Sun, Fire and Juno

Where did this amazing weather come from?! I was walking around in a t-shirt today - others were in shorts and flip-flops! A freak 2 days of glorious sunshine that unfortunately isn't going to last, but we have well and truly made the most of it. An uber 3hr walk in Richmond Park on Saturday and a good old romp around Clapham Common today - soaking up all those rays and getting those vitamin D levels back up.

So then, a bit of a hectic week - won't dwell on work too much in this post, but it's fair to say I am a busy bee at the mo'. Crazy deadlines, notably one that meant bailing out some peeps for 'forgetting' to get an exhibition stand designed...and remembering just a week before the event. Someone owes me a few pints...they know who they are. 

Pancake Day was celebrated in the traditional way, with some pretty rubbish attempts at making them - we got it right in the end. Caroline was in Stockholm on Wednesday and had her leaving do on Friday, so I had some shed time - played a load of guitar and started to re-do my portfolio website which is long overdue. February is a really expensive month for us with so many birthdays and a 5 week pay period, so decided so some cheap nights in was a good idea. Despite this Saturday night we went out for dinner with Maria and Rus - a sort of mini-b'day celebration/dinner club thing. Top notch french meal at Mini Mundus in Wandsworth Common. Great little restaurant serving very traditional and cheap french tucker. My mate Mark rang me mid-meal and told me that Camden Market was on fire! Checked the news when we got home - much of the canal market has been destroyed, as has the (in)famous Hawley Arms pub. Mark took some amazing photos showing the extent of the damage. Luckily, there were no casualties, but I feel for those poor stall-holders and poor old Camden Town. It is fantastic place and this is a real tragedy. 

After a long walk today, we went to the flicks to see Juno - what a lovely, heartwarming and wickedly dry humoured film. I have to say that the trailers didn't sell it to me, but a few friends highly recommended it. Ellen Page more than deserves the Oscar nomination. 9/10 - go and see it now. Settling down to watch the BAFTAs now.

Got a new book on the go: Pies and Prejudice - In Search of the North by the brilliant Stuart Marconnie. A long time fan of his work, I am really looking forward to this read. I can highly recommend his book Cider with Roadies, which looks at how he fell into music journalism and all the madness that resulted. 

Fav. listens this week: Led Zeppelin - Mothership; The All Star All Stars - Radiodread; Paul Hartoll - The Ideal Condition; Thom Yorke - The Eraser. 

A final note for my brother Stu - welcome to cohabitation and hope the swelling goes down soon.