Sunday, 22 February 2009

10 Things

There has been a lot of work this month, but it has not all been work. Here are 10 other things I have done this month so far.

1. Played poker at the City Gate. I toyed with the idea of giving poker a break as I had not played well since the new year. Last week though I came third (out of about 12) so that has boosted my confidence. Although 3rd is still a wasted fiver it is a lot closer to the elusive tenner and the even more elusive first prize than my previous 3 performances of being last out!

2. Pub quiz at Newton St Cyres. Now that Dennis lives out that way we have been going to the pub quiz each month at the Crown and Sceptre. It is a really friendly, traditional pub. The first Tuesday of each month is Curry and Quiz night. The Curry costs about £6, the quiz about a pound, and drinks bring the total cost up to about a tenner. Both times we have been our team has won a bottle of wine. I will try and get out there with my camera and do a Pub Guide on the place.

3. Met up with ex-SPCK employees. Great to see them all again, and pretty much all the staff (apart from one) came along. Great to see everyone is doing well and planning fun trips and getting new jobs and just generally getting on with life. We referred to the situation with the shops maybe once or twice, but mostly we were just catching up with each other, which was great!

4. Played Mario Kart and unlocked the Mirror Cup. To any non-players this means nothing, but was an exciting event in my life!

5. Went to see the film Milk. It was great to see the story of Harvey Milk told in such a high profile way, and the story is a very important and interesting one, but I could not help feel it rather brushed over some of the interesting themes of the way he approached his politics and a documentary would have told the story in a clearer way (in fact there was a documentary out last year which I must seek out). Still a worthwhile watch though.

6. Watched the original Frost/Nixon Watergate interviews on DVD. After watching the film we were interested to see what they were really like when broadcast, and Dave lent us a DVD of them he bought at the stage show a few years ago. Seeing Frost back then made me realise how great Sheens portrayal of him was, and some of the extras on the DVD confirmed that many of the incidents in the film actually happened.

7. Went out to The Orange Elephant farm shop to get some nice food in the shop and some coffee in the cafe. The newly built shop is really good, but I hope it never becomes as big as Darts Farm which is a bit posh and a bit soulless!

8. Decided I do actually really like the sitcom Not Going Out, and despite thinking it is formulaic and often stupid I still end up laughing loads the whole way through.

9. Booked a holiday cottage in Cornwall. In March we will get getting away for a week in a village near Looe. The plan is to get away from computers and work and Exeter and just slow down and relax. We hope to go to the Eden project at some point too.

10. Took some photos of Exeter today. Needed a bit of air and a wander so took my camera out and wondered about taking random photos.

The first two are peering through the window at the newly restored Mint Priory, I was quite astonished when I looked in, as last time it was an empty shell!

West Exe Feb 2009 009

West Exe Feb 2009 010

I wont caption these, but see if you know where they are!

West Exe Feb 2009 017

West Exe Feb 2009 006

West Exe Feb 2009 004

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