Holiday! First week flies by with London and concerts

A very busy first week...

Sunday 17th June

Train down to London. First class but via Ely. Nice standard Travelodge in Southwark. The Libertines at the Southbank. A fantastic gig, possibly my favourite over the past few years.

Monday 18th

A mooch are Liberty's. Got nothing, just out of the taste for expensive clothes. Did get a couple of white shirts at 'UniGlow' or something like that. We went to the London Library; can't see much without a membership, so will have to sort that. Had dinner at some market near the hotel.

Tuesday 19th

A mooch around the British Museum. Too busy with thousands of kids and tourists. We didn't stay long. Manic Treat Preachers at the Southbank. A very good gig too, but so loud. We forgot our ear defenders!

Wednesday 20th - train home

Thursday - erm, can't remember

Friday 22nd

Just went into town for a walkabout. Eleanor came as well due to bicycle and phone problems. Then to the Norwich Arts Centre to see Starcrawler and Gladboy. A really good evening, with both E&N coming as well.

Yoko Tawada - The Last Children of Tokyo

Yōko Tawada (多和田葉子 Tawada Yōko, born March 23, 1960) is a Japanese writer currently living in Berlin, Germany. She writes in both Japanese and German, making her an exophonicwriter.^[1] Tawada has won numerous Japanese and German literary awards, including the Akutagawa Prize, the Tanizaki Prize, the Noma Literary Prize, the Izumi Kyōka Prize for Literature, the Gunzo Prize for New Writers, the Goethe Medal, and the Kleist Prize.

A short book describing the life of a sickly child growing up in a dystopian Tokyo. It seems that the elderly cannot die, and the children are all born sickly, barely able to walk.

A disturbing read and well worth a few hours

Zadie Smith - White Teeth

Well a rambling story of two multi-cultural families living in London, over an extended timeline.

Well it was interesting. She's a clever writer. But... hum.

Parliament and Prime MInister's Questions

A full on busy week!

Monday down to Addenbrookes to see their EPR system. A very expensive bit of kit that I doubt can be afforded by work.

Tuesday afternoon left early from work (so busy!) to get the train down to London with Tim. Had to go via Ely due to track problems. Nice hotel and nice evening in a pub.

Walk to Parliament, through security, and off on a tour of the place. Went through Commons and Lords, and the Queen's 'robing room, plus gallery and chapel etc. Then into Public gallery of the Commons. Listened to the tail end of wingey Welsh moans, and then PMQs. Jezza boring a f**k and Maybe dull too. SNP walkout was hilarious. Skinner, the Beast of Bolsover, was great fun. Then tea with Norman Lamb and a nice chat with him. Then out via a tunnel into Portcullis House and then home.

Last couple of days at work were full on. Busy trying to clear down work ready for two weeks of hols!!!

Alison Bechdel - Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

Only my second adult comic read (after Watchmen). An interesting and thought-provoking read. Very human. Good to have a small insight into what interests Eleanor.

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic is a 2006 graphic memoir by the American cartoonist Alison Bechdel, author of the comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For. It chronicles the author's childhood and youth in rural Pennsylvania, United States, focusing on her complex relationship with her father. The book addresses themes of sexual orientation, gender roles, suicide, emotional abuse, dysfunctional family life, and the role of literature in understanding oneself and one's family. Writing and illustrating Fun Home took seven years, in part because of Bechdel's laborious artistic process, which includes photographing herself in poses for each human figure.

PIL - Public Image Limited

Last night we went to see PIL again. We saw them last year as well. A very nice evening with the whole audience (and John Lydon) all getting older.

Simon & Rachel, Kate & Clive, were also there. So a nice social as well.

Visit to parents

We went down to see my parents last weekend. This to see how Dad got on at the hospital; has his cancer gone or is he still sick. Well very good news indeed. The Docs couldn't find any trace of the cancer. Not a 100% complete all clear, but very close. Just awaiting the results of the biopsy.

So all very happy.

We also took a trip down Albert Road in Portsmouth. Good fun, with antiques, records, and coffee shops. Took mum. We had a very nice day.

Daniel Keyes - Flowers for Algernon

Hmm, a modern take on Frankenstein. A retarded man is transformed into having high intelligence, the emotional struggles that ensue, and then a return to the start.

An excellent concept that starts so well, but by the end it got tedious and I skim read the final 20%. A real shame; it was originally a short story, and this is how it should have stayed.

Haruki Murakami - Kafka on the Shore

This was a wonderful fantastical surreal beautiful book. I utterly and completely loved it.

two intertwined stories that gradually come together.

Just read it