Last weekend

Here are some images that I took last weekend that I thought I would share...

- Dog in Oakham
- Busker in Cambridge
- Essex coastline

December movie update

Here are the films that Pete and I have received from Lovefilm.com and watched on TV and DVD over the past few months in reverse order, with my ratings out of ten from my movie list on the IMDB.

Pitoche (2010) 7
Funny French comedy starring the great Catherine Deneuve as a trophy wife who takes over her husbands business when he falls ill.

Retreat (2011) 7
A thriller that didn't quite hit the mark despite featuring a very fit looking Jamie Bell.

Shutter Island (2010) 8

I enjoyed this and understood the ending perfectly. Why are people confused?

Happy Endings (2005) 7

A surprisingly good comedy with a few nice twists.

You Again (2010) 1

Awful, rubbish, stupid, lazy, shit.
 
Ghostbusters (1984) 6

Not quite as good as remember, but fun all the same.

The Girl Cut in Two (2007) 5

Silly story.

Chico & Rita (2010) 7

Interesting animation and great soundtrack - though the story could have had been structured far better.

Shine a Light (2008) 7

Rolling Stones documentary/performance film.

The Line of Beauty (2006) 7

Gay TV mini-series. Strange ending.

Water for Elephants (2011) 5

Bad acting, rubbish story. It gets a couple of points for the CGI elephant.

Star Trek (2009) 6

Hmmm - still not sure.
 
Rango (2011) 7

Amazing animation and not bad story.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) 7

A fitting end to the saga. 

I've Loved You So Long (2008) 8

Depressing French film - but clever and well acted.

Attack the Block (2011) 7

Pretty funny horror. Loved some of the characters, especially Pest.
 
Morning Glory (2010) 5

Full of cliches and stupid over-acting.

Goooooooaaaaaal

Following a football team that has almost gone out of business twice, constantly has up-and-down seasons and disappoints at inopportune moments can be tough.  However, last night was very special. Crystal Palace travelled to Old Trafford to play a Manchester United team that featured 8 full internationals in the Carling Cup.  The Eagles won 2-1. A fine win whichever way you look at it and certainly not a lucky one.

The first goal, from a team that hasn't scored in 5 games, came from Darren Ambrose - a player who can be brilliant, but often ineffective this season... 

The past month - November 2011

Here is a selection of the best bits from my blog over the past month:

I continue to enjoy watching the modest, yet sexy Harry Judd on Strictly Come Dancing.

I complained to H&M about their pants.  They did reply by the way - but just a placating email!

The dull and uninspiring official Olympics posters were launched this month. I expect the Games (and build up) to be far more exciting!

I blogged about our trip to Windsor Castle and various pubs. One of my favourite photos of recent months was featured:

Another famous coming out - professional footballer David Testo.

Pete and I attended Ladies Night, as hosted by my Mum - you got to see a nice picture of us with real bow ties!:

After a long gap (and a lot of nagging), I had a guest blogger - James all the way from Argentina.

And a rant all about the out of date public sector pensions.

As one door closes

I am mulling over a new idea to replace 5 on the fifth, which ends next Monday. I hope that you will consider being part of the new challenge - watch this space!

We may be upset, but we must battle on to the 5th of December and share our 5 photos with the world. So, the final '5 on the fifth' needs to feature as many people as possible!  Just take 5 photographs on the days leading up to the 5th and publish those on your own blog and then add the link to my blog so that others can find your images. 

As always, you can either take 5 random pictures or follow this months theme:

Winter Weekend

Guest Blog #6 - James in Argentina

This is by my latest guest blogger (it's been a while!). My friend James is currently living out an adventure working in Argentina for a year (don't mention the war!). I'll explain all about James another day, but here are some initial thoughts on his life 7,000 miles away:
 
My first impression of Argentina when I arrived was that it was cold, crisp and with lots of really nasty concrete high rises on the way from the airport into town. Queen were playing on the radio in the cab and not a day goes by without my hearing an 80's anthem....

In the city center there are huge expansive roads and large blocks of buildings clustered together. On foot, the city sprawls and is full of surprises, grand architecture of all different types and influences, mostly really scruffy, way past its prime. Lots of litter, smashed pavements, graffiti and murals break up the spaces between different buildings. Tourist maps are very deceiving. Places look clustered together, but the amount of pavement to cover is considerably more than meets the eye. I must have walked for 3 hours at least to make way from the serviced apartment into the financial district and back again. I passed many independent shops and cafes on the way. One of the charms if you like, is that there are very few chain stores - Tesco has yet to make its ugly way here and dominate an otherwise healthy mix of family run businesses.

The strangest thing I have seen is the people who pick through bins outside the office at the end of the day. Small armies of guys efficiently pick through bins wherever they happen to be, for plastics, paper, electrical, cardboard etc and take the good stuff away with them. Weekly there are marches through the financial district and around the political centre, really big drums, fireworks that sound like bombs - this took some getting used to.

I recently saw a podgy little kid who walked through a pretty packed train carriage with a satchel and a well rehearsed speech, that I could not make out. He then produced 4 juggling balls and then effortlessly went onto skillfully throw these things into the roof of the train and catch them on his head as they fell, whilst juggling others and catching those on the back of his neck in a 2/3 minute rendition that left me speechless, all the while the train was moving and lurching around - it did not distract him one bit. I wish I had filmed it and put it on YouTube - his skills were incredible!

San-Telmo, whilst not strange per se, it is in a time warp - it has the largest collection of brick-a-brak imaginable. Huge indoor markets full of stuff. Old stuff. The type of stuff usually only found in the odd shop found in Greenwich, Brighton or Crystal Palace. There is a whole indoor market that sells old stuff, clothes, watches, records, furniture etc but also has  butchers and green grocers set up in the same market also - an unusual combo! 

I'm missing the British staples of Indian and Chinese takeaway. The Argentines know absolutely nothing about spice nor flavour! Most food is unseasoned but of good quality and generous portions, but  almost always bland! Apart from the ice-cream which out here is second to none. I never knew about Dulche du Leche - it's on every menu and is hard to avoid if you find it too sickly sweet - which it is really. It's true also what they say about the steak and red wine, great steaks! Different cuts of meat that you cannot get in the UK. The flesh of the cow is the same (obviously) but butchered differently to give cuts that I think just simply do not exist back home. It's true also though that they over cook, a rare here is really a medium and if you are not careful they go for well-done 9/10. I also would not order a 'Don Pedro' as a dessert again - look it up!

My boy

I came across this very old picture a couple of days ago by accident. My cat was called Gnasher (he used to bite a lot as a kitten hence the name) and we had him for about 14 years. He died 9 years ago.

He was delivered to us late one night along with his sister Miff. They were only a couple of weeks old and the nasty owner was considering something horrible for them. My brother made the decision to take them straight away. We placed the tiny kittens with our two Golden Retrievers and they were inseparable from that moment on. I often wondered if the cats thought that they might be dogs themselves.

Gnasher loved people and would come when called every time. He was a great cat and a wonderful pet to come home to. His sister was aloof and did her own thing!

I still miss him.  Silly eh?!
  

Public sector pensions

Unlike many rants, this one is coming from a position of knowledge...  Next week we will see a huge strike of public sector workers who have been lied to by the unions.

In the past, public sector wages were lower than those in the private sector. A generous pension scheme offered to public sector workers was said to have compensated them for this lower income. In some ways, it made sense as the workers contributions were actually paying for those in retirement and therefore the schemes were self funding. But now, the cost of the various schemes is significant and growing dramatically. They are unjust when compared to benefits received by the taxpayers who are now funding the schemes.

Times have changed and public sector workers have wages broadly equivalent to comparable jobs in the private sector (something the unions overlook).  The big difference is that public sector workers enjoy pensions that are guaranteed and worth the equivalent of over 15% of salary per annum to fund... Private sector workers can only dream of such benefits, with most receiving around 5% of salary into a pension that has no guarantees.

The plan by the Government is for a reduction in public sector benefits, but still a very fair scheme - far better than 95% of private sector workers. Remember that the unions have negotiated wage increases for the public sector people when the rest have static wages or even reductions. Yes, the Government is asking for workers to contribute more for lower benefits - it seems unfair on the face of it, but it is not. Accrued benefits are maintained and the eventual retirement income will still be impressive and guaranteed. In addition, those on lower incomes are unlikely to see much of a difference anyway under the plans.

The fact is, if you were to construct a public sector pension scheme today, you would never consider the current terms. They are too costly and too generous. Something has to change.
  
I believe that the unions have misled their members to promote their power. They have provided poor information knowing that most people don't have the true facts to hand. I do not support the strikes, especially knowing that negotiations are still ongoing. I hate blackmail and I hope the unions fail.

Olympic hopefuls #4 - Aaron Cook

In the fourth of my series of fit and cute Olympic hopefuls for team GB, let me introduce you to Aaron Cook. Twenty year old Aaron is a Taekwondo master and like so many other young guys, has the obligatory mobile phone self-portrait online.

Some hatred in the world

I came across this image on Instagram and it enraged me.  I left a comment, along with a few others, stating how we found this picture a little insulting.  The God loving owner deleted the comments and started quoting the Bible.  Amazing how Christians pick and choose the parts of the Bible that suit them and ignore the many parts about stoning women for doing almost anything normal.

If you have an iPhone and use Instagram, please leave a few comments.  She obviously loves reading them:  http://inkstagram.com/#/photos/354081969_6423368