23.10.06

Veggie black pudding

By heck! R. S. Ireland are making a veggie black pudding. I used to love black puddings when I ate meat - a boiled one in newspaper on Bury market with the skin pulled back and a dollup of yellow English mustard in the slit! I shall have to look out for them when I go Up North next week. (Technically, I suppose it is possible to make black puddings without killing an animal if one's vegginess is on moral grounds?) What next? I vote for veggie faggots (if they can do veggie haggis, they can surely do faggots, savoury duck and saveloys?) and veggie 'steak' and 'kidney' puddings (like the gorgeous wild mushroom suet pud I had in Terre a Terre a while back).

Wet weekend in Brighton


Wet weekend in Brighton, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

I've been a bit lax on the old blogging front lately. 'Winter draws on' as the vicar once said. I got soaked yesterday cycling down to the Fishing Museum to see an exhibition by the Sussex Art Collective, featuring Lesley White's landscapes, Katherine Morton/Smith and the ubiquitous Nick Orsborn, who told me all about how the famous Festival posters started (his was the first in 1987). Got some nice haddock for my tea from the smoked fish man while I was down in the Old Fishing Quarter and had a quick cycle up and down the front.

A funny thing happened on the way home from the Catalyst Club on Thursday (excellent value as usual, with a free Viv Stanshall Sir Henry CD thrown in – of course I had them all already, but I'm always up for a freeby!). I was cycling up my road about midnight when I passed a chavvy-looking young lady on her doorstep shouting down her mobile telephone. 'Mister, mister!' she paused to shout after me. 'Can you open the door for me,? I can't turn the key cos I've just had me nails done', she pleaded displaying a full set of talons. I did the deed and she was very grateful, but didn't seem to understand me when I said it was a neighbourly thing to do!

The Indy was a jolly good read yesterday, lots of interesting articles (Spamalot, Ian Rankin) and of course the latest instalment of Chris Ware's Building Stories. Genius!

Finally, I had two days without internet last week thanks to nt-hell cutting me off inexplicably. It took over a dozen phone calls and three hours of my time, backwards and forwards between customer 'care' and tech support to get me back online, albeit with a new user name and password! Grrr. What a fragile world we live in dot dot dot

8.10.06

EnvironMental


EnvironMental, originally uploaded by fred pipes.

While shopping at Sussex Stationers on London Road yesterday, I heard a European woman's voice shouting down at me saying I wouldn't be disappointed if I came up. Naturally I fled - to the safety of a nearby Co-op. Today I ventured back today to what I now know is part of the Brighton Photo Fringe. Fringe to what you may ask? Why the Brighton Photo Biennial, taking place all over town. Back to our local show: it's an exhibition called EnvironMental, curated by Denise Felkin (website www.denisefelkin.com/36a now appears to be working) in one of those amazing Georgian houses hidden behind shop facades, comprising photos and videos mainly by local women plus sculptures by the Mutoid Waste Co, an outfit I remember organising warehouse parties back in the 1980s. Well worth a visit, and you get a good view of Brighton's other famous Banksy! Popped down to the Art School to catch some official photo art, but they're shut on Sundays!