I was intrigued by an article in Sunday's Indy about carlings, traditionally eaten on the 5th Sunday of Lent Up North. I remember them as black peas, eaten at Bury Fair with a teaspoon out of a cracked cup with a dash of vinegar. They're also on sale in Bury shops around Bonfire night. They are also known as carlin peas, maple peas and pigeon peas (cos they're mainly fed to pigeons these days!). There's a black pea stall in the station forecourt at Rawtenstall. The author enjoying a portion of black peas in Rawtenstall.

Teach yourself messy Japanese calligraphy with OSUG. Hours of fun!

A cleanshaven Country Joe McDonald was in fine voice last night at The Greys - he's also a very fine guitarist. He started with 'Give us an F' but left the rest for later. Looking a bit like Sir Cliff Richard, he told some great stories about Janis Joplin (he wrote a song for her), John Fahey (who apparently did a crap first set cos he wasn't drunk enough, a great second set, and a crap third set cos he was too drunk - and kept popping out for a piss mid-song only to resume at exactly the same spot when he returned!), smoking banana skins (it doesn't work kids, unless you're dropping acid too!), Florence Nightingale and the origins of the famous Fish Cheer. Unfortunately Nick had to leave without hearing his most famous song to catch the last train of the 'enhanced' Easter Monday service. I didn't like to set my flash off during the set, so the other coupla pix are very blurry - this one is at the end of I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die Rag.

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain have released their cover of urban pop rap classic 'Miss Dy-na-mi-tee'. Apparently Kate Bush wouldn't let them cover 'Wuthering Heights', which is a shame. They were great at the Lewes Live Lit Festival last year. Must purchase a uke!

Just been to see 9 Songs at the Dukes on a sunny Thursday afternoon. By heck, is this what young people get up to after a gig? I rather liked it (he says in Tom Paulin voice) - not at all boring as all the sophisto crits have been bangin on about. Nice cameos by Elbow (Bury band) and Michael Nyman.

thevessel: My home page - The Vessel, aka Mikey Georgeson, artist/illustrator and singer/organist with David Devant and his Spirit Wife (and Carfax) now has a blog! and has kindly added mine to his list. Must reciprocate. Just bought a LaCie Porsche-powered 160 Ryan Giggs hard drive to back up my iTunes etc - ordered one yesterday from Galaxy Peripherals who claim in Mac mags to have the lowest prices, but they were out of stock and kindly refunded my dosh. Went to the rather good Dealtime and found another one at Savastore (crap name, but excellent service!) at a tenner cheaper and ordered late yesterday affy, it arrived this morning. Isn't the internet wonderful!

Robert Crumb: discussed his medley of comic characters, his acid-fuelled days, existentialism and crosshatching with the Guardian's cartoonist Steve Bell at the National Film Theatre. He was also joined on stage by his wife Aline Kominsky-Crumb and Peter Poplaski. Here's the full transcript.

Shop puns

Brighton has been named Shop Name Horror Capital by author Guy Swillingham, 33, who has always been fascinated by shop names. On almost every shopping street customers are confronted by spoonerisms, wordplay and assorted bad puns. My favourite is Plate Expectations, sadly now closed, in Gardner Street - and of course Thistle Do Nicely in Edinburgh.

War on wheelie bins is brewing: AOH supremo Graham Hale has strung a banner from his house saying: 'Cityunclean. Pavements for people. Keep bins off our pavements. Brighton Not Bintown.' Mr Hale called on others to join the protest by emailing: nowheeliebins@hotmail.co.uk. I'm with you Graz - I only put a bag of mainly plastic packaging out every 2 or 3 weeks - the rest goes to Magpie or the compost bin!

The Birmingham Pen Trade Heritage Association: another Peter Chrisp recommendation! Wow! you can even buy nibs from this site. Must visit it, and also take in the City of Birmingham at ThinkTank too. I ask you! what's wrong with the word 'museum' for goodness sake!

Crumb Museum - Spools: this link comes courtesy of Peter Chrisp -- Brighton face, sandwich maker and raconteur -- who has just discovered my blog! These must predate his decorated pistachio nut shells featured in the handbook.

Neil and Yvonne Innes Road Trip 2005: a diary of the current UK tour. Missed him at Worthing but have a ticket for The Greys gig in May.

Is Adam's old bike a treasure of our city?: the Sage of Sussex's faithful companion - a pushbike he bought thirty years ago - has been left to rot in a dank garden shed.

R Crumb was in great form (in a Woody Allen sort of way) last night at the National Film Theatre in conversation with Steve Bell, especially when Aline, after much heckling, joined them on stage. Steve was interested in technical details like what nib Rapidograph he used and how he drew lefthanded. Any difficult questions were put down to his acid years. Spotted in the audience were Mike Leigh and Jim Broadbent (and Paul Gambacinni and Corinne Pearlman). I was disappointed he didn't do a signing in the end but I got Zorro and Aline to sign my book. He'd mentioned Hogarth's paintings at 'The Soane house'. Strangely enough I was at Sir John Soane's Museum earlier. Wal had phoned me on the train to say the Bonham's Crumb exhibition had shut a day early and I was at a loose end. Wonderful place, bathed in light on a spring day. Grumpy curator only opened the 'painting doors' when I assured her I'd exhaustively studied the top paintings, but she was relieved by a more knowledgeable chap who showed me the Piranasis and Turner lurking under the surface! Also popped into the Hunterian museum opposite to see grisly things in bottles! Drink with Wal then down to The Hole in the Wall to meet Geo. The train back was delayed by a 'trespasser' (body) on the line at Clapham Junction.

Council admits book skip mistake: hmmmm!

The high priest of self-loathing: another R Crumb interview -- in The Times.

Letter: We don't want this unit in anyone's back yard: Gus Garside's 'no NIMBY' lead letter.

Ex-teacher with a pencil point: John Richards has spent more than a decade reinventing the pencil to help children develop their handwriting and relieve writer's cramp.

eggbaconchipsandbeans: not a great fan of greasy spoons (being vegaquarian I can't abide the smell of rancid lard) - but I do love a classic cafe. A modern classic is my regular Brighton haunt, the Off Beat on Sydney Street: Fairtrade coffee, the till from Quodraphenia but alas no toasted teacakes!

Mental Drippings: 10 worst album covers of all time, according to Pork Tornado. Hmm, hard to beat!