Home at last!

Hello readers, well I have finaly returned from the Reading Festival 2005...

At 06:00 on Thursday I went to pick up John, Adam, Gemma, and Jo. I loaded the car with their camping gear and we set off down the Motorway at about o7:00. We got in to Reading at about 09:30 and were parked within about 15 minutes. We set up our tents in "Orange Camp" in a little circle with a space for a camp fire in the middle. We then had to find some means of passing the time as the music started on the Friday so the Thursday was spent getting to know where things were. We discovered that the toilets were horrible (they had no flush it was just a seat with a giant pit underneath. Very smelly and very unhygenic) and that the refreshment stand selling burgers and hot-dogs was next to the toilet block... Which was a little worrying (I refuse to do any "Brown Sauce" jokes at this point for the sake of good manners) we went back to camp and in the evening lit a camp fire to sit round before going to bed at about 03:00

And then it was Friday. Well we woke up and got down to the arena for 11:30. I wont give you a complete run-down of every band we saw but I will list them for you.


The Black Velvets
Your code name is: Milo
Goldie Lookin' Chain
The Coral
Queens of the Stone Age
The Killers
Pixies

Gemma was particularly excited about seeing the Pixies live as she is a huge fan. They came off the stage at 00:00 and we went back to the tents for another camp fire and a chat before going to bed at about 04:00.

On Saturday we got up and headed to the arena, on the way we walked passed someone dressed as a giant bottle of beer... We turned round to look at him and it was non-other than Adams brother, Luke! We couldn't believe it, but at the same time, not surprised either.

The bands we saw on the Saturday were:

Million Dead
Capdown
Hot Hot Heat
All American Rejects
Biffy Clyro
Razor Light
Kings of Leon
The Foo Fighters

The Foo Fighters were excellent and were my personal favorite of the festival. It was then back to camp for yet another fire and more drinking before going to bed at about 03:00

On the sunday I think everyone was looking forward to coming home to have a shower and their own beds. I offered to drive back Sunday night and not Monday morning like most people do. So Sunday went as followed:

We saw Funeral for a friend but then went back to camp to pack and get everything in my car except the tents. We then went back to the arena to see:

Iggy Pop and The stooges
Incubus
Marilyn Manson

Iron Maiden were headlining but no one really cared and just wanted to go home. We went back to finish packing, chatted to the people who were camped next to us for a bit (who always had a bigger fire than everyone else) and then started the long haul home.

Gemma was directing me from the back seat as there are, quite literally, no sign posts in Reading town centre apart from the ones telling you where the station is... Which didn't help me in the slightest. Fortunately, Gemma has a fantastic sense of direction and told me where to go.

I got home for 02:30 Monday (i.e. today) morning and got up at 11:00. It felt good to sleep on a mattress and to have a shower! I will post some pictures when I get the cameras back (I didn't risk taking my digital camera, I used disposable ones.)

Before I go I will say a big thankyou to Adam, Jo, John, and Gemma for a lovely weekend and for putting up with my antics (I can be a pain in the ass, but they seemed to manage ok)

Also, It is Kate's birthday today so Happy Birthday to her. I am going to Alton Towers tomorrow (I am driving! d'oh!) and I need to get her a card and a little present.

Right, thats me done. Check out Adams Blog and Johns Blog via my links section for more info' on our weekend in Reading and look out for pics' appearing very soon.

TTFN readers

Monster Jam!

Well today was a bit different. Me and my dad went to see MONSTER JAM! at the N.E.C.... The only problem was that it was on at the N.I.A...

... Shit.

Well with some creative driving my dad got us to the N.I.A just as the show started. From the carpark all I could here was a loud rumbling sound. By the time we got to the doors the noise was very loud and we were given ear defenders. We went in to the arena and I thought that my brain was going to melt. 6 Monster trucks were doing donuts in the centre of the floor and they were all at full revvs... Insatiny!

The 6 Trucks were:

Grave Digger
Madusa
Monster Mutt
Superman
El Toro Loco
Escalade

They did the usual car crushing, donuts, wheelies, for about an hour before letting everyone recover with a 10 minute interval. Then came about 20 minutes of scrambers. 3 riders on dirt bikes were doing freestyle jumps over ramps. They were very skilled riders and some of the moves they were doing seemed to defy gravity!

Then came an unusual announcement...

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls if you have ear defenders we urge you to put them in and cover your ears..."

Now this was odd, since nothing on earth could be any louder than the 6 trucks at full throttle, and no warning was given about them. The announcement continued...

"If you do not have any ear defenders we advise you to leave the arena, the sponsors of this event do not accept any liability for any harm that comes to anyone who does not follow the advise given in this announcement."

Now I was interested. I was about to ask father what he thought it could be when all of a sudden, the Earth exploded...



... At least it sounded like it did. What it actually was, was a jet powered car. Well I say "car" it was hardly any bigger than a Go-kart. It had a fancy carbon shell that lifted off and a whacking great big jet engine from a Harrier on the back of it! It started doing burns and firing the jet on what the guy called "mega-flame" (you can imagine what it looked like)
before tearing out of the arena on full throttle deliberately blowing several safety barriers out of the way with the jets thrust...

... Which was nice.

The guy on the microphone said its engine produced 2000 horse power and the car weighed only 150Kg. Its top speed was 280mph and it was fully road legal!

Then it was more monster trucks for another hour doing freestyle crushes and big wheelies. After the show we came home as the fumes had started to make my head hurt! (typical Americans "hey why dont we have this, like, big monster truck session in doors, and like, completely not think about sufficient ventilation...")

I am going to work in a bit so I will sign out.

TTFN readers.

Finished!!!

Howdy readers, well as you can see the plaque is finished. The text was a Bitch to get right but it turned out all right. I must point out that the white area you can see to the left of the grapes is just a slight reflection off the flash on the camera and isn't visible on the wood. I presented it to Derek and Helen at the legion and was given a big round of applause by everyone. It was a really nice feeling!

On a totaly unrelated topic, It was my dads birthday today and me and my sister got him a watch from Argos. Its quite nice, the face is a solar panel so it doesn't need a battery.

Well I am knackered so thats about all from me readers. night night!

Too Funny for words!

Just watch

I Blog, therefore I am.

Greetings and salutations readers. I feel the need to blog.

Well I did a bit more to that plaque I have been working on, and put the ground colour down for the bunch of grapes that sit to the left of the vine. Work on it has progressed slowly, but I told Derek that he could have it on Friday, so I had better get painting! I still have the text to do but at least it is now cut to shape. Pictures will follow at some point.

Thursday evening was quite uneventful. I should have been meeting Kate and Corrine in Solihull but Kate was ill so we have resheduled it for next week. I went with Lank to the Swan and met up with the usual crowd. We were sat outside and a good time was had by all.

On Friday at the Legion we had a new guy start so I am trainer/mentor for the poor lad. He works at Morgams (sorry, I mean "Mills") so he already recognises a few of our members.

Saturday afternoon I shot over to Carls house to borrow the Halo 2 expansion disk. The new maps are very good and I hope we can organise a 4-console system-link battle royal at some point.

The legion that night was a blast. The group on in the club were "Two-gether Duo" a husband and wife duet from Dudley and they are one of the best acts we get. They are a nice couple and their stage act is hilarious.

Right, that brings me to today, Sunday. I got up as usual and lounged around (As you do.) Had Sunday lunch, (As you do.) And shot off to work. (As only I do)

We were busier than usual because Wythall Carnival was on so all the people decided to come back to the Legion for a cheap pint. Sarahs, (who I work with) fiance (Nick) came in for a drink, but he ended up completely pissed and unable to drive home. We decided that if he went home with sarah in her car, then I could follow driving Nicks car and then Sarah could run me back to the Legion so that I could get my car and go home... So we did. Nick has a silver Escort which is quite nice to drive exept that it smells of fags.... Lovely (not!)

After work I had tea at my nans and came home for about 10:30.

I am hungry now so I will sign off... Over and Out.

He's inside your mind...

Brides of Chuckie

Greetings readers! Time for a quick update, me-thinks.

I got up today and went with Adam and Gemma in to Birmingham. Gemma had some old LP's that she wanted to get rid of... I say "some" it was more like "shit-loads" so me and Ad' were the hired muscles for the day. We offloaded them at Readintons Rare Records, thank god... I couldn't have carried them back to the car, my arms would have dropped off (I think they are slightly longer even now.)

We then went shopping... And bought bugger all. Gemma was being Adams "fashion guru" for the afternoon and I was.... well... sort of just there for no reason really, but thats beside the point. We didn't see anything adam liked so we came back. I went back to Ad's for a bit, for more Halo 2 before coming home to quickly get changed so that I could go back to Adams house so that we could go out for the evening after picking Jo up. We did the pub quiz at The Jug of Ale (our team name was "Brides of Chuckie") and came 16th out of 18 teams...

... Which is crap.

After we all went back to Jo's for a cup of tea before leaving at about 1am...

... I am now off to bed, because I am knackered. TTFN readers.

Question: What do you use to get Swarfega off your hands!?

Monday mornin'

Hello readers...

Well I got up this morning and shot over to Northfield to collect my grandad and head over to Faulkners Body Repairs to see about my bumper. They told me that it would probably be cheaper to get a second-hand one and get it sprayed to match. We shot over to a scrap yard which was ran by a trio of inbred, tea swigging, brainless goons. The conversation ran something like this:

Me: "Whatcha mate, I'm after a rear bumper for a '98 Mondeo, any colour, it don't matter."

Goon 1: *big swig of tea* "wha'?"

Me: "I've got a '98 Mondeo that needs a-"

Goon 2: "Nah we ain't got one"

Me: "Oh right, well do you get many in?

Goon 3: "We had one once... "

Goon 2: "Yeah..."

Me: "Right..... uh, ok.... cheers anyway lads"

All Goons: *incoherent mumbling*


Well after that I headed on home to get changed, grab some cash, and shoot over to Jennys because she had a day off work and wanted to go out somewhere. Being the perfect example of a gentleman (stop laughing) I said I would take her out for the day. We went to Anne Hathaways cottage over in Stratford (Just because neither of us had ever been.) We went round the cottage, went through a maze in the garden (oh christ, another maze!) and went round the shed which had some interesting facts about spades! (no, really!)

After leaving the cottage we went over to the Black Boy in Knowle for a spot of lunch. I had steak (like always) and I treated myself to a cheesecake for afters... Top grub! I dropped Jenny home, helped her water the flowers (ain't I sweet... It was a statement, not a question!)

I left Jen's at about 5-ish. I went home and watched Star-Trek before heading over to Adams house. Now the plan was to go and see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but that was put on hold because Gemma was busy and Jo had dissapeared off the face of the earth.

Me, Carl and Adams had an evening of childish behavior, that manifesting itself as a Halo 2 tournament.... Which I won. Now I know it is not exactly the most prestigious of awards but I was really kicking ass! I won every match and proved once and for all that I am a gaming geek... Fantastic.

Well I should be going to Brum with Adam tomorrow... Haven't been in a while so it should be interesting. I will blog all that happens.

TTFN readers.

"Buddies"

Click play, and then scroll down

Halo 2 trick

Check this out! I have never seen this before!

Halo 2 trick

See Ad' they aren't all bad..

I am so bored

I can't believe I am sat in my house not doing anything! I might phone Jo in a bit to see if she is doing anything. I have to get out of the house because it is really doing my head in. I have come to remember how awful daytime TV is and need a break.

Right. TTFN readers

You know you make me wanna shout!

Well it's all happening here readers. I have added a "Shout Box" to my side bar. You will have to scroll down to see it. In the shout box you can put in your name, type a short message, and post it. Feel free to shout about anything you want!

A spot of lunch.

Today I woke up feeling the effects of yesterday evening when Adam, Carl, Gemma, Jo, and myself went up to the Jug of Ale in Moseley. We had been to Becketts driving range before hand so we were feeling a bit thirsty. Carl and Gemma drove so, for once, I could have a drink.....

... So i did...

... I had 4 Guinness and blacks, and each pint was followed by a double Jack Daniels. This morning my body was a muddle of dehydration and mild alchohol poisoning. I cleared this up by having breakfast... So I had 3 bowls of Kellogs crunchy nut corn flakes. I then received a text message off Gemma asking me if I would like to "do" lunch. Since it has been a while since I met an attractive young lady to take to lunch I agreed. We met in the White Swan and I bought both of ours (See, I can be quite the gentleman at times, mind you, £2.99 for a carvery! Can't go wrong!) Serving the carvery was a chap who looked just like frank spencer (ooh, Betty) but he was very loud and over-chatty with all the pensioners.

Afterwards, Gemma had to get back to work and I came home. I remembered that yesterday the subject of school plays came up so I dug out "Beauty and the Beast" which was my big acting debut.... Sort of. I was "Ugly sister 2" and was in full drag. I made a note of who's who in the play and will lend it to Gemma or Jo at some point so that they can have a laugh at my expense. It really is funny watching me and Lank parade around in drag, arguing over a hat! Most of our lines were Ad-libbed so it was never the same twice! Ah... Happy days... Although if you think about it, what type of school makes two 8 year old boys perform a drag act?

Right. Thats enough for now readers. TTFN.

Question: If you put a bird in a wind tunnel, would it stay still in mid air?

I'm all set for the festival

Look what came for me this afternoon...

100th Post!

Yes readers. this is my 100th posted entry. Now I realise that people like Mr Robinson have achieved this milestone eons ago but I felt that I ought to mention it non the less. Gemma sent me a message earlier saying that she couldn't get a half day off work so we couldn't go and get her navel pierced. She will go next thursday, so I will be on hand to assist in any way possible. I phoned Jo today to ask her how her holiday went. The phone rang out, then I heard someone pick up and then turn the phone off.... I was most shocked. I have tried calling three times since and the phone is still switched off... She should be coming out later with the gang so I will ask her then what was going on... Well thats my day... Oh I have started work on a painting for a couple at the Legion who are moving to Greece. They want the name of their house (which is "Vine View Villa") on a wooden plaque. The couple in question is Derek and Helen who used to run the off licence next to the chemists by Morgam News (for those of you who know wythall.) They are a great couple and I am honoured that a piece of my work will be on display on the side of their new home. I have only just begun it so here is a sample of what will be the lower left section...

After it is all painted (The text at the top will be the most difficult) It will be cut into a wiggly type shape and sealed with a soft varnish. It should look really nice.

Well thats about it for today readers. TTFN