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Happy New Rear!

Monday, December 31, 2007

I hope you have all had a great Christmas.

Here's wishing you the very best yrear for 2008!

Labels: Happy New Year

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Happy Christmas

Saturday, December 22, 2007

It finally feels like Christmas.

Thanks to a very generous gift from our boss, the whole team (50 of us) were taken to the Royal Albert Hall to see the Christmas Concert. I cannot think of a better way to get in the Christmas spirit.

Fantastic seats, great view and a wonderful start to my Chirstmas break

As you will see from this photo we had excellent seats - right at the stage, next to the choir and the orchestra.

It's been far too long since I joined in on a proper old fashioned Christmas sing song and the majority of the show included audience participation.

I am not sure if Milly and I look like we were ready to sing but as you can see we certainly look happy.

The set included lots of traditional favourites as well as contemporary classics.

I cannot think of a better way to spend my last working afternoon of the year than in such wonderful surroundings with such good company.

So my presents are purchased, wrapped and under the tree. The kitchen is stocked for the big day and there is enough coal in the cellar to heat the living room for a year (well maybe not that much).

~~Tonight is the final of Strictly Come Dancing and I am rooting for Matt all the way - if that awful woman wins I am not watching it any more!~~

Sadly Aleysha Dixon won Strictly Come Dancing, I have no faith in the British public now. It looks like the cult of celebrity has won out. Matt Di Angelo was by far the best dancer, giving the most effort and technically the best routines. Bad luck Matt - we voted for you in this house!

Be sure to check out Trunk Cast 116 as it is a run down of the year and there is a special Christmas message from me to you all.

We're spending Christmas together before heading home on Boxing day for the mad run around Plymouth to see everyone. Hopefully this year we'll managed to see more friends!

All that remains is for Richard and I to wish you all a Happy Christmas and wonderful New Year. See you all in 2008!

Labels: Christmas, Devon, London, Plymouth, Richard, UK

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And relax...

Monday, December 17, 2007

It's been a lovely weekend.

I have managed to get all my presents bought and wrapped so now I can relax for the rest of the festive season (yeah right).

After getting the shopping completed I just chilled out for the remainder of the weekend.

Richard cooked a lovely lunch of ginger Ham yesterday with roasted squash, pecans and Cornish blue cheese (which I purchased at the Christmas market at the Tate Modern on Friday).

It's definitely winter now as it has become very cold. Every morning is full of frost and we have the best way of avoiding the cold. Stay in, snuggled up on the sofa in front of a roasting fire with a self basting cat (honestly Brandy gets so warm but she won't move, she simply lays in front of the open fire and rotates in the heat - she can be too hot to touch. It doesn't seem to phase her though).

Labels: Cats, Christmas

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Feedback is not good

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Arjan has the new Janet Jackson single Feedback available for download and once again it feels that Janet's producers have missed the boat.

On listen the single is a lot like Britneys last offering which is a real shame.

Gone are the days when Janet was a musical pioneer, someone who led the pack. It seems the music companies are producing her work too late and she's getting left behind.

After a couple listens to Feedback I really am not sure what to make of it - the chorus is quite catchy but Janet can do much better then this.

It's interesting to see that Janet seems to have completely departed from Jam and Lewis - whether this is a good idea remains to be seen. I think the Jimmy and Terry stuff was the best work on 20 Y.O.

I am really sad to say this but with this new effort and 20 Y.O., I am really loosing faith in Miss Jackson.

You can also listen to the track here:

Labels: Janet

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St Pancras to Paris

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Labels: holiday, London, Paris, Trunk Cast

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Gringo in London!

It's been a very busy week what with work, Christmas celebrations and of course Richard and my trip to Paris on Wednesday (video podcast is online). I ended the week on a high as I met up with Gayborhood Gringo who is currently on holiday in London from Dallas.

It's always interesting to meet new people and he's a throughly nice guy - we spent the evening wandering around the sites, we took in some art at the Tate modern, had a wander through the Christmas market, down the South Bank for dinner and then across to Somerset House to see the skating before heading down the Strand for a coffee.

Sadly our time together seemed to go really quickly and I am sure his trip will be ovr before he knows it.

Hopefully we'll manage to hook up for a coffee before he has to jet off back home on Tuesday.

I have also managed to take some other shots of Christmas trees from around London and of course Paris. As soon as I have them transferred from my mobile I will upload them. There is also a couple shots from the office as we had a school choir in our foyer this week singing Christmas carols ;o) Check out my Christmas 2007 set to see more.

Labels: Christmas, Friends

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Ah Paris

Thursday, December 13, 2007

We had a lovely day in Paris. We managed to check lunch off our list by 1 in our favourite venue, le cafe de commerce.

The Eurostar really does make the journey easy and effortless. The new terminal at St Pancras is wonderful. To go there simply to shop would be a waste.

~~Keep an eye out for a special Parisian edition of Trunk Cast this weekend.~~

Trunk Cast 115 - the Parisian video podcast is now online.

Labels: holiday, Hunks, London, Paris

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A Wet Christmas Saturday

Sunday, December 09, 2007

We went into the West End yesterday as as we had booked to go and see the Golden Compass. Unfortunately for us the weather was abysmal and we got soaked through just getting to the station.

That didn't stop us having a nice day out in town though.

We started with lunch at Paul in Covent Garden (this is swiftly becoming a new tradition) and I must say it all felt very French. In fact it put me in the mood for our jaunt to Paris this Wednesday. I will certainly go to a Paul in Paris just to have another Moka!

After lunch we braved the weather and had a look around the shops, taking in the sights and watching all the hordes of Americans (as it seemed all the tourists were American yesterday), Christmas shopping.

We did stop by Somerset House to take a look at the Ice Rink, a now famous London Christmas tradition. Sadly though the rink was being cleaned and he weather was atrocious when we stopped by - I still got some nice shots of the lovely tree though.

After our walk around we made it to the Odeon in Leicester Square for The Golden Compass and I have to say I throughly enjoyed the film. The story is really engaging and as Richard says it is quite true to Northern Lights, the book from which it originates. There's so much going on in the story that you get really engaged. All the characters are very interesting and the supporting cast is amazing - I was surprised to see Christopher Lee pop up on screen.

I really hope New Line Cinema do make the other two films as it will be really interesting and exciting to see how they manage to progress the story. Please don't get too struck on other films such as Potter or Narnia, The Golden Compass really is a breed apart from them.

After the film we stopped by Hamburger Union in Leicester Square for a bite to eat before heading home.

All together a very nice day out (but I won't mention the gaggle of spoilt teenage girls causing a fuss on the train last night).

Labels: Christmas, London

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Cementing Foundations

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

I promise during our residential training weeks we did study (actually we learnt a lot - listen to Trunk Cast 113 to find out more)

Lots more pics after the jump (thanks to the gang for sharing all their photos)

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A little like...

Sunday, December 02, 2007

It's beginning to feel a little like Christmas!

It's December the 2nd, the year has gone by so quick and I cannot believe it is December already.

Thankfully we arranged to go to Waddesdon Manor with Dan, Matt, Ian and Barbara to see the house decorated (it's becoming an annual event - funnily enough).

This years theme was Hans Christian Anderson and the house was wonderfully decorated again. The trees are always stunning and the themed rooms were lovely.

I have taken some shots of the hallway (the only place you can take shots unfortunately).

Follow the link to see more.

It's just a shame the wether couldn't have been better. I guess it is December though.

We followed our day with Christmas lunch at Dan's - a wonderfully relaxing affair which has put me in the festive mood. I guess I should think about writing our cards now!

Labels: Christmas, Winter

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