World War II: The Apocalypse

http://natgeotv.com/uk/world-war-ii-the-apocalypse

This is what I've been watching all day today while finishing the curtains (when I made the curtains last year, I didn't hem them or finish the detailing at the top and I've been meaning to tackle it for a while).

This series is excellent. It's in colour, which helps a lot. And to be honest, because we've only seen nazis in movies, it quite takes you back seeing the key players in the flesh, not being portrayed by actors, just going about their day-to-day tasks. It's in equal parts chilling and fascinating.

We were taught the First World War at school, probably because it was clearer who was on whose side in that conflict. I know so little about the second world war, I didn't know that there was quite so much chopping and changing.

Right, the next episode has just started, it's Pearl Harbour in this one. I've been to both Pearl Harbour and Hiroshima so it will be interesting to see the footage in this episode.

Wedgewood for kittehs

We got the kittehs some new dishes from the Salvation Army the other day, 4 for a £1. When we got them home, we noticed that they were Wedgewood, a brand called Franciscan Apple and after a bit of internet research, we found them for about £5 each! Bargain. And lovely little dishes for the kittehs. They love them.

Antalya

http://en.wikipedia.org.wiki/Antalya This is where we're going for a wee week in April. Well, about 10 miles outside it, in a place called Lara Beach at the Baia Hotel. All-inclusive so we can just completely relax, hopefully catch some rays and go on some wee day trips into Antalya and also local sites such as Aspendos http://en.wikipedia.org.wiki/Aspendos. I've never been to Turkey, I'm really looking forward to picking up one of the Mavi Boncuk, the amulet in the photo above, and if possible, a carpet for the hall. I am excited and nervous about the boisterous haggling. Haggling in Tunisia was at a better pace and was a bit easier. I'm unsure how I'll get on in Turkey but I'm very keen to find out!

The Private Life of Plants

I'm currently watching The Private Life of Plants, the David Attenborough series. Jason was watching it at school last week in Biology class and when he came home, he told me that he had been watching it and that it reminded him of something I would like. I chimed in that I loved that series when I was young and the only bit I remembered was the bit about the wee caterpillar on the leaf who fashions the leaf into a protective tent so he can munch his dinner in peace. Jason said that was the exact bit that he watched when he thought of me!! How funny. So,when I saw it in HMV the other day for a tenner , I got it and I have it on the DVD just now. It's very informative and relaxing. David Attenborough doesn't put a foot wrong though, does he? The footage that they get is amazing.

Scooby Dooby Do!

Look at the size of this guy! I can't believe how big he's grown. Of course, he appears large because we are used to the munchkins running around. The funny thing is that I remember thinking the same about Danny when we looked after both him and Scooby last year. Danny seemed so large next to the tiny kitten Scooby. And now, he's the monster! A proper outdoor cat, he goes out at midnight and comes back for breakfast at 8am. I wonder what he gets up to.

Valentine's Day at Slumdog

Living so close to Sauchiehall Street, we are really spoiled for choice for places to eat. Fair enough, most of them are kebab shops, but there are still some wee gems out there. Nana Kusa, Japanese Grill being one. The Noodle Bar for some authentic Chinese being another. When Slumdog opened, I always had a hankering to try it out. Indian tapas is delicious and you get to try all wee different things. So Jason took me out for Valentine's. It was very nice, but the food was ultimately not really worth a return visit. We did have a lovely night though. The last photo is the after dinner "mints" that they bring you. It smells like a bowl of pot pourri. I picked out the liquorise bits. Seriously the rest of it was like incence. Bleugh. What happenend to a nice wee Imperial?

Up close and personal

Check out Benki doing some acrobatics in the background.

Day out in Stirling

We went out to Stirling to help Gina McKie break the Guiness World's Record of kisses received in a minute. The record is 112 and, while there were plenty of people there to help, the folk of Thistles Shopping Centre were too shy to come forward so we only got 74 folk on the first attempt and 61 on the second. Poor effort Stirling. But it was fun going out to Stirling for the day and as usual, I raided the charity shops and came away with some lovely fabric and a wee sake set! We all had lunch and then got the train home. Thanks Michelle.

Trying to do alterations

The video explains it all, but this is what is so great about having kittens. They just want to be near you, in the same room as you. They do this sort of thing all the time. Later today, I'll be doing the dishes and guarantee, they'll come in and just play about in the kitchen. Awwww, adorable.

Cats luv FIFA

The kittens are mesmerised by the football game. Benki also loves following the mouse on the computer screen. They're so perplexed by it.

Deadwood

So we just recently started watching Deadwood. Tremendous. It covers the same kind of story arc as The Wire. With each episode adding up to a whole season. It's set in 1876, a time of extreme change in America and in many ways, Deadwood represents the last of the Free States; not quite ready to join the union, with its laws and statutes. The honour among thieves system operates (or doesn't) in Deadwood and if you don't like it, you can leave or get fed to the pigs. There is, as yet (and we're nearly finished season 1), no Marshall to uphold the law. Nor are there any laws to uphold. There is a lot of scheming in Deadwood and it is almost upsetting how quickly scamming came to be in America - a desolate sign of the future.

One of the most endearing things about the story is that it is largely true, with of course, a healthy dose of dramatic licence added. It's wonderful to see and hear Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane in the flesh. In actual fact, most of the main characters are actually real life inhabitants of the original Deadwood. Rarely has the phrase, "you couldn't make it up" held more weight. Special mention should be made of the dialogue. The writers took the view to populate the script with a lot of swearing. Many and varied words that could only be shown on HBO. This was a sensible decision and makes the script ring true. If the characters were asking for darn tooting sasperillies and were telling each other to wait a cock-a-meeny minute, modern viewers would not entertain the show. As it is, the swearing is modernised and is a powerful tool.

The script. At times, almost Shakespearian. It is wonderful. There are soliloquoys, wonderful dialogues and anytime the doc opens his mouth, I sit enraptured. He is a man under duress and is a brilliant character to watch.

The characters. Intricate and complex. All come with back stories and are explored in turn. Favourites are the Doc, the Journalist, Montana, EB Farnum the hotelier, (Calamity) Jane and of course, Al Swearengen, the local pimp, saloon owner and real estate magnate.

It's a treat. If you haven't watched it yet, put it on your list. I got hooked from the events of the first 10 minutes (again, the first scene actually happened in real life, however hard to believe it is).

Burdwatchin'

While we were up at Hobbycraft buying supplies for the Mouse, we saw these guys. If I had a spare couple of quid, I would have got my photo taken with them, they were totally stunning. Especially the monster Golden Eagle at the back. And owls really can turn their heads all the way round to the back.

Purring Benki

Two videos of my wee benki, you can kind of hear him in the first video but you can definitely hear him in the second one. He's got a really loud purr. You could say it's purrrrrrfect. Him lying on my chest at 7.30 in the morning purring is how I get woken up in the morning.

A moose loose aboot this hoose

Mouses! The top one is the one made by the designer and the bottom one is my wee effort. They wanted mine to be an inch and a half bigger and I was worried it would look like a rat rather than a mouse, but to be honest, it's still quite mousey. Phew. The director seemed to like it so that's good. And now that I have made one, I can run them off as required. I like prop making a lot. I've only done bits of it, but it is something I would definitely consider making more of in the future.

I'll grab you by the scruff of your neck!

Hilary displaying the wonderfully funny way of holding a kitten by their scruff, which is the fatty skin at the back of their neck which their mum uses to carry them about in her mouth. Miho, normally resistant to being held for prolonged periods, sat very calmly with Hilary and almost enjoyed her scruff-hold. I could hardly hold the camera straight for laughing. There is something very funny about them being suspended in mid-air.

Gregor came up for dinner

Some lovely Kim Chi, Gyozas and Edemame beans were on the menu. Just up Gregor's street. Spicy soup with pork and cabbage. It was nice to see him and have him for tea, but he was really up to meet the kittehs. Yes, he fell in love with them as you would expect. They put on a proper show for him; chasies, wrestling and applied cuteness. He got some lovely photographs and played some games with them. We all had a lovely night.

Limmy's Show again

I forgot about this guy. All of these sketches are wonderfully paranoid. The pacing is superb. Limmy tackles the paranoia of the inner voice and indulges it. Dee Dee has made an appearance once in each of the four shows. They are all good for their own reasons. Special mention must be made of the first one where he phones his dad to confirm the events of the previous evening.

Limmy's Show

4 episodes in and I'm enjoying it. I don't normally like repeat characters in sketch shows as they often run a very tired premise to death, but I think Limmy pulls it off wonderfully with both Falconhoof and Jacqueline McCafferty. Definitely down to the fact that he avoids the terrible punchline cliche. Although Jacqueline always tells you about her 8 missing years, she has a different reason every time for mentioning it.

Chasing your tail

These guys are going to be big. They have already grown noticably since we got them 3 weeks ago. Due to an SD card malfunction, I can't take any more photographs until my new card arrives. In the meantime, have a video from the first week when they started tail-chasing. Since then, their tails have grown as well as their interest in them. Both their own and each others!