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Andy and Megan invited us to join them on a pleasant countryside work near Meapham, itself near(ish) to East Croydon. We had a wonderful time ambling through paddocks, woods and fields of wild flowers. The day was a real scorcher, and I may have even had an English tan afterwards - for a few days that is... 

Jean Michel Jarre (Wembley Arena) 22/05/09

A pretty awesome show, though I think more could have been done to give the audience something to look at, considering he's a one man band, and usually perched behind a keyboard. The stand out moments were therefore when he came centre stage to play... the laser harp!

Setlist:

Industrial Revolution 2

Magnetic Fields 1
Equinoxe 7
Oxygène 2
Rendez vous 3
Oxygène 12
Souvenir of China
Magnetic Fields 2
Oxygène 5
Oxygène Variation III
Equinoxe 4
Equinoxe 5
Chronologie 6
Chronologie 2

Encore 1:
Oxygène 4
Calypso 3
Rendez vous 2

Encore 2:
Oxygène 4
Industrial Revolution 2 (outro)

Metric (Electric Ballroom) 19/05/09

Anna and I were perched behind the sound desk, and I got a sneaky photo of the onscreen setlist. You can see a couple of extra songs that were rehearsed, but alas not performed...

Setlist:

Twilight

Help I’m Alive
Satellite Mind
Handshakes
Gold Gun Girls
Gimme Sympathy
Sick Muse
Empty
Front Row
Dead Disco
Stadium Love

Encore:
Monster Hospital
Live It Out

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Went to farewell Selina and Anthony, who are heading off to Australia for the rest of the year. They were staying with some friends, Nick and Caroline, who also happen to have a few guinea pigs - Anna's favourite!

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My sleep disturbed, I wandered out to the balcony to see what all the noise was about. Thinking there might be a football match on, I was instead greeted with the sight of a million and one women marching through the City of London in the dead of night!

UPDATE: They return! Clearly a charity run, and perhaps they had been doing some dress rehearsals?

Romeo and Juliet at the Globe theatre

Highgate Cemetery

A Pair of Extraordinary Gentlemen

I had a wonderful opportunity over the bank holiday to meet two legends in the field of comic books - an encounter never likely to take place back home! Gosh! Comics, a reputable little store opposite the British Museum, had writer Alan Moore (AKA God) and artist Kevin O'Neill in the shop for a signing of their latest creation, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1910. 

Despite arriving nice and early, there was a considerable queue, which just happened to move at a snail's pace thanks to the generous amount of time the duo put into each visitor. What a swell pair of gents!

Here they are - Alan of course hiding behind the tremendous beard. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect from Mr Moore. Famously outspoken about the villainous side of the comics industry, I thought perhaps he would be quite an intimidating fellow. But I was thrilled to find that he is an absolutely splendid fellow - very polite, engaging and friendly. I enjoyed chatting with the pair for a little while, and getting signed copies of League, Watchmen and From Hell (my personal favourite, and probable pick for best comic book of all time).

The coolest thing about this picture, other than the fact Alan was munching on chocolate biscuits at the time, is that it was taken by Hayley Campbell - daughter of Eddie Campbell, artist on the aforementioned From Hell!

It's also not hard to smile for the camera when she's behind it. ;)

April round-up

Anna and Ewelina under the Millennium Bridge. Nick and Ewelina joined me for a spot of beach combing. I've turned up a couple of nice carved pipes recently...

Me with Ernest Borgnine at the BFI. He's amazing for a 91 year old!

Tired tourists sleeping outside St Pauls :)

Anna overlooking the Tower Bridge, just outside the Tower of London: