black tie, white noise....

We went to a ball last night.

We don't do it very often, but I reckon we scrub up ok.

C. goes to lots of these things, of course.... but surely none of those events in Monte Carlo have any of the glamour of the IT Ball at the East Midlands Conference Centre?

She was telling me once that she caused a few waves when organising one of these events in Monte Carlo by issuing a communication saying that partners were welcome to come and stay in the hotel, but they weren't allowed to come to the gala dinner.

"But, what if they bring a partner of the same sex?"
"I don't care what they do in the privacy of their own hotel room, as long as they don't bring them to the gala dinner...."

She seemed quite pleased with this open-mindedness, rightly so.

My response?

"Ah, so partners are invited then?"

Tee hee.

At one point in the evening at yesterday's ball, the DJ started to play "Saviour's Day" by Cliff Richard.
"Oh God, not Cliff bloody Richard.  Why would you play that?" said one of the chaps on my table.
"Well, to be fair, I've got some Cliff on my iPod" I said.
"What? Really?  What?  Why?"
"Wired for Sound.  It's a classic"
"Ah, yes, I like that one.  Roller skating video"
"Devil Woman"
"Oh yes, I like that one too"
"We Don't Talk Any More"
"Oh.  That one too.  Hmm.  I seem to like quite a few of his records."
At this point, his wife chipped in:
"Well, that's one Christmas present sorted....."

It was a nice evening.  It's good to get dressed up once in a while.

I had the day off today, and after a nice lie in, popped down the road for a full English and we're now heading for a weekend in London to see a few old friends.

Hope you have a similarly relaxing weekend planned.