Bomb scares, Boredom, Halloween
This last weekend was a mix of great fun and boredom. Pretty much the whole of last week I had sat at home and not seen anyone, so I was looking forward to socializing and getting out and about.
On Friday evening, it seemed like I just swapped the routine’s setting for Paul’s house. I was pretty bummed when we received a call, after 9pm that Gareth was meeting up with G and Shirley at the Pavilion ‘for something’. The fact that they were already having / finishing up with dinner, and about to decide on an activity (which included maybe just going home) meant we didn’t have much time to get there. So Paul and I just ended up lying on the couch watching Ace Ventura: pet Detective and a bit of Dumb and Dumber.
On Saturday, after a slow start, Paul and I headed to the Pavilion to do a little shopping. The place was packed with end-of-the-month shoppers and it took a while for us to find parking. The main reason for heading to the Pav was for Paul to buy some new hiking strops, and because it was Exclusive Books’ Member Double Points day, so I used my voucher to pick up Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire to complete my Potter Collection. Paul finally bought a copy of Body For Life. There was also the most amazing DnD Anniversary coffee table book with stunning artwork, but it was the rather jaw-dropping price of R500+.
As we were heading for the counter there was some inaudible announcement over a megaphone. I thought it was a promotion of some sort. Turns out it was an evacuation announcement. There was a bomb scare at the Pavilion. Paul and I dumped our books and headed out to the parking lot. Cars were already jammed trying to leave so we just sat down and watched skater punks messing around until, after about 20 or so minutes, a security guard came out to tell us everything (as expected) was fine. No doubt the hoax call was done by some little shit who thought it would be fun to disrupt the Pavilion on its first really busy day of the festive season.
So we went back inside the centre to finish our shopping. There was some amusement though in standing outside stores with their doors closed, or grills down. I was tempted to bang zombie-like on them to scare the staff inside.
Anyway, after a detour to Musgrave, and a stop-in at Paul’s cousin to pick up a toy shield for Paul’s Gladiator outfit we headed back to Paul’s to get ready for Burn’s annual Halloween Party. So aprons were decorated with blood and symbols, kilts were pinned and armour was strapped. Then we joined Mark near the front of the queue, and were quickly inside Burn.
It really was a fun evening. I’ll be putting images online tonight, but in terms of costumes, I was American McGee’s Alice, Paul was a Roman Gladiator, Gareth was a World War II aviator, Mark was a kind of zombie Mad Hatter, Shirley was Smurfette and G was Rambo. Also lurking about the club were assorted zombies, vampires and witches, but the stand-outs included Elvis, The Incredibles, Jesus (dancing with a priest), a chubby naked girl, a Slipknot member, Ace Ventura, Gene Simmons from Kiss, a garden gnome and, Best Costume Winner, Spongebob Square Pants. ‘I’m ready… I’m ready…’
There are some images online already at The Pond, which you can get to by clicking here.
Sunday was something of a hit-and-miss day. It was sunny outside but it soon grew too windy for the beach. Pretty much everyone was busy. We were invited to join Gareth down at Toti but Paul was doing tech support over the phone for his brother-in-law so I just ended up sitting outside doing word and number puzzles in the Sunday newspaper. I was bored and disappointed- I have an essay to work on that is due sometime this week, or at the beginning of the next, but I didn’t feel like working on it during the weekend. The thing is, as I’m sure all procrastinators out there know, if you ain’t gone be working on it, the only compensation is to do something enjoyable to fill your time. Otherwise you feel restless, guilty and down.
Fortunately the day picked up in the afternoon. Paul and I played some multiplayer games and then we were invited to join Shirley and G for drinks and hired movies. So we headed to the video store first, and then scoffed down on milkshakes and pancakes at Milky Lane Musgrave. Then it was back to G’s to make popcorn and watch Shaun of the Dead, which was a refreshing, funny ‘ordinary bloke’ take on zombies- as expected of a British zombie flick, the chosen place of refuge is a pub.
That was pretty much the weekend then. Today was my last Tutoring session. Now I’m off home from university to try and work up the motivation to work on my English essay. Ho hum.
WE need some social activities in the next few weeks where we actually do that; instead of simply sitting or standing around in the dark unable to talk.
On Friday evening, it seemed like I just swapped the routine’s setting for Paul’s house. I was pretty bummed when we received a call, after 9pm that Gareth was meeting up with G and Shirley at the Pavilion ‘for something’. The fact that they were already having / finishing up with dinner, and about to decide on an activity (which included maybe just going home) meant we didn’t have much time to get there. So Paul and I just ended up lying on the couch watching Ace Ventura: pet Detective and a bit of Dumb and Dumber.
On Saturday, after a slow start, Paul and I headed to the Pavilion to do a little shopping. The place was packed with end-of-the-month shoppers and it took a while for us to find parking. The main reason for heading to the Pav was for Paul to buy some new hiking strops, and because it was Exclusive Books’ Member Double Points day, so I used my voucher to pick up Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire to complete my Potter Collection. Paul finally bought a copy of Body For Life. There was also the most amazing DnD Anniversary coffee table book with stunning artwork, but it was the rather jaw-dropping price of R500+.
As we were heading for the counter there was some inaudible announcement over a megaphone. I thought it was a promotion of some sort. Turns out it was an evacuation announcement. There was a bomb scare at the Pavilion. Paul and I dumped our books and headed out to the parking lot. Cars were already jammed trying to leave so we just sat down and watched skater punks messing around until, after about 20 or so minutes, a security guard came out to tell us everything (as expected) was fine. No doubt the hoax call was done by some little shit who thought it would be fun to disrupt the Pavilion on its first really busy day of the festive season.
So we went back inside the centre to finish our shopping. There was some amusement though in standing outside stores with their doors closed, or grills down. I was tempted to bang zombie-like on them to scare the staff inside.
Anyway, after a detour to Musgrave, and a stop-in at Paul’s cousin to pick up a toy shield for Paul’s Gladiator outfit we headed back to Paul’s to get ready for Burn’s annual Halloween Party. So aprons were decorated with blood and symbols, kilts were pinned and armour was strapped. Then we joined Mark near the front of the queue, and were quickly inside Burn.
It really was a fun evening. I’ll be putting images online tonight, but in terms of costumes, I was American McGee’s Alice, Paul was a Roman Gladiator, Gareth was a World War II aviator, Mark was a kind of zombie Mad Hatter, Shirley was Smurfette and G was Rambo. Also lurking about the club were assorted zombies, vampires and witches, but the stand-outs included Elvis, The Incredibles, Jesus (dancing with a priest), a chubby naked girl, a Slipknot member, Ace Ventura, Gene Simmons from Kiss, a garden gnome and, Best Costume Winner, Spongebob Square Pants. ‘I’m ready… I’m ready…’
There are some images online already at The Pond, which you can get to by clicking here.
Sunday was something of a hit-and-miss day. It was sunny outside but it soon grew too windy for the beach. Pretty much everyone was busy. We were invited to join Gareth down at Toti but Paul was doing tech support over the phone for his brother-in-law so I just ended up sitting outside doing word and number puzzles in the Sunday newspaper. I was bored and disappointed- I have an essay to work on that is due sometime this week, or at the beginning of the next, but I didn’t feel like working on it during the weekend. The thing is, as I’m sure all procrastinators out there know, if you ain’t gone be working on it, the only compensation is to do something enjoyable to fill your time. Otherwise you feel restless, guilty and down.
Fortunately the day picked up in the afternoon. Paul and I played some multiplayer games and then we were invited to join Shirley and G for drinks and hired movies. So we headed to the video store first, and then scoffed down on milkshakes and pancakes at Milky Lane Musgrave. Then it was back to G’s to make popcorn and watch Shaun of the Dead, which was a refreshing, funny ‘ordinary bloke’ take on zombies- as expected of a British zombie flick, the chosen place of refuge is a pub.
That was pretty much the weekend then. Today was my last Tutoring session. Now I’m off home from university to try and work up the motivation to work on my English essay. Ho hum.
WE need some social activities in the next few weeks where we actually do that; instead of simply sitting or standing around in the dark unable to talk.
Comments
If you feel bored and want to get out and about, just pick up the frikken phone and organise.