Friday, June 30, 2006

Rogues Gallery

Well readers, as I promised, here are some of the photo's from my London visit last Saturday. I hope you enjoy...


Here we have Ayrton Senna. The F1 suit was really one of Sennas' own!


It's Shrek! Oh, no hang on... It's just Wayne!


Madam Tussauds has very upper-class doormen. I'm paying Robin Williams to get in! (and Steven Speilberg is watching me!)




I think this is the best photo I took. It's Mr Freddie Mercury.


... And Gary Linekar

This is Albert Einstein. He was cleverer than me... In fact, this Model of him is probably cleverer than me!


The Beatles. Not everyone's cup of tea but I'm a fan and so is my mum!


Here we see that famous unstoppable killing machine standing next to the Terminator.

I said in my last post the Jenny had never seen Nelsons Column before and still hadn't because it was decked in scaffolding.... Here's the picture to prove it!

On the way back to the station we came accross St. Pauls. Its entire front was a canvas hiding the building work that was being done to it... Honestly, London must be the only building site with it's own airport!

There are more photos to come readers. Adam and Jenny have a selection which I will put up as soon as possible.

Oh, just before I go, Selena is hard at work practicing new techniques to acheive a new power level... Check back soon for more info!

TTFN Readers

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

House of wax...

Hello readers, and welcome to another spiffing update.

During the middle of last week it was suggested by Adam that we take a trip to London at the weekend. We managed to sort out the details (with thanks to Jenny for getting the train prices worked out!) and decided to do it.

Me and Jenny met Adam, Carl, and Marcus at Solihull station on Saturday morning. We hopped on the train bound for Marylebone at 9:05 and started working out what we would like to do when we got there. We decided that we would go round Madamme Tussauds, visit Buckingham palace, and go round the Tate Modern.

We got in to Marylebone at 11:00 and set straight off down the roads for Tussauds. As we walked past one of the many cafes I heard a voice shout "Good Grief! It's Gareth Evans!" I turned ound to find Alison from Solihull College sitting at a table. She was my textiles and printmaking tutor when I was doing the GNVQ... Unbelievable! After a brief chat we continued on our way...


Unfortunately everyone in London had the same idea, that day, so we joined the rather long queue to get in. After an hour of waiting we were at the front and used two vouchers that we had aquired before the trip, to get in.

We spent ages looking round the film stars, the historical figures, the sports stars, and the chamber of horrors, which now includes a "live" section featuring dummies and live actors, just to scare the shit out of you. I have quite a few photos but I will post them as a seperate entry. This will also give me time to get hold of Adams pictures, since he has a few good ones as well. (watch this space!)

After we left Madamme Tussauds, we started the trek across London. We hiked down Carnaby Street, and Oxford Street, went passed the Embassies (to which Adam asks "Where's the British Embassy?") and down to Trafalgar Square. Jenny had never seen Nelsons Column before and still hasn't... Because when we got there we discovered that it was having structural work done to it and was clad in scaffolding and canvas!

Typical!

After sitting by the fountain for a while we headed off towards Buckingham Palace. We watched the guards ponce about for a while and then set about walking down towards the Tate, taking time to have a look at Parliament, Westminster, and St. Pauls. It was a damn good thing Marcus was with us because we would have probably ended up hiking for twice as long. (He knows London like the back of his hand.)

We spent hours looking at all the famous, and not so famous, art works in the Tate. Adam only wanted to go to take the piss out of the more conceptual pieces! I tried explaining to him about the concept of modern art but he was as blind as he could be... Honestly, He'll never make it as a critic!

We decided that, after the Tate, we should start making our way back. Being that no one wanted to hike all the way back, we got the Tube from outside St. Pauls, switching at Oxford Streed to take us back up to Marylebone. Or at least thats how we planned it...

we could hear the train we needed pulling in to the platform as we came down the stairs... So we started running... Marcus followed by Jenny, then me, Adam, and Carl... As i dashed round the corner a few seconds behind, I could see Marcus and Jen' already on the next train, with the doors just starting to close.....

So I performed what will probably be the closest thing to an Indiana Jones stunt that I will ever perform...

I jumped.

I will say it again for you, readers, I jumped... Nay "Flew" on to that train.

As I was running towards it the doors were just starting to move so I just leapt forwards. The result was me just fitting in between the gap in the doors, in mid-air may I add, a split second before they came together. As I landed I created a rather loud thud, which made a lady who was quietly reading a newspaper just to the right of the doors, jump out of her skin. Marcus and Jen' were doubled up with laughter, and it took a few seconds to realise that what I had just done could, if I had timed it wrong, left me with either a sore nose, or being pinned in the doors of a moving tube train! In any case it felt strangely exhilirating, made even more so by the fact that as I turned round I could see Adams and Carls astonished faces just outside the train! They couldn't believe that they would have to wait for the next one... Then Marcus asked "Do they know where to get off at?"

Oh Bollocks!

Well as it turned out, yes they did. We waited on the platform at Oxford Street for their arrival. We got the conncecting train up to Marylebone, but got off at Baker Street for something to eat. We dived in to Pizza Hut for a... well... Pizza and a drink.

We headed up to Marylebone at about 9:00pm and said Goodbye to Marcus, who was staying over at a mate's house. We got on the train and sped back to Solihull for just gone midnight.

We discussed going back next month to do the London Dungeons and the London Eye.

When I got home I went straight to bed!

On Sunday I got up late and phoned Kate and Jenny to see what they were doing for the Football. Kate picked me and Jenny up and we had a drink at the Lifford Curve in Kings Heath. It got a bit rowdy, though so at half time we headed back to Jenny's house for the second half.

In the evening I went to my Aunty Jans for tea. She had done Chilli which rounded off my weekend quite nicely!

That's it for now. Check back for the London pictures. I will see you all soon!

TTFN readers.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Ka-me-ha-me-haaaa!


Well readers... Looks like Selena has a new trick up her sleeve! I'd better watch out now that she has a new power level. But can she surpass this new power? Only time will tell...

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

She's leavin' on a jet plane...


Hello readers and welcome to a very special blog. This Saturday my rather good friend and all-round fun-to-be-with drinking buddy, Donna, will be flying out to America for 4 months to work as part of the Camp America scheme. Now 4 months is a fairly long time and so I thought I would take this opportunity to use my blog site to spread some joy (well, once in a while wont hurt) by wishing her the very best. While she isn't quite sure about what type of camp she will be working in, I am sure that she will be an asset to the team she is assigned to.

Now Donna, if you definitely have internet access whilst out there, then you can leave a message any time you like using my shout box, and I will keep a healthy log of events for you here in the UK so that you can keep up to date on our little group.

I think I can safely say on behalf of everyone that the next 4 months worth of Thursday evenings, or indeed any time without you, just wont be half as good.

(Just don't break any computers while your out there... I won't be on call-out!)

Oh and always, always remember that if you ever feel down, or homesick, you can look for this post using the archive list and scroll down to the bottom to cheer yourself up...

All the best, my little cherry-muffin and Bye Bye -x-











Balloon!


Monday, June 05, 2006

holidays, oh holidays

sHello readers, 'tis I. I really must appologise for not updating.

Well where to begin. School has been hectic because the GCSE's have started and so everyone is on over-drive. Half term couldn't come fast enough and so Carl, John, and I, decided to make something of it. Carl needed to move all of his stuff out of his university room in Plymouth. He came back on the train to borrow his dads car, and took me and John with him to give him a hand. Carls dads car is a new style Ford Mondeo estate ST TDCi. 2.5 litre turbo-diesel producing 220bhp. It is a nice car! We got through to Bristol and Carl asked me if I would like to drive the rest of the way. I gladly accepted and set off along the rest of the M5, picking up the A38 in to Plymouth. Very nice car to drive and bloody quick...


We got in to Carls room at about 4:00pm and unpacked. After the tour (all 30 seconds of it) and chatting we decided to go and have something to eat. We walked round the shops and came to rest in the local Indian restaurant. I had a chicken Tikka Balti, John has a bright red bowl of goo and Carl had a "Meat" curry...

... The meat was not specified.

After the meal we found a nice lively bar to have a few pints in. At around midnight John pointed out of the window at two people who looked remarkably like Jay & Silent Bob.

We left the bar at about 1:am. Walking back to the Uni' we came across a childerens play area in the main pedestrianised street and this was the result...

















Here we see john showing us that he really, really could do the Krypton Factor. After getting back we had a chat in the kitchen area where I took this photo...
















Here we see john again, being manipulated by my magical remote control unit (the pixies gave it to me, they did!)

After much folly (and some of johns photography) we retired to the sleeping quarters which were kept in a neat condition. This is a picture of what it looked like after we decided to get ready for bed.
















Lovely. It was "lights out" at around 2:30am. John was having difficulty with his sleeping bag. After about 10 minutes of "oh for bloody-hell..." "what the f..." and a series of bumps, knocks, and crashes, I finally heard him give up the fight with a "Oh... Shhhhit!"

All of a sudden the lights came back on and this is what I saw...
















My first thought was "what did he use to turn the light on?" but I chose not to ask... Just in case I didn't like the answer!

We awoke earlyish on Sunday ready to make a start with the clearing of Carls room. After a hearty breakfast of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes we set to work. Carl needed some boxes to get all his stuff in so we went down to the local Staples store.

This is what we found...
















Very good value, I think. I'd expect to pay way more than that for a bimbo under my bed!
All joking apart this is the name of a type of stackable box. Use the link and search the staples web-site!

It took the best part of 3 hours to sort, box, and load everything in to the car. We took a break at about 3:30pm to grab a coffee (Nestle EXTREME roast!) I noticed a sign of the wall in the kitchen which read...
















Actually readers, I lie... There was a piece above that which said "Do not throw objects out of the windows" but it could just have well have said "Buggery" anyway it made me laugh...

Whilst we were pratting around, I took a snapshot of Carl which will be forever remembered...


***WARNING***
Shock image alert!
unsuitable for people suffering with a nervous disposition
Scroll down to view





























This photo has got to be one of the strangest I have ever taken. Those "breasts" are actually camping lights.....

All together now...

"Danger, danger... High Voltage!"

Ah Carl... Will you never cease to amaze us?


We got on the road at 6:00pm and I drove to Bristol, swapping with Carl at a services so that he could drive home. We got back to Birmingham at 9:00 so we went for a quick drink.

I inadvertantly left my sunglasses in the car.... Actually I will have to get those back!

Well that was the weekend... On Wednesday I got bored so me and Adam went in to Solihull to trade our Xboxes (plus Adams PS2) at the Computer Exchange. With the money I brought an Xbox 360! (and then wrote adam a cheque for the balance of his consoles, obviously.)

I got a premium package for £260! with the consoles coming in at £252, I paid £7.00 for the system. I bought Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WW2 and the collectors edition of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Which makes Morrowind look like a badly made, scrotum covered, gay-boy piece of crap. (which I always thought it was!)

I have, therefore spent most of my half-term holiday playing it and have developed an allergy to sunlight!

Tea is ready..... And I'm off to see X Men 3 in a bit so I will sign off....

TTFN readers!