JWL.Freakwitch.net

so much for audioblogging...

Well, I've finally found an Internet cafe, only to discover that the 3 audioblog posts I've made -- or attempted to make -- haven't gone through. I'm not quite sure why. Ah well.

Anyway, for those keeping score, we arrived safely in the UK last week, after a long, delayed, cramped flight. Virgin Atlantic has lots of bells and whistles on the flight, ie, movies in flight etc., but I'd trade it all for a bit more space on the plane. It was quite uncomfortable. Granted, I am large, even by American standards, but it was pretty ridiculous.

The Marillion Weekend was fabulous, as I expected it to be. The band seems genuinely appreciative of their audience, as well they should be. The music was great, and the vibe was pretty cool as well. We met some cool people as well, new friends, hello to Helen, Ian, Michael, Faith, Franz, John, and anyone else who happens to read this.

One phenomenon I tried to audioblog but didn't work: in addition to the Marillion festivities, there was also a country and music convention happening at Butlins. Now, there are many reasons to leave the US, and escaping country music is certainly one of them. But at one point, I walked into the pavilion only to discover two gentlemen (or 'two blokes' as they say here) on stage, dressed in cowboy hats and bad flourescent vests, looking like Howdy Doody on acid, singing along with their acoustic guitars to canned backing tracks, some really cheesy country music with bad English accents. Now, no one should sing country music, least of all the English. And there were dozens of people dressed the same way line dancing. This is yet more evidence proving the theory that rednecks are everywhere.

Now we're in Bath, and we'll be here for another 2 days. Tomorrow it looks like we'll travel to Glastonbury, which will be another highlight for my trip. Then we're off to London to visit a friend, after which we'll train up to Scotland. After Scotland, it looks like we'll come back to Cornwall for a few days to stay with some new friends we met at the Marillion convention. They are a great couple, and they have 2 kids right around my daughter's age. One cannot pass up an opportunity to make good friends, and my daughter (what a trooper -- bless her) is holding up great and could really use the opportunity to bond with some other kid friends.

Anyway, the clock here is ticking, so I'll sign off. Not sure why the audio posts didn't work. I'll have to investigate, but not when I'm paying by the minute.

As one says when in the UK, cheers mate!

posted by JWL at 11:51 AM |