beccaelizabeth | Sounds like a ghost story to me

still doing lit reading
(also sleeping, sort of at random)

"The real becomes the spectral, the past alien, the familiar strange; the lost home (heimlich) and the uncanny (unheimlich) coincide."

Which reminds me of the much neglected plot bunny.
Odds of my actually going and writing it increased today as I started idly listing the research I need to do, and trying on different pubs for size.

What do you think would be the essential features of Giles' local? Would he just go wherever was nearest? Is matching it with RL characteristics of pubs in Bath at all important?

... Since matching would involve finding out what said pubs were like in the 70s, 80s *and* now, I'm leaning towards not-important.

Also need to find out more about diwali, and how 'home' or 'homely' would be a different idea in relevant different cultures.
So far I read one page on the BBC children's website. I'm vaguely embarrassed that such a data source could vastly enlarge my personal knowledge. Seems like I ought to know more about people.

... I mean, I don't know more about people I'm related to, or what their house would look like at christmas, or indeed what *they* look like lately, but somehow that doesn't give me liberal guilt quite the same way...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

janet1867.livejournal.com

I love your Ripper stories, and I'm delighted to see that you're thinking in that 'verse again. It gives me hope for more *good* Giles stories! (Yours are among the very best!)

I "friended" you after reading your stories - I hope that's okay. As I read your blog, I really admire you for all that you accomplish. I have agoraphobia, among other delightful things, and I manage to get out only about once a month, so I stand in awe of your many-days-in-a-row getting out.

As for pubs, I think matching them with RL Bath pubs doesn't matter. You're in England, right? (I'm in Canada), so you're close enough to the spot to make it seem RL-ish to us all. I think he'd go to one that was quiet, moody, maybe broody, kinda dark, as opposed to closest. How are you picturing it to be?

Janet

Janet

From:

beccaelizabeth

:-)
nice things about my writing = yaays, thanks!

friending me is always cool. Though if you're here for specific kinds of content the signal to noise ratio is going to be way noisy.

Oddly enough, playing with metaphor for agoraphobia is pretty much what the next fic is about. Sort of. Possibly only in my head, by the time I've finished wrapping a plot around it.

Giles pub: No slot machines. Not a sports bar. No big screen TV. Probably not a student bar. Possibly a teacher bar, but then again maybe not.
Pool table maybe; snooker would be better, but I've only seen pool tables lately.
Music... well there's precious few places that have no music at all. And live music evenings could suit him fine. But definitely not a rock or heavy metal or pop place.

Mostly I'm thinking card games and real ale.

There's a pub in Bath that is shaped like a coffin. It's called The Star. Is very long and skinny. Rather cool.
There's also the Raven, the Hobgoblin, and The Green Tree, which doesn't have the immediate cool name factor but is very old and with lots of beers.

The first few places I looked at, based on 'that name looks interesting', turned out to be gay bars - The Bath Tap, possibly The Cork and Bottle - or 'gay friendly' - The Dark Horse.
... that would be a different Giles, methinks.

From:

beccaelizabeth

http://www.venue.co.uk/dow/bath_pubs.html

The Griffin - reputedly haunted

Dark Horse just says 'good old-fashioned friendly boozer'

Green Park Tavern has a child friendly policy. This I feel is not Giles compatible.

Hobgoblin is 'crammed with students'

The Huntsman
1 Terrace Walk. Tel: (01225) 482900
This late-night haunt witnesses a complete transformation after the sun goes to sleep. By day it's an airy, civilised pub with a modern feel, popular with tourists and families. It's only by night that it gets more boisterous. The please-everybody drinks selection includes Bellringer and a couple of other real ales, plus all the usual keg suspects. If boozing's not an option, there's an espresso machine and a food menu ranging from a ploughman's right through to the full three courses. Plenty of live entertainment, with everything from karaoke and DJs to Irish folk musos. Open till 2am Mon-Sat.

Old Green Tree
12 Green St. Tel: (01225) 448259
There are plenty of historic pubs in Bath, but few that can claim to have been serving the finest ales from the same site for almost 300 years. Fewer still have had little more than a lick of paint since a refit in the 1920s which replaced the original backyard brewery with an extra room and lined the building with its distinctive wood panelling. If it's character you're after, then the Old Green Tree has it in spades: even the redundant fireplace is listed. Up to six real ales on tap, all sourced from microbreweries within 70 miles or so. There's a tempting menu, with everything from doorstep sarnies to smoked duck or trout, a small wine list and, thankfully, no alcopops, jukebox or bandit. CAMRA's Local Pub of the Year 2005.

The Raven
6-7 Queen St. Tel: (01225) 425045, web: www.theravenofbath.co.uk
Memories of its former incarnation as Hatchetts have long gone; now The Raven flies alone as one of the city's warmest, friendliest and most welcoming hostelries. Squeeze in through the door and you'll find a rather nice, sympathetically refurbished village inn. There's no loud music or fruit machines, just an excellent selection of local and guest ales and a superb wine list. Lots of pubs offer non-smoking areas, but very few promise a fully stocked, totally smoke-free bar as well as somewhere for nicotine addicts to get their fix. The Raven does. On top of that, there's a fine, weekly changing food menu, reminiscent of an East End pie and mash shop, with a strong emphasis on local, quality produce. Regular home for several local groups, from storytelling circles to shove ha'penny enthusiasts.

NEW
Royal Oak
Lower Bristol Rd. Tel: (01225) 481409
When John and Becky Whinnerah took on the Royal Oak, it was barely a shell, having been closed for almost six years - but, on what the couple cheerfully admit is a shoestring budget, they have turned the place into one of the most welcoming free houses in the region. If having an Irish music jam session every Wednesday evening, paintings on display (and for sale) from local artists, a newly opened kitchen and even its own book club isn't enough to tempt you to visit, having up to ten real ales, all sourced from microbreweries, on tap at any time should be. Visiting the Royal Oak is like going to a beer festival every day of the week. There are taster glasses beside each pump, offering you the opportunity to sample before you buy, discounts for CAMRA members and a fine selection of single malt whiskies too. The only lager is Bath Ales Organic, and there's Stowford Press and a guest cider for the scrumpy lovers. Annual three-day beer festival in spring.

The Star Inn
The Paragon. Tel: (01225) 425072, web: www.star-inn-bath.co.uk
Grade II-listed cracker of a pub. A real ales nirvana that offers as many CAMRA-approved tipples as you can imagine (including Abbey Ales, London Pride, IPA, various unusual imports and Bass straight from the jug - very rare) and inspires fierce loyalty from fans both locally and all around the world. It's 260 years old, with a wonderful 19th-century wooden interior. There's no games machine, no music, no pool table and no cordon bleu food, just a small selection of excellent rolls and ciabattas. Get there early on Sun, as the bar snacks are free. Annual Cornish beer festival in July.

From:

janet1867.livejournal.com

I like the sound of the Old Green Tree - 300 years old, character, fireplace, no jukebox, wood panelling... I think he'd like the fact that it hasn't changed since the 1920's. Though it *would* be fun to see Giles show up at the Royal Oak expecting a quiet evening of book club, only to stumble onto the Wednesday night Irish music jam session in progress!

The child-friendly one doesn't sound like Giles, nor the gay ones, IMHO.

I think he'd go to one that tended more to locals and old-timers than tourists or young, trendy people.

Is Giles *from* Bath, d'ya think? If so, he could've been to these pubs (for lunch) with his Grandma the Watcher, or his Dad, when he was a kid. Hence him liking that the Old Green Tree hasn't changed.

Your lj isn't full of "noise" - just lots of Torchwood references that I don't understand. Is that a British series? In Canada, we get British shows, but not usually until they're a few years old.

Your comments about the challenges of your life are more like mine than you'd think, though, considering that I'm a 50-something Canadian woman, recently divorced, with 2 grown kids - not sounding like you, eh? - but I, too, order groceries from helpful people, because going out to shop is usually emotionally beyond me (yikes, Christmas is almost here and I don't know how I'm going to get that shopping done!), and although I don't have cleaning helpers, my anxiety disorder keeps me from doing much effective housework, just lots of stressing over it. (I was thrown into all of these psychological quirks about 6 1/2 years ago, when my husband of 25 years suddenly announced he was gay, and my world went inside out... and then got worse.)

(Now, in my too-much-information way, I've said enough so that I don't know more about your private life by reading your lj than you do about mine!)

I'd love to hear more about the agoraphobia storyline, if talking about your writing isn't counter-productive for you.

Janet

From:

beccaelizabeth

I like Old Green Tree too. Though he already lives in an Oak place, sending him to a tree place might be a bit too themey.

Royal Oak, same name problem, plus it were probably closed in the time I want to set the story.

I've not decided if Giles is from, but I do need to decide for this story. Would make it make more sense his dad happened to do Watcher things there.

Torchwood is a BBC show. Captain Jack Harkness, omnisexual time traveller, saving the world. Or, mostly, Cardiff. Is very good. Record breaking ratings, so seems a likely export.

Christmas shopping is something I decided to opt out of. Christmas cash is festive and always appropriate, I reckon.

... I can see how you could be a bit surprised by that, yeah ...

LJ is a bit weird for how, er, unreciprocal? Lopsided? Asymmetric? The information distribution can be. I mean, I say stuff here, theoretically the whole world can read it. I don't think I've got time to read the whole world. So I don't worry about it :-)

the storyline... starts with the idea of Home, really, and not leaving it, and what that could mean.
Because my Giles has had the same flat since the mid 80s and that's a Thing, so I need a ghost story to go talk about it.

From:

janet1867.livejournal.com

Because my Giles has had the same flat since the mid 80s....

The whole "I keep a flat in Bath" thing has always intrigued me: I mean, he lives in another country for years, but still has a flat in Bath? How does he afford it? Who takes care of it? Why Bath and not London, where he was curator and where the Council is located? What does it look like? How often does he come home to visit while he lives in L.A.? I think if we had the answers to these questions, we'd know a lot more about Giles.