rich_jacko

2021 managed to clear the very low bar set by 2020 (Hey, the only new scar I have this year is a physical one...). We may not quite be back to normal yet - cancelled parties this week have sadly proven that - but we've collectively come a long way and this was the year life began to resume.

I've enjoyed regular meet-ups with friends again, trips to the seaside, a birthday picnic and meal out, the return of parkrun, two big family events/celebrations, my sister/nieces' visit to Sheffield, a trio of major running events, my first holiday away in two years, and a much freer Christmas than last year.

All the best to you all, however you're seeing in the New Year, and may you have a fantastic 2022!

Current Mood: hopeful

It's perhaps tempting fate, with a relatively unknown new covid variant now circulating, but I want to record how good it feels, now that social and entertainment events have been starting to get back to normal.

Friday pub socials are now happening two or more times a month, and we're getting a pretty good turnout. It's great to be able to relax and spend time with each other over drinks once again.

Just over a month ago, I went to see Tim Peake talk about his career at City Hall. Much of it was things I already new, but some of it was fresh (I'd never previously thought about the difficulty of getting to sleep in zero-g!), and there's nothing like the personal touch of having Major Tim talk through it all in person. It was basically the best PowerPoint presentation ever!

November saw two big birthday parties on consecutive weekends, for Cis and Liz's 50ths. I only paid a brief visit to Cis's, at Trippets Lounge Bar, but it was great to see so many people there and catch up with faces I'd not seen in a long while. Liz's do, at Walkley Community Centre, naturally featured an enormous buffet, as well as party games and dancing into the night (well, 11pm). I had a wonderful time.

Kids and bigger kids playing pass the parcel

Auntie Carey came equipped with party glasses as usual!

A week later, I went with Gillian down to Telford for Wales Comic Con. I'd never have spotted this was on if Gillian hadn't mentioned it to me, and I'm glad she did. We went to a Q&A talk with Doctors 5 through 8, and racked up a few autographs and photo shoots between us. There were a lot of cosplayers to admire too (We were ticking off Doctors). It was a good day out and fairly, if not entirely, successful - The organisation of the event left a lot to be desired and we had a long delay on the trains back. You can read Gillian's post here.

James Masters and me, auditioning for a buddy detective show

On Monday this week, I was back at City Hall for another space-themed show, this time Return of the Jedi in Concert - the film, up on a cinema screen, accompanied by a 70-piece live orchestra. It sounded fantastic, though at times I had to remind myself to pay attention to the live music, not just get lost in the film!

This coming weekend will also see my final running event of the year, the Percy Pud 10k. This one is a bit of a Sheffield institution. I've never entered it before. The course is through familiar territory, but it'll be a different experience running it as part of a big event, with celebrations (and Christmas puds!) at the finish.

Looking further ahead, I remain hopeful for a much more fun festive season than last year.

Current Mood: grateful

This weekend, I took my Mum and Dad to Tramlines. It was back in Hillsborough Park for the second year running, so I took advantage of my two free tickets and bought a third one for myself. The crowds were bigger this year, the weather not so clear and I'd heard of fewer of the acts but, despite all that, the music and the atmosphere was still just as amazing. We all enjoyed ourselves (even though it's not normally Dad's sort of thing!) :o)

Friday:

The weather was grim and we had classic festival mud (My poor park!), but we mostly managed to stay dry. We got there in time for the Seamonsters, who I'd enjoyed last year and were (bizarrely) sampling Theresa May's resignation speech this year. Then we had a look round before settling in front of the main stage for Circa Waves, the Manic Street Preachers and Two Door Cinema Club. Mum and I both really wanted to see the Manics, and they didn't disappoint. They got one of the biggest cheers when they covered Sweet Child O' Mine. We didn't think too much of 2DCC, so went and got food (giant Yorkshire pud!) then watched Red Rum Club on the Library Stage to finish off the night.

Saturday:

I was chuffed to introduce my folks to the most Sheffield band they will ever see - the good ol' Everly Pregnant Brothers (more confident on the big stage this year and really working the crowd well). I had to explain the Leeds thing to my Dad and they were both a bit put out by the Worcester Sauce gibes in "Hendo's", but they definitely enjoyed it. We came home for a late lunch (handy being so close!) then back out again to a massively crowded park for a triple bill of Reverend and the Makers, Johnny Marr and Courteeners in the evening. Johnny Marr was the best of the three, but they all rocked the crowd pretty well while the sun went down. Before that line-up, there was an unscheduled tribute song to Sarah Nulty, led by her brother. Despite the crowds, we still managed to find a decent spot for the evening (where, importantly, we could sit down between acts!) and it didn't take long to queue for essential food and beer (overpriced but, hey, it's a concert). A good second day.

Sunday:

Mum and Dad needed a gentler day, and I had Bethany's nowhere-near-a-birthday lunch to go to, so we only returned to Tramlines late afternoon on Sunday. Lewis Capaldi was first up on the main stage and, while his music was good, most of the crowd couldn't make out what he was saying during his long talking bits between songs. Rag 'N' Bone Man followed and was much better. After that, we had a clash - Doves and Nile Rodgers & Chic were on at the same time, and we wanted to see both. Inevitably we were going to get split up, so we arranged to meet up at the end. I listened to Doves' first four songs, then wandered around for a bit (and danced along with Yonaka at the Library Stage for a while) before ending up at the main stage for Nile Rodgers & Chic. Their Let's Dance / Le Freak / Good Times finale proved why they've been a success for so many years and really worked the crowd up into a bouncing, clapping, party frenzy, proving to be the perfect end to the festival.

Current Mood: enthralled

I am counting this weekend as a win.

There was the 3FS on Friday, quieter than usual, but still a good gathering (and preceded by dinner chez Nightingale and Ruby's masterful Roo-brie).

Saturday saw Hillsborough get the dreaded Leeds match out of the way for another year. With what looked like half of South Yorkshire police on the streets, it thankfully seemed to go without incident. I trekked over to Beighton during the day to see the Clarks and drop off presents for Bethany. Then in the evening I hosted what I think may have been my biggest film night yet - 25 guests (15 adults, 10 kids). All the food got eaten, a significant proportion of the Lego got played with, there were no fights, everyone semed to have a good time, and David Bowie was magnificent. We started at 4 and wound up about 11:30.

There was snow later on in the evening, which pretty much decided my plans for Sunday. Tidying up can wait! I hiked up to Bole Hill park where I met up with the Haynes and Chivers clans. We went sledging, built a snowman and had snowball fights, before retiring for a late pub lunch at the Ball. I'm off to roleplaying in a bit to round off a packed and very enjoyable weekend. :o)

Current Mood: satisfied

The first Friday in January is New Year's Day. However, it seems a bit unlikely that everyone will be up for our regularly-scheduled pub social when they may still be nursing hangovers from the night (year?) before. (Just what am I implying here?)

Ju and I therefore made an executive decision at the Nightingales' party yesterday - Just for this month, we'll make it a Second Friday Social. Hope to see you at the Walkley Cottage on the 8th! :o)

And to my team of junior master builders - I have Doctor Who Lego which will need building...

Current Mood: good

Christmas seems to have snuck up suddenly and unexpectedly this year, but I'm now starting to get into the festive spirit.

Last weekend, I went with the Chivers and Anne to Lincoln Christmas markets, which were as vast and impressive as I remember from a previous year. They were a little too busy, which made it difficult to get to some stalls, but well worth the trip and I came away with various goodies. The legend that is Brown's Pie Shop was equally busy. We had to wait half an hour for a table even at 4pm but we already knew that would be worth it. The medieval market in the Bishop's Palace was a little quieter (due to the entry fee) and nicely atmospheric. We briefly went in the cathedral before heading home.

In the last few days I've made significant Christmas-related progress: I've got the bulk of my Christams shopping done, written most of my cards, put up and decorated the tree, and started this year's Lego Christmas build. I've also been to the Sheffield Christmas Blitz at the cathedral (which was very well done, and had the odd juxtaposition of carol singers and an air raid siren), Edy's mince pies evening (where the house was new and the baking was as epic as ever), and watched Gremlins and Muppet Christmas Carol :o)

Next week looks promising, bookended by a team Christmas meal (with colleagues up from London) on Monday and the Sheffield work Christmas do on Friday. In-between, there's a new Star Wars movie!

Current Mood: cheerful

Time for another film night at my place next Saturday (21st).

2015 has been another year with many action franchises churning out their next entry, but some of them have been pretty enjoyable. Turn up from 4pm, and we'll be kicking off at 4:30pm with Jurassic World, then Avengers: Age of Ultron around 7pm and finally Mad Max: Fury Road at around 9:30pm.

All welcome. There will be snacks, and possibly pizza - or we can break for takeaway between the dinosaurs and the superheroes. We will not be breaking for Doctor Who as unfortunately the timings just don't work out. But that's what i-player is for!

I'll be having an open house this Sunday for my birthday, from 1pm 'till late.

The weather forecast is less than summery, so I think I'm going to nix the BBQ idea. This does mean there's a slim chance I might not end up with lots of leftovers from the party buffet for a change. Don't eat beforehand! ;o)

There's no particular theme or grand plan this year. Just come around and chill. Clearly a sign that I'm getting old.

Although there may be new Lego sets to build, so not that old.

Current Mood: calm

Blimey, it's nearly May.

I will be doing the usual open house / barbeque-if-the-weather's-nice on my birthday, Sunday 17th May.

It seems Edy is doing the same thing the day before, so it should be a bumper weekend for parties (plus it's a 3SF that Friday). I will be providing party food, but feel free to bring any leftovers from the day before!

On the subject of "nearly May" and Friday socials, next Friday is 1st May and therefore the FFS. I'm aiming to be there early, from 5ish :o)

Current Mood: calm

I meant to do this post a couple of days ago, but got distracted by snow ;o)

Here's the round-up for the last six months of 2014( under this cut )

I had foolishly resolved to get my "to read" pile down in 2014, by reading books faster than I bought them. I half-managed it, getting the pile down from 20 at the start of the year to 13 at the end. It doesn't need to get down to zero (I need choice of what to read next, after all!) but it would be good to knock it down a bit further in 2015. I've made a New Year's resolution to stay off the interwebs at weekends if possible, which should help!

P.S. - Thank you to Adam for hosting an excellent New Year party last night, and to the Nightingales for bringing the comedy moustaches, glasses, etc! I didn't get any photos, but I see there are a few floating around :o)

Current Mood: relaxed

Well, the table's set at least ;o)

This year's Christmas village display was a big project over several weeks. Fortunately, I had help:

Nightingirls building the fairground mixer

I am actually feeling pretty organised this year. The shopping was all done a week ago, cards all dispatched, and I'm about halfway through the wrapping. Plus I broke up from work on Friday. On the social side, so far this Christmas has involved:

- "Duncan Road Christmas" on 30th November with lunch at the Harlequin and a trip round Kelham Island Christmas market
- last FFS of the year
- Christmas Lard Club at Rowsha
- Decorating Gillian's flat
- Watching Gremlins at the Showroom for Nigel's birthday
- Work Chistmas do at the Milestone (plus Shakespeare's plus the Kelham Island Tavern...) on Friday
- A trip to York Christmas market on Saturday
- Edy's mince pies evening

Some photos from York:

I'm doing presents round the Chivers this evening (Thanks to those of you who contributed towards the Goblin's!), then lunch out on Christmas Eve, and then it's the day itself. That came around quickly!

Current Mood: bouncy

Thank you to Adam, Ju, Jamie, the family Chivers, the family Wengraf, Frank, Gillian, Gary, and the family Nightingale for coming round yesterday and making my Lego party epic! I had a brilliant day (It was also really nice to catch up with Cathy over brunch at the Riverside beforehand.)

You all dived in and built lots of old school space Lego, Adam and Gillian getting particularly creative. Thank you also for giving generously to charity... even if it did mean I got a bit wet! There are videos on facebook but I don't think I can link to them here.

We watched the Lego Movie, which was great to watch with several folk who'd never seen it before. We were all entertained by Toby singing that song. Topping it off was one of the cleverest and spookiest Doctor Who episodes for a long while. The party eventually tailed off at around half ten, which is very respectable given that it started about ten hours earlier!

In short, everything was awesome yesterday :o)

Current Mood: bouncy

Now we're all back from our hols, next Saturday (13th) it's time for that Lego Movie party I promised. But not just the Lego Movie, oh no...

Old school spaceships!
When I visited my parents earlier in the year, I retrieved a lot of my old space Lego. So all of these sets will be around for you to build:

Or you could be a master builder and design something else. I'll make other Lego bricks available to build with as well if you like.

Spaceships from a galaxy far, far away!
I'll put on a double-dose of Lego Star Wars cartoons - the two-part Yoda Chronicles, in which the Sith develop a new super-clone, although things don't go entirely according to plan. Other Lego cartoons are also available. As is the Lego Star Wars video game, if anyone wants to play.

Time And Relative Dimension in Spaceship!
We will, of course, break from Lego to watch Doctor Who. "Listen" looks like it's going to be a creepy episode and is on at 7:30pm.

Benny's SPACESHIP!!!
...and of course there's the Lego Movie. Featuring, amongst others, a spaceman called Benny, who gets slightly excited about building spaceships. If you've not yet seen Emmet and the gang in this "story of a nobody who saved everybody", then you really need to. If you have seen it before, surely you want to see it again? Because everything's awesome ;o)

Non-spaceship related bonus feature
As mentioned in my earlier post, I will be having a collection to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association. If you can raise 50 quid between you by 6:30pm, there may be a bonus scene featuring me and an ice bucket. Biggest donation gets to do the pouring, everyone else risks being nominated to do the challenge next...

Please let me know if you're coming, and if so, a rough ETA. I'll have an open house from noonish. I'm not planning a particular schedule, and the list above isn't meant to be in any particular order. It would be terrible if I were to start the movie ten minutes before you turned up!

For those of you coming to Hillsborough to join Cathy for brunch, feel free to come straight over with me afterwards, or pop along later.

There will be party snacks throughout the afternoon, and pizzas in the oven for the evening. If you want lunch here, feel free but please bring it with you.

Finally, a word of warning: I make no apologies if you end up with "Everything is Awesome" stuck in your head for days... ;o)

Current Mood: silly
Current Music: 'Everything is Awesome!' - Tegan & Sara feat. The Lonely Island

This has been my third 3-day weekend on the trot, which isn't bad. This particular one has been ( very full and quite expensive. )

Current Mood: sleepy

As posted on that facebook, my Auntie Carolyn has very kindly nominated me for the MND ice bucket challenge, which half my extended family seem to be taking up at the moment.

I'll be honest. I'm not convinced by this craze and I don't think it's been properly thought through. From what I've seen in the media, there hasn't been nearly enough emphasis on the fundraising, which is supposed to be the main point. It should be possible to wring far more donations out of it than you'll get by following the official rules.

So here's the deal:

1) I will NOT be having a bucket of ice water dumped over my head in the next 24 hours.

2) I have just donated £50 to the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

3) I am already planning to have an open house party (Lego Movie!) at some yet to be determined date next month. If guests at that party can match my donation by raising at least another £50 for the MNDA between them on the day, I will endure the ice bucket there and then. And you can all watch and laugh. If not, I won't.

4) As a generosity incentive, whoever donates the most gets to pour the bucket and post the video online. Everyone ELSE who chips in gets their names put into a pot to nominate the next two victims...

Even if you have no interest in this nonsense, I encourage you to donate to a very worthwhile cause if you can.

Current Mood: productive

Another busy weekend in the epic month that is July 2014! (And I realised I completely failed to post last weekend, with its beer festival and two birthday meals/parties. I blame the alcohol...)

Friday was a packed 20-hour day. I was up early to catch a train to that London (and thanks to the rubbishness of tram replacement buses, ended up sprinting down the High Street to catch a blue tram in order to get to the station on time). In London, I trekked back and forth across Westminster Bridge (Far too hot!) from meeting to meeting to meeting, before catching an early train to make it back to Sheffield in time for the theatre.

The goblin was surprise-ambushed in Tudor Square by Uncle Rich and Mummy sporting tickets for Horrible Histories. The show was a different cast to the TV series, but in very much the same vein and with added audience participation. As always, the songs were the best bit, ranging from ~~Boob-icca~~ Boudicca's "She Will Smash You" to Queen Victoria's rap ("V&A" as opposed to "NWA"), with plenty in-between. "Burke and Hare" sung to the Postman Pat theme is just so wrong!:

"Burke and Hare, Burke and Here,
Killing people everywhere.
Early in the morning,
Just as day is dawning,
They'll pick up all the bodies that they can."
Rather than sets, the cast interacted with a big screen behind them, which featured 3D effects in the second act. A street-level view of the Dale Dyke Dam bursting was pretty impressive, and it was nice to see an often-overlooked bit of local history featured.

After the show, I put in a late appearance at the 3FS where it was nice enough to sit outside and we had the added bonus of a surprise guest appearance from Jenny! This was before getting sucked back to Chez Nightingale for girl-sized mugs of tea ;o)

Unsurprisingly, I slept in yesterday morning. Then it was the looooong trek to Andy & Jacquie's for their charity BBQ. Kate, Michael and the girls, Ju & Jamie, Kate, and the Chiverses were also all there. Sadly the weather gods were not feeling kind, as it was far too hot and sticky, but the sacrificial offerings of burnt meat must've worked as they bestowed upon us a forked-lightning, rain-setting-off-car-alarms thunderstorm of epic proportions. We retreated inside to play with all the Lego, and when the storm cleared the air was fresh and pleasant. I would've left sooner, but was unfortunately forced to stay and drink whisky...

When I got home, I fired up the projector and watched How To Train Your Dragon in preparation for this morning's group trip to see the sequel. It's a more straightforward story this time round, with a clear-cut bad guy and everyone in Berk already used to the idea of living with dragons. The dragons themselves are still adorably cat/dog-like, and although the themes are rather similar to the first film, it feels like a development rather than a complete re-hash. It's a worthy sequel. I still love the flying sequences, and get caught up as the film revels in the sheer joy and awesomeness of vikings flying with dragons. The 3D wasn't too distracting and I'm definitely glad we went for the IMAX impact (although it might have been a bit much for poor Jamie!).

The goblin didn't like the kissing parts ;o)

Jamie and Evie with Toothless at Cineworld

Next - off to roleplaying shortly!

Current Mood: giddy

Weather-wise, the weekend didn't get off to a promising start. I got thoroughly damp on my way to the pub for the FFS. Fortunately this didn't matter, as I soon got settled down with (a) pie, then (b) a Lego-building table with most of the kids, and (c) talking nonsense over drinks with the ~~adults~~ bigger kids. As mentioned to Adam and Neil, here's an edited version of the Ultra Magnus bar scene...

Fortunately the weather cleared up for Saturday and Adam's unofficial Leckhampstead Pig Roast Tribute BBQ. In the bring-a-pudding tradition, I made chocolate flapjacks in the morning, which seemed to go down very well. I bumped into the Chivers on the way up the hill, and Evie and I went on ahead while the rest followed at Bug speed. There was a good turnout, and it was nice to chill in the garden in the sun/shade. A lazy summer evening :o)

Sunday was "Le Tour" and Dave was hosting another BBQ, right on the route. It was another nice day and there was a real carnival atmosphere. With the roads closed, there was space for a proper street party. We disfigured the public highway with chalk like the reprobates we are, and cheered as first the (millions of) sponsor cars and then the riders came through. There was a great sense of occasion and Yorkshire seems to have done itself proud.

The front-runners charge through!

Click for t'photos from t'Tour

Current Mood: bouncy

June feels a bit like the eye of the storm, caught between a very busy May and an insanely busy July. I was actually in work for five normal days this week, for heaven's sake!

There seemed to be fewer birthday parties last month than most Mays (owing to a lot of folk being away), but it was still packed. I went to an enjoyable picnic in the Botanical Gardens on May Day; had a fab day out in Ecclesall Woods involving den-building and stone-baked pizza for Edy's 40th; was introduced to Green City Coffee near work by Ed and Krissy; hosted a birthday barbecue (the first of the year) in a brief burst of summer weather; and went to see my folks for my eldest niece's birthday.

June might be less busy, but there has still been stuff going on. Lard Club finally made it to Smoke, the weather was glorious again for the FFS, there's the Gamers evening I'm hosting tonight, and I'll be going to a barbecue tomorrow.

Then it's on to July in a couple of weeks. At least two work trips to that London, Adam's barbecue, maybe watching the Tour de France pass through Sheffield, Ju's birthday cocktail do, Ed's birthday meal, Andy and Jacquie's charity barbecue (Let's hope for some sun with all these barbecues!), and finally a trip to Glasgow to watch the Commonwealth Games to round the month off. I think I'm going to need a couple of quiet weeks to prepare!

Current Mood: busy

Congratulations to Mark & Lou, who got married at the weekend! :o)

Thank you for inviting me to a great wedding (and thank you also to everyone who offered lifts to me and my bags over the weekend!)

( Write-up and more photos )

A great wedding and a great end to my Easter break!

Current Mood: happy

I was away at a conference in Geneva last week. I flew out on Wednesday morning (thankfully from Manchester, not sodding Gatwick like last time!), landed at lunchtime and had the rest of the day to sightsee :o)

I did the standard get-a-bit-lost-looking-for-my-hotel and wandered around three sides of a square looking for it (Unfortunately the two unnecessary sides were both hills...). The hotel was basic and my room was tiny (That's austerity measures for you!), but it was on the seventh floor and had a balcony, so the view more than made up for it.

Having checked in, I decided to make the most of a lovely day and took a boat trip around Lake Geneva. I got to see the Jet d'Eau up close, which I failed to do when I was last there since it wasn't running a lot of the time. I also explored a bit and found several museums that I didn't have time to go in. Maybe next time.

The conference was two full days, Thursday and Friday. It was a 45-minute walk from my hotel, but worth walking rather than bussing, since the route was around the lake and up through two parks.

I'd been to two conferences with this group before. Essentially it was an ideas-sharing event where - to quote the Canadian chairman - "We all nick each other's best ideas and try to implement them before you do." It's all fairly relaxed, although you do get to feel really important since everyone is sat behind a plate with the name of your country (complete with a little flag!). The representatives from the other countries are a great bunch of people, although I drew the line at the Aussie guy deriding English beer. (Cricket - fair enough). Turns out he'd never had any real ale.

One of my colleagues was meant to be giving a presentation on the Thursday. His flight was cancelled, but we managed through a combination of him dialling in and me filling in.

The organisers hosted a meal out on Thursday evening, with good food and free-flowing wine. By pure coincidence, the restaurant they had chosen was just one road over from my hotel, which was convenient for staggering back at the end of the evening.

Friday was a long day. Second full day at the conference, which went quickly enough (although we all rather ran out of steam after lunch). My flight then wasn't until 9:30pm, I caught the very last (and slow) train back from Manchester and didn't get home until around 2am.

Then on Saturday I had two parties to go to. So if my appearances at Toby's birthday party and the Flat of Geek farewell party were somewhat brief, you know why!

Posing in front of the Jet d'Eau

Photos here

Current Mood: accomplished

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rich_jacko

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Entries tagged with parties

'21 done!

Party like it's 2019

Put on your rain boots and dance

...Come on outside, let's go and play!

SFS

It's in the singing of a street corner choir

More films

Sunday

Dates for your diary

Films and books round up - second half

Christmas so far

Lego parties are awesome

Spaceship! Spaceship! SPACESHIP!!!

Weekend of Epic

Variation on a meme

How To Cram Your Weekend

Le weekend

Calendar

Mark & Lou's wedding

Geneva