You Know….
.... you've been travelling too much when one of the cabin crew says "Oh, hello again, how are you?" when you board a plane.
I'm back on the west coast again now by the way.
We’re Bad People
I know we'll probably go to hell for making light of a potentially serious international situation, but the news that North Korea has withdrawn from nuclear talks has triggered a round of serious Team America - World Police-inspired piss-taking between David and I.
For those not in the know, Kim Jong-Il is the bad guy in the film, and is played very .. well, let's just call it 'broadly':
"I am Kim Jong-il, and I will destroy you all! Release the panthers!"
Bite-Size Catch-Up Blogging 7: Groundhog Day
I forgot to mention that while I was in the US last week, it was Groundhog Day, so I got to see the whole nonsensical event unfold. Never in the field of human time-wasting has so much pomp and time been invested in such an entirely pointless exercise.
Check out the site....
Who, Actually, Gives A Damn?
Oh. My. God.
Last night, the BBC did a 'News Special' entirely separate from their main bulletins, on the Charles and Camila non-story, it was the lead item in all their bulletins (and in ITN's), and even Newsnight led with it for fuck's sake!
Who cares? I admit that "Man to wed horse" is a mildly diverting headline, but it doesn't matter.
I felt like throwing things at the TV.
You’ve Got To Be Kidding Me
"Several people were hurt in the crush as thousands flocked to the midnight opening of Ikea's newest store."
Someone was stabbed for gods' sake.
But The Big News
Forget all this 'bite-size' stuff for the minute - here's a piece of real news.
About a month ago, I mentioned that a kitten may very soon be in our lives.
Not actually intending to fulfill that possibility, we went to look at some on Saturday, and had what I've been refering to since as a "want that one" moment.
So one and all, I'd like to introduce you to Gramsci:
Bite-Size Catch-Up Blogging 6: A Heartfelt Plea
Dear TV and Press people,
Please, please, please, please......
Stop covering Ellen MacArthur.
It's only when everyone stops paying her any attention that she'll just give up and go home.
Bite-Size Catch-Up Blogging 5: What’s In The News?
I always feel like I'm in a communications blackspot regarding news when I'm in the USA, even with access to the BBC online and other sources. So I was keen to get caught up again. Imagine my disappointment to discover that the main UK parties are quibbling about immigration (again) and the bizarre media obsession with Alistair Campbell has surfaced once again.
If I live to be 100, I will never fathom why the press seem so gripped by an uncontrollable urge to frenzy around the man. They're clearly determined to make him the story, which is both destructive and ultimately fails to serve the needs of the people in whose interests they're supposed to be reporting, because all the time spent on Campbell is time not spent on health, education, defence and social policy.
Bite-Size Catch-Up Blogging 4: Last Weekend
In between my bonkers travels, we had a planned weekend away last week. Up to the wilds of Suffolk for a very lazy couple of days being slightly spoiled with great food and drink, a fabulously big, open, light room, and half a hundredweight of bathtime nonsenses from Lush, the fancy bathtime nonsense stuff shop that David's suddenly got hooked on.
(What? I can enjoy crazy bubbles and fizzing 'Ballistics' in my bath if I want to.)
Anyway, the weekend was just right - we roamed off from the hotel only when we felt like it, we were on a package that included Sunday lunch, so we didn't have to clear out early, and all in all, it was just what I needed to recharge my batteries between trips.
I keep wanting to recommend the place to everyone I know, but there's a part of me that wants to keep it our special getaway.
Bite-Size Catch-Up Blogging 3: Speaking Of Books
I have some very interesting things on my 'To Read' list at the moment.
David bought me Belle De Jour a few weeks ago which I haven't got to yet (mostly because he decided to read it first). I'm intrigued to discover whether (as a number of people have suggested) the book carries with it the same issues as the blog did; that it doesn't really seem entirely true, so the anonymity becomes a bit pointless, and then you find yourself spending more time wondering about the thing's provenance than you do just reading it and enjoying it.
We had a "Buy two, get a third free" frenzy in an East Anglian town last weekend (more of which later), and I can now look forward to The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, Strangers by Taichi Yamada (a Japanese ghost story), and The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. All of which come very well recommended. I started the first of those three in a quiet moment last weekend, and I think I'm really going to enjoy it.
But the one I'm actually focusing my attention on at the moment is Wicked - The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, Gregory Maguire's exploration of the history of the Oz 'bad guy'. Part exploration of a fantasy world, part fictional biography, and part invesigation into the nature of evil, the picture it creates of Oz and its people is quite different than that you might expect from the film(s), though the distinctly dark underside is one that certain elements of the original film allow for. I haven't read Baum's original novels, so I'm not sure how much is invention on Macguire's part, but so far, about halfway in, I'm finding it a fantastic read.