Reading Roars!

Train travel these days isn’t what it used to be (I’m recalling the days of my youth).  Now you have to contend with, famously, the wrong kind of leaves/snow/sun, not actually getting a seat to sit on and scrambling for a good place to stand, and rocketing fares.  Some things never change, however, and that includes bomb scares, for indeed we had them pre-2001, when terrorism was just as real, only less fashionable.

Last weekend Reading Station was evacuated again as a passenger/customer (delete as appropriate) told train guards that she had left an “explosive device” i.e. a bomb on board a carriage.  She allegedly said “We are all going to die.  You will see.  You will all see.”  Technically, her statement was correct as, fortunately, our lives are finite.

Interestingly, the passenger/customer was arrested on suspicion of making false communications, taken to Reading police station “where she was bailed until January 20″.  Other people have not been so lucky.

The annual music extravaganza that is Reading Festival is likely to be known officially as… Reading Festival.  Festival Republic, who organise the event every August, and sponsors Carling have decided to split “to pursue new opportunities”.

I wholeheartedly welcome this development, believing that names such as “Emirates Stadium”, “Reebok Stadium” and “Carling Weekend” sound supremely silly (I don’t think much of Carling products either, though their marketing is usually excellent).  The Madejski Stadium is an exception, by the way, named after an individual, rather than brand…

A very warm welcome goes to Wendy, who will soon be returning to the UK, and specifically Reading, after time spent in Seattle.  Wendy has a brilliantly-written blog named The Wendy House, in which she will

be covering the unique and much maligned experience that is ‘Reading’ in many upcoming blog posts

I’m liking how Wendy is explaining the correct pronunciation of Reading to her US readers.  So far we have had “bedding”, “sledding”, “wedding”, “heading”, “Redding” and “head-ping”.  Then there is “bark sure”!

This also made me smile:

Reading fair buzzes on a Sunday night.  The ladies are often not wearing much some even had their boobs and other bits out in the November night air.  I guess the escapes of US female celebrities really have set the tone for a night on the town here.

I don’t think female celebrities are to blame here…

A must-read.

Time flies when you’re having fun.  Several glorious days in beautiful Prague were spent before I commenced a new job in London, entailing regular rail travel in and out of the capital. 

Very seldom do I get a seat on the train.  Those few occasions (three, I think, out of 20 trips to date) when I was able to sit down were when leaving Paddington in the early evening (and only because I boarded 15 minutes prior to departure).  It makes me wonder, perhaps naively, why another, lesser, class is not introduced, as the reality is that some passengers/customers are not getting Standard Class quality, but sub-standard (or Standing).  Passengers forced to stand in the aisle or, worse, by a toilet, must be feeling very angry indeed.

One angry commuter from the Reading area is responsible for I Hate First Great Western, as far as I’m concerned one of the most important blogs in the Universe.  It’s bold and it’s damning.  If asked to take just one blog with me to a desert island (and I would choose Bora Bora), it would be this one. 

There is another important blog I should mention: In Defence of First Great Western.  This blog is written by a First Great Western insider.  Since the train operator, in my opinion, is woefully bad at communicating with its customers, this blog is a godsend.

Let the blogging battle begin.