Elaborate code

There's an extraordinary code which exists amongst people in our industry where individuals demonstrate their personal links to famous figures by using nick names when they talk about them. When I directed an obscure Britten operetta at university I remember an old colleague of Britten's coming in and referring to him as Benjy.

A group of older industry figures came into the cafe this morning and were talking about a whole host of actors in this manner, the one that stood out was "Freddy Molina." (Alfred Molina.) I always question whether these people actually know the person they're talking about quite as well as the nickname would suggest!

I worked a full day on Brass and got all the way to the interval, which feels like a good place to reach just before the weekend.

I went for a run at lunchtime in a gap in the rain. I've been listening to a lot of Rita Coolidge whilst jogging. Her disco covers are always recorded at about 105 beats per minute, which is a good running tempo... For the record!

Raily arrived at 7pm, and is actually still here. We've had such a wonderful evening. Great food - a lovely pasta dish with some aubergines lightly fried in breadcrumbs - and amazing conversation. Raily is so knowledgeable and encourages the most astonishingly erudite debates. We've discussed so many things: art, politics, sexuality, evolution, monogamy, Frasier (all those whilst I've been writing this blog.)