The end of an era (and bald chimpanzees.)

Hello readers. Well, it's finally happened. I have officialy left the Legion.
On Saturday evening I was presented with a card and 18 cans of Guinness by John Barrett, the club president, in front of the whole concert room whilst the band was taking a quick break. Everyone applauded (which was nice) and I was handed the microphone because everyone expected me to give a little speech. I thanked the committee for their support over the years, and the guests for being a joy to serve (most of the time) and I went on to say how much fun it has all been. Which, if I am being honest, it has. Yes it ate into my social life, but it has been a good run.

My final day was actually Sunday lunch which was very quiet and dead boring, so enough about that.

Bank holiday monday: Ah, a day off work. Most excellent. Adam text me asking how we were going to spend the day off. He suggested Twycross Zoo which I haven't been to in years so I said "OK" and phoned John. Adam came round to my house whilst I was collecting John and after filling my car up with petrol we set off down the M42. It took about 45 minutes to get there and when we did, it decided to rain on us... Typicall! We came prepared, however and had brollies with us. After parking my car in a field we went in.

Twycross zoo is unique in the fact that about 90% of it's animals are primates. They have a massive selection of monkeys, chimps, bonoboes, mandarins, etc. I noticed one chimp who stood out from the crowd though, because he was completely bald... Yes reader, BALD! I took a picture of him whilst he was sitting next to the glass...

Doesn't it look weird? I don't know whether he lost it naturally, or whether it is caused by an illness, but it certainly looks a bit freaky. The would-be biologists amongst you may like to take note of the prominent muscle structure, usually hidden beneath the fur. We spent a good few hours wandering through the different enclosures during which time I took about 60 photo's and a few videos.

I will share with you the best of the bunch:

The chimp seen here spent quite a long time clutching a piece of fire hose, used to swing on. Others wanted it but he clearly considered it "his" and would not let go.

This cheeky rascal was sat next to the glass but was facing the other way. I took several attempts to get a good photo and this was the best of them, taken whilst John annoyed it slightly by pulling faces at it.

This friendly little thing was sat next to the glass and was taking a real interest in people who walked past. Unfortunately he suffered from the habit of picking his nose, and then eating whatever he pulled out.... Lovely!

This here is "the daddy." 30 stone of male silverback gorrilla. He was looking rather bored, and sat quite far back in his pen. The photo is taken using the zoom feature on my phone which is why the picture quality has suffered.

After the primates come the Not-primates. Here are some photo's I took...

A fox lounging in his den. He did have his head down, but he looked almost straight at me a second before I took the photo.

Two giraffes feeding. Those twigs don't look to appealing though.

One baby elephant doing a show. It could courtsey and dance. (actually, it could dance better than me, although thats not to difficult)

And finally one of my favorites. A penguin. I can't look at them without laughing. Actually I got a good video of this one diving in to the water, about 10 seconds after I took this.

At 3:30 we left and went back to my house. Adam, John, and myself had a few games of Battlefield 2 before they left at about 6:50. I had planned to go for a curry with some friends from the Legion. All in all there were 8 of us. Me, Andrew and David who work at the legion, Andrews girlfriend, Gemma who works at the legion, Nick who works at the legion when they need a shift covering, and his parents Bill and Shiela who I get on very well with.

We got to the curry house (Millenium Balti, by the Maypole) for about 8:15. I had a Chicken Shashlik starter and a lamb balti with a plain naan bread for my main course. After devouring mine I then set about clearing the others of people who were full. I finished Nicks' and Davids' then Gemmas chips, and took a stab at clearing Annas' (Andrews girlfriends') balti but it had prawns in. Now I have a very special relationship with seafood. Namely, I don't like it, and it don't like me...

We left at about 10:30 and went back to the legion for a drink. I had one pint of Guinness (because I was driving) and a coke. By the time I left with everyone else at about 11:30 it felt like my stomach was learning to salsa, and my arse was learning how to chew...

... Not good.

I woke up this morning not knowing how I would feel, since seafood usually makes me quite bad. Luckily however, I felt fine and went to work as usual. This week will be a bit hellish as the year 9's are taking their SAT's, and it always throws the timetables in to chaos. I did however take my completed painting in for Tracy and she likes it very much. So much so in fact that she wants me to paint her daughter a tulip for her room...

Here is the finished piece. I think it looks rather good, myself. The centre petals stand out nicely from the outer ones.

I hope to get a few comissions from this. It would be nice to paint regularly again. (Actually if anyone wants anything doing, email me and let me know! Prices are negotiable.)

Almost time to sign out readers. As I write this I am looking on Ebay for a keyring torch. My old plastic one is no good, but when it was new it wasn't bad and came in quite useful. Especially when trying to put your keys in your car door at night with no street lighting around!

Ah well. I will need to sign out now. I am doing the pub quiz later with Adam and John, and I need my tea first.

TTFN readers.