90. Muse - Feeling Good
I've never really bought into the hype about Muse (the only time I saw them live, at Reading 2006, I was more interested in my cheesy chips) but I do love myself a nice interesting cover version.
89. Katy Rose - Overdrive
Katy Rose was one of those in the same mould as Avril Lavigne and Ashlee Simpson - one of those 'edgy' but tween safe female pop stars who have the guitars turned up higher in the mix than normal. For whatever reason Katy didn't quite work out, but then we did get this gem from the Mean Girls soundtrack:
88. Polly Scattergood - I Hate The Way
From the popular, teen comedy soundtrack songs directly to Little Boots' evil younger sister. Ok, they're not actually related, but it's electro-synth-pop with an extremely dark edge to it. This song, and a track in the low 30s, are the reasons why I'll blindly accept any music Hannah sends me.
87. Coldplay - Fix You
Despite most of their output being bland and dull (I spent 40 minutes of Parachutes thinking "ok, the guitars'll kick in now, and it'll get better) this song really touched me at Glastonbury in 2005, standing in a soggy field drunk up to the eyeballs on vodka.
Big band, proper record label, no embedding. Boo.
86. Lady Gaga - Paparazzi
One of those songs that I like despite myself. I blame hearing it too much at work. Mind you, it does have a proper vampire in the video (real vampires don't sparkle!). Bonus fun fact: this video was directed by the same guy who directed Rammstein's latest, somewhat naughty, music video.
Major act, no embedding.
85. The Knife - Girls Night Out
More electro-pop. I'm noticing a theme here. Me liking this band is completely down to club night Never On A Sunday - what's even more impressive is that the club night doesn't exist outside of a comic book series called Phonogram.
84. White Stripes - I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself
I'm not even going to comment on the song, just let the video do the talking.
83. AC/DC - Rock n Roll Train
Sometimes you want cheery electro-pop, sometimes weepy music. Others, you just want to rock the fuck out, and who better than AC/DC?
82. We Are Scientists - Ram It Home
And from genuine cock rock double entendre bands, to those taking the piss with a lack of subtlety. California's We Are Scientists performing their cock rock pisstake at The Old Blue Last.
81. Hellsongs - Paranoid
This week's section is topped and tailed with a pair of covers. The first one was a rocked up version of a mellow song, so it's only fitting that the closer is a mellow version of Black Sabbath's most famous hit/wrist-killer on Guitar Hero.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Songs of the Decade: 100 - 91
A few weeks ago in a copy of the Times that I found on a train I noticed that they did their own run down of the best 100 songs from this decade (1st January 2000 to 31st December 2009). Lacking in inspiration I nicked the idea and have been compiling my own top 100 as a counterpoint. Aside from the obvious chronological restraints I also set myself another rule: each named artist can only appear once. As per normal I bent this rule, as you'll see with 64 & 16, 42 & 17, and 19 & 1.
100. Shakira - Hips Don't Lie
I will admit, the first ten are somewhat shaky, as I had the top 90 easily, and then scrabbled around looking for filler. But it's still a fun song, even if it does remind me of the pre-Google days of youtube, when it had banner ads on the site that would start playing songs when loaded. This is one of the songs played.
As embedding's been disabled, you'll have to click through to watch the video on YouTube itself, here.
99. Pixie Lott - Mama Do (Uh Oh Uh Oh)
It's not all going to be industrial German metal and female fronted indie bands. Occasionally I go for female fronted pop acts too.
Another one that I can't embed. Spoilsports.
98. Harry - Imagination
By now you might be wondering "is this list just going to be blondes cavorting around in their underwear?" to which my answer would be "no, there'll be some brunettes and redheads too". In all seriousness, I can link my introduction to Auf der Maur, The Subways and Blood Red Shoes (and all the weird and wonderful people thereafter) directly back to this artist. If the list was calculated on importance of songs rather than song quality, this would probably be number one. But it isn't, so it's not.
97. Robin Sparkles - Lets Go To The Mall
We've had latin American pop. We've had Kentish pop. Now, we have Canadian pop! Not the only one-hit wonder on this list, but this song from early in the decade is just fun in every way. Trivia - since leaving the music business, Robin's since become a news anchorwoman on a New York TV station.
96. Papa Roach - Last Resort
Ah, nu-metal. While this fad gave us some truely atrocious songs, there was a time when you couldn't put Kerrang TV on without hearing this song. Yes, this list is driven by nostalgia too.
More anti-embedding from UMG, spoilsports.
95. Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out Of My Head
More unashamed pop. It's designed to seduce new readers in with familiar acts, before blindsiding them with obscure acts like Metallica, Paramore, Girls Aloud...
Again, no embedding. No fun.
94. Girls Aloud - Sound Of The Underground
After overcoming my initial disappointment that it wasn't 3 minutes of tube trains, "mind the gap" and "there is a part closure on all London Underground lines", it's a rather rocky song. Especially for a group described as "the new Hear'say".
93. Beyonce feat. Jay Z - Crazy In Love
Pop with an r'n'b flavour. One of those summer songs that everyone seems to like, regardless of stereotype.
More lack of embedding. Boo.
92. Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict A Riot
"Wow, what a fun and inventive new band!" we all thought when we first heard it. It got a bit tiresome being rereleased a dozen more times under different song names though.
Yet more lack of embedding. It'll get better when the bands get smaller.
91. Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)
Unlike others, I've never bought into the hype around this band. However, I do love my big, epic songs, and so this appears on the list. Despite not having on my computer until last month.
100. Shakira - Hips Don't Lie
I will admit, the first ten are somewhat shaky, as I had the top 90 easily, and then scrabbled around looking for filler. But it's still a fun song, even if it does remind me of the pre-Google days of youtube, when it had banner ads on the site that would start playing songs when loaded. This is one of the songs played.
As embedding's been disabled, you'll have to click through to watch the video on YouTube itself, here.
99. Pixie Lott - Mama Do (Uh Oh Uh Oh)
It's not all going to be industrial German metal and female fronted indie bands. Occasionally I go for female fronted pop acts too.
Another one that I can't embed. Spoilsports.
98. Harry - Imagination
By now you might be wondering "is this list just going to be blondes cavorting around in their underwear?" to which my answer would be "no, there'll be some brunettes and redheads too". In all seriousness, I can link my introduction to Auf der Maur, The Subways and Blood Red Shoes (and all the weird and wonderful people thereafter) directly back to this artist. If the list was calculated on importance of songs rather than song quality, this would probably be number one. But it isn't, so it's not.
97. Robin Sparkles - Lets Go To The Mall
We've had latin American pop. We've had Kentish pop. Now, we have Canadian pop! Not the only one-hit wonder on this list, but this song from early in the decade is just fun in every way. Trivia - since leaving the music business, Robin's since become a news anchorwoman on a New York TV station.
96. Papa Roach - Last Resort
Ah, nu-metal. While this fad gave us some truely atrocious songs, there was a time when you couldn't put Kerrang TV on without hearing this song. Yes, this list is driven by nostalgia too.
More anti-embedding from UMG, spoilsports.
95. Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out Of My Head
More unashamed pop. It's designed to seduce new readers in with familiar acts, before blindsiding them with obscure acts like Metallica, Paramore, Girls Aloud...
Again, no embedding. No fun.
94. Girls Aloud - Sound Of The Underground
After overcoming my initial disappointment that it wasn't 3 minutes of tube trains, "mind the gap" and "there is a part closure on all London Underground lines", it's a rather rocky song. Especially for a group described as "the new Hear'say".
93. Beyonce feat. Jay Z - Crazy In Love
Pop with an r'n'b flavour. One of those summer songs that everyone seems to like, regardless of stereotype.
More lack of embedding. Boo.
92. Kaiser Chiefs - I Predict A Riot
"Wow, what a fun and inventive new band!" we all thought when we first heard it. It got a bit tiresome being rereleased a dozen more times under different song names though.
Yet more lack of embedding. It'll get better when the bands get smaller.
91. Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)
Unlike others, I've never bought into the hype around this band. However, I do love my big, epic songs, and so this appears on the list. Despite not having on my computer until last month.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Bandwidth Abusing
Next Autumn looks like I'll be downloading shows every morning from the States.
Monday morning: The Simpsons, Mad Men
Tuesday morning: How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, Castle, Chuck
Wednesday morning: Leverage
Thursday morning: Glee
Friday morning: 30 Rock
Saturday morning: Dollhouse
Monday morning: The Simpsons, Mad Men
Tuesday morning: How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, Castle, Chuck
Wednesday morning: Leverage
Thursday morning: Glee
Friday morning: 30 Rock
Saturday morning: Dollhouse
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Gigs of 2009 pt 1
As I've not done massive big long updates for any of my gigs this year, I thought I'd squeeze them all in to one.
February 4th - Amanda Palmer (Electric Ballroom, London)
I didn't really have much time to get excited about this gig as most of it was spent arranging to meet up with Hannah. Once that was done I realised that there was still a main performer to see, and it was much better than I anticipated. It wasn't like your usual straightforward gig in that there was a LOT of audience interaction - an auction mid set, actors in the crowd, some fucking strange people beforehand with masks on giving out playing cards.
And then we got the rant about how none of the UK radio stations would play the jaunty upbeat song making light of abortion/date rape as it might offend someone, so she played a slow tempo version. And couldn't keep a straight face.
Great fun, especially with the Dresden Dolls songs played unexpectedly. 8.5/10
February 13th - Rosie & The Goldbug (Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes, London)
I had been looking forward to this gig for two months ever since I got the album. It took place in a bowling alley, which is still a very strange place to see a gig - with bowling and karaoke taking place behind and to the side of the stage. The pre-gig DJ (VV from the Kills) played some excellent tunes - Bikini Kill's Rebel Yell and White Stripes - Hand Springs being the highlights. Unfortunately, due to the band not coming on stage until 10:15 and having to get the coach home we missed some of the set, but what we did see was absolutely excellent and I would see them again in a heartbeat.
Superb live band, on top of their game. 9.3/10
February 23rd - Spinnerette (Islington Academy, London)
After two great gigs, Spinnerette had a lot to live up to. Given that I'd seen the Distillers in their prime comparisons would be inevitable, no matter how hard I tried not to make them. Support band Future of the Left weren't as bad as I remembered them to be, and Steve and Laura from Blood Red Shoes came up to us and had a chat between the two. Once I'd got it into my head that these weren't the Distillers I had a great time, Brody's still as cool as fuck even after six years away from performing live, and the new stuff sounds good. Even though one song had a note for note identical intro to Manic Street Preachers - Judge Y'rself which had me singing along to the wrong song.
Material sounds good, but they'd only played 3 live gigs and it showed. 7.5/10
March 10th - Blood Red Shoes (Chinnerys, Southend)
Firstly, I never want to visit Southend again as long as I live. It makes Margate look beautiful. If Garbage announced a one off final gig there supported by the original Pipettes and Rilo Kiley, I'd still have reservations. That said, the gig itself was fun. Was good to see people again, the alcohol was reasonably priced (which may have contributed to my enjoyment), the new songs sounded good and I got a t-shirt. The stage invasion was actually rather funny - Southend crowds aren't as enthusiastic as London ones.
They can always be relied upon for a good gig, but as nothing stuck out in my mind, 8.0/10
April 5th - Rose Elinor Dougall (The Old Queens Head, London)
This was a spur of the moment gig - literally the night before I was talking to Dana about her and idly wondered when Rose was playing in London next. As it was the following day and I had the Monday afterwards off I took myself off to London to see her. After sitting in the beer garden near to her reading my book while eating my dinner (and being the only person outside not smoking) I took myself upstairs to the venue, and nabbed myself an amazingly comfortably leather armchair with a great view of the stage. It was the most comfortable I've ever been at a gig and being in a relaxed seating position worked well with her music. Every song was great, especially the live version of May Holiday.
Probably what kick started my crush on her. 9.8/10
April 25th - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Shepherd's Bush Empire, London)
I was not excited about this gig at all beforehand. The Gills had ground out a 0-0 draw that ended our automatic promotion hopes, and I was not impressed with the material from the third album. In the end I was only going up for Laura and Rob but I'd forgotten one crucial thing - the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are always good live. Every single thing about the set crackled, especially hearing Pin and Art Star. Really glad I went.
Another fantastic live set. 8/10
May 18th - Johnny Foreigner (Flowerpot, London)
Random free gig that I entered for the hell of it. Wanted to see them again as I hadn't seen them since September and it was the longest I'd gone without seeing them since I first heard of them. The new stuff was great, Kelly looked hot as a redhead (but then again I would say that, wouldn't I?) and I'm really looking forward to the album. The JoFo fangirls over on Kelly's side actually freaked the band out too.
By the numbers - good, but nothing special. 7.5/10
May 21st - Rosie & The Goldbug (Water Rats, London)
After Johnny Foreigner I was too shattered to go to Metric the following night, and so wasn't too up for this gig either. Another late stage time for the band but I timed my travel well enough so that I arrived down the centre just as the band got on stage, saw a brief 8 song set, then buggered off home again. Still, Rosie was pleased to have someone to sing along with (having someone that pretty singing "you and me, lets fuck forever" to me was a definite highlight) - I just wish they'd played for longer.
Still want to see them again, another gig left unfulfilled. 8.0/10
June 8th - Rose Elinor Dougall (Luminaire, Kilburn)
I was in a strange mood before this gig. A can of super strength Strongbow on top of a can of Relentless left me shaken, and the proggy sounds of the support band combined with the heat in the venue sent me back outside for fresh air and to calm down, where Rose was having a fag. I ended up having a conversation with her which at times veered dangerously close to Jeff Murdock territory. Back in the gig and another excellent set, which was closed by a very guitar led Falling Over - not the sort of song you'd expect given the previous half an hour of a more psychedelic Rilo Kiley style music. That was followed by her first ever solo encore.
Given that as soon as I got home I was straight on the myspace looking for her next date in London, 9/10
June 9th - Rose Elinor Dougall (Puregroove records, London)
Well, it just happened to be the day after. Half day of holiday booked and I was up off to London to see her again. I popped in to Forbidden Planet on the off chance they had a copy of the Pipettes based comic book that I bought a few months previously, and luckily they did. I picked up a copy, still unsure as to how well it would go down, and walked from Covent Garden to Barbican to find a cafe masquerading as a record shop. There were only about a dozen people there to see her, it having been announced very late on, but she remembered me from the previous night and thanked me for coming two nights in a row (fnarr) and then found out I was from Canterbury, so was even more impressed with my attendance. I don't know if it was put upon or real but it was nice that she said it anyway.
The gig was way more stripped down than the previous night, but just as fun. 9/10
February 4th - Amanda Palmer (Electric Ballroom, London)
I didn't really have much time to get excited about this gig as most of it was spent arranging to meet up with Hannah. Once that was done I realised that there was still a main performer to see, and it was much better than I anticipated. It wasn't like your usual straightforward gig in that there was a LOT of audience interaction - an auction mid set, actors in the crowd, some fucking strange people beforehand with masks on giving out playing cards.
And then we got the rant about how none of the UK radio stations would play the jaunty upbeat song making light of abortion/date rape as it might offend someone, so she played a slow tempo version. And couldn't keep a straight face.
Great fun, especially with the Dresden Dolls songs played unexpectedly. 8.5/10
February 13th - Rosie & The Goldbug (Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes, London)
I had been looking forward to this gig for two months ever since I got the album. It took place in a bowling alley, which is still a very strange place to see a gig - with bowling and karaoke taking place behind and to the side of the stage. The pre-gig DJ (VV from the Kills) played some excellent tunes - Bikini Kill's Rebel Yell and White Stripes - Hand Springs being the highlights. Unfortunately, due to the band not coming on stage until 10:15 and having to get the coach home we missed some of the set, but what we did see was absolutely excellent and I would see them again in a heartbeat.
Superb live band, on top of their game. 9.3/10
February 23rd - Spinnerette (Islington Academy, London)
After two great gigs, Spinnerette had a lot to live up to. Given that I'd seen the Distillers in their prime comparisons would be inevitable, no matter how hard I tried not to make them. Support band Future of the Left weren't as bad as I remembered them to be, and Steve and Laura from Blood Red Shoes came up to us and had a chat between the two. Once I'd got it into my head that these weren't the Distillers I had a great time, Brody's still as cool as fuck even after six years away from performing live, and the new stuff sounds good. Even though one song had a note for note identical intro to Manic Street Preachers - Judge Y'rself which had me singing along to the wrong song.
Material sounds good, but they'd only played 3 live gigs and it showed. 7.5/10
March 10th - Blood Red Shoes (Chinnerys, Southend)
Firstly, I never want to visit Southend again as long as I live. It makes Margate look beautiful. If Garbage announced a one off final gig there supported by the original Pipettes and Rilo Kiley, I'd still have reservations. That said, the gig itself was fun. Was good to see people again, the alcohol was reasonably priced (which may have contributed to my enjoyment), the new songs sounded good and I got a t-shirt. The stage invasion was actually rather funny - Southend crowds aren't as enthusiastic as London ones.
They can always be relied upon for a good gig, but as nothing stuck out in my mind, 8.0/10
April 5th - Rose Elinor Dougall (The Old Queens Head, London)
This was a spur of the moment gig - literally the night before I was talking to Dana about her and idly wondered when Rose was playing in London next. As it was the following day and I had the Monday afterwards off I took myself off to London to see her. After sitting in the beer garden near to her reading my book while eating my dinner (and being the only person outside not smoking) I took myself upstairs to the venue, and nabbed myself an amazingly comfortably leather armchair with a great view of the stage. It was the most comfortable I've ever been at a gig and being in a relaxed seating position worked well with her music. Every song was great, especially the live version of May Holiday.
Probably what kick started my crush on her. 9.8/10
April 25th - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (Shepherd's Bush Empire, London)
I was not excited about this gig at all beforehand. The Gills had ground out a 0-0 draw that ended our automatic promotion hopes, and I was not impressed with the material from the third album. In the end I was only going up for Laura and Rob but I'd forgotten one crucial thing - the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are always good live. Every single thing about the set crackled, especially hearing Pin and Art Star. Really glad I went.
Another fantastic live set. 8/10
May 18th - Johnny Foreigner (Flowerpot, London)
Random free gig that I entered for the hell of it. Wanted to see them again as I hadn't seen them since September and it was the longest I'd gone without seeing them since I first heard of them. The new stuff was great, Kelly looked hot as a redhead (but then again I would say that, wouldn't I?) and I'm really looking forward to the album. The JoFo fangirls over on Kelly's side actually freaked the band out too.
By the numbers - good, but nothing special. 7.5/10
May 21st - Rosie & The Goldbug (Water Rats, London)
After Johnny Foreigner I was too shattered to go to Metric the following night, and so wasn't too up for this gig either. Another late stage time for the band but I timed my travel well enough so that I arrived down the centre just as the band got on stage, saw a brief 8 song set, then buggered off home again. Still, Rosie was pleased to have someone to sing along with (having someone that pretty singing "you and me, lets fuck forever" to me was a definite highlight) - I just wish they'd played for longer.
Still want to see them again, another gig left unfulfilled. 8.0/10
June 8th - Rose Elinor Dougall (Luminaire, Kilburn)
I was in a strange mood before this gig. A can of super strength Strongbow on top of a can of Relentless left me shaken, and the proggy sounds of the support band combined with the heat in the venue sent me back outside for fresh air and to calm down, where Rose was having a fag. I ended up having a conversation with her which at times veered dangerously close to Jeff Murdock territory. Back in the gig and another excellent set, which was closed by a very guitar led Falling Over - not the sort of song you'd expect given the previous half an hour of a more psychedelic Rilo Kiley style music. That was followed by her first ever solo encore.
Given that as soon as I got home I was straight on the myspace looking for her next date in London, 9/10
June 9th - Rose Elinor Dougall (Puregroove records, London)
Well, it just happened to be the day after. Half day of holiday booked and I was up off to London to see her again. I popped in to Forbidden Planet on the off chance they had a copy of the Pipettes based comic book that I bought a few months previously, and luckily they did. I picked up a copy, still unsure as to how well it would go down, and walked from Covent Garden to Barbican to find a cafe masquerading as a record shop. There were only about a dozen people there to see her, it having been announced very late on, but she remembered me from the previous night and thanked me for coming two nights in a row (fnarr) and then found out I was from Canterbury, so was even more impressed with my attendance. I don't know if it was put upon or real but it was nice that she said it anyway.
The gig was way more stripped down than the previous night, but just as fun. 9/10
Saturday, May 23, 2009
My Day at Wembley by James Tong (aged 24 and 3/4)
Well, that was fun.
The day started ridiculously early at 8:03am, when I woke up to Dave Lee Roth's "Just Like Paradise" on the radio. Unsure as to whether this was portentious or grimly ironic, I got myself ready, and we made our way to the station. We stopped off at Macknade service station for a bar of Galaxy Cookie Crunch - a superstition from earlier in the season, I'd gotten one before the games against Bury, Dagenham & Redbridge and Rochdale, and we hadn't lost those games (winning two and drawing one) and I'm a superstitious bastard.
We got to the station in time for the train half an hour before the one we intended to get, and as Phil had made that one from Canterbury as well we got in early, bagging a seat with a table. At Faversham the train was pretty full - by Sittingbourne, an hour away from London, every seat was taken and there were even people sitting in the aisles. At Rainham there were people three deep at the platform edge - not a hope in hell of getting everyone in. It got worse further up the line. A group of 13/14 year old lads got on with us at Faversham and were being somewhat boisterous, until surrounded by Gills fans at which point they were rather quiet.
We got into Victoria and the train spewed out wave after wave of blue, yellow and white clad Gills fans. As we made our way round to the cashpoints we could hear the chants from the Wetherspoons echoing round the concourse - even in the toilets deep underground I could tell which chant it was. We got on an extremely rammed Victoria line train and then changed to go to Baker Street, where we went in search of food and alcohol. We took a picture outsideBrian Moore's Head the London Planetarium (leave me be) and found a KFC to scoff. Sitting in the KFC 100+ yards from the pub on the corner opposite Baker Street station we could hear Gills chants down the street! Seeing people walking past with alcohol I remembered a Tesco down the road and we headed there just after midday so I could get myself a cider to drink on the tube. Unfortunately, due to the actions of some drunk Cambridge fans the previous weekend, Baker Street was completely dry between the hours of 12 and 3. Arse.
We got down to the platform just as an Uxbridge train pulled in and we jumped on, with around 20 other Gills fans standing in our carriage which became so hot sweat was dripping down the inside of the doors. At Wembley Park we found Coca-Cola fan people who were giving out wristbands - one poor sod made the mistake of pronouncing our club's name as Gillingham with a hard G and got booed by half a dozen Gills fans in a light hearted way. We walked up Wembley Way surrounded by fans in blue and white, and blue and yellow. The new Wembley looks a lot nicer than the old dump, and took pictures like the tourists we are - including the Gills flags in front of the Bobby Moore statue. Walking round the concourse we saw a mounted policeman on a white horse - by this time I was getting rather hyper and got excited about a white horse at Wembley.
When we got into the stadium itself I was rather taken by the resemblence to Tropicana Field in Tampa, where the Rays play their home baseball games, but when we walked through the barrier into the stand I was very impressed. We sat chilling and soaking up the atmosphere, before the under 11s cup final took place in the centre of the pitch. The 6000 odd fans in the stadium took it to heart and were cheering on both sides, with the blue team scoring in the last minute from a left sided corner. Hmm. After that we were impressed that Doug Hudson, the normal announcer at Priestfield, read out our lineup and then lead the 38,000+ Gills fans in a singalong of The Last Waltz. I wasted £3.80 on a pint of Carlsberg (Carlsberg evidently don't do beer, either) before watching the team warm up and alternating between excited and nervous.
The teams came out to an amazing atmosphere. The Gills had the better of the first half against a clearly nervous Shrewsbury, with a corner swept in by Nutter and pushed over the bar by their keeper, and a Josh Wright shot pushed round the post. The first half swept past very quickly, and the teams went in at half time with the Shrews lucky to be level. The half time break took its time to pass, and we discussed the fact that the Gills would be attacking the goal in front of us in the second half. We started the second half as we finished the first, pressuring the Shrewsbury defence but being hindered by the fact that their keeper is a bit good. Then, something changed. Suddenly the Gills became unable to string more than two passes together and Shrewsbury started pressing. The second half dragged on and on, with both teams tiring and gradually slowing down. Dennis Oli, who had turned their left back in and out so much the guy had twisted blood, was visibly knackered towards the end.
Then, suddenly, Barcham broke down the left, speeding past the defender and slicing his cross behind the goal, as the defender slid in. The ref gave a corner, which we weren't too displeased about, as 89:50 showed on the clock. As the ball was returned I noticed that we'd left three defenders and the goalkeeper back in case of a breakaway. Nutter swung the ball in, it was flicked on by Weston and Jackson headed goalwards towards the defender on the line. The defender headed it onto the post and behind him into the roof of the net - the keeper scrambled it away but the linesman had spotted the goal (as did we) and the south stand with the Gills in went absolutely mental. 49 games over the season, and it had come down to the last second of the last minute of the last game. The two minutes of injury time took approximately an hour to tick down, and as their keeper hoofed it forward, the referee blew his whistle and we were back up to League 1, a year after we left it!
After the trophy was lifted we left sharpish, and caught the tube back to Victoria in time to get the 18:03 train home. After running for food and for the train I was absolutely knackered, and stood on the train swaying and seeing blue sheep scampering in the fields. The food perked me up and kept me going until Faversham where, 10 hours after we arrived there, we returned tired and happy.
The day started ridiculously early at 8:03am, when I woke up to Dave Lee Roth's "Just Like Paradise" on the radio. Unsure as to whether this was portentious or grimly ironic, I got myself ready, and we made our way to the station. We stopped off at Macknade service station for a bar of Galaxy Cookie Crunch - a superstition from earlier in the season, I'd gotten one before the games against Bury, Dagenham & Redbridge and Rochdale, and we hadn't lost those games (winning two and drawing one) and I'm a superstitious bastard.
We got to the station in time for the train half an hour before the one we intended to get, and as Phil had made that one from Canterbury as well we got in early, bagging a seat with a table. At Faversham the train was pretty full - by Sittingbourne, an hour away from London, every seat was taken and there were even people sitting in the aisles. At Rainham there were people three deep at the platform edge - not a hope in hell of getting everyone in. It got worse further up the line. A group of 13/14 year old lads got on with us at Faversham and were being somewhat boisterous, until surrounded by Gills fans at which point they were rather quiet.
We got into Victoria and the train spewed out wave after wave of blue, yellow and white clad Gills fans. As we made our way round to the cashpoints we could hear the chants from the Wetherspoons echoing round the concourse - even in the toilets deep underground I could tell which chant it was. We got on an extremely rammed Victoria line train and then changed to go to Baker Street, where we went in search of food and alcohol. We took a picture outside
We got down to the platform just as an Uxbridge train pulled in and we jumped on, with around 20 other Gills fans standing in our carriage which became so hot sweat was dripping down the inside of the doors. At Wembley Park we found Coca-Cola fan people who were giving out wristbands - one poor sod made the mistake of pronouncing our club's name as Gillingham with a hard G and got booed by half a dozen Gills fans in a light hearted way. We walked up Wembley Way surrounded by fans in blue and white, and blue and yellow. The new Wembley looks a lot nicer than the old dump, and took pictures like the tourists we are - including the Gills flags in front of the Bobby Moore statue. Walking round the concourse we saw a mounted policeman on a white horse - by this time I was getting rather hyper and got excited about a white horse at Wembley.
When we got into the stadium itself I was rather taken by the resemblence to Tropicana Field in Tampa, where the Rays play their home baseball games, but when we walked through the barrier into the stand I was very impressed. We sat chilling and soaking up the atmosphere, before the under 11s cup final took place in the centre of the pitch. The 6000 odd fans in the stadium took it to heart and were cheering on both sides, with the blue team scoring in the last minute from a left sided corner. Hmm. After that we were impressed that Doug Hudson, the normal announcer at Priestfield, read out our lineup and then lead the 38,000+ Gills fans in a singalong of The Last Waltz. I wasted £3.80 on a pint of Carlsberg (Carlsberg evidently don't do beer, either) before watching the team warm up and alternating between excited and nervous.
The teams came out to an amazing atmosphere. The Gills had the better of the first half against a clearly nervous Shrewsbury, with a corner swept in by Nutter and pushed over the bar by their keeper, and a Josh Wright shot pushed round the post. The first half swept past very quickly, and the teams went in at half time with the Shrews lucky to be level. The half time break took its time to pass, and we discussed the fact that the Gills would be attacking the goal in front of us in the second half. We started the second half as we finished the first, pressuring the Shrewsbury defence but being hindered by the fact that their keeper is a bit good. Then, something changed. Suddenly the Gills became unable to string more than two passes together and Shrewsbury started pressing. The second half dragged on and on, with both teams tiring and gradually slowing down. Dennis Oli, who had turned their left back in and out so much the guy had twisted blood, was visibly knackered towards the end.
Then, suddenly, Barcham broke down the left, speeding past the defender and slicing his cross behind the goal, as the defender slid in. The ref gave a corner, which we weren't too displeased about, as 89:50 showed on the clock. As the ball was returned I noticed that we'd left three defenders and the goalkeeper back in case of a breakaway. Nutter swung the ball in, it was flicked on by Weston and Jackson headed goalwards towards the defender on the line. The defender headed it onto the post and behind him into the roof of the net - the keeper scrambled it away but the linesman had spotted the goal (as did we) and the south stand with the Gills in went absolutely mental. 49 games over the season, and it had come down to the last second of the last minute of the last game. The two minutes of injury time took approximately an hour to tick down, and as their keeper hoofed it forward, the referee blew his whistle and we were back up to League 1, a year after we left it!
After the trophy was lifted we left sharpish, and caught the tube back to Victoria in time to get the 18:03 train home. After running for food and for the train I was absolutely knackered, and stood on the train swaying and seeing blue sheep scampering in the fields. The food perked me up and kept me going until Faversham where, 10 hours after we arrived there, we returned tired and happy.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Red Nose Day Tube Challenge 2009
So, as I've been plugging for the last month, yesterday was Red Nose Day - the day we'd picked to attempt to visit all 270 stations on the London Underground. Read on to see how we fared...
The day started with a gentle half mile walk from the Travelodge round to Hatton Cross station. It wasn't cold, very mild, but there was nowhere around to get a bacon sandwich. Sadly, this was to carry on throughout the day. After meeting up and mucking about confusing early morning commuters, we got the train to Heathrow Terminal 4, and started our stopwatches when the doors closed there. The train left 6 minutes later than scheduled which was to our advantage, as we had a long wait at the next change and this cut the time down significantly. When we came into daylight at Hounslow West I shifted in my seat to see the sun rise and twisted my back awkwardly - the twinge that had me walking gingerly for a week in February returned, and I started to worry that my day was over before it had begun.
On the train to Barons Court Anthony was distributing Red Noses and we had a bit of fun throwing them to/at each other. At Barons Court we changed to a District train to West Kensington, and the first run of the day. I was dreading this, as if my gym sessions weren't enough this would kill me, and it wasn't even half 7! This was much easier than I thought due to taking a run through back streets which broke up the monotony of a long street, and I jogged in to Kensington Olympia feeling much better than I expected. A quick change and we were off to Wimbledon to somehow make it to Morden in time for a Mill Hill East train.
(Sidebar: If these station names are like Vienna - they mean nothing to you - there's a map here to refer to)
At Wimbledon the train we'd planned to get to South Merton wasn't in, so we took a tram instead. This was quite fun, despite people studiously ignoring my attempts to make eye contact and let me explain what we were doing. We jumped off at Merton Park and sprinted up to the road to hopefully get a bus and it was at that point that we saw the bus stop nearest was out of order. Bugger. To compound our misery we spotted a Morden bus coming, too. Completely ignoring the Green Cross Code we ran across a very busy A road to try and flag it down on the off-chance that it would stop for a dozen superheroes. Luckily, it did! Garion, dressed as Superman, wasn't expecting this much running on an attempt and collapsed on the floor of the bus for a rest. The driver dropped us off right outside the station then stopped traffic so we could cross the road in front of him, and such won the Best Bus Driver of the day award.
This bit of good fortune meant we could get the train before the Mill Hill East train that we intended to get, and gave us a few minutes at Finchley Central for a breather/toilet break. I nipped over to the southbound platform to take a picture of Harry Beck's original Tube map and gave a spare Red Nose to a gateline guard who kept looking over at us and giggling. At Mill Hill East we were accosted by a strange ginger haired fella - who was possibly on a comedown and freaked out by us - who wanted lots of pictures. A trip up to High Barnet and a few buses followed by a run saw us reach Cockfosters in time, and a bit of luck with the next few connections meant we knocked out Covent Garden earlier than planned, before heading off to Essex.
Had a bit of time at Hainault so I checked to see if it had improved since the end of August (it hadn't) and then to Woodford, where I replenished my drinks supply, got a ham and cheese roll that was disappointingly missing the cheese, and had a quick wee. Not all at the same time, I should point out. A nice trip back into London and out the other side, and then a run to Ickenham. This was slightly downhill but went past eight pubs! As this was about two in the afternoon there were lots of people about and we got a fair number of toots from car/van/motorbike horns. At the next station, Hillingdon, we reached the halfway point in terms of stations visited, but a few minutes delay here meant I couldn't chance a lovely bacon and brie sandwich from the Cafe at Uxbridge. Back at Rayners Lane I was annoyed that the platform kiosk that was open ten minutes before had shut for afternoon tea - fortunately there was a shop just outside the entrance where I finally got some wine gums.
Down the Piccadilly line to North Ealing and we had a bit of interest from the British Transport Police. Apparently the radios we were using happened to be on the same frequency as their radios - by all accounts, Control were wetting themselves listening to discussions of the superheroes running between stations! As we left at North Ealing I had the first piece of misfortune of the day. Coming off the train to the stairs I clipped my foot on the lip of the platform and went tumbling - the momentum of my backpack carried forward and I made a half hearted attempt at a forward roll to try and cover up my clumsiness. By the time I'd left the station one of our number had already reached West Acton and radioed back that there was no train for nine minutes and to take our time. I did, and nipped into the off licence to get a can of Magners for the end of the day.
A quick change at Ealing Broadway (which still smells of curry) and down to Turnham Green for a doubleback to Richmond. I actually cannot remember a single thing about this bit up until Hammersmith - it's possible I hit my head on the platform at North Ealing too - and at Hammersmith we completely screwed up the door positions, so what was meant to be a leisurely jog turned into a full on pelt through a shopping centre to the Hammersmith and City line station (across 5 lanes of traffic) and we got a tannoy announcement to a certain extent - "can the superheroes stop holding open the doors or this train will be taken out of service!".
By this time I was feeling the effects of a long day, and as we hit rush hour I was starting to look forward to a McDonalds for a sugar boost. It didn't help that Sam and Matt dropped out at South Kensington as they were the only two I really talked to. After some rapid changes I ended up in the carriage behind everyone else, tuning in to three teenage girls who didn't realise that they weren't black - despite attempts to dress/talk/act like stereotypical black girls. Given my tiredness it took a few minutes to realise that they were actually discussing the various trains from the Thomas the Tank Engine stories and what number/colour each engine was! At Stockwell we pulled up into the Northern line platform to see a Victoria line train waiting across the platform with its doors open. Sprinting across we heard the beeps to signify the doors were about to close - Iron Man threw himself into the rapidly diminishing gap and managed to force the doors back open! By the time we'd got back to Sloane Square my back was in agony and I was having to hyperventilate every few minutes to stop it locking up.
However, after a change at Tower Hill for an Upminster train I had taken enough Ibuprofen to paralyse a small horse and was able to continue. The District train to Upminster dragged and I took the opportunity to have a bit of a doze. Past East Ham the train emptied and I found out I'd raised £288 so far - sent out a begging Tweet for the final £12 to take me over double my original target, and my Tennessee friend Amanda duly coughed up. This, coupled with the ice cold bottle of Coke at Upminster, gave me the impetus to continue at least until the Burger King at Harrow. Coming back down to London on a very lovely C2C train we hared out of Fenchurch Street station, up Jewry Street (passing more pubs - I swear the easiest way to find a pub in London is to walk between two geographically close Underground stations) and across to Aldgate. Running across Aldgate High Street I crucially forgot the Green Cross Code and nearly got mown down by a double decker. Apparently the high pitched squeal I heard wasn't the bus's brakes and was in fact me.
Sitting at Aldgate we waited for five minutes for the train to depart - we had a green signal, but no driver. I was all for taking over and joyriding it to Baker Street (it can't be that difficult to drive, surely?) but quite sensibly I was shouted down. Passing through the stations on the northern bit of the Circle line we saw crowds five deep at the platform - not to see me, sadly, but because there hadn't been a train through in a good 15 minutes before. At Baker Street we ran down and found a Jubilee line train waiting for us in the platform so hoped on and nipped out to Zone 5, on the world's slowest Jubilee line train. At Wembley Park I started noting things down for the Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend in May, when I'll be back to cheer on Gillingham in the playoff final. I realised two things on this leg - it was suddenly blinking cold, and that next time I do an all stations attempt, I'll bring a pen so I can attempt the sudokus in the freebie papers strewn across the carriage. A double back at Stanmore to Canons Park and then a bus to Edgware to go back into town.
As we'd knocked out Leicester Square and Covent Garden earlier on in the day, we could take a shorter route across Zone 1 for this bit. Unfortunately this meant a change at Tottenham Court Road, which has never been my favourite station (the Central line platforms, Northern line platforms and surface entrance are all about three miles away from each other) and today didn't help as it was roastingly hot. A full pelt run through the station was pointless as we had a five minute wait for a train; waiting for others to arrive I noticed my vision greying out and everything at a 30 degree angle to where it should be. I propped myself against a wall to avoid collapsing and hindering the attempt, as after the next change at Oxford Circus I'd be sat down for 40 minutes so I could recover. I nodded off several times on the way out to Queens Park, which was a source of amusement for everyone else! At Queens Park our train terminated so we hopped across to get on the Overground train (apart from the DLR and the River boats, we managed to use every single London Transport method on the day) up to Harrow and Wealdstone. We had a long old wait here and saw two Virgin Pendolinos go screaming past - my joking suggestion to Garion that he race them was met with a stare best described as "withering".
Back at Kenton we shot off the train, up the stairs and through the sleep village to Northwick Park station, annoyed that we wouldn't make it back to Preston Road in time to catch the Watford train. However a bit of luck meant that the Watford train was running four minutes late and we easily caught it at Preston Road. Nipping through Harrow on the Hill I pressed my face against the glass peering intently for the support team, who left us at Baker Street (the second time) to get a job lot of Bacon double cheeseburger meals from Burger King in Harrow. Unfortunately they didn't get back to us in time and so were going to meet us at Moor Park after we'd been up to Watford.
Given that the Met line is so vast and sprawling, with four branches up at this end, the Amersham trains run fast from Chesham to Moor Park, whereas the Watford trains visit the four stations in between. As we left Northwood Hills a fast train rattled past - this was carrying our support team (and more crucially, my dinner) and so they met us at Moor Park. My food didn't make it to Croxley. This was exactly what I needed and kept me going until the end. Back at Moor Park we had a 19 minute wait for an Amersham train (well, one that stopped here anyway - several Chiltern Railways trains whooshed past onomatopoeically) as we'd changed our plans and would now finish at Chesham (then revisit Amersham for the cars). At this point I was running on autopilot and don't remember much about the stations, except that Amersham and Chesham seem to be populated exclusively by 17 year old temptresses. Either that or I imagined them - I'm still not entirely sure which is more likely! Back at Chalfont we crossed the platform to the Chesham shuttle and Garion, the hero that he is, had a quick chat with the driver. Coming back to us he confessed he'd managed to convince the driver to give it some welly - hearing this, everyone who was standing up made a dash for the safety of the seats! I cracked open my can of Magners for the final countdown (and I wish I'd put that song on my phone to play for the final bit) and nearly fell over again as the train accelerated further into Buckinghamshire. Shortly after midnight, a mere 17 hours, 36 minutes and 57 seconds after the doors closed at Heathrow Terminal 4, we tumbled out onto the platform at our 270th station, stopping our watches and waking up most of Chesham with our raucous yells of delight.
We dragged our weary bodies back to Amersham via Chalfont, and I got a lift back to the travelodge I had left 20 hours before. I don't remember anything at all from leaving Amersham until 9:51 on Saturday morning, when a text from Mel woke me up and I found I was face down on the bed, still wearing everything from the day before - even my backpack! As a mildly amusing coda, once I'd replied to Mel and got the kettle on, I stripped off my now rather pungent clothes, opened the window and inadvertently exposed myself to anyone driving down the A4 at that particular moment.
The day started with a gentle half mile walk from the Travelodge round to Hatton Cross station. It wasn't cold, very mild, but there was nowhere around to get a bacon sandwich. Sadly, this was to carry on throughout the day. After meeting up and mucking about confusing early morning commuters, we got the train to Heathrow Terminal 4, and started our stopwatches when the doors closed there. The train left 6 minutes later than scheduled which was to our advantage, as we had a long wait at the next change and this cut the time down significantly. When we came into daylight at Hounslow West I shifted in my seat to see the sun rise and twisted my back awkwardly - the twinge that had me walking gingerly for a week in February returned, and I started to worry that my day was over before it had begun.
On the train to Barons Court Anthony was distributing Red Noses and we had a bit of fun throwing them to/at each other. At Barons Court we changed to a District train to West Kensington, and the first run of the day. I was dreading this, as if my gym sessions weren't enough this would kill me, and it wasn't even half 7! This was much easier than I thought due to taking a run through back streets which broke up the monotony of a long street, and I jogged in to Kensington Olympia feeling much better than I expected. A quick change and we were off to Wimbledon to somehow make it to Morden in time for a Mill Hill East train.
(Sidebar: If these station names are like Vienna - they mean nothing to you - there's a map here to refer to)
At Wimbledon the train we'd planned to get to South Merton wasn't in, so we took a tram instead. This was quite fun, despite people studiously ignoring my attempts to make eye contact and let me explain what we were doing. We jumped off at Merton Park and sprinted up to the road to hopefully get a bus and it was at that point that we saw the bus stop nearest was out of order. Bugger. To compound our misery we spotted a Morden bus coming, too. Completely ignoring the Green Cross Code we ran across a very busy A road to try and flag it down on the off-chance that it would stop for a dozen superheroes. Luckily, it did! Garion, dressed as Superman, wasn't expecting this much running on an attempt and collapsed on the floor of the bus for a rest. The driver dropped us off right outside the station then stopped traffic so we could cross the road in front of him, and such won the Best Bus Driver of the day award.
This bit of good fortune meant we could get the train before the Mill Hill East train that we intended to get, and gave us a few minutes at Finchley Central for a breather/toilet break. I nipped over to the southbound platform to take a picture of Harry Beck's original Tube map and gave a spare Red Nose to a gateline guard who kept looking over at us and giggling. At Mill Hill East we were accosted by a strange ginger haired fella - who was possibly on a comedown and freaked out by us - who wanted lots of pictures. A trip up to High Barnet and a few buses followed by a run saw us reach Cockfosters in time, and a bit of luck with the next few connections meant we knocked out Covent Garden earlier than planned, before heading off to Essex.
Had a bit of time at Hainault so I checked to see if it had improved since the end of August (it hadn't) and then to Woodford, where I replenished my drinks supply, got a ham and cheese roll that was disappointingly missing the cheese, and had a quick wee. Not all at the same time, I should point out. A nice trip back into London and out the other side, and then a run to Ickenham. This was slightly downhill but went past eight pubs! As this was about two in the afternoon there were lots of people about and we got a fair number of toots from car/van/motorbike horns. At the next station, Hillingdon, we reached the halfway point in terms of stations visited, but a few minutes delay here meant I couldn't chance a lovely bacon and brie sandwich from the Cafe at Uxbridge. Back at Rayners Lane I was annoyed that the platform kiosk that was open ten minutes before had shut for afternoon tea - fortunately there was a shop just outside the entrance where I finally got some wine gums.
Down the Piccadilly line to North Ealing and we had a bit of interest from the British Transport Police. Apparently the radios we were using happened to be on the same frequency as their radios - by all accounts, Control were wetting themselves listening to discussions of the superheroes running between stations! As we left at North Ealing I had the first piece of misfortune of the day. Coming off the train to the stairs I clipped my foot on the lip of the platform and went tumbling - the momentum of my backpack carried forward and I made a half hearted attempt at a forward roll to try and cover up my clumsiness. By the time I'd left the station one of our number had already reached West Acton and radioed back that there was no train for nine minutes and to take our time. I did, and nipped into the off licence to get a can of Magners for the end of the day.
A quick change at Ealing Broadway (which still smells of curry) and down to Turnham Green for a doubleback to Richmond. I actually cannot remember a single thing about this bit up until Hammersmith - it's possible I hit my head on the platform at North Ealing too - and at Hammersmith we completely screwed up the door positions, so what was meant to be a leisurely jog turned into a full on pelt through a shopping centre to the Hammersmith and City line station (across 5 lanes of traffic) and we got a tannoy announcement to a certain extent - "can the superheroes stop holding open the doors or this train will be taken out of service!".
By this time I was feeling the effects of a long day, and as we hit rush hour I was starting to look forward to a McDonalds for a sugar boost. It didn't help that Sam and Matt dropped out at South Kensington as they were the only two I really talked to. After some rapid changes I ended up in the carriage behind everyone else, tuning in to three teenage girls who didn't realise that they weren't black - despite attempts to dress/talk/act like stereotypical black girls. Given my tiredness it took a few minutes to realise that they were actually discussing the various trains from the Thomas the Tank Engine stories and what number/colour each engine was! At Stockwell we pulled up into the Northern line platform to see a Victoria line train waiting across the platform with its doors open. Sprinting across we heard the beeps to signify the doors were about to close - Iron Man threw himself into the rapidly diminishing gap and managed to force the doors back open! By the time we'd got back to Sloane Square my back was in agony and I was having to hyperventilate every few minutes to stop it locking up.
However, after a change at Tower Hill for an Upminster train I had taken enough Ibuprofen to paralyse a small horse and was able to continue. The District train to Upminster dragged and I took the opportunity to have a bit of a doze. Past East Ham the train emptied and I found out I'd raised £288 so far - sent out a begging Tweet for the final £12 to take me over double my original target, and my Tennessee friend Amanda duly coughed up. This, coupled with the ice cold bottle of Coke at Upminster, gave me the impetus to continue at least until the Burger King at Harrow. Coming back down to London on a very lovely C2C train we hared out of Fenchurch Street station, up Jewry Street (passing more pubs - I swear the easiest way to find a pub in London is to walk between two geographically close Underground stations) and across to Aldgate. Running across Aldgate High Street I crucially forgot the Green Cross Code and nearly got mown down by a double decker. Apparently the high pitched squeal I heard wasn't the bus's brakes and was in fact me.
Sitting at Aldgate we waited for five minutes for the train to depart - we had a green signal, but no driver. I was all for taking over and joyriding it to Baker Street (it can't be that difficult to drive, surely?) but quite sensibly I was shouted down. Passing through the stations on the northern bit of the Circle line we saw crowds five deep at the platform - not to see me, sadly, but because there hadn't been a train through in a good 15 minutes before. At Baker Street we ran down and found a Jubilee line train waiting for us in the platform so hoped on and nipped out to Zone 5, on the world's slowest Jubilee line train. At Wembley Park I started noting things down for the Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend in May, when I'll be back to cheer on Gillingham in the playoff final. I realised two things on this leg - it was suddenly blinking cold, and that next time I do an all stations attempt, I'll bring a pen so I can attempt the sudokus in the freebie papers strewn across the carriage. A double back at Stanmore to Canons Park and then a bus to Edgware to go back into town.
As we'd knocked out Leicester Square and Covent Garden earlier on in the day, we could take a shorter route across Zone 1 for this bit. Unfortunately this meant a change at Tottenham Court Road, which has never been my favourite station (the Central line platforms, Northern line platforms and surface entrance are all about three miles away from each other) and today didn't help as it was roastingly hot. A full pelt run through the station was pointless as we had a five minute wait for a train; waiting for others to arrive I noticed my vision greying out and everything at a 30 degree angle to where it should be. I propped myself against a wall to avoid collapsing and hindering the attempt, as after the next change at Oxford Circus I'd be sat down for 40 minutes so I could recover. I nodded off several times on the way out to Queens Park, which was a source of amusement for everyone else! At Queens Park our train terminated so we hopped across to get on the Overground train (apart from the DLR and the River boats, we managed to use every single London Transport method on the day) up to Harrow and Wealdstone. We had a long old wait here and saw two Virgin Pendolinos go screaming past - my joking suggestion to Garion that he race them was met with a stare best described as "withering".
Back at Kenton we shot off the train, up the stairs and through the sleep village to Northwick Park station, annoyed that we wouldn't make it back to Preston Road in time to catch the Watford train. However a bit of luck meant that the Watford train was running four minutes late and we easily caught it at Preston Road. Nipping through Harrow on the Hill I pressed my face against the glass peering intently for the support team, who left us at Baker Street (the second time) to get a job lot of Bacon double cheeseburger meals from Burger King in Harrow. Unfortunately they didn't get back to us in time and so were going to meet us at Moor Park after we'd been up to Watford.
Given that the Met line is so vast and sprawling, with four branches up at this end, the Amersham trains run fast from Chesham to Moor Park, whereas the Watford trains visit the four stations in between. As we left Northwood Hills a fast train rattled past - this was carrying our support team (and more crucially, my dinner) and so they met us at Moor Park. My food didn't make it to Croxley. This was exactly what I needed and kept me going until the end. Back at Moor Park we had a 19 minute wait for an Amersham train (well, one that stopped here anyway - several Chiltern Railways trains whooshed past onomatopoeically) as we'd changed our plans and would now finish at Chesham (then revisit Amersham for the cars). At this point I was running on autopilot and don't remember much about the stations, except that Amersham and Chesham seem to be populated exclusively by 17 year old temptresses. Either that or I imagined them - I'm still not entirely sure which is more likely! Back at Chalfont we crossed the platform to the Chesham shuttle and Garion, the hero that he is, had a quick chat with the driver. Coming back to us he confessed he'd managed to convince the driver to give it some welly - hearing this, everyone who was standing up made a dash for the safety of the seats! I cracked open my can of Magners for the final countdown (and I wish I'd put that song on my phone to play for the final bit) and nearly fell over again as the train accelerated further into Buckinghamshire. Shortly after midnight, a mere 17 hours, 36 minutes and 57 seconds after the doors closed at Heathrow Terminal 4, we tumbled out onto the platform at our 270th station, stopping our watches and waking up most of Chesham with our raucous yells of delight.
We dragged our weary bodies back to Amersham via Chalfont, and I got a lift back to the travelodge I had left 20 hours before. I don't remember anything at all from leaving Amersham until 9:51 on Saturday morning, when a text from Mel woke me up and I found I was face down on the bed, still wearing everything from the day before - even my backpack! As a mildly amusing coda, once I'd replied to Mel and got the kettle on, I stripped off my now rather pungent clothes, opened the window and inadvertently exposed myself to anyone driving down the A4 at that particular moment.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Stupid things we do for charity
Myself (along with a number of far more
Starting at stupid O'clock at Heathrow in the far south-western corner of the Tube Map, and hopefully visiting every station on there (not including the Overground [Orange and white lines] or the DLR stations [Green and white lines]). Mad? Yes. Why do it? Well, it's for charity. And it should be fun. And I want to finish in a slightly quicker time than four months.
So, what can you do? Most importantly you can donate using the Comic Relief page. That's secure, the money goes directly to them and they can claim Gift Aid if you're a UK Tax payer, which basically means that the Inland Revenue add on 28% to your donation. Which is jolly good of them.
Another thing we could do with is helping us along on the day. We'll be taking food and drinks along with us, but backpacks only have a limited capacity and can get a tad heavy. However much I plan, I'll inevitably have eaten all my proper food by Lunchtime, and sweets/cheese will be gone well before that. Meeting up will be difficult (what with communication being a tad difficult when actually underground) and us being on a very tight schedule, but certainly not impossible.
If you think you may be able to give any kind of logistical/moral support then either leave a comment on here or email me (jamesthegill [at] gmail [dot] com) and we can discuss things.
Another thing, if all goes to plan then I'm going to be writing short updates to this blog on the trip, to keep you all up to speed with how we're doing. Most of the network is above ground and I will be using the new shiny sparkly toy called Twitter (as used by Stephen Fry - note: it's different to my personal twitter, if you didn't realise) to text updates to whenever I'm in a decent signal area.
And questions/offers of support can be made in the comments below (if there are enough then I may do a general FAQ post) or email me and I'll get back to you.
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