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1. Chester Bennington, lead singer of Linkin Park (an oft mocked band, but one which did make some damned fine tunes between all the criticism) has died aged just 41. Apparent suicide by hanging, reportedly. He's no Chris Cornell (or Scott Weiland perchance) but he's up there towards that and it's still sad.
2. Work was horrible, more piles of having to cover up for fuck-ups in the lab, more management avoiding responsibility, more of the phone ringing so often it was not possible to get everything done I needed to, and I'm hating the fact I left with so many of my e-mails unanswered (and unlikely to all be caught up on tomorrow, should things go the same way). Past the limit of what I can tolerate for any length of time, deeply frustrating that there seems to be nothing I can do to stop the feeling of being taken advantage of, pressured and generally fucked off.
3. Forty years ago today, The CIA released documents under the Freedom of Information Act which revealed it had engaged in mind-control experiments. Ex-Manchester City winger Kiki Musampa was born that same day, though I'm not saying an American Governmental Intelligence Agency (oxymoron?) influenced Kiki's Mum to bring forth a son that day, over in Zaire.
4. This evening I finished reading Amy Liptrot's 'The Outrun', which I got a lot from w.r.t. the beauty of the writing and my familiarity with some of the aspects discussed. At times it strayed a little into the area of feeling more like catharsis for the writer than education/entertainment for the reader, but still it was pretty damned fine.
5. I read an article online a couple of weeks ago which talked about the phenomenon of spectation of people playing computer games. I know they have folks watching gamers in Korea n'that. It all seemed a bit odd to me, then I more reflectively thought today about the fact I watch shows like Dara O'Briain Go 8-bit, and also I've spent several hours watching cricket and football playthrough videos on Youtube in my time.
6. Tolland is a suburb located in the city of Wagga Wagga in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is home to Mount Austin High School and Tolland Shopping Centre which has an IGA supermarket and an Dominos Pizza outlet. It is also home to the Tolland Football Club.
7. If you are presented to Her Majesty at a Royal event it is likely you will be marshalled into position in a series of semi-circles rather than straight lines. Guests should try to be empty-handed, Debrett's adds. Also, it is royal tradition for young princes and princesses to be formally dressed when they are in public (hence Prince George in shorts and shirts mainly). Only married ladies wear tiaras - for married ladies it was a sign of status and would show you were taken and not looking for a husband, and for the gentleman it was a clear sign not to make advances toward the lady in question.
8. I certainly am spending a lot less time on the shitter recently now that I am eating more conservatively, so to speak. Understandable, of course, and my poo has been a little different in constitution, but.. ack well I'm not going to obsess about it.
9. The ngelik (or lik) is a part of an Indonesian gamelan composition that contrasts from the surrounding section, either the ompak or merong. It is also sometimes called the gendhing proper, in contrast to the bubuka gendhing (i.e. ompak). The ngelik is often associated with a higher pitch, and is usually the part where the gerong sings the main melody of the composition. As many ketawang have the same ompak, the ngelik can be the main determinant of what the piece is. Ngelik vary in length, but are usually longer than the surrounding ompak in a ketawang, the same length as the ompak in a ladrang, and the same length as the merong in a gendhing. The latter two are typically one gongan in length (like the surrounding section), whereas the ketawang ngelik is usually three or four gongan.
10. I'm not keen to go to work tomorrow. Part of me thinks I should stay up and essentially delay it, part of me thinks a good night's sleep will help me cope better tomorrow and/or will get it over with earlier. FUCK a DOODLE doo.
[UWEC] Norway 0-2 Belgium: This was a turnip for the books. Though Norway weren't the seeded 'Pot 1' team in the group (that honour went to hosts Holland) they were the highest ranked team in the pool, fourth best team in the competition, and twice former champions. Against debutants Belgium however, one of the bottom three ranked teams, this loss was even more of a surprise than Austria beating Switzerland a few days ago. The goals came in the second half, first a close-range finish by van Gorp giving Belgium a lead, then Cayman getting her head to the ball a few minutes later to shock Hegerberg et al. in Breda. The Scandinavians are facing elimination unless results go their way.
[UWEC] Netherlands 1-0 Denmark: The hosts had the best of the first half and Denmark were disappointing, only mustering one attempt on goal. Those in orange were celebrating on going ahead, a second time from the penalty spot in two games, aconverted by Sherida Spitse. The second half was a contrast with Denmark in white offering more threat and a couple of last-gasp denials around the hour mark. Troelsgaard (sp?) was denied on three or four occasions by fine Dutch keeping. Nadim headed directly at the keeper in injury time from a Perder free kick.
