02/07/2009 by Peej.

… you feel the need to buy a paddling pool to cool down in and this is the only reasonably priced one you can find:

Can’t take this heat and am very glad I decided not to go to Dubai; I would have struggled so badly!  Actually I would describe this pool more as an armchair - comfortable.

Other exciting news; Roger Federer is playing really well in Wimbledon; fingers crossed for him and share your support here as Roger plays to win his 15th Grand Slam title.  Good luck Roger!

Also I’m massively excited, my one weakness in boy bands as a child was the Backstreet Boys and they are about to release their 7th album :)  So of course I’m off to see them in November!!!  Yayyyyyyy.  25 year old acting as 12 year old alert.  I apologise in advance to BK!

Toodles

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22/06/2009 by Peej.

I’m rubbish at blogging!

Borders Confined Result… we lost the final 6-1 6-2 – it was one of those games where the score doesn’t reflect the quality of the match; we tried hard.  Still we got a shiny medal as runners up and there was an article in the paper about it all last week.

Wimbledon starts today - how exciting.  Federer all the way.

Speaking of being in the paper last week, I was also on BBC Breakfast last Monday.  As mentioned about 2 blogs earlier, KS and I were interviewed after I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue and I said some of the right things as it made the cut – ‘they’re comedy legends and part of British Culture’ or something along those lines… our two second claim to fame.  The article on Clue was shown last Monday as it was the day of the first Clue to be aired without Humph (well, since the early 1970s when Barry was chairman for a few shows).  Stephen Fry was guest host and while he did a great job, I felt he’s better off as a panellist or maybe it’s because I’ve heard Rob Brydon in the Chair and he’s excellent at it?  I don’t know – I love Stephen though but I think as a guest panellist he works better on Clue.

On Thursday, KS and I went to the Borders Book Festival to see Michael Palin.  Neither of us were entirely sure what he would be discussing as we knew he hadn’t released a book recently, but he talked about his diaries.  He was so funny; what a clever guy- naturally funny and I’m very glad he was introduced to cabaret and didn’t continue in serious acting.  Michael spoke for over an hour on a variety of subjects including a Book Festival he had been to in Pakistan recently where the Israeli guards wouldn’t let it take place so the French invited the festival to the French consulate/ building where the Israeli guards had no jurisdiction.

After the talk, KS and I went on to the champagne reception where we found ourselves in front of the Chairman of Book Aid as he told the audience through the Book Aid charity and what it does.  Then Michael got up to speak about examples of where he’d come across sharing communication and books in Africa.  We met Michael after – he seems like a nice guy but he left early (presumably back to Edinburgh).

KS and I then wandered through Melrose wondering how we had gotten so drunk – it was the bubbles in the champagne… we’ve decided this is the way to go!

Well I’m back into work today – looking forward to it all once more as we’re free from our burden in the office.  I have bad sunburn though; was mowing the lawn yesterday and the sun was hotter than I realised!  Never mind.

Check out my flickr page for pics of flowers I took yesterday.

Toodles

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12/06/2009 by Peej.

As mentioned last week I have been playing in the Borders Confined tennis tournament for the first time.  I had entered the Mixed and Women’s doubles.

6th June - Mixed Doubles match was won convincingly 6-3 6-1

9th June - Women’s Doubles match was lost but with a fight 4-6 7-5 10-7 (the third set was a 10 point tie break.

10th June - Mixed Doubles match was lost badly 1-6 1-6 but we were playing very steady seeds and we did mix up our tactics oh say every other game but it was fun.

10th June - Women’s Doubles Consolation Semi Final - yes, I’m not sure how we got straight into the semis but I’m not complaining!  My partner and I pulled ourselves back from 0-2 down to win 6-3; we just played solidly and consistently.

13th June - Women’s Doubles Consolation Final…. tomorrow so wish me luck

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10/06/2009 by Peej.

Theatre Royal, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, 4^th June 2009

I can’t actually remember the last time I went to see ISIHAC as a recording. I can remember the last time I saw it as a stage show which left me with a lovely memory of a giggling Humph having a brilliant time in Edinburgh.

The recording I was off to was the third recording in the first series without Humph who had sadly passed away in March 2009.  Much missed and never forgotten, Humph was much loved by the people who encountered him in their lives.  How do you replace Chairman Humph?

I know there had been many speculations on whether Clue should continue, should there be a mix-up on who hosts and who guests, should the format of the show change or what.  I think I’d joined in with my tuppence worth but for a while I hadn’t actually thought about.  If you changed the formula you ran the possibility of destroying everything.  I had no idea what Clue would be like without Humph and what the production team might do to ensure the show’s future.

I love the Theatre Royal in Newcastle; I have been to so many shows there in my time, I even did a week’s work experience there when I was 16 – memories of watching ‘The Twits’ many many times and Wimbledon with the security guy at the stage door.  I think it’s the first time Clue has been to Newcastle, I remember being forced in Sunderland to see the recordings once.  There are very few people I would go to Sunderland for!  Joking… (not).

It was really nice to be back in the Toon, and finally, after hearing so much about it, I had a meal in ‘Starters and Puds’!  I had mixed up the street is was on, muttering ‘Hood Street’ a lot; think I have to go and actually find out where Hood Street is and it wasn’t on the same street as Flatbread Cafe either, however we found it on Shakespeare Street opposite Theatre Royal.  A lot of my friends from Newcastle go on and on about the place but had never taken me there on my rare visits there.  It’s a great place where the menu is literally starters and puds.  KS and I started with bread and oil (who ate all the oil KS?) and had a lovely, if slightly rich, goat’s cheese risotto.  Mmmn nice.

Later in the day we met up with Saucy Gibbon forum members, it’s a bit of a shame that I was one of the founder members of SG and hardly get time to post on the forum but I lurk and read.  I don’t have time to really hang out much on the Internet; I seem to always be busy busy busy.  There were a few forum members I met who I knew and some knew names I didn’t know.  We had a very very long game of 84 Chicken Cross Road which strangely didn’t make much sense. 

We were sitting in the stalls, when I was trying to buy us tickets, it was like a mad house; I was on the work phone and my mobile, ringing and ringing and ringing.  I think it took me nearly 20 minutes before I was able to get through.  We were quite far back; it’s a good thing I know my contact lenses are wrong because I was genuinely squinting!  It’s also odd because you can hear the audience at the front laughing or clapping at something you can’t hear, you could also hear the audiences above us clapping a little longer or earlier than yourself as well – it’s very odd.

Do you know what?  Jon Naismith has a new joke!!!  Yes a new joke!  Although I think he should move on from the POW one, it’s not like they are just doing 6 recordings a year now.

I don’t want to give anything away because you’ll hear it all on the radio soon but we all knew Rob Brydon would be the host for the show, indeed he is the third ever host for Clue, he has possibly overtaken Barry Cryer’s times as a host, if not he will be gaining on him.  I think Jack Dee will soon be the second longest stint as a host when he goes on the road with ISIHAC theatre show this summer. 

This might sound odd but it’s the only way I can describe this so bare with me.  I think Rob Brydon as a host worked because the read the scripts, which hadn’t changed from the style we’re so used to, read it as himself.  Yes, I know, how else would he read it?  But he didn’t try to be Humph which was the key thing.  In fact I hope his Monsieur Poirot comments remains in the final edit.  Very funny guy.

I won’t reveal the Mystery Guest here although on twitter, he did reveal unto all his followers that he was going to be the mystery guest at Clue.  I boo-ed him for that because there’s something about being a mystery/ surprise that, you know, I like to find out on the night who it is going to be.  Now everyone has had it spoilt by the e-mail from Jon Naismith… I mean, why not just announce who the guests are from the start if we aren’t going to have surprises anymore?  Ok where did that rant come from?

After the show, KS and I ended up being interviewed by a breakfast TV show (everything was really great) before we met up with everyone at the stage door again and there were loads of people waiting, indeed the teams were out really quickly.  The first person we met was Mystery Guest and a whole host of us, as led by KS, gave him his Twitter sign.  In fact if you look you will find a picture of the MG and KS as uploaded by the MG. 

The next person I encountered was the lovely Tim B-T; it had been such a long time since I last saw him- almost a year!!  Apparently he’d been talking about me recently as well.  It’s always a pleasure to see TB-T- he’s one of my heroes.  I mean that, he always knows to say the right things even if he doesn’t know it!

I didn’t see anyone else which was a shame; there was quite a crowd which I find stresses me a little and I find it hard to a) see everyone and b) feel relaxed about it.  There will be a next time though.

Unfortunately, we had to leave pretty sharp after Tim left; I had to get KS and I back to Scotland and we were both pretty knackered.

The series and recordings are dedicated to Humph, gone but never forgotten.

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08/06/2009 by Peej.

If you’ve followed this blog for a while, you might have picked up on the fact that a) I’m a tennis fan and b) Roger Federer is my tennis hero.

On 7th June 2009, Roger Federer won 3 sets from Robin Soederling  (6-1 7-6 (1) 6-4) to win the French Open title!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!  :)

Roger Federer is one of the greatest tennis players ever, indeed he is The MAN!

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06/06/2009 by Peej.

Gosh, I’m very nervously excited for this.  Don’t think people I’ve been speaking to quite understand me but I’ve not done this before so I am very nervous.  Mum and dad are coming to watch as well so I’ll have a wee fan club.  Hopefully it will be a good match though.

Today I’m playing in the mixed doubles and on Wednesday I’ll be in ladies doubles and hopefully mixed.  Of course, there’s the consolation side of things as well.

Wish me luck!

p.s. went to see ISIHAC this week which was fun :)  blog to follow.

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01/06/2009 by Peej.

Sorry, I have My Shadow stuck in my head, yesterday it was My Delirium (which I didn’t see coming).

Catching up with life, got home last night just in time for a barbecue; midgies were out though so we ended up coming in quite quickly.   Today, I’m knackered and my arm and shoulder hurt which I think is due to lugging two heavy bags on one shoulder and a heck of a lot of enjoying a gig.  I can’t remember if I said previously that I didn’t take a camera with me to the gig which was really nice and no bag either.  It was nice to have a gig where I wasn’t fiddling about or panicking.

So excitement in the French Open, a couple of blog entries ago I said that Roger would kick Rafa’s ass in the final (or something like that) and I said I thought I was wrong.  As I was writing that, I thought I was putting the writing in the stone for Roger especially when he battled back from 5-1 down in the third set to move ahead 2-1 in sets and then take the fourth to win the match.  What I didn’t expect was that Rafa would then be going out…

From the highlights on the bbc sports website of the 4th set tie break, I would have said that one of the key problems for Rafa was that his serve, while still accurate, just wasn’t as strong as it usually is.  During the rallies he didn’t use his shot placement properly, returning balls straight back to Soderling instead of going for the extreme angles he normally takes.

Luckily I didn’t find out this news before my laptop ran out of battery on the train yesterday, the electricity on my side of the train didn’t appear to be working so I couldn’t charge the laptop up.  Bit of a bummer of a 5 hour train journey that should have been a lot shorter!  Booo being stuck inside on a gorgeous sunny day.

In fact yesterday was really nice and relaxed, took our time getting up, just chilled out and discussed loads of things, HMacD had to return to class yesterday (booo for her, but it’s the last one) and then I met up with B&NK for breakfast.  It was like being back on the continent; sitting outside in Fulham slowly roasting away eating (tasteless) scrambled egg and toast.

Schedule is in for the Borders Confined tennis competition; can barely find my name so hopefully everything will fit in with the plans I have for next weekend.

Going to think of some ways to cheer my granny up, she’s been told she has osteoporosis and she’ll be feeling pretty down.  She is having a really crap time right now.

On a more cheerful note, beautiful weather again today, I hope it holds on till after G&H’s wedding on Saturday and their party on Sunday.

Watching a TV show where apparently a man who can’t read has passed his driving test… think there’s a bit of an oversight in that plotline.

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31/05/2009 by Peej.

So happy birthday to Island Records; home to some of my favourite artists including my favourite band; Keane!!!

Island Records is 50 years old this year - how young - and to celebrate this, they have been doing things on and off throughout the year.  I went to one of their celebratory gigs last night, funnily enough Keane were headlining (not that that will surprise many people).

First  up on stage was Ladyhawke, I don’t know if it’s just because the sound was a bit poor but I couldn’t really hear her over the drums at all, she also comes across as very shy on stage (not helpful when you have to keep the audience entertained), but to be honest although she was a good musician I found her pretty same-y which was a shame, I had high hopes.  Although I think she’d be good to see if the gig was more relaxed and have afew drinks while watching.

Next on stage was Tom Tom Club (who came out of Talking Heads), very good fun; the women were very boldly dressed I thought (I don’t think I would be confident at their age to wear the dresses they did).  They had a few mad songs, were better than they came across on iTunes but their set went on maybe a little too long.  TTC struck me as being a bit like the Bonzo Dog Band; you need to see them to appreciate the fun of the band’s songs.  Enjoyed them quite a lot; would enjoy seeing them again in a club where you could dance.  The drummer made things quite a bit cheesy though.

Apparenly the acts were all supposed to have equal billing and the same time on stage but there was no doubt who the crowd was there for though.  Was very amused when the compere missed out mentioning Keane’s latest album after singling out Hopes & Fears and Under The Iron Sea.  There were a few comments on that one; unfortunately Perfect Symmetry seems to have passed many people by which I fail to understand; I think it’s their best yet and much more accessible to a majority audience.  Actually as you listened to Tom Tom Club who were very 80s synth based you could hear influences on Keane’s music (Talking Heads anyone?).

Well what can I say about Keane without boring you on the usual excited waffle of how good they were???

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!

The crowd was up for this show so much (how refreshing in the UK), for once I didn’t take my camera (wise move, I wouldn’t have taken good photos anyway) and pumped up by the excitement of seeing them, the sudden loss of self consciousness and the whole crowd, I just had so much fun.  I probably pissed quite a few people off behind me so apologies to anyone I upset; I was having fun.  I danced to Spiralling; raising the arms on the ‘wooooooo’ and IIAW was awesome- it’s never been the same since Jesse Quin added the bass; he kicks ass!  Live bass just brings so much more into the song; the songs totally rock more.  Crystall Ball took on a new level during the America tour (Chicago, I think,  was the were it really went up a couple of gears) and CB has stayed in that gear in the UK to the delight of the excited crowd.

Oh what a good night; what else can I say without repeating myself.  Keane are like a very addicitive drug - with all the expense of the drug but the highs are so totally worth every single penny.

Don’t worry, at some point they will be back in the studio to record yet another album (this time I’ll be saving money to do as much as I can) and my posts will not mention Keane so much.

GO AND SEE THEM ON THIS TOUR WHILE YOU CAN!!! Plus, if you haven’t bought Perfect Symmetry: DO IT!!!

Enough from me; enjoy this piccie of us looking so happy before the gig (imagine how we felt after):

.

 From this flickr.com page

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27/05/2009 by Peej.

I present Poppy, the world’s  most contented cat… ever.

She’s so cute; she spends most of her days like this (although usually on my bed) awww.

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27/05/2009 by Peej.

Roger to give Nadal a ral run for his money in the final.  Dinara Safina to take the women’s singles title.

(Bet I’m wrong)

Meanwhile, although it’s great to catch action shots and the BBC are certainly excelling themselves… they could do with picking some slightly more flattering images.

In the Scottish Borders league - Ladies Doubles Division 1 - Earlston are doing alright.  We’ve had two matches postponed due to rain, beaten Kelso and Peebles (who are tough teams to beat) and beaten Melrose.  So unbeaten right now - aaaaace.  We have St Boswells next week, then the Confined (which I’ve entered this year) and after that, we have Duns 1 scheduled with Selkirk and Duns 2 to play after them.  Duns 1 and St. Boswells are the other tricky teams but I really enjoy playing Duns even if we do lose.

TTFN.

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