On the road again!

Greetings from LA...
Good things about our flight out here:
I could not *believe* it was 10 hours... for the first time ever a long-haul flight seemed almost manageable

Not so good things about the flight:
Lack of food - we started with a main meal shortly after take off, with a smallish sandwich about 1/2 hour before landing... and nothing in the 8 hours in between... I was sooooooo hungry! I can understand not wanting to disturb passengers by serving food througout a night flight - but during the day, please please sir, can I have some more?

Off to Vegas, baby, later today - land of high rollers, and Crime Scene Investigators... wonder which one we'll see more of...

Pub Quiz Novices no more…

Date – 13 November, 2004 – Me “Hey – look – the Greyhound pub only 19 paces from our front door, has a quiz night every Monday. We should totally go!”
Ashley “Great – I love pub quizzes. And after all, it is only 19 paces from our flat…”

Date – 25 April, 2006 – Me “Hi there my good publican – we’re here for our first quiz night. Anything we should know?”…

Yes, after 17 months of living less than 20 steps from our local pub, the Greyhound, we FINALLY made it to a quiz night… and had a blast. (thanks to Harbottle for the pic, though I disagree with the review)

Despite being a mini-team of only 2 (most teams, including the winning one, were of 4, or at least 3) – Planet Wulfagar not only came in THIRD overall, but we also a) won the first ‘spot prize’ (basically a raffle draw, as the questions are along the line of “What colour is a New York taxi” and “How many legs does an octopus have” – correct answers go in a draw) AND shared the ‘Interval Prize’ – which was to have the best story of what happened to us in the past 2 weeks.

(We stretched the truth a leeeetle bit on that one, saying we’d got engaged. But – and what are the chances – SO HAD ANOTHER WOMAN IN THE GAME! So – and here’s the embarrassing part – they made us ARMWRESTLE for the prize. And I’m even more embarrassed to admit I was, sniff, unsuccessful. I knew I should’ve made her do it left-handed.)

By coming in 3rd, we went into a run-off for the cash prize roll-over with the top 2 other teams. However – none of us were successful in answering all 3 finalist questions, so the roll-over continues… I can’t wait to go back & try again!! (Though the next one is the day we get back from LA – not sure how sharp we’ll be…)

SO – how well would you do? Here’s a selection of questions from the night – no cheating by using that interwebby thingy…

• What colour is a female blackbird?
• What does LASER stand for?
• What year did ‘old age pensioners’ start?
• Who was the first professional cricket captain?
• Name one of the 2 poets who had a first line of a poem saying “Come live with me and be my love” (I knew that English degree would come in handy!)
• What country has had the most recorded shark attacks? (one half of Planet Wulfagar had the correct answer on this, but listened to the other half, who was convinced he was right. He wasn’t.)

Answers on a postcard - or comment below!

local excitement

Ooh - how exciting... the Queen's 80th birthday, and she chooses to celebrate on my little green. Of course, I wasn't so excited that I walked the 100 steps to wait outside with the crowds to watch her drive into the Gardens... but I did watch the fireworks from our bedroom window -- oooh! aaah! Gotta love the fireworks... So - Happy Birthday Liz, here's looking forward to your 90th...

Vinopolis review...

... previously - on PlanetWulfagar - Ashley & Stefanie go to the V&A and Borough Market before arriving at the star attraction of the day, Vinopolis...

Armed with our 5 taster tickets (plus one for the Bombay Saphire Gin experience) we entered the museum of wine with great expectations for an oenophiliac (is that a word?) dream day... 2 1/2 hours and 6 drinks later... yes - I would agree, fun experience, and I did learn some fun wine facts (like the highest-altitude-wine-producing-area is in Argentina, where they get only about 1mm of rain a YEAR, which makes it amazing to me that they can actually grow anything, let alone juicy grapes! or like the fact that according to a map of the US, North Dakota is the ONLY state that doesn't produce wine. Not sure I believe that...)

The museum is arranged roughly by region - starting with France, going through the Americas, and ending in Australia, New Zealand, and greater Asia... there are tasting tables throughout, where you can select from about 100 different wines - between the two of us we tried Macedonian, Georgian, English, Austrailian, Thai, and of course a lovely Californian Syrah. (sadly, no Washington wine). I did learn that I definitely do *not* care for Thai rose - or at least not Monsoon Valley brand, (though to be fair, perhaps it was because I wasn't eating it with spicy food as recommended) but did like most of the rest... The only thing I found a bit off-putting about the museum was the obvious sponsorship - not only did we pay to enter, but I felt we weren't getting exactly independent advice - as the wine for tasting seemed to come from only a few selected vineyards, most of which then had displays (like the aforementioned Monsoon...)

Overall though, a great afternoon, and a recommended London experience - if (and only if!) you like wine.

4-day weekend bliss

How fantastic... only 1 day into the 4-day Easter holiday weekend, still one long weekend left!

Yesterday was museum day - V&A and Vinopolis - in what turned out to be a very long but enjoyable day out...

Original plan was to walk along the river by Southbank. Horrid and unfriendly and un-forecast rain cancelled that. After putting Plan B into effect for a while (that is, a return to sleep!), we bundled up umbrellas & headed to the V&A instead - Ashley for a general wander, me to check out the Modernism exhibit that's been getting critical acclaim. The show was impressive & comprehensive, and not surprisingly, crowded. However - looking around, I'm not quite sure I could tell the difference where 'modernism' ended & 'art deco' began, as from what i can tell they happened at around the same time (or at least overlapped)... perhaps I need to broaden my art history understanding!

We then headed out to Borough Market for lunch & a quick look 'round. Chorizo sandwiches at Brindisa - tasty, but a bit small... should've gone for the ostrich burger!

Finally we made it to the main objective of the day - Vinopolis - "a unique attraction dedicated to the pleasures of wine"... to be continued...

fashion be dam**d

Thank you Mimi Spencer - yes, I too still wear boot-cut jeans. It took me long enough to find a pair that fits that I like to wear heels with & feel look relatively cool / sexy / attractive... no way am I switching to drainpipe or skinny jeans - that I probably couldn't fit into anyway! - just because they're the latest fashion... aside from the fact that by the time I got my act together to buy a pair, boot-cuts would be back in fashion.

So - I'll just stick to wearing what suits - and as fashion changes I'll be in or out as the case may be. Given how quickly things seem to change however - instead of ever being 'out', I can just say I'm 'fashion-forward'...

Busy weekend again!

Ashley's parents were over this weekend - in a belated birthday gift for Ashley's dad we took them to see Frank Sinatra (and here I never thought I'd get to see Ol' Blue Eyes...)

OK, so it wasn't Sinatra live, but it was Sinatra. In a quite inventive extravaganza - a live big band, perfectly timed to accompany Sinatra footage from various shows, TV appearances, etc. In addition, there was a chorus line, mostly dancing, but with the occasional song as well... the screening was impressive, with sinatra projected on thin screens, sometimes interspersed with live footage of the chorus line... nearly impossible to describe, but great fun to be there in person. My favourite was definitely "That's Life" - the most rousing of the songs, and a classic lead-into-intermission type song. Though of course they also did New York New York, and My Way as well... And it was also interspersed with voiceovers from an interview Sinatra seems to have done later in life, so you also learned more about his life. A lot of fun, and certainly worth it for any Sinatra fan...

Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya...

You killed my father. Prepare to die.

Ahh, yes, the Princess Bride was on TV this afternoon... Unfortunately only managed to watch a few minutes of it - definitely need to get this on DVD at some point (probably around the same time DVDs become obsolete - as happened with the video of Princess Bride I only watched once!)

I still remember watching this in the theater, with Stephanie G. (now W) - and Stephanie hiding her eyes when Princess Buttercup jumped in the water after her kidnap, in a vain attempt to escape. Don't worry Stephanie - she'll survive!

Indulgent photo-post...

I must indulge & post some pictures of The Cutest Nephew Ever TM (well - he'll retain the title until such time as I have more than one... but until then!)

Househunting?

Why I'm scared to ever try to purchase a property ...

Busy busy weekend! (in backwards order...)

Running note: spring has sprung. Not only did I see my first daffodils (yay!) but I competed in my first Nike Run... Nike is sponsoring a series of 5k runs around London, leading up to their annual 10k. I think it's a great idea - as long as it's nearby. I registered for the first one, in January, which was
a) reeeeally cold
b) the morning after a party
c) in Regent's Park (2 tube rides + a 20+ minute walk away)

So.... I missed that one.

This Sunday, however, they held it in Gunnersbury Park a mere 15 minute walk from the flat - so I couldn't say no.

The runs are really well organised, however considering I hadn't done a run in aaaages - I think perhaps there was something wrong with their measurements - I finished in 32 minutes! I just do not believe that. I'll have to enter the next one to compare...

Full steam ahead

Ashley & I finally visited the Kew Bridge Steam Museum yesterday -- only 15+ months after moving to this area. As you can see if you visit the extensive website, "Steam Power comes alive at London's Kew Bridge Steam Museum" And it did - there was a massive 90 inch Cornish Engine running while we were there - by random chance, we visited on the 1 weekend per month it was running. (no - I didn't know what that was either, before going... basically a huge steam-powered piston or some such thing - but I'm no engineer!)

I was more intererested in the history - there were several displays illustrating the progression of water engineering in London - from water carriers to piped infrastructure. I particularly liked the story of the woman in Kent who, in 1959, insisted she did not want to be on the water mains for the town, but "The Council forced her to take water".

I was also impressed with the display explaining water purification, through sand and other layers - reminded me of my friend Beth's thesis project as part of her engineering degree from Swarthmore, the mini-water treatment facility, very cool.

So - with all the interesting and educative displays, the grammar police in me was extremely disappointed to find this museum was the site of the most egregious displays of apostrophe abuse I've ever seen in a public place. So much so that I quickly became distracted looking for more instances! I wasn't the only one to notice these - as in a few places at least someone had used a pen to try to cross out errant apostrophes... sigh - it's tough to be an apostrophe cop in this modern world...

PS

It it just me, or is it just wrong, by the way, for the CIA and MI6 to have websites? How secret of a service can they be? And you can read the MI6 one in Russian! And Chinese!! And Arabic!!! Whatever happened to good old fashioned isolationism & covert ops?

Euphemism of the day

Make that Euphemism of the Year! Ad spotted in this week's Economist: "You can make a world of difference. National Clandestine Service Careers", from the CIA. Umm - shouldn't that say "Be a spy!" Or at least "operative"... I mean - if I were a spy, I'd definitely want to call myself one - not go around telling people I'm in the National Clandestine Service. I don't remember hearing Valerie Plame was an undercover National Clandestine Service Officer...

I wonder if the MI6 has a "clandestine service"...

Which name?

Wulfagar? Or Agarstieg? If you were combining Agar & Wulfestieg, that is... I know which I prefer!

quote for the day

Quote for the day...

"If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time."

Edith Wharton

Things you don't see on the Tube every day, #27

Group of men re-assembling a trombone... must say that's a new one for me!

Still recovering

Yawn - still waking up from Sunday night Seahawks win ... after being a fan for so long, I literally cannot believe it they're going to the Superbowl. It's surreal - and made even more so by being in London, where, frankly, no one cares.

SO - I face a dilemma... do I watch the game at home, in my same t-shirt / sweatpants combo that clearly has served them well? Or do I go to the Sports Cafe, enjoy the game amongst other fans, with a great atmosphere, knowing that the venue could very well be, in the words of my friend Dave, 'bad juju'. But perhaps it's only bad juju for him and/or for baseball - as it's where we watched the Sox lose to the Yankees in 2003.

Then again, even if it does mean bad luck - if I watch the game there, does that mean the Seahawks will lose but go on to win the Superbowl the following year??

Need a sports-superstition ruling on this one I think... Mom?

Help! Strapline needed!!!

Help - I need a 'tagline'!

I'm finally getting business cards printed, and here at wheel we don't have job titles on our business cards, we have taglines.

For example, the CEO's card says 'The buck stops here'

A junior account exec's reads 'Any colour as long as it's pink'

Our group account director says 'Shoes are beauty, beauty is shoes' or some such thing...

I need to find something that sums up my personality + my role in business development in a few words... needs to be witty, clever, business-like, ack... and all about 6 - 7 words.

thoughts & comments here please!

The Seahawks win the pennant! The Seahawks win the pennant!

OK, not quite - and still a few game(s) to go. But boy was I gripped Saturday night watching the game. I cannot remember being so tense as a mere spectator! Not sure if I can go through it all again next Sunday, especially as the game's that much later, and on a school night. Then again, I'm not sure I could stand to miss it!

I'm also trying to find out if there are any 'Hawk supporter clubs in the London area. I've found Hawksnest - but it doesn't appear to be entirely up-to-date, especially in the 'events' section. Last event Nov 04. Hmm...