24-10-05 - Saturday I - What a Week

Well, that was a week and a half; Monday we were in Chi to see a play, Tuesday in Brighton to see Ezra Collective, and then tonight to see Arxx celebrate the release of their second album in Resident Music and dinner out afterwards at Wagamamas… 

The play was enjoyable, funny even, but once we got out of the theatre it was a bit difficult to describe what we had just watched. Was it a comedy? Was it a thriller? What did that bit mean? Overall I think, they tried to cram too many ideas into it, and so it ended up leaving not much impression at all.

 

Ezra Collective were very good, great music to dance to. The venue, Chalk in Brighton, was a sellout and so it was really busy. Actually it was difficult to find a space where there was room to dance, especially when some idiots insisted on wearing rucksacks in a crowded venue like that… Towards the end of the night I couldn’t shake the thought that if the drummer used brushes instead of sticks, and the keyboardist kept to major chords and didn’t “wig out” quite so often, we could have been listening to them on a Sunday afternoon in a rural pub somewhere - so it was a triumph for jazz, really. 

I’ve not been to an in-store before, so I didn’t know what to expect from Arxx. Obviously the album was released on the same day as the appearance, so I knew we would hear some tracks off the new album, but I didn’t know how long they would play, whether it would be an acoustic set, or anything really. But the opportunity to see some live music from a band I liked was too good to miss. So TW & I headed into Brighton to Resident Music to see what was up. The band played six or seven songs, and had a chat with the audience, and it was a nice intimate gig. Maybe a bit shorter than I would’ve liked, but then I guess that’s personal preference.

After the gig TW was hungry and so we went round the corner to Wagamama’s which was nice. I have avoided Wagamama’s because I did think I ordered badly - we’ve been a couple of times and I didn’t like what I had - but last night I had chicken yakitori and beef donburi. I did actually order chicken donburi, but the beef was delicious. So I am pleased we went. And we were out and walking up to the station before 9pm, which was refreshing. 

All in all, a busy week, but all good. 

TTFN. 

A Child-free Week

It would seem that going mobile hasn't lead to an outpouring of any consciousness, whether good or bad. And this in the week where we shouldn't have been as busy as normal because we didn't have the kids! This was the week for their annual pilgrimage to their grandmother's, the GiL, and TW & I had the week to ourselves - just about.
TW took the girls up there on the Friday, and so I had the house to myself when I got home from work in the evening. I watched a bit of Banshee and a bit of The Walking Dead, and probably drank more than I should have. On Saturday I bimbled around the house, waiting for TW to get back , then we went to a friend's 40th Birthday party in Burgess Hill. That was fun, but unfortunately I was the designated driver and so I didn't get to enjoy it as much as everyone else. TW   was enjoying the cocktails, and at one stage she was drinking one so strong that she chose to dilute it with prosecco - needless to say, there were a number of casualties.
On the Sunday we took a stroll into Worthing and then stopped at a pub, the Rose and Crown, for a few drinks on the way home. I was following the cricket and England were trying to bowl Pakistan out to win the match on the final day. A few years ago England wouldn't have been able to take 11 wickets in one day, but we had faith in them, and that was rewarded when they lost three quick wickets for 125 - as I was following it on my phone, I saw the score change from 125-5 to 125-6 and then to 125-7. It was a good feeling. I carried on drinking into the evening, as our new lodger arrived, and again, probably drank more than I should have done.
On Monday evening TW had invited some of her girlfriends around for drinks and so we started the week in a boozy manner. I did leave them to it at one point to catch another episode of The Walking Dead but was interrupted as the ladies came inside. It was during quite a touching moment as one of the main characters met their inevitable fate, and they had switched to slow motion and were laying on the emotional music as the zombies crowded around to rip out his guts and bloody intestines. So I switched that off and rejoined the conversation...
Then on Tuesday evening we went out to Efe's restaurant in Worthing which was delicious. We went with friends and had a lovely evening - that's the sort of thing we should do more of.
Wednesday and Thursday we took easy, to recover, and then last night, Friday, we took my parents to the Amex stadium in Brighton for the first home game of the season, because the trains were on strike. Since it didn't make sense to come home and then go back again to pick them up, we pushed on to Lewes and had dinner at Bill's, which was delicious as well. And it was lovely to spend some time together enjoying good food and each other's company.
After we picked up Mum and Dad, TW asked to be dropped in Worthing to meet up with some friends and I have no idea what time she got in, but we're not expecting the girls back until after midday, so she can have a lie-in this morning.

As well as drinking and eating out and socialising, we've done a couple of other things, like negotiate the train strike, take in a new lodger, and buy a new (New to us anyway - others may call it "pre-loved") car, but I may get to those in time. Or, going on past experience, probably not.

TTFN.