Sunday, September 13, 2009

Upon this tidal wave of young mud*

I may very well be the king of posts-I-really-felt-I had-to-write-and then-never-did.

Tonight I had intended to write about football from a certain slant. But it's late and I'm still annoyed by the issue in question and there are plenty who can do that stuff better than I so I'll leave it, at least for now.

I had intended all week to write a little bit about last weekend at the Electric Picnic. But it's now one week on and I doubt anyone cares terribly about what acts I saw and why I went home a bit early, in a huff only with the muck and myself for wanting to see the hype act that everyone else wanted to see. So I'll relate to you instead only a quick anecdote from the Friday at said festival.

Being unfond of getting up and getting my hole into gear in the morning, the missus and I leave it rather late to make our way to Stradbally and don't get there till mid-afternoon. Somehow in our sluggish morning preparations we forgot that we needed to replenish our supply of tent-pegs, as we are about ten short of a well pinned-down tent.

We remember this while pitching the tent. I go off to seek extras from any shop I can find. The man at the camping supplies shop says "No, mate, we sold out hours ago." He is clearly of the belief that if one must be unprepared, one should at least be early to do so.

So I try the Gala mini-supermarket.

"Do you have any tent-pegs? I ask the girl behind the counter.
"Yes we do" she replies, with a certainty that suggests they must have plenty of them. In your fucking face, camping supplies man!
"Brilliant, you're saving my life here. Can't believe I came down without enough of them."
She smiles sympathetically, scans the item, and hands me a box of...Tampax.

*Hundreds of bands playing at the Picnic and I have to go and make my title a pun on a song by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, a band who were not there.

7 comment(s):

NaRocRoc said...

Florence and The Machine was it?

I'd say Tampax are rubbish for keeping a tent stuck down. But they'd sure keep it nice n dry!

Sarah Gostrangely said...

Clap your hands say NO!!! TENT!!! PEGS!!!

good story.

B said...

Sounds like it was a bit crappy this year.

You should've just searched around areas where it looked like a tent may've been earlier(empty patches in full areas), there's always pegs all over the ground.

Radge said...

NaRocRoc stole my comment.

NaRocRoc said...

Radge you know there's a very fine line between "great minds think alike" and "fools seldom differ"?

I reckon we're just about on the right side of the great minds divide.

notRuairi said...

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah aren't very good either.

I had spare tents pegs, and you were probably near me (so says everyone). You should come hunt me down next year.

Andrew said...

NaRocRoc - yeah, twas' Florence Not Against The Machine.

Sarah - Thank you, so's your face.

B - Nah, it wasn't crappy. But it was my first Picnic and it didn't have the legendary atmosphere that I had heard so much about. still a damn sight better than the true poxfest that Oxegen has become, all the same.

Radge - what an unmitigated cunt he is.

I don't know what 'unmitigated' means, but this seems as good a time as any to try it on for size.

NaRocRoc again - i hope you didn't mind me calling you an unmitigated cunt. I don't know what 'cunt' means and thought this would be a good time to try it on for size.

Not Ruairi - I like hunting. Somehow the tent stayed erect all weekend.
Insert your own 'pitching a tent' joke here.
Also, where were you camping? I was in Oscar Wilde. Oo-er.