Uni beckons

Well, this is pretty much it. I head off to university on Sunday, starting a new chapter of my life and all that. I'm massively excited, of course. Much interesting Classics to be done, clubs and societies, Freshers week, going out on a night, meeting new people and making new friends. And best of all, I'll be much closer to my girlfriend when I'm at Warwick, and I'll get to see her a lot more often. I'm going to miss my family and friends, Yorkshire and being able to get away with doing little to nothing during the day  (I watched Poirot for 5 hours solid yesterday), but overall, I can't wait to ship off and start my student life.

Packing is difficult though. It's only when you start packing that you realise how little of the stuff you're going to need you actually own, so you end up having to go shopping loads over about a week. Clothes, books, bedsheets, stuff for self catering like pots and pans, plates and cutlery, cleaning stuff, food, all sorts. And then when you've done all that, you keep worrying you've forgotten something. Definitely one of the less fun things about starting uni.

And then there's the traditional worries about money. But this is definitely looking up, for me at least. I've been in charge of sound tecching for school productions for the last 3 years, and I've done quite a bit to do with that sort of thing, including doing paid work. And I've discovered I can keep doing it at uni, and I'll actually get paid for it! Not a bad find on the Student Union website, there.

Anyways, enough of my ramblings now, peace and love everyone

New post for a new month

Ok, so I know it isn't the very start of the month, but at least I'm still making the effort to post pretty regularly. Cut me some slack, alright?

University accommodation has been sorted, finally. Its taken ages to start getting all this stuff sorted out, and its a relief to know I actually will have somewhere to stay for the next year. The accommodation looks pretty nice, its got a "mezzanine" level and everything, and I should be sharing the room with one of my best mates, so looks like next years going to be pretty good.

Also, I've got all my freshers stuff through from Uni this week. I didn't realise how much stuff actually goes on during freshers. There's club nights in the Student Union every night, a Freshers Party on the first night, a circus in the second week, Freshers fairs, meetings for all sorts of clubs and societies, book sales, pots and pan sales, elections for the Union Council, and all sorts of other stuff. The problem is, we also have lectures and stuff while this is all going on, so I have no idea how I'm going to fit everything in. Should be interesting, to say the least!

As for the rest of this week, I've been to a few parties, pub trips, gatherings etc, which were all pretty cool. I've been practising the guitar ( I took it up again after about 9 years, and I'm still as awful as ever), trying desperately to remember some Latin, and failing miserably, and generally doing lots of small, yet important things. I'm going to see the most beautiful girl in the world tomorrow, and I'm hosting a little shindig on Saturday. Should be pretty good!

That's about it really, so until my next post

Peace and love

Ch-ch-ch changes

Evening, y'all. It's been a while, yet again, but quite a bit's been going on. Which is both bad, cos it's stopped me from blogging, and most decidedly excellent, because its been (mostly) enjoyable few weeks. Oh, and it's given me something to write about as well, which is always a bonus.

Err, let's begin at the beginning. My holiday in Spain was good right up until the end. It was a great two weeks of sun, paella and go-karts, and I came back thoroughly relaxed and ready for my two weeks of intensive ancient Greek for beginners at summer school.

G(r)eek camp was brilliant. It was at this well posh school in Dorset, an old country estate with massive grounds, all sorts of stuff, and most importantly, a bar. The Greek was difficult, but I got most of it and ended up getting 70% on the final test, which I was pretty chuffed with considering it was basically the first 8 weeks of a university Greek course in 2 weeks.

More importantly, I had a great 2 weeks on camp. The people there were brilliant, and I made some amazing friends while I was there. We had some good parties, some good laughs and an absolutely brilliant time with geeks, Greeks and mole-estation. Something else pretty amazing happened too, but more on that later...

Results came around when I got back. They weren't bad, 2 A's and 2 B's. I managed to get into uni, which is what counts, and I was only 1 mark off an A in History. Which hopefully will change, with a little re-marking by AQA. But Warwick in October, to do Ancient History and Classical Archaeology. I can't wait!

Then I went to the GCSE results day a few days later, to pick up the results of my GCSE Latin. In case I haven't told you, which is likely, I started learning Latin last summer, carried on after schools and at lunchtimes along with 2 brilliant friends of mine, and took my GCSE exam this year. I  was expecting a C or a B, because it was a 2 year course in a year, and because I've never really had a flair for languages. So I nearly passed out when I looked at the sheet and it said A*! To say I was ecstatic would be an understatement ( I may have actually done a small jig in school), and to make it even better, my friend got an A* too! Not that I ever doubted she would anyways.

Now, uni preparations to be done. Lots of stuff to do, and not much time to do it in. But I'm really looking forward to it, meeting new people and spending quite a bit of my time doing Classics without being considered a wierdo. It's going to be amazing!

Finally, I saved the best till last. On Greek Camp, I met the most beautiful, intelligent, caring, kind, generous, funny, interesting and generally amazing girl I've ever been fortunate enough to get to know, and I fell in love. But just when I thought things couldn't get any better, it turned out that she felt the same way, and we're now in a relationship. I feel like a different person, happier, more content, and generally like a new bloke. I won't go into detail, because I wouldn't want to bore/sicken you, but I'm totally and completely in love, and I'm the luckiest bloke on earth to have her. (There we go, awful emotional stuff over, I promise)

Anyway, together with a few parties and other stuff, that's all that's been going on over the past few weeks. It's been good, and hopefully the rest of the holidays and then uni will follow in the same vein. I'll try and update in a couple of days, but till then, I'll let you get on with your lives.

Peace and love

So I told her to get lost and leave the keys under the tortoise...

First things, as always in my blog, shall come first. If you don't understand the title of this post, don't worry. Only one person may actually know what it's about, and even that one person thinks I'm mental. So you aren't alone.


Anyways, not much has really been going on. More Spainige, chilling in the sun, swimming, visiting markets and castles (not a good idea in 40 degree heat, by the way), etc etc. I come home on Wednesday, so we're going out for paella tomorrow. To celebrate me leaving, if thats the right word. Good times


Thats about it. Like I said last time, I'm going on Greek camp for 2 weeks on Sunday, so I dont know when my next post will be. Until then, peace and love


P.S if you havent already, check out my music blog at http://www.somemusicalnotes.blogspot.com/, its good stuff

Holiday, oh holiday, and the best one of the year

Im writing this from the sunny climes of Spain. Its one in the AM, and its way too warm to sleep, so I thought I'd catch up on some long overdue blogging.

Im officially 18 now. I got some cracking gear for my birthday. A pocket watch, books, a hip flask, a writing set, and much alcohol. I always think it's ironic people give you booze on your 18th, because now you can just go buy it for yourself anyways. Despite that, I'm massively grateful to everyone who sent me stuff, or came to the festivities on the 9th and 10th. Twas great :)

Pretty much since then, I've been on holiday in Spain. Its regularly over 40 degrees, but ive managed to pack all sorts into the week and a bit I've been here. Go-karting, golf, swimming, pub trips, parties, hog roasts, and a lot of reading :)

1 more week on the hols, then it's off to summer school to learn ancient Greek 3 days after that, for another 2 weeks. I dont know how often ill get to update this blog while im there, but ill endeavour to do it. That said, my posts are pretty infrequent anyway, so I doubt you'll miss me. Anyways, ill give it a crack.

Till then, peace and love

New Stuff's Going Down!

Just a quick post to let you know I'm setting up a new blog, where me and some mates are going to be reviewing albums, gigs, soundtracks, singles and generally talking music. I thought I'd give it a go, to talk about something that matters quite a bit to me, and to improve my skills at the whole "writing" thing. If you want to check it out, the address is http://somemusicalnotes.blogspot.com/ . Hope you enjoy it!

Peace and love

Nathan Murphy's blog for kids who can't read good

Ay up people, another update, as promised.

Ive finally finished school now, and Ive officially gone from being a Batelian to an Old Batelian. Mixed feelings on that one. I'm really gonna miss the people at school, but I'm not sure ill miss the place, or the work, or the food, or the early mornings . Oh well, bigger and better things next year, university and all that.


This week is my last week of officially being a child. Yep, check me out, I'm 18 on Saturday. Ive been saying for the past 17 and a bit years that my 18th birthday won't excite me, cos reaching an arbitrary date in my life won't change me. Ill go to sleep on the 9th and wake up exactly the same on the 10th. But, if I'm honest, I'm actually well excited. I can vote, drink (legally) and get up to all other sorts of crazy shenanigans! Good times.


What else.... err, I've met someone with the best taste in music ever. Seriously, its actually incredible how much good music has been recommended to me in the past few days. I went for a delicious, nutritious curry, attempted to cure my rabbit of mange (bad times), I'm off to the cinema tomorrow and a gig I've been waiting to go to for month's on Monday. That's about it.

Peace and love y'all.


P.S. A good mate of mine went on his around the world gap year tour this week. If you want some good readings, check out his blog. Knowing Frazer, anything could happen, and it's inevitably going to be hilarious. So if anyone actually reads this, check out http://www.frazers-gapyear.blogspot.com/, it promises to be good!

Freedom

Exams are now officially finished, and I'm free. The past month has most definately been the worst of my life, but now its over. At least until the 4th of October, at which point my career as a University student begins. But, until then, I can bask in the knowledge I can get away with doing absolutely nothing at all. Thank the Lord


Other than that, I dont have much news. Exams tend to limit the amount of stuff that actually happens and that might make a half decent blog post. Things will become much more interesting now that I actually have free time. Promise.

Peace and love

Yet more stuff....

Busy, busy, busy. Exams start next week, so I've been revising pretty much continuously for the past 3 or so weeks. I did, however, feel guilty that I haven't posted anything for a while. I felt I had to write something, so here we are.

Like I said, I haven't been up to much, other than revision. I do hate exams, though. It isn't the remembering of stuff that's the problem, that's the easy bit. Its the fact that only being given an hour and a half to write 2 essays and do some smaller questions turns it from a test of the knowledge you've gained over the year, to a speed writing exam. I'm not very good at writing fast. I can type much faster than I can write, but, alas, I cant have a laptop in an exam. So I never manage to finish, and I always could have got a lot more marks if only I'd been given an extra half an hour or so to write them down. I do hate the exam system in the UK. There, whinge over.

Err, what else? ..... Had a rather nice curry, wrote some Latin haiku, got a new laptop, went out for a school leaving meal... nothing of interest. Ill finish there. Au revoir, et a'bientot.

Peace and love

Update

I haven't posted anything for a while. Mainly because nothing interesting has happened, but I felt obliged to write something. So yeah, boredom reigns, and I don't even have anything to rant about in lieu of news.

Twas, however, my brother's birthday on Thursday, so we went out. I must say, having experienced £1.30 a pint, it was rather difficult to pay £3.10 for one tonight.

That's about it. Bye bye.

Peace and love

Death of the Bookshop

(Warning : the following post may contain violence, Classics and scenes of a sexual nature)

Today, I made a jaunt into Leeds in order to spend some hard earned book vouchers I've had knocking about for a few months. I was quite irritated that had to travel all the way to Leeds to find a decent bookshop anyway. Ever since the demise of Borders and the closure of the one at Junction 27, there are no good bookshops nearby anymore.

My ire was further raised when I arrived in Leeds, and found that said bookshops contained very few actual books. They were far too full of posters, CD's, DVD's and stationary to contain much more than 2 Mill's and Boon's and an old copy of Wuthering Heights (both of which I dislike, by the way).

Now, correct me if I'm incorrect, but surely the primary purpose of a bookshop is the sale of books to the general public. I don't have a problem with coffee shops in bookshops, because they give you a good place to go and discuss your purchases with the other losers who spend their time in such places. But if I wanted to buy a set of stationary featuring Roundabouts of Great Britain or the latest (and probably rather terrible) Steven Segal DVD, then I'll go to a stationary shop or a DVD shop. So don't put them in Waterstones, please. Cheers. Rant (or furor) over.

In case you can't tell, they didn't have the book I wanted.

Peace and love

Conservative Government? No ta, I quite like my milk....

I'd like to begin with another apology for my most recent hiatus. Far from being ICT coursework causing this one, it was in fact.......history coursework. Alas (or eheu), blogging does tend to suffer due to A Levels.

Now then, it had to be done eventually. Politics. More specifically, the "new" Tory/Lib Dem government. As you've probably guessed, I'm pretty conservative in outlook. Im all in favour of the monarchy, long jail sentences etc etc. But the Conservative Party? I just couldn't vote for them (if I had actually been deemed old enough to make my my own decisions about our leaders yet).

Why, I hear you asking (or, more likely, why do I actually read this). Well, several things. One, my parents lived through Mrs Thatcher's last government, so I have been instilled with a suspicion of all things Tory since I was able to say "milk-snatcher".

Second, I dislike David Cameron. He's always trying to look "cool" and "down with the kids" and "one of us". I mean, he's a Conservative, for God's sake. He's an upper middle class bloke (i.e a toff), so he should start acting like one. I'd probably like him more if he just accepted that fact, but instead he insists on rolling his sleeves up and wearing open necked polo shirts, trying to fit in amongst the people on the streets. Tut tut, Dave.

Thirdly, what do they actually stand for? All I've learnt from the Conservative election campaign is how awful Gordon Brown is. Not once have I heard a "Vote for us, because we can fix the economy, and sort out immigration, and the prison system, and the welfare state, and, above all, listen to the people." Its all just been a massive smear campaign against Labour, bitching about their faults and their mistakes, and it smacks of playground politics.

So, all in all, the Conservatives. I have sincere doubts as to whether they will actually solve any of the myriad problems Great Britain currently finds itself mired in, before the people see their true colours as a party for the wealthy minority. Of course, I would love to be proved wrong, but I'm still dubious of Dave and co. If any further proof was needed, just look at their slogan. The Conservatives: Vote for Change. Oxymoron, or what?

p.s. oxymoron, incidentally, comes from the Greek for "stupid and sharp". ( Sorry,couldn't go a whole post without any Classics references at all)

Peace and love

Classical Fury: or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Classics Related Movies

First things first, apologies for not updating the blog for a while. ICT coursework is rather time consuming, ysee, and I just haven't got round to it. However, the coursework is done, thank the Lord. So I shall now return to the wondrous world of blogging. Oh the pure, unadulterated joy.

To be honest though, I don't have that much to talk about. One thing has occurred to me recently though. Classics folk (among whom I count myself) often feel an inordinate amount of fury at inaccurate Classical references. Poor Latin grammar on television or using the wrong set of names for the gods can literally cause Classicists to become so angry that they will send several hundred e-mails to the person responsible, telling them they will rot in Tartarus under the lash of Tisaphone for eternity for such a transgression as appalling as saying "Jupiter" instead of "Zeus".

This brings me neatly on to the subject of the film "Troy". Normally, you would be instantly skinned alive, crucified and burnt for even mentioning Troy in front of Classicists, such is their hatred of it. This stems from the fact that it has numerous changes from the Classical text on which it based, Homer's Iliad. These range from the deaths of several characters in the film who didn't actually die in the epic, most notably Menelaus and Agamemnon, through changes to the plot, like Ajax (the Greater, of course) being killed by Hector, to a complete lack of divine intervention throughout the whole film, something that was a major theme in the book. Those who are Classical inclined absolutely refuse to watch it, and sometimes even to speak its name. But, having just finished watching it, I thought, is it really so bad that its different from the Iliad?

For a start, the film is called "Troy", not "The Iliad: The Motion Picture". It never claims to have done anything more than take its inspiration from Homer's account of a war that even the Romans considered ancient. It certainly doesn't claim to be an exact replica of that epic, so why are some people so insistent that it should be exactly the same? Hollywood film makers need action to keep a modern audience interested, and the Iliad's description of duels between great heroes lacks the ability to captivate in the same way as a huge CGI generated battle, so why not let them have it?

Another thing that came to me is, as a Classicist, isn't re-interpreting old stories what its all about? Its what ancient playwrights did. The majority of the stories they told would have been familiar to their audience, but it was the way they interpreted it that made the audience like or dislike it. So, surely, we should judge the Hollywood telling of the story of Troy on its own merits, rather than dismissing it out of hand as a bad copy of the Iliad.

I spose the point I'm trying to make is, maybe people should try and just enjoy things for what they are, rather than complain about the things they aren't. I mean, Troy might lose some of the plot points of the Iliad, but it does gain some pretty cool battle scenes. So enjoy them, and stop complaining!

Peace and love

Kiting. Of the "Power" variety.

As I mentioned yesterday, today was the date for my first attempt at power kiting. Basically, its like regular kiting, but with a really keen kite that's more like a small parachute. As a novice at all types of kiting, power and regular, I wasn't holding out much hope for having any skill at it, but even I didn't realise actually how bad I would be. Every time I launched it, it would stay in the air for about two seconds, then crash. If it even flew in the first place, that is. The wind, I shall have to blame the wind. Yeah, that's it, there wasn't enough wind.....

Tomorrow is also back to school day after the Easter holidays (or the Easter revision period, as the teachers insisted on calling it). Its kind of weird, thinking this will be my last ever "first day back", as it were. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it. It's good, in a way, because it means it's not long till I'm moving on to bigger and better things (hopefully). But its also pretty sad to think its nearly the end of something that's been such a massive part of my life for the past 7 years. And that I'm going to be leaving pretty much everyone I care about, family, friends, everyone, behind in the next couple of months and heading off to university. It's a strange feeling

However, I do know exactly how I'll feel halfway through double history tomorrow morning.

Depressed. And desperate for another holiday.

Peace and love

Randomness

Don't you find that when things happen randomly, they are invariably better than things that were planned in advance? Maybe its because its unexpected, maybe its because you have no expectations of it. But whatever the reason, random is good!

If you're wondering about the reason for my musings on random-ism, its due to a pub trip gone awry which led to a mass purchasing of ginger beer, milk bottles (the sweets, not actual milk bottles) and Sherbet Dip Dabs, then consumption of said items in a park. Yeah, its as weird as it sounds....

Other than that though, not much to report. A couple of essays have been finished, work was done in the sunshine, and tomorrow I'm going power kiting (I have no idea what it is either) for the first time. Should be interesting, to say the least.

Peace and love

Every little thing my iPod does is magic....

Whilst out for a run today (yes, I indulge in such insane pasttimes), I was jogging along merrily, listening to my iPod. I had it on shuffle because I actually couldn't be arsed to pick what I was listening to, and I was amazed by the selection of songs that came on. I have a pretty eclectic taste in music. I mean, I have folk rock next to hip-hop, right alongside the opera, jazz, punk, pop, rock n roll, classical and the multitude of other audio clutter that forms my music collection. But somehow, my iPod always manages to pick the best song for the situation. I swear it can read minds. If I'm working, it always puts something quiet on in the background,like Mumford and Sons or Miles Davies. If I'm a bit more energetic, some Led Zeppelin or Daft Punk. I'm relaxing and its Gustav Holst or the John Butler Trio. Its an absolute DJ-ing genius.

The best case in point I can think of was during a flight to Spain. I have a massive fear of flying. I literally root myself to the chair, refusing to move, speak or even open my eyes during take off or landing. But I put my iPod on Shuffle and "Ride of the Valkyries" by Richard Wagner came on, Y'know, that music that everyone associates with flying, even if they don't know what its called (YouTube it, if you really don't have a clue what I'm on about. Or not, if you don't care). Even though I was completely and utterly petrified, I had to laugh. My mother's fears that I am in fact mental were confirmed but I felt a little bit better about the flight. So there we go. The point is, iPods : magic, ain't they?

In other news, I finished reading Vergil's Aeneid today. I've never read the second half before,and I must say, its much better than the first. But I'd like to be able to say by now that I actually care about whether Aeneas is a social or Homeric hero in Book 12, but I really don't. Boredom, thy name is Classics essay.
 

P.S If you're a normal person, i.e not interested in Classics, that last paragraph may have been confusing, or boring, or both (indeed, the entire post may have been, but that will have been simply due to the fact that I'm not an interesting person). If it was, I sincerely apologise, but as the majority of my posts will contain Classical references, I suggest you either i) stop reading this blog or ii) start reading up on your Classics. Personally, I would take the second option, not due in the least to the fact that Classics is mostly just swordplay, insults, sex scenes and very thinly veiled innuendo (or not veiled at all, as the case may be with Catullus), but the choice, as always, is entirely yours.

Peace and love

'Ey up, kiddo's (which roughly translates as "greetings, friends")

To anyone reading this, the first thing I'm going to say is.... what happened? I don't know how the hell you've strayed so far of the proverbial beaten track of the Internet as to have ended up on here, but you evidently have. This is where I shall be providing the good people of Internetland with a sample of what goes on in my little world. I shall be putting (virtual) pen to paper and waxing lyrical on all manner of subjects that interest me, raise my ire or just generally pop into the deep, dark and slightly random quagmire that I like to call a mind. And you shall be reading it. To summarise then, unlucky.


The second thing I'm going to say is ..... hello. I know that's normally the first thing people say in conversations, but 1) this isn't a conversation, and 2) I do things differently round here, as you shall soon learn.


I suppose I'd better say a little about myself, hadn't I? Well, my name's Nathan (oh come on, its not as if nathan92 is that cryptic a username). I'm from West Yorkshire, a county in the green and pleasant land that is England. My birthday is on the 10th of July 1992, which makes me a Cancer, apparently. My favourite colour is green and my favourite variety of cheese is Wensleydale (I don't know what relevance that has, but I thought you might like to know)


I like Classics, which is basically about the Greeks and Romans and all the high jinks and shenanigans they got up to. I know it sounds incredibly keen, but really, it isn't. And through that last sentence you learn something new about me, that I'm a terrible liar.


I'm also quite partial to music. However, its normally the stuff that no one else likes, which quite limits my ability to hold conversations with normal human beings about it. Hence one of my reasons for starting a blog, because you aren't normal human beings and also because you can't reply. Oh, wait a minute, you can? Damn!


So yes, I shall endeavour to supply you with details of my various thoughts and exciting escapades through this little corner of the Internet, with which you can hopefully divert yourself from the actually important things in life for a few minutes rather than leaving the computer and facing up to them like you know you should be doing right now. Enjoy

Peace and love