Through the Eye of a Needle

Pumpkin seeds make you shit. Seriously.
Cooked up a batch on Wednesday and ate them over weds/thu night. Now have an ass of fire.......

Something is working though as I am now down to 12 stone 12 .... which I think is the lightest I have been since 1999........ and have only been to the gym once in the last 7 days, so think maybe I had been working too hard and making too much muscle. So am going to vary my gym routine a tad so that I can burn the fat off first, then build some definition, as fat on top of muscle needs about four times the work to shift. So fat off, then muscle on!

I am working on some ads for a property developer who is building some townhouses just outside Bridgend. And now want to live in one. Seriously, they are lush! Its not really a financial possibility for us .. but you know, I do play the lottery ... so here's hoping!

I have now started watching Kim Possible season 4. I can space out the eps over the next week or so, meaning I will watch the last ever show, just after I get my mitts on it. I have loved KP from the start (well .. from when I discovered it in 2004) and this final season has a few more 'nods to the parents watching' which I am finding hilarious. There is a fight going on over t'interweb to get a fifth season and proper dvd box sets released. I'd like that, but do feel that if Bob, Steve and the team have closed the story in 'Graduation' then let it be. Id rather a show ended properly on a high after four years than drag out for 10 and be shit for 4 of them ... yes, i am looking at you Friends.
So if you manage to catch KP, give it a glance. Id love to know what you think.

And finally (shuffles papers on desk) its just three weeks until Prince: The All Nighter, with Roo and three weeks and three days til Dans birthday and Disneyland Paris! Huzzah!

Why?

Picture it.
Lunchtime, upstairs at Real Wales. The vending machine to be exact.
My pasta is in the microwave so I nip out to purchase beverages and potato snacks to go with.
I choose the lovely Walkers Sensations Oven roasted chicken with lemon & thyme. Mmm tasty. A snip at 35p, frankly. I insert coinage and punch D4. I await with glee as the packet moves forward by way of the twisty spirals and falls to the collection point below.
Or not. As it sticks just above said collection point.
You cant even reach in and up, as the pushing back of door to said collection point causes a flap to go across the top, preventing unlawful thefts of such goodies.
Easy answer, quite peckish, so will purchase Twix to go with.
Insert coinage, hit E4.
Beep beep beep ... little display on machine says I cant have E4. Despite it being quite visible through the glass frontage and full of lovely twix chocolate, biscuit and caramel goodness.
No worries. I am a crispaholic on the QT. Will order delicious bag of Walkers French Fries, which are right by my stuck original bag of yummy scrummy saturated fats.
Insert coinage. Hit F4. They slide forward. And stop. Now have tow bags of crisps paid for and beyond my reach. I spend minutes opening and closing flaps in hope of some dislodging action. Nah. I try and push machine about a bit. No joy.
Eventually spend time assessing what else I can buy that will hit them on the way down. Maybe the lovely small geezers (Maltesers to you) or perhaps the bundles of joy that is a Frys Turkish Delight. There is only one option. Wine Gums. The only product in the entire machine that I don't eat. Fuck. So Amie got free wine gums, just so I could get my crisps.
Some day I wonder what the universe wants out of me.

The offending French Fries & Sensations .. both stuck.

Ooh, reflection of my foot too.

We are not alone

Somebody else has the same washing machine issues as me! Huzzah! He writes a very amusing blog too .. if you want to go peruse. I shall leave him advice on how we are dealing with ours!

And another thing. Wasn't Monday night supposed to be the night that Mars was as close to earth as it has been since forever and wont be back for another 230 years and was supposed to look the same size as the moon? Did you see it? No, me neither. But I have huge issues with the theory. Surely, it had to be gradually spinning closer to us and getting a bit bigger every day? It cant have just in the course of one day run over here to wave at us and then fucked off again? And given the moon affects tides, small animals and hairy guys who chase cars, should something as huge as Mars had a similar effect? Or have I just got this all wrong .. after all, I didn't do any research. I just got an e-mail from some random friend or other telling me it was going to happen. Maybe it was 'chinese email' .. like chinese whispers but you don't have to say anything. You know, the mail first started out as 'Ooh look at mars on August 27th, it will look pretty' then changed to 'Mars will be wearing a diamante frock' and finally ended up as its going to be the size of the moon, it may even land in Australia...' or something.

Still knackered beyond belief. Sleep just isn't a friend of mine right now and for no real reason I can fathom. I had a Goldilocks night last night. Under the covers was too hot, out of them was too cold. Sadly my baby bear moment of it being just right never came. There is a gag in there about bears cumming in my bed .. but I'll save your precious minds.

Chopsticks and Baldness on a Seven Seat Cycle

Its been a busy few days here in sunny Cardiff. And London. And Merthyr Tydfil.

Friday, I was so tired I honestly felt like I was another person. It was a bit like an out of body experience. I think it was only about halfway through the evening at Emma's birthday do at the Glee Club down the bay that I kind of came back. It was very odd.

That said, due to all the dashing about and not feeling well, I hadn't eaten before we went out. And given my rules of nothing but water after 8.00pm, I got some odd looks sipping my pint of ice cubes while everyone else got hammered and rucked into large plates of burger and chips.

Now, comedy clubs just aren't my thing. Which for a comedy genius like me, may astound you. The acts we saw were funny .. but I did barely more than crack a smile. It was just all bit to hetero for me frankly. But I find drag acts too gay. Perhaps I am just a miserable old cnut.

Then of course, there was the obligatory (round here) valley boys who had to make fucking twats of themselves and try and look cleverer than the comedian onstage. Wrong for two reasons:

1) These people get heckled every day. Its their job and you'd be hard pressed to get one over on them

2) Valleys boy. By definition, you are genetically three rungs down the evolutionary ladder than the rest of the UK, if not the planet, due to millennia of inbreeding. Just sup your pint, guffaw in the right places, take your bird home and give her one before collapsing unconscious while she does the job properly with a battery operated appliance. Its the best for all of us that way.

So we left at 11 before the final act came on as we had a big day ahead Saturday.

And still managed to oversleep on Saturday.

Meaning we were late getting down to Mark & Andrew's. Late leaving Cardiff. Late arriving in London. Which then meant we were on the tube behind the one that broke down at Kinghtsbridge rather than the one in front of it. Which meant we had to leap off and walk overground from South Ken to Green Park to get down to Westminster to get on the London Eye. And were late for our arrival time of 3.00 for a 3.30 'flight'. And didn't get on the eye until 4.20. Which means we got off it at 5.10 ... when we were due to meet Frances in Victoria at 5.00... you can see the issues.

This was my third or fourth trip on the Eye .. but the first one on a really clear day. I have been on in the rain, when you get to the top and cant see the bottom due to cloud and fog. I have also been on in such hot weather that its too hazy to see far. This time, was perfect. We could see the new Wembley stadium, which impressed me.

I was shocked by the people who just let their kids run about wildly. You are in a small glass bubble, squillions of feet up with a door that while I am sure it passes all the health and safety gubbins, with one good kick would actually open. It even says don't lean on it... so to see children bashing into it, climbing on the hydraulics that operate it, when you are at the very top ... or maybe I am just an old woman when it comes to such matters.

We eventually got to Frances and then went around to a brilliant little noodle bar she knows, just across from Wicked as it happens. And I ate with chopsticks. Successfully. For the first time ever. Now, I am sure one could argue that I wasn't 100% a success as I dropped one bit of chicken on the floor, via my shirt and trousers ... but Id usually drop at least two bits of food with a knife and fork, so if anything I was less clumsy with the chopsticks.

One thing that did confuse us, was that the road at the back was about 6 feet higher than the front, so people going by the back windows appeared very tall ... or the cars were flying....

One quick jaunt across London later and we were sat on the south bank enjoying the water sculptures.... including a man vomiting and a woman peeing. Then we found a ..um .. water cage thing. The walls come and go, so you can get stuck in it ... and wet if you stand over the water lines....

Then it was off to find the IMAX for Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix .. with the climactic scenes at the Ministry of Magic in 3D ... well worth a view if its near you at any point.

Sunday was just a chill out and doss day. Well, apart from a trip to Asda and some ironing.

Monday I was back on Real Patrol and at Merthyr County Show. Signposted from the A470 according to the flyer's. Was it signposted? Was it Buffalo. Luckily we had been given a silly amount of time to get there and even with 20 mins lost time and a trip to McDonald's for breakfast (where I ordered a bacon bagel ... and was blatantly given sausage in a burger bun. I think bagels might still be a bit gauche for the residents of Merthyr, so I understand), we still arrived with a full 40 mins before the crowds arrived. And that was when we got to have a go on an amazing 7 seat tricycle. And because we were playing on it before the crowds arrived, we got a fair speed out of it ... and few screams as it turned a 90 degree angle and we all thought we were going to fall off.

We had a cracking day ... I am quite bronzed today ...and I don't tan easy .. didn't come back from Florida as brown as I am today!!!!! We managed to get involved in the Birds of Prey display, play on the bikes, play in the museum .... nobody can accuse us of not getting the Real brand out there!

One worrying thing though.... uploading the photos back in the office today I found one taken from above me ..... and no matter how much Dan tries to convince me otherwise ... I am thinning on top. 5 years ago, there is no way you could see this much scalp through my hair!

Also including some other pics from county show for you....

Let It Out

Put Myself in Her Place

Here I am, stood outside Morgans in Swansea.

The hotel that has been used for interior shots for Doctor Whos's Christmas speical Voyage of the Damned. The same place Kylie was mistaken for being an actual waitress. Only in Swansea could that happen.....

This Life

Small sims update on the "Robinson" household. Smeagol is still - well, Smeagol ingame. He defies any rules, such as not getting on the kitchen counters...

However, after some training he is now using toilets, rather then the floor/kitty-tray. (if only he could be taught that in real life. Bizarrely, this is his exact pose for such activities .. right down to the ears strained back...)

Rain was offered a chance to go to the Police Academy, which he took, and used his bonus money to buy himself a car. Those in the know will know that in real life they only make this kind of car to order. Rain drives this to work. Yeah, its flash, but I still prefer The Protonator.

Paul finally developed a "bump" and ended up in the hideous male pregnancy clothes (he eventually got really big as well). Of the four colours the game could have put him in, it picked pink. Rain spent a lot of time talking to the "bump". Two issues here. Scared at how much like real me pregnant sim me looks.. and as if I would ever be seen dead in those trousers. Purlease!

Paul managed to go through every meal option (there are over 300) over his three-day pregnancy, sometimes all in one go. This was his ninth lunch....

Followed by a tenth he at least shared.... (Lasagna - which Paul made). So since my Sim stole my lottery wish, what do you think I can project my eating on to him so I actually lose some weight?

Oddly enough Smeagol became overly protective of Paul, and wouldn't let Rain sleep with him (Rain eventually threw him off the bed)

Rain started doing weird things a couple days into the game - wondering around all the rooms at night - eating rubbish (actual rubbish rather than like KFC and Burger King) - making friends with all the stray dogs and wolves, dancing in the rain, sniffing things... (Note to Dan ... if you can get your stomach as flat as this, don't ever expect me to let you leave the bedroom)

It seems you can only cure werewolves on a temporary basis...

... because he's started turning into one again... ok, too much hair, even for me.

Although as a Werewolf he now seems to be on better terms with Smeagol, even cooking meals for him! And that little bugger has two food bowls, so he doesn't go without... despite the way he mews at me the second I get up or get home.

I don't seem to mind sleeping with a hairy beast either.... well, that's no shocker really. And at least Rain turns into a human again in the morning. Not to imply Dan doesn't or anything... he just keeps the body hair you understand.
Neither Paul or Rain seem to be in a hurry to purchase the werewolf cure either. Mind you, being a Werewolf may have advantages for Rain's career... I finally had the baby (in the games room of the house) - a girl called Sophie. I haven't been sent screen caps from the "birth" - Jay meant to take a video of it, and forgot (he says men always scream so much for some reason, cant think why and so don't want to see it!)
This covered an ingame 3 day period roughly 70/80 minutes of play time.
Rain is still on the Law Enforcement career path, and is currently a Patrol Officer (working evenings).
Smeagol is on the Guard career path (although Rain and Paul have wants to put him on the Showbiz path) - currently Smeagol is a "Mouser"
Paul is still unemployed, but is now in full time baby care!
Sophie will become a toddler on the first day of Summer (which means Paul or Rain need to buy some clothes for girls, LOL)

Something Wicca This Way Comes

So you know the rules which I am bound to by my spiritual beliefs? There is one big big one that is the bane of my life. No personal gain. Ever. Not even if you try and dress it up and make it look like its all about the greater good. I cant even wish for shit for Dan, as I benefit from it in turn so it all goes tits up and I get a walloping boot up the jacksy from the universe. Believe me, its happened a few times.

So two Sunday's ago, Dan & i did our usual thing when having a roast and pulled the wishbone. I won and made my wish .....

You may recall me telling you about an ex of mien making me into a Sims character. Well, he has had to reload the game due to bugs or sumfink and has sent me the results.

He has a whole village he has created and designed, populated by our friends. The way the game works, it seems that he sets them up and off they go and have a life of their own.

Currently, my Avatar is married to a male werewolf called Rain Lupin. I am expecting his child and we still have Smeagol as our pet.

I won the lottery and bought a large house but also shared the money with my friends so they have nice houses too.

Apparently, here we are watching Aliens abduct trees from our garden. Also, for fun, I often play games with Rain, throwing sticks for him to fetch and stuff. Rain is a security guard while I am good at sales and business.

Smeagol is also a top mouser and recently beat a Wolf pack leader so now has the pack at his command.

Oh. And my wish from the wishbone? I wished to win the jackpot on the lottery before the end of September........ talk about your kick in the balls.

OCD

Just talking about obsessions over on RS.net (a Kim Possible fan board) and I came up wth this list:

1. I have to have fewer e-mails in my inbox than the bottom of the preview pane. I will delete, move or action all that go below it. If the inbox starts to go below what i can actually see, I freak out big time.
2. CD's have to be and I mean HAVE TO BE in their correct box, facing the right way up (so as you open the cd, looking at the cover art the right way up, teh cd is the same way up in the case). I also store them alphabetcially by artists, then by relase date by said artist in multiple cases.
3. I throw up if I am made to wear wet clothes for longer than a few minutes as I work myself into a total state. Oddy, swimming trunks dont affect me though .. so its def all in the mind.
4. Similarly, never touch me with wet hands. Major freak out.
5. Chocolate spread in a sandwich? SICK AND WRONG
6. I have to eat any food that is left by me. Its why I struggle with my weight despite excercisng really hard. If I eat say two slices of Pizza and there is one left in the box, unless its removed from my sight, I compulsively eat it, even if it makes me bring it back up.

Now think maybe I have more mentalist issues than I previously suspected.

All teh Fun of the Fayre

I did my first stint on the Real Patrol on Saturday at Le Grande Weekend in Milford Haven. Which is further away than I thought!
We had stock issues for our freebies as the keys hadn't been left out for us to get at the stock cupboard. This left us with brollies, windscreen scrapers and tea bags. Odd combination. Tea bags seemed to be a winner with the ladies, and given the uncertainty of the weather, the brollies were in demand too. We did get some odd looks with the scrapers though.
We met some initial resistance from the crowd as its a stronger area for Pembroke radio than us, and they were there too with dance school displays, a car and an ice rink - which was blatantly not ice at all but a lump of perspex.
We soon made our presence known though by way of a few challenges. I made the girls do a bungee run contest, which amused the throngs, then we challenged some local kids to a laser quest game.
We each had a gun with 8 lives on it and had to run around the inside of an inflatable maze, in near dark. Apparently, I went in to full on sci fi geek mode ... ducking, diving and rolling as I fired and took out the opposing team. Gun tucked under my arm, I crept around the tunnels, hiding behind partitions and around corners, leaping out to shoot at unsuspecting on comers, before rolling aside and legging it off up the corridor before they could get me back. If you picture Han & Chewie chasing the stormtroopers around the Death Star, you are probably making me look waaaaaaaaaay cooler than I did. I am also clearly shit, as I was the first to run out of lives. The organiser took pity on me and gave me a fresh set, much the same way that the High Council of Gallifrey offered The Master a new regeneration cycle in The Five Doctors. Within about three mins, I had used those up too ..... and still nobody else in there had run out. But then, they weren't charging around with such gusto as I .... anyone can last a game by hiding in a corner.

Also managed to catch two films this weekend.
Blades of Glory. The story of two very different figure skating champs, who tie for gold, have a punch up on the podium and are banned from their sport for life. Some 20 years later, they realise they can go back but as a couple. If only they weren't mortal enemies.... This total, intentional cheese fest is amazing. I usually find the Frat Pack very hit and miss, but chuckled my way through this from start to finish. Go for it as a total no brainer.
Zodiac. Great film, thought it was never going to end though. Based on the true events of the Zodiac Killer in the 60's/70's, this seems to lose steam about halfway through as the killer himself appears to stop killing and we follow the obsessions of the men documenting or investigating the case. Stick with it though, as it is all still going somewhere, even if nobody was ever actually proven to be Zodiac. It puts a very strong case for him being one suspect in particular.

You Raise Me Up...

or maybe as an alternative title, I could have used what, for many many years, i thought was the lyrics to Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes .... The lift goes up where we belong ....

This is all about the best. new. game. ever.
EVER

The balcony here at Real where we sit for lunch is being decorated, so we were shunted around the landing into the small gap betwixt the door and the vending machine. Bang opposite the lift. The lift that is for any disabled staff or visitors. Luckily, we never get any as its just full of shit and used as a storage cupboard.
Remember the game you played at parties as a kid, where you would have a tray of random stuff, study it for a minute, then one object would be removed and you'd have to work out what was missing? Kat, Dannii and I were sat there eating and decided what great fun it would be to adapt this to incorporate the lift.
So we got somebody to send something up in the lift, and when the doors opened, we had to guess what had been added or taken away! This stretched from pictures and boxes .. to actual people.
What do you mean i am easily amused?

Watch this then and decide if you believe.

We Have the Technology...

.... therefore we can download tv shows before they air. Which is why, loyal reader, today you can have reviews of the pilots for The Bionic Woman and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
The Bionic Woman first. Basic premise: Bird off Eastenders is seeing older bloke and expecting his baby. She is also raising with her 16 year old deaf sister. Older bloke happens to work in big scary underground base where they make bionic people. The last one (maybe the first, not totally confirmed), who is played by Katee Sackhoff from Galactica, did a bunk and is now out for revenge. I think. Despite being all super powered now n shit. You'd think shed be grateful. Anyhoo, she drives a truck into bird from Eastenders and Older blokes car .... and the only way to save her is ... yep, make her bionic. We then have a few obligatory scenes of her adjusting to her new bionics, escaping from underground base that looks remarkably like some of the SGC, on the run .. blah blah blah... leading to a big showdown with Bad Bionic Girl. Of course, she chooses to be free and go back to her life, Bad Bionic is still on the run and that's now the premise for the series.
If that all sounds a tad rushed, then it does a good job of getting across the tone of this show. Its a 45 min episode and needed to be a full 90 min pilot. However, I do think this is going to make a cracking series. The FX weren't finished in this version ... just as well as they were risible for the most part. Jamie Summers running alongside a car was possibly one of the funniest things I have seen this year .. but i am sure that will be tidied up. The performances are sound and the script, aside from the aforementioned pacing issue, seems solid enough. Looking forward to more from this.
Which isn't something I can say about The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Imagine T2 boiled down to a 43 mins episode, remove the cool CG morphing effect, and this is pretty much what you get. We open in 1999 with a dream sequence - its a dead giveaway when the Skynet attack starts, wiping out a building and a Terminator but leaves Sarah & John unscathed. We also know its 1999 by the small snippets of late 90's music they continually chuck at us, while digging us in the ribs and winking, 1999! Remember what was on the radio in 1999? We then have a bit of back story that I am hoping and praying forms the backbone of the series, even if its tossed aside in the pilot - Sarah has been on her mission to kill those who will eventually cause Skynet to happen, she is on the run from the FBI and such like who want to lock her up in the nuthouse for life. Sadly, we don't really pursue this but instead go for a quick show of her constant moving on by way of leaving current fella, despite Johns protests. Soon, we are in new town, new school ... but Terminators and the cops are closing in. Enter geeky schoolgirl in Johns new school. Its Summer Glau from Firefly/Serenity and The 4400, so we know she isn't just some squeeze of the week ... no, she is a Terminator sent to protect John. Some 12 years before the events of Rise of the Machines were everyone seemed so shocked to see a female Terminator ... but i am sure its not important. Johns first day in the new school also brings a new teacher ... who seems very intent on taking the register .. surely he cant be .. what .. he is a Terminator? Well, fuck me I didn't see that coming! Cue big face off betwixt good and bad Terminators ... resulting in John, Sarah and Terminator flipping forward in time to 2007. And we know what happens when Terminators travel in time ... they get nekkid. Yep, so that an older woman, a younger one and a hot teen for the male admirers ... that ticks most boxes, yes? Well, no .. it didn't tick mine frankly. I bet my mate Nabusan would start drooling though .....
And that's where it leaves them. The biggest issue I have with this show is what point can there be to it? We have seen a 20 something John Connor in Rise of the Machines. We know the war doesn't kick off yet, we know Sarah will die at some point, but he wont. The good Terminator will have to get terminated too, as she ain't around by the later years either. Its the same as Enterprise and this dumb fuck of a Trek Movie prequel they are planning. You could actually get a good drama out of the scenario, even though the ultimate ending is a given ... but generally the industry and particularly the big studios, just wont take those kind of risks. So they water it down and give us shoddy bollocks instead. Get James Moran, Steven Moffatt and Paul Cornell in there - give it some real welly! Otherwise, this looks to be for die hard Terminator fans only.

I Boldly Went.....

35.714285714285715% nerd blood flows through my veins.

Find out how much of a nerd you are here.

Keep On Running...

I have had the shits since Friday. Now very dehydrated and if I stop drinking for more than 20 mins, I get a fucker of a headache. It was at its worse Sunday night/Monday morning .. resulting in me not actually being able to stay off a loo long enough to actually get to work and then a pounding noggin of migraine like proportions. Luckily ... I seem to be on the far side now and down to a squirt every 70 mins or so.
To bring you up to date, I had old colleagues of mine from ntl Luton down over the weekend. Stevo arrived on Friday and stayed in and had a few drinks .... Saturday we went down to the Village Hotel to watch the Sunderland/Spur game. I got very confused by the game but quite liked the gold trainers one of the teams were wearing. I was very impressed by the interactive commentary as it actually kept taking to me! Then Stevo pointed out that actually it wasn't and that the goal keeper in yellow is called Paul Robinson .... oh well. Then I got very excited by the little headsets the referee and lines men had on ... it was all very Madonna .. but with less Vogueing ... and no music .... or costume changes. So nothing like Madonna at all really.
The game finished about half two and Deb was due to arrive about 3.00, so given The Village sits on junction 32 of the M4, it was easier for her to just meet us there. I got a text from her at 3.00 as she pulled off of junction 32. 20 mins later she rang me from Cardiff City Centre... we deiced it was easier for her to head back to the M4, so she did. And then called me from a school ... as she had gone back to the Cardiff Gate junction and followed directions from there. So she then went back to the M4, off the correct junction and found us.... at 4.00.
Stevo then decided we needed to go visit my local. Now, as a rule, I don't do pubs and certainly not my local. I am sure its very nice and that a lot of the people in there are lovely too .. but its just not something I enjoy. Stevo eventually went down there for half an hour on his own. Bless him. I love him to bits ... but he is such a geezer. We were chuckling at his complete straight man inability to see anything wrong in calling Muslim females ninjas due their apparel and still calling transsexuals by their previous genders name ("I don't care is he's a woman .. he is still John to me and that's what Ill call him" was a classic quote). But then gets deeply offended if somebody calls him racist or homophobic. I just like to think of him as a bit old school as I genuinely don't think he is out to upset anybody.
For the evening, we went into town for a Chinese and then down the bay for a few drinks. I think they were both quite impressed with Cardiff!
Of course ... Sunday & Monday I was actually quite ill but we did manage to get along to a preview of Knocked Up.
Its on general release from Friday ... and as long as sex, drugs and bad language don't offend you, make sure you get along. Particularly if you have had kids.
It follows a couple as they head towards a one night stand, through the events of said night ... to the unplanned and initially unwanted pregnancy that results. I'd be lying if I said this went anything than down the extremely predicable path of 'they get together, they fall out, its ok at the last minute' route but the journey is well worth the look. From the tv execs totally slimy pc HR approach to careers and pregnancy, to the boys gang of stoners and their hair brained schemes to build websites, you are sure to find a few belly laughs and one or two gross outs (look away during the birth if you are particularly squeamish). It may just be that I have lived through a few very similar scenarios myself, that made this so much fun to watch ... Ben's Cirque De Soleil experience rings very close to my one with barney the Dinosaur ... but a genuinely funny film with its moments of heart that will warm your cockles rather than have you reaching for the bucket.

And now for the weather

Here we are. Looks like Saturday is going to be nice, which is rather fab as Deb & Stevo, two of my former colleagues in Luton are coming down for a visit. I haven't seen Steve in about two and a half years and Deb in about 18 months, so fully looking forward to it!

And to show you how bright it is .. this is me squinting in the sunshine....

Feck

It wasn't Doctor Who.
It was some thing called Young Dragons or something.
At least, that is what the security guard said when I stopped by and asked last night.
Of course, that could be the latest code name, like Torchwood was for Doctor Who way back when.
I did get a glimpse into the make up trailer .. and there was a long auburn wig, that could match Catherine Tate's hair... but that doesn't mean anything. Sadly, the actors trailer door was open at such an angle that I couldn't see the names on it.
And I cant find anything about Young Dragons apart from some movie from China or somewhere..... hm ... guess we will have to see.

Who's in Caerphily Castle?

So we were driving home last night and found lots of big red trucks parked on the green by the Castle. Some looked like mobile libraries, some like the vampire truck that comes around to take your blood. Aside from a small catering van, none were marked and all were fenced off with security guards patrolling.
Then across the moat and actually by the Castle, more vans - but smaller. Kind of box wagon things.
Feeling the need to investigate, because I am a nosey bugger, we had a pootle nearer to see if we can figure out whats going on.
Of the plentitude (is that a word?) of cars parked in the accompanying road, three had CBBC passes hanging from the rear view mirrors.
So a BBC production, in South Wales, where CBBC are also involved, but cant be Sarah-Jane as that's has wrapped ... can you say Doctor Who?
Needless to say, you cant near the sodding place ad it would appear that filming is taking place within the grounds of the castle itself too .. but I shall return tonight and is stuff is still going on, I shall endeavour to get pictures.
Just be prepared to look at fences and trucks......

Dearly Beloved...

we were gathered there Saturday to celebrate a man called Prince

And I'm here to tell ya .... he was mighty fine. You can see him stood at the point of the symbol here.......

Yes. My long quest to see the man himself ended on Saturday. It was attempt 7 in all.

My first try was way back in about 1990 ... the day of the gig, I had a flat tyre. Several other attempts over the years meant that within 24hrs of the gig, I had to literally give the tickets to friends as money, work and even death stood in my way. But not this time, oh no.

I am still completely bollocksed all the time, so spent Friday night in to get some energy together to last the gig. I got up around 9 on Saturday and mooched about, didn't rush anything, set off to pick Rach up about half ten, got to Swindon about midday. It was pissing it down in wales .. scorching hot by the time I got past Bristol. We sat at Rach's for about 45 mins before we set off for that there London. Had to go back in and get the tickets. headed out. Went back up to her flat to get CD1 of Prince's greatest hits to get us in the mood. Back to the car. Went back again for directions to get to Richie's to park the car (he is in Bermondsey, so only four stops up to the O2)

Upon arriving in London (after a motorway stop to much some lunch and sit in the sun at the services .. KFC .. yum), I decided it was too hot to sit in the car in London traffic, so we parked at Hounslow instead and tubed it across. If Rich was going to be home, I'd have done it .. but he wasn't so didn't see the point.

The tube became foolishly crowded, natch, so we hopped off at Knightsbridge and had a swan around Harrods and Harvey Nichs. Managed to catch the eye of a very hot young guy working on the perfume counter ... all long blonde hair, deep brown eyes and a sexy growth of chest hair on display.... played the 'walk by twice then on third go, keep looking down and then lift eyes to meet his and smile' tactic. I made him blush and got a HUGE grin out of him .... oh yeah, still got it, despite being a sweaty tub of lard.

We then had a walk across St James park to get the tube down to the O2. Rach was given two copies of the Prince CD .... note to self, have underwear in your bag if you want extra freebies.

We had a swan around the O2 and then settled for more grease from their food bars. I had seven members of staff put my order together and had a bit of a camp moment talking to them.

We then took our seats in the vertigo inducing upper tier (just three rows back and 16 seats across form where I sat for Scissor Sisters. God that was a boring bit of info) to watch the support act. Carlo Pasta or something. She wasn't really my cup of tea to be fair. Possibly more for the gold lame tent and thigh high white pvc boots she was wearing than anything to do with her vocals. Even though after the first song one member of the crowd did shout at her 'we cant hear what you are saying', which was a fair comment if you ask me. I went out for a wee and some more drinks halfway through her set.

Then, at 9.00, the lights went out again. The stage was the symbol Prince changed his name to briefly during the 90s and was set in the centre of the arena. Some lucky buggers had seats at purple velvet draped tables within the symbol itself. As a clever ruse to get us to not see him enter (read: as see through as shrink wrap), our attention was diverted to the view screens for a few minutes to watch a few clips and talking heads. This was all well and good while the band and dancers were lead through the audience to hide under the stage, but the moment Prince was brought out, the darkness became a sea of camera flashes, so we saw him very clearly, lit up in his white suit, as he was brought through.

And then the music began. Starting with Lets Go Crazy, he then did a full two hour set featuring a range of tracks encompassing his 30 year career. Other tracks included Kiss, U Got the Look, I Would Die 4 U, Raspberry Beret .. ooh it was brilliant! In Kiss, he replaced 'You don't have to watch Dynasty to have an attitude' with Big Brother, which made me chuckle. He can still move with the best of them, even though I did notice his trademark splits didn't make an appearance, but was suitably replaced by his very flexible twin dancers holding up one of their own legs apiece to play them like a guitar. I wonder what Prince sees in them though?

Rach and I managed to get an outrageous amount of synchronised chair dancing going on, but we had somehow managed to be sat amongst the ONLY section of the entire arena who didn't get up and dance for most of the gig ... and when a few people did, the Hitler in training on the door made them sit down in case they were blocking homebody's view. Clearly, this man does not actually understand how gigs work in the UK. We are British and therefore are a bit reserved in such things. Everyone secretly wants to be on their feet and giving it some but nobody likes to be the first. None of that applies to me of course.... when I want to get up and shake my groove thang, I fucking well do it. And why not? I've paid my money to enjoy myself not sit back with some knitting and give the face to anyone having fun. Another couple beat me to the ass wiggling .. and that was when the Third Reich struck. At one point, looking around the arena, we were the ONLY people not on our feet. I gave them the first hour as a courtesy .. but then U Got The Look kicked in ... and I was UP BABY! I was just mentally daring the man behind us to tell me to sit down. Almost hoping he would so I could give him what for. he didn't. He just kept on about wishing Joni Mitchell was going to make a surprise appearance. Mate ...if you want to see Joni Mitchell in concert, GO TO A FUCKING JONI MITCHELL CONCERT. Rocket science it ain't. Still, he left before the end. Possibly got fed up with my lard arse wiggling in his face, which is odd as some people pay me for that shit. Not literally you understand. My ring was clean, possibly a bit musky with man scent, but that would be about it. I am quite anal about such things.

Two other things of note to mention here. At one point, what appeared to be a random section of the audience were taken onstage to dance around. Still not sure they weren't stooges .. but if they were, he picked people with only minor dance skills to make it look real enough even if they did seem to know where to stand, when to move etc. The other is a sax solo to blow you away. Mike Philly who used to play for James Brown apparently. The man held one note for about 4 mins as he walked around the stage.... stunning. That was the thing that really stood this out from most gigs i go to. The quality of the musicians was clearly top priority here. As great as they are I am sure for everyone else, a lot of the clinical 'set list' and dance moves was gone. It had a raw, dirty energy that you could feel deep in your booty.

The gig ended with an encore of Purple Rain and Little Red Corvette. We cheered, we roared, the house lights came up, only half the people left, we needed to two house announcements to get us to shut up and leave. Now THAT'S a good gig.