Click the picture for pix from last night’s revelry

A mamey is sort of a cross between between a papaya and a yam. Sweet and potatoey. Not to be confused with mangos. Here’s Dr. Ana with her mamey:

So we’ve had the plumbers/gasfitters round today (and yesterday) which led to some new vocabulary for bits of pipes, tools and suchlike. Basically the gas tank on the roof’s been smelling of gas occasionally and the water went out for longer than usual so we called in the experts. After daubing soapy water on the gas tank there was blatantly a leak, “ah, licenciado, el regulador está madreado” they explained. Madreado being a Mexican scientific term for “buggered” so they swapped it for a new non-leaky one. The water took longer to fix, getting the pump going, cleaning the well that I was previously unaware of and other stuff… But anyway, as of today our little house is less likely to explode or suffer drought and that has to be a good thing.

We’re busy packing up stuff for tomorrow’s epic journey but not too busy to scan in this leaflet from Prague’s Museum of Communism. They’re a little down on it to be honest… Anyroad, if you look at the location of the place at the bottom, it’s ‘upstairs from McDonalds, Next to the Casino’. We made it to the casino, but we weren’t up for the McGhoulash Happy Meal.

Also, it’s yer last chance to order fancy American exports before we leave- nylons, chocolate and chewing gum anyone? A militarily enforced democracy? Creationist high school biology textbooks? Comment away your order below

Via Newark…

SFTLOP (Sorry For The Lack Of Posts) this week, I’ve been busy and then some. Several translations, proof readings, Santa Cruz’s latest drive to get people fit, other site updates and wooing potential clients have been keeping me out of mischief. That and the CRUSHING heat… Only 6-8 weeks or so to the rainy season and it can’t come soon enough…

I’ve watched a few more films this week, Pixar’s Cars, The Curse of the Yellow Flower, and last night, once again, Herbie- Fully Loaded. Reviews coming when I get a chance.

Further to Annelise’s comment a while back asking about the quality of Mexican desertsdesserts *edit* I blame my English teachers in Taunton School…* . They’re great. The most common type is a creme brulee type affair called flan, and a local variation on the theme called a jericalla. Delicious. Especially when made by Hugo’s wife, Patricia…

But there’s also quite a range of other cakes and stuff prepared by local pastelerias. In the interests of investigative journalism, we grabbed some on the way home from Pasteleria OK 4 blocks from our house after an Indian meal in Goa.

There’s a chance I’m doing a site for a local pasteleria too. I’ll take my payment in strawberry tarts.

Tonight we’re going to see Keane in concert. It’ll be a change and I know a fair few of their songs. I know they’re not everyone’s cup of tea but there’s a fair few of us going and it’ll be a laugh. I’m prepared for it to not be as good as mi Shakira all those months ago, but I’m ready to be surprised.

Two days to the Tapatian Photo Tour, 1pm Saturday starting in La Cava, Pino Suarez and Herrera y Cairo, details here…

I’ve added another bell/whistle to the blog. If you’re commenting for the first time (go on, you know you want to), you receive an email thanking you and inviting you back. I’m not sure if it’s working, so if you’re new to these pages or have been lurking for years without commenting, try it out and let me know if it’s operational. Thanks 🙂 I found out about the comment-relish plugin via the good people at the WordPress podcast .

Dad’s posted some great Grandma pix over at Flickr. I keep thinking of happy times with my grandparents and might just write another post on those one of these days.

And that’s all for now. I’m signing off and moving my computer to a cooler room, it’s 9:45 am and the sun’s starting to leak into my office. Even Atticus has sloped off into better ventilated rooms…

mysterytechno.mp3 (368k file) This has been bothering me on and off for the best part of 5 years. What is this intro from. It’s a cheesy chart techno song from the late 80s/ early 90s, it’s followed by someone (possibly the woman of the BodyForm ad, “Whoaaaaaa, Bodyform…”) singing ‘It’s coming over and makes me feel…’. Since that’s the only lyrics I know (and I’m not 100%), it’s impossible to google. If anyone out there in ciberespacio has any idea, let me know through the comments/ skype or gmail. Many tas, gwyn

PS. Brand new idea for the blog. I’ll take requests for songs in the ‘comments’ and record them and post them, virtual busking. The catch is that you have to stand me a pint of scrumpy/ boddington’s next time I see you (you’re probably safe for at least 12 months…). For the first person to make a request it’s on the house though. If I don’t know the song I’ll say as much. I play all sorts from Velvet Underground to Shakira, Spice Girls to Mariachi. Bring it on, as they said in the cheerleeding film which somehow I’ve now seen 4 times from beginning to end…