the rip-off

storyline of pocahontas, LOTR combat scenes, Matrix technology of mind transfer, and Troy soundtrack

that's Avatar for you.

original: blue men on strange hostile planet? - WOW SOME IMAGINATION!

white christmas cliche

unbelievably, we're having a white christmas in uk. i thought i knew global warming well enough to know not to expect white christmases anymore and last year was a prime example of an unusually hot week leading to Christmas Day.

anyhoo,

i'm loving this whiteness around me, walking through it somewhat a challenge as the snow is not thick enough to warrant high footfall and firm snow. So areas that are easily accessible by foot is grey slush, and other areas have nice white snow. And one must be ever so careful walking through semi grey slush and snow plus with my reduced action ankle it ain't so happening. and the terrain is always slanty, making things even harder.

walking down stairs is even trickier, esp since the railings are so cold u might get stuck to it. like dry ice to tongue.

but in my lovely warm room and toasty house, its great looking out and seeing icing dusted rooftops and mist all around - like living in a fairy tale book. Best times are to be trudging back home at night when the roads are quiet and the mist is hanging all around and only street lamps light your way.

then again, stewing away at the bus stop seems to be quite interesting too. As every breath i release sends puffs of steam, coupled with the very misty surroundings, i might as well be in the World of Steam Bath except my kneecaps are chilling up and i do a little dance (make a little love, get down tonight)

the worst part is, i dont have a camera! i've brilliantly left my camera charger behind in the Land of No Weather Imagination. And thus have to contend taking memory pictures. I'd try posting up the snow storm video i took last winter but blogger.com dont like to accept my video uploads.

i've made some advanced food purchases- buying things that i wouldnt normally buy. My daily intake is usually bread and box of soup, coffee, tea, sometimes cereal. That'll last me 24 hours. So i've had some pretty dormant food needs

Christmas has awaken all sorts of desires. Suddenly, a block of cheese, and a tub of olives are in my shopping basket. Throw in a few pints of milk, hot choc, baileys - you've got Dublin Dream.

A bag of prepared baby new potatoes, a bag of caesar salad, some fish.

A hamper of german meats - every kind of german meatish fetish.

2 loaves of stollen

2 boxes of mince pies

a packet of sausages, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions.

more wholemeal bread

i am on a roll. Looking at the list, that would normally apply to me for a week's worth of eating

dear me, i cannot imagine the amount of physical labour i have to put into to make a meal. bless.

tsk. this is why i just heat up a box of soup for all my daily nutritions in one go. simple. easy.

meanwhile, i'm just going to kick back with a glass of elderflower

do some essay writing.............. who am i kidding? with all this food around, i'll be procrastinating.

ok... step away from the computer.... disconnect internet.

* *

in a white white world

i open my curtains in the morning, its white all over

the row of roofs, the fleet of cars, the green grass struggles to make its colour distinct.

i open the front door, its white all over

the welcome mat, the stoney steps, the little path, the slight slope leading to a row of bare trees

i open a carton of soup

milky white cream was used in it

i take out a food package

white tubs, looking sterilised

i open a document

its white, nothing springs to mind to type

as i walk home at night, (its night most of the time now)

the paths are newly dusted with snow

i see a trail

of shoe prints and doggedly following it, paw prints.

in search

a young man in Japan arranged his circumstances so that he was able to travel to a distant island to study Zen with a certain Masters for a three-year period. At the end of the three years, feeling no sense of accomplishment, he presented himself to the Master and announced his departure. The Master said, "You've been here three years. Why don't you stay three months more?" The student agreed, but at the end of the three months he still felt that he had made no advance. When he told the Master again that he was leaving the Masters said, "Look now, you've been here three years and three months. Stay three weeks longer." The student did, but with no success. When he told the Master that absolutely nothing had happened, the Masters said, "You've been here three years, three months, and three weeks. Stay three more days, and if at the end of that time, you have not attained enlightenment, commit suicide." Towards the end of the second day, the student was enlightened.

("Silence"- John Cage)

the week of tooth and arm

i started my week last weekend with a broken tooth.

dashed about finding the dentist and setting up emergency appointments

had to rehearse relentlessly for a klezmer concert.. right up till the day of concert

buggery thing since i'm not even signed on to elective

felt three tugs up my arm from my thumb on my bowing hand

not ideal for any musician to suffer from pain

and not ideal for me to be getting pain FROM an elective that i'm not even involved in!

busked at stratford and was asked to play in a fish and chippy nearby

total earnings for the day of playing 2.5hrs total, minus 4 pounds return train tickets - £51 plus hot choc (per person)

an american tourist was taking pics of us and was kind enough to offer to email them to us and then much later came out from a coffee shop bearing 3 cups of hot choc! - at a moment when we're on a low ebb of playing.

check us out! http://www.christmasuponavon.com/christmas-entertainment.php (28th nov)

we're "a touch of klez" and we have a really cool blurb if i may say so myself since i wrote it!

and now, after a week, tooth not fixed, arm and shoulder getting worse, AND i'm growing my wisdom tooth. like i'm not in enough pain already. like its not difficult enough eating without one tooth. like i dont have so many other things to do without needing more distractions and aches.

i totally forgot to blog about the awesome london trip last last week 17th-19th nov 2009.

it was awesome.

might put some pics up... someday. or not. might blog about it too.... someday.

beyond ok

in the negative sense.

the weather is positively miserable. we've ONLY had a clouds and rains and gusty winds. ALLLLLL week. the only time when the sun shone out, i quickly grabbed my coat and scarf and bounced out of the house to find a dentist

and yes, to make life more miserable, i broke my tooth. i will never ever crunch on a stale pizza crust EVER! ... maybe just avoid all crunchy bits for the rest of my life. I've chipped my front tooth before and so its true, any violent acts upon tooth will cause it to demolish right before my food into my plate.

and of course, no dentist is open on the weekends and therefore i cant book an appointment for "first thing monday morning". i'll just have to rely on the excellent bus service (take 2 buses and walk for miles) to get to the centre by 9am. hoping against hope that they'll grant me an emergency appointment, and also hoping against hope that it will NOT rain.

And then after thats done, i've gotta hope that they can actually DO something about gaping hole in mouth--- even if its temporary till i get it patched up for real.

oh yeah, and hope that they will put me under NHS dental treatment which means i'll pay a cap amount. instead of some ridiculous £500+ figure.

now, i'm actually going to change all the words that said "hope" to "pray"

oh on top of that, i've got the usual classes and rehearsals this week. AND i've got a concert this Thursday. And i'm playing with the gang at Stratford this Saturday. How am i supposed to speak to ppl?? I cant smile, cant speak, cant eat, .... can only just mumble... and avoid social contact.

Oh.. and Lee Konitz is doing a workshop next week. Dave Holland is coming down as well.

I can't be a recluse at all!

i suppose the only bright way to see this is that at least i'm not having AIDS or cancer. i just have a broken tooth. Nothing money can't fix.

sighhhhh....

of housemates extrordinaire

i live with THE BEST housemates ever!

these guys really know how to run a household- more so than me (that's a given!) or dini

who bought the bath mats after days and days of sloppy showers -the guys

who magically bought more toilet paper when it ran out- the guys

who most politely offer strawberries after dinner- the guys

who bought clothes pegs and hangers for the laundry- the guys

who bought a new shower head for our very decimated one- the guys

who bought cleaning liquid for the toilets, toilet brush, bin bags, kitchen towels, washing gloves, sponges, EVEN a weighing machine!!! - the guys

of course we'll sort out the bills soon enough but its the INITIATIVE of living that gets me! the guys have such an amazing sense of ... livelihood.

And its them who cleaned the whole house on the night we had a housewarming party. I mean, the mops, the scrubs, everything! The bath which looks very dusty round the edges were sparkling clean! As were the sinks. Everything was top notch. And i walked into the house seeing a faint glisten of the drying floor as i brought in the gusty winds with me into the house.

and i suspect its them who's been taking out the trash on tues nights for the trucks. i've prob ever done it once by myself.. and once with them.

They leave house at 8.45am, waking up at like 7am, and i dont see them till late at night.. most likely 7pm--sometimes 8pm-- later... they are working hard at school! and then they come home and COOK! Cook a proper dinner plus leftover for packed lunch the next day. AMAZING!!!

And on weekends when they kick back and relax at home, its reading a famous Chinese novel .. or going out for a jog together in the evening, having a can of beer at dinner time.

And tonight, there was a sharp rap on our door at 6pm. And its guy 1 who went up to the door to see a scary monster there... and then he was yelling something or other in chinese to guy 2.

"Its the Trick-or-Treat folks. Do we have candy in the house?????"

umm.. hmm.. mmm... all of us came out of our rooms and were thinking.... no........? meanwhile, guy 2 joined guy 1 downstairs to rummage through the cupboards while me and dini can just stand around in wonderment at the energetic ways the guys are searching for candy in the house!! i mean.. seriously.... the kid who rapped at the door prob left and here they were still searching for candy.- no such luck

so Guy 1 puts a jacket on and walks out to the nearby convenience store to get some!!!

you see what i mean? initiative. energetic. livelihood.

i'm not sure how many kids will be by our door tonight but we certainly cant be giving each and everyone of them- we only have a handful.

the only "bad" thing they've done ONCE is having a smoke outside a few nights ago. They are not smokers but i think its just a random-have-a-smoke thingy that guys do to hang out and chill? yeah? no?

i wouldnt know about this guy etiquette thingy...