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One More Until PK2K!
Here’s number 1999!
I’m just gutted he didn’t get it today, as I probably won’t see it now. West Coast baseball means all the games start at 3 in the morning (UK time), so unless there’s a rain delay and I can watch it while I’m getting ready for work, I just have to make do with the highlights! -
Album of the Week – Love Shine Through by Tim Hughes
I bought this album at the start of the week – I didn’t realise it was released a couple of months ago. I love the last two Tim Hughes albums, and I can say that I’m definitely going to think the same about this one after a few more listens. He has a way of writing songs which end up stuck in my head, I’ve had ‘At Your Name’ going round on a loop ever since I first listened to it.
Lord of all the earth
We’ll shout your name, shout your name
Filling up the skies with
Endless praise, endless praiseYahweh, Yahweh
We love to shout Your name, oh Lord
At Your Name – Tim HughesI got the first album for £2 at Wesley Owen a few years ago. Sometimes it pays to pick things up from the bargain bin!
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Now Reading: Joyce Carol Oates – We Were the Mulvaneys
I was a bit unsure about what to expect from my last book (The Postman Always Rings Twice). The blurb said that it was originally banned in Boston when it was released in the 1930s because it was too erotic and violent. I think I’ve been desensitised by modern films as I didn’t find it too bad. It was violent, but I’ve definitely read worse. The story itself was very interesting, I was just disappointed the book was only 116 pages long!
I got home from work today to my latest parcel from The Book People. This time I bought a couple of sets, including one set of 10 books for £4.50, which is where my next book comes from. Not a clue what to expect from it, but I’m just glad it’s a longer book than the last two, so it doesn’t end just as I’m getting in to it!
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Now Reading: James M. Cain – The Postman Always Rings Twice
The book I just finished was rather strange, but I quite enjoyed it. It was a collection of short stories written in the 1300s, some a bit stranger than others (The Eaten Heart was the weirdest).
My next book, The Postman Always Rings Twice, is part of my ‘successfully made into films’ set. I’ve never watched the film, and although I’ve heard of the book in the past, I don’t really know what it is about, so it should be interesting.
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Now Reading: Giovanni Boccaccio – The Eaten Heart: Unlikely Tales of Love
I really enjoyed the last book I read (One Day by David Nicholls). The book was set on the same day every year for 20 years, and it was pretty cool that the day just happened to be my birthday (St Swithin’s Day). The ending of the book was a complete surprise (I won’t say why in case I spoil it for you), but it was definitely unexpected. I’m looking forward to the film coming out in the cinema, although I’m 99.9% sure that it won’t live up to the book. I’ll be adding Nicholls’ other books on to my wish list, although for now I think I should read some more of the books I already have!
Which brings me on to the next book. I bought a set called ‘Great Loves‘ from The Book People quite a while ago, and I’ve only read the first 5 books from the set, so I’m going to make another start at it. Penguin describes the books as:
“a tribute to the power of love in all its guises, romantic and passionate, deviant and doomed “
The books I have read so far have been good, not the type of books I usually read, but I think that’s a good thing!
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Ultimate Batting Practice? Maybe Not…
The MLB Fan Cave tweeted a link to this video earlier this week.
http://twitter.com/#!/MLBFanCave/status/101053302896214016
When I first watched it, I thought it was quite impressive, but now I’m 99% sure it’s fake. Even so, it’s a pretty good fake video, definitely amused me the first time.
(**Update: The video has now been removed from YouTube as it apparently violates the YouTube Terms of Service. Make of that what you will.)
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I do like to be beside the seaside…
Yesterday, I went for a day out in Cleethorpes with Vicky and Frank. Due to a slight miscalculation about how long it would take to get there (totally not my fault), we were on the beach by 8.15 (oops)! We had breakfast in our usual cafe, and then spent most of the rest of the day sat on the beach.
The beach was covered in thousands of ladybirds. Very cute, but extremely annoying when they were crawling and flying everywhere. It was strange to see so many ladybirds, and I don’t think I have ever seen them at the beach before. If anyone knows why there were so many, I would be interested to know!
Frank regressed back to his childhood and made me buy him a spade so he could dig a big hole. He did quite well, and even built a little chair for Vicky to sit in. He did have to revise how big he was going to make the hole after about ten minutes when he realised how long it would take!
We left earlier than I thought we would because Frank got bored, I guess he doesn’t have the same ability to just sit quietly and read. He asked me to drive the long way home, and then both he and Vicky promptly fell asleep ten minutes after we set off, leaving me alone for a 2 and a half hour journey, trying to keep my music quiet enough so it didn’t wake them, but loud enough to keep me entertained.
I took a few pictures while we were there (hopefully Vicky and Frank won’t kill me for putting these up).
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Sunderland Airshow
Yesterday was our annual trip up to Seaburn for the Sunderland International Airshow. We got there really early (a little too early) and set ourselves up on the seafront so we could get decent seats. I have to admit I was a little disappointed with the flying program this year. There were no fast-jets, and the only RAF representation was the Grob Tutor. Although it does a great display, it was a shame there were no Red Arrows, or even the solo display Hawk.
That being said, although I was disappointed with the flying program, there was definitely no disappointment from what was actually there. The show was opened by the Falcons, who gave a brilliant display, as always. The best thing about the Falcons at Sunderland is that they land on the beach right in front of you, so when they are coming in to land they fly directly overhead. I was amazed that they could keep the stack straight, as it was really, really windy! I took my camera with me, but I didn’t hire a lens like I did for Waddington, so the only pictures I took were of the Falcons.
Although I love the blades, and they had an amazing display, the most breathtaking display was from The Matadors. The two pilots are Paul Bonhomme and Steve Jones, who have been flying together for 14 years. If you’ve ever watched the Red Bull Air Race, you will recognise the names, and the display was just how I expected. Lots of cross overs and extremely close flying made for a breathtaking display.
The show was closed by the Vulcan, which is very quickly becoming my favourite plane. By the time it displayed, the tide was getting very high so the beach was emptying rapidly, but almost everyone stood up on the beachfront was stopped still watching it. So graceful for such a huge plane, but blooming noisy when it wants to be, I hope they meet their donation targets to continue flying next year for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
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Now Reading: David Nicholls – One Day
First of all, it seems like forever since I started reading the last book, because I haven’t had much time for reading the last few weeks. But even though it’s taken me a while, I loved the book. I always expect auto-biographies to be a bit fake and fluffy, but David Wells definitely wasn’t pulling any punches. Brutally honest about himself, but also about anyone else he didn’t like (I think the Blue Jays took the brunt of most of it). I was surprised that he wrote the book while he was still playing, there was a lot of the book that I would have thought could make him pretty unpopular in the club house. Regardless, I learnt a lot about him from reading the book, and he seems like a genuinely nice guy – I think I had the wrong picture of him before I started reading.
My next book is one that is coming out in the cinema really soon. I saw the trailer for it when I saw Bridesmaids (funniest film of the year), and it looked like a great film (Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess). The trailer for the film said that it was based on a best-selling book, and I always like to read the book before I watch the film (mostly because the films never live up to the book, so I prefer to get the true story first), so when I saw the book at Asda on the 3 for £10 offer, I couldn’t really resist!
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So Long Edwin and Mark…
The trade deadline is coming up rather quickly this year (Sunday at 9PM). I thought that we might slip through without any major moves this year, especially with the payroll being so high, but I got home from work today to the news that we traded Edwin Jackson and Mark Teahen to Toronto, in return for Jason Frasor and Zach Stewart. I’m still not 100% sure about the move. Jackson and Teahen were never my favourite players on the team, but they have been pretty good (despite the injuries to Teahen), and I’ll need to have a look at some stats before I make a decision about Frasor and Stewart. It will be nice to have Frasor as another arm in the bullpen to help out Jesse Crain, and it also looks like Stewart will make it to the big league club at some point this year.
The best news today was that we brought up Alejandro De Aza from Charlotte. First at bat, 2 run homer! Not a bad first impression. We seem to be going in the right direction after the All Star break, and catching up quickly to the top of the division – I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do…
Louise Douglas
(I've got no) Shelf Control…
Louise Douglas 