Narrow boat holiday
June 9th, 2007
These pics were taken on our first narrow boat holiday with Chris and Pam. It was along the Llangollen Canal and we have some great memories of Chris on this trip. There were several adventures – most involving alcohol – but always in fantastic humor.
The picture of Chris on top of the narrow boat as it crossed the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct – some 120 feet above the River Dee is one we will always remember. He was up there to take some good pictures and ‘conquer his fear’.
When not steering – he would take his guitar and serenade the waterways and the surrounding wildlife – the sound was quite wonderful.
Julie and Barry
0 comments »Too much f***ing perspective!
May 6th, 2007
Christos, we always said you reminded us of Harry Shearer. So with that in mind, Jane, Mark and myself (Timbo) watched "This is Spinal Tap" in your honour last night ! The qoute that sprung out at us, was the scene at Gracelands (Elvis).....and we know that you would laugh your ASS-OFF when we say.... "Kind of puts it in perspective doesn't it ? Yeah,..... too much F*cking perspective !!!"
Also, as an after thought, and to paraphrase the words of Neil Young (which I know you would approve) "Hey hey my my, Rock and Roll will never die" ..........and neither will YOU ever, because of the wonderful memories you have left us. One particular occasion springs to mind !
Christos and Timbo in THE EDWARD THE 7th Pub, Stratford, E.15....(where we could be found most evenings in the early 90's....lets be honest) We, as per usual, selected some appropriate music from the duke-box which on this occasion included "Please, Please" by James Brown. Being extremely inebriated, I decided to do my impression of Mr. Brown which included me dropping to my knees, IN THE MIDDLE OF A CROWDED PUB, at the appropriate moment during the song. To my amazement, Chris (knowing exactly what I was doing and being on the same wavelength...i.e. DRUNK) picked up a long overcoat which I was using at the time, and draped it across my shoulders....in exactly the same way that James Brown had his backing singers do "live" on stage.
IT WENT DOWN SO WELL, WE GOT A ROUND OF APPLAUSE !!!
Well, that was it wasn't it !......for several weeks after that, we gave nightly performances to both friends, collegues and the unknown locals (who didn't quite know what the hell was going on)....and i'm sure to this day it's why i've got such bad knees ????? So I have you to blame Chris for my arthritic legs....but I wouldn't change it for the world.
I didn't have to ask him to do what he did, Chris instinctively JUST DID IT....but then HE ALWAYS DID READ THE SITUATION PERFECTLY !!! We always had such a great time (rounded off with a greasy kebab at the end of the evening)
How can this man EVER be forgotten......when he brought so much fun and laughter to mine and SO MANY others lives. Quite simply, he won't, not as long as we have memories such as this...and many more besides. Love always (and as Chris used to say "be good to each other")
TIMBO xxxxxxxxxx.
P.S. Will post some pic's and an original Christos cartoon when I get a moment. 0 comments »
Drunken Scrabble
May 3rd, 2007
This is a story I’ve told many times, but it’s a true story that deserves a re-telling.
This particular game occurred sometime around late 1989, when Chris lived with Janis in South Woodford. Janis was away doing a play or something and I met up with Chris and Derek who had spent most of the evening in the pub. I wasn’t drinking because I was driving, but Derek and Chris were very well lubricated. And by the time Chris suggested we go back to his flat for a game of Scrabble, his pupils were large black discs and his bottom lip had started to become apout.
This was the first time I’d played Scrabble with Chris, and Chris’s level of inebriation led me to sense an easy kill; and as the game commenced, with more alcohol being consumed, there was nothing to disabuse me of that notion. By the time we neared the end of the game, my sobriety was in stark contrast to that of my opponents. On an alcohol-content scale of 1-10, I was a 1, Derek a 5 and Chris an 8.5, so naturally I had a significant enough lead to feel confident that I was going to win, but still impressed by Chris’s ability to have been able to find words through the mist of alcohol, andy not in the least bit surprised when he disappeared for about 15 minutes to go and talk to god on the great white telephone.
We were on our last tiles and I didn’t want to abort the game, and was about to suggest to Derek that we just continue without Chris, when he staggered back into the room. He clutched the back of his chair and appeared to try to focus on something as he swayed, clearly trying to make sense of his last tiles. Derek and I watched him, expecting him to fall at any minute, or to say “oggay…i gown da bed…” or something equally resignatory. But he just stood there and swayed a little more before leaning forwards to clutch drunkenly at his tiles, taking each one and pressing it down with great deliberation onto the board to form a word. He then turned and left the room, lurching back out through the doorway to stagger down the hall. We heard a groan, some squeaky springs and a hollow thump as his body obviously hit the bed. Derek went to check on him and returned to confirm that Chris had in fact passed out. We both looked at the scrabble board to look at the nonsense word Chris had laid down before going.
It was a seven letter word.
A real seven letter word. an extra 50 points
A real seven letter word that hit a triple word score.
A real seven letter word that hit a triple word score that won him the game.
He was snoring as we let ourselves out.
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