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!
