Things looking Up??

The BEST Medicine?

They say that laughter is the best medicine, and I couldn't agree more. But the second best medicine just has to be a nice little holiday!

Have just come back from my mums in Cornwall, and had a great time with the kids, played on the beach, went out and visited the Eden Project, which is well worth a visit for anyone down that neck of the woods.

The kids loved it, especially the Tropical Dome, where Adam had to take off his shire and Chloe's face-painted face smudged and melted to change from a beautiful pussycat to a beautiful mess.

Here are a couple of the flowers from the Tropics

More good news followed when I learned my Uncle has just aquired a property in Florida, so it looks like the kids and I will be off to Disney next year Wahoooooooo!

But when I got back home I did have a bit of a worry, I had a letter from the Letting Agent saying I was two months in arrears on the flat and the landlord wanted me out! Luckily the agent had made a mistake in the letter and was VERY apologetic.

Can't wait for tonight as it will be the first kipping on a memory foam mattress, now it arrived at around 9:15 this morning, rolled up like a rug, didn't look very thick at all, in fact it was more like a sleeping bag. But then after unwrapping it it began to expand, now it is proper thick and very squashy, feels pretty comfy, but we shall see.

OK so happy days are here again, next time I hope to put up a review of Coroline in 3D, and of Hannah Montanna the movie, which I saw with the kids.

Hard to take

A bitter pill to swallow

Well I was on a bit of a downward spiral these last two weeks, after finding out the mrs had found someone else - married no less, after only 3 - 4 weeks of me leaving.
So the question begs to be asked "Just how long was it going on for BEFORE I left". At first it REALLY bothered me, but now, and the more I talk about it, the more I realise what an awful, awful woman I was married to for 13 years.

My biggest saddness is how much she has lied to the kids, and how she has wrecked another marraige with no care whatsoever for her boyfriends (STEVE WING of GRANTHAM by the way) wife.

Why am I blogging about it, well cause it helps me, and it sends an advance warning to anyone else out there who may know these two people, they are only concerned about themselves, they care nothing about anyone else.

I said I was on a downward slope, but not anymore, like I said my eyes have been opened and I can see just what everyone else that did care about me saw.
They are worth nothing to me, ONLY my kids count.

Better news next time I hope, Tamazipan pending, and divorce result pending!

Has Britain Got Talent?

Britain's Got Talent - Or has It?

Once again on Saturday, loads of hopefuls set forward to audition in front of the 'wise' judges to try to get their face in the limelight and their shot at the bigtime. But after last weeks show (the 2nd one) it got me to thinking, just how staged are these auditions and just how many chances do these acts get?



The reason I question this? One act Shaheen Jaragholi

Now if you didn't see the audition Shaheen started to sing the Amy Winehouse song "Valerie", after only a few bars Simon stopped the audition (No Buzzing? Odd that!) and asked him if he knew another song, to which Shaheen said about an old Michael Jackson song "Who's Loving You", he then proceeded to belt out the number in a very good vioce that was totally different from the Amy song.

So questions to ask, Why no Buzzing? Why or rather How did Simon know this 12 year old could sing far better than the song he had chosen for an audition? And finally, Why did he get "a second chance"?

Granted a talent would have been missed if that had not happened, but it does get you wondering. Next on to this week and the 3rd show -DJ Talent(less).

This guy was buzzed 4 times yes 4 times which (and the itv bosses can correct me if I am wrong) meant the audition is over and you have to leave the stage. But this guy, stayed on talking his (rap) talk, looking a complete dick with his gold teeth, and then all four judges put him through - EH? Go Figure!

The thing that gets me is there ARE lots of people who have been put through at the expense (possibly) of more talented people, that have NO CHANCE of getting through to the live tv shows.

I can probably list a good number of acts that we will see in the semi-final right now;

Susan Boyle - Won't win, but will get record deal

Flawless - Won't win, can't have two dance acts win in a row

Diverity - Won't win see Flawless

Shaheen Jaragholi - Joint fav to win

Hollie Steel - Joint fav to win

Julian Smith - Saxophonoist extradanaire - a chance if the cute vote doesn't win the day.

So there you go, there will also be a crap act get through just for entertainments sake.

Judging by Appearances

Did you Judge by Appearances......?



Because I know I did!



The person I judged? None other than worldwide singing sensation Susan Boyle. Come on admit it, look at her...

For all those PRIVILEDGED enough to see this frumpy, odd looking Scotswoman, their first thought was "Oh Dear" I know to my regret that is what I thought. Simon Cowell, the most opinionated judge on Britains Got talent and probably the most cutting in his remarks (no matter how honest they might be), rolled his eyes when she told her age, as if he was saying "Yeah right".

Cut to the audience, and a young girl looking at her as if it was a clown convention. Then the music played and we all waited.....you know the rest.

At the end of the song, my daughter looked at me and said "daddy why are you crying?" I just stayed silent for a while and then said "I didn't know I was, she has got one hell of a voice"

20 million hits on youtube, in talks already for a recording contract, but does this phase Susan, so far no. Lets hope it doesn't change.

Susan Boyle has given me something to remember, normally I wait until I know someone before judging them, but I forgot all about that with Susan, just expecting the worst. Happily I was proven wrong.

But one of the best things was Cowells reaction, he sat there head in hands and gave a noticeable dream like sigh, as if to say "This is what I call dreamland, heaven, this is the the voice I have waited for for years". Or was it the thought of the money he could make from it all?

Susan Boyle may not win Britain's Got Talent, but she has given hope to countless millions, joy to millions, and made us all look at each other in a different light. For that I say...

THANK YOU SUSAN!

A few things

Nice to have thing the way I want

It has been an interesting few months to say the very least. I have gotten in touch with a mate I thought I had lost, have settled in to my new flat, have been away in the UK on countless jobs and managed to watch a few films, as well as design a new DVD cover! Like wow finally I have managed to do what I want, with nobody to have a go at me!

Here is the cover;

Yep it's Monsters Vs Aliens, Ok I know it has only just come out in the cinemas but what I like to do is try to anticipate what the DVD cover might look like upon it's release. It is also a film that I want to take my kids to see, but only when Chloe is out of her wheelchair!

The other cover I am working on is Terminator 4 : Salvation.

OK so what films have I seen, well there has been one that has been on my wanted list for a whils but to be honest I was disappointed.....

CLOVERFIELD

So here is the premise is of some friends at a party, and one guy is videotaping them, very soon something crashes to the ground, and the next thing we know the friends are on the run.

Lets cut to the chase, the first 20 minutes of this film are shite, nothing happens and it is sooooo boring, I was about to turn it off when the 'thing' landed and all hell broke lose. Except it didn't really, shaky camera action, glimpses of the monster, and to be honest not a lot else going on.

The glimpses you get of the creature aren't great so it keeps you guessing, and the acting is pretty believeable, but the thing that makes the film "better" is the use of shaky hand cam action. The clever use of this gives you the feel of being there. Aside from that it really isn't a movie I would have paid to watch at the cinema, especially the crap begining. OK there are some good things, but overall it just doesn't grab the attention long enough.

So 2*'s for cloverfield, next up I am hoping to watch Hellboy 2, and as I really enjoyed Hellboy, I am looking forward to this one!

How Quick??!!

That is a National Health Service!

Well, having only written about my daughters operation a couple of weeks ago, I have to write now that she had the operation on Wednesday 18th February.
I also know the operation - a Derotational Osteotomy.
Basically Chloe had her leg broken at the top of her fema, and then a metal plate inserted with 6 screws holding it in place. All this for an 8 year old! She was OK, but as soon as I saw her lying in the recovery room, I was blubbing.

She was however, not in a cast. But after the pain killers wore off that night (my wife stayed with her, and only got two hours kip) they put a hip-spike cast on her.
The hip-spike cast has however totally restricted her movement. She left hospital via ambulance for home on Saturday, without the Physio and the Occupational Health visitor knowing. So they arranged transport for her to go to hospital today, and I went to collect the reclining wheelchair, camode and ramp. When I got there they told me the Physio etc were going to my wifes house to take the wheelchair etc to hers and Chloe's appointment had been changed to tommorrow. BAD mark for NHS.

True to their word they turned up bang on time with all the bits and pieces and let us know everything we had to do and how to do them. GOOD mark for NHS.

I feel a lot happier now, knowing that Chloe is on the mend, even though she can't go to school for 4 weeks at least, I know she is at least able to get about instead of lying about for ages.

Back Again

It's Been Too long!

It has been a long time since I last updated my blog, but there has been so much that has happened I just have not been able to. Not only haven't I had the time but to be honest I haven't had the inclination.

Twas a difficult Christmas, but I made the most of it for the kids sake. The reason? Well finally me and the missus have separated. I am now (and have been for the last two weeks) living on my own in a cosy little flat. I still see my kids every weekend (no way am I not going to do that). But it has been pretty hard.

The worst thing was when I moved into my flat I took a day off in lieu, only to have to travel up to grimsby (130 miles) 30 minutes after I moved in, as I had to attend an induction at 8am the next day! Thanks for nothing Procal.

Not only that but the job has been getting me down to as it is not what I expected at all, in fact it is the most boring job on the planet. Shelling peas all day would give me a greater thrill, so I am looking for something else, and now with less limits on travel I am looking further afield.

But then the hammer blow came 8 days after moving out, before moving, we had taken our daughter to the hospital as one of her legs turns in when she walks. The results that came back have made me worried sick, especially me not being there all the time. She has to have an operation that will mean she is in a wheelchair for 6 weeks and then on crutches for 6 weeks. The only saving grace is that it should mean she wont permanently be in a wheelchair later in her life.

OK that is about it, think I have bought things up to date, next time I post it will be about films, entertainment or something CHEERFULL!!!

All the best

IMPY

Entertainment

Footy Funnies

Had to share this with you as it made me laugh, it is a couple of videos featuring pretty inept stretcher bearers. First up is one where the guy seems to have a problem getting hold of the stretcher. The look on the footballers face is pure magic, as in "WHAT THE *@!*"

The next one is just as funny, unless you happen to be on the stretcher that is!

Hope you enjoyed them, I will be on the lookout for some more, so keep those eyes peeled.

Entertainment

Heroes just gets better and better



The only problem with a show like Heroes is that is always ends on a cliffhanger, and here in the UK we can watch the next episode, almost straight away rather than wait a week. I haven't done so yet (what else would I do on a Wednesday night?) but I have been sorely tempted.

But the good thing is we are now starting to get a few answers like the meaning of the sign below;

This is the way up we always seemed to see this sign, but we now discover that it forms part of the logo for Pinhearst Industries - Arthur Petrelli's company - and Uber-villan.

If all this is no making much sense to you then I suggest you watch the first series to get you aquainted with it. I am going to try and put up a character breakdown over the next few weeks, to give my opinion to what the main characters are about.

I may even have to start a new blog on it if I have the time, in the meantime for all Heroes virgins check out Heroes at NBC to view episodes and get some stuff, or Heroeswiki for a load of info on the show.

A Welcome Break

A Well Needed Holiday

Just back off my nice little break in Great Yarmouth, and it was indeed a needed break. had quite a good time, and the kids loved it which is the main thing.
My daughter Chloe entered the "Haven's Got Talent" contest, and she managed to finisin the top four so I was well made up with that. Her Talent? Telling jokes, so she takes after me a lot there.
When we got back we arrived to a new bathroom, which is very nice and seems to make the room a little bigger than before.

We also had a mate come round and fit the SKY+ at half the price of the normal installation cost. Don't know how we got along without it really. It is the bees knees, just to be able to pause a live show, have tea, and then come back and watch where you left off from.

Who needs a video recorder or DVD recorder???

I think the next thing we will have to do is change our Internet provider to SKY, as Tiscali is really pants at the moment. SKY would also be cheaper!

To top off a great month, my team Lincoln City only lost once in 8 games, I managed to get them to the top of the table in Football Manager 2007, and I have now got a lease car from work, a nice Vauxhall Passat Estate with keyless start and electronic handbrake!!

Good to be back

Heroes and Villans

Yes they are back, Hiro, Ando, Claire, Peter and the rest and thankfully we have Sylar back again.

As I write this I am waiting with bated breath for episode 2 season 3, of one of the best shows on TV. Heroes is back, with a bang!

From all the excerpts I have seen this looks to be the best series yet, and already there are a ton of questions to be answered.

Why all of a sudden has Peter gone bad?

How has Sylar got back his powers?

How did Bennett wind up in the company's jail?

What does the formula do?

Where has Parkman been sent to?

What did Syler mean by "You can't die Claire your special"?

How is Linderman back???????

Syler Ubervillan or Saviour of the world???

So many more questions that are unanswered it is looking like this could be the best one yet.

Would love to hear anyones plot lines and thoughts for the new series.

Update

A week on....

....and my eyes are still seeing lovely!
Went for my weekly check-up on Saturday, and was told by the optician that I must be an extremely fast healer, as she had to recheck my documents to see if I had had the procedure stated.
The Lasik, involves cutting a flap in the cornea, the Lasek doesn't. My 'flap' was hardly visible, hence the reason for the recheck of paperwork.

I even treated myself to a decent pair of sunglasses. Too late maybe for this year but not for next.

No Words to describe

Better than 20 - 20!

Well it is over! On Friday at 16:15 I went in for my Laser surgery on my eyes, and by 16:30 I was sitting in the waiting room with a cup of coffee waiting for my mate to pick me up. With no pain and no discomfort noticeable at all!!

Optical Express have looked after me really well, if you want to check them out, click on the link here Optical Express remember they are worldwide!

So how about the operation itself, well here we go with all the details;

I was called in by the surgern, and he told me his name before describing the procedure, he then explained and demonstrated certain noises I would be hearing. On then to the 'Op' chair. A bit like a dentists chair but your lying down. I then had to look at a blinking red light whilst one eye was covered and the other (the one to be operated on) had anaesthetic drops put in. The surgen then clamped open my eye with a couple of weights (well that is all they felt like, and it was really, really not in the slightest bit uncomfortable. He then said I will feel slight pressure on the eye (a bit like pushing your thumb against your eyelid), and I wont see anything for a few seconds. Which I didn't! and this bit was the most uncomfortable of all - on a scale of 1 to 10, I would give it a 1/2 seriously hardly uncomfortable at all.

Next up he put in like a cone device, and then a 'frosted window', all of which I could see (It's a bit like having a glass plate in front of your eyes and someone wiping things on the glass - totally weird!) . Next up the clicking of the laser, and in my opinion the worst bit, no there was no pain, it was just this smell of burning.

And after a quick wipe the job was done, and onto the next eye. The whole procedure took less than 5 minutes per eye, it was probably closer to 3. I then went back into the waiting room, and despite a bit of blurryness could see LOVELY!

When my mate picked me up half an hour later I was able to read number plates on cars at a greater distance than him, also the blurryness had gone. Of course prior to that I had been given my eye drops and the coolest pair of goggles (NOT!!!!!) to wear at night to protect the eyes. For the goggles think 'Charlie and the Choclate factory" Mike TV room. Honest!

And so today, the day after. Well I drove myself the 40 miles to the clinic to have the eyes checked for infection and to check the sight. No infections problems or anything else, and the best bit, the optition wanted me to read a certain line, but I could read two line below. She then told me the line she wanted me to read was for 20 - 20 vision. So happily my eyes are now better than 20 - 20 GET IN THERE!!!!!

OK I will update again when I have had about a week to recover, cheers for now, oh how does that song go......

..... Bom Bapa Bommm Bapa I can see clearly now the rain has gone, I can see all obstacles in my way, gone are the dark clouds that had me down, it's gonna be a bright, bright, bright sunshiny daaayyyyy!

Has it really been that long?

A sight for Sore Eyes

Job is going well, training pretty relaxed (but I haven't done the hard stuff yet!!!), and I am just back from holiday in Majorca. A lovely little place called C'an Picafort, which has a great beach, clear water and shallow (up to your waist 200 yards out!).
But on Friday everything will become even clearer for me, as I am finally getting Laser Eye Surgery done! I can kiss goodbye to the specs for good, not long now which means the butterflies will be starting in earnest.
Here is what my surgery is about;

"LASIK stands for laser assisted in situ keratomileusis which refers to creating a flap in the cornea with a microkeratome and using a laser to reshape the underlying cornea.
In LASIK eye surgery, precise and controlled removal of corneal tissue by a special laser reshapes the cornea to change its focusing power. In this way, LASIK eye surgery can correct a wide range of refractive errors.
LASIK is a suitable procedure for correcting the most severe refractive errors."

Sounds gruesome, but if it means I don't keep having my glasses knocked into my face by my son, then all the better.

I have also checked on Wikipedia for the complications, and they still haven't put me off. So I will post again soon after the op to let you know how it's gone.

Didn't take long

New Job

Well that didn't take long, I must have a half decent CV as I have got a new job starting at the end of August.
So I don't mind advertising on here, all thanks to Leom at Pioneer Selection, who got the interview for me leading to the successful job.

What will I be doing? I am going to be a Field Service Engineer installing, servicing and commissioning Gas Analytical equipment into power plants in the UK and overseas. Really looking forward to it as it looks like an incredibley interesting job.
The company's name is Procal, smallish company but very respected. So things are going pretty well for me at the moment.
Will update again soon!

New Things

Blogger gets Better!

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and you will notice a couple of new features I have added to the blog. Thanks to those wonderful people at Blogger, you can now take part in a "Movie Quotes" Quiz. Also if movies aint yer thang, you can try the harder puzzles/riddles quiz.
The Movie quote thing, will only be up for a while though and then I will look to change it, nothing like a bit of variety!

Entertainment

Movie Review - 28 weeks later

As I am now managing to get home at a reasonable time I can catch up on those DVD's that I have not yet seen, one of which was 28 weeks later.

As the title suggests the film starts 28 weeks after the RAGE virus has decimated London, and we see a group of survivors in a country cottage. A young boy turns up free of the virus, but with RAGE victims following him.

One of the occupants Don (Robert Carlye) escapes leaving his wife and the young boy to the fate of the infected.

We then move to a US military controlled London, and Dons kids are been shipped in both clean from the virus.

What follows is a rip-roaring blood fest and jumpy action across London and beyond, I wont spoil it to tell you how, but the virus is re-introduced, and in typical OTT response the US military have to wipe it out.

Got to say that the film relies more on effects than on the atmospheric 'scare' nature of the first film 28 days later, but it is still pretty enjoyable. Quite a few makes you jump moments, and some nasty gory stuff too, the helicoptor scene is a major example of this.

There are a few surprises as well in the film, and a few things that make you say "Oh, No Way!" but it still doesn't detract from the film itself, the musical score is also very powerful, especially the haunting melody running through the majority of it.

I think that a good tagline for the film could have been "Kiss of Death", but they went with something else.

So if you fancy a good fun film, watch it, just don't be like me and be too disappointed with the end. To me it ended too suddenly and in a rush.

Certificate : - 18

Starring : - Robert Carlyle, Catherine McCormack, Jeremy Renner

Rating : - ***1/2

Entertainment

Can you beat the Classics?

This is a question that is going to form part of my poll, it stems from my daughter watching "Willy Wonka and his Chocolate Factory" before going to bed, that is the original one with Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. She thinks(and she is 8) that it is the best one, because it is funnier and the songs are better. I have to agree, what's more it got me to thinking about these classic films that never lose their appeal whatever the decade they are seen in.

So how about these two;

I would say half the world must have seen these two films at one point or another and an awful lot of people remember the songs. Why? Because they actually meant something, were easy to follow and they were geniunely catchy tunes.

Can ANY film house improve on these or remake them? I doubt it.

Johnny Depp was a brilliant Willy Wonka, but the film relied to heavily on special effects, something the original had very little of, it relied more on the human factor.

Nanny Mcphee I suppose is a try at doing a Mary Poppins, but the 'magic' is just not there.

I geniunely believe that these are two films that could NEVER be remade, they simply cannot be improved upon, even with the actors of today.

I'd be very interested to know if you out there in the internet world wide web can think of any other truely classic films that can never again be repeated.

The Godfather 2 probably can, ET yep that can be done too, Star Wars? Compare the new films with the original trilogy = PANTS!

There are probably so many out there that I haven't covered, but these two really are timeless classics, that will never see the like again. Just don't forget to let your kids watch it, and then when they misbehave, threaten them with this;

Future not so bright

It's all gone Pete Tong!

No not the film, but the fact I am now officially being made redundant! I cannot say too much at the moment for obvious reasons, but am quite dissapointed.
Still life goes on and I am confident of finding a new job soon.
So if there are any companies out there that are interested in employing a well motivated, hard working electronics engineer, have a look at my CV on this Dave's CV.

More to follow;

Movie Review

The Golden Compass

OK, OK I know that this film has been out for quite a while now on DVD, but I got my first chance to watch it last week. Now it is classed as a family film, which in many respects it is, but there are lots of dark elements in it.

The story is based in a parallel universe, in which all the 'human' characters have their souls on the outside of their bodies in animal form. These souls are known as Demons for some reason or another. Lyra Belacqua ( Dakota Blue Ricards ) is unique among her kind for she is given an Alethiometer ( a golden compass that tells the truth) by her 'uncle Asreil' ( Daniel Craig ), her uniqueness is that she can read it.

The film follows Lyra to the kingdom of the Snow bears, where Lyra must rescue kidnapped children who are being used in evil experiments by the wonderfully wicked Mrs Coulter (Nicole Kidman).

Now the special effects in this film are pretty amazing, and I was blown away by the way the animal demons so closely followed the humans. The snow bears were awesome in effect, and the battle scenes very very well done.

All in all this is a very enjoyable movie, it may be hard for younger children to follow, but they wont care, as they will be too entranced by all the animals and fantasy elements. My 8 year old has seen it twice now, but still has loads of questions about why? and how?

However, one moment of the film TOTALLY ruined it for me, made all the previous spectacular special effects disappear into the ether, and made a joke of the word special effects. That moment was when Lyra is carried across the Ice by Iorek Byrnison the snow bear. Here's how it looks;

Imagine you get a large doll, like a tiny tears, or better still a cabbage patch doll, then tie it to the back of your dog, now get the dog to run around, then film the result. That is basically what Lyra on a snow bear looks like. I cannot describe how awful it is, and it was the ruination of a good film.

But taking that to one side I am still going to give it 4 stars!

Certificate: PG-13

Running Time: 113 mins

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Dakota Blue Richards, Sam Neil, Ian Mckellen,Freddie Highmore

Rating: *****