Vinny the artist

THE most amazing thing we brought back with us from our trip to the USA in September (apart from a tonne of wonderful memories and an obbsession with cupcakes) was this painting.

This picture REALLY doesn't do it justice.....

Our amazing friend Vinny painted this picture especially for us. It's a road in El Cajon at dusk. The sun has disappeared behind the hills and there is just an amazing glow left in the sky, but the stars are already visible.

I can't decide what I love the most about this painting - the curve of the road, knowing it's a real place I've been, the cat's eyes, the twinkling lights of the city, the beautiful sky, the silhouette of the hills, or the fact that Vinny painted it especially for us.
All of those things make this one of the best gifts I've ever been given. It's very special to me.

Vinny is a very talented artist, yet very modest about it. He has so many of his beautiful paintings around the house. Jodi is also a very inspiring person to be around. She's so creative and will happily sit and draw or paint for hours. She makes amazing fantasy pictures from a blank piece of paper. Creativity just flows out of those two.

No wonder their kids are such amazing, creative and free-thinking people.

Moo!

I finally saved up enough cow points to send off for my free cow kite. Yay!

It's as big as me!

I love the udders and the gormless look on his face.

Many cow friends went to cow heaven when I traded my hard-earned herd in for this.

My herd was named after all my friends, so thank you all. In my cow heaven it's sunny and warm and there's plenty of yummy grass to eat. No one was eaten.

Adventures in cupcake land - part 2

For my second cupcake adventure I decided on chocolate chip. Mmmmm.....

Yes - that's a real photo of MY cupcakes, not something I found online!

To make 12 large cupcakes (you'll need muffin sized paper cases for this one, or make 14-16 fairy cake sized ones).

For the cupcakes

1 1/2 cups of plain flour

1 cup caster sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1 cup warm water

1/2 cup chocolate chips

For the frosting
125g butter, softened
200g icing sugar, sifted
4 tablespoons cocoa
A few drops of vanilla essence, optional
A splash of milk, if needed

Heat oven to 400F, 180C.
Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
Make a well in the centre.
Add vanilla essence, oil and most of the warm water.
Stir until moist. Add more water in needed to get consistency of thick batter.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Divide between 12 cake cases and bake for 15-20 minutes.
Place on a wire rack to cool.

The frosting
This was a bit hit and miss and I kind of made it up as I went along. I wanted American style butter frosting and I got there in the end. All the quantities are approximate. Just make it up as you go along.

Beat softened butter with a wooden spoon till it's really soft and creamy.
Add cocoa powder and vanilla essence.
Add half the icing sugar and mix well till it's all combined.
Add the rest of the icing sugar and mix well.
If mixture is too thick, add a very small splash of milk to loosen it up to spreadable consistency.
If mixture is too runny, add more icing sugar.
Spread a thick layer on each cupcake and make a cute swirl on top. (If you're clever you could pipe the frosting on, all posh like - I'm not that clever.)
I finished off with an indulgent sprinkle of maple sugar, just in case they weren't sickly ENOUGH.

Voila!

Lemon cupcakes

Continuing with my OBSESSION with cupcakes that started with a visit to Cupcake Royale in Seattle, I've been dying to find and try out some recipes. Today I had my first attempt and made lemon cupcakes. I found this super-simple recipe on t'internet. It's so easy even I can manage it! The icing is not a creamy soft frosting, it's very, very nice though.

To make 12 cupcakes

For the cupcakes

125g self-raising flour

125g butter, very soft

125g caster sugar

2 eggs, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

1-2 tablespoons milk to bind

For the icing

250g icing sugar

Juice of half a lemon, freshly squeezed is best

2 drops of yellow food colouring, optional

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.

Line a muffin tin with 12 cake cases.

Blitz all the cupcake ingredients together (except the milk) in a food processor till fully combined. Take the lid off and scrape down the sides a couple of times to make sure everything gets mixed together.

Add 1 tablespoon of the miilk and process again. Add another tablespoon of milk if needed, enough to make a batter with a smooth, flowing texture.

Divide the mixture between 12 cakes cases and bake for around 20 minutes, until golden brown and springy in the middle.

Put the cakes on a wire rack to cool.

The icing

Whisk together the icing sugar, yellow colouring and lemon juice to make a stiff mixture that won't run off your cakes. Dollop it on top of the cooled cakes.

Mmmmmm.....  Try not to eat them all at once.

Vertigo

No not the movie... unfortunately.

In late August I was struck down with a mystery illness that knocked me for six, for days and days on end. The most extreme dizziness I'd ever experienced made simple daily life almost impossible for nearly a week. Every time I moved the room would spin uncontrollably. It was so bad that my eyes would flick rapidly from side to side, trying to keep up with the rate of spin that my brain perceived. This of course led to severe nausea. On the worst day, I was sick 8 times, despite having an empty stomach. In fact I think that made it worse, as there was nothing to come out, so it felt like I was just going to turn inside out.
I couldn't lay down as that made the dizziness considerably worse. I sat totally still for 48 hours, even sleeping upright in a chair. It was the only way the fight the urge to throw up.
The whole experience freaked the shit out of me.

Yesterday morning (we're in late October now) I awoke at 5am, completely drenched in sweat and the room was spinning again. Oh crap....
Yep - it came back. The room was spinning, I could barely walk, falling against the wall, feeling sick etc.
This morning it happened again and I was sick too.

As this is the second time it's happened I'm getting a little concerned, so I called NHS Direct. They got a nurse to call me back, then she got a doctor to call me as well.
The conclusion was that I most likely have vertigo, also known as benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). The blurb says:

BPPV occurs when a person turns their head suddenly, or rolls over in bed. It is often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.

BPPV is thought to be caused by small fragments of debris which, for unknown reasons, break off from the lining of the labyrinth. The fragments, known as otoconia, are made of calcium carbonate crystals, and do not usually cause a problem unless they get into one of the ear’s fluid-filled canals.
When your head is still, the otoconia sit at the bottom of the canal. However, certain head movements cause the fragments to be swept along the fluid-filled canal, where they brush against the sensitive hairs that line the canal. This sends extra, confusing, messages to the brain, which responds by causing vertigo.
BPPV usually affects older people. Most cases occurr in people over 40. However, it can affect younger people, and may develop after an ear infection, or after a head injury that causes damage or inflammation to the inner ear.
Attacks of BPPV usually clear up within a few days. The condition usually clears up within a few weeks or months but it can sometimes reoccur at a later date.

Great....
I found some info on t'internet. I might try The Epley Manoeuvre, which is a set of specific head movements which are designed to move the fragments to a position outside of the labyrinth and hopefully stop the symptoms. Apparently it's successful in something like 80% of cases, so it's worth a try I guess.
I'm just a bit scared to do it, in case in makes me feel worse.

Gutted that we've missed seeing Jock, Mark and the Bushart guys tonight at Islington Academy. I was really looking forward to this gig. I can't risk driving till I'm sure I won't have another attack.

Sky TV and their sucky attitude to existing customers

At some point yesterday, while we were at work, there was a power cut at our house. The surge killed our Sky TV box - bummer...
So I went onto the Sky website to find out about getting a replacement box.

I was appalled to discover that existing customers have to pay three times as much for a new box as new customers do. New customers get it for £49, we, as loyal customers of over 10 years have to pay £149 PLUS they want another £60 for some bloke in a van to come and plug the bugger in!

Cue snotty consumer email asking them to explain why they feel this is ok and asking what exactly I get for my £60 installation fee. Their response was the worst type of impersonal bullshit I've ever had the displeasure to read.

"Thank you for contacting Sky Help Centre enquiring about the service we provide our existing customers.

I sorry to read your comments regarding this matter and welcome this opportunity to clarify our position.
Our agreement with you is to provide viewing services of your chosen viewing option and this we have done. Sky does make available promotional offers to new and past customers. However, long-standing active customers are also invited to upgrade their viewing option from time to time in response to promotional marketing mailings, which are issued.
I do not consider our policy to be unusual in comparison to many major service providers. Our aim is not only to provide excellent viewing services to our customers, but also to ensure that new business continues to be improved.
Due to our promotional offers changing so frequently and being more tailored to what packages and products you select, the best way for you to get the most up to date information would be to check out our website at the following link....."

Honestly - they may as well have simply sent me an email saying "Dear customer - fuck off."
This is the end of my relationship with Sky TV. I'll be looking to switch to another provider asap.

Doves at The Forum, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield

The Forum is a brand-spanking new purpose built venue, just off the A1 at Hatfield that has some serious potential. If it's managed well and promoted well, I'm hoping it'll soon be very much a part of the UK curcuit of mid-sized venues. It's similar in size to The Junction in Cambridge - I'm guessing around 800-1000 capacity.
It's so easy to get to, it only took half an hour from our house in Bedfordshire. There's a brand new, well lit multi-story car park right next door, that's free in the evening.
The staff were all friendly and polite. The toilets are spotlessly clean and there's about 20 of them in the ladies (no queue!). There was even loo roll....

It's a cracking venue. They've really thought it through and included all the essentials. I guess that's the advantage of a building that's designed for purpose, rather than converted, as most venues are. There's 3 large bars, one on a raised level behind the sound desk, with some seating and one either side of the main floor. There's also another bar on the upstairs balcony area. There's a purpose-built covered smoking area, right outside the main auditorium, so smokers can go for a quick fag without having to go very far or get wet.

This place was only completed in late August and it turned out that the Doves gig was the very first show to be put on here. Kudos to them for getting such a great band for the first night. The sound was spot on, well mixed and at just the right volume. Loud enough to take you away with it, but not so loud that it's oppressive or harmful. Nice lighting too - and a HUGE mirror ball in the centre of the room. I'm guessing that it's probably all LED lights, which don't give out the unbearable heat of the old-style ones. Proper ventilation too. The list just goes on and on.... So - onto THE MUSIC.

Doves came on at 9pm (after we'd endured a truly awful and totally forgettable support band). It took them a couple of songs to get into their groove. The drummer seemed to be having some problems for the first couple of songs. Maybe he couldn't hear properly or something, but he seemed to be struggling to stay in time and seemed to get lost a little here and there. It wasn't bad by any stretch of the imagination. The first two songs just seemed slightly disjointed and 'not quite right'. Anyhoo, by the third track all was well and Doves set about doing what they do best.

It was a great set. They played a whole bunch of awesome tunes. An extra long version of The Cedar Room was a highlight. I had a really good boogie to some great tracks: Pounding, Winter Hill, Snowden, There Goes The Fear, Words, Here It Comes, Kingdom of Rust, Ambition, Almost Forgot Myself, Black & White Town, The Greatest Denier, The Last Broadcast and Caught By The River.
One of my favourite tunes of the night though was Jetstream. I was listening to that track as we took off from Los Angeles, fighting back tears, so it now has a strong emotional connection for me.

By the end of the encore I was hoarse from singing and whooping and ached from dancing. It was a great crowd, a really good atmosphere and everyone was totally into it. I'd found myself dancing with the strangers around me with a big grin on my face. I was buzzzzzzing!

I really hope this venue takes off and continues to get lots of great bands playing there. It could easily become my favourite venue.

Crappy phone pics...

Tuesday 15th September

Sad, sad day. Our holiday has come to an end, our flight home is today and we're really NOT ready to leave. It feels like we just got here. We didn't have enough time in Seattle, or enough time in San Diego. Sigh...

We spent the morning cramming everything into suitcases and getting ready for the drive Los Angeles. We left in plenty of time, and the journey ended up only taking 2 hours. Lots of interesting stuff on the journey.

The stole all our town names!

Lovely...

The pacific ocean from the I-5, somewhere south of LA.

A big bird in the sky, or a reflection of Vinny? Both are cool.

I totally lost it and cried like a big girl’s blouse when Vinny dropped us off and drove away at the airport.  :-(

The flight home was nice. Did I mention somewhere before that business class rocks? We boarded first and they came around with champagne, while we were waiting for the peasants to board. ;-)

Despite the fact that you're "supposed" to stow everything and sit still during take-off, I took a few pictures of us leaving Los Angeles.

Goodbye Los Angeles.

Goodbye California.

10 hours goes quite quickly when you're being constantly fed. We had a 3 course dinner, watched a couple of movies (the new Terminator film and Angels & Demons). Then I had a bit of a sleep. Suddenly it was time for breakfast. Not just any old breakfast - a 3 course breakfast! Totally stuffed.

Before we had time to go completely stir crazy, we were back, landing at Heathrow. Went to the passport control desk at the UK border and OH BOY! what a culture shock. After spending 2 weeks being treated in a civil and polite way, it really took me back to be confronted by the grumpy fucker at passport control. We'd been in the country for 10 minutes, and Mark was looking at me and saying "Why the hell did we come back here?" My sentiments exactly. If I didn't have to work, I'd move to the USA in a heart-beat. However, until I win the lottery, it ain't going to happen. Not enough holiday. I couldn't give up my 25 days, no way.

The rest of the journey home was boring and miserable. We spent an hour on the tube, an hour on the train, then a 10 minute walk with 4 suitcases to Mark’s parents' house. It was nice to get our first 'proper' cup of tea in 2 weeks though.

I was then faced with trying to remember how to drive. It felt weird being on the left hand side of the road.

Thankfully I only had 2 days worth of dirty clothes to contend with when we got home, as I’d got 2 lots of washing done while we were away. That was a weight off. There's nothing more depressing than the post-holiday washing pile.

Tried to beat the jetlag by staying awake till 10pm, then slept for 9 hours. Back to work the next day.
Urgh.....
It worked for a couple of days, but the jetlag REALLY kicked in, along with the post-holiday blues at the weekend. I spent a week looking at emmigration and job sites, before I was finally able to let it go.

We had the BEST time. Thank you to all of our amazing friends who made it so much fun and so memorable. Love you all. Here's hoping it isn't too long before we can do it again. We're already saving!
3 weeks next time - and it'll include Boston too.

Monday 14th September

Sadly, our last full day in San Diego and the last full day of our holiday.
:-(

We made the most of it though, with a visit to Mission Trails with Vinny.
Mission Trails is a huge area of mostly rocky desert with a beautiful lake and wooded area too.

It was HOT, so we didn't go for a particularly long walk. More of an amble, slow enough to stop and take everything in. It's great to go for a walk with people who are really into nature and know that you have to just stop and wait quietly if you want to see stuff. It's amazing just how much wildlife is all around you, if you stop and look.

At the car park and were immediately greeted with this sign.

Yikes! Though apparently, it's the baby rattlers you have to watch out for, as they aren't mature enough to know how to control their venom. If they bite you, they just keep on injecting. OK......
Luckily we didn't come across any rattle snakes, though it would have been cool to see one in the wild.

We saw lots of birds and very cool lizards.

There's a lizard on the fence post - honest.

There was talk of the possibility of mountain lions in the area - YIKES again - and how our mobile phones wouldn't work out there, and there's no-one around and so on.....
Vinny made us feel much better when he told us there's no point in running away from a mountain lion, because he's going to decide whether he's going to eat you, and running away isn't going to change his decision. If anything, running makes you look more like prey. Worth remembering.

Grooviest and scariest thing we saw was a tarantula hawk wasp. It's a HUGE red and black wasp, about 3-4 inches long. That's one scary looking wasp. Thankfully, unless you happen to be a tarantula, they'll leave you alone. They lay eggs in a live tarantula and the grubs eat it from the inside out. NICE!
Here's a picture I found on t'internet. Scary huh? My quite beautiful too.

After a nice walk around, we were all hungry and thirsty, so we headed into San Diego Old Town for lunch. As it was our last lunch together, we went to a nice restaurant and splashed out. We all had the veggie combo which was HUGE and delicious.

I treated myself to a margarita too. It was sooooo tasty.

We trawled around a few shops in search of some "Ass-Kicking Chili Fixins", but couldn't find any. Mark bought a groovy t-shirt, which must have been made just for him. It says "You can never have too many guitars!" Hahaha.....
I bought some trashy tourist stuff, some margarita flavour taffy to take back to the peeps at work and some really cool rainbow drinking glasses. MORE stuff to fit into the suitcases!
Jodi came home late afternoon, and while the boys chilled out I went to Costco with her. It gave us a chance for a little girly time together too. What a HUGE place! You have to buy everything in bulk. Crazy. I guess it makes sense when you're shopping for a family though.

In the evening we watched a crazy Japanese anime movie called "Paprika". It's an insane story about a dream machine that’s stolen and used to infiltrate people’s minds. Loved it. It made me want to see more movies like that.
Here's a synopsis I found on t'internet.

In this Japanese anime epic, humanity's last bastion of privacy has finally been infiltrated by technology, the world of our dreams. The story centers on a new invention called the DC-Mini. With this revolutionary device, psychiatrists are now able to enter a patient's dreams in a therapeutic setting. But when an unknown assailant steals all of the devices, using them to enter peoples minds enacting mind control, chaos ensues as dreams begin to bleed into reality, and the thin line between the conscious and the unconscious begins to blur. Enter a young female researcher named Chiba, who takes it upon herself to delve into the newly anarchic dream world in order to set things straight. In this surreal realm her name is Paprika, and she's out to save the world. Bursting with fantastic imagery and breathtakingly innovative animation.

Sunday 13th Sept - San Diego cont.

Sunday was probably THE most memorable day of the whole holiday for me. I mean, every day was GREAT, and I hate to pick a favourite, but as far as really memorable days goes, Sunday wins.

During the day we went into El Cajon to a cool hippy shop.

Mark bought me a pretty polished stone heart pendant. Knowing that (because he's a bloke) he doesn't 'do' subtle hints, I picked the pendant up, handed it to him and said, "I like this and you're going to buy it for me.!  :-) 
Hey - it worked.....


We then had a HUGE lunch at Hilberto’s mexican restaurant. Burittos, quesadillas, nachos etc. Bloody lovely!

At 6pm we headed down to the harbour for a boat trip around San Diego bay. Vinny and Jodi had really pulled out all the stops to make this event so fantastic. They hired a big fishing boat for a private cruise.

There were 20 or so of their friends and family there. What a great bunch of people! Each and every one of them was so friendly and nice. They made us feel like we really belonged. It was pretty special.

I finally got to meet Vinny's sister Rose-Anne (RoRo) which was awesome. She's lovely, but somehow we managed to NOT get a picture of her. Dammit.

Vinny and Vern - aaaawwwwww.

The three hour trip took us to see loads of seals and sea birds. There were huge pelicans swooping over our heads, it was so amazing.

As it got gradually darker, we cruised towards the city and watched the downtown lights come on and the city light up. Amazing.

It's difficult to get a decent picture in the dark on a moving boat.

We passed under the HUGE Coronado bridge, which looked amazing at night. We saw a massive aircraft carrier (the Midway) and sailed right underneath the end of the flight deck. There was a beautiful sailing ship (The Star of India), and  the ¾ scale galleon that was used to make the film Master & Commander.

There was a picnic onboard and everyone just had a really great time. I'll never forget that day. And I didn't feel even vaguely sea sick!

Off the back of a lorry...

It's amazing what you can get off the back of a lorry......


On Saturday, we headed up to Market Harborough to see the awesome Burning Codes play at an Oxjam event. If  you're not familiar, these are events set up to raise money for Oxfam, usually with local bands playing. In a typical outside event kind if way, no-one really seemed to know quite what was going on, or who was playing when. So we got there at 12pm, thinking they'd be on pretty much straight away.

Unfortunately we had to endure two crappy bands in the force nine gale before we got our B.C. fix. The first band were just bad - nuff said. The second band were a group of teenagers with flying v guitars, playing knob-rock. Yawn.....

So finally Burning Codes took to the 'stage'. I say stage, but it was a curtain-side lorry trailer, balanced precariously in a lumpy field outside the local yoof cente. Access to said stage was up an equally precariously balanced step-ladder. Rock 'n' roll baby.

There weren't many people there to be honest. The people that were there were mostly dressed in fancy dress costumes, which leant a slightly surreal mood to the whole thing. Superman and wonder woman are not people you see at gigs that often.

Thankfully the rain that was threatening from the mean looking clouds skittering across the sky didn't fall on us. In fact the sun did come out here and there.

Burning Codes played a bloody excellent set. They didn't seem to mind the high winds or the lack of audience. They still pulled out all the stops and played like they mean it. Honestly, if you ever get a chance, go and see this band live. They blow my frikkin mind. The songs build and build from barely a whisper, till they eventually crash over you in a wave of beautiful harmonies and addictive grooves. Bloody lovely.



After the Codes set we continued our journey up to Ashton under Lyne and paid a long over-due visit to our lovely friends. A hilarious 2 hour long karaoke session with Andy C left me hoarse and aching from laughing. (You should hear my Thom Yorke!)
We then took Mr Kizilok out for a belated birthday dinner, which was fabulous. We ate at The King William in Wilmslow, Cheshire. The food was absolutely delicious (the best stuffed jalapenos I've ever had), generous portions and not expensive. A fun evening of live music, catching up and lots of laughs. I needed that....