Hideous Inhabitants of Hatfield No.1

Look at the state of that? Why do grotesquely obese women insist on wearing leggings...

"The Avengers" has started filming!

I should be seeing Thor on Saturday, which I will review in due course... in the meantime I came upon the photo above from the set of The Avengers!!

Looks good.

"Thank You :)"

Yet another irksome aspect of behaviour that grates on me is when you ask for the bill in a restaurant and the waitress brings you the slip and you notice that she has written "Thank you" followed by a smiley face or a drawing of a flower clearly trying to make you feel obligated to provide a tip! Bloody cheek...

Rant over.

Cape Town VI - Part 4

We took the guided tour of Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday along with about 20 or so other people. It lasted about an hour and covered all the main features of the venue right down to the police detention centre. Unfortunately we were not allowed to step on the pitch but as we came walking out of the entrance tunnel it was to easy to imagine the roar of the crowds as the teams entered the arena.

I am seriously in need of a detox after this trip as it as been one succession of stuffing my face. We have more or less eaten out every night and have eaten exceptionally well... too well! Today as it is Good Friday we have been to church and have had a lunch of pickled fish and hot cross buns. I still think it is an acquired taste... but I definitely made sure I ate all mine up.

To be continued...

Elisabeth Sladen 1948 - 2011

I was very sad this morning to read that Elisabeth Sladen has died. Like many people I remember her being the best of all The Doctor's companions... and the episode called Reunion was one of the most nostalgic episodes ever when she was reunited with the 10th Doctor David Tennant. I haven't really seen many episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures but I did see the one at Christmas when she met Jo Grant (an even earlier companion) and the scene near the end when she recounts what happened to all the Doctor's companions was terrific.

The Wheel Of Excellence

Cape Town VI - Part 3

Last time we were in Cape Town our hire car was a plasticky Hyundai Getz... this time (at least to begin with) it was a pile of junk known as a Renault Sandero. Considering it supposedly has a 1.6 litre engine I have never driven anything so gutless and noisy. Anyway it wasn't to last as we later swapped it a couple of days later for a VW Polo (all be it the basic earlier version with an updated front).

After a quick shower we had dinner round at the B's which was a tasty seafood paella and then it was home to bed. The next day we took little c to Hout Bay which has become a kind of tradition for us each year we have visited. Lunch again was at Mariner's Wharf and then it was a walk along the beach for about a mile or so... little c took to running ahead and splashing in the sea.

The next few days consisted of generally relaxing and eating (particularly eating). We met up with MO, JO and GO for dinner in Simon's Town and on another day we took little c to the cinema to watch Hop... which features the voice of the supremely vile Russell Brand... an individual I soooo detest I could quite easily ram his head down the toilet and flush it repeatedly. The film was pretty mediocre I reckon... even for kids. After the cinema we took a spin on The Wheel of Excellence (a mini version of The London Eye) which provides panoramic views over the city of Cape Town and when it stops the gondola has a nice disconcerting swaying motion in the wind.

On Thursday we dined at Reuben's for our anniversary dinner... it was at the same location as last year's dinner at Maze in The One and Only Hotel... however as the scumbag Gordon Ramsey has had financial troubles a new chef has taken it over. I had the salted squid for starter and the porkbelly for main... and it was delicious. Highly recommended. I also finished off N's lamb curry which likewise was of top quality.

I must say the quality of customer service is generally of an exceptional standard in Cape Town and in my experience is considerably better than in the UK. But prices have definitely crept up over the last few years.

Today we are having a braai at the B's and I've been left alone in their house to update my blog whilst they are doing the shopping (along with N).

To be continued...

Cape Town VI - Part 2

I never realised Greece had an icehockey team... in fact to be honest I couldn't give a sh*t that Greece has an icehockey team. After a quick search on Google - I glanced at their website and noticed that they had lost about 20-0 to Luxembourg (of all places). They were also on their way to Cape Town for the Icehockey World Cup or some such tedious tournament... which is where we encountered them - on the second leg of our journey from Dubai to Cape Town. A group of rowdy BO smelling yobs who seemed intent on downing quite a number of beers. One of them ignored me when I asked him not to recline his seat in front of me when a meal was on its way... and I must admit I momentarily had the urge to remind him that he and his plate smashing companions should consider themselves lucky going on a trip abroad especially as they come from a country so bankrupt and financially f*cked as their's... I don't suppose any of them pay taxes because the Greek's can't be arsed to pay taxes and the wankers just expect to be bailed out by everyone else. As you can see... I DIDN'T LIKE THEM.

I only watched one film this time and that was: True Grit. Now this was the best film out of the three I watched. Jeff Bridges again - but unlike Tron: Legacy he was far superior in this feature. Matt Damon too was his usual sterling self - but the best actor by far was the 14 year old girl who hires Rooster Cogburn to hunt down her father's killer (Josh Brolin). I cannot recommend this film enough. Excellent. Rating: 8.5/10 or maybe even 9/10.

At long last we touched down in Cape Town and were greeted by my father-in-law JH and of course the B's (including little c and even littler a). It was off to the car hire place to pick up our vehicle.

To be continued...

Cape Town VI - Part 1

The Airbus A380 is the world's largest airliner and carries approximately 525 passengers depending on configuration. There were at least 525 people on our flight from Heathrow to Dubai - a lot of them were chavvy Brit tourists wearing their obligatory threequarter length trousers. Our flight was delayed by an hour but easily made up time so as when we arrived in Dubai we were only half an hour behind schedule. The plane was noticeably more quiet than previous aircraft we have flown on and we were seated two rows from the front on the lower deck alongside the front staircase, which disappointingly you were not allowed to ascend and have a nosey at the passengers on the upper deck.

I managed to watch two films on this first leg of our journey:

1) Tron: Legacy - I was rather disappointed with this film. For all it's high tech production the acting was pretty limp and the CGI Jeff Bridges though very cleverly rendered still looked fake. I liked the Daft Punk soundtrack and I noticed they made a cameo appearance during the bar scene which was marred by some really sh*t acting by Michael Sheen. The hero whose real name escaped me (Sam Flynn was the character's name) was as charismatic as my left foot and to be honest by the end of the film I really couldn't give a toss. Pretty poor. Rating: 5/10.

2) Splice - A trifle better than Tron: Legacy... actually a lot better than Tron: Legacy. Splice is about two doctors, a bloke and a woman who genetically create a human/creature hybrid who the woman names Dren. The creature has an accelerated lifespan which is rather convenient for the plot as it means you see the creature grow from CGI freak to freaky looking woman with weird eyes and birdlike legs. The film involves the two doctors hiding their creation from the company they work for and their growing emotional attachment to it. Ultimately the male doctor ends up shagging the creature which p*sses off the woman doctor. Dren evolves and changes sex to male, turns nasty and rapes the woman doctor. And of course the epilogue reveals that the woman doctor is pregnant. Rather predictable... but not bad. Rating: 7/10.

At last we arrived in Dubai and had a little over an hour to make the 10 mile walk (it seemed like 10 miles) to the departure gate for our connecting flight to Cape Town.

To be continued...

More observations from Heathrow

You can tell I'm bored... but I have to say - HOW MANY PEOPLE INSIST ON TAPPING AWAY ON BLOODY LAPTOPS!!! One bloke was even paying off his credit card... should have taken a note of his card number! All this going on in an airport lounge.

Bloated Oriental

Cape Town VI (Prologue)

For the first time ever I'm able to write a blog post from my phone whilst waiting for our flight at Heathrow Terminal 3. I'm currently seated in the departure lounge observing the myriad of monstrosities wandering around from shop to shop and overpriced eating place to overpriced eating place. Sitting opposite me is a bloated oriental... Dare I take a pic? Before I try, I just want to say thanks to PSR for the lift to the airport.

To be continued...

"Bob Crow gets taxpayers' help with rent - despite earning £145k a year"

"The militant head of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) is believed to pay half the market rate for his taxpayer-subsidised house despite being paid £145,000 a year. Mr Crow rents the three-bedroom home for an estimated £150 a week while estate agents say it would cost £300 a week in the private sector. The union firebrand has benefited from a loophole in housing rules which do not consider an occupant’s income once the family has a tenancy.

Mr Crow and his partner Nicola Hoarau have lived in the north-east London property since 2001 and saved an estimated £78,000 on renting costs.

Housing minister Grant Shapps said: ‘With nearly 5million vulnerable people languishing on housing waiting lists, I would have thought a highly paid union baron would feel somewhat awkward taking advantage of publicly subsidised housing.’

The RMT said Mr Crow ‘turned down the opportunity to buy his council house at a substantial discount because he believes social housing stock should be available for future generations’.


‘Bob Crow makes no apology for living in social housing,’ the union said." -- Metro website.

Bob Crow would make no apology about anything. Let's be straight about it... HE IS A F*CKING B*ST*RD.

Rant over.

The Book of Eli

I had been intending to watch The Book of Eli for ages as it had been on several times on Sky Movies however I had simply never got around to it. The film itself reminded me of a monochromatic depressing version of Mad Max. A lethal-in-a fight Denzel Washington is walking westwards protecting a book from a typically villainous Gary Oldman. There isn't much background given on the characters and to be honest the whole affair is quite predictable. Bits of it feel a bit like a spaghetti western... the lawlessness of a broken down society is well portrayed but I felt there was something missing. Worth watching on TV but nothing more.

Rating: 6.5/10