So Good They Named It Twice...

Right. So we left from Minneapolis bound for Rochester, and apart from flying on possibly the smallest plane ever, it was a fairly peasant flight. We got there quicker than we should, and I didn't get the awful ears-don't-pop-causing-intense-head-pain effect that usually accompanies me on plane trips and will probably develop into a plane-based phobia.
Anyway...
We were greeted by Courtney and Casey, our New Yorkese friends, and spent the next couple of days faffing about. After a day or two Casey was off on another ill-advised journey (this time to Scotland), and was replaced by Liam, who has decided to try to live in America. Lots of presents were exchanged during this time, as we kept on repeating Christmas for the new arrivals.
On new year's eve, we headed down to Geneseo, the slightly creepy little town that Courtney's parents live in, and which undoubtedly has a bunch of dark secrets. There's probably a cult of murderous children in the fields out there. We went out to a hotel to see a and called Spider Nick & The Maddogs (sic), who were a pretty good proper-ska band (as opposed to the "ska" of groups such as No Doubt). Something went wrong however, as they failed to give an adequate performance. The music was good, but there was no special new year bits. I can live without the insipid Auld Lang Syne, but they could have done a countdown and a "Happy New Year" at least. My theory is that they were annoyed at the tiny turnout, even though they'd done the gig as a favour, and just didn't have their hearts in it. Still, it was an okay night out, and since I've really gone off new year celebrations in the past few years, I didn't mind too much. Courtney's parents are lovely people and will make an event fun even if it isn't. At some point here, I also presented a caricature of Courtney's dad to him, which he seemed to enjoy. I'll put a copy up at the newly-revamped website when it is in fact newly-revamped.
After that things are a blur. Lots on unnecessarily poncey drinking and eating locations. I was having a horrible time of it, as I turn into Edward Hyde without adequate sleep, and a week on a floor just doesn't cut it. Plus I really didn't like Rochester. So I was homesick and irritable for the last half of the trip, which was great fun for everyone else. Still, never mind. Liam let me borrow his copy of V For Vendetta, which I'd bought for his birthday and not had a chance to read. That'll go a long way to erasing the painful memory of The Sword Of Shannara, a book I read during the trip which was so awful that it may have had a part in my grumpiness. We also got to see the excellent Bubba Ho-Tep at a slightly poncey local cinema. It's very much a spiritual successor to Bruce Campbell's Evil Dead films, and although not quite as fun, seems to have more depth. Liam has done an excellent review of the film at his blog, although I think he's being a bit cynical. We sadly had the misfortune to rent The Time Machine, which I truly think is one of the worst films I've ever seen. Pearl Harbo[u]r is probably worse, but I only paid twenty pence to see that. Actually, Titanic was worse than both of them, so perhaps The Time Machine is only the third-worst film I've ever seen...
Eventually, we left for home. Arriving at the Rochester airport, we found out that the airline, while happy to take our money, hadn't in fact reserved a place on the plane, so we were unsure whether we'd get on. We did, at almost literally the last minute. The flight to Chicago was fine, except my ears blocked up and my head nearly exploded. I swear something trickled out of my ears at one point. We boarded the Minneapolis flight at Chicago, and ten minutes before we took off, an announcement came that the pilots hadn't yet arrived. About three hours leter, they did, and we left for Minneapolis, arriving an hour after a flight that left from Chicago an hour after we were supposed to leave...
So I had a great holiday, all in all. How was yours?
Actually, it was good to see old friends again, even though I was annoyed at Casey's behaviour, and Liam probably could have done with us visiting a week after he settled in rather than being there as he arrived. It's Liam and Courtney's turn next, to visit us here in the banjo-twanging, gun-slinging, livestock-humping, Steve-Buscemi-woodchipping midwest. Yee-haw!

On a completely unrelated note, I realised the other day that the Playstation will be ten years old next year! Time does fly when you're having fun!