Barrett Holmes.

There certainly seems to be no 'putting one over' on that razor-sharp, retro stylised, Catweasel impersonating proprietor of the new and improved Belgian Bar (see photo).



Upon returning from the not-so-fashionable Western Spiral Arm of Ramsgate, last night, with a bunch of friends, we decided to pop in for a quick Leffe and a laugh. Having noticed, of late, that The Crowman's nemesis seems to be emptying the till every half-hour, presumably to satisfy his newly aquired 'money monitors' that the takings are now being filed correctly and that they will be getting their leccy money back (with a small donation going into the toilet restoration fund, which I'm led to believe now stands at £18-73), we thought it would be quite funny to hide the thing.
Being sure that noone spotted us, it took him less than a minute to find it.
We were all a little astonished, and suitably impressed, having hidden it in a place that we were quite sure that he never visited!

Still, on the bright side, at least he's aware of the appaling state of his toilets, now!

The Lull Between The Storms.

Now that I'm working for a Government that prefers to keep it's identity secret (the Australians are funny like that), I find myself, for the first time in my life, having to be careful what I say.
So I'll confine myself to recounting my experiences during my (very little) time off.
I managed to have the whole weekend off, just passed, and spent most of my waking hours hanging around the ale tent, supping some wonderful beers, at the Power Boat Extravaganja, taking brief periods out to eat or be spun around by mechanical devices until I was almost sick. Great fun!
Unlike ECR, though, I wasn't quite brave enough to have a go on the elasticated tossing machine. That and the fact that it cost £15 a go and, not being a millionaire, I thought the money would be better spent on getting lashed-up.
Wasn't the weather lovely!
The only thing that I found a little disappointing was that the crowd appeared to be about 99% absolutely minging (though full of bonhomie, despite their dire circumstances)! But the beer, eventually, put paid to that and I found myself 'getting off' with one of the bar tenders, though, for the life of me, I can't recall which one it was, now. Still, I'm sure that he'll remember, particularly since, in my inebriated state, I managed to drag him to the floor a few times on the way home.
Living in a seaside town, it did beg the question "why can't something like this be organised on a more regular basis, throughout the summer?". Still, it looks like the Pleasurama site is going to keep it's fun-fair until the construction of executive rabbit hutches starts, later in the year, so let's make the most of that, eh?
Anyhow, now that the shaking is finally starting to abate, I suppose I'd better get on with some work while I wait for the memories to start creeping up on me, causing the odd spontanious blush, like they often do!

What's All This, Grommit?

Blimey!
I've just got home from a beer-braced, breath of fresh air in the pub, all the smokers going on about how horrible it is there, now and all the non-smokers going on about how horrible the smokers' goings on were, now, to find that previous entry on MY blog!
Noone knows my password, I'm sure! After all, who would think that anyone would be stupid enough to use their username as their password?
No, it must've been that dog, as everything else is dead (though I have heard a scratching sound, behind the sofa).

But that's just absurd! I may not know an awful lot about dogs but I do know that they can't type.

Umm.. can they copy and paste?

Wind-In The Willows.

Dunedin will host a test match for the first time in a decade when New Zealand and Bangladesh play at University Oval early in January.
New Zealand have not played a test in Dunedin since the second test against Sri Lanka in March 1997 - a match won by an innings and 36 runs to preserve the Black Caps' unbeaten record there over 10 tests stretching back to 1955.Those tests were all played at Carisbrook, which has fallen out of favour as an international cricket and rugby venue.The second of the two tests against Bangladesh will be played at Wellington's Basin Reserve.NZ Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan said he was looking forward to test cricket returning to the southern outpost."Otago Cricket and the Dunedin City Council are working very hard to prepare the University Oval to international standards and we are looking forward to it holding its first test match."NZC has formalised a busy domestic calendar for the Black Caps, dovetailed between a tour of South Africa in November; the annual Chappell-Hadlee Trophy series in Australia and a tour of England in May-June.Bangladesh will also play three one-day internationals here.England arrive on January 28 for a two-month tour comprising three tests, five ODIs, two Twenty20 matches and games against Canterbury and Otago.Wellington hosts the second England test. Hamilton's Seddon Park is the venue of the series opener while McLean Park in Napier has been awarded the third rubber.Jade Stadium and Eden Park have been overlooked as test venues though they will host Twenty20 and ODIs while being redeveloped for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Queenstown again has the traditional New Year's Eve match - this time involving Bangladesh.

RIP Tiddles.

Of course, I'm not so heartless that I'd let Tiddle's death be in vain!

Eli Pepsi.

I must confess that I'm a little bit upset about the demise of poor old Crouching Tiddles. I should also confess that I feel, in some small way, partly responsible for said dispatch, by buggering off for months on end and leaving him locked in the house. Mind you, had he had his wits about him, he might have eaten the goldfish or hamster before they too expired of, er, natural causes.
Never mind though. After fighting my way through a crowd of belligerent smokers, into the pub tonight, I met a rather interesting and gorgeous looking chap who seemed hell-bent on re-homing his pet dog, a rather cute looking Yorkshire Terrier called Eli Pepsi. Somewhat curious about the name, I was informed that the little fella is a Michael Jackson fan and refuses to drink Coca Cola, prefering, instead, to drink Pepsi and go 'woof'!
Sounds like my kinda dog!
Well let's see how that pans out, eh?
I'll get a picture of him posted as soon as I can find the charger for my camera.

Pigs Do Fly.

After an exhausting 28 hours of flying, I've decided to take the plane next time I go abroad.
I'd love to tell you where I've been but, were I to do so, I could end up losing my job at The Australian Embassy, as they like us to keep hush-hush about that sort of thing. I've only been there for a few months, so I think I'll toe the line.
And the first thing that I do when I get home from my training, after admiring my new tan in the hallway mirror from the top of a mountain of letters and free papers, clearing up the remains of my cat (oops), and popping ten bob in the leccy meter? Have a nose on blogger, of course!
Nice to see people banging on about aeroplanes after spending more than a day couped up in one of those flying coffins (see photo).
If you want peace, quiet and clean, fresh air, go hide in a pub, I'd say!

I don't suppose, for a moment, that I'm going to get a wink of sleep tonight.
Maybe a nice, hot bath and a candle (for mood lighting, honestly!) would be the answer?

Look At All This Dust!