A weekend in Oxford

A weekend in Oxford is always a pleasure.

The prime reason for this visit was my old College Law Society's annual dinner. A Friday night black tie affair. The nicest part of it to be honest is meeting new people, which dinners are often great for as you may find yourself sitting with someone you have never met before. And so I did, a law graduate from Australia. We just happily chatted through the entire dinner. Simple pleasure.

Drinks after wasn't that interesting until I and my mate John were about to leave, whereupon we got chatting to a group of drunken first years. Any earlier in the evening and they wouldn't have felt right approaching us old fogeys and we wouldn't have felt right trying to chat to teenagers. But at that point, well we just got on very well for half an hour or so. I really would recommend alcohol as a drug of choice.

Before the dinner I met up with my friend's son and his girlfriend for lunch. Leo is at Oxford in his first year, so this was my first chance to catch up since he had gone up to Oxford, and my first chance to meet his girlfriend. Obviously, having known Leo since he was a baby I feel less self-conscious to chatting with that teenager!

Saturday I spent with my friends who live in Oxford. A bit of a grey day, but Oxford is sufficiently picturesque that even on a grey spring day its worth photographing.

 After lunch we headed into the Ashmolean for a brief visit to an exhibition within the plaster cast gallery, this of copies of Ancient Statues, but painted as theyt believe the originals would have been. Very eye-catching.

In the evening we all went to a gig. In Tingewick Village Hall. Now given my last gig was at Brixton Academy, its fair to say this was a bit of a culture shock. Indeed as we were coming into the village we went passed the village hall as I had dismissed it for a scout hut. One can get a feel for the plae when I say it was unlicensed, but one could just pop in between the Hall and the pub across the road to get a pint in a plastic glass. And a very inviting pub it was, with great beer. Wish it was my local.

There was a support act, a very nice trio of Americans who were literally getting about on tour with the aid of local buses.

Headline was Bill Kirchen, someone who one could definitely put down as a veteran. He is in his sixties now, as is his band I guess. An American rockabilly artist (a doppelgänger for Woody Allen) who seems to survive on touring. How one can make money touring venues like this I don't know. But its rather nice to know someone can.