I Am A Husband
2 days ago
Sunday, 31 August 2008
Hellboy 2
Is an excellent film. I love the way Del Torro has managed to bring together the bombastic action of a super hero movie and the dreamy surreality of a fairytale.
Monday, 25 August 2008
Brown signs
This weekend my girlfriend and I intended to take advantage of the bank holiday and visit some brown signs. That's not a dirty euphemism, it's what we call tourist attractions because of the brown road signs which direct you to them. We often spot them on the way to other places so some time soon we're just going to pick a direction of the compass to drive in and visit any brown signs we come across as we travel.
What we actually did was some sleeping in, some TV watching (the Sky planner is pretty full after being away) and played some Buzz. Buzz is a multiplayer quiz game for the PS3 and happens to be one of my girlfriend's favourites. In addition to the standard quiz featuring music, sports, entertainment etc. you can also download small sets of questions from other users. The one we most enjoyed today was about British chocolate - we both scored quite high and it ended in a draw.
I've also been playing a little Halo 3 multiplayer on Live this weekend. Having not played for some time it is quite painful relearning techniques, maps, weapons and tactics. At first it feels like you are playing underwater, whilst everybody else is zinging around on dry land, but slowly the skills seep back into your consciousness and you begin to play with something approaching confidence.
What we actually did was some sleeping in, some TV watching (the Sky planner is pretty full after being away) and played some Buzz. Buzz is a multiplayer quiz game for the PS3 and happens to be one of my girlfriend's favourites. In addition to the standard quiz featuring music, sports, entertainment etc. you can also download small sets of questions from other users. The one we most enjoyed today was about British chocolate - we both scored quite high and it ended in a draw.
I've also been playing a little Halo 3 multiplayer on Live this weekend. Having not played for some time it is quite painful relearning techniques, maps, weapons and tactics. At first it feels like you are playing underwater, whilst everybody else is zinging around on dry land, but slowly the skills seep back into your consciousness and you begin to play with something approaching confidence.
Saturday, 23 August 2008
On this day
Work was tiring and seemed to go on forever. My fiance (yes, we're engaged now - more on that in Epic Post Book II) and I were too tired to cook when I got in so we went for a meal at the Bashundora in Sutton Coldfield - which we discovered, upon arrival, had been voted the best restaurant in the midlands! We had a chic pea starter, followed by a chicken bhiriani for her and a sweet and sour lentil curry for me, all washed down with a few Tiger beers to an 80s soundtrack. Lovely.
We are both still feeling unnaturally tired and it can no longer be blamed on jet lag. Theories include the old favourite 'fighting a cold', depression at the poor weather compared with sunnier climes, tropical disease and lack of exercise. Goodnight.
We are both still feeling unnaturally tired and it can no longer be blamed on jet lag. Theories include the old favourite 'fighting a cold', depression at the poor weather compared with sunnier climes, tropical disease and lack of exercise. Goodnight.
Friday, 22 August 2008
Epic Post
In concept? Reference to the weighty ideas that it throws around with ease? Written in the poetic style? Probably not, but I'm hoping that the title will spur me on to my longest post yet, because this blog is becoming seriously out of date, and if I don't splurge soon I'm going to forget all the stuff that's been swimming around in my head for the past three weeks. Here follows, then, a brief tour of my brain during, and since, New Orleans:
The French Quarter, where we were staying, is a beautiful, living, theme park - not literally, but that's what it feels like: surrounded by the skyscrapers of a modern city are gorgeous Spanish colonial style buildings; some are pastel-British-seaside- town-colours, others, such as the few remaining French buildings, are authentically run down and austere. Others still are decorated with ornate ironwork balconies, dripping with luscious greenery. Even the trees and plants in New Orleans are festooned with Mardi Gras beads. Mixed in amongst the residential and business properties are some impressive, stately municipal and religious buildings, many of which are now museums. Although it is very much alive, lived in, worked and played in, the theme park feel comes from the strict control maintained over the quarter, the entirety of which is protected. The locals joke about needing planning permission in order to touch up the paintwork on their buildings - we were unsure if the remark was entirely facetious. Royal Street and Chatres are choc full of intriguing antique shops, art boutiques and gourmet restaurants, with courtyards full of exotic plants. Even Bourbon Street with its 24 hour drinking, dozens of strip clubs and incredibly loud Blues, Rock, Jazz and Karaoke - competing to deafen passers by - seemed oddly congruous: it was always the epicentre of the city's debauched reputation.
Stray far from the madness of Bourbon Street, though, and you are bound to hear the true sound of the French Quarter - whether it be a busking saxophone player, a Jazz quartet who've just struck up in a nearby cafe or a guy with a guitar playing requests - New Orleans is buzzing with the sound of excellent music, all of which you can hear for free! It's probably one of the things I'll miss the most.
We did tons of touristy things whilst over there; we went on a swamp tour and saw Alligators!, did a Vampire tour, visited St Louis Graveyard and Cathedral, the Historic Voodoo Museum, we learned all about how General Jackson kicked our butts when we tried to invade New Orleans :(, ate some Alligator!, drank some hurricanes, took a steamboat cruise and visited a plantation. Phew! We also did some decidedly un-touristy things (some of which might have been ill-advised, but more on that later). Frenchman Street was probably our top under the radar discovery: still within the French Quarter (but well off the tourist track) this seemed to us like where the cool jazzy blues mofos came to play, and we saw some memorable performances there. A certain bow tie, pale suit, braces wearing hero stands out though - he sat himself down on a bar stool with his guitar and played some of the most impassioned country and blues music we saw all fortnight. His voice and musicianship were faultless, but it was the shear intensity of the man's gesticulations which had us enraptured - I only wish I'd had my camera with me to capture his incredibly physical emphases.
Stay tuned for Book II of Epic Post (What? It's 02:00 in the morning and I have work at 09:30).
The French Quarter, where we were staying, is a beautiful, living, theme park - not literally, but that's what it feels like: surrounded by the skyscrapers of a modern city are gorgeous Spanish colonial style buildings; some are pastel-British-seaside- town-colours, others, such as the few remaining French buildings, are authentically run down and austere. Others still are decorated with ornate ironwork balconies, dripping with luscious greenery. Even the trees and plants in New Orleans are festooned with Mardi Gras beads. Mixed in amongst the residential and business properties are some impressive, stately municipal and religious buildings, many of which are now museums. Although it is very much alive, lived in, worked and played in, the theme park feel comes from the strict control maintained over the quarter, the entirety of which is protected. The locals joke about needing planning permission in order to touch up the paintwork on their buildings - we were unsure if the remark was entirely facetious. Royal Street and Chatres are choc full of intriguing antique shops, art boutiques and gourmet restaurants, with courtyards full of exotic plants. Even Bourbon Street with its 24 hour drinking, dozens of strip clubs and incredibly loud Blues, Rock, Jazz and Karaoke - competing to deafen passers by - seemed oddly congruous: it was always the epicentre of the city's debauched reputation.
Stray far from the madness of Bourbon Street, though, and you are bound to hear the true sound of the French Quarter - whether it be a busking saxophone player, a Jazz quartet who've just struck up in a nearby cafe or a guy with a guitar playing requests - New Orleans is buzzing with the sound of excellent music, all of which you can hear for free! It's probably one of the things I'll miss the most.
We did tons of touristy things whilst over there; we went on a swamp tour and saw Alligators!, did a Vampire tour, visited St Louis Graveyard and Cathedral, the Historic Voodoo Museum, we learned all about how General Jackson kicked our butts when we tried to invade New Orleans :(, ate some Alligator!, drank some hurricanes, took a steamboat cruise and visited a plantation. Phew! We also did some decidedly un-touristy things (some of which might have been ill-advised, but more on that later). Frenchman Street was probably our top under the radar discovery: still within the French Quarter (but well off the tourist track) this seemed to us like where the cool jazzy blues mofos came to play, and we saw some memorable performances there. A certain bow tie, pale suit, braces wearing hero stands out though - he sat himself down on a bar stool with his guitar and played some of the most impassioned country and blues music we saw all fortnight. His voice and musicianship were faultless, but it was the shear intensity of the man's gesticulations which had us enraptured - I only wish I'd had my camera with me to capture his incredibly physical emphases.
Stay tuned for Book II of Epic Post (What? It's 02:00 in the morning and I have work at 09:30).
Wednesday, 20 August 2008
New Shoes
There's been prescious little posting around here of late - something I intend to remedy very shortly with an explosion on New Orleans stories - but intil then be content and know that I have some brand new hush puppies from Amazon, kindly ordered for me by my loving girlfriend. They are very comfortable and, being brown, go go quite well with jeans.
Wednesday, 13 August 2008
Back in Brum
Horribly jetlagged after monster flight delays but glad to be home. Bloody freezing here compared to New Orleans - had to put the heating on, in August! Plenty to say about holidays and other fun but I'm going for a kip first.
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