Well it's Christmas Eve and I've finished work for the year. Hurrah! We had a lovely Christmas dinner at the cottage on Wednesday which got me into the festive spirit, then Thursday seemed like Christmas Eve because everyone was finally feeling festive. Anyway, it is now properly Christmas, so merry Christmas everyone! I hope you have a lovely time.
Last night I had slightly less sushi than expected thanks to my weird spell of feeling ill. I feel fine today - it's all most strange. Anyway, I think it may have been the sushi (or perhaps the beer) that made me better. Beer is one of the great medicines of course, and there is little that it cannot help, even if it doesn't cure it.
After sushi we went to the UGC in the Trocadero to see 'Enduring Love'. The Trocadero used to be one of the best things about London when I was a teenager - it had Sega World, the big arcadey bit, and a bunch of other things (including Alien War, which Dave and Ade had both been too and I was reminded yet again last night how annoyed I am that I never went). Now it is pretty much just a cinema and a load of boarded-up shops. It's funny how things change. Mind you, the cinema has about 10 screens. Most of them are up loads of escalators and down long corridors - it's all quite strange and disorientating. The film itself was excellent and I thoroughly recommend it.
The Trocadero may be a shadow of its former self, but there are lots of things left in London that are still pretty much as they've been for the last 30 years. I should go to them in case they close and I suffer the same annoyance that I never went. For example, I have never been to the London Dungeons, although they're meant to be better than Madame Tussauds (which I have been too). I haven't been to the V&A museum either, although I doubt that is in much danger of closing. I'm sure there's a bunch of other stuff I have yet to see. I will have to make a list...
Sushi and cinema tonight. I think we are going to see 'Enduring Love', but it might end up being 'I Love Huckerbees'. Both of these have had good reviews so whatever we end up seeing I'm pretty sure we'll enjoy it. Dave has a problem with going to see Bad Santa, so if we end up watching that then there might be some amusement to be had. It's even meant to be quite good.
The downside of today is that I feel a bit poo. It feels like I have a temperature but I'm ok as long as I sit down, although my head feels funny. I hope it doesn't get any worse as not only do I hate being ill, but one downside of contracting is that you don't get sick pay. This sucks, as when you're in a permanent job you might feel like crap but at least it doesn't actually cost you anything! I've only had one sick day in the last six months though so I'm not doing too badly.
You may be slightly surprised to hear that the Ecoballs I was quite excited about after buying some at the CAT seem to work. It's like magic. Not only do they last 1000 washes (not bad for 30 quid), but you don't have to use nasty chemicals, plus you only have to use a quick wash as there is no powder to rinse out. Everyone's a winner! Good for sensitive skin too. Go buy some.
I had a nice weekend in Aberystwyth. On Saturday I drove up from Bristol in decent weather and arrived in Aber at about 2pm. Finding somewhere to park there seems to be more of a problem every time I visit, and this time I had to go all the way to the other end of North Road before I found a spot! Madness. A lot of it is down to the fact that far more students seem to have cars these days. I don't know what the percentage is, but considering that I didn't know anyone at all with a car when I was an undergrad, that might explain how tight things have got. Perhaps it is time for the university to do something like Oxford and ban cars for students? It's not like they need them.
Anyway, I met Andy at the pub and through a combination of luck and coincidence we managed to find the owner of the B&B we usually stay at (Rosendale Guest House in Cambrian Street, which I thoroughly recommend) and got a room. Unsurprisingly for the time of year, there was plenty of space. There were us and a fat man, plus a couple who seemed to enjoy noisy sex (although they didn't make it down for breakfast so we didn't see them. It is always fun to speculate about what such couples look like - they are usually rather unremarkable rather than the young sex kittens you imagine they might be.
I caught up with a couple of friends over Saturday. This involved a rather splendid hot chocolate in The Treehouse.. it had chilli in it, of all things! Sounds weird but it works. Later, dinner in Little Italy was as good as always, and the evening was rounded off with the increasingly traditional walk up Constitution Hill and back, half blinded by the massive floodlights that seem to get a bit brighter every year.
On Sunday we had breakfast at the B&B (which was rather good as usual) and headed straight off to the Centre for Alternative Technology which is just down the road in Machynlleth. I haven't been there since 1994 or so, so it was good to go again. It took us a good few hours to look around. In the shop I bought some Ecoballs - they replace washing powder and work for 1000 washes apparently. I was sceptical but the CAT works on a scientific basis so I was willing to give it a go. A quick look around the Web shows nothing but positive reviews too so I'm fairly positive that they'll work. If so they will truly be one of those wonder products that I will recommend to everyone.
Anyway, as well as excitement about washing products I had a nice Sunday. We left Aber around 2 or so and I went to see Lizzie in her house (which must be one of the most remote houses in all of Wales). The rain and fog meant that the drive was quite 'exciting', and the mountain road from Cymystwyth to Rhayader was a good bit of driving, although suicidal sheep were there to keep me on my toes. At one point no amount of beeping, shouting and gently nudging with the car seemed to convince a particularly lazy sheep to get out of the way, so I had to get out and carry it to the side of the road. Sheep truly are stupid.
The gig was every bit as good as expected. I'm growing to like the Astoria as a venue. The bar is quick thanks to them just selling cans (and to be honest there isn't much point getting pints from gas taps anyway - a can is fine), there was no queue to get in and even getting out was quite fast. Logistics aside, Therapy? were on top form yet again. We didn't think too much of the support band 'Tokyo Dragons' - they just had a guitarist and a drummer and did a lot of shouting rather than singing... not really my cup of tea. Therapy? played a good selection of stuff though and we were moshing about like loons. Great fun, although I have the bruises to show for it today. It was nice that there were so many of us there too.
Tonight should be cool. We're off to see Therapy? at the Astoria in London. This will be the first T? gig I've been to since the last album came out a couple of months ago and the band became a three-piece again. Should be cool.
It will also be a reunion of sorts as there will be five of us there: me, Dave, Ben, Ciaran and Neil. Just like old times! Well, not quite like old times as I have earplugs with me this time. Last time we went to a club in London (I think it was Full Tilt at Camden) my ears rang for 24 hours or so. It was scary. I resolved to wear earplugs from now on, although I feel that the ones I have tonight may be a bit too effective. We'll see!
Today I went to the Jazz Cafe with Chris and Libby for breakfast. Everyone else from Luke's party somehow sneaked off, but we had a nice old time anyway chatting about this and that. After breakfast we wandered around town a bit, checking out the new gadget shop 'I've got to have it' (I think), watching Chris talk to strange whistle sellers and brass bands, and that sort of thing.
In the evening I drove up to my parents in Newbury to sort out their computers. My parents have a wireless ADSL router and one of my old PCs which is rather slow, so I brought a not-quite-so-old 1GHz Athlon and 17" monitor for them to use. This is lightening-fast compared to their old one, so it should go down quite well. Reinstalling everything took a while though! I think I started at 8:30 and it's now nearly one in the morning. Computers eh?
Current Music: Don't Stop Me Now-Queen-Shaun of the Dead
It is Luke's birthday on Tuesday so as a celebration he organised a poker night last night. The game was Texas Hold 'em and we had three tables going. It was a good night. Needless to say, I ended-up losing my cash. Life is full of lessons on why I should avoid gambling! Anyway, I took some photos which you can see in the photos section of my Web site.
I have been struggling to catch-up with my current Open University course. I applied for it a few months ago and had a vague idea that the course started at the end of November. Other things were planned as you'd expect, and it was only through luck that I logged on to the course Website the other day to see if there were any really keen people starting already. Predictably, I discovered that the course actually started at the start of November, and I was already a bit behind! Oh well... I work best (only?) under pressure! Last night was spent catching-up on what has happened so far, and I think I will be up with everyone else by the end of tomorrow. This is quite important as it is taught entirely on-line, so if you are not in the 'tutorial' conferences it's pretty obvious!
There are some universal truths that we must all accept. 'Being slack when a student yet somehow managing to get everything in on time' is one of mine. Well, as long as you don't include PhD thesis' in that, I suppose. I take some pride in never having handed any coursework in late, but it's a weird sort of pride since a lot of my friends who almost never got stuff in on time got their degrees in the end anyway. Mind you, they were arts students, and I think in the arts handing stuff in late is practically expected.
Christmas is fast approaching. I saw the first decorations going up in October. It's tempting to say something along the lines of 'It gets earlier every year!', but that's obviously not true; the people who say it are just getting older. They probably also think that Mars bars were bigger, there was less crime on the streets, and the grass was greener. All of these things are relative. In any case, I quite like the decorations going up early, otherwise everything is a bit grim in November after Guy Fawkes night.
Thinking of Christmas, I am undecided about what to do for a tree this year. A real tree is of course the nicest thing. However, I always feel slightly guilty that a tree has to die to give me a few weeks of enjoyment. Would a plastic tree be any better though? Both real and plastic trees can be recycled, and you can get some pretty decent looking fake trees these days. I think that the environmental choice is not as clear-cut as it may first appear. Hmm.
Therapy?, one of the best live bands ever, are playing Reading on the 3rd of December. Should be excellent. Come along!
The weather this weekend was fantastic, so that made our trip to Worcestershire all the better. The drive up on Saturday morning was great - no traffic at all. The hotel near Stourport was easy to find, and everything went very smoothly. On the Sunday we went for a walk around Worcester. We caught the Remembrance service outside the cathedral, looked at the shops, and looked in the cathedral itself. I haven't been to Worcester for years but it's one of my favourite cities, I think.
The drive back to Bristol was equally trouble-free, and we got back in plenty of time to get to get to the cinema and see 'Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason'. I actually quite enjoyed the first film. Yes, it's girly and silly, but it was still amusing. This one was enjoyable too, although I didn't think it was quite as good. Still definitely worth seeing though, and if the attendance at the showing we were at is anything to go by, it should do very well.
On Friday, after a bit of a misunderstanding that added a round trip to Newbury to my commute, we went to see The Polyphonic Spree at Bristol Academy. Even though we missed about an hour of their set the stuff we did see was really good. They're a top feel-good band, and 'Together We're Heavy' is almost always playing on my iPod these days.
On Sunday I was meant to go on a flying lesson, but it was cancelled because of the weather, which was a pain in the arse. I'll have to rearrange it now but by schedule is pretty full! It may have been just as well as I had to wake up early on Sunday in time for the lesson, so I wasn't 100% sharp. Apparently the planes have heated cabins now so flying later in the year shouldn't be a problem anyway. I just want to give it a go!
Yesterday was a sad day thanks to the news that John Peel has died. Radio just won't be the same without him on Radio 1 playing music by obscure bands, or listening to Home Truths on Saturday morning. It's nice to see that the new bands stage at Glastonbury will be renamed as the John Peel stage. A fitting tribute to someone who cared passionately about music.
I was ill over the weekend and Monday with some sort of food poisoning from pea and ham soup, of all things. You live and learn! Strangely it was from a can, and I didn't think canned things could be dangerous (unless the can is 'blown'). Come to think of it though, I have been ill from canned chicken soup before too. Hmm. I think perhaps I should just start avoiding canned soup? It's probably full of all sorts of crappy chemicals and GM stuff anyway.
Surprise surprise - foxes are actually not very nice and kill things. Yes, that's right. They're not just fluffy and cute, you hunt protestors! Can you tell I'm still angry at foxes in general for killing my chickens? Hmm.
I had a pretty good weekend. On Saturday we went for a walk down the road at the back of my house. I hadn't been down there before, but it is excellent for walking, being a single-track country road with hardly any traffic. We did a circular walk through Inglesbatch, Priston Mill, Priston and Nailwell. Apart from a company Christmas bash in Priston Mill a couple of years ago, I haven't been to any of these villages before. This is a shame as they're very pretty, and so close to my house that it's bizarre that I haven't walked through until now. I must go for walks for the sake of exploration more often!
Last night we saw Arcadia at the Bristol Old Vic. It was very good. It got me wondering about the Old Vic though. There is a massive space at the front filled by nothing in particular (stairs and stuff, but mostly empty space) yet the theatre itself isn't particularly big. The space it does have is provided by being very 'vertical'. One wonders why it has ended-up like that. Perhaps I will look into the history of the place a bit, when I get the time...
I've finally got floors downstairs! The floor people finished putting them in yesterday and they look really good. Hurrah! Soon I will have my sofa too, and I'll be able to actually set the house up properly. There's still painting to be done (very carefully to avoid getting it on the new floors!), but it should be relatively straightforward.
Here are things you must do this weekend:
I hate lists like that, especially as I have now actually reached 30 so it is too late to do anything on any of them. Ho hum.
My weekend was rather fantastic, despite hitting middle age. On Friday we went to see Blithe Spirit, which was very good. After that we went for a few drinks in town. Then a few drinks turned into a few more.
I didn't feel too drunk when I got home, but on Saturday morning I felt really awful. However, I was pretty much recovered by then time Ben and Emma arrived around 3. Claire arrived shortly afterwards and we headed into town for a drink and a snack at the Pig and Fiddle, where we met the others. We then headed home to drop off bags and things before going back into town for the meal at 8 where the others arrived shortly afterwards. The Wife of Bath was excellent once again, and we were stuffed and jolly by 11. We wandered to T's for a bit of dancing but the queue was insane, so I headed back with some of the others. We then stayed-up until the early hours chatting about this and that, and laughing at old photos. This is what 30 year olds do, you see.
Sunday was blazing hot. We were up at a reasonable hour (oh, 10 or so) and headed into town for breakfast at The Jazz Cafe. After that we went to the International Kite Festival in Bristol. It was lovely weather for it... too lovely, you might say. There was very little wind, so the effort to fly the largest kite in the world wasn't as successful as they had hoped. It was still a nice day out though, and they managed to fly enough kites to be impressive.
In the evening I went to the cottage and we had dinner and birthday cake. A splendid end to a splendid weekend! It was lovely to see everyone and I got some lovely presents, cards, and people were lovely. I will stop now though, before I start gushing like a girl.
Some time over the Bank Holiday weekend some travellers parked-up in the car park here at work and have been living there in several caravans. This has caused some amusement to everyone here, but is no doubt a slightly less than professional image for the company. I wasn't really surprised when I looked out of the window this afternoon to see that there is a large flatbed lorry with a crane in the car park now, and it is lifting the caravans and taking them away. I'm not sure how the gypsies feel about this, but I can guess that they're not impressed.
Now I would be tempted to feel sorry for them, as I would for any generally persecuted group of people. However, this is the same lot who were camping on park about half a mile down the road for a week, and when they moved on they left the most horrible mess you can imagine. I don't just mean rubbish (although they could have put that into bags, at least), but pretty much everything you can imagine a group of people producing in a week. It was grim.
I know there are perfectly respectable groups of gypsies and travellers out there that care for their environment and are decent people, but all of them suffer thanks to the actions of people like those in our car park. Can't they see that they just make things worse for themselves? I don't pretend to know what the solution is, but it probably involves responsibility on their part before they can expect people to tolerate them.
Yesterday was Corina's birthday, so to celebrate we went to ZeroDegrees in Bristol. It's quite a new place - part swanky bar, part restaurant (with good pizza) and part microbrewery. Beer and food were both good, and that only helped the evening along. Of course, we would have had a good evening even if we were somewhere rubbish as everyone was on top form and had an excellent time.
So, next up - my birthday. I can't believe I'm going to be 30 on Saturday. It's going to be a scary moment, although probably less scary than the day I turn 40! To tell the truth though, it's not bothering me as much as I thought it might. 30 might have sounded old when I was 20, but now it seems pretty reasonable. I just have to face some facts now - chances are that I won't be married by 30 (unless the next few days are bizarre), so it goes to show that some of life's expectations aren't completely reliable. I am trying to avoid all of those 'things you must do before you hit 30' lists, as I feel there may be too much to do in 1.5 days.
I still have a year (and a day) to go on a Club 18-30 holiday of course, so I'm not really old yet!
