Category: General

A trip to Oz: Machismo

Ten years ago, our daughter went on a trip to Oz with one of her best friends from school. It was not exactly a back-packing trip as they like their home comforts too much, but they did work hard and save up for the trip so they could be reasonably comfortable. When they got back, they said that they had had a great time, but found that Oz was a bit behind the times in terms of emancipation Basically, their report reinforced the old TV ad for Castlemaine 4X, you know the one: “Just another couple of crates and…oh yes, better add a half -bottle of sherry for the ladies!”
Continue reading “A trip to Oz: Machismo”

Pub quiz – well, village hall quiz!

Mrs Cuprum and I went to a breast cancer charity evening in a nearby village hall on Friday evening, 100 people in teams of four all having fun raising money.

Now I’m a quiz fan, and have even made it onto TV in NZ 6 years ago with my pub team from Papanui’s Rose and Thistle. I know quizzes aren’t many people’s cup of tea, but you do learn some little gems, some of which I shall share in a mo.

This evening was well organised with a bar and an auction at the end, Mrs C bid and won a full car valet which will be useful having seen the dog and horse debris in her Skoda! There was a fish and chip supper at half time, and the rounds were themed, most noticeably the Food and Drink round. Continue reading “Pub quiz – well, village hall quiz!”

First BBQ of the year!

What a beautiful weekend it has been here in Blighty. Blue skies and 20 degrees Centigrade. Cold by aussie standards of course, but with virtually no wind, a big plus for us still in the UK.

So, having had a lovely day out with the teenagers and dogs at the Point to Point, it had to be a Barbie! No shrimps available alas, but lots of sausages and chicken marinated in some spicy stuff, with jacket potatoes, coleslaw and salad washed down with a lovely spanish white Rioja. Perfik. (typically, the local supermarket had run out of all meat and rolls/buns!)

How glad am I that I cleaned the BBQ after its last use in the autumn?!!

What did everyone else do to enjoy the blue sky April weekend?

Oh, and a quick update, the lawn is looking much better after lots of top soil trodden down in the uneven bits with some see just starting to come through in the bare bits!

Telephones — in the home and elsewhere.

Telephones are some of my least favourite innovations. They’re invasive — even if a telephone call does not involve physically entering another’s house, or, in the case of OZ, cave, it comes as close to this as possible without actually doing it. In times past, manners books wrote of telephones as something best left to close friends and family — all other correspondence would best be left to letters and notes delivered by servants. Telephones irk me enough, in fact, that I do not have a telephone at my San Francisco residence.

Recognising the nature of the world the closest thing I do have is a now very outmoded mobile phone purchased nearly 4 years ago which has only the most very basic of features and is primarily used as an alarm clock. (So… I also do not give my telephone number out to many people so the majority of telephone calls I would receive would be from telemarketers. At the end of the day there are few more irritating things) The matter of the mobile phone is yet another development in this chain of annoyances.

The home telephone, while domestically irritating, was at least limited to the home itself. Mobile phones are even more irksome. Sitting in the train, watching the world go by while drinking a cup of cocoa, is one of my favourite things to do. I might read a book or practise kanji as well while listening to music. Breaking the peace and quiet is a ring tone — a herald of worse things to come! Often the person who answers will not make short use of it. Rather, it seems as if the ultimate outcome is more often than not the inane blabbering — often at elevated voice — about nothing of any importance.

Whether it is on the train or elsewhere, these conversations often eventually divulge more personal information than would ever be considered appropriate. No, it is not of critical importance to the life of the other 10 people in the carriage that your “homie” or “dawg” was so pissed after last Saturday’s bender that (s)he walked into several walls before passing out on your front lawn only to be woken by the police, neighbours, or rain. It is also equally unnecessary to hear graphic accounts of sexual escapades. Such things are best left in private settings.