Mark#25 – A Couple of Aussie Beauties

I was driving home from Leeds just a couple of hours ago, listening to Edith Bowman on Radio 1, and thinking to myself that Edith’s is my least favourite of the Radio 1 shows.

It seems I spoke, or at least thought, too soon. Because barely two minutes later she launched into her topic for the day, which just so happened to be my favourite topic…80s TV theme tunes!

Kudos to whichever listener texted in to request the theme from a show that I had COMPLETELY forgotten about….Round the Twist:

Obviously this set me off thinking about all the Australian shows I used to watch – Neighbours, Home and Away, Heartbreak High – all which were good, but none of which have a theme tune like this cracker: 

Not many people I chat to have ever heard of Pugwall, but in a nutshell it was about a guy (Peter Unwin George Wall) and his pals who were trying to turn their garage band into something bigger and better, but were constantly foiled by their own ineptitude and the interference of Pugwall’s little sister, Marmaloid.

My bro and I used to watch it religiously, and can still recite all the lyrics to this day.  

“Mar-ma-loid!!”

The Great Christmas Tree Debate

Now that Christmas is imminent, Mark and I have been contemplating our decor scheme.

Found some baubles and a wreath at John Lewis this weekend – looks like we will be having a red theme.

Next stop, Treesville!

While I love the scent and authenticity that a real tree affords, I can’t help but feel that the shedding of the pine needles makes it less than ideal. Add to that the likelihood that small puddles of cat vomit (full of pine needles) will mysteriously appear throughout the house… and I’m thinking a fake tree is in order.

Mark, on the other hand, is very pro-real tree.

I think the compromise will have to be that we try a real tree this year, that Mark has to clean up any resulting cat vomit, and that he will have to dispose of the tree when I’m not around. I know, it’s dumb… but I get really upset when it comes to discarding of the poor tree’s carcass. Even if it did fulfill its Christmas destiny.

This probably didn’t warrant such a long post, but just wondering what everyone else has planned in terms of Christmas trees. It really is a polarizing issue…

Mark#25 – Kate & Rich

A big shout out to our friends back in Toronto, Kate & Rich! Or, as April refers to them, ‘bizarro April & Mark’, on account of the many eerie similarities in our lives and relationships.

April and Kate both moved to Toronto from different parts of Canada. Standing at a similar height and with the same dark hair and fair skin, both found work in the B2B practice group at Fleishman-Hillard Canada (which is where they met). They bonded over their mutual interests of shopping, designer goods, more shopping and, last but not least, their love of tall, handsome, English men who had emigrated to Canada. So, inevitably, the men in their lives eventually met and, lo and behold, the similarities continued.

There was none of that “our girlfriends are mates so we have to be mates” type-awkwardness, Rich and myself hit it off immediately in our own right. Sharing a healthy obsession with football (although as Rich follows Nottingham Forest, it’s debatable if he can really call himself a football fan) and a broader interest in sports, beer, more sports and hot, dark-haired Canadian women.

Happily, and perhaps appropriately, April and I weren’t the only ones to tie the knot this year – as Kate and Rich did the deed just a few weeks before us. And today, courtesy of Kate’s talented siblings, we were introduced to a compilation video of Kate & Rich’s history, and it’s a hoot….

Oh, and by the way Kate, I can confirm that April did NOT go through the Laura Ashley phase…so maybe you’re not so bizarro after all.

Mark#24 – Wedding Photos Update

Apologies folks, I tried to upload some photos to the blog this weekend but my new laptop keeps giving me an error message whenever I try to publish a post that has pictures in it. Probably just a setting that I need to activate (or deactivate) somewhere I guess, but I haven’t bothered to investigate yet.

Anyway, worry not because our wedding photographer is, as I type this, creating an online album of 300 photos from the big day for us. It should be available this week, but I gave him a few editing notes so I guess it’ll depend how long it takes him to fix some of the shots up.

I’ll post the link and login details on the blog as soon as we get them, unless we decide to be a bit more private with them, in which case I’ll email the info to each and every one of you.

We celebrated the birthday of two of our friends, Jake and Luke, this weekend and everybody ended up drunk and back at our house. The wedding photos got their first en masse public viewing anyway, and the concensus was that the photographer has done an excellent job, so hopefully you’ll all like what you see.

So now I just need to track down our honeymoon photos (no idea what I’ve done with them) and then I’ll make an online album for them too.

In other news, I had a great weekend because: a) Everton beat high-flying Bolton 1-0 b) Liverpool only managed to scrape a draw against lowly Middlesbrough c) I watched UFC 65 d) I had the tastiest curry of my life e) The team I play for, The Turks Head, won NINE-NIL, f) We booked a trip to Egypt in February and, g) Season 3 of Lost got off to a very promising start.

I also just found out that the office of my client shuts down for two weeks at Christmas, which means I also get to shut down for two weeks. And my client is taking me out to Spain for a few days in January (part work, part play).

Woo hoo!

Mark#23 – Hurry Up Bongo, We’re Starving!!

I’m sitting on the couch. Laptop on my lap. Beer in my hand. Bloggin’ on t’Internet.

April is sitting on the couch. Purse on her lap. TV remote in her hand. Watching Britain’s Next Top Model.

Eric is sitting on the ottoman. Hands on his lap. Nothing in his hand. Also, watching Britain’s Next Top Model.

Bongo is driving back from Preston. Nothing on his lap. Steering wheel in his hands (hopefully). Watching the road and talking to his pal, Tanya.

When Bongo and Tanya arrive we’re all heading out to the Blue Diamond for a chinky. Hurry up Bongo, we’re starving!

I’m thinking about what I’m going to order. I guess it’ll go something like this: Seaweed. Crispy duck pancakes with hoisin sauce. Salt and pepper king prawns with fried rice and plain fried noodles. April will share the appetizers and no doubt order deep fried crispy chicken in O.K. sauce.

HURRY UP BONGO, WE’RE STARVING!!!!!

Mark#22 – Getting back in the Groove

It’s been two months and three days since I last blogged.

Note to self: MUST DO BETTER!

In my defence, a lot has happened in that time. In the last sixty-something days, I have: imported our cats, moved into a new house, got married, been on honeymoon, smuggled my birthday past everyone, quit my job, set up my own business, decorated and organised the new house (well, at least part of it), been to Wales for a bonfire weekend, been to London thrice (all business, unfortunately), played five games of football for my new team – The Turks Head, set-up a blog for my new team – The Turks Head, bought a lawnmower, mowed the lawn, bought a rake, raked the lawn (twice), and WON THE PUB QUIZ!!!

There’s been much more besides, of course, but I figured once I got down to writing that I bought a lawnmower and a rake that I was scraping the barrel. I can pretty much guarantee that I’ve forgotten to include something more important than buying garden tools, and that April will wade in with “How did you forget to mention….”

Married life is GREAT. I didn’t think getting married would change our relationship at all, or rather the way I felt about our relationship, but something magical has happened that I can’t really describe. Except to say that everything is just that much better now, more special somehow, and I’m loving every minute of it!

I noticed April tried and failed to post wedding pics. This is probably a good thing because it now means I get full editorial control and can edit out all the ones of me with my eyes half closed and looking ready to pass out. Our Sky Broadband Internet connection is now installed and should be activated tomorrow (according to Sky, who have a track record of lying to me about this sort of thing), which means Internet access at home, at last. So all being well, I’ll post some pics this weekend.

And then I’ll follow it up with some honeymoon snaps as well.

Alright, that’s it for now.

Ta ta.

Oh, and here’s some more 80s nostalgia: