Sing Like an Angel

So on Friday we tried out Didcot's new and shiney Cornerstone arts centre, with its oh-so-interesting orange and grey boxy architecture (it's tempting to refer to it as EasyArts). It's actually quite a nice venue and really ups Didcot as a place to go, particularly given that they have booked some great acts for their first season, several of which we would like to get to. In the end the one act we were able to go to was Mitch Benn star of... well, mostly star of assorted radio shows.

We saw Mitch a few years ago, so knew pretty much what to expect and were not disappointed as he and his band gave us a great evening of music and laughs (and taking the in-laws along, we have a couple of new converts too). It was especially interesting to find that our previous Mitch Benn gig was referred to on several occasions, leaving us to mutter "We were there!" to each other. Clearly it was a seminal evening!

Babies

For some reason this has some resonance...

The Jon Show

One of those rare postings: just a link to something that made me laugh this week. What do you get when you take a well known strip cartoon and take out the title character? Well, it's possible you'll get a load of crud, but in the case of Garfield Minus Garfield you get something very strange and very funny indeed.

Chilli Child

So there we were at the noodle bar, the Youngling in her highchair and munching through spring rolls, noodles and prawn crackers, when she noticed that <3 and I were dipping prawn crackers into a dish of chilli sauce. Next thing I have a cracker thrust at me with some waving and looks that left me in no doubt that the Youngling wanted it dipped too. Okay, I thought, so I dipped for her and handed it back. She sucked the sauce off and gave me the cracker again.

After a couple of iterations, we let the Youngling dip for herself, which she did in a very ladylike manner and continued to do so until eventually she stopped, pulled a face looking like she was chewing a wasp (or, perhaps a heap of chilli sauce) and expressed displeasure quite loudly.

A drink of water and some rice later and all was well again, though I don't think she trusts prawn crackers any more.

I get the feeling we are bad parents...

Trust me on the sunscreen

Over the weekend a friend quoted something at me. I think he said he saw it as graffiti, so I have no idea of the original source, but it made me laugh and I don't want it to be lost...

Love like you don't need the money.
Dance like you've never been hurt.
Work like nobody is watching.

Grand Unified Theory

Finally, thanks to Pearls Before Swine, the universe's deepest secrets have been uncovered...

Better Than The Usual Medicine

Over the weekend I gave the Youngling a bath and, inevitably, we soon had the situation where her butt slipped and I frantically lunged to get a better grip before her head got a lot wetter than intended. What was her reaction? She laughed.

I'd heard her laugh a few times before, but that was just a bit of a chuckle, a smile with emphasis. This was a genuine peel of delighted laughter. What could I do but laugh back? This made her laugh all the more, and soon enough we were both in hysterical giggles, splashing each other with bath water. It was a tough weekend in some ways, but that bathtime erased all other concerns. The laughter of a 12 week old baby is just magical.

A Whole New World

Sometimes you just have to love the customer reviews on Amazon. The new Katie and Peter album has spawned some awesome reviews. Probably the top of the heap for my money is the one entitled "Two Monstrous Talents", which is a work of genius. Who can ignore a recommendation like: "How can two monstrous talents such as these, who so shun public exposure, have plucked up the courage to make this bold, vibrant statement of artistic splendour? And lets not forget Peter's contribution either"?

Thanks to the guys at The Session for spotting this.