HAGGIS!

I had my first taste of haggis tonight. Our neighbors were eating it for dinner and offered me a fork full of haggis, taters, and turnips. I really liked it - it was like a sweet black pudding.

We saw Equus starring Daniel Radcliffe. I'll let Jamie write about the directing, acting and the set when she has Time (with a capital T Hugh). I will say that the end of the 1st act was ruined by some schmuck taking photos in front of us with a huge ass camera. CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK. Why didn't an usher jump him? Jamie kept kicking his seat. He didn't return for act 2, so I assume he is a design student or photographer stealing shots. It was an amazing moment on stage. One of my highlights was seeing all those kids who came to see Harry Potter with their parents. Parents who failed to research the play. I was impressed with the distinct lack of giggling. At least they all were exposed to live theatre.

We discovered that we can walk to Brixton in 15 minutes. The bus takes 30 minutes. We always thought it was so far away. We walked to the movie theatre to watch Hot Fuzz. It was friggen fantastic! I don't know if it's out in the US yet, but it's the same guys who made Shaun of the Dead.

I was jealous of our good friend Noelle, so I went and got myself a new pair of glasses. I did after all wear the last ones for almost 6 years. I also got a new prescription for my contacts. However, like all my new contact prescriptions it is WRONG. At least this time it was subtle - Left eye is perfect. The right eye is good up to about 10 feet away. Picture this scenario: Put in your new contacts. Check out your vision by looking at the toothpaste, mirror, etc. Everything is cool. Head outside. Immediately want to vomit because you can ALMOST see everything. FUN! At least I avoided the wonky eye.


News on the football front - I paid in for my league membership yesterday. So it's official, I'm on the team. I also named the team. I work with 100 people whose job is to be creative and I named the team. Perros Del Diablo. We just watched Bombon El Perro and I was stuck on Perro. Like when Brad Pitt kept saying El Camino in the Mexican. I'll post a picture of me in my kit when I have one. Exciting! Odd thing is, Jamie and I just received a slew of Latin American films from our mail dvd service. All very good, just odd timing, since we're still waiting on LOST series 1 Part 2..

Jamie went to Manchester yesterday, and I was in Madrid Thursday night and Friday during the day. I had a great time in Madrid even though I was working. What a great city. We are very lucky.

-John

John "The Hands"

I know you are all on pins and needles waiting to hear how my first stint as goalie went!

As you may or may not know, I had to buy all new kit for the game. Kit is English for crap/stuff/equipment. I now try to exercise my new vocabulary as much as possible. Aside from my new AstroTurf shoes (turf trainers) I went for the best prices. I am now the Umbro kid - shinguards (shinpads), shorts (bottoms), t-shirt (top). My socks (socks) are not Umbro, as I bought the .99 pair. My goalkeeper gloves were selected as they were the only ones in my size. My new turf trainers are wicked (flash). They are bright electric blue. I figure I can at least distract players with the flash that are my feet.

The game itself was a lot of fun. We played on half of the field (pitch) sideways. The sidelines are now goalines. The goals themselves are smaller than regulation and there is a semicircular zone around the goal where the keeper lives, and all shots on the goal must be made from beyond the zone.

I learned some crucial points:

1. After stopping a corner kick with my face, I learned not to be afraid of the ball as it doesn't really hurt that much
2. After stopping afore mentioned corner kick, I learned not stop balls with my face, as the goal only comes up to my waist.
3. Screaming helps
4. American football gave me the wonderful skill of stopping immediately when I hear a whistle - unfortunately the only whistle on the pitch was being used on another game. I was confused a lot.
5. Diving on AstroTurf is ill advised.

To end this post, I will leave you with the salient bits (parts) of the company email describing the game:

QUOTE (edited to remove names)

Indeed, one feels that if the opposing team had our shot-stopper, John 'the hands' Ramsburg, in goals then the game might have been closer. In a very impressive debut, Ramsburg made a number of crucial saves and silenced any potential critics with a great display. Great hands John!

After the match, manager Jimmy R summed things up nicely, saying: 'That was great. We were great. Let's get to the XXXing pub'.

Quite.
END of QUOTE

Waitangi Day, Wolfmother, Snow, and Goal Keeping

What a busy week!

The Arsenal game was amazing. We learned the chants and songs - what we could understand anyway. That atmosphere was electric - and then they won in overtime! The new stadium is beautiful, and our seats were great. It was also interesting to learn how London deals with 50,000 people all going to the tube at once. Mounted Police make you stop and wait in the streets for the platforms to clear. Can you imagine living there? All those fans storming your neighborhood?

Saturday was the annual Waitangi Day Circle Line Pub Crawl. This year I got separated from the group during the 4 PM Haka and ended up in the middle of Kiwis who insisted that since I was there, I must take off my shirt. So I did. I did manage to meet up with everyone shortly after the Haka and then made it home 8 hours later. A grand total of 12 hours out. Jamie had rehearsal so couldn't make the pub crawl this year - however, she did go out with her girlfriends that night and must of had a great time since she got in well after I did!

Monday we saw Wolfmother at the Hammersmith Apollo. They rock. Definitely check 'em out if you haven't already.

It snowed again! This time it was "the snow storm of the century" all 7 years of it. London only received 2 inches which melted rapidly. That didn't stop the entire underground and rail system from falling apart though. I did make it in to work on time - for some reason the buses, which drive on the snow covered streets, had no problems.

Another news bulletin - in a rare moment of cocky extravagance, I agreed not only to play for the company FC, I was asked to be the goal keeper! I had to go out and buy everything - shoes, gloves, shinguards, socks, etc. I did buy the flashiest shoes, so hopefully I can distract people with my shiny blue feet. First game is on Thursday - wish me luck!

Arsenal 3 - Tottenham 1

That's right- we won! It took 30 minutes of overtime, but we did it! We'll give you a full report soon, but I didn't want to leave you hanging.