What I’d really vote for in the Mayoral elections.

I like riding my bike. My bike doesn’t particularly like me – it only has two gears that work, and I got a flat tyre on my way to the supermarket yesterday – but hey, it’s got to live with me. Living in Muswell Hill, however, proves rather problematic for our relationship – if I want to go anywhere further than either a) East Finchley station or b) my friend Lottie’s house, then there are some quite serious hills to contend with.

Yesterday I thought to myself, I’ll cycle over to Hampstead. Three-quarters of the way up Bishops Avenue on my way to Hampstead, I got off my bike and walked to the Spaniards.

It’s a basic problem of too many hills. If I wanted to cycle to Camden – approximately 5 miles – I would go down three hills (including one rather long and steep one, from Highgate down to Archway) and up one, as well. Hampstead, too, involves two hills, despite being roughly the same height as Muswell Hill. North London is very, very hilly.

Avoiding the notion that perhaps I just need to suck it up and keep doing it until my legs are strong enough, what about CYCLING BYPASSES? You know – “devices which allow some people to drive from point A to point B very fast whilst other people dash from point B to point A very fast”. That’d get more people on their bikes, just two lanes going there and back, with exits at various intervals. Perhaps Muswell Hill to Swiss Cottage, with an exit at Hampstead. Certainly Muswell Hill to Highgate. All these places which are vaguely the same height but are hindered by the down-a-hill-up-a-hill problem when working one’s way between the two, and aren’t serviced by the Parkland Walk (see: Highgate-Crouch End-Finsbury Park).

All other route suggestions welcome. I am sure that with this plan I have finally hit the intellectual target often known in life as “genius”, and if all of the pro-cycling mayoral election candidates adopted it as a last minute policy…well, I would expect a very large sum. That’s all I’m saying.

A question about London Underground.

What happened to the chocolate vending machines you used to get on platforms? Did they ban them at the same time as they banned them in schools? When did they go? How did I not notice? Other than the fact that I never used them…

We are in Berlin.

After two nights of going out, tonight we seem to be sitting around the flat, though I think we’re going out for a quick drink in a bit. JP and Max are working on a remix, Leo has been on his laptop – I think working on a song, judging by the midi keyboard on his lap – and Chris and I are playing around on Hype Machine. Last night we went out around Friedrichstrasse, and in the day I wandered up through Tiergarten – the biggest park in Berlin, with the Brandenburg Gate at the edge of it where Tiergarten joins with Mitte (the central district).

Chris, JP and I went to the Kennedy Museum earlier today. It’s mainly a photo exhibition and was very very good. Being here I keep on thinking who on earth thought the Wall was a good idea – it’s so weird seeing where it divided the city – but the city’s recovered so well. Leo and I were talking about it last night – there’s a lot of acknowledgement of what went on in the past hundred years here, and it’s not been forgotten, but it’s all moved on.

This is what I’ve been listening to. Oxford Comma on a near enough repeat, lots of Black Kids, and a lot of Hot Chip and their associated remixes. The CSS Streetlife DJs mix is Let’s Make Love over one of my favourite songs, Wordy Rappinghood by Tom Tom Club – so that’s pretty neat too. We heard it out last night and I’ve heard it before in London, so I’m glad I’ve finally bothered to track it down.

Berlin

My merry band of four, also known as GoodBooks, go to Berlin tomorrow. They are there until the 30th, and they are quite excited. The purpose of the trip is mainly I think to get some non-touring/music industry based experience under their belts, and somehow – I can’t think how – Sevenoaks has ceased to fuel their imaginations. They’re taking some gear, renting a flat, and hoping to come back with a shedload of new songs. I have every faith. Seeing them play tonight (corporate shows fund this stuff, ya dig?), including one new song, made me a bit excited weak-at-the-knees Good Lord you’re good, I remember why I didn’t go to university now.

I’m going to Berlin on Thursday, and coming back the following Friday. It’s quite a while, but I’ll get out of their way. I’ve not been anywhere other than London for more than about four days for four or maybe five years – my holidays have merely been long weekends for quite some time. I’m excited about being away from London for a week. I’m excited about hanging out with the boys without any “yes we’ve got a meeting now” or “yeah you’re on stage in 45 minutes, we need to get dinner, kebab?” type pressures. And I’m looking forward to learning Berlin itself. I honestly can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be going – Berlin feels chunky and straightforward. I don’t know why that’s my impression of it, but I feel like I’m going to another place to live for a week, rather than in somewhere like Barcelona or even Paris where it feels like one is visiting. Perhaps that’s due to the nature of the trip. I guess we’ll see. I’m excited, though.

The whole thing makes me want to be in a band. Sitting down yesterday with the boys was fantastic because this trip has come entirely from them, and it feels like they’re putting the fun back into working hard. The past year has been tough on many occasions and felt too much like hard work and no fun a lot of the time. But it feels now like the four young men in GoodBooks are reclaiming this band as their own, forgetting all the “critically acclaimed” “not selling enough” “didn’t work at radio” crap and doing what they want to be doing. I think they’ll be all the better for it – and I suppose it’s what being in a band is really about.

I’m going to look for fossils!

The classic words of Cyril from “Five Children and It”, which tracked the latter part of my bank holiday weekend.

I am feeling currently as though perhaps the phrase ‘dirty stop out’ was invented for my very own purpose, having not been home since Thursday. My grandma once reckoned that ‘you can live for free in London’ – I think she meant with all the free concerts, art exhibitions etc etc going on as opposed to food and rent, but I am doing my best to cover all bases.

Ridiculousness began on Wednesday evening, when GoodBooks played the Buffalo Bar for the last time in our four-part residency there over the summer. So I suppose summer must really be over. I went to pick up Sportsday ‘Hugh’ Megaphone from his gig at Cargo after GoodBooks finished playing so he could do a nice late night gig with us. It was brilliant, as ever. Later back at mine Max and I talked till half 5, decided it would be a great idea to go to Primrose Hill, then once up there worked out that we might as well go for breakfast now, really, given that it was indeed breakfast time. And so it came to be that we were sat outside the Wolseley at 6.55am, waiting for it to open its doors at 7am, and then finished by 8am – Max having left his bacon roll when he started feeling the effects of the night.

Thursday was wasted being asleep, then. A friend’s birthday in Bedford on Thursday night and a trip to Brighton to see a band on Friday evening, which deserves its own entry, really, and so it shall do. On the subject of entries I am relatively keen to write about topics as opposed to events far more often, and I have a couple on the go of that ilk. Hooray.

I stayed in Brighton till Sunday morning which was very relaxing – lots of Steely Dan on the CD player (a relatively new discovery for me) and more pages turned in Rupert Everett’s autobiography (very good). Then to Reading town for a quick meeting, roast lunch and, oh go on then, a bit more beer as if I don’t drink enough, before hot-footing back to London to go to, oh, hang on, another pub. GoodBooks came to DJ, JP played MF Doom, and I went to my managerial friends’ party in Marylebone, where I remained until this evening amidst doses of fry ups, more beer, Thai food, Five Children and It, and, last but by no means least, Fraggle Rock.

And now home. Much work pondering and stuff to be done over the past few weeks which I need to hone in on in the next week and get down in ink. At the moment a lot of things are merely ideas floating around my head as opposed to even in pencil – so maybe it’s a week of first drafts.

Technorati: Five Children and It, MF Doom, Fraggle Rock, Brighton, Reading, Reading Festival, Sportsday Megaphone, Buffalo Bar, Wolseley, Steely Dan, Rupert Everett

Take a drive to Primrose Hill…

At Glastonbury I met quite a few new people, including Sarah who manages Fanfarlo. On Friday we decided to meet for a drink before going to see Sportsday Megaphone, also known as Hugh – he played with GoodBooks in Cambridge last Saturday and was awesome.

Despite technical issues he was great – possibly not as good as Cambridge though I think that was atmosphere and PA systems rather than performance. Afterwards we went and met Colin – recently of DiS fame but now happier and more fulfilled working for Big Life Management – and his flatmate Paul. At 2am we decided to go to Primrose Hill. I quoted Blur a few too many times. It’s a beautiful view up there at night, Canary Wharf flashing and the London Eye all lit up and the Gherkin barely visible. We stayed there for a few hours then ran down the hill as aeroplanes…couldn’t quite stop running. Then someone had the idea of “Let’s go to Blackpool”, and that changed to Brighton, and then we set off. We got to Brighton at 6am and started wondering why no one else was about. Played on the beach till 8 then went and got Breakfast At Tiffany’s…we were all feeling a tad rough by that point. Then back to the beach for paddling and an ice cream (9:25am) and a trip down the pier.

Even though I knew Colin and Sarah both a bit we are none of us best of friends, but it was ace to just up sticks and do something a little out of the ordinary. Especially as it turned out Paul had never been to Primrose Hill or been to Brighton. Crazy. Next time it would be nice to not be the sober driver but it was still all kinds of fun. Unfortunately I am paying for the whole not going to bed thing with a sore throat. Bet I get a cold. GROAN.

Technorati: Primrose Hill, Brighton, adventure, new friends, Sportsday Megaphone