I've just been packaging up a special earlier-than-other-US copy of Plokta 28 for regular Macadamia-reader Damien, currently recovering from surgery. The quote was "he's awake and asking for his iPod". Very understandable; I'm quite addicted to mine.
London transport was thoroughly disrupted by the firefighters' strike, but luckily I missed the worst of it, on Thursday night, because I had only to get from Highbury corner to the Angel. We went to see the Oysterband at a new venue, the Marquee. They were great, and they were ably supported by Little Johnny England, a band which occupies almost precisely the same musical niche as the Oysters, and who we'll be seeing in their own right at the Borderline in January.
The Oysterband have a new album out, and they believe it's one of their best; having loaded it into the iPod, together with the compilation (Granite Years, which we'd avoided buying due to having all the constituent tracks) and all three Little Johnny England albums, it's growing on me rapidly. We'd gathered together a bunch of LJ-ers; one of the good things about Live Journal is that it provides a good way to find out which of your friends might be interested in particular gigs you're going to. Turns out plenty of them are interested in Philip Glass, and very few in Billy Bragg.
This was an unseated gig; the Oysters don't normally play at seated venues. Most standing venues have a few seats round the edges; the Marquee does, but it's a figleaf -- there's about five barstools in total. So we were standing, and I got some clear evidence of the benefits of dancing games; I stood around, I danced, I sang along, and although I was completely knackered moderately tired after three hours, I managed not to slope off and sit down in a corner.
Speaking of dancing games, we got a lovely exciting package in the post this morning; from Amazon, containing Dancing Stage Party Edition and the yummy Aragorn-enhanced 4-disc set. DSPE provides many more songs than Dancing Stage Euromix, though rather fewer beginner-level songs (though there are a few), and less previous pop hits, not that this matters for addicts. However, wonder of wonders, it has a continuous workout mode; you just set it going and it plays song after song until you retire tired. As for 28 extra minutes of Aragorn (and three more words from Haldir), we're going to despatch the kids to bed this evening and then have a multi-hour LOTRfest.
I have more to write about, but Marianne tells me that it's her turn to play on the iMac.
6:19:11 PM 
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