Stormy clouds. New horizons.

We live in interesting, but scary times my friends. A cascading economy caused by the greed of a relatively small number of people, bad advise taken by many more and ignorance of the warnings from those who been here before. Sickening it is indeed that powerful people who are being bailed out by, lets face it, public money will still be paid obscene bonuses for doing a bad job. I am cautiously concerned for myself and my dearest, but not panicking. Also fascinating to watch the imminent rise to power of America's first black president and the end of reign for the country's worst ever. Think back what the world was like in '94. How excited, energised and proud of ourselves we were and what we could achieve as a nation (and as a responsible developed world). The come down was more painful than many of us thought possible and the legacy will resonate for good time to come. As usual - I will watch with interest...

C and I have been busy bees, making the most of that there London and bimbling about before we get old and crusty. Here's a round-up:

Charlie and Phil's wedding in Worthing, Sussex - Lovely, happy, smiley day. Dancing, band, tears, great speeches, top food, terrible weather, crap hotel, too much champagne.

Dinner Club revival - Green and Reds in Bethnal Green with Maria and Rus. Fair to middling Mexican feast, not shabby, not amazing.

Billy Elliot - C's wedding anniversary present to me. Not a big fan of musicals, but this was just superb. The best thing I have seen in a theatre for years. Heartfelt, atmospheric, angst filled and humbling. 9/10.

Elbow at The Roundhouse - Ahh, our good friend Guy Garvey and his merry men from Manc (well, Bury). What a special gig, they are riding high this year and are getting their just rewards. The best we've seen them since Electric Picnic (when they nearly made me sob like a jessie - hard one to beat that)! The Roundhouse has the best sound too - maybe it's something to do with circles. Preceded by a lovely long walk in Richmond Park as we made the most of the last Indian Summer weekend we will be getting on these shores for quite a while.

Noah's birthday - Popped over to Mickleham to share a day in the sun with H, Kent and little (or not so little anymore) Noah - he's Two you know. Loved the Glockenspiel we bought him - not sure H and Kent did! Lovely walk to Leatherhead to ride on the miniature railway with him. Lovely day.

Spiritualized at The Roundhouse - Ladies and Gentleman, Maria and I floated in space (I would have seen more if I had - I hate being a short arse at gigs)?! Brilliant they were anyway, but after seeing MBV there, any attempt at a wall of sound wig-out just sounds like a pussycat snoring.

Chris and Jen's country pile in Littleworth, Oxfordshire - We love seeing these guys and staying in their amazing house. Good times, Chris's superb cooking and cellar, lovely Miley and little Coco, buggered my shoulder playing Wii.

Granny Di's and Papas - my lovely grand-in-laws. A great relaxing day, chats and papers. The best roast pork you will ever have the pleasure to chow down on.

New Toy - Harmon Kadron soundsticks II. Stupidly cheap off eBay and the lovely seller delivered them to the door. They look sound amazing and look fool as cuck.

Work - I've still got a job and in these times am grateful. Done some really good work recently. Designed some cool Flash eCards that the company will be using all over the world...even in Hull!

Quite a list - explains why I'm so skint. We are lucky to be able to get out and about so much and I am fully aware of that. Never been one to sit and scratch my arse anyway. 

In between all this it's been a week of realisations, frustrations and reaffirmations. It's cathartic to ride the rough waves to remind you of how big the ocean is. Enough of the cryptics...there's a party to prepare for and it doesn't get much bigger than this one!

Counting down...

Once again, a few weeks between blogs so here is a bit of a catch-up. Things have been hectic, but good - the weeks are flying by and summer appears to have passed us by with little more than a semi-burn (I blinked and I missed it), but the world keeps turning and I have lots to be thankful for:

A fantastic day two weekends ago was Eddie and Lucy's wedding - What a brilliant, happy day! Lucy used to be a chorister in Bristol Cathedral when she was younger, and as such is permitted to also be married there! It is a very impressive building and it made the day all the more special. The reception was held on the top floor of Bristol's Science Museum - another amazing venue. Met some lovely people; was lucky enough to eat and drink like a king and danced like a tit in a West Country Ceilidh. As with all weddings the day sped by through having much fun, but we all had a great time sharing Lucy and Eddie's special day (they looked so happy) and it brought back fond memories of out wedding nearly a year ago to the day. After a wander around Bristol (and what a lovely city it is) with sore heads we headed back to London, did our chores then set about celebrating our first wedding anniversary:

The first Wedding Anniversary being Paper, C and I read each other's minds and bought tickets as presents - Bloc Party from myself, Billy Elliot from C. We had also put some pennies back and treated ourselves to an amazing slap up feast at our fav. local restaurant Chez Bruce - yum, hic, burp. Sunday was pretty much a write-off, but in the evening we went to see Rock'n'Rolla at the flicks. A return to form for Guy Ritchie, but basically it was more of the same - easy enjoyable viewing.

The week of work that followed was pretty full-on. I feel a 36hr day might just be enough to get on top of all the projects I am involved in, let alone the ad-hoc stuff that takes up most of my day anyway. I am keeping my head about water without much trouble, but some stuff I am barely denting. I can multi-task so well I put some women to shame these days though! My beloved Wacom tablet gave up the ghost after 3.5 years of punishment - I am lost without it these days. Currently writing a business case for a souped-up replacement in a work environment where non-fee earning staff have trouble fighting for investment. Anyway, some good stuff done this week - my Flash work is progressing and I really enjoy the projects. It's been fun to chug out a load of print work for a change, plus my involvement in some Global projects is getting welcome recognition.

Broke the week up on Wednesday by meeting Mark lad after work for our usual noodle dinner, then wandering London chewing the cud, flicking the shutters and larking about. Heather stayed over on Thursday for more of the same - all good fun and cool to spend some quality time with her.

Friday I powered though work then bobbed on the train up home to Harrogate. Popped straight in to DragonDropHQ where Tinanana's birthday was being celebrated. A chilled time sat round the firebin in the backyard chatting, a few beers and having laughs. Nice surprise to see my mucker PaintMonkey there too - lots of lovely catch ups. Saturday heralded a slight return for summer so my folks and I went for a walk in the countryside near Pannal - we picked enough blackberries for mum to make 7 jars of scrummy jam. Dinner with La Familia at Brio's in the evening, then went round to see my old friend Rhiannon who is about to embark on an epic year long round-the-world trip with her hubby Jonn - lucky so-and-so's - have an amazing time guys! Sunday I went to see my dear old Nan, then went to pick up my Godson Felix from cub camp, followed by a GeoCache hunt near Glassehouses with Matt and the kids. Note to self - don't where sandals in the Yorkshire countryside after the wettest summer on record - footwear malfunction! Cool to spend some quality time with my bestest bud and his lovely offspring (Sophie not pictured). A big sorry to Sophie Pie for knocking her head when I lifted her out of the car! :( Matt dropped me off at Leeds Station (I barely recognise the city where I went to Uni anymore). I shared a very enjoyable journey home chatting and sharing a bottle of wine with two seasoned and wise old travellers from Ohio - Pat and Mauren. 

I've been whiling this week away ahead of a much needed break with C (who was at her show at the NEC most of the week). Saw Swervedriver at Scala with Maria and Rus on Wednesday - they've improved with age and were great. Reminded me why I liked them back in the early 90s. All loose ends are now tied up, voicemail and out-of-office activated. Artwork pre-flighted, packaged and deployed. Sites synced. Temp files trashed. Shutdown...wind down...depart...ciao...