Weekly weigh in

This week I lost ¾lb

( details )

Weekend

Friday I took the afternoon off and got on a train up to Mirfield, where I was met by my dad and whisked off for dinner before dashing out again into Leeds for a comedy club. It's in a basement bar which I remember going to years back when they had a rather mellow jazz night on. They've completely redone it in the meantime though. The music before the comedy started and during the interval was rather too loud to hold a conversation over very easily, which led to a lot of shouting - not great on a cold. And part way through the first act I suddenly realised what a bad idea it was taking me to a comedy night when I have a cold - but somehow I managed to succeed in neither laughing nor coughing myself sick, with the aid of mum's strepsils and copious quantities of red wine. The comedy was pretty good stuff anyway - with some excellent heckling from my mum :-) We were slightly dangerously close to the stage, but I got away with just a comment on my hair colour and a compliment for knowing the French for a bat. An excellent evening out anyway. And starting early it meant we were home at a fairly reasonable hour - which mean time for cocktails before bed! Mmmm Harvey Wallbangers are good.

I slept in pretty late on Saturday morning, and then did a bit of geeking on my mum's behalf. Bought her a domain for her birthday party invitation webpage :-) Still need to sort out the details but I'm working on it. Decided I was too ill to spend the afternoon wandering around the fair in the cold, so mostly spent a quiet afternoon, with a bit of shopping in Huddersfield with mum and dad. Turns out it was the right answer: the others got to the fair and discovered that while it's normally open from 1pm there's a small notice on the gate saying "except match days" when it doesn't open til 6. Apparently they spent the afternoon in the pub instead.

Still, mum and dad and I eventually piled ourselves on the train into town to meet them for a drink in a bar called Sandinista's which does pretty mean cocktails, and there was much amusement as Steph and Dave's friends all arrived and presents and cards were opened. Then 17 of us headed round the corner to Fairuz - a rather improbable lebanese restaurant. It's had favourable review in the Grauniad, and the food is lovely, but it's in the bottom of a rather grotty tower block in a very dodgy looking bit of town. 70s grime and concrete, very incongruous. But the chef's mezze for 17 was great fun: lots of dips and things with pitta to start with, which had us almost stuffed, followed by chicken and kofte with interesting rice and couscous, and assorted small cakes and pastries for afters: with a candle stuck in one of them which Steph and Dave carefully blew out simultaneously on the count of three. All washed down with lots of red wine and some rather nice prosecco (italian bubbly) which was Alastair's birthday present to the two of them - v generous! It was a lovely evening anyway: I was sitting next to Kathryn who I've known since we used to live next door to each other when I was 7, and she's great and it's always nice to talk to her - and she's got a rather lovely new bloke too - bit of a toy boy! And me and dad got to talk tech for a bit with Dave and George, much to mum's amusement. Poor Dave seems to be taking turning 30 very badly, which really cracks me up, but he was graceful enough to make a speech, despite claiming not to be drunk enough. And I'm sure he'll get used to it in time. Emily was being Des for the night and kindly drove us home for a cuppa before bed at 1am.

Sunday morning I actually set my alarm - for 10:45, which meant I was up in plenty of time for an 11:30 brunch. Fruit and yogurt and juice, smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on toasted muffins, then danish pastries and pain au chocolat and nice coffee. Yum. Then we sat and talked and watched Steph and Dave open the rest of their presents til it was time for me to go get my 3pm train home, tired but happy. And home with just enough time for a quick nap before I had to head out again for the night's gig. Of which more anon. A great weekend.

Ezio, The Soul Tree

It's only a couple of months since I last saw Ezio - at The Junction. Him and Booga had a gig without the band in The Bath House in January, but I didn't manage to get tickets before they sold out. Still, when I heard the band were playing the Soul Tree I decided I couldn't miss it even if I would be tired from the journey back from the frozen north. And I was glad ernie was joining me - a bit of me slightly smug that he likes them because I introduced him to them, even if a bit of me sadly remembers how happy we were together back then. Still, it's only a wee bit sad.

Fabulous to see them in such a tiny place anyway - it's amazing the contrast between being at the back of the Junction and being only 8 feet away from the band and on the same level. It meant a great opportunity to see the incredible guitar work up close, and to watch the rest of the band too. As usual they started with a couple of tracks on their own, and did the same again with the encore: it's a formula that works well. It was interesting to see them working almost entirely ad lib too: they really were just deciding what to play next on the fly: which meant drummer Alex had fun trying to get the right drumsticks to join in when Ezio started the first notes on the guitar. Great stuff anyway, and I'm gradually picking up more and more of their songs. As usual Deeper was a highlight: I think that's probably my favourite track. They also played Circus, which is my mum's. The crowd sang along anyway and was having a great time - with the only downside being that there were a fair few people back at the bar talking instead of listening to the music. I'm sure it's always the case but usually the bar isn't so obviously in earshot of the stage. It was interesting to see Ezio deliberately singing some of the songs as quietly as possible, in what seemed like a test of the audience. You could have heard a pin drop at the front.

It was Ezio's birthday, and I asked ernie if I should try get the crowd singing Happy Birthday in the gap before the encore - he shrugged and I didn't quite pluck up the courage - but someone else obviously had the same idea, even if it came across fairly ragged as it spread across the venue. A nice moment. And I was cheeky and gave him a peck on the cheek as I said thanks and happy birthday and goodnight on the way out. Having stopped at the stall to pick up another of their CDs. Eventually I really will have to buy them all. And ernie got himself a copy of the Live in Cambridge CD - will have to show him the DVD at some point too. It was a lot different to the Junction gigs - a slightly odd dynamic - but still a really lovely night out. They're touring, before they hit the studio to finish recording a new album, so if you're elsewhere in the country I do recommend them. It looks like the new material will be good.