Goth squad

A very pleasant Sunday.

Had a swim then lunch in the Oak with Mr Adams (he was in the Fifth Element, you know), followed by a stroll across the Milennium bridge and around St Paul's where we saw these military types strutting their stuff.

Then got the bus to Brixton with Shelly for Petra and Richie's farewell South London Club bash at the Windmill. Sadly missed the mighty Bib but saw the excellent Shimmy Rivers and and Canal, the fabulous Jesus Licks and the really rather startling goff project of James III and the Courtesan with Michael Garrad. The Crops had been invited to play too. Would have been good but alas TV Magic is poncing about in New York. Felt a bit fragile this morning afer perhaps one Newcastle Brown too many, but managed to swim off the hangover. Hard work, but worth it if you can muster up the energy.

Resonancy Boys

This is the Experimental Instrument Orchestra from Kansas, Missouri playing on the show today. What looks like a guitar is actually a 'fake banjo' and sounds marvellous. Mark the singer also performs on a slide guitar made from a frying pan, which was truly a joy to behold.

Graduation Day

Here's Dr Gauti in his flashy University of Minnesota outfit, getting ready to see his students get their awards. Greenwich may not be top of the university league tables, but they do put on a nice ceremony. Claire Tomalin and Kelly Holmes got honorary degrees. We got a free lunch on posh Greenwich plates with nice emblems.

Grin and Bear It

Climate change, eh? We seem to be stuck in some weird inter-season between summer and autumn. The trees don't know whether to shed their leaves, small woodland creatures are reproducing instead of hiberanting and bears have abandoned foraging for nuts and berries and are instead taking up the violin to entertain the middle classes gathered to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Borough market.

Had a couple of pints at the Parquet Mortar with David before he succumbed to his inner Jamie Oliver and forked out £5 for some Sri Lankan tuna.

Blood sugar still behaving itself, partly due to the current scarcity of beer drinking opportunities of the above type. Work is the curse of the drinking classes, there's no doubt about that.

Men and Motocross

Spent a very enjoyable day at Canada Heights in Kent, watching my brother Matty Moto-X racing in glorious autumn sunshine. The meeting marked the end of his year as regional NGR champion, but he didn't seem too bothered about not hanging on to the title. I think he was happy to just get out there and ride. He had three good races, leading from the beginning in a couple before coming in a very respectable overall third. He's number 86 in the pictures above-the annoying delay of digital cameras meant that the more spectacular shots I got were of random other riders. A good day though; good to see the folks there, and an effective andidote to the stress of the previous week.

Fire Works

Fireworks over the Thames last night. Not sure what the occasion was. 49 years since the launch of Sputnik, perhaps?

Patisserie Lila

Go to Patisserie Lila on Bedale St SE1, order a coffee and you will be told that you cannot have just a coffee, you have to order something to eat too. They only sell cakes so we took our custom elsewhere but I was tempted to see what their response would have been if I'd told them I was diabetic and thus discriminated against by this ridiculous policy. I couldn't be arsed to argue, but next time I'm bored I might go down there and threaten to take them to the European Court of Human Rights. Just for a laugh.