Prince & Princesses
And suddenly its 14 days later and its all been a bit insane. As a wise ex nun turned nanny for a Captain once sang, lets start at the very beginning, a very good place to start...
The Big Prince Night Out. My God it was tense. I could make a screenplay out of the drama that was me getting to the gig in time. It would be a bit shit though as it would consist of a good 40 mins of me standing in front of Cardiff Castle, huffing and puffing waiting for the megabus to show up and then the majority of the film would be me sat on a bus reading the Doctor Who novel Wetworld, occasionally glancing out of the window to scowl at the traffic on the M4 or in London. The next bit would be vaguely exciting as I dash across London to get from Victoria to the O2 Arena in 35 mins to try and get to the start of the gig at 8.30 - which will go up on time as it live on sky news .... especially the bits where I get stuck at the ticket machine behind a drunk guy who's card gets refused 5 times but he just keeps trying to buy a tube ticket. I would possibly insert me doing some killer karate chop at this point, rather than me just switching queues. Then instead of me standing on an almost empty tube on the Jubilee Line, I could insert a train full of rampaging Zombies. I might see if James Moran (writer of Severance who keeps a damn fine blog himself) wants to help .. if Pete is too busy that is.
So as it happened, Rach and I were still hacking along the corridor trying to work out how to operate glo-sticks as we heard the band strike up Controversy. By mid second song, we were in our seats,m which were frankly, the BEST SEATS EVER for a gig. Smack in front of the stage, but raised enough to give a view, on an aisle. Loving the work. I could wax lyrical about the ins and outs of the gig, our outstanding synchronised dancing, the electric atmosphere that comes from a sold out house made of real fans ... but unless you were there, you wont really get it.
Post concert, we had about a 2 hour wait before we could hit the Indigo2 for the After Show gig. This involved the worlds longest toilet queue ever and some mad man climbing lamp posts to try and steal a Prince banner by setting fire to the corners to detach it. No, really! Then the queue for the after show seemed to stretch back into Kent .... but we got in in quite good time and bagged decent seats upstairs.
Around 1.30, the band kicked in and the curtain opened to reveal the New Power Generation (excpeted), Prince on lead guitar (hoped for but wasn't guaranteed) and Amy Winehouse on vocals (total surprise!). This then lead to a very funky three hour jam, featuring a range of Prince hits and album tracks. I have never been to anything quite like it and have to say being in such an intimate venue packed out with real fans and real music lovers ... it was truly amazing.
But at 4.30, we wandered out, tired but elated to try and catch one of the three cabs that were operating. Along with about 2500 of the other 3000 people there. It was going to take some time ... or would have had some enterprising chap not been there with his car, offering slightly under taxi rates to drive people home. Rach thought we were possibly going to be murdered, but I had already fought off that trainload of zombies, so was confident I could handle some small Ukrainian looking bloke in a rather roomy Ford.
Now you'd think that given the hellish journey up, 5 hours worth of gig n shit would mean the end of this tale. But no ....
Being the canny lass she is, Rach had espied a Magnum vending machine in the hotel foyer. As we pooled cash to pay the £18 for the 20second cab ride to the hotel (it would have been over £20 in a black cab and wasn't doable on foot unless we fancied either walking through the Blackwall Tunnel or swimming the Thames) and was now worrying that we couldn't afford said ice cream treats when we got back. I assured her I had further change in my pocket to cover an ice cream. So we arrive, we head for machine, I insert the ludicrous price required for said sweet on a stick, Rach chooses with Almond variety.
Computer says no
Or rather make another selection. Given Rach has now been up just over 24 hours, she has a little trouble with the idea of that one being sold out, starting us both giggling as I try and advise on other selections. She goes for a classic and I settle for diet coke and a bag of crisps.
We retire to our room and start to finally unwind. After conversation of how it has actually been the best night out in the history of everness, I go to brush my teeth. The hot tap is on slightly... and being the freak I am, cant actually let this go and need it to stop. It wont budge left to turn off, so I figure that a turn right may loosen it up a tad so I can turn it off completely. Wrong. Its now running a bit more and still wont shift left. I venture out to Rach to advise her what I am doing (I was tired) and go back in to try the same method again. Resulting in a steady stream of scolding hot water and hysterical giggles from the pair of us. I eventually got the tap off, soaking my night shirt in the process and we got some sleep.
Saturday was coffee with Richie before getting the bus home. Even this simple task went wrong as I failed to notice that the DLR train I was on didn't go to Canary Wharf where I was meeting him, so I had to hop off at Poplars and walk back..... which you'd think would be easy ... finding a bloody great sky scraper in London that was built to access a hole in the space time continuum .. but no .. could constantly see it, just couldn't get to the fucking thing.
Then of course, Sunday was a drive up to Marks to prepare for Paris Monday morning - Dans birthday.
We had a great time. Dan enjoyed his birthday. If he ever gets around to updating his blog more than twice a year, he might even tell you what he though of it. The character breakfast was brilliant. Not much had changed in the parks, so we had a leisurely 4 days there. But the highlight was Dans biggest birthday surprise.
It was all arranged that Mark & Lyanne were meeting us out there on Tuesday. Dan had no idea about this. I got a text from Mark once they had arrived, and they made their way to the big castle and hid on the balcony at the back. I then took Dan over there on the pretence of going to get Peter Pan fastpass tickets and then just made him look up ... twice as he didn't spot them frantically waving first time..... I managed to catch the moment on film and will get it posted on here soon.
Of course, Disney, Mark & I is a good combination .... add the fabulousness of Lyanne and my darling Dan to that and you have 29 hours of screaming mirth. Halloween decorations had started appearing around Frontierland too, which was cool. It seems to be a Pumpkinheads V Witches theme......
Sadly, Mark & Lyanne were only there for a night, so Dan & I were back on our own for our last evening and day there and I decided that the last thing I wanted to do as a ride was Space Mountain. Which broke down while we were in the queue. I decided to give it until 3.30 but didn't want to be the first rider on after it had been broken! Most of the queue gave up and left .. leaving us and some Australian Rugby players ... as the first members of the public to ride after the break down. Shit my pants. Not literally.
We then had first class seats on the way home!
Friday was a day around Luton seeing family. We left Luton just before 7.00 to pick Richie up in Elstree as he is staying with us this week and having a chill out. The radio said that the M1 was bollocksed .. well not in those words as such ... so i went the back routes via St Albans ... and was stuck in traffic for ages. We then had a warning on the M4 saying there was a queue between junctions 16 & 17 due to an accident. Had they told us that we were going to be at a standstill for 2 and a half hours in said queue, I would have sniffed out a cross country route. Finally got home at almost 2.00am.
And that pretty much brings you up to date .... aside from the Spice Girls gig selling out yesterday in 38 seconds ..... guess I was lucky and got a ticket in the 20th second or so..... I feel a bit bad actually as Rach has been so great to me with the Prince tix, but I actually only had enough cash in my bank account to cover the cost of one ticket (paid a total of £86 after all charges n shit). Technically speaking, shouldn't have really paid that much for one for myself. If I get the chance to pick one up for her by some means, I will do.
The Big Prince Night Out. My God it was tense. I could make a screenplay out of the drama that was me getting to the gig in time. It would be a bit shit though as it would consist of a good 40 mins of me standing in front of Cardiff Castle, huffing and puffing waiting for the megabus to show up and then the majority of the film would be me sat on a bus reading the Doctor Who novel Wetworld, occasionally glancing out of the window to scowl at the traffic on the M4 or in London. The next bit would be vaguely exciting as I dash across London to get from Victoria to the O2 Arena in 35 mins to try and get to the start of the gig at 8.30 - which will go up on time as it live on sky news .... especially the bits where I get stuck at the ticket machine behind a drunk guy who's card gets refused 5 times but he just keeps trying to buy a tube ticket. I would possibly insert me doing some killer karate chop at this point, rather than me just switching queues. Then instead of me standing on an almost empty tube on the Jubilee Line, I could insert a train full of rampaging Zombies. I might see if James Moran (writer of Severance who keeps a damn fine blog himself) wants to help .. if Pete is too busy that is.
So as it happened, Rach and I were still hacking along the corridor trying to work out how to operate glo-sticks as we heard the band strike up Controversy. By mid second song, we were in our seats,m which were frankly, the BEST SEATS EVER for a gig. Smack in front of the stage, but raised enough to give a view, on an aisle. Loving the work. I could wax lyrical about the ins and outs of the gig, our outstanding synchronised dancing, the electric atmosphere that comes from a sold out house made of real fans ... but unless you were there, you wont really get it.
Post concert, we had about a 2 hour wait before we could hit the Indigo2 for the After Show gig. This involved the worlds longest toilet queue ever and some mad man climbing lamp posts to try and steal a Prince banner by setting fire to the corners to detach it. No, really! Then the queue for the after show seemed to stretch back into Kent .... but we got in in quite good time and bagged decent seats upstairs.
Around 1.30, the band kicked in and the curtain opened to reveal the New Power Generation (excpeted), Prince on lead guitar (hoped for but wasn't guaranteed) and Amy Winehouse on vocals (total surprise!). This then lead to a very funky three hour jam, featuring a range of Prince hits and album tracks. I have never been to anything quite like it and have to say being in such an intimate venue packed out with real fans and real music lovers ... it was truly amazing.
But at 4.30, we wandered out, tired but elated to try and catch one of the three cabs that were operating. Along with about 2500 of the other 3000 people there. It was going to take some time ... or would have had some enterprising chap not been there with his car, offering slightly under taxi rates to drive people home. Rach thought we were possibly going to be murdered, but I had already fought off that trainload of zombies, so was confident I could handle some small Ukrainian looking bloke in a rather roomy Ford.
Now you'd think that given the hellish journey up, 5 hours worth of gig n shit would mean the end of this tale. But no ....
Being the canny lass she is, Rach had espied a Magnum vending machine in the hotel foyer. As we pooled cash to pay the £18 for the 20second cab ride to the hotel (it would have been over £20 in a black cab and wasn't doable on foot unless we fancied either walking through the Blackwall Tunnel or swimming the Thames) and was now worrying that we couldn't afford said ice cream treats when we got back. I assured her I had further change in my pocket to cover an ice cream. So we arrive, we head for machine, I insert the ludicrous price required for said sweet on a stick, Rach chooses with Almond variety.
Computer says no
Or rather make another selection. Given Rach has now been up just over 24 hours, she has a little trouble with the idea of that one being sold out, starting us both giggling as I try and advise on other selections. She goes for a classic and I settle for diet coke and a bag of crisps.
We retire to our room and start to finally unwind. After conversation of how it has actually been the best night out in the history of everness, I go to brush my teeth. The hot tap is on slightly... and being the freak I am, cant actually let this go and need it to stop. It wont budge left to turn off, so I figure that a turn right may loosen it up a tad so I can turn it off completely. Wrong. Its now running a bit more and still wont shift left. I venture out to Rach to advise her what I am doing (I was tired) and go back in to try the same method again. Resulting in a steady stream of scolding hot water and hysterical giggles from the pair of us. I eventually got the tap off, soaking my night shirt in the process and we got some sleep.
Saturday was coffee with Richie before getting the bus home. Even this simple task went wrong as I failed to notice that the DLR train I was on didn't go to Canary Wharf where I was meeting him, so I had to hop off at Poplars and walk back..... which you'd think would be easy ... finding a bloody great sky scraper in London that was built to access a hole in the space time continuum .. but no .. could constantly see it, just couldn't get to the fucking thing.
Then of course, Sunday was a drive up to Marks to prepare for Paris Monday morning - Dans birthday.
We had a great time. Dan enjoyed his birthday. If he ever gets around to updating his blog more than twice a year, he might even tell you what he though of it. The character breakfast was brilliant. Not much had changed in the parks, so we had a leisurely 4 days there. But the highlight was Dans biggest birthday surprise.
It was all arranged that Mark & Lyanne were meeting us out there on Tuesday. Dan had no idea about this. I got a text from Mark once they had arrived, and they made their way to the big castle and hid on the balcony at the back. I then took Dan over there on the pretence of going to get Peter Pan fastpass tickets and then just made him look up ... twice as he didn't spot them frantically waving first time..... I managed to catch the moment on film and will get it posted on here soon.
Of course, Disney, Mark & I is a good combination .... add the fabulousness of Lyanne and my darling Dan to that and you have 29 hours of screaming mirth. Halloween decorations had started appearing around Frontierland too, which was cool. It seems to be a Pumpkinheads V Witches theme......
Sadly, Mark & Lyanne were only there for a night, so Dan & I were back on our own for our last evening and day there and I decided that the last thing I wanted to do as a ride was Space Mountain. Which broke down while we were in the queue. I decided to give it until 3.30 but didn't want to be the first rider on after it had been broken! Most of the queue gave up and left .. leaving us and some Australian Rugby players ... as the first members of the public to ride after the break down. Shit my pants. Not literally.
We then had first class seats on the way home!
Friday was a day around Luton seeing family. We left Luton just before 7.00 to pick Richie up in Elstree as he is staying with us this week and having a chill out. The radio said that the M1 was bollocksed .. well not in those words as such ... so i went the back routes via St Albans ... and was stuck in traffic for ages. We then had a warning on the M4 saying there was a queue between junctions 16 & 17 due to an accident. Had they told us that we were going to be at a standstill for 2 and a half hours in said queue, I would have sniffed out a cross country route. Finally got home at almost 2.00am.
And that pretty much brings you up to date .... aside from the Spice Girls gig selling out yesterday in 38 seconds ..... guess I was lucky and got a ticket in the 20th second or so..... I feel a bit bad actually as Rach has been so great to me with the Prince tix, but I actually only had enough cash in my bank account to cover the cost of one ticket (paid a total of £86 after all charges n shit). Technically speaking, shouldn't have really paid that much for one for myself. If I get the chance to pick one up for her by some means, I will do.
Labels: Tales from Disney, Tales from the weekend
posted by Peter Pan @ 9:10 am
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