Saturday, May 6, 1989

A Beautiful Day to Be Outside ...

It was a lazy, beautiful day today, and I should have worked on my essay. But I didn't.

What I did do of significant importance, apart from play a game of baseball, is work on a new short story that I'm writing titled "The Feast." Though I know everything that I'm going to put into it, I only got it partially finished. I also didn't quite get to finish Larry and JoAnne's letter.

Watched a fair amount of TV today, and bought a Saturday Times as well. Watched four Charlie Chaplin shorts before heading outside to enjoy the nice weather with everyone. As the hours passed, various activities took place, such as a soccer game, highlighted by Kenny accidentally knocking out a light with the ball.

That evening was spent first watching "City Lights," a magnificent Chaplin film, followed by a classic episode of "Fawlty Towers" (with the dead body) and a show called "Ripping Yarns," with Michael Palin, which was quite funny as well.

After that I made my way over to St. Hilda's, where there was an international room full of students watching the results of the Eurovision Song Contest, in which Yugoslavia won. Great Britain did manage a second place finish, though. But it was the nationalism that erupted in the room for Britain, Spain and Ireland that was the most fun to watch for me.

I hung around a little while after to talk with J.P., but then returned to let Shannon roam some more before going to bed.

Today's classic quote, from 6'4" "Big" Jon Whalley:

"I'm a gentle giant."

Sunday, April 30, 1989

Further Annoyances ...

Despite my lack of sleep and not setting my alarm, I still somehow woke up for breakfast. Since I was up I couldn't get back to sleep, so I went to the bank to withdraw some dosh, and bought The Sunday Times (which includes a photography special insert), as well as a copy of Q magazine (featuring an article on Peter Gabriel).

I sat in my room and read, with Sgt. Peppers and Abbey Road playing (a must for a Sunday!), until lunch time, when I went to the refectory for a traditional Sunday roast beef meal.

That afternoon we gathered to play some baseball out in the field behind The Grange, which was fun until Big Jon Whalley started in on his Doug innuendos, and then made a smart remark about me as well. That pissed me off. Even though I was pitching, I just dropped the ball and walked off the field unannounced. It must have caused a stir, because at dinner that evening, several people commented on it. I said nothing.

After dinner, I did some more reading and avoiding work on my essay. Also took a 6.45 p.m. Cosby Show break.

Oh, backtracking to earlier in the day. When I was walking back from the newsagents, I was approached by a poll taker to take part in a broadcasting research survey, which was pretty cool. I got to say what shows I watched and become part of those select few who decide what you get to watch on TV, heh heh.

Anyway, after Cosby, I returned to my room, rearranged it a bit (it's optimum now), let Shannon out, made some coffee and then reflected a bit on my experiences here in England by reading some past excerpts from my journal.

It made me see how much things have changed for me since earlier in the year, mostly not for the better. But as I can see (and you can, too), definite changes. I also wrote a few letters this evening.

Pictured: Adrian Edmonson (Viv on The Young Ones) wrote this book, "How to Be a Complete Bastard." Funny book. Big Jon and Kenny must've taken some tips from it.

***

• Number One Song in Britain This Week: "Eternal Flame" - The Bangles
  
  
• Number One Song in America This Week: "Like a Prayer" - Madonna

Friday, April 28, 1989

Worst Day Yet ...

This won't go down as one of my better days in Hull. I had no classes today because Roz Billington felt it pointless to have a seminar in Social/Political Structures today.

I did a bit more reading, and checked some books out of the library for both of my essays... no big deal. Then I just loafed the afternoon away, playing for J.P. the "album" of joke songs that my friend Scott and I recorded (met with lukewarm reviews), as well as some Cosby. Then we played a game of Risk, where J.P. and I finished in a standoff (which I think I would've won).

That evening, I debated, but eventually decided to join everyone and head over to the Student Union. It was alright... nothing spectacular. I spent £1.25 to get in, and that was it... I didn't have any money to buy drinks. I mingled with a few of the Spanish students there, and actually did a fair amount of dancing.

After walking back to the Grange afterward, the lot of us (Kenny, Andy, Big Jon, Turlough, Kenny's brother Andy, two Spanish girls and myself) went to Kenny's room to chat and have coffee.

It was here that I got annoyed.

Kenny and Big Jon decided to make it a "Trash Doug" evening, and ragged on him about being a homosexual, making fun of his poetry. I got very annoyed at them and stuck up for Doug quite vehemently. I didn't appreciate it one bit... the guy hasn't even been around here in over four months. Why suddenly pick on him now?

I left and returned to my room, where I wrote a letter to Viv. I think I'll be writing one to Doug as well.

Now more than ever I want to leave this place.

Saturday, April 15, 1989

Tragedy at Hillsborough ...

It was a day of sadness and tragedy today. 93 Liverpool football fans were crushed to death in an overcrowding incident at the F.A. Cup Semi-Final game in Sheffield, which is about an hour's drive from here.

I found out about it after a relatively uneventful day, which had been highlighted by my own little game of soccer with Little Johnny, Andy, Paul, Big Jon, J.P., and some other guy I didn't know beforehand. I played horrible, as usual, but it was good fun. It was also very cold, and we were all quite exhausted and thirsty following the game.

Upon returning, I took a rest, then tried to take a bath, but the water was too cold, so I gave up.

It was then that I went over to St. Hilda's and found out the news. Everyone was in the TV room watching the live footage from the field. The death toll had already been confirmed at 52 fans when I first arrived, but during the next hour it climbed into the 70s. It was hard to comprehend exactly what was happening, but it was truly devastating.

How the Hillsborough disaster happened (BBC.)

Following dinner, Turlough had an evening of watching TV, catching news updates on Hillborough, as well as distracting our thoughts by watching an episode of Bilko, a special on Charlie Chaplin (it's his 100th birthday celebration), then we watched his classic movie "The Kid," among other things. I don't think I moved for about 4 hours.

Next I tried to call home, but there was no answer. I'm sure Mom is worried, and even though she knows I don't really follow football much, or have any money, she's still worried about me because of it.

This was a very maudlin day. I didn't see anyone take it harder than Chris from Liverpool did. He was in tears, and though I didn't ask him, I believe that he may have had friends or family at the game. Rough day for everyone.

Wednesday, April 12, 1989

How to Drink and Be Merry at the Student Union, and Not Pay a Single Pence ...

Following breakfast, I was treated to receiving two more issues of The Snapper in the mail, as well as a few photos of my friends back home - mostly of Michele (who now has long hair!)

I went to an exceptionally dull Geography lecture, then found out part of my final exam schedule (last exam is scheduled for June 13), then returned to waste the rest of the morning.

Later that day, after reading for a bit, writing some more and dinner, I gave Jane some letters that I was requested to give to her from Spain. After that I went to J.P.'s room, where we hung out a bit before heading over to the Student Union to celebrate Big Jon Whalley's birthday.

J.P. and I came up with a way to spend absolutely no money this evening and still have a great time... and it worked!

Step One: We drank a few rum and cokes in J.P.'s room before we left.

Step Two: We made sure to arrive early, before they start collecting admission at the door, so we didn't have to pay to get into the Uni.

Step Three: We loaded up J.P.'s backpack with bottles of the home brew that he made in his room, and snuck that into the Uni. And that's all we drank all evening. It was actually a pretty good batch he made, and after a few rum and cokes, it really didn't taste all that different from the beer we would've purchased.

We had a good time celebrating Jon (and Sharon's) birthday. I took my camera, but it was too dark to get any pictures in here.

The only thing about home brew is that you need to stop drinking before you get to the bottom of the bottle, because there's usually a collection of heavy sediment laying there that will gag you if you drink it. But this provided us with a unique opportunity for laughs and hijinks.

As we neared the end of each bottle, we would pour the undrinkable sediment into an empty pint glass at our table. Eventually, the glass was reasonably full... enough that it looked like a barely touched glass of bitter.

Now the trap was set to teach a lesson to a pint-nicker. We got up, went over to the dance floor, leaving the enticing, unattended brew sitting there, all alone. Sure enough, we returned to the table a short time later, and the glass had vanished. We didn't see who ended up taking it, but whoever it is might not be feeling so well in a little while if they polish the whole thing off!

When we got back to the halls, we caught an episode of the new Twilight Zone on TV, about "The Shadowman," and then I went back to my room and slept very soundly.

Friday, March 10, 1989

Some Much-Needed Comic Relief ...

I went to my early morning Social/Political Structures seminar, where we watched a video on racism in the media, and then held a discussion (minus Roz Billington). It was pretty interesting.

After lunch, I checked out some books that I figured I would need to read over vacation, then returned to my room determined not to do any more work today.

Today is Comic Relief Day - the third annual - which is a day to do goofy things for the benefit of various charities. It's been quite successful thus far, and quite fun. My unscientific poll determined that 50% of the British population was wearing a Comic Relief red clown nose today (it's also known as Red Nose Day), as well as various t-shirts, hats, etc., with two-thirds of the proceeds benefitting African charities. The remaining one-third remains in Britain. From what I heard, by the end of the evening the effort had raised over £10 million.

Well, with my goofy attire (hand-drawn Yokel t-shirt, nice pants, my "kick ass" boxer shorts over those nice pants, a cap, a tie and goggles I borrowed), I set off with J.P. to the Student Union. We left a little early so that we could get in for free, before they start collecting admission at the door. It was good fun. I drank two pints of bitter and a gin & tonic, and we played a few games of poor-man's pool (you only use the cue ball). We danced, talked, and had a grand time.

While we were there that evening I managed to find two red noses. I wore one for the rest of the evening, and I gave the other to Big Jon, who was dressed in drag... as were J.P. and Neil.

At one point we got on the stage to dance, during which time a girl named Emma started to dance with me, which caught me by surprise... for about two minutes. Also, a girl that was snogging with Kenny absolutely insisted that she wanted to wear my Yokel t-shirt. (Hey, a fan!)

Also, a scuffle broke out on the dance floor that somehow involved Little Johnny, Mousey and Paul. Fortunately it broke up before anyone got hurt or thrown out of the Student Union.

I left the Uni at about 1 a.m. with Big Jon, Matt and Steve, returning to the Common Room where we watched some of the Comic Relief special on TV, as well as an episode of "The Young Ones" and "Monty Python's Flying Circus."

I finally returned to my room at about 3 a.m., where I found a note on the door telling me to call Viv at 9.30 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Pictured celebrating Comic Relief Day are (top photo) me, Big Jon (in drag), Kenny and Andy; (bottom photo) the hottest couple in St. Hilda's, Sid and J.P. (also in drag).

Monday, March 6, 1989

Spain Trip, On or Off? ...

Sort of a frustrating day, which started off badly when I received a depressing letter from Viv. She's not adjusting well to being in Spain. I began to have second thoughts about going there myself, mainly due to the cost. I began contemplating a flight home over the spring break holiday.

I went to the Student Union travel office to inquire about the possibility of transferring my flight from Madrid, and then returned home to eat lunch and watch some telly.

After a fruitless literature class and following dinner, a few of us went to the Gardener's Arms for awhile. We stayed there for awhile, then Big Jon, Little Johnny, Andy and I returned to St. Hilda's to play some Trivial Pursuit, which Jon won (I placed 2nd). The game was highlighted by Andy's inability to score even one wedge for his game piece, and Johnny's answer to the question, "What planet takes 248 years to revolve around the sun?" Sorry, Johnny, the answer is not "Earth." (It's Pluto.)

At 10 o'clock, Viv called and were were able to talk about some of the problems she was having adjusting to life in Spain. But we were able to work out a plan that should allow me to stay in Madrid for the full length that we initially planned. I may be able to stay at their residence for a fee (or, if we are sly, perhaps not...)

Following our call, I put in a call to my parents back in Camp Hill to find out how their trip to Colorado went (it was beautiful, of course), and to update them on my upcoming trip to Spain. They told me that it was snowing there right now, and already they have about 10 inches on the ground. It figures. That's about 9.95 inches more than we've had so far this year here in Hull. It was a nice warm day here today.

After the phone calls, I headed to the TV common room were I watched some "Miami Vice," then roamed around visiting folks before returning to watch an episode of "Prisoner of Cell Block H" in Jane's room, with Lee and Jon. Finally, at about 12.30, I went to bed.

Pictured is a magazine I picked up, the March 1989 issue of Cut. Wow, an Elvis Costello cover story, a Lou Reed feature, AND harsh words for Labour leader Neil Kinnock. How could I NOT buy this (and keep it, 20 years later)?

Thursday, March 2, 1989

The Campaign Continues ...

I'm temporarily using a red pen right now in my journal, just to mix things up a bit and make things a little more interesting. I decided to bag class today in order to assume my duties as Big Jon's campaign manager. I walked down to the Student Union and picked up an application for the election. The guy who gave it to me was a bit surprised to have an American request the form. He has no idea...

Afterward, I headed over to the University union, where I purchased my airline ticket to Spain (student rate). I had to take a flight on the 13th of March, so it looks like I'll be there for a total of four weeks (and I'll miss one week of classes before our three-week spring break.)

I returned to my room after mailing various letters home and purchasing a birthday card for my Dad, as well as a Mother's Day card for Mom (never too early...) I also bought a copy of "Time," with John Tower on the cover, Bush's unsuccessful nominee for Secretary of Defense.

After dinner I wrote letters to Greg, my parents, and Viv, then spent the rest of the evening fooling around in St. Hilda's. Oh, and this evening a few of us headed up to the cinema to see "Return of the Living Dead, Part 2." Funny!

Pictured is, sadly, the only photo I took of Big Jon. To see the full context of this picture, you'll have to check back here on March 1o. I'm thinking this photo might not be the best representation of a Student Union Presidential Candidate. Then again, you just never know... (Hey J.P., you wouldn't happen to have a better photo of Jon in your archives that I could borrow?)

Wednesday, March 1, 1989

'Vote for Jon Whalley, 'Cuz He's Jolly' ...

Jodie told me that on the first day of every month, you are supposed to say "Rabbit" before noon to get good luck. Never heard that one before. It's silly, but I'll try it out anyway. Couldn't hurt.

There was a student demonstration this morning because Education Minister Kenneth Baker was in Hull today. Needless to say, I went to class and ignored the ramblings of the left, as did about a handful of other students.

After class I went to the library for awhile, returning to hang around St. Hilda's until J.P. and I went to see "Die Hard" (my fourth viewing). I still love that movie! After we caught the bus back and ate dinner, I returned to my room to write letters and wait in case Viv called. By 7.30 p.m., I decided that she wasn't going to call this evening, so I went over to J.P.'s room, where he and some others were getting ready to go to the Student Union. At first I said no, but then I decided to go, and had a pretty good time. Played some pool for awhile, even winning a game.

But it was here that I hatched my brainchild to disrupt the political scene at Humberside College of Education. Nominations and elections for next year's student government are coming up, and while I won't be around to run for office myself (and my political leanings would've made winning virtually impossibly anyway), I convinced Big Jon Whalley that he should run. It was here, over a few pints, that his campaign for Union President officially kicked off.

Being his campaign manager, my first order of business was to start spreading the word: "Vote for Jon Whalley, 'Cuz he's jolly." Since Labour will have it's own candidate hand-picked already, and labelling someone a Conservative is a death knell here, I suggested Jon run under the ambiguous "Progressive" title. It sounds interesting and appealing, yet actually means nothing. Perfect! If he actually wins, I will have left my mark on this godforsaken Union. Heh heh!

Later I walked back to The Grange with Kenny, Corrinne (pictured, right, courtesy of J.P.), Mousey and Paul (while Andy walked a bit ahead of us), and it got a little strange. While people were lying down in the streets, I was singing proudly and loudly with Kenny.

When we got back, we hung around in the common room at St. Hilda's until I returned to my room to let Shannon run around in her hamster ball. During this time, I fell asleep, and when I awoke about a half hour later, Shannon had managed to break out of her ball and got herself stuck in a box in my closet. It was 2.30 a.m., so I put her back in her cage and went to bed.

I'm completely deaf from the Disco tonight.

Pictured at top are some protesters from a Student Loan demonstration a few months back, one that turned into a riot. If they spent half as much time actually studying as they did causing their civil disobedience to get a free ride through college, perhaps they would have earned a scholarship. Probably not, though.

Wednesday, January 11, 1989

Ninjas and Superspies ...

Woke up for breakfast and then headed to my 9.15 Geography lecture. Once that piece of necessary business was done, my classes for the day were completed and I had the rest of the day for myself.

J.P., Big Jon and I walked into Hull, stopping at a junk shop, where I bought a rare old Mike Rutherford 45 single record "Working in Line/Compression (non-album track)" for 40p. Great find! Then I priced various film processing stores until I decided to trust my pictures from my recent travels to Just Films. Next I mailed Greg Swartz his Letter of Massive Proportions, then returned in time (2 p.m.) to begin another adventure, this one involving "Ninjas and Superspies" with Colin and Barry. It's quite a fun role playing game, not too unlike "Top Secret." We stopped at about 5.15 p.m. for dinner, to resume again next week.

Forgot to watch Dr. Who again, making it four weeks in a row, so I guess the habit has been broken. Instead I began to read "Howard's End" by E.M. Forster for Prose Fiction class tomorrow.

Saturday, January 7, 1989

Plymouth Rocks ...

Last day of exploring today, so I decided to try and make it a good one. J.P. and I woke up a little past 8 a.m. for yet another good breakfast and showers, then paid our bill at the bed and breakfast and were off exploring Plymouth. (Picture #1: The Belvedere, located along the Hoe. I'm sitting at the bottom steps.)

We started out walking along the waterfront, in a public area known as The Hoe. Took some photos, then continued walking along the shoreline, enjoying the scenery. That eventually led us into Barbican, which is the old shopping district of town, and we walked around there a bit. Once again, I was able to find two more James Bond books for my collection ("Moonraker" and "Dr. No"), which was helpful. (Picture #2: The Royal Citadel, an historic fortress along the coastline.)

From there we walked back to the newer shopping district, more modern and a sharp contrast to the old shopping district. Overall, I found Plymouth to be a very modern and impressive town. We found a market where we walked around some more, and where I found yet another James Bond novel, "Live and Let Die." I now only need to find "Casino Royale," "Octopussy" and "From Russia with Love" to complete my collection of the Ian Fleming James Bond series.

On to Penzance... or, the Very Model of a Modern Major-General ...

Well it was at this time, shortly before noon, that J.P. and I parted ways for the first time since we joined up in Edinburgh. J.P. decided for the last night, he wanted to head up to Blackburn and visit Big Jon. However, since I would've had to find my own lodging in Blackburn, I opted for a different adventure and decided to travel to Penzance, the furthest point southwest that you can go in Britain (at least by train!) Yes, the "Pirates of Penzance" Penzance, along the coast of Cornwall. (Picture #3: For the love of Pete, put down that camera and get me off this ledge, J.P.! OK, it seemed funny at the time...)

So J.P. and I bid farewell, and after withdrawing £15 from the bank (hopefully my last withdrawal for a long time), I caught the 11.45 train to Penzance.

I arrived in Penzance a little after 2 p.m., put my big brown duffel bag of gear in a train locker, and began to scour the seaside town's offerings. I casually examined the little shops and the seaside, looking for bed and breakfasts. Since I caught the town during the off-season, a lot of the places were closed. Fortunately, I found one open and within my price range (£8.50), the Glencree Hotel (Picture #4).

I unloaded my gear, took off my jacket (because it was so warm - springtime weather in January!), and continued walking around town. This time I brought my camera along. I bought some postcards while ambling about, as well as some dinner (a chicken sandwich and chips). I also bought some ham and rolls to make sandwiches (and save some money) on the journey back to Hull tomorrow, as well as a 6-pack of Pepsi (they didn't have Coke) and crisps.

I walked along the sea coast and took some pictures, then returned to the room, writing a few postcards. (Picture #5: The sun sets on a gorgeous day in Penzance.)

Watched the news, then caught "Thunderball" at 6.45 on ITV. Now I was able to compare it to the book I had read, and could notice the many changes that had been made. Of course, it's still quite good.

After the movie I played some solitaire and read. Ate a Twix bar, then went to sleep not too late, in the hopes of waking up in time to catch the 9.47 train to London Paddington, on my way back to Hull.

Sunday, November 20, 1988

A Good Day to Stay Inside ...

Well, it snowed today. I thought that was pretty cool. It was also very cold today, so since there wasn't anywhere I had to go today, the only time I went outside was during the brief moments it takes to walk from St. Martin's to St. Michael's and back. (Pictured is St. Michael's hall, from the point of view of the front door to St. Martin's. This was taken on that "snowy" day.)

The first thing I did today was eat the classic English Sunday lunch in the refectory: Roast beef, mashed potatoes, and Yorkshire pudding, which wasn't too bad. Then I returned to my room to finish reading "The Importance of Being Earnest" (it had been a couple of days since I last picked it up.)

When I was done I took one of those brief walks outside and crossed over to Doug's room, and gave him the book so he could read it. Oh, but when I got their I found some of the guys were in the midst of a game of Risk, so I jumped in to help Big Jon, who was struggling big time in the game. I salvaged what I could and helped make him a minor threat in the game, but his losses before I had gotten there were too great. Andy was the first player wiped out (naturally).

After the game came dinner (makeshift), then some studying and reading of the newspaper, followed by a little writing. Dad called this evening, so I got to talk to him for a bit and find out what was going on back home in Camp Hill.

***

• Number One Song in Britain This Week: "The First Time" - Robin Beck
• Number One Song in America This Week: "Bad Medicine" - Bon Jovi

Saturday, November 19, 1988

A Record Day ...

Woke up at 10 a.m. to head down to the big Record Fair. Might be the last one Doug gets to go to. Doug and I gathered our weighty pound coins (always feels good to have a pocket full of them in your pocket... I'm now quite used to using those coins instead of dollar bills) and left to go crazy downtown.

It was a singles day for me at the Record Fair. I bought two Genesis EPs ("Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" and "Mama"), a Peter Gabriel EP ("Don't Give Up"), and a core of 7" singles... 15, to be exact. Nine of them were The Police, and five were Sting... they were all singles that had non-album songs on the B-sides and were hard to find nowadays. The other single that I got was Captain Sensible's "Wot." It's a great song from the early MTV days, but I could never find the song until I came over here. Awesome!

We left the show and headed to the bank so that Doug could refuel, then it was off to Cottingham Road, where I bought a newspaper and some chicken kiev at Haworth Fisheries. While we were walking back, we saw Little Johnny, Big Jon, J.P. and Paul walking on the other side of the road, heading to the bus stop to go to Beverley. I asked Little Johnny if it'd be OK if I borrowed the record player he has in his room so that I could play some of the records I had been purchasing. He said sure, then tossed his keys across the busy four-lane road, and I made an absolutely spectacular catch.

I returned to my room just as Viv was arriving and she began to do some school work while I ate my chicken (garlicky!) After eating, Doug and I went into John's room (a very trusting lad he is!) and we took turns playing the records that we had acquired over the past few months. "Twilight Alehouse" was first... an interesting old Genesis tune. I like it. The biggest disappointment was the Genesis "A Trick of the Tail - Outtakes" record. Interesting stuff, but the quality was quite poor. I guess that's the risk you take with a bootleg.

After awhile I returned to St. Martin's to take a shower while Doug remained in the room listening to his records. After dinner I returned to Johnny's room and I was able to tape some of my records. So I can now listen to some of the music I had purchased. Stuck around until Johnny returned, and hung around a bit more to listen to some of Johnny's music. He was very interested in letting me hear a band called The Macc Lads. Very rough and vulgar, but pretty funny at the same time. Their song "Beer and Sex and Chips and Gravy" was quite entertaining. This is what my band Yokel should be more like.

A bit later, we went down to the telly room where we watched "Time Bandits," one of my all time favourite films. Enjoyed that for a good couple of hours, and afterwards Viv and I returned to my room for the rest of the evening.

Thursday, November 17, 1988

'The weather still continues charming'

(Quote from Cecily Cardew, "The Importance of Being Earnest")

It was certainly a nice enough day outside to pull an appropriate quote from the book I am currently reading.

I woke up about mid-morning and decided it would be OK to skip my class today, since I hadn't read the book they were going to discuss. I went into town again to check if the new CSN&Y album had come out yet, and then I picked up my new black-and-white photographs (including the one of my room shown here. Notice Viv's sweet television seems to have found a more permanent home here in my room.) I thought they turned out nice, for the most part.

I returned to the room and put my photos in the photo album right away, then showed the pictures to Doug, J.P., Big Jon, Kenny and others. After dinner not much of any import happened. Viv stopped in for awhile, so that was cool. And Mom called today, so it was nice to hear from her and get updates from home.

One thing I've noticed during my time here of late is that the days and weeks seem to fly by quickly. I can't believe that I've been in England almost two months already!

Sunday, November 13, 1988

The Yank Scores a Goal

I woke up about mid-morning today and caught a few cartoons on the telly. After lunch, J.P., Big Jon, Little Johnny and I, along with a few others, went up to the Cottingham Road site to play some football (the English variety, of course!) The game was going well for awhile, and we were quite close, the score being 5-4, thanks in large part to a great performance by our star goalie, Turlek. I even scored one of our goals! How sweet is that?

But then Turlek decided that he didn't want to play goalie anymore, so he came out and J.P, Little Johnny, Paul and I were left to circulate in the position. It was not good. Twenty minutes later, the game got out of hand and we lost, 12-4. Yikes, what a joke. It was fun, though!

I walked back to The Grange, only to remember upon my arrival that I had left my room key in J.P.'s room, and J.P. had gone from the game to a pub, so I was locked out. Viv hadn't returned from her trip home yet, so I didn't really have anywhere else I could go. I sat in with Doug for awhile, then visited Sid for a bit. Once J.P. returned, rather than head right back to my room, we decided to have a brief water battle. After those shenanigans, I returned to my room, and after dinner I rested in my room, awaiting Viv's return.

At 8.30 Viv arrived with her parents from Skegness. She brought along with her some pictures of her home, growing up, etc. So that was pretty cool to see. Later on, we watched "The Breakfast Club" on TV. Always a great film to watch. Fell asleep finally around 3 a.m., exhausted from the day's football match.

***

• Number One Song in Britain This Week: "Orinoco Flow" - Enya
• Number One Song in America This Week: "Bad Medicine" - Bon Jovi
  

Saturday, November 12, 1988

A Day in York

Oh what to do today, with Viv not around. Managed to wake up relatively early, about 9.00 a.m., got dressed and showered (though not actually in that order... see, this is why I need to write my journal in pencil!) But we had some fun planned... a group of us were planning a trip a bit north to the City of York.

I had been to the city back during my Camp Hill High School class trip back in the spring of 1987, and it was one of my favorite stops along that trip. So I was looking forward to returning... back then I had no idea I would be returning so soon. That was probably the moment where I started to think that I'd like to someday come back to Britain and study so that I'd have more time to spend in places like this.

Anyway, at about noon we caught the city bus, which meandered from Hull to York. It's about 40 miles away, and we finally arrived at about 1.30 p.m. The train would've been faster, but the bus was much cheaper. For a couple of poor college lads, the bus was the best option.

Once we got there, we walked around the various shops for awhile until Big Jon, Paul, J.P. and Littly Johnny went to a pub. Doug and I decided to continue walking around the very picturesque town, taking in the very crowded sights and sounds of York (lots of Christmas shoppers already!)

We went into York Minster, and it was very impressive. However, I felt that there were just too many visitors in the church at that time to really enjoy it. I did get some nice black-and-white photographs outside of the minster.

Afterward, we walked along the wall that surrounds York, during which time we crossed paths with the rest of our group. Doug and I then walked down the steps off the wall and walked around town some more, taking in more of the sites of York. When we have more time (Our next trip here will likely be on Nov. 25), we will be able to take in more of the sites.

I bought a cheap Mike + the Mechanics EP, "Nobody's Perfect," for 99p, and the sheet music to The Proclaimers song "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" so that I could practice it on my guitar back in my room. But later, as we were on the bus home, I realized that the inside page was missing, so I didn't have the full song. Bugger all!

Anyway, after walking around York a bit longer, Doug and I found the train station where we were to pick up the bus. We grabbed some dinner there while we waited for the rest of our group to arrive, and I also bought a copy of "The Times." We caught the 5.45 bus and headed back to Hull, where we finally arrived at about 7.30 p.m.

After returning, I took a brief sortie out to Double Happiness for some delicious chips 'n gravy, over to the "offie" to buy four cans of Tennent's Lager, as well as a bottle of Cloberg (Yugoslavian wine) for later use.

Later, we had a casual, less intense water battle, which ended when we decided to retire to the television room in St. Hilda's to watch the Eddie Murphy-Nick Nolte film "48 Hours."

Afterwards I returned to my room to write my latest article as the foreign correspondent for The Snapper. It was a criticism of the IRA, the Irish Republican Army. It may ruffle a few feathers. Well, good night.

(Photos: #1 - Me along the wall in York, near York Minster; #2 - York Minster, as seen from the wall; #3- Doug in York; #4 - A street artist paints a portrait on the sidewalk in York.)

Saturday, October 15, 1988

'Risk' Taking

Doug woke me up around 10:30 a.m. so we could get ready to go into Hull for a Record Fair. Bad news, huh? I took a shower then caught the 11:30 a.m. bus into downtown with Doug and J.P.. We first stopped at Midland Bank for J.P., then the photo store to pick up a batch of photos. J.P. and I overshot the store and were walking all over Jameson Avenue before we realized our error. Then we finally made our way to the Record Fair.

Awesome find #1: I was shocked and pleasantly surprised when I found one of the record albums I was hoping I’d find here… Prince’s rare, bootlegged unreleased “Black Album”on vinyl, which is what my friend Scott really wanted. So I bought the vinyl copy of the record for £12. I guess I’ll keep the cassette tape I bought in London for myself.

Awesome find #2: Next I found something that I’ve been looking for over a year and a half – the original Genesis “I Know What I Like/Twilight Alehouse” single, and for only £2! I left nearly broke but tremendously happy. Shame I don’t have a record player in my room to check out my find. Hopefully someone in the residence has one I can borrow at some point.

We then found a toy store where we all chipped in £1 for a Risk board of our own. That game has fast become our latest obsession. Next we hit a deli for some sandwiches, then took the bus back home. I went to my room, but it wasn’t long before a game of Risk broke out (already!) in Doug’s room. After awhile, I stopped in to watch. We then broke for dinner, where I had what qualifies as the worst meal I’ve ever had anywhere. So we came back to Doug’s room and split a garlic loaf, which helped.

Then it was back to the game. I helped out Paul Crowley, who was down to one country and on the verge of elimination. Through creation of various treaties, I was able to help him get back into competition, even controlling North America, before we were eventually eliminated. (Sorry, that would’ve been a better story had we won the game.) Then Jon Whalley, who was doing quite well in the game, had to leave, so I took over his troops. I was then able to conquer and destroy Andy Croxhall, and then, after a few aggressive moves, wiped out Kenny Prunty’s army for total victory. Of course, I couldn’t qualify it as my victory, but at least I helped.

It was time for another break, during which time Doug and I took a short walk up the street and around the corner to Double Happiness for some actual food. Man, they have the best chips and gravy there! The gravy has a nice oriental flavor that cannot be beat.

Well, at 8:30 p.m. we started The Game of the Century II (no hyperbole here!), featuring myself, J.P., Doug, Paul, Andy and Kurt Dross, with a slightly intoxicated Jon joining his team for this go-around. Well, Kurt was eliminated in about 5 turns, which left 5 superpowers remaining. J.P. and I had established a non-aggression treaty, so we were able to concentrate our efforts elsewhere. Paul and I got into some fierce battles, but soon Doug went on the offensive and whittled Paul down to three countries, though he chose not to wipe him out. Doug also knocked Andy out of the game during this offensive, which screwed up J.P. strategy.

So J.P. and I got together and decided to sacrifice J.P.’s armies for the win. He took his armies and knocked out as much of Doug as he could. Meanwhile, I took advantage of Doug’s tactical error in not wiping out Paul by wiping him out myself and taking his cards. With seven cards in my hand and J.P. on my side, we had no problem taking Doug over. So I was the victor, with the significant help of J.P. But then, all is fair in love and war, right?

During this game, Jon’s termination of two full bottles of Thunderbird wine and a bottle of Concord wine began to take its silly – and then violent – toll. He told Bonk that he loved him, wore a towel on his head and called himself “The Virgin Mary” (which he did last night as well, even wearing the towel out to a store), and kept asking “What happened to the red armies?” (which were Kurt’s pieces.) He sat in a closet for awhile, continually asking “When can we have a serious talk?” and other humorous anecdotes. Anyway, I’m sure he’ll be in agony tomorrow.

Then I popped into J.P.’s room, where Sindy "Sid" Bajaria (pictured above with me, photo courtesy of J.P.), Liz Ortega (from Manchester), Vivienne Schofield (from the small seaside town of Skegness) and Bits (London, I believe) were hanging about. We sat talking for awhile, and then, when J.P. wanted sleep, Liz and Viv came back to my room for some coffee. It was finally 4 a.m. before they finally decided they needed to go back to their room (they share one of the double rooms.) I loaned Liz my jacket, and we walked back to their room (after some problems with the key) and I bid them good night. Viv seems to fancy Doug, and I think I’m moderately attracted to Liz, but I’m not about to say too much about it yet. Oh well.