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JULY............. |
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This month's musical moment is offered both as an apology to Fiona Reid for not performing it at the karaokeathon and as a result of a dare from Duncan. It is also offered in tribute to two of my three grandmothers.... |
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is traditionally the start of the silly season. Nothing much happens (although try telling that to Geoff Hoon), and in my own sane little corner of the existential mire, I have been entertaining anyone I can cajole into coming round to my little genou-a- terre. Some of them have even been brave enough to try my cooking. Well, below may not quite be the social pages of the Tatler, but I try my best |
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The delightfully appointed,deceptively compact and bijou Chez Mike #9 is fronted by wonderful mock-Tudor rubbish-bin
stations built in the classic style- truly this is one of the undiscovered gems of Walthamstow |
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An invitation to a soiree on Mike's sofa becomes the most sought-after social engagement in the whole of Walthamstow....... |
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Click on a photo to view a larger version! |
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Bill Morrison (a flatmate of mine from 1988-89) was joined by Rachael and Catherine, (surviving veterans of the great Coldharbour Lane flatshare of 2000-01) and were subjected to an evening of pizza, salad and discussion on Estonian citizenship policy with no obvious ill-effect.
Bill had to curtail a trip to Zagreb due to a sudden health scare, but all was resolved in the end. It must have been caused by something he drank. Or ate......obviously. |
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parents departed back home armed with a wooden hippopotamus I couldn't resist buying from one of Walthamstow's more interesting shops. I'm dangerous when I shop thesedays. |
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My parents made a fleeting visit to Walthamstow and my soon-to-be famous red sofa was more than equal to the task. Leila and Curtis made up the numbers, whilst Celia the snake disappeared down the back. My |
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I think I was 22 when I wondered aloud if I and the rather bizarre collection of individuals pictured opposite would still be meeting up regularly for weekends of drinking, eating and other fairly harmless pursuits (we leave all the fairly dodgy stuff to Matt). I really needn't have worried, and 17 young years after a week's holiday in Arthog, where unbelievably,we never went into a pub, but entertained ourselves with pineapple chunks (just don't ask..I wasn't involved and Boots refused to develop the negatives), we are still meeting up. There is no hope for us, I fear.
The excuse for this meeting was the imminent departure of Dr Andy to Kuala Lumpur on a teaching asignment (click here to view a page from his website- if the teaching doesn't work out he could always become a Tiller girl...you'll see what I mean). We went to see the excellent the Madness of George Dubya at the New Arts theatre, which was an updating of Dr Strangelove, did a tolerable amount of drinking, and Matt and Andy survived my approximation of Sunday lunch.
For comparison, the lower photo (complete with absentees- you could never rely on that bird table) was taken on holiday in Wales 16 years ago. I don't think Clanger has changed as much as we have. |
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2003 from left to right- Clanger, Mike, Andy, Ian, Matt, and Celia |
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1987- Mike, Matt, Andy & hair, Richard
(unavoidably detained with girlfriend), Jim (missing, presumed married),bird table, and Ian |
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In a new feature, Mike waxes lyrical about his "website of the month" |
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There must be a veritable googleplex of websites out there which deal with conspiracy theories about, and sightings of, extra-terrestrial intelligence. Together they could fill Area 51 several times over.
There is one site however, where you can actually contribute to the search for life beyond Earth in your home and it can be found by clicking on
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/
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my mother (right) appears to have already found extra-terrestrial intelligence in my flat. I won't tell NASA provided that you don't. |
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The site invites you to download a screensaver program to your computer which will then analyse chunks of raw data from the Areciebo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico. The progam tries to identify any signals that are not background radiation, or escaped emissions from Earth, and thus identify what might appear to be intelligent life from elsewhere, be it |
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the plaintive whistle from a lonely Clanger, or the Six O'clock news from Betelgeuse. You could even get credited with the discovery of alien life and win the Nobel Prize! (no, okay, I made that bit up), but currently I stand in 2,211,972nd place out of 4,604,968 users of the software in terms of units completed.
Go on then, install it. You know it makes sense. My only worry is that the first thing we pick up from Alien Lifeforms will be them rebroadcasting I Love Lucy, just so they can let us know they have found us.
At that point, wemay well have found intelligent life beyond our own planet, but I'm not sure that they will be able to say the same. |
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July's Photo Competition |
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A free subscription to the soon-to-be-published Mike's Moldovan Monitor
is available to anyone to anyone who chooses the correct story behind the photo on the right. |
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Was it:- |
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A: a furious Radovan Karazdic protesting his innocence behind a bullet-broof screen?
B: The runner-up in Walthamstow's regional heat of the national Cherie Blair look-alike contest?
C: The public face of Islington Council's Council Tax department? |
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Back to my homepage |
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click here for June!!! |
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Click for quick menu |
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