Matt The Pig

Tuesday 21st December, 2010 to Monday 17th January, 2011 They say that time flies when you’re having fun and if that’s the case then I guess I must be. When I last blogged the decorations were being hung in preparation for the fast approaching festive season which now only eight weeks later seems but a distant memory. Was it really only eight weeks ago ? Apparently so and no sooner had the sprouts and stuffing digested themselves in the inevitable haze of toxic rectal mustard gas than I found myself digging the spare mattress out in preparation for my final visitor of 2010 and first of 2011. Jamie’s visit was a whirlwind that encompassed a new year’s eve on which he bizarrely opted to stay home alone proffering the grand fatherly advice “you go out and ... read more

Saturday 4th September to Monday 6th September, 2010. When Adriana had insisted that I change my planned destination for the next two nights of my trip from Cali to Cartagena she hadn’t really explained why, just said that it would be preferable for me and in the absence of any specific ‘things to see and do’ plans I had no reason to question her. She certainly never gave me an inkling as to exactly how much different Cartagena, the jewel in the crown of Colombia’s 1000 mile Caribbean coastline would prove to be from Bogota. Talk about chalk and cheese. Bogota, South America’s third highest capital city at an altitude of 2600 meters is afflicted with all the weather patterns associated with such an elevated location that reminded me very much of home. Chilly, depressingly dark ... read more

Tuesday June 8th to Wednesday September 1st, 2010 Global warming, we’ve all heard of it, the apparent increase in our planet’s near surface air and water temperatures and it’s projected continuation. I could have no arguments with the validity of such claims during my week long UK stay in June when following a beautiful week in Portugal temperatures and the accompanying humidity reached uncomfortably clammy proportions. however, reports from back home since my return relaying stories of incessant July rainfall could tempt me to say that the theory is basically just a crock of shit. Grey May and June Gloom are the name’s given to Southern California’s two least sun soaked month’s of the year, a period of time when the coast is invariably masked with a low layer of marine stratus cloud which invariably doesn’t ... read more

Friday January 15th to Tuesday 9th March, 2010 Closed since September for a maintenance and upkeep programme that consisted of one vacuuming, two scrubs of the pan and a wipe of the window sills the 'Sty' officially once again opened it’s doors to visitors in mid January with the visit of my old compadre Paul ‘Moose’ Murray. I’d been waiting in anticipation of our reunion at LAX arrivals for over half an hour when he finally emerged into view, a solitary sports bag no bigger than Dick Whittington’s hamper slung haphazardly across his shoulder, wearing a scowl and scuttling across the concourse at a pace that depicted a man on a mission whilst nervously scanning around, presumably for me, like a meerkat on the lookout for predators. If I was Customs and Excise I’d have had ... read more

Saturday November 21st to Friday December 11th, 2009. Quite what would possess someone who loathes even the mere thought of sitting behind a steering wheel to drive 1200 miles in three days is anyone’s guess. A quest for adventure ? Most likely, I’m still trying to fathom it out myself to be honest but not wanting to miss the opportunity that the long Thanksgiving weekend had afforded whilst unbelievably turning down offers of not one but two turkey dinners in the process that was exactly what I did, proposed destination the world’s biggest hole in the ground, The Grand Canyon. With tickets for Tiesto’s LA concert on the Saturday night already purchased I had just three days. The plan, if it could be described as such was to motor out to the Canyon in one long ... read more