Alasdair Watson

I’d like you all to do me a favour, and take a walk with me, in your minds eye. It’s a bit tricky, but have a go. Think of London, seen from the air – a straight-down, satellite view. Now, lay the tube map across it. Don’t worry about mapping the lines to their correct geographical points – the stylised map is fine. Hold them both together in your head – reality, and the version of London that exists only in concept, but is travelled by millions every day.

Fade reality out. Step through, into this real and concrete plane of concept. Look around. Somwhere around here, there’s a woman called Augusta. You can call her August, though. She doesn’t stand on ceremony, and it’s been a long time since most people thought of her as Augusta. I’m not going to tell you what she looks like. You have to make up your own mind about that. She’s older than empires, but still fresh and new. She’s been though hardships and seen great glories, and she’s bigger than any of us. She’s London, given flesh and form in your mind.

Now do something for me.

Tell her I said “Thank you.”

I feel like something shat in me. This is not good, because I appear to be extremely busy for the next while, and therefore do not have time to be unwell. Work tomorrow, then pub, then 24-hour comics thing on Saturday/Sunday, environmental fair on Monday, and all in all, this would be bad.

Rufus Wainwright singing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, which I know I’ve talked about here before. But it’s a beautiful song, and can stand to be talked about more. :) Except, of course, that I don’t really have a lot to say, other then, gosh, it’s one of the most moving songs I know, and one of only three to ever make me shed a tear.

Take one punnet of Strawberries, half a pint of milk and two shots of Calvados. Hull the straberries. Blend. Makes just over a pint of strawberry joy.

I post this partly because I wanted to use the title “Pink Sexiness In A Glass” and partly to make Fin jealous. :)

Sigur Ros are playing the Royal Festival Hall on October the 1st, price 17.50. Should I go? Does anyone else want to come? I can’t decide…

Cocteau Twins playing, grapefruit and rosemary scent in the air, sipping Calvados, and feeling pretty good. I’ve done the bulk of the coding for 9As 24 hour event that’s coming up, and started looking at learning VB (yeah, I know, why not learn a proper language), and now I’m getting ready for an early night. I should be recovered from this weekend in just enough time for the madness of next weekend…

Just THE WEST WING and 24 to go. God, I’m tired. Friday night at The Sun was the usual fun and games, followed by Ross’ birthday do at The Porterhouse, where they have an obscene number of different kinds of beer – if it weren’t so pricey, I’d drink there regularly. So, after the pub chucked out, Fin and I went off to see the Matisse and Picasso exhibition at The Tate Modern, which was open all night as a special event, whcih was cool, especially as we happened to be there in time for a talk the woman who had put the thing together. The we wandered back along the Embankment in seach of coffee, which went a bit wrong, and we wound up in the big KFC near Picadilly with with all the post-club crowds, and what with one thing and another I got home slightly after six in the morning, and then getting up again just before 11 really hasn’t helped my state of awakeness. So I mooched about my parents place all day, then met up with Fin to feed ducks for a bit before getting the train back here. Got VB (and a book on it) from Dad to install on the computer tomorrow so I can learn something new…

A thoroughly cracking weekend, but I feel absolutely shattered. I hope I can stay awake through the season finales…

Fiona was asking, Andrew’s written his up, and it’s too hot to do anyting useful, so here’s the answers. Before I started, I ought to note that Andrew, not Lyssa, actually won the quiz – he got 88 points. I was recalibrating the scores while he was doing the quiz, it seems, and the system doesn’t re-score people who’ve already taken the test if the points values change. Which is stupid…

Lyssa did get the most correct answers, at six, but lost out badly on one question. Andrew got at least second choice on every question, but only four right answers.

Anyway:

My favourite band are The Tansads. They’re the ones I put on when it’s all getting a bit much, and I need a dose of something that’s just plain fun. They’re the sound of the long hot summer of being 18, full of fire and the knowledge that I can kick the world in the teeth and walk away smiling. Happy, poppy pseudo-rebeliions. Then, in descending order – 8 points for Tom Waits, 6 for Nick Cave, 4 for the Pogues and 2 for the Cocteau Twins. Only 4 people got this right, but then only three of the people who took the test have known me since I was 18. Most of you went for Cave.

My favourite whiskey is Bushmills 12. It’s more complex and interesting than the 16, which was second followed by Glenfiddich 15, Black Bush and Jack Daniels. Same scoring system as before.

My favourite god is Odin – enough that I have his rune tattooed on my arm. A trickster and a con man, a god of magic and inspiration, a holy lunatic, and a terror. But nost important, a god whose power comes from sacrfice and leanring, rather than just because he happens to be divine. A god who has earned repsect and awe, rather than just commanded it. What’s not to like? Most of you went for the atheist option, which shows a remarkable lack of thought. If I asked you who your favourite fictional character was, you could probably come up with an answer, couldn’t you? But still, I was generous, and atheist was the second choice – I don’t believe in gods as anything that most people would understand by the term. After that, it’s Hermes and Mercury, and 0 points for Christian.

My favourite writer is Brookmyre, which only four of you got. His stuff is hugely entertaining, infintiely re-readable, and exactly what I want when I want to relax with a book. Alan Moore was second choice, but in Moore (who most of you went for) I see something to aim at, rather than something to relax and enjoy. (Which is not to say that I don’t enjoy the work hugely, but it’s a different thing.) Then, in descending order Robert Anton Wilson, Iain Banks and Terry Pratchett.

No-one got my favorite colour – not even by blind guesswork. Black isn’t actually my favourite color, I’m afraid, but I’d look pretty stupid dressed in silver all the time. Yes, black is second, though, followed by purple and red, then blue.

My favourte place, which most of you got, is a pub that no longer exists. (The Pioneer/Cauldron, in Edinburgh.) Only one person went for the second choice of The Embankment, which surprised me, because it’s a very close second. Arthur’s Seat, Soho and The Meadows complete the set, and to be honest, the scoring system on those three was really difficult to pick out…

9 of you went for the right answer to favourite holiday, which was a trip to the Anrtim Coast when I was a kid. We hired a cottage with a view down across fields to the sea, and it’s the most dramatic and relaxing view I know. I’ve been promising myself for years that I’ll take a holiday up there on my own for a week at some point – just head up there for a week, and become a reculse, sit about and enjoy the view while drinking whiskey from the distillery up the road… 10 of you went for the second choice which was the Edinburgh holiday, followed by New Orleans/San Diego, Sutton (just a really nice week off where I got a lot done, and returned to work feeling relaxed and re-energised), and Washington/New York.

No-one got my favourite coat, which I admit was a bit of an evil question – the correct answer is “other”. I’ve got a black linen thing that I really like, followed by my leather, then my trenchcoat (which most of you went for), then the suede, then the multi-pocket thing.

The Visor and keyboard was the obvious and correct answer to this one, followed by MP3 player, Camera, mobile and other (which was still worth two points – I love all my sad wee gadgets…)

And finally, I created the test because it amused me. Other reasons, in order were “to see about setting up something like it) the most popular response, then curiosity, then because I was bored, and then because everyone else was doing it. Yes, I know when the subject line of the post that I linked to it with was. I just felt it was a better title.

And that’s that done.

Looking on-line, I discover that this month’s Strange Attractor is on tonight, and that I’ve missed what sounds like a fascinating topic – underground installations. Drat. Still, I’m off to the Secret Chiefs meeting tomorrow night with Ryan (of the dyed hair, not the shaved head), and it sounds pretty interesting, too: “Death Mysteries And Customs Throughout The World” – an examination of practices and myths surrounding death around the world. We’re meeting up beforehand to grab some dinner and then heading for the pub it’s on at in Holborn. Drop me a line if you fancy joining us – it should be an interesting and different night out…