Other blogworthy items

On the way to the Sheffield Regional othello tournament today, I saw five magpies all sitting around together in a field from the train window, and thought "Ooh, five for silver! No, wait, that means I'll win the metaphorical silver medal and come second in the tournament. That's not good. Quick, I need to see another magpie!"

And I didn't see another one, and I did come second. Drat those magpies. But congratulations to Iain, who's probably innocent of controlling my fate by means of magpies.

Also, Friends is on E4 after nine o'clock tonight, so they're showing the unedited versions with references to pornography and masturbation intact! This is a good move, because when E4 finally stop showing two or three episodes a day, every day, I'll have to buy the DVDs and be horrified by the rudeness! So this is easing the viewing audience into it gently, obviously part of another master plan devised by some genius.

Also also, I bought a lottery ticket for tonight and I haven't checked the results yet, so I'm in that delightful state of possibly being a millionaire and not knowing it. It's great! I think I'll never check it, and remain a Schrödinger's Millionaire forever!

Oogh, I'm poorly

I've got a terrible cold and I've got to spend tomorrow memorising a page of share prices and a bus timetable that I recklessly promised Japan I'd memorise for their TV show. Well, I actually promised an Australian who assured me that Japanese people are waiting for me to amaze them, so it might all be some kind of antipodean conspiracy. Anyway, I'm flying out on Monday now, so I've got the whole Sunday to spend feeling sorry for myself and trying to remember things.

Also, I might be going to America for scientists to examine my brain. It's a busy life, having a memory.

And now Billie Joe McAllister's jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

It being the third of June today, someone on an internet forum I frequent posted a link to "Ode to Billie Joe", so now the song's going to be playing in my head all day. And it does demonstrate what I always say about a positive frame of mind being essential for memory competitions - I had a very speedy historic dates practice this morning, then heard that rather depressing song, and then was a good thirty seconds slower than usual when I went back to some binary digits training. It's a good idea to listen to something fast-paced and bouncy before you go into a competition.

Really great song, though!