Wicked Weekend

In an attempt to bring a bit of culture to our office, I decided to organise a theatre trip at the weekend, as a bit of a change of pace from the usual night of destroying our livers in some darkened little bar, and since it was a show that I know and thought others would enjoy, we went to see Wicked.

I must say, second time round, I still enjoyed it, although the stand-ins they have for the lead roles of Glinda and Elphaba were a little lacking on the singing, with Glinda in particular being a little too squeaky. Still, it's a great show, and I couldn't help but enjoy it.

I've also learnt that it's not the best show for those who are colour blind, otherwise you have to keep pointing out which one is the green one.

Aside from the theatre, I also headed up to the motorcycle show at the NEC Birmingham, and have now got myself fully kitted out with bike gear, ready for my lessons which will be starting next Saturday, and despite going for fabric jacket and trousers rather than leathers (on the advice of those who've ridden in cold and wet conditions), I still think I looked pretty badass! The helmet in particular I'm proud of:


So now with December starting this weekend, it kicks off a busy social month, with something planned for every weekend through until Christmas, and between the 10 hour work days I'm doing at the moment and packed weekend, December is going to be a busy month!

The Crisp Conundrum

A big question has been raised this afternoon, one worthy of a blog post and also in the hope that someone out there can answer our question!

On one of my many trips to the vending machines this afternoon, the question was raised about crisp flavours; you have the single flavor crisps, such as smokey bacon, salted, prawn, and then also the two flavour crisps, such as cheese & onion and salt & vinegar, but then we started to wonder, have we ever seen crisps with more than two flavours? The combined knowledge of two programmers and one business analyst came up blank!

Surely the triple flavour crisp is something that has been thought of, so I ask you readers, do you know of any crisp of more than two flavours, and more importantly, where can I buy some?!

More worthy posts to follow soon. I promise.

Chicago - Round 2

Because just one visit isn't enough, and because I love acting on impulsive ideas, this weekend was spent returning to Chicago to catch up with friends, visit new bars and gain a few more pounds.

Now the fact that I only had 2.5 days holiday left to use meant that I had to take a half day, and I saw no problem with working in the morning, jumping on a plane at lunch (since I work across the road from Heathrow), and arrive in Chicago by the evening. Perhaps this would be a good plan if you don't go straight out to a bar the minute you arrive, skip dinner, and drink until 2am. Still, considering I was on the go for 26 hours, I think I fared pretty well!

It was great to yet again see Aussie, Jenny, Cherry, 9er, LP, Classy, Dr Ken & K.I.D. (did I miss anyone?), although I think next time I'll have to spend more than a weekend there to make sure I see everyone properly.

I think the next visit will also have to be in the summer, as I've only every seen Chicago through the mist of my own breath while wrapped in several layers, although I must admit, I was hoping to see a bit of snow while I was there!

One downside of the trip was U.S. security on the return flight, who insisted I leave my suitcase unlocked for the security inspection. I thought fine, it's with security, it should be secure. So, you can imagine my disappointment when I got home to find my suitcase had been relieved of two of the iPods I was bringing back for friends! Thankfully, BA are looking into the matter and will be refunding the cost, but it's still an inconvenience.

Still, that won't be enough to stop me coming over again, and since I yet again didn't get to try a proper hot dog or burrito, I have the perfect excuse to return.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Top 5 Albums

Although this may just be a short post, it's actually one that I've been trying to come up with for quite some time now.

A couple of months back, on a long drive up to Wales, the question was raised as to what my all time top 5 albums were, and this actually took a lot more work than I'd expected! But, after a couple of months of going through my music collection (not two months solidly of course), I've finally come up with my top 5, but in no particular order, albums which I've just never tired of hearing:

1. Zero 7 - Simple Things
2. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
3. Diana Krall - Live In Paris
4. Joan Osborne - Relish
5. Air - Moon Safari

Looking at my choices, they're mostly laid back albums that you can really chill out to, as I seem to find these are the ones that have the longest lasting appeal for me.

So now I'd be interested to know what other peoples all time top 5 albums are; give it some thought, it may not be as easy as it seems!