52.12 A little bit Random...

The Wizard of Oz was fantabulous, Helen and I both had a fantastic day in London. This week I haven't accomplished much more than work so unfortunately I have very little to write about so I thought I would flood the random fact section with a few completely unrelated facts, along with little snide and hopefully amusing comments on each.

Random Facts:

Kazakhstan is the largest landlocked country in the world. (Also where Borat comes from.)

Infant beavers are called kittens. (there is a joke here that is just too easy.)

Hummingbirds can't walk because their legs and feet are not designed for it. (Take that evolution!!)

In the Middle Ages, chicken soup was believed to be an aphrodisiac. (possibly because anyone even remotely healthy is sexy prior to Penicillin?)

Humans are the only primates that don't have pigment in the palms of their hands. (we are also the only primates that rarely chuck feces at one another.)

Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete. (Remind me to avoid testing that particular fact.)

The New York Stock Exchange started as a coffee shop. (and Starbucks started as a criminal enterprise to launder large sums of Money.)

By raising your legs slowly and laying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand. (you might however find yourself pregnant.)

The can opener was invented 48 years after the can. (Really? shelf-life be damned!)

And finally:

A week before President Lincoln died, he was in Monroe, Maryland.

A week before President Kennedy died, he was in Marilyn Monroe. (Some times the jokes write themselves.)

52:11 We're off to see the Wizard

I have very little to write about today as I have spent the majority of the day either at the cinema (where I saw Unknown for the second time) or huddled away in the dark corner of the back reception/living room playing my recently acquired (new to me) game Saint's Row 2.

Saint's Row 2 is basically a carbon copy of the Grand Theft Auto games, it is an open world game with a thin plot and a heavy helping of unnecessary and gratuitous violence. (read man fun) The game is fun and the controls are easy enough that I am able to complete missions in order to move along further in the game and the structure is designed that if I randomly decide I want to carjack a vehicle by yanking the driver out of his door, and take his remaining passengers on a high speed police chase until they pay a ransom, I can do just that.

Tomorrow Helen and I are going to spend the day in London. We are going to have a nice lunch and visit our favorite geek schwag store Forbidden Planet (which sells awesome things like this ) and the actual reason we are going into London, We have tickets to see Andrew Lloyd Weber's Wizard of Oz production at the London Palladium theatre!

We are both very excited last year we watched Danielle Hope win the cherished role on a talent search show called Over the rainbow, and Helen gave the tickets to me for my birthday this year. We are both very excited and I am sure you will hear more about our London adventure next week.

Random Fact:

Since Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber’s venture into the world of reality TV in shows like Over The Rainbow, the demand for theatre tickets has soared. Audience numbers have increased by well over one million since Lloyd Webber's new cast members began appearing on stage.

Lee Mead took the lead in Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, while Connie Fisher starred in The Sound of Music. Jodie Prenger filled the lead role in Oliver! and Danielle Hope most recently took the lead role in The Wizard of Oz. Theatreland (or the West End) has treated Lloyd Webber well and this year he was listed as the third-richest music millionaire in Britain. He beats Simon Cowell, Sir Elton John and Sir Paul McCartney with a personal fortune of £700 million.

52.10 Unusually, unusual...

It has occurred to me that I am somewhat unusually, unusual. I have always been very lucky in life, surviving helicopter crashes and bullet wounds, being lost in the desert of Iraq with 4 other soldiers and an Italian television reporter and her camera man for more than a week with out any contact with the rest of my unit and no help of support. I managed to survive all of these possibly dire situations relatively unscathed if you ignore the fact that I bring it up every day.

I am married to a beautiful and loving woman, living in a far away land, (complete with castles, manor houses and actual royalty.) It occurred to me yesterday how odd and wonderful my life is when Helen and I went into London for an interview (read her blog about the interview) had lunch at the very American TGI Fridays, and went back home.

Never in my wildest dreams as a child did I picture myself popping into London for a meeting and bit of lunch only to jump back on the Underground to head back home via London Liverpool station and the National Railway service.

I was terribly gutted when I didn't get that Disney job last week but the truth of the matter is I am very lucky. I'm married to an amazing woman (five months tomorrow!) I have a job that pays the bills. (though I am far from loving the hours) My life is freaking awesome and I am grateful for every minute of it. With that thought I shall bid you adieu.

Random fact: Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes.

52.9 Swing and a miss

Sports metaphors aside, I do not handle failure well. I did not get the job that I mentioned in last weeks post. The feedback from the employer was highly positive and said that had their other applicants not have been such a high caliber they would have happily employed me.

I don't know about you, but I read that statement and while it seems nice what they are really saying is you were good but there was better. Which is obvious as I wasn't chosen. The interview process was intense and interesting and I am gutted that I was not selected to be a part of what appears to be a creative and resourceful team, but life moves 0n.

I could go on and on about how miserable I am that I didn't get the position, and how when I recieved the email informing me of that, I apparently got something in my eye for the next few minutes, but really the fact is there will be other opportunties and better jobs. I think to end this post I will conclude with another sports metaphor: I have to keep my eye on the ball.

Random Fact:

The modern game originated in Scotland was entitled Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden.... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language. The first written record of golf is James II's banning of the game in 1457, as an unwelcome distraction to learning archery.