Yesterday was Zaki’s birthday bash up at The Arches in Brixton. It’s a set of old railway arches beneath a trainline, and provides a very cool venue for a party like this. Travelling up by train with Katie involved prying apart tube doors with my hands after managing to catch the doors with her sleeping mat, which I was carrying, after she ran off ahead. Having gotten to the other end in one piece we shivered in the rain for a little while ’til Zaki arrived with his Exeter uni friends to get things stated. The arch we were in had electricity and lights, though he had opted for an atmospheric candlelit approach. Another arch further along was fully plumbed with a toilet, but a little else. It all had a very unique vibe and was a zany but chilled evening, which was very much what I needed.
Most of the curry night crowd were there, along with Tom G, Borth and some locals. I think it was well established that if you plan to invite your family’s babysitter to a party, she should not be introduced to Dicko as “the babysitter”. Actually there were two of them there. Zaki met Izzy, the new one, when coming back early from uni to find this girl sitting in his house watching TV (the conversation allegedly went something along the lines of: “Who are you?” “Who are you?”…”Want to smoke a joint?”).
The thing about sleeping in a railway arch is that it tends to get rather noisy come the early morning. What with all the trains. Coupled with the concrete floor and a slight draft I woke not terribly well rested in the morning and travelled back in time for the quiet and sedate parish lunch at church, pretty much the opposite end of socialising spectrum. Oh, and don’t worry, those cars were in that state when we found them. They’re part of Zaki’s dad’s top secret experiments into bumper technology. I thought it best not to ask too many questions after seeing the beating the cars had taken…
Zaki, wicked party, dude. Katie, thanks for the mat; I’m holding it hostage until you come visit.
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