i watched the classic Pedro Almavadour film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown last night on dvd... if you haven't seen it put it on the list of films to see before you die! it's a great film featuring some great perfomances and a more than healthy nod to Hitchcock...
i watched it in bed with a chinese takeaway cos i am suffering a post-glasto cold : (
i awoke in the middle of the night to a crazy pouring sound. the guttering outside my bedroom is literally wearing thin! it has 2 holes in it through which rain pours like from a tap onto my window sill... i don't know what silly hour it was it woke me up but i think maybe 3am... honestly! this is not a civilised way to live! its enough to make me on the verge of a nervous breakdown!
rented accommodation is such a chore sometimes! i thought renting was sposed to be carefree! the guy who has all the money has all the worries right?! not so... if it's not the leak under the kitchen sink its a wonky loo seat, if it's not a leak in my bedroom its a leaky gutter! one day there'll be nothing outstanding for my landlord to sort out and then it'll be time to move out! haha
i don't want much, just a warm dry bedroom to lay my weary cold-riddled body after a hard days work! haha maybe i should write my landlord a letter... what's that i hear? the smallest violin in the world playing for all the renters out there?! haha
Friday, June 29, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
this call may be recorded for training purposes
hehe
this call may be recorded? go for it! listen to the jodester stick it to her bank!
i applied for a credit card balance transfer - such is life! nothing unusual about that you say!
but they made a mistake and tranfered the amount twice. they called me to tell me and i asked if there would be a charge and they said no.
then they called me again today and asked me to call my other credit card company for them to authorise the refund and i took the opportunity to ask them to refund me the admin charge of £15 to make up for the inconvenience of having to make this call for them, haha
and i was quite jovial about it cos i knew i was being cheeky and i knew they were over a barrel cos they needed me to make the call for them. i argued - i think quite fairly that if I had made a mistake the bank would probably charge me, therefore i was quite right to charge them for making the call for them, haha
the man in the Indian callcentre said this wasn't possible and i said ofcourse it is and told him to go away and speak to his supervisor again and call me back! i'm guessing he didn't get stern with me cos i kept giggling in between making my cheeky demand! i said 'so where do i send my invoice for my administration fee?' hehe
anyhoo the guy calls me back and to my delight he says they're giving my account a refund of £10 for the inconvenience! jodes wins!! yey! they really are the listening bank after all! haha
stick it to the man baby!
this call may be recorded? go for it! listen to the jodester stick it to her bank!
i applied for a credit card balance transfer - such is life! nothing unusual about that you say!
but they made a mistake and tranfered the amount twice. they called me to tell me and i asked if there would be a charge and they said no.
then they called me again today and asked me to call my other credit card company for them to authorise the refund and i took the opportunity to ask them to refund me the admin charge of £15 to make up for the inconvenience of having to make this call for them, haha
and i was quite jovial about it cos i knew i was being cheeky and i knew they were over a barrel cos they needed me to make the call for them. i argued - i think quite fairly that if I had made a mistake the bank would probably charge me, therefore i was quite right to charge them for making the call for them, haha
the man in the Indian callcentre said this wasn't possible and i said ofcourse it is and told him to go away and speak to his supervisor again and call me back! i'm guessing he didn't get stern with me cos i kept giggling in between making my cheeky demand! i said 'so where do i send my invoice for my administration fee?' hehe
anyhoo the guy calls me back and to my delight he says they're giving my account a refund of £10 for the inconvenience! jodes wins!! yey! they really are the listening bank after all! haha
stick it to the man baby!
it's matey from the thing
there's nothing like a week of camping in adverse conditions to make you appreciate a warm house/ proper bed/ nice pizza from the supermarket! haha
tuesday night after a day of recovering from Glasto we went to see Stewart Lee do his edinburgh preview show at XS Malarkey in Fallowfield.. we've not been before as we go to the Frog & Bucket in town but i think we'll go again if the man is here mid-week another time... the mc is toby hadoke who we really like and nm has an affinity with regards Dr Who...
when you think back to a really good comedy set the list of topics seems so random but is delivered so well you can't help but think the comedian is a genuis. which, i am of the opinion, Mr Lee is. if you haven't checked him out before go to www.gofasterstripe.com and buy his dvd '90s comedian' or catch him live if you can, he's amazing. in this latest show - not called March of the Mallards, he talks about Big Brother, his mum, weight watchers, bbc2, pestival, tom o'connor and his new baby... trust me - he works it! haha
we're going to edinburgh for a week of comedy in august so we'll probably see it again - talking of comedy reviews i was alittle disappointed by phil nichol's performance at glasto, while ed byrne and jeff green were fab... my boyf keeps calling me an umpa lumpa now... haha
i think we need to join Live Comedy Junkies Anonymous...
tuesday night after a day of recovering from Glasto we went to see Stewart Lee do his edinburgh preview show at XS Malarkey in Fallowfield.. we've not been before as we go to the Frog & Bucket in town but i think we'll go again if the man is here mid-week another time... the mc is toby hadoke who we really like and nm has an affinity with regards Dr Who...
when you think back to a really good comedy set the list of topics seems so random but is delivered so well you can't help but think the comedian is a genuis. which, i am of the opinion, Mr Lee is. if you haven't checked him out before go to www.gofasterstripe.com and buy his dvd '90s comedian' or catch him live if you can, he's amazing. in this latest show - not called March of the Mallards, he talks about Big Brother, his mum, weight watchers, bbc2, pestival, tom o'connor and his new baby... trust me - he works it! haha
we're going to edinburgh for a week of comedy in august so we'll probably see it again - talking of comedy reviews i was alittle disappointed by phil nichol's performance at glasto, while ed byrne and jeff green were fab... my boyf keeps calling me an umpa lumpa now... haha
i think we need to join Live Comedy Junkies Anonymous...
there are 7 levels of mud
after a week of no blogs i have plenty to write about!
i've been to glastonbury festival to get pished and muddy! haha I've seen the mighty Stewart Lee live in manchester and I've just had a triumph for the little guys with my bank! haha
having taken lots of snaps at glasto i'm now considering a picture blog - just cos i like taking pictures of unusual stuff and other people might like 'em too! i'll keep you posted as and when i get round to this...
glastonbury was fantastic and exhausting as usual... by sunday night the rain had made my skin feel puckered and dry, my back was killing me from lying on hard stony ground for 5 nights (despite a sleeping mat beneath me!) and the cash had run out! haha
but it was worth all the pain! we saw some great music and comedy, drank some very fine pear cider and even did a bit of dancing to The Specials hits! brilliant!
it took 4 hours to get to the festival on wednesday and another 2 to get in the carpark! then we treked to our favourite field only to find it full of tents, too many gazebos and people marking out spaces for their friends-yet-to-arrive! now this was quite naughty cos gazebos take up valuable camping space and holding onto spaces for slackers who ain't arrived yet is just plain unfair! but we found a place up by the outdoor cinema and went off to find cider...
considering the festival only opens on wednesday and the music doesn't start til friday there was plenty on! its all a bit of blur now i look back, but so much fun, and on my birthday too! quite a treat...
i hooked up with my brother who was there too on wednesday night and altho we meant to hook up again the text situation was a disaster - some getting thru others taking hours to deliver - so i didn't manage to find him again... but there are 170,000 just milling about so it's understandable really...
thursday i managed to hook up with my housemate for a chat on a sofa we'd found in the green fields but not again before the end of the festival... my man was the victim of welly crime, he had to take them off to enter a tent and because they were quite generic looking green wellingtons i told himto write his name on them, which he did, but then they were taken by someone else anyway! so unsure as to whether they'd been pinched or just mistakenly taken but another bigfooted fella he had to procure a pair from the welly pile and make a sharp exit... he didn't take them off again! glasto is not a place to be welly-less!
we saw ghostbusters on the big screen i think thursday night - everyone sang along to the big theme tune and booed the bad guys - great fun! we would have stayed for the followup film but it were freezing so we made back to the tent!
friday we saw some comedy in the cabaret tent and saw bjork kick some ass! she was ace - so glad we made the half hour trek to the other stage for that one!
saturday we watched the pipettes and more comedy followed on sunday by scott mathews, mark ronson and the who, who busted out all their big hits to a very wet but cheerful crowd!
monday morning it had been raining heavily for about 12 hours and our tent started leaking so we packed up and headed for the car - we were absolutely soaked thru but it was such a relief to be in the warm again! we got in the queue to get off site and waited a very boring 4 hours! and i needed a wee! now thats a serious wait! we now realise that our leaky tent did us a favour cos our friends who left for their car a couple of hours later waited 7 hours to get off site!
then the site managers would only let us go west rather that north on the raod surrounding the site so we added about 50 miles to our journey (not very environmentally friendly mr. eavis!) and sat in traffic for a few more hours before taking matters into our own hands and taking a B road north towards the motorway! what a relief that was...
took us 12 hours in total to get home but i know it took other people longer and i'm just glad the nasty storm that hit the UK monday was a few days late or the festival would have been a complete washout!
i'm now exhuasted and catching up on me beauty sleep! roll on Glasto 08!
i've been to glastonbury festival to get pished and muddy! haha I've seen the mighty Stewart Lee live in manchester and I've just had a triumph for the little guys with my bank! haha
having taken lots of snaps at glasto i'm now considering a picture blog - just cos i like taking pictures of unusual stuff and other people might like 'em too! i'll keep you posted as and when i get round to this...
glastonbury was fantastic and exhausting as usual... by sunday night the rain had made my skin feel puckered and dry, my back was killing me from lying on hard stony ground for 5 nights (despite a sleeping mat beneath me!) and the cash had run out! haha
but it was worth all the pain! we saw some great music and comedy, drank some very fine pear cider and even did a bit of dancing to The Specials hits! brilliant!
it took 4 hours to get to the festival on wednesday and another 2 to get in the carpark! then we treked to our favourite field only to find it full of tents, too many gazebos and people marking out spaces for their friends-yet-to-arrive! now this was quite naughty cos gazebos take up valuable camping space and holding onto spaces for slackers who ain't arrived yet is just plain unfair! but we found a place up by the outdoor cinema and went off to find cider...
considering the festival only opens on wednesday and the music doesn't start til friday there was plenty on! its all a bit of blur now i look back, but so much fun, and on my birthday too! quite a treat...
i hooked up with my brother who was there too on wednesday night and altho we meant to hook up again the text situation was a disaster - some getting thru others taking hours to deliver - so i didn't manage to find him again... but there are 170,000 just milling about so it's understandable really...
thursday i managed to hook up with my housemate for a chat on a sofa we'd found in the green fields but not again before the end of the festival... my man was the victim of welly crime, he had to take them off to enter a tent and because they were quite generic looking green wellingtons i told himto write his name on them, which he did, but then they were taken by someone else anyway! so unsure as to whether they'd been pinched or just mistakenly taken but another bigfooted fella he had to procure a pair from the welly pile and make a sharp exit... he didn't take them off again! glasto is not a place to be welly-less!
we saw ghostbusters on the big screen i think thursday night - everyone sang along to the big theme tune and booed the bad guys - great fun! we would have stayed for the followup film but it were freezing so we made back to the tent!
friday we saw some comedy in the cabaret tent and saw bjork kick some ass! she was ace - so glad we made the half hour trek to the other stage for that one!
saturday we watched the pipettes and more comedy followed on sunday by scott mathews, mark ronson and the who, who busted out all their big hits to a very wet but cheerful crowd!
monday morning it had been raining heavily for about 12 hours and our tent started leaking so we packed up and headed for the car - we were absolutely soaked thru but it was such a relief to be in the warm again! we got in the queue to get off site and waited a very boring 4 hours! and i needed a wee! now thats a serious wait! we now realise that our leaky tent did us a favour cos our friends who left for their car a couple of hours later waited 7 hours to get off site!
then the site managers would only let us go west rather that north on the raod surrounding the site so we added about 50 miles to our journey (not very environmentally friendly mr. eavis!) and sat in traffic for a few more hours before taking matters into our own hands and taking a B road north towards the motorway! what a relief that was...
took us 12 hours in total to get home but i know it took other people longer and i'm just glad the nasty storm that hit the UK monday was a few days late or the festival would have been a complete washout!
i'm now exhuasted and catching up on me beauty sleep! roll on Glasto 08!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
beating the frog
ah comedy, where for art thou?
i was at a comedy night called Beat the Frog last night in sunny Manchester to see my man* try his out his latest comedy wares... we go quite often since it's one of the best places to try out new comedians in town and last night was a good night despite it being a small crowd...
after almost 2 years of being a live comedy junkie now i do feel my energy levels for new comedy slipping, it takes a lot of sympathy to smile and have a good time if the comedy isn't up to it but my man enjoys it so he's thinking of going along to these nights without me haha
its not that i don't appreciated new comedians need a forum, its just i can't handle being it week in week out! i know i'm lucky to live in a city with such a great comedy scene but i think there's a limit to how much sympathy laughter** one person can dish out in one month! haha
i think another problem is that i get so nervous when my man is going to perform - i had proper tummy ache for him last night and he wasn't even that nervous! how rude! haha this is why i can never do it, i think you have be ever so slightly sadomasochistic to do standup comedy -- hence the bunch of misfits it attracts! haha
some dude at the frog the other week said of the upcoming contestants - right now they're all discovering that the colour of adrenalin is brown! haha - funny cos its true baby, funny cos its true...
*1min 50 - there will be no frog beating this week my friend...
**copyright nicholai, hehe
i was at a comedy night called Beat the Frog last night in sunny Manchester to see my man* try his out his latest comedy wares... we go quite often since it's one of the best places to try out new comedians in town and last night was a good night despite it being a small crowd...
after almost 2 years of being a live comedy junkie now i do feel my energy levels for new comedy slipping, it takes a lot of sympathy to smile and have a good time if the comedy isn't up to it but my man enjoys it so he's thinking of going along to these nights without me haha
its not that i don't appreciated new comedians need a forum, its just i can't handle being it week in week out! i know i'm lucky to live in a city with such a great comedy scene but i think there's a limit to how much sympathy laughter** one person can dish out in one month! haha
i think another problem is that i get so nervous when my man is going to perform - i had proper tummy ache for him last night and he wasn't even that nervous! how rude! haha this is why i can never do it, i think you have be ever so slightly sadomasochistic to do standup comedy -- hence the bunch of misfits it attracts! haha
some dude at the frog the other week said of the upcoming contestants - right now they're all discovering that the colour of adrenalin is brown! haha - funny cos its true baby, funny cos its true...
*1min 50 - there will be no frog beating this week my friend...
**copyright nicholai, hehe
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
life is a rollercoaster
according to that famed soothsayer Ronan Keating... 'you just gotta ride it'
at the moment this is a timely reminder that life has its ups and downs and so long as you keep your head down and your arms inside the carriage you'll come thru most things relatively unscathed! haha
as i head toward another landmark birthday i been looking at my life and thinking 'so that's it huh?' when i was a young 'un i thought 32 would be way the sexiest year ever, how could i fail to have my sh*t together by then?! haha how life is cruel...
i have to live in a houseshare cos rents are so high i can't afford my own place... and rather than the 'friends warehouse utopia' it could be it's 'why didn't my housemates empty the dishwasher/take the bins out/ choose to leave their hair in the plughole this morning... forget the jetset lifestyle afforded by a wellpaid job in a creative industry, it's an averagely paid creative job and a weekend camping at Glastonbury! rather than the perfect relationship of happiness and dog-walking its a boyfriend inbetween jobs who lives 54.24 miles away* who i hardly see and miss a lot...
if tony robbins was here he'd say i better get grateful! haha and i am grateful for so many people and so many things in my life but if you ain't got dreams you ain't got nothing! if anyone in New York needs a copywriter i'm your girl! so long as i can bring my boyfriend... haha
*i checked on multimap...
Friday, June 08, 2007
festival fever
with Glasto a mere fortnight away and Edinburger Funny Fest in August advertising shows I've got a bit of festival fever today!
with 2 weeks til my birthday too* - how i love the summer season! i have been putting off 'testing out' the tent from last Glasto but i have my wellies and the tickets arrived this week, so feeling definitely primed for a good weekend in Somerset!
altho this story is a tad worrying... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/6719639.stm
i'm sure its all prefectly above board... no conspiracy theory neccessary...eek!
there's something cheerful about the summer, i don't know whether its cos i'm a summer baby and naturally enjoy the season i was born into, or just all the fun stuff that goes on - music festivals, my birthday, comedy festivals, beergardens, sunburn, lollyices**, quorn sausages on the BBQ, punting down the Fen, my birthday (did i mention its my birthday soon? haha)
if you have a summer tradition you feel like sharing please let me know! : )
*all giftage welcome! haha
**apparently this is scousetalk - please let me know if you are not scouse and also use this term over icelolly! haha
with 2 weeks til my birthday too* - how i love the summer season! i have been putting off 'testing out' the tent from last Glasto but i have my wellies and the tickets arrived this week, so feeling definitely primed for a good weekend in Somerset!
altho this story is a tad worrying... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/6719639.stm
i'm sure its all prefectly above board... no conspiracy theory neccessary...eek!
there's something cheerful about the summer, i don't know whether its cos i'm a summer baby and naturally enjoy the season i was born into, or just all the fun stuff that goes on - music festivals, my birthday, comedy festivals, beergardens, sunburn, lollyices**, quorn sausages on the BBQ, punting down the Fen, my birthday (did i mention its my birthday soon? haha)
if you have a summer tradition you feel like sharing please let me know! : )
*all giftage welcome! haha
**apparently this is scousetalk - please let me know if you are not scouse and also use this term over icelolly! haha
Thursday, June 07, 2007
brew law
if you have ever worked in an office or an environment where more than a handful of colleagues are in one place at one time you will know about brew law...
it is the universal law of the brew-making...
that is to say 'thou shalt not brew up for just yourself ever' haha
i am not the first person to write about this but today having made at least 3 rounds i am feeling a little hard done by not having had one back - not one!
selfish lot...
you always know the people who consider themselves in your brew round but don't consider you in theirs - how convenient! it is often decided by sitting plans - i can make a brew for me and my direct neighbours and get away with not asking others but if this is just one person they will feel left out... so much office etiquette to consider! and don't even think about usign someone's 'special' mug (i'm not sure how this translates to a communal mug cupboard but i have my own special mug at home that i hide from greedy housemates! haha)
i am now going to make myself another brew, i only just made one but you know when you really enjoyed a cuppa tea and you need another straight away? that is what teapots were invented for - i wonder who by? anyway i need another and while usually brew law would deem me an impolite colleague for not offering to make more, since i just did in the last 20 minutes i think i'll get away with it...
wish me luck!
it is the universal law of the brew-making...
that is to say 'thou shalt not brew up for just yourself ever' haha
i am not the first person to write about this but today having made at least 3 rounds i am feeling a little hard done by not having had one back - not one!
selfish lot...
you always know the people who consider themselves in your brew round but don't consider you in theirs - how convenient! it is often decided by sitting plans - i can make a brew for me and my direct neighbours and get away with not asking others but if this is just one person they will feel left out... so much office etiquette to consider! and don't even think about usign someone's 'special' mug (i'm not sure how this translates to a communal mug cupboard but i have my own special mug at home that i hide from greedy housemates! haha)
i am now going to make myself another brew, i only just made one but you know when you really enjoyed a cuppa tea and you need another straight away? that is what teapots were invented for - i wonder who by? anyway i need another and while usually brew law would deem me an impolite colleague for not offering to make more, since i just did in the last 20 minutes i think i'll get away with it...
wish me luck!
Monday, June 04, 2007
cocktails anyone?
On Saturday i did the only thing you can do with a free* bottle of white wine...
I invented a cocktail! It was just me and the girls in the house so i plied them with wine/ spirit/ juice combos from the cocktail mixer in my mind!
I'm seriously a natural at this gig - this weekend saw white wine with flavoured voddie (raspberry then bison grass) and pineapple juice - very strong and very fruity - just the way cocktails should be!
I also backed lemon fairy cakes so it was a winning combo...
Baking, one of my newer hobbies, is cool for when you've not much to do and makes you popular! haha I also enjoyed that having baked some last week and changed the recipe just a smidgen they tasted loads better - watch out Aunt Bessie that's all I'm saying! haha
*blagged it on a work night out ages ago but then just stashed it in the booze cupboard... ah sweet blags...
another BB
Big Brother 8 is upon us and I haven't even tried to avoid it...
It is met with such derision by so many critic types and yet they are forced to watch it because it's so popular by Joe Public presumably 'wot knows no better' that if they didn't have an opinion on the current batch of odd characters thrown together by reality TV they'd find themselves a little left out...
I am enjoying the new all-girl twist and the input of just a single good looking blokie only adds to the fun, and the fact that it didn't turn into a major b*tchfest after a few hours is testament to girlpower haha
My personal faves FYI are Nicky and Laura, they seem half normal (well if you can call anyone who agrees to write off their precious anonymity for a summer of minor celebrity normal!) and nice girls, obvious headcases are The Twins (I'm a bit concerned about why C4 think it's okay to peddle underage looking girls in very little clothing on primetime TV) Charley and Shabnam who is apparently Queen of her Road whatever that means! haha
my boyf has professed not to want to get hooked on this series - but i say why try and resist - it will get you by the end of June anyways! haha there is nothing more addictive than navel gazing and once you've gotten over your own navel second best is other peoples! haha
people watching is a quality past time! whether its out on the street or in the comfort of your own home for a few months every summer!
interestingly my german housemate Susanna said that BB only lasted 3 seasons in Germania, that everyone loved the first series but then the follow-ups didn't cut the mustard with no 'normal people' in them and it got cancelled, we must just love to watch the freakshow in Blighty!
my final word on the matter is there are much worse, more expensive tv shows out there so i hope BB carries on being addictive veiwing for a good many years to come!
It is met with such derision by so many critic types and yet they are forced to watch it because it's so popular by Joe Public presumably 'wot knows no better' that if they didn't have an opinion on the current batch of odd characters thrown together by reality TV they'd find themselves a little left out...
I am enjoying the new all-girl twist and the input of just a single good looking blokie only adds to the fun, and the fact that it didn't turn into a major b*tchfest after a few hours is testament to girlpower haha
My personal faves FYI are Nicky and Laura, they seem half normal (well if you can call anyone who agrees to write off their precious anonymity for a summer of minor celebrity normal!) and nice girls, obvious headcases are The Twins (I'm a bit concerned about why C4 think it's okay to peddle underage looking girls in very little clothing on primetime TV) Charley and Shabnam who is apparently Queen of her Road whatever that means! haha
my boyf has professed not to want to get hooked on this series - but i say why try and resist - it will get you by the end of June anyways! haha there is nothing more addictive than navel gazing and once you've gotten over your own navel second best is other peoples! haha
people watching is a quality past time! whether its out on the street or in the comfort of your own home for a few months every summer!
interestingly my german housemate Susanna said that BB only lasted 3 seasons in Germania, that everyone loved the first series but then the follow-ups didn't cut the mustard with no 'normal people' in them and it got cancelled, we must just love to watch the freakshow in Blighty!
my final word on the matter is there are much worse, more expensive tv shows out there so i hope BB carries on being addictive veiwing for a good many years to come!
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