A good weekend/ some Bad planning

The rest of the weekend was really good too. As mentioned in the last entry, we had Dave Tudor down to stay with us for the weekend. It's been really good to spend some time with him and get to know him a whole lot better. It's all very well meeting people at the Planet Skaro meets a couple of times a year, but you never really have a chance to have a good long chat with people and really have time to get to know them well, so it was great to finally have an opportunity to chat with him... and we did lot of that!
He was really good company all weekend, very easy going, no trouble at all- just what you want from a house guest! I hope we helped a little with his new job dilemma and that he wasn't too bored having to go round Sainsburys with us on Sunday afternoon (though it was only a little trip, so it was probably OK). We took him to meet the local group at a hastily arranged meet on Sunday afternoon, he survived a visit from my sister and her family on Sunday afternoon and was still laughing when we walked to the station in the rain on Monday morning (it was somehow appropriate!)

We managed to get all his scenes in the can for the forthcoming Magical History Tour play too! That was a bit of a laugh. We'd both had a couple of pints with lunch, so we were nice and relaxed and we had great fun! There's a few outtakes, a few ad libs and one stunning moment that won't make it into the play, but might make people laugh... but I won't spoil the surprise. there was even a scene that was really emotional charged and I think the two of us played it really well and it's going to be really moving in the finished piece. I hope so anyway.

Making arrangements for Saturday has been very awkward and stressful tonight. Sometimes being obligated to do family things is a bit of a downer. I'm not sure I really want to go, but it is important that I'm there to celebrate my Mum's birthday, isn't it? Oh I don't know. I felt caught between two worlds tonight. Still, we'll have everyone over for a barbeque or something in August or sometime to make up for it or something. I feel bad though, as Steve had only sent the invites out a few hours before. Bad timing.

Wet in Hyde Park

I suppose after two great, hot and sunny concerts in Hyde Park over the last few years we were due a wet one. And we certainly got one. There we were, thinking we'd got away with it, when suddenly, without much warning there was a clap of thunder and an absolutely torrential downpour for 20 minutes, from the end of Crowded House and just before Peter Gabriel. Even the large blue plastic sheet some enterprising person in front of us managed to set up as impromptu rain shelter wasn't quite enough to keep us dry. Still, it was all worth it. Oh yes!

The concert day began with a search for a Crowded House T-shirt. Unfortunately the one I really wanted had sold out, but the one I got is really lovely so I'm happy with that. I couldn't afford one last time I saw them, in June 1994 at the end of my first year in Sheffield, so it was great to be able to this time.
The Ghosts were the first band we saw. They were average. The singer's voice seemed lost against the music, which was pretty but uninspired. There was a speedy stage change, and burgers, and half hour later The Feeling were up on stage. The sun came out with them too! They were really good. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from them, but I was really pleased with what we did get. They've got mammoth stage presence, looked like they were enjoying themselves and got the crowd in their hands by playing a cover of Video Killed The Radio Star, and doing it brilliantly. Very good, and a band I'd like to see on their own, because a full set would be wonderful to see.
Peter Gabriel, who was on last, was of course a star. In one of his more obscure moods, he left the set list up to the fans and so we got treated to some of the more obscure tracks that you wouldn't expect to hear. Poor Dave didn't recognise many of them! In the midst of the unknown, we did get some favourites: a stirring up-tempo Solsbury Hill; an encore of Sledgehammer, which the audience were singing before it started; a brilliant rousing Steam and a really lovely Blood of Eden, which is one of my favourites. It was great to see him enjoying himself so much (and only a few feet away from us, as he came down the ego ramp with his bassist and lead guitarist) and it's nice to be able to knock another legend off my list of people I've always wanted to see live.

The best though, were Crowded House. I was always against the idea of them reforming, just in case they ruined all the magic by not being quite as good as they used to be. It might have tarnished them. I should have known better and trusted Neil Finn not to put a foot wrong. They were magnificent. On form? At their best! They seemed to be enjoying themselves so much- Neil Finn with his new Rod Stewart hairdo, Nick Seymour smiling away as he played, Mark Hart as cool as ever and the new guys Matt Sherrod doing well on the drums and Liam Finn on guitar and backing vocals...
It was simply amazing for me to be there hearing them play some of the songs I never thought I'd ever hear live again. They started with an energetic Locked Out (which Steve had only said a few hours before he'd like to hear live!) before playing a mix of old favourites- we got to do crowd versions of Weather with You and Four Seasons in One Day (for Paul, touchingly).The new songs came over really well, which makes me look forward to the new album next week, particularly the new single Don't Stop Now and the very atmospheric Silent House.
Then in the middle they played Fall at Your Feet. Oh my! It sounded so gorgeous. It hit me then that I was really seeing them and I felt myself welling up a bit. Then, after that they went into Distant Sun, and I cried. I was really overwhelmed. It's never happened at a gig before, but this was something really special for me. It was a wonderful experience and I'm so glad I was there.

The rest of the weekend was great too, but that's a story for another time!

Grumble, Grumble

We're not swimming. It's a standing joke that one of us will find an excuse. We couldn't go on Monday because we needed to buy food (and I was in a really grumpy mood too) and tonight we can't go because Steve's foot is sore and he's tired and a bit grumpy too.

It's pretty much been that kind of week- all hassles and grumbles. Mum and Dad are behaving like kids at the moment, bickering over all the small details as the time gets closer to them going their separate ways. There's just little digs at each other that they make to all of us, as well as the more selfish and spiteful things. Mum's birthday is a case in point. It's her 50th on Saturday (just don't do the maths) and we wanted to take her out for a meal. We left this Saturday so that Adam could do something with her (not that we're really interested in that, but Jay is away, so we'll let them have this one) and decided on next Saturday instead. The plan changed a number of times. It was happening, it wasn't... Steve invited people round when I thought it wasn't happening. Now, it is happening, apparently. Well, Steve says we're not going. Everyone else says I have to. *sigh* Then Dad refused to babysit for Vic, so Mark might have to stay at home, and there's the general feeling that Mum doesn't actually care if we do it or not.
So I've suggested meeting for lunch on the Saturday instead. It might work as a compromise. I'm just trying to keep everyone happy, but I feel in a really awkward situation right now and I'm really fed up of it all.

Actually I'm pretty fed up in general of people telling me what I should do with my time. I'm perfectly capable of deciding that for myself, but you wouldn't know it. Yes, I haven't sorted my driving licence out, but I'm perfectly capable of doing that when I want to do that thank you very much. I'm far more likely to do it if people just leave me to it. I'm really been getting to me this week, as you can probably tell.

Still on the plus side I have plotted a potential audio adventure.I rather like it. It;s the bare bones of an outline and it needs some tweaking, but I think it works. I don't like plotting much, I much prefer the actual writing, but it's a good exercise to try it out and see if you can make it work. I need to do it more often, to practice. I'm sure the more you do it, the easier it'll become. I'm good on the initial idea, but the mechanics of the plot often let me down.
Oh and well done Steve, who's story came runner up in the BF story competition. He's very good you know and I'm ever so proud.

On The Up!

I'm feeling much more cheerful today. Yesterday's problems got sorted out with a a message or two between us, and everyone is playing nicely today. Hooray!

I had a good day at work. I've spoken a little in the past about the tensions between me and Glynis when I first started, and I'm pleased to say that we really have turned the corner. She seemed genuinely pleased to see me back today and was chatty and very friendly. I'm pleased about that, because I don't like to feel that I'm making anyone feel uncomfortable, particularly when we have to spend several hours together in a small library! Lynn was pleased to see me back too, but then she always is, which is nice!

That's it really. We has a nice bowl of raspberries after dinner. I love raspberries.

Overreactions

What a strange old day it's been on Planet Skaro. In some ways I suppose it's all my fault, at least from the point of view of starting the whole thing off. Pip didn't take my actions well. Actually that's quite possibly an understatement, but I think if you're going to be a member of the admin team of a forum then you have to set an example to the rest of the forum and be beyond reproach.
As it is, what he actually did was quite a minor thing, just a sarky comment about a new thread (a thread that was pretty ropey to be honest, but hey, at least the guy was starting a new thread) that had been posted. What got me was that Pip does this kind of thing all the time. He makes comments that are downright rude or nasty and passes them off as "cheeky banter" by putting an emoticon after them, and I know that he's upset one or two people in the past with them. So anyway, I waded in and closed the thread before it got out of hand (because there was an argument brewing, which began shortly afterwards when the poster found the comment). This was apparently knee jerk reaction. Well yes it was, because that's what all moderation is about. Anyway I sent a message to Pip saying that I felt he was out of order, and later I sent another one to him explaining my actions because I got cross about the knee jerk reaction comment. if you want to challenge another mods actions you shouldn't do it in front of everyone else.
I didn't get a reply.
Anyway, there was another thread that somehow turned into an argument and I feel like it's all my fault for daring to do what I felt was right in the circumstances. *sigh* Perhaps I shouldn't bother in future.

Anyway, enough of that. It's taken up too much of my thoughts today. Perhaps I should talk about how in the midst of this I had my images of a happy childhood shattered. No I don't feel like mentioning that either.
Good news. My ultrasound scan and blood tests have shown nothing abnormal, so I'm officially well. Hooray. That's something.

I'm back, and to prove it I'm here!

I'm back!

The good news is that I'm feeling a whole lot better than I did a fortnight ago. I still don't know exactly what was wrong with me. The abdominal pains weren't caused by a kidney infection, which was my doctor's first thought, which is probably a good thing. I don't fancy having kidney problems. I've had a blood test this week and I'm going for an ultrasound scan on Monday morning (no tea and breakfast for me on Monday) so maybe they'll turn something up. Of course, it's probably just some strange virus that's shaken me up and we may not ever find out what it is, but we can at least try.

I'll have to go back to work next week now. Good thing I've got a week off the following week isn't it? I hope they've missed me. I haven't really heard much, for which I'm very grateful. I've had a good rest.

So I haven't really been up to very much. I've watched one or 5 Doctor Who stories, caught up with some DVDs that needed watching (including The Queen, which was superb) and read some novels (two in two days, which was fun!) but not much else. Quite right too!