He bestrode this earth like a colossus ...

11 September - Was recently criticised for the overuse of the word, colossus, in this online missive. Cannot really see the issue with the overuse of the word colossus as colossus is such an underused word in normal everyday speech. And I like using the word colossus, and shall continue to use it as I see fit.
Rather uneventful day but it was broken up by a viewing of the timeless classic, Oliver Twist. Roman Polanski's version was very good although I kept on expecting all of the characters to break out into song. It's a very good story and the brutality of the times is certainly conveyed - and it is such an important piece of cultural history - i've read that Charles Dickens' stories were said to have done more to stop the exploitation of children in 19th century Englnd than any other political legislation. I still think John Steinbeck's Grapes Of Wrath is the best novel that conveys the injustice of the times but this is very good to.
That night I headed out to Holloway Road for a dinner with Ade and Ruth's friend, Stu (and his bird [his description], whose name may or may not be Clare - i'm very bad with names). Ruth and Ade arrived and there was much rejoicing although Dylan seemed very shy around me at first and Finley barely acknowledged my presence at all, the little brat. James also came and it felt like I was very much at home with all of my Australian friends around and Stu (who i'd only ever known in Australia before). The dinner was excellent although Stu's misreading of the serving sizes led to meals that were befitting of a colossus and there was still tonnes left over (i think they ran out of containers to put all the leftovers in - I hope they shipped the remainder over to a poor nation so they could feast mightily on it). Unfortunately it was a very healthy household and when it came time for coffee there was no real milk in the house (but i'm lactose intolerant! Yeah, well I'm no-milk-in-my-goddamn-coffee intolerant!!!). There was a source of milk in the household and I would have ventured to ask Ruth for a donation but that greedy little mite Finley wouldn't have shared.
When I got home I did a bit of organisimation and delayed my Canada flight a while so that I could squeeze in my trip to Amsterdam - it appears that I will have the very civilised James in my company to ensure that I don't get up to any mischief so Holland here we come, aye?