Bowed but not beaten, the dishwashing saga and other ramblings

It's been awhile since I did a newsy blog, and before you all panic, yes there's a whisky one a comin' soon. Obviously it's been busy, with with Assange crashing in the spare room, but you know, you do what you can for the Aussies...  [yes ok, I'm aiming to up readership with that]

Word of the week, possibly fortnight, has been chilly. With overtones of snowy. The white stuff that floats down, not canines or nasal condiments. We've had a reasonable fall around here, certainly more than last year. So I can confidently say, as far as I'm concerned, it's the coldest winter on record. As appears usual, winter has caught the British unawares, and the infrastructure has collapsed, again. Trains, buses, schools, cars have all succumbed to the cold and stayed indoors. Although in their defence, it apparently has been rather cold in Europe too, even the Germans and Scandinavians have been suffering. Go have a look at the BBC or any other news outlet for pictures.
I had to visit Birmingham last week for a training course. This became quite tricky when the two trains I was going to use were cancelled. However, it appears most cross country trains head to B'ham, so I got there on time. And just in time for a severe snow storm as I wandered to the venue. Fun. Actually it was quite nice wandering up in the snow. I didn't get much chance to wander around B'ham, but what I did see in the city centre seemed nice so may wander back at some point and have a better look around.

Wednesday of the training session, I nipped out a couple of hours early as I had to get London for the National gig at the Brixton O2. This was superb. Very simple stage layout, just the band and some projections, all very effective. Hard to single out highlights, but everything I wanted to hear was played, and a nice mix of all the albums. I've heard them described by Americana, and I guess that's kinda right, but more in the Nick Cave interpretation of Americana than, say, Iron and Wine or Wilco. Their lyrics are dark and subtle, with the singer an interesting mix of Nick, possibly Crash Test Dummies, but with the ability to scream. Lyrically I probably prefer The National to Nick, at least for consistency.
Albums to try, the new one (high violet) is slightly more upbeat than previous, but you can't go wrong starting with Boxer. Unlike some bands, you can't go wrong with anything from them.
Here's the video to the first single from the current album 'High Violet'

The National - "Bloodbuzz Ohio" (official video) from The National on Vimeo.


Admittedly getting back to B'ham was 'tricky'. Trains were delayed and rerouted, meaning I ended up arriving back at the accomodation around 3am.

I got dragged to Harry Potter by S. It's no worse than I expected, however in places it almost makes Star Wars Ep1 look good. Nothing happens, no characters are developed, although jar-jar is knocked off, there is no plot, and it's still (in keeping with #1 and 2 which I have seen) lurches from scene to scene with no attempt to link. I know it's a kids film, but really, why stretch it to 2h30min? I barely survived, and even I felt sorry for the kids watching it.
Highlights? Ron making a comment along the lines of 'Don't tell Hermionineininieniene but those snatches are quite easy' - awesome, I laughed, tho appeared to be the only one in the theatre doing so. There was a moment when it looked like Harry was going to get his wand out, but then he dived into cold water, reducing the impact somewhat.

The dishwasher and I have had discussions over the last couple of weeks. I decided it would be good to run the dishwasher at night, say 5am, using cheap electricity. I knew the dishwasher had a delay button on it (3, 6 and 9hr), and so after *reading the manual* (interpret how you will), I set it up to start in 9 hours time. It started promptly and went through its cycle. Discussions ensued, and we left each other alone, both knowing this wasn't finished.
Last night I tried again. Success was within reach, I set everything, I switched it on and shut the door. Nothing. Woohoo! I had won. Technology was my bitch. Cristal was poured and fireworks lit. Needless to say the fucker was teasing. I checked the machine this morning, although it had delayed itself, it hadn't actually gotten around to starting 12hrs after I set it, for a 9 hr wait.
Watch this space for Round 3.

Love, B