Monthly Archives: June 2014

2.8 hours later

Because it looked to be a very cool thing to take part in, we bought tickets for 2.8 Hours Later Survival as part of Deb and Luce’s Christmas present. For anyone who doesn’t know, it’s a zombie chase game, run in a bunch of cities through the year. This was the first time for Newcastle and it runs two nights last week and three this week. I’d not even heard of it before, but the five nights in Newcastle sold out pretty fast. Around 500 players take part every night, with 12 stages to get through over a four mile course. My niece, Abi, and her boyfriend Simon managed to get tickets too. 

The zombies are made up of volunteers, who go through zombie school, a half day course which basically teaches someone how to be a zombie. 

What Deb and Luce didn’t know was that my second in command and I had volunteered to be zombies. Zombie school was a great experience, even without the actual event. We spent an afternoon at Gosforth boys’ school, and some time practicing in the park, to become fully trained zombies. 

The event itself is incredible though. Since Deb and Luce were going Saturday night (Abi was too, but she knew we’d be there), we were there at Friday’s first night to practice our new skills. Well, we wanted to be at our best on the Saturday. 

My second command were in different zones, she in zone 11 and me in 9. On the Saturday, it was 9 and 11 (I know, that won’t mean a lot to most people). Yesterday, most of my evening was spent in a bush, waiting to jump out and chase players as they passed. I won’t say more in case any future player comes across this. 

A few pictures from Saturday …

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The zombie disco, at the end of the night, was well worth a visit. Both players and zombies attended. And after over three hours of jumping out of a bush and running after people, the first pint of beer was the best thing I’ve ever tasted.

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Oh, my view from the bush.

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Butterfly

While not as colourful as our last generation of butterflies a few weeks ago (I forget what they’re called – they have a large eye pattern on their wings – and had just come out of hibernation), the newborn spotted variety (I’ve no idea of their name) are nice to have around too.

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Peterborough

A meeting in London with an earlier than expected finish led me to stop off in Peterborough. During which time I refreshed a tiny part of some gorgeous times.

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And some less nicer times; for instance, my regular Monday morning seat where I waited for the train home.

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And, I know that times change and the world moves on. But I’ll miss the old artwork in the subways near the station – even though the runes painted on the wall didn’t make sense).

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Devastation

Early on Sunday morning Ridiculously early on Sunday morning, I walked into Newcastle. It’s pretty much a straight line and is quite a nice walk. Unusually, I had a camera with me, so I took some non mobile phone pictures. First, here’re a couple of crumbling Gateshead concrete.

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There are some slightly larger versions here. They’re cut-down from the originals, but still too large to add here. They seem to open ok with a phone, so I might try a higher resolution next time.

On crossing the Tyne, I couldn’t help but be surprised at the mess, the devastation, from the previous night’s revelry. The lack of people only made the scene seem even more surreal. I knew that end-of-the-world films tend to be shot early in the morning, but I now understand that costs can be further reduced by locating in party towns; there’s no need to import debris.

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There’s always a seagull isn’t there.

 

 

Jeff Goldblum drinks Erdinger

Still aching after this afternoon’s bike ride, and after escorting my second in command to work, while walking through town I decided to call into the Bridge for a pint of Erdinger. Just the one, I should say.

It was most enjoyable too. I sat in our usual seat(s), slowly drinking my beer while buying bike bits from eBay. Until, around two thirds of the way down my pint, that is. That’s when I noticed the huge fly floating in my beer.

Disgusting animals.

Unfitness

I’ve just had my first bike ride in just over a year. Actually, my first off-road ride in four or five years. And I now fully appreciate how unfit I’ve become. That’s seriously unfit.

There are some positives though. Most importantly, I survived and didn’t resort to walking uphill. And my 21-year-old bike performed a lot better than the (twice the price) Kona. To be honest, even though everything had been checked, oiled and tightened, I’d expected something to fall off. The bike, that is.

Unfortunately, while the bike performs almost as well as it did 21 years ago, I don’t. I’m now going to have a soak in the bath and wash the insects off.