Just fired up the BBC website to listen to a radio programme, and the first thing I notice on the home page is the sad news that Humphrey Lyttelton has died. Whilst I am aware that he was a great jazz performer, to me Humph is "I'm sorry I haven't a clue", a radio show which makes me laugh out loud more than any other I've ever listened to.
On a personal note, I love the show because my Dad loves the show. Of the many things I share with my Dad, my sense of humour is one, and I have lots of memories of laughing together with him at all of its wonderful silliness.
I hope that this isn't the end of an era for the show, but it's difficult to know how they will manage without him. Humph will be sadly missed.
Saturday 26 April 2008
Monday 14 April 2008
Wii have lift-off
Well it's been a busy weekend, and a pleasantly long one too! It all started on Friday morning, when I had an excited call from home whilst I was on my way to work, to say "it's arrived". The "it" in question being a Nintendo Wii, which Coca-Cola have kindly sent us. I knew that my product loyalty would pay off in the end!
It's actually Nicky we have to thank, because she'd typed in the code from a Coke bottle on-line, and had entered a prize draw with it. Apparently, we were the lucky winners (the only ones in the country to get a Wii) and it arrived on Friday. Favourites so far are the bowling and the tennis, although I must confess that I have tried out the golf, and I can see myself getting addicted in the near future.
Also arriving on Friday were Mum and Dad, who came to stay with us for the weekend. Unfortunately we made a bit of a diary mistake and had double booked ourselves for the Saturday, and so ended up abandoning them for most of the day, but they went to visit Sue and Martin in their new house and went out for lunch with them.
Our plans on Saturday involved a trip to Tunbridge Wells with Carolyn, Chris and the boys, and Chris and I had the privilege of taking them all to see the Chuckle Brothers, whilst Nicky and Carolyn did a spot of shopping. This was Jake's second trip to see them, and he seemed to enjoy it just as much as the first time. I think that most of the jokes were probably the same!
On Sunday we took Mum and Dad to Bluewater and had a very nice lunch at the Loch Fine restaurant there, before having a little mooch around the shops, and today Nicky and I took Jake to see the Doctor Who exhibition at Earls Court. The exhibition was rather in the basement, but it was enjoyed by all nonetheless. The funniest part was Jake doing a great impression of a Dalek.
Then it was off to Covent Garden for lunch followed by a trip to Hamleys in the afternoon (that shop seems less and less appealing every time I go in - I must be getting old)!
It's actually Nicky we have to thank, because she'd typed in the code from a Coke bottle on-line, and had entered a prize draw with it. Apparently, we were the lucky winners (the only ones in the country to get a Wii) and it arrived on Friday. Favourites so far are the bowling and the tennis, although I must confess that I have tried out the golf, and I can see myself getting addicted in the near future.
Also arriving on Friday were Mum and Dad, who came to stay with us for the weekend. Unfortunately we made a bit of a diary mistake and had double booked ourselves for the Saturday, and so ended up abandoning them for most of the day, but they went to visit Sue and Martin in their new house and went out for lunch with them.
Our plans on Saturday involved a trip to Tunbridge Wells with Carolyn, Chris and the boys, and Chris and I had the privilege of taking them all to see the Chuckle Brothers, whilst Nicky and Carolyn did a spot of shopping. This was Jake's second trip to see them, and he seemed to enjoy it just as much as the first time. I think that most of the jokes were probably the same!
On Sunday we took Mum and Dad to Bluewater and had a very nice lunch at the Loch Fine restaurant there, before having a little mooch around the shops, and today Nicky and I took Jake to see the Doctor Who exhibition at Earls Court. The exhibition was rather in the basement, but it was enjoyed by all nonetheless. The funniest part was Jake doing a great impression of a Dalek.
Then it was off to Covent Garden for lunch followed by a trip to Hamleys in the afternoon (that shop seems less and less appealing every time I go in - I must be getting old)!
Wednesday 9 April 2008
New Disney Films
Exciting news from Disney today as they have announced their line up of film releases over the next few years, as spotted on the BBC website. Looks like we are going to be treated to some 3D fun, which will get us to the cinema rather than waiting for DVDs.
Lots of new material in there which sounds encouraging, but the one to look forward to most is undoubtedly Toy Story 3. We will be reminded of just how much we love the films and the characters by getting 3D re-releases of 1 and 2 at the end of next year and the start of 2010, and then in 2 years we will have number 3 to marvel over. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are back according to the report, so fingers crossed we should be in for a treat.
Sunday 6 April 2008
Les Mis
Nicky and I have just got back from our weekend in London, the main purpose of which was to go and see Les Miserables in the West End. This was my Mother's Day present for Nicky (thought of rather at the last minute as Mother's Day followed hot on the heels of Margaret's 60th birthday party).
We got the train from Chatham yesterday lunchtime, and got a cab from Victoria to our hotel, the Radisson Edwardian Hampshire on Leicester Square. We were able to check in straight away, and went up to our room - 205. It was at the back of the hotel, and as so often with rooms in London was rather small.
After a quick coffee it was back out for a recce, and having picked up a free map in Leicester Square we found that the Queens Theatre on Shaftsbury Avenue was indeed only a couple of minutes away. Then we went for a stroll up Regents Street, avoiding the dual temptations of both Hamleys and the Apple Store, and along Oxford Street to Selfidges. The main reason for the trip to Selfridges was to see if we could get some of Willy's Wonky Chocolate (as seen on the Channel 4 programme). We hunted high and low in the food hall but couldn't find it anywhere. Eventually we decided to ask, and a member of staff told us that a delivery had come in on Friday, but that it had sold out within the day! Apparently there is a Selfridges hotline that you can call for delivery information!
Still, the trip to Selfridges wasn't entirely in vain - we bought a corn bread kit for Nicky to make with Jake this week, and stocked up on a couple of squeezy bottles of Smuckers Grape Jelly! Makes us think of Orlando!
Wandering back towards our hotel we decided to cut the corner between Oxford and Regent Streets, and finding ourselves outside the Porsche dealership on Berkeley Square, I pointed out to Nicky what a Cayman looks like. It met with approval, and I'm told that yes I am allowed one.
Further down in Dover Street Nicky noticed a diner called Automat, and this looked like an excellent place to have an early tea before the show. Nicky had macaroni (and) cheese, and I had a cheeseburger. We shared a piece of cheesecake with our coffees.
We were back to the hotel in time for a quick drink before going back out to the theatre. Turns out that we were in row A, right at the front of the stalls, so we were in the midst of the action. Nicky has been wanting to go and see Les Miserables for a very long time, and I think it's fair to say that she enjoyed it. I knew very little about the show or the story, and I have to say that I thought that it was absolutely fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed it and want to listen to the music again, go to the show again some day, and who knows, maybe I'll feel brave enough to give Victor Hugo's book a try.
We returned to our hotel after the show, congratulating each other on how nice it was not to have to go back to a station and get on a train home with the crowds.
This morning we had breakfast at the hotel. We had the full works - cereal, pastries, juice, full English, coffee and toast - marvellous. Breakfast was definitely the best bit about the hotel. The restaurant manager gave Nicky a comment card about the hotel to fill in whilst we ate - so she did! I think that she gave them something of a tough time about the rooms being a little run down, and bringing into question the hotel deserving all of its five stars.
After breakfast we wandered down the road and had a pleasant time looking around the National Portrait Gallery. Then up Charing Cross Road for a look in the bookshops (although we spent most time in Borders - and its Starbucks!) before a final mooch around and then back to the hotel to collect our case.
We wandered down to Charing Cross, having realised that it was far easier to get to than Victoria, only to discover that there were no Chatham trains due to the engineering works, so we cabbed it to Victoria to get the train home.
Took the camera with us ... and took no photos at all!
In other news, our massage chair arrived on Friday. We've already both been in it since getting home - easing aching backs from a none too comfy hotel bed!
We got the train from Chatham yesterday lunchtime, and got a cab from Victoria to our hotel, the Radisson Edwardian Hampshire on Leicester Square. We were able to check in straight away, and went up to our room - 205. It was at the back of the hotel, and as so often with rooms in London was rather small.
After a quick coffee it was back out for a recce, and having picked up a free map in Leicester Square we found that the Queens Theatre on Shaftsbury Avenue was indeed only a couple of minutes away. Then we went for a stroll up Regents Street, avoiding the dual temptations of both Hamleys and the Apple Store, and along Oxford Street to Selfidges. The main reason for the trip to Selfridges was to see if we could get some of Willy's Wonky Chocolate (as seen on the Channel 4 programme). We hunted high and low in the food hall but couldn't find it anywhere. Eventually we decided to ask, and a member of staff told us that a delivery had come in on Friday, but that it had sold out within the day! Apparently there is a Selfridges hotline that you can call for delivery information!
Still, the trip to Selfridges wasn't entirely in vain - we bought a corn bread kit for Nicky to make with Jake this week, and stocked up on a couple of squeezy bottles of Smuckers Grape Jelly! Makes us think of Orlando!
Wandering back towards our hotel we decided to cut the corner between Oxford and Regent Streets, and finding ourselves outside the Porsche dealership on Berkeley Square, I pointed out to Nicky what a Cayman looks like. It met with approval, and I'm told that yes I am allowed one.
Further down in Dover Street Nicky noticed a diner called Automat, and this looked like an excellent place to have an early tea before the show. Nicky had macaroni (and) cheese, and I had a cheeseburger. We shared a piece of cheesecake with our coffees.
We were back to the hotel in time for a quick drink before going back out to the theatre. Turns out that we were in row A, right at the front of the stalls, so we were in the midst of the action. Nicky has been wanting to go and see Les Miserables for a very long time, and I think it's fair to say that she enjoyed it. I knew very little about the show or the story, and I have to say that I thought that it was absolutely fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed it and want to listen to the music again, go to the show again some day, and who knows, maybe I'll feel brave enough to give Victor Hugo's book a try.
We returned to our hotel after the show, congratulating each other on how nice it was not to have to go back to a station and get on a train home with the crowds.
This morning we had breakfast at the hotel. We had the full works - cereal, pastries, juice, full English, coffee and toast - marvellous. Breakfast was definitely the best bit about the hotel. The restaurant manager gave Nicky a comment card about the hotel to fill in whilst we ate - so she did! I think that she gave them something of a tough time about the rooms being a little run down, and bringing into question the hotel deserving all of its five stars.
After breakfast we wandered down the road and had a pleasant time looking around the National Portrait Gallery. Then up Charing Cross Road for a look in the bookshops (although we spent most time in Borders - and its Starbucks!) before a final mooch around and then back to the hotel to collect our case.
We wandered down to Charing Cross, having realised that it was far easier to get to than Victoria, only to discover that there were no Chatham trains due to the engineering works, so we cabbed it to Victoria to get the train home.
Took the camera with us ... and took no photos at all!
In other news, our massage chair arrived on Friday. We've already both been in it since getting home - easing aching backs from a none too comfy hotel bed!
Tuesday 1 April 2008
Scanning photos
I'm pretty much up to date now with uploading digital photos to Flickr, and so the project has turned to scanning in and uploading prints from the pre digital era.
I've made a start with the trip to Florida in December 2000, when Jake was just 6 months old. Here is a picture of Grandad and Jake watching the Tapestry of Nations parade at Epcot - I think we all know who's enjoying it more!
I've made a start with the trip to Florida in December 2000, when Jake was just 6 months old. Here is a picture of Grandad and Jake watching the Tapestry of Nations parade at Epcot - I think we all know who's enjoying it more!
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