#hotdog mosh-up

[your-hotdog-husband]

[klapollo]

me: "warped tour is rumored to be coming back in 2025." do you want to go to warped tour and get heatstroke and eat a disgusting hotdog and get beat up in a mosh pit

david: kinda

[gainprincess]

Hmmmm, how long has it been since Musashi emptied her boobs?

Does Summer Musashi help her or does she need to empty hers out as well?

"W-Well...Ahh...that's not super important, r-right?"

Saber Musashi attempts to cover her chest with her pudgy, fat-swollen arms, despite the fact that she is most definitely far too busty for that, shyly giggling. The truest testament possible to the wandering swordswoman's greed, her obscenely obese melons are likely twice the size of her head, rest atop her swollen, wobbling gut full of chili and hotdogs, and wobble as if they've just been smacked with the most violent amount of force possible for someone Musashi's size, despite not being touched at all.

Even if they didn't, the flustered samurai's udders, sloshing and slorshing so loud that one could hear them in a mosh pit, give away the fact that she's been backed up for far too long, and that the rivulets of liquid trailing down her top, dark and thick, are most definitely the result of Musashi's rich tittymilk.

"I-I might need a little help..."

"Well, I'd be happy to help you out, Saber! That's the best part of there being two of us, yeah? We won't have to worry about this getting out and making us all embarrassed!~"

Berserker slowly waddles over, carrying a pair of large buckets in her tubby hands. She's equally as busty as her Saber self, and just as obese, which you'd think would be fairly obvious. After all, no matter what kind of class she is, Miyamoto Musashi is practically made to be a gluttonous cow of a woman that stuffs herself ever-so-relentlessly...

As she draws close to her backed-up self, who's gotten onto her knees and hands at this point, belly pooling across the ground and udders nearly mashing against it as well...Saber realizes something.

"Hey, waaaaiiitt...You're not sloshing! Don't tell me you...!"

"Ehehe...yep! My super-cute girlfriend totally helped me out by milking me before I came here!~ She's got suuuch nice hands, and she's really thirsty all the time, so I'm drained out entirely twice a week, and she milks me once a day!~"

As she gets down into a similar sort of position, balancing herself on her gut instead of her hands and knees, and hefts one of Sabersashi's milkers into one of the industrial-grade buckets (made for holding mass quantities of tar and crude oil), the robe-wearing Servant grumbles, moving her top aside so the rest of her strained, swollen boobflesh floooppppsss on out.

"That's so not fair...I want a super cute guy or girl that'll milk me too! How come you got a girlfriend before I got someone?! You're, like, an offshoot of me!"

As Berserker sinks her fatty fingers into Saber's left udder, squeezing gently as she massages the swollen, needy breast, the OG Musashi moans, bucking her hips in an attempt to help coax some of the thick boob-cream from her breasts.

A slow, but constant, flood of white liquid starts leaking from Musashi's heavy left tit, draining right into the massive bucket beneath her. It smells sweet and fattening as it hits the bottom of the container, and Berserker's almost tempted to get a taste, but holds off as she continues the dutiful massaging.

"I'm sure you'll definitely find someone, me! I mean, you're a total catch, and with boobies like ours, there's no way someone doesn't wanna wife you up already! I mean, I met my girlfriend randomly in the hall one day, and we just kept spiraling after all that!"

"W-Well, I mean, your girlfriend's pretty special or something, yeah? I dunno if anyone's trippin' over themselves to date me, but I appreciate the thought!"

"She's totally the best, you mean! The most totally epic Summer Berserker ever (besides me)! But I wouldn't count yourself out just yet!"

She gives an especially rough yank after her words, causing Saber to moan out again as the obese cow's breast starts flooding milk into the bucket at high speed.

"I bet there's someone waiting just out of your line of vision, waiting to hang out and fall in love with you!"

The two continue their milking, the sounds of groaning and chatting and mooing echoing through Sabersashi's bathroom for the next few hours as the delicate and deliberate progress continues.

This is fun. They're having fun.

[thecrownbaltimore]

Wednesday June 26th! — Belushi Speed Ball play the Crown with Joe Buck Yourself, Infinite Pizza and Cowabunga Pizza Time!

.

Belushi Speed Ball sling a chimeric blend of thrash, punk, hardcore and speed metal with a heavy dose of chaotic mischief; a Frankenstein’s Monster of 80s horror movies, irradiated Chuck E. Cheese hotdogs, shit posting and slime themed mosh pits, with the sick tunes and maniacal DIY artistry to back it up.

Diabolical riffs meet the finest in deranged art punk nonsense in their infamous live shows.

Playing Wednesday June 26th at The Crown !

punk for the future! punk for the pizza!

.

Epic animated music video by: @simonampel

.

#punkband #pizzapunk #80shorrormovies #baltimoremusic #independentartist #hardcoremusic

[lumchan]

shoujitokoyama all support each others interests, even if they dont know much. they go to a punk rock concert featuring tokoyamis favorite band, and everyone there thinks shouji is a totally metal dude, bad to the bone. but actually hes there to lift tokoyami up because hes a shortie that cant see over the crowd well. aoyama listens to the music the night before, just so he can shout the words along. they go to a rave as well and shouji prevents mosh pit squishing

tokoyami and aoyama try cooking and baking together with shouji. they make family recipes, aoyama making his moms native french cuisine, and tokoyami bringing out the curry skills. fun fact, birds cant taste spicy stuff and just think its yummy. so shouji and aoyama both have to taste test while cooking to prevent their tongues from melting. sometimes they make some for lunch the next day, and everyone always wants to know who made those cute bento. its shouji. there are always octo hotdogs

[aroarolibrary]

Aroace + Astrology Signs

Aquarius: rollercoaster aroace. Weekends at a theme park during summer vacation. Running from ride to ride. Laughter bright and happy filling the air. High speed rollercoasters that leave them dizzy and spinning and wanting more. Cotton candy and hotdogs and a hot summer day.

Pisces: rainy day aroace. Waking up and watching the raindrops against the window. Listening to the calming sound of thunder as it softly vibrates the air. Huddling under a cozy and warm blanket and just letting the noises of an early morning rainstorm wash over the world.

Aries: Concert aroace. Loud music filling the air. Defining in intensity. Vibration the air in waves. The pushing and pulling of a large crowd. Dancing in the middle of a mosh pit. Screaming and cheering and clapping. Light shows and lasers filling the night air.

Taurus: Kitchen aroace. A pot of herbs on the windowsill. The warmth of a kitchen in the middle of fall. Flower and salt and sugar spilt slightly over a kitchen counter. A rolling pin dusted and gliding over dough. A large pot of stew boiling on the stove filling the air with its rich fragrance.

Gemini: internet aroace. Social media and glossy magazines. Keeping up with all the latest gossip. Planned trips that are too expensive to ever go on. Big extravagant dreams that are unlikely to come true but bring joy anyway. Day dreaming at 3am and 3pm. random Accumulated knowledge that is both useless and excited. Static.

Cancer: arts-and-crafts aroace. The feeling of yarn between fingers. The sun pouring through an open wonder, a slight breeze ruffling the curtains. Comforting silence and the soft clink of knitting needles. Quarts stones upon a table and light reflected in a million directions spelling out a million possibilities as the world goes by.

Leo: Pool party aroace. Canon balls and sword fights with pool noodles. The hottest day of the year being enjoyed at the edge of a pool. Laying on a pool chair in the heat of the sun, burning because of forgotten sun screen. Jumping right into the pool to cool down and the smell of Alo afterwards with no regrets.

Virgo: Library aroace. The quiet corner in a library that's always free and always seems to be waiting. The smell of old books and new books. Exploring row after row of shelves to find the perfect book to read. Exploring row after row of books and grabbing any that sound even a little interesting. Sitting and reading to the soft sounds of pages turning until the sun has set.

Libra: Night-on-the-town aroace. Large cities and bright lights. Stumbling laughter and knowing the nights just started. Partying until 3am with half-strangers. Rich food and amazing drinks. Food trucks and food carts. Hopping from one amazing location to the next. Meeting new and interesting people along the way.

Scorpio: Sunset aroace. Careful and slow passing days with long sunsets. The soft warmth of the last days of summer turning into fall. Crickets and cicadas and fireflies singing and dancing through the air. A golden and bright sunset filling the sky and painting the world in orange and yellows. The comforting familiarity of home.

Sagittarius: Roadtrip aroace. Long drives through bright sunny days down unknown and long forgotten routes. Stopping at small hotels for afternoon naps when the sun is highest and driving through the night to watch the stars. Open roads and desert highways and a warm comforting feeling of being free. Soft music playing from the radio mostly going ignored.

Capricorn: Camping aroace. Driving out to the middle of the forest and pitching a tent. Hiking long distances up steep rocks just to find the best view from the top of a cliff. The sound of small streams tricking over rocks. A small campfire and roasting marshmallows to make s'mores that drip chocolate down fingers. Counting the stars.

[bighgbrother]

Big Rant, TL:DR at bottom if interested.

I know that it's a good thing to be prepared, but I'm still chuckling at those that basically spent their labor day money on preparing for a hurricane in a time frame that meteorologists had no clue when and where it's gonna hit. (And I'm not talking about the East Coast right now, they still get the harsher part of the tails. I'm talking about the panhandle, where if from.) They panicked due to the previous years of Michael, and Irma, etc. Which having a hurricane preparedness box AHEAD of time is a good thing to have. But rushing to get 200 gallons of water and gas for one house hold, when the hurricane is only miles out and landfall predictions are trying to be made over a week in advance is a poor choice of action.

At the end of Hurricane season (November 30) look at you natural disaster preparedness box. If you don't have one, then build one up. It doesn't have to be instantaneous, because hurricane season doesn't start until June 1st. Get the first aid kits, flashlights, and other things along the way. Here's a list of items you should have prepared for hurricane season. Obviously, there are some items that will need to be gotten at the time of the hurricane (i.e. medication). But there are a lot of things you can get over the months to prepare yourself. If you do have a box already, just check on what needs to be refilled.

As for water, well two, possibly 3 things you can do:

1.) At the end of the day, tap water is not going to kill you. Believe in your tap and don't buy the bottles. If it's well water continue on to the next items. If you have City, still read incase you might be put on a boil watch or have been informed that the tap in your region is not safe to drink.

2.) Get the big and might igloo coolers. Possibly with a spout to make pouring easier, but if not no biggie. If you can getting a few of them over the months or a ton of the cheap Styrofoam coolers at the beginning of the season, this will be a great way of storing your drinking water.

3.) Fill up all the tubs with water. This will be your flushing water. And fill up one side if the kitchen sink for any dishes, if you're that much of a clean freak during a natural disaster, this will be water used to wash dishes.

Make sure you stock up on non perishable food items. If you're not sure what those are, here's a link. I know a bunch of hotdogs and chicken sound like a good idea at the time, but they won't. Just don't.

Get sandbags, your can make them yourself. And get boards to prepare for high winds. Have all of these ahead of time so you don't have to search and scan the store or go through a mosh pit to grab them. If you live in a trailer home or do not trust the structure of your home at the time of the natural disaster, I cannot stress this enough, EVACUATE. Even if it's just a category 1. One fallen tree on top of a tin metal box is all it takes to take a life. Your community will have red Cross shelters. But be careful, only some can handle category 1-3 hurricanes. You might end up having to leave state.

ALWAYS listen to the radio in the event of an emergency, you will get updates on the storm, you will get updates on the community, you will get to hear about shelters that have opened up or aid coming in to give services. That radio will be a godsend. And have multiple multiple batteries.

Don't forget your pets, guys. When you adopted them, you took on the promise of taking care of them like your own child. There will be many places that will take in both you, your family, and your pet. Some places will even hold on to your pet for you if you really can't find a place, but don't abandon them. And don't think that leaving them alone in the house with two large gravity bowls will help because most likely they will get scared, panic, get injured and will find a way to escape. So don't be that jackass.

State of emergency if beneficial for many reasons, but the biggest is prevention of price gouging. Once in a state of emergency, it is illegal to price gouge high demand products such as gas, water, food, supplies. If you find price gouging happening on your area, call that state and that business that was price gouging will have to pay a huge fine for ripping people off.

The only thing that you really can't prepare for ahead of time during the storm, is having the gas and propane you need. But don't be the asshole who empties the god damn gas station. Don't be that dick. Expect between 1-2 weeks of no electricity depending on the severity. And unless you or someone you live with has health issues and require more electricity output, get enough gas for the generators for that time frame they expect power to be out. You don't need the AC on, you need that radio on, your phones charged to call help, one light source so no one is stepping on toes or banging against the walls. Do make sure your car is full as well.

If you choose to stay in your home, stock up on some family board games and cards. You decided to stay, there's no bother in keeping every single second worried about something. During the down times, your going to keep yourself off the phones and will need something to keep your mind occupied.

DO NOT PUT YOUR GENERATORS INSIDE YOUR HOUSE OR GARAGE, YOU WILL DIE OF MONOXIDE POISONING IF YOU DO SO.

And please, please. Do not go out to check the rest of the county immediately after the hurricane has passed. I know it's tempting, but you are just going to be in the linemen, police, firemen, EMT, and tree cutters way if you do so. I can promise you that the county is just going to reflect what your house looks like. If you want to help, lend a hand to your neighbors. See what you can do for them and they will remember about it in the future and help you. But only if it's safe, do not go near any wires you see.

And now that the hurricane isn't going to make landfall on the East Coast. A lot of panhandle people look pretty dumb buying a trunkful of gas when a "10 days into the future" graph said it'll go there. My advise on this, just keep an eye on the map until you are at 5 days in advance. I can guarantee you that would make or brake your pockets and bank accounts.

TL:DR

Don't be dumb and prepare before the emergency happens. And keep an eye on the forecast before panicking, you might find out you might not even be impacted.

[nancygduarteus]

The Race to Mass-Produce Perfect Waves

In 2015, a rancher named David Howe lifted off from a California airfield on a covert mission. For weeks, a neglected water-ski park in his Central Valley farming community had been mysteriously ensconced in privacy fencing and manned by a security detail. The clandestine development raised eyebrows in town, but according to Howe, locals contracted to do work at the facility weren’t talking.

To quench his curiosity, Howe decided to sneak in an aerial view. In a helicopter normally employed in crop dusting, he and a friend rose over the lake, and saw something like a train car moving back and forth, causing a disturbance on the water’s surface. On a second pass, workers emerged from trailers below. “They looked mad,” Howe says. “We laughed at how hard they were trying to keep their secret.”

Trained as an engineer, Howe had no doubt what the train-car contraption was being used for: Whoever was behind the development was trying to generate ocean-like waves in a lake. This was an odd thing to build in a lightly populated community 100 miles inland. “We don’t have any surfers around here,” Howe says.

Later that year, the surfing legend Kelly Slater caught the surfing world unaware by posting the first video of the waves created at the facility. The pool, he said, was his “little secret spot,” a mechanism designed by his Kelly Slater Wave Co. to create “perfect waves”—the kind surfers scour the globe to find. And now, if Slater’s plan worked, West Coast surfers could soon enjoy a dependable supply in landlocked Lemoore, California.

Until that point, the physical act of surfing had just about defied monetization. Great surf spots can net up to tens of millions in visitor dollars for their host communities annually, but the main ingredient—waves—was delivered for free. Enthusiasts rarely paid admission or membership fees. Competitions generated no ticket sales; no price-gouging hotdogs or sodas. Now, Slater opened the possibility of growing fans and participants in geographically disparate markets, of controlling access and production, of generating leagues and erecting stadiums. He could turn a fickle, nature-dependent activity into a commodifiable sport.

Pro surfer Gabriel Medina at Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch (Grant Ellis)

But as Slater grabbed headlines, something else was happening. Consortiums of engineers, scientists, and financiers were building other wave-generating technologies around the world. Slater’s company wasn’t only generating fake waves; it was spreading an infectious enthusiasm for the very idea. And there was potential gold for whoever could do it best: In 2016, the International Olympic Committee voted to include surfing in the 2020 Japan Games. First to market in Japan meant an introduction to the world.

A race was on.

Like the push toward nuclear-fusion technology or the search for dark matter, the quest for a machine that could accurately replicate oceanic waves has been long and illusive. As far back as the 1920s, European pools used pistons, paddles, and waterfalls to generate waves at public baths. For surfers, a breakthrough occurred in 1969, when Big Surf Waterpark in Tempe, Arizona, developed something like a giant toilet tank that unleashed tons of water into a shallow pool. Notable surfers crossed the Mojave to test these early man-made rollers, and locals made the park a regular hangout. “The culture was genuine, the waves were artificial,” said surfer Dave Manning in a documentary featuring the water park.

Nevertheless, surf culture was changing. By the 1970s, surfers weren’t looking for long peelers but breaks that harnessed power only great swaths of ocean deliver. The 1987 cult-classic film North Shore honed in on this distinction in its plotline. After winning an Arizona wave-pool contest, its main character, Rick Kane, journeys to Hawaii, where he finds success in big waves. In the real world, the very name Rick Kane became a catchphrase for the buffoonery of attempting replace nature with technology.

Indoor surfers at a wave pool near Tokyo in 1967 (BW / AP)

When Kelly Slater Wave Co. delivered on the long-held dream, it came as something of a moon landing for the surf community: The future was suddenly here. A controlling interest in Slater’s company was purchased by the World Surf League, the organizer of the elite world tour. This year, the Founder’s Cup, held May 5 and 6, was to be the facility’s proof that reliable machines could liberate competitive surfing from the confines of the coasts. To a certain extent, the event delivered: The dunny brown waves contested by international, mixed-gender teams that weekend mesmerized the general public. But about four minutes were required for the pool to settle between waves, creating a significant spread between scores. And Slater’s machine was in fact so consistent that it offered scant variety, and no upsets. Surfer magazine declared the competition “a yawn.”

[Read: The next big wave]

The ocean’s variability, it turned out, was both its glory and curse. Distant storms send waves in batches called “sets,” but unexpected “lulls” occur as well. Part of the thrill of surfing is in reading and anticipating those changes and being in the right place at the right time. In competition, the number and variety of waves causes scores to volley back and forth, heightening the drama and leading to unpredictable outcomes. The challenge for wave technology isn’t simply making one type of perfect wave; it’s replicating the ocean’s many moods.

On the same weekend as Slater’s Founder’s Cup, a water park called BSR Cable Park in Waco, Texas, released a video of their own wave pool. Shapely, pointbreak-style waves rose out of artificially blue water three at a time, less than a minute between sets—150 waves per hour. More videos soon followed. The waves could change shape and even evolve, allowing surfers to execute increasingly technical maneuvers.

https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fplayer.vimeo.com%2Fvideo%2F294811909%3Fapp_id%3D122963&dntp=1&url=https%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2F294811909%2F771a0c3f71&image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.vimeocdn.com%2Fvideo%2F731802782_1280.jpg&key=e59abcd3fdf14abe95641518e479f5c0&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=vimeo

On May 18, Hawaii’s Seth Moniz landed an unprecedented trick in the pool: a frontside 540, which looks something like a backflip. It was proof that wave pools could push performance. Suddenly, Rick Kane’s storyline had been reversed: Hawaiian surfers were migrating inland.

In June, Cheyne Magnusson, the manager of BSR’s new “surf resort,” stood in a rustic operations tower. He seemed dazed by the flurry of calls he’d fielded since the debut of PerfectSwell, the brand name of the technology that generates his pool’s swells. Developed by the California-based company American Wave Machines, the design is essentially driven by fans that push water through a series of chambers hidden behind the pool’s concrete wall. Each chamber represents a “section” of a wave, and the order in which they’re fired can be manipulated to “build” different waves—more power here, less water there, and so forth.

On a tablet running the technology’s software, this series of chambers looked like notes on sheet music. “I call this my ‘iPod’,” Magnusson said. “And this is my soundtrack.” The soundtrack was a collection of waves, files really, that Magnusson had developed with feedback from visiting pros. Once they’d “recorded” an acceptable wave, or pattern of waves, he only had to push the button and the software looped it endlessly. Magnusson, a former professional surfer, could turn it on and go out for a surf himself.

On my visit, the grounds of the pool were still under construction. A backhoe dug a trench for electrical lines that would power night lighting, which would help attract more attendees: Unlike Slater’s pool, BSR Surf Resort was open to the public. (Currently, the pool is closed as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigates a possible dangerous contamination.)

How many surfers could be accommodated was still being worked out at the time. In the first public session, they’d loaded the pool with 40 surfers. “It was like a mosh pit,” Magnusson said. “A fight broke out instantly.” With a more manageable number, the pool setting compelled surfers to actually communicate for priority—an act that’s usually sorted out by skill level and bullying in the wild. Not only were the waves in development, but the culture of surfing was as well.

Jackson Butler surfs in the BSR Surf Resort pool in Waco, Texas. (Shawn Butler)

Magnusson insisted that the BSR Surf Resort team was not contesting a race with Kelly Slater Wave Co. or any other pool developers. “That would imply there is only going to be one winner, and one technology, and that would suck,” Magnusson said. “If there’s going to be a race, hopefully it’s toward variety.”

Nevertheless, actions and announcements from a number of entities have suggested that a race is indeed at hand. As early as September 2017, a Spanish-based pool developer, Wavegarden, announced plans to build a pool near Tokyo in time for the 2020 Games. Following BSR’s video release, Slater invited aerial specialists to the Surf Ranch to help its team develop an “air section,” or ramp, something Waco boasted but Slater’s facility lacked. In July, a group fronted by former world champion Mark Occhilupo revealed photos of a massive pool under construction in North Queensland, Australia, with a purported capability of generating 2,400 waves per hour among eight distinct breaks.

It could all be a pipe dream. So far, the International Surfing Association has insisted that surfing’s Olympic debut will occur in the ocean, and along with the Tokyo 2020 committee, they’ve proposed a beach site 40 miles from the city. But during the window of the 2020 Games, wave conditions at Tokyo beaches are generally unimpressive. This puts surfing at risk of suffering the same fate as other failed trial sports before it, like cricket, lacrosse, and polo. Should surfing appear underwhelming, or even clownish, which it can in anemic surf, the International Surfing Association’s bid to extend surfing to 2024 in Paris, or 2028 in Los Angeles, could sink.

Many commentators have mused that a crystalline wave pool will be the obvious solution. Beyond predictable and impressive swells, these nascent pools lend themselves to arena-like management, ticket sales, and studio conditions for broadcast. “It’s got to happen in a pool,” says Surfer magazine’s photo editor, Grant Ellis. “The Olympic audience can’t watch a couple of surfers bobbing in a flat ocean.”

Rendering of a possible Olympic wave pool design (Paul Roget Design / Courtesy of Webber Wave Pools)

Over the summer, interesting developments occurred at a clip. The parent company of Kelly Slater Wave Co. won community approval to replicate their pool just outside of Tokyo. According to a Japanese news site, construction will be finished this December. Soon after, Olympic surfing’s governing body, the International Surfing Association, chose BSR’s Waco pool as the “official training center” for the U.S. surf team. The Australian surf team countered by traveling en masse to Slater’s Lemoore pool.

[Read: The improbable persistence of swimming pools built in the ocean]

A lot of work and energy was pouring into technologies that Olympic bodies had denied considering. A final decision on the site of Olympic competition won’t be formally made until July next year, which may be keeping the crowded field optimistic. But there’s no proven financial model for inland wave pools, despite the amount of capital going into their development. Should these Olympic dreams come to naught, what will happen to a possible glut of artificial waves? Will communities embrace their new coasts? Who is going to buy all of these waves?

The Waco resident Brian Filmore might have the answer. “My story is the opposite of the North Shore story,” he said. “I experienced surfing with my dad in California, but I really learned how to surf here [in the pool]. I’m a Central Texas surfer.”

BSR initially sold annual permits to surfers for the low cost of $1,000, a decision they openly regretted. Locals who’d learned to surf in the Gulf, California, and Hawaii realized the value and snapped up the passes. Over the course of the year, they could end up paying as low as a buck a wave. One surfer, a father, doubled his money. He’d rekindled skills he’d honed during a long stint in the islands, and then he pushed his son into the foamy leftovers ridden by other pass-holders.

Communities across the country already have their surfers. They’re just waiting for the waves.

from Health News And Updates https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2018/10/surfs-up-world/572839/?utm_source=feed

[travelling-trooper-blog]

London…so much to do, so little time, amiright?

So we had to set a plan of action. Let’s put the most important things we have to do in London at the top of the list.

#1: Harry Potter Walking Tour.

#2: ………………………..

So that settles it! We’re going on a Harry Potter Walking Tour!

But the tour doesn’t start until 3 pm. What do we do until then? Platform 9 and 3/4!

This conversation never happened between Doris and I, but it very well could have. And to be honest, I’m not sure which person is me in this imaginary conversation.

Platform 9 and 3/4: Check.

Abbey Road and Abbey Road Studio: Sort of check.

While Doris did manage to get her shoes off to play Paul, the rest of the shot sort of fell to pieces. For one thing, one of the two strangers we roped into the picture to play Ringo and George is barely visible. Second, I’m looking back to see where the hell the silly girl with my cell phone is standing. She should have taken the shot from the middle of the road. Instead, she was practically at the curb. Then our photo was rushed because of traffic. In the end, though, I actually like the shot. Its utter imperfection and failure is perfect. Doris probably doesn’t agree with me.

She felt a lot better after we did some shopping, though.

Next up: Harry Potter tour!

I’m going to give a free shout out here to Strawberry Walking Tours because they were pivotal to our entire stay in London. We did three awesome walking tours in three days. All of their tours are pay-what-you-want. The first of the three, of course, was the Harry Potter tour.

We lucked out on our tour because our guide just happened to be Ben, an aspiring actor, and more importantly, Draco Malfoy’s double in the first Harry Potter movie. Of course, he could’ve been making that up to impress us and get us to pay more at the end of the tour, but he seemed pretty convincing. And he showed us visual evidence at the end of the tour–photos from the set of the first Potter movie.

I had three particular favourite bits of trivia. The first was when he stopped beside a bookshop that featured a book somewhat recently autographed by the movie’s three main stars. He then pulled out a piece of paper that showed their autographs from their first movie shoot. They were adorably much less legible.

Doris knew the second bit, but I found it utterly amazing. Apparently at the end of the shoot of the first movie, Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson all wrote messages of appreciation to the director. Their messages all perfectly reflected the characters they played in the series. Grint’s response was quick and to the point; it was something to the effect of, “Thanks for casting me, mate!” Potter’s was simple, but illuminating: “I’m glad I went to the opera.” Apparently his parents took him out to the theatre one day, and while there, a family friend mentioned that they were looking to cast somebody in a new movie series. Granger, of course, wrote an essay. I most likely butchered this little anecdote, but the gist of it is there.

My most favourite reveal from the day, though: Tom Felton was the big music guy. Ben had started up a little newspaper of sorts for everybody on set, and young Felton was in charge of music reviews. He wrote a glowing review of Limp Bizkit’s Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavored Water. Limp Bizkit was apparently his favourite band at the time. On the last day of shooting, Felton gave Ben a parting gift: An admittedly well-drawn picture of the band. I just find the image of Draco Malfoy moshing to “Nookie” so gut-bustingly hilarious.

Another really cool bit of info was regarding Trafalgar Square. Apparently, the square was Rowling’s inspiration for the Deathly Hollows symbol. When seen from above, it totally makes sense. Take a look!

http://photobucket.com/gallery/user/kdhart226/media/bWVkaWFJZDo0NDE5OTE1NQ==/?ref=

I mean, sure, it could be a total coincidence/conspiracy theory, but I totally bought into it. Ben explained that the square is pretty much the heart of the city. It’s a place of community gathers and political demonstrations. The second Deathly Hollows film premiered there in front of a massive crowd as a gift and a thank you to the people of London. Why not make the most powerful symbol represent the people of London? Knowing the struggles that Rowling went through before the start of the career, it makes perfect sense. It’s a gesture of empowerment.

Anywho, there were a lot more really cool fun facts shared on the tour, but those were some of my favourites.

We met up with Lucia, a friend I met in Abu Dhabi, and our host in London, at a pub near her place. This is where Doris snapped these awesome shots of Jake the Dog from Adventure Time.

Fin.

The Travelling Trooper Takes A Harry Potter Tour London...so much to do, so little time, amiright? So we had to set a plan of action.