Evil Tony

So there was me this evening, curled up on the sofa downstairs in the lounge watching the newest episode of the BBC's new Robin Hood tv series when I feel a tap tap on one shoulder. This being a tactic of Tony when he wants my attention for some reason, I turned my head to look at him and it took every ounce of self control I have not to leap backwards out of my seat when I got a look at him. This is because Tony looked like this:


This is a photo that was taken a few minutes later, and in good lighting conditions, and it is still pretty scary looking. So you can likely imagine my expression when I looked at this rather hideous visage looming over me as I lay on the sofa!

I'm not entirely sure quite why Tony is dressed up as a member of the glam rock band Kiss tonight, but it being Halloween in just a few days and Gareth mentioning the Black Horse pub earlier (notorious for having edgy live bands play there), I'm going to guess he's gone to a gig of some sort. I can only imagine the looks he must have gotten walking through town looking like that!

As for me I spent my money on some suitable rock music to listen too, so I am writing this too the sound of Meatloaf's new album: Bat Out Of Hell III The Monster Is Loose. Certainly a fitting subtitle considering the creature this house has unleashed on Taunton tonight!

The Odd Bunch

I didn't go out last night, I'd woken up with a stinking headache early yesterday morning which had caused me to throw up a couple times before I gave up on the idea of going to work and phoned to let them know I would not be in. I slept in till nearly noon and while the headache did eventually sod off (4 Nurofen's and a lot of water & sleep helped), I felt a bit urgh the rest of the day. So while I knew that last night was my friend Mads Bak's birthday piss up, I really didn't feel up to going out. Tony and Gareth did though, and since they got back to the house at about 3am this morning and were loud enough to wake me up I can surmise that a good time was had by them.

What I didn't realise was that there was a theme to the birthday (though I really should have guessed as my circle of mates LOVE to dress up). So while I wasn't there, my mate Jon Wright was and has sent me a few photos of the night in the hope that I'd post them on here. Wish granted Jon, here's the pictures:


From left to right: Mads Bak (pronounced Mazz Back), Jon Wright, Sean Chard, Dan Shapter (finally captured on film!) and Richard Adams. Don't they look just dapper?


The one, the only Jon Wright!


Sean looks on as Rich struts his funky stuff!


The birthday boy himself, Mads Bak.


Mads is looking very merry by this point of the night, whereas Rich looks kinda fed up, or is that intense you're trying for with that expression mate?


And here he is again (well it was his birthday so only right he is in most of the photos). Ladies, I give you Mads Bak, and yes he is single at the time of writing this.

Looks like you all had a good night out, sorry I wasn't out to share that with you. Still, thanks to Jon and his camera, it is recorded for posterity here.

Rogues Gallery: Derek Adams

So onto gallery entry number six, and this time I turn the spotlight on my friend Derek Adams (who really isn't satanic at all, despite what he looks like in this picture... at least I don't think he is). Sorry for the bad photo mate!

Derek is the older (and shorter) brother of Richard Adams, and the pair share a flat near the supermarket where I work. It strikes me as I write this that I don't know nearly as much about Derek as I thought I did. I'm not sure how old he is for example, or what he does for a living, though I do remember he works somewhere in or near the nearby town of Wellington. As a result of having to commute to work, Derek is one of only a very few of my friends who can drive.

A fan of sci-fi and fantasy, Derek enjoys a wide variety of roleplaying systems, from Werewolf through D&D to Kult. His interest extends to television and movies too, and he is a big fan of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine having every episode on tape.

He also likes skulls and japanese symbols, or at least the imagery of them, and anything featuring them generally gets his interest, as evidenced by the decor in the lounge of the flat. The lounge also features a bay window, much like the one in my own room, which overhangs the pavement outside, and this does seem to be Derek's favourite place to sit (I've witnessed him on several occasions being quite eager to give up a sofa seat to a friend, in order that he can sit there).

When I slipped and broke my left wrist in the (now thankfully closed) Cafe Mamba nightclub, about 3 years ago, Derek (along with Richard and Sean), caught up to me as I was walking home alone. I was in shock and a pretty serious state of denial, refusing to admit that I'd broken a bone (I'd never done so before). The trio insisted I go to Rich and Derek's flat, and they called for a taxi to take me to Musgrove Park Hospital. When it arrived, Rich and Sean were elsewhere (think they were getting takeaway food down the street, not sure), and so Derek accompanied me to the Casualty dept. He stayed there with me for more than 4 hours, while I waited (in a LOT of pain) to be seen too by a Doctor, and then kept me company as they X-Rayed my wrist and then plastered it up. He kept me talking, kept me thinking, about things other than the pain I was in, and he made sure I got home afterward. Not sure I've ever really thanked him enough for that.

It occurs to me that what I don't know about Derek kinda outnumbers what I can say for sure about him. I've been out on the town with him a few times, yet for the life of me I can't recall what he likes to drink, or what music he likes. I don't know what his favourite movie is, or even if he has one. I do know that I enjoy his company and that he is a good person to talk with, his opinions make sense and he is a good conversationalist. Ohh one other thing I can say about him, is that the mess in his bedroom is the stuff of legends (though I just have his brothers opinion to go by on this one, as I don't think I've ever seen inside his room).

Rogues Gallery: Jon Wright

Gallery entry number five brings me to my friend and ex-housemate Jon. To be honest while I count Jon amongst my best friends these days, about 20 months ago I barely knew him. Back then Tony and I were living in seperate flats on either side of Priorswood Road across town. It was on a walk back from the cinema, that we hit upon the idea of looking to rent a place together, as we were perpetually in one flat or the other anyway, and were paying out way too much in seperate bills for either of us to be comfortable with.

So we started looking, and quickly realised that with house rental prices as they are, we would need a third housemate to make it worthwhile. Enter an old friend of mine Ashleigh Garland, who was living with his parents, was around the same age as us, and who could have done with moving out at long last. Unfortunately, he proved to be very inconsistent, never turned up to view houses, wouldn't submit to a credit check with the letting agency, and we lost the house we wanted. So we washed our hands of him, and were about to start looking for a new third man, when Jon appeared.

And I mean literally he came out of nowhere. I barely knew him and Tony didn't know him at all, but he had just split up with his slightly nutty girlfriend, and been forced to move back in with his parents, which was driving him slowly crazy. He had heard (and I'm still not sure where from, but my guess would be either Dan or my Mum) that we were looking for a housemate, and he wanted in. For our part, Jon was way more outgoing than either of us, and we figured this was a good thing, as we needed a little dragging to get out of our shells so to speak.

So this was the second house we viewed, we all fell in love with it instantly, and after the viewing was done, went to the pub next door, had several drinks each and we were united over beer that the house must be ours. Fast forward a month, with credit checks done, and we all moved in on August 1st 2004. Jon was to share the house with us for the next eleven months, before moving out at the end of June 2005 to share a flat with his then girlfriend Lorraine.

So what can I say about Jon? Well he is slightly shorter than me, and a couple years older. He shaves his head, cos he looks odd with long hair. He is a divorcee with two great kids (Bethany and Joseph), who stayed over at the house a few times, and who I actually got on with.

He loves movies (though he has a habit of falling asleep during even the most action packed of films, a habit that drove me barmy), and will watch pretty much any genre, even horror (Lorraine's influence) which frankly terrifies him. I have never seen a man so wide-eyed as when Jon got back from watching The Grudge. I got him to take notice of American TV too, weening him on shows like the new Battlestar Galactica and Firefly, and he is now a big fan of the series Charmed. Jon is also a lifelong fan of Doctor Who, and can relate the most obscure facts about the characters, monsters, plots etc.

Bread and ham are not safe around Jon, this man can put away sandwiches like nothing else. I have seen him devour almost an entire loaf of bread in one sitting before now, each slice barely smeared with margarine and then a slice of freshly cut ham (no pre-pack stuff, he likes to buy from the Deli counter) slapped between them. Despite this voracious appetite, Jon is probably the leanest bloke I have ever seen. I genuinely envy him his physique.

He can also be pretty anal about tidiness, which led to a few clashes with Tony and myself, as we are considerably more laid back. Still he had his influence on us, and us on him. My regular sales on ebay, selling all the old comics and toys and books I no longer want, are in part inspired by his more minimalist lifestyle (when he moved in here, he had no furniture). He is a amateur photographer (he took his own photo for this entry), though he has not been practicing that hobby as much as he'd like too (I'm still hoping to see those pics of me you shot someday Jon!).

Rogues Gallery: Richard Adams

For this, the fourth entry in the gallery, I have chosen to profile my friend Richard. I do apologise for the photo, he looks drunk, stoned, and/or asleep in it. He was in fact none of these, at the time, but as he put it "I'm not very photogenic".

I'm not entirely sure how I first met Rich. I know I'd heard of him before I met him, as he worked in the supermarket with my sister, and she would regularly come home to relate the doings of herself and her minions (Rich and another friend, Sean Chard).

A little older than me (he just passed his 30th birthday), Rich is about 6'3" tall and no matter what he eats, he never seems to put on any weight. Rich lives with his older brother Derek in a very nice flat near to the supermarket where both he and I work. Truly, they have a lounge to be envied, and it is a rare occasion when I visit him and/or his brother, that it is just them in the place (though this could be partly due to them having Sky TV, and a very liberal attitude towards what they watch).

A fan of the Star Wars Galaxies online rpg, he and Dan can bore me near to tears talking about it, though it is very clear that they have a lot of fun playing it. Rich has arguably the best sense of humour of anyone I know, he doesn't take himself too seriously (the guy wears giant white tiger head slippers in the canteen at work!), is fond of a joke and has a perpetual friendly grin. He is also ridiculously easy to scare, and has jumped out of his skin a few times now, turning round and seeing me just stood quietly nearby, having not noticed me until then, and thats without me even trying to scare him!

He is one of only a very few mates of mine, that if we go out out on the town, will actually hit the dancefloor (Jon and Tony being the other two). Rich for a time was a member of my Friday Night D&D group, until other commitments drew him elsewhere. He thanked me for letting him join the group, if only for a short while, as he told me that he learnt a lot about the game. You're welcome back anytime mate. He is also a fan of the World of Darkness games (Vampire and Werewolf).

Everyone likes Rich. And I do mean everyone! I've never known of anyone being angry at him, my Mum has "adopted" him as a new son, heck even my Nan adores him!! It baffles me as to why he is still single, since he is arguably the most likeable person I've ever met.

Rogues Gallery: Matt Cheetham

For this, the third in my series of features on the people in my life, I have chosen to turn the spotlight on my friend Matt who I know from work and from D&D.

I first came to know of Matt however, through my brother and sisters social circle, or rather them referring to a character known as Moomin who they hung out with (more often than not at Henry's Bar). This often baffled me, as the Moomins were characters from a truly bizarre (and often downright freaky) childrens show from Finland that was shown on the BBC many years ago. Quite why Matt is known as Moomin has been explained to me on a few occassions, and everytime I forget it again.

I'd probably met him before, but finally got to know him when he joined the Bakery dept in the store where I work, which I also worked on at the time. To be blunt, Matt is a fairly intimidating person, he's a really nice bloke, great friend, fond of a laugh and doesn't take himself too seriously. He is also about 6'5", dresses mostly in black, has long hair, a deep voice and has the general look that if he wanted to do you some damage, the chances are good that you'd end up damaged!

He joined my D&D group a couple weeks into the start of the campaign I am running, and has been a regular member of the group ever since, lasting over a year now. My friend Dan brought him along, as a newbie player, as Matt's only other encounter with the game had gone bad when the person running the game (I'm looking at you Gareth), killed him in the first session!

He is by far my youngest friend, as he only recently turned 18. He recently left college and is currently taking a year out to do other things, before presumably heading off to University to do more learning. After learning the hard way, I know better than to take Matt on in a philosophical debate, as he has studied philosophy and can run rings around me on that topic!

He also seems to know everyone, or everyone knows him. On the walk back home through the town centre each friday night coming back from the Games Club, more often than not I walk and talk with him for most of the way. and also more often than not, we run into a group of people who know him and want to chat. I swear these are always different people, they always look different anyway.

Rogues Gallery: Gareth Gillingham

As this series of articles details the people in my life, I thought that it would be best to start at home and work out from there. So this profile is on my other housemate Gareth, who moved in at the end of June 2005, to replace Jon.

I always thought I'd first met Gareth in Krackers Games Shop only a few years back, until he pointed out that he had lived in the same road as me for years before that, back when I lived with my parents, brother and sister in Feversham Way at the north end of Priorswood. Turns out the kid with the extra curly hair and the scary looking dad that I remembered from then was in fact my friend. Small world huh?

Gareth is the quiet one of the household, in fact Tony and I often have to call downstairs to check he is even in the house, as he logs into Everquest or Star Wars: Galaxies and is happy as a clam for hours on end, with us not hearing a peep out of him. I'm getting him to play some Civilization 3 too, so I can crush him at it!

A fan of roleplaying games, fantasy novels, movies and tv (especially Babylon 5) he fits well into the household, and the three of us bachelors never tire of stuff to talk about. Gareth is a Christian, the only religious person in the house, and also the most social of the three of us, playing Basketball, and having two other roleplay sessions a week in addition to being a part of my D&D group on Friday nights. He also attends a LARP event 2-3 times a year.

He is a year older than me, his birthday being about a week after mine in January. He moved in because it was about time he got out of his parents house, and I think he has taken to life outside the nest very well, he's even starting to keep his room tidy (seriously at one point it was hard to see carpet under the piles of clothes and books, and just general mess. The inspection we had last week forced him to tidy the pit up and hopefully it will stay tidy).

Rogues Gallery: Tony Searle

This is the first in what I hope will be a semi-regular feature, in which I turn the spotlight on one of the people in my life. The brave volunteer to go first is my housemate and best friend Tony.

I met Tony at the Games Club here in Taunton back in 1998 not long after I had left University. He asked if he could join my game of D&D, as we were a bit short on players, I said to pull up a chair and roll up a character. The next week he brought along a mate from work Rodney Kick (now sadly passed away) who also joined the group.

Tony is a software engineer by trade, meaning he earns about twice what I do, and as a result pays more of the rent. Because of this he has the whole top floor as his lair wherein he has his office/lounge (complete with leather armchairs) and his bedroom (complete with mess!)

We share the same birthday (he's a year older) and a LOT of the same likes and dislikes, though he has a far greater tolerance for TV than I do, and I'm more inclined to listen to music than he is. He likes his beer (Fosters and Newcastle Brown Ale do not last long around this man), though he is banned (by me) from drinking Tequila, mainly due to the fact it gets him horrendously drunk and he makes a LOT of noise when he is that drunk.

He drives a motorbike (which he is seemingly forever having to repair) and has a penchant for hitting large visible stationary objects. Pedestrians, animals (apart from pheasants), or other road users, you're quite safe around Tony. If however, you are a wall, hedge, ditch, fence... look out! Still, I am slowly getting used to hitching rides on the back of the thing, but thus far only to the cinema and back.

He is the computer whiz of the household and thus is called upon to wield his mighty screwdriver whenever my PC has a glitch. Indeed he built the current PC I am using for me, from a few new bits that I bought and a load of his old components, from when he upgraded his computer last. He also set up and maintains our wireless network in the house. Put bluntly, I likely wouldn't be able to post this without him.

It was our joint idea to rent a house together, as walking back from the cinema we were discussing the cost of living and realised that we'd each save a little if we moved out of our two small apartments that we were paying too much rent for and got a place together. Add in a third housemate and we saved a lot more!