The metaphorical bottom drawer

I wrote a song this morning. It was rather lovely to be up in the loft again, writing music which wasn't limited by the output of ghastly computers. I think perhaps I've written something which is a little too sentimental but I've put it in a metaphorical bottom drawer and will see how I feel when I get it out again in a few days' time.

We went for a walk this evening in the dying embers of the sun. They're building a new apartment block further down the Archway Road, where the courthouse used to be, and to advertise it, they're displaying a huge aerial shot of the neighbourhood on a billboard. We stood staring at it for ages. Our little house is there in the bottom left corner, and you can see our car parked on Southwood Lane. The thing that really stands out on the picture, however, is how green everything is in this part of town. From above, it genuinely looks like some kind of village in the Chilterns. It's often said that London can actually be classed as a forest. There are apparently enough trees per square mile to merit being labelled thus, and looking at the billboard tonight, I suddenly saw why!

We've been catching up on Britain's Got Talent semi-finals this evening, the first of which was a tawdry affair which seemed to prove that Britain really doesn't have any talent whatsoever, but thank God the judges were on hand to remind us all that the shit we were watching was world class. Let's hope the standard picks up throughout the week. It ought to: one of the cast of Beyond The Fence is in a very classy girl group who I believe are performing in semi-final three. I won't hold my breath, however. The pros who turn up on these shows are routinely ripped to shreds. For this reason, you often get West End actors preferring to talk about the menial jobs they do when they're not actually acting. I've had mates describe themselves as check out girls and painters and decorators because they know the judges will suddenly crucify them if the actual truth is revealed!

One day I'll write a blog about everything I've heard about TV talent shows from friends who have worked on them, been contestants on them, or, more frighteningly, are professional performers who have been approached by "enablers" offering them huge sums of money to be contestants on the show. The artifice is astounding!