Onto Uni I March

Once again, I'm behind on my blogging, and because of that this won't be very detailed, but...I've passed college! I've graduated! I've got my diploma (so to speak). It's all here on the print-out. Not exactly amazing marks, but considering I dropped one class, and discarded two others at the very last minute, and the fact that everyone thought I'd fail last year, it's fairly amazing that I got there. So I'm on my way to uni! What d'ya think about that??? Only 10 years behind everyone else - so I'm coming in a "close" second, you could say!

All Work And No Play Make Ryan a Good Boy!

I've got til the 18th to do an entire portfolio. Two entire portfolios in fact. And I reckon I've finished one of them already. All I needed to do was apply myself, and bingo! It was done. Amazing what can happen when I actually do the fuckin work!

I'm not surprised I've got work to do. My college officially finishes this week, at 12pm on Friday (the 18th), when I finish my English exam. But that won't actually be the end of me in college just yet. I'll have to go in the following Monday to complete my IT work. And then the next few days to do my maths work (and possibly even the week after that). And then, for some reason, even though I'll have already done my critical thinking exam by then, we have to hand in our Critical Thinking essay by the 28th of June! Crazy, stupid timing (an essay would've helped us understand our exam, but instead we're doing our exam first...weird!!).

Of course, I'm not out of the woods yet. I've got to finish these two portfolios by Friday for CERTAIN, and then hand in my English essay (which should've been handed in two weeks ago), and then finish my placement portfolio. Amazing. I've had all this work all this time and I've only just started it! But, that's my fault and my fault alone. I'm gonna be the one to solve my problems. And I've got two days to do it! As well as two exams....oh dear!

100 Movies, 100 Quotes, 100 Numbers

Fighting

I've recently seen a slew of great fights, however disappointing the results actually turned out to be. In fact, I reckon the string of fights I've seen are among the best I've EVER seen. Here's the rundown (ps: bare in mind some of them aren't brand-new...just new for the purposes of this blog).

Jose Aldo vs Urijah Faber

I honestly thought Urijah would take this one. He's the most dominant Featherweight champ in history, and he was hungry to get his belt back. Sure, he lost twice to the former champ Mike Thomas Brown (who's no slouch himself, clearly), but those were set-backs. This Aldo kid, however much hype he had, just wouldn't be able to fend off Faber, who I expected to be relentless in his takedown attempts. Faber strikes me as a kind of mini GSP - someone equally good standing up as wrestling others to the floor and just dominating them with their overall skill. Plus, he has heart for days - even if he got hit solid, he'd fight on. I knew Aldo had all this hype at being a mini Anderson Silva, with his ridiculously good striking, and being the rangey bad-ass of his weight-class, but I just couldn't see it happening here. I did see Aldo's surprising demolition of Mike Brown, but I just put that down to Brown not being as good as his two victories over Faber might suggest. I was wrong. Even though Aldo didnt knock Faber out at all, he fuckin demolished him with precise leg-kicks, and showed some scary power in his ground'n'pound. Honestly. I've seen bigger power (Brock Lesnar), but there was something incredibly vicious about the way he was hitting Faber. I can't even describe it. VICIOUS isn't the word. How Faber survived when Aldo had him in the crucifix is a mystery - just goes to show how hard Faber is - and he couldnt even walk back to his corner after the fourth round - he had to be carried back, his leg was so beat up. The fact he remained trying til the final bell says something about him.
Still, now Aldo truly does look invincible in his weight-class. Judged on this performance, I reckon he could take on (and beat) BJ Penn, who is a weight-class above him, but I may be wrong - maybe he's just too small for that, even though he doesnt look it. My bet is: he'll do an Anderson Silva (dominate the weight class so much many people begin to say its getting boring and he has no challengers). Still, I said that about someone else, who I'll talk about later...

Floyd Mayweather vs Shane Mosely

I know pre-fight hype is supposed to convince us that both men have a chance at winning, even if one invariably has a better chance at it than the other, but this one actually had me going. I know all about Mayweather. Everyone knows he's a league above most of his competition, but this one was different. They were saying his opponent had just the same speed as Mayweather, and was stronger too, with an iron jaw. I bought into it.

You'll never understand my excitement when I saw Mosely rock Mayweather in the 2nd round. It wasn't just a hit that caught him - it DEFINETLY shook him. Mayweather clung on like the champ he is, and tried to fight on, but then Mosely caught him AGAIN!! I jumped out of my seat and screamed the fucking house down. He'd wobbled Mayweather somethin fierce. This was it!! Mayweather was going down!!
But somehow he hung in there, and gutted out the rest of the round. In fact, in the last 30 seconds or so of the round, it looked like he'd took over from Mosely. Mosely suddenly looked a bit confused. And exhausted.
And yeah...the Mosely who rocked the up-til-then undefeated Mayweather Jr pretty much left the fight after that. Somehow, this guy who was meant to have cardio for weeks, was knackered by the exchange. And Mayweather was fine. Mayweather had made the mistake of opening up, and not being so "defensive" and "boring" (I used to think he was...now not so sure), and had paid for it by being put in the most danger of his entire career. So he started boxing more defensively. And picked Shane apart. He even became the aggressor - something that he's been criticised for most of his career. I still hate the prick, but I watched him dismantle the dude who had all the same attributes as he did, but was meant to be stronger. Nah...Mayweather was bullying him, but still couldnt get the knockout, even though he was uncharacteristically going for it most of the fight.
I hate the man, but I now will admit - Mayweather can fuckin BOX!
But, may I suggest a theory? Of course I can...this is my blog: the fact that Mayweather was caught...TWICE...when he opened up and fought more aggressively than usual...this bodes very well for his fight with Pacquiao. Though I'm not convinced Mayweather would still win that fight, the fact that Mosely had the reactions to catch him (however lucky it may have been), Pacquiao is just a step above everyone else in that way. His reaction time, hand-speed, and power are second to none. If he clipped Mayweather (who I'm gonna assume would be fighting VERY defensively), he'd be knocked down, if not out - Pacquaio wouldn't miss the opportunity to knock the stumbling Mayweather over

Lyoto Machida vs Shogun Rua II
The first one was a great fight. But because Machida was, and still is, my favourite fighter today, their first fight was a bit uncomfortable for me to watch. I knew that out of everyone, Shogun was one of the worst people Machida could've fought in his first defence of the title. I was proved right. He became the first person to ever win a round against Machida, and in many people's eyes (including my own), he won. I was happy that the judges had given it to Machida, but I knew deep down Shogun had won it. I also knew it would open the floodgates and give a reason for the haters to say he got exposed, and give a reason for all the band-wagoneers (those who booed him only a few fights before, then cheered him wildly after he won the championship) to jump ship immediately and join the haters. I knew Shogun wasnt going to go into the rematch weak. I also knew that if Machida lost, it'd mean, essentially, that he was finished. His career had been built, through no fault of his own, on his mystique, on his sheer inability to be hit. Well, the first fight with Shogun eroded that. The second one destroyed it - he knocked Machida the fuck out!! Right out. With some of the heaviest hands I've ever seen. It wasn't just a knock-out. It looked seriously damaging to his health. He didn't jump up immediately afterwards after they're "knocked out" - he was down there for a while. And his face was caved in. Poor Machida. All the haters came out the woodwork immediately, declaring him a has-been. It certainly did make it far harder to see how he'd be able to fight some others in the weight division now; once a mystique is damaged, it becomes incredibly hard to see it again. And even though I rate Machida above every other fighter in MMA (with the possibly exception of GSP), I'd say he's lost his mystique for good.

GSP vs Dan Hardy
This one isnt on here because it's one of the better fights - I just have to mention it because its GSP - one of the best fighters in history, against the first-ever Brit to get a shot at a UFC title. History. However...as good as GSP is, I'm beginning to agree with some of the nitpickers - he's a bit of a "safe" fighter these days. He takes them down because he knows he can take them down. He doesn't stand and fight. If he is against someone with a reputation of being a striker, he'll just take them down - barely even try to fight hand-to-hand. Hardy had a rep for being brilliant with the hands, so GSP used his incredible wrestling skills to just take him down time after time, round after round. Sure he tried to force submissions here and there, and it showed that Hardy is one tough mo-fo, but it didn't seem...genuine, I think the word is. It just seemed like GSP was doing it because it looked liek he was just lying on top of his opponent, and thought rather than get shit from everyone for lay-n-praying, he'd try a submission. GSP isn't quite the fighter who battered Matt Hughes anymore (and remember - Matt Hughes was near-invincible for the longest time). I don't mind GSP fighting smartly (because he nearly killed BJ Penn!! haw haw) but because he used to be so great, he seems to have lost something. Maybe I'm being too nitpicky here - he's not like Josh Koshcheck in the Paul Daley fight (I wont mention that one).

and finally...

Leonard Garcia vs Chang Sung Jung
This is on because I just watched it tonight. Its from the same show as Aldo vs Faber, and I actually missed the hype about it. I stumbled across it tonight, and thought Jung's nickname was too cool to not investigate. How could you not love someone nicknamed the "Korean Zombie"??? Also, unlike the last two big Asian sensations to try it in the US (pound-for-pound all-time greats Takanori Gomi and Shinya Aoki), he seemed to come in with far less hype, and yet blew everyone away and lived up to the hype and more. He's nicknamed the Korean Zombie because he can keep going after taking some huge hits, like a zombie can. That could've been exaggerated, But no - Garcia was swinging some heavy, heavy hands, and was connecting with most of it. Jung looked rocked by a few of them, but yes...like a zombie, he kept on coming. And coming. And coming. And throwing bombs of his own. The hype for this fight seemed to have slipped under my radar, but it was one of the best, most entertaining fights I've ever seen. I usually prefer skill to slugfest, but goddamn...
Also, I'm not so sure Jung DID win the fight, despite it being almost universally agreed he was robbed. He sure argued his case well, but I think Garcia's smart striking in the first half of the last round won it for him - Jung didn't come into it til just after the half-way mark. I reckon it was a draw - definetly not a washout by either man. Still, the Korean Zombie has gained a fan in me! I just hope they give him entertaining fights in the future, and don't put him against someone who erases his mystique. His mystique is that he can take big shots and keep coming. Putting him against Aldo, Faber, or Brown (who are in the same weight-class as he) could ruin his mystique. OR...he could prove to be a real monster and eat them alive with his relentlessness. Lets find out...

Where to Begin?

I'm not sure where I can begin this blog - it's been another long, long time since my last one. I still reckon since my friends have stopped blogging so regularly has affected my own frequency. They should restart, methinks.

So what was I going to write about this time? I'm not actually sure now. My mind comes and goes. Bad sign as I get older.

I've recently starting looking into avenues to emigrating to Australia. Genuinely. And the one thing that's always needed isn't something I possess. It isn't a healthy imagination, nor a natural charm. It's a qualification. I looked at their latest list of "essential jobs" and one thing that pissed me off/upset me in equal measure was that English teachers, or teachers in general, weren't on there. Should I train to be a hairdresser? Who knows.

Just the other week, I accepted my place in university. Now all I have to do (apart from check up to see if it's actually done) is pass the fuckin course. Which was going somewhat smoothly until my dad decided to gut the entire house, leaving us with electricity only for a few hours a day. No gas too, for some days. Meaning we had to either get a cold shower, or piss on each other to sterilize ourselves. Luckily, no-one actually pissed on each other - t'was just cold showers.

However, I was left without a computer for most of it. No computer means no coursework. But since I rarely actually do coursework at the right times, that wasn't the worst thing. No computer means no Ryan - I live on this fuckin thing. I would've settled for having the PS3, but that was also off - it apparently runs off the same electricity as the rest of the house, or somethin...I aint no electrician.

Anyway, that's left me quite far behind in college work. But I'm up on most people on my course because of some mixup, the hours we did in our placements don't count towards our college hours, and we need to do a minimum of 14.5 hours to be allowed on the course - and if you take my placement off, I do 14.5 hours! Strangely, I'm the only one who does that, so you know what that means? Yup. I'm the only one who has enough hours to still be allowed on the course. I was hoping some people (who should remain nameless) would have too few and be asked to leave. Of course, if everyone under 14.5 hours got kicked out, I'd be the only one left. Turns out some have too few hours even with the three hours of placement added on (heheh), but of course the teachers have assured everyone it's not our problem - its an administrative problem. Whatthefuck?? If it was me on the course doing too few hours, I'd be kicked out. Someone has been doing less hours even WITH the placement hours added on and they're still on the course? I say no! But I'm no authority. Yet.

So even though I was gonna talk about a lot more, I'm going to have to sign off now. I kept getting sidetracked writing this (as I regularly do, which is one of the reason's I haven't wrote a blog as often as I used to), and its way too late now - college in the morn. Well...in the next five hours. Ta-ta!

Promise

Ok, so my New Year's Resolution was to work out this year. I always say I want a six-pack before my next birthday (I think that started in 2005, and I've never acheived it yet). But now it's quite desperate. I have a strange pot-belly that hangs over my jean buckle, and is remarkably uncomfortable unless I hold it in - and that quickly ends up being remarkably uncomfortable too.
So my promise is this: I WILL have a six-pack by my birthday. I can't say I'll start now (I've had a week off and done fuck all about it...but I'm hoping I get the cajohnes to go tomorrow - but I've been saying that for ages, so who knows?)
I will ahve a six-pack, and this year it'll be a much bigger challenge - I'm not fat by people's usual standards, but when I've got folds, and man-tits bigger than most of the girls I've been with (they'll know who they are), I've got problems. The one thing I'm hoping to do is start back at the gym early enough so I give myself enough time to actually achieve the goal this time - usually I get motivated about 3 months before my birthday, and hit the gym hard, before stopping about a month before it...its quite wierd. If I had a woman (and I know its hard to believe, but I do NOT), I'd have the motivation - or the exercise equipment to actually shift it, if you know what I mean (wink, wink). But alas, I do not...I need to a) get a schedule sorted, b) stick to it (which is quite hard knowing my attention span) and c) keep track of my own progress and results. The hardest part of that is actually sticking to a schedule. Even if I only go once or twice a week, that just means if I miss one, I miss one of a few - half my weekly schedule...If I was going every day of the week (like I should've gone this week!!!), and miss a day, its only one day out of the seven! See what I mean? Difficult because I'm notoriously fickle. The slightest reason not to go and I'll take a pass.
I remember being completely different - I'd go at absolutely every opportunity I could, and I'd work til I felt sick. What happened? I listened to the advice of someone who "knew how to work out", thats what!!! I wonder what kind of shape he's in now...

College schedule and the tests of karma

How come I blog more when there's less going on in my life (2008-2009 was void of college, work, and everything else, yet I blogged quite a bit), and when I was actually doing something (2005-2007 in Australia), I never blogged at all?
Well, one reason is I never knew about blogging. I wasn't as "net-savvy" as I am now. However, I wish I did know about it back then - I had things to talk about. My friends, when I had them there, would tell me my emails that I sent to them all were a pretty interesting, and entertaining, read. But, alas, I didn't. So...that has nothing to do with now.
Oh yeah. I'm in college now, and I barely blog anymore. I dunno - my friends who used to blog regularly have stopped blogging themselves, so I seem to have stopped too...wierd. One of them isn't even my friend anymore! That's what they said, anyway...
So yeah...I've made it to the second semester!!! Wahoo! They said it never could be done!!! But I did. Strangley, since we returned on January 4th, we've had at the absolute most 9 days in college. That's 9 in two whole months! Because now we're broke up for half-term holidays!! We were back properly for a week and then we broke up for the week. Amazing. If college keeps going like this, I'm gonna enjoy it more than ever. Of course, it wont, and I wont.
My new timetable isn't that good. I much preferred my last one, and it really tests my patience by putting us ALL DAY FRIDAY with that cunt who "witnessed" the fact I was stealing from the hotel I worked in. Motherfuckers. When I saw that, I thought that was it - its over. He's a squeaky fuckin weasal. I hate him, and I don't think I can stand spending all day with him. The worst thing is, it's on a friday!! Now, my logic (I know, not something that is usually can identify with my rants), we're going to finish college on a friday - as in, our last day ever in college will be on a friday. Its likely we'll break up on the thursday, but I have a feeling it'll be the friday. That'll mean BOTH groups go out for a celebratory drink. And where do they all drink? The fuckin Royal. Who works at the Royal? Exactly. After getting onto the 2nd semester, I was hoping for an easier ride, but it seems karma tests me once more...