Thought for the Month - July

Ob bla di oh bla da life goes on bra, la la how the life goes on................................

Spam

I used to quite like spam back in the good old days - light mustard coating between a couple of bits of bread

Now spam seems to clog up my email (especially at work interestingly enough) and the worst bit of all is my paranoia that a legitimate piece of mail will get lost in the process - this nearly happened the other day from a student to my work mail - I guess I would rather hear 30 times a day that I had won a lottery that I hadn't actually entered than miss an important query!

Peace and Love

Toy Story 4

Having bawled my eyes out on a plane whilst watching Toy Story 3 imagine my horror that Woody and the gang are to return for another outing - part of me is delighted and part of me is worried that they will spoil one of the best film franchises of all time.................

Shrek may have gone 1 movie too many

Extras

One of the joys but also downsides to a lot of travel is a) you get to see every film and tv show ever made b) you therefore cannot rent a DVD for 9 months or so after every long haul flight c) you forget things as a result

I watched an episode of Extras last night that I had seen on a flight a year or 2 ago - it was The Baftas one - hysterically funny - lovely cameos from Ronnie Corbett and Stephen Fry (and Moira Stewart) it was laugh out loud funny and I was in the house by myself. How many times do you actually laugh when you are alone (at least when you have your underwear on?)

I am still inanely grinning now - a classic episode of a very funny show

Gervais and Marchant are funny guys and I would like to share a beer or 2 with them

Happy Feet

I guess it was inevitable with the sad demise of Shrek the Sheep that the nation would need another cute hero to adopt.
A Penguin has filled Shrek's void (ooh er Missus)

A penguin that eats sand and sticks though and managed to get lost thousands of kms off course - so clearly not the sharpest tool in the box

Makes me less worried about my non-existent navigational abilities

Peace (and I hope the op goes well to remove the sticks)

Marital Disharmony

No, not mine! Mrs W away for the weekend and I missed her being around. Did a lot of manly moving and shifting and now my back is reminding me I am over 40!

Managed to bash my ankle on exactly the same spot as before and now a bruise is returning (I may have chipped something as at certain times it screams out in pain)

Anyway, the point of this post is that a number of friends this side of the wolrd and the other seem to be going through some issues at the moment and I am devastated for them and selfishly for myself. Nothing anyone else can say or do, but it does hurt

I wish them well

I sometimes get told off for always wanting a happy ending, but hey that is just me.

Beer Tasting

Another Wednesday, another beer tasting.

Suitiably restrained and feeling quite perky today (despite walking round the house at 4.30am)

An interesting mix of beers for the speed taste - ended on a barley wine of epic proportions

I won a beer glass - my mother would be so proud!

Brass Monkey Weather

Ooh but it were cold waiting for the bus this morning

I am definitely getting softer as the Winter progresses

Survived longest night and now looking to the return of Summer!

Had 2 pints last night with my Beatle friend in town and felt half drunk at the end of it - went home and felt like going straight to bed

Must be suffering from SAD

P & L

When The Rain Comes

It certainly comes

A lovely weekend with friends (and Mrs W!) up in Queenstown

Gorgeous food, too much grog and excellent company

Staring out over Lake Wakitipu from a truly amazing house I was heard to say "I wonder what the poor people are doing?" It was of course a jest as I am and always will be a working class hero

But it was a lovely relaxing time

One grumble - Saturday night meal out was spoiled by restaurant acoustics - I could hardly hear the people sitting next to me or over the table

A Open Blog to Sir Paul

S America, N America (including Canada) now we need a slight detour to this side of the World for the "On the Run Tour"

You will sell a lot of tickets in Oz or NZ - please put a few decent ones aside for those of us who even bought "The Frog Song"

P & L

A Cold One

It was a wee bit parky waiting on the bus this morning - not sure if parky is a recognised kiwism or not - I know he used to be a chat show host

Where my grandmother used to live Parkinson was a local butcher who made the best sausages

Funny what word association can bring back from the depths of the memory

P & L

It's not what we are drinking but how we are drinking it...............

Well actually I think it is probably both what we are drinking and how we are drinking it

I am determined to cut down (especially during the week) just simplt because I dont like who I become after too many - I am not violent but I can argue with Mrs W (who doesnt deserve an argumentative husband) but I do get silly and talkative. I usually use grog as a crutch to make me less shy and nervous which is entirely the wrong thing to do

So going forward I will be less dependent and will also encourage some of my chums to try and take more AFD's (alcohol free days) each week

I guess at this point the Tui advert tag line of "Yeah Right" is not appropriate!

The Water Boys

Was it them who sang "The Whole of The Moon"? If so then they would be out of a job this morning - an amazing eclipse of the moon (Bonnie Tyler?) that made my drive to work somewhat hazardous as I kept my eyes firmly focussed on it!

Amazing stuff!

Cuisine from the East

Prawn curry at a Vietnamese last night - very tasty, but the prawns were decidely crunchy (despite me ensuring I had pulled the tail away)

But aromatic and lovely

But Indian still wins!

A Wind Blew and then Blew some more

Wow it was windy last night and this morning - the windows were rattling - which brings me back to double glazing - why hasn't it caught on here?

Assumption is the mother of all cock ups!

Or so said a manager of mine during my previous life

I assumed that the beer tasting was tomorrow and refused accordingly so that I could feel good about myself, my resolve and my realionship with Mrs W. Now it transpires that it is next week - if I accept now will Mrs W think I was a good bloke in not going tomorrow, will she not believe that I ever turned a drink down or what?

A real dilemma!

Christchurch Aftershocks

Well it must be bad up there - it was bad enough yesterday pm being shaken down in Dunedin by the 6 point something quake - it must have been terrible up there

And just as some people have cleaned up the previous damage and are getting on with their lives then it all happens again and they are right back to square 1

My thoughts are with th long suffering folk of Christchurch - they deserve a time without aftershocks and damage and they deserve it soon.

Last grass cut of the year

Well this side of spring at least (I hope) mind you I said the same thing 2 weeks ago

When will the grass stop growing?

Getting Older

It seems to me that I am making more and more noise every time I stand up from a chair - I am thinking it must be old age!!

Having gardened a bit yesterday by the time I got up from sitting to go to bed last night I was making all kinds of noises as I stood up

Illness

Spent yesterday in bed in all kinds of distress, aches and pains and shivers and shakes

But I will be brave and not talk about it too much

Feeling more human today, but only just

Now my back is screaming at me for lying in bed so much yesterday

Highlanders Shirts

The issue hit parliament yesterday - local MP Clare Curran escorted off the premises for wearing the old Highlanders shirt - would she have been allowed to stay if she had forked out and bought a new one? Or would she have had to go and sit with the "Green MPs" first?

Went and saw the mighty Highlanders last Friday - not a great game and they managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory (again)

Am I an unlucky talisman?

Shrek Gone

A nation mourns - The world's most famous sheep just left us to go to the great lamb shanks restaurant in the sky.

A hero, a shaggy old bundle of fluff, an icon, tireless charity worker, loved kids and the elderly

RIP Shrek, you will be sadly missed. I am pleased there will be a state funeral and a day off work to mourn.

Forever young - your memory will live on in our hearts always.

The Mighty Highlanders

Seeing them tomorrow night in their new shirts - not sure about the change

More info to follow

Not Too Bad

Up prowling the house at 3.30am this morning

I have a huge bruise on my ankle and foot from a firewood incident at the weekend - the bruise came out yesterday and I had a real shock last night when I took my socks off.

Mrs W administered some tender love and lotions and potions, but it is really painful today

Good beers and company last night