Sunday at Birdcage

I like it when people come over to visit, it gives us a chance to tidy up. After the mammoth movie marathon, the place was a like a smackden. It's actually very therapeutic to clean and pretty lovely to have the flat back to it's stunning self. We'd just put away the rubber gloves when Jake and Jodie popped over to visit. It's good to see them, they only live down the road so they drove over after some confusion with the clocks going forward.

After a quick shuftie around, we headed over to the Birdcage for some afternoon pints and a well deserved pub roast. Looking out the window we could see what Jodie described as 'public theatre'... Some driver tried overtaking a bus without looking and pranged his BMW bumper. He wasn't going too quick and neither was the bus. We didn't think much of it there things happen all the time. An hour later there were about 30 firemen cutting the roof off the car and dragging him out. I'm not too sure the guy expected that level of treatment when he greedily lied to the police for the insurance scam.

Jake and Jodie stayed for a while but left May and I to leisurely walk back in the sunshine. Lovely.

Farewells and Film Marathons

Friday after work was a corker. The little milkmaid, Chloe finally picked up her milk buckets and said goodbye to Pentland.  A good turn out at the Dignity saw her off in as much style as the Dignity could muster. Obviously the shady Finchley regulars were shrugged off before we headed off to Camden. Before hitting Proud, May and I had a cheeky drink at The Mixer. There really are some fucking odd characters in that boozer. I've never really been sure that I even like the pub. This time around there was a deaf midget goth with shocking pink hair SHOUTING at some thick shit kid about what school she went to. We drank up and left after one pint. Proud was fun though, we caught up with everyone else and before we knew it we were slammin' and shootin' with the kids. TAXI!

The following day May and I were feeling rather hungover. It was a good night, but it wasn't worth feeling THAT bad. Urgh. We decided though to treat ourselves to an entirely self-indulgent day. It was brilliant actually, we broke out the sofabed and watched film after film after film after film... and ordered pizzas. May and I are into our bleak films and today was no exception. We moved from Bully to Happiness through The Constant Gardener to the much-needed fluff of The Commitments. Okay, lazy!

Dressed up for dinner

There was nothing in the fridge so May and myself decided to get REALLY dressed up and go out to the Three Crowns for a bite to eat. I wore a suit and May looked rather impressive in her LBD. I tell you what, people take you more seriously when you dress right up. I should have used my lofty social status to tell the waitress to back down and shut the fuck up. I hate over-familiar waitresses and she was THE WORST. If you're spending money, you expect a little bit of polite chatter, not some joker trying to make you laugh. However, the food was delicious. I had the steak and May had the Fillet-O-Fish... Naturellement.

Na'er cast a clout

Na'er cast a clout 'til May is out they say... What a load of crap, it was such lovely weather all weekend. It was almost balmy on Saturday, it gives you a real taste of summer. God knows we need it. I've not seen any sun since Colin's Ibizan stag do and pre-credit crunch, that seems a LONG time ago. Hanging out on Islington Green instead of life-drawing, I saw some stupid individuals in their Birkenstocks and Havaianas, cadaverous toes poking through like worms through topsoil. Urgh... In fact it was possibly a good thing we decided against life-drawing because it turned out that Jess was modelling! *chortle*... It would probably be a little awkward when I saw her at work on Monday after drawing her little bee stings!

Anyway, we hung out on the green and drew the people around us until it was time to wander around the antiques market, the shops and the Sainsburys to get ingredients for the Sunday's lasagne...

... Which went down a treat. May's mum, dad and brother came over for Mother's day loaded with various treats and surprises for the house. We now have an antique Turkish rug in the living room, a full herb garden on the balcony and also the inclination to go garden now we know what we're doing! ... Roll on REAL summer!

Dimsum and Chieftown

Friday night was fun, May and I had time after work to go shopping for a Mother's Day present, go out for Dim Sum and see a band!... All that with only having two bottles of beer. The dimsum was excellent, apart from the fact that we were the only people in the upstairs part of the restaurant which meant that the waiters standing around were too attentive and would come over to take away a dish as soon as the last dimsum had been chopsticked into our gaping mouths.

The band was okay. Chieftown. We were walking back through Soho on our way back to catch the tube when from one of the crowds outside one of the pubs, a little smiling face greeted us. It was Patch, a geordie friend of Mays. He did a good job convincing us to do 'the dreaded turn' in the road and back on ourselves to Bar Rhumba, that old bar of yesteryear which now temporarily houses pub/indie bands of questionable calibre. 

After the two bottles of beer we squeezed through the 'crowd' of Chieftown fans and headed home.

Penis Pie...

Wallop!... As promised, here is a picture of the steak and ale puff pastry penis pie. Check the time out: Twenty to ten. That's PM! How rock is that?... It's just how we roll in N16, I'm afraid.

(I think a haircut is beckoning.)

Red Hand Few

So last night after work I went to meet Jamie, Antony, Ben, Jerry and Davros at Marketplace in town. (I hate that place, Jamie loves it though. I think it's because after a certain amount of drinks, the office girls turn into one amorphous blob which he can gawp at.) Anyway, It had been a while though and it was brilliant to see their little faces again. Davros had grown a furry flattop and Jamie had put some weight on his chin just for the occasion. We chuckled at old times over a few pints and caught up with each other before I waddled over to the O-Bar to meet May who'd been out boozin' with Ian. The 'retail kids' had left by the time I arrived and so I found the two of them giggling with a couple of empty wine bottles strewn around them.

Spooky

See the spooky spire in the spooky cemetery.... I didn't realise this was on our doorstep. Shame really as it's an absolutely fascinating cemetery but now frequented by ugly gay old men and tramps all looking for some 'me time'.

I think the Vicorians just buried their dead there and then forgot about the place. Abney Park remains a wonder, I wouldn't like to be caught there after dark.

Entertaining...

It's amazing how a week flew by without a single post. My idea was to write something everyday, but I realise that I just don't have the time or the inclination to just drivel away. A short catch up is of order, let me run you through the hustle and indeed the bustle of living in an urban connurbation.

Friday was a right laugh. I was looking forward to showing off the new pad off to the public and although Ian broke the seal, it was really Helen and Matt who took the prize. We shifted all the clutter from the desk and turned it into an actual proper dinner table, where I served a steak and guinness pie I had been cooking for two days!... Obviously it was amazing and I even jujjed it up with a comedy puff pastry penis on the pie crust. We were all talking about it, laughing, you know. and I was carried shoulder high around Stoke Newington for a good couple of hours afterwards. In reality it went down well and we got pissed on wine. Matt and Helen had brought a couple of bottles as well as profiteroles for afters... Which meant that the bread and butter pudding I had lovingly crafted from M&S needed to be eaten on Saturday morning for breakfast.

After breakfast Matt and Helen shuffled off, only to be replaced by Fal and Rach who May entertained all day whilst I stayed in watching films feeling a little delicate. By all accounts it was a lovely day and May took the girls to Clissold Park, the epicentre of all things smugly Stoke Newington. When they returned I levered myself off the sofa and out to get ingredients for dinner which according to Fal, was a 'lush' spaghetti bolognese. They tucked into the vodka before going out to the late licence Brazilian bar. I stayed in watching a documentary about Keith Moon.

On Sunday, May and myself had a small window of time to get some 'picky nibbles' (I hate those words!) from Whole Foods on Church Street, walk to the park and around the spooky cemetary before Ian came over to put the icing on the cake of a good weekend's entertainment.

A very lifty weekend

No rest for the wicked they say. No rest for the helpful either... Sometimes the guy who can't say no hurts in other ways, this time around it's not a hangover. Johnny Herbert came in his hire van quick smart Saturday morning, I suppose it's my just desserts for roping him in to help lift some of MY boxes three weeks ago.

Stopping off for the mandatory McDonalds en route (on Macdonalds Road!) we were soon over at his place. I'd never been there before, but heard all about it from people who had. It was as tiny as people had commented and didn't let me down. It wasn't quite a bedsit, he couldn't sit on his bed, watching telly and cooking beans. He had a mezzanine bed above the kitchenette, the toilet/wetroom beside that, and down the metal ladder, the living space. I think he'll be happier in his new place, it's bigger, brighter and all together a whole new kettle for his fish.

That evening May and I experimented with buses to take us to Angel and over to the cinema to see Slumdog Millionaire. I thought it was well deserved of  it's oscars and the trickle of tears down my cheeks... I always cry at films. Quite embarrassingly I even shed a few whilst watching Ratatouille a couple of months ago!  Strange though as I'm not a blubber normally.

Anyhow, On Sunday I met up with Herbert again as he needed my help lifting and I needed a lift to Ikea. We were wandering around the showroom together like a couple of gays. More embarrassing than crying at a Disney film! May was getting frazzled so I came home and helped her Photoshop and Illustrator as we chuckled though Come Dine With Me.

A very lifty weekend, I ache today.

(By the way, the photo is of the Ting Tings tickets I was given on Friday. No-one wanted them, so I left them on the table at the Dignity.)

Doctors Orders

I've just finished the new Doctors Orders flyer for Rod the hip-hop sod. It was all quite rushed as these things often are, and this particular design found me finally powering down at 1am. I really should start these things sooner, but as I've said... Who does their homework the day it's set? No-one. I'm doing mine on the bus on the way to school.

Also check out the number. 28!... I've been doing these things for over three years, I should have some sort of retrospective. If I can only find the artwork!

Sushi with friends

After a busy weekend, May and myself were flagging slightly and also relatively fearful of a pre-planned evening out with a Whatley, catching up with Martin and Sandra who are over from Toronto for a few days. As it didn't need to get massively boozy, I did the decent thing and booked Asakusa in Mornington Crescent. It took us out of the pub and into the best sushi restaurant I know of. I'm happy we got a seat as that place is normally packed. You can imagine the look on Whatley's face when his teriyaki beef finally arrived. He'd already had a few pints and was starving hungry. We'd previously met in the pub round the corner, when Whatley presented himself I was killing time with a sukuko or two. It took a second, Whatley looked around noticed I was on my own and did 'The Laugh'. I'd not heard it for a while and it was warmly welcomed. Martin's fragile stomach dictated their late arrival, we said our hellos and all walked the short distance to sushi heaven. We ate and drank well, possibly making more noise than necessary for a Monday night, possibly pissing off the other punters in the process. Hey ho, Martin and Sandra are a lovely couple, as ever it was brilliant to catch up.

The 253 took myself and the by now snoozy May from directly outside the restaurant back to our door to rest easy. Easy.

School fun!

Saturday was brilliant. May and I travelled over to the Little house on Friday in preparation for Mick's birthday and what will be the only family party of the year. As this was the case, Mum went all out and on Saturday morning we found ourselves in the Littlehouse School of Excellence where we were expected to have completed our homework for assembly at 11am!

The day was planned and executed with aplomb. At one point, mum and Kyleigh changed out of their headmistress and geeky schoolkid outfits to assume the guise of Beryl and Ethel, the rather dim-witted and big-busted west-country dinnerladies. They served us up traditional, slightly overcooked school dinners, you can imagine every mouthful.

After dinner and after the graduation ceremony, the volume knob was turned up to 11 and we were invited to the school disco. Just what you need after several glasses of bubbly! The lights of the assembly hall were swapped for disco lights and we danced and sang along to everything from the fifties to the nineties. From Johnny B. Goode to Saturday Night by Whigfield. We collapsed early which is rare for a family party, maybe we'd worn ourselves out with all that homework!

One one the best, and definitely one for the family album! Good work!

Maggage

It's been all quiet on the blog front recently, it's not that there's no news to report, I've just been a lazy bastard. I've realised that if I don't tap in now, the details will be lost in the annuls of time like spaghetti slipping through the holes in a colander, I've just got to pick up that slithery memory before it slips down the plughole for ever.

So, last Thursday I went out with Maggie as I've not seen her for ages and a catch-up was long overdue. She's doing well for herself and as ever she amazed me with a couple of quiet bolts from the blue. It turns out she's recently been directing and rather than get into it through promo-work and short film, she's been producing for ages and now worked her way up to the heady height of director for various Coke commercials, one of which is taking her to New Zealand for a couple of weeks, a brief breather before she moves out there on a more permanent basis in September where she will concentrate on Pavlova - The Movie.

After the quick Vietnamese and some bring-your-own, Maggie had to head off and as I was in the area, met up with Nick of Debilitators fame. We played some pool, chatted band, watched some shit or other and then I came home later than expected.