2002 September Archive at Life Less Literary

Been meaning to post some more here for ages… but been very busy, and avoiding computers for extra curricular activities… and somehow I just can’t be bothered most of the time. I do keep coming out of the cinema feeling strong emotions and thinking “I must write that down”, like after Ivans XTC when I felt depressed as hell, or after The Minority Report when I felt kinda invogorated and extra-perceptual and hollywoodized, or after Once Upon a Time in the Midlands when I felt like I’d just seen a film that wasn’t as good as it ought to be.

But none of these ever made it to the blog. So… today I do have something to write about in a small way. I lived through an earthquake last night. Heh heh… not that there was much to live through, OK so it was pretty minor, but I’ve never knowingly been in an earthquake before, so it was… interesting (and nothing like standing on that wobbling platform in the fake-Tokyo inside the Natural History Museum).

It was nearly 1am. I was still up, tidying up loose ends of work on the computer - actually, I was sat in front of the telly for a while watching John Wayne make a fool of himself and getting all nostalgic over the London of my youth in Brannigan. The first thing I noticed was the noise - really scary, like nothing I’d ever heard before. It was coming underground towards me, fast. Reminded me very much of a sandworm approaching from Dune. That was the worst part really - knowing there was something approaching, but not knowing what it was. Sitting there for about 30 seconds with it building up, waiting to find out what was going on. Then it hit… except it didn’t really. It was just like a very large lorry drove past the house, a little shake but no more, and it must’ve lasted no longer than a second. Then the same sound again… but now going away. I thought at first that it must’ve been a lorry - OK, really big ones don’t come down our road, like they used to outside our old house, but maybe it was some really huge juggernaut passing a few roads away. At the same time I thought “no, it was an earthquake”, but I told myself that was a stupid idea, this is England, it was just a lorry so forget it. I heard later that lots of people thought it was a bomb, Al Quaida attack, whatever… the thought never even crossed my mind.

Then when I woke up this morning, Gill said to me “did you feel an earthquake last night?” And we both sat up like “NO SHIT!” Moments later Cath rang to ask the same question… apparently her wardrobes were shaking and stuff… and as she was on the phone we heard the news report on the radio. So we knew we weren’t mad. And there are earthquakes in England.