water pistol fights in the kitchen

Woah... This whole Xmas thing is getting kind of busy. Not that it's just Xmas either; it was C's birthday on Sunday so we went out for dinner and a movie Saturday night. We ate at Madam Wu's in Norwood, which was much better than I remember it. We used to go there quite a bit but realised that we'd be up all night drinking litres of water, possibly due to the food being laced with MSG. This time the dreaded stir-fry-drymouth didn't strike and we were able to sleep and have a nice lie in on Sunday. Oh, we saw the new Bridget Jones movie. (It was pretty slim pickings at the local cinema. Why can't Palace/Nova build theatres in the suburbs?) There were a few chuckles but most of the jokes were the same as the ones in the first film, only more gratuitous because they were being redone. About halfway through we looked at each other and said "This is pretty shit, isn't it". Then we said "Yes, it is rather". It was a good night to be out of the house though as the neighbours were having a 40th birthday party and had hired a band. Well, when I say band, I mean a chick with a microphone and a guy with another microphone and a guitar... and some backing CDs done with some pretty dodgy MIDI equipment. The instruments sounded like something you'd get from a Wiggles keyboard, or at least an on-board soundcard. The guitar had way too much reverb and some over-compressed distortion: the kind of effect that just turns into noise and hides a lot of mistakes, an advantage of which I'm sure the "musician" was well aware. We got home just in time to hear the Monkee's classis I'm a Believer and stayed right down the other end of the house for Video Killed the Radio Star and that song about 'bein a woman' by that Canadian country singer with the tacky clothes. I put an ear outside to hear the guy fumble through the lead break of My Sharona and hid in the cellar while they played Nutbush City Limits. They finished on some equally high note and I asked C if she wouldn't mind killing me the night before I turned 40 if that is what turning 40 involves. Luckily the noise ended at midnight and we could finish our cups of tea and go to bed. Meanwhile, at work, while everyone else is in slowdown mode, we have a big, mean fucker of a deadline. Everyone else is farting around eating chocolates and having water pistol fights in the kitchen, while me and my colleague are buried in draft upon draft of next year's publication and giving the printer and the red pens quite a workout. The next draft is just in too, so off I go...