Road Regrets

Published on Sun 8 Jul 2012

It's been ages and ages since I've written anything here. I wish I could say that it's because I've been too busy having exciting adventures, but I've actually just been watching hundreds of hours of Kardashian based reality TV. It's more enjoyable than you'd think. Or maybe I've not been out enough lately. Anyway I'm going to blast through some bits that I have actually been up to. Bit of a list I'm afraid. I don't have nearly enough time to write these properly any more. God help me if Bruce Jenner gets his own spin off.

A few weeks ago we had a road trip to Newcastle because Annie was playing with Lucy Wainwright Roche. I like going up north by road because you pass the OK Diner on the A1. I think it's a very nice touch that they made it out of metal like a real American diner (and everything else in America) and it reminds me of good times on that little tour with Flay (later I even won a soft toy in the same machine that he won Muffin. Prize Every Time For The Win. Geddit?). Their milkshakes are incredible, but it turns out the breakfasts aren't so good.  

We had some of the craziest weather I've ever seen on the way up there. Bright sun one minute and then apocalyptic rain minutes later. Here is a photo of us approaching what I was a bit worried would turn out to be Mordor. It was in fact Pontefract, which was even less pleasant ("Excuse me is there anywhere nice to get lunch near here?" "What, in Pontefract?!"). One of the better pictures I've taken I reckon.

The gig was good. Lucy Wainwright Roche is very nice, and far and away the best of that generation of Wainwrights if you ask me (though I'm really not a fan of the others - I remember seeing Martha in a tiny shop in the Grafton Centre and she couldn't even hold my attention there). An incredible voice and some really good songs (check out "Open Season" if you can find it).

We went to the Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre on the way back. I went there as a child and there were these sticker dispensers dotted around the woods that gave you pictures of all the characters from the stories. I had them on my wardrobe for years. Not surprsingly (but sadly) they seem to have been replaced by a walk through display of speaking life sized Merry Man models, some stocks and an ice cream van. 

Here is a picture of the Major Oak where Robin Hood supposedly hid (even though it would've been a sapling at the time he was supposed to have lived). Can you tell I succumbed to Instagram? paulg232 if you're on there.

I learnt a good FACT: the use of the word "hood" to mean criminal originated from Robin. Though thinking about it there seem like several more plausible explanations.

I went to one of the university balls the other week because I was playing keys for Annie. I'm sure they were more impressive in my day, though to be fair we missed the contortionist, the cheesecake was good, the casino was good (it's hard to get into it when the chips are free) and I'm thinking of getting one of these for the house:

I enjoyed my microcylon too.

We went to The Globe Theatre in London on Saturday to see The Taming of the Shrew. It was really enjoyable - I wouldn't expect to like that kind of thing, but every time I've been there it's been great. This one was genuinely funny (if a bit politically suspect) even though you couldn't always understand exactly what they're on about. I guess they do have the best actors so if it's not good there it's unlikely to be good anywhere. I'm always surprised how easy it is to hear with no amplification, especially as it's outside. Projection dahling.

I did a gig at The Cornerhouse on Sunday, which, like all gigs during periods like this when I'm hardly playing, I was kind of dreading. And like (almost) all gigs I'm dreading, it turned out nicely. Even the regulars were being quiet, which is almost unheard of. Setlist: Take it All, The Ghost of Paddy's Night Past, 60 Miles with a Slow Puncture, So Finally a Love Song, This Place is Dead Anyway, Black Coffee and Bromide, Closure, Cold Case. The first decent length set in years that I've not played Watertight. I enjoyed all the other acts ( B-Sydes, Neil Morris and Jackrabbit Parole) and am grateful that Ben (B-Sydes) asked me to play - I feel like I'm at an age where it's getting a bit undignified to try too hard.

There was a country fair on Parker's Piece the other week. In many ways it couldn't have been improved, but "Jive Pony" didn't seem to involve either any dancing horses or any kind of megamix. Here are 3 pictures from it. I didn't manage to get any of the medieval reenactment guys but you'll get the idea.