Another heads-up.

Bowie's curating Meltdown this year, and he's got Television, The Legendary Stardust Cowboy, The The, Jims Coleman and Thirwell, and Señor Coconut y su Conjunto - among many others. A good lineup.
Anyone fancy a trip to any of them?

London yesterday.

Turned out to be a good day for seeing people. I'd arranged to meet Katie O'Shea for some record shopping and an art gallery, which went very well. Unfortunately the Serra by Liverpool Street station is slightly off limits because of some demolition they're doing there, but Soho (specifically Sister Ray and Selectadisk) were only a few minutes away. Katie had cunningly (and intentionally)come out without enough money or cards to buy records (very wise) but I was taken for several things, including the Alternative Eighties compilation and a single by "The Droyds" that Sarah the pilot put me onto - there's a version of a Duran Duran song on the back. "Girls on pills". Slightly silly.

After that, back to St Paul's to cross the river to the Tate Modern. I'd not been there before, so i was quite looking forward to it. I was quite surprised to bump into fluffymark and Catt in the tube station. They were waiting for sheridan, and had been for most of an hour. Mark said he'd about given up hope, and then followed it immediately with "Oh, there he is". Good to see them all. Then to the river and across the bridge, which is very nice and getting very heavy use. Pretty much as soon as we arrived in the gallery, Chris Cowan wandered up and said hello. COming so soon after the others, it was a bit surprising.

The gallery itself was huge, and well-stocked, as I'm sure you all know. My brain was full after a couple of hours. Important points - Eduardo Paolozzi isn't listed as dead on the wall plaques, so presumably he's still alive. This is good news, but there was no indication of his health. I only saw one Manzoni - an achrome, which didn't give any indication of his range. I liked this one, which was at an exhibition I went to with Kaija a couple of years ago. As were a pile of these, originally sold as being worth their weight in gold. Of course, they're considerably more valuable now.

There were lots of other things too, of course, including Duchamps' Fountain. In some ways it was like being back home - Londoners might like to note that we had dedicated Modern Art gallery long before you did, in spite of what the papers might tell you. Yours is much bigger, of course. I must go back soon - towards the end of our stay I had severe Art Fatigue, so nothing was really getting the attention it deserved. Next time - same rooms, but in the reverse order. (New Graham - New Grammar. New sentence - no verb)

After that we walked downstream to Tower Bridge, as there's a very nice Paolozzi on the bank near it (parochial, moi?). It was up on blocks - I think it had been moved a little because of some nearby building works. We had a bite at a chain pizza place and a couple of drinks in what claims to be the most famous London riverside pub (although neither of us had ever heard of it). OK place, but nothing to write home about. Then back Liverpool Street and trains to our respective homes. Good day. Must do it again sometime.

Now playing - Always the Sun, from that compilation. Nice enough song, excellent drumming, of course. Quite understated, which is always good.