Thursday 30 June 2011

New PC, video conference & documentaries

It was a good day today! Had a reasonable night and a good journey to work. This afternoon I took receipt of my new PC. I am currently running it in parallel with my existing one while I get everything set up. Nearly everything is done already, just waiting for an 8 gig memory upgrade to come and then all will be hunky dory.

Had an awesome video conference call with Vancouver today. It went something like this....
ME: Dom's not here today. Do you want to have this call and pass on any important updates?
VANCOUVER GUYS: No
ME: See you next week then!

Now that's the sort of meeting I like! *grin* Have to say that it was another good day!

Crap journey home thanks to some points failures along the line. Had the delight of having to listen to four chav girls who went and sat in the first class section (probably with no tickets) blasting out shite music and singing (if you can call it that) along. The genuine first class passengers were less than impressed I can tell you! Thankfully this only lasted for two stops although it seemed like forever as we were delayed at Wickford.

Spent some time with the babies before they went to bed and then had the "delights" of Eastenders with one of Sam's fabulous stir frys. Watched three fascinating documentaries though, Planet Of The Ape Men, Polar Bear: Inside Nature's Giants and The Sex Researchers. Sophie was lest than impressed with the Polar Bear one due to the amount of blood and guts on display LOL!

The Sexual Researchers was a very interesting documentary! If you can catch it on 4OD it's well worth a look!

Tomorrow is Friday so that must mean it's time to see Toni YAY! *grin*

Wednesday 29 June 2011

Crap night, new alarm clock, busy busy, WWE & Team Rocket!

Had a terrible night. Didn't get to sleep til nearly 3.30. I would have no doubt been late for work if it hadn't been for my brand new alarm clock. Scarlett! She was up and making noise before 6.30 which meant that she woke me up and I made it to work on time! YAY!

Such a relief that the temperature had dropped considerably which just made things a whole lot more bearable!

Work is still VERY busy and hectic but in a strange turn of events I actually left the office at the end of the day with a smile on my face and feeling happy! Hope it doesn't become a habit LMFAO!

The evening was spent with the company of Sophie, Sam and the babies and Shane who had come over to see the kids.

Sam and I caught up with Smackdown and then Raw as we were keen to see CM Punk's awesome shoot sequence! It certainly wasn't a disappointment, just not long enough!

Bizarrely the night ended reminiscing about Pokemon and me declaring my love of Team Rocket and then having some mad cosplay ideas! Was also amazed to find out how much Pokemon DVD sets are selling for these days, nearly £50 a season, OUCH!

Last.FM listening post

Here's last week's top picks music lovers!

Top weekly tracks:


Top weekly artists:


Overall top tracks:


Overall top artists:

Tuesday 28 June 2011

Better weather, the babies, soaps and True Blood meh!

It was such a relief that the weather wasn't as hot today. We even had some rain which cooled things down a notch too. Hopefully it will continue to get cooler.

It was back to SWF tonight to see Sam, Sophie, Scarlett and Kenzie. Spent a lovely hour with Scarlett and Kenzie playing around and having fun in the living room before it was time for them to go to bed.

We decided to have a chinese tonight while Sam and I had to endure the horrors of Hollyoaks and Eastenders! It's lovely having Sophie here but it's weird watching "real" telly again and having so many soaps on LOL.

After those horrors we watched the first episode of the fourth season of True Blood. Toni and I watch it last night and were less than impressed with it and I am sad to say that it didn't improve on the second showing. My only hope is that improves very quickly from episode two onwards!

The next three nights will be away from Toni which will be very weird as we've spent so much time together recently. Boo to the sleepless nights that will follow :o(

Monday 27 June 2011

Hot loony day, new guitar, steak and ice creams

Today was hot, too hot, not impressed!
Train journey to work was a bit uncomfortable but could have been worse. The office wasn't pleasant at all as the air conditioning is a bit shite at the best of times. Oh how I miss the air con in Shenfield. It was great there, you could get frost bite sitting under the vents!
The rest of the day was the usual loony affair as we all try and work out what the heck is going on and trying to find out exactly what the new way on is.

After work I headed out to Denmark Street to pick up my newly set up guitar.
Here she is:




The journey back to Toni's was hell as all the trains were delayed which meant that they were even more packed than usual. As you can imagine this made things hotter than stickier than. Meh to the heat!

Gorgeous steak dinner was followed by Van Helsing and many ice creams to try and cool off. I have a feeling that tonight is going to be thoroughly unpleasant as it just seems to be getting warmer and muggier :o(

Sunday 26 June 2011

Spending a day with Kenzie and Scarlett

Today was a very hot but relaxed day!

We got up and chilled with Kenzie before heading over to Shane's to pick up Scarlett.

Had a lovely afternoon with Toni, Sam, Sophie, Kenzie and Scarlett. We made some food and all of us sat around the table which was something that rarely happens so was a real novelty. Not sure this is the way to act at the table though!


One hot drive later we were back in London. Fab lollies, some Capitals work and then Tropic Thunder finished the day off quite nicely.

Saturday 25 June 2011

Surprise party for Toni

Over an hour later than planned we finally made it back to SWF. We went into the house and Sophie was in the kitchen cooking a few bits. The living room door was shut but Toni didn't suspect anything as Sophie had Kenzie with her. I suggested Toni pop into the living room..............

SURPRISE!!!!!!!! Toni had suspected nothing and was greeted by a room full of people!

It was a really good night and Toni was very happy. Big thanks to all those who attended (and had to put up with the delays with us arriving!) and also to Sam and Sophie for tidying up, preparing everything and entertaining people before we arrived.

Jade's tattoo, London, new guitar and failing plans...

Early start today as Toni and I went to Rochester with Jade to get her tattoo finished off. Jade borrowed a pink jumper which was most amusing as she hates wearing pink (although it looks orange in this pic)!


Here's the finished result, looks awesome!


After the tattoo was done we headed back to Eltham, picked up Aaron and the went for lunch. This was followed by a little bit of shopping. We went our separate ways and Toni and I jumped on the train and headed to London.

First stop was Denmark Street so I could go and browse some 5 string bass guitars. Being so hot it was not the best day for doing it but after a few shops I did manage to find one that I liked and decided to buy. Pics will be posted later in the week as it is being set up for me so I have to go back and get it.

Next stop was O'Neills in Soho for some much needed cold drink. Suitably refreshed headed back to Eltham and my well laid plans started to fall apart......

I had arranged another surprise party for Toni, this time for the Essex contingent. The plan had been to get back to SWF for 19:30 for the surprise to begin. We got back to Toni's at 18:30 and she then wanted to change which was fine as that would have been done with enough time to leave and make it to SWF. What followed after that was most frustrating! A phone call from Toni's nan/mum caused a further delay of fifteen minutes and then something else added more time. I had to keep texting Sophie and Sam to get them to apologise to those that were waiting in SWF. Toni even asked me to stop harassing her about leaving and of course I couldn't explain why I was! LOL

I was waiting for her to suggest that we stay in London for the night but thankfully that line didn't come and finally we got to leave....

Friday 24 June 2011

An Evening Of Burlesque

Toni and I went to Chelmsford with our friend Tasha to see the show An Evening Of Burlesque.




It was a really fun show with a nice variety of acts throughout the night. Well worth catching if it happens to roll into a town near you on it's tour.
Check out An Evening Of Burlesque website

After the performance we dropped Tasha off and then went and had a meal in Chilli's before heading back to Eltham.

Thursday 23 June 2011

Orpheum rehearsal

Had a fantastic Orpheum rehearsal tonight. It was so nice to get back in the studio again. It really felt like things are coming together and the new songs are sounding good.


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Wednesday 22 June 2011

Last.FM listening post

Here's last week's top picks music lovers!

Top weekly tracks:


Top weekly artists:


Overall top tracks:


Overall top artists:

Tuesday 21 June 2011

Blast from the past, Back To The Future

These came into the food supply at work today! What a blast from the past although I remember when they used to be 5p!



This then led us to reminiscing about these:


Having had a blast from the past in the morning, the evening was spent going Back To The Future. In this instance it was the third instalment. A very silly but great film!


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Monday 20 June 2011

Toni's birthday, The Road To Eldorado and Game Of Thrones

It was a nice quiet affair tonight for Toni's birthday. We were joined by Jade, Pete, Sam, Aaron, Gemima and Bob. Munchies were on hand, mainly left overs from the surprise bash yesterday and we watched The Road To Eldorado followed by lots of chill time.

Toni absolutely loved her present from me:

After everyone had drifted we settled down with a lovely cuppa to watch the final episode of Game Of Thrones. It was a fantastic series with a brilliant end. Can't wait for the next series.

Happy Birthday Toni!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to my gorgeous Toni

Hope you've enjoyed your birthday weekend and have a great day today

Love you very very much!

Sunday 19 June 2011

Surprise party for Toni

Following on from the surprise rendition of Happy Birthday at the CalatrilloZ gig I managed to keep Toni occupied for a while before we headed back to Eltham for a surprise party.

I even managed to keep it as a surprise although Toni had guessed that something was up!

It was a really good time though and Toni was delighted. Nearly all her family were there plus some friends too. Jade and Sam did sterling work on the catering front with some fabulous gluten free options.

A fabulous time was had by all which was a great relief to me!

Seeing Kenzie and Scarlett

Toni and I popped over to Shane's this morning for a rare occurrence, the chance to see both grandchildren at the same time! It doesn't happen very often so this was an absolute treat.

We started off just seeing Kenzie until Sophie arrived with Scarlett. This visit was much better than any of the recent ones with Scarlett being much more relaxed. It was great to see Sophie too as she we don't normally see her when we go to Shane's.







It was fantastic to see them all and I can't wait for Sophie to come to SWF and stay for a few days with them!

Saturday 18 June 2011

CalatrilloZ @ Club Incarnate

As part of a weekend of birthday fun I sprung my first surprise on Toni with an impromptu dressing up session and a trip to Ipswich.



We headed off to Club Incarnate which was an interesting experience. The venue was hard to find. Strangely enough because we hadn't expected it to be an old church so it was right under our noses but we missed it LOL. Club Incarnate is a goth/alternative night.



There was something strangely satisfying about posing at a goth/alternative club in a church!



After some good tuneage we were treated to a set by Calatrilloz. The real surprise of the night was that I had arranged for them to play Happy Birthday for Toni. The second surprise was the band getting me up on stage to actually sing it with them! Thankfully all went well and Toni was delighted!







See all the CalatrilloZ pics here: 180611CalatrilloZClubIncarnate





Thursday 16 June 2011

New tattoos

Toni, Sam and I drove over to Rochester this morning for our appointment with Ray Hunt at Diablo Tattoo to get our joint tattoos done (Sam was just there to observe te proceedings).

Toni came up with this fantastic design (a custom chaos star with a K and a T intertwined - our initials and both our initials)


When we visited Diablo Tattoo a while back for Jade's recent session we gave Ray the design and he made a few notes to prepare:


When we arrived today Ray had done a little rework (note the image is back to front as it is the basis for the template to go on the skin):


What then followed was 1.5 hours each of ink work for Toni and I:





Which leads us nicely on to the finished article!


Sorry, just teasing, here they are:
What a nice pair!

Wednesday 15 June 2011

Last.FM listening post

Here's last week's top picks music lovers!

Top weekly tracks:


Top weekly artists:


Overall top tracks:


Overall top artists: