You had plenty money 1922

Not very much. okay, a dusting. but finally we got some in the south east.

Taken at 7:30 am, it's still around in any shady bits at noon.



Friday, my cousin David's wedding to his girlfriend Jo. Who is very nice. It was at a country house that rents out a portion for weddings, with rooms in the central block that get rented overnight for the family/wedding guests, and you can *tell* it's a house, not a hotel. Doors are missing. You don't get keys unless you ask for them. Most of the original light switches are in. Receptions are in the gallery - separate building off to one side which given the age/style of building, me and dad are inclined to think is a sculpture gallery. (see Keira Knightley Pride & Prejudice) Lovely day - cold, but sunny.

Twas Fun. Especially when you're the 'family' side, and as I talk to random people at gatherings, got chatting with David & Jo's mates - 'so, which are family?' 'Look for the short blondes and their hangers on. it's just direct cousins here, David's mum's sisters' kids.' 'Chris is...?' 'Best man. David's brother. Look for the VERY TALL gingers.' (Chris is taller than David. David is Chris Hemsworth/Tom Hiddleston height) Amusing bit of Chris explaining to someone else that though David may get called Dave by mates, he's David in the family. Which includes Jo. And what she says goes. NO SPEECHES. OR POETRY. OR READINGS. (hallelujah) However, as it was a winter-ish wedding, and you want the photos when daylight is still around, the wedding was at 1:30pm, which meant the dinner dragged on a bit during the time between then and the evening buffet. Speeches would've spaced it out a bit, but considering everyone tends to chug the champagne or look bored during speeches, whatever. Great food, evening buffet was awesome, (giant cheese board which Jo commandeered at the end! pizza! samosas! huge bacon sandwiches!) dancing fun. Flower girl Phoebe, 3 years old, couldn't keep her shoes on. apparently the only reason the dress stayed on was she couldn't figure out how to remove it. I challenged her to a joust/duel with her shoes as weapons. it was inevitably awesome. Satisfaction was had from both parties. Stole her fairy wings and told adults off who wanted to put them on because it would stretch the elastic as they're made for sproglets. At one point provided immense amusement for my family because I was chatting to a bloke who apparently was trying to chat me up and I didn't notice, and apparently had the most hysterical framing the crotch body language which I also didn't notice. Louise: 'it was like he was a cardboard cut-out for all the interest you were showing. As it should be. But still, hysterical.'

piccies:

Ah, it's that time of year again. Eyecandy and violence, aka Six Nations.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm hummina MMMMMMmmmmmmm Jonny Wilkinson. How does that man stay so pretty in a sport where 99% of the team have cauliflower ears and broken noses? But rather amused in the line-up for singing that his teammate completely eclipsed him. I know his position doesn't have to be big, but christ. if Jonny Wilkinson is small, how big are the rest?

Ireland/Italy. Good god, yawn much? Even the tries were boring. When it comes to awarding Man of the Match and one of the commentators goes 'Well, we had to award it to someone' you know it's bad.

England/Wales much more fun. Wales so tiny compared to England. Wales completely forget they're playing England and try a running game and screw up the first half. Seriously. Everyone knows England play a grinder game, objective #1 being 'Stop the other side moving at all'. Slightly peeved that I missed the Alun Wyn Jones stupidity and they didn't replay it. Second half, I will admit that that was a nice little run and try from Hook after his muppetness when it came to scoring penalties in the first half.

Sunday, didn't bother with Scotland/France. But considering since about midweek parents and I had had a gradually cautious ramping up of curiosity about Invictus, we went and saw it at 6pm. And yay, it is of the good. Usual spare gritty storytelling and camerawork from Clint Eastwood (I'd spent part of Friday explaining this style to Mum), brilliant performance from Morgan Freeman (who has apparently spent bloody years having tea with and observing Mandela), the only problem being that he didn't giggle enough and that you were always aware that it was Freeman *playing* Mandela (unlike, say, Helen Mirren as the Queen or Forest Whittaker as Idi Amin). Matt Damon was good as François Pienaar, as was everyone else. Many giggles came from the game scenes. Because against the actors playing the Springboks, he looks about the right size, and he'd be the right general size for the '95 team. However, come the game scenes where he was inserted into the scrums against current day players and he looks so tiny! The complete non-sensationalism style worked very well for the story, and watching Mandela latching onto how big a symbol the rugby could be was very well done. A good portion of the story is told from the POV of the security team, which really, really works. Great acting, good script with much wry humour, and no, the symbolism isn't overplayed because hello, that's how it was. Also, if you see any reviews complaining about too much rugby - no, there wasn't. Fit perfectly. And Bend It Like Beckham now has a rival for 'by the sainted boots of Bobby Robson, sport that looks engaging onscreen!' Oh, and they had them watching bits of other matches. I'd forgotten how funny Jonah Lomu trampling English players was. Also, heh on the bit in the tunnel where they're showing the Springboks going 'ohshitohshit Lomu'.

Would like to see other opinions, especially from any South Africans. need to go check on the american opinions to see how they took it. Not sure where the whining about not explaining the rules comes from, as they *do* explain bits, as the black half of the security team have no idea either. Will be amused if this film changes the 'rugby isn't so tough' perception some Americans have, since they show how beaten up you get.


snowing outside. eyeing it with caution as I didn't bring my leggings today and am not wearing the shitkicker boots.

Snow day photos, including me going 'ooooo'. Also included : proof that i live on the edge of cliche English countryside, a very not gruntled cow, one beagle and these weird little 7' snowmen that kept appearing anywhere I'd been. I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THEY CAME FROM, FLIST.

Vaguely disgruntled that there wasn't enough snow for me to do a Calvin and Hobbes. Damn you, Bill Watterson. I've wanted to do sick and twisted snowmen ever since I read my first one, and I have to live in the south of England....

:ponders: perhaps if the weather is like this tomorrow, I can have a busy hour or so pre-starting work making it in miniature to disturb commuters and schoolchildren. Oh yes.

Had a good cry about life the universe and everything. Feeling better.

Okay, left house, it's dark, v. thick frost on ground...

...Get off at Great Portland St and it's SNOWING. *this* early?

I'd Do Anything - group song 'Enough is Enough' is at least a better choice for musical acting than 'Sound of the Underground' was. Though seriously, how fucking bad is the sound in that studio considering how out the last two were? Keisha and Cleo didn't deserve to be in the sing-off, but really peeved that Andrew chose Keisha and dumped Cleo. Cleo damn well acted her way through the sing-off and Feelin' Good. Keisha - lovely voice, but nothing behind the eyes when she was singing. I really don't know if she'd make a good musicals performer, whereas fingers crossed that Cleo gets work soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6XEk2j7RtU - reasons to hate Paul. And Jackie. And Sonia. Oh, and various others. Mind you, slightly weirded out over the sound of my voice, since I rarely get to hear what it sounds like to others. As usual, '...I'm that deep? And that luvvie-sounding?'

Woke up at 8am by noise, looked out and fucking hell. Snow falling. Grabbed camera, took pictures for actual proof. Lunchtime, I went for a walk, by which time it was melting if the snow was on it - sun being warm enough that I tuck three loads of laundry out which wasn't that far off dry by the time the snow started falling again. And experienced that very weird feeling of shaking snow off laundry.

Barrowman tomorrow. SQUEE.

It's snowing. And it's not even the end of December yet. To understand how odd this is, understand that I live in the south of England. A place that fully benefits from the gulfstream and is thus warmer than almost any point at the same latitude. We don't normally get snow until December. It's been snowing for almost 2 hours now - not settling, because it's still a bit warm and it was raining earlier. But still. Snow!