Pissed again...
Been at the Great British Beer Festival. Again. So, usual disclaimers about presentation, grammar, punctuation, spelling, content etc apply...
Yesterday:
Went to fencing at Saxon again so managing to maintain radical improvement on previous years about fencing/doing any exercise whatsoever over the Summer. This time, there were three of us, Kate, Jo and myself and likely prospect of being joined by Kate A next week. Confusingly, Poly has three Kates but at least they were considerate enough to have surnames starting with the letters A, B and C. Kate C, by virtue of being first, has attained a certain Royal Mail-esque status whereby unqualified references are taken to refer to her... It also occurs to me response from the chaps at Poly about colonising Saxon has been a tad poor. Otherwise, a good night, fencing new people is always good but one of the guys there was a bit of a hard hitter so I have a fair few painful spots on my chest and right leg and arm.
Today:
GBBF. To be honest, I'd completely failed to notice it was coming up and it was only because one of the guys at the English Civil War event last Sunday mentioned it that I knew it was on! On the way in, I suddenly realised the couple behind me at the platform at Earl's Court loudly and publicly snogging were in fact Nick and Laura, his fiancee! When we got to Olympia, I checked in with Kate who had already arrived. Sure sign I've been to this event too often and become perhaps a tad too predictable: On saying I'd head over to meet Kate and friends, she said no rush, go and get my usual opener of Broadside first. OK, there is also the issue of Jackie and Kristen commenting on the number of GBBF pint glasses I possessed but, nonetheless, WTF! :-O
Another slightly worrying thing: Michelle, one of Kate's colleagues heard me say something about downloading Galactica and interjected that I must be Ming! Huh. Anyway, brief discussion later, it appears I am indeed noted as Kate's downloader friend and she is most anxious to tap my Firefly, BSG, B5, Farscape and Space: Above and Beyond collections. Suppose it could be worse: No one said anything about goats, sheep or badgers...
Anyway, overall, another great evening in the company of fencers, re-enactors and some of Kate's colleagues of sampling random beers with interesting names, highlights being Lancaster Bomber and Plastered, bar an unfortunate encounter with a cider we decided would be best used to sprinkle on chips and the comparatively flavourless Samuel Adams Summer Ale (a real shame as their Boston Lager is one of my faves, despite being an American beer!). One thing we did do differently this year was, rather than the usual shambling round Olympia in a mob, we annexed a table from which small groups of us would launch sorties to secure more beer. Seemed to work pretty well - nice to have a table and chairs to come back to (or maybe I'm just getting old...).
I'm not absolutely certain, but I think I may also have made some vague commitment to drop off a copy of BSG 2x04 to Kate tomorrow, assuming it gets posted overnight as usual. Oh well, guess I'll figure it out in the morning...
Hmm.... chips with Frites Saus (aka Dutch mayo formulated to go with chips) - most satisfying at this time!
Yesterday:
Went to fencing at Saxon again so managing to maintain radical improvement on previous years about fencing/doing any exercise whatsoever over the Summer. This time, there were three of us, Kate, Jo and myself and likely prospect of being joined by Kate A next week. Confusingly, Poly has three Kates but at least they were considerate enough to have surnames starting with the letters A, B and C. Kate C, by virtue of being first, has attained a certain Royal Mail-esque status whereby unqualified references are taken to refer to her... It also occurs to me response from the chaps at Poly about colonising Saxon has been a tad poor. Otherwise, a good night, fencing new people is always good but one of the guys there was a bit of a hard hitter so I have a fair few painful spots on my chest and right leg and arm.
Today:
GBBF. To be honest, I'd completely failed to notice it was coming up and it was only because one of the guys at the English Civil War event last Sunday mentioned it that I knew it was on! On the way in, I suddenly realised the couple behind me at the platform at Earl's Court loudly and publicly snogging were in fact Nick and Laura, his fiancee! When we got to Olympia, I checked in with Kate who had already arrived. Sure sign I've been to this event too often and become perhaps a tad too predictable: On saying I'd head over to meet Kate and friends, she said no rush, go and get my usual opener of Broadside first. OK, there is also the issue of Jackie and Kristen commenting on the number of GBBF pint glasses I possessed but, nonetheless, WTF! :-O
Another slightly worrying thing: Michelle, one of Kate's colleagues heard me say something about downloading Galactica and interjected that I must be Ming! Huh. Anyway, brief discussion later, it appears I am indeed noted as Kate's downloader friend and she is most anxious to tap my Firefly, BSG, B5, Farscape and Space: Above and Beyond collections. Suppose it could be worse: No one said anything about goats, sheep or badgers...
Anyway, overall, another great evening in the company of fencers, re-enactors and some of Kate's colleagues of sampling random beers with interesting names, highlights being Lancaster Bomber and Plastered, bar an unfortunate encounter with a cider we decided would be best used to sprinkle on chips and the comparatively flavourless Samuel Adams Summer Ale (a real shame as their Boston Lager is one of my faves, despite being an American beer!). One thing we did do differently this year was, rather than the usual shambling round Olympia in a mob, we annexed a table from which small groups of us would launch sorties to secure more beer. Seemed to work pretty well - nice to have a table and chairs to come back to (or maybe I'm just getting old...).
I'm not absolutely certain, but I think I may also have made some vague commitment to drop off a copy of BSG 2x04 to Kate tomorrow, assuming it gets posted overnight as usual. Oh well, guess I'll figure it out in the morning...
Hmm.... chips with Frites Saus (aka Dutch mayo formulated to go with chips) - most satisfying at this time!