I'm such a good son, we took my mother along to see a production at The Live Theatre at the weekend. I must say I really enjoyed it. It was called Jump! and was set in the North East at New Years Eve. It had 3 separate stories, gangsters, suicide and girls drinking. Typical of the North East I reckon, but there was not one mention of Greggs pasties. The acting was great, the story brilliant, the dialog funny and dark and the wine I had was very nice too. Like a Tarantino film, the stories came together right at the end although you could see it coming. It was a really different night out, it touched parts of me I thought only Carlsberg or the girlfriend could. I got someone to take a photo of us at the show - that's me in the middle ;)
I was feeling a bit heavier while watching the play after a top notch meal again from Cafe Vivo. I decided to have real buffalo mozzarella for starters - proper creamy stuff, I could've jumped in it naked. I followed that with beautiful melting Veal, the once controversial meat. I was then forced into eating a chocolate and hazelnut tart. The waiter kindly added a free try of the home-made choc chip ice-cream. Wooo, when I write that down, why I am I not a fat get? No comments please.
I was expecting to have a nice drive along the coast in a Volkswagen when we were invited to a Beetle Drive at Tynemouth Rowing Club but was shocked to find a totally different experience that was pretty funny. My Gran and girlfriend knew what a Beetle Drive was but not me. For those of you who don't know; it's about throwing a dice to build up a picture of a beetle where numbers on the dice represent parts of its body. Once someone completes the beetle, you shout 'Beetle'. Winners and highest scorers move onto the next table and start again. It's probably where the origins of Swinging came from. As you can imagine, lots of 
alcohol just adds to the occasion. Even more so with the 80% Stroh Austrian punch (a bit like mulled wine). It involves a special pot over a heat filled with red wine, cinnamon, orange, other spices and this crazy rum called Stroh. A big roll of sugar is melted over the top and it caramelises in the punch. It's got a good kick, keeps you warm and has probably been used to rub graffiti from walls.
It was cold, a mud bath, regular cow pats, massive puddles and lots of wobbling bums. No it wasn't a night out in Sunderland or a Latvian lap dancing club, I was doing the 10K Town Moor run in Newcastle. It was enjoyable although you had to watch your footing. A fella with his kid in a pushchair passed me early on, apparently he didn't have a babysitter - classic, only in the North East! I ran past him later. So there's events for walks, runs, cycle races, dog walks etc. It's only a matter of time before there's a pushchair race and the prize is a Greggs sausage roll (the Greggs dummy) for the kid. Even a blind person passed me along with his guide, though he didn't see me giving him the V's. Amazing. Anyway, I managed to do it in 53m 06s which is good for me and my old legs. This rather rigid looking photo was taken before the race of course, hence the lack of mud and the beautiful smile.
I'm such a good son, we took my mother along to see a production at The Live Theatre at the weekend. I must say I really enjoyed it. It was called Jump! and was set in the North East at New Years Eve. It had 3 separate stories, gangsters, suicide and girls drinking. Typical of the North East I reckon, but there was not one mention of Greggs pasties. The acting was great, the story brilliant, the dialog funny and dark and the wine I had was very nice too. Like a Tarantino film, the stories came together right at the end although you could see it coming. It was a really different night out, it touched parts of me I thought only Carlsberg or the girlfriend could. I got someone to take a photo of us at the show - that's me in the middle ;)
