Devine Intervention

Published on Fri 9 Mar 2012

So, the Kevin Devine gig the other week was brilliant, though we left early because a rail replacement bus service would've meant a really, really late night. The support act, JayMay had a nice voice and everything but was Not My Cup Of Tea At All. I'm becoming almost completely intolerant of the slightest hint of jazz I think. I thought people descended into liking jazz as they got older? Maybe I'm just intolerant of competent but boring songs. I thought people descended into liking competent but boring songs as they get older? Anyway. Kevin Devine had the Goddamn Band with him, which was a nice surprise as I was expecting it to be solo like it had been the other time I saw him. They were as tight as a bastard, but weirdly, the sound was very similar from song to song. I'd have thought a band would lead to more variation. Maybe it was just that most of the songs were from newer albums than I know well. Cotton Crush was worth the travelling and ticket alone. I particularly enjoyed the bass player (visible in the picture below, but you don't get the sense of his movement). And I really love The Borderline. Every other venue in London seems to be sending me exhortations to vote for them in some "best venue in London" competition. I'd only vote for The Borderline.

We went to Berkhamsted last week, which seems like a much nicer place than I'd imagined. It has a castle and everything!

Ruined castles are among my favourite things. If I could spend all my time looking at ruined castles and dinosaurs, that'd be ok with me. We stayed in a pretty swanky hotel - I got the thickest of steaks for dinner and the toilet was square. I'm not sure square toilets are either as stylish or as comfortable as oval ones, but a change is as good as a rest. This is a bit Chris T-T, but here's a picture.

There was some confusion among the people I overheard about how to say Berkhamsted. I'd instinctively say BerkHAMsted, and I did hear that, but I also heard a lot of BERKumsted. I asked someone and he just said "well, mostly we say Burko". Fair enough.

Did a chocolate tasting last week, which was good fun. I learnt that Galaxy is better than Cadbury's because Cadbury's replace cocoa butter with vegetable, but the absolute best chocolate comes from the shop that the woman running the tasting owns. Though to be fair, having tasted some, it's hard to disagree with that. I also learnt that pure cocoa is gross. I got 4/6 in my tasting test. Someone got 5, but I don't see how that's possible without cynically putting the same answer for 2 of them.

Most of the rest of my non-work time has looked like this:

Though I recently discovered Draw Something, which is amazing fun, and I did (just about) finish a song! First of the year! Probably first for a year.

Guess which of these meals was mine.