The Big One
Jun. 24th, 2006 07:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
athersgeoOK. I've been promising myself I was going to catch up on here, so here we are. This is going to be big, folks - just to warn you - and is going to cover many strange and random subjects.
You can't say you haven't been warned!
So. The concert. As I said in my flash update, the music was fab [and I'll get to that in a minute - promise!], but the organisation...UGH. It was largely THANKS to the organisation that actually, I had no problem parking. All I did was say "I applied, I didn't get a ticket" and voila. I could have been lying through my teeth...and I'd have still been able to park.
Yeah.
Great scheme there.
*rolls eyes*
Then there was the crowd control. Or rather, the lack of crowd control. There were no hints as to where you were supposed to queue for each set of turnstiles, so what you got, instead, was just a mass of humanity waiting any old how. This meant people could (and did) push in. Which in turn led to people getting pissy. It was only at 2pm that they even *thought* about having some organisation - by which time a lot of tempers were short [why yes, we WERE waiting on the sunny side of the arena] and there'd already been one joker who'd managed to cause total chaos by getting us to move up...for no. good. reason. (Why did we believe him? Because he was a steward. Fucker.)
When 4pm rolled around and they started letting us in, they were searching bags (to be expected) and confiscating...bottle tops. Not bottles, bottle tops. Because we might throw them on the stage. Um; an entire bottle of water is a FAR better missile than just the top! Helloooooo! And to just make this even dumber, you could then buy water inside the stadium and keep the top.
Yeah.
Fan-bloody-tastic scheme there.
Then there was the after-concert crush to get out of the arena and back to the car park. I was parked in the park-and-walk car park, which was a ten/fifteen minute walk away from the arena, which would have been no problem except that there were probably about a thousand other drongos parked there who thought that the best way to get there was to mill in the road. Which meant that the folks who'd got out of the arena first *COULDN'T* get out of the car park and traffic became gridlocked.
So glad I'm not a resident near the Ricoh if that's what happens each and every match day!
Net result: It took me over an hour to drive the mile and a bit from the car park to the M6.
An amusing aside, though; thanks to being absolutely exhausted, I had to stop at each and every service station between the Ricoh and Bristol (including the one that is just about five miles north of the stadium itself [that, though, was a definite comfort break - it had taken so long to get out of the car park I was desperate for the bathroom!]) and the only other people I saw at any of them...were Bon Jovi fans.
Anyway. That was the horrible side of my day. On the actually fantastic side of the day was the music. The opening act were a local band from the middlands, who were painfully nervous (singer couldn't stay on key) but decent enough (and managed to do a Ska version of "When I Come Around" which was entertaining if only for the incongruity of Greenday and Ska!). Then came Nickelback who were amazing.
I don't know how many of the BJ fans there were that much into Nickelback, but it seemed like a decent amount and, certainly, I was one happy Chad Kroeger fangirl - even if they did open with the one NB song I loathe with a passion [Animals]. They did all the obvious songs (Photograph, Someday, How You Remind Me) and a few less obvious ones, including a fantastic rendition of "Far Away" (which would be me in goo right there). They closed with "How You Remind Me". As Chad Kroeger put it: If you know the words, sing along; if you don't know the words, hum it; and if you don't know the tune, fuck it. (Or, as I said to the girl I'd been chatting with beforehand: If you don't know the words, what rock have you been hiding under?)
So, exit Nickelback and cue me pondering the possibilities of seeing them live in their own right. And they're the sort of size of band that might actually come to Bristol. Ooh, the possibilities...
There was then half an hour's break while the stage was turned around, and then out came Bon Jovi. Or, rather, out came Richie Sambora, David Bryan, Tico Torres, Hugh McDonald, a couple of 'spare' musicians...and no Jon. See; this year's stage set's gone back to the 80s for its inspiration, and there was a catwalk out into the audience, which was where Jon appeared! Now, whether he literally appeared in the audience's midst, or whether he walked from stage to there, I couldn't tell you. It was all going on behind me and frankly, I wanted to drool over Mr Sambora. So while two thirds of those a the front craned their necks, I stayed looking straight ahead!
I'm not going to go through the entire set list (because it was a two and a half hour set and that means a lotta songs!), but I am going to make a few observations about what was played and (interestingly) what wasn't:
So overall, a great concert marred by some utterly inept organisation. Wherever I do or don't see BJ again, it *WON'T* *EVER* be at the Ricoh.
So, the day following the concert saw me be extremely tired as I tried to sort out the last bits and pieces for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
freespirit127's visit. You'd think I'd have managed a lie-in, but sadly, my bed was directly under East facing windows, so when the sun came up, I started to fry... Still; managed to get most things done and went to bed early in preparation.
So. Friday dawned bright and sunny and at about 7:30am, I started to fight my way out of Bristol, heading [once more] for the West Midlands. This time, though, going to Birmingham Airport to meetfreespirit127 off her flight. Thanks to relatively light motorway traffic and some not entirely legal speeds, I managed to overcome the 45 minutes it took me to leave Bristol to arrive at the airport with 45 minutes to spare. This meant:
1) When I finally managed to find the short stay car park, I could go in and have a little breakfast
and
2) I had plenty of time to be utterly confused by signage that makes the M4/M5 interchange at Almondsbury look brilliantly signed.
I swear, at one point the overhead signs were saying one thing and the road paint signs were saying another.
*mutters*
Anyway. Finally succeeded in parking. Got my breakfast. (mmm hot chocolate and whipped cream!) and then settled in for the twenty minute wait...that turned into a ten minute wait! 'Nessa's flight landed an impressive 15 minutes early, which meant that she actually came through into the arrivals hall just before the time her plane was actually scheduled to land! Noooot bad. *grin*
So, we head south (taking a brief break at my favourite service area, Strensham) and got into Bristol just around lunch time. Now, normally, I'd get off the M5 at Almondsbury [that being the closest junction to home], but it's a fairly horrible junction all ways round, and there are prettier routes home than through Patchway and Filton [for the uninitiated, Bristol has some butt-ugly parts of town, and Patchway/Filton is some of the worst]. So I continued on down the M5, over the Avonmouth bridge [which, for once, doesn't have roadworks on!] and then off at the immediate next junction, which let me bring 'Nessa into Bristol via the Clifton Suspension Bridge, which is always worth an extra mile or two; it is a spectacular view!
'Nessa unpacked, we did some lunch and a visit to Tesco (!) and then I showed her the prettier bits of North Bristol (Westbury Village) and the Seawalls section of The Downs [for the uninitiated, The Downs is a large area of open green space in centralish Bristol that runs along the top of one side of the Avon Gorge; from the Seawalls, you can see down into the Gorge and along to the Suspension Bridge]. Then it was home and a relatively gentle evening and early bed.
The rest of the week went as follows (I can supply more detail about any of the below, just ask!):
It was a whole lot of fun, though 'Nessa DID help to feed a small plot bunny that's now turned into a raging plot bunny o'doom.
I spent the weekend variously writing and recovering (more writing than recovering, it has to be said!) and then this week, I've been in work on my lonesome, since the boss is on vacation...which has meant more writing. The one minor blip in my week was Wednesday, when I was laid low with what can best be described as a stomach upset - and I'm not entirely *right* now (though vastly better).
So that's been the last three weeks. Now for a spot of project catch-up:
So, current projects. It's probably about time I tried to nail down exactly what I'm working on, where, when and how (if nothing else, it might help ME make sense of it!), so here goes...
Buddy's Song:
Let me clear up a little misconception that you may have: This universe and story is nothing to do with dubious Jim Carey movies. This is fanfic for a 1980s cartoon about super vehicles and special powered masks. With that said, I've pulled my usual trick, and from one, essentially simple, story I've gotten to a whole universe. At the rate it's being written, though it's quite an encompassing story (she says, understating wildly), I rather suspect it will also be written quickly. I certainly haven't had this much fun with a set of stories in a long while, so I'm enjoying it *grin*
Francie:
A little on hold at the minute courtesy partly of the inspiration running off and partly because other things became a little more urgent [see above]. Also, I want to wait until I have the chance to properly edit Mistletoe and Wine before I repost. There are some bits that could stand a little rewriting – and I rather suspect there may be some entertaining mis-spellings lurking, too [snaped, anyone?]. The bunny *does* keep coming back and giving me intriguing little snippets from further on in the timeline, so you can be assured I will (eventually!) get back to this.
A Chinese Adventure:
I think I'm both two thirds of the way through now and barely a third done on this. By that, I mean that (in terms of plot) I'm two thirds done and coming up to the bits that really inspired me to try and write this in the first place. However, in terms of depth and detail, I'm not really even a third of the way through. I'm not exactly writing in summary form, but I know there are bits that could/should be fleshed out more, so I'm anticipating being told by those who must be obeyed *pauses to grin at them* that I need to rewrite.
Identiverse Rewrites:
Hide and Seek is just about (barring the odd fight scene and a proposal) done. Identity is started and I have a few other plans in place. Of course, this was all done BEFORE the Buddy's Song plot bunny shanghai'd me, so a little like Francie, it's on hold at the moment.
1000 Year Rewrites:
Highlander. Does anyone even care about this? I'm guessing probably not. On hold. It'll probably get done. Eventually.
Star Wars - Isard's Revenge:
Also on hold due to major writer's block. I know what's got to happen; it's just getting it to happen. And did I mention being shanghai'd by a certain rabid bunny?
If I've missed anything you'd like information about, just give me a poke :)
And lastly, here's this weekend's plans...
PHEW.
You can't say you haven't been warned!
So. The concert. As I said in my flash update, the music was fab [and I'll get to that in a minute - promise!], but the organisation...UGH. It was largely THANKS to the organisation that actually, I had no problem parking. All I did was say "I applied, I didn't get a ticket" and voila. I could have been lying through my teeth...and I'd have still been able to park.
Yeah.
Great scheme there.
*rolls eyes*
Then there was the crowd control. Or rather, the lack of crowd control. There were no hints as to where you were supposed to queue for each set of turnstiles, so what you got, instead, was just a mass of humanity waiting any old how. This meant people could (and did) push in. Which in turn led to people getting pissy. It was only at 2pm that they even *thought* about having some organisation - by which time a lot of tempers were short [why yes, we WERE waiting on the sunny side of the arena] and there'd already been one joker who'd managed to cause total chaos by getting us to move up...for no. good. reason. (Why did we believe him? Because he was a steward. Fucker.)
When 4pm rolled around and they started letting us in, they were searching bags (to be expected) and confiscating...bottle tops. Not bottles, bottle tops. Because we might throw them on the stage. Um; an entire bottle of water is a FAR better missile than just the top! Helloooooo! And to just make this even dumber, you could then buy water inside the stadium and keep the top.
Yeah.
Fan-bloody-tastic scheme there.
Then there was the after-concert crush to get out of the arena and back to the car park. I was parked in the park-and-walk car park, which was a ten/fifteen minute walk away from the arena, which would have been no problem except that there were probably about a thousand other drongos parked there who thought that the best way to get there was to mill in the road. Which meant that the folks who'd got out of the arena first *COULDN'T* get out of the car park and traffic became gridlocked.
So glad I'm not a resident near the Ricoh if that's what happens each and every match day!
Net result: It took me over an hour to drive the mile and a bit from the car park to the M6.
An amusing aside, though; thanks to being absolutely exhausted, I had to stop at each and every service station between the Ricoh and Bristol (including the one that is just about five miles north of the stadium itself [that, though, was a definite comfort break - it had taken so long to get out of the car park I was desperate for the bathroom!]) and the only other people I saw at any of them...were Bon Jovi fans.
Anyway. That was the horrible side of my day. On the actually fantastic side of the day was the music. The opening act were a local band from the middlands, who were painfully nervous (singer couldn't stay on key) but decent enough (and managed to do a Ska version of "When I Come Around" which was entertaining if only for the incongruity of Greenday and Ska!). Then came Nickelback who were amazing.
I don't know how many of the BJ fans there were that much into Nickelback, but it seemed like a decent amount and, certainly, I was one happy Chad Kroeger fangirl - even if they did open with the one NB song I loathe with a passion [Animals]. They did all the obvious songs (Photograph, Someday, How You Remind Me) and a few less obvious ones, including a fantastic rendition of "Far Away" (which would be me in goo right there). They closed with "How You Remind Me". As Chad Kroeger put it: If you know the words, sing along; if you don't know the words, hum it; and if you don't know the tune, fuck it. (Or, as I said to the girl I'd been chatting with beforehand: If you don't know the words, what rock have you been hiding under?)
So, exit Nickelback and cue me pondering the possibilities of seeing them live in their own right. And they're the sort of size of band that might actually come to Bristol. Ooh, the possibilities...
There was then half an hour's break while the stage was turned around, and then out came Bon Jovi. Or, rather, out came Richie Sambora, David Bryan, Tico Torres, Hugh McDonald, a couple of 'spare' musicians...and no Jon. See; this year's stage set's gone back to the 80s for its inspiration, and there was a catwalk out into the audience, which was where Jon appeared! Now, whether he literally appeared in the audience's midst, or whether he walked from stage to there, I couldn't tell you. It was all going on behind me and frankly, I wanted to drool over Mr Sambora. So while two thirds of those a the front craned their necks, I stayed looking straight ahead!
I'm not going to go through the entire set list (because it was a two and a half hour set and that means a lotta songs!), but I am going to make a few observations about what was played and (interestingly) what wasn't:
- There was a lot of stuff of "Have a Nice Day" - which you might expect, being their current album.
- There was *nothing* played from "Bounce" - which was the one downer; Bounce is my favourite of their recent albums. I barely got to hear any of it live last time round, and now nothing at all *pout*
- Randomly (at least to me!) they played "Radio Saved My Life Tonight" which is off their boxset, and which I'd listened to at work, the day before the concert!
- Embarrassingly, I've discovered that I can't tell the difference between the intros to "Runaway", "I'd Die For You", "Born To Be My Baby" and "Blood On Blood" [which, for the record, actually do not sound that much alike!]. Fortunately for me, they played all four so I didn't need to worry about it!
- No "Lay Your Hands On Me" this time round, which felt odd (they've played that paired with "Sleep When I'm Dead" and/or "Bad Medicine" every other time I've seen them live)
- They actually played something off "These Days" this time! I tend to reckon this is their other album they like to forget (the first being 7800 Fahrenheit) as even the tour that supported it barely gave us anything live from it. This time out, we got "These Days" itself
- Ho yus, and the Sambora Fangrrrrrl was satisfied by the insanely fantastic version of "I'll Be There For You" and "Wanted Dead or Alive" and "Keep the Faith" and "You Give Love A Bad Name" and... OK, so yeah, I enjoyed Richie's playing more this time than possibly in the past. *grin* What gave it away?
So overall, a great concert marred by some utterly inept organisation. Wherever I do or don't see BJ again, it *WON'T* *EVER* be at the Ricoh.
So, the day following the concert saw me be extremely tired as I tried to sort out the last bits and pieces for
freespirit127's visit. You'd think I'd have managed a lie-in, but sadly, my bed was directly under East facing windows, so when the sun came up, I started to fry... Still; managed to get most things done and went to bed early in preparation.So. Friday dawned bright and sunny and at about 7:30am, I started to fight my way out of Bristol, heading [once more] for the West Midlands. This time, though, going to Birmingham Airport to meet
freespirit127 off her flight. Thanks to relatively light motorway traffic and some not entirely legal speeds, I managed to overcome the 45 minutes it took me to leave Bristol to arrive at the airport with 45 minutes to spare. This meant:1) When I finally managed to find the short stay car park, I could go in and have a little breakfast
and
2) I had plenty of time to be utterly confused by signage that makes the M4/M5 interchange at Almondsbury look brilliantly signed.
I swear, at one point the overhead signs were saying one thing and the road paint signs were saying another.
*mutters*
Anyway. Finally succeeded in parking. Got my breakfast. (mmm hot chocolate and whipped cream!) and then settled in for the twenty minute wait...that turned into a ten minute wait! 'Nessa's flight landed an impressive 15 minutes early, which meant that she actually came through into the arrivals hall just before the time her plane was actually scheduled to land! Noooot bad. *grin*
So, we head south (taking a brief break at my favourite service area, Strensham) and got into Bristol just around lunch time. Now, normally, I'd get off the M5 at Almondsbury [that being the closest junction to home], but it's a fairly horrible junction all ways round, and there are prettier routes home than through Patchway and Filton [for the uninitiated, Bristol has some butt-ugly parts of town, and Patchway/Filton is some of the worst]. So I continued on down the M5, over the Avonmouth bridge [which, for once, doesn't have roadworks on!] and then off at the immediate next junction, which let me bring 'Nessa into Bristol via the Clifton Suspension Bridge, which is always worth an extra mile or two; it is a spectacular view!
'Nessa unpacked, we did some lunch and a visit to Tesco (!) and then I showed her the prettier bits of North Bristol (Westbury Village) and the Seawalls section of The Downs [for the uninitiated, The Downs is a large area of open green space in centralish Bristol that runs along the top of one side of the Avon Gorge; from the Seawalls, you can see down into the Gorge and along to the Suspension Bridge]. Then it was home and a relatively gentle evening and early bed.
The rest of the week went as follows (I can supply more detail about any of the below, just ask!):
- Saturday: Chedder, Axbridge, Brean and Weston Super Mare
- Sunday: Central Bristol (including Rachel's patented tour spiel)
- Monday: Bristol's RC Cathedral (which has to be seen to be believed!), Wells and Glastonbury
- Tuesday: Cribbs Causeway Retail Park and then a gentle afternoon [I had to have teeth filled which rather curtailed the day]
- Wednesday: Bath (And for anyone who was at the book fair, I managed not to get lost this time!)
- Thursday: South Gloucestershire (including my father's patented tour spiel and a trad. Pub Lunch)
- Friday: Back to Birmingham Airport for 'Nessa's return flight and then me BACK to Bristol to go to work Friday afternoon!
It was a whole lot of fun, though 'Nessa DID help to feed a small plot bunny that's now turned into a raging plot bunny o'doom.
I spent the weekend variously writing and recovering (more writing than recovering, it has to be said!) and then this week, I've been in work on my lonesome, since the boss is on vacation...which has meant more writing. The one minor blip in my week was Wednesday, when I was laid low with what can best be described as a stomach upset - and I'm not entirely *right* now (though vastly better).
So that's been the last three weeks. Now for a spot of project catch-up:
So, current projects. It's probably about time I tried to nail down exactly what I'm working on, where, when and how (if nothing else, it might help ME make sense of it!), so here goes...
Buddy's Song:
Let me clear up a little misconception that you may have: This universe and story is nothing to do with dubious Jim Carey movies. This is fanfic for a 1980s cartoon about super vehicles and special powered masks. With that said, I've pulled my usual trick, and from one, essentially simple, story I've gotten to a whole universe. At the rate it's being written, though it's quite an encompassing story (she says, understating wildly), I rather suspect it will also be written quickly. I certainly haven't had this much fun with a set of stories in a long while, so I'm enjoying it *grin*
Francie:
A little on hold at the minute courtesy partly of the inspiration running off and partly because other things became a little more urgent [see above]. Also, I want to wait until I have the chance to properly edit Mistletoe and Wine before I repost. There are some bits that could stand a little rewriting – and I rather suspect there may be some entertaining mis-spellings lurking, too [snaped, anyone?]. The bunny *does* keep coming back and giving me intriguing little snippets from further on in the timeline, so you can be assured I will (eventually!) get back to this.
A Chinese Adventure:
I think I'm both two thirds of the way through now and barely a third done on this. By that, I mean that (in terms of plot) I'm two thirds done and coming up to the bits that really inspired me to try and write this in the first place. However, in terms of depth and detail, I'm not really even a third of the way through. I'm not exactly writing in summary form, but I know there are bits that could/should be fleshed out more, so I'm anticipating being told by those who must be obeyed *pauses to grin at them* that I need to rewrite.
Identiverse Rewrites:
Hide and Seek is just about (barring the odd fight scene and a proposal) done. Identity is started and I have a few other plans in place. Of course, this was all done BEFORE the Buddy's Song plot bunny shanghai'd me, so a little like Francie, it's on hold at the moment.
1000 Year Rewrites:
Highlander. Does anyone even care about this? I'm guessing probably not. On hold. It'll probably get done. Eventually.
Star Wars - Isard's Revenge:
Also on hold due to major writer's block. I know what's got to happen; it's just getting it to happen. And did I mention being shanghai'd by a certain rabid bunny?
If I've missed anything you'd like information about, just give me a poke :)
And lastly, here's this weekend's plans...
- Pay credit card bill off - YESSSSSS!
- Tidy desks
- Deal with Mind Body Spirit
- Put away as many CDs as is possible (!)
- Tidy books
- Tidy gym stuff and prepare bag for Monday morning
- Tidy filing [not an overwhelming job this time!]
- Complete OU part 5 and watch DVD
- Write TMA
- Draw map
- Edit & spellcheck 'A Chinese Adventure' as far as it's got and burn off lap top
- Finish 'The Coming Storm'
PHEW.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-24 09:30 am (UTC)And yes, I'd come into Bristol over the Clifton bridge rather than Patchway/Filton as well :-( I loooooove the Clifton Bridge :-)
Glad you had a good time with BJ and Nessa, sounds like you need a holiday to get over it all now LOL
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-24 09:38 am (UTC)I'm not wild about the bridge - having vertigo - but if I'm driving, it's not such a problem...and it really *does* beat Filton and Patchway into a cocked hat!
I certainly feel like I need another holiday - which is why I'm rather glad I'm not too insanely busy at work in the boss' absence *grin*
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-24 09:51 am (UTC)Go figure.
And, yeah - Stevie Nicks. I'm really sad...
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-24 10:19 am (UTC)Twas vair weird.
And I'm jealous; I'd love to see Stevie Nicks in concert. She has a wonderful voice.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-24 02:22 pm (UTC)I'm assuming here that you went through the caves, also that you listened to that wonderfully fucking hilarious soundguide. Didn't Richard Gough sound like Robbie Coltrane?
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-24 02:30 pm (UTC)And no, Richard Gough doesn't sound like Robbie Coltrane, who is a Scot (!), he sounds like Hagrid /pedantry ;)
That's more or less my native accent, as it goes *grin*
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-24 11:45 pm (UTC)Dude. I so want to hear you talk.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-24 11:48 pm (UTC)annoyingattractive! ;)I'll have to see if I can do a phone post and you can compare :)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-24 05:53 pm (UTC)I'm still incredibly jealous of all the BJiness, even with Organisation From Hell. Good to read about it though!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-26 11:44 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-06-26 11:42 am (UTC)I wish I was kidding about how long it took me to get to the M6, though. Most of that time was shunting a couple of feet every five minutes or so, down towards the railway bridge. Once I *finally* got to the big roundabout by the stadium itself, it was two minutes and onto the M6. But...gah. Not an experience I'd like to repeat.