Ae Fond Kiss

Sun night we went to Redan, Bayswater..when does hair of the dog turn into another session? Loud Algerian fans there celebrating their win. Then we went to the Mother Bar, Hoxton. Great to hear LL Cool J's 'Mama said knock you out' and UK Apache's 'Original Nuttah'. We had black sambucca and i had a Guinness. They stop serving about an hour before the end which isn't bad; punters sober up. Me and Mad Dog were vegeburgered up. We got in just after 5am.

Today (Mon) we booked to see an Orbital dj set on Fri. Met Maxi at the Two Brewers, Selhurst, i had Oranjeboom. At Palace i got tickets for Sat's Peterborough game. £3 for tonight's F.A Youth Cup. And to celebrate Rabbie Burns night we had a wee dram of whisky from an Evian bottle- and to keep warm. We support football at grass roots level and were comfortable 2-0 winners. Attendance 657. Half time Bovril complimented the whisky. Giles was well chuffed to meet Nigel Clough as an ardent Derby fan.

Helen came down to South Norwood Spoons; i had a lovely steak and kidney pudding in the absence of haggis, neaps and tatties.
I still have to see Rock and Chips on the iplayer; good music a la Ashes to Ashes i'm told. Doing some filming Tues afternoon, some 2pm brunch. Rick from Minnesota is over so hope to see him.

North West fest

Wasn't quite the midday to 3pm session at North West ales but the flying visit was pleasant enough. Caught up with Alex and Jill whose train was an hour before. There was a punk theme. It is a good fraternity; may go to Wigan and Worcester. They still do chicken and stuffing in Manchester Subways; winter cheer. Places that do chips and cheese and chip barms.
We got back into Euston at 6.30; only £11 single. Saw Spurs v Leeds in the Rocket; my man Juan behind the bar; Brothers on tap. What drama with the late, late Beckford pen. Went to Old St, put our stuff down and went to the Foundry where you get Pitfields ales. Egg afterwards. We left 5.30am.
Fri we got the 8am Megabus at just £6. Was like a groggy flight. Not just pikeys and soap dodgers but students, tourists. I sleep with my head on the back of the seat in front. The Thistle's fine; bed springs worked well, the bar there is good. We were at the fest 3.5 hours Fri night; convivial.

London loves to dance

Sat took the bus in the snow from Waterloo to Camden Town. The snowy scene at local Birkbeck was reminiscent of Russia when i used to travel in Aeroflot. We started off at the Camden Head; funky place, vinyl and i started off with an orange juice. I played pool, did okay; i attack with every shot as i do with life. We saw Birmingham v Man U. Teams aren't scared of Man U anymore. Fletcher had a big mouth yesterday and was duly sent off. A punter in the gents rested his pint in the urinal next to him hmm. My phone had gone flat but a guy with a laptop charged it for me; you have to ask.

Opposite the Head is the Blues Kitchen where i had a coke float. next was Dublin Castle; 'colourful' language as we apparently took others seats..never dull in Camden.

Onto a birthday in Angel; nice pad, i took a Riesling there. I liked listening to Snow's Informer. The Chilli Peppers have a song Snow..see what i'm getting at?.. We went to the local boozer; London loves to dance, everyone there dancing to House of Pain. Club mood so went to East Village, Hoxton. Superlative dance music; it's the 'small club with big ideas'. The birthday group was plenty lively. Music went on till just after 3.30am. On the way back we did Derek Zoolander poses and snow angels. I was out 4.45pm to 4.45am in supposed off season. Wasn't much snow in town.

So today was snoozy, hermit style. Saw Selby's demolition job on Ding in the Masters snooker and Sinitta ripping her partner's trousers in Dancing on Ice. The has been, Cowell's friend. Sharron Davies needs some oomph. Ladswise come on Davs, and Gary Lucy from the Bill. Harry Hill's TV Burps makes me laugh so much; when the dog was attacking him.

Colder than your fridge

While the news scaremongers with their negative tone re -22c i came up with some possible lists: top 10 people with fake suntans eg Phil King Hull manager or ladies with old looking necks like Ronni Ancona, Kate Garraway.
Oh Palace what a tangled web you weave. Ron Noades laid into Simon Jordan aka Sonny Miami Vice. Matt Lawrence is back oh fuck.
I love those base jumpers jumping off the brand new tallest building in Dubai; 136 mph, nearly 200 storeys..give them some Pepsi Max and watch em go.

snowscape

I enjoyed walking back from nearby Norwood Junction station in last night's snow. People were laughing at my cossacks hat before; they're not now. Snow i like, ice i don't. I saw a kid looking out of her window at the enchanting snow. Today you could hear the crunch of snow beneath foot. What am i going to do now that the tv footy's off?