jabs 2 September 2008
ARGH – lost a whole blog cos Richard had unplugged the old laptop and it can’t run for long without direct electrical juice (yes, he’s in trouble for same but asleep now and I don’t want to wake him – will save such treatment for ‘again’). Anyhow, was just recording how I have to get all shot up with stuff for a trip to Africa tomorrow morning – I’ll explain why closer I’m going and where to closer to the time (tis a charity trip) – and I have a vision of floating around the streets of Dublin thereafter in a daze of typhoid and yellow fever – I don’t THINK I’ll be contagious, but…wouldn’t it be unfortunate to be browsing the handbag department of a snazzy store and catch a tropical disease from someone buying teeshirts while it’s bucketing down outside?
Building work goes on apace.
Bit worried about the G cat as there seems to be a problem with the waterworks again (2 years or more since the last problem so we’re doing well) so I will take her for a check-up tomorrow. She’s in good form, but I worry…
Am going to London Friday for notes re my rewrite (EEEK) then have a week proper in which to do it (hibernation again, though a short cycle of same). Everyone who’s read the new book likes it very much, though it needs work of course – I have a GOOD feeling about it.
Might as well learn Russian as Richard has farted about with both laptops in the house and all my facebook and ipod settings come up in Russian, though they’re supposed to be in English. A sign’s a sign, I guess.
russia 1 September 2008
We took a stroll around Moscow today and noticed a few changes since we were there 6 years ago. Everything is swisher now. I’m glad we saw it when it wasn’t so slick. It’s wonderful of course but quite Westernised now, and very expensive in places. When we were last there it snowed hard and the weather was very very cold indeed, so today with just a nip in the air and a bit of cloud it was all a bit more accessible. Weirdly Red Square was closed to the public – which seems like a contradiction in terms to me. We still got a good look at the Kremlin and St Basils (my niece Ellie has made a papier mache version of the latter for Richard and I will collect it from Saff Landahn on Thursday evening).
Richard did well with speaking Russian but not up to his exacting standards (he is very hard on himself) and I learned a few new letters of the cyrillic alphabet. i am hooked enough to want to learn more, I must admit. Also it’s a thrill to be understood in another language no matter how ham fisted your efforts.
And, as I pointed out last night, I need a party piece too. Russians sing at the drop of the proverbial hat and are great company and entertainers. We need to raise our game.
More pics of Putin in the papers today being very macho – this time shooting a gun (no change there) but it was a tranquiliser to knock out a tiger which was then tagged and re-released. According to the papers he kissed the animal and said goodbye and went back to doing whatever it is he does officially these days – ah yes, a man’s man, a ‘strong’ man and unafraid to show his gentle side….
size 31 August 2008
did you know it will take less time to elect the next leader of the USA than it will take to finish my extension? – mmm perspective…
party tonight in the countryside outside moscow and i now realise we must all have a party piece AND fine words for a toast – laziness is not an option…it was fantastic…am going home to learn a song or a poem
moscow 30 August 2008
I may have neglected to mention that myself and the Hubby are in Moscow for the weekend? Well, we are, with some Irish pals and making lots of Russian friends and will be at a lovely party/barbie/whatever the weather allows in the countryside tomorrow. Tonight we went to a local banya and we had a sauna, jacuzzi and plunge pool to ourselves (5 of us). We beat one another with oak swithches and ate lovely herring, potato and onion (my favourite dish by a country mile when in eastern parts and which I have never been able to recreate properly at home – can’t get ‘soft’ enough herring in oil and the potato must be waxy not floury, really). It all felt so healthy (yeah, schtop with the pervy comments about the lashings we gave one another – twas merely moving with tradition) so we had a few glasses of Russian champanska thereafter and now feel utterly virtuous. Perhaps I’ll follow my apparent Therese Raquin translation with my version of a collection of Pushkin poems next as I feel all native here and now that I’m on a roll according to the papers…
Sophie (regular visitor) rightly points out that amazon have me contributing to the bible of rules for US ice hockey also – I honestly don’t know how I do it!
geoffrey 29 August 2008
i am hearing VERY bad news that geoffrey perkins, our FATHER TED producer, and truly wonderful man is dead after a traffic accident. Don’t have a lot to say because of the shock – wonderful man, no more for the moment, really wonderful man…a shock…
my adaptation 29 August 2008
that should have read ‘MY’ adaptation of ‘TERESE RAQUIN’ (yep, still misspelt)…almost feel like i did it now…wrote the book…phew, better lie down…
me 29 August 2008
there is another me! i’ll not be able to contain myself enough for capitlas so bear with me, BASICALLY i got a review in the Times today for km adaptation of THERES RAQUIN as a stage play except that it’s not me…i kinda wish it was as that’s quite high brow. But no, not me.
I think the other pauline ME is a historical writer, predominantly, who got the name when she married a man called frank mclynn (no close relation). Anyhow it’s a shock and hilarious to read your name in a paper to do with such things, At the amazon book site if you go along my books far enough you’ll come across factionalism amongst emigrants or some such and though i did do a bit of study at uni it wasn’t that 17/18/19th century stuff.
mostly though i have to ask WHO IS SHE?
are we alike at all at all?
'girl' interrupted 28 August 2008
Himself and meself treated ourselves to the Heathrow Express from the airport to Paddington tonight. It was a great journey because the in-train telly had sundry facts displayed and you see them and think ‘oh that’s interesting’ and then promptly forget them (but hope they’ll surface during that crucial round of the pub quiz). Then there was a little snippet of Olympic history. In this case it was the winter Olympics about which I know little enough BUT fascinating ‘cos it featured a great champion of the luge, a Mr Hackl of Germany. The luge is the one where they lie back on a sled and speed along a track sculpted out of the ice feet first = MAD! Anyhow Hackl was/is a major exponent of same. The snippet charted how he’d won his first 2 golds (1990 and ’94) narrowly beating an arch rival (an Austrian called Past, I think) in ’94 and was going for a record 3rd gold in a row in ’98. It was TIGHT. Hackl took the first and second runs then Past (Post?) took the lead and…‘WE ARE NOW APPROACHING PADDINGTON STATION’ – nooooooooo. Thank the whoever for the internet as I have just rushed home and looked it all up – he WON. Better still, he is 4 time World Wok Racing champion…yep, that’s modified woks used for people to race on down a bobsled course…see? you CAN learn something new every day, if not a few things…and next time you haul the pan out to cook something THINK how much MORE you could be doing with it…
obsession 27 August 2008
Now you all know that Himself is learning Russian and a bit fanatical about it – he had a lesson from a brilliant teacher every morning he was at the Edinburgh Festival, then went on to see circa 7 shows a day – busy…She is cruel to him about pronounciation et cetera and he loves it (hmm). And now to prove his obsession (as if we needed to know it was that) he is taking Skype lessons from her a few times a week (that’s like a space age video phone call, for those of you as ignorant as myself). To top it off, our architects have asked us to join them in Moscow (where they have a flat) at the weekend and we’re off there so Hubby can practise his Russian skills and I will ‘just’ have a fab time. We have been once before but it was minus 25 to 30 over a New Year (and wonderful) – don’t think it’ll be quite as cold this time of year…well, hope not as I don’t think we’ll be going dressed/prepared for that.
In the meantime, The G is happIER that the little visiting scut is banished but she won’t be happy to be abandoned again (my own mum will take charge) – if only that cat would fly (or travel at all) she could have her own passport and be brung along…but will she listen? will she ****
I expect all my notes for the rewrites tomorrow onwards so it’s back to the grindstone there. Lots of positive response so far though (mind you, when that feedback is in writing it’s a little more permanent and cutting and has to be dealt with) The casual days are nearing an end again…for the moment…
and... 26 August 2008
And that’d be a PLANE rather than a ‘plae’ journey, Richard, no need to point it out to me. Yes, you, Husband Richard.