drinking and driving

hello


well, yes, the title might be misleading. except it isn't, to be sure. this post does feature drinking and driving, look you see, but not drinking and driving. from a safety, and indeed legal, perspective these are two things which one should not really do at the same time. this is particularly true when the drinking aspect features an infusion of alcohol in that which is consumed.

none, you may be pleased to learn, of the following feature any of my exploits as such. instead, then, this is all a bringing together of some images, and partial stories, concerning two of the more popular characters that populate this blog from time to time.

perhaps, now that i consider the matter some more, it would have been best to make reference to monuments, or indeed statues, in the title for this post. of the images which appear here a substantial, if not quite a majority, of them shall feature such. there will be, at the least, more images of these than there will of the drinking element. oh well, title is done now, let us move on.

exactly what's going on with statues and monuments in this post is something we shall get to. assuming, of course, that i remember to write that part. for now, though, let us move on to the drinking aspect that the title ostensibly promises. and, indeed, to one of the characters i occasionally report on  that you think to be quite marvellously wonderful. which they are.

Spiros, then. i must say i was quite surprised when he sent me an image of this, what he had been drinking, as neither element featured would be something i would have associated with him.

whilst having no quarrel with the Irish - far from it, as point of fact - i was unaware that Spiros had developed a taste for stout. and it is, after all, a taste one must develop or in other ways nurture. so far as i am aware the person who has loved the stuff from their first taste of it has yet to walk this earth. but, like it he does, he assures me, and offered further proof in respect of.

if we allow for the Spiros approach of all alcohol fundamentally being good alcohol it is at the least peculiar that he is celebrating one which celebrates London black cabs. normally Spiros does not get along with these ever so well; at least not the drivers of them. it is the considered and learned approach of Sprios, the greatest legal mind of his generation, that this much vaunted, fabled "the knowledge" which can drivers charge so much for the benefit of has since been replaced by something called "GPS". pointing this out to cabbies has, and i must say more than once, led to a discussion which resulted in fisticuffs.

since we are on the subject of driving, then, the other character who proves popular here. that would be my brother Richard. many of you Richard enthusiasts will, i know, be wondering what exactly the gearstick on his current vehicle of choice looks like. well, here you go.

yes, indeed, that is a massive human skull like design he has on the go. massive not in the sense of actual ration to a real human skull, for this is smaller. but massive in terms of what people normally would have on top of their gearstick.

many of you shall have ascertained this for yourself, but in terms of "why", well, i would have thought it is obvious. Richard is presently engaged in a project - as ambitious as it is noble - to turn his current vehicle into one massive tribute to the van what Vim Fuego had to drive Bad News around in. no, so far as i am aware Richard has not yet gotten around to having "Alan Metcalf - Painter & Decorator" done as a sign on the side yet, but he has assured me that this will be done.

going on what i have seen in various films and documentaries some of my dear American readers might well be confused, or otherwise at a loss, about this "gearstick" business. if this is so, well, then, let the above image represent or otherwise reflect just how awesome cars with a gearstick in them are.

a statue, then. one of Lenin, i do believe, perched on some sort of bench and looking quite serious. that would be standard, i think, for seldom is it that art such as statues shows off the laughing, carefree or merry side of the man. assuming he had one to show off.

what's this all about, then? well, as ever when it comes to Spiros there is not all that much i can reveal. the gist, or if you like basics, seem to be that a "private consortium", i suppose, has paid Spiros an awful lot of money to locate and source statues of the Soviet era from Russian / Eastern European history. why? sheer curiosity, maybe, or perhaps they believe circumstances are ripe for something of a revival. perhaps we will find out in time.

more of that in a bit, but for now all you Richard enthusiasts are probably hoping for a picture of him to go with how his wheels look. well, let it not be me that is the one to disappoint or let down.

indeed, as you can see, Richard would appear to be cultivating a look which blends The King, Elvis Presley with Walter out of The Big Lebowski, via the conduit of an unshaven Australian cricketer. quite a spectacular image, i trust you agree. no, i could not look this cool, so i shall leave it to him.

but what of Spiros an driving? well, he has to get around to these monuments and statues which have surprisingly been left intact somehow, so driving it is. quite why these Soviet statues have not been smashed or repurposed is something of a mystery, but then perhaps someone knows something about it all that i do not.

anyhow, here you go, some video of Spiros being driven around as he inspects the statues and monuments, checking that they will be compliant with their intended future use and resurgence.

yes, you are right. what you are hearing there is the fine, fine song I Was Made For Loving You by on occasional times popular band Kiss. my understanding is that this song was not homoerotic by accident, but in a very deliberate way. the lyrics ooze and speak of manlove, so it is no surprise to find Spiros has it on the stereo as he goes around his business.

that's how i like to picture Spiros, man, cruising around, resplendent in a sharp waistcoat and wearing a shirt with massive dagger collars, digging some quality vibes as he inspects various relics of the Soviet era.

how do the vibes work in Richard's new wheels of choice? quite well, apparently and with all things generally considered. very well indeed.

my preference is always going to be for a JVC car stereo, but there is no faulting the selection of a Sony. especially not, it would seem, when they have upped their game. a "bongo" setting for the sound system is a most splendid thing, and here on Richard's new stereo you can see it activated.

whilst drinking and driving is generally frowned upon and is mostly illegal, there are few (if any) similar laws that serve to govern against the sound of the bongo in a car. just as this is true for you, i am sure, it is rare to find me driving anywhere without a quality set of bongo drums at hand in the car. nothing is quite so relaxing or as enjoyable as playing the bongos, and to do so during the quieter or more intense aspects of driving is simply wonderful.

back to the sauce, then, and the source of this image is once again Spiros. the focus, i believe, is meant to be at the forefront. i am, however, rather intrigued by the background, to be sure.

that there is indeed more stout what is being consumed by Spiros, although in this instance it has nothing at all, so far as i can tell, to do with London or cab drivers based in that city. no, you are not wrong. the proclivity Spiros now has for stout has seen him go about the world in order to taste or otherwise sample how it is in other nations. he shall not rest until he has found the perfect stout.

behind the stout is what looks to me very much like absinthe. splendid stuff that is, amazing. alas, these days i do not drink much at all, if ever. but if i was presented with an unspecified yet significant amount of free time and a bottle of the stuff, then yes, surely, i would go on a bit of a bender.

a final glance at a statue to finish off with, then, and yes, one more of Lenin. this time, as you will hardly need me to clarify, it would seem to be one of him in that "classic" pose what most of the branding of him has on the go.

just how likely is it that some sort of Soviet Union tribute act will be happening here in England, indeed if not the entire UK? very. Comrade Jeremy Corbyn has made the idea very exciting and appealing to the masses by promising absolutely everything to everyone, free, on the basis that taxing certain coffee sellers and online retailers will pay for it all. our freedom shall be a very small price to pay for such opulence. making this all the more appealing, but of course, is the alternate. the horrid, spiteful and full of hatred Theresa May is hardly a strong argument for the merits of democracy and such, after all.

anyway, that would be about all of that for this. my most earnest of humble hopes - wishes, maybe, aspirations, even - is that this has all been of interest to someone somewhere.



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!