alexist

We went to see Curse of the Were-Rabbit yesterday. It was as good as I hoped :) I first saw "The Wrong Trousers" in '95 (early, for an American!) and have loved Aardman ever since.

I may now have to buy a stuffed Gromit from the Aardman shop. I would really love one of the fine art prints (they've got collectors editions of the photos you see on the wall at the start of the film) but they're £150.

The Indy is doing a cheap flights competition--140 pairs of tickets to New York for £10 (including tax). You just need to collect and mail 7 tokens from the paper (1 each day). I read the Indy anyway so I'll be collecting.

For £10, I'll fly American! :-)

(Speaking of taxes, fees and taxes on a transatlantic ticket are now £125. meh. Especially since the taxes on an upper class ticket are only £160! I think the rich bastards should get soaked more. :-P I know air travel isn't environmentally friendly and should be taxed, but when you don't have a choice [other than not visiting your parents] it does suck.)

I can always do with a free (almost) trip back home. Missing it again, especially after reading the Indy's compact guide. Next year I think we'll go back in October and do a driving trip to see the foliage. Supposedly, global warming is having a negative effect on the foliage near the city, but if we go up to the Berkshires or Vermont it should still be good. It's certainly later than it used to be--I remember when I was little, it hit peak around now, definitely by Halloween, and according to the Weather Channel, it's only just gotten to "patchy" on Long Island! I do miss fall--you don't get the same intensity here as the weather conditions aren't right for it.

My grandma did offer me a free flight (she's got something like 120,000 airmiles on one of her credit cards). I declined, I told her to use them herself. Although if her redemption scheme is like Virgin's she could give me a free economy flight and still go business herself! (Hers are transferable; I know because Jen used them once.)

Speaking of frequent flyer, I am now SILVER TIER! I can check in at Premium Economy even when flying Economy! Oh, the privilege. I also get parking discounts at Heathrow.

I will never make gold tier; I need 40 points in 13 months, which is impossible when flying Economy class unless you do it every month. (2 tier points per qualifying one way economy Virgin flight. 3 for premium economy, 5 for upper class. It's 3, 5 and 8 respectively to and from Sydney.) As it is I'll probably only have Silver tier for a year--I don't think I'll manage 10 points by next October.

I'm really getting pissed off with the Independent.

1) Screaming tabloid headlines, verging on Daily Mail style.

2) Science scare story (toxins in everyday items) - and I'm not sure all the claims are supported. It's written by the editor of The Ecologist, too.

3) Greengrocer's apostrophe today: "Menu's of restaurants"

Grrrr. Are there any reputable, reliable British newspapers?! The Guardian makes errors by the boatload, the Times is owned by Murdoch (it's bad enough that we hand £40 a month to his evil Sky empire) and I don't like the Torygraph.

Of course, the NYT hasn't got much to boast about these days. It's better for the pedant though: all its errors are massive and involve complete fabrication. ;-)

American style, vanilla cupcakes, the kind that are really soft and moist, almost like Betty Crocker cake, but taste of real butter and vanilla rather than chemicals. And a swirl of fluffy confectioners sugar buttercream icing, strawberry flavored.

Shame I don't have a really good recipe for those. Actually, it's probably a good thing that I don't ;-)