Crazy Cat Lady

For the first time in a long time, I actually put some effort into my Halloween costume. Click on any of the pictures to make them larger...if you dare!





Isn't it great? Oh wait, that is the original CCL.








It was a lot of work. Andy was my hair and makeup artist.












Believe it or not, that mess is actually my hair and not a wig. I was so worried that I would not be yellow enough. No worries there.










By the way, getting off Halloween makeup is a really great exfoliation method. My skin is super smooth this morning.











My goal next year is to attempt to get Andy to leave the house. I mean not just on Halloween. He needs to leave the house. Seriously.

Next Issue: More yearbook entries..if anyone actually gives me permission to use theirs. By the Way, does anyone have a yearbook where I have written an entry. That would be funny. I will even supply photos of me with cheesy 80's hair or even the dreaded series of cheerleading pictures. Herkie jump!!!!

That's Huckleberry Finn , Stupid!!

Here is my Rush Concert review finally. Of the 9 times that I have gone to Rush concerts, I have only been unhappy with one of them and I blame the terrible sound quality of whichever Jacksonville stadium they were in that year. So, it is no surprise that I loved it.

I brought with me Andy, who has only seen them once and knows about 3 songs, and Robert who has never been to a concert and knows none of the songs. Thankfully, the show was so good that they both really enjoyed it.

Also, thankfully, they played no less than 9 new songs instead of going too far down nostalgia lane. I am one of those weird people that enjoy seeing new material and like the classics to be kept under control. It makes me feel less old.

The one down side to the concert is that the SECC is not really that big of a place, so the video screens were banished to the stage area, which kind of defeats the purpose which I imagine is to allow us poor people on the higher seats to see what is going on down on the stage, as well as demonstrate video and animation clips. The fun part is that not the same clips were on all of the screens, so we could only see the left hand side one and most of the middle one.

There was a clip of the South Park kids trying to play Tom Sawyer to introduce the song. I have no idea if this is part of a real episode or not because our South Park episodes are really old repeats. Carmen, as usual gets all the words wrong: ' That Tom's Sawyer's a mean mean guy, he floated down a river on a raft with a black guy! I'm Geddy Lee and I can sing whatever lyrics I want!'

There were also some lovely Reefer Madness clips during 'Passage to Bangkok' as I think like most old time rock songs, it is about drugs. Bob and Doug Mackenzie made a short appearance as well. Those Canadians have to stick together.

Oh and yes the music was fantastic. Rush is a love or hate thing with most rock fans. I have always said that it is a shame that many people can't get past the high frequency singing because there are few people on the face of the earth than can play their instruments as well as these three guys. The drum set is obnoxiously large, but never wasted and Alex still tends to hold several guitars at once, but they do only have 3 people to make a sound that 5 would find difficult to achieve. It is also a shame that rock radio has done what it normally does with groups, even long lasting ones, they play the same 3 to 4 songs over and over, rather than giving any other material a chance. For a band that has released 20 studio albums and 5 live ones, it simply is not fair.

To me a concert is not just about the music, but about the crowd as well. Glasgow crowds are different from Florida crowds. They sit and listen and only cheer between songs. To an outsider one thinks that they are being unenthusiastic. I think maybe it is just a keen interest in the music. I have always been annoyed by people in the upper stands that stand up so then everyone behind them has to stand up. I have always wanted to slap 'whooopers' or people who whoop and cheer in the middle of a song right next to you. I am glad to be rid of them.

There were lots of dads there and also embarrassed kids. I mean if your dad was wearing a faded tight old Rush Tshirt and doing air guitar, well you may be embarrassed too. Now, I was pretty far back and did not see what was going on up front very much. I did see that there were some signs being held up in the crowd, which I would have been upset about it I were behind the people. However, according to various Internet blogs (oh so reliable right???) most of them were jokes and it is rumoured that the crew gave some of them out. Some of the signs spotted:

• My Grampa Says Your Cool


• Can I roll your bones? (they have a song called 'Roll the Bones')


• I was conceived while my dad was at a Rush concert (I don't think the mom was)


• My mom thinks you're hot!!


• Freebird!


• I though ZZ Top had beards

I give the concert a big double thumbs up and not just because it is one of the few place on earth where there is no line for the Women's Toilets. After all, there were only about 10 of us there.

Next Time: I will try to fit in a yearbook post or two before I leave. And stay tuned to see the real live crazy cat lady.

New Bathroom

We finally have our new bathroom completed. As with most home improvement projects, it took longer than we anticipated.



Here are the before shots. It looks nicer in pictures than it did up close.










The tub was not sealed very well, the shower was just a mixer from the taps (that never had an even temperature for long), and you had to be very careful where you pointed the water because the door was not very long and the worst sealed part was at the taps, so you could not leave it on the holder and stand under it without causing a flood under the tub (and sometimes into the shop below us).








It didn't make bath time very fun.











Here are the during shots.







We had to move out of the house twice during construction. Andy and I both became extremely ill and we are half convinced it was something in the plumbing or inside the wall.








The good news is that the plumbing was replaced, the wall and floor both sealed so whatever demon it was, is now banished.






Here are some after shots.








One is from inside the shower as that gave the best view of the other wall.















The new shower is wonderful and even has a misty steam option. The challenge now is to force ourselves to get out before too much water and energy is wasted.









Kitty loves the shower as well because he is a freak water cat. I have posted a picture on his blog as well.




Next Blog: Late Rush Concert Below

Short Train Blog

As you know, we took a train trip to Disneyland Paris. Now, I thought that there were more pictures. Alas, I was wrong and there are not. I think that there is video footage, but that has yet to be downloaded. Hopefully, it will be someday and be posted to my You Tube account or MySpace page.


Here are the few pictures that I found.


Andy eating something whilst sitting on his top bunk. The straps are to keep him from falling out during the night. I think I need to install some of these at my mom's house.






Look , a sink. Why did I take this picture? What's the significance?? I .....don't........know.







In the morning, we got out and saw that Doctor Who was there with his own personal Virgin Train car. Oh, that does not sound right.









Here are two people I don't know, but it is a good picture of the compartment. Caption: 'When you said I could be on top, I had totally something else in mind.'












Next Issue: We can wash again! The bathroom is complete.

Disneyland Paris

I know that it has been far too long since I've posted anything. I would like to blame it on the delay on getting any pictures developed. However, it is just general laziness.

As you may know, we went to Disneyland Paris in September. I really enjoyed this trip, mostly because I did not have to get on a plane or drive.

We took the Scotrail Sleeper down to London (pictures to follow in future post). We then got a direct Eurostar to Disney. We did not stay in the resort as it is was a bit too pricey, but we were just down the road and had a free bus, so it worked out okay.

The first thing that strikes you as you enter Disneyland (which for you Florida folks is like the size of the Magic Kingdom) is that the castle is very pink. Also, you are allowed inside of it, which I don't think you can do at MK anymore. I think at one point it was a restaurant, but maybe I am dreaming that part.

This is what Andy looks like on every holiday. This was very near Pirates of the Caribbean. Pirates here is a bit of a trickster. Although it looks like the original ones, it has the waterfall in a different place and then has an extra one just for good measure. It is fun that the ride is in French of course.

Phanton Manor was awesome and we went several times. It is mostly the same as the Haunted Mansion, except in French (more parts used to be in English and they changed it at some point) and there is a weird wild west thing going on at the end. The music is better than the last time I was at the Haunted Mansion which was several years ago, so maybe that has been changed by now as well.

We ran into our pal Mike at MGM Studios.

Look, a rare picture of Kimberly. I can't resist a cheap laugh.

I do have more pics on the way, especially of our journey. Please stay tuned and I will try not to be so lazy.