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Glasgow - 24/3/01

"Square towels" was the first thing I said today, and I said it through the door to Morris.... he'd knocked so I grabbed for a towel and which ever way I tried to put it on it was the short side so by the time I got to the door I still wasn't sorted out hence the question/statement above, but he said Howie had overslept too so I could relax. Further investigation revealed that the towel wasn't square, but I include this episode here as a good example of early morning on-tour this-hotel-is-out-to-get-me paranoia. The uncomfortable feeling with words continues on the journey when Morris asks me to 'open' his banana but shortly after that we come across Kim and Robyn on the road ahead and Kim does his Churchill bit as we pass to cheer us up as the soft boys victory tour heads for Hadrians Wall!

The morning papers say two things. One is that foot and mouth has now spread to humans, but they say it is nothing to worry about. I think that is only true if they do not try to control the spread of the disease in humans in the same way as they do in cattle. The other is Peter Buck on the front page with all his trouble on the plane and my main thought about this is NEVER fly BA – they are a sulky, stroppy airline with a bad feel and this would never have happened on a Virgin Airways flight is what I think. It is like flying with the police – Hiromi hates them... just thought I'd say that.... then it is the goldfish bowl of fame (which magnifies EVERYTHING) and you know the rest....

Morris and I are crossing the Pennines as we head for the west road up to Glasgow ... beautiful slightly desolate countryside ... when we get to the club we bump into mega-friendly Big Al and Steve and this reminds me of First Avenue, Minneapolis for their overwhelming friendliness .... you really do meet some great people on the road ......

It's a great gig but my amp still isn't switched on or plugged into the PA when we start and this is becoming a bit of a mystery ...... over-night I unravel the puzzle and it's obviously Sonic the Gremlin not plugging me back in after his set, although that doesn't explain the amp being switched off ..... the gig is great, really tough and steady with a nice crowd – historically the Scots have a great tradition of song-writing so this feels like an important one .....

Morris wants the Jack Daniels, so do I ... this is our first row .... maybe it is good we can fight now because we never could then which is probably why we splat up (splat is the past tense of split?) ..... we hug before the end of the day and all say our goodbyes, I'm flying down to London tomorrow cos the plane only costs £20 ($30) which turns out to be less that the taxi that takes me to the airport .... before we leave I negotiate with Robyn getting "Hiromi's thought-pack" on the guest list at the Electric Ballroom, which is Robyn's word for her and her friends who tend to have joint views on things - she's the spokeswoman and she'll tell me things like for example "We like Morris's shirts" or "We think you need to do some shopping" ..... they will be at the Ballroom....

— Matthew