Ramblings of a Disorientated Mind

So, it’s the end of the weekend now, and I’ve finally found time to write [i.e. on the train back]. So much has happened, I’m not sure where to start, but I guess the beginning would be a good place. I just hope my battery doesn’t run out…

We arrived in London at about 20– hours and after getting to Kelly’s flat we ordered curry [I had lamb biryani and veg curry] with wine and watched most of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. I think we finally went to bed at 0115.

Saturday we managed to leave the house by 1000 to arrive at the ExCel centre by 1045 and had to wait about an hour ‘nd a half. During this time we played spot-and-guess the cos-player, Alex turned up and I met Wiccy-Chan and Stan [though she really didn't seem to thrilled to see me, even though I was her. Alex thought it could be something to do with the wait they were facing, but I think she just doesn't like me...].

Once we were in we headed for the artists’ alley and briefly ogled the talent [artistic, not other ], before moving on to watch a presentation on RoboTech and it’s new series.
Next we pushed ’round the anime village, but didn’t really see much as there were so many people, so really it was on to the rest of the show. There was a slightly disappointing number of stalls that were the same/ had the same merchandise. There were quite a few good cos-players, and I got pictures of some clebs, which was nice, but I was far to chicken to actually meet any of them [though Leonard Nimoy [Spok, Star trek: TOS] smiled at me, Terry Rothery [Dr Fraser, SG1] walked past us and Erica Durance [some girl from Smallville] smiled and gave us a passing hi]. We did manage to get another, better look at the anime village at the end though, after everyone else had left.

So in all the show was interesting, but I shall probably only go to the one in October if there is a bigger anime village, to cos-play in a group, and to see Kelly.

After the expo, we got the train back to Kelly’s to drop of stuff [many free posters and other freebies including a RoboTech jumper, 2 DVDs [Najica Blitz Tactics], a book [Though the Stargate Edited by PN Elrod and Roxanne Conrad] and some post-cards [of Cowboy Beebop]] then went out to a proper Chinese restaurant for food. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever had: crab meat and sweetcorn soup [one could actually taste the crab], beef in black bean sauce [sooo tender *drools*], spicy king prawns [got chilli. very nummy too], honey glazed duck and pork, stir fry vegetables and crispy shredded something all washed down with red wine, followed by tea and oranges. Needless to say Kelly and I were a little sloshed when we came out [the boys don't tend to drink]. After posing in front of the China Town gate for a picture, we headed home and watched Dr Who, before heading to bed at 0000.

Sunday we didn’t get moving ’till quite late, but did get bacon butties for breakfast
Leaving Southwark Cathedral [and it's herb garden] we walked along the Thames to Charing Cross. Along the way we walked past the replica Golden Hind [Drake's ship], the Bishop of Westminster’s house, the Clink [a prison], the place they make London Gin, the Globe theatre [where we ate toffee apples], over the Millennium Bridge and back [pausing for touristy photo shoots of St. Paul's Cathedral and Tower bridge], and to the OXO tower [it really does have OXO written on it] to see a fantastic exhibition of models and CGI pictures by Japanese artist Keisuke Kishi. While at the OXO tower, we looked at some of the other design studio/ shops. It was probably a good job most weren’t open; I could have spent a lot of money [example: I saw my perfect wedding ring - £90].

After the OXO tower we carried on down past Tate Modern to a used book fair, where I bought The Business by Ian Banks, then past a bunch of street performers and across the Thames again to Charing Cross. The view from the bridge was fantastic. It was beautifully sunny, the sun glinting from the water and the Eye. Wonderful

Then from Charing Cross we ended up on the edge of Covent Garden at a Mediterranean restaurant called Bistro 1, where we had lunch [Mozzarella cheese salad, lamb Shish kebab and lemon sorbet] which was very nice

Then it was back to Kelly’s for a cup of tea and to collect our stuff and head to Waterloo for our train home.

So, that was my weekend. When I got back I had an awful lot of stuff to unpack and freebies to sort through. I realise this is rather a formulaic account of what happened, but to be honest, there was so much that happened and it was such a good weekend that I’m not sure how to express my feelings. All I can really say is this:

I ate a lot, saw a lot, spent a lot and had the most awesome time possible

EDIT: All pictures are now up

☮&♥

So, the rest of the holiday:

Thursday
Today was castles day. We went round Chepstow and Ragland castles [complete with hoards of school kids], Tintern Abbey and Caerleon roman baths and gladiator ring. Again it was very hot and I spent most of the day feeling sun stroked and slapping on sun cream.

Friday
It threw it down, big rain storm style. So instead of going walking/ cycling like we’d planned, we [except dad] went to Castel Coch, a faux medieval castle built on the foundations of a real medieval castle by a Victorian who thought all castles look like ones in fairy tales, and Ikea. I love Ikea. I want one. I ended up buying:
- A funky steel thermometer
- A funky steel hydrometer
- A bag of bag sealing things
- A black plate to replace the one I broke
- A loose tea infuser
- Two sets of funky steel bookends
While there, we also had a very nice lunch and I think I can get a king sized foam mattress for not a lot which means I’m closer to getting my bed so Andy can come live with me

When we got back mum and dad headed over to our friends in Herefordshire for tea so the rest of us went into Chepstow. We ended up having steak and chips at the Castle View Hotel, which was very nice. However, I’m still trying to decide if steak likes me, as even though it was medium/ medium rare it made my stomach, gullet and mouth crawl-itch for an hour after wards. Owen took us on a little drive after we finished eating, which was fun.

Saturday
In the morning we went to Cwmcarn Forest Drive, like we were going to on Friday. It was still a bit mucky, so we just drove instead of walking. The whole point of going was to see a series of wood carvings.
At car park 3 was the ‘giants court’, which held carvings about the tale of Olwen and Culhwch, including the giant and the wise animals Culhwch has to talk to. At car park 5 was some general mystic and magical carvings, an adventure playground and a huge Glockenspiel which Owen and I played on. Car park 7 was called ‘Madog’s Place’ and had carving depicting native American animals [such as beavers] and some totem poles.
And that was basically it. I swapped cars to go home with Owen and Sarah and we got back about 1600. I had a really nice relaxing time. I’m so glad I went. Pictures I took can be found here.

☮&♥

So, this weekend has been lug radio live. As I write this we’re literally just driving away from Wolverhampton. It’s been a fantastic weekend [as always], and doubly enhanced by the fact thats it won’t be the last one after all! with the cessation of LUGradio, everyone, even the four large gents, thought it would mean the end of the live event. But they announced that this was not the case, and though the podcast is still ended, we get to go back again next year! woot-age.

Okay, so what’s LUG Radio, and what’s LUG radio live? Well the former is a podcast by a bunch of blokes about Linux and the Free and Open Source Software community, and LUG Radio Live is a conference arranged by those same blokes for the community to come and talk about geeky, open and free [as in beer and speech] stuff, drink a lot and generally have a good time.

It’s kind of difficult to explain the atmosphere at LUGRL, but needless to say, I had an awesome time. I got some cool swag [A new keyring [to replace the one from last year that I broke]; free t-shirt; an open SUSE Geeko the Gecko stuffed toy; a USB key; a bunch of nice pens from the Open Rights Group and RedHat; a picture of Adam Sweet in a thong…], Andy bought me an Asus EEE PC [that I'm typing this up], I listened to some good talks, I donated to a good cause [£50 to the Open Rights, and an offer of my time], and I met some really cool people, who I’ll hopefully see again next year.

The main thing I’m taking away this weekend though is how out of touch I’d let myself become. I’d like to get back into the Foss and LUGR communities again, and generally be a little more involved in the world at large. I still have a wedding and a novel to plan and execute, and I still have an NVQ to complete and there are never enough hours in the day. But they say if you care enough about something, you’ll find the time to do it. I do and so I will.

So, LUG Radio Live might be over for tis year, but there’s always the next!

☮&♥

I was going to write a long post about how things are going at the moment and to get a couple of odd feelings off my chest, and cuz I haven’t updated in a while, but I cdan’t seem to find a decent place to start. So, uhh. Yeah…

I’m not dead y’all…

☮&♥