Ink on Bristol

The weekend is approaching.  For all the cool kids the weekend starts on Thursday.  It's a bit disappointing, but there is no Fat Disciples practice tonight.  A friend of mine and Rina's from work is leaving to go back to Oz, so we are going for Korean food in Dotori tonight.  It's a really cool restaurant in Finsbury Park that serves awesome sushi.  If you go, go for the sharing platter as your option - its like a degustation menu. For £25. Awesome.

Not too sure what this weekend will hold.  I have recently been doing a bit of drawing (as an RSVP to a friend's wedding).  I get the love of drawing in waves. I am in the middle of a big drawing-love patch.  I thik that this weekend I will try to draw a comic strip that shows what i did this week.  It may be cool or it may be dreadful, but whatever it is it means I will be hearing the scrape of pen and ink on bristol this weekend.

Ligne Claire and Record Breaking

I subscribe to Empire Magazine.  It is one of a number of magazines I subscribe to (along with Official Xbox magazine and Olive Magazine).  Empire is the one I most thoroughly read. Cover to cover, every month.  I've read it for years.  It is a good magazine, but not faultless. It often scores hyped movies with more stars than they deserve and it has its nose firmly shoved up the arse of Steven Spielberg.  This month's issue illustrates this affectation with the first of a 2-part feature on the great auteur.  Saying that, I am a fan of the man and did enjoy the piece.  The reason I even mention it is that there was a significant portion of this feature dedicated to Spielberg's upcoming movie - Tintin.

I like Tintin and always have.  And by that I mean the comic books. For some reason I could never gel with the cartoon (despite its complete faithfulness to the original texts).  I love the adventure, the humour and the mystery in the books, but most of all I love that he travels.  Tintin sees the world and through following him we get exposure to areas of the world we otherwise wouldn't.  Now, there are points at which the stories delve into outdated stereotypes and casual racism.  This is not good, and can be uncomfortable to read, but the sheer joy of seeing Petra, or Delhi or Chicago forgives a lot of the ills.

The style of art that Herge uses in his Tintin adventures is called Ligne Claire (or Clear Line).  The panels are detailed and busy, and leave no room for the sort of "filling-in-the-blanks" imagination that makes the best of Frank Miller's work so appealing.  There are limited artistic flourishes, rather simple lines, and blocks of shade or colour.  Ligne Claire can also be seen in the Blake and Mortimer books, or Moebius' run as artist on Silver Surfer.

I decided over the weekend to look into the style and see what else was available and came across Garan Ewing's Rainbow Orchid (http://www.garenewing.co.uk/rainboworchid/).  It seems to be following in the style of Tintin and is getting rather good reviews.  I have picked up the first volume on Amazon for less than £5 and will see what it has to offer at the end of the week.

Looking forward to that.
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This weekend, the first in October, was ridiculously hot.  29.9oC on Saturday made it the hottest October day in history.  People were sunbathing at the end of the Crescent and it felt like a summer's day (or at least like the sort of day you would hope for in summer).  Rina and I decided to have a BBQ for dinner.  What we neglected to realise was that just because it was as hot as a good July didn't mean the days were as long.  Not long after I started the coals we were in darkness - but a bit of ingenuity from Rina involving a torch and some candles meant we had a fantastic evening.
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Celtic lost to the Edinburgh Rangers.  I think Neil Lennon needs to look at his performance in role.  Not good.

Fish and Chips in Wembley

I work all over West London.  Currently I have 5 offices I am in charge of.  There is an office in Uxbridge, one in Wandsworth, another in Hammersmith, and Ealing Broadway office and one in Wembly Park, in the shadow of the stadium itself.

Whenever I take over a new office I make it a personal quest to locate the best fish and chips withing easy reach.  This can prove challenging (Hammersmith has one where the chips are amazing but the fish is breaded - I mean, seriously!?).  The best Fish and Chips I have had near an office I ran was in Stratford.  Hardly surprising, I think that a bad chippy in the East End would get burnt out!

Today is the first Friday after payday and that makes it "Fish and Chip Friday". I am in Wembley and am delighted to report that the lunchtime offering was superb.  There is a Chinese takeaway (stay with me) opposite Wembley Park station called Wok and Roe.  And it does brilliant Fish and Chips.  They use a very crispy batter and keep drizzling it over the chips (much like tempura) which results in a magnificent crunch.  And the chips are ace too.

I am now at my desk and my hunger is sated and I will likely doze my way through this afternoon.
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It was Fat Disciples rehearsal time last night.  No Holly (she got stuck at work), but a full turn out otherwise.  The knowledge that we will be moving towards a gig has really focused me.  Last night I played some songs that we have rehearsed hundreds of times the best I have ever done.  My announcement of that seemed to make The Bear bemused.  It was then off to the pub to see the end of Spurs humping Shamrock Rovers.   Celtic drew with Udinese, which was a good result, but did need the ref to give Udinese a soft penalty to get the draw.

The Bear and I will be visiting The Worlds End near Finsbury Park on Sunday to see about hiring their room for the FD's first gig....

Quincy, Chickens and Antiques

I had a great weekend.  I love weekends, and they are all, to some extent, good. But this weekend was great.

It started on Friday night with a mad rush from work to the flat to grab Rina and a bag with some clothes.  Then it was a dash on the tube to Marylebone and onto the train to Warwick.  We were off to visit Ads and Sara.

Ads was the first person I met in England when I moved here from Norn Iron. He was a skinny Jim Morrison-a-like in my halls of residence.  Sara was on my course at uni.  She was all stripy tights and metal.  They were clearly made for each other.  I introduced them and the rest is, well, it's ongoing - but they are married and have been for years and they are amongst my closest friends.

Our train to Warwick was delayed.  I didn't really notice because I was watching Indiana Jones (Crystal Skull - the shame).  Friday night was a chilled affair - pizza and chat.  It's really great to catch up with old friends. I love that you feel instantly comfortable in each other's company - and regardless of the time apart, you could have been chatting like this yesterday.  Except, of course, that you haven't been, and that is why you talk for so long.

Saturday made me feel a little middle-aged.  We all bundled into Ads' car and headed to Stow-On-the-Wold, a little town in the Cotswolds.  It's a pretty little place, a town that seems to be from a different age. Slower and rustic.  Like being in an episode of Last of the Summer Wine.  Interestingly, I am pretty sure we were the youngest people in the town.  We had a nice (but bloody expensive) lunch in a pub that claims to be the oldest inn in Britain.  That'll be another of those then.  If you ask me, it didn't look that old.  After lunch Sara and Rina went off to browse the antiques shops and Ads and I went to the pub.  After a couple of drinks Ads and I went into a charity shop where I bough a tambourine for the Disciples.  Let's see how that goes down on Thursday!

Saturday night was dinner in and a DVD.  Sara and Ads cooked a wicked roast chicken and we watched The Girl Who Played With Fire.  Good movie, but very long.  I think it suffered from the film-makers' need to be very faithful to the book.  I reckon you could have comfortably shaved off 30 minutes.

On Sunday the girls went off to an Antiques Fair at the Warwick Exhibition Centre.  Ads and I sat in the lounge pondering what to do. Should we walk the 5 miles to the pub we were planning to meet them for lunch, or do something else.  Well, suffice to say as soon as Quincy started on the telly the decision was made.  I used to watch Quincy LOADS at uni.  Watching this episode I remember why. It is absolutely Awesome!

Lunch was in The Stag in Offchurch.  This is a pub that has built a reputation for its food - which was very good.  I had smoked sea trout. The girls had roast pork.  All the food was ace....but there is something a little soulless about a gastro-pub. Or is that just me?

All that was left was the train home and a Tesco Chicken Pie for dinner.  Rina and I watched Aussie Masterchef and Rizzoli and Isles and then it was to bed - knowing that in a few short hours work beckoned.

Top weekend though!

First and Last

Sunday saw the first Glasgow Derby of the season (there is no "Old Firm", there is only Celtic and a bunch of animals) and the last BBQ of the season.

Having the last 9 months pretty much consisting of doing up our flat has had some significant bonuses.  Very near the top of this list is turning a scruffy yard into a garden.  Rina and I gambled and invited some people over on Sunday (The Bear, Fra, Jenny, Alistair and Jade).  We were mostly lucky with the weather - what little rain there was ended up being kept off us by the tree at the end of the garden (a small benefit in comparison to the amount of conkers and leaves it drops in to be cleaned up!).  I made BBQ sauce - from scratch. It was awesome.  I also got a wee bit drunk - but that's all fun.

As for the football game.  It was shit. 2-1 up at half-time followed by a second half of complete capitulation by Celtic.  That's all I'll say about that right now.

So the BBQ has been put away, the outdoor furniture washed and stowed and the garden has said its farewell to summer.  And a great summer it was.

Things to do in New York when you're stuck

So I have been toying with writing a blog for a while. Not anything that anyone will read, you understand, but rather somewhere to post any bits and bobs I find interesting. If you have found this by accident, please feel free to look around.

This first blog post finds me sitting on a bed in a hotel room in New York a full five days after we were due to fly out. New York is ace, but there comes a point where you just want to be on your way home. That makes me sound like an old git, but once you have done all the standard tourist things killing time in New York, much like killing time in London, is either dull or very expensive.

That aside, this trip has been a lot of fun. It started with an 8am trip up the Empire State Building, included soul food at Sylvia's in Harlem and Double Dipped sandwiches in Brennan and Carr's in Brooklyn.

On a side note - should you find yourself coming to NYC definitely get your hands on a copy of NFT (Not For Tourists) for NYC. It is definitely the best guidebook I have ever used. It is small and straight to the point. We have followed its advice in regards to places to eat and it has been 100% on the ball with its suggestions.

We have been staying in the Wingate by Wyndham on W 35th St. This is the second time I have visited NYC, and in terms of hotel this one has been really good. The room is huge and we got it cheap through booking.com. This is a massive bonus, considering we've been stuck here for the extra week. Anyway - there is no way to complain about staying for a few extra days in New York without sounding like a prick.

So, this blog, should it continue, will cover the trips I make with my other half, the progress the Fat Disciples make towards their first gig and any drawings I do. Let's see if that happens....

RS