230 miles to see a movie

Yesterday, I travelled with a few non-fur friends up to Manchester to see the Stella Screen showing of Pulp Fiction.



We set off around 1pm and arrived around 6.30pm following only one wrong turn.  Once we got there's it was almost like a festival atmosphere with it being in a field, etc.  We got a spot which was quite far back but we had good sight of both the stage and the screen.  Before the film, the Fun Lovin' Criminals performed a set of their new music, well known tracks like Love Unlimited, and they also did some covers of songs from the film before finishing with Scooby Snacks.

Watching the film on a huge screen in a field of people in the evening was quite an unusual experience.  As we were so far back from the screen, there was a bit of a delay on the sound from the picture but it was still all good.  People cheered at the defining moments in the film or when someone uses a now well known catchphrase.  My only real problem with it all was that it was quite uncomfortable.  We were sitting on a blanket on the uneven grass, and my body really isn't made for sitting on the ground for lengths of time.  Had to keep on standing up to prevent myself from aching.  Still, it's a great film, one which I havn't seen in a while and this was a great way to see it.

The drive back wasn't as bad as we had imagined.  Leaving at 11.30pm and arriving at 3.30am, we were probably averaging 80-90mph :P  Absolutely knackered by the time I got home.  I was pretty much asleep before I hit the pillow.

( More photos )

Holiday flights booked

It's official now, I am going to Further Confusion next year!

My credit card statement had rolled over to the next month so I could now pay for the flights without having to worry about paying for them until next pay cheque.  I wanted to get the tickets as soon as possible as the prices were at their lowest and didn't know when they would be going back up again.  I chose to go with Travelbag.co.uk because it was not only the lowest price (matching www.opodo.co.uk), but as an added extra perk, they offered Nectar points.  I was one step away from paying for the tickets and I noticed that there was an option for preferred seating, such as aisle or window.  This made me think that the seats are booked on booking tickets and as I was travelling with friends, I wasn't sure how I could arrange to sit with them.  So I called the freephone number on their site to basically ask this question, not expecting them to be there on a Sunday, however there was someone to take my call.

She explained that as far as seating goes, I can book now and when my fellow travellers book, they can call her to arrange seating so we're all together.  She then proceeded to book my flight and informed me that the price would be exactly the same as online, £303.80.  When I asked as to why the prices were so cheap, she said it wasn't due to the hurricane, but becase United had a special offer on a large number of destinations and other airlines followed suit.  However, that offer expires on the 15th September meaning that anyone who wants to travel with me better get their skates on!

When it came to paying for the flight, she said it would cost me an extra 1.5% as I was paying by credit card.  It was only going to be like an extra £4 but she said the best way to waive it is to take a deposit payment rather than the full payment (£85) and I can pay the rest of the £303.80 at any time before November 15th.  This works out well for me as I don't need to be so concerned about paying it all in one go.  This may also be appealing to those who were giving up on the idea of going because they can't afford it right now.

So anyway, I changed the flying out time from previous plans to make it easier to get to the airport in time.  The time we arrive matters less, now that we have an extra day in San Francisco.  The arrival day was always going to be a chill out day anyway.  For those looking to travel with me, the flight details are below:

Outgoing journey: Leave Heathrow on United Airlines #931 departing at 14:05 on Sunday 15th January 2006, arriving in in San Francisco at 17:20 local time.
Returning journey: Leave San Francisco on United Airlines #954 departing at 18:10 on Tuesday 24th January 2006, arriving in at Heathrow at 12:40 on the 25th.