Are you going on Rita again?

It was by the law of sod that having experienced the warmest April since records began, the weather should take a turn for the worst just in time for Em's birthday jaunt to Britain's favourite theme park.





With hindsight, it was probably a bad idea to get hammered on the previous night. The cable car to meet Em, Chris, Sam, Moe, James & Nicky left Jess, Ben and myself feeling pretty queasy, which didn't bode well.



Not to be defeated we started things off with the old classic, the Corkscrew, which I later noticed rocks from side to side as the car spins around the double loop. I'm sure it didn't used to do that.

Just as the rain began to trickle we made our way to the park's other legend that is, of course, the log flume...



Em, Chris, Sam & Moe were in the log ahead of us, although the logs have actually been replaced with bathtubs. The principle remains the same though...



Don't sit in the front...



Spurred on by the face that Ben and Jess had remained completely dry on the tub-flume, we made our way to the rapids, which typically seemed determined to get Sam and Moe even more wet...







Chris, who had wimped out for fear of getting wet and ruining the upholstery in his precious motor, camped on a bridge and managed to soak Sam again by launching a vigilante attack with a bottle of water.

Jess remained dry...



With a little bit of help...



Ben had also got away Scott free, up until the last corner when a wave came straight for him. He leaped to his feet like a mountain deer at the crack of thunder, but the wave splashed directly into his face...



Of course, we also had to try out the new roller coasters.

Air was pretty good, especially the long downhill straight where the track spins around so all you can see is the sky as you plunge headlong into uncertainty.

I'm not getting paid by Alton Towers to write this. Honest.

Of all the rides, the ridiculously named 'Rita Queen of Speed' took the biscuit. It starts like a bullet, going from 0-60 in 2.5 seconds. As I was watching it I was wondering we everyone kept screaming as it accelerated away. Surely a bit of speed couldn't be that scary...



Needless to say I shouted my head off and thought I was going to die.

Finally, Yes we went on the Nemesis...



...and NO, I didn't lose my teeth this time.

Spot the Ball Result

Congratulations to Jonny, who correctly guessed that it was 'D'. A £2.50 postal order will be winging its way to you very soon. You lucky, lucky boy.



Thanks to everyone else for humouring me though, particularly Mike and Rich for guessing G and J respectively.

Well, that's that done for another year then...

A Quick Big Up...

...to me.

Alton Towers blog and spot the ball results on their way, but just a quick mention that one of my tunes got voted the number one track on an OTC webcast for 'unsigned talent'...



My first number one!

Bristol City Win Promotion to the Championship! 5th May, 2007

On the morning of the game I had received a text message from Jonny asking me to film the pitch invasion. Given that we needed to win the game to assure automatic promotion I spent the rest of the morning convinced that he had jinxed us.

By the time I arrived at the Gate, I was a nervous wreck. I've seen City throw away promotion too many times over the last eight years to believe that beating relegated Rotherham was simply a formality. The atmosphere inside the Gate was electric, yet somehow tense.

I filmed the teams' arrival onto the pitch, and should apologise for the camera-wobble, which was purely a reflection of the amount of adrenaline pumping through my body. Towards the end of the clip, the guy who sits behind me leant over and asked: "Are you keeping this up next season, getting here before kick-off?"



I should explain that the guy that sits behind me suffers from Tourettes syndrome, and tends to mutter "F***ing B**tard" quite a lot under his breath, as a kind of deep grunt. He's also recently taken to patting me on the back really very hard whenever City score.

Anyway, somehow having him mock me for my punctuality helped to calm my nerves slightly, combined with the fact that the stadium was crammed with 19200 Bristol City fans shouting their heads off. Rotherham didn't quite sell their allocation of 300 tickets, and in a bid to get more Red shirts into the stadium we stuck the Rotherham fans in the corner of the East End, behind a pillar, in the darkness...



Which meant City fans were cheering on their team from all four ends of the ground...



Of course, taking the lead after seven minutes also helped calm those nerves. In fact, I went completely mental. After jumping up and down screaming for a good 20 seconds I turned to the people either side of me, as clearly this warranted a "hug a random stranger" moment. Unfortunately they were already busy hugging each other, but before I had a chance to react I was bear-hugged from behind and then lifted up and down off the ground four or five times.

I'm not sure if that really counted as a 'hug', but I figured it would have to do.

Having regained my composure I still managed to film the team returning for the kick-off.

Just before halftime my back took another battering as we took a 2-0 lead, and when we made it 3-0 in the second half it soon became clear it was City's day after all. It's very rare to see the entire crowd singing in unison at Ashton Gate, as I'm sure Jonny will vouch for, but it happened regularly that afternoon...

Action and Chants

I actually missed Rotherham's consolation goal. Completely! I was texting the various people I had promised updates, and didn't even hear the handful of Rotherham fans' cheering. No matter.

Stand up if you're going up!

Finally the ref put the whistle to his mouth to end the game, and then promptly legged it, as the pitch quickly became a sea of red...





Around fifteen minutes after the end of the game, an announcement came over the tannoy that some of the players still hadn't made it back to the dressing room. A couple then appeared on people's shoulders near the halfway line, completely stripped, and gradually made their way through the hoards.



Meanwhile all the usual classics were being belted out...

Hi Ho Bristol City!

Drink Up Ye Cider!



Eventually I made my way onto the pitch in time for the players to appear at the director's box.



Where they did a lot of jumping around, and took it in turns on the mic to make silly noises, and start chants.





Eventually at half past five, I made my way out of the stadium, and was amazed that there were still a group of about twenty Rotherham fans in their seats clapping the city fans out of the ground. Nutters!



Bring on the Championship! (and not before time)

Bedmo Flora & Fauna (and pegs)

Apart from the fact that a tree appears to be growing in our back garden (plus the realisation that we really should get some weed killer), the most interesting change in my latest 'time-lapse' shot has to be the appearance of the Pegs court.

Yes, Pegs is back for a new season, and as you might have noticed (if you are really very sad) there is a new scoring pot available for the new season... With no more than a six-inch diameter, the elevated terracotta gotcha provides competitors with a valuable six-point option. We've already seen some epic encounters as competitors from as far afield as Kingswood (i.e., Neil) have taken advantage of England and Wales' warmest April since records began to compete for the chance to become the undisputed pegs champion. A crown, which is currently proudly held by myself.

I thank you.

So, anyway, what do you make of this?



A bit of moss? A swarm of ants?

How about this?



Any thoughts? OK, how about this?