i’m finally back online. it was a good rest. probably better to not have access for a while. it was a very restful 6 nights in stratford-upon-avon. mostly sleeping and eating. i had an interesting burger from the baguette barge. stratford-upon-avon has canals with narrow boats which is pretty interesting. i believe it is largely connected into a much larger canal system throughout the country. people apparently will take out their narrow boats like r.v.’s. it reminded me of this ewan mcgregor movie “young adam“. although, not as dirty. it would definitely be a relaxing way to live. this one was docked outside where i was staying. there was another one that appeared to have a wind turbine that it erected when docked.
anyway, it was an interesting burger called “the lot” which had all their options including bacon and a fried egg fresh made. interesting, though i can’t say the fried egg really added too much to the taste. not really a fried egg fan. it also had hp/brown sauce which is apparently a big thing here. it’s a decent sauce. nothing like milo’s though. the brits really aren’t that great with the food. i keep seeing these fish & chips places that advertise “southern fried chicken”. i haven’t bothered to try it yet. most of the little food shops appear to owned by mediterranean/middle eastern people much like in birmingham. kind of like purple onion or sam’s, but with fish & chips too. speaking of which, the fish & chips i’ve had so far really isn’t that great. they just seem to deep fry the fish without any seasoning or anything. thumbs down. guthrie’s should probably open a fish & chips restaurant here. i bet they could clean up.
anyway, enough about the food. my left ear was still seeming to be a bit clogged so i flushed it out with hydrogen peroxide. a big lump of, i guess, ear wax came out similar to what had previously happened with the right ear. luckily, this time i took pictures (yes, i have that kind of time). it’s no surprise why my hearing was impaired. it was probably about a 1/4″ wide.
while i was there, i was able to catch a stratford town f.c. (amateur league) match. i would say it was about on par with some of the better birmingham league teams. interesting. the “stadium” holds about 150 people. 4 quid to get in, another 1.60 for a cheeseburger. they also did a raffle for a bottle of whiskey and wine that was a quid a go.
i went to see “v for vendetta” while i was there. i agree with robert. it’s good. surprisingly so. too bad it wouldn’t turn out that way in the united states.
here’s a shot down the street in stratford.
shockingly, pretty much everything revolves around some guy named shakespeare. he was apparently born there or something. it is an interesting mix of old buildings. however, there’s way to much traffic. i can’t imagine what it’s like in the peak season. everything tends to be focused on how you can see buildings that were there when shakespeare walked the streets and what not, but that’s just ridiculous. yes some of the buildings were there, but it’s hardly in the ballpark of how it was then. i can just see it now. shakespeare hopping around the corner from his house to the starbucks, chugging his grande cappachino latte with whip cream and a twist of lemon while not smoking and busted out a sonnet or two.
yep, it’s as if he was right there with me. not to mention the subway sandwiches 2 doors down from his house. that must have been convenient. i don’t get it. i clearly haven’t been assimilated properly and need to go back in for reprogramming to truly appreciate the exploitation. it’s a tourist trap. no neon signs, but that doesn’t make it so.
i have a few more pictures and could probably blather on, but i won’t. in the end, it was relaxing, but probably wasn’t really what i was looking for. i guess i needed smaller and no old famous, long dead guys born there.
i’m now back in london at the new place. it’s decent. not as good as the last place, but a big room considering some of the places i looked at. even by american standards. i’ll post more later. it sucks to have things back up even when not that much is happening. i need a ghost writer.
we could get Stratford Town to be sister clubs with Dinos and have an annual game that would alternate between Birmingham & Stratford. there is something for you to do. could have done without the earwax pic.
I agree with Peter – almost puked on that one. Still a bit queezy. Interesting picture of the narrow, traincar looking canal boat. The burger looked pretty tasty – I do like fried eggs and ham[burger]. Get out there and make something interesting happen. Even though you have a serious disinterest in other human contact, you’ve got to try it at some point just to get some good content to post about the ridiculous people. And take pictures – but use a bit more discretion about which ones to post :^}. Glad to see you back online – I was getting tired of the last post – though, it was execellent. Any news over there about the Da Vinci Code lawsuit? I never heard about a resolution – though I expect they will settle – cash is king. Go to that library where he does the searches and do your own. Also, never heard a post about your opinion of Memoirs of a Geisha. I like it up to the end – didn’t care for the ending. BTW, Tanner passed his grade 9 referee test – he’s got a job as a ref now! Woohoo!
Don’t bother with the “southern fried chicken” places. It’s not real southern fried chicken and it sucks.
And that earwax is disgusting.
Thanks for the ear wax photo. I now need years of therapy, but fortunately it’s provided as a benefit at work. I hope you don’t mind your dad giving me your blog address.