At the awards, with co-writer Lou. Yes I'm aware how silly my moustache looks
Last night we went to the UK Larp Awards 2012. The awards were a somewhat drunken affair and I was glad of the company of Lou, my co-writer for the game and her husband Adam who was our major crew member at the game. We’d been nominated for the Best Newcomer awards and the competition was pretty impressive. We went to cheer on folks, take pictures for the organisers and generally have a laugh. Um….
We won.
Victoriana, the game we ran for a challenge won the best newcomer awards at the UK Larp awards. We were over the moon. Completely lovely feeling. I have a badge and a certificate and a cheery smile on my face. The after party was lively too. This, by the way, means we’re judges next year. I think we’re going to be totally open to bribery.
I’d write more, but I’m very hungover on a train back to Manchester. Might have a little nappy-nap.
Not the easiest post to make as I initially considered it whilst trying to complete challenge 87 where I attempted to give up booze for a month. Despite not being a big drinker, the fact that no alcohol could pass my lips for the entire month could very likely put the idea of a crisp, cool, refreshing pint into the fore-front of my subconscious
For those of you who don’t know, the Ringwood Brewery has been a producer of most delightful ales since 1978. The Hampshire based company currently brews seven beers: Best Bitter, Forty-niner and Old Thumper , Bold Forester Spring Ale, Huffkin Autumn Ale, Boondoggle Summer Ale and XXXX Porter Winter Ale. Of the seven ales available, the first three are available all year round where as the last four are seasonal and available in the corresponding season.
Now then, seeing as four of the seven are seasonal, by my reckoning I need to drink only four ales as only four are being produced at any one time. I wish it was different, but that was what the challenge says. Who am I to take liberties with the wording of challenges? Who am I indeed? I’m sure I can manage it. All I needed do is find myself a pub that stocks Ringwood and I was sorted. The easiest way to do this is to contact the brewery themselves.
“Hello, (I wrote)
I am currently engaged in a quest! This New Years Eve, I left my new years resolutions up to the people at the party I was enjoying. With some amusement, they came up with 44 New Years resolutions for me to attempt. As oft happens, this turned into a Facebook group and quickly expanded to a massive 221 challenges (and counting).
If you wish you can see my hastily created website with all my challenges on at http://ruinmikeyslife.wordpress.com/ (one of the challenges was to give up Facebook for Lent and posted roughly an hour before Ash Wednesday so I had little time to up-sticks and move – I assure anybody who cares to listen that it will get better – but I digress).
Some of these challenges are very silly as you might imagine, however some of them sound quite enjoyable and one such challenge is to sample at least one of every beer you produce.
Now, I see from your website that you have an on-line shop, however my CAMRA enthusiastic friend insisted on the caveat that it should be in a pub.
Therefore, as I am based in the North West of England, I am writing to query if any more northerly pubs serve your ales? I see on your website that you have several pubs around Bournemouth, sadly none further north.
Best Wishes
Mikey Smith”
Fully expected my email disappear into Ringwood Breweries Spam filter and was especially surprised to receive a phone call from a man from Marston’s who suggests a load of pubs that do Ringwood’s as a Guest Ale. Sadly only a few pubs in the United Kingdom actually have Ringwood’s ales on tap and most of those are in our around the Bournemouth area, so my only other course of action is to find a Marston’s pub that’s having a beer festival and hope they’ve got all the Ringwood Ales available.
No mean feat, I’m keeping my eyes peeled for likely pubs and will let you know the progress.
Then it struck me, I didn’t actually need to drink the ales purchased from a pub! All I need to do is drink them all on a pub night; essentially all I needed to do is enjoy the Ringwood Ales whilst in a pub on an evening. With a little bit of slight of hand we could do this.
Of course this is not ideal. I still intended to drink the ales on tap, but in the meantime; I started collecting bottles with the intention of keeping them in the fridge.
A very good question, but how to undertake research into it? How exactly do you find out if there’s any truth to the assertion that the driving of a train somehow has wibbly wobbly timey wimey connotations?
So naturally I emailed British Rail, explaining my problem and asking them if there is any truth to the rumour. If anybody has done any research into time travel and train use it will be them. It might even explain why fare keep increasing well above inflation. Maybe they’re doing top secret time travel research and hiding the costs in my monthly County Travel ticket. Even if not, there’s a chance I might be going over old scientific ground and if there’s one thing that a scientist really hates then it’s going over old research. Science is all about striving to set boundaries, to be exciting and the fresh. The goal of every scientist is to be on the cutting edge of their respective field and if British Rail have already done the research, then this could be a very easy challenge.
Apparently it takes 48 hours to respond to a customer’s email, so after the email was sent, I decided to do a bit of research myself.
For those of you who don’t know (and it’s before my time as well) the line “Time flies by when you’re the driver of a train, and you ride on the foot plate there and back again.” comes from the 1969 BBC children’s TV show “Chigley” which was the third and final instalment in Gordon Murray’s Trumptonshire trilogy. Rather like the Matrix, the third instalment was nowhere near as good as the first one and many people forget it was actually made. But it was made and for your pleasure and enjoyment I give you:
Amazing! No, not the song, although it is rather good. Amazingly it’s not been an hour and I’ve had a reply from the rail people. Sadly it’s not a good one.:
“Dear Mikey
Thank you for your email with regard your question.
National Rail Enquiries is an information based centre. I am afraid I would not be able to comment on your statement. I apologise if I may have disappointed you.
Thank you for contacting National Rail Enquiries. If you have any query regarding National Rail, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Regards
Customer Relations
National Rail Enquiries”
Now is it just me or do they seem a little bit like they’re hiding something? Replying back in an hour? On a weekend? Seems a little suspicious to me! The website tells us it takes 48 hours for them to get back to us. Now I don’t know about you, but I suspect my email caused a panic in the National Rail Headquarters. People said things like “God Damn, they’re on to us” in dramatic American accents and insisted that people were woke up and told of the breach in security. Despite this not being America and it being the middle of the day. If you don’t hear from me again, they’ve got to me. You know the truth. We’re all in danger!
Anyway, until the discrete National Rail hit squad turn up to put a bullet in my brain, I best press on. No luck with the Rail people, best look at the Science. Does being the driver of a train change your perception of time? I seem to remember something about time slowing down the quicker you go, but I don’t think a 15 minute cartoon where the Animaniacs explain physics really makes me qualified to answer this question, so I turned to the scientist chaps I know, a good start is Doctor Marcus who is a teacher of teachers of Science and a very clever chap.
Doctor Marcus replied thusly:
“Indeed, the statement is true, but imperceptibly so unless the train is travelling at a significant fraction of the speed of light. “True” in the sense that time for the rest of the world will have advanced rather more than it has for you, so you’ll think your journey only lasted 2 hours, when according to the outside world it lasted for 2 hours and a tiny sliver of a second.
The unfortunate part of the truth, however, is that time dilation will be the same for the driver wherever he/she stands and, indeed, for everyone else on the train. In fact, if one of the passengers spends the journey sprinting up and down the carriages, time will go even faster for him/her.”
So there you go – Time DOES fly by when you’re the driver of a train, and you ride on the foot plate there and back again, however it travels no faster than all of the other people standing on the train and only the unfortunate chap with the very tiny bladder who keeps having to brave the train toilets is experiencing time quicker.
Even though, despite not being shot by British Rail goons, I’m pretty sure they are hiding something.
