The Thoughts of Chairman WOW!

Here are the scanned pictures of mid-90s Romo luminaries that I said I would post. (Cross posted in new_romantic).

( It's a plastic world )

I had a pleasant weekend. On Saturday I picked up my new daily disposable contact lenses. I had an eye test last week, where they put dye in my eyes and turned my eyelids inside out with a special stick, and it turned out that my monthly lenses were giving me swollen eyes. The new Acuvue Moist ones are more expensive but much more comfortable and I'm pleased not to have to faff about with cleaning solutions any more.

That evening I went to Fan Club. We arrived at 11 but the bands were still on. Trademark, the headliners, were OK and gave me a nice badge with a three-pin plug on it.

spam_robot77 and I are having our hair cut and coloured today by her friend Davide, a nice chap who specialises in colour and extensions. I'm pleased because my usual salon, 'Enry 'Iggins, had been getting more expensive. I fancy a change but I'm not sure what exactly. I think I will just ask for something space-age and unisex and see what happens.

I finally set my scanner up at the Florian Schneider IT Suite at Maison Ponce, so I will try and scan those Romo pics soon.

Today I woke up and was rather appalled to that my eye appeared to be bleeding internally, with a big patch of blood showing on the white. I went to get it looked at by an optician. First I tried Dolland & Aitchison, who said they couldn't do anything I've never been their customer. Then Boots, who said they were fully booked and that I should try a local hospital.

Finally, I found a place called 20/20 Optique in The Mall, as Wood Green calls its shopping centre. The optician shone lights in my eyes, made me read things and then said it was fine, just a broken blood vessel which will heal itself. This can happen because of hypertension. Maybe the stress of recent times brought it on.

I rewarded myself for being brave for the doctor with a bag of sweets and some new sunglasses, big aviator-style ones with black frames. They look quite poncy and were very cheap.

vieannelyle should be coming on Tuesday to visit me for a bit! I am pleased.

Look! Cheryl Tweedy is the new face of Coca Cola Zero!

( Pop star )

I think she looks very nice in her suit. There is actually a commercial reason for this outburst of cross-dressing: I read in the Metro today (which has a bigger picture and an article about the campaign) that Coke Zero is being marketed as 'bloke coke', a sugar-free alternative to Diet Coke without its feminine connotations.

I spent a very pleasant week at the family home in Devon. The first couple of days were spent relaxing, before Sarah joined me on the Friday to see John B in Plymouth. It was a really good nite. We trowelled on our neon make-up at the Travelodge where we stayed overnight (nice, but note, they don't provide bathing products, hairdryers or biscuits). At 11, we went to the Candy Store, where we got in on our hero's guestlist. We spoke to John B only briefly, but he seemed nice. He initially thought I was Sarah, whom he knew from MySpace. One electro-ponce is very like another, I suppose he thought.

( Travelodge glamour )

I was pleasantly surprised by the club. It had two rooms, a large one with balloons and lasers and a smaller, quieter one with little sofas built into the walls. The patrons were friendly and one nice girl even took our photo as she liked our look so much. John B played a brilliant two-hour set, with all my favourite tracks like Fashion and his remix of Hey Mickey. He also included some 80's hits by Phil Collins (yes, really!) and A-ha, shouting, "This is for everyone who loves the 80s as much as me!" He attempted to dance the robot several times. The crowd were very enthusiastic, especially a handful of youths who had travelled all the way from Chester to stand right at the front and make jabbing hand movements in John B's face as he played. It was strange how practically everyone on the dancefloor was a man, as I imagined he would have quite a few fangirls.

The day after, we had a delicious brunch of toasted sandwiches at a pub called The Walrus, which I had glimpsed lurking behind the Travelodge the night before. Lyle fans will know how my sister and I love walruses, so I was quite excited.

( Walrus excitement )

On Sunday, Mrs Lyle took us to the picturesque seaside town of Sidmouth, where we used to go and swim a lot when I was a child. We sat on the prom and enjoyed huge Ferrero Rocher-flavoured ice creams, while being glowered and shouted at by an indignant-looking seagull, whom I placated with bits of cone.

On Monday, we visited Joy Silence in Bristol and enjoyed a cream tea, then later a DVD of Wes Craven's The People Under The Stairs. I recommend this lesser-known 80's horror movie, as an example of how human cruelty can be made as frightening as supernatural horrors, in the right director's hands.

It's always lovely to go back to see my family and cat, Savage Gordon. I'm afraid I found Devon rather too lacking in work or socialising opportunities to live there all the time, but it is nice to visit.

I had a rather jolly weekend. On Friday night, there was an impromptu visit from spam_robot77 (Sarah), whom I was very pleased to see on her return from her trip to Italy.

On Saturday, I went to Sarah’s and was showered with gifts! They included Italian dry cured ham, some chocolate eggs with a variety of fillings such as kiwi, melon and pineapple, a fluffy chick that cheeps when you squeeze it, and a Hello Kitty computer game :D The game is called Hello Kitty Cutie World and is terribly kawaii and not too challenging. There are several activities including rescuing penguins in a little boat, serving ice creams to other Sanrio characters and creating pictures of Kitty and her friends.

Later, we went to Club Bohemia. I wore a black velvet suit with a lilac flower pinned to the jacket, a black and purple waistcoat, a purple tie and gold accessories. I had gold and purple eye make-up and lipstick, too. Sarah wore a pinstriped jacket and tie, the lion brooch I had bought her, and glittery silver eyeshadow. The DJ sets included quite a lot of electro and synth-pop. A lot of jolly Americans from the corset show were there, which added to the atmosphere. I enjoyed myself a lot.

On Sunday, we had pizzas delivered – I had a chicken and banana one! It was very nice. Later, we went out again. I was very tired by the end of it but it was nice to meet Sarah’s friends Camizzle and Rachel.

I'm afraid I didn't win the record player, but I'm not too bothered as the price went up rather high for what it was. The machine had no brand name indicated so I couldn't look for reviews of it on the web, and it was a bit risky, especially at the price they wanted. I will keep looking on eBay - there are quite a few such items there - or maybe just buy some separates from a shop, if I can find some that are compact enough and not too dear.

I was very surprised to be asked by an internet friend to do some modeling today. Stop sniggering at the back! It is for a catwalk display of wearable ceramic corsets for ladies and gentlemen, as part of Alternative London Fashion Week. Here is the website with some pictures of them.

I have never done any modeling in my life (except for hair modeling) and certainly never worn a corset! Fortunately they are not your standard Black Rose-style goth corsets, in fact there are some quite interesting designs and they are aimed at both sexes. I wouldn't have thought I was model material but it is meant to be 'alternative', I suppose. It sounds quite fun so I said yes, although I haven't found out if I can have the night off work yet. I do hope they say yes, or at least let me swap shifts. I have never thrown a sickie in my life and I hope not to start now!