Edinburgh Festival 2007

Edinburgh Festival 2007
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Apologies that this is more like a list than a blog! It's my annual pilgrimage to Edinburgh.

Thursday 9 August: travel up to Edinburgh on GNER up the east coast. Spotted 6225 Duchess of Hamilton (or was it 6233 Duchess of Sutherland visiting? a tea trolly got in the way) outside York Railway Museum, possible the most beautiful loco ever built. Child playing with Thomas the Tank Engine toys doesn't even look up. Customary pint of 80/- at the Cally Bar at Haymarket, followed by walk to Sam's, then walk to Pleasance courtyard for a few more pints.

Friday 10 Aug: Hangover, vow to 'never again'. Visit Warhol exhibition at the Mound. Sam is a 'friend' so we get to the front of the queue and free entry. Play with the silver balloons (I take an illegal photo!), liked the children's room with the robot paintings. Walk to Fruitmarket to see the Alex Hartley exhibition (he who climbs buildings) and have a sit down. Up to Halfway House on Fleshmarket Close for a pint. Took in a couple of galleries on Fopp Street, notably John Stezaker's montages at Stills and a comic book thing I couldn't see the point of at Collective. Free comedy at Canon's Gate - inc. the whole of Peter Buckley Hill's one-man show. Sam and his friend Kenny sneaked out. Off to Udderbelly for more pints - spotted Nicholas Parsons in the queue.

Saturday 11 Aug: Art Bus to the Modern Art Museum to see the Richard Long exhibition - lots of mud, mud, glorious mud! Shame they didn't sell souvenir pots of ... mud! Met Paul at Guildford Arms then bus to pub near Queen's Hall, thence to see the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. They did a great 1.5 hour set, but didn't do 'Smells like Teen Spirit'. I had an early night (watched miserable Mike Leigh film 'All or Nohing' on TV with a wee dram).

Sunday 12 August: Festival Sunday on the Meadows, just behind Sam's flat. Saw (heard) some comedy: Paul Sinha, Josie Long and Al Pitcher, all very funny. I'd just about pushed my way to the front and a view, when an American woman with guitar came on and cleared the tent. Sat outside the Speigeltent in the rain for a bit then went for a meal at Kushies and then to the Bow Bar and met Nick. Up to the Underbelly (I asked Sam what this building was used for when the festival wasn't on - he said nothing, it was too dangerous!). In the Belly Dancer we saw Fisher King Leven, of which Jackie Leven was the star. Didn't really work - they were all good, but each sat and waited for his turn.

Monday 13 Aug: day trip to Newcastle. I've been through Newcastle on the train for the past 11 years and always wondered what it looked like so got up at the crack of dawn for a day oot on the toon. Got metro to Monument and walked to the Laing Gallery. I love Victorian art and this is a gem. It has a lovely room of 1930s paintings too, all beautifully captioned. Star is Holman-Hunt's 'Pot of Basil' but there is a whole wall of John Martins and a Burne-Jones. I was delighted by an exhibition of watercolours by the Richardsons, and the Thomas Bewick collection of wood engravings. Had lunch with old friend Yvette and she told us aboot the electric bus. My tip: forget about the metro, etc - get a £1.50 day saver and use the electric bus (Quaylink) - it goes everywhere you want to go (except Seven Stories and the Biscuit Factory). So I got one across the swing bridge and into Gateshead to the Baltic, went up in the lift and walked down (Beryl Cook show was on, plus Dazed & Confused vs. Warhol, with silver balloons you could photograph, but weren't allowed to touch!), across the Millennium eyelash bridge for a lovely pint of Gladiator at the Crown Posada - no idea where that name comes from! Back on the bus to the Sage for a coffee then back to the station via the Bigg Market (didn't spot the Fat Slags tho). Train was running 40 minutes late so thought I might miss Stewart Lee (the 41st best stand-up ever) at the Udderbelly. Got cab and they kindly let me in! He was great and did a very brave Josie Long silent surreal ending! Spotted him the next day with a bag of chips in his hand but forgot to shout 'Weightwatchers' at him!

Tuesday 14 Aug: bus to Talbot Rice Gallery (outside which I spotted the above Stewart Lee!) to see David Batchelor's show Unplugged, basically totem poles of pound-shop objects ordered by colour. There were some geodesic spheres made from sunglasses that Nick Sayers would have liked, but the drawings were disappointing. Windows have mysteriously been revealed in one wall! Walked down to the City Arts Centre and got a concessionary admission with my bus pass to see the huge 'Hand Heart and Soul' arts and crafts exhibition. Some beautiful objects and paintings, I particularly liked Basil Spence's perspective of a church complete with comical figure mowing the lawn. Met Nick at the Stand for our annual trip to Simon Munnery's AGM, always good value. After a one-hour show we were led down to Arthur Smith's art gallery for another hour and half of chess-pool, motions and various pieces of Sherlock Holmes and Germaine Greer. Lost my brolly while going to loo so got taxi to Pleasance and Andrew Lawrence's show 'Socal leprosy for beginners and improvers'. I'd never seen him before. He was young and edgy, both nervous and offensive in a very funny fast way. Nick and Sam both got picked on (we were on the front row) but he left me alone!

Wednesday 15 Aug: home. Dumpling business lunch with Sam and Rob at Chop Chop then on the 12.58 from Haymarket to Euston, changing at Crewe! It was a ridiculously cheap ticket and I've always wanted to change at Crewe so went for it. Never again. The journey was along the west coast was pretty at first, through mountains and the lake district, but tedium soon set in and on the penultimate leg on Thameslink I was squashed in by a bloke with laptop! It took 9.25 hours to get home - not recommended! Thanks to Toni my courgette survived my absence and there weren't too many phone messages or emails either. Now I need a rest!

Uke can't be serious

Uke can't be serious: the 'bonsai' guitar is back: yes indeed!

Mia Riddle at the Albert

Mia Riddle at the Albert
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Went to see Mia Riddle and her band last night at the Albert, the first time I'd been there since the smoking ban - a great gig marred slightly by a dodgy pint of Harvey's (the first ever)! There was a small barrel on the bar downstairs and the first pint tasted like nectar. The next pint from upstairs, dredged from the bottom of the barrel, was just not up to scratch and I left half of it! First on was a guitar duo called Tandy Hard - great voice, but the miserablist songs made Leonard Cohen sound like George Formby. We needed cheering up and Pog never fail to deliver, tho most of the songs were about nightmare relationships! Kerry was off in Mongolia looking after orphan babies, so bass stand-in was Simon. After a rousing 'In Heaven' we were taken there again by Mia's angelic voice. She was with full band, including a dishy banjo player, Laurel Wells, who must be a bit of a model/fashion designer judging from her MySpace site. Had to rush home for a glass of Soberano to wash away the bad Harvey's taste... Took some truly atrocious photos - just can't get the settings right for low-lighting.

Micro-frog

micro-frog2
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

My garden is a jungle at the moment, what with all the rain, but I'm reluctant to do anything about it, cos my pond has spawned millions of micro-frogs! I have to be careful stepping out of the back door as they like to congregate there! This one would have fitted on my little finger nail, had I been able to catch it! Boy, can they jump!

Pog at The Sanctuary

Pog at The Sanctuary
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

I'm sure the 'Cella' at The Sanctuary in Hove has shrunk - or rather the bar has expanded. Only Continental-style lagers I'm afraid, but I'm there for the launch of Pog's 59th album 'Finding hope in unlikely places'. It's their best so far, with great tracks they've been playing live for a while, such as 'Because it's football' (a brave critique on the new-build Seagulls' stadium plannned for a green field on the edge of the South Downs), 'In Heaven' (the la la song), 'London's Grand Parade' and 'Phone in well'. The setlist was the album, straight through, tho Deacon, Wob, Paul and Kerry didn't have time to do the penultimate track. The lighting wasn't conducive to good photos (Kerry was in shadow most of the set) - well, that's my excuse anyway! And the set was punctuated by power cuts activated by the noise limiter! Supports were Spalien Acecraft (who missed a rhyming opportunity with 'cemetery' in their song about the Vogue Gyratory), and the multi-media minidisc-powered Project Adorno doing a psychogeographic essay on London (the Central line used to be longer when it went to Ongar). Top night out, and only a fiver (including a free CD!) Catch Pog at their next gig on Wednesday at the Albert with Mia Riddle.

sfashley: Public Engagement of Science

sfashley: Public Engagement of Science; my radioactive vases blogged by the bloke who tested them!

Courage at St Matthew's

Courage at St Matthew's
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Well, the Worthing Festival Open Houses are closed for another year! Well done Dan and the RAG Artists and Makers. Bought a cute glove animal from Erica Smith and a Penguin Pool book from badge queen Anwen Williams at the St Matthew's Courage show then headed to Thompson Towers to invigilate. I sold another Shoreham Airport print! Woo Yay! Then I hot footed it to Lesley Buckingham's in Patcham for her birthday and lots of CAKE! (But I was yearning for savoury and apparently missed a Terre a terre spread!) Still, the cake was gorgeous, especially the Madeira Cake, made by Lesley's mother. Sunday, I did my bit for charity, marshalling on the Capital to Coast bike ride, manning the rest stop at the top of Devils's Dyke. Took my folding Giant Halfway on its maiden voyage downhill all the way home!

Save The Old Toll Bridge

Yes folks, it's my annual token Charity bike ride on 22 July! It's not in aid of cancer, nor will it save any Third-World children - it's for an old wooden bridge in Shoreham by Sea! See a description here. And I'm only doing a pathetic 10 miles! Please don't offer more than 50p, but if I do get a few sponsors, I won't feel so foolish handing my form in!

Get John Shuttleworth chartbound!

John Shuttleworth is currently number 96 in the Physical Top 100, but no. 29 in the Indie Charts! This blog - Hotmilkydrink: Get my hero chartbound! -says it all!

Tour de France Prologue start times

www.cyclingnews.com presents the 94th Tour de France: the starting order for the Prologue

Worthing Open Houses

worthing07_1
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

After a blissful night's rest at Hingley Heights (Malcolm from The Office lives downstairs!), and a hearty breakfast of crumpets, Guinness Marmite and Belgian apricot jam, we set off in Amanda's air-conditioned motor car to the coast and Worthing for the Artists and Makers Festival. Failing to grab a copy of the East End Advertiser's advertised Special on Street Sex, we proceeded towards the Blackwall Tunnel and the M25. All was going swimmingly until the Brighton turn-off, where we encountered gridlock! We continued to the next junction at the picturesque village of Reigate, and turned towards Dorking. Everyone was delighted to see the giant cock of Dorking on a roundabout that we passed! The A24 down to Worthing was a breeze and despite never approaching the town from the north, found Thompson Towers quite by accident! Dan was out doing a curated bike tour of the Open Houses, so we had tea and a piece of Sheila Guyatt's fabulous fruit cake in the garden. Rob and Amanda went sightseeing and I stayed invigilating. No sales yet, but Dan is doing quite well. Rob and Amanda kindly gave me and my many carrier bags a lift back to Brighton and home, en route to Hastings. A night in watching the Tour de France on ITV4 followed, and so to bed.

Tour de France prologue

Tour de France prologue
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

On Saturday, after a great breakfast I had the fabulous treat of a trip by motor car to the Canary Wharf Waitrose, one of the grandest in the world. Out into the agoraphobic open air and with a Boots sandwich in my bag, I entered the cathedral-like space that is Canary Wharf tube station on route to the Tour de France. The tube was jammed with people on their way to Wembley to see Spinal Tap at Live Earth, but eventually I got to St James's Park and found a gap on the route of the Prologue on Victoria Street, a long straight view in both directions. At 3pm the race started, with each rider led by a motorbike (alternating British bobby and French gendarmerie) and followed by about three cars of spare bikes and a tv crew! After a while I decided to walk to the start, past Westminster Abbey and Parliament Square where there was a big screen. I was surprised to get a reasonable view of the start on Whitehall near Downing Street, and all the police motorbikes. I then moved on to the finish, through St James's Park, past all the coaches where cyclists were warming up. No view for me at the crowded finish, so I wandered back to my original position, taking in Bradley Wiggins warming up at the Cofidis coach. Saw the last few riders, then went to a pub by the tube station to have a pint of London Pride and watch the results on the TV. Despite various texts and phone calls, didn't manage to hook up with anyone! Then it was back by District Line to Mile End for a fabulous supper cooked by Amanda of broadbean soup followed by butternut squash risotto and Eton mess, all washed down with kir royale and wine, with live Spinal Tap from Wembley on TV. Bliss.

David Devant at 100 Club

David Devant
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

It was an action-packed weekend up the Big Smoke, so will have to do this in installments! Travelled up on the Thameslink train with Peter and Lisa and first stop was the Cartoon Museum for a W Heath Robinson exhibition entitled 'Helpful Solutions', featuring mostly his big monochrome contraptions, plus two real machines, apparently made for a Jonathon Ross show! The Cartoon Museum is a gem, never been there before, but has some great cartoons on show. Bought a catalogue, had a coffee round the corner (all those streets around the British Museum have been pedestrianised!) then off to Trafalgar Square for the opening ceremony of the Tour de France. Charring Cross Road had been blocked off (literally with concerte blocks) so I walked down, and met up with Nick and Rob by the Fuji stall, amazingly! The Square was rammed and with no chance of a view (even the big screens were obscured by trees!) we decided to head up to The Angel (a Sam Smith's pub) for a couple of pints. Then it was on to the 100 Club, snatching a veggie roll on the way. With our virtual tickets in our hands, first surprise was there was David Devant ephemera for the taking at the ticket booth! A programme complete with setlist, Spirit Specs and Psychic Selector, a Fantasy Fag and a Spirit Eye. Oh what joy! Just like the old days. We grabbed a table by the side of the stage by a poignant George Melly poster and settled down to watch the supports: a sort of school orchestra, Boogaloo Stu ( a sort of camper smarter version of the Vessel) with the gorgeous Sparklemotion Dancers (who once supported Mr Solo), and some chaps (and a chappess) in white boilersuits making a racket. Then it was on with the show. They did the complete 'Work, Lovelife, Miscellaneous' in order, but with 'I'm Not Even Going To Try' at long last renamed 'Auntie Mabel', plus the two tracks from the single given away with the vinyl version of the LP (and if you don't know what they are, you're not much of a fan, eh!). Not much Spectral Roadie action or bagpipes unfortunately but a great singalong set neverthless with audience invasions and interaction a-plenty. Encore was 'Space Daddy', 'Dangerous Dilettante' and finally the magnificent 'Pimlico'. Fantastic! Then it the night bus to Mile End, where Rob and Amanda had kindly agreed to put me up...

Best Scottish beer

Sam's recommendations from The Scotsman. Can't wait to taste them!

100 Club pic

London - Art & Entertainment - Mayfair: My photo of The Rutles on Flickr has been chosen to represent 100 Club onSchmap!!

Coffee at the De La Warr

Coffee at the De La Warr
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Did a shift on the 20th Century Society stall at the Midcentury Modern fair at the marvellous De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on Sea. This is such a wonderful design icon, that even the coffee in the cafe is a work of art! But there is no cycle parking to be found anywhere near! Also took in a fab but smallish exhibition of designers' drawings called Vision Bank, including Erich Mendelsohn's first ideas for the pav, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s design for the K2 phone box (1924), Henry Beck’s preliminary sketch of the London Underground (1931) and Sir Joseph Paxton's blotting paper doodle for the Crystal Palace. As I'm writing this I can hear 76079 steaming out of Brighton back to Bristol. I can't believe I missed it when I got off the diesel from Bexhill at Brighton station!

Drawing for designers

Drawing for designers
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

The advance copies of my new book have just arrived: one UK, one US. I still find this exciting! The cover illo is by Karim Rashid. ISBN is 978 1 85669 533 6. Publisher is Laurence King.

Lord Nelson

Lord Nelson
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

It was an unexpected delight to see smoke over Hove station as I exitted Ellen's 50th at Ralli Hall around 11pm. I knew it was Lord Nelson, but it should have been at Hove much earlier (21.20 according to the tour company's website, on its way back from Bristol). I was a little bit drunk so the whole thing was like an amazing dream! I do have the albeit wobbly photos to prove it was real tho. Earlier in the day I'd been in Worthing to lend support to the launch of the Artists and Makers Festival. Dan had been up at 9am with young Edward to spot the Lord from a Worthing footbridge (without smoke deflectors). It was also the occassion of a handing over of a petition to the Mayor to save Elisabeth Frink's 'Desert Quartet' sculptures from being removed by the developer who was supposed to have 'gifted' them to the town. Alison Lapper was to have done it but she was late (but in time for the photos -- see some in Facebook). I had a quick look round Worthing - noting that the 'New Amusements' sign on the pier has been replaced by 'Pier Amusements', bought some chilli beer from Stumpy on the farmers' market, plus some BOGOF brocolli ('picked that morning', that would only go to feed the pigs if I didn't buy it!), and did a turn in the festival shop. Then it was a quick trip to snap the other big heads at Amelia Park, and a dash into Lidl for Norwegian smoked salmon. This morning I felt a bit rough and listening to the rain belting down outside decided not to do my planned Clarion ride around Littlehampton.

Radioactive vases

Radioactive vases
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Went along to Cafe Scientifique last night for the first time, at the Branch Tavern. It's a bit like the Catalyst Club, only there's just one speaker, and it's free! Pint of Courage Best in my hand I went upstairs to listen to Steve Ashley of the National Physical Laboratory and Uni of Surrey (my old stamping ground) talk about 'Radiation in the strangest of places', basically arguing that naturally occuring Radon gas is much more of a worry than human-made radiation, although there are some surprising highly radio-active artefacts around: the luminous instruments of a Lancaster bomber for example, in home smoke alarms, and in glassware. I put Steve up overnight in my lodgers' room and asked him to test with his Geiger counter the two Pilkington's Royal Lancastrian vases I bought at an antique shop in Compton over 20 years ago, which I've always suspected may have a Uranium glaze. Alarmingly, it made as much noise with the vases as it did when he waved it over a lump of pitchblende back at the Branch Tavern!

Mark 'Uke' Walsh

kemptown07_2
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Popped along to the Kemp Town Karnival on Saturday to sample some of Luca's pancakes, but she was busy so I had a slice of anchovy and onion pizza round the corner (and bought another courgette plant to replace the one eaten by snails). Further along the Max Miller Appreciation Society had a stall and I was lucky enough to catch a set by Mark 'Uke' Walsh doing a few George Formby numbers. It was strange to see Max Millers, Morris Men and Bretons all in the same patch.

Bury babies

I'm from Bury, Lancs (or Greater Manchester as it is now) and I always knew that Bury was famous for Sir Robert Peel, who invented the police, John Kay (any relation to comedian Peter Kay I wonder?), inventor of the flying shuttle, and Victoria Wood. I went to school with another relatively famous Burmunian, Peter Skellern. But I was amazed to find on the Facebook Bury Babies group a whole list of famous people from or with connections to Bury. Cherie Blair for example was born in Bury. Richmal Crompton, a distant relative of mine and author of the Just William books, was also born in Bury (Ramsbottom actually). Here is a selection of other notable people who were born or brought up in Bury: Celia Birtwell: textile designer and David Hockney muse Danny Boyle: film director Lol Creme and Kevin Godley of 10cc Anna Friel: former Brookside actress Guy Garvey and the rest of Elbow Reg Harris: world cycling champion Ralf Little: Antony from The Royle Family Gary & Phil Neville: international footballer twins Martin Noble of British Sea Power Mike Read: DJ Lisa Riley: Emmerdale actress Mark E Smith and other musicians from The Fall Ian Wallace: drummer with King Crimson.

Zoot Money (and John Shuttleworth)

zoot1
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

One of my favourite albums of all time is a 1965 compilation from Decca called R&B which featured John Mayall, Alexis Korner, Graham Bond and Zoot Money's Big Roll Band. Since then Zoot's appeared with GRIMMS and Vivian Stanshall, amongst many others, and is still touring, with the British Blues Quintet, featuring Zoot (keyboards and vocals), Colin Allen (drums), Colin Hodgkinson (bass), Miller Anderson (guitar) and Maggie Bell (vocals). I can't remember ever seeing Zoot live, but on Saturday night I did, in a marquee by Shoreham Beach, part of the Adur Festival. Zoot was in fine voice, and for the first time I noticed a Mose Allison influence. Maggie (ex-Stone the Crows) was belting them out too and soon had the audience of a certain age bopping on the dance floor! Guitarist Miller (from Houston, Scotland!) was in great form - you could almost imagine Clapton in the room! All except the drummer took at turn at vocals. A truly all-star lineup. Harvey's was on offer, but at 3 quid a pint!

Earlier that day I was on the Brighton leg of the World Naked Bike Ride (though not, you'll be glad to hear, naked!). Friday night I was down the Komedia again to see John Shuttleworth in his new show 'With my condiments'. Laser screeder from Goole Dave Tordoff opened, followed by a brief video of his life and ambitions, then John was straight on with lots of new songs: 'Chef from Sheffield' and 'Tummy Trouble' in the first half; 'Heartache and heartburn' and 'Serial cereal eater' in the second. Very catchy and singalong-to. He ended with the relatively recent favourite 'I can't go back to savoury now' (available to see on U-Bend, err YouTube) then did an encore of oldies: 'Eggs and Gammon', 'Y-Reg', and of course 'Pigeons in flight'. Then he came back for a 2nd encore: 'Mary had little lamb (green beans and new potatoes)' and finally a poignant 'Dandelion and Burdock' (we'd already had a very poignant 'From a father to a son'). What with 'Mutiny of the Bounty' (Mars of Slough, you've really done it now), 'Life is like a salad bar' and 'Two margarines', it's remarkable how many of John's songs are food related! A top night out from Sheffield's premier entertainer. Download his latest EP (extra portions) 4 Rather Tasty Tracks for just £1.99 at his website.

15 Faces

Meet Mr Pipes: : photos of me in the 15 Faces section of the BBC Southern Counties radio website.

Giant Kinetic Wardrobe

Giant Kinetic Wardrobe
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Ex- Bonzo Dog Band member Roger Ruskin Spear's Giant Kinetic Wardrobe performed at the 4th Surrey University Free Arts Festival held on campus at Guildford, Saturday 7 July 1973. I took these ropey black and white photos with my Exa IIb. More on the Free Festivals here.

Cheeky Charles

My old mate Marky Charles of London is on telly this Thursday, on the new BBC2 prog Mary Queen of Shops. The idea was to do a Gordon Ramsey and ginger up that zebra-striped clothes shop at the end of Sydney Street with a few provocative t-shirts and turn them round. Set your video!

More art cake

More art cake
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Sunday was the last day of the Artists Open Houses. It was a bit damp so I donned my waterproofs and set off. First stop was the Open House pub in Fiveways territory, but housing a Beyond the Level exhibition by Emma Brownjohn and others. I was particularly taken by Tiffany Lynch's paintings, which would look computer-generated if seen in reproduction! I bought Emma's eco book then wandered downstairs to the "farmer's" market in the garden. Bought some eggs off Linda from Hen Heaven in Henfield (really!) then on me bike again deeper into Fiveways territory to visit Mel Williams on Southdown Avenue and buy some cards. Decided to pop into a genuine Fiveways house a couple of doors down to see David Williams (no relation) and was excited to see he'd done a painting of 71000 Duke of Gloucester - at 10 quid a print I had to have one. They were serving cake but it was a little too early for me (forgot to snap them!). Onwards to Christina Ure's house on Chester Terrace to see her gorgeous paintings of fairy cakes (she also has an exhibition on at Terre a Terre) and sample my first cake of the day: mango and coconut! Sublime! The orange and poppy seed looked nice too! Took a snap of the gorgeous irises in her front garden then headed off down the hill to Mike Embden's at the bottom of Beaconsfield Villas. His watercolours of the South Downs are something else and when I win the lottery, I'll have one. Didn't buy any of his honey this year!

Round the corner on Stanford Avenue I followed the dotted line through the driving rain to Kaori Tanaka's 'Secret little garden' and Edgar Moore kindly made me a cheering cup of tea. I bought some banana cake (50p) to eat later! Loved her cork animals and platonic solids in chalk. Popped into Caia's again at Beaconsfield Workshops to chat to Kay Walton about aboriginal art, then on to another new Beyond the Level 'house' at York Studios. Had a chat with Ern, who's been a Brighton face for years, then cycled round the corner to Pelham Square where Ed Tucker was keeping guard. Then it was back over The Level to Park Crescent Terrace (should I detour into Hanover? no, I was cold and wet and wanted to go home!). Luckily at Miranda Swift's they had a fine selection of cakes - and savouries! I opted for the red bean and tomato quiche (turning down the optional coleslaw) and very nice it was too. I bought (£1.20) a slice of Homity pie for my tea later and headed home. Popped into The Dragonfly House to check on sales (thanks Gilda for buying a pair of linocuts!), then it was a night in with the telly. There were a few Open Houses open today for the bank holiday, but I couldn't be arsed.

East Beach Cafe

East Beach Cafe
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

The pensioners of Littlehampton must be a very fit bunch - the beach is miles from the town centre! I took a break from my busy schedule yesterday to go on a bus pass expedition to see the East Beach Cafe, due to open in June. The bus journey on the 700 Coastliner took a staggering two hours to get to the sleepy resort, then I had a long trek along the prom (with talking lamp posts ordering cyclists to dismount!), but it was well worth it - the mild steel cafe designed by Thomas Heatherwick looks great, and well done to Littlehampton for making it happen. I had a great toasted teacake at the nearby Bowling Green Cafe (the saucy Polish waitress reminded me of the Harry Enfield sketch) but sadly the LMR (Littlehampton Miniature Railway) wasn't working. Next week: Bognor!

Bonzo films

Bonzo films
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Lots of celeb spotting recently. At the (Argus award-winning) Count Arthur Strong - 'The Musical' at Komedia on Sunday, guess who was in the audience (apart from the usual Brighton luvvies)? None other than Michael Aspel of Antiques Road Show! Last night, up in the Big Smoke for 'A night with the Bonzos' at the National Film Theatre, I was excited to see Paul Weller of The Jam in the bar, looking more like Rod Stewart every day! When Nick arrived he pointed out that the chap with him was Graham Coxon of Blur! There was another chap with ukulele who looked a bit like a young Ray Davies, but noone could ID him. At the Bonzos film show, Sam Spoons and Roger Slater were there in person and it was good to see lots of clips on the silver screen, including some never released songs: 'Love is a cylindrical piano', 'High School Hermit' and a backwards version of 'How much is that doggy in the window'! Climax was going to be 'Adventures of the son of the exploding sausage', which I'd never seen in its entirity. It was dreadfully disappointing! With a cast of Viv and the Bonzos, to make such an awful film is some achievement! No words, no script, just the lads mucking about on a farm with some kids, their low-budget version of 'Magical Mystery Tour' (a clip of which was also shown). Back outside in the bar, Paul's gang was joined by part-time Bonzo Phill Jupitus. Nick wondered if Paul might include some Bonzos covers on his next album! Off to The Hole in the Wall (as mentioned in 'Blind Date') for a couple of pints of Adnams Explorer, then the tedious train journey back to the seaside.

Harry Hill

Harry Hill
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Met another of my heroes last night - Harry Hill doing a signing for 'Tim the Tiny Horse' at the Old Market, Hove. He did a perfect stand-up set, catering for both the kids and their parents, then patiently signed all our books. Signings are great events (remember Alexei Sayle?): you get a top bit of stand-up in a smallish venue, then get to meet your idol! 'Tim Rice, Tim Curry? What is it about the name Tim and Indian food? Kate Moss, Kate Bush...' Tim the Tiny Horse however eats Hula Hoops (beef barbeque flavour) and was all drawn by fountain pen, Harry told me as he drew a Hula Hoop on my book. I noticed he had some of his jokes (including the splendid visual joke about the castle designer's laptop) written on the side of his hand. On stage he'd done a DIY session, starring two giggling goth girls ('don't milk it' muttered Harry) to demonstrate it wasn't as easy as you think to write a book, unlike 'You've been framed', which he said was money for old rope. Thanks to Kazza for lending me a surrogate family: Sean, Tom and their friend Owen. Thanks also to the Old Market for a decent pint of Harvey's..

Kocani Orkestar

Kocani Orkestra
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Continuing the big band theme of the Brighton Festival, last night I saw Macedonian wedding band King Naat Veliov and the Original Kocani Orkestar - their only UK gig - courtesy again of BBC Southern Counties radio. Led by composer and trumpeter 'King' Naat himself, this seven-piece brass band made their name on the soundtrack of Borat and Emir Kusturica's film Time of the Gypsies. They also made life hard for the security staff at the Dome, who'd been instructed, I presume, to escort anyone daring to dance in the aisles out of sight to the rear of the venue! They soon gave up this unpopular policy and everyone was on their feet by the encores. There were a few Macedonian flags around, a cross between a red union jack and a sunburst, and King Naat's Balkan beats certainly brightened up a chilly evening in Brighton, despite the Dome killjoys. But why do I always associate 'macedonian' with those tins of tasteless diced carrots and peas of my youth?

The evening started well with the American duo A Hawk and a Hacksaw, augmented by Budapest quartet The Hun Hangar Ensemble. The set opened with violinist Heather Trost and Balazs Unger on cymbalom (a cross between a dulcimer and xylophone) alone on stage, with Jeremy Barnes on accordian parading through the audience (and briefly pinching my pint) followed by the rest of the Hungarians, on drums, sax and trumpet. On stage, the sax player and trumpeter doubled up on violin, and we were even treated to the Balkan bagpipes! The drummer switched to three-string bass and Barnes played drum and cymbal with his feet. Probably the more interesting of the two bands - hear them on MySpace - their name apparently comes from Miguel de Cervantes’ novel Don Quixote - someone who has gone mad can't tell the difference between a hawk and a hacksaw! Ten out of ten to the Dome for serving Dark Star 'Festival' ale straight from the barrel.

Ladyboys

Well, I was interviewed live by Allison Ferns of BBC Southern Counties radio last night (I now have my own page now as one of the 15 Faces of Brighton). Guess where? In the tent of the Ladyboys of Bangkok with the rain pelting down outside! They certainly can put on a show! Surely there are some real ladies in the show? Off to the Nelson after for Susan Sainsbury's birthday do and a proper pint of Harvey's Hadlow bitter.

C-90

Daniel Kitson is a strange chap: when he does stand-up, he has a mouth even fouler than Roy 'Chubby' Brown's, but his 'story shows' are much gentler. C-90 was a hot ticket at Edinburgh last year - I nearly saw it, but when we turned up at the Traverse, the tickets were for another night! BBC Southern Counties radio very kindly got me a comp to review the 'reconceived' show in the Argus Basement last night. First shock was that we'd be sitting on the floor, albeit on carpet! Those that had read the Argus preview brought cushions. The 'installation' where the action took place was a 'room' lined with shelves full of cassettes and we entered through a wardrobe! After a young lady usher had warned us to go to the toilet now and walked DK's route though the limbs of the audience, the scruffy Yorkshireman arrived and launched into his story of Henry, the custodian of a mysterious collection of lost compilation tapes, a bit like the photo library in Stephen Poliakoff's TV play Shooting the past. The delivery was punctuated by tales of other sad and lonely village characters: a lollipop lady Milly (as in humiliation), a vet, a librarian. Henry was a 'chronicler of hope', cataloguing the audio cassettes meticulously (a whole section was marked 'Sorry'), but oddly he'd never listened to any of his exhibits. Then today, two parcels had arrived: one with a tape, the other with a player. He was determined to discover who sent them dot dot dot. DK's love of long words reminded me more of Les Dawson than Under Milk Wood, but he's much more animated, moving around and talking at high speed. The tales were quite sweet and endearing (I only counted two fucks and a shit the whole evening!) - so I wondered if the audience of mostly Sussex ladies could take 75 minutes of his stand up? No bar, by the way.

Des cake

Des cake
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

I was at Curtis Tappenden's excellent PV last night, when I was presented with this wonderful cake, made by Hilda and decorated by Des Buckley - too good to eat! It says 'Growing older youthfully' around the base. I think Curt got one too for his 40th...

Odemba OK Jazz All Stars

Odemba OK Jazz All Stars
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

How could you not like the Odemba OK Jazz All Stars? How could you not keep still? It must be in our genes to be moved by African music. And they were so so entertaining too - two large lovely ladies in glittery dresses and two little men in sharp suits and winklepicker shoes fronted a big band of two sax players, two twirling trumpeters, two guitarists, a very modern looking Bo Diddley bass and an enormous drummer! The 'chief' and MC wore a fantastic white George Melly suit and silver shoes. I'm afraid I didn't catch any of their names and couldn't understand a word of the songs (was one about Asda, another about the three parts of a fish?) - was it in French? But they were described as a Buena Vista Social Club of the Congo, keeping alive the rumba style. They did two hour-long sets in the refurbished Sallis Benney Theatre and this was one of only two UK gigs; the other in Poole! The climax of the night was a line-dancing lesson involving lots of arse shaking and a stage invasion, Africa style. Marvelous! It was being recorded for Andy Kershaw's BBC Radio 3 show, to be broadcast Monday 28 May.

Art cake

Art cake
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Managed to cop nine Artists Open Houses yesterday. Popped into Curtis Tappenden's at 17 Clyde Road on the way to the paper shop, then it was on my bike (pushing it mostly) up to Seven Dials. First stop was Ben Allen's huge house on 12 Montpelier Crescent - lots of big bold paintings and screenprints, plus print work by Jane Sampson of BIP, Kary Fisher (bought two of her 'seven deadly sins' cards) and Rosie Irvine (Rick of Rin Tin Tin's daughter). Then onward to BiG member Oliver Hyde's small but perfectly formed Square Enough exhibition at 13 Granville Road - lovely lovely stuff, bought set of badges. Right opposite, at 14, is Cecil Rice's house and his wonderful albeit samey watercolours of Venice and the West Pier all bathed in sunset. Reminded me a bit of Cyril Farey. On my bike again (missing a couple!) to The Glass House at 3 Silverdale Road to see the biggest concentration of beautiful women artists in Brighton. Only Kim and Krysia Drury were in attendance unfortunately (no Pru, Kary or Teresa today!) but I consoled myself with a cream tea and one of Kim Glass's award-winning scones. On my way to Chanctonbury Road I questioned my strategy of going to places I already knew, so spontaneously stopped to visit a house on the way but wasn't very impressed (no name, no packdrill). At Artists Live Here, 15 Chanctonbury Road, I treated myself to a slice of Terri Bell-Halliwell's lemon polenta cake - sublime! Unfortunaely West Hill Community Hall wasn't open and I'd already been to the PV at 6 Clifton Street on Friday night so I zoomed downhill all the way into town and visited the treasure that is the Sussex County Arts Club, off Bond Street, not to be confused with the other so-called arts club on Ship Street. Only one Simeon Stout this year, but three beautiful life paintings by Bill Donohoe. After using their ancient cudgy, it was back home, quickly popping in to The Dragonfly House to look for any more red dots!

As mentioned above, I attended a PV at 6 Clifton Street on Friday night, one of the premier league Open Houses and an essential visit. Chatted to Bernard Lodge, a pioneer of computer graphics, who was showing linocuts and other prints. Got well oiled then cycled to Kate Osborne's house at 32 Stanford Avenue for her PV. Had some absolutely gorgeous squash cake (no photo) in the kitchen and was invited to admire Jon Mills' 1949 BSA Bantam (bought off eBay). Last year it was chickens, this year Kate's watercolours are of winged bugs! Wonderful.

Last night it was The Dragonfly House PV and I spent an enjoyable evening with friends old and new (and had the odd drink or two) - and found out I'd sold one of my Shoreham prints! Woo Yay! There are 198 open houses in the Brighton Festival this year and I've only seen 11 of them so far, with one weekend down. I challenge someone to do the lot in four weekends next year!

The Dragonfly House

The Dragonfly House
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

It's the start of the Brighton Festival this weekend and the Artists' Open Houses are getting ready for four weekends of culture. The Dragonfly House, where I have been offered a corner of wall space for my prints, has already erected a Geodesic art installation from recycled materials by Nick Sayers entitled 'To live' on top of the garage. A local child wondered if a hermit was going to live in there for the duration of the festival?

West Somerset Railway

West Somerset Railway
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

A big bonus of attending All Tomorrow's Parties at Butlin's Minehead was the opportunity to ride the West Somerset Railway from Minehead to Bishops Lydeard (almost to Taunton) - at around 23 miles the longest privately owned passenger rail line in the UK - and back. I dragged Nick and Rob along, but I think they secretly enjoyed it. I had the worst cup of coffee ever on the train topped by lumps of congealed milk skin (the attendant had regailed Nick with tales of the Beatles filming parts of A hard day's night at Blue Anchor and Crowcombe Heathfield). Saw loads of pheasants and other wild life and had a veggie pasty and bottle of Brown Owl from the buffet on the way back. We were pulled by 2-6-0 9351, which had been rebuilt from GWR 5101 Class 2-6-2T 5193 (the new number is an anagram of the original, the driver told me). At Williton, we saw the train travelling in the opposite direction was being pulled by GWR 4575 Class 2-6-2 5553. GWR 2884 Class 2-8-0 3850 was in steam at Minehead and various other Westerns were spotted. Nice to see locos exclusively native to the region. A fantastic way to spend Saturday morning - I even got a discount for showing my Senior Railcard.

The Only Ones

The Only Ones
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

One of the biggest regrets of my life was leaving The Only Ones' last ever gig at the Lyceum before the encores to run for a train home to Guildford. Now 26 years later, when I heard they were reforming to play at All Tomorrow's Parties at Butlin's Minehead, I just had to get there. Luckily there was a space in Nick Hider's chalet and as ATP had been described as a Glastonbury for ageing punks I decided to give it a go (at my age!). I needn't have worried, Minehead was a pleasant place, with a steam railway (the subject of another blog entry in case your eyes are beginning to glaze over!), and Butlin's, tho it had seen better days (where was the monorail?), a great venue. The Only Ones were the very first band on, at 7pm on the Friday, and consequently we could get right to the front leaning on the crash barrier. There were rumours that Peter Perrett could only do a couple of songs before having to lie down, so we were apprehensive. As it happened they came on half an hour late (Peter had to be woken up!) and did a full hour's set, with all the favourites, including the 'Vodaphone song' that all the kids recognised as penultimate. John Perry's guitar work was spectacular (check out his blog) and the whole experience brought tears to the eyes. All I remember was the ones they didn't do, like 'Someone who cares' and there was one song I didn't recognise, but I never thought this would ever happen - first the Bonzos reforming, then The Jam (almost) now The Only Ones touring... everything else must be a bonus. We listened to The Dirty Three over fish and chips, then into the rest of the festival. Best of the rest? Joanna Newsom and the bloke who wrote the soundtrack to Amelie, Yann Tiersen - the way it was laid out in three venues made it easy to tick off bands, speed gigging! Review in the Indy. Tips: the only bar to serve proper beer is The Sun and Moon (try the Exmoor Gold) - they also do cashback - all the other venues only sell Tetleys or Carling , ie piss or piss. My only gripe! Oh, and Nick's team won another weekend away in the pop quiz! More later...

Brian & Elvis

Brian & Elvis
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Last night was the launch party of the Artists Open Houses website and brochure in the Paganini ballroom of the Old Ship Hotel in downtown Brighton. It was a masked do, with wonderful invites designed by Jo Moore, and my mate Brian Grimwood (seen above with yours truly - without a drink!) designed the cover of the brochure (at long last). Thanks to Sarah Kelly for buying me the Elvis mask - I knew it would come in handy one day! Prize for best masks was awarded by Mr Mayor to my dear friends and social secretaries Peter Chrisp and Lisa Wolfe. (Note: that's Angie from The Dragonfly House, where I'll be exhibiting, on stage too)

Screenprints

fred_shoreham2
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

May is getting nearer and everyone is preparing for the Brighton Festival, particularly the Festival of Artists' Open Houses (AOH). As usual, Marc and Angie of The Dragonfly House, at the end of my street and part of the Beyond the Level trail, have offered me a corner of their house to display my artwork, which this year will include a couple of screenprints I produced at BIP. BIP is a great place stuffed with antique pressses and equipment - some artists almost live there! The prints are a result of a course I did with Jane Sampson, one of BIP's co-founders, finished off last week with a couple of afterthoughts in green! They were both done by cutting out red film with a scalpel and the screens exposed under ultra-violet light, with hardly any computer involvement! I love the way they are all hand-made and slightly different.

In our hands

In our hands
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

It's not often you get a cup of tea, biscuits and a free plant to take away at a PV, but this was a morning one, in the open air outside St Peter's Church, for the inveiling of 'Brightons' only living sculpture' 'In our hands' by Harry Potter illustrator Cliff Wright and environmental artist Kathryn Jordon. It's a head and hand emerging from the grass covered in one of my favourite plants, the House Leek (Sempervivum). I missed the speeches, but we were entertained by a balloon man and the Silver Sounds samba band, starring Clarion member Sheila Schaffer. It was commissioned by Brighton and Hove's Eco-City in Bloom.

Gus plus

gusplus2
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Went to the Marlborough Theatre last night to see me old mate Gus 'Legendary bass player' Garside perform at a Spirit of Gravity gig. It'd already started promptly when I arrived, but I saw him play with a couple of laptop guys - Thor Magnusson and I think Dan Powell - a live processing of double bass. Gus performs regularly at Safehouse and in In Sand, but is currently the only musician on the planet not to have a MySpace site.

He was followed by a laptop guy called Chevron who was a bit relentless and gave me a headache. Top of the bill was Bela Emerson, who played a futuristic cello and twiddled and tapped loads of foot pedals, doing what Gus usually does without the laptop guys, sampling and looping I believe it's called. She also had a go on the musical saw and a guitar-sized cello type thing with lots of strings that may well have been a viol. Melita took some great snaps of her and put them on her blog. Rather good, albeit a bit repetitious, as you'd expect! No real ales, had to drink Fosters - yuk! (Could have had a Continental-style lager, but as they all taste like piss, I went for the cheapest.)

Curt's poem

As promised here's the poem Curtis wrote: Alan (Fred) Pipes A 60th birthday tribute Let me tell you about Alan, I mean, Fred- Fred is a journalist, Fred is a whiz. Fred hacks computers, Fred does 'the biz.' Fred's a celeb, A website enigma; Fred's got no problems, It's you with the stigma! Fred does good drawing, Fred snaps road signs, Fred colours in well, Never over the lines. Life and soul at the party, Fred is the best, Never the host, but always The guest. Fred likes Elvis, Fred is a jazzer; Fred likes Jo, Angie and Kazza. Fred likes his illustrators In the English tradition, Fred likes Grimwood's paint strokes, But prefers them done by Titian. Fred is unique, Biking 'urban' he has mastered, Fred does extreme sport, In cycle lanes when he is plastered! Fred does recycling, And Fred is green; Fred is strong, and Fred is lean. Fred is bald, He has no hair, Fred wears glasses, But he doesn't give a shit (He don't care). Because- Fred is loved, And he's our lover. Fred is unnoticed, incognito, Sort of undercover; Except when his cover's blown, Like his namesake, Pipes; So let me tell you a little bit more About our Fred, and what turns on His lights. A man sees a pretty girl, He wants to snog her; Fred sees a pretty girl, He wants to blog her. Just to put her on his laptop, Stroke the glowing mouse; Quaff a glass of red, And when the computer's fan starts whirring, It's time to think of bed. But first catches up on 'Corrers', Eastenders, Gets lathered up on weekly soaps, Pours nightly cocoa, warms his slippers, Reads an arty tome and soundly hopes That tomorrow will bring more Fortune and fame, A free bus-pass, caressing the best of What life has to hold, Not bad for a lad Who's still in short trousers, Even though he's just sixty years old! Curtis Tappenden, 25.03.07 Performed with a toast at Fred's Birthday Soiree, Dragonfly House, Brighton.

Bus Pass

Bus Pass
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Bus Pass! Yes, I finally got mine, and many many thanks to everyone who came to help me celebrate the fact on Sunday. Thanks to Marc and Angie of The Dragonfly House for hosting the soiree at their gaff, to Palaeobus of Worthing for supplying the Magical Mystery Tour in former Southdown National BCD 802L, and Brian Grimwood of The Butchers of Blues for letting me hijack his gig at The Albert. Sorry if I appeared flustered at the start (people were queuing to get in!) and I hope you enjoyed Angie's spread! Prize for furthest travelled goes to No 1 son and heir Sam for flying down from Edinburgh. Second prize goes to Graham Clarke who drove down from Harrogate, via Guildford. Oldest partygoer was Doris, Sam's granny, who at 82 was jiving with the best of them. Finally, a big thank you to Curtis Tappenden for his tribute poem, which will be reproduced on this blog as soon as it is typed. A DVD of the gig will be available soon, and if you want the playlist for the bus (which included the excellent track 'Bus Pass' by Anal Beard) let me know.

Thank you for all your lovely cards and pressies - Paul Cemmick did me the most fantastic card, reproduced in two parts, here (click to enlarge). More pix on Flickr soon.

Pallant House

A strange coincidence! I took a day off yesterday to visit Pallant House in Chichester before the William Roberts exhibition expired. I took my bike on the train and was beginning to despair finding anywhere to park (I'd already been told off for cycling in a pedestrianised street!) when I came across a post set back enough not to be a danger to blind people. Inside I had a pleasant surprise - it was half-price on Tuesdays (I had meant to come last weekend when admission was free, but there was engineering works on the line)! So, I stopped off at the modern cafe (decorated with a Patrick Caulfield) for soup and a beer. Next door was an exhibition of 1940s prints for schools with a lovely LS Lowry (Punch and Judy) and an hilarious John Nash of farmers chasing rabbits so they could harvest the field. Upstairs was lots of Brit pop art (more Caulfield, Peter Blake, Richard Hamilton) and two temp exhibitions: Bomberg and his crew, with the giant red, white and blue Vorticist piece 'The mud bath', usually at the Tate, dominating. The other works were more Cézanne, and the Borough Group room included a very crusty Frank Auerbach. The three rooms of William Roberts were pure delight. He paints blobby Stanley Spencer type figures with detached limbs (ideal for animating) arranged geometrically right in your face all on the same plane. I loved the last picture of seagulls (I went through his show backwards) painted in the 1970s - a Vorticist to the end! A 'working class' eastender, he painted Brits at work and play, at the cinema, watching telly, playing football and sunbathing. I was just about to leave Pallant House when I noticed a dark doorway. It led into the old house, of creaky floors and subdued lighting. In this labyrinth were even more treasures. Everyone from 20th century British art was represented: Ravilious, Sickert, Burra, Gertler, you name it. Up the stairs (lined with Susie MacMurray's installation of mussel shells, each containing red velvet), I opened the door and was back in the modernist half by a huge rug by Langlands & Bell of an office block in Rio... Wonderful. Out in the sunshine, I had a quick tour round the cathedral (nice Graham Sutherland painting, some Roman mosaics and a patch of grass in the cloisters called Paradise). Then back on a train full of schoolkids to Brighton. My camera was still set to low-light gig photography, so the snaps I took were rubbish! The coincidence? In the evening, I went to the Sussex Arts Club to see my old friend Jackie Wills read poetry. It was jammed full for a poetry gig I thought, and hmmmph the Harvey's was off. I've never forgiven the Arts Club for emulsioning over the 1930s murals (a cloudy sky in the dome and galleons on the walls) from when it was the Motor Yacht Club (it still retains the ancient targetted urinals in the gents, however). Turned out this was an evening organised by Chichester University creative writing course. Despite being tantalisingly called Pie-Fi, there were no pies on sale! We were treated to music, performing arts X-factor style most of it (quite unlike a Pog or Quietcore gig), tho pleasant enough, intersperced by poets, notably by Jackie (who despite a cold held her own with new tales of adultery) and her friend Lorna Thorpe (Dancing to Motown). Jay Clifton read a story based on an Everly Brothers song title, with driving guitar accompaniment, of sex and scooters, and Northerner Dave Swann talked about his experiences working with prisoners. The songs that punctuated, tho, were a bit more Folsom State Prison than Nottingham gaol.

The Wraiths

The Wraiths
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

A new venue! New to me, anyway. The West Hill Village Hall is tucked away behind a residential street, not far from Seven Dials. The lady organisers had decked out this delightful urban hall with tablecloths, tea and cakes (so had to pop out to the Co-op to get some BYO booze). They also have a nice line in posters.

Supporting acts were both miserablists, however, and had Lisa and Peter crying into their drinks. The Diamond Family Archive was beardy bloke being miserable on an electro-acoustic guitar and sampler, and Jason Pegg of Clearlake was being miserable on piano. We crave cheery chiaroscuro in the set list: light and shade, light and shade... Spirits were lifted by The Wraiths, a boy girl duo from Bristol who 'put old poems to music' according to their MySpace site. Bought their lovely CD 'This is Charing Cross' for 8 quid. Was drunk in charge of a bicycle on the way home.

Much the same serious crowd were at a Quietcore gig at the Freebutt last Tuesday, which was also mainly slow and miserablist, quite the opposite of a Pog gig. Using my Sherlock Holmes powers of deduction (he was the subject of one of the Catalyst Club talks last Thursday), I deduced that the opener was Andrew Clare from Pine Forest who played a single instrumental ('Tumbling through ne...') that reminds me of a free-form jazz classic I can't remember. He was followed by Davidd Winter singing self-depracating ditties to a guitar so out of tune it sounded like that of a 78rpm delta blues artiste. Peter Moyse was a joy to listen to, but Ginger Lee and her rendition of 'My old man' made it well worth the wait. Only four songs, but it was a free gig after all and the beer was cheap.

If you need cheering up after all this angst, the funniest TV programme at the moment has to be Aardman's Shaun the Sheep with its catchy signature tune, sung in his Northern club crooner voice by Vic Reeves. My favourite episode so far is the one about pizzas, featuring a red double decker bus. I love the farmer's voice and can understand every word he says!

Dan P

Dan P
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

A speaker at the Catalyst Club once tried to sell the idea of going to church (and the doomed St Peter's in particular) by saying it's a place you can sing at the top of your voice and nobody cares (have I used this intro before?). You can also go to an acoustic punk gig, like the ones organised by Pog. Last night it was The Station, a pub with a fine selection of real ales but a schlep to get to (unless you come by train - it's right by Preston Park station). I'd missed Wob by waiting for the rain to abate, but caught the aforementioned band, who did a new song about a cafe but didn't do 'Go vegan' because Paul apparently has gone vegetarian! Had a good la la sing-song to 'In heaven' nevertheless. Next up were The Flying Marrows, who seem to have a fixation on Japanese girls. They performed many new songs and were joined on stage (the pool area of the bar) by the headliner Dan Potthast. I'd never seen the bespectacled one before (he's from California and in MU330) but it was like stumbling upon a private party where everyone else knew all the words to all the songs and sang along with gusto. They were eminently singalongable to however so a good time was had by all. Give him a listen. I came away with 3 CDs, 2 stickers and 2 badges, having consumed a pint of Harveys and 2 pints of dark Arundel. Dan thought it highly amusing to be playing in a pub in Preston Park with the rain belting down outside and wondered what the regulars thought of it all. Big contrast with Santa Cruz I expect! There was no admission by the way just a greasy hat carried round by Andy. The lighting was crap, so my photos are not much cop...

I've just finished reading 'Pies and Prejudice' by Stuart Maconie which I can highly recommend to ex-Northerners like me who couldn't wait to get away from the place but feel slightly nostagic about the rare returns - me, I always play The Smiths on my iPod as the train approaches Manchester Piccadilly! Must get up to the North East sometime - and Barrow! Great cover too, by Grey318.

The Only Ones reunited?

According to the ATP website, The Only Ones are to reform, with Peter Perrett! I saw their farewell gig at the Lyceum and eternally regret leaving before the encores to catch my train back to Guildford. Their track 'Someone who cares' (from Even Serpents Shine, 1979) is one of my all-time favourite songs.

The Jam 2007 Tour

Looks like The Gift has rebranded as The Jam - minus Paul Weller. Good for them! Shame they are not playing Guildford Civic Hall (tho the Uni did host The Who once!) - or Brighton! See my blog review of Rick and Bruce's band.

Frogspawn

frogspawn
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

My froggies have given birth in the garden pond I built for them - more than a month earlier than they did last year!

Save Titnore Woods

Spent a few hours in Worthing yesterday, visiting the Museum (to see the Small World exhibition), having lunch with Dan, going on a demo to Save Titnore Woods!, and finally a treat trip to Waitrose to buy a veggie pasty for my tea (plus a bottle of Somerset Pomona with a Burne-Jones picture on the label to enhance the Pre-Raphaelite experience of earlier seeing Holman Hunt's 'Bianca' for the first time). The Small World exhibition had a wonderful model of 'The Great Bear,' the UK's first Pacific and the only one ever built by the GWR - and as a railway theme developed, we heard that Worthing had been visited that very morning by a streamlined steam train, 34067 'Tangmere'.

Ginger Lee

Ginger Lee
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Cheeky David Bramwell assured us by email it'd be three acts for the 'price of a pint' but if they charge £6.50 where he drinks, he should change pubs! We're back at The Albert on a Sunday night (nice to notice the Banksy kissing policemen have been restored and protected by a plastic covering). Solo David tinkled the bruised ivories, sang wistful songs and told tales about Th'Oddfellows Casino, a travelling freak show with family connections, and Barry the versatile Whitehawk psychic. Listen to the full band on MySpace. We were meant to have the accordion player from Bat for Lashes next but instead we had the unexpected pleasure of catching the elusive Ginger Lee, someone I've wanted to hear for a long time. Caroline used to be a waitress at Capers, serving the best toasted teacakes in Brighton. Tonight she stands still on the stage with guitar, singing so sweet and tremulous you could hear the harsh click of my camera! Highlight was a beautiful rendition of 'My Old man (said follow the van)' so disguised it came as a surprise when I realised... it's not on the CD but it is on MySpace. Ooops, just discovered, Ginger is the accordianist for Bat for Lashes - just didn't spot her on The Culture Show the other night! Headliner was Tobias Froberg, a Swedish Paul Simon (with the looks of a Swedish Art Garfunkel), nursing a gammy leg injured evading Stockholm's jumpable tube barriers. Lovely voice and guitar, but too many love songs for Lisa's liking! Take a listen. Not a rolling cavalcade of laughs, but an evening definitely worth the price of a large Islay malt (which I had back home watching The day after tomorrow).

A frog he would a-wooing go

froggies
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

All that work building a pond in my garden last year has paid off! The frogs are back and are currently mating... Last year I snapped them mating right at the end of March! Is this evidence of global warming? Hope the pond doesn't freeze over. Wonder how much frog spawn survived from last year?

Mr Solo at Short Fuse

Mr Solo at Short Fuse
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

As penance for missing the last David Devant gig, I had to endure the first half at Short Fuse, upstairs in The Camden Head, London. First up was a bloke (Julian Fox) I'd describe as ill-prepared reading accounts of bus journeys from his laptop (a Mac, but he is not forgiven that easily). Then it was a scary woman in glasses (Rhian Edwards), who seemed quite nice as she chatted to the audience, but then adopted a 'poetry voice' and reminded me how poetry, like samba bands, is something it's probably more fun to do than listen to. Believe me, I used to perform excruciatingly pretentious stuff back in the 1960s and cringe every time I think of what I put loyal audiences comprising mainly schoolgirls through! They must have been loved by some of the audience, however, judging by the empty seats for the second half - as a friend is fond of reminding me whenever I get into grumpy old man mode, I'm probably not their target audience. Earlier I'd been a spectral roadie for the evening, helping carry some of Mikey's kit upstairs, and he was in full Mr Solo character for his energetic feature-length multi-media performance starting and finishing with 'Number One (Home Sick Home)' and including most of his light switch album. Towards the end he whipped out his pink ukulele and in the spirit of the evening did two accompanied poems: one about 'Spunk Rock' and a paeon to CBB Jade and the Oxo cube. To the dying strains of 'X-Box X-Box' I had to run for the bendy 38 back to Victoria and the midnight train to Worthing (I got off at Brighton). Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio on 'Dogs' kept me company. A nice pint of Bombardier and lime 'n' soda at 64p made the Camden Head a great venue.

Reclaim bank charges

Reclaim bank charges
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Watchdogs Back Fight Against Bank Charges (from The Argus): they're all at it now! The Argus jumps on the 'reclaim your bank charges bandwagon'!

I first became aware of reclaiming bank charges through Martin Lewis's money saving website but didn't do anything about it until I saw the BBC Money Programme on a village where they'd all done it! So a letter - a combination of the two templates - went to the Co-op bank on 13 December claiming 160 quid's worth of charges from when I went slightly overdrawn - plus interest - and a letter came back on 3 January with a refund (no interest, but I'm cool about that). Now everybody is at it!

Had a hilarious half hour on Satuday watching a recording of Count Arthur Strong's radio show at Komedia. It also starred Sue Perkins and Dave Mounfield. An excellent 2 quid's worth of entertainment!

Wob

Wob
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Being on the wagon is not conducive to going out, hence the lack of blogging recently. I have in fact actually set foot in pubs since 1 January 2007, on a Clarion bike ride and to the Catalyst Club at the Jooglebury last Thursday. On the first I resisted a pint of Harveys for that excellent and cheap substitute - a pint of lime and soda. At the Jooglebury it was easy to forgo their selection of overpriced young-persons' continental lagers in favour of said substitute, but at an extortionate £1.45 a pop it was nearly cheaper to go for beer! However I couldn't resist a night at the Albert and a pint of Pullman. It did go straight to my head and I had to immediately water it down with an 80p (that's more like it) glass of L & S! The occasion was Kerry's birthday gig and the line up was Deacon on piano and guitar, followed by Asbo Derek (with Kerry on bass and Don Bradman as guest harmonizer), Pog (also with Kerry on bass, Deacon on keyboards and Wob on drums) and Wob with band headlining. Wob was augmented by a bass and drums (John and Jon) and played selections from his excellent new mini-album 'A month of Sundays' (which can be ordered from his website), including the rather wonderful charity shop anthem 'All for a good cause'. Not going out much means you forget to stock up with cash so it was only by sticking to the one pint (and an L&S) that I could scrape together the necessary fiver to purchase a signed copy of said mini-album. Wob has a fine voice - give him a listen.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year
Originally uploaded by fred pipes.

Happy New Year to one and all! I've still got a stinking code (cold) so spent last night watching Adaptation (must watch it again whenever I get writers' block!) and Jools Holland on tv, sipping some of that amazing cask-strength apple brandy Sam bought me for Xmas (I am now today officially on the wagon)! Went on the obligatory Clarion bike ride to a jam-packed Carats cafe at the end of Shoreham harbour. It was a glorious day, albeit with a strong wind against us as we travelled west. Behind us Brighton was busy preparing security for the Fatboy Slim concert this afternoon. After polishing off a plate of egg and saute potatoes in the open air outside Carats, stopped off to do some trawler spotting behind Fatboy's house on Millionaires' Row, hoping maybe to see the one Judy Stevens drew. Back in town, I managed to bump into most of the people I know in Brighton, including Peter Chrisp who reminded me I hadn't blogged the Count Arthur Strong show I saw with Peter and Lisa. So here it is: he's a sort of cross between Harry Worth and Fred Emney, with a touch of John Shuttleworth and Freddie Frinton, ie a posh drunken thespian of Northern Origin prone to 'senior moments' played by Steve Delaney. He was ably assisted in the Komedia performance of 'It just wouldn't be Christmas without us - now would it eh!' on 23 December by sidekick Terry Titter, a scouse entertainer of yesteryear, buxom TV cook Irene Titter, and Malcolm, a camp graduate of the Count's Doncaster Academy (all played by Terry Kilkelly). After several false starts with voices off, it started shambolically and got even more chaotic, but in the most amusing surreal way, ending with the audience tiptoeing out leaving Count Arthur and Terry both asleep on the sofa in front of the telly! An act to catch again in Edinburgh next year for sure.