saw the Monsters of Folk on tuesday. felt like an age since i last went to a gig (though i think it was only late summer, Tindersticks), i finally get to see the inside of the Troxy. it was good, there is more to write later maybe.

went drinking last night with current and former office colleagues. one of the good things about this place is the comraderie and genuine affection the workers have for one another. although it takes some getting used to and has definite downsides regarding personal/professional boundaries etc. glad to see some old faces, but was super-tired all day, and 3.5 pints later was ver drunk. ah well. don't feel too bad today but a mild hangover is indicated by my lack of disposition to do anything, and frequent typos.

some of these are good: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/openletters/

and, my painter friend is in this show, at orbital comics, ends on monday: http://www.dansemacabre-art.co.uk/dm_london2009.html go see it.

now, to work out how to get to Longstowe tonight, and Burwell tomorrow. should i try and get a lift, or just accept that there will be a lot of cycling tomorrow (Longstowe-Cambridge-Burwell-Cambridge)...?

blue_mai fashion shock (for anyone that knows me in person, like):
today i bought black skinny jeans.
then i bought purple skinny jeans.
!!!

Sophie Calle exhib at Whitechapel
Points of View: Capturing the 19th Century in Photographs at the British Library http://www.bl.uk/pointsofview/
Photography collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/photography/
Of Dreams and Cities at BFI Southbank http://www.bfi.org.uk/whatson/bfi_southbank/film_programme/november_seasons/of_dreams_and_cities
Garry Fabian Miller (photo that was in the overview permanent stuff at V&A titled "Breathing in the Beech Wood, Homeland, Dartmoor, Twenty Four Days of Sunlight")
http://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/photography/past_exhns/miller/index.html
http://www.jameshymangallery.com/pages/exhibition/760.html

am getting a cold again. all achey down the back of neck and shoulders and feels funny just below my ears. been a bit dopey all afternoon but then, feeling kinda distracted anyway. haven't been able to sleep well lately. gah. don't need this now. have an all-day outing with the shtewdents tomorrow, rain forecast...

look who's back: http://www.siteenvirodesign.com/ (or S.I.T.E. never actually go away...?)
the A.O.C. http://www.theaoc.co.uk/
Douglas Coupland's 2nd house (renovation in Vancouver) http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/08/12/garden/20090813-location-slideshow_index.html
http://www.arcspace.com/books/taschen/Case_Study_Houses/csh_book.html
http://www.artsandarchitecture.com/case.houses/

http://www.beardsworth.co.uk/
http://www.fstopmagazine.com/
http://copyrightaction.com/node
(to look at later)

i find the celebrity DJs a mixed bag, frequently irritating (Michael Ball, Alan Titchmarsh, Elaine Page...) but sometimes really good. Huey Morgan and Liza Tarbuck over the summer were a lovely surprise, i was quite disappointed when Ross came back from holiday... kinda annoying but also kinda endearing Dermot OLeary just can't be reconciled with that bloke on X-Factor. Imogen Heap was great on his show at the weekend - worth trawling the iplayer to get to the bit where she sings Thriller, it's just fantastic. i might do that tomorrow actually, can't remember what sort of time it was. anyway, so John Barrowman isn't as good as i thought he would be (perhaps it's just the showtunes, not really my cup of tea), but Paul O'Grady is wonderful: dead pets, northern soul and Montserrat Caballe. in general i like people better on the radio than on tv (the same person, that is), i think it's that they talk to you on radio, you dear listener they say, not the vast impersonal audience of TV to be performed at.

archity:
http://www.horhizon.com/
http://cfd.wimbledon.ac.uk/ - centre for drawing
http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions/sophie-calle-talking-to-strangers

i think my train did the equivalent of ctrl-alt-delete this morning when we we had to 'reboot' at Royston... cue sitting in the dark and quiet for a few minutes before we start up again. in combination with problems connecting the second train at cambridge, and the go-slow from there until the reboot, we got into kingsx 20 minutes late...

oh yes there was something else:
i mentioned before but don't quite recall the outcome. i have lots of redundant paper at work, large sheets of white plain bond, printed on one side. the ink isn't water-resistant, nor is the paper great for drawing on in ink, it's quite loose and absorbent (plotter paper) and is about 90gsm (at a guess). this is the normal state of things, some of this stuff looking a bit dog-eared and dusty, or folded in boxes. Some of the folded stuff is from the copiers, so potentially better for drawing on. Anyway, right now i have about 10 pristine (apart from the printing) A1 sheets on my desk. Anyone want them before they go under the desk to join the dusty ones?

also, someone commented the other day that with the popular demise of film photography people no longer have easy access to film cases, those marvellous multi-purpose waterproof little boxes. I, as you may have guessed, have lots. If anyone would like some just let me know.
I currently have several in my bag and by my bed, holding iron tablets, pencil sharpeners, moisturiser, a piece of solid deodorant, paper punch tips, needle and thread, scalpel blades, broken bracelet...