Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues

 

Thinking is under-rated.  I had one of those days today, where travelling gives you time to think, at least on the train anyway, but first, lets have  bitch about a couple of things.

 

I listened to a report in the BBC News website about a Ryan Air flight that lost cabin pressure at 30,000 feet.  The pilots made a rapid decent to 8000 feet and then went on to land the plane safely, with all passengers and crew surviving.  The news reporter was giving a grilling to the owner of Ryan Air, i guess, he was trying to make a name for himself, claiming that the passengers were not kept informed of what was happening.  Some so called arctic explorer who was also on the plane also claimed this was the case.  Here’s the thing.  At 30,000 feet, there is not enough air for you to breath.  At that height, you will pass out within 12 seconds.  At 8000 feet, you can breath and survive without cabin pressure – anywhere in between, the cabin crew, pilots and passengers are all breathing from their oxygen masks to remain concious – how the hell are they meant to make P.A. announcements at the same time? – if i was a passenger on that flight, i would have dragged the pilots out of the cockpit, into a pub and bought them both a guiness.  I am a bit miffed with the BBC – i always trusted them for integrity and truth in their reporting, not sensationalising to make headlines.

 

Now to Portugal

 

This morning in Lagos, the woman in front of me at the ticket office in the train station asked if the man behind the counter spoke english.  He said ‘No’ and then ignored her.  she walked away , dazed and confused.  I asked for my ticket in my best portuguese, and the ticket man answered me in english when he asked for the money – what a wanker!!!  I went over to the girl and asked her if i could help her……..all she wanted was to know the cost of a ticket to Faro.

 

On the upside – a one way ticket from Lagos to Tunes (an hours train ride) cost less than 3€ – stick that in your british shag pipe and smoke it !!!

 

Now to the good stuff

 

I just really dig going on the train.  I got on at Tunes and got my ipod out and hit the playlists.  As we chugged out of the Algarve and into the Alentejo, the sun finally came through the clouds, at about the same time that Mr. E’s Beautiful Blues came on – If you know the song, you will appreciate the perfect timing.  If you don’t know it, click the link –  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VvhN3x15ZU&feature=related

 

Then, as if by magic, the waiter appeared and gave me food and beer.  And this is when it gets even wierder – my first sip of beer was also acompanied, in perfect timing, by another song – ‘Novocaine for the soul’ – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sHj6V1lfek

 

Watching the countryside flash by is very comforting.  sometimes i would realise that i had a great big grin on my face, and wonder if the other passengers thought this would be a little wierd?

 

I was also treated to ‘Everlong’ by the foo’s – if you dont know that song, you must be dead already….not the perfectly balanced acoustic version that Max so kindly sent me, but the full on foot tapping stomper – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H0BMfqFP9c

 

 Crossing the bridge into lisbon, the perfect companion, Dido, sang Mary’s in India while i stared through the metalwork to the water below.

 

I was massively distressed earlier this week when Meredith Grey died………i was of course completely shocked, somewhere along the lines of when Dr. Green died in ER but i guess life goes on……..one thing is for sure though – for a profession that saves a lot of lives – Doctors do seem to die a lot!!!