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Last night Sarah dragged (well, suggested with some persuasive arguments and then gave me ‘the cow eyes’, which she bloody well knows I can’t refuse!) me to see ‘The Music Of Dirty Dancing’ at Audley End. Now, I’m an unconfessed fan of that movie – though I usually fast forward the particularly cringe-worthy bits. And after a few mojitos, some lovely picnic food and good conversation, I actually started to get into it.
It was nothing special though, ten dancer/singers and an 8 piece band belting out songs from the film and some not from the film. But there was dancing (I have to admit) and much alcohol – some of it free care of Jacques fruity cider. Really quite a nice drop and about £4 in the supermarket, I’m told :) (Plug done.)
Anyway, the fireworks at the end were worth the entry fee alone. What is it about fireworks that turn us all into kids again? I love the big ‘death star explosion’ ones, the ones that fill the sky. Then there’s the smell of fireworks, which I also can’t get enough of. I’m curious about how they make fireworks.. Do you think that’s a fairly high paying job, firework designer? Can’t be very many of them in the world, so it must be fairly high paying. And you might not have any eyebrows left, but damn if it wouldn’t be fun! ;)
Today is a gentle day – a bit of cleaning, watching the German F1 Grand Prix (Hamilton on pole, Webber starts 8th – Raikonnen starts 6th!) then perhaps a run to the garden centre to get some grass for the cat-beast so he doesn’t eat his way through my herb garden. and that’s about it.
Haven’t heard anything yet about the job I second interviewed for last week. Though my agent is trying hard for a resonse, I guess I’m feeling kinds stoic about it – if it’s gonna happen it’ll happen no matterwhat. No point fretting about it. But I really want this job, so keep your fingers crossed for me.
Lead a rather exciting life, huh? yeah – I’m sort of proud of it ;)
xx
Friday – my interviews went very well. So well, in fact, that I got a phone call fro my agency this morning saying they were very impressed and want me back for a second interview! WhooHoo! Will happen in week commencing 14 July. Will keep you posted.
Friday night out to dinner & movie with Miguel & Begonia. Went & saw Hancock – have to say I wasn’t particularly impressed. All the good bits are in the trailers. The first third is fun, the laughs die in the second third and the end is just a little confusing and a bit twee. Anyway, make your own opinion, but mine would be to wait for the DVD. Don’t spend your hard earned only to be disappointed.
Sat went to Norwich with Christine. Never been there before and although there were some very strange looking people about (the local 6-toed pesantry, no doubt) we had a lovely lunch in a brilliant tapas bar, then a bit of shopping in Primark that was good for the bank balance! No, really! Got 3 pairs of work trousers, a linen blazer, a bed set (doona cover, two pillowcases AND a fitted sheet) for £66. Brilliant! Missed the F1 qualifying, but entirely worth it. Norwich is a strange place. Full of very weird people, but great shopping and quite a pleasant vibe to the place.
Sunday, woke late in my new bedding (lovely!) and rose just in time for the pre-race warm up for the British F1 Grand Prix. And what a race! After Aussie Mark Webber kicked some serious ass in qualifying to get on the front row of the grid (WHOOHOO!!) he spun on the first lap in the seriously wet conditions (understatement of the year!) and ended up finishing 10th. But the wild & wet conditions drove Ferrari to distraction, with Massa having a hell of a lot of trouble keeping his car turned in the right direction. It seemed he was spinning every 5 mins! Raikonnen only managed 4th after a late attack at Alonso – the Ferrari’s just seemed to have a hell of a time maintaining pace, even in qualifying. With Kubica, championship leader, out of the race and thereby scoring no points, the way was clear for a stampeding, rampaging Hamilton to secure his first place and the vital 10 points. Hamilton was never really in doubt and romped away in the awful conditions to win by more than a minute – almost unheard of in F1!
After the F1 I went to Wendens Ambo for their annual Village vs Pub cricket match, which Christine and Anne (who runs The Pub in question) roped me into doing some scoring.. I think it’s because I actually know a little about cricket, thop never scored before. But it was fun! Good day out. Weather was crap, and the rain bucketed down for about an hour or so, but it held off long enough for the Village to win by 3 wickets. A fun (and slightly drunken!) afternoon, got home about 8pm to a hungry cat and brand new Top Gear – which seems to be getting better and better. Love that show.
Also got some ‘new’ music. A few weeks ago I bought the Desperado Soundtrack, and have been loving the hell out of it! I’m really into dirty mexican blues at the moment, dirty messy guitars and a vaguely latin americal feel. Anyway, got the From Dusk Til Dawn soundtrack and also Tito & Tarantula’s ‘tarantism’ to groove down to now. Brilliant! Happy musical days :)
Anyway, happy Monday everybody. Tho the weather’s crap and will be all week, I feel optimistic..
xx
Let’s being today with the Rugby World Cup 2007. I’ve been watching each weekend, fairly avidly where Australia are concerned, and watched us almost saunter through our group matches to reach the quarter finals and face England.
Now, the England rugby team are as wishy-washy as your packet of soap flakes. One day they can be brilliant, the next utter crap, and there’s no way to tell which you’ll get until it’s too late. Unfortunately, Australia got the tight, gel-ed England. Their guys just defeated ours with, it seemed, sheer body mass. We looked beated by the half time whistle, truth be told. England were too strong on the day – simple as that.
Now France beating NZ was another shocker! It must have been Underdog Day at the World Cup – that’s all I can think to explain it. I didn’t see the France / NZ match, so I can’t comment any further.
I did, however, watch the Chinese F1 on Sat for Qualifying. And after Hamilton did a near perfect lap, 0.4sec ahead of anyone else and enough to get him pole position, Alonso apparently had a hissy-fit – continuing his quest to be the F1 Diva. He apparently threw his helmet to the ground then broke a door off it’s hinges! Very gentlemanly behaviour indeed! Nice to see Alonso’s got things in perspective. Dude, he’s younger than you and better than you – get over it. Happens to us all. It’s called getting older.
In the race, Hamilton got away well on the greasy track in light rain – which seemed to hamper all the drivers over the course of the 56 laps. The pic above shows Alonso’s risky move into turns 1 & 2, attempting to overtake both Ferrari’s. It didn’t work. Just after this photo was taken, Massa moved in to give Alonso a nudge, and Raikonnen was able to take P2 back. You can see Ralf Schumacher in the background spinning in turn one.
The rain payed havoc with the race strategies, almost everyone having tyre problems as the wrong tyres were chosen for conditions, or the team just let the tyres run down to the canvas, as McLaren did for Lewis Hamilton. Poor guy, to be forced out because your team fell off the ball. Unfair.
But, as we say in the big leagues, that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
Went to dinner with Miguel & Begonia last night to samples Miguel’s roast lamb – which was mighty good! But the gauntlet has been carelessly tossed into the ring, and now the challenge is on me to prove my mum’s lamb roast is better than his mum’s lamb roast! Ovens at 20 paces! :) Ah, this sould be on an advert somewhere… Truly, though, we gotta stop doing these things on a Sunday night, cause it’s truly a slice of hell getting up Monday morning.
But I think I’ll pickup the gauntlet after the stitches are out of my leg. All is still good – had one shaky moment on the weekend where I bent the wrong way and the stitches pulled and caused sudden sharp pain, but no bleeding and no damage. Just gotta remember the damn things are there!
Happy Monday. I’m in recovery after last night, that’s as chipper as I can be.
I haven’t updated for a while – not quite sure why, so I don’t have a really good excuse. I wasn’t kidnapped by aliens for 3 days. I wasn’t wounded in a bunfight in the local tearooms. I don’t have temporary paralysis or amnesia or any of the other millionis of infinitely valid excuses. I just haven’t updated for a while.
To fill you in, there’s been a bit going on.
I’ve got stitches in my leg again. Last time my biopsies were done by a junior doctor. My consultant is worried that she didn’t get it all, so he took another chunk of skin off, leaving me with 2 sub-cutaneous disolve-able stitches and 4 in the skin which will have to be taken out in 10 days. The stitches are on the outside of my leg, just above the knee. It hurt for the first day (Wed 3 Oct) but it feels ok now. I actually forget they’re there! I only notice when I bang them on something (which my current desk setup seems extraordinarily suited for! Ow!) or when I pull on them by moving my leg a certain way. My stitches don’t like stairs, but almost everything else seems fine. I get to change the dressing today and have my first look at them – I’ve never had disolveable ones before and I’m curious. Not that I’ll see anything if they’re under the skin, but you know what I’m getting at.
I got my car fixed. My 1.3L now sounds like a 1.3L should! And I got 4 new tyres! All for less than my original quoted price of £280 just for the exhaust! WhooHoo! See, people, it pays to shop around… My car is now almost a joy to drive – it’s really light and responsive, much MUCH less noisy, and I’ve just clicked over to 37,000 miles :) Next thing is a service & pink slip (called MOT here) before the rego (road tax) is due in January. Shouls be all fine to pass MOT no problem now she sounds like she should.
Seen Miguel & Begonia a few times, and looked after their hamster when they went to Spain last weekend. My cat’s afraid of the hamster. My bloody cat is afraid of a hamster. (virtual head shake) (For the aussies among us, a hamster is about half the size of a pet rat, and looks like a big mouse with no tail. They’re very cute and very soft, and one of their most endearing habits is to stuff their cheeks full of food so their cheeks puff out. And that’s about it. You can’t really play with one, they’re too little.) Anyway – my ‘fraidy-cat really is one. So much for my ‘attack cat’ aspirations. Disappointing, to say the least. But it could be worse…
Got a haircut. Still trying to get the knack of styling it properly. I’m a bit lazy when it comes to my hair. And having a distinct lack of sisters to go to for styling and make up advice when I was growing up, I’m not much of a fashion plate. It’s all I can do to put a bit of lip gloss on, and I dress for comfort and warmth before style. But I’m liking my new hair.
The weather’s colder now – after a really crappy summer we’re into a chilly autumn already. The central heating’s been on for a week and it’s only going to get colder now. Be seeing frost soon.
I’ve discovered I’m exo-thermic. I need outside heat sources, I can’t keep myself warm. I need the warmth of the sun or, failing that, a good fan heater. So in the 14-17deg weather today I’ve got a singlet, long-sleeve T and jumper on over thick jeans, as well as a scarf and my thick winter coat (actually a ski coat) for when I go outside. People at work laugh at me for having so many layers – then ask to borrow some as the temp drops.
BIG weekend of sport planned this weekend. Australia V England and NZ V France in the Rugby – what will surely be two damn good matches! The penultimate race of the 2007 F1 season in China gives Lewis Hamilton his shot at the World Championship. Oh. That’s right, hang on. I’m still pissed about last week’s race when that bastard Vettel ran Mark Webber off the road and cost him a podium! I was ranting about the house all day! You stupid prick Vettel! Don’t get me started, but if you’re an F1 driver, if you’ve reached the pinacle of what’s possible in a career as a race driver, why the hell is it unreasonable to think you’d know how to handle a car?? You watch yourself, Vettel. Don’t visit Australia in the off season. And don’t tell me you didn’t know what happened – the TV showed you crying in your helmet! You knew exactly what you did! *sigh* Bastard.
Oh – and a final bit of good news – I’m sending all my happy thoughts and good wishes to Nick, who’s started his journey to sail single-handed from Europe to Australia. Enjoy yourself – be safe.
So that’s about it. All caught up. If I think of anything you missed, I’ll let you know. Happy Friday.
physio again this morning – very short session since I told her that monday something went wrong. she did a quick fix, was hesitant to do more since my headache is v weak at the mo and she doesn’t want to agravate it again. so she showed me how to find the ‘magic’ spot that takes away the pain, sold me a new pillow and sent me on my way. No problem – i’m glad we’re not wasting time. but i’ve got another 2 appts next week, so we’ll see how we go.
Friday again – boss is out so I’m messing about with blogs. Created a new one, one that’s going to be a bit more deep and reflective than this one. not telling where it is yet – let me get used to it first.
Mark the flatmate is going away for a week – down to cornwall camping, lucky bugger. but it does mean a week on my own, which will be nice.
Miguel & Begonia for dinner on Sunday – gotta find something nice to eat! perhaps a roast? anyway, Begonia’s a pa too, and she’s just scored herself a new job – but she’s having confidence issues and wants me to take her through business writing styles, so she can practice a bit. she hasn’t done pa work since she lived in spain, and she doesn’t think her english is good enough – but i think she’ll be fine. :) she’s coming around early so we can go over some sample letters/emails so she can get a grasp of business language. no worries. (psst! she called me a professional! HAHAHA!)
going for a haircut on sat – it’s been over a year so i figured it was about time. listen out for screaming about 2pm, huh?
Australia are playing Wales in the Rugby World Cup on Sat – should be an interesting game! Should be more of a challenge than Japan at any rate. 91-3 was a bit mean. I thought we could have let them have just one try, but no, the boys were being mean! :)
Australia’s 20-20 cricket team aren’t doing too well – I haven’t been following this, but I heard on the radio this morning that we are playing England today and as long as England don’t lose too badly they’ll kick us out of the tournament! How the hell did that happen?! What? We got beaten by Zimbabwe?!? WTF?! You turn away for a minute and the whole thing goes to hell… c’mon boys – kick pommy arse!
on the F1 front, the McLaren team have been fined £50M over the whole spying thing, but Hamilton & Alonso get to keep their championship points and the race is still on. Phew!
that’s about it at this point. happy friday all.
Friday night went to Miguel & Begonia’s for dinner & catchup – it’s been so long since I’ve seen them. Had a good laugh, good food and a surprisingly good film – A Good Year. (tho a few too many ‘good’s in that sentence for my liking!) Tho really, with Ridley Scott directing Russel Crowe it HAD to be interesting – and it was. Quite an enjoyable film.
Was my brother Greg’s birthday on Sat so I sent him a happy birfdy message and he rang me – and we had the sort of good chat that we only get a few times year. It was great to speak with Greg, we get along very well and I think we’re siimilar sorts of people, and to get all the news thats going on with him and the family. They’ve now completed the move from The Gold Coast to Tamworth, and Greg says it’s nice to have some space around them again. Definitely be better for the kids, they can go play in the 7 acre yard, even ride their trailbikes without bothering the neighbours. It sounds like they’ve got a good setup there, good schools for the kids, good job for Greg, nice house & surrounds… Good on them.
Sat was washing day, lots of laundry to do.
Sunday morning I took myself to the bookshop – since I haven’t been to an actual bookshop for so damn long! Walked in, went straight to the 3 books I wanted, paid & walked out – the whole thing took about 5 mins! But I was home in time to watch the Italian Grand Prix!
Interesting race, not only because it’s so fast a circuit, but also because Raikonnen crashed spectacularly in practice and his neck must have been hurting. Alonso won, Hamilton 2nd and Raikonnen 3rd. Massa retired very early on, Coulthard had a front wing mishap and crashed in to the tyres – and that was about it.
Went to physio again this morning, and it didn’t seem to work as well as it did on Friday. My neck is v sore and I’ve been feeling vague and floaty all day. My headache returned on the weekend, but nowehere near as strong as it was, so the physio is having some effect.. She also lent me a special pillow to try and relieve any added stress on my neck. Can’t wait to use it. I’ll stick with physio, but my neck hurts.. Having a lot of trouble concentrating today. All I can think of is the pillow in the car…
v tired.
Rivalry between Alonso & Hamilton continues off-track in the new Mercedes advert…
(and for those who don’t follow F1, the guy at the end is retired 2 time World Champ & McLaren driver, Mika Haikkonen… )
Brilliant! :)
