London Bombing blogging
Now Playing: Maceo & All the King's Men - Funky Women
Topic: Stephen Says
I'm trying real hard, now that I'm home & have read how the American press has reported the bombings in London (Granted, I get all my news from those dirty Left-Wingers so I might be a little biased), not to comment until things unfold. Instead I'll leave it up to George Galloway who, even though he's off his rocker, makes a helluva lot more sense than Chimpy.

Anywho, E&I have our first weekend off together for 3 weeks. We're detoxing. Sort of. She's gone to the pub & I'm drinking cider and I think we're still rough from this past Wednesday. Mark & Jenn? I think I've found a group of people who can party even harder than you. They're wackyer, anyway. I was thrice almost kicked out of the karaoke pub and I only remember two of the warnings.

And howzabout that? I used 'thrice' in a sentence. Bully for me!

Joking Aside,
Topic: Stephen Says
I was supposed to go into London for some training this morning and am quite happy that I chose instead to get pissed, sing karaoke & eat curry last night, which negated my ability to get my act together enough this morning to get up in time.

I Did It!
Mood:  celebratory
Topic: Elisabeth's Entries
I Did It! I've resigned from my post! But being a good girl, I've agreed to stay on until end of October, since everyone has staggered vacations until end of September, and we need to employ and train a replacement, which gives them a month. The timing seems right, and I feel very happy at this moment!

What will I do? I am going to work in Woo Woo Woking, maybe temp at first, maybe work part time, maybe work full time...the options are OPEN baby!!!

I'm going to go join Stephen and his boss for a drink at the pub.

Oh, and congrats I guess to London for the 2012 bid. I feel I should be happy for them, but I just don't see it...Pauvre Paris (am I a traitor or what?!)

"Man, you're working way too many hours."
Topic: Stephen Says
Is what I've ben told. I'll leave it up to y'all to dcide if 70 is too many. I'm just tired alot. My official policy towards any overtime this week is Just Say No.

Alright, a little bit of bookkeeping this evening - Tomorrow is the 1 year anniversary of this blog. It's also the 2 year anniversary of mine & Elisabeth's arrival in England. I've heard stories that the 4th of July signifies something-or-other's anniversary as well but it beats the hell out of me what that something is.

I'm off to Thorpe Park with work to celebrate. It's kind of like La Ronde but also with a petting zoo and a train that goes through it. I'll take the camera.

And as it's time for the website's 6 monthly update, is there anything that desperately needs doing? Anyone actually go in through the front door or do y'all just just right to the blog? No one's commented on our now 6 month old photoshop picture on the front page. Should I do another?

Arg, tired, drinking cider, bla, bla, bla. Toodleoo! Sorry, this is a stupid entry.

Saturday, What a Day!
Mood:  quizzical
Topic: Elisabeth's Entries
Since I'm on holiday, I've been madly cleaning our tiny apartment, and as I'm sure everyone can testify, that no matter how big or small a space is, you will always fill it up with crap.

So I took a bunch of old clothes and photoframes to the charity shop. Now those of you who know League of Gentleman can visualize what charity shops are like here...and more to the point, the types of personalities that work there.

So I gave a couple bags of clothes to the lady, who then inspected the garmnets, and seemed satisfied. Phew I thought to myself, she's not going to chastise me for dontating a t-shirt with a hole in the shoulder...

And then I gave her a bag of photo frames and clip frames that I had bought from work. "Oh no. No we can't sell these. I mean we can take the photo frames, but we couldn't possibly sell THOSE. They're made of glass, it's a safety issue."

I thought to myself, "are you made of glass?" and made for the door, when she stopped me with a condescending tone "Why don't you just put them outside. I mean in the bin. Just throw them away."

I smiled incredulously at this ding-dong and marched down to Oxfam. I told the lady my story and she said, "Oh, no I'm sure we could use these, I'm sure we've been able to sell them before." And I made the Oxfams lady's day by putting down their rival Woking Hospice.

All in a day's work I say. Speaking of which, Stephen is still working the same shift he was working when I posted my last entry. In fact, he's still not due back for another 9 hours. I'm starting to wonder if he's just avoiding me?

Hope you are all hungover and enjoying the weekend.

Toodle OOO :)

P.S.
Topic: Elisabeth's Entries
P.S: Stephen's growing a goatee...

Happy Canada Day eh?
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: The Beeb
Topic: Elisabeth's Entries
We did it! We did it!! We've booked our tickets to Canada!!! FINALLY!!! Look out for us on September 16th in Montreal...and we will depart from Toronto on 29th September. 2 weeks to drink Sleeman, eat poutine, and eat scrumptious Canadian breakfasts....oh bliss...

For those of you who are in the TO & MTL areas, keep your calanders free...but we probably won't make any firm plans until the last minute. You know us eh?? Oh Canada, our home and native land...

Onto other news: Stephen is working, working and working...I am not working, as I've taken some days off until next wednesday. I had lunch with Debbie the Spitroast Queen yesterday, which was lovely. Otherwise for me, lots of cleaning and piano playing. Trying my best to ignore this Live 8 bru ha ha. Ok so I did text one entry for free tickets...but no dice. Basically, to me is seems that hyping up the event as the-biggest-concert-in music-history-that-YOU-won't-want-to-miss, only feeds the bubble of western priviledge & unawareness that I thought the concert was intended to pop. But I guess I just still bitter not to be there...

ok--I've finished my carrots and now must try on some new lipstick... Oh and here'a free tip for all of you with smelly bathrooms (not like we've got that problem or anything, eh?)...dab a couple drops of aromatherapy oils on the lightbulb (while it is off & cool to touch, eh?) and when the lightbulb is on, and heats up, it will distribute the scent around the room.

Ok-bye!

I survived, but almost
Topic: Stephen Says
Whhops! Went out drinkin' with the fellow co-workers and m'wife. Cut the top of my head, perhaps a concussion. Badly bruised shoulder, sore lower back, a large piece of fence that I broke with my groin. I wasn't the one who puked, though.

Oh, and we've got some brand new shot glasses.

Elisabeth, just recovering from her previous biking injuriesnow has re-sprained her wrist & has some fresh cuts up and down her arm. She wasn't the one who almost biked into the canal, though.

It all ended up at karaoke and Elisabeth doesn't even remember it. But we sang songs, though.

Now I gotta go into work early because the only person who showed up this morning is the puker who went home early. >sigh<

Canal Tribute
Mood:  hungry
Topic: Elisabeth's Entries
I think Stephen has said enough on the cinema topic, so I instead want to post a few canal pictures, b/c frankly the canal is beautiful in spring. I failed to capture the 1/4 mile blanket of purple rhododenrons, which shed their petals into the water, making me half expect to see Sebastian and the Little Mermaid cutting through the water on the way to sing "Kiss De Girl" (if you don't know what I'm talking about, you're not missing anyting).

In addition to the new flowers, there are also new water fowl:

I used to love to see Herons standing on the tow path staring into the water, until I learned that they are looking for little duckies and ugly swanling to snatch & kill.

I think this one section of the canal is not used very much. Actually now that I think about it, it's not surprising the canal boats are chosing NOT to come to Woking Town. But the result of the heat + the locks never opening, results in this miracle of nature:

And finally, just messing around with photo editor:

Well Stephen is just finishing an evening shift, and so another working week begins...expect that I am taking holidy Wed/Thurs/Fri & next Mon/Tues. so I will have LOTS of TIME for BLOGGING!

I hope our dear readers have also made exciting summer holiday plans.

Oh, and nb: Stephen graduates and becomes an MA on 13 July, but due to the Uni's lack of communication re: the ceremony & that it will cost lots of $$ & that ROYAL HOLLOWAY IS A BUSINESS & NOT A REAL ACADEMIC INSTITUTION, means that it will be humiliating to participate in that charade, alongside narrowminded greedy, lazy, and selfish professors.

Ok.....god it feels good to rant... Ok, but instead we are having an alternative celebration, seeing as it's also my birthday...but exactly HOW we will spend the day is still a secret from Stephen, shhhhh

Stephen goes on a tirade. Part 1
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: Stephen Says
I know this is a re-tread of an old subject but what the fuck is up with U.K. cinemas???

Gentle reader, you may recall a few months ago that either E or myself complained bitterly about the fact that the cinemas over here have reserved seating and how ludicrous it was. Furthermore, it was pointed out to us that it’s like this in Sweden & all across Europe. Well, All I can say is WTF?!

This tirade begins sometime last week when a resident at Snowdon and I went out to see Batman Begins in the afternoon. While buying the ticket, we were asked “Where do you want to sit? Front, middle or back?” Like most people, we said “Middle.” Upon entering the cinema (You know, the giant, 15, 000 seat variety), we saw that there was less than a dozen people scattered about the place. So we decided to sit in the front row. And then, 5 minutes into the film, some dumb-ass father shows up with 4 boys and informs us that we’re n his seat. In a massive theatre, less than 5% full, we were asked to move because we were sitting in his seat. So we moved. To a better spot and this fool (Whose mobile kept going off during the film) sat with his boys in the front row to the left of the screen. He never even thought to move a little bit to the right just to get a better view of the screen. Obey the ticket.

Now, I know that there’s a very real concern about the so-called nanny-state in this country and, to a large extent, I think that these concerns are truly valid. But when you start putting the bureaucracy of a ticket over your common sense, maybe you do, indeed need the nanny-state to look after you. After all, look at North America where there is (brace yourself) no assigned seating when going to the movies. In North America the crime rate is up, random violence, drive by shootings. I’m sure some wanker from the Conservative party could extricate a poll from his cavernous backside that categorically proves that “the gratuitous and anarchic use of unassigned seating for the viewing of cinematic moving pictures in a cinematic moving picture venue (hereby referred to as a ‘cinema.’) clearly shows a rise in blood pressure, drop in overall viewing pleasure and increased propensity for violence. It is thereby that I propose a committee of committees to look into this further and write a report on said subject. Until this time, we shall persist with the tradition of assigned seating in this ‘cinema,’ to ensure to proper and continuing function or our great society.”

Or something like that.

Anyway, here’s the whole point of what I’m trying to get to:

Elisabeth and I went to see Sin City last night. We were asked where we wanted to sit – front, middle or back. Like most people, we said ‘middle.’ We went into the theatre only to discover that Sin City was showing in the tiny “last weekend or bust” cinema with only 10 rows. Our tickets: F10 & F11.

1st rule of common sense when you’re going to use assigned seating in a cinema: Turn the lights on so that you can actually see the damn seat numbers. Of course they didn’t, so we just found the F section and sat in 2 random seats because I (unlike everyone else in the theatre) don’t gain a lot of pleasure at stooping over and putting my nose 1 inch away from a movie seat to try and see where I’m trying to sit. Note to guys taking a girl on a date: It’s impossible to look remotely cool doing this so don’t even try.

The other thing is that everyone says that they want to sit in the middle of the theatre. So you end up with a dense pocket of people all squished together with the entire front & back sections empty. Add that to the fact that the theatre ticket seller (…ability to use language draining…) is a dumb-ass and assigns people to sit right next to each other, no one has any person space. Now I’ve heard of these mythical beings called ‘teenagers’ who like to go on ‘dates.’ During this bizarre mating ritual, they like to have a bit of privacy but, thank to the genius of assigned seating and idiocy of ticket sellers, there is no privacy allowed. Is this the sinister plan of the Religious Right??? Ah, the seer brilliance of it!!!

Okay, so the theatre is now full; I’ve been asked to move because some chap insists “This has to be me spot – it’s an aisle seat.” And the light go out. But there are still the later-comers & stragglers who are still searching for their damn assigned seat, making entire rows stand up so that they can make their way to their assigned spot. Morons all of them. Just sit down in one of the empty rows. It does not matter. It’s a movie, after all. ARG!

I’m tired and I’m out of coffee. E Is just as irate as I am about all this and I haven’t even gotten into the shenanigans surrounding the previews & commercials before the film started. The fact that no one seemed to ‘get’ Sin City as being a comic book put on film. The way that everyone was too embarrassed to react (read: laugh) to scenes in the movie but felt comfortable enough to giggle at a fucking commercial. The abominable behaviour that took place at the close of the film. I’ll let her continue this parade of tirade if she so wishes.

It’s highly unlikely that E&I will be going to the movies again. The long & the short of it is that we enjoy the privacy & intimacy of watching a DVD at home over the cinema-going experience of bottled up emotions and anal-retention. Until Land of the Dead comes out. I gotta see that one in the theatre!