Why Not enter a Pongathon?

Why - Ian entered us into the Guinness World Record Breaking event for Pongathon.
         

Where - Richmix, Bethnal Green Road

When - 24th October

What happened - We arrived at 5.30pm, to be given a table tennis bat, headbands and wristbands, and a free drinks voucher.  The place seemed well organised and is a great venue for events, with a viewing gallery above. We grabbed our beer and we welcomed by many drinks promo girls and told to go on and practice.

We needed over 101 people continuously playing to win the record. Approximately 110 people showed up by 6.30pm..and the Guinness World attempt was going to start, we were split in to 2 sides, and off we went. The event was being filmed, and if someone messed up, we had to start over.

What happened next - Well, lets just say,. a few girls showed up in high heels, and wanted to be on film and they kept messing up.and received a few heckles...and there were little kids there from ping pong clubs, who in matches were brilliant, but found playing the ball slowly over a net..well, it was an issue for them..and a few guys who looked like they deliberately wanted it sabotage it for fun..
We tried and tried and tried for just over an hour and the most we got was 94..however, I am sure that I had hit it twice (only meant to hit it once in a round)...as numbers had dropped out as people got bored as no one seemed to be taking it that seriously. So No World Record for us.. :(

Entertainment - We had two Olympic players, one ranked 100 in the world, play a game for us, and they even used mini bats at one point. It was pretty impressive playing and they were great guys and good fun. Afterwards we  got to compete in a few games of mixed doubles, mini bat singles and against the Robot. One famous guy? (insert name?) set the precedence, for 25 returns in 30 secs going really fast.. My turn, they did slow it down, but Boom, I got 30 returns ..got all of them back, rather proud of myself..and I won a Pongathon T-shirt for best female...however, the machine did breakdown almost after I had played on it...but I am sure I would have won...if not :).

Suggestions - As I have been told this will happened every month....A few improvements -  a) teach the promo girls the rules of the game, as they umpired some games and had no clue, b) practice pong, if seen to be crap, make them watch not play c) if people keep messing up, kick them off - maybe that is just my competitiveness showing through...but I wanted to be a part of setting the new record.

Why Not Rating? 5/10 .Only due to not setting the record....

However I would go again, as this was there first attempt to get it going, and I did have a great time..and all the people I met were very friendly and I love Ping Pong.

Why Not do Oktoberfest?

Why - Won 2 tickets from Bavarian Beerhouse


I had to write why I loved the Bavarian Beerhouse..


"We could not decide - a lot of answers have been 'wunderbar'. We have chosen 2 winners:

Glenn Thomas: Benches that are made for dancing, not sitting. Steins that are made for downing, not sipping. Entertainment that is made for cheering, not polite applause. And a place that is made for Oktoberfest, nothing less.

Kerry Bryars: The pork knuckle, the liederhosen and almost falling off the becnch due to a) too much beer, b) the swaying to the music and c) laughing so much...love the beerhouse x

Congrats both of you! "


Where - Old Street 


When - 20th Oct 2011


What happened - Free entrance & 2 free Steins/ Litres of Beer..(£14.95 / tickets)


What happened next.....we joined a fun table of guys from Deutsch Bank who bought us a shot in a little bottle and were very charming /entertaining. We ate a yummy German version of sausage and mash, I was of course rude with the sausage..and drank and drank..Steins of beer.


Entertainment...Apart from the lovely staff and the fun crowd, the band got everyone up dancing and singing..and they kindly let me play the Tuba..and mess around with them and their instruments, oh er.....such great guys...fun evening.


Why Not Rating?  7/10  


As my German pal Silvia would say - Do it! 

Why Not go Go-Karting

Another Groupon specatular....and thought, Why Not?  go to Team-sport Go Karting, Tower Bridge
This time I bring PJ :)

So I get there first, well I felt a bit scared in Bermondsy neighbourhood.( i thought it was near Tower bridge...hmmm....Nope, however i was told that it was mostly old folk residential area) .finally found the place in a warehouse type setting, similar to another Zombie scene...and it looked good, very basic and abandoned. but looked ok...the bar was empty, maybe good for groups?

I got changed (another nice jumpsuit) and waited, and PJ showed up, then we waited, waited, and waited some more..and finally we got sent to a safety briefing room..

There was one group ( about 10 of them), all about 20yr's old..and another mixed group of couples, etc..we accidentally sat on the side of the one group together. The safety video didn't work...so the main guy gives a quick briefing..but listening to a man chat with no props , was a bit of a bore rather than watching a video, hmmm made me wonder if is this was a slick operation or what?  I had been told the place had been open for 11months.

We ended up being  kept with the group of 10...they didn't seem too pleased we were with them..so, we get our helmets ( no helmet liner - comparing to F1) and sit in electric karts wanting to get going....
What I thought was a big track on two floors, was two tracks on both floors...so one group started above, the other below..

We sat in the cars and had to wait till all were charged up....and then off we went...told, green go, yellow slow down, red, stop....simples....compared to F1 go karting, where if someone was fast, you got shown a flag to let the fast people through, there was none of that here...and we were told about being shown black flags for banging into each other...and you received a time out, or you were taken off the race course depending on severity..

To win, you had to get the fastest lap,
There was no get set, go ready, go....... it was just go for it, on you go...green light go, etc..on your way..

So off we went...and 2 mins in to the racing, some lights go out on a corner of the building...and we are stopped....return to pit stop...Great...I start laughing ..here we go..something always happens to me..

The staff faffed around with the lights, and then realised they couldn't fix it....so, we had to take turns with the other group up top...and also wait for cars to be charged... the races are only 8mins per race, and you get a total of 3 races...

There was a lot of sitting around and the people who worked there were acting like it was there first day on the job and didn't know what to do..

PJ, luckily had his helmet on as he got whacked by the ropes of the charging thing twice..

Well  - back to the good bits....the karts did go quite fast, some good hairpin bends...I came 2nd on the first race, was laughing...as i was flying...however, there was a slow girl infront of me who wouldn't let me past, and when she spun on  the corners, i sort of kept spinning too but in to her and giving her a bang, I could tell she was getting pissed, but i found it funny..let me past please  :)

So, after 1st race, i saw her look over and then look back to her mates, obviously not happy with me and talking about me, it made me smile more.. I couldn't help it. Its part of racing, i was being banged too...

Anyways, unbeknownst to me..PJ was also banging into people too...so on the last race, which I was loving...we all got out of the cars at the end of the race..and one of the guys in the group shouted at PJ..."man, what were you doing, that banging is bad, blah blah"...
I also hadn't realised that PJ had been black flagged on that race...but was just given a warning...so i spoke up, "relax man, i got banged loads too...its all part of it, and you aren't a pit marshall, so it must have been fine :)"  Pj was just like, "dude chill man too", that annoyed him more..

We spoke to the guys in charge to get him to calm down, the young guy who had shouted walked off all annoyed, but then had to come back again to get his score card...I was smirking...and PJ won the last race...so he smirked too.   I must admit, the staff handled it all very well and were apologetic about the dude.

I mean, what is the point in go-karting if you cant take a bump...we sort of knew they didn't want us with them in the first place...pffff ...So PJ and I went home giggling about how pathetic they were..

On another note..we arrived at 5pm and we didn't leave the place till 7pm...in there for 2hrs!! and only 24mins racing time..I am sure when you go, it wont be as bad..just a string of unfortunate events..

Would i go back...yes, but only with a group i know that doesn't mind Racing!!...but I prefer F1 or greenwich docklands indoor-karting racing by the Dome...so much better, slicker, and nicer facilities..and professionally run...

Why Not Indoor Skydive?

So, 5 of us went to bodyflight in Bedford Sunday 16th Oct 2001. My flight was a present from mates Ben & Layla, plus I had got an extra 2 from groupon for 2 flights in a Indoor Skydiving Simulator so I brought Ian.

Well I was pumped..I had been to the Bedford facilities before to go Flowboarding...which is also sooooo much fun...and I had watched the flying, with vested interest....and of course I wanted to give it a go.

So eyes were pealed on groupon vouchers..and Yes!  they came up trumps, plus the lovely Ben and Layla saw it too.  We got booked in to all go together.

So we arrived, getting all nervous, poor Layla wasn't feeling to well, so Hannah, Laylas sister took her spot and Layla was going to film us.  We helped each other into our sky suits, with extra grips on arms and legs..and couldnt sit still.

Our instructor went through the basic hand signals, as in the simulator, you cant hear..the wind travels over 100mph, plus ear plugs, plus a helmet. I wanted to mess around, however, I also wanted to nail it.  I was focussed. We learnt hand signals to bend legs, spread legs,  close legs and relax...( sounds a bit naughty..will keep those in mind for another time) .

First go, I was first...and you have to relax, and almost fall into the tunnel like you are flopping onto a lilo in the sea....and wow...my heart was pounding. I couldn't stop smiling. Each flight was only 1.5mins, seemed nothing, but it was great...the adrenalin was flowing... And i did ok...yippeee....Here is the four of us, our first flights...what an experience...we were hooked..

The only down side was...we wanted more go's...but that costs a lot more money....and we also only got proper debriefing on what we did well and what we needed to work on after our 4 flights..so, if after 2, we could have improved more, instead trying to understand new singles he was giving us..a little frustrating.

I was gutted, as I do like to learn, and the 4th flight he turned me upside down and tried to get me to fly that way..I wasn't expecting it and I got a little bothered, as it was my last flight of the day and they others belly down had been great...
See the video below..I look like I am about to give birth, an attractive flight ..:)

All in all...I would definitely suggest going...and I might come with you ....

The best was probably Ben...see his final go below...then watch the instructor show off....pretty amazing  stuff....I wont forget that day out...Brilliant!

Why Not...Pledge for a Film

Watched All Tomorrows Party Film, loved it...
and saw this new project...

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/613961261/from-atp-four-short-films-by-vincent-moon?ref=email

So I pledged $10 and its going ahead...

I get a 3 month preview sometime in Jan 2012...hope its a good one.

Why Not see Katy Perry - O2

I went to the show thinking, yeah, she is ok, yeah, I like some of her songs...and it would be good to hang out with my pal Kerry.

Well, we had a riot...the few glasses of wine and no dinner, definitely helped with the process.

We were sat high up far back of 02, almost as far as you could be from the main stage, Level 4, Row L. 685, However, it really wasn't that bad.

The stage was brilliantly set up, and the atmosphere was rocking.

Infront of us were a Dad and his 3 kids, such a cute family, and the kids started getting well excited.

Then came on Katy..she did look fantastic, and she really can sing.

The crowd was fantastic too, and there were a few mexican waves going on...and people were up and dancing and just having fun...

It was all clean good fun and I went home with a massive smile on my face and a lot more time for the 02 and Katy Perry.

The Start..

This is me trying it out...Why Not?
Next post will hopefully be..
Katey Perry..O2...with my pal Kerry for a belated b'day present..
I don't fully enjoy the O2 for gigs, prefer Brixton Academy,  one reason is the fact that I sit in the nosebleed sections..however, I am optimistic about tomorrow.
I may be twice the age of the girls next to me...but who cares..
I am looking forward to Fireworks, and I kissed a Girl..
....nite x