Christmas

I haven't felt very Christmassy this year. I had a text message on Wednesday from Rebecca that just said "I'm staying away and coming back xmas eve. Joshua is OK". Because Joshua wasn't in the house getting excited I didn't feel like decorating, I put up a small fibre optic Christmas tree in my living room and placed some tinsel around the pictures and it looks shit. I might take them down tomorrow.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve I was feeling at my miserable best, Rebecca hadn't brought Joshua home from wherever she had gone, I was slightly hungover and I spent most of the day alone when I really could have done with some company.

I called into my Mom and Dad's shop only to be given advice by my Aunt which was really just her insulting Rebecca. Not wanting to listen to much more of that I took myself off and wandered around charity shops, I bought myself a copy of Ziggy Stardust which I have still only half played.

When I got home I cooked myself a vegetarian stir-fry and tried to find songs that would cheer me up and was only half successful.

Nick rang to say that he was in Birmingham and I arranged to meet him in Selly Oak. I drank two Magners Ciders with ice cubes in the glass for some reason??? I then took Phil his secret santa present from the night before A copy of Loaded with a free Centerfolds DVD, a book called Hell Bent For Leather - Confessions of a Heavy Metal Addict and a bar of Chocolate.

I rang home to see if Rebecca had come back, she had, however by the time I got back Joshua was already asleep.

I went to bed too late.

Christmas Day

Joshua woke up fairly late considering it was Christmas Day and opened his presents. I went with Rebecca and Joshua to her Mom and Dad's house and he opened more presents. Rebecca's mom kept offering me food and drink.

Its kind of odd going to her Mom and Dad's when she is there, I get on with them very well but I have nothing to say to Rebecca.

In the afternoon I took Joshua to my Mom and Dad's were we had another round of present opening. I had an Elvis CD of Edward, a very warm cardigan off Emily and a spanish cookbook amongst other things off my Mom and Dad.

Christmas Day is always a nothing day, when I was younger we had great big family gatherings but that never happens now. My Dad gave me some awful wine from Valencia and I watched cheesy Christmas films on the Halmark Channel. I ate beef for dinner and drank some beer. I watched the top fifty TV comedy moments and then went home.

Rebecca didn't come home which upset Joshua. I haven't seen her since.

Boxing Day

Joshua spent the morning playing with his new toys. We went to my Mom and Dad's house in the afternoon and did nothing.

I met Joe and Phil in the Country Girl and we did the quiz, we reached the final but were too busy arguing to actually listen to the questions. Paul's two brothers were in the pub too and they won the quiz due to David's ability to tell which day a date is on.

My brother and I went to the Custard Factory, I spent the night chatting to a girl from Erdington, she was coming on pretty strongly but as usual she had a bloke.

Edward was very drunk and forgot how to turn a key in a lock and woke every in his house a five in the morning.

Crap Presents

I hope that nobody recieved one of these 'Ideal Stocking Fillers'.

Happy Christmas

Happy Christmas.

Good Times

I've been trying to compile a list of songs that I listened to when I have been at my happiest in recent years with which I can listen to when I am feeling low. It's quite hard because rather than being reminded of good times I am reminded of people. Also more often than not the songs aren't that happy.

Today I have been listening to the Boo Radleys Giant Steps album. This was from a time when I was around twenty-one, summer was approaching and I was looking forward to Glastonbury. For one reason or another I was not going out with Rebecca and I was meeting other girls (generally Dan's cast offs) and having quite a bit of fun. Life was easy and I think this was the last time that I was truly carefree (I was an expectant father just over twelve months later).

The music still makes me happy but nowdays I seem to take more notice of lyrics. On Barney and Me... there are the words "I recall when we were younger we shared the streets of home. Spoke of our dreams and soaring schemes and places we would go. If I stay around much longer I'll never leave again. I have to move, I cannot stay, believe the voice that tells me, leave it all behind me", this is how I feel now, I have to get away...but I can't just now.

Christmas Meal

I met Colin and Richard in the Sack of Potatoes for a lunchtime beer. We shared and created various different rumours before I returned to work only to be told that I could go home.

I did some shopping and made sure I had enough mince pies. I considered buying beer but didn't bother. I got home and had I had a bit of a cat nap whilst listening to the Kings of Convenience.

The CLUB was having its Christmas meal and people had arranged to meet in the Bear in Bearwood. I was on time, everyone else was late. I put Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on the video jukebox, Karen O is gorgeous in the video. After playing Belle and Sebastian's I'm a Cuckoo and Whatever Happened to my Rock and Roll by the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, I was concerned as to where people were.

Eventually everyone turned up and we made our way to the restaurant. On the way Colin complained that he never appears in this blog and wants to be famous but doesn't want to feature in an unhappy post. Also on the way, there was much amusement in violating Colin's privacy zone at the cashpoint.

The meal was very nice. I had a vegetarian spinach dish and a bottle of sparkling wine. I cocked up the Secret Santa by leaving my present at home. Grant got a pair of leopard skin underpants, Phil got nothing and I recieved a gun that shot discs with which I subsequently tried to blind everyone. Much wine was drank.

After we had been kicked out of the restaurant we retired to Stephen's house and we made a lot of noise. At one point people were singing like wailing cats. Rachael was sick. Richard and Colin got very excited by an X-Box boxing game.

I got home quite late and now feel pretty shit.

Trouble

Dan has been giving me beer.

I'm not drunk.

I am tired.

I am not happy.

Or Unhappy.

I am in a strange mood.

Quite mischievious.

Maybe bored.

I want to write things that will get me into trouble.

Just to find out what will happen.

But I don't think I should.

So I wont.

This time

I should go to bed.

Shopping

I went to the quiz last night, I drank too much again and feel very tired now. I have just been trudging around the Bull Ring looking for a present for my Mom without success.

I always seem to leave my mobile phone at home when people want to phone me. I had about five text messages and three missed calls from various people today and now they probably think that I am ignoring them and are ignoring me back... :(

I bought myself 'Quiet is the New Loud' by The Kings of Convenience. More sad songs!

Christmas Spirits

After a pretty lacklustre works Christmas lunchtime dinner with no free booze the people on my team went out for a few beers after work. I drank a little too much and decided to call on Dan on the way home.

I kept him awake talking about the usual subject till very late. He has been subtlety taking the piss out of me since. He says I am paranoid but I am not and I probably deserve it.

Fucking Headache

I've got a pounding headache, I'm not sure whether its standing next to a speaker stack on Saturday, too many late nights and too much booze, too much time in front of a computer screen or working too hard. Whatever, it fucking hurts.

Work has gone into wind down mode, most of the managers went for a 'meeting' this afternoon in the pub. Alison wrote her Christmas cards and I sent emails and stared into space feeling sorry for myself because I have an nut-ache.

I spoke to Gemma earlier she is going swimming in the North Sea on Christmas day again, she must be nuts but its for charity. I told her that I was going to swim in the Firth of Forth on New Years Day, now I have no choice, I am nuts, its not even for charity simply a mug of soup and a whiskey.

I'm off to take some painkillers...

Rootie Frooties Again!

I had a relaxing day bumming around the house with Joshua doing nothing in particular. About five he went to stay at my parents and I had the rest of the evening free.

The feeling of not wanting to go out was quickly wearing off after an hour of solitude. I rang Joe but he indicated that he was going to be boring and go somewhere local. Dan had no ideas where to go but suggested that I grab some beers, go to his house and entertain him.

I was pretty spent from the previous two nights exertions and was still thinking that a quiet night might be the best option. I was too lazy to cook and bought a tasteless portion of chips from across the road. After listening to the whole of Manu Chao's whilst slothing in the bath I dragged myself out and bought some cider for myself and Bass for Dan.

We drank our booze whilst doing the Telegraph crossword with Ian and Catherine. Dan said that he wanted to go and meet Emma in The Rainbow, it was the Bam Bam Club night which I always enjoy, so I happily agreed. Dan tried to persuade Joe to join us but he failed spectacularly.

I was starting to perk up a little when we walked to train station. Dan's favourite ticket man was not at the station to discuss the joys of the tower ball with him, I don't think he was too disappointed.

We arrived at The Rainbow to be told that it was at capacity and we would have to wait. It seemed a little pointless to me as we waited for about five minutes at the most before they let us in and then it didn't seem too busy anyway.

Dan made a beeline for Emma, it was clear that I was going to have to find somebody else to talk to which I did pretty successfully and was given another ego boost.

I saw a man who was drenched get picked up about three foot in the air and physically ejected by the DJ. I'm not sure why he was drenched.

I bumped into Scott and Louise. Scott was on crutches.

The music excellent, the DJ was Rune Lindbaek from Norway and has worked with Royksopp, he looked like a total nerd but didn't stop smiling. I danced with some blonde ladies, one of whom seemed to take quite a shine to me and another that I took quite a shine to but she has a boyfriend.

As The Rainbow was about to close the DJ announced that they were moving to Rootie Frooties till six. Strangely I had woken up quite a lot more now it had gone 2 A.M. and it didn't take too much persuading for me to go there.

As I waked in one of the DJ's walked straight up to me and shook my hand without saying a word. ?

I danced with the blonde women some more in Rootie Frooties, I smoked too many of Emma's cigarettes and could have quite happily stayed till the end. Dan and Emma said that they were leaving about four and I joined them in the taxi. We dropped Emma off at her house and went back to Dan's.

Dan and I chatted, Dan said he was confused about what to do about Emma. Dan suggested drinking wine but instead we ate toast, I finally went home about half five.

I had a great night and at no point did I feel like I had done the previous one.

Rootie Frooties

Work had gone pretty slow again so was glad to get home. I called around to find out what Dan's plans were but he had none. I returned home to eat and afterwards had a couple of beers in the British Oak. Dan said he was going to a party but changed his mind and came to Rootie Frooties with me.

I wanted to see Caroline's samba band.

I chatted to a blonde girl (whose name has left my head) for a while, I'm pretty sure I had spoken to her previously in the Rainbow on the Trojan Records night. She seemed very nice and I noticed her video my ugly mug a bit later on in the evening.

I didn't drink very much and was pretty sober when Joe and Phil arrived shitfaced around half past midnight. We watched a band called The Destroyers who played russian music and another band who played punk records.

There was a strange queing system for the unisex toilet, I'm not sure that anyone was actually there to use loo, everyone was chatting everyone else up.

Again I had that feeling that maybe I don't want to be going out and partying as much as I do and maybe I should find something else to do.

I people watched for a time, most peole were loaded and there seemed to be no sign of peole heading away or ending the night (It was already three in the morning). There were a fair few people older than me totally fucked (I saw a Peter Stringfellow look-a-like was harassing one of the barmaids). I'm just not sure that I want to be in Rootie Frooties (or anywhere else) till five, six, seven in the morning for much longer.

Maybe I was just feeling tired.

Maybe its because Dan took me to his student union and I felt old. ;)

Sugarfoot Stomp

Work was slower than a slow thing and I was requiring some kind of evening entertainment so as not to go mad.

I met Dan straight from work in the Sunflower Lounge. He was pretty loaded already as it was his end of term and had spent most of the day drinking. He kept disappearing to the toilet for long periods of time which either means was being sick or had the brad pitts. He must have been very drunk because he kept topping my pint up with his.

I think Dan wanted me to feel as ancient as he is and thats why he took me to his student union. After one pint we went back to the Sunflower Lounge.

Downstairs was a 1930's and 40's theme night. We danced to Glenn Miller and Edith Piaf records and watched Jimmy Stewart movies. We ate sweets. Dan met a young lady called Neville who kept punching me.

I had no keys and had to wake Rebecca up to get in at twoish in the morning. Ha Ha Ha.

Work Christmas Lunch

I went for a work Christmas lunch at the College of Food and Silly Hair Tourism today. I got quite tipsy on a malibu laced melon and then proceded to get even more so after several glasses of wine. The food was very nice and I had a yo-yo in my Christmas cracker and a crap joke.

Q: How do snails keep their shells shiny?
A: They use snail varnish!

We had to go back to work afterwards and stuff broke. Nobody knows how to fix it and it is still broke.

Sonar Festival,
originally uploaded by xaotica.

I think this is another cool picture of the Sonar Festival - Why can't it be the summer already?

HA!

I found out this afternoon why I had been feeling so rough yesterday after a such a dull Saturday night - TEQUILA!

I was feeling pretty rough today too. Last night Dan and I went to HA!, a strange live techno evening at The Rainbow. Matt and Neil's photos were on display. It was a bit quiet but then I guess that wasn't to be unexpected considering it was a freezing cold Sunday night.

Some of the music was a bit too experimental for my taste, I guess it could be described as wanky. There was also a naff acid jazz type band that I didn't much like. Still I rather go out, get pissed up and watch strange looking arty types make pretentious electronic music than sit at home alone watching Top Gear.

Matt, Dan and I were accused of being very English by some random women when I suggested going for a curry. I don't care I was hungry and the curry was nice.

According to Dan's Fotolog I got home about three, I must admit I thought it was earlier than that...not that it makes much difference when you have to get up for work still a bit pissed.

Barcelona Sonar 2005

Barcelona Sonar 2005,
originally uploaded by Mia Terranova.

Dan and I have decided that Benicassim is now sooooo passé and are heading to Barcelona for the Sonar Festival. Which is bound to be much cooler.

This photo I found on Flickr is fantastic

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Miserable Posts

Yesterday I was invited to London but I was with Joshua till late in the day and couldn't really afford to go anyway. There was nothing much interesting going on in Birmingham last night I didn't fancy dub reggae at the Rainbow again or a hard techno and goan trance all nighter the Custard Factory or funk soul and hip hop at The Boiler Room or Above and Beyond at Godskitchen.

I ended up in the dreaded New Inn - which explains the miserable posts last night. :)

I do love miserable songs though.

Make Love to Me Forever

I'm quite drunk as I write this post but at the moment sad/slow/love songs help me through the day. These in particluar are special to me.

Make Love To Me Forever - Snow Patrol - I'm pretty sure that this is an apology, if I could apologise like this, then I guess that I wouldn't be single

You Were Right - Badly Drawn Boy - Turning down the Queen and Madonna for somebody else, how fucking great is that!

High Hopes - Neil Halstead - A song about realising how beautiful and special your girlfriend/wife is.

New Birds - Arab Strap - Another song about realising how beautiful and lovely your girlfriend/wife is.

Jose Gonzales - Crosses - I dont know what this song is about but it really is fantastic

Love is a Game - The Magic Numbers - Love is just a game but I will get over you. This sums everything up to me.

$1000 Dollar Wedding - Evan Dando - A cover version of a Gram Parson record about your bride to be dying on her wedding day, miserable but totally lovely.

By The Time It Gets Dark - Yo La Tengo - Yo La Tengo write the best love songs ever but this is a cover version and they do it so much better. I listen to this as often as I can when I am feeling low - Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining.

Ingrid Bergman - Billy Bragg and Wilco -I like this song but probably for the stupidest of reasons

Spiritualized - I Think I'm In Love - This has appeared elsewhere.

Whir - Smashing Pumpklins - I've wasted all my years...

Fun Lovin Criminals

Last weekend was kind of amazing and for the most of this week I've been feeling pretty high and have had an optimistic outlook on everything. It gave me somebody else to spemd my idle moments daydreaming about.

It was starting to wear off today and miserable thoughts were starting to creep back in, possibly because work has been so dull lately, luckily I had a night out planned...

Dan and I decided to go to the Medicine Bar for the Fun Lovin Criminals DJ set - The Djing was as bad as mine, it was amixture of everything from Guns'n'Roses and Nine Inch Nals to Prince and Stevie Wonder - I liked it but Dan thought that Huey had completely lost it.

Walking Home

I danced for about seven hours pretty much none stop my legs were almost like jelly. At six thirty I caught a taxi to Selly Oak and walked home. I still felt quite awake. I tried taking some pictures on my phone to show the sunrise, they havent come out that well.




I also tried taking a picture of the railway workers clearing the track with a huge machine near the country girl but you can only see two blurry lights.



I watched spiderman when I got home had some breakfast and then went to bed.

Drop Bombs and Boosted Egos

‘You are looking very hot tonight Richard, very hot!’ is not something that I ever expected to hear from Caroline or anyone else and I certainly not by string of attractive women all through the night.

These blurry pictures sum up how every thing looked to me. My brother disappeared the minute he walked in the club, I had reports that he was swinging fire around his head and later that he was wearing a gas mask and taking photos of people.

Dan also disappeared, with the young lady with whom he had spent Thursday night snogging. He turned up a couple of times in the night only to disappear again.

There were many different styles of music - Hip Hop, Dub, Tribal Hippy Trance Bollocks, Drum'n'Bass, Breakbeat and Punk Rock.

Joe liked the breakbeat tent the best. I was touched up by a blonde girl but I wasn't complaining. I gave Joe my hat to try but it didn't work for him, he didn't get touched up by anybody.

Central America

I'd love to spend at least one winter away somewhere warm. Tim introduced me to this website. I kind of wished he hadn't because I'm now dreaming about spending the winter in Mexico, Belize, Guatamala, The Honduras and Nicaragua.

I guess I wouldn't be able to do anything like this for a couple of years yet.

Trojan Sound System

I was sitting bored in the office wondering whether or not anyone would fancy a beer later when Dan called to ask if I fancied going out to the Trojan Records Dub Soundsystem Night at The Rainbow. I jumped at the chance.

Dan, as usual, wasn't ready when I called around his house, I chatted to Ben while waiting for him to put his make-up on and we wondered whether there was any booze lying around the house but (un)fortunately there wasn't.

With it pissing down (and with me generally being a pessimist nowdays) I thought that we might be heading for an disappointingly empty pub. Not that that mattered. We bought some beers for the bus and Dan boasted about his superior drinking skills because he had bought a bottle with a screw top but I showed him that I am indeed the master by effortlessly taking the cap of mine.

It was still raining when we got off the bus and we trudged down Digbeth High Street and were quite sodden by the time we arrived. Caroline, Matt and Neil were already there and informed us that free beer was available which was definately a bonus.

Inside the pub they were playing 70's funk records and it was nice and warm, outside they were playing dub and it was pretty cold and rain came through the roof. It was a scene similar to the other night with people huddled around the one outdoor heater. Caroline for some reason was wearing summer clothes and was extremely cold to touch, everyone else was wearing woolly hats, scarves and mittens.

Also outside was a japanese artist painting huge Rolf Harris style paintings he seemed to be painting over stuff every time I watched him.

I bumped into the girl I met the other week and she complained that I wasn't wearing my cowboy hat. Later in the night she drew a moustach on my face, not that I need one.

The place filled gradually until about ten when it became very busy just in time for the Trojan Sound System to start with a Yorkshireman attempting to MC. He sounded very daft, luckily he was only introducing the main act. MC Juggla and his two mates, MCing and singing over old and new dub records. I liked it very much and by the end of the set the whole place was dancing (apart from Neil who hates reggae and all its derivatives with a passion apparently, he stayed in the warm listening to Stevie Wonder).

I had to wait for Dan to stop snogging a random portuguese lady before I could go home. I got in about twoish, was a little tipsy from the free beer and played the free CD I was given rather too loudly.

Arghhh!!!! I'm Going Nuts

I wish I could stop feeling so fucking nutty and tired and sad and lonely and I wish the stupidest things didn't start it off. I'm going to go and listen to Wilco records to cheer myself up.

How to Fight Loneliness

How to fight loneliness
Smile all the time
Shine your teeth to meaningless
And sharpen them with lies

And whatever is going down
Will you follow around
That's how you fight loneliness

You laugh at every joke
Drag your blanket blindly
Fill your heart with smoke

And the first thing that you want
Will be the last thing you'll ever need
That's how you fight it

Just smile all the time
Just smile all the time
Just smile all the time
Just smile all the time

Dreams

I have been having the most wildly colourful and realistic dreams lately. They have started with me doing the most mundane things in them and suddenly they have erupted into millions of different shades of a colour. They've been quite short and episodic, one that has stuck in my mind involved me fixing a computer monitor and once it came to life the strangest light and images emerged from it.

I'm Going to East Anglia...Apparently.

Today completely out of the blue Paul told me that I would end up living in Norfolk. I thought this a was a strange thing to say and asked him why but he just said 'I think you will'.

Alison wanted to know if they let outsiders into East Anglia and he said 'Oh yes, those East Anglians like to introduce a new defect into the bloodline about every hundred years or so' ;)

I found my phone underneath a load of socks, how stupid is that!

Binge Drinking

Twenty-four hour drink licensing came into force on thursday and this is going to turn us all into responsible mediterranean style half pint drinkers like the ones we met downing litre jugs of cider in Valencia.

As proof that I have become a responsible mediterranean style drinker I have listed what I consumed over the weekend*.

Friday:

Four pints in the Actress and Bishop.

Three bottles of Brahma Brazillian Beer at Dan's House.

One can of Joseph Jones Bitter on the train.

Three pints of beer in the Rainbow.

Saturday

One can of Stella Artois at my house.

Four pints of beer in the British Oak.

One bottle of Brahma and one large bottle of Cider in Balti Bazaar.

One can of Stella Artois on the train.

Four pints of Nastro Azzurro in the Sunflower Lounge.

Sunday

Three and a half pints of beer in the Country Girl.

Three pints of Nastro Azzurro in the Sunflower Lounge.

Monday

Four pints in the Country Girl

*Please note that this was a quiet weekend as I was unsuccessfully attempting to keep sober as I was on call. Also note that Monday is not normally classed as the weekend but I hate it so much that from now on I feel that everyone should go out and class it as the extended weekend.

Sunday Lunch

I phoned my boss to tell him that I had lost my phone as soon as I woke up. Nick then drove me into town so that I could ask if it had been handed in at the Sunflower Lounge but it unfortunately was closed. Nick went to visit his Mom and Dad and we arranged to meet back at the Country Girl.

I spent about an hour and a half listening to CD's in Virgin and bought Entroducing by DJ Shadow for the Organ Donor song but it was a different version to the one Gemma had played in Lowestoft so I was mildly disappointed but it is still a great album and I was complimented on my excellent taste in music at the till.

Even though it was his idea to meet up for lunch nobody knew where Ben had gone and it ended up being just Dan and I going to meet Nick for lunch. On the way to the Country Girl Dan and I expressed our jealousy that Tim and Gemma were somewhere hot but we turning blue with cold. Dan said he hoped their plane crashed, which is very nasty. I wasn't quite so horrid, I simply wished that they had spent the week arguing. Dan said he thought this was more evil.

I had a Lamb Casserole that was solely consisting of Lamb and Potato and wasn't too nice. We drank a few beers and Nick was assaulted by the barmaid. Dan wanted to challenge a table of about fifteen people to a game of Trivial Pursuit, but he didn't.

A while later we sat watching Top Gear in Dan's house and after that went to the Sunflower Lounge to see if my phone was there but no luck. We had a few more beers but were driven off by Anthony and the Johnsons.

Nick's Visit

Nick turned up around four, I fed him and we drank a beer before meeting Dan, Dave and Ben in the British Oak. Ben left quite early because he had other more important friends to meet but before he left we all arranged to meet for sunday dinner in the Country Girl.

Dan left us about about half eight because he was going to an illegal warehouse party which I couldn't be bothered with. I had a text of Joe inviting me to the Country Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons gang but I didn't think that I could have stood listening to them fine combing over the details of their warhammer battle and thought it better to give them a miss.

Screaming chav kids invaded the Oak and Dave, Nick and I decided to leave and go for a curry. We picked in the Balti Bazaar in Stirchley where the food was quite nice. Dave harrassed a middle-aged woman and caused her husband to spray beer all over the table by making him laugh.

About eleven Dave was starting to flag and called it a night but Nick and I headed to the Sunflower Lounge. I suggested it to the Warhammer Warriors but they weren't interested. The music upstairs was so bad that people were leaving. Luckily it was open downstairs and we could escape. Some lads thought that my crappy wallet was the most interesting and cool thing they had ever seen and insisted that I let them take lots of photos of it. They kicked us out about half one and we went back to my house to drink some more beer until Nick passed out.

Going to bed I realised that I had lost my workphone, I was on call but figured in my not very sober logic that I might as well worry about it in the morning and went to sleep.

Fucking Cold

I worked quite late and met James and some of his workmates straight after work in the Actress and Bishop. I didn't fancy spending the night in that particular watering hole so after a few said farewell around half-eight and headed home.

Neil was in Birmingham watching The Prodigy and Dan had arranged to meet him in either Rooty Fruity's or in The Rainbow. David Cooper phoned me whilst I was sitting on the train and shouted very very loudly down the phone but for some reason didn't want to join us in town.

I called around at Dan's house and we ate pizza, were joined by my brother, drank beer and listened to some banging tunes by Rolf Harris before heading out into the sub-zero temperatures to catch the train into town.

It was fucking freezing in The Rainbow it was even colder in the garden bit, it was pretty quiet and nearly everybody was wearing hats, gloves and scarfs. The best music was in the garden bit but nobody was dancing. Around the outdoor heater was about twenty five people huddled together, they probably would have been warmer strutting there stuffs.

Neil turned up with his friend, Matt was apparently too drunk and had had to go home. The both seemed pretty half cut themselves.

Neil disappeared sometime before the end with out saying ta ta.

We left at closing time and it was far too cold to do the normal lets go and see if somewhere is still open routine and quickly we caught a taxi home. I went around to Dan's for a bit to annoy him by talking about how rubbish love is and got home about three.

Arab Strap

I went to see Arab Strap play at the Bar Academy. I couldn't persuade anyone else to come but thought, fuck it, I've wanted to see them for a long time and for one reason or another never had the chance, its a lonely Monday night, so why not.

I called around Dan's house for a last attempt in persuading him to come, he said he had no money and couldn't be persuaded. Instead he offered me food and we drank a bottle of champagne.

Around nine I arrived at the Bar Academy where the support, an accordianist singing traditional scottish songs, was about half way through his set. A few people watched him but most were buying drinks and chatting.

I noticed that there were more women around than at a normal gig and a few groups of ladies perhaps because Arab Strap sing songs about doomed relationships and unrequited love rather than making KICK ASS ROCK MUSIC!!!

The drummer was not with the band so there was more of an accoustic feel to the set. They played a few songs that I recognised and some new ones too. A song about spending every evening in the pub just to get out of the house away from a shitty relationship was particularly resonant with me. Another one I liked was advice to younger brother.

Aidan Moffat announced that he didn't like encores and would be going off for a five minute break. Most people were still at the bar when they returned to the stage to which he said "Don't worry, get yerselves a drink, I dont mind people buying a drink. In fact I encourage it" he then said something about being down to the last stock of Scrumpy Jack.

I'm glad I went to the gig, I just wish I had someone to go with. Unlike five years ago there are loads of bands playing in Birmingham and there are more venues hopefully I can get some others out next time rather than spend another Monday night watching a band an ma oun.

You can download some free tracks from the Arab Strap website if you want to make yourself feel all melancholy.

www.arabstrap.co.uk

Ugly

I shaved my beard off today and was quite shocked to see what the last few weeks excesses had done to my face. I look like I haven't slept in weeks. This week will be early nights and plenty of fruit and veg. :]

Cheap Spirits

I had a phone call off Ben around two asking me if I was coming out for an all day drinking session. I declined the offer as I was looking after Joshua and my brother had downloaded all sorts of nasty things on to his computer and I needed to fix that in order to restore (temporary) harmony at my parents house.

Around Seven I rang Ben to find out where he was, suprisingly he sounded reasonably sober. I met him and Dave in the OVT in Selly Oak and had a double Jack Daniels and Coke waiting for me. The booze in the OVT is very cheap and thus the pub attracts all sorts of lowlifes, its not a pub that I would ever choose to go to but as the alcohol is cheap and after six or seven doubles I didn't care where I was.

I had organised with Dan and Joe to go to The Rainbow, they arrived in the OVT just after Dave disappeared with and just before Ben disappeared. They had a couple of beers and we headed into town.

In The Rainbow I bumped into the girl who I spent most of the evening dancing with the last time I had been there. She was as chatty and funny and sexy as the time before. This time I found out that her name definately was Liz. We talked for a while but after what felt like an hour her bloke appeared, bugger.

I was wearing my cowboy hat which strangely brought me a fair bit of attention and I danced with a number of young ladies. One of them was doing that jamaican dancehall arse wiggling dance with me and in the early hours after too many spirits (which I am not used to drinking) I wasn't quite sure how to react to that or maybe that should be I wasn't quite capable of reacting to it.

I didn't see much of Dan or Joe. Dan later said that he thought I was getting on pretty well without him and didn't want to cramp my style. Ha ha what style is that.

Me in my Cowboy Hat

Shooting Stars

I was walking up the road singing 'A New England' by Billy Bragg. I got to the line - I saw to shooting stars last night...when I saw a shooting star race across the sky. I wished on it of course but can't say for what as it wont come true

Dan Loves...

Tim sent me this picture it made me laugh.

Ugly Mugs

I finally recovered from the weekend just in time for the next one.

I was planning on going to go to Nottingham this weekend but something came up for Alec so I arranged to meet Chris in the Country Girl. I had originally only organised to spend an hour out and about and was going to spend the rest of the evening looking after Joshua. He informed me that he was going to spend the weekend with my Mom and Dad so I had the night free.

I ended up quite drunk protesting my innocence in any hand holding incidents, nobody believed me. I should probably dispence with drinking cider it does funny things to me.

I took these photos of a very attractive bunch of young men.

A Stupid Idea

I was a bit stupid of me to think that I could fly straight to work. My body clock was a bit messed up from all the staying out late so found it very hard to sleep. I couldn't sleep on the plane. I had an hours snooze when I got back home and got to work about half ten. I felt fine until about half one when I completely flagged. I left as early as I could. My boss told me that he hadn't expected me to come in anyway.

The Last Day

I didn't feel great waking this time I was as enthusiastic as the other two. We lazily travelled into town where Joe and Phil ate another steak for breakfast.

I needed to buy Joshua a present. Joe moaned about shopping the whole time I was looking and then moaned that there was nothing to do in Cologne except go to bars.

I drank too much coffee and felt wired for about two hours.

We finished the holiday as we had started, bar hopping. Phil and Joe really liked a bar called Papa Joe's which I thought was OK but a little bit dull. Phil complained about not hearing enough traditional german music. I left them around eleven and caught the tram back to the hotel fearing that if I had another beer I would require another ten.

Roman Stuff, Mixed Meat and The Best Bar in the World

Waking up around twelve, I showered, felt great and was raring to go. The other two were somewhat less enthusiastic. I left Joe and Phil in bed (I heared Phil mutter 'Psycho' as I left) and I walked along the River Rhine. I walked down towards the Chocolate Museum but didn't fancy going in. I climbed onto the roof and sat on a bench watching boats and people go by it was cold but sunny. I crossed the river by the railway bridge and let the world go by.

I vistited the Roman Museum - I have never seen so many roman pots and jugs in my life. It was all very samey (there are only so many roman oil lamps that one needs to see) and was not the most interesting museum I have ever been to but I did like the mosaic floors which were found underneath the Dom.

I ate at McDonalds, it was awful but I didn't feel like sitting in a cafe alone. I looked at a street market and saw some paintings that I really liked but their size and their three hundred euro price tag put me off. I was surprised at the number of people walking around looking in closed shop windows.

Around four I decided that I should try and ring the others when I saw Phil coming towards me. Paul, Kerry and Caroline were climbing to the top of the Dom whilst Joe and Rob had found themselves a comfy seat in a bar.

We went for a last drink before the two couples caught the plane home in a bar beside the river. I ordered mixed meat and fried potates, the meat could have been anything but tasted good and the potatoes were covered in garlic and pepper and were very very nice indeed. Phil and Rob ordered sausages which naturally led to a conversation about penises.

With the others gone I made Joe and Phil go back to the Station Bar. It was empty inside but the barmaid was extremely lovely. Later Joe said he wanted to find somewhere with a bit of life and we headed towards the ring road again.

Joe and Phil were hungry and we ate in a restaurant with mice running around, I was not impressed. Neither was another customer and complained to the barman who just shrugged as if to say 'What do you want me to do about it?'

We spent the evening bar hopping and went from one pretty barmaid to another until finally we ended up back in the Irish Bar we had finished Thurdsay night in. It was busier this time and it seemed as though everybody knew each other. An american bloke walked in and Phil for some reason was incensed by this, I got chatted up by a gay irish lad, we went from being slightly inebriated to being shitfaced, Joe tried to mischeiviously record our drunken conversation, Phil told the barmaid that it was the best pub he had been in all weekend and she didn't seem to want us to stop drinking.

Saturday Night in Germany

After Joe and Phil finshed their steak breakfasts we met Paul and Kerri by the cathedral and promptly found a pub and Rob and Caroline joined us a while later. The pub we were in was a little quiet and they were playing dodgy german oompah music so I suggested moving on. We walked towards the Alstadt and found ourselves in a slightly busier replica of the original bar. If we had stayed there I would have gone to sleep

I decided that we should go to the bars on the ring road and marched the group to the tram station. There was a little confusion with buying tickets and I think some of us fare dodged. The trams in Cologne are very good and within a few minutes we arrived.

Don't ever let Paul lead a group. We wandered around aimlessly past loads of bars but for some reason Paul didn't like the look of them and would simply walk past. After walking past about fifteen bars we halted outside a Jazz club. I was up for going in, five euro entry, a jazz band and two for one drinks all night but the others fancied a little more walking and dismissed at least another ten places.

Joe and I finally commandeered the situation and led everyone to a bar we had drank in on the Thursday night. This, unfortunately was full. We tried next door but it had no music or much atmosphere but the barmaid persuaded Kerri and I to stay. The barmaid promised that she would put some music on as soon as the football (Germany Vs France) finished. Paul had already power walked halfway down the street and had to be enticed back.

After a few beers, I proposed a round of cocktails. Paul and I had a very potent Long Island Iced Tea. Joe had something disgusting. Kerri had Sex on the Beach and Caroline didn't get one because the barmaid forgot her. I forget what Rob and Phil had but I think one of them had a Tequila Sunrise.

We had another beer and then went next door. Most of us had become very well oiled by this point in the night. I chatted to Rob about love films and to Caroline and Kerri who were planning their respective weddings unknown to Rob and Paul. About half three the two couples left us to go back to their hotel. Rob didn't want to go home and Caroline said that she didn't mind if he stayed out, even if we went to titty bar (I had drunkenly announced that I wished to visit one) but Rob was sensible.

Joe, Phil and I had a couple more beers, the barmen looked like they wanted to go home and we left about four.

We were ripped off by the taxi driver returning home.

Köln Ludwig Art Museum

Waking up around twelve, I showered, felt great and was raring to go. The other two were somewhat less enthusiastic. I tried to make as much noise as I could as to awake them from there slumber but this was to no avail. I decided that I should leave them and go in search of food and culture.

I caught the tube into the city centre and decided to visit the Ludwig Museum. Inside were three exhibitions:

Rosemarie Trockel - Post Menopause
Apparently she 'developed a unique work from the 1980‘s on that made her not only one of the internationally most important artists of her generation, but also a model for following artists.' I've never heard of her but then I'm just a beer swilling hooligan anyway. I liked the exhibition, it made me smile.

George Brecht. "Events - Eine Heterospektive"
This to me just seemed like a big collection of random stuff and I wasn't that impressed with it.

Auf beiden Seiten des Rheins - Mouvement
This was a joint exhibition with the K 21 gallery in Düsseldorf from the collections of a french art gallery who were celebrating their 20th anniversary last year. There was some great stuff in this exhibition, my favourite being a series of photographs of french people in the 1950's with steering wheels and handlebars pretending to drive cars and bicycles, pure madness.

The gallery also has a huge permanent collection of paintings and sculptures from Picasso. And also has the largest Pop Art Collection outside of New York. The best exhibit in the museum was 'A Portable War Memorial' by Edward Kienholz a huge installation of a war memorial with changeable dates and place names. I thought it was a little strange that as a contemporary art museum they didn't seem to have anything after 1980's, although I did see Gillian Wearing's 'Dancing in Peckham' - which I think won the Turner Prize. I spent two hours walking around the museum and could quite easily have spent another hour there but it was time to meet Joe and Phil.

The Arrival of Mr Cooper

Our plan was to be more drunk than Paul when he arrived, I'm dont think that we were very succesful at this. We met in an excellent bar called the The Station Bar near his hotel. It was one of the few bars Cologne that sold big beers and I was well pleased that the DJ played both Yo La Tengo and Stereolab for me.

For me the night becomes somewhat unclear after leaving this bar. The festivities in the square had finished but we bar hopped around an untold number of establishments. Rob and Caroline left at some point and in the last bar of the night I danced drunkenly with Kerri, Paul was eyed me up for a fight, Kerri and I then had a fight (something about sticking up for myself...), and then she asked me a million and one questions and that made me feel as miserable as I had done in Norwich (when Gemma did the same).

We finished the night with a kebab, Kerri got chatted up by the kebab shop owner and Paul became very territorial "SHE'S TAKEN AND WE'RE GOING HOME".

Joe, Phil and I arrived back at the hotel around eight after a pleasant taxi ride home with somebody who didn't like the Karnival celebrations but couldn't persuade his wife to not go. The man on reception laughed at us staggering in through the door and we went to bed.

Beers, Stairs and 70,000 Germans

Waking up around eleven, I showered, felt great and was raring to go. The other two were somewhat less enthusiastic than I. I decided that I should go in search of food. After about an hours stroll around the leafy suburb where we were staying I bought croissants and orange juice and returned to the hotel. Joe was still in bed watching the TV and Phil was showering.

After another hour the other two had finally put their make-up on and we headed into town. As we sat on the tube train we thought it very odd to see a girl wearing devil horns and a long black cape drinking a beer from a bottle. As we came out of tube station into the square by the cathedral we were greeted by hundreds of people wearing fancy dress costumes all carrying beer and some of them carrying drunk people too.

We decided to follow the people in fancy dress and found that all the bars around the Alstadt square were rammed with drunken germans wearing fancy dress, the streets were also rammed with drunken germans wearing fancy dress and the main square was also full of drunk fancy dress wearing germans. We decided that it would be a good idea if we too became drunken and fancy dress wearing but as we had had a skinful the night before and as we hadn't had any breakfast it was a little too early.

I ate sausage and sauerkraut for breakfast and washed it down with a beer, which was fairly pleasant. The other two had a sandwich and coffee which didn't look as appetising

Joe decided that he wanted to go to the cathedral. We walked up the 509 steps to the top of the spire, I felt like I was going to have a heart attack, Joe had to have a cigarette break half way up. You can see for miles from the top. I paid to look through some binoculars and could see that the party in the square was getting even busier and more raucous. I could also see people working in the offices around the square, I thought this was very funny.

Returning to the ground we set out to find ourselves a fancy dress costume so as not to feel out of place. We had seen a fancy dress shop the night before, I knew exactly where it was but Joe was determined to go the other way. I didn't listen to him. The fancy dress shop was ace, we spent about an hour trying things on before Phil and I decided that cowboy hats would be the best (and probably the cheapest) option. Joe wanted another look and bought a hat with a big feather in it, he claimed to look like a musketeer, he just looked silly.

We had fancy dress and were now ready to become drunken so set about finding some beer. Normally an easy task but Phil for some reason insisted on giving the man behind the counter more money than he actually wanted even though he had tried to return it.

Now with beer we headed towards the square to enjoy the evening's entertainment: several covers bands and a techno trumpeteer. We drank quite a lot of kolsch and at some point Joe suggested phoning up Dan to tell him what a great time we were having whilst dancing with 70,000 drunk germans to 99 Luftballoons. He was doing his homework.

First Impressions of Köln

Even though it was only eight o'clock Phil and I decided that we should start the weekend with an in-flight beer (I guess that this is was an early pointer for how the rest of the weekend would fold out). Joe, however was being sensible and only ate a croissant.

After clearing customs and catching a train to the centre of town, we thought that with the aid of a map we would have no problem finding our hotel. Unfortunately the X-mark on the map was not actually the location we were looking for. After a little bit of trudging with heavy bags, lost, through a park and then through a residential area Phil popped into a newsagents to get directions.

The newsagent went next door to a gym to find someone else who could speak english to help who in turn got more people until there were about five people that we couldn't understand trying to be of assistance. After five or ten minutes of not understanding one another the newsagent offered to phone a taxi for us (I had the feeling that it was just one of his mates who came to pick us up for a few quid).

The hotel was not too far from where we had been looking and once we had settled in our bellies told us it was time to fill them. A short train ride into Cologne brought us right in front of the Dom, an awe inspiring structure that has to be seen to fully appreciate it (no photo does it justice). After a bit of wandering around we found ourselves in a beer hall. None of us were sure whether food was being served and it took us several beers before a waiter finally realised that we wanted to eat too.

I think after waiting so long anything edible would have done but the food was excellent, Joe and Phil had steak and I ate a nice roast beef platter with garlic fried potatoes.

Feeling bloated we strolled down the river to the chocolate museum housed in a building that had been designed to look like a big ship. Standing outside looking at the pricelist some germans came through the door and started talking to us. Not understanding we shrugged and rudely walked off.

After slowly walking through the shopping area we found ourselves in a bar. Were we served by a waiter who seemed to want us to get drunk. He would immediately bring another beer the second either Phil or I had reached the bottom of our glass and then he would show his disgust at Joe who invariably had a full one. He was a big bloke (who according to Phil looks like Gary Busey) and I think Joe was scared of him because he would down his drink every time!

Joe had read that the most lively part of Cologne was around by the ring road but when we got there most it seemed mostly dead. We wondered whether or not we had made the same mistake that many english people do when holidaying in Spain by going out too early but after several more bars and beers it was getting late and still it was quiet.

About oneish we were feeling hungry again and to the horror of the anti-corporate hippie that is contained within myself, we ate in Subway and I enjoyed it.

Everywhere seemed to be closing when we discovered an open Irish Bar that served pints. The details of being in this bar are a little hazy except for it having a funny barmaid who also wanted us to get drunk and thought we were from New Zealand (perhaps its because Joe and I were talking about rugby) and that it seemed to be closing as Joe, Phil and I were its only customers for about an hour when all of a sudden it filled with people and had no sign of closing when we left at 4.15.

We got back to our hotel around five in the morning we got home via taxi. I had fancied a trek around the city and wanted to catch the tram home (they run all night) but it was raining and the other two wouldn't let me.

Boo - Hooray

Tim and Gemma aren't coming to Scotland for New Year, that sucks. :(

I'm on holiday and am going to Germany in a few hours, that doesn't! ;)

You Talk Too Much

I met Phil for last orders, I went on a bit too much (again)! I hope he didn't mind.

London Sunday

Leigh and I had a pleasant day wandering around London chatting and occasionally stopping off in a pub for a beer or two.

We dropped into the Tate Modern and saw some cardboard boxes and decided we were not in the mood for a crap exhibition.

We admired a buxom barmaid in a pub in Waterloo and decided that it was about time that we stopped fancying our mate's wives/girlfriends and found somebody for ourself. Probably a good decision.

After watching the football and having a few more beers it was time for me to go home.

Punk Rock Karaoke

After eating, Leigh took me to a pub that apparently featured in 'Happiness', the girl serving in there was very nice. Ska music played on the soundsystem and this reminded me of ladies in bikinis doing the conga, hmmmm. We had a swift pint in another pub and then hit Punk Rock Karaoke.

Inside it was fairly empty, they had ran out of draught beers so we had to make do with cans of Red Stripe. There was no sign of it starting but gradually over the next hour it started to fill with many attractive australian ladies.

About 9.45 Steve Lamacq asked for volunteers to sing. I was a little unsure of the standard at first so didn't immediately put my name down. The first few singers were all pretty good but then the people who obviously didn't care got up just to make a noise. Two blonde girls that sang a Hole song have stuck in my mind for being both particularly attractive and particularly bad singers. One gigged all the way through and the other only occasionally made a noise.

The band took a break after 45 minutes and Leigh was badgering me to put my name down for the second set. I wanted to sing 'Ever Fallen in Love' by the Buzzcocks but somebody had already performed that so went up to Steve Lamacq and asked if I could do 'Gay Bar'. He put his arms around me, looked me in the eye and said 'You have to get here earlier if you want to choose a song, nobody has done a Ramones song why don't you do one?' I agreed.

Ten minutes later I was on stage singing 'Sheena is a Punk Rocker', I was obviously very good because an Aussie girl came up to me afterwards and said so. I asked her if she planned to sing and she replied "No fuckin' way mate!"

Once the karaoke had finished the place started to empty out, we decided to leave. We both fancied a curry but Leigh didn't know anywhere that was open. Settling on a very nice kebab instead we then went for another beer in another bar that was playing crap music, then we left and strolled homeward.

The last thing I remember Leigh saying to me before he headed off to bed was 'Wait till I tell dusbin how you got me drunk!'

Natural History Museum

I've been feeling claustraphobic in Birmingham recently and a few weeks ago decided that I should go and visit friends elsewhere to try to relieve this. When Leigh invited everyone to London to join him at Punk Rock Karaoke I jumped at the chance .

Dan was camping in the Lake District, Tim was working in Weymouth, Gemma was staying in Lowestoft and Joe was probably playing Dungeons and Warhammer or something equally as sad, I was the only one to take up the offer.

The train ride to Marylebone was both cheap and pleasant and I was in London about one. Leigh gave me a whirlwind tour of London in his car. After dropping my kit at his place, Leigh asked me whether I fancied visiting a museum and doing a bit of sightseeing. I told that Tim and Gemma said that I should visit the Natural History Museum to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Show. So we did.

We found out that you could also see the photos on the net. We considered that it might have been a good idea to take Leigh's laptop to the pub and look at the exhibition from there. We saw some dinosaur bones, some stuffed birds and some fossils. However we mostly looked at women walking around the museum which I quite enjoyed.

Friday

I had a terrible day at work, too many coppers moaning at me because things that I had no control over didn't work or because things that they asked for hadn't been done immediately. After a few hours of this I put my headphones on, listened to Belle and Sebastian and ignored everybody.

Nick came up from London and used me as an excuse for seeing his girlfriend for the shortest period of time possible. We met up for a couple of beers but this turned into more beers than I wanted to drink.

Later in the evening Victoria turned up, we went to the Sunflower Lounge and didn't talk to each other.

After Work Drinking

I was working fairly late and I heard on the radio that a car crash had occurred on Ladywood Middleway and also that some idiot had set fire to a railway signal box. Getting home was going to take ages. Paul suggested that instead of sitting waiting for a train or in traffic we should have a couple of beers and get a later bus/train. Not one to turn down an offer of any kind, I reluctantly agreed.

We drank a couple of beers in the Old Joint Stock and it was decided that there was no point in going home just yet because the traffic would still be bad.

It was also decided that there were no nice women to look at and we should move on. We tried The Hill around the corner which was not much better and after a couple more Paul asked me to take him the Sunflower Lounge.

In the Sunflower Lounge's downstairs bar, a band were making a lot of noise and the audience were stroking their beards. I thought it was all a bit naff. We went back upstairs and had a cool chat about breaking up with long term partners, Paul went through a similar thing a few years back and it was interesting to hear him say how he felt at the time, which was pretty much how I feel now i.e. A few months ago I was part of a family unit but now I'm on my own and don't really know what I should be doing. Reading this must make you think we were having a heavy conversation but it wasn't, it was full of black humour and sexism. ;)

Hazy Hazy Year

Dan said to me that he thought the year had gone quick, to me it is the opposite, strangely I can't remember much before Stephen's stag do which I think was in May. Can somebody fill in the missing blanks please?

Billy No Mates

Even though I had been out every night since Thursday and it was Monday, I really didn't feel like stopping in. I had read that the Test Icicles were playing at the Barfly and Mando Diaowere playing at the Bar Academy. I asked Joe, Phil and Ben if they fancied a gig but were either feeling too tired, feeling too old or otherwise too occupied to come out.

I had the choice of sitting at home alone or going out on my own. Having quite enjoyed the Test Icicles single I figured what the hell and decided to go to the Barfly.

On the bus into town I drank two large bottles of a cheapo Budweiser substitute and listened to some teenage girls shouting about all the different teenage boys that they had 'peiced'. I felt sick when I got off. I still had another cheapo lager to drink whilst walking to the venue. I had most of of it left when I arrived and was about to discard it when some lads standing outside drinking cans shouted at me to come and join them. One of them had told me that he had seen the band before and that they were crap but he tried to support live music and that is why he was going to watch them again. His mate then piped up telling him that he was a lying **** and the only reason he was there was because he was chasing a girl who didn't fancy him. Unrequited love, that's a good enough reason to go anywhere.

My youthful looks convinced the barmaid in the Barfly that I was underage and she requested to see some ID. I thought this amusing, I had no ID but she served me anyway. I texted Joe, Ben and Gemma telling them this. Ben wanted to know if I was trying to get in the Bingo, Joe wondered if they were checking to see which registers I was currently on and Gemma sent this message back: 'Ha Ha Ha!'.

There were three bands playing, the first was called Deluka from Birmingham, they were very tight and had a pretty singer with quite a nice voice but I didn't find them that interesting, they sounded too much like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

The second band Killa Kela blew me away and I had a huge grin on my face throughout their set. They had a keyboard player, a turntablist, the best human beatbox I have heard, a very very attractive singer, a drummer and a rapper that reminded me of a young Shaun Ryder. Some of there stuff sounded like Senser, some of it was straight up hip hop and some of it was a bit drum'n'bass. It was all very good. They even had audience participation.

The Test Icicles were very drunk when they arrived on stage. All three members had a go at singing (screaming), all three had a go at making a lot of noise with the two guitars they owned and they were a bit naff really. But what they lacked in talent they more than made up for in pure energy. I think it was a bit intense for some people as they were leaving in their droves before the end, I don't know what they were expecting from a band that described their music as 'Spaz-Core'. The last song saw the rapper and human beatboxer from the previous band come on and do an impromptu jam. Quite Strange.

I think I made the right decision going out, staying in sucks! ;)

A Quiet Weekend - Part Three

I was awoken by my work mobile going off. Luckily it was regarding an application that I dont have to support at the weekend so I kindly told the person on the other end to piss off.

As I was awake and the sun was shining I decided to go to Stratford-upon-Avon where I could have a walk by the river, see Shakespeare's house and grave and drink a beer whilst watching boats. It was a fairly pleasant way to spend a day, it would have been better had I had somebody with me (although I have memories of wasting a sunny day arguing with Rebecca in Stratford).

Later I arranged to meet Joe in the Bulls Head in Moseley, Phil and James were already there. Dan came too. There were lots of lovely ladies dancing, the music was hit and miss but mostly it hit. James and Phil looked bored out of there brains. I wasn't drinking, I had had a couple of glasses of champagne earlier in the evening and was feeling happy and mellowed out, much like I had on the nights in Benicassim where I had decided not to get drunk.

It was all too much for James and Phil, the music was too loud, they couldn't hear themselves speak and the beer was awful. We had to leave to go to Patrick Kavagnah pub around the corner. This was very busy, too busy. The lovely ladies were replaced by mature ladies and the music you couldn't hear. My mood didn't change that much I was still quite mellow but was also a little bored.

Dan got chatting to some women (as he does) who liked his mop, they were going to the Moseley Dance Centre. The idea to follow them was quickly discounted. Joe wanted to go to the Tap and Spile. That idea was also quickly discounted. There was suggestion to go to the Actress and Bishop but James said the doors were shut at eleven. Dan said he wanted to go to see a live hip hop act. Nobody else could be bothered.

The evening sort of petered out, Joe complained that Dan and I would lose our legendary party animal titles if we were to go home early but nobody had any real ideas on what to do and so shortly after closing time we caught a taxi home and I went to bed.

A Quiet Weekend - Part Two

I woke up at twenty past nine, still drunk, stinking of booze. I had no time for a shower or breakfast and only just caught the train in time for work. Feeling utterly awful most of the morning the only thing for it was to go for a full english breakfast and strong coffee at lunchtime. This made me feel wired.

After work I couldn't be bothered to cook and bought Pizza and a bottle of wine which I shared with Dan. Both of us were feeling very lethargic. We phoned people around and they were either going to the Country Girl or staying in. About ten we mustered enough energy to meet people in Selly Oak. I had a couple more glasses of red wine and a closing time went home and to bed.

A Quiet Weekend - Part One

I couldn't spend another night sat staring at the four walls on my own. I tried to persuade Dan to go for last orders but he suggested having a few beers around his house instead. Figuring that was the best offer I was going to get I went and bought a bottle of red.

After finishing the bottle Dan decided he wanted to go and look at girls. He, Ben and I took a swift walk to the Country Girl and had couple of beers whilst watching ladies.

As last orders had been called and I was on call duty at work, I decided to go home and have an reasonably early night. A minute or two after walking through the door I was bombarded with phone calls and bangs on the door inviting me for another beer. Being weak willed I didn't refuse. Strong red wine followed. Before I knew it, the time was stupidly very late for a school night o'clock

This kind of thing happened with a high level of frequency between 1995 and 1998.

Tim and His Big Wood

Tim said he is thinking of purchasing a wood, Dan thinks it might be to hide bodies in.

I put this to Tim he said that he could indeed bury bodies in it.

Joe's Favourite Miserable Poem

Joe said that this is his favourite miserable poem, its by A E Housman

Into my heart an air that kills
From yon far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?
This is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain.
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.

Dan and The Rainbow

Dan said to me that he liked The Rainbow because most people in there were around about the same age as him. He then said that in five years time we would need to find somewhere else to go and get pissed because we would be too old to drink in there.

This got me thinking.

I'd rather not go to the places where older people get pissed because Stephen, Joe, Phil et al have been taking me to them for the last several years and I don't much like them.

And.

I'm starting to feel that I'd rather not go out and get smashed full stop, especially after this weekend.

I felt really shit all day Sunday and thought that I might throw up at any second. I was a little fed up in the house watching rubbish TV so phoned several people for just for a chat. Phil said that he fancied a beer and as I was alone I agreed to meet him thinking if I said half nine I would only have time for a couple (with Sunday closing). But no, I had time for six pints and then more time to go back to his house for whiskey.

I don't quite know how I got up for work this morning or quite know how I managed to last the five hours before finally conceding defeat and using my flexitime to take myself home to bed.

I can't possibly say that I didn't enjoy my weekend, seeing Emma, dancing with random girls, gatecrashing parties, drinking blue stuff, getting into nightclubs for free, hearing Phil moaning about women and all the rest was really enjoyable. But this evening I am feeling that there is something lacking in my life at the moment and no its not just a woman. ;)

Champagne, Ale, Beer, Cider and Blue Stuff!

Friday night was nothing but a gentle warm up for Saturday. After a relaxing day taking Joshua to the park and buying books in second hand shops I decided to go completely mental.

Calling around, I realised that most people had gone to the Great British Cheese Festival in Cheltenham. Dan was at home so I arrived on his doorstep with a excellent bottle of Cava. Evil Landlord was interviewing somebody for Nick's old room but had quickly decided that she was not suitable, after turning down free Champagne what can you say.

Dan had arranged to meet some of his ex-workmates in the Mailbox, so we quickly downed a few beers and headed out into the pouring rain and into town. Two policewomen sitting in a car laughed at me as I jumped off the bus and tried to find some to shelter from the torrential downpour.

Bar Room Bar in the Mailbox was pretty quiet and pretty dull too. Dan's friends had not turned up and after one £2.90 crappy lager we thought it was time to move on. We had no idea where we were going to go but I felt I wanted to ROCK!!!!! and suggested The Gallows.

Walking towards the rock bar we heard a fairly decent live band coming from the upstairs room of The Old Vic and made our way in to investigate. After a minute or two of walking into the room a doorman asked me for two pounds, I wanted to know how many more songs this band would be playing, he answered in an uninterested voice 'two!' I pulled a face which suggested that he would not be getting any cash off me and he again asked for money. At this point we left a carried on to The Gallows.

Dan insisted that we drank a foul blue drink that tasted like refreshers, it wasn't as bad as the music however. It was getting quite late and after some cider and some lager it was closing time.

'What next?' we wondered. Not really being in the mood for the dodgy white boy hip hop of Audio Bully's that Dan wanted to see I proposed that we went to the Barfly behind the Sanctuary. Outside was fairly large queue of people waiting to get into the Sanctuary, we walked around the corner to Barfly door which was unmanned and we walked straight inside. After several cheap shots of whiskey and some more cider, Dan discovered that you could walk straight into the Sanctuary which we did.

We both felt extremely old. We walked out. Dan wanted to go to the Rainbow again but as it was nearing two in the morning was closed up. Wandering about for ten minutes trying to decide between Air or the Medicine Bar we noticed music coming from the Vegetarian Restaurant in the Custard Factory and promptly entered.

We gatecrashed a private party. Everybody except us was wearing red. There was a very attractive girl with a red dress and red feather boa who walked up to me and demanded to know who I was. I can't quite remember what I said but I made her laugh and she said I was welcome to stay. The next thing I knew Daniel 'One Track Mind' Dispain was snogging somw woman in the corner of the room. I went back to talk to the girl in the red dress, who told me about her struggle to give up cigarettes. She also wanted to know whether I had seen the man with the stick in his mouth.

At some point in the night Scott and Louise also gatecrashed the party, I was extremely drunk and to their dismay kept hugging them.

Dan disappeared and the next hour our two are completely gone from my mind. I found myself walking down the Pershore Road watching the sun rise, seeing a bus coming and Being lucky enough to be standing next to a bus stop. On the bus were people going to work.

I fed the cat and collapsed in bed.

I have no idea quite how much alcohol I consumed but fear it was likely to be more than the 21 units weekly total...

Miserable Poems

I bought a book of William Blake poetry as I is all cultured. It seems that he wrote a great deal of miserable rhymes, I like this one.

Never seek to tell thy Love

Never seek to tell thy love,
Love that never told can be;
For the gentle wind doth move
Silently, invisibly.

I told my love, I told my love,
I told her all my heart,
Trembling, cold, in ghastly fears.
Ah! she did depart!

Soon after she was gone from me,
A traveller came by,
Silently, invisibly:
He took her with a sigh.

Cutting Back on the Booze

This morning I emailed Tim telling him about my resolve to cut down on my alcohol consumption. This lasted less than three hours as I was in the pub at lunch time which gave me the taste for more, by half two I was ready for a night out. Paul was concerned about my lack of plans for the weekend and warned that it would probably end up being a messy one.

I have been eating quite healthily lately but whenever I eat with my mom and dad I always end up having something deep fried. Tonight was no exception and I was feeling quite fat, sick and bloated. ;)

After eating at my parents' house I called on Dan to find him and his evil landlord sharing a bottle of red wine. With good conversation this quickly turned into Catherine, Dan, Evil Landlord and I sharing several bottles of red wine, some vodka and a beer.

About ten Dan and I decided to go the Boiler Room for a german minial techno night but after farting around, missing two trains and drinking more ale we decided that it was too late and cheaper to go to The Rainbow for Doggin'.

We bumped into Emma, apparently it was her thirtieth birthday and she was quite drunk. She had her arms around be and was shouting at anyone who would listen 'I love this bloke'.

An attractive girl, who might have been called Liz, started chatting to me because she thought I looked sad. I think I just probably looked pissed up. She was quite chatty and pleasant and I spent a large part of the evening dancing with her but was too stupid (or too inebriated) to get her phone number. Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero is something that I certaily did not do tonight.

Dan wasn't happy that one of Emma's friends told him to stay away from her, I tried to explain that she was just looking out for her mate (albeit in the wrong manner) but I couldn't convince him.

A fun night indeed.

Spanish Love Stories

Watching that Spanish love film has stopped me feeling quite so happy. Not really Mills and Boon after all ;)

Boy meets girl.
Boy falls in love with girl.
Girl thinks boy is reincarnation of dead father.
Girl falls in love with boy.
Boy thinks he has killed his mother by falling in love with girl.
Boy feels guilty.
Girl feels guilty.
Boy and girl part.
Strange coincidences happen.
Girl waits for boy.
Boy crosses world to meet girl.
Girl thinks boy not coming.
Girl dies (or maybe not, its not that clear).
Film ends.

Feeling Lovely and Silly

I have been feeling in silly mood all day, everything has amused me and I have been quite happy.

I woke up early and instead of going to work early and leaving early I danced around my house to the Kings of Convenience, Kenicke and Nick Cave. I finally left my house with a croissant smeared in strawberry jam near to ten.

At work there was a debate on the radio as to whether trampolines should be banned. This went on for ages, one caller rang in to say that her next door neighbour had placed the kids trampoline next to a spiked iron railing, another spoke of the horrible kids who kept jumping and looking into her front room. The best complaint I heard was about teenager's 'trampoline parties' where they get drunk on cider and jump up and down and laugh. I had giggling fit at work, everyone thought I had gone nuts.

I'm going to punk rock karaoke with Leigh on Nov 5th. I am planning on singing Ever Fallen in Love? by the Buzzcocks. He said that I had to practice though as he didn't want to be embarrassed.

I got paid for reading the paper and chatting to my colleages this afternoon. The server on which the applications I deal with was broken...I could go into details but that would be dull...anyway I made the most of the chance to do nothing and stayed till six.

I tasted cous cous for the first time, I like it very much.

I walked to the video shop and took out Los Amantes del Círculo Polar. A spanish love story, possibly Joe is right about the Mills and Boon. ;)

I read a quote from John Irving referring to 'The World According to Garp', he said that he wanted to make hard hearts smile and softer hearts cry. I like that, I'd like to be able to do that.

I like this picture.

Joe said that the main stage area at Benicassim looked like that to him at 2am most nights.

Again Joshua had been taken out when I arrived to collect him, so I took the dog for a very long walk in the sunshine. I thought of nothing and enjoyed walking through the leaves and enjoyed watching other people do the same.

Saturday was a strange one, I woke up feeling shit which was odd as I hadn't drank that much and had had a reasonable amount of sleep. I walked up to my parent's house to collect Joshua only to find that they'd taken him out again. So I decided to go to a car boot sale at the church in Selly Oak. That was a mistake, five cars, all packing up and none of them had anything worth selling anyway.

I returned to my parent's to wait for them to bring Joshua back. Whilst waiting I watched a strange german film about an angel who fell in love with a trapeze artist. She is very lovely and I can quite clearly see why he did (The actress is Solveig Dommartin). On his return my son informed me that he wasn't going to be coming home tonight and was planning on spending another night with my Mom and Dad.

Even though I was feeling shit, it was very sunny and I decided to go to Northfield. This too was a mistake, I started feeling worse. It is always the same when I go there, perhaps I have been conditioned like Pavlov's dogs to feel awful when the bus passes the YMCA. Perhaps, it's just that I only ever feel masochistic when hungover.

Northfield has many delights, Poundland, Be-Wise, many many charity shops and drunks fighting next to the bus stop (and policemen turning a blind eye), the locals are just exquisite. I bought a copy of Ulysses from Oxfam, I'll probably never read it maybe I'll use it as a doorstop (or even step).

I sent Gemma a message telling her that I had seen Neil and Adam the night before, she replied that she was sitting in the sun drinking cava. I decided that I wanted some of that.

Nick had decided to leave a day later but wanted his last night to be as crap as possible to remind him why he was leaving. I took my bubbly around to Nick's house, it was very agreeable. Once that was finished (and also several cans of lager) Nick decided he wanted to go to Harborne.

Joe and Phil were on the bus but were being too ignorant to come and have a drink with Nick on his last night in Birmingham. Nick declared that he wanted to go to all the shitty places where he had spent the last several year's weekends.

We started in The White Horse, Dan and Dave didn't like it and complained from the minute they got in there. Quickly downing pints they rushed off to The Plough. Ten minutes later Dan rang to say he couldn't get in and was going to The Varsity. Nick, Vic and I were a little more leisurely with our drinks. The Varsity was terrible.

Nick expressed his desire to go to The New Inn and to his delight it was shit as ever. (It is Joe's favourite pub but they still wouldn't come for a drink) Nick didn't want to go into town but was persuaded and we went off to catch the bus.

Dave was caught short, he was so desperate that he pressed the emergency door release button and ran up an alleyway on Broad Street. He was unlucky enough to meet a Policewoman who promptly handed him an Anti-Social Behaviour Order. This amused us greatly.

Our final watering hole was The Actress and Bishop. This is not my preferred choice of pub. I find it quite depressing to see that the same arseholes from my drinking past are still in Birmingham and are still the same.

For some unknown reason Dan and I didn't leave with the others. Instead we got talking to two young ladies and spent what seemed like an age wandering around the back streets of town. We left them at their bus stop. And wandered some more, with no clear idea of were we were going. I remember telling Dan that sometimes when I go out for lunch I feel like lying in the middle of the street just to see what people would do and then I lay in the middle of the street.

Dan was taking photos, a couple passed and thought we were some kind of artists, piss artists I fear.

We met the couple again in a chip shop, Dan took pictures of them too. Dan queried the man in the chip shop as to what vegetarian options he had. He responded with 'chicken'.

I don't know what time I arrived back at Dan's house but we continued to drink. Dan expressed his opinion that love was rubbish and that he was glad to be left on the shelf. I am not of the same opinion, I think love is great, huge, immense and can put a fire in a human heart like nothing else. Joe thinks that I have been reading to many Mills and Boon novels.

The Varsity - Best Pub in the World

After a pretty relaxed day at work, I had to rush to Joshua's school for parent's evening. I need not have bothere rushing as they were running late anyway, I spent half an hour listening to Rebecca spout crap to one of the other mothers. After a quick five minutes of singing Joshua's praises his teacher complemented me on my choice of T-Shirt and we were out of there.

My mom and dad took Joshua to Walsall Illuminations, I had the evening free. By eight I started to get the feeling that I was all dressed up with nowhere to go. Dan said he had too much homework to go out, Ben and Ian were in the Country Girl and every time I spoke to them the seemed to be getting increasingly more drunk, I thought it was Nick's last night in Birmingham but he wasn't answering his phone and the circus troupe were playing with their little men.

I'd heard that Caroline was going to The Rainbow so decided to drag my brother there, as I was about to leave Rich rang to say he was going too.

There was twenty minutes before the next bus and The British Oak was across the road therefore we had to jump in for a quick one. We then ran to the co-op to get a beer for the bus.

I was very suprised to see Neil and Adam in the pub, I haven't seen either for quite a long while. They both seemed well. Adam had been drinking Stella and seemed rather drunk but then that is mostly how I remember him anyway. Neil was explaining that internet dating was the future. He said that he met four women who were all willing to bed him on the first date, he then went onto say that they were all nutters. I don't think he sold it too well.

Rich, Adam and Neil were going back to Kidderminster and left around 12.30, the music was Hip Hop and Dancehall, neither of which is particularly great, so after a couple more beers with Matt I decided to head home. Matt had great difficulty finding his bike which was parked about five yards from where we were stood, he probably shouldn't have been riding in the state he was in.

Matt Clearly Enjoying the Booze

I almost had the mother of all freudian slips this morning, I would would say what it is but that would also be a mistake. Luckily I realised and saved myself a whole lot of embarrasment.

I'm fed up of feeling fed up I want to be feeling my normal party monstering self...

-----Original Message-----
From: Alec-Bowman [mailto:Alec.Bowman@*******.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2005 10:49 AM
To: clifford_54812
Subject: RE: Art Gallery


your blog is quite something.

-----Original Message-----
From: clifford_54812 [mailto:r.clifford@***********.uk]
Sent: 13 October 2005 11:07
To: Alec-Bowman
Subject: RE: Art Gallery


Is it? Its mostly written under the influence and I guess that's why I come across as being so sad lately. :(



-----Original Message-----
From: Alec-Bowman [mailto:Alec.Bowman@*********.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2005 11:29 AM
To: clifford_54812
Subject: RE: Art Gallery


it does seem sad, yes. but its also very... honest and sort of ... i guess it makes you seem very vulnerable and human, when i often think of you as a huge powerful party monster!!

I slept for twelve hours last night and have never felt so tired as I have today. I had nobody to talk to, nothing to and was increasingly pissed off and therefore in (what could probably be described as a sulk) took myself off to bed. Next time I think I shall go for a walk. I couldn't get out of bed this morning and was late for work.

I found myself doodling whilst talking to somebody on the phone, when the call ended I looked at my drawings to see a picture of a man up to his knees sinking in quicksand shouting for help and pictures of people crying. I don't actually remember drawing any of this and I don't know what a psychologist would make of these sketches but maybe I shouldn't have mentioned them for fear of the men in white coats.

I've just got home from the pub, I think I have been driving Joe around the bend talking about how miserable I feel and how shit everything is. Nick had a sunday roast this afternoon, I have been drinking since two this afternoon I am a little worse for wear. I am not looking forward to going to work tomorrow.

There are two other Spiritualized songs that sum up my state of mind at this moment in time, Broken Heart and Home of the Brave. I have been listening to Ladies and Gentlemen we are Floating in Space far too much lately. I am going potty. I shall start listening to Yo La Tengo instead...

Jason Peice is a genius, this song perfectly sums up the way I feel at the moment.

Think I'm in Love

Sun so bright that I’m nearly blind
Cool cos I’m wired and I’m out of my mind
Warms the dope running down my spine
But I don’t care ’bout you and I’ve got nothing to do
Free as the warmth in the air that I breathe
Even freer than dmt
Feel the warmth of the sun in me
But I don’t care ’bout you and I’ve got nothing to do
Love in the middle of the afternoon
Just me, my spike in my arm and my spoon
Feel the warmth of the sun in the room
But I don’t care ’bout you
And I’ve got nothin’

I think I’m in love
Probably just hungry
I think I’m your friend
Probably just lonely
I think you got me in a spin now
Probably just turning
I think I’m a fool for you babe
Probably just yearning
I think I can rock and rool
Probably just twisting
I think I wanna tell the world
Probably ain’t listening
Come on

I think I can fly
Probably just falling
I think I’m the life and soul
Probably just snorting
I think I can hit the mark
Probably just aiming
I think my name is on your lips
Probably complaining
I think I have caught it bad
Probably contagious
I think I’m a winner baby
Probably las vegas
Come on

I think I’m alive
Probably just breathing
I think you stole my heart now baby
Probably just thieving
I think I’m on fire
Probably just smoking
I think that you’re my dream girl
Probably just dreaming
I think I’m the best babe
Probably like all the rest
I think that I could be your man
Probably just think you can
Come on

I think I’m in love

After a morning doing domestic chores I phoned Dan and dragged him to the pub, after a beer Dan said he had homework (sleeping) and headed back home. I was joined by Nick, Mike and Russ, they talked too much about football and my mind was somewhere else.

After a few too many lagers it was decided that we should eat. A pizza and a few beers and one disgusting Mudshake spilt down myself later I agreed to go to hell on earth. Broad Street is terrible! We went from shithole to shithole. I was chatted up by an eighteen year old student who didn't think I was worth talking to once I told her that I hadn't bothered watching the England game.

My stupid brother was (quite rightly) kicked out of a pub in Brindley Place for calling the bouncer a twat. Nick, Mike and Russ said they were going to Spearmint Rhino which I didn't fancy and headed to The Boiler Room. The Boiler Room was full and was only letting one in one out, I was up for waiting but Edward was getting on my nerves so fucked off home to bed.

I hate nights like this, I should have stayed in.

Ben Looking Forward to Pizza

Ben Wanted to See a Picture of Rebecca - Here She is!

What a Handsome Man

Gemma With a Nice Hat

I arranged to meet Rebecca to try and sort out what would happen when we move out, it seemed to go reasonably well. Nothing actually sorted but we actually talked properly for the first time in a while.

I have been thinking of (temporarily) working in Australia for some time, I asked her if I could take Joshua for a year but she said no.

Nick's leaving party was strange, nobody danced, everyone sat around looking cool. Ben thought I was feeling bitter because I played Dont Think Twice by Bob Dylan, Dan told me off for playing too many sad songs he said that I should get over it - not sure what it is though.

I got extremely drunk, Ben and I took a taxi home, everybody else disappeared.

Rebecca found some letters that I had been trying to write telling her that I couldn't spend any more time in the house and that she needed to leave. We didn't argue, she didn't say much at all.

I felt very low, I couldn't concentrate at work and people were talking to me but I was incapable of hearing them. I spent the evening listening to sad songs which strangely lightened my mood.

I awoke very early again, I watched people run in and out of the rain. I read Gemma's self help books with titles such like 'Life Choices, Life Changes', she also has one by the Barefoot Doctor, he says that a cure for loneliness is to have somebody to hug - which is kind of obvious - as this releases all kinds of chi and helps you relate to others. He also said that you can hug yourself and release this chi. Sounds like quackery to me but an entertaining read all the same.

I was taken to Britain's most easterly point, for some reason the town council allowed a huge fishfinger factory to be built next to it which spoils it somewhat.

After meeting Gemma's family for a Sunday lunch, Tim and Gemma had had enough of me and it was time to go and catch the train (Tim nearly had a heart attack when he thought that I had missed the last train). The journey lasted six hours, I spent most of it rueing my decision to turn down Gemma's mother's offer of a packed lunch because there was no trolley on the train.

Tim Sad to See Me Leave ;)

Gemma and Tim took me to Norwich, we had to run for the train. Tim had spent half an hour shaking up a can that he was going to give to Gemma's friend Scott but on realising that we had ran to catch the train he waited a while before opening it, Tim's evil scheme failed.

We had had a fair bit to drink at the flat and on the train so by the time we arrived into Norwich I was already quite drunk. We went to a pub called The Murderers (I have been told since that this is a hang out for football hooligans) where Gemma started asking lots and lots of questions about Rebecca. This had me reflecting on certain things and I started feeling very lonely and unhappy and unfortunately for the next hour or two I couldn't seem to lighten up which made everyone else down too.

We were aiming for a nightclub called The Waterfront but didn't really know which way to go so Tim suggested a swift half in a weatherspoons pub. We must have looked like the three most miserable people in the world at that point. Tim suggested playing the numbers drinking game to lighten the mood but Gemma didn't want to play.

After a bit of walking we found the nightclub and my mood changed instantly, the music inside was drunm'n'bass and old skool rave in a big room downstairs and early nineties indie music upstairs. Gemma swindled me out of a round using her womanly charm. I drank lots of cider.

Tim dropped Scott whilst trying to help him from his wheelchair into the Taxi back to Lowestoft. We phoned Dan and shouted at him down the phone drunkenly.

Gemma made me some toast, I think she dropped it on the floor first.

A drunk Tim using his charms for I know not

Gemma using her charms to swindle me out of beer

I woke up at the crack of dawn (about two hours after going to bed), I felt like waking Tim and Gemma up by shouting 'Do Stuff!' but thought that they might send me home. When the woke up they made me walk till I got blisters, I ran out of clean clothes (due to smelly trains and paddling in the sea at three in the morning) and had to buy a shirt in a charity shop.

A bit later Gemma let me sit down for an orange juice and a rock hard panini.

In the afternoon they made me walk even further so I now have even bigger blisters. We went to a pub on the broads and looking out on the water was very nice. Tim decided he wanted cheesy chips, where as Gemma and I decided to have a light bite of omelette. My 'light bite' was piled about ten inches high on the plate, I could only eat about a quarter. Gemma was obviously very hungry, she ate all of hers and then started on mine too.

After some cider in another pub we headed back to the house to drink cava and prepare for the night ahead.