Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
So, just before Roger and I were about to leave the secret bunker to go and meet
Michelle, I mentioned to Brad that Michelle had gone to Africa and got the two big 'M's:
Malaria and Married. This was an observation of such minor wit even I wasn't remotely
proud of it, but people kind of expect this sort of thing when you're a writer and it's hard
to get out of character sometimes. Brad just nodded once and said, 'Ah yes; first bitten,
then smitten.'
Roger and I looked at each other, faces falling.
We were supposed to be the writers; we do the quips, the funny dialogue, the one-
liners. Not producers. And we rarely expect to generate all the above stuff in real time; it
can often take hours of work (or what certainly feels like hours of work) to create what
looks and sounds like a single snappy off-the-cuff remark.
Naturally we pointed out this basic film industry professional demarcation issue to
Brad at the time, but I doubt the scamp took any notice.
In any event, maybe now you can see why we both love the guy and - when he says
something like that - really really hate him.
So, Michelle and Tom come to stay in what is now the Obasi Suite. We go to the Omar
Khayyam, come home and play lots of pool. This mostly means Tom and me being com-
petitive and me being lucky. Tom is a breezily cheerful guy with a neat turn of phrase. He
looks fit as an ebony fiddle (well, maybe a viola) but declares that he has to be careful not
to eat too much because as he tells us, 'I am vulnerable to expansion'. Nobody who sees
Michelle and Tom together could doubt they married for love, but he's had predictable
problems getting a residency visa for the UK. It's been sorted out now and he's set up his
own company to install security camera systems, though what he wants to do is start up
an import-export business shipping goods to and from Nigeria.
The next day we load up the M5 and head for Mull, to visit the Tobermory distillery.
Music comprises three CDs of soul classics, Buzzin ', the second Bumblebees album, Spe-
cialist in all Styles by Orchestra Baobab and Loss , by Mull Historical Society.
We take the Glen Devon route to Crieff, then head on down the A85 for Oban. The
stretch between Tyndrum and Dalmally is the best bit, with intestinally sinuous curves
and fabulously long, open straights, then after Lochawe village there are more fast lengths
along the side of Loch Awe through the Pass of Brander.
There's a power station built into the mountain of Ben Cruachan and one day I really
intend to visit it. The power station uses off-peak electricity generated by other power sta-
tions during the night to pump water out of Loch Awe up to the Cruachan reservoir 1500
feet up the mountain. It takes so long to shut down your average power station efficiently
that it's cheaper to keep them running overnight and use the power for schemes like this.
During the day, when there are peaks in demand, the water's released from the reservoir
and flows back down to Loch Awe through some humungous pipes and a huge turbine
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