Pirates of the Caribbean: Ascension Day
Continuing on with what seems to be the theme of this week: do all the things! Wednesday Nienke came by for lunch and trying on some of Mom’s left over clothes I’d kept apart. She had made soup, I made an omelette and bought tasty bread and fried fish. We were so stuffed after that 😀
Around two I (gently) kicked Nienke out, I was getting so sleepy. Besides getting home late the night before, it also took a while to fall asleep and I didn’t sleep well. So after she’d gone, I stretched out on the sofa, set my alarm for a good hour later and was gone in minutes. I woke up on my own a few minutes before the alarm. Monkey then decided that the pillow my head was on would fit him perfectly as well 😀
Taking that as a sign, I got up and got ready to go the city again. This time to go to the movies with Ingrid and her friend Romana. We met up in the centre and headed for cafe De Oude Wacht to eat something. It was cheap but good cafe food. I had satay which came with fries and a good salad. The movie didn’t start until eight, so when it was getting colder after dinner, we traded the cafe terrace for the inside cafe in the cinema for a drink and a cookie.
The movie was a pre-premier of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. We’d all gone to the supermarket before to stock up on a drink and such for during the movie. But it turns out that, as this was an event-thing, we could all pick a bottle of soda and got crisps for during the movie. Good deal 😀
The movie itself was pretty good. The gimmicks are getting old (although the bank robbery is hilarious), but structurally I found this a better movie than the previous one. I liked the throwbacks to the original trilogy with Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, and seeing more of Jack’s past.
I wanted to stay seated throughout the credits but the others we’re more eager to leave. Luckily they (and I, too) had to use the bathroom. I was done quickly, but the ladies’ always has a much longer line. So, fortunately, I was still near the screen when the inevitable after credits scene came on. It was brief, and definitely hints at another sequel. After that, we split up quickly as their buses we’re almost coming. I strolled to the station, taking the opportunity to catch me a great many Pokémon 😀
Yesterday was Ascension Day. And as is tradition, we go to the annual Ascension Day Market in my previous town Eenrum. Ingrid always comes over to go with. This year Nienke and Kim also agreed to go. We convened at my place at ten. The other three then left to go there by car. I went by bike. I decided, two weeks ago, to try exercising again. But the gym and all that doesn’t really work for me. I do like cycling, though. So I installed an app (Strava) and did two rides that first week. The week after I didn’t get around to riding because of a zit on my sit 😀 This week I’m good to go, though. So the trip to the market was to be my first workout of this week. Unfortunately I mistapped and it didn’t record the way to Eenrum.
We met up again and took a gander down the market. We decided to check out one side of the road first, and then at the end turn around and do the other side. That way we would end up back were we started. I bought some new pairs of ankle socks, some plants for the empty pot in the front yard and, as usual, traditional sausage.
Mellien and Bas were also coming, but they came later. So we didn’t get to meet up until we were already halfway on the way back. They joined us for that bit, and at the end we all got something to eat for an impromptu lunch. I’d already had my traditional spring roll and decided on churros for dinner 😀 After that, it was time to go home again as Kim had to work in the afternoon. We split up and I got back on my bike.
For the way back I chose a different route. There’s basically three main ways to get to Eenrum from Winsum (and vice versa). The first two I’d already done and tracked in my first week of using Strava. So now I went for the third route. I knew this was longer, but as it turns out, the difference is 3 km. I made good time, though. Did the 8,2 km in 23 minutes. The others were home before me, but not by much.
Kim and Nienke then went home and Ingrid stayed. We chatted and played board games. First the gold rush edition of Carcassonne. It’s a different version of Carcassonne (versus an expansion). The base rules are the same but the theme is different and it has specialty rules that fit with it. In this case, cities are mountains with gold in it. As you build them, you place gold tokens and can mine for them. At the end, the tokens are turned and scored which is added to your regular score. Because the amount of points on the tokens is hidden until the end, it keeps things exciting. Other difference is that monasteries are, sort of, replaced by named cities where railroads end. You score points when all railroads leading out of the city are finished. The field, prairie in this case, also scores differently. It’s not the amount of completed somethings, but how many Indian settlements or horse herds (drawn on the tiles) are present. I really like this version of the game.
After that we played Rummikub and then decided to do something about dinner. Quick trip to the shop later we had easy food to stick in the oven. We waited it out with a few games of Tea Time (an Alice in Wonderland inspired tile taking game). After dinner we played a quick best-of-three set of Pesten (similar to Crazy Eights). We tied two for two between all games as I won Carcassonne and Rummikub and Ingrid won Tea Time and Pesten. Ingrid then went home.
Today is one of two days during my time off that I had no plans. So this morning I got on my bike again and went for a longer route, 21 km as it turns out. It took me a good 57 minutes. Which is faster already than the first week.
What I liked less was the staging. Instead of taking the story and playing it as is, the directors modernised it. In was now place in a Spa in Sevilla where the people would come to enjoy luxurious excesses and vices. This had some of the ensemble performers playing sniffing coke of a hand mirror, both supplied by Figaro. Old Doctor Bartolo lives next to this spa. And the old time soldiers become a modern cross between military and private security. This leads to Rosina singing an aria in a bikini and Figaro doing modern dance moves during his.
Best thing that happened today? My new vacuum cleaner hose arrived. The old one tore. At first I wrapped it in duct tape, but within a week or two that started to fail as well. So I bit the bullet and ordered a new one. It’s extra long and I’m looking forward to the next time I get to use it (which I normally hate).
The night before I had been to visit my uncle and aunt. For coffee and to ask my uncle to go with me. While there, their cat, Tommy, decided attention was needed. Unfortunately their coffee table is too low to dive under and snurgle that belly.
Busy day, today! I’ve been reading a new comic book series the last year called Amoras. It’s a six book series that tells a Suske & Wiske story in a dystopian future. There’s time travel, crime, death, blood and a fair amount of cursing and swearing. Suffice to say, it’s definitely not meant for kids. I really like the storyline and how it looks. A while ago I saw on Facebook that the Stripmuseum (comic museum) in Groningen would show an exhibition of Amoras pieces.
When I got out, I made my way to the centre of the city to meet up with Gert and see X-Men: Apocalypse. I’d heard some bad stuff about it, but I liked it. The build-up wasn’t always strong enough. I didn’t notice, for instance, that the end battle was the end battle until it was a good bit underway. And I would have liked to see a bit more detail on the origin of Apocalypse.
After finishing the cupboard I left it standing for two days to fully dry everywhere. I then enjoyed myself in packing it in. I’m also slowly starting to work on other bits in the house to get that as I want now that I have the space to myself. I pulled my old bed from the attic and put it together in the spare bedroom. I can now have guests sleep over! And, while I was painting anyway, I put a chalk board rectangle on the wall in the kitchen.
Now that Nienke has moved, the need for a new kitchen cupboard has become rather more urgent. I’ve been scouring Marktplaats for a while now looking for a good match. But I’m pretty picky and hadn’t found anything yet. I wanted a white cupboard, with an open space in the middle, at least two drawers, a shelf with glass in the doors in the top part and tall enough that it sort of matches with the bookcases. Oh, and also affordable and requiring little work 😀
Other cupboards were too short, or had no drawers, or no glass doors at the top, and so on. Eventually, however, I stumbled across one that was perfect. Except it wasn’t white. But, based on the image, it seemed the wood was mostly unvarnished so it should be easy to paint. I mailed back and forth with the seller and he confirmed it wasn’t varnished. If the only thing I had to do was paint, I’m good. So we agreed I would come pick it up Friday Morning.
The next morning my Uncle, whom I ‘d chartered to drive and help, and I headed for the rent-a-trailer place in town. I’d reserved one the day before with a hood on it in case of rain. Once trailered-up, we headed to Friesland to pick up my cupboard. And it is glorious.
I bought standard white paint for the exterior. I also snagged a jar of deep red base paint from the sale bin. I didn’t know what I would use it on, but I loved the colour. In the end, I decided to use that for the interior of the cupboard. Which turned out to be best decision ever 😀
The time has come, Nienke has moved. She got the key to her new house last Monday. Those first days she and her parents did cleaning and painting. And then the moving started. Last Friday and Saturday were designated for the big move. I got off work early on Friday so I could help. Then we spent the day, and Saturday, driving back and forth between my house and her house.
And not just a queue to get in the museum, no, the queue to get a ticket. Every minute or so, yellow-jacketed hosts would let another handful of people through to the queue at the door where they could go in to buy their tickets.
Disappointingly it was not allowed to take pictures in the museum. Not even just flash-less pics, no, not at all. This did not stop us from sneaking in a few phone pictures anyway.
After a well deserved break, we got back on the tram, the right one this time, and headed for the city center. From there it was just a few minutes to get to The Book Exchange. We dove straight into the basement where they keep the scifi and fantasy books. I picked out some Star Trek books and then went around the room alphabetically. I found several books that had been on my list, or are sequels to works I have. I found Elizabeth Bear’s first books (the Jenny Casey trilogy) that I’ve been wanting. I found the follow-up to C.F. Bentley’s Harmony and also the sequels to Robert Sawyer’s Hominids. I’ve been looking for these last two for ages! They also had a fun Stargate book, and two Kim Harrison books that I still needed. And, in a surprise, twist, part four in that trilogy I got at the local thrift store on Wednesday…
A quiet hour later, we both had our arms full of books and decided to call it quits for now. With packed bags we stood outside and quickly agreed to skip the American Book Center for today. We walked back towards the city center. Gert bought himself a pink waffle with sprinkles. (I tasted, it’s ridiculously sweet)
Wednesday Gert and I went to see Deadpool. We had some time before so we first had lunch at Wadapartja. A few years ago it would never have worked, but now it does. It’s a very vintage-retro-hipster place. Furnished with old formica tables and chair, mis-matched lights. A lot of wood and brick and signs everywhere that if you see something you like, you can buy it. They have a lunch and dinner menu and fall in the mid-range when it comes to price. I went for a brown seeded bun with slices of pear, blue cheese, walnuts, honey and arugula. It was very tasty, but it could’ve been a wee bit larger for the price.