It's All Random In My Head...

Off to the birthplace of Mr. James May today, Bristol.  I ran out of breakfast bars and didn’t want to crack open my cereal yet as that just takes too much time in the morning to eat.  So, I stopped off at Greggs for a sausage roll and a triple chocolate muffin!  (Of course, I didn’t realise later that was nearly my entire day in calories!  Dope!) 

The train ride was nice, as usual.  My rail pass works so well, I love it and would recommend it hands down to anyone travelling in Britain. 

The train station in Bristol was a very ornate building and had the most interesting bathroom facilities I’d seen thus far.  There was a machine on the way that allowed you to soap up, wash and rinse, AND dry your hands.  All in one spot!  How ingenious and time saving!  We need these EVERYWHERE!!

They also offered a ‘chewable toothbrush’. Exciting!

I felt like I walked the entire town of Bristol today.  I had grand plans to see the Clifton Suspension Bridge and take a tour of Brunel’s SS Great Britain.  (Yes, I know I said I already have seen big ships, what’s another…well, this one only cost 8 pounds and not 17, so I figured I could do that!)  Of course, sightseeing and ducking into shops cut into my attraction time, plus finding the SS was a chore in itself.  The streets aren’t exactly a clean grid system so there was a lot of windiness and confusion.  By the time I found it, I had figured it would take me too much time to tour it AND make the train back to London that I wanted to catch, so I merely snapped a photo and was pleased with myself that I navigated and found it.

I ended up having to walk up AND down a huge hill.  Here’s hoping all that burned off my fattening Greggs breakfast.  Now, I say that but I went and had a pork and apple pasty for lunch, so I’m just piling on the calories!  Whee! 

On the way up the steep hill, I saw a GREAT street sign.  It said ‘Changed Priorities Ahead’.  All I could think was ‘well, you know, I wasn’t feeling like murdering people, but I think the world doesn’t have enough murderers, so I’m going to change my priorities and start murdering.  That’s WAY more important than being responsible and paying my car payment this month!’  Changed Priorities Ahead.  What does that even mean in relations to operating a motor vehicle??

Made my train back and had a very excitable older lady sit next to me at Bath Spa station.  She was very pleased about pretty much everything.  It was sweet and frightening at the same time. 

Back in London at Paddington Station, I realised tonight Ian was speaking in Oxford at an Oxfam do and he’d need to take the train from Paddington to Oxford for the do, so MAYBE I’d see him strolling through the station.  Just maybe.

No such luck. 

I headed over to Wood Lane/White City area to queue up for a Room 101 taping this evening.  Had some time to kill so fetched some takeaway chips for my supper and ate them in the queue. We got inside and I bought a few things in the BBC shop.  On the noticeboard outside, it said as of early 2013, the BBC Television Centre location will be closing.  So, if I don’t get a ticket to 8 Out of 10 Cats, this will be the very last time I’ll set foot on these premises.  Sad, isn’t it!

I was seated on the floor right in front of the set, so maybe you’ll get to see the back of my head if the camera pans in for a shot of the set. 

Tom Price was the warm-up.  He also did warm-up last year as well.  I think each audience company has their own warm-up chap.  He was amusing. 

Frank Skinner came out finally.  Being so close to the stage you can see he’s not a tall bloke.  He spoke a bit and the guests came out.  It was Jason Manford, Deborah Meaden (of Dragons Den) and singer Paloma Faith.  I must be behind as I’ve not heard of her.  Deborah, up close, reminds me of Fern Britton (post weight loss)  and now I’ve seen her twice this visit. 

The taping was entertaining.  The choices each guest had for their items were interesting and Paloma turned out to be a decent guest.  Jason Manford is very cute in person.  Growl.  He did a turn in Sweeney Todd and I really would have liked to have seen him in that as it’s my favourite musical of all time.

Frank Skinner debuted a new pair of pants.  You’ll understand if they air that portion.  The run went very smoothly and Frank only needed to do 4 pick-ups and 2 trails. 

Frank was really funny and there were lots of great moments during the taping.  One thing did bother me slightly, every time a segment was finished and they were setting the stage for the next segment, Jason would pull out his iPhone and start doing whatever.  At one point, Frank had to actually say ‘Um….Jason’ because they were ready to start and he was still on his phone.  Nobody else did this.  (I suppose it annoyed me because I feel like we are ALL TOO INTO our phones!! But, that’s a rant saved for another day!)

It just gears me up for HIGNFY on Thursday!!  (I cannot wait!!)

I ended the day chatting with my host for a little bit.  I’m still in budget but a visit to the ATM is in order tomorrow. 

And speaking of tomorrow, it’s Cambridge and perhaps some punting on the River Cam.