More dental work

In the aftermath of losing two back molars to abcesses in the last few months I've started on the bridgework today to repair some of the damage - or at least fill the gaps. I like my dentist. She's new, young, enthusiastic and thorough. The old one was great and I worried about the changeover when he retired, but I'm not disappointed.

More dental work

In the aftermath of losing two back molars to abcesses in the last few months I've started on the bridgework today to repair some of the damage - or at least fill the gaps. I like my dentist. She's new, young, enthusiastic and thorough. The old one was great and I worried about the changeover when he retired, but I'm not disappointed.

New Puppy Soon

We've been planning to get a puppy - ostensibly for Best Beloved's birthday. He's been talking about it ever since we retired form international touring when Artisan finished. I thought he wanted another white German Shepherd like Seamus, our first dog, but while doing some research and much googling he found this breeder and fell in love with Ando, a black and tan dog with a strong red colouration. There's a litter due next week and we've sent off a deposit and ordered a pup - specifically a short-haired male black and tan which will hopefully have Ando's colouring.

Needless to say both Ando and the bitch, Maddie, have good hip-scores and elbows, and Ando has tested negative for the haemophilia gene. These are excellent show dogs, but we're not into showing we just want a bright, intelligent, happy puppy with every chance of growing up into a sociable gentleman.

If all goes well the pups are due in just over a week and we'll be able to see them (and parents) for the first time at around 4 weeks old.

Scroll down here for a pic of mum and dad, Ando and Maddie.

If Maddie doesn't have enough boys in the litter for all the interested prospective puppy-parents there's a litter due from Ando and Foss in October and the breeders will transfer our deposit to that one.

Thinking about puppy names now. Not sure why, but BB favours Diesel. It's not a bad name - and has the advantage that it's got a sound that's not easy to mix up with other likely dog names unless anyone at training classes has a dog called Weasel. Name suggestions?

This was Seamus...

New Puppy Soon

We've been planning to get a puppy - ostensibly for Best Beloved's birthday. He's been talking about it ever since we retired form international touring when Artisan finished. I thought he wanted another white German Shepherd like Seamus, our first dog, but while doing some research and much googling he found this breeder and fell in love with Ando, a black and tan dog with a strong red colouration. There's a litter due next week and we've sent off a deposit and ordered a pup - specifically a short-haired male black and tan which will hopefully have Ando's colouring.

Needless to say both Ando and the bitch, Maddie, have good hip-scores and elbows, and Ando has tested negative for the haemophilia gene. These are excellent show dogs, but we're not into showing we just want a bright, intelligent, happy puppy with every chance of growing up into a sociable gentleman.

If all goes well the pups are due in just over a week and we'll be able to see them (and parents) for the first time at around 4 weeks old.

Scroll down here for a pic of mum and dad, Ando and Maddie.

If Maddie doesn't have enough boys in the litter for all the interested prospective puppy-parents there's a litter due from Ando and Foss in October and the breeders will transfer our deposit to that one.

Thinking about puppy names now. Not sure why, but BB favours Diesel. It's not a bad name - and has the advantage that it's got a sound that's not easy to mix up with other likely dog names unless anyone at training classes has a dog called Weasel. Name suggestions?

This was Seamus...

Getting Back Into the Rhythm

Getting my head into the right space after Number One Daughter's wedding seems to have taken me longer than I expected. It was like trying to come round after jet-lag. I seem to be back in the rhythm now, though. What have I done since the wedding...

Cleared up at the village hall and drove home (Sunday)

Saw off Number One Son to the USA to start his five year PhD at Princeton. (Monday, early.) And he even remembered to call me to tell me he was safely arrived and settling in!

Slept for two days - off and on - and read a couple of books, wrote a couple of reviews for my book log and slept some more.

Went to the Village Hall committee meeting. (Tuesday.)

Did a bit more family history research after four birth/marriage certificates arrived in the post while we were away at thew wedding. (Wednesday and Sunday.)

Started writing a short story. (Wednesday.)

Took Mum to the local market. (Thursday.)

Helped out at the Village Hall tea dance. (Friday.) Yeah, it may sound a little weird, but now we have our lovely new grant-funded village hall we are experimenting with all sorts of community functions. We only got a dozen people (average age 70+) but they had a whale of a time and I remembered how to dance a Valeta.

Helped out at the village BBQ (Saturday) serving burgers, hot dogs, salads and cakes.

Watched Season One of Moonlight (it was OK but I wasn't enormously impressed) over the weekend.

Harvested runner beans from the garden (Sunday.)

Watched Season One of Doll House (Saturday and Sunday). More in a separate post.

OK, so looking at all that, maybe it wasn't enmtirely a wasted week... And today I'm getting my head around the day job again. Have done two Certificates of sponsorship (think electronic work permits) for two incoming American performers. Just gearing up to do a big mailshot.

Getting Back Into the Rhythm

Getting my head into the right space after Number One Daughter's wedding seems to have taken me longer than I expected. It was like trying to come round after jet-lag. I seem to be back in the rhythm now, though. What have I done since the wedding...

Cleared up at the village hall and drove home (Sunday)

Saw off Number One Son to the USA to start his five year PhD at Princeton. (Monday, early.) And he even remembered to call me to tell me he was safely arrived and settling in!

Slept for two days - off and on - and read a couple of books, wrote a couple of reviews for my book log and slept some more.

Went to the Village Hall committee meeting. (Tuesday.)

Did a bit more family history research after four birth/marriage certificates arrived in the post while we were away at thew wedding. (Wednesday and Sunday.)

Started writing a short story. (Wednesday.)

Took Mum to the local market. (Thursday.)

Helped out at the Village Hall tea dance. (Friday.) Yeah, it may sound a little weird, but now we have our lovely new grant-funded village hall we are experimenting with all sorts of community functions. We only got a dozen people (average age 70+) but they had a whale of a time and I remembered how to dance a Valeta.

Helped out at the village BBQ (Saturday) serving burgers, hot dogs, salads and cakes.

Watched Season One of Moonlight (it was OK but I wasn't enormously impressed) over the weekend.

Harvested runner beans from the garden (Sunday.)

Watched Season One of Doll House (Saturday and Sunday). More in a separate post.

OK, so looking at all that, maybe it wasn't enmtirely a wasted week... And today I'm getting my head around the day job again. Have done two Certificates of sponsorship (think electronic work permits) for two incoming American performers. Just gearing up to do a big mailshot.

Writing Dry Spell

I don't usually have a problem applying my backside to the office chair and putting fingers to keyboard, but I think planning the wedding buffet and making my outfit sapped come of my creative energy through August. I need to write a short before the end of September ready for Milford.

Applies thinking cap to head, reaches for coffee and chocolate...

See you at the other end....

Writing Dry Spell

I don't usually have a problem applying my backside to the office chair and putting fingers to keyboard, but I think planning the wedding buffet and making my outfit sapped come of my creative energy through August. I need to write a short before the end of September ready for Milford.

Applies thinking cap to head, reaches for coffee and chocolate...

See you at the other end....

Dollhouse: Season One on DVD

Since we don't have pay TV I hadn't seen any episodes of this and I'd tried (and largely succeeded) to avoid spoilers. So the DVD box set arrived from Amazon on Saturday morning and of course I had to watch it immediately. OK, maybe watching 13 episodes in two evenings isn't the most sensible way to watch it as I have serious mental indigestion, but maybe I'll go back and watch it at leisure now and see some of the extras.

What did I think?

Well, Joss Whedon's work is always worth watching and he's very faithful to his favourite actors, so having Eliza Dushku (Faith in Buffy) headlining was good. Amy Acker (Angel) was a bonus, as was having familiar names from Buffy and Angel on the production credits (Tim Minear, Jane Espenson) but it was particularly great to see Alan Tudyk (Wash from Firefly) making a repeat character appearance as Alpha. (Is he really a bad guy or not and is it his fault?) There's also an extra bonus in the shape of Tahmoh Penikett, Helo from Battlestar Galactica, who makes a very convincing obsessive FBI agent

I didn't engage with Dollhouse immediately as I did with both Buffy and the very excellent Firefly, but there are certainly strong possibilities and despite a rather flat start it got better as the season progressed and the true story arc began to draw me in. Joss is particularly good at wisecracking dialogue and Dollhouse lacks that (so far) but the story is intriguing and the real question is developing: You may be able to wipe a memory and even a personality, but can you really extinguish a human soul?

The final episode in the boxed set - Epitaph One - was apparently not broadcast on TV, but was included on the DVD release. It's apparently disconnected from Episodes 1 - 12. Set in 2019 in a post-apocalyptic world where the personality imprint technology has run wild. It gives some interesting ideas about where Season Two of Dollhouse might lead. Thankfully, despite being broadcast by the evil Fox network, destroyers of Firefly before its time, Dollhouse has been picked up for a second season.

I'll certainly watch Season Two.

Dollhouse: Season One on DVD

Since we don't have pay TV I hadn't seen any episodes of this and I'd tried (and largely succeeded) to avoid spoilers. So the DVD box set arrived from Amazon on Saturday morning and of course I had to watch it immediately. OK, maybe watching 13 episodes in two evenings isn't the most sensible way to watch it as I have serious mental indigestion, but maybe I'll go back and watch it at leisure now and see some of the extras.

What did I think?

Well, Joss Whedon's work is always worth watching and he's very faithful to his favourite actors, so having Eliza Dushku (Faith in Buffy) headlining was good. Amy Acker (Angel) was a bonus, as was having familiar names from Buffy and Angel on the production credits (Tim Minear, Jane Espenson) but it was particularly great to see Alan Tudyk (Wash from Firefly) making a repeat character appearance as Alpha. (Is he really a bad guy or not and is it his fault?) There's also an extra bonus in the shape of Tahmoh Penikett, Helo from Battlestar Galactica, who makes a very convincing obsessive FBI agent

I didn't engage with Dollhouse immediately as I did with both Buffy and the very excellent Firefly, but there are certainly strong possibilities and despite a rather flat start it got better as the season progressed and the true story arc began to draw me in. Joss is particularly good at wisecracking dialogue and Dollhouse lacks that (so far) but the story is intriguing and the real question is developing: You may be able to wipe a memory and even a personality, but can you really extinguish a human soul?

The final episode in the boxed set - Epitaph One - was apparently not broadcast on TV, but was included on the DVD release. It's apparently disconnected from Episodes 1 - 12. Set in 2019 in a post-apocalyptic world where the personality imprint technology has run wild. It gives some interesting ideas about where Season Two of Dollhouse might lead. Thankfully, despite being broadcast by the evil Fox network, destroyers of Firefly before its time, Dollhouse has been picked up for a second season.

I'll certainly watch Season Two.