A KIND OF PING PONG BLOG......

I actually have something in common with the Queen, as in THE Queen, of England, not the musical group currently touring with Adam Lambert.

In common you say...with The Queen? Well, something apart from having a bit more than a few drops of English blood in me - not ROYAL blood, but commoners blood. After all - what is ROYAL blood but having ancestors who wielded the biggest stick??

Sorry, got off on a tangent there. The Queen and I both 'let' out our residences for money. You can rent my Arizona house for a modest weekly fee and you can rent a ROOM in Buck House or Windsor Castle for a, um, modest fee....I'm not sure exactly how much, but I am sure it is all relative. OR you can rent from Charles and Camilla. They have a lovely eco-friendly house in Wales that they are willing to share with those who have deep pockets.

If you want to stay in something with a lot of history you can arrange an apartment in the Tudor wing of Hampton Court or even in the Georgian House there.

I don't know if times are getting tougher for the Royals or they are just more willing to hitch a ride on this latest trend, but it will help buy some more kibble for the Corgi's.

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Ever wonder what happened to a certain movie star you saw and, at the time, thought - Wow - how the hell did THEY get that part???

Well Hayden Christensen springs to my mind. He was cast, unfortunately, in Star Wars,  Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith as the young Anakin Skywalker....who turned in to Darth Vader. I say unfortunately because he was about as good as an unlit lightsaber. In his next foray into moviedom he played a person in a coma...and he couldn't even manage that - even though, from his 'acting' in Star Wars I thought it would have been a snap.

George Lucas said that he chose Christensen because he "needed an actor who has that presence of the dark side." If you call wooden acting, brooding looks, whining and acting like you are five years old and having a tantrum....'that presence of the dark side' then I guess it worked.

Personally the guy just bothers me! AND it seems I have company. His performance in both Episodes II and III was met with generally negative reviews by critics.  Earning him the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor in BOTH films. Bet that doesn't show up on any resume!

Christensen appeared opposite Mischa Barton in Virgin Territory, which was released directly-to-DVD in North America. The film, based on The Decameron, is about a group of people who escape the Black Plague epidemic by hiding out in a Tuscan villa in Italy. Sounds like a keeper to me.....

So, I thought he had just become a very young has-been - but NO! He is still around and apparently people are still giving him parts in movies.

  What he looked like THEN as the 'dashing' young Darth



And NOW...geez Hayden....get some fashion advice! What is with those pants??



Or this...is this part of a straight jacket???

and the sad news....he's Canadian!!!

But THIS just may explain a lot about his fashion sense. Christensen has owned a farm near Uxbridge, Ontario since 2007. He noted in 2008 that he had been renovating the property himself and devoting time to learning about "livestock, crops and agricultural machinery". Hayden: A duck goes - quack, a cow goes - moo. In November 2013, Christensen teamed up with Canadian fashion chain RW&Co to release a men's clothing line inspired ..........by his farm.

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I love the good old U.S. of A. Really, I do. They amuse the hell out of me.

A Colorado restaurant named Shooters Grill has waitresses that carry.357 Blackhawk revolvers in  holsters on their legs. This is one of the states that lets you carry guns in public, so the owner has decided she should just embrace this law. 

"Guns are welcome on the premises. Please keep all weapons holstered unless a need arises. In such a case, judicious marksmanship is appreciated"  is the sign on the front door.  

The owner said she consulted her "Christian" friends about the name and they said it sounded like a bar or strip club. But, the name of the town is called Rifle so she went ahead and named the restaurant Shooters.

"We called it Shooters and started throwing guns and Jesus all over the place." 

Well Hallelujah and pass the ammunition. 

Things I have learned this week:

Death metal band Unfathonable Ruination (catchy eh?) is going to play a gig for ART.  Yup, here we go again. 

This is in London, on the street, inside a sound proof steel cube. They will be sealed in and perform until the oxygen runs out. I kid you not.

Well, that's one way to get them out of the gene pool.

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Dealing with the TD Bank, now that they are the ones in charge of our Aeroplan miles, is even more frustrating than a few weeks ago. I went online to sign up to get my VISA statements - paperless - as in emailed to me like I did with our old bank. Well, after an hour of run around, online and actually on the telephone, I thought I just about had it done. That is AFTER I also had to sign up for EPost (which is something to do with Canada Post....what the hell???). So.... close...and yet!!

Message in red letters: "Sorry - invalid card number." WHAT??

Okay - I guess that means that ALL the things that have been CHARGED to this INVALID card don't need to be paid.....right???

Dear husband says we will go down to the actual bank, talk to a real live teller and have her fix things.....or else we pull our money and start over with another bank.....sigh......

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J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame is writing...another....book....well - actually a STORY POST of 1,500 words. Apparently POSTED on her site Pottermore. This one is about the continuation of Harry's life. In it he is in his early 30's.

The headline connected to the story read: "Harry goes grey" AND for some strange reason I immediately thought .....Fifty Shades of.....WHAT? did Harry trade in his S & M (Spells and Magic) for the other kind of S & M....more whips than wand?

Turns out - No - that isn't it at all. Harry's hair has 'threads of silver' . Good Grief - at 34? J.K. What are you doing now???? Don't you have better things to do than sit around your castle and play with your book friends?

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I am going to need some extra energy this August when our company arrives. I looked at my calendar and saw that I go from dinner for two one night, to dinner for four the next, 8 the next, 12 the next and then about 40 that night! Then I go back to ten for about three days........... so that should be easier!!! 

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Appliances in my house are STILL EVIL! I finally broke down and bought a new microwave/convection oven. Brought it home, heated up some coffee - yup it worked fine.

Last night I decided to try the oven part and cook a pizza. Dear husband says          " Why don't' we have a tubby (hot tub) before dinner?"  ( I KNOW - we are so abnormal!)

Anyway - For some reason I opened the oven door before turning it off and......was almost overcome by the white smoke pouring out of it. YES - the damned thing was on fire!!! Electrical smelling smoke just pouring out while I stood there with my mouth open  and dear husband going for the fire extinguisher!!

Dear husband quickly grabbed some oven mitts and carried the oven outside to cool down....and smoke on....and on.

The appliance centre where I bought it said they will order me in a new oven - ya think!!!

New dishwasher to be installed on Monday - I can hardly wait....or should I???....