Hello and hi everyone. I've been in Scotland recently but as you may be fuzzily aware if you read this post, Cutlery has marched fearlessly into its second year. Which means, incidentally, that's we've been living in 6 Tewkesbury Place for a full 12 months now too.
So it won't be long until, once again, we all go back to uni. Pete and I will be starting the third years of our respective degrees, while Cliffey is entering his second (just like the blog!).
And while I'm sure that will give me plenty to talk about here, first of all I need to cover where I've been for the past nearly two weeks.
...Well, I've been in Scotland, like I said. The first night was spent at a Travelodge in Lancaster, and was complete with all the thrills that implies, followed by a jaunt up the M6 to our cottage in Clackmannanshire.
The nearest town was Dollar and we went there a couple of times to get fish and chips and ice cream. It was very quiet apart from an hour or so when all the high schoolers in the area simultaneously came out for lunch, at which point it was surprisingly busy.
Of course we visited many touristy destination points in Scotland, including:
The Wallace Monument in Stirling
Yes, Wallace as in Braveheart. My dad, brother and I climbed up the scary spiral staircase to see the view from the top but Sarah and my mum were too scared so they just went to the gift shop where Sarah bought this hat (that's not the best picture but it's a Highland Cow).
Loch Leven
Featuring the castle where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned as well as some grouses that you could feed (that's actually a better picture of the cow hat, look at this instead of that one above).
The Camera Obscura Museum in Edinburgh
We arrived in Edinburgh on the last day of the fringe festival and saw an escapologist street performer (debate still rages on as to whether he was Scottish or American). Afterwards we went to this museum that was a bit like Techniquest but mainly the optical illusion side of things. Their main thing was a camera obscura that afforded a view all over the city, but we probably had more fun with the photobooth that could make you look like a monkey.
Fopp in Glasgow and Edinburgh
Once I realised that these cities had three Fopps between them, my bank account was doomed.
Edinburgh Zoo
Highlights included the penguin parade (reminiscent, I think, of the Squirtle Squad) and the two Sun Bears who seemed to want to kill each other.
But it wasn't all outings 'n' daytrips, nosir; there was plenty of stuff to do in the cottage too. We had a games room, which provided the perfect opportunity for a table football tournament (it came down to me versus my dad, and I foolishly threw away a two-nil lead to eventually lose five-three). Also lovely were the horses living near us, which Sarah was rather taken with. We fed them grass.
Our last few days north of the border were spent with Sarah's grandparents, as well as various relatives, which was lovely. Especially the amount of food we were given. Mind you, I did get a little weary of the following conversation, which I went through with a great number of aunts and neighbours:
"So what do you do, Joel?"
"I'm just going into my third year at university."
"And what do you study?"
"Music."
"Oh, aye, and what do you hope to do with that when you finish?"
"...Teaching?"
Such were my floundering attempts to sound respectable. I'm back at the Atrium from the 19th of September, so I guess I'll have to start working it out then.
That was a nice way of bringing it full circle, wasn't it?
Joel.
P.S. I had resolved to try haggis while we were there but, alas, I did not. Although I did have a pizza with cactus on it.
Showing posts with label pokémon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pokémon. Show all posts
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Monday, 4 July 2011
PKMN
Cliffey decided a little while ago that we ought to throw a Pokémon Party - he'd heard stories about them and they sounded pretty cool. Everyone had to dress up as a Pokémon*, obviously, but it went deeper than that. Each room (except the ones we wanted to keep the rabble out of) became a gym: Cliffey's room was the electric gym, the garage was the grass gym, and the oven was the fire gym. You get the idea. Each gym had activites relevant to its theme, so electric gym had the N64, grass gym had grass-related activites, and the fire gym was...well, that was just an oven. We were going to make some chips but we forgot about that.
And most of these activities were, inevitably, translated into drinking games. The psychic gym had a higher or lower game, whereby an incorrect guess meant taking a drink, while a correct guess meant choosing someone else to take a drink.
All good fun. But obviously what you're all waiting for is the list of which pokémon were present. Well, I don't remember all of them, and the ones I do remember, I don't necessarily remember the names of the people who were them. Still, here's a partial list; do help to fill in the gaps if you can.
Charmeleon (Not sure who this was)
Charizard (Again not sure, but they had crazy dragoneye contacts in so that was cool)
Squirtle (Think this was Dave)
Pidgey (Cartwright in a rather underwhelming towel-and-tape attempt)
Jigglypuff (Sarah, complete with marker pen and pinkish hair)
Zubat (Jen)
Psyduck (Ollie)
Poliwhirl (Tom, and possibly someone else?)
Machoke (Think it was Pat, but I'm a bit unsure between him and Dave because they were both painted blue; also Olly C.)
Bellsprout (Padbury, who later evolved into Man with a lampshade on his head)
Tentacool (Me with leggings on my head)
Onix (Meg)
Exeggcute (Luke, who later 'evolved' into Exeggutor simply by losing some of the balloons attached to his head and gaining a leafy thing)
Tangela (Elen, although this is rather dubious as she only decided on her costume after arriving)
Scyther (Mark in a rather impressive effort; his mum has been desperately searching for photos from the night)
Ditto (there had been several jokes in the runup that someone would come as a Ditto who had transformed into them, but I don't think anyone actually tried that in the end)
Snorlax (Cliffey; debate still rages as to whether Snorlax is blue or green but there we are)
Yes, it was limited to the first 151, and fortunately nobody strayed from that boundary. I wouldn't have minded - Gold, Silver and Crystal were arguably better than Red, Blue and Yellow - but Cliffey would.
I was just annoyed at whoever thought Tinie Tempah was a more appropriate choice of music than MIDI files of the game music on endless repeat.
I think it was Liv. Curse you, Liv!
Joel.
*There was some wiggle-room, naturally. We had an Ash, a Team Rocket, an Officer Jenny, a Nurse Joy, and Ed even dressed as an attack, complete with descending HP bar.
And most of these activities were, inevitably, translated into drinking games. The psychic gym had a higher or lower game, whereby an incorrect guess meant taking a drink, while a correct guess meant choosing someone else to take a drink.
All good fun. But obviously what you're all waiting for is the list of which pokémon were present. Well, I don't remember all of them, and the ones I do remember, I don't necessarily remember the names of the people who were them. Still, here's a partial list; do help to fill in the gaps if you can.
Charmeleon (Not sure who this was)
Charizard (Again not sure, but they had crazy dragoneye contacts in so that was cool)
Squirtle (Think this was Dave)
Pidgey (Cartwright in a rather underwhelming towel-and-tape attempt)
Jigglypuff (Sarah, complete with marker pen and pinkish hair)
Zubat (Jen)
Psyduck (Ollie)
Poliwhirl (Tom, and possibly someone else?)
Machoke (Think it was Pat, but I'm a bit unsure between him and Dave because they were both painted blue; also Olly C.)
Bellsprout (Padbury, who later evolved into Man with a lampshade on his head)
Tentacool (Me with leggings on my head)
Onix (Meg)
Exeggcute (Luke, who later 'evolved' into Exeggutor simply by losing some of the balloons attached to his head and gaining a leafy thing)
Tangela (Elen, although this is rather dubious as she only decided on her costume after arriving)
Scyther (Mark in a rather impressive effort; his mum has been desperately searching for photos from the night)
Ditto (there had been several jokes in the runup that someone would come as a Ditto who had transformed into them, but I don't think anyone actually tried that in the end)
Snorlax (Cliffey; debate still rages as to whether Snorlax is blue or green but there we are)
Yes, it was limited to the first 151, and fortunately nobody strayed from that boundary. I wouldn't have minded - Gold, Silver and Crystal were arguably better than Red, Blue and Yellow - but Cliffey would.
I was just annoyed at whoever thought Tinie Tempah was a more appropriate choice of music than MIDI files of the game music on endless repeat.
I think it was Liv. Curse you, Liv!
Joel.
*There was some wiggle-room, naturally. We had an Ash, a Team Rocket, an Officer Jenny, a Nurse Joy, and Ed even dressed as an attack, complete with descending HP bar.
Monday, 27 June 2011
Glastonbury Weekend
FRIDAY
As I ran from the stock room at 11am, taking the stairs three at a time, my thoughts turned to the long weekend that stretched ahead of me. Some people would be enjoying U2 tonight, but I was more exciting at the prospect of spending the night in Gem's room.
Except it was now my room. Gem had hastily and unexpectedly moved out on Thursday morning, and Sarah and I were quick to capitalise on this and increase our living space by about 150%. We had planned just to gradually start moving our stuff in, but of course we couldn't resist and ended up going all-out. I spent Thursday night in the master bedroom, surrounded by my wonderful possessions (mandolin, iPod dock, cuddly toys, etc.)
So anyway, after finishing work at Next on Friday I headed to Sturff, and after Sturff we went to TGI Friday's. I had recently finished stomping Tom in our one-on-one Fantasy Football league (I have Carlos Tevez to thank for that, mostly - perhaps I should send him an email) and, as we had agreed, he now had to buy me a meal. I had a lovely, expensive steak, and everyone had a great time. Except perhaps for Cliffey, who discovered that some girl he had a past with and now could barely bring himself to speak to was on the payroll at TGI's and happened to have a shift that evening.
Oh well. Later on, we kicked back with a head-shaving session*, a midnight visit to Tesco, and a great big washing-up session. Operation Polaris produced great results, but such things do not last in a student house, even if there are only three people officially living there now.
SATURDAY
Colorama are a local-ish band who sound a bit like the Super Furry Animals and whose new album I picked up from Spillers on Valentine's Day, more or less on a whim after listening to bits of it on their CD listening post. Today, they were scheduled to play a free set at The Old Library as part of Spillers 'Saturday Sessions' thing.
I was mildly excited, and while Sarah had to be in Next that afternoon, I had convinced Cliffey to check it out with me...that is, until it transpired that Colorama had traded the bustle of Saturday afternoon in Central Cardiff for the rather more bustling bustle of Saturday afternoon at the Glastonbury festival. Typical.
Their slot at The Old Library was to be filled by a band called Houdini Dax, to whom I feel I owe a little publicity because I know two of them personally - David and Jack are both on the pop music course - and yet decided, not for the first time, that I couldn't be bothered to go and watch. So click on this link, watch the videos, buy their album, send them naked photos, and generally do whatever it takes to bail me out, karmically speaking.
Still, I would not let the whole day slide by without taking in a little live music. So while thousands of people were enjoying Coldplay and wondering who that psychy Welsh band from earlier were, Sarah and I were listening to Mr. John Grant, for Czars frontman and the brain behind Mojo's album of 2010.
And, in spite of a few technical problems**, his set was fantastic. Most of his songs were backed by nothing more than a baby grand piano and a synthesiser, and The Gate made a pretty cool venue for it all, being more of a theatre than a club or concert hall.
The support act, Daughter, were good too. I got their EP and had it signed, although sadly the cardboard sleeve did get slightly bent in Sarah's rucksack. Oh well.
SUNDAY
Tom stayed over on Saturday night, and in the morning I was told that while I was falling asleep halfway through Megamind***, he and Cliffey had popped to the Kismet for a late-night curry. And guess who was there, chomping on poppadoms after another hard shift at TGI's?
Anywho, once we had all woken up and gotten dressed, the four of us (Sarah, Tom, Cliffey and myself) went into town to find costumes for our upcoming Pokémon party. It was a scorchingly hot day, and after stickly circumnavigating the city centre for an hour or so, we retired to Varsity for some food and a few cold drinks.
Which was lovely apart from the bit where I ordered some sort of complicated mocktail and the lady on the counter had to go and see if they had the necessary ingredients. Whilst awaiting her return, I thought it would be a great idea to perch myself on the bar - literally sit on the bar - and in doing so I knocked the Chip & PIN machine onto the floor, with surprising velocity. Imagine the launcher in a pinball machine, and replace the ball with maybe £25 per month of hi-tech gadgetry, and the launcher bit with my fat fuckin' ass.
I was roundly ridiculed, but hey, the virgin colada was nice.
And so, as several thousand people were realising that Kelly and Michelle would not, in fact, be making an appearance, Sarah and I rounded off the weekend by watching Catch Me If You Can, which we both agreed was awesome.
And now it's Monday, and Sarah's in work, and I'm sweating a lot and typing this blog and tomorrow morning I have work too.
Oh well. At least we know who our new housemate will be. More on that tomorrow.
Joel.
* Not my head. Meic's and Cliffey's.
** At the start of one song, he started singing into a second, thus far unused, microphone, which added a very distant-sounding effect to his voice. Which I thought was cool until he stopped and made an annoyed face, at which point I realised that the mic wasn't turned on.
*** Sarah had to fill me in the following morning. I won't spoil for you, but it all sounds very exciting. And for once I managed to guess an important plot point.
As I ran from the stock room at 11am, taking the stairs three at a time, my thoughts turned to the long weekend that stretched ahead of me. Some people would be enjoying U2 tonight, but I was more exciting at the prospect of spending the night in Gem's room.
Except it was now my room. Gem had hastily and unexpectedly moved out on Thursday morning, and Sarah and I were quick to capitalise on this and increase our living space by about 150%. We had planned just to gradually start moving our stuff in, but of course we couldn't resist and ended up going all-out. I spent Thursday night in the master bedroom, surrounded by my wonderful possessions (mandolin, iPod dock, cuddly toys, etc.)
So anyway, after finishing work at Next on Friday I headed to Sturff, and after Sturff we went to TGI Friday's. I had recently finished stomping Tom in our one-on-one Fantasy Football league (I have Carlos Tevez to thank for that, mostly - perhaps I should send him an email) and, as we had agreed, he now had to buy me a meal. I had a lovely, expensive steak, and everyone had a great time. Except perhaps for Cliffey, who discovered that some girl he had a past with and now could barely bring himself to speak to was on the payroll at TGI's and happened to have a shift that evening.
Oh well. Later on, we kicked back with a head-shaving session*, a midnight visit to Tesco, and a great big washing-up session. Operation Polaris produced great results, but such things do not last in a student house, even if there are only three people officially living there now.
SATURDAY
Colorama are a local-ish band who sound a bit like the Super Furry Animals and whose new album I picked up from Spillers on Valentine's Day, more or less on a whim after listening to bits of it on their CD listening post. Today, they were scheduled to play a free set at The Old Library as part of Spillers 'Saturday Sessions' thing.
I was mildly excited, and while Sarah had to be in Next that afternoon, I had convinced Cliffey to check it out with me...that is, until it transpired that Colorama had traded the bustle of Saturday afternoon in Central Cardiff for the rather more bustling bustle of Saturday afternoon at the Glastonbury festival. Typical.
Their slot at The Old Library was to be filled by a band called Houdini Dax, to whom I feel I owe a little publicity because I know two of them personally - David and Jack are both on the pop music course - and yet decided, not for the first time, that I couldn't be bothered to go and watch. So click on this link, watch the videos, buy their album, send them naked photos, and generally do whatever it takes to bail me out, karmically speaking.
Still, I would not let the whole day slide by without taking in a little live music. So while thousands of people were enjoying Coldplay and wondering who that psychy Welsh band from earlier were, Sarah and I were listening to Mr. John Grant, for Czars frontman and the brain behind Mojo's album of 2010.
And, in spite of a few technical problems**, his set was fantastic. Most of his songs were backed by nothing more than a baby grand piano and a synthesiser, and The Gate made a pretty cool venue for it all, being more of a theatre than a club or concert hall.
The support act, Daughter, were good too. I got their EP and had it signed, although sadly the cardboard sleeve did get slightly bent in Sarah's rucksack. Oh well.
SUNDAY
Tom stayed over on Saturday night, and in the morning I was told that while I was falling asleep halfway through Megamind***, he and Cliffey had popped to the Kismet for a late-night curry. And guess who was there, chomping on poppadoms after another hard shift at TGI's?
Anywho, once we had all woken up and gotten dressed, the four of us (Sarah, Tom, Cliffey and myself) went into town to find costumes for our upcoming Pokémon party. It was a scorchingly hot day, and after stickly circumnavigating the city centre for an hour or so, we retired to Varsity for some food and a few cold drinks.
Which was lovely apart from the bit where I ordered some sort of complicated mocktail and the lady on the counter had to go and see if they had the necessary ingredients. Whilst awaiting her return, I thought it would be a great idea to perch myself on the bar - literally sit on the bar - and in doing so I knocked the Chip & PIN machine onto the floor, with surprising velocity. Imagine the launcher in a pinball machine, and replace the ball with maybe £25 per month of hi-tech gadgetry, and the launcher bit with my fat fuckin' ass.
I was roundly ridiculed, but hey, the virgin colada was nice.
And so, as several thousand people were realising that Kelly and Michelle would not, in fact, be making an appearance, Sarah and I rounded off the weekend by watching Catch Me If You Can, which we both agreed was awesome.
And now it's Monday, and Sarah's in work, and I'm sweating a lot and typing this blog and tomorrow morning I have work too.
Oh well. At least we know who our new housemate will be. More on that tomorrow.
Joel.
* Not my head. Meic's and Cliffey's.
** At the start of one song, he started singing into a second, thus far unused, microphone, which added a very distant-sounding effect to his voice. Which I thought was cool until he stopped and made an annoyed face, at which point I realised that the mic wasn't turned on.
*** Sarah had to fill me in the following morning. I won't spoil for you, but it all sounds very exciting. And for once I managed to guess an important plot point.
Monday, 20 June 2011
Father's Day & What Happened Before
At my parents' house yesterday, having handed my dad his card and Burn After Reading DVD, I was asked how Tom's party had been the night before.
I gave some vague answer, something along the lines of "yeah, pretty good", which was a fair summary of the overall night but did omit some important details like the broken toilet flusher and the people doing ketamine off Death Cab For Cutie CDs. I suppose I decided that my parents wouldn't be interested.
All of that aside, though, I think people enjoyed themselves. I had a rather in-depth conversation with Tom Rookes on the subject of living in uni halls, Cliffey and Dave organised a jam sandwich-eating contest, Padbury tried to light his farts...
Oh, and there was absinthe. Goblin-green, nostril-stinging absinthe. Tom brought some back as a souvenir of his adventures in Magaluf, and a few of us gave it a go. Mark and myself had trouble with it, eventually resorting to slapping the wall in a vain attempt to take the taste away; Pete took a sip and immediately fell on the floor.
But it was Sarah who was the real absinthe hero. She actually seemed to enjoy it, taking multiple shots of the stuff and commenting with a smile that it tasted "warm".
There were also ongoing shenanigans involving myself, Cliffey and an album by local band The Afternoons. But more on that another day, one when I don't have important events to review.
That sandwich-eating contest is supposed to be tomorrow, actually. Maybe I'll give you some sort of play-by-play.
Joel.
P.S. Cliffey and I went to pick up my organ today, the one I won on eBay for 99p. You'll be pleased to hear that it fit into Xander quite snugly (once we'd put the seats down), and is in fine working order. It even has a built-in drum machine, so you can play along to awesome beats! Cliffey suggested that we record me playing organ versions of various tunes from the original Pokémon games and play them at our upcoming Pokémon party, but I countered by recommending that we just download said music from vgmusic.com instead.
I gave some vague answer, something along the lines of "yeah, pretty good", which was a fair summary of the overall night but did omit some important details like the broken toilet flusher and the people doing ketamine off Death Cab For Cutie CDs. I suppose I decided that my parents wouldn't be interested.
All of that aside, though, I think people enjoyed themselves. I had a rather in-depth conversation with Tom Rookes on the subject of living in uni halls, Cliffey and Dave organised a jam sandwich-eating contest, Padbury tried to light his farts...
Oh, and there was absinthe. Goblin-green, nostril-stinging absinthe. Tom brought some back as a souvenir of his adventures in Magaluf, and a few of us gave it a go. Mark and myself had trouble with it, eventually resorting to slapping the wall in a vain attempt to take the taste away; Pete took a sip and immediately fell on the floor.
But it was Sarah who was the real absinthe hero. She actually seemed to enjoy it, taking multiple shots of the stuff and commenting with a smile that it tasted "warm".
There were also ongoing shenanigans involving myself, Cliffey and an album by local band The Afternoons. But more on that another day, one when I don't have important events to review.
That sandwich-eating contest is supposed to be tomorrow, actually. Maybe I'll give you some sort of play-by-play.
Joel.
P.S. Cliffey and I went to pick up my organ today, the one I won on eBay for 99p. You'll be pleased to hear that it fit into Xander quite snugly (once we'd put the seats down), and is in fine working order. It even has a built-in drum machine, so you can play along to awesome beats! Cliffey suggested that we record me playing organ versions of various tunes from the original Pokémon games and play them at our upcoming Pokémon party, but I countered by recommending that we just download said music from vgmusic.com instead.
Thursday, 28 April 2011
The Art of Catching Rabbits
Last night, at around 2.30am, I finished an essay. Yes, I've completely betrayed my own people by suggesting that indie music is "chauvinistic" (Dear 2011:8), and yes, I do still have several more pieces of work to cross off my Kill Bill-style essay deathlist, but one must celebrate small victories.
I'd started the Cultures essay on Monday, which Cliffey and I had designated a "work day" - that is, one more or less entirely spent in my room, doing essays and stuff.
It got off to a shaky start - for some reason we decided that the best way to kick our motivation into gear was to play a couple rounds of Pokémon Snap - but once we had actually started (at around 11:30am, two hours later than we had promised ourselves we would) it proved quite useful.
For me, I mean. Cliffey used up a lot of time trying to decide what question to do, and subsequently reading an academic journal that had practically nothing to do with the one he had chosen. Bless 'im.
But yes, I managed to get about half of the essay done that day (the Destiny's Child probably motivated me - for the first time ever we listened to the entire album), and I decided that I would polish off the other half by the end of last night.
What was I doing in between? I was in Penarth, of course, and now it's time to explain that title.
I was at Sarah's house after spending the day in Sturff. We'd just had a barbecue* courtesy of Mr. Macleod, and we were enjoying a film called Ondine (in which Colin Farrell catches a woman while out fishing) when we were summoned to the front of the house to help catch a baby rabbit that had darted under one of the (parked) cars.
It was a tiny little black thing, and much debate ensued as to whether or not it was wild - the general consensus being, I think, that pet shops would never be allowed to sell such a young rabbit to clumsy humans like us.
After a bit of a chase, one which led us to the back garden, we managed to corner it. It was hiding behind some sort of outdoor boiler, so rather than scare the poor thing half to death trying to grab it, we opted to barricade its exit and leave some lettuce in a cardboard box so that he would have food and shelter for the night. Sarah even put down a trail of lettuce to lead him in.
We checked the next morning, but it seemed that he had scarpered. The lettuce was untouched, and there was no sign of Mr. Bunny.
So here's hoping he's okay. I'm wearing my rabbit onesie at the moment as a sign of solidarity or something.
Joel.
* I was recently astounded to find that the word 'barbecue' doesn't even have a 'q' in it! Mind-blowing stuff.
I'd started the Cultures essay on Monday, which Cliffey and I had designated a "work day" - that is, one more or less entirely spent in my room, doing essays and stuff.
It got off to a shaky start - for some reason we decided that the best way to kick our motivation into gear was to play a couple rounds of Pokémon Snap - but once we had actually started (at around 11:30am, two hours later than we had promised ourselves we would) it proved quite useful.
For me, I mean. Cliffey used up a lot of time trying to decide what question to do, and subsequently reading an academic journal that had practically nothing to do with the one he had chosen. Bless 'im.
But yes, I managed to get about half of the essay done that day (the Destiny's Child probably motivated me - for the first time ever we listened to the entire album), and I decided that I would polish off the other half by the end of last night.
What was I doing in between? I was in Penarth, of course, and now it's time to explain that title.
I was at Sarah's house after spending the day in Sturff. We'd just had a barbecue* courtesy of Mr. Macleod, and we were enjoying a film called Ondine (in which Colin Farrell catches a woman while out fishing) when we were summoned to the front of the house to help catch a baby rabbit that had darted under one of the (parked) cars.
It was a tiny little black thing, and much debate ensued as to whether or not it was wild - the general consensus being, I think, that pet shops would never be allowed to sell such a young rabbit to clumsy humans like us.
After a bit of a chase, one which led us to the back garden, we managed to corner it. It was hiding behind some sort of outdoor boiler, so rather than scare the poor thing half to death trying to grab it, we opted to barricade its exit and leave some lettuce in a cardboard box so that he would have food and shelter for the night. Sarah even put down a trail of lettuce to lead him in.
We checked the next morning, but it seemed that he had scarpered. The lettuce was untouched, and there was no sign of Mr. Bunny.
So here's hoping he's okay. I'm wearing my rabbit onesie at the moment as a sign of solidarity or something.
Joel.
* I was recently astounded to find that the word 'barbecue' doesn't even have a 'q' in it! Mind-blowing stuff.
Monday, 14 February 2011
Valentine's Message
So this is the first time I've been on the right side of Valentine's Day - cooing and swapping cards with my sweetheart instead of spending the day in my room posting scornful Facebook statuses - and it's quite the experience.
If I remember correctly, my own contribution to Facebook Bitterness Day last year pointed out that February the 14th was also the anniversary of the death of Dolly the Sheep, and my cousin Jon happily pointed out that it was also the day when Chip & Pin was first introduced. Actually, I think that these offerings represent relative optimism - I mean, it's nice that we found something to celebrate - so it's perhaps not too surprising that I've forgone the cynicism and jumped headlong into Valentine's Day.
Sarah bought me a Jools Holland DVD and perhaps the glitteriest card I've ever seen, I got her an alarm clock* and a relatively bland card, and we stayed up 'til midnight last night (yes, that's an achievement by our standards) to exchange these things. Already today, I have skipped my Cultures lecture (unless you're my parents, in which case it was...cancelled...due to...bears) so that we could meet for lunch, and when she's done in college we're going shopping, because I've decided that I need to start spending less and one can't start being prudent without a tremendous display of spending beforehand.** Tonight we'll probably watch The OC, that being our thing at the moment thanks to Cliffey.
So yes, at any rate, I'm embracing Valentine's Day this year, and here's why: because it's one day when you can be really soppy and corny and you don't have to be ashamed of it. Not that I ever am anyway but society dictates that I probably ought to be.
Except for today. So if you can't celebrate your love for your lover, then celebrate your love for music, video games, your mates, really delicious waffles, Pokémon, or, y'know, anything you have any affection for.
RIP Dolly. There's one less sheep in the world, but it's okay because there's still another sheep who's identical in every way, so it's alright. Unless that sheep is dead too.
Joel.
*Cliffey's friend Gaz told me that a clock is a silly Valentine's present, but nuts to him and his reasonably priced shoes.
**Also, Green Man tickets go on sale tomorrow, but that's DEFINITELY MY LAST BIG SPEND.
If I remember correctly, my own contribution to Facebook Bitterness Day last year pointed out that February the 14th was also the anniversary of the death of Dolly the Sheep, and my cousin Jon happily pointed out that it was also the day when Chip & Pin was first introduced. Actually, I think that these offerings represent relative optimism - I mean, it's nice that we found something to celebrate - so it's perhaps not too surprising that I've forgone the cynicism and jumped headlong into Valentine's Day.
Sarah bought me a Jools Holland DVD and perhaps the glitteriest card I've ever seen, I got her an alarm clock* and a relatively bland card, and we stayed up 'til midnight last night (yes, that's an achievement by our standards) to exchange these things. Already today, I have skipped my Cultures lecture (unless you're my parents, in which case it was...cancelled...due to...bears) so that we could meet for lunch, and when she's done in college we're going shopping, because I've decided that I need to start spending less and one can't start being prudent without a tremendous display of spending beforehand.** Tonight we'll probably watch The OC, that being our thing at the moment thanks to Cliffey.
So yes, at any rate, I'm embracing Valentine's Day this year, and here's why: because it's one day when you can be really soppy and corny and you don't have to be ashamed of it. Not that I ever am anyway but society dictates that I probably ought to be.
Except for today. So if you can't celebrate your love for your lover, then celebrate your love for music, video games, your mates, really delicious waffles, Pokémon, or, y'know, anything you have any affection for.
RIP Dolly. There's one less sheep in the world, but it's okay because there's still another sheep who's identical in every way, so it's alright. Unless that sheep is dead too.
Joel.
*Cliffey's friend Gaz told me that a clock is a silly Valentine's present, but nuts to him and his reasonably priced shoes.
**Also, Green Man tickets go on sale tomorrow, but that's DEFINITELY MY LAST BIG SPEND.
Sunday, 7 November 2010
Joel Is From The 90s
On Friday I arrived home from uni to find a small, thoroughly wrapped parcel on my bed. I was damp and pissed off, because it was raining and I had just spent 35 minutes of my precious lifespan at a bus stop (I'm guessing there was some sort of cocktail party in Blimbo), but the arrival of said parcel cheered me up no end. Also I had just been to Cadawalder's with Sarah and we had eaten a chocolate muffin ice cream sundae thing each so I had a little extra cheer anyway. That is to say:
2 Good things (Muffin Sundae + Parcel Arrival)
- 1 Bad thing (Waiting Ages In The Rain For A Bus)
= 1 Good thing
By the by, if anyone uses the term "muffin sundae" as a euphemism for something dirty, I'll sue them. But yes, this somewhat overly wrapped thing turned out, as I had suspected, to be the N64 game I had ordered from eBay some days previously. And if there's one thing more fun than playing WWF No Mercy as a ten-year old child, it's playing WWF No Mercy as an almost-not-even-a-teenager-anymore grownup, because you get the added bonus of nostalgia.
I of course grabbed the N64 from Cliffey's and started failing to challenge the Light Heavyweight championship with Edge straight away. Cliffey soon joined in and we had a Royal Rumble. I won with Shane McMahon. Cliffey was utterly humiliated.
At any rate, it turned out that Friday was Bonfire Night, so I eventually managed to tear myself away from the old-skool federation antics and go to the Co-Op, where I bought some glorious toffee apple sausages and did a baked potato to go with them. I care little for fireworks, but I am really rather keen on food, so I made sure to do it right. Pete and Alex and some of Alex's friends did actually let off some fireworks in the alley, but Sarah and I were perfectly content to watch - and listen - from our room. Josh and I had been to a music quiz the previous night (we came last, damn picture round, damn Boy George and Adam Ant looking a lot more like bald mental patients than they used to) and the indoor fireworks that had rounded that off were quite underwhelming enough for me, thank you.
Joel.
P.S. Upon my return from the music quiz at Y Fuwch Goch, Sarah, Soph, Cliffey and I sat in the living room catching up on quiz shows for a couple of hours. I think I got a couple of the questions on University Challenge right but what I'm most proud of is spotting that Grass, Dragon, Poison and Fighting were all types of Pokémon on Only Connect. A huge moment I'm sure you'll agree.
2 Good things (Muffin Sundae + Parcel Arrival)
- 1 Bad thing (Waiting Ages In The Rain For A Bus)
= 1 Good thing
By the by, if anyone uses the term "muffin sundae" as a euphemism for something dirty, I'll sue them. But yes, this somewhat overly wrapped thing turned out, as I had suspected, to be the N64 game I had ordered from eBay some days previously. And if there's one thing more fun than playing WWF No Mercy as a ten-year old child, it's playing WWF No Mercy as an almost-not-even-a-teenager-anymore grownup, because you get the added bonus of nostalgia.
I of course grabbed the N64 from Cliffey's and started failing to challenge the Light Heavyweight championship with Edge straight away. Cliffey soon joined in and we had a Royal Rumble. I won with Shane McMahon. Cliffey was utterly humiliated.
At any rate, it turned out that Friday was Bonfire Night, so I eventually managed to tear myself away from the old-skool federation antics and go to the Co-Op, where I bought some glorious toffee apple sausages and did a baked potato to go with them. I care little for fireworks, but I am really rather keen on food, so I made sure to do it right. Pete and Alex and some of Alex's friends did actually let off some fireworks in the alley, but Sarah and I were perfectly content to watch - and listen - from our room. Josh and I had been to a music quiz the previous night (we came last, damn picture round, damn Boy George and Adam Ant looking a lot more like bald mental patients than they used to) and the indoor fireworks that had rounded that off were quite underwhelming enough for me, thank you.
Joel.
P.S. Upon my return from the music quiz at Y Fuwch Goch, Sarah, Soph, Cliffey and I sat in the living room catching up on quiz shows for a couple of hours. I think I got a couple of the questions on University Challenge right but what I'm most proud of is spotting that Grass, Dragon, Poison and Fighting were all types of Pokémon on Only Connect. A huge moment I'm sure you'll agree.
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Sharments II
The Re-Sharmenting.
RECENT THINGS
Joel.
RECENT THINGS
- Sunday was Halloween. We had a small gathering here to celebrate, and much Halloweeny music was listened to. If any trick-or-treaters did come to the house, I didn't hear about it.
- Friday was not Halloween but Josh and Rich and Elusive Dave had a Halloween party anyway. I went as a slightly cheap Freddy Krueger, and Sarah was the Grim Reaper. Josh wasn't anything in particular, he just wore spandex. Herbie and Mark were, between them, Team Rocket, although they were minus Meowth. I'm not sure what Soph was, some sort of evil prostitute possibly. Tom was a banana.
- Speaking of Tom, Tom has a tattoo now. Unless his parents are reading this, in which case Tom has not got a tattoo now.
- I paid the water bill last night, mostly because Dwr Cymru were threatening legal action if we didn't. It cost me about £300, so everyone in the house now owes me sixty pounds! Except Cliffey, who has already paid, and Sarah and Alex, who get to not pay bills because they pay in love.
- Many of the people affiliated with the house went to Oceana on Monday night. Nobody's quite sure what happened, but we do know that Cliffey, Soph and Tom spent yesterday on Cliffey's bed, laughing. Unless Tom's parents are reading this, in which case it was just Soph and Cliffey because Tom was in work.
- It's November, which of course mean it's Movember (or Novembeard if you prefer). I will be hoping to improve on last year's pitiful peachfuzz, but Cliffey, Josh, JR, Mark, Pete (I think) and others are all likely to do far better than me.
- I briefly became part of a folk three-piece yesterday, playing the bongos along with René (guitar/vox) and Calum (violin) from my uni ensemble. We played down in the foyer (or 'street') around lunchtime, belting out some folk songs and also a couple of Irish jigs, because Calum is just an awesome fiddle player. Then last night I showed off my bongo-playing skills to my awed housemates, and we obviously sang Creep, our house's national anthem.
- The national anthem of the Josh/Rich/Elusive Dave household is Live & Let Die because we had a conversation about it there once. Should it be the Macca version or the Guns 'N' Roses cover? Cast your votes now.
- My brother Nathan came 'round on Friday night for a game of Risk with myself and Cliffey. I won in TWO TURNS, because I'm AWESOME. We filled the remaining time by playing Worms, at which I still rock although I think Tom won on Friday night.
- I hit The Record Shop on Saturday and got five CDs for a pound each. They were: Kid Carpet's Ideas and Oh Dears; My Computer's No CV; Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell; Destiny's Child's Survivor; and Bloc Party's Bloc Party (for Sarah, I obviously already have that record, obviously). I love The Record Shop, everybody go there on Thursdays to Saturdays.
- You know another awesome shop? Wally's Delicatessen. Sarah and I went there on Sunday; I bought a small pot of olives from the olive pick 'n' mix (also featuring stuffed peppers!) and she bought a huge box of Nerds (remember those?) which we're still picking away at.
- Mark, Josh and I are going to see Titus Andronicus in Bristol this month, but not before Sarah, Josh and I go to see LCD Soundsystem and Hot Chip at the CIA.
- Soph got a WoMan point for carving the pumpkins on Friday night, but although there are a lot of pending Man Points they will have to wait until I get a new marker. Pete used the last one up by drawing on his face.
Joel.
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