If Prince Philip had been called Prince Evangelion, you could well surmise that the film title for week 5 was in poor taste. But he wasn't. So it wasn't.
Besides, I'd have blamed the dice anyway. Good thing about dice rolling, you can absolve yourself of all responsibility about everything in life. Perfect.
The backdrop for week 5 found me in determined mood. Determined to up my game on the pie front, and after much searching around on the local takeaway Apps, I finally found a speciality pie outlet, Devonly Pies, found only on Deliveroo. They had 5 or 6 options, with which you select chips or mash, gravy or curry sauce, with the added bonus of mushy peas and toblerone cheesecake for those of you feeling a bit continental.
On further investigation, they are linked to Frankie & Benny's. Last time I went to an F&B, it was during a particularly drunken night in BSE (Bury St Edumunds). I visited many Good Beer Guide pubs that evening. I have no recollection of any. Then I went to Ipswich with a hangover. True story.
This was my Deliveroo debut, or is it deboo? So I had to sign up to the App with all the faffiness or trying to get a pint in Southend in 2020.
With my 'Drunken Cow' (steak & ale) and chips on the way, it was 6pm and time to see which of these six beers Twitter wanted me to drink, and crack the most popular one open in my kitchen.
Last time out, I praised my 41 followers for selecting me a nice, easy drinking, low percentage trio.
So guess what they did this week? Yes, totally went the full loopy 360, and punished me.
First up was 'No Gods, No Masters', a Flanders Red Barrel Aged Sour whatever the fanny dickens that means. About 8%, and a bit like a less accommodating Duchesse of Bourgogne. CHEERS GUYS!
Next up, a coffee porter called Common Grounds. Only a 330ml can but pow, it hit you with the full force of an Espresso. And just to top it off, a tiny Rebel 'Gin Sour' which tasted more like G&T that beer, with more than a twist of lime, but I was beyond feeling too refreshed and citrussy by then!
With my Deliveroo en route from Clifton Moor, note my 'outdoor jacket' was on at this stage as I knew it was odds against that they'd find their way up to my flat.
In a state of limbo, I supped my No Gods, No Masters with a puckered expression, and rolled a 4, along with 4 additional dice rolls, which meant I'd be eating 2 packs of Bacon Fries and 2 bags of Scampi Fries. Oof. I could feel the salt coursing through my veins already. On with the first pack of Bacon Fries.
I popped on a bit of Hold Steady ('Stay Positive' seemed like an apt title, despite being only my 5th favourite album by them) after Chris Dyson gave them the seal of approval last week. There are some classic tracks don't get me wrong, just a couple too many fillers. The album cover made me all wistful for a good ole' Western.
Suddenly, my phone buzzed and a little map appeared to show my driver, Valentin, just across the far edge of the park so I went down to intercept him.
He was in a car, not one of those silly bikes, and he seemed a very jolly flat nosed round faced Romanian chap (think a balding Dan Petrescu on acid) and after a brief socially distanced exchange, I was presented with my pie.
Now the party could really start, I was already wired due to the Coffee Porter, the pie looked nice, the chips had a nice crispy outer, but a bit disappointing flakey inner (underdone?), and the gravy was lovely and thick.
Time for the film then, a 'sci-fi Psychological Japanese Animation'. Shame it wasn't Siamese, as the Scis and Psys just kept coming!
Sadly, despite the positive reviews, I just couldn't enjoy this film. I'm not saying it was bad, I just didn't have a scooby doo (I can actually just about follow a Scooby Doo plot) what the danny dickens was going on.
The fact it was based off a 26 part TV series probably didn't help, and reading the plot on Wikipedia just confused me more, talk about convoluted. The goodies were these kids who climb into giant humanoid robots and controlled them, but supernatural baddies kept getting in their way. I never understood anyone's motives, and only the first disturbing scene involving the pathetic snivelling 'hero' wanking over an injured girl in a hospital bed and then declaring "I'm so fucked up" made any kind of impact.
It just seemed a confusing mass of animated nonsense, the (dubbed) English voices didn't seem to be delivered with any real feeling, making the whole thing feel a bit childlike and wooden. I was glad when it ended, and the ale in the steak & ale pie was probably the easiest drinking ale I had all night!
I wasn't even up for a Football Manager Hungerford Town special after all that, so watched some Hull City highlights instead which was quite Sci-Fi in itself when you think about it.
I rolled the dice for the next film, something called eXistenZ which sounds equally terrifying. I'm looking forward to my birthday when, after an idea by super follower Mark Shirley, I am going to combine all the best bits of #WWWSI and #SiFiPieFri for the ultimate night of lockdown fun, which will probably be my final hurrah for these Lockdown Madness induced 'challenges'. Join me Thursday 6th May for that. I might even fit in a cheeky bit of #SADCASE for those of you who remember back to last summer.
Outdoor pubs open tomorrow. Now, for those of you who follow BRAPA, I am well aware that I said outdoor pub ticking wasn't something I'd do as I don't feel totally comfortable with it, but I knew I'd relent, and I have, starting tomorrow! Getting out of the house, and having (something of a) pub experience is a no brainer. But the question is, will I enjoy it enough to do it Friday evenings instead of this? Unlikely, but I have no idea as things stand!
So have a look at BRAPA in the coming days, and for now, we will be back for a week six, it is just a question of when!
Have a tolerable (or a toblerone) week,
Si