Yesterday I felt this was all for nothing. It wasn't a broken ankle or something, but a mere electronic message that caused this pain. An email popped into my inbox to tell me that the powers that be had decided to move the marathon date from early March to late May. My heart well and truly sank. I could have had a little cry (I didn’t though as I am a strong man). The point is though that I will be back in England by this date and I am going to miss it. Unless I pay a load to fly back there is no way little old me can run in the marathon.
I was a bit shocked and stunned and I wasn’t sure how to deal with this news. I handled it by doing the only thing I can do these days to relieve the stress – I went for a run! Oh, the irony. I was a bad boy though. I was down to do 8 miles on my training schedule but I only did 7. That will teach those bastards who run the LA marathon I thought to myself. I will also get my hundred dollars entry fee refunded which I may spend on sweets.
So what do I do now? I guess I’ll have to enter some marathon back home. Nothing will be as good as doing the LA one though. It would have finished my year here quite nicely. Oh well, it could be worse. I guess I could be a little Ethiopian child having to cope with both famine and a visit from Lenny Henry.
It was the election last week. Obama (and Bin Laden I think it is) got in and the whole world seemed quite pleased. I enjoyed watching the coverage and being part of things. I couldn’t vote of course but that didn’t really matter. I just put on my brilliant American accent and went around saying “Obama and Bin Laden has my vote”. I got some funny looks, I’m not sure why. Perhaps my accent wasn’t up to scratch?
The result was a bit spoilt here in LA though as in another vote the people of California decided to ban gay marriage. I actually felt very sorry for the gays and felt it was quite a regression of attitudes. The shouty people on the news that opposed it were going on about the great tradition and sanctity of marriage. Well if that’s the case put your money where your mouth is and ban divorce. If marriage is that precious and sacrosanct then treat it as such. That is what I say to them! I think it was 53% of people voted against gay marriage fact fans. It is bonkers to think that over half the people here don’t think a big section of society should have equal rights.
There has been lots of protests since this result was announced, and sadly here is where the gays have let themselves down. They decided to have a protest march last Wednesday late afternoon and evening. This created traffic chaos and a lot of people took ages to get home from work. Some jams didn't move for hours. I was luckily going the other way but I was still delayed a bit.
If you want the support and sympathy of people I would advise that creating traffic jams is not the right way to go about it. People are selfish by nature, and making them late for their tea is
bad news city. I am a fan of the gays (after all The Pet Shop Boys are my third favourite band/act of all time). The gays will test my patience though if they keep on blocking Santa Monica Boulevard. They should stick with weekend protests instead I reckon. It isn't great to be held up on a weekend either but it is the lesser of two evils. Their mantra should be “We are gay and proud but we should not make the heterosexual man late for his dinner.” If they stick to that they will be able to get married again in no time at all I reckon.
Emma and I go back to London on Friday for ten days. Carter USM are playing some gigs which I have helped organize. It will also be a great chance to catch up with family and friends. My mum is throwing an early Christmas Day and this year the Ollington’s will celebrate Christmas on 18th November. Don’t expect a blog entry next week therefore. I’ll be too busy not only gigging it but remembering the birth of the little baby Jesus. I can not wait for my early Christmas dinner. I am so excited I did a little dance to myself there. You wouldn’t have seen it but it was a kind of robotic move that would have gone done well in the eighties.
I am also going to see Arsenal too. I have been away from The Arsenal for too long. In my years absence my brother, little Jon Ollington, has loaned my season ticket. From reports I have got all the people I sit with have grown to like Jon a lot, and they now prefer him to me. It’s ruddy typical isn’t it? People always prefer the younger and prettier model. I bet the ipod is dead jealous of the iphone for example. People now want to listen to mp3s, do an email and make a call all at the same time. How quickly you fall out of favour for the new version…
My only problem with iphones is that the internet on them seems to be dead slow. There is nothing worse than being out and about and some dude will say “look at this great clip from youtube, it’s a cat walking on two legs while blowing fire from his bottom”. You then pretend to be interested in seeing this clip (manners cost nothing) until you realize it takes seven hours for the clip to buffer. You then sit there craning your neck for ages waiting to see this ‘hilarious’ clip on a screen the size of a credit card.
I digress, It’s bonkers to think that when we get back to LA after our home visit I will only have just over three months of work left before we leave for good. We won’t be back in London Town until April though as the plan is to tour some more of the states after we have finished here. I wonder if our flat will be worth more than ten pounds by then?
Before I go I would like to do some of those congratulation type things. My sister got engaged to her boyfriend Neil the other week. They are having a winter wedding next year which will be something to look forward too. I have told her to make sure that whatever building they get married in is warm though. I am not used to British weather anymore so a wedding in December will be a shock to the system. Anyways, regardless of potential venues and their heating concerns a big congrats to the both of them.
And lastly my brother-in-law Gary has just won The Sunday Times Landscape Photographer of the Year. How cool is that? Not only is it a dead prestigious prize but he has won lots of money too. I have a feeling he will treat me to something nice as I have always supported him over the years. You can see the photo here: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article1489138.ece
You will note that in the award winning photo is a dog. What makes this even better is that I actually not only know Gary but I know the dog too. He is called Barney and we have hung out on quite a few occasions. He has even stayed over at Emma and I’s London pad. On one occasion it was such a crazy night that Barney did a piddle on our floor. He was a lot younger then though and not used to the crazy rock n’ roll type vibe that we have in London Town. I am delighted for both Gary, and Barney.
I reckon that is it for today. I’ll tell you all about the fun and adventures we had with our latest visitors soon. It’s a non stop social merry-go-round for Emma and I, and sometimes we are too dizzy to step off.
Marc x
Emma and I go back to London on Friday for ten days. Carter USM are playing some gigs which I have helped organize. It will also be a great chance to catch up with family and friends. My mum is throwing an early Christmas Day and this year the Ollington’s will celebrate Christmas on 18th November. Don’t expect a blog entry next week therefore. I’ll be too busy not only gigging it but remembering the birth of the little baby Jesus. I can not wait for my early Christmas dinner. I am so excited I did a little dance to myself there. You wouldn’t have seen it but it was a kind of robotic move that would have gone done well in the eighties.
I am also going to see Arsenal too. I have been away from The Arsenal for too long. In my years absence my brother, little Jon Ollington, has loaned my season ticket. From reports I have got all the people I sit with have grown to like Jon a lot, and they now prefer him to me. It’s ruddy typical isn’t it? People always prefer the younger and prettier model. I bet the ipod is dead jealous of the iphone for example. People now want to listen to mp3s, do an email and make a call all at the same time. How quickly you fall out of favour for the new version…
My only problem with iphones is that the internet on them seems to be dead slow. There is nothing worse than being out and about and some dude will say “look at this great clip from youtube, it’s a cat walking on two legs while blowing fire from his bottom”. You then pretend to be interested in seeing this clip (manners cost nothing) until you realize it takes seven hours for the clip to buffer. You then sit there craning your neck for ages waiting to see this ‘hilarious’ clip on a screen the size of a credit card.
I digress, It’s bonkers to think that when we get back to LA after our home visit I will only have just over three months of work left before we leave for good. We won’t be back in London Town until April though as the plan is to tour some more of the states after we have finished here. I wonder if our flat will be worth more than ten pounds by then?
Before I go I would like to do some of those congratulation type things. My sister got engaged to her boyfriend Neil the other week. They are having a winter wedding next year which will be something to look forward too. I have told her to make sure that whatever building they get married in is warm though. I am not used to British weather anymore so a wedding in December will be a shock to the system. Anyways, regardless of potential venues and their heating concerns a big congrats to the both of them.
And lastly my brother-in-law Gary has just won The Sunday Times Landscape Photographer of the Year. How cool is that? Not only is it a dead prestigious prize but he has won lots of money too. I have a feeling he will treat me to something nice as I have always supported him over the years. You can see the photo here: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article1489138.ece
You will note that in the award winning photo is a dog. What makes this even better is that I actually not only know Gary but I know the dog too. He is called Barney and we have hung out on quite a few occasions. He has even stayed over at Emma and I’s London pad. On one occasion it was such a crazy night that Barney did a piddle on our floor. He was a lot younger then though and not used to the crazy rock n’ roll type vibe that we have in London Town. I am delighted for both Gary, and Barney.
I reckon that is it for today. I’ll tell you all about the fun and adventures we had with our latest visitors soon. It’s a non stop social merry-go-round for Emma and I, and sometimes we are too dizzy to step off.
Marc x
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment