The week since New Years

There hasn’t been any major news since the beginning of 2006. After feeling neglected towards the end of 2005, Paul and I have spent a lot of time together so far in 2006 (running errands, being around town etc, but I’d still classify that as quality together-time). With Paul’s parents away until the 5th, it was great having his place essentially to ourselves. No parental nagging to have things done the way parents like it at that specific moment in time. How relaxing.

Anyway, the weekend was a good one. We spent Friday evening at Jackie’s place for what was essentially a going-back-to-Joburg braai / party. Of the people I know, Bronwyn and John were there, as were Warren, Natasha and Matt, and Gareth and Denbeigh. We were having such a good time chatting (about 80’s cartoons, old games and thin-skinned, ready to bleed senior citizens) and snacking that time itself turned out to be pretty irrelevant. We were in the pool playing volleyball with an inflatable globe way past midnight. Myself, Paul and Warren were the last people to leave. And that was at 2:30am.

Of course, being in bed at 3am, did kind of mess up my internal clock for the rest of the weekend. I struggled with bouts of extreme exhaustion. But that didn’t stop us from a shopping expedition at the Pavilion on Saturday morning, and meeting Gareth and Denbeigh at Musgrave to see The Brothers Grimm, staring Matt Damon and Heath Ledger. The film is visually stunning, but like the similar Sleepy Hollow and Van Helsing, the story is very weak. Director Terry Gilliam also seems to struggle in terms of tonal balance- the film bounces between PG-13 horror (I would have liked it to be more intense) and Monty Python silliness. It is still fun though to play Spot the Fairytale, and the beautiful Monica Belucci (despite her small part) is always a captivating presence on screen.

On Saturday evening, Paul and I met up with Jackie at Burn for the first leg of the Battle of the Tribute Bands. We didn’t watch The Clash, and we weren’t on the dance floor for Metallica, but we were definitely there for Korn, who won the evening with their spot-on impersonation. They also had an excellent female guitarist, and a strange person in a Pillsbury Doughboy outfit dancing in the background. Given how humid it was on Saturday night, and how Burn doesn’t have air-conditioning, or much in the name of ventilation, I don’t know how he managed it.

On Sunday, I accompanied Paul and his family as they went to buy a new camping gazebo, and new hiking boots for Paul, at Springfield. After that we had a braai in the drizzle at his place.

And that was the weekend. Otherwise, I’ve been working on my latest Girlz ‘N’ Games, which you can see below. It was a lot of fun drawing my beloved Prince (my favourite game character) in his various forms. At the moment, I’m thinking of actually setting up an independent Girlz ‘N’ Games website, as opposed to simply posting them on my portfolio site… and here.

In terms of gaming, at the moment I’m stuck in the big battle with the vizier in Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones- I can get past the initial 3-part speed kill / slice-off-his-wings section, but by the time the climbing puzzle arrives, I don’t have the health or the rewinds to get far at all. While I work up the patience to tackle the fight again, I’ve loaded Paul’s copy of Fable: The Lost Chapters on my PC. After watching Gareth play it at Mark’s, I’m thinking this is an RPG I’ll actually be able handle, given its apparent shorter length and more restricted gameplay. I’m not a fan of extreme freedoms in games; I like to be given set goals and activities.

Oh, and tomorrow, the 10 January, is my birthday. So far I have nothing planned for the day, although my mother is preparing one of my favourite dinners in the evening. It’s true. After 21, your birthdays decrease in importance. I’m not expecting it to be a special day. I’m pretty much just receiving money so that I can buy an iPod Nano 4GB. However, I have to arrange my own present, and I can’t see that happening any time soon with iPods apparently sold out everywhere in SA at the moment.

I am having a fondue evening / birthday party on Friday 13th. 7pm, my place. Just bring your own drinks, costumes if it’s hot. And you’re welcome to sleep over if you need to.

Comments

Stacey said…
I wished you in the pond but I'll wish you here again: Happy Birthday. I hope you have a great party on Fri : )

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