Stratford Victorian Christmas Market, Sabai Sabai and El Greco

I had a nice long sleep as seems to be the norm at weekends these days. After a nice cuppa we wrapped up warm and headed out into Stratford to see the Victorian Christmas Market.

There were so many lovely stalls and things going on. Everything just felt really Christmassy which made me feel like a big kid :) There was entertainment too...

We had a hungry so decided to pop into Sabai Sabai for lunch. Oh my goodness, the food there is so good and their lunchtime deal was amazing! I didn't bother with a main as the combo starter was great value.

After the noms we went on a further mooch and picked up some Christmas presents for people plus a couple of other bits.

As the afternoon progressed the lights started to come on which things look lovely.

After the shoppings we headed back to mums for a bit of a chill out and more tea. In the evening we headed out to El Greco for a meal. The town looks lovely at night at the moment.

Our Greek meal was delicious and we had a lovely time.

I decided to spare you all being subjected to more food pictures so instead I have a special treat for you. You won't find me doing this very often but tonight as a very special event I reveal to you the disco lavatory:

After some delicious hot fruit infusions we then took a slow stroll back to mums. Not being done for the night we cracked out the champagne and watched Strictly Come Dancing (well, mum did anyway).

The countdown continues to The Last Jedi! Only 5 days to go now.

Here's another fabulous TV spot.....

Off to Stratford-upon-Avon, snow, early Christmas & Rogue One

It was off to Stratford-upon-Avon to see mum this afternoon. We decided to go by train this time to make things a bit easier. When we arrived there was snow, and we were delighted.

It was a bit chilly by the time we got to mum's so cups of tea were had to take the edge off :) Much chat and hilarity then followed. A gorgeous vegetarian casserole for dinner and we also decided to have Christmas early, just because LOL

We are now a mere SIX days away from The Last Jedi!

The quite excellent Rogue One was the viewing choice for tonight as we move through the movies :)

Here's a The Last Jedi teaser trailer to help pass the time......

New glasses and Revenge Of The Sith

Before heading to the office today I went and picked up my new glasses. They are taking some getting used to as the field of vision is completely different due to them having larger lenses than my previous ones.

The Last Jedi countdown plan continued tonight with Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith. This is one of my top Star Wars films.

For a bit of fun here is Kelly Marie Tran putting Star Wars characters into their appropriate Hogwarts houses!

Improved throat and Attack Of The Clones

Well I am pleased to day that my throat has improved a lot today so taking an additional day of working from home was a good plan. Sadly I will have to go back into the office tomorrow though LOL Today The Last Jedi countdown continued.....

Tonight it was time for Episode II: Attack Of The Clones. The is probably my least favourite of the films but it is still a good one. There is lots to love, Jango Fett, Zam Wessel, Kamino, Coruscant, Count Dooku, Palpatine's ego stroking and Anakin's tantrums, Bail Organa and more Jar Jar LOL.

The media coverage for The Last Jedi is ramping up as you would expect with some great red carpet photos being released.

The Star Wars Show caught up with the cast of The Last Jedi, check it out here:

Working from home and The Last Jedi countdown beings

It was another day of working from home today in the company of Broncho Stop products as my throat and voice were a mess when I woke up. I managed to get loads done and thankfully having no voice meant that I got to postpone a couple of meetings too, so that was a small result LOL.

The Star Wars countdown has officially begun and so we started watching the movies in the run up to The Last Jedi. Not most people's cup of tea but tonight we started with Episode I: The Phantom Menace

The excitement is real!

I now not only have to work my way through all the movies ready for our midnight screening of The Last Jedi but I also have four novels to try and read between now and then too! It's a mission but it can be done!

....and crash

After such an amazing weekend my health finally decided to decline and crash out on me as I woke up with a really bad throat.

I dragged myself into the office as I had an important one to one with my boss but I bailed out at lunchtime as by then I could hardly speak. I didn't actually feel ill but my throat made talking almost impossible so I spent the afternoon working from home.

It was back on the Broncho Stop again but this time they helped a bit but didn't get me through like they had on Friday.

We did a bit of a TV catch up in the evening but I bailed out early in the hope that a good rest would help my throat....

A Toxic goodbye as superfans assemble and get #inTOXICated one last time

Today was the final two shows of The Toxic Avenger The Musical. Sam, Zoe and I were booked in to see both the matinee and final evening performance.

We were NOT disappointed! The matinee performance had us returning to the front row again for some close up action. Props were on standby and we had a great show. It was nice to see the backstage crew adding a little Xmas pizazz to things.

It was a quick changeover between shows so we grabbed a bite to eat and then we started distributing additional props to the superfans that were around us to make sure that things went out with a bang! It was an amazing final show. The cast were on fire, the crowd were on fire and you could feel the love throughout the theatre.

After the show the superfans gathered for photos, autographs and to thank the cast and crew for all the enjoyment they had brought us.

It's been an incredible ride and we've all had so much fun. Sam walked away the record holder with 14 visits, Mr Ian Day had 12, I had 10 and Zoe had a very respectable 5 by the end. So much joy was brought to us by an amazingly talented cast.

A BIG THANK YOU to the cast Ben Irish, Natalie Hope, Emma Salvo, Oscar Conlon-Morrey, Ché Francis, Peter Bindloss and Sophia Lewis.... and Mark Anderson.

A BIG THANK YOU to director Benji Sperring and Katy Lipson of Aria Entertainment and to Alex Beetschen and all the musicians plus every member of the crew without whom this would not have been possible!

A BIG THANK YOU to David Bryan and Joe DiPetro for writing the play and music and lyrics

A BIG THANK YOU to Uncle Lloyd Kaufman and Troma for creating The Toxic Avenger in the first place!

Dolmen Grove Yule Ball

Today Toni, Keith, Helen and I head off to Weymouth for the Dolmen Grove Yule Ball. First stop was Pinkie's house where were staying to drop stuff off.

We then all popped out for a meal at The Ship Inn where good food and good conversation ensued.

After the food we headed back to Pinkie's to get ready for the Yule Ball. It was a great night. Things kicked off with the wonderful Esme Knight with a great acoustic set:

Next up was Seren with a smooth set.

The evening rounded out nicely with a great set from The Dolmen which ended with Crow Dancers performing two numbers. I was too busy enjoying things to take any photos but someone did manage to get one of me when I was up with Crow Dancers.

After the music it was time to have a drink and chill.

What a brilliant night it was. So nice to catch up with people once again enjoy top notch entertainment. Roll on 2018!

Keeping the lurgs at bay

I was feeling a little under the weather today with my throat not behaving itself. It was sponsored by the wonderful Broncho Stop and thankfully this managed to keep things at bay. This was a major relief as I had a busy weekend ahead that I didn't want ruined by illness.

#Intoxicated once again at The Toxic Avenger The Musical

The Arts Theatre West once again played host to Toni, Sam Zoe and I as we made another return to watch The Toxic Avenger The Musical. This was 8 for me, 12 for Sam, 2 for Toni and 5 for Zoe. We do rather like it if you hadn't already gathered!

The props were out tonight and it was another amazing performance from the cast. It just seems to get better and better every time we see it and tonight everything was very polished.

After the show Sam and I had to get a shot with Oscar who plays the Folk Singer (and 12 other characters) donning our wigs and banner raised.

Our efforts were appreciated

Day off, not a day off, Runaways, Despicable Me 3 & Avengers trailer

Today was planned as a day off. Had to do some stuff with Toni in the morning and was going to then relax for the rest of the day. Made the mistake of checking a few emails and then realised that there things I need to have in place before I can take some time off. My day off turned in to not a day and became a half day off instead.

Oh well, on the plus side I did get to work from home and managed to clear off all the things that had been cropping up in the morning. Despite not being quite as I had intended I did end the day feeling slightly rested.

The evening was spent watching the latest episode of Marvel's Runaways and then the totally awesome Despicable Me 3.

I'd better give an honourable mention to the Avengers Infinity War trailer that dropped today too. Can't wait to see this next year! Damn, that new Spider-Man suit!!!!!!

Controlled explosion at The Gherkin (Suspect Device)

Well it was all go at the office today. Everything was busy as usual and I was just about to go and start doing a review when we received an internal alert instructing us to all stay away from the windows and to immediately head to the basement.

Turns out a car had been left unmanned outside the Gherkin and the situation was being taken very seriously. History: The Gherkin stands on the site of the Baltic Exchange and Chamber Of Shipping which were extensively damaged by an I.R.A. bomb in 1992 so potential terrorist threats are always treated with due diligence.

While in the basement there was a muffled bang. I suggested it as a controlled explosion (much to the disbelief of colleagues) but I've heard enough of them over the years to have an idea what they are like. After much waiting we were informed that the police had indeed conducted a controlled explosion on the car. It was all over in just over an hour and we were allowed back to our desks. Lots of good photos came from surrounding buildings including the robot:

Here's one of the new reports


Brings to mind the 'good old days' of the suspect device threat

Busy day and early night

It was busy at work today, it just never seems to stop. Still, better than being bored I suppose. I got logs of done and am slowly working my way through new processes to try and come up with a better way of working.

It was a lazy do for cooking so kebabs were ordered and we watched the first two episodes of Stargate SG1. Everyone was tired though so it was early nights all round.

Morning work, Penn & Teller, Stargate and Rangers win

Well there's nothing quick like having to do a bit of work on a Sunday to start it off in a bad way. It was something I could have done without but it was sadly a necessary evil. *sigh*

After the working it was back to the chilling again (with a large mountain of toast and bramble jelly).

We've started watching a great little show called Penn & Teller: Fool Us. The premise is that magicians have to perform a trick/illusion in front of a live studio audience (and Penn & Teller) and Penn & Teller have to work out how it is done. If they can't do it then the magician gets an all expenses paid trip to Las Vegas to open for Penn & Teller at their residency there. It's actually quite fascinating especially when they get fooled by some of the more unlikely candidates.

Next exciting thing for the day was watching the Stargate movie. I always forget just how enjoyable it is. It was also funny watching something with James Spader in that was The Blacklist.

This has now given us incentive to watch all ten season of Stargate SG-1......

The evening closed out with us checking out our first New York Rangers game in a while. We tuned in at the start of the first with Rangers trailing 0 - 1 against the Vancouver Canucks. Second period ended with Vancouver leading 1 - 2 and we were wondering if we'd made a mistake tuning in. At the start of the third the Rangers drew 2- 2 before Vancouver went 2 - 3 up. It was definitely starting to feeling like one of those games. A beautiful combo play from Vesey and Nash had the level at 3 - 3 with 13 minutes left. Despite some good chances neither team could get the win and so we went to overtime! Overtime was very frantic and then we went to penalty shots. Aaaarrggghhh! After much butt clenching the Rangers managed to win on the 7th shoot out round! PHEW!

Godless, The Punisher and Star Trek Discovery

It was a goggle box day today as we kicked back and chilled.

We watched the first episode of Godless, a new wild west TV show on Netflix. It shows lots of promise so it will be interesting to see how things develop with this one over time.


This morning we finished The Punisher. What a brilliant ending to a fantastic series and a great setup to Season 2 if things go that way. Marvel really did excel when they put this series together and it is the best one so far. Not bad for a spin-off from the Daredevil show. I am glad they did it though as The Punisher has always been a favourite of mine so it was good to see something that actually did the character justice and this was head and shoulders above any of the films.


We then embarked on a journey into space with Star Trek Discovery. My interest in Star Trek TV shows has always been a bit hit and miss. I liked some The Original Series stuff, The Next Generation was good and I quite liked the different angle that Deep Space Nine took. Voyager started well and I loved Janeway's character but it started to fizzle out and Enterprise was awful so I had no real excitement about a new series. Toni had watched some of it and said it was worth a shot.

Colour me impressed, the new take on things is pretty good. I like the new characters and it has a fresh feel to it despite also managing to maintain a very clear Star Trek blueprint behind it. Ended up binge watching the whole season! Check it out:

Marvel's Runaways

Tonight we ventured into new territory as we checked out the first three episodes of Marvel's Runaways, a new TV show.

We knew nothing about Runaways and opted to watch it blind rather than hit Google for the inside scoop. Other than knowing it was a Marvel comic, that was it.

The show is very good. It was nice to watch something with no preconceived ideas and the story builds up nicely with little surprises popping up as it goes along.  It's a simple premise: Six teenagers from different backgrounds unite against a common enemy — their criminal parents, collectively known as the Pride.

Here's the trailer if you fancy a taster.

Goodbye dad, great sign and eye tests

First thing it was time to say goodbye to dad as we dropped him off at Eltham station for his journey home. Toni, Zoe and I then headed to Eltham High Street to go to Specsavers. On our way I spotted this wonderful sign painted on the wall of one of the buildings. We need more things like this!

All three eye tests resulted in changed prescriptions and the need for new glasses which we will be picking up in a couple of weeks. Strangely my eyesight has actually improved, no idea how that happened but I am not complaining!

Family meal at Ziyafet

After work tonight Toni, Zoe, dad and I went to Ziyafet for a meal as it was dad's last night with us. Good food is always pleasing and tonight was no exception. It was a nice relaxing way to spend the evening.

Three generations get #Intoxicated

Tonight we had three generations of family visiting the Arts Theatre West End to see The Toxic Avenger The Musical. This was my 7th time, Sam's 11th and a debut for dad.

As usual it was an amazing performance. We were front row and so the props came into effect with additional ones being made for dad too. He didn't let us down and participated. There were cameras in tonight practicing a taping that will be made soon.

We had another folk singer inspired surprise tonight which went down well.

Sam and I left delighted and dad had a really good time too. Here's what he had to say on Twitter. "Absolutely terrific night out. What a show! What a cast!".

Sad to say it will all be over soon with the final performance being on Sunday 3rd December.

Shooting the breeze

Tonight dad and I had a chance for a proper catchup as we spent the evening shooting the breeze. It was nice to have some time just to talk for a few hours about all sorts of things. We don't often have some quality time together so tonight was most enjoyable.