Breaking Bad

Mrs RC and I have been watching the TV series Breaking Bad a lot recently.

We bought the first 3 seasons on DVD for Christmas, and just added seasons 4 and 5.

I had been aware of the first season, but never watched it, merely noting that it seemed to star the dad from Malcolm in the Middle! Then it dropped off my radar - 2008 - I wasn't really on this planet at that point - and it was only when the kids started talking about how popular it was that we remembered it (the dad from Malcolm in the Middle in his underpants waving a gun is hard to truly forget) and decided to watch it.

So, why do I think it is so good?

For a start it covers a lot of issues without going all Preachy like a lot of TV does.  It lays it on the like and lets you make you own judgements.

It covers things like:

• Suddenly finding that you have a terminal illness.
• Not having the money to pay for your treatment.
• Not wanting to take "charity" from "friends" that you secretly detest.
• Keeping things secret from your husband/wife.
• Becoming a drug dealer with all that this entails - collecting what is owed, dealing with rivals, not letting your DEA brother-in-law find out, etc.
• Whether to let the heroine addict who is threatening to ruin everything choke on her own vomit or not.

Yes, it is grim and gritty, very well written and acted and, for us, totally addictive.  Our kids have watched it and found it very educational - seeing the inside of a crack house does far more than a 100 repeats of "don't do drugs"!

Running on Pepsi...

I know, not a good thing, but I just need to roll through to Friday.

Plenty on the go at the moment, plus I have been asked to proof read a book for a friend!  I have put a copy on my Kindle for easy reading and commenting.  It is a serious history book, right up my alley.

Which reminds me that I am neglecting my own book,  not serious or historical, which is being hindered by ideas for writing songs that maybe we could do in the band...  Can someone tell me to FOCUS?

Oh, and I still have some Vikings to finish painting.  Focus...

Maybe I should write a song about zombie Vikings?  Maybe they have their own song already.

Brains brains brains brains
Brains brains brains brains
Brains brains brains brains
Brains brains brains brains
Brainity BRAINS!
Wonderful brains...

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Anyway, looking ourside it is nice to see that the sky has cleared nicely.  It was foul outside this morning, lunchtime was worse, but now it looks like a real spring day.  Love it, need some more sunshine!

Phew...

So...

What is new?

The band meeting was a blast - the singer was a no-show, which was a shame, but the rest of us had a great time.  My new amp is amazing - I had intended to turn up, crank it up to 11 and blow out the windows.  At 6 it was far too loud, at 4 it was nicely matched to the drum kit.  Fantastic!  And the 8-string bass just sounded monsterous.  Looking forward to more.  I did not record anything, but the drummer did - waiting to see if he has anything worth sharing.

The rain has continued to pour,  My end of the country is very wet, but has not had the terrible flooding that the west country is suffering.  This bit of flooding was in the middle of the woods, far from any houses...

 



The wet has made a lot of trees unstable, allowing the wind to just blow them over...



 

Increasingly worried that our eucalyptus tree was working itself loose, we decided that it had to go - it was moving horribly in the wind, threatening our shed, the rabbits and next dorr's aviary!  A couple of hours of lumberjacking, me climbing on things and Mrs RC holding the rope and lowering the branches, and we were down to the trunk and a pile of branches.

 

We will be uprooting the trunk in the near future while Mrs RC decides what to make out of the wood.

 

 

Finally we have had some drama with Bryn, seen here camping last summer.  She had been a bit off colour for a few days, so we took her to the vets for a checkup.  She is nearly 10, has a good few lumps here and there and we thought she was on her last legs when we took her on 18 months ago.  The blood test came back totally clear - no infections and no sign of active cancer.  Since the test she has been a lot brighter and more like her old self.  We are keeping a close eye on her, but it is nice to see her eating and stealing chews again.

 

More soon!

 



Busy week ahead!

Yeah, I am slacking again...

Highlights of the week ahead...

Dungeons and Dragons tonight!  Francis, the Nobleman's wayward daughter is off on more adventures...

A visit to the vampires tomorrow, to donate my regular pint.

Wednesday - FIRST BAND PRACTICE IN OVER 25 YEARS!  Getting a little nervous/excited about this, and really looking forward to cranking up the amp.  Might get a video clip or 2...

Thursday should be peaceful, a day of rest.

Friday is, of course, St Valentine's Day!  Don't forget!  Not sure what we will do, probably have a nice meal at home and see what the weekend offers regarding going out.

Feeling tired just thinking about it!

Have a great week!

A walk in the woods

 

It was a splendid morning, clear blue skies with the odd rain cloud failing to spoil things.

 

 

Not that we really needed more rain!

 

Looks like Spring is coming!

 

And we found Eeyore's House again!  No sign of Eeyore himself, though.  I suspect he spends his winters partying on Ibiza or something...

 

 

I got a bit hungry on the way around the woods, but luckily I had some Lembas Bread.  OK, not real Lembas Bread, but the next best thing - Mrs RC's high protein, high calorie cookies, that she makes for our youngest son who is into body building.  Each one of these little suckers is 300 calories!  Mordor?  Just point the way!

 



Phew...

Made it to the weekend!

Almost...

This afternoon is our graduation, so I have been/will be hunting down familiar faces with my camera.  Each year I do this, and make a poster for the wall and now upload the pics to our FB page for all to see.

Today has been dry, but the BBC says that heavy rain will start at 5pm - just as I leave for home.  Ah well, I can get dry and warm when I get home, and I am also supposed to have a tail wind to help me along, so it is not all doom and gloom!  [Curses, the rain arrived an hour and a half early - going to be nasty when they come out of the Cathedral from graduation!]

The weekend?

Probably a lot of the usual stuff, plus a bit more time learning songs for The Band...

This is a really old one we have picked...



A great song to play!

I have also got a figure to paint for a friend - a rabbit with an assault rifle!

 

I added the waist coat and gun. 

 

And he will have green fur...

 

Looking forward to painting him!

 

Have a great weekend!

Back to the Land of the Living!

The trip went pretty well.

The drive up was nice, having a good chat with one of my colleagues as we went.

We eventually found the place we were staying at, one of those chain hotels that advertises on TV.

It was pretty good overall, but I felt that the bed had been mis-sold.

On the TV ad, the guy is shown falling backwards onto it, sinking in to the comfy mattress with a sigh.  If he had done that on MY bed he would have had a major injury, I swear!  It was the hardest bed I have ever encountered, only slighly softer than a pebble beach.

Here I am pressing as hard as I can...

When checking out I mentioned this to the girl on the desk - she suggested that if I went to another one of these places again, I should ask for an extra quilt to be put on top of the mattress.  When she sleeps over she has SIX quilts.  Clearly I am not the only person who thinks that they are too hard!

The view out of the window wasn't great either...

The food made up for it, though, so overall I was happy.

The meeting itself was interesting and constructive - I made a few contributions that should prove useful so hope they felt it was worth taking me.

The return trip was nice too, with my boss driving.  The weather was a bit grim, though, so we went carefully, not wanting to aquaplane under a truck.

So today I am back to normal, my cold more or less gone and looking forward to a few days of normality.