Speaking of the To-Do List

Tasks for the holiday:

• Fix the seal on the shower.
  
• Fix LC's wardrobe - one of the runners has been damaged.
  
• Re-paint the master bedroom (including stripping wallpaper from one wall).
  
• Trip to Antwerp.
  
• Season bagpipes.
  
• Haircut.

I think that's more than enough for one week. Realistically, I may get three of them done.

When Temporary Solutions Become Permanent

Our kitchen is increasingly a source of vexation to me. The issue fundamentally comes down to something I talked about before in "The Lasagne Principle" - we've filled every available space with stuff, much of which never gets used and therefore just takes up space; space that is much needed for other things.

The main reason we've gotten into this position is that when we moved in we needed to get the house into a livable state as soon as was possible. And so the kitchen layout is very much a temporary solution. Unfortunately, the reality of the last year has now largely set in - that temporary solution (like most of the rest) has become permanent.

(The sad reality is that in the past year I've barely touched the "to do" list I worked out after we moved in - once the low hanging fruit were picked it just came to a halt. My inclination in the near future is to simply delete that list entirely, leave it for a while, and then construct a new to do list on a per-room rather than per-task basis. That probably won't actually help, but may make me feel better!)

On the other hand, I do have a little free time tomorrow morning. That might be a good time to fix some of this... or it might not - the risk with something like this is that half the job gets done, creating a mess, and then it has to be abandoned due to pressure of time. And it's not really a job that lends itself to a piecemeal solution. Plus, there are other things that I'd much rather do, including "nothing at all".

Ant Man and the Wasp

LC and I never made it out to the cinema for the first "Ant Man" film - it was one of the MCU films that didn't quite grab us and so we let it go past (this was also true of "Captain America: the First Avenger", "Thor", and "Doctor Strange"). However, we did pick up the blu-ray and did enjoy the film a great deal, and also Ant Man's presence in "Civil War". So we were looking forward to this film quite a bit. Though not enough to insist on going to see it right away - indeed, Sunday was pretty much our last opportunity as it's now only on daytime showings at our local cinema.

So, we saw the film on Sunday, and... meh. I'm afraid I just wasn't overly impressed. Basically, it all felt like more of the same - we saw various ant-related tricks, we saw Giant Man, there were the same jokes, and the cutaway exposition section, and the cameo, and Paul Rudd rushing around making sure he's not caught where he shouldn't be...

All in all, I came away rather disappointed - I had expected more. Which was a shame. On the plus side, they did explain why Ant Man wasn't in "Infinity War"... but then, I didn't really need to know that. Presumably, though, it will be a plot point in "Avengers 4".

Anyway, I'm afraid this is one to skip.

Pipe Band Season 2018 Wash-up

Despite not competing this year, I did have a bit of a pipe band season, with gala days running from early June until late August. (We also have one event in September, but I'm considering that to be part of our Autumn/Winter, rather than of the season proper.) I think I probably attended a bit more than half of the events - several were cancelled for one reason or another and there were some I just couldn't make it to (and one I just opted out of).

All in all, it's been a good summer. There has been a lot less stress than in previous years, and obviously a much smaller set of events. And absolutely no weekends with two events, which is nice. On the other hand, the standard just hasn't been as good - that's an obvious and unavoidable consequence of not competing. And there's no prospect of that changing, as attendance at practices is just too erratic to allow for significant improvement.

The one thing that I do miss is that there's no opportunity for teaching at the new band, which is a shame. Again, there's no sign of that changing. (And, if I'm being honest, I'm not minded to fight very hard to change that.)

Otherwise, things have been pretty positive for my first year with the new band.

(Incidentally, my previous band have had a banner year, being placed in the prize list at four of the five majors. They also came higher in the Worlds than I ever saw in my tenure, and came second in one major, where the best I ever saw was third. So well done to them - surely now that means they'll be promoted back to Grade 4A?)

The Wrong Jam

This morning for breakfast there were pancakes! Not made pancakes, I should note - LC had purchased a packet, which is fine. Since I don't have butter, when I was ready to apply spread to my pancakes I naturally reached for the jam... only to discover that the only jam we had was chilli-themed! Oh, the horrors!

Personally, I blame the shopping committee. Or I did, until LC pointed out that I am the shopping committee. I'm now looking for a new official Scapegoat.

Anyway, the upshot was that I had my pancakes plain, much to LC's dismay and disgust. (No, I didn't consider having chilli jam on my pancakes. It's still too early in the morning for such wild culinary escapades.)

And that's the end of that story. I feel it doesn't quite have the excitement of some of my other adventures, but given that it's been a quiet week, I have to work with the material I'm given. Sorry!

#40: "Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game", by West End Games

The Curtis Completion

This weekend saw LC and I (and Funsize) attending our fourth and final (probably) wedding of the year. This time, it was the wedding of two good friends of ours, and took place in the church where LC and I were married lo those many years ago (well, six and a bit). The reception was at Ross Priory, at the side of Loch Lomond.

It was a lovely day. We arrived bright and early, in order that I had time to tune my pipes and otherwise get ready. Then there were a few minutes of waiting, and then the time came to play. That went well, and then the bride arrived.

It now transpires that LC is going to mock and deride my description of the dress regardless of what I put here, so I'm going to content myself with: it was a white dress. So there!

Anyway, the wedding ceremony was lovely, and was fairly traditional in character. I thought it was quite short, although LC disagreed. There were two hymns, the exchange of vows and rings, the signing of the register, and a short message. Then outside for some photos, and then off to the reception.

The reception in Ross Priory was likewise lovely - the building had a lot of (fairly small) rooms, which meant that people could mingle in various groups. Before the meal, and while the official photos were being taken, there were drinks and nibbles laid on, including haggis bonbons (which means that this wedding wins - sorry to the others!). Then there was the cutting of the cake.

The meal took place in a very crowded dining room - much like the first wedding of the year, there was a top table with four rows leading down from it. This meant that the staff had a somewhat difficult time moving between the rows to serve the food.

But before the meal, came the speeches. As standard, there were three - ish. The father of the bride spoke first, then the groom, and then two the best men each gave a short speech. There were the usual happy words, the usual jokes, and the usual rounds of thanks. (As thanks for my part in the day, I was presented with an 8-pack of cans of Irn Bru "from before it became illegal". They know me so very well...)

The meal was excellent - a tomato and red pepper soup to start, followed by chicken and many vegetables, and then a sticky toffee pudding. Naturally, Funsize made her presence felt - LC had to take her out to feed at the start of the meal, and I had to eat my soup very quickly. Then I took FS for a walk in the grounds and persuaded her to sleep, before returning. I returned in time for the chicken, which LC cut up for me and I ate one-handed.

And then there was the dancing - a ceilidh in a fairly tight space, but with plenty of other areas for people to go and chat and generally catch up. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable evening and day. It was just a shame that we had to leave around 10, when the buffet was served, as Funsize was by this time worn out.

Which brings us to the end of wedding season for this year. Actually, 2018 has been very unusual - weddings have become somewhat few and far between, so to have more than one in a year is remarkable, and to have four...

It has been quite interesting to see how the four weddings have each been unique in their own ways, and each quite lovely. The first, in London, was probably most notable for being FS's first big trip. With the long train journey each way, with the heat, and with having so much to carry, that weekend was perhaps overly dominated by travel. But the wedding itself was a great centre-piece to that. (I feel almost compelled to highlight the champagne at that one, especially as that was brought to our attention several times. In fairness, it was particularly nice - if you're interested, or happen to be looking for a recommendation, it's the Veuve Clicquot which is apparently especially good this year.)

The second was of course the big trip to the US, and so notable for the huge distance travelled, the holiday that surrounded it, and indeed for piping in another continent (though I have played in the US before, but not at a wedding). More than that, though, it was notable for being a family wedding, which of course puts it in a different category for the others. This was probably the biggest of the four weddings, in terms both of number and of 'spectacle' (not sure that's the right word, really). It was also interesting seeing how things in the US were almost, but not quite, the same...

Then there was my colleague's wedding, which was right at the other end of the scale in terms of size - about twenty people, no speeches, no dancing, but a lovely time. And finally this wedding, which felt like the most traditional of the four. Or perhaps was just the one closest to what I was used to.

Labour-saving Devices

Why is it that getting a new PC inevitably entails days of annoyance and frustration porting across data and settings, installing software, and generally getting it all back to the way the old PC operated?

And why is it that no matter how good the built-in mechanisms for migrating all that stuff get, when it actually comes to it there is always some reason why you can't use them, or they don't quite work right, or they strategically omit the one thing that you absolutely have to have?

And why is it that having just gone through all of this with one PC, be it at work or at home, you then immediately start looking at all the other PCs you work with and start thinking, "Hmm, I quite fancy an upgrade..."

?

#37: "White Knight, Black Swan", by David Gemmell (the new candidate for book of the year)
#38: "Up the Faraway Tree", by Enid Blyton (a book from The List)
#39: "Winnie the Pooh", by A.A. Milne (a book for Funsize; a book from The List)

Here We Go Again...

It's fair to say that I'm more likely to drag LC to a film than vice versa - in recent months we've seen "Avengers: Infinity War", "Incredibles 2", and "Solo" at my behest, and "Jurassic World 2" at hers (and that wasn't exactly an ordeal). So in a spirit of fairness, I felt it only right that I go with her to see "Mamma Mia 2".

Now, it's fair to note that MM2 is a critic-proof film - it's going to make a lot of money, and that's the case regardless of what anyone says (or even whether it's actually any good, which isn't necessarily the same thing). Still, here we are. And, as I said in my review of the first film, I didn't actually hate the previous effort, with one key exception.

So, what did I think?

Well, there's much less singing by Pierce Brosnan, so that's a major plus. And everyone else ranges from "just about okay", through "fine", to a couple of cases of "quite good, actually". Except Cher, of course, who as a professional is head and shoulders above everyone else - but I'll come back to her.

That said, it's just not as good as the previous film. There are really two reasons for this: firstly, they've already used up Abba's best-known works in the first film, meaning that they had to use a lot of lesser-known pieces here. And, with a few exceptions, there's a reason the lesser-known songs are lesser-known.

Secondly there is the tone of the piece. The first film is an unashamed, unalloyed feel-good movie. It's just fun. The second film opens with death and heartbreak, so it's a bit of a bummer. It's the minor-key rendition to the fun of the first.

That's not to say I hated it - I actually didn't. There are several funny sequences, and the casting of the younger versions of the characters is great. Though it was a bit wierd seeing "Wills" (Hugh Skinner) playing the younger version of Harry.

I do think Cher shouldn't have been in the film. Firstly because, as a professional singer, she served to put all the other performances into context - and not in a good way. And secondly because as soon as she arrived on scene, the whole thing was suddenly about her, her character, and the songs she elected to delight us with. Which was a shame. (There is actually a third reason, but it needs more space to unpack than I have here, and would overshadow the whole of the rest of the post. So I'll leave it, and may or may not address it later, elsewhere.)

And, of course, the film needed more Christine Baranski. That shouldn't be a surprise - almost everything she's in needs more.

So, anyway, it's fine - a reasonably diverting way to spend a couple of hours. I'm not exactly desperate to see it again, but I won't absolutely refuse to watch the inevitable DVD release (as I do with the first). And, yes, I enjoyed it rather more than Tuesday's viewing of "The Last Jedi" - make of that what you will (that said, I enjoy most things more than Tuesday's viewing of TLJ).

The Last Jedi Revisited

I watched "The Last Jedi" for the third time last night, and unfortunately I don't think it holds up at all well. As with "The Force Awakens", each time I see it I am less impressed with the film, and more annoyed by its flaws. (And it really doesn't help that the film starts with the terrible "holding for General Hugs" gag. Three times in that film Hux fails to just shoot someone, with disastrous results every time.)

The upshot is that I'm going to have to downgrade the film: I enjoy it considerably less than "The Force Awakens". Indeed, I'm pondering whether to drop it below even "The Phantom Menace" in my ranking!

Also, I now find myself, probably for the first time, not really looking forward to the next Star Wars film. TFA was enough to make me excited for RO, and I really enjoyed RO and so was very much looking forward to TLJ. But TLJ was a let-down, and then Solo was mediocre at best, and so now I'm not all that bothered. Which is an odd experience - even in the depths of disappointment following AotC, I was still looking forward to RotS, partly in the hope that Lucas would finally get it right, and partly due to the influence of the "Clone Wars" series (the first one, that is).

Currently, my order for Star Wars films is:

1. Star Wars (the original)
   
2. The Empire Strikes Back
   
3. Return of the Jedi
   
4. Rogue One
   
5. The Force Awakens
   
6. Solo (this may change when I see it again)
   
7. The Last Jedi
   
8. The Phantom Menace (controversial, I know, but for me it's the least-worst of the prequels)
   
9. Revenge of the Sith
   
10. Attack of the Clones

... to Yield

Grandad's funeral went as well as could be hoped. As anticipated, he had indeed left detailed instructions, so it all went off pretty much without a hitch. My thanks to the funeral directors (who, as always in my experience, were reassuringly professional) and to Eric - a friend of Grandad's and a retired RAF chaplain, who conducted the funeral service itself.

And, actually, I don't think I'm going to say any more than that. I found the day extremely cathartic, but found the weekend extremely tiring. Mostly, though, it was a fitting end for an age.

#36: "Pathfinder: The Reaper's Right Hand", by John Compton