Claws!

The drone began its descent. The humans were at the other end of the marquee standing around consulting each other as they did daily. It plummeted down then just before impact the engines gave a high burst of speed to stabilise the unit. As the ground was uneven; the drone used its counterbalance to send itself into the marquee. Once it had landed, a small aerial shot out and bathed the metal in a blue glow. The metal instantly crept to life. It slowly crept towards the wood; then when all the units were in position they made their attack. The wood, having been damp for many days, splintered easily and the claws began to chew up the floor. As the wood began to tear, the noise suddenly attracted the attention of one of the humans.

‘Rogue metal!’

‘What? Where?’

One by one, they began to walk away. They had no hope of stopping them.

Siren's Craft Brew Vermont Tea Party at the Inn on the Green. Acocks Green

I’d heard some good things about the Inn on the Green at Acocks Green. The landlord had been to see us a few times on some social trips; and he’d buy us all a round without question. When Birmingham CAMRA made it their Pub of the Year, I thought that it’s got to be worth a look. So when I heard that he was running a beer festival, it was the perfect excuse. Getting to Acocks Green is no easy feat. You can catch a bus from Selly Oak or if like me you don’t know how often they run or where they go; you can catch a train into the heart of Birmingham and catch a second train out again from Moor Street. The pub itself is built on the former village green with a roundabout in front of it and lots of zebra crossings to make it extra confusing. After negotiating a route, I ventured inside. There’s a long bar which runs parallel to the entrance and the seating is open plan which is split around two corners. There’s also a second room which hosts the beer festival. It’s suffered the test of time so the décor isn’t perfect; but the beers are in excellent condition and Brendon goes well out of his way to source new and unusual beers. The locals are very friendly too. I’ve been back several times.  

The Teacher in the Making

Deep in rural Yorkshire, I’m shown the secret of my friend’s success; an old, worn bible for those who want to teach. It’s like the Holy Grail of old, and it’s even yellowed like the colour of parchment over time. It’s clearly a hand down of knowledge from someone with experience; teaching you about confidence in the classroom and psychology to get the kids to behave; even though the introduction denies this. Otherwise what modern day use for it is there other than to be referred to as a historical work?  But is it enough to hold weight in today’s modern world? And more importantly, will the modern curriculum allow people to use these techniques? The author’s time in teaching was clearly before the internet era when teachers were strict and were to be feared rather than to assist in life decisions. Kids are growing up faster and are constantly being distracted. And my friend’s recently been let go from his post as voluntary teaching assistant. Has he been too soft?

Lockdown #scavenger6

With the team captured, there wasn’t much that Kit could do. Lee was being held at a prison in Virginia, while Kat was clamped down in Virginia and Kit was under armed guard in Nevada. A rescue mission seemed necessary but it broke all of Kat’s protocols to do so. The only thing that she could do was to wait until something happened. For weeks, she scanned for news reports so that her actions could be justified; but none came. As the end of the year approached, Kat decided to do what everyone was doing; review the year.

She‘d been looking at some news reports of a newly elected Senator. Since she’d discovered that all cyborg conversions could covertly blend into crowds of people with a simple headset; she’d been scanning footage of all broadcasts to spot the headset’s design. It had to be unique to the cyborg unit and a perfect match, and it also had to be well hidden. She’d been checking out the senator’s profile. All his pictures were taken parallel to the camera; and even his identity ones had his head turned just enough to hide his ears. But this particular broadcast was filming him on a street corner in front of a new store that he’d been asked to open. In the background, a school bus had turned into the adjacent street, and as it passed Kat freezed the image and magnified the reflection on the bus’s mirrors. Gotcha.

Where to boss?

The inner workings of the Leeds-Bradford Airport is a mystery. I’m told by my friend that it’s mostly used for private flights; though he did manage to fly to Amsterdam a few years ago. From this I had visions of people taking flying lessons and VIPs using the site for their private jets to get up and down the country. I’ve driven past it a few times and even had to make a U-turn in the car park as I’ve made a wrong turn. It’s got traditional barbed wire fencing, and from a distance the terminal doesn’t look particularly big; and neither do the planes. There’s a great viewing area behind the main road, and many people like to park up in their cars and watch the planes come in. Some even have timetables and only get out of their cars when they see a plane of interest. But the planes that use it must be of commercial size as a quick internet search shows that there are many world-wide destinations available. Perhaps my friend needs to plug in and explore his local area more.

McHughs, Belfast

McHughs is one of the oldest establishments in Belfast. It’s lately been renovated from a former brothel and has been expanded into the adjacent building. There’s lots of snugs here and hideaway spaces which reflects the pub’s history, but the bar area is very open. It kind of felt like Cheers! only no-one knew our names. We had a pint of Whitewater; another beer that you could get anywhere else in Belfast. We sat on the comfy plush leather sofas near the entrance to the basement bar. It was a modernised area with TVs screening football results. Unfortunately, nothing was on that night. It’s one of the drawbacks of visiting a city in the mid-week. Everywhere is just so quiet and there’s no nightlife whatsoever. It’s hard to imagine that anyone cares about the history of the place. Even the bar staff looked bored. It just needed something else to attract people all week long. 

A Wet Wednesday

On the following morning, it continued to hail down. I wasn’t in the best of moods to trek into Otley for a true Yorkshire experience as it was hammering it down and we also had to take paddy out for a walk. This was a two hour walk around the fields, and we eventually entered a cemetery and tried to spot the angels in the graveyard. We didn’t walk over to the neighbouring tarn, but we did get a great view of the aeroplanes taking off at the adjacent airport. There was also a horse in the fields which occasionally escapes onto the road in search of food. I really didn’t want to cross the Chevin as it was still tipping it down, but I wasn’t getting much of a choice, and I couldn’t think of any local alternatives to do. I should have suggested Kirkstall Abbey; there’s a conspiracy to keep me away from the place. And so it was that we prepared ourselves for another long walk in the rain over to Otley.