That Friday feeling

There's something about Ministry of Sound on a Friday. Being a club, while most businesses are winding down for the weekend the club guys are ramping up their preparations for the big Friday and Saturday nights. There's always music being played in the office, but on a Friday it's a little more funky and a little louder.

Then there's the traditional trip up to Borough Market - I didn't go this week but as a food lover it's a fantastic place to spend Friday lunchtime.

Ministry of Sound is definitely not a 9 till 5 environment, but Friday is the one day when most people down tools at 5.30 - and we take over the company watering hole, The Libertine, for pre-weekend refreshments.

That's in an average week. An email came round today with potential dates for the Christmas party, which will be in the club. That'll be anything but an average week...

In God's country

Wenge and I went up to Edinburgh at the weekend for a whistle stop visit. It was supposed to be a surprise party for my younger bruv Nigel, who celebrated his 50th a couple of weeks ago. Then, when he announced that he was getting engaged, it became a double celebration. Except that he found out about it, so it was no longer a surprise. Still, that helped with the pickup arrangements.

We left Luton on Saturday morning in torrential rain, and arrived in Edinburgh in glorious sunshine. We had a couple of hours in the centre - most of it at the Debenham's sale - before heading out to Torphichen, where Nigel and Fiona live. My older brother, Scott, was also there with his girlfriend Rosemary.

The day was spent eating, drinking (yes, in moderation) and walking into the village. At night we went to nearby Linlithgow for a pretty average but enjoyable Italian at Bar Leo.

The next morning was torrential again but we made it back without any problems - I'd maintained radio silence since getting on the plane so that I could watch the Rangers game when I got home, only for it to be abandoned at half time due to the waterlogged pitch.

Have I mentioned the new kitchen we're having fitted? It should have been done and dusted by now, but another week's gone by and Lincoln is still here. I won't bore you with the details but suffice to say I'm looking forward to christening it by cooking something special - I'm just hoping it won't be Christmas dinner...

How life is in 2009

Things have changed. Here's how I found out today that my brother is getting married...

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.