Unintelligent Design

Off to Bologna, that is. I've survived my one day back at work, packed things and managed to catch a train to London.

From there it's down to Gatwick and onto a (very early) flight. Fortunately, my body is still in Whitby mode and does not require sleep. Honest. My brain, on the other hand, is doomed.

From Bologna, it's on to Mantova... and then I fall over and sleep for most of Friday. :)

So, here I am in Whitby. It's been a bit of a curate's egg so far.

It's a bit quiet. The Elsinore was mostly empty at 5:30 on Thursday.

A lot of familiar faces aren't here - and even though the Spa got reasonably busy by the end of Friday night, it still wasn't amazingly social.

Whitby itself is still lovely, of course. And it's been great to catch up with the people who are here - Batty, Alex, Lee, Dave H, Suz, Fuzzy, Giolla and some of the other usual suspects.

Mostly, though, I've been socialising with the Coventry contingent - Vicky, Col, Elaine and Huw. Which is generally more fun in the day than in the evenings, I think. The Spa isn't a great place to socialise in that way.

Possibly I just need more dancing. Or perhaps I've finally reached the point where the idea of a nice cup of tea, a slice of cake and a comfy chair appeals more than standing in the Spa with a plastic cup of passable booze, a bit of background noise and cold feet. :)

I appear to be triple-booked for most of April. Ooops.

On the plus side, this means I get to visit Italy (Mantova, Verona), Spain (San Sebastian) and probably Germany (Koln / Bergisch Gladbach). In that order. Probably.

But first... Whitby.

So, two days until I head north for Whitby. Not entirely sure what I'm going to do when I get there.

At various points, there will be bands, tea, cake, beer (in moderation), sleep (hypothetically), fish and chips... other than that, it's all a bit vague.

Any suggestions? 

Things to do in London this summer, #21...

Regent's Park - the open air production of The Beggar's Opera (June-July)

Anyone interested? :)

So, just to check  - who's going to Whitby for the WGW event weekend, then? And if you are, which days are you about (and are you doing the Spa event)?

I'll be there - probably Weds to Weds, although I might trim a day off one end.

Given that I didn't make it at all last year, I suspect that this will be a Traditional Whitby. In other words, when I'm not distracted by bands, it'll feature the Elsinore, some very good fish'n'chips and afternoon tea. :)

...and it's been a pretty good one.

Friday night was a chance to catch up with friends, sit around setting the world to rights and eat curry. Which is a pretty good combination, at least in my book. The sort of evening where we meant to watch a DVD or two, but the conversation kept the evening alight and somehow we never got around to it.

Saturday daytime mostly involved shopping, gardening (as mentioned in the previous post, I now have a kiwi plant - and also a pot of 'Stella D'Oros' daylillies) and tidying the house - with varying degrees of success.

( Saturday night - not the usual sort of club night... )

( Sunday lunch - latest attempt at new and interesting cookery... )

...and yeah, just saw the final Being Human. That was quite something. Still wondering if we'll get a season 4 and - if so - where the dynamic will go from here. Definitely liked seasons 2 and 3, though...

Right then. This year I've given up Facebook, Twitter and coffee for Lent.

This makes it a bit more likely that I'll be posting on LJ on a much more regular basis, at least 'til Easter. :)

Of course, many of these posts may involve gardening or other such 'exciting' topics (whatever happened to the rock'n'roll lifestyle, hmm?).

However, there are likely to be a few ramblings on other topics too - Whitby, gaming, film/tv/books and all o' that.

Let's see how it goes. :)

Today's cookery project: rabbit stew (generally well received)

Thursday's cookery project: Seville orange sorbet. :-)

Y'know, I'm gong to miss that place. It was too hot, the ceilings leaked, the floor stuck to your feet... but somehow, twice a year, it was magic. Lots of memories, not all of them good.

Mark S disputing last orders and almost getting a bunch of us kicked out. Lee Chaos on the dancefloor, hamming it up to Wuthering Heights. "Your trousers - two camels?!" Ordering takeaway pizza for delivery to the queue.  Elaine accidentally hooking a random goth.

Lying in a broken heap in one of the booths, back in April 2000, having discovered (the hard way) that I shouldn't touch taurine. Cuddly toy snakes. Bat attacks. Dave H in a basque. Simon sharking along the bar, aided and abetted by t-shirt slogans.

The Whitby shuffle. Dancing my age in songs. Ending a weekend with an exhausted, too-tired-to-even-argue breakup, of sorts. Too much Irish Rover. Confusing the overseas visitors (Carter USM and Zodiac Mindwarp didn't quite make it to the USA, it seems). 

A dancefloor riot that caused 'Holiday in Cambodia' to skip so many times that Sexbat eventually gave up and declared defeat.

Ant dancing to YMCA.

Nellie.

...and looking around on a packed dancefloor, suddenly realising that at least half the people dancing were folk I knew and counted as friends, even if I only saw them a couple of times each year. That's what made it special.