Mike and richard audio
Mike and I go back 30 years – we first met in the junior Bedfordshire Youth Orchestra as budding young violin players. Yesterday he was 40, so to celebrate most of his family and myself/Simpy gathered at his brother (and my ex flat-mate) Jeremy and wife Rebecca’s lovely house opposite Kew Gardens. Much bubbly and reminiscing. Notably, Mike and I celebrated the passing of 20 years since we shared a bizarre summer job – doing a night shift at a garage/petrol station in dear old Bedford, the town of my birth. Also the Perl and Lane families have quite a few similar experiences:
Mike’s parents Nick and Jenny live in Dorchester, a few miles from my folks.
Jeremy went to my school (Bedford Modern), my University (Leeds) and worked at Lloyds Bank for my father-in-law. Jeremy also shared my flat in Streatham in the early 90s. Jonny Perl went to Bedford Modern School also, and knows blog commentee Faith very well having worked with her in New York City a few years ago. And remember, Jonny set up this website (thanks again Jonny). Their sister Rosamund is the same age as me though is the member of the Perl family I know least well – odd, we should at least have gone out together in adolescence, this never transpired. Anyway, great to see them all.
Lila audio file
Of all friends children, Lila has to be right up there as one of my favourites. Her parents andrew and Karen have been mates for years, and of course adore their little girl. Lila is in a rare breed of child who does not burst into tears the minute I get involved with cuddles. And she once sat on my knee for the duration of a flight back from Ireland and was great company.
So last night dear L graced us with her presence for a few minutes before our lovely dinner of salad and monkfish chez A and K’s – or should that be Chez Lila – hey, great name for a restaurant. Simpy missed out on this occasion, though glad to report that he, too, thinks Lila is very cool and looks forward to seeing her soon.
Box 61 at the Royal Albert Hall had some unlikely occupants this evening. There are 5 seats: two at the front, two raised behind that, and one at the back – and a table for wine glasses and guide-dog harnesses behind that. Mercifully only three human seats had been sold – taken by Dave, Jeremy (Dave’s reader) and myself. So plenty of room for Simpy and Reuben to stretch out. a~s applause greeted the end of each piece (Strauss’ Don Juan,, a 19th century orchestral/solo mezzo work whose name I temporarily forget, and the great Shostakovich’s 6th symphony), Reuben and Simpy would take it in turns to come to the front of the box, place nose on velvet ledge and peer out over the cheap standing-room prommers below. Lots of oohing and aahing from neighbouring boxes.
A terrific evening. The second piece wasn’t great, but Strauss and Shostakovich arousing and exciting to the ear.
Simpy and I took the bus home – 49 from South Kensington to Clapham Junction and the 37 up St Johns Hill – much better than trekking through Victoria. We were helped by an American woman who had obviously had a couple of glasses of wine – she told us how her life was about to change from being a temp in south Ken to being a bush pilot in South Africa!
Dave dozing
Birmingham England is not the most attractive city in the world – yet we always have fun there. It is the (hopefully) temporary home of sister Sue and her husband Gavin; they have actually lived there for years, though hope to move to pastures new before too long. Anyway, the weekend just gone was a regular trip for Dave, his guide-dog Reuben, Simpy, and myself. Dave likes to doze in Brum – as the audio file here will testify. Much playing of 60s music (She’s not there by the zombies a particular favourite of mine), excellent home cooking from Sue – I took on wine control. Gavin is a whizz with I.T. so mouldy old videos become transformed into shiny DVDs. Dave had a great role in a 1998 ITV drama – The Unknown Soldier – about life post WW1, which is well worth a view, even though I defy anyone to not shed a tear at the end.
also took the plunge with the new iPod shuffle – though best feature is the brushed chrome case (£14 extra) which makes it feel like a slim zippo lighter in my pocket. And glad to report it works – Lancet podcasts duly transferred and not sounding too bad…Bobby Darin/Mac the Knife, Sinaid O’connor, Dmitri Shostakovich…
Simpy and Reuben are great mates and had a ball in Brum. Simpy decided the weekend was far too restrained so rolled in fox dung at the first opportunity in the appropriately named Moseley Bog. Stinking like an old french chese, I dragged him into Sue and Gavin’s back garden for the only known intervention – shampoo with tomato ketchup. The Guide Dogs trainers imparted this pearl of wisdom years ago – and it does work. Pink and peeved, Simpy sulked outside for an hour before I washed him down with warm water. He now smells vaintly of a hot-dog stall rather than of an old fox sewer – and to top things off we hitched a ride home in first class with scarcely a fellow passenger within earshot…maybe the fox was lingering after all.
And extraordinary antics at the Oval – met plenty of merry Englishmen at Vauxhall on the way home from Brum – possible the game may be over as Pakistan failed to take the field after tea, feeling insulted after the umpires declared that the ball had been tampered with to encourage reverse-swing bowling – Faith I’m sure you are following this clearly…
Long overdue on dogblog is the appearance of Goldie, pictured on the left next to her sweetheart Simpy. They have been mates ever since Simpy and I were joined together around 5 years ago. G. was herself a guide dog for a short time, and it was no fault of her own that she retired early. Mind you with a lovely garden like hers, early retirement was clearly the sensible option. This is where Simpy hangs out when I’m abroad, save for last month’s tiquelish adventure in Picardy. Question: how many years older or younger does G look compared to Simpy? G lives with older girl Lorna and Kate’s family in Finchampstead, near Wokingham, Berkshire. Simpy treats it like a second home and within minutes of his arrival all the toys are strewn around Kate’s house and garden.
Have just sussed out iTunes for real – in other words I can now dawdle away my evenings purchasing tracks for 79p a go. All very exciting. Tonight just bought two: Bobby Darin singing ‘Mac the Knife’ – inspired by Desert Island Discs and that rude Simon guy off pop idol. Genius song, everyone please go and buy it. Also an Annie Lennox song from the 1986 Revenge album called ‘I remember you’ – memories of leaving school and (sorry to report) a stint in Addenbrookes hospital having a retina reattached. And have just learnt that you can listen again to Proms concerts from last week on Radio 3 website. This web/music thing is going crazy; off to hear Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring’ tomorrow night, Simpy joining us in box 64 as well. Think he prefers ‘Mac the Knife’…
Coronation Scot audio
This music will be part of the train thing that Dave and I will work on this weekend.
Years ago, Simpy’s predecessor (pictured with Simpy and author on this blog) was the scourge of The Lancet’s then Holborn office. A continuous stream of half or whole-eaten lunches, torn paper bags, even rucksacks and briefcases. A torrent of e-mails urging folks to be vigilant against the klepto-gastronomic Norton. Even dog-proof bins were installed for people to put their left-overs into. And of course dear Norton once famously pillaged the inside of the former deputy Editor’s briefcase – at which point the canine lunch theft became a very serious issue.
Dear Simpy is not like Norton – well he isn’t obsessed with food. However as Simpy rolls into middle years (he is 6 and a bit, or 40ish in dog years), a few of Uncle Norton’s tendencies are creeping into his character – a touch of stubbornness, and an ability to not hear commands at selected times. Well today a purposeful Hopelyn (the boss’s PA) came strolling down the office floor to announce that her assistant Roberta’s cold chicken lunch had ‘gone for a burton’. Not bad going at 9.15am. But then the remains of Roberta’s barbecue had been positioned at nose height on the drawers below her desk. Simpy, duly admonished, sulked on his bed until we headed home early afternoon. I think S was seeking revenge for Roberta’s bikini-modelling extravaganza at the Lancet picnic a couple of weeks ago.
Despite the best efforts of a teenage boy to run him down on the pavement last night, Simpy passed his yearly guiding exam. with flying colours. Barry and Nicky from Guide Dogs commented that they have witnessed this form of behaviour before – kids like to test out whether a blind person is totally blind by riding a bike at them to see if there is any reaction. The only reaction was poor Simpy doing a dying fly to avoid the front wheel of the bike.After a volley of verbal abuse – from me to the teenage gang, aided by Barry and Nicky – Simpy regained composure and performed magnificently. ‘One cool dog there’, commented Barry. Thanks guys – see you next year.
Wonderful to report that the majestic simpson now occupies pride of place on my office wall – at least for the time being. Check out the image attached to this post and let me know your views. Remarkably, the artist in question – Katharine Modesti from Aix-en-Provence, France – only met Simpy briefly last November at Gatwick Airport. He charmed her enough into producing this wonderful acrylic on canvas, using photos of Simpy sent by e-mail for Katharine to paint from. Katharine has actually donated the painting to Guide Dogs, this being the 75th year since the first UK guide dog took to the streets – in Wallasey, Cheshire. So the arrangement is that Simpy on canvas will reside on the office wall at The Lancet before being transferred to Guide Dogs – hopefully the new puppy centre near Leamington Spa – in the near future. And thanks to Pam and Rachel in the office for producing the picture – much shrieking involved.
