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How I Build My Wall
Feb 6th
I read a blog post recently about blogging, it said the greatest misconception was that you need to get everything out, doing so spreads you thin or worse turns people away from your writing!
So with this in mind here’s everything that’s gone on with me in the last month or so… Nothing!
I came back from my New Years all invigorated and renewed for 2011 and it lasted all of 3 days. I’ve been very busy with work and the game is starting to look fantastic! But the impact on my personal life has been less than desirable.
So I play guitar when I can, I write what I’m thinking and I take photos when I can be bothered. Being exhausted all the time is quite exhausting as it turns out.
I get off the Island whenever and wherever I can, Brighton, London, anywhere to break the cycle. But the more I do the more I realise I need to be in a place young people go rather than leave. Dundee, Banbury, the Isle of Wight, they aren’t exactly thriving metropolises with bustling 20-something scenes. I have to find a solution to this eventually but for now I’ll just get my head down and hope to add another 500 thousand sales to the franchise’s total.
I leave off with the sad news that a large number of my former colleagues from Gusto were recently made redundant. The details surrounding this are not suitable for public consumption and indeed to would be wrong to put them out as they could damage the company even further, hurting our friends who are still there. So for now the affected have my sincerest commiserations and good wishes for getting new jobs and moving on.
Schöne Grüße
Dec 28th
Greetings from the ice cave, at a balmy minus 10 degrees I don’t know what all the fuss is about really, there may be people skiing in the streets and fire crews driving the city knocking the icicles from roofs, there may even be whole stretches of the river frozen over but is it really all that bad?
Today I ate breakfast while watching three men, men who didn’t know each other, push a car out of it’s mound of ice and snow together, they may have been unsuccessful in the end but that’s not really the point, those men really worked together. These kinds of winters bring people together, known or unknown people are ready to work together at the drop of a hat (not literally mind, far too cold to take your hat off).
It reminds me of my last winter in Oxfordshire; I was at the depths of a deep and dark, post break up depression, the snow was falling like it was on BOGOF and I found surprising comfort in the distraction of the whole afternoon I spent digging cars out of the car park in Bloxham. There’s something soul warming about helping your fellow man made all the stronger by the fun of snow.
I guess what I’m saying is that while the weather may have kept some people apart over Christmas, or delayed reunion and travel plans across Europe, I’m sure it has brought together more people than it will ever get credit for.
Jack
(Berlin may be frozen but the girls are hot)
Porridge
Dec 6th
“There are only two rules in this prison: 1. Do not write on the walls. 2. You obey all the rules.”
- Mackay, Porridge
I’ve noticed something in the few months I’ve been at Stainless. I’ve noticed that there are some things you take for granted as industry standard that are not, and there are some things you can very quickly become dependent on, amazingly though the thing I’ve learned most is that Porridge is what keeps us going.
Porridge it would appear (and by that I mean the wheat and oats breakfast, not the late-70s prison sitcom) is the breakfast of choice for a lots and lots of people on the Isle of Wight. There are 5 or 6 people on my floor who share the microwave in the morning and at least 3 places on my walk in to work that sell fresh porridge, the place is porridge mad!
It’s something of a curiosity for me only because even in Scotland, the land of porridge and whiskey, I’ve never seen the mealy sandy gruel so readily available. I wonder if it will keep up over summer next year. Maybe it’s a winter thing, but for now it’s just another weird thing I’ve noticed since I left the Overland.
Jack
(It tastes like fire and my stomach is itchy)
Moving On…
Nov 28th
There are some of you that know most of this, there are many I’m sure that don’t, so here it is, where I am, why and what I’m doing with myself in the coming future.
Big change is that I’ve left Gusto and Oxfordshire behind me there are things I miss about both but I had long since come to the conclusion it was time to move along. Where too though, there was a short while where I seriously considered packing up and moving to Japan to work in a hostel or something similar. But of course banality prevailed so I knuckled down to find a job in the UK and that I did.
So now I live in an apartment by the river with boats at my windows and a quite street at the back that each day I walk along to my new job, at Stainless Games. There aren’t many things I can elaborate on for now, but I can tell you I’m happy, I’m settled and the time is flying past quicker than I would have thought. There are great people here, passionate about their jobs and who really know what they’re doing. And I’m making friends too, the incredibly chilled atmosphere in the office means we can all work in our own ways and styles. We have the freedom to try things and support whether those things go well or badly.
So that’s me now, a man on an island in a sea. As far from where I started adulthood as I can be without leaving the country and happy. There is much more to be said about why I needed to leave Gusto but while there are enough people I care about still there and the wounds are still so fresh, I think I’ll let that sleeping dog lie.
Jack
(2.0, fixes include quality of life)
Orange Wednesday Blues
Aug 12th
Tonight I got to say “I love it when a plan comes together “ it was cheesy and oddly gratifying. 30 seconds later the plan had fallen apart.
Orange Wednesdays are the cinematic refuge of the student, the low paid and the film lover and twice now Orange Wednesdays have come as a dissapointment.
Three weeks ago some friends and I drove down to Oxford after work to the sound of William Shatner. We parked up in our usual spot and headed across to the cinema only to find Orange Wednesday had “run out” and the film was sold out. Now eventually we dove into the car to Whitney and caught Inception but not before we heard an overwhelming general response from all those affected who wanted to know why, when OWs is a system now predicated on codes, and the vendors no longer check the text messages anyway, why you can’t buy the tickets online?
Then we get to last night, I’ve just quoted Hannibal and I’m all set to watch 117 minutes of explosions, arse whooping and one-liners, and it happens again. Sold out, tickets gone, take a walk boys and girls.
So we step round the corner and make a decision. We get our tickets for a film we’d never heard of and it’s burrito time.
Knight and Day was the same mindless action we were anticipating from A-Team and in fact it was probably a better film. But again it was nothing what we expected from the night.
It would be nice if OWs became more inclusive, not punishing people who can’t or don’t want to arrive in town 2 hours before a movie just to get a seat.
Jack
(I ain’t getting on no plane, I’ve got no place to go)
The Deepest Burn
Aug 10th
It was a busy weekend, after getting builds out about 10pm on Friday I started my nocturnal activities, there was dancing, the YMCA may have been involved, perhaps some air guitar was played, perhaps I upgraded to leg guitar. Who knows!
The burn begins…
I was on the road early (well 11am) and barring a quick stop to collect the beautiful and talented Beth Stokeld, it wasn’t long before I was in a pool doing lengths, then it wasn’t long before I was out again apparently eyes and algae treatments aren’t a good combo.
The burn spreads…
Pull up bars are a great idea, they provide a good work, and so it would seem does putting one up. After twenty pretty gruelling minutes of hand screwing into wood I was done, and of course wonderfully bested by my uncle.
The burn is aflame…
Another swim after dinner, another 60 lengths of mixed strokes and a nasty bump on the head.
The burn is a wild fire…
What could come on Sunday to prolong this then? How about a day at the cricket!
Time in the nets followed by my first ever adult innings, oh and did I forget to mention my first duck. That’s right, duck. I top edged a drive to Mid-On straight over my ear to second slip. Out for a buggering duck!
The burn is out of control…
Another swim once back from the cricket, this time wearing goggles straight off the bat (the only thing off my bat to go well that day)
The burn is a Towering Inferno…
Monday is football and though the fire is up my back, across my shoulders and through my quads I made a run out. Maybe the burn is good for me, but a goal spree and a trip to Narnia later and I’m feeling damn fine.
A Blaze Ablaze…
So what am I taking from all this? I’m going to try and sustain the burn over the next few weeks. I’ve got an agressive new regime of push ups to tone my arms and I’ve got running, jumping and skipping for the rest.
I’ll let you know how it goes, or, you know, someone will let you know I’ve died,
Jack
(He burns, burns, burns a ring of fire)
Epilogue: Rain Drops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens
Aug 2nd
Epilogue: Rain Drops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens
These are a few of my favourite things
So I’ve been back in the UK for nearly 24 hours now and I reckon I’ve beaten the jet lag. In my surprising lucidity I’ve been thinking a lot about the differences between Japan and the UK. Over the next week I will be putting together a list of all the things I already miss about Japan, some of them are cosmetic and some of them are cultural, there are ones that even surprise me.
Things I miss about Japan:
Trust – I could trust a Japanese person not to rob me, could I trust anyone in Britain that way?
Respect – In Japan it is assumed you are worthy of respect so you should be shown it.
Tramps – This is an odd one but I miss the fact that Japanese tramps feel safe enough to sleep on the streets. In the UK they’d probably be attacked by a group of kids.
Sports Kit – In Japan people in sports kit are either coming from or going to play sport. Whereas in the UK a tracksuit and trainers is the staple clothing of the laziest.
Breakfast – This isn’t a gripe so much as a preference, I really like the Japanese real food breakfasts. It sets you up really well for the day, better than say, Sugar Puffs.
Easy Food – There are two things here, firstly I like that food rives are relative to quality or quantity, it would seem it’s fairly rare to pay massively over the odds for crap. Secondly is that food in Japan doesn’t come with the pretentious names, when did a Cheese and Onion Pie become a Sumptuous Oak Smoked Gruyer and Caramelised Shallot Tartlette?
Maybe I’m Just disenfranchised but who the hell would franchise me?
Jack
(Have I told you lately that I love you?)
Day 17: The Voyage Home
Jul 26th
Disclaimer: This post is in no way related to the Star Trek film of the same name
I’m really bored and this flight is like 12 hours long. So rather than writing a blog post about a rather mundane flight I thought instead I’d catalogue all the hilarious ways Terry has been drifting in and out of consciousness whilst we’ve been travelling.
0920 – On the Narita Express
Terry falls asleep sitting in the vestabule of the train. He starts to lol in his sleep and every time he starts to slip down he jolts up and slaps himself in the face with the back of his hand.
1030 – Starbucks in Narita Airport
I come back from the Western and Terry is nodding like the Churchill dog on his stool. Oh yes!
1105 – Ten Minutes Until Take-Off
Terry falls asleep and headbutts my shoulder hard enough to wake himself up, immediately passes out again and is woken by my laughing.
1300 – Lunch is Being Served
I wake Terry to ask him if he wants lunch, he says yes but passes out between saying yes and actually ordering anything.
1430 – Terry is Completely Sparko
Terry doesn’t actually wake up but I look over to see him mouthing like a fish. He then mumbles something and goes back to sleep.
1505 – Terry Takes The Trolley
Terry’s head lols out into the aisle as the trolley is coming, the Stewardess drives it into the back of head. He wakes and immediately sinks back into his sleep.
Jack
(Chronicler of Misfortune)
Day 16: Homeward Bound
Jul 25th
I’m sitting in a railway station, I got a ticket for my destination. On a tour of one night stands, my suitcase and guitar in hand and every stop is neatly planned for a poet and a one man band.
- Simon and Garfunkle
It’s our last day, the end of the trip, and we’re back in Tokyo, the first city and the place we fell most in love with.
We spent our afternoon savouring the sight, sounds and smells of Akihabara, weighing up the myriad ways to unburden ourselves of our excess Yen. Big stores and small noodle joints with neon signs on the sides and all manner of advertisements and endorsements in the windows.
We head over to Asakusa and met up with Aya, a friend from our first stay in Tokyo. We head over to Shibuya the gleaming shopping Mecca we’d not visited for weeks now. We found some trendy, industrial jazz bar where the pizza was tiny but tasty and the coctails were fantastic, in fact I’ve picked up a new drink (35 of Whiskey, 35 of Amarretto) The Godfather.
A nice night, a nice atmosphere and some nice conversation gave us a nice send off. It’s a short post today but we treated it like our greatest hits album so all I’d really be doing is parroting things I’ve already said.
Goodbye Tokyo, we’ll miss you very much but we’ll be back. That you can count on.
Jack
(Coming soon to an airport arrivals lounge near you)