This week was the start of my new regime: part-time work. The original idea was to provide quality time for preparing our impeding move to Philadelphia. We have to do it, even if we get pissed off after a month and come back. We just do. But so far very little preparation has been achieved. Instead yesterday I fulfilled a long term ambition and took a young boy to the Science museum! My first journey on the tube (Underground) was with my dad to the Science museum and it was one of my most significant memories. When I got home, my Lego set was employed to create a reconstruction of the cool ticket gates on the tube. Yesterday, my friend Katie, her 6 year old son Matthew, and I went on a pilgrimage to South Ken and it was better than I could have hoped for. Like me at his age, Matthew was as interested in the Tube ride as the museum and we all had a superb day. He was running around all of the exhibits pushing buttons, turning handles, and generally tickling his neurons. Despite the energy provided by two sandwiches, a chocolate bar, an apple and several bottles of water, by the time we got back to New Cross he was ready for bed. Good lad. If you have a child that has an active mind and enough energy for an entire village then I can’t recommend the Science museum highly enough as a cheap day out. The staff (‘explainers’) were so friendly, helpful and kind…go and see them.

Today I did a naughty thing and spent the afternoon in the pub with some good friends. No regrets though…you’re just envious. We had a great day in the lovely weather and this evening Michele and I went to Greenwich for a gorgeous meal at inside and even found time for a drink with Jackie and Galina from Goldsmiths. Perfect entertainment!

BTW – on a different subject, “Bad Manners” really are much better than they’re given credit for. Even as a child I was always wary of that sort of stuff because of the whole skinhead connotation, but listening to the anthology there’s so many faithful covers of classic ska tracks that I can’t help but like them. In fact there’s one track called “Rocksteady Breakfast” that is such a happy nod to Lee Perry that they must know what they’re doing. It’s a London version of “Kentucky Skank” only instead of the KFC references (“box of chicken, keep the drum kickin'”) it’s full of stuff about full English breakfasts (“egg and bacon! Sausage!”).

Good night.