Enter 2008

i would imagine that by now you have been bombarded with all sorts of good wishes for 2008 by your cellphone, your email and, on those odd "old school" occasions, by an actual person in real life conversation.

you have our good wishes all the year round, friends and family, our apologies if we are "odd" by not clogging up everyone's 'communication devices', with these sentiments at this time of year! i appreciate we are in the minority by not going overboard in celebrating, but then again every day is worth celebrating, not so?

however you chose to mark, celebrate or recognize the fall of 2007 and the rise of 2008, i can only trust that you enjoyed it, and further hope that you have a most excellent time.

remember - whatever the year, Elvis is with you. always.

KFC Breakfasts Update

hey everyone

behold, here is a branch of a KFC that is closed when it could be open serving breakfasts, a business opportunity that could, amongst other things, lure Elvis to this country (see previous posts).

now, in the interests of fairness, i have been asked to point out that whilst this KFC was closed at breakfast time, it was in fact breakfast time on Christmas Day that i took the pic, on the way to taking James to see his beloved Grandparents. it is fair for them to be closed at such a time. but then again, Elvis does not stop eating KFC just because it is Christmas, does he?

whereas The Colonel still has no breakfast menu as such, my good friend The Colonel said that in his experiences on the road KFC's are open around about breakfast time. in truth, i saw this particular KFC open at around 9am on a Sunday morning, which is a little late for breakfast but is not too bad, either. i suppose you could have a lesser, earlier breakfast at around 6 or 7, and then go and get a class bucket or something at aroun 9, 9:30?

i will of course update this site with any and all information i can find in regards of KFC breakfasts, but the outlook is none too promising. oh well, as we know, KFC does a breakfast in China, and as Elvis is in China, then the most important client that KFC has ever had is having his needs required. i will get by with just a conventional breakfast in the mean time.

be most excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

a pair of scissors, a comb and three lollies......

well, despite all admiring his lovely locks, it has been long overdue that James has been in need of a haircut. and a haircut he got today, if you will to see the year out, as Mummy bravely decided to have a go at cutting it for him. here are results of her efforts, or should i rather say here are the results of her very impressive efforts!

apparently, and this can be something of a relative term with James, he was as good as gold throughout, sitting patiently whilst Mummy designed his new look. well, i suppose the three (3!) lollies that Mummy gave him to eat whilst she did it all kept him occupied enough!

Michele also cuts my hair for me every now and then, if one defines a haircut as having the clippers run over it! nothing quite so fancy as James' hairstyle for me, i doubt that it would suit me and i dare say i would need more than some lollipops to sit still and not moan & groan through it!

in answer to the question as to what has happened to the hair from this first haircut, well, Michele has kept the curl from the back that she loves to bits in a tub, and i discovered the rest in a nice, neat bag on my desk, presumably left for me to work out what to do with it. i will think of something.....


these pics, by the way, are the best of about 200 that i took of his new hairstyle. the lollies that he was busy with clearly had a reasonable level of sugar in them, as he was bouncing around all afternoon, not even stopping to put his shirt on! i appreciate that it is New Year's Eve, but James is only 2 after all, and at the moment he does not appear all that inclined to go to bed! ho hum, with some luck he will drop off shortly!

Capello Resigns

The Football Association were still reeling today after the shock resignation of the England football manager Fabio Capello after twenty four hours in the job.

Speaking through an an interpreter Mr Capello said ‘I think I’ve taken England as far as I can. It has been a roller coaster ride and I think it is important to quit while I am ahead. I wish the team all the best for the future and we part on good terms.’

FA Chief Brian Barwick admitted he was ’...a bit disappointed’ but denied that the £24m pay off was excessive. ‘We wanted a world class manager and for a few short hours that’s exactly what we had.’

Now the search is on for a new England manager who can plan England’s football future over the long-term. ‘Or at least until Tuesday – whichever is furthest away.’

The Worst 5 Films of 2007

OK, here are the five incidents of movies that i watched and, with a bitter taste in my mouth and perhaps a tear in my heart, lamented that the time spent on them was time i will never get back. they are so bad that they are possibly not worth spending the time writing about them, but then again i always try to justify my criticisms.


Grindhouse was astonishing evidence that Quentin Tarantino has lost whatever talent and ability he had to make a good film - i only hope that his partner in crime with this, Robert Rodriguez, returns to form soon. do not be conned into thinking this is cool, hip or brilliant; it is none of them. it is dull, dreary film making at its worst, lacking all imagination or ability. if the highlight is yet another "surprise" Bruce Willis cameo, you know you are on dangerous, dodgy ground.

if anyone tries to tell you that Grindhouse is good, ask them to qualify the statement. if their review involves the words "homage", "tribute" or "parody" in relation to the 60's & 70's B-Grade movies it was supposed to be inspired by, walk away. it is not this, and they are only reciting what those who blindly worship all that Tarantino does have told them to in the rather timid media promo work for this fiasco.


not content with Grindhouse, Tarantino seems keen to make sure that 2007 is his worst year ever by pointlessly having his name on one of the most pointless films ever made. i say pointless, but Hostel Part II does have one point - that is, if they all tried hard enough, all involved with Hostel "Part I" could and would make an even worse film.

Hostel Part II systematically fails to be everything that it claims it is. it does not push boundaries, as there are far more graphic films out there. it does not entertain because the pacing and editing of the film frequently leave you bored out of your mind. and it certainly does not shock or scare - you couldn't care less for any of the "victims", and their rather dull executions are too tame or just plain dull to cause any emotions to stir.


Pirates Of The Caribbean 3 is one of the most spectacular failures in cinema history. with two above average films in place and a wonderful lead character in the form of Captain Jack Sparrow, how on earth did they contrive to make this mess?

i already wrote a lengthy review on this one, feel free to browse my site for the full breakdown of where it all went wrong - reviewed in November or December 07, i think. basically, though, a Pirates film with Captain Jack all but absent, leaving you to hear a lot of Orlando Bloom whining away, is not really entertaining.


Hatchet claimed to be "old school American horror". what a great shame that the makers of this film consider the trash that was made in the 90's, such as Scream, Last Summer and Final Destination, to be "old school", as this is pretty much all that the film resembles.

i was expecting a classy, no holds barred 70's or even 80's homage work, instead i got a very dull, bland, run of the mill, seen it all before and highly tiresome "horror" movie. Robert Englund must be really hard pressed for cash is all i can say about his cameo performance at the front of it. avoid at all costs.


in some parts of the world this got released in 2006, but it qualifies for 2007 here. regardless, Apocalypto would with some ease be the very worst film released in any year that they chose to release it.

where did it go wrong with Mel? i think we are all at fault for letting his bizarre previous historical distortions, in particular Braveheart, not only slip by without harsh criticism, but also with a slap on the back and an award or two. even if you ignore the many blatant distortions of Mayan history he presents, the "reality" within the film is ridiculous - this fella managing to run solid for three days with no food or water and with the added bonus of a massive spear wound springs to mind as a prime example of what i am talking about. even if you switch off from each and every fault and flaw in the film (not an easy thing to do, so blatant they are), the story is not all that interesting, the way it is presented is dull and the whole things tends to go nowhere at all. if you are one of the many who were apparently awestruck by this film, sorry, i have no idea why and cannot comprehend any justification of it that i have read.



well, there you go! agree? disagree? do as you like!

The Top 6 Sort Of OK Films Of 2007

well, these are the films that i managed to sit through which were not all that bad, but not all that great either. i know full well one or two choices and comments here are going to upset friends and close ones, but there you go, it would be dull if we all liked and disliked the same stuff.


and on that note straight away, 300. sorry, but i found it dull. the numerous battle scenes lacked imagination, creativity or interest, and the whole computer generated backgrounds and sets looked just as lame here as they did in that Sky Captain rubbish from a while ago. everyone seems to accept that it must be brilliant on the basis that it was based on a Frank Miller "graphic novel", or comic book if you really don't feel so insecure as to have to make a grown up term for it.

i save it from being slammed as so many people i respect seem to think it's marvelous, and i must say the actors did a very good job of the below average material they were given to work with. needless to say, i really would not recommend this movie with any enthusiasm, but as so many people seem to have seen it and decided it's rather good, i suppose my view doesn't count for much with it anyway. the mythology and legend of the Spartans would make a good film anyway, i do not see why they instead opted for this mostly fabricated approach.


one would generally not expect to see an actor of Al Pacino's stature crop up in a direct to video, or direct to disc, film. he did this year however in 88 minutes.

the film is not all that bad, but is certainly average - these "race against the clock", real time things never took off when Mr Depp made the film Nick Of Time a decade ago, but were perfected on TV by Agent Jack Bauer in that 24 series. to try and make a success of the idea on the big screen again is brave, and somewhat misguided.

whereas De Niro has taken to just taking the money and giving a routine performance in any film going, Pacino at least is still very much Pacino, and his decent acting job in this makes it worth a look. i have no doubt that it will turn up on cable or satellite tv wherever you are in the world in the not too distant future. if and when it does, you could do a lot worse than stick it on to watch on a lazy afternoon when you don't feel like particularly thinking too much.


now Rowan Atkinson apparently is a rather sensitive soul, and gets upset when things that he makes are not hailed as masterpieces or are considered to be successful. if by some miracle he is reading this, fear not, i do not come to slay him. but i do not come to praise him, either.

Mr Bean's Holiday was funny in the sense of it puts a smile on your face rather than being funny in the sense of you laughing yourself silly at it all. i am not sure it ever intended to have pretensions of being a comedy classic anyway, but if it did, it sure never took the time or effort to become one.

like the original Mr Bean movie and the often overlooked Johnny English, this has enough pleasantly amusing parts to keep you entertained over the short duration of the film, but not really enough to go off and recite the best moments to your friends and insist that they all see it as soon as possible. it could have been worse and, given the built in limitations to the character, it is difficult to say how they could have made it any better. those who made this film appear to have done so as they had nothing better to do; let me reciprocate by saying that you should only see this if you have nothing better to do.


The Number 23 was a disappointment to me not so much because of all the idiot reviews giving the plot twist away, but because i had clocked the plot twist from the write up and trailers anyway. much like something along the lines of The Sixth Sense, the "surprise" is so obvious that watching the film after the first few minutes turns into a game of patience, waiting to see that you were right.

i quite like Jim. i still consider it a disgrace, and an example of why all these movie awards are pretty pointless, that he never got some serious recognition for the outstanding work he did in The Truman Show and, in particular, Man On The Moon. since those two films he would appear to have been "slumming it" to a degree, and this must have looked like a chance to move back onto the big time A list, whatever that actually is. sadly, a missed opportunity. there's always a curiosity factor with these "twist" movies, so don't let me stand in the way of you watching, but don't be all surprised when it turns out to be not much of a twist or all that clever.


Epic Movie was this year's cheap and cheerful parody film of all the big films from the 18 months around it. and that could pretty much be it for a review, really - it's cheaply made, but it certainly proved to be rather good, lighthearted entertainment of sorts.

i think this is the kind of film they make in the States just to justify the "multiplex" cinemas across the land; the kind of thing to have onscreen as people pay to sit in a room that's airconditioned for a couple of hours. there were clearly some clever and talented satirical writers involved with this one. the main problem, i guess, was that the films which it was surrounded with to parody were not all that great to begin with. making a joke about a bad or average film is one thing, making a joke film about them all is, and clearly was, tricky.


and finally, the possible king of all "sort of OK films" is Spider-Man 3. after two really good Spidey films, there was an inevitable sense that this one would be a letdown, and a letdown it was. like many third acts of trilogies, this one just gets far too busy, trying to ram each and every idea that comes up into the storyline. basically if you miss a minute or two, or even perhaps just blink in this film, you miss who's now a bad guy, who's a good guy, who exactly is who and in general what the hell is going on.

there's enough to make it worthwhile lazy viewing, however. once again Bruce Campbell returns in a most impressive cameo - this time he seems to push the boundaries of his talents by having a brief go at an accent. and, of course, the effects are really quite impressive, if not in some instances starting to look a little commonplace. you can enjoy Spidey 3 if you just manage to forget the sheer brilliance of the first two whilst you watch it - difficult, but go with the flow and it is bearable.


well, there you go. my apologies if your own personal best of the year is mentioned above, but these are the ones that i somehow doubt i will be giving a second chance to in the near future, but then again you never know.


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Top 10 Movies 2007

i understand that doing this sort of list is a bit of a cliche and something of a tired format, but for the humour value, here are my top ten films from the last year. i think my motivation for doing this was to see if there were actually an entire 10 films from the year that i liked! i was pleased to discovered that i remembered at least these ten as being well above average. i hope you agree - if you disagree, why not leave a polite comment as to why not?

here, then, in no particular order, are the ten best. although i wouldn't be too surprised if my ranting and raving of one or two makes them seem like the outstanding choices! a warning, as of course these comments may well accidentally contain SPOILERS!

Colour Me Kubrick was expected to be good fun, and turned out to be the case. the (mostly) true story of the chap who impersonated the late, great Stanley Kubrick with bizarre success (he looked nothing like him, nor knew much about him) was given a generous, loving telling in this film. John Malkovich was his excellent best in the lead role of Alan "Stanley" Conway, and the supporting cast did a wonderful job. the most notable of the support was none other than comic Jim "nick nick" Davidson, who in real life had an encounter with Mr Conway. a nice performance, Jim, hope it earns you another film job or two.

even if you are not particularly aware of the story, or not all that clued up on Kubrick, i would all the same say give Colour Me Kubrick a try. in regards of a comparison, i suppose it's not a million miles away from being a somewhat more serious version of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - not as funny as that one, and not intended to be, but otherwise just as warmhearted towards those charming scoundrels that seem to be able to get away with it.


if it was not for James being around i somehow doubt that things like Shrek The Third would enter into my world, but James is very much around and so we got to see this one during the year. i rather enjoyed the first two, and this one is no less of a film. Eddie Murphy's Donkey is one of the funniest cinema character creations i have seen in a long time, and i trust that Eddie is surfing the crest of a wave on the back of his performances. i must say i find the Shrek character himself rather dull, but the surrounding characters make this wildly entertaining. and hey, who doesn't love the baby dragon-donkey things and of course the baby shrek/s???

the Shrek The Third DVD set is well worth getting - the parental advice for Shrek from some of the characters is a worthwhile inclusion for the sheer humour value, as is the excellent jukebox. sure, the jukebox might be there just to promote the other films, but you can play some great tunes thanks to it!


Sunshine is a science fiction work that sits very nicely alongside classics of the more intellectual works in the genre, notably 2001 and of course Blade Runner. a lot of people have been rather critical of it, but i suspect they might have been expecting more of an action film than it turned out to be.

the plot, briefly, involves the sun being on the verge of burnout, and man's efforts to rejuvinate it and save earth from the inevitable doom. the question it poses, on something akin to a King Lear scale, is dare man try and defy nature?

Sunshine is not a much of a thinking man's film as 2001, and nor is it a rollercoaster ride like Star Wars or Doom. i found it all rather fascinating, however, and would not hesitate in suggesting to anyone who hasn't seen that they should give it a try.


28 Weeks Later was easily the best horror film of 2007, and one of those rare cases where the sequel is better than the original. 28 Days Later was one half excellent film, one half mess. Weeks is just all excellent, i am delighted to say.

continuing on from the first film, the population of England has all but been wiped out thanks to the nasty virus that was released (rage, i think it was called?), and so the nation needs rebuilding. the virus, however, has not been quite as elminated as had been expected, and soon enough again the British Isles is home to some rather nasty, violent, quasi-zombie types.

fast, furious and astonishingly violent, this is not for everyone's tastes, but is a welcome site for those of us who are just tired of the lame, boring "shock horror" rubbish coming out of America these days.


Perfume was i think a 2006 release in some areas of the world, but it only turned up where i am this year, and thus it counts for this list, thank you. filming Suskind's outrageous novel was passed on by the likes of Kubrick and Scorsese, so i was a bit dubious to see it arrive with a relatively unknown director (Tom Tykwer) and a not too well known actor (Ben Whishaw) in the lead role. they do an excellent job, i am delighted to say.

to give a rundown of the plot would probably take up quite a bit of space, and the intewebnetwork thing can probably give you as good an explination as i could. for fellow fans of the novel, the film somehow captures the book well - it deviates a bit and misses some elements, but all the same pulls it off. difficult to explain how, really, but watch it and you will see.

a warning though, as the film contains some deeply disturbing images and is certainly not for all tastes!


are there really only going to be three Jason Bourne films? what a shame, as The Bourne Ultimatum was a masterpiece of entertainment; a brilliant, intelligent action thriller with not much in the way of peers bar the previous Bourne outings. the film of course rejects most of Ludlum's novel, a plot about Carlos The Jackal now being somewhat dated, but retains enough elements and continues the film arc with superb style.

it's pretty much because of the Bourne films that i got bored with Casino Royale, and do not see much of a future for things like the James Bond series. Bond was good, but at last the Americans have found a similar formula, and if i may dare say, improved on it. don't get me wrong, i loved the Bond films, but these ones are just the bigger, better experience.

if for some reason you have not seen any of the Bourne films, well, you know what to do......


Breach looked interesting from the start, and proved to be a fascinating film indeed. as the similar-but-different The Falcon And The Snowman is one of my all time favourite films, i had high expectations of this one, and they were pretty much met. in a non-mocking sense, it is always curious to see and learn how the new Empire, America, manages to trip itself up at the highest levels, and to try and understand why. i'm not so sure that they why element is addressed here, but all the same, it's intriguing viewing.

Chris Cooper and Ryan Phillippe are detatched in their roles, never generating any biased emotion from the audience. a no point do you feel particularly manipulated in your feelings towards them, which makes this all the more brilliant in the presentation of what happened. erm, what was it that happened? probably the biggest ever leak of information from the US Intelligence Agencies to those that would bring the US down in history, the audacity and scale of which may never be known. the film is not saturday night popcorn stuff, but it is well worth it for those of us who like a bit of intelligent cinema in our lives.


Hannibal Rising, charting the early years of Dr Hannibal Lecter and how he came to be the infamous Hannibal The Cannibal, was as an idea a completely pointless, merit-free way to generate money. enough people who clearly cared, however, were involved to make sure that lovers of the creation that is Dr Lecter were not cheated or let down.

the big name actors from the first three (or, if you look at it properly, four) Lecter outings are all gone, although for fans of English TV there are one or two familiar faces around. if you have read all of Thomas Harris' Lecter novels, then there is nothing really for you to learn about Lecter from this prequel, but there is ample to keep your interest and ensure that you do not feel disappointed with it. i would not suggest watching this before watching the others, however - consider this something of a very elongated bonus DVD feature to watch after you have seen the original films.


Hot Fuzz is one of the funniest, quirkiest and quite honestly happy films i have seen in a long time. sure, there's the odd squirmish moment with some of the OTT violence and effects, but they are all done for you to laugh along to, not to shock and scare you. it from the same guys and ladies who made the wonderful Shaun Of The Dead, so if you know and love that film you know what the deal will be here.

plot? a copper who is too good at his job in the city is forced to move to a rural, supposedly dull and quiet village to perform his police duties so that he stops making everyone else look useless. surprise surprise, however, with the best laid plans and all that good stuff...

as with the majority of films listed here, Hot Fuzz is not for all tastes. unlike some, however, it most certainly is perfect for a saturday night with popcorn, as it sort of states itself halfway through. well, watch it and see....


and finally, welcome back John McClane in the form of Die Hard 4.0, or whatever they named it in your part of the world. i really was not expecting all that much from it, and maybe thanks to that i got a wild ride of a film. i mean, i didn't really think that a plot about chasing computer hackers would be all that interesting, but then you get things like cars being fired off at helicopters and you get to reconsider.

the most interesting thing was perhaps the fact that this, more than anything, shows that Brucie is indeed an actor. you have seen him in many action films, but here his character is "different" from in all the others. watching Bruce play McClane is always a joy. good luck to him and his more "serious" parts, but this character will be the one that he is remembered for. and there's nothing wrong with that!


well, there's my ten for you to do what you will with. i think the only possible one to miss out was Rocky Balboa - impressive, but not quite as good as these ones. whether you agree or disagree with my choices, i can only hope that you saw more good films than bad over the past twelve months!!

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas with Grandma and Grandad

well, Christmas got all the busier when we went to see Grandma and Grandad to celebrate the day!!

James took nice presents for Grandma and Grandad - hope you didn't fall asleep during the Peter Green DVD Grandad, and hope that Grandma won at the boardgame!!

Grandma and Grandad got James (and Mummy & Daddy!) some excellent presents, the centrepiece of which is a fantastic bouncy castle for him to perfect his jumping in!



he was a bit wary of it at first, but once Grandma and Grandad (and Marmite!) showed him just how much fun the bouncy castle is, he was soon into it!!




Grandma asked very nicely for me not to put the above picture on this site, so please just pretend that you never saw it, right.......

and Christmas is the time for Shrek, with an excellent talking Donkey!



if you grab Donkey by the nose it tells you that it will shut up, and that it will keep quiet, hence James looking like he is going to grab it!

and of course, Christmas is for sweeties, and sweeties are for James, Grandad and Marmite to share!




and finally here we are, as best as Grandad could take us, sat in the garden. it was the middle of a pillow fight, so there are many pictures of us obscured by a bigbeing thrown around! i will try and post some of them later!




on that note, one really needs to hear James say "pillow", he sounds just like Cartman out of South Park when he does!!

thank you Grandma and Grandad for a fantastic day!!


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Behold! Christmas In The Colonies!

hey everyone

well, this is quite class - i am not sure if my sister has imported this from the old world, or if they had their own version of it anyway, but i can confirm that, at least since this year, Christmas is celebrated in that far flung corner that is New Zealand!!

here is the photographic evidence to substantiate the above claim. well done Gillian and Grant on this self portrait picture, it looks much better than my efforts at the zoo with James!!





and may i say how impressed i am with Katie in this picture! as the above suggests, this whole Christmas business may well be treated with some doubt in New Zealand, and they may just decide not to do it again. that being the case, grab the presents and run!! poor Daniel with Mummy, though, is this one of your presents she has swiped?





and finally, Christmas dinner, with some more deft and skillful self-portrait-type pictures being taken. although you can't see what they are eating exactly, it is obviously lamb or something sheep related. all other animals are forbidden in New Zealand, apparently. what do they do for milk?




i believe that earlier posts have clarified that they do in fact eat conventionally in New Zealand. i think.

thanks for the pics guys, it looked like you had an ace day, just like we did!!

be excellent to each other, and take the time to send a communication at random to New Zealand - remember, they are isolated from the natural, normal world and thus rather like hearing from the outside.

Christmas

hello

well, wherever you are in the world Christmas has probably been and gone - i trust you all had a peaceful, happy and pleasant day. we certainly did, and a rather a busy one too!

you can guess why ours was busy, but if not here are the pics! whereas i understand and appreciate the religious significance of Christmas, it is also a day to celebrate children. and celebrate our wonderful son we certainly did! here he is in the midst of opening presents!





of course, it would be the case that for all we got him, the dinosaur sticker books were the top present!!

and here he is with the present i (ahem) selected for James, although his Mummy is convinced i got it more for me!



it's a very ace, and very difficult to construct magnetic roller coaster set!

it was difficult to put together mainly as i decided to build it with James sat there. well, not so much sat, as standing up and deconstructing whatever it is i had just constructed!



whereas Mummy thinks i bought it with myself in mind, James loves it to bits, and guess who is sat with James right now playing with it!!!!


be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

zoo station

two more pics from the zoo, and two which vanity nearly prevented me from posting here!

as we were on our own (Mama gone work, as James says it), we had no one to take pics of us, so i tried to take one or two whilst he was in my arms as we were looking over at the sleeping crocodiles!



i know i am not the most photogenic guy in the world, so rather look at the handsome James in these pics!!




be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

James and the Zoo friends!

hey everyone

well, as per the last post, here are the promised pics!

first off, here's James with the Lion that he is allowed to get the closest too!




next up, here he is checking out what i think are called Bat-Eared Foxes. well, they are certainly not fox-eared bats!



James, much like all who see her, was rather take with this little baba lion cub! we spent quite some time watching her playing!



they do allow one to go in and play with the cub, but alas i fear James is a little bit too young for it, especially as you are warned not to make any sudden movements or noises! oh well, maybe next year, or when they next have a cub!





and here's James checking out a slightly older lion, or possibly lioness. she was just coming to say hello, but it looks like i have caught her mid-growl with the camera!!




"go drink tortoise water, tortoise!" is what James is busy telling this, the biggest of several tortoise walking around the zoo!




The Lion King and Mama Lion!! sorry that the pic is not all that great, but when you see the size of them, you are quite happy to see the bars between you and them!




Tiger sleeping! actually, we were lucky enough later for the Tiger to wake up, climb a tree, jump down and walk towards us so that James could see his majesty up close!




well, after two days of Lory Park Zoo, i think we might just have a quiet day at home tomorrow!

be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Zoo!

hey everyone

well, as many of you will know, i have been off verk for the last two weeks, staying at home and looking after young James.

for the most part he wants to play in the garden at home, or play with his cool toys, or just watch many different versions of Batman. his favourite, on that note, would be the most rubbish one, Batman & Robin. this seems to be the best for him as he finds Mr Freeze, a new acting depth for Arnie, to be rather funny.

anyway, i have also persuaded him that it is no bad thing to go out and about for a bit, and for the last two days we have been to visit the wonderfulLory Park Zoo, which is just over the road from where we live. it's all safe and well enclosed, so he can run around as much as he likes! and here are the pics to prove that much!







pics of some of the animals coming up soon. obviously James is not that close to most of them - not that he did not try to very much get close to the Lion and Tiger by climbing on the cages!!