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Eine Richtung!
Oct. 3rd, 2016 10:17 pmIt's been a great weekend of getting back in touch with local furs, harking back to the good old days when we were perhaps a little tighter as a group.
The weekend started on Friday evening as we headed over to (reasonably) new heavy metal club Trash in Bradford to see the UK's premier Rammstein tribute band, Rammlied. Doors didn't open until 10pm, allowing me an hour of drinking in Leeds BrewDog with Wolfie and his (now former) colleague Adam, a man with a beard I have known for a while from the metal scene. I ended up having a beer from To Ol called Brextixt, and upon logging it into Untappd, I was surprised to see the number of other beers in the UK called Brexit Bitter, showing the typical grace and humility I have come to expect from the Leavers. Anyway, the To Ol beer was rather nice and speaking to the barman, we started devising a racist beer range, which one punter thought was actually a serious venture. Adam has just left Wolfie's company and they were off to his leaving do in The Pit, so they had to depart just before 7:30pm. This gave me enough time to get the train to Bradford and loiter in The Old Bank Inn, waiting for Stray and Luna for a good 45 minutes as they were pissed about by both bus and taxi. By the time they arrived, there was little point going anywhere else for food, so I bought their average burger of gray meat, which was alright for £6 but rather bloating. This was going to affect me all night.
We got to Trash about 10:15pm and I was delighted to see it was as scuzzy as the old Gasworks used to be. Unlike the Gasworks, it is just one large room with no real quiet place to chat, however there is a pool table and the range of beer wasn't too shabby. Furthermore, there was a little tuck shop selling Space Raiders so I was certainly sold. Wolfie was running fashionably late but the band didn't start until 11:30pm meaning that he only really missed the opening verse of the first song before he turned up slightly half-cut but in good spirits. We loitered towards the back, near where we were sat, but we soon got into proceedings and for a number of songs barged our way towards the front to mosh. Indeed, my Fitbit recorded nearly 8,000 steps and 780 calories burnt through dancing alone, more than compensating for the beer we were drinking, which only amounted to two bottles. The music was very good, although the vocals were not as loud or gutteral as perhaps they could have been. Many of my favourites were played though, and there was some pyrotechnic action too, as befitting anything to do with Rammstein. The reneditions of the songs were fairly strong and there was a good mix of moshing guys and dancing goth girls to keep us amused. It perhaps wasn't Luna's thing and he loitered at the back looking somewhat bored, but for the rest of us, it was the perfect antidote to post-Brexit stress and a great assimilation of UK musicians doing German music. Before and after, there was a DJ taking requests and I thought about asking for some obscure Finnish stuff, but with people flagging and my tummy still bloated, we opted to head off just after 2pm, with two days of fun still planned ahead.
Saturday we had arranged to meet with Arcais, setting aside the two day period at EF as we felt we weren't seeing enough of each other. She was going to come around at 1pm but in the end didn't arrive until around 2:30pm. This enabled us to recover from the night before and also for me to go to the Post Office in vain attempt to pick up some fur for a partial fursuit which had been delivered on Friday. Alas, the depot didn't have it and I am still waiting for it to arrive. Once she arrived, we decided to have a tour around some of the local parks after we had picked up some shopping. The weather was quite autumnal, with thick dark clouds framing browning trees, but it was good to get some exercise, not least to increase my step count after the dancing the night before. Arc is quite a big fan of Victorian parks and both Peel Park and Lister Park are two fine examples, stretching for a considerable way with numerous statues and concessions such as boating lakes and BMX tracks along the way. The views into Bradford, particularly at Peel Park, were also quite exquisite and we had an enjoyable few hours until the sun went down just walking around and chatting.
After this, we decided to head back and cook a lasagne, something we hadn't had for nearly a year. Arc cooks some of the best comfort food and I was relishing sampling this again. As we prepared the food, we listened to the hilarous My Dad Wrote A Porno podcast while Draken decided to come around after not fancying meeting up earlier in the day. He arrived just after 8pm and soon we were settled for our Don't Tell The Bride marathon, complete with bingo cards based on events which tend to happen in this rather formulaic show. However, since the switch to Sky 1, 15 minutes has been lopped out of the actual content for commercials, meaning that the formatting is not quite as predictable as it previously was. This was particularly true with the American version, which was far less extreme than its British contingent. The lack of a sarcastic voiceover was a little devaluing but it was still a good show nonetheless, and we had a great time just chilling out.
The next day, we decided to go to Richard Dunn's Leisure Centre in Bradford for swim swim. This was almost cancelled as Arc's cold had got progressively worse overnight, but she was still up for it and Taneli, who was also suffering from a cold, was present too. Everyone else bar me had been before but the four of us (including Wolfie, Draken sat in the car) were soon enjoying the facilities which are largely made up of a moderately sized pool and two waterslides. Tropical Islands it ain't. The pool was quite rammed with kids so we didn't spend too long in here, so we spent a fair bit of time on the slides, the Cobra and the Zambiezi. The Cobra was the fast one, which spat you into a toilet bowl at the end, spinning you round and round until you plopped out of the centre. Meanwhile, the Zambiezi was gentler but still quite fast, particularly aided with a rubber ring. Alas, I got the impression that the amount of water in this was somewhat rationed as overcoming the friction between the rubber and the slide proved somewhat difficult and the little pool areas at intermittent points in the ride didn't force you around as they should. The Cobra started out as my favourite but I soon got to enjoy the Zambiezi more, and this was my favoured slide towards the end, with me recovering from my trepidation of it being too fast pretty early on.
After this, we decided to head into Bradford for some food, where I picked up my first Taco Bell in the UK and only my second overall. The US one I had had in Seattle was terrible but the one here wasn't too bad. I picked up a Bell Box so I could have a large sample of everything - a burrito, a taco and some churros - and although I accidentally ate Wolfie's (and vice versa), it was pretty tasty, albeit not overly substantial for the calorie count. Still, I would eat it again. We then headed to Marks and Spencer's to allow Draken and Arc to buy some food before going to Primark, where I picked up a French Bulldog onesie. They seem to have stopped doing the animal onesies, at least for men, but fortunately I do know my women's size so I am delighted with my purchase. Arc and Draken then headed off while Taneli, Wolfie and I sampled a beer in the newly opened Bradford Brewery pub, which I had noticed on Friday night but which we didn't have time then to enter. They have moved from The Broadway, assumedly because they had to close when the centre did at 7pm, so this is definitely one to bear in mind going forward. We had a Solero, a pleasant zesty orange ale but as befits most real ale breweries, the stuff Bradford releases can be quite hit and miss. Still, this was quite nice and a perfect end to a good weekend with friends.
The weekend started on Friday evening as we headed over to (reasonably) new heavy metal club Trash in Bradford to see the UK's premier Rammstein tribute band, Rammlied. Doors didn't open until 10pm, allowing me an hour of drinking in Leeds BrewDog with Wolfie and his (now former) colleague Adam, a man with a beard I have known for a while from the metal scene. I ended up having a beer from To Ol called Brextixt, and upon logging it into Untappd, I was surprised to see the number of other beers in the UK called Brexit Bitter, showing the typical grace and humility I have come to expect from the Leavers. Anyway, the To Ol beer was rather nice and speaking to the barman, we started devising a racist beer range, which one punter thought was actually a serious venture. Adam has just left Wolfie's company and they were off to his leaving do in The Pit, so they had to depart just before 7:30pm. This gave me enough time to get the train to Bradford and loiter in The Old Bank Inn, waiting for Stray and Luna for a good 45 minutes as they were pissed about by both bus and taxi. By the time they arrived, there was little point going anywhere else for food, so I bought their average burger of gray meat, which was alright for £6 but rather bloating. This was going to affect me all night.
We got to Trash about 10:15pm and I was delighted to see it was as scuzzy as the old Gasworks used to be. Unlike the Gasworks, it is just one large room with no real quiet place to chat, however there is a pool table and the range of beer wasn't too shabby. Furthermore, there was a little tuck shop selling Space Raiders so I was certainly sold. Wolfie was running fashionably late but the band didn't start until 11:30pm meaning that he only really missed the opening verse of the first song before he turned up slightly half-cut but in good spirits. We loitered towards the back, near where we were sat, but we soon got into proceedings and for a number of songs barged our way towards the front to mosh. Indeed, my Fitbit recorded nearly 8,000 steps and 780 calories burnt through dancing alone, more than compensating for the beer we were drinking, which only amounted to two bottles. The music was very good, although the vocals were not as loud or gutteral as perhaps they could have been. Many of my favourites were played though, and there was some pyrotechnic action too, as befitting anything to do with Rammstein. The reneditions of the songs were fairly strong and there was a good mix of moshing guys and dancing goth girls to keep us amused. It perhaps wasn't Luna's thing and he loitered at the back looking somewhat bored, but for the rest of us, it was the perfect antidote to post-Brexit stress and a great assimilation of UK musicians doing German music. Before and after, there was a DJ taking requests and I thought about asking for some obscure Finnish stuff, but with people flagging and my tummy still bloated, we opted to head off just after 2pm, with two days of fun still planned ahead.
Saturday we had arranged to meet with Arcais, setting aside the two day period at EF as we felt we weren't seeing enough of each other. She was going to come around at 1pm but in the end didn't arrive until around 2:30pm. This enabled us to recover from the night before and also for me to go to the Post Office in vain attempt to pick up some fur for a partial fursuit which had been delivered on Friday. Alas, the depot didn't have it and I am still waiting for it to arrive. Once she arrived, we decided to have a tour around some of the local parks after we had picked up some shopping. The weather was quite autumnal, with thick dark clouds framing browning trees, but it was good to get some exercise, not least to increase my step count after the dancing the night before. Arc is quite a big fan of Victorian parks and both Peel Park and Lister Park are two fine examples, stretching for a considerable way with numerous statues and concessions such as boating lakes and BMX tracks along the way. The views into Bradford, particularly at Peel Park, were also quite exquisite and we had an enjoyable few hours until the sun went down just walking around and chatting.
After this, we decided to head back and cook a lasagne, something we hadn't had for nearly a year. Arc cooks some of the best comfort food and I was relishing sampling this again. As we prepared the food, we listened to the hilarous My Dad Wrote A Porno podcast while Draken decided to come around after not fancying meeting up earlier in the day. He arrived just after 8pm and soon we were settled for our Don't Tell The Bride marathon, complete with bingo cards based on events which tend to happen in this rather formulaic show. However, since the switch to Sky 1, 15 minutes has been lopped out of the actual content for commercials, meaning that the formatting is not quite as predictable as it previously was. This was particularly true with the American version, which was far less extreme than its British contingent. The lack of a sarcastic voiceover was a little devaluing but it was still a good show nonetheless, and we had a great time just chilling out.
The next day, we decided to go to Richard Dunn's Leisure Centre in Bradford for swim swim. This was almost cancelled as Arc's cold had got progressively worse overnight, but she was still up for it and Taneli, who was also suffering from a cold, was present too. Everyone else bar me had been before but the four of us (including Wolfie, Draken sat in the car) were soon enjoying the facilities which are largely made up of a moderately sized pool and two waterslides. Tropical Islands it ain't. The pool was quite rammed with kids so we didn't spend too long in here, so we spent a fair bit of time on the slides, the Cobra and the Zambiezi. The Cobra was the fast one, which spat you into a toilet bowl at the end, spinning you round and round until you plopped out of the centre. Meanwhile, the Zambiezi was gentler but still quite fast, particularly aided with a rubber ring. Alas, I got the impression that the amount of water in this was somewhat rationed as overcoming the friction between the rubber and the slide proved somewhat difficult and the little pool areas at intermittent points in the ride didn't force you around as they should. The Cobra started out as my favourite but I soon got to enjoy the Zambiezi more, and this was my favoured slide towards the end, with me recovering from my trepidation of it being too fast pretty early on.
After this, we decided to head into Bradford for some food, where I picked up my first Taco Bell in the UK and only my second overall. The US one I had had in Seattle was terrible but the one here wasn't too bad. I picked up a Bell Box so I could have a large sample of everything - a burrito, a taco and some churros - and although I accidentally ate Wolfie's (and vice versa), it was pretty tasty, albeit not overly substantial for the calorie count. Still, I would eat it again. We then headed to Marks and Spencer's to allow Draken and Arc to buy some food before going to Primark, where I picked up a French Bulldog onesie. They seem to have stopped doing the animal onesies, at least for men, but fortunately I do know my women's size so I am delighted with my purchase. Arc and Draken then headed off while Taneli, Wolfie and I sampled a beer in the newly opened Bradford Brewery pub, which I had noticed on Friday night but which we didn't have time then to enter. They have moved from The Broadway, assumedly because they had to close when the centre did at 7pm, so this is definitely one to bear in mind going forward. We had a Solero, a pleasant zesty orange ale but as befits most real ale breweries, the stuff Bradford releases can be quite hit and miss. Still, this was quite nice and a perfect end to a good weekend with friends.
