Dosadi

In the US of A

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:29:48 GMT

I'm at my desk just about to leave work in the USA!

The weather is hot and sunny, the people are nice and Princeton is a cute little town.

My website

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 01:16:08 GMT

So, I have finally done something with my website, which I've only been paying for hosting for for about 1.5 years OOPS

You can visit an enormous (well, 2 so far) archive of my recipes at: http://www.thetadesign.net/
I will be adding some of my old favourites to it, some basic stuff for reference (like batter mixtures and other food chemistry stuff where quantities are important), and also, everything that I invent and cook in the J staircase cookery collective!

If I've ever cooked you anything good and you'd like the recipe, now is the time to bug me with what it was and I'll put it online :-)

List of things left to do:
* Pictures! Will illustrate recipes as I cook them. Ones in the past, a little more tricky, but I plan to have some sexy ingredient shots :-D
* User commenting, tagging and rating - so you can tell me what you think of it
* Quantity lists and printable instruction sheets - I plan to make the way recipes are stored very logic so I can do cool stuff with them. At the moment its a big old scrawl!
* More recipes - I know I have to do chocolate brownies, key lime mousse and Quorn lasagne

So I was listening to a song earlier and these thoughts happened

Sun, 28 May 2006 22:31:01 GMT

I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fear
And if you have to leave
I wish that you just would leave
Because your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone

This place is the edge. A place of knowing and not knowing. A place of wonder and a place of fear.
God who seemed so real is suddenly fleeting; and all surety is replaced with doubt.

You used to captivate me
By your resonating light
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away
All the sanity in me

Madness comes. What was love and became fear, is now pain, and binding, and death.
Pleasant dreams of glory have become hauntings of lost righteousness.
A voice you followed for glory; lost on the wind.

These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much
That time can not erase

And you cry out. What can you do? Is it too late? Is there nothing left for you?
So many past disappointments. What good can this future being?
Despair.

But then there is a cry back to us in the song:

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me

That caring has not gone. That new way is still there. After all is over, you still have it all.
All that you could have and all you could ever desire, is yours.

One day we feel:

I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along

But we know this is a lie.
Sometimes its hard.
Sometimes there is lonliness.
And wilderness.
And despair.
And desolation.
And utter, abject failure and disappointment.
But in the end.
We know it; we can not truly deceive ourselves.

And one day we get up. And we say, "Yes."
And then we know you never left.
And the edge we were on, we leave, and we set off once more.

I'm so glad I'm leaving here
You've turned me back to you
You're my all
And I hope you'll never leave
You're the greatess thing in me
You've given your all for me
I'm not if I'm alone

You've healed my wounds
And made me whole
You're all there is for me

Rant about Capitalism, again

Tue, 16 May 2006 01:01:01 GMT

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4774475.stm

In the wake of Hugo Chavez visitting the UK, the United States of America has declared Venezuela a "country of concern". This means an arms embargo on Venezuela. Now aside from all the things I could say about the arms trade, I'm concentrating on the fact the USA is trying to censure Venezuela.

This is a total joke, except for the fact it is not funny. So Venezuela may or may not be supporting or fighting against internal terrorist groups. Ultimately, this is neither the business of the USA nor the true issue at stake. The real issues are:
1. Years of left-wing governments has invested in healthcare and education. Venezuela might not be a "western" country with an excellent welfare state, but it is certainly getting that and looks to continue doing so. This goes against American neo-liberal (what a bullshit phrase) economics, and prevents the "western" countries grubbing out the country like a team of sumo wrsetlers at an all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant.
2. This years public reclaimation of Venezuela's oil reserves will mean these socially just and sensible programs will be able to continue, and even grow, at the expense of us making money out of Venezuela's oil. This is a big issue with the current risk of turmoil in the middle east, the USA doesn't want a load of commies redistributing oil and oil wealth back to their own country. (Incidentally, in English law, if you find oil, gas or coal on land you own, it automatically belongs to the Crown. Not so different eh?)
3. Venezuela's left-wing President, Chavez, has publicly denounced President Bush as a "terrorist" and accused him of commiting genocide in Iraq. Not something Bush is going to be too impressed with, especially with his with us or against us rhetoric.
4. In the USA, Pat Robertson, a respected Christian televangelist (note, not respected by myself or any Christian I know personally) suggested on live television, "We have the ability to take him (Chavez) out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability" on the basis that it would stop Venezuela becoming "a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism". He also refers to him as a "strong-arm dictator". I mean, is that fucking ridiculous or what? He was democratically elected, repeatly in the past 8 years or so, and a brief coup in 2002 ended when literally millions protested in the street and the army changed to Chavez side. Christians should never be advocating or perpetrating violence - to suggest assasinating a democratically elected leader on the basis he might prevent you sucking the oil out of his country as fast as you'd like is ridiculous.
5. Venezuela has ties with Cuba and Iran. So if they talk to the USA's enemies, that basically makes them the USA's enemies, right?

There will probably be a war over this, unless the rest of the "western" world can get it into the USA's thick skull - You do not own the world, No-one died and made you King, and promoting democracy while calling democratically elected leaders dictators is a little two-faced, even for you.

Capitalism - what's it done for us?

Woo Salad!

Mon, 23 Jan 2006 14:33:52 GMT

Look:

Will and I both decided to be a bit more healthy. I myself now weight 11 and a half stone which puts me up to a BMI of 27. Given my fairly sedentary lifestyle, losing a stone would be best probably, so I'm currently trying to eat a little less and a bit more healthily.

Result - The delicious salads you see above! Mine has the beans on it. Also a little chili oil and lemon juice dressing. And loads of leaves. And a apple for pudding.
Oh and going for a run at 5 today.

Woo! Healthy!

I found a reason to post!

Wed, 21 Dec 2005 00:48:13 GMT

But sadly not a good one. Have been thinking these things for a while, but have now been inclined to post them by:
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-05/12-17-05/a09lo650.htm

Gist of the story is that a student requested a copy of Mao Tse-Tung's little red book (the Chinese dictator/communist leader's book about Communism). This, coupled with "visiting foreign countries" led to him being interviewed by the department of homeland security and the book not being given to him.

WTF?

Apparently the US government monitor peoples library loans in order to spot this kind of "terrorist" activity. And as for visiting other countries and maybe having a clue about a culture other than your own :-O !

The saddest part of the story is a bit by this guys professor where he says that "he had been planning to offer a course on terrorism next semester, but is reconsidering, because it might put his students at risk."
America could well get shafted by terrorists, but action like this won't help them. All they are doing is:

Pissing off potential terrorists - anyone see Spooks? There is an episode where a Muslim is wrongfully detained by the Government, in solitary confinement for 2 years. While not in solitary, he gets turned into a terrorist. Not a real story, but very plausible. Also, our intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan may well radicalise people - when America kills your leaders and drops a bomb that kills your family, you may well become more pissed off at them, even to the point of terorism - I DO NOT CONDONE TERRORISM, but I have the ability to imagine other peoples' point of view.
Resisting understanding terrorists. GWB would like to see the world in black and white ("Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."[1], "States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil [referring to Iraq, Iran and North Korea]"[2]), but for people who are out of preschool, there are at least 3 sides to every story. Only by understanding the causes of terrorism and fixing them will we defeat terrorists.

Back on the original point of my post, the errosion of civil liberties is frightening[3]. Fuck fear and think for a minute - is it really worth throwing away our freedom in order to fight the people who, by GWB's assertion, "They hate our freedoms"[4]?

George Bush also says "By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions -- by abandoning every value except the will to power -- they follow in the path of fascism, and Nazism, and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way, to where it ends: in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies. (Applause.)"[5]

That sounds more like a description of Bush's government than of terrorists.

Robin

p.s. Remind me not to visit America

[1]http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010920-8.html paragraph 30

[2]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_of_evil

[3]http://www.magnacartaplus.org/civil-liberties/attacks.htm

ID Cards (monitoring of potentially everything, proposed only)
ASBOs (reduces standard of evidence needed to impose punishments on people, better to have some more offences of anti social behaviour and prove it in court)
Criminal Justice Act 2003 (allows judges to sit without juries in some cases, allows people to be retried for serious crimes if "compelling new evidence", allows use of hearsay evidence and evidence of bad character, including previous convictions/acquittals)
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (gives any cabinet minister right to do almost anything in the event of an emergency - probably necessary, but not checked very well)
The Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 (you can be locked up with Eminem played to you and no trial, indefinitely, if a court can be convinced "on the balance of probabilities" that you may be participating in terrorist activities)
The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (every offence is arrestable, which means your DNA and fingerprints can end up on file even if you are not even charged with the most minor offence, and you can't protest within 1km of Parliament - something Tony Blair praised , saying "thank God they can. That's called freedom" (http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article332161.ece) (I tell a lie, you can, but you must apply at least 24 hours in advance and the police may refuse without oversight))
Terrorism Act 2000 (Groups can be banned by MPs without any evidence and any association with that group (e.g. wearing a badge, organising/attending a meeting) is an offence)
Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 "Permits the Home Secretary to certify any foreigner as an “international terrorist” if he/she decides that they are a risk to national security" and then detain them indefinitely
Police Act 1997 (Police can bug a property without a warrant in order to collect evidence for serious crimes)

Plus, rumours of "rendition" that the Government seems keen to play down, but the ACPO is now investigating, and lots of evidence has been produced by civil liberties groups.

And finally, read this: http://gizmonaut.net/bits/suspect.html - would you like that to happen to you? What about if it also included 28 days of detention? What is you also ended up getting tortured in Pakistan or Poland?

[4]http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010920-8.html paragraph 24

[5]http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010920-8.html paragraph 27

p.p.s. I guess referencing it is a bit anal, but hey! Then anyone who disagrees can be at least sure my facts are correct. However, I have probably missed the point on some of the legislation, for this I apologise and hope you can still see my point.

I'm bored

Sat, 15 Oct 2005 23:35:41 GMT

Bored.
 I am.
  I am bored at the moment.
   Bored is what I currently am.
    I am really quite bored currently.
     I am not being helped in my boredom by this post.
      Bed is where I am going to go in a minute.
       Because I am really, really, really, really bored.

Random thoughts and news

Mon, 10 Oct 2005 01:23:24 GMT

I read this and it got me thinking about money and stuff.
http://mindprod.com/money/moneyrituals.html

It's pretty interesting, as is all the stuff on that guys site. Just some cool thoughts about money. Quote from it:

“Money is like an iron ring we've put through our noses. We've forgotten that we designed it, and now it is leading us around.”
~ Bernard Lietaer, Belgian currency expert

Anyway, conclusion is money is silly. Also, I have been thinking about fair trade. although it won't fix the problem with current economics, there is no reason i shouldn't reduce a few of my luxuries and buy fair trade which makes a real difference to other peoples lives. So yeah, fair trade bananas from now on.

In other news, I fell down some stairs at a college ent and cut up my back and arms and really bent my thumb which is now going black. So that wasn't good, but first aid people were nice and sorted me out and i am fairly okay now, so that is good.

Am off to bed now, as I have a lecture at 11am. Night all.

Back At Uni

Fri, 07 Oct 2005 14:42:29 GMT

Don't really have any work yet, but I had some exciting lectures.

Current lecture attendance rate is holding steady at 4/6 - a whole 66%. To be fair, one was optional and the other guy is boring. But I will go to his lectures from now on.

I do have a programming exercise to do, so I will probably get that done soon - or maybe just keep going out to the pub etc.

My life isn't interesting enough for this, is it? But Naomi says she can read it when she is bored. And she liked my badger post, so maybe more posts will be random.

Oh, I borrowed some old Boards of Canada CDs from Fit Richard and they absolutely rock. Best music I have heard in ages. Buy them. Buy them now.

Going back to Uni

Sat, 01 Oct 2005 22:38:19 GMT

I am heading back to Uni tomorrow. I think I am probably the last person in the country to be going back. Certainly the last I can think of. I spent ages finishing my computer off, it's looking very nice and shiny now, except i managed to smear a load of glue over the plastic :-@ very annoying having lovingly looked after it for this long. Still finished now and looking good.

AS I result of computer work, had hardly any time to pack, so I hope I have everything. Need to pack computer, probably tomorrow morning, I'm not sure.

My life isn't really interesting enough for a daily journal, is it? Oh, and I took my parents out for a meal which we all enjoyed and had very nice Indian. I had "methi gohst", although I don't know what a methi leaf is. *quick look on teh interweb* Ah, it's another name for fenugreek. Anyone know what fenugreek is? Anyway, it was very nice and nice to spend time with parents afore disappearing back to cambridge.

Gonna go off to bed now and sleep lots. Didn't get much sleep last night as I was reading until 4 and got up at 9:30.

In other news

Fri, 30 Sep 2005 22:06:28 GMT

Finally finished my job today. Well, I say finished, what I really mean is I sort of finished the work and it is up to my coworkers to finish it. Meanwhile, I will not be workign any more, which means I have finished. Woo!

I need to pack, but I've got tomorrow to do it. I also need to get my computer finished off so it is ready to travel on Sunday, so looks like tomorrow is going to be busy! Have almost finished computer and i am worried i am going to run our of screws :S Still, hopefully it'll be okay.

Naomi has gone out (again!). What a typical student :) Still, seeing her on Sunday :D:D:D Am so excited that we'll be in the same town.

/me is off to bed now, as it's early I might get some drawing done, and lots of sleep so i can get up early and pack. I hate packing.

Badgers

Fri, 30 Sep 2005 21:35:04 GMT

I can't think of anything sensible to post, so this is going to be a short piece about badgers.

Badgers are great. They are without a doubt my favourite animal. It's the snout with the cool white stripes. And the really, really cute face.
Look, here's one:

Isn't it cute?

Also, I like the hump at the back of a badger. It sort of curves round suddenly and it looks very strokable.

Oh, and saying "badger" is satisfying. Go on, do it now. Say "badger" to yourself (or someone else). It really rolls around your mouth, doesn't it?

If there was a way to adopt a badger, I think i would. I am in love with badgers. They couldn't possibly be improved on. They are proof God exists. Badgers are amazing. Love them.

Oh, and they have the cool animation everyone has seen here

Caught the bug now

Wed, 28 Sep 2005 23:03:34 GMT

Just found a great onion article, so I will share it with you:

Guy in Philosophy Class Needs To Shut The Fuck Up

I love The Onion.

Also, great Dilbert cartoon series:
The cheapest flight
The flying cannibal

Meh

Wed, 28 Sep 2005 22:36:29 GMT

Meh.

I have been threatening to do this for ages, and now I have. Ha ha!

As you can tell, I have been doing too much boring work and sleeping at odd times. But I am returning to cambridge soon, which means more boring work and sleeping at odd time. Damn.

Also, Naomi has gone to cam early for "greek week" (geek week) in order to learn greek. Apparently a theology student's schedule is so full they need an extra week to learn everything! Amazing eh? My point however is that I am all lonely, but on the plus side, will be with Naomi in cam very soon :D

My boss is annoying me massively, but I can't be arsed to complain or quit. I'm thinking maybe I'll get paid to do bad work until I am fired.

Anyway, bored now. Oh, and I drew the eye. Anyone want to comment what mood the eye is in?