Gone & Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Well, as my Sunday plans were so rudely interrupted by Guy No 3 and his unchivalrous behaviour, I decided to go to the pictures on Sunday afternoon.  I’d been to the gym in the morning – I’m making a conscious effort to go to the gym pretty much every day at the moment.  My holiday is in 4 weeks and I’m determined to be in the best bikini shape I possibly can.  I’ve also done 5 yoga classes in the last week too ... as I’m going to a 5* Spa (oooh get me!) they often have ‘guest’ tutors there and whilst I’m there this time, they have a yoga guru over from India.  I love yoga and I’ve always been very bendy (from my dancing days ... ballet, not pole, thank you very much ... I knew what you were thinking), so I thought I’d make sure that I’m super subtle so that I can get the best out of his classes.

Don’t worry, I won’t be doing any of the other sports they have there (eg tennis/ badminton/ personal fitness instructors/ fully equipped gym/ exercise on the beach every morning/ every water sport under the sun) ... that’s too much like hard work, however, I do fancy learning how to water ski ... and that’s free too, so I’ve been working on my upper body strength at the gym so I can give it a good go.
Anyway, I digress (just for a change). 

Gone

I’d read the reviews for ‘Gone’ and I have to admit, they weren’t great.  But I’ve learned that when it comes to reviews, you’re better off making your own mind up.  So, this movie is about a woman (Amanda Seyfried ...  I didn’t recognise any of the other actors) who is abducted but no-one believes her and she’s put in a mental asylum.  A year later, her sister disappears and she’s convinced that she’s been abducted, but again, no-one will believe her.  She sets about trying to find her sister whilst avoiding the police who are chasing her. 

Now, it certainly wasn’t the best film I’ve ever watched – there could have been lots more suspense and quite why so many police were chasing her, I couldn’t figure out – but it wasn’t the worst film either.  I’d probably give it 2.5 out of 5.  Here’s the trailer, so you can see for yourself...

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

This has had rave reviews, but I really didn’t like the sound of it ... the trailers didn’t do it any favours either ... but I’d watched Gone and didn’t fancy going home right then, looked to see what was on and that was starting in the next 10 minutes.

As the title suggests (and from the trailers) it looked to be quite a boring film about flooding part of the Yemen and importing Salmon so that a rich Sheikh could fly fish without having to travel.  However, I was pleasantly surprised (I love it when that happens.)  It was actually quite an intelligent love story with Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt and Kristin Scott Thomas – I won’t tell you too much about it, cos I don’t want to spoil it – but if you fancy a nice, easy watch, love story, chick flick then this is for you.  Here’s the trailer, but remember, it really doesn’t do it justice.

Right my lovelies ... off I go ... to the gym!  See you soon.  Be fabulous.

Lots of love

Jx

Even More Dating Disasters - Part 2

Following on from yesterday's blog ...

Guy 3

Now, he looked really promising ... 6’3” (perfect with my heels) does bodybuilding (I love big men), had a professional job, really looked after himself by the sounds of it, not the best looking of chaps, but you can overlook that if there’s something else that you find attractive (and they have a good body!).  We swapped a couple of emails and he said let’s meet up. 

He lives in Stafford which is about 55 miles from me and I was a little bit put out when he suggested that we meet somewhere half way.  Now, I’ve gotta be honest, I was actually more than bit disappointed about this ... I would have preferred if he’d been a gentleman and said that he’d come to me, but in the interest of being a bit modern and trying to compromise a bit (not my favourite word that, ‘compromise’ in fact, it makes me shudder!) I thought I’d go along with the ‘half way’ thing.  I asked where, he mentioned a particular town that was much, much nearer him than me.  I wrote back very politely and said, I’m sorry, but that’s not half way at all, can you find somewhere nearer to me please.

FYI, he’d left me his number in his last mail, so I included mine.  About an hour or so after sending my last mail, I got a call from him ... however, I was on my way out (well it was Friday night), so just texted him and said I was going out and could we speak in the morning ... NB I didn’t tell him where I was going or who I was going with.   That night at about 12.30 I got a text from him saying, “Are you having a good night?”  Now is that weird or is it just me?  I've never spoken to the guy and he's texting me at 12.30 asking if I'm having a good night?  Seemed a bit controlling (remember the guy who texted me 50 times in one night?), so I actually chose to ignore it.

In the morning I texted him and said sorry I didn’t reply but I didn’t check my phone before I went to bed.  Next minute, he rang me.  We actually had a really nice chat and seemed to have quite a lot in common (which I thought was encouraging and actually made a nice change).  The only thing that we were miles apart on was camping.  He actually loves to camp ... however, as far as I’m concerned long as God made 5* hotels you will NEVER EVER catch me camping ... I didn’t tell him that though in case I put him off!

We chatted for about half an hour and then I said I had to go (he sounded a bit put out about that ... I've found that men really do not like you to finish the conversation first!) cos my dad was coming round.  He said that he’d found somewhere for us to meet and mentioned the town, which was (I thought) slap bang in the middle of where we both lived (how wrong can you be?) and I asked him to text me the details and the postcode (Zip code). 

He asked if we could meet early 6/6.30 because he said he had a good feeling about this and would like the opportunity to have dinner if we were getting on.  I agreed ... I have to be honest, I was actually feeling quite excited (I can’t even remember when that happened last ... I usually have a quiet feeling of dread when I’m arranging to meet someone, but I just override it!).  We said our goodbyes, each saying how we were looking forward to meeting tomorrow.

Now, the next day, before I trotted off to the gym (I’ve been every day for the past week and a half!  Yay me ... but that's another story and another post), I thought that I’d better double check where we were due to meet.  So I brought up AA Autoroute and low and behold the b*****d had only given me the details of somewhere that would have taken him 10 minutes to get to and me an hour and a quarter!!!!!  (Not to mention at least £35 in petrol).  So, let’s sum up here ... in my email two days before, I’d asked him to find somewhere that was an equal distance for us both to travel, he completely ignores that and finds somewhere even nearer to him!  Not only was he unwilling to travel ‘all the way’ to mine, but he was expecting me to pretty much travel all the way to him!

OMG, I thought I was going to faint I was so angry.  First off I texted him and said, “Can’t you find somewhere that’s equal distance?” then I rang my dad and told him what had happened and he went a bit mental it has to be said.  The conversation went something like this...

“Dad, you know that guy I was telling you about, the one I like?”

“Yeah”

“Well I thought we’d agreed to meet somewhere where we’d have to travel an equal distance”

“What, he can’t be bothered coming to you?”

“Erm, well, no ... it’s actually worse than that ...”

“What can be worse than that?  No man decent man would ever expect you to travel anywhere on a first date”

“Well actually ...” (and I relayed the story to him)

“So, what you're saying is that you’re not good enough for someone to travel to?  Love, I know you like him, but that is absolutely not the kind of man you want.  You’d asked him politely to arrange somewhere in between – which let’s face it, you shouldn’t have needed to do anyway because he should be coming to you – and this joker comes back with somewhere even nearer to him?”

“Yes dad”

“Oh no [I could hear the anger in his voice!]... Forget it love. I know you’re disappointed but he’s a waster and I can’t stand to see you with another of those.  You get back on to him and tell him you won’t be going anywhere.”

“Thanks Dad”

“You’re welcome love ... you're worth better”

So that’s that.  I texted him back and said, “Second thoughts, I’m cancelling.  I want someone with manners and it seems you don’t have any” He sent me something equally as snotty back which I didn’t even read ... I just deleted.

When I reflected on it I began to wonder if I was being too sensitive and whether my Dad was the right person to ask, however, after talking to all my friends subsequently, they all said that they wouldn’t have even entertained the guy from the moment he said to meet half way!  My membership of that dating site is only good for another 2 weeks, so I’ve cancelled it so that it doesn’t automatically renew.   Ho hum.  Onward and upward. 

I’ve been to see a few films lately, so I’ll do a couple of reviews about those in the next couple of days.  Until then lovely people, be fabulous.

Lots of love

Jx

 

Even More Dating Disasters!

Firstly, sorry for the complete lack of posts ... I have had absolutely nothing to write about (believe it or not) ... until now that is! 

I really hate to admit it, but I’ve got even more dating disasters ... I know, I know, I said I was giving it all up, but ever the optimist ... I just couldn’t resist.  So, here goes...

A couple of weeks ago I decided to join a smaller, less obvious dating website to see if I could get some quality, rather than the mad quantity stuff I was getting from the other sites I’d joined.  This site is one where your friend has to write about you, so I thought that if people where gonna go to the hassle of getting their friends to write about them, and then they’d have to be a bit more serious than the other dating sites.  So I paid for one month (no point doing more with my track record) entered my details, got my mate to write a lovely little ‘testimony’ about me and away I went. 

Well, to say I was more than slightly underwhelmed by the response sums it up pretty well.  I registered 2 weeks ago and have had 4 emails and 3 different people (ie not the people who’d mailed me) adding me to their ‘Like’ list (this is in stark contrast to the hundreds of mails and over 3,000 views I had had on the last ‘bulk’ dating site I was on).

Anyway, I was determined that I was going to make this really low key and to at least meet up with anyone I thought was half way decent rather than shortlisting to the ‘enth degree and being left with no-one. 

Of the 3 who ‘Liked’ me, each was not a day under 55, so that wrote them off and that left the 3 who sent me messages:

Guy 1

Was quite rude about what my friend had written about me ... I think he was trying to be funny, but it came across as rude.  I sent him a ‘No thanks’ and deleted him.

Guy 2

Seemed quite promising ...  He was a professional, tall (at least 6’), reasonably good looking (although a bit on the thin side) and quite sporty (just for the record, I’m decidedly NOT sporty ... I go to the gym, yeah ... but ‘sporty’ .... nope!).  However, looking back, his ‘sporty’ was that he played badminton!  Hmmmmm I’m used to rugby players (for my US readers – rugby is like football without the padding) – big chunky rugby players, so I wasn’t really that sure ... however, we exchanged a couple of emails and he suggested meeting up.  I agreed. 

Now, he lives about 45 minutes from me ... he asked me if there was anywhere near me that we could meet – which I thought was a good start ... he was willing to come to me!  I gave him a suggestion, he said he didn’t want to meet there, he wanted to meet at a ‘country pub’ (FFS ... we were only meeting for a coffee!).  I said that there wasn’t anywhere near me like that (there are, but I don’t like taking people to places where I go a lot, just in case they stalk me if it doesn’t work out ... if you read my blog regularly, you’ll understand that one) and that I’d prefer it if we just met where I had originally suggested.

Nope, he wasn’t having that and came back to me with the address of a ‘lovely little country pub’ ... yes, you guessed it, 2 minutes from where he lives.  Seems I wasn’t worth travelling for after all!  So he was expecting me to travel 45 minutes and £20 worth of petrol to meet him.  He didn’t even suggest somewhere half way.

As you can imagine, I didn’t reply and never met up with Guy No 2 nor did he email me again.

Unfortunately lovelies, I've run out of time for today ... tomorrow I'll tell you about Guy 3 (save the best til last).  You're gonna love it ... it's a humdinger!  Until then, enjoy your evening and be fabulous!

Lots of love

Jx

Angie & Brad Engaged – Simon Cowell & Dannii Minogue

Wow, well it’s been a bit of a hum dinger for celeb gossip this week and I know that some of you will all ready know this stuff, but I’m sure some won’t.  So here’s a quick round up of this week’s Celeb Gossip.

Angie & Brad Engaged

After Angie had been spotted sporting a HUGE $250,000 diamond ring on her wedding finger which apparently took Brad a whole year to design (yes guys, he designed the corker of a ring – how multi talented is he ... swoon), her and Brad have been forced to announce their engagement.  They’ve been together for 7 years now and have three natural children together as well as Brad becoming legal guardian of Angie’s other 3 adopted children.

Angie's Beautiful Engagement Ring

There have been reports that Jennifer Aniston is happy for them both as she’s completely in love with Justin Theroux (who happens to be the cousin of Louis Theroux – he did that serious of cringingly embarrassing but brilliant documentaries with Jimmie Savile, one about Swingers and Nazi’s in the US – compelling but difficult watching).

Allegedly they have decided to finally get married (they had always gone with the line that they would never get married until EVERYONE no matter what their gender could be married) after increasing pressure from their kids.  Brad designed the ring with ‘Jeweller to the Stars’, Robert Procop whose team said that he was heavily involved in the designed:

Procop said: 'Brad had a specific vision for this ring, which he realised over a yearlong collaboration. He wanted every aspect of it to be perfect, so I was able to locate a diamond of the finest quality and cut it to an exact custom size and shape to suite Angelina's hand.

He continued: 'Brad was always heavily involved, overseeing every aspect of the creative design evolution.
'The side diamonds are specially cut to encircle her finger. Each diamond is of the highest gem quality.'
Experts estimate the ring cost around $250,000.

How lucky is she! *sigh*

Simon Cowell & Dannii Minogue

Allegedly, according to a new unauthorised biography by Tom Bower (former BBC Journalist and music executive) Simon Cowell had a affair with Dannie Minogue before she met the father of her baby and just turned ex-partner, Kris Smith.  Not a very good month for her!  Firstly she splits with her partner and now this.

According to his book, Sweet Revenge: The Intimate Life Of Simon Cowell, the music executive said to a pal: 'There were a few bonks and then it petered out while I was in America.'

Whilst Simon has said that the book is ‘unauthorised’ he’s known as quite the control freak and undoubtedly knew what was going to be in the book before it was due to be published and as yet has made no move to stop it.  According to The Mail Online, when interviewed about it, the author said that he’d spoken to Cowell and he’d said that the romance was true.  It’s also worth noting that Cowell’s ‘people’ have refused to comment which in itself pretty much confirms its truth.

Danni and Simon both denied an affair back in 2008 when various shots of them holding hands surfaced.  He is quoted as saying: 'I had a crush on her. It was Dannii's hair, the sexy clothes and the t**s. I was like a schoolboy. She was foxy. She was a real man's girl. Very feminine.'

Bower's book describes how Dannii became Cowell's target when he changed the X Factor judging panel in 2007 to include her, allegedly calling her a 'new toy.'  I’m not usually huge on reading biographies (authorised or otherwise), but I think I may be taking a little peek at that one.  It’s out on 1st May (just in time for my holidays!).

Right lovelies, more tomorrow.  Until then, have a wonderful day and be fabulous.

Lots of love

Jx

Cabin in the Woods

Well, I forgot to tell you about this.  I went to watch ‘Cabin in the Woods’ on Friday, and wow, what an amazing film!  It’s had tonnes of varying reviews but I’ve got to be honest, I thought it was brilliant and I’ll be very surprised if it doesn’t become a cult hit.

I went expecting it to be a sort of ‘Wrong Turn’ meets ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ but that was only part of it.  I think the marketing has been really clever because usually they put ALL of the best bits of a film into the trailer ... definitely not the case with this film.  In fact, they put very little regarding what the film is really about, so much so, that it pretty much ended up being a different film to what I was expecting!

It wasn’t really scary, although I did watch most of it through my fingers which were covering up my eyes (just in case!).  It was a bit gory (in fact, now I think back, it was a lot gory) and was ram jam packed with mythical creatures!  It was kind of a mix of the two films I’ve mentioned about plus ‘Thirteen Ghosts’ (love that film) and ‘Hellraiser’ plus a few more.  It was also quite funny in places too, you know the way Dawn of the Dead or the Halloween films are funny, well it was funny like those films.

I’ve thought long and hard about whether I should tell you what happens and give you all the bits that are missing from the trailers but I don’t think I will.  I think you should go and see it for yourselves and I don’t want to spoil it for you.  All in all, what I will say is that it was a really good mix of a few different genres and it kept me wholly entertained throughout the film.  In fact, I’ll go and watch it again this week I’m sure, so that I’ll be able to watch all the bits I missed when I was covering my eyes!

Right lovelies, sorry it’s a quick one, but things to do and people to see.  Have a wonderful week and be fabulous!

Lots of love

Jx

Legoland & Lottery Win!

Hello lovelies ... sorry for the lack of posts this week, I’ve been rather busy.  It’s not been a great week for news but I did have oodles of fun with my friend’s daughter Devon yesterday.  We had such a busy day:
Legoland – Devon had been pestering me to take her to Legoland for ages, I’d originally said I’d take her for her birthday back in February, but with one thing or another, we just hadn’t managed to get round to it.  However, I got a text from her on Friday saying, “Will you take me to Legoland tomorrow Aunty Jx?” Awwwww how can you resist! 

So the next day, her mum dropped her off at 9.30, I finished my coffee, slicked on my lippy and we were there for about 10.15.  Now, not having kids myself, I’m not really used to that whole ‘Day Out’ thing (unless I’m going shopping or drinking Champagne) and you kind of forget how interesting the little things can be for kids, but also how expensive things are.  It cost £29 for the two of us to get into Legoland and I’ve got to be honest, I thought, ‘Money for old rope’.  There really wasn’t that much to do, but Devon seemed enjoy it.  We stayed for a couple of hours and then she decided we needed MacDonalds.

So off we went for Maccy D’s, chicken nugget Happy Meal for Devon in which she ‘won’ the Dodo toy from The Pirates.  She found great delight in bugging me with for the rest of the day because it had a whistle in it, well I say for the rest of the day, it was in fact until I told her that she had two choices, stop whistling with it or take a trip to A&E whilst she had it surgically removed from the back of her throat (I’m great with kids!), she found that hysterical!  Now before you get all ‘child protection’ on me, I was ONLY JOKING ... sheesh!  I had a Big Mac Meal ... I know, the diet is on again today – I have just eaten 5 Thornton’s Continental Chocolates though while I’ve been writing this, so maybe the healthy eating starts tomorrow – then we had a trip to the Disney Shop, then Build a Bear.  Phew ... exhausting stuff. 

After all that, we still had a few hours to fill before Devon’s mum was due to pick her up, so we decided to watch The Pirates (I didn’t mind seeing it again cos if you remember, I fell asleep last time).  So we headed back home and to our local cinema.  Devon wanted pick n mix (and it would be rude not to join her) so with that, 2 drinks one ticket (I had my pass) and two sets of 3D glasses (I wouldn’t mind, I must have a dozen pairs at home), that was another £22.  How mad is that!  I’ve a new found admiration for all you parents out there.  It really hadn’t occurred to me how expensive it is to take just one child out for the day let alone a whole family!

Having said that though, it was worth every penny, I don’t begrudge it for a second and would do it again in an instant.  Devon is such good company and makes me laugh so much.  We always have a wonderful time.  We’re going to Chester Zoo next time, she wants to see the Elephants and I want to see the Monkeys “cos they remind me of you” I told Devon, which she found highly amusing and did her ‘monkey face’.

When Deb came to pick her up, we had a good old gossip and realised, when it got to 8.00 pm (from 5.00 pm ... oh can we talk) that we hadn’t eaten so ordered a Chinese (very kindly paid for by Deb) and watched a film.  All in all, a very lovely day ... although I’m completed shattered today!   I should have been going on a workshop today in Crewe, but couldn’t get out of bed (again, utter admiration for all you parents out there!).

When I checked my emails this morning, I had one from the Lottery (UK’s Lotto which I do online) telling me that there was news about my ticket.  I always nearly have heart failure when I get those mails because that time between reading the mail and actually logging into your account, you could have won the jackpot!  You wouldn’t believe how much can run through your mind in such a short space of time ... my usual vision is me on a yacht in the Caribbean!)  Anyway, as soon as I read the mail (while I was still in bed) I practically catapulted myself downstairs and logged on.  Well it turns out that I hadn’t exactly won the jackpot, but I had won £49.50 ... which pretty much paid for the previous day’s activities!  How good is that?  I’m pleased as punch!

Well lovelies, that’s it for another day.  As much as I don’t really want to, I have to make it to the gym ... especially after the amount of food I ate yesterday and to try and recover the calories I’ve just consumed from my 5 yummy yummy choccies.  Whatever you’re doing today ... enjoy and be fabulous!

Lots of love

Jx

Rihanna's Movie Debut - Battleship

Wow, yesterday’s post certainly was controversial.  I do have to point out though that what I put in my post was actually a snowflake on the tip of an iceberg regarding my giving – I barely touched the surface because I didn’t want to upset anyone.  It seems that there are a lot of you out there who also do the ‘give give give’ thing that I do and overwhelmingly the feedback was that you too have drawn a line under your excessive giving and have made a conscious decision to be more conservative with your spending on others.  I’m not saying that you shouldn’t give or I won’t give in future (far from it) I just won’t be so quick to put my hand in my pocket and quite so deeply!


Right, enough of that ... I’ve been far too serious about it all.  Yesterday, I went to see another new film that actually was only released yesterday, ‘Battleship’ and I have to say that on the whole, I loved it.  There were a few cheesy cliché moments, it has to be said and also I wasn’t blown over by the lead Taylor Kitsch, although he was much better than he was in ‘John Carter’, he still wasn’t brilliant in this.  I think Alexander Skarsgard (whom I LOVE – he’s brilliant as a gorgeous vampire in my most favourite TV show, True Blood) would have been much better as the main man rather than being the support.

Liam Neeson was also in it (love him, but his part of the script was a bit cheesy) and Rihanna gave her debut film performance and was actually surprisingly good.  OK, so in case you don’t know what the films about, here’s a synopsis:

A planet is found deep in our solar system which has the capacity for ‘life’ to exist.  Some bright scientist decides to send a signal to said planet which attracts aliens to our planet.  Just as that occurs, there happens to be a military navel training manoeuvre (I think that’s what you call it) going on around Hawaii which just happens to be where the Aliens land (strange that isn’t it?).  There’s then a full on battle between the US Navy and the Aliens.  Like I say, it was cheesy in some places, but one the whole it was fun, action packed and kept you on the edge of your seat.  Here’s the trailer so you can see for yourself:

The only issue I did have (and it wasn’t with the film) was that I forgot that the kids are still off school so the cinema was packed full of noisy little people (not dwarfs) rustling sweet bags, opening cans of pop, phones going off left right and centre and a constant stream going backwards and forwards to the toilet.  I just took a deep breath (I’m not good with that stuff) and tried to ignore it.

One thing I couldn’t ignore however was the stinky BO man that was sitting in front of me.  Each time he moved I got a good old whiff of deodorant free, blokey smelliness.  I ended up with my scarf over my nose and mouth ... as you can imagine, with a packed theatre full of bustling kids, it didn’t take long for it to get quite warm!  Ewwwwwwww

The other ‘theatre smell’ that I find quite sickening is when a go to a matinee where I know there’ll be lots of lady OAPs (like when I watched ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’) then you get that funny, powdery stale perfume smell that older ladies somehow seem to really like.  Its like they’ve sprayed themselves all over with a 40 year old bottle of Tweed!  It smells a bit like gone off baby powder and can be really overpowering.  Forgive me if I’ve mentioned it before!

Right that was a quickie.  I’ve got lots of meetings today, so must rush.  Enjoy yourself whatever you’re doing and be fabulous while you’re doing it!

Lots of love

Jx

Givers Vs Takers

Since my last post about the guy who was more than happy for me to buy his cinema ticket and drink, I’ve had a few conversations with friends about what makes people ‘tight’ with their money ie not want to spend it but being happy to let others pay for them.  Now, after a little analysis, we’ve come to the conclusion that people who don’t like to spend their money and who go to great lengths not to spend it (and I’ve got some cracking examples for you) are far from the ones with the least amount of available cash.  In our experience, it tends to be people who have got money, but just don’t want to spend it.  Either that or they get a buzz out of ‘getting away’ with as much as possible ie letting other people pay for them (I know a few people who definitely fit into that category).

I once knew a guy who claimed that you could split the world into two – people who predominantly give and those who predominantly take - of course there are shades of grey, however, he claimed that every person has a tendency to be largely one or the other.  I have to be honest, over the years I’ve analysed this and I have to agree.  Unfortunately (or fortunately) I happen to be the former and as a result am always first at the bar, always go out of my way to buy lovely presents, always tend to pick up bar/restaurant bills ... and I really don’t know why cos quite often I get completely stung ie I don’t get a fraction of what I give back.  Not that I give to get, but really, not a fraction!


Here are some of the examples of what I’ve experienced with particular ‘friends’:


The Bar Dodger



I often used to go out with a large group of friends ... probably about 13 of us (me being the 13th cos I was single), this one particular couple would always make sure that they bought the last round of the group because invariably, by the time it came to buying a second round for them, the night would be over.  I, on the other hand, would be expected to buy two rounds for everyone and as they were all buying in couples, I’d be well and truly out of pocket because I was buying 2 to their 1.  I don’t see that group of people anymore (not just because of that, but it was part of it ... they were more than happy for me to buy double the amount of drinks that they did ... fair? I don’t think so).

The Car Park Dodger

I used to go to a lot of gigs with this particular couple.  As my friend’s hubby preferred to drive, I would always pay for the car park ... and the drinks ... and the snacks ... and a programme and they would be more than happy to let me and wouldn’t even offer to buy me a drink in return.  As you can imagine, I could quite easily rack up an £80 bill for the privilege of them driving me to the gig (a taxi would have been cheaper!).  When I finally woke up to this, went to a gig with them and didn’t offer to pay for the parking and said that I’d buy my own drinks as money was short ... they were unbelievably shocked and didn’t ask me to go with them again (by the way, I wasn't working at the time!).

The ‘Hinter’

One of my friends was telling me about another of our friends who is well known for dodging paying for anything and said that quite often she’d go out with this friend and she would constantly drop hints about how much she wanted this or that but that she couldn’t afford it.  My other friend (for some reason that she could never identify) would end up buying her whatever the object of her desire was at that moment.  Now, let me just say that ‘the Hinter’ was super rich in comparison to my compassionate friend, but it still didn’t stop her accepting anything and everything she could get her hands on.  Bazaar!

The Family Member

I have a close family member who’s the same.  She expects everything to be bought for her and will go to unbelievable lengths to not have to pay for something ie she’ll disappear to the toilet or for a cigarette when the bill comes, say she’s ordered your birthday/Xmas present but it never arrives ... I’ve even overheard her saying, “well, it’s not like she can’t afford it” when I’ve been lumbered with a restaurant bill for everyone.  Nice to be appreciated isn’t!

The 'I've no money but I'm coming out anyway' Person

I went for a meal with a gang of girls a few weeks ago (they are friends of a friend of mine and I met most of them for the first time that night) and we met for a drink beforehand then went to the restaurant.  We were busy ordering meals and wine when I heard one of the girls whispering to another as we were discussing what wine to buy.  As the night wore on, it transpired that this girl had only bought £20 out with her.  Now, in the town we live in restaurants aren’t expensive, however, I can’t think of anywhere you buy a meal and alcoholic drinks all night and only pay £20 (I’m not counting fast food joints here!).  What would possess you to do that?  If I can’t afford to go out, I don’t go out.  I don’t expect other people to pay for me ... which is exactly what we did ... we all had to put money in to cover for her lack and hid the bill from her so that she didn't know what we'd done!  I really don't get it and I’d never dream of it.

The Admitted Taker

I have another friend who quite openly says that she is a 'Taker' and when I say to her, "How can you do that?  How can you just let people pay for you and do stuff for you like that?  Don't you feel guilty or bad that you never replay them?"  Her answer is, "If people are stupid enough to do it/pay for it for me, then that's their look out".  Wow ... I was gobsmacked and unable to speak for a good 5 minutes after that!

I have to be honest, I really don’t get how people can behave like that however, I’ve recently (after the non-paying dates and a couple of other things that are too negative to go into here) really woken up to the fact that I’m a bit of a soft touch and I definitely need to put the stoppers on things.  I only end up getting wound up about it, especially when I think it's not appreciated and unfortunately quite often its not ... it's expected.  It becomes all the more glaringly obvious to me when I'm not working - as you may be aware, I work for myself and sometimes go for long stretches without earning a penny, but yet people still expect me to pay more than my fair share for things. Not no more baby, the worm has turned!

Wow ... I’ve had a full on rant there haven’t I!!!  I just had to get that off my chest.  I feel much better now, I hope I haven't depressed you too much.  Right onward and upward to more positive things!  See you soon lovely people and be fabulous.

Lots of love

Jx

PS ... Are you a Giver or a Taker ... you may want to think about it!

Yet Another Dodgy Date (well sort of!)

OK, so I told you that I’d remembered another dodgy date story.  Actually, I hadn’t forgotten about it (that would be pretty difficult to do); I’d just taken the executive decision not to write about it.  However, when I’ve told this tale to my friends, they’ve been totally stunned by both the behaviour of the man in question and why I wouldn’t want to share it ... misplaced loyalty maybe?  I don’t really know.  So, after much cajoling from my lovely friends, here goes...

A guy I knew back in the day (like 20 years ago) got in touch with me around September last year and pretty much straight away, told me about the breakup of his marriage.  Now, my immediate thought was, “Oh here we go”.  However, months later after a steady stream of emails back and forth, he hadn’t even mentioned meeting up so I gleaned from that that he was actually just being friendly and didn’t think of me in a ‘romantic’ way, which was fine by me.

A couple of months ago, he dropped a heavy hint about wanting to watch a film that I’d talked about going to see, so I said, “Well if you want to watch it, come with me I don’t mind.  It’d be nice to have some company for a change and I’m going anyway”.  I have to be honest, even now, I’m not sure whether it was a ‘date’ or just two friends going to the cinema together, so I decided to take it as the latter as he’d been at lengths to remark on how this wasn’t a date (but he kept saying it in a jokey way, so I wasn’t really sure).

When the day arrived, he’d agreed to come to mine (I wasn’t so concerned about my usual dating rules because I knew him and also know a lot of people who know him too ... so I didn’t feel the ‘normal’ security measures were needed), he turned up (he lives in a town about 40 minutes away from me) and the first thing that came through the door was the overpowering smell of stale cigarette smoke (another 60 a day habit person), then came the depressed aura (I seem to be attracting that lately) then came the pleather jacket.  Nuff said.  I’m not going into that one again.  We had a quick chat then jumped in his car to the cinema...

Now, if you’ve read my other posts, you’ll know that I love the cinema and have ‘pass’ for my local movie theatre that I pay £14.99 per month for, which means that I can watch as many films as I want without paying any more.  Well, we walked up to the counter, I asked him if he wanted anything to eat, no, he just wanted a large coke, I asked the woman for the tickets and one large coke and one small diet coke.  She prepared the drinks and the tickets and said, “Will you come round to the till?” He just stood there, hands in pockets just like the guy from my previous ‘dating disaster’ post.  I thought, ‘Blimey, he’s not moving’ so I walked round to the till; all the while he’s standing there with his hands in his pockets allowing me to pay for his ticket (mine was obviously free) and his LARGE coke.  OMG – I was fuming ... he made no attempt whatsoever to even make a move to pay.  HE JUST STOOD THERE!

Now, let’s get a couple of things straight here, I’d got it in my head that it wasn’t a date and therefore, I wouldn’t expect the man to pay for me (although I have to be honest I would expect that if it was a first date, I’d argue with them a bit and offer to at least pay my half, but I’d be really disappointed if they let me – I’m just a bit old fashioned like that and I think it speaks volumes about a person and their ethics) but neither would I think that he would expect me to pay for him.  I think I’ve said before, that when I go out with my friends, we either split the bill or take it in turns – we’d never ever expect the other to pay for us without putting up a bit of a fight.

Did he offer to pay?  Did he even offer to pay half?  Not bloody likely.  What did he say when I’d paid and walked to him with his ticket and coke? “Oh I get my ticket and coke bought for me too”  Like I had a friggin’ choice!!!  OMG, I thought I was going to faint.  NEVER EVER has that EVER happened to me.  OK, there was the guy on the last dodgy date I told you about who was happy for me to buy him a drink, but this was on a whole different level.  How can anyone just expect someone else to pay for them without even offering?  Don’t get it.

*Phew Jx and breathe* I handed him his goodies and we walked into the theatre, sat down and watched the film.  I’ve got to be honest, I really couldn’t concentrate and was well aware that my body language (had he noticed it) was screaming out “I’M ANGRY I AM”!

So, after the film (bearing in mind we’d gone in the afternoon) we left the theatre and had to walk past a ‘Pizza Hut’.  Now, if I’d been there with any one of my numerous friends, without a doubt one of us would say, “Let’s go for pizza” Him?  Not a peep (I remember thinking, ‘No he’s not likely to say that cos he’ll find it harder to get away without paying for it ... and he probably needs all his cash to fund for his heavy cigarette habit’).

So we get in the car and drive back to mine, all the time I’m thinking, “Don’t come in. Don’t come in!”  What did he do?  Came in ... well I did ask.  Luckily I knew he wouldn’t stay long because he hadn’t had a smoke for at least 2.5 hours so must have been gagging for one.  So he stayed and had a coffee and then left quite quickly.

I really thought he’d have picked up on my negative vibes ... but no.  This is the best bit, when he got home, he emailed me ... this is what he said:

“Thanks for today, I really enjoyed it. Hope we can do it again soon. Your choice on the film next time!  There's a Cineworld near me if your pass works everywhere?”

OMG ... he wasn’t even offering to pay for my ticket next time, he was expecting me to travel the 40 minutes to his for the privilege of using my freebie card again!  The bloody nerve, I couldn’t believe it.  Since then I’ve had a couple of mails from him asking me what he did wrong because he genuinely doesn’t know and is extremely sorry.  How can you not know!?  It’s just general good manners surely.

As a complete opposite to this, I had dinner with another male friend that I’ve known for a million years a couple of weeks ago.  This wasn’t a date, it was just old friends catching up and he wouldn’t let me pay of a thing.  We had dinner and went to a bar and had a few drinks after and no matter how much I argued with him, he wouldn’t let me contribute.  Total opposite ends of the scale.

So lovelies, there it is.  Whether it was a date or not, I’m still not clear and don’t really care, but he was incredibly rude.  What did I learn from that?  Don’t be so soft and don’t be the first to put my hand in my pocket.  We live and learn and that’s the point isn’t it!

Right, I’m off to do some work.  Have an amazing week and I’ll see you soon.  Until then, be fabulous!

Lots of love

Jx

Champagne Saturday & Mrs Brown's Boys

Well, what a lovely weekend I’ve had!  It’s been quite fab even though I say so myself.  I had a fab time with Justine on regular ‘Champagne Saturday’ jaunt and have a little tale to tell you about that regarding’ Mrs Brown’s Boys’...

I don’t know if you’ve seen it, it’s an Irish sitcom based around Mrs Brown (who happens to be a man in drag) and her Irish Catholic family.  I’ve got to be honest, it’s extremely rude ... I mean VERY VERY rude, but oh so funny.  I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much as I do when I watch that.  It’s hysterical.  Here’s a couple of clips for you ... but be warned they are X-rated (ie you must be over 18 to watch) and contain sexual content and bad language ... that’s the disclaimer done.








Anyway, Justine and I had had our fabulous bottle of champagne in Harvey Nichols (we just have the one now ... we used to have 2 plus regular wine with our meal, but it got to the point that neither of us could remember getting home and that’s never good ... especially when you’re using public transport – yes, you read that right, Public Transport! *shudder*) – in case you don’t know, Harvey Nichols is one the UK’s most exclusive designer department stores and has a lovely Champagne Bar that does the most amazing cocktails.  It’s very lovely ... think Neiman Marcus in the US (God I love that store too) and you’re on the right track.  It’s fantastic for people watching too, not that we really do much of that cos we’re too busy catching up and gossiping!

Champagne & Cocktails Galore at Harvey Nics

After our champers, we hopped (not literally, I was wearing heels after all) to the Living Room – another lovely/trendy bar for some food.    As we ordered and were waiting for our food to arrive, two guys sat down at the table in front of us.  I said to Justine, “Ooooh they’re wearing passes for Mrs Brown’s Boys.  The show must be on in town and they are obviously part of the crew” The fact that their passes had ‘Mrs Brown’s Boys Crew’ was a bit of a dead giveaway and we came to the conclusion that they were probably lighting or sound crew.  We then had quite a discussion about how much we love the show, and in fact, Justine had seen the stage show too – which I was very jealous of. 


Now, when we’d finished our meal and were waiting for the bill, Justine said, “Shall I ask them what they do in the show and tell them how much we love it?”  Of course I say, “Oooooh yeah, go on then” (now you have gotta remember that we were a little tipsy by now, even though we had eaten, it was only early evening about 6.30 and we’d been drinking since 2.00 ... anyway, you get what I mean).  So she trots over and starts telling them how much we love the show and what were their jobs ... “Are you lighting or sound crew?” I heard her say ... I meandered over just in time to hear, “No, I play Deano, Rory’s boyfriend” (Rory is one of Mrs Brown’s sons) “and he plays the Doctor”


OMG, you know when you want the ground to open up!!!  We both did the whole “Oh yeah! Of course! Really sorry!”  and then I did a whole lot of sucky upey grovelling, “Oooh I love the show, it’s the funniest thing ever ... I’ve never seen anything that has ever made me laugh so much” bla bla bla  - cringe!  You could tell they were a little put out that we professed to be such big fans but didn’t recognise them!  Well, as soon as he said that, we couldn’t get out quickly enough.  I looked at Justine and she had a kind of strained look of horror on her face and then we literally ran out!  So funny ... so embarrassing! After that, we laughed pretty much all the way to the train station, completely mortified at our little faux pas!  Awwww you’ve gotta laugh, haven’t you – it keeps you sane.


I’ve got to be honest I was home for 7.30, so I really didn’t have a hangover yesterday.  Last night, I went out with an old friend of mine and we had a right old giggle.  Only thing is, I have a steaming hangover this morning, although it is getting a bit better now I’ve eaten and had a couple of pints of strong black coffee ... I’m actually buzzing a bit now!


I think I need a bit of a detox this week – it’s now 7 weeks to my next holiday and although I’m happy with my weight, I’m definitely not bikini toned ... and if you’re wondering about whether I kept the running up ... nope ... I went twice and it hurt too much and I kept panicking cos I couldn’t get my breath.


Right lovelies, that’s it for another day.  In my next post I’ll tell you about another dodgy date I had that I only remembered when I was catching up with Justine.  So until next time, be fabulous!


Lots of love


Jx

The Beatles Kids to Start a Band!

Oooooooooh I’m so excited ... I’ve just read that 3 of the sons of my most favourite band of all time, The Beatles, are talking about getting a band together!  I was obsessed with The Beatles all through my teens and they still are and always will be my favourite band ever.  I’m also a bit of a Beatles geek ... there’s not too much I don’t know about them and I find it really odd when I read reports from Celebs saying that they’ve ‘recently discovered the Beatles’.  I can’t believe it’s taken them so long ... anyway, I digress.

It seems that Julian Lennon, James McCartney and Dhani Harrison have said that they’d all consider signing up to a ‘New Generation’ band and as they are all accomplished musicians in their own right (actually, I think it would be pretty weird if they weren’t) I can only imagine what their creativity together would be like.  Am I sounding a bit stalkerish and obsessive?  Don’t care!


Here’s what James recently said about it during an interview with the BBC, 'I'd be up for it. Sean seemed to be into it, Dhani seemed to be into it. I'd be happy to do it.'  But he added that Ringo's drummer son Zak wasn't as keen. 'I don't think it's something that Zak wants to do,' he said. 'Maybe Jason [another of Starr's sons and also a drummer] would want to do it.'


Pressed on whether a new band could be in the foreseeable future, James replied: 'Yeah, hopefully, naturally. I don't know, you'd have to wait and see. The will of God, nature's support, I guess. So yeah, maybe.'


OMG ... pick me up off the floor!


James was briefly interviewed on ‘Lorraine’ during the last week and performed one of his songs which he co-produced with his dad.  I’ve only seen pictures of him before and hearing him speak, he’s not only the image of his dad but sounds like him too – although I think he’s not as and takes after his mum on that one.  Anyway, here’s the clip of him playing.  Enjoy...

Well, that really was a quickie ... I just had to share!  Must rush ... see you soon lovely people.  Have a wonderful day and be fabulous.


Lots of love


Jx

Julia Roberts - Mirror Mirror

 

Well I just had to give a quick review of Mirror Mirror which I saw this afternoon.  Not to put to finer point on it ... it was bloody awful.  Again, it was the screenplay that let it down.  It was incredibly uninteresting and ... well ... downright boring!  Julia Roberts, who I’ve loved ever since Pretty Woman, was (I’m sorry to say) diabolical!  She was absolutely dreadful and must have been cringing when she watched the completed film (if she has indeed watched it ... I don’t remember seeing a premier for this film and I can really understand why).

I have no clue what her accent was meant to be – she couldn’t decide whether to be English or American so had a kind of weirdy semi posh transatlantic kind of chirpy chat!  Most odd.  The guy who played the prince (Armie Hammer) was just about the worst choice I could have ever imagined.  He was shocking.

 

On the positive side (yes there was one ... only one) the costumes where AMAZING!  I can’t remember the last time I saw a film where the costumes were so imaginative and beautiful (the sets weren’t up to much though ... I think they spent the entire budget on the clothes!).  Here’s a clip of the film ... this illustrates clearly what I mean re: the voice and clothes...

Would I recommend it for kids?  Well, I think I’d have to say, ‘Wait for the DVD’ for this one.  There were loads of kids in the theatre today (with it being half term) and they were really restless.  I actually heard one of the kids in front of me say to her mum, “Mum, I’m bored” her mum’s reply “I’ve spent a fortune to bring you three to see this after all your whining.  Now shut up and enjoy it!” lol ... That was actually the best bit of the film!

Right ... back to work. Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday lovely people and be fabulous!

Lots of love

Jx

Dark Shadows, Total Recall, Men in Black 3

Well lovelies, I’ve had a hugely positive day ... wish I could share, but no work stuff here!

This is gonna probably be the shortest post I’ve ever left, as I don’t have any gossip/news to tell you about, but I just had to share this with you ... I think it’s one of the most gross (not to mention funny), vomit inducing pictures I’ve ever seen.  I pinched it from my friend Emma’s Facebook status so I have to give her all the credit for it. 

"Look mum, no hands!"

It really makes you think when they tell you that you should use hand sanitiser when you’re on the Tube (Underground)!   Last time I was on the Tube in London, I ended up with full blown Swine Flu – I hate to think what you might end up with after touching where that ass has been!  *Shudder*

On a lighter note, there’s a fabulous Bank Holiday weekend coming and mine’s shaping up pretty well, with ... wait for it .... ‘Champagne Saturday!’ with my lovely Friend Justine.  It’s been a while and she’s been on holiday so I’m dying to hear all the gossip.  So hopefully I’ll have tonnes to talk about by the weekend.

Back to my love of films, I’ve only just seen today that they are re-making Arnie’s 1990 hit ‘Total Recall’ with Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel and judging by the trailer it’s going to be a hum dinger of a film.  I loved the original so can’t wait to see this one.  See what you think...

... And we thought the original had good graphics!  The film is out on 3 August in the US – so shouldn’t be long after that for it to hit UK screens.

Another film that I’m looking forward to seeing is the new Tim Burton film, Dark Shadows.  This trailer is playing incessantly in movie theatres at the moment, but it does look really good (I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Tim Burton film that wasn’t) and the gorgeous Johnny Depp plays a suitably weird, comedic vampire.  The story goes that his character is cursed by a jealous ex-lover (a witch) in 1752, turned into a vampire and buried for over 200 years.  When he’s inadvertently freed from his tomb he emerges into a very different world of 1972! Here’s the trailer...

Ohhhhh love it!  That’s out in the UK on 11 May – so not too long to wait for that one.

Finally, Men in Black 3! Yay!  I love those films and this looks equally as good.  Will Smith travels back in time in order to save the world and has to deal with a very young Agent K!

A really good reason to not flush goldfish down the loo!  That’s out in the UK on 25 May.

Right well, I didn’t really intend that to turn in to a movie review, but I’m sure it’s kept you out of mischief for a bit.  I’m off to eat a Cadbury’s Cream Egg (how do you eat yours?) and watch this week’s episode of True Blood (God how I love that programme ... so many gorgeous, scantily glad men on one show ... Is that sexist?  Don’t care!).  Life doesn't get much better than this folks.  Until next time, lovely people, be fabulous.

Lots of love

Jx

The Pirates & The Wrath of the Titans

Hello lovelies.  I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend and enjoying some fantastic weather wherever you happen to be in the world.  Well, I’ve not got much to report on today (I always say that and when I start to write, stuff just comes flooding out!) so I thought I’d give you a couple of quick film reviews.

On Friday afternoon, after a crazy busy week, I decided on a whim to take myself off to the movies.  I really wanted to see two new films, The Pirates: Band of Misfits and The Wrath of the Titans and whilst I was only intending to watch one (then get back home and carry on working) I ended up watching both.  ‘Extremely indulgent’ you’re probably thinking and I did beat myself up about it for a bit, however, I’ve been working late into the night pretty much every day for the last 2 weeks, without a day off so thought, “To hell with it!”

Firstly, I watched The Pirates which is another Aardman animated creation (you know, the guys who created the marvellous Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run ... I love Wallace and Gromit and no matter how many times I watch them, I still laugh).  Staring Hugh Grant, Selma Hayek and Martin Freeman, the Pirate Captain (Grant) sets out on a mission to defeat his rivals Black Bellamy and Cutlass Liz (Hayek) to win the coveted Pirate of the year Award. The quest takes Captain and his motley crew from the shores of Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London.  Along the way they do battle with the pirate-hating Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton) and team up with a young Charles Darwin (David Tennant - who has a chimp, left over from earlier experiments, who acts as his man-servant).

All in all, it was absolutely brilliant.  Really funny and an equally good watch whatever age you are and with the Easter Holidays upon us, I can’t think of anything better to take the whole family to see.  When I was doing a little bit of research for this post I came across the official website for the film and it’s actually really good ... your kids will love it as it’s really interactive.  Check it out for yourself by clicking this link.  Here are a couple of trailers in case you’ve been living in a cupboard and haven’t seen them:

Next, Wrath of the Titans which is the sequel to Clash of the Titans (it always makes me laugh when I hear “Release the Kraken” – I remember having a drink with some friends once when a particularly beauty challenged woman walked in the pub and my friend’s husband whispered, “Release the Kraken” ... still cracks me up now!).  This film is set 10 years after the last and Perseus (Sam Worthington) the demigod son of Zeus is attempting to live a quieter life as the sole parent of his 10 year old soon Helius.

Meanwhile, a struggle for supremacy rages between the gods and the Titans.  Dangerously weakened by humanity’s lack of devotion, the gods are losing control of the imprisoned Titans and their leader Kronos.    Perseus enlists the help of warrior Queen Andromedia and Posseidon’s demigod son to embark on a quest into the underworld to rescue Zeus (Liam Neeson – love him) from Hades (Ralph Fiennes – love him too), overthrow the Titans and save mankind.  Phew!

Another brilliantly entertaining film and I think it beats the original, Clash of the Titans, hands down.  It’s full of adventure, mythical creatures and heroism. What more could you ask for in a film?  Definitely another family must see, but for older children, younger ones might find it a bit scary.  Here are a couple of trailers for you:

Well that’s me for today, I’m currently tending the biggest pot of homemade chicken soup you ever did see ... it’s gonna be gorge, whilst catching up on this week’s omnibus episode of Eastenders.  Might just get my backside in gear and go for a run in a bit!

Whatever you’re up to this beautiful Sunday, I hope you’re having fun.  Be fabulous!

Lots of love

Jx