Blame It On The Boogie... Or The Tall People (Part One)

Ah... August weekend. What to do - spend a weekend chilling out at home being fed by my mother and being the general dogsbody, going out with friends to camp in Croyde, getting rained on, or do something completely different with tall people?

Well, it had to be the tall people. The weekend started with the trip to Nottingham. The train station always seems to be three minutes ahead of me so maybe stopping to get cash when I only had three minutes to go was probably a stupid idea. Never mind, after much swearing I was on the next train a little poorer. The weekend may have started on a bad footing but was made much better by being able to find Ross and Rob (Tweedledum and Tweedledee with legs) in the pub next to the train station as soon as I did turn up in Nottingham. The hall we were staying in was a 20-minute trip from Nottingham in the very pleasant town of Eastwood. It was lovely, although a little bit claustrophobic - the corridors were a tad narrow for my liking!
We were supposed to have a barbeque for Friday night, but it rained. So they gave us food inside, which we were particularly grateful of after not eating since a pasty at lunch. The Directors dressed up as members of the Robin Hood tale (including one particularly fetching bloke, Stuart, in a Maid Marian outfit. Nice.) . Then there was big snakes and ladders, twister and kareoke. I lost the snakes and ladders, there was only half a twister (?) and went for singing Dream A Little Dream, again.
Saturday was "cultural day". We went to Nottingham Town centre to view the Robin Hood statue. I think most Nottingham residents get annoyed with the fact that that's all people associate Nottingham with. Well at least they don't always think of the fact that Nottingham has the one of the highest violent crime rates in the country! We spent some time in the caves looking at where they had bomb shelters (and then wondered if sandstone would actually protect from a bomb when it can be rubbed away with bare hands) and went on to the "Castle". Of course, Nottingham castle is actually a manor house and not a castle, but we weren't bothered. Especially when the group was approached by the local news and Ross got filmed for half a second...
Ah! And who was right beside him... Yes, little old me! Standing between Ross and Karsten (that's the other tall bloke, possibly just a wee bit taller than Ross at 7'4), which happened a lot to me, actually made me feel quite small!
After our starring role we got to have lunch and spend a little bit of time going round the castle before being picked up in our as-spacious-as-they-come- but-still-too-small-for-Ross coach. Our tour guide spent the trip to Sherwood forest telling us about Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men. The whole way, which was an hour and 40 minutes, or so I was told. I was told this, as despite the fact that our tour guide had a very loud voice and there was a speaker right above my head, I managed to sleep through a large percentage of the tale....

Today I Shall Be Mostly Dancing....

The "I can make Ross' DVD Dance"

Ok, this may need some explanation. We have made up many phrases of the week but recently we have decided we needed a dance too. This is mainly because when I was bored one day, I just started to dance while Ellie and Pippa were setting a gel. This was rapidly christened "The Gel Setting Dance", which morphed into "The Gel Running Dance" which one day even included jazz hands (see, before this, all the dances were roughly the same dance, just for different purposes!). The dance is usually bad, and involves some kind of arm movement, not much leg movement. Last time Ross saw me do it he asked me if I was having a fit or something, rude boy. My favourite dance is the "Dried Mango" dance as we were in Asda the other day and found dried mango, which brought about dancing. We like dried mango. But we're not allowed to dance in front of it any more because apparently it's inefficient (or Tone just wants his dinner!)....

And, for your viewing enjoyment, here is the cover of Ross's new DVD project... since I'm definitely not taking a photo of me dancing badly (sorry!)

Don't Tell Me Not To Fly, I've Simply Got To

I'm sorry, but Morris Dancing has to be one of the most eccentrically English (or is it British, I don't know) things there is. Grown men waving hankerchiefs with hats decorated with flowers. All with bells tied round their legs. Bizarre. Although I'd never seen a beast before. I just looked that one up. Apparently Morris dancing is thought of mostly as a English tradition, and is traditionally male. Although there are some groups who have women dancers too (well I was just wondering!).
This display was all part of the Bristol Flower Show, where, shockingly enough, I didn't buy any plants. Before you all gasp in wonder, I did buy some cider. Local scrumpy in a milk-style bottle. Nice. As well as some andouiette-style pork with stuffing bun (for those of you who aren't Jocelyn, andouiettes are rather disgusting local sausages we mistakenly purchased at a festival in Paris. Blargh.). I watched some fire cadets do five things with a ladder. I was a bit disappointed because I was hoping that firemen might be big and sexy and do some fire demonstration but apparently today it was just a few spotty teenagers with a ladder and a tarpaulin. But they did tie someone up which I guess was kind of exciting...
The final show was a magician. This bloke was actually quite a good entertainer as well and spent most of the time talking and not really doing any tricks, and seeing as he didn't know many this was a good thing. I was really entertained actually, especially with the Three Chairs And A Table Top trick which involved a lot of precarious balancing... oh, and three juggling balls, of course


Meep. And yes, he did get on that big unicycle in the front, and proceeded to circle round the entire crowd at much pace!

I Had A Tractor, But It Didn't Work

I had a tractor, but it didn't work
I had a tractor, but it didn't work
I had a tractor, the wheels fell off
I had a tractor, the wheels fell off


I'm sorry, I just needed that.

Running Through Mirrors

There was a cocktail party. It was far less stressfull than it could have been because I had an Ellie to help me with the organisation. The house is absolutely spotless now (yes really) including my bedroom....

We played Kareoke. So, I went through the high scores today and I thought I would present you with the top 10 singers from the party....

1. Helen 8200
2. Sue 7824
3. Hills 7535
4. Ellie 7448
5. Rachel 7078
6. Phil O 7073
7. Cat 6962
8. Pete 6873
9. Phil T 5906
10. Patrick 4890

Well done everyone! Thank you all for coming...

The Saga Of The Bug Room

When I came here, Everything Worked.
Then, the centrifuge Broke. This may not seem a problem, but when you have to do four spins in a centrifuge one floor up, and you have to travel there eight times, it's not so much fun.
Four long months passed.
Meanwhile The Sonicator Broke. Again, this may not seem so much, but when you've walked eight times upstairs and you have to go up again for the final time and stand in a fridge for 10 minutes You Are Quite Pissed Off (and Exhausted).
The New Centrifuge Arrived, finally, after One Month's Delay and The Hottest July On Record (here I remind you again of the nine times having to go up and down stairs)
A month later, The Sonicator Works! Hooray, you think, maybe the saga has finished....

The Incubator Broke. Just in the Middle Of My Induction. So I'm Delayed Another Hour.
Ok, again, this May Not Be The End Of The World, but it's annoying, especially when you make the effort to come in and start early.
Also we now have 1 incubator for 5 plus groups to share, with overnight incubations at 37, inductions at 30 and growing competent cells at 19 this may not Work Very Well....

The saga continues...

Hilary + Lots of Cider at a Beer Festival =

Peanut Cracknell Week

If life was a box of chocolates, this would be a week full of peanut cracknells. Those of you not familiar with Quality Street as I have been over many Christmasses might need to know that peanut cracknell was mashed peanut covered with chocolate and one of the family's least favourite chocolates, so much so most of them were given to the dogs. They were horrible. And so this week has been horrible. But the week is finished now, and there were some nice moments, such as pizza, biscuits and chocolate in front of a really trashy film with Ellie. That was a Lindlt Tiramisu moment (mmmm they are good). Going to watch Pirates of the Carribean on Wednesday despite being completely exhausted was also really good (probably a toffee and hazelnut-centered chocolate). Yesterday, we went to Stratford upon Avon which was weird because last time I was there, almost a year ago, I was one of the shortest people (being on a tall trip there ARE women taller than me, yes really. They're lovely too.) there. This time I was the tallest. Picnic lunch was fun but sitting in the very topmost row of a baking hot theatre (I suffer slightly from vertigo and from heat exhaustion) trying to work out what the hell Patrick Stewart was doing with a load of shiprecked mariners, spirits and a man who smelt of fish on an island (this was the Tempest, by the way) was a bit hard to fathom and extremely hard to stay awake through. We reckoned Mr Shakespeare, much as I respect his work, was on some kind of drug throughout the writing of this. But it was something different, and it was good to see a play in a theatre I'd gone round the back of last time I was there.

So, all's well that ends well? Maybe. I don't think I'll be having any Dark Bounty moments soon though. Hopefully more middle of the road - maybe a Twix or something.

More Flower Excitement

Another one of my Hoyas has been waving flower buds at me for a very long time. I was surprised that it did actually flower because many of the buds get rejected, but this one has made it and is preeety....

This one is a Hoya Engleriana. There are more pictures of the buds opening here and you can read more about my hoyas here (also linked as My Hoya Page).
As a result of the flower the plant's been moved from my bedroom to a more prominent position in the lounge. Much flowery goodness.... Yay.
But I'm not feeling so yay because I worked 11 hours yesterday, have had little sleep recently and this makes a Hilary break down gently.

Cod with Sweet Potato "Salad"

So good you'll dance (I should trademark that!)

One chunk cod
One sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
One red (or yellow, or orange) pepper, cut into strips
One onion, cut into small wedges
Olive oil
Fresh basil and parsley
Dessertspoon mayonnaise
A few drops tabasco sauce
Pinch freshly-grinded pepper

Place cod, potato, pepper and onion in a large piece of cooking foil on a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and tear the herbs over it. Fold foil over food like a parcel.
Cook at gas mark 6 (400 F 200 C) for about half an hour or until the cod is cooked.
Mix the mayo, tabasco and pepper together, use as a dressing for the food.
Mmmmmmmm

Things To Use Instead Of Your Hand

I frequently find myself at least a hand full, so I thought I would create a random list - why not?

5. Your Other Hand (go for the obvious one)
4. Your Leg - good for kicking doors open. Don't kick to hard, otherwise it'll come back at you too fast....
3. Your Elbow (good for door handles)
2. Your Mouth (commonly used by me to hold my wallet when I've run out of hands - not recommended when handling dangerous materials!)
1. Your Arse (bum first, also can be used to open door handles)

No, I Don't Want to Give You £x a Week, Or Convert To Your Religion

It all started with the phone calls. Once upon a time people never got blasted at every turn with people trying to grab your money, although I might be feeling wistful here. Now we get someone at every turn. Phone calls are easy, as you can just hang up on them (if you don't want to be horribly rude to them as my father is). So are emails - delete (you can say that in a cyberman-stylee way if you like). One of the first ever crank calls I got was from someone telling me I'd won a trip to Florida. Sounds lovely, if it wasn't for the fact four hurricanes hadn't just torn through the entire state.
Even spam is nicer than emails that tell you you've won $1 million but you will have to pay some "transfer expenses" to get it. Ha.

Now we have the group of people in town all wearing similar bibs all trying to grab your money. If you miss one, then you're more than likely to be hit by the next. Yes, I know that you're just trying to support the aged or the pandas or people in Africa with no water but all I want to do is go into town and be LEFT ALONE. If I wanted to give money to these people I would do it when I had a moment at the computer. I made the mistake of stopping to chat to a Sustrans bloke. I know they do good work, but to be honest when I'm cycling to work of a Thursday, I don't want to be stopped and asked for money.
On Saturday, while I was washing up, I had to answer the door to a Jehovah's witness. I only know that because I was bothered by her before. I told her I was busy and held up my froth-filled hands. She asked me whether I would like her to come back and go through the bible or something with her. Sigh. I really did want to ask her whether I really wanted to join a religion where only 144,000 of the members are elegible to go to heaven but I couldn't be bothered to argue about religious matters on a Saturday morning with soap suds in my hands.

The Day You Realise You've Become Your Mother....

...... when you find what was couscous mouldering in a container in the back of your fridge.

Our survey says.... eewwwww

Lessons Learnt In Central Bristol

1. Always wear a Helmet
I'm going to be serious here. On Wednesday night a bloke cycled down Park Street and never made it. He was not wearing a helmet, and this may have saved his life. If we can learn anything from this it is to wear a helmet. Please.

2. When in groups of five, wear a costume?
I came through the centre of town the other day and went past a group of five men wearing sailor uniforms. I was going to write something about men in uniform (arrogant but yummy) but then, as I cycled on, I noticed five people wearing bride's dresses, two of which were most definitely male. This was getting more curious. Then I went past five people wearing commando uniforms. At this point I realised there must be teams of five all dressed in the same uniform doing something round Bristol. I'm sure they had fun...

3. If it's going to go to waste, let everybody enjoy it

I came past this rather bizarre image on my way home yesterday. I believe it had happened just before I came past in the morning as they were arranging the flowers as I went past. I have no idea whatsoever how this happened, as this lorry is right in the middle of a pedestrian/bus area. I can only believe that it came careering down Park Street and somehow managed to end up here. Ooops.

Body Matters

I am tying up a few loose ends here.

First of all, a few months ago I wrote about my weight problem and what I was going to do to solve it. Allegedly I now weigh 15 stone, which means I've lost 5 pounds in 4 months. Well, at least I haven't gained weight. Anyway, most people apart from my immediate family tell me that I don't need to lose weight, so instead I'm going to start to focus on toning up instead and trying to eat as healthily as I can within reason and cravings. There we go. Maybe in another four months I'll give you guys another update.

Also my friend Marcus has been bugging me for weeks about whether I've done another HNT. I find this a little suspect, but am bored enough to present this little offering. I took it specially after going to badminton and it was bloody hard work. Anyway, that's the final one, and it comes with a small "some flesh on show" warning.

Paris est Ma Ami... Et La Cidre

My first two trips to Paris were not auspicious events. The first time, we were changing buses in some dodgy bus station and got chased by a freaky French bloke demanding kisses (from me and my male friend, or from both of us, I never stopped to find out). The second time, we went to go visit a university friend who spend most of her time sucking face with her French boyfriend and not actually spending that much time with us, despite the fact we'd travelled all the way from Bristol by car to see her.

So, I approached my third trip to Paris with some trepidation. Was the third time going to be luckier? Hooray! It was! I had a lovely time. We walked round Paris at least 10 times, drank the equivalent of three bottles of wine and had more French food than probably a French person. Croissants, pain au chocolat, baguette, escargots (snails), andouiettes (disgusting French sausages that smelt of offal), crepes, galettes (savoury version of crepes), random (but delicious) salads with bread on top, steaks done very rare, tarte bourdelou (pear and almond, mmmm), delicious sorbets with any type of fruit you wanted (pear and apple... mmmmmm) and, last but not least, my most favouritest, French cider.

Ah yes. French cider. Yummy yummy, for those of you who ever go to France and come back with a bottle of this for me will make a very good friend....

I look forward to drinking this, probably will dance a lot when I get to open it (outside, as these things are notoriousely dangerous and have a tendency to explode!!!)

Amusing Announcement

Before Monty Python's "Meaning Of Life" :

This film contains swearing, violence, sex... and a wafer thin mint.

My Hoya Carnosa

Dance with me! My first ever Hoya flower!!! Woooohooooooooooooo!
And I can smell it, despite a blocked nose and a chest infection...
I love Hoyas. My interest in plants was started at an early age by my mother, who got us to plant out seeds and watch them grow into flowers. Although, I wasn't terribly excited by being able to grow radishes - I hate radishes!
My mother's had these two Hoyas growing in the dining room for longer than I've been alive. They came from cuttings of her friend's plant in Switzerland, which apparently has been there at least since the 1940s. Several years ago these plants got mealy bugs and started to go downhill. I managed to grab a couple of leaves and tried to root them. After leaving them for several months in the greenhouse, sure enough one leaf did start to root and grow a new stem. Hooray! This plant got taken to Bristol for my undergraduate degree, off to Cambridge for my postgraduate degree and now back to Bristol for my postdoc. Since those early days the plant has grown and grown (to tryffid-like size) but never flowered. It had a few knocks and probably didn't get enough sun. Last year it had to go home again and sat in the sunshine and got fed tomato food for a change, which produced new growths, called "peduncles". Oooh. It's been thinking about flowering for a few weeks now but finally I have been rewarded. Yayayayayayayayay!

[Object] Is My Friend

This particular phrase is currently reaching its zenith. So I thought I would write a list of what is, and is not, my friend this week.

...Is Not My Friend
My body (after feeling that my stomach was exploding at the start of the week, my head is now exploding instead. Nice.)
England, for making me gnash my teeth when I'm watching them. I'd make a very nervous football supporter
Sweden (the match on Tuesday made me say "England and Sweden are not my friends")
Code-lock doors - why are there so many at work, and why do they all have different numbers?
Evmpzg

...Is My Friend
Lunch
My Sofa
Ross (less than a week til I see him! Yay!)
Pizza
Parcels through the post... especially if they're presents!

...Might be My Friend
The centrifuge (it works, but it's far away)
Peter Crouch (we like, but not for too long)
Chocolate (tastes nice, but bad for me)

Feel free to add your own in the reactions area...

Ode Composed At Midnight

Ah.... Hilary. Tallness, scaryness.... and poetry?



The air covers me like a blanket
It feels as chocolate against my skin
As I go speeding, speeding

I long for the boom of thunder
The storm, it wraps itself around me
Come, pouring rain
And cleanse this sultry earth

O crashing night!
O quiet dawn!
Come leave me now
For this fresh morn.

Yes, You Can Transfect Yourself

I have talked about my work before. Those of you who were around saw my green cells. Recently, Ellie asked what she should transfect (i.e. make green). I told her she could transfect herself. Of course this was a joke (and got to the point where we though it would be funny to transfect her with a yellow flourescent protein so she could be a munchkin) but now we find that, in fact, there is indeed reality in the strangest fiction we could make up...



Ah. A green bunny. Of course, now it all makes sense...

Do Not Antagonise The Hilary

Otherwise You Get Hurt.

Last night, some bloke undid my bra.

I do not apologise for what I did next.

I don't think he will ever do that again. Ever. To Anybody.

It's Not Funny To Laugh At Tall People

Maybe it is....

I've decided that Peter Crouch is my new idol. Those of you who only know me a little bit may not realise that a bloke who is tall and lanky is my ideal man (which is why I'm going out with a 7'5 bloke who weighs less than I do...)

So, we like Mr Crouch. Well, I do anyway. But for those of you who don't, you can have a good giggle at his various silly poses instead...

"Awww" Come here and give us a hug!











Crouch grows an extra leg, and wonders where it came from (possibly also slightly concerned it's green!)








Imagine playing musical statues and being in that position when the music stops... Ouch!











Right, time to dance off to the weekend....

Nobody Expects The Spanish Inquisition

A few thoughts for a sleepy warm Thursday lunchtime...

Tiddlywinks. It's my new swear word. I say it usually on the badminton court but it now seems to be creeping into my lab words as well.

The River Avon. Surely there's one in Bristol and Salisbury. They can't be the same river???

The World Cup. My prediction: England will meet Argentina at some stage, and it will get to penalties. Whether we win that game or not will determine whether we win the cup.
As an aside, why does listening to Three Lions give me the goosebumps?

My head. Why do I require at least 9 hours sleep a night? Having had less than that this week, I currently feel like my head's full of gravel. Humph.

Plants. Why can't they just get on and flower, instead of taunting me with buds for weeks? Makes me think of Monty Python; "I taunt you with my buds! I will never flower in your general direction!"

Babbling

babble, v. To utter a meaningless confusion of words or sounds

Things that make me say grrr:
I burnt my wrist on the oven on Sunday and it has now become a rather lovely blister. It's now got to the scratchy stage and I can't scratch it as it will just make it worse...
Being woken up at 12:30 after being peacefully at sleep for two hours by Ross. The phone had to ring til it was cut off to wake me up...
My experiments not working, again. Pulldowns do not like me. I try so hard and just end up looking incompetent...
My supervisor, a man who can never make his mind up.
My new shoes hurt.
Having to actually get up early every day this week due to lots of work and leaving work early to play badminton, see parents, watch footie and get drunk
Clothes sizing - how can some size 18's fall off me and others stretch across me unnattractively?

Things that make me say yay:
Coffee. It's my friend. I know, I don't drink it, but I do, with chocolate...
I'm going to Paris in two weeks! Yay!
New shoes - one of the "specialist" shops for tall women now does shoes, and they sent me some new shiny ballet pumps! (I did have to pay for them, but they're pretty anyway!)
My parents are coming over tonight to buy me a birthday present and take me out for dinner! Always a time for celebration!
The smiley bouncy happiness that pervades this laboratory like a breath of fresh air.
Lunch. We like lunch. I particularly like it when I have some ripe mini-avocadoes to go with my chicken. Mmmmmmmmmm.....

Right, time to go run some gels. Woohoo.

My Week, In Quotes, Actions and Pictures

Quotes:
"They're like Tweedledee and Tweedledum but with legs" - Hilary comes out with another classic to describe Ross and Rob
"Minimi?" - must be said in a high pitch. Ellie doesn't know the answer.
"Weeeeeeeeee!" - must be said while using office chair as toy, as in whizzing round and round in a circle...
"Door says no..." This being the phrase of the week, it has been used repeatedly for everything from ourselves to inanimate objects, but this one was the funniest.
"La la la la la" - this is an Elaine thing to do, but, unsurprisingly, I have picked it up and now use it a lot.
"Boo" - Elaine says this in a non-scary way, and is amused when I say "Argh!"
"Thankyou for giving me my girlfriend" - you know people can't be like gifts, but glad you're pleased anyway!
"Dan Brown Just Got Richer" - I found this a particularly amusing alternative title to "The Da Vinci Code" by Marcus.
"Shiney" - this may be the next phrase of the week. I bought new clothes at the weekend and they were shiney. I know it's spelt wrong, but that's how it's said, OK?
"It's like stickers but with plants" - Hills finds people online to send plants to, and they'll send plants to her. This causes much excitement....

Actions:
Scratching against the door like a cat to be let in (you try opening a code door with your hands full!
Clapping like a small child when we're excited (involves clapping very fast right in front of your face, with optional bouncing...)
Spinning round on the chair (whilst saying weeee, as above!)

Pictures:
Hills gets Singstar, again. I was sad enough this time to take a picture of it, like when I used to win the hard Minesweeper... I think maybe I should get out more/not be on the "easy" setting...



I made this! Well, almost. The rose was there. But it might not have looked so pretty if I hadn't watered it and fed it. The hanging basket I did plant, however I used pinky/purple flowers which means it clashes a bit... next time I will try harder!

Time For Tea

I love tea. Also, I don't just drink bog standard tea so I thought I would compile a list of my top ten teas:-
1. Green Tea with Jasmine - very relaxing, just right for when you need calming, or just because you're having chinese. I don't drink it enough.
2. PG Tips - mostly because this is what I drink the most, and it makes me go "Aaaah". No, not "oooh" like in those random adverts.
3. Oolong tea - this is tea that's between black and green. Sadly I finished my last lot so now only get this when I can be bothered to make at my parent's house.
4. Russian caravan - this used to be my favourite, but I drank it too much so has slipped down the list. Still nice occasionally.
5. Japanese green tea with rice - I went to the tea shop near me recently and tried this, it's goood. Very good for upset stomachs, and relaxing too.
6. Green tea - Hongruo, my Chinese lab-mate, brought me back some proper chinese green tea recently. You can really taste it. Mmmmm....
7. Rooibos - again, another new one for me, but not bad all in all. Quite refreshing.
8. Peppermint tea - in Egypt we drank a lot of this. The little tea man in Cambridge, who I miss terribly, gave me some mixed with green tea. Good for upset stomachs and after meals.
9. Vanilla, Ginseng and Blackcurrant - for the days when you really can't wake up, this is a good alternative to coffee and tea. Needs to be stewed, otherwise tastes of nothing...
10. Echinacea - good for colds. Smells like grass (and looks quite yellow). I have a tendency to put my echinacea tea bag in with my PG tips bag, and this seems to work. It does make me feel better, but it could be completely in my mind...

It was My Birthday, And I'll Smile If I Want To

Ah. Yes, I got another year older. As I got older, I managed to make something happen I thought might happen, but didn't actually expect in reality. Now I kind of feel like I've sent my children off into the wide world and I have to let them get on with it without worrying. But I do worry, and I don't know why.

However, I had a lovely weekend. I drank, spent time with my friends, read my book in the peace and relative quiet of my garden in the rare sunshine this country kindly gave us and got given several presents. As an aside, I also got given a large pile of washing up, a complete lack of funds in my bank and was eaten out of house and home. All I have now is some cider and some sausagemeat (hmm.. that sounds nice, maybe I can make a meal out of that!!!).

So, how do I feel? Mostly confused today. I'm hoping that will clear up later. Also, I feel like I should be some kind of singing sensation after managing to get the award of "Singstar" after what felt like a bad rendition of "Paint It Black" by the Rolling Stones (for those of you who don't understand, I got given "Singstar Rocks" for my birthday, and apparently my humming cut the mustard!!!). I'm excited because someone may give me a present later on and I'm hoping it'll go nicely with the hi-fi system that Tony kindly gave me (wrapping a remote control in wrapping paper really confused me for a while, sorry!!!).

We say yay. Probably.

What happens when you mix sugar, Ellie and Hilary

Intermission

There will be a short intermission here. If I had the power I would add a Monty Python stylee yellow intermission sign and some wurlitzer music, but sadly I a) can't be bothered and b) I have no power over anything any more.

The shit has truly hit the fan, and it's gone all over me.



Oooh... it works! Yay, I can do something after all!

These Are A Few Of My Favourite Things

"I go to the hills when my heart is lonely..."











My top list of musicals that are also films:

1. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (this comes top of my list cos I watched it the other day and couldn't drag myself away - Gert Frobe as a camp castle owner? I would never have thought it!) Favourite Song - Hushabye Mountain
2. Monty Python And The Holy Grail (if only for the Camelot song. Works even better as Lego figures... I laughed, and I laughed) Favourite song - well, it's got to be Camelot
3. Grease (Favourite song - the megamix? can I have that?)
4. Rocky Horror Picture Show (despite the freakyness) Favorite Song - Time Warp (why not?)
5. The Sound Of Music (Favorite song - um. The Sound of Music)
6. Mary Poppins (This used to be my very favorite when I was little. apparently I used to make my parents put it on endlessly. Unfortunately has slipped down the board due to its inability to keep me interested as an adult) Favourite Song - Jolly Holiday. If only for the cow singing "Moooary makes the sun shine bright"
7. Chicago (Favorite Song - He Had It Coming)
8. Moulin Rouge (It's been so long since I've seen this I can't remember what it's about)
9. The Lion King (cute animals. Favorite song - I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts)
10. Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat (they had to put donny osmond as Joseph. Aaargh. It'll never be the same with a female narrator as well. Favorite song - Potiphar).

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

The Good:
Doctor Who this week! My god, are the Cybermen scary! By the end of the episode, I was truly scared. I have a feeling I may have seen them in an earlier incarnation and this is the root of my fear, or maybe it's just because it was just genuinely scary. Hmmm...

The Bad:
My friend was doing his DIY this weekend and managed to give himself quite a bad electric shock and hurt his left hand quite badly. He's spent two nights in hospital and may need a skin graft this morning. Get well soon Tony!

The Ugly:
David Tennant with a beard. One word: NO! Please shave it off...

Men, You Suck

No, I'm not sorry. I'm going to steal a bit of Ellie's rant here in my list of why men suck at the moment.

The man who was supposed to send me my nice pretty plant still hasn't, after five days of waiting.
The postman who's supposed to be delivering me my plant didn't turn up before I had to go to work.
The plumber didn't turn up this morning before I had to go to work.
Men who fancy me. Stop it! I can't cope!
Two men I know were in such a depressed mood the other day they made me feel down and like it was all my fault.
The man of my life decided last night that we shouldn't see each other any more. Again.

Go Away! Stop making my life more complicated than it all ready is!

I swear, it's a conspiracy...

Tryffids!

I swear my plants are growing into tryffids at the moment. One minute they're small and sweet, the next they're going to be climbing all over the window and threatening me with their long vines.... eek!
Take, for example, my hoya carnosa. Here it is as a pretty, tidy plant
Now it's attacking the curtain pole!


Ok, so maybe I DID undo it. However, I measured it at the same time - it's 11 and a half foot long, which is a probably enough to catch you if you were trying to run away.... or creep up on you if you were peacefully watching the television... They could even possibly run around on their roots...




The other day I showed you my brand new seedlings. A few weeks later they've got a bit bigger... My mother, nicely, tells me these tomatoes are going to get to 2 feet high - ok not as big as the hoya but big enough.... whimper

So, if you don't hear from me for a while, and you don't know where I've got to, it's because the plants have taken over...


Graaaaaaah!

Things That Are Great About The Matrix

5. Keanu Reeves only says about 30 words.
4. Trinity.
3. The simplicity - less scenes, less CGI
2. The slo-mo bits where gun cases fall slowly, concrete explodes etc.
1. Keanu Reeves only says about 30 words.


I can do Kung Fu?
Maybe, but you can't act...

Why I'll Always Be Clumsy

I'm 26, and for my entire life I don't really remember a day when I didn't have a bruise, scratch or other injury to myself. The other day I was cycling along and tried to grab the free newspaper off the bloke giving them out (people may say here that I was trying to show off, but just seems easier than stopping). Unfortunately I'd kind of mis-timed it and bounced off the bloke in front of me's shoe. So, I end up with bruises and much embarrasment.



So, I got a ICI (Identified Cycling Injury). I didn't break anything and I'm a bit crap at keeping my balance even when sober (don't even ask about when I'm drunk!). Just another couple of bruises to add to my collection. I'll probably get a few more soon...

P.S.

I planted some seeds and they're germinating! It's amazing! (Yes, I do know this is supposed to happen, but it always comes as a surprise to me when things work out the way they're supposed to).


Yes I guess I did just take a photograph of my seedlings. This is the power of digital cameras and Blogger.

Things That Go Boink In the Night

I discovered recently that most things I watch these days don't scare me. I was watching Dr Who the other day and there was this big werewolf out to get everyone. Was I scared? Not really. Despite the fact that the werewolf looked pretty good. I don't know what it is. Maybe my realm of disbelief doesn't work when faced with big monsters (on TV, that is). Even with King Kong I wasn't really scared of Kong himself. Faced with having to watch people being attacked by giant insects, however, wasn't as nice. Eeeek! This made me reflect on programs/films that I have watched that have actually scared me. Be prepared to say "you wuss" or perhaps, "What?!?"





Sit doggy sit... goood doggy...






I can't actually remember if An American Werewolf in London scared me. I think it just weirded me out, as it didn't really seem to make much sense. I believe the last time a big animal scared me, it was Jurassic Park (well, the kitchen scene was done pretty well!). Believe it or not, the first time I watched the first Scream I did, actually, scream. Hey, I jump at surprises easily. The last film that scared me to my boots was Shaun of the Dead. This was because I wasn't really expecting lots of scary zombies, I don't know why, but I thought they'd be a bit tamer with the nasty zombie bit. So, since I've never watched a zombie film before, I refused to go to a pub after the film since I was convinced we'd be trapped in there with a hundred zombies outside trying to eat us. Oh, and the final (and most embarassing) film that scared me is The Blair Witch Project. I don't know what it was, but I didn't want to go to sleep that night, and I was scared by my dressing gown. You know how you can see shapes in things in your bedroom in the dark? No? Er....

The New Ghetto Blaster: The Mobile Phone?

Every time I go to London these days somebody has a mobile phone that is capable of playing music using its speakers. And they want everybody in their general area to know about it. Also about the music that they like.
Not only is this the most annoying thing I've ever experienced, the quality of sound is truly awful. Even my tinny radio alarm is better. So, I get to listen to someone else's R&B (aargh) at high volume (aaargh) on a machine that was never made to be acoustic for tubes, buses etc... AAAAAARGH!
These people make me wish I had the targeting of the new Strongbow advert.





Die Mobile Die!!!



Mmmmm... Strongbow...

HNT time again

It's Saturday Night. I've been spending too much time in heels (this hardly ever happens, so my feet get sore!). So, I put my feet up...

Happy HNT everyone!

I'm a Muppet!

You Are Rowlf the Dog

Mellow and serious, you enjoy time alone cultivating your talents. You're a cool dog, and you always present a relaxed vibe. A talented pianist, you can play almost anything - especially songs by Beethoven. "My bark is worse than my bite, and my piano playing beats 'em both."

The Muppet Personality Test

Ok, not so hot on the piano, but I can sing. I managed to freak Ross out with my singing on Saturday...

Don't stop me now, I'm having such a good time, I'm having a ball

I love Blackpool. If I didn't love Bristol so much and I'd had more than a 2-day fling with the place, I would put it as my number 1 town. The reason for this is that I just had a brilliant weekend "oop t'north" that was so good I didn't really want to go home...

I went to Blackpool to go to one of my best friend's wedding. This piece would not be complete without a picture of the happy couple so here they are:

Awww. Don't they look like they're having a good time. We were having a good time as well, despite the wind which made many of us quite cold by the time they'd taken the pictures...
The rest of the day went by without too many problems or too much alcohol getting drunk and we danced the night away to a selection of cheesy hits and indie moments... it was just great. I became the star of the show when, during the speech, the father of the bride says, "Does anyone else have random family words?" Most people were shaking their heads. I nodded mine... Our family call the bean bag the sag bag... Oh, and I won the blowing bubbles competition as well!!!
Sunday was a free day to do what we wanted before I got back into the lovely rental car (all function but no soul) so Ross and I went out along the promenade together. I was a bit worried about getting back but really I shouldn't have been as much as the trip back was fine. We went up the tower (eek, expensive!), had a jacket potato for lunch after the excesses of the food the day before and the full english breakfast (with black pudding, mmm)... and then sadly had to make our way back. We wandered along the beach, with Ross adding a little decoration to the sand along the way, including a rather large replica of me complete with my toes sticking out of my socks!!!

Comedy For A Monday Morning

Bits and Pieces

Hello. I thought I wouldn't post much today, but I finally found a photo of myself that wasn't too trashy or a random weemee. For whatever reason it won't come up on the sidebar yet (grr) but it almost counts as a HNT so here it is . Yay. That's that done.

On a completely different note I get to drive a car for the first time in six months tomorrow. Yippee!! So, for those of you on the M5 or M6 tomorrow, watch out for a couple of really tall people probably sitting in the middle lane when I get too petrified to change lanes...

Oooh, and I made sponge, and it worked! Yay! Thank God for Delia Smith! When I come off the no-chocolateness I'm going to make some chocolate cakes... mmmmmmmmm and try not to eat them all... although I think I've lost about 5 pounds...

Hellboy

Take one large gun, some sawn-off horns and a load of red paint and what do you have? Hellboy. This bloke is definitely someone you'd want on your side in a fight. Although, apparently he's only 6'5 so I'd be staring him right in the eyes. And possibly wanting to run away...

The film's premise is that the Nazis opened up a hole into the nether world in order to aid their dying cause, and before this could be shut Hellboy was let loose into this world. Ok, fine. To be honest it was a very beautifully made film but the scenes didn't seem to stick together very well and I didn't really see the point in the addition of Fishboy and Flamegirl (of course this is not what they're called in the movie but that's what I think they should be called...).

A bit too Hollywood in my opinion. Overall rating= :| (where :) is the best and :( is the worst!)

And Now For Something Full of Complicated Words

Eeek! I have to give a talk!

"From kinases to kinesins: the magic of phosphatidylinositol"
Dr Hilary Roberts will be presenting an interesting talk detailing her previous work on Phosphatidylinositol 5-phosphate, its regulation and possible functions within the cell, work done during her PhD within the University of Cambridge. Then she will move on to her recent post-doctoral work done within this Pharmacology department on the possible functions and regulation of KIF13B and its interaction with centaurin-alpha1.

There you go. If you made it to the end of that and are not completely confused, I am very impressed. It's a small insight into the scientist part of my life...

HNT

Apparently it's Half-Nekkid Thursday today. So, as someone said once, I am a game gal, so I will enter a picture of myself here. Of course most of the people who read my blog are my friends so as a result I am not going to reveal anything scary (sorry boys!). So, here goes...

Money, Money, Money

I am overcome by the urge to buy things at the moment. I don't really need them, but I want things. I think that Ebay has a lot to answer for. So, I thought, to make my life less urge-filled, I will list the things I really want to buy at the moment:

1. A House - currently I'm renting and kind of feeling like my money's being blown on a house that has some serious problems with me actually living in it as not only did the heating die, so has the bath.... nooo
2. A Breadmaker - I still don't know why I want one of these, but it would be nice to get fresh bread in the morning. I am also inexplicably drawn to the one with the raisin/nut dispenser, although whether I'd ever use it is another question
3. A(nother) Hoya - I'm obsessed with hoyas at the moment. They're vine-like plants with large leaves and flower beautifully. My favourite is the "Imperialis"... watch this space!
4. A Popcorn Maker - I love my kitchen gadgets, I could probably fill the whole kitchen with an assortment of random things that I only use once or twice a month if that. This one, however, would stop me from making nasty burn marks in my pan...
5. A Laptop - so I could have the programs I need on my computer at work. And Windows XP. This one I use is rubbish. This would, however, cause major procrastination (probably looking up the items above!) so not sure whether it would aid or slow down the work I do.

I feel better all ready. I feel like standing up and saying "My name's Hilary and I'm an internet shopaholic!"

How's your weight doing at the moment?

Not very well, actually. I've decided to include this on my blog in order to do something about my weight. Maybe if I write down how much I weigh every week it will help me on my way... it's worth a try.
So, currently I weigh 15 stone and 5 pounds. This is 215 pounds or about 97kg. For a tall person this may not seem very much, but I'm approximately a stone/14pounds/7kg overweight.
In order to start losing weight, I must try and make some changes. These are going to include:
1. Eating less crap - this includes chocolate (although I've given this up for lent anyway), cake, crisps, biscuits etc.
2. Eating more fresh fruit/vegetables.
3. If there is cake at work (which, inevitably there is), I will try my hardest not to eat it and if I do, I will only have one (or a small slice).
4. If I HAVE to go to the fish and chip/pizza/generic burger joint/curry house shop, I will only have the fish (or the hamburger) and no chips or have one less slice of pizza/no rice.
5. Drink more water.
6. I will try my hardest to get up the hill in the morning and the evening without getting off my bike and pushing, even if I have to switch down to the lowest gear.
7. I will go to at least one sporting activity each week (this includes swimming for half an hour, aerobics or at least 3 games of badminton).
8. I will go for a walk on Saturday and Sunday (or go shopping at Asda (believe me, this is hard work, I have to get all my shopping home on my bike, at least a mile and up a hill)) and not sit around all day watching telly. Even if it is raining.
9. I will try and cut down on the amount of pasta/rice/tortilla/potatoes etc. that I eat with my dinner
10. I will report every week how I'm doing and what my weight is this week.

Wish me luck...

More Madness At Work

Ok, this may need a little explanation. We are having some problems at work with a protocol we use called Western Blotting (which lets us see which proteins are being expressed in our cells and who they interact with). These problems are now so bad we don't know where the fault lies so are desperate to come up with any fix we can. Hence the pixies. So, last night, in a bid to tempt the pixes out, I made some fairy cakes and renamed them pixie cakes...Mmmm they look good... I'll let you know if they solve our Western Blotting dilemmas!!!

Howl's Moving Castle (Review)

So last night I went to visit the SciFi group for the very last time. This is because they're all strange and I can't cope with their far-weirdness any more. Even if they do have good books, and show cool films sometimes.

However, I did get the chance to watch Howl's Moving Castle as a result. I've been wanting to watch this ever since I saw the trailer since I was such a fan of Spirited Away, which came from the same studio. Basically, my impression from the film was that it was all a bit random and didn't make much sense...

So, the good bits: I loved Calcifer (a random flame that kept the castle moving),

The dog was cute too, although reminded me a lot of Mutley as it kept wheezing...
Here's the dog, along with the kid that wasn't explained and the really random scarecrow...

The random bits: The girl in the film would go from young to old and back again without much explanation, apart from when she put herself down she would get old.
The ending was extremely fast and definitely did not make sense.
The bloke spent the entire time wearing these really horrible earrings (Men with earrings = Nooooooooooo!)
Take them off! Please!

So, not as good as Spirited Away. Even more random (as Spirited Away involved what appeared to be a young man going out with a small girl, Howl's MC seemed to be about a young man going out with an old biddy). Bizarre.

Yes, It's Spring!

When I went out into my itsy bitsy garden I saw these, and thought it would be appropriate, since today is the first day of spring, to show you all what a lovely suprise I had out there. A beautiful day, and some pretty crocuses...

Oh, and by the way, the cat is still visiting (cheering me up after the boy left home) and the finger is almost completely glassless. Yay.

It's Official: I've been adopted!

Last night I came back from Asda (generic supermarket) to find the naughty cat at my doorstep. Of course, trying to get bags into the house and stopping the cat from trying to get into the house was not going to work, so the cat made a break for it into my house. Once I'd parked the bike and dealt with the bags I found the cat circling round my sofa shouting at me, just like my cat at home shouts at me when it wants me to sit down so it can sit on me. So I sat down (I've definitely been cat trained). Stupidly I sat down without turning on the TV and then the cat came to sit on my lap. Of course since I love cats and am a big softie when it comes to friendly furry things that want attention this was a great moment to end my rather lovely day (I was in a good mood all day apart from the bit where i left work and had to go to Asda). However I was a little bored as I had nothing to do apart from be something to sit on so I was rather pleased when the cat decided to climb onto my shoulder so I could stand up and turn the TV on. All this time, my frozen stuff from Asda was slowly defrosting so I was a little preoccupied with needing to put things away and how I was going to get the cat back out of the door (much as I like the cat, it's not mine and I don't like leaving it to run around my house causing gentle havoc). At least this time it did leave on its own and I didn't get scratched again...

Mad Scientists

I've decided to add random things that happen in my lab that are weird and you guys probably won't find funny, but it has to be done

Scene:Main lab. H. is standing in the way of the cupboard
E: Can I get in the cupboard?
H: Yes, of course you can get in the cupboard. Are you going to be able to fit?

E has decided that "yay" and "woo" are the ultimate answers to everything. This is because I say yay a lot when things work, and whenever a band asks a question to the crowd, the answer is always "woo". Example being "Hello Bristol!" Crowd answers: "Woooo!" Now we've gone a bit further and decided that the opposite of "woo" and "yay" are "woah" and "nay".

Scene: Tissue culture lab. H and E are in the hoods.
H: You're funny
E: But sometimes I can be patronising, but only to blokes.
H: I'll have to remember not to become a bloke then.

Recipie of the Day: Lamb Rogan Josh, Hilary Style

This is a great way to finish up bits of roast lamb leftover from the weekend.

Ingredients:
One tablespoon vegetable oil (not olive)
One fat garlic clove, chopped finely/crushed
One thumb-size bit of ginger, chopped finely
One onion, finely cut
250g (ish) lamb, cubed
One teaspoon curry powder
One teaspoon chilli powder
Two tomatoes, chopped (or half a tin of chopped tomatoes)
Two tablespoons plain yoghurt

Heat the garlic and ginger in the oil in a wok until the oil starts to bubble.
Add the onion and cook on a moderate heat for approx. five minutes until the onion is translucent
Add the lamb and cook until brown on all sides (if lamb is allready cooked, cook for about 10 minutes)
Add the curry and chilli powder and stir in.
Add the tomatoes and stir.
Turn the heat down to minimum and place the lid on the wok. Cook for as long as you can leave it (minimum 30 minutes, is much better if left for an hour or so).
Stir occasionally and add more water if it gets too dry (the curry should be dry, so don't add too much water!)
When ready to serve, add the yoghurt, stir around for a couple of minutes and place on a warmed plate. Eat with rice (and naan/paratha/chapati if you like).

Karaoke or Dare

It all started so easily, as I'm sure most things do. Sue, in Cambridge got a SingStar package on her Playstation and we went round and sang a bit on it. Then again, earlier this year, we got round the new Singstar 80's and sang our hearts out. I wasn't bad (well, I only got the occasional boo and gained a few superstar points! (this is good by the way!)). Then I discovered that Sam, in Bristol, also has a karaoke machine. I loved it! There were songs I could sing and even not sing (well, sometimes you really don't care when you're drunk). We sang again on Saturday night, everyone was singing and it was fun. I don't know what has happened but I've become a real karaoke fan. However, my enthusiasm is tempered by the lack of songs that I truly love, for instance I still haven't found Dream a Little Dream of Me on a karaoke machine, but I'm sure I will do in time. This is why I found myself going for the Dare option in the Karaoke or Dare competition. I mean, you can sing karaoke any time, but rarely do you get to do something silly like a headstand (which, seriousely, does not work with a tall slightly overweight woman!) in front of your friends. Then again, karaoke can be a bit of a silly option anyway.
So I've discovered I love to sing. This should not come as much a surprise to me as I've spent most of the last 26 years singing. Be it round a campfire or a microphone I guess it doesn't really make a difference. I'll even do it sober, and I'm quite good at sending a small child to sleep or making it shut up from crying (this may be good in the future, you never know!). The biggest problem, however, is that I now want a Playstation so that I can get Singstar. I really don't need another way to waste my time, though. I should just get my generic mp3 player and sing round the room instead.