Tuesday, 5 May 2009

A bit of this.. A bit of that...

I have recently returned from a trip to the big smoke... It was fun but am now missing a coat.

I popped in to the local Howies Store on Carnegie street, and wandered around. Not for long. The shop is tidgy. If I wandered for more than two minutes you would have got very strange looks. Anyway.. I have a Howies coat. That used to be black. Is now grey. So I asked if they cold do anything. They couldn't. Not straight away anyway. They said.. Gimme the coat. We will send it back. We don't even know what colour it is it's that faded. I said ok, send it back, see what happens. I left the shop. It rained. Great.

Myself and Larry went out for some beers the other night. Some of that strong poisonous Sam Smiths lager. We had 4. That's all you need. If you want to live through the night anyway. We both went to the bus station to get the bus (surprise surprise) home. Whilst we were there, we decided to design a secret (rather simple) handshake. As we were doing this Larrys bus came. And went. So he ran out of the bus station banging on the side of the bus door. Saying I'm sure something polite like 'Please sir, would you kindly open the door so that I may travel on your beastie machine'. The bus driver, obviously taking offense at this kind of crazy english which included no swears or grunts, ignored him and drive off. Funny. For me. Don't ever learn a handshake at the bus station and always swear at bus drivers. It's what they know.

My cat yesterday thought it was being clever on the window walking about whilst the window was open. Oh very clever cat. It then walked outside to the outside of the window. You are so clever cat. Then cat thought, I wonder if I can fall off this. Yes you can. Clever clever cat. Fell one storey. Looked up like it was my fault.

Saturday, 28 March 2009

A tale of two burgers...

This is a story from a few weeks ago.. It's not exciting, but I have wrote in a while. It is the story of two experiences of burger ordering.

Burger 1.

I went to a local pub for some food and a drink. Order my drink. It was a coke. I was being healthy. So I ordered a burger. A nice lamb burger with cheese. I asked if cheese on a lamb burger was a good idea. I wasn't too sure. The lady looked at me in a 'Do I give a f*ck way'. I got cheese.

Anyway, burger came, I was excited. Took the lid of the ciabatta (stale bread actually), to discover no meat. However, I didn't immediately say.. Oi there is no meat in this burger. Instead, being the typical brit decided it must be my fault, I'm not looking hard enough. I couldn't complain, only to find a very small bit of meat somewhere and have everyone embarrassed. That would be insane. So I started digging through the salad on on the bread, trying to see if the burger was hidden under a piece of tomato or something... This obviously caught the attention of the staff. Who confirmed there wasn't a mini burger hidden under some lettuce and said it must have been missed. Phew...

This however also caught the attention of the locals sat at the bar. They loved the fact that the chef had made this terrible mistake. And talked about it throughout the rest of the evening. Telling each person who came in, telling them that I had been served a salad sandwich and how crazy it was. Each time asking me if I liked salad sandwiches. This lasted hours!! The exciting nights you can have sat at a bar.

The burger did eventually come avec meat... I daren't tell them the cheese was missing.

The other story is of a burger from the Gourmet Burger Kithen.

A few things of note here. One brought up by my friend. My friend Larry is one of those strange vegi types. So he wanted a vegi burger. There is a very limited vegi burger option on the menu. About 4 burgers. But he said. Why can't there be exactly the same as the meat burger menu, replacing the meat with a vegi burger. Very good question. One I fear will never be answered.

The other thing to note is that GBK is essentially a very expensive Wimpy. You have to go up to the counter and order, just like Wimpy, and you get knife and fork. Just like Wimpy. You also get them in most major resteraunts unless you go to Bradford or something. The one major difference is you don't get fries. You have to buy them seperate. This is quite annoying. Burgers should come with chips in a resteraunt. It should be the law. So instead you end up paying a tenner for a burger and £4 for fries. Insanity. Burger came though, complete with meat. It was good.

The only way this evening could have been bettered was to meat (geddit) someone from Sum41 in a pub... And I did. Insane.

Saturday, 14 March 2009

I spy...

On Friday I went out with a few friends.. the destination.. the 80's.. in a pub. But first we went to a guys house to have a few beers...

First off though.. we went to more reasons to get some drink. At 28 I still find myself looking for the cheapest vodka..the kind of stuff you wouldn't give to a 15 year old in the streets begging for a 'drink please mister' in fear of it burning through their stomach.

Anyway. Drink bought. Went for a mid range brand. Gotta be careful at my age. We went over to the guys flat to have a few pre going out drinks. Got to the flat. Very nice. 6th floor. Looks out over surprise surprise, more flats. But it is nice. Quite how cool I didn't figure out until a bit later on.

The thing to do these days whilst round at people houses/flats is to play guitar hero. Especially if you are getting on a bit and secretly think you're a rock star. This story is going somewhere by the way. No where great. Just somewhere.

So there we are playing. 2 on guitar and one on drums. 2 drinks later everyone is fighting over the mic to sing. No one wanted to do Michael Jackson. So, we're in the middle of this song, when the beauty of living in a flat opposite other flats hits me. Whilst rocking, looking pretty cool I reckon, I notice, from the corner of my eye, a light go on. Followed by a lady getting ready for a shower I imagine. I magined other things too. The guy who owned the place obviously aware of the perks of this, quickly pulled out his binoculars to get a closer look! You obviously run the risk of being caught with these as, the lights are on full, so it's jsut as easy to see us as it is us seeing them. We were all in rock stances which quickly turned to clambering over one another looking out of the window. So the only obvious thing to do is ditch the lights and sit like giggling girls trying to sneak a peak.

The thing is.. on closer inspection, I was wrong. It was a man. The mic was put away and we all fought for the drums in an effort to be a man. I don't think we will speak of the event again.

Tuesday, 10 March 2009

Question time

A few things that have been running around my mind for a while...

Why do fat people buy large big mac meals but get a diet coke?

Why do fat people buy small cars?

Why do we keep cleaning stuffs under the sink? Everyone know that's where we put it.. but why?

Why do we grow older and start claiming on a pension when we are less able to use the money coz we are on the way out. I think I would prefer the money up front, enjoy it, and then work 'til the end...

Why does Larry go to a strip bar, pay £120 on a dance and then throw up on them? :-)

Why does Larry then mail the place and ask for his money back minus cost of cleaning the sick up? This is genius by the way.

The answer must be, that we are all idiots. But what a great set of idiots we are.

Usual service will continue in the next post.

Saturday, 28 February 2009

Pia Pia Pianooooo.....la

A friend came to see me the other day looking very embarrassed...

He said..I have a Pianola..... A Pianola I said.. Looking at him becoming a little uncomfortable.. Yep.. A Pianola.. How did this happen...

The person who I shall call Statler in this story (who is good friends with Waldorf) had one too many beers the other night. And he did what is the only thing worst than drink dialing. E Baying under the influence.

He was looking for a keyboard to put in to his vast music instrument collection.. and came across a Pianola going for £120. His mind at the time said. Wow what a bargain. Imagine that. A piano that plays itself...

He pictured himself in his mind.. hosting a grand dinner party with 'what what what' chaps talking stocks and shares and wotnot... he would quaff a drink and jump on his pianola.. stretch his fingers.. and pretend to play a top Austrian folk song.. the only song that is programmed in to the thing.....

He placed his bid and went to bed. In the morning he was greeted with. Congratulations! You have won your item! What item he thought. A Pianola.

It was at this point he thought. Shit. How big is this thing? How heavy is it? Where the hell am I getting it from? How much have I spent on an Austrian folk jukebox? And I'm such a tosser.

This is the answer to these questions. It's BIG. Bigger than a normal piano because it has bellows in the back. You have to pump the thing with your feet to make it work. And these huge stupid fans flap about playing the keys. Cool eh.

How heavy is it. VERY HEAVY. It has an iron frame inside to support all the stupid fans. So unlike a normal piano it's heavier and bigger. All great news for Statler.

Oh and it's in London. (for info he lives very far away from London)

He asked for the exact dimensions. It won't fit in his house. Well it probably would. But he can't turn it around any of the corners to get it in. So he considered knocking his next door neighbours fence down to get it in through the back. He thought if he did it. And flew past the neighbours window playing an Austrian folk song.. the guy in the house might think he was dreaming or something. It's not like someone shoots through your back garden playing strange music waving at you whilst going past and not dropping a note. So this plan was almost sure to work.

There was one final hurdle though. His girl friend. Statler has now told the Pianola seller he can't have it and has sacrificed his 100% feedback.

The morale of the story. Don't tell your girl friend about your eBay purchases.

Sunday, 22 February 2009

I am Robot

I went for a walk last week and it was cold so had to wear gloves. Need to keep those hands comfortable.

Anyway as I was walking around, to entertain myself I started pulling my hand out of the glove and up my sleeve, and have people touch it to find an empty glove. It just got strange looks rather than the arrr he has no hand thing I was hoping for.

So I stepped up my plan and decided to pretend to have a robot hand... or a prosthetic hand that couldn't move. So I started off simple by just not moving it but over moving the other. And hope for some strange reason that people from 20 yards away would notice my static hand.

I thought it wasn't obvious enough so then pretended to lean on the hand (but secretly put no weight on it) in it's permanent unclenched fake hand shape... hoping then that people would think.. woah.. he has a fake hand.. just look at that! He is putting the whole weight of his body on his pinky.

I have no idea why I did any of this. Maybe I should speak with someone. I'm quite sure no one was interested in my robot hand.

I also wrote a song called Zuma Muma. Strange day.

Thursday, 19 February 2009

Writers block

I have hit the difficult 4th blog post. The one that evades you for days.. So much so that you are thinking in bed, for something interesting or remotely funny to say to the world.

It starts off on the first day and you think.. nah.. it's ok. I can do this. I have loads to say.. 15 mins ago I thought of loads to say. Then you boot the lappy up and are stuck. Anyway.. this has continued.. for quite a few days and am still stuck.

So all I have is this:

I was once head butted by a giraffe and knocked out.

Friday, 13 February 2009

Scatter this....

Last night I saw Alkaline Trio.. Review.. Good but not great. Where has all his hair gone?

\review

Tomorrow I am off to visit the place we scattered my grandma (don't worry this is not a sad story) as it is her first birthday we have been without her... This made me think back to the day the scattering was done.. Please don't think this is being disrespectful in anyway. It's just my take on the day.

This story may seem strange to you because I guess scattering someone is meant to be... I dunno really what it's meant to be.. But this is what it was like for me...

We went to scatter.. At a river.. which I'm not sure is legal to start with so we were trying to be surreptitious.. Which is difficult considering you are carrying an urn... In a M&S bag... Which was just strange from the off... SO we start looking for a place to do the deed. There was about 6 or 7 of us. all following this mystical plastic bag like it had the answer to WHY in it.

After ruling out random spots because of fishermen.. dumped mattress's or too many nettles we decided on a place to do the deed. So.. you stand there wondering if there is something you should say as you break off the lid to the urn... But at this point you're just thinking.. jeez I hope no one is looking.. and what if we get caught.. what are they gonna say.. Errr can you stop scattering your grandmother??

So anyway... lid came off and a few people grabbed a bit... which inevitably got caught by the wind.. SO there you are holding your breath in fear you ingest some... After the Grandma cloud went away the official scattering began. Quite controlled at first. You know.. Each person getting a handfull..( here have a handfull of grandma).. you get a bit fed up of this approach eventually because believe it or not.. there is a lot to go around... Loads in fact. So you start to pour it it out in to the river. But then you start getting clumps. And instead of it going away nicely.. A big clump gets caught in the water in a current that is circling around and around... So you get a stick and try swishing the water... So what is meant to be a nice memorable occasion has turned in to an undercover.. quick hide her.. kind of thing.

Do you know how insane this all sounds... And it all happened..!!

I wonder if other peoples scatterings went as well... That's all..

Tuesday, 10 February 2009

Cream Crackered...!

A few things to let you (who) know about...

Saw Ray Lamontagne on Saturday. What a guy. Very shy and very talented. Also supported by an awesome girl Called Priscilla Ahn... She is very good and very funny.

She had a sad story about a dog and a gun though.

Things have been uneventful until today when a few of us tried to break the world record for eating cream crackers... Apparantly some guy has eaten 3 in 14ish seconds.. Doesn't sound too hard.

It is.

On my first attempt after trying 3 crackers in one go it almost killed me. It was the wrong approach. It also took almost 2 minutes. Eating crackers is strange. You have to force your mouth to swallow. It's not like normal food at all.. where swallowing happens naturally.

Other approaches as tried by my mates were the 'break it up and eat' technique and the 'I'm a hamster nibble nibble nibble ' approach. Both were rubbish.

I will try again tomorrow.

Saturday, 7 February 2009

The start...

I'm not sure of many things in this life. So to start I'm going to clear up what I think a blob should be... for me anyway. I obviously meant blog. A blob could be anything.

I could have just gone back and deleted that, but I have a laptop.. I'm laid down and would have to re-ajust my body to either get to the mouse or get to the arrow keys to get to the word to delete it... If you ever typed on a laptop laid down you would understand... Anyway...

A blog... Is this meant to be an account of my day to day activities? Can I embelish on the truth? Is it fact or fiction? All these questions came to my mind whilst visiting the toilet. I slipped and cracked my head... And I drew down what I saw... It wasn't a flux capacitor.

So this is going to be my account of things that happen to me and to people I know. I will maybe jazz up the boring parts.. Like for breakfast I had cheerios instead of bran flakes.. You get the idea.

So to start I'll tell you what happened last night. That's always a good place to begin..

My friend came over to hang out for the evening. I was ordered to supply the alcohol. The plan was to drink, eat pizza and get through Back to the Future parts 1-3. My friend is a big fan of BTTF... which I always knew.. I didn't know he would quote every line before the actors said it... This was fun for the first film. But it started to wear thin. Did I mention that loads of naked cheer leaders stormed down my front door inbetween movies and did a naked dance...?

Then the second movie was put on. We were feeling strong and most defo awake.. Ready to battle through the second movie. The next thing I knew I woke up on the sofa.. beer in hand (not spilt) to find the movie finished. My friend was also asleep. The only thing I can put this down to was from getting over excited from the SAS soldiers that stormed my next door neighbours house, retrieving one of the household to a blacked out van and storming off...

Because the evening was so action packed we decided to call it a night... in seperate beds. My friend is a man. Should I be naming friends? Or shall I come up with new names and keep them consistent. I'll have to have some kind of list then so I remember who is who. I'll call this person Larry. After Larry David. He would hate that.

And there we have it. My first blog.