The unbearable lightness of being charged so little for beer

Hi kids,
Just a quick one cos right now breakfast is waiting. Myself (that's english for me) Ash and Ash's mum Julie have been in Prague for 2 nights. We're staying at the 'Orchid room', a privately rented apartment located on the west side of the river amongst all the consulates and pretty buildings. While a tad more
pricey than hostel(-ile?) style accom (20 quid each per night) these places rebalance the bang/buck ratio just nicely, and it means we aren't subjecting -the extreme sport in her stride taking, don' get me wrong- Julie to our usual camping/hobo-ing methods like we did in Scotland a few weeks back. Tis nice.
Anyways, we off to Chesky Crumlov today to see castle action, then on to Buddha-pest to do whatever people do there (eat, judging by the country name, although the folks of Bangkok always seemed to prefer casual dress, so mebbe my cultural understanding still needs kneading.)
Here's us...

Builings with faux 3-D fx; they invented space invaders here too...


This is the place we ate; awesome paintings on the walls.Hope they never get outed by Lonely Bastard.


Ashley finds her dream man several times...













Here's a communist intelligence test from back in the day...


Michael my friend, have a gander at that. That is half a duck (and a pair of gooses). No longer will I bow in submission to yr turkey leg (sorry to make personal references...) This is out in the back eating section of the aforementioned cafe/bar. The wall is covered with pics of the owners/staff in spots all over the globe. Nice one.
Please note Julie's London tan is coming along nicely.











Relaxing time on the river. Beer prices float upward 100%+ to nearly 2/3 of London prices. You have been warned!?!

point three reoccuring

Happy birthday Ashie. 1/3 of the way there. Still no signs of maturation. Love, Leon

toe tinglin' hilarity

Ha, I recently signed up for Adsense to be added to our blogsite. I have no illusions about making my first million, but I figured it couldn't hurt, and it took a fuk of a lot less time to do than signing up with Ausmusic.
Anyways, thought I'd have a gander at the blog today to see if I'd caught any comment fishies (none - bastards!) when I noticed the ad listed was for natural therapy gout treatments. Now I do have no good things to say about snake oil in any form, but the idea that the little google spider chewed up & contemplated my anguished comments to do with my recent affliction, before regurgitating that lil gem just about brings a tear to me goddamn eye. *Sniff*
Anyways, I don't give a rats if you click on the ads (there, contractual obligation met) but if you're interested in my new range of holistic pod treatments gimme a call...

will oeuvre jew

hi folks,
just thought I'd plug one in whilst I'm here alone but still awake.
Unawares those that be: My delightful other half is currently wending her way across Australia (ADEL/BRIS/ADEL - boomerang style; that's some Australian humour there.) She has already slayed the rare & delicious defacto visa bird (like a half parasite half host, with compulsive migratory habits) & we're all very pleased about that. She returns next thursday just in time to greet summer in london.
My partner in sibling ribaldry has also decided to do a flyby down that end for 3 weeks, hitting Darwin, with glances at Syd & Melb. No doubt she's having a grand (if sweaty) time of it also. Bastards both.
Me, I've just spent the last week suffering my 2-3 yearly bout of gout, the affliction of the glamourous or thereabout. Fun fun. Though this wonderful disease (afflicting a 90% male population - next time I hear about the ordeal of secret womens' business I'm gonna offer amateur protological advice off my cuff goddammit!!) has historical links with high living eating drinking etc. None of which I seem to have benefited from as a prelude. Just cos yr really keen: Gout occurs when yr kidneys can't process uric acid (y'know, wee-ic acid) sufficiently so instead releases it into yon bloodstream instead. Then a crystal of the delightful stuff hits an extremity (big toe's very popular) and plugs up a capillary. Onward swelling, pain, suffering.
Anyways, as you know, I hate to whinge & I'm all better now so...good.
Recently hosted the lovely Jen & Andy for a coupla days which was just delightful. Having just finished their 5 months in York they've made the decision to stay in London and work for the next 3 months instead of headn to Ireland to try their luck there. I'm amongst a large Oz contingent who's glad to have them around til then.
Just earlier I had the delightful Penny & Sam from Adelaide staying for a bit during the London leg of their Euro trip. They're current traipsing around Euro proper but should be back just in time to catch the rearrival of earlier mentioned jet-settn galfriend. Yay. Definitely nice to have the company while Ash is away. Our lovely housemates are very nice, but it still gets a tad lonely without the kingsized personality we all know and love in a near proximinty.
Hope to have more to report and the discipline to do so over summer. Check back and say hi unless yr scared...no, gaaarn.
The hibernation is will & trudy over penguins.



PS: Just recently downloaded the 2 seasons of SPACED (Shaun of the Dead etc precursor). I shoulda been payn attention to when Matty B raved about them 3 years ago. Better late than I spose. Y'all now do yoself a fava, yr uncle Matt was right (on this one...)
Also: Fav band right...now. DEERHOOF. How can such well educated musicians come up with such childlike joy? I'm gunna find out May 2, dammit.
Kisses

leons' dumb blog post

Your Inner European is Spanish!

Energetic and lively. You bring the party with you!

Who's Your Inner European?

things i like that u might 2

OK, short & to the point; again, not a lot a blabbing available that would add to &/or wouldn't disfigure yr viewing of this film. general, gentlefolk.
THE PRESTIGE
Christopher Nolan is shit-hot. Christian Bale/ Hugh Jackman/ Michael Caine/ Scarlet Johanssen likewise. There's not a lot arty, obscure or difficult to grasp in this film. Except that after u see it u (meaning i) start wondering (loudly) why evryone else in the film game can't raise their tired arse to this level of polish. Go see this film.
(nice touch with the bowie & the thom yorke too).

things i like that u might 1

my usual movie review methodology involves tapping someone wildly on the shoulder with one hand, gesticulating excitedly with the other hand or a beer in aforementioned hand, & trying - whilst exuberantly prop-giving the film - to remember to not reveal that bjorks' character dies at the end (true story). however, with the burden of distance at my disposal, i seem to require a more traditional approach. so...
CHILDREN OF MEN
me n ash n rach headed out to see this saturday nite in leceister square, at the prince charles cinema (i guess he's a sponsor of some sort; haven't seen him there tho). i had already downloaded the film, but decided after hearing a few things that this was worth holding out for on the 'big screen' (me n ash watched in again at home sunday nite).
i can't say much at all about the things i liked about this film without giving u ideas that'd be better received as an unpreconceived punch in the face, but lemme say that this film was so pleasing to me on so many levels; i'm sure that if anyone shares even one of those appreciations with me u'll get yr moneys worth. this film is so beautiful that after watching it i'm actually going to go back & watch the harry potter film alfonso cuaron did, & i've been avoiding that franchise like the plague til now. catfish?
i'm starting 2 think clive owen is a pretty solid actor too. after initially seeing him in closer (thank u jenny) i've since seen him in sin city (what's not to like?) & king arthur (shocking, terrible - but great male ensemble actors- joel edgerton, mads mikkelsen, stellan skarsgard, ray winstone - oright!) i reckon clive's got the goods anyways. wonder if he got asked 2 do bond?
anyways, go see this one. ok, here's three (not reely spoily) things in the movie i liked: in the court of the crimson king, cover of animals, 10 minutes 1 camera. holy moley!

london snow - like, in the literal sense

it's true! after walking in my usual early morning daze up & down the stairs 3 or 4 times, i managed 2 glance out the window into the dark early morning & saw...THIS!
bit late 4 xmas & not quite enough 2 work on my ski moves, but at least it's not miserable rain & it gives me more opportunity 2 mature past my childish fear of slipping over in the street on leftover icy slush.
more on the way, too. what's cooler than being cool?

back up in yr blog like a resurrection. further instructions 4 minions to follow...

so anyways, after 2 & 1/2 months of bitching , whinging, moaning & otherwise trying 2 speak the local dialect (innit?!?) we again have a shiny broadband connexion. if u got an email saying our blog's back online & followed here then i s'pose yr good 4 another intergalactic instruction, no?
go buy a webcam; video skype with us!
after our recent saturdays' fun & games: me n ash nursing mid-morn coffees whilst across the globe (& in front of our eyes in heavily compressed glory - word up joely!) a crew of saturday nite lively t'bans entertained us with drunken & debaucherous antics. this is the best fun u can have with people who aren't actually physically present & able 2 run & get leon another beer - cobra, please!
so come on tech-oriented types, plug our screen with yr mugs sometime soon. we have the technology!

2 flavours of takeover

so anyways,
we've hosted the brookmeister

and the pangosaurus (hey, i just made that up - oh, u noticed...)

& now it's back 2 lonesome, no friends from home leon & ash. luckily we've got 2 recent housemates in the form of luca (from milan) & chris (from uganda) to remind us (if u could possibly forget with me repeating it ad naus) that it's only the english who ruin england for the rest of us.
i think the english should do with their motherland what they've done with their mother tongue
- forget about it! and by the way, i think the scots - far from trying 2 organise a wussy autonomy-
should get their shit together and organise a takeover of this place. occupations a very popular these days, and if they could win the hearts (guiness & magners borrowed from the irish'd probly do it) of the great white unwashed, i don't think their minds would be any danger 2 lose sleep over. jus a thought. where's mel gibson when u need him?
speaking of crazy anti-semites, i was sitting in this very place (leceister square) yesterday and the 'middle eastern' looking guy sitting in the next seat starts sparkin' up with all this gibberish about money & the koran & accomplices & the koran & thank you 4 the support & the koran & "...but not the jews" etc. i was sitting to the right of him so i couldn't see if there was anything in his left ear, but for all the extra sense it would've provided he coulda been on a direct line to god (but he kept addressing 2 people; might there have been a sinister figure seated off-camera?)
anyways, this nut got up and left after 10-15 mins of this. he took his 2 suitcases too, i was happy to see. thought about letting someone know about this but i reckon there's one wannabe muslim extremist 4 evry loud-mouth cockney on the bus makin' a deal at the top of his lungs. i feel safe enough.

0h seven

happy new year y'all.
talk atcha soon good lookin' folks.
love, leon