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Just got back from seeing Menomena at Kings College Student’s Union. They’re a three piece experiemental rock band from Canada. Kind of a mix between Explosions in the Sky and Postal Service in my less that expert opinion. Anyway, despite a half hour fire alarm evacuation and quite a few technical issues it was a good gig (without being excellent). The drummer was especially good but the keyboardist seemed in awe of the notes he was tapping out.

I also enjoyed the venue as I haven’t been to a student’s union for a while. Don’t worry, they don’t change!

Menomena Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/menomena

Last night I went to watch a play - Ordinary Lads and The Girls Next Door. This had two separate sections and was being directed by a friend of my girlfriend.

The Ordinary Lads was fantastic as the characters were very funny (especially the loan shark) but The Girls Next Door was a bit over the top for me.

It took place in Etcetera Theatre which is ABOVE The Oxford Arms in Camden. The room is pretty small with seating for around 40 but this fitted the plays perfectly. They were set in a front room and I was in the front row at ground level it felt like I was part of the play!

Excetera Theatre - http://etceteratheatre.com

Today went for a walk up to Hampstead Heath which I was surprised to find was only 10 minutes up the road. It is a huge park land which according to my mum has a dodgy reputation but I couldn’t see any evidence of this. My TK Guide mentions that Sunday is the best day to go as the local residents are out in force ‘digesting their Sunday beef lunches and discuss the contents of the Sunday paper’, or is this be the other way around.

There are lots of swimming ponds around the park, some men only, some women only and some mixed. The water looks black, cold and uninviting but perhaps it is better in the summer. Many fallen trees around the park provide fantastic climbing frames.

The highlight for me is Parliament Hill which gives a fantastic view over the city and is also a hive of activity with pretty dangerous kite flyers, mountain boarders and cyclists.There are still many areas of the park I want to explore, including the woods and the open air stage towards the north. Definitely worth another visit!

On the way back we passed Little Green Street, a lovely cobbled road which I’ve since learnt is the centre of a celebrity faced protest. We also stopped in The Vine on Highgate Road which is a great pub with comfy sofas and a big fireplace. Highly recommend!

Wikipedia link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampstead_heath

Today, me and the girlfriend went the V&A museum near South Kensington. To be honest I think it is a bit of a hodge-bodge of different collections that don’t really come together. Having said that some of the exhibitions were excellent.

I was amazed by the huge chandeler that welcomes you into the main enterance. It is made from different coloured blown glass and looks like it weighes a tonne!

There were quite a few Rodin sculptures (from The Kiss fame) but much better was the photography exhibition. There was a section on Moffat and his camera-less photography. Best of all was a David Maisel huge photo of a rusty tin can which looks just like the earth from space. The tag tells that it is from a series called Library of Dust which is a collection of tin cans that contain the ashes of people from a mental institution (I think). Definitley worth a look!

I think that I will return to the V&A as there is so much more to see, but it probably wont be top of my list.

V&A website - http://www.vam.ac.uk/

Last night I went to see Eddie Izzard in this ‘Work in Progress’ show in Arts Theatre, near Leicester Square. It was GREAT! The theatre had only about 300 seats (I thought he played massive venues?!) and ours were right near the front and in the middle.

He was on good form too. A lot of the set was about the Bible esp the ten commandments and he also did a great bit about giraffes - I think he does fantastic animal impressions.

The only problem was that is started at 11pm and so didn’t finish until 1am. I’m not sure why it was so late (perhaps it was a last minute idea?) but this meant I did start to doze a little in the middle.

Arts Theatre website: www.artstheatrelondon.com