Switches @ Fibbers

On a bit of a (WotB recommended) whim, decided to go to Fibbers after badminton last night to see Switches, and very good they were too. Disappointingly, the place was half empty but that did at least mean a place right at the front wasn't a problem. Highlights were Lay Down The Law and Drama Queen, but the whole set was pretty good, despite nearly being bashed round the head by the lead singers guitar at one point! Will try and get hold of their album when it gets released.

Of the supports, Farrah (we're from Wetwang!) were by far the best and theirs is another album I'll try and get hold of. Stylofone, on the other hand, were rubbish.

93rd Birthdays

A trip down to London this weekend to visit the family and see Grandma for her 93rd birthday. We drove down on Friday night and stayed at the Chessington Tolworth Travelodge which was remarkably good value - £30 for a room for two nights. Boots and I had a seriously lazy Saturday - more good value with lunch at a Harvester pub, a spot of shopping and then a walk to Grandmas, then a quick pint and a fantastic meal at The Noodle Express in New Malden. Then afterwards, C & I decided to head out for a pint where we spent far too much money playing pool and having fun on the Bullseye quiz game. Sunday was spent having buffet lunch at Auntie J's with Grandma in attendance once again, and then driving back. A good weekend.

Tamworth 1 Norwich City 4

A rare treat - Norwich on BBC1 for an FA Cup match! Tamworth were the lowest placed team in the 3rd round and so the TV people were hoping for some kind of an upset given our recent form. I was feeling pretty confident though and Norwich duly obliged by scoring four times so the result was never really in doubt. Tamworth have a tiny ground and muddy field of a pitch and they started off better than we did without really causing us too many problems. We soon got back into it though and scored twice just before half time - a Dion header from a Huckerby cross and a Huckerby shot from a Dion headed flick-on which pretty much killed off the game. Two more goals for us after the break, one each again from Dion and Hucks before Tamworth scored the best goal of the game from outside the area. Quite an enjoyable game overall and through to the next round (away at Blackpool) for the first time in far too many seasons.

Resolutions 2007

New year, new list. First though, an update on last years efforts.

i) Extension/decorating. This was one of the biggest things for 2006 for us. Plans were drawn up, the garage demolished and the new extension built although it's still only 75% complete. We also managed to decorate the bathroom, but the attic and lounge are on hold until the extension is finished. Half a mark for this one.
ii) Job. Haven't managed to find a new job yet. Have managed to migrate myself over to C# though and am now programming completely in .NET. Another half mark.
iii) Website. Yep - otbc.co.uk went live in September. Full marks for this one.
iv) Bookies. I knew this one was going to be hard. I didn't make a profit although if I hadn't gone through with a couple of stupid bets I wouldn't have been too far off breaking even. Nothing for this.

So overall, 2/4 - must try harder. On to this years list of impossibilities (some of which are remarkably similar to this years)...

i) Extension/decorating. Priority is to finish the extension and get it habitable. This means fitting out the bathroom and decorating the utility and study room. There's a number of knock-on effects from this including the attic, the cupboard in the spare room and the kitchen so ideally I'd like to get these finished as well. Lots of hard work to be done here...
ii) Job. Get a new one. Easy.
iii) C# MCAD. I've started studying for this already so I'd like to take the exam and get certified.
iv) Bookies. Nothing new here - make a profit. I'm going to keep a log this year so I can track my progress.
v) Blog. Keep my blog and my picture site updated more often.
vi) Books. Read more. How hard can that be?!
vii) Walk. I've been wanting to do a long distance walk for some time. The Minster Way is a 50-odd mile path from Beverley to York and, conveniently, passes right past my front door. Sounds like a plan.

Come back in twelve months for an update!