Faaaaaaaaabulous Weekend!!!!!!!!!

So, after my spending frenzy on Thursday, it was time to make some dosh. I was at the Comedy Cafe and the Friday show was an early one again which was brilliant cos it meant I'd be all done by 8.15!

Gina came along and after the gig we jumped a cab to Camden Town for a spot of dinner. We found a great place on Inverness St called Zensai, which basically did a mix of Chinese, Japanese and Thai food. Having learned our lesson from the previous dinner, we didn't over-order (tho neither of us finished our meals), but what we got was delicious! Really tasty and great service. On top of that they did the most delicious 'mocktails' ... mmmmm.

After the nosh we went up the road to Jongleurs where Ninia Benjamin was closing the show. I'd only seen Ninia MC before, so was dead excited about seeing her do a set. She came on to quite a lairy crowd and just wowed them with force of her personality! God she's funny!!!!!!! If you haven't seen Ninia before, do yerself a favour and see her now! I am still giggling at some of her lines.

After the show, Ninia very kindly gave me a lift home, and the three of us came up for a bit of a girly chat. Both Ninia and I are close to Gina, and we're both a bit sad that she's gonna be buggering off and leaving us for a while. Having said that, both of us are dead proud that she's gonna be in Last Comic Standing...you just know she's gonna do the business and show those American comedians how it's done!

Saturday was spent being all domesticated, ironing and rubbish like that. I also did another one of my clear outs, I'm now slinging out post-op clothes that are too big. I found a pair of jeans I'd kept from 4 years ago, skinny leg vintage Levis that are a size 12. The last time I tried em on, they just about got over my hips but no way were they gonna do up. I plucked up the courage to give it another go. Well guess what? They fit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can breathe and sit down in em and everything!!!!!!!

Needless to say, a few hours later I was on my way to Shoreditch wearing them *grin*. Saturday night's gig was really good fun, and being on first meant I could be back home before midnight. I had a little chat with the other acts before I left, then headed for home....bliss!

Waking up in my own bed on a Sunday is such a wonderful and fairly rare occurance, so I try to make the most of those special days. One friend made some kinda vague plans but they fizzled out so I thought 'sod it' and went off to the Barbican to see the Panic Attack exhibition of Art from the Punk Rock era.

It was actually sunny which was a bonus, but the crappy weather has made me nervous so I packed a coat into my Burberry bag, goddam it was heavy! En route, Steve rang to see if I fancied meeting up for some food about 4pm then accompanying him to some charity auction thing he was doing in Covent Garden. The timings worked brilliantly so I said yes.

The exhibition was pretty good, it covered the years 1974-1984, with work from British and American artists. Of course there was a bit of Jamie Reid there, but there was also some pieces from the COUM collective with works by Cossey Fan Tutti and Genesis P Orridge that were shown at the ICA in the mid-70's and created an almighty row! I think it was perhaps the used tampons in display cases that did it! Thirty years on they just look a bit dirty.

The highlight for me was getting to see a piece by Keith Haring in the flesh, so to speak. I've seen and collected prints of his work over the years, I even had a Vivienne Westwood hoodie with his Radiating Baby on it back in the day. But to see the real thing was really special. They also had a couple of pieces by Jean Michel Basquiat who I love too.

Some of the content was explicit, and I was given a warning when I bought my ticket, but I said to the guy "I lived through it, I think I can cope with a few paintings".

It's a really great way of spending a couple of hours folks, check it out if you have any interest in Punk or Art.

After that, I got the tube to Leicester Square to meet Steve and Hugh. The sun was blazing and I was cursing myself for bringing the coat now! We went to the New World and had dim sum which was a first for me. I've eaten the dumplings before, but not like this. I remember coming here about 20 years ago and being so bewildered that I got some noodles and buggered off. Hugh was the expert so we chose a selection of baskets from the trolleys that were constantly going round. It was delicious and just the right portion sizes for me.

Then we went off to Steve's auction. He was a bit vague about the details having only been asked to do it two days before, but it was in aid of MS, so he was happy to do it. We got the the venue (which was a part of the old Browns nightclub) and went in. It turned out that it was being filmed for a series coming up on Living TV called Pete's PA. The Pete in question being Pete Burns!

They were down to the final two contenders and both of em had three days to organise a pre-wedding party for Pete and his partner, and to make it a charity fundraiser. Steve wasn't told it was being filmed, and wasn't too happy about it (don't blame him) but he agreed to go ahead. There was a pretty odd range of items being auctioned and Steve did a great job as auctioneer, raising over £2000 in less than 30 minutes.

It's the first time I'd seen Pete Burns close up for almost 30 years, and boy it's a warning to us all to be careful about which plastic surgeon we choose! God love him, he seemed a bit bewildered by the whole thing, but sweet enough. And he had shoes on which makes a change as I usually see him running around Notting Hill Gate barefoot!

It was a great day spent with great company...I'm really loving life at the moment!