Bonding At Entmas
Dec. 16th, 2015 10:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupestripeDespite being very sad to leave Iceland, I did have a very important reason to depart when I did - Saturday's yearly Entmas celebrations. As I was getting into Manchester on Friday afternoon and this is where Ent lives, I thought there was no reason to head back to Leeds just to go back to Manchester the next day so I ended up staying with Ent and Angela at their new house, which I must admit is far more spacious and palacios than the last one and even has working central heating and a functional shower. As I arrived mid-afternoon on Friday and everyone was at work, I decided to go into the city and head to BrewDog, thinking it would be somewhere quiet where I could update my journals. It was certainly somewhere where I could write about my trip to Iceland but it was incredibly busy for that time of day, no doubt largely due to the proximity of the German Christmas market. This busyness, not just in Manchester but everywhere, is one of the main reasons why I dislike this time of year, further evidenced on Sunday evening when the Leeds BrewDog was unusually rammed and there were loads of loud pissed people walking through town wearing horrendous Christmas jumpers. Bah humbug and all that but I don't see why I should apologise for not particularly liking this time of year.
I met Angela on platform four of Piccadilly station, just after I had picked up a bottle of wine for the following day's festivities. We then had the unbridled joy of a cancelled train followed by a delayed one, resulting in a massive throng of people trying to board a shitty Pacer when it did finally arrive. It was very much a wry welcome back to the UK situation but we did manage to get a seat before enjoying a somewhat pleasurable twenty minute journey to their particular suburb of Manchester. The rest of the evening was spent chatting and chilling, largely watching Dave (the TV channel, not some random bloke), where I was introduced to the twin wonders of magician Dynamo and Crackanory over the slightly above average pizza served up by Papa John's. We don't have a local PJ so this was only the second time I had tried it (and the first sober) and while the pizza was okay (but not as good as Domino's), the buttery garlic sauce was horrendous, with me preferring the garlic and herb one which actually tasted of garlic. We got two meaty ones - a meat feast and a sausage which ended up largely being the same - but it was ultimately filling and satisfying, a good way to end the evening.
Saturday was Entmas day but I needed a lie in, particularly as it took me a while to get used to my beanbag pillow as Ent discovered on Friday evening that his spare pillow had attracted mould. I had a great sleep though and was up just after 11am, just in time for the guests to arrive at noon. I spent a lot of this rather rainy day pacing up and down the living room in order to boost my Fitbit steps count and this continued when Adia and Soma arrived, typically punctually, with the former dizzy on sugar and talking about her beanbags. She liked Ent's garden and sliding a lot, and soon the others arrived too, with Wolfie and Bungle being the last to turn up just after 2pm. I hadn't seen Wolfie for nine days so it was great seeing him again, and we had a quiet chat in private (largely for me to show him the beer I had bought) before Ent needed him to help carve the turkey. In the meantime, everyone was watching a range of videos on YouTube and Chromecast including the highly disturbing 'How To' videos. I also showed some of my interested friends my Iceland pictures - I have been delighted by the positive responses they have received. Then it was time for lunch, with Ent cooking far too much meat than was necessary so there was plenty to go round. All the usual trimmings were there, although the parsnips were slightly delayed, but the whole thing was incredibly satisfying, with Ent doing an excellent job as usual. This year, he had even bought a heated serving tray system but he admitted this was just a dry run in his new house for next year's Entmas - no doubt on the second Saturday of December once again - which promises to be truly spectacular.
After dinner, we cracked open the crackers where I got a large novelty paper clip, something I've never seen outside of these things. The jokes, as usual, were truly terrible but after a few glasses of wine they became somewhat amusing while I lost my party hat which was just as well as I've never seen the point of wearing hats indoors. Soon, the computer games were wheeled out but they tended to be more quiz orientated and I regret not getting involved. I did feel somewhat left out when the games were being played but in hindsight this was silly as they were just question and answer type games with a twist (like Fibbage) and I was coming up with amusing answers in my head while watching others play. I don't know why I have such a strong antipathy towards video games but in this case this was certainly misguided and I feel my behaviour was just another example of me trying to push people away, which is something I have noticed I have started to do over the last few months. I don't really know how to stop it but I really should have participated - I was offered on numerous occasions - but I will admit it was something of a relief when the games went away and we got back to chatting and general socializing, something with which I feel far more comfortable.
By 8pm people started to drift away, with the rest of us watching a Mr Bean Christmas special from 1992. It still is a charming series but I don't really know quite why it was so popular - I guess it's just silly and easily exported. Some more people left after this while we remained, cracking open the cheese and biscuits and watching Bullseye, where I was surprised to discover the number of answers I knew to questions from 1990. We also chatted to some more people, including a few we rarely get chance to see, so it was a great way of touching base and reacquainting ourselves with old friends. Hopefully we can see them more often in the new year we thought as we left just after 10pm, largely on the advice of Draken who had departed an hour earlier and informed us that the M62 was shut. This resulted in an atmospheric drive through Oldham and over Saddleworth Moor, which was somewhat creepy in the swirling fog, but at least we had memories of a great day to keep us sane as we plotted a course back.
Sunday was slated to be a quiet day, with Wolfie fixing his exhaust and me sorting out laundry and other post-holiday things. However, with everything done by 4pm, we realised that we had a good opportunity to see the new James Bond movie Spectre, which we had not yet seen. So we booked tickets and headed into town, calling at a potential meet venue along the way, as well as the German Christmas market, which was just closing for the evening. Sadly, this meant the range of snausages wasn't as extensive as usual but I still got one along with some Knobibrot, which sadly was just marketed as garlic bread this year. It was interesting to see that the price in pounds and euros was the same (2.50) representing something like a 25% mark-up for Brits. Still, it was that oozy unhealthy garlic wonder that it always is while the snausage was another welcome addition although after my trip to Iceland, I've been somewhat spoiled with hot dogs. We also picked up a marshmallow chocolate dessert but with all of the same stalls as previous years, it highlighted to me just why I haven't had the strong desire to visit as I have in previous years. Apparently, the main performance area is being replaced for next year so it will be interesting to see what this brings and hopefully it will rekindle my desire to go back more regularly. It's certainly telling that this was the first time I had visited this year and it's now into its last week, although holidays and not doing Japanese once a week has played into that.
We then toddled off to see the Bond film, which was thankfully significantly better than Skyfall. I had my doubts after the opening scene in Mexico City as the special effects looked too silly but the plot started to develop nicely and it became a guide of cities and places I had actually visited, which increased its immediacy. I also liked all of the references to older films, particularly Thunderball and On Her Majesty's Secret Service, while the link to modern day surveillance and security concerns gave a nice sense of reality to proceedings. After the film I was smiling immensely and I have to say o thoroughly enjoyed it, with it being of the right length too as opposed to being dragged out like Skyfall was. Granted the plot wasn't complicated but I still feel this is one of the better Daniel Craig Bonds and I feel more connected with the series again after the disillusionment of the last film. There are quite a few films coming out soon that we are hoping to see, with Wolfie willing to see The Good Dinosaur with me if I see Star Wars with him. The hype for the latter is already getting annoying and I'm not really a huge fan of the Star Wars series but I am happy to go see it in January once the crowds die down. Hopefully, everything will be more civilised in the Everyman cinema which is definitely a more adult place than a regular establishment. I have started to enjoy drinking a beer with a film and even though you pay for the experience, I think it's worth it for this alone, not to mention the plush sofas.
I met Angela on platform four of Piccadilly station, just after I had picked up a bottle of wine for the following day's festivities. We then had the unbridled joy of a cancelled train followed by a delayed one, resulting in a massive throng of people trying to board a shitty Pacer when it did finally arrive. It was very much a wry welcome back to the UK situation but we did manage to get a seat before enjoying a somewhat pleasurable twenty minute journey to their particular suburb of Manchester. The rest of the evening was spent chatting and chilling, largely watching Dave (the TV channel, not some random bloke), where I was introduced to the twin wonders of magician Dynamo and Crackanory over the slightly above average pizza served up by Papa John's. We don't have a local PJ so this was only the second time I had tried it (and the first sober) and while the pizza was okay (but not as good as Domino's), the buttery garlic sauce was horrendous, with me preferring the garlic and herb one which actually tasted of garlic. We got two meaty ones - a meat feast and a sausage which ended up largely being the same - but it was ultimately filling and satisfying, a good way to end the evening.
Saturday was Entmas day but I needed a lie in, particularly as it took me a while to get used to my beanbag pillow as Ent discovered on Friday evening that his spare pillow had attracted mould. I had a great sleep though and was up just after 11am, just in time for the guests to arrive at noon. I spent a lot of this rather rainy day pacing up and down the living room in order to boost my Fitbit steps count and this continued when Adia and Soma arrived, typically punctually, with the former dizzy on sugar and talking about her beanbags. She liked Ent's garden and sliding a lot, and soon the others arrived too, with Wolfie and Bungle being the last to turn up just after 2pm. I hadn't seen Wolfie for nine days so it was great seeing him again, and we had a quiet chat in private (largely for me to show him the beer I had bought) before Ent needed him to help carve the turkey. In the meantime, everyone was watching a range of videos on YouTube and Chromecast including the highly disturbing 'How To' videos. I also showed some of my interested friends my Iceland pictures - I have been delighted by the positive responses they have received. Then it was time for lunch, with Ent cooking far too much meat than was necessary so there was plenty to go round. All the usual trimmings were there, although the parsnips were slightly delayed, but the whole thing was incredibly satisfying, with Ent doing an excellent job as usual. This year, he had even bought a heated serving tray system but he admitted this was just a dry run in his new house for next year's Entmas - no doubt on the second Saturday of December once again - which promises to be truly spectacular.
After dinner, we cracked open the crackers where I got a large novelty paper clip, something I've never seen outside of these things. The jokes, as usual, were truly terrible but after a few glasses of wine they became somewhat amusing while I lost my party hat which was just as well as I've never seen the point of wearing hats indoors. Soon, the computer games were wheeled out but they tended to be more quiz orientated and I regret not getting involved. I did feel somewhat left out when the games were being played but in hindsight this was silly as they were just question and answer type games with a twist (like Fibbage) and I was coming up with amusing answers in my head while watching others play. I don't know why I have such a strong antipathy towards video games but in this case this was certainly misguided and I feel my behaviour was just another example of me trying to push people away, which is something I have noticed I have started to do over the last few months. I don't really know how to stop it but I really should have participated - I was offered on numerous occasions - but I will admit it was something of a relief when the games went away and we got back to chatting and general socializing, something with which I feel far more comfortable.
By 8pm people started to drift away, with the rest of us watching a Mr Bean Christmas special from 1992. It still is a charming series but I don't really know quite why it was so popular - I guess it's just silly and easily exported. Some more people left after this while we remained, cracking open the cheese and biscuits and watching Bullseye, where I was surprised to discover the number of answers I knew to questions from 1990. We also chatted to some more people, including a few we rarely get chance to see, so it was a great way of touching base and reacquainting ourselves with old friends. Hopefully we can see them more often in the new year we thought as we left just after 10pm, largely on the advice of Draken who had departed an hour earlier and informed us that the M62 was shut. This resulted in an atmospheric drive through Oldham and over Saddleworth Moor, which was somewhat creepy in the swirling fog, but at least we had memories of a great day to keep us sane as we plotted a course back.
Sunday was slated to be a quiet day, with Wolfie fixing his exhaust and me sorting out laundry and other post-holiday things. However, with everything done by 4pm, we realised that we had a good opportunity to see the new James Bond movie Spectre, which we had not yet seen. So we booked tickets and headed into town, calling at a potential meet venue along the way, as well as the German Christmas market, which was just closing for the evening. Sadly, this meant the range of snausages wasn't as extensive as usual but I still got one along with some Knobibrot, which sadly was just marketed as garlic bread this year. It was interesting to see that the price in pounds and euros was the same (2.50) representing something like a 25% mark-up for Brits. Still, it was that oozy unhealthy garlic wonder that it always is while the snausage was another welcome addition although after my trip to Iceland, I've been somewhat spoiled with hot dogs. We also picked up a marshmallow chocolate dessert but with all of the same stalls as previous years, it highlighted to me just why I haven't had the strong desire to visit as I have in previous years. Apparently, the main performance area is being replaced for next year so it will be interesting to see what this brings and hopefully it will rekindle my desire to go back more regularly. It's certainly telling that this was the first time I had visited this year and it's now into its last week, although holidays and not doing Japanese once a week has played into that.
We then toddled off to see the Bond film, which was thankfully significantly better than Skyfall. I had my doubts after the opening scene in Mexico City as the special effects looked too silly but the plot started to develop nicely and it became a guide of cities and places I had actually visited, which increased its immediacy. I also liked all of the references to older films, particularly Thunderball and On Her Majesty's Secret Service, while the link to modern day surveillance and security concerns gave a nice sense of reality to proceedings. After the film I was smiling immensely and I have to say o thoroughly enjoyed it, with it being of the right length too as opposed to being dragged out like Skyfall was. Granted the plot wasn't complicated but I still feel this is one of the better Daniel Craig Bonds and I feel more connected with the series again after the disillusionment of the last film. There are quite a few films coming out soon that we are hoping to see, with Wolfie willing to see The Good Dinosaur with me if I see Star Wars with him. The hype for the latter is already getting annoying and I'm not really a huge fan of the Star Wars series but I am happy to go see it in January once the crowds die down. Hopefully, everything will be more civilised in the Everyman cinema which is definitely a more adult place than a regular establishment. I have started to enjoy drinking a beer with a film and even though you pay for the experience, I think it's worth it for this alone, not to mention the plush sofas.
no subject
Date: 2015-12-18 08:04 pm (UTC)(I'm already working out resolutions to the issues with both sleeping arrangements and the oven that didn't seem to cook quite well enough on the day for next year too! :3)
no subject
Date: 2015-12-18 10:39 pm (UTC)