Santa Claus and Spheeris

Well what a funny day.

I rose early, and by 7.15 I was hot-footing it through Camden Town. At the usual traffic lights I stopped.
In the moody pre-dawn sodium lighting, the cars, lorries and motorbikes were lined up for the green-light dash.
Who should be in the front row of the thrusting bikes, so tense with hair-trigger reflexes, but Santa Claus, his curly white moustache, beard and eyebrows twinkling in the gloaming and his red coat and trews with fake-fur trim and pom-pom buttons picked out against the throbbing buses.
All that was missing was his hat, because of course he was wearing a crash helmet.
The lights changed, and off he roared into the distance.
Was I the only person who noticed him?

The University of the East wasn't even open when I got there. The chap on the desk looked at the clock with one eye. To minutes to eight. He let me through to wait for Mr Keys to work his way down from the top floor to open the lecture theatre.
Down-time in the lecture theatres is the only opportunity I have to watch the Penelope Spheeris films- I've got three-and-a-bit to watch and review.
I sat with a coffee and a chewy pretzel, and thoroughly enjoyed the first one, The Decline of Western Civilisation (1).
I noticed all sorts of little details, like the fact that most of the LA punks had perfect teeth, and very expensive amplification equipment. You could identify those who had dreams of big bucks, and those for whom it was a desperate attempt to have some sort of value in their lives.
In this respect it was very similar to UK punk, I suppose.

And then there was a music team meeting, and then there was Mike Holdsworth who came to deliver a fascinating talk to the students about music marketing in the indie sector, followed by a Finnish academic, Leena Louhivuori, who talked to them about Baltic music and film festivals.

I wish every day was like today, perhaps with a slightly later start; and maybe not with the fact that the chilli I made yesterday is going to be my evening meal until at least Saturday, because I made too much of it.

Pip pip!