Archive for October, 2005

2005-10-31 22:38:00

Very dull weekend this time round – only managed a trip to Asda, a trip round the shops and a trip to the gym in Old Street to get whipped by Derek at squash.

Higjlight of the weekend was buying Pro Evolution Soccer 5 for the PS2 – its brilliant but almost impossible to score at.

Off to Bupapest on Thursday morning for Derek’s stag – won’t be blogging again till I get back next week. You can fill you r time between now and then imagining 30-odd of us in Budapest – bob-sleighing, quad biking, clay pigeon shooting and gulashing. Full report when I get back!

Oh, well done to Jill for an amazing time in the marathon!

2005-10-27 23:40:00

It’s nearly the weekend already and I still haven’t caught up with last weekend…

Friday night was good, went out in Clapham with Sian and some of her friends to celebrate Juliet’s birthday – started in Eco and then went on to a Fine Line – far too many glasses of red wine – but it was a great night.

Slept as much as possible on Saturday but then went out for our annual trip to Up The Creek in Greenwich for Sara’s birthday – a couple of beers to celebrate in the Wetherspoons first and then on to the comedy. Don’t think I’d seen any of the 3 performers before so it was really quite good – slightly spoilt by the worst and most annoying heckler in world but fortunately the crowd turned on her and told her sit down and shut up. Comedy finished about 11.30 and unfortunately I couldn’t hang around for the usual cheesy disco… I had party to go to…

Finally made it to Chris’ at midnight, after a tube, a taxi and a bit of a walk but it was well worth it – as usual Chris hosted us in some style with gallons of beer – lots of food – good music and entertainment and bottles of Jack Daniels that were bigger than my head. Think I messed things up a bit for Chris by opening his front door to a bunch of randoms who claimed to know him. Once we got them back out of the house it was back to trying to bottle torpedo Reefs and managing to stick things to Chris’ double height ceiling. I can tell you its quite scary standing at the top of 15 feet high drunken people pyramid. Thanks to Sigrid and Anita for teaching me how to open a beer bottle with a lighter and I now know three words in Danish (dunno how to spell them though) – “Skol” = cheers; “Tak for hiltz” = thanks for last time and err… I seem to have forgotten the third!

Matt and I got a dodgy cab back at 4 in the morning having had one beer too many but were entertained by the cab driver who not only claimed to be a close personal friend of Louie Walsh and had given him the idea for it but was also a world class level pool player… one had to wonder why he was driving a cab round the east end of London at 4 in the morning given his high-flying lifestyle.

Photos from the party can be found at Chris’ website – Leaving London Party Photos.

The weekend wasn’t over there either, another lie in to try and cure my hangover had no effect but it wasn’t long before I was back in Greenwich – this time to meet up with Simon, Derek and Johnny. Had a few drinks in the Hardy (my favourite pub in Greenwich) before heading back to the Comedy Club for their “£5 Sunday Special” – and it was “special”. The first act spent most of the time beat-boxing but at least his was funny. The next guy was an amateur and just pretended to be nervous while telling crude jokes – rubbish. Next up was Elvis’ hermaphrodite twin – I kid you not!!! This sounds much better than it was but it was a random man dressed as a woman but wearing a Elvis mask and dancing to a tape of his own voice, at then end he stripped off to another dress and ran around the stage like a loon. Not a single laugh in 5 minutes and every mouth in the place was agasp and aghast. Weird. Last up was a Canadian guy who was pretty funny but most of his act was based on picking on people in the audience – funny but not great. The night was made by the compeer who was brilliant throughout and turns out to be the W.G.Grace chap from the cricket adverts (pic below).


W.G. Grace – Bring it on!!

A very good weekend but I’m shattered this week and I’ve come down with the cold… boo! Gonna try and have a much quieter weekend this time round to recover and prepare for Derek’s stag!

2005-10-19 22:12:00

Another week gone already and still no posts – not doing very well at this at the moment am I? Nothing to exciting this week, life in London trickles on really but I’ll do my best…

Went out for dinner on Friday with Sian and a whole bunch of friends to Zizzi’s at Canary Wharf followed by drinks galore at the Stripey. Really good night but I had a stinking hangover the next morning. Had a pretty quiet Saturday in the end to recover and ended up curled up on the couch before going to see the new Wallace and Gromit film with Linus and Sian. Really funny and yet another “kids film” that was shown late and night and had no kids in the audience. Definitely worth seeing!

Been gyming it up quite a bit this week, 3 times plus badminton in 5 days and hoping to go again tomorrow night. Finally got some motivation back to go so best make the most of it while lasts – I’ll be lazy again last week!

Work has gotten busy again, 10+ hour days and lots to do but struggling to put together my end of year self-review which is due on Friday. I’m not a big fan of formal reviews and the palava it involves, generally think that my manager has his own view of my performance and no matter what I put he’ll make the final decision. I’m sure we could sort out something reasonable over a pint in the pub (especially if I was buying).

Oh and if by chance Phil Brumby reads this then please email me…. james_at_dancingwithloons.com – thanks!

2005-10-13 08:01:00

I’m sure everyone else is bored of sailing photos already but Linus has posted some up for your viewing pleasure.

Went out last night for Sian’s birthday – lovely duck pancakes at Tai Pan – only slightly spoiled by my clumsiness – I managed to knock a full glass of red wine across the table – oops!

2005-10-11 13:49:00

Added some more photos from sailing – taken by Tall Ship Stock, includes photos of the boat in action and from the prize giving.

On a side note, I noticed with some revulsion that boots has put up their Christmas decorations ALREADY!! I’d seen christmas goodies appearing in Asda nearly a month ago but I can’t believe they’ve already got the tinsel, lights and baubles up already!!!!!

2005-10-10 10:54:00

Added photos from this weekend’s sailing extravagansa, Linus and Chris should be posting photos sometime soon too!

2005-10-06 23:26:00

Sorry my photo of the crash today was rubbish, tiny and unviewable but instead I thought you’d enjoy this corporate anthem… its from the company I used to work for which I know is still the place of work for a few people who read this, enjoy – and make sure you turn the speakers up loud when you play it at work!!!
  - Deutsche Anthem (right-click on the link and save it to your PC before playing as it’ll work better).

Oh and in case you hadn’t noticed I’ve added some photos from my cousin’s wedding a couple of weeks ago – boy that kilt has shrunk around the waist since its last airing ;-)

2005-10-06 18:15:00

I didn’t witness this happen but I did stumble across it during my lunch break and managed to get a couple of pics on the camera phone which I’ll upload later:
  - BBC News – Three injured in City car chase.

It would appear that some mentalist stole a car and then got pursued by the police, lost control and rammed a bunch of pedestrians and a bus.

I just happened across it while getting some lunch but most bystanders seemed relieved when they heard it was just some joy-rider and not some car-weilding terrorist. I even heard one lady “Oh thank god, I thought it was something serious”. Funny how people’s perceptions have changed recently…

2005-10-05 18:22:00

Friend of mine has a job going in his team… here’s what’s on offer:

“the general plan is to hire a (relatively) recent graduate. It’s not a developer role (it’s less technical), although it could turn into one, but it requires some computer savyness. Business knowledge is also a plus (fixed income or at least some financial markets), shyness is a big minus. Pay is very good, bonuses seem to be above average, hours are very very good [for working in the city in London].

If anyone is interested then let me know and I’ll pass the details on, its a well known bank and the job is based in London.