This isn't really work-related, but we went to Riverside Studios in Hammersmith last night, to see Simon Callow doing a double bill of Dickens one-man plays. Brilliant, hilarious and affecting. Miriam Margolyes was in the front row (and, irrelevantly, John Hurt was in our train carriage from Cambridge, as though only one generation of good English actors was on shift this weekend).

By coincidence, we bumped into our chum Emma, whose show "Skin Tight" is on in the next room from Simon Callow's, though we didn't realise it until we got there. It's her last night tonight, in case you happen to read this in time and are nearby.

The year is picking up again in the second half of January, after a slow start unpacking boxes in the new house.

There's been some more shooting for the NHS, and I recorded a very interesting lecture from Rupert Isaacson for the university. Rupert has written a book and made a documentary both called "The Horse Boy", about his autistic son, Rowan, and his adventures which resulted in a huge reduction in the negative aspects of his autism. Chatting to him afterwards, and comparing his experience to my comparatively minor, everyday experiences of what it's like when your child is in distress, I can only imagine how miserable life must often have been before they discovered Rowan's connection with horses.

Interestingly, the film also features contributions from Simon Baron Cohen (Ali G's cousin, thanks Tom W.), a Cambridge academic expert on autism, who I recorded lecturing at last year's Alumni Weekend, and found very interesting then.

Subterraneans played a gig at the 12 Bar on Denmark Street last night - not sure I played all the right notes in the right order, but people came up and said nice things afterwards, and the door did OK, so who's to complain? We made our first new recordings of the year a week or so ago, too. Hopefully there'll actually be a new record (figuratively speaking, these days, of course) soon. And, as always, it's nice to hang out with the boys; went out for a nice meal in Chinatown between soundcheck and gig.