Tag Archives: review

Some more things to knock off that list

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Well it’s been the best 4 days I could wish for. And to add to that, I now get to take some things of “that list of stuff to do before you die”. To be honest, before Thursday I didn’t really know they should be on the list.. 
  • Go to Slovenia – Such a beautiful county, I hope I get to go back one day
  • Go to a Slovenian Wedding – They are simply the best. Or it could just have been the one I went to, but it was one heck of an experience
  • Dance with a Slovenian Barmaid – Awww good times
  • Have a champagne breakfast – Why not
  • Eat Caviar – Nice
  • Swim in a Salt water pool – Interestingly weird and wonderful
  • Take a Turkish Sauna – Wow
  • Stay in a 5 star hotel - It’s simply the best
  • Drink Raki - Well, It’s certainly worth having at least one shot. When you get into the realms of 10 shots.. maybe time to go to bed.
  • Go on a Hen Do!! – Didn’t get a pink flowery necklace mind do, but I did get to drink some weird stuff, mainly named after the colour it was!
  • Go on holiday with the Wife’s family – Was good fun
The only issue with the above coming off the list, is that it’s made me realise that I want to carry on doing them!!

“The Mens Club” of Doncaster

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When Becky told me she wanted a band for our wedding I was a tad concerned. I hadn't been to a wedding with a band, in fact the only time I had seen this was in the movies and it never looked that good. Anyway, we (read Becky) started looking around at different bands etc, each slightly worst than the other until we had basically given up.

Becky came home one day and told me she had booked "The Mens Club" and that they were brilliant and I would love them. Then all of Becky's family, when they found out, told me how fantastic they were and they couldn't wait to see them. In fact some of them wanted to know what time the band was on, in such a way that implied that that was the main bit. "As long as we get there for the band"… Blimey.

So, with the day looming I had to confirm a few things with the band: could they play music in between sets, what time would they be set up for and had they sent all the paperwork to the venue. I spoke to Glyn who was great, he sounded like it was all under control and was looking forward to playing. Good stuff. Nothing was a problem and I hung up feeling pretty good about the whole thing – which was nice.

The Day

I saw all of their kit set up when the evening doo started to kick off and then they come out. They started to play and I knew I was going to like them. They were brilliant. They had a full repertoire ranging from the 60's up to the present day and it was magical. My favourite song of the evening being their rendition of Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling. Certainly got up and got my groove on in the zone for that song. They even managed to get a Van Morrison song in there – which I loved.

Everybody was up dancing, and they were really lively and entertaining. Luckily, when the second set was finished and people were shouting for more, they obliged and then did a medley. 

If you are wanting a band for your wedding, I can only recommend "The Mens Club". You will not be disappointment – in fact I think you will owe me for recommending them. They are awesome. I could not imagine having a wedding without them now, and I have to thank Becky for putting up with my moaning and booking them. They made the night doo.

The Greatest Film Of All Time?

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OK, I’m going to put this out there

The Big Lebowski is the greatest film of all time.

I’ve been pondering this for some time now and I can’t see a reason why this claim cannot stand. It has everything one could wish for in a film. I mean, I have actually cried whilst watching this film. Little tears of joy have streaked down my cheeks as I can barely breathe with laughing so much. In fact it has now got to a point that I can no longer watch this film in bed on my iPod for fear of waking the wife up. I can put this film on at any random point and be laughing with in minutes.

The other thing with this film is: You either love it, or you hate it. I haven’t met many people who “kind of” like it. It’s like a cult. Today, I was doing the usual work stuff, and happened to say something to a colleague, and his reply was:

“Hell, I can get you that by 3 o’clock this afternoon…”

I replied:

“With nail polish”


And that was it, a mutual bond formed. We both were Lebowski fans. Pretty much anything that we needed to discuss was discussed with a comment from The Big Lebowski. Sadly I couldn’t contain the laughter and people kept looking at me, but there we go. Sean and myself do the same thing on email every now and again when we are bored, or need a little pick me up, so here are some to peruse at your leisure:

“Oh, come on Donny, they were threatening castration! Are we gonna split hairs here? Am I wrong? “

“You mark that frame an 8, and you’re entering a world of pain.”

“Nihilists! Fuck me. I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it’s an ethos.”

“Hell, I can get you a toe by 3 o’clock this afternoon… with nail polish. These fucking amateurs…”

“Oh, the usual. I bowl. Drive around. The occasional acid flashback.”

“You know, Dude, I myself dabbled in pacifism once. Not in ‘Nam of course.”

“By the way, do you think that you could give me that $20,000 in cash? My concern is, and I have to, uh, check with my accountant, that this might bump me into a higher, uh, tax…”

“Call the medics, Dude. I’d go myself but I’m pumping blood. Might pass out. Rest easy, good buddy, you’re doing fine. We got help choppering in.”

So we all agree right?

Implementing New Ideas

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This morning was a lonely commute into the office, as the missus was getting a dress fitting for the impending wedding, so I managed to take advantage of the peace and quiet (It's OK, she doesn't read this).

@Stubbs had sent me a podcast/interview with Linda Rising about implementing new ideas within a software development department especially when you don't have the authority to say "Do it, otherwise you are fired". Turns out that you could apply these techniques to any department, but the focus was on software development.

It was a fantastic talk and I was particularly interested in the idea that Linda had studied sociology in order to become a better person/developer/evangelist.

I highly recommend listening to this talk and see what kind of role you fit into within certain situations. I have decided that the role I best fit into whilst trying to help implement continuous integration and unit testing within my current department was "Early Adopter". I wasn't the "Innovator" at the time we started to adopt these processes as I was a newbie within the department, but I was certainly in the second wave of people to get involved.

One question I do have with regards to the "Brown Bagging" technique is that the people who are likely to attend is the "Early Adopters" and "Early Majority", so how do you get the "Laggards" involved? Sadly I don't think that was really covered in this session but would be interesting to know if anyone has ever managed this.

Anyway, have a listen and see what you think. And thanks to @Stubbs for giving me the link, highly enjoyed it.