August: Osage County

When I was a lad I was known as a bit of a gadget boy...in truth my quest for the best sounding music on whatever I was listening to did mean I spent an undue amount of time and money on bits of kit.  The need for kit is something that The Boy is replicating...I hope he learns quicker than me, that it's not the kit that makes for a rewarding experience.  However, sometimes it does make a worthwhile difference.  With the advent of iPod players, mobile phones, it's been easy to carry around vast quantities of music.  In theory that's a good. But I've found that the impact has been to lessen my interest.  Too often, train or tube journeys that should have been filled with my favourite tunes are occupied by the sound purely of the rattling carriage.   But a couple of weeks ago, I bought a gadget that has transformed things.:

This is a digital-analogue converter and headphone amplifier...about the same size as a mobile phone.  When I plug it in, the music is transformed. I hear instruments that I've never heard before, the music has a clarity that is mind-blowing, the positioning of instruments is phenomenal.  Headphones that I thought were poor are suddenly reproducing music with an excellence and musicality that is a revelation.  I have rediscovered music that has long since been forgotten.  Once again I am genuinely excited about listening to music.  Yes, I am genuinely excited.

This weekend we headed to Exeter...perhaps a little rashly given the flood waters that are rising across the south and west.  As it was a long journey we decided to let the train take the strain rather than forage on with the Jeep.  Foolish mistake.  As we headed further west, we could see more and more flood water.  In many places it was impossible to know where rivers ended and 'land' started...boats appeared to be moored in the middle of lakes.  Horses, cattle and sheep were in places wading knee deep in floodwaters, telegraph poles and electricity pylons rose out of great seas of browny sludgy waters.

Eventually we ground to a halt outside Yeovil.To their credit, Network Rail organised coaches within an hour or so and we were able to reach Exeter in time to see The Cat in August: Osage County.

This is a very powerful and troubling play about a dysfunctional family...and a broader comment on the state of American society.  It is a play that in the wrong hands would be tedious and expose all the flaws of any amateur drama group.  But, and given the standing ovation, I'm not biased when I say it was truly outstanding.  Superb, heartfelt and pacey performances complemented by a fabulous set kept us on the edge of our seats throughout.  No wonder there were oohs and aaahs as each new piece of dysfunctionality was revealed...the characters were completely believable.  I was indeed very, very proud indeed of The Cat and totally in awe of her fellow cast members...I am sure that some if not all have very successful futures ahead of them on the stage if that is the route they decide to follow.  I'm sorry you can't go to see it as the short run has finished, but I gather there is a pale imitation doing the rounds of the cinemas as a plan B.

Awesome...automatically

It's catch up time again...yes, we've been away for a few days so I'll have to set aside some time to plough through my favourite reads...

We were back in Austria, just checking that The Boy was eating his greens and washing his underpants.  We suspect he was doing neither, but seems very happy indeed.  He took two of us out on the slopes mixing some guiding with some skiing instruction...and I have to say on both counts he was very good indeed.  We introduced our two friends to the delights of the Hotel Erica where we have affectionate names for most of the staff.  In charge is Frau Frau, her husband is Herr Frau Frau, their daughter who will soon be taking over is Mini Frau and her husband Herr Mini Frau.  Imaginative aren't we?  The lady who cooks the eggs in the morning is Frau Fried Egg.  May be we should have a re-think.

This was the view across the slopes...the falling snow has been added by Google 'because they can'.  At some stage they'll probably make another one of their videos as they did with our last trip...it's a thing called 'Auto-awesome'.

Another technology company that's been messing around is Facebook.  In our absence, Facebook seems to have marking its tenth anniversary, and they celebrated by creating a film of highlights from all our posts. What it proves is that over the last decade my life has revolved entirely around The Boy...that is the sum total of it.  With one exception...it features a picture of Auntie Gwen, but not one of The Cat's Mother.  I feel I may be in trouble for that one.

Happy birthday Mr Cole

Possibly the only jar of Marmite ever to go to a Lloyd Cole gig. The Marmite is for The Boy.The Marmite was a last minute purchase on the way to the concert. Smuggled in I expect it enjoyed it every bit as much as we did. The musicians around Lloyd Cole are The Leopards. As it happens it was his birthday...he's exactly 6 months older than me.

Film 2014

We've managed to see four films this year already...it's that season when the best films are being shown, so we tend to be cinema heavy in January and February.  And so far it's a 100% track record for good experiences.



Ok, this is not a GREAT film, but it's fun, watchable and entertaining.  I don't normally enjoy Ben Stiller films, but here he's quite restrained and we walked out with smiles on our faces.  If only every film was as feel-good as this



Somewhat more grown up, quite heavy going, but ultimately totally rewarding because the performances are outstanding.  We had a lot to talk about once the curtains had gone down which was a good reflection of how much we had become engrossed in it



This is one film that I was over-excited about from the moment I saw the first trailer a year or so ago.  It didn't disappoint.  Leonardo DiCaprio is totally outstanding, and the supporting ensemble do their thing brilliantly.  A three hour film and I don't look at my watch once...it was an absolute hoot that careers along, only going to prove the devil does get the best lines.



Another one that I've been madly excited about.  There may have just been just 4 people in the cinema including us when the film started, but by the end of the first song, there were another thirteen....most of them rustling their sweet packets and chomping away...irritatingly.  Ultimately that didn't detract from what is probably the best of the films we've seen so far.  Funny (hilarious) in parts, sad in others and very thoughtful and reflective throughout.  Excellent performance all round.  My advice is to get down to the cinema quick with this one.  Pay very, very close attention to the first couple of scenes.  And from the outset, ask yourself, "What does the cat represent?"  We need to see this again, so probably a blu-ray purchase in the autumn.

Father and son

This weekend I learnt that Rabbie Burns was a tax collector.  I'm no sure what it says about a country that worships and celebrates a tax collector.  There is an inner glee knowing this fact.

I keep getting messages from The Boy headed "Wagwan".  It's been a mystery to me, so I headed to the Urban Dictionary,

"Greeting in the Patois dialect of Jamaica, rather than a "bastardization" of "What's going on" though it is the equivalent. Originally evolved out of the dialect formed by African slaves being taught to speak english by the British in Jamaica during the peak of sugar plantations. Used in a greeting as, "Hey mon, wagwan".

So now I know.

There was a piece recently that said childless couples are happier that parents.  I wonder where this sort of nonsense comes from?  Is it from people who don't have children themselves and feel the need to justify their position?  I've seen other meaningless reports too about parents being happier than couples with no offspring. These statements are all pretty spurious, as are all sweeping generalisations.  We all find happiness in different ways.  In my case, I always said I never wanted children but then The Boy came along...and it has been the most rewarding experience I can imagine.  The news story struck a chord at the moment, because The Boy is away...and as far as I can tell, he is having the most amazing and wonderful time.  He is extremely happy. Probably the happiest he has ever been. And his happiness has infected me...there's a tingle in my bones that I don't feel often, but it feels very, very good indeed.

He was able to ski with one of his heroes this week.

The man is so famous in skiing circles, he has his own bubble car named after him

We're off to see The Boy again this weekend...I can't wait!

P.S. I discovered you can't legally send alcohol abroad...so Hippo, I'm sorry I can't fulfill my promise :-(

Competition time

One of these is The Boy.  A bottle of Austrian schnapps for the first person who can identify which one (click to enlarge). Hippo, please don't try and guess...shipping costs to Angola are horrendous!

She's at it again..

Food wise, there's a good chance that the kids having left home may yet kill me.  We're struggling to get catering for two right, so end up buying enough food to feed the 5,000.  The consequence of this was last weekend buying a lovely piece of beef, which even after cooking, we still made three-quarters of left.  I finally consumed the last chunk on Saturday at about lunchtime.  By Saturday evening, I was  consigned to the small room making various vulgar noises loud enough to keep the neighbours awake...

Down in the deep south-west, The Cat will soon be performing in a play at the University.  She sent us a trailer

Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

It was an obvious scam.  An email thanking me for participating in a survey, and rewarding me with a $250 Amazon gift card.  But I was home alone so rather than just delete it, I did some Google research and peculiarly it seemed that this might, just might be genuine. The email was genuine.  The person existed on LinkedIn and indeed at the magazine she claimed to work for.  So I took it, expecting really just to get a pile of viruses on my laptop.  No, there were none, and I had indeed won $250 dollars.  That's the most I've ever won in my entire life.  I'm pretty pleased, of course.  But then there is the small print...the gift token was issued in the States and can only be redeemed in the US store.  It cannot be transferred to amazon.co.uk Now I could get all angsty about this...after all shipping costs would take up a big, big chunk of it if I bought anything real, but these days my entertainment is mostly downloaded...so that's going to be a pretty big library of MP3s isn't it?  Any other suggestions for my treasure trove, let me know.

Land of the giants

Is this the 21st century version of a family portrait?

Yes these are 9" statues of us on the mantle piece...I included a £1 coin so you can get the idea.  Some people find them a bit freaky, others think they're wonderful...we think they're great.  They were created for us using the latest 3D printing technology.

If you want to spin them around, you can look at the makers website links here, here, here and here

When I organised it, I kept it a secret, so that when we arrived, no one but me know what was going to happen...not surprisingly, no one had the faintest idea.  I simply asked that we each took along something that represented an important aspect of our lives.  The Boy took his skis, The Cat too the complete works of Shakespeare, The Cat's Mother is holding a sculpture of a hare, and I had my camera.

Pants on fire

So, here's a video.  It's Kitzbuehel on New Year's Day at about 6.30 in the evening.  Thousands (about 12,000 they told us) gathered to watch the flaming torch descent of the mountain.  The Boy was carrying one of the torches...it was a quite remarkable sight and was followed by the most spectacular firework show we have ever seen.

The highlight of the descent is when a select few instructors throw their torches aside, hurtle down the last few hundred metres as fast as they can and jump through a wall of flames.  The Boy was one of these.  Don't ask me which one....he was wearing a blue jacket  I think it was the experience of a lifetime for him...and indeed for his Dad



This was his burnt jacket and glove afterwards

And this was father and son celebrating together

And then him with The Cat and The Muffins

Did I forget this?

Sometime before Christmas...and no I can't quite remember when I went on a tour of southern England.  Unusually for me, I was very, very organised about it and especially with the timings.  In the course of my travels, I needed to meet up with three artists, an amplifier repairer and a freezer repair man (that's not the same as a freezing repair man which is what I guess exists in America at the moment).

One of my designated meeting spots is the East Beech Cafe, a rather stunning structure in Littlehampton designed by Thomas Heatherwick....I've mentioned it before.  This time I stopped long enough to have a delicious lunch and glass of hot cider...really to be highly recommended.  Coincidentally I was given a book about the man and his works for Christmas and it was much appreciated indeed.  Have I also mentioned that Thomas Heatherwick is my 'Beatles' moment.  I had the chance to work with him as his PR advisor but I preferred to work on what I thought were more challenging projects. Doh!

Anyway, I took some photographs in the rain and darkness of the beach huts....some of which may still be standing after the storms

Hello 2014

*pokes his head up from beneath the duvet and peers out with one eye open and the other closed to see if the world in 2014 is more inviting than it was in 2013*

Hello and a Happy New Year to everyone.  I hope you all had as splendid a Christmas and New Year as I did.

I think I've forgotten how to write it's been so long, but I remembered earlier today why I have the blog.  It's so I don't forget what I've been up to.  Entirely selfish really, but with my memory giving a goldfish a run for its money I think the digital diary had enormous value now and will only get ever more useful in the days, months and years to come.  In case you think I'm exaggerating, I couldn't remember the name of one of the women in the office when I came in today.  I had to huddle behind my computer working away whilst racking my brains.  It never came to me, so it was fortunate that at lunchtime someone mentioned her name. I feel bad.  Perhaps I need a holiday.

I haven't got a hope of catching up on all the blogs I love to read as I've not been near them for a fortnight, so if there's anything hot that I've missed, perhaps you could let me know.

Anyway, here's a clue as to what we did over the New Year.  There's three minutes of it, and some of it is repetitive...but as Google took it upon themselves to craft it, I won't take the blame.

If I remember any more I'll write again.

Twixt-mas

Are you having fun?  Yes, us too.  Too much to spend any time on the computer...unlike some people who I gather started doing their sale shopping on Christmas Day, probably even whilst her Maj was squeaking.

Starting on Christmas Eve, our daily celebrations have been and will be:

Family and friends
Family
Blessed silence
Family
Friends and family

Even managed a sort of broken Skype call with the Boy after several dozen attempts.  He looked rough as hell, but that may just have been the camera, although the fact that he was swigging beer may have been a different indicator.

In a couple of days we're off to Austria to celebrate the start of 2014.

Until the next time, hope you're having a truly splendid Christmas, and all the best for next year.  Thank you for reading and for your comments which are always much appreciated....

Any questions?

It must be Christmas.  Frantically busy.  I remember back in the good old days when the world was sepia-coloured, and the young lad used to push his bicycle up the hill with a loaf of Hovis under his arm, it used to get quiet at work in December so you could focus on decorating the Christmas tree.  But no longer.

Anyway, The Cat has returned home for the winter holidays full of snot and cough.  I'd have locked her in her room with a cross painted on the door, but The Cat's Mother thinks that's abuse.  You mark my words, it'll be me that comes down with a nasty cold for Christmas not her.

We've lost touch with The Boy again.  No replies to either e-mails or texts.  I assume he's OK as there has been at least one Facebook post.

Our beautiful Christmas lights have suddenly died.  I suspect the rainwater has got into the electrics.  there has after all been rather a lot recently.  Our garden looks all rather sad....

I was travelling a lot over the last couple of days, so had the chance to contemplate on being an adult.

I came to realise that the reason that old people (I'm including myself as old) get up early in the morning is that when they were teenagers, they would sleep late for as long as they could, and continued to do so into their twenties.  But when a baby comes along, there are sleepless nights so the habit of sleeping in is trained out.  This continues as the child gets older as there is then a need for a taxi service for the school run and weekend activities.  By the time the child has left home, the adult has been 'getting-up' trained, much as the child was potty trained, and the training is never lost.  Sad but true.

Also, old people (again that includes me) can only talk about themselves.  Why is this?  Because during their offspring's teenage years, their words fall on deaf ears, with only a grunt in response.  If you dare to ask what they've been up to, the likely response is silence, or another grunt.  So you resort to talking about yourself to create an impression of conversation.  Naturally, as the surly teenager forms into a beautiful young adult, it's too late. You've learnt to just talk about yourself and can't get out of the habit.

Anyway, enough about myself, how are you doing?