Monday, 28 January 2013
Food glorious food
It's a rare treat when two interests collide, especially when it's in such a positive way.
As you know I'm a great lover of street art. You won't know that I'm also a lover of short films. Recently I was sent a whole box of goodies by Shorts TV for doing nothing other than signing up to their newsletter. The Boy has been enjoying the T-shirt and mints.
I accidently stumbled across this short film. It starts off with a ROA, and kept me entertained all the way through. Very clever.
This weekend we managed to burn the candle at both ends and in the middle too. Friday night we held a Burns Night Supper evening...just us, two friends and their lad who is also at school with The Cat and The Boy. We started with a Drambuie and Champaign cocktail, beginning the meal with mushroom soup (not Scottish, but delicious and homemade) before getting to the haggis an neaps which was washed down with red wine and whisky. The meal finished with a selection of Scottish cheeses...some of them delicious. We piped the haggis in (with a video on YouTube) and the Kenneth McKellar and Andy Stewart videos continued late into the night in between topping up our whisky glasses and puffing on a celebratory cigar. We eventually crawled into bed at 3.00 am, with the room swirling around us.
Saturday we went to a packed out showing of 'Les Mis'. I was dragged there kicking and screaming. By the end I felt I had the moral high ground as I we all agreed it was a miserable experience. Whilst the setting was spectacular, I'm at a loss to understand why anyone would want to listen to the music...I realise there are some 60 million people out there who will disagree....so much would have been better without the songs.
And Sunday we went to a friend's for their annual 'Edwardian Breakfast' There was just 35 of their closest friends there. The host is a baker...but not just any baker...he baked a cake for The Queen for her jubilee and it was carried down the Thames on the royal barge during the flotilla. Anyway, our breakfast consisted of grapefruit with port, porridge with whisky, kedgeree with white wine, bacon, egg, sausage, black pudding, mushrooms and baked beans with red wine finished off with pastries and brandy. Phew.
Our meals may not have been entirely authentic, and what on earth we were doing toasting the Scots, I've no idea...but it was a glorious weekend
Saturday, 26 January 2013
Revealing
Well done Mr Q and Mrs NappyValley who between them got to the right answer in my last post. We were at The Globe, and there will be a performance of The Tempest there this year. I did rather bastardise Mr Shakespeare's speech as spoken by Mr Brannagh at the Opening ceremony of the Olympics. We were there to have a look around the work that's going on at the moment. The Globe is a wonderful place to Shakespeare, but come the winter months, it lies empty as no one wants to freeze their bits off listening to The Bard. It transpires that when Sam Wannamaker conceived the idea of re-building The Globe, there was always a plan to have an indoor Jacobean theatre too...funds have never been there to realise this dream. Until now. So from the existing building that was created at the same time as the Globe, a new Jacobean theatre is being built. It will open at the end of the year, and there's a lot of work still to be done. It should be a fascinating experience, as performances will be by candlelight...one of those will include The Tempest - apparently the opening storm scene was always meant to be played in almost total darkness. We're looking forward to it.
A while back I started a blog looking at the Olympic Park as it was being built..it's on my route to work. But I soon came to realise that building works progress slowly, so I stopped. If you take a look, you'll see it's laid out quite differently to this one...I really like it (click on any of the pictures to see linked photos) but it's difficult to comment. As people occasionally still go to look at it, I have just posted up all the photos from my ' Great Olympic adventure'...soon I'm going to add the pictures from the days we visited as spectators....and at odd occasions I'll add to it when we go and use the facilities there...it's currently still shut and it's been quite depressing seeing everything being taken out. I am looking forward to the big concerts that are going to take place there in the summer and a new cycle track plus the velodrome revamped for amateurs will be open in the not too distant future. If you compare what we are trying to achieve with our Olympic facilities compared to other countries, you should be rightly proud that we have got it right.
I think we all know what thieving merchants insurance companies are, so it hasn't come as a surprise when it comes to the insurance for our little Toyota Yaris. Insured for The Cat's Mother the cost was about £300, and adding on The Cat was an impressive, but not unexpected £1300. We've now tried to add The Boy. that will cost an additional £1100. So here's the question to Direct Line...as you cannot discriminate between males and females, and the car cannot be driven by both at the same time, how do you justify that extra cost?
A while back I started a blog looking at the Olympic Park as it was being built..it's on my route to work. But I soon came to realise that building works progress slowly, so I stopped. If you take a look, you'll see it's laid out quite differently to this one...I really like it (click on any of the pictures to see linked photos) but it's difficult to comment. As people occasionally still go to look at it, I have just posted up all the photos from my ' Great Olympic adventure'...soon I'm going to add the pictures from the days we visited as spectators....and at odd occasions I'll add to it when we go and use the facilities there...it's currently still shut and it's been quite depressing seeing everything being taken out. I am looking forward to the big concerts that are going to take place there in the summer and a new cycle track plus the velodrome revamped for amateurs will be open in the not too distant future. If you compare what we are trying to achieve with our Olympic facilities compared to other countries, you should be rightly proud that we have got it right.
I think we all know what thieving merchants insurance companies are, so it hasn't come as a surprise when it comes to the insurance for our little Toyota Yaris. Insured for The Cat's Mother the cost was about £300, and adding on The Cat was an impressive, but not unexpected £1300. We've now tried to add The Boy. that will cost an additional £1100. So here's the question to Direct Line...as you cannot discriminate between males and females, and the car cannot be driven by both at the same time, how do you justify that extra cost?
Friday, 25 January 2013
Not a SITE you will see very often
Any guesses why The Cat's Mother is dressed up like Bob the Builder?
The only clue is that: she was not afeared, the aisle was full of noises
The only clue is that: she was not afeared, the aisle was full of noises
Wednesday, 23 January 2013
In black and white
The Cat's Mother was concerned that I hadn't mentioned that the scarf on our snowman (soon to be deceased) is my old school scarf. I regard this as editorial interference, but as she said, "They would want to know!". So there you have it. My scarf, which has survived forty years, is now roughing it in the back garden.
I wonder who briefed Prince 'take a life to save a life' Harry to say that he had killed Taleban. If he wasn't a prime target before, he certainly is now. But more importantly was the matter-of-fact way in which he delivered it. A life is a life is a life, and any life lost should be mourned. War is a nasty business at the best of times, and as I learnt in school at the age of 13 you can't win a war in Afghanistan. So every life lost, whether British or Taleban is a wasted life as well as being a tragedy.
And as for Cameron offering us the chance to vote ourselves out of Europe...I'm lost for words. The EU does need to change, but you can't influence change from the outside. If we go, I bet €5 that within a decade we'll be hammering on the door asking to be let back in. Of course, DC may be bluffing, certain that the Tories won't be winning the next election...but that won't help The Ed Miller Band come to the negotiating table
Yesterday's The Cat's Mother and I had a text conversation
"OMG on the 20 bus!!! xx"
"Not surprised. Heard on the BBC that hell has frozen over xxx"
"They are in shock at Level One xxooxx" [ed: hairdresser]
""Did you go upstairs? Were you smoking on the back seat? Did you know they don't have conductors any more? xxx"
"All of the above. What a trip down memory lane. All that was missing was me in my school uniform xxooxx"
"*drops phone* xxx"
A short while ago Kelloggsville asked for a cast list, so here goes:
Me - Nota Bene
My son - The Boy
My girlfriend - The Cat's Mother
My girlfriend's daughter - The Cat
My Mum - Grandma in Cyprus
My stepfather - Grandpa in Cyprus
My brother - erm, usually referred to as my brother...suggestions appreciated - I have used 'He ain't heavy'
UP - The Cat's Mother's brother
The Maestro - The Cat's Mother's other brother
Quenn Anne - The Cat's Mother's BFF
Muffin Mum - The Cat's Mother's sister
Muffin Dad - The Cat's Mother's brother-in-law
The Muffins - either the two daughters or the whole family
The Spanish girl - shares my office, and isn't Spanish
Gay John - used to share my office and isn't gay
Gay George - used to share my office and isn't gay
Office Dog - the office dog
The chorus...assorted characters who are given random names as needed, and these names may well change each time they appear..
If I've forgotten anyone, could they or you let me know?
I wonder who briefed Prince 'take a life to save a life' Harry to say that he had killed Taleban. If he wasn't a prime target before, he certainly is now. But more importantly was the matter-of-fact way in which he delivered it. A life is a life is a life, and any life lost should be mourned. War is a nasty business at the best of times, and as I learnt in school at the age of 13 you can't win a war in Afghanistan. So every life lost, whether British or Taleban is a wasted life as well as being a tragedy.
And as for Cameron offering us the chance to vote ourselves out of Europe...I'm lost for words. The EU does need to change, but you can't influence change from the outside. If we go, I bet €5 that within a decade we'll be hammering on the door asking to be let back in. Of course, DC may be bluffing, certain that the Tories won't be winning the next election...but that won't help The Ed Miller Band come to the negotiating table
Yesterday's The Cat's Mother and I had a text conversation
"OMG on the 20 bus!!! xx"
"Not surprised. Heard on the BBC that hell has frozen over xxx"
"They are in shock at Level One xxooxx" [ed: hairdresser]
""Did you go upstairs? Were you smoking on the back seat? Did you know they don't have conductors any more? xxx"
"All of the above. What a trip down memory lane. All that was missing was me in my school uniform xxooxx"
"*drops phone* xxx"
A short while ago Kelloggsville asked for a cast list, so here goes:
Me - Nota Bene
My son - The Boy
My girlfriend - The Cat's Mother
My girlfriend's daughter - The Cat
My Mum - Grandma in Cyprus
My stepfather - Grandpa in Cyprus
My brother - erm, usually referred to as my brother...suggestions appreciated - I have used 'He ain't heavy'
UP - The Cat's Mother's brother
The Maestro - The Cat's Mother's other brother
Quenn Anne - The Cat's Mother's BFF
Muffin Mum - The Cat's Mother's sister
Muffin Dad - The Cat's Mother's brother-in-law
The Muffins - either the two daughters or the whole family
The Spanish girl - shares my office, and isn't Spanish
Gay John - used to share my office and isn't gay
Gay George - used to share my office and isn't gay
Office Dog - the office dog
The chorus...assorted characters who are given random names as needed, and these names may well change each time they appear..
If I've forgotten anyone, could they or you let me know?
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Minding your Ps and Qs
I'm such a girl when it comes to shoes. At one time I had 42 pairs. That's a lot I know, when most blokes I know have one pair of shiny black ones, one battered pair of brown ones and a pair of trainers. The reason is that everytime I dress to go out, I realise I don't have an appropriate pair. The only answer is to buy a new pair. With the snow this week, I realised that I don't have a pair of winter boots, so The Cat's Mother and I slipped and slid into the town centre in search of a pair. Loughton is full of coffee shops, opticians and TOWIE boutiques, but winter clothing is not in abundance, so I was quite pleased to find a pair I liked. Designed by Alexander McQueen for Puma. Yes, they probably wouldn't take you up Everest. And there's the rub. Literally. By the time I walked down to the station yesterday morning and then at the other end to the office, I was practically crippled by the blisters. Still they do look nice.
As I sauntered through Loughton yesterday morning on my way to the station, the workmen were hard at work clearing the pavement. They were doing a very good job indeed, and I felt the urge to say a very loud thank you. It often strikes me that the people who do the most important jobs get forgotten...and their efforts rarely acknowledged. So here's a big thanks to everyone who has been and will be keeping the country running over the next few days.
I thought I would share a couple of pictures.
This one is quite atmospheric I think, and I took on my way home on Friday.
This one I took just before we broke up for Christmas....you get the effect by changing the zoom as the camera takes the picture...
As I sauntered through Loughton yesterday morning on my way to the station, the workmen were hard at work clearing the pavement. They were doing a very good job indeed, and I felt the urge to say a very loud thank you. It often strikes me that the people who do the most important jobs get forgotten...and their efforts rarely acknowledged. So here's a big thanks to everyone who has been and will be keeping the country running over the next few days.
I thought I would share a couple of pictures.
This one is quite atmospheric I think, and I took on my way home on Friday.
This one I took just before we broke up for Christmas....you get the effect by changing the zoom as the camera takes the picture...
Monday, 21 January 2013
Still in the snow
I enjoyed taking these pictures...and playing with them.
This one uses a special effect to make everything look tiny - on fact the snowman is six foot tall
And this one looks like he was on LSD
This one uses a special effect to make everything look tiny - on fact the snowman is six foot tall
And this one looks like he was on LSD
Sunday, 20 January 2013
It's snow madness
Across the land there have been massive falls of s.........tupidity. Particularly hard hit have been drivers, many of whom have been struck dumb. The stupidity is continuing to fall and has been described as thick as two short planks.
Our house is near the top of a hill, and this afternoon I ventured out to see what was going on. It was carnage. There were cars spread all over the road...I spent a little while persuading more cars to stop before it was too late...but that didn't stop several ignoring me, heading down the hill...and sliding into the other cars that had done similar. It sounded a bit like a giant 'Newtons Balls'. When people were already in trouble, I encouraged them to do nothing until the cars lower down the hill were moved....but that didn't stop the suntanned bloke in his onesie deciding that his Range Rover was invincible and he could drive it OK...indeed it was impressive as two tonnes of shiny black Essex car slid gracefully into one car, then the next, then the next and the one after that before coming to rest in another. At that stage I realised there was no helping any of them, so my blood boiling, I called them all stupid and went home. Mr Suntan demanded to know why I was calling him stupid...I ignored him.
Meanwhile The Boy and I did what snowy days are designed for:
Our house is near the top of a hill, and this afternoon I ventured out to see what was going on. It was carnage. There were cars spread all over the road...I spent a little while persuading more cars to stop before it was too late...but that didn't stop several ignoring me, heading down the hill...and sliding into the other cars that had done similar. It sounded a bit like a giant 'Newtons Balls'. When people were already in trouble, I encouraged them to do nothing until the cars lower down the hill were moved....but that didn't stop the suntanned bloke in his onesie deciding that his Range Rover was invincible and he could drive it OK...indeed it was impressive as two tonnes of shiny black Essex car slid gracefully into one car, then the next, then the next and the one after that before coming to rest in another. At that stage I realised there was no helping any of them, so my blood boiling, I called them all stupid and went home. Mr Suntan demanded to know why I was calling him stupid...I ignored him.
Meanwhile The Boy and I did what snowy days are designed for:
Thursday, 17 January 2013
Happy anniversary
I was surprised to realise that yesterday's post was my 1001th. Of course, I'd like to apologise for burdening you all with the nonsense that pops up here on an all too regular basis. Half an hour a post, makes that roughly 500 hours...that's twice as long as it took to rehearse for the Olympic Opening Ceremony.
And come to mention that, it was exactly a year ago that I received my Olympic offer:
Congratulations! London 2012 Ceremonies are pleased to inform you that you have been successful in your audition to become a Ceremonies Volunteer Performer in the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening or Closing Ceremonies. We hope that you are able to accept this once in a lifetime opportunity to be part of a global event that expresses and celebrates the passion and creativity of the United Kingdom in front of the entire world. You have been selected to perform in the Opening Ceremony as part of the 44-GROUP-A cast group.
Below is a brief overview of the cast group that you have been selected for together with general information regarding rehearsals and what will be required from you.
That was the start of the most extraordinary adventure of my life. I was lucky beyond my dreams, meeting some amazing people who put their heart and soul into it. I have some amazing memories from every stage of the experience...the initial rehearsals when we didn't have a clue about what we were doing and thought we would never learn the moves, many rainy days in the Ford car park in Dagenham through to our first time in the stadium. The experience will live with me for ever.
Not forgetting that I could never have done without the support and encouragement of all my friends and family. Thank you.
And come to mention that, it was exactly a year ago that I received my Olympic offer:
Congratulations! London 2012 Ceremonies are pleased to inform you that you have been successful in your audition to become a Ceremonies Volunteer Performer in the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening or Closing Ceremonies. We hope that you are able to accept this once in a lifetime opportunity to be part of a global event that expresses and celebrates the passion and creativity of the United Kingdom in front of the entire world. You have been selected to perform in the Opening Ceremony as part of the 44-GROUP-A cast group.
Below is a brief overview of the cast group that you have been selected for together with general information regarding rehearsals and what will be required from you.
| Cast Group | Olympic Opening Ceremony: Segment 44 Group A |
| Role Outline | Character/movement and utility role in spectacular sequence in Opening Ceremony |
| Rehearsal Site Facilities |
|
That was the start of the most extraordinary adventure of my life. I was lucky beyond my dreams, meeting some amazing people who put their heart and soul into it. I have some amazing memories from every stage of the experience...the initial rehearsals when we didn't have a clue about what we were doing and thought we would never learn the moves, many rainy days in the Ford car park in Dagenham through to our first time in the stadium. The experience will live with me for ever.
Not forgetting that I could never have done without the support and encouragement of all my friends and family. Thank you.
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Buy, buy, bye!
I got a phone call from Grandma in Cyprus today, just checking I wasn't standing underneath the helicopter that crashed in London this morning. Fortunately it was a couple of miles away...sympathies to the people killed and injured. I feel confident that pretty soon the conspiracy theorists will be out in force as the building it crashed into is just a hop and skip away from MI5...or is it MI6...either way, it's the one that blew up in Skyfall. Before that the only thing of note for me about the building was that a few years ago, when I used to do street roller blading every Friday and Wednesday (15 miles and then a swift pint or two), 250 of us stopped at the traffic lights opposite, and a rather over excited girl came out on a balcony, raised her t-shirt and started flashing her boobs. Odd. We all nearly fell over.
I wasn't much saddened about the end of Jessops this week...it deserved it. Last year we went in to buy a new and pretty expensive camera, but it took us ages to get hold of a shop assistant, who then insisted they didn't have it. As we were about to leave one of his colleagues mentioned they did have it in fact...several. They made the sale, but failed to sell us any extras. Since then I've been in several times for stuff which they either didn't have, or they couldn't be bothered to serve me, or were in a staff meeting and asked me to come back in half an hour. Yes the service was diabolical.
HMV though is somewhere I go into regularly...very regularly indeed to spend my hard earned cash. I still prefer to buy physical CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays...downloads just don't look so good on the shelf, and I still like to read the lyrics on the insert. I may be a dinosaur on that one, but it does seem a shame...perhaps Play.com will revamp their site so I can feel like I'm browsing the shelves.
Closer to home...office in fact, our local bookshop come cafe didn't open its doors after Christmas.
I assume that Robert Dyas can't be long for this world as I suspect it's tottered around seemingly on the brink for ages.
I'm sure other shops will go into the retail spaces, but what worries me most is that they will be more branches of Costa, Starbucks or Nero. Much as I love my coffee, I'd like other places to go into.
For the brave world of online shopping, the real weakness is the delivery company...and this week I've been fighting yet another running battle with DPD who've previously proved their incompetence on many an occasion. I'd ordered a fabulous pair of headphones as my last ones have finally given out. The online tracking site showed that they had been delivered and signed for 'LOA'. In fact no one was home, and LOA stands for 'left on authority' I'm still not sure whose authority...it certainly wasn't mine. Anyway, we eventually found the headphones which had been chucked into the snow in the back garden.
I'm off to support my local shop now...I don't care what they sell, I'm going to buy it.
I wasn't much saddened about the end of Jessops this week...it deserved it. Last year we went in to buy a new and pretty expensive camera, but it took us ages to get hold of a shop assistant, who then insisted they didn't have it. As we were about to leave one of his colleagues mentioned they did have it in fact...several. They made the sale, but failed to sell us any extras. Since then I've been in several times for stuff which they either didn't have, or they couldn't be bothered to serve me, or were in a staff meeting and asked me to come back in half an hour. Yes the service was diabolical.
HMV though is somewhere I go into regularly...very regularly indeed to spend my hard earned cash. I still prefer to buy physical CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays...downloads just don't look so good on the shelf, and I still like to read the lyrics on the insert. I may be a dinosaur on that one, but it does seem a shame...perhaps Play.com will revamp their site so I can feel like I'm browsing the shelves.
Closer to home...office in fact, our local bookshop come cafe didn't open its doors after Christmas.
I assume that Robert Dyas can't be long for this world as I suspect it's tottered around seemingly on the brink for ages.
I'm sure other shops will go into the retail spaces, but what worries me most is that they will be more branches of Costa, Starbucks or Nero. Much as I love my coffee, I'd like other places to go into.
For the brave world of online shopping, the real weakness is the delivery company...and this week I've been fighting yet another running battle with DPD who've previously proved their incompetence on many an occasion. I'd ordered a fabulous pair of headphones as my last ones have finally given out. The online tracking site showed that they had been delivered and signed for 'LOA'. In fact no one was home, and LOA stands for 'left on authority' I'm still not sure whose authority...it certainly wasn't mine. Anyway, we eventually found the headphones which had been chucked into the snow in the back garden.
I'm off to support my local shop now...I don't care what they sell, I'm going to buy it.
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
This is not a vlog
There is some distress in my life at the moment.
Firstly, we went to see Privates on Parade at the theatre on Friday. I can forgive the play for being somewhat past its sell by date and reminding me of 'It ain't half hot mum' ...I mean the war in Malaya is somewhat lost in the annals of history, and was probably pretty meaningless to the teenagers; I can forgive the humorous racism...especially as, with a massive twist of irony, Warren Mitchell (Alf Garnett) was also in the audience. But what I'm struggling with is that, yet again, The Cat's Mother took me to something with MALE NUDITY. I've referred to this before. It's not so much that I object to seeing the odd male buttock, or todger, it's just what's wrong with women actors these days...why don't they take their clothes off too? It's not fair.
Moving swiftly on, I cannot tell you how foolish I felt today when I picked up my change from the self-service counter at Sainsbury's. I said "Thank you". I feel this is not right on so many levels.
And finally, here's the highlight of our weekend. If you fancy a ride in a cable car, and see the parts of London that have long been unloved, head for the Emirates Airline. Essentially it takes you from nowhere to nowhere, but the view 300ft up is fabulous. We thought it was totally exciting.
Evidently Transport for London think it is part of the public transport network, which is nonsense.,..it's just fun to do....even when the wind is so strong you think the cabin might blow off the cable at any moment.
Firstly, we went to see Privates on Parade at the theatre on Friday. I can forgive the play for being somewhat past its sell by date and reminding me of 'It ain't half hot mum' ...I mean the war in Malaya is somewhat lost in the annals of history, and was probably pretty meaningless to the teenagers; I can forgive the humorous racism...especially as, with a massive twist of irony, Warren Mitchell (Alf Garnett) was also in the audience. But what I'm struggling with is that, yet again, The Cat's Mother took me to something with MALE NUDITY. I've referred to this before. It's not so much that I object to seeing the odd male buttock, or todger, it's just what's wrong with women actors these days...why don't they take their clothes off too? It's not fair.
Moving swiftly on, I cannot tell you how foolish I felt today when I picked up my change from the self-service counter at Sainsbury's. I said "Thank you". I feel this is not right on so many levels.
And finally, here's the highlight of our weekend. If you fancy a ride in a cable car, and see the parts of London that have long been unloved, head for the Emirates Airline. Essentially it takes you from nowhere to nowhere, but the view 300ft up is fabulous. We thought it was totally exciting.
Evidently Transport for London think it is part of the public transport network, which is nonsense.,..it's just fun to do....even when the wind is so strong you think the cabin might blow off the cable at any moment.
Saturday, 12 January 2013
Not required viewing
You can tell it's still Christmas at least in my head because I have a large tub of Twiglets on my desk. It was bought at discount from the local newsagent as he tries to shift stock. The tub has the short Twiglets in and I just never understand why the short ones taste so much better than the longer ones.
At home we're three-quarters of the way through Killing II, having watched Killing III before. The Boy bought it for The Cat's Mother as a Christmas present, and she is enthralled. I am too, although once we'd finished III I'd looked up II online as I had assumed we wouldn't be seeing any more. So I sort of know the outcome, although I can't remember the details. The Cat's Mother isn't pleased with me for that.
I bought a new electric toothbrush recently to replace the one that had kept my teeth shiny and polished for the last five years...it was looking ropey and had begun to give off a strange odour...and nobody wants to put something smelly in their mouth. The new one is keeping me amused for hours at a time. It comes with a little display to let me know when I've cleaned properly....it uses a smiley face to tell me. And what I've discovered is that if I do more than the regulation two minutes, the face randomly does different things...I might get a crooked smile, a wink, raised eyebrows or any combination. Yep the child in me can't resist.
And this is part of my ride to work...it's the bit where I cycle along the canal. It still amazes me that you can be in such a wonderful place even in central London. I love this journey...it makes ths start of the day fantastic. Libby a GoPro is a video camera that sits on my helmet...
At home we're three-quarters of the way through Killing II, having watched Killing III before. The Boy bought it for The Cat's Mother as a Christmas present, and she is enthralled. I am too, although once we'd finished III I'd looked up II online as I had assumed we wouldn't be seeing any more. So I sort of know the outcome, although I can't remember the details. The Cat's Mother isn't pleased with me for that.
I bought a new electric toothbrush recently to replace the one that had kept my teeth shiny and polished for the last five years...it was looking ropey and had begun to give off a strange odour...and nobody wants to put something smelly in their mouth. The new one is keeping me amused for hours at a time. It comes with a little display to let me know when I've cleaned properly....it uses a smiley face to tell me. And what I've discovered is that if I do more than the regulation two minutes, the face randomly does different things...I might get a crooked smile, a wink, raised eyebrows or any combination. Yep the child in me can't resist.
And this is part of my ride to work...it's the bit where I cycle along the canal. It still amazes me that you can be in such a wonderful place even in central London. I love this journey...it makes ths start of the day fantastic. Libby a GoPro is a video camera that sits on my helmet...
Thursday, 10 January 2013
That's what sons are for
Did I mention that just before Christmas The Cat's Mother was stopped, fined and endorsed for talking on her mobile phone whilst driving. She was quite (very) indignant about this, feeling that the boys in blue would be better off spending their time catching criminals. That'll be the people who are breaking the law. And therein lay a difficult dilemma. On the one hand I wanted to sympathise, on the other I've told her until I'm horse that it's people like her that cause the death of people like me (cyclists). In the end I took the sensible option and bought her a hands free bluetooth thingy that clips onto the sun visor in the car. Obviously this worked well for me, because it solved all my Christmas present dilemmas ...should I buy her a new washing machine (extravagant), a new food blender (she rarely bakes) or a new set of dusters (someone comes in to do most of that). Someone had suggested I bought her a computer, but when I Googled it I came up with this and to be honest we have one of those already. I should mention she loves her present and has not been stopped by the police since, though that may all change when she forgets to re-charge the battery.
Three punctures in two (cycle) days. I must be riding my bike in winter.
On the way back home on Tuesday I got a puncture. Not a problem as I carry a spare, although changing an inner tube on the edge of Stratford was a little worrying. I'd forgotten though that I'm riding winter tyres made of a kevlar weave. Tough as old boots. So what should take five minutes was heading towards half an hour of blood sweat and tears. And all in vain. In forcing the tyre back on I'd pinched the new tube, creating a second puncture...an unrepairable one. So I threw the bike over my shoulder and headed to Stratford station, soon to be accompanied by another rider who had suffered the same fate. For 'safety reasons' we weren't allowed on the tube, so had to hail a cab willing and able to take a bike and a rider to the next station. Arriving in Loughton some little while later, I then hitched the bike over my shoulder for the twenty minute hike up hill to home. The Boy kindly offered to help put, yet another, inner tube on...the whole exercise took less than ten minutes in the warmth of the house.
But this morning just as I arrived at the office I could feel the tell tale signs of a flat tyre again as every ripple and bump in the road was transmitted to my nether regions. £46 quid later, the bike shop had fitted new tyre, new tube and offered gallons of sympathy. They probably wondered why I was cycling when there was still frost on the ground.
Despite the punctures, I'm delighted to have braved the roads three times this week after such a lean year last year...and to celebrate I wore a Go-Pro all the way. So tomorrow I'll upload that...but no I don't expect anyone to sit through an hour and a quarter of me bouncing along the canal tow-paths.
Three punctures in two (cycle) days. I must be riding my bike in winter.
On the way back home on Tuesday I got a puncture. Not a problem as I carry a spare, although changing an inner tube on the edge of Stratford was a little worrying. I'd forgotten though that I'm riding winter tyres made of a kevlar weave. Tough as old boots. So what should take five minutes was heading towards half an hour of blood sweat and tears. And all in vain. In forcing the tyre back on I'd pinched the new tube, creating a second puncture...an unrepairable one. So I threw the bike over my shoulder and headed to Stratford station, soon to be accompanied by another rider who had suffered the same fate. For 'safety reasons' we weren't allowed on the tube, so had to hail a cab willing and able to take a bike and a rider to the next station. Arriving in Loughton some little while later, I then hitched the bike over my shoulder for the twenty minute hike up hill to home. The Boy kindly offered to help put, yet another, inner tube on...the whole exercise took less than ten minutes in the warmth of the house.
But this morning just as I arrived at the office I could feel the tell tale signs of a flat tyre again as every ripple and bump in the road was transmitted to my nether regions. £46 quid later, the bike shop had fitted new tyre, new tube and offered gallons of sympathy. They probably wondered why I was cycling when there was still frost on the ground.
Despite the punctures, I'm delighted to have braved the roads three times this week after such a lean year last year...and to celebrate I wore a Go-Pro all the way. So tomorrow I'll upload that...but no I don't expect anyone to sit through an hour and a quarter of me bouncing along the canal tow-paths.
Monday, 7 January 2013
12 days of Christmas...or there abouts
It's got to be a good start to the year when on the first day back at the office, the weather is calm enough that I can cycle the 18 miles in, after a year when the rain prevented me most days and will power the others. Hopefully my enthusiasm will remain for the 18 miles home this evening.
As we lay in bed last night The Cat's Mother listed the things we did over Christmas. No wonder I've been looking forward to coming back to work for a rest:
22nd December - Christmas Party at a friend's. Notable mainly because we made The Cat drive us there and back as she had passed her test the week before. I can tell you making a teenager come and pick you up at half past one in the morning is sheer joy.
23rd - Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty. Yep wonderful. There's somethig about dance that really fascinates me. This was a truly sumptuous production that we both loved. Go and see it if you can.
24th - Panto! No Christmas is complete without a Dame. This year we forewent the local amateur production, and travelled to Hackney to see Dick Whittington. The hoards of kids we took with us loved it. We enjoyed indulging them
25th - Round to The Muffins for a change. Normally it's at ours. Not for us is the traditional lunch stuffing your face full of turkey and then falling asleep whilst the Queen warbles on. No organised games and performances from noon through to midnight. It's as Christmas Day should be. Brilliant.
26th - Sixteen round to ours for lunch and a repeat performance of the day before. Beginning to flag a bit.
27th - Off to see my bruvver. We met at Jamie Oliver's parents' restaurant/pub. Lovely to see him and his girlfriend...we chatted for ages. Having sampled their food, we wondered where Jamie got his talent from.
28th - Off to Brighton. Not much to report, other than the DVD decided against working over Christmas. That'll mean I'll be able to maintain my record of buying anew DVD player every year. Who said anything about built-in obsolescence?
29th - Lost and Found Orchestra at The Dome. If you liked Stomp, you'll love this...an orchestra made out of junk, and sounding spectacular. Remarkable how moving a funnel attached to a long hose can sound.
30th - Enough of all this lying around doing nothing...it was time to do some learning. At Jamie Oliver's Recipease we learnt how to cook a Thai prawn curry. Twelve of us gathered round whilst the chef demonstrated and we then followed. The Queen (ours, not everyone's) was there to help us along, and we all turned out something that was quite passable. In fact delicious...we gobbled it down as quickly as we could.
31st - Up had recovered from a bug to join us in Brighton, and The Muffins had arrived the night before. We watched Puss in Boots whilst we waited for the storm to blow over...it didn't but the film was fabulous We should have gone ice skating in the grounds of The Dome, but the wind and rain put paid to that. The evening would have been a washout, had the weather not suddenly improved allowing us to head to the beach to let off fireworks. Legal? I've no idea.
1st - back to Essex. Relax.
2nd - off to London to meet some friends, who've recently moved back from Berlin, for lunch. We wanted to go to The Rain Room at The Barbican, but the two hour wait put us off. It's on until 3rd March
3rd - The Boy and I got a day of rest, whilst The Cats Mother and Cat headed off to a show with some friends. Evidently it was dreadful. And The Cat's Mother ate something she shouldn't.
4th - Relax. Except The Cat's Mother's Father got taken into hospital as a bug was hitting him harder than it should. So don't relax, don't panic. Just worry. He's on the mend now. Relief.
5th - 21st Birthday party - a friend's daughter. Realise just how old you're getting when you stand in some god forsaken bar with loud thumping music which you've never heard before stops you chatting to anyone. When you get home in the early hours of the morning begin to appreciate that once upon a time you would have thoroughly enjoyed it. And a small celebration as Brighton & Hove Albion knock Newcastle out of the Cup.
6th - Take the Christmas decs down. Did I ever mention how many The Cat's Mother puts up? We have more decorations than Selfridge's Christmas Department. Fortunately mostly done by the evening, so settle down to a lovely piece of beef and Series 2 of The Killing - a present from The Boy to The Cat's Mother. Nothing like blood, gore, murder and mayhem to end the season.
As we lay in bed last night The Cat's Mother listed the things we did over Christmas. No wonder I've been looking forward to coming back to work for a rest:
22nd December - Christmas Party at a friend's. Notable mainly because we made The Cat drive us there and back as she had passed her test the week before. I can tell you making a teenager come and pick you up at half past one in the morning is sheer joy.
23rd - Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty. Yep wonderful. There's somethig about dance that really fascinates me. This was a truly sumptuous production that we both loved. Go and see it if you can.
24th - Panto! No Christmas is complete without a Dame. This year we forewent the local amateur production, and travelled to Hackney to see Dick Whittington. The hoards of kids we took with us loved it. We enjoyed indulging them
25th - Round to The Muffins for a change. Normally it's at ours. Not for us is the traditional lunch stuffing your face full of turkey and then falling asleep whilst the Queen warbles on. No organised games and performances from noon through to midnight. It's as Christmas Day should be. Brilliant.
26th - Sixteen round to ours for lunch and a repeat performance of the day before. Beginning to flag a bit.
27th - Off to see my bruvver. We met at Jamie Oliver's parents' restaurant/pub. Lovely to see him and his girlfriend...we chatted for ages. Having sampled their food, we wondered where Jamie got his talent from.
28th - Off to Brighton. Not much to report, other than the DVD decided against working over Christmas. That'll mean I'll be able to maintain my record of buying anew DVD player every year. Who said anything about built-in obsolescence?
29th - Lost and Found Orchestra at The Dome. If you liked Stomp, you'll love this...an orchestra made out of junk, and sounding spectacular. Remarkable how moving a funnel attached to a long hose can sound.
30th - Enough of all this lying around doing nothing...it was time to do some learning. At Jamie Oliver's Recipease we learnt how to cook a Thai prawn curry. Twelve of us gathered round whilst the chef demonstrated and we then followed. The Queen (ours, not everyone's) was there to help us along, and we all turned out something that was quite passable. In fact delicious...we gobbled it down as quickly as we could.
31st - Up had recovered from a bug to join us in Brighton, and The Muffins had arrived the night before. We watched Puss in Boots whilst we waited for the storm to blow over...it didn't but the film was fabulous We should have gone ice skating in the grounds of The Dome, but the wind and rain put paid to that. The evening would have been a washout, had the weather not suddenly improved allowing us to head to the beach to let off fireworks. Legal? I've no idea.
1st - back to Essex. Relax.
2nd - off to London to meet some friends, who've recently moved back from Berlin, for lunch. We wanted to go to The Rain Room at The Barbican, but the two hour wait put us off. It's on until 3rd March
3rd - The Boy and I got a day of rest, whilst The Cats Mother and Cat headed off to a show with some friends. Evidently it was dreadful. And The Cat's Mother ate something she shouldn't.
4th - Relax. Except The Cat's Mother's Father got taken into hospital as a bug was hitting him harder than it should. So don't relax, don't panic. Just worry. He's on the mend now. Relief.
5th - 21st Birthday party - a friend's daughter. Realise just how old you're getting when you stand in some god forsaken bar with loud thumping music which you've never heard before stops you chatting to anyone. When you get home in the early hours of the morning begin to appreciate that once upon a time you would have thoroughly enjoyed it. And a small celebration as Brighton & Hove Albion knock Newcastle out of the Cup.
6th - Take the Christmas decs down. Did I ever mention how many The Cat's Mother puts up? We have more decorations than Selfridge's Christmas Department. Fortunately mostly done by the evening, so settle down to a lovely piece of beef and Series 2 of The Killing - a present from The Boy to The Cat's Mother. Nothing like blood, gore, murder and mayhem to end the season.
Wednesday, 2 January 2013
A burnt thumb on the beach
I was beginning to think that I might never post a post again. It seems easy to stop, and not so easy to start again. I've not even been on the worldwide interweb to look at my favourite blog reads...so I have a lot of catching up to do. The trouble with not paying attention is that it's easy to miss the important things.
So it was just luck that I switched on the puter and the first thing I read was this, followed by this...I'm so pleased for them both.
It's a New Year...so a hearty Happy New Year to you all.
Inspite of not doing the day job for the last couple of weeks, my days have been full to over-bursting. I'm not sure what with...Christmas is that sort of time isn't it? We went to Panto...oh yes we did. We did big Christmas dinner at The Muffins, we did big Boxing Day lunch here..so we were well fed, watered and wined. Our celebrations naturally included a performance from every member of the family and friends. We did a harmony...a version of this:
Can you guess which was my part?
My singing talents are renowned here...my first year with The cat's Mother I gave an interesting rendition of 'A Partridge in a Pear tree'...no not the whole twelve days, just that line, which has become legendary. So it came as a surprise to find myself singing with the choir at Christmas Day Mass. I regard it as an achievement. My mother is probably in a state of shock having read that.
A few days in Brighton should have included skating on New Year's Eve in the shadows of the dome of Brighton Pavilion, but storm force winds and more rain than I can ever remember put paid to that. It didn't put paid to fireworks on the beach though as there was a sudden lull in the weather. A marginal panic as two very determined ladies walked towards us with our assumption we would be asked to stop, only in fact to be asked f we could set theirs off too. And that was where my thumb came a cropper...a slightly explosive fuse caught my thumb off guard, so that childhood rule of never playing with fireworks is very much front of mind as I walk around with a rather large, yellow blister on my left thumb...
So it was just luck that I switched on the puter and the first thing I read was this, followed by this...I'm so pleased for them both.
It's a New Year...so a hearty Happy New Year to you all.
Inspite of not doing the day job for the last couple of weeks, my days have been full to over-bursting. I'm not sure what with...Christmas is that sort of time isn't it? We went to Panto...oh yes we did. We did big Christmas dinner at The Muffins, we did big Boxing Day lunch here..so we were well fed, watered and wined. Our celebrations naturally included a performance from every member of the family and friends. We did a harmony...a version of this:
Can you guess which was my part?
My singing talents are renowned here...my first year with The cat's Mother I gave an interesting rendition of 'A Partridge in a Pear tree'...no not the whole twelve days, just that line, which has become legendary. So it came as a surprise to find myself singing with the choir at Christmas Day Mass. I regard it as an achievement. My mother is probably in a state of shock having read that.
A few days in Brighton should have included skating on New Year's Eve in the shadows of the dome of Brighton Pavilion, but storm force winds and more rain than I can ever remember put paid to that. It didn't put paid to fireworks on the beach though as there was a sudden lull in the weather. A marginal panic as two very determined ladies walked towards us with our assumption we would be asked to stop, only in fact to be asked f we could set theirs off too. And that was where my thumb came a cropper...a slightly explosive fuse caught my thumb off guard, so that childhood rule of never playing with fireworks is very much front of mind as I walk around with a rather large, yellow blister on my left thumb...
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