Update... a potential colourful character.

So has anybody else seen that young dude who walks up Northumberland Street, one finger pressed against the bud of his headphones, one hand dangling at his side, singing along to the Westlife tracks on his ipod? He sings REALLY loud, no shame whatsoever. My friend Nate said that he once saw him in town, and after a particulalrly emotive version of one of the many pointless, vapid Irish hits, he loudly pronounced 'I don't give a fuck WHO can hear me singing, I don't give a FUCK!'.

I reckon he probably absolutely does NOT give a fuck like.

If you've seen him, you'll know what I mean, why I'm so intrigued by the little guy. If you haven't seen him yet, keep your eyes open. The more we can learn about this fascinating creature, the better.

Dude out yo!
xo

The Victoria tunnel system- Newcastles secret streets.

Lots of people in the Newcastle area don't know that there is a system of tunnels running under their feet. These tunnels have been there since 1842 and have been used as a transport system for moving coal from one place to another, as a hugh contained air raid shelter in the second world war, as an art area in the 90's and, most oddly, as a mushroom farm.

I'm obviously intrigued about the tunnels 'cos like, I'm from Newcastle and it's quite, well... Intriguing. There are a few rumoured entrances, one being under the Byker Bridge, the Ouseburn. Apparently though, it's a good area to look if you want to get a good baghead-kicking, so I haven't investigated. I used to work at Subway on Grey street in town with Nate and we used to go down to the sub-basement and check out the internal entrance to the tunnels down there. It was too dark to see much of anything, but you could still kind of get a feel for the size of the cavern.

I really want to check it out, so if anybodys brave enough to face the unknown alleys of their own city, give me a shout.

Dude out.
xo

Newcastles colourful characters part two; Diet Slayer

Diet Slayer was one of my favourite creatures when I lived in the Tillys flat. He's this dude who wears like XL size 'metal shirts' (You know the ones, those black tee's with dragons on them, or some kind of warrior), even though he must weigh about 9 stone. He would walk by in his huge shirts and ridiculously tight jeans (Or occasionally leather pants), huge kathmandu boots clinking in the distance, every day, and I always liked catching him. 'Diet Slayer' was Callums name for him. I liked 'Slayer-lite', but Callums was more catchy. I wonder what that dude does for a living, that he could dress so outlandishly every day? He was about 35 too. I'm presuming he had a job, because he was in the city centre every day and although he looks unlikely, he doesn't look poor or crazy.

I've seen him in Heaton once since moving, and he looked the same, though he has acquired himself a she-slayer, to which I say 'You go dude!'.

xo

Newcastles colourful characters, part one; The sports enthusiast.

If you spend any time at the end of the city centre where Tillys bar, The Bodega, The Journal Theatre and Chinatown is, you may well have seen the chap who used to amaze and amuse me on a daily basis.

When I lived in the flat above Tillys, I saw a dude, every day, dressed in jogging bottoms, shorts over the top like some kind of mental superhero, a sweater with a Tee oer the top and a vest over the top of that. Every item of clothing had a different sub-par sports-wear label, the likes of FILA, Le Coq Sportif, View From, etc... He also wore a backwards visor. Ultra cool. I'm definitely going to upload a drawing of the sports enthusiast soon.

This dude just walked around that aea of town, seemingly aimlessly, nothing on his mind, just spicing up passer-by's lives, day in, day out. I totally applaud him for that.

He still wanders round that area and he still dresses like theres been a one-man raid on the Donnay shop or something. He's still worth checking out.

Also, if you feel the need to be rude to this dude just because he looks a little eccentric, you're a bad person and should stop reading this blog.

FRFI

Theres a group of people you might have seen on the streets of Newcastle, promoting acceptance, equality and liberty. Those guys are called Fight Racism, Fight Imperialism. If you see them, approach them! They're nice dudes (and dudettes), and will always take the time to talk to you.
They're non-profit and could really use assistance in promoting their efforts. You could put on an awareness show, help them canvass, post leaflets or even just sign a petition.

Thanks!

The first day

So, this is the first post on the blog. I really just want to go on about things that are happening in this City, from people I've seen to things I've noticed.

I'm currently fighting the fading effects of swine flu, and although I didn't want to buy in to such a fashionable illness, I thought 'Maybe theres something in it', and took the sicknote from my doctor (who I like a lot- she's real nice). I was in town today, on Northumberland Street, after my visit to the surgery, and in around ten minutes I saw a couple things that really made me think a bit .
I saw two police officers giving what looked like the hassling of a lifetime to a woman. She had a kid with her, I'm presuming her son. One policeman was talking to her, the other was holding the boy. She was talking and getting a bit excitable and the little boy was crying real loud. I don't know what had happened, but we assumed she may have been caught shoplifting, what with the footsoldiers attitudes. What will happen to that little boy? Will he be taken to the police station to ait with his mum or will he be taken to a guardians place or..? I dunno. But it wasn't nice to watch. The woman was foreign, or at least speaking in a foreign accent. I hope that boy has somewhere he can go so he doesn't have to wait in the station, it's a totally un-rad environment, especially for youngsters.

My mood was lifted within five minutes though, when I saw an elderly gent* walking along the street in a fully hilarious style. He looked like he had just stepped out of a time machine, he was really frantic, looked a little worried and was seemingly very curious. He made me smile. I wonder if that dude has family, or friends he hangs with, or maybe a walking partner, who joins him in his excited stumbles around the city centre. Either way, he was crucial.

I'm gonna update accordingly, as my mind wanders.

* For those interested in the elderly, you should check out my firend Nialls zine, 'The Elderly'. contact Niall via his blog www.llainsevaerg.blogspot.com