Playschool, ipods, drugs, dollars & kung fu.

It was Elliot’s first day at playschool on Thursday and I’d taken the morning off so that I could take him with Roz. I’m pleased to say that it seemed to go very well. It was just half a session for his first day, but when we came to pick him up he seemed to have enjoyed himself and did not seem too upset at all. He had asked the childminders for a cuddle a couple of times, but other than this he seemed fine. It is quite possible that things may get a little worse after a few days at playgroup as he starts to realise that this has to be a regular things, but a good start is a good start and shouldn’t be sneezed at.

Went to the doctors again earlier this week and have now been put on all manner of drugs to help deal with my sinus problem amongst other things. Each day I now have an anti-allergy tablet to take, another tablet to help clear sinus infections, nose drops, antidepressants and 5 (yes count them) 5 steroid tablets a day. I’m actually starting to feel a little better today, so hopefully they’re starting to do their job. The antidepressants are because I have been feeling rather low for the last month or so. I think that this is partly because I haven’t felt like I’ve been handling Elliot very well of late, but there are other factors (work and flat stress) that contribute. Lets see if I can get back to a slightly cheery self again.

As I spend significantly less on a new LCD than I’d budgeted for, I decided to splash out and buy myself a 5th generation video ipod (30gb). So far both Roz and I have been very impressed. The amount of songs that you can fit on it really is quite astonishing. We have been piling on the CD’s, but so far there is still only a fraction of space used. My only annoyance is that it doesn’t appear as if you can copy tracks direct to the ipod and instead you need to use hard drive space to store the songs in addition to the room on the ipod. Surely it would be simpler if these were transferred just to your ipod, especially if they’re not being used on the PC?

We had our second advert in the press today for our flat. For £70.00 we have an advert for 2 days and so far, just 2 phone calls. One viewing and possibility, the other, not interested. Both Roz and I really are starting to get a little stressed at the prospect of not finding a tenant again. Fingers crossed for more phone calls tomorrow.

Films watched:
For a Few Dollars More
Now this really is a great western. Whilst “For a Fistful of Dollars” seemed a little ragged around the edges, this really is near perfection. I just love Lee Van Cleef in this film, more so than Clint Eastwood.

Whilst this isn’t as epic and grand a picture as Once Upon a Time in the West, it makes up for it with great pace and a lighter touch.

Just The Good, the Bad and the Ugly to watch now. I can’t believe that I’ve never gotten around to watching this before. Looking forward to this a great deal, as many people consider this to be the pinnacle of the Sergio Leone Spaghetti Westerns, above even Once Upon a Time in the West.

8/10

Kung Fu Hustle
This is a film that I had planned to go and watch whilst in London, but with the obvious crisis that arose at the time I visited, I never got the chance and have only gotten around to watching this now (it was a Christmas present).

This has got to be one of the wackiest films I have seen in ages. It a little like looney tunes (but without the animation) mixed up with a Jackie Chan movie. Absolutely hilarious at times and spectacular at other times. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is a fan of martial arts movies … or just great comedies (of course so long as you don’t mind subtitiles).

8/10