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Why I left the countryside life

Quick update

James' birthday weekend in Suffolk was lovely. Perfect weather and lots of not-too-much to do. I have a couple of photos that I will put up soon...mainly of me mocking the countryside.

Yesterday we went to the New Forest for David's funeral. It was a very sad day, all in all, and we were pretty exhausted by the time we got home, after 11pm. Most odd moment probably goes to Mark Kermode introducing my unborn baby to someone but then forgetting to introduce me. Well, it's a first. And it was good to talk to him and Linda about work and films and all that. There was someone else from that Southampton film department as well, who was also really nice, and who sang 'Rhinestone Cowboy' (David's favourite!) at the end of the service.

Today, Alice and I are off to Greenbelt festival for the long weekend. I have packed nothing so had better stop rambling and get on with it...

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Sex with Ducks from Erika Lindhome on Vimeo.

Horrendous or Awesome?

I really can't decide.

Long and strange day

Having woken up on Saturday morning, hoping to do nothing much and just have a chilled Chiswick day, we got a phone call to say that James' father had died in the night. Though he had cancer, it was pretty unexpected and shocking to say the least. So we decided to head down to the New Forest where family were gathering in the local pub to try and assimilate the news. Turned out that for the most part, 'assimilate' meant 'drink enough to forget', and a few people were pretty trashed by the time we arrived. We stayed for a while, but then James decided that he would like to go to the hospital to see the body. His family were pretty anti the idea, having decided against it themselves, but it turned out to be a really good and helpful thing to do. It wasn't weird at all, and it was really useful, I think, to have that private space and moment in which to say goodbye. Funerals serve a purpose, no doubt, but there are so many different feelings and agendas flying around that I think it's often hard to get what you need, as an individual, out of it.

It was pretty late by the time we were done there and we thought we'd go and get some food. Southampton on a Saturday night turned out to be a very unattractive prospect indeed, so we decided to stop off at Winchester instead. After the first two places we tried were full, we finally found a table at Brasserie Blanc, where we had a really lovely supper and glass of wine (James) / champagne (me) to toast David, life and good food.

We got back to Chiswick just after midnight, exhausted, but actually kind of ok.

Today we've tried to have that calm day - we've been out to pick up coffee and pastries for breakfast, but other than that, we're just hanging out, watching some TV, eating leftovers and being quiet.

Lemonade

What people did when they got laid off from their ad agency in the recession. I really want to see this.

Back home

Tired. Too much work to do. Haven't unpacked. Tired.

Went to see 'Hamsters With Guns' (aka G-Force) with Alice - only because it was free, you understand. Alice seemed to have a little trouble with the plot, despite it being aimed at five year olds. We were going to have dinner afterwards, but I felt too tired, so I've just come home to crash.

zzzzzzzzz...

Edinburgh Day Five

Our last day brought the worst weather - rainy, windy and much colder. Definitely not as pleasant a walk to our first destination of the Pleasance Courtyard to see Domestic Goddi. It was a sketch show, and despite clearly referencing Nigella both in the title and the posters, there were no sketches giving her a gentle prod, which was a shame. I didn't actually enjoy the show very much - I thought the sketches were pretty mainstream and not very smart. Not that anyone would have fared well following Daniel Kitson on our schedule, but I was quite disappointed with this. There was a notable exception however - their parody of Top Gear, 'Hot Gear', in which women were test driving shoes was very funny indeed.

We walked over to The Tron in Hunter Square next to see (funny) singer-songwriter Gavin Osborn. He hadn't been on my original radar or our schedule, but then I discovered that he had been touring with Daniel Kitson (who plugged him in the show the night before), and spoke to Helen, who said that she and Claire went to see them both together a few times, and really enjoyed it. They even sent a CD through with Claire's favourite song of Gavin's after hearing that she had died. I didn't need any more reasons to go, and I'm so pleased we did. Gavin came up to talk to us before the show even started and was just lovely. I mentioned Claire and he remembered straightaway - and played the song (Charlie's 18th Birthday) as the last number in his set. The set was brilliant - very funny and sweet songs. We both absolutely loved it. Favourite songs for me were 'Jamie Cook', 'There's An Awful Lot Wrong With a Little Bump and Grind' and a song that wasn't on the record (which I bought) about being over 30. I will definitely go and see him next time he plays in London.

After his show, I met up with Meredith and we went for a beer and a catch up, which was really good. It's funny how little you can get to see someone when there are shows involved! Hopefully they might make a return visit to London in October and have a little more hanging out time then.

Eventually it was time for our final show - and Rachael and Seth's final show. Seth's voice managed to hold out long enough to make it to the end, and he threw everything he had into his last set. He did the amazing cover of 'Man In The Mirror' again (which I vastly prefer to the original), as well as his own stuff. I will really miss hearing 'Walk Katy Home' and 'No Place To Land', which I thought were fantastic but are new, and not on any of his records. He played Naia for me again, as he had done every night, and I don't think I would get sick of it if I was to hear it every night for a month. I still think the first line, 'I've been waiting for Naia by the stereo, to have the best song on when she arrives' is one of the best opening lines I've ever heard in a song. And Meredith told me he wrote it when he was only 16! Amazing...

Rachael sadly did NOT take a leaf out of Seth's book, request-wise, and didn't play the song I asked for ('Slow Down') in any of the five shows. You'd think she wasn't just a human jukebox existing for my entertainment or something :) Her set was good though - she mixed up the order a bit more, and threw 'Bravedancing' in for good measure. I also really enjoyed her playing '93 Maidens' on this tour. It worked really well with the band she had with her. And the cover of 'Fame' really is brilliant - I am very glad she'll be recording it - to coincide with the film's release. She also has a song in the film! albeit a bastardised version of 'Too Many Women' - but I can't wait to go and see it and see her name in the credits at the end.

We said our goodbyes and walked back the apartment, feeling pretty impressed with ourselves for having managed 15 shows in 5 days (and at least one of us actually SAW all 15), and settled in for our last night of sleep (mother willingly relegated to sofa, having accepted Darth Vader status).

Packed up this morning and now on the bumpiest train ever back to London. Thus endeth my Edinburgh review, but it will be no surprise to anyone who has read the whole thing that my festival picks were:

Laura Solon: Rabbit Faced Story Soup

Daniel Kitson: We Are Gathered Here

Mark Thomas: Manifesto

Gavin Osborn: Meeting Your Heroes

and, of course:

Sequins and Shpiel: An Evening With New York's Rachael Sage (special guest: Seth Glier)

Normal service (i.e. infrequent updating and random links) to be resumed tomorrow. Or whenever :)

Edinburgh Day Four

Sorry for the tardiness... too much fun, too little time. Now I'm on the train on the way back, I can catch up properly. So, day 4:

We had nothing scheduled until Rachael and Seth at 8pm (and two shows afterwards) so tried to have a quiet morning. Slept in different rooms, thank God, so I did actually get some sleep. Plus, my mother was more than happy to sleep in the living room as there was a giant spider in the bedroom. Took me ages to get that spider into the right place :)

We did a bit of shopping and wandering before heading back to the apartment to rest and prepare for our late night. One of us was prepared and didn't sleep through anything...the other, not so much. We went to the Dazzle exhibition at the Traverse Theatre and had lunch there as well. I liked it, but the baby wasn't sure. Very busy day for the baby all round, as she barely seemed to stop kicking or spinning around, or whatever it is she does in there. I imagine a hamster wheel...

Rachael and Seth were excellent again. Baby cemented her angsty preferences by kicking especially at 'The Trouble With People' and 'Naia' for Seth, and 'What If' and 'Hit Song' for Rachael. We couldn't hang around afterwards, as we had to head quickly to Cowgate for Geraldine Quinn at the Underbelly. She's an Aussie performer who did a sort of comedy rock opera called 'Hex and the City'. But it didn't hang together too well. She didn't carry the bits in between the songs confidently, and the basic premise (that she would be burned as a witch for having ginger hair) didn't really work. Unfortunate, as there were some funny lines in the song, and I felt that with a bit more work, the show could have been decent. Ah well...

From there, we walked to the Stand to see Daniel Kitson's midnight show, which my mother managed to sleep through a large portion of. Such a shame, as it was probably my favourite show of the festival. It was definitely a little rough around the edges, but as he said in jest himself - even a half-assed Daniel Kitson is way better than pretty much anyone else at full power. The show was about death, among other things, and managed to be amazingly touching with its specificity. There aren't many comedy shows that can touch me emotionally in the same way that a song or a book can, but this show did just that. And of course, he's extremely funny. I was gutted afterwards that I hadn't booked for his play as well - which was, of course, sold out by then.

Stumbled home and fell into bed. Allowed my mother back into the bedroom on the grounds of sympathy and assertions that she was feeling clearer of head. Mistake, as I woke up several times, convinced Darth Vader was in the room...

Edinburgh Day Three

Another day dawns bright and fair - wait, that's not right, start again. Good morning, it is pissing it down here in Edinburgh, and it looks as though the sky will be set to 'gloomy' all day. Annoyingly, I scheduled less for our last couple of days as I figured we'd wander around a bit. Bah. Still, we can always turn up and get tickets for stuff, should the mood strike, I'm sure.

So, I decided to wander into town myself yesterday, as I had heard there was an Orla Kiely sample sale on, and I am a fan of the sample sale. I worked out what bus to get and where to get off, so far so good. Boarded the bus and asked for a £3 day pass, handing over my fiver. 'You need the correct change' remarked the bus driver, somewhat disinterestedly. 'You don't have any change?' I asked. 'Correct change only', he repeated, automaton style. 'So I can't get on the bus, even though I have both the desire to travel, and the funds with which to make that dream a reality?', I should have said, but didn't. 'You can get change at that garage across the road', said a helpful woman behind me. 'Of course, the bus will be gone by the time you get back', she added less helpfully. So I trudged off the bus, muttering all sorts of 'Scottish bus driver throws pregnant woman off bus' tabloid headlines to myself, and went across the road to the garage. Just at that moment, a giant black cloud appeared from nowhere and deposited a heavy shower on my head. I like to think the bus driver smiled as he saw this through his rearview mirror... Oh well, I thought as I collected my change, at least there will be another bus in 15 minutes. But of course I had forgotten it was a Sunday: day of infrequent buses and sad, sad Deborahs. So all in all, I waited at the bus stop for 40 minutes - 10 for the first bus, and 30 for the second. When I got onto the second, a woman behind me tried to pay for her day pass with a five pound note. AHA! I thought with an internal smile, allowing the part of myself that was secretly pleased every time someone else got into trouble at school (because at least it wasn't me), to emerge temporarily - don't you know you have to have the CORRECT CHANGE, Madam? Now you will have to wait half an hour in the rain too! But - what is this? People on the bus start offering to change her five pound note for her. She then takes a seat next to me, not realising that I am APOPLECTIC WITH RAGE and tempted to make her eat the rest of her change (two pounds, maths fans). Breathe...breathe...breathe...

Like the good (ex-Heat-reading) consumer I am, I knew that my Sunday could only be salvaged with some successful shopping. No pressure, Orla... Luckily, the sample sale did not disappoint and I got an awesome coat (which even in a size 10 did up over the bump...for now) for £60, a fraction of the retail price. Hurrah! Also picked up a cute purse and a make up bag. Rage abated, mood much improved for the rest of the day. Just call me Bridget Jones. No, really, really don't.

Came back to the apartment and made some salad for lunch, and then managed to nap for an hour and a half. Felt a little woozled afterwards but don't think I would have managed the rest of the evening without it.

We headed off to the Stand on York Street to see Mark Thomas and his 'Manifesto' show. He was excellent, and I highly recommend the show to anyone (well, not to Tories - but really, how many Tory readers do I have?!). He's doing some shows at the Tricycle in Sept and Oct, for all you London folks. I won't spoil the show for you, but I will tell you that both mine and my mother's official policy suggestions made it into his 'yes' pile. And only one of them was 'Edinburgh buses should carry change' (this got a particularly large cheer from the crowd... so I guess I was not alone) - and it wasn't even my suggestion! Mine was a rather more in-depth 'reduce your patriarchal footprint policy', which Mark liked and had some cool things to say. He also made an effort to talk to me before the show when we were waiting to go in, rather than hiding out backstage, which I think says a lot. Also, he's really nice :)

Bit of a rush to get from there to Rachael's show, and no time to eat. We tried to get food at the venue, but they'd stopped serving two minutes earlier BECAUSE IT'S SUNDAY. You begin to see why people have a problem with God...

Rachael and Seth both did great shows. Seth was still buzzing from having met David Byrne the night before, and Rachael is definitely happier with a bigger audience. I wish she'd mix up the setlist just a little bit more, though I know it's harder with the band. 'Sistersong' into 'Hit Song' was cool the first night, but after three times, I'm a little over it, especially as there are other songs I really want to hear (even though I love 'Sistersong' especially with Seth on glockenspiel). 'What If' was really good again though, and makes the baby kick, which Meredith thinks means that the baby is already angsty. Bring on the teenage years! Rachael promised to play 'Slow Down' at some point... only two shows left... maybe a gentle reminder tonight :)

We then headed over to Cowgate for our last show, Is The Daily Mail Dead Yet. Sadly, the show did not live up to its title. It was just one guy doing stand up, and although he had his moments, it was just not good enough. I also really hate comedians who think they're being really progressive and liberal by slagging off, say, the Daily Mail because of its racism or class hatred, but then see no inconsistency in their own regressive sexism. I walked out at the point of him suggesting we incentivise schoolboys to work harder by giving them prostitutes. My mother followed me, but didn't know why I'd walked out, as she was asleep. Says it all really.

Cab home... separate rooms... and sleep........

Edinburgh Day Two

I am very tired as I write this. Ah, you nod sagely, another late night at the fringe, or perhaps some after-hours partying? No. My mother kept me awake all night snoring like a JET ENGINE. Fuck me, the woman is loud. It happened the night before as well, but when I yelled at her or smacked her arm, she stopped for a while. Last night, nothing worked. Every time she stopped for ten minutes, I couldn't sleep because I was waiting for it to start again. As it inevitably did. Now I know we all have fantasies about killing our parents... but people - I had the pillow IN MY HAND. I dragged my pillows and duvet to the living room, shut the door and attempted to get some sleep on the sofa, that even for a 5'3" shortarse like me, was too short. She's acting all affronted this morning because I now HATE HER WITH EVERY FIBRE OF MY BEING... but dear God, I can't do another three nights like that. Anyway, back to the festival...

We wandered round and did a bit of shopping yesterday morning and early afternoon. I found a sweet shop to take care of all my sugary needs. My bag now holds essentials such as pear drops, rhubarb and custards, aniseed balls and sherbert lemons. Also got a couple of baby things. Like a small stripy hat with ears. What do you mean, unessential item?

First entertainment up was Laura Solon's 'Rabbit Faced Story Soup' at the Assembly Rooms. She won the Perrier in 2005 and this was her first visit since then. I have to say she was truly incredible. She told a story, and acted out all the characters from it - so a sketch show, but with a thread linking everything. She had some awesome lines and was very quick and smart. I would see the show again in a second, so I hope it comes to London.

We went to get some Thai food, which was very good, and well timed, as a heavy shower started just as we were about to go in. After that we headed off to Rachael and Seth on Market Street. Far more people in the audience tonight, and Rachael fed off that energy much better and created a whole load of her own. Highlights for me were 'What If' (so much better live than on the record) from Rachael's set, and 'Got To Get Away From Here' from Seth's. Of course, he was made to cartwheel again during Rachael's show. Twice.

We then headed back to the Assembly Rooms to catch Rich Hall, who was in a much bigger venue. He was pretty good - he mainly interacted with the audience and improvised, but he had some other bits in there as well. I hadn't realised just how Bill Hicks he is in delivery style. Which made me wish I was seeing Bill Hicks - but that wasn't Rich Hall's fault. Verdict: good but not as fantastic as Laura Solon. She's going to be the one to beat, I think.

Walked back to the apartment, and had a hot bath and got into bed. Little did I know that that was where the crappy portion of the day would begin :)

More tomorrow!

Edinburgh Day One

First I must apologise for being stupid enough to have left my camera lead behind, so I will have to update photos when I get back - unless I start taking them on my iphone instead.

Anyway... the train journey yesterday was fine, although I expected a little more from my first-class experience...like maybe only about six people in the carriage. But no, it was fairly rammed, and I had to share my table with a couple of old people who refused to stop talking for the entire journey. I wouldn't have minded if they were interesting, but it was the worst sort of inanity, sadly. I moved to a solo seat to get away from it and plug my laptop in - until my mother arrived at Darlington, and we had to join them. She of course, broke the three hour silence I had been carefully maintaining by ENGAGING WITH THEM (why why WHY would you do this?!) so then naturally they thought it was open season for the rest of the journey... oh your first grandchild? how exciting. we have four million of our own. the nice thing is you can give them back. Etc etc.

Some beautiful coastline eased the pain between Darlington and Edinburgh Waverley, but all in all, I was pleased to arrive and take a cab to our apartment, in Canonmills. Apartment is nice - bedroom with two single beds, big-ish living room/dining room and little kitchen and bathroom. Went out to get some provisions from Tescos and then I made us a big bacon, avocado and feta salad for lunch with some nice toasted seeds and baby vine tomatoes. My mother's shopping on the other hand, consisted of ridiculous items such as 'bananitos'. No, I never heard of them either. Look it up. Ludicrous.

Town is about a 15 minute walk away, past some cool looking shops and cafes, to be checked out at some point. Bt by then we were keen to get to our first venue - Underbelly in Cowgate, so we pressed on. I say 'pressed on' but let's just say it wasn't the heavily pregnant chick bringing up the rear...

So - first show - Gerry Howell. The Guardian had promised "a young Eddie Izzard" and they were sort of right. Right in terms of presentation, randomness, and doing bits of the show in French. Not right in terms of it being very funny though, unfortunately. It had its moments - the logistics of sending a cat flap to Hawaii, and the passive-aggressive snake queue in the Post Office (don't ask on either count) made me chuckle, but not the most auspicious start to the festival, all in all. Impressive delivery though, I have to say.

Found an old pub near to our next destination and decided to get the whole haggis, neeps and tatties situation out of the way early on. I thought it was nice, but my mother was less impressed. Still, any time I eat meat and DON'T throw up is a bonus for me, so I can see how we might not be starting with the same parameters...

Next we made our way to City Edinburgh, located in Sportsters Bar and Grill (yes, the name tells you everything you need to know), on Market Street. Immediately ran into the wonderful and unflappable Meredith (two qualities invaluable to a tour manager I suspect, given that artists are, by nature eminently flappable). Anyway, it was fab to see her again after so long - not since the amazing Southern food in NYC when we were on honeymoon - and to finally be at the show. Audience was sadly tiny - can't have been more than about 7 of us for the first night - it's my biggest point of confusion at Rachael's shows, the ratio of talent to recognition. I really hope there are more on the other nights.

Seth Glier opened the show and was fabulous. I had requested 'Naia' (on Facebook) before leaving London, and I loved it live even more than on the album. He followed it up with a storming cover of MJ's 'Man In The Mirror' (videos not from the show but still awesome), and my second-favourite from his album, 'Someone Else To Crown'. Really great set, and my mother was also extremely impressed. It's Seth's first time out of North America, and he's only 20, so there's an enthusiasm and excitement about him that you can tell is infusing the whole crew. Plus he is adorable and you can't help but immediately warm to him.

Rachael's 'Sequins and Shpiel' set was also impressive - as always. I had made my mother a Rachael mix as homework for before we left, and her top three songs from it were: 'Slow Down' (see, it's a genetic favourite!!), 'My Word' and 'Lonely Streets'. Rachael played 'Lonely Streets' tonight, so hopefully there's plenty of time for the others to make an appearance. The new songs were good too. I'm not sure of titles: one I'm going to guess is called 'Rich Girl', and the other - with lots of sequins and glitter lyrics - I'm not sure. I was happy to hear 'Sistersong' and so was the baby, if the kicking was anything to go by (though I suppose that can go one of two ways)

After the show, we headed back to Cowgate to see Abi Roberts at the Underbelly. We were both pretty tired by that point, but Abi kept us awake with her impressions of a whole range of singers from Aretha Franklin to Susan Boyle. She was really pretty good, and she must have been delighted that there was a hen party in attendance, as they were only too happy to join in and make the show even more rambunctious.

It was nearly midnight when it finished, and we weren't able to get a cab or find a bus anywhere, so we had to walk back to the apartment, which took about 45 minutes. Sleep came quickly, I can assure you :)

11am now, which means I've had a pretty relaxing morning, and am just about ready to think about doing it all over again. More tomorrow!

it's as well to remember that from time to time, life can be sweet

I will update on Edinburgh tomorrow but first, I had to share this amazing blog entry from someone who maintained a penpal friendship with John Hughes when she was a teenager. One of those life-affirming stories that leaves you feeling good about the world...

Sex makes you fat

Seriously! And my Edinburgh blog will start tomorrow so tune in for updates on what I'm doing seeing and eating (hint: the answer to the latter will be 'strawberry laces')