Hellkitty.com

The Bristol Comic Expo wrapped up on a very rainy, pretty day. Had a great chat with Rich Johnston about must see television from both sides of the Atlantic (got ourselves a huge list of items to hunt down). Attended the infamous Hypotheticals Panel and had a good laugh. And then closed the day back at the show doing some final sketches.

On the way back to the hotel we stopped by St. Mary's to have a look inside. It's an ancient church that was absolutely fascinating. By the South entrance is the grave of the "celebrated church cat" and the very notion made us smile. Inside we were greeted by some very pleasant Stewards who invited us into the upcoming service. They let us wander about while the choir and the enormous pipe organ warmed up.

In the North Transept there was a "Chaotic Pendulum". A sign told visitors how the pendulum was a part of "St. Mary Redcliffe's Journey Into Science Project, challenging us to think about our universe." This pendulum would swing either way depending on how a drop of water landed on a bar, basically demonstrating chaos theory and in turn how the universe is filled with marvelous mysteries. Loved it. So much better than the stuffiness of Westminster Abbey.

(Oh and speaking of that one priest who insisted we not listen in on his tour, after talking with Brian the other night there came an opportunity to use a bit of trivia learned from that day in an upcoming issue! Take that mister you're-not-allowed-to-learn-anything-without-special-permission-guy! Nyah nyah!)

Back at the hotel we decided to have dinner at the Phoenix (Ian wanted a chance at the food after I went on about it). During our meal a man at a nearby table with a stateside accent started loudly complaining to the waiter about his starter. We were stunned listening to this jerk who thought paying "six bucks for four pieces of asparagus was ridiculous!" He kept going on and on and then demanded that a manager be called. The staff were very diplomatic and polite, offering to give him the starter for free but he kept at it, booming about how this place wasn't the Plaza Hotel in New York, and how he'd been all around the world and what was so special about this asparagus that it would cost that much?

We marveled at his gall, and then came the final straw: as he got louder and louder he claimed that he had lived in the UK for a year and then asked the waiter, who's accent was European, how long he had been here. And that's when Ian jumped in and called him on his rudeness.

The guy turned and yelled at Ian asking him to stay out of their business and Ian snapped back saying he was the one being rude to everyone in the restaurant with his uncalled for comments.

He continued stupidly and Ian stood his ground (so proud of him). And finally, when the staff appeared looking nervous Ian made his statement "We're done" to which the asswipe responded "I'LL SAY WHEN WE'RE DONE!" in true Marlboro-Man fashion.

We just grinned at this incredibly retarded git. All he could do was turn back to the waiter and yell for his bill. He and his very timid girlfriend got up and left for the door and we really couldn't help but snicker at his outfit, stained t-shirt, bad fitting track pants and the grungiest plastic flip flops ever.

Holy shit, that's real world class traveller attire all right.

We thanked the staff for a very nice dinner and headed over to the Ramada to see if friends were in the lobby. There was a comment card on the table and I just had to commemorate the evening's happenings:


Just a reminder to all, it's always a good idea to be nice to people because you never know when you'll be in the vicinity of a cartoonist with a photographic memory.

And heyyy! Spaced is on channel Four! All right!