Good day, goodbye Henrik Lundqvist, Galaxy Quest and Four In A Bed

It was a nice steady day at work today. A little bit longer than I would have liked but all was good and in order :)

Music of choice today was Autograph, Silent Rage and London. 

In New York Rangers news we had to come to terms with the departure of legendary netminder Henrik Lundqvist. It was not unexpected to hear the Rangers were buying him out of the last year of his contract but it was a sad day nonetheless. 

He spent 15 years with the Rangers and set so many club records. His presence will be greatly missed. The Rangers posted this lovely tribute.

We wanted to watch something silly tonight so we opted for the Galaxy Quest. They don't come much sillier than that!

We finished the day off with another round of Four In A Bed, heaven!

Management day, Shark(s) Island, hockey and Stanley Cup Champions

Today was a day of doing mainly management rather than technical stuff. The change of pace was a welcome change even if some of the things I had to do weren't!

Music of choice today was Sharks and Shark Island (Shark morphed into Shark Island). This band were so criminally underrated and their S'Cool Bus album is a classic in my book, Here's something from their Law Of The Order album:

Zoe popped round for hugs, a catch up and to see her rats. It was nice to see her again for a short while at least before she headed back to Jade's.

Game six of the Stanley Cup Final tonight between Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lighting, Lightning were leading the series 3 - 2 so this was once again make or break for the Stars and a chance to bring the Stanley Cup home for the Lightning. First period ended with Lighting take a 1 - 0 lead. Second period ended with Lightning leading 2 - 0. The Stars had been outshot almost 3 to 1 in two periods so things weren't look good for them. Third period ended 2 - 0 to the Lighting and just like that it was all over and they won the series 4 - 2.

Not the result I wanted but congratulations to Tampa Bay Lightning on becoming the Stanley Cup Champions of the 2019/20 season.

Work, goth, The Boys and Four In A Bed

Well here we are back in the working week again! That long weekend didn't seem so long sadly. On the plus side I did start the day feeling rested and refreshed! My mission for this week is to work out why my laptop takes twenty minutes to startup after login which will be fun! Work was work but not stressful. Musical accompaniment today was Rosetta Stone and Fields Of The Nephilim taking me full on goth.  

Take away for dinner and we have finally caught up with The Boys so now we have to wait for the weekly drops. First seems such a long way away!

We entered the chill out zone later into the evening as we went to B&B heaving with some more Four In A Bed.

Baking, Public Enemy, Oxleas Wood, hockey, Magnum Opus and Get Thrashed

In a strange turn of events I had LOADS of sleep and didn't have the urge to dive straight into doing things. I didn't get up until 09:30. Today was backing day and an attempt to try and replicate the mistake from last week to see if I could get the rolls all light and bread like. The consistency was very similar (although not exactly the same) so I was hopeful that I was somewhere in the region.

While the rolls were  in the oven I chilled with a coffee and listened to Public Enemy's new album What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down? It's really good, lot's of guests contributing such Beastie Boys, Cypress Hill, George Clinton, Run DMC, Nas and Ice-T.

Rolls looked good and felt very similar once taken out of the oven. Now I await the tasting for confirmation!

Before having breakfast/lunch we drove to Oxleas Wood for a nice walk as there has been a sever lack of exercise during self isolation. It was a nice cool day and although overcast there was no rain to spoil things.

It's really nice seeing all the autumn colours coming into play now.  

On our return we had a huge breakfast and caught up with game five of the Stanley Cup Final between Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning. With Lighting leading the series 3 - 1 this could be the very last game of the season. We were hoping for a Stars bounce back as we didn't want Lightning to win the Stanley Cup and we also wanted to see more hockey! The first period was very cagey but it ended with Stars leading 1 - 0. Second period ended tied 1 - 1 so this was still anybody's game, No goal in overtime so the game remained tied 1 - 1 and we were into second overtime, At 09:23 in overtime two a very tired Stars banged one home to win the game 2 - 1 and keep their hopes alive. Lightning now lead the series 3 - 2. Game six is on Monday!

After that excitement we watched Magnum Dopus: The Making Of Jay And Silent Bob Reboot. A very interesting and heart warming documentary from Kevin Smith.

Next up was Get Thrashed, a documentary on the history of thrash metal.

 

Early start, hockey, garden harvest, Drag Race, schnitzel and Wardruna

So it was up quote early on a sunny but crisp morning. I listened to a bit of miserylab while I waited for Toni to come downstairs.A cup of tea was made and then it was hockey time,

We watched game four of the Stanley Cup Final with Tampa Bay Lightning leading the Dallas Stars 2 - 1 in the series. The wheels seem to have come off with the Stars and we were hoping they could bounce back a bit. First period ended with Stars leading 2 - 1. Second period ended tied up 3 - 3. Third period was tied 4 - 4 and so it was into overtime! The Lightning won the game 5 - 4 in overtime with a power play goal. They are now leading the series and the team that I saw as the underdog are now one game away from winning the Stanley Cup now that they lead the series 3 - 1. The last game is tonight and I really don't want the hockey to end yet so hopefully the Stars can fight back.

It was harvest day today as we gathered in lots of our home grown vegtables and did some autumn pruning. This is a pretty good hoard.

So we have tomatoes ready to ripen

Peppers

Cucumbers of various sizes and types

A nice display of cucumbers, chillis and the last courgette (avocados clearly shop bought LOL)

Last but not least we have an aubergine starting to take form in the garden still. No idea if we'll end up with something harvestable but it does look very very pretty.

Around noon we had a call from Halfords to say that the car was ready to be picked up. Small heart attack when he told us the amount but thankfully he'd forgotten to deduct the service and MOT charges that we had already paid so it was slightly less than the figure we were quoted yesterday. Car now picked up and running like a dream as it has a new fan and cam belt. That's that over for another year then!

With the threat of rain coming we brought in washing from the line and then decided to go and do some major pruning of a big tree by the garage. We did pretty well but sadly the garden waste bin was full so we had to stop. Very productive though!

We realised today that we hadn't seen the end of Canada's Drag Race so we jumped back in at episode and worked our way through to the final, Was gutted that Jimbo didn't make it to the final as we felt that Priyanka was the one who should have been eliminated from the final four. Both Rita Baga and Scareltt Bobo deserved their places and Jimbo would have made an awesome third. Priyanka won, it was clear she was heading that way from early on in the season as she was often saved when she was not the better lip-syncer. I'm sure she'll do well but just don't think she was one who should have won.

Sam and I made dinner tonight, Schnitzel with chips/veg. To make gluten free breadcrumbs for Toni we stuck a load of pork scratchings into a blender (rather than me just bearing them to death with a rolling pin) and the results was brilliant giving excellent coverage with no lumps/gaps. 

Here's the gluten free version:

Here's the glutenous version:

Both versions were absolutely delicious!

We finished the day off listening to Wardruna, chilling and reading.

Day off, MOT, soup, car crash TV, Lower Decks and Ziggy Stardust

Day off today, no working and the the work phone is upstairs so I am not checking anything. The only downside was having to get up early anyway as Toni and I had to take the car to Halfords for it's service and MOT. Oh well LOL. Now we have to brace ourselves for that dreaded phone call telling us how it all went.....

As it was a wet and very cold day I resorted to a warming breakfast! I did have it in a mug and not straight out of the tin!

It was a real car crash TV day with Paternity Court and Four In A Bed taking centre stage!

The dreaded phone call from Halfords came at 11:35 but it wasn't as bad as we had feared. The only failure was a light bulb and the front number plate. We had to go out and get the number plate printed and then drop it off and then it was a case of waiting another 4 odd hours for the full service to be done before we could get the car back. En route we walked passed the old site of Pinnacle Records where I used to work back in 1988. Doesn't look like it used to at all.

Back home and more Four In A Bed and then we had another phone call from Halfords. There was work that needed to be done that they found during the service that was going to cost an additional £430, OUCH! Car now won't be ready until tomorrow. Luckily we aren't going anywhere any time soon. 

Another episode of The Boys accompanied dinner and then we were back to Four In A Bed. I still can't believe I am addicted to this garbage LMFAO!

Needing a break we caught up with Star Trek Lower Decks before veering off into musical territory with David Bowie and the classic album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust.

Emotional day, Devilish Presley, rainbow, The Boys and hockey

It was a strangely emotional day at work today. Kind of knocked me sideways a bit but stuff did get done and it was a good way to end the week (as I am off tomorrow). Background music today was provided by Devilish Presley. 

After work there was a lovely rainbow in the back garden.

Sam went out and bought steak for dinner so we had delicious noms and enjoyed an episode of The Boys. 

The night was finished off with game three of the Stanley Cup final between Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning. With the series tied 1 - 1 this could really go either way. First period was end to end but closed with the Lightning leading 2 - 1. Second period ended with Lightning holding a depressing 5 - 1 lead. Third period ended with Lighting winning 5 - 1 and taking a 2 - 1 lead in the series. Not really how we had wanted this to go!

Stressing, Tankard, Sisters, hockey, and John Wick 3

Today was a little more stressful than previous days with large projects creeping ever nearer and still lots of tasks to complete. Thankfully the bulk of the outstanding tasks are not on me or my team but we still have a few little bits to get done. 

Music of choice today was German thrashers Tankard and The Sisters Of Mercy

We carried on watching game two of the Stanley Cup Final between Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning with the Lightning leading 3 - 0 into the second period. Stars clawed one back but the Lightning were still leading 3 - 1 at the end of the second period. Third period ended with a 3 - 2 Lightning win tying up the series up 1 - 1.

Dinner was accompanied with John Wick 3 completing the series for Sam as well. Have to say that this was even better second time round. If you are interested in the kill count then read on....

In John Wick, he kills 77 people. In John Wick: Chapter 2, 128 die by his hand. And in John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, he is responsible for the deaths of 94 people. All in all, the total amounts to 299 kills throughout three movies

Good day, Homes For The Elite, Darkest Sky, John Wick 2 and hockey

Another productive working day meant that this week is rolling along nicely, Post mortems with clients and catching up on project work left me feeling good. Music of the day was provided by side projects of Devilish Presley in the form of Homes For The Elite and then the more neofolk Darkest Sky.  

Carrying on the movie streak we were back to Keanu Reeves territory with John Wick 2 so that Sam can catch up with them all. Second time round it is still an enjoyable yet ridiculous action film. I love it.

We finished the night off with game two of the Stanley Cup Final between Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning. With Stars leading the series 1 - 0 we were hopeful they would extend this. First period ended with the Lightning taking a 3 - 0 lead. Sadly I got really tired so we had to abandon the game and head to bed. The rest of the update will no doubt be in tomorrow's entry!

Work, Raven, John Norum, Bill & Ted Face The Music and John Wick (again)

Had a good day at work today. Lots of things were accomplished which was great. Had a decent lunch break and cut the grass (I am trying to keep it well groomed before the winter kicks in). Music of choice today was NWOBHM stalwarts Raven and the sole works of Europe guitarist John Norum.

To celebrate the end of self-isolation we welcomed Sam back to the living room and watch Bill & Ted Face The Music. This was going to be interesting....

Overall not a bad movie. They are all very silly and this was no different. It's harder watching Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter trying to be believable in their original roles although I did enjoy the different aspects of Bill & Ted (no spoilers here). Probably the weakest of the three but still quite enjoyable. 

It was nice having Sam back in the fold again. It's been very weird having him locked away in another room and have to mask up when moving through the house and then social distancing so I am very glad that is now over.

As Sam hadn't watched any of the John Wick films we agreed to watch them all again and started with the first one tonight.

Baking, hockey and Four In A Bed,

It was weekly baking day today. I had a bit of a panic as the consistency of the dough was not as I had expected so was worried how things were going to turn out. I'd put in an extra egg as the recipe needs four large but we only had medium and I think there was a little extra psyllium husk so that could have been what made it feel different. It made me quite sad so I went and read in the garden with a coffee while they were in the oven. The end result looked much better than I had expected.

They rose beautifully and had a much softer, springy feel once they were done. Toni said that they were much softer and it felt like real bread which I will take as a major win. Now I just have to hope that I can manage to get the same result next time.

With breakfast we watched game one of the Stanley Cup Final series between Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning. On paper this should be an exciting series so let's hope this is true. First period end tied 1 - 1, Second period ended with the Stars leading 3 - 1. Third period ended with the stars winning 4 - 1. Stars now lead this series 1 - 0 which made us very happy!

Bed & Breakfast silliness ensured with more Four In A Bed. This show seems to get crazier and more brutal las it goes on. Viva la car crash!

Music, gardening and John Wick 3

In a strange turn of events I did NOT wake up stupidly early today which was a real novelty. We got up and had breakfast and listened to some music. Scorpiosn, Scary Botches, Ozzy Osbourne, Queens Of The Stone Age and Guns N Roses were all taken for a spin.

I managed to get a load of reading done which is something i strive to do but often fail at. Toni and I both went and tended to the garden doing some weeding and pruning 

With no hockey today we watched John Wick 3 Parabellum to complete the series so far. In this third installment of the adrenaline-fueled action franchise, super-assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) returns with a $14 million price tag on his head and an army of bounty-hunting killers on his trail. After killing a member of the shadowy international assassin’s guild, the High Table, John Wick is excommunicado, but the world’s most ruthless hit men and women await his every turn.

I have to see this was great fun and utterly bonkers. They just surpassed themselves finding a way to take this film series to a new level! 

we finished the day off in car crash territory with more Four In A Bed!

Good day, Heathen, hockey and Four In A Bed

Frustrating start to the day with a particularly challenging client but once that was out of the way everything fell nicely into place and it was a good steady productive day. Could be some changes coming up soon which might lighten my workload a bit but let's and see what happens there as talk is one thing and action another!

Music of choice today was thrash metal fun from Heathen and their new album Empire Of The Blind (plus some older classics).

Game six of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight between Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders. Lightning were leading the series 3 - 2 and this was time to get it done. Islanders of course were looking for their second lifeline having coming back from a 3 - 1 deficit in the series so this was make or break for them. First period ended tied 1 - 1 and it was still game on for both teams. Second period ended 1 - 1. It was still tied 1 - 1 at the end of the third period so that pesky overtime reassured its ugly head again. Lightning started the third period on the power play for 03:37 so this was really their chance to win.With 6:42 left on the clock the Lightning tapped one in to win the game 2 - 1 and take the series 4 - 2 so they have now won the Eastern Conference Finals and are into the Stanley Cup Finals.

Most of the games in this series were quite close and we had a number of overtimes but they weren't really exciting games like the Stars v Golden Knights series was. 

So now the Stanley Cup Finals beckons and we have Dallas Stars v Tampa Bay Lightning. I have high hopes for this to be an exciting showdown, Dallas Stars for the win!

Productive day, The Matrix and Four In A Bed

Quite a productive work day today. Things got done, did a successful client go-live migration and generally saw some improvements in several areas and that was all alongside lots of meetings. Hopefully I can end the week on a total high.

I remained in Japanese music territory today with a combination of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and LADYBABY. Crazy pop earworms!

Keanu Reeves was choice of the day as we opted to watch The Matrix. This film is absolute classic and still stands the test of time. I still love it for what it is rather than buying into the current reimagining of what it was all about!

We finished the evening off with, yes you guess it, more episodes of Four In A Bed. I still make NO apologies!

Weird day, VAMPS, hockey and Four In A Bed

Not quite sure what happened with work today. It went by so very quickly that I think I was productive. I seemed to spend a lot of time directing traffic but the net results were good. Weird day, feels good though. Having listened to David Lee Roth yesterday I decided to do a stint with Van Halen today, This was less enjoyable and they are a bit hit and miss for me. Some cracking tunes and a lot of filler/garbage. Diamond Dave was so much better on his own. Disappointed with VH I moved on to J-Rock band VAMPS to get me uplifted again.

Elimination day for the New York Islanders as they took on the Tampa Bay Lightning in game five of the Eastern Conference Finals. Lightning were leading the series 3 - 1. First period was a bit of a slow affair bur the Islanders did end up leading 1 - 0 at the end of it. Second period ended tied 1 -1 as Lightning had a goal disallowed as the play was offside. Third period ended tied 1 - 1 and so it was into overtime as the Islanders got another lifeline! Overtime ended tied 1 - 1 and so the Islanders were still hanging on and into overtime two we went. With 07:30 left in the period the Islanders scored to win the game 2 - 1 and keep their hopes alive. The series is now led 3 - 2 by the Lightning and so we move on to game six. 

It was back to some more car crash TV as we returned to Four In A Bed. Hilarious fun!

Nice morning, stress free day and hockey

It was another glorious morning today. Less impressive photo app but still nice to see.

Work was productive and stress free which was lovely, more of this please! Music of choice was David Lee Roth.

Catch up tome on game five of the Western Conference Finals between Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights. Stars were leading the series 3 - 1 so this was their chance to move the Stanley Cup Finals. Golden Knights definitely knew this was a do ir die game as they came out fighting and ended leading the first period 1 - 0. Second period ended with Golden Knights holding on to their 1 - 0 lead. Third period was a battle with Golden Knights taking a 2 - 0 lead until Stars fought back and the period ended 2 - 2 and so we headed into overtime. Stars scored on the power play in overtime to win the game 3 - 2 and the series 4 - 1 so they are now headed to the Western Conference Finals. Who will they be playing. We might find out tomorrow after the New York Islanders v Tampa Bay Lightning game tonight.

 

Gorgeous morning sun, back to work, Bogus Journey and Four In A Bed

There was some glorious sun appearing when I surfaced this morning for coffee and breakfast.

This was such a lovely sight to behold and it put me in a really good mood for the day. Really glad I woke up when I did and grabbed my phone to take these pictures.

It was back to work today after four days off last week and it was fairly productive which was a nice way to get back in to things. Music of choice for work was the worlds of Def Leppard. Haven't really listened to them for years and I had forgotten how good a lot of their stuff was outside of the obvious saccharine coated Hysteria and Adrenalize albums. 

We continued our Bill & Ted explorations tonight with Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. It's a very silly film that isn't a patch on the original but certainly has it's odd classic moment.

We then kick back with herbal tea and some trash TV as we continued working our way through the Four In A Bed car crash.

Baking, veg, garden, guitar, hockey, Four In A Bed and more hockey

It was baking day today as Toni had run out of rolls. I thought I'd do a before and after shot for a change. As usual they came out great. Toni prefers the chia seed variant.

While the rolls were in the oven I went and spent some time in the garden with a coffee. I do love out garden.

The vegetable are still coming along well. The courgettes are done but cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and chillis and ripening off nicely.

As I have been listening to a lot of music of late I suddenly felt the urge to pick up instruments again. As everyone was still fast asleep I went out into the garage and spent a couple of hours playing on the acoustic guitar. It was a most enjoyable session and I expect I'll be doing more of it (and possibly setting up the home recording gear too).

A late breakfast accompanied the Dallas Stars v Vegas Golden Knights game from last night. This was game four of the Western Conference Finals with the Stars leading the series 2 - 1. First period ended tied at 0 - 0. The second period had a little more action and it ended with the Stars leading 2 - 1. Third period ended with Stars winning 2 - 1 and extending their lead in the series to 3 - 1. Next game is do or die time for the Golden Knights.

Trash TV reigned supreme as we went back to watching Four In A Bed. I make no apologies. 

After the trash it was back to hockey only this time live as we watched the New York Islanders v Tampa Bay Lightning in game four of the Eastern Conference Finals. Lightning were leading this series 2 -  so were hoping for another win for them, First period ended tied 0 - 0. Second period was action packed with three goals scored in 27 seconds which ended with the Lightning leading 2 - 1. Third period ended with the Lightning winning 4 - 1 and they now lead the series 3 - 1. 

So now both the Western and Eastern Conference Finals both have teams with a 3 - 1 series lead so both  the Stars and the Lightning could be in the Stanley Cup Final after their next games!