The talk at York seems to have triggered something, so I watch with interest to see what repercussions there may be.
20.23
Hotel Dismal, Salford, Manchester.
On tour in America, The Rosenbergs are discovering (or being reminded of) how dismal hotels can be. After 32 years on the road, The Rosenbergs & I are standing face to face - here I am once more: Hotel Dismal. This is not quite as depressing as the US Motel 6 chain of 12 years ago, where every Motel 6 that The LCG stayed depressed the spirits of a Happy Gigster. A good hotel is a delight, to refresh the spirits for another day on the road.
The difference between this particular Maison Dismal & a Motel 6 is the small restaurant downstairs, which aspires to optimism. An optimistic frame of mind is interpreted as music to be played very loudly. Half of the restaurant is no smoking, and half of the restaurant is smoking. The no smoking area is, however, remarkably tolerant of the other half of the room. When smoke billows into it, the smoke is accepted, welcomed, accommodated in what was formerly smoke-free. Food charges are not allowed to be charged to a room: this is part of the policy of keeping labour costs down, a hotel brochure informs guests.
Unfortunately, there are no telephones in any of the rooms. This violates one of my long-established requirements for travelling accommodation: I have to be telephone accessible. The hotel also violates another of my personal requirements: if the hotel is modest (ie so depressing that I can't stay in the room) it has to be well located, so legs may snap like whipcords propelling the Venal Whiner onto a vibrant street culture. If the hotel is not well located, like on a road junction in Salford with constant traffic noise, it has to be sufficiently attractive that I can stay happily in the room, or a downstairs lounge, to study, reflect, vibrate. Here at Dismal Towers we miss on both counts. Checking in, I only changed room once - the first room had a broken window handle, allowing both cold draught & traffic noise into a room otherwise already sufficiently modest to restrain the vaunting spirits.
Maison Dismal is near the university. I have not been given any official times for my attendance, but I know from Andrew Keeling that the talk / Q&A is scheduled to begin at 14.00, so I'll arrive at the music department and deal.
In response to recent Guestbook commentary Ton Prob: place an umlaut over each of the "o"s and pronounce "Tone Probe", that is, sound check.
"A beginning is invisible."
