Sinister: this is how it felt to be loved

[Mark Hester]

Hello my name is Mark and I....you can guess the rest.

No reporting back from the bowling then?  Did it happen?  Well anyway, I'll rewind even further back to Thursday night,
when I came up to London on the Magic Bus for TIHIFTBL.  Even tho I travelled from afar, I still managed to arrive
obscenely early, which meant that, as it was a pretty nice evening, I decided to sit outside in the Famous Cock's (ahem)
garden.  This is not usually an activity fraught with difficulty, but I discovered that the vast majority of the tables
which were not occupied by anyone else were within blasting/deafening distance of the pubs HUGE extractor fan (do they
run a sideline designing the most aerodynamic cars the world has ever seen?).  The only one which wasn't in danger of
being blown away looked very wonky indeed.  It was sufficiently close to the perpendicular to balance a pint, but it
also looked very silly and so I attempted to right it, without success.  It was then that I noticed the graffiti on the
fence, which read "It's Heriditary: If Your Parents Had No Children, Neither Will You".  Can't argue with that.  At this
point I decided to go back inside again when I met Mark C.  We exchanged views on (im/e)migration issues (MH:
"everyone's moving to London", MC: "*from*, you mean!").  Incidentally, why doesn't the sig. file for Glasgae Indie read
"We're Going Oot!"?


Shortly after that, loads of ppl arrived, including Mr & Mrs Carsmile, Ken, Liz D, Marianna, Maddie, Paul, Greg, Stefano
and a Man in Black who was neither Smith nor Jones.  We ventured downstairs to the Buffalo Bars (why bars plural?) which
was bigger than I expected.  There were also quite a few mirrors which was a bit disconcerting.  There was nuffink on
the loo doors to indicate which was which.  The playlist in Ian's post included Felt, although I don't rememeber any.  I
always develop an uncharacteristic shyness when it comes to asking djs for requests.  I do remember J&TDOH, the original
versh of "Tainted Love" and the song Spearmint sampled for "Sweeping the Nation".  Harvey Williams played Trembling Blue
Stars and the Field Mice - is this allowed?   There was some Lloyd Cole too, but no Pinefox to appreciate it.  I left
about two-ish I think, nightbussing it to Traf. Sq. where the bus co. had decided to move the bus stop (just what you
need in the small hours), but fortunately only to the nearby, euphonic Pall Mall.  Big zeds were needed in order to wake
up in time for the footie and thankfully this was achieved.  Got to the bully at five to seven to find a big queue. 
Memebers of the queue of course took all the seats, leaving me & my colleagues to lean on the dj booth at the back.  

Anyway, you all know the result and so I'll fast forward to Saturday and a festival with "Bury" in it......CHARLBURY! 
The Charlbury Riverside Festival is free....free to get in and free of Rod Stewart.  Emma & I watched Smilex, Ghost Dog,
Sextodecimo and the excellent CALIBER.  Smilex's singer made a mad rush to the chemical toilets at the back mid-set, but
the music was not over-inspiring, wot d'you expect for £0?  The one good song featured Olivia from Caliber.  Sextodecimo
were nu-metal of the shouty-shouty grr-aren't-we-scary, skatekids-in-hoodies-look-on-in-admiration variety.  As Emma and
I were going to two parties that evening we were unable to stay for south sea company prospectus, but we did discover
that my colleague Ian had pitched the BIGGEST TENT EVER in the tiny camp site before we caught our train.  Should think
so too, seeing as he'd disappeared for about an hour to pitch the thing. 

Sunday's activities included a reunion (or "gaudy" as they call them in Oxford) at Emma's college, where the oldest
alumnus matriculated (Mark's Oxford to English Translation Service: started her degree) in 1922.  I looked round but
failed to spot anyone quite that ancient.  Unexpected fun came in the form of the blurb & badges we were given on
arrival.  Emma & quite a few of her friends (not all of them female) discovered maiden names they never knew they'd had,
and several Ancient & Modern History graduates were quite surprised to receive badges reading simply "Ancient and
History"....not what you want pinned to your chest all afternoon really.

Anyway, hope those of yer off to Glasto have a grate time, there's a discussion of the merits or otherwise of "foamy mat
things" on a message board near you....

Mark.

ps Mitt Bästa Liv sounds wonderful!

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