We went to see the Experimental Pop Band on Wednesday after having another nice meal at Tico Express. The gig was good if not a little dangerous. Orynthia and I were standing behind the world’s most enthusiastic dancer. That’s enthusiastic but not gifted, allied to the fact that his build was somewhat on the heavy side and that his arms were moving like a threshing machine a full tilt, it meant that we had to keep our wits about us in order to stay in one piece.

World cup started today in the best of ways. A great victory for the huge underdogs Senegal in their match against France. Tomorrow morning will be my first early start as we have 3 games to watch, starting at 7:30am. Then we are off to spend the weekend with our friends Mark and Bab’s for a long weekend of football and to avoid the Jubilee street party that will be taking place outside our house.

I finished reading the wonderful Number 9 Dream a couple of days ago. As I mentioned previously, I feel that David Mitchell’s writing really does echo that of Murakami. Obviously a straight copy of another writers style could leave you with that nasty hollow feeling, that all those note perfect "tribute" bands induce. I do think that Mitchell injects enough of his own style into the ever more complex plot, to lift it above mere pastiche.

As ever, I have moved onto the next book and this is a considerable change of style.Human Punk by John King is a rough and ready tale which starts with a young mans introduction to adulthood as the onrushing tidal wave of Punk sweeps out of London to challenge the traditional norms of society. The main protagonist in the story is the same age as I was at the time, which makes it very easy to make comparisons. It is fair to say that in the summer of 1977 I was still held under the spell of the likes of Genesis, ELP and the rest of the prog rock massive and it was not until the end of 1978 that the penny finally dropped. Obviously, I wish that I had wised up earlier but hey, I was young! The main thing that does strike about the book, is just how lucky I was, to avoid the casual violence that appeared to be part of the average teenage boys life according to most writers that document this period. I was doing all the right things, going to football matches and gigs and I was aware of unpleasant things that happened, yet they never seemed to happen to me. I suppose this is due to the rather obvious fact that I always preferred to hang about with people I liked rather than mindless psychopaths. I guess my dad was always going to lead me away from the onrushing Chelsea or Arsenal hooligans rather than starting a ruck. Likewise the people that I went to gigs with always went for the music rather than the chance to punch someone. Certainly fights at gigs were just part of a night out at the time of Punk and the early Two Tone gigs. Pleased to say that it just went on around me, rather than in my face.

On the current music front I have recently picked up the Alice CD by Tom Waits. One of two new recordings that he has put out. As with most of his stuff it is still growing on me but worth buying for the title track alone. In a different style altogether, I have really been enjoying Blazing Arrow the new CD by Blackalicious, a really funky hip-hop CD, which I just can’t stop playing. Talking about not been able to stop playing things, the current listening on tape is the new Bell & Sebastian CD. It is the soundtrack to the film Storytelling. It does seem to be a proper soundtrack, lots of instrumentals, some snatches of dialogue most of all some really beautiful melodies. The album comes out in a week or two but we managed to borrow an advance copy from a friend of ours and tape overnight before returning it. It is a real Joy.

Hey that was 541 words without mentioning the World Cup. Only 3 days to go!!!! I’ve got most of my leave sorted out and feel ready for those early morning starts. Bring it on.

We went to see "Bend it like Beckham" last night and really enjoyed it. Some top footie skills on display from Parminder Nagra as Jess Bhamra. I read somewhere that she went to a Brazilian soccer school, where they were taught dribbling skills and tricks in the same way people are taught dance steps. It must be quite strange to see people lined up going through their step overs and drag backs as though they were in a line dancing class. Maybe some of the Bristol City lads could attend before the start of next season, then again I suspect that most of our players already spend as much time in the clubs as they do on the training ground.

I spent Wednesday in London for annual BT Sector conference. We had to sit through hours of toe curling bad sketches hammering home the various messages that management want us to take forward over the next year. One of the problems was that all the "actors" were BT people. It really made you realise why real actors get paid to read words aloud. Don’t get me started on the scripts!
The afternoon team building fun events were mercifully brief and painless. My main cause for concern was that went I got back to my fantastic hotel room, I was more than a bit worried that my luggage had not turned up. As we were having a black tie evening meal, this was a little disconcerting. The bag eventually turned up and the night passed without any further drama’s I finally wondered off to bed at about 3am and managed to wake up in time for breakfast at 8am without any real discomfort.

This time next week the world cup will have started. Can’t wait for it to begin. Most of us are still unsure of our viewing habits. The only thing we know is that for the next month the days of the laying around in bed will disappear, as we struggle out of bed for those early morning kick off’s.

Went to see the Bosnian film No Man’s Land at the Watershed last night. A very touching film set in the main, in the trenches between rival sides during the civil war between Bosnia and Herzegovina. 3 men are trapped in the trench, we watch with equal measures of amusement and despair as they and the UN peacekeeping forces try to get them out alive. Tonight I’m off to see DJ Shadow. Not to sure how he will play it, will it just be one man on a stage playing records?
At long last we have used the bread maker that we were given for Christmas and guess what it makes stuff that tastes like …..Bread. We have done a bit of sorting out of Christmas related stuff. Finally got round to buying some picture frames on Friday night. This meant that as well framing Anna’s recent gift, we could also frame up some great Russian photomontage prints that we picked up in New York at Christmas. This was a strange shopping experience as we bought them in a huge shop called Canal jeans, on Broadway that sold, ah you guessed already! Well hidden away at the back of the shop they had loads of great prints $20 for 2, it took us about 10 minutes to work which 2 we were going to buy. Anyway they are up on the wall now and they look mighty fine.

Well we watched Ring 2 and shock horror, as expected it was nowhere near as good as the original film.

We are having a bit of a stay at home take it easy type weekend, although Orynthia got very excited when she found out that The June Brides were playing in London tonight. For those of you that may not know, The Junes Brides were one of those classic early 80’s indie bands – Jangly guitars, Baa Baa Baa chorus lines, wobbly weedy vocals and the obligatory trumpet player. This was back in the days when indie bands sold 1000 copies of a single, never appeared on TV and either wore second hand suits or black 501’s with two roll turn up’s. They made a couple of great pop singles and a nice LP before being lost to the world of proper jobs as indie somehow became Oasis, Blur and any guitar band in the country, no matter which multi-national label they signed to. I never got to see them play live, although they did play once with local indie kings The Brilliant Corners. The gig was in The Hope centre, a converted church in the middle of densely packed flats, because of the location, the venue had very tight noise restrictions placed upon it. This meant that all gigs had to be over very early, consequently my friends and I were drinking in The Adam & Eve next door as The June Brides played. Shame. Anyway we shan’t be driving to London tonight, maybe they will play a bit nearer to home and we will get the chance to pretend to be 20 again.

Did not make it to the cricket yesterday afterall. Gloucestershire managed to play rather too well. By the time we would have got to the ground, the game would have only had about an hour left to play. We did not fancy paying £9 for that.

Still have not got round to putting any of the digital photo's on this site or on another webpage. Just down to time really, we have taken lots of snaps and had some great fun playing around with the images on photoshop. It the past week we have been to the theatre a couple of times. Saw A chorus of Disapproval by Alan Ayckbourn and Endgame by Samual Beckett. Contrasting approaches to the our frail concept of control over our destiny.

If the weather holds, I'm off to the cricket this afternoon. Gloucestershire Versus Nottinghamshire at the County Ground in Bristol. it is the 3rd day of a 4 day match, Gloucestershire are in an excellent position to win the game. What could be better than an afternoon in the company of OAP's and skivers?

Last night we had a bit of a test run for the impending World Cup. 10 of us watched the European cup final in our house. As the competing teams came from Spain and Germany, we tried to link most of the food and drink with those two countries. This is something that we have done for past couple of major football tournaments, you find yourself eating and drinking some very odd combinations at it can become a real test of the Bristol gastronomic shopping scene. Last night was fairly straightforward. Wine, cheese and beer coming from both countries along with olives, salami and bread covered the basics. Steve cooked a fine Tortilla to round things off. The multi-national crowd were well behaved and a fine night was had by all. We could be having some very odd breakfast meals over the next month.

Found a nice piece on the writer Murakami today.
It echoes many of the things that attract me to his books. I love the detached way he deals with often fantastical situations. I find myself leaping on every new release from him. My introduction to him was through "The Wind-up Bird Chronicle" in many way the toughest of his books, however I was hooked. All the books have merits, although on occasions the endings can drift away. My current reading matter, Number 9 Dream by David Mitchell, does have strong echoes of Murakami’s work. It features a split narrative, with the story switching between a 20 year olds search for his estranged father and a period in early childhood. To make matters slightly confusing the 20 year old undertakes regular Walter Mitty like flights of fantasy. I’m about 1/4 of the way through the book and it is starting to really grip.

On Monday evening we watched one of the most frightening film that I have seen in a long time. It was a Japanese film called "Ring", a very understated chiller that gradually built the tension. No gory special effects or over the top "here comes a scary moment" music. It was great very uncomfortable viewing. The follow-up "Ring 2" is being shown on TV next Monday. Can it be as good?

I still seam to be obsessed with all things Japanese. I could go on about the music of Cornelius as well but I better leave it for now.

Another exhausting but enjoyable weekend. The Spike Island show was a great start to the weekend. A real mixture of work, from the Human scale Hamster wheel to flowers that had been planted in shoes. Anna gave Orynthia a print, which was related to a tale of us getting lost in Australia. Then Saturday and Monday afternoons / evenings were spent at the Essential Festival, where we saw James Brown, Culture, and some of the Full Cycle crew plus others. The real standout part though, was the walk back across the suspension bridge towards Clifton late on Monday evening. The sheer number of people walking over the bridge, set off an unsettling swaying motion, that made us all very relieved to reach the other side. Then again the bridge has been standing for 150 years, so I guess we weren’t in too much danger.

I finished reading The Unexpected Salami a couple of days ago. It is good fun, a splendidly improbable plot is just about kept under control, as the ever more convoluted story charges along.. Although it is a funny book, very funny on occasions. I liked the way that the parents proved to be real stars and proved that often the people who you think will be most critical of your actions, can also be the most supportive. I have now started to read Number 9 Dream by David Mitchell, mainly because it is set in Tokyo and has been compared to the work of my current “must read” author Haruki Murakami. Most of the fiction that I have read over the past year or so, has been set in either New York or Tokyo. I like the little buzz of recognition that I get when an author talks about a certain building or part of town, it starts to trigger memories of time spent in those amazing places. At the moment Bristol does not feature extensively in the world of fiction, unlike TV, where Orynthia spend an increasing amount of time playing the “who can recognise that part of town first” game. Anyway, whilst reading this lunchtime, lots of memories of February 1999 came back to me. We stayed in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo, where some of the opening sequences of Number 9 Dream are set. Strangely the first thing that comes to mind is the fact that all the opticians had little stands set up outside their shops, with solutions and cloths so that you could clean your glasses! I also think of the amazing record shops, it really appeared that you could buy any record that had ever been released no matter how obscure. The fantastic noodle soups that we ate for breakfast whilst standing on a very chilly pavement at about 7 am in the morning after visiting the amazing Tsukiji fish market and then realising that nowhere else was open at that time of the morning, so we had to spend about an hour over a cup of coffee in McDonalds.

Talking of local sights being on TV, this week I bought the DVD of Portishead playing at Roseland, New York. One of the extra features is a copy of the film that used to be shown at the start of Portishead gigs. It is a video of the journey from Redland in Bristol to the town of Portishead. The start of the journey features Chandos Road, in Redland, at the time the film was made we were living on Chandos Road, it brings back lots of good memories, although it is very strange to see the big red van that belonged to John our former Greengrocer featured in a screen filling close up. I’m sure he would be thrilled – if he had any idea who Portishead were. By the way if anyone reads this who is not based in Bristol, you may be interested to know that Portishead are recording again. No idea when the next record will come out, but I’m delighted to know that we have another one to look forward to.

This evening we are off to the opening night of the Spike Island show. Spike Island is a centre for 100 local artists, and this weekend we get the chance to take a look at the work they have been doing. As you can imagine with so many people involved, the material on show covers all the options. It promises to be a fascinating, amusing and curious evening.

Sore feet and tired legs are the order of the day, after 2 nights of dancing. Friday night was Four Corners night at The Croft. Biggest crowd so far, and some of the strangest dancing yet seen, thanks to a strange Mr Been meets Max Wall chap, who had Orynthia and I chuckling, when we weren’t swiftly moving our toes out the firing line. Then last night it was off to Blowpop, to see Scott Hendy and Andy Smith in action, along with the Blowpop regulars. It was a treat to see Pete Smithson, briefly recreating the glory of his nights on the dance floor.

Prior to Blowpop, we joined Crescentia and some of her friends for a birthday meal at La Quentos. Strangely the conditions in the restaurant matched the rain swept streets outside, as an air conditioning unit leaked water on Orynthia for most of the evening. I suppose it helped to give us the authentic high humidity experience of a Mexican night out. The staff were mortified and the delicious complementary cocktail that came Orynthia’s way made up for the strange experience of eating in the middle of fine drizzle.

On the subject of food Teresa has pointed out that I forgot to mention the lovely brunch that we enjoyed last Sunday with her and Steve Dew. We went to Café Maitreya on St Marks road. It is a fairly new vegetarian place, where Teresa appears to eat at least twice a week. Really nice food, fantastic Cheesecake although as we were one of the last groups of people eating they did not have enough for all of us to have a portion. Run by really nice people, I expect that we shall be returning, although it may not be easy, as it’s reputation is spreading quickly leading to problems in getting a table.

Yesterday. We bought one of the super small digital camera’s for £40. It is an amazing thing. The qualty of the pictures is not fantastic, but for quick, fun photo’s it great. Took a few shots round town today after we failed to get into the animation festival at The Watershed. Hope to put some of these on the site. Also went to a new outdoor market in St Pauls. Of course it rained and blew a gale! Needs to have a few more stalls but could be an interesting addition to Sundays in Bristol.

Orynthia has started a new job in the last week or so. She is now back in the world of the web, which is really good news and better still her new office is across the road from mine, which means that we can meet up for lunch or after work. So as well as an interesting job, she gets the chance to travel in wonderful old fashioned style of the train journey from Redland to Temple Meads.

The train journey is a really nice way to start and end the day. Redland station is 15 minute walk from our house, a lovely walk it is too. Through Redland Green, watching the Squirrels rushing around whilst the birds swish noisily too and fro, It is my idea of perfect countryside – because it is in the middle of the town!

Been buying a few CD’s of late. Picked up new releases by Elvis Costello and Craig Armstrong yesterday as well as an EP by the raucous Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Then last night we caught up with our good friend Steve Vowles, who has been working in Madrid for the last 6 months. As a thank you for looking after his city ticket whilst he was away, Steve gave us a lovely CD by a Spanish group called La Buena Viola, although it is sung in Spanish and I don’t understand a word of it, I love it. It matches the mood of the glorious sunny weather that we are experiencing at present, subtle melodies, understated vocals with occasional lush but not overbearing string arrangements. It is a fine piece of work. Imagine that Belle and Sebastian had grown in San Sebastian rather than Glasgow and you won’t be far wrong.

Just started reading another book that has been recommended by our friend Bill from New York. It’s called The unexpected Salami and was written by Laurie Gwen Shapiro. It gets a mention in the Australian section of the epic travelogue that is on the website that Bill and Doreen put together after their world trip. The site is really interesting with some great photos and I’m not even a twitcher so I’m sure that a lot of the really exciting stuff goes over my head. I’ll let you know what I think of the book.

Today was the last day of Bristol City’s season. We drew 1-1 at home to Stoke City. We finish in 7 position in the league, 2 places better than last season but not good enough for the promotion playoffs. I’m not upset about the prospect of another year in division 2. As I get older, I start to value the social side of going to the match almost as much as the quality of football itself. I’ve been going o a regular basis since 1970 and have accepted the fact that City will never become a Manchester United or even a Southampton. We have bad games and good games. Obviously I love the really great performances by the team or indeed the really exciting games such as the recent game with Reading. However on many occasions I have the most fun on days when the football is not too good. I have been lucky enough to watch the matches with the same group of people for the last 6 or 7 years (indeed in some cases for nearer 20 years!), I also meet up with lots of people in the Nova Scotia pub for a quick drink before the game. Some of the people are amongst my closet friends, many more of them are only linked to me through football. Now the popular conception of the English football fan is of a racist, beer monster storming around the country abusing anyone who is not one of them. This people do exist, however my experience of going to football is an ever expanding collection of interesting, funny, loyal people. It is great to spend time with people that have searched out life in so many different places all over the world. It is also great to be in a place where no class system exists. The view of the 17 year old person with an underpaid agency job is just as valid as the millionaire popstar, the accountant or the unemployed 55 year old. We all moan and groan as the season progresses but it is lovely thing to say to so many people today, "Have a good summer, see you next August" and know that you will be able to pick just were we left off this afternoon.

Orynthia and I went to 24 hour party people earlier this week. It is the film that tell the tale of the rise and fall of Factory Records. Steve Coogan who plays Tony Wilson the figurehead for the company narrates it. The film concentrates on Joy Division, The Hacienda, and Happy Mondays. I was one of gloomy young men that took Joy Division to their hearts, and remember being devastated when John Peel announced that Ian Curtis was dead. I saw them play once at Trinity Hall, and they were fantastic. Watching them in a semi-derelict church, seemed like the perfect way experience them. I went to Hacienda, I think only once (maybe twice) and it was an eye opening evening for me. In Bristol at the time, clubs small, dark, edgy places. So to step into this warehouse of a building was quite a culture shock. As was the music. At the time dancing was not something that any one liked to admit to doing. The culture in Manchester was very different, not yet in its full ecstasy driven madness, it was still a sight to behold. The film caught the wonderful contradictions of the period really well.

Orynthia has had an amazing week of job related issues. Nothing is fully resolved yet so I won't go into any more detail. Fingers crossed it should all be resolved in the next week.

At last, I have managed (with a lot of help from Webmaster Orynthia) to put up some pictures of our trip to Guadalupe for the wedding of Felipe and Mercedes. If you want to read what I had to say about it at the time, you can, by looking at my entry from March 7th.If you want to look at the pictures go to the link to Felipes & Mercedes Wedding.

At least City have managed to put us out of our misery today. 4-0 down after only 34 minutes, we ended up losing 5-1 at Blackpool. Huddersfield won, so we stay in division 2 for another season.

I have just finished reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It was leant to me by Ian Wallen (literally my oldest friend, as I have known him since I was less than 4 years old). It came highly recommended but I have to say that it did not really do much for me. The writing style, such as it is, is very simple. I felt as though I was back in school reading something in a bible studies class. The blurb on the back advises that Paulo Coelho has sold over 20 million books worldwide. Then again a lot of people like Sting!

Well the period of national mourning is almost over. I suppose we all knew that it was going to happen, it’s just that the timing is so unfortunate. Only a couple of weeks after the last warning that even he is mortal, it happened – David Beckham is injured! What fantastic irony that in the midst of the 20th anniversary of the Falklands war and with less than a couple of months before the next titanic meeting between England and Argentina, that the major star of English football, should be felled by an Argentinean pre-emptive strike. The initial despair of last night has started to lift, everyone that I spoke to today suddenly knows the innermost detail of recovery times for broken bones in the foot, and they all confidently pronounce "6 weeks, he’ll be ready. No Problem". We will have to wait and see, at the moment it is Argentina 1 England 0.

Last night we went to The Old Vic to see the fantastic Peter Postlethwaite in Scaramouche Jones. It is an epic one-man show as a man looks back on his extraordinary life and the century that he has spent it in. I was a little dubious, as I saw a brief clip of the play on TV, which showed "PP" in full clown get-up over acting to not very comic effect. I have never been a fan of clowns, indeed the older one gets the less funny they become. However, within the opening couple of minutes of curtain up, the snippet I had scene emerged and it was clear that it meant to be a cheesy aside, in stark contrast to the rest of the performance. A gripping and moving piece of writing from Justin Butcher.

Orynthia has had a mad week with work related stuff. She has a short-term contract with an excellent local web company, starting next Monday. It is a really exciting opening. We wait to see what it could lead to.

Shock horror, the football on Monday night went well. I could still walk on Tuesday, well with the aid of a stick anyway – only joking.

Back to work today. Not too bad considering that I had been off since 29/3.
Just heard that we have been awarded a huge 2% pay rise!! Still, lots of our
friends have been losing jobs lately, so I can't complain.
The weekend went well, had a good time at both Four Corners and Espionage,
hooked up with lots of people and danced our way into the small hours at
both nights. Local noise merchants The Heads played at Espionage and
although I quite enjoyed the sonic rush for a short while, I must admit that
Orynthia and I had to take cover at the back of the boat after about 20
minutes. Lightweights!!

Whilst we were at Four Corners I received an unexpected and slightly belated
birthday gift from John Stapleton and Jane Tily. Sometime in the late
1950's or early 60's a series of record were released which featured actors
reading lines from a script (which was included with the record) then
leaving a pause for you to reply. A bit like a language tape, but with a two
way dialogue rather than repetition. I have had one of these records
featuring a wildly over the top Vincent Price for a number of years. John
managed to find one with the marvellous "Slapsy" Maxie Rosenbloom. Now, you
may not be aware (I wasn't) that Slapsy was world champion boxer in the
1930's before turning to the silver screen, playing mainly, and no surprise
here, punch drunk old boxers for comedy effect. The record features lots of
sketches written with Slapsy in mind. It is a fine thing. I'll be looking to
pick-up more of these if I can.

We had a great meal on Saturday evening at a newish restaurant called Tico
Express. It features interesting tapas style (in portion size and cost but
not always in the type of food) dishes, which wiz around the room on the
sort of conveyor belt that you see in those swanky London sushi bars. Plus a
small selection of hot dishes. We really enjoyed the food, and it is good to
see a non stop procession of dishes heading towards you.

Bristol City managed a win on the weekend to just about keep our promotion
hopes alive. We have to rely on Huddersfield dropping points, it could
happen and we may yet find ourselves embroiled in the dreaded playoffs.
Could all come down to our final game of the season, when we are at home to
Stoke. Get those calculators ready!!

Finally, The Guardian had an interesting piece,talking
about old Jazz musician's that have fallen on hard times. It features Abdul
Zahir Batin, who we met whilst we were in New York. In fact we bought one of
his tapes and enjoyed it.

I playing football tonight for the first time since the middle of December,
My legs are starting to wobble already at the thought of it!

Here we are back in Bristol, after a couple of nice days in London. Thanks to the wonder of the APEX ticket, managed to travel on the train for only £18 pounds each. Also managed to find a nice little hotel just between Edgeware Road an Marble Arc for only £40 including breakfast!! Bargins all round. To continue on the theme of bargins, once we had dumped our bags in the hotel, we set off, in the warm spring sunshine, to West Norwood, in deepest south London. For a journey that took about 80 minutes, we were only charged £1 each! By Bristol standards - amazing. We spent a few hours with Orynthia's splendidly named Aunty Tiny, before heading back towards Brixton for the Belle & Sebastian gig at Brixton Academy. We had a quick walk round the fantastic food shops in Brixton before sitting down for a drink in a bar just down the road from the venue. The clientle at the bar was a glorious mix of boisterous elderly West Indians and geeky indie types. Then off to Academy, my first visit to this huge old cinema. The first band to play were a Glasgow 4 piece call "Life Without Buildings", not huge on conventional song stucture, but I did quite enjoy the bass driven melodic lines that lurked beneath the surfice. Reminded me of The Au-Pairs being fronted by Bijork. Around 09:15 B&S ambled onto the stage. A similar set to last years tour but this time instead of being joined by a Dixieland jazz band, this time a local Steel band provided a bizzare but entertaining interlude. Afraid to say that the "sound" was not as good as it could have been, we were about 4 songs in before the string section could really be heard. An enjoyable gig but not a great one.

Thursday was Orynthia's birthday. So as a treat for her we went to see an exhibition of photo's taken by Kevin Cummins featuring The Smiths (Orynthia has always been rather smitten with Johnny Marr). Lots of memories came flooding back, enjoyed seeing the pictures of the fans as much as the band. What splendid hair we all had in those days!! Then it was off to the Conran shop for a nose around at all the things we can't afford, before heading to Soho for lunch. A really nice little Italian in Frith Street set us out in the afternoon, with tastebuds suitably tickled. Saw Lenny Henry in a book shop on Charing Cross Road, before heading off to Hyde Park to watch the Belle & Sebastian invitation football match. I did have thoughts of playing, however it was about 20 a side, on a very bumpy pitch, so I thought I would just enjoy the food whilst watching the indie boys (and a couple of girls) indulge in a fairly robust match. Orynthia also spotted her 2nd Nissan Figaro of the day, to round off her birthday in style. The train home was almost on time, quite rare for a train out of Paddington!

The birthday celebrations continue this evening at The Croft, where we aim to dance the night away with John Stapleton, Ian Green and Phil Darby in control of the decks.

Well, the long Easter weekend is over.
Football first: For Bristol City it was a weekend that may have ended our promotion hopes. On Saturday, we watched the best game of the season at Ashton Gate. Top of the league Reading stormed into a two goal lead with only 4 minutes gone and we all feared the worst. Against all odd's we were back on level terms within a further 8 minutes, thanks to a fine strike by Lee Peacock and a very dubious penalty, converted by Bell. However in the 14th minute we conceded another goal! 2-3 down and only 14 minutes played. Reading shaded the rest of the first half. The second half belonged, in the main, to City. We got back on level terms with about 20 minutes to go but we were not able to force a fourth goal. So, it was off to second placed Brighton on Easter Monday. After conceding a soft goal just before half time, we fought back to equalise with 35 minutes to go. Despite creating chance after chance, we failed to score again. In fact in injury time, Tony Thorpe had a header cleared on the line before Brighton went straight onto the attack to clinch the game 2-1. We now need to win our last 3 games and hope that Cardiff slip up. Can't see it happening. Oh Well.

Sunday was spent with Orynthia's family. Huge amounts of food were consumed. Two Peking Ducks, multiple curry dishes, noodles and Chicken Satay. Before, rounding it all off with fantastic Tiramisu and Banoffi Pie, both made by Orynthia. Then off to see my sister and her boys for lots of music chat before meeting up with Jane and John for a quiet drink. Went to bed still feeling very, very full.

Tomorrow, we are off to London for the Bell & Sebastian gig and to celebrate Orynthia's birthday. Looks like a busy weekend as we are aiming to go out dancing on both Friday and Saturday night. Will our old bodies be able to take it?

Today is the first day of a week away from work, as well as the easter bank holidays of today and Monday, we are both taking Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday off as well. This is mainly because we are going to London on Wednesday to see Belle & Sebastian.

Spent most of the day hacking away at things in the garden, whilst Orynthia did the more creative things. Managed to clear a path through to old Air Raid shelter. One day we will finally empty it of all the old junk that has left to rot over the years. Not sure what we will do with it then, it's been on our things to do list for about 5 years now!! You can't rush these things.

We are off for a bit of 80's nostalgia tonight. Pete Wylie is in town. Wah, in most of their guises were one of fav bands back then. Although Pete has troubled the charts on a few occasions, I think that he has troubled his bank manager rather more! We saw him play in Cardiff about 6 months ago and he was great. Started the gig with the old Johnny Thunders classic "You can't put your arms round a memory" and went on to play all the hits that should have been as well as telling tales of the confused and strange life that he has lived . Also playing tonight is a certain Glen Matlock once of the Sex Pistols. 25 years on from "God save the Queen" will the middle aged people of Bristol be pogoing through the night?

Big weekend for Bristol City, home to top of the table Reading tomorrow, then away to 2nd placed Brighton on Monday. I think we need 4 points from these games to stay in the hunt for a play off place. I'm not confident that we will get them. our record against the top teams of the past couple of seasons has not been good.

Just finished reading "When we were orphans" by Kazuo Ishiguro . Like all his novels, his languid style, which initially is frustrating. does really draw me in. His books seem to feature the most pompous people doing the most mundane things. Somehow Ishiguro makes this compelling. I wish he would turn his attention to something more contemporary. I would love to see what he has to say about todays issues.