Underworld under-par

After fighting off the diseased carrying party zombies of last weekend Kerry didn't quite make it germ free picking up some mutant T-virus (T for tummy). Meals for one, rich tea biscuits and sympathy were order of the day for the lady.

Thursday came and Kerry only felt a bit better in time for Kev's birthday night out to see Underworld at the Roundhouse, Camden. Getting to the venue had the perfect timing dodging traffic jams and commuters. We only had time for a microwaved-to-death sausage roll before we entered the gig.

Spotted the merchandise stall which now offers Underworld socks then on to the bar. If it hadn't been for the light-show and inflatables I would have been bored rigid as for around an hour the set was all warm-up and no techno-excitement. The band did start adding the bigger hitters but the neighbouring bag-ladies on Special K started to do our heads in with their elbow aggro and random falling over. I was sort of glad when it ended to be honest.

The journey back to Kev and Karol's was quite the highlight of the evening. A couple of beer swigging South Africans tried to play pass the empty beer glass down the tube. To all out amazement it came back full with a new fill. They were elated and everyone was cheering. They shared it around and finished it off getting off at the next stop but left the glass for another game. This time it came back with what looked like a Guinness! Steve seized the opportunity then discovered it was Coke to the giggles of lads further up the carriage.

Happy Birthday Trev

DSC_1027
Originally uploaded by Ginger DJ.

After returning from shopping in London we were a bit drained of energy and expecting a short stay at Trev's. Bless him though, in response to the complaints from ladies, he built a toilet next door to the summer house so no one needed to walk down and up the hill. It had a heater and light with only the small inconvenience of using a big jug of water to flush the thing so only number 1's.

A few new faces joined the celebration including a DJ who used to do Turnmills and some girl who drove down from Lincoln. Shame my laptop couldn't get sorted in time my slot due to some driver problem so was left to taking photos all night.

It turned out to be a very good night with some good tunes all round and everyone dancing most of the time. I can't really remember that much but I'm sure the photos on Flickr will tell you a thing or two. Early casualities were Kev sleeping in the corner and being posed with the Lincoln girl, then Trev talking to the speaker and try to sleep standing up. Oh dear! By then Brighton was calling and got home at about 7:30am. Sasha was a bit surprised to see us mind.

Operation Cat and midweek news

Tuesday evening we picked up Sasha from the vets after his operation which was to clean and extract some teeth, and remove a lump from his back. I didn't realise he needed stitches to repair the hole where the lump was so it came as a surprise that the bill at around £270!

Mark, my wedding's best man has offered me a business deal for my mum's house. He's promised to renovate the house, paying for his time and material costs for half the profit after current valuation. With the plans he has in mind we could get £165k in May/June.

Otherwise we've been amusing ourselves with a couple of games lately. Unchartered: Drake's Fortune on the PS3 is impressing me with some of the best graphics and quite fun shooty bits. A cross between Resident Evil 4 and Tomb Raider. We also downloaded a network demo version of Lost Planet. It's not brilliant but I'm impressed by the speed of playing online.

Museum adventures

Our post-Valentine's Day evening out went well on Friday. We booked a table at Shanghai Blues in Holborn just round the corner from The End. The food and service was really good but a bit pricey. The music was a little annoying with some jazz vocalist be-bopping and scatting. For some reason the toilets, looking like a posh opium den, had better music.

Chinese gnomes
The British Museum was also very local and we were lucky to get tickets to the First Emperor exhibition for the terracotta army. It was still busy even at the strange time of 10:30pm but a better set up than the Tutemkamon event. Going to museums isn't exactly the sort of thing to put on Facebook as a hobby but just seeing the roof was worthy of a mention. The Chinese over-sized gnomes were really impressive and beggars belief that the tomb had over 100,000 clay statues as an army, admin staff, entertainers and animals to accompany the emperor in his after-life. The curators had even mocked up what colours the statues would have been when originally made copying the rainbow of silks used back then.

Butlins for cats
Saturday, we visited a cats holiday home for Sasha in Hove whilst we're living it up in Venice. Couldn't get over the size of the cats compared to the little blighter - seriously sumo league which could crush your lap. At least he'll be fed better than us so he might even want to stay.

Lego House
Sunday and Monday were spent clearing out my mum's house. Found most of my old Lego including the Lego Club member's newsletters. The rest of the stuff was either bagged for charity (almost a room's worth and growing) and burnt about two rooms worth. I need another two days at least to finish tidying it.

Fast action Probate
Earlier today, I took Sasha to get his remaining teeth cleaned up then onto to the Probate Court for my interview. Arriving 15 minutes I was actually seen a minute later then all it took was another 3 minutes to swear on the bible and sign some forms. I was done and dusted even before my appointment was due to start!

In preparation for the Indiana Jones game, Lego has just updated their website with an online fun game.

Cat update

Sasha, our adopted cat is doing well though has had quite an eventful month.

After a week we discovered how bad his flea infestation was with Kerry suffering bites and leaving weird black dandruff (dried blood from fleas eating him) where he's slept. Vet bill = £36. We already knew he doesn't travel so well from bringing him down from Norfolk but just going a mile he'll crap himself.

The vet also showed me how little teeth he has left advising an operation to clean them. The poor blighter has just two front fangs on his bottom jaw just like Sweetums from the Muppets (pictured left) plus one or two back ones covered in a hard sludge of brown. Vet bill = around £160 + £40 with drip. It certainly hasn't put him off his food. Everytime we go near his bowl he's expecting a feed. We've since discovered a Senior version of cat food = £4 a week.

With our Venice trip booked for our anniversary, March 10 or Mario day (MAR10), we needed a cattery to look after him at £6 a day. Thing is they'll only accept cats with flu jabs so its back to the vets (for two trips) at £55. More stress on Sasha as he vomited and shat himself on the car journey.

Other than that he's now got his favourite places around the house including Kerry's office chair, the stairs and our laps. However, he's since realised how much we fuss over him he thinks he can get attention at 4am by scratching at the bedroom door. He now has to endure evenings out with the dangers of five moggies, a Siamese and a fox. We're now looking into converting the outside shed into a waiting room with cat flap.

2 Many DJs, people and 2 little cloakroom staff

Highlight of the week for us was going to Digital to see 2 Many DJs. Steve and Sam came down to Brighton earlier than expected to take advantage of the stunning blue skied weather. No real hassles getting in but forcing our way through the dancefloor area to the cloakroom took us by surprise as we walked on and on past the queue. After 15 minutes of waiting we gave up after shifting 2 metres and stuck in the corner.

Soundsystem was awesome with some bass bits literally blowing us away. Music from the support DJs were worthy of the ticket price with Midfield General throwing in some quality funky electro house. I missed 2 Many DJs entrance but heard it from the upstairs bar which really stirred up the already manic crowd. I enjoyed half of their set but their quick cutting and stuffing in as many tunes stated to grate on me as well as the elbowing and standing on feet crowd. After a few too many old skool choices I was almost set on leaving. Thankfully and without any exit song to indicate their set finish, Midfield General was back behind the decks.

Perhaps it was too soon for me to start enjoying myself after all that's happened. Digital is definitely a good club but the cloakroom was a joke, some of the security staff being too shouty and greedy management didn't make it great. Next time I'd be more interested in a low key event with just local DJs.

This is a different Robin Coleman

Okay, it's Friday and the boss is on holiday. Time for some randomness.

I've been getting a lot of web traffic from the US of A and realised I have the same name as this person. Her official website. I don't think this is the start of some Dave Gorman quest but if anyone wants to contribute I can make a regular feature of heroes born with my fantastic name.

Otherwise, I'm starting to pick myself up after the bad start this year. This week the Probate court has got back to me with an interview date so I can start sorting out my mum's estate. Sasha, the cat has been settling in too well and now expects to sleep with us, scratching the bedroom door at 4am. His evenings in are numbered. And this Saturday we're seeing 2 Many DJs at Digital in Brighton with Steve and Sam.

Finally I've been turning my geeky attention to a new games themed social website called weplaythis. Not quite Facebook.

Run PHD

Part of my job is sifting through the junk mail of the website I manage. Amongst the random conference invites and replica watches, this gem comes out shining. The professor above is becoming a legend around the lecture circuit in the US and Far East.

Check him out on his own rapping website.

Underneath the Beech tree

The Saturday before was a packed day in Norfolk sorting out the funeral. A morning appointment with the funeral director, lunchtime at the Colney Woodland Burial Park deciding where my mum would rest (our old house had two huge Beech trees hence the title) and afternoon tea with the humanitarian minister to talk about the service. After a couple hours I had to get house keys cut, drop them around a mate's in Dereham then go choose some clothes for my mum. The last thing was to deliver them to my auntie's and then home. I guess I must have clocked up 500 miles at least that day.

Midweek was more organising. I still had to choose some music for the day. Both I-tunes and my laptop's CD drive was playing up but finally settled with Bizet's The Pearl Fishers, House of the Rising Sun by The Animals and Billie Holiday's East to Remember. Another funeral detail was the newspaper notice which is provide by the funeral director. After speaking to my aunt, they got the maiden name wrong. However, this wasn't to be their only mistake.

We drove up to Norfolk last Friday night with no problems until we reached Swaffham, about 10 miles from my dad's house. Snow was coming down thick and fast, and starting to stick to the roads! It was still coming down when we went to bed.

We woke up to a thin blanket of crisp whiteness but rewarded with bright, blue skies. The Norfolk countryside was beautiful. The actual funeral went really well as an event like this could with quite a few more people than I expected paid their respect. My lasting memory was seeing the bright midday sunshine through the trees at the graveside then turning round to see my family waiting for me.

The second mistake for the funeral director was to forget the service sheets. Don't think I'll be recommending them for next time though wouldn't want to think about a next time. Catching up with my family was good especially my rogue cousin who was contacted by an American 15 year old through Facebook claiming to be his daughter. The claim was indeed correct so he's now a father!