Up

The new Pixar movie Up, which I haven't yet seen, apparently features the adventures of a grumpy old man and a young boy. In movies there's the concept of a composite character - one that combines the personalities of multiple characters. It struck me that in Chiswick Casuals terms it would be fairly obvious who the old man was a composite of (for legal reasons, answers on a postcard only please).

Anyway, I digress. Up has been the key word of the last week or so. Things are definitely looking up at work - I enjoyed last week more than any for a long time, and the arrival of Claire, my new Digital Marketing Manager, is a vital step towards a full strength team. We have a team night out on Thursday (bowling & curry) which should be a laugh.

Last week I met up with Ian and Soapy for beers, margaritas and Mexican food at La Perla, which is becoming a favourite haunt for me when I'm in Covent Garden.

The weekend was about preparing for our new kitchen to be fitted - first ever wooden worktop for me and I may have gone a bit mad with the linseed oil... I got a good game of footie in without injuring anything, which is a bonus, and Rangers went back to the top of the league with a win at St Johnstone while Celtic could only draw. Good times.

A walk in Hampstead Heath yesterday, followed by a roast dinner, finished the weekend off nicely.

Meanwhile, as I write I'm listening to our latest release 'The Chilled House Session' - gorgeous and ever so reasonably priced at ministryofsound.com.

TV heaven

I met Ana for a coffee today. An exchange took place. I returned her The Wire DVDs and borrowed the final season plus the next on my list - The Sopranos. Can't wait.

Here goes

I've been searching for an iPhone app that will let me post directly from my new (work) iPhone. This blogpress one has just been released so let's see how it fares.
Bit of a quiet weekend so far. I pulled a hamstring last week at 5-a-side so instead of playing today I've been traipsing round Covent Garden with Wenge. Seemed like a good idea at the time but too busy and I didn't want to buy anything, so it wasn't the most fruitful trip. Maybe we can kick start the weekend with a good meal out later.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Criminally good

All this week Wenge and I have been glued to BBC's Criminal Justice. Slow moving, tense and at times harrowing, it's not exactly a barrel of laughs. But there's top class acting from an excellent cast and it's a reminder of what BBC does best. Last episode tonight - can't wait.

Talking of reminders, some of you may have noticed that melvtopia has had a 1984 style spring clean. I was reminded this week that what goes in the blog doesn't necessarily stay in the blog, and that a few of my recent posts have been, let's say, a bit hard-hitting for public comsumption. Thankfully the colleagues who read them had the consideration to tell me and I'm grateful for that.

Weekend treats

I've been a bit remiss with my updates lately, for reasons I've covered previously. So, a quick catch-up ...

Last Sunday saw the first Chiswick Casuals barbecue. The boys gave me my barbecue for my birthday last year so it was my way of saying thanks. The weather was fine and we had a good turnout - all in all a great afternoon. The menu featured a chicken dish I learned at my Indian cookery course last year, sausages from the Farmers' Market, sweetcorn, vegetable kebabs, home made guacamole and coleslaw and a few other bits - it all seemed to go down well.

Wenge I and spent this weekend with the Arch, Debs, Marc and Margaret at Arch & Debs' holiday cottage in Orford, a couple of hours up the A12 in Suffolk. It was a welcome break (tm) from London, in beautiful surroundings, with great weather and of course great company. From our arrival on Saturday morning just in time for a hearty breakfast, to leaving on Sunday afternoon, it was a peaceful and relaxing time for all. In between we had a very enjoyable walk in glorious sunshine, including a ferry (rowing boat) trip and a pub stop; another walk through the village to the quay, and a meal at a nearby pub/restaurant. The only sour note of the weekend was our host's failure to bring a clean shirt for dinner which, frankly, let the side down. No matter, it was one less thing to crumple when he fell asleep in front of Match of the Day on our return.

So, another part of Britain that I now know, having never set foot in Suffolk previously. It moved the dream of a place away from it all closer in my mind... tomorrow would be nice.

My dad the hero

We're all proud of our parents. My dad was Chairman of Rangers for about 4 years and for a while was quite a well known figure in Scotland, so that was quite a big deal for me.

As you'd imagine, we used to talk a lot about football and Rangers. We didn't talk so much about his day job though, which was an orthopedic surgeon. But this week I saw this incredible story that made me realise that he was a great man for more than just football.

Now that really does make me proud.

Holiday? What holiday?

The good news is that Wenge and I had 10 wonderful days in the south of France. The sun shone relentlessly, with the mercury by the pool reaching 47 degrees one afternoon and a sea temperature of 25 degrees, so it was a holiday for relaxation rather than activity.

Since we were in the foothills of the Pyrenees, we had planned to spend some time walking, but it was too hot and frankly more enjoyable to spend it by the pool or just reading a book. Or cooking, which I did a fair bit of.

We treated ourselves to a couple of days in Collioure, and found ourselves in the most beautiful sanctuary of a hotel just a few hundred yards off one of the main streets - a real oasis of elegance and calm in the throng of holiday crowds.

I had my own treat - my annual visit to the local wine merchant who gave me a guided tour around his selection of local wines (I swear he knows every winemaker personally) and helped me get my credit card bill to a respectable level. Our neighbours, who let us use their house, arrived as we left and are going to bring my purchases back in the car with them when come home - now that's what I call good neighbours.

There was a slight hiccup on the way home, when we had to get off our plane on the runway due to a technical fault and wait 5 hours for a replacement plane. Still, as it was Ryanair we were expecting them to just refund the £29 fare and tell us to f*#k off and make our own way home, so it wasn't too bad.

A long bank holiday weekend and it was back to work - my first week in my new position as Head of Internet. As I write it's Thursday evening, 3 days in, and I can't pretend that it hasn't been tough going so far. I'll be glad to get the week over and make a fresh start next week. Thank goodness for the weekend.