26-06-09 - Tuesday II - EMF @ Factory Live, Worthing, 3rd June 2026

Well, that would've been a blast from the past if I'd seen EMF first time around... What a great night. The support band, Ecce Shnak, from New York, were really good and something a bit different. I'll go and see them again if I get the chance. They sang a song about the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham, and another song about a cat. 

Then EMF came onstage and they looked like they were enjoying themselves immensely. They dropped "I Believe" and "Children" fairly early on. Then they did a few of their more recent ones including "Reach for The Lasers" which contained a medley of dance floor smashes. Then they sang "Unbelievable" followed by a weird version of "I'm a Believer" (the Monkees' song) and then they were gone. A thoroughly enjoyable night. 

TTFN.

Sunday 16-05-08 II Making The Most of the Good Weather

Worthing (pebbly) beach today

So on the first weekend of good weather of the year, we made the most of it. Took the kids and accompanied by the neighbours we hit Worthing seafront, near Goring Gap, for two hours or so.
The sea might look a bit wonky, but to be honest it was so bright that I couldn't really see what I was taking a picture of. Let's hope for many more...
TTFN.

Saturday 15-02-21 - James Acaster in Worthing

Last night TW & I went to see James Acaster at the Connaught Studio in Worthing. It was part of Matt's Comedy Club, a regular night in Worthing which has been going for a few years now.
James was supported by Jay Foreman, who is a musical comedian. He is actually Beardyman's brother, which I didn't know until I looked him up on Wikipedia just before the show. And it showed, he did some really clever stuff (which was also funny) with his guitar and the songs during the show.
The night started with three local comics who each had a short slot. The funniest of these was a passive-aggressive housewife called Lindy Larkin, she came across like Alison Steadman in Abigail's Party, and she had some really sharp lines.
Then Jay came on, and sang some songs. They were light, witty and enjoyable. He had a couple of more eccentric jokes, and the John Lennon song was brilliant, I thought. The half-hour or so that he was on sped by.
Then it was time for the interval. TW went and bought a CD from Jay, and as she does, they got talking. She told him that we'd been to see Beardyman, and they had a nice chat. And then, it was time for the main event.
I was looking forward to seeing James, I'd seen him on a couple of TV shows, and Richard Herring interviewed him last year and bigs him up a lot, as part of the new generation of comics coming through. His show was likeable enough, and he is certainly a likeable fellow. He plays a lot on his geekiness / awkwardness and the way he interprets other people's behaviour (in the show) is cleverly wrong. The show really sparked when he accidentally swore. To explain, Matt's Comedy Club is a "family friendly" event, and so they must have asked the comedians not to swear. I'm sure they wouldn't have asked Frankie Boyle to perform, for instance. James coped well, I'm not sure that his act involves much swearing anyway, but he accidentally swore anyway, and there followed a moment or two of inspired lunacy, the act began to take off. The finale was odd, but funny, and all the way through it seemed to be building to something, but never quite getting there.
It was a good evening, and I'm glad I went, it was good to have time out with TW, even if we were both hanging and tired. That may have affected my enjoyment of the evening, but there were great bits there, little nuggets of brilliance.
This morning we played Jay Foreman's CD to the girls and they really enjoyed it. We have a permanent memento of the evening, as well as the memory of the laughter, and of course next time we see any of them on the TV, we'll be able to say we were there and we saw them...

Monday 14-12-29 A Day at the Panto

So today, for the first time in years, I went to the panto with the family. Normally TW goes with the kids and Mama, but as my sister is visiting from Singapore, we went en masse, 11 of us.
It was absolutely brilliant. Two and a half hours of entertainment, right there. Aladdin and Jasmine were young and beautiful, as expected. Well, actually, Aladdin was Jon from S Club 7, tattooed to the hilt and 32, according to Wikipedia, and Jasmine was played by Jade Chaston, whom I'd never seen before. Anyway, they were both good, and could sing. They were having fun during the performance, making each other laugh.
When did women stop playing the leading man, though? Or is it too confusing for kids these days, if Aladdin were played by a woman? I dunno...
It's normally the supporting cast that normally make a panto, and the Dame Widow Twankey was brilliant. She was played by "Lola Lasagne", I expect he's a drag act for the rest of the year, he certainly had the audience in the palm of his hand.
The two DJ PCs were amazing, I don't listen to Heart FM myself, but apparently Tom and Jack are well-known in the area. They did a couple of numbers and were pretty good at being the light relief.
My claim to fame is that I knew the actor playing the Emperor of China, kind of... He used to live on our road and is a friend of a friend - Darren Clewlow. He was brilliant, and knowing that we knew him added to the fun of the panto.
There was one scene where they wanted to depict Aladdin flying on a magic carpet, which had us in stitches. Basically, they had Jon in a luminous outfit and turned the lights down, then they had him slip his feet into a luminous cardboard flying carpet, almost like a surfboard. He was in a harness and they lifted him up and swung (swang?) him from side to side across the stage, as he was singing a number. It was very effective, and certainly achieved the intended impression, but it was beyond cheesy. It was a moment of inspired theatre, and probably worth the entry fee by itself.
I was very proud of the Middle Child, as when they were trying to open the cave to get to the Lamp, Aladdin and Abernazer ("Half a Lager"?) asked the children if they knew the password, and she shouted out "Open Sesame!". They acknowledged her, and thanked her... I think they said something like it would be a bloody long play if no-one knew the password... :)

The whole cast could sing, and it was really enjoyable. I shall probably go again next year.

Mayor's Charity Swim, Worthing

And so to the Mayor's Charity Swim in Worthing.

This was held at Splashpoint, the new swimming pool in Worthing, and very nice it is too. The only possible criticism is that it is not big enough. (I reckon when the old Aquarena was still in action, a lot of people used to go to Burgess Hill, so maybe they underestimated its popularity on that basis?) Even though the leisure centre was closed to the casual swimmer, it was still packed. There was the choir from Thomas a'Becket First School, as well as their parents, and the swimmers and their parents/families.
The choir sang 'Learn to Swim' to open proceedings (Daughter #2 is in the choir, I have to declare an interest) and then it was to poolside to watch the swimmers.
There was a delay in starting, as it took time (as I understand) to arrange the swimmers into ability. And as a result, there wasn't a clear break between the first and second session; more swimmers just kept being herded into the pool.
There were a load of people raising money for the Mayor's charities, and I'm sure he was pleased with the turnout. All the swimmers got a certificate and some goodies, that certainly seemed well-organised.

All-in-all, it was a good afternoon, and a lot of people came together to do something good. Well done Worthing,