70cities blog

Crazy week. Loads happening. Can't talk about any of it. Argh!

Had a great weekend so far, though. Friday might, M and I went to see top indie electro-rocksters Maxïmo Park play at the Shepherd's Bush Empire. It's been ages since I've been to a non-club sort of gig, and they were incredibly good live - note-perfect, and incredibly tight. There's also something very compelling about Paul Smith's lyrics for me, given that I grew up more or less where he did and can vividly recognise a lot of the references, places and experiences he alludes to - "standing by the Monument just waiting for the rain". It's been a long while since we had a true Geordie voice in the hit parade - no, Jimmy Nail doesn't count (and probably can't, either).

After that, it was up early on Saturday to hotfoot it (via train) to Brighton for Anna's 30th birthday party. Had enourmous fun seeing the extended family and meeting nice new people whilst munching quality sausages, along with a selection of disgustingly nice French cheeses. Then, in the evening we rushed back to London to catch the Eurovision 'Song' Contest - completely laughable, unfortunately, due to all the block voting going on. Even Sir Terence of Wogan seemed utterly crushed by the complete absence of any real notion of a song contest. I can't see it continuing in its current format for much longer..

Today, hay fever has rendered me helpless (again), despite it being cold, rainy and dull outside. Sniff. Can't do much but sit up straight and swallow snot. Urgh.