I haven’t been roller skating since I was in Primary School. My dad used to take my sister and me to our local Sports and Arts centre where they used to have sessions at the weekends for people to go skating. Was fun as it was like a little disco, skating around to music with the lights down low but with funky disco lights.

So anyway, a while a go, myself, Matt, Ian and Jo decided we should go rollerskating. Like I said I hadn’t been in a while and Matt and Jo had never been before so thought it would be cool to go! There isn’t anywhere around here to go - don’t think you can go to the place I used to go to, so Jo looked into places near her. She found a place called RollerCity not too far away which sounded like fun so booked us tickets to go!

On Sunday, we all gathered round Jos for some munch before skating. Was like having a little picnic in the dining room We ate and chatted until it was time to get our skates on ( ) and head over the RollerCity. I was getting really nervous as it had been so long since I had been so thought maybe I would forget how to do it and fall over and make a complete muppet of myself!! When we got there we had to wait around in the cold for ages as the place wasn’t open yet for us to go in and skate, so we occupied ourselves by talking about how bad we were all going to be Finally we were allowed in! We swapped our shoes for skates and after getting them on, then had the mission of standing up! Managed it but felt all wobbly for a while Started to head over to the skating arena when I realised Matt hadn’t come with us.. he was unable to move, sat down on the bench I had to go back and get him and help him back to the floor We eventually got there and I got him to the rail by the wall, then let him try and get round on his own while I went to skate round for a while! I had completely forgotten how much fun it was! My nerves had gone and I was going round like I’d been skating every week for years! Was so much fun! I caught up with Matt again, he wasn’t getting on with it very well, so eventually gave up, took off his skates and went to watch instead! Bless him I carried on going round with Ian and Jo which was fun! Jo fell over several times which I know is harsh but it was pretty funny! I almost fell over too We were all skating round one way when we got told to go round the other way, I decided it would be a good idea to jump round which as a mistake as I almost ended up on my bum! Thankfully I corrected myself though! We soon decided it was time for us to give up as we were getting tired! Jo had to have one last fall though.. we were over by our locker when she grabbed hold of me and said ‘I think I’m going to fall over’ and as soon as she said it, she fell backwards!! She landed on the corner of a step too which looked really painful, though she laughed about it which was good!!

Over all I had such a great time, and would love to go again.. think there will be plans soon for another outing although I don’t think Matt will be joining us out there on the floor

A few weeks ago, I was asked if Matt and me wanted to go and see Stomp perform in Oxford. I’d never seen them before but had heard it was a very good show, so I agreed. The tickets came the week before, then last Saturday we went to go and watch it! My dad drove us there and for some incredibly daft reason he decided to park done some quiet little side street that was possibly the furthest point away from the city centre as possible.. apparently we needed the exercise Not fun walking such a distance in heels I can tell you!!

We eventually got there and went straight in. We hadn’t realised how high up our seats were! Bit of a bugger really as throughout the whole of the show, everyone on the upper level where we were, were all perched forward on the edge of their seats trying to get a better look as they person in front of them was blocking their view from doing the same thing!

Anyway, Stomp was absolutely fantastic!! I loved it from start to finish! It was about 8 people all stomping ( ) around the stage, using anything from brooms, to bits of rubbish and kitchen sinks to bins to make sounds from! It was truely amazing! It wasn’t just about them making sounds out of things, there was a comedy side to it too. None of them spoke, but used actions and gestures towards to audience and the people they were performing with. The main theme of it being this big built dominant guy picking on this weedy little guy, it being funny by the way they were reacting to each other. They would interrupt each others little performances which would just make everyone laugh, and see who was better at interacting with the audience It’s kind of hard to explain, you’d really need to see it to understand

STOMP has no words - everyone can understand it. It has little or no melody in the traditional sense, so it doesn’t matter if your taste in music is jazz, classical, dance or pop. STOMP is about rhythm, which is common to all cultures. Everyone knows rhythm, if only from the beating of their own heart - it is the basis of all music.

STOMP is about a group of people, with very strong personalities, who work together using simple building blocks to create something complex , something everyone can identify with: everyone has, at some time, to engage in group activity, whether they like or know the people they are working with or not. It’s the little idiosyncrasies, the differences between people, and the games of one-upmanship that ensue, which define the group dynamic.

There are several Stomp companies currently performing around the world: up to three working from the UK and three in North America. Each company has its own style, its own feel: this is because even though the show is very tightly choreographed and orchestrated, there is a lot of room for every performer’s own personality to shine through. The show is as much an expression of eight individuals with very strong personalities as it is a vision of rhythm.

http://www.stomp.co.uk/

It really was the best thing I’ve seen in a while, and I’d recommend it to any one!

Last week I had been talking to my dad about buying cheap things for my house so we have a lot of the stuff we need when we get the house. My dad mentioned about going to an auction as you can get some pretty decent stuff there for good prices. Him and my mum go to them quite a lot and have come back with some pretty cool things including a huge coffee table, a spinning DVD/VHS and CD rack, very large mirror etc I thought it would be a good idea to go so I agreed to go with them on Satruday morning.

We had to get up really early so we could get there in time for the auctions to start and to have a look round at everything to see if there was anything we wanted to go for. Dad had to go and register so we had a numbered card we could stick up in the air when we wanted something There were different rooms for different things, with auctions for those rooms starting at different times in the day. We had gone into the ‘furniture’ room and I’d found something in there I wanted to go for :p A decent looking chest of drawers. I already have a good one at home, but I need another one for the new house - well Matt does really Made a note of it and the time the auction was starting and went for a wonder else where. We ended up in a ‘junk’ room where an auction was just about to start. The room got pretty packed, crammed in like sardines!! It started and it all seemed to get pretty quick!! There wasn’t anything in there I wanted to bid for so I was looking around the room at the people who were bidding! Loads of traders there who the auctioneer seemed to know, they only had to give a quick nod of their head and the price went up!! It was fun watching it all happen!!

We decided to leave half way through and go looking else where. It was really busy, which mum said was very unusual as it’s usually very quiet when ever they go. We realised why it was so busy though. People had shown up to get on the telly! BBCs Flog It were going to be filming there that day! Any chance to get on telly!

It was getting close to the time the auction I wanted to be in was going to be starting so we headed over to where it was going to be. The chest of drawers I wanted were quite early on so I didn’t have long to wait. The book that everyone got when they register had all the items listed and how much they thought they could go for. Mine was listed at £20. I decided that would be the highest I would go. It started and before I knew it, it had gone up to £50, before I had a chance to show my little card and make a bid Mum reckons it’s becuase of all the people that showed up for the telly! What rubbish!! We plan on going again when they’re not filming so hopefully it’ll be quiet and I’ll actually be able to bid on something!!

For a while now, myself and Matt had been looking into getting some new bits for the cars. One in particular being the new JCW side scuttles. We’d been enquiring about them a lot, trying to find out when they were due to be released for sale. Last weekend, we had to take my car to the dealer to get the passenger side wheel arch trim fixed as the clips holding it to the car had broken. While we were there, we went to visit the guys in the sales department. We asked again about the side scuttles and finally got the answer we were after - they were finally on sale! We asked for 2 sets, one for me and one for Matt. Matt decided to buy mine for me as an early birthday present, as he doesn’t know what else to get me! She gave us a price which seemed far to high but we went ahead and ordered them. She called the parts department and ordered 4 lots which I didn’t quite understand, so questioned her about it when she got off the phone. She explained it so it seemed it was only 2 sets she had ordered. Still thought £240 odd was a bit too much for 2 sets but never mind.

A few days later, Matt received a call from the dealer saying they were ready to be collected! He went to pick them up and got his fitted while he was there. Like I though, the woman who placed our order had ordered 4 sets and not 2!! Matt took them away with him anyway and thought maybe we could pass them on to friends who might be interested, but no joy! So the 2 spare sets are going back to the dealership and Matt will get a refund.

Anyway, onto the point of me starting this blog entry (think I ramble far too much ). Last night I met up with Matt for Valentines day. We had a table booked for 7 so we had no time to sort out my new parts before dinner. After the lovely meal, and being very stuffed from it all, we drove to a dimly lit Sainsburys carpark so Matt could fit my JCW stuff to the car. It took longer than we thought as taking the indicator bulb off was quite tricky. All worked out though! Have to say, they look far better than the crappy plastic ones that were there before!

Pics of before and after!

  

Now, for the next mod! :D