I had such a splendid evening, it reminded me in a way of hanging out with some of ‘my’ students at the Rietveld Academy, we would always end up in weird places, meeting people and not knowing what would be next. I went to the Times by public transport and called CS. to come and collect me since you need a special pass to get into the building. CS. and Christina both had to finish off some things and then we took a cab to Saffron Hill.
The exhibition was not really what we expected it to be, it wasn’t actually photography but more like collages made of photographs, some odd and some beautiful. I brought my camera but forgot to take pictures because I ended up talking to MvdM. who invited CS. to the exhibition. It turned out he’s Dutch. I’ve met the first Dutch person in London but I still wonder where the others seem to be hiding… MvdM. showed us around the building, the office etc. and we got a gift from one of his colleagues which was in a white carton box.
Anyway, we left after about an hour and half to get something to eat. I had two glasses of wine on an empty stomach which wasn’t such a good idea… While we were talking outside the building MvdM. came to us and told us he was on his way to another exhibition of a Dutch photographer and invited us to come along. So we did… We took a cab up north but to be honest, I have no idea where I was… Daft, I know, but my brain gave up on me by the time we got there and it refused to work till about 16.00 this afternoon. [It was Hoxton… found out later when I was sober again.]
We found the place and I ended up talking to several Dutch people which was actually quite cool and at times confusing [I tend to mix up English and Dutch when I’m drunk, or forget Dutch words and come up with the English translation… what’s wrong with me?] The exhibition was nice, but we were late and it was about to close. We ended up going to a pub which was around the corner, there was a crowd of us, about 20 people all different nationalities, all creative people, photographers, graphic designers, web developers etc.
People kept asking me questions about the contents of the box, since I was ‘a bit’ drunk I kept telling them my dead hamster was in there, while shaking the box. I told them he was so stiff you could hear his bones rattle. You should’ve seen their faces, hilarious! I met a really nice English lady who asked my phone number, she’s a photographer and would be in Amsterdam next week, she wanted to stay in touch so I gave her my business card. Met another photographer who gave me his business card. Met a Swiss girl who studies graphic design and her boyfriend a photographer who was also showing his photo’s at the second exhibition.
The pub was closing so we moved on to the next pub which was about a five minutes walk. There was a bouncer at the door [that’s odd to me but a good thing!] so I opened my bag to show him the contents, he just smiled at me and showed me in [that feels good actually… especially when you’re drunk] *wink* The pub was crowded but a fun place and again I had to keep a poker face while telling some people about a dead hamster in a box. I found myself talking to this English guy who told me he was a *ta da* graphic designer in the music industry. By the time I got fed up and tired the pub was closing and we took a cab to CS.’s. MvdM. came along, he lives just around the corner.
AS. took me home and had to put me to bed, I was too tired and drunk *yes I know, I’m terrible!* It’s been ages since I have been this drunk, I was in control till we got home, then I lost the plot completely. When I woke up at noon I could still feel the alcohol rush through my veins. Never again will I drink on an empty stomach, that’s a promise! I shall behave… honestly! We [MvdM. and myself] are going to organise a Dutch evening for English people, so they can try all the Dutch ‘goodness’: oliebollen, frikandellen, zuurkool met worst, hagelslag, Unox erwtensoep and haring met uitjes en zuur. I will prepare an Indonesian rice table [rijsttafel], it will be a blast.
I’ve met some really nice people and handed out a few business cards and got some in return, who knows what will be next…
My ‘dead hamster’ that I managed to get home in one piece 
Tag Archives: Pub
Horror Night Wasted
C. invited me to a party tonight, a farewell party for a -now- ex-colleague of the Times. We would take the bus so C. would come over to ours. Because she was running a bit late I. brought her over and decided to take us to Stratford because we had to change buses there. He took us to the bus station where we had to wait for ten minutes for the bus to arrive. When it did, it was jam-packed.
Just outside of Stratford a Caucasian man got of the bus clearly annoyed by two other guys who were black. The Caucasian guy tried to stay reasonable and tried to explain his annoyance to one of the guys but didn’t succeed, he then turned around to walk away but the moment he turned he got hit by the black guy. He hit the man so hard he hit him unconscious and he fell flat on his face. He was just lying there for ages not moving anything while a huge pool of blood started to flow from under his head/face.
I was totally horrified having to watch all this from the bus. Scared that the man had died. Chris and I ran up to the driver telling him not to leave because the man was still unconscious and bleeding severely. The bus driver called an ambulance. It took ages and I had to call A. just to vent. I felt so helpless and angry. Pointless violence, I just hate it. It was quite shocking to see and I was very emotional being a witness of all this…
Chris left her mobile number with the bus driver in case we had to come to the police station and point out the guys who did this or leave a statement. I have a very clear picture of what happened and what both guys looked like. They just ran off as fast as they could. Tossers. Anyway after about 15 minutes the man was conscious again but still suffering from memory loss. As soon as the ambulance was there we left and took the next bus down town being totally absent-minded.
I didn’t really feel like going to a party anymore because I had this looping movie in my head. I needed a strong drink to be honest. We got off the bus halfway and took a cab to the Ivory House where we were supposed to meet up at the Bang Bar. After finishing two bottles of wine I had a really nice evening I have to admit… Chris and I both had a great time. I’ve met some people from the Times, also got into a conversation with a total stranger. Some Italian guy, who probably still has to come out of the closet and find himself being gay.
He moved here two months ago and knew no-one. So we ended up comparing situations. I handed out my business card to several people and will have to meet up with one of the designers for lunch. He was interested in and impressed by my knowledge, which is good because it’s networking and will bring me possible assignments. He made it all sound promising! Like all graphic designers do at some point I will have to exchange some software since I promised him… Funny how that always seem to happen, must be a designers thing…
At one in the morning I hailed a cab and we drove home to I.’s where him and A. have been composing music all evening. It was good to be back again. I had a really nice evening even though it didn’t start off well. Met some really nice people, had a good laugh and got pretty wasted. Talked to Christina and Nicole again who I’ve met at the Barbie auction preview at Christie’s [see post and pics here –>]
I can’t remember when I was this wasted; it has been quite a while since I have been taking meds that didn’t allow me to drink alcohol… Let’s hope there will be some assignments soon…