This and that..

[Sue Dyer]

Brooke mentioned my new avatar... I reckoned it was time the oyster eating one from new year went!! Anyway, here is the full photo. I saw Penn & Teller when I was in Vegas,(great!) they stand outside the theatre after the show signing and chatting. They were lovely, very odd to hear Teller speak though!! Penn is huge as you can tell, I'm 5'2" and he had to bend down quite a bit.



I hate having my photo taken but nearly happy with this one, apart from my sunburned/hamster cheeks. It usually takes Dave so long to take a photo I get impatient and end up with an expression like I'm sucking broken glass

Also, it is my birthday tomorrow. We're both off for the day and we're having dinner at the rooftop restaurant of an art gallery (The Baltic) here overlooking the river. Then a birthday trip down south for the weekend to catch a few gigs by my friend Bob & the band.

I reckon these days the best present anyone could wish for is theirs and their families health & safety and for the company of good friends. I have all of those this year so count myself very lucky

[vrooje]

Happy birthday! (a bit early, I know...)

I've never seen Penn & Teller -- to be honest I don't even really know what they do. A magic show or something?

Sheesh, I've no pop culture knowledge.

[Sue Dyer]

Thanks!!
Penn & Teller are magicians but they tell you how the tricks are done, then fool you by changing things at times. They also had a show which was hidden away in the U.S on "Showtime" and in the UK on "FX" called "Penn & Tellers Bullshit". They took a topic each week such as alternative therapies, slimming cures, funerals etc and debunked them. Teller doesn't talk at all during the act but Penn is smartmouthed and very funny.

There - you're updated with pop culture from your own country!!!

[Alan Knighting]

Sue,

Excellent cutting. Most relieved to hear it wasn't David.

Out of curiosity I did a Google search on Penn & Teller. Oh! dear. On Showtime they are also called "Bullshit". Not my cup of tea, at all.

Alan

[paolo]

Happy Birthday, Sue!

I am making very fleeting visits to the forum at the moment because I am in France with the world's slowest dial-up connection and a phone line that cuts out every three minutes. So I am only posting on essential threads like this one.

Hope you have a wonderful day.

[Alan Knighting]

Sue,

Oops! I should have wished you a happy birthday at The Baltic. My office was in Collingwood Street and Joan worked in production at Tyne Tees TV on City Road so we both know The Baltic extremely well.

Alan

[Alan Knighting]

Sue,

Go on, tell us! How was your birthday night at The Baltic?

Alan

[enid]

Hope you had a great birthday - I was so used to your old photo I thought I must have clicked on someone else's message by mistake. I think your cheeks look lovely!

[Stu]

Belated birthday wishes Sue. Syb & I hope you had a great day!

Mine next week, and Syb's the day before we load up & ship out to la Belle France!

[Sue Dyer]

Thanks everyone for the lovely comments

The Baltic meal was awesome (yeah, I've been with Bob my U.S friend for the last few days so everything is awesome!) Dave ordered champagne and sitting there overlooking the quayside with a bottle of Moet and great food was wonderful. The staff were the right side of attentive but not in your face so they got a big tip! Dave and I shared a plate of Northumbrian cheese so they piped "Happy Birthday" on the side of the plate... in chocolate!!! A totally lovely meal and experience. If you're in Newcastle and feeling rich head for The Baltic. After that we went to the quiz at our local were I was duly toasted and made a fuss of, in my advanced state of intoxication after cocktails, champagne then lager (!!) we even managed to win a round.

Next morning was a bit of a shock getting off at 7 a.m for our trip. I had 5 hours to fill in Milton Keynes while Dave was at work so went to see War of the Worlds which was entertaining enough. Then we went onto Swindon for Bob's first gig of the week. He & the band rocked!!! You know it is happening when folk get up to dance and they asked for 3 encores and bought CD's.

Friday moved on to Southend for slot machines, fish & chips and mini golf then another Bob/band gig which was equally as good. Yesterday moved onto Cambridge where Bob did a solo acoustic gig and was again brilliant, I'm biased but the audience thought so too!! Here's a link with a live recording from last night - http://www.acousticroutes.co.uk/audio.html , just click Bob Collum at the top of the list.

So, home now and sorry about the saga above, I'm just still on a high after a lovely birthday week

Hope your birthdays are wonderful too Stu & Syb

Big hugs to all Sue