I took a day's holiday from work today to recharge my batteries (i.e. stay in bed). I've been in a permanent state of tiredness ever since I'd got back from Scotland, and being so busy since then hasn't really helped me get over it physically. The fact that I haven't touched my bike, been to the gym or done any deliberate form of fitness exercise since the 10K at the end of November is also a significant contributory factor to my fatigue.

So this morning I was woken up just before 11am by a young gentlemen breaking into our garage to steal my bike. By the time I'd realised what was happening and got to the front window, all I saw was the guy cycling across the field with my bike over his shoulder. Fair play to the Police - they were on my doorstep about 15 minutes after the call to 999 and had scouted out the local area before coming to see me.

After an incident at work a few months ago, where a colleague's bike was stolen from a locked compound, I got my bike insured. It's still a pain in the arse though, and the garage door is goosed. I've not been able to get hold of the landlord yet to get him to fix it, but as the cops haven't called me back with a crime reference number or sent their forensics person around yet, I guess there's not much that can be done yet anyway.

At least I don't have to worry about getting a new inner tube for the flat back tyre anymore.

I'm feeling a bit better now, thanks in no short measure to last night's Milk where I did two thirty-minute sets. Here's the evidence to prove it. I've listed the somewhat dubious sets I ended up playing below. Strangely enough, everything seemed to go down pretty well.

Set 1:

Superstars - Sound Stage Orchestra (The Great Sporting Experience)
Mission Venice - Nightmares On Wax (Smokers Delight)
Sinner - Neil Finn (Try Whistling This)
Getting Away With It - Electronic (Electronic)
Step It Up - Stereo MCs (Retroactive)
The Model - Kraftwork
Someone Like You - New Order (Get Ready)
Good Times (These Are The) - Sister Sledge
Golden Years - David Bowie

Set 2:

Weapon Of Choice - Fatboy Slim (Halfway Between The Gutter And The Stars)
Hand On Your Heart - Kylie Minogue (Kylie Minogue Greatest Hits)
Ring Of Fire - Johnny Cash (Ring Of Fire)
Becoming More Like Alfie - The Divine Comedy (A Secret History)
Friday I'm In Love - The Cure
Crazy, Crazy Nights - Kiss
She's Electric - Oasis (What's The Story Morning Glory)

Previous Milk pics

"Coming back" doesn't get any easier. With a very heavy heart, yesterday I returned to Leeds from my week at Plane Castle near Stirling, Scotland. Now that my extraordinary week is over I'm feeling a bit down, and I find that I'm almost keen to get back to work to start getting back to normal.

I don't really feel like writing much about the week just yet; it's a bit soon. I did, however, take a number of photographs journaling the experience and I'd invite you to take a look.

Whilst I have today to myself, it's just a brief respite. Tomorrow I'm back at work and I'm finally doing my one-hour DJ set at Milk in the evening. At the weekend I'm going to be in Manchester celebrating a friend's birthday - something I'll be repeating in the same city the following weekend. Will it ever end?

I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas and New Year holidays, and I wish you all a belated but genuine Happy New Year.