Homeward Bound

Leaving Bath on the 21st of December, having tidied up the house, and given it a good airing, I was all set for Christmas at home.

For the first 50mins (approx) of the 3 hour (approx) journey in the Renault Clio, we listened to These are the Vistas, an early album by The Bad Plus. This album (2003), is not brilliant. It is very 'samey' and a lot of the tunes are just plain dull. However, there are a few brighter points to the album; I like the ending section in 7 on their cover of 'Heart of Glass' (blondie), and the cover of Flim (Aphex Twin) is good for the first few listens, however the original is better. The final song on the album (not including Bonus Tracks) 'Silence is the Question' is the best track on the album by far, in fact it is one of my favourite Bad Plus pieces. Other favourites include Prehensile Dream & Chariots of Fire (both off Suspicious Activity? (2005) a far superior album). I urge you to listen.

After stopping at the services for a BLT and an Appletiser, and to get some Wine Gums (I like the red ones) for the road, we proceeded homeward, although soon after departure, I fell asleep. Waking up promptly at the Charterhouse Road BP where we were filling up the car. I used the last few minutes of the journey to return to full awareness in time to carry my clothes in.

Since home and unpacked I have eaten well, scored 175 (getting a spare or strike on each bowl bar one) in Orpington Superbowl, been disheartened by the shoddy internet connection provided by Virgin Media, watched Truman Show and Ice Age (The Coolest Event In 16,000 Years), had a bath, drank Ribena, spent £20, eaten two grapes, and played a D7 chord on a piano. It's shaping up to be a great Christmas.

Out of the lake, into the Bath (also chilly)

The weather in Bath has taken a nippy turn of late, with a temperature of around 4 degrees outside, and a relative humidity of 83%. Due to an efficient insulation system and dehumidification program, the temperature in this bedroom is 12.7 degrees, and humidity currently stands at a paltry 66%. In the mid-term, the weather looks set to improve slightly over the course of the next 4 days; at least if the BBC's forecast is anything to go by.

When quizzed on staying warm in cold conditions, Miss S Rance had numerous suggestions, but pinned down to two top tips volunteered: "Go outside with no clothes on, take a cold drink" and "Sit in a paddling pool for four hours". Whilst seemingly sound advice, when pressured for some evidence of authority within this field of research, she was not forthcoming with any response.

In short, wrap up warm folks.

(The titular pun is derivative of "Out of the frying pan, into the fire". What I've done is change frying pan for lake, and substituted fire for Bath. Bath can either be a proper noun here or just a regular noun - it's sort of a play on words.)