Twisty and Bebbet's Grand Adventure

I'm baaaack...

Did you miss me? Go on, you can admit it, I won't laugh.

*snigger*

I've had a pretty cool coupla days down in Cheltenham with Bebbetty Spaghetti, and my only regret is that I somehow managed to take no photos whatsoever!!
Ok, that's not true... I did take one. Of myself and a friend of the B-man's, in which we both look incredibly drunk. In my defense, I wasn't. I really should've been. Maybe then I would've danced a bit. :P

TUESDAY:
Anywho. My train arrived on Tuesday afternoon at.. um... I don't really know. Sometime after 4, I think (help me out here Bebs?). I was met from the station with a big hug, and then we got a taxi back to B's place. I gotta admit, I was pretty nervous. I haven't seen Bebs since October 2007, and he's been rather absent on the MSN front since starting Uni, so I was just crossing my fingers that we'd still get on ok. Turns out I didn't need to worry, yay! So yeah. Taxi pulled up. I was given the grand tour, and then... the most important part. Kettle on. I've never known anyone (except from maybe my own parents) to drink so many hot beverages during the course of a day. I had tea. LOTS of tea. Teeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaa. I really like tea.

So... yeah. Taxi, tour, tea. Alliteration activites for the win. Then what did we do... oh. We hung about in the kitchen for a bit, stuck a Foo Fighter's CD on, and chatted to a dude B lives with. All fun and games. And then came dinner. *laughs* Dinner was interesting, to say the least. We decided on chicken and chips, a fantastic choice of meal if ever there was one, and the food got bunged in't th'oven. An alarm was set, and after a certain amount of time that I forget, food was removed from oven. So far so good. The chicken was cooked, and the chips were, uh... not so cooked. They were just about edible, and we had many laughs.

Then comes a text from the aforementioned friend. Am I allowed to give names?
*texts Bebs to find out*

*waits for reply*

*..still waiting...*

*glares at phone*




*beep* :D

Then comes a text from Libby, the aforementioned friend, asking if we're coming down to the open mic night. I'd never been to an open mic night. This could be fun. Bunged on my new hat (charcoal coloured fedora with pale grey pinstripes and similarly coloured skull and crossbones on one side), a nice warm blue scarf, and my hoodie, and off we went! Turns out there are some scary resemblances between Libby and I... even down to the way we both say "sorry". Spooooooooky. But good spooky, because she's pretty awesome. She's like me, how can she not be?? But blah, I digress. We shuffled through the cold evening to a pub called the Frog and Fiddle (did I get it right?), and got the drinks in. Libby scared me a little by knowing more about me than a person I've just met should, and then I realised: Facebook. Damn that place gets everywhere. Drinks were drunk, conversation was had, laughs were laughed, and then we slipped from the main bar into a back room where a microphone and lights were all set up. It was dead quiet, and I suppressed the urge to giggle.

By the end of the evening, I was absolutely sure that all students are perverts. My two favourite poems of the night were read (and I think written, but I might be wrong) by a very cute redhead (at least she looked redheaded under the lights) with a very, very cute west country accent. The first was about a young girl being shown a porno for the first time by her friend and being both shocked and amazed; the second was called 'Bukkake Party'... self explanatory! Oh god... and then there was the fetish story, that in the middle had a long LONG list of fetishes, which only got more hilarious as they went on, purely because of how wide Libby's eyes were getting, and her random exclamations of "But... HOW? WHY?" ...and then we explained DVDA to her. I thought she was going to be sick. It's maybe telling that I spent a bit of time hanging around a girl who runs a fetish club, because I could probably tick off about a third of the things on that list as having been done. What a colourful life I've led. :D

We headed off to the SU after that, for one drink. I'm glad it was only one, because as we were waiting at the bar I remembered how much I don't like big groups of students. Blech. Also, the cider was far too sweet and not even a decent helping of blackcurrant could make it better. We soon headed back to B's place, the three of us arm-in-arm like we were off to see the Wizard, and then... YES! More tea! After tea came sleepytime, Libby went off to her room and B was very kind to let me have his bed while he did his caterpillar bit and got all wrapped up in a sleeping bag. Zzzz.

WEDNESDAY:
Wednesday dawned, as days are wont to do, and I think it was about 8:30 when I got all fidgety and couldn't play sleeping lions anymore. Luckily for me B was awake too, so we just laid there (me in the bed and him on the floor) and idly chatted. Music went on, I slunk off to the bathroom to get dressed, and then we just sat around for a bit. Oh! Breakfast! I've not had breakfast in ages, but we had toast. With butter. Mmmmm butter. And more tea. After the toast and the tea came the town (this visitation has been brought to you by the letter T). He'd been banging on about this bookshop, Moss Books, and so that was our first stop.

Oh. My. God. I could live there. Wall-to-wall bookshelves, containing books two deep. Books on the floor in piles, books on chairs. Books in boxes arranged by genre, and books balanced precariously on top of other books. It was incredible. I bought Shelley's Frankenstein, Anne Rice's Interview With The Vampire, and Stephen King's The Waste Lands - part 3 of his Dark Tower series. All for an amazingly cheap £6. To give you an idea of just how amazingly cheap this is - books in England generally go for about £7 or £8 a go. *happy dance of cheap book joy*

After that we wandered into the town centre, and I behaved like a kid in a candy shop. Anyone'd think this girl had never been shopping before. Reading just doesn't have interesting shops! We went to the Disney store, where I had an OH-MY-GOD-I-NEED-TO-BUY-THIS moment, quickly followed by an oh-bollocks-I-don't-have-the-money-to-buy-this moment. It was a set of Little Mermaid characters. I love The Little Mermaid. We browsed, and talked about how chavvy Disney have made Ariel in a desperate bid to remarket her to today's little girls. Then I spotted the sweet shop. ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Four bags of sweets for £3?? You're on! I got my Mum some foam shrimps, my Dad some fruit salads, myself some butterscotch hard sweets, and B a packet of midget gems. Bargain. We looked in the window of a silver shop, and many exclamation marks were made over the prices of things. Then I dragged him around a couple of underwear shops, because I haven't bought new undies in ages. I didn't buy any that day, either. We went to a shop that sells CDs and DVDs and stuff, and I bought a very interesting looking Terry Gilliam film called Tideland. We wandered, browsed, chatted, and then got hungry. Lunch was cheeseburger and chips for him, and a 'Golden Mix' (sausage, egg, beans and chips) for me from a little cafe called Butler's. With more tea.

We got back early afternoon, and to pass the hours before going-out time, we watched a coupla movies.

Pan's Labyrinth was the first and by far the best:

I'd never seen it, and until it started didn't even know it was in Spanish, but that didn't matter. It was an amazing film, and the little girl who played Ofelia was fantastic. I was a little disappointed that I had to explain to B who, mythologically, Pan was, but hey. Not everyone knows the same stuff, right? Anyway. A fantastic film, that you should definitely watch if you get the chance.

Next up was Hoodwinked:

I asked for lighthearted, I got lighthearted. It's a cute twist on an old story, with an all-star cast and although it's a little slow and cheesy to start, it soon makes up for itself. Worth a watch if you just want to sit back and smile.

Then we had pizza. It was cooked. SHOCK! :P

And last, but not least, because B just got it in the post that morning, was Transformers:

Probably the fourth or fifth time I've seen that film, and it never ceases to be amazing. Can't wait for the sequel. I don't think I need to say anything more about this movie, because I'm pretty sure you've all seen it.

And at some point during Transformers, we cracked open the wine and started drinking. Libby came over after the film, and off we went to Dakota.
My god, I have never been to a cheesier night in my entire life. And I was totally underdressed. I asked B before I left what kind of outfits girls wore to this club, so I could bring appropriate stuff and not stand out too much. He said: Everything. Shorts, skirts, dresses, jeans, even costumes. So I figured I'd be alright in my slashed-up Street Fighter t-shirt, and the one pair of jeans I'd bought with me. When we got there, it was another story altogether. Everywhere I looked, girls were dressed to impress, and I felt like a tomboy frump. Meh. I had my hat, therefore everything was awesome. Most annoying thing was that I'd taken my skirt and shorts out of my bag at the last minute because the boots I'd need to bring to wear with them were too heavy. I went for comfort over style, and had a refreshing night of not being hounded by people at every turn. Spent most of the night sat with B (and Libby when she wasn't dancing), chatting and just chillin' out. Good times. Libby and I had a long, girly chat at the bar, which was fun, and then came the one and only photo I managed to take. Other people had cameras though, so there's a good chance of there being a couple of photos floating about somewhere. I'll try and get hold of them. I did get groped by some dude on the way to the loos at one point, too, but meh. It was a pretty chilly walk back to B's, so we stopped and got pizza, which was nommed with great gusto when we got back. I can't remember if there was tea before sleeps or not. It was my turn to be a caterpillar, and it turned out I wasn't very good at it. The sleeping bag was just that tiny bit too tight to be comfortable, and I'd neglected to bring a pillow. Jeans, hoodie and towel failed to make a decent cushion, and I was cold. Oh well. Zzzz.

THURSDAY:
Another day dawns, and this time it was 9am before I gave up pretending to be comfortable and just sat against the wall, huddled in the bag. Tea was had, and I clambered up onto the bed to get comfy while B went to the kitchen. Again with the music and the sitting and the chatting. I got dressed while B went and made breakfast (more toast! YAY!), and then we watched four episodes of Futurama, and discussed Star Trek for a bit. I got hungry for lunch, and although B offered to make me more food I was intent on a McDonald's, so we strolled into town again and ate like pigs. I love quarterpounders with cheese. Mmmmmmmmmm beef. I told B my theory that McD's put opiates in their cheese, which is why they're so popular even though the food is actually pretty crap. It was getting closer and closer to leaving time, though, so we headed back. I packed, cursed myself for buying books (as if my bag wasn't heavy enough already), and managed to stuff it all back in without forgetting anything. Yay! Libby came over to say goodbye, and the three of us walked up to the station, taking it in turns to carry my bag.

We sat in the station cafe, not drinking tea (well, B had a coffee), until my train pulled in. Then there were hugs all around, and promises to visit again soon, and I got on the train and waved like a crazy person until I couldn't see them anymore. I fell asleep before the first stop, same as with the journey in, and woke up at the second to last stop, same again. Luckily my Mum was on her way home from work as I text her to say I was back in Reading, and she gave me a lift home.

The End.

*hugs Bebbet* Thanks, dude!

11:43 AM - February 13, 2009 - post comment

You got in just before 4 and you were bang on with The Frog & Fiddle ;)

The chips were a disappointment :(

The rest of the time wasn't :)

bebbet - 12:46 PM - February 13, 2009

sounds like a grand adventure all right!!

How can you not have seen Pan's Labyrinth? that movie is the awesome. Interesting note, it's not titled Pan's Labyrinth originally, it's titled The Labyrinth of the Faun, and Del Toro says he never intended it to be Pam, that Pan is far to dangerous and unpredictable a character for a little girl to interact with.

sarai - 1:00 PM - February 13, 2009

I noticed all that when the title of the film came up in Spanish. I did kinda think to myself that Pan isn't really a good character to be introduced to a child, but hey. Pan's Labyrinth has a better ring to it, and can be connected to mythology a lot easier. What can you do.

Twist - 1:20 PM - February 13, 2009

did you get to watch any of the behind the scenes stuff? cause it's way cool.

sarai - 1:22 PM - February 13, 2009

Nah, we pretty much went straight onto watching Hoodwinked. Will check out the behind the scenes stuff another time :)

Twist - 3:36 PM - February 13, 2009

I liked hoodwinked, the squirrel is great :D

sarai - 3:44 PM - February 13, 2009

Yay! Someone wrote a longer post than meeeeee!

*.......Bebbet envy*


Hey I can't believe you didn't take any putus!
What is WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITH THAAAAAAAAAAT????

gypsy - 11:32 PM - February 13, 2009

Oh and P.S...... I have Pan's Labyrinth on DVD and was all excited to watch it because it wasn't even in the cinemas yet. Serves me right for accepting that DVD. In the bit where Ofelia's father kills the man with the bottle, I nearly vomited. I wasn't expecting it.

gypsy - 11:33 PM - February 13, 2009

:)

Yeah, that was one of many things in Pan's Labyrinth that came as a shock, but I felt it added to its depth and coolness!

bebbet - 12:46 AM - February 14, 2009

Oh totally.... I hate that character with a passion.

My mate pissed me off at the end by saying that she imagined it all to escape her horrible reality. I refused to believe it and threw cushions at him.

gypsy - 1:01 AM - February 14, 2009

Nuu it's real, the grown ups just can't see it :D


and it's not her padre...nuu her padre was a gud man.

sarai - 1:43 AM - February 14, 2009

Ohhhhhhh that's right.
(been a while)

gypsy - 2:34 AM - February 14, 2009

I thought the same till I thought about some of the details.

If it was all in her imagination, how did she escape her locked room to go save her brother? And where did she get the root that made her mother better until it was burned?

bebbet - 11:29 AM - February 14, 2009

you speaks the truth, like I say it's real, but stupid clouded grownups can't see it :)

sarai - 1:39 PM - February 14, 2009

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