VE Has Returned

Apologies for a quiet week on VE but I've been away. No time to go into proper details now, suffice to say the past nine days have seen me head to Somerset for four nights of babysitting and DVD viewing (including "Junebug" = not bad, and "Shopgirl" = diabolical).

Then back to London for two nights of education (intense three-hour lecture on the pre-history of the postmodern, and a two hour reading group on "Nightwood").

And off to Bath for two nights of high luxury and over-indulgence in a swanky Georgian hotel with Big P (with short breaks from the delights of our rooms to see "Borat" = hilarious, and "Casino Royale" = too long but better than expected). We also took a trip around the Roman Baths, to the aural accompaniment of that highly critical nasal Yank, Bill Bryson, and had a proper Georgian tea in the Pump Rooms.

Last night, one hour after our return to the Big Smoke, we took the 148 to the darkest depths of Shepherds Bush to see Scritti Politti live in concert = truly fantatsically amazing (total joy). This fulfilled one of my lifetime achievements (anyone who knows anything about frontman Green Gartside will understand why).

The break has also seen me bury my nose in "Party Going" by Henry Green, "Little Lord Fauntleroy" by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and "The Wild Body" by Wyndham Lewis, as well as a few Virginia Woolf short stories and some trashy womens' mags and the weekend papers.

However, I'm now back at work - so I sadly expect there to be a considerable downturn in cultural consumption and overall quality of life/joy. Ho hum. If I get a chance, I shall try to expand on the more enlightening of the above over the next few days.

PS - Have now had the sodding Freeview box for three full weeks. Despite claiming it has a five-minute easy-to-use set-up time, I still haven't managed to get the bloody thing to work. Multo grrr. And we're a whole week into "I'm A Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here!" - the only reason I bought the stupid thing. Am not impressed. Stupid technology.