Below are the 11 most recent journal entries recorded in cunninggit's LiveJournal:

Saturday, November 27th, 2004
12:53 am	taking the fifth trolling is un, honest. "i dont believe that my comments were crass, how exactly can highlighting your hypocrisy be describe as crass? if you want to reply to this post in a maure, adult manner please do, if not feel free to bar it and pretend that it never happened. American isolationism is clearly an inbuilt defense mechanism protecting you from all opinions differing from your own, such open-mindedness on your part clearly dispells this myth. thank you" can you believe that she (mysticchyna) wouldnt allow this post!? Please feel free to spam... (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, July 19th, 2004
2:16 pm	Been a while hasnt it? Yeah, sorry for the recent silence following a tres depressing post, have a feeling that this is going to be a long post... Well lets start at the beginning. Just after the fete de la misique there was the last night at the K'fete (the student bar at ENSAM) which involved lots of alcohol, some strange strange French people such as the infamous Carambar, Antoin our resident alcoholic, and Charles the guy in charge of the bar. A Huuuuge goodbye (and see you all soon) out to the lot of them, it was really weird saying au revoir, seems like i only just got here and already the year is almost over <sniff> Not a great deal happened after that, though have managed to loose the email address of a mate off to Guadeloupe. Bugger. Then a lovely visit to a little country called England, was thouroughly crap weather but had a great time, esp coz i got to speak French for about half of it, showed Guillaume, Ludivine and Babs around Camden (would you expect less!?) Soz to all the people i didnt get to see much of, and to those i didnt see at all! Esp sorry to Malcolm, Alex, Joe and Netia who i just ended up being too knackered to see, its nothing personal!! In order to rectify this was thinking of organising some kind of gathering to celebrate (comiserate?) my return, which as you all know is on the 3 August, thinking the weekend after (7 August) or the one after that, let me know your opinions/cans/cants/dont want tos. And a bit of surprise news was that my bro Tom who has been trekking around south America, got bored and has decided to come back early, may even be there already. Makes sure there is someone to pick me up from the airport at least... Well after my return to France got to celebrate 14 July here, which was loads of fun, and did so with some people Marianne met in Barcelona, which was equally fun. Much sitting on the beach was involved, and Will even managed to take a relatively well composed picture!? Im getting far too "art student" for my own good. Last exciting thing has to be going to see Placebo in Nimes, but i now believe Brian Molko (lead singer for the uninitiated) is a bit of a twat. Seriously. They kept us waiting for ages before they came on stage, then didnt say a word for about 5-6 songs. The guy then goes on to explain that he cant sing "protege moi" their most recent release out here, coz he cant remember the lyrics... I know they are in French and all, but he does speak the language, and they were playing the gig in bloody France after all. So carries on a bit in that style, until just before the end when he gets pissed off that someone took a photo of him. Again i know cameras were forbidden but *everybody* was taking photos, i did, there were ppl with camera phones, digital cameras and disposable. There had been flashes throughout the concert and security didnt give a toss, but this guy goes and points out one.of.his.FANS. to security and has them take the camera away. Twat. Hmm, satisfyingly long post, and sufficient waste of time. Am bored shitless at my placement still, they have added an extra week onto it coz the cocked up. Sooo pissed off. I now have 3 days holiday after my placement rather than 10, was gonna go see Paris and that. Twats. See y'all soon lads and ladettes Wx Current Mood: bored Current Music: Annie Nightingale, again (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 24th, 2004
3:01 pm	Been meaning to do something? My advice is to get on and do it. One of Mariannes mates back in St Etienne kept on meaning to get round to visiting us. One of those "next time i have a few free days" jobs. He died in a car crash on Sunday, they were late for a football match and were driving to fast to make kick-off. As you can imagine things here are a bit strange at the moment, the argument on Monday hasnt been mentioned, she got the news on Tuesday evening on her way back from work, so the evening mostly involved crying. And just to prove life can hit you when you are down her car got broken into that night, nicked the radio and all her casettes. We cant figure out who would want to nick a crappy casette player rather than a nice shiny CD player. People are shits sometimes. So yeah, i challenge everyone to actually get round to doing something this week, anything you have been putting off, but know you really should be doing. What a happy post. Current Mood: Bit stunned (Comment on this)
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2004
10:59 am	Fete de la musique Quite fun actually. Basically the whole pedestrian zone of Montpellier (which is very large) was turned into one giant gig last night. Little groups everywhere, all kinds of different styles, from Occitan (the local patois, somewhere between French and Spanish) percussion, one band playing nothing but Queen etc etc. Really great atmosphere, even if not all the music was that good. With so many musicians in the road there werent enough really good ones to go around! But really nice, cant really see it happening in the UK, everyone was very calm and happy, have to say i felt a bit ashamed to be English. I know full well that if we tried to do something like that in the UK it would be ruined by our lovely lager louts and hooligans, the continental "cafe culture" was in evidence, the guy dancing in the fountain was about as drunk as it got, and he was still coherent, and not at all agressive. However there is always a downside, and this time it was a truely spectacular argument with Marianne. Alternating periods of shouting at each other, the "silent treatment", blame and acrimony. Not pretty at all, have a feeling that it was our last argument as a couple, we both kinda let rip with all the things that pissed us off about the other and slept in different rooms. Marianne resorted to name calling, which was not helpful, and fairly terminal i think. Strangely un-upset, been coming for a while i think. Might add a bit more later... maybe. Current Mood: indescribable (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 21st, 2004
11:25 am	Summer time! Sorry for not having written too much stuff in the past week, i have been too lazy! Have also had a fairly "good" week, on the balance of things... Have finished putting all those numbers into my laptop THANK GOD. It was beginning to turn me a little strange quite honestly, starting a livejournal and all that. But its done now Yay! Ate at "le Rajastan" on Saturday, really really nice Indian restaurant, bit pricey but well worth it, thought i was going to explode after we had finished eating :) It is "la fete de la musique" today, as well as being the first day of summer! This means that the centre of town is going to be full with bands tonight, percussion, jazz, swing everything. Excuse to get drunk and go dancing in the street. This coupled with the enormous, and very tasty, paella being served in the canteen, with latino music and dancing, means i like summer! Recieved photos from skiing, caused slight confusion when the CD arrived, because there was no (hand written) letter. Just an envelope with a CD in it. But great photos. Marianne was disappointed that there were no "action shots" of us *actually* skiing, just apres-skiing. Wonder why that is, could it be that apres-skiing was quite a popular option?! Also slight friction on the "but there are girls there!" front, every time it was "who is that? How do you know her?? Why was she there?" etc. So Marianne now knows many details about all the girls who came skiing, but strangely little about the blokes. Oh yes, only bad thing about the photos was a naked (and very VERY hairy) Dave... you could at least have given us a bit of warning!!! General feeling of happiness. Unexplained, but good. Am also looking forwards to getting back to the UK for a bit, think it will definitely be a good thing, im finding myself a bit unsociable at the moment. This isnt football hooligan style unsociability, just finding myself very ill at ease around people, particularly at parties. For most of the year i have been able to play on the "im foreign" card as an ice-breaker, and generally involves getting to know people, but with almost a full year behind me and very little left to go conversations on the subject tend to be rather brief and fizzle out after five minutes. Need to get back to blighty and have a good night out with mates, followed the next morning (or more likely afternoon) with a full English breakfast. The French just dont do bacon, it isnt right!! (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 9th, 2004
3:04 pm	Barbeque! Yay!! Ok, so wasting time here is proving more difficult than normal, there are two reasons for this. Most worryingly i have established a pattern of time wasting, but there are large strectches (sp!?) of un-wasted time in it. Poo But more importantly there is a barbeque tonight! On the beach!! Wohoo!!! So once this is all over im going alcohol and munch shopping. Shouldnt get too pissed coz have to work tomorrow, but you can probably figure out how long that resolution is going to last :D In the unlikely event of me posting anything tomorrow i appologise in advance! Things with Marianne continue to be my fault... seriously! She had arranged to come back from St Etienne (where her parents live) reeeealy early yesterday morning so she could spend time with them, but still get to work in the morning (she had Monday off) Unfortunatly she considered 6 minutes to be "plenty" of time to change trains at Lyon... So she missed the connection, spent hours criss-crossing southern France and was thus late for work. Work was then shite. arianne arrives home stressed and guess who gets it in the neck. "Im hungry! Why havent you got anything ready to eat!!?" Yes this is a reversal of the traditional roles, but Mariannes cooking turns up on Haz-Mat tests. "Shops are closed, couldnt buy any food, do you want to eat out?" "no". Bugger. Getting a bit pissed off with the general "just blame Will" attitude in the flat at the moment, whenever i have a go at her she either apologises, but carries on doing it anyway, or shouts at me some more til i shut up. Bit crap really. On a related note i have booked my final ticket out of France! Yay and Boo, very mixed feelings about that one, but for those who are interested i will be back on the 3rd of August, and much drinking will ensue, i get to talk bollocks in English YAY! Think thats about it for this latest rant, im sure i will be back soon though. Oooh, also Yay for Radio 1 online, have been listening to very nice speciality shows for several days now mmmm, nice. Current Mood: Ambivalent!? Current Music: Uuuh, Radio 1 Annie Nightingale (Comment on this)
Monday, June 7th, 2004
4:35 pm	Mondays It must be said that the Franch are very good at Mondays. In the UK we all hate them, but go to work anyway and do out best to work, even thought we really arent in the mood, mostly because everyone else is working, even though they really dont want to. The French take a more laid back approach, everyone accepts that that cant be arsed, and neither can anyone else, so mondays are relatively calm affairs, everyone "winding up" for the week ahead. A great many desks get tidied and pens arranged in alphabetical order. Especially good if you are feeling a bit sunburnt, as i am, having spent a lot of time in the park sunbathing over the weekend, as i did... Bwa ha ha ha ha!! Anyway im British, i cant *hear* the word "sunshine" without peeling. As it stands it looks like im going to come back that lovely shade of brown which makes everyone jealous. :p Is anyone going to visit me out here? Or be around for the weekend of the 10-11 July? Sat night may well involve clubbing, though somewhere other than the fridge, i have decided that i dont like the makeover. Current Mood: hot Current Music: QSO (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 3rd, 2004
1:17 pm	Poo Well we didnt manage to make the gig last night, and i was quite looknig forwards to it :( My fault i spose, didnt have my mobile with me so didnt get to give Marianne enough warning. Poo Poo Poo. Am now muchly looking forwards to getting back home, especially coz it turns out that two more of my mates from here are doing a placement in London and fancy meeting up, yay! Brings the total to three, and i know there is a fourth, but not sure when she will arrive. Its cute coz everyone is bitching about English keyboards, they have no accents, but eveyone seems to get on just fine without them. Told you so. Now i just have to get them to try some jelly, bwa ha ha! Slightly less random and caffeine fuelled than yesterday, coz i slept badly. Had very weird dreams, then did the movie style "sitting bolt upright in bed and waking yourself up" thing a couple of times, not easy (or comfortable) when sleeping under mosquito netting. Which doesnt work, think there must be at least two dozen bites on my right leg, mostly below the ankle. BASTARDS. Im bigger than they are, they are supposed to be scared of me and leave me alone... grrr. Over and out Current Mood: blank Current Music: Kruder (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2004
12:56 pm	Further randomness Well it been a week since i have last had need to waste my time with this... no wait, thats all wrong. It has been a week since i have last had access to the internet, so am now using the first opportunity to waste my time with this. Better, but still distinctly caffeine fuelled. Well what an exciting week it has been here in the land of Frogs, lets have  a quick summary. -Watched "Breaking the Waves" a truely awful film that just happens to be Mariannes favourite. Very, uuum, arty, but somehow maintains plot twists about as subtle as Arnie eg the female lead, an enormously irritating woman, prays that her bloke comes back early from working on an oil rig. 5 minutes of total un-suspense later he gets smacked around the head with a pipe and is brought back to the mainland in a coma, not a comma.Very unimpressed -Got bored stupid doing some practical work here in the lab, cutting leaves and all that. Im sure its all very important in the grand scheme of things, but its the details which are important, and these details bore me. -Had a blazing row with Marianne over something stupid, been building up for a while, basically bacause in 2 months i will be back in the UK, and she is convinced the first thing i will do is dump her. Its also very patronising the way that "it wont be your fault, i just worry that someone will steal you from me" ie she thinks i cant be trusted, but wont say so. Things seem better now, after blazing row Will went off and did a little tour of the centre of town, got back ready for another blazing row but got a tearful apology instead. Felt slightly cheated, but cant complain. Have instead invested in "why men lie and women cry", book on the differences between the sexes. Thus, things here are kinda sucky right now. There are two "good things" at the moment though. First, its really sunny here, and im actually getting a tan. Second, its Wednesday, and there is juggling on Wednesday (albeit on the other side of town) May not be able to go however, coz one of my mates cant go to the Evanescence gig tonight, so just gave me the tickets Wohoo! Excuse to get pissed and dance like a fool. Now all i have to do is tempt Marianne away from work with a "the house is on fire" type line and its all good! I think, to sum it all up, i need a holiday. So im coming back to England from the 8-13 July, anyone around to entertain me? And meet one of my mates from out here who will be doing a placement in London? Peace, out. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, May 24th, 2004
4:41 pm	Also many thanks to sean_gabriel for photos. And for filling me with the knowledge that there are other people out there writing complete bollocks. Though the jelly in a pool will have to be tried. (that got the rest of you interested, didn't it!?) (Comment on this)
2:16 pm	And so it begins..... So yeah, have a livejournal now. Malcolm's shameless plug was juuuust a little too late coz i decided to get one at the weekend because (in order of importance): 1) Im feeling geeky. 2) Im bored. 3) Somebody might be interested in what im up to out here. And now for the reasoning behind bored and geeky. Geeky stams mainly from the fact that i have begun to touch-type without realising it. Its because French keyboards are different to English ones, so my hyper-inteligent brain has decided its time to learn all the key positions, making it easy to slip between the two different layouts. Not that i have spent far too long infront of my laptop (pretending to be) working (to the real geeks out there how do i do one of them strikethrough thingies?) This leads neatly on to why im bored. The lovely people in charge of my lab placement have decreed that i am to enter 60 thousand pieces of datum (yes that is the singular of data, 60 thousand pieces of data is like saying "60 thousand loaves of breads" it gets on my nerves, and yes i am pedantic) without the aid of a scanner and OCR. Bastards. So after a week of finding an amazing number of things to do other than that i stand at the unimpressive (and inaccurate) total of "about 11-12 thousand". And its getting slower. Hence livejournal, which from now on should hopefully fill that annoying empty space after reading the Telegraph online in the morning, and lunch. In unrelated news Marianne (my French gf for those who care, but didnt know) is giving up smoking. This is both good and bad. Good: I will no longer be living with and going out with a smoker. Bad: Last time she tried giving up (last Monday, she starts all important tihings on a Monday, coz she is a women and they are like that) she was so stressed that i made here give up giving up. Here is why... Marianne is cleaning the appartment, useless French tram drivers are on strike to wind everybody up, so Will has offered to (didnt duck fast enough to avoid having to) help in this process. Things are going well until, suddenly the words "aaah putain, merde faire chier" (whore, shit, go for a crap) are heard from the Marianne. "what is it sweetie?" asks Will in concerned (for his health) tones. "This f*&"ing arial cable is too long" comes the reply, "it just sits here and looks untidy" (Normally Wills job, but i was tidying and so delegated) Marianne then kicks said cable under the table, knocking it out of the telly in the process. Will then retreats into the kitchen and finds Marianne's (poorly hidden) cigarettes for her as she is in the process of attempting to re-connect the cable by jabbing it vaguely in the direction of the socket whilst screaming at the cable, Will and the world simultaneously. I worry for my survival. Am also hoping that Nasera will be in the appartment when i get back. Not because she is female (she is ugly) but because she is a sister of Mariannes mate (not because she is female, though it sounds bad) who is living with us/squatting at ours/keeping here stuff at ours, and is never around. This causes problems when there are fewer sets of keys than there are people. Well i think that sums up much, and has wasted time, many thanks to not_on_fire for the original descovery. Off to find something equally un-work related to do. Like find a nice picture of me. Or at least a vaguely amusing one. Current Mood: geeky Current Music: Something i burnt off a mate. (5 Comments |Comment on this)