Empty Ring: Time Of The Season

24.1.14.

Yes, Comrades

Having had one too many lager and shandies, it was a bit of a late rise on this day. We had no Alka Seltzer, so this poor soldier was forced to man it out. A bacon roll, a bottle of Lucozade and a spot of Soccer FM wouldn't have went unwelcomed either. That's a lie, my balls have still to drop innit.

With no real agenda or plan, we figured the best idea was to pick a mall at random and see if any shops had just materialised since last time. We ended up at Chandler Mall. The first thing that struck me as off with Barnes & Noble that I hadn't noticed before was that the kid's books had a gardening section bang smack in the middle of them. Slave labour is a hobby of mine, B & N, but keep it on the down low eh?

You could arse about with the dogs in the adoption centre, which also had a particularly diva-esque cat. Trouble was, there was an outing for the special needs group going on, which we felt we were kind of gatecrashing, so we left. We went to the classiest chocolate shop I've ever fucking seen, got a couple, visited Spencer's, Disney, other places, left.

With some time to kill, we were already in Chandler so we stopped by Zias, our old friend. I got Licensed To Ill for Mama Sheba (the reggae names seem to be finally catching on by the way) and since I'd mentioned to Nancy (that one, not so much) in passing that The Zombies' Odessey And Oracle might just be the best album ever, that became an early birthday present. She gave her sister Truck (if you've been paying attention, you can work her name out) a call, who said we should definitely chillax together. Halfway to her house and she bails. Bloody Truck.

After popping home, we were chauffeured to Denny's. This was very similar to Carrow's, except no surf and turf and it had a resident nutter sat near us, sipping his coffee and chatting away to himself, probably about how Uncle Dave stole his Cindys as a kid, and for that he must meet the great red dragon. I had me some Alaskan salmon soaked in garlic and herbs and just about decked it, it was that good.

To top off our night, as ever I'm not sure what we watched at #3, but I'm pretty sure it was Night At The Roxbury, which had a rather sensational ending. At home, it was Saving Silverman that got watched. I mean, it was ok, not my favourite so far. If you get a rainy day and there's nout but Jeremy Kyle on, go for it.