Dec 31: Noo-yeah

Ahh yes, it’s New Years Eve.

I’m not a fan of making a big thing out of it, but the opportunity to reflect on a year past and the chance to set some expectations for the future year is a nice checkpoint to take at this time.

Don’t worry, I’m not about to drop the bomb of ‘My Year In Review’, I’ll leave that for the 22nd July 2015, but like everyone I’m sure, there are things that have gone very well in 2014, and things that have not gone so well. Whichever way, it does feel like 2014 has seen the start of a transition toward something different.

2015 is going to be different. All years are different. This year I might actually take a beach holiday…Yep, you heard me, a beach holiday where the aim will be do do exactly bugger all that I don’t want to, and probably read/drink/swim/lay about/sleep/mess about/drink coctails in a pool and all that kind of wotnot that goes on with that kind of break. I actually don’t know what happens, but I want to find out, and I am assured that it’s very relaxing, and I’ll get a tan. Sweet.

It’s New Year, that means fireworks, so here is a photo of fireworks;

Whizz bang!

Happy New Year.

Dec 30: Number-2

Well, the Game of Throws Championship Match has been played;

0.64 pts… That was close!

 Congrats Dave!

 It’s been a superb experience. The draft, the banter, the weekly games, the selections, the debates, the research, the Play Offs! Brilliant. We are already talking about the Draft next year, but to be honest, I haven’t quite finished reflecting on this season…

 The Saints? Well, they tanked, spectacularly. It was as entertaining as it was painful to watch. Apparently, The Saints were superbowl contenders at the start of the season. They are now the ‘aints – earned! Not to worry, there is always next season, and we might even have most of our defence healthy, fingers crossed.

 The Dusters however exceeded expectations! I’d have taken 2nd Place at the start of the season, absolutely! Beast Mode totally delivered, and whilst they slowed toward the end of the season Peyton Manning and Julius Thomas owned the forst 2/3rds of the season. Frank Gore came good and broke more records, DeSean Jackson nailed it, and the biggest surprise was T Y Hilton who went from outsider in Game 1 to one of the top scoring and consistent Wide Receivers in the NFL – BOOM!

 OK, I lost to Dave int he final, but it was CLOSE! And you have to be there to challenge int he first place.

 Awesome stuff – I’ll be following the actual play offs closely through to season close. I’m surprised and happy at how much I enjoy the NFL 🙂

Dec 29: Music Recommendation – Parliment, Mothership Connection

This is a recommendation from the Mighty Donaldo; ‘Brazilian International’ quality Housemate, instigator of countless musical moments, writer of beautiful songs and all round legend to those who know him…

My original thought was that Don could provide a fresh perspective for me in the Bluegrass genre which I have dabbled in with Gillian Welch, Dave Rawlings and more recently, Darrell Scott and Tim O’Brian. However, as perhaps I should have expected, Donaldo riffed (Git-tar pun intended) on the idea and instead suggested that I should experience his most favourite of Funk experiences;

Parliment – Mothership Connection.

A dude climbing out of a spaceship wearing silver knee-high platform boots…. This could NOT be more awesome!

 Summary?

 I was not ready for this experience in any shape or form. The opening track opens with the lines “Make mah funk the people, I wants to get funked up”. My head immediately started nodding at the mellowist of funk paces as the brass kicks in and the drums snap into funk rhythm on the One beat (*nods to Don 😉 . It’s utterly addictive and insights a smile, were I walking at the time, I would have instantly adopted a strut in time to the beat. I would probably have spoken in a shocking parody of Blacksploitation as well – this is dangerous music my friend, Dangerous I say!

 The Funk is THICK! The tunes are fantastic, seriously, I was not expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. I was embraced in a Jacuzzi of funkadelica! Track 4 is called “Supergroovalisticprosifunkstication (The Bumps Bump)”. Oooooohhhh yeeeaaaaahhhh!

 I’ve already listened to it twice (I have also listened to Vivaldi’s Four seasons for a second time as well), it’s insidiously brilliant. Top musical experience. I recommend you all listen to it! Get your funk on dudes!!!

Dec 28: Fine-al

It’s the showdown!

Crop Dusters Vs Evil Little Bills

It’s shaping up to be a classic! Which isn’t difficult, the first one is inevitably a classic…but ‘tevs – it’s ON!!!

In other news, I want to pay homage to my companion over the last few days… Alfredo Bonso Dogisimo, or, Alfie;

Handsome Bastard.

 I have been maximising the opportunity to get out in the fields by taking Alfredo for a walk everyday. The last couple of days have been decent sized walk for a few miles, wending our way through lots of fields, across a river or two, circling all the way back to the homestead. Doge walks are immensely relaxing and offer rare space for reflection. Dogs are also excellent listeners…well, at least until some sort of nature bombs it’s way past. Alfie is partial to a squirrel, pheasant, chicken, horse, cow and deer. Chicken in particular actually, he took out a battery of chickens once. Not kidding; 75 in one spree… He’s calmed down a bit since then, but not so much that I don’t keep close. He’s actually a lot more chilled, and has been exceptionally well behaved. He also likes to lie on my feet. Legend.

RIght now, he’s crashed out in front of the fire after having a little dunk today;

He has no balls, otherwise, there is no way he would have jumped in… Frikkin’ Freezin’!

 He’s a splendid buh-uuuudy – here’s to you Alfie!

Dec 27: Ibbly-Bibbly

Ibbly Bibbly is a game.

Not surprisingly, I had not heard of it before…. Thankfully, Alex Blackwell had the energy and commitment to deliver on the promise that “Shut Up! You’ll all enjoy it…” …

We did indeed.

The rules are very simple, but I’m not going to explain them, you’ll have to experience it in person. All one needs is some willing participants and an Eye-Liner pencil. Given enough time, drink and energy, and this happens;

Ibbly-Bibbly Number 4, who has 9 Ibbly-Bibbly’s…

 Arbe got done eventually, doesn’t pay to embellish in this game 😉

AAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH IBBLYBIBBLY YOU DIDN’T SAY “HAS” YOU SAID “GOT”!!!!!

Christmas games are foreboding, but they can totally pay off!

 In other news, we BBQ’d a ‘Fry Up’ this morning. I say we, obviously I mean Arbe BBQ’d and Mum sorted the eggs. Honest, I contributed! I sorted Toast and Coffee….The safest of breakfast contributions…which is exactly where I should be when involved in any kitchen related activities.

 Mum knows this. It’s why I’m trusted with the cleaning…Domestic Goddess? Oooooohhhh no – Hooverer of JUSTICE!!!

 Anyhoo – this is the kind of Brunch I can get into;

BBQ Brunch Dahling – they are all doing it in London you know…

Not bad!

Dec 26: Top-5

I’ve been having a good discussion with MooPoo over the last couple of days… Top 5 Films… Oh yeah, there’s mileage in that discussion…

So, mine for reference and in no particular order;

Fight Club, Good Will Hunting, Se7en, The Great Escape, The Good The Bad and The Ugly

The key is to work out your own criteria, otherwise it becomes virtually impossible to choose from so many brilliant films. For me, a film has to have an impact. First time through, I need to be left immediately wanting to see it again, but utterly moved by the experience. A Top 5 movie must also be watchable at any time, not mood specific. A Top 5 movie must work on multiple levels, carry a strong message, provide subtlety that provides more depth and nuance upon repeat viewings and be able to prompt discussion about the content. It’s a tough bar to reach, but it helps to define my personal favourites. Other characteristics can over ride prior choices, for instance, the first time I saw Se7en at a cinema in Basingstoke, I was floored! It was so powerful that I can comfortably express that I haven’t been so floored by a film on so many levels since. The only film that comes close was ‘Brazil’, which doesn’t qualify for rewatch due to it making me feel like shit for following week… D’oh.

Anyway, you can probably tell that I put a lot of thought into the Top 5 debate, and to be honest, it’s a pretty standard small-talk question for me because I thoroughly dislike small-talk even though I see the need.

I don’t need small-talk to break the ice with Moops, the Top 5 debate continues. It’s one of the beauties of the question, the answer is time specific. The Top 5 is constantly subject to change. I actually have a Top 15 to 20 knocking around in my noggin and films move around the rankings as new films appear……aaaaaand I think I revealing a little too much about my thoughts here, so I’ll switch to Moo’s Top 5;

Chalet Girl, Forest Gump, The Lion King, Romeo and Juliet, Dark Knight

Bonus – I also got Elsie’s;

Skyfall, Dark Knight Rises, The Holiday, Frozen, White Chicks

Double Bonus – Arbe got involved;

Bourne Trilogy, Casino Royale, Four Weddings and Funeral, Chalet Girl, Mad Max

Surprise Triple Bonus – Mum got involved;

Pride and Prejudice, Love Actually, Shadowlands, Sound of Music, Ryan’s Daughter

I can only pick out one film I’m fairly certain I won’t watch, but now Elsie will probably quote it until I do…. Seems appropriate to take any I haven’t seen as recommendations…. See what I did there?

Ahhhh Boxing day, good time for the brain to wonder… I’m hoping for a chill day tomorrow, which hopefully means sofa + Movies… I’ll pick at least one from the above Top 5…

 Oh I nearly forgot, my job at Christmas is to provide the cheese board… We didn’t get to it yesterday… Boxing Day Bonus;

Smoked Cheddar! BOOM!

Now, friends coming round…how will I cope with the small-talk….?

Dec 25: Xmas

Festive greetings, and a very happy Christmas!

Here ends the shortest blog entry yet 🙂

Dec 24: 60-eth

It’s my Aunties 60th birthday party this evening, so there is little time for blog type activity…
That being said, I have managed to have a fantastic walk with Alfie today;

It was a beautiful day, and Alfie was in splendid form. He bombed around whilst I yomped around in marshy fields gleefully enjoying being out and about in the North Somerset countryside. Good soul food that, I’ll be aiming for more of the same tomorrow.
For some reason, probably Ben, we BBQ at this time of year. It rocks! Tonight is all about celebrating Anne’s 60th, drinking, hearing stories, laughing and generally getting involved… Which I need to go do…
Apparently, it’s Christmas time… Cool 🙂

Dec 23: Oh-Holy-Crap

2 unexpected pleasures today;

1) I have the day off!

2) Le Crop Dusters (That’s French) won in this week’s Semifinal Play Off match up!!! WOOOOOO!!! (That’s American)

The play offs have gone down as follows;

Wut?

 The plaudits have to go to:

 Frank Gore: http://www.gfycat.com/NastyImpressionableFieldspaniel#?speed=0.25

 Best Mode: http://gfycat.com/CourageousDangerousBagworm

 Beast Mode caused what is being referred to as “Beast Quake 2″… This is named after “Beast Quake”, which happened last year again The New Orleans Saints, so I’m not going to talk about that. The diving celebration actually has a name… <ahem>…It’s called “Hol’ Mah’ DIIIICK!”….Yeah, I laughed 🙂

 Whichever way, these two legends provided a combined 45pts to the Dusters this week. It was Frank Gore’s highest scoring week this season, and was most welcome indeed, especially as my opponent was not napping so the the team had to put in a good performance to get through. Commiserations Andy.

 Next week is the final week of the regular season, and the Game of Throws Championship Play off. The final is against Dave “NFL Almanac” Hobbs. He was top of the table at the end of our regular seasons, and we are 1 each in terms of match ups this season. Currently, the predictions look like this;

Too close to call…

 With the final week of the NFL Regular season a bit of a lottery in terms of which players will be rested, who will play bit-parts, who needs to win, who doesn’t care, who’s playing for a new contract… Well, choppy waters to navigate this week to make sure the strongest possible line up is put out on Sunday…

 Down to the wire…

 Could go either way…

 Tense (and Caravans)…

 Perfect 😉

Dec 22: Film Recommendation – The Intouchables

This is the first Film Recommendation that I’ve taken up, kindly provided by Mr Tony Scott (Tony Balogne).

Les Intouchables.

 It’s a truly wonderful film.

 As was part of the deal with the recommendations, I had no background supplied, just the recommendation itself so I had no preconceptions or idea of what the film was about short of a very brief synopsis from a past conversation.

 The film is touching, emotional, observational, interesting, subtle and hilarious. I barked out laughter on a number of occasions. I can’t remove to beauty of the story by parroting it out here, suffice as to say, it’s a journey and you take it with the characters who are exceptionally real – flaws and all.

 Would I recommend? Most definitely! You should watch it, really, you will smile for hours. You might cry a little too…

 Thanks for the recommendation dude – superb!