Bits and bobs from inside my head, out and about, and what I read/watch/see...
So here we are again – it seems shocking but we’re another year on. It’s been a busy one – but that doesn’t mean that there hasn’t been a lot of new stuff discovered and interesting things encountered.
To keep things simpler have split my thoughts on the years Films, TV, Books & Music up as below:
Hope you enjoy.
A good year for films – thanks to me Unlimited card I was able to catch a good few films at the cinema, plus everything else on the telly and DVD. It made it very hard to chose my top 10 of the year (though perhaps more sadly it was harder to chose a bottom 5 given there were a number that could’ve qualified. Still chosen I have and here’s what:
Top 10 of 2011
Thor
This was a bit of a surprise one –the famed Shakespearean actor directing a super hero film – and it worked bringing slightly more complex layers to a film that could’ve easily gone wrong, but it didn’t. It held together into an entertaining romp, with a good dollop of drama added for additional effect. Highly recommended as one of the best super hero films I’ve seen.
Tangled
This one was just plain fun – if I’m honest I ended up seeing it three times at the cinema, enjoying it every time. Hopefully it’s the start of a new era for Disney bringing in fun family films, re-working the classic fairytales and giving them a slightly more modern edge. I’ve not seen it in 2D but this is one of the films where the 3D seemed really worth it – especially in the lantern scene (you’ll know what I mean if you’ve seen it!)
The Three Musketeers
I unashamedly loved this one. Yes it didn’t exactly get great reviews, and yes it’s not exactly a great film but it had a fantastic sense of fun and it wasn’t afraid to shy away from this. If I’m honest when I saw the casting of the musketeers I wasn’t sure, but seeing them in action sold me on them. Don’t watch this expecting great things – it’s not going to win awards, but for a fun film to chill too I couldn’t fault this one in the slightest.
Super 8
This film really knocked my socks off when I saw it. It felt a throwback to the days when Spielberg was making films like ET. The film hangs on the performance of the main kids who all give fantastic performances, and one of the strengths is the background details will tell an unspoken deeper story. Plus you can’t forget the amazing train crash towards the start of the film.
It’s A Kind Of Funny Story
This one caught me by surprise earlier this year. We almost missed at the cinemas, and ended up going to a showing with about four other people there – and found a truly amazing film that saw the entire group of us leaving the cinema with huge smiles on our faces. Played very straight it’s a comedy about a teenager who starts the film wanting to commit suicide, but as the films story develops you meet a host of fantastic characters and get to share a journey full of joy. Really worth digging out if you can.
Source Code
Duncan Jones’ first film “Moon” was a fantastic slow burning sci-fi with complex ideas at its heart. He then followed this up with Source Code – once again a sci-fi with complex ideas at the heart, but also a gripping thriller as a man struggles to find out whose bombing a train – whilst repeatedly living the same last 8 minutes of someone’s life over and over again. It’s worth a couple of views – there are little hints and references that you’ll only spot on a second viewing, but the depth of thought that’s obviously gone into the film make it worth looking up.
Attack the Block
It was a surprise how much I enjoyed this film – dealing with inner city hoodies, fighting off an alien invasion – the film provided an interesting social commentary and gave itself a challenge by starting the film showing the “heroes” mugging a nurse on her way home. The aliens are different from anything I’ve seen on film – the glow in the dark teeth are a fantastic touch – and like Super 8 this feels like it could belong to the 80s, but at the same time uses it’s modern setting efficiently and leaves you with a lot to think about afterwards.
Nativity
One of the two films on this list that I didn’t actually see at the cinema (it came out 2009) I watched this on the recommendation of a friend over twitter, and found that for Boxing Day, Turkey stuffed viewing it was brilliant. Combining equal dollops of comedy and cuteness you may be able to see exactly where it’s going to go from the start, but it’s still an enjoyable ride that I look forward to catching again next Christmas.
Arthur Christmas
I caught this one at the end of the November just before it went through a major resurgence in December (not really sure why it was released as early as it was but that’s another matter). This film is one of those wonderful films celebrating the spirit of Christmas – I challenge you not to finish it without a smile on your face. Covering the world with Aardman Charm and humour – it’s not quite Pixar but it works on multiple levels (and I was especially impressed that in the crowd scenes of elves where you’d get a couple of thousand characters on screen, none of them looked the same but all had their own individual characteristics). I will be sitting as many people down to watch this as I can next Christmas Eve.
The Brothers Bloom
This was a film that I saw the trailer for years ago, thought that the film looked fun, then it had a really limited release and I finally got to give it a go when the giving LoveFilm a try. Presenting a wonderfully styled comedy caper the plot twists come thick and fast – there’s a couple of points where it just doesn’t work, or things seem to resolve themselves a bit too conveniently, but with a quirky cast of characters and an ending that you won’t see coming it’s a really enjoyable experience and a somewhat different film experience.
Honourable Mentions
Other films I saw over the year – worth a mention include…
30: Minutes or Less, Hanna, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, In Time, Jane Eyre, Limitless, Little Miss Sunshine, Paul, Real Steel, Renaissance, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, The Incredibles, The Living Daylights, “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”, True Grit, Unknown, X-Men: First Class
The Worst Films…
And the bottom 5 films that ended up as disappointments, just not being as good as they could’ve and should’ve been.
The Green Hornet
This film felt a bit of a disjointed mess. There were plenty of places where you could see that they were trying to be funny/inventive but it never really worked out leading to me sitting there feeling bored and dis-engaged.
Rango
This film was a bit of a disappointment for me. The concept and the trailers sold what looked like an interesting, genre bending film, instead I found that I couldn’t get into the film – Johnny Depps performance at the start of the film annoyed me, and I just found the whole thing un-engaging and from this disappointing.
Sucker Punch
Another film that I really wanted to enjoy but that just left me feeling meh. And that was the problem – it had an amazing opening sequence, but went down hill from there. I think I can see what they were trying to do but at the end of the film I was left feeling underwhelmed and disappointed.
Pirates Of The Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides
I’m a defender of the first Pirates films – I think they have a certain style/element for fun but that all seemed to be missing from the latest instalment. The story didn’t seem to hang together (a character appeared the start to disappear for the whole film only to turn up when needed at the end), and the main bad guy we only really know he’s bad because every scene he’s in has a character comment on how evil he is. Disappointing even held against the rest of the franchise.
The Adjustment Bureau
This film seemed to be trying to be too many things at the same time – a love story, a conspiracy thriller, an action film, and in the end it failed on all counts leading to a bland heap. If they’d focussed more on one strand it could’ve been an enjoyable watch, but as it was I found that this didn’t really work for me at all.
TV thoughts are here,
Books and Music are here.
This years TV has included a couple of nice surprises, a couple of things that have in the end disappointed, and a couple of series coming back and carrying on strong. As with Films I’ve got through chosen a top 10, Honourable mentions and a bottom 4 which are all below:
The Top 10
Terra Nova
I unashamedly loved this show – it was generally big, silly, and a bit wobbly round the edges but it went along on a fun rollicking ride and I found myself looking forward to it each week. It was great to see a fun show that you could watch with all the family coming back on TV – here’s hoping for a second series!
Game Of Thrones
The big new fantasy drama featuring a huge all star cast, and fantastically realised locations this has understandably gained a huge following. The world shown is gritty and realistic, with complex stories woven around and affecting each other, it’s also a world where no character is safe leaving you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next.
Raising Hope
I’m fairly certain that this made this list last year – and here it is again. It’s light fluffy and always brings a smile to my face. The show is continuing to build to it’s strengths, and providing fun light-hearted entertainment each week, which is pretty much guaranteed to bring a smile to your face.
The Twilight Zone
This was one that was recommended to me by someone at work – the original 1959 series of the Twilight Zone. I started it suspiciously at first (heavily influenced by Futurama’s the Scary Door) but instead found a collection of complex and interesting short stories that can be funny, sad, challenging and a whole host of extras. Removing the modern requirements of special effects and star names the story is key presenting a wonderful show of imagination and unexpected twists.
Fringe
The show keeps building and getting better – each series seems to bring with it a new set of twists and sets up the stage even more – though the real strength in Fringe has been some of the stand alone episodes – presenting some really thoughtful, emotional comments on humanity – and it’s these episodes that make Fringe a real gem to watch.
30 Rock
This was a comedy I was lent on DVD – I found that I watched the entire season in a weekend and wasn’t quite sure where the time had gone. A silly, funny and daft look behind the scenes of an American TV show it’s great fun and moves at a break-neck pace.
Nikita
At the end of the first series of Nikita they complete re-write the game field, and so far the series has kept this up – giving the show a whole new dynamic and completely regenerated the ideas of the show. Hopefully the series can keep this going as its remaining a fresh and dynamic action/adventure thriller.
Up All Night
Another baby raising show – but possibly slightly more grounded than Raising Hope. Dealing with some of the struggles of being a working parent, and (more uniquely) a house husband this stays consistently funny with the manicness of 30 Rock and the sweetness of Raising Hope.
New Girl
I’m always a fan of Zooey Deschanel and her kooky nature – and this show plays it to the max. The interplay between her character and her flatmates can get annoying (they can descend into shouting at each other a bit too quickly) but overall the show keeps a heart and remains solidly likeable – normally bringing a big smile as I watch.
Stargate: Universe
This show seemed to have finally hit it’s stride, and got itself figured out when it was announced it wasn’t going to be renewed. It was always a series that wasn’t afraid to play with some of the more complicated ideas and some of the episodes concepts were wonderful – especially when they meet their own descendants following an accident with Time travel. It’s a shame that this hasn’t been renewed as it finally looked like it was going places.
Honourable Mentions:
Black Mirror, Dr Who, Episodes, Grimm, Merlin, Once Upon a Time, Person of Interest, The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff, Zen
The Bottom 4
There’s only 4 but there are 4 shows that disappointed me this year.
Homeland
A thriller about a potential home grown terrorist on American soil. I tried watching the pilot but couldn’t get through that, I just found it so slow moving and dull.
Ringer
Unlike Homeland I made it through the pilot, but still found that it didn’t really hold any interest for me. It had the concept to be a great interesting show, but the acting seemed to be bland and the story ideas boring.
Falling Skies
This show was one that I just found depressing – there wasn’t any real sign of hope as a group treks around a destroyed world. I’ve got the later half of the season to try and watch but just haven’t been able to bring myself to face it so far.
The Event
A show that started with much promise – and then seemed to lose it all, the plot got convoluted and didn’t seem to make a huge amount of sense. Then it started to sort itself out, but never really got itself fully. If the story had been tighter it could’ve been a more interesting show, but as it stands it was a disappointment.
Film thoughts are here.
Books & Music are here.
There was a bit less in the way of books and music this year – but still come bits worth mentioning. I was going to do a top 5 for books, but somewhat overshot ending up at seven top books for the year.
Top Books
Fragile Things
A collection of short stories all weird, wonderful, and fun in different ways. I found that this book collection could be really hard to put down. Each story was a little different and made a wonderful collection – I’m really looking forward to getting the chance to settle down and reading this again.
The Pirates! In an Adventure with the Scientists
This was fantastic – a very slim and simple book, full of fantastic characters and hilarious situations (it’s shortly to be released as an animated film by Aardman). The book is silly in tone and great fun – highly recommended if you want a giggle.
American Gods
A journey through small town America, mixed in with a mixture of Norse folk law. It makes an interesting mix and is a compelling story leading a great twist at the end. Worth a read for the journey and another one I’d love to re-read if I get the chance.
Wilma Tenderfoot and the Case of the Frozen Hearts
I first encountered Emma Kennedy through an internet stand-up show, where she mentioned her book series. When I found the first one on sale I though I’d give it a go, finding a wonderful world populated with strange characters, and daring escapades. The latter books in the series don’t quite feel quite the same, the first is a fantastic a read – with quite an inventive murder method.
Snuff
Snuff – Pratchett on top form. Enough said.
The Graveyard Book
Another collection of short stories – this time slightly more linked, detailing the adventures and mis-adventures of a boy growing up in a graveyard. Dipping into his life at bi-yearly intervals this is also full of a cast of interesting characters, with some creative situations and ideas.
Song of Ice and Fire – Book 3 – A Storm of Swords
Book 3 of the saga started with Game of Thrones was the one where everything really changed. Whilst it was slow to get started, the end game the book leads to is shocking, surprising and will keep you gasping as you never know what’s going to happen next. A fantastic read even if a bit hard to get into.
Music
Not going to do much for music – but here’s a couple of albums I stumbled across this week – all fantastic to have a listen too.
Legally Blonde – Original London Cast Recording – happy, fun, a great show and great to re-live through the cast recording.
Vega 4 – You and Others – strangely beautiful, catchy songs, worth a listen.
Professor Elemental – The Indifference Engine – Victorian Rap – amazingly clever and comical.
Lena – Good News – chilled catchy pop from last years Eurovision winner. Really nice to chill too.
This is Christmas – Emmy the Great & Tim Wheeler – a cheesy, poppy Christmas album with some really catchy songs and great titles. I listened to this for most of December and couldn’t recommend it highly enough.
And that’s all folks
Films are here.
TV is here.
Another late/quickish one I’m afraid…
Monday
It was the start of a week of earlies – not always the best thing. Still things were reasonably quiet in the office. After work I headed home, had a rest, went for a run, popped round the shops, and then back for Young Apprentice.
Tuesday
I ended up sticking around in work a bit later than I’d normally do and then heading into town to meet up with Keith and Ben. Rob joined for a quick pint and we had a nice evening catching up on recently events. After dinner it was off home and off to bed.
Wednesday
Work as usual, followed by a run in the evening. I then raced over to my parents as it was my mums birthday to drop off her birthday present – a box of chocolates which seemed to go down well. Then it was home and off to bed.
Thursday
Work as usual, sticking around a bit later afterwards to get ready for Ceroc. Before Ceroc had a nice catch up in the pub with Louise, Scot, Luke and Mark, though the rest of the evening wasn’t so great – the class was good and fantastic fun, but by the time the freestyle started I felt knackered and couldn’t motivate myself. In the end I sloped off to go and get some sleep.
Friday
The final early start of the week – it was another quiet day in the office without too much to do. After work I ended up heading home and getting an early night
Saturday
Saturday was unfortunately another early start (a day I couldn’t done with a lie-in) to meet British Gas again – this time they did actually turn up – though once again were late/outside the appointment I’d been given. They were also only there for 5 minutes, before telling me that my loft space was too small for them to move around in and that I would need to rebook the appointment to use a blow method or small fitters. Not very good at all. Still I managed to get a large part of my Christmas shopping done that morning before lunch and heading over to my parents to help them dismantle their garden table for storage over the winter. This done I headed home to meet Paul for a couple of films – Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs, and the Brothers Bloom – a bit of pizza and a chilled evening.
Sunday
After the usual Sunday morning, my parents picked me up and we headed over to Horsham to see my Gran. We went out for a lovely lunch at the Devils Dyke – where it was insanely windy – lots of hand gliders and bits flying around the top – I wish I’d brought my camera with me. Lunch was good, and then we had a drive around the country afterwards before heading back to Kent, having a short run (only 3k round the block) and heading off to bed.
And that is the week that was.
A couple of weeks ago I was visit my Grandparents in Norfolk, and took the oppourtunity to go for a run around Sandringham woods. I went first thing Saturday morning so the trees were full of mist and it was really nice time for a run. My Dad came along with my camera too and between the two of us we got these shots.
Going to be late and quickish today. Sorry.
Monday
Monday – usual work day with a quiet late duty at work in the afternoon. Then out for a run (strangely fun despite the cold weather) and a chilled evening watching Young Apprentice.
Tuesday
Standard day at work – nothing that exciting to report. Then after work, I headed home, got changed, met up with Shaun and it was back to town for Michael’s birthday dinner – this was a really nice meal down at Wildwood followed by a trip up to the cinema to see the special one-off re-release of Ghostbusters, something nice to see on the big screen. It was then home and to bed.
Wednesday
Another standard day at work, nothing overly exciting going on, then home, out for a run and a chilled evening after that.
Thursday
Thursday – not such a fun day. I was due to get some Loft Insulation installed by British Gas. They’d phoned up Wednesday evening to confirm that they would be in around 8am – excellent I thought – that gives me the chance to do all the other jobs I need to do. It got to 10… then 11… then 12 and still no sign of the men. At this point I had to ask Paul who was visiting to pop over to Asda to pick up some cake ingredients for me. I also phoned to try and find out where this van was to find out that the depot didn’t really know. Eventually around 4:30pm I got a call to say that they were on their way, and at 5pm a call to say they were stuck in traffic and it’s probably an idea to re-schedule. Not impressed at all – especially as I’d taken a day of to basically be kept under house arrest. Still I managed to get the cake for Children in Need created, and be out in time to meet my colleagues at the pub for a pre-quiz dinner. In the evening it was the big office Children in Need quiz – this was great fun with a good team – we ended up coming annoyingly third, with several points where we could’ve ranked higher. Quiz done it was home and to bed.
Friday
Friday was Children in Need in the office – this meant a huge cake stall and various other fun and games going on in the office. It seemed a bit more subdued than previous years but was still fun – with the quiz I’d written raising around £40 for the charity. The workload of the day was pretty normal, with nothing overly exciting going on (except for the discovery there is too much cake). After work we headed out for a “quick” drink – ending up getting home around half 11… There I watched a bit of the Children in Need telethon and headed off to bed.
Saturday
Saturday was lazy start, getting a couple of jobs done around the house and watching the sublime Howl’s Moving Castle. Mid-afternoon I headed over to Michael’s to help him prep the house for his party, and then we had a really fun evening – including a somewhat extreme frape and congaing away from a ghost… I’ll leave that all to your imagination. The night finished with one of the best games of Munchkin I’ve ever played – if you’ve not heard of it look it up, great game – where a fluke modifier gave me an extreme bonus making me nigh on unbeatable – very Munchkin. Then it was off to the sofa for a sleep.
Sunday
Sunday was a lazy day, getting up late. Helping tidy up in payment to bacon sarnies, then heading home for an hour before being picked up to go visit my brother in London. My parents were taking some bits up for him to his new house, and then we were going out to celebrate my mums birthday. We ended up at a nice Turkish restaurant – though I have no idea where it was! The food was lovely getting a good mix of the range available. It was then home for a quiet evening and an early night in preparation for a week of earlies.
And that is the week that was.
Over Halloween I went up to Colchester to see Tom and Cliff – and we decided to go and visit the Zoo – especially as they had a variety of different Halloween things to do as well. It was also a fantastic chance to get out the camera and take some pictures.
If I’m honest I think that some of these are possibly some of the best photos I’ve had the chance to take so far (I’m looking at you Lion pictures) – here’s hoping you like them as much as I do!
Monday
Ah Monday, the start of a new week. It was a bit of a confused Monday at least to start with – I was expecting to be spending with week with the rollout team, but on arrival at the prebuilds office they were surprised to see me expecting me to be with my usual team. Still we very quickly got it sorted out and I got into the flow of getting the devices built and ready for rolling out to stie. After work I headed home and having been warned that there was no equipment working at the gym by a manager at work stayed in and had a quiet evening watching a bit of TV and popping out to Asda fro supplies.
Tuesday
Tuesday was another chilled day – getting computers built and ready to go, it was a very nice change of pace to how the office is normally. I had a nice amble round town at lunchtime with Jackie, and then after work headed home and had a quiet evening at home.
Wednesday
Once again more of the same at work – a quietly chilled day. Then after work I headed home and given the gym situation decided to give a road run ago. I tried a route which last time I tried almost killed me due to the hills enroute causing an asthma attack. This time however, I managed to get all the way around without struggling nearly as much so was really chuffed with that. Run done Michael popped around for a cup of tea, and we watched a bit of TV before he headed home and I headed off to bed.
Thursday
Thursday was a longish day – I had to be in work early to load up the van to take this to site, for a new computer rollout. We got a bit delayed in traffic but fortunately the site we were heading too wasn’t too far away from the equipment store. Once there we had to unload the van quickly, so that this wouldn’t be blocking the main entrance and tried to get started to discover that the main network was down. This created a few more interesting problems though we were able to spend some time getting the hardware swapped over meaning that things had a chance to come back up to get the customers setup on their new systems for the most part (though the connections were flaky through the morning). Leaving the site around lunchtime we headed back to the main offices, unloaded the van and I then popped into town for a bite to eat before back to the office for a couple of hours. Work finished, I got changed, moved the car and met up with Paul and the others for a bite to eat before Ceroc. We tried eating in the new pizza restaurant at town and this was just as good as their take away. It was then onto Ceroc which was ok – it wasn’t the best night I’ve had, but then again the week before had been so good it was always going to be hard to beat. After Ceroc, and as I had the next day off I popped for a nightcap with Paul (who was utterly fantastic at Ceroc – really pulling the moves together) and then headed home to bed.
Friday
Despite having the day off Friday was still an early start. I had a man from British Gas coming round to do a survey for installing Loft Insulation and Cavity Wall insulation so had to be ready for when he came over. He ended up coming after lunch so I had a chilled morning doing a couple of odd jobs around the house, before finding out that my exterior walls have some of the worst cavities he’s seen (a problem that fortunately only affects cavity wall insulation) but I was going to be able to get my loft insulated at no charge. After the man left, Claire came over, we got some chips, watched a film and caught up – it’s been a while since I saw her. We watched a bit of Iron Man, then she headed home and I headed off to bed.
Saturday
Saturday had a rubbish start – to begin with it was early as I had to get to the office for some Overtime. Then I managed to pull off part of my car bumper leaving the drive (fortunately this was fixable at the car park), and on arriving I managed to throw my phone at the ground (it survived thank goodness). Still once we got into the flow of the overtime it went well and quickly – we actually managed to finish an hour early, with a generally happy banter throughout the day. This done it was home and a chilled evening just watching a bit of TV recovering from all the heavy lifting of the day.
Sunday
After the usual start on a Sunday morning, I headed over to my parents for Sunday lunch. This was nice to catch up with them (and for once I wasn’t required to move anything around!) After lunch I headed home and relaxed a bit pondering the pros and cons of going for a run, then deciding to get working through the Zoo photos instead, getting through about 500 leaving another 200 to sort… Almost there…
And that is the week that was.
Monday
Monday saw a start to the day where I felt very scruffy standing next to a very smart Tom – he was on his way to do some work in court and we were getting the train together. And trust me he looked start which lead to me looking very scruffy. The journey back wasn’t a bad one, getting back in good time to find a bus ready to go and getting in to relax a bit. I then dove out again to get a hair cut (I grew all the hair required for my Halloween costume so was really glad to see it go), before doing a bit of work on the photos from the weekend, and heading out to the gym (this wasn’t a goo session as the equipment was broken or someone else was using it. A really disappointing session), a trip up to Asda, and then finally home for Young Apprentice followed by bed.
Tuesday
Tuesday was back to the office – it was quite strange how much of a fuss my haircut caused. People seemed somewhat surprised at how short hair looks on me… Beyond that it was a fairly standard day at work, nothing out of the ordinary happened, then after work I headed home and had a bit of a chill, before heading out to help my Dad move a table and moving onto the cinema to catch a couple of films (the joys of having an unlimited card!). We ended up seeing In Time and Real Steel – both very enjoyable films, both with very different styles and ideas being played with. I really hope to get more written up but that’s going to depend on how other things go – things have been a bit busy. After the cinema it was straight home and to bed.
Wednesday
Wednesday was another standard day at work, I headed back from the office and after the fiasco of the gym on Monday decided to give this a bit of a break choosing to relax at home instead. So nothing really exciting to report.
Thursday
Thursday was an intentionally late start to the day. This wasn’t too bad and I managed to get a couple of jobs done at home before heading out to work, work was a quiet day just getting on with calls, before heading out to move the car and join the others for dinner at Pizza Express before moving onto Ceroc. All in all it was a really nice evening (though the service was a bit slow), at Ceroc I was asked to come in and help with the beginners improvers class which was quite strange to re-visit, but was really chuffed to be able to pick up one of the intermediate moves by watching the demo at the start. Then in freestyle I had one of the best dancers at the club come and ask for a dance – somewhat terrifying but I hopefully didn’t make a complete tit of myself… It was so much fun I completely lost track of time and next thing I knew, it was the end of the night and time to go home and head to bed.
Friday
Friday was a long day at work, and I really could’ve gone for a pint afterwards but had to race home to meet my parents to drive up to Norfolk to see my Gran. It wasn’t a bad drive – we didn’t really get held up at all, arriving in what felt like good time. Once there we had a catch-up, marvelled at how little signal you go on your mobile (not very useful as I was trying to arrange to meet Dan and Ali) and chilled for a bit before bed.
Saturday
Saturday was an early start, my Dad kindly drove me to the local Sandringham estate so I could go for a jog in the woods, and he wandered around in the woods with my camera taking small number of pictures. After I’d got back and showered off, we helped my Gran move some furniture around, and rolled up a carpet to clear out a room for decorating. This done we had a bite of lunch, and then I got dropped in the town centre to get the bus down to Norwich to see Dan and Ali. This was a long boring bus ride (I can’t believe that Ali used to do this everyday!), meeting up with Dan and Ali at the other end. We headed out, had some dinner and then onto a local fireworks display, meeting up with a couple of Dan’s old uni friends. It was then back to Dans, via his parents to watch V for Vendetta (it seemed appropriate!!). After the film, then bed.
Sunday
Sunday was an early start to grab a bacon buttie for breakfast, before heading back to the bus stop, and then back to my Grans. This journey didn’t seem so bad – possibly as it was light? We then went out for a bit of lunch at a local Thai restaurant, before moving some more furniture around, and then driving back to Kent. I stopped at my parents for a cuppa, before heading back to mine for dinner, and a quiet evening.
And that is the week that was.
