Life of Ben (Blog)

20th Blood Donation (3rd April 2013)

All went well. After returning home I reviewed of the West End Donor Centre. Spoiler alert: it’s excellent!

28th Scalextric Club (2nd April 2013)

NASCAR roars into life at the London Scalextric Club tonight! My favourite class as everyone uses the same cars one the same lanes. A true test of driving skill. We were a bit short on people tonight as it’s not part of the championship. So we have 3 drivers on at a time, with 1 clear between each of them. They do a 2.5 minute race then shift over by a lane for the next race. The next drivers go on after that.

More: 28th Scalextric Club

27th Scalextric Club (19th March 2013)

Good attendance meant we could use all 6 lanes at tonight’s London Scalextric Club Sports Car event. We did 2.5 minutes per race.

I borrowed a car from Steve the chairman. Think it was a red open top prototype but not 100% sure.

More: 27th Scalextric Club

Cloud Atlas – No Spoilers! (16th March 2013)

Fiona had read the book a while back and was keen to see the movie. We finally looked for a cinema with a decent screen to see it.

After much deliberation, we chose the Odeon in Covent Garden. It’s a compact venue but a big, modern screen. A good experience; the audience were quiet once the movie started.

As for the film: wow! It is super complicated if you want to understand all of it at once. A more relaxing option is to simply relish the drama, variety and spectacle through which each entwined story is delivered.

More: Cloud Atlas – No Spoilers!

Gone Skiing (2nd March 2013)

Returning on Saturday 9th March 2013, then visiting family for Mother’s Day, then returning to London.

Reported 3 nearby water leaks to Thames Water at 1:30am, before we set off at 2am. My good deed for today.

Au revoir!

26th Scalextric Club (26th February 2013)

My first time trying the Formula 1 class at the London Scalextric Club. We did 4 minute races so I think we were only running 4 lanes.

The motors and drag from the magnet means a different controller is needed but I didn’t have one! Struggled to control the cars all night.

In the last race I borrowed a different car from Steve, with a more conventional motor. Found this delightful to control and had my most enjoyable F1 race. Also set my fastest ever lap time with this car!

More: 26th Scalextric Club

25th Scalextric Club (19th February 2013)

Grand Touring cars tonight at the London Scalextric Club. My favourite class as the cars look so good and so varied.

Using 5 lanes this evening for 3 minutes per race.

I forgot to note which lane I was on! We had started a bit late which meant I had to be quick between races to jot down my performance stats into my phone.

More: 25th Scalextric Club

24th Scalextric Club (12th February 2013)

We raced 5 lanes at London Scalextric Club. Tonight was the Classic and Can-Am class.

More: 24th Scalextric Club

23rd Scalextric Club (5th February 2013)

NASCAR night at the London Scalextric Club!

My favourite class of all as everyone races the club’s set of 6 cars. Each car has a dedicated lane. It’s a level playing field so a true test of driver ability.

We were a bit short on people tonight as it’s not part of the championship. So we have 3 drivers on at a time, with 1 clear between each of them. They do a 2.5 minute race then shift over by a lane for the next race. The next drivers go on after that.

This way we can use all the lanes, have full marshalling and still finish at a decent time. It also means the cars don’t bump each other, unless you get one very sideways!

More: 23rd Scalextric Club

22nd Scalextric Club (29th January 2013)

Touring Cars at the London Scalextric Club.

We used 5 of the 6 lanes to have complete marshalling. Each race is 3 minutes long.

More: 22nd Scalextric Club