Tron 2 was an awesome film; but it also brought about something of a mini mid-life crisis in the corner of my mind. Well, for about 10 seconds.
The film is a stark reminder that old-style amusement arcades with video games have all but vanished from the UK; Angelo and I have looked EVERYWHERE and the sad reality is that I’m a dinosaur who is still yearning for the good old days, days where I could escape for an hour or so, avoiding an obscene amount of enemy bullets whilst trying to beat a Boss in a shoot-em up!
The modern ‘amusement arcade’ is just full of fruit machines with different stickers and always seem to be full of nutty Russian gangsters or groups of Pakistani’s who seem to live in the seedy parlours at airports and plough endless pound coins into them.
Luckily for me, there’s a small corner in Utah called the ‘Nickel Arcade’ that has a wealth of video games that stretch back to the 80’s and 90’s; and even some obscure bits from the 2000’s! And all for the bargain of 15c (10p) per play!
So without further ado, I will share my findings with thee………oh yes, and most of the games are available for purchase via e bay or their website!
My favourites? The Tron cabinet! The Golden Axe ‘Revenge of Death Adder’ game and last but not least, the unexpected Streetfighter 3rd Strike machine! I still got the moves Mr. Takis!
So it was a nice surprise that Amy decided to book a trip on the Heber Valley Railway; an old 19th Century railway that “served the pioneers”; the people who teraformed and transformed Utah from a barren wasteland into what it is today.
We boarded the train after passing through the old ticket office that seemed like it had been plucked right out of a Clint Eastwood Western; the conductor was suitably decked out in period clothing and he welcomed us on board the grand old carriages. I mused that people must have been a lot smaller back then as the seats were much, much smaller, just as they were back in London on the old commuter trains. No Big Mac and chips for those folk.
The ‘Heber Creeper’ chugged along at a modest speed of about 5mph, I didn’t mind that at all because it allowed me to fully take in all the gorgeous scenery as we passed alongside beautiful prairies with long grass, a valley with barren rock formations and a gorgeous lake called ‘Deer Creek’.
It was at Deer Creek that I got a glimpse of my first American Eagle; I spotted a nest atop a telegraph pole that looked over the lake, I eventually learned that the Eagle is very commonplace in the area and there is even a place called ‘Eagle Mountain’ not too far from away. I also spotted some very brightly coloured finches which nested along the fast flowing brook and streams that eventually lead into the resevoir.
The train suddenly stopped at ‘Soldiers Hollow’, when all of a sudden a masked ‘bandit’ came out of nowhere and shot off a very loud blank from his replica shotgun. It was a stick-up! He and his accomplace boarded the train and proceeded to hold up the trains……..much to the chagrin of the kids who were initially a bit scared; only to then throw their teddy bears out the window at the bandits who were departing with their loot. So they got back on again, one bandit threatened to shoot the toy duck if the kids played up again, then they left for good. Gotta love those amateur dramatic types eh?
I could honestly have sat on the train going backwards and forwards all day along the tracks; it was great value for money and you can find out more here http://www.hebervalleyrr.org/
It’s been almost 3 weeks since I got back from my most recent visit to the States; those dang locals would probably say that I’ve taken my “sweet time”‘ in writing this particular entry; and they’d probably be right!
My visit to Utah took place between the 14th-21st of June 2011; I already miss the beautiful sight of waking up to the mountains, long grassy hills and watching the crystaline lakes go by as we travelled up and down the highways from place to place.
It’s a very odd thing, hearing the sound of singing birds as you walk out of an airport terminal; but that was my first impression of Utah, and in reflection I think it is a very appropriate one too given the amount of wildlife that I saw during my time in the Salt Lake City area and surrounding cities like Provo and Saratoga Springs. Deer, Skunk, a multitude of different birds and the occasional mink farm which stank like an old people’s retirement home.
Provo – Utah
Saratoga Springs – Utah
Saratoga Springs – Utah
Out of all the States I’ve visited, it’s definitely the most chilled out and relaxed, and it has the scenic Walmart I’ve ever seen!
It’s official. I am jet lagged, weary headed and just too flipping tired at the moment to get up and cook myself something; I know that I should try to silence the beast that is roaring in my stomach…….but I can’t be arsed?
Wow, what a day. I took my driving test today (car) and passed first time. I’m escstatic, I honestly didn’t think I would be here due to the delays in Chicago; let alone get my head together enough so that I could perform to the required standard!
April 19th, 1998 was the day that I overcame my deep-rooted fear of cats.
A ginger moggy bit me quite badly when I was a toddler; this was undoubtedly the catalyst for what would eventually become an irrational mistrust of cats. This wariness was also something that I had in common with my Father who a general disdain for all things feline!
Back in ’98, I was 20 years old and had visited the States for the very first time to begin my overseas long distance romance with Amy.
I was very privileged to be invited to visit Linda and Mark’s place up in the Ozark Moutains in Missouri; the couple were friends of the family (that’s the short version!) and had a gorgeous amount of rural land up in the moutains which they had dedicated to rescuing unwanted exotic pets and former circus beasts who had outgrown their irresponsible owners. To be fair, it was probably more acurate to say that they had their private zoo!
Amongst their flock, they had several Cougars (two of them lived inside the house!), a brown bear called BJ, some turkeys, a cranky old wild cat and the big attraction; Saben, a Siberian Tiger who had a recesssive gene (he was orange/white mixed). I felt a kinship with Saben, after all, I have a recessive gene of my own. It’s called non-brown!.
I think shyness at the prospect of meeting new people made me retreat a little into the bubble that I lived in back then; I had absolutely no idea what would await me as I walked up into the courtyard………several huge beasts were nervously stalking around in their cages having a good smell at the newcomers. Amy, her Mom, Fred (Amy’s Stepfather at the time) and myself.
I can remember being in complete awe of Saben as I approached him for the first time. He was beautiful and utterly majestic, lying confidently in his domain. As I approached he begin making a huffing noise, similar to that of a horse……as I walked closer still he suddenly reared up, slammed down both his paws and briefly roared at me at point blank range. At that time I was only separated by a very flimsy looking cage fence.
I can still remember being frozen to the spot as the inhuman deep bass tones of his roar shook my insides; his head had opened up to an impossible size and I got a bloody good look at his serated teeth. I couldn’t have moved if I wanted to! It was a test, eventually he accepted me and put his nose up to the fence so that I could put my hand there for him to smell. He really was just a big, big, dangerous kitty!
SABEN AND I
SABEN BEING FED
As you can see, I was still pretty wary (even with the fence), but the true test was yet to come! I was fascinated watching Saben being fed; he ate pieces of chicken like they were wafer thin!!!
The next morning, we checked out of our motel and headed back to Linda and Mark’s for breakfast. There I had spicy biscuits and gravy (the food of gods!) and was ‘introduced’ to the two Cougars who lived in the house, I was so on edge it was untrue; knowing that any second they would be let out of their room!
They let the young female out first, she was very cautious and not aggressive at all. I thought she was beautiful; then they let Mikey out! An extremely boisterous and playful male, who rather enjoyed getting up behind you and putting his paws around your neck to pull you in for a playful bite!
Here’s the whole experience anyway!
THE COUGARS
I think my fear of cats was ripped out of me that weekend; the whole experience was mindblowing and I am very lucky that Fred recently sent me the recording again. It brings back so many wonderful memories; think Amy was much braver than I in retrospect!?
Try not to laugh too much as I go pure white with fear in the moments before their release; or when Mikey paws my glasses clean off my face!
As I write this entry, the skies have opened and we’re having a ‘traditional’ English summer. What better way to spend a Sunday then partaking in an over-indulgent session down ones local Indian buffet?
I’ve been dieting for the last 4 weeks, cereal for breakfast, soup for lunch and fish finger or chicken filled English muffins for dinner along with various salad and fruit bits. So today represented the first ‘proper’ meal that I’ve had in over a month. Time for a treat! It was great because I’d won £50 on the Premium Bonds again this month, and decided to take my Mum and Joanie (my godmother) out for lunch.
Dine Tandoori is very local to me, and was previously known as Mehfil before it came under new management recently. I noticed that there was a buffet on offer when walking Chico up the park, and thought that I should give it a whirl! The restaurant was actually a bank when I was a kid, and they’ve really used the space nicely inside which gives a very simple but sumptuous ‘feel’ to the place.
HAND PAINTED MURAL
My favourite feature inside is a hand painted mural of a waterfall on the wall behind the buffet dishes; I had to take a picture as thought was particularly striking. Apparently a local Indian artist had done it; I thought it made a lovely change to the usual generic pictures of the Taj Mahal?
THE BUFFET
The buffet costs £7.95 per person, and you can choose from 21 different dishes which I thought was great value. Highlights for me would have to be the Lamb Jalfrezi and the Chana (chick peas) dish which was exceptionally tasty.
SERVICE
Was very friendly, simple and welcoming.
VERDICT
I thought the food was exceptionally nice, fresh, tasty and fantastic value for the price.
9 out 10 for me, would have been 10 out 10 but they hadn’t acquired their alcohol license yet; so sadly no Kingfisher for me!
Our walk up the park was pretty eventuful today in terms of puppy socialising; Chico has an over-eager screaming fit every time he is approached by an aggressive dog that’s off of it’s lead.
He often ends up in my arms because I have to hoist him up using his harness and away from the protagonist so that he doesn’t do anything too aggressive; I find it quite amusing when these huge dogs come bounding over all brave and then run away when Cheeks gets medieval on their hineys. Y’dig? This all contrasts to how he is with bitches however, he’s all sweet and friendly.
So, I was quite intrigued to know how Chico would react when I arranged to meet my sister Lorraine who was walking her dog ‘Blue’. Blue is a pitbull cross and a mountain of dog; people who take him at face value are clearly very wary of him, although he’s a gentle giant.
Having my Flip camcorder handy I decided to film the moment that they both met (awwwwww!) and you can see that Blue is an absolute angel in how he tolerates the impetuous nature of Mr. Cheeks.
I took Chico up to Beddington Park today for a nice long walk; I love going up there because it’s huge, green and luscious with lots of intricate streams and ponds to mooch around.
Cheeks didn’t hesitate when he came up to the first stretch of water; I managed to catch it on video! OK….so it’s more of a paddle, but he has absolutely no fear of the water at all.
Mr. Harold Camping predicted that the World (and life as we know it Jim) would end in 1994; God almighty would finally call time on the sins of humanity and proclaim Judgement Day. Obviously, that didn’t happen; the dead did not rise, the seas did not boil; but I started my A Levels in 1994 and bought ‘Definitely Maybe’ by Oasis.
Not deterred by this ‘minor’ set back; the silly old bastard decided to have another crack at predicting Armageddon and set a date for 21st of May, 2011. Hang on a minute, that’s today?!?! Bettery check out the window folks……..
New Zealand was meant to be one of the first Nations to sink into oblivion; thankfully, they’ll still alive and kicking and Peter Jackson will finally get around to making ‘The ‘Hobbit’ now; I would have been majorly pissed off if the World had ended and I didn’t get to see Smaug in all his magnificent glory!
It is well documented that I am an Atheist; however I have always been very intrigued by how much people believe in the medieval concept of Doomsday; especially in these modern times?
Personally, I hold much more faith in the theory that we need to unite as one race and bugger off onto different planets if we are to survive as a species. Dr. Stephen Hawking might look a bit limp in his chair and sound like a ‘Speak N Spell’ but he’s got my vote.
The fact that a large group of people said their goodbyes last night and readied themselves for what they believed was going to happen…….made me a little…..sad. I didn’t pity them, I just felt a little disappointed that another human being would be so quick to give up their lives because they believed a misguided old man; who at 89 years of age, probably thought he’d be dead by now and wouldn’t have to look utterly stupid when his prediction didn’t come to pass. Again.
Funnier still are all the people who are openly scoffing at the prediction all over the net; yet presumably some of them are also Christian and believe that someday Judgement Day will come? Which is itself a little ironic? No?
So there we go, I’m off to take the dog for a walk up the park and enjoy being an insignificent random anomaly of the Universe.
The Antikrish 
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