Family life, funnily enough
Just before we head off to the snow-covered north – where we’re aiming to build our first snowman, this was last weekend at Chelsea Piers at a friends birthday party. There’s a few more in the December folder of the kids pictures (usual log-in required).
Washington Square Park’s not quite wild woods, but it’s good for him to experience a little nature, you know – squirrels, pigeons and old hippies holding a jam session.
Anyway it’s always handy to have a big stick in your hand:
Its Manic Street Preachers week on BBC 6Music, the station I listen to more or less every day. Among other things, they have recordings of 7 songs from the Manics gig from the Astoria in London, in December 1994. Hard to think it was 10 years ago, but Ray and I were there. It turned out to be the final gig including Richey Edwards, who disappeared two months later and hasn’t been seen since, though of course nobody knew that at the time.
Anyway the concert footage shows what a good guitarist James Bradfield is and frankly how ropey Edwards was on rhythm guitar (though he never claimed he could play). You can barely hear Edwards most of the time because he was basically there to co-write the lyrics and look cool. Both of which he managed to pull off with some aplomb. I recall them smashing the equipment up a bit at the end of the gig and us standing around as the place emptied and there being debris strewn around the stage.
And they are one British band who I doubt I’ll ever see in New York or anywhere in America again after their experiences here in 1996 and 1999, which we witnessed. Seeing them pay a 30 min slot as one band among six at Wetlands in 1996 will always stick in the memory.
To augment his burgeoning football skills by actually playing on grass (as opposed to the hardwood floors of the gym) we took him up to Central Park the weekend before last. More pictures in the November section of the Kid’s albums.
This is an old’un, but a good’un that I just found again. It’s from a something called the Social Issues Research Centre in the UK. A few years back it published a report called Passport to the Pub: A guide to British pub etiquette. It was apparently commissioned to do so by the UK brewer’s association, so read into that what you care to. And I’ve since seen SIRC quoted defending the brewing industry whene the UK’s binge drinking problem is brought up, which it has been a fair bit this past year. Anyway, this is a section on pubs you find on housing estates and its reflects the somewhat toungue-in-cheek nature of the rest of the report, which is worth reading (if you have any interest in British pub culture):
Estate pubs tend to be functional rather than aesthetically pleasing. You will not find any pretty, quaint, old-fashioned estate pubs, for the obvious reason that most estates, and their pubs, were built after World War Two. The estate pub is usually a large building, and decidedly utilitarian in appearance, although it may well be hung about with banners and posters advertising forthcoming events or promotions. Do not be put off by the exterior. If you wanted a glossy-guidebook pub, you would not have come this far.
Estate pubs are not to everyones taste, but visitors with a genuine curiosity about British life and culture will find much to capture their interest. Most tourists do not have the opportunity to spend time in the homes of ordinary natives: the estate pub is as close as you will get to a behind-the-scenery perspective on Britain.
Advice: If you get into conversation with an estate-pub regular, you would be wise to refrain from commenting on the appearance or behaviour of other people in the pub, as you may well be talking to their uncle, cousin or mother-in-law!”
And here’s a classic example, the Lord Nelson in Union Street, Southwark, London SE1, which we passed on a trip there back in 2002:
