Weekly-ish musings. I know these are long winded but I don't get a chance to write daily entries so just dump everything down that I've done and what I was thinking during that week.
Round up
And another year comes to an end. I'm certainly fatter starting 2007 than I was 2006 but this should be remedied soon. 2006 felt like a good year. I still didn't meant the girl of my dreams but it doesn't seem to trouble me as much. Whether it's because I have more things to occupy myself with or maybe that my cynicism at ever achieving this has dulled my desire to get it. I still want to chase girls and feel the excitement of those first tentative steps but am probably just a lot more realistic about the chances of them happening and also how they aren't the 'be all and end all' of everything. I think I've become harder, more resilient and maybe a little bitter/scathing. I'm less inclined to waste my time with people that I don't like, care about or have time for. I'm not saying I'll be nasty but I'm not going to chase wasted causes or spend time on those that don't appreciate me.
Looking back there's been a fair bit that has happened. The hoax Valentine card that I received that annoyed me so much I didn't even mention on my journal, enjoying the McDonalds double quarterpounder as well as late night pit stops at the tea hut, finding Freebird the song, finding ASOT, Armin and the wonder of the new trance that he opened me up to, driving down to Bournemouth to see him, working in a poll office in the local elections, giving out the very first card to zero success and handing out a total of five (or was it six) over the year, getting a bit more into paintball, getting my Xbox 360, gaining two internet friends in Amy and Steph which was all the more surprising bearing in mind the more 'blokey' nature of my site, cooking Poulet de Marge in the office, further developong my Bolgnaise, seeing the Air Guitar championship, enjoying Lost, getting barred, having a Mohican haircut and going to Barcelona.
Sporting wise the world cup was disappointing from an English point of view, though hardly surprising considering the endemic problems within our team. It was entertaining to watch for the other teams though. The Winter Olympics were good with GBR winning a silver medal and the always enjoyable ice hockey tournament, though I wish Finland had won the gold rather than Sweden. MotoGP delivered the best season I have ever seen and I was delighted that Nicky Hayden won, and that Rossi didn't again.
Film highlights would have to be The Matador, the Warrior King, Bubba ho-tep, Mission Impossible III and Film Geek. Film Geek probably had one of the most entertaining and relevant trailers ever and the film is very close to who I could be percieved to be. For next year I have to say that Rocky Balboa looms invitingly on the horizon with other tasty morsels offered in the form of 300, Transformers, Fantastic Four II, Die Hard 4 and Spiderman 3. Which of those will feature in next years summary I do not know.
I don't feel 2006 was wasted and I'm looking forward to 2007. To losing a little weight, saving a little more money, finding the girl(s) of my dreams and maybe going on hols to the US with my bro. Biggest of all though is Halo III. That might make me sound a geek but the other two games have delivered masses of entertainment and getting involved as the excitement and momentum builds is something to enjoy and I hope to share with friends and colleagues alike.
Most importantly this year, especially if you are reading this, was the continued growth and development of my website. Ok it might be long winded and boring but it's my space, as they say, and I'm proud that if someone wants to know me or try to understand me then here I am. I like the voice it gives me and the possibilty to observe a time and a place when I'm old(er) and grey(er).
I hope your 2007 is a great one and that maybe you'll stick around with me for another year.
Christmas and the New Year - 31/12/06
Christmas Day and I woke alone as usual. Cup of tea and opened a couple of pressies from a work colleague which was really sweet. Headed down to Mum's for a bacon and egg sarnie and opened a few more pressies. I got the two main things that I'd wanted. Rainbow Six:Vegas for the x360 and the original Star Wars IV - VI on DVD. Bro had received the bulk of his present in my contribution to his 360 but I still got him some DVD's and a game. We got Mum a new telly as her one was knackered. There was a communal skip slightly further down the road so as they got ready to go over to my Aunt's I got to feel like a pikey and dump her two old TV's in the skip.
Headed over to my Aunt's for the normal Christmas Day celebrations. Nibbles then present opening which now that I'm older usually consists of cheques, ties/socks and smellies. After a couple of games of Kerplunk that I'd won in the office, the turkey was being cut and I scrambled to the kitchen to scavenge some skin. It wasn't very warm but you can't beat skin, well actually you can because they had put a few strips of crispy bacon on the
I'd taken along a Tom & Jerry DVD that I'd bought before Christmas and a few of us watched some of the cartoons after the meal. I really like Tom & Jerry. It's good humoured fun and the memorable scream that emits from Tom whenever his tail gets slammed is always hilarious. Whether it's because they don't show them anymore or simply because I don't watch kids TV but it's been an age since I last saw a T&J cartoon and it was good to do so. By this time I confess that the full belly was leading to a little tiredness and we decided to hit the road. As usual it was a nice way to spend Christmas Day and I'm always grateful for the hospitality that my Aunt offers.
We traditionally spend Boxing Day down at my Mums, just the three of us, and this year was no different. Another big meal, actually it was huge, and we decided to delay the pudding with a game of Jenga. Mum was concerned that she'd be crap but in fact she beat us both. We only played two games but they lasted a fair amount of time and bro tumbled the tower in the first game and I in the second. I couldn't believe we lost to our mum but in a way I was pleased for her. Grabbed some pudding with cream and then watched Mission Impossible III together. Mum hadn't seen it so as well as giving a chance to show off her new telly it was another thing for us all to do. I then played a little NHL 07 with my bro before walking home. I was kinda tired but plonked myself down infront of the telly and found myself watching Pretty Woman again. Still an entertaining film and I think my favourite outfit that she wears in the film is the light brown, polka dot dress to the Polo match.
Wednesday was the beginning of the slide into vampire time, ie going to bed later and getting up later which if continued would probably result in me getting up in the evening and going to sleep in the morning. I decided to take a look at Rainbow Six: Vegas and it's very good. The graphics, guns and sounds are all spot on and the casino levels are wicked. I also decided to watch Into the Night, which I'd bought for myself. It's a little known film with Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer that I remember catching years ago. It's not a hugely important movie but it reminds me of those times when you just happen to catch an unknown film on TV that surprises and delights.
Started to cook a Spag bol and then bro called requesting a pick up. I was clean but seriously if I'm lazing around the house I'm hardly going to wear my best clobber. All I needed to do was get to the car, pick him up and then return to the flat. Not really worth making an effort was it. Sod it I thought and just grabbed my cars and headed to the car. As I was locking the front door I could hear someone coming down the communal stairs. Jesus Christ! I started to panic and rush the locking of the door. I hadn't bothered fixing my hair, having a shave or changing out of my 'comfort' clothes and thus for the few minutes that I was going to be out of the flat wasn't ready to be observed by anyone. I bolted for the front door just as the young couple, and particularly the attractive girl in that couple, turned the corner and kinda clocked me. Once outside the door I attempted to run down the pathway with sandals on my feet and drawstring free tracksuit bottoms which started to slide down my legs meaning I had to grab them with one hand as I ran. As the path took a right angle and sloped down to the pavement I looked back to see the couple had come out and the girl was staring right at me. Blimey, I make a quick bolt out on a mercy mission pick up and I get spotted. The car's central locking earnt it's keep as I clambered into the car to avoid further embarrasement.
The spag was excellent as usual and we attempted to watch OHMSS on DVD but my bro became pre-occupied with texting and then receiving a call from some girl. Good on him. Thursday was much of the same, especially as the lay in's became more glorious and I got more into my game. I think I work hard enough through the year so I felt no guilt at the lethargy in most of those days. Hooked up with M that night and along with bro hit Pizza Hut and the cinema. There wasn't much out, especially with Rocky Balboa not out until 19th January, so we decided to try Flags of our Fathers. It was a war film and directed by Clint Eastwood, so assumed it couldn't be all bad. We were mistaken for it was very poor. It was slow, confusing, jumbled and had more flashbacks than you could shake a stick at. Characters were talked about though you were unsure initially who they were, the action scenes weren't that inspiring, the soundtrack was intrusive to the point of forewarning you that another drawn out scene was commencing when the slow guitar or piano faded in. The Indian character kept getting these lines said of him like 'and then he was never seen again' only to then turn up in the next scene. It also introduced half way through with little or no explanation how the story was being researched by one of the flag raisers sons and had this cheesy scene at the end where the guy apologises for being a poor father. To be honest the film made about as much sense as my review of it does. Very poor, so poor that we even considered walking out before the end.
Started reading a book the next day that I'd bought ages ago called Autumn. It wasn't about seasons but rather an apocalyptic tale about a lethal virus wiping out about 95% of the worlds population. It wasn't bad. The authors style of writing felt a little rushed and not as descriptive as I would have liked. The subject matter was good enough but I couldn't engage with the mercurial characters or really picture the scenes that he was trying to build. I think my imagination and enjoyment of these type of stories was responsible for giving it any real resonance. Watched another Bond film that was on the TV. Licence to Kill. I liked where Timothy Dalton tries to take the Bond character and it does contain one of my favourite Bond girls who is probably one of the best examples of short hair looking great on a woman. Carey Lowell is wonderful and when she is in her high neck, glittery evening dress and slicked, neat, short hair she is utterly stunning. The whole look is truly sensational and up there with Barbara Bach's high split leg dress in The Spy Who Loved Me. The film also contains what must be the geekiest in-joke which is when Sanchez (the bad guy) is shooting at Bond on the truck and the bullets that richochet off the metal play out the Bond theme. God what a Bond nerd!
Finished my zombie book in the early hours of the next morning and that's what I really like about having this much time off. If I want to stay up ridiculously late (4.00am in this case) then I can, regardless of the consequences. With no dependants to worry about I can lie in for as long as my body needs and the next morning I truly did. I still wrestled with my conscious that I should get up before 11.30 and do something with the day though. I did get up, made a cup of tea and recommenced Rainbow Six. There's something about the casinos and exterior scenes that really does capture the atmosphere of Vegas. I'm not sure what it is but when I'm in the chopper flying around I can't help but to be scanning around to look at the city. The architecture and design of some of the imagined casino's are as good and intriguing as some of the real ones that I've seen. The vibrant colours, the sounds of the slot machines, the different bars and restaurants, even the music playing in the hotel atriums is spot on and oh so cool. The casinos look so great that I wish they were real so I could go and walk round them. After about five hours of continuous play I broke for an early dinner, the chance for the xbox to cool down and a gloriously long, ridiculously hot bath.
Headed up to M's as I wasn't going to see him on New Years Eve and we decided to see if Blackheath had improved. It seemed everywhere else, or at least the perceived mood, was that everyone else was having a whale of a time in the intervening days. Unfortunately it was still like Xmas Eve and we weren't sure whether it was due to the older, wealthier person that Blackheath attracts were either sitting depressed at home, with their respective partners or had jetted abroad. Whatever it was, the town was dead and we consoled ourselves with a trip to the drive through KFC and back to M's place to consume and discuss.
As I drove home I popped on the radio and did a quick flick through the stations. It was 1.15ish and without realising it I'd stumbled onto another A State of Trance, as I had a week previously. It was basically his 2006 year mix where he'd crammed over 80 of the year's trance tracks into a two hour mix. It truly rocked and after filling up the car with petrol I decided to cruise around enjoying it. The roads were practically empty and I thought there was a certain poignancy of driving around in the early hours of the final day of the year listening to a mix of tunes by a guy who figured very heavily in 2006. Armin was certainly the stand out person for me with regards to music this year and this felt a good way to celebrate that. As I drove around enjoying the music and freedom it took me back to the times I used to do it when younger and in particular to a night in 1994 when I was leant a DJ mix tape that I must have driven around for about four hours re-listening to. It was the first time I'd heard music that new and fresh.
Anyway I was thinking that although this Christmas the dagger of loneliness and lack of companionship had stabbed me a couple of times, as I'm sure it has others, it's times like this when having no commitments is a major plus. Ok I could still drive around if I had a partner but in reality I wouldn't. I'd either be making sweet love all night long or fretting over our last argument. To be honest the latter could mean I was out driving but I doubt I'd be listening to uplifting trance in that situation! I know life isn't judged by the amount of times you could just drive around in your car listening to some great tunes but in the absence of a companion, regular sex and someone to hold it works for me.
When the set ended at 3.00 am and I got in I couldn't sleep. Whether this was down to the red bulls I'd drunk that night, the fact that the music had my heart pumping or simply that my body clock was resetting itself later and later I don't know. Whilst I lay in bed listening to my nano I found myself thinking about winning the lottery. My mind normally turns to this and the holidays that I could go on but this night it turned to something more constructive. I decided that if I won I would want to give something back to the scene that had given me so much pleasure by arranging free dance events featuring my favourite DJ's. This evolved into me jetting over to China to get them to make 10,000 copies of my spangly shirt. People would then buy one of my shirts for a nominal cost to demonstrate committment and then wearing the shirt would give them free entry to the dance events. Maybe there'd also be some free drinks and maybe help with national travel costs if they could demonstrate that they had actually looked at my site.
Something about this idea got me really excited and I couldn't stop thinking of different ideas and way to arrange it. I'd speak to the Tidy Boys for their knowledge of arranging things like the tidy weekenders and maybe start small in a club like Heaven before rolling it out to larger events for 5 - 10,000 clubbers. Advertising could be done on harderfaster.net, dontstayin and the tidy board. Maybe I could turn my site into a brand and shorten it to a more corporate PBN.com for the arranging side of things. As they would be my nights then they could be a blank canvas for me. The wearing of the shirts would be a demonstration of how much the shirt had affected my nights out, never mind how damn cool a heaving dancefloor of those shirts would look when the lights were shining onto it. We could also decorate the club with the posters that M did for the two tidy weekenders that we went to (Club 18-32 and Burt's Tour). DJ's that I'd want would be Armin naturally, Sean Tyas, The Tidy Boys, Lee Haslam, Guyver, Steve Hill and Proteus. I know it's a silly pipe dream but it was great to turn my mind to something more constructive that I could achieve with a lottery win.
Forced myself out to the shops on New Years Eve for some bits from Sainsburys and also a chance to look round the shops. Played some more Rainbow Six and then knocked up a nice big meal for bro and I before we headed out later to see in the New Year. I'd got some tickets for a local club though after the previous poor nights we'd had decided to drive rather than get hammered so we had an exit strategy. It wasn't a bad night. There were lots of people out and plenty of pretty girls to look at. I wore my red 'potential sex addict' t-shirt which did seem to get a load of attention including one partnered up girl who asked to take a photograph of the front and back. The music wasn't quite gelling and only seemed to get going right after 12.00 by which time I think we'd lost our edge. We gave it a go and boogied for another 1/2 hour but the smokiness of the upstairs rooms was making our eyes water. I guess you could say that it's an indication of me getting older when I'm grumbling about the smoke but even my bro said it was causing discomfort. We finished the night back at base with a large glass of mint baileys over ice and toasted in the new year.
All white on the night - 24/12/06
With the run up to Christmas things naturally slowed down in the office. I was keen to get my journal as up to date as possible as well as incorporate some slight changes and new additions to it's format. Nothing too drastic mind you but I wanted to add a section to show my external reviews and also one where I could answer a selection of random questions that came from a gift that one of my work colleagues received. I also tried to answer emails etc.
Thursday night was going to be a biggish night out for the work boys as we'd bought tickets to an organised event called the Snoweyball. Somewhere on the site it had mentioned wearing some form of white clothing, well our interpretation of it was that, and thus those that were going looked to securing something white. Whilst my brother went for a cracking cream/white jacket with black trousers and shirt and best mate went for a full white trousers, shirt, waist coat and jacket I decided to dust off the white spangly shirt with a pair of borrowed white linen trousers. For a ticket price of £85.00 the night promised a selection of hot buffet food plus unlimited beer, wine and soft drinks, dodgems and a DJ. I was a little cynical about the free bar and we managed to secure confirmation that I would be able to take in a bottle of Archers as I don't drink beer or wine.
Thursday came and I seemed to drive into work with a car load of crap. We'd been given various gifts from our suppliers and decided to resolve their distribution between the staff with a competitive game of knockout garden size Jenga. We started with six and unfortunately my female boss was first out. Next was a mammoth game that lasted for a good hour and a half and basically came to the very last brick that could be genuinely removed as all others were supporting and would have caused an immediate collapse. This final brick was dug in like an Alabama tick and fate decreed that it happened to be on my go. I tried to ease it out but it brought the whole thing down. I was gutted. I consider myself quite good at Jenga and thought this was one of the office competitions that I might actually excel at. The others were gracious in saying I was only beaten by the numbers thing in having to pull out the last one but I still lost. Raced over to the off license to get two bottles of Archers and at around 5.00ish headed up to my mates to get ready for the night out.
A quick shower and into my clobber. A colleague had also given me a christmas card with this thin metal christmas tree and a bell in the middle of it. I tugged this off the card and wore one round my neck and another round my wrist to fully embrace the christmas spirit and add a little cheap bling to the proceedings. We cabbed it to the venue and first impressions were good. There were a lot of guys in tuxedos and girls in party frocks. Virtually no one else was wearing white but I didn't care as it simply meant I stood out more. We hit the booze and I could feel it beginning to slowly take effect. The buffet food was served and was split into three different sections. Italian, Indian and British. At £85 a ticket I was determined to hit all three and get my money's worth of food. It was ok and certainly filling though it did curtail my efforts to get drunk as it quickly soaked up the Archers in my stomach. The DJ then started and quite a few people hit the dance floor but there was something missing. There wasn't the frisson of excitement on the dancefloor that you might normally expect at a club and everyone seemed to content to remain in their little groups. I don't know if because most people had got their companies to pay for the ticket as opposed to themselves, they weren't as motivated to enjoy themselves but something wasn't quite right.
Being in work groups you couldn't tell if people were coupled up, looking out for each other or just waiting to use their yearly chance to get off with the girl from accounts. There was a lovely looking woman there who did intentionally look over on more than one occasion when everyone was having pre dinner drinks. Again though she was with a gaggle of guys, one of which I think was her partner but wasn't sure. Bro and I both felt the strangeness in the atmosphere and unable or unwilling anymore to get drunk hit the dodgems for a few goes. Unbeknown to me the guys I was with had printed off a load of paynebyname.com stickers and were literally plastering them everywhere. Bottles, mirrors, tables, walls, dodgem cars etc. The first time I noticed them was when I went to the toilet and one was on the back of the toilet door. I headed back to the dancefloor area and somehow got chatting to this guy called Dave. Somehow we got talking about Alan Partridge and then The Day Today, which he knew all about. Our appreciation and knowledge of the same bits was spookily similar and we had a real laugh recollecting some of the funnier scenes. Even though we only chatted for about 15 minutes we got on really well and as we wished each other a merry christmas I thought I'd give him a card.
Fear not, my despair at not finding a honey isn't leading me up the garden path of homo love, but as we made such a comical connection and shared similar cynical opinions, I thought he might appreciate or at least understand the ramblings of my site. As I handed him the card he commented how he'd seen it plastered all over the venue and took some convincing that it wasn't of my doing. The event finished at 12.30 and at around 12.15 we decided to head off to an exclusive nightclub called The Embassy Rooms. It's just off Regent Street and as one of our party is a black Amex card holder he had pre-arranged our entrance through Amex. We would never have got in without the status that it brings.
I don't know if it was because we were moving onto somewhere new, the fact that I'd stand out even more or simply the fresh air but on leaving the place I began to feel more pissed. We'd finished one bottle of Archers and had about two thirds left in the other bottle which I brought with me for the journey. Managed to secure two cabs and after my mate had slapped a paynebyname sticker on the windscreen we headed off. We knew we wouldn't be able to take the bottle into the club so I started to pass it round to the four occupants. Christ it was hard to take down neat without a mixer. The first glug tasted of peach, the second pure sugar and the third was almost gag inducing. Thankfully you could then pass it to the next chap and the desire to chunder had passed by the time it came back round. My confidence and excitement was really beginning to bubble and as I didn't have a coat, I'd pressed on the hat we'd taken along as a laugh onto my head to retain some heat. I must have looked a sight. All in white with a sparkly shirt and a small brown, corduroy Trilby at a slight angle on my head. I breezed into the club not even aware of the concept that we might be refused admission and joined my friend at the bar. I immediately started chatting to this black girl who was impressed by my shirt. I thanked her and then noticed that the guy she was with looked uncannily like David Boreanaz, aka Angel. It was amazing and I seemed to come over all star struck telling him how much he looked like him. He was very kind and didn't seem to get the arse, I think my sincerity comes through better when I'm pissed. I called over my bro and without any provocation asked him who he thought this guy looked like. Straight away he said Angel and I think even the guy was impressed. I shook his hand and wished him a merry christmas.
We attempted a few drinks upstairs. Well to be honest the others played some drinking games and I chatted aimlessly to anyone who commented on my shirt. A quick scout around revealed that there was in fact a dance floor downstairs which I was keen to hit ASAP. Dragged everyone downstairs and began to boogie. I was amazed that in such a trendy nightclub (admission was £20 and the average three drink round about £25-30) that people were responding so favourably to the shirt and hat. Whether it looked like I was trying to be cool I don't know but I felt awesome. In this garb I stood and being the tart I am, it was nice to be noticed. I started chatting to these two sisters who seemed very sweet. Christina and Beth. I bust a couple of moves with them in a fun but non heavy manner and did my best to make the older one, Christina, smile. At one point Dirty by Miss Aguilera came on and I started to grind it out. I don't know whether I bumped her over or she tripped but poor old Beth stumbled over the steps and onto her bum. To her credit and my respect she didn't make a fuss and simply laughed it off. She was quite cute and reminded me in a way of the main girl in the Wedding Crashers, though her hair was a little curlier. I asked them both if they wanted a drink but they both declined, which I was also impressed with meaning that they weren't being friendly simply to extort a drink out of me.
Everyone continued to have a laugh and at one point I headed back upstairs to hook up with two of the crew. I remember getting introduced to a guy who apparently ran an agency of glamour models. I started to talk to him about the lack of sexiness in modern porn and he started to invite me to some glamour model party but I got dragged away to return to the dancefloor and didn't get a chance to finish up with him. At the time I didn't care but needless to say kicked myself the next day for not literally dropping everything at the mention of a glamour model party. Carried on dancing and as the night drew to a close Christina asked for my hat. Normally I'd never give away things but they'd both been so nice and made me feel so good that I could keep them both entertained that it was the least I could do. Hence I gave Christina the hat and Beth the jingle bell necklace from my neck. I also told them about my website and gave them a card. They promised me they would look at it although I seemed to get very embarrased about having told them about it and as the lights came up we wished each other a Merry Christmas. Waiting outside for a cab I got chatting to another couple. Why can't I have this courage/bravado when sober? We talked about how they were spending Christmas Day apart at respective family do's and then getting back together Boxing Day. I told them I thought this was great and how a loving couple should do these things. They smiled at me quite sweetly and I almost got the impression that having someone else say it vindicated what they were doing.
We talked about respective Christmas presents, how they met, where the guy came from which was Beckenham we we duly talked about and even moved onto chatting about Planet Earth! Our cab arrived and I wished them a great one before speeding back to my mates apartment. I was hyper but not hugely pissed and after a cup of tea attempted to grab a couple of hours sleep on my mates bedroom floor. Man, I couldn't believe the repeated success of the spangly shirt. It only cost me £10 from TK Maxx yet I've never worn an item of clothing that has generated so much interest or started so many conversations. It's just such a shame that with the more times I wear it and then gingerly wash it the more silver circles fall off and the more it degrades. It's only got a limited shelf life and fewer occasions that I can wear it out but it certainly isn't going to go out whimpering away tucked in a far corner of a wardrobe.
After about three hours on the floor with a pillow and sleeping bag it was time to get up again. Showered and into the office for 8.30am. I was with one of the directors but neither of us wanted to take the piss out of P and hence why we insured we were there before time. Needless to say it wasn't a busy day but some morning tea and a sausage and egg sandwich from the local cafe certainly helped. The other guys continued their Jenga match which was now down to three and I trawled the internet. By looking on ign.com I first saw a trailer for the new Die Hard which looks pretty good but even more impressive was the trailer for the Transformers movie. I was never really into the cartoons as a kid. I always liked the idea but I seemed to miss the cartoons on TV and never got the toys. I remembered seeing the teaser trailer for this a few months ago which cleverly used the notion of the Mars Beagle landing that went missing relating to the coming of the Transformers and showed a quick shot of a transformer stamping down on the probe. This longer, action packed trailer was something else. I must have watched it a good four or five times and everyone in the office stopped to check it out and agreed it was pretty cool.
What impressed me the most was the lack of music and the reluctance to show anything too spectacular. I'm not meaning that it didn't look impressive. Some of the robots look awesome and it looks like they are prepared to kill people which always adds a certain seriousness. I mean that it didn't give away too many action scenes. This may well be because it isn't out until 4th July 2007 and hence they still have loads of post production to do but it's certainly done enough to get me hugely 'jacked up' for it's arrival. I have my doubts because it's directed by Michael Bay. He can do exhilerating action scenes but sometimes can't deliver the meaty stuff. Maybe if I remember Bad Boys I and 2 and forget Pearl Harbour it will help. If you want to check out what I'm gibbering on about you can check it all out on www.transformersmovie.com
We had a selection of nibbles for lunch, cocktail sausages, quiche etc and began to respectively drift off home in the afternoon. I didn't have much planned that night so carried on mooching round the web and tidying up some final work related bits and pieces. Headed home, stopping to grab a DVD and some outstanding fish'n'chips from my local. They were great and the film we got, Crank, was entertaining. Ok it was no prize winner but it was fun, violent and in a way quite inventive. Come 11.00pm though and I was totally shattered and finding it hard to keep my eyes open. Gratefully hit the sack and slept for a solid twelve hours before heading over to P's with a bag full of videos, DVD's and my old Xbox to keep her entertained over Chrimbo. I've gone on never endingly to her about Halo and like a good 'un she even read the first book which she claims to have enjoyed. She's never played a computer game before but I love sharing things with people and getting them to experience what it is I like about certain things. Hence she'd agreed that she would try playing it though she wasn't confident about how easy she would pick ut up.
I cooked us up a bacon and egg sarnie while my brother set it all up in with the leads etc. She started playing and although tentative and a little shaky she did well to slowly pick up the controls. I wasn't sure how much she was playing it because I'd brow-beaten her or that she wanted to see what all the fuss was about but she was getting the hang of it and doing her fair share of shooting and killing. After a good few hours we left her to it and headed home. M was out so bro and I decided to check out a nightclub in Rochester called the Casino Rooms. Amadeus is in Rochester and caters for a younger audience and this was supposed to have a slightly older clientele. After eventually parking up we joined the queue and listened to a couple of right old 40 something slappers gassing about something behind us. Dyed hair, way too much jewellery, too low cut a top and a whiny old voice. Christ, if this is what the other occupants are like then we considered blowing out the whole evening.
Bro was meeting a work colleague inside so we perservered and eventually got in. The receptionist was a right morose looking cow who then completely out of character asked that I come back later so she could photograph my 'Potential Sex Addict' t-shirt as she thought it so funny. The club was split over three rooms which I wasn't initially aware of and the first room we entered was about 10% full and looked like the worst working mans social club you could imagine. God, what mistake had we made on the supposedly 'sweet' Saturday just before Christmas. We moved to another room where there were some real ropey old munters. This might make me sound nasty and I know I'm no adonis but blimey some of these women were rough. We ventured upstairs to the large R'n'B room which was well populated but stank of musky, stale body odour. We stayed for a few more hours in the hope that there might be a ray of sunshine but there wasn't and we left. What a waste of a perfectly good Saturday night and we consoled ourselves with a drive over to Thurrock for a late night McDonalds.
Christmas Eve and I was off to my hairdressers as I always do every Christmas. I scoffed down some of the obligatory sausage rolls and cocktail sausages that they always make and bring in and had a good chat with them both. They are great and I love the way they spend Christmas Day and New Years Eve together, just the two of them. If you are married and in love then each others company should always be good enough and they are living proof of this. I always feel for my hairdresser aswell because his birthday is also on Christmas Day. Sharing it with the son of god isn't bad but it must impact on your one special day of the year mustn't it?
Headed up to M's later that evening with bro and set up the 360 to show him Gears of War and Call of Duty 3. The cover system in GOW took a little time to get used to but I think he enjoyed it. After this we moved onto Cave Austin in Blackheath. I'd had my fears of the night at the ridiculously cheap ticket price and these were born out when we drove into the almost deserted village and managed to park round the corner, which is virtually unheard of. Not another crap night, please. Cave Austin was virtually empty. There must have been about 40 people in there. We headed downstairs and attempted to have a laugh but to no avail. Thank god I'd driven and that we hadn't planned a huge bender with cab's etc. We hung on until 12.30 and then decided to leave. I don't know if it's because Blackheath attracts a slightly older crowd and most of them are coupled up on Christmas Eve or that everyone had gone abroad but it had to be one of the worst Christmas Eve's I've ever had. I've always loved them more than New Years Eve as it's just the start of the holiday and normally there is this great atmosphere but either Blackheath doesn't 'kick it' this time of year or the longer weekend had simply blown everyone out. Either way we settled for a cup of tea at my mates and bro and I bemoaned our fate on the drive home. Oh well, you win, you lose some.
Two good reviews - 18/12/06
As like last week Monday was a relaxing one. I should maybe have gone to the shops to buy pressies and cards but to be honest the advantage of having a small circle of friends and family is that I don't really need to send or buy a great deal. Once you've bought a 20 or 30 pack of cards I can normally get use out of them for a good few years! I like Christmas. It's a chance to feel that I can truly take it easy, though I have been doing this over the last two weekends haven't I. I think it's because everyone else is working when I'm normally off, yet during Xmas we are all off. People say it's too expensive and over commercialised. Maybe it is but with only three or four to buy pressies for I never feel it is. I still look forward to the notion of the family being together on Christmas Day and enjoy the atmosphere than you can normally find in the clubs on Christmas Eve. This year it falls on a Sunday which is going to make for a funny night and weekend prior to it.
Christmas is normally always the same for me and I'm comfortable with that familiarity. Xmas day is at my Aunt's in Bromley with all the family, Boxing day is round my mums with my bro for a big dinner and the remaining days normally involve excessive consumption of soft drink, snacks and increasingly later bed times and later waking ups.
Anyway I managed to complete Call of Duty 3 which was good. One of the final levels is this crossroads where you are attacked by wave after wave of German soldiers while you scramble between two buildings for cover. A great level and contains everything in it that makes COD 3 a very good game. Watched a few more episodes of Angel and then quickly played the first level of Halo on the easy setting to gauge whether P would be able to do it. I understand how problematic it might be for her if she has never played it before but on the easy setting it is very hard to be killed so hopefully she'll be able to enjoy it. After watching the Gears of War video I had to watch the Bungie one again. It's more involving and better put together than the gears one and with Halo 2, Bungie were the first to introduce the concept of special editions in games. The one they have promised for Halo 3 sounds like it will be amazing.
Back in the office and it was time for my work review. We went to a restaurant called the Eagle bar diner and as the name suggests it served American food. I'm a simple man who loves simple food so a double 6 ounce burger with monterray jack cheese, bacon and a fried egg with some skinny fries really hit the spot for me. I also had a banana shake which was fabulous. The review went well. I didn't really have any reason to think it wouldn't but I'm close friends with both my bosses and I didn't want to be complacent or arrogant and assume that it would be a walk in the park. The general feedback was that I didn't have enough confidence in my abilities but I put this down that I'd rather appear to be like that rather than come across as cocksure. Also to be fair I never place much weight in doing what I think is normal ie answering the phone, dealing with queries etc as they are the norms of any employee. I kindly received a pay rise and a generous bonus which was really good of them, especially as we'd only just got back from
Discovered later in the eveing that my website had been reviewed and reasonably favourably. The best thing was that the reviewer had actually taken the time to read my site before commenting. He said in some parts it was a little long and I'm aware of that but the killer line for me was "One things for sure - Payne by Name is very distinctive and gives a genuine insight into the authors inner-workings and lifestyle". The latter part to me is what a blog should truly be, ie letting people know who I am and the fact that he thought it differs from the norm is even better. I'm going to set up a section on here of external reviews so you can read it and also what the other two said. It's interesting how this review was British and how maybe my humour or style or writing is understood better by Brits. I think most Americans (bar Amy) sometimes don't get where I'm coming from.
I'd swapped keys with P this night so I could lock stuff up in the safe and had stayed later to work on my site. I stopped writing about 12.30am and at that point remembered that the keys to the padlock for the gate to the yard were now with P. Aaarrrggghhh. It was too late to call anyone and to be honest I didn't want to make an arse of myself. The yard provides access to quite a few businesses in the arches so it wasn't a case of me simply locking up and then unlocking the next morning. I locked up the office and then took one of the padlocks from the main door to use on the gate. Trouble was that if anyone from the other companies in the arches turned up early in the morning they wouldn't be able to get in. It was about 1.30am when I was driving home and I had a moment of clarity. There was no point in sleeping in my bed and getting up again at 5.00 to come back to the office. I'd never be able to sleep for fear that I was screwing someone else's plans up and imagined I'd be constantly looking at the clock as I drove in. Therefore I decided to get indoors, jump in the bath, get changed, grab a sleeping bag and come back to the office.
Man has slept in caves before and sleeping on the floor when pissed is acceptable so in reality this wasn't that silly. I'd screwed up and I didn't want anything happening to the arch on my watch or when I'd done something wrong. Someone had strolled into the office when we were on our review enquiring about how to rent an arch and my colleagues believed that the guy could have been scoping the arch out. This provided even more reason for me wanting to be here. I set the radiator on full and laid out some flat packed carboard boxes on the floor. I lay on this fully clothed with my sleeping bag over the top. Alarm was set and I didn't expect a full glorious nights kip but I know my body is pretty resilient so was confident that if I could make it through the dozy hour the next day, whenever that came, that I would be fine. The printer shit me up at one point when it went through it's random self test and I decided that it might be better dozing in the chair. I wouldn't say that I slept but I grabbed a few hours and at least the office was safe and there was no complications with people not being able to get into the yard.
Wednesday was a little tough getting through the tiredness but plenty of tea helped and by the afternoon it was just like normal. We were out with our clients again on Thursday for a christmas lunch. They had wanted to go to this incredibly expensive restaurant. I was looking forward to it and assumed that being that expensive the food would be next gen. It was ok but it certainly wasn't worth what we paid for it, which was over £500 for the seven of us. What was cheeky was that they also charged a £9 cover charge in addition to the tip. I wouldn't be able to have the meal if I didn't sit at the table so why charge for the chairs? I had a meaty pasta bolognaise type dish to start which was nice but the fillet steak I had was as dry as anything. It almost tasted like liver it was so dry and was crying out for some kind of sauce. Nice to chat with the clients though. It's always good to see them out of the working environment where you can chat a little more freely.
It was the last ASOT of the year that night and it was a little disappointing if I'm honest. Armin's been really good for the year but I wished he ended stronger. There will be another one next Thursday of people's favourite tracks of the year but I'm out at a Christmas party that night. It's got an all white theme so I'll be dusting off the sparkly shirt for maybe one last trip (I mean the one from my gallery).
We decided to have a hot lunch on the Friday and I suggested fish 'n' chips instead of the normal KFC or McDonalds. M and I headed round to the chippy just off the
P bought an inflatable punch bag with a water filled base for us to release client fuelled tension on and using it proved entertaining, especially when I tried to re-create the 'You want me to show you tough' moves. We also got a Christmas tree for the office. Bravo to P for pushing for this and M for going to get it. If she didn't we wouldn't have one and at least it makes the office look Christmasy. She decorated it later than night and it's quite a sweet thing. Not much else happened that night as I stayed late in the office.
Hit the shops Saturday afternoon which thankfully and surprisingly weren't as rammed as I'd though they might be. I was looking to see if TK Maxx or any other shops had any white clothing for this party next week. Unfortunately they didn't and it looks like I'll be wearing a pair of white jeans on my bottom half. This would be ok if they weren't a 32' waist meaning that I can wear them but I can only do the zip up halfway and certainly not the top button. With a belt on and an untucked shirt it should be ok unless anyone goes exploring there, but lets face it, thats unlikely to happen. Picked up some food and also bro from work. Cooked up a stonkingly good spag bol and watched a couple of DVD's.
The break up with Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston is really good. It doesn't take sides particular and I'm glad they chose the slightly more courageous ending of them not getting back together. It was funny in many places but also quite touching when they realised that the writing was on the wall of their relationship. I guess I've not really had that. Should I be grateful? The opening scene shows a montage of their relationship photos together and it reminded me that I don't have any of those kind of images. No holiday photo's of me kissing my girlfriend on a beach, no images of being in a crazy gang of couples or even of having a christmas hug infront of the tree. The next film was the Road to Perdition which despite having Jude Law in it I had wanted to see for some time. I forgot though that it was Sam Mendes who'd directed it. Man it was just so long and self indulgent. Bro and I gave it an hour yet still hadn't engaged with the characters and Tom Hanks had said virtually nothing. All it seemed to be was this ponderous piece that played a little chime of piano chords while the camera remained on a characters face for just too long. I guess it was like American Beauty, which I've never understood everyone's fascination with, in being very predictable and very boring. We switched it off after an hour in pure frustration. Watched a little more Angel to remove the memory of the film before eventually turning in for bed.
Sunday was fairly routine though I did decide to come into the office to get the journal entries completely up to date. I want to add that external review section plus another one where I post a random question and then answer it. P got a load of them recently and the questions look fairly fascinating. What with this and a few other rants I've been thinking off and also being out next Thursday and probably getting bits ready on the Wednesday night I wanted to make sure I'd got this nailed down. The review said I should be more focussed but the rambling is what makes the journals so I couldn't rush those could I?
Talk soon.
Living for the now has it's Up's and Down's - 11/12/06
Needless to say Monday turned out to be pretty much of the same. A lazy lay in and some more Call of Duty. Through my sound set up the battles are amazing. You've got shouts coming from all angles, bullets seemingly whizzing overhead, random ground shaking explosions, comrades tumbling over in sprays of blood and it's all you can do to stop yourself moving your head left and right to dodge the debris or calling out to others to "get down". Excellent entertainment.
I've also been catching up on the first season of Angel. It was a such a great series. For me it dipped during seasons 3 and 4 but this first one is so good. The writing, the subtleties, the music, the fighting is first rate. I really liked Doyle and his character and it's a shame when he dies but his effectrive replacement Wesley has to be one of my favourite ever characters. Seeing him evolve from this bumbling 'rogue demon hunter' into what he becomes is really cool. The episode where Angel and Buffy get it together when Angel is made mortal is very touching and so well played, especially by Sarah Michelle Gellar when she is crying at the end and begging for more time with Angel. Knowing how much I enjoy the fifth and final series, it's interesting to see the series beginnings again. The introduction of Gunn, Darla, Lindsey and all the others. A first rate series and I'm already looking forward to borrowing the fifth series off him again.
Back into work on the Tuesday and discovered that a new trailer for Halo 3 had been released. It didn't feature in game footage and had been produced by Digital Domain but the material had been supplied by Bungie and there were some clues as to what things we might see. Perfect trailer really, didn't give anything anyway but just helped to hugely stoke the fires of anticipation for what I'm hoping will be an awesome game. Most of my colleagues aren't into it but I like to keep them involved. They all saw the very first trailer when it came out earlier this year and knowing how damn excited I will be by the time it comes out next year I want to share it with them. The sharing has generated some results as my female boss, P, has decided to give the first Halo novel a go. This being in anticipation of my bro and I heading round hers to set up the xbox and leave her to play the first Halo game. She's a little concerned that never having played a computer game before that she will be unco-ordinated and become frustrated. We are trying to think of an easy game she can play that will get her 'eye' in before she gets to play one of the greatest games ever made. I admire her for having the enthusiasm to attempt it. So many people get stuck in their ways and won't try fresh things but a grown woman in her late 30's preparing to try console games for the first times certainly impresses me.
Brought the remains of the spag bol that I'd cooked at the weekend into the office on Wednesday. Unfortunately a late night at the office the night before meant I didn't know when I'd get to eat it and as there was so much thought it would be something different. I heated it up in the microwave and drizzled over a hot jacket potato it went down very well. Stayed late again in the office as I tried to break the back of the Barcelona trip report.
Thursday was my last day in the office again before another long weekend and it was mainly spent signing our company Christmas cards. We went for a slightly more comical approach this year with a card that had a pop out Santa beard that could be worn by the recipient. I liked the fact that it was different and quite cool. ASOT was quite poor tonight and I managed to get Thursday of the trip report down onto the site. I also submitted my website for review with a british blog review site www.soapboxjury.blogspot.com . Bearing in mind my reaction to the other two reviews I'd received P was worried that I was asking for another caning but sometimes you have to keep trying don't you and hope that someone understands what you are trying to say. I read some of the other reviews and unlike some others that try to play to the crowd with an assortments of expletives and put downs these people did actually look like they would read the site before commenting on it. We'll see. Hit Sainsburys again that night for some supplies and decided to get some alcopops for myself and some corona (with the limes as well) for my bro as he's discovered a taste for them. He was going to be off work this weekend and I imagined it would be a Gears of War fest.
Bro came up on the Friday and I rustled us up the mother of all bacon sandwiches. Two freshly oven baked baguettes loaded with five rashers of juicy baon and a fried egg. We discussed what we would do that day and talk turned to Gears of War. We'd both really enjoyed our little taster of co-operative play a few weeks back and were looking forward to some more. The only downside was playing it split screen. The graphics and scenes are so great to look at that seeing only half the screen was a pain. Never mind though and I suggested we start playing. What about if we got an Xbox 360 now instead of waiting until Christmas my bro said. Now that's living for the moment. It would make sense, we were both off for three days and he was intending in getting one for chrimbo anyway. It's that spur of the moment madness that I love. We quickly phoned round a couple of shops to find what the best deal was on a premium 360 bundle with Gears of War (you need two copies of the game if you are going to play system link up). Virgin was coming in the cheapest at £299.00 all in so we raced up to Bluewater. He bought the bundle and I gave him a healthy contribution to him for it. The contribution is meant to be his Christmas present but we both know I'll still be buying him some other bits and bobs. We also hit John Lewis to pick up a Cat 5 ethernet cable. This cable would allow us to connect the two consoles up so we could play the same game but on different machines and TV's.
Headed home and nervously set it up. I say nervously because although you have high hopes that it will all work well you are never sure. I had been thinking the previous night how technically the headset controller should work on system link. I mean if it works when you are playing on the internet then why not when you are playing in different rooms through the cable. This could really make or break it to be honest. Playing in two different rooms would be great but if we couldn't hear each other with shouts of "I'll take the left side" or "Get that mofo up on the right" then it would kinda fall down. I'd never heard anyone talk about system link headset usage before on any chat room or anything so although technically it should work neither of us were sure it would. We hooked up the 10 metre cable, running it under the two doors and placing a Gears of War poster over the cable in the hallway so we didn't trip over it. We loaded up our respective game, put on the headsets and nothing. Ok, no panic, let's have a look around. I selected hosting a co-op game and still he couldn't see me. I started up the game and bingo he was in. What was even better was that I could hear him in my ear through the headset. How fucking cool is that. Maybe I'm being a geek but if you are going to play a game together then this is the way. We got ourselves settled with drinks etc in our respective rooms and off we went. Man it was weird. His character (Dom) was on screen and moving around if I asked him to. He could see the same stuff as me but naturally from a slightly different angle, we could both enjoy the whole screen experience and our own sound. Wow. This is the kind of co-op playing I'd always wanted. I love sharing stuff and this way we got our own experience but were playing together. What was equally mad was that the headset connects to the controllers which are wireless so you can effectively move around without fear of kicking out the lead etc.
Needless to say the game is great. Graphically it is just so rich and textured and the gun battles take on a real gritty visceral feel. The effects of flanking the enemy and needing a resucitation if wounded are increased ten fold when playing co-op system link. To see my bro's character independantly flanking on my screen as I cover him is the dogs nuts, it really is. If this is next-gen gaming then I am loving it.
Started Saturday which a huge brunch of sausages, eggs, bacon, mushrooms, beans, toast and tea. Gaming folk need this kind of sustenance. We then got right back into the game. Some might regard as an awful waste of time but frankly I don't care. It's like playing a 10 hour movie and who doesn't like action and stimulation. We aren't complete nerds though and decided we would head out that night. Sean Tyas was playing in London and I was tempted to go but as he wasn't on until 4.30am at this club, thought it could be a waste of time. Before that bro and I wanted to at least look at some pretty girls. We weren't going to go on the lash and decided to head up to the local town to a bar we knew there. There were some nice girls there and we started talking about women and shoes. There were a bunch of five girls at the bar yet only one of them had a decent pair of shoes. It's funny how so many women think they are experts on shoes but yet can so badly mis co-ordinate them. One girl had black leggings and a backless black dress. The look might have been ok if she hadn't been wearing these hideous torquoise shoes that were elaborately tied up with ribbon round her ankles. Another had those loose boots that are baggy round the ankle and wore with a skirt and finally so many girls with boots on the outside of jeans. I know I'm no fashion guru and am a lot older than these people but jesus, what a mess.
It can be entertaining people watching in these places. There were these two guys in there who obviously still believed that smoking was cool. Their elaborate hand gestures and holding of the cigarette each time they took a drag said volumes about their pretension as did the way they so cooly tried to drink from their bottles. One of the guys held his bottle so far up the neck that when he drank he looked like he was about to start open mic freestyling - what a wanker. Neither of them pulled anyone whilst we were there but it makes you wonder if they regularly do. I saw the girl in there who used to work in the gym I go to (I've not been for a good few weeks now!). She isn't stunning, more pretty but there is something incredibly sexy about her. She isn't a skinny size 8 but her softness is just all in the right places and a small slither of exposed flat midriff with tattoo at the back was proving a heady distraction for me. At one point I went to the bar to order a drink and she was standing right next to me. I could almost feel that she was looking at me and all it would have needed was for me to say "Do you still work at the gym" but my tongue seemed to escape me and the moment passed. God it was frustrating. It was definately a 'moment'. The window of opportunity was there, she was effectively looking at me and I had a conversational way in. Ah well. They left not long after. We stayed for about another hour or so and were getting eyes from two gyrating girls but neither of them did anything for bro and I so we didn't pursue.
Headed home and I wrestled with whether I should go on to this club. The sensible side of me said I shouldn't. It meant driving up into town, which can be a chore, probably hardly anyone would be there, it would cost money in petrol and admission and probably knacker me for the rest of Sunday. The heart though told me that I should live for the now. I might be 35 and play computer games but I should still be prepared to go out there and live for the now. I knew if I didn't go I'd probably regret it the next day and consider it another nail in the coffin for me approaching old age. If I went out at least I was proving I was still up for it and capable of breaking out of the everyday bubble. Maybe also this could the night that something amazing happened. I got changed, sprayed up and bro decided to come along as well. Again he'd gone through the same thought process and decided that living for the now was what it was all about. We got delayed a few times in traffic going up there even though by the time we parked up it was 2.30am but thought well maybe fate's putting obstacles in the way because it's going to be so good. The bouncers at the door told us that it wasn't very busy when they frisked us and upon entering we couldn't hear much.
I asked the promoter who was on the tills whether there was anyone in there. 'Oh yeah there's 200 plus in there'. Despite having put my name down on the guestlist for £13 admission (though this is apparently only valid until 12.00) the promoter had no trouble charging me us both the full £17 to get in. Upon walking in there must have been no more than 150 people in there. Lying bastard. We decided that we would still try and make something of it and bought a couple of cheap red bulll equivalents, these being called 'Shark'. Continuing my thread from earlier about shoes we saw one girl who beat them all. She wore 3/4 length denim jeans and cream ankle boots that didn't join up with the bottom of the jeans revealing some lovely california tan tights. What a mess. We moved into the trance room at 3 to see the DJ before Sean Tyas come on. He was called Ian Betts and I gotta say was pretty poor. Unfortunately he followed right on from the style of the previous DJ meaning that the music was too fast too hook me in. He needed to slow it down, engage the audience and then build it back up. There must only have been about 30 people in the room and if he'd done this I might have stayed but as it was the music was blasting along at the speed that is normally at the top of what I like to dance to. The DJ had nowhere to go in my mind and I couldn't imagine that Sean would come on, scratch the needle off the record and start again. This disappointment combined with how the music volume was set to an arch full of people when there were very few meant that it was literally hurting my bro's ears and we decided to leave.
What a shit night. The actual club is called Hidden and it wasn't bad but that's the last time I drive to Vauxhall for a dance night. This area always seemed to be where hard house, Nu nrg and hard trance are played. It was this area where Strawberry Sundae was and where bro came to his first club but the last few times I've pushed myself to go clubbing in this area the nights have been truly crap. I've washed my hands of this area. It's so frustrating and the two of us grumbled about it on the way home. You try to make an effort, you try not to get stuck in your ways and this is what you get. When is fate going to cut me some friggin slack for once. With my lack of success you'd assume I'd be the boring type who just stayed in all the time and never considered going out. Yet here I am prepared to go out late, try new things yet never seem to get the reward for it. We headed to McDonalds for a compensatory burger but the bun tasted like cardboard and we were both disappointed. Surely the law of averages in going out will go our way soon. Surely our spontaneity will impress someone or result in at least one wild night.
We set to work on Gears again the nest day and got it completed on the hardcore level. It was very satisfying and like finishing a good meal it was nice to savour the experience. The special edition version that I got came with a making of DVD which was fascinating to watch. It's really interesting to see the efforts and hard work that go into making the games. I've often talked about how frustrating it can be seeing some of our creative ideas be diluted by our clients and the DVD revealed something similar. The lead designer of the game had always had this vision of an assault rifle with a bayonet chainsaw yet the Microsoft suits who were publishing the game were against it. The company behind the game, Epic, were right behind the gun and the stand off between the two was interesting. The bayonet chainsaw was an intergral part of what the game is and Epic stuck to their guns and eventually Microsoft relented.
Also seeing the offices and how other companies run is interesting. When I see the teams working together, especially at the end when they are racing to get things done and working late into the night it makes me wish I was in that industry and had that talent. It was funny to see the E3 presentation and Bill Gates congratulating the lead designer on his presentation at the conference and how he liked the chainsaw bayonet. Gears of War has been really entertaining and truly raised the bar on what the X360 can do. I'm glad it's so good as it will keep Bungie on their toes. I'm not saying that they are complacent but a pretender to their crown can only be a great thing for pushing the efforts they put into Halo 3 and I'm sure we will be seeing a GOW 2 mid 2008, which I'd be very keen to enjoy.
Bro had a dinner date with the department he works in that night and I offered to pick him up afterwards. It wasn't until very late but as I wasn't working the next day I didn't mind. He'd moved on to a friends house afterwards and after driving round for an age (including twice round the Gravesend one way system) I eventually picked him up. He gave me the low down on the way home and I envy him a little bit for the greater social circle that he now has access to. Working in a bigger department store there are a lot more opportunities for him to meet people than the small office I work within. He told me how he'd been chatting to two of the girls who sounded really fun and bubbly. I told him he should arrange for us all to go out, especially when he knows how much fun we are to go out with. He then said they were 17-18. Christ did I feel old. I never feel the age gap between my bro and me. There is 14 years actual difference but he acts older and me younger so it never seems as noticeable but going out with female friends of his I'm sure I would do. What a sad fuck they must think I would be. When I was 18-19 the idea of someone in their 30's would be that they'd have a home, wife, kids and responsiblities. Anyone that didn't would have been dismissed as a desperate loser, unable to accept that they'd grown up. Despite me being fun to go out without and ensuring that they would have a good time I imagine these girls would think I was sad, creepy or both.
Until next week peeps.
Taking it easy and responding to my Call of Duty - 04/12/06
It was hard getting up on Monday morning but the knowledge of a few days off at the end of the week helped push me through. Work was pretty uneventful really and most of the evenings where taking up with responding to emails and trying to get to work on my site. Thursday night was on me before I knew it and I dropped in at a 24 hour Sainsburys.
It felt good wandering round the store picking up bits and bobs to eat yet not having to worry about the lateness of time. I could get used to this time off lark. Friday was a chance to make a start into the mound of washing that had come back with me from Barcelona as well as tidy up as must of it, suitcases etc, remained where I dumped it when I came in on Sunday evening.
Got a good line of washing going and sat down to have a good look at Call of Duty 3 on my Xbox 360. I was conscious of Gears of War but didn't want to race into or rush it. It really is a good game. Although the story tells an interconnecting tale of a breakout from Normandy it isn't as engaging or involving as some others. It is though great entertainment and some of the firefights can get pretty intense. I'd deliberately put it onto the hard setting to give myself a challenge and it certainly did this. Bro and I were going to a party on behalf of our mother in the evening so I raced up to Bluewater to pick him. Popped back to mine for some dinner and then went to the party at around 9.30ish.
My mum used to work on a farm as a volunteer. I kept telling her she was wasting her time there and could have been earning some real money but the managers there always used to dangle the prospect of a full time job and she ended up staying there about four years before they gave her an interview and then the job to someone else. Hence bro and I have very little time for this bunch of mofo's. While there though she did meet a guy who got her out of the house and introduced her to new social circle which has been really good for her. Anyway this guy was relocating up north and was having a party and Mum had really wanted us to attend. We decided as it was important to her to be as friendly and charming as we could be. We pulled up and I've got to say it looked grim. A cold almost empty hall with a smoke machine, impressive lighting and not a soul dancing. Mum introduced us to a range of people who we chatted to, including her friend at the farm. He was pretty hammered and thus I think missed the jokes I was making in our conversation. We grabbed some soft drinks and continued to circulate.
We saw a couple of girls arrive and rather boldly went over and started chatting to them after about ten minutes. The blond of the two disappeared but the brunette was good fun and I enjoyed talking to her. Mum came in an introduced us to another lady who was just as pretty and equally fun to chat with. I think at some points she was winding me up and vice versa but neither of us were sure when. We also had a good chat with another guy who had met Tony de Vit before he died and knew a lot about the club scene. He was a gay guy and knew a lot about the dance scene so it was fascinating to chat to him about the Sherbet album, Pete Wardman etc. We left the party around 12ish, having I think done mum proud and the night turning out a lot better than we thought it would when we initially arrived. We'd chatted to quite a few people and had a laugh and it was a nice reminder for me that I can be entertaining and some people do still find me funny.
I pretty much mooched through Saturday. Maybe I should have gone out during the day but I couldn't be arsed and to be honest didn't really need anything. Hooked up with M in the evening and we headed over to Beckenham. Bar a lovely looking honey in O'Neills (she was partnered up) there wasn't much going down. We went over to a bar called Bar Flux, it had a club downstairs but judging by the girls and arsehole blokes we'd seen in the bar didn't see the point in paying £7 to head downstairs, probably take one circuit round the club and come out. Headed back and flirted with the idea of a late film but all the decent stuff was already underway by the time we got there so we settled for a tea hut trip. Quarterpounder egg and a tea. M decided to chase a fox when we pulled up and seeing his high knee, Tom Cruise style running across the heath was hilarious. He was nowhere near catching it but he claimed while we waited for our order that he was just 6 inches away from him. This later extended to six feet.
Sunday was more Call of Duty 3 and I whipped up a spag bol in which I added another new ingredient to the mix. A splash of worcester sauce. It was hard to distinguish within the sauce but the whole thing was excellent so it could only have added to it. Picked my bro up later that night from a works do he'd gone to. He got completely mashed and told me how he'd been busting some moves on the dancefloor. Good boy. I know there's always a danger of going silly at the Christmas Do's but sometimes they can provide good material for people to talk to you about when you are back in the office and give them a way in to start a conversation. Who am I as well to recommend good behaviour. At my Christmas do's when I worked at Cooper & Lybrand (city accountants) I used to get the DJ to drop Stayin Alive and I'd strip down to my boxers. You know what they say. The worst thing than being talked about is not being talked about! Anyway he was hammered and rambling some crazy shit in the car on the way home which proved highly amusing. After I'd dropped him home I tried to play Dead Rising on the 360.
This should be perfect game really. Trapped in a shopping centre full of zombie hordes but it certainly wasn't no Resident Evil. The missions seemed confusing and complicated and I couldn't read the text on the screen it was so damn small. I'd been hoping for this immersive game that was going to suck me in, in the dead of night with my headphones but alas it did not. I gave it a good two hours and then hit the sack.
Talking dogs and Barcelona - 27/11/06
A quiet day in the office on Monday. We've prepped our clients for our absence from the office on Thursday and Friday and thankfully it seems that work won't be chasing us right up to the 11th hour. Due to the break in and the shutters not being fixed myself and the two bosses are having to take the Mac's and PC's home with us to ensure their safety as they can't be left in the office. Because of taking these home I didn't go swimming this night. To be honest as well as not wanting the hassle of removing all the items from the car and then heading back out I didn't want to run the risk of catching any bug or pushing too hard with only a few days to go. When we went to Vegas my boss and friend managed to come down with a cold/flu thing which although didn't ruin the trip still meant he wasn't firing on all cyclinders. I used the time to work on my journal and when I got home to iron and prep my suitcase.
Tuesday was a little busier with a hot lunch and a video on Youtube that was brilliant. If you go onto You tube and type in sweet-talkin-dogs this video comes up with a collection of talking dogs. I confess to being a softie and some of these are amazing and wonderful. The first one saying 'I love momma' is really cute but my two faves would be the Dalmation who says 'Hello' and the dog that follows it who when asked twice whether he wants something responds with 'I want it'. I'm know I'm being a big kid but hell I'm a sensitive soul and aren't always obsessed with big boobs and computer games, well maybe not all the time. Finished packing the suitcase that night all of which was done without the use of a list. A little maverick you might think, especially for a Virgoan who loves writing lists, but this time I couldn't be arsed and simply ran through what I would need every day and night in my mind and whether I had the tools, clothes and toiletries to do that.
Wednesday was tidying up final bits and pieces in the office and ensuring that we were all ready for the off. I knocked up a list for us all of contact names and numbers and a rough itinerary of what we had planned etc for when the trip started. I didn't quite seem to know what to do when I got home. Normally I'd been in a semi-controlled state of frenzy while I got together final bits and pieces but it had all been done and I felt like a bit of a spare part. My mind couldn't reconcile that it was all done and I could fully relax and enjoy the evening. Cooked up some Spag Bol for a good nights eating but it didn't help to make me feel sleepy. Although I needed to be up at 5am I eventually hit the sack at 2am before waking again at 3am.
Thursday. Trip began and here I will direct you to the trip report in the
Came back from this on Sunday afternoon. I dropped off a work colleague and on the way home stopped in at the Odeon, Greenwich Peninsula to get three tickets for Casino Royale. Then shot home, picked up my brother and returned to the peninsula where we met M and grabbed a pizza from Pizza Hut. It was some good grub and gave us a chance to run the highlights of the trip past my bro. We then went to see the film and I realised I'd taken the cinema tickets out of my pocket and left them at home. Brilliant. Had to then get another three tickets for the next performance.
The trailers before the film started were amazingly bad. Saw that pretensious one for Chanel with Nicole Kidman in it. What crap. I don't know what's worse the fact that the advert thinks it is and wants to be a movie or how the credits for it seem to last longer than the actual advert. Dire.
As for the film my thoughts may contain spoilers so please don't read on if you don't want it ruined. I was a little disappointed with the film. I enjoyed Daniels portrayal of Bond. He's meaner, harder and looks a more intimidatory figure. It was clever how the bomber could do parcour yet Bond kept up with him doing his own interpretation of brain and brawn. I liked Vesper's verbal duelling with Bond. The two fought themselves to a grudging respect which worked well and the scene with Bond left alone in an empty restaurant was especially poignant.
For me though it lost it after the torture scene. There was no satisfaction in the death of the lead bad guy as we didn't see Le Chiffe's death and we've all seen enough spy/thriller films that when the lead character comes round from being unconscious and suddenly the female character is all over him to be suspicious. I mean even Bond says that she previously treated him with loathing yet now she is offering to perform any sexual act with him, following which she asks for the password to an account containing 150 million pounds.
If that's not enough of a hint to the audience then she immediately turns away with a 'I've done something terrible' look and says 'if all that's left of you is a little finger and a smile'. Why would she say that if she didn't think something was going to happen to him. Their love didn't feel as convincing or handled as deftly as their earlier encounters.
The director should know that you can't play the 'I'm going to resign' line with the audience. This isn't a stand alone film it's a franchise. The only way Bond will stop being a secret agent is if he dies (never going to happen) or the thing which is making him resign is removed. It's like trying to convince the audience that Aragorn dies in The Two Towers when the audience knows that the final film is called Return of the King and Aragorn is the king. It's pointless and means that you lose the audience quicker than you should.
I wanted Bond’s revenge to last for longer at the end of the film, not just be greeted with a stage managed photo op of Bond in a classy suit holding a machine gun, and thus felt a little short changed. It’s a good start and credit to Craig for holding my attention. I guess the trouble with a Bond film is that they are marketed so heavily that it really is hard to go into the first screening without pretty much knowing the entire film. A promising re-start for the franchise but full judgement is out until I see where the series is going.
Headed home after this and enjoyed some post film debate with my bro. Slept well that night.
Humbling generosity that welcomes me to a new club - 20/11/06
The office was broken into again over the weekend. Thankfully the scum didn't manage to get away with anything as the safe put up a heroic last stand though it died in the process. They lifted up the shutter late Friday night by about 30cms and crawled underneath. The land anchors that are padlocked and fix the shutter to the ground held fast so this small crawl space was only about a foot and a half wide. I imagine they must have been pissed when they saw the 1 tonne, fireproof safe up against the wall. They went at it with crowbars but it didn't budge and in their frustration they rammed a metal banner stand through one of our desks. The only thing they actually took was a plug mounted door bell, which they must have assumed was a camera or something. Thieving little shits, I hope they burn in hell.
Three of us had to head off to client meeting on Monday and then followed this by taking some of the clients out for a long lunch. It was Chinese and was very nice. It was good to go out and see them in a more social scene. Had chicken for starters followed by some special fried rice for the main course. We got stuck in some major traffic on the way home meaning that we didn't get back into the office until about 7.00 ish. Went swimming again as I wanted to prove that the previous Saturdays efforts had not been a complete fluke. They weren't and I nailed in another 100 lengths in under an hour which pleased me.
One of my bosses had a chorizo sausage delivered to the office for me on Tuesday. She had ordered it about five weeks previously and for it to be delivered then. Unfortunately the company handling it displayed woeful service and took all this time to do so. It was meant as a thank you for my work on that charity campaign that we had worked on. Needless to say it wasn't needed or expected. I'm happy to work for my bosses for the respect I have for them and the money they pay me. I took it home that night and tried to make something special with it. I chopped up some nice bacon, a small onion, some mushrooms and chucked them in a wok along with some slices of chorizo. I then added a Lloyd Grossman sauce and some red wine but it didn't lift it into greatness. The juices from the chorizo made the sauce quite tasty but whenever I popped a piece of chorizo in my mouth it was bland and chewy like the soul of a shoe. I had tried but my 'creation' skills couldn't do anything and I ended up chucking a whole load of it away.
Wednesday was uneventful and when everyone else was gone my two bosses asked when I was going to take some holiday. So far this year I'd only taken two days off and confess that I had been feeling the need for a long lie in soon. I'm not being a martyr or anything but I enjoy where I work and I've not really wanted to spend my money on going away anywhere. I know the benefits of time off but work for me is more than work and I don't like the thought of lazing at home when others are hard at work. I think that's why I always enjoy the Christmas holiday as I feel I can relax in the knowledge that everyone else is off as well. Anyway, I responded that I wasn't sure and they said they had got me some books to read for when I did eventually have the time off. What? I was bemused to say the least and ventured over to the amazon box that contained the books. Nestling within was a vision of heaven. Admission to a special club that I've been considering joining for over a year. An Xbox 360. Oh my giddy, god. I laughed, I clapped my hands together and I looked backwards and forwards at my two bosses. What, why, how come I attempted to say. It wasn't a reward for all the holiday that I hadn't taken off and it wasn't meant to incentivise me to not take any off next year. It was a token from them that they acknowledged how little time I'd had off and a recompense for the days that were still in the kitty.
Man I couldn't believe it. A premium Xbox 360. For those not in the know this presents the complete package, as the name might suggest, of console, 20Gb hard-drive, wireless controller, headset and Xbox live out-of-the-box. Only this week with the Gears of War and Call of Duty 3 reviews coming out and me regularly looking at ign.com yet here I was now a proud owner of an Xbox 360. It's like all my evenings have been filled up for the foreseeable future. Like I don't have to worry about being bored when I've always got this in my room. I felt energized. From fretting over exactly when I might get it and what games to get, here I was with the console in my hand and the decision on which game clearer in my mind. Although I've been keeping tabs on Halo 3 and was going to get an Xbox 360 anyway there is still the feeling of immediacy that I'm now in a position to rock and roll immediately if it was suddenly released. In addition to the console I also got given an Xbox 360 toolkit comprising a 2 litre bottle of coke, packet of twiglets, packet of kettle chips, bacon pringles, microwave popcorn, peanuts and cashew nuts with glass jar container (aka Nut Bucket), protective hand cream to keep ones fingers supple and finally a bucket with accompanying funnel and deodorising wipes to remove the need to pause a game for the inconvenience of visiting the toilet. The final part was naturally done in sarcasm before anyone thinks that I'd continue playing in a swamp of my own piss.
I spent the rest of the evening trying to decide what game to get to with it. GOW got the best reviews but Call of Duty 2 really impressed when the 360 first came out and the third was supposed to be even better. I was also wondering when would be the best time to tell my brother. I knew he would be just as excited and I wanted to experience that face to face rather than just on the phone. I decided to hold fire and maybe do it on the Friday night. I drove home as chuffed as anything, yet still very humbled at my bosses generosity. They really are two amazing people.
Took in cakes the next morning, mainly as a small form of thanks for the two of them but also because I was feeling pretty damn good and wanted to share that feeling. It's not the same but love for a console is better than no love at all!Lunch was an unhealthy meal of ham, chips and beans. Ah, what the hell. Decided against setting up the Xbox as I wanted to wait until Friday night to share it with my brother. He even called me from my place making general chit-chat, unawares or so I thought that he was standing right next to the boxed machine.
Friday was the last one before
Up on Saturday and off again to the swimming pool. I only did about 80 or so lengths. I was feeling tired and also a little excited about hitting Bluewater. I wanted to get a game and some other accessories for the 360 but was also aware that it was the last weekend before
Headed to Bluewater and spent an absolute age there. Looked around at different boots, Happy (by Clinique) products in Boots and different tops and shirts. I also looked in John Lewis for a digital/optical cable. When I bought my home cinema system, the sales guy had said that I should get a digital output lead to go from the DVD to Amp. I always considered it but never did. Add to this I was always unsure whether my amp was that good. It could handle DTS, 5.1 and 6.1 yet never really seemed to show it. I knew that all games on the 360 were in 5.1 so decided I would go next-gen with the sound as I was with the console. Managed to find one in John Lewis along with a plug and play charger and a wired controller for the Xbox. My bro works in John Lewis so I was keen to use his discount if I could. Went and bought the special edition tin box version of Gears of War from Virgin. All their games were completely shrink wrapped and this lack of tamper-ment and scratching at the hands of joe public was the deciding factor for buying it from there.
Mooched around for hours until bro finished work and then took him on a quick tour of the items of clothing that I'd seen to get his approval. He discounted them all. The boots, the beanie, the shirts and the top. It deflated me to be honest. I respect his opinion and defer to it but Jesus. Looked in Schu at some other Timberlands but they didn't have my size. Hit JD's which had some Nubuck boots in by K1X. By this point he could have singled out anything and I would have probably bought it. Went to make a purchase and the chatty sales assistant who kindly told me that I wasn't too old to wear the boots and liked my Senheiser headphones said that if I got a store card I could save 10% on my purchase. With the boots, Nike air top and a beanie the bill was £100 so a tenner off was a good deal I thought. I confirmed that it definitely wasn't a credit card and agreed to it but they then discovered it was too late to do there and then. Decided that I would come back the next day as I wanted another look around.
Followed this by looking in a Jewellers for a new DKNY watch as my last one had packed up. To be honest the winder on the side had fallen off, I think from when a previous jeweller had changed the battery, and it was always going to be rendered useless once the clocks went back an hour. I had had it for over three years so it had served it's time well. Anyway we asked to try two watches on and the sales assistant started chatting to us about how it was her first week etc. Now I'm not saying there is anything wrong with her chatting but it seems my slow takeup of responding to her was indicative of how much we have become unused to conversing with shop staff nowadays. It seems you normally enter a shop, at the most communicate your desire to try something on and then make your purchase. With chip 'n' pin you don't even need to hand them any money. It's quite easy, and regular, to make purchases in almost complete silence. Thus to have two assistants in two consecutive shops converse with me kinda took me by surprise. It reminded me that the bubble that I walk round the shops in can be broken and that some of the people who work in shops are still human, whose minds and eyes don't glaze over as soon as the shop doors open.
Headed home and after dinner, pizza I think, we linked up the digital cable. Wow, everything I'd wanted my home cinema to be it now was. I put on Titanic which has a THX opening which always pushes the surround speakers and finishes on a low sub woofer rumble and it sounded great. The surround speakers were chucking it out without having to be cranked up and it sounded really cool. Who would have thought that a £12 lead would make so much difference. I was happy. Popped in Gears of War and checked it out. The supporting literature in the special edition was excellent. There is this small hardback book which gives a little more info on the Gears of War world along with a special features DVD, though I don't want to watch this until I've completed the game. The sound and graphics on the game are outstanding. Shoot a wall and for a millisecond you can see the hot glowing rounds in the wall that quickly fade and the sound was demonstrated by a leaking radiator that hissed from each speaker if you approached from different angles. We attempted to get to grips with the cover methods but with only an hour or so to play think it might need some more time.
Hit Bluewater again on Sunday. I must be a glutton for punishment eh? The idea of a discount was encouraging and I thought I might pick up some other bits. Bought some Happy Eau de Toilette to go with the other items in the range that had been bought for me for my birthday and headed back to JD's for the boots, Nike air top and Nike beanie. They swore again that it wasn't a credit card but once I'd filled in the forms they told me I didn't have to pay now as the discounted purchase had gone on the card. You shouldnt turn down credit but my fear of getting into debt kicked in and I was a little miffed that I couldn't square up the bill there and then. As soon as they send the paperwork and card through I'll pay it off immediately but there is always the fear that it will slip my mind and I'll be presented with an unexpected bill. I also decided to treat myself to Call of Duty 3. I shouldn't have, what with
Headed home, put on some washing and popped in Call of Duty 3. Wow, it's pretty impressive. The opening set piece is just madness with incredible sound and truly next gen graphics. The sense of immersion in a battle when there are bullets, grenades, chunks of rubble and shouts in American and German ringing out is amazing. It's a real roller coaster ride. When my bro got in from work I let him play it so I could take the chance to look at some of the surrounding graphics. You sense them when you are playing but when being shot at you rarely stop to examine the flowers. Had some dinner and then went for some co-op Gears of War. This took a little longer to get the hang of as having been used to playing a first person perspective game to then a third person perspective means the eye needs a little time to re-calibrate. The cover system was also proving a little taxing. It was a little frustrating to begin with but after an hour or so began to really gel and being able to work together to flank and outmanoeuvre the enemy was cracking fun. The story and setting is very involving and some of the firefights were a real blast, even more than those in Call of Duty 3. The only downside is that with so much graphical beauty to take in you wish you could see more than the split screen that the co-op works in. Bro is talking about getting a 360 at Christmas so maybe a system link playing will be in order when we can both benefit from having a full screen to play on.
A good week and a nice build up to
To those lucky individuals that do read it, thanks.
Looking for boots, getting drunk and getting barred - 13/11/06
And so another week began. Driving into work on the space saver was not ideal so I set about trying to track down another tyre. A guy I knew who used to work at the Rapid Fit section of my local Ford garage had moved to be manager of a local Kwik Fit. I had told him I would always track him down and use him as I liked and trusted him. Unfortunately he was off sick for a couple of days and his Kwik Fit didn't have my tyres in stock. The ford dealership that I'd got my brake light from had two in stock so as we were quiet I left work early to head down there to get them done.
It felt strange leaving work early. I've not had a great deal of time off work this year, two days to be exact, and hence it's rare that the office would be open and I wouldn't be there. It did feel refreshingly different though. Got to the garage in good time and got chatting to the new guy in the rapid fit department. He was a really nice guy, only in his early 20's, but we chatted about cars and bikes etc. He showed me how the rim had worn away the inside of the tyre when it was running low and how the tread on the other tyre was getting a little low. I had thought the tyres were going to be £140 each but as they were around £90 I thought it prudent to get them both done. We chatted about other stuff, what he'd done and college etc and he also helped me change the interior light bulb. All in all I felt good about spending the money. It was nice to chat to someone completely different and outside of my normal social circle. At the end he even apologised for it having taken longer than normal but that he'd enjoyed having a natter.
Managed to head off to swimming earlier than normal, which was bearable and not as busy as I'd feared it might be. Followed this by watching the film Hard Candy, which a colleague had lent me. It's a really interesting film about a possible paedophile that is being tortured by this 14 year old girl. As a film it really makes you think and ask questions about yourself as you find yourself feeling sympathy for the paedo and hoping that he isn't the monster that the girl thinks he is. Being effectively just about the two of them alone in the house the film would live or die on the two actors performances and they are both outstanding. For her age the girl does very well though I didn't warm to her character, but I think this was intentional. Excellent thought provoking film.
During the day we had talked in the office about how on the Saturday in the hotel I'd addressed one of the waitresses as 'love'. It was an interesting discussion. Some thought I was being patronising whereas I think it just add's a little warmth to the greeting. It's not like I put my arm around them and call them love but more when I was trying to get her attention. I said 'excuse me' twice before saying slightly louder 'excuse me love'. I wasn't being demeaning but I think it immediately sets a warmer tone when speaking to someone. Naturally I don't do it to everyone but if I'm speaking to certain guys, for instance the guy at the rapid fit tyre place when I phoned up, I would insert the term mate into conversation. Again it wasn't said to be patronising but rather to indicate a lack of stuffiness.
Had a client meeting on the Tuesday and as we managed to make good time getting there popped into a local TK Maxx. My boss had mentioned that lots of people seemed to be wearing Gilet's (bodywarmers) and that I should look at them. Saw a really nice reversible Shott one. Navy on the outside and bright orange on the inside. You know how I love bright, fluoro colours to everyone else's horror but this had a nice balance between the subtlety of the navy colour with the occasional flash of orange. I'd never really considered them before but I gotta say that it looked pretty cool and a very good solution to my issues of keeping warm but never wanting the cumbersome 'where do I put it' of a coat. After having the expense of buying two new tyres my iron also decided to pack up. It was hardly surprising really, the cord had been becoming more and more frayed and I couldn't be bothered to do anything about it, especially after some of the other buttons had broken. I replaced it with a Tefal ultraglide from Tesco's. It wasn't too expensive and I tried to put to the back of my mind the last Tefal that I had. I remember losing my temper with it and literally smashing it to pieces.
Back at the same clients the next day for a pitch we had to do. We had gone in with a more realistic approach bearing in mind what we knew of this clients internal processes but it wasn't what they wanted to hear. Although unworkable and impractical it was obvious they wanted 'bells & whistles' and after the last campaign that we did for them we knew this wouldn't work. We were confident we hadn't won it by the time we left the meeting but still believed that what we presented was entirely the right solution. Back to the office to see that both Call of Duty 3 and Gears of War had been reviewed. COD gained an 8.8 and GOW a 9.4. I read the reviews hungrily and it just inflamed by wish to buy an Xbox 360 at Christmas for myself. The Euromillions lottery still hasn't been won and has now swollen to a huge jackpot of £100 million. I've limited myself to just two lines a week but needless to say the thought of winning has crossed my mind quite a few times.
I ordered an Abba album from Amazon which arrived today. It's called Abba the Album and was the one they released when Abba the Movie came out. My folks were really into Abba when I was younger and even as I grew up I always look back and like how the band members relationships seemed to be echoing what my folks were going through at the same time, notably splitting up. I used to love the song Eagle on the album but my fave was One man, one woman. It was never released as a single but I've always associated it with my dream of that fairytale, utopian relationship that I've wanted. I was singing my heart out to it in the car on the way home
"One man, one woman. Two friends and two true lovers. Somehow we'll help each other through the hard times. One man, one woman. One life to live together. One chance to take that never comes back again. You and me to the end"
Ok it might not inspire many but there is something in those lyrics, the way they are sung and maybe the memories or deluded notion that that kind of relationship was attainable that really strike a chord with me. Hit the gym that night but with my calf still giving me a little gip I limited CV to a good 30 minutes of walking followed by some weights. Polished off the remains of the spag bol from the weekend while I watched The Business. It starred Danny Dyer and had a similar cast to the Football Factory. An entertaining story though I felt the 80's soundtrack was a little overplayed to ram home the message that this was meant to have been set in that time. I don't normally like crime stuff but the characters really now how to sell proper swearing and it's worth watching for just that if nothing else.
Work was quiet on Thursday and I tried looking for some Timberland boots online. I need a pair of decent boots for Barcelona as I can't really do all the neccesary walking in white trainers. Found some nice ones and filled my head with the notion of buying some. Hit my local shopping centre to see what boots they had in, I confess they looked disappointing in the flesh and headed to the swimming pool for another good swim. The pool had been sectioned off at the deeper third for women doing some exercise routine so me and just one other guy had the remaining two thirds to ourselves. Decided I wanted to try and bash in as many widths as I could. Had hit 70 when the ladies aerobics session finished and they put in some full length swimming lanes. Managed to manoeuvre myself into the lanes without stopping or putting my feet down and nailed out 30 constant lengths. By the time I finished I was the only one left in the pool. I was pretty knackered but felt pretty pleased with myself. Got home to see that Risky Business was on with Tom Cruise.
It had been a long time since I'd seen this and it was great to see it again. Tom is brilliant in this film. It's the more grown up, guy left at home film that you always wanted Ferris Bueller to be. I can so relate when he's dancing round the house in his shirt and pants to some rock music. I love the film's message that sometimes you've just got to say 'what the fuck' and the way he says it when the bloke from Princeton comes to interview him and he thinks he's blown it is wicked. Cracking film that really evoked the hopeful, optimistic thoughts that I had when I first saw it all those years ago.
As the exertions of prepping for that pitch had worn off lunch on Friday was an unhealthy KFC. This descent into stodge heaven was compounded with a pizza for dinner with my bro. I was only meant to have a little of his large pizza but they were out of large pizza dough and thus we had to have two medium ones. My pizza choice, as I may have bored you with before is now set at meat feast with mushroom and extra pepperoni. It makes for a realy tasty, meaty, juicy pizza and this evenings was no exception. All washed down with a bottle of coke and a Friday night film. My bro had bought Groundhog Day on DVD which we'd both seen before and enjoyed again. A really enjoyable film and truly Bill Murray's best ever performance. His character just goes through the whole range of emotions and actions from disbelief at his situation to exploiting it for all he can get to depression and numerous suicide attempts to resignation at his plight and a desire to improve himself. Models I'm sure everything I would do in that situation. I love the moments he has with Andie McDowall and I've always wanted to recreate the times he has dancing under the bandstand and being in the cold, snowy evenings with someone special. It was this film that led to my appreciation of Ray Charles and the song 'You don't know me' seemed so poignant for how I used to feel about women, ie admiring them from afar but never taking any postitive action. So many standout scenes in the film from his interactions with Ned Ryerson, the way he counts down to stealing the money, his stopping of the music with his fist when he's playing the piano and then starts the classical piece which evolves into something else and his weather prediction "I'll give you a winter prediction. It's gonna be cold, it's gonna be grey and it's gonna last you for the rest of your life" - brilliant.
Passed on the gym again on Saturday and concentrated on upping my game in the swimming pool. Managed to get a quiet time and thus could concentrate on my lengths without too many annoyances or having to swim round people. I did 100 lengths non stop and was really chuffed with myself. When I staggered out of the pool, and I was knackered, I asked how long the lengths were. 25 metres so I must have done 2.5k. I was pleased. Tried to find the Timberlands that I'd been sourcing on the internet in the shops but surprise, surprise no one had any size 10's. Just my bro and I were heading out that night so we went for an early start. Grabbed some fish'n'chips, banged home 1 1/2 shots of Absinthe that proved hard to take down, had a bath and headed up to local town to catch Borat at the cinema. Very, very funny. It wasn't a laugh all the way through but there were plenty of funny things with particular highlights being "she had a vagina like a wizards sleeve" - what a wicked comparison, and the naked wrestling scene which was as horrendous as it was hilarious. Felt a little drained afterwards but after a few drinks and shots felt myself coming back.
4 orange reefs, 1 1/2 shots of Absinthe, 2 shots of Goldschlager, 2 shots of Aftershock, 1 shot of Baileys, 2 slippery nipples (baileys & sambuca), 1 Red Bull and 4 Archers (peach snapps) and lemonades - was doing my bit for the binge drinking generation!
We drank in a few pubs and then headed to Breeze. Downstairs was ok. There weren't many honeys but it was just good to be in there with my bro. The bar has been such a big part of my social life for the last few years that it was good at last to get him in there. The DJ was on good form and we bought him a few drinks. His girlfriend was in their along with a friend. I've seen his girlfriend before and although don't know her still recognize her face and vice versa. I accidentally trod on the foot of her friend during the night. It wasn't a complete 'stamp' down, I certainly didn't feel myself doing it (as you would) and the dancefloor was very crowded. Naturally I apologised profusely as I always would despite being tipsy but she seemed to get the arse, assumed that I was trying to hit on her and kept throwing me barbed looks all night. I wasn't interested in her and her arrogant assumption that I fancied her hugely pissed me off. Prima donna bitch. Go fuck yourself love. I'm here for a good time and a dance with my brother. If there was a nice girl there then maybe but never with some pretensious cow who believes everyone is trying to hit on her. I tried to ignore her and concentrate on enjoying my night.
Bro and I continued to dance and drink. I chatted to one girl who seemed nice but didn't engage me enough to make me want to make a real effort in chatting her up. All I really wanted to do was continue getting merry and dancing to the cheesy 70's & 80's tunes. I do get animated when dancing when I'm drunk yet I'm still aware of my surroundings. Although I might be singing with all my heart I'm still focused enough to realise when someone is trying to get past me. This girls constant icy stares and huffs and sighs were really beginning to get under my skin now. It's quite a small club and if my presence was bothering her (believe me when I say that I wasn't) she could have moved away. It got to about 12.50 and we decided to head off to pick up our cab that we'd booked. As I walked up the stairs leading from the dancefloor my hand slid along the handrail. As it did I decided to extend my finger to flip the girl the bird. It was juvenile I know but with probably 70 people on the dance floor it was pretty tokenist. Besides bearing in mind my hand was travelling up about two inches parallel to the handrail it was hardly visibly that is was aimed at this arrogant bint.
We left the club and headed over to the car park to wait for our cab. Whilst waiting I noticed this big burly black bouncer that inhabits the club walking over towards me. He stopped about an inch from my nose and made this grand gesture of telling me that were he not working he would rip my finger off for showing it to his girlfriend and that I was barred from his club. I could smell his rather unpleasant breath on my face and was a little taken aback. What, it took me completely by surprise and with that he turned and walked away. My brother started walking after him to have it out with him and I started to chase after my bro to stop him doing a