Too long again

Eight days since the last update, and I didn't even really say anything the last time.

I'm sitting in the little room in Merston that used to be mine before my brother moved out and I could move into the bigger (relatively) room. It's now the office-cum-library and consequently the place where the modem lives. I've camped out here for today since I've been informed my mother will be invading for the next two days to complete some sort of online test. I'm not sure what type of test involves staying in front of a computer for two days, and she hasn't really explained so I guess I'll just have to see what happens. She's said she won't be staying up for the whole time but I worry for her health if she looks at a screen for that long (I'm one to talk).

I think it's time I reported on the last week and more. Since leaving Glasgow. Well I journeyed on the morning train to Manchester, complete with age-old Nike bag, and laptop on my back. Pretty uneventful train journey, I'm glad to say - seem to usually get delayed somewhere or other, but arrived in Manchester a few minutes ahead of schedule with a good few bars of tango written and an up-to-date diary, not to mention a Greggs stomach. I met Will at the train station, and we talked about how much Manchester has changed. I remembered I haven't been there for about a year, and it's strange how things change when you're away. People just seem to get on a build stuff without your permission and finish those things that seemed to be taking so long in a jiffy. Of particular note are the skyscraper in a lurid green colour effacing the horizon as you come in on the train through Salford. It's not quite finished yet but it was a little shock when I wasn't expecting a huge building where previously there wasn't anything. They've also finished the corner of the Arndale centre on Exchange Square with some huge glass panels and modern concrete/steel painted panels, completing that quarter of the town from a destitute and decaying quarter and into a hive of activity, with the Urbis museum, Printworks, Triangle centre, huge glass Marks and Sparks and the brand new (almost civil) Arndale. I kinda missed the 'true' Manchester feel, that of burgeoning new business next to decaying industry.

After Will left me on the bus to find his flat in Withington, I dropped off my few things, settled in and then went out to investigate where I used to live. I'm not sure what I was expecting to find, but it still had the same yellow front door, and the street hadn't really changed at all. I almost expected it to feel like yesterday I was there, but there's a bridge or at least a gap between my experiences then and what's going on now. Back then seemed like a bit of a daydream, and I drifted through that gap year in Manchester without too much care, although I certainly enjoyed myself and had bad days in equal measure. I pottered round to where Hannah used to live and didn't dare look at the front. The enduring memory is of standing on the street in June, with bouts of sun and rain, saying goodbye without either of us really wanting to either say or mean it. It's not that I didn't know that she was going, it's that we both knew it had to end at some point, but that it was probably better not to acknowledge it and then it'd be easier when we saw each other again. As it happens she's spent most of the last two years in Africa. I find it really strange that a friendship can only really exist when two live close to each other. It requires at least some sort of regular exchange for you to 'know' a person, and that just disappears when they're away for even a short length of time. I guess it's some sort of trust, an unconscious bond between the people that forms from just being in each other's company.

I digress. Later that day Will and I went to see Jacopo and Paolo's show at Manchester University, and saw many people I haven't seen for a while. I hadn't seen Paolo or Jacopo since March, which I suppose isn't that long a length of time but nonetheless I love to see them. I also saw Tullis and discussed the live electronics gig we're planning in Glasgow with him, and he showed me what Mantis was doing in the basement of the department. Max/MSP seems to feature highly on the list of all current institutions, and they were making full use of its capabilities. I also saw Envision crew, whom I know from the old department, but more from the original LPC (I love you, you're perfect, now change) tour of the UK and Italy from two and a half years ago. When we went out for a drink after the show it seemed like no time had passed since we were all in Birmingham in a terrible B&B and performing in a nearby theatre. The show (that evening) was a mixed affair of abstract scenes, unscripted and partly improvised, but making an adjoining tableux that was at once disturbing and surreal in the true Italian style. It was very short, but could have been even shorter - not necessarily a bad thing, just a suggestion that the material and ideas could have been condensed into a smaller time period. Tullis' music was effective and very apt, but lacked the polish of previous productions because of time contraints. They had a week to prepare the whole performance. We adjourned to Kro Bar across the road and talked for many hours about the implications of the work and where they intended to go afterwards over a good few beers. I also got to speak Italian for a while, always welcome, although I certainly felt a little rusty. I slept well and the next day Will, Holly and I went to see what all the fuss was about in the centre of Manchester.

I'll explain more tomorrow about the rest of the weekend, then Holland and what's going on this week.