Diary 1998
January 1998
The year began with Linda still not fully recovered from the flu which laid her low over
Xmas.
5th. - We went to the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of The Spanish Tragedy by
Thomas Kyd, which we both thought was fabulous.
Aikido practice began again after the Xmas break on 6th, and the special New Year practice
(called Misogi) was held on 9th. We traditionally have a bring-a-dish buffet
afterwards, and Linda's contribution was a large pot of home-made miso soup.
The annual dojo meal was at the Zen CX restaurant at Oriental City on Edgeware Rd on
11th. Yummy.
We got to the British Museum to see the exhibition of Zulu bead work before it
finished.
We were at a party on 17th (great one, John!), and the day after were at a one-day Aikido
course near Chelmsford.
The following weekend was taken up by an aikido course at our own dojo. We were
delighted to be hosts to the visiting instructor and his senior student.
31st, Gary had a night out with the lads, while Linda caught up on her video watching, and
planned a special Sunday lunch for two. (Menu was Prawn, mango and avocado salad,
followed by Barbary Duck breast in orange sauce, with celeriac and potato mash, and peas
with artichokes. Dessert wasdark
chocolate pudding with white chocolate and amaretto sauce. Mmmm!)
During the month Gary has made progress with his card model of The Nautilus, and is doing
the preparation work for a resin kit of the Submersible Alvin. Linda has made a seed
bead necklace in Apache leaf stitch.
February 1998
A quiet month to date but with many plans afoot. Will update later on!
Some concern in our house about the health of the largest goldfish in our pond, (named Mr
Red by the children of the previous owners). We haven't seen him for a while, though
the others, notably Mr Pink and Mr Orange, are thriving.
The first snowdrops of the year have appeared!
Valentine's day, we decided on a whim to try and find a restuarant which Linda had been to
many years ago, couldn't recall the name of, and had only a vague idea about the
location. Not only was it still there, we got a table and it was just as good as
Linda remembered! It's the Melati, in Great Windmill St, London, it serves
reasonably priced S E Asian food, and is ideal for the adventurous diner! Star dish
for us was the stuffed squid which turned out to be a whole squid in a sticky brown glaze
of a sauce, so extraordinary looking that the people at the next table had to ask us what
it was. It was absolutely delicious!
February 26th. Linda graded to 1st kyu in aikido. This simple piece of
information conceals weeks of preparation and several days of nerves!
February 28th. Gary cleaned the pond and discovered the corpse of Mr. Red nestling in the
weeds. He now rests in a simple grave near the pond that was his home. R.I.P.
Mr Red, you were a great goldfish, we shall miss you.
March 1998
Gary's birthday was celebrated quietly with a simple meal out for two. In keeping
with his advancing years Linda gave him a plastic model kit of a Dalek and a book entitled
"Klingon For The Galactic Traveller". His brother had upgraded his hand
held technology and had given Gary his Psion Series 3a which he has been getting to grips
with this month. Once the tedious business of transferring all the information from
his old organiser was completed he has been having great fun with it.
3rd. Disaster at the dojo - Linda has broken her toe. Her main emotion was
euphoria that it hadn't happened a week earlier. The enforced stay at home gave her
time to catch up on numerous projects, including a rather natty necklace from seed beads,
and a really snazzy choker made in macrame from thin black leather thonging and matte
silver glass beads.
Gary has been burning the midnight oil completing a resin kit of Alvin, a submersible.
The limited edition kit was a gift to a friend who asked Gary to put it together
for him. Problems because of missing parts and unclear instructions, but nothing
human ingenuity couldn't solve.
Visted the friend who owns the Alvin model to deliver the completed item - very well
received. Visiting were two friends of his from America one of whom works for the
Oceanographic Institute, and has worked on the real Alvin. He thought the model was
a pretty good rendition of the real thing, and the only improvement he suggested was that
the colour of the tube worms should have been a little redder, so Gary whipped out his
trusty repair and retouching kit and was able to make the necessary modifications.
Went to see Titanic. Linda's enthusiasm for the film had been a little cool until
she found that Jonathan
Hyde was in it , and then she became suddenly very keen. Not one of your Great
Art films, but cracking good entertainment, and it didn't feel over-long. Cooked a
simple lunch but star dish was definitely Apple
and Amaretti Tart.
15th, lunch for a vising friend from the USA. Smoked
trout paté, loin of pork braised in wine, and apricot almond shortcake.
21st We have protective netting over our pond, yet somehow a neighbourhood cat has got
under it and mauled one of our goldfish. It's injured but still moving and taking
food, so we hope it will survive. Some scales near the pond suggest that another
less wary fish may have been a cat's supper. This was the day Linda should have been
going up to Middlesborough for a Batto Ho course, but the broken toe is still not
sufficiently healed for her to practice.
27th Visited the Camden Beer Festival run by CAMRA, which we have joined. Some very fine beers ciders and perrys at
very reasonable prices. Star of the show was a perry, called Lyne Down, which
name describes the position one might be after drinking it as it is 7%abv.
E-mail from Elric, (Linda's son) announcing his engagement to Eleni. Much
excitement.
28th. Lunch for a fellow aikidoka who is returning to his native Australia.
This takes place at the ZenCX restaurant at Oriental City Colindale, a Chinese buffet
style place we have visited many times and recommend. Au revoir, Allen, we will miss
you.
29th Visited the excellent "BBC Experience" at Broadcasting House.
APRIL 1998
5th. Returned from a great holiday in
Paris. Travelled by Eurostar which is the ONLY way to go. Tuesday strolled to
the Opera, and gawped in the window of Fauchons, a fabulous foodstore, before going to
Angelina, at 226 Rue de Rivoli whose speciality is - trust us on this - the best hot
chocolate in the known Universe. Strolled through the Tuilerie gardens, and dined in
a traditional French bistro. Wednesday went to the Ile de La Cité, visited Notre dame, and the
extraordinary monument to the deportees at the extreme eastern end of the Isle. Then
to the Ile St Louis for one of Bertorelli's ices. We walked down the Rue de Rosiers
then lunch at a bistro, and on to the Pompidou centre which is mainly closed for
refurbishment at the moment, but looks extraordinary, and has a recent addition, an
information centre shaped like a large white wigwam. There is also a sculpture on a
plinth which is a huge gold flowerpot, and a pool with strange robotic objects in
it. Spent the afternoon in the Louvre, then dined at a rather good Mexican
restaurant, Qué Vive
Mexico, at 5, Rue René
Boulanger. Thursday was Le Parc Disney. Friday was the Eiffel Tower, the
Latin Quarter where we had lunch in a Tibetan Restaurant, the Cluny Museum which houses
the fabulous Lady and the Unicorn tapestries, then Les Halles where we saw
"Jackie Brown" and a Chinese dinner. Saturday we went to Père Lachaise in the morning, then
Montmartre and lunch in a crèperie. More strolling, then coffee in a bistro to get out of the
rain, then dinner in an Algerian restaurant. Saturday was our last day, just a
stroll then lunch in a Belgian
moules restaurant, and back home on Eurostar. Recommended book is the Rough Guide to Paris - good value and
a really excellent read. Why not see our better-than-average holiday pictures?
14th. Returned from Easter Science Fiction Convention in Manchester, with Linda
rapidly going down with flu. The Convention was relaxing and enjoyable.
High spot was the Masquerade with lots of excellent entries, all well constructed and with
many original ideas, including an extraordinary costume set recreating the scene from
Alien where Ripley in the power loader fights the alien queen. One good idea was to
ask recently married fans to parade their wedding outfits, and Linda wore her wedding
dress for the first time since getting married, feeling more than a little smug that it
still fitted perfectly five years later!
21st At last - Linda back at practice.
26th visted Gary's mother who has a guest to stay - a Japanese lady called Minori who is
staying to learn flower arranging. She cooked the starter for lunch, a pancake with
shredded pork and vegetables. Minori was keen to speak English with us and we tried
out our few words of Japanese.
28th. The fifth anniversary of Linda starting to practice aikido, also coincidentally the
date of our Misogi commemorating the death of the Founder. We did a single technique
repeatedly for over an hour. The idea is to do just pure practice, without thought,
rhythmically and continuously.
May 1998
To Cumbernauld for the British Aikikai Spring Course. The guest
instructor was Murashige Sensei 6th Dan. We stayed in a delightful B&B, the
Wayside Lodge, Castlecary. The local Castlecary Hotel has an excellent bar, with a
superb selection of whiskies and several real ales. We were very near the Antonine
Wall, so went up to look at the site. We did 12 hours of aikido over three days,
which was very demanding, but eveyone who attended agreed it was an excellent course.
Back in London, our dojo was fortunate to welcome Murashige Sensei who taught two
evenings, 7th and 8th May. Linda, after her long lay-off is surviving the huge
input of aikido by being permanently coated in Deep Heat rub. Murashige Sensei gave
Linda his recipe for natto (Japanese fermented soya beans) and advised Gary that to help
Linda's bad knees he should massage the soles of her feet until she cried....
We are both reading a really excellent book, Angry White Pyjamas by Robert Twigger.
(Indigo Books 1997) Anyone with any interest in the martial arts should read this,
it is the personal experiences of an Oxford Poet, who, while living in Tokyo does the
training course for riot police.
Goldfish-fanciers will be pleased to know that our scarred goldfish,
now re-named Big Al, is doing well, swimming around and feeding as usual, quite
unconcerned.
Linda has been learning how to produce text images with Paint Shop Pro,
and having a fun time. She feels like a little girl in a swetshop with all these
goodies suddenly becoming available. Maybe a redesign is on its way? One day,
one day. May bank holiday was spent on household tasks, also welcoming two friends
of ours, Mark and Ruth who have moved into our area.
June 1998
6th and 7th, entertained two friends,
John and Carol from Oxford. Visited the interesting William Morris Gallery in
Walthamstow. Our determination to have a barbecue flew in the face of vey changeable
weather, but we managed to eat the first course and cook the main before deciding to
continue the meal in the house. Star dishes of the weekend, Greek-Style Summer Vegetables, Chicken in Parma Ham and Strawberry Trifle
13th and 14th, a course at our dojo, when we welcomed as guest instructor Sensei Steve
Magson. Steve and one of his students stayed with us for the weekend and it was a
real pleasure to see both of them. The course was excellent, and well-attended.
Steve is very generous in sharing his aikido with us. He wanted to give us
some things to think about, and he certainly did that! We would both like to visit Middlesborough Dojo
where Steve teaches regularly.
23rd. Elric and his fiancée are now staying with us, and we are all one big happy family.
Goldfish fans will be pleased to know that Big Al (now officially Al (Scarfish) Carpone,
is still the head honcho of the pond.
25th. The dojo was very sorry to say farewell to Debra Soon who has been practising with
us for some months while completing her studies. Good luck with the exams, please
keep in touch, Debra.
July 1998
4th. Attended a beer festival in Lewes. Expensive
things, beer festivals. After buying some books and T-shirts, we lurched out into
Lewes and found two bookshops with sales on. Staggering out of those, laden with
bargains, we rolled into a beadshop where Linda found some beads she couldn't live
without. Finally into a Jaeger factory shop where Gary bought a new suit.
Fortunately it looked just as good after we had sobered up. On the 5th we attended
the IPMS (International Plastic Modellers Society) exhibition at Newhaven Fort.
Splendid event, very well organised. There were three other representatives of the Film and TV Modellers Club, and
between us we accounted for 90 exhibits and five prizes, including a best in class.
Gary didn't enter the competition this time.
8th Gary had dinner with some old friends at a restaurant called the Magic Wok in
Queensway, Bayswater, which he recommends.
11th and 12th Gary and Linda at an aikido course in Tatenhill near Burton on Trent.
Four hours of aikido on Saturday - Gary taught first class. On Sunday did zazen, or
Zen seated meditation. Linda had never done this before, and had heard many stories
of how agonising it was, but actually found it refreshing, thus leading others to decide
that she really had finally gone insane. Did some batto ho, and then a few minutes
more zazen. On the way home stopped for lunch at a friend's house where Linda played
with Teletubby fuzzy felt.
18th Went to see Godzilla.
Standard format monster movie, but with nice effects and some good performances.
Linda started a new piece of beadwork - Gary working on new kits. We get little time
for hobbies nowadays and a few hours like this are quite a luxury.
30th Linda went on a London Walk with colleagues, looking at the Westminster area.
Very enjoyable. Contact London Walks at london.walks@bogo.co.uk
They have a large range of walks at £4.50 per person.
August 1998
The first week we attended the Britiah
Aikikai Summer School at Warminster in Wiltshire. Guest Instructor was Professor T K
Chiba 8th Dan. Over 100 people attended and the aikido was excellent. There
was also a course in batto ho on Friday and Saturday. One guest instructor was
Elizabeth Lynn from the United States Aikido Federation Western Region who also taught a
class in Chinese massage that was very welcome to our tired muscles. One student was
a professional dance instructor and taught us all how to dance salsa in the
evenings.
Back at the dojo we were delighted to welcome Elizabeth Lynn as a guest instructor on 11th
August.
16th - went to see Lost In
Space.
22nd Garden party at Dan and Debbie's, Linda still a little wonky after a few days with a
nasty bug, but still had a good time - lots of Pimms, poached salmon and good company.
25th Sensei T. K. Chiba visited the dojo and taught two classes. We were all
delighted to see him and benefit from his instruction.
29th - barbecue party at John and Janice's. Good fun, lots of good food.
30th. Visited the Geffrye
Museum on Kingsland Road. It depicts the English domestic interior through a
series of room settings. There is also a herb garden open in the Summer, a coffee
shop with delicious cakes, and a bookshop. Entry is free. A new section will
be opening later this year, when we will be able to see he 20th Century rooms, and we'd
certainly like to go back.
September 1998
5th/6th Visted Keith and Mary and family in Derby. On the
Sunday went to the Chatsworth
country fair which was excellent - a huge event with lots to do and see - and
buy! Will make a diary note to go again next year.
12th. Dinner with friends - had a great time. Thanks Chris and Jenny.
14th. Elric back to University. The last three months have gone very quickly.
20th. Gary out for the day playing paintball - came back with huge bruises, feeling
great.
26th. At last the grand plan came together. The twentieth anniversary of Gary
going to Oxford, and the clans gathered once more. 27 adults and 9 children.
Linda spent as much time as she had doing the cooking, and was in her element at the
party, having initially spread a large table with food, and then every so often dragging a
laden tray from the oven, or an unexepected dessert from a cupboard. With both the
back door to the lounge and the back door to the kitchen wide open, a tribe of children
circulated around and through the house in a continuous loop, leaving trails of Pringles
behind them, while their parents sat on the patio disposing of spare rib bones in strange
places. The orginal "gang of
five" was photgraphed, looking a little plumper, a little greyer, and either more
or less hirsute than 20 years ago. Unexpected star dish at the party was a
vegetarian
sweet potato and butter bean casserole, which hardened carnivores devoured, coming
back for seconds.
29th. To the Comedy Theatre where we saw "The Real Inspector Hound" by Tom
Stoppard and "Black Comedy" by Peter Schaffer.
October 1998
4th. Linda visited the annual bead fair of the Bead Society of Great Britain.
And now a cautionary tale. Some months ago we decided to change our mortgage lender and in
connection with this we had a survey done of our house. This survey revealed a
hitherto unsuspected problem with the drains which we have just had put right. We were
lucky to catch it early. It brings home to us the advisability of having a general
survey done of one's property perhaps every five years or so. If that problem had
gone on undetected, as it might well have done for another few years, it could have been
substantial.
11th Aikido course near Chelmsford with Kongo Kan Dojo. Five hours of practice, and
Gary was asked to teach a class.
24th Dinner with Mark and Ruth. Yummy.
26th - Linda going down with one of the many bugs doing the rounds at present. Ugh!
Went to National Theatre to see Anthony and Cleopatra with Alan Rickman and Helen Mirren.
The critics have savaged this production, and there have been rumours of people
returning tickets. In fact the theatre was packed and the audience had clearly
arrived deciding to make up its own mind. Quite right, too. We felt that while this
is not one of the great productions of all time, it did not deserve the harsh criticism.
Helen Mirren's Cleopatra is mercurial and fascinating. Alan's Anthony starts the
play engrossed like the classical lotus-eater, then stunned by news of his wife's death,
he leaves and becomes the soldier again. Later, he is overcome by the tragedy he
knows he has brought upon himself, most moving in saying farewell to his servants, and
finding irony in his botched suicide. A colleague of Linda's saw the first
preview when it was clear the cast was not yet used to the complex set, and the production
over-ran by 40 minutes. A couple of weeks on, the set works smoothly and the cast
has integrated with it. It is a fascinating concept, in which the combination of a stage
revolve, traps, and a backdrop of sliding sections moves to create the numerous scene
changes that this play demands. Linda being a great fan of Alan, has booked to
see it three times, and will be interested to see how it develops.
27th Gary attended his first session of Soto Zen meditation.
31st Hallowe'en party at John's. Took some
great pictures.
November 1998
1st Went to see Small Soldiers.
6th-7th. Up early and drove to Birmingham for a 2 day aikido weapons course at Aston
University Sports Centre. Guest instructor was T K Chiba, Shihan, 8th Dan. After 4½
hours of aikido we returned to our B&B, changed and went to help out at a firework
display. This was part of a public event and the fireworks were by Armageddon
Enterprises. To contact this organisation if you want a firework display, call Tim
Stannard on 0121-236-1174. The display went very well and Gary managed to take photographs with one hand while
lighting fireworks with the other. There was a huge bonfire, too, and a strong wind
which fortunately blew away from the audience. Back to the B&B and flaked out
asleep, then back to the Sports Centre the next day for another 4 hours of aikido, then
drove back home.
11th Linda went to see Anthony and Cleopatra for the second time. The whole
production has improved mightily since the first time, and received an excellent
reception. It's unfortunate that due to technical problems it didn't work too well
at first and received extremely poor reviews - for those who saw only the reviews or the
earlier performances it will live in memory as a dud. What a shame.
14th Combined an Xmas shopping trip with a Camra beer festival in Ealing.
21-22nd Visited the Frogley family - had a very pleasant time with lots of good food.
John makes an excellent home-brew!
27th, a group from Linda's office did a tour of the interior of what used to be The
Midland Grand Hotel and is usually referred to as St Pancras Chambers. This massive
building, as large inside as a cathedral, and in considerably dilapidated condition, is
now effectively unused, except as film settings, but if the EuroStar rail terminal comes
into being, maybe it could be restored to its former glory. The neo-gothic interior
dates from the 1870s and the sweep of the great staircase is fantastic. Pictures
illustrate its original elegance. Well worth seeing - a bit like diving through the
interior of the Titanic! One thing of note - most of the early photographs and
drawings of the building have been lost. If you find them in your attic, the curator
desperately wants to hear from you!
28-29th Aikido course at Shinmei-kan, with visiting instructor Steve Magson Sensei, from
Middlesborough. As ever, Steve gave us all a tremendous amount to think about.
A delightful man, and wonderful aikidoka.
December 1998
2nd Linda saw Anthony and
Cleopatra at the National Theatre for the third time.
5th. Brian and Caroline's usual excellent party. Especially notable for a
wonderful coffee rum punch.
6th. Members of the Film and TV Model
Club took a small table at the Grundy Park memorabilia Fair, and Linda and Gary helped
out.
7th Linda, succumbing to flu, puts on three sweaters, gets into bed and stays there.
Lurched back to work on 11th.
12th-13th Linda and Gary at aikido course in Burton-on-Trent. Very fortunate to
receive instruction from Steve Magson Sensei. Well attended course, very much
enjoyed, with a meal out in the evening, and still enough energy left to do the twist.
23-28th Relaxing family Xmas in Sussex. Gary did some kit modelling including
completing a model of Seth Gecko as an Xmas gift to his brother. Linda finally
learned Ndebele herringbone weave (a bead stitch) and made a start on a bracelet.
29th. Visited the Model Engineers Exhibition at Olympia. Excellent event,
bought all sorts of useful and interesting stuff, really enjoyed watching the model
aircraft flying. Today, Gary and Linda celebrated 7 years together - definitely a
champagne occasion.
30th Did the fireworks at The Lion on the Green, Tetsworth. All went very
well. The "Thundering Report" was well named.
31st Saw in the New Year. 1999 - and no moonbase!
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