Catshanghai

Shanghai had a second golden week this year, because it played host to the SCO economic conference and a retinue of VIP delegates including President Putin of Russia. Security was stepped up for some strange reason. Consequently, a number of roads and metro stations near Nanjing Dong Lu and Lujiazui were closed. Also, a number of businesses, universities and schools were ordered to be shut for the event. Our school closed too, which meant I have been enjoying an unexpected mini prelude to the summer holiday.

I have spent quality time with Jenny and caught up on sleeping, watching films, swimming and reading. Today I finished “Margrave of the Marshes”, which is John Peel’s posthumous autobiography. Well it came out after he died and more than half of it was written by his wife, because he was too slow to get it finished on time. John Peel was a great man and I owe all my good qualities to everything he stood for. From the age of 17 to 31, he was a fixture in my life. I used to listen to his show late on Sunday night when I was doing my homework and he was still there when I was painting my house 14 years later. He spent 40 years obsessively championing good music, the love of a good woman and self-deprecating, eccentric honesty. Above all, he was warm, affectionate and human, not being afraid to admit to his mistakes and even make them - a DJ who could not mix tracks. That all came through from reading his book. When I go back to the UK, I think that’s one of the things that will most noticaebly different.

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