Sunday, 25 April 2010
6th Birthday Party
We held 6th Birthday Party for Samwise, with a few school friends on Saturday at Yellow Sub. A good time had by all.
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Iron Man2: AC/DC Compilation Album
I'd heard that the musical score for the film Iron Man 2 was to be penned by AC/DC.
Kind of disappointed to discover that there's no new tracks. The soundtrack album was released on Monday, and it's the studio track compilation album that the band has never done to date.
Having said that, on seeing the film trailers, it kinda works, with the action bombing along to "Shoot To Thrill" and "Thunderstruck".
Also I can create my own copy of the album by downloading the artwork, and shuffling some tracks on my i-pod :)
Kind of disappointed to discover that there's no new tracks. The soundtrack album was released on Monday, and it's the studio track compilation album that the band has never done to date.
Having said that, on seeing the film trailers, it kinda works, with the action bombing along to "Shoot To Thrill" and "Thunderstruck".
Also I can create my own copy of the album by downloading the artwork, and shuffling some tracks on my i-pod :)
Saturday, 17 April 2010
Plant Care
About 24 years ago a friend gave me this umbrella plant for a birthday present.
I've been looking after it - although it's had times when it's been struggling. Took it outside for a bug spray, got rid of the bugs, got it covered in Volcanic ash instead :) It's been re-potted a few times, and it's current size shows what a little water and baby-bio every now and again can do.
I've been looking after it - although it's had times when it's been struggling. Took it outside for a bug spray, got rid of the bugs, got it covered in Volcanic ash instead :) It's been re-potted a few times, and it's current size shows what a little water and baby-bio every now and again can do.
Friday, 16 April 2010
Saturday, 10 April 2010
KISS
Woohoo! My KISS ticket arrived in the post today.
I've seen them before, but not in makeup doing the full stageshow, so I decided it's high time that I did. Unfortunately their first ever visit to Liverpool's Echo Arena coincided with our family holiday :( So my ticket's for Manchester Evening News Arena on the day that we get back.
Grand National
Grand National today, so I made my once a year visit to see a man about a horse.
Here's my selections and results.
Tricky Trickster (18-1) - finished 9th.
Backstage (25-1) - rider unseated at 20th fence.
Ollie Magern (200-1) - pulled up at 29th fence.
I drew Conna Castle (100-1) in the office sweepstake.
Blew a whole six pounds! Made watching the race a bit more exciting.
Back to the lottery, to seek my fortune.
Here's my selections and results.
Tricky Trickster (18-1) - finished 9th.
Backstage (25-1) - rider unseated at 20th fence.
Ollie Magern (200-1) - pulled up at 29th fence.
I drew Conna Castle (100-1) in the office sweepstake.
Blew a whole six pounds! Made watching the race a bit more exciting.
Back to the lottery, to seek my fortune.
Saturday, 3 April 2010
Clash of the Titans
Saw this at a packed cinema today.
We opted for the 3D version, but this wasn't really necessary. I don't think that the 3D works too well in a live action film - it was OK up to a point, but not that fantastic, plus the glasses seemed to wash a lot of the colour out of the picture.
In future I'll reserve 3D viewing for animations.
The film was worth seeing. They screwed around with the mythology a bit, but that was OK. There was a little homage to Ray Harryhausen near the beginning, and the Medusa was directly lifted from his visualisation of her.
We opted for the 3D version, but this wasn't really necessary. I don't think that the 3D works too well in a live action film - it was OK up to a point, but not that fantastic, plus the glasses seemed to wash a lot of the colour out of the picture.
In future I'll reserve 3D viewing for animations.
The film was worth seeing. They screwed around with the mythology a bit, but that was OK. There was a little homage to Ray Harryhausen near the beginning, and the Medusa was directly lifted from his visualisation of her.
Doctor Who: The Eleventh Hour
Samwise has a subscription to Dr Who Magazine. This weeks arrived early, so we had a sneak preview of some of the main scenes from tonight's episode.
I must admit that we didn't think it looked all that good, and got the impression that we could be disappointed tonight. I'm pleased to say that we weren't. Matt Smith seems to be giving the character the feel of a slightly manic public schoolboy - which works OK.
Think he could have had a better choice of attire. His choice of assistant however is fine by me!
Steve Moffat is great at finding something simple to freak kids imaginations with - cracks in the wall this time. I'd better get the boys bedroom re-plastered.
Looks like we'll be buying 2 new sonic screwdrivers soon. The old ones we have are on their last legs - one didn't really survive the washing machine too well. Plus that large tardis interior diorama is going to have to change.
Looking forward to WWII British Daleks, if the series preview clips are anything to go by.
I must admit that we didn't think it looked all that good, and got the impression that we could be disappointed tonight. I'm pleased to say that we weren't. Matt Smith seems to be giving the character the feel of a slightly manic public schoolboy - which works OK.
Think he could have had a better choice of attire. His choice of assistant however is fine by me!
Steve Moffat is great at finding something simple to freak kids imaginations with - cracks in the wall this time. I'd better get the boys bedroom re-plastered.
Looks like we'll be buying 2 new sonic screwdrivers soon. The old ones we have are on their last legs - one didn't really survive the washing machine too well. Plus that large tardis interior diorama is going to have to change.
Looking forward to WWII British Daleks, if the series preview clips are anything to go by.
Monday, 29 March 2010
Time Spotter.
Had to work on Saturday night/Sunday morning - Ended up being a long one 5pm until 6:30am.
Got to see the clock change on Unix from 01:00 GMT to 02:00 BST (i.e. GMT + 1). Yes that was the highlight of the night! - from this you can deduce just how interesting the rest of the job was.
Got to see the clock change on Unix from 01:00 GMT to 02:00 BST (i.e. GMT + 1). Yes that was the highlight of the night! - from this you can deduce just how interesting the rest of the job was.
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Commuting
I've been on an Oracle training course Mon-Thu this week in Wythenshaw, beside Manchester Airport.
An hour of commuting through heavy traffic there and back again - glad I don't have to do this every day. I've found the quickest route in, M62-M6-M56, but this still involves queueing around the major motorway junctions.
Quite good fun to have propeller drive passenger planes fly low over the roof of the car though, whilst I'm passing the airport, and blasting out some heavy rock on the ipod/radio.
An hour of commuting through heavy traffic there and back again - glad I don't have to do this every day. I've found the quickest route in, M62-M6-M56, but this still involves queueing around the major motorway junctions.
Quite good fun to have propeller drive passenger planes fly low over the roof of the car though, whilst I'm passing the airport, and blasting out some heavy rock on the ipod/radio.
Saturday, 20 March 2010
Sport Relief 2010
Done my bit for Sport Relief i.e. raised myself up from the Couch Potato position for just long enough to make a donation, then flopped back down again thinking "I must get out and get more exercise".
Monday, 1 March 2010
Great Weekend!
A flying visit last weekend to that cultural and spiritual centre, known as Wolverhampton for our now semi-annual reunion of Wolves Poly Rock Soc circa 1983 to whenever it was that we drifted away.
Here's Cha0tic and PP enjoying Saturday evening.
This year we stayed in a pleasant little hotel on the Tettenhall Road The York Hotel.
Arrived on Friday night and after a couple of pints of Guiness in the hotel bar we ventured out to our favourite old haunt The Newhampton public house, where we occupied the back room for the remainder of the evening. Lots of beer, gossip and catching up. The journey down and several pints Landlord later got the better of me, and I was snoring in my chair by the end of the evening!
Up for a rather nice cooked breakfast at 09:30, then back to bed until 11:30.
Walked into town, and made a detour past a couple of houses that we occupied once as students. Looked pretty much like the same landlord was keeping them in the same state of disrepair :)
Walked round the town centre, then stopped at a pleasant little Pizzeria for a spot of lunch.
Found ourselves with a little time to kill before meeting up with the rest of our pals, so we went onto the Gothic/Metal watering hole, known as The Giffard Arms. Whilst we were standing at the bar enjoying the music and the scenery, a couple of rock-star look alikes came in. "He fancies himself as a bit of a Robert Plant look-alike" I thought. It turned out that he was Billy Kulke, the lead singer in the Led Zeppelin tribute band Letz Zep, and his mate was Simon Jeffrey, the drummer.
Leaving The Giffard behind, we went on to The Posada, to meet up with everyone else. We stayed there until England had lost to Ireland in the Rugby, and then it was Curry Time!
We dined at a crowded little Balti house on Broad street, that is conveniently next door to an off-licence, so wine was purchased and fetched round, to go with the meal. Crispy poppadums, a selection of tangy chutneys and dips, onion bhajis, fresh salad, tasty curry's and piping hot Naan breads were all devoured with gusto.
Rolled out of the Balti house, and round to the Hog's Head pub. There seemed to be a lot of blokes out in black curly wigs and heavy eye make up, accompanied by girls dressed as chamber maids. So The Rocky Horror Show must have been in town, or was this was just Wolverhampton on a Saturday night?
After shivering in the open air beer garden for a bit, we voted to finish off the evening by attending the Gig that was taking place at the Wulfrun Hall.
Hats off to cha0tic for arranging for a couple of us to get in on the Guest List, and to the Wonderful and Kindly staff of the Wulfrun Hall, who allowed three more of our party in for free (we were willing to pay, but the box office had just shut for the evening).
We managed to catch the last few songs of Limehouse Lizzy's set, and the whole of Letz Zep's. Limehouse Lizzy put on a polished performance, and did a good job of reproducing the sound of Thin Lizzy. Letz Zep's guitar work was fine, the vocals were OK, but the drumming was a bit weak. They were also a lot rougher in the mix. A good night all the same, and the band members were all in the bar after their sets.
Dr C. was tiring by the end of the evening, and did what I did the previous night i.e. fell asleep. Due to the lack of chairs in the Wulfrun Hall he assumed a perfectly balanced "squatting buddha" position.
We augmented this with a few strategically placed pint glasses, and began to take photos. We should have charged for this, as soon a crowd had gathered, snapping away - including one of the Security Team, who just walked off chuckling, after taking photo "for Security purposes".
Shook Dr C awake - then headed back to the now very crowded Giffard and a final few drinks amongst the exotic crowd there.
Fond farewells, and a Taxi back down the Tettenhall Road to the hotel.
Another tasty breakfast the next morning. Checked out of the hotel and dropped PP off at the station with promises to never drink beer again/do this again next year.
Whizzed back up the M6 and home.
Great Weekend!
Here's Cha0tic and PP enjoying Saturday evening.
This year we stayed in a pleasant little hotel on the Tettenhall Road The York Hotel.
Arrived on Friday night and after a couple of pints of Guiness in the hotel bar we ventured out to our favourite old haunt The Newhampton public house, where we occupied the back room for the remainder of the evening. Lots of beer, gossip and catching up. The journey down and several pints Landlord later got the better of me, and I was snoring in my chair by the end of the evening!
Up for a rather nice cooked breakfast at 09:30, then back to bed until 11:30.
Walked into town, and made a detour past a couple of houses that we occupied once as students. Looked pretty much like the same landlord was keeping them in the same state of disrepair :)
Walked round the town centre, then stopped at a pleasant little Pizzeria for a spot of lunch.
Found ourselves with a little time to kill before meeting up with the rest of our pals, so we went onto the Gothic/Metal watering hole, known as The Giffard Arms. Whilst we were standing at the bar enjoying the music and the scenery, a couple of rock-star look alikes came in. "He fancies himself as a bit of a Robert Plant look-alike" I thought. It turned out that he was Billy Kulke, the lead singer in the Led Zeppelin tribute band Letz Zep, and his mate was Simon Jeffrey, the drummer.
Leaving The Giffard behind, we went on to The Posada, to meet up with everyone else. We stayed there until England had lost to Ireland in the Rugby, and then it was Curry Time!
We dined at a crowded little Balti house on Broad street, that is conveniently next door to an off-licence, so wine was purchased and fetched round, to go with the meal. Crispy poppadums, a selection of tangy chutneys and dips, onion bhajis, fresh salad, tasty curry's and piping hot Naan breads were all devoured with gusto.
Rolled out of the Balti house, and round to the Hog's Head pub. There seemed to be a lot of blokes out in black curly wigs and heavy eye make up, accompanied by girls dressed as chamber maids. So The Rocky Horror Show must have been in town, or was this was just Wolverhampton on a Saturday night?
After shivering in the open air beer garden for a bit, we voted to finish off the evening by attending the Gig that was taking place at the Wulfrun Hall.
Hats off to cha0tic for arranging for a couple of us to get in on the Guest List, and to the Wonderful and Kindly staff of the Wulfrun Hall, who allowed three more of our party in for free (we were willing to pay, but the box office had just shut for the evening).
We managed to catch the last few songs of Limehouse Lizzy's set, and the whole of Letz Zep's. Limehouse Lizzy put on a polished performance, and did a good job of reproducing the sound of Thin Lizzy. Letz Zep's guitar work was fine, the vocals were OK, but the drumming was a bit weak. They were also a lot rougher in the mix. A good night all the same, and the band members were all in the bar after their sets.
Dr C. was tiring by the end of the evening, and did what I did the previous night i.e. fell asleep. Due to the lack of chairs in the Wulfrun Hall he assumed a perfectly balanced "squatting buddha" position.
We augmented this with a few strategically placed pint glasses, and began to take photos. We should have charged for this, as soon a crowd had gathered, snapping away - including one of the Security Team, who just walked off chuckling, after taking photo "for Security purposes".
Shook Dr C awake - then headed back to the now very crowded Giffard and a final few drinks amongst the exotic crowd there.
Fond farewells, and a Taxi back down the Tettenhall Road to the hotel.
Another tasty breakfast the next morning. Checked out of the hotel and dropped PP off at the station with promises to never drink beer again/do this again next year.
Whizzed back up the M6 and home.
Great Weekend!
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
The Icing on the Crap Weekend Cake
Just to put the topping on a truly Crap Weekend - the job on Sunday morning took 6.5 hours instead of the 3.5 that was planned. Back into work again on Sunday at 6pm as planned for an hour.
Home again afterwards, boys bathed, stories and put to bed. Got everything ready for next week. Turned the laptop on at 11pm when the phone went. Called back into work again for yet another problem. Finished at 2am on Monday morning.
Much as I loathe weeks when I'm on-call, at least they bring in extra cash with which to enjoy those weeks when I'm not.
Hence no blogging, tweeting or facebook last night - catching up on ZZZZZ's instead.
Home again afterwards, boys bathed, stories and put to bed. Got everything ready for next week. Turned the laptop on at 11pm when the phone went. Called back into work again for yet another problem. Finished at 2am on Monday morning.
Much as I loathe weeks when I'm on-call, at least they bring in extra cash with which to enjoy those weeks when I'm not.
Hence no blogging, tweeting or facebook last night - catching up on ZZZZZ's instead.
Saturday, 20 February 2010
Crap Weekend So Far
Late finish at work on Friday at 20:30.
Walked out to the front car park - "Dude, where's my car?!"
Answer - in the multi-storey car park that's only paid for until 19:00. Forgot to move the car round to the smaller free car park outside the main building. Charged £3.80 for the privilege of the stay.
Drove home, just pulling up outside the house, when the phone rings, and I'm called back to work to fix the problem behind a system alert that's just cropped up which needs immediate attention.
Home again at 23:00 for a whole hour of Friday night! Cup of hot chocolate and bed.
Back in again this morning for another couple of hours of pre-planned work. Home again at 11:00. Nipped round to the very local coffee shop to fetch back a couple of Lattes and second breakfast (old Hobbit's die hard).
Popped out again to give a mis-delivered letter to a neighbour to hear a loud crunch! The very same neighbour had just managed to clout our car with his whilst trying to park!
His fault, so a phone call to insurance to arrange repairs and a replacement vehicle.
New flat pack furniture delivery actually arrived on time. Crash bang wallop! Off the truck and into the house. Spent the next couple of hours rearranging the unbalanced pile that they'd left, so there's less chance of it falling on anyone whilst I work up the urge to put it together over the next 20 weeks or so :)
More joys of being in work planned for tomorrow morning, and tomorrow teatime. Remind me to seek out and burn the essay about 'the future of home working' that I wrote at college!
Consoled myself by playing Rayman Raving Raving Rabbids TV Party with the boys. It claims to be "The only video game that you can play with your butt" - I'm sure that Samwise can prove them wrong :)
Walked out to the front car park - "Dude, where's my car?!"
Answer - in the multi-storey car park that's only paid for until 19:00. Forgot to move the car round to the smaller free car park outside the main building. Charged £3.80 for the privilege of the stay.
Drove home, just pulling up outside the house, when the phone rings, and I'm called back to work to fix the problem behind a system alert that's just cropped up which needs immediate attention.
Home again at 23:00 for a whole hour of Friday night! Cup of hot chocolate and bed.
Back in again this morning for another couple of hours of pre-planned work. Home again at 11:00. Nipped round to the very local coffee shop to fetch back a couple of Lattes and second breakfast (old Hobbit's die hard).
Popped out again to give a mis-delivered letter to a neighbour to hear a loud crunch! The very same neighbour had just managed to clout our car with his whilst trying to park!
His fault, so a phone call to insurance to arrange repairs and a replacement vehicle.
New flat pack furniture delivery actually arrived on time. Crash bang wallop! Off the truck and into the house. Spent the next couple of hours rearranging the unbalanced pile that they'd left, so there's less chance of it falling on anyone whilst I work up the urge to put it together over the next 20 weeks or so :)
More joys of being in work planned for tomorrow morning, and tomorrow teatime. Remind me to seek out and burn the essay about 'the future of home working' that I wrote at college!
Consoled myself by playing Rayman Raving Raving Rabbids TV Party with the boys. It claims to be "The only video game that you can play with your butt" - I'm sure that Samwise can prove them wrong :)
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Sunday, 14 February 2010
Sherlock Holmes
Finished off our Valentine's weekend with a trip to the cinema.
Romantic Chick Flick? No - for us it was Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes, which was every bit as good as I expected it to be i.e. Ace!
Impworks has already given the film a review here, which I would say pretty well sums it up.
To me it was like The Strand Magazine meets Michael Moorcock (I'm thinking of the likes of Oswald Bastable here), and was just simply loads of action packed, high adventure, historical/alternative history fun.
It was refreshing to see a Dr Watson who isn't just a device for Holmes to explain what's going on to the audience, and a Holmes who is as much decadent and depraved as he is genius.
We were some of those people who stayed in our seats just to watch the end titles, and can't wait for the sequel.
Romantic Chick Flick? No - for us it was Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes, which was every bit as good as I expected it to be i.e. Ace!
Impworks has already given the film a review here, which I would say pretty well sums it up.
To me it was like The Strand Magazine meets Michael Moorcock (I'm thinking of the likes of Oswald Bastable here), and was just simply loads of action packed, high adventure, historical/alternative history fun.
It was refreshing to see a Dr Watson who isn't just a device for Holmes to explain what's going on to the audience, and a Holmes who is as much decadent and depraved as he is genius.
We were some of those people who stayed in our seats just to watch the end titles, and can't wait for the sequel.
For Those About To Cook... We Salute You
Rather than do the crowded Restaurant thing, this year in honour of Valentines day we decided to stay in whilst I cooked a decent meal.
So armed with a couple of cook books (Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food and Hairy Bikers' Mum Knows Best) I rustled up Vegetable Bhajis, Chicken Tarka Masala Curry and finished off with Baked Alaska.
The Bhajis were extremely tasty. There's a bit of mixture left in the fridge so I'll deep fry a few more tomorrow. The Curry was spicy, but not hot and went down OK.
Baked Alaska was an adventurous experiment. Ice cream in the oven! Turned out OK, but slightly overcooked due to trying to make sure that the meringue covering was starting to brown.
Meal was a success. The only thing missing was a couple 'sucking face' on the table next to us, and the annoying single rose sellers.
We've exchanged gifts. For Him - a new FatFace shirt. For Her a Sofia + Sam laptop desk (I got one of these for myself too, so we can tweet at each other in comfort.)
The title of this blog post is courtesy of a tweet from cha0tic on learning that I'd put some hard rock music on to cook to.
So armed with a couple of cook books (Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food and Hairy Bikers' Mum Knows Best) I rustled up Vegetable Bhajis, Chicken Tarka Masala Curry and finished off with Baked Alaska.
The Bhajis were extremely tasty. There's a bit of mixture left in the fridge so I'll deep fry a few more tomorrow. The Curry was spicy, but not hot and went down OK.
Baked Alaska was an adventurous experiment. Ice cream in the oven! Turned out OK, but slightly overcooked due to trying to make sure that the meringue covering was starting to brown.
Meal was a success. The only thing missing was a couple 'sucking face' on the table next to us, and the annoying single rose sellers.
We've exchanged gifts. For Him - a new FatFace shirt. For Her a Sofia + Sam laptop desk (I got one of these for myself too, so we can tweet at each other in comfort.)
The title of this blog post is courtesy of a tweet from cha0tic on learning that I'd put some hard rock music on to cook to.
Friday, 5 February 2010
Disappearing Dates
Strange - my blog post dates have disappeared. The option is ticked on the widget for blog post, so I'm not sure what's happened here?
Hairy Bikers - Mums know best!
Every few months or so The Book People visit work with a pile of discounted books for sale.
The last time they came round, just before Christmas - after making a few purchases for Santa to deliver - I bought a slow-cooker recipe book, which got us dusting off our old crock-pot and producing some very tasty dishes. Making a welcome change from our old slow-cooker standard of sausage casserole.
This time I picked up some Oxford Reading Tree read at home books, and a copy of The Hairy Bikers Family Cookbook - "Mums know best!"
I've just spent the last hour leafing through it, and despite having just had a large fish supper, I'm feeling hungry from just looking at the recipes.
"Dave's Mam's Killer Fishcakes" look particularly good - I'll definitely be giving them a try, but I'll be keeping the kids out of the way whilst they're cooking.
The Hairy Bikers story is that they're so-called because they nearly were killers. "Three-year old Dave sat sucking the key to his clockwork monkey, he was distracted by the delicious smell of fishcakes cooking. One gulp and the key lodged in his throat - he had to have an operation to remove it!"
The last time they came round, just before Christmas - after making a few purchases for Santa to deliver - I bought a slow-cooker recipe book, which got us dusting off our old crock-pot and producing some very tasty dishes. Making a welcome change from our old slow-cooker standard of sausage casserole.
This time I picked up some Oxford Reading Tree read at home books, and a copy of The Hairy Bikers Family Cookbook - "Mums know best!"
I've just spent the last hour leafing through it, and despite having just had a large fish supper, I'm feeling hungry from just looking at the recipes.
"Dave's Mam's Killer Fishcakes" look particularly good - I'll definitely be giving them a try, but I'll be keeping the kids out of the way whilst they're cooking.
The Hairy Bikers story is that they're so-called because they nearly were killers. "Three-year old Dave sat sucking the key to his clockwork monkey, he was distracted by the delicious smell of fishcakes cooking. One gulp and the key lodged in his throat - he had to have an operation to remove it!"
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
Apple iPad
Why is it that I'm reminded of Dom Joly's Trigger Happy TV when I see todays revelation of the new Apple iPad? Perhaps I'm just used to gadget's getting smaller, not bigger. I'm still waiting for the flexible screen that you roll up to fit your pocket and you unroll when you want to use it.
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
Friend Face Tweet
What's it with the social networking explosion at the moment? Perhaps everyone got an i-phone for Christmas?
It's a bit like '94 to '98 when everybody started getting a home 'puter with a dial up modem and started emailing Hi! by email.
Lots of people I know seem to be discovering the likes ofFacebook and Twitter. Friends, Family, Friends of Friends etc.
Only a few are blogging (takes more effort), but most are tweeting in one way or another.
Can't be a bad thing as it's great to get in touch again and find out what folk are up to.
I'm carrying on with my blog, and feeding the posts into Facebook. Facebook is barred at work - unlike blogspot and twitter. I don't tweet much, but I reckon that twitter is more suited to i-phone like gadgets.
It's a bit like '94 to '98 when everybody started getting a home 'puter with a dial up modem and started emailing Hi! by email.
Lots of people I know seem to be discovering the likes ofFacebook and Twitter. Friends, Family, Friends of Friends etc.
Only a few are blogging (takes more effort), but most are tweeting in one way or another.
Can't be a bad thing as it's great to get in touch again and find out what folk are up to.
I'm carrying on with my blog, and feeding the posts into Facebook. Facebook is barred at work - unlike blogspot and twitter. I don't tweet much, but I reckon that twitter is more suited to i-phone like gadgets.
Sunday, 17 January 2010
Old Friends
Drove over to Rawtenstall last night, to meet up with a bunch of old friends from college days (and beyond) and a semi-surprise 40th Birthday celebration for one of them.
We went out to the White Bull in Crawshabooth for a few beers (Copperhead Dragon - an excellent pint!), and then onto the Indian Harvest Restaurant - which conveniently is in the upper part of the same building.
Lots of catching up, reminiscing and a very tasty curry - then caught a taxi at 1am back to the house and carried on the conversations, and drinking until bedtime at 3am.
Up at 11am for strong coffee, fried breakfast, fond farewells and driving home.
Quote of the weekend from a small child early in the evening, as the adults were arriving was "Mummy, - those people look like Rock Stars!"
We went out to the White Bull in Crawshabooth for a few beers (Copperhead Dragon - an excellent pint!), and then onto the Indian Harvest Restaurant - which conveniently is in the upper part of the same building.
Lots of catching up, reminiscing and a very tasty curry - then caught a taxi at 1am back to the house and carried on the conversations, and drinking until bedtime at 3am.
Up at 11am for strong coffee, fried breakfast, fond farewells and driving home.
Quote of the weekend from a small child early in the evening, as the adults were arriving was "Mummy, - those people look like Rock Stars!"
Thursday, 7 January 2010
Bill Bailey's Bird Watching Bonanza
For a surreal comedy experience try Bill Bailey's Bird Watching Bonanza on Sky 1.
It's a "celebrity" bird watching competition/quiz!
I've just watched the first episode, with my finger hovering over the channel changer, but without switching over.
Conclusion - not just for twitchers. Watch hopeless amateurs trying out bird watching activities, with amusing results
It's a "celebrity" bird watching competition/quiz!
I've just watched the first episode, with my finger hovering over the channel changer, but without switching over.
Conclusion - not just for twitchers. Watch hopeless amateurs trying out bird watching activities, with amusing results
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
Winter Wonderland - Snow Day
I did my bit for community safety in todays inclement weather (worst snowfall for 30 years), and spread about 4 buckets of grit on the icy paths around our house, the route to the local post box, and near the local library and recycling bins. The public grit bin was about three quarters full afterwards.
One of the local restaurants and the pet shop also spread few shovelfuls about until a chap turned up in a British Gas van and swiped about 3 or 4 sackfuls, virtually emptying the bin in one fell swoop. He mumbled something about his mothers drive. With grit in short supply this got me wondering about how big his mothers drive is, how many grit bins he's visited in the area, and if British Gas know what he's using their van for?
First day back at school for Frodo and Samwise. The teachers decided to take a snow day and tried to close the school for the afternoon. Most parents didn't get the message, and picked up their kids at the usual time. It will definitely be completely shut tomorrow.
Rather than risk taking the car to pick them up, I walked up to the school, with a pair of wellies in a bag for each of them, and we returned via the park.
Introduced Frodo to the avalanche dangers of standing under a snow laden tree, whilst your companions are armed with snowballs!
Returned home to build a mutant snowman in the back garden.
You can see Frodo in the bottom right corner of the above photo demonstrating the effectiveness of snow camouflage.
Also see impworks snowfall 2 - the return of the white stuff
Saturday, 2 January 2010
January Sales - Primeval
Nipped into our local Tesco this morning, with Samwise, just to pick up a couple of pint's of milk before visiting his Grandma.
We discovered that they're selling off the Primeval TV series action figures that came out last year, but at the reduced price of 2 quid, as opposed to a tenner, which they originally retailed for.
http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/479579/primeval-action-figures-reduced-fro
Since the boys love the TV series, Samwise spent some of his Christmas money on 7 boxes of figures. They're made up as they now have a complete anomaly detector computer rig, which would normally cost a lot of pocket money, as it takes 3 sets of figures to collect all the parts.
We discovered that they're selling off the Primeval TV series action figures that came out last year, but at the reduced price of 2 quid, as opposed to a tenner, which they originally retailed for.
http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/479579/primeval-action-figures-reduced-fro
Since the boys love the TV series, Samwise spent some of his Christmas money on 7 boxes of figures. They're made up as they now have a complete anomaly detector computer rig, which would normally cost a lot of pocket money, as it takes 3 sets of figures to collect all the parts.
Friday, 1 January 2010
Happy New Year! Happy New Decade!
Ended up doing a 13.5 hour overnight shift at work yesterday - with the result that I got the day off work today - which once I'd caught up on lost sleep makes a relaxing New Year's Eve. I've booked the first week of January off work - so I get a break after the mayhem of the festive season.
2010 arrived, as most years do. The neighbours were doing "Auld Lang Syne" in the street, but far too cold to stay out there, so as ever we're in watching Jools Holland's Hootenanny.
There's usually something on this music wise that attracts my attention, and requires further investigation. Past years have introduced me to the likes of The Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain, and Seasick Steve.
This year it's a latin acoustic guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela playing Buster Voodoo. They've miked up their instruments, and piped them through a few effects pedals - predominantly a Wah Wah, resulting in something that sounds like a Mexican version of one of the Starsky and Hutch themes. Something new for my souped up i-pod.
I've also just seen Dizzy Rascal rapping to "Smells Like Teen Spirit", and Florence and the Machine covering Nina Simone's "My Baby Don't Care".
Kasabian are on again now, with a bunch of "violin babes" backing them - blokes aren't allowed to play bowed instruments unless they're in an orchestra or a folk group :)
Oh no, they've all got together to form an all star "supergroup", singing "Down by the Riverside" for the finale - these things just never work!
2010 arrived, as most years do. The neighbours were doing "Auld Lang Syne" in the street, but far too cold to stay out there, so as ever we're in watching Jools Holland's Hootenanny.
There's usually something on this music wise that attracts my attention, and requires further investigation. Past years have introduced me to the likes of The Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain, and Seasick Steve.
This year it's a latin acoustic guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela playing Buster Voodoo. They've miked up their instruments, and piped them through a few effects pedals - predominantly a Wah Wah, resulting in something that sounds like a Mexican version of one of the Starsky and Hutch themes. Something new for my souped up i-pod.
I've also just seen Dizzy Rascal rapping to "Smells Like Teen Spirit", and Florence and the Machine covering Nina Simone's "My Baby Don't Care".
Kasabian are on again now, with a bunch of "violin babes" backing them - blokes aren't allowed to play bowed instruments unless they're in an orchestra or a folk group :)
Oh no, they've all got together to form an all star "supergroup", singing "Down by the Riverside" for the finale - these things just never work!
Friday, 25 December 2009
Merry Christmas Everybody!
The boys didn't get up too early, probably because they couldn't get to sleep the night before.
The Lego Star Wars Wii game was an instant hit. As are the Vtech Pro digital cameras. Frodo took 280 photos today - a lot of them are of the floor, walls and ceiling, but there's an occasional person, or object of interest among them.
They went to bed tonight, listening to a talking book story on their new CD player.
Managed to coordinate the cooking of the meal reasonably OK - it's always a bit of a problem getting the timing right, but the goose was well cooked, the gravy was delicious and the vegetables were all OK. Roast parsnips in goose fat were delicious. Roast spuds weren't too bad either, although I didn't do enough of them - might do another roast at New Year.
We're now loafing about, wearing our new clothes, drinking a couple of large G&T's and polishing off a layer of Milk Tray chocs.
Merry Christmas!
The Lego Star Wars Wii game was an instant hit. As are the Vtech Pro digital cameras. Frodo took 280 photos today - a lot of them are of the floor, walls and ceiling, but there's an occasional person, or object of interest among them.
They went to bed tonight, listening to a talking book story on their new CD player.
Managed to coordinate the cooking of the meal reasonably OK - it's always a bit of a problem getting the timing right, but the goose was well cooked, the gravy was delicious and the vegetables were all OK. Roast parsnips in goose fat were delicious. Roast spuds weren't too bad either, although I didn't do enough of them - might do another roast at New Year.
We're now loafing about, wearing our new clothes, drinking a couple of large G&T's and polishing off a layer of Milk Tray chocs.
Merry Christmas!
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Christmas Eve 2009
There's a blanket of snow outside in the early hours of Christmas Eve - looks very festiwe.
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Christmas Preparations and Panto
In the midst of Christmas Chaos right now, so not much time to blog.
Decorations are almost up - Santa leaves a note for the boys every night, telling them which one to put up next.
Picked up a Christmas tree from Norwegian Wood last weekend. It's a florist on Allerton Road - so I'm supporting a local business, as well as the forestry commission. When it's all over the tree gets recycled at the local park, and is turned into chippings for the forest trails.
Work has gone ballistic, and is getting in the way of everything, demanding extra hours and needing us to be in across much of the Christmas period for a major upgrade. They've cancelled the Christmas party (deferred until January!) and are wondering why nobody's being particularly festive!
I've managed to keep the statutory holidays and bank holiday, but I might end up being in on New Years Day :( Despite this we've managed to get the present shopping done, (and are thinking about wrapping them now).
Did the bulk of the food shopping this morning. We favour Goose at Christmas time - although it's often hard to find one. I'd left it a little late this year, but managed to pick up the second but last one from the usual place I go to.
So after a busy weekend we've launched into the booze, cheese and nibbles.
Went to the Everyman Rock 'n Roll Pantomime on Tuesday (Dick Whittington). We usually go in January, but I managed to find seats for a pre-Christmas evening performance for a change. I think I'll book early and do this again this year, as the atmosphere was really good, the audience was really excited and the cast were on top form. Both boys really enjoyed it - almost as much as we did!
Decorations are almost up - Santa leaves a note for the boys every night, telling them which one to put up next.
Picked up a Christmas tree from Norwegian Wood last weekend. It's a florist on Allerton Road - so I'm supporting a local business, as well as the forestry commission. When it's all over the tree gets recycled at the local park, and is turned into chippings for the forest trails.
Work has gone ballistic, and is getting in the way of everything, demanding extra hours and needing us to be in across much of the Christmas period for a major upgrade. They've cancelled the Christmas party (deferred until January!) and are wondering why nobody's being particularly festive!
I've managed to keep the statutory holidays and bank holiday, but I might end up being in on New Years Day :( Despite this we've managed to get the present shopping done, (and are thinking about wrapping them now).
Did the bulk of the food shopping this morning. We favour Goose at Christmas time - although it's often hard to find one. I'd left it a little late this year, but managed to pick up the second but last one from the usual place I go to.
So after a busy weekend we've launched into the booze, cheese and nibbles.
Went to the Everyman Rock 'n Roll Pantomime on Tuesday (Dick Whittington). We usually go in January, but I managed to find seats for a pre-Christmas evening performance for a change. I think I'll book early and do this again this year, as the atmosphere was really good, the audience was really excited and the cast were on top form. Both boys really enjoyed it - almost as much as we did!
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Liverpool Santa Dash 2009
A few pictures from the Santa Dash on Sunday morning - and a bunch of very unlikely looking Santas... Ho Ho Ho!
Saturday, 5 December 2009
Big Wheel and Xmas Shopping.
Xmas shopping day today, so we got up early and headed into the Liverpool One shopping centre.
I took the kids for a ride on the Liverpool One Wheel. Novelist Supermum stayed on the ground, whilst we paid our money (6 quid for me, 4 quid each for the boys) for 3 spins in a gondola on the 80m high Ferris wheel. It was a great experience, with spectacular views, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
Afterwards we visited Santa's Ice Palace - to see Santa in his Grotto
The the joys of shopping! Go Penguins! provided a slight distraction
And then finally home. The last photo isn't the real Santa. It's some imposter who's running in the Liverpool Santa Dash tomorrow.
I took the kids for a ride on the Liverpool One Wheel. Novelist Supermum stayed on the ground, whilst we paid our money (6 quid for me, 4 quid each for the boys) for 3 spins in a gondola on the 80m high Ferris wheel. It was a great experience, with spectacular views, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
Afterwards we visited Santa's Ice Palace - to see Santa in his Grotto
The the joys of shopping! Go Penguins! provided a slight distraction
And then finally home. The last photo isn't the real Santa. It's some imposter who's running in the Liverpool Santa Dash tomorrow.
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Domestic 'Droid
I've been doing a lot of overtime recently. The inevitable consequences of this are more pay, but less time at home.
This has helped me to justify making a purchase that I've been pondering over for a while now.
The irobot Roomba 581 vacuum cleaning robot arrived yesterday.
It's spent two half hour sessions tonight, roaming around our living room floor. The kids had a lot of fun watching it glide and spin about (as did we), disappearing under the furniture, and emerging again, sweeping the floor as it does so.
It has it's limitations i.e. it can't clean stairs, windowsills etc, but it's done a pretty good job of the floor. It's no substitute for a thorough 'spring clean', but for regular carpet hoovering whilst putting your feet up and having a cup of tea, it's ideal.
This has helped me to justify making a purchase that I've been pondering over for a while now.
The irobot Roomba 581 vacuum cleaning robot arrived yesterday.
It's spent two half hour sessions tonight, roaming around our living room floor. The kids had a lot of fun watching it glide and spin about (as did we), disappearing under the furniture, and emerging again, sweeping the floor as it does so.
It has it's limitations i.e. it can't clean stairs, windowsills etc, but it's done a pretty good job of the floor. It's no substitute for a thorough 'spring clean', but for regular carpet hoovering whilst putting your feet up and having a cup of tea, it's ideal.
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