The Weekend

Now I've recovered a bit more of an in detail breakdown of the weekend.

We've had a bit of a fun packed weekend. Starting Friday with a curry in King's Lynn as one of Becky's colleagues is leaving for a new job. Got to meet Mr Y who seems to be a nice chap and a fun time was had by all. If I could remember the name of the restaurant I would recommend it, the staff were friendly the food was good and they had a very good special offer which took the edge off the cost as well.

Saturday Bex drove down to London, we stayed at the Barbican Thistle so we had to go through parts of central London. I really enjoyed the driving through London. Normally when I visit London I'm on foot and I get to where I want to go by the tube, I rarely get taxis and almost never go on the bus. So travelling overground being able to see stuff was unusual, it also felt quite special driving through London ourselves. This hard to describe without sounding like a total country bumpkin "up in the big town" but London traffic is notoriously bad only those with no choice, the stupid and those who don't care it costs stupid amounts to park, when you can find a place to park, pay the congestion charge etc drive in central London normally. (Well that's on week days, weekends it's much better far fewer cars on the road the congestion charge doesn't apply and there is more free parking about.) The sensible thing to do is not to travel by car, honestly Ken doesn't want you to either. So to actually drive through the city past Threadneedle Street, under the Barbican Centre, along the South Bank, well, was a bit of a thrill because I don't do it often. The being in London bit I'm more blasé about I've done that often enough to know not to stare at the big crowds and gawp at the shiny baubles in the big shop windows ;-) Still impressed that the shops stay open past 5 pm though.

So that was me all thrilled up and it wasn't even 4.30 in the afternoon, we could have turned round and gone back to Lynn and I would have had a good weekend. But seeing as we had actually gone to the trouble of packing stuff to wear and would have still been charged for the hotel we didn't.

After a bit of food and shopping and a pre-getting-ready drink in the bar we got ready in plenty of time and then failed to take a single photograph of Bex all trannied up. Either in the hotel or at the club not a photo did we take.

Transmission - I was impressed by Transmission, the venue is about the right size, being on different floors meant it was possible to talk to people without having to shout. The drinks cost about what you would expect for London, there were enough seats the staff friendly. I didn't get the feeling that I'm being ripped off or exploited that I get at other places.

It was nice to see Connie Cox and Clarissa again and Bex knew loads of other people which was nice, it was really nice. I like it that there will be a chance that we will meet other people that we know, clubbing shouldn't be insular it shouldn't be "just about the music" I like it when you can socialise and dance. The atmosphere was friendly and the DJs Jasmine and Vicky were both good, far better than at Pink Punters and heads and shoulders above the standards at the local shag'n'shuffles in the towns near me. I'm not into dance music but even I know that Abba megamixes should not feature on DJs set list. So overall, if I was to invent a scoring system now, *ching* just done so - I would give Transmission a fab 7 1/2 out of 10.

Sunday we drove round London a bit more, finally found somewhere to park for free just round the back of Lambeth Palace and walked up to the Eye with a leisurely stop for a bacon buttie and a coffee. The Eye was fantastic, this is the second time I've done it and it still impresses the socks off me. The elegance of the engineering solutions and the sleek design combine to produce what must be one of the first wonders of the 21st Century (Pendants - I do know that it was built in the 1990s and the year it opened, 2000, was the last year of the 20th century but putting "the last wonders of the 20th Century" does not have the same ring does it?)

I didn't take any photos but Becky did you can look at them here.

So there you are what I did on my weekend by Jane aged 30something and 2/3 years.

Shooting On The Underground.

This morning armed police shot dead a man they had "wrestled" to the ground on an tube train as it was standing in Stockwell Underground Station. The police say he was directly linked to the terrorism activity in London. However if it turns out that this man was unarmed or even worse had didn't actually have any link to the terrorism then it will have been a very dark day for us.

The policemen who tackled him showed personal bravery as they believed that he was an armed suicide bomber that is without doubt and they were in hot pursuit but if they're wrong for whatever reason then the backlash could be massive, will probably be so whatever the guilt of this man was.

Oh it is all so depressing.

"This will not change the way we live" my arse.

Were We "Lucky" Today?

The news is now saying that the minor explosions that happened today could well have been major bomb blasts but for our fortune that the terrorists were unlucky/incompetant. I hope that they are captured, perhaps that way with live suspects to question (not torture) we will be able to get solid intelligence that will help break up some more of the terrorist rings that seem to be operating here.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4705117.stm

Considered Thoughts?

I've got two things to say about yesterday and then I will leave it alone as there are those that have first hand experience which I don't, but I have a mate who is in the RAF he has come back from Basra within the last month. T had a very valid point to make about yesterday and I paraphrase wildly but it was basically this. "We are upset about these 4 bombs in London and rightly so, but this happens every day in Basra and do we give a fuck? No because they are not white and they don't speak English"

The Queen made a speech today. No disrespect to her Maj but she is talking rubbish. She said that this wouldn't change the way we lived we would go on just as we have before. No it won't, I grew up with having my bag searched every time I entered a public building, visitors noted that we never had bins on our railway stations or Airports and that was for the IRA, who were never ever painted into being the biggest bogy men ever. We will go back to routine searches and fear except on a more regular basis. The levels of fear and distrust will rise just that little bit, more things will get that much worse not better. More barriers and the attacks will be used by those who will twist anything to support ID cards or to oppose ID cards. So many little freedoms will be eaten away.

So what if we still drink tea, London and the south east will never be the same again. Americans have admired our fortitude yes we are good at that but do not mistake the lack of obvious hysteria for the lack of hysteria.