Well that was an eventful weekend. Benny from Abba and the Indelicates in one night. Alas, I was sitting in a portaloo with my trousers round my ankles when the bearded genius finally got round to playing an Abba song I'd actually heard of (I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do). Still, the powers that be should put on more gigs on Hampstead Heath. It's a bit like the V festivals if they were sponsored by Waitrose instead of Virgin. It was supposed to be a celebration of Swedish culture yet the songs included Spread A Little Happiness, Moonriver and Roll Out The Barrel. And there wasn't a hint of Roxette or Ace of Bass.

Meanwhile, at the Lexington, the Indelicates were nicely angry about having their set cut short and berated the audience for daring to ask them to play one of their hits. They ended with a surprisingly powerful bash at Jacko's Earth Song. I very nearly got up on stage and wafted some imaginary farts out of my bottom in a Jarvis stylee but I thought they might think I was taking the piss. When I told them of my fiendish plan afterwards they said I should definitely have gone for it. Another missed opportunity.

Talking of Jarv, did you see him on Question Time? Why isn't he Prime Minister? A monstrous swizz if you ask me.

Then I went to Crimes Against Pop and impressed The Kids with my magic. Not a lot. Met some nice people, got drunk, fell over.

On Sunday I went out with Ben and his brainy pals. Which was nice. We went to a Vietnamese restaurant and I resisted the urge to ask for number n-n-n-n-nineteen off the menu.

Oh, yeah, my friend Joe reckons the following is the reason for which the internet was invented. I think he might be right. Non Smiths fans look way now:

I can't remember how to do that clever bizness but suffice to say that MOLEINTHEGROUND was really really great tonight. He should try being nice more often. It suits him. He could be the new Joanna Lumley.

That is all. Thanks Ed.

A friend called to ask if I wanted a ticket for Blur at face value. Sure, why not? I didn't realise that face value meant 50 quid. FIFTY QUID! That's loads - the most I've ever paid to see a gig. Even Prince was only 37 pounds something. And he had to pay for his flight from America and probably got his costumes hand made.

Still, I needed cheering up so off I went. I have to say, Hyde Park is a brilliant place for a gig. It's like having Glastonbury in your garden. But there's no mud, no endless queues, no shit other bands getting in the way, no camping. The bar even had waitress service. Brilliant.

Blur came on at 8.15 sharp to the strains of one of them waltzy oompah songs that all sound the same. Maybe Intermission? One of them ones. They opened with She's So High and banged through all the hits. Except for Bang. And the two awful ones off of The Great Escape. And maybe some of the later ones that everybody's forgotten about anyway.

Best bits? Plenty to choose from. Tender, which sounded weedy on the Glastonbury clip I saw, was massive and actually made me cry (see also To The End, Death of a Party, Badhead and the British Gas ad). The crowd were still singing it after the next song had started. In fact the crowd was singing along so much they really didn't need the motley collection of backing singers they'd brought along that looked like rejects from X-Factor. The brass section was used to good effect, though, on stuff like For Tomorrow, Popscene and a surprisingly entertaining Country House. The band looked like they were really enjoying playing that one too. I suppose it's their Yellow Submarine. Shit but fun.

Dave was the only one who'd aged noticeably, but then he always looked ancient. The curse of the ginge. The lights flashed "VOTE DAVE" as a wink to his unlikely new career as a Labour politician, during the interminable intro to Song 2. Alex looked exactly the same as he did when he used to get mistaken for me, down to the fag hanging from mouth. Damon was beefier than he used to be but miraculously his hair appears to have grown back. That man is truly in league with the devil. Graham started off with his annoying librarian shuffle thing that he does but soon ditched his specs and gave the wildest performance I've ever seen him do. There was an amazing bit in Popscene (or it might have been Advert - one of the mental fast ones anyway) where he fell over and somehow managed to roll over on his back while still playing the guitar. It was brilliant. He's quite nifty on the old banjo, it has to be said.

What else? Phil Daniels came on and gurned through the morons' favourite. It's a shame they didn't get Paul Daniels on for a change. I'd have liked that. Not a lot, but I'd have liked it. Damon stopped to tie his shoe laces before some mad jogging during Sunday Sunday. He gave some waffly speech which I think might have been against the war in Iraq, although I didn't really know what he was on about to be honest. He looked quite choked and uncharacteristically humble too. And the sunset was lovely. You're all going to see it tonight anyway. Have fun. You'll love it.

Fifty quid, though, fucking hell.

Gone a bit quiet round these parts, hasn't it? Truth be told, dear LiveJournal, I've been a bit mis of late. Not really the place to go into it here. So, since we're halfway through 2009, here's a list of books I've read this year instead.

1. Doctor Who and the Brain of Morbius - Terrance Dicks - I used to think Terrance Dicks was the greatest writer who ever lived. Now I know he is. Actually, this isn't one of his better efforts.
2. The Lost Diaries of Adrian Mole 1999 - 2001 - Sue Townsend - Like Horlicks on paper.
3. Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies - Hallie Rubenhold - Surprisingly saucy.
4. The Year 1000 - Robert Lacey & Danny Danziger - Surprisingly funny.
5. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey - Surprisingly boring, although picks up towards the end.
6. The Battle for History - John Keegan - A booklet about books. I read this in the library while trying to decide which war book to get out. Instead I got ...
7. The Trial - Franz Kafka - Ace. Now I can use the term kafkaesque with confidence.
8. Down and Out in Shoreditch and Hoxton - Stewart Home - Kafkaesque.
9. All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque - Excellent. I thought I knew what to expect. Mud, trenchfoot, lice, that sort of thing. But the bits when he goes home are a revelation.
10. The Invisible Man - HG Wells - Not as good as the David McCallum version. Must have been amazing at the time, though.
11. Hurrah For the Blackshirts - Martin Pugh - Top notch history lesson. What a bunch of goons.
12. The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle - Michael Moorcock - Joyously bonkers pisstake of McLaren's Sex Pistols film by an old hippy who hated him.
13. The Castle - Franz Kafka - Disappointingly tedious. No wonder he couldn't be arsed to finish it.
14. Bad Vibes - Luke Haines - A hoot. Surprised to see Suede get off so lightly.
15. The Fire Gospel - Michel Faber - His worst book. Not bad, though. A bit like a smarter Ben Elton, oddly enough.
16. Banana Boy - Frank Norman - My mate Joe's grandad's ripping autobiography.
17. Ask the Dust - John Fante - Imagine an American on LiveJournal. Like that but worse.
18. Can't Buy Me Love - Jonathan Gould - Not as juicy as most Beatles books. In fact, not juicy at all. Just very wise. The bit about Penny Lane almost made me cry.
19. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte - Quite delightful.
20. The Fahrenheit Twins - Michel Faber - Neat short stories by my second favourite living author.
21. The Prince - Nicolo Machiavelli - What a bastard.
22. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad - Reminded me of Apocalypse Now. Then somebody pointed out that Apocalypse Now is based on it. Doh.
23. The Hundred-and-Ninety-Nine Steps - Michel Faber - Perfectly crafted novelette.
24. The Devils of Loudon - Aldous Huxley - Bit of a slog in places but the bits I understood were fascinating.
25. The Baader-Meinhof Complex - Stefan Aust - Made me want to blow things up. Not sure if that was the desired intention.
26. Knots & Crosses - Ian Rankin - My best friend recommended this. Underwhelming but cosy.
27. Hawksmoor - Peter Ackroyd - Spookster wookster. Poor old Hawksmoor, though. Genius architect made out to be some kind of devil-worshipping loony.
28. Peter Pan - JM Barrie - Magic. Apart from the Kensington Gardens appendage which was rubbish.
29. A Concise History of Germany - Mary Fulbrook - Nice to have a happy ending after a bit of an eventful 20th century.
30. Luck of the Devil - Ian Kershaw - Story of the July Bomb Plot grippingly told in a Beevory stylee.
31. The Brothers Grimm - Jack Zipes - Dry but interesting study of the parsimonious old krauts.
32. 253 - Geoff Ryman - Highly readable vignettes of the passengers on a single Bakerloo journey. Clever.
33. The Germans - Alan Watson - Not them again.
34. Hide & Seek - Ian Rankin - Hide.
35. Austerlitz - WG Sebald - Probably the most overrated book I've ever read. Alright like.
36. Bad Science - Ben Goldachre - Essential reading.
37. What's Left - Nick Cohen - Inessential reading. That probably makes me an anti-semite.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrghhhhhh!

Anyone fancy a pint?

Contrary to rumours, the Dark Matters have not split up. In fact, we've just recorded a new mantelpiece, featuring slanderous vignettes of all our showbiz mates:

http://www.myspace.com/thelondondarkmatters

When feeling a little down in the dumps, I find the best course of action is to reminisce about happier times. Like the other week when me and my mum went to the Rhineland. Day 3 we got on a boat downriver, crossing the state border to Northrhine-Westphalia. Downriver on the Rhine means northwards, which seems wrong. That surely defies the laws of gravity?

It was a very posh boat with a restaurant where everyone bar me had a slap-up feast of typically Germanic fare, gynormo sausages and the like. I had a funny cheese sandwich mit klein brot.

The hills either side of the Rhine were dotted with pretty schlossen. One in particular took my fancy. It was preposterously ornate, bright pink and looked like it was made of blancmange. "Can we go there?" I piped up. Turned out that's where we were going.

We took Germany's oldest cog-railway up the hill. I don't know what a cog-railway is, but apparently this was quite a big deal. The wagons used to be lugged up the hill by some poor donkeys, but now it is operated magically by Electric. There is a memorial to the donkeys in the town. I thought that was a nice touch.



The hill was called Drachenfels, meaning Dragon's rock. It's named after some mythical battle where Siegfried slayed a dragon or something. It's a bit of a legend in Germany. I think Wagner might have written one of his hit records about it. It used to be one of Byron's favourite places to hang out too and his patronage basically made it one of Europe's top tourist spots. A bit like Morrissey and the Salford Lads' Club nowadays.

It's a biggish hill, 1,000 feet high or so, with spectacular views. Perched on the very top was an old ruin which dated from the 12th century or thereabouts but had been gutted during the 30 Years War.

But it was the pink palace further down the hill that I was more interested in. Our guide, Tony, was a cheery Bavarian who looked a bit like Bernard Cribbins with an accent like somebody taking the piss out of a rustic German.

"Zees cassoll voz beelt een zee layot nineteence zenchoovelly," he explained incomprehensibly. The general gist was that some flash geezer had got lucky by investing in the Suez Canal in the late 1800s. He met a Duke who was down on his luck who made him a Baron in return for a few thousand marks. He then set about building his dream castle, as befits a Baron of the Rhine.

It wasn't finished until the early 20th century by which time his bird, a French girl who lived in Paris, refused to move there because Franco-German relations were at a bit of a low ebb. So, despite having it kitted out with the finest furnishings and decor, the place stood virtually empty, apart from the housekeeper, until the geezer who'd built it died in Paris with his missus some years later. Chicks huh?



It ended up in the hands of the Catholic Church as a nunnery or something before those dastardly Nazis took it over as an officers' finishing school. It was badly damaged during the war and up for demolition in the 60s because it didn't qualify as proper baroque or proper gothic architecture - it was just some daft playboy's idea of what a nice place to hang out in should look like. Fortunately somebody pointed out that, authentic or not, it was still quite a neat-looking joint, so they decided to do it up again and it was very nearly open to the public when we got there. It's a shame the geezer who built it never got a chance to live there, 'cause he would have had a cracking view from his front door in the morning:

Thanks to ruudboy for this rockin' snap!

So as I was saying, I went to Germany with my mum a fortnight ago.

The first full day was action-packed. We took a train to a tiny village in a valley chocker with vineyards and forests and took a vertiginous chairlift to the top of a hill. A bit like in Where Eagles Dare. At the summit was a cafe with breathtaking views, the sort of place a James Bond villain might live. I'm sure James would have jumped over the edge and magically produced a Union Jack parachute from his pencil case at this juncture, but we decided to walk down through the woods instead. It was an absolutely glorious day with dazzling sun-beams cutting through the trees. I kept expecting to bump into Little Red Riding Hood at any moment.

Back at the bottom we took another train and were picked up by horse-drawn carriage. Wunderbar! Me and my mum sat up front to get a good look at the horses' arses:



The poor old nags took us on a long and winding track up a mountain and back down again whereupon we were given a guided tour of one of the local vineyards and were given various free samples of the local brews:

This is about the amount of wine we consumed on our holiday:



Prost!

We then bundled on to another train, bound for a medieval walled city which was even cuter than all the other places we'd visited so far, with a whopping cathedral in the middle that looked like it was made of marzipan. My mum bought three balls of wool from a "Seen You Coming" type of shop. They cost her 50 quid. Dummkopf!



On one of the forested hills overlooking the town you could see two ominous grey towers poking out of the trees - it looked a bridge that I assumed had been bombed by the Allies during the war. In fact, it was part of a never-finished railway that had been abandoned in the late 19th century due to lack of funds and never returned to thanks to the twin inconveniences of the invention of the motor car and a couple of world wars. The tunnels either side of it were used by the townspeople as an air raid shelter. Then they were turfed out in late 1944 when Hitler used it to hide his V2s in. What a bastard.

Apparently Archway was all but flattened by a V2 near the war's end which explains why so much of it is is full of concrete carbuncles. It's weird to think it might have been fired from such a pretty place.

Went to see the Barnacles on Saturday down the Buffalo Bar and was promptly recruited as second guitarist by bona fide loony Stuart, skipper of the good ship Barnacle. Rory did some singing too. It was quite a bizarre gig, mostly involving Stuart reading unaccompanied nautical poetry from his notebook or literally swimming across the floor through the bemused crowd while the rest of us doodled in a confused manner. Lots of fun. Shame I had to bugger off to work like Cinderella.

Sunday was the debut of the latest incarnation of the New Royal Family at PopArt's Great Bowls of Fire event down Bloomsbury Bowling Alley. It was the perfect venue for a 50s-themed party and, wooh, what a party it was. Excellent acts all round and a really good vibe, enhanced by the usual hilarity from Dave "funnyman" Rees and his hilariously crap gamess, such as Leader of the Pack (of Cards).

I'd nearly cancelled this one 'cause I hadn't enjoyed our previous gig and I was a bit nervous about doing one without Charley, as she was such a large part of the NRF experience (not to mention the only member of the band bar me to have played every gig up until then). But Richard and Rob did us proud, swapping between guitar and bass duties every other song. Extra points to Rob for dressing up like one of the Pink Ladies too. Jenn held the happy chaos together with some particularly fine drumming.

We did a mix of NRF faves and old 50s classics, although to be honest, it was really an excuse for me to pretend to be Sid Vicious and Morrissey, as all the oldies were songs covered by Sex Pistols and The Smiths:

C'mon Everybody
The Cornflakes Family
(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame
I'm Only Happy
Something Else
Scotland the Brave
Rock Around the Clock
The New Royal Family Rules Okay

We went down great. Lucy's mum came along and she loved it, which was particularly satisfying. Somebody else described it as "an explosion in a charisma factory". I like that.

Oh, and I won the Best Dressed Man competition for my Teddy Boy get-up. Which was nice. Did anybody take any pictures perchance?

When I got to work I noticed the person sitting next to me chuckle at a message in his inbox. "Is that a member of Showaddywaddy beside you?" it read. Job done.

So, yeah, I took my Mum on a train holiday to the Rhineland for her birthday last week. It was my first trip abroad - apart from rock'n'roll touring and all that malarkey - since 2002. We weren't quite sure what to expect. I was pretty resigned to the fact that I was probably going to be the youngest person in the party. What I hadn't anticipated was that my Mum was just about the second youngest. It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable experiences I've ever had. I'm definitely more Saga Man than Club 18-30.

We stayed in a small town south of Bonn called Remagen. Despite my unhealthy obsession with World War II (thanks to my apprenticeship on Commando in the early 80s), I'd never heard of it. But for a couple of weeks in March 1945 it was probably the most important place in the world.

This was due to the fact that the bridge there was the last one standing over the Rhine. All the others had been destroyed by the Nazis in an attempt to halt the rapidly advancing Allies. The Remagen bridge was supposed to have been blown up too but attempts to destroy it failed before the Americans got there (probably due to sabotage by Polish slave-labourers).

A mighty old rumpus ensued. Hitler ordered the officers responsible for destroying the bridge to be shot immediately then bombarded the area continuously, eventually firing a ruddy great V2 rocket at it - the only V2 ever fired at a German target. The rocket missed. But ten days after the Americans had captured the bridge, it collapsed, killing a dozen or so US soldiers.

Our tour guide mentioned that the fighting in the area had been so severe that his grandmother had bullet holes in her bedroom wardrobe. My Mum was a bit unsympathetic about this in a Basil Fawlty "well they started it" kind of way. But when we went to the museum that has been set up in what's left of the bridge, she seemed quite moved with the photos of local women, cowering in the woods with their children wrapped in blankets, looking up at the sky in trepidation.



The area is ridiculously picturesque; it's Brothers Grimm territory. There are so many forests it looks like the hills are covered in broccoli. There are fairy tale castles every mile or so. It's not hard to imagine Snow White, Rapunzel and the rest running through the trees.

Remagen is pretty small, maybe 12,000 people or so. But it has a beautiful cathedral on a hill. It's actually a miniature replica of the famous cathedral in Cologne. One night we walked up the hill to take a closer look. There was an evening service on. The candle-lit choir sounded like angels singing.

Good golly Miss Molly, is that the time?

The New Royal Family are playing a gig of sorts on Sunday at that hip happening joint Bloomsbury Bowling Alley. We're on at 6.30pm sharpish.

It's our first without axe goddess Charley Stone who is sadly leaving us in order to concentrate on some proper music. Don't worry, though, Charley fans, she'll be back for our official farewell gig some time in February to coincide with my official Retirement From Showbiz. Gulp.

In the meantime, we've a few contractual obligation type shows to get out of the way, starting with Sunday's shebang. It's a 50s themed affair so wear your best quiff / teddy boy outfit. I certainly plan to.

Our bass things, Rob and Richard, will be fighting it out over who gets to play guitar on which song. To make it a bit more exciting I've thrown in a few old rock'n'roll classics they've never played and/or heard before. We haven't rehearsed for this so it should be fun to witness, for one reason or another.

Our acquaintances The Last Army and Jonny Fartpants are on the bill too. And it's FREE. So, c'mon everybody, let's get together tonight. Well, Sunday afternoon. I've got some money in my jeans and I'm really gonna spend it right. On beer. When you hear the music and you can't sit still, you're probably epileptic. Woooh! C'mon everybody (carries on in this fashion for several hours) . . .

Germany was absolutely einfach klasse. Much more shortly. But for now, here's a picture of me and Germania. I'm the tiny fellah in the funny hat. She's the big lady at the top with the orb and the massive sword; kind of the Statue of Liberty of Deutschland.



There was a paparazzi-esque explosion of clicking cameras when I posed for this shot. I couldn't work out why. When I clambered back down somebody pointed out that there were loads of signs warning that climbing the steps was strictly verboten. Whoops. I expect Interpol are on my trail at this very moment.

I'm taking my Mum to the Rhineland for her belated 60th birthday present. Back Friday.

Be gut.

Auf wiedersehen loon!



PS: May 2009 turned out to be less than a pound more expensive than May 2008 and cheaper than May 2007. Not quite sure what that proves.

Monday: 0.00

Tuesday:
Dinger for donger: 15.00

Wednesday:
Sponsoring myself and Anna: 30.00

Thursday:
Cinnamon bagels: 0.90
Crunchy Nut Cornflakes: 2.00
4 pints milk: 1.73
Philadelphia: 0.91
Blueberries: 1.99
Bananas: 0.92

Friday:
Pub: 10.10
Pasta salad: 1.29
Pinot Grigio: 5.49

Saturday:
Posh chocolate: 0.90

Sunday:
Bagels: 0.20
Water: 0.77
Balsamic vinegar: 1.99
Dinger for donger: 10.00

Grand total spend for May 2009: £1,202.36

Throgloopnarg! We have crashed through the £1,200 barrier and have now blackmailed people into coughing up raised a staggering £1,260. Plus there's a tenner in my pocket from Harry at my work and Francesca which I must remember not to accidentally spend on booze by mistake.

Thanks loads folks, I'm chuffed!

Quite relieved about this because I had a really embarrassing appointment at my consultant's on Friday, the sole purpose of which seemed to be to embarrass me in front of a gaggle of medical students. I walked into the room, expecting just to see the ol' professor, and there was an entire audience awaiting my arrival."Now what do you think is wrong with Mr Barnett?" they were challenged as I turned various shades of crimson. None of them guessed correctly, but not before proffering a variety of hideous-sounding diagnoses. I felt like the fucking elephant man.

Sorry, bit of an emu moment there. Suffice to say I think my time is pretty good for an old cripple with a dicky bladder. I did the second half about two minutes faster than the first, largely because I was bursting for a slash by that stage.



Meanwhile, we're now only £69.99 from our target, please give generously. If you like: http://www.justgiving.com/sponsorannaanddavid

Happy bonk holiday tout le monde!

So, the Bupa 10k is upon us and I've done precisely one run in the last week cos my knees and feet were riddled with aches and pains. Meanwhile I've noticed that the running shoes Jeremy sold me, promising that they were size 9s, are in fact size 10s. I thought they felt a bit "roomy". Hey ho.

Anyway, wish us luck. If you can't be arsed coming along to cheer us on, you can watch it on the telly - Channel Five from 9.50am. We'll be the ones in the white vests.

PS - we are now only 90 quid from our target, feel free to donate here: http://www.justgiving.com/sponsorannaanddavid

Ta!


Friday cont:

Egg sandwich: 1.50
Strawberries: 1.50
Raspberries: 1.00
Big Issue: 2.00
Prescription: 7.20
2 packs pitta bread: 0.80
Croutons: 1.39
Houmous: 1.00

Saturday:

Contribution towards "cup of coffee" for Irish stranger: 0.72
Orange juice: 0.95
More orange juice" 0.75
Bread: 1.09
Mushrooms: 1.17
Eggs: 2.19
Shower gel: 2.15
Garden refuse sacks: 1.00
Marigolds: 0.89

Sunday:

Hedge trimming: 30.00
Lemon: 0.25

Total spend so far this month: £1,117.32

I've had a smashing week off so far, which is slightly odd since I spent two days of my week off at work. Hmm.

Monday was the pop quiz which was a hoot. We came an impressive fourth and what's more scooped the best team name prize with "I Want To Live Like House Of Commons People", winning a sack of Skips for our trouble.

Tuesday I did a spot of overtime from noon till six. I'm going on holiday next month so I could do with the extra dosh. Anyway, it was a breeze. I was mostly reading medical journals. Headline of the day was worthy of Have I Got News For You: "Yes, we can manually extract faeces!"

Wednesday was a leisurely band rehearsal in Stoke Newington. Afterwards I optimistically ventured to M&S to see if there was anything left at their penny bazaar. There wasn't.

Back at work on Thursday after a quick dip in the pool. Six hours summarising Cable & Wireless and Waitrose stories. Exciting. Oh, before all that I optimistically ventured to M&S at about 10am to see if there was anything left at their penny bazaar. There wasn't. In the evening it was Charley's birthday karaoke at Bloomsbury Bowling Alley. As is usually the case with karaoke I found it immensely stressful at the beginning but enormous fun by the end after sufficient application of alcoholic lubrication.

I got up early this morning, determined to make it to M&S's penny bazaar. I arrived about 15 minutes before opening time. There was a queue of roughly 200 people snaking down Holloway Road. It was quite a jolly atmosphere. Every 15 minutes or so a member of staff would shout "All the socks have gone now" (or equivalent) at which point everyone would groan. I had my heart on the socks, ties, mugs and tea towels, but all of these went before I was anywhere near the shop. By the time I was finally admitted about an hour after arrival, it was down to the very last dregs. My booty comprised of 3 cans of fizzy pop, a piece of chocolate and some kind of brooch thing. Still, 5p. Mustn't grumble.

Fellow misers may also be interested to note that The Sun has 5 quid off (when you spend £30) Morrisons vouchers every day this week. It's only 20p today and there's some nice tits on page 3.


Thursday:

Karaoke: 8.00
Lager: 11.80

Friday:

3x cans of Dandelion & Burdock: 0.03
A big chocolate penny: 0.01
Some kind of brooch I think: 0.01
Charitable donation: 0.95
4 pints milk: 1.73
Bananas: 0.99
The Sun: 0.20

Total spend so far this month: £1,059.77

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Charleyfuckingstone
You deserve your own throne

dbxxx



More Monday:
Sponsorship money to work colleague: 5.00
Contribution towards gentleman of the road's "cup of tea": 0.30
Mushy mango: 0.99
Hallumi: 1.79
Strawberries + raspberries + blueberries: 5.00
Peanut butter: 1.59
Cheese: 2.25
2 pints Amstel + 1 cider & blackcurrant: 9.50
Standing order with Greenpeace: 2.00

Tuesday: 0.00

Wednesday:

Band rehearsal: 10.25
Printing: 25.00
Gig entry: 4.00
Lager: 9.50

Total so far this month: £1,036.05

The Dark Matters have recorded another tune. For this one I dug out one of my old Luxembourg rejects (pah, the fools, bet they're kicking themselves now!) and Anna sprinkled some of her magic pixie dust on it.

We seem to have accidentally stumbled on something a bit zeitgeisty cos everyone seems to be banging on about St Etienne today and Anna reminds me of a slightly less out of tune Sarah Cracknell here. I'm v proud of her. And also v grateful we've got this on the go cos all me other pop combos seem to be disintegrating like the reputation of British democracy and no mistake guv squire.


Sunday:
Dinger for donger: 15.00
Cheese & mushroom croissant: 2.79

Monday:
Rocket: 0.85
4 pints milk: 1.73

Total spend so far this month: £940.88