2012 Mojito Mile

Saturday July 28th saw the running of the 2012 Mojito Mile in Clapham (South London), the 6th time a Mojito Mile (MM) has taken place since the very first one in May 2009. It was another success, as London’s best pub crawl weaved its way down Clapham High Street and along to Clapham Old Town:

• 2.00pm – The Loft

• 3.30pm – The Stonhouse

• 5.00pm – Venn St Records

• 6.30pm – Grafton House

• 8.00pm – Lost Society

2012 MOJITO MILE MAP

The Mojito Mile is not advertised publicly and is organised as a private event, meaning you have to be invited by someone who is going. This is really part of the charm of the event as it does not get so big that it is becomes unwieldy and bars are unable to cope. It brings together people who are in your wider social network, friends of friends and beyond! Many a new friendship and romance has begun on the Mojito Mile.

Everyone has different taste buds, but my personal favourite Mojitos on this year’s mile were at The Loft, a regular mainstay of the Mojito Mile. Mojitos differ greatly from bar to bar and even to the bar-person who makes them.

The Stonhouse made a big effort to make Mojito Milers feel welcome. Last year was their first time being part of the MM and in the hour and a half we were there in 2011, they sold 122 Mojitos (of different varieties) as well as other drinks.

After The Stonhouse, the Mojito Mile made its way to Venn St Records, a newish bar next to the Clapham Picturehouse cinema and making its first appearance on the Mojito Mile. Following this, we headed towards Clapham Old Town and on to Grafton House for some lovely Mojitos in their garden at the back. The final port of call was Lost Society and we enjoyed the end to this summer evening with many a Mojito (and other drinks) until closing time (1pm).

I’ve been assured that the Mojito Mile will definitely return in 2013.

Drink responsibly

Related posts:
2011 Mojito Mile
The Mojito Mile

Watching the 2012 Olympic Torch

Today, probably for the only time possible in my lifetime, I got to see the Olympic torch pass near where I live in South London. Below are two videos I took as the torch went by on Acre Lane, in-between Brixton and Clapham.

Build-up to the torch-bearer arriving:

The torch-bearer goes by:

by Jake McMillan

What’s Wrong With My List?

My flatmates and I are all single 30-somethings who are young at heart and sometimes young at brain too. The other evening, over a glass of wine or three, we were discussing the suitable traits of people we’d want to be with. One flatmate asked me for a ‘briefing document’ of my criteria so she would have an idea of people she knew who might fit. On my iPhone I put together the quick list shown above and fired it off to them to laugh at and scrutinize.

The following day I put it up on Facebook so others could share in the joke and join in with criticising my list and have a bit of fun at my expense, for example, one friend put that I should give myself a fighting chance and just focus on the top two points! Most took it in the manner with which it was posted (i.e. I wasn’t actually using this list to draw in potential suitors), but I was surprised by the serious reaction of some. Can you guess which bit of the list some objected to most?

No, it wasn’t the bush grooming comment.

No, it wasn’t that she needs to be alive.

No, it wasn’t that she needs to be slimmer than me.

What several people objected to (all women) was that I had put 19 as the bottom end of the age range?! They seem to be genuinely outraged like I was acting like some sort of paedophile! In truth, I had not really given much thought about the age range, I had in the moment of writing the list thought of a good target age as being 29 and simply added and subtracted 10 years to this.

As a 30-something I am not actually looking for a 19-year old as the age difference would suggest different levels of maturity and life experience for a relationship to work. However, that said, if I met a 19-year old who was mature and fit my other criteria and seemed to like me, why would I discount an opportunity because of an ageist prejudice about the maturity of 19 year olds?

It’s an extremely unlikely scenario for me to encounter as, let’s face it, 30-somethings seem ancient to young adults, but I was curious as to why some had reacted so strongly? My responding to their complaints, ‘Would being with two 19 year olds make the situation any better?’ (that’s a combined 38 years of experience) did not help for some reason? 

In the United Kingdom and many other modern societies, 19 year olds are legally considered adults and free to do anything like any other adults in society. So what is the problem? In the last 12 months, an 18 year old Harry Styles from boy band One Direction was dating 32 year old presenter Caroline Flack and this caused a massive uproar, but why? If it’s two consenting adults being together and no one is being exploited or coerced, who are we to judge and say whether people should be in a relationship together or not?

by Jake McMillan

Related Posts:
How Low Do You Go?
The One?
Women Asking Men Out?
Bad Pick-up Lines

A Couple of Short Poems

I tricked a friend into thinking we would be doing some poetry reading at our next get-together. On the way to meeting up with her, I thought it would be good to have a poem to read, so made up a couple of quick poems.

Here are my efforts below, I think I have a lot of talent in this area:

The Flower
by Jake McMillan

I see a flower,
It looks nice

I see a flower,
It smells nice

I see a flower,
I’ve already told you twice

———————

Bee Something
by Jake McMillan

Bees,
Trees,
Cheese,
They please

Knees,
Fees,
Meas(les)
They don’t

———————-

If you think these are short, then here are two of the shortest poems ever createst:

Fleas
by Ogden Nash

Adam,
Had’em

———————

The shortest ever is by Muhammad Ali:

Me,
we