Hadouken!.... Crikey, I did it!

Hello readers and welcome to another blog. Now I know last week I started with a bit of a moan. Saying that my blog was getting tedious to write but I have come to realise that it's only as fun as I make it. In fact this apiphamy came whilst I was reading Lanks blog purely for the fact that Lank has such a humourous writing style that I thought "my god... I'm not even trying with mine anymore!" and so this blog will attempt a revamp of my writing, rather than be a list of paragraphs writen with contempt and anguish at being forced in to remembering the week previous...

Anywho...

Last Monday. Work went well and I was soon happily doing battle with the Moseley and Kings heath traffic that can form at any time, but specifically when I'm trying to drive through the god forsaken hell-holes to go home. I mean how is it rush-hour at 3:45pm???

The evening was spent in Solihull with Carl, marcus, Jo, and Paul. Adam wasn't there as he was at a scuba-diving class... Actually I'm sure Adam would have an unfair advantage. Coming up from 6 metres, most people have to swim to the surface...

... Adam just has to stand up.

Anyway, it was great to see Jo and Paul. We haven't heard from them in ages so a catch-up and a chin wag made for a pleasant evening. At chucking-out time we all made our way home.

Tuesday. Work was amazing! We had our St. Patricks day parade and everyone dressed up in Green!

The evening was spent back in Solihull and I was pleased to see that Adam hadn't caught the bends. We watched some TV before i set out for home at about 11:00pm.

Wednesday.... Work went surprisingly quickly... The drive home didn't. I got in for 4:40pm and relaxed in front of the TV for a bit before dozing off! I then got a call from Jess as she wanted a drink in the Swan. Now Wednesdays I usually go down to see father but since it was early I could go for a drink and pop in on the old man afterwards. This plan was thrown in to turmoil as father had broken down in Moseley and needed me to come and get him! What made this more difficult was the fact that my phone was on the blink and wasn't receiving sound, so I had to text everything. Lank arrived and lent me the use of his phone, like the scholar and gentleman that he is. I was about to set off when father contacted me to say that he had been lent a van and I didnt need to leave the Swan, but it would be some time before he got home... So I stayed and had a drink.

Thursday. I ended up in the swan again but really didn't mind! Jess came out and lank revealed a startling piece of news that he has cunningly worked in as a cliffhanger ending to his blog this week. I wont reveal what the news is, but make sure you read it next week.

Friday. Work finished and the weekend began at precisely just after twenty-to-four... I shot out of work and came home. I played a bit of Street Fighter to try and get my eye in with it... I'm getting slowly better after watching Kieron play it and after a few pointers I think I can muscle my way through... Thank God.

Ah Saturday... Me, Adam and Carl went to Edgebaston little zoo. It cost us £2 to go in so we went for a wonder... Naturally, I have photos...

A goat...

Sure for men? No! Some Lynx!

He can't help you with cheaper car insurance! Simples...!

They say I might as well face the truth.... I am just to long in the tooth.... And my old knees have started to knock.... I've just done to many miles on the clock....

Well that was that. Afterwards we came back to Adam/Carls to watch some TV and chillax for a while before I came home.

Sunday. I went to the Legion as usual but didn't go to my nans as my cousin had taken her over to Henley. I took the opportunity to drop some money in to a friend that I owed (and being made to sample Wii Fit whilst I was there!) before coming back to zone out watching QI and Mock the Week before going to bed!

Right. Thats me done for this week. TTFN!

This blog is too weak!

Hello readers and welcome to a 2 week blogging bonanza! I awarded myself a week off from blogging as I didn’t really have the time to do it and to be honest the whole process is becoming stale and repetitive.

I think I have combated this now, but I hope the trend doesn’t continue or it will be the death-knell of my blog. I will just get later and later until there is nothing left. My blog would be confined to the scrap heap, and although it can be a pain trying to find the time to do it, I would miss it if I let it curl up and die… So, on to 2 weeks ago…

Monday was a normal one. The evening was spent at Adam and Carls where we watched TV...

Tuesday was pretty much the same.

Wednesday was spent out at the Packhorse with the TA's from Woodrush who I haven’t seen for a while and it was nice to catch up.

Thursday. I was in the Swan. Jess and Paul came out which was nice, and I was even visited by Dad and Lindsey who had come up from waaaaaaaaaaaaay down south for a few days... A good time was had by all.

Friday. I spent the evening in the cinema with Selena and Kieron watching The Watchmen. If you haven’t seen the film, go and see it! (there’s boobs!) It is a fantastic film with one of the best intros ever! Afterwards I dropped Selena and Kieron off home and came home to bed.

Saturday. Ah now... Saturday was good. It was the night that everyone celebrated in the Beer Keller. At this point I would like to upload some funky pictures...

... But I don't have any. Sorry but it's true. I was far too busy dancing and drinking to take photos however Jason has some, Katie has some and Marcus bluetoothed me a video of myself...

I will upload it just so you can all have a good laugh at me. Now bear in mind that what you are about to see is not only harmful, it is also sexually explicit...

... Well, ok no it's not... But I bet I got your attention for a moment didn't I!?

turn your speakers on.... This is cringe worthy, but funny...

Stop laughing and read on…

We got home for about 4:00am and I went straight to bed.

Sunday. My birthday! I awoke at about 10:00-ish and unwrapped my pressie from the TAs at Woodrush. They had bought me a doodle book, which was nice. And some Cobra Beer… Which was even better!

To combat the experience of the night before I went with Jason and Gemma for breakfast at Little Chef. This helped quell the hang over. Jason then Dropped me home so I could go to Fathers where he had prepared tea for me, selena, my nan, and aunt. My cake was a TopGear one. Naturally I got a photo of it...




Some say, Yellow icing is made from the tears of baby Jesus. And that if you ate it all to yourself you'd be a fat bastard... All we know is, it tasted lovely!

Right. That was the week that was…

Now on to last week!

Monday. Work went rather quickly and the evening was spent at Adam and Carls where Carl was attempting to construct an 819 piece 3D puzzle of Minas Tirith from Lord of the Rings.

That thing…

We watched some TV before I came home to bed.

Tuesday. Again, work passed by quickly and the evening was spent once again over at Adam and Carls. Carl had made drastic progress with his model and it was taking shape!

Wednesday. After work I came home to play around on Facebook before getting something to eat and going to Fathers. A new series of Ice Road Truckers started a week or so ago and so I watched it to catch up.

Thursday. The Swan was the evenings destination and me and Lank popped along as usual. We drank our fill with the usual crowd until 11:30pm when we left. A good time was had by all.

Friday. Work ended and I left work as usual. I was home for 4:30pm and I decided that it was time I spent some of my birthday money. I went to GAME and bought Street Fighter 4 for the 360. I came home and stuck it in the machine. Now I haven’t played a street fighter game since Street Fighter 2 Turbo on the SNES, and what I am about to say I say seriously: The SNES version was a far better game.

SF4 is a complete disappointment. The controls feel like you are playing a BETA version and the computer spams fireballs at you like its been programmed to act like a douche’ on xbox live. SF4 is the worst game I have ever bought…. There. I said it!

I then had to turn off the pointless game and get ready as I was being picked up by Donna to go in to Solihull for her Birthday shindig! We were dropped off at Wetherspoons where we met up with some of her dancing school and people she worked with. Benji was there and Kate joined us a while later. After trying to watch Comic Relief with no sound we drank up and headed on over to Reflex! Now the last time I was there it was a bit dead and boring, but that night was far superior. 80’s tunes + dancefloor + booze = awesome….

We were there until about 2am when we decided to get a taxi back. I came in and went to bed…

Saturday. I awoke at some point in the morning and had some lunch. Nan, Grandad and Selena came over as usual but I went over to Adams with SF4 so that he could experience the shoddiness of it…

… Rather annoyingly he seemed to get on with it better than I could, though it still made him shout and swear at the telly….

After a while we turned it off, watched some TV and then ordered a Chinese since we were all feeling peckish. After that was over it was more telly and off to the Greville for a swift pint before I came home.

Sunday. Normal one really… The only different thing I did was get up and go to get Donna birthday present. I ended up getting her a book entitled “A shopaholics guide to the web: 1000 useful websites” I hope she finds it useful (I had a flick through and noted down a few of the menswear sites, so look out for some funky new threads in the near future!)

I came home to go to the Legion and afterwards went to my nans for tea before coming back home….

Right. I will leave you there readers…

TTFN.

Oh look! a Camel...

Hello readers and welcome to another blog. It's a full 2 days late, what with one-thing or another so I have made a pact to try and get it ontime next week. In fact I may start updating on a Monday like I used to. Anyway, I have to tidy the house in a bit so this will be brief.

Monday. Half term was officially over and I was back at work. It passed quickly though, and I was home before I knew it. The evening was spent over at Adam and Carls as usual.

Tuesday... Was an almost carbon copy of Monday to be honest...

Wednesday. I spent the evening at fathers and popped in to The Swan to see Donna.

Thursday. Swan! I was joined, along with the usual crowd, by Dave who I work with. He used to work in the Swan many a year ago and he made a fresh addiction to our "Thursday Rabble"

Friday. I went back over to adam and Carls on the evening and we were wandering what we could do over the weekend. The decision was made to go to West Midlands Safari Park the following day...

... So we did!

People arrived at mine at 9:30-ish am on Saturday morning. We jumped in my car and set off. We went round the drive-around first (after a brief stop for a burger and some 200'c hot chocolate) before going round the rest of the park. Naturally I have photos...

Some deer

Whats black and white and eats like a horse?

woah!

A white thing...

I know what I'm calling my next blog...

Anyhoo... We made it round the park and came home at 4:30pm where it was decided that we were having too much fun to simply end. That meant only one thing..

... Curry! Yes, we headed on in to Solihull for a meal at "The Deli" before going on to O'neils for some live music! I spent the night in the spare bed so I could have a drink...

... Or 9.

Sunday. I got home for 12:00 midday and was glad of Sunday lunch! I went to work at the Legion, but didn't go down to my nans... no! I went over to Solihull with Kate who I havent seen for a while. We ended up in The Masons. Everything was going well until the fight started. Someone had punched a bouncer and it kicked off. Judging by her reactions I dont think Kate had ever witnessed a proper punch-up before... I took her home for about 10:45pm and came home myself. That reminds me, I have to phone her in a bit.

Right. I will leave it there readers as the Livingroom is a tip and mum is expecting visitors...

TTFN!

Good Lord!

Hello readers and welcome to another thrilling update...

... Well I say "Thrilling" but I'm blogging the week of the half term holiday and I actually didn't do very much. Though I do have quite a strange tale to tell...

In fact I might as well not do a "day-to-day" style blog as it's all going to be the same... Xbox, Internet, Food, Solihull, Sleep etc...

However there are a couple of highlights.

I borrowed a couple of Anime DVDs off Kieron and Sat down to watch them. The first was Street Fighter Alpha, which I actually saw at Kierons, the second was a film called Sky Blue which is a great film about the last human city on a future Earth. The third is the Anime prequel to the videogame "Deadspace" and I have another to watch simply titled "X" so I'm on a manga/Anime high at the moment.

The big thing to happen to me during the week was the rather unusual accomplishment of becoming ordained! I applyied via an online form to the Universal Life Church in a town called "Modesto" in California and they sent me an email a couple of days later which stated that I was ordained as a minister by Pastor, Kevin Andrews on the 16th of February and that, because it was an actual person, I "was not ordained online" and "it should not be refered to as such."

... This has lead Carl to give me the not-so-honourable nickname of "Reverend Bullshit" but I combated that by "Blessing" his tapwater (which I think I'm allowed to do!) and flicking the newly-founded holy water at him! I then made the sign of the cross, and then a V!

So that was that.

Wednesaday saw me trying to teach my father how to make CDs but the terms "rip" and "burn" were confusing him so I simplyfied the process and before too long he was uploading a multitude of music to his computer.

Thursday was spent in the Swan as usual where I showed everyone my letter of ordination...

... No-one gave a shit.

And that really is just about that. Sorry readers but apart from the tales I've told you, nothing else really happened during the holidays.

I will sign off this short blog with a biblical quote: "And the Lord spoke unto moses. "Come Forth" but Moses tripped and came fifth..."

TTFN

Why has it all gone dark?

Hello readers and welcome to a post which is on time! Yes, I know. It's amazing! I'm actually blogging when I should so a big hurrah! all round...

... no? Oh ok then...

Anyway I will dive straight in to it...

Monday. I finished work and came home to play a bit of Red Alert 3 before taking it over to Adam, John and Carls. we watched a bit of TV and looked at red Alert before Jenny and Marcus came over. We ended up watching Wall.E which I had never seen. I'm glad I have though as Pixar has never done a bad film and it is hillarious throughout. After it had finished I came home to watch QI before going to bed.

Tuesday. The evening was spent over at Carl and Adams. Watching TV and having a laugh before taking a quick excursion to The Greville for a swift pint. Afterwards we came back and ordered a chinese!

Wednesday. I went down to fathers as usual and spent a while watching Terry Pratchett on TV and trying to clear a virus off his PC before popping in to the Swan to see Donna and co'

Thursday. What a day at work! The class I was helping look after were being visited by Taffy Thomas the Storyteller! He is a professional story teller based in the Lake District and tours the country telling stories with his "Tale Coat" This thing is amazing. It has pictures on it that relate to a certain story. Children can point to a picture to hear Taffy tell that particular story... It's like a Jukebox for storytelling! The artistry is amazing and it apparently cost £4000 10 years ago!
See the Tale Coat here.

At about 2:50pm, as we were gearing up to go, the lights went out and everything went off...

... Powercut! inconvenient, but no big deal, right? Well soon enough it was time to go and off I went. I spent the evening in the Swan as usual with the regular crowd. We drank and laughed and had a merry-old time until it was time to go home, where Lank kindly deposited me. I came in, had something to eat whilst watching Mock the Week and went to bed.

Friday. I awoke, got ready for work, got in my car, and as I was setting off I got a phonecall from the agency telling me that Calthorpe was closed due to a power faliure! Apparently it was the main fuse boards that had blown out the day before, not a typicall power cut. Nothing was working so the decision was made to close for the day! that meant only one thing...

... LONGER HALF TERM! WOOHOO!

Ahem... I went back in side and went to sleep for an hour. I got up at 9:00am-ish and had breakfast then pottered about for the morning before Phoning Kieron to see what he was doing. The answer thankfully turned out to be "not much" so I went over to play some xbox/PS3.

I came home a while later and decided to stay in and play some Red Alert 3.

Saturday. During the day I went over to Solihull to by "Only By The Night" and Chinese Democracy" by Kings of Leon and Guns and Roses, respectively.

The evening was spent over at Carl and Adams where we watched some TV played Wii Sports and ordered a chinese. I had Macao Chicken Curry which is awsome (must remember its a 49.D on their menu)
At around 12:00am-ish I came back home to bed.

Sunday. Rather normal. Dinner, Legion , Nans, Tea, Home, Bed.

Right. I wil leave you there readers.
TTFN.

The Sex-U-Tron 9000!

Hello readers and welcome to a hurried blog... I say "hurried" as it's already a day late (as usual) and it's currently 11:30pm.

Right. Lets blog...

Monday. Well I awoke to discover that someone was either: A) filming the sequel to "Day after Tomorrow" outside my house, or B) We had been given a shit-load of snow by the goodwill of the baby Jesus. I recieved a phonecall shortly after I got up and was informed by Kirsty at P+K Recruitment (thats the agency I work for) that Calthorpe was closed because of the snow...

... WOOHOO!

By way of celebration I immediately went over to Selena and Kieron. Kieron was in all day so we played through Little Big Planet for most of the morning and then Command and Conquer: Red Akert 3... In the afternoon, I went to tax my car.

I didn't go over to Adam and Carls that evening as I wasn't going to risk driving on roads that could have hosted a medium-sized olympic slalom!

Tuesday... I awoke to the familiar sound of my phones alarm ("Layla" by Eric Clapton) and looked outside to the crispy whiteyness! Again, phonecall... Snowday!

... WOOHOO!

It was Carls Birthday so I went over to his house. I phoned Marcus (who I knew would be off school as well) and we decided to go sledging! Now the main problem with this was that none of us owned a sledge... So we decided to make some!

We got 3 big plastic lids off the recycling boxes and put a cuchion on top of them. We then bound them up with a couple of bin bags and "voila!" 3 little sledges! We took then over to Elmdon park to try them out. About a million other people had the same idea though but we decide to try them out....

... They didn't work. There was too much friction so they didnt slide. We put them back in the car and went for a walk. Whilst we were approaching the top of the hill I had a couple of snowballs whizz past me. I turned around to find about 8 youths, about 15-16, lobbing snowballs at people and shouting and acting like complete dicks. No one was challenging them about it and they were spoiling the day for families by swearing and throwing snowballs at little kids. So I decided to draw their fire a bit... So I started calling them nancy-boys and that got there attention. The inbreds then started throwing big bits of ice at me but couldnt throw for shit, so I kept avoiding them and everytime one landed I would say something like "ooh, so close" or "keep trying, you're getting better" in an overly sarcastic manner. One of the inbreds then got a handful of ice and charged at me... Now I was certain that this would turn in to a fight but he threw the ice at me from a distance of about 6 feet and still managed to miss me. I started laughing and he walked off looking like a prat. We walked off to let the gayboys sulk. We had a wander round and, when we made our way back up to the top. The gayboys returned and threw a couple of missers at me. I didnt acknowledge them so the one crept up behind me. I didnt know he was there until a snowball shot past my left arm. I turned round to find him standing RIGHT behind me! So I said "how the hell did you manage to miss, you utter retard?" which he didnt like but I took a step towards him and he ran off... nob! We decided to call it a day after that. As we were leaving the gayboys decided they'd had enough as well and threw one final snowball which missed me by an inch. Since this was the closest they had come to hitting me they took that as a victory and started laughing in an over-the-top manner. The fact that they had at least 30 attempts to hit me and COMPLETELY FAILED didnt seem to stop them from thinking they were victorious... This was short lived as the one I threw back would have hit the one pleb in the face but he managed to get out of the way. They eventually walked off and so did we.

We decided to get some lunch at the Greville and then in the evening we went bowling in Rubery. All in all it was a good day!

Wednesday. I awoke, like you did, to snow but alas! I checked the radio and the BRMB website and Calthorpe was open!

... D'OH!

I made my way in through the hectic traffic and the arctic conditions and proceeded to do a full days work.... In the snow! Whoever heard of such a thing!?

In the evening I went over to fathers where we watched Terry Pratchett talking about his Alzheimers. I then called in to The Swan to meet up with Donna and co' After coming home I got myself a bite to eat and went to bed.

Thursday. I got up and looked out of the window... Frosty goodness in all its sugary whiteness (and I ain't talkin' 'bout no breakfast cereal!) And then it happened... Phonecall. Snowday.

... WOOHOO!

The day consisted of TV and microwaveable food. In the evening people went to the swan (sans Lank who, quite understandably, didn't want to drive in the harsh conditions) where we were told that, because of the weather and the lack of people the bar would be closing at 10:00pm...

... D'OH!

We drank our fill and at 10:30pm we left. I had walked up rather than ask ma' for a lift as I quite enjoy cold nights. I always seem to feel more comfortable in the cold than I do in the warm...

But on this occasion Carl offered to drop me back and I obliged as even I could see that negotiating icy pavements after 5 pints of Guinness isn't just silly, it's down right SUICIDAL!

Friday. I awoke to slightly less snow and consigned myself to the fact that Calthorpe would be open. I was getting ready for work when I got a phonecall!... Snowday!

... WOOHOO!

I went back to bed for a bit and got up around 10:00am-ish to mess about on the internet watching just about every video on youtube and discovering all sorts of things on wikipedia!

Then I turned the Xbox and played a bit of Halo.

In the evening I went over to Adam and Carls and John had appeared! Yes he was back in Brum' so we celebrated by watching TV! yeah... We know how to live it up...

... Ahem.

I came home at about 11:30pm and went to bed.

saturday. I got up and needed something new to occupy myself with. I had enjoyed playing C&C:RA3 at Kierons so I went in to Solihull to buy it for myself. I was in and out of GAME in Mell Square within 20 minutes.

I came home and played the first few levels before heading over to Adam and Carls (and Johns) with my 360 Hardrive and C&C:RA3 to show it off.

Right. Sunday. This is where it gets strange. After Dinner I went to the legion as usual but because of the blizzard outside we were quite empty... Not totally empty, but a little bit empty. Myself and David (who I work with on a Sunday) felt the onset of boredom... So we decided to stave off the boredom by cutting up boxes to throw away...

... Then it got out of hand...

... I grabbed some plastic cups, and a knife and I just started building...

... The result is below...





Sexy!

It wants you!

I christened my creation the "Sex-U-Bot 9000" and wore it for a while before taking it off to serve at the bar. Yes it was silly but it was good fun!

Afterwards I went to my nans for tea as usual before coming home.

Right. I will leave it there readers.

TTFN.

All good things...

Hello readers and welcome to this weeks blog.

Last week I left you on a bit of a cliffhanger when I said that I was feeling shite. Basically I text Julie asking her if she would like to go out for the evening and the reply I got wasn't inspiring. She said that she thought it was a good idea if we didn't see each other anymore and all communication was severed...

... Lovely!

So I went with Donna to the Red Lion in Earlswood for a drink to try and drown my sorrows...

... What nobody told me is that sorrows can swim!

Anyhoo... Tuesday. Work went quite quick and in the evening I went with Donna to the Swan for a drink and a chat. Whilst there we ran in to father and one of his friends so we joined them, and somehow we managed to get on to the subject of Tiramisu and that Dad has a good recipe for one. We had a good old chinwag but chucking out time soon came along and Donna dropped me home,

Wednesday. The evening was spent at fathers as usual where we watched something like "Americas-wildest-most-outrageous-police-videos-gone-bad-ever-uncut" until I went over to Donnas house (with a Tiramisu recipe!) as she wasn't at the pub because she had a bit of a sniffle. Whilst there I noticed that she had Wii Fit. I was asking her what it did and so she decided to show me. Now I thought that it was all aerobics and yoga, but NO! it has all sorts of balancing games and a full range of fun things to do. Now the one that caught my eye was the skiing... I had one go and discovered that I was crap at it. But I became slightly obsessed with it and spent an hour or so getting good at it until finally I dominated the top spot on the leaderboard... Just because I thought it was something I SHOULD be good at...

... Not that I'm a competitive person, honest.............

Ahem... Anyway time soon came to say goodnight and I came home to go to bed.

Thursday. Work went well and I was home before I knew it. The evening was spent in The Swan as usual and a good time was had by all. At 11:30pm though it was time to make tracks.

Friday. I went, in the evening, over to Adam and Carls. Adam was out with work so Myself, Carl, and Marcus went for a curry. We ate ourselves silly before coming back to rendezvous with Adam (and "houseguest")

Saturday. I got up fairly early and was going to go over to Adam and Carls but realised I had let my tax expire on my car. I didn't do much except that in the evening I covered a shift at the legion. The band that were playing were a good bunch and I enjoyed myself.

Sunday. I did my normal shift at the legion and then got picked up by Selena to go off to my Aunts as it was my nans 85th birthday and we were having tea to celebrate. After a delicious bolognaise and homemade cake Selena dropped me back home.

Right. I will leave it there readers as I'm off out in a bit.

TTFN.

No funny title this week.

Hello readers and welcome to another blog. For reasons I wont go in to I feel like shite, and it's about to get worse so this blog will be a bit brief...

I should have put this at the end of my last post but I felt that I couldnt as I was a bit upset. Going back to last Sunday night/early Monday morning I found my cat, Paws in the entry unable to walk. We got her in and she imediately started having a fit. My ma' and I quickly got her to an emergency vet over in Birmingham but unfortunately it was inopperable and the decision was made to put her to sleep to save her from the stress.

We came home, tearful, and I had to go to bed as it was 2:00am.

Work on Monday was hell. I felt like a bag of crap but muddled on through. I came home and dozed off on the couch to catch up with some sleep. In the evening I went over to Adam and Carls house to try and take my mind off things.

Tuesday. Work seemed to drag and I was glad to get home at 4:30pm in the evening I went back over to Adam and Carls for the usual weekly lads night in.

Wednesday. On Wednesday I had the night to myself as father was Skiing in Austria. I played some Xbox and went over to Adam and Carls.

Thursday. Work went well and I was out the door before I knew it. The evening was spent in The Swan as usual. A good time was had by all but before we knew it, it was time to go. We drank up and Lank dropped me home.

Friday. After work I came home and watched a bit of TV before going out... Somewhere. Damnit! Why can't I remember Fridays?

Saturday. I awoke early-ish and phoned Mr Turbitt to see what was what. I went over and it was decided that we should go out to Dudley zoo! Marcus drove and we were soon on our way. We got there for about 11:45am and went straight in. Of the many animals we saw, the one that got my attention was a Raven in a big cage who was as domesticated as a small puppy. It even played Fetch!

Naturally I have photos (and one video that Marcus doesn't want putting on the internet, so to see it you will have to ask me to show it to you!)

A cheeky monkey!

Once, upon a midnight Dreary as I pondered weak and weary....



A snow Leopard

A lion (well duh!)

This isn't zoomed in! I actually got this close to 2 lynx cats! (though what you cant see is the pane of glass between them and me!)

Anyway. We soon arrived at the point in the day where we had seen everything and the zoo was winding-up for the evening so we made our move and came back home. After a while I left Adam and Co' as they were off Bowling, but I had arranged to meet up with Kate whom I know from College and haven't seen in a while. I went over to her house to pick her up but we ended up staying in and watching various episodes of The Mighty Boosh on DVD. At about 11:30pm I called it a night and came home.

Sunday. Normal one. Dinner, Legion, Nans, Home, Bed.

Right. I'm off out in a bit to drown my sorrows (more on that next week)

... Thats right. I've used the old "cliffhanger" on you...

TTFN!

No holes "Bard"

Hello readers and welcome to this weeks blog. I am going out in a bit so I won't be long.

Last Monday I rolled in to work and in to a class that I have only worked in once before and was told that I would be there all week... Which was nice! Afterwards I came home and messed about on t'internet before taking Gears of War 2 and my hard drive over to Adam and Carls where we sat trying our hand at some of the achievements before I came home for 12:00 midnight.

Tuesday. Now Tuesday evening is a bit of a blur. I can't remember if I saw Julie or not... I think I did. Hmm... Can anyone help me out on that one? Thanks...

Wednesday. Work seemed to Fly by and I was home after what seemed like only a couple of hours! I went down to Fathers as usual where we watched some good old fashioned "Worlds most amazing videos" I love that show... people being electrocuted, cars crashing, police shootings, and fat kids in lion enclosures.... It's no wonder the American psyche' is so well balanced...............

... Ahem.

Anyway, afterwards I popped in to the Swan like I always do to see Donna and her family. (Shit, that reminds me, I said I'd give her a call to organise a drink sometime.)

Thursday. The evening was spent in The Swan. Jess and Paul came along which was nice. Alas, Carl had the dreaded Lurgy so he wasn't able to come out. We all had a drink and a laugh until it was time to go when Lank dropped me home.

Friday. ah the weekend beckoned. I spent the evening in playing Gears of War 2 and then some Fable 2. I also decided to download the Fable 2 additional content off Xbox Live, adding more quests and new areas to the world.

Saturday. During the day I went over to Adam and Carls. Now I know I usualy say something like "we watched TV" or "we played Xbox" but no! we went out to Stratford for the day, just for something to do! Aren't we good little boys for getting out in the sunshine and crisp air? Naturally (and because I thought of this blog) I took photos!

Shakespeares Birthplace

The Church

The garden, complete with 2 grotesque gargoyle statues....

... Oh, no, wait, It's Adam and carl...!

Hee hee...

The next photo I took for effect. I can imagine it being some sort of photoshop stock photo... If the image was much better quality and the sodding light in the window wasn't on...

makes your eyes funny doesn't it?

Anyway, when we had done we came back and I had to shoot off as I was going out! Dave (who I work with, and randomly knows my sister through college) was having a night out for his birthday. I was invited and so was Julie so off I went to pick her up and bring her back to Wythall where everyone was meeting. We got to the Swan for about 8:45pm and Dave was already there with some friends. After a few drinks we ordered a taxi in to town where we went to Subculture at the Academy. I had never been to Subculture before and found that I was overdressed, wearing a shirt. Now Julie isn't a massive fan of metal but they threw in some hippety-hop music as well so she could join in. Whilst there I bumped in to Nicola, Kaz and John. I haven't seen Kaz since the middle of last year so it was good to say hi.

We drank and moshed a bit until about 2:00am where we had to call it a night. Me and Julie live in opposite directions so I made sure she got in to one taxi, and then I got in to the other. I was home for about 2:45am where i went soundly to sleep.

Sunday. Not a normal one. Although I went to the Legion I didn't go to nans. I stayed in and had a play of Fable 2!

Right. I will leave you there, readers.

TTFN!

Why do you have a balloon tied to your hair?

Hello readers and welcome to the first regular update of 2009 as promised last week.

I will kick off with last Monday. As the first day back at work, my brain couldn't comprehend that it was 7:15am when I got up and didn't really kick-in until about 10:00am so the first hour at work was a daze.

During the evening I went over to Adam and Carls. We decided to have a drink and watch Star Trek DS9... Yes. Yes we did.

Tuesday wasn't so bad. After work I came home and dozed off before having a bite to eat and heading off to see Julie. We went for a drink in the Queslett but Jules was suffering from a bit of a head-cold so we didn't stop long. Soon after dropping her off I came back home to bed.

Wednesday. After work I came home to mess about on my xbox before going down to fathers in the evening. For Christmas I bought him a new Freeview box because his had broken and whilst I was there i decided to install it for him as he hadn't done it yet. I got it up and running and thankfully it did what most "self tuning" devices don't normally do... Tune itself!

Afterwards I popped over to the swan to see Donna and co' before coming home.

Thursday. The evening was spent in the Swan, though with reduced numbers. Jess came out though which was nice and added her unique blend of wonderful madness to the mix. When it was time to go home Lank dropped her home before giving me a lift back as usual.

Friday. Ah the first week at work was nearly over. I left Calthorpe at 3:45pm and made haste for home. During the evening I went over to Adam and carls with my copy of Gears of War 2 though we ddin't play it. We had a drink and watched Star Trek DS9... Yes. Yes we did.

Saturday. Adam and Bobby's birthdays. During the day I stayed in whilst my nan and grandad came round as usual. At about 5:30pm-ish I bungled my shirt into my backpack and set off for Adam and Carls. When I got there I found them having a drink and watching Star Trek DS9. I joined them and when it was time to get ready I threw my shirt on. We waited for Marcus and Jenny and we made our way in to Solihull, meeting the rest of the gang in Wetherspoons. Whilst there we met Jo and Paul who were out with friends. After Wetherspoons we went to Reflex. Now obviously being a dual-birthday celebration you would expect to see a multitude of photos...

... Well I'm sorry but I'm going to have to disapoint you. Sorry. I only took one and it is of Bobby with a balloon tied to his ponytail...

There we go!

Everyone stayed until about 1:40am when we decided to cal it a night and to go and get some chips...

Sunday. I awoke late (after eating chips and sobering up I drove home... seriously, I only had 2-3 drinks and stopped all together at about 12:00 midnight, meaning that by the time I left Adams after eating my chips I was fine) but managed to scoff my dinner and get down to the legion for my usual shift. Afterwards I went down to my nans for tea before dropping back in on the legion for a swift half before coming home to bed.

Right. Thats where I will leave you readers. TTFN

Happy new something....

Well readers. Here we are... 2009. I will first appologise for not blogging over the festive season but to be quite honest I had neither time nor the energy to do it. I thought it would be better to amalgamate (ooh! big word... Triple nerd score!) 3 weeks of blogging in to one generalised one as the first blog of the new year.

For this reason, I'm not blogging every day, I will give you an overview with certain points of interest highlited with a little more detail and prescision...

So. Where to begin? Well the last week of work usually involves not doing much but what we did do was take the kiddies to a church service. I haven't stepped in to a church in a long while... And the last service I went to (weddings not withstanding) was when I was a child. So, as the old oak doors swung open I swear I could hear the choir singing the theme from The Omen (refresher video below)

Great piece of music...

I also took a couple of photos which I was going to manipulate with photoshop to see if I could get them looking a bit artistic though I havent bothered as yet so here they are in original format...

I'm sure John will offer constructive critisism

Anyway, the week was soon over and after recieving choccs and cards from more people than I thought knew me, I was a free man... Or was I?...

... Well the short answer is "yes" but I still had to do all of my christmas shopping so I arranged to go in to Birmingham with Adam that weekend. I got over to his house on the morning of the 20th. We were all set to go and then we looked at the weather and thought "sod it" and had a beer and a gaming session on the xbox.

We did, however get to do our Christmas shopping on the Monday, so we were OK.

Chrismas eve was interesting. I was working at the Legion and hadn't done a night-shift in a while. I was surprised to find that it was fairly quiet but the band were quite good so I had a good evening.

Christmas day was spent over at my nans house. We did the whole presents thing and had lunch. We were there until about 5:30-ish when me and Selena left to go to our Aunts house to see the rest of the family...

... But not before a quick detour...

We weren't due down to our aunts until about 7:00-ish so we popped back to Selenas because she had gone and bought herself "Little Big Planet" for the PS3. I had heard about it but not actually played it so I was looking forward to having a go. It plays beautifully and is quite funny in places. The level creator can be a pain because you have to build EVERYTHING from scratch which would take forever but apart from that the game is amazing. Check it out.

So after Christmas I bought some clothes with my money from Birmingham and in the run up to the new year I didn't do much except keep nipping over to my sisters for games of LBP or going over to Adams to chill out and generaly get out of the house.

New years eve came upon us and everyone was rallied to The Swan as a starting point for the night out. Our ultimate destination was Benjamines in Halesowen (since nic' and Jules' dad owns it!)

We arrived after a considerable journey in a mini-bus taxi and we got straight on to the important business of waiting to be served to have a drink. We had some grub as there was a nice buffet laid on and stood beside the bar enjoying the disco. At the pivotal moment we all cheered and hugged and shook hands before getting back to dancing and trying to ingest as much beer and spirits as possible. Sadly the only photo I took was of Jasons ear when he stuck a cocktail umberella through his piercing...

Lovely!

Well anyway the following day I awoke at about 3:00pm... Yes. You read that right. The next few days I spent recovering until Yeasterday when I went back to work.

Right. Thats it for now readers. Service will return to normal next week.

TTFN

"Calling all units..."

Hello readers and welcome to a Wednesday blog. I would have done it yesterday but I was a little hurried after work. Anyway, enough excuses, lets crack on with it.

Last Monday I went to see Julie over in Sutton. We went for a quiet drink to pass the evening in another local pub (seriously, there are loads in Sutton!) before we had to call it a night at about 11:30pm when I dropped her home.

Tuesday. I went over to Adam/Carl/Johns where we had a go on Tom Clncy's Endwar. I had downloaded the demo the week previous and had shown Adam. he was so impressed with it that he had gone and bought the game. A bold move, and yet I knew that I was going to end up buying it myself as it is a very good strategy based battle simulator.

Wednesday. After work I came home and decided that Buying Endwar was inevitable so off I went to Solihull to purchase it. I came back and got stuck in to it. It's one of those genre-defining titles. The game can be played using voice commands and it is brilliantly done. Tactics are key, and knowing when to use certain resources to your advantage is vital. I love it! After an hour or so playing I went down to Fathers as usual before dropping in on Donna and co' in the Swan for the final leg of the quiz.

Thursday. After work I came home to get to grips with Endwar and emerse myself in all its futuristic fighting goodness. In the evening I went to the Swan as usual and drank some Guinnesses!

Friday. After work I came home to shout at my xbox before going over to Adam/Carl/Johns for another Lads night in... Though Adam wasn't there as he was at a works do.

Saturday. Right... Saturday morning was spent in a place that is almost alien to me. A place that fills my puny, podgy little body with dread... Thats right...

... a Gym!

Me and Kieron went to Ironworks in Cotterige, and for those of you that know the area, as you go up the long hill towards Cotterige island, you pass a Toby Carvery (opposite the junction to the trading estate) and a BP garage on your left . Well between the two is a little driveway and it lies down there, tucked away. I never knew it existed and I have been up that road hundreds of times on the way to see my nan! We spent an hour doing cardiovascular exercises before moving on to the weights. Now I will pont out that Kieron used to go to Ironworks regularly, and his job involves moving big bits of metal around... Usually bits of a forklift! So his arms are bigger than mine, and he knows what he is doing. I decided that rather than look like a complete wimp and take weights off the machines I would try to match him in weight and times lifted...

... That was a silly thing to do.

To my credit, and this is me trying to grasp at least the slightest glimmer of a positive outcome, I surprised myself at the amount I can lift. I got up to 8 reps' of 80kg (just short of one-tenth of a tonne) but I reckon I could go heavier... By the time we got on the big thing that lets you attempt such a feat, we had already been lifting weights on a smaller thing. Anyway, we left at mid-morning and went back to Selena/Kierons for a bit before I came home as they were off up the Villa. I ended up going over to Adam/Carl/Johns but Carl and John weren't in as they had gone to Plymouth for the weekend! Me and Adam played Endwar for a bit and then got something to eat before watching some TV with a cold beer. Proper lads night in!

Sunday. I woke up and I couldn't move... My arms and shoulders were killing me from the day before. I concluded that I must have pulled the muscles in my shoulders and arms because they felt like lead weights. I went to the legion and afterwards, went to nans for tea. Watched the last of the current series of TopGear, came home to bed.

Right. I will leave you there readers.
TTFN!

You push your fingers in to your what?

Hello readers and welcome to this weeks update. Well, I say "readers" but I'm not sure who reads this anymore. Readers? Are you out there? My aim when I started this was just to jot down what I had done, but that has changed. As John pointed out I sometimes get days mixed up, but it doesn't matter because what I want this to be is a general space where my readers can feedback, host little conversations in the shout box, and really input to make my blog bigger than the sum of its parts. I might sit here typing it, but it doesn't count for much if it is a static entity. It needs to grow and... And...

Oh, bollocks who am I kidding?

Anyway, enough of that. Lets blog.

Monday. Monday evening was spent round Adam and Carls and Johns. We ended up playing some Carcassone and Catan (if you don't know what they are, you didn't click the links in my previous posts) until finally breaking out RockBand! Yes! The Mothers of Destruction were reunited! We played until about 12:00am and then I had to get going.

Tuesday. Work passed quite quickly and I was home for 4:30pm. In the evening it was back over to Adam/Carl/Johns and Marcus and Jenny joined us for some TV/xbox

Wednesday. The evening was spent at Fathers and then at 10:00pm I made my way down to the Swan to meet up with Donna and co'. Now I always help them with the last couple of rounds of the quiz, though I usually don't get many answers in. This Wednesday though I didn't have to! Rent-a-crowd (The team name of Donna and co') came joint first! Well done to them! They won some cash and the respect of everyone in the Swan!

Thursday. After work I came home and nodded off for a bit! In the evening I walked up to the Swan (Lank was at the Villa) to meet the usual suspects plus Paul and Jess who have recently moved back to Wythall! A warm welcome to them both, and I hope to see them out and about more often!

Friday. (You'll notice I'm doing these quickly. I'm off out in a bit!) I went to......?

... Yes, you've guessed it! Solihull to meet upwith the lads. We ended up ordering Chinese...

... Which was nice!

Saturday. I went to HMV to take my copy of Guitar Hero back as it had gone the way of the Dodo. I got my cash back and glad that I don't have to mess about with it any more. in the evening I went, yet again, over to Solihull.

Sunday... Ah, Sunday... I finished the Legion at 6:00pm because I was going, with Jason and Gemma to the NIA to see Slipknot in concert! I had seen them years ago when I was at college on the "Iowa" tour. Gemma hasseen them at the Download Festival, but Jason was a Slipknot Virgin.

We got to the venue in good time and had a couple of drinks. We then went in to the arena to catch the first band "Children of Bodum" who play some good old "simple-riffs-and-a-lot-of-shouting" kind of metal. We headed on out after they were off stage to refill our glasses. We came back in to see Machine Head. They were awsome and did a really good set. After an hour or so Slipknot came on stage to much rowdyness... As is the way at these events! (well who ever heard of a quiet gig?)

They did all of the crowd pleasers and then some! I have a couple of photos for you...

The black smudge in the middle is Corey Taylor

Band members with the glorious "Tribal S" logo.

These photos don't do them any justice.....

So here's one I half-inched from the website!

Yep. That's sort of a better quality, isn't it?

Anyway they left the stage after one encore and I honestly thought they would come back on and do "Wait and Bleed" which was their first ever single and the song which they are known for... You know what I mean... "Wait and Bleed" is to Slipknot what "Rockin' all over the world" is to Status Quo. But alas! They did not reappear! I was a bit gutted and I think Jason was too. Still Jason is happy he can say he's seen them live!

Afterwards we went to Macdonalds. We sat inside and ate our grease-pots before climbing in to the nearest availiable taxi to come home!

phew! Right. I'm off out in a bit so I will eave you there.

TTFN!

Yawn...

Hello readers and welcome to a half-arsed blog. I'm tired, hungry, and have to go out later so this is going to be brief... Well, I'll try and put a little effort in for just for you.

Monday. Work went well and in the evening I went over to see Julie. We went for a drink in the local Apres' bar where Guinness is regarded as something only your great grandfather might drink, and all the lights are flourescent because anything else "just wouldn't do"

We sat and chatted for a few hours before deciding to head on back. I only stayed a short while before coming back to Wythall for about 12:00am

Tuesday. The evening was spent round Carl and Adams and lo-and-behold John was there! Yes he is back from Plymouth and currently staying in the Sambourn residence. We had a number of games of Carcassonne which is another of Carls many board games...

... Though we were playing the Xbox version!

Click the link to see what it's all about. Or, for those of you with an interest in history, click here to learn about the real city of Carcassonne in France!

... Did you click the link? if you did, I can say that my vlog is being used for educational purposes!

Anyway we played until about 12:30am and then I decided that I should go and get to bed, so I left.

Wednesday. Work = Good. Went down to fathers as usual and then went off to the Swan to see Donna and her family.

Thursday. The evening was spent in the Swan with the usual crowd. A good time was had by all until 11:30pm when we were out of drinking time and had to leave.

Friday. Work came and went and I was free for the weekend. The evening was spent back over at Carl and Adams (and Johns!) playing Guitar Hero and watching TV... However. Disaster struck when my GH drum kit (that had to be fixed before) suffered a heart attack and partially died on me! The left pad and symbol were refusing to work (so actually, a "stroke" would be a better description) I was livid! we continued with Johns RockBand drum kit but it just dodn't feel the same...

saturday. I went back over to Carl And Adams as the plan was to go in to Birmingham. We took one look at the weather and thought "blow that for a game of soldiers" so we stayed in. More Xbox, films, snacks etc... I thoroughly enjoyed it! I didn't leave until about 1:00am!

Sunday. Normal one. Legion. Nans. Tea. Home. Bed.

I will leave you there for abnother week readers. TTFN!

Heeeeey!

Hello readers. Welcome to another thrilling update. Let me dive right in with last Monday...

After work I came home to watch some TV and then head on over to Sutton to see Julie. We headed over to the pub and had a good natter. I enjoyed it. After dropping Julie back home I made my way back to Wythall.

Tuesday. Work went quickly and I was out of the door and back home before I knew it. In the evening I went over to Carl and Adams. I took Guitar Hero with me and we had a good old jam session before I decided to call it a night at about 11:00pm

Wednesday. The evening wasn't spent down at fathers as he was attending a "meeting" for Ladies Night (more of that below) so I met up with Carl and Marcus in the Greville for a swift pint.

Thursday. Work went well and the evening was spent in The Swan (as always!) though our numbers were dwindled. Still, we all had good fun and at 11:30pm lank dropped Nicola and me home...

... Hang on, I will clarify that...

Lank dropped Nicola at her house, and then me at mine...

There we go. Thats better.

Friday. At 3:45pm I shot out of work like the building was on fire. I wanted to get home and kick-start the weekend, since I had a busy but enjoyable one planned! In the evening I went back over to Carl and Adams and we ended up playing a board game called "Settlers of Catan" which is a trading and city-building board game, though it is relatively simple to play. (Click the link to view the wiki article) I enjoyed it and might look in to aquiring one of the many variants and expansions that the game has spawned.

Saturday... During the day, not a lot happened. But the evening.... Ah, the evening. It was Ladies Night at the Chateau Impney in Droitwich. The Tuxedo was pressed and pin sharp! I arrived at Fathers with Selena at 6:15pm ready for the taxi at 6:30pm. We, along with some of dads neighbours, were at the Chateau for 7:00pm and imediately started mingling and saying hello to people. We went in to the meal which was a 5 course bonanza (all of which was fantastic) and then the entertainment started...

Basically, every year the lads put something together, last year they did a hula routine. This year they did a "Husbands military-style drill, with deckchairs" (seriously!) I hoped that by the time I sat down to write this that the video would be on youtube but it's not. I wil post it when it is though!

Anyway, to tide you over here is a still photo of said drill...

I must commend them on the choreography. The rifle drill with the deckchairs was most impressive!

After the entertainment the disco started. I have a few photo's though they aren't mine. They are "borrowed" from Sophie's facebook album...

Selena. The Minnie Mouse ears appeared at some point throughout the evening and she ended up wearing them!

Now, before any of you pass judgement, let me explain that I had been drinking WINE. You can see the glass in my hand. Secondly, why has no one ever told me that when I smile I look like a younger CAPTAIN MAINWARING! for Christs sake!?

I mean lets compare that, shall we?

Me, aged 50? You decide...

Anyway. At 1:00am the taxi returned to take us home. I was ready to drop. I got in and went straight to bed.

Not-very-many-hours later I awoke, Sunday morning. I got up and headed over to Adam and Carls as we were off to Memorabilia at the NEC. We got there for about 12:00 mid day and were soon wandering around all the geeky goodness that makes up the show. We spent time looking at all the...

... Oh sod it...

... Sod the lot of it. You know what? All this is completely pointless. I could witter on about film props, movie posters, and people dressed up as daleks... But it's all for nothing....

Because whilst there I saw the king of cool, himself. The one and only....

Can you tell who that is?

It is non other than Mr. Henry "The Fonz" Winkler! Oh yes, people, lap it up! There he is.

He did a talk on stage about the first ever interview he had at the studios. He is naturally funny and, as I realised when he was asked a question from one of the crowd, a really nice bloke! I wishe we had hung around to see if we could have got an autograph but we decided to press on. It must be said that this years Memorabilia seemed smaller than previous ones. It was in the same hall, and filled it no problem, but somehow there didn't seem to be as much happening. Anyway we saw everything that there was to see and left. We went to The Greville for lunch and then back to Carl and Adams for a game of Settlers of Catan. I didn't go to my nans as the driving, walking round the NEC and the large lunch had made me sleepy so I lounged around until it was time to come home.

Right. I will leave you there readers. TTFN.

Ding-Ding. Round 1...

Hello readers and welcome, yet again, to my little piece of the internet. I will start blogging for your viewing pleasure...

... Now!

last Monday is where I will start, and a good Monday it was, too. After work I came home to relax for a bit before heading over to Sutton to see Julie. We went for a drink in her local and ended up playing on one of those games machines that eat all your money for the chance to answer a hundred questions so you can win a pound of it back. However, the games machine we were on seemed rather more forgiving... We were playing guess who and, after a couple of wins I won (sorry, "we" won) £5.00! I was rather pleased with myself (sorry, "us")

Afterwards I dropped Julie back home and came home myself to go to bed.

Tuesday. Work went quite quickly and I was running out the door before I knew it. In the evening I went over to Solihull and took Guitar Hero with me. We played for a few hours before it was time to pack up and come home.

Wednesday... After work I came home and in the evening, went down to Fathers as usual. We watched a bit of Laurel and Hardy before I came home. I didn't meet Donna at the quiz as she wa a bit knackered and hadn't gone.

Thursday... After work I went over to my sisters as it was her birthday. I had bought her Bill baileys new DVD "Tinselworm" which we actually saw live at the NIA. I came back for about 7:30pm and was picked up by Mr. Thomas to be whisked off to The Swan at 8:00pm. I drank some Guinness... And then we came home for about 11:30pm... Seriously, there isn't much else to tell.

Friday. Ah, I could smell the weekend. I finished at work and went in to Solihull to pick up my Guitar Hero Drums and Microphone from HMV so now I had the whole set. I spent most of the evening playing them and I am now officially naff at drumming!

Saturday... I awoke and played Guitar Hero for a bit before Selena, Nan and Grandad came up as usual. In the evening I had tea before getting out the ol' tuxedo for a night out. Basically, there was a night of Boxing in Birmingham, organised by the gym that my dad attends. It was a "black tie" type of shin-dig, with a meal and non stop wine. There were 6 bouts of boxing from various weights and classes. The evening went on until 12:00 midnight. We were picked up by our taxi and were all dropped home.

Sunday. I awoke late, as my head was full of Cabernet-Souvignon, and had dinner. Went to the Legion, then afterwards I DIDN'T go to my nans for tea, instead everyone went round Fathers as he had made tea. By the time I got there everyone had eaten so I sat on-my-one-dot-com and had my chilli con carne alone... Tasted good though! At about 10:00pm everyone left and I came home to watch a bit of TV before going to bed...

... Right. I will leave you there readers. Next Saturday is ladies Night so thetre will be piccies for you next week! TTFN!

"Overkill" live, and then on the xbox?

Hello readers and welcome to another little update.

I will begin last Monday, and after work I went home for a bit and then got dressed in my bset rock-togs because Father, Mr parlett and I were off to see Motorhead at the Civic! We set off at about 6:00pm and were there for 6:45pm. We parked in a nearby car park and walked over to the Hall. Saxon were already playing when we got in, so we got some drinks and found our seats. It wasn't too long until Motorhead were out in full force! The concert was brilliant, though the only peeve I have about it is that one of the lights had no filter on it, and it was aimed straight at me, so everytime it flashed, my eyes melted! I overcame this problem by closing my eyes every beat to miss the searing flash that it emitted. Apart from that slight hiccough though I enjoyed myself. The last couple of songs were "Overkill" and of course "Ace of Spades" The latter of which I videoed...


See what I mean about that sodding light?

Anyway...


Tuesday, and work passed quickly. I came home to blog and then went over to Solihull to pick up a couple of jumpers. Well the colder weather is settling in, and I don't want to catch a sniffle now, do I readers? No, no I don't...



In the evening I went back over to Adam and Carls (I do a lot of driving, don't I?) to watch some TV (Star Trek Voyager was on!) and to chill out... Well, home is generally boring, isn't it?



Wednesday... Now Wednesday was interesting. After work I came home and got changed because Father and Mr. lake were having a fireworks evening. Dad picked me up in the van and we set off. We set up the bonfire... An old oil drum filled with scrap wood and things and with a few holes in it to air the embers... It's what I like to call a "Hobbo Fireplace"



The family Lake arrived soon afterwards, followed by my Aunt and cousins. We had some good fireworks and, of course, sparklers! Whilst the sparklers wer lit I decided to "do a John" and "paint" with the light by using a slow shutter speed on my camera... Something I haven't really done before... The result is sort of like I imagined, but by no means David Bailey standard...

See what I mean?

Anyway. After the fireworks and the mulled wine had run out, we decided to call it a night. We finished off by fueling the fire and watching it for a bit before leaving (with the Hobbo Fireplace still lit!) Father dropped me off and I watched a bit of TV before going to bed.

Thursday. After work I went to Tescos to buy myself a gentlemans scarf. Now I have had scarves in the past and I don't really like them, but Tescos had some in that looked nice, and were made of soft wool. So off I went. I got a chocolate brown one (that goes with my jacket perfectly) and left.

The evening was spent in The Swan. I walked up, (wearing my nice new scarf) as Mr. Thomas wouldn't be joining us until later. I arrived and quickly started the important business of sampling the Guinness... It was good! After the merryment and the laughter t'was time to go. Lank dropped me back home where I went to bed.

Friday... Ah Friday. I shot out of work like a Bat out of Hell, into Solihull to pick up my copy of Guitar Hero: World Tour. I left HMV and high-tailed it back home to have a go... IT IS BRILLIANT! The new features on the guitar controler are awsome, and the game is as good as the other 3. I then got bored of playing solo, so I went back over to Solihull to Carl and Adams to share the musical wonder that is Guitar Hero.

Saturday. I don't remember much about Saturday... Strange, considering it was only 3 days ago, as I sit here typing this thing... My nan and Grandad came over. Then I think I went out... somewhere... Possibly back over to Carl and Adams. Sorry.

Anyway. Sunday. Normal one. Dinner. Legion. Nans. Home.

Right. I'm off. TTFN

I know it says it is, but it just isn't a Penny Farthing!

Hello readers and welcome to another little blog... So let's begin.

Last Monday was the start of the half term week so I was not at work. I woke up at about 10:00am and sat playing Fable 2 for most of the day. In the evening I went over to Adam/Carls as usual to while away the evening so as to stop me being a lonely recluse.

Tuesday... Fable 2 all day and then I might have gone somewhere other than Solihull during the evening... I might have met up with Donna... I can't remember. Sorry.

Wednesday. Sorry, but Fable 2 ruled the daytime hours. In the evening I went down to Father and then we went down to my nans as my Auntie Molly and her daughter "Auntie" Betty had come over from America... Actually when I say "Auntie" it's more like "Great-second-cousin" (I think... Since Aunt Molly was my Grandads first cousin) and "Great-second-cousin-once removed for betty (Have I got that right? Geneology isn't one of my strong points)

We stayed for a couple of hours before leaving. I dropped father off and then met up with Donna in the Swan for the end of the quiz.

Thursday was an interesting day... I stopped playing Fable to turn my hand to something I hadn't done since I was little... I was going to carve a pumpkin! I had got the idea a few days before and had purchased one with the intent of carving it out, cutting it, and making pumpkin soup. Now I didn't want to do a traditional "angry face" pumpkin, I wanted to do something different, but still cool... So I did! Want to see the results? Check out below!

Oh yeah! Thats right! Decepticons forever!

I thought it wasn't bad for half-an-hours work.

In the evening I went with Mr Thomas to the Swan for a drink. Whilst there Leigh and Donna turned up for a drink or two (unusual for a Thursday)

Friday. Ah, now then Driday was good. We all went to Coventry Motor Museum! I had never been before but Adam had. He drove, following my trusty tomtom and we were there and parked for 2:00pm (we didn't get an early start, but we didn't really want one so it was ok.)

There were many different exhibits: old cars, new cars, fast cars, even faster cars, the fastest car ever, famous cars, not-so famous cars, and, to top it off, bikes!

Naturally, I have piccies for you...

Adam on a "Penny Farthing"... which it quite clearly isn't despite being labeled as one.

The fastest car in the world!!! Thrust 2, which went supersonic!

And a Metro... Not just any old Metro though, no... This one was Princess Diannas!

Anyway we left at 5:00pm and went back to Solihull for a bit. I then came home to get ready for my cousins birthday! She waas having a curry down at my aunts house so I went down for 8:00pm... Though we didn't eat until 9:30pm by which time I was starving!

I stayed until about 11:30pm and then called it a night.

Sunday. Ah Sunday.... At the Legion I caught the end of the F1 and watched Lewis become the youngest ever F1 champion... Well done, sir, I say!

Afterwards it was nans for as usual...

Right, I will leave you there readers. TTFN

Appologies...

Sorry readers. I know this blog is 3 days late but I haven't really had chance to sit down and type it. I will start with Monday 20th October... Which, for one reason or another wasn't the best Monday I have ever had. But I wont bore you with details, I will just crack on with it.

So Monday after work I came home and sat about on the internet, checking Facebook and reading Emails, as usual, then in the evening I went to the Swan with Donna, and we were joined by Jason, Gemma, Nicola, Julia, and lee... Which was nice!

Tuesday. I finished work and had to fight my way out of the carpark, and then fight my way round the island, then fight my way through Moseley... Seriously, there must have been some sort of diversion nearby because the traffic was twice the intensity that it usually is at 3:30pm. Anyway I got home and sat about watching TopGear before going over to Adam/Carls for a drink in the Greville.

Wednesday. Work seemed to pass quickly... Which I suspect no-one complains ever complains about, and was home for 4:00pm. I spent an hour looking at the reviews for Fable 2 and thinking that in less than 48 hours I would be sampling all it's gamey-goodness... Now at this point I expect that your expecting me to say that I went down to Fathers house... But no! I actually had a far more cultured evening planned... I went to the theatre! Yes readers, the Theatre. the TA's from Woodrush and I were going to see Fame!: The Musical at the Old Rep as Craig Hall, who teaches drama at Woodrush was in it as Joe Vegas. We got to the Old Rep for 7:15pm and the curtain went up at 7:30pm we had a good laugh as craig is quite comical anyway, but the charecter of Joe is the typical "class-clown" (something I can relate to!) It was about 2 and a half hours long, with the interval, so after a natter and the goodbyes we were back on the road for 10:20pm and back to wythall for 10:40pm. I got dropped off and came in to watch some TV.

Thursday. I went to work in the knowledge that I wouldn't be needed the following day, so this was my last day at Calthorpe. Work went well and I was out for 3:30 so I came home and played about on t'internet before walking up to the Swan. Mr Thomas was otherwise engaged... He and Mr Bennett were off in Aston, watching some men in shorts fight over a ball of air... All sounds dodgy to me. Anyway, I enjoyed the Swan as everyone had a good laugh. Mr Heales gave me a lift back with Gem' and Becky, saving me from the cold. I came in and had a bite to eat before going to bed...

... Friday morning I sprang out of bed, into my clothes, jumped down stairs and was in my car less than 10 minutes after waking up! I shot over to Solihull and picked up my limited edition of Fable 2 from GAME. I then came back and got to grips with it! In fact I was on it for most of the day. In the evening I went over to Adam/Carls as Adam had got his copy after work that day. I stayed until about 11:00pm then came home to play more Fable 2!

Saturday... Guess what I played all day? In the evening I may have gone out but I can't quite remember... Sorry readers.

Sunday. I had a normal one... Dinner, Legion, Nans, Tea...

Right. I will leave you there readers. TTFN

I'm a compulsive gambler...

Hello readers and welcome to another little blog.


I will begin with last Monday, as always. I went over to Solihull to see Adam and Carl in the evening. We spent time watching TV until about midnight and then I left.

Tuesday. Whilst at work I did something rather peculiar... I chipped my tooth on a Twix! Yes. You read that right... Well actually I had chipped my tooth a couple of years before and my dentist put a surface filling over it. But eating a twix dislodged it and so I now have a little bit missing off the edge of one of my front teeth.

I went to see Julie in Sutton. We went for a drink at one of the many locals she has near her and we sat chatting until chucking-out time when we left.

Wednesday. After work I went over to Solihull to pre-order a copy of Fable 2 from HMV for when it is released on Friday 24th of October. I did that and then popped round the shops and bought some new togs before coming home. In the evening I went down to fathers as usual before meeting up with Donna in the Swan.

Thursday. I came home and watched TV before Going over to pick Lank up as he was returning to the Swan after his leave of absence and I wasn't prepared to let him drive. (It didn't seem fair somehow.)

Friday. In the evening I went back over to Sutton to see Julie. We stayed in watching TV before I left at about 12:30am

Saturday. I phoned Adam up to see if he was doing anything (since I was bored) and during the conversation he mentioned that his pre-order of Fable 2 was the Limited Edition disk that came with a bit of extra content... Which I didn't know about. HMV had run out of places for LE-disks so I had the basic one on order... I wanted to sort that out because the LE-disk is only about a fiver more, and I would rather have the "full game"than miss out (purely because I am a big Fable fan) so I headed over to Adams, and we walked in to Solihull. Now adam had pre-ordered his copy of Fable 2 from "GAME not HMV so I went in to GAME and enquired about preordering the LE Fable 2... Which they did for me right there and then... And as a bonus they gave me a redeem code for the Xbox:live Arcade so that I could download the "Fable 2 pub Games" which allow you to start earning money for your charecter before you get the game... If this all sounds rather geeky, well, it is but hey-ho.... Anyway I then went to cancel my pre-order with HMV before walking back to Adams.

In the evening Me, Carl, Adam, and Marcus went for a bite to eat at The Black Boy in Knowle. I had Lamb in Redcherry and Rosemary sauce which was excellent, and Fruits of the Forrest Cheesecake for dessert. Also excellent! We left and went back to Adam and Carls for a bit before I left at about 11:00pm. I got home and downloaded my free Fable 2 Pub games and started betting (not real money, you understand) and betting, and betting... Seriously it's addictive. My favorite game is "Keystone" It's a cross between roulette and what the Americans call "Craps". You basically bet on which of the outer stones will be removed, which you do with the dice. Check it out here... Clicky!

Sunday. Normal one... Except while I was at the Legion I got bored... Maily because there were very few people in. I decided to "decorate" the Calendar on the wall......




Presenting "Kitty La Forge!" Sorry about the quality of the photo.

Anyway, I then Built a little Blu-Tac monster and put him by the sink with a note...

I want to know how long he lasts! (probably not long though)

Anyway. I left at 7:00pm before going down to my nans for tea as normal...

Right. I will leave you there readers. TTFN!