The last few days have been pretty hectic, exams are still going (one tomorrow morning and another on Tuesday). Friday featured a horrible databases exam in the afternoon, but I’ll reflect on that once all the exams are out of the way. After the exam I went to see Fun with Dick and Jane with Justine at AMC. The film was very funny, although a lot of the gags had already been shown in the trailers, which is always a bit disappointing. I think we both live on an completely different humour plane to everyone else though, as once again we were the only people laughing at a lot of the jokes in the film. I know most of the people in the screen were teenagers, but you’d have thought they’d at least get the references to the collapse of Enron.
After the cinema we ended up standing outside Moso Moso for a while thinking about whether to go for curry or Chinese, but eventually we made it inside. I ended up having pork with mixed vegetables (always a good “safe” option if it’s the first time you’ve been to a restaurant), which was very tasty, and I think Justine had vegetables with tofu. The service wasn’t brilliant – I had to ask two or three times before we got the bill – but overall it was an enjoyable meal out.
Back at my flat we watched The Deadly Assassin and played a board game based on the TV series Knightmare. Much amusement was had when Gareth texted us about the game and we managed to convince him that we’d grabbed some random people on the way home and were playing it for real on the way to Withington. Why he fell for that I don’t know, but I suspect it will become an in-joke, given time.
Somehow we managed to end up talking until the wee hours of the morning until it got to after 4am, at which point it seemed like a good idea to get some sleep. Luckily the buses don’t seem to stop running in Manchester, so Justine was able to get back alright, although we were waiting at the bus stop for more than five minutes which felt a bit strange given that I’m used to seeing Oxford Road packed with buses. 🙂
Aikido
Despite not getting to sleep until about 6am, I still managed to get up in time for aikido on Saturday, which I was pleased about because I don’t like missing it unless I have to (e.g. when inconsiderate drivers cause me to jar the left side of my body by braking suddenly or pulling out in front of buses). I enjoyed it more than I did a couple of weeks ago, although I think that’s because there were less people on the mats and everyone has now been going long enough to have some idea of what’s going on – although I’m not sure if I’ll ever truly fit into that category!
I feel I’m really starting to pick things up at aikido now as well, which makes things more fun. I can’t get side breakfalls to work right yet, but I can fall backwards most of the time without any problems, and I’m not hitting my head as much on my rolls. It feels a bit weird because I’m not quite new enough to be taken to one side and shown how to do things, but at the same time I’m a million miles behind everyone else in the “advanced group”. I think I’m finding that I prefer being an uke more than a tori (the person who has the techniques done to them – which generally invovles falling, flipping or rolling at some point – and the person who does the techniques respectively), but perhaps that’s because it gives me more opportunities to practise my falls. It’s also highly amusing when “New Dave” tries to do the end parts of the techniques which generally involve some form of torsion being applied to the uke’s arm/wrist and it doesn’t work because I bend too much. 🙂
I don’t know if I’m ready to be graded yet, although last week Terry had Dave and I practising the 8th and 7th ku (I’d only be tested on the first few moves, but as Dave needs someone to practise his part of the syllabus on it means I pick up a lot of that as well). I’m not too bothered about advancing quickly though, as I took up aikido as a form of exercise and to get me away from staring at a computer screen all day rather than to get to a certain level within a given amount of time.
Anyway, I’m absolutely shattered now, still haven’t caught up on sleep from Friday night/Saturday morning so I’m off to finish revising and then heading off to bed.
It was pretty awful, to tell the truth. I was seriously disappointed.
And, no, I don’t really expect them to get the Enron gag. It wasn’t that big a news story over here, certainly not to teenagers uninterested in politics/business, as it was 5 years ago now.
I was the only one that laughed at the “Thanks” list at the end in my screen of 30 or so.
Oh, and the AMC is crap, like it says on the Billboard round the corner by Deansgate station.
It was one of the bigger news stories for several weeks, especially as more details came out. I would expect most people to have at least got the Enron gag – perhaps not the list of other companies though as some of them were a bit obscure. Even if you had little interest in business I don’t see how someone could have failed to have heard about the collapse of the one of the world’s biggest energy companies.
What’s wrong with AMC? It’s cheaper than thefilmworks (especially when you have two for one tickets and/or free drinks and popcorn) and there’s not a lot of difference beyond that. I don’t really care if the screens are a foot shorter or they can’t show as many films at once.
You have a very high regard of our population’s awareness of current affairs.
It may well be cheaper. But the floors are white for a start – there’s a certain benefit in watching a film in a totally black screen – may not be very pretty, but it’s handy for stopping reflections.
Their screens are smaller, as you mentioned, which is a disadvantage as far as I’m concerned, and I’m not sure whether they’re all Dolby Digital there, either.
All the seating at the Odeon is stadium seating – a real advantage and something that many people DO care about – trust me. Not so at AMC.
The walls in the main area are a horrid brown colour, and there’s never any staff about to help should you need some.
They’re always running on stupidly short turnarounds too, and they’re awful at breaking screens – I’ve been going in minutes before the start of the programme at the AMC – that happens extremely rarely at the Odeon.
Plus I don’t work for them.
hehe, cos thats what every tenager is thinking about!
Bah, kids today, no interest in the world around them. 🙂
As for the AMC stuff, none of that bothers me, as I haven’t noticed any of the things you point out (except perhaps the lack of staff, but I don’t really want to talk to them anyway).
Oh, how I miss Moso Moso….
The trick to getting served efficiently there is to be a regular. Jules and I used to go together once or twice a month. Had terrible service the first time we went (but then it was the weekend they opened, and they were silly busy) but after that they started recognising us and we got decent service (probably because we usually tipped well :))
I did wonder why the service was a bit poor, although the manager was very polite and friendly (at least I think he was the manager), it was just the waiting staff who looked a bit lost and confused most of the time. I didn’t feel like tipping as they add a 10% service charge automatically anyway and I’ve never been too keen on places that do that.
I’d go more often, but I don’t have the advantage of someone to take with me with a regular basis. 😉
Paul your right places that wack on 10% service are just rip off’s tips are meant to reward good service and it is appriciatred when it is recived.
as Moso Moso – I dont like places that dont respect and undestand their booze!!
for starters JD is not a Whskey it is a bourbon!! BIG DIFFERENCE!!
Secondly Cider is not a beer!!
If you want to querry any of these points look in their wine list!
Jack Daniel’s Website:
Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey
Whiskey Fact No. 1: Unlike bourbon, Jack Daniel’s is charcoal mellowed.
So, evidently it is a whiskey, and I expect the manufacturers to know that.
Enjoy Responsibly now.