Look down and stand up

The weekend welcomed Kerry's sister, Donna and Andy, her ginger boyfriend up to stay. Friday evening Kerry bought Buzz for PS2 to entertain us. More players than our last go at it definitely meant more fun and hardly any of the same questions came out either.

Saturday was a day trip to Portsmouth with the primary reason to visit the Spinnaker Tower at Gunwharf Quays. Traffic was rubbish trying to get to the carpark plus we had to queue a good 20 minutes in the biting wind before entry. Kerry decided to muster up some courage and paid for a ticket (£4.95) but as soon as the lift opened 110 metres up she was straight down again, poor lass. The weather behaved itself allowing some great views of the Isle of Wight seeing as far as Calshot and Fawley Refinery to the west past Southampton. The local area was a hive of activity with ferries and a hovercraft to and fro from Ryde and Gosport, a Royal Navy helicopter flying in at the same height whilst downwards you could see trains pulling into the harbour station. The viewing decks had enough people to allow good views without worrying of hogging the space and the more adventurous could walk across the glass floor panel and view downwards. There were 3 different floors, the first with the glass floor, a second 5 metres higher and a third called the Crow's Nest for the highest view and no roof, just a metal mesh to stop birds landing. Another queue was formed in preparation for a 10 minute wait for the lift. Back at ground level Kerry was nursing her nerves with a cake and coffee but the staff decided to refund her ticket. A bit of bargain shopping followed though personally I'm against these retail outlets which try to palm off last year's stock at inflated last year prices. Bought Layo & Bushwacka's new album Feels Closer which I'm not overly impressed with yet. Needs a few more plays to get the full verdict. Drove back home via Lee-on-the-Solent as Donna wanted to see some hovercrafts

The fun didn't stop there as we'd booked some tickets for a comedy night at The Point in Eastleigh, Southampton's armpit add-on town. FACT: Benny Hill was born, lived and died in Eastleigh. Had done some research before the weekend and would have gone to Jongleurs but their line-up was a bit crap especially having Adam Bloom who was a moody git the last time we went, plus Eastleigh was cheaper. The website promised the following: "Compere Jared Christmas introduces Pete Cain, Rob Deering, Steve Hughes, and as a special extra treat rising star Papa CJ". Rob Deering had some TV exposure which I'd seen before and some of the other names I'd recognised from either Glastonbury or being mentioned in the same sentence as Edinburgh. However, when we arrived to the venue the line-up had completely changed due to illness of Rob Deering. Quite what happened to the others I have no idea - maybe without Rob they refused to perform. So with a large crowbar to open our minds to some unknowns we waited for the performance to some sobering, mystery & suspense, almost Resident Evil music not the sort of thing to get you in the mood for a laugh. The compere (Michael Legge) did a good job instantly picking on the closest audience members but the stage set up was a bit wrong with a tiered rear row seating and tables in front. The first guy was a Kiwi and earned a few laughs referring to his home country as the Shire but moved on to terrorism and politics which went down like a lead balloon with gaps of uncertainty. The second comedian, (Stuart Hudson) was completely different with his first 2 lines getting the best laugh of the night. "I know what you're thinking...that Daniel Beddingfield's let himself go". His routine continued with a character of having mental problems talking about masturbation in public places. The one-liners drew to an end with a good result ready for the interval. The third comedian had came out of retirement and referred to being called at 3pm that afternoon to do the gig. This confirmed my feelings that the night had been a nightmare for the organisers after the drop-outs, resorting to a bitter, old Jewish comedian more used to working in a Cockney working man's club with constant rant and bad-mouthing of government figures. He instantly got my back up and I refused to even clap him off. Even the frontside hecklers who by now were lagered up to even care were giving him the finger. Luckily the fourth guy (Alex Horne) was completely different bringing in a quiet charm dealing with the hecklers in a clever yet personal way. I thought this would continue even when one of the front table guys came back from the toilet in such a stage stealing funny way. However, the comedian ended his act with a sample mash-up to confuse then defy the audience's expectations. Starting with an impression of strange sounds associated with Justin Timberlake, he then mimed random noises, instruments and voices pausing only to comment on the confusion of the audience. He thoroughly deserved the applause he got.

We returned home to teach Donna how to play poker, who after a few false starts went on to thrash us with full houses with her beginners luck.

Sunday was another New Forest mini-adventure heading for Brockenhurst. Along the way I spot a heard of deer charging through some woods which Kerry later describes as a 'tribe' of deer. Stopped for a pub lunch at the Foresters Arms then headed back home stopping at Lyndhurst to explore the moor land and a spot of kite-flying. Had to coax a New Forest pony away from the car before leaving.