Minute44 - Dan Schonhaar

Hi guys..

Not got loads and loads to write about this time really, other than to say I had a very lazy relaxing weekend. Quiet morning tidying the house with some music on. I also got a call from work to sort a printer out but that could be done remotely so that was easy enough. Nat came round about 1 and we went into Notts for a bit where I bought a nice new adio t-shirt. It’s black with a white adio “A” emblem on the front with skulls in it and things. It reminds me of the Deftones’ self titled album cover cos it has skulls and what appear to be roses on it.

Anyway, we got back from Notts about 4 and went to Asda to get some nibbles and a bottle of wine. When we got back to my place we watched Anchorman which never fails to make me laugh. Nat thought it was pretty funny too. After that we were pretty hungry so I drove up to Co-co sun and got some foodz. I had Singapore chow mein and it was right nice. I also had some mini spring rolls! We then watched Shaun of the dead and had the wine. (Told you it was a lazy weekend)

Sunday we did bugger all! oh, except make the obligatory trip to mcarthur glen for some unhealthy food and some coffee from GJ’s Laaaavly!

I’m proper looking forward to seeing Transformers on Saturday. Looks like I’ll be going with Nat, Brahn and Laura. Should be good. Initial reports from the US seem to indicate that the film is really good and I have been battling my will power to not watch it in low quality online. Just this minute while writing this I’ve got word that good old Double D (edd) will be back from Norwich this weekend which will mean he may come with us to see this as well. Also…. Edd has Wii!!!!

On the topic of the Transformers, one thing I am mucho-unhappy with is the new theme. It is by MuteMath and it sucks…. hard! Check it out on their MySpace. Seriously, it’s fucking dire! “Autobots wage their battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons” should not be uttered to that beat or that tune… ever!

Anyway, enough about that, the film looks too friggin good to be ruined by a dodgy theme song.

Tata for now!

Bon Weekend!!

Friday… Went out for something to eat at Zizzi which was nice. Their olives are the best!! I had a lovely pizza with Mushrooms, olives, pepperoni, parma ham and artichokes! Yum!! By the time I’d dropped Nat off and battled through the 10mph roadworks on the A516 - A38 on-ramp it was gone 1 am by the time I got in…. good job I had no work on Saturday!

Saturday… didn’t do a lot tbh, went to McArthur Glen with the newly engaged Brahn and Lola (Congratulations again guys!!) and had some lunch and some coffee from Gloria Jeans. I was gonna go to the Green Room but a. I coulen’t be bothered and b. No one ended up going. I just cooled out at home and watched the exorcist 2… it was pretty bad.

Sunday… well me and Nat were gonna watch Anchorman round at hers but I was awoken by a text from her saying we couldn’t for whatever reason so needed to rethink the day’s plans…. Went round her house about 12:30 and then we went into Derby for some lunch at the Standing Order. After that we wandered around some shops before realising it was a beautiful day and it would be rude not to go to markeaton park. We chilled out there til nearly 7 getting a tan! Then to top it all off we went to see the long awaited Die Hard 4.0! I tell you something…. It was fucking fantastic but didn’t feel like a Die Hard Movie. Don’t get me wrong, John Mclane was very much himself with the usual no nonsense wisecracks (”Last time I saw her she was at the bottom of an elevator shaft with an SUV parked up her ass”) but the feel of the movie and the action was definately not Die Hard. Don’t let this make you think that I enjoyed it any less though because it was still a kick ass action film that ticked all the right boxes for me. Well, there’s nothing out thats worth seeing now til the 20th when not only does Transformers come out, the Simpsons movie is also released.

Speaking of Transformers, I’ve changed my text message alert tone to the sound the transformers make when they change. It’s cool in a hugely geeky way!

Now, on to something a bit more serious. I noticed a couple of people on MySpace have posted this shock-jock bulletin regarding seal clubbing and animal testing. I say “shock jock” because they are images showing the suffering of these animals. Pictures of seals with their skulls split wide open and monkeys being experemented on with their limbs restrained. To these bulletins and to the people that aproach me in the street I say the same thing. Open your eyes a little wider!

Yes, the things seen in those images are horrific, no animal should have to suffer to that degree. Seal clubbing is something I cannot agree with and to that extent the bulletin is correct. It does need to stop. But the animal testing part just gets my goat. Just think where we’d be in the field of medecine if there was no animal testing? No chemotherapy, no antibiotics, very few vaccines. We’d be pretty much fucked without it.

So next timeyou hear someone talk about putting an end to animal testing, tell them to think about the last person they knew to make it through cancer or a heart bypass or overcome a potentially life threatening disease and think if they’d still be around if there was no animal testing.

I want to get all nostalgic on you… I want to talk about why Canada is good… Well, why I think it is. People are friendly, cities are clean, the air is clean, there’s no football hooligans, petrol is less than half the price it is here, you don’t get ripped off at every turn by the service industries, there are guns but no gun crime, the average weight is not “well over 200 pounds”, the weather is good (Hot in summer, cold in winter. Thats it), there are no chavs, the domestic beer is actually nice, smoking is already banned, recycling has been in place for well over a decade, the country isn’t ruled by political correctness, Toronto, I’m from there, Film certificates make sense and parental discretion is actually listened to, health-care system works and doesn’t kill more people than it helps, all the amenities of the United States without the drawbacks such as obesity, stupidity and a crazy-nutball government administration, alexisonfire, amazing landscapes with huge lakes and mountains.

The country is just awesome I really want to go back and live there eventually… hopefully sooner rather than later but hey, you never know what the future holds

Today was pretty bland if I’m honest with you. Got up - went to work - worked for 8 hours - came home - cooked and ate dinner - watched TV - sat at the PC. I did make a decision though. That is to buy a laptop. My PC, the PC on which I type now, has about had it and it’s not really up to the job of being my main computer any more. I’m looking at HP and Dell laptops at the moment because I know the products and I know that they’re fairly reliable while being quite cheap. Minimum spec I’m looking for is a dual core CPU of at least 1.6Ghz per core, 1GB of DDR2, and at least an 80GB HDD (Preferably a 160GB) and Windows XP if I can get it because Vista, in my humble opinion, sucks dong (at least it does now, we’ll see it after SP2). I just want to be able to take my computer with me… sit on the sofa while I work on a website. I don’t want to spend more than £600. I’m getting my bonus on tuesday and with that I could afford to put half down right away and either have finance on the other half or put it on my credit card, intrest free for 6 months. Either way, should be easy enough to afford. If not this month, next.
I’m gonna go and watch Akira now. I love that film, even though it confuses the hell out of me. Thats just it, it confuses me and dazzles me in equal measures. As the box says:- “No Akira, No matrix. It’s that important”

Boring day at ze office today I’m afraid, it went pretty fast though. I was pretty impressed. I had to go straight from work to pick up Kerri and Nicole’s presents seeing as bloody Ikea had no whiteboards… just shitty dingey grey ones, bluuuuueegh! So, off to Staples I went through nightmarish traffic near Kings Mill

Well, I finally get there and one of the oh-so-condesending evening staff members points me in the direction of whiteboards. Now, bearing in mind I asked for small whiteboards and made a gesture with my hands to indicate the size I was seeking he pointed me in the direction of giant whackin boardroom sized ones at about 60 quid a pop!! So, I discover the cheapest one in this section, 25 quid. So I think right, fuck that off, I’m ringin my mum for other suggestions. I try ringing her twice but, as is always the case she doesn’t answer. So I’m thinking; shit, I’m screwed…. but then!!!! There I find small whiteboards (funnily enough the exact size I indicated to the ass hole of a sales assistant) for £5.99 each! Bargain! grabbed 2 then a pack of big coloured markers and got outta there! After paying of course.

Back to mother’s house. I never said I wanted dinner but I demanded it when I arrived none the less like… cos thats the kind of guy I am… hahaha not really. Well she made me this penne pasta with Gorgonzola and spinach. It was well nice! After that I had a rest then went on the trampoline for a bit. I tell you that is one good work out!! I reckon it’s helped me a bit in losing this weight along with cutting back on the amount of snap I put away. I know why I put it on… It’s cos I got a job that requires little or no physical activity. Before I worked where I do now I was flipping burgers to see me through coolidge college and that, believe it or not was quite physically active. So I get my desk job and I blow up like the Budweiser blimp! Fantastic. but I’m coming through it and regaining my svelte physique an ounce at a time!

Anyway, chill out time! Ta ta loyal subjects!

Right… I needed to go to the bank and get some lunch so I drive into town where there is a major parking shortage. But luckily I know a little car park just behind my bank… now OK I shouldn’t really park there cos it’s for the housing project thing but it is NEVER full and I’m only ever there 5 minutes. So I parked there. Went to the bank, got some subway and returned to find this old bloke pulled up behind me.

Of course he promptly gets out and the following ensues:

Him: You shouldn’t park here you know..

Me: Yeah, I know mate, sorry. It was empty and I was only 5 minutes.

Him: That’s not the point, this is out of your way to park here!

Me: No it’s not. It’s pretty convenient actually seeing as my bank is just there *points*

Him: It’s pointless talking to you people! You shouldn’t park here and thats it!!

Me (annoyed): Oh, shut up moaning you miserable old bastard. I’m not hurting anyone. There’s plenty of spaces. You’re clearly moaning for the sake of moaning!

He then got all flustered ad tried to get back in his car but ended up pressing the horn for ages… I laughed and buggered off. I just don’t get bitter old people, I guess it could be that they’ve lived for that long that they just don’t give a shit any more so bitch about everything… But it’s irritating. There was at least 4 empty parking spaces there and the total time I was there couldn’t have been longer than 10 minutes. Anyone would think that I parked a Hummer there, diagonally, for three days and reversed over his dog on the way out while calling his sister a whore.

But anyway, enough of that. Today is Kerri and Nicole’s (my sisters) birthday so I’ve gotta go and pick up their present from ikea after work. Then go home, get their cards and take it all to my mum’s. She’s taking them for a haircut and style at Sta’s shop at 4 ish so that leaves me plenty of time to go and get that done, kushty! I wonder if I’ll see any more menu board carnage again… You see, last time I was there I was waiting in line for some meat balls and gravy when the whole fucking line of big heavy menu boards detached themselves from the ceiling and landed on all the customers, including a baby in a pram! It was immense. I instantly thought “Hello Lawsuit!!” Seriously all the people who got hit better be filing claims! I know I would, I’d take them for everything I could. Furnished home and a big fat cheque methinks I say I’d want a furnished home but, to be honest, after that performance I don’t think I trust Scandinavian furnishings…

Been thinking about the weekend too, yes I know it’s only Monday but leave me be, I like to look forward to things. I may have to drive to Rock City cos I’ve not got anyone to share a cab with. I asked if Russ, Marshall and Biggs wanted to cancel their hotel room and share a cab back to mine and it looked hopeful for a bit too but then Russ said it would cause too much hassle if they wanted to leave at different times and stuff so I’m back to square one. *scratches head* Well, I’ve got this week to try and sort something out.

What I am most excited about, however, is the prospect of watching 300 on Sunday during the usual Flashmosh day after meeting. I’ve been waiting for this film for months and am proper psyched about it!! It’s just what every quiet Sunday needs… Full on, historically inaccurate, balls-to-the-wall violence!! It’s basically about a war between 300 Spartans and 1,000,000 Persians and it looks mega. It’s based on the Frank Miller comic book of the same title so it is highly stylised. Frank Miller, of course is the creator of Sin City so I am expecting great things. I loved Sin City and love the stylised way he goes about making films.

Oh, I nearly forgot, the other night I watched a really good film called Buffalo 66. It’s yet another Dennis Waterman special with Vincent Gallo writing, driecting and starring in it along side Christina Ricci. It’s basically about a guy who’s been in jail for 5 years and has just got out. He has a problem in that his parents don’t know he’s been in jail. They have been led to believe he’s happily married and in a successful career, althoguh the details of the job are sketchy. In desperation he kidnaps a young woman and forces her to pose as his wife in a totally uncomfortable meeting with his parents. What unfolds is as funny as it is bizzare and will have you crying with laughter. Go and watch it!!

Well, I look at the news and what do I see. A Sheffield Police Officer has been removed from public duty while an inquest into an incident outside the Niche Nightclub some 7 months ago.

Check out the BBC news story.

As a member on the Sheffield Forum (I did my HND at Hallam) I thought I’d better address this and put forward my opinion, which is as follows:

This is based on what I have seen from the news story, I obviously don’t know any person involved with this so only have the publicly available facts.

This girl was seen to be acting aggressively inside the club and was rightly ejected by the bouncers. An argument then started but was ended fairly quickly. The girl then went and began to vandalise the doorman’s car. She was seen doing this and was restrained, again, rightfully. Around this time the police arrive on the scene. PC Mulhall attempted to restrain her at the top of the stairs in a calm, professional manner but the suspect struggled and attempted to run. At this time PC Mulhall grabbed the suspect and they both stumbled down the stairs. The suspect then resisted some more, visibly thrashing about. at this time a few more officers come to help Mulhall restrain her.

Now, because of the officers involved, the camera’s view becomes obscured but in his statement PC Mulhall said: Ms Comer had tried to grab his genitals and knee, and that he had punched her to subdue her and then to “deaden her arm”

The suspect, Ms. Toni Comer, has said that although her memory of the incident is vague at best, she was, to the best of her knowledge in the grip of an epileptic fit at the time the incident took place.

People have been very quick to judge PC Mulhalls actions but although I suppose he could have shown more restraint and perhaps punching wasn’t the best reaction, I don’t see him as a guilty party in the least.

Consider this: The girl was, by her own admission, agressive and drunk. She admitted damaging the car and triggering the call to the police. She resisted arrest, quite violently and on more than one occasion attempted to flee.

The police officer had to assume the worst, that she may have a weapon, because this, after all, was at Niche Nightclub. Anyone familiar with Sheffield will know that Niche has had a very tarnished reputation for violence and weapons for many years and has been raided by armed police at least once.

The most important fact to consider is that she was violently attacking the man’s genitals. I defy any of you lads to maintain a completely cool head when some drunk violent girl is grabbing at your genitals with full force. In my eyes the Officer simply reacted with a reflex, instinctively striking her arm to make her let go of his testicles.

In hindsight, should he have punched her? No, probably not but let’s think about the job police have to do. They have to make split second decisions while under extreme stress. Having to do this while having your testicles squeezed and grabbed, quite painfully is going to be nigh on impossible.

I’m not saying he should be praised for his actions but to haul him over the coals for it is simply absurd!

And as if by magic, the city’s race relations officer steps in and instantly turns it into a racial matter. this is instantly going to make PC Mulhall’s case 100times harder to fight because this criminal (I’ll call her what she is) has now been pretty much turned into a martyr. The Race relations officer drew comparisons to the Rodney King case in LA in the early 90s. Rodney King for fucks sake!! Like a man lashing out because his bollocks were grabbed is in any way similar to 2 officers beating a non violent man to death with batons.

What it boils down to is the fact that police officers are ill equipped in this country to deal with criminals as they exist today. If Toni Comer was blasted with a tazer or made to look down the barrel of a glock, I don’t think she would have resisted do you?

This country is a fucking circus! We’re becoming more of a laughing stock than the USA and that says something!

Anyway, rant over. I think I will be going to Notts on Saturday for Kym’s birthday, although I will be driving. The arrival of a £146 gas bill this morning means I’ll have to take it easy on the old spending. oh well, these things happen.

I really want to go to Brum for Kirsty’s party tomorrow and I would if it was simply a house party, because they’re pretty cheap but they’re planning on going to anarchy for the all nighter which I simply can’t afford so I’ll give it a miss this week.