High Tide	03:10 (2.50m)
Low Tide	09:19 (0.80m)
High Tide	15:48 (2.40m)
Low Tide	21:40 (1.00m)

Sea temperature: not taken - too rough
Sea conditions: see above
Weather: scudding cloud, sun breaking through, warm but windy. However, by the time I'm typing this the temperature has plummeted, the wind is almost an '87 gale and the drive home from Norwich was treacherous with flooding and bits of tree all over the road.
Joined by: The Usual Suspect except The Pirate
Topics of conversation:
The Pirate - he has been banned from getting his head wet due to an ear infection, the first time he's been afflicted, and he'd have been furious if the water had been swimmable, but it really wasn't. The current was furious itself. He'd been to the new doctor, who recently joined our local surgery, and being used to people thinking it's brave to swim all year round he was surprised when she just nodded and told him he needed to start wearing a hat. It transpires that she swims on the other side of the river each day and is a channel swimmer. Good to know.
It wasn't just the current that was extreme, the tide had scoured the beach, filled the marsh and taken dunes back out to the depths. There was still water sitting on the backlands between the dunes and the river which frustrated the dogs, who couldn't reach the village elders across the water - they know they keep gravy bones in their pockets. 

Wayne McGregor's Random Dance - The Shaman and I had been to see Atamos at Sadler's Wells on Wednesday night and it had been very impressive. Not perfect, flawed but beautiful and as powerful as anything I'd seen for a while. Last week he'd held events giving access to the process he uses to create his work, specifically this piece. 'The Becoming', an eleventh dancer, has been generated from frames of a 1980's sci-fi movie and the troupe of 10 dancers work together with it as inspiration and individually to create the final performance. He constantly alludes to this movie but never names it. The music divided The Shaman and I as it became very discordant at one point forcing her to put her hands over her ears. There's a great review with an interview on The Guardian website, where Judith Mackrell nails it for me:
"So abstract is all this, however, that it's open to any interpretation – or none at all. For those wanting overt emotion or drama, it will disappoint, and, like most of McGregor's full-length pieces, there are sections where the tension of Atomos turns momentarily slack. But for those fascinated by sheer invention, there are dance ideas, too many to count, which are simply extraordinary...."
you can see it in full here: Atamos  and Drowned in Sound on the musicians here: A Winged Victory for the Sullen The Poet asked if they were 'dancing like Higgs Boson', so this is for him: Higgs Boson Blues
Other cultural highlights of the trip included meeting artist Laura Facey and seeing her exhibition, my much anticipated visit to Tacita Dean's new film work, JG. and a quick fizz around the Mira Schendel exhibition at Tate Modern, that needs more time. A record below for posterity and because The Shaman and The Viking weren't able to join me for various things, as planned, both having had accidents. Counting my blessings.

Laura Facey

Laura Facey

Laura Facey

Laura Facey

Tacita Dean

Tacita Dean

Tacita Dean

Tacita Dean

Mira Schendel

Coffee and butter buns