Odd Thomas Odd Blog

If you ever wondered what prisoners learned whilst banged up, check out this troupe of talent show wannabes! Personally, I still prefer the wedding party version, but this one has definitely taken some organisation!

Despite the fact that there is not a lot going on in Facebook that is of much value, I seem to have found myself addicted to the site. One application I seem to have added recently was the Compare People app which basically asks 60 questions where you rate between two randomly selected contacts. At the end of the process, you get to see how you were compared by your contacts that did the same thing. There is the potential to be the sexiest, the best kisser, the most athletic, the most popular, the best shopping companion, and so on. What do I get voted? The prettiest! WTF?!?!?!?!?! Hell, I'd even prefer to be the nerdiest as opposed to this!!!

...maybe they should consider my way. A few months ago, we were looking forward to a new smoothie bar opening up in Tring, which it duly did, bringing us fruity delights to boost our bods with all those alledgedly good vitamins and minerals. The place is called Smooth ... though I'm not sure what it is supposed to relate to as there is nothing smooth about it! As with all things new, the gloss seems to be wearing off now as the rapid staff turnover pops ever more unexperienced staff up behind the counter. I have sympathy for the girl who runs the place as she is the only one with any experience and ends up doing a dozen-and-one things at a time because her staff just aren't capable of doing the job. Today is a prime example. As I'm feeling tired due to the late nights sorting bits out for the weekend, I figured I would go for a cappucino to try and perk me up a bit. I've only had them from Smooth twice and, quite frankly, the froth looked like someone had whisked spit...

I think two weeks away has had a negative impact on my kitchen skills! Much like being away from any kind of exercise regime, returning after anything longer than a week is like being there for the first time ... either that, or someone has craftily re-sized my kitchen whilst I was sunning it up in Sri Lanka! Due to some off-kilter sense of spatial awareness, I succeeded in placing the hot wire rack I was about to cook dinner on in such a position on the worktop that as I placed the pizza carefully down upon it, it decided to take a swan dive off the front ... and land upside-down right on the pile of white shirts I was sorting for washing. Not sure I like the shaved-parmesan-with-italian-herb look when it comes to clothing. * * * * * Well, my cousin and his wife are back from the Maldives and they have some great underwater shots from their snorkelling trips! You should be able to see them at his Flickr site...

...I was on the Sri Lankan Airlines flight back to the UK. *sigh* *bigger sigh* I know I said I was going to give an update when I got back, but things have been rather hectic what with trying to sort stuff for the Somerset party this weekend. Oh, and work, as always. Anyhow, if I gave you a complete update, you would be reading an entry that would rival the length of the latest Harry Potter book, though somewhat lacking in magical adventure, so I think a quick run-down of the highlights and lowlights should probably cover it. Lets start with the lowlights... Crap restaurant service on fixed menu services The rooms suffered from damp They put us in Deluxe rooms and told us they were Superior The corridor roof fell down There was a handful of staff that short-changed us on the exchange (mere pennies, but thats not the point) They didn't get that the bride didn't want daisies in the bouquets The rep was hopeless at getting things done In some areas, they didn't treat the el...

Well, it is now the final day here, in sunny Sri Lanka. It could also be called wet Sri Lanka with some of the rains we've had, but for the most part, it has been absolutely gooooooooooooooorgeous! I still haven't quite gotten used to the bartering thing, though, and generally give people what they ask for if it sounds reasonable. The only ones that are really extortionate are the hotel shops and the beach cruisers who leap on people and trying to sell them Saris for 1200 rupees (about 6 quid) when you can get them in the local shops for between 250 and 300 rupees (about 1.50). Today is also young Geoff's 21st birthday. Everyone should have a Geoff, he's fantastic!! If you've ever seen Coupling , think of Geoff from the earlier seasons mixed with a little Frank Spencer, and you have some idea of what he is like. He is a very happy drunk and has beaten everyone here hands down on the amount he can drink and still get up for breakfast the next day!! Laura, his oth...

Blimey O'Riley, I'm in another country! Not something that happens very often!! I'm going to attempt to keep this short as it is costing four quid* for 60 minutes on a very slow connection, so I am writing this, updating facebook and trying to squeeze as much in as possible before the next emergency trip to the gents! After a few hiccoughs at the airport and leaving an hour late, we were eventually airbound and on our way to Sri Lanka. After staying up all night I figured I would probably sleep on the plane which would make it a whole lot of a shorter journey ... no such luck. Whenever I woke, only half-an-hour had passed, so it really felt like an inordinately long journey :-( Anyway, I think I shall keep the wedding as the focus of this entry, since that is what we are out here for. The wedding was on Saturday, 7 July 2007 at 3:00 in the afternoon down on the beach about 100 yards from the hotel. Thankfully, it was one of the warmer days, and the sun was high in the ...

There's nothing like leaving things until the last minute, is there?! In roughly 9 hours time, I will be leaving my flat and heading to Heathrow with the aim of heading to Sri Lanka for my cousin's wedding. Unfortunately, due to my naturally stressed state, most of this weekend has been wasted ironing all the clothes I intended to take, and only packing - several times - around half of this! However, another re-packing is in order to lighten the load a little and I still have to: Complete my assignment due by 5 June Write the best man's speech *shudder* Tidy the flat Determine what hand luggage to take I'm a little torn with the hand luggage at the moment. I was intending to take my Canon 30D, new lens, flash and photo viewer in order to make the most of this holiday as a photo-trip. The only trouble is, taking this kit through as hand luggage is looking increasingly like a problem. If I follow Heathrow's rules, then there wouldn't be an issue. However, the...