You snooze, you lose? December 11, 2009

Discussing the ’snooze’ button with friends at a curry night recently, I was surprised and delighted to find that I’m not the only serial snoozer around.

Whereas The Boy bounces out of bed like Tigger on  a sprung coil, my preferred wake-up is altogether slower and reluctant.  At 0615, Sarah Kennedy streams through our radio and within minutes, the shower is on and The Boy is on his way.  Me?  I hit snooze of course.

Five minutes later, I hit snooze again convincing myself that I’m allowed this bit of extra time in bed, because I stay up later and anyway, I start work later than him.  Next, The Boy is back in the room and within minutes dressed and downstairs.  Me? Yes, another snooze is hit and I delight in snuggling down amongst the very lush duvet (wedding pressie!) for another few winks.

5 minutes on. Surely it’s time to face facts and drag my sorry self up and out? No. Another snooze moment from me as my sleep-bound slopping arm whacks the alarm clock and once again I turn over.

This pattern continues, depending on my sleepiness, sometimes well into half an hour. That’s 30mins full of 5 minute intervals of interruption.  Sarah Kennedy snippets, and random quips for a few seconds, for 30minutes.   Surely it’s enough to drive anyone out of bed sharpish? Not I.

At the curry the other night, it emerged that the two people next to me also ended up snoozing for not far off half an hour as well. I felt legitimate; the Boy was horrified.  The Boy says I should just set my alarm later but the fact is, there may come a day when I do get up first time, so for now, I’m going to continue as I am – a serial snoozer.

Head and shoulders above the rest October 22, 2009

Been meaning to blog about my cousin’s new website for ages…it is soooo pretty!

Julie-ann is an amazing talent and you may find her familiar from her star turn on Project Catwalk – her first design was incredible, right down to the pot of jam – love it! I’ve no idea how people get an eye for fashion – I like all girls digest my fair share of tat women’s glossy mags with outfits emblazoned throughout, but I still barely manage to get matching socks on me or steer far from my regulation jeans/top/hoody or cardy option.  Gah!  My resolution on turning 30 to wear more accessories has waned too, particularly on days where I’m gymming before work – I’m lucky if I remember to pack up my work clothes let alone embellishments.

Anyhoo, enough of my fashion woes – Julie-ann has moved away from designing clothes to  turning her hand to millinery and I think has found her perfect niche  – it’s fab to have someone so creative related to you and at every family wedding there’s a new design on display.  She is one clever gal – and yup, she’s related to me!

My week in an online media wilderness October 20, 2009

oof! I can’t believe it’s a month since I last posted here!

I had a week of enforced IT-slacking last week as we travelled up to Scotland in Trevor the camper – no Twitter, no FB, no email…what’s a gal to do?

Reading

In a way it’s good to go cold turkey from the online news sources I love, (usually I’m logged into The Guardian, BBC, Times, Twitter  and Google reader right through thru the day) but I still needed my news fix so The Times was purchased each day and for once, I had time to forage through the whole paper, including reading features from start to end, doing the crossie (with help from The Hub) and even reading sports articles on cricket. What a total treat!!

Fiction wise I got through The Reader - not seen the film but the book was really compelling. Meanwhile the Hub tucked into two Famous Five stories (having rediscovering these on honeymoon) and we discovered that actually the famous five mostly spend their time eating and drinking ginger beer.  In years to come, I reckon Julian and Ann will grow into the obese, slightly sweaty and red-wine drinking detectives that we’re all so much more used to.

I also got a copy of Easy Living for some light amusement but did no more than flick through it as we were chatting away to mates we stayed with over the week rather than getting stuck into reading.

Watching

From Scotland we made it to Carlisle where my sis has the very ace wine store Corkscrew Wines.  Apart from some indulging in some Sky Plus viewing the highlight of which was Takeshi’s Castle – Sis and her Boy had NEVER SEEN this TV wonder – that was pretty much it for TV viewing for the week.   Actually I also recall we watched the unbelievably good Leicester v Osprey’s Heineken Cup game which our lovely Scottish hosts had recorded for us – absolutely brilliant, and I’m not even a Leicester fan.

Listening

With all that time in the van (seriously, it takes a loooong time to get to Scotland in Trevor), we took in a lot of Radio Two and disappointingly it was Mayo filling in for Chris Evans, so drivetime was lacklustre for me.  Aside from the rad, we also got through the Noisette’s album, the Phar Cyde cd belonging to the Hub and some Led Zepplin just to balance it all out.

Our final destination in the van was to friends in Birmingham and we had some ace retro music going on (ok, not that retro) – Inspiral Carpets, The Cardigans and other random brit pop stuff. Brill accompaniment to our hosts’ baking efforts in cookies…cakes..breads…mmmm.  This week I’m aiming to get the MP3 on with some serious work-out podcasts from Dr Bob!!

And online?

Chas Minus Dave – it still adds up September 28, 2009

What random fans Chas and His Band have!  We went to the Chicken Shed theatre on Saturday to watch Chas in concert, the first one since Dave announced he was calling time on touring.  Despite Dave’s absence we still had high hopes and they were borne out –   It was ACE!

In the first half Chas paid tribute to his early piano mentor Jerry Lee Lewis who he toured with in the 60s. There were some great anecdotes and top quality rock n roll type music.  It was mesmerising to watch Chas playing piano – as a classically trained pianist, his technique was bizarre at best! But, it did the job and in the second half it was all the old faves – London Girls, Gertcha, Snooker Loopy, Rabbit.  The fans were the best bit – a real mix from 70 year olds to people in their 30s shouting “Oi” at every opportunity.

By the end of the gig everyone was on their feet clapping along and singing at the top of their voices.  Chas was brilliant, so lovely and personable – brilliant.  A top top top night out well done Chas!!

Worst week of the week award? September 18, 2009

Anyone remember the Worst Week of the Week award, awarded weekly, on a week by week basis? It was part of an ace Radio Two comedy prog. Well, I reckon this week I am a contender.

It all started Sunday, with a hangover…

Strike One.

A quarter of the way into a rugby game on Sunday, I got an almighty blow to the head and immediately hit the floor, with an egg sized lump rapidly growing on my bonce. Whoever hit me, did it pretty hard but I have a concrete skull so after 10mins of ice packing, I felt bullish and fine, so went back on to play. I later realised I had concussion when I got nausea and pins and needles in my face whilst at work the next day!

Strike Two.

When I went back on the pitch on Sunday, no sooner had I got the ball than I went on a little dash on the attack. It was going well, I’d beaten one defender and just had the full back to get round. My sidestep was planned but on execution – crunch! The old familiar battered knee re-emerged. Two years on from my grade 2 ACL tear, I am still getting gip. It was sore beyond belief and I had to hobble off, whilst cursing quite loudly in anger. That was the end of that game, and my knee’s not a great deal improved five days on, worst luck.

Strike Three.

Yesterday lunchtime whilst driving back to work, I had the misfortune of meeting Neanderthal man. Whilst going along a dual carriageway, a white van driver decided to cross the road over to an opposite slip road, and basically chuntered straight into my lane. I somehow managed to swerve round him but the back end of the car got scuffed. On exiting my car, in order to exchange details, the driver emerged as an angry Scotsman, fervently gesturing and shouting obscenities. I didn’t understand the offensive language until I’d asked him to repeat it, as he really had a broad accent.

Anyhoo, after trying to blame me, Neanderthal man got back in his van and drove off without giving me his details. I managed to get the license plate and when he parked up just a bit away from me I drove up again, stayed in my car (wasn’t sure if he’d get physically aggressive – yikes) and asked him again for his contact details. He begrudgingly gave me a name and business, but claimed he didn’t have a phone. So now we’re going through police, insurance and all sorts to try and get it sorted.

On the upside, I’ve had my three bad things happen now so surely my luck must be turning. But in the meantime, can anyone beat this for a rubbish week?

Countryside perils – cows August 24, 2009

People think I’m silly for being afraid of cows (and sheep, to be fair – although I’ve got better there) – but what more proof do you need that big oafs of cows are dangerous:

“Walkers warned over cow dangers

Farming unions have warned walkers, especially those with dogs, to be aware of the dangers posed by cows with calves.

Three people have died in as many months and others have been injured.

They include the former Home Secretary David Blunkett who was trampled while walking with his guide dog.

Farmers are becoming increasingly worried and say walkers should be aware that cattle are naturally protective towards calves and can attack dogs.

Three walkers have died in the past three months alone.”

Trevor the Lovebus’ amazing transformation August 18, 2009

So, you might recall the design competition we ran for the camper van, whereby we asked people to submit their own ideas of how we should pimp our ride… Here’s how Trevor used to be:

Well after immediately discounting many entries (er, Mr Blobby? No) and deliberating over the others, Paul, Dean and Mary won the competition and we went with a combination of all three designs to transform Trevor – from beat up bland van, to surf-tastic country paradise love bus!!

And here’s the pictures to prove it:

Kind of an English Country Garden…

Below: surf’s up dude!!

Congrats to the winners, each of whom will be getting a personal visit from Trevor and the chance to sup tea and eat cake in the luxurious interior:

prettiful curtains!

tarting up trevor July 6, 2009

Not long until the big unveiling of Trevor, the honeymoon vehicle, at the wedding. The Boy and I are cracking on with painting him up – here’s some initial pics:

This is the ‘country garden’ side of the van so eventually there’ll be some green involved.

This side will be the ‘beach’ scene. You can see we’ve started the sand and sky – sea and beach-type accessories are yet to come!

It’s fair to say, we’ve a fair bit to do yet…

Tinkering away July 6, 2009

Trying to keep some semblance of normality in the run up to the wedding, I’m continuing my piano lessons and although I don’t practice as much as I should or do my scales that frequently, I am really enjoying it. My piano teacher’s ace and is picking up on lots of elements of my playing which I haven’t addressed in the past, so it’s all good.

I’m currently attempting to play this Debussy (with mixed results, so far…):

A memorable night at Never Forget June 10, 2009

OK I’m a bit late posting this but I’ve been a busy bee!

 

Last Thursday I got a last minute ticket for the Take That tribute band musical, Never Forget, at MK theatre, thanks to lil’ sis’ friend who fell ill (bad for her; good for me).

I wasn’t expecting that much, but actually it turned into a superb night.

The actor Phil Olivier, better known for his role in Brookside, was brave to be involved in this all-singing all-dancing affair.  At times, his dancing was almost robotic, which in itself was completely mesmerising!  His efforts at singing weren’t the best either but the producers had obviously accounted for this, giving him minimal exposure.  Yeah, ok, it was ropey – but his performance was still hugely endearing.  Never Forget is probably the best platform for him in musical theatre – it’s cheesy, camp and poppy – I can’t see him doing anything like Les Mis anytime soon.

 

Moving on, the cast was in fact incredible with Mark Willshire as Ash (the Gary of the tribute band) absolutely storming on the stage. His singing was amazing, flawless and his dancing looked exhausting.

A highlight had to be the top cheesy moment of ‘back for good’ set to the backdrop of rain absolutely chucking over the two main characters. Brilliant.

The encore for me was the best bit. The whole theatre was on their feet straight off as the cast ran through an exhausting medley of songs (6?7?) – as I said to my sis – this is actually like seeing Take That! (not that I ever have…but this must be close!)

So, an unexpectedly top night filled with brilliant TT songs. I recommend!