mcneilp

I used to get pretty nervous doing presentations at school. I'd have notes and stuff which kept me on track but found that when I was really nervous, I'd pronounce words wrong and just generally get myself tongue tied and flustered. Started playing in a band during school with some people I knew which helped immensely in getting rid of stage fright with all the little shows and local band nights we went to. The first few were nerve wracking but once we had a few under our belt the nerves during it weren't bad at all. I still get a little nervous before I start doing a presentation/playing live (which never happens now) but once I start and get comfortable, all the nerves vanish. Practicing whatever it is you're going to be doing is greatly recommended. At school, they were all about looking at your audience when you were delivering your presentation, not talking whilst looking at your note papers for the duration. Instead of looking people directly in the eye all the time, which can get off putting, I always picked a spot on the wall at the back just above head height to look at when I felt the nerves getting to me.

A friend of mine just left for a uni exchange to Oslo. Kinda jealous, to be honest, but he said it's pretty expensive.

"Could of" instead of "Could have". Normally, I don't care about spelling/grammar mistakes but I always notice this one.

YoYos and Tamagotchis. And those dragon toys that had the figure with wings sit on top so when you pulled the dragon's tail, the figure spun round and flew off. Dragonflyers or something they were called.

I'm working at the minute, anywhere from 25 - 40 hours a week but it's not a permanent job which is fine by me as I can't see myself doing it any longer than I have to (hopefully by the start of next year). I've always had some kind of money coming in; had a paper run in the mornings for something like 5 years then started working part time whilst I was at school. My parents earned an average income but we've always been alright money wise. I understand the importance of having money saved away (I can thank my parents for that) but I don't stress myself out over it. I've no idea what I'll be earning in the future and can honestly say I hadn't given it any thought until I read through this thread.

It's not nostalgia as such, but whenever I hear or read something that says "...happened a decade ago" I always think of the 1990s. I refuse to accept 2001 was ten years ago.

Congrats :thumbup:

I doubt that youths who feel they have a viable future would risk it all for a pair of trainers. A primary school teacher was one of the first people to be actually charged for their part in the riot/looting a shop. It's not just chavs and gangsters doing the looting.

Is Manchester the furthest north the rioting has spread, do we know? I also saw a bit this morning on some of the organised street gangs in London bragging about what they've been up to (burning patrol cars/looting/robbery etc) which in turn prompted rival gangs to "up their game" by burning more police vehicles and looting more shops. I'd imagine this might be part of the reason why gangs of youths further north started rioting, not to be outdone. It sounds [bleep]ing stupid but it's the exact same here with teams of neds and scumbags going [bleep]-for-tat, fighting and stabbing people over "territory". If your rival does something, you do the same but in a more impressive fashion. Heck, I'll try to find the article. It puts it a lot more eloquently.

It's ridiculous. Reddit had a really good topic on it last night, loads of first hand accounts from various redditors in different parts of London. It's going to be interesting to see how things recover in the places that have had the worst of the rioting. Smashing up your local shops and businesses seems to me like shooting yourself in the foot, especially when this dies down and your already deprived area looks more like something from Fallout than a local high street.

Do you drink much water before you go to sleep after drinking alcohol? Or eat much before/during your drinking session? Or it could just be that, as you're still young, your body is better at coping with the aftermath of a heavy nights drinking (something about producing more of a certain enzyme that breaks down alcohol, if I remember right. I might've just pulled that out my ass).

I agree. It got out of hand far too quickly. I've been watching the coverage of it online and reading the reddit topic about it all night (which has loads of first-hand accounts from redditors living in London at the minute). It'll be interesting to see how the worst affected areas recover from this once it's over. It seems like looting and burning the shops in your own area is a bit like shooting yourself in the foot. Sure, you've stole yourself a new plasma TV, put some shop windows in and set fire to a police car but when it's all over your area is going to be a lot worse off than it was before the rioters burned local businesses to the ground.

Yep, same as left hand drive. I've driven a few cars where reverse was to the left of 1st gear, but you either had to jam the stick all the way to the left then up or you had to lift a kind of toggle on the gearstick as you shifted at the same time but I'm sure thats the same with left hand manuals as well.

I love drinking sambuca at bars.. it's so obvious that you're drinking something awesome when it's on fire that you get a lot of attention from the ladies :thumbsup: As for straight spirits, try 1/3 malibu, 1/3 tia maria and 1/3 triple sec. Shaken. I thought it would be disgusting but now it's my favorite shot in the world taste-wise. If you don't even want to mix the hard at all, a solid choice is just straight up triple sec or jack. I never really liked jack though, dunno why all the schoolboys push it so hard. Yeah, Jack is alright as a mixer but as a shot or on it's own it tastes vile I think. For shots, things like Sourz/Goldschlager/cheap Absinthe are alright. Whisky if you want as well. I wouldn't take any top-drawer/decent/expensive spirits as shots though, like a single malt or a good bottle of vodka or something.

Well done troops! :thumbup:

Eh, I might grow an actual beard. Use it as a practice run for no-shave/movember. I've already got some nice stubble/semi-beard going on. Failing that, I'll eat more fruit (which is something I've been meaning to do for a while).

I don't go out of my way to get a tan, like sunbathing or whatever but if it's exceptionally sunny and I happen to be out for a while in it I tend to tan quite moderately. I hate the leathery look of older, really tanned people's skin. Creeps me right out. Artificial tan is quite popular with the womenfolk over here but I'm not a fan. Guaranteed you'll see a couple of ladies on a night out resembling oompa loompas who've completely overdone the fake bake. Looks [bleep]ing ridiculous.

Heroin has always been considered the worst of the worst here. It's a well acknowledged, major problem for Scotland which, even if it was legalised/regulated, would still have the cultural stigma attached to it that it currently does as magekillr said. Many people, here at least, are taken in when the word "drug" is used in any kind of news story or whatever, imagining cannabis use on equal terms with heroin addiction. A bit of general education on the effects of different types of drugs could be well used, I'd say.

I read they had managed to arrest the gunman from the island, who was Norwegian himself apparantly. Terrible thing to happen though. The pictures of the aftermath of the bomb blast were pretty horrifying.

I've started feeling like this towards nightclubs as well. I prefer spending the end of my night in my favourite pub, with a few buddies talking nonsense about whatever with some decent music on in the background. Clubs (or maybe the extended drinking time they bring) seem to bring out the worst in people, a few of my friends included, getting angry and pissed off at the slightest wee thing which has led to a few incidents in the past that have got sketchy beyond belief. When I get drunk now I just want to chill. As for drinking by yourself, I've nothing against it. Sitting with a whisky and water at the minute sorting through my music. :thumbup:

Haha classy gent. Iron Maiden tonight. [bleep] yeah.

Ah nice. Looks brilliant coloured in. Very impressive.

Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. If someone would be so kind as to add me to the map.

Haha, great find.

I'm jealous. I might be seeing them in October though, if I can get someone to come with me. If not, I'll go by myself, I honestly don't care. Yup, I'm seeing them in November. Missed them the last time they came here. Back from my holidays. Work tomorrow. Depressing. Seeing Iron Maiden on Wednesday though, so thats something. :thumbup: