A Bit of This, That and the Other...

Totally pulling it off

This week, Loverboy and I at last jumped headfirst into 'Homeland', and I have to say that I'm completely hooked! Also, and I won't deny it, there's a smug pleasure in only being on episode 4, while the rest of the country is wailing and gnashing their teeth at the series' end. And the thrill of taking it in turns to fast forward through the ads? Let's just say it doesn't get old...I wonder is it wrong to love Sky+ this much?

 The downside of all that of course, is having to be on Spoiler Avoidance Alert all the time! It's a MINEFIELD out there between TV, Facebook, twitter and just general conversations. I've already had to do the 'fingers in the ears La la la, don't tell me, don't tell me!' three times this week.
And isn't Claire Danes tote amaze? And Damien Lewis as well. I mean, obviously I don't rate him hotness wise,

Soames-such a gen

( it's the old ginger/ginger clash I've touched on before), but as an actor he's fabulous. I really thought that I'd never be able to get past his 'Soames' persona, (Forsyte Saga-boxset it) but now I'm all 'Soames who?' (Oh and FYI apparently he's lovely IRL too- he was filling up his car recently in a garage in Belfast and my uncle spotted him and  started chatting and he just couldn't have been nicer...I just LOVE to hear stories like that.)
Speaking of Twitter, I absolutely 'get it' now! I tried it about a year ago but clearly I wasn't focused enough, and I slunk back over to Facebook. Then recently,well frankly, I was  too afraid of missing something, so I gave it another go and sure it's great craic altogether.. It's basically people dropping in and out for a bit of a yarn as they muddle through their days. The whole 140 characters  was a bit tricky at first, but it really forces you to think snappily (and wittily!). It sharpens and hones the mind.... like sudoku, only with gossip and jokes.
You 'follow' people, which means you get to see their tweets, but they have to 'follow' you to see yours, unless you tweet them directly. So slebs have thousands, sometimes millions of followers, but they actually follow relatively few. This is where it can get a bit playgroundy- everyone's vying to be the wittiest/cleverest/rudest, with the ultimate prize being a retweet or even better a direct tweet from your fave sleb. It's easy to get caught up in that, I suppose, but actually far better fun if you don't. That said,  I was BEYOND THRILLED to have a little interaction with Marian Keyes, (the very same!), who I LOVE LOVE LOVE, and where else could you do that? And isn't it marvelous it's even possible at all?
The other big news around here is that it's Cormac's First Holy Communion this Saturday. The school's trying to keep the numbers down to three per family (boooo!), but that ain't happening around here. I mean, I've been utterly ruthless, and we're STILL sitting at eleven. Oooops...looks like I'll need to hide a few of them up my skirt.
Afterwards, it'll be a stampede back here for barbecue, bouncy castle and (obviously) wine. The weather isn't playing ball right now, and of course a gorgeous day would be fabulous, but I'm not overly concerned. I mean, I've witnessed Loverboy and Mr Bouncy Castle, (whose name I shamefully don't know, but I've rented too many bouncy castles now to ask him), tie it down to the drive on lawn mower, in a sleeting wind tunnel, and it STILL didn't stop the kids wrapping up and getting out there...(and honestly, only the bare minimum of 'encouragement' was required ;-)) ) catch ya later, Emx

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...

Snippity snip!

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Okay, okay, I may be overstating somewhat, but there's no doubt, that as weekends go, I've had more exciting. I mean, missing Christy Moore and the hotel breakfast WAS a bit of a bummer, but on the upside, I got loads done at home, and even managed to bully everyone else in to helping out as well. The four boys' hairs were cut, some more successfully than others, and despite what it may look like, drink was not taken at the time. All the beds were stripped, washed and changed, pictures that were sitting in a forlorn little pile for months were finally hung, and an overworked, seriously manky washing machine received its first proper clean ever. Who's the mammy, wha? (I want a t-shirt with that on it)

On top of all that, it was the weekend that my sister found THE DRESS for her September wedding. After an extended morning of all things bridal, a final summit was held at ours over tray bakes yesterday, and a blessedly unanimous motion passed. And it IS completely fabulous. (Oh God, at this moment, I'm having a selfish panic, as I envisage being the oldest, fattest bridesmaid slash matron of honor in the bridal party...or possibly ever. Unfortunately 'doing a Pippa' just isn't an option but I SO would if I could-Sorry Clare-it's dog eat dog!)

I also spent a considerable amount of time on the couch, working hard at getting my skybox memory percentages up. There's something so very satisfying about hitting that delete button and seeing those numbers rise. On Saturday night, despite lobbying hard for 'Pretty in Pink', I was completely vetoed by Loverboy, so we compromised and watched 'The Little Fockers' instead. Well, all I can say is, that just because a movie has De Niro in it, doesn't make it worth watching- what a load of old crap!





Oui, Oui!

Then last night, I took a gamble on the new Sarah Millican show- I admit that I had expected great things from a woman who could chat on Graham Norton, in front of millions and P Diddy, about her boyfriend going 'down there'...but how wrong I was. She was wooden and cliched and boring- IMHO, give her a wide berth. 



Speaking of  Graham Norton though, did you see his show on Friday ? He had Gerard Depardieu on and- I'm going out on a limb here- by the end of the show, I would definitely have jumped his well upholstered bones. Despite the fact that he won't see sixty again, relieves himself in bottles, is missing a tooth and has the crookedest nose I've ever seen, he definitely has... je ne sais quoi! Am I alone on this one? ...Anyone?



Damian Lewis was also on- never mind 'Homeland' , he'll always be 'Soames' from the 'Forsyte Saga' for me. He IS handsome on paper but, as a very good scientist friend of mine once informed me, apparently it's genetically impossible for gingers to fancy gingers, and from my own emperical research, I suspect she's right. Enough said. Also on Graham's couch, was that cheeky chappie Olly Murs, but I'm possibly getting old, because he just seems SO very young, and as for that awful Essex accent....it was so bad I had to put him on mute. Finally, there was Dominic West....well, you just would, wouldn't you? I mean, definitely as 'Mc Nulty'  but possibly not as 'Fred West', which  clearly shows how versatile an actor he is, I suppose.

To offset all that TV, we went for a family walk/ cycle  yesterday afternoon. Now, that sounds so simple and relaxing, but it was actually anything but. After the inevitable half hour spent blowing up tyres, tightening gears and fixing brakes, there followed a 15 minute search for helmets randomly discarded at the end of last summer. Finally, we set off to the soundtrack of  'Keep In!  I SAID Keep In!' You're in the middle of the road! KEEP IN!' (and under the breath FFSing). En route and disgusted by the rubbish lying over the road, I then initiated a litter pick and we filled an entire bin liner with Strongbow cans and fast food wrappings. Littering has to be my absolute pet hate- never mind a £100 fine, it would be a public flogging if I were in charge.....So it's maybe just as well that I'm not!, Emx

 Oh, I nearly forgot-I also got a Facebook page sorted for my blog this weekend, along with a 'Like' button at the top of this page, (just one of the many benefits of being married to a nerd!) So, make it look a bit less pathetic, and 'like' me, please please please....