My Fantastic New Mobile Phone

Woohoo I’ve got a new phone. I caved and went for the new Sony Ericsson C905 that has a fabulous 8.1MP cybershot camera – perfect for pictures and videos at concerts. So far it is wonderful apart from the small problem of not being able to get the back off.

There were laughs galore on the day I got it when, after spending 20 minutes trying unsuccessfully to remove the cover (during which time I must admit I did swear rather profusely) I went to the pub for help where it then took another 7 men another hour to get it off for me. Andrea's other half Nigel was the eventually winner and I was happy in the knowledge that I was unlikely to need to undo the back again as the card slot is on the side of the phone unlike my old one. Wrong, as after spending over 2 hours(!) on the phone to TMobile trying to get my picture messaging set up, their final advice was to remove the back, take out the battery then replace.

Anyway, my pink phone, pretty as it was, was actually rather crap (no scrub that it was INCREDIBLY CRAP) – especially on the concert footage front. I am compiling a little montage of my favourite moments from concerts this year as a little quiz which I shall hopefully post here soon. The name of the game – to guess the artist and the title of the song. Obviously I shall give a few hints here and there, but it’s going to be entertaining fun for all the family.

Anyway, if I haven’t given you my new number yet I’ve obviously forgotten you. (sorry!) Give me a shout and I’ll let you have the new number.

Other Stuff...

On Friday 21st November we made our way to the Gielgud Theatre in London to see the awesomely talented Bill Bailey in Tinselworm. Little to say about this without giving away his stage show, except that it was the funniest evening we’ve had in ages. I’ve decided that BB really is the funniest man alive! Many times throughout the evening my ribs hurt and I was crying with laughter. By the time the end came, during which he showed a short film which tied up all the elements of his show, I think I’d stopped breathing from laughing so hard. It was such an enjoyable evening that we’re thinking of going again at the end of the run if we can get tickets. The core of the show will be the same, but his ad-libbing will ensure that the evening is completely different and yet still hysterically funny.

On reading Mugglenet one morning I discovered that Waterstone’s at Picadilly were holding a midnight launch party for J.K. Rowling’s Beedle the Bard on Wednesday 3^rd December including a live Mugglecast podcast. Of course this was a definite for me, although Mrs H3 wasn’t quite so keen to begin with. As luck would have it the evening also contained the premiere of ‘Twilight’ at Leicester Square and the prospect of standing around in the freezing cold to catch a glimpse of the stars (Robert Pattinson, I mean of course – well for me at least) finally sold her on the idea.

So it was that we did indeed stand in the cold for two hours, and actually did manage the tiniest glimpse of RP (see the photo below for the proof). We then spent a couple of hours keeping warm in Pizza Hut before finally joining the enthusiastic (and generally rather young) Potter fans in Waterstone’s. Of course Mrs H3 and I took full advantage of the evening, first getting fine balloon crowns and then getting rather spectacular face paint. I had the somewhat unsettling experience of being filmed and interviewed by a TV reporter whilst my face was being painted. I found it hard as I didn’t have my glasses on and so couldn’t focus properly, and because I was asked questions about my age – did I feel that I fit into the demographic of the average Harry Potter reader? I was enthusiastic and positive which I think was what they wanted. Whether it was used or not I have absolutely no idea, but if you saw a woman with bright red hair and a glittery green butterfly on her face anywhere on TV, then that was me.

So finally at midnight, the book was unveiled by Albus Dumbledore and Rubeus Hagrid who gave them out to all the attendees. The first person to receive their book was a girl from Germany who had come dressed in school robes with Luna’s lion head hat, who had won the dress-up competition. Mrs H3 and I went for the opposite option and became the second to last (me) and last (her) people to receive ours. A little more schmoozing and photo opportunities with the members of Mugglecast (Matt, Jamie, Elysa and Andrew) and then we were out into the night after collecting our Beedle the Bard back pack on the way out of the door.

Of course this meant a walk through Leicester Square still in our face paint and not only did we receive the attentions of several strange men we also got offered the chance to go into many of the clubs free-of-charge. It wasn’t long before we realized that we had missed the last tube (I had parked at O2 assuming that we would be getting the Jubilee line back there) and also the last trains. This meant traversing Trafalgar Square and meeting yet more strange young men to find the night bus to Catford. (It is amazing how popular you become when you’re covered in paint!)

Once on the bus I immediately began to read my book, thinking a 45 minute journey was too good to waste. Mrs H3 chose instead to grin maniacally out the window at people and try to scare them, which I think she did pretty well. A cold walk and then a lift by Mrs H3 back to my car later and then I was on my way home. I finally got in at 3.45am where I quickly finished the final story (of course) before going to bed. Luckily I was working at home the following day - not so lucky for Mrs H3. She not only had to go to work, but had a boring citizenship ceremony to sit through. But we agreed that it had been a completely brilliant evening, and once again a real laugh.

Anyway we’ve now got our tickets booked to see ‘Twilight’ when it’s released on Friday at O2 Vue. This will be after the DS&C Christmas Party – which is shaping up to be rather an interesting afternoon. Have to admit I can’t wait to see it - and after seeing him at the premiere – even Mrs H3 admitted that Robert Pattinson is GORGEOUS.

The Music Bit

So Thursday 20th November saw Mrs H3 and I accompanied by Stevie G, to the venerable Hazlitt Theatre in Maidstone for an evening with Chas and Dave. Now you know Mrs H3 and I like a good knees up with our favourite cheeky cockney chappies and so were looking forward to a fun-filled evening.

The first shock for me was the size of the theatre. Now when I was sixteen (and yes I know it was a bloody long time ago, you don’t need to rub it in) I used to work at the Hazlitt – and I loved it. I enjoyed everything about the place, from being in the box office to working behind the scenes, helping with the costumes to sitting in the sound and lighting box, but I don’t remember it being so SMALL.

There was a pretty good crowd for the concert, but unlike the Catford crew they were a tough crowd. There was little movement, not much in the way of clapping and definitely no dancing – except from Mrs H3 and I who were at the back of the theatre anyway. Certainly WE had a good evening and of course there were the obligatory photos with the band (who are beginning to recognize our stalker qualities by now). Mrs H3 was trying to convince the boys to play a gig in her lounge, but they didn’t seem convinced. Funniest moment was collaring Mick the drummer for a photo. He had been trying to eat a Mars bar but kept being asked to do photos and autographs and was getting grumpier and grumpier. We managed to catch him just before he snapped!

I'd just like to point out that Mrs H3 named the folder for the following pictures!

So next up we have the Bootleg Beatles at O2 Indigo on 20^th December. It would have been the Chas and Dave Christmas Party at Camden Palace, but Mrs H3 has a prior engagement that she can’t get out of (the works Christmas do).

I did have a small moment of excitement when I Am Kloot announced a new date on Valentine’s Day next year – but of course it’s in Manchester so Mrs H3 isn’t keen on going. I am waiting to see if they announce any other dates, but am seriously considering it as it’ll have been ten months since I last saw them by then and they are showcasing the new material that they’ve been working on which I desperately want to hear. Fingers crossed they announce some new dates further south soon, although I still like the idea of seeing IAK on Valentine’s Day.

So Onto the Fun Stuff…

The last time I wrote Mrs H3 and I were heading to Leeds Castle for their ‘fantastic’ firework display. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really the stunning evening that we’d been hoping for or expecting considering the tickets cost £34 for the two of us. Firstly the fireworks started at 5.30pm; not exactly a useful time when I didn’t finish work at the pub until 4pm and had some networking to do (and I mean real work-related networking not just drinking). To cap it all on the evening in question the weather was appalling. It had rained all day and was torrential by the time of the display. Mrs H3 was certainly pleased she had her wellies – me I was in Converses which aren’t exactly known for their water-repellent qualities. Unluckily I didn’t have a waterproof coat either and was therefore dressed in a wool cape with fur around the cuffs and hood, pretty but definitely not functional in a monsoon. In fact at one point I was seriously upset that I hadn’t thought to bring a black bin liner as that would definitely have been more waterproof than what I was wearing! Mrs H3 did (apparently) have a waterproof jacket, but it leaked so badly she may as well not have worn it. I was wearing my Slytherin scarf though, which was a good thing as by that time my nasty cold had turned into a serious chest infection for which I was taking antibiotics and using an asthma puffer regularly and at least I managed to keep reasonably warm even as I got soaked to the skin.

The display took place over the top of the castle and was supposed to be an impressive mix of fireworks and lasers. Unfortunately, the low cloud meant the lasers were almost invisible and the driving rain – which as luck would have it was coming directly into our faces from the castle obscured the view of the fireworks especially when my glasses got completely soaked. The only point in its favour (considering the weather - although had the evening been fine it would have been an even worse point) was that it was short. We arrived in our watching spot five minutes before the display started (at exactly 5.30pm) and even taking into account walking back to the car and queuing to get out we were back in the Sherwood Oak by 6.45pm. Yep that was it – 1 hour and 15 minutes in total door to door – definitely NOT worth the money, even if there had been no cloud.

So considerably poorer we spent the evening thawing out in the pub, which although a tad frustrating considering the money we’d already spent turned out to be rather more entertaining than originally anticipated. Mrs H3’s red wellies garnered considerable interest from several patrons and eventually by the end of the evening we, with the admirable help of Neil had talked Chris (who may or may not have been very drunk) into drinking a pint of Kronenberg from one of them (I’d just like to point out that Mrs H3 DID have spare boots available).

Below is the video (totally rubbish quality as it was taken on my crap phone camera) of the whole event. To be honest we didn’t expect him to drink the whole pint – a few mouthfuls would have done, but he was obviously enjoying himself, so kudos for that.

Hello Everyone – Remember Me?

Okay so I was out of action for the whole of November, although I have to admit I didn’t do much novel writing, even with my hero Philip Pullman and the wonderful Piers Anthony (among others) giving me encouragement along the way. To be honest with only a couple of days to cobble together a plot I was never going to be onto a winner. Time now to get ready for next year’s event and then it’ll be a cinch!

So if you haven’t been busy writing, what the hell have you been up to? I can hear you asking. And it’s a good question. To be honest the answer is a bit of this and a bit of that. I think I’m going to split my news into several posts as I have loads to write about and loads of fantastic pictures to upload, otherwise this will be the longest blog post in the history of the world.

Firstly, and most importantly for my current mood there’s been a huge change around at work, with our Department being revised and renamed (farewell to Claims - but not to the work!), the section I work in being disbanded (hello to Peter and the Safety section) and my lovely boss Nick leaving on early retirement *sob* which has left me working for someone with whom I have somewhat of a problem (a slight understatement), something that has caused me a considerable amount of stress over the last month. I am hoping steps are being taken to sort the situation before I end up having a nervous breakdown – although said lovely boss predicted that it would be about a month before the doctor signed me off and almost everyone I’ve spoken to has told me I’m being harassed and need to go and see Welfare about it. My sleep patterns (never great anyway) are completely shot and I’m dreaming about the boss in question, which definitely isn’t a good sign. With the streamlining I’ve acquired a whole new set of tasks including attending meetings in the middle of nowhere (okay Whale Island, Portsmouth to be precise so far) and so I’ve now got the stress of travelling to add to all the other stresses of my life. Interesting to see how things fare in the next month or so. Looking on the bright side I only actually have another 4 days in the office, what with leaving do’s and Christmas parties and such so I expect I can survive somehow. I’ll also have 8 days of my advent calendar to open tomorrow – 8 pieces of Thornton’s chocolates should go a long way to improving my mood even if I do have another stultifyingly frustrating meeting to attend in the morning.

So onto the exciting stuff – the things I (and Mrs H3 naturally) have been up to in the last month. It’s been fun and almost makes up for the fact that Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince wasn’t released on the 21st as it should have been. Hey look at the countdown – only another 220 days before the film’s out (and 12 days till Twilight – although the release date clashes with the Christmas party).

Oh yes and while I remember on what should have been release day (or was it the day before?) just to tease a bit more WB released a new trailer. Lots of new stuff which had me spending the first one and a half minutes screaming where's Snape? and then the last twenty three seconds squeeing excitedly at how they seem to have actually got it right for once.Obviously we won't know for sure until the film is released, and of course there won't be anywhere near enough Snape action (as there never is) but if the "fight back you coward" is in the right place then I'll be a happy girl.