Thursday 31 July 2008 22:49

As I said, I'm getting sloppy. It's not really case of being lazy, although it's something I couldn't usually deny; it's more a case of hardly having any free time at all. Anyway, another quick catch-up.

Firstly, this irritated me while walking into Newcastle the weekend before last.



Ok, so I'm easily irritated. And perhaps amused; a picture of Paula we spotted in an exhibition in the Baltic



The resemblance is uncanny, isn't it. The next one's a picture of the bamboo bridge that briefly spanned the Tyne. It was kind of impressive but rubbish at the same time.



We had the grandkids last weekend, spending the best part of Saturday chasing a three-year-old around Saltwell Park. It's hard to believe from the picture that pure evil is contained within.



Although we'd not particularly intended going, we went to Sunderland airshow on Sunday. The view was spectacular and you could almost imagine seeing scores of aeroplanes above our heads. Somewhere.



Friday 18 July 2008 22:29

I'm getting a little sloppy in updating I think. I never seem to get a minute lately. However, in brief:
Well, that's enough for now I think.



Sunday 13 July 2008 00:23

I need to say something of importance tonight. Everyone, please cover your ears because this is directed at one person; my mate Peter. I'm dead drunk, as is aforementioned mate. I have two things to say about Peter. Firstly, and I'll gloss over this, Peter has a thing about Metros. More particularly, Peter has a thing about Metro timetables. I mean, in the time Peter takes to get to a platform I can finish my drink, have at least one more, a packet of crisps, then have a wee, and then meet Peter on the platform before having ten minutes chat prior to Peter's Metro arriving. Oh, and if that's not bad enough, Peter's gay (with a Metro timetable fetish) too.


Monday 7 July 2008 23:03

After many prolonged Sunday pub 'lunches', we've vowed never to go out on Sundays again. Frequently. Yesterday was to be different though; we'd agreed to meet earlier than usual then leave after lunch and a couple of drinks. That was the plan.

Unfortunately, things often don't always go to plan. As usual, we went to Baroque in Sunderland. Shortly after arriving though, we were told by the very nice bar staff that the bar had new owners and that it was to close the following day (today) for refurbishment. We were pretty upset to hear this, since we're all quite attached to the place and, in particular, the decor.

In the circumstances, we thought that we couldn't leave after just a couple of drinks and decided to stay a little longer. Since we'd arrived at 1pm, we had plenty time. Or so it seemed at the time. The time passed very quickly, the staff party began with us as the only customers, and after a while the doors were locked. Our very frequent requests for music were fulfilled without hesitation and we were even provided with a free round of drinks.

The staff didn't object to most of our party dancing on tables, possibly because they themselves were dancing on the bar. There were photographs, and video, of the dancing, but it would be cruel to show these on the Internet. After twelve hours or so, we thought we should leave. There was singing between the bar and the cab rank.

We'd also thought that we should leave before anyone noticed that the very cool brass door handles were missing.

I seem to have taken around 300 photos last night; only a few were suitable for posting here ...









We'll miss the place; it's a shame that something with a little originality will probably be replaced by laminate flooring and chrome barstools.



Wednesday 2 July 2008 23:50

I'm back to work again, I'm tired, my legs still ache, my back aches, I've sunburn and I'm peeling. But Glastonbury was amazing. It was so big, I'm sure we didn't see everything.

Without a doubt, the Kings of Leon were simply brilliant, out-classing any other band. Elbow were a very close second best, Goldfrapp were a bit of a disappointment, but the Raconteurs were just great, as were the Fratellis. Amy Winehouse was stupidly drunk and an embarassment, but Neil Diamond a real surprise; the crowd loved him.

I was most surprised with Leonard Cohen, who was absolutely brilliant. The best moment, though, had to be Elbow's tiny gig in the Queen's Head, one of the bars. They were great on the huge Other Stage, with an audience of thousands, but there was something special about their performance in front of a couple of hundred.

At Leeds festival last year, our festival song was the View's Same Jeans. There wasn't really a festival song at Glastonbury, mainly because it wasn't a huge family event like Leeds had been, but if there was one it'd have been Elbow's A Day Like This. The atmosphere was just great when the crowd started singing it after the band had left.

A return next year is planned.  Oh, a random selection of pictures from the weekend ...