Current mood:	accomplished
Current music:	Tortoise - The New Royal Family

"I don't like football. Why? Because it's crap!"
Phew! What an action packed weekend. Managed to sleep through all the bombs and stuff and was happily oblivious until I read the papers ...

A big huge thank you to everyone who came along to see The New Royal Family at Club Mental. Wow, what a reception. Was particularly pleased with the two new songs. I say new, I actually wrote them in 1989. But this was the first time they were performed live. They've only ever existed in my head before. So that was very satisfying. Like a giant Snickers bar in aural form. Thanks to Club Mental for having us, thanks to the other bands who were also ace and really upped the ante. I told the girl from Hundreds Tens & Units she could be the new Polystyrene. She didn't know who X-Ray Spex were and I felt very old. Thanks to everyone who got up on stage and joined in with the grand finale, particularly Anna who was bricking it throughout:



Doesn't she look lovely? Thanks to Seaneen for taking fabulous photos. Thanks to Charley for taking the entire band out for dinner. Thanks to Rob for wearing a skirt. Thanks to Rory for being my new bescht mate. Hey, thanks to EVERYBODY. Thank you.

We got up early and hungover on Sunday to try to catch Ed doing the London 10km run. The moment we got to the race, who should stagger by but our showbiz chum Mat Out Of Suede who looked like a knackered giraffe and his immaculate girlfriend who looked like she'd just stepped out of a salon. We eventually found Ed's missus and gave him a big cheer as he pounded past. Saw a couple of other friends too and were inspired to give it a go ourselves next year. Maybe.

Then we had a lovely walk home through Regent's Park. Went back to Camden to see Brett refuse to do a free gig at Proud. Apparently he was worried about being upstaged by a burger. Dearie me. He must be getting his PR tips from Martin Wallace. Saw lots of old chums who I hadn't seen for ages though, so it wasn't a complete waste of time. Also Enzo who is ace.

In the evening we had dinner with some of Anna's posh friends who are very clever. I was very excited when they started talking about The Immoralist because it's one of the few books I've read. "Ah, Andre Gide!" I piped up, then shut up again when I realised I couldn't actually remember anything about it. Although I seem to recall there being a hint of bumming. Anyway, it was a good night, and the first in a pub since the smoking ban. I noticed that I hadn't wanted a fag all night, whereas usually I do when surrounded by smokers. So I reckon it's a good thing, for purely selfish reasons.

Today I have been mostly cleaning the house. The bathroom is very shiny. You could eat your dinner off it. Well, maybe if you were Mark Oaten.