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Published: September 3rd 2007
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Roses at work
Kiwis - don't be fooled... the Roses chocolates here may LOOK the same, but they are not as good, and even worse, are missing some of the best flavours! (Celebrations are better.) It is not every year that one can truly claim a birthday longer than a single day, so I decided to take full advantage of the world's time zones, starting the celebrations midnight New Zealand time and finishing midnight GMT.
The 37 Hour Birthday Part One: the New Zealand edition When the clock struck eleven am London time on the 27th November, I sat up with excitement and kicked off my birthday with a ceremonial opening of two boxes of chocolates. Shouting out to my colleagues to "come and have chocolate, because it's midnight in New Zealand!" brought willing participants to my impromptu party. I should point out that while some of them openly doubted my sanity, no-one refused the chocolate, and most of them thought it was a great idea (probably because they benefited in a chocolate-coated manner.)
With chocolates visible on your desk, it is surprising how many people you have never talked to in your life before will find an excuse to stop by and ask for some, even though they do not know what your name is, or even what you do. I'm not sure if this is a feature of the open plan office,
Birthday Gateaux
My treat on the second afternoon of my birthday - a seat in a cute cafe, a pot of hot chocolate and a wonderful piece of cake... mmmmm! the English, or merely people in general. I suspect the latter, and though I found it fairly rude I refused to let it tarnish my day, and even gave some of these free loading prospectors chocolates, in return for a "Happy Birthday" - which I think was more than a fair trade.
The rest of the day passed fairly pleasantly, and I even got away at a reasonable time, for my next appointment of the day: Jenny and I met up in Shepherd’s Bush with Becky, Laurence, Tim and a friend of Jenny’s called Paul, to collect ourselves, have a pint and scoff some food before joining the throngs for the Violent Femmes at the SheBu Empire.
We arrived in plenty of time, and Jenny was at the front of the crowd three seconds later. Laurence went with her and the rest of us hung back for the three inches extra personal space the middle of the crowd affords the gig-goer. The support act, Last Man Standing, were jolly and enthusiastic - although they managed to sound ever so slightly unoriginal (those who know my relationship with music will realise that for
me to be able to compare
them to five other bands/musicals their style must not have been that developed.)
But the Femmes... wow! They were in top form, and played a marvellous one and a half hours, with incredible saxophone and bass guitar solos. Even appearances couldn’t detract from their virtuosity: the singer was dressed in a orange shirt reminiscent of a boiler suit, with slicked back hair and psychopathic concentration, and the guitarist's flabby middle aged spread was not improved by the long greying tresses, which really was more ex-hippy than rockstar... but
damn could they play!
Sad to say, after getting home from the concert I wasted the next seven hours of my birthday sleeping, before getting up early on the morning of the 28th here in the UK for -
The 37 Hour Birthday Part Two: the UK edition Unwrapping presents while sitting over the heater in the lounge on the phone to my parents was a highlight - even though it wasn’t a long call it was lovely to speak to them. And my presents are fantastic! The theme was warm clothing, mum and dad each managing to give me two items, as well as cards and a pair
of earrings. My sister eschewed the winter trend, sending me a summer t-shirt and more earrings (they know me too well!) And I had a quick chat with her as well - enough to learn a few news items, and long for a good natter.
By this time the texts were coming thick and fast, and I have to thank my lovely cousins and friends for all their messages. Hugs to you all!
The ultimate tribute was from a certain crazy person currently in Aussieland:
Well, it's Jujuday, so course I got all the Jujudecorations out and
decorated the office, and left little Jujupresents on everyone's desk.
At lunch time we sang Jujucarols and after a nice round Jujunogg and
some healthy servings of little Juju Plum Puddings, we threw Jujuballs
at each other and built Jujus out of icing snow.
How did you celebrate Jujuday?
I wish you many happy Jujus and much Jubilation!
xx
I had decided to take the day off work to mark my birthday, because I thought that since I was in one of the most wonderful cities of the world, I should mark my special occasion by doing something memorable and wonderful, rather than spending the day wanting to hurl myself out the windows of our large but rather squat building.
Unfortunately it was raining, which ruled out outdoor pursuits. I headed for the Tate Modern, and after Fun with Trains (TM - or rather TFL!) I got to the gallery and spent some time admiring the building, which has been converted from an old power station.) The installation
Blister on the Sun
Tim and I were up the back at the bar when Blister started, and we had to rush down and wedge ourselves back into the thick of it to join the mass boogie. currently in the changing exhibition space of the Turbine Hall is a series of slides by Carsten Holler, and it is pretty fantastic. I went on the two smaller slides, and then headed to the galleries for several happily contemplative hours, before psyching myself up for a go at the big slides and getting knocked back due to the large amount of school trips currently in the building.
After a calming hot chocolate and Black Forest Cherry Cake slice of birthday cake, and misfortunes involving flats being let to other people, Emma, Jenny, Jill and I headed out for an Olde Englishe pub dinner at the Black Lion, and then down to the Coronet Cinema for a birthday screening of Casino Royale.
Whew, the new Bond is different! We walked home through the crisp clear night air, loudly discussing the film, the impossibilities and plot holes inherent in any Bond film, and the merits of the various Bonds, while I reflected that it had certainly been an interesting birthday.
We arrived home just before midnight, in perfect time not to eat the birthday cake that Jenny had thoughtfully and lovingly provided - we were all too full
of Steak and Ale pie and popcorn to think about chocolate! (We ate it two days later, once our stomachs were empty enough.)
Who says getting older makes you old? I think I’ll do it all again next year!
(which is now sooner than one might think, since this poor blog has been gathering dust and sitting unpublished for 8 months... yes, I know this is shameful. But I'm sure you're glad that you have now had the chance to see what I was doing last November!)
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