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melnychuk
14 January 2008 @ 04:50 pm
 
Make sure you read this all the way to the end

Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?

Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are flat?

Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they know there is not enough?

Why do Kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?

Whose idea was it to put an 'S' in the word 'lisp'?


What is the speed of darkness?

Why is it that people say they 'slept like a baby' when babies wake up every two hours?

Are there specially reserved parking spaces for 'normal' people at the Special Olympics?

If the temperature is zero outside today and it's going to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold will it be?

Do married people live longer than single ones or does it only seem longer?

How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?

Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?

 

Did you ever stop and wonder......

Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I'll squeeze
these pink dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?'


Who was the first person to say, 'See that chicken there... I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes outta it's bum.'

Why do toasters always have a setting so high that could burn the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat?


Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?


Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point to their bum when they ask where the bathroom is?


Why does your Obstetrician, Gynaecologist leave the room when you get undressed if they are going to look up there anyway?


Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs
!

If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?

If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?

If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

Why do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?

Stop singing and read on!!!

Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?

Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?

Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?

 
 
melnychuk
01 November 2007 @ 03:18 pm
I reached the grand age of 28 today! - yes, thats right, my how the years fly by now!

Anyways, enough of the melodrama, here are the goodies I have had so far:

- Electronic picture-card frame (one that displays pics from your memory card)
- Zodiac the book (I kinda picked up some interest after watching the film)
- some dvds incl ELO live in concert
- Record collector price guide (for my vinyls!.....yes im a bit anorak-ish when it comes to that sorta thing)
- Greenslade CD
- A retro 50s style alarm clock
- A Funky T-shirt from blue banana
- Some money

And perhaps the best is yet to come, a trip to London to see 'We will rock you' the musical and hopefully do a bit of shopping and go to the London Dungeon!
Will probably leave the car home and enjoy stress free travel by coach.....if thats possible!

Andrew
 
 
melnychuk
23 October 2007 @ 03:22 pm

I know it was a while back now but incase anyone is interested here are some of my holiday pics from the summer, we went to Cornwall....

 http://andrewjames.fotopic.net/c1344715.html

http://andrewjames.fotopic.net/c1352123.html

Andrew

 
 
melnychuk
03 October 2007 @ 03:41 pm
Halloween fast approaching which means my birthday as well as its around the same time! - Looking forward to 3 celebrations including bonfire night! Just love this time of the year, real family time!

Took the little fella to a couple of shops last night to look at some halloween items and couldnt help remembering the fun and excitement when I was that age too, I picked up a few treats for him and we plan to take him out trick or treating with his new cousins who he just loves playing with!
We also plan to have a little halloween party at home, especially now his new bad has arrived, its a high sleeper and perfect for having friends round and making dens etc...

Anton also started making his Christmas list to send to santa, along with asking the typical 101 questions about santa, how he delivers presents and if I have ever seen him etc haha - Gotta love kids at that age, he asked me how im so clever and I know the answer to every question, my response "Um, I dont know really!" - He caught me out on that one! 
We were sitting together channel hopping the other night as well and we came across the worlds strongest man competition on TV, Anton asked what it was so I explained, he then asked if I was going to enter it next time as im the strongest person he knows and he thinks I would win, I laughed and said 'maybe!' - Said he wants to grow up like me which was very sweet to hear! 

Hopefully planning a visit from my partners parents soon as well, it will be a first time meeting for me as they live in Russia but I haven spoken to them a few times and they seem very nice, I will have to give them the full deluxe tourist treatment when they do come which im sure will go down well!
 
 
melnychuk
17 September 2007 @ 11:30 am
So here we are, Monday again before we know it! - Weekends go so fast as do the evenings.

Spent a fairly quiet weekend this time, the 3 of us unwinding and relaxing, had a lovely big meal Saturday afternoon in a new Chinese buffet place that opened near us, it was perfect after an afternoon of shopping, all 3 of us were spent out, even Anton who had his hands full of goodies we treated him to! - I think it was a case of overkill on the buffet tho, I always mix up 'Eat as much as you LIKE' with 'Eat all you can!!!'

The rest of the evening was reserved for resting and relaxing and of course there was always time to fit in some video games while Natasha rested (only because the little one wanted me to play......honest! haha)
After watching the remains of a star wars episode it was bedtime story time time for all 3 of us and then with anton fast asleep after an exciting and fulfilling day Natasha and myself settled ourselves down with a drink or 2 and a dvd. (Barry Lyndon in fact which Natasha hadnt seen before but like me first time I saw it she totally enjoyed it!)

Sunday we had a late morning and nice big breakfast and then headed to the leisure centre for a long swim, its become tradition now and we have a variety of games and swim-related competitions we like to play, Anton is getting to be quite the little swimmer (and diver) with our tuition, he absolutely loves it too, always asking when we are all going again!
After that we went down to the beach for a bit and looked round a few souvenir shops before heading back home again.
A relatively quiet weekend compared to usual but still a great one nonetheless and all 3 of us got some sun which is a bonus!

And so here we are back to the beginning of another week.

AJ
 
 
melnychuk
22 August 2007 @ 04:46 pm
It was Saturday the 28th July, the alarm went off extra early, we gathered our things up, said a temporary farewell to our home and set of in the car for the shores of Cornwall. I would have said 'sunny shores' but on that particular day and over the weeks prior it had been raining rather continuosly which I must admit had given us all reason for slight concern, nonethless we were determind and our resolution was to have a great holiday whatever. I had set out an action packed itinery over the weeks building up to the holiday and I knew that no matter what we would see it through and not let anything spoil it!

And so began our holiday.....

Saturday 28th July:
We set off from Barry in Wales at around 7:30am, the idea was to hit the M5 motorway before the saturday traffic and summer holiday makers congested it too much, at first it was fairly plain sailing.
We had planned an en-route visit to Plymouth to check out its great harbour and the city's great history but as fortune would have it there was no avoiding the M5 build-up and after queuing in almost stand-still traffic for the best part of an hour we pulled the plug on that idea. We decided that the best thing would be to head straight for our destination passing by Plymouth but not stopping off.
As for our destination, we were headed for Helston in Cornwall, more accurately 'Gwendreath' which was a small village in the Ruan Minor district of Helston, which as mentioned was in Cornwall, as confusing as it sounds districts and areas etc are simply a feature of the UK you soon get used to.
My 2 passengers were full of energy and excitement for the first part of the journey and Natasha fumbled frantically for a pen to start her holiday diary, 2 hours later my 2 passengers were asleep, the early morning start and effects of motorway travel had taken its toll and I I turned down my music and simply drove checking from time to time as their heads lolled and rolled from side to side, mouths draped open like great venus fly traps waiting for its prey.
I even passed the most comical and bizarre site of a car being towed by a caravan and laughed to myself and again looked at the 2 sleepyheads wondering to myself if I had joined them and was actually dreaming myself also!

And so, our journey went on and eventually after 6 hours driving without a break we arrived at our first pitstop, 'Trebah Gardens' around early afternoon, Natasha had lost her diary momentarily and had to find it to make a note before we could proceed.
We then ventured forth to the gardens having only seen some great online photos and reading some positive comments beforehand so we were excited over what we might find and we were not disappointed.
The gardens stood tall and occupied an area of roughly 26 acres and included a little inlet/bay with a stone/pebble beach with the clearest of waters, (incidentally this beach area was used during world war 2 for loading US and British soldiers onto the ships prior to departure for the D-day landings) Trebah manor house overlooked the gardens which seemed to slope down into almost a valley-like land feature.
The gardens contained an inexplicable variety of plants, tree's and flowers and included water features and bridges that were straight out of a Lewis Carroll story or some bavarian folk tale. We totalled about 3 hours there in all as well as enjoying a hearty meal in the cafe at the start of our exploration of Trebah Gardens.
After that we went onward towards our Caravan in Silver Sands and after a brief but interesting period of being lost around Ruan Minor and Cadgwith's network of lanes we found our final destination and checked in.
The Caravan was fairly old fashioned, probably built in the 80s and it soon brought memories flooding back of my childhood when every year we would spend time over the holidays in our static caravan based down the gower peninsula. Even the smell of fresh sea air made me reminisc!
(For anyone who has been caravaning just recollect the smell of the Gas Fire/cooker, sand and various fabric's!)
After a quick jaunt to sainsbury's in Helston to pick up some shopping it was time for a quick meal before retiring to bed. And boy did I sleep well after all that driving!


 
 
melnychuk
22 August 2007 @ 12:48 pm

Not completely accurate but based on ongoing statistics, this is a World Clock monitoring various global statistics by the second.....makes for some interesting figures!

http://www.peterrussell.dreamhosters.com/Odds/WorldClock.php

Andrew

 
 
melnychuk

Bored at work, wanting to while away the hours so figured I would post away on some of my musical interests:

Of late I have found myself really getting back into either old 70s progressive rock or origional 70s UK punk bands, Wishbone Ash have always been a big love of mine, I remember buying ARGUS on gatefold LP back in about 1993 which seems very late to listen to such a band but I was only 13 at this stage!
I recall the craze at the time being Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins (or any other grunge scene band) or other direction being Brit-pop/Indie in the form of Blur, Oasis, Pulp etc....for some reason none of these bands did anything for me at the time and I stuck firmly to what I felt were my roots of musical interest.

1993, It had been a really hot summer, and I remember this as being a time where I had really started to get into my music and I eagerly scoured bootsales and charity shops for LPs of weird and wonderful bands I had only merely heard reffered to in books or by word of mouth...
My parents have never been too big an influence on my musical tastes, even today my dad is often heard making comments like ''What on earth is this rubbish?!?'' when sat next to me in my car going somewhere....he is into his Opera or classical stage show/crooner music tho so I cant expect him to like my stuff!
Anyhow, building up to that summer saw me aqcuiring such albums as Masters of reality and Paranoid by Black Sabbath, Dark Side of the moon, Meddle and Animals by Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin 1 & 2 and so forth, now in retrospect all quite mainstream and popular albums but oh so special to the ear of a 13 year old for the first time.

Casting back a bit to my origional roots, my very very early tastes of music I recall being about the age of 9 and sitting in my uncle's room (he was lodging with us at the time) and listening to his various 7" vinyl singles while he spiked his hair and put on his aftershave to go out with his latest girlfriend, amongst his vinyl I found a gem in the form of 'Who wants the world' by The Stranglers....something about that song transfixed me as something special. I would ask him everytime he was in the house to play it until he got so fed up he gave me the single to play it myself (he also loaned me his 12" copy 'No More Heroes' and told me only to listen to it on headphones and NOT to repeat any of the lyrics of the less savoury tunes (Nubiles! - need I say more?).
Soon enough I came across a 7" of 'Nice N' Sleazy' and then bit by bit over the years my collection amassed to almost anything I could find or was available at the time, it has since remained this way.
The only shame was that I was far too young to see the origional Stranglers with Hugh in the band, he left in 1990 when I was merely 11 years old. I have since seen him play solo which is definitely worth the ticket price.....some pics will follow.

So anyway, without getting too sidetracked, back to 1993 and Wishbone Ash, Argus was my starting point, some would say a good starting point.....maybe the best and for me it was exactly what I wanted from the record, the gentle acoustic ballads and smooth build ups to those great blistering solos and that trademark twin guitar sound......'Sometime World' still does something for me every listen!
'Warrior' another great anthem of a song and when Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris said that Wishbone Ash were their biggest influence you can really hear it on this one (not to say many others also).
Needless to say 'Argus' stayed on the turntable for some time and it was a good while until I eventually moved on to 'Pilgrimage' and then later 'Wishbone Ash' - For me, these are the 3 real albums that totally cap the band....
The heavily blues influenced debut album includes guitar licks and riffs that can be found in many of todays bands, especially on the stoner scene (See track 2: Lady Whiskey and listen to the band CLUTCH just for an example!).
As for 'Pilgrimage' there is very little of the era that can match up to such a classic as 'Jailbait' with its whining and intricate guitarwork and crescendous tone. Anyway If you havent already heard them, go listen!

 
 
 
 

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