Naquada

Today’s my birthday.. now its a little worrying that I’m err.. 36

But, I got a fantastic new jacket and dark shirt (with sparkly bits in it!) from my wife.

We also decided to have a wonderful evening in with some of our new wedding plates and cutlery.

The table was lit by some lovely new candlesticks that we also got as wedding gifts..

Nothing could have been better than spending my birthday at home, with my wife, surrounded by gifts our friends and family gave us..

Yesterday was my birthday, and Michelle got me tickets to see Monty Pythons Spamalot at the palace theatre in London.

I’ve always loved Python humor, and remember watching The holy Grail in my youth.
Spamalot itself is a comedic musical lovingly ripped off from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Just like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the legend of King Arthur, but differs from the film in many ways, especially its parodies of Broadway theatre, no shows as show without a Jew, and some smatterings of other Python shows (Life of Brian).
We went round Covent Garden (after a quite geek trip to the Apple Store) and stopped in at the Papegenore Restaurant in wellington street, It’s striking gold façade opens into an interior with colourful stage props, flamboyant artwork, gilt furniture and heavy drapes. Opera music and comfy sofas filled the inside, and it reminded us very much of the inside of the Moulin Rouge.

Given it was my birthday we sat with a glass of champagne each, and did a bit of people watching.

We then went to eat dinner at The Forge restaurant, just off covent garden, and the food was juts amazing. With more champagne and wine we were feeling a little pickled as we left to head to the theatre. That probably explained our slight issue with actually finding the theatre, but we managed to get there with a few minutes to spare!!

The show was great, and we had great seats with a fantastic view of the stage. The Palace theatre itself is quite small, but thats often the best place to see a show. The amazing little things you never see, but when you sit in your seat at the interval and look up, you’ll see the ornate carvings and decorations; the arches hiding the flyloft, and other parts of the theatre normally hidden from view. If you like Holy Grail you will of course love spamalot, and you’ll even get a sing-a-long at the end.
I also love stars, and myself and Michelle have spent hours looking up at the sky, especially when we were in Ireland, and Michelle got me a projector that displays the night sky, the star and their names onto the ceiling. In the dark, it looks amazing, although a bit too difficult to photograph.. Again, an amazing birthday, spent with the woman I love.. Thank you sweetheart.. x

Its still officially our birthday week, which starts with mine on the 13th and ending after Michelle’s tomorrow. Officially we are still allowed to celebrate, which is great if you like a week long birthday!!

Saturday, after my Digital Master Class in Dover on Saturday I raced back to get ready for our evening of curry and drinks with some of our friends.

The Digital Master Class was in fact very very good, and I’m still working on the photos I took during the day, ready to post up to Flickr later this week.. I learned an awful lot that day, and I’m definitely thinking of doing one of the e-learning courses they do..

With regard to the evening out.. We’re surrounded by some amazing friends. Friends that we hold very dear, and make us laugh and smile, Friends that are just as ‘normal’ as us!! And there’s absolutely nothing better than being about to call together a bunch of your friends for a really great evening out.

We took this photo, and it actually really captures how the evening was, lots of smiles, laughing, and fun. Although the original photo wasn’t quite as good as this one, the waiter decided to obscure most of the flash with his finger, and it was only after some clever editing by passant to provide some fill in flash..

Today I’m 34.. and its six weeks until Christmas to the day.. I say that every year like its some magical thing, past birthdays have always been a bit.. err.. different to say the least, mostly because nothings ever really been a surprise, and I’ve tended to work, or just pass the day by like any other..

This years quite different, in that I’m just following instructions on keep the day free and relaxing.. Also having probably had far to much drink (and sleep) this weekend, the three day extravaganza of chilling, drinking, relaxing and enjoying myself has come to a head.

As one of those things you just don’t expect, Michelle brought me a Digital Photography Course down in Dover, Kent, through Digital Master Class, something I’d not even thought about let alone found.. It looks like a really good course, and I’m pretty excited about it. I get to take my Macbook along and work on the photos down there as well, although I’m not sure part of the plan was to immediately order 2 Gb of extra ram for the mac book!!

It’s just really amazing when someone spends time understanding the stuff you like, looking into things and going to the effort of getting something that means something to you, just like when she got me tickets to see Jeff and Eugene in Falmouth.. The little things like that mean so much more than anything else..

In a moment we’re off for a walk and a picnic, its nice and cold, but quite sunny, and the rains holding off.. and then tonight we’re off to the Pot Kiln – a wonderful country pub in a beautiful corner of rural England, the kind of English country pub of which dreams are made (apparently!), it’s owned and run by Mike Robinson, a regular presenter and guest chef on UKTV Food’s daily live show Great Food Live, and also presents numerous mini series for UKTV Food. Mike took over the Pot Kiln, a rural country pub, back in March 2005, and it underwent some major refurbishment to improve the kitchen facilities and to increase the seating area for food and now seats around 45 in informal and cosy surroundings. I’m really looking forward to eating there, as I’m a great fan of Mikes cooking, and locally sourced ingredients.

So.. Today’s my Birthday, I’m 34.. I’m older, I’m balder, I’m wiser, I’m more forgetful but I’m happier than I’ve ever been.. and I now have someone I’m with who will remind me of all the stuff I’m going to forget in my later years then I start to get (more) forgetful.

So yesterday was my birthday.. 33 years old, and getting older!! I spent a really nice day. Spending the day up in London, and not only enjoying good company, but managing to go on the London Eye, something in all the times I’ve been to London I’ve never done. It was a pretty cold day up in London, so the hot mulled wine from Covent Garden, really warmed it up a bit, that and the triple chocolate cookies!!

A nice relaxed wander around the market at Covent Garden, followed by a walk down to Westminster Bridge and the London Eye. The hot dog’s and fresh waffles with maple syrup filled a spot (or rather a little more than a spot!) in our stomachs before queuing to get onto the eye itself.

We timed it so that we would catch the start or as much of sunset as possible, and although the cloud was quite low, it obscured most of the sun, but didn’t ruin the view from the top of the wheel. I never actually realised how much of London you could see from the top, and it wasn’t half as crowded or as busy as I expected.

I’ve been past the wheel so many times when I’ve been working around Westminster, Waterloo and Southbank, but never had the time, or opportunity to actually get onto it. I was a good gift for my birthday, and something I’ll be able to remember for quite some time.

I managed to take quite a few nice photos from the capsule itself, as well as a nice little photo I took before boarding. I have a whole bunch more to put up once I’ve looked through them all.

Now feeling somewhat fat from my chocolate birthday cake that I ate most of this evening, and feeling a little tired still from the weekend, I believe its time for some wine, and relaxation..

Douglas Adams was born on March 11, 1952 in Cambridge and on the morning of May 11th 2001 went to the local gym to work out.

That day would be a earth shattering day for his family, friends and fans, because as the result of a massive heart attack, Douglas Adams died.

Before Douglas died he had just finished a draft of the screenplay to the feature movie of Hitchhikers Guide.

The film of Hitchhikers Guide will be released on April 29th 2005, and its going to be great from the trailers and previews so far..

The only single regret I ever had about not attending one particular Informix sales kick off (never a particularly exciting event) was the year that they booked Douglad Adams to speak as the end-of-event motivational speaker. Which I’m told made a huge difference from the normal american hockey players or world famous sports stars you’ve never heard of..

I’ve always enjoyed any of Douglas Admas works (I mean you cant really not enjoy his work!) and I’m looking forward to seeing the film when its out.

Until then I’ll keep reading my battered copies of the other books and wait for Nick Webb’s Wish You Were Here: The Official Biography of Douglas Adams to arrive

Douglas Adams was (and is) a great talent, who will still be sorely missed..

Happy Birthday Douglas…

Well its exactly 6 weeks to the day from today until christmas day.. I know this because its my birthday today, and every year since I was born, its 6 weeks exactly from my birthday to christmas day..

Sobering thought really isnt it??