lupestripe (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lupestripe) wrote2007-09-30 10:21 am
lupestripe) wrote2007-09-30 10:21 am
Bypass The By-Laws
LIVERPOOL MEET - SATURDAY 29th SEPTEMBER
It's a long way to travel to reach England's Scally city. But with promises made and a (rare) free Saturday at my disposal I got up at 7am just in time to be ripped off by the wonderous TransPennine Express people. Marvellous. Still the lady did it with a smile - like the serial killer winking at you before he slits your throat - it gives you a sense of restorative justice. I liked it a lot.
A three and a half hour journey requires at least one toilet stop and mine was at York. Unfortunately the staff had wedged the door open with the left over cardboard from a pizza box so it was bloody freezing. There wasn't even the feeling of someone else's buttock warmth on the toilet seat to warm me up. Shame. I bade a quick exit after doing the necessary. I'm not Dr Gillian McKeith so I'll save you the analysis. I think it was a deficiency of magnesium. Only kidding ;-)
The rest of the journey was largely uneventful. I painted my nails but true to form a minute later the trolley dolley (well bloke called Steve) came round offering tea. I'd been gasping for a cuppa for about two hours so I had to ruin my varnish job in fishing my money out of my pocket and I had to start over. The tea was rancid and it passed straight through me. PG Tips - the monkies may speak highly of it - but they made crap music so what do they know?
I also had a nice Quaker lady sit next to me with whom I had an oat-ely good conversation despite us speaking for only the last three minutes of the journey. Still in that time we talked about global warming, AIDS, homosexuality, QI and bipolarity disorder. So a little light subject matter before the furmeet. If only politicians could be so efficient in their debating. Order, order! I'll have a cup of rancid tea please...
Finding out that the toilets were closed at Liverpool Lime Street station was about as frustrating as finding out that the Spice Girls had announced a "Reunion Tour" after previously declaring that they would never make music together ever again. I tried to find some toilets but alas couldn't so I decided that the best course of action would be to get a Diet Coke from Burger King. Because when you're busting obviously more synthetic slop is what you need. I think I did it to look refined in front of the furs - like a prop or something - I still have nervous issues meeting with people, even people I know *sigh*. (Either that or it was the big clock that scared me - most men boast about how big their clocks are but that one was just too big. I bet it was difficult to find hands that would fit on it...).
It was great catching up with the furs and meeting new ones too! We all left Lime Street pretty early and made our way to a restaurant with a torn menu.enteirah took the piss. The food was cheap and cheerful but really tasty plus I got a free cup of tea! Yeys! Which again passed straight through me :-(
I was a bit hyper in the restaurant I must admit. I spent most of my time talking to StealthFox,enteirah, patter_snowfox and Wolven, the latter of whom was the main reason why I made the long journey to the north-west. It was good getting to know him (and StealthFox too) - both really nice guys and great company. I also spent a lot of time marvelling at patter_snowfox's Russian style trenchcoat and purple shirt ensamble. It was like a camp Soviet spy. I loved it. We also got scared when a waiter started bobbing up and down behind the service counter with a rather pleased look on his face. I immediately thought of Pingu. I don't know why. I scare myself sometimes.
We then went to some alternative shops in a building with lots of uppy-downy bits. I find these indoor market things quite weird as every single shop apart from the Nail boutique and the piercing studio ("Piercing for the Revolution" - yes because a nipple stud is going to bring down the government - although I do accept that youths hanging around parks getting pierced is a massive anti-social problem in modern-day Britain) was selling exactly the same thing (crappy tie-dye clothes that wouldn't look out of place in a back-street charity shop in Barnsley). There was also some good alternative and fetish clothing though and the record shop was good - largely because I bought a flowery bracelet for 50p and had a discussion with a long-haired guy about German industrial metal - much to everyone else's frustration.
Next stop was a warcraft kinda shop - something I'm not particularly into if I was being honest. Still I managed to pick up the latest edition of Bizarre magazine there so I was happy.
After this we all went to the park for a little vandalism. Did I say that? Sorry - it's not true - despite the suspicions of Merseyside Police. The Police (who almost arrested me two years ago for contrevening a by-law about leaflet distribution in the city) thought we were trouble and tried to move us on. Trouble? A bunch of people in collars, ears and tails? Yeah imagine that.
"What did the young vandals look like officer?"
"Well I remember that one of them was wearing long pink bunny ears and a floofy bunny tail."
"Any other distinguishing features?"
"Apart from the bright yellow duck plush he was holding, no" FFS!
Anyway we were contrevening some spurious law or other by being there so we were told about a section 34 dispersal order to which we had to adhere. I don't know how that differs to a section 33 or section 35 dispersal order - perhaps that's a research project for a later lonely hour. Still to be fair to the Policeman he was good about it all so I have few complaints (apart from the above evidently) it's just a shame that a group of adults can't gather together in a City Centre Park at two o'clock in the afternoon. Ah well.
Anyway Merseyside Police's way of stop people from vandalising the park is to stop people from entering it and there was an intimidating policeman in a cycle helmet charged with doing this. We also saw a yellow helicopter on top of a skyscraper at this time and Snow Fox forgot the secret briefcase with the dossier and confidential files in it. Much to my annoyance. We were scared of said policeman so we bade a quick exit. Either that or we were hungry. One of the two. Can you guess which?
Next was the highlight of the Meet - the trip to Greggs.enteirah kindly bought me a gingerbread person whilst he bought two bean bakes or something. Everyone else heartily tucked in to their pasties and sausage rolls (whilst the misguided went to Burger King instead hehe) and we lost a lot of people numerous times. We decided that next time sorabunneh should have a big yellow umbrella sticking out of his head in order for furs to see him more easily.
We also saw a fursuit on the cheap - which was effectively a wrap around towel that you could put your head through with a picture of a duck on it. It was for kids but hey, get them into fur early that's what I say - there's enough books out there asking them to make noises of animals (sheep go baa, pigs go oink, cows go bangsplat as they're being culled due to the latest Foot and Mouth and Bluetongue outbreaks) I think there's some ulterior motive going on. Either that or it was just a towel. There were other ones there too.
A lot of furs went to the cinema after this to see a film whose name I forget. Apparently it wasn't very good so I made the right decision in not seeing it. Having said that it wasn't out of choice really - my last train home was to leave Lime Street at 17.54 and time was too tight.
So Greskell, Evil Squirrel, Wolven and I headed back into the city to see what we could see (alas the Tots from Tots TV weren't about - if they had been - they would've probably been contrevening some local by-law about puppets in public being a fire hazard or something. We did see some woman with inflated binbags though - contrevening the Refuse Container Misuse Act 2006, sub-section 14a. We reported her.). We were also waiting for Foxcubbold - a fur Greskell and I had met over at EF - who was having major problems on the M6. He eventually turned up at 5.10pm.
After saying goodbye to Evil Squirrel, we spent the next hour or so in a Virgin Megastore looking at everything they sold (sadly they don't sell virgins there and to be honest I didn't think the store was particularly mega - I may sue them for false advertisement. You also can't get Boots in Boots. But in Dixons...). I bought Hell Is For Heroes' new album (it's quite good by the way - I'm listening to it now) whilst Greskell in particular bought loads of stuff. Firesuite and Ruffles were with us too for a bit but they decided to go home early - I think to get drunk. I don't blame them.
Down to three (Greskell, Wolven and I) we decided to go to a local pub. We tried the aptly named Queens bar but it was too busy so we had to settle with Yates. There we looked at Greskell's artwork, which has improved a hell of a lot in a mere three weeks. The definition he gets in his shading is amazing and I must admit I was a little jealous about how well he can draw as I'm useless. I'm really pleased for him though and I hope he keeps working on it - if not only so I can get some commissions from him hehe.
Foxcubbold eventually joined us and we chatted about EF memories whilst simultaneously watching the score increase in the Portsmouth v Reading game (it ended 7-4 but it was 3-2 at 4.15pm when we entered the bar). We also saw a drunk old man be incapacitated by a falling sign which no doubt will be a Claims Direct advert in a year's time. The sign also probably contravened Liverpool City Council By-Law 37 sub-section 2a - the Useless Signs Act. We still don't know how this happened as the sign was well-rooted to the ground and there was no wind - we think the drunk man just grabbed on to it and it sort of fell with him. Either way it happened and he was thankfully alright.
A quick scurry back was unfortunately not enough for me. Wolven managed to catch his train but me mistaking 17.52 for 17.54 meant I was a little too late to catch mine (because like all good wolves I leave everything to the last minute). So I had an extra hour and a half in Liverpool and I needed a lift when I got home at the other end. Cueenteirah who conveniently phoned me from Lime Street station a mere ten minutes later whilst I was in WH Smith.
We said our goodbyes to Wolfen,cheetahkid and a few others before Kamraith (I think - I'm not too sure about the name, if anyfur can help I'd appreciate it) took us to the S&M bar - The Ship and Mitre (we were after continental lager y'see - honest). Here I met an old musician guy called Spike who gave me his phone number so I could promote his skiffle band in the north-east. He was a nice guy though and we spent a lot of the time talking about football - he has a penchant for Liverpool and Tranmere whereas Boro are my team of choice. Swapping of details later we bade each other farewell, I grabbed my continental beer and I went to sit with the others.
The beer was good. It was Czech and I can't remember the name of it (and no it's not because I was drunk Ent!!). It was a nice tipple though and I bought two more bottled beers for the train journey home. I do remember those:
Königer Pils - nice fresh German Pils that would have been a lot better had it not been slightly warm. Crisp. Not salt and vinegar or cheesy bunions.
Hansa Pils - this leaked all over my bag making my book smell of beer. It was a sharper beer than Königer but it was refreshing all the same. It had a nice sharp aftertaste too which I liked.
It was really sweet that the guys tried to persuade me to stay the night in Liverpool but alas I had to be back for a commitment later on today. It was really touching that furs (particularlyenteirah and Foxcubbold) were willing to go to such lengths to accommodate me because they wanted my company. It was a good end to what has been quite a miserable week for me in all honesty and it was a half hour that has restored my self-belief. So thanks guys! *hugs*
No mistaking this time - we caught the train with a mere twenty seconds to spare. The journey home was shared withpatter_snowfox. It was like the good old days all over again - my first month in the fandom when we met in pubs in Darlington after my Spanish classes. It was good catching up with him again - he's a good friend - even if he did forget the secret dossiers. Silly Snow Fox :-P
The remainder of the journey was largely uneventful apart from some heavy-handed cops at York station. Underage drinkers and nuisence drunks abounded and as I got on the train back to Darlington I cracked open a Kronenbourg 1664 (which I was overcharged for at the station) and listened to my music - full of energy, full of confusion.
The rest of the journey was largely uneventful. I painted my nails but true to form a minute later the trolley dolley (well bloke called Steve) came round offering tea. I'd been gasping for a cuppa for about two hours so I had to ruin my varnish job in fishing my money out of my pocket and I had to start over. The tea was rancid and it passed straight through me. PG Tips - the monkies may speak highly of it - but they made crap music so what do they know?
I also had a nice Quaker lady sit next to me with whom I had an oat-ely good conversation despite us speaking for only the last three minutes of the journey. Still in that time we talked about global warming, AIDS, homosexuality, QI and bipolarity disorder. So a little light subject matter before the furmeet. If only politicians could be so efficient in their debating. Order, order! I'll have a cup of rancid tea please...
Finding out that the toilets were closed at Liverpool Lime Street station was about as frustrating as finding out that the Spice Girls had announced a "Reunion Tour" after previously declaring that they would never make music together ever again. I tried to find some toilets but alas couldn't so I decided that the best course of action would be to get a Diet Coke from Burger King. Because when you're busting obviously more synthetic slop is what you need. I think I did it to look refined in front of the furs - like a prop or something - I still have nervous issues meeting with people, even people I know *sigh*. (Either that or it was the big clock that scared me - most men boast about how big their clocks are but that one was just too big. I bet it was difficult to find hands that would fit on it...).
It was great catching up with the furs and meeting new ones too! We all left Lime Street pretty early and made our way to a restaurant with a torn menu.
enteirah took the piss. The food was cheap and cheerful but really tasty plus I got a free cup of tea! Yeys! Which again passed straight through me :-(I was a bit hyper in the restaurant I must admit. I spent most of my time talking to StealthFox,
enteirah, patter_snowfox and Wolven, the latter of whom was the main reason why I made the long journey to the north-west. It was good getting to know him (and StealthFox too) - both really nice guys and great company. I also spent a lot of time marvelling at patter_snowfox's Russian style trenchcoat and purple shirt ensamble. It was like a camp Soviet spy. I loved it. We also got scared when a waiter started bobbing up and down behind the service counter with a rather pleased look on his face. I immediately thought of Pingu. I don't know why. I scare myself sometimes.We then went to some alternative shops in a building with lots of uppy-downy bits. I find these indoor market things quite weird as every single shop apart from the Nail boutique and the piercing studio ("Piercing for the Revolution" - yes because a nipple stud is going to bring down the government - although I do accept that youths hanging around parks getting pierced is a massive anti-social problem in modern-day Britain) was selling exactly the same thing (crappy tie-dye clothes that wouldn't look out of place in a back-street charity shop in Barnsley). There was also some good alternative and fetish clothing though and the record shop was good - largely because I bought a flowery bracelet for 50p and had a discussion with a long-haired guy about German industrial metal - much to everyone else's frustration.
Next stop was a warcraft kinda shop - something I'm not particularly into if I was being honest. Still I managed to pick up the latest edition of Bizarre magazine there so I was happy.
After this we all went to the park for a little vandalism. Did I say that? Sorry - it's not true - despite the suspicions of Merseyside Police. The Police (who almost arrested me two years ago for contrevening a by-law about leaflet distribution in the city) thought we were trouble and tried to move us on. Trouble? A bunch of people in collars, ears and tails? Yeah imagine that.
"What did the young vandals look like officer?"
"Well I remember that one of them was wearing long pink bunny ears and a floofy bunny tail."
"Any other distinguishing features?"
"Apart from the bright yellow duck plush he was holding, no" FFS!
Anyway we were contrevening some spurious law or other by being there so we were told about a section 34 dispersal order to which we had to adhere. I don't know how that differs to a section 33 or section 35 dispersal order - perhaps that's a research project for a later lonely hour. Still to be fair to the Policeman he was good about it all so I have few complaints (apart from the above evidently) it's just a shame that a group of adults can't gather together in a City Centre Park at two o'clock in the afternoon. Ah well.
Anyway Merseyside Police's way of stop people from vandalising the park is to stop people from entering it and there was an intimidating policeman in a cycle helmet charged with doing this. We also saw a yellow helicopter on top of a skyscraper at this time and Snow Fox forgot the secret briefcase with the dossier and confidential files in it. Much to my annoyance. We were scared of said policeman so we bade a quick exit. Either that or we were hungry. One of the two. Can you guess which?
Next was the highlight of the Meet - the trip to Greggs.
enteirah kindly bought me a gingerbread person whilst he bought two bean bakes or something. Everyone else heartily tucked in to their pasties and sausage rolls (whilst the misguided went to Burger King instead hehe) and we lost a lot of people numerous times. We decided that next time sorabunneh should have a big yellow umbrella sticking out of his head in order for furs to see him more easily. We also saw a fursuit on the cheap - which was effectively a wrap around towel that you could put your head through with a picture of a duck on it. It was for kids but hey, get them into fur early that's what I say - there's enough books out there asking them to make noises of animals (sheep go baa, pigs go oink, cows go bangsplat as they're being culled due to the latest Foot and Mouth and Bluetongue outbreaks) I think there's some ulterior motive going on. Either that or it was just a towel. There were other ones there too.
A lot of furs went to the cinema after this to see a film whose name I forget. Apparently it wasn't very good so I made the right decision in not seeing it. Having said that it wasn't out of choice really - my last train home was to leave Lime Street at 17.54 and time was too tight.
So Greskell, Evil Squirrel, Wolven and I headed back into the city to see what we could see (alas the Tots from Tots TV weren't about - if they had been - they would've probably been contrevening some local by-law about puppets in public being a fire hazard or something. We did see some woman with inflated binbags though - contrevening the Refuse Container Misuse Act 2006, sub-section 14a. We reported her.). We were also waiting for Foxcubbold - a fur Greskell and I had met over at EF - who was having major problems on the M6. He eventually turned up at 5.10pm.
After saying goodbye to Evil Squirrel, we spent the next hour or so in a Virgin Megastore looking at everything they sold (sadly they don't sell virgins there and to be honest I didn't think the store was particularly mega - I may sue them for false advertisement. You also can't get Boots in Boots. But in Dixons...). I bought Hell Is For Heroes' new album (it's quite good by the way - I'm listening to it now) whilst Greskell in particular bought loads of stuff. Firesuite and Ruffles were with us too for a bit but they decided to go home early - I think to get drunk. I don't blame them.
Down to three (Greskell, Wolven and I) we decided to go to a local pub. We tried the aptly named Queens bar but it was too busy so we had to settle with Yates. There we looked at Greskell's artwork, which has improved a hell of a lot in a mere three weeks. The definition he gets in his shading is amazing and I must admit I was a little jealous about how well he can draw as I'm useless. I'm really pleased for him though and I hope he keeps working on it - if not only so I can get some commissions from him hehe.
Foxcubbold eventually joined us and we chatted about EF memories whilst simultaneously watching the score increase in the Portsmouth v Reading game (it ended 7-4 but it was 3-2 at 4.15pm when we entered the bar). We also saw a drunk old man be incapacitated by a falling sign which no doubt will be a Claims Direct advert in a year's time. The sign also probably contravened Liverpool City Council By-Law 37 sub-section 2a - the Useless Signs Act. We still don't know how this happened as the sign was well-rooted to the ground and there was no wind - we think the drunk man just grabbed on to it and it sort of fell with him. Either way it happened and he was thankfully alright.
A quick scurry back was unfortunately not enough for me. Wolven managed to catch his train but me mistaking 17.52 for 17.54 meant I was a little too late to catch mine (because like all good wolves I leave everything to the last minute). So I had an extra hour and a half in Liverpool and I needed a lift when I got home at the other end. Cue
enteirah who conveniently phoned me from Lime Street station a mere ten minutes later whilst I was in WH Smith.We said our goodbyes to Wolfen,
cheetahkid and a few others before Kamraith (I think - I'm not too sure about the name, if anyfur can help I'd appreciate it) took us to the S&M bar - The Ship and Mitre (we were after continental lager y'see - honest). Here I met an old musician guy called Spike who gave me his phone number so I could promote his skiffle band in the north-east. He was a nice guy though and we spent a lot of the time talking about football - he has a penchant for Liverpool and Tranmere whereas Boro are my team of choice. Swapping of details later we bade each other farewell, I grabbed my continental beer and I went to sit with the others.The beer was good. It was Czech and I can't remember the name of it (and no it's not because I was drunk Ent!!). It was a nice tipple though and I bought two more bottled beers for the train journey home. I do remember those:
Königer Pils - nice fresh German Pils that would have been a lot better had it not been slightly warm. Crisp. Not salt and vinegar or cheesy bunions.
Hansa Pils - this leaked all over my bag making my book smell of beer. It was a sharper beer than Königer but it was refreshing all the same. It had a nice sharp aftertaste too which I liked.
It was really sweet that the guys tried to persuade me to stay the night in Liverpool but alas I had to be back for a commitment later on today. It was really touching that furs (particularly
enteirah and Foxcubbold) were willing to go to such lengths to accommodate me because they wanted my company. It was a good end to what has been quite a miserable week for me in all honesty and it was a half hour that has restored my self-belief. So thanks guys! *hugs*No mistaking this time - we caught the train with a mere twenty seconds to spare. The journey home was shared with
patter_snowfox. It was like the good old days all over again - my first month in the fandom when we met in pubs in Darlington after my Spanish classes. It was good catching up with him again - he's a good friend - even if he did forget the secret dossiers. Silly Snow Fox :-PThe remainder of the journey was largely uneventful apart from some heavy-handed cops at York station. Underage drinkers and nuisence drunks abounded and as I got on the train back to Darlington I cracked open a Kronenbourg 1664 (which I was overcharged for at the station) and listened to my music - full of energy, full of confusion.
Pawnote: If feeling a little stressed and angry don't go on to amazon.co.uk and abuse the credit card details that you entered a few months back. I spent £40 on German industrial metal albums I have never even heard of before last night - some from bands I know absolutely nothing about. I'm just hoping the money will be well spent...
Pawnote Two: To those furs who spoke to me late last night in my drunken state I greatly appreciate you listening to me. You know who you are and thank you *hugs*.
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