mrph | Meanwhile, life goes on

CAVEAT: I got home at 5AM this morning, and I was in work for 9AM. I'm low on sleep, to say the least, so this is more likely to be streamofconsciousness than witty anecdotes...

It's been a weird few days.

I spent the weekend down south, visiting my family. Which is always an interesting experience.

On this occasion, my sister was in Going Out mode, so we ended up abandoning the rest of the family to go see a manga exhibition at a Southampton gallery. It concentrated on displaying the styles that don't get exported/translated or adapted into anime - soap opera and teenage drama, nonsense strips, pure historical stuff and observations on day-to-day life. All of it pretty interesting.

Then, after that, off we went to the Southampton boat show. As mentioned before, it's really not my thing. I have a hard time appreciating the aesthetics of mass-produced fibreglass yachts (wooden construction is different, somehow...), and I have no grip on the practical aspects of sailing, which don't interest me at all. Maybe that's one of the reasons why I felt a little uncomfortable, and kept noticing things that made me feel even more out of place - food stalls concentrating on steakwich and sausage-inna-bun, with no veggie options. And, in an extremely large/crowded show, I only spotted one other male attendee with long hair (ok, there are practicalities to consider - long hair's not terribly convenient for yachting - but still...)

Which isn't to say that I didn't enjoy it. Just that it felt a bit odd. And the vintage roadster they had, on one of the epoxy/lacquer/varnish trade stalls, was gorgeous. Varnished mahogany bodywork, green leather upholstery, speedometer etc set in brass, in a mahogany panel. Cars I can appreciate. Sometimes. Especially when they're old designs, and stylish as hell.

After all that, Marc Elston talked me into joining that night's Soton mob expedition to Slimelight. Which was... odd. Well, ok, Slimelight's always odd - it's one of the club's defining features. But this was the night that Slimelight tried to make its own tribute to the WTC disaster. Thing is, I'm not sure where the tribute started and stopped. They played VNV's "Forsaken", which was definitely part of it (according to Nils, who should know). They played The Cure's "Killing An Arab" (...). And they played Nena's "99 Red Balloons", which didn't provoke the usual nostalgic perkiness. Funny, that. I think, on this occasion, people were all too aware of the lyrics. 'Twas a good night, though.

And then back to Coventry on Sunday, on one of the new "Voyager" Virgin Trains. It's very swish, and very Star Trek. Fast and quiet, without too much rattling about. Pushbutton/automatic controls for all doors, including toilets etc. A shop, selling magazines and books as well as food, instead of a buffet. LED displays above each seat, listing reservations - and at the end of each carriage, showing the train's progress info. Plug sockets for notebooks and mobile phones, underneath each table. And, best of all, standard 3.5mm headphone jack sockets for each seat, with a little control panel for each - allowing you to listen to the radio while you travel. They have Radio 4 as an option, too. So I'm happy now.

[Mon/Tues/Calling stuff to follow]