There was an outbreak of red 'no road markings' signs in places where there were, in fact, road markings. I imagine that the placement of no road marking signs is contracted to Red No Road Markings Signs PLC and they are ordered for a particular duration in advance with no reference to the actual painting of road markings, and with an extra charge for changing the dates. This does seem to have passed though, unlike the diversion signs which are very much in evidence. I imagine there will be more as apparently there has been some sort of landslide in Bagley Wood Road - I blame badgers. Also the subsidence in Dunmore Road, Abingdon seems to me to be getting more noticeable.
2. I am pleased to say that England Athletics accepted my form with me, in my role as a committee member, certifying myself as a member of the club. Quite why they need this when they also take ones EA number and they can look this up in their database, I don't know.
3. Went to see Douglas Coupland twice - once with
pmcray (whom God preserve, of Utrecht) at the London Review of Books bookshop where he was talking to Alain De Botton - sadly not Frank Side-De-Botton https://twitter.com/FrankSiDeBotton - about this http://www.visual-editions.com/writers-in-residence/kitten-clone-inside-alcatel-lucent which I bought and got Douggie to sign though haven't read yet.On Saturday I went with
t__m__i to see him at the Whitechapel Gallery where he was talking about http://blackdogonline.com/art/douglas-coupland.html - he had a projector and was zipping between pages to point things out. This was as part of a festival (or something) of art books. (We then went out for a Vietnamese meal with Mr. vicarage).We have seen Douggie 3 times before this, I think - twice at the Cheltenham Literary Festival and once in Stratford (Avon, not East London or Ontario) doing a sort of one man play.
He seemed happier and more relaxed at the thing in Whitechapel than I have ever seen him before, he is obviously much happier in 'art' mode than 'author' mode, he even made some sort of reference to the sort of people who go to literary things.
Cannot remember any particular bon mots though.
