Jack & the Beanstalk

Big things were expected of this production, mainly due to the time that we waited for it. As it turned out it was OK. A stand-in played the villain due to illness but you couldn’t tell the difference. As usual, the celebrities that took the headline characters were disappointing as they didn’t interact much with the rest of the cast. The giant puppet was amazing but it was a shame that it wasn’t featured more often, and there was no goose either. The dames were on form with their usual innuendo jokes that were fired early and fast to get the adults settled, but as usual there was a lot of talk and little action. The format was also predictable since it hadn’t altered from previous years. Nevertheless, the girls enjoyed it and we all rushed to our feet to join in with the songs at the end, although we weren’t singing them home.

Surprising Services

I now needed to make my journey home. There was still a great distance to cover, so I thought the best thing to do was to hop on the motorway and get some miles on the clock then turn off at a service station for a hot sandwich. There wasn’t a great deal of traffic and the sun came out as I crossed the border. I managed to get as far as the Lake District before I needed a rest stop and pulled into Tebay Services. Rather than a modern lay-out of a mass car park with a large unimpressive building containing a variety of chain shops at the end of it, I drove into a circular car park in front of a one-story set of buildings. Inside was a variety of upmarket shops selling overpriced crockery and souvenirs. It was flooded with coach part groups doing their last-minute shopping. Fortunately, there wasn’t a queue for the gents, and once that was done I scouted out the food.  

 

Furry Racing #dreamdiary 133

A large chant of war cries echo across this otherwise peaceful farm. There’s a green grass hill with AstroTurf divided into six painted lanes. At the top of the hill is a wooden platform, and all of this is sheltered underneath a corrugated metal roof with windows near the bottom of the hill. A siren is fired and giant bears race down the hill. Some sprint down and roll at the bottom. Some roll head over heels, and some wrestle at the top in a bid to slow their competitors down. This is the new craze for stag dos. People can spend the morning getting bladdered and spend the afternoon here in front of an audience who get to bet on the outcome. The suits are well padded inside so that participants don’t have to worry about sustaining any injuries and the antics that are performed on the course can be very entertaining. There’s instant disqualification for any soiled suits though.

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The supersleuths are back in a delightful but unlikely tale, but still, it could happen! As well as an investigation and gaining vengeance on those who wrong them, they also face everyday ordeals that are typical for pensioners. And for those unlikely situations, they cope admirably and wittily, and are seldom shocked by what they find, and when they are, Osman’s narrative technique allows each character to describe their thoughts and feeling independently. In this plotline, the characters are further developed and we learn a tiny bit more about each one, though not as much as we’d like as a backstory. It’s still a good read as they gossip and socialise within their community, although this story is a bot more close-knit, but I suppose it has to be when there’s sleuthing involved and connections have to be established and taken advantaged of. Still, when you’ve got time on your hands…

View all my reviews

An Andy Guy to Know

There was once a school friend who seemed to get into trouble for everything that he did. Even simple things like his homework diary required a forged signature just before the class started which he’d urge the ink to dry. He loved answering back. He was one of those pupils that the teacher always placed at the front of the class so that he could keep an eye on him. His hair was blonde and spiked, and he had an earring in one ear which he’d always put back in once the teacher’s attention was turned to someone else. He was friendly enough to everyone, if a bit cocky, and wasn’t afraid to stand up for what he believed in despite his small stature, an English Bart Simpson if you will. He’d never back down. This meant that he’d get into quite a few fights. He lived in an interesting estate of flats on a hill. I kind of got the impression that he was from a one-parent family. 

Kettle Power

Scottish engineering is brilliant. It’s amazing that this entire structure manages to lift two huge sections of water complete with boats and passengers on them using the same amount of power as an electric kettle. The narrowboat sailed into a lock and moored up. Then we started climbing upwards leaving a great big hole in the ground. The power is generated by the weight which is counter-balanced at the other end to ensure an even and controlled momentum. The whole journey is very smooth and you wouldn’t know that you were moving unless you looked out of the window. Our captain kept us entertained with information on the wildlife preservation projects and tales of historical construction works and life as a navvy. Once we reached the top we drove through a small tunnel and turned around in front of a lock and headed back down again. It would be a brilliant experience to ride this wheel from the outside. 

Returns

Some people return everything, or at least they try to. They have a naïve view of what the product does and think that they can have a test go of it. There are shops that do that, but for brand new items. Sometimes you can just see the frustration. They will just tell you that it doesn’t work without giving any detail and expect you to believe them. You can’t test everything, but sometimes you can just see that this product isn’t meant for them. Others are just trying to defraud you in some way. They’ll try to persuade you that they’ve changed their mind but they’ve actually misused the product causing it to be damaged in some way. It’s the number of questions that they ask beforehand. They’re certainly not great gift givers. Maybe they don’t respect their property either. You’ve got to be a judge of people and look for the tale-tale signs.