So I’m feeling a bit like a naughty schoolboy today. We have decided for the first time since the very early 1980’s we are not going to the Ashton Court festival. All weekend I’m going to have that bunking off school feeling, expecting someone to come up behind me, tap me on the shoulder and say, “shouldn’t you be somewhere else?”

Last night Orynthia finally nailed a phrase to justify my lack of enthusiasm for A.C. this year. She said that she doesn’t really begrudge the £6 entrance fee on it’s own, but she is annoyed that this money is being used to help the festival become something she no longer likes and when that is coupled the all the publicity which Orange get from the festival it leaves a nasty taste.

Of course it’s probably just us getting old and grumpy. There is no way to return the festival to those lovely days when around 30,000 people would turn up, allowing you to wander around with ease, get in and out of any of the marquees without having to push your way past lot’s of other people trying to do the same thing. The whole thing has just outgrown itself.

After work yesterday I nipped into town to meet up with Orynthia, Ashton and Jane at The Olive Shed for a quick drink and a few nibbles in the sunshine (delighted that the temperature has dropped to more comfortable levels). When a wonderful place it is, the perfect example a great little idea. I particularly like the fact that when the chief needs fresh herbs, he just wanders round to the enormous barrow in front of the place and plucks them as they grow, that’s what you call fresh.

I was delighted to find that the shop at the top of the road has started to stock Plan B, not they really knew what it was. I did have to do a quick run through about the magazine with the manager. It’s great to read something that feels like it’s written out of a need to write, rather than a need to hit a deadline. Talking of music journalism, we caught the excellent BBC 4 documentary on the NME last week. Ah those glorious days when the NME was like taking an Open University course in politics, history, philosophy, literature and little bit of music as well.

Also saw the BBC 3 documentary on local drum and bass legend Roni Size. I dip in and out of the world of the hard beat, but Roni and his gang have provided some fantastic musical moments over the years. The thing that I loved about the programme was the lovely almost simplistic enthusiasm, which Roni has for music and for Bristol. I’ve only spoken to him a couple of times and he was exactly the same then. It’s so nice when the good guys come out on top.