Tuesday, 30 June 2009

RICK ASTLEY, 80’S POP ICON IS NOT DEAD

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Following the death of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcet there have been may rumours going around that 1980’s pop icon Rick Astley has died aged 42.  I have done some research and found an article by ABC News stating that these are purely rumours and are not true at all, they are just hoaxes to get social networking sites talking>  So you can al breath easy, if you’re fans of course!!

Monday, 29 June 2009

THE WEATHER’S GONE CRAZY AND WE’RE HAVING A HEATWAVE!

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Europe is on fire, France, Germany, Spain, even the UK…. the weather’s glorious….more than glorious it’s damn hot!!  But when I say the weather’s gone crazy, it really has, just the other day there were hail stones as big as golf balls in New York, who should be having glorious weather too at this time of year!!  And a couple of weeks ago England was flooded in some parts but today they’re seeing temperatures as high as 30 degrees!!  Here in France it’s now 5.40pm and 32 degrees still, and it’s only June!!!  Guess we’d better enjoy it…It might snow next week!!!!

Friday, 26 June 2009

MICHAEL JACKSON IS DEAD

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Michael Jackson dies age 50 of a suspected heart attack.  Loved his music, but for me that’s as far as it goes.  After all his self destruction he was a time bomb waiting to explode.  He will, however, be much missed by his fans.  RIP you poor soul, I’m sure he’ll be much happier where he is now.

Monday, 22 June 2009

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER THE STIG, NO WAY!

michael schumacher Last night’s Top Gear revealed all…….And The Stig is…..Michael Schumacher?????  No Way!!  This morning the world, or the UK at least, is speculating, is he the real Stig or not?  Apparently so, although Jeremy Clarkson has not yet confirmed whether it’s true or whether it’s just a joke to fool us.

the stig

I must say, my money was never on Michael Schumacher, not tall enough and not feminine enough, although that’s debatable!  Besides, where would he ever find the time to be The Stig?  I know he retired from F1 racing, but he still works full time with Ferrari.  I’m definitely NOT convinced…And you????

Wednesday, 17 June 2009

THAT’S ENTERTAINEMENT QE2 STYLE

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Whilst working in the pursers office I was asked to assist at one of the many shows on board, believe it or not we were actually doing a rendition of Old MacDonald Had A Farm, can’t remember why they were dressed in those costumes! By the way, I’m the one on the right in uniform, in case you hadn’t guessed!!  I did enjoy that but didn’t do it very often as I only worked in the Purser’s Office for a short time.  The rest of the time I was a deck supervisor for accommodation services.  I also did a short stint as Captain’s Secretary, but that was just to fill in for someone who was ill for a few weeks, but that was interesting as well……except for Captains cocktail evenings, didn’t like that, and it was always at the time I’d normally be heading off to the Pig!!!  Ahh, the Pig…….fond memories……at least I always remembered going in, but not so often leaving!!!   Happy days!!!!!!

Tuesday, 16 June 2009

QE2 AND PRINCESS BLASTS FROM THE PAST

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Quite a recent user of Face Book, I hadn’t really taken the time to try to find friends.  But after doing my blog post on my memories of the past and my time working on cruise liners I decided to try and track down some old pals.  I managed to find a few, and a few managed to find me….Trust me not to use my maiden name on FB and a pseudo for my blog!!  Modern technology can be a wonderful thing, so thank you to it for letting me find friends from 20 or so years ago.  If there is anyone out there who was on board QE2 in 1990/1991 I’d love to hear from you, and anyone on Princess Cruises in the late 80’s ditto!!

Sunday, 14 June 2009

CORALINE REVIEW……CREEPY, SCARY MOVIE, NOT FOR UNDER 10’S

coraline What to do Sunday afternoon?  Something not too strenuous, as hubby’s just out of hospital.  So we decided to go to the cinema…comfy seats and air conditioning!  The boys went to see Terminator, but my 11 year old daughter preferred to see Coraline, so dad took the boys and we went to see Coraline.  “I heard it’s scary mummy”, my daughter said as we entered…..Ha, it’s computer animated……How scary could that be???

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As soon as it begins it’s rather deep and dark, and as the plot unravels things don’t get much better.  A witch with spider like metal hands, taking out kids eyes and replacing them with buttons before devouring them, leading kids into a false sense of security & happiness..etc…  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the film, and appreciated the vast amount of work that must have gone into making it, but it is definitely not a film for under 10 year olds.  In fact I’d go as far as to say that it even spooked me, well just a little!  But I did see my daughter cover her eyes once or twice, although she won’t admit it……

Saturday, 13 June 2009

A VERY SURREAL WEEK INDEED

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In a recent post I talked about my sons moped accident in the garden on Friday last.  I also said how Saturday appeared to be shaping up pretty well, and I was sure the weekend would get better.  Well, it didn’t, it got worse.  Not exactly the weekend, Sunday was good, except that my other son had an asthma attack in the night.  But Monday morning my husband left for work, then came back a half an hour later.  He had collapsed on site with pains in the chest and left arm.  Back to A & E……….

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They did all sorts of tests on him, ecg, bloods, scans etc…They kept him in until Friday, but could find no cause for this strange episode, so they discharged him and said to come back if it reoccurs.  I am ecstatic at having him back home, it’s wonderful, but what just happened??  Could it be stress related?  Or a severe attack of heartburn? Or something more serious like angina?  All these questions and no answers apart from, “Take 2 painkillers if it hurts” and, “If it’s really bad, come back to A & E”.  Very strange and very surreal. I’ve calmed down a bit now and am looking forward to a nice weekend with my family…accident & emergency free!!  In the mean time, if anyone has any thoughts on this, I would be happy to hear them.

Sunday, 7 June 2009

F1 TURKISH GRAND PRIX, BUTTON DOES IT AGAIN

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Proud to be British once again! Jenson Button wins the Turkish Grand Prix hands down.  He had a bit of a struggle mid way through the race when Sebastian Vettel caught him up after Button pitted, but Button wasn’t perturbed in the least and drove steadily on.  After Vettel pitted himself, he was no longer a threat to Button who was way out in front, cruising to the end!  Webber drove superbly and came in a cool 2nd place hotly pursuited by Vettel, who after craftily disguised team orders, backed off a little to take 3rd place on the podium.  Such a great feeling to hear the national anthem being played at every race so far, as it did last year for our other British driver Lewis Hamilton, who unfortunately is not doing so well this year…….Can’t wait for the British Grand Prix on June 21 at Silverstone…Go teams GB!!!!!

Saturday, 6 June 2009

MY WORLD KEEPS TURNING UPSIDE DOWN, AT LEAST THAT’S WHAT IT FEELS LIKE!

Sounds a bit harsh, but I’m sure we all feel like that at some point, even if we don’t admit it.  We all have “One of those days”.  Well yesterday was one of those days.  It started out pretty much like any other Friday, except that I had my eldest son at home as the school decided to shut for the day…they do that often!  He had bought himself a moped last week in the wake of his up coming scooter test in July, it was for practice.  Yesterday morning we went out and bought him a new helmet.He was so pleased and couldn’t wait for his brother & sister to get home from school, and dad to get home from work.  Out he went in to the garden to practice on his moped, I was about to start dinner when I heard screams.  I realized I couldn’t hear the whine of the moped engine anymore and ran in to the garden.  There he was on the grass covered in blood…Panic set in.  I carried him indoors, I’m not sure how he’s 15, but when I looked at the damage, double panic set in.  (Note to myself; remember you are not very good in a crisis!)  Anyway, to cut a long story short, he was taken to A & E and ended up having about 20 stitches in his shin…ouch. He is now relaxing and re-thinking his plans to pass his scooter license, i think it has shaken him up quite badly.  Not a good start to the weekend, but, so far, Saturday appears to be going better…Let’s hope that continues!!

Wednesday, 3 June 2009

THE WEATHER IN THE VENDEE IS VERY HOT AND I’M MELTING!


lady melting Fancy a holiday in the Vendee? This s the place to be, check out our holiday cottage at http://laceysgites.chez-alice.fr/ . This week the temperatures have soared and I think today is the hottest so far this year. The mercury rocketed to 31°, even the dog wouldn’t go outside!! Have been trying to water the grass and plants and flowers regularly as everything is starting to wilt instead of blossom.


melting


I feel as if I’m melting, mind you that could be a good thing if I lose some weight…Great weather for tourists though and the beaches are swarming, I’ll bet ice cream sales have soared too, knew I should have bought those shares!! But the lovely part of the heat here in the Vendee is that it’s stays a comfortable temperature in the night, so you can sleep well. We’re lucky, we’ve got a swimming pool so the kids are in it constantly, cooling off…Thank heavens for cold water!

Tuesday, 2 June 2009

SUSAN BOYLE IN THE HEADLINES AGAIN, AHEAD OF A FATAL AIR FRANCE PLANE CRASH!

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I was slightly unimpressed this morning when I awoke to the news of the Air France plane crash that killed some 228 people.  Not unimpressed at the crash, but at the fact that despite all those innocent lives being lost, Susan Boyle still had the news headline!!  Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that a major air crash is a little more important than a strange Scottish woman getting her kilt in a twist because she didn’t win Britain’s Got Talent!

susan boyle akims blogspot

Well in my opinion she ended up in the right place in the Priory Clinic, but it’s probably just a publicity stunt to keep her in the public eye now that she's been defeated.  Not that she needs it with the likes of Demi Moore backing you and Oprah Winfrey wanting to interview you.  With her voice and the media attention she’s already had, she’ll do just fine…That is , if they ever get the straight jacket off!!!  In the mean time, a thought for all the families of those who lost their lives in that horrific plane crash.