London Calling

We Blew Up Our Stereo, and Brian Found a RAT in His Bag

My guess is that people are more curious about the rat, so I'll start there. As many of you know, Brian's office has graciously welcomed me in, given me a computer (or rather allowed me to sit in the seat of anyone who is out for the day - thanks Julian, hope you are having fun in India), and effectively saved me from the sweaty smelly internet cafes that sprinkle every corner of Oxford Street.

Because of this, I am privy to the inner secrets of this very special subculture. Most recently I witnessed two coworkers serenading Brian with the 'Dallas' theme song. Awww - those lovely chaps are so sweet. Along with many American jokes and attempts at our accent (think valley girl in Kentucky), they have another fun game that involves a RAT and pints of beer... still curious? Ah yes, so was I.

A group of guys in the Media team have started a game that involves a RAT, or effectively a short computer cable that involves a USB port (don't ask me - I'm not too techie). The rules are a little fuzzy - but as best I understand it, if you arrive at the pub with the rat on you then you have to buy a round for the gang. Once you have accepted a pint (or 'drunk from the rat') then GAME ON. This means that at the end of the work day, you can look around this office and observe 5-10 people feverishly patting themselves - looking in their pockets, checking their bags, patting down their jackets, etc. etc. etc. So, that brings us back to 'Brian found a rat in his bag' ..... but not until he had walked in to the pub. A round of pints later and now the GAME IS REALLY ON.

Oh yeah, and we blew up our stereo. Luckily it was just a little CD player that I've lugged around with me since my Sophomore year of college. After a loud pop and a lot of smoke, we realized that the 9 year old stereo had seen some better days. Amps, voltage, who knew???

posted by Brian and Kirsten Hennigan @ Wednesday, November 01, 2006