Some previous evening – I find myself in a Tufnell Park room full of Czechs and Slovakians. They are all watching a Depeche Mode video with quiet intensity. Mr Dave Gahan uniting them like a kind of Basildon Tito.
****
Last night – to Brixton for Martin White's birthday drinks. On my way there at Brixton Tube, there are shouting touts for whoever's on at Brixton Academy (the band Interpol, I think). They loiter right by the station ticket barriers and are impossible to avoid. The Tube staff seem blissfully resigned to not doing anything about these intimidating, frightening, Awful Men. "Tickets! Buy or Sell Tickets!" is their mantra.
Idea for parody of that scene from Oliver!, where London street vendors' cries become the song 'Who Will Buy This Wonderful Morning':
"Who will buy my sweet red roses?Two blooms for a penny…"
"Ripe strawberries, ripe!"
"Who will give me their wonderful Direct Debit details? I've a clipboard of a charity brand… "
"Spliff? Weed? Ganja?"
"Minicab, mate?"
"Spare change?"
"BUY OR SELL TICKETS! BUY OR SELL TICKETS!"
Cut to Oliver Twist looking out of the window. He can't hear anything. He is blissfully hooked up to an I-Pod.
Back at Brixton Tube station, I am in my glasses and no make-up mode, which I like to think is Minimum Risk. Not minimum enough. As I exit the barrier, the tout I pass feels the need to adjust his ugly chant:
"Buy or Sell Tickets! Buy Or Sell Tickets!"
He sees me.
"Faggots Night Out?"
He shouts this comment loudly enough that the man in front of me, also attempting to exit the station, thinks it is aimed at <i>him.</i> He turns around and walks back to the tout. He is rather large. I wish I could see what happens next. But I have my head down and, as ever, am just trying to reach my destination without incident.
***
Weds night- Boogaloo Monthly Movie Quiz. Last one with Messrs Williams and Hupfield. The previous month my team actually won. But this time we go out at our usual placing of, oh, 10th place or something like that. Even after spotting the themes to Eyes Wide Shut, Boogie Nights and so on. Still, a fun time was had by all. Managed to get the Who Sung Which Bond Theme question right, of course. But ask me to recognise the theme to Blade 2 and I just giggle.
I put the previous win down to a combination of luck and a good amount of film fans on the table. The team then included Val, Clare, Alison and Adam – all four of whom are the dressed-up DJs at their new club Airport (every Weds 10pm-3am, at The Roxy, 3-5 Rathbone Place W1.).
Mr Adam works for Tartan Films, so lately he's been handling the UK business of films like The Woodsman and Palindromes, the new Todd Solondz. If a new movie has got paedophiles or serial killers, but with a quality 'indie' feel, it's probably a Tartan film. I'm rather a fan of the <a href="http://www.tartanvideo.com/" target="_blank">Tartan DVD label.</a> Last year they put out the likes of Capturing the Friedmans, Wisconsin Death Trip and Control Room. All three of which are highly recommended to you, Dear Reader. Must write about them in depth some time. Naturally, my first question to Adam was 'When are Tartan bringing out Liquid Sky on DVD'? No plans. Some problem with rights, apparently.
Team members this time were myself, the stalwart Dr Dave Kennedy, the dedicated Mr Martin White (who travels all the way from Croydon to do the quiz), plus Mr Wren Gullo and Mr Andy, Ms Silke and Mr Sam, Ms Amelia From-The-Dedalus-Book-Launch and – a pleasant surprise – Mr Ian Watson of How Does It Feel club fame. Turns out Ms Amelia knows Mr Watson behind my back, in some kind of writing-for-the-Guardian context. Mercifully, I make it a rule never to utter the expression 'small world'.
I sit down and think about all the people who've been on the quiz team since I started attending last September. Invited from all the different London Worlds I drift in and out of. Can one be defined by the sort of people one attracts – a Venn Diagram intersection labelled People Who Don't Mind Being Associated With Dickon Edwards? Well, they all seemed to get on with each other, and I think they enjoyed themselves. No one died. It's been a lot of fun.
This curious group has included:
– people from England, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, France, Australia and the US
– males, females and transsexuals in their 20s, 30s and 40s
– at least 5 people who play in bands or manage bands
– at least 5 workers in cinemas or video shops
– at least 3 playwrights who've actually managed to get their work performed in public
– at least 4 journalists who apparently manage to get paid regularly
– at least 6 DJs who know how to fend off requests from drunken Non-Regulars at their clubs
– 1 x editor of early Belle and Sebastian videos
– 1 x offspring of the man who wrote the song Blame It On The Boogie
– 1 x runner of a fan club for the TV series, Lexx
– 1 x runner of a fan club for the Kenickie offshoot band, Rosita
– 1 x actor from the 80s TV series The Tripods
– 1 x Suicide Girl (Suicidegirls.com being a kind of Playboy for the Marilyn Manson set)
– 1 x contestant on Channel 5's Make Me A Supermodel
– 1 x vocalist from the bands Blood Sausage and The Lies, on the 'Kill Rock Stars' label
– 0 x concert ticket touts
