Charles Dera Returns And A Day In The Local

It's been a long time, but for your viewing pleasure here is a new picture of Charles Dera! Enjoy.

So... yesterday I arrived in the local at 1pm and did not leave until after midnight. Yes. That's right. My name is Jason and I'm an alcoholic (at the weekend). It was fun, and Sally regalled us with her tale of running off to Berlin on a whim this time 20 years ago to be part of the action. Very exciting stuff.

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Lest We Forget

As is the tradition on this blog on Remembrance Sunday, here is Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum Est".

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,

Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,

Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs

And towards our distant rest began to trudge.

Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots

But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;

Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots

Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.

Gas! Gas! Quick, boys! – An ecstasy of fumbling,

Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;

But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,

And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime...

Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,

As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.

In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,

He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

If in some smothering dreams you too could pace

Behind the wagon that we flung him in,

And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,

His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;

If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est

Pro patria mori

Since the last Remembrance Sunday post I've discovered many of my relatives fought, and many died, in the First World War. They were young lads, mostly volunteers who signed up in 1914, who sacrificed their lives for our country. We must never forget them nor all those who continue to fight, and die, in our name.

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GLBT Action Committee

So today was the second meeting of work's new GLBT action committee, and the first I've been able to attend (not counting Friday's vigil). Ten of us showed up to try and work out what we were actually meant to be doing. It was an interesting group and our decisions (based mainly on the reason for our creation: dissatisfaction among GLBT staff) were pretty damn great. Best part was it was the least PC meeting I've ever been to.

After the meeting we headed down to Hammersmith's gay bar, theHope and Anchor. This is a totally ungentrified, two room pub with plenty of... character. But as I said to some of the others who turned their noses up at first, it's nice to have these sort of pubs still around. Poppy, the overly excited pub dog, was the icing on the cake (although I think you should leave any food items outside as she has no qualms about bringing you down in search of your food items as one member of our group discovered). Not a bad place and a nice evening was had.

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

A Busy Weekend

Friday night was taken up with the first outing of work's GLBT Action group to the vigil against homophobic violence, which meant I wasn't home until well after 10pm. The next day Jim and I headed down to Mum's new house down in Hythe and whilst we waited for her to get home headed to the nearby pub, the Duke's Head, with George. Trust me, you don't want to go there. 

Mum, Debbie-Debs and Beth turned up and we spent the evening watching telly and eating copious amounts of take away in the new house. Shame Angel Cat and Noodles weren't there, with just the solitary Bella being the only pet to make the move. :( 

Made it home, via Debbie-Debs in Maidstone, ridiculously late but still made last orders at the local. 

Sunday was started with a quick shop around Tesco's before we settled in at the local for the duration. Alcoholic? Me? Never! 

Monday was an "Il Bordello" night. Straight after work, as is the custom on such a night, I met Jim in the Thomas More in Wapping, but found it was now called "Cape". The lager and their mojito's were disgusting and the place was pretty uninspiring. Shame, the Thomas More was an alright pub. Denis, H (birthday boy hence the "Il Bordello" evening) and Nail and headed down to the Captain Kidd, which was still as good as ever. Which is good but shame about the Sam Smith's drinks! 

Karen arrived and our group was now complete, so we made our way to Il Bordello. For those who aren't Dear Constant Readers, this restaurant is probably my favourite in London and was the scene of my first date with Jim. As always the food did not disappoint, with the portions defeating even the hungriest (that was me). Alright I was only defeated on the second dessert but still... ;) Gorgeous place, followed by a DLR trip home and a night cap at the local. 

I'm so tired today....   which means time for a random rugby picture (of James Haskell who is pretty damn hunky!)

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Trafalgar Square Vigil For Ian Baynham

Whilst I was on holiday in Berlin, the GLBT Network at work was formed. Having put my name down for it, I was invited to our first "event" which was to go as a group to the vigil in Trafalgar Square in honour of the life of the recently murdered Ian Baynham and all other recent victims of hate crime. There was only 4 of us (Stephanie, Paul, Cosimo and I) plus Stephanie's partner, so after gathering ourselves at First Out Cafe, we headed down to Trafalgar Square where a very large crowded had gathered.

Sandi Toksvig led the events with various friends of Ian Baynham, Sue Perkins and many different representatives of organisations including the only politicians, Labour ministers, Chris Bryant and Maria Eagle.

It was deeply moving and the musical tributes by both the Gay Men's Chorus' of various cities and the London Gay Symphony Orchestra were touching. We did our part by distributing candle's (and card to protect one's hands!) around the little part of the crowd we'd found ourselves in.

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Wo ist mein Werwolf? Part Three

Our last full day in Berlin was Sunday. I hate last days. Anyway, we started the day as we meant to go on.. with a currywurst from Curry 36!! Despite the rain, today was the day to be a proper tourist, so we made our way to the Brandenburg Gate.

As soon as we got out of the U-Bahn station we found ourselves in the middle of a tourist bedlam (and weirdly a group session of people meditating for peace). The tacky side of the tourist industry was very much on display here with Turkish men dressed as Commissars and Red Army troops, ready to have their picture taken or stamp your passport with a DDR stamp (for a price of course). It was extremely depressing, given that this place was the setting for a great deal of deeply moving history, to see the area abused in this way.

After this underwealming experience we went to the Reichstag, which several people had recommended to me. Don't get me wrong, the architecture of the new dome is astounding and the history of the building is fascinating. But was it worth an hour and half long queue? No. It wasn't. I learnt more reading the free pamphlet they give it in the queue about the current workings of the Bundestag, than I learnt in the brief time I was on the roof. Next time I would love to book to see inner workings of the Bundestag, but if you've got a limited time in Berlin I suggest you enjoy this building from outside. It'll be far more satisfying.

After finally getting away from the Reichstag, we headed to Potsdamer Platz. Very modern and nice, but our meal at Corroboree (an Australian restaurant) of crocodile, kangaroo and blackened chicken was a major disappointment.

After what felt like a rather deflating morning we headed back to the apartment for a brief rest before we headed back out again with one mission in mind... go to Prenzlauer Berg and get drunk. We headed to our newest favourite watering hole, Thüringer Stuben, and settled in for a meal. The English language menu was... amusing. But despite the unintentionally hilarious English, the real shock was the food. It looked like hearty Thuringian fare and I didn't know whether to be excited or worried.

I ordered home made tomato soup, with home made bread, a venison gulash and for dessert apfel krapfen. For an out of the way pub what followed was truly amazing. The food was absolutely divine. Helped down with ever more Thuringian beer, and eaten in the pleasant company of a rather cute barman, it was a really lovely evening and even when Jim didn't have money to pay the bill (they don't accept cards, meaning I love them even more being an old fashioned cold hard cash sort of a man myself) it was all good.

Back to Mehringdamm and another drink in the Vogt's Bier Express and yet another currywurst at Curry 36.

And then it was Monday and once more the dream of a different life in another country was brutally extinguished by something called reality. Berlin. I loved you!

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Wo ist mein Werwolf? Part Two

Saturday morning was grey and dreary but that hardly matters when you're on holiday! Jim and I woke up studiously early and headed across the road from our apartment to "Curry 36", a veritible palace of dreams. We had zwei Curry-wurst mit brotchen which was absolutely the most delicious currywurst I've ever had in my life. Gorgeous.

After this we caught the U-Bahn to Zoo Berlin, which is in keeping with what is rapidly becoming a holiday tradition of visiting zoos and aquariums, and I was absolutely astounded at the quality of the exhibits there. There is no doubt it is the best zoo I've had been to. The ape house might not have been quite as good as the gorilla house at Port Lympne but it had gorillas, orangutans, chimps and bonobos. Most exhibits were open and the barriers very unobtrusive which gave the impression you were walking among the animals rather than just viewing them through cage bars. Particularly effective was the heron and pelican pond where dozens of herons flew through the sky above you and covered every tree nearby. Amazing. And of course there were the polar bears! Totally awesome.

We then headed into the Aquarium was was sadly less exciting than most aquariums I've been to. The aquatic exhibits were dull, the reptiles exhibits were far too small (for the reptiles that is) and I was astounded at the awful state of their bearded dragons.

The Amphibian exhibits were, characteristically, rubbish (mainly as amphibians are marvellous at hiding) and the insect house had displays of ants from which ants were actually escaping! It was a big let down after the zoo, but thankfully we'd got a combi ticket at a discount so only paid about 2 euros for the experience. Phew!

We took a stroll around the nearby area, seeing the  Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche which was destroyed during the Second World War and left as a memorial (there's a similar if much smaller clock tower memorial in my own home town).

We returned to Alexanderplatz so Jim could buy a belt as thanks to his weight loss he was having a hellish time with his trousers. We headed up to Eberswalder Straße, and had our second currywurst of the day (for scientific reasons of course!) at Konnopke Imbiss. Jim had been telling me this was the best currywurst in town, and the queue certainly was long. It was lovely, but I think Curry 36 just pips them at the post on quality. We headed down towards the cafes off Danziger Straße, getting a "Thai burger" on the way. Definition: heaven in a bun. We then settled in at a cafe we'd like the look of the day before; the Cafe Anna Blume for some hot chocolate and some cake (in my case carrot cake!). Very nice, and the atmosphere in there was brilliant. A great place to go for an intimate chat (in busy surroundings).

A quick beer in Thüringer Stuben, and then we were headed down to Alexanderplatz again to try to catch the 350 protest but we seem to have missed it. So instead we bought some Stollen and then went to the DDR Museum. Despite my fascination with Communist history, this was a bit of a let down focussing mainly on the social and cultural aspects of the DDR. The set up of a "typical" East German house seemed a lot like the houses I lived in in the 80s. If anything this exhibits just made the DDR seem like a normal place to live. I don't think that was the intention.

I found an Ampelmannchen shop and bought myself a wonderfully kitsch mug before we moved on (yet again, this was a busy day!) to our next destination: north, via S-Bahn, to AugustStraße. Here, Jim assured me, we were to find a restaurant he had booked for us, called Rodeo Berlin. It was at number 5, number 4 was there and so was number 6. All that seemed to be between them, where number 5 should be, was a graffiti and poster covered industrial fence with a small gate in it. On the other side was a just a dark courtyard surrounded by old warehouses. Jim suspected this was the place, so we bravely entered the large courtyard and walked across to the light from a door. Through the door was a stairwell, again graffiti covered as is everything in Berlin, which looked a lot like the sort of stairwell you get in run down student halls. We decided this was obviously the wrong place, and turned around to go when we encountered a middle age couple making there way over to us "Wo ist Rodeo Berlin?" they asked. We made it plain we were wondering the same thing and we continued off back towards the gate but stood and watched where they went in case they could enlighten us further.


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They disappeared up the stairwell and didn't come back... which got us wondering so we returned and headed upwards. There was a large locked door with some credit card stickers on the glass, and a doorbell next to it on the second floor. Jim bravely pressed the buzzer and after some interrogation from the cute guy who opened it (what is your name? Do you have a reservation??) he revealed this was indeed Rodeo Berlin but they weren't open yet (we were booked for the first sitting and were there half an hour before that)

To ponder our next step we withdrew to a nearby bar Keyser Soze, where Jim discovered his love of Berliner Pilsner. After a brief discussion we decided that despite Rodeo's very weird set up we would be adventurous and give it a go. Nothing ventured nothing gained. Well weren't we glad we went through with it? Despite it's location, the inside is more than just sumptuous. It was pushing towards worrying levels of luxury. The large dome of the dining hall almost made it impossible to drag your gaze down to room level. But I was glad I did as the eye candy among the waiter's was high. And finally, the food. It was expensive but not horrendously so, and it was one of the nicest meals I've ever had. I know, I say this after my previous day's decision that I'd already had the nicest meal ever but the fact it was surpassed so soon just show's how good Berlin's restaurants are. I had:

Starter: Feines von Étoufée – Täubchen: Praline, Terrine, Räucherbrust

Main: Wirsingcrépinette vom Frischlingsrücken, Ragout von Wildschweinbacken mit Backpflaumen an Pastinakenpürree und Rosenkohlblättern

Dessert: Orientalischer Quittenstrudel an Kaffeeparfait

Afterwards we headed back to Mehringdamm and had a late night session in Vogt's Bier-Express and an early morning currywurst before we fell back into the apartment absolutely exhausted.

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Wo ist mein Werwolf? Part One

Or, more appropriately, Berlin: The City Of Graffiti. So we are back from our Berlin trip, and I personally am totally depressed by this return to reality. It's a shame fantasies can't go on forever.

Setting out on Friday we arrived at Heathrow Terminal 5 terrifyingly late (i.e. on time in normal persons "speak") and after checking in had a rushed breakfast at Gordon Ramsay's Plane Food. It was lovely, but not exactly stunning.

The plane journey was as pleasant as can be expected given my love/hate relationship with flying. Thankfully the journey to Berlin is only an hour and a half, so my nails were not bitten into nothingness.

We landed at Berlin Tegel Airport at about 11.30, and I was immediately struck by two things: 1) Berlin appeared to be stuck in the 1980s (not a bad thing) and 2) the German efficiency was in full swing here with passport control, customs and baggage collection all being down within 10 metres of the gate. We were out of the airport in mere minutes.

We got ourselves a 72 hour Berlin Welcome card which gives discounts on places to visit whilst doubling as a travelcard for the local transport. The place we were staying at was down in West Kreuzberg so we took the X9 bus and U-7 straight there. Berlin underground trains are so bloody fast! Gotta love it, none of that slowing down when coming to a stop either which makes for an exciting journey.

We arrived at Mehringdamm station, and it was just a short hop, skip and a jump to our place of slumber for the weekend. Which turned out to be an apartment belonging to two cats and their two gay pets. Andreas and Gall, Andreas being taller than me and Gall being a stereotypical bitchy queen. Our room, Hong Kong was nice but sadly was not en-suite. Good point in it's favour was that it was next door to a comic shop. We headed out after dropping our bags off and took a walk around the block before catching the U-6 and U-2 to Alexanderplatz. On the way there was a couple of goths on the train (I haven't seen a goth for years!), Jim tells me the guy had a collar and lead on and was lead off the train by his girlfriend. Berlin = mega cool.

After walking around Alexanderplatz, staring boggle-eyed at the ginormous TV Tower and searching for a donkey postcard (don't ask, don't tell) we decided to take a walk to Prenzlauer Berg, which was where Jim hung out on his previous trip to Berlin. It was also where Nettie, Greenwich's resident German, had given us some tips on some lovely little cafes to hang out in.

On the way I spotted my first Ampelmännchen, and got very excited. Following Nettie's marks on our map, we headed down Kollwitzstraße, where we discovered a Philately shop (that was two comic book shops and a Philately shop in one day, Berlin is like the land of Jae's dreams!) and several cafes. After criss-crossing the intersection at Sredzkistraße several times we decided to have a look in Zum dritten Mann, which turned out to be an Austrian restaurant.

It was, and I kid you not here, one of the best meals I've ever had in my life. My main was Wiener Schnitzel (absolutely divine with a gorgeous potato salad side) and dessert was Kaiserschmarrn, washed down with Radeberger, Absolutely amazing.

From there we headed even further east in search of a bar Jim had been to. We found it had been closed and replaced so went exploring. At the intersection of Dunckerstraße and Stargarder Straße, we found a little pub and decided to go in for a quick beer. As we entered I spotted the rainbow flag on the door and knew we'd made the right choice.

Thüringer Stuben is a very surreal place. A large cactus in one corner, a long line of bunny rabbits on one windowsill, toy vans on one wall, maps and pictures of the Free State of Thuringia on another. In the back there are animal skins and a large stags head hanging on the wall. In other places wooden flowers, mushroom ornaments and strange baby statues with apples for hats adorn the surfaces. All in all, it's an absolute delight place.

After a quick drink (a Thuringian lager "Wernesgruner") we returned to the apartment, pretty tired given that we'd been down our local until the early hours of the morning before heading for our flight, and a quick snooze quickly turned into an early night.

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

Schonhauser allee

Home tomorrow. Don't make me come back! I heart berlin. P.s. I'm drunk.

Corroborre

At an aussie restaurant in potsdamerplatz. About to indulge in kangaroo and crocodile.

At the reichstag

I survived a most wonderful dinner last night and am now standing in a queue with a rather bored jim.

Hostel 3?

Jim says this building in a dark courtyard is a restaurant. If i don't return this 5 auguststrasse

Thai burger

Could we walk past and say no?

Konnopke imbiss

Currywurst... Mmm..

Berlin!

Firstly, note to self.. Thuringer spelan. Secondly.. Our apartment has two cats, three gay men and two are taller than me. I love berlin!

Jae Kay Is Away

I haven't done one of these posts in far too long! I'll be back from Berlin on Monday... until then I leave you in the obviously capable hands of Fabian Elsner, a rather attractive German. Play nice!

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist

The Inland Revenue Win A Quiz!!

First there were Jason and the ArgoNUTS. Then came The Tailenders. Last quiz we were known as Slash and Burn. The joy that was had at nearly beating The Tax Dodgers inspired Jim to come up with a new name for yesterday's quiz at the local... the Inland Revenue. And we won! I know, we've won once before but that was after a tie break question. This time we won easily. Mwhahahahaha.

Oh how things have changed from coming consistently and embarrassingly last. Mmm... £20 drink/food voucher is ours! :D

So as a present, here's a picture of my current favourite rugby player, Danny Care!

This blogger works for nothing but the joy of writing but always appreciates things bought from his wishlist