Tuesday night was really the only time that we could all get together for a night out, so Pierre, Susan, and I went to the vegetarian restaurant for Pierre's birthday. Susan and I treated him. It was really nice. It was a delicious meal and we had a great time. Everything would have been great if Pierre hadn't been sick all night afterwards, though.
There is a kind of flower that they put in soups here. Pierre mentioned it as we were eating, but didn't think anything of it as he finished his meal. The next day, however, after spending a restless night feeling sick, he remembered that this particular flower doesn't agree with him. At least I'll know for next time.
He felt so awful in fact, that he didn't go to work on Wednesday and I took his class for him. After going to see the doctor, it turns out that he also has a mild case of Gastro. Hopefully he'll be alright in a day or two. I feel awful for him, what with it being his birthday this week.
Susan, on the other hand, has been much luckier this week!
She got a really nice pool cue from Pierre and I. My co-worker Nathan helped me choose it because he is a pool player and I am not. I am so clueless about pool that it's actually kind of funny. We gave her the pool cue on Thursday at school so that she could use it Thursday night (every Thursday is pool night).
Nathan bought Susan a 40 oz bottle of Canadian Club Whiskey for her birthday and we opened it on Friday night at her house. I think this is the first time I ever drank Canadian Club. I was surprised by how smooth it was (I'm used to Jack Daniels). I think I have decided to be a CC fan as well.
As you know, we play poker every Friday night, and for the last few months it has been at Susan's house. This week was no exception although there were a few more people than usual since everyone wanted to come celebrate her birthday with her. Terry, Phillip, and Tavis (the usual suspects) were there as always, but tonight we also had Jen, Adel and Robert playing.
Robert and Adel can't often make poker on Friday because they are so busy setting up their new on-line businesses (I think that evenings and weekends are the only time they have to do it). Jen lives pretty far outside of Chiayi, so it's a bit of a trek for her to come, but they all came and joined us at Sue's house for a poker party. Jen has a class now on Friday nights that ends at 9PM, so she thinks she will be able to make it more often since she is already in Chiayi around the time we start playing.
We ended up with eight players at Sue's house, and we played until nearly 4 in the morning. It was really fun. In the end, however, Robert and Terry were the only ones left with any chips, and they decided to call it a draw and split the pot.
Poor Susan only has about 5 ounces left if her Canadian Club, too... so I guess we'll have to buy her some more, LOL!
Saturday night we went up to a French restaurant on Daya called Le Partager. There were two birthday girls, Susan and Tara. Tara's birthday was Wednesday, but this dinner was to celebrate both their birthdays. The restaurant prepared a piece of cake for each birthday girl and presented them on a big plate with a tealite candle, it was really cute!
After dinner, we all drove over to a new bar that just opened called Sport Bar. Yes: Sport Bar (singular). We decided that means they probably only enjoy one sport... and since this is Taiwan that sport is probably ping-pong. So if you ever need to see the big ping-pong match, you know where to go, LOL! Seriously, though, the place is really nice. They have a big screen TVs that show "the game", as well as a few mini-TVs that customers can change the channel. They have little nooks around the central area and several of these have a computer with internet access in them. They also have air hockey and an electronic basketball shooter game... It's quite the cute place! I left Susan there with the gang around midnight and headed home.
As for today... Sue is off at volleyball and I am taking it easy here writing my blog!!
As I write this, I'm listening to a new CD that I just got in the mail this week.
In the early 1980s there was a skinhead oi band that I really liked called Blitz (click on the link to open their myspace page and hear some tunes). As far as I knew, they released a handful of singles and one fantastic album called "Voice of a Generation". I have loved this album since as long as I can remember, it is loud and obnoxious but has lots of sing-along anthem-style songs.
I recently discovered that there had, in fact, been a second album called "Second Empire Justice". To say that this second album is different from the first is like saying that broccoli is not watermelons. This album is so different that I would never have guessed it was the same band if I hadn't seen the liner notes and credits for who played what instrument.
The first album is straight-up hardcore oi music (heavy guitars, pounding bass and jungle-style drumming with a vocalist screaming his fool head off). This second album is sedate by comparison, uses as many keyboards as it does guitars, has dance rhythms and drum machines. It sounds vaguely like Joy Division, The Wake, Modern English, OMD, or early New Order.
To most hardcore Blitz fans, this was a complete disgrace... I'm really enjoying it, though! 20 years later it still sounds really cool! A lot of the tracks are hit and miss, but there are enough excellent tracks on it to make it worth tracking down. I'm really pleased to have found it and I have been listening to it pretty much non-stop since it came in the mail! YAY!
Due to browsing over on the website Rate Your Music, I have also discovered that Blitz reunited and released a third album called "The Killing Dream" in 1989. Reviews say it is more like the first album, but more mature and less angry. The reviews also say it is a very good album. I can't comment on it yet as I haven't heard it... but watch this space because it's already in the mail on it's way to me.
Blitz have not released anything recently, but they are in the middle of a tour of the United States, so it's nice to know they're still active!
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