It’s Shaun the Sheep… it’s Shaun the sheep…

I wasn’t expecting to be moving house today, but we’re about half way there. I took a few poor quality photos of the garden, living room, kitchen and garage. Once we’re moved in i’ll try and do it better justice. Really is a nice house you know…

And I managed to install Mandrakelinux too… not too shabby for a saturday.

Here’s a few photos from the trip south. I’ve just come over v. tired and shall elucidate later, but in summary: Gorgeous landscapes from the border on downwards, very easy crossing, no major problems with the car, have met tons of tidy people already, i drove and sita was the official navegator/photographer. Just gave Jose (an old mate of mine) a ring and we’re meeting up tomorrow. Had a successful skyping with Sally, Martin and Margie (even heard Atticus in the background). Stay tuned for more events as they happen. Glad we’re no where near yet another Category 5 hurricane down Chiapas way. Benditos.

have been to Salcombe for a couple of days, looking forward to hearing how it went on a marathon phone session tomorrow. Dad’s already posted some pix of them pottering around the seaside (click for bigger, 87k).

I have a 3-day weekend which started 10 minutes ago courtesy of the presidents of the united states of america. Which is the first nice thing they’ve ever done for me, frankly. I am pitifully grateful. Not just a 3 day weekend, but also a four day week. What are the chances, eh? Shall fill every waking minute with soul-nourishing activities. I promise. Mind you, I fancy seeing that Constantine film too, I’ve not read any reviews of it yet though… and i have to watch anchorman first before i take it back to blockbuster. despite the “end of late fees” they’re trumpetting, if you don’t return it in time, you’ve just bought that DVD and its crappy yellow case. harumph.

My new driving license arrived today with the cheesiest of grins on it… 10 out of 10 for speed of processing, bugger all for pressing the camera button at the wrong time. I refuse to take any responsibility for how I look in that photo. Someone at the DMV owns a copy of photoshop and has too much time on their hands.

A couple of new signees on the guestmap- let’s give it up for Tash and ‘Naridu‘ from blighty and oz respectively. It’s quite fun to surf around the world via people’s guestmaps. 7 degrees of separation and all that.

Simplicity, that’s the name of the game when it comes to seafood and mushrooms, reckons I. Butter, salt, garlic and robert’s yer father’s brother… And a litre or so of lighter fluid for that slightly chemical edge, naturally…

Another weekend of gastronomic thrills and spills. Friday night we went to Lunico, the new Italian restaurant on Ave. Mexico. V.v. good food there. And the wine was a Zinfandel/Shiraz concoction from Chile just perfect for washing down the bovine chunks. The Greek-Italian owner charmed the socks off Sita with his mediterranean shmoozing. “Oh yes, not just anyone orders the Zinfandel/Shiraz and medium rare steak… bla bla bla”. Anyroad, the next day I ran errands in the morning, watched Mexico bow out of the world cup gracefully. The flag for the car I bought didn’t seem to help them… Then José came round for a sophisticated dinner evening (portabellas’n’burgers, since you ask) and we watched a film “Benjamin Smoke”, a documentary based on an extremely odd geezer in Atlanta. (see the review iFrame for more info soon). The lightening was strobelike most of the night, but I won’t foist another video on you just yet… Have a picture of a lime with droplets of the previous night’s precipitation instead:

You know when you’ve been tango’d

Today I nipped into Santa Tere for tacos and DVDs in the morning since the England match was only on Sky and chilled with a Sunday paper in a cafe on Chapultepec (They had Nacho Libre but the quality wasn’t great so I passed, shall wait for it to come out in the cinema methinks). Came home then went to Centro Magno to watch “The Squid and the Whale”. Which was brilliant. Review presently. then fired up the barby again and grilled the life out of some onions, shrimp and zucchini courgettes. Delicious.

If you’re wondering what I’ll be eating tomorrow, well, my usual chocolate chip croissants for breakfast, followed by a slap-up meal in La Matera in the evening. Just for the record, the plan to eat in an Argentine restaurant was formulated before Mexico’s defeat at their hands on Saturday…

All the local businesses are into the World Cup too even allowing for the time difference: Translation: “Enjoy the World Cup Here! Free beer with every breakfast ordered”

EDIT: Just putting the brief film reviews up here as well as in the iFrame:

25-6-06 The Squid and the Whale (2006)
Or the less intriguingly titled Spanish version: Historias de Famila (Family Stories). Philip Larkin would approve of this gripping film about a family falling apart and the effects on the kids. Has some great comic/cringeful moments and recreates 80s New York just like it looked in Ghostbusters. Great performances and oddly heartwarming. Thoroughly recommended.

24-6-06 Benjamin Smoke (2000)
Banjos are my anti-drug… Innovatively shot, but ultimately hollow documentary about an Atlanta-based transvestite and his unique take on music.

3-6-06 X-Men: The Final Battle (2006)
An appropriately dazzling climax to the (undersold) trilogy. Centred around some relatively high concept sci-fi about minority relationships, but buoyed by spectacular effects and snappy dialogue. Vinnie Jones is brilliantly cast as a mutant whose superpower is smashing through walls. Recommended if you’re into this kind of thing… Reminded me of a recent Onion infographic about how TV series were trying to increase ratings: ‘LOST: A crate of radioactive vegetables washes up on shore giving all characters superpowers.”

22-6-06 The Break-Up (2006)
Your enjoyment of this film will depend heavily on your tolerance for Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Anniston. I thought my threshold was pretty low, but I laughed out loud several times at this well-observed comedy. Starts off as High Fidelity then goes into War of the Roses ‘Lite”. Not a suitable ‘date movie” by any length of the imagination…

Look it! I made a poster…