Hampstead in the rain is just as good as Hampstead in the sun, you just have to stay cosy!
The weekend began with a gentle jog down to Kenwood House and back - a glorious sky and some good company helped me through the stitch, no doubt brought on by the curry the night before! After a quick shower, it was off to Covent Garden to meet Helen and Sam for noodles. We had a good catch up, before Sam left for the football and Hel's to Gloucestershire.
I strolled around central for an hour or so before heading back to Hampstead. By this time, the rain had started, so I decided to curl up indoors. My plan, however, didn't really work out...as I started on a mission to clear out my room. This involved a lot of black bags, the demolishing of a rubbish shelf stack and a new bookshelf. The re-arranging took hours! So by the time it was finished, it was time to go out for the evening. Sushi at the top of Harvey Nichols was the chosen spot, before having a glass of wine at the Sanderson Hotel and getting home for midnight before collapsing into bed.
The rain woke me up on Sunday, pouring off the roof whilst the wind batted the window. I met Pippa for a brunch at Ginger and White, we enjoyed a really nice coffee, before moving to The Flask (her choice...she likes a booze). It was still raining! After Pip left, I spent another hour or so in the flat before taking a brisk walk to The Spaniards with the rest of the gang in the flat. A glass of Malbec went down particularly well - The Spaniards being one of the best places to spend a rainy evening. We walked back, I picked up some salmon from the supermarket and went to cook up a treat and watch a film with the good lady wife.
Monday 30 November 2009
Friday 27 November 2009
Pool Party anyone?
I went to a pool party last night. However, I didn't get my trunks out and there weren't a hoard of lovely ladies in bikinis lounging around...rather, a load of lads drinking Stella and eating deep fried treats. You've guessed it, we were PLAYING pool. The evening was arranged by the lovely people at Columbia Records; Sam, Bryn, Lizzie and Toby - who I believe all lost to the mighty Radio 2 / 6 Music teams. I was just glad that my doubles partner, Gary, and I didn't go out first game!
Today is the last show in the 10 - 1 run that I'll be working on. Andrew Collins will be rounding off the week in style, then I'm hopping down the road to Kettners Champagne rooms to enjoy a gig by Fife Dangerfield (of Guillemots fame) perform some new toons - of the solo variety...
Oh, and if I'm offered a glass of something sparkly, I probably won't say no!
Today is the last show in the 10 - 1 run that I'll be working on. Andrew Collins will be rounding off the week in style, then I'm hopping down the road to Kettners Champagne rooms to enjoy a gig by Fife Dangerfield (of Guillemots fame) perform some new toons - of the solo variety...
Oh, and if I'm offered a glass of something sparkly, I probably won't say no!
Thursday 26 November 2009
A date at The Old Etonian
I enjoyed dinner at one of my favourite London restaurants last night, The Old Etonian, which is at Harrow On The Hill. The meal was as good as always, made better by the company - my good friend Andy B, and loveable dog Yancy.
I was hoping that I might be adventurous and try something new, but the fillet steak with cognac and mustard is too good to refuse, so I stuck with it and was bloody glad I did. The cheese board beat me, but the wine didn't. Andy and I got through a bottle of the house red, which is always so nice.
A good meal was much needed after the debauchary of The SRAs on Tuesday evening. Having mixed champagne, wine and beer, I was feeling slightly fragile.
I was hoping that I might be adventurous and try something new, but the fillet steak with cognac and mustard is too good to refuse, so I stuck with it and was bloody glad I did. The cheese board beat me, but the wine didn't. Andy and I got through a bottle of the house red, which is always so nice.
A good meal was much needed after the debauchary of The SRAs on Tuesday evening. Having mixed champagne, wine and beer, I was feeling slightly fragile.
Monday 23 November 2009
Vic and Bob and Lisa Hannigan
In this wonderful media job I have, I get the pleasure of meeting a lot cultural, influential, funny, cool and sometimes amazing people. Today, I enjoyed the company of Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer - who appeared on Andrew Collins' show on BBC 6 Music. Both genuinely funny gentlemen, who were lovely and polite.
It doesn't always hit me instantly quite how lucky I am to be in this unique position, and to spend a moment or two with some of our great entertainers. I remember at the end of 2008, whilst making a wonderful (if I do say so) documentary on the life of the great Bill Cotton, how happy I was to have not only been made tea by Bruce Forsyth at his home, but to have ridden in Val Doonican's Jag, shared a coffee with Rolf Harris and had a go on Sir Jimmy Saville's running machine.
I was also able to enjoy an intimate gig with Speech Debelle - this years Mercury Prize Winner - who performed in The 6 Music Hub. She sang just with an acoustic guitar, a very stripped back and raw performance, which was lovely and well recieved by the small audience.
After this rather celeb filled morning, I think tottered off to have lunch at HIX in Soho. HIX is one of chef Mark Hix's restaurants and has an amazing menu. I was taken by the manager of a new up and coming artist called Robinson, who charmed me and the rest of the guests over a champagne cocktail. The diners consisted of various people from Radio 2, including messers Alan Boyd and Mark Plant (2 good friends) and the wonderfully eccentric Janice Long and Alex Lester, both of whom I had the pleasure of sitting next to at the table.
I enjoyed a couple of glasses of Burgundy, some of Mark Hix's aged smoked salmon to start and an amazing Hanger Steak for the main, which came with a bone marrow stuffing and some of the best chips I have ever had! The whole meal was lovely, the conversation flowed and I managed to set up a dinner for when I'm over in LA next year. Wonderful!
The lunch took up the day (oh well) so instead of returning to the office, I perused the streets of London before meeting Ellie, another friend from work, who I introduced to the delights of The Tucan (a Guinness bar on the edge of Soho Square) We had a couple of pints, me drinking steadily, Ellie drinking through a straw, before going on to see the wonderful Lisa Hannigan perform at the Royal Festival Hall.
She played a wonderful set (not that we stayed til the end, I was tired) and the atmosphere was very...polite. After watching Lisa for an hour, we snuck out of the RFH, walked across Embankment Bridge and I endured the tube home...
It doesn't always hit me instantly quite how lucky I am to be in this unique position, and to spend a moment or two with some of our great entertainers. I remember at the end of 2008, whilst making a wonderful (if I do say so) documentary on the life of the great Bill Cotton, how happy I was to have not only been made tea by Bruce Forsyth at his home, but to have ridden in Val Doonican's Jag, shared a coffee with Rolf Harris and had a go on Sir Jimmy Saville's running machine.
I was also able to enjoy an intimate gig with Speech Debelle - this years Mercury Prize Winner - who performed in The 6 Music Hub. She sang just with an acoustic guitar, a very stripped back and raw performance, which was lovely and well recieved by the small audience.
After this rather celeb filled morning, I think tottered off to have lunch at HIX in Soho. HIX is one of chef Mark Hix's restaurants and has an amazing menu. I was taken by the manager of a new up and coming artist called Robinson, who charmed me and the rest of the guests over a champagne cocktail. The diners consisted of various people from Radio 2, including messers Alan Boyd and Mark Plant (2 good friends) and the wonderfully eccentric Janice Long and Alex Lester, both of whom I had the pleasure of sitting next to at the table.
I enjoyed a couple of glasses of Burgundy, some of Mark Hix's aged smoked salmon to start and an amazing Hanger Steak for the main, which came with a bone marrow stuffing and some of the best chips I have ever had! The whole meal was lovely, the conversation flowed and I managed to set up a dinner for when I'm over in LA next year. Wonderful!
The lunch took up the day (oh well) so instead of returning to the office, I perused the streets of London before meeting Ellie, another friend from work, who I introduced to the delights of The Tucan (a Guinness bar on the edge of Soho Square) We had a couple of pints, me drinking steadily, Ellie drinking through a straw, before going on to see the wonderful Lisa Hannigan perform at the Royal Festival Hall.
She played a wonderful set (not that we stayed til the end, I was tired) and the atmosphere was very...polite. After watching Lisa for an hour, we snuck out of the RFH, walked across Embankment Bridge and I endured the tube home...
Sunday 22 November 2009
The wonders of a roast
It's funny what a pub roast can do, with the right atmosphere and company!
Having planned a lazy day, after last night's combined 50th birthday (that's two friends' birthdays, one 24 the other 26) I started the day in completely the wrong way. Myself and flatmate Sam decided to embark on our weekend run on Hampstead Heath. Shorts and T-shirt on, bottle of water in hand and off we went. It was a drizzly day, slightly grey, but perfect running weather - so we thought. As we reached The Heath, the heavens opened and it completely tipped it down. Being British, and not wanting to give up, we continued on in full stride enjoying the cooling rain on our arms and legs. However, as we arrived deep into The Heath, the lightning, thunder and hail began. It was vicious! It was relentless and the wind was unbearable, beating against us without showing any mercy. All we could do was continue to run, we tried to find some shade to hide in - to no avail - and by the time we were home, our T-shirts had quite literally stuck themselves to our bodies.
After a coffee and a shower, the relaxing day I had planned got underway and my lovely friend George came to visit. We set out to the local Horseshoe pub in Hampstead (30 seconds walk away, so nice and easy) and enjoyed a beautiful bottle of Malbec and a good old Sunday roast. There's nothing quite like a decent meal, and some great conversation, to wile away the hours. Before we knew it, three hours had gone and we'd caught up on the past year. It's amazing what a Sunday roast can do...
Having planned a lazy day, after last night's combined 50th birthday (that's two friends' birthdays, one 24 the other 26) I started the day in completely the wrong way. Myself and flatmate Sam decided to embark on our weekend run on Hampstead Heath. Shorts and T-shirt on, bottle of water in hand and off we went. It was a drizzly day, slightly grey, but perfect running weather - so we thought. As we reached The Heath, the heavens opened and it completely tipped it down. Being British, and not wanting to give up, we continued on in full stride enjoying the cooling rain on our arms and legs. However, as we arrived deep into The Heath, the lightning, thunder and hail began. It was vicious! It was relentless and the wind was unbearable, beating against us without showing any mercy. All we could do was continue to run, we tried to find some shade to hide in - to no avail - and by the time we were home, our T-shirts had quite literally stuck themselves to our bodies.
After a coffee and a shower, the relaxing day I had planned got underway and my lovely friend George came to visit. We set out to the local Horseshoe pub in Hampstead (30 seconds walk away, so nice and easy) and enjoyed a beautiful bottle of Malbec and a good old Sunday roast. There's nothing quite like a decent meal, and some great conversation, to wile away the hours. Before we knew it, three hours had gone and we'd caught up on the past year. It's amazing what a Sunday roast can do...
Saturday 21 November 2009
Southside Johnny
What a performer!
Last night (Friday, 20th Nov) I was treated by good friend Steve, to a gig at the Shepherd's Bush Empire. The headline act was New Jersey's very own Southside Johnny, with his band of merry men...all of whom were exceptional players and performers.
The night began at the only good watering hole in "the bush", The Defectors Weld. A few pints of Guinness, a story about an Oasis gig and a long old conversation about Tom Waits were the order of the night. I was introduced to Dave, Graham and Johnny - Steve's old man and his two mates - all of whom knew how to drink and all of whom did! We then trudged over to The Empire and enjoyed a soulful 90 minutes of music.
Due to my horrendously busy week, I crashed and burned after a second cider and left the gig before the end. Still, I'd soaked up enough of the music to keep me going on the tube home.
Thanks again Steve - you're a legend!
Last night (Friday, 20th Nov) I was treated by good friend Steve, to a gig at the Shepherd's Bush Empire. The headline act was New Jersey's very own Southside Johnny, with his band of merry men...all of whom were exceptional players and performers.
The night began at the only good watering hole in "the bush", The Defectors Weld. A few pints of Guinness, a story about an Oasis gig and a long old conversation about Tom Waits were the order of the night. I was introduced to Dave, Graham and Johnny - Steve's old man and his two mates - all of whom knew how to drink and all of whom did! We then trudged over to The Empire and enjoyed a soulful 90 minutes of music.
Due to my horrendously busy week, I crashed and burned after a second cider and left the gig before the end. Still, I'd soaked up enough of the music to keep me going on the tube home.
Thanks again Steve - you're a legend!
Friday 20 November 2009
And so it begins...
It was a dreary November day when the idea of writing ramblings about my life came to fruition. The specific time and place was a little radio studio known as 4C in the depths of BBC 6 Music (well, not really the depths...the fourth floor to be precise) and the person who inspired it, Andrew Collins; writer, broadcaster and all-round nice guy.
The title was the hardest thing. How do you sum up exactly what your thoughts will mean to anyone, without writing paragraphs of information? Well luckily, Dan The Man (my current intern and all round legend piece) was on hand to create A Moron's Musings
My reasoning for starting the blog are three-fold:
1. Every so often in life, exciting things happen, and it's always nice to share these with others
2. In this rather hectic and frivolous world, it's good to know what your friends are up to
3. I like the sound of my own voice (typing)
So, here starts a new adventue, a new routine and hopefully some new and entertaining writing that you can enjoy, debate or rip to shreds at your leisure! Welcome to the 21st Century Joe...
The title was the hardest thing. How do you sum up exactly what your thoughts will mean to anyone, without writing paragraphs of information? Well luckily, Dan The Man (my current intern and all round legend piece) was on hand to create A Moron's Musings
My reasoning for starting the blog are three-fold:
1. Every so often in life, exciting things happen, and it's always nice to share these with others
2. In this rather hectic and frivolous world, it's good to know what your friends are up to
3. I like the sound of my own voice (typing)
So, here starts a new adventue, a new routine and hopefully some new and entertaining writing that you can enjoy, debate or rip to shreds at your leisure! Welcome to the 21st Century Joe...
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