Cultural Days, Waterstones Brighton, Opera House and Books

Wednesday morning I caught the train to Sittingbourne to do a Pumpkin visit, and then, rather at stopping at Faversham took the train to Whitstable to catch a bus going to Canterbury, as both exits at Faversham were manned.

In Canterbury I did a Jessops visit. I then went to the newsagent opposite another Wetherspoons pub and got this pipe  shag at last -




“Elementary my dear Watson”

Afterwards I caught a bus to Hythe to do a charity shop visit. Bought two CD’s and two books for a fiver. One of the CD’s was by Razorlight and I thought that my cousin might like that one. The other CD is by Talk Talk , “Natural History, The Very Best Of Talk Talk” (Parlophone).

The two books are -
Edmund White - The Farewell Symphony (Vintage)
James Hawes - White Powder, Green Light” (Vintage)




I then had a meal at the County Hotel in Ashford, a Wetherspoons pub. Tried their new Mexican Burger dish washed down by a pint of Cotleigh Buzzard Ale. (4.5 % ABV). I was going to do a Cineworld visit but that can wait till a Saturday.

Wednesday evening , against my better judgement, I had a few beers with Phil up the Dover Castle Inn. Cousin had been drinking heavily most of the day, and started whistling to the annoyance of Fran. He was quite drunk. After three pints I bid my farewell to Phil. I said to him that I needed to be up early to get the 7.30am bus to Maidstone as I was going to Brighton for the day. I don’t know what time Spot crawled back home.

Thursday morning I was up just after 6 am and got ready for the big day out. I caught the bus on time and via the usual Tunbridge Wells route was in Brighton for midday.

First port of call was the refurbished Waterstones. They had changed the entrance and the first floor with two exits now, the standard one in North Street and a second one in West Street. Upstairs on the fourth floor looked the same to me.

I bought three books and used my five pound voucher from the email the company sent me. Spent £20 on books with a total retail value of £31.

They are -

Barry Miles - London Calling, A Countercultural History of London Since 1945 (Atlantic Books)
Neil McGregor - A History Of The World in 100 Objects (Penguin)
Slavoj Zizek - First As Tragedy, Then As Farce (Verso)




I then popped into the Evening Star pub. Matt was behind the bar. Alice (aka Sharpie Bongo) was there too, but on the other side of the bar having a drink and said she was supposed to be on holiday today. (A familiar story I heard from another landlord, eh Phil?)



I had a pint of a beer from the East London brewery Brodies. Their White IPA, (7.2 % ABV) a dark straw coloured ale of immense heaviness in gravity but light on the tongue. I then had another decent half of it in the same glass.




It had turned 3pm so I walked through the North Laines to Sandpiper Books to peruse their back room of one pound cheapies. Found another interesting book from there -

Leonard Garment - Crazy Rhythm, From Brooklyn and Jazz to Nixon’s White House, Watergate and Beyond (Da Capo Press)




I then caught the bus to Tunbridge Wells for another Wetherspoons visit, the wonderfully named Opera House. Had a chicken jalfrezi curry washed down with a pint of the coriander flavoured Thornbridge Jaipur Ale (5.9 % ABV).

After that delicious meal, I walked down to the station to catch a train to Tonbridge for another Pumpkin visit. Then rather catch the bus to Maidstone I decided to continue on by train to Sevenoaks, change there for the Swanley one and then from Swanley back to Teynham via Rochester. Arrived back at 8.30 pm.

A long but very enjoyable day.

Readings

I suppose blogging for me is like writing some kind of a diary, a type of autobiography of the mundane, since in Andy Warhols’ dictum, everyone can be famous for fifteen minutes. The one thing it does detract from is the available time devoted to reading.

Long bus journeys help as I am not transfixed to a computer, and it allows to whip through a book and make the journey considerably more bearable.

I am currently reading five books in tandem, the excellent “Russia House” by John LeCarre, a book about the Russian tsar Peter The Great, Burleigh’s dissection of the Third Reich (one which my brother gave me) Gramsci’s political and philosophical essays “The Modern Prince” and an Iris Murdoch novel,” The Italian Girl”. The latter will probably be completed first as it is of novella length.

This morning I was in The Office for a couple of hours. A pizza delivery came just after midday and the aroma that wafted from the boxes made me feel quite hungry. I had to leave and dived into The Summoner pub for a pint of the Oyster Ale before returning to the village.

Well, that is all for now, as I need to complete book fifty one.