cmake, gmake and then make?

You'r'avin' a laff, ain'cha?!?

(In case you're wondering, I'm trying to build open source PHP with open source apache with (reasonably proprietary CoolStack MySql.. It's hell!)

No, that's not a side-project of PWEI,. It was a QWEI, or Quiet WeekEnd In.

Friday failed to get to Inferno. Satirday totally failed to get to Dead and Buried. Sunday was standard 'being a bit of street furniture' follwed by a film (Hangover) with caveynik. Personal opinion of the film: it aint much.

The E-learning portal proved that it was going to be a byatch to move to another system, primarily because the people we bought it off gave the shittest ever install instructions. Today has been one of majorly wrangling PEAR, the PHP application repository into shape on a system that has never used it. OK, the basic PEAR install comes with PHP nowadays but that is just the basic. I've been "having fun" wrangling it into installing extra 'modules' so that the e-learning portal would work.

Eventually, day's end, I had it done!

...and collapse.

Now if I can only remember to submit the timesheets I was meant to do last week I'd be a really happy bunny.

..and staying in on a Friday night. Got home and just didn't feel for the 'delights' of Inferno. I've got bourbon, coffee porter and kabanos here and I can smoke wherever I chose so no real contest right now... plus I'm a bit fried after trying to get the franken-code that is the current version of the e-learning portal drafted over to another system. This involved getting PEAR all nicely lined up and playing with PHP and making sure that sessions were working and communicable. The code works, but for some reason the pages aren't being parsed by the webserver so they aren't coming out all pretty! :( Something to do with headers and templates I think.

This heat is playing hell with... my Zippo[tm]! It seems to just be drinking butanol by the squirtload right now and when I go to light I have to clear the nozzle otherwise I get an "amusing" mini-explosion as a large glop of butane gas gets ignited. Plus it decided it wanted to stay in the pub after I had left to go home. Naughty Zippo! It's back at base now and behaving itself, sort of.

I seemed to be being kicked "talked at" about one of the potential new projects. A phonecall last night went from the usual happy social tone into a more intense "ideas" sort of thing. I'm starting to feel that maybe the time is right to start taking that particular project forward a step or two. Interesting times, I just hope I can get a finished product that fits close to the mental image/map I have for it.

I'm loving this heat even though my excess body weight is making it a little uncomfortable (at times) to deal with. I can feel the heat under my skin, which feels good.

I'm going to drink sme more bourbon, maybe play a few games and maybe dream of elysium times.

No, really! (I'm not sure if sarcasm carries well in LJ-land).

Looks like I'm back to working with the cankerous cock soree-learning portal code AGAIN!!

Now that the company that we paid for it have finally got the damn thing sorted so that it does sensible things like honour case sensitivity in variable names and table names, the grand plan it to move it from the dev box it has been "cultivated" on over to the intranet server.

Currently I am not feeling the love for this task.

However, Line Manager has explained that while it is to be moved onto the live running version of the intranet server I'll be able to restrict access to it until it is up and running. This makes me feel a little less uncomfortable about it.

Oh! And I also have to move all the data that was on the original database serving the intranet server so that it is available for the new installation.

Now, because of my l337 skeelz0r5 with getting the intranet server to do SSO it should be able to handle username logins staright off.. whereas the original installation was using email addresses. So, I have a large-ish table to back-ref and coonvert.. which would be OK except some of those people have used their OFF-SITE EMAIL ADDRESSES!! Arrgh!!

Still, it keeps me busy I guess.

ION, it seems that I may be gathering "a team" for a little project that I'd like to do, This could be very very interesting! :)

Yesterday I spent some time just wandering around Camden market(s). The new market area doesn't really offer much of interest although there one or two stalls that have some creative ideas on sale. I was tempted to stop by the Hobdevlin for a beer, but in the end timing got the better of me and I returned to base.

I didn't make it out to Revenge. I think the main thing that put me off was the idea of having the main "floor" (there is only really one floor in the Rocket downstairs) being the cyber/EBM/techno floor and then there other floors being of different genres. I just feel that the ground floor of the venue is not partitioned enough to have very different genres such as EBM and rock playing that closely to each other without the danger of the sound bleeding over and the whole place just becoming a technoclub. The ten quid entry was asking a bit much too, I felt. Still hopefully it worked out well. Always good to see new clubs around.

For my sins I ended up at Vagabonds. Had a few beers, properly spaced with orange bomb hydration. Well done me for being good. Amusing chat with goth_hangover about how he's been spending his time watching ballet-dancing rubgy players.. or rugby-playing ballet dancers.. it was one or the other.. or maybe I got the two jumbled! :) There were a couple of tracks that made me think "oh, what's that?". Didn't do much of much more. Quit out early-ish, getting back to base with no real problems. Sleep, wake up, rinse and repeat.

I'm on for a set with the metallers today. Will be interesting to see how the weather's affecting the footfall.

The sunlight here is beautiful, the weather is warm with a light cooling breeze. I have kabanos and bourbon. What's a guy to do? *grin*

I broke my 'core' system yesterday courtesy of slaphanded typing, '.' and '/' are a little too close for comfort at times and today has been mainly about recovering it. I hocked together a nice little perl script to pick up user and group ownerships and then transfer them onto the broken system, although I have thought of an even neater/smarter way of doing it via reading the pkgmap files and recreating the necessary that way. It's OK, as the broken system is a test/dev box so no real biggie, I guess just feel frickin stupid for not seeing that typo BEFORE hitting <Enter>. Once I've got enough of the ownerships back I can do a TSM recovery. The "benefit" of all this (and there is nearly always a benefit to every mistake/catastrophe/disaster) is that it has "inspired" me to look at getting a method for bare metal recovery for the unix boxen together and I have a beaut of an idea forming. Hell, if I can run with it enough I may even start to get some of "my products" written up in books again! Result! \m/

Tomorrow there's Vagabonds, as well as "the new kid on the block" Revenge. It'll be nice to see what the Revenge guys can do with the Rocket Complex that'll make it feel a lot more human and less warehouse-like (unless that's the angle they're playing on). I'm just trying to work out which way around I should try the events; Vags then Revenge, or Revenge first then Vagabonds??? Decisions, decisions! When did having fun become such hard work? *grin*

Farrah Fawcett has died.

Another unusual thing was bumping into flavius_m in the supermarket on the way home. I tell you, there are too many of those damn goths around these here parts! *grin*

This. Is. Pricelss!

The Equality and Human Rights Commission has threatened the legal action over what it claimed were “potential breaches” of race discrimination law with regards to to membership policy of the BNP.

Hoo wudda thunk it?

Yesterday was a standard sort of Sunday. Did the flyering slot for the heavy metallers \m/. Get back to base with a nice haul of pastas, pestos, veggies and bits. Towards the evening it was back into Camden to pick up my ill-gotten gains from the metallers and then off up the road to the Bull and Gate in Kentish Town.

Saw Francois on the way up who was waiting for a friend of his. Got the the B&G no problem. Got in with a surprised expression from djpsyche who I think wasn't expecting someone like me to darken her venue! :) Grab a beer, go into the stage area. Quick chats with mister_ed and caveynik. Caught the last couple of songs by the first band. Can't say I found them memorable, though maybe if I'd turned up at the start of their set they'd have made more of an impression.

Changeover times, people seemed to disappear and then reappear. On came the Descendants of Cain. Now I know this band as I have some of their copy floating around somewhere so I was interested to see how they performed live. From a personal point of view, I was glad when their set was finally over. It was just bad metal, with an electric organ so I supposed you could vaguely stretch the label of "cyber metal" that way if you wanted. Lead singer headbanging his way through the songs, long lead guitar solos.. yes, it was metal but not metal as I know it. Just fairly bad metal. It might have helped if the lead singer had looked like he'd even been bothered to dress for a stage performance seeing as he was wearing a t-shirt and what looked like dark fleece/track suit leggings. Very goth.. very metal.. I don't think so on either account.

During the changeover had a quick catch up with chimera_s and then onto Joy Disaster. I really liked the energy of the first couple of songs, fast, upbeat, punchy sort of tunes. However it seemed (to me) that they quickly degraded down into just another indie band. I just didn't "get it", whatever "it" was meant to be.

Still, interesting to see some bands and a good way to kickstart myself back into going to live gigs which is something I seem to have forgotten how to do over the past year or two.

Your mother smells of peas,
Your mother smells of peas,
Carrots, potatoes, broccoli too,
Your Mother smells of peas!

Just back from the Joy Disaster gig (don't ask!). Will write it up tomorrow.

Wow, I just got an icy-cold splash of water in the face sort of wakeup call there.

While looking into some stuff about webservers I found a reference to something that had my name in it. To amuse the curious side of my mind I followed the link and found an archive of a mailing list about PC-viruses. Find the email concerned and start reading it. Oh god yes, I remember writing disk handler routines in assembler code...

...and then I looked at the date of the email.

22 Aug 90! (pre worry-about-Y2K days)..Hell, it's pre UK-Internet integration days. You can tell because the site address is uk.ac.host rather than host.ac.uk as they are now.

Nineteen years ago! EEEKKK!

I've written emails that are now old enough to legally walk into a pub and buy a drink!

Yesterday's plan had been to do the usual Saturday domestic stuffs and then go to Invocation to drink too much winecelebrate it's third anniversary. That was the plan. It was a mighty fine plan. It was a good plan and lo the heavens didst smile upon that plan with a heavenly... err... smile! :)

Some of the lunchtime was spent talking the Saucy One through some of the 'get up and go' points of job-hunting. Her degree's finally come to an end and she's in that 'WTF do I do now?' phase of being between yesterday and tomorrow. I really wouldn't fancy being on the jobs hunt right now with so many people being laid off at the same time as so many new faces are coming into the market while the huge ship that is the economy tries to go through a 180 degree turn from stormy seas back into clear blue water.

As La Saucia was tired and bored of filling in loads of forms, we made an arrangement to meet up down in sCamden to go for a wander about and get some food. And so it was... almost. Shortly after meeting she asked what I was planning to do, and I replied with the 'plan' to get to Invocation a bit later in the day. As she hadn't been out clubbing for a week or so she thought this was a supremely good plan and would join in the fun. The only problem was that, as she had not known she would be going on elsewhere, she had turned up in her "off the goth clock/art student" mode and felt she'd have to get something more fitting to wear to attend the night. Therein followed an epic journey, the likes of which would have deterred Frodo and chums, while she shopped for clothes. OK, maybe not that epic but it involved the long walk from Marble Arch to TCR while she nipped in various shops along the way. Fortunately, she's not a 'hover shopper', one of those that'll spend 45 minutes in a shop to pick up eight pairs of socks to then decide that none of them are any good so off to the next shop type. I was reminded (a bit) of when I was living with the BWFH and her weekly pilgrimages into the town to wander for hours around the shops acquiring tut. I'd been through that, by comparison this was a breeze although I did get an unsatisfied hankering for coffee. That's no problem, abstinence just make the heart grow stronger (eep, I still have to erect my personal coffee altar here!)

We ended up down in Soho, and I could see how various little things seemed to have changed. And so it was that we found ourselves down on Shaftesbury Avenue walking along looking for some cheapy-ish food. Found a place that did a chinese buffet and that seemed like a good plan. Got in there and filled up on food. Considering they had real animal pork and beef it was pretty good and cheap. We finished up there and started out. Shortly afterwards Claire mentioned that she didn't feel too good, possibly all the rich food. We bussed it back to Camden where she ventured back home by tube. By that time it would've been a bit too much of a journey (with a stomach full of chinese food) for me to venture South again so I headed back to base. Here's hoping La Saucia is feeling better, I'll know later when she turns her phone back on.

So, I missed Invocation's birthday bash again! ISTR missing last year's also. Oh well, here's hoping the cake eaters had a lot of fun! :)

Yes! YES! YES! YES!

YES! YES! YES!

Yes!

Oh baby, yes!

I am H-A-P-P-Y!

*grin*

In case you're wondering, I just got my next contract (extension) through!

I can start breaking things now! *grn*

I'm having one of those reflex sort of moments. I got a mail during the week from T about going to see a movie tonight, sounded good and I haven't seen T in a while. Then I get a text from Mister Monster himself, caveynik about going over to The Gaff as he's DJing at a psychobilly gig. I had to decline the psychobilly gig because I'd already booked in with T to go to the flicks.

Then about lunchtime today I get an email from T about how she's not going to be able to make it as she's still got to pack and get stuff together to fly out to India tomorrow for the wedding of a friend.. No, not impressed/credible.

I'm not really in the mood for a psychobilly gig, I've just had my throat cuthead shaved, the Facebook events I've got listed don't particularly fill me with glee and the LBB hasn't been updated properly in the last few months so would probably not turn anything up right now.

This calls for some extreme action, I think. Over to sCamden, maybe poke my snout into the Hobdevlin and then some lightning shopping at the Big Orange (you can buy lightning in bundles) and pick up a bottle of glogbourbon, maybe some "energy drinks" and other boozes and then back to base to get thoroughly mullered. This I believe I am allowed to do as I haven't had a drink since last week's "experience" with a bottle of merlot.

Tomorrow is another day, that you never quite manage to reach.

Find out what your local MP has been claiming as expenses.

..take the mood of the weather and go with a contemplative mood by listening the The Eurythmics "Here comes the rain again", or a balls-to-it mood by playing The Cult's "Rain" or a let's-go-play-with-it mood by laying Black Pearl's "Naked in the rain".

Unfortunately, originals of two of the three tracks mentioned are not available for embedding from YouTube.

..and now to the concluding part of the gripping thrilling mini-series called " What is it with me and (super)models?" *cue dramatic organ music*

I meant to post this with the earlier shot in the dark but I must've missed it because of the sexheat I guess.

Anyway.. flyering.. today.. usual place.... handing out bits of paper to people who probably won't read them when I see the young woman, I'd guess mid-to-late 20s and she looks so obviously "out of place" in that she looked so well presented. She looked like a mix of being ready to go to Ascot for Lady's Day racing and Aubrey Hepburn being..well Aubrey Hepburn. Very classic style, light cream/yellow dress, a hat with a large brim, great legs, near perfect makeup. Then I see the guy with the camera with overly-long lens pointing and shooting pictures of her as she assumed various poses. Along with someone who was carrying a large reflector and another who primped the makeup every so now and again it was pretty obvious that there was a photoshoot going on. Judging by the large amount of luggage they'd brought with them I'm guessing it was a catalogue set. I'm also judging by the way they were dodging the passing public that it wasn't being done quite "by the book" wrt. organising with the Markets Authority. Still they didn't have to worry about that for too long as people started to cotton on that there was something going on and walked around them. At one point I even returned the young woman's hat to her as it blew off her head and landed almost at my feet.

So another vague run-in with models of one type or another. Of course, you realise that I attract them because they all want a piece of the BWK-action! *grin*

It was all going so well. I had gotten the universe into a state of calm, the expanding part over there, the collapsing part over here and the entropy bit in little pockets all over the place. Received a text from dr_locrian about going to Zeitgeist for beers. Usual reticence, avoidance of people and general 'meh!' ensued. Eventually haul my ass down that way and get to the pub where I quickly found a group comprised of Scott, Karlos(?), Locrian, Erming and Tall Neil. Unfortunately my ass-dragging meant I only had time for one Kostrizer before the off.

I'd sort of fearedanticipated that there'd be a migration to Reptile at some point during the night. Reptile had been great the first couple of times I'd been but had been pretty crud the last two times, and that downward trend did not fill me with confidence. Still, I was on point so might as well go, what damage could it do? The group got taxis over to the Minories, getting in on the early bird cheapy ticket price. I was mistaken in thinking that it was a "mixed alternative night" rather than "just another goth night" as there seemed to be aa (fairly heavy) reliance on goth staples such as the Mimterm of Sercy[1] and...err... *memory fade*... in the earlier part of the night. Still, it did meld into a more mixed affair later on with splorts of metal, industrial and whatever spliced in there for good measure.

Our group nabbed the table where the High Council usually sit on other nights that frequent that venue. While sitting there, I got hailed by Morticia as she entered the venue. A quick dash over the bodies of the injured and dyinground the table and catch up with Miss M. She commented on my not being around at lunchtimes to which I replied that the previous event had been a chance meeting and if she ever fancied meeting up for lunch she could buzz me on facebook. I was surprised, nay shocked to find out that she doesn't have a fan club! *grin* She left off to go join her coterie and I returned to the table amid some envious haranguing for NOT introducing people. Sorry guys, I keep the pretty ones for myselfthought everybody knew everybody else in this goldfish bowl of alternalia that is London. No? But of course, you all know your mates and generally don't venture out of your comfort zone. Me being the social whorebutterfly that I am know lots of different people from lots of different groups and groupings and like to treat all as 'friend' (OK, doesn't always work but hey! Them's the breaks!)

I tried to be good and do a beer then wine thing but alas perilous Fate had it in for me, sort of. They had NO pinot noir! WHAT?!??!? How can this be? So I ended up with a bottle of merlot which I'm fairly sure I was under-charged for. Still, the bartender rang it through and charged just a fiver... for a whole bottle??? At this point the awooga warning should've been flashing big time but I thought nothing more of it.

Somewhere along the line something didn't quite work right. I suddenly felt nauseous and not too unlike I had an alien trying to eat its way out of my stomach. This calls for a quick exit, and so I split out early (about 1am IMS!). Sorry to the guys for not saying byes but I didn't feel all that clever. Thinking back on it it is most likely because I A> hadn't eaten anything since breakfast and B> had a pro-biotic late in the day, which in itself is a bad move as you're supposed to take them with food. Oops! I made it back to base without any unfortunate Amityville-style projectile vomiting but feeling not too good about the way of the world.

Sleep, the warm dark arms of Morpheus engulfed me and I found myself waking up on the sofa... again! Get a shower and start to feel a lot less like I'd been trampled by a herd of dancing heffalumps. I should now attempt to eat something I guess as the last time I had any food was yesterday morning! Eeep!

Later tonight we have Tanz Macabre which is celebrating it's third birthday. I'd like to make it out that way but that all depends on how my timings with the heavy metallers go.. plus with the warm weather there is most likely to be some really cute rock lasses wiggling their groove-thang which has a certain sort of mesmeric effect, at least on me! :)

[1] (swap s<=>m)