Joe's birthday has maintained its form while getting quieter year on year: we even only managed a short burst dancing around his bedroom on the party night two weeks ago, mostly it was just half a dozen of us sat around watching 90s music videos, although I still hadn't really slept by the time morning came round and I decided clearly the thing to ( Read more... )

I had a nice day down in Southampton the Sunday before last, I met up with R & family for a walk in the New Forest and home-made rice pudding during the day, then hooked up with J and L to watch Gaz Brookfield at Talking Heads in the evening. He was supported by Nick Parker, who I’ve seen play with him before, and it finished early enough that I ( Read more... )

I felt slightly like I had betrayed myself when I came back from the wedding a couple of weekends ago: my friend M was having a party for his birthday at his brilliantly rickety place in Stoke Newington which was themed around bringing your awful teenage poetry and diaries to read to everyone (something I have in abundance); it was only about 10.30 ( Read more... )

Last Sunday involved eggwhite's exceedingly civilised Stag Do, which comprised of meeting up in town for lunch, perusing the Wellcome Collection (I went back to the Bedlam exhibition and got to watch some of the great video exhibits all the way through) and an Escape Room up the Caledonian Road: our group seemed to blitz its way through (once we'd got out ( Read more... )

I'd taken the Friday off before New Year's Eve and we once again appropriated N's work van to drive out through the fog to Suffolk, where twelve us of (mostly school-friends), plus four children, were spending a few nights in a converted barn somewhere near Southwold. It was a lovely place, albeit rather open plan, meaning that several of the ( Read more... )

The week before Christmas was pretty busy: we watched Rogue One in Walthamstow on the Monday, which was good fun and had dinner with N's cousin the next evening. I stayed in Wednesday evening to Make Christmas Happen and was at the shelter in the evening the next day. Friday was the annual December 23rd shindig in Winchester and I's able to slip ( Read more... )

I went up to Walthamstow on the Tuesday after we got back from Somerset to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them with N, which was perfectly enjoyable. I was at the shelter Wednesday evening then N came over on Thursday ( Read more... )

I spent most of the weekend at home, two weeks ago, catching up on stuff and work and only venturing out in the evenings. On the Saturday it was to Nambucca for bands: first off The Trap, who had a sneering appeal, then highly danceable Mancunians Dantevilles; I was there for White Room, who continue to impress, there was another band afterwards ( Read more... )

Saturday before last was the annual Halloween Party at N's aka: David Boowie's Spook Oddity, as Bowie had been honoured as this year's theme. There were some pretty good efforts, more from his films than music (I went as Hunger Bowie) and pretty much the ususal suspects as guests, although M&E came too this year. Quite a few of us made it to brunch ( Read more... )

Last week we had our occasional KES crew meet-up on Tuesday at a pub in Paddington which was fun, although we fall so easily and naturally into the same old nonsense that we never really catch up with what everyone's been up to. The next night I went to see Tony Kushner's The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to ( Read more... )