Bicycle-riding psychopaths, birthday parties, and Lovecraftian Horror

This past weekend was surprisingly packed. On Saturday, Meg's Dad came up and helped us sort out our PC overheating problems by installing two fans into the beast. Now it's so chilled we could store ice cream in it. Later on, we went to a birthday party for our nephew Jack, which was a great deal more fun than I expected it to be. Perhaps I was just in a very good mood, but I wasn't expecting to enjoy sitting around a children's playground while hordes of toddlers enjoyed themselves. But I did, so that's good. It's also very selfish, since it was Jack's day. I think he enjoyed himself too, but I didn't think to ask him.
On Sunday, Meg and I took a drive out to Stillwater to visit a renowned spice shop in order to perhaps find some curry leaves. Alas, they didn't have any, but we stocked up on a variety of other herbs and spices, then took a walk around the town. Stillwater appears to be a renovated industrial town, and would seem to have been a port at some point in its past. It reminded me a lot of the mining villages I grew up in in Wales. It's a strange mix of old and new, and while obviously very tourist-ey, it was still a pleasant little place.
That said, I found it exceptionally creepy. If you've read any of Lovecraft's stories, you've read about towns like this. It had a sinister feel to it, as if there were inhuman cults practising barbaric rites behind closed doors not ten feet from where you were walking. Or perhaps it was just me.

Now, let's see what's in the mailbag. A Patrick Booth of Liverpool writes in to Brainsplurge to ask "have you been to see 13 Going On 30 yet?" Well Patrick, we haven't. We're trying to restrict ourselves to one cinema visit a week during these busy summer months (which is going to be tricky), and it's become a bit of a tradition for us to go and see something on a Monday night. Tonight though, it's The Punisher. 13 Going On 30 will have to wait until next week. I hope that answers your question.

On the other hand, we've been frequenting our local Blockbuster a lot in recent days. My interest has been due to someone deciding to stock a wide range of Japanese films that I thought I'd not get to see over here. So on Sunday morning, while Meg went off to eat emaciated crow bits with her sister Amanda, I sat down to watch Ichi The Killer. And frankly I'm baffled. It had a very dull opening section, a brilliant half an hour in the middle then a bizarre final act. As such, I'm not sure whether I liked it or not. Very strange film, and I'm not sure exactly why it has such a good reputation. Blockbuster did not stock the full uncut edition, but I'd suspect that the cuts are due to violence than essential plot points. I'd be very happy to have the film explained to me, if any readers are so inclined.

Tonight, I'm being a tree-hugging hippie in the kitchen and I'll be making red lentil burgers. I've been looking for a lentil burger recipe for a while, so with any luck, this'll be what I'm after. Depending on the level of success/failure, this project's results will be reported here at some point.