clevercherry.com Blogs

Last Week by Matt

Matt — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Last week I walked to the Bell in Trysull and had 3 pints of Holdens Golden Glow.�I had shepherds pie for dinner four days in a row. I saw the film Shame. To use my car i had to enter and exit through the car boot and window.

Happy Birthday Isabella! by Amie

Amie — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Watch out roads of Britain, my sister has turned 17 today which means she'll be out on the road soon! She had her first driving lesson today as a surprise from my Mom and Dad. Let's hope she drives like me and not like my older sister!!

She's off celebrating tonight with her friends, then tomorrow it's my duty to take her out in Birmingham. we're starting off at the comedy club for lots of food, giggles and drinks...then it's on to the dance floor! We're even taking my Mom out so it should be a good one!

In other news...when is it going to snow? I have brand new sledges ready to go!!

Have a good weekend people x

Six Nations coming to a TV near you! by Ed

Ed — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

It just has to be one of the greatest competitions in the sporting calendar. Every year the home nations with Ireland, Italy and France play for the honour of being awarded as the best northern hemisphere outfit. It's exciting times for England with a Lancaster 's line up that really does get the heart bumping, he's really got nothing to lose and I like his attitude. So this weekend I will be mostly watching rugby and my predicted results;

France v Italy - France to win by 25 clear points

England v Scotland - England to win by 6 points

Ireland vs Wales - Ireland to win by 10 points

See you all Monday.

Death Valley by Paul

Paul — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

This week seen the start of a great new series on MTV called Death Valley. It’s a bit like Reno 911 crossed with Shaun of the Dead. Basically it’s a very clever mockumentary, as America has been taken over by vampires, werewolves and zombies. The camera crew follow some dumb cops or Un-dead Task Force around as they try and kill anything with fangs or that barks at the moon. One of the first shows highlights was the vampire prostitute sting which goes wrong big time.

It’s got loads of violence, blood, gore and laughs. Well worth a watch if you want a no brainer comedy, which suits me fine

This weekend I’m going to try and burn 1000 calories in 60 minutes, I’ll either do it or die trying

This is the News by Richard

Richard — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Anthony: Had an official weigh-in yesterday - 14lb 3oz. That's a nice healthy weight... he's going to be a big boy!

Film: Jo and the wee fella were knackered so we went to bed super early last night. I wasn't ready to sleep so I watched Tyrannosaur on my smart-phone. I'm a big fan of Paddy Considine and Peter Mullan. It was a harrowing watch in many ways but it was a great film never the less.

Car: I've given up trying to listen to Kerrang during my commute and Radio 4's news 'n' chat was getting boring so I've started listening to some comedy podcasts on my phone instead. My current favourite is Adam and Joe.

Tiredness: I have to get up extra early on a Friday and after a very long week I really could have done with an extra hour! I'm currently drinking a pint of Red Bull substitute. Maybe I should have gone to bed early after all...

Weekend Plans: Catching up with family over a meal, if we're all up to it. Bit of shopping, lots of tidying; you know the drill.

Engine Coil Strike by Helen

Helen — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

So apparently VW engine coils everywhere went on strike yesterday. I was driving back from the new stables, which is actually in the middle of nowhere, and my car suddenly died.

The weird thing is that when I called the AA, the guy on the phone realised from my unusual surname that my Mom was his teacher in year 4! I guess there aren't that many of us around.

After 45 minutes of shivering, the AA arrived and replaced my engine coil - the other weird thing is that my brother's car, another VW, had exactly the same problem on the same day!

Hopefully it won't, but if my car breaks down again, I'd appreciate it being in summer. My toes still haven't quite thawed out...

No More Idols by Mark

Mark — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

This mornings listening in the car was the Chase & Status album 'No More Idols'

I dismissed it foolishly as being a bit popularist and mainstream due to there sudden rise in the charts and people playing it out loud using the speaker on their mobile phone (which in my opinion is a crime punishable by death), and thus didnt really take much notice of it.

Anyway, making a concerted effort to listen and do you know what, its a great album. I though it would just be overcompressed drums and wobbly dubstep but no there's a bit of everything here, Hip Hop, Drum & Bass, Dubstep & Jungle. There are a couple of real stand out tracks, 'Hitz', 'Heavy', 'Blind Faith' and 'Hocus Pocus', the latter having a fantastic early 90's atmospheric D&B a la LTJ Bukem feel about it.

All in all a good well constructed album (Believe the hype!)

This weekend I am eating at Jamies Italian on sunday, but thats all I have planned so far.

I just looked up.... by Ian

Ian — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

.... and wham, it's Friday. My life is a blur, a rushed blur. I literally have no idea what I've done this week... I hope it was productive!

Rugby starts the weekend, I'm looking forward to that, it's always terrific. Other than that I have no plans other than to rest when I can and as usual it'll be Monday before you know it.

Have a good one.

Riley Update/Tap Obsession by Helen

Helen — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

The owner of Riley, the little dog I found on Sunday, has been in touch again to let me know how he's doing. Apparently he's doing great, and it looks like he'll be back to his old self before too long. He came to the stables the other day asking to meet Enya to thank her - I think she's going to be getting a bit too full of herself at this rate!

I have no idea why, but my cat has become obsessed with taps. Every time one of us goes in the bathroom, she's straight in there trying to work out what they're for. I think we need to start letting her outside soon before she loses it completely...

Urg by Alex

Alex — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Sorry for the lack of blogs. Been busy and forgetful. Not a lot has happened recently so there's not much to report.

One thing I didn't mention about Edinburgh though was that we went for a curry at a place we found on TripAdvisor called Kismot. The reviews say it was pretty great, and the website intrigued us even more - they apparently do a stupidly-hot curry (that they've recently made even hotter) along with a wall of fame/shame. Also it's a bit studenty: it's in the area around the university, is a BYOB affair and has a pub next door. Oh yeah, and it does chocolate naan bread.

Anyway we went there and it was really nice. I didn't have the stupidly-hot curry but I did have a madras with chilli rice. Stupid move. It was very hot indeed, but also really nice. The single waiter running the floor (the son of the family) was really friendly, and his parents run the kitchen. It's a really nice vibe. There weren't many people in on the night we went so the atmosphere wasn't exactly buzzing, but it was still made nice by the nice waiter guy.

Anyway, it got our thumbs up, even though mine was a little hot for my taste (but that's my own stupid fault). We'd definitely go back next time we're in Edinburgh.

Listening and reading by Mark

Mark — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

At the moment I am reading Tom Sharpes Riotous Assemblies for what I think is about the 30th time. It's my favourite book (well one of 2, its sequal is the other one). After that I have Before I Go to Sleep by S J Watson lined up. I saw it listed in the books to be released this year and quite liked the look of it so i'll let you know if its worth a read (the reviews of it so far are very good.

Listening wise I am getting in Rum & Coke by the Dub Pistols. It's a bit ska which surprises me as normally I dont like ska but the production on it is quite good. Other current listenings are Words and Pictures by Nu:Tone and Witching Hour by Ladytron.

I was looking through this months Mojo at the weekend and nothing really struck me as being worth getting, which is unusual as normally there's at least one album worth a listen, maybe its just a bad month for music.

Music related, a mate of mine, Imran Khan (not the..etc etc) is a DJ at Blast Off in Wolves and plays a section of his set called 'old vs new'. So you pick and old song and choose a new song that compliments it. I sent him a couple of requests and he played em so I think i'm gonna pair up a couple of suggestions to send, so if anyone has any great ideas for pairing old & new songs let me know.

Nigel Havers by Shaun

Shaun — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

On Radio 2 recently, I stumbled upon "Nigel Havers' Ravers" - a history of rave music of the late 80s / early 90s written and narrated by Nigel himself.

It was weird having Nigel introduce Josh Wink's Higher State of Consciousness.

White Rabbits by Amie

Amie — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Hope you all have a nice February!! You boys have got 2 weeks to start planning something insanely romantic for your girlfriends/wives for valentine’s day so get cracking!!

In other news, It's another Sister's birthday this Friday. Isabella is going to be 17...yes that means that over the next few months I will be nagged to teach her to drive and to talk Dad into buying her a car! Ha!

Just me? by Mark

Mark — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Does anyone else thing that Usain Bolt with that funny Branson beard in the new Virgin Media posters looks just like Samuel L Jackson, I think its the eyes myself.

Maybe it is just me.

Unrelated note, I am currently 12st 6lb which is ok I suppose, I would like to be a bit lighter methinks and may even start doing a touch of excersise in the summer (here's hoping eh?)

Grey Hairs by Richard

Richard — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

So, I've found a bunch of grey hairs in my beard. I guess that's what having kids does to you! I can't say I'm all that bothered, though. My Dad's beard is totally white and it looks quite distinguished if you ask me.

Weekend was a bit of a wash-out, as Jo had a stomach bug. Dehydration isn't good for milk supply so it was a bit fraught at times.

It's been a while, so here are some more pics of the wee chappy:

Quick weekend by Danielle

Danielle — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Last weekend flew by far too quickly. After a few festive drinks in the pub on Friday for Jess's birthday, Saturday was spent food shopping and doing wedding stuff. I gave the River Cottage Veg Everyday vegetable biryani and tamarind raita a bash on Saturday night and despite Russell's unenthusiastic response (his exact words were 'Well I'm not going to get excited about it, but I'll eat anything you make') we both really enjoyed it. Thumbs up Hugh!

We watched the film In Time - crazy concept but good film.

Sunday I imposed myself on an old friend that I used to work with to go through my assignment plan with her. I did feel quite guilty taking up a few hours of her Sunday, but have promised to treat her to dinner next week. It was reassuring to feel that I was on the right tracks with what I was doing though.

I'd not seen my folks for a while so popped in for a cuppa and a chat with my mom on the way home. They'd been clearing out the loft and had got my mom's wedding dress down. I couldn't resists trying it on and was pleasantly surprised to actually get into it. The arms were very tight, it was a good few inches too short beautifully showing off the black socks I had on and I looked like something out of The Corpse Bride once I donned the veil complete with fake flower headband, but I got into it and that's the main thing!

Brilliant Film by Mark

Mark — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Me and Mrs Loaf watched a stunning film last night called Senna.

It was just after 9 oclock and I said i fancied watching it and she said she wasnt interested as she's not a fan of formula 1, so a life story of Ayrton Senna would be dullsville and as she was out the following night, I could watch it then.

Anyway i put it on to see what it was like and at 11:00 we were both still glued to the screen. It's absolutely fantastic and a real insight into what an extrordinary skill the guy had and what motorsport was like in the early 90's. At the end Sadie said 'ok I was wrong, that was brilliant'.

Anyway, watch it and if you dont believe how great it is read the reviews on IMDB.

Female Film Sequels by Gavin

Gavin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

There's a reoccurring theme with new films, I'm noticing a theme of non-sequel sequels:

Iron Man has it's new female sequel in The Iron Lady.
Men In Black has been followed up by The Woman In Black

Ratt-ed by Sue

Sue — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

As ever there are quite a few rats about, including Big Ratt-Ed Milliband. I am astonished at the nerve of the man as he bangs on about this governments' lack of action on the bank bonuses. Does he really think that we have forgotten that it was under the watch of his lot that the banking fiasco occurred in the first place and, to boot, it was his lot who were the architects of the contract which have given rise to the latest bonus payout.

I'm asking too much I guess. But isn't there an honest politician out there somewhere? As an electorate are we so used to these slippery devils that we no longer expect anything better?

But, it's not Ed that's bothering me the most at the moment, it's the rat in my garden. Cheeky thing sits under the bird feeder and waits for the birds to discard the seeds they don't fancy! There are several stashes of rat poison out there now, so I am hopeful that I can get rid of it - shame we can't deter our politicians eh!

Good luck by Lee

Lee — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I suppose I must lick my wounds somewhat as my team’s goal keep decided to hand Liverpool a ridiculous first goal which without doubt lost us the game. Anyway I’m big enough to say well done and good luck in winning the FA cup!

Birthdays by Gavin

Gavin — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

We had the joy of celebrating a friend's 30th birthday at the weekend. His wife organised a surprise party for him, and luckily he was completely surprised by it, especially as we all greeted him wearing masks of his face! He looked beyond shocked.

It was also my eldest nephew's birthday on Saturday too, so I managed to visit him for a bit. He's really growing up now, being 12 now he's growing up quick.

Hero Horse by Helen

Helen — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Well, the weekend flew by quickly as well, and not without a bit of drama!

I went to get Enya in from her field yesterday and found her in the back corner, away from all the others, with her head down towards the fence. I thought there was something wrong with her, but as I got closer, I realised she was looking at something in the bushes. There was a little Jack Russell, up to his belly in mud, with his collar tangled up in some loose barbed wire! The poor thing was so skinny and cold, it looked like he must have been there for days. I managed to get to him and untangle him but he was too weak to walk, so carried him back up to the yard and got him wrapped in blankets.

His collar had a number on it so we called his owners, who were over the moon. Apparently he'd been missing for 10 days and they had thought they'd never find him. His owner gave me a call last night and said they're hoping he's going to make it, but he has frostbite on his legs and nose and is obviously very hungry and dehydrated.

Really hoping he pulls through, as he seemed such a lovely little thing. The vet said that he wouldn't have made it through another night out there, so I'm very proud of En for showing me where he was!

Here's Riley after we got him wrapped up and in front of the fire;

what a..... by Ian

Ian — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

....lovely weekend that was, (apart from the cricket)......

Great weekend by Mark

Mark — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

During the weekend we did all of the stuff i said on Thursday (save the chinese new year thing). The will writing was scary, the alton towers water park was great and The Ritz was fantastic, I chubbed so much cake I was almost sick.

Two things I did discover whilst in London were:

Barry Norman has his own range of pickled onions and they are really good
There is a fantastic wooden board game called Pucket which involves firing wooden discs through a small hole in the centre of the board over to your opponents side. The winner is the first to get all his discs over to the other side. Its a bit mental and fast paced but real fun.

All in all a great weekend.

ha ha ha ha by Paul

Paul — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

To all my friends who are Manchester United fans. I’d like to offer my detailed tactical analyst of the FA Cup 4th round tie between England’s most successful team, Liverpool and Manchester United.

Oh forget it – HA HA HA HA HA HA HA 88th minute Dirk the Destroyer HA HA HA HA HA HA

I’d like to thank United’s goalkeeper David De Dea for handing Liverpool a stunning victory. I’ve seen vampires deal with crosses better than him

After the game King Kenny, Fergie, Wenger, Redknapp and Villas Boas meet up down the pub to discuss the weekend games. Fergie gets the first drinks in, Wenger gets the second drinks in, Redknapp the third, Villas Boas the forth. Then King Kenny gets the fifth in and puts the drinks down on the table. And Fergie says “where’s my pint, you’ve left me out” Kenny replies “this is the 5th round and you’re not in it”

Gutted by Lee

Lee — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

that man utd lost today. How lucky where liverpool, absolutely shocked I hate liverpool.

weekend again by Ed

Ed — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

So another week has come and gone - had a good busy one with a trip up to Glasgow yesterday to meet with a new client. It was all very exciting flying up and back in one day and as soon as I'd finished the meeting, I walked out the office and the heavens properly opened (always does rains in Glasgow). It's a great city mind I love it. Just a quick fact; New York based their street/road grid formation around Glasgow. Is that interesting, really? Nah thought not, OK I'm off!

Have a good weekend.

What a shame! by Lee

Lee — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I was thinking to myself the other day just how many trophies Sir Alex Ferguson has won, he has mustered up 37 trophies, which includes 10 Community Shields, 12 Premiership Titles, and 2 European cup wins. Wow, that's a lot.

Let's compare that to your average Joe side, let’s say for instance Liverpool, no hopers whom have a better chance of winning the Scottish league title. I did count the trophies won in the last ten years but I really wouldn't want to embarrass any Liverpool supporters out there, at what can only be described as a pathetic record in comparison.

It got me thinking, how sorry I feel for their supporters , "nearly there" , "It was so close", "we were robbed","if only we could of scored it would of been a goal" - Do me a favour mate you're a Liverpool supporter ! What it is to be a dreamer?

this weekend I mainly be.... by Ian

Ian — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

....taxi, taxi, taxi, shopping, lie in, dog walking, school play watching, following the cricket and watching a few films slobbing on the settee. Looking forward to it really.

Have a good one.

p.s. it's February next week.

Weekend Plans by Richard

Richard — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Firstly, I'm going to try and catch up on some rest. I know that this is probably improbable, but... hey, I can hope right?

One other thing I must do tomorrow morning is go and get my shopping done early. Town is a nightmare at the weekend, even in no-money January!

Cooking will not be necessary tomorrow night as I think we're planning on dining out for the third week running!

King of my todo list this weekend is some much needed DIY. Finding the time to make lots of noise banging and drilling around Anthony's schedule is somewhat difficult!

End of weekend plans include visiting my folks so that they can coo and ahh over baby Anthony.

Random stuff will no doubtedly crop up, putting a halt to most of the above!

mardy losers by Paul

Paul — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

After Liverpool’s amazing win over Man City on Wednesday, I can now look forward to trying to get some tickets for the final at Wembley. The final will be against Cardiff, which shouldn’t pose too much of a problem. So we can pack them back of down the M4 to their valley’s and sheep.

So on to Saturday when we look to put one over the second side of Manchester – potato faces United, in the FA Cup 4th round tie. So we can pack all the united fans back off down the M40 back to Surrey. A lot of united fans have trouble getting tickets to the games. However you can join the supporters club by filling in the below qualifying supporters club form.

It should be emailed back to wehaven’tgotahopeonsaturday@mardylosers.surrey.xxx

Application Form For Manchester United. Supporters Club

I wish to become a Manchester United supporter and I confirm that:

1) I was born nowhere near Manchester and am prepared to show no loyalty to teams located in my local area.

2) I confirm that I know absolutely nothing about football and will never seek to improve on my ignorance.

3) I am a pretentious glory seeker and have rejected supporting my local team on the grounds that they might not give me enough reflected kudos.

4) I am prepared to eat prawn sandwiches and totally reject meat pies, burger and chips and pints of beer on the grounds that these reflect the traits of true football fans from other clubs.

5) I will buy a replica shirt at least twice a year and appreciate the kindness of the club in regularly changing the design, of transferring Ronaldo and of increasing prices in the club shop, in the interests of us supporters.

6) I am only interested in winning and will sulk unreservedly if we do not win every game. Equally I will stop watching matches if we do not win regularly and will switch my allegiance to another team (Chelsea or Man City) if they look more likely to win trophies.

7) I will never publicly admit that Sir Alex Ferguson has a potato head with a cob nose. That the Glazers have no money and that the club is in huge debt and that our best days may well be over.

8) I am a total idiot.

Signed....................

I know it's childish but... by Amie

Amie — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I am now the proud owner of Clarence, the Birds Eye Polar Bear (off the TV advert >>)...

Cat Nap by Helen

Helen — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

This week has flown by so quickly! It feels like Monday morning was about an hour ago, which I guess is a good thing. Nothing much is planned for the weekend yet, but I'm sure we'll think of something.

Si's birthday meal was good fun - it's always great when everyone gets together. It should happen more often I think!

I woke up last night at about 1am, before Mark got home from work, and found the cat lying in his place taking up as much space as possible. I think she'd assumed he wasn't coming back!

She definitely seems to have settled in now - I've never known a cat to sleep like this before....

Music for the car... by Sharon

Sharon — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

So I was moving some mp3s over from the external hard drive back to the now-working-laptop, and decided in the process I would make a memory card of some of my fav tunes from the old XLs/Xposure Rock Cafe days for the car stereo. So in the next few weeks I will be mostly listening to a bit of; little angels, poison, journey, whitesnake, thunder, warrant, skid row, danger danger, tyketo, dogs d'amour, mr big, tigertaliz, quireboys, white lion, faster pussycat, firehouse, lita ford, scorpions, hardline, kiss + much more!

Brilliant... by Amie

Amie — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Who ever thought of this campaign is a genious!! I do hope it was on purpose!

High Society by Mark

Mark — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

This weekend (a long one as I have tommorrow off) involves:

Going to the solicitors to sort out our wills (frightening stuff)
Going to Alton Towers water park
Going to see some Chinese new year vibe thing
Going for tea at the Ritz in The Palm Court (its so posh I have to wear a tie !!!)

I Can't Wait.

Gregg Wallace is great by Danielle

Danielle — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

It only seems like weeks since I was blogging about masterchef the professionals and the normal version of the programme has come around again.

Gregg never fails to amuse me and as I sat there chuckling to myself last night, I remebered a brilliant YouTube video that I thought I'd share with you. It's genius! Enjoy.

Rich has lost it by Gavin

Gavin — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Richard's had 3 energy drinks today. He's a little wired and is talking lots. He keeps grinding his teeth and murmuring.

I'll keep you updated if it gets worse...

Buzzzzz by Richard

Richard — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I've had three cans of Red Bull today and I feel GREAT.

A Moan by Amie

Amie — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

I don't really like to moan as my first blog of the week but this annoyed me! Don't you hate it when you get to your car and someone has put a leaflet under your windscreen wiper? Yes! Well don't you hate it even more when you get to your car and someone has put a leaflet under your windscreen wiper in the pouring rain so when you peal it off half of the leaflet still stays on the screen!! Grr!! And here is the result...