Bloggers pub moot

Yesterday Mr Rockhill and I headed to The Cross Keys pub after I finished work. Beer was cold, company excellent, histories were compared and I hope to do it again sometime in the future somewhere in the world. Thank you for lovely company and have a safe journey home Mr Rockhill!

Karelian Blonde meets Palms Springs Savant

Wednesday

This week is ticking along nicely with nothing much happening. Except today I had a blog friend visit in the form of Mr Rockhill who is in town after his business travels in the far east and on his way back to the US. We have arranged to go for a civilized pint tomorrow after work. Nice!

This made me smile today :)

List of Short Books

1) A Guide to Arab Democracies
2) A Journey through the Mind of George W. Bush
3) Career Opportunities for History Students
4) Contraception by Pope Benedictus XIV
5) The Amish Phone Book
6) Different Ways to Spell "Bob"
7) Bulgarian Tips on World Dominance
8) Everything Men Know About Women
9) French Hospitality
10) Popular Lawyers

July Saturday

Lovely July Saturday in London town and not much has been achieved apart from normal Saturday chores. Well, except that I have almost mastered the making of home made Lonkero.

First you raid your local supermarket for suitable(ish) ingredients...

Add the ingredients to a tall glass: 2 fingers of Gin, 2 fingers of Lemonade,
4 fingers of Bitter Lemon followed by lots of ice cubes. And voila...

Life is good on a July afternoon ;)

Cruise candy

Ever since the film Top Gun I have detested the syrupy charms of Tom Cruise. He was always too feminine and polished for my liking and his choice for believing that he descends from alien race did nothing to alleviate my aversion of him.

How ever, having seen the man now promoting his new film Night & Day with Cameron Diaz, I do have to admit that he has matured into a respectable looking eye candy. Few crows feet around his eyes actually make him look first time ever really attractive to me and I would not kick him out of bed should the occasion ever arise ;)



They also are to appear on this weekend's edition of BBC Two's Top Gear and will take part in the Star In A Reasonably Priced Car segment. Good stuff!

Have a brilliant weekend everyone!

Check your tone

Of all the possibly technological advances, this one has to be the funniest in a long time. Tone Check by Lymbix claims that e-mail messages are interpreted incorrectly 50% of the time.



Well, it is possible but how thick do you actually have to be not to get the gist of what has been written? In my view one has to be a narcissist, psychopath or sociopath not to be able to write a clear and concise message that should not offend anyone. I might be totally wrong so check the tone of this post.

Today's: You must be joking...?!

A blind chap called George Herridge was refused entry on a bus TWICE because of a driver of a certain religious persuasion did not want the guide dog that he considered animal of "impure saliva" in the bus. The dog in question is a fully trained and well behaved guide dog called Andy who will most certainly not cause a fuss in a bus in any case or wish to lick anyone with the exception of his owner. Mail online has the whole story.

George and gorgeous Andy

Where do these people get off??? I consider people with such small minded opinions unclean and they should really stop forcing their stupid ignorant culture upon others. Ban the burka? What do you think...? YES PLEASE! The last I looked I lived in little Britain, and not middle east. Rant over...for now...

All Animals Have the Same Parts

The hard hitting new campaign from PETA features Pamela Anderson as a piece of meat. What a brave lady to do that! The ad is being stupidly banned in some countries, but that is to be expected.

"Just like humans, animals are made of flesh, blood, and bone and have organs and senses. Animals also have emotions and unique personalities, feel pain, and create families and relationships with other animals, if given the chance. "

I do have to agree that this illustrates the issue very well. If I didn't get my meat ready on a plate in a restaurant or vacuum packed in the supermarket, I most likely would go vegetarian. Alas, at the moment ignorance(?) is bliss.

Lost in good book(s)

It has been a while since I have been immersed in a fictional world so totally as I have been in the Millenium Trilogy (The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest) by Stieg Larsson for the past three weeks. Never has a man from west of Finland captivated my imagination and got me living precariously through his characters like this one has.

The brilliant anti heroine of the stories is the tattooed Lisbet Salander (who is like a updated and more screwed up version of my childhood heroine the all mighty Pippi Longstocking) who can kick even huge ass, is a hacker extraordinaire and has a photographic memory. She has some severe hang ups and sometimes questionable principles, but as the story progresses you get to understand why.

The male good guy is Mikael Blomqvist who I imagine is the alter ego of the author. He is a journalist and a writer and also possesses a large dose of practical intellect. Then there is the supporting cast, sub plots of sub plots going on and which I hope that they all tie up in the end to a satisfying conclusion. I am now one quarter into the last book, but I am trying to find a way to make it last as I don’t want to let go of these characters quite yet.

These books have also been made into films, but I don’t know if I ever want to see them as they probably won’t be what I imagined and the inevitable disappointment will follow. Who knows...maybe they wont.

It is such a shame that this brilliant author died. Most excellent books!

Monday

This Monday morning dawned cloudy and the promised over night rain that our garden is crying for was nowhere to be seen.

The Northern Line was slightly up the wall after the engineering works over the weekend. The journey took not so pleasant 56 minutes crammed in a carriage with not so happy commuters sweating away in close proximity. Yikes...

Well, I got to work few minutes late and when I sat down at my desk a police officer hovering accross the road caught my attention. Ed and Larry's photo shop had been broken into and there were real life CSI dusting the door frame for prints. Ed and Larry did not look too pleased...

Few of the Dutch people at my building have turned up looking well miffed off and hungover, but I didn't have a heart to ask how they are feeling. As an England supporter I should really know...

So it will be a Monday all day but luckily it lasts only until tomorrow ;)

Y Viva Espana!

As in Euro 2008 the Spaniards played their way to winning the whole shabang, and deservedly in my opinion. ¡El pozo jugó a individuos!



And way to go Paul the octopus :)

Taken for a ride

What to do on a hot week end in London town? Get out! I did just that yesterday afternoon with my new friend Nick and his Suzuki Bandit 600. I have not been on the back of a motorbike for few years, but luckily it is like riding a bike and I enjoyed myself immensely.

First we headed to Box Hill and after a beverage we continued to Knap Hill via Guilford where we had a civilized dinner in the Hunters Lodge. We then hit the M3 and cut to the M25 before heading home on A3. Thank you Nick :)

New Tottenham attire

Brilliant news from Spurs! The dreadful shirt deal with the certain online gaming company has come to an end which is nice, as it has been a principle of mine not to advertise them for any reason for any one. The new sponsor was announced yesterday and for the first time in the past few years I will actually invest into a new Tottenham Hotspurs shirt. Love me, love my team ;)

In Paul the octopus we trust

Thursday already?! I have no idea what has transpired this week apart from sleep, eat, tube, work, eat, tube, eat and sleep. So not a lot has happened apart from routine existence.

In the news is only or mostly bad news so I tend to ignore them. But what actually made me smile last night was mighty Deutschland crashing out of the World Cup final by insistent Spain. This is no surprise to some of us as the magnificent Paul the psychic octopus made his choice already on Tuesday. Good stuff!



The final should be good and let's hope it wont get decided by penalties. Penalties are pants.

Today I have been mostly...

Already July

Another gorgeous summer day hotting up here in London town. As much as I love the summer weather, I hate it in the London Underground in equal measure. BBC is forecasting light rain for tonight and tomorrow, so maybe it will cool the temperatures down a notch. And our garden will be happy no doubt.

But whilst I perspirate at my desk in my black suit, the dreams of Arillas are edging their way into consciousness and my body reacts with a deep sigh. I work so that I can go on holiday ;)