Hello.

This page used to be full of words... now it seems to be full of lists... It was last updated on 29th November 2009.

erm...

I like:

• Reading
• Sewing
• Reading
• Woodworking
• Reading...

I don't like:

• people wasting my time
• anchovies
• the German school system
• my job

Namecheck time

Hello Mum!

I am currently reading:

The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax - Geoffrey K. Pullum. Essays on the study of language. Irreverent ones. (to be read in small doses - it's not half as interesting as the title)

The Shipping News - Annie Prolux. I didn't know this had won the Pulizer Prize. Strange writing.

Sharpe's Siege - Bernard Cornwell. And the next one.

Probably I like reading more than just about anything else (with the possible exception of making lists). And for anyone who is interested, or even cares, I kept a record in 2007, and 2008. Here's what's going on in my personal library this year.

About that Drool stuff

I'm well known, round here and in RL, as a Drooler. What can I say? If yummy men keep popping into my sight, who am I not to look?
Of course, mostly they are in films, on TV, in magazines and, via the Wonder that is the World Wide Web, here on my screen.

(In no particular order) I am currently drooling one or more of the following:

• Johnny Depp (gah, how perfect can one guy be?)
• Viggo Mortensen (especially as Aragorn)
• Eric Bana (Gorgeous. Funny. And, so far, I've only really seen him in films in which he suffers heartbreak and/or loss. What's not to like?)
• Orlando Bloom (I like the young ones pretty)
• James McAvoy (yikes! even younger than elf-boy and very, very talented)
• Jason Isaacs (chillingly sexy as Lucius Malfoy but acceptable also in any other guise)
• Sean Bean (not wearing well, but Sharpe!)
• Wentworth Miller (what were his parents thinking? But he is yum-on-a-stick especially in Prison Break when he gets his shirt off)
• David Tenant (as The Doctor - finally, a Doctor we can have naughty thoughts about!)
• Gordon Ramsay¹ - foul mouthed chef. But then, aren't they all?

But wait... there's more!

I also fall in literary love fairly often:

• Ivanhoe - my first. Swords, horses, chivalry, self-doubt, sweaty men!
• Aragorn - even better than Ivanhoe *swoon* and even more self-doubt
• Legolas - he talks to trees, sings and can handle himself in a fight (plus, as it turns out, he looks an awful lot like Orlando Bloom)
• Richard Sharpe - swords, horse, chivalry (of a sort), self-doubt
• Sirius Black - yes, I know, it's for kids! Dark, broody, self-doubt... (anyone spotting a pattern yet?)
• Professor Snape - he's mean, petty, and vindictive (all of which are my middle names) but I think he will turn out to be A Good Man
• Horatio Hornblower - I know he's described as having horrible spindly legs (so he believes) I think the fact that all the ladies fall for him (and some of the men) he must be a bit of all right (and anyway, he turned out to look a lot like Ioan Gruffudd)
• I can't believe that when I made this list originally, I forgot about the man who came after Ivanhoe but before Aragorn. I'm speaking, of course of (The Last of the Mohicans). And he's another one who translated rather beautifully onto film Uncas played beautifully, and tragically, by Eric Schweig.
• And that got me thinking. Hawkeye was pretty fabulous too. But I don't love him as much as Uncas (or Aragorn or Invanhoe, but he is extremely brilliant). Again, superb casting of a buffed up Daniel Day-Lewis.

Music. And why not?

Live music is just the best thing. *blush* OK - the second best thing. And in my time I have seen just about all of them.

My favourites include:

• James - small venue, fantastic crowd (that link takes you to their official website which isn't fully up and running yet. However there is a fansite which is very fine)
• GUN - small venue, brilliant. Openers in the Mungersdorfer stadium for the Rolling Stones and blew the crowd away
• John Mellencamp - Düseldorf Philipshalle. Support was a juggler, but Mr. Mellencamp was fantastic beyond belief.
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Essen Grugahalle (day after John Mellencamp) How come he isn't a bigger star than he is? He is among the top 5 live rock acts
• Bonnie Raitt - at the Rock am Ring. HA! you don't have to be under 30 to be cool or brilliant or both.
• Michelle Shocked - small place (Bochum?) with two of the Hothouse Flowers in her band. Wow!
• Hothouse Flowers - E-Werk, Köln. Fantastically brilliant. Which meant, of course, they wouldn't last long.
• Crowded House - several times. Each time better than the last. Memorable for the Rock am Ring: it rained until they sang Weather With You and the sun came out. Just like that.
• The Eagles - I was pregnant and Gruesome #1 was rockin' along too
• Elton John - Rock am Ring (whichever year it was) he did Love Lies Bleeding! *faints*
• Midnight Oil - oh what a band. Really, really, truly gifted at everything they did. And at that wee open-air thng in Suchttorf they were indeed stonking. It brings tears to the eyes to think of the utter perfection of that performance.
• The Hooters - Rock am Ring. Yes, I seem to spend an awful lot of my time at a race-track ignoring cars. At least it seems to be worth it.
• Pink Floyd - anywhere. Always.
• Iron Maiden - Donnington Monsters of Rock, 1988. Unfortunately this gig is overshadowed by the fact that 2 young men were crushed to death during the Guns 'n' Roses set earlier in the day (I didn't know until I got back to my parents' to find them waiting up for me) but Maiden were fantastic.
• Peter Gabriel - Oberhausen Arena about 5 years ago (?) - fantastic. But the highlights were him being in the inflatable ball (can't remember what the song was) and riding a bicycle around the circular stage singing Solsbury Hill. (that link is to an h2g2 entry but it's from 2000 so try the official site which is much more funky, not to mention up-to-date)
• stop it now...(Ed.)
• except that I completely forgot the Fury in the Slaughterhouse (sorry, that link is German, since they are a German band) supported by Terry Hoax gig at the Xanten Roman amphitheatre. There was another great band on too but I've forgotten who they were.
• NEW NEW NEW Paul Simon at the Tanzbrunnen (inside in the Theater not outside on the grass. 14th July 2008. Brilliant. Really - I'm speechless, still.

But some only disappoint...

• The Black Crowes - supporting Neil Young in 2001 at the Dortmund Westphalenhalle. Boys! Play stuff people know (and like). Really. (doubly, triply, quadrupally disappointing because they are among my absolute favourite bands, like, ever)
• Extreme - Essen, Grugahalle. And again at the Rock am Ring.
• The Rolling Stones - Suchttorf. They took over a tiny festival, made it massive and unfriendly and then had the gall to have a totally poo sound system. We left before they did encores and never looked back. No more of my hard-earned for the Wrinkled Rockers (TM)
• Bruce Springsteen (and there's more info here) - Sheffield, Bramall Lane (well, maybe it would have been so different had he picked Hillsborough... we will never know). Actually this is slightly unfair, he was brilliant. But. Bruce, now pay attention: never ever do an accoustic version of Born to Run. It's not big and it's not clever. And it's put me off seeing you live ever again. Which is, probably, a disappointment to us both.
• Dire Straits - Frankfurt (somewhere) - a crowd of us went from Düsseldorf expecting great things. Sorely disappointed to the point that other, previous, truly fantastic Dire Straits gigs have somehow lost their lustre.

Food

Nectar of the gods:

• home made (by me) Macaroni Cheese
• Omlette sandwiches
• Crčme Brulée
• Fillet Steak. Yes, yes. I'm an ex-vegetarian because of these. Dripping with blood. Blue? Even bluer than that, please. Yum yum.
• Wensleydale cheese. With one, or more, of the following: apple pie, dark fruit cake, strawberry jam on a sandwich, a Braeburn apple on a sandwich, and, of course. with more Wensleydale cheese.
• Fresh pineapple

Not as long as I live and breathe...

• Celery (I don't care how healthy it is. Just say no to Celery)
• Bananas - unless thinly sliced in a peanut butter (crunchy) sandwich
• Offal of any description (except very occasionally I crave one of those Greek restaurant plates piled high with meat. And grilled liver.
• Octopus, or anything else slimy and/or chewy from the sea

People I'd like to go to the pub with

I may be a deyed-in-the-wool drooling old biddy, but sometimes I am more attracted to people for their "I'd love to go down the pub and have a few pints and a good chat with them" qualities. And currently on the list are:

• The Top Gear Guys
• Drew Barrymore
• Noel Gallagher - I used to think he was a complete Merchant Banker² but since I recently saw him on Soccer AM I had to revise my opinion of him. Great sense of humour.
• speaking of Soccer AM, and now Something For The Weekend: Tim Lovejoy and Simon Rimmer
• Jonathon Ross
• Ian Hislop and Paul Merton

How about some links?

Within h2g2

• Info Page


• The (World Famous) Drool Thread


• The Forum that can be an amusing place...

Without h2g2

• Uncyclopedia
• Project Gutenberg
• Cute Overload (careful it's so sweet it could rot your teeth...)
• Those Wet Men in full...(beware, you could get lost in there, and then there are the hands shots, bare feet shots...
• A site for social design an interesting collection of websites which are trying to change the world. "Baby steps" as a friend of mine says. I found it because Postcrossing is part of it.

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¹ Drool Thread Quote: "I don't care how fertile he is, he's got a face like a bag of spanners!" eloisa
² Rhyming Slang