Thunderstruck

This is one of those songs that I just cannot help but sing along with and no matter how down I'm feeling it has an irresistible "Get Up and Go" effect that just makes me want to do something... anything... everything! I love this song, both the music and the lyrics. I've not been an AC/DC fan for all that long really, I knew of them but never really paid any attention until the movie Iron Man 2 came around and I liked it so much I bought the soundtrack album, which as it turned out was basically a Greatest Hits of AC/DC. I've loved their stuff and in particular this song ever since.

Thunderstruck by AC/DC

 (Thunder) (x10)
I was caught
In the middle of a railroad track (Thunder)
I looked 'round,
And I knew there was no turning back (Thunder)
My mind raced
And I thought what could I do? (Thunder)
And I knew
There was no help, no help from you (Thunder)
Sound of the drums
Beatin' in my heart
The thunder of guns!
Tore me apart
You've been - thunderstruck!
Rode down the highway
Broke the limit, we hit the ton
Went through to Texas, yeah Texas
And we had some fun
We met some girls,
Some dancers who gave a good time
Broke all the rules, played all the fools
Yeah, yeah, they, they, they blew our minds
And I was shakin' at the knees
Could I come again please.
Yeah the ladies were too kind
You've been - thunderstruck, thunderstruck
Yeah yeah yeah, thunderstruck
Oh, thunderstruck, yeah
Yeah
Now we're shaking at the knees
Could I come again please.
Thunderstruck, thunderstruck
Yeah yeah yeah, thunderstruck
Thunderstruck, yeah, yeah, yeah
Said yeah, it's alright
We're! Doing fine
Yeah, it's alright
We're! Doing fine
So fine
Thunderstruck, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Thunderstruck, thunderstruck, thunderstruck
Whoa baby, baby, thunderstruck
You've been thunderstruck, thunderstruck
Thunderstruck, thunderstruck, thunderstruck
You've been thunderstruck

Man Rules

I did not write these. I'm not sure who did exactly, but credit has to go to my friend Sharron Haskins for linking them to me on Facebook. I simply had to add them on here, because they are hilarious. so without further ado, here are the:

MAN RULES

AT LAST A GUY HAS TAKEN THE TIME TO WRITE THIS ALL DOWN
FINALLY, the guys' side of the story. ( I MUST ADMIT, IT'S PRETTY GOOD.)

WE ALWAYS HEAR 'THE RULES' FROM THE FEMALE SIDE
NOW HERE ARE THE RULES FROM THE MALE SIDE

THESE ARE OUR RULES!

PLEASE NOTE. THESE ARE ALL NUMBERED #1 ON PURPOSE!

1. MEN ARE NOT MIND READERS.

1. LEARN TO WORK THE TOILET SEAT. YOU'RE A BIG GIRL. IF IT'S UP, PUT IT DOWN. WE NEED IT UP, YOU NEED IT DOWN. YOU DON'T HEAR US COMPLAINING ABOUT YOU LEAVING IT DOWN.

1. CRYING IS BLACKMAIL.

1. ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT. LET US BE CLEAR ON THIS ONE:

SUBTLE HINTS DO NOT WORK!
STRONG HINTS DO NOT WORK!
OBVIOUS HINTS DO NOT WORK!
JUST SAY IT!

1. YES AND NO ARE PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE ANSWERS TO ALMOST EVERY QUESTION.

1.. COME TO US WITH A PROBLEM ONLY IF YOU WANT HELP SOLVING IT. THAT'S WHAT WE DO. SYMPATHY IS WHAT YOUR GIRLFRIENDS ARE FOR.

1. ANYTHING WE SAID 6 MONTHS AGO IS INADMISSIBLE IN AN ARGUMENT. IN FACT, ALL COMMENTS BECOME NULL AND VOID AFTER 7 DAYS.

1. IF YOU THINK YOU'RE FAT, YOU PROBABLY ARE. DON'T ASK US.

1. IF SOMETHING WE SAID CAN BE INTERPRETED TWO WAYS AND ONE OF THE WAYS MAKES YOU SAD OR ANGRY, WE MEANT THE OTHER ONE.

1. YOU CAN EITHER ASK US TO DO SOMETHING OR TELL US HOW YOU WANT IT DONE. NOT BOTH.
IF YOU ALREADY KNOW BEST HOW TO DO IT, JUST DO IT YOURSELF.

1. WHENEVER POSSIBLE, PLEASE SAY WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO SAY DURING COMMERCIALS.

1. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS DID NOT NEED DIRECTIONS AND NEITHER DO WE...

1. ALL MEN SEE IN ONLY 16 COLORS, LIKE WINDOWS DEFAULT SETTINGS..
PEACH, FOR EXAMPLE, IS A FRUIT, NOT A COLOR. PUMPKIN IS ALSO A FRUIT. WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT MAUVE IS.

1. IF WE ASK WHAT IS WRONG AND YOU SAY 'NOTHING,' WE WILL ACT LIKE NOTHING'S WRONG. WE KNOW YOU ARE LYING, BUT IT IS JUST NOT WORTH THE HASSLE.

1. IF YOU ASK A QUESTION YOU DON'T WANT AN ANSWER TO, EXPECT AN ANSWER YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR..

1. WHEN WE HAVE TO GO SOMEWHERE, ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING YOU WEAR IS FINE...REALLY.

1.. DON'T ASK US WHAT WE'RE THINKING ABOUT UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO DISCUSS SUCH TOPICS AS FOOTBALL OR MOTOR SPORTS.

1. YOU HAVE ENOUGH CLOTHES.

1 .. YOU HAVE TOO MANY SHOES.

1. I AM IN SHAPE. ROUND IS A SHAPE!

1.. THANK YOU FOR READING THIS. YES, I KNOW, I HAVE TO SLEEP ON THE COUCH TONIGHT.. BUT DID YOU KNOW MEN REALLY DON'T MIND THAT? IT'S LIKE CAMPING...

Busy Busy

So it's been a while since my last post and clearly I didn't starve to death after all, which you know is a plus. Still unemployed and still looking to try and end that unlucky streak cos it's getting depressingly long now. Still I try to remain upbeat. I had a good Xmas, smaller and a bit quieter than usual and maybe better for that. My 37th birthday is in a few days and not at all sure what I am going to do for it. Normally I'd go to the Chinese place for all you can eat and stuff myself there, then head to the Odeon and watch 2-3 movies back to back, but that takes money I don't have sadly. So I'll likely stay in and paint.

I took a couple months break from painting after getting my ass handed to me in a 6th edition game of Warhammer 40k, but I'm back at it now and nearly finished 3 new units to add to my Imperial Fists which are:

• A Stormtalon Gunship (slightly converted to fix the gawd awful chin turret).
• A Land Speeder Storm (pain in the ass to paint, but it looks good when done, shame the rules for it are crap).
• An Attack Bike (magnetised the weapon port so it can be fitted with either Heavy Bolter or Multi-melta depending on which role I need it to carry out on the battlefield)

I've also finished the Whirlwind Missile Tank that had been on my painting desk for a year and have made a good start on my 3rd Tactical Squad (armed with Plasma Weapons to deal with pesky power armoured opponents) and an Aegis Defense Line. I have the remaining 4 members of my Chapter Master's Honour Guard, a Bike Squad and a 10 man Assault Squad to finish once those are done and then onto 2 Devastator Squads, another Attack Bike and a bunch of Transport Vehicles which will finish off what I currently have figures for.

I have a tax rebate coming and also the first of what should be several payments for wrongly sold Payment Protection Insurance, so will be clearing the debt I owe my best mate with that and I might treat myself to a Land Raider with what's left over as I really want one and ideally a Terminator Assault Squad to deploy from it and an Army Transport Case and on and on. And after that there's the desire for a nice game table and scenery to go on it and *sighs* it really is a very all consuming hobby.

Still it keeps my mind occupied, which DDO doesn't do so much these days and I'm sort of taking a bit of a sabbatical from it between updates. There is a big update due at some point in February but until that goes live it's very much a case of "been there, done that" many times before and so I'm taking this time to get a lot of painting and reading done.

I have a stack of like 4 novels on my To-Read pile at the moment and at least a couple more in my shopping basket on amazon to add to it as soon as I can afford them. I've also been making my way through a lot of trade paperbacks over the past year, both the GI Joe ones that IDW put out which I buy and the DC Comics ones that my good friend Ian buys and generously lends me. I have mixed feelings about DC's New 52 as while the quality of a lot of the stories and art is very good, their continuity is now a huge mess and while that might not bother new readers, it certainly bothers me. DC had such a great continuity starting from their total reboot of Crisis on Infinite Earths in the mid 80's and it seems like they have just thrown that all away for a short term sales boost.

So that's me currently, not at work but rarely idle. I do wonder what I am going to have to curtail when I do get a job and have to devote a great chunk of time to that.

The End is Nigh...

Or at least, sat here, typing this, it certainly seems that way. I'll explain. I got laid off from work back at the end of September and have yet to find a new job since. I have a pitiful income courtesy of the government due to Housing Benefit. I did have Jobseekers Allowance money coming in as well, but that has been suspended for 9 weeks due to me not applying for a job back in November. The job in question was asking for Experienced Bar Staff. I have never worked in a bar in my life and thus did not apply for the job as frankly I felt it would be a waste of my time and the Bar's for me to do so. The Job Centre disagreed and decided to punish me for this by suspending my allowance until April, when it was due to expire anyway.

So I now have an income of approx £45 a week. My rent is £140 a month, and on top of that I pay the entirety of the house's Council Tax (which has been reduced due to Council Tax Benefit, but is still about £95 a month). This years is fully paid now, so that will start again in April. Also I pay 1/3rd of the cost of the energy bills that the house receives, and currently owe £145 or so to E-ON for the latest bill. I have an overdraft of about £135 with HSBC bank at the time of writing. I am also £240 in debt right now to my housemate Tony Searle who had to cover me for the rent last month and my share of the bill to our previous energy supplier EDF. So basically I'm screwed.

I have opened a new bank account with the Co-operative Bank so that my meagre income does not get swallowed up by bank charges and the overdraft, but even so the amount I receive does not cover my outgoings, so my debt is increasing. It also does not leave me with any money for things like food, drink, detergent (for washing clothes), deodorant etc. Which brings me to my next problem. I'm almost out of food.

Looking through my cupboard and the freezer I currently have the following food left:

• 1kg of rice
• 1.5 kg of pasta spirals
• 1.5kg of frozen crinkle cut chips
• 200-300g of frozen sliced peppers
• About a dozen frozen pork sausages
• 1 frozen Lasagna
• 1 frozen Singapore Noodles
• 1 frozen 800g loaf of thick sliced bread
• About 200g of mild cheddar
• About half a jar of Mixed Fruit jam
• 1 packet of potato mash mix
• 4 packets of BBQ Beef Super Noodles
• 1 sachet of some chinese stir fry sauce
• 1 tin of chicken curry
• 1 tin of chicken in white sauce

Once this has gone I will begin the process of starving. I have a single £1 coin left in my wallet with which I need to buy milk later today, in order that I can have coffee; because while starving is bad, the withdrawal headaches I would get from a lack of caffiene would be worse still. I realise that once the milk runs out (assuming the amount of coffee granules I have doesn't run out first) I will have to face the headaches anyway, but I'd rather delay that for as long as possible.

I'm out of options. I cannot move back home and in good conscience I can't ask my parents for money. Mum has helped me out with money too many times before as it is. My housemates can't help me, Gareth has financial problems of his own right now and Tony has already helped out as much as he is able too. To the best of my knowledge none of my other friends are in any better position to be able to help out either, and even if they were, I have no way of knowing when or even how I could ever repay them.

I have an interview with the Job Centre next Monday (March 5th) to discuss my situation. By the time I sit down with them I will have likely gone a couple days without food already. I will also almost certainly be suffering with a headache.

Independent Love Song

Time for another song lyric post I think and I'm a big fan of this particular song. I like how it's very different from a typical love song, as most such songs tend to extole the virtues of being in love, or falling in (or out of) love. Not this one though. This is a song that's being sung by a woman who is no stranger to sex, she states clearly that she will take men home and let them show her the way. But not with this guy. This one means more to her, and so she's going to take the time to teach him how to make love to her, because she wants this to mean more than it has before with those other men. I find that refreshing and the fact that this is sung to a powerful rythmn only adds to it's appeal.

Independent Love Song by Scarlett

You could say this was an independent lovesong
It's nothing like to us what love meant to them
But that's not to say the love we
have isn't big or that strong
I'm doing it a different way
I'm doing it a different way

You might say this is another boring lovesong
To be together and forever be true
And so today it's much the same as it was then
I'm doing it a different way
I'm doing it a different way

I'll show you how to take me
Go down go down
And I'll show you how to turn me
Right on right on
And I'll show you how to touch me
Right on right on right on
Right on right on right on

Now it's fine that many men will look my way
And I'll take them home and let
them show me the way
And sure I'll like a few but I'll
leave the rest to play
I'm doing it a different way
I'm doing it a different way

I'm gonna show you how to take me
Go down go down
And I'll show you how to turn me
Right on right on
And I'll show you how to touch me
Right on right on right on
Right on right on right on

In a different way, in a different way
In a different way, in a different way
In a different way, in a different way

I'll show you how to take me
Go down go down me
And I'll show you how to turn me
Right on right on
And I'll show you how to touch me
Right on right on right on
Right on right on right on

You could say this was an independent lovesong
It's nothing like to us what love meant to them
But that's not to say the love we have
isn't good or that strong
I'm doing it a different way
I'm doing it a different way

Quotes From Three Movies: The Inevitable Sequel!

And here's another in my occasional series of presenting some of my favourite quotes from a trio of movies, so without further ado here we go:

X-Men: First Class (2011)

Erik Lehnsherr: Excuse me, I'm Erik Lehnsherr.
Professor Charles Xavier: Charles Xavier.
Logan: Go fuck yourself.

Professor Charles Xavier: Shaw's declared war on mankind on all of us, he has to be stopped.
Erik Lehnsherr: I am not gonna stop Shaw, I am gonna kill him. Do you have it in you to allow that?
[Erik pauses while Charles shifts in his chair uneasy]
Erik Lehnsherr: You've known all along why I was here Charles, but things have changed. What started as a covert mission, tomorrow mankind will know mutants exist. Shaw, us, they won't differentiate. They'll fear us. And that fear will turn to hatred.
Professor Charles Xavier: Not if we stop a war, not if we can prevent Shaw, not if we risk our lives doing so.
Erik Lehnsherr: Would they do the same for us?
Professor Charles Xavier: We have it in us to be the better man.
Erik Lehnsherr: We already are! We are the next stage of human evolution, you said it yourself...
Professor Charles Xavier: [cuts in] No, no...
Erik Lehnsherr: Are you really so naive as to think that they won't battle their own extinction? Or is it arrogance?
Professor Charles Xavier: [looks at Erik in disagreement] I am sorry.
Erik Lehnsherr: After tomorrow, they are gonna turn on us. But you are blinded because you believe they are all like Moira.
Professor Charles Xavier: And you believe they are all like Shaw.
[leans forward]
Professor Charles Xavier: Listen to me very carefully, my friend: killing Shaw will not bring you peace.
Erik Lehnsherr: Peace was never an option.

Erik Lehnsherr: [before Charles uses Cerebro for the first time] What an adorable lab rat you make, Charles.
Professor Charles Xavier: Don't spoil this for me, Erik.
Erik Lehnsherr: I've been a lab rat. I know when I see one.

Professor Charles Xavier: I can't stop thinking about the others out there, all those minds that I touched. I could feel them, their isolation, their hopes, their ambitions. I tell you we can start something incredible, Erik. We can help them.
Erik Lehnsherr: Can we? Identification, that's how it starts. And ends with being rounded up, experimented on and eliminated.
Professor Charles Xavier: Not this time. We have common enemies, Shaw, the Russians. They need us.
Erik Lehnsherr: For now.

The Rocketeer (1991)

Jenny: Everything about you is a lie.
Neville: It wasn't lies, Jenny. It was acting.

[Valentine and his gang have brought Secord and the rocket to Neville Sinclair]
Cliff Secord: What's it like working for a Nazi, Eddie? Does he pay you in dollars or reichsmarks?
Eddie Valentine: What's he talking about, Sinclair?
Cliff Secord: Oh, yeah Eddie! I got it straight from the Feds. Nazi spy ring, Flying Commandos, the works!
Neville: He's been flying where the air's too thin.
Jenny: Tell him about the secret room. Tell him about the Germans on the radio!
Goose: [pointing a gun at Lothar] Easy, Frankenstein. You ain't bulletproof!
Eddie Valentine: Start talking, Sinclair!
Neville: C'mon, Eddie. I'm paying you well. Does it really matter where the money comes from?
Eddie Valentine: It matters to me. I may not make an honest buck, but I'm 100% American. I don't work for no two-bit Nazi. Let the girl go!
[Neville laughs]
Neville: Sturmabteilung, Äußern sich!

Cliff Secord: [donning the Rocketeer helmet] How do I look?
Peevy: Like a hood ornament.

Mrs. Pye, Girls Dormitory Matron: You know my rules: no gentlemen allowed inside after 6 PM.
Cliff Secord: But I'm not a gentleman.
Mrs. Pye, Girls Dormitory Matron: You're telling me.

Jenny: Oh my God. Neville Sinclair's a...
Neville: A what? Spy? Saboteur? Facist? All of the above.

Peevy: Clifford, when you borrow somethin', you don't tell nobody, they call that stealing you know.

The Sum Of All Fears (2002)

Bill Cabot: When I asked for your advice, I didn't mean that you should actually speak.

[after an unpleasant silence]
President Nemerov: [to Cabot, about Ryan] I like him.
Bill Cabot: In that case, so do I.

Bill Cabot: What's the t-shirt say?
Depot Worker: "I am a bomb technician, if you see me running...
[laughs]
Depot Worker: ... try to catch up."

Jack Ryan: General, the President is basing his decisions on some really bad information right now. And if you shut me out, your family, and my family, and twenty-five million other families will be dead in thirty minutes.

President Robert Fowler: My beautiful wife, Julie, is from New Jersey. 15 electoral votes... and is, as you know, half Jewish. So we'll take Florida's 25 electoral votes and divide by 2. My daughter, Jeanie, is expecting her first child. If it's a girl, she will be named Virginia. 13 electoral votes. In fact, even if it's a boy, he'll be named Virginia. She reminds me that I have publicly acknowledged that as a young Marine officer in Vietnam, I did, on a handful of occasions, smoke marijuana.
[pause]
President Robert Fowler: California. 54 electoral votes.

President Nemerov: I can't stop what I did not start.

President Fowler: We gotta update these fire drills, Billy. I mean, if the shit ever hits the fan, I'm not going underground. This place is a goddamn tomb down there!
Bill Cabot: We've also gotta choose someone else to face off against besides the Russians all the time.
President Fowler: Really? Let's see. Who else has 27,000 nukes for us to worry about?
Bill Cabot: It's the guy with one I'm worried about.

[Jack is negotiating with President Nemerov over the Hot Line]
Jack Ryan: Sir, I know you. I know you had nothing to do with the Baltimore bomb, and you sure as hell know you didn't! But you're still about to launch a nuclear strike against us! This no longer has anything to do with Baltimore! Now it's about fear! Our fear of your missiles, your fear of our subs, fear of being weak, fear of making a mistake... the same fear of the other guy that had us build these goddamn bombs in the first place!

Dressler: Most people believe that the 20th century was a death struggle between Communism and Capitalism, and that Fascism was but a hiccup. But today we know better. Communism was a fool's errand. The followers of Marx gone from this earth, but the followers of Hitler abound and thrive. Hitler, however, had one great disadvantage. He lived in a time when Fascism, like a virus... like the AIDS virus... needed a strong host in order to spread. Germany was that host. But Germany did not prevail. The world was too big. Fortunately, the world has changed. Global communications, cable TV, the internet. Today the world is smaller and a virus does not need a strong host in order to spread. The virus... is airborne. One more thing. Let no man call us crazy. They called Hitler crazy. But Hitler was not crazy. He was stupid. You don't fight Russia *and* America. You get Russia and America to fight each other... and destroy each other.