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Showing posts from June, 2006

world cup!

As those of you who have not been living under rocks will realise, the Football World Cup is on again. Started on Friday. And I have been hanging around whining because of my lack of SBS reception. Well today I caved and bought a digital set top box, the only problem being that the decent cheap ones were all sold out (apparently) because of the World Cup, and I felt I could only justify buying a dodgy cheap one. Which, alas, turned out to be incapable of picking up SBS. I'll have to return it tomorrow. Anyway, my hopes were all dashed, and were dashed even further when someone at church said that if I had no SBS reception at all (which I don't) a digital box won't fix the problem. I'm not sure if it's true, but if so then it is very, very sad. On the plus side, I managed to see most of the Serbia and Montenegro vs. Netherlands match tonight, by dint of being out with a group of people from church. It was in an RSL club, there were many tv screens, and some people w...

review: espresso tales

The sequel to '44 Scotland Street' by Alexander McCall Smith (author of the well-known 'No. 1 Ladie's Detective Agency' series). It is really a collection of stories based around a collection of characters, set in Edinburgh and centering on 44 Scotland St. They were both enjoyable books, nothing particularly momentous happens, relationships change, small but life-changing things occur, it is lightly humourous and mildly philosophical. Some of the characters, such as the central character, Pat, the gallery owner Matt, the coffee shop owner Big Lou and Bertie, a six year old boy, are quite likeable. Others, such as the narcisistic Bruce and pushy mother Irene are much less so. It's an effective mix. But there are problems. The sage Domenica, neighbour and friend to Pat, began to really irritate me about halfway through the book, through always being 'right', or apparently so, but since I didn't always agree with her it grated. Also she didn't let a...

feeling the same way all over again

So I'm sitting here in the library, and it's rainy and cold outside but soon I'll have to leave and go to work, and I have Norah Jones stuck in my head (hence the title of this post). But I am happy, because I have a new yellow umbrella! I love yellow umbrellas, they cheer me up when it is grey and wet outside. Also I saw friends today, which is always nice. On the downside, I have to work tonight. Yeah, it's pretty darn tragic I know. Nice weekend, with new pyjamas and Bollywood movies and library visiting. I'm reading 'Espresso Tales' now, the sequel to '44 Scotland Street' by Alexander McCall Smith, which is kind of nice and kind of annoying, but I'll try to write a review of that when I finish.