Christmas At The Folks House

So what have I been up to? Not much really. I did do a quiz on the 16th at the pub. I thought the questions were quite easy but alas no one else seemed to agree and the highest scoring team only got just over 30 out of 60. Let's just say: there was heckling, and it wasn't very popular. Oh well...

Plan B is a little better now there's a couple of people there I can talk to but still not the ideal place to be. Perhaps it's only 100 times better than my last job after all :p

For Christmas I got: LOTS! Thanks Zoe and Lee for the book!! Add to that... oh I don't know about 20 more books, and a couple of DVDs and a HAMPER (yes, a HAMPER) of Guylian chocolate and you'd have one very happy Jae. But Jim, as always, has to go and beat everyone else. Not only did he get me the Special Edition of the Love of Siam (including postcards, photos, the soundtrack and a bonus feature of Mario Maurer in the bath...) but he also bought me the wooden Father Christmas toy from the movie!! It was meant to come with the special edition but production problems stopped that happening... so instead Jim went out of his way to find it and very sweet of him too. :D Happy times.

Christmas has been good so far, and I hope yours has been too.

New Years Resolutions??? Hmm... MUST LOSE WEIGHT! Honestly. This time I mean it. You guys simply have to start being meaner with me! Send me hideous amounts of emails calling me fatty or something ;)

And finally after being absent from our televisions for some months I'd forgotten how gorgeous and beautiful a speciman Spartan from Gladiators is so for all us Gladiators fans here we go:



Don't you just want to have his babies?

Majel Barrett Roddenberry Has Passed Away

My self imposed, no laptop enhanced exile from blogging must be briefly ended due to the sad news of Majel Barrett Roddenberry's passing. As a lover of Star Trek it is extremely saddening to hear of her death. She brought so much joy to her roles and she will be greatly missed. Can Star Trek really go on without the voice of the computer???

May She Rest In Peace

It's Christmas Time... Nearly

I can tell because the strange mixture of extreme delight and despair has fallen upon me as is now a Christmas tradition.

I spent the weekend down in Lympne with the parental units and my siblings and had a lovely time. Jim cooked lovely fish cakes, we watched movies and the Christmas tree went up.

But I know I can barely afford Christmas this year and things are going to be really tough. :(

Jim has gone over to Boston for a few days so my mood hasn't been helped by the loneliness.

And work. Leaving my last job was a good move. Finding another job without finding a way to earn money without doing any work at all was a bad move. If it wasn't for the rather awesomely pretty boy (I'm talking AWESOMELY pretty. Think The Sixth Former sort of awesomeness) I saw on the tube today I think I may well have given up and gone home (thankfully he got off at Hammersmith too).

My laptop died yesterday, the hard drive is fried I think, so this will probably be my last post for this year (blogging from work, it's a big no no around here). I don't know when I'll be able to afford a new laptop but it may well be some time indeed (think years rather than months!). Sorry Dear Constant Reader, you'll have to make do without me.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

So in case I don't see you; good afternoon, good evening and good night.

Eurovision: This Is Serious Business

Graham Norton to be the British Eurovision commentator? Terry Wogan stepping down??? 

After this year's Eurovision, where Terry Wogan showed extremely unsportsmanlike behaviour, I did call for Terry Wogan to step down as commentator. But to replace him with Graham Norton? Is that really necessary? 

Don't get me wrong, I've always had a soft spot for Graham Norton. I grew up loving "So Graham Norton" on Channel 4 with Dolly Parton and that old lady from the audience who kept turning up. All very amusing in a Friday night comedy chat show sort of way. 

But whereas Terry mixed wit, with knowledge and enthusiasm, I feel Graham Norton is likely to mix his "wit" with more "wit" and a lot of cynical sarcasm. Which is exactly the reason I wanted Terry to step down. 

I supposed I should stop worrying and give him a chance but alas, Dear Constant Reader, I feel the time will soon be upon us when Britain withdraws from Eurovision thanks to the badly handled BBC running of the show and British people's cynicism.

Contrasts

Jae's current obsession: ZOMBIES! 

Who's Been Buying Me Stuff???

I went to place another book onto my Amazon wishlist and was shocked at how empty it was. Quickly checking my purchased items I realised someone had gone and bought me almost my entire wishlist!! Jim denies all knowledge and my understanding of the current state of his wallet backs this up so my suspicions rest on my mother until I see proof other wise. Gave me a big smile anyway.

So I've gone and updated my wishlist with all the sequels to what has been bought already... YAY!

Golden Wonder Crisps

You, Dear Constant Reader, remember the happy days when branded Cheese and Onion crisps came in green packs and Salt and Vinegar came in blue packs. All was right with the world back then.

Then one day Golden Wonder disappeared. No it never ceased to exist, Wotsits and others carried it's name on for a time before falling to the sword of the evil empire, Walkers, but their normal flavoured crisps just disappeared from the shelves. The dark age of a topsy turvy world where you never could tell what flavour of crisp you'd get just from the colour of the pack descended upon us.

Jim and I went to Makro yesterday and found Golden Wonder crisps!!!! Yes... and so it came to pass that I did take a green pack and behold it was cheese and onion. And it was good.

Tasty, tasty, tasty! I've not really been a great crisp fan for many years. The flavours were not there for me. Now I realise I simply had grown used to the awesome flavours of Golden Wonder and nothing else could compare. Crisps are good again!

And you know the scary thing... the scary thing is I am not only not being paid for this post, no one even asked me to write it! I know... in this modern day of paid per post blogging I'm really missing a trick.

Go get some Golden Wonder crisps!!

I Is Most Proud

My sister has started a blog

Pah

On Thursday three separate tenants called me "The most helpful person they have ever spoken to" at Plan B. Which is either a sign of just how good I am or a sign of just how awful Plan B's service is. Gave me a nice buzz anyway. 

Other than that... all is quiet on the West Greenwich front. 

The Most Helpfullest

Yes, that is what one tenant called me today. Happy days. :D

Yesterday night was quiz night and the Tail Enders didn't do too badly... we were joint third before a tie breaker question:

In what year was the first manned balloon flight?

Seconds later my answer was submitted. Guess who'd be swotting up on air balloons? Me!!!

1783... mwhahahahaha! Moonlight Investigation has it's plus sides!

P.S. I'm greatly annoyed to discover that the George H W Bush was the 41st President of the United States which that bloody quiz master got wrong and I got right. Grr... with that point we'd have been joint second and with that question would have flown through into second place. ;) God... I'm sounding like one of those sad quizzers who take it way too seriously...

Survivors: Good and Bad

So I watched Survivors last night and when it finished I went to sleep quite happy about what I saw. But having had time to contemplate it I've begun to feel a little disappointed with the show.

Firstly I realised that despite the extended (compared to the original series) scenes of the beginnings of the virus as it spreads around London, those scenes are pretty terrible at relaying any sense of true horror or dread at what is in effect the end of the world. One second things are bad, the next everyone is dead. They may as well have just started with everyone dead and not bothered with the pointless, unexciting lead up. Are we really meant to believe half the population took days to die and then the rest suddenly died while everyone was asleep??

Then we have the acting. Jesus... I was so pleased to see Freema from Doctor Who but then she died leaving us with a bunch of actors who seemed unable to convey any sort of emotion. Do they really think everyone would just wake up one day, find the world dead and within 7 days be able to talk about their friends and family dying without any emotion?? Sure some might be totally shocked but others would be letting some emotion out.

And post apocalyptic Britain so far seems like a dream! Everyone died in their homes or in hospitals or mosques and the roads are practically clear except for the occasionally plot forwarding randomly placed car. In a panic that would follow a pandemic like this most roads would be clogged with cars and as accidents increased it'd only be worst. Where was the chaos? Losing power and water is hardly dramatic or really very important given that by the time the public found out about the end of their world they would have been rioting in the streets. Where were the piles of bodies clogging door ways? The fires out of control? Would Britain really just die out so quietly?

Finally in more storyline based concerns I really don't care for any of the characters. A Muslim preachy school kid, a less than preachy lapsed, nouveux riches Muslim who you just know will be praying within 2 episodes thanks the kid reminding him of Allah being great, a criminal who seems to have thought a bag full of £50 notes might somehow come in useful in a post apocalyptic world, and Abby who is the most dull lead character I've ever seen.

All in all not a great start... roll on episode two. Let's hope there's some improvement!

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

The new Survivors starts tonight!!! 9PM on BBC One. You HAVE to watch it. I don't care about any feeble excuses like "I don't like sci-fi" or "I didn't like the original" or even "I don't live in Britain and can't watch it". Watch it!!

Why am I so determined you watch it? Because the original Survivors was amazing. I mean, it was totally the most awesome programme on telly.

I also have to admit without Survivors I'd never had found I loved Doctor Who. Back in the early nineties Survivors was shown on Sunday mornings before Doctor Who and my laziness kept me on UK Gold after Survivors had finished enabling me to discover the pleasures of travelling with a Time Lord.

So watch it. Or watch out! ;)

Worzel Gummidge Makes Me Smile

Dead Set: Dead Good

I watched the Dead Set today. I had intended to watch it on broadcast but missed the first episode and decided to wait until I could watch it from the start.

For a television series it's pretty darn good with the Big Brother setting actually adding realism (I know, irony!) and making it feel a lot more raw. Davina McCall as a zombie, brilliant! The best parts however were those set outside of the Big Brother house and the ending was somewhat grim and flat. But it certainly had a lot to say about reality television and our society and it was full of zombie's!! So it gets the Jae Seal of Approval.

The Seat Chasers

I really truly cannot stand one part of my commute, of any journey in fact in London; the seat chasers. These hideous creatures jostle, and push as soon as a train begins to slow as it draws up to the platform and by the time the doors are drawing level with them they are craning their necks, getting in everyone's way trying to pick out THE SEAT that is going to get them home in the most comfort. As the doors ping open they are already so excited they are practically bouncing up and down, that's if they have deigned to allow those on the train to get off before they board, (a rare event but not unknown) and then they bundle in through the doors weaving past people as they head towards some distant seat that is the one they crave. They care for no one but themselves and make taking a train somedays a living Hell.

I may have sold my soul and become a member of the rat race but the day I become a seat chaser is the day you are officially allowed to kill me.

Yesterday Plan B had some visitors from another Trust who had come to marvel at the disorganised rabble efficient organisation we had. One of the group came and listened in with one of my Seniors and I just sat their with one thought in my head:

I KNOW YOU

But no matter how hard I tried I couldn't put my finger on it. When he said his name was Malcolm I internally noted that matched my incomplete records, but I was still none the wiser as to who he was with relation to me. I noted the sort of haunted look in his eyes that said "I used to be better than this" and I guessed then he must have been something more important in a past life. I didn't talk to him, it being rude in my opinion to wander up to someone and go "I KNOW YOU" and it was some few hours after he left before I realised who he was. He was the departmental head of my department at TVW. I'd last seen him dressed up as Pudsey bear, as he was chief organiser at the Children In Need call centre I sometimes volunteered at. I remember him being a very jolly man and can only imagine how it must have been for him to have been let go from a job like that and becoming instead a simple manager for a repairs team at some not for profit organisation.

Of course I don't know that he was let go but I also know he was. If you know what I mean.

I'm writing a story at the moment. Haven't written one for so long, God it feels good. :D

The Tube

I always said I'd never get a job where I had to get the Tube to the office. But despite my reservations the District line isn't bad, I can a seat on the way home everytime and often get one on the way to work too. And I sit down, something I don't do on trains out of respect for others, but District line trains have fab individual seats in each carriage meaning I don't inconvenience anyone else with my big legs when I'm sat down.

But you don't half get some weirdos on the tube. A man got on the District line at South Kensington today and stood himself awkwardly between me and another man. He looked up briefly and he had the strangest eyes, they reminded me of a big cat's eyes (black slits on bright yellow, I'm talking weird!) He looked back towards the door and held his face against it. He held on to the door when the train moved off, like he was a adrift at sea and that door was the only thing keeping him afloat. At Gloucester Road he swung off the train (literally swung, keeping one hand on the door even with it open) to let people off before swinging back into place just before the door shut. He repeated this at every station, eliciting more than a few odd looks from everyone else in our part of the carriage, before he swung off ahead of me at Hammersmith and wandered UP the platform beyond the stairs... to nowhere. The platforms ends not far beyond that point...

Just another day on the Tube...

Did I Mention...

...I'm totally hooked on Tom Milsom (thanks Jim!)?



Especially Catsongs II



I demand you buy his album now. I earn nothing off that link, I'm in it for your musical betterment alone.

Jaws II And Reese's Cups...

Why is it that I just love cheesy monster movies (Lake Placid 2 and Shark in Venice excluded... oh who am I kidding... Lake Placid 2 was worth it for the hilariously bad effects. Shark in Venice however is truly the worst movie ever made)?

Jaws II. I love that movie, and I'm watching it as I type (something which always drives Jim crazy... he thinks I can't multi task!). But I've found the movie is even more greatly enhanced when munching on some Reese's Cups Jim's American colleagues have brought over for him me. I'm not talking about those big ones that are available all over the place now. I'm talking about the miniature ones which I love to eat in a typically weirdo Jae fashion (bite the bottom off then savour the thick chocolate top). Mmm..



Work work work. Yesterday I learnt I was officially the best person stats wise in my department. Mwhahahahahaha. But still work is soooo last year and I really, really just want to live the life of a pampered British country gentlemen. *crosses fingers for explosion of Google Ads clicks on other blogs soon*

On Stephen King

One of my strongest memories of my dark teenage years is of sitting in my room depressed and bored listening to the Manic Street Preachers "This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours" when I happened to pick up a copy of The Tommyknockers that had somehow made it's way onto my bookshelf. It's cover was aged and bent and the pages were yellowing and it smelt of "I've been in a box in an attic for years". But I started reading. And I didn't stop reading it until I was finished.

It wasn't my first Stephen King book. It isn't my favourite. But it is the book that changed me from someone who read Stephen King books into someone who loved them. It was from then on that I purchased as many Stephen King books as often as I could afford to. I know what you're thinking, so what? I am not proficient enough with words to express what his writing has meant to me. I don't mean that in the crass "I'm your number one fan" sort of way. But the way he writes and the ideas he expresses have influenced me greatly. The music of Catatonia and the writing of Stephen King acted as a tourniquet to my fractured, depressed mind and helped mold me into the man I am today. From the use of the word "mayhap" to the phrase "Dear Constant Reader", the way my brain speaks (if not how I really speak) is heavily Stephen King reliant. His obvious love of America, Americans and Americana fuelled my own passion for American history and culture. His movie "Maximum Overdrive" helped rekindled the love of rock that my mother had tried so hard to foster (she's off with George to a Motorhead concert next week).

His book It gave me a summer that in the darker days of 1998 I couldn't have myself. Sure it's a book about a homicidal alien creature but it's also a book about childhood, about friendship and about the good within the bad. His book Bag of Bones chilled my spine. I found Desperation under my Mum's bed after she'd put it there to try and put it out of her mind, it had disturbed her so much. I found it deliciously dark. I love The Long Walk, a book I think every one should read once in their lives. The Stand is Stephen King's take on the end of the world, featuring God. It also happens to be my favourite book. Needful Things is a farce of epic proportions that you can't help but like. Misery is too well written for words. Gerald's Game the book I think I'll never finish... I always get half way and then stop reading... The Regulators is strangely alluring, it's surrealism makes it stand out in my memory. 'Salem's Lot and Pet Sematary remind me, in a good way, of rainy days. But there is one book that has stayed with me far more than any others.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon it's haunting. The story of a girl lost in the words. It's beautiful, it's well written and unlike many of Stephen King's books it's easily read.

I'll never be the fan who writes a letter to express my thanks, but here on my own little pieces of t'internet I say a big Thank You to the man whose words have been with me as a constant companion for nearly half my life.

Predators

Well after watching Predator and Predator II round my parents house, Jim and I come home to find Alien vs. Predator on the telly! Which means I can print a picture of husband no. 2 without guilt.



The only senior Republican I'd have sex with? You bet your bottom dollar. Until Dolph Lundgren gets elected to Governor of California, make mine Arnie.

Speaking of husband no. 1...



My heart remains forever He-Mans. One day Dolph will realise we got married when I was 5 and will come be my sugar daddy (Jim, you can be my bit on the side ;) )