Laughed lots Saturday! Spent the afternoon dressed as a chicken and created a slight disturbance outside Sainsbury's... it was actually hilarious .... we (Greenpeace) were simply drawing people's attention to Sainsbury's non-GM-feed milk but a security guard panicked a bit and called the police... it was the closest I have ever come to being arrested and I found it all amusing rather than scary! The day was really warm and the chicken suit a little uncomfortable so I was quite happy to stop after an hour and head into New Cross where Carla lives for herbal tea and conversation... I was absolutely knackered after a late night drinking with my brother and had been up early to drive back to get to Greenwich on time.....

The evening was spent in delightful company of some Greenpeace people that had been on the MV Esperanza... food was delicious and it was a lovely evening...

and yesterday...

another Graham gig!!!! Sarah had won tickets so we went to the Islington Academy which is a very small venue headed towards the stage and waited for Graham... it was a blinding gig! His guitar work is so versatile... he seemd to go through a whole gamut of genres from 70's rock to punk to blue grass.... he also played much from Happiness in Magazines... some of his older stuff.. he was really very very very good

It's Friday afternoon and I haven't got much work to do. so what do I end up doing, apart from some Greenpeace cyberactivity, .... ended up on the quizzilla pages again.. this time absurdly looking at which film I should be in...




Fight Club!


What movie Do you Belong in?(many different outcomes!)
brought to you by Quizilla

bugger! my bike was stolen yesterday!! Very sad as I have had it years and fallen off it loads... it had become like a member of the family, it had it's faults but you accepted that and loved it just the same..... and now it's gone!!! It will probably be taken to pieces... the tyres and hubs were special, nice purple spokes!!!!... the brake system bled all the time but as an early hydraulic system it was excellent... though the quick release led to a couple of permament scars when it came loose and caught between the spokes...ahhhhhh fond (?) memories indeed, Jake coming to rescue me as my head was thoroughly bashed! Falling down some stairs on the day I bought it as I was a little too ambitious .... learning stoppies with Arthur and Lizzie... coming back from Bethnal Green and not being able to find the Rotherhithe tunnel... it had disappeared that night I'm sure!! ahhhhhhhh my bike! Thanks Josh for getting it... one of the best birthday presents ever! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh my bike! Goodbye......... my bike

a bit of my past rushed back at me last night!! Sitting in the Mayflower with Sarah and there were people with garish t-shirts, drinking copiuous amounts of beer, wearing trainers and occassionally the word 'hashing' would float across the bar.... We had arrived a bit earlier and were astounded at how full the pub was and the oddly colourful clothing worn by the customers, most of whom seemed American, very American... we sidled away to the bar at the front of the pub, but were admittedly curious... so after a drink and when the other bar had emptied a little we headed back to satisfy the curiosity....after hearing the word Hashing I was reminded of the Hare and Hounds Hash House Harriers that I ran with a few times. This group ran in the Bedfordshire countryside, I had even set one of the routes but had not really got that involved... all got a bit awkward with one of the runners so I stopped going.... but I remember it as an amusing way to spend an evening... the people in the Mayflower, though, were taking the drinking very very seriously indeed! so of course we joined in......they are members of the west london group and run regularly....and why so many Americans?? Apparently it's an international hashing thing going on?? ....Sarah is very keen to join.. I would be apart from the fact that it does involve running! I'm not big on that...    get out of breath very quickly and my face turns lobster pink... not a good look!

Odd week.......went out Monday night initially for an after work drink then headed for the 12 bar club ...saw Paul the Girl do  a very accomplished set.... then wasn't really impressed with the next bloke and can't actually remember his name... he had something to do with Captain Beefheart.... evening then turned a little odd ..... something to do with different memories of a shared event...?
 
Wednesday saw me waiting outside Foyles for Sarah, trouble was she was waiting outside Waterstones....unfortunately I didn't have my phone......we were going to see the new Michael Moore film but ended up not meeting at all!! the positive thing out of it was that I bought a good book...... 'a million little pieces' by James Frey... a compulsive read, one of those books that is difficult to put down , so I have been walking whilst reading, cooking whilst reading, waking up at 4. 00am and picking up the book and continuing.... it is about a man's experience of rehab... but it's a fascinating insight into the world of addiction, compulsive behaviour and human dignity...It was only last night though that I realised it was not fiction..... that shocked me a bit. I mean the bit about the root canals was actually expereinced in reality???!!!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhh sends all sorts of horrible shivers everywhere, in fact it might have been difficult to read that section knowing it was true....
 
Last night met up with Neela in Farringdon, after work... lovely to see you N! and am really looking forward to the Cambridge Folk Festival in a couple of weeks time.. we had an solidly good bit of food in a fish restaurant and drank perhaps slightly too much wine but hey! Compared to James Frey I am a long way from rehab........ the one t-shirt I bought at Glastonbury was a black one with the words 'Rehab is for quitters'........ I liked it because it is soooooo true It so obviously is!
 
weekend is looking promising, Hannah is over tonight and  maybe go to Shoreditch Saturday night

Somtimes, something that has always previously seemed thoroughly impossible can suddenly be presented as possible! It happened yesterday as I was working on a Greenpeace boat, The Esperanza, for an open day. The work was easy, it was a matter of talking to people about Greenpeace and particular campaigns, giving some directions around the boat and generally being helpful. This day, in itself, was wonderful as I had never really imagined I would go on board a Greenpeace boat and here I was working on it and talking to the crew, getting an insider's view... it was splendid!!! But as the day drew to a close and after the debriefing session and beer people started heading off... i too picked up my backpack and was pondering the possibility of which tube to get home when Penny one of the crew said they were having a few more beers up in the lounge and would anyone like to join them... ended up with two other volunteers and some of the crew sitting drinking beer, listening to discussions about being sprayed off the side of trawlers, how to cope if a trawler comes full speed towards you and you are swimming in the sea, being threatened by Italian captains, the sight of storm petrels zipping the tops of waves, dolphins that recognise the rainbow on the side of the boat....magic indeed!!!! and it seems it could all be possible!!!! the dream and listening to others talk could, with a bit of effort, become my reality and my conversation!! I need to be proactive and this is something worth being proactive about!!!!!!!!!

Another sight on my walk to work.... and this made me laugh and is in keeping with the surfer theme of the posts today was a new shop opened up next to Cafe 1001 in the little brewery passage.... the window is full of garishly painted surf boards!!!! a surf shop in Brick Lane!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where more suitable ......so close to the beach!!!??

Odd what we do to our children...... we want them to have better and more fulfilling lives but also if we had an excellent childhood then we like to try to replicate some of this for them..... giving security, opportunity, love, acceptance.... saw an odd sight today that made me ponder..... there must be a little private school tucked away somewhere off Worship Street as I often see very little children dressed in the type of school uniform that was becoming old fashioned when I was at school.... caps and blazers, stripey summer dresses and boaters!!! This morning in front of me was a little boy straight out of Enid Blyton in the 1950's!!! Grey socks,longish baggy navy blue shorts, blazer slightly short on the arms and a cap that barely fitted over his short back and sides. He was walking hand-in-hand with , I presume, his father. This man was wearing dirty jeans, scruffily creased, a loose long sleeved t-shirt, with a tan and the casual air of a classic cool surfer dude.. they just did not match and it seemed odd that an adult so relaxed would dress his child in so regulated a fashion... is he providing something to rebel against.. is that what he looked like aged 5 and he is giving his child all the 'benefits' he had??? hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm seems things have got somewhat reversed from when I was at school and it was the parents who looked old and stuffy....

Post-Glasto sleeping sickness is finally over. I feel alive again and wide awake!! Though certainly didn't Friday night as Sarah and I met up for drinks at The Foundry and went on to 93 feet east... sadly all I could do was sit in a comfortable sofa and watch people.... there was a band playing, a film, Jubilee, and I just wasn't up to any of it!!!!

Went to Cambridge Saturday and oddly ended the evening in a gay pub lock in.... drinking shooters and odd stuff........ almost adopted a new son..... had a wonderful time!!!

Always feel somewhat bereft leaving the boys and returning to London though, and that is the mood today, feel it's all very superficial here.........! Need to find a more substantial job....

Sarah is off pole dancing tonight!!!! Has signed up for a course!!!!!

This is my 200th posting!! Which actually, considering I have been writing this since Oct 2002 really doesn't seem that many.......

Heading Shoreditch way tonight for drinks and food....... to celebrate stuff with Sarah.. t'wil be good....... last night ended up having a few after-work drinks as the Godlike one is leaving to go to the US to work for Ralph Lauren....it was all getting a bit raucous when I sidled away mid evening... am I becoming a lightweight??? or is it post-Glasto sleeping sickness???

Still can't work out how I feel about coming back to London.. it is odd when you go away and eventually you look forward to getting 'home'.... but coming back to London just didn't feel like coming 'home' it feels like an extension of being away??? Where is home, what is this thing that gives a sense of belonging?? Is it familiarity within the environment... an increasing recognition of places the closer you get to home.. or the initmate knowledge of a place? knowing all its alley-ways and back streets, of shortcuts and splendid vista's... or is it more a feeling? a place you feel safe? a place you feel warm? Still have to find my home I guess.... then I might know the answers???????

Realise that recently I have just written bare details and missed so much out from before Glastonbury.. didn't mention going to Goldsmiths to see the degree exhibition .... amazed that painting seems to be making a bit of a comeback and the textile work was probably the most fascinating area .....have been exploring more and discovered the London Stone in Canon Street which actually felt a bit like seeing Avebury or Stonehenge... something from such a distant past that its mere survival seems remarkable... it is behind glass for protection... which is sensible as I would have touched it had it been possible and as it is porous rock it would have been worn away over the years from everyone else doing the same.... now why is there the need to reach out????..... hmmmmmm