June 29, 2004
Kefalonia (or Chepalonia. or Cefallonia. or Kafalonia)
Lisa and I have just returned from a week away in Κεφαλονιά (I could only find one spelling in Greek). Yes, I must admit that the island was probably brought to my attention, like most people, by that film. We stayed at the resort of Lassi, at the Olive Garden Apartments which were fairly basic but had a fantastic view. The downside was the steep and winding road between us and the beach & restaurants. Walking downhill was fine, but come back up at any time other than late evening, especially with shopping, was not much fun.
Sadly, we didn't go to visit the likes of Myrtos Beach as we opted to stay put and relax as much as possible. I think it would certainly be worth going back to explore the island in a hired car, which from what other holiday makers said was great fun to do. What I did do was lots of swimming, and tried out a disposable underwater camera that's sitting on my desk waiting to be developed. Hopefully some of the photos came out well, although for a fiver I'm not expecting too much.
Not surprisingly then I managed to finish of my second Christopher Brookmyre novel, the interestingly titled Boiling a Frog. I guess I enjoyed it as much as the last one I read, and will probably try to read my way through all of them at some point. From there, it was straight through Inversions (leaving only Look to Windward for me to read), which exhasuted my book supply. So, I borrowed Lisa's Robert Goddard book Hand in Glove which I found very easy to read, rather hard to put down, but ultimately not really to my taste. I suppose it's good to try something new every now and then, but it seemed to lack the humour and depth that I'm used to.
Other than books, I managed to pick up a few bargins from the local Dixons store before we left. Having completed Zelda recently, I was ready to get stuck into another adventure game: Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga is much more fun than I thought it would be, and has some very clever gameplay features that I've never seen before. Highly recommended. I also icked up the sequel in the Advance Wars series, Black Hole Rising. Nerd alert!
So amdist the sunbathing, reading, swimming, and game-playing, we enjoyed the views, food and the relaxed pace of life over there.
It's never easy to get back into the routine of work after a holiday, but I've got things to look forward to: I finish my current job in 4 weeks, leaving me a week to myself before starting a (hopefully) exciting new career in London.
June 17, 2004
Bona fide, Electrified, Six-car Monorail!
There's talk of a MonoMetro monorail system in London.
Did they not see that Simpsons episode? Maybe they just heard the song [lyrics].
(wav source: Clay's Simpson's Songs Wav Page)
June 16, 2004
EURO 2004 Web Magic
Remember the badgers? They're back. Apparently, Scotland has "haggis and scotch eggs", Ireland has "guiness and fighting", Wales has "sheep and dirt", whilst England appears to be the best by far with "ninjas and lasers and gold". I see.
Made Entirely in Sound Recorder. Oh, and Flash too.
I can't believe I've only just seen this. Cle-ver.
I am Snape, the potions master
Tonight I saw Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It was pretty much as I expected: turd storyline, fantastic effects, and very flakey acting - well, from all the kids at least. Gary Oldman gave a great performance, and was just one of several celebs in the film.
Don't you dare give me that "the book's better" rubbish. It's a kids' book.
I did read Barry Trotter which I appreciated for its parody but was pretty lame overall. So far, the best thing to come from Harry Potter is Potter Puppet Pals. Alas, a cornucopia of love!
June 14, 2004
You got a family, Phil?
The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie. Out later this year. I just can't wait.
-whimper-
Come on Phil, stay with me. Let's hear about that family!
June 07, 2004
Ordering a Beer has never been this easy
On Saturday I journeyed over to The Grand Union near Westbourne Park tube, for a friend's birthday. (I settled on a Harold's Planet card entitled "How the Internet really works")
Sat on a train on the Hammersmith & City line, I though the lady sitting opposite looked rather familiar. I was sure I'd seen her on television. Newsreader, perhaps? When her phone rang and I heard her (fairly distinct) voice, I was certain that I recognised her. I now know that it was Sarah Smith, from Channel 4 news. Novelty.
At the pub I ordered an ostrich burger from the nicely varied menu, and it wasn't long after I sat down that it arrived at my table: quick service and excellent food. If that wasn't good enough, when I had finished my beer I simple had to turn on my seat and the bar was right next to me! This place was certainly racing up through the ranks of my favourite pub experiences.
There was a good crowd of us there, and I met a few new people, actually found out the names of a few people who I recognised from Uni but never really spoke to, as well as seeing some more familiar faces. Of course, there was a token tonnie or two, too.
Sadly I had to leave early-ish to get back home so I missed out on the drinking games back at someone's flat, but I did need to be on form for Sunday to carry on with the seemingly endless task of moving stuff from old house to new.