Thinking of a title before you've written anything is tricky

If you're of a foreign disposition, and don't happen to live under the regal wing of the UK monarchy, I'll let you in on a secret.

It's snowing in Britain.

If this is a hard concept, I have a diagram below which I prepared over several seconds.

Despite this having happened for the last several years, despite everyone in the country expecting it, and despite having had rather a  long time to prepare for it, the entire infrastructure of the country has done what it does best and totally imploded in a grid-locked mess of complacency and piss-poor planning. To be fair, there are the odd roads dotted around which don't require skidoos to navigate, and some of the trains are even arriving at stations (some within a day of their timetabled slot) but realistically any form of long-distance travel has now become fraught with frustration to the point where the word 'cancelled' loses all meaning. Even isolated as I am in a bubble containing Southampton University and the surrounding 3 miles, the effects are being felt as lectures are cancelled and bored students are prone to spontaneously bursting into snowball fights.

If you're expecting the usual slew of dry derision I'm afraid I'll be disappointing you on this front. Basically this is because since we were foetuses human beings have had a primal urge to go and roll around in snow, throw it at each other, build things, and generally act about half your actual age. And why shouldn't we? As long as we're tolerating not being able to achieve anything productive beyond churning out the occasional blag post, we may as well have the option open to put on 12 layers of clothes and prat around outside until our limbs fall off.

And of course, it's also fine that year-on-year the travel companies, airport operators, and particularly Network Rail remain strangely clueless to the impending cold spell until it comes crashing down on their hollow little heads like an avalanche of..... snow... I guess. New motto suggestion for them: "Because it never happens here!"®

Some things we also learned these last few weeks: in what scientists are calling a "meh" announcement, Prince Will and some other person are to be happily wed. Awww. For most of the country I think this comes as some slightly happy news. For the press, it's apparently more important than the moon exploding or life being found in Cliff Richard's undergarments, because they literally cannot stop talking about it. The Times for example, had a lovingly puke-worthy column by someone called Carol, who complained that she's 'already sick of hearing about it', which was of course followed by six articles in the paper's features section devoted to the happy couple. The Telegraph were similarly eager to lampshade their own relentless pursuit of the engagement, with another derisive column and a cartoon lampooning the press coverage, all nestled deep within 16 full pages, and 3 part-pages of stories about Will and Kate. Either these publications have suddenly found the ability to poke fun at themselves (and Hell will soon be ordering out for some heaters to melt all the ice) or their editors should probably be sent back to Kindergarten and re-taught how to read.

One more mention which I have to make to a beautifully constructed piece of commentary (19 Oct this year) from that 'newspaper' the Daily Mirror: "Others have made a small industry out of wrongly predicting the nuptials- we chose to got our facts right. Their formal engagement will be announced in early 2011". Isn't hindsight wonderful?

Also in the news: North Korea are Murderers, Sarah Palin: Still a Retard, Students in Britain Actually Protest with Good Cause, and Latin-American Twatsalad Finally Leaves X-Factor.

All in all, a good few weeks, despite the bruises and aches caused by mucking around in snow. Once it's all melted I'd like to place an advanced order to have Spring implemented two months early.

Merry Snowmas

-Neopbbbrrrrrrrrrr

Not sure where this one will go

I think a combination of constant revision and occasional indulgence has somewhat hindered my blogging abilities as of late. There's only so much you can write on the joys of Thermodynamics... as I'm sure my physics comrades will agree.

Now that exams are over and freedom is (relatively) within my grasp, I'm once again free to revel in the simple pleasures of the web, laser tag, climbing trees, getting lashed, and general socialising.

Leaving school for the summer signified a well earned break in an otherwise tedious slog through the school term. This is something slightly different. Not only will I severely miss Southampton over the next months, it also won't be complete freeloading over summer. Jobs and house-moving are going to be the next big items of concentration. I also feel a strange compulsion to learn something new. I think I have overactive brain syndrome. The big gap created by the lack of physics to come will have to be filled with some new and (probably) less useful knowledge lest I regress to a state of slobbering idiocy over summer and (god forbid) end up playing WoW or D&D.

Maybe there's a lesson to be learned for those poor folk out there who are aware of their nerdiness and wish to reform: pick a skill, say, poker, and learn it like hell. It'll be more fulfilling, more beneficial in the long run (head to Las Vegas) and ultimately something you can hold a conversation about without your listeners attempting to flee through open windows. 

I think music is always something worth getting into as well. Too often has it been said that one "would love too play [enter instrument here]". Like all things, if you really, REALLY, would "love" too, then get off your arse, sign off of Facebook, turn off the TV, and bloody well learn it. There's no excuse really.

No-one's perfect in this respect. Everyone has things they want to do that really aren't practical or possible in certain circumstances, but if you use the L word, you should be prepared to work for it. Nothing's impossible to get into if you don't want to. Especially if you're at Uni. 

I for example, would like to learn Japanese. Not for any particular purpose, just coz. Fact is though, I don't want to badly enough that I'd give up say, playing guitar, magic, climbing, etc etc. to make room for it.

Hmm... I'm getting bored of this thought thread. Lets try something else.

*Flexes thought muscles*

Nope. Nothing meaningful. In that case, let's drop this in for random value:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp76ly2_NoI

This is a pretty appalling video- and I won't grant it the pleasure of a long rant. What I will provide is the following response from a number of famous faces:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/6eddb255b2/a-gaythering-storm

Which is most definitely oscar worthy.... that's probably true. If Slumdog can win EIGHT. EIGHT. Did they actually WATCH it? Did they not realise the lead character was as likeable as an Amish Labour politician? I spent the whole film wanting to slap his face just to try and elicit some kind of actual emotional response instead of bland indifference. Clearly he graduated from the Keanu Reeves school of acting....