Whitstable: spratts & sprogs

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We hurtle down the M2 to Whitstable on the North Kent coast. Two women falling asleep in the sun, Mr Hg behind the wheel. Will we make it in time for the table at noon?

17 degrees according to the sign on the rent-a-boat building, but it feels warmer. Upstairs in the restaurant’s a cinema — but the seats are stacked with boxes and the first floor is under construction. More seats for hungry customers.

A waiter cleans lobster at the bar. Outside on the beach kids play with the waves while daddies strap their bellies in a wet suit. Their grown up toys are catamarans, jet skis and motorboats. The need for speed. Where are their wives?

Steaming mussels, baked cod, Sancerre. Mr Hg laughs when I take a first bite of my pudding and light up like a four-year-old.

We buy sweets and books.

Some photos of Whitstable

But bootlegs are more fun!

From MTV review of first (messy) Pixies concert in twelve years:

“The Pixies finished with a seven-song encore, slapping hands with fans as they left the stage. After the show, hundreds of fans loitered upstairs at the venue to await the arrival of recordings of the night’s performance. Using on-the-spot recording and duplication technology, the New York-based company Disclive is producing limited-edition CDs of each night’s performance, available 20 minutes post-wrap.

Einstuerzende Neubauten are doing the same thing on their current tour. This is the new standard. Are you listening, U2?