A snoring women and carnage at Stratford

My return to London after the Christmas festivities kicked off fantastically with the 07:30 train doors not working so we all had to leave the train and get on a later one.

I was lucky to get a seat but it was almost as if someone was playing a prank on me - I swear I've never heard anyone, let alone a women, snoring like a monster. It was outrageously loud and 'it' was right in my face. There was some eye contact with fellow commuters and a couple even relocated away from the noise. I was impressed with my seat tho and proceeded to read my book about the Roman invasion of Britain.

The train stopped at Chelmsford by which time people were standing, there was a minor verbal altercation between a rude thirty something who was unhappy at the speed by which a gent had not moved down the down to enable him to get sufficient standing space. I could hear moaning about the standing conditions but I was one of the lucky seated ones.

On arrival at Stratford (and we've been here before) there were crazy numbers of people on the platform. I must have moved about ten feet in ten minutes. Punishing and I was already 'late'. Eventually I got on the second central line train which passed and found my way to Barbican. The return journey also involved congestion on the platform. Not ideal.

Sleeping rough in the Snow

Six hours ago I was being picked up from Colchester's high street having spent 12 hours in the snow and temperatures of -3. This was undoubtedly one of the most punishing experiences of my life, and my friend Will who was my street sleeping partner shared these sentiments. We rocked up with multiple layers, cardboard and sleeping bags, despite wearing three pairs of socks within minutes I could no longer feel my toes. Our bed for the night was inside the doorway of a British Heart Foundation shop positioned not very far away from the Colchester SOS night bus - which was to form in part some of the evenings entertainment.

In amongst the good things which happened we were offered just under £40 for our efforts (on top of the £1100 already raised in sponsorship), were brought some left over roast dinners, offered biscuits, a portion of chips, a coffee, a tea, some hot chocolate. It was all good natured stuff until the early hours when people started leaving the clubs. From about three onwards it was so loud, so many young ladies screaming and shouting "come on Chelsea you need to stand up", "thats it we are so finished", and a few classics such as "fuck you". We had a couple of strange people questioning the merits of our cause, one drunk (rather worryingly wearing nurses uniform) accused us of not being 'for real' because, in amongst several things, we were only doing it for a night. There were a couple of very young lads whom started off by holding the view that all homeless people were the product of their own self-making and that they 'should have done better at school' - by the end of our discussion they had been won over and went to donate cash to the SOS bus. Then there was a very angry young man with what appeared to be a lovely girlfriend, whom had to apologise for him, who accused me of being a fake because I 'was sleeping'. I did point out that it was gone one in the morning and that I was tired.

We met several homeless people, one of which I'd seen around Colchester many times and often wondered what his story was. Shaun, a heavy drinker and on heroin, had been on the streets for five years and he was looking for 'a break'. A friend came to see us at some mad time close to five AM by which time the police had done a sterling job in driving/organising for everyone to get home. The amount of late-teenage girls wearing backless dresses and high heals was incredible and no doubt like I they will currently be in doors in a world of pain.

Cable Theft Stats

So since April copper robbers have cost Network Rail £2million, with 50 cable thefts in East Anglia. Four of which in the last week alone!

Shame on the idiots.

Cable Theft

I was supposed to be in Ipswich Saturday evening but due to cable theft (third time in 7 days) I didn't make it.

Now c. 7am in the Witham area this morning more cable theft so it can't get to work.

I've got a little work I can do from home and thankfully for the firm I work for and I there was no location/studio shooting for me today.

Shame on the people responsible for this.

0615 colch to lon cancelled

(another) faulty train at manningtree. luckily the 06.18 was only delayed by 4 mins. Punishing for the people from norwich on that early train.

a broken camera, a broken train, a women with child and some shrubs

the day began just after 6am waiting for a train at colchester, having beaten my slovak lodger to the shower. Despite my north face it was freezing but i found a seat on the train, put my hood up and nodded off. Upon waking in liverpool street my face was dripping in sweat- embarrasingly so. I had to be in covent garden via the office just after 8am to be the producer/cameraman on a wrap pr stunt shoot. Id shot nearly all the gv's i needed and we were about to do an interview when i got an error code. I thought it might be a tape issue but it wasnt so i put a call into a former colleague now with an edit suite on covent garden-turns out he had a camera on him so within minutes i was back in the game. Upon wrap i headed back to the markettiers studios to brief the editor, i then had a live webchat, some admin and about fourteen thousand emails to deal with. I had hoped to leave the office uba early but in the end just managed to get on the 18.20 train. I only just made it and had to run with 6 pyracantha shrubs with me. Boarding first class i sat down on the floor just by the standard/first class border. All was good until somewhere around kelvedon where the train came to an abrupt holt. There was a faulty train in the marks tey area bummer there was my leftover microwaved curry out the window. Having not had any lunch i was in pain and shared my plight with a mature lady whom had clocked my distress. We had some banter and found a mutual frustration with browns broken britain. Our attention was soon drawn to the plight of a rather large young lady who appeared to have stomach pains. Turned out she was heavily pregnant and dramatically the senior conductor was asking if there was a nurse or doctor on board. I was feet away from the lady of the moment but thankfully a nurse and a doctor had come to the rescue. The young lady laid down on the floor of first class, i got out of the way and did a little kirstie and phil to join my mature female friend a few seats away from the action. I could hear snippets of the doctor advising the pregnant women- it appeared it could be a trapped nerve but the good news was the baby wasnt coming out. All of this was a welcomed distraction from the fact the train was an hour late, we did an unscheduled stop at kelvedon and an ambulance took the lass to a hospital. One does fear what would happen in a crisis with no first aiders on board, it suprises me were even allowed to stand up/sit on train floors in todays health and safety obsessed britain. The day was almost at a close and thankfully my child birth delivery skills were not required.

a £12000 whisky and a delay

sometimes working in media you get access to some treats and yesterday was _astonishing. We were shooting a live whisky tasting web chat and yours truly was lucky to get to taste a the range from the £60 hakshu from through to the £12000 dalmore. It was delicious and when i got a note from my friend lord eaton suggesting a drink via the golden arches i was sold. As fate has it all trains were cancelled from liverpool street so our hook up was ideal. Reading the east anglian papers this morning national express are quoted "to operate trains safely it means that they have to run more slowly" - yawns

Bacon Buttie Meal Deal

Its very rare for me to reward National Express East Anglia trains with praise but I have to say the £5.50 Bacon buttie meal deal was hugely welcomed this morning.

18 yr old gunner and 18 mins from liverpool st

saturday after 48 hrs i was on the tube heading for liverpool st. I was standing when i noticed a young lad poking my shoe. He was clearly bored and out to impress his mate. The problem was i was carrying a macbook pro,a large suitcase, a hangover and a new filling. As the young man continued to threaten everyone on board and warn that he would 'fuck up the spurs' i became increasingly annoyed. He spat on the floor and then to top it all off got out a smaill bag of white powder from his wallet -its a good job he didnt get out at liverpool st as i would have pointed the police in his direction. oddly i keep noticing at 18 mins away from liv pool st the train rattles like mad.

trainspotting

Random Rendezvous

After catching up with a friend in Covent Garden (Wednesday eve) I landed at Liverpool St with twenty minutes to kill – despite a curry buffet for lunch I couldn’t resist the golden arches. In fact I didn’t realize how hungry I was, destroying a portion of large fries, whilst walking, before I’d even got on the train.

There were many seats and within seconds I’d smashed the plain quarter cheese burger. Thankfully so as shortly after a brunette (wearing fishnet tights) sat next to me. She was extremely warm and introduced herself as Sarah, pulled a MAC out of her bag, handed me a headphone and asked what film I wanted to watch…..

It was a strange encounter but free entertainment could only be embraced so after noting her collection of chick flicks and Harry Potter films Notorious (about the life of B.I.G) stood out. Ofcourse I didn’t have time to watch all of it so whilst she was on the phone to her partner I skipped some of the obvious bits….

Following this late night I mentally programmed my body clock not to wake me up too early so found myself on Colchester platform at 8am – controversially meaning I wouldn’t be at work until 9:15, hey ho I’m no fan of presentisam.

Carrying my Video Journalist camera kit and a luggage bag on wheels, for the evening’s trip to Lincoln, I boarded the train only to see my old friend Miss Phoebe Anna Daisy Rope. Initially there were no vacant seats so there was a slight stand off and banter across the carriage but then a gent offered to take a different seat and allow me to sit with PADR. Good banter and another random redendezbvous.

begging

a young man (ic1) approched me in colchester at the train station in the dark last week asking for "any change" i was polite back and said "sorry mate". I walked on and flagged a patrol car to advise on the man in question, job done. A stark contrast to this evening when leaving highbury islington station at 9pm. A man (young ic3) asked me if i had 50p while i was topping up my oyster. I simply said no and he said "what do u mean no you fucker" / i opted to ignore him. Madness.

expensive wine and signal problems

£4.75 for a tiny wine is harsh so a can of adnams is the answer. The 7pm train was delayed by 14 mins. The tone of the inspectors voice was mildly offensive in advising us that there were signal problems. So when he came to inspect my ticket,as i stood in the isle, i asked what he meant by signal problems. His response was a little vague 'just signal problems' but since as i was blocking his path i pressed the matter 'but what does that actually mean' i asked. He reluctantly advised that it could be a 'broken cable' - it was worth pushing why should we just accept this crap.

a rare weekend trip to london

i left colchester around 6pm on saturday to travel to tooting. It was fantastic journey, a couple of adnams and a whole table to myself. After the social event i got a taxi to liverpool st. Sadly for me i missed the train by 5 minutes. It wasnt just any old train. It was the last train home. And with no cash, no debit card and a battery dead phone my options werent plentiful. In the end i mixed it up between macd's, random walking and a snooze in an alley way. Far from ideal and to top it off it took me a tube, two buses and a train to get bk to colch - sunday wasnt so productive.

problems at chelmsford

last night mrs eaton-to be called at 6 15pm to advise there were problems so a beer or two arond liverpool street would be in order. En route to finding the eatons i bumped into lucy ward and her older bro "fucxing trains" we agreed. Matt eaton introduced me to a new grolsch wheat beer and we proceeded to discuss a vision for a high speed rail line for east anglia. With some trempranillo based drink we managed to get on the 9.08pm train back so i managed to see my ma for all of 20 minutes before she had to go "fucxing trains"

burger king envy

a long day shooting followed by a staff (charity) social. I hadnt had food but was so hungry so come the end of the night there were only two options. On the basis that 'ive been there before' i decided mac d's was the place. Whilst inexpensive on the investment front the speed wasnt ideal. Despite going for the plain burger option i was forced into a u turn. It had been atleast 10 minutes too long so i suggested to the main man that a standard burger would be acceptable in the interest of time. I walked quite fast and upon seeing the clock relaxed a little until i got on the train. With a few minutes to spare i boarded and was planning a table for one. That was until i saw a seat next to a man seriously enjoying his burger king. I knew with this guy i would be able to munch away- it was a good deal until i realised he had a burger king and i had a mac donalds. We had a natter and occupied our journey to chelmsford by trying to guess each others names. He was william i was darius neither of us guessed correctly.

an hour late

good job i had the new muse album to listen to/not looking forward to next week mind

The most exciting monday morning ever

oh my...... I had a sneaky idea there would be a couple of packages for me at work today and this was the reason for an unusual monday morning excitement. I actually got up at 5:30 a good hour before I needed to but I had just discovered some exclusive video footage from 2000 which I wanted to cut and release so I had to smash it....

This morning's trains were about ten mins late due to signal problems somewhere nr norwich.......

I managed to secure my new found spot just next to the canteen where they store excess paper bags.... although there is a place to sit in there I felt that would be stepping over the line so I stuck with standing and reading the 'week'.

My first package at work, and the first hit of excitement of the day was the new Muse 7 inch and CDs, then a couple of hours later our lovely receptionist emailed me saying there was another package. I knew what it was and it was one of those moments..... Reminiscent of the time I opened up Kid A and phoned Martin Robinson to discuss the inner sleeve art. What a monstrous collection of memorabilia. I had two vinyls a DVD and a pre loaded Muse branded USB stick with the album pre loaded with mp3 files. Awesome.

Upon returning to Colchester I blasted the vinyl.... wooooo

First Class Only

This morning's train was 10 minutes late so this always means its even more overcrowded. I boarded on the border line between First Class and standard only to be immediately greeted by "do you have a first class ticket"......... the clear implication being I wasn't allowed to stand/sit outside the disabled toilet on the border line. I was further advised that I would need to stand the 'other side' of the bar....

This wasn't going to be a good look given how packed the bar area was so I casually moved and noticed an opening - it was a random storage area but no one had claimed it so it served the purpose....



I had some banter with the friendly lady working in the cafe-bar who explained that the Assistant Ticket Inspector was under orders to stop standard people going into the First Class arena - fair played he was just doing his job but some discretion might have been useful given that the train was late....

Anyhow to London I went...

after shooting a curry video podcast in the north I decided to have a curry on Brick Lane.

Got on the 9:48pm train home and sat opposite a nice south Colchester man - Jeff. A man of the forces, we talked for the whole way home - he thought I was a journo. I assumed he worked in Finance......

We both shared an outlook and desire for a good life.... we had some giggles. I return home to find the chickens still sleeping out under the stars.... good for them....

Muse on the red button wow - awesome....

Timing is Everything

Working in the media game you now and again inherit a souvenier or two. On Friday I'd been producing a webcast with Vicky Letch intervewing Ken Hom and the PRs not wishing to carrying their products back to base offered me a Wok. The other bonus was I inherited a small collection of vegetables, a nice result. Following a few Hoegaardens to congratulate Anthony Argyhrou on reaching his 25th birthday I got a taxi to Liverpool St. The journey was unusually long and cost 50% more than normal - I think I was done over but I'm not 100%.

After resisting a burger king moment - tho I did walk up to the neon with intent but managed to visualise a curry back in colchester in front of the Tudors with Whitman and Lucy so to the train I went....

I'd nodded to sleep on the 20:48 to Clacton on Friday but incredibly I woke up just in time to get off at Colchester. Now this should have been a straight forward exit however I was flustered and carrying my brief case, a bag of coffee and a box full of food and a Ken Hom Wok, disaster struck....... the beeping sound of the doors about to close began. I had seconds to move and in doing so the box featuring ginger, garlic, peppers, carrots and a Ken Hom Wok, in bits, collapsed on me.

I instantly hit the deck and gathered the key bits I could - amazingly two other blokes did the same and before I knew it I was on the platform with my wok in bits and some bruised vegetables. All was well I was home at a reasonable hour ready for curry and the Tudors before a night's sleep in advance of a journey to Devon to see Muse.

and they want us to use public transport

i was just advised it would be £240 for a return ticket to manchester from london. Crazy

The Madness of the Rush

I was on the latest train I could be this to get to work on time without offending management however a broken down train at Marks Tey had caused serious delays and our train was delayed by forty minutes. Not ideal and so not to offend my colleagues I got on the tube rather than taking my usual leisurely 24 minute stroll.... in doing so tho I wouldn't say I rushed as this can go terribly wrong....

The other night I hit Liverpool Street at 6:45pm. Movements weren't abnormal but I noticed a women on the floor, slowly rising, her face was covered in blood. Some PCSO's and a member of the public were giving her tissue to wipe her face but she was clearly in distress. I stopped for a few moments and had heroic visions of ripping off my (incredibly sweaty) 100% cotton Debenhams shirt but a las I spared Liverpool Street the sight and realised my help wasn't needed and made my way to the train.

I wasn't quite sure what had happened but the assumption was the lady had fallen through rushing to get a train whilst wearing slightly inappropriate _extreme_ high heel shoes. Obviously I could be wrong but it was a credible guess. This single event remained in my mind for the entirety of my journey and when I arrived in Colchester the sensation of the rush continued as there was a tense stand off between me and someone else wanting to be the first to get off the train.

I'm beginning to question all of this rushing.....for we live in a world where many tasks can be undertaken remotely why do we force ourselves to compete in the rush. Another rush is the rush to get to the front of the shop queue. Such terrible atmospheres are created by the frustrated 'huff and puffer'......

Its not just getting to work where you experience the rush tho, there is now a horrid culture of rush with email communications:

"high priority"
"please advise asap"
"when will this be ready"
"I need this done today"

All credible questions but do we really need to rush...the stone masons who built lincoln cathedral probably didnt

'are you alright?'

not the words i expected to hear at 8 30am in bethnal green,london from a stranger. I knew where i was,where i was going and i was indeed alright but this young lady clearly thought i looked like someone in need. As it happened i was reading about the history of the green but so kind was her enquiry i asked for directions to the childrens museum.

A Week off and no train pain

So I had hoped for a trip to Devon for the Salcombe fireworks but my friend's car had an unexpected appointment with the garage so plans changed however the consistently great thing about my week off from London PAYE employment was that I didn't step onto a train once.

It was a week of gardening, politics, Lincoln, Dentist, ale some more ale, white wine, new chickens (although I had no idea chickens would be racist), the midlands to see an old school chum and have a curry, boot sale action and lots of riding around on my scooter.

Nipping around on the scooter is bliss, there's a real sense of connection with the earth because at every moment you are inches away from it with your skin as protection....

Now then as I wind down and prepare for the gauntlet that is London and the trains for next week I've stumbled across some intel......In Europe there are some 3480 miles of high speed train track (Will Hutton, The Observer) with another 2160 in the pipeline - this track enables trains to travel at 150mph + - so what of Britain's high speed track you ask, well its a pathetic 68 miles (from St Pancras to the Channel Tunnel). What a joke.

east anglian strike

currently sat on a national express train to lincoln. Despite the distance ill be there in just under 2 hours-impressive. Liverpool street was very empty this morning,unlike my train when it hit chelmsford. Ouch it was a sweat fest, and the heat and sunglasses combo sent me to sleep at the expense of the lady sitting next to me. I did apologise for my sweating head hitting her shoulder-still wasnt the ideal ice breaker. The strike is undoubtedly disruptive and their union isnt communicating its messages clearly. I have no doubt that the conditions the staff work in our dire,ive seen for myself on several occassions the abuse they have to endure from ticket dodgers however is national express the devil or is it rail track or is it the government. What is for certain is that average train driver salaries arent that bad and in these leaner times its not exactly a career hugely at risk? Ofcourse the other thing which is clear is that the country's entire network needs sorting out with faster more reliable trains.

centre court hits 41 degrees c and a signal fault delays east anglia

a slightly earlier than contracted start at work and no lunch meant i was able to get on the 18.30 train home. Sadly my seat on the floor next to the toilet might have to host me for longer than either of us want / the train is chugging and squeaking like its slowly breaking down as britains drips in sweat. I think we are somewhere nr ingatestone and the bloke nr my is blasting some poor music, now going to get on facebook and see if anyones at the bar, this could be a long night. Having had a week of bliss in cornwall im welcomed bk with contempt by our nations failing transport system

the madness of bob crow

i had a 7am call time today so had to get on the 05.43 from colchester. Normally on earlies id jump on a tube to save me 20mins but that wasnt possible today as the 48 hr tube strike was on. One might have sympathy for the tube staff if it wasnt for their short hours,respectable pay,generous holiday entitlements and pensions. When the rest of the country is tightening its belts bob crow and his loonies are fighting an ideological battle they simply cannot win. They represent the politics of the past and shouldnt try pick a fight with boris and london as they wont win.

poor mr eatön

whenever one of us takes a week off there is an issue/ mr eaton called to postpone our evening plans as there had been a fatality at chelmsford.

a brunette wins my attention

she was no kelly brook but there was something about her?im on the 6.32 to ipswich standing (wearing jeans and a purple t shirt) next to suits. My attention was won not because i like the look of a lady but probably the drum n base i could hear spilling from her earphones. Her phone rings,she is very well spoken which was a nice juxtaposition as she was eating a mac d'

ian gibson's on the train and 'getting angry'

says his friend sitting behind me/its a complete joke we are outside colch and are completely static / no one knows when we will be getting back.

happy st georges day

the sombre tone of a defeated man met with moans and growns no this wasnt our unelected prime minister nor his darling but the train driver on the 20.30 to norwich. You knew it was bad when u could see people standing on the train, apparently the 20,00 had been cancelled. When first on the train we were advised that vandalism to the overhead lines had caused delays yet now in the marks tay area its just been announced that there are severe delays due to signalling issues. The tension in my carriage isnt good, i need a wee- yet i saw my nearest toilet is out of order, and most worrying the man in the purple shirt sitting next to me is getting increasingly anxious with increasingly determination in his page turning off the ft- as well as his sighs of displeasure.

delayed, delayed and a snoring man

last night there were overhead line issues near stratford, i only know this as i asked a women in a high vis jacket what the problem was. Usual drill one arrives at liverpool street to see the board displaying delays all over the show but no comforting tannoy announcement to advise you what the problem is. I got home 45 minutes later than planned which ruined my intended local council leaflet delivery plans. Currently on board the 05 48 the earlier train was delayed due to a freight train failure. Despite my desire to sleep im currently sat opposite a man with a large hole in each shoe a massive portable cd player and an ogre-like snore. Not a great start to the working week.

Back to normal & The Chinese

So this morning back to normal with a seat on the floor outside the toilet as everyone has returned to London for work from the Easter break. Last Night was a different story tho. With only a few minute to departure (oh and the fact it was the 8pm) meant I got a seat. The only problem was sitting behind me were four Chinese women and I swear you have never heard human's talk so loudly before. I kept looking around as if to say, 'guys please keep it quiet' but this didn't work.... so there was no chance of me catching some Zzzzzzz's and I proceeded to use the 'dead time' to clear my text box in box.

football fans and a mac d's milkshake

saturday 28th march was a day of work (filming for the home office in preston) while the likes of whitman and jonny g went to see england smash slovakia 4,0. I met up with the lads at liverpool st and it was looking like we would be travelling at 10pm to billerichy where a chariot of coach form would take us to colchester. There was an announcement that a techical fault on a train just outside the station was delaying the train. With this half the guys went to mac d's. This decision meant when the technical issues had been resolved we werent in a position to board so we had to get the 22.18 but thanks to whitman i had a bannana milkshake. Sunday was a day of walking with team quince-vaughan-eaton-arnold with a cameo from wastell. Following this a reluctant trip to asda and some gardening followed by 8mile on dvd. Monday's strike had been called off but for some reason the 07.33 had been cancelled which meant the 07.37 train was to stop at virtually every train station in essex to compensate. With this i got to work later then whats social acceptable-not that i embrace corporate 9-6 culture. Last night i learnt how to recharge a scooter battery/i also learnt how to make it flat booo.

Dancing Girls and an Agitated Man

On Monday evening all was quiet on the 19:00 train to Norwich, the ticket inspector passed but then a conversation broke out which the whole carriage heard. A couple of youngsters had ticket issues. A classic line came from the teenage lad "I've lost my ticket and my wallet". He was issues with a pay later ticket.

Yesterday morning I stood outside the toilet of first class on the way in to London - amusing for most of the journey two 12-14 yr girls were dancing to their i-pods - an unusual sight so early in the morning. On the way home I got a seat but the man whom choose to sat next to me was seriously wrong. Constantly huffing and puffing and looking at his watch as well as falling in/out of sleep. I suspect he's had one too many VK blue's but he might have just have train rage who knows....

After a ruby on bricklane tonight I got on the 20:18 train to Harwich, wrapped my scarf around my eyes and took the opportunity to get 40 winks.... I was awoken at Chelmsford by a bubbly drunk women - I think she thought she was doing me a favour in waking me up should I wish to bail but a las I didn't...

Dash to the last train, slowness and no seats.

The title sums up the week for me. It seemed whatever train I got on was congested, slow and jam packed. A week previous I was so tired it was painful so when the 07:33 to London had no seats at Colchester I sat in First Class and had resided to the fact I would probably be asked to pay but this price was worth it for an hour's sleep..... a las I didn't get asked which my bank balance will be grateful for.

Thursday night I saw Nik Kershaw in Putney which meant getting home was a huge mission. Putney to Waterloo then a mad dash to Liverpool St. I stupidly assumed the tubes might still be operational at midnight to enable me to get the last train back at 12:48 but you've guesses it they weren't. The good news however was that I was on the same train as an old friend, Dream Team's Art Director - Mills, whom also was wanting to get to Liverpool St. I forced her to run with me and we jumped into a cab, had a chat with my mate Jonas whom phoned me concerned I might be left stuck at Liverpool St and then parted company before one more final dash accross the Liverpool st concourse...

I was in luck tho it was 12:35 and amidst the sea of staggering twenty something women, Macdonald munching city workers, queues at Burger King and a couple having an argument I could see the neon which said the last train was at 12:48. I'd made it, boarded the train and enjoyed the whiff of fast food all the way back.....

5 hours later I was back on the train to London for a drink free Friday (off the booze til Friday 3rd April). For the third week in a row there was a gigantic police presence at Liverpool st, I know that flash mob's can be annoying and have H & S implications but I'd rather teenagers have a rave than get up to the kind of things they may otherwise do........

likewise I'd rather have more police on the streets of Tottenham making sure my mate Ant is safe than preventing teens from having a dance in a well-lit public space.

Just for those of you whom aren't convinced about my broken record moaning about a lack of seats at rush hour on our trains:

(wife) give the banker a break

it never fails to amuse me the way in which middle aged men speak to their partners when making a phone call home on the train/ very quickly into my journey on the 18.48 i could detect this guy was having to justify his lateness to the wife (i rarely get on anything less than the 7pm train)/this chap must have been at a conference/event/meeting or something as he had had to travel from victoria at a time later than his normal 5.30pm finish. He was completely loosing the battle with his lady and he even gave me a smile knowing so. The killer line to his lady was "i can get another job if you want but it pay less" at which point he hung up/

For God's Sake

Arrived at Liverpool St 6:55pm Friday night, there was no flash mob action so I cruised to the 7pm train. Unaware there were any issues I boarded to first class and made my way towards standard class. After a short while it was clear there was a build up of people - and then I noted an increasing amount of people crossing paths within the carriages - not ideal.

I gave way to a gent from behind who overtook me which was really bad form so _with the confidence of wearing headphones and listening to the new prodigy album (thanks to Anthony at M4DC) I said "for god's sake" without restraint. The man who overtook me looked back and knew I had an issue with him, well he was rude....but despite this I secretly knew he was a train tourist, it wasn't really his fault after all so I was prepared for banter.

Moments later we came to a total standstill. The train was gridlocked then we learnt from a seated man that there was a problem with the 6:30pm so the 7pm was mad. It sure was. Anyhow the gent who I'd fallen out with and his friends turned out to be men of motorcycles - we traded advice, they went home assuming I earnt a crazy amount of money to make my travel into london worth it...... oh how they were wrong....

THIS IS THE SHAMBLES OF OUR TRAINS:

"well i dont know what you are going to do because im not paying"

a very brisk walk got me to liverpool street so i could make the 6.30pm-fighting to get to ipswich to watch fight club at the cinema. Scribbling some notes down for walk and aware there wouldnt be time 4 pick n mix i thought it prudent to invest in a can of adnams and a cheese sandwich. A lively ic3 ticket inspector came rd and asked a well spoken 50something women for her ticket. My attention had already been drawn to her as she was using a massive keypad phone which bleeped everytime she typed a character. The ticket inspector advised the lady her ticket was not valid for journeys between 4.30pm and 6.30pm. She challenged him and said she was on a 6.30pm service and it was now well past 6.30pm,he advised she would have to pay 4 another ticket which was to be £22. The lady refused and the inspector took her ticket advised he would "come back" and went off to check more tickets. Somehow i doubt the btp or the massive security guards at colchester were going to be on stand by for her when she got to the station-maybe if she was a young chav there would have been...?

as inevitable as death itself

the morning after the production show, a few shandies were consumed. Met up with old friends including the second jon o'conner i know and the man responsible for the sound on bbc's dragons den. Always a pleasure to catch up with craftsman, altho hearing about the 'good old days' of production when u earnt big bucks is never easy. I hit the station confidently striding towards the norwich train. Before id even got on the platform i had to do a double take but according to the display screen all trains were operating on time, incredible. So im on the platform and walking towards me in a daze is none other than my good friend and colleague matt eaton. Mildly hungover we were walking in opposite directions as he wanted a knee2knee touching seat on the clacton train. I was in a dilema as the clacton train is prone to lateness but something inside was telling me matt needed an extra 20 zzz's. Mind made up we departed and i hit the norwich train and like death itself i knew before stepping on the train it was inevitable i would be standing.

Caught in a Flashmob

Liverpool Street with 3000 people raving:

Toilets not fit to have a sign enticing "gents"

I took this picture at Gidea Park. I don't think these toilets are fit for anyone let alone gentlemen:

"Excuse me do you have permission.........

to take photos here"

A man in a hi vis jacket stormed towards me as I was taking photos of the moon just outside Spitalfields market. I pointed out that you needed permission to take photos of the estate and that the building he was guarding had lots of 'high class clientele'. I still have no idea what the building was - it didn't look like a hotel or a place that would be occupied at 11pm on a school night (I'd just been to Brick lane for a curry).....

Anyhow I advised him I was walking home and just fancied some pictures of the sky. I walked away and then turned around and got some snaps of his building. Muppet.

Snow and Signal Failures

It started snowing in Colchester about 3pm yesterday I was digging a pathway in my garden doning my favourite Russian hat and sweating...

Serious snow fall over night and I awoke to the radio citing severe train problems. Joy. turns out trains from London to Kent weren't operating at all but to my amazement our Colchester trains weren't too bad.

I got on a delayed Clacton train, intentionally hadn't consumed any coffee and fell asleep. Only to be awoken by the man with the loudest voice in East Anglia, whom was determined to keep his employer updated with his movements whilst informing everyone on the train....

There was a signal issue along the way and a journey which would normally take 1 hour took over 2. Pretty views along the way mind you, even if I did half cook my ankle on the radiator....

cracked track

you can always tell when there is a problem you can taste it in the air. Sure enough as i reached for the metro newspaper i could see the crowds gathered outside the customer service office. There is always enjoyment in observing humans reacting to this mini-crisis, i overheard a two ladies talking one spoke of how she would 'faint' if forced to stand. I joined the banter and briefed them on the 'delay repay scheme' and in return was briefed about hitler not bombing our (east anglian) victorian tracks. An interesting start to the day and with this i affirmed my desire to go watch tom cruise at the cinema this evening. My friend and political comrade mr eaton is at the front of my train i am at the very back the train is currently static at kelvedon as they are 'investigating' a cracked track ahead. Fingers crossed they resolve this or we will be piled onto buses. Good job i havent any location shooting this morning. If we do have a cracked track it will no doubt be down to the frost outside. Dont underestimate the power of mother nature.

I could have slept in....

Today's assigned was with Karl McCartney of the Sir Keith Park campaign..... I landed (via a national Express delay) at Liverpool street by 07:00 pumped up with some very tasty Rwandan Arabica (unable to sleep on the train to London due to compulsive blackberry actions).

Hung around Tower 42 (Howard and I once got kicked out of the Champagne bar as I was wearing an Ipswich Town T shirt) and took some snaps. Karl was delayed from Lincoln (again National Express trains) so we were cutting it fine to make a 08:15 train from Waterloo to Andover (Hampshire). Karl dispatched his colleague to get breakfast while we boarded a train, sadly she missed it so we bailed out at Clapham Junction to wait for her train to pass through. And pass It did, only it wasn't scheduled to stop. The party divided Karl and I then faced the news that there were cancellations all over the show. My hands were colder than the time I woke up asleep on Bergholt road with Ross Dorwood (post high school drinking summer 1998) and the anticipation of a train arriving turned to frustration....

Eventually we landed and had a great day meeting the artist behind the Sir Keith Park campaign Bronze statue. Our mission completed we had lunch, sampled some local ales and then headed back to the big smoke. I managed to avoid multiple tube changes by sticking on the jubilee line to stratford, sadly it was 16:30 and the intense rush to get out of London had begun. Some idiot clipped my tripod as I walked on Waterloo's concourse and thought it was my fault he had walked into me and potentially damaged the head of my tool. He 'grunted' at me despite me moral high ground "oh I'm sorry" line. Oh well.

Everyone's got the Plague

Like a Contagious high school classroom coughing session never before have I felt so likely to catch multiple virus'. Everyone was coughing and splutering. It was the 07:18 from Clacton and people were having to stand down the isle it was so packed......

Never before have I been so grateful to stand on the train

It was pissing it down yesterday. So much so that I was worried about walking the three minute journey from my house to the station with my new digital slr. At the station the wooden roofs were leaking violently with water gushing (is that Onomatopoeia) everywhere.

With this in mind the train couldn't come any sooner and for the first time ever I was very grateful to be standing on the train in the warmth.

Staff 'Problems'

You could hear the tone in the tanoy announcers voice, even he wasn't convinced by delivering the lines concerning the late trains due to "staff problems".

I had arrived at 07:10 and the 06:48 to London (origin: Clacton) still hasn't arrived. Luckily the 07:15 was only 5 minutes late so I boarded that - as I did I heard another announcement about problems with overhead lines in the Clacton area. Again no seats on the train in standard class.

Its Freezing

I did wonder what effect the cold may have on the network. This morning trains to London were delayed by up to 28 minutes. My 07:15 was only 5 minutes late but there were no seats and reading a newspaper in the vestibule proved tough. I was also interested to see if the so called city jobs cull might make more seats available - no such luck.