Going to the Theatre: The Play That Goes Wrong!

 

Happy New Year!

 

We have had a lovely Christmas and New Year celebration with loads of food, drink and merriment! Christmas parties, walks, talks, snacking, knitting, reading, tv-watching and sleeping! That summarises the last two weeks pretty well. I 'packed away' Christmas on the weekend and we are now back to 'normal'. One remaining guest is still with us for one more day, but the Student and the Professor are both back in their universities and I started work again today.

Felt ok, to be honest. Must be a sign that it was a sufficiently long and relaxing break!

 

Just wanted to give a tip if you are going to London any time soon:

We started a new family tradition last year where we go to London for a weekend either before or after Christmas to stay in a hotel and go and see a play. This time the three of us went the weekend before Christmas and saw "The Play That Goes Wrong" at the Duchess Theatre in Covent Garden. The Professor and I conveniently stayed at the Grange Strathmore in Kensington, close to where the Student now lives and it was a nice hotel. Apparently, it used to be the London residence for the late Queen Mother's father (sold in about 1898)!

 

But about the play: the website explains: The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society attempt to put on a 1920s’ murder mystery in Havisham Manor, but as the title suggests, everything that can go wrong… does, as the accident prone thesps battle on against all the odds to get to their final curtain call. This brilliant new laugh out loud comedy performed by Mischief Theatre Company has enjoyed two successful runs in the West End and was the sell out smash hit of the Edinburgh Festival with its sensational reviews, numerous accolades and awards. The Play That Goes Wrong is guaranteed to leave you aching with  laughter!

And it did. A lot of slap-stick humour - really great fun and well acted. We all particularly enjoyed Dave Hearn in the role as "Max Bennett" and Henry Shields as "the director Chris Bean". Here is the trailer:

 

 

 

 

 



Not so Much of a 'Comic'? Night Out...

Back in the spring I won a couple of ticket in a raffle to see the American comedian Reginald D. Hunter. Last Sunday Our Young Man accompanied me and we made a night of it and went out for a nice meal at Carluccio's first.

☺

We had seen Mr. Hunter on TV many times, but I was a little disappointed in his performance on Sunday. His humour can be rather crude and he sometimes addresses a lot of very controversial issues, but although there were the occasional giggle, I never really felt like there was much scope for a real hearty 'belly laugh'. Nah, to give him the benefit of the doubt - I just don't think he was 'on form' that night.

His warm up guy - Canadian born Pete Johansson - on the other hand was much funnier and his arguments for why we should re-introduce bears...(!) to the UK were simply funny!

☺

But having said this - it takes real guts (and talent) to get up and stand in front of an audience and try to make them laugh. Not something I would have wanted to do for a living!

This Got My Attention...!

Not always easy to get the attention of passengers - particularly if you fly often, but this was an inventive way

☺

 

Victim of Gender Stereotyping...

borrowed from the Internet

A letter arrived yesterday inviting my husband to come and see the new Honda CR-V coming out shortly. Ok, they used the wrong title calling him 'Mr.' while the correct title should be 'Professor' (VERY important these things around here...) and also misspelling our surname, but we are very used to that so I don't get upset about that anymore.

☺

We are not looking for a new car, but the invitation came from the local Honda dealer/garage I had recently taken the car for its annual service to. We used to take the car for service to the garage were we bought it, but this garage is about 45 minutes away from our house. I therefore thought it was much more efficient use of time to use the local Honda dealer's garage instead. The service was efficient and good, so we are good for another year.

 

However, the key fact relating to the letter is that I had booked and taken the car to the service. My husband was not involved in this arrangement at all...

 

But HE is the one that gets the invitation to come and view the new car (in the hope that they can tempt him to buy a new car, obviously)...

 

Now, that is assuming that the decision for a new car lies with a person they have not met nor do they know if he exists... And completely ignoring ME - their actual customer! And I watch Top Gear and everything (Ok, generally forced to when The Professor and Our Boy takes control over the remote...)

 

I would say I am a victim of gender stereotyping here!

 

And besides, how would they know whether he could choose the right colour or not...

?

☺

 

A New Era...

This weekend we had a farewell party for our boss who retired as director for our research group. It was a nice event where we had invited everybody we have worked with these 11 years this group has excisted. Not everybody could come, some are now as far afield as New Zealand, Australia or China, but we ended up with a good selection of people from the various years and projects. It was fun and almost a bit nostalgic seeing them all again!

 

The evening went very fast and as usual, I ended up feeling I did not get a chance to speak with all... Well, perhaps some other time, I hope!

 

So, while we wait for our new director to join us in the spring you could be mistaken for thinking those of us still here would be like the mice in the Norwegian saying:

 

Når katten er ute, så danser musene på bordet...

(When the cat is out, the mice dance on the table)

 

Surely not!

It is just a picture I used for illustrating this 'cheeky' post...

☺

 

Also, 1 October today...!

Incredibly how dark it was this morning!

It was still pitch black when I woke at 6.30am. I had to turn the lights on before I got out of bed..

 

That was a first this fall...

 

PS: we have a board to answer to... just in case anybody got worried!

And Here is Book Number 2!

The second book of my blog has just arrived.

 

I was a bit late getting around to ordering it this time, but we now have a printed recollection of our lives in 2010 (the first book) and 2011 (the second book).

 

Really worth it, in my mind as we find ourselves time and time again trying to remember when such-and-such happened and often find clues to it in my entries in the blog. Settles many potential arguments this way... Guests also find it fun to browse through and get a different glimpse of our lives.

 

I ordered this from SharedBook or Blog2Print (think it is the same name/company). The book arrived within 2-3 weeks and I have a feeling it turned out cheaper this time, not that it is any thinner this time...

 

Ah,well! 

 

Can't complain about that!

☺

Oreo - Just For Fun...

I like Oreo cookies and use them in baking, but I really love this commercial for the cookies

(no I am not sponsored!!!).

 

That little 'madame' is really something else!

☺



May I Introduce You To...

I popped outside the door to take some pictures of all the lovely flowers in full bloom. Suddenly, I lost concentration and became aware of something making a lot of noice and creeping into view through the lense...

May I introduce you to TenTen?

The neighbourhoods most talkative cat!

He is not our cat.

He kind of "belongs" to one of our neighbours.

Well, he actually belongs to some other people on a different street...

Ok, here is the story of TenTen:

One dark and blustery night (all stories start like that, don't they...) our neighbours had a knock on the door at 10 pm. There was a very concerned lady explaining that she had almost run over a cat as the silly creature was just lying in the middle of the road... Since our neighbours house was the closest she thought perhaps the cat was theirs? It wasn't their cat, but our neighbours are kind and loving people who took the cat in and the cat absolutely loved it! 

They called him TenTen since he arrived at 10 pm on the 10th day of the month...

The neighbours searched for days to find out who TenTen belonged to. Yes, he was chipped, but the owners had changed address so the vet was not able to contact them. To cut a long story short, after a lot of detective work, our neighbours found the real owners. They had several cats and were well used to Ten Ten leaving for days on end. We all think with several other cats in the house it was a bit too much for him.

So, his owners didn't mind that he more or less moved in with our neighbours who fittingly enough are called Charity. He sometimes goes back to visit his original family, but most of the time he likes it around our cul-de-sac with his 'new' family. He is the friendliest of cats and talks to everyone. If you leave your doors open, he will visit and make himself at home.

However, not in our house.

Our Cat sees to that!

They do get along nicely and sometimes TenTen comes to our garden to play with Our Cat, but Our Cat draws the line about visits to OUR house.

I think TenTen's talking is too much for Our Cat who is more of the dark, mysterious and silent type...

All in all, a happy ending to the story of TenTen.

I think the point that you don't choose a cat - the cat chooses you has been well proved!



Too Much FUN!!!

My mousemat at work...

It is easy to get totally distracted with all sorts of apps on my Iphone...

My tea mug at work

MarbleCamb is a free app that can make normal everyday items...

The old tiled floor in the office building

look rather special!

Please Explain 472 vs 403...

I consider myself fortunate that we live so close to work that I can ride my bike.

The terrain is completely flat so it is no effort really.

♥

It is so close, that I have even counted the times I push down my foot on the bike pedal on either journey...

But herein lies the mystery...

On my way TO work it takes 472 pedal pushes.

On my way HOME however, it only takes 403 pedal pushes...

☺

Have a lovely day - whether you are on a bike, on foot, in a bus, a train/tram or a car!

(Yes, the sun is shining!)

An Award - If You Want It!

Lovely Helen from the blog "Helens Italia Liv... og litt fra Norge ogsa" has given me an Award!

It works this way:

1. Link back to the blog/person that gave you the ward (done).

Many thanks!

2. Send the award to 5 blogs with less than 100 readers.

Actually, I am going to let that be up to any of you who are on my blogroll.

I enjoy reading and keeping up with each and every one of you!!!

3. Answer 5 questions:

Why did you start blogging?

The first blog I came across was Hvit Stil. I loved what she was doing/writing about and her creativity, and the thought soon came - I want to do this too! So I started blogging as a way of keeping a diary to let our family and friends see what I get up to. But it has become a dear hobby where I have met a lot of lovely people with similar interests.

 

Which blogs do you follow?

It has become a rather eclectic mix and all inspire me in different ways. Some focus on cooking/baking, handicraft, daily life, interior design and some are simply very funny!

Favourite colour?

This is simple - it has always been purple. But my awakened interest for interior design has also shown that I like grey and cream.

 

Favourite film?

Oh, I have no idea. I love any of the British period dramas. I am also weak for romantic comedies.

I am really not too hard to please...

 

Which country do you dream about visiting?

Where to start? I have never been to the Far East nor Australia. North Africa would definitely be on the list. Also, there are so many places here in the UK I have not seen or explored sufficiently.

 

But then there are many places I would revisit given the chance...

 

♥

 

So, go on - feel free to take the award and tell us some things about yourself!

Well Trained...

The illustration on my office calendar for the month of May could have been written by me:

"I had been told that training procedure with cats is difficult.

It's not.

Mine had me trained in two days..."

I think about this when I stumble out of bed at 4 am to let The Cat out...

It also strikes me as strange that nobody else in the house hears him...!

Problem Solved - New Alliances and Friends

Look to the North!

(report from the BBC)

☺

Passing Strangers...

I was walking in my own thoughts the other day.

It was a beautiful sunny day and I had just been to a meeting with a colleague and was on my way back to my office - which is in another building from 'the mother ship'. I was thinking about boring work issues and not really paying attention to anything or anyone around me.

As I neared my office building a man coming towards me suddenly lent over to me and

whispered seductively as we passed each other

'have you missed me'...?

And then he carried on walking in the opposite direction of me.

As I said, I was completely in my own world and it took a few seconds before I comprehended that he had spoken to me and what he had actually said. I stopped dead in my tracks and spun around to see who it was, but by then he had disappeared in the crowd of people walking in the sunshine.

There was no point trying to run after him to see who it was as I couldn't for the life of me remember what he looked like.

I started laughing.

I guess I would have had a very different reaction if it had been in the evening in a dark street, but in broad daylight on a busy street it just seemed funny.

It gave me the giggles like a teenage girl.

And no, I can't really say I have missed anyone except perhaps my own Professor who was not in town. 

:-)

I  am 100% sure it was neither him nor

picture borrowed from the internet

gorgeous George.

There is also the possibility that perhaps the man was talking on the phone...?

:-)

Confused...? No more!

A friend sent me this link.

I thought it might be useful for those confused about the difference between

The United Kingdom

Great Britain

England/Scotland/Wales/Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland

British Isles

The Commonwealth Realm

The Crown Dependencies

The British Overseas Territories

etc. etc.

Any wiser...??

I agree, it isn't easy...

:-)

Travellin' man...

'The Hat' in France... 

The Professor meant that his travelling hat with its pin collection was worthy of a blog entry, so here it is...

:-)

The hat was bought at Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida about 7 years ago. 

It is his trusted travelling companion against the sun when we are on holidays and the pins represent the various cities we have visited. 

The challenge is that pins don't seem to be as 'in' as they used to be... It means we normally have to spend quite a long time looking for a pin when we come to a new place... (sigh) 

The hat is becoming full of pins and rather heavy, in my opinion. 

But he proudly wears it when we are on holiday so I guess the collecting continues... 

'The Hat' and pins are now safely packed away till next year.

I guess there are worse souvenirs you can buy...

The Spice Challenge

I saw this clip with the comedian Michael McIntyre on another blog and just had to share it with you...

So, how is your spice cabinet doing?

;-)

Rubix Nightmare

Do you remember the Rubix cube?

Well, it keeps making it reappearance!

Our Boy's record is 28 seconds...

Me? 

I get annoyed and can't even do it in 28 minutes!

He claims he is going to teach me this summer... 

Yeah, right...!

;-)

Learning Something New

I have not been much of a blogger this last week. 

Life gets 'in the way' 

;-), 

and as many other I also had problems logging in...

But I did go on the photography course I mentioned some days ago. 

It was really a great day and money well spent! 

We were 10 people in total and they were all lovely. We had a good laugh with Rod, our brilliant instructor. He was very informal, and really knows his stuff. It was fun to hear all of us going 'Aha' and nodding as 'the penny dropped' when he was explaining something or giving useful tips. 

For instance, I never knew I could set my camera so that the vision in the viewfinder suited my eyes when I am not wearing glasses. (On my Canon EOS 550D there is a small wheel with a '- and +' sign next to the viewfinder.)

We had an indoor class in the morning and spent some time practising in the afternoon what we had learnt, about depth of field, aperture, ISO, correct exposure, white balance,  composition, and so on. 

At the end of the day our pictures were uploaded to the projector and we all got to see each other's work. It was really instructive and there were some very good shots. I got nice feedback on mine and am happy that the theory seemed to worked!

I use Photoscape to adjust my pictures, but I am tempted to get Photoshop Elements. We were recommended version 6, 7, or 8 to be the better versions. I appreciated we were not encouraged to get lots of fancy lenses and gadgets. There is enough to play with and to get to know in the camera as it is.

There is still lots to learn and I am hoping to go on another of their courses, perhaps in the fall. But I want to practise more what I have learnt before any new knowledge is taken on board! 

No More Technologically Lazy...

I am completely convinced that the makers of Zits must have a camera in our house...

I am feeling rather good about having overcome my technological laziness...

What I mean is, that having a teenage boy who speaks 'tech-language' like it is his mother tongue I have the last few years left any technological/IT problems in our house to him (and his dad) ...

He is all too pleased to show off his 'superior' skills and knowledge to his mother and I have been happy to let him think he is...

;-)

However, this week I had to install a new TV in an apartment I administrate (as part of my paid job). That was a breeze, but the challenge was that there was no antenna connected to the flat nor cable tv. My solution was to buy a small stand alone antenna which sits behind the TV. I admit it was a little fiddly hooking it up and tuning it in, but I was adamant I would NOT call my son to come and help...

Lo and behold, I managed it all on my own!

I feel sooo proud of myself!

:-)

Well, I should perhaps also mention that Our Boy helped me install the same type of antenna a few days earlier on the TV in my bedroom...