24-02-27 - Tuesday I - Drop the Dead Donkey @ Chichester Theatre, Wednesday 21st Feb 2024

Well. That was a blast from the past. And for the most part, really quite enjoyable. It was great to see all the characters back together, apart from Haydn Gwynne and David Swift, of course. 

The characters were familiar, as was the writing; it really was a reunion of all the gang. Unfortunately I didn't take my distance glasses with me, so for me it was as though I was watching them from back in the day - everyone was a bit fuzzy and I didn't see any wrinkles. 

I enjoyed it, and would probably go again if there was an updated version, although I am not sure if this was an attempt to prove the show's popularity - the theatre was certainly full, and it looked as though TC, TW & I were amongst the youngest ones there.  

24-02-27 - Tuesday II - Alien Chicks @ The Green Door Store, 10th February 2024

Well, that was a thoroughly enjoyable night. I love the Green Door Store as a venue, it is so straightforward and without pretention. The support band came on at about 8pm and were good; I thought initially that they sounded like the Cocteau Twins but by the end of their set I thought they sounded like an evolution rather than a re-run - hopefully that is a good thing? 

Then it was time for the main event and true to form it didn’t go smooth from a technical perspective for Alien Chicks. This time, the guitarist / lead singer realised that his guitar had packed in within the first bars of the first song. So, once he had sourced a replacement, the show got into full swing. And very enjoyable it was too. They are quite a punky band but I think what saves them from being a pedestrian punk band are their rhythms. I thought that when I saw them at The Great Escape last year and I still think it; they owe an awful lot to their drummer. But, whatever, I really enjoyed the evening and even threw a couple of (mental) shapes to complement the dancing going on at the front.

In the pantheon of live acts that I have seen recently and would be happy/willing to see again, Alien Chicks are in there. 

TTFN.   

23-12-30 - Saturday I - Star Wars IV A New Hope @ The Connaught, 29th December

I saw just before Christmas that the Connaught Theatre had scheduled the original Star Wars trilogy over three days - yesterday, today and tomorrow. So naturally I bought tickets to all three films. I did actually buy a pair of tickets to each showing and I thought TMO might be able to accompany me, but unfortunately she had other plans, and neither of the other two were able / wanted to come with. TW is laid low with covid as well, but it's not her bag anyway. 

Before the showing I had a look and it seemed like only about 30 or 35 tickets had been booked, which is a shame in such a big theatre. 

Anyway, I turned up, having fortified myself with a cheeky KFC, and sat down to enjoy Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher run around in space. The music and titles started and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing. The music especially is a thing of beauty, although I am not one for a soundtrack. I also liked the way the movie transitioned between scenes. 

Watching it now, there are a couple of scenes which seem unnecessary and there are a few things which don't make sense. The lightsabre special effects aren't great, and seeing Han Solo step over Jabba's tail was a bit jarring. But the space fights are excellent, and the finale where they (spoiler!) destroy the Death Star was as exhilarating as ever. Rewatching this film as an artefact from my youth was an absolute pleasure, and I am looking forward to seeing The Empire Strikes Back later this afternoon... 

TTFN. 

23-12-23 - Saturday I - A Cup of Tea

Haha, I just took TW a cup of tea in bed but she was asleep and so she won't drink it. I walked in and she had her phone in her hand, and the bedside light was on. So I gently took the phone out of her grasp and left it on the bedside table, and I extinguished the bedside light. I did leave the cup of tea there, so she will see it when she wakes up and it's cold. 

The funny thing is, I said, when I was getting up, that I wanted a cup of tea and she asked if I was going to make her one. "You're going back to sleep, aren't you? You said you were." She denied it and insisted she wanted a cup of tea, so I made her one. And now she's asleep and won't enjoy it. Sometimes - not very often, mind you - I know her better than she knows herself. 

TTFN. 

23-11-23 - Thursday I - Prima Queen @ The Green Door Store, 22nd April

There's a lot of events I've been to this year that I need to jot down. As a result, a few of the next entries aren't going to be in chronological order.

Back in April I went to see Prima Queen. Really enjoyed the night, they were less rocky than I was expecting but I really enjoyed their music and the overall vibe they had going on. Would see again.

23-10-01 - Sunday I - A Little Life, Connaught Theatre, Worthing, 30th September

 Yesterday we went to see A Little Life, which was a filmed version of the play which was performed earlier this year in London. TW and a friend had been to see it and has been singing its praises ever since. We had gone out on Friday night and had a fairly heavy one, so I was expecting that maybe this would pass me by. Probably, at my age, I'd spend most of the first half wondering when the interval would be, and if I'd be able to make it without needing a wee.

Well. What an amazing, intense play. The first half was 1hr & 40 minutes, and it passed in a flash. As the story unfolded it became more grim. I was a bit confused over what was past and what was present, but it became clearer as the play went on. 

The second half was more emotional if that is possible, but it piled on the injustices and amplified the hideousness suggested / partially revealed before the interval.

It was a four-hour marathon, and in advance of going I was a bit concerned about whether I'd last, but I'd go and see it again in a heartbeat.

It's an amazing, gut-wrenching play and I'd recommend it to anyone and everyone. 

TTFN.

23-08-07 - Monday I - Jaguar Skillz @ Factory Live, 14/04/23

The Factory Live is just behind our house, which is maybe a bonus we didn’t fully take into consideration when we bought the place. It’s close enough to walk there in the rain without a coat, but not so close that it’s noisy at chucking out tome.

We went to see Jaguar Skillz a few months ago and had a really good time. Krafty Kuts has a club night at the Factory every few months and this was one of them. I enjoyed Jaguar Skillz’s set, it was quite showy, but I did enjoy the warm-up DJ who then went off to a residency in Ibiza, lucky fella, and Krafty Kuts’ set after Jaguar was really funky and well put-together. 

We enjoyed it so much that we’re off to see KK again at the end of September, so that must be a recommendation. 

TTFN. 

23-08-03 - Thursday I - Barbie @ The Dome Cinema, Sunday 30th August

Yeah, so I went and watched Barbie. It was an enjoyable film, very stylized, and really quite funny in places. Is it the film which will end the patriarchy? No. Some kids behind us were chuntering about how boring it was. I thought it was loud, colourful and zesty, and I liked it. Will I go again? No. But, you know, it was a good way to spend a couple of hours...

TTFN.

23-07-19 - Wednesday I - Pub In The Park @ Preston Park, Brighton, Sunday 16th July 2023

Ah, Pub in The Park. That was a fun day, until I sprained my ankle literally falling out of a pub...

We saw Craig Charles DJ - again - and Dodgy, who actually made sense in the Sunday sunshine, and Gabrielle, who rounded the day off quite nicely. It's been quite notable over the last few days that whenever you mention Gabrielle, the reaction of almost everyone is to put a hand up over one eye in a very similar gesture. She has ptosis in her left eye, apparently, which we didn't notice since she was wearing sunglasses. 

We had a few cocktails, which was a bit unlike me, and then we had a few more, and then once the day ended in the park, we went to the pub. Once I'd had enough, I headed for the door, and I missed the step and sprained my ankle. I didn't feel it at first, but once I had slept it off sufficiently it really hurt, to the extent that I was concerned it was broken and I went to A&E to have it checked out. Luckily it didn't take very long to get seen (I guess that is the benefit of going at 05:30) and they told me it was a sprain. I've taken a few ibuprofen, and that seems to be managing it for me. 

All told, though, I really enjoyed Pub In The Park. The weather was great, the music was good and the beers & cocktails were very enjoyable. It's a shame though that I won't be able to go running for a couple of weeks... 

TTFN. 

23-05-24 - Wednesday I - Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

We watched this film back in April now. I was planning to write about it before now, but I didn’t get around to it. It was a lovely film, a real two-hander. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that it was based on a play. Emma Thompson was great in it, it was kind of downbeat, which I like more often than not, and it was really sweet too, while also being about sex, and so weirdly graphic without being graphic.

Anyway, I wanted to record that I’d watched it and I liked it. And here’s the link on Amazon if you wanted to watch it yourself / selves.

TTFN. 

23-05-21 - Sunday I - The Night Agent

So, last week TW & I watched The Night Agent. An absolutely brilliant bit of telly, it had our hearts in our mouths several times in every episode and it was so enjoyable we watched all ten episodes in three nights. 

We did have to suspend disbelief, I mean some of it is complete cobblers, but why let reality get in the way of a story well told? I said it was enjoyable hokum, and I stand by that, and I think we’ll watch the second series if and when it appears. 

We haven’t watched much telly at all since we moved house to be frank, and it’s been nice to take some time to immerse ourselves in a story and relax as the story happens “to” us. We enjoyed it so much we are now watching The Diplomat which is another Netflix special; it is not as “high octane” as The Night Agent, but it is enjoyable and it’s got a pretty good cast too.

I do need to carry on watching The Expanse, I stopped watching that a while ago, but I really enjoy it and I’ve been told that it just keeps getting better - I’d like to find out! So we’ll see how that goes. 

Anyway, it’s sunny out so I am going to enjoy some sunshine. 

TTFN. 

23-05-20 - Saturday II - Fräulein @ Prince Albert, 26th April

Wow. I saw Fräulein at The Great Escape in 2022, and although I had already booked to see Ditz on Thursday 27th, when I saw that they were playing I had to book tickets. I went with Dave who loves a bit of live music, it’s always nice to introduce friends to new music. The Prince Albert is a small venue with a capacity for 110, so any gig there feels intimate. 

Fräulein are a rock duo, consisting of a male drummer and a female guitarist / singer, and they are really quite angsty. They remind me of Pixies, in a good way, and there were times during the evening where they cranked up the volume / emotion during songs and I found myself expecting them to go loud at that specific point, or agreeing that it made sense at that point, if that makes any sense. Maybe I was remembering their 2022 gig (at Zahara nightclub of all places!), but listening to them play felt like I had come home; although it was angst and noise and raw emotion it felt comfortable and warm.

I did ask if they were playing The 2023 Great Escape but I think they had other commitments  unfortunately. Safe to say though that I will be keeping an eye out for them visiting Brighton again, and I will be in the audience somewhere… I really liked them and hope they go on to bigger and better things. 

TTFN. 

23-05-20 - Saturday I - Leith Ross @ Chalk, 18th April

Saw Leith Ross again last month. Really enjoyed it, as expected, but it was a weird experience. The last time I was at Chalk it was to see Dry Cleaning, and that was a sold out event. This was sold out as well, but it was a completely different demographic, due to the nature of the act. Leith Ross is a young Canadian singer / songwriter who is gay and prefers “they / their” pronouns. So understandably the audience was completely different to the crowd at Dry Cleaning. The main differences were that I could see the stage, since the rest of the audience were mostly young women under 30, and they were shorter than the crowd I am used to at a gig, and the toilets had been changed to non-gender specific. I felt weirdly  out of place, but not in a bad way, it was as if I had been transported into the future in some weird way. The crowd weren’t as reverential as they were at the Bess Atwell gig I went to, but it was really inclusive and everyone seemed to be really happy to be there; it felt like a celebration more than anything else, despite some really dark and honest songs from Leith. The one that got me last time I saw them was “Tommy”, which was nostalgic for a male grandparent; admittedly it was just after Dad had passed away but it really spoke to me and so I was happy to go again to see them perform with TMO. 

Leith Ross has a great voice and some really great songs, and they deserve some wider appreciation, I think. I don’t know if I’ll go and see them perform live again, but I’m certainly open to hearing their songs on the radio and Spotify and I would recommend searching them out and listening to a track or two to see what you think. 

TTFN.

23-05-08 - Monday I - The Kings Coronation

Well, it happened and I didn't watch it. People now seem more worried about the arrests of the protesters than a 74-year old man in a robe. According to news sources even he was bored, and he was actually being crowned king! At least we get a bank holiday out of it, even if it does look like it's going to rain all day. Oh well.

TTFN.

23-03-04 - Saturday I - Dry Cleaning @ Chalk, 1st March 2023

Saw Dry Cleaning at Chalk. They were brilliant. It was a sold out gig, so it was packed, which upsets me. It's good for the band and the venue, but when it's so busy that it's difficult to move I get a bit worried.

I missed the first support band but caught DEHD, which didn't float my boat; a couple of songs were okay though, which was nice.

Then Dry Cleaning came on and it's weird; the way the singer almost throws away the lyrics dismissively hides or distracts from the degree to which the rest of the band are wigging out most of the time. I enjoyed the performance, I recognised a few songs, although I thought they didn't do justice to Strong Feelings, the 1st song of theirs that I heard. I also thought they cut short one or two songs, but I might have got that wrong. The energy dipped in the middle, I thought, but then they brought it back for the finale, which of course included Scratchcard Lanyard. All told, it was a fine night and worth a trip into Brighton.

TTFN. 

23-02-27 - Monday I - Maisie Adam @ Connaught Studios, 26th Feb 2023

I'd seen Maisie on HIGNFY before, and when I saw that she was coming to Worthing I said to TW that we should go see her. TW actually bought tickets as a birthday present for me, which was nice. That seems an awfully long time ago... 

So, the night rolled around eventually and we headed out. We stopped for a pre-show drink at the New Amsterdam, which was nice, and from there it was only a short walk to the studio. The crowd were a bit older than we were expecting, and I did worry for a bit that we had missed a memo, but when Maisie came on, she performed standard stand-up - I guess it's just that Worthing tends to an older crowd and older people have more disposable income. 

Anyway, she talked to a couple of people in the audience, which was fun and a little odd at times. Some bloke, when asked what he did, replied that he couldn't say because he'd signed the Official Secrets Act, and there were a few other peculiar exchanges - Maisie managed to find two people who both worked at Sainsbury, and they started having a separate conversation about which branch of Sainsbury they both worked in - Maisie was almost able to sit back and let us as the audience entertain ourselves.

Then we had an interval and then Maisie came back on to do the main part of her show, which was light-hearted and optimistic and really enjoyable. It wasn't always laugh-out-loud funny, but the laughs were never far away. She is a very engaging performer and I really enjoyed the evening and I was glad that we went. Highly recommended if you get the chance to see her. 

TTFN.

23-02-18 - Saturday I - Mostly Ill

This week I have mostly been ill. Only a cold, but where a few decades ago I would have struggled on, disclaiming that it was "only a flesh wound", these days it normally feels as though my brain has been removed and replaced by cotton wool, and the best thing to do is repair to bed for as long as I can put up with the fetid smell of my sweaty, ill body.

 

I took the opportunity to rewatch The Expanse, a series on Amazon Prime, which I did start watching previously, but I was mostly drunk at the time and so I thought it would benefit from a rewatch. Indeed, I was right, it's a very enjoyable show, and I have almost reached the end of the first series. 

I am on the mend now though, so things are getting back to normal. It's good, sometimes, to take an enforced rest; it does make me appreciate life on occasion. 

TTFN. 

23-01-02 - Monday - Christmas Dregs

Another quiet day. These days where we are still not back at work and have no "official" duties or tasks are quite confusing and mundane; I think I will need to have a plan for when I retire, because every day could soon begin to look like Christmas dregs. 

I went for my first run of 2023, and took back some slippers that were too small to TK Maxx. I swapped a top that was too big for me at H&M. TW rearranged the contents of the "summer house" because she likes to keep herself busy. She also cooked a lovely roast that we should have had on Sunday, but the girls had decided to bake a "deaf, mute and blind" cake, that is: one of them couldn't see, one of them couldn't hear, and one of them couldn't talk. It was quite funny to listen to the "deaf" one shouting, but they swore a lot. The cake was delicious. 

Anyway we had the roast and then went to bed rather early. Can't believe we're actually  back to work tomorrow. It'll be nice to have some structure to the day. 

TTFN. 

23-01-01 - Sunday - Happy New Year

Well, well, well. Here we are then, in the future - 2023. Happy New Year to us all. Today was a Sunday so we didn't have much on. It was nice waking up sober, as we had a very quiet and dry New Year's Eve. We actually struggled to stay up until midnight, my eyelids were certainly very heavy at times...

TE had arranged to exercise at the rugby club with a friend, so TW & I took the mutt for a muddy walk which she (the dog) enjoyed. Luckily the rain stayed away, although this festive period has been mostly grey, damp and mild. 

I did a small bit of tidying and TW took down the Christmas decorations. We had two trees this year, which was maybe extravagant, but it was the first Christmas in our new house and we did have 13 house guests, as TW's family all came to stay. It was a brilliant Christmas, I really like all of her family, and she enjoyed it too.

After dinner (a lovely butternut squash risotto) the girls watched Glee and TW & I did some financial planning, which has set us up for the year, I reckon. It's almost an annual tradition now. Another sober evening, and then off to bed. 

TTFN.

22-12-02 - Friday I - Birthday Boy

So, 51 I was yesterday. I've made it past the half-century. I had a lovely day, it was really downtempo, but it was just me. I had a haircut and a beard trim, which is a nice treat. I like the barber, it's a regular visit for me; normally the shop is empty so it is only me and him, but I am beginning to think I need a change up. 

Then I wandered in to town and had brunch at Malt Cafe. I really like it there. They cater to all types; carnivores, vegetarians, vegans and the undecided. I asked for a savoury snack, since I didn't think I was that hungry, and they recommended smashed avocado on sourdough toast. I took their advice and ordered that, and it was delicious. I was hungrier than I thought; I near enough wolfed it down!

I also bought a newspaper for the first time in an age and flicked through that, which was nice. It's all very well listening to the headlines on the radio, or catching a few minutes of the news at 10pm, or catching up on the latest controversy on Twitter, but there is something special about reading a newspaper and catching a story I hadn't been aware of. 

Of course, walking all that distance meant I easily hit my 10,000 steps for the day. So I felt quite justified in enjoying a slice of birthday cake in the evening... 

We also had our first fire in our new house, which didn't go quite to plan; the coal we've bought is a bit wet and so getting the fire going is a bit difficult, but with some wood to set it, it heated up the dining room quite nicely. 

And that was my day. May there be many more, full of small wins.

TTFN.