Zone Doubt, a.k.a. 'Surreal Я Us'...

Joules, trusted by... dozens... to make a drama out of your crisis...

Other sites:

:: JAT :: WaveWrights :: Publications ::

I live to write. It's not wise to get in my way.

... I'd write my autobiography, but no-one would believe it....


If you come across any words you don't recognise in this blog, take a look at the Taylorspeke Glossary in the left-hand infopane, you'll usually find a definition there.


The Poppy Tales

(Transformers fanfiction!)

Transformers mini-comics here.




Adventures in Orchids

Apparently I am now collecting them...

There's room for one - or maybe two, at a pinch - more on that bedroom windowsill (the only one in the house that's ideal for them). Let's see what I find. Well, that didn't last long...


EO - Everlasting orchid. Phalaenopsis. I've had this orchid since 2007 and it just keeps flowering...







AO - Alien face orchid. Phalaenopsis . Bought 2018 - lovely little flowers, all different patterns!





RO - Rescued orchid photo to come when it flowers. Phalaenopsis. Rescued from a bin up the road in 2019. Classic!






TO - Tiny orchid. Phalaenopsis. Bought at Tesco 21.8.20. It just begged to come home with me. How could I say no?





CO - Crimson orchid. Cambria. Another Tesco find. This one may be going to live in Ken's room once we've redecorated and put up the new shelving; it prefers a cooler, less sunny windowsill. If so, I'll need to find another cambrian to keep it company.






GO - Golden orchid. Phalaenopsis. Saw this one when I bought CO and left it behind - then immediately regretted it as soon as I got home. Never seen one like it before. Ken, bless him, went back over to Tesco in the rain and bought it for me...





DO - Dendrobium Orchid. Smells of wisteria, so beautiful...











RO2 - Rescued orchid no 2. Phalaenopsis. This is the one I rescued from the wall along the road middle of 2021.








PO. Pink orchid. Phalaenopsis. This is the one I bought at Cabury Garden Centre on special, late 2021. It's much happier here!










TWO. Teeny weeny orchid, Phalaenopsis. Rescued from Tesco end 2021 (I think).




















My IMDb ep summaries

(completed)
Arthur of the Britons
Sky
Star Maidens
The Starlost
Space Rangers
The Sentinel (part: seasons 2 and 3)
Swamp Thing (part: season 3)
Gravedale High
Transformers: Armada
Transformers: Energon
Transformers: Cybertron (part)
Misfits of Science (four eps)
Zoo Gang
Zodiac
Jupiter Moon
Transformers: Beast Wars (part: seasons 2 and 3)
Transformers: Beast Machines (part)
Vampire Princess Miyu
Starhyke
Nathan Barley
No Heroics
Undermind (3 eps)
Will Shakespeare (Tim Curry version)
Nightwalker
12 Kingdoms
Trigun (ep 8)
Rayearth
Hyperdrive (season 2 ep 3)
The Café

For later:

Missing Earthian ep
Missing Haibane Renme eps


Silver birch at Eastwood 

Farm

"Autumnal - nothing to do with leaves. It is to do with a certain brownness at the edges of the day... Brown is creeping up on us, take my word for it... Russets and tangerine shades of old gold flushing the very outside edge of the senses... deep shining ochres, burnt umber and parchments of baked earth - reflecting on itself and through itself, filtering the light. At such times, perhaps, coincidentally, the leaves might fall, somewhere..."

(Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead Act 2: Tom Stoppard)

Autumn...

I love this time of year. I love the colours, the sharp slant of sunlight on the trees, mosaics of acid-yellow and harts- blood, velvet and darkness and a haze of mist-grey over the hills. I love its immanence, its mellowness, the tang of frost just around the corner of the year...

Watching the little birds in the goat-willow in my garden, I realised something more.

I love this land with a fierce, possessive love, deep-rooted in two thousand years of history. From the frosted beaches and cloud-brushing peaks of the north to the wind-haunted meanderings of the rivers of the east, from the sensuous rolling patchworked hills of the south to the demanding dark moors of the west, this land seeps into bone and blood and synapse, mother of motley nobility, culture, individual freedoms. It can be known. It can be understood. It can be felt deep inside.

I love its effortless eccentricities, its vigour and vibrancy, its flawed perfections, its silent strength and tenacious resilience, its hard-won tolerances and intense and variable beauty, the profound energy in its sacred mythical landscape.

Home and more-than-home, the forces that shape and protect and bind, in me, as I am in the land. Love returning love in the stillness for those who'll only take the time to listen...

(Joules, Autumn 2004)


All photographs taken by Joules unless otherwise specified. All photographs © Joules A Taylor or other specified individual.


In Memoriam

17.03.09 - Argent

25.07.08 - Raptor

18.12.07 - Quyn

02.12.06 - Ryme


Currently enjoying:
Muse
Transformers - IDW, Prime, Animated, Rescue Bots.

Currently reading:
Various Transformers books and graphic novels.



Currently working on:
Haadri

Currently chuffed with:
My garden

Currently miffed at:
Nestlé, Nonpres Tinyhands Fart, Toadface Farage

Currently maintaining:
BCHS
BCW


Blog Pics
I've gathered some of my pages of photos together: the page of links is here. I'll be adding more as time goes by!




Evil Squid
A Little Glossary of Taylorspeke
(in no particular order)

plit popints - n. Typo for 'plot points' typed on a keyboard with more than half the characters worn off...

[PING] (alt [ping]) - n. A brainwave. The text equivalent of a lightbulb going on blindingly over someone's head. Usually mine. And usually at the most inconvenient of times. [sigh]

TPTB - The Powers That Be.

wulmet - n. A person of little or no talent who somehow inveigles himself into a position where he is in power over other, far more talented people and uses his position to downplay them in order to try to make himself feel superior.

biteable - referring to an anatomical part vb, tasty.

Flatterfed - vb. 27.02.08: my typo for flattered, but since it's so cutely apt I thought it would fit nicely here. Lutra defined it as "the lovely warm feeling of satisfaction resulting from enthusiastic reviews..." (which I've been getting for my MB fics).

Composted - vb, 'compos mentis', mentally capable of working. Contrast with uncomposted or non- composted, not 'compos mentis', not capable of working, hungover...

Cumbles - n, cucumbers.

Kewp - how Ken says 'thank you'. We rather like Lutra's 'nanx', too...

Musekick - noun, music, without which I cannot work.

'feinne - noun, caffeine, essential for correct mental functioning, especially first thing in the morning. I prefer mine in the form of SodaStream Diet Coke. And on that subject...

Skoosh - verb, noun. To skoosh - to add CO2 to a sodastream bottle filled with water to make it fizzy, prior to adding Diet Coke syrup (or just drinking as sparkling water). A skoosh - a bottle of water that has been skooshed. Skooshy - something that has been skooshed, water, or that whipped cream that comes in tins you have to shake then upend and press the nozzle...

Shoogle - verb. To shake gently, for example, of roast potatoes in a roasting tin to ensure they're covered with oil. I have vague memories of this being a real Scottish colloquialism...

Stegasaurus - n, spider of the genus tegenaria. Why? No idea. I just find it easier, that's all...
Edit 08.09.07: Lutra thinks that Brian is a good name for a mini-stegasaurus. From now on, any 'Brian's in the posts may be assumed to be a tegenaria. Except where otherwise specified.

Viterals - noun, vitamins + minerals. Also a pun on victuals.

Splish - verb. A combination of slosh and splash.

Parrots - noun, paracetemol (from the old joke "Why are there no aspirin tablets in the jungle? Because the parrots eat 'em all...")

Maggles - noun, magpies. As opposed to non-magical people.

Flamewings - noun. Swifts. So called because the first time we became aware of them was an early summer evening when they were flying high, the light from the setting sun seemingly turning their wings to flames. Lovely little birds. We always know summer's arrived when we hear their high-pitched squeeing.

Murfs - noun, moths.

Peasant cut - noun, roughly cut up into big chunks, e.g. vegetables chopped in a hurry for a hearty stew or soup. By extension, anything prepared in a hurry - haircut, material, even a first draft of a story...

Giraffe - noun, a carafe (of wine, coffee or water, for example).

Shrumps - noun, mushrooms.

Splings - noun, Kai's spelling homework: by extension, any spelling.

Tyops - noun, typos. var toyps, typso, psyto, psoyt, etc. Usual result of a dose of the fingerials (see next entry).

Fingerials - (pr. fin GEEE ree yalls) noun, fingers that will not type what you want them to.

Haddock - noun, time, of which I never have enough. (Origin of this term here.)

Sleep - noun? vb? a.k.a. sheeeeeeeeep.... I used to know what this word meant...


The Updates Blog

The place to stay notified of WaveWrights' Fiction updates: Zone, Darkside, DarkRealm, Matrix, Vault, Safehouse 13...




my computer gremlin Butch. click the pic to see the larger image

Butch, my computer gremlin. Click the pic for larger version, and read his adventures here...

Butch by the talented 

Sylverthorne

A gift for me! Butch by the very talented Sylverthorne. Click pic for larger image.

Joules' 

Haddock

This is MY haddock. It was caught exclusively for me by Talon. No, you can't have any. I need all the haddock I can get!!



A'lestrel by Valkyrie.

A'lestrel - a gift for me from Valkyrie...



Albino Alsatian Benten (c) MEBird 

2004

Another gorgeous Valkyrie gift for me - Benten the Albino Alsatian! Click thumbnail for larger image.

Radittsu, an oekaki for my birthday 04 

by 

Onna

Oekai by Bakayaro Onna - Radittsu at his sexiest...



The Zone Plant from
The Zone 

blog 

plant

OrganicHTML (which alas no longer seems to exist...)
[::..My Regular Reads..::]
:: Astronomical Pic of the Day [>]
:: What is Space... [>]
:: Dark Roasted Blend [>]
:: BLDG [>]
:: Watchismo Times [>]
[::..Fun Places..::]
::HubbleSite
Stunning...
::PALEOMAP Project
Absolutely fascinating.
:: Skymap
Check out the night sky where you are!
[::..Useful Sites..::]
:: GreenNet
First stop for environmental matters
:: The Forest of Avon
Our local community forest and places to visit
:: The Guardian
Online Guardian Newspaper.
:: Symbols
Exactly what it says
:: World Timeserver
For checking the current time around this world
:: Universal Currency Converter
Actually it's just a terran-global currency converter, not universal, but it's still useful...

So what is it with the haddock? Am I some kind of fish freak?

I'll leave that to others to decide.

The tale (or tail if you prefer) harks back to October 2000, when my GoodTwin and I, ably assisted by Sue, ran the first UK Professionals convention...
It's common knowledge that I never have enough time, and I was determined not to bewail the fact that weekend: hence I promised not to use the 'T' word...
Of course, that didn't really work (if nothing else I had to let the trainees know what times things were supposed to be happening!) so we decided a substitute word would be employed instead. There were several suggestions. Banana came very close to being chosen. However, I eventually decided that 'haddock' fitted the bill nicely. Ever since, haddock=time. Hence the title of my forthcoming autobiography,
My Half-Life in the Haddock Space Continuum....


Normally I wouldn't, but these were just irresistible...

How could I resist?

Just too adorable...

and to complete the rainbow...

These Too-Kawaii Kitties
were adopted from
Ghost's Anime Page (which appears to have disappeared, alas...)

[::..Anime/Manga..::]
Useful sites:

BBTS -
Fabulous anime figures

Anime Lyrics
A huge selection... evil popups

Anime still needed to complete series' I'm collecting... Many thanks to everyone who has helped me acquire the collection!
Ai no Kusabi

Owned:
   DVD
   Dj: June Special
   CD: Ambivalence

Cyber City Oedo 808

Owned:
   DVD
   All 3 eps on Video, dubbed
   Dj: Cyberage 1-3
   Illustrated Book 2 (Benten's) in Japanese

From Eroica with Love

Owned:
   Manga Vols 1, 9, 11

Mirage of Blaze

Owned:
   DVD Vol 1 (eps 1-4)

R.G. Veda

Owned:
   English Manga: Vol 1
   Japanese Manga: Vol 1-7 complete
   Tarot Pack
   R.G.Veda video

Twelve Kingdoms

Owned:
   Anime Vol 1-12: complete

Under the Glass Moon

Owned:
   Manga Vol 1, 2
Vol 3 needed

Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust

Owned:
   DVD

   Vampire Hunter D Book 1



New Vampire Miyu

Owned:
   (Studio Ironcat) Manga Vols 1 -5 (complete)


Yami no Matsuei

Owned:
   Viz Manga: English translation, Vols 1 - 11 (complete: I believe vol 12 is only available online)
   Japanese 3-DVD set
   Central Park Media: Descendants of Darkness Vol. 1, English/Japanese subbed.
   Sketchbook


[::..Joules SP fied..::]


... this is Terra? How the hell'd I end up here...?

(Thanks, Lutra, for the quote!)

[::..archive..::]
07/01/2002 - 07/31/2002
08/01/2002 - 08/31/2002
09/01/2002 - 09/30/2002
10/01/2002 - 10/31/2002
11/01/2002 - 11/30/2002
12/01/2002 - 12/31/2002
01/01/2003 - 01/31/2003
02/01/2003 - 02/28/2003
03/01/2003 - 03/31/2003
04/01/2003 - 04/30/2003
05/01/2003 - 05/31/2003
06/01/2003 - 06/30/2003
07/01/2003 - 07/31/2003
08/01/2003 - 08/31/2003
09/01/2003 - 09/30/2003
10/01/2003 - 10/31/2003
11/01/2003 - 11/30/2003
12/01/2003 - 12/31/2003
01/01/2004 - 01/31/2004
02/01/2004 - 02/29/2004
03/01/2004 - 03/31/2004
04/01/2004 - 04/30/2004
05/01/2004 - 05/31/2004
06/01/2004 - 06/30/2004
07/01/2004 - 07/31/2004
08/01/2004 - 08/31/2004
09/01/2004 - 09/30/2004
10/01/2004 - 10/31/2004
11/01/2004 - 11/30/2004
12/01/2004 - 12/31/2004
01/01/2005 - 01/31/2005
02/01/2005 - 02/28/2005
03/01/2005 - 03/31/2005
04/01/2005 - 04/30/2005
05/01/2005 - 05/31/2005
06/01/2005 - 06/30/2005
07/01/2005 - 07/31/2005
08/01/2005 - 08/31/2005
09/01/2005 - 09/30/2005
10/01/2005 - 10/31/2005
11/01/2005 - 11/30/2005
12/01/2005 - 12/31/2005
01/01/2006 - 01/31/2006
02/01/2006 - 02/28/2006
03/01/2006 - 03/31/2006
04/01/2006 - 04/30/2006
05/01/2006 - 05/31/2006
06/01/2006 - 06/30/2006
07/01/2006 - 07/31/2006
08/01/2006 - 08/31/2006
09/01/2006 - 09/30/2006
10/01/2006 - 10/31/2006
11/01/2006 - 11/30/2006
12/01/2006 - 12/31/2006
01/01/2007 - 01/31/2007
02/01/2007 - 02/28/2007
03/01/2007 - 03/31/2007
04/01/2007 - 04/30/2007
05/01/2007 - 05/31/2007
06/01/2007 - 06/30/2007
07/01/2007 - 07/31/2007
08/01/2007 - 08/31/2007
09/01/2007 - 09/30/2007
10/01/2007 - 10/31/2007
11/01/2007 - 11/30/2007
12/01/2007 - 12/31/2007
01/01/2008 - 31/01/2008
01/02/2008 - 29/02/2008
03/01/2008 - 31/03/2008
01/04/2008 - 04/30/2008
01/05/2008 - 31/05/2008
01/06/2008 - 30/06/2008
01/07/2008 - 31/07/2008
01/08/2008 - 31/08/2008
01/09/2008 - 30/09/2008
01/10/2008 - 31/10/2008
01/11/2008 - 31/11/2008
01/12/2008 - 31/12/2008
01/12/2008 - 31/12/2008
01/01/2009 - 31/01/2009
01/02/2009 - 28/02/2009
01/03/2009 - 31/03/2009
01/04/2009 - 30/04/2009
01/05/2009 - 31/05/2009
01/06/2009 - 30/06/2009
01/07/2009 - 31/07/2009
01/08/2009 - 31/08/2009
01/09/2009 - 30/09/2009
01/10/2009 - 31/10/2009
01/11/2009 - 30/11/2009
01/12/2009 - 31/12/2009
01/01/2010 - 31/01/2010
01/02/2010 - 28/02/2010
01/03/2010 - 31/03/2010
01/04/2010 - 30/04/2010
01/05/2010 - 31/05/2010
01/06/2010 - 30/06/2010
01/07/2010 - 31/07/2010
01/08/2010 - 31/08/2010
01/09/2010 - 30/09/2010
01/10/2010 - 31/10/2010
01/11/2010 - 31/11/2010
01/12/2010 - 31/12/2010
01/01/2011 - 31/01/2011
01/02/2011 - 28/02/2011
01/03/2011 - 31/03/2011
01/04/2011 - 30/04/2011
01/05/2011 - 31/05/2011
01/06/2011 - 30/06/2011
01/07/2011 - 31/07/2011
01/08/2011 - 31/08/2011
01/09/2011 - 30/09/2011
01/10/2011 - 31/10/2011
01/11/2011 - 30/11/2011
01/12/2011 - 31/12/2011
01/01/2012 - 31/01/2012
01/02/2012 - 28/02/2012
01/03/2012 - 31/03/2012
01/04/2012 - 30/04/2012
01/05/2012 - 31/05/2012
01/06/2012 - 30/06/2012
01/07/2012 - 31/07/2012
01/08/2012 - 31/08/2012
01/09/2012 - 30/09/2012
01/10/2012 - 31/10/2012
01/11/2012 - 30/11/2012
01/12/2012 - 31/12/2012
01/01/2013 - 31/01/2013
01/02/2013 - 28/02/2013
01/03/2013 - 31/03/2013
01/04/2013 - 30/04/2013
01/05/2013 - 31/05/2013
01/06/2013 - 31/06/2013
01/07/2013 - 31/07/2013
01/08/2013 - 31/08/2013
01/09/2013 - 30/09/2013
01/10/2013 - 31/10/2013
01/11/2013 - 30/11/2013
01/12/2013 - 31/12/2013
01/01/2014 - 31/01/2014
01/02/2014 - 28/02/2014
01/03/2014 - 31/03/2014
01/04/2014 - 30/04/2014
01/05/2014 - 31/05/2014
01/06/2014 - 31/06/2014
01/07/2014 - 31/07/2014
01/08/2014 - 31/08/2014
01/09/2014 - 31/09/2014
01/10/2014 - 31/10/2014
01/11/2014 - 30/11/2014
01/12/2014 - 31/12/2014
01/01/2015 - 31/01/2015
01/02/2015 - 28/02/2015
01/03/2015 - 31/03/2015
01/04/2015 - 30/04/2015
01/05/2015 - 31/05/2015
01/06/2015 - 30/06/2015
01/07/2015 - 31/07/2015
01/08/2015 - 31/08/2015
01/09/2015 - 30/09/2015
01/10/2015 - 31/10/2015
01/11/2015 - 31/11/2015
01/12/2015 - 31/12/2015
01/01/2016 - 31/01/2016
01/022016 - 28/02/2016
01/03/2016 - 31/03/2016
01/04/2016 - 31/04/2016
01/05/2016 - 31/05/2016
01/06/2016 - 30/06/2016
01/07/2016 - 31/07/2016
01/08/2016 - 31/08/2016
01/09/2016 - 31/09/2016
01/10/2016 - 31/10/2016
01/11/2016 - 31/11/2016
01/12/2016 - 31/12/2016
01/01/2017 - 31/01/2017
01/02/2017 - 28/02/2017
01/03/2017 - 31/03/2017
01/04/2017 - 30/04/2017
01/05/2017 - 31/05/2017
01/06/2017 - 30/06/2017
01/07/2017 - 31/07/2017
01/08/2017 - 31/08/2017
01/09/2017 - 30/09/2017
01/10/2017 - 31/10/2017
01/11/2017 - 30/11/2017
01/12/2017 - 31/12/2017
01/01/2018 - 31/01/2018
01/02/2018 - 28/02/2018
01/03/2018 - 31/03/2018
01/04/2018 - 30/04/2018
01/05/2018 - 31/05/2018
01/06/2018 - 30/06/2018
01/07/2018 - 31/07/2018
01/08/2018 - 31/08/2018
01/09/2018 - 30/09/2018
01/10/2018 - 31/10/2018
01/11/2018 - 30/11/2018
01/12/2018 - 31/12/2018
01/01/2019 - 31/01/2019
01/02/2019 - 28/02/2019
01/03/2019 - 31/03/2019
01/04/2019 - 30/04/2019
01/05/2019 - 31/05/2019
01/06/2019 - 30/06/2019
01/07/2019 - 31/07/2019
01/08/2019 - 31/08/2019
01/09/2019 - 30/09/2019
01/10/2019 - 31/10/2019
01/11/2019 - 30/11/2019
01/12/2019 - 31/12/2019
01/01/2020 - 31/01/2020
01/02/2020 - 29/02/2020
01/03/2020 - 31/03/2020
01/04/2020 - 31/04/2020
01/05/2020 - 31/05/2020
01/06/2020 - 31/06/2020
01/07/2020 - 31/07/2020
01/08/2020 - 31/08/2020
01/09/2020 - 30/09/2020
01/10/2020 - 31/10/2020
01/11/2020 - 30/11/2020
01/12/2020 - 31/12/2020
01/01/2021 - 31/01/2021
01/02/2021 - 28/02/2021
01/03/2021 - 31/03/2021
01/04/2021 - 30/04/2021
01/05/2021 - 31/05/2021
01/06/2021 - 30/06/2021
01/07/2021 - 31/07/2021
01/08/2021 - 31/08/2021
01/09/2021 - 30/09/2021
01/10/2021 - 31/10/2021
01/11/2021 - 30/11/2021
01/12/2021 - 31/12/2021
01/01/2022 - 31/01/2022
01/02/2022 - 28/02/2022
01/03/2022 - 31/03/2022
01/04/2022 - 30/04/2022
01/05/2022 - 30/05/2022
01/06/2022 - 31/06/2022
01/07/2022 - 31/07/2022
01/08/2022 - 31/08/2022
01/09/2022 - 30/09/2022
01/10/2022 - 31/10/2022
01/11/2021 - 31/11/2021
01/12/2022 - 31/12/2022
01/01/2023 - 31/01/2023
01/02/2023 - 28/02/2023
01/03/2023 - 31/03/2023
01/04/2023 - 30/04/2023
01/08/2023 - 31/08/2023
01/11/2023 - 31/11/2023

Monday, November 30, 2009

Full moon rising Taken from outside the kitchen window. Beautiful sight. (Gamma adjusted slightly to show markings.)

Labels:





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



[bemused] I made a typo a couple of weeks ago on Skype, typing 'fun' as 'fy=un', and in a moment of insanity told Lutra that if she could work out the formula, for which this is the proof, I'd write her a fic. Any fandom she wants, any plot or plot elements she wants...
Yesterday evening she came back with the formula:
f(full moon) X y(yoik) = u(undead) X n(night blooms)
Which looks good to me - and in context of the fic challenge makes perfect sense:
"Hehehehe. Being Human X Torchwood (after all, Bristol isn't far from Cardiff...) George in danger; Jack/Ianto (what a surprise); pre-slash George/Mitchell, and Annie makes coffee..."
[blink] Uh, OK...
It probably explains why I dreamed last night that I was wandering around a seaside town (Brighton? Bournemouth?) with John Barrowman dressed as Captain Jack. Which was great fun! There's no deadline for the fic, fortunately, but I shall try to have it finished for Yule if possible.

Labels: ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Sunday, November 29, 2009

cat being helpful
Ken got halfway through putting the cover on Kai's downie before Tyjer decided to help...
I now have two sweet peppers and one bell pepper plants sitting on my table, in from the greenhouse in the hope they'll survive the winter. Be a good head start on the growing season if they do (even better if the five sweet peppers still on them develop fully...) And I've planted another five lettuce seeds in the trough in the greenhouse to see if they grow. The variety is supposed to be cold-resistant and is very tasty: it would be nice to have homegrown lettuce over the winter.

Labels: ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Saturday, November 28, 2009

[big happy grin] Got the guitar, £69 at Cash Converter - a Squier by Fender Stratocaster. It's had a knock at some point - there's a small chip in the paint at the back - but it doesn't affect the sound and it was partly why it was so cheap. The Squier website price list brings up a 404 page, but other places are selling them for just under 200 quid.
The sound is amazing, so much richer and mellower than the Freecycled one, and Reverb were able to fit a tremolo arm for us.
Kai is absolutely over the moon.
(Sprog also announced he needed a capo, which I said I'd buy for him before I found out the price. [wince] All Reverb had was a Shubb at £20...) Unfortunately Cash Converter didn't have the sort of amp he wants (one with effects) but he still has Yule money left so we can search out the right sort later. He's going to keep the old guitar, as a spare so that friends won't need to bring one with them when they come round to jam.
Heh. I need a bigger house.
Ken's taken him into town to the Odeon (doncha just love all day bus tickets?) to see Paranormal Activity this evening, while I get some writing done. Although I could indulge in a little MLC first...

Labels: ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Friday, November 27, 2009

Ken said we should see if there was anything to watch on FilmFlex...
It's amazing how many of the choices we already have. But nestling in the 'special' folder (for 99p) was Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus.
[headdesk] Oh, it's bad. But now we've satisfied the curiosity we'll never have to watch it again. Although I missed a lot of it because I fell asleep - it was that bad. Eh well.

Labels:





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



[g] The Charmed ep is fun! And it recorded just fine (and the DVD-RW discs work OK too) but I have identified a bit of a... problem is probably too strong a word. Irritating quirk? That comes closer. Playback is perfect on the DVD recorder, but not on our DVD player, which plays at 4:3 regardless and has done something extremely odd to the aspect ratio for the disc I've just done, stretching the image out sideways just enough to be really annoying. It means I can really only playback my own recorded DVDs on the recorder - which is OK as long as the thing lasts, but still a pain in the backside. Next time I shall buy a Panasonic player and see if that fixes the problem.
Mind you, maybe next time I'll be able to afford something a little more expensive and better quality!
Planning to take Kai shopping with his Yule money tomorrow. He wants a new guitar: fitting the tremolo arm on the old Freecycled one has bowed the bridge slightly and the strings keep slackening off. It's still playable, but it is rather old. He could also do with a decent amp. So we're off to the Cash Converter: I've seen what look like decent guitars there from £59, and since the grandparents have been exceptionally generous this year, we might be able to get both guitar and amp...

Labels: , ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Thursday, November 26, 2009

[BG] Got it working. Though the configuration is a bit different from the diagram in the booklet, mainly because it shows it set up for a satellite connection and of course we have cable. Plus it's shunted all our previous channel selections around, but every piece of new kit we get does that, so we're used to it by now. However, it works, we've got the basic controls sorted, and tried recording (on highest quality) and it's great. Currently recording Ghost Whisperer so we can find out how to finalise the DVD when the recording's done.
And there's a page at the back of the booklet that explains how to connect it to record from VCR to DVD, so looks like we're all set!
So - many thanks GoodTwin, but hopefully I won't have to ask you to transfer things for me any more! (I also won't be looking for Charmed season 2 for me, but will keep an eye out for it for you, Sue.)
The instructions do seem to indicate that the DVD-RW discs should work just fine, so I'll give them a try tomorrow and see. I suppose it might just have been a few people with faulty recorders having problems with them...
Very Large Cat
This is my settee. This is where I'm supposed to sit. It's a two-seater settee. This is my settee usurped by Very Large Cat...

Labels: , ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



... I've just bought a DVD recorder...
I mean, I've just walked over to Curry's, bought one of these on special for £149.99, and carried it back...
No, I haven't bought it so I can record the MLC ep of Charmed tomorrow (although it will be handy for that!) It looks as though Ken may have another project on the way, and will need to record a considerable amount of research material - and since we can't get the VCR to record any more it seemed a sensible move. With a bit of luck I'll be able to transfer some of the taped stuff too, some Muse and No Doubt, weathergens and quarxx, odd bits and pieces I've taped over the years and want to keep. That is, assuming the connections all marry up properly. (I'm leaving that to K&K - instructions don't like me...)
[headdesk] And I also picked up a spindle of TDK DVD-RW discs, and I've just read in the amazon forum that they don't work on this machine. Bugger it. Will have to nip out and buy a spindle of DVD-Rs tomorrow...
Will also need to rearrange the TV stand. The new machine is region 2: apparently it's possible to get a gizmo that will unlock it to region 1 as well, but that's no help to me and my Chinese, Japanese and Korean DVDs, so we'll have to have both in operation and buy a three way switch... Actually, no, the two way one will do: once I've transferred the stuff I want we'll only use the VCR on rare occasions.

Labels:





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Kai arrived home saying he, the B and N sprogs, and an L sprog I don't know, are going to be playing Green Day's song Good Riddance - Time of Your Life for their part in the school's Yule performance, Kai and L on guitar, B on bass, and N on keyboards. Well, it's not absolutely confirmed yet, but they've been learning it in preparation.
[bemused] Apparently this is MLC's favourite song.
Synchronicity. I love it.
In other news, we're all feeling quite a bit better, even if Kai says he's aching all over but not badly enough to want to lie down and do nothing. I suspect he may actually have a very (very) mild dose of 'flu.
Trapped: Buried Alive arrived today. I took a couple of hours off to watch it. Dreadful special effects at the end aside, it's not that bad - quite an enjoyable disaster film. And the MLC episode of Charmed is on Living on Friday, so I shall be watching that. Unfortunately I have no way of recording it though, and I'm not sure I like Charmed enough to want to fork out for the whole season just for one ep. Perhaps I should watch a few more and see if it grabs...

Later edit: the only Green Day album I know is American Idiot - an old favourite. So I watched Time of Your Life on YouTube...
Heh. I'll stick with Muse.

Labels: , , ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Well, so far so good - no sore throat, which may mean I've stopped it in its tracks. Fingers crossed anyway.
Poor Kai's not having much fun though. He's feeling rough, and he has mock exams all this week, poor sprog...

Labels: , ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Monday, November 23, 2009

... bleurgh...

Labels:





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Sunday, November 22, 2009

[sigh] Well, Ken feels a little better today, but now I'm fighting it off. And Kai has dreadful sniffles, but since I have never been able to persuade him to actually blow his nose that's not too surprising.
Will carry on with the First Defence. Even if it doesn't completely stop it developing, it'll help alleviate the worst of the symptoms...

Labels:





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Saturday, November 21, 2009

Ken has either a particularly nasty cold or the 'flu - woke up feeling absolutely dreadful and has spent the day prostrate on the settee. (Even rang to say he won't be able to make it into court on Monday, and that's unheard of.) Hopefully it's just the normal variety, but I shall keep an eye on it anyway: his immune system is compromised with the Hep C.
Watched my latest LoveFilm rental this afternoon - the first DVD of the Broken Saints series. Or rather, we watched the first two 'chapters' and the first few minutes of the third before giving up. It's pretty enough I suppose, but having the words both spoken and appear on the screen as if in a comic drove me mad. And I couldn't bring myself to like or care about any of the characters.
Ken likened it to Vogon poetry. I won't be renting any more.
Back to the loom...

Labels: ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Heh. Lutra has suggested that I make the following - ongoing, probably eternal - comment...
When the posts on this blog are a bit sparse, or consist of LOLCats or personal photos...
It's probably because I'm wrangling universes in the background.

Labels: ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Friday, November 20, 2009

Friday night Skypeing...
Lutra (reading from the new Swamp Thing intro on WaveWrights): 'making all but the first few guides inaccessible from the main page. Except for me, because I'm a genius... ' ROFLMAO! Joules: [smirk]
Joules in Haloscan comments: [shudder] But I have a pathological hatred of socks... ... especially on otherwise bare legs...
ROFLMAO!
Lutra in Haloscan comments: Oh well, I s'pose ebil geniuses have to have quirks, to balance out the ebil geniousnessness.
ROFLMAO!!! [smirk] sidekicks know these sorts of things.
Joules: [smug smirk] At least it's a relatively harmless quirk. I've not been known to fly into homicidal rages and bludgeon wearers of such monstrosities to death. So far, anyway.
LOL!
Lutra: ... I'm sure we can all be grateful for that.
Sidekick, eh? [eyebrow] That would make you the Graham figure.... [fuge g] I've been the Graham equivalent in many scenarios. ... this is true. ack no - if I start treating you like Graham throw a fish at me. [beg] oh don't worry, I'll stamp my foot and threaten to get out the pom poms. Or just laugh. [eyebrow] I see.... I have obviously lost some influence somewhere along the way. I shall have to devise something new to terrify you with... oh, I quiver... [smirk] What's the point in terrifying me, anyway? I'm no fun when I'm terrified : ) ... damn. Foiled again.... [carefully not smirking] [glower] I can always go back to threatening to not let you read my fics as I write them, you know... eep! [big eyes] I'llbegood! [smug smirk] And the balance is restored....

Labels: ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



o.O ... why is John Barrowman prancing around without his trousers...?
Oh, sorry, Children in Need, when otherwise fairly sensible people do very silly things to raise money... of course...
I don't think I'll put in a offer for his shorts though.
Interview is now emailed off: I'll post a link when it's online. Planning to start work on Heart next week!
Oh, and my other cambria also has a flower spike. Must be the time of year...

Labels: , ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



X-posted to the Updates Blog: The new Swamp Thing index page is now uploaded - find it here.

Labels:





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Thursday, November 19, 2009

Well, that was fun! The plot is even lamer the second time around, but the re-imagining of the characters is brilliant - even Ken thought so. And the gag reel is very funny...
Sequel due 2011 according to the IMDb...

Labels:





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Mond... Thursday shopping. Well, a morning of client site stuff first, then over to Tesco to dump the recyclables and pick up a few things. Problem is, the 'few things' always turns into a full load...
But Tesco had the Star Trek reboot for £9, so I picked one up. Ken says we've seen it on FlimFlex - Kai and I are sure we haven't. We'll see who's right after dinner.
The Vampires interview is almost ready to go, and I've expanded on the blurb on the WaveWrights page. Tonight I want to get the Swamp Thing: TV Series index page created with all the links. That'll be fun!


Later edit: Kai and I were right - Ken was thinking of Generations, which we sort of had on in the background when it was shown on TV a while back.

Labels: , , ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Wednesday, November 18, 2009

lolcat

Labels:





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Tuesday, November 17, 2009

My copy of American Gothic arrived this afternoon, and I took an hour and a half off to watch it...
Hm. I've never been an aficionado of the slasher genre (note, that's slashER, not slash). I've seen a few - Friday 13th, a couple of the Nightmare on Elm Street films, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, House of Wax, and about half an hour of Devil's Rejects before turning over in disgust - simply because I feel it's important to at least try all different film genres, but they really aren't my thing.
I bought American Gothic (1987) cheaply from play.com as part of my MLC collection, not expecting to enjoy it very much. But actually, poor IMDb rating aside, it's not at all bad. Far less gore and far more implied nastiness than more modern slasher films. Of course, as soon as it started I just knew MLC would be the first to die ('cos I'm lucky like that...[disgruntled sigh]. Actually, he ends up injured or dead - and often both - in most things he's in (that I've seen, anyway). As I commented to Lutra on Skype, in quite a few of Hugh Jackman's films he (Jackman) seems to end up with the woman he loves dead in his arms, often because he's killed her, and in his films MLC seems to die doing something heroic. Well, OK, not in Arcane's case... Is this some sort of weird typecasting?) and thereafter spends the rest of the film hanging around as a dead body, which is hardly a happy result. The ending was oddly satisfactory, though, and really quite different from most such films, I think. It's an 18, but Kai can cope with it (childe likes gore and grue) so we'll make time to watch it all together.
Now I'm just waiting for Trapped: Buried Alive to reach me from amazon.

Labels: ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



this year's orchids
This year's cambria flowers. Beautiful...

Labels:





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Monday, November 16, 2009

[grump] Was so knackered last night I decided I'd close down at 12.30 and get a decent night's sleep. Checked my backwards clock at 12.15 and thought I'd just have time to reach a natural break in the piece of fic I was working on...
When I next looked up the clock read 12.17. 'Funny', I thought, 'could have sworn I've been longer than a couple of minutes...' I think most people reading this will know by now that my relationship with Time is not of the most stable - bloody tenuous, in fact. So I carried on... only realising when I looked at my computer clock at 2.45 that in fact my backwards clock had stopped (dead battery). [sigh] Problem with it is that it still ticks and the second hand flicks when the battery is nearly dead, so it's not at all obvious that the clock has stopped.
So bang went my early night, and I had to get up early, so no lie-in either.
Tired now...

Labels: ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Sunday, November 15, 2009

Took Kai to see 2012 today... Two hours of massive global destruction - great fun! One to pick up when the price is low, but it really needs to be seen on the big screen to get the best effect. Then again, I've always wanted a home cinema...

Labels: ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Saturday, November 14, 2009

Usefully busy day, shopping and writing. Weather horrible though.
Dark City on shortly: Kai's staying up to watch it this time. It's one I haven't managed to pick up yet, and I really must...

Labels: , ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Friday, November 13, 2009

And of course the lie-in didn't happen...
It's cold, and wet, and Tyjer is nagging me something awful to bring the sun back. He's a very vocal, very expressive cat - manages to get his message across better than any other cat that's owned me...
[growl] Tried on the new shoes. Or rather, I tried to try them. Wide fitting? I can't even get the bloody things on.
They haven't acknowledged my email yet, either. But at least there's a return paid slip in with the shoes.
Will just have to stick with Oxendales I suppose.

Labels: ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Thursday, November 12, 2009

Dentist fine. Well, she checked my teeth, then took x-rays and said she'd see me in six months to discuss possible future treatment - which means I've had more bone loss around my gums, dammit.
Afterwards it was another dive into Pink Planet DVDs, where I picked up The Day the Earth Stood Still (the Keanu Reeves one, so we have both versions), Titanic - [sigh] I've bought the whole film just for five minutes of Chief Officer Wilde. Not obsessive, just dedicated, you see - and made it up to the '4 for £10' offer with Billy Elliot and Minority Report. I think I've now bought everything PPD has to offer us, and will need to wait a few months before I go back in, to allow them to get some new stock!
Didn't buy paint though. We've made an executive decision that it's now too cold and damp to make painting truly viable (not to mention that I haven't managed to find quite the right colours yet) so the redecorating is now being left until next spring.
[bemused and chuffed] Had an email from the US publisher of Vampires, saying that it's selling nicely and would I be prepared to do an online interview for VampChix? Damn right I would! I've been sent the questions they want to ask, and will be working on that over the weekend. And I ought to get the Heart section of the Haadri site in better shape before it goes live, too.
Planning to have a lie-in tomorrow morning (and now having said it, what do you bet it doesn't happen?)
Later!

Labels: , , ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Wednesday, November 11, 2009

[growl] One of those days...
I recently saw a TV ad for Hotter Shoes and thought, that looks interesting, and they sell extra-wide fittings, so I requested a catalogue, which arrived with the usual 10% off introductory discount (and free P&P). I laid it to one side until I had a few minutes to sit and browse - which somehow never happened, and a week later an enthusiastic circular arrived offering me 15% off (plus free P&P). Ooh, I thought, I really must check them out. And I still couldn't find the time. Then on Friday (I think it was) another one arrived offering 20% discount and free P&P. At this point I decided I'd better make the time...
I ordered a pair of these - in black of course. Rather more than I usually pay for shoes, but I really like the zig-zag strap, and they sound terrific.
So I'm sitting working today, when the doorbell goes. Before I've even had a chance to get up off my seat, I hear the letterbox being knocked - and broken off again - then immediately afterwards someone hammering loudly on the door. Not at all happy by now - do people seriously think I stand behind the door just waiting for them to make their presence known? - I opened the door to find the courier with the parcel, grinning down at the letterbox lying on the ground. I pointed out that the bell works and it is completely unnecessary to break the letterbox, and why didn't he wait and give me a chance to answer the door. At which he shoved the parcel into my hands and stormed off before I signed for it, shouting 'Don't bother saying thanks for the parcel' or words to that effect over his shoulder.
So the first thing I did was come back in, sit back down, find out how to complain and email the company to let them know about their courier's attitude. Will let you know how that works out.
The shoes are really lovely, but I can't try them on at the moment because my foot - the one I broke dancing barefoot to Into the Valley at a uni disco - is too swollen. Will leave it 'til the morning. I really hope they're comfortable. The company's selection is great, and finding comfortable shoes has been a nightmare for years.
Next week's [spooks] is on later - will probably stay up for that. Have to be up early, though, dentist first thing tomorrow.

Labels: ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Tuesday, November 10, 2009

I've had Muse's City of Delusion stuck in my head recently - hardly a nuisance as it's a crackin' song - so I looked up the lyrics...
Stay away from me Build a fortress And shield your beliefs Touch the divine As we fall in line Can I believe When I don't trust All your theories Turn to dust I choose to hide From the All Seeing Eye Destroy this City of Delusion Break these walls down I will avenge And justify my reasons With your blood You'll not rest Or settle for less Until you guzzle And squander what’s left Do not deny That you live and let die Destroy this City of Delusion And break these walls down I will avenge And justify my reasons With your blood
Um, yes. Strong stuff, that...
Mond... Tuesday shopping at Tesco early. Really because I wanted to check out the phones: ours are now a bit old and the batteries are playing up. Tesco do two decent PAYG WAP2 compatible mobiles (one's an LG, the other a Samsung) with camera (actually, it's hard to find a mobile without a camera these days) for under £25, which is all we want to have to pay - not Nokia, unfortunately, which would be my preference: the nearest Nokia is more expensive and comes with the ST communicator-style flip screen, which I don't want.
Other than that it's been the standard busy day.

Labels: ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Monday, November 09, 2009

Ty Cat taking up the whole settee...

[headdesk] I remember the important thing I'd forgotten - Sue's birthday. Only it's not so much that I forgot it, more like I have it firmly entrenched in my memory that it's the 28th of November, instead of October. Sorry Sue. Hope it was a good one. There'll be a package on its way to you very soon...

Labels: ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



cambriaphal Cambria flower spike on the right, white/green phalaenopsis flower spike on the left. I put the red-leaved orchid (can't remember the blasted name...) in the bathroom, and it has two flower spikes (photo didn't come out properly, too much light coming through the window. Will try again later). Must be the right time of year for orchid flowers or something...
dragonfruit seedlings And these are dragonfruit seedlings. I doubt I'll ever be able to get them big enough to flower, let alone fruit, but they're kind of cute anyway. Soft and fluffy cacti..

Labels: ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Sunday, November 08, 2009

Kai's had a busy weekend. After the G sprog came home with him on Friday, he was invited over there on Saturday, which I gather was quite fun, and then today the B sprog came here for an hour of music and Aliens. Consecutively, not concurrently. I got the Monday shopping done, so I can have a long uninterrupted stretch of work tomorrow.
Assuming I feel OK that is. Kai's brought something home again, and I'm fighting it off...

Labels: ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



[sigh] This is what happens when I channel Arcane while skyping...
Lutra: Ooh! The new ST movie's on dvd! Excellent! (I fancy a bit of Bones/Spock...) Joules: [blink] um, yes, I told you that a week ago... Did you? Sorry for not paying attention, tch. [THWAP] PAY ATTENTION! [YIP!] ow!! >: ( If you aren't going to listen to the answers, don't ask me the questions! But how do I know if you've told me the answer if I can't remember?! Develop that memory! I have a phenomenal memory! Just a bit selective in times of stress. And with names. I can never remember names... [rolls eyes] ... Odd - I've never felt the SLIGHTEST inclination to write any Trek fic... Though Bones/Spock.... mmm, that's a tasty combo purrr... [g] You've written plenty of other stuff. There is that. I tend to like the smaller fandoms anyway. Also more fun trying the more unusual things. Will prob ask for a new section on FFN for these fics.... [g] Yerrss... [smirk] Why go swimming in the muck generated by the bog ignorant masses when you can dip into something more refined? : ) That's a nice way to put it! ta : ) It's appropriate, I think. Snooch... snooch? Isn't that a cartoon cat? Yes - 2 Lumps... [glares at fingerieals] going to trade yo lot in for bionics if you don;t get with the programmed LOLOL! but what if the programming goes wrong? What if the nanites go wild? Nanites Go Wild - the newest, hottest show on MTV!!! ROFL! Then they strangle me and the world loses my awesome talent forever!! Bwahahaahaha! ... Hang on - that's not funny! Noooooooo! I'll get the nanite-b-gone spray! ROFLMAO! [g] Every luddite should have a can Um, yers.... [inches away slowly...] [smirksmirk]

Labels: ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Lutra on Skype, re Swamp Thing first fic Broken:
QOCT. Not just a random string of letters!
For anyone that doesn't know, it stands for Queen of Casual Torture, a title I acquired waaaaaay back in the early days of fic writing. If I remember aright, it was later upgraded to Empress of Casual Torture, but that doesn't have quite the same euphonic ring to it...

Labels: ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Saturday, November 07, 2009

Kai asked to watch The Fountain... It remains the most beautiful and intense film I have ever seen.

Labels:





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



[bemused] Ever since I opted for a google homepage (hence being required to sign in) I've found that half the time I try to login to blogger I get an error message saying cookies aren't enabled and to do that first. Which is a complete nonsense, of course. Refreshing usually sorts it out and takes me straight to my dashboard, but it is annoying.
Grumpy cat is grumpy. Yet again mum has made it rain in between the sunny spells, and he doesn't like the rain. He also had his first encounter with a squirrel today. Well, sort of. It spotted him and raced off: he just saw its tail disappearing, and leapt up onto the fence to try to take a closer look, by which time it had gone. (And I tempted him in with a rattle of his beef flavoured Dreamies, as I'd prefer it if he didn't start haring off down the lane at the flick of a tail...)
[sigh] I know Lutra and I joke about me being thorough, not obsessive, but sometimes I wonder about myself. The Arcane Knowledge website (which is no longer being updated as the owner is no longer with us) has an episode guide with detailed synopses of some (though not all) of the Swamp Thing eps with a generous sprinkling of screencaps (with some seriously funny captions underneath them). However, the code on several of the pages of the site is corrupt, making the text below it inaccessible, and the epguide is one of them: it ends with the link to Birthmarks, which is the first ep of Season 2.
Now, I'm not too bothered about Seasons 1 & 2, as I have those coming at Yule, but Shout! have only brought out the first 25 eps of Season 3 (which I also have coming) and there is no guarantee that they will ever release the final 25. It is, after all, an old and small fandom. This means I may never get to see those episodes - and that is HUGELY frustrating. I do like to have complete series' of my obsessions. So I wondered... is there any way I can find those episode summaries on the site, even without the links, so that at least I can read about them? I can't access the root directory (well, I might be able to if I was to dedicate enough time and energy to the problem, neither of which I have), but is there another way? And in fact, by playing around with the titles of the eps, I was able to find The Lesser of Two Evils and The Return of LaRoche, two episodes I've never seen but really want to. (Also found Jury of his Fears and Easy Prey, but those two are on the DVDs.) There are several others I'd really like to find, but I'm a bit hampered by not knowing which episodes weren't detailed... Still, it's a fun puzzle, and very satisfying when it's successful.
It also took me several hours last night when I had planned to write fic, but there you go.
Better get on with something sensible now. I can go back to hunting later... Later edit: and a fiddly, awkward google search turned up the last couple. Such a pity she could never finish them - they're fun! Should perhaps explain - Google only picks up three of the synopses. No idea why. So trying to find them the usual way doesn't work!

Labels: ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Friday, November 06, 2009

K&K enjoyed the fireworks. Tyjer didn't - we had a thoroughly frit kit. He spent the first half an hour close to me, jumping every time a bang went off, then took himself upstairs and curled up in his safe corner at the top of the stairs, the only place in the house where he can only see one small window. Of course, it's Friday and the whole blasted rigmarole is going on again - but he's much more relaxed tonight, dozing on our bed.
Busy day, and the G sprog arrived back from school with Kai and they dived straight in to the jamming session, taking the keyboard through from my room and bringing the amp down from the bedroom (but not the bass. G brought his acoustic guitar with him). They practised for a good hour and a half - not bad for a Friday evening after a heavy school week. Heh, 14 and they sound really professional. Mind you, they're learning by playing Muse songs (and rather well at that), so I'm not overly surprised...
[spooks] ep two is on at 9 on Beeb 3 - the taster looked very good, so we're going to settle down with that shortly. Then I'm taking a night off: busy day tomorrow, much of it in town.
[beg] Time to try a little Swamp Thing fanfic, perhaps...

Labels: , , ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Thursday, November 05, 2009

Shopping. Ur doin' it rite, akshully...
Sandy Park Rd butcher then Sainsbug (for spagbol doin's: I think the G sprog is coming over to jam with Kai tomorrow evening) and back to drop everything off before tanking up the road for the 10.20 558 bus to Broadwalk. Only he was absent his ticket machine, so we all got a free ride.
Charged along to the dentist to make appointments - Kai and I were supposed to have gone during his autumn holiday but in a rare but extended bout of lack-of-organisation I never quite managed to get around to making them. So I go next Thursday morning, and Kai on Jan 7th at 4.30, which means a frantic rush up there as soon as he gets back from school. [sigh] Must do better next time.
Back via charity shops (nowt doing today) and then into Pink Planet DVDs. All very satisfactory. Caught the 11.30 bus back down and got in at 11.45.
So, we now have Chain Reaction (did I mention Keanu Reeves is a guilty pleasure?), The Running Man (a classic, which Kai has wanted to see for a while. Yes it's an 18, but he can cope with it), A Few Good Men (not quite sure why I like it so much, as I cannot abide Jack Nicholson and have no time for Tom Cruise, but it's a crackin' film), V for Vendetta, A Scanner Darkly (never seen it but it sounds interesting), Bloodrayne (yes, well, I know it's probably absolutely dreadful but it was very cheap and I feel I should see it to complete my vampire education. That's my story and I'm sticking with it) - and Legend of the Mummy. This has the second lowest score I've ever seen on the IMDb, and the comments made it sound truly dire, but it has Mark Lindsay Chapman in it, and since I'm on a MLC kick at the moment I though I'd give it a try...
All I can say is that the people who've commented don't seem to understand the film at all. It's not exactly great, but it's nowhere near as bad as painted, and the ending is beautifully surreal and really quite chilling. It has to be admitted that some of the acting leaves a bit to be desired, and some of the plot elements are a little shaky, but on the whole I rather enjoyed it, certainly enough to want to watch it more than once. And the tasty Mr Chapman is pretty good as the dour, suspicious, embittered head of security...
There's a firework display up at Broadwalk tonight - K&K are considering going (not me, I've managed to pull a muscle or summat in my foot while I was out and walking hurts right now. It should be OK by tomorrow though, I hope). We'll see what the weather is like after dinner. Which I'd better start making. Nuked chicken with veged couscous. Nicely warming for a chilly night.
Laters!

Labels: , ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Six hours. A little more normal.
Started getting the greenhouse sorted for the winter in between writing. Have brought in and repotted three pepinos (still hoping they might fruit next year) and have split the dozens of dragonfruit seedlings into three pots (and managed to get spines in my palm in the process. I know they're a cactus, but the spines felt soft when I was handling them...)
So, [spooks]... what season are we up to now? Hm...
Shopping tomorrow, butcher and Broadwalk.

Labels: , ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Tuesday, November 03, 2009

[even more bemused...] Four hours sleep again. I mean, I don't mind, if it keeps up that would give me twenty hours to get stuff done - except that by the seventeenth I'm flagging a bit...
Eh well, let's see what happens tonight.
Slightly alarming, earlier. Sainsbug have their watermelons on special (£2.49 instead of £3.49) at the moment. I haven't had watermelon in years, and apparently it's particularly beneficial for cholesterol levels and the heart, so I treated us to one to share. Well, for Ken and I to share anyway - Kai's not fond of melon. But as I went to cut it, it split open with a crunching sound. Cue me stepping back sharpish, imagining an alien leaping out. Are watermelons supposed to do that?
Anyway - Ken picked up a Galia melon on the way home, and I made us a melon mix for dessert. Absolutely delicious. Though I did wonder why Ken had covered his with skooshy cream. Until he confessed he doesn't really like melon... [sigh] He eats it 'cause it's good for him, I'm the only person in the family who likes them. Heh. More for me!
Have now had (not nearly enough of) an Arcane fix, and the DVDs are safely hidden away til Yule. I am soooo tempted to write some fanfic, just for fun and a rest and a change of pace. There's so little of it around...
Later edit: I have the distinct and uneasy feeling I've forgotten something important - but I don't have a clue what it is...

Labels: , ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Monday, November 02, 2009

[bemused] Well that was a day, that was...
Just could not sleep properly last night, kept waking up every hour or so. So got up at 6.30, out the house by 7 to do the week's Sainsbug shop, back again by 7.45, exercised, leapt in a shower, then got a wash started all before Ken left for Court for the day. Settled down to work: doorbell rang. Was amazon delivering the book Ken ordered, Holy Wells of Bath and Bristol Region (Monuments in the Landscape), so now he can give the borrowed copy back to the person he borrowed it from. Settled back down to write, and shortly thereafter came thud. Thud. thudthudTHUD through the letterbox.
Ooooh, shiny!
Well, one of the parcels was, in silver packaging. But yes, it was the SWAMP THING boxed sets (and No Heroics) finally arriving. Along with £14.50 worth of Tesco reward vouchers (YAY! Free Money! well, kinda...) and another package from all-your-music, which turned out to be a copy of the Dennis Wilson Forever DVD - which I hadn't ordered, haven't paid for, and don't want - with a Swamp Thing packing slip. [extra bemused] I think someone got their packing a bit mixed up... Have emailed to ask what I should do with it.
But before I started celebrating I opened the packages, opened the boxes, and opened the cases. And all the DVDs were there, and they all seem to be correct. (So I played Mist Demeanour - which is better than I remember and had me laughing aloud: Arcane is just brilliant in that ep - and The Handyman which is interesting and amusing in equal measure). If Kai ever finishes his salmon steak and vegetable couscous we're going to watch the first (couple of?) eps in order. Well, I do need to check that the discs are OK, don't I, after all the hassle I've had with them!
Laters!

Labels: , , ,





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Skype:
Lutra: So very cat, that : ) See, a dog wouldn't try to mess up the quantums and stuff Joules: Oh ye gods no! It would try to lick them. LOLOL!

Labels:





0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Sunday, November 01, 2009

quantum cat

Labels:





0 Comments:

Post a Comment





This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours? Blogarama - The Blog 

Directory