CRB

I've been trying to fill out the CRB form today, but it's taken me all bloody day to do cos I keep getting up and walking around and scratching my arse and various other more pressing things and it got me thinking.

Why the hell do they require you to fill out 5 years worth of addresses to see if you've fiddled kids?

I am pretty sure that paedophiles generally try to avoid living in streets that contain the words "paedophile", "molestation" and "abuse".

I think that paedos should just be branded on the forehead. That would save me a load of time.

I bloody hate filling out forms.

Mr Bread: On the run?

Just when you thought you'd seen the end of the demon bread, big news comes in yesterday from Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Apparently some old woman bought this bread in November that won't go mouldy.

Gladys Wagner, of Ellerslie, says she purchased a $1.59 loaf of Golden Break bread last November to make a sandwich. 8 months later it's still not gone mouldy.

It's still soft, and no mildew or anything


Have we seen this before somewhere...? I think we have! Mr. Bread is on the run!!!

Be afraid.

Blogfriends

Not sure what exactly happened here but shortly after our trip to Toledo, Sassy Catalina cut the comments link on her blog and stopped returning my emails and texts. It's like she's dropped off the edge of the world.

I may well be coming down south and might meet up with Foss, who's blog I've followed since I before was in Kuwait. Will he run away to the hills I wonder?

I bet he will if I do whatever I did that scared her off....

Mexicans

One of the last times I went out in Madrid was with my flatmate the Peruvian Gonzalo.

It was his Mexican coursemates birthday, so we met up in a bar in Santa Ana and hid from the sun under one of the umbrellas (sorry everyone in England I had to write this) and drank much of the night away with other South Americans.

That night was brilliant, I met this Chilean guy whose accent I just couldn't make out at all ("he's talking ENGLISH, Andy" "Oh") and hung out with some really attractive Mexican girls.

At one point, I asked the gorgeous girl I was sat next to about Mexico.

"So," I said, "Would you say it is safe to walk around in Mexico City as a westerner?"

She started to tell me that the place is a lot safer now than it used to be, then stopped herself and said

"...except for kidnappings which are still a bit of a problem."

So I say, "Have you ever been kidnapped?"

"Yes of course" she said as though I had asked her if she had ever eaten a fajita, "most people I know know someone who has been kidnapped actually"

Oh.

So I turn to the guy behind me and say,

"Scuse me guv, you're from Mexico right? Have you ever been kidnapped?"

"No not me," he says,

*phew*

"...but my sister has."

Fuckin hell it sounds like a national pastime! Not quite able to believe this, I stopped everyone and asked if any Mexicans there did NOT have a close relation who had been kidnapped.

They sort of looked around sheepishly, as though I had asked if anyone had syphilis, before getting straight back to their drinks.

The other day, I done a rare act. I actually done something sensible! Yes that's right, I turned down the job in Egypt, probably on pain of international ostracism but I thought that was better than risking 2 years of boredom and blogs like >>>this one<<<

So now I'm on the warpath again, lookin for jobs. Mexico is obviously even more tempting after that night and I am likely to turn down a job here in the UK that I interviewed for on Friday, because it was so boring I could see myself swinging from the rafters after a term. On the menu of potential places, include India, Peru, Romania, China and Honduras.

Watch this space.

Dark side



I'm feelin too lazy to write anything so here's a couple of Star Wars videos



Thanks Joseph! Your powers are weak old man!

Ivan in Vegas

Just been chatting on msn to Ivan, my co-passenger on Nick's ego trip, about the new posts on Dosaboys.

It's been a while since he updated his blog, last time being when he had returned to Kerala. In case you're wondering, he is now in Las Vegas, the only place for a professional gambler to be really, and he's living with a professional poker player.

What I'd give to be a fly in the wall in that house!

Monsoon Edition 2007 Rickshaw Run has just finished and the 2007 Mongol Rally has just kicked off too if you're up for a laugh.

Welcome!

Apparently my rambles in cyberspace have caught the attention of Will Stephens, who I have never met but he's started blogging!

Wahey!

All eyes on >>>Will's site<<<, give him a bit of pressure and support! Thanks for the shout and best of luck dude.

New post on Dosa Boys


I'm very nearly done.

Find out what finally happens to Nicks sanity. Ivan and the petrol can incident hopefully will get written up by him cos it's bloody funny coming out of his mouth and I finally find peace.

And then I'm gonna tell all about the crash or at least all that I know.

Hold tight.

Dosa Boys Do India

I am evil and deserve to be shot

I took mini-Andy out on a scouting mission the other day and he sat in my bag with my new Canon EOS 1000F, 35mm SLR camera.

Then I sat on him and his little arm fell off!



If you are in the UK and want to take mini-Andy out on an adventure >>>the usual procedure<<< applies.

Epilator memories

Ha! I just downloaded some pics off my phone today and came across this priceless one of Phil holding an epilator before unleashing it on my face.



I have since been informed by a reliable source (a girl) that these things should not be used above the neck.

Next time I shall stand on my head.

Confession

Ya know that day when I said I dropped my camera down the toilet takin a pee?

Well actually I was choppin a log at the time when the damn cord snapped. I just didn't want to upset anyone with sensitive stomachs.

Jay quoted on facebook "Nice work. I'd like to see your insurance claim for that one!"

Anyway, I found myself giving relationship advice again this evening, as usual, the most unqualified person for the job and all I could come up with was this...

maybe you're takin it all a bit too seriously and you should perhaps think of it as ya know, like when you, I dunno, drop your camera down the toilet or something. You may be able to root it out, but, well it will still be covered in shit and the glory days will be over even though you may try to clean it up and the chunky bits may have gone

Joe actually said that this was GOOD advice!

mischief (currently looking for jobs as a marriage guidance counsellor)

Thanks but no thanks

Mrs J, I know you're desperate for me to shave this thing off by any means (and believe me it IS already off!) but the cleancut shaver is a bit much don't you think!?

Does a moustache COUNT as intimate bodily hair anyway?!

Mr. Marzouk of Kuwait - you are scum

As much as I love working and teaching abroad, the main hazard of this lifestyle is that you are not covered by unions.

The next hazard is that usually your ass is not covered by your own schools, who are often happy to sacrifice you at the altar when high-powered or loud parents come in wanting your head. That's what happened to me in THE ENGLISH MONTESSORI SCHOOL IN ARAVACA in MADRID where you will find no support at all from the senior management team.

Often the concepts of discipline are totally lost on these people, who react in the strangest ways, setting the worst example for their children and undermining the authority of the teachers they pay to teach their little angels.

I've just seen a very worrying article about an American teacher in Kuwait who, after giving a kid a suspension, found herself banned from leaving the country, because the kids dad works for the government.

This prick, Mr Marzouk, arranged it so that she can now never travel again in the Gulf.

I don't think I have the words to say how sick this prat makes me.

I'll just quote the words of Skunk, who has an excellent blog on Kuwait

shame on you mr marz…..

oops i better not say incase i get pettyassed by the dude too.

hmmm wait a minute, wasnt someone from the same family elected to parliament?

why, yeeeeees,…. and my what a clean campaign that guy led.

now, this aint my country so i really shouldnt give a shit, but what the hell kind of adults do you think youre gonna get if kids see their parents acting in such an appalling manner?

monkey see, lil monkey do,… and lil monkey grows up to be asshole monkey.

and lets not forget, if this shit goes unpunished and unresolved, then guess what, aint no body gonna want to come teach here no more.


Find the rest of Skunks post >>>right here<<<

Light-racquet

I used to play a lot of badminton when I was younger.

At home, we had flies in the living room, and to practice badminton I used to run around the living room, smacking flies with the flyswat.

It's not fair game if they're landed, so I'd wave at them until they flew away.

Anyway, one day I was chasing this particularly fast fly around the room and I just couldn't get him.

After about 15 minutes of chasing I decided that I should try another tactic.

So I sat there in the centre of the room, closed my eyes and listened.

Then, with my eyes closed I snapped out a backhand right and felt contact.

Opening my eyes I looked around and the fly was sliding down the wall on the opposite side of the room.

That was when I realised that I was more than human.

That was when I became a jedi.

Facts and figures

About this time of the year 3 years ago I had applied for loads of jobs around the world at the end of my PGCE and one of those jobs was in Kuwait.

After taking the interview in London I walked back home through the rain and thought that I didn't actually want the job as Kuwait sounded a bit crap.

The next day I had a stag do to attend in Derby. After about 7 pints of piss I got a phone call.

The head of the school in Kuwait said "Hi, we'd like to offer you the job" to which I replied in a drunken haze, "Yeah go on then"

The next morning I woke up with a throbbing head and a ticket to Kuwait.

No planning, no research and accepted the job when I was drunk. Won't be doing that again, I thought.

I was out with Olja yesterday at the Tate Modern and there was this exhibition on cities of the world. Cairo was one of the featured cities.

I walked around looking at pics.

"Shit." I said, "These buildings make the place look just like Kuwait. And a diversity of 0.8% (Compared to 27% in London) might mean it's gonna be more of the same"

"Haven't you even DONE any research?!" Says she

"No. What do you expect?"

So, yeah I've done it again. I've only got myself to blame I guess.

Holy Shitstick! I can BREATHE!

Received earlier today:

Dear Mr mischief

This is Alan Johnston, BBC reporter and recently released hostage of the Army of Islam. I beg you to shave your moustache of as the Army of Islam have threatened to re-capture and behead me unless you and Mr Wilkinson Sword start seeing eye to eye. Shave the thing off fucko.

Best wishes

Alan


Just spent the evening throwing shit away with Dade as I head to the airport in an hour to fly home and for some reason, despite being sure I'd thrown everything away, I saw a razor sat there on the shelf.

I took this to mean that the Army of Islam are watching me and planted it there as a subtle hint. Some guy is probably across the way with a high powered rifle aimed right at Mr Moustache as I type. Combined with being called a fucko by Alan Johnston I finally gave in.

Mr Moustache is gone.

No really.

Honestly.

Oh believe whatever you like!

Marvel Civil War



Alright I've just started reading this today (I know I know a bit behind everyone else - some of us have got jobs to get fired from ya know) and I'm only on issue 1, the Spiderman lead-in (Spidey 529).

In it Tony Stark has made a costume for Spidey which not only has infra-red vision and police band is also bullet-proof, has a heart rate monitor or superhearing or something so he can hear the villains heartbeats and it allows him to "glide" when he jumps off buildings.

Now if I'm not mistaken he pretty much has the combined powers of Superman, Daredevil and dare I say it Batman!?!

Hope they get rid of this costume soon and make him mortal again.

What's the first thing he does when he becomes bullet-proof?

Yes that's right he gets shot.

Hmmmmmmm

If you want an example of a proper costume change, try Jean-Paul Valley's Azrael/Batman costume from the 90s Knightfall arc!



Now THERE'S a costume change!

Oh and while I'm on the subject of comics, everyone go out and buy Fables now!

Say goodbye Mr Bread!

Truly a sad day for us all. I've spent the day packing everything into suitcases and all that jazz and came across 2 of our favourite characters.

Obviously mini-Andy will continue his adventures around the world, and where better to go than the home of the Pharaohs for our mini-Hero!

But, in my searching, I also found our favourite yeast and flour character, Mr Bread!

After spending nearly a term in my lab, being poked and prodded by children Mr Bread still shows no signs of fungal growth, the E282 and E200 (otherwise known as the Holy Grail of preservatives) still seems to be doing a sterling job.

Obviously, being treated like some sort of circus display by children has taken it's toll, and, even though still soft, Mr Bread is rather powdery now.

I've been able to leverage the camera in my phone to take a few goodbye pics, just before I callously throw the mutant bread in the bin.

I meant give it a proper burial.

d'oh...

R.I.T.B. (Rest/Rot In The Bin)
Mr Bread Jan 23, 2007 - July 17, 2007




Enero = January

A bit of a rush

Holy crap! It's all moving a bit fast.

One minute there I was, happily going about my business and actually rather enjoying my job.

Like a fool I had not prepared myself for being stabbed in the back by my cowardly employers, The English Montessori School in Aravaca, who seemed all too willing to let the parents run that place, and now I find myself up the shitter for summer.

After somehow managing to get myself fired twice in 2 weeks, my best laid plans for summer, working in Madrid and going to Finland (yes that fell through too - the boss replied today to say that they wanted me to come and prices had shot through the roof - I mailed them last week) all fell through and I'm left scratching my arse in Madrid. Far from the grand plans I had for the summer.

So to shake thing up a bit I thought I'd move back to the UK. Ya know just for a little excitement. So I booked my flights yesterday for the 20th of June, not really realising quite how close that date really is.

That'll be this Friday then.

In between now and then I have to figure out how to send half of my stuff to Egypt (I don't even know WHERE to send it yet!) and pack the rest of my shit into my suitcase.

So that'll be 2 days to sort all that out then. Oh dear...

Quota

Surely by the Law of Averages/Karma/some form of morality and justice I must have got my annual quota of fuck-ups out the way with this month right?

Does that mean that as of September I'll be totally scott-free and start with a clean slate? I mean how many more fuck-ups can I make this year God!?

Alternative money-makin schemes part 2

According to Cyberwyres website value calculator, the Monthly Earning Potential of my site is $85!

Won't be giving up my day job any time soon.

The job situation

Typical - I had read that the VSO procedure takes at least 2 months to complete and, having heard nothing from them in 2 days I decided to not bother and accepted the Egypt job, taking the money and the easy option.

No regrets of course, but they've just got back to me with a nearly sure-fire opportunity to get shipped off to Africa, earn no money at all and ya know sacrifice myself for the good of my fellow man for no pay like some sort of hero.

D'oh!

Lock up yer mummies!

I've accepted a job in Egypt, in a school that has an e-learning VLE set up and a view of the pyramids from the rooftop of the building.

Obviously I chose it for the e-learning slant. duh!

The internet is fucking awesome!

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG LOOOOOOOOOOOONG ago in the distant past I used to listen to loads of pirate radio under the bedcovers at night and get lost in the underground sounds of south London. I love house and garage and it was the best place to hear the latest cuts. This was a time before Craig David went all soppy on us and was actually a bloody good MC.

Anyway I heard this show on a radio station one night with a DJ called Caution and this absolutely incredible MC called TEE. It was so good I recorded it on a TAPE and caned this tape for YEARS. The next week I tried to tune in again and the station must have been busted or something cos I never heard this DJ or MC again.

Thanks to Myspace though, I've just tracked him down! PHWOAR!

Prozzie hunting

In between weighing up next years options today (Vietnam, Peru, Cairo and the UK in that order in case you're interested) I took a little walk out to Casa de Campo, a park that is quickly overtaking Retiro as my favourite Sunday hang-out.

Retiro, as you may recall, has the only statue of the devil in the whole world in it and lots of rastas smoking weed so how can anywhere possibly beat that I hear you cry.

Well Casa de Campo is well known for it's prostitutes.

Over by the lake with the big fountain that you can see from Plaza de Espana, where the civilised people go to row about is a microcosm of South America.

Every Sunday, the Latinos from Equador, Peru and the Spanish-speaking parts of that part of the world gather around Lago station, serving up cheap food and drink, dishing out cheap haircuts and fake DVDs among themselves and, being a hungry type, I have made this haven of cheap tasty grub my regular Sunday lunch.

This week, I thought I would show Dade the sights so we could sit around and bitch off about the weeks events.

Now the thing is, for months Phil, a mutual friend of mine and Dade has been telling me that Calle Monterra, the hooker-street in the centre of Madrid was not the best place to get an eyeful and he told me and Dade that if we walked around Casa de Campo, the prossers are actually NAKED!

Never one to miss an opportunity, me and Dade polished off the random Equadorian nosh and headed where we thought we were most likely to find some naked totty. Deep into the bush.

Dade had suggested that IF he were the type to utilise such services that he would most likely do so off the beaten track, so we headed uphill and into the undergrowth.

Strangely, hunting for naked girls in undergrowth made me feel oddly primal like I should have a spear in my hand, perhaps shaped like a dildo or something as we ducked and dived through the thorny brambles.

We had walked for nearly half an hour in the searing heat until finally, perched upon a hilltop I saw one!

"Look!" I said, "Let's chase it!"

Blinking in the sunlight, Dade said,

"I can't tell from here but my eyes are telling me that it's a man"

"Well MY eyes tell me it's naked! Let's go!"

But before I could set off the naked thing had disappeared over the horizon like a big naked gazelle. All was lost.

As we headed back through the park I couldn't help feeling like a second rate huntsman with like a broken bow or something. My one chance at seeing some REAL nakedness and I blew it.

I was inconsolable.

Then Dade bought me an ice-cream in McDonalds and we watched the second episode of Torchwood with the lesbian scene and everything suddenly seemed ok again.

Oh happy adventures....

Summer Rickshaw Run

...looks mental again! Sounds a bit EASIER though, even though they had to whip through the mountains. Check >>>this one<<< out.

Lunatics to run asylums

Yes that's right the law in Kuwait has been changed so that no foreigners can be administrators in private schools. Instead, they now need to be run by Kuwaitis.

God help us all...

Rusty

Bloody hell! My razor has gone rusty from lack of use!

Is this thing safe...!?!

Say "Goodbye Mr Moustache"

I'm going for the razor now...

Sack

Oh by the way I got sacked today.

The school decided that they would bow down to the wishes of some pushy parents and not bother to renew my contract, despite the increased pass rate at year 10 and 9. Turns out that basically the whiney, lazy little shits who failed this year through a lack of work had parents with big mouths and they hassled and hassled.

Here's the deal. The last guy was such a weed that he never failed anyone.

20%? - Yeah that'll be a C.

Myself though I have a few more scruples than that and even when I was explicitly ASKED to change a grade by a parent (can you fuckin believe that!?) I said no. It's about time that his little angle learnt to study properly. And so I find myself looking for a new job and possibly a new country.

I have my ethics and conscience still intact and I done a great job. That's what matters.

Pain

Ouch.

It's been so long since I shaved I can't find any razors.

So I went round to Juliet's house, who I possibly saw for the last time, as I am leaving Spain soon, and I mentioned it.

Phil, ever helpful and sitting on the sofa, suggested we get out an epilator.

As I don't know what an epilator is I agreed.

Next thing you know, Juliet pulls this thing out of her drawer that looks like a miniature combine-harvester. Basically this thing is used by girls with more balls than me, to sort their legs and pubes out.

What it does, is it has a rotating end with these tweezers that open and close while it spins really fast. When you stick it on your legs it rips the hairs out, leaving you silky soft.



...and bleeding.

Anyway, suffice to say that I am now bleeding from the tache area, with half a tache and tears streaming down my cheeks.

I bet Alan Johnston never had it this bad.

Alan Johnston released!

OK OK you win! I will shave it off tomorrow.. He does have a surprising lack of facial hair to compare with though...

Kung fu Ping pong

Thought you'd like this one Dade...


Kung Fu Ping Pong

Rythmic Gymnastics

I went to the ballet the other day and fell asleep halfway through. Too dull. Not dynamic enough. So I came home and thought there had to be something more dynamic.

So I'm now getting into Rythmic Gymnastics and just in time too - the European Championships is on and I have been getting SO mesmerised. Check THIS out...

Nurse

Those regular readers among you may recall that I lived with a male nurse. Unlike in the UK where we don't tend to name people after biblical figures on purpose, his name is Jesus, a common name here in Spain.

According to Pieter, the new Dutch flatmate, in Holland it is illegal to name your child Jesus and according to the Religious Freaks website, if Jesus were alive today he would be smoking a big fat blunt, but enough of that...

Anyway, Jesus moved out on Friday because he bought an Audi TT and can no longer afford to live in Madrid. I got back home on Thursday and Jesus was cooking dinner.

It was at that moment I realised that I was witnessing a very important event.

The Last Supper of Jesus.

I'm sorry for the long-winded build-up but I thought it was funny...