Monday, March 31, 2008

Sun-shiney Day

Days like today, always worry me a bit; in the back of my mind, because I've had a really nice day off, the rest of the week will be shite.

For Boy and I had a lie-in, read we got up at 8 am, rather than 7. Gee came round for a cup of coffee and a natter, after we put the world to rights we agreed we'd go out to the new and re-vamped Cinema City to see Guillermo del Torro's The Orphanage in the evening. Boy and I then spent the next two hours trying to get across the city (by bus) to the Post Office's Sorting Office, to pick up a letter/parcel that the sender didn't pay enough postage. The people in the snazzy, new bus station sent us to the bus that kind of goes near where the Sorting Office is, after a leisurely walk. When we got on the bus to ask the kind driver to drop us off at the nearest stop, he shook his head and said 'you wanted the Number 11, but only goes every hour." He did drop us off at the right place and we did pick up the A4 letter, with no postage containing my contract with the PCH.

*sigh*

Boy and I then caught the Number 11 back to the city and walked to the Garden Centre on the Ring Road for a coke and some more plants. My plants are not only alive *gasp, shock*, they are actually doing really well, so I wanted some more. I did manage to control myself and not get a trolley and put in pansies, violets, bellis and three types of lavender. Instead, I got an ivy, a French tarragon, thyme and a small dill. I'm still thinking about getting some lilies, maybe even a few tomatoes, peppers and aubergine to put in a grow-bag. Not to mention the lovely orchids I saw.

Boy and I tend to play Eye-spy when we travel and are bored. I've noticed that when we do play, people in ear-shot start looking around and you can just see them itching to join in, but not being brave enough. Which is a shame, because it can be quite fun. We don't play by the rules, you can ask questions and get hints. I always ask 'is it clean?' Boy likes to be obscure.

The best of Eye-spy today was:
S for skin
C for clouds
R for rings
P for pavement
S for shops
D for dust
T for tickets

The Orphanage is a gothic tale (I knew this was so because of the creaky house and bad weather). I'm the wrong person to ask if it was scary because I spent a bit of time hiding under Gee's armpit. I have no tolerance for scary bits, no matter how obvious, cliched or over-done they might be - I still squeak and jump. It was beautifully shot, and the acting was good. However, it was a touch predictable and everything was well flagged and over-explained. I suspect del Torro would have found Pan's Labyrinth exceptionally difficult to follow and whatever he would have done, it would not have been able to match it in terms of beauty, horror and enchantment.

Tomorrow I go to work, so I'll let you know if my superstitions were justified.

3 comments:

  1. I still quite fancy seeing that film. Have you seen his earlier one "The Devil's Backbone"? Its a ghost story set during the Spanish Civil War. Highly recommend it if you haven't seen it already - it isn't properly scary.

    I'm the opposite with scary films - I always think they don't bother me and then when its dark and time for bed, I start to remember bits of them.

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  2. Anonymous6:47 pm

    Despite the bus mix up, that sounds a really nice day.

    We are doing the plant thing too and I am trying to coax some little tomato seedlings into life...

    Hope Tuesday was not as bad as you feared...

    ReplyDelete
  3. sanddancer ~ I've read a few things about the Devil's Backbone and will be keeping an eye out for it on dvd. I'm not much bothered by the dark, though I did have an uncomfortable night after both watching and reading Silence of the Lambs. In the end, I managed to convince both the cat and Boy to spend the rest of the night with me.

    NM ~ it was a really nice day. Today, my brain felt like it was drowning in treacle. Hope your week is panning out ok.

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