouldn't miss it as much if I lived with it, kind of similar to how during the first 2 -3 years over here I would get excited about the snow each year. Now in the 7th year I can't wait for it to be gone each spring.

I miss the smells of Cornwall. Portreath harbour can smell pretty bad sometimes but it's when all you can smell is the salt sea air is what I miss. For me it's one of those internal smells that trigger memories. The smell of a freshly baked pasty, reminds me of lunchtimes on a saturday. It used to be a ritual on saturdays when I would mess around with Ian. Freshly cut grass takes me back to when the field used to get cut at St. Day school.

So there's a little insight in to my sensitive side and you call all thank Ian for that. Seeing as this is my web site and I can type anything I want, does anyone know what the area code is for the 999 is in Newquay? Answers on a postcard to the regular address and I'll pick the winner next week who will receive a blue peter badge. Till next time, don't have nightmares.

Why is it so easy to believe...

You hear about it all the time. People who find religion and make the decision to believe in this new found way of life. Normally, in most cases, it takes just one moment. One single, life altering moment to change someone's whole perception on life. And it's not just religion. People choose to believe in the most bizarre things, or at least what society perceives to be left of the middle. After life, aliens, gods, superstitions, all require a 'belief' of some sort. Maybe it's human nature to feel a need to believe in something. If you don't believe in anything, then what is the point in living right? After a brief discussion I had on this subject today, it was pointed out to me that maybe the stronger minded people don't NEED something to cling to in order to feel that they belong. If you look back through time, people who have gone against the grain, questioning things that have been laid out in black and white for us, have been responsible for advancing the human race. Back when the world was flat and when English was the only language, people who questioned this were thought to be crazy. Alexander the Great was just 20 when he was made King of Macedon and people followed his every word. Sir Isaac Newton, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, , Socrates, St. Francis, Plato, Friedrich Nietzsche, George III, Sigmund Freud, Charles Dickens, Oliver Cromwell, Charles Darwin, Winston Churchill, Napoleon Bonaparte, Ludwig van Beethoven and Buzz Aldrin have all been diagnosed with a mental illness. Some ground breaking names of which there are lots. So why is it so difficult to convince someone to NOT believe in something? Have you ever had a conversation with someone who believes every word of the bible? They always seem to have an answer or way of interpreting it to back up their claims. Even when logic is staring them in the face. One conversation I had with a customer about Jesus ended with him asking me "Have you got Jesus?" I replied to him, "I'm a skeptic, I'll believe it if I can see it". His reply was that so commonly used by narrow minded, blinkered half wits. "You got to believe it to see it". It is written in the bible in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life". Well if I believe the moon is made of cheese, then when the moon has that shade of yellow as it sometimes does, I will be proved right.

The same goes for all types of people like this. I don't believe in ghosts. Do I think we just melt into the ground and become worm food? No. I hope there is somewhere "we" go after we cease to exist here but floating around talking to "the chosen few" is not it. Why don't murder victims come back and tell people who killed them and where their body is? Nope instead, dear old Aunt Mildred wants you to know that Fluffy the cat is with her now! Mediums who apparently communicate with those who have passed over are suspect as well. Why is it no matter what people believe in they can't prove anything. They are just in their own self secluded little world safe in the knowledge that 'they know the truth'. I feel sorry for people who need these types of belief to feel secure in their day to day lives. But if you want to give it a go, here's a few pointers from a reliable source, the Internet! As much as my sister is going to hate me for this, Sylvia Browne is nothing but a fake! " rel="external">CNN proves it here.

But then again, what do I know? I could be wrong in my belief that everyone else is morons!

C'mon Truro

In response to a request for more "Cornish" on this web site, I looked up some Cornish news. Low and behold, it turns out that Truro FC are heading to the new Wembley to face AFC Totton on Sunday May 13th in the Carlsberg FA Vase. Good Luck Boys!







Photos : Truro FC Web Site

It's a two way thing really

You leave me messages or comments to tell me whether anyone is actually reading them. I know people are visiting my site as my stats prove it. I just don't know who it is or whether they read these entries. I'm sure I'm not the only one with thoughts and opinions. Even if it's a neutral opinion, as someone very wise once said, "An opinion is like an asshole, everyone has one", so leave me yours... your opinion not the other. Although in some of your cases I think I'd prefer the later. And those of you who think I don't want you to leave me a message, anybody can leave me a message on here, I just want messages!!!



I think this may have been the wise person. I've been wanting to use this gif for a while, but just not had any reason to use it.

We all need a laugh now and again

When you look at the over all existence of our life, can you really say it's fun? I mean you start off going to school and get told what to do and how to do it. Then you get a job, that for the most part, you don't like. Then you die. Not much fun at all. Yes I will concede that there are patches of fun but if you can be objective, they are few and far between. Holidays and getaways only come around maybe twice a year if you are lucky. And I'm not talking about happiness either. A new love interest, the birth of a baby, going down the pub are things that make you happy, not what I would class as fun though. One thing that always brightens up my day is when I laugh. And I don't mean a little giggle, or a chuckle. I'm talking about one of those belly aching, can hardly breathe, tears down the cheeks type of laughs. The most recent occasion that this has happened to me was yesterday. Some of you may have experienced it as well. It was while I was listening to the Scott Mills radio 1 drive time show. He has had several clips on recently regarding stupid quiz contestants. One lady from New Zealand phoned a local radio station on National Breast Cancer day. She had won a free self examination kit. The DJ asked her how she currently checks herself. She replied, "well I cup one hand and breath into it and if it smells then I go brush my teeth". The DJ was confused and asked her how that would tell her if she had a lump on her breast? She answered, "Well it won't!". The DJ then had to point out that it wasn't a BREATHE examination that she won. The belly aching laugh though came when Scott played a clip of a scouse DJ. His question was, "Sir Walter Raleigh brought tobacco and what else to Great Britain?" The lady on the phone didn't know so he decided to give her a few clues. He started by saying, "What is it called when you husband gets a small round belly?" She said, "Pot". Correct. He then said the second syllable of this word was the number after seven. After she paused she said "Pot Eight". And for the last part of the clue he said, "What's at the end of you feet?". She replied, "Me slippers!". After a few laughs he said, "When you slippers are off, what's at the end of your feet?". She said, "Me toes". Correct again. He then said to her, "So what is it?", "Pot Eight Toes". (Potatoes for those of you who are a little in the dark so far). He told her to say it faster...

"Pottytoes"
"So what is it?"
"Pottytoes"
"and what are they?"
"What are what?"
"What is it that you just said?"
"Pottytoes"
"Yeah and what are they?"
"Well I don't know!"
"I've just given you the answer, you just said it!"
"Said what"
"the answer, what did you just say"
"Pottytoes"
"SO WHAT ARE THEY"
"I DONT KNOW"
"Ok, say it slowly"
"Pot Eight Toes"
"SO what is it then?
I don't know!!!"

Me typing it down doesn't really do it any justice at all, but if you go tot he radio 1 web site and click on Scott Mills, you should be able to download the latest pod cast. In fact I'll give you the link. CLICK HERE

Happy Easter

And to those of you who just want the chocolate bunnies... HAPPY EASTER

LMAO @ this web site

Then you will have already seen this site, but if you didn't click here and have a laugh... at yourself LOL

New Microsoft Keyboard

When a friend needs your help...

Purely hypothetical situation. (just thinking of stuff to put on here to keep you all entertained and to get you thinking, also to see what type of person you are). Lets say you had a friend, and this friend was doing something that wasn't going to be good for them in the long run. Lets use the example of doing drugs, it could be a bad relationship, alcohol, gambling, whatever. So this friend, lets say you regard them a a close friend. You know that they are doing drugs and are in denial that its affecting them. I've often heard of people on drugs always chasing something. Always looking for that elusive high. The same high that they had the first time. Even when they think they have found what they were looking for, they are never completely satisfied. So this friend says that they can handle it and that all they want to do is find that one thing and then thats it, they can move on. And you try to explain to them that they will never find it and they will never be satisfied. But they just shrug you off saying that, "I don't expect you to understand" and that they have heard the same thing a thousand times before and it never worked then so why should it work now? So you offer to help and they tell you that they don't need your help and its part of who there are and to just except it. Heres the question. Do you try and help that person even though you know what they are doing is wrong and will probably hurt people close to them, and you getting involved will probably upset you as well. Or do you just tell the person that you tried to help them, they didn't want your help and tell them that you can't be friends with that type of person until they sort themselves out? Does leaving the friend indicate that you are giving up on that person as a friend, turning your back on them? Or do you stay and help and persevere with them along the road ahead? If you turn your back on them, does that mean the friendship is over and can never be rebuilt? How long do you give them before you try and be friends again? Until they are completely clean or when they turn the corner?

Its funny how your brain wonders isn't it? If only we could find the way to permanently unlock the unused portion, we'd be so much better off. Please leave me a comment on this. Thats partly why I thought it up, so that you could use the comment feature... see how it works? ;-)

Well, I have to go to the dentist today and the gym so thats all for now.

Google Earth

If you have never used it, Google Earth is a satellite map with awesome detail and functionality. I'm no expert on what they did but I presume Google has satellites that are up there floating around with a camera attached. Probably a little better than Kodak, taking pictures of the earth at varying heights. Or maybe just one height but they have the ability to zoom in and out on that image. Anyway, it can also be used as a standard map. Just toggle between the two. Some areas of the world have more detail than others. Obviously as the satellite/s move around the world they eventually cover ground they have already shot, then they take more detailed pictures. Originally where my house should have been, was just a snow covered field. Now, my house is on there.


Ok I never said the quality was great, but this is just some place in Edmonton. The landmarks around the world are a lot better.



Well thats my pick of the day, hope you like it and maybe use it, its fun... for about 20 minutes. ;-)

New comments feature

I have added a new feature which will allow you to add comments or links that you wish to post relating to my entry. At the bottom of the blog entry you will now see a comment link and a track back link. Just click 'comment' to leave a message, click 'track back' to link directly to this entry.

I have been neglecting you...

For those of you that have actually been checking my blog regularly, I can only say sorry. I have been busy as I have previously stated but I need a kick up the ass every now and again. Just not enough hours in the day to please everyone... and myself... and you lot LMAO. I thought about how this is the easiest medium for a lot of you to communicate with me. But as it seems this is flawed, if I don't update it then its as useful as a chocolate fire guard. So my next plan in keeping in touch with everyone is an old tried and tested way. I used to have an account with ICQ. However, I can't find my account number and it is not recognizing my email address that I opened it with. It may have been deleted. So I had a look around at other messengers and stopped on Yahoo (mac). Definitely passed on MSN messenger. I don't think I need to explain how much I hate anything Microsoft. I could have gone back to ICQ, but it seems like the masses have spoken and so many people I talked to, seem to have or have used Yahoo messenger. Now having said that, because I am awesome and I have a Mac, I am able to use another program called Adium. This is a very handy application that can access any messenger platform by only using this one program. So bottom line is this. If you want to keep in touch a little easier than email and just checking what I have written here, message me. My Yahoo (pc) name is Deejaydoubleyoo Notice the double 'O' at the end. I couldn't get 'YOU' so feel free to add me on Yahoo. If you are an AOL user, its easy as well as I don't have to have AOL. Just send me your AOL screen name and I will add you. Or, MSN, or Jabber, or ICQ, or Google Talk, or Gadu-Gadu???? Then if I am online just message me and we can chat, if I'm not online then I'll get the message when I do come on. Also, when I get my new phone... did I mention that? Because it is runnning OS X, I am hoping that I will be able to run Yahoo on it so no matter what the time of day where you are, just reach out and touch me!!! I have also put a list of my accounts on the front page.




While I spend several tedious hours putting this together, inserting fancy links so that you don't have spend your valuable time trying to find the products that I'm talking about, I actually found out what Gadu-Gadu is. Its Polish for Chitter Chatter. Also the sharp eyed amongst you may have noticed that I didn't link anything to one certain messenger service. If you HAVE to use that one you can find the information here Microsoft or here Microsoft View it at your peril. He's watching you you know. Every mouse click, every key stroke. Have you seen the film Antitrust? He won't be satisfied until he has complete world domination. Well he 'aint getting inside my brain... uh- huh. There's no way he can, not with the aluminium foil wrapped around my head. I'll make it my goal... my destiny to ensure he doesn't succeed. Ha-ha-ha-ha-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!!!! Now wheres my pills? My head hurts mummy... ZZZZzzzz

Long time no update

I apologise. I have been very busy here and have had a lot of things going on. Keep your computer tuned in here, same bat time, same bat channel for more updates. :-)

My new phone

Ever since I have owned a Mac I have been converted and spread the Apple gospel wherever I can (buy a Mac). Ever since I seen the keynote speech by Steve Jobs on Apples' newest piece of hardware, I have been drooling at the prospect of eventually owning one. Everything Apple (buy a Mac) does tends to be years ahead of its competition, (and I use the word competition very loosely). Even with Windows new Vista OS, Mac OSX Tiger is still more advanced. And I am eagerly awaiting the release of the new OSX, Leopard. Windows seems to be 3 steps behind. (buy a Mac). If you have no idea what I am going on about I suggest you watch this demo of the new IPhone. Widescreen Ipod, Phone, Network Communicator. This phone has everything... and more! (buy a Mac). This phone is so advanced it actually runs Apples OSX Tiger. Its integration with everyday life is seamless. In the demo, Steve is listening to some music on the Ipod. A call comes in, the music fades out. He answers the call. (buy a Mac). The person calling asks if Steve would like to go watch a movie. Steve switches the phone to the internet browser and looks up movie listings. He goes back to the caller who then requests a picture that Steve had taken with the built in camera. Steve then switches the phone to the photo viewer, searches for the photo, clicks on it and selects "email to". The photo viewer fades away and is replaced by a rich html email program (Mail for OSX). He then emails the photo, goes back to the call, hangs up and the phone reverts back to the Ipod. All on a phone. One device! (buy a mac). Another scenario is when he looks up google maps on the phone. He searches for Starbucks cafes in San Francisco. Several pointers then fall on to the map displaying the locations of said cafes. When he clicks on the one he will be going to, the address and phone number are displayed. He then clicks on the number and the phone dials the number and he starts to talk to the receptionist at the cafe. (buy a mac). Come on admit it... you're thinking about it! ;-)

Time off...

Well, I was originally going to go to Jasper this weekend but I decided against it when it was pointed out to me that its sill cold in Jasper this time of year. Well it is in the mountains. Good for boarders or skiers, both of which I am not, although I would like to try snow boarding but that is for another day. What I can do is play golf. Well to be more precise I can hit a tiny white ball around a field all day growing more and more irritated by my pure lack of form and horrible technique. Shauna mentioned that it might be a good idea to go to Jasper in the spring and go golfing while I am there. Good idea.


But, I had already booked this time off, so I thought I would just keep it booked and just take a week of from work. Nothing too exciting. Probably just laze around the house, (what's new?) maybe get a few things done, but generally, just relax.

Is this the greatest feeling ever...

I just finished work early, ready for my long weekend! The sun is shinning here in Edmonton, the couple of inches of snow that fell yesterday has melted and I have three days off. Not that I hate my job or anything but if I was given the choice to work or not... I'm picking not. Those people who win millions on the lottery and then say "I'll back to work as normal on Monday" are just plain idiots, pure and simple. I work because I have to. I have bills I have to pay, therefore I work. Then there are those people who say, "You'd get bored if you won all that money". Again, these people are obviously retarded. How could you possibly get bored? The only thing holding you back would be your imagination. For the first five to ten years I would be fulfilling everything that I've ever wanted to do. From hand gliding to flying helicopters, from producing home made horror movies to traveling the world. Then after that I would start to venture out into the extremes. I would buy a football club, enter the Dakar rally and maybe climb a mountain or two. Either way, I would most definitely not get bored! I think people who are or have been poor can relate to this more than well off to rich people because all poor people do is dream about what they would do if... There is never a rich person dreaming about being poor.

New designs

On the navigation bar at the top of the page there are three new design pages. I am not sure if any of them are better than the original design. If you care, let me know. :-p

Edit, they have now been removed

.. hope you got your votes in. I will tally them up and see who wins the brand new Ipod.

Stress... Its a funny thing really

Isn't it funny how if you buy something, lets say a new pair of shoes. When you get them, they are all clean and spotless. The first time you wear them, you avoid everything possible to keep those shoes looking nice and new. The first time you get a mark on them, it's like it's the end of the world. Immediately you rub the mark to see if it will just rub off. Then maybe you'll try some water to see if it will come out. You may even go as far as to buy some shoe cleaner to bring back the "newness" of them. But when you have something wrong with your body, at first you ignore it! It will go away. Then it does. Second time it happens, maybe you feel a bit more security by thinking that it went a way the first time so all you have to do is ignore it for a bit and eventually it will go away. It's amazing at how long you can ignore something and deflect the blame of what is causing the problem to keep from actually finding out what is wrong. Maybe it's human nature to not to want to know the truth about something that concerns your body because "what if"? There's always that chance that what you thought was just an annoying little pain, could actually turn out to be something much worse. This is why it's becoming more and more publicised about self examinations. So many people were getting stuff checked out far too late. Now most of this refers to lumps and growths and stuff like that. But stress isn't something that can be felt or seen or examined. The effects of it can be. But when do you finally give in and admit that the headaches, tiredness, muscle pains, lethargic attitude and general grumpiness have all been building up for some time and that hidden ailment is the cause of it all. Well this is how I was feeling this morning. Issues in my private life and work life and my general sub-concioussness' ability to think things through again and again and again with differing out comes and scenarios made me very light headed and my heart beat faster. This is why I finally admitted that maybe I need a holiday. Just a week or two to just sit back, relax and not let trivial things take over. Jasper, Alberta is close to where I live but is remote enough to be able to let the worries slip away! Apart from coming back to England this year and one or two weekend camping trips, I haven't had a proper holiday since the last time I went back to England. Even though I was invited to go with Shauna and Nicholas to Disney land I do feel that the stress levels on that trip would not have been any lower than if I stayed here. As the saying goes, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". I also found this good quote from actress Lily Tomlin. "For fast-acting relief, try slowing down"
The Symptoms
The Cure!

Technology Impact

Just a weird random thought, but I wonder if the postal services are losing money? I could imagine that the number of people actually hand writing letters these days has drastically decreased with the ease and accessibility of e-mail. I would imagine the number of homes that have computers now is very high (if i'm going to have a thought, I really should do some research to back up up this stuff!). Although, how much the postal services depended on revenue for letter mail was probably insignificant in relation to parcels and other such stuff. Just wait until holograhic parcel delivery comes in!!!

Its freezing in Edmonton

Ok, so it's -32*c today with the wind chill. That makes me laugh while I think about it. If the weather channel says its -26*c today but with the wind chill it will be -32*c... then its freaking -32*c not -26*c. Anyway, when I am in my van its actually warmer if I turn off the engine. When the engine is on I have the front de-mister on to keep from fogging up, but its blowing cold air! I'll have to find a way to keep warm while I wait... maybe I'll do push ups and star jumps LOL. Thankfully it is supposed to warm here over the next few days... actually reaching zero at some point. We seem to have had a lot of snow this year, certainly more than last year. It fell earlier this year as well, about two weeks before Halloween. I have a pile of snow outside my house about five feet high. We are already into the middle of February so I wonder how long it's going to take to melt all of this. One thing about Canada or should I say Edmonton, the transition between seasons is very quick. One minute it will be -20*c next week it will be +15*c. Even still, there's a lot of snow to melt.

The dog that didn't last...

One day about two years ago, a lady at Shauna's work brought a small puppy with her into work one day. She said that she had found him in a ditch beside the road. The lady had phoned the SPCA and a animal shelter called the Blue Cross, but both said that they had no vacancies and that the dog would be put to sleep if they took him in. Well, to cut a long story short, we ended up taking him. We had always planned on getting another dog to be some comfort for Chase. However, after about 3 months he was causing too much hassle. He was still just a pup and wanted to play all the time. Even at three in the morning. One night I woke up to him barking and growling with Chase, just play fighting. The neighbour next door was not pleased and at this point neither was I. He had to go. So we let him go to a friend of Shaunas, but he didn't last long there either. After he ripped up there garbage and generally made a mess of their back yard, he came back to us. Luckily, Shauna had a friend who lived on an acreage and had lots of space and was far away from her neighbours! But the story doesn't end there. Apparently he was very keen on her cats... a little too keen. After she had seen him run behind her shed, she chased after him. She seen Muck running away and a dead cat on the ground. After that, I'm not sure where he went, to the SPCA I think. He had a hard start.

Our new dog

We've had Lady for some time now but have only just got around to taking some photos of her. Not that she is looking the greatest right now anyway. She is in desperate need of a haircut. ;-)

Anyone want to post a topic here?

I thought that it would be a cool idea to let anyone who wanted to post something that they wanted to say on here. I mean its really hard to put down all my views on here. Guess thats why I never kept a diary. But I'm sure there are those of you out there that have opinions on stuff and wouldn't mind sharing it. I know one of my co-workers would need five pages just to get started on religion. Another would probably just post funny stuff. Think about it and if anyone wants to write something, go ahead and email it to me.

I have recently started watching a show called "Penn and Teller: Bullsh!t". The name says it all. Those secret giving magicians pick a topic and basically rip it apart and prove it to be Bullsh!t. This weeks episode was on recycling. Yep, recycling is a complete waste of time. The long and short of it is that recycling aluminum cans is the only one worth doing. The rest cost more to recycle than to actually make a new one, cause more pollution by recycling them, and don't cause and need for panic due to landfills filling up too fast. To recycle you need to send out another truck. You need machines to sort and process the items. Plus the machine to make the new items. The USA makes 220 million tons of garbage per year. To dispose of that amount of garbage you would need a hole 35 X 35 miles wide and 200 feet high. USA has a land mass of 9,161,923 sq kms. The only reason recycling carries on is because it's thought of as the right thing to do. And the government releases figures showing that its saving materials.
They have also done shows on "the war on drugs", "animal rights organisations (PETA, ALF)" and "Phrophets such as Nostradamus". I guess when you are given information for as long as you can remember you just accept it as truth. But when someone gives you the other side of the coin perspective, it really opens your eyes to how blinkered you've been. Then it gets you thinking about other things that you have always believed to be true. How far do you go? Have we been visited my aliens? Are we alone in the universe? Hmm I wonder...

Changing sites again

Well as good as a .mac account is, it just isn't for me. You do get a large web based email account, back up storage, 1GB storage. But it all comes at a cost. $99.95 a year. Its probably worth it if you would use all of the features. I wouldn't so this is why I have been looking for another web host. I subscribe to pod cast about Macs called Screen casts online. One of the screen casts highlights a web hosting site called Site Ground. For only $4.95 a month you get 40GBs of storage, a free domain name, unlimited emails plus other features. This is the way I think I am going to go. So get ready for another web address. I am thinking of deejaydoubleyou.com to keep with my initials. Stayed tuned for updates.

As I work with the public on a daily basis, as you can imagine I meet all sorts. From millionaires in multi-million dollar houses, to filthy, disgusting lowlife people and everything in between. Some people that live in very posh houses who apologize for having a coffee cup on the table to backward, slimey idiots who have a path way through the piled high rubbish from the kitchen to the TV. Well a few days ago I met someone who I found to be interesting. Most times people pick up on my slight accent and guess that I'm from England... (or there abouts)! Well the customer in question mentioned that he had a cousin who used to play professional snooker in England. "who?" I asked, "Bill Werbenick" he replied. Now at first I didn't believe him but after looking at his physique, he really did look like Bill. After we chatted for a few minutes I left. When I got home that night, I decided to look up some information on the Canadian snooker player. I loaded up google, typed in Bill Werbenick, and the results showed "0". Now he might not be the most popular snooker player of all time, but I'm sure most people who like snooker would have heard of him. And with the amount of mis-information that is available on the internet today, I was surprised that there was nothing on him, Zilch, nada, zero. I thought that this was quite sad. Until just now when I just typed in his name again, and realised that his name is spelt Bill Werbeniuk, So really this post was irrelevant.

My free reign is coming to an end...

Its been a while since I updated this, but with so much free time on my hands I decided I needed to catch up on some Football Manager 07! Yes I know what a geek. But if you look at it from the point of few that I am doing all this work for what seems like nothing at this point, then why not.

Now I like all types of humor. Pretty much anything will make me chuckle, but observational humor is what really makes me laugh. To quote someone very wise, Homer Simpson once said, "Its funny cos it's true!" Things that I can relate to on a daily basis and maybe have already thought of as quite funny. Some people use sayings and and are so straight faced when they say them not realizing that what they just said makes no sense. For example, if you have lost your car keys someone will always say, "they will be in the last place you look." Of course they will. I'm not going to find my keys, then keep on looking for them! If you have ever heard Jerry Seinfeld do standup then you know that he does a lot of observational material. Also, since I have had my Sirius satelite radio, I have been listening to alot of commedy. One commedian in particular I like to listen to is Mitch Hedberg. A very funny guy but who is sadly dead. So many great quotes I would like to list a few here.

An escalator can never break down... just become stairs. You would never see an "Escalator out of order sign, just an "Escalator temporarily stairs" sign, "Sorry for the convenience".
A guy showed me a photo the other day and said, "this is a photo of me when I was younger". Every photo is of you when you were younger. Try and show me one of you when you are older!
I like re-fried beans. One day I would like to try fried beans because they might taste the same and we are just wasting time.
I walked past a dry cleaners at 3 am and the sign said, "sorry we are closed". You don't have to be sorry, its 3 am, it would be unreasonable of me to expect you to be open.

So many more but my delivery, (or yours), doesn't do his comedy justice.

A free man

Well its been about 3 hours since Shauna and Nicholas left to go to Disney land and that means one thing, I have some fee time to myself. SO what am I going to do? Party? Sex, drugs and rock ' n' Roll? Nope, load up rapid weaver and write this blog! Actually the first thing I did was watch Blade Runner because I have never seen it. And if you want my review on the film, all I can say is that while I appreciate that some regard it as another Ridley Scott masterpiece, I feel that that is 2 hours of my life I ain't getting back. But at least I've seen it now. I've moved my modem upstairs and reconfigured some things and I am now up to an average of 18MB download speed, not bad eh? I am sure that overnight I will max out at 25MB.
As i am sitting here typing this I can see out of my window across the street where they are building some new houses. I am presuming that there must be a stereo on site somewhere, as one of the workers just started playing air guitar like he was attempting to win first place in the Canadian Air Guitar finals! Which made me think, I wonder how many times we think that we are alone or at least away from other peoples view, but actually we are being watched? Sometimes as part of my job I have to go onto the top of apartment buildings. Some buildings electrical rooms are located on the roof. Often I will walk to the edge and look down at the people below. I know that the last thing on their mind is looking out for people watching them as they go about their business. Then I catch myself thinking of what it would be like to be that person at that moment and realize that someone might be watching me right now. Maybe from an adjacent building. Maybe from inside a suite of a taller building. Privacy is so overrated.

Oilers Win!

2-1 over the Minnesota Wild. Goals from Joffrey Lupul and Marc-Andre Bergeron. Not a very exciting game but then games against the WIld never are. I worked kinda late tonight an then watched the hockey so I haven't had time to look for a guest book or page counter yet, but I will get to it. Shauna and Nicholas are getting excited about their trip to Disney Land. Nicholas can't stop talking about how he gets to be a 'Toon" for the day. It's funny when he tells other people about it because they have absolutely no idea what he's ranting on about. I took Shauna's Mac book to work this afternoon and used it while I had some down time. It still amazes me that people don't secure their wireless networks. Oh well free internet for me.
Well guess I should go look for a guest book for you guys. I don't kbnow, the things I do for you to make your life simple.

Looking good and filling up

Well after a few early hiccups, the new site is up and running. I've been adding photos and clips this afternoon. I tried to add a guest book or feedback form but not there yet. Apparently on a .Mac account you can't add them. Hmmm. We'll see.
I added the RSS feed to these blogs which basically means you save the RSS feed as a website in your browser. Then whenever I add another entry, it will be updated in your saved feed.

Macs are awesome!

Well after some messing around with free web sites hosts, and the free Shaw web space, I decided to try out a .Mac account. I've got it free for 60 days so I'm going to try this but so far so good, and it was so easy. Switching from a Windows PC to a Mac was the best decision ever. Everything is so easy to use and works just like you would want it to. I am a born again Mac user. Take that as a "Highly Recommended" from me. Well I just received my first feedback from the new site and I guess you can't see the pictures... hmmm. Ok back to work then. FYI, just checked it on my Mac and PC and I can see pictures on both.

Not such a good start

Well I know that you have not read the first entry because I am having problems uploading this new design to my website. I have tried uploading to different web hosts but as of yet no luck. I am going to keep trying and hopefully you will get to see the new layout sooner than later.

The launch is here!

Well today is the first day of my new web site. I am using a program called Rapid Weaver. It seems real easy to use and the results look a lot better than my previous attempts even though the code for my last site was completely written by me. This program uses a GUI interface and the only typing I have to do is here. Well I am going to upload this now... or at least try to.