Cruise Ship

I’m taking an hour to sit down in front of the television, trying to relax after a highly stressful day. I'm exhausted, but in 5 hours' time, of course, will be heading off to Central London to lead our Midnight Parade. We went to the local greasy spoon for lunch and I suddenly realised that I was shaking; a true sign that things are getting a bit too stressful at the moment.

After sitting down for a bit, I'm going to try and work out what I’m going to say to everyone tonight. Someone needs to explain what’s going on and the sorts of questions people need to be asking on the streets. I would love to think that 100 people might turn up. Nathan thinks it’s more likely to be around 25.

Nathan’s gig last night was a triumph. The Phesantry on The King’s Road is such an ideal place for cabaret. It’s essentially a glamorous Pizza Express, but the performing area is large, well-lit and equipped with a good sound system. Three acts performed, starting with a young girl, who was fresh out of drama school. She rather hid behind an American accent when she sang. As a result, everything came across as slightly generic, although I’m sure she’s got a very impressive set of pipes. The other strangers were a popera duo, which was painful in the extreme. The words "cruise ship" pop into my mind. They took themselves rather too seriously, and there was a lot of uncontrollable giggling in the audience as a result. Sadly, they were performing last, so everyone was pissed!

Nathan performed with his friend Matt. They’ve known each other for hundreds of years and had a brilliant on-stage rapport. Matt’s dead-pan delivery complimented Nathan’s energy brilliantly. Nathan looked incredibly handsome, and sang beautifully and with wonderful control.

Lots of our friends and family were there. I sat on a table with Philippa, Moira, Julie, Alex and Tony, but Celia and Ron were also there, as was Kate, who had a table of five, and Philip and Daryl with Karrie and co. Nathan felt very supported.

By the way... The Gap has now relented and decided to display a police poster in their window. Amazing what a little call to a press office will achieve!

350 years ago, the weather was foul, and Pepys went to the office but found nothing to do. There were a few meetings, a spot of lunch... the usual, really. In the evening, Pepys returned home and sent for the Barber. Sometimes there's nothing else to do when it's raining.