A new short story of mine, Eat At Lovecraft's is going to be read at Liar's League. This is a regular night featuring short stories read by actors and the theme for the night is Crime and Punishment. Liar's League also publish the stories online with a podcast of each story after the event. The event starts 7pm on September 9th and is at The Wheatsheaf, 25 Rathbone Place, London, W1T 1DG.
Settling back in Brighton
I've now been back in Brighton for the best part of a week. Most of my things are still in Coventry meaning I'm camping out in my new house. I feel very settled despite that. I've caught up with lots of people and am slowly rebuilding my mental maps of Brighton, connecting locations together again.
Friday night was Club Smooch. There were over two hours of acts, most of which were very good. Kitty's pirate aerial performance was superb, despite working with a shorter rope than she was used to. We also saw a couple of performances by Diva Hollywood whose Evolution of Woman was a fantastic burleqsue act.
The night also featured Mr. B. the Gentleman Rhymer, who was as good as Tom had promised – some of his songs are available on the Myspace page. I particularly liked Straight out of Surrey (his version of Straight Outta Compton) and Timothy.
On Saturday I visited the Tea-Dance at the library. I love the idea of dancing lessons and cake in the middle of town. Next time I'll definitely join in.
Low tide was less exciting than I'd hoped, with the sea not receding as far as it has in the past. Despite that we loitered on the beach for about three hours, celebrating a birthday, with various people dropping by.
It's good to be back.
Back in Brighton
I'd been planning to relax when I reached Brighton but instead the last few days have been incredibly busy. It's all been fun though and I'm glad to be back. I moved into my new flat last night and already feel settled (despite the fact my furniture is still in Coventry).
It looks as if the rest of the week will be busy too, as I'm now going to be helping out at dConstruct 2008. Between now and then I have to complete my talk for Brighton Barcamp 3. I considered a number of potential topics, such as 10 commandments for using an RDBMS, but instead decided to talk about this. The title of my talk is, currently 'Bad XKCD: An introduction to deconstruction for programmers'. I don't know it it will be interesting to anyone other than me but it's going to be fun to put it together.
Shambala Festival 2008
I had no idea what to expect from Shambala, just that some friends went last year and had a great time. I loved it – it was like Glastonbury without the bullshit and marketing. The festival was held in the grounds of Kelmarsh Hall and made good use of the lake and the woods.
I'd heard of very few of the acts playing, which was fun. I ended up wandering around the site, seeing odds and ends. I stumbled on some impressive aerial acts on the Saturday and, on the Friday, was one of a dozen people dancing to the Transpersonals, who deserved a much bigger audience. I caught a string quartet playing I predict a riot and drank lots of coffee of varying quality.
The poetry was interesting. I saw some bloody awful acts as well as some stunning performances. Saturday night started with Yanny Mac, the domestic goddess, followed by Andy Craig Griffiths (I think) Andy Craven-Griffiths, with one of the best live sets I've seen. His poems were about his family and were both moving and funny. This was followed with a brilliant set by Tim Clair TIm Clare, featuring the wonderful poem Mrs F**k.
(Update Poets' names corrected following an irate email from Rosy Carrick.)
I saw so many cool things: the two people who dressed as Bananaman meeting and drinking together; a Rorschach costume; the woman hula-hooping at the lake; the Ugly Camping sign; the sound installation and lighting in the woods; the message going round, "If you're dressed as a bee they want you at the lake at 5"; the excellent book stall. Best of all, the rain mostly held off, which was fortunate since I was camping in a cheap Tesco's tent.
I can't wait for next year – thanks to Ayng and company for a great time!
Brooks Brighton 10K in November
I've taken a break from running since the Morecambe race but I'm looking forward to restarting my training in September when I return to Brighton. To give me something to work towards I've sign up for the Brooks Brighton 10K on October November 16th. I'm taking the next couple of months off to concentrate on writing which should also give me lots of time to practise running along the seafront.
Low tide on Brighton Beach
On September 1st, a few days after I return, Brighton has one of the lowest tides of the year. While some people are cycling along the sand I'm planning to be more relaxed. I'll be at the West Pier ruins from around six, meeting some friends and toasting the sea. Last time I was on the beach at low tide was back in 2005 when Mr. Ribot and I stumbled upon the revealed West Pier. It was quite something.
Club Smooch @ Komedia, 29th August
To celebrate my return to the South Coast Club Smooch are holding a special night at the Komedia. Among the performers are Mr. B the Gentleman Rhymer, Bearlesque, Honey Moon and Kitty Peels with an aerial act. Tickets are available from the Komedia site – email me if you're coming along.
And afterwards there's a zombie night at the Ocean Rooms hosted by Transition.
A magical weekend in Brighton
One reason for going to Coventry was that I'd started taking Brighton for granted. The rent was expensive and I wasn't enjoying it. I decided to take some time out somewhere else, concentrate on the writing, and figure out what to do next.
At its best Brighton is a magical place where anything could happen and this weekend I saw that side of Brighton for the first time in ages. I spent two days walking around, drinking coffee and seeing old friends. I started at Bom-banes, a cafe with mechanical tables that was even better than I'd heard. I visited loads of favourite places, like Sukhothai Palace, Moments and Ethel's Kitchen, where I ate Raspberry and Lavender cake. Looking back, the weekend was mostly cake and coffee.
My main reason for visiting was to check out a flat in Hove. It had a balcony with a view of the sea and was just what I needed. The wait to find out if I'd got it was nerve-wracking but it looks as if I'll be moving-in early September.
It was the little Brighton things I loved most – the man on the seafront making pebble pictures near the band stand; the odd bits of graffiti (any marker pen message is more interesting than an advert); the terrible busking on New Road; the couple on a doorstep playing guitar and accordian; the height chart outside the Trafalgar Street pottery shop; bumping into a friend I'd not seen for years on the way to the station.
Sunday was relaxed, more coffee and more cake followed by a gruelling journey home. For once Virgin managed to lay on trains but it was a long journey surrounded by idiots. I was glad to get home and have an early night. Eleven days till I'm back for good.
The Morecambe Cross-Bay Run 2008
It's been a few days since the Cross Bay Challenge and the experience seems even less real than it did at the time. I've never been in any other place like that bay. There were few landmarks aside from the other runners so it seemed that running took you nowhere.
The race was planned between Flookburgh and Hest Bank. The distance would have been 13 miles, more or less, but the River Kent rose after the start meaning the race had to be turned back to the starting point. Given the location the change is understandable – the organisers certainly weren't messing around. Everyone issued with wristbands and checked on and off the sands, and the list of runners was shared with the RNLI and coastguard. We were warned not to stray from the course because of quicksand.
The actual distance was 10.8 miles, which I ran in just over 100 minutes. The first five miles I was going faster than I've run before because of the wind behind me. I remember thinking how tough it would be if we ran against it. And, as we approached the river Kent the line of runners turned and we were led straight into the wind.
For the first half mile the wind was so strong it knocked me back to walking speed and I stopped running to conserve my energy. When it relented I started running again. I couldn't figure out what was happening since I had little idea of the geography. There should have been distance markers and water stops but after 4 miles these disappeared. It was just the sands and the runners.
The bay was the most desolate place I've ever been and felt strangely spiritual. The wind gathered up wisps of sand, forcing me to keep my eyes on the floor for long periods. Running into the wind felt like a nightmare, that dream where you run and seem to be going nowhere. Every so often we'd reach water and I'd speed up to cross as quick as I could.
It was only when someone pointed out we were reaching the place we'd started that I knew for sure what had happened. Yes, it was obvious we were going the wrong way, but at the same time the wilderness was disorientating. I kept expecting to reach the Kent crossing and approach Morecambe.
My only criticism of the race was the mess left at the water stops. The instructions had said to drop the bottles near the stations, but they ended up littered for some distance. There must have been a better way to handle that. I also feel a little sorry for Mum and Dad,who spent several hours waiting at the finish line with little information on what was happening. They seemed to have enjoyed themselves anyway.
Some other posts on the event.
Morecambe Cross-bay challenge
I'm now hurtling down the M55 to Coventry after today's race. Sadly it was abandoned half way through as the River Kent was impassable. I'd been having a good run up to that point, with the trailing wind making me about a minute a mile faster than normal.
We turned back about five miles in which meant running straight into the wind. The rest of the run was harsh. At its worst the wind knocked me back to walking pace. I spent most of the time with a pack, grateful for the portable wind-break.
While it would have been fantastic to complete the crossing, the race was still an amazing experience. The bay is desolate with the wind sweeping across it stirring up flurries of sand. There are lots of small channels to run through with the delight of not knowing how deep they are. The event (especially the long and weary run into the wind) feels something like a dream now.
I started today not having run a half marathon and end it still not having run a half marathon. I'm going to search for another later in the year and will definitely enter the next cross-bay run.