Train Reloaded

Weeeee I’m tilting. Yup I’m back on a train and this time not the fast one……this time it’s the tortoise express going via fucking Wales arriving at 1am. Still at least I’m doing around 120mph tilting past Watford Junction’s Tesco. Doesn’t really make up for the fact that I wont be able to stand when its all over due to a combination of no leg room and a stifling heat when you pack 150 people together on a train with no air-con and heaters on your feet. Fucking jokers! And I pay for the privilege. Still anything’s better than the coach to and from London to Manchester. Especially if National Express have anything to do with it. Humm that last bit may be a little black for some people but I think I’ll leave it to show what a warped sense of humour I have. In-fact that sentence might offend people too but what the hell this is the internet. The home of execution videos, hardcore porn and kittens getting kicked like a small fire that won’t go out. One of those I’ve mentioned before (as all my avid blog followers will know) and I’ll leave you to guess which one of the aforementioned videos I have no problem with. If you didn’t understand any of the above then you don’t watch enough of the news or more than likely understand my humour. You’re the kind of person who necessitated the invention of the “don’t know” box on questionnaires. You’d make your family proud, if only you could remember who they are.
Blog fans may have notice a marked increase in the frequency of my ramblings. This is due to the insane amount of travelling I think I may be undergoing the next few weeks /months. It’s not like I actually have the money for a life on the road visiting new places, but the way I figure it, it’s either now or never seeing as lots of people finish their degrees in a few months. My reasoning is that it’s significantly cheaper to go anywhere when you can rely on a free couch instead of a hotel room to spend the night. Plus life as a hobo spending nights on the streets is not everything its cracked up to be!
So why am I on a train today? Well last blog was the departing train and this is the return journey from Manchester to London for my week of fun. I think it deserves a little debrief to inform my massive 6 man readership of the weeks events. Wednesday was the end of exams and as such I got rather drunk at the expense of some poor bastard sitting next to me, who no doubt was thinking “who is this dirty hobo sitting next to me” while I smiled at him on the train stinking of booze and falling asleep at 6 in the afternoon. We’ve all been there when some mental case was violating your personal space and looking increasingly likely to hurl. This time it was me. Disappointingly he got off (or more likely went to find a better seat,) early on in the journey so he missed my slow recovery back to soberdom. But I digress.
Wednesday night was a write off as so much as partying was concerned which was to be expected considering I was just entering the hangover stage as I got into bed. Thursday morning I spent in bed recovering from the previous afternoon (yeah I’m losing the touch) but the afternoon I spent in the science museum. Now I hear a collective groan from all 6 of my readers as they come to the conclusion I’m a real sad bastard but I can redeem myself. Actually maybe not completely (as it’s still quite geeky,) but me and Lyd spent the entire afternoon playing on console games from all through the ages. That includes the original space invaders and Pacman right through to a PS3 and Wii all on massive screens or in the original cabinets. It was awesome! Having played on them all I can quite honestly say I must be a modern gamer as I just enjoyed the newer games much more. Ridge racer was good, but it’s doomed to the bin once you play PGR3. Similarly, and I even amazed myself, the PS3 seems stupid once you’ve played a Wii. After looking at what I wanted from a console, and playing them all at once in the space of an afternoon, I can honestly say I had the most fun on the Wii. I remember reading that the queues at trade shows were massive for the Wii and smaller for the PS3 and I remember wondering why it was that way around. After playing it for a massive 10minutes I think I can sum up why. Console gaming is all about multiplayer and having fun with your mates. The Wii does that without even trying. Plus it appeals to Women and any console that can tempt Lydia to spend an entire afternoon surrounded by consoles is onto a sure fire winner.
The evening was spent a few tube stops further south in the weatherspoons via a movie at the AMC. I went to see Babel and without wasting anyone’s time (just as this movie wasted mine), it completely and utterly blows. Tries to be complicated just for the sake of complicatedness and it just ends up as a loosely connected piece of shit. Don’t get me wrong I can watch a movie with no plot, and no direction and still enjoy it (most Arnie films spring to mind), but I hate films that set out to be arty and just end up being shit while hiding behind this pretence of “art doesn’t need to be entertaining”. Was still a good night though as I enjoyed spending time with Lyd even if she did like the film.
Friday was spent nursing another hangover and then doing the bills/rent while Lydia was in lectures. Not fun. What was fun though was the house party of one of Lydia’s course friends (who had joined us for the trip to the museum), where I’m ashamed to say I got completely legless for a 3rd night in a row. It’s a given fact that on any occasion where you know absolutely nobody you have to consume 2 bottles of wine pre-greets. Or is that just me? Facebook photos haven’t surfaced and it’s been over 48 hours so I think I managed to stay below the radar. Lydia didn’t fare too well though and a few photos of her covered in candle wax have slipped in to the world wide net.
Saturday was spent nursing another hangover (I do hope my mum doesn’t read this) and then I spent the rest of the day bumming around doing very, very little except a little bit of shopping and another trip to the pub to watch Man United. 4 pints later and now well on the way to a 4th night of mayhem me and Lydia went to Yo Sushi! which was a new experience for me. Little plates of sushi go round on a conveyor belt and then you just pick the one you want and pay for them at the end. Not my kind of food but very novel and a great place for all you singletons to take a date. Thankfully the beer had stopped flowing so I managed a night without stumbling to find the bed.
Sunday was maybe the longest day ever. Even though I had gone to bed early and managed to avoid beer I still felt like shit in the morning because Lydia had decided that anything that made me warm was a banned item and in particular duvets. Since we had to be up early for the Forest-Chelsea match I also missed out on the usual 3 hours proper sleep I get when Lydia does her morning things. None the less when Alex phoned me at 11ish to let me know he was at Wembley and would be at Chelsea in 45min. Disgracefully I was still in boxers just about to get a shower so time was going to be an issue. After dashing in a shower and finding some semi-clean clothes not covered in beer or smoke from the previous nights we made our way to Fulham Broadway underground station next to Stamford Bridge where me and Lyd met Alex, Admag and Lamberto for some pre-game beers. Despite having no breakfast and beer costing a stupid £3.20 a pint I had put 4 away in an hour and was singing with the best of them before the other guys had to leave to find their seats. Jealous. I know I was. Unfortunately Forest lost 3-0 in what I can only describe as a whitewash first half, followed by a much better and resilient performance in the second where we looked equal to the task. Had some fun banter with the Chelsea fans though who had some interesting stuff to say about their current success and performances. I guess there are half decent fans for all clubs no matter what crap happens at the top. To counter the disappointment and also appease Lydia who had put up with my shouting and screaming at a TV in a Chelsea pub, we hit Piccadilly Circus for some retail therapy, where I bought a new hoodie and combat trousers in the 45min before the shops shut. This is despite the fact that we never went in a shop I would choose. Hell I didn’t know Zara even had a men’s section till a few months back and now I own loads of their stuff.
That’s basically my weekend in full and the train is now half way through its journey. We could be anywhere right now but we’re still tilting to the right except now the guy opposite is dribbling on himself in a state of sleep I can only assume is enjoyable. Hopefully it’ll tilt to the left soon and he can make equal wet patches on his shirt. It might even pass for fashion if it’s anything like the things I saw in Zara earlier.
Till next time
Sam out.

Posted by Sam Posted in: General No Comments » January 2007

Trains = Blogs

I give you one chance to guess where I’m typing this right now……………..yup I’m on a train again. I think the reason I type so many blogs on the train is because I can write a massive essay and not feel guilty about the fact that I’ve done no other work, whether it be Uni or other work. The train is the time when whatever I do, it is still a valid and good use of time, otherwise it would be wasted just sitting here.
Actually right now I’m pretty drunk. The reason………exams are finished. Get in! I have officially finished all the January exams and am now attempting to make up for the 2 weeks of misery by drowning it all with my particular weapon of choice, Carling. Anyway I’m on the train because I’m on the way to Lydias for a no bars, fun filled and extravagant weekend with lots of fun. Did I mention fun? I plan on completely forgetting the fact that I’m failing my degree by spending time with the person who makes me feel like I actually belong. Plus I think it could actually be a great weekend since the time between actually finishing exams, and the time term starts, are completely free of commitments and it’s a real chance to forget any problems you have with life in general. Not that I’m struggling with life, its just not quite as easy as it was a few years ago. Bring back the old days. I think I see why old people are always reminiscing about the past. Its not society in general they are moaning about, more the fact that they now have a complicated and strings attached life with commitments. Fortunately I still love my commitment so I’m winning that battle. In-fact I can honestly say I am probably the most happy I have ever been in recent memory, even if my life is starting to get complicated and more than a little bit scary.
Thankfully I’m starting to sober up right now because I can safely say the last few paragraphs’ needed a heavy dose of the spell checker to make them legible. Don’t worry alcohol fans, virgin trains have carling on board so I should have a beer in hand next time I get up. Even if it does cost £2 fucking 90p for a can.
I guess since I finished the exams I should really do a post mortem on how I think they went. I guess the phrase ‘fail’ sums it up. Not fail in the respect I have no degree, but fail to the fact I am looking at lower than a 2.1. I think id happily settle for a 2.2 at this present moment! The leap between a 2.2 and a 2.1 requires a level of work and commitment I just don’t think I’m capable of. Anyway to summarise I think I’m looking at about 50 – 60 % per module. I guess we’ll see in a few weeks.
Apart from the exams I have been trying to get into some more obscure music and actually listen to the immense amount of music (55GB at last count), that I have stored on my hard drive. I’m currently listening to the black rebel motorcycle club and can honestly say I think they are one of the best bands I have ever heard. Scary to think that I didn’t really know them until about a week ago, and even scarier is the amount of good music out there that needs to be discovered. It’s definitely a mission I’m willing to undertake.
I have also taken the liberty of arranging to go see England Vs Spain on 7th Feb at old Trafford so I’m really looking forward to that. I haven’t ever been to an England match and a trip to old Trafford is exciting in itself. Talking of which Nottingham Forest are taking on the mighty Chelsea while I’m in London village, so I am nervously looking forward to cheering the reds on while I drink in Chelsea fans back yard. If you don’t hear from me in a month I’m swimming at the bottom of the Thames. Now where’s that carling?
Till next time
Sam

Posted by Sam Posted in: General No Comments » January 2007

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