TomRed's blog & stuff

Hilarious. Something I discovered a year or two ago. Guess who’ll no longer be a little boy tomorrow.

A masterpiece. Billy Joel’s signature song.

If you don’t follow this blog at all, you probably won’t grasp the significance of this post. This is an obituary (yes, an obituary) I knew one day I had to write, but wished it otherwise.

I’ve made several posts about this remarkable man, with good reason. Walter Breuning was the world’s oldest man from 18th July 2009 until yesterday. His predecessor, Henry Allingham, I took some interest in, where my peculiar interest in longevity sparked.

Breuning was born a long time ago, and his passing leaves even fewer comrades from his era – the nineteenth century. Beyond the bragging right of living in three centuries (and thirteen decades), his mental and physical health was robust and he was largely his own man. He maintained his own diet, exercise, and was not on medication. That alone is nice to know, it really is. A human is capable of living 114 years with a great quality of life.

There was more to him than that.

When you live throughout the whole of the 20th century (and a little extra), you learn a few things. This man personally coped with the ‘dark ages’ of the 1900s, the Great Depression, and losing your wife back in the 1950s. His personal philosophy is focused on helping people, and despite his circumstances he had no fear of death. I’m not reiterating third-party news reports that pick out the numbers and key words, I’m telling you what I’ve learned from his videos.

At the end of March he was hospitalised. When I found this out I obviously thought that it may be the end. I thought he would pull through, from the  information given. His passing was not so much a shock. It’s sad, definitely. But I’m consoled by him probably knowing too that his time had come, and that he was ready to embrace it. This sadness stems from losing a piece of history, and above all, a great man.

“We’re all going to die. Some people are scared of dying. Never be afraid to die. Because you’re born to die.”
– Walter Breuning (September 21, 1896 – April 14, 2011)

Some Ed Byrne. Have fun.

It’s been over two months now since I got Minecraft. Two months of getting progressively better at making homework excuses and losing the ability to walk. What can I say? It’s just plain addictive.

A couple of you were thinking, “what the hell is Minecraft?” Google is your friend, fools. But it’s basically the ultimate sandbox game. You mine shit, craft shit, build shit, fight shit. The philosophy behind it is logical (e.g., you dig up sand from a beach best with a shovel, and smelt it with coal (or some form of wood) in a furnace to make glass) and the potential is simple huge. If you’re genuinely interested, you might want to start with this old weekly video or Yahtzee’s review for a brilliant summary.

It started off with single player, but I wanted more. I now make shit on a server with real life friends with the aid of Skype. I have no shame.

Anyway, here’s a small gallery of some of the stuff we’ve accomplished over the weeks.

MEINKRAFT!

James Randi is simply a legend.

I haven’t done a referral in a good while, but here you go. The Perry Bible Fellowship Comics are probably the funniest, most well done comics I’ve found across on the interwebs. I suppose it’s pretty well known, but I’m telling you merely to share the joy.

This coincidentally is another Samuel L. Jackson in Star Wars video, but this review and the others of RedLetterMedia are just plain hilarious (I’ve probably posted one on here before).

Oh boy, exam reminders! This is the last of my school exam timetables, and without sarcasm it actually looks great. There’s only four, in the space of a week, and none are on the same day. Of course, there’s no retaking so I can’t muck up.

20/6/11 Maths: C4 (Monday, a.m.)
23/6/11 Maths: FP2 (Thursday, a.m.)
24/6/11 Chemistry: U5 (Friday, a.m.)
27/6/11 Physics: U5 (Monday, a.m.)

Papers will be uploaded soon.

See the description for the last video.