Tuesday, November 27

Well, it's nearly the end of life changing year for us. We started 2007 in Las Vegas and tomorrow we're off to Florida to eat huge plates of sugar and fat and ride rollercoasters (with my Mum and Dad!). We'll be back mid December to decorate our tree. My birthday is 12 December and on that day we'll be riding on this:

Wednesday, November 21



Well, she kept us waiting for over an hour but eventually appeared. Good job she did as the crowd was getting a bit nasty and the security guards were visibly becoming anxious. There was a fight near me as she came on because a guy started booing at Amy's tardiness and another fella shouted "shut up you cunt!" at him so the booing fella smacked him with a punch straight out of the movies which floored him. Amy was clearly very drunk but in good spirits (hic). After the first song (I can't remember what it was as I was still stunned that she was even there) she apologised for being late and for "fucking up everyones schedules" which caused a few boo's but she just flicked her hand at the crowd as if to say "whatever". Her voice was on form though, boy, does she have a pair of lungs and after another song she had the ballroom eating from her hands. Her inbetween song banter was amusing (when I could make it out) but she was slurring and mumbling and at one point even said "I gotta stop talking, er, I mean, thinking aloud". She downed a big glass of something with coke in one swallow and tootled side stage at least 4 times to get a little 'refresher'. She told us that she'd missed a call from her hubby in jail that day and intimated that this was the reason for her lateness and drunken state. She may have been drunk but she missed none of her cues and was note perfect and blisteringly loud. The Empress Ballroom was the perfect venue for her stage set with its enormous crystal chandeliers and gold ceiling and it was the perfect compliment to Amy's backdrop and stage presence.

Tuesday, November 20

The car crash/train wreck we call Amy Winehouse rolls into town tonight and I have a ticket. I just called the ballroom and she's even managed to do a soundcheck this afternoon. Fingers crossed she makes it till 9pm without finding the super-discount cheap crack/smack that Blackpool is famous for. I need a bath and some super-strength cough mixture for this cough that I can't shift. If there's ever a bootleg of tonights show listen carefully for the annoying cougher as Amy mumbles between songs.

Sunday, November 18

I finished reading Michael Tolliver Lives this afternoon. The last 20 pages had me so choked up and weepy (and it's been a while since a book has done that to me). I had a bloody good sob in the bathroom after putting the book down. I know the TV versions of the Tales Of The City books were just ok but throughout this book I kept picturing how great some of the scenes would be if they decide to film this final book. *sends Madrigal sized vibes into the ether* Imagine finishing a book because you NEED to know what happens to the characters and not because "I've started it so I will finish it".


Apparently in the 1970's there were men who would buy the latest Alan Parsons Project LP and drop an uber-expensive diamond stylus onto the vinyl and let the Marantz or Harmon Kardon amplifier s.e.p.a.r.a.t.e. each and every sound before sending it sailing through the Senheiser headphones and into those hairy ears. Today the equivalent is the new Underworld album which demands and deserves to be enjoyed through your best digital player and noise-reduction headphones. It's a return to form as far as I'm concerned and I've been just sitting and listening to it this evening. Just sitting and listening. I usually listen to music while doing something else but not this album. Beautiful. Other good and recent albums for cleaning/cooking/reading/walking the dog are The Wombats and The Rumble Strips.

Thursday, November 15

What a shitty world (especially Scotland). A man has been placed on probation for three years and placed on the sex offenders register for having sex with his bicycle. In his own room! Behind a locked door!! Ridiculous.

Friday, November 9


See, I told you it was scary. That pic above was taken just before we ducked into The Bricklayers Arms to get even drunker than we already were. The Bricklayers was full of Johnny Borrell looky-likeys and there was Darren and I sitting in the corner looking like a fat version of The Pet Shop Boys. Before that we'd been to a Vietnamese restaurant and before that we'd drank to the health of the East End freaks and fags in the brilliant George and Dragon. Our three nights at the Hoxton Hotel was nice. Good job we were on the fourth floor as the trendy bar and bistro on the ground floor was very popular with movers and shakers and wankers. Michael Clark at the Barbican was ace. The final portion of the three part Stravinsky project used a full orchestra, 4 opera singers and a 40 voice choir on stage while the dancers played out the Russian peasant wedding rituals as seen through Mr Clark's punk-rock eyes and it was brilliant. And all the papers said so.
On saturday we went shopping on Oxford Street. I know! Madness! We had lunch in Selfridges and bumped into Shabnam from this years Big Brother (she was wearing a dress she wore on the show so I guess the money's not rolling in). We fingered the McQueen stuff in the designers lounge but then scuttled next door to Marks and Spencers and bought a few winter woolies (I can have 17 M&S jumpers for the price of 1 Alaxander McQueen sweater). On Sunday we bimbled around Spitalfields and Brick Lane (the new Rough Trade shop is very impressive) then had dinner at a Turkish restaurant in Islington and went to see Eastern Promises which was very good (lots of blood and a few glimpses of Viggo Mortensens cock). Sleb spots for the weekend: Ulrika Johnson, David Quantick, Gilbert & George and that ex-editor of the Daily Sport who now appears on sports chat shows and is quite sexy in a black haired boy from Bolton way.

Thursday, November 1

Gone to scary London to see Michael Clark. Pray for us. All telegrams to The Hoxton Hotel. We'll be in The George & Dragon on Hackney Rd on Friday night if anyone wants to join us for a cocktail.