Snark!

Well the weekend got off to a rocky start on Friday when the newsagent I have to collect the work newspapers from tried to give me flowers, chocolates and his phone number. I wouldn't mind but I've been telling him no all year. I even told him I had a girlfriend (when my boss innocently told him I didn't have a boyfriend) and it hasn't phased him in the least. I've stopped trying to be polite now and I'm just plainly pissed off. I hope this latest lot of refusals have sunk in cause, if not, I'm going to be looking for somewhere to hide the body. I don't think he's quite right, really (well he's asking me out for starters, that can't be a good sign!) and I realise his English isn't good but no means no means no! Spent the evening watching Sherlock Homes episodes and polishing my reenactment knives. Calmed me down a bit.

Saturday was a huge improvement. Met up with the rest of Mons Meg and Snark Rapper (who, it has to be said, resemble overgrown leprachauns in their kit. They make it work though, once you get over the urge to shout, 'Top o' the Mornin' at them!) at the Central Edinburgh Youth Hostel and forth we ventured. The first couple of pubs turned us down (football and rugby on the telly. Telly's must be the worst thing that ever happened to pubs) but then we hit our stride. I can't remember all the pubs we went to but we started off alternating which side danced before just having everyone dance in te last couple of pubs. Stand out memories are The Windsor Bar whose landlady appears to love rapper dancing to the extent that she won't serve anyone while the dance is on because she wants to watch it (I think Aubrey made her day by using the calling on song to say Snark were dancing just for her!). We like her! Priscilla's is always going to stand out just cause the crowd is so appreciative. I think Boda's is where Kev managed to set his hair on fire (don't ask!) and I think it may have been Victoria's where Trina got her foot caught in the bar that runs along the bottom of the bar (so to speak.) It's the best we've danced out for a while and it was lovely to be out with other rapper dancers (if only for the fact that it's a bit of a novelty for us to outnumber the audience!) and it was great to see Snark dance. I even managed to handle the kitty for Mons Meg (which is not as worrying as it sounds) although the next person who just tells me 'beer' or 'you choose' when I ask what they're drinking is getting tennants!
I nipped off back to the burrow after Kev's self-immolation attempt to get changed for the evening meal which was in the Compass (and was very nice! Especially the soup!) and got to see Snark bureaucracy in action which was very funny and somewhat surreal, before we headed off to the Port of Leith. As was commented on at the time, there might have been room for a rapper side to dance if it hadn't of been for all the rapper dancers... Anyhow, we all retreated to The Malt and Hops where there was a bit more room (and you could hear each other yell!). Mons Meg did a respectable final dance and then Snark got up to do theirs. Now there are 2 danger to dancing in this pub. The first is that every time you reach too high (obviously not a problem for me!) you get showered in hops from the rafters and the second is that you're dancing on the trapdoor which really doesn't look too sturdy. It certainly didn't look too sturdy when Snark were dancing on it and we spent the whole dance waiting for them to disappear downwards (which would, admittedly, have been a hell of a finale!) Fortunately they made it to the end on the level at which they started but, judging from the bar man's expression (hands to the side of his face, absolute horror in his eyes), I think it would be wise if we left it a good long while before asking if we can dance in there again....

Sunday, I really meant to excavate the bed which I haven't slept in since before December. Sadly, the Sherlock Holmes DVD was still in the laptop and I ended up watching a few more episodes before finding some Ellis Peters books and re-reading all of them. You see therein lies the problem. I get distracted by books. The bed is buried under books. I should probably not expect to see it again until November!