Gallimaufry

So, Frank Turner did a free gig at The Flowerpot last night, which was nice of him. He did it with only 3 and a half hours as well, which was even nicer. And, in his words, he ‘did this gig for free beer’.

That comment was fine, and I don’t doubt accurate, and the songs were mega, as usual. But his banter between songs started to grate. Most of it was drink related:

‘So, I was touring in America recently, with these people who can drink Jamieson like it’s water. And I thought I was hardcore but they were really something. Toughened me up though.’

‘So I’m going to play a few more songs then I’ll fuck off and I can get on with the business of getting drunk, which is why I’m here.’

No, that’s not why he was there. He was there to play songs. Which he did. But it was a bit disrespectful and immature to declare that the main reason he was there was to get wasted.

On a wider, moral philosophical point, why do people show off about getting drunk? Yesterday morning, before Frank Turner started banging on about how cool he was for drinking, my girlfriend got this text from one of our friends:

‘OMG OMG I am SO hungover it’s ridiculous. I’ve only just woken up! I can’t even get out of bed! I blame you! How are you feeling?’

Ok;

1. This was around midday. Late to get up for a full time professional who works 9 to 5, but not particularly late for a student. Waking up at midday isn’t unusually late; in fact, it’s a perfectly average time.

2. Why did she blame my girlfriend? Any drinks that our friend had were her own conscious decision. We didn’t slip rohypnol in her drink then pour vodka down her throat. Even if we had done that, she probably wouldn’t have been able to swallow the vodka due to the rohypnol effects.

3. My girlfriend was fine; she’d only had 2 pints the night before. Upon pointing this fact out to our friend, she got this text response:

‘Oh right, I had jagerbombs and tequila shots as well, oooooops.’

Why ‘oooooops’? It was her decision to have the other drinks. And, furthermore, anybody could have decided to have them. She, on the other hand, seemed to be trying to wear her jagerbombs as medals of honour. For no reason except to show off about nothing. Anybody can get drunk and have a hangover. Which is fine - I like drinking - but you’re not big, clever or special for doing it. AT ALL. Grow up.

Frank Turner did make one useful comment though;

‘I’ve just got back from 2 weeks touring in China, and it’s great to finally be somewhere where you can be sure the food won’t have fucking chicken’s feet in it.’

I’m going to China at the end of next month, so took note.

PS. I just finished writing this, then went on Facebook. This status, not from the texting friend, came up in my newsfeed;

‘… would really love a can of fizzy but is too hungover to get out of bed :(‘

I checked her previous statuses;

‘… was such a hot tranny mess last night :S’

‘… loves getting drunk for no reason :D’

Oh good God.