Something For The Weekend?

Not a bad weekend as far as weekends go. It was looking a bit dodgy at the beginning though. I'd had a pish day at work, my plans for Friday evening had fallen through, my heating was broken, my landline was jiggered and the smoke alarm started beebing for a new battery. Oh Lordy! I had no step ladder to get up there and the tried and tested method of bashing it with a golfing umbrella just seemed to be making it worse. I had to flee the flat and luckily I got the offer of a safe haven with heat and pizza and, as it turned out, Tenacious D. Whooopee! What more could a girl ask for? After having sampled some of their adventures (esp. the one with the shite worshipping cult who grow huge potatoes!) I'm even more looking forward to the Tenacious D movie. Hoorah!

On Saturday I bought myself a stepladder in order to tackle the smoke alarm. No more beepy little bastard. Great. Now I just need to remember to buy a replacement battery. Worry not though, it's also connected to the mains so if I burn the toast I'll still be disturbing the neighbours. Excellent.

The highlight of the weekend was The Divine Comedy at the Liquid Rooms on Sunday evening. Loooooove The Divine Comedy! Barbara and I got in just in time to see the end of the support band and got a good spot on the balcony for the bulk of the gig. He played a few from the new album, which I'd heard for the first time just before we left the flat. 'Lady of a Certain Age' is particularly fine. He also played a lot of the old favourites too. Not the Father Ted theme tune but they did do 'Something For The Weekend' and it was fabulous.

Barbara made me hang around afterwards to try and get Neil Hannon's autograph because she's met him before and kissed him after a gig about 10 years ago. Well, it was peeing with rain and for the longest time it seemed to be only me and Barbara hanging about outside. Then a nice young man who'd apparently driven over the Forth Road Bridge joined us to wait. Finally, after about 45 minutes, we spied Mr Hannon lugging an equipment case onto the tour bus. Oh joy! We were just about to leave. We scuttled over and said hello and I have to say he was absolutely charming. Barbara got another kiss but was quite jealous because she got one on the cheek and I got one on the lips. Yeeeep! Silly I know but I had a big grin on my face for about half an hour afterwards. He's a lovely chap and was very gracious to the 5 eejits who had hung about in the rain to talk to him (a drunk girl and her boyfriend turned up too). What a lovely bloke, though a little on the short side. Oh well, pobody's nerfect!

Hello Buffy My Old Friend....

It's good to see you kicking ass again.....

This weekend I rediscovered my love of Buffy... and Angel... and Spike. Mmm, Spike! (Any excuse for a pic!) My beautiful Buffy DVD box set has finally come back to me after being on loan for about 2 years and it caught my eye on Saturday while I was contemplating what to have with my coffee and square sausage roll. Needless to say, that was Saturday afternoon gone! I'm planning to work my way through seasons 1 to 7 and watch all the extras and the episodes with commentaries. That should keep me busy until Christmas and by then I might have got the Angel box set and that'd keep me out of mischief until Spring. Hoorah! Joss Whedon-licious baby!

Coincidentally I also came back to Jackie Chan and Kung Fu movies this weekend, oh how I love all things butt-kicky! I was Craig sitting on Saturday evening (while Louise made risotto and played Scrabble with Zoe. Pah!) and we watched Drunken Master. Ho ho ho, the dubbing on my copy is priceless. It adds a whole extra dimension of silliness. I really hope he didn't go home and start fighting the cat though!

After Drunken Master we had a crack at Shogun Assassin, which I've had lying around for ages and have never got round to watching. It's pretty darn good too. One of those movies where the blood shed is just Itchy & Scratchy comical. I was thoroughly enjoying it until the disc started going a bit dodgy. Gah! It was so dodgy that I completely missed the big set piece at the end where the Shogun Assasin slices and dices his way through what is left of the Shogun's ninjas. Double gah! I got a teaser of what I missed from the trailer but I'm going to have to catch up with it properly at some point.

That set me up nicely for the double bill at the Cameo on Sunday afternoon though - Kill Bill Vol 1 and 2. Quentin Tarantino has always said that they were 2 parts of one movie so when I got the chance to see them both on the big screen, for the measly sum of £5 no less, I was delighted. I still think Kill Bill 1 is one of the frickin' coolest things I've ever seen in my life. Everything from the butt-kicking to the sets to the soundtrack just oozes cool. Volume 2 is a lot slower compared to that so I can see how some people would be disappointed but I'm too easily pleased to moan about that too much. The final showdown between the Bride and Bill was nicely understated I thought. Not what you were expecting at all. Bravo Quentin!

Then Sci-Fi Sunday came about. Haggis, neeps, tatties and Battlestar Galactica. Nice! Kirsi and I only have 2 episodes of season 2 left to watch and hot dang! It's exciting stuff! I have to wait 2 weeks to find out what happens though cos I'm off to see The Divine Comedy at the Liquid Rooms next Sunday. Yay, but at the same time, phooey!

Learn Something New Every Day....

Montezuma's Revenge

Meaning

The diarrhea (also spelled diarrhoea) that is suffered by tourists when travelling to foreign parts, in this case Mexico.

Origin

Montezuma was Emperor of Mexico, 1502-20.

The sickness, more formally called "traveller's diarrhea", is usually caused by drinking unsterilised water or eating spicy food that visitors aren't accustomed to. It is a bacteriological illness, always uncomfortable, and occasionally serious. Most cases are caused by the enterotoxigenic E. coli bacterium.

The 'revenge' element of the phrase alludes to countries that were previously colonized by stronger countries and are now, in this small way, getting their own back.

Names for it vary depending on the part of the world concerned. These usually have comic names, which reflect the embarrassment felt by the sufferer and the amusement in the lucky non-sufferers. Montezuma's Revenge is also known as the Gringo Gallop and the Aztec Two-step.

Those unlucky enough to suffer from it in Asia will hear it called Ghandi's Revenge, Gyppy Tummy, Delhi Belly, the Rangoon Runs, Tokyo Trots etc.

"Gyppy Tummy" goes back to at least the Second World War, but "Montezuma's Revenge" isn't particularly old. The earliest citation of it in print is from the Washington Post, Jan 1960:

"‘Wasn't there anything you didn't like?’ and they admit that, like most Americans, they suffered a three-day gastric upset described by a variety of names, names like the Gringo Gallop and Montezuma's Revenge.

Or for the geeks out there:

Montezuma's Revenge is one of first platform games, an action game combining treasure hunting, multiple rooms, and puzzle solving.

I thought a picture of that was a safer bet!!

Choccie choc chocolate!

So what have I been up to recently? Not very much to be honest, sorry to disappoint. The baptism of fire in the new job and the cold weather have increased my desire to hibernate to almost ridiculous proportions. Bears have got the right idea, they sleep through the winter and intentionally make their asses fat. A fat ass on a bear is a very desirable thing. And they poop in the woods. I'm not sure what that has to do with things but I got to mention poop :o)

Ooh, apparently it's chocolate week this week. Hoorah! Get scoffing. You can now get dark chocolate Kitkats (Nestle. Boo! Why do they make the tasty stuff?) and dark chocolate flakes now. Mind you, Cadbury's can give you food poisoning now can't it? Best just stick to the Green & Black's dark chocolate with whole cherries. Yumsle!

http://www.chocolate-week.co.uk/

Here's a nice bit of trivia from the site:

1519 is probably the most crucial moment in the history of chocolate when HERNAN CORTES - Spanish explorer and one of Columbus' ambassadors met Montezuma in Tenochtitlan the capital of. Montezuma was the flamboyant Aztec Emperor. His name has become immortalised for the vast quantities of foaming 'xoco latl' he used to drink before visiting his harem of wives - this started the legend of chocolate and sex! Chocolate was Montezuma's Viagra!

Hoorah! So what's Montezuma's revenge then? Not something pleasant I do believe. Must go and Goooogle it.

I saw the future.... and it was shite!

Hiya folks

Man, I had a bad day yesterday. One of those quietly trying to weep in the toilet but everyone notices the puffy eyes days. Sigh. I hate those. It's because the last few weeks in the new job have been so mental and almost overwhelming. I hate not knowing what I'm doing and there seems to have been an awful lot of stuff to do that I don't know how to do... if you get what I mean. It's certainly been a baptism of fire in the new job anyway. The couple of days I had off with Andy were blissful but when I got back to the office there was so much to do and it all had to be done NOW NOW NOW. Waily! No wonder I had a bit of a wobbly moment!

Sigh. Good ol' Ewen (who's been groomed and no longer looks like Peter Jackson, boo!) took me out for a pint after work and we had a good ol' bitch about the whole thing though. Then I took meself home and parked under the duvet for movie viewing. I had been speaking to Ewen about Brazil and my hankering to watch it again earlier so it seemed the logical choice.

Now, some of you may know I watched Brazil when I was about 16 and it blew my brain. Scared the bejesus out of me as well, and I wasn't quite sure why. I think it's because I glimpsed my future and it wasn't pretty. Not that I'd run around being an idiot and chasing some piece of skirt but the whole administrative cock-up aspect to the film was somehow familiar. I've felt like the one that puts in the little extra effort to get something done and look where it gets you - strapped to a chair and being tortured! Yikes! It's the whole 'computer says no' culture that seems to have grown up in the world today. Aaaaargh! Perhaps administration has been an invention of the Devil to hamper humanity? There's something in that....

Oh, just don't get me started on the state of the world today. I don't feel like foaming at the mouth at the minute.

Well, I think I'm off to see the Ron Mueck exhibition this evening. Art and cocktails, how civilised! That'll cheer me up :o)

New road signs released by Highways Agency

Gotta love the nonsense! The Uni's been keeping me stupidly busy with rotten work but these did make me chuckle. Irish Andy's been visiting as well so I've been kept busy with rolling joints, making cups of tea and... other such taxing activities ;0)

We managed to plough through the whole of season 1 of Lost so now I'm wondering if I can squeeze in another viewing of season 2 before the excitement of season 3 starting on American TV. Oh it's so brilliantly crazy! Can't wait!!

More soon. Hopefully these fecking students will be all settled in and stop bothering me soon. Little barstewards!! Gah.