i was just cooking a late night drunk snack in the kitchen. the window was cracked, and i heard a verbal altercation right outside... a woman (in a
group) was accusing a guy (in another group) of hitting her. tough guy threats ensued, but nothing else but more yelling. took food off the stove,
grabbed shoes, my keys, and a mouthguard, and ran out the apt complex to the scene, which had already disappeared in the 2 minutes or so it took me to
make it there.
seriously, what the fuck is wrong with londoners?!? my guess is no serious consequences (like getting shot or jumped by someone's friends), but
fucking hell. BDx13 - 6-12-2009 at 09:45 PM
hahaha! i dunno, matty...
this might be random's last visit to london!
to be fair, i found the same thing when i was living there in the mid-90s...
altercations seem likely to escalate more quickly there than here.
no tough guy talk, just punches.
i might have told this story, but...
In summer of 96 i was at this hip hop event near Ladbroke Grove. It was under the A40 near Portobello Road. Some kind of dj & mc battle / graffiti
and breakdance exhibition. I went to check it out and was taking a few pictures. Well, I don't know the local scene at all, so I didn't know what
was brewing, but I guess there were a couple rival crews there and the mc battle started to get a little heated. Then, someone on the mic went too
far. Man, the minute the first punch landed on the MC, the whole place blew up. People were climbing over walls and barricades and breakdancers to
get at one another, chairs were flying, this one dude was trying to keep a pack of like 10 guys back by swinging a cane around. It was intense.
This all happened so quickly and was happening over such a large area with so many people (we're talking about literally dozens of people), I was just
trying to figure out how to get out of there. Well, this one dude saw me with my camera still out, thought I was taking pictures of the fight and
came after me trying to smash my camera. He kinda had me by the shirt with one hand and had my camera in the other. I had the strap wrapped well
around my one wrist and was holding on with both hands, telling him I hadn't shot any pictures and there was no way he was getting my camera. I
wasn't about to start punching him cause he was there with 50 dudes and I was there with me! Fortunately, this only lasted about half a minute. This
writer I had met earlier in the day ran over and sprayed dude in the eyes with spray paint and was like, "run." I got the fuck outta dodge and went
to the pub!
random - 6-12-2009 at 09:55 PM
honestly, i think london is much better than the US in many ways, but there are a few things here that are insane. in general, people here are really
nice. my biggest complaint is that they suck as pedestrians, and then get pissed off at you when they don't share the sidewalk. aside from that, my
only problems occur past 11:30pm.
but i do think it's crazy that dude punched a girl and didn't get his ass beat. i suppose it's clear from some of my other posts, but i don't go out
starting fights... and the rare time i get involved in the US is when someone attacks a friend. i think people here just don't worry because they
know they won't get shot, doubt they'll get stabbed, and don't have to worry about someone's friends having their back.clevohardcore - 6-13-2009 at 08:23 AM
IS it true that in London they really look down on waitresses, servers and bartenders? I read a long time ago that they really disrespect them for
there profession. Like they are truly the lo class. I thought that was weird as they are ones bringing the food and could fuck with it if they were
rude. From my understanding even the average person really looks down on them.mattybar - 6-15-2009 at 09:23 AM
i think people here just don't think too much before getting involved in a scrap.
the idea that you won't get stabbed or shot is definitely incorrect!
most people i know will not get involved in something in the street if they're not already involved as you hear all too often about some poor guy
trying to break up a fight and he ends up getting stabbed to death.
We have a lot of stabbings here in London, especially among younger kids and gun crime is fast on the increase too.
The newspapers here will have you thinking that every other kid is carrying a knife.
You were lucky not to get caught up in any trouble dude but fair play to you for looking out.
Just be careful though man, as a lot of times here you get girls starting shit cos they know that a guy will step in.
That's a very generic scene, girl kicks off, guy steps in, guy number 2 steps in, someone gets stabbed or has his head trampled by 5 other guys.
I'd say a good 50% of brawls i have seen have been started by some drunken bird mouthing off at someone.
The fight you heard could have broken up for any number of reasons.... the girl may well have just been starting trouble, the police have rolled by,
someone might even have pulled a gun out and the mere threat of that is enough to break up an argument.
Clevo, not heard that theory about waitresses, bartenders and so on. i have a few friends who work in the food industry and they taught me a long time
ago to NEVER fuck with anyone who is bringing you your food haha!
Duane, that area where you were is kinda notorious for that sort of thing.
As soon as you described the location I knew exactly where you meant!
hip hop over here is kinda weird.
you get a LOT of people who really want to emulate the whole American gangsta rap thing and go out of their way to start beef.bombidol - 6-15-2009 at 09:30 AM
Dont help the women! The minute you go near their boyfriend they will turn on you and you'll be fending off a fuckin hairy ape and his eye gouging
bitch.
You walk these cities at night. Head down, get to your location. Dont turn around or look at anyone. mattybar - 6-15-2009 at 09:47 AM
you hit the nail on the head mate! M.Alki - 6-15-2009 at 07:31 PM
I normally just browse through here at stuff Matty tells me to check out and saw this thread and thought you should all know that Mattybar punches out
girls all the time....ok thats not actually true but....
Seriously, and i say this as a female in London, if there is any sorta altercation going on involving a female saying shes been hit, stay away! Theres
a good chance she will have started it and as someone else already mentioned, it's pretty damn likely that she will start giving you shit the second
you say anything regardless of it being in her defence.
Im not saying the same applies to domestic violence within the home or anything, but it generally does apply when theres a woman within a group or out
somewhere, seen it so many times.
People getting shot and stabbed here isn't as unlikely as you may think, this may have been quite a while back but shit like this: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article550322.ece
happens a lot. People getting shot or stabbed just for ridiculous shit.
I've even seen stupid stuff happen over the most petty of things, years ago some massive dude hit my friend in the face (a girl) on the nightbus, all
because he reckons she didnt move her legs out the way for him quick enough.
Trouble always seems to happen on night buses!
And about Londoners looking down on waitresses/servers/bartenders, i can vouch that is kinda true, i have worked behind a bar and serving in central
London and the rudest and most disrespectful people were always British, rarely tipped, never polite, and just plain horrid. Americans on the other
hand, always tipped, always polite and wanting to hold conversations and just generally nice people to serve, real big difference between the two.random - 6-15-2009 at 08:31 PM
you the one who planned his surprise party? sorry about missing it.M.Alki - 6-15-2009 at 08:41 PM
Ahhhh i assume that you're the american living in London who i phoned about it right? Apologies for the random call i was just tryna get everyone
involved! haha
No need for sorry mr!random - 6-15-2009 at 09:07 PM
haha... yup, that was me. no apologies needed about the random call... but like i said, i usually avoid "unavailable" numbers, which is why you had
to call twice.upyerbum - 6-15-2009 at 10:18 PM
Welcome, M.Alki, it's nice another member of the fairer sex has graced us. And feel free to spill all the beans on Mattybar.
And Random, don't go in the strip joints, I had to fight my way out of one in Soho cuz they tried to charge me 250 pounds for a beer.M.Alki - 6-15-2009 at 10:24 PM
haha well thanks very much!
Nah no beans to spill on my good friend Matty....he'd kick my ass if i did...haha
Nothing wrong with some strip joints here! admittedly, Soho is a bad choice for them! Most the ladies in Soho got the good body/bad face thing going
on! some cool ones in east London and other places in central...erm not that i spend ALL my time in strip bars or anything....hahamattybar - 6-16-2009 at 04:43 AM
oh jesus...
Thorp Board, meet my mate Martine.3rdDistrict - 6-16-2009 at 07:21 AM
matty, your city was fucked when they wouldnt let me in last time.
i used my jew voodoo...random - 6-17-2009 at 11:14 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by mattybar
oh jesus...
Thorp Board, meet my mate Martine.
you sound embarrassed, like your little sister just started hanging out with all your friends! BDx13 - 6-18-2009 at 06:36 PM
oi, matty...
i just finished washing my dishes in the kitchen.
did ya see me out your back window?
the giant white guy in the bad brains shirt!
HA!
got a cell phone from some friends today.
i'll holler at ya as soon.
random - 6-18-2009 at 06:44 PM
oh shit, you got in yesterday, didn't you? damn, i've totally lost track of time.BDx13 - 6-18-2009 at 06:51 PM
yup, yesterday morning.
just kinda settled in yesterday, caught up on sleep and had dinner at a pub down the street.
the kids slept 14 hours last night.
we managed to get our first tesco delivery this morning and head up to regent's park with some friends this afternoon.bombidol - 6-18-2009 at 08:31 PM
Now you've been there for a few days. Thorp UK needs a holiday to Dublin. Sort it out. Ryanair bitches.BDx13 - 6-19-2009 at 07:43 AM
working on it.
was trying to get there while discipline is in town, but that doesn't seem likely.
making the trip as a family of four isn't cheap, so i'll have to see if i can get away for a few days, maybe in july.bombidol - 6-19-2009 at 08:29 AM
Do it. Take Mattybar with you.random - 6-19-2009 at 09:12 AM
from the way i'm counting, there are 3-4 of us in london, and only you in dublin. so doesn't it make more sense for you to loo at ryanair? and let
me be the first one to say that you can crash on mattybar's couch.bombidol - 6-19-2009 at 11:58 AM
Yeah but you cunts keep getting bashed in London so its safer here.....random - 6-19-2009 at 01:14 PM
well played, sir. well played. and i think it's only one cunt that keeps happening to. upyerbum - 6-19-2009 at 01:38 PM
Now I want to come party in London. Thanks, bastards.BDx13 - 6-19-2009 at 04:35 PM
random's got a good point, gar.
grab discipline and come down for a night or two.
youz can stay here - our place is huge.
you can have the whole top floor to yourself.
think about it.bombidol - 6-20-2009 at 10:06 AM
we shall see, what dates are you in London till?BDx13 - 6-20-2009 at 12:23 PM
til july 22!mattybar - 6-25-2009 at 10:57 AM
Oops, haven't been posting much this week.
Been either busy at work, busy with band stuff or just hungover or drunk!
off to germany tomorrow but when i'm back we should arrange a little thorp drink up in town somewhere.
i suggest the crobar.
there's a free show on Wednesday next week or i'm putting on a show on july 4th at the 12bar.
still working on a line up at the moment though.
bombidol, we need to get you guys over for a weekend one day.
i was hoping to hook up a gig swap with injury time but we're breaking in a new bass player at the moment.bombidol - 6-25-2009 at 01:51 PM
I can organize Dublin whenever man. We're up for heading over anytime from August on as we are training in a new guitarist. rad.random - 6-25-2009 at 05:29 PM
i'm out on july 2. might be back for a few days in late august, depending on when visa issues get taken care of.
