Bluedot / Friday

One advantage of our tent that I hadn't anticipated was that the heavy canvas and inner lining would keep it dark right up until will we opened the door in the morning. Thus there was no being woken by the midsummer sun in the very early hours of the morning or the evolution of the tent into a sauna, just a good night's sleep.

We had a fairly leisurely morning, the Minx making coffee and porridge for us before we used the hot showers and prepared to go into the main site, which we did in time for me to go and meet Hannah at the main gate, just before midday. Our party was almost complete!

After that, I went to an interesting talk on the periodic table and then over to the Real Ale bar, to meet up with my friend Andy before we went over for the 'Delia Derbyshire Day', which I was hugely excited about: "an afternoon of talks and performance celebrating her life and work". Now, if you read my Blips regularly, you'll know I don't like to be neggy, but jeez... 

For a start, it was just two forty-five minute sessions and as far as the first one went, if you'd told me at 9am, yesterday, that I had to give a forty-five minute talk on Delia Derbyshire at 3pm, this afternoon, I'd have done a better job. A lot better. 

The second session was a terribly prepared interview with one of the chaps, David Vorhaus, from White Noise, a band that included Delia Derbyshire, who released an influential album called 'An Electric Storm' in 1969. God, the interview was toe-curlingly bad although Vorhaus tenaciously made an attempt to find in interesting answer to every question, even if it meant pretty much ignoring what he'd actually been asked. 

The only saving grace of the whole affair was that my friend, John, who I knew was turning up sometime today, was there, too. Thus, after profusely apologising to the kids for the disappointment of the Delia Derbyshire Day, we all set off for drinks. 

In the evening, we went to see Hot Chip, who are good live band, anyway, but who sounded fantastic over the Lovell Stage's sound system. I have to say that on this occasion, I wasn't bowled over by their choice of songs, the best of which was, as John later informed me, a cover of The Beastie Boys 'Sabotage'. 

After that we wandered through the fields, where we encountered a futuristic take on a New Orleans parade, including this wonderful spaceman puppet.

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No scales
Reading: 'Case Histories' by Kate Atkinson