2001-05-08 - 7:50 p.m.

�Been feeling high, and then feeling low��

I spent the weekend being as near to a stereotypical northern male as I get on a stag night at a provincial seaside town. First of all we went to the horse races. Sport of kings, don�t you know? At least, that�s what you�d guess going by the beer prices. My early enthusiasm, after having chosen a winner in the first, was dampened somewhat after the resultant flood of betting confidence saw me backing heavily an animal that breathed its last only seconds later as the on-site SWAT team pulled out their horse killing equipment and put it out of its misery after a heavy fall. Oh, yes, I can really spot a winner. Decidedly cautious betting followed, which was lucky since I came nowhere near winning again.

The pub crawl round the seaside town that was lucky enough to be graced by our increasingly sophisticated presence became a somewhat splintered affair, as the hardcore of the group marched on in search of refreshment, without thought for those of the group that fell by the wayside for reasons of age, alcohol intolerance or inappropriate footwear. Common man-lore says that �What Happens on the Stag Stays on the Stag� � a caveat to excuse any behaviour that could, under normal circumstances, be considered reprehensible or outright unfaithful, and thus I�m sworn to secrecy on the fact that, try as they might, not one of the group came anywhere near to having even a conversation with a female of the opposite gender. Yes, best no-one knows, really.

�Strap your hands across my engines�I�m not broke so please don�t mend me��

In financial news, I just spent the most money I�ve ever spent in a single go (car, computer and round of drinks at the races included) on a roll of film, split into 12 canisters, that�s largely useless unless some film studio decides to give our short a nationwide cinema release with full dolby surround sound. Walk in with 2 month�s salary and walk out with some useless tins. And they say art isn�t rewarding.

�Baby, all I need�you need too�don�t wait for me, I�ll wait for you��

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