Away 4

I'm pissed off. The Sun is rising in a beautiful orange glow out the other side of the plane. Yet again, I, the one with a camera, am screwed out of photographing it by being on the left hand side of the plane. There isn't even anyone looking out the windows at this cosmic display. The best I got was photographing the pre-dawn glow on the taxiway.

Las Palmas Sunrise, Prij, 2006

Surrounded by peons! It's about 8AM now and I'm enjoying this silent film being shown - Buster Keaton's The Cameraman. Much fucking better than that You've Been Framed style crap they had on again.

Away 3

In 6 days I've clocked up 30 minutes of time in the pool. The holidays since leaving school have been quite landbound. I don't derive a lot of entertainment from getting wet anymore.

Similarly, when the students of the college walked out of classes over staff cuts for an hour last month, I would have been at the front leading the protest. Instead, hanging around the back of the crowd, staying away from the cameras, I was dropping a few jokes in light discussion. I was cold and would much rather have been in the library reading The Independent. Is this the same person who got himself deliberately suspended in Sixth Year? Twice as bright...

Where's Wally?

H5N1 From Above, 1610
20 minute ago I was listening to Ride of the Valkyries, drifting in and out of Apocalypse Now fantasies. The pool area has a bit of a pigeon problem - rather that than a roach problem, of course. They hobble about looking for food scraps. Every so often one will swoop low over the pool, sometimes landing like a UH-1 on the other side. Those birds fuel the fantasy more than the occasional helicopter over the bay.

[201]

Away 2, What Should I Take With Me To The North?

As has become traditional over the last few holidays, the late evenings are occupied with a film from Sky Movies - tonight was a modern favourite of mine, The Day After Tomorrow.

Toward the end of the film, I was reminded of the fact this I've always felt more comforable in the cold. That led to a more disturbing thought - a sort of irrational sense of national pride. That irrational feeling made me put Idlewild's 100 Broken Windows on. [03:20, Track 3, "These Wooden Ideas"]

The only explanation can be found in music:

"We love the Winter/It brings us closer together"
Manic Street Preachers, The Masses Against the Classes, 2000

Is it customary for Scottish bands to sign about the cold? Listen to Build a Fire by the KLF and you'll begin analysing Franz Ferdinand lyrics.

[140]

Away 1, Continued

Well, I didn't sleep for that last hour on the flight. I couldn't find the energy to continue with this either.

The next character from the departure lounge was a Spanish gentleman, probably in his early 30s. In tring to describe him, I get an image of Guy from Green Wing in my head. Just imagine him tanned and wearing an orange jumper and blue Clarkson-esque jeans. He received a call on his phone and then went on to talk fairly loudly in Spanish and wondered aimlessly around the lounge whilst talking.

Away 1: Airborne

It's highly unusual to be in a plane at this time of year. I find myself in a June-mentality - though what that is escapes me.

As I write this, I'm armed with my digital camera. However, the view out my side of the plane consists of various shades of blue fading to black. Meanwhile on the other side, a vibrant red sunset is in progress. El Capitan says we're over Belfast already, which I was about guess when I finished that last sentence. WTF is 32K Feet? The European flight crew's minds have been poisoned by imperial measurements.

Belfast, Prij, 2006