Congratulations to Ian & Nicola!

...on their wedding this Saturday at Cricket St Thomas, near Chard.

Ian's a lucky bloke - Nicola's lovely, and is obviously very good for him, as he looks happier than I can ever remember seeing him.
Nicola's looking a tad worried in this shot though, as well she might be..!

Everything went off like clockwork on the day, apart from a perfect comically timed vocal interruption from little Rossa just after the "if anyone here present knows of any reason..." bit in the ceremony.

Later on, we were treated to the sight of Ian dancing - a rare thing indeed, and who would have guessed he knew all the actions to YMCA? Unfortunately, that picture didn't come out. Much drinking was done, and the mongooses (or is it mongeese?) and parrots in the courtyard of the pub were suitably startled.

These nuptials are obviously catching, as Grayboots & Lorelei are at it in 3 weeks time - well done, that man!

New pictures

... from our holiday in France, here:
http://www.byphotos.com/album/1334810
Here's a weird and wonderful beasty; a nice fat antlion we found on the beach at Plage de Veillon.
These vicious looking critters lurk just below the sand and leap out to grab passing ants - when you dig one out, it immediately burrows backwards into the sand again - hours of fun.

Eriick's stag do, 3/6/06

Yes, I know it was a week ago, but I was waiting to see if anyone sent me some pictures - they haven't yet, so here's a stock shot courtesy of http://www.pembrokeshire.net/
Fantastic blistering hot day, right on the western tip of Pembrokeshire at Newgale beach, down the road from Ian's new house. Haven't been to this bit of Wales before, but I'll definitely go again - huge sandy beach, campsite, good pub and a pretty decent cafe as well - good call, Ian! It's a 3 hour drive from Bristol, but due to a momentary lapse in my normally unerring sense of direction, I ended up going completely the wrong way and ended up in a different county, turning it into a 5 & a half hour one...
By the time I got there, everybody else had tired of surfing, swimming & kayaking and was ready for some serious drinking, which suited me fine. An excellent barby, a lot of wood and some meths were involved somewhere as well, though the details are all a little hazy now...
Great to see Ian again, it's been quite a few years now - ditto Grayboots, Paul, Steve & everybody else.
Woke up the next morning with the sun beating on the tent and a small army of dwarves with mallets beating on my head.
A bloody good night, but you can tell we're all getting old - there was still beer left over the next day...

The George, Bradford on Avon

3pm on a sunny Sunday afternoon? Who wants to sit in a dark pub drinking beer at a time like that? Well me, obviously; but as I had to drive to this one, I had to just watch everybody else...
Some gigs everything goes just right - no major cock-ups, no broken strings, Chris even remembered the words to his own songs, and hardly insulted anyone. We played pretty well too, even though I say so myself.
One small fly in the ointment was the distinct lack of audience, but hey, that's never stopped us before. The worst night I can remember was in Germany at a club called Poison, in the middle of a godforsaken industrial estate somewhere near Reutlingen - an enormous P.A., a dazzling lighting rig, and we played to the barstaff. Apparently they didn't usually open on a Wednesday night...
Still, there was a small but sturdy band of the sort of ne'er-do-wells who usually come & see us there, and they did us proud, all except the large alsation who slunk off next door with his ears flat & his hackles up...
To cap it all, the extremely charming Landlord offered us a drink when we'd finished - that's free drink! Which I had to turn down! AAaaghh!

Nigel & Sandy do it live on the web!

These shocking pictures of real live nuptials are brought to you courtesy of the webcam at the Isle of Wight registry office!
Alex can be seen looming ominously behind them, looking rather like Ozzy without the shades and dispelling once and for all the persistent rumours that he doesn't come out on film (or indeed in daylight).
Just one question though - Nigel, what in the name of all that's unholy is that around your neck?

The Sultan's Elephant

As spotted walking through the streets of London yesterday by Steve Mitchell.
The lengths some people will go to avoid paying the congestion charge!

Scally's, Weston-super-mare

At last! Another bloody gig!
We missed the last two because of medical malpractise so it seems like months... oh, er, it is months apparently.
Good to be back in this friendly bikers pub on Saturday - it's always been one of my favourite gigs, not least because I get a lift there & back and thus get to make a thorough pig of myself on the Guinness!
Nothing seems to have changed since last I played here 3 years ago - a nice big stage, and loads of jolly bikers who amiably refuse to fill that big ol' gap in front of it until the last couple of numbers...
My only problem with the night was my hearing - I'm now more or less completely deaf in my right ear, due to an unseemly accumulation of wax. This was caused, I'm sure, by a night a few months back when I went to a Granary reunion (http://www.thegranaryclub.co.uk/) at which I spent the entire night leaning on the bar with an old mate screaming into each other's ears to be heard; is it me, or is music louder than it used to be? I guess I really am getting old...
Anyway, I spent most of this gig with my good ear glued to my speaker, trying to minimise the appalling number of bum notes coming out of it - it's no good, I'm going to have to get 'em syringed...