Did he get to Eedinburger? Well, did he??

Let's see how good you all are... let's have a vote. All those who think I am in Edinburgh now raise your hand...

Alright. Now, all those who think I didn't get good enough to go to Edinburgh, raise your hand...

Hmm, very interesting. Well, you'll have to scroll down a bit to see who was right.





































Alright. Here's the answer for those who care enough to scroll. I'm sitting here, on a Friday night at 11:59pm at... Peter and Trudys! So no, I didn't get up to Edinburgh. My decision had to be made yesterday as I needed to get the bus tickets before this mornings departure. I woke up yesterday feeling a bit better, but not good enough to venture outside into the fricken freezing weather to get some stupid bus tickets. But I'm glad. Well, not really. I would have LOVED to get up there again, but it's just not worth it. I woke up today a bit better still, so I'm quite pleased to say that I'm on the mend. However, if it is the cold, then going up to Scotland would have done nothing but crap for me. So all is well.

I'm going to take it easy this weekend to make sure I'm good for Wednesday's Mars Volta concert. And then it's just waiting till Thailand on Saturday. Only 8 days now!! Woot!!! Yes, I'm just a bit excited about it all.

Apart from that, not much else to report. I did another video entry today, and it was a bit more animated than my other ones, so hopefully it'll be kinda interesting for people to watch. I still have no idea how the whole doco thing will go, but I'm going to try and put something together when I get back.

So that's it.

Raiting for today is a nice 6.3

Music I'm listening to: Rammstein - Live Aus Berlin

A quick update...

I'm sitting here at 1:22am and not doing a whole lot, so I thought I would quickly write a little something to let you all know what's been going since last post. Yesterday, on my way to Becky's to film an interview, in the tube station, I started to really cough uncontrollably and decided that I was just too worn out to go there, so I turned back around and went back to Peter and Trudy's place. Once there, the coughing subsided but for some unknown reason my body really started to ache. My back was killing me, and I had some chest pains. Nothing I haven't felt before, and they usually go away after a bit. But I woke up this morning and still had the same pains. My joints and muscles are aching quite a lot and it feels as though my chest is bruised quite badly. Whenever I breathe in deeply or cough it hurts up the top. I don't really think it's anything serious, but it's bad enough to make me cancel going out for curry tonight and going to the behind the scenes of the Jonathan Ross show tomorrow. I'm just really hoping that it will clear up tomorrow so I can still make it up to Edinburgh on Friday.

I'm thinking that it's because of the cold. I haven't ever had to deal with cold weather like this for an extended amount of time. I've been to the snow heaps, but that's only lasted a week. I'm hoping it's the cold anyway and not the flu. One good thing though is that my lungs themselves still seem to be alright. I'm not coughing up anything more - its just the rest of my body seems to be playing up. If it's what I think it is, which is nothing more than my body starting to react to the cold weather, then the only remedy is for me to relax and do nothing for a couple of days. Hence, going up to Scotland probably isn't the best idea.

If I'm still crap by next week, then I'll definitely have to go try and get some more Cipro (oral antibiotics). I really don't want to be sick for Thailand. In saying that as well, since the Cipro makes me really photosensitive, if I'm taking it while in Thailand, then it'll be pretty pointless going outside because I would burn like a red-headed Scot. But we won't jump the gun - I'll see how things go tomorrow and over the weekend and then take steps from there. I'll keep you all updated.

Also worthy of mention - I've made a few modifications to my links part. I have grouped them and added a few more, so when you get time to drift mindlessly through cyberspace, check a few of them out. Fun stuff.

Rating - (lungs) 6.5 (the rest of me) 5

What I'm listening to: Led Zeppelin - Madison Square Garden concert

Back in London

Yes, it has been a while. Even after a week, I still think Edinburgh was so amazing I still haven't got sick of reminiscing about it. So much so that I actually got another ticket to go there this weekend. Woot! Really looking forward to that. But now I've almost got the problem of not having enough time in London to do all the things I want, which is quite a change from originally hating the place. Don't get me wrong, I still don't really like it here, but I finally had some ideas to do some stuff and now I might not be able to do all of it. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me briefly recap what's been going on the last week or so...

I got back from Edinburgh and stayed at Peter and Trudy's for one night before moving my bag to Becky's for the next 5 days. She lives in a very nice place in Hammersmith with some other lovely girls. So staying there was quite nice. The couch was extremely comfy! While there we spent a couple nights out on the town, getting late Italian dinner and wandering the streets. We also went to a birthday/going away party for one of Becky's friends that was definitely the highlight of my time over there. The bar was quite trendy, with pictures of trees in frames. Classy. The music started off with boring dance stuff, but before we knew it we had Bon Jovi and Guns 'N Roses blaring through the speakers! Just awesome! So as you can imagine there was dorky dancing a plenty to be had by me and Pete. And last night, actually, not last night, but my last night there, we went to a Thai place for dinner near her house, and man, it was friggen fantastic. The best Thai food I've had since I can remember. But I'm sure I'll be treated to something of equal niceness when I actually go there in a couple of weeks. Only 12 days to go! Oooh yeah baby!

So yes, back at Pete and Trudys. As comfy as the couch was, it's nice to have a bed again. But back to what I was saying at the start. My time here is going to be really busy now. Today is actually not going to be so hectic. I'm going to Becky's tonight to interview her, as well as get my diggie camera which I left there. So quite relaxing really. Then tomorrow I'm going to try and get some shopping done, maybe in Camden Markets again, and then have curry with Becky and a work friend of hers at Brickworks, which should be quite nice. Then on Thursday I've got the Jonathan Ross rehearsal run through, where I'll be treated to the behind the scenes stuff. Friday morning I leave for Edinburgh for the weekend. Come back Tuesday morning, Then on Wednesday night I have the Mars Volta concert. Thursday I'm going to hopefully get together with a German cf friend of mine who is coming to London for a bit. Then I leave on Saturday. Phew! See? From bitching about not having anything to do for ages to having so much in so little time, it's a bit annoying. Oh well, whatevs.

The only other thing worthy of note, well, it's not that worthy, but I want to mention it anyway, is that it's friggen cold here now. We've been having day highs of about 5 or so, and the frost in the morning is hanging around in some areas until lunch time. It's been completely clear and sunny days, which is quite nice to be out in, except for the fact that it makes it that much colder. They say there could even be snow on Friday. Now that's cold. It would be great to see some snow though. All this cold thought has really got me hanging out for some sun (warm sun) and the beach. Where am I going to get that?? Hey, wait a minute, I'm going to Thailand. Yeah, that'll do.

Health is going pretty nicely. Not too much change there. I've finished the Cipro, so it's back to just phyiso and general looking after myself. But so far nothing too bad has happened, which is very nice. Except for the polyps in my nose (basically a pea size growth that grows in the sinuses - quite common in cf). It's in my left nostril at the moment, and completely blocks the airflow there. However, I've discovered when I lie down on my right side, it miraculously clears up. So at least there is a remedy for the time being. I just have to walk around with my head cocked at a 90 degree angle. Not too bad... I'm going to get Alice to bring my nose spray to Thailand so I can try and control the growth of it there. But I'm thinking the most it will do is slow down the growth, not acutally get rid of it, and eventually I'll need to get them removed again. The only way is surgery, and it involves a general anesthetic. Now, normally that doesn't cause too much trouble. But I've had polyps removed at least 10 times, which means at least 10 anesthetics, and they really aren't the best thing for you (anesthetics). Especially if you have a lung condition. On average it takes me about 10 months to get over a general anesthetic - for my lung function to return to normal. So as you can see, I'm not that keen on getting another one since the last one I had was only a couple of years ago. But we'll just have to wait and see how that progresses...

So that's about all I think. Hope everyone is well, and I'll try and be a bit more frequent with the updates.

Rating - 6.9

What I'm listening to: Baterz - Out of Hell & Live and Well

Black pudding, haggis and whiskey - Hello Edinburgh! - Updated

Well, after looking forward to going to Scotland all week, I'm glad to say that I wasn't disappointed. Man, that place rocks! So much so, that I'm hoping to get there again before I leave the UK. But let's get back to the story...

So on Thursday night I hopped on the sleeper train for Edinburgh at 11:30pm. I managed to get two seats to myself so I could squeeze into an uncomfortable sleeping position. I arrived on a crisp morning, without any rain or drizzle. so I was quite pleased with that. I was meeting Tamara at a cafe at 9:45, so I walked around the city for a few hours to pass the time. I was just so impressed with the buildings and everything there. Such an awesome looking city. After waiting around for Tamara to meet me, we went for a walk about and went back to her place. A very nice apartment next to some parklands.

For dinner, I was treated to the fine food of haggis. Man, that stuff is good! It's kinda like a really salty mince meat. Kinda. Not really, but it's all I can think of to compare it to. Anyway, mix it with mash potato and gravy, and it's one fine feed! Anyway, so after that we went to a pub and I got to meet some of her friends and we stayed there until the wee hours of the morning.

Saturday was spent sleeping in till 2pm, hanging around the house and then catching the bus to Glasgow for the night. Again, I got to meet some of Tam's friends, who were nice enough to let me crash there for the night. We went to a pub to start the night off, then went to a kidna dingy social club for some dancing. It was really funny - when we arrived there was a band playing. Now, I hear you all laughing, but hold on to your hats. I haven't even got to the funny part yet. They were quite young - prob no older than early 20's. It was kinda crap British punk rock, complete with tone deaf singer. It was really funny - here were these kids rocking their hearts out, sounding quite averagely, and the audience was a mix of old people, young people and middle age people sitting at tables talking to each other. I don't know if I'm managing to get across this image, but suffice to say it made me giggle.

After the band finished, a DJ started pumping out tunes from the 80's and 90's. It was a lot of fun. Lots of dancing. Not by me though - not because I'm too cool for such an activity. Far from it. I just wasn't really in the mood. Yep, that's it. Pretty exciting hey? Yeah, anyway...

The next morning we decided to take advantage of the sunshine and went for a walk in the park. Had a nice breakfast/lunch, and hopped on the bus back home to Edinburgh. While on the bus, Tam got a call from her friend saying that I had left something there. Then it hit me - my stupid neb. Ah dear, how appropriate. Jaan forgets something else. Then when we got off the bus, I realised I left my beanie on board. Just so typical... The neb was organised to be shipped to London by today, but it still hasn't arrived yet, so I don't know what's going on there... hopefully soon it will come.

So yesterday, since it was a Monday, I had the day to myself to explore some more of the city of Edinburgh. I walked around the old city for a couple of hours, then decided to do a spot of shopping and go up to the castle. It has a pretty impressive view of the city from up there. So I managed to get some filming done, and did some exercise in the process. The night was finished off with a fine stir fry, then a quick run out the door to the taxi to get me to the train station.

I need a shower so this next part is going to be brief. The train was delayed for about 20 mins, since my carriage didn't have any electricity for some reason. We started off for London in pitch black, except for the glow sticks used along the aisle. But then the train stopped in the middle of nowhere and we were told to make our way up the train. I was quite tired and grumpy, but then my mood lightened up suddenly when I was shown to my own private sleeper room. How cool is that?? We got to have a bed each. As we were walking through the dining cart people were getting really shitty that we were getting sleepers. He he, suckers.

So I had a nice sleep on the train, got to rainy London at 7am, and managed to find my way to Peter and Trudy's after much running around London Bridge station getting lost. Lots of fun. As I said at the start, I loved Edinburgh so much that I'm trying to get there again before I leave England. Maybe next weekend... but until then I've got the Mars Volta on the 29th, so that should be alright. But for now, I'm off to have a shower, relax and do some physio. Considering I haven't had any nebs for a couple of days and I've finished my course of Cipro, I'm not feeling too bad but I have a feeling that I'll need to keep on top of things so make sure I don't get any sicker. But so far not too bad. Not as good as I was a week ago, but no where near as bad as I was when I first arrived in London. Woot!

I also have a new goal for my remaining time in London - to try and get to as many free things as possible, which includes lots of BBC shows, like Countdown and various radio shows. It will pass the time and could be entertaining...

Rating - 6.5

It should be mentioned that I didn't actually try any black pudding or whiskey, but since they are associated with Scotland, I thought it would make for a cool title for the entry...

Yes, this is updated. You read correctly. Just thought you should all know that this morning at a bright and early 10:30am the postie came past and delivered my nicely packed neb! So none of you have to worry anymore about me not being able to breathe in the goodness of tobrimycin and pulmozyme!

A new section:
Yep I've decided to add yet another fantastic section to my already stupendiously cool blog. It's called "What I'm listening to". Basically it's another excuse for some more self indulgent goodness. Since I listen to so much stuff, I thought I would let you all know what I've been listening to, just so you can get a better idea of the sounds drifting through my ears as I wait in bus depots, train stations, sleep... whatevs. And maybe even I could introduce you guys to some really cool stuff that you may not know of...

What I'm listening to: The Bedridden - The Anthem of the Crown & Anchor

A bit of something exciting to report...

I guess you're all wondering "what's this guy on about?". Well, I'll tell you. Last night, Pete and I had the privilege of going to a recording of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (thanks Ange and Karen!), who is basically England's version of Rove, but he's actually funny. Well, it started with me having to find my own way to the BBC studio's as Pete was working, so that was a bit of a journey in itself. I had to catch a train, then two tubes to get there. I won't excite you all with the details as I think you just may wet your pantaloons, but suffice to say it was exhilarating! Anyway, we got there, got our tickets and made our way to the green room for pre-show drinks. That was a bit of alright. Then we got shown to the studio and got our seats. Pretty good ones too - only about 4 rows back and centre.

Now I had no idea who was going to be on the show, but from guests he's had in the past, I was quietly confident that there would be at least SOMEONE that we would have been excited to see. And boy was I right! First up, there was Shane Ritchie, who is an actor here in a soapie. Nothing to complain about. Then came Jimmy Carr, who is a British comedian for those who don't know. Quite a funny guy. Then came the two biggest guests of the night, Cameron Diaz and our very own Toni Collette, who were there promoting their new movie which the title escapes me. I have to admit that I was a bit star struck. Ah, what the hell. I was in the same room, only about 10 metres away from some very famous people! Woot! Alright, now that's out of my system, on with the story.

They were really funny to watch, and the interview was quite laid back. Jonathan Ross somehow got on to them talking about how they can burp really well, and halfway through the interview got them to start drinking champagne to try and help those burps out. So by the end they were quite on their way to getting pised, which was very funny for all! They were on for at least half an hour, pretty much just chatting away. It was very cool.

Then to finish the night off Green Day treated us to one of their numbers. Now, while I'm only a Green Day fan of old, I'll admit that they played very well and by about halfway through the song, my feet were a tappin'. But yeah, enough of me trying to be a tv critic. It was just damn fun alright?? Get off my case!

So again, since we were production guests, we got to go to the green room for post-show drinks. Only Jimmy Carr came in to talk with some people, but that was alright. I didn't really expect the others to come wandering in. But Pete and I got a chance to talk to Karen, who's a producer on the show (she's the one who got us tickets). She was such a lovely lady, and even gave me 4 bottles of beer and a bottle of wine to take home with me. She also said to me that I could come back to the studio to have a look behind the scenes while they do a rehearsal run, which would be friggen awesome! Watching the show really got me thinking that I would love to be involved in something like that. So at the moment I've got a new goal in life to work on a tv show. Movies are fun, but this just looked much more like my cup of tea. But knowing me, this is probably just another fad I'm going through.

The only bad thing about the night was that there was absolutely NO photography of any kind. Otherwise I would have gone mad. I was quite tempted though to bring out the diggie and switch it to video... So yes, we ended up getting out of the studio around midnight, caught the tube to Chinatown and got some dinner. Then I realised on the way home I managed to lose Pete's keys, so once again typical hopeless Jaan has made an appearance. But we got home, went to bed, and today I spent doing my washing and watching tv. Hmm, that was quite a anti-climax. Who cares...

So health is still going good. I've just about finished my course of Cipro, so I'm hoping I'll keep good once I'm off them. I'm going to Scotland tomorrow night, so looking forward to spending the weekend there and catching up with Tamara, a wicked girl I met in Montreal during the Kino Kabaret. So yes, that's all from me for now. I think that's quite long enough anyway...

Raiting - 7.4

Another update from London

at picadilly
Originally uploaded by jaanus83.

Believe it or not, but I've actually been doing some stuff (all the credit go to Pete and Truds for getting me out of the house), so I thought I would let you all know about it. Yesterday I was treated to a... well, a treat. You see, at the same time every night, without fail, there is the ceremony of the keys, which is where they lock up the place where the Crown Jewels are kept. So at 10 o'clock every night, they go through the same ceremony as they have been for the last 400 or so years. It's pretty impressive. And to make the night even more perfect, there were fireworks going off all over the place because it's Guy Forks night, which is a celebration of a guy kinda like the English Ned Kelly. So every year its celebrated by blowing lots of shit up. Heaps of fun! So imagine being in the castle, watching these guards in ye olde clothes and what-not passing the keys and locking up the huge doors, and hearing all this explosions and bangs. It really felt like it was back in war times. Very cool.

So yes, we did that. Then today we went to Hampden Court to have a walk and look around. Now, this being my first palace, I was quite impressed. I'm sure there are many more impressive ones, but I loved it. I'm also sure after seeing a few they will all lose their novelty, but for the moment, it's pretty cool stuff. So hopped on a train, drove there, walked around for a while, then came home. Wow, that sounded much dumber than I thought in my head. Anyway, I put a couple of photos up from today and when I went to that circus place.

I guess the only other thing worthy of mention is that I'm still improving in health, which I can't tell you how happy I am. However, today was a bit crapper, as I had a late night last night, and I haven't done too much physio the last couple of days. My bad. But I promise I will get back on top of it this week. So yes, lungs are getting much better and I'm not feeling nearly as crap as I was before.

The weather is also starting to get a bit colder now as well. Today was filled with clouds and drizzle. Not the most happy weather, but I guess it's what to expect from London. I'm still trying to figure out the cheapest way to get to Edinburgh, it may have to be a combination of bus and train. I don't know why I just said that, but I'm too lazy to delete it (and I am aware of the irony of it taking me more effort to type all that out rather than delete it, so don't point that out to me!).

Better head off to beddy now. Keep those emails coming. It's very nice to hear what's going on from everyone reading this thing...

Raiting - 7.3

Word verification

Ey,

I'm just writing to apologise for making you all do that word verification thingy that pops up when you want to leave a comment. It's just that I'm getting so many crap comments about weiners wanting you to see their intolerable sites, it's just got too much. So sorry, but don't let that stop you all leaving your hilarious statements about the world and bananas.

Pommy land

someone's cathedral
Originally uploaded by jaanus83.

Hey all,

How ya all been? Well I'm coming to you live from London, England. I haven't been doing a whole lot since arriving, but I will let you all know what that nothing has been since it's been a while.

My last day in Toronto was pretty cool. I went to the Human Body exhibition at the Toronto Science Centre. It's an exhibition where there are all these models of people's insides that have been made with real organs from dead people. Pretty impressive stuff! So there are all these manaquins that are made from real people: some sliced up, some stripped back to muscles, some with nothing but bones. Very interesting. So I had to leave there at 3 to make sure I could get to the airport by 6 or so. Man it sucks living in a big city - so much organising for things like flying. Nothing like lil' ol' Adelaide! Oh, how I miss that place...

Anyway, so I got to the airport, and to my surprise I wasn't allowed to check in with the luggage I had. Apparantly my suitcase that had all my meds in it was too heavy. So I had to try and repack all my stuff so that the suitcase was reduced to 6kg from 12kg. I took out all of my books as well as everything else that was in the suitcase apart from the meds. It still came to over 8kg, and I was starting to stress. But luckily the lady said that would be alright and let me on. Only thing is that Paul had to take home a huge collection of books and crap which he'll have to post me. So annoying.

So then the plane was delayed - more fun. But finally we left and were on our way to London. It was only a 6 and a half hour flight, so not too long. However, it was one of the crappiest flights. Not turbulent or anything like that, but the air condition really affected me something chronic. My throat was so dry, as was my nose, even though I was drinking like a fish. Was quite uncomfortable. And I've come to another conclusion - I can NOT sleep on planes, no matter how tired I am. I was watching tv on there, was falling asleep, but then as soon as I actually tried sleeping, I was just stuck in this semi-conscious state where I was aware of my surroundings but felt totally out of it.

Finally landed - now for the next hassle. Because I didn't have Peter's address, no proof of how much money I had in the bank, and couldn't convince the customs people that I just wanted to travel around here for about a month, I was held back in customs for about 2 hours trying to get checked in. They had to go through ALL of my luggage, which meant unpacking my gear that took me half an hour to pack in Toronto airport, then for them to just say "Yeah, that's alright." Oooh, so annoying! But eventually I got through and met Peter with a very pissed off look (I had the look, Peter just laughed).

This is where it kinda gets boring, so I'll be quick. Went back to his place, went on a train to see some of the city, including some palace, some cathedral, some square, some grass, etc etc. Since then I've spent most of my days in front of the tv watching either Chappelle's Show, Family Guy, Simpsons, Extras (a new show by The Office guys) and entire seasons of Scrubs. VERY fun! And I think because of it my health is getting quite better. My cough has certainly dried up a bit, and I don't feel so sick on the inside. But still a bit of a way to go...

The weather here also is heaps warmer than Canada. Man, that place was cold! I couldn't believe it! But anyway, things here are alright. It's cool to see London after hearing and seeing so much about it on tv and movies and stuff, but I don't really think it's my kinda city. I think because I knew nothing about Canada, it was all so new that I just loved every minute of it. Whereas here, especially since I'm staying with more friends, it's reminding me more of home and making me miss it even more. That's alright though.

I have conformation that I have a bed in Scotland, so I'll be sure to take that up sometime soon, as well as catching up with Becky, a friend who moved over here quite a few months ago. But apart from that, I don't think I have too much planned.

I have a few more pics, but not many as I haven't had a chance to reduce the size. That may not happen until I get home... so you guys will just have to wait.

Rating - 6.2