Bloody Brilliant!

where shall we go?

It's pouring rain and I am desperate to get away this weekend.  We can only do a quick overnight somewhere in the UK; does anyone have any suggestions about destinations/hotels that could be fun? 

the one time commuting can be fun

Yes, this is an ad, but it was filmed at Liverpool Street Station in London and it's awesome.  I hate T-Mobile, but I do think they are clever!!

 

they'll queue for anything

What a great day yesterday was.  All of London was watching the inauguration - although it seemed like every one of them was watching it from the same place.  I went to the Texas Embassy Cantina, a bar in the heart of the city, and it was packed... I literally could not move.  So much for crowd control. 

Here's the line of people waiting to get in; although I don't know what they were waiting for since no one was coming out anytime soon.  I should know; I tried. 

Thankfully, Obama enjoyed a bit more freedom of movement than I did, and he made it through the day safely. Way to go!

Goodbye and get out.

As you can imagine, the Sunday papers were full of observations about George 'I can't speak properly to save my life' W. Bush's time in office.  They were hardly reverential, mind you (how could they be?) - and here are two of my favorites:

Hugo Rifkind, a clever columnist for The Sunday Times, writes the week according to George Bush.  Here's Monday's extract:

Monday
My fellow Amerindians. This will be the last time I stand before you as a Precedent. Many roads have we sailed together, this past decade of eight years. As the old saying goes, what does not make you stronger, destroys you. And that’s what has happened.

I am not a man for self-pity. Ain’t that pathetic? I’m so against self-pity that sometimes it hurts, and that’s the truth. I sometimes think nobody else realises that. It’s been hard. Many have been the changes we have seen. Eight years ago, many of us would have recognised Eyeraq on a map. Now, we could probably see it from space.

Where there were threats, we have counted them. Katrina came and went, and I never even met her. Some guy called Dick Cheney used to work for me. I ain’t seen him in months. In summeration, whatcha gonna do? I shouldn’t a’ stood under that sign that said “Mission Accomplished”. That was a mistake. We were trying to say something, and people thought we were trying to say something different. “Accomplished”. That was the problem. It’s a very long word.

Again in the Sunday Times (yes, it's my favorite paper, how did you guess?), they kindly listed Bush's top 20 gaffes.  It'd be funny if it wasn't so sad to realize how much of a laughingstock our leadership is.  Can't we swear Obama in today?  Why wait??

Here are a list of our favourite gaffes by George W Bush

1. "Will the highways on the internet become more few?"

2. "It’s a time of sorrow and sadness when we lose a loss of life"

3. "I appreciate the fact that you really snatched defeat out of the jaws of those who are trying to defeat us in Iraq"

4. "I remember meeting a mother of a child who was abducted by the North Koreans right here in the Oval Office"

5. "We’re concerned about Aids inside our White House – make no mistake about it"

6. "I’m honoured to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein"

7. "I’ve coined new words, like “misunderstanding”

8. "I recently met with the finance minister of the Palestinian Authority, was very impressed by his grasp of finances"

9. "It’s in our country’s interests to find those who would do harm to us and get them out of harm's way"

10. "One year ago today, the time for excuse-making has come to an end"

11. "I promise you I will listen to what has been said here, even though I wasn’t here"

12. "You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test"

13. "I don’t particularly like it when people put words in my mouth, either, by the way, unless I say it

14. "[The Taliban] have no disregard for human life"

15. "When the governor calls, I answer his phone"

16. "Those who enter the country illegally violate the law"

17. "I think we agree, the past is over"

18. "America stands for liberty, for the pursuit of happiness and for the unalienalienable right of life"

19. "My job is a decision-making job, and as a result, I make a lot of decisions"

20. "One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures"

I am really looking forward to tomorrow's ceremony, and to being proud of my country again.

how low can you go?

I've often wondered, and still do, how much of this economic crash is due to real factors and how much is a self-fulfilling prophecy thanks to the media.  While I am loving the bargains that are out there, the retailers' desperation does seem sad.

Loch Fyne, a good seafood restaurant in Cambridge [and elsewhere], sent us a letter a few weeks ago with two vouchers, one worth £10 and the other worth £20.  The vouchers are great, but what I like is the letter.  When was the last time you received a letter from any retail establishment, including restaurants?  Yes, I know they sent the same letter to lots of people, but it was still a nice touch:

Dear Mr & Mrs Hase,

I hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable Christmas and are refreshed and ready to face whatever 2009 has in store for us all.

The doom-mongers are not raising our hopes very high for a prosperous New Year so we thought we would help things along with a couple of gift vouchers with our compliments.

...

We hope to see you soon and wish you well for 2009.

Best wishes,

Mark Derry / Managing Director/ Loch Fyne Restaurants

And yes, we grabbed that voucher in our grubby little hands and ran to the restaurant as soon as we could.  I wonder if it's been a successful promotion for them. 

Have you received any unique offers from any retailers or restaurants?

always a sucker for the red carpet

It's 11:30 on Sunday night, and I've just settled down for a long, late night to watch the Golden Globes.  I don't know why I bother, because I can see all of the photos online tomorrow morning, but I've always been a sucker for seeing celebs on the red carpet - in real time.  Don't ask, I don't know.

Since Peter is the smart one and has gone to bed, I've decided to bore you with my opinions.  Lucky you.  Click here to see the action in living color.

• Fearne Cotton is the definition of a witless blonde.  How did she ever get a job?  Ah but I forget... this is Hollywood!
• Rumer Willis with red [purple?] hair!  She looks great.
• Ricky Gervais completely starstruck by the cast of Dexter. I don't blame him.
• Jonathan Rhys Meyers looks - and sounds - so gay.  But he just got engaged, so straight he is.
• Alec Baldwin is so fat! He looks like he's going to explode.
• Josh Brolin, on the other hand, is quite hunky.
• I am dying to see Hugh Laurie - I've had a crush on him ever since Blackadder. 
• Jennifer Morrison from House looks so freakishly thin.  But I do like her dress. 
• Glenn Close looks just a teeny weeny bit butch.
• Biiiiig hair on Drew Barrymore.  Bet she's hiding a flask in there.
• David Duchovny is dreamy, sex addiction or not. 
• The same thing that attacked Drew Barrymore's hair has landed in Jamie Cullen's and is wreaking absolute havoc. 
• Eva Longoria just gets on my nerves.  Obnoxious.
• Beyonce looks great, unbelievable bling and unbelievable boobs. 
• Christina Applegate in rich yellow - she looks so classy.  I can't believe she had a double mastectomy.  I have so much respect for her, and for everyone else, who faces cancer and wins. 
• Marisa Tomei is such a great actress but I am not loving her outfit.  Lose the necklaces.
• When, oh when, will Penelope Cruz learn English?   Nice dress, though.
• Wow.  Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher look awesome.  She is unbelievable.  Doesn't she ever age??  Although I'd love to see her with a great short cut; I'm getting a little tired of her super long hair.  [I don't recall her asking my opinion, however.  Imagine.]
• Tom Cruise brought his mum; she looks completely shell-shocked. 

I must now express my absolute and utter hatred for Sky, who is only showing the Golden Globes on pay-per-view.  Total rat bastards they are.  I'll be damned if I give them one cent. 

Looks like I'm going to bed a bit earlier than I thought! Sweet dreams. 

I demand a recount.

The BBC 3 voted Agyness Deyn the most annoying person of 2008, and Peaches Geldof came in second [I love the end-of-year lists people come up with].  Surely there is some mistake!  There is NO ONE more annoying than Peaches.  Agy is only annoying when she opens her mouth, but thankfully she doesn't do that too often. 

I sure wouldn't mind looking like her, though....  

 

Despite all good judgement....

I am a sucker for the blank slate of a new year and making resolutions.  Some of my biggies [and not so biggies] for 2009:

• exercise more than once a month;

• stop saying the f-word (I can't stop swearing entirely, so cutting this one out is a big step in the right direction);

• post blog entries much more frequently, and

• stop eating so much cheese. 

This last one will no doubt be the toughest, since I would easily sell my soul for a chunk of cheddar.

 

She must be jealous.

What the hell does Karen Millen have against boobs?

Every single time I go into the store and try on some clothes in the naive belief that this time will be different, I am reminded that the Karen Millen fit model is as flat as three day old beer.  These dresses, for example, are cut so low that anyone with any hit of a boob would be falling out of it.  Not bad if you're a stripper, but... I'm not. 

 

And I continue to put myself through it.  I really like the dresses [those above excepted, of course], so I pop in for a quick peek and am soon in the fitting room with six or seven potential winners, but I only ever make it through one dress before giving up the will to live.

Which leads me to my first resolution for the New Year:  never enter another Karen Millen store.  Ever.

More resolutions to come...