To die by the sword is a fine way to die..

What day is it today? It is Wednesday. I was inspired by one of my dad's
posts to comment and I feel I should elucidate a little further.

The question to be asked is firstly can we trust what we're told by the
national press/media and by extension, can we trust anything we hear secondhand?

The cartoon here discusses a similar issue and concludes in probably much the same way that I will (ie. facetiously). I haven't planned this ending yet, but let's be fair, the odds aren't going to be long are they?

I'm not an expert but I'm guessing that whenever you read something the following factors will enable you to come to a conclusion on whether you believe what you're reading

• Your knowledge of the subject matter including:
• previous first-hand experience
• previous knowledge acquired through second-hand means
• Your knowledge of the author including the same
• Your gut reaction to the piece which will be based on a number of factors
• the first two factors above
• the author's style and language
• your mood
• probably a number of other factors such as upbringing, worldview etc etc.

Added to this, you have the probability of something you read being 100%
correct based on a number of other factors.

• The author's knowledge of the subject matter as above
• The author's motives for telling the truth, dictated by
• money
• power
• sex
• poops and giggles
• other
• The complexity of the subject matter and the inherent difficulty in fully understanding it
• The limitations of written language to communicate an exact thought - both on the part of the communicator and the communicatee
• If the piece of writing is constrained in length, whether the subject can be fully explained in that length.
• The author speculating or hypothesising
• I'd imagine this list is far from exhaustive

Bearing in mind I'm specifically thinking of supposedly objective pieces of
writing about events and such. Bring in opinion and you're on a whole 'nother level.

The issue of whether to trust a source to my mind seems arbitrary. There are so many mix and match circumstances that unless you are a first-hand observer how can you know what to trust? Even as a first-hand observer can you fully know your subject?

My conclusion? Well this is historically where it all falls apart of course. I was never really cut out to be a philosopher or a jedi. I guess I'm saying I don't know who to trust. Cynical? Bitter? Jaded? Yeah but I'm one helluva party-animal as well..

You shall know the truth and it shall set you free. Indeed.

you'll never guess what I did..

I big fat went and ordered a JACK BAG! And one for Matt Hat too. So we're gonna be bag buddies.

'citin'.

I cooked more pancakes last nite. If you didn't guess from the pictar. That brings the total to around 60-80 I think. When I get into puddings I really do get into them, don't I? Remember that time I made like 6 lemon meringue pies in just over a week?

It's Car-LAR's brifday today so many happy returneth. Hopefully we'll get to see her and the Azman network at the weekend. That would be for the fun times. Oh ho.

Overandout.

Consolation

Constellation.

it's been so very long..

Well well.

No I know. But then what did you expect?

Any case, I was going to start off tonite with some genius lyrics, so here that is:

• I have always found it easier to skirt around it, careful of the stiches, insisted there was more than this but I lost myself I cannot speak


• We are crooked souls trying to stand up straight, dry eyes in the pouring rain, the shadow proves the sunshine


• So you can keep your belief in whatever, I'll wear my cynicism like a tatoo, while poets try to engineer definitions of love, well you know all I can think of is you


• When a dude's gettin bullied and shoots up your school, And they blame it on Marilyn - and the heroin, Where were the parents at?


• Everybody knows it sucks to grow up and everybody does, it's so weird to be back here, let me tell you what, the years go on and we're still fighting it


• in your eyes, the light, the heat, your eyes, I am complete

And now now now. I know that you all think you're being original and all, but here at tobiwan.co.uk we've done it all. Regardless I will reiterate and also elaborate.

• Five Iron Frenzy - Our Newest Album Ever


• Ash - 1977


• Nirvana - Unplugged in New York


• dc Talk - Jesus Freak


• Switchfoot - Nothing Is Sound


• Brave Saint Saturn - The Light of Things Hoped For


• Poor Old Lu - Sin


• Nitin Sawhney - Prophesy


• Ben Folds - Rockin' The Suburbs


• Radiohead - OK Computer

Bubblin' Under: REM - Automatic For The People, Grammatrain - Lonely House, Model Engine - The Lean Year's Tradition, Flick - The Perfect Kellulight, Elliot Smith - XO, David Ford - I Sincerely Apologise For All The Trouble I've Caused, Muse - Absolution, Peter Gabriel - So, Radiohead - The Bends, Jeff Buckley - Grace

Radiohead obviously get the special mention for having two albums in the top 20. Go them.. Of course ask me again in a couple years and it might be different.

Gotta go..

You're going to have to bear with me

I have had the idea for a "not bad"™ post just the other day, but you know.. it's been feckin' busy in la-la-land.

Busy and tiring.

So. You'll have to wait.

No biggie I'm sure. And if you're bored you can always head on over and read what either the mothership or the The Matt in the Hat(came back) have said. They both seem to be bloggin' it up at the moment. To my eternal chagrin you understand.

In any case.

Oh by the way, in the mothership's latest post I am guilty of quite probably all the phrases in the last paragraph or so.

You can't have it all..

dryscraper

Nothing to say.

You heard it first here.

Tired and weary.

Jack's tomorrow.

Just a poor sad little fanboy..

So..

Who's going to buy me this:



??

Hmm??

Anyone?

Hello?

Where has everyone gone?

sleep just to dream

It's been a fun half term all said and done.

Real life resumes in la-la-land tomorrow. Back to work and such. We're also playing a cheeky little gig at the Forum in Tunbridge Wells. All good.

Not altogether sure that I have an enormous amount to say. I'll leave you with a few thoughts I've had over the last few days..

• If you have to sell yourself on the basis of something else you've done that is completely (or sometimes only relatively) unrelated to what you're doing now, you may not be on the right tracks.
• Only Toby can temper a statement in the way you've just seen.
• I bought a jacket, two shirts, two scarves, three pairs of boxers and five pairs of socks for £16 this week. At Primark. Or Primani as I've heard it called. That's just good sense
• I can make pretty good banoffee pie and home-made pizza. Who knew?
• The old ones are the best

Sleep. Really very yes.

vrnt.

Scarves

We are trendy bitches

Who I'd like to meet:

There's fun to be had with Myspace. Check it out..

WHO I'D LIKE TO MEET
Waifs, strays, vagrants, the homeless and heartbroken, the rockbottomers, scoundrels, prognosticators, procrastinators, the downtrodden, the meek and the humble, lowlifes, bums, whores and their trinkets, the unloved, the unlovely, the unwashed and the unbelievable, the cassandras, the pandoras, the caulfields, the high falootin', the rootin' tootin', the upbeat and the unbeaten, the faint of heart, the high rollers, toffs, spivs, the spick and span, the somebodies, the nobodies, the everyman, the good lifers, the nightlifers and the lifers, the old timers and the pew farmers, the holy, the backroom brawlers, the deep sea trawlers, celebrities, the chosen few, the remnant and the remembered, family, friends, hangers-on and droppers-off, the discarded, the mediocre and their pack-horses, the baggage handlers, the naive, the cynical, the blunt and the stooge, the flotsam and never forgetting the jetsam, the power-mongers, the backseat drivers, the shady dealers, the money men, the untoward, the walrus and the carpenter, the tailors, sailors, untold jailors, the captive, the free, the cast aways and the like, the upper class, lower class, middle class, high class, first class, second rate, economy, the whole and the sum of the parts.
And you.

no trade in here

I'm been busy..

Hello anyway. I don't have much to say today. But let's see what wikipedia has to say on the subject of Bushims shall we?

George Bush's uses of nonstandard grammatical constructions have some common characteristics:

• Adding agentive endings to words not usually accustomed to such treatment, such as "suiciders".


• Constructing neologisms such as "tacular" (a portmanteau of "tactical" and "nucular") and "misunderestimated" ("misunderstood" and "underestimated").


• Occasional use of spoonerisms such as "mexed missages" (mixed messages) and "terriers and bariffs" (barriers and tariffs).


• Use of words that sound similar to intended words but are wrong in the context (i.e., malapropism). "Nuclear power pants" instead of "Nuclear power plants."


• Folksy pluralization of, or addition of articles to, familiar terms ("Internets", "the Google").


• Redundant or odd sentence construction, such as "We had a chance to visit with Teresa Nelson who's a parent, and a mom or a dad."


• Change of subject mid-sentence, such as, "I am here to make an announcement that this Thursday, ticket counters and airplanes will fly out of Ronald Reagan Airport."

That's all I got..

Shmo-kay

on life and such..

We've had a gloriously lazy Saturday today. Which is a welcome relief from the madcappery that has been occuring in recent weeks. Also, we didn't play poker in the end last nite so I managed to sneak more precious hours of sleep from my body which will insist on getting me up at 9 or 10 regardless of the time I retire. Very good.

It's starting to get annoying that all I seem to be posting is HEY I GOT UP LATE TODAY AND I'M DOING THINGS LATER. I guess the pictures do add some interest, and I will every so often get creative.

Speaking of which, do you recall the tea hunt story from back in November? I was thinking about it just now because I was making myself a cup of tea and it appears that that box has run out. Although I have the thought in my head that there should be one more jar of them but I CAN'T FIND IT.

Back to the point. I would like to post something of note or even possibly something inter-muh-lectual. But alas. I do have thoughts sometimes, but one of three things happens. I either wimp out, forget what the thought was or more likely the thought is banal or unshareable. Two such examples from this week:

"bacon rolls are always good."
"there's few bad moods that can't be solved by eating a couple of bags of poly-trans-fattiated-saturates" (that's crisps to you and your cousins THE NORMAL PEOPLE).

See?

Since this is the second time I have now typed this guff (it's not getting better with repetition let me tell you) due to Windows being a bastard, I am going to stop. Once again Toby relearns the inevitable lesson about saving work and so on..

A real jedi wouldn't have these problems..

overandout

not in a while at least..

We're going to play the poker tonite.

After foop-ball that is.

Why am I telling you all of this? Dunno really. That's the way of this blog life. No telling where we're going I'm afraid.

Anyway I'm busy.

Get out. And come again.

This doesn't really count as another post

I forgot to mention..

It snowed big time this morning. I mean huh-yuge. You have no idea. But now it's all gone. That's probably a metaphor for something really deep.

Time for sleeps.

Toby

checking in

it's not flowing like it used to I know.

Jack's open mic was tonite. It was good. They've started giving me some drinks as payment for running it. This is.. interesting.

Anyways. This week has been fun. I don't seem to be able to have a non-busy one though. Even next week, which, let me remind you, is half term, is filling up with funs™.

Still, as I always say, you can't have it all.

Toby

More famous people

This is Switchfoot. Nick's to their right. He's way bigger than them. Seems there's idiots out in force tonite. Everyone from the guy behind me who thinks Switchfoot should only play old songs to the guy who set up a stand outside to tell everyone here that christian rock is wrong. Actually I kind of agree with him. But for different reasons and also I'd never hideously misquote the bible to support my arguments. Ok I've got to give my attention back to the band and stop being that guy.

milkshakes

final bodycount:

7 lites of ice cream
8 pints of milk
various chocolate and assorted fruit
a lot of plastic cups
10-15 satisfied customers

Roll on Monday morning. I'm ready for you. For I will defeat with the aid of the lesser know deities of caffeine and TEEEEE-OOOOONS

Life is good

It's stupid-o-clock in the morning, we played a sweet gig, I'm hanging with good friends and champagne and wine and I've posted an obscure photo. What more could you want?

someone spoke too soon

Today: Busy ass day.

But I got a free lunch. Turns out there is such a thing as that after all.

By the way, I absolutely managed to forget again, but luckily I remembered before it was too late. HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY!

Tonite's gonna rock harder than a groundhog.

Word.

Toby

ah the weekend

My favourite of all the ends.

I know that technically it's not the weekend just yet, but we almost there. And there aren't many kids in our school today so it should be a little less stressed than yesterday was.

But having said that, this weekend is anything but calm. Tonite, as I believe I mentioned, we're playing in the NAG. Then tomorrow we drive to Cambridge to set up for tonite, we drive back for a 40th anniversary party, we drive up to Cambride and are onstage at midnight. Then on Sunday (and how's this for foolhardiness?) we drive back to play for church at.. 10.30am! Plus we've got to be there early for setups.

We win the game of stupidity.

Then on Sunday I sleep.

And if you didn't want to hear any of that then close your ears.

Overoutand

it's feboo-ary now

This year seems to be tracking by at quite the pace. Still, life is fun so we can be glad of that.

What has all been going down I hear you ask? Well I'm guess it's time for a patented tobiwan list. Yup yup

• Joelyboy just turned 21
• We launched an album, but y'all knew about that hey
• Been doing some web design ideas. They look nice
• We're playing two yes that's two gigs this weekend.
• Work continues. Still fun.
• I'm watching Enemy of the State (again) as we speak
• Half term is in a weekish. I love working for a school.

Since I've mentioned work a couple times just now I'd like to talk to you about our collating machine. Now maybe these bad boys are gorgeous machines that cause us a lot of convenience. But my one is an evil bastard that deserves pain to be inflicted on it. Here's for why. Misfeeding multiple times during a run? Check. Thinking there's no paper in one of the feeders when there is? Check. Annoying beeps and clicks? Check. Randomly not stapling booklets in a run? Check.

Honestly, if I'm ever found dead in my office surrounded by paper with a collater on top of me it wouldn't be at all surprising. Morbid but true.

I think that's about enough about that.