ID card vote.

Given that the real test is going to be the third reading, that's not such a bad start. Indeed, the New Statesman a couple of weeks ago said that the Campaign group were going to abstain on last night's vote, so opinion might have hardened since.

A point to remember is that a lot of Labour MPs abstained. If half of them decide to vote against at the third reading, then the bill falls. Oops. Actually, it'll take more than that. I was a bit mislead by publicwhip.org.uk mentioning a potential Labour turnout of over 400, when actually there are only 356 Labour MPs.

Is there a list of abstainers available anywhere online yet?

Irrelevance : walking home on Friday, I passed a house with a little ornamental well in the front garden. Instead of garden gnomes, there was a little bench with Statler and Waldorf sitting on it.

Errr . . . you remember me saying the Calton Studio's days were numbered . . .?

It's happened, according to the Scotsman.

A NIGHTCLUB has been forced to shut down after complaints from neighbours over loud music and antisocial behaviour.

The owners of Studio 24 on Calton Road have agreed to close its doors for the last time next January following a campaign by neighbours.

Residents complained about under-age drinking, noise and litter from clubbers, as well as music audible through their flat walls.

Twenty objections were lodged with the city licensing board when it considered granting an extension to the club’s 3am late licence this week.

A six-month extension was passed despite the residents’ challenge after the owner’s solicitor pledged the club would close in the New Year.

Most of the complaints stemmed from the under-18 Goth night, Junior Mission, which is held on Saturdays till 10pm.

Goths, eh? What can you do with them?

The full story's here.

As I believe I said earlier, the problem is that people who bought new flats built next to a longstanding rock and nightclub venue are now complaining about the noise.

Addendum: I'm just listening to an HMHB session they recorded for Andy Kershaw last year. They claimed they'd have a new record out in the spring, so maybe we'll see it soon.

Ah yes. "They didn't choose their cat, the cat chose them . . . and what do you know, it's got its own website."

Pub quiz and marketing calls

original_aj came round last night and we went over to the Hoose to try the pub quiz and the Skullsplitter. Success was mixed.

As he arrived the phone went and I leapt for it in case it was Ed. It wasn't. It was a recorded marketing call - something about a holiday in Florida, I think - so I did what I generally do in such cases. I put it down and left it talking to nobody for a while in the hope that the marketers pay for the call by the microsecond. After finding and putting my boots and jacket on, I checked the phone and it was still going. In fact, I realised that it had looped. I wasn't quite sure whether to put it down, and said so to AJ. The evil grin on his face persuaded me - I left it talking and we went to the pub.

When we arrived, we found that the Skullsplitter was still lurking unconnected, so we had Thrappledouser instead. It was an entirely acceptable alternative. The Whisky Angels invited us to join their (quite large) team and we went on to beat everybody except - crucially - the bar staff.

Back at the house, we were saddened to find that sometime in the several hours I'd been out, the telemarketing machine had given up and rung off. Still, at least I wasn't left with the same decision to make this morning, or even this evening. Would I eventually have ended up getting a second phone line just because I couldn't bear to stop wasting their resources?

It's possible. A lucky escape, I think.

Addendum: More irrelevance - Arcosanti. Yes, I did use to play a lot of SimCity, actually.