I had an interrupted night’s sleep. There was the usual stuff: an annoying need to go to the toilet several times despite not being hooked up to a drip or anything; partner loudly suggesting I turn on my side so I don’t wake her up with seismic snoring; dreams about my flat burning down and my dad having a subsequent heart attack. Then the couple upstairs decided to put their radio alarm clock through a 2000 watt PA system at about 7am, and then, half an hour after they turned it off, I was woken by 2 short rings on my mobile phone. I looked at “missed calls” to see yet another call from +21373001365. I get these from time to time – usually when I’m asleep, always just two rings. Research has established that +21 is North Africa, +213 is Algeria, and area code 7 is a town called Adrar. According to Wikipedia, Adrar is notable for its traditional irrigation system, the Fouggara, and also for the ability of its residents to really piss off chubby half-Welsh layabouts who are weary, sleep-starved and don’t like turning off their mobile phones.

What happened to LJ Book? It’s been down for a couple of weeks, and I’m desperate to export blog entries to PDF format, and let’s face it, who isn’t.

We’re rehearsing hard for the Scritti Politti tour – so hard that I appear to have sustained some kind of wrist-strain.

This entry is becoming like Neil Sean’s “Green Room” gossip column in London freesheet Metro – short, bite-size titbits of little interest to anyone.

There’s a good advert on the tube at the moment for the Samsung NV7 digital camera. “Like Joe Cole,” it begins, puzzlingly, “the NV7 is always in control.” It’s accompanied with a picture of Joe Cole, keeping a football reasonably close to his feet. A cursory internet search reveals that Joe Cole also bears an uncanny resemblance to the Samsung NV10, because he “takes a great shot.” If we’re ever going to make it in the world of advertising and marketing, we’ve got to be able to draw these kind of tenuous comparisons between celebrities and consumer durables.

“Like Page 3 model Keeley Hazell, the Delonghi TRN1015T Solaris Oil Filled Radiator will generate warmth on a cold winter’s night.”

“Like Luciano Pavarotti, the Sony KDL-V40XBR1 40″ LCD Television is bloody massive.”

“Like a resident of the Algerian town of Adrar, the Philips AJ3600 Alarm Clock will give you a shrill wake-up call guaranteed to interrupt slumber.”