The ten things thing, I think

[caddyman]

Everybody seems to be doing this ten things thing (er..). I notice it started off as ten things I've done and you haven't, and then became just ten things I've done.

Never let it be said that Bryan couldn't be a sheep when he saw the opportunity to post in his LJ with comparatively little thought (actually, that's not right; when you have a memory like me, thinking of ten things you've actually done or had happen to you is quite hard…).

So. In no particular order:

1 Been mugged unsuccessfully at gun point. (I told him to fuck off).

2 Flown in an RAF Chipmunk training aircraft. Upside down, over Shropshire for nearly an hour.

3 Lobbed a brick into the Illinois River from the top of Starved Rock, a local beauty spot. The river was too far below to see the splash.

4 Wagered on somebody's inability to beat the system on the Aliens board game, and lost. Much to everybody's surprise and amusement.

5 Stood on the sky deck of the Sears Tower in Chicago, a quarter mile high above the street.

6 Shook hands with Buddy Guy (a moment of supreme fan-boying).

7 Thrown up so hard, a mushroom came out my nose.

8 Skinny dipped in Llyn Cau, the lake atop Cader Idris. I was 17, a great deal thinner, and the water was very, very cold.

9 Taken part in a piggy back race on Wolverhampton Ring Road at 2.30 am.

10 Missed a sure thing because I didn't realise what was going on even when the sure thing bit me. Literally. If naivety was a crime, I would be doing life off the back of that one incident. And no, I won't elaborate until I have had at least two bottles of merlot.

Tra-la. To work.

Comments

[oldnick.livejournal.com]

If you're in the "and you haven't" mode I can match #5 (and did the Hancock centre the previous day), and will admit to having paddled (very fully dressed) in #8 in thick fog.

[oldnick.livejournal.com]

...and I have a horrible feeling (no, blow it, I know) that I managed #10 while too busy chasing someone else.

[pauln.livejournal.com]

I think it's a very rare person who hasn't done that at some point.

[mr-h-r-hughes.livejournal.com]

Number 8! Dear Lord, that must have been more than a little erm, fresh : )

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

It was July 1976, in the middle of the Drought. It hadn't rained anywhere for five months, and everywhere was singed brown. The top of Cader was squelchy wet, and the lake full to over flowing. The water was icy cold, and shrinkage occurred.

[november-girl.livejournal.com]

I shall make a point of doing no 9 next time I'm drunk at the Wulfrun.

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

Oddly, alcohol was involved, yes...

[immerwahr.livejournal.com]

These are splendid. I've "done a chipmunk" as well, but it sounds like you essayed an hour upside-down which makes you hardcore. That must have been a foolish or brave mugger - I'm not insinuating that you look poor, simply that you are a bit of a bruiser. Gun or no gun.

[binidj.livejournal.com]

Done 7 but with noodles rather than a mushroom as the offending article.

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

I don't know about you, but I find the story is much better in the telling than ever it was in the experiencing...

[agentinfinity.livejournal.com]

I applaud your efforts in no.7. Whilst having done a good line in projectile in my time, I've never managed such an achievement.

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

Trust me when I say you don't want to do it...

[wallabok.livejournal.com]

Seeing as I'm sure you've told me what #10 is, but we must have drunk more than 2 bottles of merlot as I can't remember, and I was directly implicated in #4, here is my list of "10 things I've done" and in no particular order:

1) Been to the furthest tip of Africa (Cape Agulhas and NOT Cape Point as the tourist industry will have you believe) and stood with one foot in the Indian Ocean and the other in the Atlantic Ocean
2) Sat in the same cabin section as the 1997 Springboks from Heathow to Cape Town following the end of their Northern Hemisphere tour
3) Eaten raw mopani worms by Victoria Falls
4) Accepted a wager to beat the system on the Aliens board game, and won. Much to everybody's surprise and amusement.
5) Walked on the road to Marathon (albeit not the full distance and certainly didn't run it)
6) Watched rugby internationals at all of the 5 nations (as it was then) stadia: Murrayfield, Lansdowne Road, Twickenham, Stade de France and the Millenium Stadium
7) Visited every whisky distillery on the isles of Islay and Jura that are still in production (8 out of 10)
8) I have set foot in 37 countries in the world so far (and yet that's only 18%)
9) Stood on the bridge of the Enterprise-D
10) Drunk champagne and eaten caviar on the shores of the Caspian Sea

[drjohnsilence.livejournal.com]

I still think Aliens would have been improved by the adoption of the "Biker Chicks with Guns" (or whatever it was called) rule that a dead alien creates so much acid that it creates a hole in the board. Any piecelanding on the hole falls through board and table and gets lost in the carpet below.

[drjohnsilence.livejournal.com]

Ah, the mushroom incident. At least you survived with all your teeth intact.

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

Yes. I'm not sure, all told, whether it was an evening to remember or forget...