Swinging London
Oct. 11th, 2004 07:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
j4Well, that weekend was definitely a success.
Friday:
Friday night was a mini oxmeet in the Free Press (other attendees: the owner of the head from which![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-syndicated.gif)
headpiping is piped; ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pseudomonas; addedentry; lnr; ewx). Some of us played Scrabble on a mini travel board with 20+ missing tiles, and nobody won, though we arm-wrestled for a nominal winner. Lots of conversation about books and music and languages and Oxford and stuff and things, and Colin told me about some exciting theory of genetics and linguistics which basically proves that we are words all the way through, which I really should go and try to find now that I may be sober enough to understand it.
Notes:
–pseudomonas, I said I'd point you to Portfolio's webpage, but it appears to be rather broken... I think the relevant information is there though. Mail me if you want more info.
– The Free Press does a really great salad: the so-called "Lancashire salad", which contained black pudding, cabbage, bacon, potato, and some bits of green salad, plus three poached eggs on top and three slices of fried bread at the side. I mean, wow. A girl couldfall in love explode!
* * *
Saturday:
Headed over to London forverlaine's birthday party. I was slightly nervous about going to the party of somebody I'd never met in real life before, but I needn't have worried; verlaine is an excellent host (even not minding when partied-out people are still hanging around mid-afternoon the next day) and the party was excellent. Delightful to meet so many lovely people, all of whose LJ-names I will now have to go and track down. (I remember people's real names, but will refrain from namechecking them on the basis that I don't know how much they mind being named on a world-readable journal.)
Notes:
– drinking red wine and then switching to vodka and cream soda, when the only thing you've eaten beforehand is a smoked salmon bagel, is a really bad idea. I'm afraid I was a bit ill for a while (though recovered with a resilience that I thought I'd lost when I graduated) - thanks and apologies to the people who looked after me.
– I can't remember what I sang on the karaoke game thingy, but I'm sorry for that as well. :-}
* * *
Sunday:
Sunday began with the inevitable hangover, bizarre instant cappucino (a result ofpanzerpenguin's well-meaning attempt to make coffee in a house which had been stripped of all its food contents by ravenous party-animals), and later some proper breakfastlunch. I wonder what the Sainsburys Local people made of a handful of dazed goths buying pizza, garlic bread, egg custard tarts, Coke, and catfood...
Once I was feeling human enough to negotiate the underground, I made a dash across town to seenou for waistcoat-fitting and a very welcome hangover-curing cup of tea. The waistcoat which she is knitting for me is made of yarn which looks like BADGER EYELASHES, all black and white and grey and fluttery, and it is very soft and lovely.
Then headed back to Waterloo to meet up again withverlaine et al (help! I need LJ-nicks!), in order to go and see the Magnetic Fields (supported by The Real Tuesday Weld) at the Royal Festival Hall. By this time I was nearly falling over from sleep deprivation (though fish and chips from the implausibly-named 'Fishcotheque' helped) and I was worried that I'd end up falling asleep if the bands failed to hold my attention. Again, though, no need to have worried: TRTW were great, as I'd expected after hearing I, Lucifer; and the Magnetic Fields were simply sublime - I was utterly entranced from start to finish. Proper gig review to follow, maybe ... or perhaps I'll just listen to the albums (I bought 69 Love Songs at lunchtime - three other albums are on order from Play) and hope the blissed-out feeling lasts. Good music in good company is even better than salad. :-)
In addition to fellow party-survivors who I was expecting to see at the gig (not just the ones who invited me along but others as well), we bumped intojulietk and Pete-who-does-now-have-an-LJ-but-I-can't-remember-what-it-is (which was not entirely surprising) and spyinthehaus, whom to the best of my recollection I haven't seen since about 1998. It was rather like the sort of dream where all the people you know turn up in one unlikely place. Or maybe just one of those remarkable occasions when Everyone Was There ... and for once, so was I.
Got home at 2am last night. Overall I make that approximately 12 hours sleep in the entire weekend... and, amazingly, I feel fine. My body clock appears to have reset itself to the age of 19. Party on, dude.
Friday:
Friday night was a mini oxmeet in the Free Press (other attendees: the owner of the head from which
headpiping is piped; pseudomonas; addedentry; lnr; ewx). Some of us played Scrabble on a mini travel board with 20+ missing tiles, and nobody won, though we arm-wrestled for a nominal winner. Lots of conversation about books and music and languages and Oxford and stuff and things, and Colin told me about some exciting theory of genetics and linguistics which basically proves that we are words all the way through, which I really should go and try to find now that I may be sober enough to understand it. Notes:
–
pseudomonas, I said I'd point you to Portfolio's webpage, but it appears to be rather broken... I think the relevant information is there though. Mail me if you want more info. – The Free Press does a really great salad: the so-called "Lancashire salad", which contained black pudding, cabbage, bacon, potato, and some bits of green salad, plus three poached eggs on top and three slices of fried bread at the side. I mean, wow. A girl could
* * *
Saturday:
Headed over to London for
verlaine's birthday party. I was slightly nervous about going to the party of somebody I'd never met in real life before, but I needn't have worried; verlaine is an excellent host (even not minding when partied-out people are still hanging around mid-afternoon the next day) and the party was excellent. Delightful to meet so many lovely people, all of whose LJ-names I will now have to go and track down. (I remember people's real names, but will refrain from namechecking them on the basis that I don't know how much they mind being named on a world-readable journal.)Notes:
– drinking red wine and then switching to vodka and cream soda, when the only thing you've eaten beforehand is a smoked salmon bagel, is a really bad idea. I'm afraid I was a bit ill for a while (though recovered with a resilience that I thought I'd lost when I graduated) - thanks and apologies to the people who looked after me.
– I can't remember what I sang on the karaoke game thingy, but I'm sorry for that as well. :-}
* * *
Sunday:
Sunday began with the inevitable hangover, bizarre instant cappucino (a result of
panzerpenguin's well-meaning attempt to make coffee in a house which had been stripped of all its food contents by ravenous party-animals), and later some proper Once I was feeling human enough to negotiate the underground, I made a dash across town to see
nou for waistcoat-fitting and a very welcome hangover-curing cup of tea. The waistcoat which she is knitting for me is made of yarn which looks like BADGER EYELASHES, all black and white and grey and fluttery, and it is very soft and lovely.Then headed back to Waterloo to meet up again with
verlaine et al (help! I need LJ-nicks!), in order to go and see the Magnetic Fields (supported by The Real Tuesday Weld) at the Royal Festival Hall. By this time I was nearly falling over from sleep deprivation (though fish and chips from the implausibly-named 'Fishcotheque' helped) and I was worried that I'd end up falling asleep if the bands failed to hold my attention. Again, though, no need to have worried: TRTW were great, as I'd expected after hearing I, Lucifer; and the Magnetic Fields were simply sublime - I was utterly entranced from start to finish. Proper gig review to follow, maybe ... or perhaps I'll just listen to the albums (I bought 69 Love Songs at lunchtime - three other albums are on order from Play) and hope the blissed-out feeling lasts. Good music in good company is even better than salad. :-) In addition to fellow party-survivors who I was expecting to see at the gig (not just the ones who invited me along but others as well), we bumped into
julietk and Pete-who-does-now-have-an-LJ-but-I-can't-remember-what-it-is (which was not entirely surprising) and spyinthehaus, whom to the best of my recollection I haven't seen since about 1998. It was rather like the sort of dream where all the people you know turn up in one unlikely place. Or maybe just one of those remarkable occasions when Everyone Was There ... and for once, so was I. Got home at 2am last night. Overall I make that approximately 12 hours sleep in the entire weekend... and, amazingly, I feel fine. My body clock appears to have reset itself to the age of 19. Party on, dude.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-10-11 01:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-11 01:33 pm (UTC)It'd be lovely to see you again. Thankfully London and Cambridge are not too far away from one another, so I'm sure something can be arranged... :-)
no subject
Date: 2004-10-11 03:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-11 04:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-11 05:35 pm (UTC)Charmed to make your acquaintance, m'dear. :)
no subject
Date: 2004-10-12 03:02 am (UTC)Well, not exactly bouncing... sitting in a chair and being carried away on waves of good music. Mmm.
Yes, that was a bit odd...
Date: 2004-10-12 01:56 am (UTC)Re: Yes, that was a bit odd...
Date: 2004-10-12 03:14 am (UTC)None required! Your abstractedness is part of your charm.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-12 04:49 am (UTC)My body clock appears to have reset itself to the age of 19
Wicked.
I went up a leafy valley on a steam train.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-12 04:54 am (UTC)*snerk*
Never heard it called that before.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-12 04:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-12 02:17 pm (UTC)I think I've signed up to the relevant mailing list, which should help.