We saw Tim Minchen last night at the 100 Club in London. He was hilarious! The 100 Club is a shitty shitty venue. Bad sound, bad positioning of the stage so only about 10 peopple can hear and see properly. They started half an hour earlier than advertised, no coat check, watered down drinks…I could go on, but I’ll just sound old.

But Tim was awesome! And he stood beside me before he went on stage and said he was worried everyone would know his songs already. And I said I was worried I’d already know all his songs and could he make stuff up on stage, please? Ho ho. It’s not every day I have a little chit chat with a superstar before they go on stage. The audience loved him to pieces even though we had all heard at least some of the songs before. He’s a fun guy and seeing him live is a hoot.

He opened with this song. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-JIjEsLkDA

Here’s a picture I took with my crappy iPhone. I dont know why they even bother having a camera it’s so shitful.

We saw Doris Salcedo’s crack. Its huge!

It runs the length of the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall and has everyone enthralled. What struck me was how it fascinated the little kids. Even the babies wanted to walk astraddle it without any prompting. It’s called Shibboleth. That’s deep.

I’ll let the Guardian explain.

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2187568,00.html

So you think your Mum is weird. Well mine knits sweaters for penguins. Uh huh. For real.

Apparently they use them when there is an oil spill or something.

We’ve been to the Globe 3 times this year, cos it it THE best night out in London.

For only 5 quid you can stand in the pit, which is definitely the best place to be. You can see and hear everything and often part of the performance actually takes place down in the pit. The actors also make little gestures to the “groundlings” when ever they mention poverty or the ‘lower classes’. Heheh, Shakey knew how to work the crowd that’s for sure.

We saw Othello, the Merchant of Venice and Love’s Labour’s Lost. Love’s Labour’s Lost is a total ‘filler episode’ in Shakespear - season 1; although they had a lot of bawdy fun with it. But Othello is a multiple brain orgasm of wit and intrigue. And the M of V is clever and relevant even today.

The Globe is a magic place.

You know one of the best nights out in London is to just be out in London. You don’t have to be stuck in some dark smelly hole with expensive drinks to meet people and have a good time.

The other night our friends Umporn and Ngaire were leaving London for Barcelona. And what did they want to do for their last night in ol’ Blighty? Just walk along the Thames. So we took some bottles of bubbly and some plastic cups and just wandered along the river on a Saturday night. Met all kinds of weird and wonderful souls and had a very blurry blast.

We just went to an Ethiopian restaurant in Finchley Road with our mates Ben, Kate and Raul. They are all Ethiopian food aficionados, but Brett and I were tishka virgins.

Curries on big pancakes sounded quite boring and stodgy to me, but I was very pleasantly surprised. The crepes are not made with flour (some special exotic grain) and are quite light and lemony.

But the best thing is the home made moonshine - I mean mead. It tastes of cloves and honey and fruit. I bought a couple of plastic water bottles filled with the stuff. The kind lady pierced the bottle caps for us so that it wouldn’t explode! Seriously.

So do yourself a favour. Tobia - 2a Lithos Rd Finchley Road London.

Sir Elton John, Brett and I went to see Amy Winehouse perform last night at Shepherds Bush Emporium. Her new husband and her Dad came along as well. I’m not saying we all arrived together and went for beers after the show, but we were all packed into the tiny venue together to see Amy sing.

Now I think Amy Winehouse is one of the greatest singer songwriters of all time. She’s only in her early twenties and has already written a bunch of jazz standards. She could sing Christmas carols under water and still be awesome.

But I have to say this gig was a bit half arsed. She came on late and left early and looked like she had somewhere better to be.

When she wobbled around half pissed on those ridiculously high heels with those spindly legs I couldn’t help think of Bambi. Her tragic vulnerability is fascinating, but it’s a bit like watching a train crash about to happen.

I still love her to bits.

We saw the Gilbert and George exhibit at the Tate Modern last week. It was awesome.

I also got addicted to this flash game where you make pictures of yourself and friends in the South Park style.

http://www.sp-studio.de/

So I did an homage to Gilbert and George. I call it Life and Death. I do crack myself up sometimes.

Our buddy Timbo from Tokyo was in town so we went to the Tate Modern for lunch. It has the best view and the best value food in London.

Tim and Brett went on Carsten Höller’s big slippery dip in Turbine Hall. They said it was cool, but I was too chicken to hurl myself into a three story tube with only a little canvas sack for protection. I just lurked down the bottom taking pictures and digesting my lunch.

We took a walk through Highgate Cemetery (London).

Apparently there are two halves to Highgate Cemetery. Unawares we went the the ‘new’ half which was beautiful and spooky and overgrown. But when we came out the guy closing the gate of the ‘other half’ said we’d missed the best part: The older spookier half. It would appear there is some kind of inter-grave yard rivalry between the two parts of Highgate Cemetery.

Dueling bone yards.

Here are the some pics of the ‘new bit’. I’ll have to go back and see the other half one day.