Today I've mostly bin...

[LAT]

Wow! 99! Hope you all enjoyed it. Your Mum especially.

Where did you go?
She asked nosily.

[Looby]

We went to the White Lion at Hartley Wintney.

She said it wasn't a special birthday as only those ending in 0s and 5s are special. We didn't take any photos as she still has two wonderful black eyes from her fall a fortnight ago.
The kids, Janine especially, have already started planning for next year. They want The Four Seasons which is where we went for her 95th rather than Tylney Hall which is where we went for her 90th and her golden wedding

[LAT]

Does you Mum get any say in next year's venue?

[Bunnylump]

Wow - many happy returns of the day to Mrs. Looby senior!

I'm feeling virtuous. Just went to an aquaerobic (sorry don't know how to spell that!) class. It was run by a very fat lady who got out of breath really fast (not a very good advert!). The problem being that having worked late and then gone there, I've only JUST eaten!

[Looby]

My mum may get a say in where we go - but she did like it there. The kids like it too as they aren't paying!

[Wulfruna]

Visiting Hamburg in the rain . It rained when I was here last October as well..... which is a pity as it really is a very attractive and interesting city. So I ended up in a very interesting art and design Museum, which happened to have an exhibition about the making of Pixar films - absolutely fascinating . It included a showing of the very first Pixar 'short' called Luxo Jr. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvCWPZfK8pI .
If that link doesn't work, just look it up on youtube.
No time for fun tomorrow - I am here to work for two days on a translation project......

[Bunnylump]

...To the pub quiz. We came second, having such splendidly rounded ( ) general knowledge as "Who is Aladdin's mother?" and whose motorcycle side car has the number plate "WAL 1" ? Oh and a cheese tasting round...

About my level...

[Scurra]

I'm still sort of proud that I once got 9 out of 10 on a "chocolate tasting" competition. (The next nearest person got 6... )

[clvrlad]

hmmmm chocolate...

huh what where you saying?

[MBH]

A bit of culture for me this evening I've never been into Ballet - the language of the dance eludes me. [To tell a story I much prefer WORDS ] However, the art for DOES have some darned good music.

So tonight I've been for "A Night at the Ballet" at The Sage with the Northern Sinfonia playing a selection of pieces from a variety of ballets. More than half easily recognizable along with some nice surprises.

Prokofiev - Romeo and Juliet [Why do I picture death stars and stormtroopers?]
Delibes - Coppelia
Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake
Khachaturian - Spartacus
Delibes - Sylvia (Pizzicato)
Tchaikovsky - Sleeping Beauty
Bliss - Checkmate (Dance of the Red Pawns)
Copeland - Rodeo (Hoe Down - that was fun)
Bernstein - On the Town - Three Dance Episodes
Ginastera - Estancia
Strovinsky - The Firebird
Tchaikovsky (greedy guy) - The Nutcracker

An excellent night of music despite me getting the giggles watching the Tuba player trying to subtly put a 'mute' in place for the playing of ONE NOTE before removing it again. I've never seen a mute for a tuba before So comical (and conical).

[Bunnylump]

Some great stuff there. Sounds like a good night, glad you are having fun.
I had to study the Firebird for A level music, it was fascinating.

[Laura]

An excellent night of music despite me getting the giggles watching the Tuba player trying to subtly put a 'mute' in place for the playing of ONE NOTE before removing it again. I've never seen a mute for a tuba before So comical (and conical).

Don't you just love composers who make it difficult for musicians?!?! I once had to count 247 bars rest to play one note on glockenspiel, and missed it in the concert!!!

[Bunnylump]

I always think that when you see the percussionist in the orchestra, who sometimes waits for EVER before he just dongs the gong!!

[giraffe]

One of K's orchestras recently did a Greek plate smashing dance. There were 3 or 4 places during the piece where a plate had to be dropped, and one of the french horn players became resident plate smasher, dropping them into an oil drum. At the very end she had to wait as the last note died away and then throw the final plate. Unfortunately she threw it with gusto, but it didn't break, it just went CLANG! in the drum.

[Bunnylump]

Making "boats" out of cardboard and straws with year 8...that's the way to get them to remember about surface area!! The competition is for the one which can stay afloat in the fish tank with the greatest number of 1N weights wins. Obviously I felt it necessary to make my own entry... Great fun.

[MBH]

the greatest number of 1N weights

That notation reminded me of a joke I spotted, so I'll put i here rather than in 'jokes'.

Einstein, Newton and Pascal decide to play hide and seek. Einstein is it, closes his eyes, counts to 10 then opens them.

Pascal is no where to be seen.

Newton is sitting right in front of Einstein, with a piece of chalk in his hand. He's sitting in a box drawn on the ground, a meter to a side.

Einstein says "Newton, you're terrible, I've found you!"

Newton says "No no, Einy. You've found one Newton per square meter. You've found Pascal!"

I know - geeky.



Mixed day so far (at 10am). Buffet breakfast at Hilton Hotel for Valentine's day, then off to the dentist to have yet another tooth removed I'll feel worse when the numbness jab wears off, but at least I've got food inside me. I'm off to work now.

[Bunnylump]

Liked the "Geek" joke.

Buffet breakfast at Hilton Hotel for Valentine's day, then off to the dentist to have yet another tooth removed

What did you eat? Hash browns with added iron?

Poor you.

Obviously I started the day having to wade my way through the deluge of cards, flowers and chocolates...

In year 10 science today the kids were all moaning about the teacher making them take turns to look at a diagram of the human eye for 15 seconds at a time, in groups, and reproduce the labels on a (very simple) diagram. I left them to it, and quietly sat in the corner with my own sheet of blank paper. At the end I produced my OWN complete, labelled and annotated diagram of the human eye, without having looked at the picture. The kids were astounded. "How did you do that, Miss?" "Simple," I said, "I did O level biology in 1977. WE had to be able to reproduce diagrams like this FROM MEMORY*. And I still can." DON'T tell me that exams haven't been dumbed down!
*And yes, I know I can't remember what I did yesterday...

[MBH]

.... in pain

After deciding just to have the one tooth out yesterday rather than all 3 top teeth I owned at that time, I've now had roaring toothache in one of my lower teeth ALL LAST NIGHT I ended up camped on the dentist's door first thing this morning to see what can be done as the pain was so bad.

Even though I've just finished 5 days antibiotics, it seems a different abscess is forming down there and I now have more tablets of a different (stronger) family to try and beat this back down and reduce the swelling.

Living on pain killers until things start to work Can't think straight and I'm not happy with myself - as well as being so tired from lack of sleep last night.

Just waiting for 10pm to take my first antibiotic and another set of painkillers before I settle down to try and rest.

[Wulfruna]

You poor thing
Teeth are so strange the way pain seems to move around to unrelated places - even without an actual infection. Hope you manage to catch up on some sleep over the weekend......

[LAT]

Sounds miserable MBH, hope the tablets do the trick - and soon.