This is where it ends.

A weekend in Birmingham??

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 15:23:26 GMT

Believe it or not I'm going to be in Brum all weekend. (Sadly, there is an ulterior motive - showing people round my flat - I did have to turn down a free VIP press pass for Reading and Leeds festival from my new employers What's On guides, doh!!)

However am determined to use it as best I can to actually see you all. So I'll be in the Flapper and the Newt tonight, with a friend who's staying over. Then tomorrow join me Charlotte and others at 1pm for a full blown WATER FIGHT in the park by my flat. Is gonna be awesome.

Meanwhile I'll check all your recent posts and see if any of you are somewhere I might find you.

So yes life is still crazy but at least I'm starting to bring it under control with the new job and soon a new flatmate hopefully.

Hope to see you later xx

Camping details

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 09:34:48 GMT

Hi people, below I've put all the details of the camping for any of you coming to stay with me at Lymington. There's room for 6 in the flat and all the overflow (or those who'd rather camp) can camp. Can I now ask for confirmation of who is coming and what dates? All friends/partners most welcome. You can post details here if you LJ or email me or text me (bearing in mind I'm in Poland from this evening until Tuesday and won't have roaming). I can confirm that I'll be travelling down (with anyone who would like a lift from Birmingham) on Friday 31st at 6pm, and returning to Birmingham (with anyone who'd like a lift) on Sunday at 7pm. After this anyone who's staying on will need to camp until I return on the following Friday (with Spooj and anyone else in Brum) at 6pm, leaving on the Sunday at 7pm, leaving Spooj camping (anyone else is also welcome to stay on).

Hollands Wood Campsite - a 15 minute walk from Brockenhurst Station, from which trains run every half hour to Lymington Town (get off here not Lymington Pier). £15.40 per pitch per night, with full toilet and shower facilities. A pitch counts as 1 tent, up to 2 adults, 1 car - if you want more adults or more cars each will add £5 per night. Call to book on 08451308223. Lyndhurst Road,(New Forest), Brockenhurst, Hampshire, SO42 7QH - use Google Maps or similar to see how to get there from the station.

So - I know about Kate, Anjii & Tim, & Spooj - who else is up for a lovely spell by the sea and in the forest?

x

Turning point?

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 11:20:05 GMT

Wow, maybe I'm turning the corner. A sudden chance to actually make it work with old flame Krysta after all these chequered years, and expecting some good news on the work front soon. Plus all over the place with travel and friends - recently in Lymington, a castle on the Scottish border, Leeds, Nottingham, a country cottage in Herefordshire, and soon off to Poland and Lymington (to which friends are most welcome, I now have spare tents for anyone who's not got them!) at the start of next month. I really have been all over the place, in every sense - maybe this is where sanity starts again.

Lymington / New Forest, Aug 31 - Sep 9th - all welcome

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 15:07:56 GMT

Hello everybody, many of you will have heard about my hopes to invite you all to come and stay on the south coast at the beginning of September - well finally here are my plans. Please text me if you're interested & we can sort things out.

Basically my parents have a flat 5 mins from Lymington marina and 1 min from Lymington Town station (easily accessible every half hour from the fast Virgin Train through Brockenhurst), and the flat is now in a fit state to receive guests, so I'm inviting you all to come stay as long as you like down there. There's not room for everyone who might come to fit in the flat (I think max 6 there) but there's lots of great camping nearby and several of you have already volunteered to camp nearby.

You can come and go as you please, whenever you have time to be there really. I myself will only be there for the two weekends (31st Aug - 2nd Sep and 7-9th Sep) as I'm likely to be working in the week but as many of you are thinking of camping anyway I thought you'd be happy entertaining yourselves on the weekdays before my return...? I'll check up on buses etc once I know who's planning what. Additionally I'll find out the best campsite for access to Lymington and the Forest and post the details here for you to book your spot.

The innumerable nice things to do in the area include...

- Great walking, biking and nature in the New Forest
- Easy ferries to Southampton and the Isle of Wight (which you can easily get around by bus) from Lymington and Hythe
- Great nightlife & nice shopping/touristy stuff in Bournemouth
- Great beaches at Highcliffe and Mudeford, from where you can go crabfishing off Mudeford Quay or head over to Hengistbury Head for another nature reserve with great beaches or take the Noddy Train to more nice stuff
- Hurst Castle at the end of Keyhaven Spit
- Nice market, shops, marina, learn to sail & nature reserve in Lymington
- Etc!

I also have relatives in the area who can help if anything goes wrong when I can't help, but of course it won't because we're great aren't we.

So if you're interested, what I need to know is:

- Are you gonna go? Who else will come with you?
- When do you wanna go and come back? (I can give some lifts back to Birmingham on the Sundays; if a car isn't an option I'd book your train as long in advance as possible to save money)
- Would you prefer to camp or stay in the flat? (I can't leave anyone in the flat when I'm not there unfortunately)
- If you're staying in the flat, is there someone you'd be happy sharing a bed with? (There's a double bed and double bed settee available as well as lilos etc, so someone's gonna have to share with me one way or another!)
- If you're camping, do you have a tent? (I can lend or borrow if need be)
- Any special requirements? (Diet, allergies, budget etc)

So please do text me & we'll sort it out!

Lots of love,

Ian

I'm not really here

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 10:47:44 GMT

Hi guys, my life has been all over the place lately, sorry I've not
posted or seen any of you in so long. I've been given an extra month to
sort out my money and flatmate problems - in short I need to sort (in
this order) 1. a steadier & dependable source of income 2. a new
flatmate 3. keeping the flat. Thanks to everyone who's put people in
touch with me about the flatshare, is much appreciated, keep thinking
of me!

I was supposed to drive to Herefordshire yesterday to spend a week in
paradise at a remote corner by the River Lugg - but the appalling
weather has meant the entire route from here to there is very dangerous
and travel is not advised. So I'm gonna be around tonight - text me if
you're up to anything fun, if I don't hear anything I might just drop
by the Flapper to see if I find anyone there.

Hopefully things will ease and I'll get my much needed respite soon.
You know that feeling when you know you've gotta move the earth to sort
your life out and you're already too exhausted before you even start?
That's where I've been at for the last month. Hope it starts to get
easier soon I've not really been myself.

Oh, and because the internal clock on my laptop is fucked I can only post from the other PC when I'm able. Hope you're all good.

It's hit the fan

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 09:02:04 GMT

Tom's told me he's got to move out at the end of July to look after his dad. Which means I either have to find a new flatmate immediately - any takers?? please spread the word - or take a big gamble on finding one when I'm financially fucked anyway, or live out of boxes at my parents' for the foreseeable future. And moving out is really something I just don't have time to organise right now, July already had a nightmare schedule and August is all over the place.

Under a lot of pressure at work too and I'm not sleeping properly, don't know where the time to sort my life out is gonna come from right now.

Any bright ideas? Sorry to be grouchy

Free gig next Tuesday - any takers?

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 14:56:06 GMT

Hey guys, as if Muse at Wembley and maybe Wireless in Hyde Park weren't enough free gigs for me this week, one of my sister's bands (We Are) Performance are playing their debut album at the Barfly next Tuesday (19th). Does anyone want to come? We can get free tickets for you. The band are a lot of fun, they sound like a cross between Human League and Duran Duran, in a good way. A lot more lively than Hot Chip or Fischerspooner before any of you try to pigeonhole, check out www.myspace.com/weareperformance. I've got an EP and seen them supporting Gary Numan in Manchester at the great man's request, where they were great.

Otherwise, despite some great times with friends and family, I'm still a bit low. Even if Silver Street commission me this week I'm in real financial difficulty this summer. Anyone know of any part-time jobs going spare...?

Barbecue, Saturday 4pm

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 18:51:36 GMT

Round my place, which is Flat 32, 56 Bath Row, Attwood Green, B15 2DG. Just type the postcode into Google Maps or Streetmap or something if you don't know where I am.

Love ya

Phew

Sat, 26 May 2007 11:57:37 GMT

In the last 2 weeks I've seen 3 or my 4 all time favourite artists playing the best sets I've ever seen them play live, and in a few weeks I'll be seeing the other at Wembley! How bout that! And my parents have paid for all the tickets, so they're never going on their own! Awesome!

So yes if you're a fan of The Who, Roger Waters/Pink Floyd, or the Pet Shop Boys, they are all on stonking form right now and you really must find a way to see them, you never know if you'll get another chance. And I hope to report the same about Muse shortly.

Meanwhile work and money are frustrating, sorry I've not seen most of you in so long, until some money comes in I'm keeping a tight rein. Spending the weekend in the south for a break and taking no work-related items whatsoever with me.

On another note, a new experience - a prostitute started talking to me on the walk home the other night. Why did she assume I was gay though!!! Your comments please, I was amused, at least she wasn't expecting any money from me

Stupid computer

Sun, 06 May 2007 15:32:01 GMT

Why is my laptop insisting that it's the first of January 2002? Look at the date of this post - i couldn't get it to not be december. Every time I restart it bleeps angrily at me and resets the clock. Grrr

Having a lovely time at the mo, down at the flat on the south coast, writing hard and walking and stuff by the sea and in the forest. Came back to Brum on Saturday for a lovely night out with lovely friends, have been busy today being hung over, about to drive back south till Thursday. Why does everything take so much longer when you've got a hangover?

Thanks everyone for being lovely, happy birthday to Spooj & my mum.

Love y'all

One hilarious night

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 21:47:55 GMT

So I was at an event at the Birmingham Rep theatre last night which ended about 7.30. I twisted a few arms and some colleagues agreed to stay for a quick drink. Which became about 3 or 4. I met the Rep's Literary Manager for the first time and can't imagine I made the best impression on her in my state, ahem.

One writer and I went up Broad Street to see the end of the football, then grabbed a bite to eat and wound up in the Tap & Spile. There we found several colleagues including a certain national radio presenter and had enjoyable chat and drinks there. Anyway it got progressively later, as time has a strange habit of doing when you're drinking. We got drunker and drunker, to the point at which the certain national radio presenter (whose birthday it now was) got kicked out and we moved on.

So I very drunkenly shambled home and made a lot of disastrous lurching and crashing and woke Tom up. According to him it was 6am.

The pub was supposed to shut at 4am, and I have no memory after I left the place, so there may be some missing time in there somewhere. What could I have been doing?

Didn't wake till 1pm. So much for a day's work today, though I did go to two industry events in the evening. It's a hard life.

I get to meet some interesting people

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 18:53:44 GMT

My flatmate Tom and I barely see each other, as I work from home all day and am out with work or tennis or something nice every night and most of the weekend while he bonds with his computer or sleeps. Today was a particularly interesting work event, as it was a masterclass led by 4 leading filmmakers. They were:

- The commissioning editor of FilmFour, responsible for films like The Last King of Scotland, Dead Man's Shoes, Straightheads etc...
- Producer of said film, Goodbye Charlie Bright, Amy Foster
- The maker of Warriors, The Government Inspector, pending TV double 'Britz' (oh my God what a brilliant preview we got) and a new film about Alexandr Litvinenko
- The maker of acclaimed urban £3500 film The Plague and new movie Kapital

And the other delegates weren't half bad either! I'm a privileged guy. However my main lesson of the day was "trying to get a major movie made will fuck you about", which reassures me that "just do it your fucking self" is indeed the way forward.

Sometimes it takes multi-award-winning pros to show you that you already had the right idea

Satdee nite

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 15:24:31 GMT

So my fab sister Kat is coming for the weekend, anyone doing anything cool on Saturday? Feels like ages since I've seen most of you.

Failing all else, drinks at the Flapper will be a good start I'd say, so text me if you're around and are thinking of going!

Hope you're all good and happy cool people

New games, the new flame, and the mistress

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 20:18:33 GMT

So in the last week my flatmate Tom and I have invented no less than 4 new games. Firstly we went to a playground and started throwing or bouncing a tennis ball to one another, passing through or avoiding various stated targets and scoring for each. I trashed Tom 25-14 or so. The other 3 games were darts-related, can't remember who won what. Firstly we threw three darts each, and whoever had thrown closest to the bull scored a point. Then we threw from a long distance, scoring likewise. Then we threw three darts each simultaneously and added up the totals. Then we threw from a sitting position on either side of the room.

I'm 25, in case you were wondering!

Meanwhile something important has occurred to me. If my previous car was "the old girl" then my new flame must surely be "the mistress". After all she's fiery, passionate and expensive, but you can't quite see yourself settling down with her

Farewell to the old girl - meet my new flame

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 13:14:22 GMT

So after yet more amusing anecdotes and tribulations, I've finally allowed myself to bid goodbye to my dear old Renault, after 19 years faithfully serving the family. I'm gonna miss the old girl.

However, after years of pottering about in my shabby little machine, I've now at last had the chance to put my car knowledge to good use. So please welcome my new flame of Italian passion, the Alfa 156. Two fiery litres of Twinspark power, gorgeous body & Ferrari red, great condition. Now I'm 25 I can even afford to insure it! Happy times.

But the best news of all is that the Renault isn't even going to be scrapped. Mr Singh who does my cars is a fan of old cars and thinks (as I do) that mine could become a collector's item one day. So he's going to keep it in a yard and maybe one day it will find a new life, or appear in a period drama, who knows!

Having a weekend almost as crazy as the one a few months ago, and yet may finish it further ahead of my usual Silver Street schedule than ever before. But have missed out on Glastonbury tickets sadly.

Sell car, avoid fraudsters & chancers, earn £1600

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 17:30:56 GMT

So when we bought a new car for my dad, he was only offered £3100 for his 2001 Audi A4 - the trade price, but not anything like the value of the car. I said "We're confident to sell it ourselves" so I went and did just that - using the Audi as my runaround in the interim. (Added 860 miles to the mileometer, whoops. & Really should have used it as more of a pussy wagon while I had it eh.)

So I advertised for £4900 or nearest offer in Auto Trader online & in the magazine and quickly started getting enquiries. One guy wanted to come from London immediately and give me £4000 in cash for it. He kept urging me to 'do him a favour!' - errr sorry but am I here to do anyone a favour? - so I told him to come back with a sensible offer or leave it. He called back a few days later but without an improved offer.

I was also quickly emailed by two people both saying they were overseas car dealers (Bulgaria and Ireland/Netherlands). They wanted to pay over the odds for the car so I could forward money to their 'shipping agents' who would collect the car and export it for them. I was wary of this, and certainly wouldn't have forwarded any money until I could see the credit from their bankers draft in my account, and was wary that one was asking me to withdraw the advert as he considered the car sold to him. So I spoke to my bank who thought it was fishy and with Auto Trader who said it as a scam whereby they'd get me to forward the shipping fee and hand over the car and then find the bankers draft would bounce, leaving me out of pocket and carless. So I emailed these 'traders' to tell them to deal in person or forget it, and no reply.

Another enquirer with a foreign accent claimed he was in Aston but was afraid to drive any further as he wasn't used to driving on the left or in strange cities, could I come to him? Sounded like he had men in the car with him, and he said I'd find him in an Audi A6. I told him how simple it was to get to me, and waited. 45 mins later I called again to see where he'd got to, and he was in the same street. I left my parents a voicemail to say where I was going, and resolved not to let him drive it if he wasn't safe on our roads, but halfway there I decided it was a bad idea and turned around. I called to make a work-related excuse, he moaned he'd come down from Doncaster specially. My arse.

I was starting to feel like I'd have to prejudice against anyone with overseas connections. So when I got a call from another guy the next morning I was wary, but said fine come on up (from London). He called an hour later to say they were on the M40, and at 2pm they arrived. To my relief it was a couple from Macedonia, not a man with his mates. And they were nice, there was nothing much wrong with the car, we took an easy test drive, and agreed £4700. They'd brought cash (whoa, never seen so much) which we paid straight into the bank, I photographed proof of address and driving licences, we sorted the paperwork and met my dad at Birmingham International for him to sign the change of Keeper document, and I handed over the keys. Sorted.

And my stubborn parents refuse to accept more than £3100 for the car as they'd have accepted the dealers' offer. Which means I net £1600 for all this, er, experience. Which is almost all I need to replace my clapped-out Renault with a gorgeous Alfa Romeo 156. Nice.

Stupidest ever thing I've done

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 16:28:13 GMT

So pouring a decaf tea, I reached into the fridge for soya milk, unscrewed the plastic cap and started wondering why the milk was coming out all pale and yellowy... and noticed I was pouring apple&mango. I sipped a little - not intolerable - so added the soya which curdled. And I drank it all in the end. Wasn't bad - a bit herbal.

Try it sometime

Going away for a week on the south coast tomorrow, catch y'all again soon.

One packed weekend

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 17:57:49 GMT

Alright everyone here's a challenge: if you managed to pack more into your weekend, I'll buy you a drink.

Saturday 17th February, 0000: Enjoying some lovin' at a lady friend's.
0200: Stop snugglin' and start sleepin' in Acocks Green.
0700: Some more snugglin'.
0800: Return to flat. Freshen up, breakfast, pack for Leeds & an important meeting.
0930: Parents pick me up to help my dad buy a new car to replace his Audi A4. Do some cramming with the latest What Car? on the way.
1000: Help my parents look over a wide variety of compact executive cars, putting all my car knowledge to good use.
1120: Both Dad and I test drive a Merc C-Class. It's good.
1140: Secure a good deal for the Merc. Agree with my dad to sell his A4 and if I can't make him more than £400 more than we've been offered, I'll buy it off him for £3500.
1245: Return to flat.
1310: Hasty lunch.
1330: Head to our Studios offices for a make-or-break meeting, definitely the most important meeting I've had in over two years.
1545: Meeting very very successful: all my aims achieved. Return to flat.
1600: Cook a load of veggie mince and sausages that would otherwise go off while I'm away. Eat a meal, save the bolognese I've made in the fridge.
1720: Walking with my luggage to meet friends, call my friend Kate to arrange to meet in Leeds, and my parents to let them know about the meeting.
1740: Join friends in the pub; almost immediately we head to the train.
1800: Chat and snooze the way to Leeds.
2015: We taxi to our hotel & check in.
2115: Champagne on ice in the sink in one of our hotel rooms.
2200: Taxi to The WendyHouse (Leeds Uni students' union alternative/goth/electro night)
2230: Much needed beer, 6 is for once enough to get me good and amusingly wasted. Enjoying flitting between rooms and mates through the night.

Sunday 18th February, 0000: Begin dancing.
0030: A girl pinches my arse and asks why I'm not dancing with her. I do so, to find that mainly she wants to show off lesbian tendencies with a friend. After the novelty wears off, rejoin mates where I get chatting to another cute stranger on the floor.
0200: Club closes.
0230: Taxi back to hotel.
0300: Sleep.
0900: Downstairs for a big breakfast.
0930: Snooze.
1000: Set off walking alone along the waterfront to Leeds centre. Pealing of church bells combined with hangover gives a strange wish to go to church.
1045: Attend the beginning of a vacuous church ceremony. Make a donation and leave to meet Kate.
1110: Kate and her lovely sister Anthea join me in town. We go to the Slug&Lettuce, meet Amph's fella and chat away.
1300: Amph & her fella leave; Kate and I get lunch.
1355: Leave Kate at the station.
1400: Can't find my mates on the train. Turns out it's in two halves. Come up with a TV series concept & play music.
1445: Jump across from my half of the train to my find mates at Barnsley station. Chilled slow ride home.
1700: Arrive back in Brum. Jazz, Audrey and I go to a pub as everyone disperses.
1800: We meet Nick at the cinema and watch Hot Fuzz, which is every bit as entertaining as Sean of the Dead though it takes a little longer to hit its stride.
2030: Settle down to my neglected TV with Tom: Top Gear, The Conspiracy Files on 9/11, and the second half of Lewis.
2300: Bath & bed.
2400: Sleeeeeep. Vow to lie in the following morning & take the day off.

There you go - BEAT THAT!

Living implausibly

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 19:49:12 GMT

Whoa, another month without a post, sorry guys. A month which saw me work nearly four weeks without a single day off, in the process making a showreel video, getting our first booking from the BBC for our studios, completing its website and along the way making strides on several other work fronts. As well as some funny and enjoyable nights out, a quick London trip, and a new housemate. Which brings me to ask, where were you all for Tom's housewarming party on Saturday??? If it hadn't been for colleagues of mine there would have only been 2 guests. I hope there's nothing petty going on because I'll be very disappointed in you all. We had a great time and Tom certainly didn't seem to mind, but I've spent most of my life chasing and hoping after friends who in the end were never there for me, that's 2 quiet parties in a row and I'd like to think you guys are more genuine than that.

Anyway! Sure you'll have your excuses, and that's not what I came on here meaning to say at all. I thought I'd just tease you to say that since Christmas there have been some really very amusing and intriguing twists and turns in the love life. I'd give it all up for anything that was genuinely meaningful of course, but hey it's better to enjoy some affection than none. As for my Valentine's plans, off to a nice "Twisted Valentine's" short film night with a colleague I'm fond of, no heavy petting planned but surprises have been the order of the day lately so who knows.

Well see you in another month, unless I improve! Take care

Stuff that's happened

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 21:44:59 GMT

So I've not been on this journal for a bit, and you've missed a lot of funny stories, so I'll offer a few special highlights of the last month or so...

... managing to do 2 New Years' Parties in a tactful way
... renewing my friendship with an ex I'm very fond of who I've been missing for some time
... spending three weeks with the family over Christmas
... a free upgrade to a new smartphone that's as good as a laptop and so much easier to take around & connect, and does simply everything
... seeing the Villa from really close to Martin O'Neill and Sam Allerdyce
... taking it easy from work for a bit after working all days plus a lot of weekends for 5 months
... work continuing to rise up every more enjoyably & satisfyingly
... successfully rewriting half an episode of Silver Street at very short notice when an actor became unavailable. When he was at the heart of the main storyline of the episode which still needed to be told through the other characters
... knowing my social life's the best it's been in years
... sorting new housemate in the shape of the most admirable Tom
... my young cousins telling me how much they love being around me

... you know, the little things.

An unexpected benefit of having a sister

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 18:02:22 GMT

So my sister works for a music company in London who manage Snow Patrol, Badly Drawn Boy, Futureheads and others, and she sends me a text on Wednesday to say am I free Thursday night. I presumed this meant they were having their housewarming that night and were hoping I was free, but turned out it was because one of her company's new bands (Performance - sound like a cross between Human League and Duran Duran) were supporting my idol Gary Numan in Manchester and she was offering to get me on the guest list!

So I leap at the chance, but confirmation doesn't come until 5pm on Thursday by which time I had already almost left. I would've preferred to take the train but the last one back left at 2154, and since the Manchester Academy was a mile from the station that meant leaving after only 25 minutes of Numan - so I had to trust to my wheeled deathtrap and travel up there at the height of the Brum rush hour on the M6.

Somewhere north of Wolverhampton, my boomy car keeps slipping out of 5th gear repeatedly (a growing problem for a while) and finally won't go into 5th at all, and after struggling to get into any gear at all the cabin begins to smell suspiciously like it's trying to poison me. I limber into services and get some food while I wonder what to do. I decide to risk it, and make the rest of the journey in fourth gear with several windows open, freezing cold but at least not getting anything worse than a slight headache from the carbon monoxide poisoning.

And somehow, not only do I make it to Manchester (a city I've never been to before), I find the venue successfully, park safely nearby, make contact with the guy who'd put me on the guest list and get in the door in good time without any further complications!

A cracking gig (Performance live up to their name, and Numan was playing the entirety of his seminal album Telekon plus B-sides), and I brave the journey home, finding the car no worse a motorway cruiser with only 4 gears (though rather less economical). At nearly 1am I get home and have a bath, and the whole experience still hasn't quite sunk in.

So sisters can have their uses! Thanks Kat I love ya xx

Four binges in five days - what a career!

Sun, 03 Dec 2006 22:54:37 GMT

It's a principal benefit of my line of work that you can wake up as late and as hung over as you want, as long as you still get the job done to the highest possible standards and meet any deadlines. (I've often written until late at night, for instance.) And it can often be more justified to drink heavily on any day of the week because, typically, any drinks not made at the weekend are going to be work related. Two weeks ago I was out every single night of the week on some work-related talk, function, networking or performances. These present a massive opportunity for networking and meeting people, and have resulted in a large proportion of my recent job offers. Chat is a lot easier over a few drinks or a free meal.

That said, this week really has taken the piss. Never have so many bits of good news arisen from less responsible behaviour. On Tuesday, the Christmas party for the BBC Birmingham Radio Drama department brought about 100 from Silver Street, The Archers and Radio Drama together. Among vibrant chat with my series colleagues, I had a very nice chat with the lovely Louiza Patikas (plays Helen Archer) who I was rather smitten with the previous time I'd met her 2.5 years ago, when I was still feeling silly for hoping to end up doing this for a living. And after the party ended myself and two fellow writers went on drinking, with silly dancing among fake teen lesbians and other delights on Broad Street and a chat in the Tap and Spile till 3, and one of them (Sukhi, my usual partner in crime) came back to mine (as usual) and we stayed up chatting yet later (as usual) till a new record 0530.

Then the following day, Sukhi led me back into town for lunch starting with a Hare of the Dog booze to resolve our hangovers. We drank on (including Margheritas) till 6, and would have continued if I didn't have to play tennis that night. He suffered the worse for it all afterwards - I took the train since I was massively over the limit and played fairly well thank you very much. In the meantime, I picked up a commission from Silver Street, hurray, and a sign that the work I do when I'm not slacking has been suitably good lately.

Day 3 then (Thursday) began with meeting another fellow writer for a good mooch and chat in Starbucks, followed by a half-arsed afternoon's work, then on to a Creative Networks event. This involves a good free meal in the slick Technology Innovation Centre in Millennium Point, the chance to chat and get to know other creative professionals, then talks, then more networking over drinks at the bar under the IMAX there. And as well as becoming known and sharing business cards etc with a lot of other useful people who I will no doubt be working with in future, I got to know a lovely young lass called Aleesha who lately left the school my sister went to, of which we shared a lot of anecdotes. We wound up staying together, dropping her car at mine and going into the city for still more drinks (my local pub - she was impressed the barmaid knew my order before I made it; Sunflower Lounge; and Scruffy Murphys, getting to know each other better). But she hadn't been drinking alcohol and at the end of things we got back to mine and she drove home to her parents'.

After another half-arsed day of work, I didn't drink on Friday night, instead driving my dad out for a lovely country meal (lobster - a first for me!). And Saturday I had work to do now, starting out on the new Silver Street commission. But not knowing I would need the day for work, I'd booked into three readings of new plays at the Birmingham Rep Theatre; I did the first and chatted briefly with two Silver Street actors I met there, skipped the second (getting a good three hours' work in as a result) and went back for the third as it was written by another Silver Street colleague and starred Kee from earlier. There I met yet more colleagues, and stayed for a (non-alcoholic) drink and chat afterwards, meeting yet more useful contacts, before getting invited to a birthday party in a city venue by Hema (the other Silver Street actor(ess) from the start of the day).

So I went home, did another hour's work, and went out for an excellent night with Hema and her friends including a former BBC WM colleague (Punam Verma) and another utterly wonderful lady called Niki who took an immediate shine to me and was quite simply the most instantly warm, affectionate and kind person I've ever met. I learned (kinda) how to bhangra dance (this was an overwhelmingly Asian party, great fun) as well, and another new friend from the night (a fellow writer) wound up crashing on my sofa (0430 this time).

And despite all this, after an excellent day of work today (plus lengthy catching up with dear uni friends on MSN) the new Silver Street scripts are going well (let's not forget that unlike most of you I'm working through the weekend as required), and I've had four other job offers in the last fortnight.

And a large part of the credit lies with these boozy, spontaneous and strange occasions...

Relaxed, tidy GSOH kinda-single male, 25, seeks compatible housemate

Fri, 24 Nov 2006 20:52:54 GMT

So in a week when I've picked up 3 more job offers including the first paid work for our studios (from the BBC no less!), the most interesting thing to report is still this: there are now two other people living on this floor who come from the same town in the South of France as my housemate (Montpellier). One of them came round to sheepishly borrow our vacuum cleaner the other day. Small world eh?

But this is skirting the big issue here. Julien has been given an offer he can't refuse and is going to move in with a friend in January. The room is even bigger than the one I've given him, there's a view - not as spectacular of course, but still good - and above all his friend is offering him half price. I can't stand in his way, we've got on just fine but all the same this is a friend of his from before and we only got to know one another because he was interested in my flat.

So for the second time in six months I'm now looking for a new flatmate. Are you interested? Spread the word! Many of you have already sounded me out about moving in and you don't need me to say what a great place and a great price it is, so if you're serious now's the time to come forward. If I've not got anyone lined up by mid-December I'll have to advertise so don't sit around people.

And those of you who missed the chance of a free viewing for my birthday party last week, well what can I say

When the breakdown service breaks down

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 18:51:34 GMT

Regular readers (all 0 of you) will know well that my dear little car ("the old girl") has been on her last legs. I always reckoned she wouldn't make it through another winter, and in recent months it's been increasingly clear the driveshaft was about to break, leaving me with no power or steering. Not a good idea if you're at speed, considering my car has the crash protection of a crisp packet; but fortunately the problem was only chronic when manoeuvring, so mainly I was hoping not to have to get a new car till I was 25 to save on insurance. Well, she's done as good as makes no difference, and finally broken down in a very safe car park in Northfield, even within range of my garage for a free AA recovery vehicle.

Well I was kept waiting an hour for it, but didn't mind too much. I was taking the whole thing in good humour, with a few poignant thoughts of my late Granny whose car it always was, and rearranging the accountants' meeting I was missing. Anyway the car was set up and towed back to my garage. We manoeuvred the car up the incline of the garage's drive, detatched my car, and as I emptied all my things from it the AA man Chris offered to drive me home to town as this was on his way back, which was very kind.

I went in to discuss the fate of my car with Mr. Singh in the garage office, and the news was surprisingly positive, maybe roadworthy again for £200 if I didn't prefer to find a new car. Chris came in to see how it was going, then to our astonishment ran out. His truck was rolling down the drive into the street - I realised the handbrake had failed and those of us in the office gave chase. Chris came close to reaching the brake, but had to leap out before he was crushed; the van's external indicator stalk and wing mirror were ripped off as it struck the garage sign. The truck rolled on across the street and struck some bin bags and was halted by the tree behind them. Thank goodness no-one was crossing or driving by, a few minutes later the same stretch of road was packed with a queue of rush-hour traffic.

So anyway after ages of trying to sort a pickup for the pickup, Chris secured the mirror and drove me back to town. At 5.30pm I got in and finally made some lunch

An exciting week

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 00:19:41 GMT

So on Saturday night I like so many others was evacuated from Edwards No. 8 in Birmingham when the nightclub was burned down, and like the venue and most of my mates I'm totally gutted. I'm sure there's plenty of speculation and witness accounts elsewhere on LJ if you're interested, but it's late and I have other news too.

Like how this morning I was interviewed live on BBC WM describing what happened and why the venue was such an irreplacable iconic home for so many people. And how I spent that day walking on the Welsh border with a mate. And how my car is literally (I do mean that word) about to break down for good. And how I'm having a big party for my 25th at the weekend. And how I spent today in studio with TOYAH WILLCOX, a special guest star for a very special character I've lately had the chance to introduce to the soap opera I write for. (She very much enjoyed the scripts and the experience, it seems, which is lovely.) And how I'm off to see Muse on Wednesday which will be as awesome a gig as there will be this year. And how I've been offered a job on a travel DVD including a trip to Amsterdam in January. Etc. And that's ignoring much else I've got to do, and everything that happened last week.

I'm starting to think my life is a little too big for this journal.