Went to Tim's 4oth on Friday night and then another Tim's 40th yesterday. Both born on the same date, one in Australia and one somewhere in the Birmingham (UK) area. Juicy conversation at both of them, but the funnest moment was talking to Sunil and Justin and discovering that all three of us were at the famous Rock Against Racism march and concert in Victoria Park in 1978. I think I win the dedication prize having bussed down from Aberdeen with a bunch of lefties. To give you a feel, I remember they were all singing a satirical revision of The Red Flag which was making fun of the Labour government (but not for long) at the time. One line I remember was 'and we believe, if we persist, we'll make the new year's honours list'.

The march was genuinely scary with some very angry anti-anti-racists around, including one guy in a van who tried to run everyone down who was queuing on the pavment outside a shop. The concert was great. Memorable moments include Poly Styrene dramatically removing a towel from her head to reveal she'd shaved her hair off, The Clash playing early cos they had a gig in Birmingham that night, losing our mates when me and Mike rushed to the front to see The Clash, Patrik Fitzgerald being bottled for reading poetry and therefore being, by definition, a 'wanka!', and Jimmy 'where is he now?' Pursey hanging out for ages afterwards to talk to the fans.

B-)