Hey Jude
Well, that’s another year been and gone. 2009. End of a decade. It has gone so quickly.
What’s happened this year? A lot. It’s been busy.
- I have been involved in some huge projects at work.
- I sang in some St Martin Singers concerts.
- I joined a theatre group and was in a pantomime.
- I started playing the ukulele.
- I’ve met some really great people.
- I’ve met some not so great people.
- Phil and I almost bought a flat. It didnt quite work out but we’re still looking!
- I went skiing.
- I went to a music festival.
- I became a member of Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club.
- I turned 25! That’s quarter of a century. Wow.
And lots of other things.
It’s been a good year, and there is very little in it that I regret. 2010 though… I think a lot of great things will happen in 2010. I have a good feeling about it already.
I dont normally do New Years Resolutions but I have a few fairly non-specific ones.
I wrote this a few days ago and meant to publish it before the new year but… well. more fun things got in the way 
ok. so. 2.5 months since the last post. I’ve done a lot in those 10 weeks! how to fit it in to one post? lets see how it goes. Lets skim.
Panto!
The panto has now been and gone. if you didn’t go, you missed out. it was actually really pretty good! I’m looking forward to little shop of horrors in the summer. Rehearsals start soon. auditions feb i think?
Work stuff
Work has been crazy busy. I have been involved in all three of the really big projects of the year, from the datacenter move, going on to the hardware upgrade project and finally the DR test. Add to that the the ‘usual stuff’. Software releases, other smaller projects and keeping all the developer tools i manage going, and things have been pretty hectic. It’s all gone ok though, and 2010 looks like it could be equally exciting. I will be heading up a project to improve our continuous integration systems by making it more reliable, more scaleable and generally work better. And a lot more of the usual stuff. But I should also be getting someone soon to help me out with that Enough of work…
Holidays
I had an obscene amount of annual leave to use up before the end of the year so i decided to use it in one huge block from December 15th to the new year. The first week was one of christmas parties.
On the Monday, a group of us went to Hyde Parks Winter Wonderland to take some photos. Many of the ones I thought were worth keeping were fairly… experimental, but they are on Flickr anyway. Have a look, leave a comment!
Tuesday was the Quay Players christmas meal. Very nice food and good to see everyone for a final time of the year.
Movember
September, October, NoMovember! Yes, next month I will be growing a moustache for charity. I will be starting the month clean shaven, and (probably fairly slowly) growing out the Mo over the following weeks. Assuming they don’t drop out, I will be doing this as part of a team with some guys from work. Things I will need from all 3 of you blog readers:
- Money! It is for charity after all. I shall put details on how to sponsor me up in due course.
- Ideas on what sort of Mo to grow. I’m thinking handle bars. I’m not doing a Charlie Chaplin.
- Also, team name! I am lackingbin inspiration for a name. “The Moscateers” has been banded around, but I feel like it’s a bit obvious.
Anyway, that’s that. I shall be doing a daily (mostly) photo of the progress. More info about the event at movember uk.
Ukulele Wednesdays
In other news I have discovered a ukulele jam night that happens weekly on a Wednesday at the Royal George on charing cross road. It is aptly named Ukulele Wednesdays. I went last night for what will certainly not be the last time. Lots of people with ukuleles, singing and playing a huge range of songs and drinking beer. You can’t go far wrong with that in my opinion. Its a winning combination if ever I heard of one. I shall be there next week.
Falkor
While I’m on the subject of ukuleles, I bought a new one. It’s a Laka concert uke, with pickup. The difference in sound between it and my other one is incredible. Just goes to show that with instruments you really do get what you pay for (I did notice the same thing when I moved from my £150 trumpet to the rather more expensive Bach Strad all those years ago). Anyway, uke no. 1 was named Murray (after the infamous Murray Parker, world renowned musician, composer, confectioner, muse and all manner of other professions), uke no. 2 is Falkor. I don’t think I will be buying another for a while (if you want to buy me one though, I would not say no!). I just need an amp next… Anyone have one spare?
Falkor - Laka Koa Concert Uke
No other massively exciting news. Busy as ever on various projects, both work and non-work related
This ‘Ukraine’s Got Talent’ entry is absolutely amazing.
In other news, last weekend I went to Bestival on the Isle of Wight with Tim, Phil, Ali and Kev. It was a fantastic festival, and I will get my photos from it on flickr soon. Sunny every day, and some really good acts on. Definitely planning on going again next year. I hope the weather will be just as good!
Last night we all went to see Coldplay at Wembly Stadium. The ‘Friends and Family’ area was right next to the players tunnel, so we all took the oppertunity to walk down that. Supporting were White Lies (who were very good), Girls Aloud (who were ok, but you couldnt really hear any of the words), and Jay-Z (who im sure was very good if you like Jay-Z). Coldplay put on a good show, and Jay-Z did his collab bit with them as well during Lost. The Royal Box was very comfortable. Nice cushioned seats, and helpfully undercover for when the heavens opened and the rest of the crowd got soaked. I could get used to haveing seating like that every time! Great show anyway. One of the best i’ve seen. The aftershow party at Wembly Arena was awesome too, with nice food, although the only spirit they had at the bar though was vodka! Still, I guess you cant really complain about free drinks. I had drunk a bit too much beer by that time, so vodka it was!
Things should be a bit quieter from now on. I need a while to recover.