Thursday, July 27, 2006

I really need to update this more often

But I don't really have time. Essays have finally become a priority (almost) so time is being spent researching those and doing all the other stuff that's become a norm, like meeting Rob for lunch (which takes 2 hours by the time I've got there and back) etc etc etc.

Went to see Cirque du Soleil's "Corteo" show on Saturday. It was amazing! Those people are crazy bendy, and strong, and just generally frightening. The premise of the show is that it's a clown's funeral which his ghost (I suppose) is presiding over, and the Cirque comes out to pay their respects in the ways they know best. So we had "kids" on trampoline beds, including one guy who kept bouncing on his back and then running up the headboard and coming to a dead stop balanced on the top of it (how is that even possible?). There were people behaving like cartwheels, in the middle of big metal rings - they looked like pennies spinning, but under more control. There were acrobats on chandeliers, acrobats on podium-type things throwing smaller acrobats to each other, acrobats on tightropes at 45 degree angles, acrobats on tethers that he kept holding in his mouth while she (not as small as the ones that were being thrown around) clung to him in improbable ways... a human marionette, a tiny (Russian) woman who was suspended beneath balloons (like a cartoon, but true), a crystal glass orchestra with the ringmaster whistling (better than it sounds), a man that ran up and down a ladder (not fixed to anything of course) and then did a handstand at the top of it, a scene with two people having an acrobatics fight over a see-saw (reminded me of "West Side Story" but more aerial)... All kinds of stuff. It was spectacular, which I think is the point, and made me feel entirely inadequate, but never mind.

There's a lot of shows in Chicago in the summer! I hadn't realised before because we've been based out in Naperville (which is a pain to get to) or have been up in Canada for the majority of the time I've been around. This Thursday we're going to see Muse, then on Friday Camera Obscura. Talvin Singh is playing at some point, Blackalicious (who I only know from the ridiculous song "Alphabet Aerobics", in which he uses as many words beginning with one letter as he can in two or three lines before moving on to the next), Tricky, a Foo Fighters acoustic gig... I'm sure there were some others but I don't think we have tickets for them yet. Oh and Lollapalooza adds about another hundred bands to that (obviously we won't see them all, but still). All in all, a fun summer!


That's about it for now, I'm sure I was going to write more but I just don't remember what. Ooh apart from the fact that my hair glows under UV light, which is very cool. I'll post a pic as soon as I find my camera cable, which I've mislaid – very upsetting. It'll turn up though.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Utter nonsense

But quite funny. From the "Bad Jokes" pages of Wikipedia:

Phillippe Phloppe

Phillippe Phloppe (1215-1302) was the French inventor of the backless sandal.

Phloppe was born in the small French hamlet of Chue, in the region of Piedmont in Southern France nestled under the pyrenees. His father was a cobbler. Having served his apprenticeship, he moved to Sleeveiesse, where Napoleon is said to have kept his armies. His father had often compained that sandals with rear support, of the style that the Roman Army had conquered most of Europe on cost too much labour to construct particularly for the most important market of British holidaymakers who turned up in the region and discovered that their more traditional forms footwear acquired the odour of some of the local cheeses, and thus required cheap additional modes of transport.

Phloppe designed a version of the sandal without a back support, that was strong and sturdy, if a little difficult to run in, but did make an annoying tip-tap noise. One advantage of the lack of back support was that they could easily be removed for swimming. Phloppe's sandal was an immediate success, propelling him to fame and fortune. The sandal was further developed with the addition of a thong.

Fans of this type of footwear are said to include Formula One driver Michael Schumacher.

Namesdatabase.com

They seem to be the Devil.

This is what Rob found out when he got the invite email thingy and decided he didn't like it. I decided I'd pass it on so no-one else gets suckered into it (not that you would cos you're all too clever, but still...)

Friday, July 14, 2006

Still busy

And don't have the internet, so posting becomes more of an issue.
 
Currently I'm sitting in Rob's office waiting for him to finish work so we can go and get some food (I locked myself out of the flat, which wasn't very clever, but ok when it was warm and I could sit in the park... it's now almost 9 and I'm hungry!)
 
I don't actually know where my days are going. They all just seem to pass really fast and it's already the 13th of July... <sigh> silly time.
 
Anyways, I'm mostly just rambling because I decided I should update my blog since I'm in an office full of computers anyway (I'm using Jim's, so that's ok. He won't mind. Or even know, unless Rob tells him.)
 
Um. Independance Day stuff was fun, lots of people, lots of fireworks, lots of sitting in the office and drinking (it looks out toward the lake, which is where the fireworks were happening, and being on the 8th floor we got a really good view). Oh and eating sandwiches for the next week that had been bought by the company - they were expecting about 40 people and only 15 turned up, so we had lots and lots and lots of food and drink left over. Fun.
 
Also, watched the world cup final at Lee's house (he's from Bury, therefore very interested - as are most people in this company, with it being an international firm. Everyone seems to realise there's a world outside the US. I think some of them may even have passports. Don't tell the government.) That was also fun and involved more alcohol. There was a "wine and cheese battle" between France and Italy, since they were in the finals... it all made sense at the time.
 
Anyway, I appear to be spending more time thinking about what I'd like to eat that what I'm writing (I could probably be arrested for my above comments) so I'm going to stop writing and concentrate on getting Rob out of here. We should have the interweb (which I'm going to call the internet from now on) soon, so I keep getting told, so then I can type away to my heart's content and you'll all be bored of reading it.
 
Till then...
 
(oh and do you like my "Earth Status" tag? I thought it was good to know that the Earth is not destroyed. Of course, I don't think I'll be able to check if the Armageddon happens, but...)


Coffee is thicker than water...

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Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Busy!

Still not had chance to sit and write up all the stuff that I've been up to.

I will just say that moving into a flat a block away from the gay village on Pride weekend is fun, although not particularly efficient.

--
Coffee is thicker than water...

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