2002 - South of France - Djr

Jo's family own a home outside Palavas. I'd not done a sun and sea holiday since I was nine. I loved it. Total chill out. No cafes and writing pad. No urban build up. Just warm ocean water and day after day of lying on a towel. Memory: ice box filled with foil-wrapped baguettes; the morning walk to the store for chocolate croissants.

2002 - South of France - Vega$

Better still was we were able to bring Matthias along. He was sacrificing a lot back in Bristol to pursue his creative passions and had no money for anything, so Jo and I bought him a ticket. Fab.

Matthias hated the body-shock that occured getting into the ocean, after lying in the sun for a while, his technique involved howling like a strange animal as he ran into the ocean and then threw himself in.

2002 - South of France - Vega$

2002 - South of France - Aigues Morte - Crusader fort

We did a couple of day trips. One was to this place. A sizeable town enclosed behind vast fortress walls. This church reminded me of the film The Omen.

2002 - South of France - view from water tower in Palavas

Memory of munching delish ice-creams.

2002 - South of France - Vega$

Like this one.

2002 - South of France - Vega$, Djr

When we went swimming, dozing, or reading, Matthias and I were building sand castles. Not ordinary sand castles mind you. By the end of the week we had an entourage of small children standing around fascinated and trying to copy what we were doing.

2002 - South of France - Vega$

Happy.

2002 - Bristol - Sonja

For various reasons, the intensely close friendship I shared with Sonja and Zed through '97-'01 had become bruised, a bit neglected. Zed and I had a couple more fights about silly things. But late 2002 saw us coming back together again.

2002 - Bristol - Oj, Djr, Sonja

It's around this time that my cousin Kenn-Ole came to England for a visit with his wife and kids... I'd not seen him since the week I stayed in his house in Bergen in 1989, so it was great to catch up. We met up in Bristol and then spent the day in Bath.

2002 - Bristol - Oj

2002 - Bristol - Djr

2002 - Norway (picture from) - Aage

My cousin Aage gets in touch via E-mail. I've not seen him since I was last in the Arctic in 1989 (with Chris Tonka).

This is Aage cooking. He's the kind of guy that uses a sledgehammer to adjust something when a toothpick would do. That is not a criticism. Just a character trait. He's all or nothing and a great guy.

As for Chris Tonka, we parted friendship around 1992 in Bristol. Despite growing up with him through school since 1982 our characters took on a radical difference in Bristol.

2002 - Bath

Jo and I woke up at 5am, threw some coffee down our necks then drove to Bath for 6am. The sun was just rising but the air was damp and chilly. Climb into a basket with twelve other people. Four burners roar in unison, hot blasts of air make me stoop, then we're silently lifting, gracefully, wonderful, beautiful.

2002 - Bath - Hot Air Balloon - Djr

2002 - Bath - Hot Air Balloon - Oj

The pilot took us up to 3,000 ft.

2002 - Bath - Hot Air Balloon

And then higher, to 5,000 ft, and broke out the champagne.

The pilot let the balloon descend for a while.

The countryside astounded me. So beautiful. Even from this height you could hear cattle, or dogs barking, and at one point we went overhead a rave in a farm building the sounds of techno music drifting up disturb the total calm.

He took us down to within a few feet of the ground and demonstrated his skill by playing chicken with a row of trees. The trees won of course. At the last moment, and with a few of us grimacing and leaning back as if to avoid the imminent impact, the pilot brought the balloon rapidly up and skimmed the tops of the trees.

What I did not realise was that the pilots do not ask permission for where they land. They literally plonk down where they like. We landed in somebody's back garden. The pilot looked and me and said, "Go ask them if we can bring the jeep into this feild."

I had a surreal moment clambering out of the basket, running across the grass and into a stranger's house. A woman came down to meet me, very wary and puzzled as to who the hell I was, "Hello, we've just landed outside...."

Luckily she did not try to shoot me or set the dogs on me. It seems most people are delighted by the novelty of seeing this colourful flying contraption sitting in thier garden.

2002 - 1st edition of Alternate Species

I'm chuffed - I get the headline slot in the first issue of this new magazine with my story Cloudy Head.

2002 - Thorpe Park Hotel - Leeds

August: Jo gets a phone call one Sunday, from her boss. "We need you in Leeds tonight to sort out some problems - might be a week, might be two, can you do it?"

"Sure," she says; "Can I bring my partner?"

I get to spend two weeks working / living in the most fab hotel I've been to in England. All expenses paid. Days were Agency work with my laptop - and evenings began when Jo returned from her depot, Big glass of wine, followed by a swim, sauna, steam room ;o), followed by fun upstairs, fab food downstairs, late evening drinks then upstairs again.

I actually only left the building once in two weeks - it was kind of a self-contained city. Was odd when we finally drove away and I was returned to a world where I had to cook my own meals, hump a gym kit around town with me, and pay for my drinks.

2002 - Newcastle - Stellinha

September: Another journey up North to see my family. Tradition dictated another late night visit to meet Ciaran Captain Vast at the Italian restaurant he's been managing for years now: a place that used to be called Mamma-Mia's and that I can remember going to with my parents every few weeks when I was 8 and 9.

Ciaran locks up and we head out to the old Faithful, World Headquarters, and there's Tommy Trent mixing his tunes and the place is heaving with bodies, damp with sweat and very very dark.

I meet Stellinha and in the rush and flux of life... it was one of those moments when you know you've met somebody special. Instant friendship. For the whole week in Newcastle we met up at least every other day - drank coffee - talked loads.

2002 - Newcastle - Stellinha

This caused a massive drama with Jo. It was the first time since Jo and I had "been together" that she'd had to deal with me forming an intense bond with another person. In light of all things to do with C-B, I thought Jo had one hell of a nerve... and I told her as much. This is who I am, deal with it or lets call it a day.

I spent a couple afternoons round at Stella's tiny room in the university Halls... listening to music. It was here that I discovered the complete collection of Van Gellis work... in particular Mithodea, also the soundtrack to Run Lola Run.

2002 - Australia (photo from) - Dan's Point of View

Back in New York 1998 I made friends with two English lads that had to fly home early because they'd maxed out thier credit cards on shopping. We kept in touch and shared some fun moments together in London. Dan then moved into the Southern Hemisphere and he's been training to be a Dive Master. This is one experience he had.

2002 - Bristol - Lucy B, x

I met Lucy through Ed, who was Matthias's flat mate for a time at Ashley Road. This is a still from a film she did about Sex Education.

2002 - Budokan - Zed, Indi

October: Indi is one of Zed's closest and long-time friends. Budokan has become an old-faithful for good food, decent prices and great atmosphere for meeting friends.

2002 - Budokan - Sharky

October: Kelvin looking natural for once. This was a pre-Game night. Tradition was Kelvin catching a train from London on the Friday night, ready for Game early saturday morning. By now he's deeply into a relationship with a Spanish girl called Natalia.

2002 - Budokan - Dominic Mr Random, Lucy

October: Dominic turned up one day with a serious girlfriend in tow, a Chinese woman, older than him, who spoke barely a word of English. For the next few months, at any social engagement, Dominic would sit on the outside of the conversation, translating everything into simple words for Lucy... it was an incredible effort because within a few months Lucy's command of the English language became formidable.

2002 - Budokan - Ben

October: I'd known Ben since the writing group at Boston Tea Party, back in 1998. We'd somehow hooked up outside of that insular collection of fragile ego's, and found a casual friendship, based on coffee and conversation interspersed by several months of no contact. Ben was working on a novel, and a short film which he had actually funded to buy in actors... I watched it on his laptop in the Boston Tea Party one afternoon, it was REALLY good.

2002 - Cafe Revival - Djr

October: Zed left the cafe on Park Street (Cha) when Silas, the Leo Sayer look-alike who lived with Matthias in Ashley Road, became manager.

Zed ended up workin in a new cafe on Corn Street, Cafe Revival, and through her I got into writing there.

2002 - Cafe Revival - Emma C

October: I met Emma at the Boston Tea Party months earlier - a random encounter, got talking, discovered she was a visual artist. I saw her work and loved it.

An example: people have used human hair as keepsakes and to remember the dead; Emma has captured this tradition of rememberance in uniquely crafted jewellery.

She shares my deep suspicion of American foreign policy and my belief that they are an adolescent empire soon to tear itself apart, both economically and socially. Yet the Corporate clans arising from America (post Santa Clara 1886) will survive as they distance themselves from the withering parent, and these Corporations are making Gattica, Brave New World and 1984 seem like prophecies.

2002 - Bed Bar Portobello Road - Ana C

Oct: My friendship with Ana continued to grow. A tradition formed around me getting to London late on Friday night, get to hers, drink wine, and crash. Next morning she would go shopping and I would set up my laptop in her kitchen and start writing. And I woudn't see her til late afternoon. Late afternoon would be yummy food at a portugese cafe then coffee in this place. One weekend I get a call from my sister and she's in London too. We all meet up.

2002 - Bed Bar Portobello Road - Ana C, AKR

2002 - Tynemouth Pier

I took another trip to Newcastle and did another tour around old haunts. The pier was part of the mad runs we had to do at school - even more mad in winter when 60ft waves were crashing over the bulwark. Lots of memories tied up with this place. Coming here with Maria in '93, risking my life to pick up a rock. Fish & Chips from Marshalls - as a child sitting in the car with my parents and seeing posters for the new film Saturday Night Fever, or as a school kid at lunchtime, or now as an adult, coming here for nostalgia.

2002 - Oslo (pictures from) - Jess Starry Eyes

I get an E-mail from Jess saying she's met a Norweigan and she's going to marry him.

2002 - Claires Place / Cheltenham - Djr, Oj

December: Jo and I reach 8 months.

I've been spending a lot of time at Claire's... working from there during the day, the house to myself, and then cooking food and chilling when the girls came home from work. I was also doing a lot of writing.

2002 - Bristol - Jon Simpk

December: Jon had come back into the fold at work. Sam Goldfinger was working in the same room, albiet a different team, and there were a number of fun evenings out together... "Tribe of the Frog".

2002 - The Happy Flat - Oj

December.

2002 - Newcastle - Kelvin Sharky

Christmas: It's a repeat of last year. Jo Kelvin and I drive North... to savour the wonder of a Norweigan Christmas with my family. This picture was taken in Next cafe, Monument, one of the few cafes springing up in the city.

2002 - Newcastle - AKR

Christmas: My sister's time in Maastricht had come to an end, she was now back completing her studies in Glasgow, not somewhere I had any interest in going back to in this lifetime. I'd stopped clubbing, I'd started wearing big wolley jumpers... a sort of simmering tension now existed between my sister and I.

2002 - Newcastle - Yaz, her sister

Christmas: I've known Yazz for years, through Eve... who had kind of vanished into some part of Newcastle. Yaz however remained as first class nutter, and a great friend.

2002 - Christmas - Newcastle - Yaz, her sister

She had been pulling all of these silly faces not aware I had a camera on my laptop and had been capturing her; this is the moment I span the laptop round and showed her.

2002 - Christmas - Newcastle - Oj, Ajr

Jo gets her first taste of my family's traditional Scandanavian drink to go with big dinners. You've got to knock it back in one go otherwise it's like trying to sip rocket fuel.

2002 - Newcastle - Oj

Christmas: look what Santa brought me. (0)(-)

2002 - Newcastle - Ciaran O'c

Christmas: Ciaran made his annual Christmas Eve appearance.

2002 - Newcastle - Kelvin Sharky

Christmas.

2002 - Christmas - Newcastle - Richy, Adam A

This was a wonderful night. Adam A rings out of the blue to say he's over from San Francisco and is getting a few of the old crowd together.

I'd seen Adam once in late '97, and then not properly since '92 when there had been some bad blood between us. It was good for all of us to make a connection with our shared past. Adam bought the bar as planned: Sub Lounge, and although he was well it looks like he's been living on stress and adrenaline.

Richy, well, I last saw Richy properly in the summer of '95 when I had long floppy hair and was having trouble eating a humous and sausage sandwhich; he was just getting into taking kids on outdoors adventures and getting his random life into some sense of order; before that, it was '92 and the Jesmond Village thing stretching back into 1990.

2002 - Christmas - Newcastle - Floyd, Grassy

I last saw Floyd back in London in 1999 after my odd date with a Hostess from Air India; my association with him stretches back to 1988 when he used to hang around with Sarah L and co. He spent a large part of the 1990's as Grassy's b/f after she moved to London. They've seperated but are close friends. He's been working for a company that performs media-terrorism and viral marketting. A very cool guy.

Grassy, I last saw Grassy when we woke up at Simon's parents mansion in Bristol - her covered in bumps and bruises from the night before. She's still in Media. Now a producer.

2002 - Newcastle - x, Stellinha

December: Jo and Kelvin drove back on Christmas Day to celebrate an English Christmas with their respective families. I remained in Newcastle for a few more days... caught up with Stella and some of her Brazillian mates. This was an absolutely fantastic night... in a place that was once the Barley Mow (memories from 1987 - 89) and had now become some little mini-club. They were playing some of the best tunes I'd heard in years and years... so danced my little heart out.

Stella moved back to Brazil not long after this. A few E-mails and then gradually faded into radio-silence.