(no subject)
My friend Sara from work said on Monday how much she'd enjoyed meeting my friends, which was good - but, sadly, Charmaine had actually made it to the pub but bottled out from meeeting a group of new people. Shame.
On Saturday, Sara told us about Villain Supply - might come in handy for the Despot of Frangipania.
Inspired by a chat with Simon on Saturday, I dug B17: Queen of the Skies out and played a couple of missions. The aircraft "Dead Calm" and "To Die For" both caught fire and crashed into the Channel on their first mission. Didn't play another in case it fell over, caught fire, crashed and then sank into the swamp.
I spoke to Keir a couple of days ago. He's recovering well from the op, but has a nasty ear infection now. He said they've released the trapped nerve which was stopping sensation in his leg, but the damage from his earlier operation and radiotherapy was too extensive for them to risk trying to restore movememnt to his knee without making things worse. He doesn't have much luck, sometimes. Hoping he might make it to the quiz this evening.
Iain and I saw Steve Earle last night at the Hammersmith Apollo. Not a bad gig. Good sound quality compared to the Empire, but it's all-seating which kills the atmosphere a bit. He played for well over two hours - mostly the political material, but included a few of his classics - Hardcore Troubadour, Goodbye, Copperhead Road. No murder ballads or train songs this time, but he did a good cover version of "Sweet Virginia" as one of his encores - claiming that playing Stones covers cheered him up after the election. He played "Condi, Condi" with the comment "I have no excuse for this. None", and urged people to take to the streets. Ended the set with "The Time Has Come Today". He's really not courting the middle ground at all any more - I'm now the proud owner of a new tour T-shirt with a skull, hammer and sickle design.
Support was Alison Moorer, who looked lovely and sang very creditably in some duets with Steve. I actually think her contribution on "Comin' Around" worked better than Emmylou Harris's on the album version.
On Saturday, Sara told us about Villain Supply - might come in handy for the Despot of Frangipania.
Inspired by a chat with Simon on Saturday, I dug B17: Queen of the Skies out and played a couple of missions. The aircraft "Dead Calm" and "To Die For" both caught fire and crashed into the Channel on their first mission. Didn't play another in case it fell over, caught fire, crashed and then sank into the swamp.
I spoke to Keir a couple of days ago. He's recovering well from the op, but has a nasty ear infection now. He said they've released the trapped nerve which was stopping sensation in his leg, but the damage from his earlier operation and radiotherapy was too extensive for them to risk trying to restore movememnt to his knee without making things worse. He doesn't have much luck, sometimes. Hoping he might make it to the quiz this evening.
Iain and I saw Steve Earle last night at the Hammersmith Apollo. Not a bad gig. Good sound quality compared to the Empire, but it's all-seating which kills the atmosphere a bit. He played for well over two hours - mostly the political material, but included a few of his classics - Hardcore Troubadour, Goodbye, Copperhead Road. No murder ballads or train songs this time, but he did a good cover version of "Sweet Virginia" as one of his encores - claiming that playing Stones covers cheered him up after the election. He played "Condi, Condi" with the comment "I have no excuse for this. None", and urged people to take to the streets. Ended the set with "The Time Has Come Today". He's really not courting the middle ground at all any more - I'm now the proud owner of a new tour T-shirt with a skull, hammer and sickle design.
Support was Alison Moorer, who looked lovely and sang very creditably in some duets with Steve. I actually think her contribution on "Comin' Around" worked better than Emmylou Harris's on the album version.