BUM FACE

What is my bum up to? This is my seat after a visit to Maison Bertaux. At this rate I'll soon have a series of butt-created images. Looks a bit skull-like. Scary. Although I assure you I was having a top time. Maison Bertaux has replaced the New Piccadilly Cafe (RIP) as my home away from home in Soho. They do an ace traditional pot of tea (complete with strainer and bonus hot water jug) and are purveyors of genius pastries. Best in London I reckon. Plus they always have some interesting art to look at. That bloke from the Mighty Boosh has some stuff in there at the moment. After tea and cakes Valerie and I stopped by Claire De Rouen's amazing book shop to say hello to Claire and her Bat-Dog Otis - an Alsatian/Pug cross. Claire has some pictures of blokes with beards on display in her Exit Gallery done by a fella called Luke Stephenson. We met Luke the other week. He's a good guy. And Val loves his budgie photos.

IT'S VALENTINE'S DAY. SMILE.

Look. My bum left a smiley face on this seat in Mario's Cafe today. Not so surprising. It's one of my favourite places to be in the world. I've been going to Mario's since the mid 90's when I lived round the corner. But then I left the area and my visits dwindled. Now we've moved back to the NW5 hood, Mario's Cafe is back on the menu. You'll find it on Kelly Street, a little road full of multi-colored houses in Kentish Town, London. Just off the main drag. He usually has some art on the walls and today Mario asked if we'd like to put up some pictures from Cherryvale - the chance to combine two of our favourite places in one? Count us in! We'll keep you updated on this mini-retro-Cherry-show. Meanwhile, Valerie is at the printers today putting her latest book together. Due out sometime in March, it stars a girl named Viktoria and is called
'I CAN'T BELIEVE A GIRL IS PLAYING ME METALLICA'.
What a top day. Usually Valentine's day sucks, but this one is working out kinda nicely. Smiley faces all round.